#i know being able to jump really high and float in the air and teleport are some of his well-established powers

[infinitelilith]

Will forever be obsessed with Braig hopping around like a frog

[dreamwraith]

Teleport

Summary: Danny finally learned how to teleport, but where is the 'off' switch? Pairings: Hints of Sam crushing on Danny Warnings: Danny accidentally teleports into the girl’s locker room, but only for a few seconds; he’s as startled as they are. Danny and Tucker have a no-homo thing going on, they should probably just hug it out already.

On Ao3

-

"Hey! Sam! Sam, wait up!"

Sam glanced over her shoulder. When she saw Tucker chasing after her with an anxious look on his face, she stopped walking down the sidewalk. Tucker was able to reach her in no time, but he had to bend over and gulp in large breaths afterward.

"Something wrong, Tucker?" she asked after giving him a few seconds to catch his breath. "I thought I was meeting you and Danny at school today?"

"Well, yeah," Tucker panted, "that was the plan, but…Have you seen Danny?"

She raised an eyebrow. "No. Why? Did something happen? Is he in trouble?"

Tucker waved his hand, chuckling between gasps. "No…well, yes…well, kind of…"

"Tucker…"

"No, he isn't in any real danger. Yes, his secret may be in jeopardy."

Sam widened her eyes. "His secret might be in what? What happened exactly?"

Tucker stood up straight, using his beret to wipe his sweaty forehead. "Well, this morning, while Danny and I were walking to school, he had a breakthrough on teleporting. He practiced it a couple times by teleporting up and down the sidewalk when no one was around, getting farther and farther away. He was getting really good at it!"

"O-kay," Sam said slowly, "so somebody saw him doing this?"

"Um. No."

"What went wrong then?"

"Well, we were almost to school, so he changed back to Fenton. But a few seconds after he did, he disappeared and—"

POP!

"Tucker!" Danny jumped on Tucker. His best friend screamed and would have shot three feet in the air if Danny's Hug of Death was any less secure. "Finally! I've been trying to get back to you for who knows how long now! Oh, hey, Sam! Wait, where'd you come from?" He loosened his hold on the trembling Tucker and looked around. "This isn't where I left you, Tuck…"

"He came to find me after you apparently disappeared," Sam explained for their shell-shocked friend. "Danny, what's going on? Are—"

"I can't stop teleporting, Sam!" Danny all but shouted, unwrapping one arm from around Tucker so he could wave it around for emphasis. "One minute I'm walking peacefully down the sidewalk, the next I'm in my room! So far I've teleported to school three times, to the Ghost Zone twice, my room five times, yours once, Tucker's three, Vlad's house one time too many, and once I somehow ended up, like, fifty feet in the air! I can't control it!" He released Tucker, and latched onto Sam's shoulders, earning a surprised gasp from the Goth. "Make it stop, Sam! I can't take it anymore!"

"Danny, calm down!" She brushed Danny's hands off her shoulders, but he quickly grabbed her wrists. She scowled. "Danny, let go of me before I show a very incriminating photo of you and Tucker to Jazz."

Danny's hands flew away from Sam like she was an evil ghost in disguise. "I thought you burned that!" He hesitated before giving Tucker a one-armed hug again.

Sam smirked. "Why would I get rid of perfectly good blackmail material? Is there a reason you keep grabbing onto us, Danny?"

"Yeah, dude," Tucker said, finally regaining his wits enough to eye his strange friend. "It's getting awkward."

"I am being teleported all over the place without my consent," Danny reminded them, "can't I get a little sympathy from you guys?" They gave him bland, completely unsympathetic looks. "Alright, fine. By holding onto you stationary people, I'm hoping you will anchor me and stop me from teleporting."

"Wouldn't we just teleport with you though?" Sam asked.

Tucker's eyes grew large and he struggled against Danny's hold, but even in human form Danny was stronger than him.

"No," Danny grunted, "because it takes a lot of control to be able to teleport more than one person, and clearly I don't posses any control over this, whatsoever."

Tucker relaxed but his nose wrinkled. "It still feels awkward, Danny. Go hug, Sam."

"I'm not hugging you," Danny protested. "This is a manly arm grip!"

"It doesn't feel very manly."

"Doesn't look like it either," Sam said, smirking.

Danny huffed. "Fine." He dragged Tucker closer to Sam and then threw his other arm around her neck before she could protest. Sam gasped and struggled, upset—if her red face was anything to go by—but Danny started walking, and his friends were forced to follow. "Alright! Now this is teamwork!"

"More like kidnapping!" Sam shouted.

Tucker teased, "You know you like it, Sam."

"Oh, yeah, I just love to be held against my will."

"It's only until this stops," Danny tried to reason.

"Oh? And when will that be?"

"Uh…I don't know…"

She sighed, resigned. "This all started after you changed back into Danny Fenton, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, maybe you'll have more control of it if you're in your ghost form. Seems to me your ghost half would have more control over your powers than your human half would."

Danny hung his head, wishing he could face-palm without losing his anchors. "I should have thought of that…"

"That's what I'm here for. Now hurry up and change while the streets are empty."

Danny nodded, and in a flash of light, he became Amity Park's number one ghostly hero.

After a few seconds, Sam cleared her throat. "You'll have to let go of us to test this, Danny…"

Danny flinched. "B-but what if it doesn't work and I start teleporting like crazy again?"

"Then we'll just have to think of something else!" Sam hissed, "Now let go of us before somebody sees Danny Phantom hanging out with Danny Fenton's friends!"

Danny grimaced. He slowly, very slowly, released his best friends. They walked a few steps farther ahead before stopping and facing Danny again. He had his eyes pinched shut and his hands fisted at his sides.

"Did I teleport?" he asked, keeping his eyes sealed.

"No." Tucker chuckled. "But you look constipated. Loosen up, dude."

Danny cracked an eye open, but upon seeing the same setting as before, he grinned, and jumped in place. "Alright! Way to go, Sam!" He went to high five her, but seconds away from making contact, Danny became consumed by green mist. The mist disappeared along with Danny, followed by a popping sound.

Sam lowered her hand slowly, and exchanged glances with Tucker. "Uh, I guess it didn't work…"

Tucker sighed. "We might as well get to school, Sam. He's not going to show up here any time soon…"

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

POP!

"Paradise Lost!"

Danny's momentum carried him through the motion of the high-five, but because Sam's hand wasn't there to meet his, his swat carried into a somersault in midair. "Whoa!" He righted himself and jerked his head from side to side. The faces staring up at him were familiar, but the location wasn't since only teachers and their favorites were allowed inside the teacher's lounge.

Danny laughed nervously. "Um, uh, whoops?"

Mr. Lancer was the first to regain his composure. He stood up and fixed his tie in a nervous habit. "Mr. …Phantom, what is the meaning of this?" Sweat noticeably broke out over his forehead.

Danny flushed. "Um, I'm having a few technical issues with my powers…" He cleared his throat and floated with his back straight, adopting his 'hero' voice. "Sorry for the inconvenience, citizens. I'll just be going…"

But after a few seconds, Danny still floated in place above their table, staring fixedly into space. The teachers looked at each other in confusion. The Art teacher pulled out a sketch pad and started sketching the focused Ghost Boy in profile.

"…Any second now…"

If they had crickets in the staff lounge, they'd be chirping.

"…Any second…"

Mr. Felucca stepped forward, his index finger poised in question. "What power are you having difficulties with, Mr. Ghost Boy? As a scientist, perhaps I can be of assistance."

Danny grimaced. "Uh, actually—"

Ms. Tetslaff slammed a fist on the table, and the sudden violence made Danny start in surprise. "If it's power he's having trouble with, it's me he should be coming to for help! I'll whip him into shape!"

He winced, and drifted away from her. "Uh, it's not really a physical power—"

"I have studied many classical stories that teach great, historical lessons," Mr. Lancer said. "Perhaps one of those will be of some use to you, Mr. Phantom?"

"Thanks, but I don't—"

The Mythology teacher scoffed. "Your literature is of no use to a being of exponential power. My myths have way more value to him than your 'fiction'."

"I don't need—"

The Psychology teacher snapped her fingers. "It may be psychological! Please feel free to tell me all about your problems. I'm here to help!"

"I don't have a psychological issue! Why does everyone always think that?"

Ms. Loretta gazed at Danny's skinny body with a critical eye. "Perhaps it has something to do with malnourishment. Do ghosts have to eat? I can make you something, boy."

"…Uh…no…"

The Government teacher trembled in his seat, staring up at Danny in fear. "W-we should call somebody about this! Call the Fentons! Call the Guys in White! They'll know what to do!"

The Art teacher reached out and pinched a fold of Danny's jumpsuit. "Is this latex?"

"Hey!" Danny knocked his hand away and floated a few paces away from him. "No touching!"

"We should give him a physical!"

"He needs to learn a moral lesson!"

"What he needs is more meat on his bones!"

"Oh, how am I going to capture that glow…"

"Something must be wrong with the inner workings of his mind!"

"The FENTONS!"

"Perhaps it is his molecular structure that is causing the problem!"

"QUIET!" Danny shouted. The teachers instantly quieted. "There is nothing wrong with my body, my mind, or my morals, alright? I just developed a new power and I'm having some difficulty controlling it. That's all!"

The teachers backed away from the panting ghost boy.

Mr. Felucca was the first to gather his courage. He asked, "What kind of power?"

Danny relaxed. "Teleport—"

POP!

The teachers gasped, and stared at the spot where the Ghost Boy had once been.

"NOOO!" the Art teacher cried, and threw down his half-complete sketch. "I was so close!"

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

POP!

"—ation."

"Breach in Sector 8! We have a breach in Sector 8!"

Before Danny had a chance to gather his bearings, several ghost nets crashed into him and bound him to the floor. Where the net touched him, little bolts of electricity shot into his system like static jumping to a doorknob. Danny growled and struggled against the painful bindings, but the whirring of a ghost gun made him freeze. He looked up into the tinted sunglasses of a GiW operative.

"D-Don't move, Phantom!"

Danny's eyes half-lidded in boredom. "Oh great. The Mr. Clean Groupies…"

"Quiet, ghost," another agent ordered. "We have you surrounded."

Danny looked past the two standing over him. "Let me guess, the reinforcements are invisible?"

Danny wasn't able to see his eyes, but the second agent's brows furrowed, and his mouth turned down.. "I don't like your tone, boy."

Danny used his infamous cocky smirk. "Like I care? With only two agents, why should I worry? I could take you guys out easy."

The first agent, the one who had stuttered, gulped. Without warning, he shot at Danny.

Danny gasped, and dove to the side. He needn't have bothered, though. The shot was way off target. It crashed into the wall five feet behind Danny.

"Agent N!"

Danny eyed the scared agent warily. Like cornered wolves, frightened hunters packing heat were dangerous. "New agent?" he asked the other guy.

He grunted. "As green as they come. Listen, kid," he faced Agent N, "there is a rhythm to these things. We exchange witty banter, and then we start shootin' them."

Agent N nodded his head rapidly. "Y-yes, sir. Understood, sir! Should I tranquilize him, sir?"

"Wow, he is green."

The senior agent scowled. "Tranquilizers don't work on ghosts, recruit. Get your facts straight!"

Agent N stuttered apologies. Danny rolled his eyes and wished he would teleport out of there already.

"W-what do we do then, s-sir?"

The other agent grinned sadistically. "We shock him until he loses consciousness."

Danny flinched, but tried to hide it. "Gee, so humane. You must be very proud of your species."

"I am." The senior agent pulled a button switch out of his pocket, and poised his thumb above the large red button. Danny breathed in a deep breath, readying a Ghostly Wail. Passing out and transforming in front of them wasn't an option. "Or, I don't care about yours. Prepare yourself, ghost scum."

POP!

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

POP!

The first thing Danny noticed was the absence of annoying static shocks. The second thing he noticed was the absence of everything else. Including air. He was really glad he took a deep breath before, though the breath was almost stolen from him when he looked down at the Earth. Like, the Earth, the blue planet Earth.

I'm in space! he thought, grinning goofily. He gazed around himself in wonder. He had been to space before, but he'd been too busy fighting to really admire the scenery.

Stars in every direction, as far as the eye could see, he was on the sunny side of the Earth, but he could see the moon poking out from behind the rocky planet. A comet was off in the distance, its ice and dust particles trailing behind it as the solar wind tore at the ice rock. He closed his eyes, and lights danced behind his eyelids as the solar wind hit him.

Danny sagged, and his expression became dreamy. It's so beautiful…this just makes me want to be an astronaut even more! I wish I could stay—Air! He gripped his throat. Air! I need air!

POP!

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

POP!

"Chronicles of Narnia!"

Danny gasped in air, like he'd never tasted anything so sweet. Space was awesome, but it'd be a lot better with oxygen.

"Danny Phantom!"

Danny spun around, and found his first period class staring up at him the same way he had stared at Outer Space. A nervous smile worked its way onto his lips. "I'm just dropping by. I'll be gone in a second, so please, don't let me interrupt."

The class started whispering to each other in excitement, looking like they were seconds away from mobbing him. In the back row, he saw Sam scowl. She hated his 'hero' voice. Tucker waved discreetly to him, and Danny subtly nodded back. He was glad Valerie didn't have his first hour…

"Mr. Phantom!"

Danny looked over his shoulder at Mr. Lancer. "Uh, hello again…"

Lancer frowned. "I take it you haven't fixed your 'problem'?"

"…No."

"Then perhaps you would like to sit in for my lesson," he said, smirking like he had just won a contest. "Perhaps you will learn something."

The students screamed. No longer able to contain themselves, they jumped out of their seats and rushed for Danny. He floated out of their reach, feeling nervous and slightly nauseous. Tucker and Sam joined them in order to keep up appearances, and Danny was annoyed to see Tucker filming it all on his PDA. His classmates gathered below him, shouting for autographs.

Danny backed away, breathing fast. "Uh, I don't know if that's such a good idea! Besides, I probably won't be here for much longer, or at least I really hope not, so I—"

POP!

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

POP!

"…and that is why, I believe we can use the town's little ghost problem to our…" Vlad trailed off when it became apparent he didn't have his audience's full attention. "…advantage…"

Despite the meeting being comprised of mostly professional reporters and self-important civilians, they were whispering rudely amongst each other, laughing and pointing at something behind Vlad. He looked behind him, but all he saw was the red curtain. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"…As I was saying," Vlad said, turning back to the microphone on the podium, "with an interest in ghosts growing worldwide, more and more people will be traveling to Amity Park in search of the fabled beings—one in particular, I might add. I say we encourage this by building tourist attractions that will bring in large crowds of people."

"What?" a familiar voice exclaimed. Vlad smirked, his suspicion confirmed. Danny Phantom flew in front of him, his arms thrown out. "You can't bring more people here! I knew you were a fruitloop, Vlad, but this is going a bit far!"

"Ah," Vlad said suavely, "Amity Park's famous Ghost Boy. So nice of you to join us."

"Cut the crap, Vlad…er, Mr. Mayor…" Danny blushed and glanced over his shoulder at the flashing cameras and excited audience.

Vlad chuckled. "If it puts you more at ease, you're welcome to use my first name. It's the least I can do for our star attraction."

Danny refocused his righteous gaze on Vlad, but he floated to the side of him so his back was no longer to the cameras. "You can't bring tourists here, Masters."

"Oh? And why not? It'd be very profitable for this town."

"You mean it'd be very profitable for you," Danny corrected. "And you can't bring them here because, in case you haven't noticed, this town isn't very safe. The people living here know to run when a ghost attacks, but tourists will get closer because that's what they came to see. People could get seriously hurt…"

"Do you doubt your ability to protect them, little hero?" Vlad questioned, smirking mockingly. "We can use the funds the tourists bring in to hire more competent ghost hunters, so I assure you there is no need for such fear."

Danny scowled at the 'competent' part. "You're making a mistake, Masters. You can hire a hundred ghost hunters, but they won't be enough to—"

POP!

Vlad raised an eyebrow. Interesting… He hadn't expected the boy to develop his teleportation powers so soon, but his apparent lack of control more than made up for his accelerated growth. He'd make the boy suffer a while longer before he approached him.

He turned back to his murmuring audience. "Any questions?"

The crowd shot to their feet.

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

Ms. Tetslaff blew her whistle. Her students looked at her with hope in their eyes and sweat covering every inch of their exhausted bodies. "That's enough for today," she said. "Shower up, you lazy maggots!" The students silently cheered and limped toward the locker rooms.

Tucker almost fell over in relief. He'd take helping Danny fight ghosts over gym any day. He was tempted to curl into a ball and fake dehydration, just so he could sit and relax for a few seconds. Sadly, it was not to be. Sam bounced to his side, and Tucker for the second time that day cursed the girl's athleticism.

She grabbed his arm, and forced him to stumble toward the locker rooms. He muttered complaints, but being the good friend she was, she ignored them.

"Any sign of Danny since this morning?" she asked him quietly.

"Once," Tucker replied. Even his voice sounded tired. "He made a brief appearance in third period chemistry class, and I mean brief. He was there for all but five seconds, but it was still enough to disrupt the whole class and get us out of homework." He grinned. "It was awesome! What about you?"

Sam shrugged. "He popped into second period Art Class. Everybody started sketching him, including Mr. Coal." She smirked. "Danny looked so embarrassed."

Tucker chuckled. "I bet. How long did he stay?"

"Five or ten minutes. There were a lot of disappointed groans after he disappeared, but Mr. Coal managed to finish. It looks really cool too…I also heard he made an appearance for History Class, and Government." She rolled her eyes. "The Government teacher tried to call the Guys in White, but he got taken captive by his class."

Tucker laughed. "Oh man! I wish I had seen that!"

"We can ask Danny all about it once we see him again," Sam pointed out. "If he stays long enough…"

Tucker chuckled.

They split into their gender specific locker rooms, waving goodbye. Still chuckling, Tucker grabbed his shower supplies and strolled into the shower area. Because of a recent ghost attack, tarps littered the area, for once creating some much needed privacy. Too bad Danny was missing it. Mr. Modesty would most definitely appreciate the seclusion.

Tucker stripped down, and was just about to turn on the water when…

POP!

"Tucker!"

Tucker jumped.

Danny nearly hugged him like he had that morning, but he stopped at the last second. He pulled slowly away, making a face. "Uh, you're my best friend and everything, Tuck," he said, "and I love you like a brother, but I am so not touching you when you're naked…"

Tucker hurriedly wrapped his lower half in his towel. "Well no asked you to!" He looked at his best friend, noticing the tousled white hair, the tear in his jumpsuit, and the way his eyes twitched and darted around the room. "Having a rough day, Danny?"

"Like you wouldn't believe!" Danny pulled on his own hair—explaining why it was so messy—and stared at Tucker with unnaturally large eyes. "I never know where I'm going, or when I'm going there! It's all completely random! And I've seen things, Tuck! I've seen things…"

Tucker held his fists against his naked chest, mocking a scared expression. "Were they dead people?" he whispered.

Danny blinked, scowled, and crossed his hands over his chest, sulking. "Oh yeah, ha ha. Laugh at the poor kid who just saw Ember and Skulker making out."

Tucker's jaw dropped and his face turned slightly green.

Danny smirked. "Yeah! Not so funny now, is it!"

POP!

Tucker stared at the empty space before him for a moment, wondering where his traveling friend would end up next.

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

POP!

It happened very fast.

Danny saw what every straight guy dreams about, committed it unintentionally to memory, and was then deafened by shrieks. He screamed too and quickly covered his eyes with his hands. He turned around and tried to fly out of the Girl's Locker Room, but he forgot to go intangible, and he crashed into the lockers. The girls started throwing towels, hairbrushes, and other items at him.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" he shouted over their screams, cowering in a corner. "I have no control over where I'm going!"

POP!

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

POP!

Danny was never so glad to hear that sound. Still, he stayed in a fetal position, too afraid to see where he had teleported to. Maybe if I stay still, he thought desperately, I won't teleport!

"It's alright, Danny," a kind and familiar voice said. "You're safe here."

Danny opened his eyes slowly, and stared up at Clockwork. The Time Ghost in, the form of an old man, smiled kindly back down at him.

Danny grinned and jumped to his feet. "Clockwork! Man, am I glad to see you! Listen, you have to help me! I can't stop teleporting everywhere, and I'm seeing things I really don't want to be seeing, going places I shouldn't be going, and you probably already know about all of this, because you're the Master of Time and everything, but I have to tell you because—"

"Danny, you have something on—"

"—I'm freaking out here, because I can't stop teleporting—"

"Danny, your head—"

"—and I'm seeing things I should not be not be seeing, and it won't stop, Clockwork, make it stop!" Danny leaned his head against his Guardian/mentor's chest, whimpering pathetically. "Make it stop…"

Clockwork hesitated, unsure. He reached up a hand, and patted Danny awkwardly on the shoulder. "I…I'm sorry, Danny," he said, sounding sincerely apologetic. "It's not my place to help you."

Danny's shoulders slumped in defeat. He drew away from the timeless ghost and shook the hand off his shoulder. "Yeah…I should have figured that…Sorry for putting you on the spot, Clockwork."

Clockwork changed into a toddler. He sighed, and shook his head. "There is nothing to apologize for, Danny. You ask far less of me than most ghosts. However," his tone made Danny glance despondently up at him, "I can tell you it will end soon."

Danny straightened, and his eyes brightened with hope. "Really?"

The Time Master nodded sagely. "Indeed." He smirked, and it was very odd to see such a sarcastic look on a kid's face. "By the way, Danny. You have something on your head."

Danny frowned. He brought his hand to his head and pressed down, immediately feeling something lacy. He grabbed it and brought it down to eye level. It was a white bra. Danny let out a half-yelp and quickly tossed it away from him. He wiped his hand against his pants, making a face.

Clockwork chuckled, now a middle-aged man. "I thought you were over the 'cootie' stage by now, Danny."

Danny grimaced. "I'm fourteen, and I have an older sister. You do the math."

Clockwork nodded. "Fair enough. You have ten seconds before you teleport again."

Danny looked dismayed. "So soon? Can you tell me where I'm going?"

"Home, Danny. To Fenton Works." Danny smiled in relief. "But you won't get a warm welcome."

He frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Five…"

"Clockwork!"

"Four…"

"I can't believe you're counting down!"

"Three…"

"Whoever heard of Master of all Time counting down the time?"

"Two…"

"'Hey, I'm Clockwork! I'm counting down because I'm awesome like that—'"

"One."

POP!

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

POP!

"GHOST!"

"Ghost!"

"Warning! Warning! Ecto-entity in the lab."

Danny blinked. "Wow. What a welcome home…"

His mom grabbed an ecto gun off one of the lab tables and shot at Danny. He gasped and quickly dove beneath it, escaping the shot by a hair. Jack shot a net at Danny, but it missed him completely. Still in a ball, it ricocheted off the wall and expanded over Maddie, knocking her to the ground and sending her gun flying. Danny clamped his hands over his mouth, trying to smother his giggles.

"Jack!" Maddie shouted angrily, struggling inside the net.

"Sorry, sweet cheeks!" Jack dropped the net launcher and grabbed the weapon they'd been working on before Danny arrived. "I'll get you out of there as soon as I capture this ghost!"

"Jack! We haven't fixed the—"

"BONSAI!" Jack pulled the trigger. Ectoplasmic goop shot into his face.

"—trigger…"

Danny wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed by his father (again), or be grateful he messed up an attack (again). He just chuckled weakly, and rubbed the back of his neck.

POP!

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

POP!

As soon as the green mist cleared, Danny looked around his new surroundings. What he saw made him grimace, and not just because the green and gold color scheme was an eyesore.

"Ah, Daniel. I was wondering when you'd 'pop' in."

Vlad stepped out of a darkened hallway, haunting smirk in place. Danny spun around and crossed his arms over his chest, lifting an eyebrow. "Do you always have to make a creepy entrance, or is this another fruitloop thing?"

Vlad huffed, looking offended. "It's dramatic, Daniel, not creepy."

"Where'd you learn it from, Villainy for Dummies? Seems like overcompensation if you ask me."

Vlad's eyes flashed red, before he schooled his expression into one of mocking regret. "I was going to offer you my expertise on teleporting, but if you're going to be immature, I have more important things to do." He turned around, walking back into the dark hallway.

Danny gasped, and quickly flew in front of the man. "Whoa, hold on!" He held up his hands in front of Vlad, forcing him to stop. "You can stop this? You can make me stop teleporting?" Vlad nodded, and Danny smiled happily. "Great! I—Wait." The smile fell from his face, and he eyed the man suspiciously. "What's in it for you?"

Vlad's lips twisted into a smirk. "No longer naïve enough to expect anything for free. I'm proud of you, little badger. My price is the usual."

"Renounce my dad and become your evil apprentice?" Danny crossed his arms again. "Forget it, Vlad."

Vlad shrugged his shoulders. "Then enjoy the rest of your life filled with uncertainty." He walked around Danny, raising a hand in farewell. "Ta."

Danny winced. He chewed on his bottom lip, thinking. He hated teleporting. If he ever got out of the rut he had fallen into, he swore the power would definitely be crossed off his list…He groaned, and flew after Vlad. "Vlad wait!"

Vlad halted, his expression triumphant. "Yes?"

Danny refused to meet his eyes. "I…The reward isn't worth the price, Vlad, but…will you teach me to control this power for…Mom's cell number?"

Vlad's eyes sparkled in interest. "You'll give me her phone number?"

