#i leave the internet for a few hours and suddenly it’s mayhem

[dearweirdme]

.

[presidentrhodes]

when xu wenwu told katy that he had been called many names, including "the most dangerous man alive," i immediately thought of despicable me and how the villains in it had a villainy list.

mcu should also have a villain list like that — except it wasn't created by shield or any other national or international organisation. it started as a joke twitter account that suddenly gained worldwide popularity — and even found galactic fame thanks to the ravagers. so, now every villain wants to break into the top 10 so they spread as much chaos and mayhem as they can, which keeps the avengers on their toes 24/7.

xu wenwu gets a wind of that list after razorfist teaches him how to do social media and he is your typical disappointed asian dad™ who is annoyed that the ten rings aren't even in the top 10, let alone be #1. of course xu xialing tells him she doesn't give a fuck about some joke twitter list and as the new head of the ten rings, she refuses to draw undue attention on the organisation.

that just leaves wenwu frustrated and he's like, "fine, i guess i am going to throw my name into the ring then." it starts out a little tough because he doesn't have the rings obviously. but he still has a few loyal ten rings followers who secretly do his bidding, including a couple of really talented hackers he took in when they were young. so wenwu starts small, creates localised chaos — like taking out the power supply in his vicinity or messing with traffic signals in a packed city during rush hour that causes traffic nightmares.

he broadens his horizon and eventually pays off a corrupt shipowner to accidentally block the suez canal for weeks. he has his hackers bring major social media networks offline for days, infiltrate world governments and lock them out of their computer systems, and erase their building security access.

he goes after billionaires, including tony stark, by crashing stock markets. he is 100% behind leaks of terabytes of financial documents exposing how the wealthy hide money in offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes — it causes quite a stink for a lot of people including ross et al.

most of wenwu's actions appear seemingly harmless on the surface but they cause chaos, mayhem and plenty of inconvenience over time, which leaves world governments furious while shield scrambles its resources to try and go after wenwu. (but of course he's very well protected by the ten rings because xialing knows what her father is up to and she thinks as long as he's busy causing chaos on earth, he wouldn't be tempted back to ta lo and unleash other world-destroying monsters lurking behind more magical gates)

but despite his efforts, wenwu doesn't crack the list which leaves him annoyed and frustrated. one day, during a tense family dinner with his children and katy, he complains about how he has done everything to break into that list and all of his efforts did not bear fruit — and that maybe after a thousand years, he really was losing his magical touch.

initially no one says a word and then xu shangqi is like, "dad you sowed chaos by going after the rich, the powerful and the corrupt and made their lives unbearably difficult. did you really think they'd name you a villain after that? you've become the internet's new boyfriend, reddit worships you and buzzfeed can't stop swooning over you — you're a god damn hero to everyone and mèimei & i are so proud of you."

[alteredphoenix]

First Impressions Chapter 50: The Stables Incident (WIP)(Heroes of the Storm)

A/N: So, some context in a nutshell: First Impressions is an out-of-order anthology series that has Sylvanas as the MC in a more Looney Tunes-style Nexus, a central hub where all universes converge and diverge at a singular point due to the Powers That Be that may or may not have summoned them here for purposes that are unknown to them. Except anyone that is brought to the Nexus is infected with a condition called the transition, aka the in-universe term for Out of Character; even the native-born Nexians are not exempt from this, and those that are pulled from their timeline never age, and if they should die they are very shortly brought back aka respawn.

I haven’t touched First Impressions in a long while, mainly because of work, doing WoW fics, and a lot of family drama IRL from 2018 onwards that nearly made me quit writing altogether. But I have felt the itch to get back at it again, even though Heroes of the Storm got its e-sports sector gutted and is running in a slow, lumbering maintenance mode. I’m not really sure if HotS still maintans some semblance of popularity as it did in the past year; I’ve been out of the loop for a while, although I’m sure the minor leagues and community-driven events are still ongoing.

Regardless, I’m posting this preview for archival purposes. I’m also posting it because this marks the start of the legendary Stables Incident, an event in which Sylvanas is accused of slaughtering innocent farm animals (at a place where people store their mounts for matches) out of nowhere. This chapter, however, shows what really happened (spoiler alert: Sylvanas didn’t do it, it was actually an accident, Hammer pressed the button on her tank by mistake during a squabble and, as a result, caused an intergalactic news circus over it).

I’m also posting this because: I love writing smartass-give-no-fucks!Sylvanas, and there must be more of it in the fandom.

-

“TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!”

The music kicked up in a roar so loud it threw Sylvanas off the bench onto the ground as though an invisible hand scooped up her from underneath and bowled her over. She awoke with a painful groan, twisting round onto her stomach to sit up on her elbows. Her ears twitched and swiveled, searching for the source of the music.

“TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!”

They flattened down against the sides of her head, shaking more from the vibrations that were causing the ground to quake, the bench to jump, and the squirrels and birds on their respective tree branches to bounce off in chattering, chirping squeaks and squawks than the force driving a jackhammer into her brain. Sylvanas looked behind her, in the direction of the auto body shop with its garage doors opened all the way.

A large, single-barreled cannon was poking its head out, connected to a red plated chassis on massive treads.

Sylvanas snarled, pushed to her feet, and stormed toward the garage.

“TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!”