It was difficult, but Danny managed to keep from grinning triumphantly. "She'll probably never forgive me, but yes. I mean, it's not like you'll get anywhere with it…"

Vlad smiled cockily. "I assure you, Daniel, I can be quite charming. I'll be your legal father in no time." Danny gagged, and Vlad rolled his eyes. "I suppose we have a deal?" Vlad held out his hand.

Danny stared at it, making a show of hesitating. "Alright…" He reached out and grabbed the other hybrids hand. "Deal."

POP!

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

POP!

Danny blinked, and when his eyes opened, it wasn't Vlad's ugly décor that greeted his sight, but Amity's newspaper office. People occupied cubicles, writing down stories on computers and scribbling notes in their notebooks, but no sign of Vlad.

"No!" Danny screamed, frantically searching the office for his savior. He could have followed him in ghost form, right? The sound of typing and pencils scribbling on paper instantly ceased, but Danny didn't notice. "I was so close to ending this!" He ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth on the open air. "I finally outsmarted the creep, and I get whooshed off before I can even celebrate! Where's justice in that? Is this some great cosmic joke? Just—"

POP!

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

POP!

"GHOST!"

"Jack! Get this net off me!"

"—how many people are laughing at me? The Observants—"

POP!

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

POP!

"Danny Phantom!"

"—are probably having a grand ol' time laughing at me, the jerks. No doubt Vlad finds this whole thing amusing—"

POP!

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

POP!

"Breach in Sector 11! Again!"

"—because he's a total bastard like that. Clockwork, Master of all Annoyingness, acted—"

POP!

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

POP!

"BEWARE!"

"—all sincere, but I bet he's laughing on the inside!"

POP!

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

POP!

"Mr. Phantom! A few questions—"

"And don't even get me started on my friends—"

POP!

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

POP!

"—probably laughing about it at this very moment! Some friends!"

"Danny?"

Danny spun around. His friends stared up at him, along with the whole Casper High cafeteria. He was floating over the lunch line, and even the lunch ladies were gaping openly at him. Slop slipped off one of their spoons.

Danny laughed. "Great. Just great. Of course I'd wind up here, again."

"Danny," Sam hissed, "go invisible!"

Considering the students were starting to rush in his direction, that was sound advice. Danny turned invisible. His fans slowed, groaning in disappointment, but Danny felt no sympathy. He placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, and whispered, "I'll meet you guys at our table." She nodded and whispered the message to Tucker.

Danny sat in his designated seat and placed his head in his hands, just taking time to relax and not think about anything. A few minutes later, Tucker and Sam sat at the table on either side of him.

"Danny?" Sam asked quietly. "Are you still here?"

Danny nodded his head, but realized they couldn't see it. He sighed. "Yes."

Tucker stuffed some mystery meat into his mouth. "So how's your day been?" he asked cheerfully.

Danny groaned.

"Aw, it can't be that bad." He grinned, and nudged what he hopped was Danny's shoulder and not his head. "Sam says you teleported into the girl's locker room while they were changing…"

Sam stabbed her salad, growling low in her throat. She muttered what Danny assumed were threats against mankind.

"They nearly killed me, Tuck."

"Yeah, but you would have died a happy man!"

Danny's lips twitched. "True…"

Sam slammed her spork down, her face flaming. "We are never speaking of it again, and you—" she pointed a threatening finger at Danny's seat "—are going to forget what you saw. Got it?"

"…I don't think I can, Sam…"

Sam growled, and Tucker laughed. Danny smiled, though they couldn't see it, and snuck a fry from Tucker's tray. Being invisible had its perks.

"The school is in an uproar, Danny," Sam said after a minute of silence. "…More than usual. Valerie is going crazy trying to find you, Paulina constantly fixes her makeup, and the teachers seem to be competing against each other…"

Tucker nodded. "There's even a bet going around about where you'll pop in next!"

Danny raised an unseen eyebrow. "Do I want to know who started the bet, Tuck…?"

Tucker coughed into his fist. "Depends on what you plan to do to him—or her! For all we know, the evil, clever, and no doubt charming mastermind might have been a girl."

Danny rolled his eyes, and stole another fry from the 'clever mastermind'. "Uh-huh."

"Have you learned any control yet?" Sam asked.

Danny grumbled. "No. I convinced Vlad to help me, though."

"How'd you manage that?" Sam asked.

He smirked slyly. "By offering my mom's cell phone number."

Tucker frowned. "But your mom doesn't—" His eyes cleared in understanding. He smiled at Danny. "Niiice, dude."

"So, you know how to stop now?" Sam asked.

Danny sighed. "No. Before he had a chance to tell me, I teleported away."

"Well," Tucker said, "that explains the rant. That must have been really frustrating."

"I wasn't ranting!" Danny protested. "I was…expressing my anger to the universe."

"In other words, ranting," Sam concluded.

"…Alright fine, I ranted."

"Maybe there's a pattern to it," Sam suggested. "You've been here for a while. What are you doing differently now?"

Danny shrugged. "Talking to you guys, focusing on not teleporting so I have a chance to relax."

"Maybe that's the answer then. You just have to concentrate on your surroundings and on staying in one place."

He grimaced. "I don't know, Sam. What about when I—"

POP!

Sam groaned, and leaned back in her chair. "Great. Here we go again."

Tucker chuckled. "Look on the bright side, Sam. At least the bet—that I had no part in making—is still on. I'm going to be rich!" He went to grab a fry, but the bucket was empty. He frowned down at his tray. "Where'd my fries go?"

[sword-brainrot]

hENLO ITS ME AGAIN SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, THE HEADCANONS YOU MADE WERE BEAUTIFUL IM ACTUALLY SOBBING GIJGUIHDUGH. anyway its time to go apeshit, it angsty time. Lets say the saniwa is a self-sacrificing type of person and took a hit for someone during battle and is in critical condition (THEY FINE ITS OK THEY RECOVER) how would hasebe, kashuu (romantic), and sayo (platonic) react? seperate of course dearie~! THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU <3<3<3

Heshikiri Hasebe,  Kashuu Kiyomitsu, and Sayo Samonji Reaction to a self-sacrificing Reader (GN Reader)

♡  It wasn't too common for their master to go into battle with them but sometimes the mission calls for it. This being the case. It was an understanding situation but stressful nonetheless. Hordes of enemies swarming the group of swords and their master. Everyone was holding them off while you were going to break the charm on the shrine... But things didn't go exactly as planned.

♡  You hear a loud yell as one of your precious swords, Hasebe, mutters the words he normally does when he gets a severe injury. "It's not over until I die!" His hand gripping his blade and blood flows out of his wounds and onto the cold, hard ground. The enemies seem to notice that the poor sword no longer had any troops on him and one more shot could easily knock him down. More begin to pile over to him, ready to finish him off.

♡  Frantic hammering of your heart in your ears overtook your senses as you sprinted towards him. You could also come back to this time in history to save the shrine but you couldn't get back your sword that you grew to love. Even if you resmithed him, he wouldn't remember you or the memories you share. You can't leave the sword that made you so happy. So your legs carried you until you were right in front of the badly wounded man.

♡  His expression contorted into one of pure terror when he saw you were the one that ran to his aid. Why... Why did it have to be you? Why would you put yourself in such danger for a sword like him?

♡  "Get away from me!” His words fell to deaf ears as you dashed in front of him, and released a crystal colored barrier in front of you both. You were sure that it would hold off the enemies that were hammering against it. You saved him. You were sure. You just had to hold them off until the other swords could rush over and help you two.

♡  Everything was going smoothly until you heard the words that would stay with you forever.

♡  "NAGAE YARI IN FRONT."

♡  Just like that, the Kebiishi lunged forward with it's spear, crushing your barrier and impaling you in all but one strike. White sparkles that was once a shield now floating up into the sky and disappearing as you fell to your knees, clasping the spear in your gut. When did the Kebiishi get here...? Were you their target all along because you were also messing with history? How did this go so wrong...?

♡  Hasebe’s entire body was wracked by sobs as you lay curled in a ball on the ground, writhing around in utter agony. His own injured body slowly hobbling over to your and grasping you tightly. His tears falling down and painting your cheek. The Kebiishi had already pulled out their spear and went looking for more healthy targets to take down.

♡  The pain was too much to bare. All you could do was stare up at the sword that looked so broken.

♡  “You can't leave,” Hasebe whimpered in the highest tone you’ve ever heard from him. He sounded like a child with the way his raspy voice cracked. His grip on you was high and you could feel every shake that went through his body as the sobs broke out. "You can't leave... I have just learned how to open up and love again... Don't you dare leave. Don't abandon me."

♡  "It's all my fault... I should of been stronger. I should of taken that hit.. I-... I love you. Don't go." He hiccuped through strained wheezes for air.

♡  Although your vision was spotting and blurring, you could see Hasebe tremble where he sat. His body was rocking the two of you back and forth. He didn't care about what was going on around you. Nothing mattered if you weren't okay. He didn't matter unless you were okay. You made him feel love and appreciated. You reminded him that he was a sword worth having by your side. A man you loved for who he is. If he lost that, he lost everything that mattered to him.

♡  With one final, ragged breath, you closed your eyes and succumbed to your injuries. Hasebe didn’t scream like you thought he would. He watched you drift off to sleep in utter silence, almost holding his breath in hope it wasn't actually happening. The only sound that came from him was sniffing back tears and coughing sporadically.

♡  By the time you awoke, you were in the infirmary of the citadel. Yagen and two swords who were on the mission with you, Tonbokiri and Horikawa Kunihiro, sat by you. Your eyes opening bought smiles to their faces. Horikawa wiping away the happy tears that suddenly rushed out when he finally saw you open your eyes.

♡  Your body ached all over but it was tolerable compared to what you had just faced before. Your abdomen tightly wrapped up. It was Tonbokiri that explained that they were able to get out when a few of them awakened and rushed over, using the charm stone and teleporting back to the citadel. You were rushed to the infirmary right away and you stayed unconscious for three days.

♡  "When you are feeling well enough... I think you should head over to your room. Hasebe locked himself in there and hasn't came out since coming back to the citadel... We haven't been able to get him to eat or even talk to him." Horikawa explained.

♡  When you felt well enough, you adventured over there. Swords stopping you on the way to express how happy to see you up and okay. They expressed how worried they all were when you came back in such a condition.

♡  A series of knocks on the door were greeted with silence. The static sobbing from the room paused for a moment, then resumed.

♡  Taking out a key, you unlocked the door and slowly walked in. You could see Hasebe in total darkness as he held the picture frame of you two to his chest. His body not even turning towards you.

♡  "Don't you dare come into this room only to tell me something I already know. Get out now before I cut you down."

♡  "Hasebe... It's me."

♡  You could see his body visibly tense and stop breathing. Approaching him with caution, you kneeled onto the bed beside him and placed your palm on his cheek. He leaned into your touch, his face stained with tears. One hand releasing the frame and grasping your hand tightly, as if he was scared that if he let you go... You would disappear right then and there.

♡  "It's really you," he would whisper as his violet eyes slowly locked with yours. It was only then he would fully release the frame and instead grab you, embracing you in the tightest hug you have ever experienced. He would only let up when you winced in pain from how tight it was. His body shaking as he bawled his eyes out.

♡  Hasebe pressed chaste kisses all over your face, making sure you knew he loved you no matter how he acted. "Don't ever do something stupid like that again. I will make them all pain for what they did to you. I won't let a single one walk this earth. I will make them feel the pain you felt times a hundred. I will make them beg to-"

♡  "I'm okay, Hasebe." You would calmly say as you stroke his cheek. "You look exhausted though... Come, let us rest for some more. I won't leave your side, not again." You both would settle down and he will gently hold you close to his chest. His red eyes slowly closing and a small smile present on his face knowing that he finally has you back.

♡  It was the Ikedaya incident. The moon was high in the sky and the cold skin gently bit at everyone's cheeks. For normal people of the time, they were not even aware of the killing going on near them. However the swords and their master were aware. They were planning for this event for a while ever since the History Revisionists came to this time in history.

♡  Most of the swords were inside, dealing with enemies to make sure that no one gets to the top of the stairs where Okita, Kashuu's and Yasusada's, was to meet his end. It was there you stood, at the stop of the stairs, stealing off the door to make extra sure that only people of that time could enter.

♡  Everything was going well... Until you felt the charm on your sash dissipate. You had only given it to one sword... The one sword that was not in the building... The one who was directly involved with this incident... The one sword that claimed that he rather not be muddied with Okita's blood again instead of saying how he didn't want to witness his master and his old sword self die again. The one sword that stolen your heart, Kashuu Kiyomitsu.

♡  You quickly finished the barrier before hearing a yelp as you ran down the stairs, jumping over the last few. Your legs pumped as you quickly dodged enemies and tried to make your way outside where Kashuu was surrounded by enemies. Your skin crawled as you saw Kashuu barely be able to stand and the enemies, with their ruthless gaze, advancing on him.

♡  "Uwa!? Heavy damage...!?" Kashuu managed to rasp as the enemy slammed into him and brought him to the ground. One more hit and surely he would be broken. You could hear the pain in his voice even though he tried to mask it. His body trembling as he was slowly coming to terms that this night was a cursed night for him. No matter if he was human or sword... He dies constantly on this day in history.

♡  He was in danger and didn't have much time left. You quickly took out your ofuda charms from your poach as you called for help to the swords still inside the building, dealing with enemies. It didn't take long before two of them came out but by that time, you were already gone.

♡  You had already run off into the crowd, tagging as many enemies as you could. The tags slowly melting them and making them transform into black dust... But there was far too many for you to handle by yourself. You just had to make it to Kashuu. You just had to make sure he was safe...

♡  "You idiot! Get out of here." Kashuu screamed as he noticed you were trying to make yourself through the crowd to him, all by yourself. You ignored his cries and slid to the side, dodging one of enemy’s strikes.

♡  All things considered, you were able to dodge all the swings coming your way. You were doing well! You just had to make it to him and cast a barrier over the you of you and-

♡  A sword was brought down right as you were about to dodge and landed right against your back. The impact brought you to your knees, only a couple feet away from your lover. Blood pooled underneath you and you gritted your teeth, the pain overriding your senses and bringing tears to your eyes.

♡  You clutched your fists, wincing as crimson bloomed on your shirt. Panic hadn’t filled your veins yet.

♡  Your eyes snapped up to meet Kashuu’s as the enemies loomed over the two of you, ready to finish you off. . Anxiety began to set in, your movements growing more sloppy as you desperately tried to crawl over to your lover. Kashuu slowly reaching for you as well.

♡  "Stop moving, idiot. Just take deep breaths, all right? Just look at me. You're going to be okay... I won't let anything happen to you."

♡  You felt your body grow numb as you lost more blood. You could no longer feel the cold ground under you or the wind brushing against your face. To you, everything was cold. You scooched closer to Kashuu and extended a hand. Though still far apart, he grasped it back and squeezed tightly so you knew he was there. "Kashuu... I'm cold."

♡  “You’re gonna be fine.” He was lying through his teeth. Kashuu could see the glassy look in your eyes. The hand quivered in his, he could feel the life draining from it. Your voice wasn’t a comfort to him anymore, every word you spoke was full of agony and he wished you would stay quiet as to not worry him more.

♡  His own hand was shaking. This night was truly a cursed one. The past him was taken to this place to watch his master die and get covered in his blood only to break in battle. Now he held onto his bleeding out master/lover and couldn't do anything to stop them from slowly fading from consciousness. His lover was bleeding out in front of him and there was absolutely nothing he could do. He tried so desperately to hide the fear from his face, but a single tear slid down his cheek and his expression sunk when he felt you begin to fade away. The last thing you heard as your eyes began to close was Kashuu screaming at the top of his lungs your name.

♡  You were awoken by the sound of someone rushing to your side. Bright light blinding you as your eyes slowly adjusted and you were met with a familiar sight. The infirmary room that you often went in to visit your precious swords and your boyfriend, Kashuu. His own body had be bandaged up and he met you will a smile. "Good morning, sleep well?"

♡  "What happened?" Your voice faint and raspy as you slowly sat up, your back stinging you along the way. But with the help of Kashuu, you were able to fully sit up and get handed water to help your very dry throat.

♡  "Before I answer that... Let's get you cleaned up. As much as I love you, you're a mess." He would give you a teasing grin as he helps you stand. Leading you over to where he can draw a bubble bath for you so you can wash and clean yourself.

♡  He would sit on the side and help you clean up, making sure to extra careful of your back and making sure to massage your scalp as he washes.

♡  "Yesterday... Don't do that again. You know how I feel about Okita's death. I don't need that happening to you. I don't want to lose another person I care about. This citadel needs you so don't go running into a crowd of enemies for just one sword and almost getting yourself killed. You're lucky Hyuuga and Akashi arrived on time or else we would of both vanished from existence."  His hands maneuvered around your body with precision and care as he washed away all of the dirt and dust that marred your skin.

♡  "You're important too, you know." You replied as you leaned into his touch, "I didn't go into danger for nothing. I went into it because of you. I don't want to lose you as much as you don't want to lose me. So next time... When you are in trouble, call for us. I will come running for you right away."

♡  This hands will stop moving and he would laugh from the pit of his stomach. This causing you to turn to face him. Small droplets of tears appearing out the side of his eyes as his laughter calmed down. "You act like if I break, I won't fall for you all over again. You can get me back but I can't get you back. So don't ever try that again, stupid." He would finish off the conversation with him leaning in and pressing a soft kiss on your forehead.

♡  Labored breaths escaped you as you ran in the dark forest. The stems of the tree sprouting from the ground to constantly trip you up... and it was working. You constantly found yourself tripping and having to push yourself off things to keep going. You couldn't stop... They were gaining on you.

♡  This all started when you went undercover to gain information on what was changing in this time in history. It was suppose to be safe! You were suppose to get information while the boys left and dealt with the History Revisionists. It was a trap... They wanted you all along.

♡  You had signaled to them that the enemy was by you before you began your big chase. There had been no sight of them and your legs were beginning to burn. Tripping became more constant and you can hear them getting closer and closer. There was many of them... More than you could handle by yourself.

♡  Your luck was beginning to run out until one last stem tripped you and sent you to your knees. Your ankle shooting pain up your leg when you tried to move it. Fear painted on your face as you looked behind you and saw the glowing eyes in the dark. The blades gleaming from the small sunlight between the branches. Your luck had run out.

♡  Your held your ankle tightly as the enemies rose their blades towards you, ready to end you here and now. Your eyes shut tightly as you awaited for your final breath to come... But it didn't. Instead you heard pains of agony. When you finally found the courage to open your eyes, you saw Sayo standing in front of you with his dagger in hand. Holding off the enemies. He must of been the only sword to be quick enough to make it in time.

♡  As much as you wished to be happy to see your precious sword... There was far too many of them. Too many for one tantou risking his everything to protect his precious master. The both of them were well aware. Maybe if Sayo could hold off until that others get there, everything will be alright!

♡  That was the hopeful thought until a tantou enemy got the sneak attack on him and he received a critically blow. His body crumbling to the ground in front of you as he muttered, "I understand... I don't care how things will turn out...!" His blue eyes glaring at the horde of enemies in front of you two. His body dragging himself upward, planning to protect you to his death.

♡  However, you had another plan. You weren't going to just sit there and let him die for you. He has come so far on his journey of accepting himself, you weren't going to let these monsters take that away from him.

♡  Right as the blade was began to come down and finish him off, you embraced him and turned your body so you would take all of the impact rather than him. Sharp yelp was released from your vocal cords as you held onto the short sword and protected him from the pain.

♡  Sayo couldn't believe his eyes, he stood there tense and wide eyed. "M-Master...?" His voice had always been on the quiet side but this voice sounded scared and barely escaping from his tensed throat. "Why would you..."

♡  "Sayo, you have... So much to live for. You are so much greater than you give yourself credit for. I am proud of you every day, so don't throw yourself away... You are more than the revenge that haunts your heart."

♡  His lips trembled and tears streaked down his cheeks as he held your body that was going limp in his arms. "Don't leave! I don't want to be left alone again. Please don't leave me, aruji!" He would scream at the top of his lungs, shaking you and trying to get you to wake up... But sleep whispered into your ears and sent you into darkness.

♡  Before you even opened your eyes, you could feel pressure on your hand... Were you asleep on it again? Slowly opening your eyes and blinking to adjusted to your surrounding made you realize that you weren't in your bed in your room... but rather the infirmary. Your body was bandaged all over and the memories of what happened in the forest returned to you. The team must of got to you in time before you completely vanished from existence... But what of Sayo then?

♡  Your body jolted up against the pain that was attempting to hold you down. Anxiety rushing through your veins, preparing to look sight of any clue of what happened to the small tantou after you passed out.

♡  Your search didn't last long, for the pressure on your hand slowly shifted and caused your eyes to wandered down to the boy who was clasping your hand tightly as he slumbered. A smile slowly rose itself on your face as your free hand gently stroked his hair. It seemed as he hadn't left your side since recently. It warmed your heart that a sword that often times was very antisocial treasured you so much that he didn't want to leave your side.

♡  "D-Don't leave me." A small whimper of a cry would come out as he tightened his grip on your hand. His shoulder shaking ever so lightly. The fear of losing the people he cares about haunting him even in the dream realm. The fear of his masters being killed in front of him and being stolen piecing him in his heart to leave scars to all of time.

♡  "I won't leave." You soothed, "I'm right here, Sayo. I'm so proud of you. I won't ever leave your side again. I promise you. Now rest well, dear. You needn't worry any longer. I swear to you for all eternity, I will remain right here." A small smile will be barely visible as he leans into your hand and his body slowly calms down before he find a peaceful sleep at last.

[ghost1643]

Saiki K corpse bride au

So before we start let me tell you this is a non ship fic for Saiki. It's more like a revival short story about friendship more than romantic relationship.

It is also based off an old AU idea I had of necromancer Shun.

It also works with trans Saiki, which is canon.

~~~~~~💍~~~~~~~

Our story starts when Shun is 8 and the family dog runs out into the road. He doesn't know how when he stops to think about it. He just remembers his baby brother and dog going out to play, then popping his head out to seeing the car hit it.

His brother screams running to their mother leaving Shun to go pick up the poor thing. He slowly takes them into his arms sniffling as he wraps their tiny body up with his own coat to keep his brother from being scared for life.

Shun then sits on the lawn sniffling cradling the dog in his arms. Yet, as he mourns he finds he cut himself on something. Maybe it was the dog's claw. Maybe it was on the road. All he knows it's that his blood dropped on the dogs nose...and suddenly he could feel it's body shifting.

The dogs body shifted back to the way it was before and it wide awake. Just like that he preforms his only revival as his mother comes rushing out. Thankfully when the dog is brought back, sure with a broken leg, but he brought him back. He brought back their dog.

A dog that lived for another 5 years until turning 15 and dying peacefully in its sleep.

He's also revived bugs before. Right after this he found a smushed butterfly and got curious if maybe his dog wasn't really dead...maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

So he pricks his finger and drops some of his blood on the smushed butterfly. The butterfly pops back into its lively form, flying off. He's resurrected a butterfly.

And from there he starts to convince himself that he's the jet black wing, just like in the manga. He's determined to prove that he's got this power for a reason. He has to have them for a reason.

....which comes back to bite him in the butt one day in high school.

~~~~~~~~~💍~~~~~~

So to put it simply ...shun messed up. Let's just say that.

To be honest he should have thought this through more. All he knew was that his friends asked him to come to a Halloween party, and he was determined to prove he was the jet black wing once there. They had been joking about the powers he had told them he had.

"No Shin I can get most of it. Like the magic hand thing I could see how that pops into your head." Aren sighs looking at him. Shun blushed looking down at the campfire as his few friends talked around him about him.

"Yeah, and we can see how you got the whole magic bought thing.." Chisato says leaning back holding a drink in her hand.

"Look I can do the stu-

"We're not saying you can't we just go a big question.Like how did you get necromancy out of it?" Nedō asks looking genuinely curious.

"What do you mean? I've done it before."

"Suuuuureee you have." Aren sighs.

"No I mean it! My brothers dog go hit by a car and I brought him back! And I brought bugs back before! I mean it!" Shun says determined, mainly cause this is on the one thing he knows he can do. He has done it before. It's the one thing that's made him determined to prove he's special.

"We know it's just kinda hard to believe."

"Oh and Reita talking to ghost is easier to believe!" Shun blurts out glaring at the purple haired boy.

"Yeah well I don't claim to be able to bring them back!"

By now other students are seeing the argument and have stopped to watch.

"Look we aren't-"

"NO, NO I am sick of being to butt of the joke! I will prove it to you! I will revive something for you guys! Name anything! Name a single dead thing and I will revive it!" He yells determined to prove himself. He's done with this all. He's gonna prove he's special and not a liar.

"Shun you don't have to. We just wanna know where the idea came from." Aren sighs holding his hand trying to be supportive. To him this is just his friend trying to find a way to explain why he was so ignored as a child.

"No I'll do it! Name one thing! One thing an I will bring it back!"

"Oh we could send him the the corpse forest!" Saiko suggested from the watching crowd. Everyone just looks seeming pale.

You see the corpse forest is an old forest where people have said to been buried after being murdered for years. So they are told not to go there under any circumstance. Like at all.

So yeah, Shun goes with his friends to the forest to prove he cane revive a body. From here things are gonna spiral.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~💍~~~~~~~~~~

Once in the forest the classmates keep looking for a dead thing. And for once they find nothing but a creepy forest.

After a while they go to give up when they find a branch that Nendo is certain is a hand. Yet, to everyone else it looks like an old withered branch. It looks like it has been through hell and is ready to give out. Not to mention Reita hasn't seen a single ghost here so this isn't a dead person.

Regardless of this they have Shun probe his powers. They have him prick his finger on a rock and have a drop of his blood fall onto the corpse. Fro there they wait...some classmates to tell jokes and his friends to be there for emotional support when it doesn't work again.

So they wait

And wait

And wait.

Nothing happens so the jokes dusty coming from the classmates. Ones about the powerful jet black and his skills. Ones that make him tear up a bit, quickly rubbing his eyes getting a tear wiped off his face which also lands on his hand...

And that’s when it happens.

The branch traces up grabbing the person slides to it, which happens to be Saiko. Everyone screams running off except for Shin and his buds. At first some start to try and pry the hands off of him in a blind panic. Then suddenly Shun drops to his knees and starts digging the hand up. No one clues into why until the digging brings up another hand that’s been trying to free itself.

That’s when those who stuck around realize Shun brought back a person. He brought back a dead person who was currently suffocating in the ground.

Needless to say they dig with him just as the hand lets go of Shun. That is except for Nendo. He seems to just be holding the hand that’s above ground now which he explains had been shaking in fear seconds ago.

As they dig they soon unbury a pink haired corpse who is gasping for breath while their body reforms, while shaking for a second. Once they catch their breath they all just sit around for a second wondering what the hell just happened when Nendo speaks up, still seeming to hold the hand, (that is now clinging to him since the corpse is still scared crap less of what they just experienced no matter how much he denies it) speaks up.

“So we’re all buddies with a necromancy..pretty cool...”

~~~~~~~💍~~~~~

The body Shun brought back belonged to Saiki, a young Psyche from the 1800’s, who was killed by a supposed suitor for identify different from his birth gender. A suitor who may or may not have stole Saikis money when he was killed, and may have buried him alive without telling any one of their families. And by bringing him back, Shun has effectively given him a second chance at life..a life with enhanced powers.

Turns out once when a Psychic is revived their powers just jump up and get better. Shun doesn’t know how gut all he knows for sure is when Saiki first described his power to read minds and float an object in the air, he definitely didn’t mention being able to teleport.

Of course they learn this together when Shun moves Saiki into his father’s old abandoned work room which hasn’t been used for year since his dad left. And it takes so readjusting for the both of them. Shun, to have a person in his life who was picked on for being special too and having someone who acts more like a father than his ever did in his life. Saiki, for living in a more accepting time and with new powers seeming to pop up every other day now.

Thankful Shun’s friends are there to help keep the peace and keep everyone happy...and in Nendō’s case get some new people to try new restaurants with.

Either way they’re happy he’s around, and happy to have a new friend.

(This idea may be built upon more later down the line lol)

[anarchy-and-piglins]

Somehow Technoblade had managed the spectacular achievement of becoming the odd one out in an entire community made up of rare and strange beings.

The fact that all the other residents were non-humans happened to be what made him different though. Wilbur had told him the history of the commune, how their town was founded with the direct purpose of being a safe place for mobs and hybrids to live in peace, secluded from the humans who hunted them, enslaved them, or would otherwise harm them. Their location was kept secret, hidden from most by enchantments, and they were almost completely self-sufficient in the way they were run in terms of food and stuff.

Only occasionally would somebody wander out to another village, to trade or just to seek a little adventure for themselves. Phil especially was prone to do this – a traveler at heart, his Elytrian nature – and he was the one who had found Technoblade in a rather... compromising position.

If by compromising you could mean having an arrow sticking out your back.

People didn't like Technoblade. And Technoblade generally didn't like people, but he liked it even less when they chased him out of their villages with their bows drawn. Phil had been kind enough to remove the projectile. Technoblade had bravely said it didn't hurt but then secretly dug his blunt nails into the palms of his hands hard enough to leave white indents. Then Phil had insisted on taking him home to get a proper look at the wound and clean it up.

Not all of the other residents were thrilled with Technoblade's presence at first, scared it could compromise their location. A lot of their tunes had changed when they found out other humans were the cause of his injury, even more so when Techno revealed this was hardly an isolated incident. People didn't like Technoblade at all.

(Most humans had little tolerance for that which they did not understand. And according to them, Technoblade was weird and very hard to understand. Techno understood himself perfectly fine, he always thought they were the weird ones.)

So he stayed and overall things worked out great. There were only minor issues caused by the 'only human around' thing. Their pub was a good example. A few of the others in the commune could simply fly or teleport, and those that couldn't had no problems either since they could rely on inhuman stamina to make the climb tolerable. Techno had a hundred rungs of a ladder he needed to brave with his pitiful human physique if he wanted to get up there. Same thing for Phil's ridiculously high-up birdhouse.

And then one day he got sick.

It was probably his own fault. Last night when it was storming he'd been coming home from mining and gotten completely soaked out in the rain. A small voice in the back of his mind told him he should probably take his drenched clothes off and get warm and comfortable as soon as he got home – the voice sounded suspiciously like Phil when he lectured Techno about fixing his terrible sleeping schedule and eating more regularly. But he had gotten distracted by putting away the materials he'd mined into his chests and starting to smelt the ore and by the time he noticed he was shivering at how cold it was, his clothes were damp more than wet. He lighted the fire and felt too exhausted to bother getting changed, crawling under the covers as he was - though it didn't completely ward away further trembling.

When he woke up his head hurt and there was this annoying tickle in his chest, feather-light touches against his lungs. The clothes had become sticky and uncomfortable, peeling off his skin. Techno coughed into a fist and set out as normal, intent on resuming his tasks where he left off yesterday.

It would probably go away on its own.

Except the coughing didn't stop. Small bursts of it kept coming up when he needed them least. He was in the middle of one when a voice rang out behind him.

"Techno, are you okay dude?" He must have jumped a solid three feet into the air and for a moment Wilbur only chuckled at his reaction.

"I told you to stop doing that," Techno grumbled, a little too sharply. Just because Wilbur could literally appear out of nowhere didn't mean he had to use that ability to sneak up on him for no reason. Techno coughed again, hiding it in his elbow.

"You did," Wilbur acknowledged with a smirk, but didn't apologize. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look I'm doing, I'm headed to the mines." Techno swung his pickaxe up on his shoulder, kind of almost nearly dropping it in the process with how clumsy his hands were being. Stupid.

"It looks like you were hacking up a lung, really." Wilbur's features softened. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Techno responded. He started walking again, knowing Wilbur would have a hard time following him while in corporeal form. Especially in the daytime.

"Are you coming to the pub later? I've got some new plans to unveil, think they'll be sick." Wilbur did make a valiant attempt at following him, though he quickly started falling behind, floating inches above the ground and unable to keep up with Techno's human strides.

"Uh, I'll think about it?" Techno answered evasively. He wasn't looking forward to braving that ladder in his current state. His arms hurt just thinking about it.

Wilbur stopped to call after him. "What do you mean you'll think about it?"

But Techno was far enough gone to be able to pretend not to hear him as he descended down his mineshaft.

Techno liked Niki's hair a lot. He'd even told her so not long after meeting her.

It was long and wavy and a nice shade of pastel pink that reminded him of the sunset. Technoblade would consider growing out his own hair that long if he didn't know it was way too unruly to keep in shape and stay untangled. And if dyeing it wasn't such a chore – one he knew he'd be too lazy to undertake as regularly as he should – he might have dyed it from its boring brown shade into something more interesting.

Niki was glad he was keeping her company while she tended to it, combing through it with what he presumed was a comb made of a seashell. Techno didn't tell her he had only really left the mines early because his lungs were starting to strain from the dust down there, the coughing fits getting closer together with less time in between to let him breathe. He sat on the sandy shore and traced patterns into the sand with one finger while they talked.

Niki was telling him about her builds, and expressing her disappointment over how she couldn't easily show them to her friends. None of them could breathe underwater or deal with the pressure common at the depths Niki lived. But she loved describing them in detail.

She was just explaining the sea glass she was intending to use when Technoblade started coughing again. His lungs expressed their displeasure through a series of sharp pangs that shot up into his neck. The sound he made was wet and disgusting, like there was something liquid rattling around inside his chest. Niki stopped talking to look at him worriedly.

"Are you alright? Techno, what happened?"

He tried to wave her away but it was kind of hard with his body still intent on making it impossible for him to get oxygen. Techno closed his eyes against the blurriness of his vision to concentrate on inhaling slower instead. "M'fine." He could feel the phlegm in his throat.

Niki was pulling herself onto the beach a little, trying to get a closer look at him. "Are you sick?"

"No." Getting up so fast was a bad idea. His head spun and he felt incredibly shaky. Techno ignored it. "No, I'm not. It's fine. I think I'll just head home now."

He started walking away quickly. The afternoon sun felt unbearable suddenly, scorching. Or maybe that was the beginning of a fever.

Niki called after him to wait but confined to the water as she was, it wasn't like she could do anything to stop him. Technoblade walked until he crested the hill, already seeing the shape of the other buildings in the distance. He made it halfway through the grass field and then he felt too drained to continue. Deciding to sit down for a bit, he lay back and closed his eyes.

"Do you think he's dead?"

"I dunno, we should poke him with a stick to find out."

Techno groaned at the sound of loud voices, ringing painfully around his aching head. He cracked his eyes open – not sure when he had even fallen asleep - and tried to blink the three faces hovering above him into focus.

"Oh, I think he's alive. Kind of." That was Ranboo.

"We could still poke him, just to make sure." Tommy.

Which meant the third person had to be Tubbo.

Techno pushed up on his elbows to get into a seated position, hating how difficult it was. His limbs were weak, as if they were made of jelly or some shit. The light fever had escalated into him feeling like his entire body was on fire.

This was not good.

"-chno? Hey, anybody home?" Tubbo was talking to him, waving one hand in front of his face. If his frown was any indication, Techno had been spacing out for a while.

"Hm?" he asked.

"I think there's something wrong with him," Tubbo said to the others.

"I'm fine." Techno tried standing up but fell back onto his ass a moment later when dizziness plowed into him with the force of a boulder. Tommy snorted.

"Yeah, we can tell." He reached out but pulled his hand back as soon as it came into contact with Techno's skin. "Fuck you're almost the same temperature as Jack Manifold. Pretty sure humans aren't supposed to run that hot."

"I'll get Phil," Ranboo offered, teleporting before Techno had a chance to object.

He covered his face with his hands and sighed. This was going to be a thing now and that happened to be the exact opposite of what Technoblade wanted it to be. He just wanted to go home and sleep this off.

"You're not..." Tubbo broke through his thoughts. The boy hesitated, wings vibrating a bit with nervous energy. "You're not like... actually dying are you?"

Techno tried to answer but was interrupted by another coughing fit first. When he was done Tubbo looked even more anxious than before. "Probably not. It's just a cold."

It was definitely not a simple cold. Pneumonia, more likely.

"Oh good."

Techno agreed. Not dying would probably be good, even if he currently felt like death warmed over.

Philza took him to the pub, much to Technoblade's horror.

All his protests and insistence he'd be fine if he was just taken to his house were brushed off easily, especially when Phil took flight with Techno barely able to keep from falling off his back when dark spots took over his vision. If it weren't for Phil's supporting hands keeping him steady he's probably have fallen off.

Normally Techno didn't dislike flying with Phil – despite the other always making some quip about how little Techno weighed for his height. But this time the vertigo was horrible and made him want to puke. Maybe it was fortunate he had skipped breakfast this morning.

They landed on the wooden porch softly, Phil keeping Techno's arm around his shoulder as he put him down to make sure he wouldn't collapse. Techno wasn't about to admit he probably needed that, though he muttered a quick thanks under his breath, which was starting to get more wheezing by the minute. There wasn't an inch of his body that didn't ache.

There were a few beds in the backrooms of the pub, sometimes used for newcomers to temporarily reside. Techno found himself dumped into one, not really caring where Phil went when he left the room. Not when the sheets were so blessedly cool and comfortable. He could have probably fallen back asleep soon if Phil hadn't returned almost instantly.

"I checked with Sneeg, he said this should help a little." Phil sat down on the bed, holding up a cup with the nastiest-looking brown tea inside it Technoblade ever did see. "I'm sorry we don't have any real potions to give you, but he's closest to you in physiology, so I'm hoping this will be enough. We don't exactly have a lot of experience with human illness."

"Did you ask him if it was poisonous?" Techno asked, eyeing the steaming liquid.

"Don't be dramatic." Phil handed him the cup. Techno sighed and downed the herbal tea in one go, suppressing his gag reflex. Medicinal and earthy, it somehow tasted worse than it looked. He didn't think that was possible.

"Great, can I go home now?"

Phil shook his head as he got up again, taking the cup from him. "You're not going anywhere until your fever breaks. You think I flew you all the way up here for fun?"

"Possibly."

Rolling his eyes as he leaves the room, Phil once again came back only a moment later. This time he was holding a bowl of what Techno could only presume was water going by the cloth that was soaking in it. Phil gestured for him to lie down properly and this time Techno obeyed without complaint.

"I think it's best if you stay here for a while," he said while folding the cloth and putting it on Techno's forehead. The coldness of it did feel nice against his pounding headache. "The pub is the best place for us to take turns keeping an eye on you."

"I don't need you guys to keep an eye on me, though. I'm not a child."

"No, you're just a stubborn asshole with pneumonia." Phil drew back a bit, smile faltering. "And also the only human currently living in the commune. We don't have the needed supplies to treat you should this get worse, so I'd rather not take the risk."

And while he did a fair job hiding it, it was undeniably clear Phil was worried.

"Fine, I'll stay." Techno made an effort of showing how annoyed he was by huffing and pulling the blankets over himself. "But can you at least get me a book or something? Won't help much keeping me here if I'll be bored to death."

Phil laughed – light and teasing. Techno liked that a lot more than he did the worry.

"I'll see what I can do."

He spent a solid week in bed.

Much to Phil's relief, Techno's sickness did not get worse. But without proper medicine, it didn't improve as quickly as they would have liked either. He had to get better the old-fashioned way: waiting for his body to fight off the infection on its own.

Most of his time was spent sleeping. Whenever he woke up somebody else was at his bedside, to make sure he could eat and drink. Phil hadn't been kidding when he said they'd take turns. It was almost comforting to know there was always someone watching over him while he slept, though Techno didn't feel the need to say that out loud.

After that first week, he was recovered enough to at least limp out of his room and around the pub. He was too weak to attempt the ladder and any sudden moves were still likely to throw him into a coughing fit that could last several minutes. But he could sit at one of the tables and talk to Niki when she visited.

Or to the others, who all seemed to be coming by a lot more often than was usual.

Wilbur unveiled his plans and talked Techno's ear off about what he was working on. Fundy came all the way to the pub to try and sell him stolen trinkets. Ranboo was always coming around with some new book for him to read, asking him if he liked his previous recommendation.

(None of them visited as often as Tommy though, who always complained about having to be there while fluffing up his wings, yet always stuck around the longest even when Techno told him he'd be fine on his own.)

And with them around, Techno realized that despite being the only human, he had never felt less alone.

[helisol]

:)

again not a finished fic but very extensive notes, this one’s a chonker, 4k words

tl;dr: take it a ds9 but make it into high fantasy wizards. garashir, kiradax and quodo. we’ve got it all here folks.

SO BASICALLY 

I read a book about a young witch apprentice in a world where every magician has a ~special name~ based on an object/plant/animal they’re spiritually connected to.

then I watched ds9 and got introduced to the concept of cardassians being lizards.

the result- wizard lizard.

So Garak “The Lizard” is a mage that got exiled from his home country and ended up taking a pretty neat job in a rural area of a larger empire where being a wizard is Cool and Widely Accepted. 

his duties include keeping the villages around his tower safe, looking for young mages to turn into apprentices, and sometimes making clothes because he’s Still A Tailor.

however, because of his chronic “i no wanna work” disease, this lizard has not actually been looking around the villages near him for magically gifted children. shame on him. 

because through his negligence Julian Bashir, young village doctor, grew up without even knowing that he can do ~magic~

but he soon finds out when his town gets attacked by a Big Evil Magic Monster. The Lizard is taking his sweet time to come to their rescue and Julian can’t just sit by and watch innocent people get mauled by a Chimera or Giant Mantis.

So Julian does the heroic thing and jumps inbetween a wounded child and the monster in the exact second Garak shows up.

And he gets to watch as Julian unleashes some Magic for the first time.

Then Garak Kind Of Abducts Julian So He Can Teach Him Magic

Garak is contractually obligated and allowed to take on anyone who is capable of magic as an apprentice, and he finds Julian’s magic interesting enough to invoke that contract now. Not Julian himself though. Only his magic. for now.

Julian- for like, the first week- is NOT OKAY with being teleported into a tower fortress by a wizard he finds intimidating and scary, and he loudly protests when Garak actually starts to teach him magic spells.

However, this is Julian, and he *is* intrigued by the thought of being able to use magic For Doing Good.

So one night he admits defeat and slinks up to the tower and goes “Okay. Compromise. Teach me healing magic.”

To which Garak is like 👀 “Okay.”

They start having regular magic lessons mostly focused on healing, which Julian is just naturally good at. So they move on to other things. Which Julian is Not naturally good at.

And he becomes very frustrated.

Garak tries to assuage him and says that he doesn’t have to be accomplished in every single field and discipline- which is logically true- but Julian is having none of it since Garak is accomplished in every field.

In a fit of anger Julian unleashes emotional magic again and breaks some of Garak’s things. Books, vials, a desk, nothing super major. But Julian is still surprised and shocked at himself for causing trouble like this and he Runs Away. Straight up exits stage left.

And Garak, who just got flung against the wall by his little apprentice, just rushes to the window and looks as Julian runs away and he is. Disappointed.

Next we have Julian returning home and everyone is like "Doctor!!! You were gone for half a year???" And Julian is like "I thought I was only gone for a month at most-"

Yeah the joke is time flies when you’re having fun because Julian *did* have fun living with Garak. He doesn’t regret leaving though, after all Garak was probably furious after he wrecked his study he wasn’t.

So Julian says to himself "Hmph. I'll just stay home for a week. Garak will hardly notice I'm gone. And then I can make it up to him."

But Then He Stays For A Whole Month

He has to instruct a new doctor to take over the nearby villages, do some paperwork, help some sick people, practice some magic on his own- and at the end of the month He Doesn’t Want To Stay Any Longer.

He’s always been different from the other village people, and now he finally got a taste of what it’s like to have someone help you to achieve your potential and widen your horizon and he *doesn’t* want to give that up for a boring but busy country life.

So back to the tower it is. Julian arrives, the place is kind of messy, and when he finds Garak he is in his study. on the floor. a little drunk, definitely sad, and Very Surprised To See Him.

Here we get a scene where Garak tipsily tells Julian how much he’s grown to appreciate him, not just for his magic talent, but as a person- and that he’s missed him.

But The Next Morning Garak Does Not Remember

And he's just like "Oh Julian. Youre back. I'd almost forgotten about you."

For a second Julian wants to punch a wall because *Yesterday You Told Me You Missed Me*, but then he just Smiles. settles for what they have right now. and asks Garak to continue teaching him magic.

so they go on. and have. so many gay moments.

And then Garak gets told to attend some kind of magic council meeting/banquet.

Julian says something along the lines of "Oh well, guess I'll stay home. You know, protect the fort. Practice magic." but he's a little sad about it.

But garak just goes "Hmm No. I'm taking you with me"

"What-" "I'm introducing you as my apprentice to the magic council." "W h a t-" "Oh also you need pretty clothes for this so I'm gonna make you some. Since you’re a commoner with no actual taste." "W H A T-"

So garak makes a really nice suit for Julian and for himself they match and they go to the Cool Wizard Banquet.

At which Julian meets a lot of wizards and witches and he's like "Wow this is so exciting!" but he also realises he is a Total Country Bumpkin And Noob compared to these people and their apprentices.

He also hears that Apparently the Local Wizard of every region is supposed to do a 5-yearly sweep of the surrounding towns to check for kids that have magic potential and then send them to Magic School/take them in as their apprentice directly.

And Garak. Did not do that.

He was Lazy and Angery. Exile will do that to you.

Julian isn’t too happy when he learns about this and he walks out of the banquet hall into the garden- to where Garak follows him.

"So just because you were all bitchy about having to follow this country's rules about magic you let me grow up not knowing my full potential? How many of my childhood friends might be able to do magic if they tried?"

“I was in a really bad place back then."

"SO WHAT? Things are okay now because you found me? If you had been two minutes early during that attack you wouldnt even know I could use magic!"

"...but I *wasn’t* early!"

So Julian just throws up his hands in frustration and leaves to get away from Garak for a while.

The next day he mingles more with the other apprentices and they exchange Ideas and Skills and also Gossip about their teachers.

Some of the apprentices suggest that Julian could go to magic school for a while before applying for a *new* teacher, since obviously Garak did him wrong.

This doesn’t sound like a bad idea, so he talks with some older mages and most of them are friendly and are like “Oh yeah, sure, we’d love to take you in.”

But then it turns out a lot of people are talking behind his back about how much of an outlier he is.

(wizard culture is like 50% magic and 50% gossip)

So Julian is standing on a balcony and down below he hears a group of Douche Wizards discussing his inadequacies.

And it kinda makes Julian feel like absolute shit, so his powers go wobbly again. But then enter stage right: Garak

Who properly puts those wizards into their rightful place like "Say one more bad thing about my apprentice and I’ll blast your punk ass back to Romulus. You should KNOW the reason why I dont usually take apprentices, but here you are anyway saying he has no power. He has more power in his pinky than all of you combined."

Turns out there’s an extra layer to Why Garak didn’t do the "Check for Magicians in your Area" thing- it’s because he openly has no interest in training or working with anyone who isnt Special or Powerful.

Which means Julians happens to be. very special. and very powerful.

And hearing that from Garak makes him go 😳

His emotions are running high and he starts *floating*. Probably the worst thing to do on a first floor balcony out of All The Things To Do On A First Floor Balcony.

So he’s Floating and he doesnt know how to make that Stop.

He panics, starts falling and basically crashes right into Garaks arms.

"Oh great, youre right on time. We're leaving."

"What? But the banquet lasts for a week?" also I'm still a little mad but also a little in love with you?

But Garak has already teleported them back to the tower before he can really argue.

Anyway Julian is upset about many things overall, but mostly that he didnt get to dance. He practiced a lot in his off time.

Thank God Garak Knows This 

"...I know how to make magic music. Let’s have a little fun at least."

They dance and Julian starts floating *again*.

Garak 👀’s @ Julian floating "Okay I’ve been recording most of your emotion based powers. This is new."

Julian just Floats Higher out of embarrassment, so garak is like ‘well I'll just join him up there.’

So he does and Julian is like “WHY CAN YOU DO THAT. SHOW ME HOW TO DO THAT. HOW CAN I CONTROL THIS."

Turns out his emotions are too unclear, which makes his magic unbalanced, so really all they have to do is get him some Clarity.

Garak is like "Well one very easy way to do that is-" and then they kiss in the air. Floating. because I’m gay and I will use gay magic tropes as I see fit.

so that’s the garashir side of things, on to kiradax

There's Some Slow Burn In There

Basically Kira is a mage, but instead of using magic to fight she just Enchants Swords/Arrows/Other Weapons.

Because she fought in a wizard war and when there's not a lot of mana potions to go around you have to get creative.

She didn’t get a proper magician name because she was actually never anyone’s apprentice, but people still call her The Blade because she is just so cool.

Anyway in this universe mages age very slowly, and Kira is probably around 60 years old when she meets Jadzia. Which is not a lot in wizard years.

She does feels a little inadequate about being so Young and Inexperienced she didn’t really expect nor wanted to run into the legendary Jadzia Dax who everyone thinks is like 300 years old, maybe more.

So meeting someone who is her complete opposite just makes her go "Hmph. I dont wanna associate with you." 

But Jadzia keeps popping in randomly around her almost every day until Kira snaps like "WHAT is your problem???"

“I never learned how to enchant tools."

"What."

"Can you teach me?"

"The great Dax has never enchanted a single tool or weapon?"

"I took care of everything with other types of magic. Will you teach me?"

So Kira Nerys, The Blade, the person everyone looked down on because she uses enchanted tools instead of magic for everything- is being asked by this legendary mage to teach her something. What an honor. What an incredible thing.

But She Says No

So Jadzia keeps bothering her every day.

But eventually bothering her turned into "Hey wanna get some coffee? Wanna go to the library with me? Can I look at you while youre in the smithy? Do you wanna look at me while I come up with new magic formulas? Wanna get drunk together and maybe kiss but definitely have no recollection of it in the morning?"

- over a span of 10 years.

But at the end of those 10 years Jadzia still hasnt learned how to enchant tools.

And it takes One day at the magic banquet for Nerys to actually realise the Implications of that.

It’s the third banquet they've been to- together, as each other’s plus one.

They color coordinate their robes and wear matching accessoires. The works.

And Kira decides that now is the day to grill her Totally-Not-Girlfriend about the reason why she sticks around.

"You could have just gotten someone else to teach you how to enchant things."

"Why would I need anyone to teach me, I have you to enchant things *for me*."

"No but before I started doing it for you. Like the whole first five years of knowing me."

"Oh well I didn’t want anyone else because I was very much infatuated with you."

And Kira just bluescreens. Error 404 nerys.exe not found.

Until she catches herself.

"You...*were* infatuated with me?"

"Yes? You obviously never saw me that way though. So I stuck around for the good company and the coffee."

Now you see over the course of 10 years Kira’s irritation about Jadzia slowly turned into Something Else. But she thought Jadzia only saw her as a friend.

On the other hand Jadzia definitely had feelings from the start, but because kira was in Denial she didnt act on those feelings.

If I were a shitty writer or- god foirbid- *Straight*, I would have there be a miscommunication right about now and prolong their useless lesbian suffering.

But I’m not.

Basically Kira just goes 

"Okay but when you say *were* attracted to me does that mean you *stopped*?"

"Uh. No?"

"Cool. Excuse me, I need a moment."

So she tries to hide from this sudden revelation and her feelings in a hedge maze, but there’s no use hiding from Jadzia.

 Who, instead of just walking around the labyrinth to find her like a normal person, basically whacks down the bushes in a straight line until she reaches Kira.

"THERE YOU ARE! I used this completely unenchanted sword to get to you and tell you I definitely still like you. Now will you PLEASE teach me how to enchant tools as your first courting gift?"

And Kira is like "God yes you dumbass-" and they kiss.

now wizard quodo is funny because I kind of started this part as a joke but then it all got Serious

First of all Quark is Actually A Really Powerful Magician.

But what does he do with his great power?

Move from his home country to the city of wizards and open a bar.

Because he is still fundamentally *Quark*.

And Odo is still fundamentally Odo, because he is a Shapeshifting Alien From Actual Outer Space You Know.

He still went through the whole "I was studied by scientists (wizards) and couldnt let them know I was sentient for a long time which made me very grouchy and lonely" thing.

So Odo spends like ~100 years going from captivity/being an object of scientific study to living as a guard in the city of wizards.

Basically everyone thinks that Odo cant use magic- including Odo- because, well, he’s a bunch of slime that came from a meteor.

Then he meets Quark, powerful wizard and bartender.

And he has *no* idea who he is.

Only that he’s the guy who runs that one shady gambling bar and is involved in some illegal business.

And Quark is like "Ah finally. A worthy opponent."

So he and Quark have the same vibe as on DS9- where Quark keeps doing illegal stuff and Odo tries to stop him and the universe decides to say enemies to lovers 400k words slowburn.

And one day Quark gets into some Seriously shady business with some people who are now very aggressively demanding Quark give them their money back

and they're. you know. threatening violence.

Odo shows up and right before this one dude is about to straight up sucker punch Quark he's like "HALT!" and Wow He Made A Magic Happen.

Now. Because Quark is Indebted to Odo. He is expected to take him on as his magic apprentice.

At first he is Not Down For That. They both aren’t. So even though technically they are teacher and apprentice they both just refuse to work together.

Until Odo goes to check up on Quark one day- because as we all know he makes it a point to drop by his bar four times a day just to let him know he's thinking about him- and Quark is in trouble again.

Only this time Odo is like "I'm not gonna help him. I dont even know how I *could* help him. Since he hasn’t taught me any magic, the bastard."

So he wants to just pass by and leave when Quark basically starts to just Demolish these people with magic in a frightening and totally not impressive display.

MIND YOU Quark is still generally incompetent. If this was D&D he'd have like, very low skill points but unlimited spell slots.

Anyway Odo goes 👀

Because him being unable to use magic in a country/city where everyone he *knows* can use magic has always made him feel bad.

So he goes to Quark like "Okay. I changed my mind. Please teach me magic."

And Quark tries to teach Odo magic, earnestly. 

And Odo tries to learn magic from Quark, for real. 

But the key word here is *try*.

Because neither is very good at what theyre *trying* to do.

Odo didn’t Really want to learn from Quark and that's pretty much the reason why Quark doesnt Really want to teach Odo. But They Try.

There’s a lot of fights and arguments and "You’re not doing it right" vs "You’re not explaining it right"

But hey, at least Odo can now do some magic, which makes his guard job a lot easier.

He also gets to socialise more with other wizards and their apprentices, and he becomes a generally happier pile of humanoid goo!

Meanwhile Quark slowly but surely turns into a more Respected wizard. And his bar also becomes a bit more respectable as well.

it's almost like,,they both wanna be,,,,their best selves,,

and learning to work together has Somehow set them on the right path,,,

idk man sounds kinda gay,,,,

But then the banquet rolls around.

Quark is like "Oh fuck I Have to take Odo to this social function because hes my apprentice and thems are the rules."

and Odo is like "Oh fuck I Have to attend this social function with Quark because thems the rules."

The vibe they’re both getting is- "It's all fun and games when we're by ourselves but Somehow acting friendly in public feels Wrong." 

So they agree to Arrive together and then split up and spend as little time as possible together lest they fall victim to some kind of *feeling*.

And like all plans that Odo and Quark make it works out brilliantly for Exactly 5 Minutes.

Because while Quark is talking to his accomplished and very boring wizard acquaintances he kinda realises "God I wish Odo were here-"

And as Odo is talking to all these annoying ass apprentices he kinda realises "God I wish Quark was here-"

So that's what they do on the first day of the banquet. and the second. and the third. 

They just keep only seeing each other from the corner of their eyes but dont really get to talk/argue about anything and it's making them feel Not So Good, Actually

Now the fourth day is the kicker.

Because while Odo is talking to some people he gets tapped on the shoulder and there he is! The worst father on this side of the galaxy! Doctor Mora- but like, as a wizard scientist.

"Oh my god Odo? You’re here? How did you manage that? You can’t use magic dont be silly! *I* studied you and who would know you better than me? What? *you* know yourself better? Nonsense, now walk with me- how have you been :)?"

Obviously Odo is getting Very distressed but he can't exactly say No, so he walks around with Mora.

They sit down near a fountain and his ‘father’ just starts grilling Odo about what he's been up to.

And eventually they start talking about Quark

"Wait, *Quark*? The absolute magic failure who runs that disgusting establishment? That Quark?"

"Well I wouldnt put it like that, he’s not-"

But Mora goes on- "Oh no my dear boy that won't do! You have to learn from a *good* wizard. Like me! Dont you want that? Oh I'm sure you want that. That nasty good for nothing will resign as your teacher first thing tomorrow!"

And Odo is like "Now wait a minute, Quark might have his flaws, but-"

"There! See, you admitted it. He's flawed. He can't possibly be a good teacher for you. But I would be! I *raised* you."

But Odo is getting Rather Angy right about now.

"Well you did a pretty bad job raising me considering you didnt even know I could do magic until now."

"I can’t believe it. Quark is such a bad influence on you. You never used to talk back at me. This is what happens when you hang around with people who dont know you like I do."

Then something in him snaps and Odo just goes Off on Mora.

"MAYBE *YOU* DONT KNOW *HIM* LIKE I DO!"

And he basically breaks the fountain theyre sitting at with some accidental emotional magic.

So after Mora goes "...I better get someone to fix that-" and runs off, Odo is standing in front of this broken fountain and thinks about how this might be a cruel metaphor for his life. And then the worst possible thing happens.

He Spots Quark Badly Hidden Behind A Pillar

Internally he just goes 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' 

Externally though it’s more like "How much of that did you hear???"

Quark’s trying to lighten the mood with a "Haha well it's hard to avoid hearing things with lobes as big as mine!" 

But Odo is not playing, so he breaks the fountain some more. As intimidation.

So Quark goes "Okay. Alright. I heard all the parts where you defended my honor. Now move aside."

And Odo goes 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAA' inside again, so he doesnt really move but just gets nudged aside by Quark.

Who returns the fountain back to its previous state.

Things are nice and silent for a second but then Quark disturbs the moment by saying "Okay now, real talk- you want another teacher, is that right?"

So Odos head whips up and he goes "No??? What the fuck quark. I thought you listened to that conversation. Youre the only one I want-"

and he Immediately slaps a hand over his mouth because Oh God That Came Out Wrong-

But Quark is just Laughing and being his usual little shit self like "Haha good one, let's go back inside now. (where the social conventions will force us to remain apart so we dont have to confront what you just said.)"

on the inside though- Quark is just as 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' as Odo

"I absolutely Cannot go inside and socialise right now, I’ve had Quite enough of that." 

"Oh...well then...i'll leave you be?"

"No don’t-"

So Odo quickly grabs Quark’s hand (and Quark just fuckin uh dies on the spot) but he's not very communicative at the moment. So Quark kinda has to just interpret that for himself.

"Aaaaalright- let’s just take a walk then."

So they walk through the rose garden. holding *hands*. and Quark points out nice or interesting things while Odo just nods or hums in agreement.

Until they’ve come full circle and end up back at the fountain, where Quark is like "Okay. Wanna go back inside *now*?" 

Because he swears if they spend one more second like this he will HAVE to kiss this pile of space goo and he’d rather Odo make that decision for him.

And Odo is like "I just want to stay with you."

So Quark is like ‘Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool’, pulls them behind a hedge and kisses Odo.

because on GOD I enjoy the “going from an argument straight into kissing” trope, but that one is actually too on brand for quodo so I HAD to change it up.

[putschki1969]

Hikaru//’s Free Writing Vol.#2

Note: This is my English translation of Hikaru//’s Free Writing Vol.#2. Please enjoy!

『teamLab Borderless Forgetting Time Within “Art without Borders”』〜 Hikaru//’s Free Writing Vol.#2〜

Hello, this is Hikaru//. In this second column I will be doing another "report" just like I did in Vol.#1. I was super thrilled on the day of the shoot because I have always been interested in this place! This time we went to... 『MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: EPSON teamLab Borderless』 !

The nearest stations are Aomi Station on the Yurikamome Line or Tokyo Teleport Station on the Rinkai Line. In the stations you will see lots of posters guiding you to the venue. When you look at all the ads you will get even more excited!

At the venue itself visitors are asked to wear a mask as a measure against COVID-19. You also need to disinfect you hands at the entrance. If you wish you can also get disposable vinyl gloves. On the left side of the entrance there are also lots of coin lockers where you can store your luggage. You should definitely make use of that...I recommend going inside carrying as little as possible! When entering the first room your temperature is measured with a thermo camera.

After the temperature measurement there is this huge message plastered to the wall. What do they mean by "wandering"? That’s what I asked myself when I saw these words. But once you have experienced it all, the words will make sense *laughs*  Well then, let’s go inside! You have three options at the beginning. Many museums have a certain route that you need to follow in order to enjoy everything properly but with "TeamLab Borderless" it’s up to you where you want to go, you can go wherever you feel like going. Being led by your feelings is the best way to enjoy art!

I really like butterflies so I am going to the "Butterfly House" first. Butterflies are flying all over the room! If you try touching the butterflies because you think they are so beautiful and cute they will crumble and fall to the floor...The butterflies born here jump out of the room and move on to join the other art in the museum. So you don’t have to feel sad about saying goodbye to the butterflies since you will meet them again soon, you only have to take a few steps to see them flying around in various places.

After chasing butterflies I went to the "Forest of Flowers and People, Lost and Reborn". There are flowers all around the ground and across the walls! Flowers will appear where people are standing and after a while they scatter again, when you stay at a single place for a longer time the flowers will bloom. It’s a very photogenic space. It's large as it is but since there are so many mirrors the space feels even wider! ♪ You can easily take a ton of selfies here *laughs*. Enjoy the various flowers! There are some smaller rooms with several little spaces where the work is displayed on monitors. Also, you can see some animals decorated with flowers moving along the walls. Please try to touch those animals and see what happens ♪

After encountering the animals I entered a space with a big waterfall. The flow of water changes when people stand or sit on it and when you stay there for a while flowers will start to bloom. On the walls where the water doesn’t flow you can see all kinds of art. What might happen when you touch the flowing kanji? Please experience how the art changes when you manage to touch it!

"Team Lab Borderless" is a permanent exhibition but depending on the season you can see lots of different art! Right now you can experience a special "seasonal exhibition", I got to see it. iI’s amazing art that feels reminiscent of Japanese paintings! Apparently this is the first time the exhibition, “Proliferating Immense Life” is open to the public in Japan. Even though it’s a seasonally limited exhibition I would like to talk a little about the art. In the “Flowers - Layered Ultrasubjective Space” you can drown within countless semi-transparent images of hydrangea from June to July. The space “Memory of Topography“ depicts a rural mountain landscape of varying elevations. The scenery instills in the viewer a feeling of eternal permanence. From June to August you can enjoy lush rice fields and crepe myrtles. With the flow of real time the scenery is continuously changing so when I was there, thunder struck and it rained down heavily onto the rice fields (※ Please note that there is no actual water in this exhibition).

In the “Forest of Resonating Lamps” you can experience the sensation of being surrounded by the soft light of lamps whose colour scheme changes as people stand nearby. This production is very much reminiscent of the hydrangea you can see from June to July. The lamps are specially arranged and they are hand-made from Murano glass (Venetian glass). If you take a close look at each individual lamp you will notice that they all look different. The seasonal art is constantly changing. Even the staff members do not know when something new will be installed. So I consider myself very lucky to have been able to experience all these seasonal exhibitions.

Now, let's return to the permanent art. When you continue onwards you will be joined by crows as you enter the “Cave Universe”. This work is to be viewed from a position close to the entrance. The work begins when crows of “Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well” enter into the Cave Universe in the middle of the aisle.  If you stand at position close to the entrance the boundary between the wall and the floor disappears, the real space dissolves and the lines drawn by the trails of the crows appear to be drawn in three dimensions in the space. Eventually the body becomes immersed in the artwork world, and the border between the artwork and the viewer dissolves. I really want everyone to experience this!

The next space you will reach is "Wander through the Crystal World". This interactive installation artwork uses an accumulation of light points to create a sculptural body. The Crystal World is created when people use their phones to send elements of the natural world into it. It's beautiful and fun ♪

Then we continue towards the “Athletics Forest“ area. In the “Weightless Forest of Resonating Life” you can be three dimensionally immersed by various objects of light that move as though they’re defying gravity, they will also be changing colours... I tried putting an object above my head *laughs*. The “Aerial Climbing through a Flock of Colored Birds“ space features connected boards hanging in mid-air on ropes, creating a floating three dimensional space. You can train your body by trying to navigate the space in mid-air *laughs*.

In “Graffiti Nature - High Mountains and Deep Valleys, Red List” various creatures drawn by visitors live in a large, three-dimensional space consisting of slopes with different elevations. Challenge yourself and draw one of the endangered animals! I did it, I completed my drawing! Once you hand your drawing to a staff member it will appear within the space..It almost feels like you are a parent watching over your child *laughs* You start getting attached!

Last but not least I would like to introduce the "EN TEA HOUSE Genka-Tei". This is the only food and drink art space in the museum. The first thing you will notice when you enter the room is the strong aroma of tea. There are four types of tea, tea leaves from the mountains of Hizen in Kyushu are used. There is also a set menu with rich green tea ice cream filled with umami flavor and accompanied with shirotama. You have to order first at the reception. Then you will be guided to your seat. Tatami mats are used for the tables and chairs, making it a relaxing space. Tea and ice cream are brought in, the art starts once the set is placed in front of you. Make tea and a flower blooms inside the teacup. Flowers bloom infinitely as long as there is tea. Smell, taste, sight... It was a space where all senses were stimulated, a truly healing experience.

There are so many great artworks in "Team Lab Borderless", I cannot possibly write about all of them. I hope you will visit and experience it all for yourself! These are the words written at the exit.

This time, I was wanderiing around the museum for about two and a half hours without a map. Even though I spent so much time there I still couldn’t go everywhere, I only saw parts of it. There is still so much left to discover. I wanna come here again! And here’s a bonus pic for you! I was so absorbed in the art that I didn’t really take too many pictures of myself... *laughs*.

I had a great and exciting time, this experience gave me the opportunity to reflect on many things! Well then, until next time! Text = Hikaru// Photography = Yuki Ohashi, Hikaru//

[audiopilot]

Snippet: Remanence Chapter 6

This chapter was hard because it culminates in the scene I initially planned for when starting this fic, but it’s been a long time since I started writing it, and I’ve begun to doubt whether it’s a good idea or not. Idk how many people who read this series enjoy the horror elements over the smut. Especially since there hasn’t been that much of the latter in Remanence lol. It is a scene I will need to add another tag for and definitely comes from my love of body horror. 

So while I am not entirely confident on this chapter’s quality, which is why I’ve sat on it for awhile, I plan to post it within the week barring nothing major coming up. Below is the beginning of the chapter as a preview!

No one spoke.

The tension between the three of them stretched out into the very forest around them, like it was watching their passing with anticipation. There wasn't a hint of the thick fog that marked where the divided spaces met, the space beyond the trees obscured by darkness. The dry crush of dead leaves under Laurie and Ace's feet was too loud, but Jake resisted telling them to walk more carefully. It wouldn't make a difference, Jake had no doubts about the entity being aware of them. It had made a point to lead him out of the fog and here he was, running right back to it with other people in tow.

It stirred up a strange feeling. If anything went wrong, it would be his fault. The sense of responsibility left him uneasy, reminded him of things he wanted to forget.

Every step wound his shoulders tighter together. He inspected the crowded branches above for a sign, a flash of black feathers or burning embers.

From the beginning, Jake had never feared these woods in the same way as the rest of the survivors. Compared to a trial, their emptiness had been reassuring. Exploring it had been the closest thing to his life before the entity. He sought out its borders in the dim hope of some way out. He had crossed into them from the forest he knew; surely the path back existed. Eventually that thought grew smaller and smaller as he lost track of how many trials the entity put him through. When Nea arrived, it had turned into a habit and easy excuse to get away from the crowded campfire.

He had never stopped thinking of it as familiar.

Everything he'd learned about survival had no purpose here. There was no point in knowing how to search for water or hunt for food when those needs no longer remained. There was no oncoming winter to prepare for, no need to fix what the elements weathered down. Why did it matter that he could light a fire, when the campfire burned without ever consuming a thing? Their existence was guaranteed whether they wanted it to be or not. Survival had become about something else.

In all the times he had wandered these woods, how close had he been to danger without realizing it?

The thought was undercut by Ace tripping over a tree root with a soft curse. Laurie whipped around at the sudden commotion, hand over her pocket. 

Ace waved his hand at them, lips tugging up at the corners as he flipped it up to make their "all okay" signal. Apparently he'd been putting more of an effort into learning them.

Laurie didn't relax as they continued, hand close to where she obviously had something sharp hidden. She continually scanned around them. In contrast, Ace hadn't stopped smiling, arms swinging a little at his sides. His previous solemnity had evaporated, and he paid more attention to the ground than the surrounding woods.

Too confident, Jake thought, but that seemed to be Ace's state of being.

Jake stared into the trees ahead without really seeing them. There was no "path," no clear signs of his earlier passing. It was his sense of the bond that he followed. In and out it went, like a faint scent that refused to reveal its origin. There was no clear impression of Myers on the other end.  

He licked his sensitive lips, the corners of his jaw still stiff. It had to have been less than a half-hour since he'd been on his knees, quick to give into need like he was back in high school again. He did his best to ignore the uncomfortable, sticky aftermath underneath his clothes. While he'd cleaned himself the best he could, it wasn't the same as actually rinsing off in a shower. Even standing under the freezing water of his old, makeshift one would have been preferable, especially the longer they walked.

Nothing changed. It hadn't taken him this long to arrive back a the campfire, and Jake's doubts increased as Ace kept pausing to comb through the grass until his hands were full of items. Compared to when Jake and Meg looked for things, Ace was practically tripping over supplies, but having to stop for him to catch up was quickly growing old. 

After Ace yet again made a soft exclamation and split off, Laurie demanded, "Will you stop?"

"What's the hurry? Look at what I'm finding!"

"Do you have to do it now?"

"See this beauty." Ace showed off the last thing he'd picked up. It was a syringe. Within the glass barrel, a brightly colored substance sloshed and bubbled.

"What is that for?" she asked.

Ace looked back at it before shrugging and Laurie scoffed.

"It instantly heals you, even when you're dying."

Both survivors jumped at Jake's interjection, like they hadn't realized he was right there and had ears.

"Useful," Laurie observed and Ace nodded with a grin.

"Only in a trial," Jake said, picking a slim gap between two trees to keep going. He had to duck slightly to avoid brushing against their low branches. "Which this isn't."

They both followed without further comment. Right when Jake began to think the entity was blocking them from ever finding it, the forest began to thin and the darkness lighten. 

Slowing, the survivors grouped closer together. Jake raised his hand in the signal for them to stop when the fog completely overtook the forest and enveloped them. Jake looked around. He had been able to spot the campfire last time, but the fog was all-encompassing, not a hint left behind of the clearing or woods. If he took a few more steps it seemed like he would lose sight of even Laurie and Ace.

"Is this it?" asked Ace as Laurie pulled out her broken piece of glass. Something about it struck Jake as odd, but he couldn't figure out what. Like he'd forgotten something important. Distracted by the jagged edge in her hand, Jake's response died in his throat when he saw a dark shape force the fog to part.

Someone approached.

Jake instinctively grasped at the bond, but it slipped away. 

The raw sounds of her breathing betrayed her identity before she drifted fully into view. Ace fumbled with his load of items, dropping half of them to scatter everywhere. A battery bounced past Jake and rolled underneath the nurse's limp feet. Her head lolled as she took in all three survivors. Closer to her than Laurie or Ace, Jake didn't dare look away as he started to walk backwards.

She teleported without warning, a blast of displaced hair hitting Jake as she appeared over him. She swung her bonesaw down over his head and Jake tried to avoid it. It ripped into his arm, past his sleeves and biting into skin. Jake bounced into something, blocking his escape. Jake clutched at his stinging forearm, seeing nothing there. Without realizing it, he must have crossed the barrier and it was back to being impassable. The timing couldn't have been worse.

He thought he heard Ace say something about an oven, which didn't make any sense. When he checked on them, Jake was puzzled to see Laurie kicking at thin air. She was too far away from the barrier, based on where he stood, so why...?

The sound of bells. He twisted to keep everyone in sight even while the air distorted and burned next to him. He hadn't bumped against the barrier at all.

White eyes aglow in his stern face, the wraith fully materialized.

Jake was trapped between both killers.

The wraith growled, reaching for him, and Jake ran. He was too slow, the wraith catching him by the back of his jacket. Wrenched upwards, his feet were left kicking the air and his collar pulled taut around his throat. Jake managed to grab overhead at the wraith's hand. His fingers slipped across a thin wrist, the metal bracelets covering it parting until he accidentally touched the wraith's cold skin. The butchered, human skull at the end of his demented weapon filled Jake's vision. 

"Corrupt filth," the wraith spoke, deep voice hollow and raising every hair on Jake's body, "Transgress no further."

Then Jake was suddenly hitting the ground, something giving in where it shouldn't have with a dull pop that he both felt and heard. Hands pulled at him, yanking on his shoulder and Jake panted through the blazing flare of pain. 

"D-don't," Jake gasped. Ace frowned down at him. "My arm."

Ace's face went understanding when he saw the way it dangled. Jake couldn't move it and used his working arm to hold onto Ace and pull himself into a sitting position.

The wraith had thrown him onto the survivor side of the barrier. Laurie positioned herself between them, brandishing her glass shard, but neither killer attempted to cross. The nurse floated until she was beside the wraith, the small lights around her left hand spinning fast.

"Is he okay?" Laurie asked. 

"Could be worse," noted Ace. Despite the nonchalant words, there was a fine tremor coming from the hand resting on Jake's back. Ace was shaking. "Shoulder's dislocated. You positive this syringe won't help?" 

"I'm sure," Jake said. It would be a waste. "I can make it."

He failed his attempt to stand before he even started, too lightheaded as the muscles all along his shoulder felt stretched beyond their limit. All he could smell was Ace. Despite the pain and the danger only an invisible wall away, he was uncomfortably aware of Ace's scent, gone sour with fear though Ace hadn't stopped smiling. He didn't want to think about what Ace could scent off him in return.

Ace didn't mention it as he murmured, "Come on, kid, let's get you on your feet."

With his support, Jake was able to get upright. But the more helpful the man was about it, the more Jake's stomach rolled hot. He'd been caught entirely off guard, relied too much on the bond while distracted by his own thoughts when he should have been ready to encounter trouble. 

Myers' attention suddenly crawled over him, touched him from head to toe. His shoulder throbbed when a phantom touch swept over it.

Stop it, Jake thought.

"What is that?" said Ace, stiffening beside him and Jake glanced over in surprise. Had he noticed the bond somehow?

"Michael," Laurie said the name like a curse and he realized both betas were staring out into the fog.

Myers stood behind the wraith and nurse.

[therainroguefanfiction]

🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 032 [Insanity Loves Company]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 2,728

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

〈“A knife in my heart couldn’t slow me down, my fire never goes out. I rise from my scars, nothing hurts me now. ‘Cause power is power, now watch me burn it down.” SZA, The Weekend & Travis Scott, “Power is Power”〉

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

“Oi.”

“Go away, I’m trying to fucking sleep.”

“Oiii~” Smack.

I shot up, glaring at the spikey chihuahua standing next to me, my hand on my stinging cheek. “What the fuck did you hit me for, Bakuhoe?!”

“Your next match is starting soon,” his vermilion eyes narrowed. “Your dumbass didn’t even watch the competition.”

“What’s life without a little surprise?” I hummed, stretching my arms above my head, my back cracking. Man, they really need to get some better fucking beds for the injured. This shit feels like a piece of springy cardboard. “Who am I fighting?”

He shrugged. “Some extra from class B.”

“That’s maddeningly unhelpful, mate.” I slid off the bed, pulling my boots on. “I’m leaving, Gran!”

She stepped away from Reggian and smiled. “Do your best, deary.”

I nodded, stepping out of the temporary nurse’s office and taking off toward the arena. I stopped just before the beam of light that peered into the dark hallway, waiting for Mic to call me out.

“You better not lose,” Bakugo grunted. “Only I’m allowed to beat your ass, got it?”

“So I’ve heard,” I chuckled, holding my fist up. “Top two, aye? You better be careful, bro. I might just take first place out from under you.”

He smirked, smacking his fist against mine. “Bring it on, you bitch!”

“Returning for battle number five, she heated up the competition in the first match, it’s class A’s Winchester!!”

I took a deep breath and stepped out into the light, heading for the arena. Dealing with all these eyes on me ain’t getting easier the second time around. The eyes, the eyes~! I snickered.

“Versus! He softened up the competition in the second match, it’s class B’s Honenuki!!”

Skeletor stepped out from across the arena, his shoulders slightly slumped. “What kind of lame introduction is that?”

I raised a brow at him. That was some kind of hint for his quirk, right? “Mic tries to be original, but most of the time his comments are just lame.”

He smiled but said nothing in return.

“Ready?! … BEGIN!!”

In a flash, his foot slid forward and the ground started to soften beneath me, my legs sinking into it. Is this… quicksand? Jeez, this guy’s gonna be a pain in the ass, ain’t he? After getting some rest, I should be able to teleport a few more times, at least, plus it’s not that far so it shouldn’t take much power. I focused on the strip of solid ground behind him and I teleported.

He turned his head and my flaming fist connected with his cheek, making him stumble backward. He lost his footing and fell into the softened ground, but he didn’t slowly sink like I had, he fell through it like it was water. A bead of sweat rolled down my cheek as I waited with bated breath.

“Winchester has pushed Honenuki into the softened ground he created trying to trap her!”

Oi oi, he ain’t surfacing bro. What if he can’t? What if he’s unconscious? He’s gonna fucking drown in that shit. If his quirk deactivates, it’ll harden again, right? Fuck. I groaned loudly, my mind protesting what I was about to do, but I knew I had to. Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward into the softened earth, forcing my body threw the substance toward the spot he had landed. It felt like I was trying to walk through four feet of snow mixed with Elmer’s glue.

“Is she crazy?! Winchester just willingly stepped into the softened earth created by her opponent! Just what is going through her head right now, folks?!”

Fingers curled around my ankle and yanked me down hard. I just barely managed to suck in some air before my head was submerged, my body falling deep beneath the surface, which shimmered as it reflected the sunlight beaming down on me. It was like I was underwater, but the water was thick and had murky. I squeezed my eyes shut as they started to burn. I tried to move my body but it feels so heavy, like the world is crushing down on top of me.

How long can I hold my breath again? Thirty seconds, maybe? Forty if I push myself, I guess. How the fuck do I get out of this mess? Damn it… if I lose here, will Toshi be disappointed? What about Aizawa? And Snipe, even? Have I given it my best shot? No… I don’t want to lose here. I want to show Toshi and Zawa how much I’ve grown since they first met me! I want to show them that their time wasn’t wasted on me!

“Your determination is finally starting to awaken… little Winchester.”

Ugh, this fucking guy again. Get the fuck out of my head, you bastard, I don’t have time for another hallucination!

“I assure you, I am no hallucination.”

Yeah, sure, that’s what they always say. Fuck off, I’m busy.

He chuckled and I felt warm hands on my shoulders. “Your strength and control have risen since we last talked. I am impressed by your progress thus far. However, you still must find your resolve. Search hard, little Winchester, so that I may finally meet you in person.”

My resolve, huh… What is it I want from this life? Fame? Fortune? Sounds like a pain in the ass to me. I want… to repay the kindness that Toshi has shown me, the warmth he’s given me from the moment he met me. I want him and Zawa to look at me and smile, not of worry, but of pride. I want to get stronger, so I can make them proud, so I can protect Izuku and Todoroki, and Bakugo and the rest of those idiots in my class.

Except for Mineta. He can go choke on a dick and die.

“Onodero grows closer by the day. Only a Winchester has the power to stop his return.”

The pendant against my chest lit up in the darkness, the soft white glow shining through my shirt. It was warm. The warmth spread throughout my entire body, flames forcing their way to my skin. They started out as just small embers, pushing and shoving at the earth around me that did its best to suppress them. They steadily grew, encasing my body like a warm blanket.

“Use the power you were given to chase after what you believe is right. Never lose heart, little Winchester, for I am with you always.” A warm hand enveloped mine and I felt a wave of serene calm come over my mind.

I don’t know who the fuck you are or what you want, but I won’t fucking lose here! The calm faded as my blood boiled, my skin turning red as the flames pushed away from my body, spreading out until the entire pool of softened earth was boiling. I focused on my feet, using my fire to propel me forward toward the surface. My head broke through and I desperately gasped for air, coughing and wheezing as I tried to grab onto something solid.

“After one excruciating minute, Winchester has broken through the surface of Honenuki’s softened earth prison! Incredible!!”

My eyes stung from the dirt and concrete, my lungs burning angrily at being deprived of oxygen for so long. I forced my eye open, ignoring the tears that blurred my vision. He took a defensive stance, his eyes narrowed. I teleported in front of him, close lining his neck with my forearm, using all of my strength to push him backward. His feet dug into the ground, softening it to stop him just before he fell out of bounds.

I growled angrily, flames rising up from the softened earth behind me, swirling and morphing until they formed a phoenix. I thrust my hand forward and it released a high pitch caw before flapping its wings and dive-bombing. It hit him in the stomach, picking him up off the ground as it propelled him toward the wall. Inches before hitting it, the fire pulled back, curving upward and doing a loop before returning to me, flying in a circle above me.

I leaned over, my hands on my knees as I breathed heavily, unable to keep my eyes open. The phoenix cawed again before the flames slowly died out until embers floated across the breeze.

“Honenuki is out of bounds! Winchester advances to the next round!”

I fell to my knees, hanging my head. There’s no way in hell that was just another hallucination. It was fucking real, but what is it? He mentioned that fucking name again… Ono something? Seriously, what the fuck even is my life? I groaned, letting my body fall against the cold cement. It feels fucking amazing. I wonder how mad Todoroki would be if I hugged him and asked to be made into a popsicle.

“Winchester finishes off her second battle with a beautiful display of a phoenix! How cool is that?!”

“Are you alright, Jen?” Midnight kneeled beside me, her voice soft as her warm hand rested on my back.

I held my thumb up and grunted. “Can’t see, but I feel fucking fantastic.”

She sighed. “Honenuki, would you help her to the nurse’s office?”

“Yes, ma’am! Can you stand?”

I grunted again, pushing myself up. He grabbed my arm to steady me before wrapping it around his own.

“Careful of the steps,” he said just as my foot slipped.

“Maybe some warning before we get there next time, bro.”

He chuckled. “Sorry.”

I felt the warmth leave my skin and I assume we stepped into the hallway out of the light, our footsteps echoing down the corridor. The sound of the crowd faded as we walked farther.

“You’re pretty strong,” he commented. “I thought for sure I had you beat when you fell in! You must be pretty clumsy.”

I didn’t fall in, I jumped in, idiot. I didn’t know your fucking ass could swim through the shit. “Totally,” I heard a door slide open.

“Oh my, what happened this time?” Came Gran’s voice.

“I can’t fucking see,” I muttered. “And this one could probably use a kiss or two, too.”

“Of course, of course. Have a seat, my dears, I’ll fix you both right up!” I was led farther into the room and I felt hands gently push me down, my ass landing on the cardboard mattress. “Gimme some sugar~ Mwah~ Mwah~” She kissed him and then kissed me.

I felt my energy drain and I groaned, falling back and slowly opening my eyes, squinting against the white fluorescents above me.

“Thank you, Recovery Girl.” Honenuki bowed before turning to me. He looked disappointed, but smiled nonetheless. “Good luck in your next match.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I watched him leave before shifting so I was laying on the bed properly. Gran hummed a tune as she went back to her desk. The sound of a curtain being pushed aside made me glance across the room, meeting the pink eyes of Reggian.

He was laying at the foot of the bed, his feet tucked under his pillow as he played around on his phone. “Did ya lose, nerd?”

“No, I won.”

“Whack,” he propped his cheek against his hand, scrolling through his phone. “You look like you lost.”

I scoffed, throwing my arm over my eyes. “I didn’t fucking lose, you twat. I always look like this. It’s called resting bitch face.”

“Are you sure? Because your face looks like your mother was a piece of moldy bread that neglected you.”

“Oi, you were dropped on your head as a kid, weren’t you?”

“No, but I did, however, jump into a wall when I was three.”

“That explains a lot.”

“Rude.”

“Shut up, I’m trying to get my beauty sleep.”

“You’re gonna need a lot more than sleep to be beautiful.”

I threw my pillow at him and he laughed.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

“Thank you, Recovery Girl, for healing my wounds~” Reggian bowed to her before turning to me. “Thank you, Winchester, for being the test subject on my new special moves!”

I scoffed. “You’re not fucking welcome.”

“I’ll have you know, you didn’t kill Pablo. He retired and is living happily with his sister, Clarissa the Cactus.”

“You killed his son.”

“How fucking dare you,” he huffed, putting his hand on his hip. “You better not lose and make me look bad, Winchester!”

“You don’t need my help to look bad, bro.”

“I will rip your lips off and sew them to your forehead like horns.”

“Dope, then I never have to speak again. Do you know how much fucking energy talking takes?”

We stared at each other for a solid minute before we both started to laugh.

Gran shook her head. “Kids these days.”

“Later nerd.”

“Later thot.”

Reggian opened the door and ran face-first into Izuku, their foreheads slapping against each other before they stumbled back. I laughed, “Dumbass!”

He glared at me before apologizing and leaving the room. Izuku stepped inside, clutching his left hand, two fingers swollen and badly bruised. Gran said nothing to him as she waved him over, healing the broken fingers before wrapping them in. “That should do it.”

The door slid open again, Toshi stepping inside before closing it behind him. Izuku gave him a nervous smile before speaking up. “That match with Shinso… I couldn’t smile through it like you would.”

Toshi sighed, rubbing his neck as he leaned against Gran’s desk. “I heard some of the things he said to you. It must’ve been painful knowing how much you could relate to him.”

“Yeah… but I still couldn’t go easy on him. I have to keep my eye on the prize, aiming for the top! Just like you said.”

“Oh, you poor little darling.” Gran sighed before turning to Toshi, annoyance clear in her voice. “Have you been putting too much pressure on him again!?” She slammed her arm backward, connecting it with his right side. He grunted in pain.

I grinned, moving to sit beside Izuku. “Gran is pretty hardcore. I love it.”

“Y-Yeah…” He nodded, eyes wide.

“It was necessary and that hurt!” Toshi responded, his voice gruff as his thin body shook.

“Oh yeah, All Might.” Izuku leaned forward, catching everyone’s attention again. “I had… some of vision in the match. There were… people. Maybe eight or nine of them? I’m not sure. When I was under Shinso’s control, it felt like my brain was full of fog or something, but when the vision appeared, it completely drove the fog away. That’s what I was finally able to move for a second – just my fingertips. One of the figures had eyes just like yours, All Might. Do you think… all the people that used One for All in the past were there pushing me on? Like spirits?”

“Spooky,” Toshi’s body was shaking, his face drained of color. “I’m a ghost?!”

“Ah! I thought you’d have answers!” Izuku cried.

I looked away, resting my cheek against my palm. At least I’m not the only one whose sanity is fucking slipping. Misery does love its company after all.

“Actually… I saw something like that, too, in my younger days.” Toshi responded. “That’s a clear sign that you’re getting closer to making One for All your own power.”

“But what was it?”

“I think it’s like a trace of the user’s spirit that’s left behind in One for All when it’s passed on. Don’t worry, whatever you saw, it won’t be interfering with you or your progress in the future, I’m sure.” He answered, folding his arms. “In other words, the vision wasn’t what god rid of the brainwashing effects. Regardless of what you saw out there, it was your passion that allowed you to overcome Shinso’s power. Even if it was only long enough for you to wiggle your fingertips and expel some energy.”

Izuku’s face fell. “Man, that explanation is so not satisfying.”

“Forget about it!” Toshi cried. “More importantly, shouldn’t you be worrying about who you’re fighting next?”

“You’re right! Thank you both very much!” Izuku bowed before rushing from the room.

“You’re welcome!” Gran chirped, smiling happily.

“Well, if we’re confessing to our lapses of sanity,” I sat up straight, gaining both of their attention. “Izuku is seein’ shit, and I’m hearin’ it.”

The two exchanged a worried look.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

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[mobius-prime]

162. Sonic the Hedgehog #94

Okay, okay. I know. I know how many of you just put your heads down on the table in complete exasperation. I get it. But just stick with it. Bear with me here. I had the same reaction when I first read through the comics - the reaction of why the hell does a Sonic the Hedgehog comic have a back to school episode?! - but in the end, it does tie further into previous points I've made about Sonic's character as well as the state of the war. That said, Spaz, what the hell happened to Mina up there? Why does she look… like that? Sonic and Tails look totally normal but Mina looks like she was dragged straight out of some badly drawn early 90s anime that only aired once in Japan and was never even officially subbed because it was so low quality. I know you're a better artist than that, Spaz, we've seen your work before! Come on!

New Order

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So right away, we've jumped forward a month and a half from last issue. That's one hell of a time skip, especially for a comic that doesn't usually do big time skips.

Of course, Sonic is not at all happy about being confined to Knothole. We’re talking about a character whose entire personality has always revolved around being able to run free and fight back against anything threatening his friends, who's now stuck hanging out in his room all day. Worse still, the entire time he's been in Knothole, he hasn't seen Sally once, having been prevented from seeing her by a combination of his house arrest and her royal duties. He still finds himself thinking about her, however, and she in turn has been thinking about him.

I honestly really like the use of Art Mawhinney's art to indicate that she's looking at a photo from when they were younger, given that his cartoony style contrasts with the more anime-like style that the comic has been going for lately. Also, while it's great that Sally has her family back at last, it's still concerning that they've been monopolizing 100% of her time lately so she hasn't had any time to see her old friends, even though they live in the same village. Sonic has also found his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the Overlanders he failed to save, who are still stuck inside Robotropolis for the time being, with shadow-bots enforcing nighttime curfews on them and keeping a close eye on their activities. Colin, exploring the palace, finds his brother working on something in the lab, and in the interest of keeping his dealings secret Eggman overenthusiastically invites him, along with Agnes and Hope, to spend some time together as a family. Hope, to her credit, seems very suspicious of Eggman, officially making her the smartest Overlander here despite being only fourteen or so (at least, the wiki has extrapolated that age from the dates of other significant events like the Great War and the length of the first war against Robotnik, though I'd personally put her at more like twelve). Eggman, to deflect from questions concerning how much he's changed over the years, asks Colin to describe why he and the other Overlanders were apparently just hangin' out in space for the past ten years.

Really, this entire interaction seems like something that should have happened right after the Overlanders' first entrance into the city, not six whole weeks afterwards, but eh, whatever. Anyway, Sonic finds himself unable to sleep properly the night before starting school, and gets irritated when Tails teases him about Sally being in looooove with him and wanting to get married in the future. The next morning, they find themselves roughly awakened by an earthquake, and immediately spring into action, falling right back into their routine as heroes.

At least Sonic is still able to keep his heroic actions up even when confined to the village, eh? In Robotropolis, Eggman visits Snively in his prison cell, and Snively begs not to be roboticized for being caught out after dark. Eggman agrees, in return for his loyalty of course, as well as zipping his lips about Eggman's true intentions for the Overlanders. He even decides to give Snively a little more incentive, in the form of a promise of revenge against his father Colin for not recognizing his brilliance all those years ago…

After breakfast, Sonic and Tails meet up with Bunnie and Rotor. Amy, if you'll recall, is still back in Mercia with her cousin Rob, and interestingly, Antoine isn't part of the crowd heading to school at all, suggesting that by now he's past high school age, making him the oldest Freedom Fighter. Sonic is concerned and disappointed that Sally is nowhere in sight, and reluctantly parts from Tails to go to his own class, since Tails is with the younger kids. However, back in Robotropolis, Hope has found herself becoming too suspicious of Eggman to ignore her concerns any longer…

Uh oh, Hope, you may have seen something you weren't supposed to see… better get back to safety before Eggman finds out about that and silences you. Tails is heading toward his class with the other kids when he realizes he's lost his bookbag somewhere, and in retracing his steps to find it, he suddenly finds himself confronted by the ghostly image of Athair, who tells him that he's needed as the Chosen One immediately and teleports him away, to the bafflement of a watching turtle in the hallway. Sonic gets to his class, and Mina is happy to see him there, thrilled that they're sitting near each other. Bunnie arrives as well, but when Sonic tries to introduce her to Mina she only gives her a cold "howdy," her mood suddenly turning quite chilly. And then, their teacher arrived, and class begins…

So this is what I was talking about before. We've already been over in previous issues how when it comes down to it, Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters are child soldiers who have never known a day of peace in their life. At least back when Robotnik was thought to be defeated permanently and the king was trying to get the kingdom back to a state of relative normality, Sonic was able to partially come to terms with the idea and find happiness in being able to settle down with his family. But now, the kingdom is back in a state of active war, and here he is, the spearhead of the resistance, forced to stay out of the conflict and learn physics and algebra in a standard high school setting. It's obvious that it's getting to him in a big way. We sort of end up stuck in this strange position where on the one hand, yeah, children and teenagers shouldn't have to be the ones on the front lines of a war, and should get a chance to just act their age and have a childhood, but on the other hand, Sonic the legitimate war hero is now stuck in Knothole with his hands tied, twiddling his thumbs while everyone else, even the others his age and younger (remember, he's the only Freedom Fighter on house arrest), are free to go and do whatever they like. It doesn't even seem like anyone has had the idea to try and get the Sword of Acorns back from Eggman, even though that's what started this whole mess. Honestly, I just feel bad for him. Once class has finally ended - after one hour of agonizing boredom for Sonic - he and Bunnie approach Nate, asking why they haven't seen Sally at the school yet. They're shocked to hear that she is instead receiving private lessons at the castle, only further isolating her from everyone else…

The Best Laid Plans…

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Rom Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Unlike the previous story, there's no time skip at all between last issue and this one - I'm just going to presume, honestly, that the disappearance of the Floating Island is an event that happened during that time skip, and the main story has only just caught up to it, because otherwise the timeline makes no sense. Nic is surprised to find Nack returning to her without Knuckles in tow, but is quite pleased when he tells her they got their money and a bonus to boot, and can wash their hands of the whole affair. As they leave, they remember that they left Charmy and Saffron further into the woods, but decide not to worry about it, as in the end, what can a couple of little bees do? Charmy and Saffron, meanwhile, begin to realize that they've been left alone, and immediately spring into action, hoping they can reach Knuckles before anything bad happens. Unfortunately, that's not really in the cards, as Knuckles has already been hooked up to the Chaos Syphon, with another echidna linked in on the opposite side, presumably to act as a conduit for the energy being sucked from Knuckles so it doesn't just explode into the air. At least, that's what I'm assuming, because it doesn't really specify, but this echidna does become important later on, so I figured I should mention him. Gala-Na again offers a weak non-apology for what she's about to do, before ordering the syphon switched on.

So, this is torture. This is just straight up an actual torture scene. Gala-Na is knowingly, willingly, torturing a sixteen year old because she's afraid of the power he wields despite him not even asking to be born with it in the first place. If anything, Locke should be the one facing punishment for what he's put Knuckles through, but of course, we know Penders would never let that happen. Knuckles starts screaming uncontrollably, and to the shock of the echidna onlookers, begins trying to resist the power of the syphon, making Gala-Na worry he might actually break free. The other echidna on the receiving end of the energy also begins to feel the pain, yelling that he thinks he can't handle any more, and while the others try to encourage him to hang in there, Charmy and Saffron happen upon the awful scene. As Knuckles finds himself actually reduced to begging for it to stop through gritted teeth and Gala-Na gives another "apology" to her "young friend" (can you guys tell how much I hate her? Is it too obvious?), Charmy and Saffron dive in towards the operators, hoping they can stop the syphon before Knuckles gets hurt too much more. Of course, this is Penders writing, so he can't resist throwing in another weird, stilted 90s feminist comment somewhere.

Earth to Penders: women don't actually talk like that. Also, oh yeah, remember that whole "flight mode" thing where apparently bees can turn small or big as they please? I almost forgot about that, but I guess that's what's supposed to be happening here. With the device shut off, Knuckles breaks free of the syphon, but only seems more powerful than ever, with his irises replaced by pure white eyes, and as everyone watches he disappears in a flash of energy. Gala-Na, aghast that her plans seem to have only made things worse (GEE, YOU THINK, GALA-NA?), tries to contact the weasels once again before they get out of range, but they witnessed the entire thing from the air and refuse to get involved any more than they already have, leaving a horrified Gala-Na to stand over the now-unconscious echidna on the receiving end of the energy, wondering what to do next…

[kcwcommentary]

VLD7x10 – “Heart of the Lion”

7x10 – “Heart of the Lion”

While I do have some very significant issues with some parts of this episode, mainly Shiro’s new arm and Sanda’s betrayal, I mostly really enjoy this one. I haven’t enjoyed an episode this much since 7x01 “A Little Adventure,” at least. This episode gives time for the plot progression to build more steadily, and it’s nice.

The episode starts with Shiro opening his eyes. There are several people in surgical suits around him, including Sam. Shiro has had a new unit implanted in his shoulder. I really hope the show isn’t trying to say that Sam was Shiro’s surgical doctor for this because that would be giving Sam an unrealistic amount of scientific expertise. Sam says, “I’m happy to tell you we’ve successfully attached your new prosthetic arm.” I don’t like the arm.

Sam says, “We’ve outfitted it with the most powerful energy source Earth has to offer. It’s the closest we could get to mimicking a Balmera’s crystal’s energy.” So, what is this Earth energy source? I don’t remember the show ever saying what energy source the old Galra arm ran on. Since they’re worried about how much energy this arm will take versus how much energy they can generate, I would think this floating absurdity would take way more energy than a regular, full arm like the Galra prosthetic. Sam continues, “The remaining power will be drawn from your body’s own electromagnetic field.” While the human body does actually generate an electromagnetic field, I don’t see how it could be used as a power source, and if this arm draws energy from Shiro’s body, wouldn’t that have a negative effect on his body?

The arm turns on, floats a bit, responds to Shiro’s efforts to move it, and then Shiro starts screaming in pain. The triangle in Allura’s tiara, which she’s had since the beginning of this show, begins to glow. We’ve never seen her tiara glow before, so it’s specifically reacting to Shiro’s new arm. How does it know that Shiro’s new arm is malfunctioning? This is so contrived.

Allura is so kind here. She grabs the triangle from her tiara, throws the rest of the tiara on the ground, and runs into the operating room. She jumps high in the air to grab the disembodied arm, holds it down, they “remove the power source,” which is some black and orange square, and she replaces it with the crystal from her tiara. The arm and Shiro stabilize.

Since Allura was the one who built Shiro’s new arm, I’d like to know why she chose to make one that floats rather than to make a whole arm. I’d also like to know, since she made this arm, why she was not already in the surgical bay. I would think if she made the arm, then she would know more about it than anyone and would have to be part of the team hooking it up to Shiro.

Pidge and Allura present to Team Voltron and members of the Garrison what they’ve found from looking at Sendak’s memories. His invasion and occupation methods usually include building large weaponry on the planet, which isn’t exactly a Sendak-only thing. We’ve seen more than a few large energy weapons at Galra controlled planets and asteroids before. It kind of amounts to Sendak threatens to shoot people and blow stuff up.

Veronica says that she’s cross-referenced information from “Commander Holt’s micro satellites” and “resistance intel.” So, the “micro transmitters”/“micro satellites” launched at the end of 7x08 “The Last Stand Part 2” have been used to gather information. And the resistance, despite Veronica saying early last episode that the resistance had been wiped out, has also been able to provide intelligence. It makes Sanda’s complaint last episode that they had no intelligence seem dissonant with the fact that here that intelligence is, compiled using non-Voltron resources. If the Garrison could do this now, then they could have done it last episode too, so it makes Sanda’s complaint last episode not make sense. Veronica shows an image of one of the Galra structures that have been built on Earth, the building of which occurred during the montage in “The Last Stand Part 2.”

When I paused my video to write the last bit of the last paragraph, I paused on this frame. It made me laugh pretty good, so I had to share it. Not only is Coran’s mustache usually pretty nice to have in this show, I can’t help also notice the Garrison dude in the background reaching up, like he’s wondering what it would take to get a mustache like Coran’s.

Sanda says that due to limited attack capability, it would be too difficult to try to take down Sendak’s armaments without more intel from within those facilities. Shiro agrees and suggests an infiltration and intelligence gathering mission. Veronica points out the nearest such Galra installation would take them through some heavily patrolled urban areas. Shiro suggests two teams, a ground unit and a sniper unit.

It is weird to me that Veronica is the one giving out duty assignments. Pidge, Keith (and Cosmo), Allura, and James are the “ground unit.” I know Allura is a Paladin, but she’s also the Altean Princess, so it’s extra weird for Veronica to be giving Allura an assignment. It was one thing when Shiro or Keith told Allura to do something in their capacity as Black Paladin, but it just sticks out to me that none of the humans here have been confronted with the fact that Allura is royalty. The “sniper support” is Lance, Hunk, Kinkade, and Veronica. There is a bit of this that feels like the show is trying to convince the audience that the MFEs are at least as good and worth the same audience interest as the Paladins. It feels like there’s a bit of meta social or marketing pressure to these mission assignments.

Lance tells Veronica that he doesn’t like seeing her put herself in danger. I like Veronica’s response, “That’s very sweet, but knock it off.” Poor Hunk, often the most talkative Paladin, tries to get Kinkade in a conversation, but Kinkade just grunts.

I really love the music when the Sniper Team gets into position.

Wow, Lance’s bayard sniper rifle’s scope can scan into the ground and render imaging of the tunnels and the people in them. The Ground Team progressively makes their way to a Galra-guarded entrance. Keith says he and Pidge are going in, and James says no, that it’s too well-guarded. Keith seems to just ignore James, as he should, and asks Lance if he’s ready to cover them. Cosmo teleports Keith and Pidge. I wish James’s reaction was better, I wish seeing Keith demonstrating that he knows more about what he and the Paladins can do than James does would have caused James to express some respect. Instead, James gives a cliché “Got to get me one of those” comments.

Now inside, Keith, Pidge, and Cosmo move through the facility with guidance from Lance about sentries. Kinkade seems interested in Lance’s bayard, asking if it picks up heat signatures, and Lance gives an explanation that it uses the others’ suits’ sonar imaging systems and provides him with a map. I like this explanation since it is fundamentally team-based. I also really like that this sequence is letting Lance display some competence. The show hasn’t directly dealt with Lance’s insecurities in a while, and him having moments like this helps show how his competence could be referenced if they ever did show him directly overcoming his insecurities.

Outside, drones spot Allura and James. Kinkade shoots the drones, and some nearby sentries instantly start firing. Kinkade takes out three sentries and Lance takes out two. Remember when the MFE’s weapons couldn’t damage sentries two episodes ago in “The Last Stand Part 2?” James, Kinkade, and Leifsdottir were all shooting sentries, and none of them damaged them. What’s changed between then and now that Kinkade can take out a sentry with one shot? Also, why was Kinkade given more kills in this moment than Lance?

Back inside, Pidge uses her suit’s holographic system as a distraction. I had totally forgotten her suit could do that. It makes me miss season one. Keith and Cosmo teleport to the other side of the door two sentries are guarding, and Keith swords the sentries. There have been many times I’ve felt humor moments in the midst of tense moments have been poorly juxtaposed in this show, but it works here. And why it works here is that while there is some tension to this scene, the threat is not really high here, so the use of humor in this moment doesn’t create a strong tonality dissonance.

They find an access point to the facility’s computer system, Pidge downloads information, and they learn that this place houses a zeiforge cannon.

Back outside, Allura and James are under more fire. Lance and Kinkade take out what they can. Sentries start coming up the stairs to try to get to them, and Hunk uses his cannon to take them out. We learn that on their way in, they planted devices that Veronica detonates that put something in the atmosphere that messes with sentries’ ability to read their environment. That is big deal. I want to know where these devices came from. Did the Garrison figure out this means of messing with sentries’ sensors on their own? The two prior episodes have acted like humanity has had no ability to do anything to the Galra, but behold this ability.

This whole sequence has felt more balanced than anything that’s happened in the previous several episodes.

Both teams get to their vehicles and return to base. There, Pidge reports on the zeiforge cannons. There are apparently six of them. Sanda says it’s impossible to attack all six bases. Keith says it could be done if they had their Lions. I don’t know if Sanda was specifically written to be so aggressive here, or if this tone for her was a decision made by the voice director and actor. She sounds critical, almost blaming the Paladins for the Lions being on the Saturnian moon, and that there are only five Lions. Shiro says the MFEs would be responsible for attacking the sixth cannon.

Everyone sits around dejected over the idea that they can’t get to the Lions. Eventually, Shiro says that the Lions will come to the Paladins. He would know. It makes me sad that Shiro’s not a Paladin anymore, that he doesn’t have a bond with Black anymore and no reason has been given to explain why. That Shiro’s bond was so strong with Black that he still thinks in terms of how the Lions react to their Paladins is precisely why Shiro should still be the Black Paladin.

I love the vocal quality of Keith saying, “Red saved my life numerous times.” It almost sounds like Keith is on the edge of crying. Also, the fact that it’s been Red who Keith thinks of as saving his life, not Black, shows that this show wrote Keith to be the Red Paladin. He’s only been turned into the Black Paladin because the executive producers wanted him in that position, not because it makes sense for the narrative.

I love that Shiro is being a leader here. It’s been so long since he’s been given dialog like this. He’s building the mission, pulling contributions from the various team members, facilitating the team dynamic. It’s so good.

Before heading out, Allura goes to speak to Lance. Veronica has already teased Lance about Allura, and she totally notices Allura’s presence now. Allura just tells him to “stay safe.” Now that it seems Allura is expressing some interest in Lance, Lance, who’s wanted her to be interested in him since the first time he saw her, now doesn’t recognize that Allura is starting to feel that way. It didn’t ever seem to register to him that she wasn’t interested in him in the past, and now it doesn’t register to him that she is.

The teams begin their deployment. I love the music. This episode really is taking time to build up the conflict that’s coming. Characters are just moving from one location to another, but because the show is giving this moment time to breathe, and the music accompanying it is so good, and Shiro’s line of dialog is good, it’s all combining to nicely increase the tension.

The Paladins close their eyes and focus on the Lions. On the Saturnian moon, the Lions begin to sense their Paladins. First Keith and Black, then Yellow, Green, and Blue. There’s a brief shot of Kaltenecker and the mice reacting to the Lion launching, and I still don’t really get why showing them was considered important, but whatever. The Red Lion, however, does not launch. It’s given a physical posture with its head slumped down, like it’s either sad or angry. Maybe it’s remembering that Keith used to be its Paladin, that, as Keith mentioned earlier, Red has been the one coming from across distance to rescue Keith. And now, thanks to the EPs’ wanting Keith as Black Paladin, Red no longer is allowed to be bonded to Keith. I’m sad too, Red.

Lance and Veronica come under fire from the Galra. Black arrives at Keith’s location. Yellow arrives for Hunk. Blue is there for Allura. And Green is there for Pidge. The MFEs, having taken the Paladins to their respective targets, then move on to their target. Despite my not liking this roster of Paladins, I do like the emotion of the Lions arriving for their respective Paladins in the scene.

A Galra fighter shoots out one of Veronica’s tires, the vehicle flips, and back in the command headquarters, they hear Lance scream as the vehicle crashes before communication cuts out. Lance eventually regains consciousness. Both he and Veronica were thrown from the vehicle. Veronica is injured but at least somewhat conscious. Sentries start firing at them, and Lance uses his shield for protection while using his bayard to return fire. A Galra fighter craft starts shooting at him too. His bayard has no effect against the fighter, and its shadow falls over him. Lance closes his eyes, almost like he’s accepting that he’s going to die. Maybe it’s supposed to be that he’s calling out to Red again, but to me, it feels like he thinks he’s going to die, and I don’t like that idea that the show is having him accept death in that moment.

Thankfully, Red does finally come and smashes the Galra fighter into the ground.

As the Paladins conduct their attacks on their respective targets, they’re hit with counterattacks by the Galra, and those attacks are stronger than normal. Lance says, “These aren’t normal base defenses.” I guess this comes from the executive producers’ concern that prior to this Earth invasion story arc, the Galra had been written to be too weak and easily destroyed, so now their weapons are more powerful?

At the Garrison, Shiro seems to think that the Galra response now shows that the Galra had been anticipating an attack. The zeiforge cannons begin to be launched. The Paladins can’t get close enough at their respective bases to attack the cannons-in-launch. Keith says, “Sendak must have known we were coming, but how?”

On Sendak’s ship, talking to him in person, is Admiral Sanda. She told him about the Paladins’ and the Garrison’s attack plan. And this is where I’m done with Sanda. I don’t think she was wrong despite being portrayed that way in earlier episodes, but here, she is clearly and totally wrong. For someone who’s been depicted as being concerned about risking people’s lives, the idea that she would risk lives during this attack is absurd. It doesn’t make sense that Sanda could learn of the existence of the zeiforge cannons and think that Sendak would leave Earth alone if she helped him get the Lions.

I can totally see the EPs and the writers thinking having Sanda do this would be a great twist in the story, but it’s not properly set up. Because they’ve had her demonstrate significant caution before action in the past several episodes, for her to now abandon that caution is very out of character for her. This show has a history of demonstrating that they don’t understand how they’re writing their own characters. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they did this with Sanda since they did it with Lotor. They never understood that plot twists centered on a character like this cannot come out of nowhere, that it can’t contradict previous character behavior. I guess they think that by having it happen in violation of previous character behavior that it somehow maximizes the audience shock when the twist occurs, but that seems like very amateurish writing to me.

Keith tells the MFEs to return to the Garrison and the Paladins to head for Sendak’s ship, that their only chance now is to take him out. I love the shot of the streaks of color of the Lions heading toward a common point above Earth. Keith orders them to form Voltron, and I was totally expecting the form Voltron animation, but I like that it didn’t happen. The music of the scene was too good to be interrupted, and inserting the stock animation of Voltron forming would have disrupted the emotion of the scene.

Sendak orders the zeiforge cannons to fire, their blasts are specifically directed into some additional, orbiting system that redirects the cannon fire to hit Voltron. The combined fire is enough to cause Voltron to separate.

So, yeah, I don’t like Shiro’s new arm. I don’t like the surprise twist of Sanda’s betrayal. But the rest of the episode is so much better than the vast majority of this season. It makes me think of what this show could have been if more if it had been like all the good stuff in this episode. I think the show’s failure to realize its potential is one of the things about this show that really gets to me.

[jokerfan99]

Strong Pains, Stronger Bonds (RWBY/RVB) by Necroceph

*RVB Opening Theme*

At the Blue Base

BOOOOOM!!!

Continuing to where we left off, the Blue base is being heavily besieged by the lone Red with nothing but a rocket launcher on her shoulder and the fit of inhuman rage that terrifies even Satan himself. Oh and Church became a ghost again thanks to Caboose acciddently shooting him with Crescent Rose. The continuous bombardment has destroyed 49% of the base. Their rooms are ruined, the weapons storage obliterated and Tucker's stash of monthly magazines buried under a pile of rubble. If Church were still in his body, he would've died of cardiac arrest. Now look at him!

Church: FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUUUUCCKK!!! OUR BAAASE!!! Caboose: There there, Church. At least we can camp outside!

BOOOOOOM!!!

Caboose: But first running time! Church: Wait, don't leave my body here! Caboose: Whoops, sorry!

Caboose quickly picks up Church's corpse from the floor and runs straight behind one of the defensive walls followed by Church's ghost where everbody has taken shelter in.

Tucker: HAHAHA! Church is a ghost again. Church: Don't you dare bring that up! What the fuck is wrong with your teammate?! Simmons: I don't know, I've never seen Rose this destructive before. Tucker: Never? What was she like before this? Grif: Sweet, kind, innocent, all those traits of a stereotypical girl. Tucker: Ohoho that's my type of girl. Simmons: Maybe she's here to rescue us. Grif: Rescue? Does this even look like a 'rescue' mission?! It's more like a bombardment! Church: Well I don't care what's she's here for. Stop her or something! Simmons: Like what? Church: I don't know. How you always talk to her.

Grif and Simmons look at each other. Both shrugged before removing themselves out of cover and try to stop her attack.

Grif: HEY YOU DUMB BITCH! Stop shooting or I'll eat all of your cookies! Simmons: And if you don't, I have no choice but to report Sarge about your reckless behaviour!

The angry Red responded not with words but with more barrages of rockets. The Red duo quickly duck back to cover before the bombs blow up in impact nearby.

Grif: *breath in an out* That was close! Simmons: Okay, she's far beyond our control now. Church: Ugh! We can't just stay here all day until the whole base turns to rubble! Tucker: Hey wasn't Caboose suppose to shoot her? Church: He was until the numbskull shot me, AGAIN! Caboose: I told you it was Sheila II's fault. Church: Now I don't trust him with that thing anymore. Tucker, you'll do it. Tucker: What? Why me? I do wanna get the chance to fire that thing, but shooting at a possibly hot chick? Church: Want your dick to be spared for Weiss? Tucker: Uh... yeah? Church: Then good. Caboose, give Tucker the rifle. Caboose: Okay.

Caboose hands Crescent Rose to Tucker.

Tucker: Finally! Time to finally fire this thing. Wait a minute, why don't we just use our rifles? Church: Have you ever try hitting a faraway moving target in mid range? Tucker: Good point.

Tucker got out of cover and aims the Crescent Rose at the lone Red 'Rambo' riding around the base. The warthog isn't in full speed so he didn't have to worry about aiming the gun. Once she's in his crosshair he pulls the trigger. However, just like happened with Caboose, nothing came out from the barrel. He tries again. Still nothing.

Tucker: What the-?

BABABABABABABANG!!!

Swarms of bullets fly passed the Teal One, luckily not a single shot landed on him or he'll be swiss cheese. He yelped out and jumps back into cover.

Church: What happened? Have you killed her? Grif: Sarge will be really pissed if he did. Tucker: This damn thing won't fire! Church: What?! Caboose: See I told you, Sheila has gone naughty! Church: How can that be? Caboose somehow manage to fire that thing and it worked perfectly fine! Tucker: No seriously, look!

Once Tucker pulls the trigger, he thought it won't fire, but it did. The rifle finally fired again and a high caliber bullet fly passed through Church's astral form and hits the concrete floor right between Grif's legs! Thankfully, his balls were spared!

Grif: EEEK! Watch where you're shooting, jackass! Church: T-that's exactly what happened just now! Caboose couldn't fire at that psychopath but he was able fired that thing at me! Tucker: Does this thing have a mind of it's own or what? Simmons: I think it's a mod.

Everybody turned to Simmons when they heard of what he said.

Church: What are you talking about? Simmons: That thing is made by her right? She must've installed a mod as a precaution so that it can't be allowed to harm her. Everyone: A mod? Simmons: That's right. I think I read it somewhere in a book. This mod can identify a certain body signature through a long range biometric scanner. Meaning that once it reads a certain body signature, for example the creator's, it locks the firing mechanism unless the signature is no longer in its field anymore. Church: So it can't harm it's user? That's just fucking great. Well it looks like we'll just have to rely on our crappy guns. C'mon guys, let's teach this bitch a lesson. Grif: Hey, what about us? You can't just leave us tied up here! Tucker: Hey at least those handcuffs will prevent you from escaping. Catch ya later!

At the Red Base

This is beautiful, Sarge thought. He happily looks at the devastation being laid upon the Blues by his favourite female soldier. Of all the things he sees in the war, he has never seen such a beautifully destructive battlefield happening right at his doorstep.

Sarge: Look at this, Lopez. I've seen so much war with my two old eyes, but this takes the cake. What do you think? Lopez: Es una obra maestra de un demonio. Sarge: Hahaha! Now you said it. Though it's a shame I'm not there to be apart of it. But nevertheless, it's a good view to watch. Now I wonder what those three are doing out there. If I can guess, Grif could be sitting behind a rock, traumatized by Rose's handiwork. Hahaha!

Back at the Blue Base

Grif: We're going to DIE!!!

Precisely what Grif said. The battle seems hopeless for the Blues and their Red hostages. The Blues have started launching their counter-attack at the moving Warthog and it's rider. They have manage to land a few hits on the mad Red, but it did little to stop her due to how much she dodges in that thing like an annoying fly flying around a man's face. Tucker grabs his grenade and throws it at the driver. However, Ruby grabs the bomb before it hits her face and throws it straight back to Tucker. The Teal One, while surprised by the Red's reflexes, runs away before the grenade explodes mid-air above him.

Tucker: Wow, this girl is badass than Tex! A little help Church! Church?

Tucker turned to Church, currently trying to get into his cold dead body.

Tucker: Uh, Church, what the fuck are you doing? Church: What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying to get into my body! Now how did I get in there again? Tucker: Deal with that later! Just give us a hand here with your ghost powers! Church: And do what? Go out there and scare the pants out of that crazy bitch while saying "OOOOOOH, I'm the ghost of Christmas Past!". Yeah right. I don't even look scary! Tucker: Then why not... (bullet flies above him) WOAH, that was close!... possess her body and make her stop? Church: .... Oh, I kinda forgot I can still do that. Alright just wait here while you distract her. Tucker: On it. Hey, baby! I know I recently just knew you and you probably can't hear me from here. But if you do, how about I show you a couple of moves with my rifle's barrel and then we can... Church: Not that kind of distraction, dumbass!

GHOSTLY FADE OUT EFFECT, POP

Church teleports himself on the crater filled landscape. He looks around and spots the Red driving nearby about two meters from him. The Red stops the warthog and continues firing the rocket launcher with her left arm and the assault rifle with the other.  This looks like a good oppurtunity to possess her.

Church: Alright you little bitch. I'll make you cement this entire base from top to bottom.

Church runs towards Ruby. She hasn't noticed him yet so that's good. As she kept firing those guns, Church enters her body and takes control of her. Finally the battle's over! Actually, it hasn't. Ruby is still attacking the Blue base! Tucker who had seen everything, was dumbfounded to see that Church's possession had little to no effect on her.  

Tucker: What the... why is Church not controlling her?!?! Caboose: I think Church is trying out the body. Tucker: Hey Church, if it's really you, quit it! It's not funny!

Suddenly, Church screamed as he gets blasted out of Ruby's body like a catapult and falls right back into his body. Church finally back in his vessel, shot up and screamed as if he had a terrible nightmare. Caboose and Tucker took notice of their fully revived leader and rushes to him.

Tucker: Church, are you okay? Church:........ WOAHOHO!!! That bitch... is MAD! Tucker: What happened out there? Church: Okay I was going to take over her body right when I was in possession and man her body's quite thin and young. When all the sudden some bright angry force pushed me out off her! JESUS, she's more madder than O'Malley! Tucker: Well at least she doesn't make that annoying laugh all the time. Caboose: But that's not the only thing I experienced. I also saw her mind and I finally found out why she's attacking us. Tucker: Rescue Grif, Simmons and Donut? Church: No. Caboose: COOKIES! Church: Not CLOSE enough. Though I did saw a big cookie floating in her head. Tucker: Me? Church and Caboose:..... Tucker: Nah, I'm kidding! So what's she really for?

Church slowly turns his head. Tucker wonders what his leader's looking and turns to where his head's facing at. He's looking at Caboose, but not exactly 'at' the Blue, but at the big red rifle, Crescent Rose hanging behind his back.

Caboose: Is there something on my nose? Oh my God, I hate spiders! Tucker: Wait, the gun? Grif: What are you guys doing over there?! Stop Rose or something! Church: Give us a minute, fatass! That's right. Her main purpose her is the gun. Tucker: W-wha? How can a kidnapped gun turn a girl into a psychopathic killer? Church: Hey, I'm no psychologist! However, if we give the gun back to her, that might stop her rampage. Tucker: Hold on, let's not try handing it back to her like gentleman. Remember. She thinks we stole it, right? Church: And the point is? Tucker: If one of us give it to her, she'll still kill us! Church: Good point. Hmm. How about.... we use it to drive her away from the base like bait. Tucker: You think that'll work? Church: Don't know but it's worth a try. Man. And I thought I might be able to try it. Tucker: Sigh, no kidding. I didn't get the chance to shoot someone's ass with it. But's it's better than getting blown to smithereens. Church: Then that's a yes. Caboose, I'm sorry to say this but... Caboose: Okay. Church: You know... I kinda like cause you have no idea about what I just said. Caboose: Oh no it'd be nice for the gun to go back to its mommy. It's nice knowing you, Sheila II. Church: Now that all of us agreed, the question is, how do we get out of here? If we try moving it by foot, that psycho will run us down with that bike. Tucker: I don't think we have to move at all. Be right back!

Several 7.62mm FMJs and 102mm rockets later.

BOOOOM!!!

There goes another wall and a roll of duct tape. Tucker has fully wrapped both Donut's unconscious body and Crescent Rose together, as well as the proposition for Grif's and Simmon's s̶l̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶b̶o̶r̶ imprisoment to Sarge. The base is beginning to look real bad. Half the roof is gone and much of the interior has collapse. Whatever they're planning, they better do it quick.

Tucker: The way we saw how strong Caboose hit that grenade gave me an idea. If he swings and strike them hard enough, he might be able to launch them across the canyon to the Red base. Caboose: Yay, golf time! Tucker: That's exactly what I'm thinking. Once the babe sees her weapon flying with Donut, she'll be drawn to it. Church: If she sees her rifle that is. Simmons: What about Donut? Wouldn't he get hurt badly once he hits the ground? Grif: Simmons, may I remind that Donut survived an explosion to the face and got crushed by a falling pelican. Simmons: Oh I guess he'll be alright. But aside from baiting Rose, you sure Caboose can launch an object that far before? Tucker: You could've seen what he did to a golfball. Simmons: What happened to it?

BOOOOOM!!!

The explosion made the remind of their current situation.

Church: No time to explain that! Tucker, let's give Caboose some cover! Tucker: On it! Here Caboose, you'll need this.

Tucker gives Caboose a long pipe with a 90 degrees pipe elbow at the end similar to golf club.

Tucker: Remember how you launch that golfball to the sky? Caboose: Oh yeah, it flew right out of orbit and hit straight at our satellite. Then we didn't get an TV reception for a week and... Tucker: Yeah something like that but, just do it softly this time. Caboose: Aye aye, chief! Church: TUCKER! Tucker: Coming!

Tucker leaves Caboose to his job. Caboose then walks towards the duct tape wrapped unconsious Donut and rifle before standing next to them. He then positioned himself in the good old golf set up and places the end of the pipe next to the human sized makeshift ball. But before he could swing, Donut finally regains consciousness.

Donut: Ugh, what happened? Caboose: Hi, Donut! Donut: C-Caboose? What are you doing with that pipe and... why am I tied up in duct tape? And why is Crescent Rose tied up behind me? Caboose: Yeah we're suppose to drive the monster away from us by getting Sheila II with you out of here. Donut: Monster.... Sheila II?

Donut is completely confused until he looked around the devastation around him. He is shocked to see the Blue base in a complete wreck!

Donut: Holy bananas! You guys need some serious renovatons around here! Caboose: Oh don't worry, Simmons and Grif will be in charge on that.

A familiar mongoose engine from nearby caught his attention. He turned to see a familiar colored armor and cape riding on his team's ATV. It's Ruby, firing a rocket launcher and an assault rifle each in both her hands! Though why is her eyes glowing?

Donut: Is that Ruby? Caboose: Donut, would you help me with something? Donut: Uh yeah sure? Caboose: Would you kindly... posture yourself like how we did when we were in our moms' bellies. Donut: You mean fetal position?

Donut did what Caboose ordered him. He curved his back, bows his head and wraps both his legs with his arms.

Donut: Like this? What's the point in it? Caboose: I'm going to strike you like a golfball with this pipe and launch you back to your base. Donut: Wait... WHAAAAT?!?! Caboose: FOOOOOOORRREEE!!!

Caboose raises the pipe above him, swings it hard and strikes the poor pink Red (I mean 'lightish red') to the sky! Donut screams in both pain and terror as he flies through the sky like a human cannonball.

Donut: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! Hey, I can see our base from here!

Meanwhile back on the ground, the blast off Donut caught Ruby's attention, briefly pausing her destruction. As if she had super sight, she spots a flat long red object strapped behind Donut. Crescent Rose. No doubt about it. Like a moth to a flame, she turns the mongoose around and follows the flying object. Back on the Blue's roof, everyone looked to witness the monster finally leaving their base alone.

Caboose: Bye, Sheila II! Welp, time to get the broom.

At the Red Base

Sarge: What in Sam Hill did I just saw, Lopez? It looked like something flew off from there! Lopez: Parece algo lanzado en su base.

Was Sarge imagining things or did he just saw the Blue hit something and launched it like a golfball. As his mind begins to process of what the hell happened, his ears caught something of what sounded like a familiar girly scream coming closer and closer from above him. He lowers his binoculars and looks up to see a ball of pink heading directly straight at him!

Donut: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! Sarge: Aah fiddlesticks.

CRASH!!!

Sarge didn't had time to dodge the incoming projectile and the object lands directly on top of him. The crash while may look painful, Lopez nonetheless laughed upon seeing what has befallen upon his leader.

Lopez: LOL! Habla de un aterrizaje forzoso!

Some of his bones are broken, but he's been through worse. Sarge groaned in pain as he looks at the pink object now lying on top of him. To his surprise, it's none other than Pvt. Delano Donut tied up in duct tape with what seems to be Crescent Rose on his back. Wait, Crescent Rose is on his back, he thought!

Sarge: Good golly Miss Molly! You got Crescent Rose back! Donut: Oh hi, Sarge!

Both got up from each other as they push the dust all over them.

Sarge: Status report! What are doing tied up with Crescent Rose in duct tape? And where did those two go? Donut: I have no idea. I was firing the gun on the Blues with them driving, when all the sudden everything went black like something hit me on the head. Sarge: Yes, I can see why.

Unbeknownst to Donut, the grenade Caboose hit back is still stuck on his head. Sarge and Lopez just took notice of it.

Lopez: Sr. Sarge, ¿deberíamos estar preocupados por eso? Sarge: Yes tell us more. Donut: Well when I woke up, the first thing I heard were gunshots and explosions everywhere. POW! PEW! BANG! I learned I was tied up in duct tape with Crescent Rose here and the next thing I saw was Caboose standing above me holding a pipe. He then talked some monster attacking their base and driving it away. I think he was referring to Ruby for some reason, she was on the Mongoose with a... rocket launcher? Lopez: ¡Ya te lo dije! ¡Hijo de Mictlāntēcutli! Donut: After that, he told me to get into a fetal position and then, he striked me with the pipe like a golfball! Sarge: Well that explains everything. But at least we got Crescent Rose back. Though what I don't understand is what you mean't by 'driving it away'? Lopez: ¡¡¡JADEAR!!! ¿Podría ser?

Heavy footsteps caught all the three's attention. They slowly turned to Ruby ascending up the stairs as black aura flickers like flame all over her. She removes her helmet, revealing the same demonic face of burning bright eyes Lopez first saw half an hour ago. Sarge is recoiled by the sight of her and Donut, upon seeing Ruby in such a wrathful state, awed in horror at his teammate's horrying state. Ruby then focuses her monstrous eyes at one of them, Donut to be exact.

Ruby: Cre-Crescent....... Roooooossse? Donut: R-Rose? Are y-you okay? You looked like you could use some m-m-milk Lopez: ¡Donut, hablar con ello es inútil! Sarge: Donut, get it off your back. Donut: What? Sarge: I said get Crescent Rose off your back before she tears your poor soul APART!!!! Lopez: ¡DEMASIADO TARDE! ¡MIRA! Ruby: GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

As if by instant, Ruby viciously lunges herself like a leopard to Donut.

Sarge: You're on your own! Lopez: Adios, Donut!

Sarge grabs Lopez's head and ducks into cover, however Donut was too shocked by the incoming terror that his body was too paralyzed to dodge her. The last thing he would see was the wild demonic face that is Ruby's as her hands are about to reach out to him like sharp claws! Oh the humanity!

Donut: OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Donut closes his eyes and braces himself for the horrifying pain. But instead of claws driving through his chest and his organs ripped off, all he felt was a gust of wind passing by. Confused, he slowly opened his eyes and sees Ruby not going to attack him but, happily bawling out while hugging Crescent Rose?!

Ruby: My Sweetheart!!!

Okay this is just too sudden, even for Master Chief's standards. Sarge and Lopez too were stupefy to see what the hell just happened, Lopez mostly. Donut on the other hand, is astonished by Ruby's cute renunion with her weapon.

Donut: Aww! Lopez: ¡¿Qué demonios acaba de pasar?! ¿Por qué no lo ha destrozado? Sarge: That's it? No mutilation, no spine ripping? That was the most disappointing fatality I have ever seen! Donut: But look how Rose going! Ruby: Imissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyouimissyou!

Ruby finally noticed the men looking at her. She stopped, realizing how awkward she was doing with her weapon like an immature kid. Wait, she is immature.

Ruby: Uuhm. Forget what you saw. Sarge: What in holy macaroon was that about that! Donut: For the moment there I thought you were going to rip me apart. Ruby: I'm sorry! I kinda lose control when it comes to stuff and family. Heehee! Sarge: And you caused a lot of mayhem for that? That's why you're my favourite markswoman. Lopez: ¿Pero sigues siendo el hijo de Mictlāntēcutli? Ruby: I'll translate what you said later, Lopez. By the way, Donut, where's Simmons and Grif? Weren't you with them just now? Donut: I was, until I got knocked out that is Sarge: Hmm, what's this?

Sarge rips off of what seems to be a piece of paper taped behind Donut written in blue ink. Everyone comes closer so see what it contains. It reads:

"Dear, Sarge of Red Team. I'm sure you have questions about your other two soldiers, but as you might already know we have taken them prisoners for some 'personal affairs'. But in exchange for them, we return back your other teammate and the weapon we stole from you. Once we're done with them, we can bring them back to you. Or if you're too impatient, be my guess, but just wait till we cement the whole place please! P.S. DON'T BRING THAT PSYCHOPATHIC RED IF YOU'RE GONNA RESCUE THEM!!!"- Love, Leonard L. Church.

Ruby: Oh no, we got to rescue them! Sarge: Nah, I'm sure they're fine. At least we got your weapon back. Ruby: Yeah but I'm now starting to feel sorry for them. Maybe we should rescue them- Sarge: Simmons might live through imprisonment, but Grif on the other hand... hehe... that's a completely different story. Ruby: Are you sure cause- EEEEP!!! DONUT, IS THAT A GRENADE ON YOUR HEAD? Donut: What?!

Ruby hands Donut a miniature mirror from her belt. He looked through the reflection and is shocked to see the grenade.

Sarge: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Donut, you got a grenade stuck to your head. And the pin's off Donut: PIN'S OFF?! AAAAAAHHHH!!! GET IT OFF ME, GET IT OFF ME, GET IT OFF ME! Sarge: Calm down, it hasn't exploded! Damn thing must've misfired. Now hold still while I... Ruby: WAIT! If we try pulling it out by hand, it could explode! Donut: OH NOHOHOOOO! Ruby: We should call, Command for help! Sarge: That'll take too long to get them here! What this boy need is a good old quick yank with this old paw. Donut: Wait, Sarge! SAAAARGE!!! Ruby: Oh boy.

Back at the Blue Base (again)

With that fiasco with the Red over. All that's left is to clean up the place before Weiss comes back. Tucker drops the last bag of cement on top of more piles of the stuff and tools to cement the whole base back to it's proper shape.

Tucker: Here you are. Enough stuff to fix this whole place up. Enjoy boys. Grif: Fuck you! Sigh. So, Simmons, how long do you think will this take to cement this place? Simmons: Well based on the calculated damage here, I'd say a whole week... non stop. Grif: ... DAMN, YOU ROSE!!!

The two idiots grab the stuff to get into working, while Church, Caboose and Tucker relaxed themselves on their UNSC issued beach chairs.

Tucker: Shouldn't we help them so this might speed this up? Church: After what we've been through today? Nah! Considered this a lesson learned for them. Tucker: Hmm, I guess so. Hey, servants! Make sure the walls are smooth like silk! Grif and Simmons: Auugh! Church: Hehehe! And as long as we make them work HARDER, this will be done before Schnee gets back.

As Church sip a drink through his helmet, his peace was interrupted by a loud and ear piercing...

Weiss: WHAT IN GOD'S NAME HAPPENED HERE!!!!!!!

The sudden scream made Church spew out his drink in his helmet (gross!). They Blues turned to the source and to their horror, Weiss is standing above the stairway with a shocked expression. Yep, she's back from Command.

Church: S-Schnee?!?! Tucker: Hey... eh... Schnee.... You're back early. Hehehe. Caboose: Hi, Weiss! How's your trip at Command?

Weiss slowly turned her head to the relaxing Blues. Her shocked turned to anger that they have never seen before. She gets closer to them as she grits her teeth, making the Blue's aside from Caboose, swallow their throats.

Weiss: CHURCH... TUCKER... CABOOSE... I was given an early leave after Command was done with me. While on the way, I expected nothing bad would happen while I was absent. However, I incidently come across a pile of rocks what was once our base while YOU DOPES RELAX ON YOUR CHAIRS AND SIP A GLASS OF LEMONADE?!?! YOU PIECES OF... Schnee remember, swearing is unladylike... gasp... YOU PIECES OF UNPROFESSIONAL TRASH!!! I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH MANNER HAS BEFALLEN ON OUR BASE AND YOU DID NOTHING... NOTHING!... TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING! WHERE I LIVE, WE DO IT IN A MORE FAST AND PRECISE WAY AGAINST THE ENEMY, NOT THE SLOW AND IMPRECISE WAY! AND WHAT IS THIS?! OUR COVERS FROM SNIPERS ARE DESTROYED, LEAVING ALL OF US INVUNERABLE ENEMY SNIPERS! DO YOU THINK WAR IS REALLY THAT SIMPLE? THIS IS- Ahem! This is unacceptable.

Weiss returns back to her calm demeanor after a lengthy speech of wrath upon her team. Despite her petite size, her voice mixed with her fury were so powerful that it feels like their souls were about to shatter like glass. And the look of her beautiful eyes turned to fury just now, was soul trembling. Church and Tucker were fully stunned by what happened, but as for Caboose? Still the same old oblivious Caboose.

Tucker: Talk about a girl with fire. Weiss: Moving to the matter at hand, what happened here? Church, Tucker and Caboose: Uhh... Weiss: ANSWER THE QUESTION! Church: Okay okay, 'Ms Drill Seargent', it's those idiots' fault! Grif: Hey, our girl did it, not us!

Church points Weiss to the men responsible for this mess, still cementing a once destroyed wall. Grif and Simmons. Both of them are surprised by this teammate for this is the first time they have met her.

Grif: Uhh... is she new here? Simmons: Kinda, I've never seen her face before. Church: Oh, I forgot you guys haven't met. Weiss, Grif. Weiss, Simmons. Grif, Weiss. Simmons, Grif. Grif: 'Sup. Simmons: Hello, nice to meet... GAH.

Simmons yelp when Weiss approaches them at a surprising speed. She didn't say anything to them yet, but examines as they also examine her. Although they haven't met her, their instincts are telling them to get out off this planet. She looked around the chaos and back at them.

Weiss: You two... did this? Grif: Yeah.. well no... NO! We didn't 'actually' wreck the base, we pressed our teammate's berserk button by framing your team they have her weapon but it went from bad to worse. Simmons: Shouldn't we explain it a lot more understandable?

Suddenly, a jolt of electricity smacked Simmons at the visor. His helmet protected him, but it stings like hell! Grif helped Simmons to get up before both of them look up to see what had just hit them. In Weiss' left hand is a whip, an electro whip. That was lucky for Simmons. If she had tune it to 'High' it would've killed him.

Weiss: You both will explain right after you two FINISH CEMENTING THAT WALL UNTIL A SINGLE CRACK IS GONE!!! AND IF YOU DO NOT FINISH IT BY THE END OF THE HOUR, I'LL SEND YOU BOTH STRAIGHT TO BLUE'S CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AS P.O.W.s! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?! Grif and Simmons: Yes, m-m-ma'am! Weiss: Good. And if you need any breaks, you are free to do so for five minutes. Now chop chop, boys!

Grif and Simmons rush back to their workplace and continue cementing as fast as before like loyal obedient servants. Church, Tucker and Caboose are amazed by what Weiss did and that whip she somehow got her hands on.

Tucker: When did she get that? Church: Wow. You might be fit emough to be a drill sergeant after all. Weiss: Thank you. I learned a thing or two from my sister. Tucker: Man, I would like to see your sister. Now if you'll excuse me, babe. We'll be there relaxing our asses and... Weiss: Hold it right there, I'm not done talking you dopes! Tucker: Sigh. What is it? Weiss: You need explain everything, I mean all of it, of what happened here! Church: What? Aren't you going to interrogate them later? Weiss: I need both parties' testimony. Unlike those prisoners here, you'll be writting in a formal documentation and submit it to me, ten thousand words. Church: Ten thousand words long?! Weiss: As well as indoor repairs. Tucker: Indoor repairs?! That will be those guys job too! Weiss: Consider this a punishment for your lack of caution here. UNLESS YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO CONTACT COMMAND ABOUT YOU AND GIVE SOME PROPER DISCIPLINE LIKE THOSE REDS! As a Sangheili said. "The more the workers, the more faster we can fix this place up." Tucker: Hold on, what about Caboose? What will he do? Weiss: While I'm in charge in making the prisoners work fast and their interrogation, his job is to keep them from escaping. Caboose: Yay! Church: What? That's not as bad as ours! Weiss: Ahem... Command? Church: Sigh. "Don't tell Sarge." they say. "We'll fix this place." they say. Grif : Hey, you forced us to fix this place!

Grif gets silenced by Weiss elctro whip again.

Weiss: KEEP WORKING, SCUM! Now off to writting you two! Caboose: See ya later guys! Church: Sigh, we should've let that Red kill us in the first place. Tucker: Not me. I'm planning to hook up with her once she cools down. Grif: Hey, Simmons? Simmons: Yeah? Girf: Telling the truth and get shot by Sarge would've been a lot more merciful than this. Simmons: *Sob*! Yeah, it should have.

Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/necroceph

[heartsmithed-moved]

Dev post about Kingdom hearts related magic / commands that Atlas can use! Under the cut because it gets long.

I’m trying not to make Atlas seem too OP - but he was taught magic by a very powerful wizard and I’m not going to hold him back. That being said Atlas really doesn’t use offensive magic often - which is what a majority of KH magic is. So they might seem as top tear offensive spells, it takes more out of him to cast it as he doesn’t use it often. Atlas is best for quick and powerful strikes rather than dragged out battles. 

I’m going to reiterate that this is specifically Kingdom Hearts magic. Atlas knows much more magic than this - as i’ve explained in previous dev posts - but the rest of stuff that one could only learn in spells books aka not something that has a command in kh

As you’ll notice, there are ALOT of fire related spells here - and this is because of Atlas being trained not only as a heartsmith, but an actual smith. Wynter would use fire spells instead of starting a fire naturally to use the forge - so naturally Atlas learned the same. 

I’m going to be bolding Atlas’s go to spells, then italicizing his last resort spells. I’ll also just be listing the most powerful form (ra, ga, za) of that branch of magic he knows just cause otherwise it gets clustered. I should note that Atlas will definitely use  defensive spells first and offensive spells after, but offensive spells will also be bolded just if they’re his first go to once he gets to a point where he has to fight

Classic KH spells Atlas can use and they work as intended:

firaga

dark firaga

blizzara

thundra

aerora

waterra

Esuna

KH spells Atlas can use but they work somewhat differently due to his wonderlandian magic and origin, or just cause i wanted to make it different TM : 

Curaga : instead of being green his curing spells start out red/pink and fade out to grin. Also the flowers associated with them are red and white roses.

Zero gravira : instead of throwing enemies into the air, these spells throw atlas’s gravity off, causing him to float into the air or change his orientation of gravity until he stops the spell. He normally uses this to dodge attacks or get to hard to reach places. Can also be used to throw an enemy off guard and attack them from above if needed.

Magnera : once again instead of pulling things in, when atlas cast magnet is pushes them out. If he cast this on two separate things, they will repel eachother and not be able to become close. Pretty much he’s putting the two same poles of a magnet against eachother - making them repel one another 

Crawling fire: it’s almost exactly the same except the ball of fire seems to laugh the entire way to the enemy. also the ball of fire is shaped like a heart. Not one he’ll use often if only because he finds the laugh obnoxious 

Holy : This is a spell used by a lot of the characters in kh tho it’s sometimes called faith. Normally it involves pillars of light or orbs of light - though the way Atlas’s holy goes off is similar to the FFXIV one which you can see in this video here. It hits a large area and can be used to take down multiple enemies at once. it’s one of the strongest, if not the strongest, offensive magic Atlas knows. 

Blackout : has the chance of also blinding him, so he doesn’t use it that often. 

Mini: Makes Atlas mini not enemies - so a very situational thing he doesn’t use much. 

Balloonra : balloons still form fine and work as intended- but they almost look the same - the colors of the cheshire cat (Occasionally a smile will be plastered on one) or the balloons are heart shaped. or a mixture of both. Atlas doesn’t use it often as he finds them creepy.

Fission fire: a bbs command that has a ball of fire be launched at and explode when it hits an enemy. the same thing happens when atlas uses this except for the fact that the ball of fire is shaped like a heart and explodes into a bunch of smaller hearts. 

Mine shield: his mines are actually hits or misses - the hit being the actual spell and the misses spewing out confetti or hot tea when stepped on. Again not a spell he uses often because of the unpredictability 

Shadowbreaker: One spell that atlas has only used once - because of the fact that when he does it, as he doesn’t use a keyblade he summons axes made out of light and darkness for the attacks and the axes scare him (for reasons he doesn’t remember) 

Dark splicer : not used often for the same reason above, he summons magical axes to pull off this attack. 

Teleport: won’t always teleport right behind the enemy that was just attacking him. Or he’ll accidentally switch his position with someone else’s if they’re fighting nearby, so doesn’t use this often again for the unpredictability.

some commands from bbs and ddd i think atlas would be able to use just fine without a keyblade:

fire surge

barrier surge

firaga burst

ignite

vanish

Magic Hour

Mega flare

Defensive/Reprisal Commands he is able to use: 

Reflect

Dark barrier

Renewal Barrier

Counter Aura

Payback blast

Some movement things cause I just think it’s neat:

High jump/Double Flight

Air Slide

Aerial Recovery

Can’t actually use any of the glide abilities but considering how the gravity spells work on him, he can fake it

Reversal 

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE: time magic

okay so this deserves a bit of an explanation - time magic was probably the biggest and most important magic atlas inherited from Wynter. However, Wynter also told him not to use it unless absolutely necessary, making it not a normal part of his magic inventory unless things get really desperate - even more desperate than his ‘last resort’ spells. So if he’s using time magic, shit is serious

plus, time magic is something that works better when used with Wynter’s keyblade - the hand of time. Atlas refuses to use this keyblade though it was technically passed down to him, so even if he did use time magic he couldn’t use it to his fullest potential unless he uses wynter’s keyblade.

That being said, Atlas can use the following time related spells: Stopza, and Slow with or without a keyblade. He can also use the defensive command Stop Barrier with or without a keyblade. If he was using a keyblade he could also use time splicer, time storm, time block and twisted hours.

Not time related but with a keyblade/weapon he can also pull off dark splicer and shadowbreaker without having to summon the magical axes.

EVEN MORE: darkness

You might notice that there are specifically spells and commands on this list that are related to darkness - yes because Atlas uses darkness freely. Definitely not frequently, but freely. He isn’t pinned down by the weight of using darkness like other characters in the series because of how he has to use darkness as apart of the repairing process when working with keyblades - as most all hearts are made with both light and dark so are their keyblades, so he’s quite used to using darkness with his attacks. However he was instructing against using such magic outside of the shop, because of how views on light and darkness were at the time - so he doesn’t resort to those kinds of spells first but he does know that and he will use them. 

[ice-cream-nekogirl]

Tag, You’re It!: Shinsou x Witch!Reader Pt. 5

Part 5 to Part 4: https://chocolatekitsune.tumblr.com/post/181967462949/tag-youre-it-shinsou-x-witchreader-pt-4

Pt. 5: Little bit of Payback

 To make up for his mistake, Sero stood above the ground and utilized his tape to swing himself from building to building, and lamppost to lamppost. After a while he realized he wasn’t alone once he saw Ojiro using the upper grounds to his advantage too.

Smirking, he chased after the tailed-boy, who gasped in shock when he realized that he was being followed as he sped up and jumped quicker, using his tail to swing and launch himself from lamppost to building.

For a moment, he landed and hung onto a lamppost, silently coming up with a plan to try and get away from Sero.

“If I just…” Ojiro whispered to himself, swinging with a grunt of effort. After finding the right momentum, Ojiro lept into the air and flung himself onto the roof of a smaller building but he shouted when his arm was pulled back a rope of sticky tape and saw Sero hanging from the same lamppost he had thrown himself off.

“Tag! You’re it!” Sero grinned as he cut off the tape and brought himself back down to the ground so he could take off as Ojiro watched on in defeat.

…

“Damn…” Ojiro sighed as he decided to stay above ground and see if anyone was hiding behind corners or running out to leave themselves open. He wasn’t very quick, and he hated the idea of sneaking around to get ahead but it was seeming that he wouldn’t have a choice.

Staying discreet, he analyzed the ground, and so far, he didn’t see anyone yet.

After another 5 minutes he realized that he was running out of time. Thankfully he caught a break when he spotted a familiar purple-haired boy trying to cross over to another alley to creep in. Ojiro wasn’t a vengeful person by any means but tagging the one who brainwashed him in the Sports Festival would be karmic justice in a way.

Carefully, he climbed down the building with the use of his quirk and kept his mouth shut this time as he quietly approached the building and started to climb to the top, deciding to surprise him.

Shinsou gave a quiet sigh, panting a little bit. He definitely lost you after you started teleporting every way, which way after hearing that Kaminari and Kirishima had been ‘it’. He was smart enough to know by now that those two had to have tagged somebody by now.

He took a moment to peek out of the alley to see if anyone was coming, even looking at the roofs of the building in case they were hiding. However, his eyes widened ever so slightly when he heard something behind him, turning slowly he was greeted by a palm tapping his shoulder.

“Tag. Now you’re it. And now we’re even. No tagbacks.” Ojiro smiled victoriously once he tagged the boy, who was in a state of mild shock when he realized that the ‘monkey’ he brainwashed at the Sports Festival had gotten him.

“Dammit…” He grunted, since apparently, he couldn’t tag him back even if he wanted to and even though he certainly could because he spoke to him. Tagging you was out of the question too…

…

“Hey Momo! Do you know how much more time we have left?” Mina asked the taller girl as she ran alongside her and Jirou.

“About 9 more minutes.” She replied fairly quickly, having kept count of the time passed after hearing you give a limit of 20 minutes.

“I wonder who’s been tagged so far… aside from Bakugou, Kaminari and myself.” Jirou pondered aloud, obviously not holding anything against Mina for tagging her earlier.

“Everyone is mostly scattered based on what I’ve observed, so I can only presume that almost everyone has been tagged so far, although I’m going to estimate that (L/N) and Hagakure possibly haven’t been tagged yet… Hagakure’s quirk gives her the best advantage for hiding and sneaking and then (L/N) has versatile abilities especially her transmutation and concilium powers, those allow her to have defensive and evasive skills.” Yaoyorozu deducted, smiling a little bit because this game was surprisingly fun. She regrets not playing it when she was younger, she was starting to see the appeal.

She giggled a little bit, “You know, I had my doubts about this but I think I get why (L/N) suggested this game. I’m having a good time.” The rich girl confessed to her friends, who gave her smiles.

“I know! I feel like I’m in elementary again! No worries! Just having fun with everyone!” Mina exclaimed cheerfully.

“Yeah… it’s nice to have a break from everything.” Jirou admitted softly, her smile small but genuine.

The moment between the girls was short-lived however, as Shinsou spotted and heard them as he stepped out of his hiding spot and began to run, feigning a lack of guile until the girls saw him.

“Shinsou?” Yaoyorozu quietly said, and the guy turned to face her, without any expression to indicate that he was up to something.

“Do you know who’s it?” He asked her calmly, maintaining ignorance and making the girls believe that he wasn’t it. Mina at least, Yaoyorozu and Jirou remained suspicious because they knew that his quirk was easy to get trapped in once anyone spoke to him.

“Nope! That’s why we’re running.” Mina cheerfully exclaimed, believing that Shinsou wasn’t it and just running away from whoever WAS ‘it’ too.

Hook line and sinker.

Mina’s black eyes went wide and blank as she suddenly stopped in her tracks, not entirely aware of what was going on now that she found herself in a trance.

“Tag. You’re it.” Shinsou touched the back of her shoulder, giving a small grin as he let the pink girl out of his hold as she blinked in confusion until she heard the words, making her, Jirou and Yaoyorozu gasp in shock.

And Shinsou ran as fast as he could, leaving the girls in his wake before running into an alley. This was definitely a test of evasion, something he wasn’t bad in thanks to his useful quirk, but he needed to work on his cardio.

“AH! I fell for it! DARN IT!” Mina exclaimed and whined a little bit, pouting and crossing her arms as Yaoyorozu and Jirou looked concerned but also alarmed.

“Well… I have to go. Sorry Ashido!” Jirou was quick enough to start running, and Yaoyorozu took that cue to start running too, but Mina squealed and sped up til she was able to touch the other girl’s elbow.

“Tag! You’re it Momo!” She regretfully said and ran away from her as Yaoyorozu grunted in slight frustration.

…

“I’m it… now I have to be sneaky and keep my eyes open for any openings without them seeing me.” Yaoyorozu thought in her head once her friends ran away from her, and prompted to use one of the artificial trees as a means to get above the ground. The buildings would be too predictable, and she assumed everyone was getting wise with them.

Peering through the leaves, she remained careful and silent as she created a small toy gun from her arm. Target practice wasn’t exactly her strong suit but she was confident in her abilities as she waited until she finally saw someone!

Todoroki.

She had so much respect for him, and found him pretty handsome, however she had to tag him now that time was running out and because he was in such close proximity it was her best chance. Aiming her gun, she focused on him and held her breath to stay quiet until he was close enough for her to shoot!

Her ammo? Harmless suction cups that stuck to whatever they landed on. And on the suction cup had the word ‘TAG’ on it. Something she had specially created for the purpose of this really thrilling game.

Todoroki turned sharply with a small grunt of rare surprise when he heard a noise, but gasped lightly when something landed on his arm and there it was. The suction cup with the ‘TAG’ on it.

Yaoyorozu gasped aloud, just as shocked and mildly horrified that she managed to get Todoroki.

“Tag! You’re it.” She grinned at him from above the tree. “Wow! (L/N) was right! This is fun!” Yaoyorozu couldn’t help but express her excitement, and admittedly she was happy that she finally got Todoroki because she respected him so much. However, she quelled a bit of her excitement to avoid offending him, but thankfully he wasn’t offended at all.

Instead, Todoroki was amazed and impressed with her skills. “You got me.” He said humbly and politely as he let the girl start running because he couldn’t tag her back even if he wanted to.

…

With only 5 minutes left on the clock, Todoroki had to act quick. He was mildly annoyed with himself for taking this game so seriously, but he still had that competitiveness and he refused to be labeled ‘the loser’ as you put it once the time runs out.

So he started running, searching for anyone who might be hiding and sneaking around in the area. His senses on high alert as he looked up and down, left and right although he slowed his pace down just a little bit to avoid startling anyone hiding.

“WHOO-HOO!”

There you were.

Just making yourself float and jump from building to building with your telekinesis keeping you afloat. Seeing you leave yourself out in the open like that, provoked Todoroki to attempt to tag you. He felt confused at this new feeling he got, with the time running out and the fact that you were there practically begging him to tag you. Adrenaline wasn’t unfamiliar to him, but this was a different kind of rush that made him want to surprise you and make you ‘it’.

With a small smirk, he followed you discreetly as you remained happily oblivious to the fact that someone was watching you.

Carefully, you lowered yourself down until your feet were on the ground, and you quickly turned around and looked every way, which way. And for that moment you were positive that you were alone, or at the very least far away from the person who was it.

Todoroki kept hidden behind an alley because he knew you would be smart enough to check your surroundings first. However, once he saw that you felt secure enough, he carefully and quietly ran towards you with your back turned.

“Tag. You’re it.” The low voice made you jump and shriek as the feeling of soft fingers tapping you on the back on startled you, and you turned around. “AHHH!!” Widening your (E/C) eyes in surprise as you gasped loudly when you saw Todoroki of all people, giving you a small, but cheeky smile as you grinned and laughed happily.

“AHAHAHA! You got me! You got me Toto!”

You couldn’t believe it! Todoroki tagged you! You didn’t care that you were ‘it’ right now, all that mattered is that you saw that Todoroki smiling and for once, appearing to be having fun! “No tagbacks.” Todoroki even reminded you, still smiling at you a little bit much to your joy.

“Hee-hee oh I know! But you’d better keep running before the person I tag gets you!” You said to him happily, waving at the heterochromatic boy with an excited laugh, barely hearing him chuckle as he started to run off in your opposite direction.

“I’M IIIIITTTT~!!” You announced to your classmates, sure it wasn’t the subtlest approach but that was your way of being arrogant since your powers would allow you to tag someone quick and easy.

“Oh crap! Now (L/N)’s it! We’re really screwed now!” Kaminari was the first to take off running somewhere else, knowing that with the time only down to 1 minute that you were going to choose someone unlucky.

“Get out of here… FAST!” Sero said in alarm, using his tape to transport himself higher even though he was sure you’d teleport yourself up there but, he and everyone else were starting to get desperate.

Giggling evilly, you saw Midoriya with Uraraka and Iida, and they all widened their eyes in terror once they saw you coming. “Haha~! Greenie! Rara and Four Eyes!” You held your hands up with a dark smirk, “W-We have to go! We have 45 seconds left!” Midoriya exclaimed to anyone else around him as he found himself running away as fast as he could with Uraraka and Iida in quick succession once they picked up that you were just taunting them.

“Who’s gonna get it?!” You sang-songed and laughed evilly, and you turned to see a very amused Shinsou with his arms folded in his lap. “I knew it would all come down to you.” He muttered, smirking at you as you snickered a bit. “You know how I am…” Casually you snickered, and Shinsou wasn’t worried because he knew you wouldn’t tag him.

“I’d hug you Hitoshi… but I am It sooooo… I’ll let you go THIS time…” You smirked right back at him, earning a chuckle from your best friend. “This time huh? If that’s the case… I can’t wait for next time.” He gladly accepted since that only meant you promised a more ‘fun’ challenge during the next game of Quirk Tag, as he decided to go off and let you tag your last unfortunate victim.

And once he was gone, you focused your mind and used your telekinesis to make yourself float and fly steadily to find the person you wanted to tag the most just to fuck with him again. Looking down you searched fast until you saw the familiar spiky blonde hair, and then you saw the pair of red eyes peer upwards and widen once they locked with yours.

“Katsuki~!” You sang his name as you floated down and started to skip after him, prompting the irritated blonde to shout at you while he started running, “BACK OFF WITCH BITCH! You’re not tagging me again!”

“Yes I am~!” You continued to sing, laughing wildly as you started to use transmutation to make yourself get ahead to him quicker, “SHIT!” He exclaimed to himself, and seeing no other choice he held out his palms to propel himself from the ground and fly off into the distance.

Only 10 more seconds left…

Bakugou was smart, you almost forgot that. To catch up with him, you made yourself fly again and kept your arms at your side to make yourself faster and avoided the fire from his palms, and yet you stood behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he smirked when it seemed you weren’t able to get close enough.

Growling a bit in frustration, you decided to use your classic strategy, focusing again as you suddenly teleported from your spot as Bakugou gasped once he saw you disappear and looked around frantically until you took him by surprise by jumping in front of him.

“SURPRISE!” You threw your arms out with a wild grin on your face as he screamed and forced himself to break and stop his flight. But he was careful enough to let himself land on his feet, and then he was met with you floating back down as you raised your open palm towards him.

“TAG!! YOU’RE IIIII…” In your rush, you didn’t see that Bakugou rather easily ducked out of the way before you could tag him, and instead your palm pressed onto someone else’s chest. Blinking, you slowly and reluctantly stared up to see a VERY angry looking Aizawa who glared down at you with his angry, glowing red eyes.

“(Y/N)…”

[girls-scenarios]

Let’s Get A Little Closer

Idol: Jisoo (Lovelyz)

Prompt: Hiii I would like to request a scenario with lovelyz jisoo and fem reader both being superheros. And them having a crush on each other and always flirting when they are defeating bad guys without knowing who they really are under there masks. Until they have a cute sincere moment and take off there masks and confess. I'm sorry if it was a lot I got excited. 😅 just a thank you in advance 😊

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Since there was no specified powers, I made them up myself. Jisoo’s powers are teleportation and turning energy into weapons, and the reader’s powers are flying and super strength. This was super fun to write and I’ve been excited about writing it from the beginning, but it took me a while to figure out what direction I wanted to take with it. I hope you all enjoy though!

Warnings: Some cursing, someone gets hurt, nothing graphic

“On your left!” Jisoo looked up at your exclamation, dropping the robot she’d just destroyed to the ground and grinning.

“Run and fly all you want, (Y/N), I’ve still destroyed more robots than you!” You laughed as you landed on the roof of a nearby building and kicked the robot guarding it off. This was normal.

Fighting bad guys with Jisoo had almost become a game, and it was fun. The back and forth competition and flirting made the fights go faster, and it was nice to know that someone had your back.

“Not for long, I’m going for The Android himself,” you called to her, knocking the last roof-robot to the ground. In front of you, the old abandoned electronics factory towered, dark and creepy. You were almost positive the villain was inside, especially since Jisoo had been able to trace the control panel inside of the bots there.

“Not without me, you aren’t,” Jisoo said from right behind you, making you jump and spin around. She grinned. “You always forget that, while you can fly, I can teleport.”

“I didn’t forget, I was just concentrating,” you retorted, putting your hands on your hips. She rolled her eyes at you and stepped forward, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Whatever you say, honey. Let’s go.”

The inside of the factory was no more welcoming than the outside, and you squinted into the dusty, dim room. There was a click, and then light filled the room from Jisoo’s flashlight. When you looked at her, she winked.

“Always be prepared, right?”

“What would I do without you,” you said, a playful lilt to your voice, before you paused, listening. There was a familiar whirring sound, and it seemed to be getting closer, echoing in one of the many halls.

“That’s more robots. We must be getting closer.” As she spoke, she tucked the flashlight into her belt and held out her hand. You’d seen it so many times, but every time, her powers still amazed you. A glowing purple sword materialized in her hand, buzzing with energy. The sound seemed to draw the robots faster, because only a moment later, they came stomping through one of the hallways and into the open area where the two of you stood.

“I’m guessing we’ll find our man right through there,” you said, grinning, and then you were in the thick of it. As you raised your fists, Jisoo disappeared from your side and reappeared behind the robots, raising her weapon to strike.

She took care of the back rows, slashing straight through the metal, as you took care of the front, channeling raw strength to tear through their mechanic bodies. Soon, there was nothing but a pile of metal and wires, and she raised her free hand to give you a high-five.

“A few chunks of metal are no match for us,” she said, grinning, and you laughed, dusting the debris off your arms.

“Now let’s go explore that hallway. I have a feeling it’ll lead us right to him.”

The hallway was just as dusty as the rest of the building, but her flashlight cut through the darkness so that the two of you could see. There didn’t seem to be any sign of life, other than the footprints in the dust left by the robots. Still, you had a feeling that the two of you were on the right track. There were always back entrances to these places, and the fact that you’d just been attacked by robots from this area was key.

“God, would it kill him to dust?” She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face, and you laughed quietly, covering your mouth with your hand so you didn’t breathe in too much of the dust yourself.

“I guess that’s not on his villain agenda.”

“I mean, he could always just make his robots do it. Come on-.” You shushed her, and she gave you an offended look before following your gaze. Far down the hallway, there was light coming from one of the stairs, and the sound of energy. The two of you crept closer, until she put her hand up, motioning for you to stop, handed you her flashlight, and disappeared.

She reappeared behind the stairs and crept forward until she was almost at the base of the stairs, still concealed in the shadows. She watched for a few moments before again appearing at your side.

“He’s up there, alright, but he’s expecting us. And there’s this giant robot thing behind him. Our best move would be to surprise him somehow.” She spoke softly enough that her voice didn’t even echo, and you nodded, looking back at the stairs.

“Is it just one secluded room?”

“Looks like it.”

“Then you’ll have to teleport us in there. Behind him.” You handed her back the flashlight, and she killed the light, leaving the two of you in relative darkness. Then, she looped her arms around your waist and leaned in close, whispering in your ear.

“Hold on tight.”

The two of you appeared behind the giant array of computers, and as you leaned out to see what was going on, you saw what she’d told you about. The Android was sitting in his chair facing the stairs, with a giant robot behind him. The ceiling was a little low for your liking, meaning that you’d have to contain your fighting style. When you glanced at Jisoo, she was in position to jump out, hand ready to materialize a weapon. The two of you gave each other a look, and then you reached out and tore the giant ball of wires running the computers in half.

A spark went up from the severed lines and the computers all shut down, the sound causing The Android to spin around.

“What the hell-.”

“Looking for us, Android?” Jisoo stepped out from behind the computers on one side, purple sword in hand, and you stepped out the other, flexing your fingers. His face twisted with anger and he flushed, standing from his chair.

“You two! How?”

“Always study your opponents, dumbass,” you said, rolling your shoulders and grinning. In Jisoo’s other hand, a blue sword appeared, and she twirled it around, grin mirroring yours.

“It’s time, Android. Give up now and you won’t get hurt.”

“Like hell I’ll give up to you squirts!” He thrust his hand into his pocket, and the giant robot at his side whirred to life, glass eyes glowing red and head turning to look at the two of you. Immediately, The Android turned tail and ran back down the stairs, and the robot moved to block your way.

“Damn,” she said, raising her weapons. “I guess we’ll have to catch up with him later.”

“You could always go after him and let me take care of this thing,” you said, watching the bot carefully as it turned to look at you.

“No way. We fight together, remember?”

“Fine. But hurry!” You rushed then, coming a bit off the ground to put more force into your punch. Your fist landed, but to your surprise, there was barely a dent in the metal when you pulled away, still floating in the air near the bot. “What the-.” You didn’t get to finish your sentence. The bot brought up his giant arm and you couldn’t dodge fast enough. The fist hit you square in the stomach and chest and sent you flying back against the wall, crashing through the rock into the next room.

You had never felt that kind of pain before, and it took you by surprise. This robot had been built to fight someone with super strength, if the pain coursing through your back was anything to go by. You winced and lay still, knowing that your body wouldn’t be too hurt but not wanting to move too quickly. Jisoo was shouting your name, and the robot was still whirring, like it was moving towards you, but you couldn’t do anything but close your eyes.

You’d never listened to Jisoo fight. The buzz of energy slicing through the air stood your hairs on end, and you wished you could get up and help. But the pain wasn’t gone yet, and it would be worse for her if you tried to barge in and really broke something.

The robot stopped moving towards you, and you knew that Jisoo was fighting it head-on. You could hear the metal melting as it came in contact with the pure energy of her weapons, and when you opened your eyes again, it only had one arm. You studied it as Jisoo fought it back, looking over the thick metal coating of its middle. It was armored everywhere, it seemed, but then your eyes caught something. There, hidden on the back of it’s heel, was the control box. The metal on the little box was obviously less armored than the rest of its body, and you knew you could destroy it.

Carefully, and as quietly as you could, you sat up, wincing at the pain that still ran through your spine. Nothing was broken, of course, your bones were too strong, but you’d have awful bruising. You picked your way through the rubble of the wall until you were at the wall itself and then laid on your stomach, creeping forward. Jisoo was fighting it back towards you, and you knew that it couldn’t see you. So you reached out your arm and took hold of his heel.

Your fingers tightened, crushing through the metal, and then you yanked as hard as you could. The entire control box came away in your hand, and the gears in the bot ground to a sickening halt, sparking as he crumpled to the ground. Jisoo stared at you with wide eyes as you stood up from behind the robot, and you gave her a smile.

“Didn’t think it could get rid of me that easily, did you?” Her weapons disappeared and she ran towards you, immediately wrapping you up in a hug as gently as she could.

“Oh my god, I was so scared, you weren’t moving and I could’t go check on you-.”

“I’m okay,” you said, patting her back. “We need to get that Android though, we can’t let him get away.” She nodded as she pulled away, pulling herself together, but she still grabbed your hand.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Running was a bit harder now, so you kept up by flying slightly above the ground instead. Had the ceiling been higher, you could have grabbed her and moved faster, but the ceiling was much too low, and neither of you really knew where you were going. Still, she had her flashlight out, shining it at the ground as she ran.

“Look! Footprints in the dust. Those aren’t robot prints.” You landed and looked down. Sure enough, there were prints of men’s shoes in the dust, and the two of you followed them until you reached a closed door. When you tried the knob, it was locked, but one yank brought the entire door off the hinges, and she shined her light inside.

It was a closet, with a familiar man cowering in the corner. She rolled her eyes, and you couldn’t help laughing at the sight.

“Come on, Android. It’s over.”

-

After the villain had been handed over to the police and the facts had been wrapped up, the two of you ended up on the roof of a nearby building, resting your sore limbs. Jisoo sighed and shook her head, looking over at you.

“You really had me worried back there,” she said, gently touching one of the bruises on your arm. 

“I’m okay,” you said again, not really knowing what else to say. This was more intimate than the two of you had ever really been, but it was genuine. You knew she’d been worried.

“Yeah, but what if you’d actually broken something, or gotten hurt even worse? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I’d let that happen.”

“It was my fault. I was dumb enough to charge in without really studying the robot. The ones before were so easy to defeat that I let my guard down.” The two of you sat in silence for a moment, both of you looking at your bruised arm, before Jisoo looked up at your face and smiled softly.

“Your mask got all ripped up in your fall.” It was true. Honestly, you’d forgotten about it, but it had almost come off. You tugged at the fabric and looked around you before sliding it off completely. No one else was really around, since it was still considered unsafe, so you weren’t scared of anyone seeing. Jisoo looked at you with wide eyes before she took her own mask off.

“Are we doing this?”

“I guess. It’s not like you don’t know my name,” you said, laughing and running your fingers through your hair.

“You know mine too. But you don’t know who I am. I’m just a regular person when I don’t have this mask on. I’m a video game producer at the Woollim game company downtown.” You raised your eyebrows in surprise.

“Wow, really? I work at the newspaper office right across from you!”

“Small world,” she said with a smile, and wow, was she pretty. Even with her mask on, she was pretty, but without it, her beauty was stunning. The two of you just stared at each other for a moment before you both burst into laughter over the situation.

“Why are we so awkward? I literally work with you all the time,” you said, shaking your head.

“No kidding. I just wasn’t expecting you to be so attractive without your mask,” she replied, cheeks flushed pink.

“I’m attractive with my mask on, thank you,” you joked, and she elbowed you.

“Whatever. See if I’m honest with you ever again.”

“I was kidding! You’re really pretty without your mask, so I was taken aback too.” She grinned at you, cheeks still pink, and you wanted her see her smile all the time.

“You should go on a date with me. Just us, as regular humans, not superheroes.” The pain faded away as you looked at her, realizing how much you really liked her. She was your crime fighting partner, yes, but maybe you wanted to date her too.

“I’d love that.”

[dreamy-sonata]

I don’t care about the government/ and i really need a hug

The low, buzzing hum filled the air, as the bees sensed the sun begin to shift towards the later half of the afternoon. Tubbo’s wings fluttered faster as he flew over to the neatly arranged beehives. Each of them had been rescued from the lands just before the void hit, and from other desolate areas. Many other animals and creatures stayed here too, in an unofficial sanctuary. Tubbo could tell that it had once held a large rebellion presence, based on the texts and burnt flags lying around, but now it was just him. Him and his animals. He passed the bee area, populated with flowers of every variety, then passed the sheep pen, running his hand along the sheep’s wool. The small baas and bleats filled the air, causing a smile to curl at Tubbo’s lips.

“Hello! You’re a sheep-y sheep,” he sang in a bright and playful tune, to an improv melody. A bleat of recognition and contentment came from the sheep, and Tubbo moved on from that pen. He hummed a short and random song, riffing off of that little sheep tune, and chuckled to himself. A couple of bees had managed to find their way out of the loose enclosure, and now flitted around in his peripheral. He threw a handful of petals in his hair, drawn from the pouch at his bag, and the bees followed them with interest as they gently spiraled to the ground, to join the dozens of other petals that littered the ground.

“Now there’s more,” he said, drawing out the last word, in a stage whisper, a grin of mischief on his face. He’d been living like this for…how long, exactly? A couple of months? And still the daily petal toss, the ritualistic greeting of the afternoon, it still brought him joy.

Treading on a few more of the petals, Tubbo felt a faint vworp behind him, along with the sensation of a gently spiked ball hitting him in the back. He frowned as his feet lifted off of the ground, and twisted around, only to see a shulker’s purple hull - with the small being inside of it peering out to see if the shot had hit. A trail of end dust wound its way up Tubbo’s body, and tugged at his clothes, levitating him up further into the air.

“Hey! That’s not fair,” he protested, and the shulker let out its imitation of a giggle. Tubbo sighed, and held onto the fence with one arm, keeping his body anchored to the ground. He raised an eyebrow, as he allowed the shulker to indulge in one more moment of this victory, before he let go of the fence and simply fluttered his wings, which steadied him in the air, so long as he continued to move around. And move he did, in loops and spirals in the air, much to the disappointment of the shulker before him. The levitation effect wore off in a few seconds, and he fully regained control of his flight. He dove back down, and scooped up the shulker, slamming its hull closed, effectively eliminating its ability to teleport. 

“Now you have to go back.” He flew down the corridor, and turned up into a huge room with towering ceilings. Part of it had collapsed, which let in the sunlight - probably what had woken the lil guy up. Up by the partially collapsed ceiling, there was a nether portal that somehow hung suspended in the air. It had once been perched on a loft - but by miracle or warped reality, it now simply…floated. It didn’t move at all, save for the faint ripple of the portal’s surface. The odd noises grew louder as Tubbo approached, and he landed gently on the obsidian frame. 

He wobbled precariously for a moment, then righted himself and sighed. He’d wanted to move that thing for a while, but hadn’t had the time or resources to do so. Managing such a sanctuary, all the while having to provide for himself - it was almost too much. Almost. But he’d survived this long, and he could continue to survive for a long time.

The portal finally registered his entry, and Tubbo closed his eyes as he passed through. Part superstition, but now mostly habit - as quite a few things had started in this wasteland. The antennae on his head flicked at the atmospheric change, and he opened his eyes to the cobblestone cavern constructed around the portal. Of course he hadn’t made it himself, like most other things, but that hadn’t stopped him from using it. Tubbo walked out of the portal and turned to the right - towards the ice tunnel that led to the stronghold.

A few minutes, one high-speed boat ride, and going through a portal later, Tubbo found himself descending the stone brick staircase. One upon a time, he’d had to sneak down here for fear of being discovered. He almost would’ve missed the kind of nervous feeling - a feeling of play anticipation, that he very well could be caught by someone and brought to…other people. 

Gods, how he missed it. The banter, the laughs, the mischief and tomfuckery. All of it. He supposed, in such a setting as this barren wasteland, he should’ve missed the sad times. Should’ve been longing for even the crying moments of melancholy or sorrow.... But he didn’t. There was too much, far too much of that anyways. 

He came to the room, and looked down at the portal of swirling lights. Tubbo stood on the frame, avoiding hitting the Eyes of Ender lodged in the aperture in the center of each strangely-runed segment. His eyes fell shut, and he jumped in, holding the now-bound shulker tight to his chest. Binding a creature like this wasn’t his favorite thing to do, considering this particular shulker’s fear of suffocation, but he had to get it there. He didn’t know what else to do, and he certainly lacked the arm strength to just muscle it down the whole way there. 

The little light that could be seen from behind his eyelids vanished, and he opened them - staring directly into the surrounding void. He shuddered, and made his way across the suspended bridge, using his wings to fly across. The void still scared him, even after all this time. Seconds later, he looked out at the sprawling end city before him - built with purpur and endstone, with towering heights and floating buildings that were of a height with overworld clouds. The remaining obsidian pillars seemed just short in comparison, which was intimidating considering their preserved state. 

Tubbo gently tapped on the box, and a rattle could be heard from within. He smiled, and flew the remaining distance to the landing deck of the ship. With deft fingers, he unwrapped the shulker and rapped on the outside once more. The small creature wiggled for a moment, then teleported away with a small noise of happiness. He then took notice of the slight fatigue that had set into his body - especially his wings. His little antennae flicked around, and he swallowed at the oddly quieted sensory field of the end dimension. 

Everything felt too dark, the void pressed in from all sides, and the only noises aside from his own were of teleporting enderman and shulkers. Pressure built in his lungs, and he remembered then to release the breath caught in them. To his surprise, he could now see his breath in the air. The onset of icy chill sunk its claws into exposed skin, drawing goosebumps instead of blood when it tracked its way across flesh. 

Something was off. That much he could tell. Speaking of, how even had the shulker gotten this far? Shulkers didn’t tend to travel quickly in warm environments or by themselves - the nether was just about the opposite of the end, in terms of ideal situations for them. He supposed he’d ignored that fact for a bit, moreso concerned on getting it back - but with the addition of this piercingly cold presence, Tubbo looked around. 

And looked directly into a pair of horrible purple eyes. An enderman. Pinned by his gaze, it wouldn’t have been able to move. But like an amateur, like the idiot he was, Tubbo flinched away, breaking the line of sight. In a heartbeat, it was out of even his peripherals, but an eardrum shattering screech rent the air. He reached for a pair of shears attached to his belt, and clutched the bandages from the shulker in the other hand. The dark enderman came and went - Tubbo slashed out at any moving darkness, separate from the void around. 

He dove off the platform, angling for the starry black portal below. He felt the whoosh of air as the attack narrowly missed him, and he shut his eyes and slammed into the portal. The cold presence followed him through, and Tubbo curled up into as small of a shape as he passed through the portal.

It spit him out onto solid ground, and his shoulder impacted the ground first. His skid across the ground tore at his clothes, as the apparent debris on the ground stuck up a bit. He felt it cut through his jacket, onto skin, through one of his wings, and finally he stopped tumbling. He opened his eyes, and winced at the sudden light. Then positively blanched at his surroundings. 

He wasn’t at his bed, which was where he was sure he’d last slept. It hadn’t been that long ago, after all. No, instead of being safely near home, he stared out at a flat wasteland - and on the horizon was the wall. His breathing quickened, and he lifted a hand to the side of his neck, where burn scars streak across the partially-covered skin. Memories rushed back, fire, bright lights, that searing pain, and then the horrible split second blackness. He’d died for a second there, looking into those horrible red eyes, hearing the cackling laughter, trapped in a box-

Fuck you Schlatt, he thought, and his fingers curled in on his neck. The phantom pain faded, and he slowly inhaled and exhaled himself back to reality. He shoved his shears - which he hadn’t realized he’d still been holding until then - back into their sheath, and stood up, deliberately looking away from the wall and the crystalline spires that stretched high above it. 

The evening sunset shone in his eyes, and he realized that time had been decidedly more annoying today in the end dimension, and he wouldn’t be making it home - especially considering he had yet to identify his location exactly. So he turned away from the wall, and found himself facing a large forest. Something purple glowed in one of the trees, and for a heart-stopping moment, he thought that the enderman had followed him here. 

That thought vanished as soon as it came, and was replaced with a much more pleasant surprise. It glowed with the shimmering runes of enchantment, and with the purple hue change....of netherite. Eagerly, he leapt up to it and snagged it out of the branches. Nothing happened when he touched it. He could admit it, he was just a bit disappointed in this lack of...whatever he was expecting. Nonetheless, a giddy feeling overtook him as he beheld the elitist tool.

‘I can finally move that portal!’, he first thought, but then he shook his head. He could do so much more with that, he could move buildings, he could-

A purple fluid dripped from the tree, down onto his hand. It stung, and he stepped out from under the tree on instinct. His eyes traveled up the trunk, over leaves, to the source of the dripping liquid. It cut through the branches, and where it trailed left marks on the already roughened bark. Tubbo spotted a trail of it through the forest.

Well, they never said anything about curiosity killing the bee, now did they?

He followed the trail.

WC: 2000~

Character Count (CC): 11, 150~

AN: So sorry this chapter was late, again! I'll try for weekly updates. Just went through a breakup, but I promise that I'll be more consistent. Anyways, as usual, this fic will is up on Ao3 and Wattpad (my upload order is Wattpad-Ao3-Tumblr, generally within the same hour)

Have a good day, lovelies, and blessed be to all of you <3