“HAMMER!” Sylvanas yelled, but she could only hear the word in her head; it was like walking into a nightclub on full blast while the mother of all earthquakes, the Even Bigger One (bigger than San Andreas!), was bringing about The End Of The World As They Knew It. The tools on the walls racks and on the benches were rattling. The overhead fluorescent lights and spotlights were flickering and swinging back and forth. Darkness, even the fuel tanks way in the back were shaking in their cages! And Hammer…

Hammer was standing up out of the manhole, swaying and bumping and grinding like a turkey on antihistamines.

“HAMMER!” Sylvanas yelled again, feeling her throat work to outdo the noise. But Hammer still kept on dancing, oblivious to the world. The Banshee Queen glanced around the area. She saw a boombox from the Twenty-First Renaissance Era (which looked like a pyramidal A-track player) on a workbench...but no, nothing was coming out of it. She’d seen and heard it play before; whatever was running at the time would sound like it was being phoned in from a tin can in another municipal district from across an ocean. Then her eyes flicked behind the tank where, some distance away, were the ‘administrative’ offices that were reserved for quiet paperwork, faxing, phone calls, Internet, and maybe a few Jet Briggs’ beer and Easy Green joints were drunk and rolled in private enlightenment (that definition seemed to wax and wane over the years, apparently, but it usually ranged from a blissful stoner’s high to confusion and then to an agoraphobic fear of unseen, probably imaginative eldritch horrors that ranged between pink elephants, hyperrealistic eyes on the walls, and crab people with the heads of famous celebrities dead, alive, and not yet born crawling all over the place). Her eyes went to the ceiling where the speakers were located...but they shook as well, and offered no indication to her addled ears that the music was coming from them.

That left only one other place. “HAMMER, TURN THAT DOWN!”

“TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!” were the words Sylvanas could read from Hammer’s lips. “WHAT! WHAT! Doo doo-doo doo doo! Nuh-nuh-nuh! Doo doo-doo doo doo, doo-doo-doo--”

“TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!”

Sylvanas clenched her fists, her body shaking in time with the music. She mimicked taking a breath, reared back, and, calling upon the dark magic inside her, focused the font of power to nestle in her lungs and up her throat. Then she leaned forward and screamed. “HAAAAAMEEEERRRRR! TURN THAT THING OFF!”

The last syllable finally knocked Hammer out of her dance-induced stupor, blowing her back (and, Sylvanas thought morosely, not ass over tea kettle off the tank) from the amplified force. She caught herself, looked around, and saw the Banshee Queen glaring death and mayhem below her. “AW SNAP! SORRY, SORRY! EH, UH, G-GIVE ME ONE SEC! HOLD ON! WHERE’S THAT DAMN...AHA!” She doubled over, rooting around for the stereo, and when she found it turned it off.

Sylvanas had never found complete, total silence to be such an aether-given blessing until today. Like nirvana for mind, body, and soul. The quintessential out-of-body experience where one became attuned to nature and all that is not industrial.

Until I leave and she starts up again, she concluded. “You’re welcome,” Sylvanas drawled sardonically.

“Girl, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even know you were down there!” said Hammer. “Y-You weren’t waitin’ long, were ya?”

“I was waiting for an hour.”

Hammer clapped her hands to her cheeks. “Holy shit! Damn, girl, I’m really sorry--”

“Yeah, you should be. I actually just got here.”

“Eh? What? Really?”

“Yes, really!” Sylvanas said. “I was having a nice, simple rest on the bench outside and your stupid music woke me up! I swear to Darkness, woman, are you trying to move the Anchors out of position? Do you want to get us all killed?”

“N-Nah, girl, not at all! It’s just”--and Hammer flailed--”It’s such a nice day out, ya know? And it’s Sunday, which means all the auto shops are closed. An’ that also means I can work to mah heart’s content! No disruptions! No phone calls! No Kaijo suddenly tearing through the fabric of the space-time continuum! I can actually get stuff on time now, and at my own pace!”

“So I guess if I brought a motorcycle in, I’ll be expecting it by next spring as a belated Winter Veil present.”

“What? No! Girl, I ain’t that slow!”

“A tortoise, a snail, and a sloth could compete against you and they’d still win the race.”

“Hell no they wouldn’t! I have a tank, they don’t. I would just run ‘em over!”

Sylvanas rolled her eyes. “You are such a humanitarian it makes my heart bleed.”

“Well that’s what they’d get for messin’ with a siege tank!”

“You do realize there’s a noise ordnance of seventy-five feet, right?”

Hammer grinned wolfishly. “Ain’t no such thing as a noise ordnance if there’s no one around to complain about it.”

“Except for me,” said Sylvanas.

“Are ya really gonna tell on me?”

“No, but I’ll have ten reasons to tell you where to go if you do that again.”

“Ten reasons?” Hammer quirked a brow.. “What are they?”

“I punch you in the face with my left fist and then punch you with my right fist. If I add onto that, I’ll have ninety-nine reasons and a headbutt to make you quiet. Let’s also not forget I can just kick when you’re down, and by that point I’ll have lost count.”

“That’s a helluva lot of reasons to have...and money! Lots of money to pay for medical bills!”

“I can think of ways to accrue the cash and avoid jail time. You think this lackadaisical government can stop me?”

“Well,” Hammer said, digging a pinkie finger into her ear, “they are a little slow on the uptake. They ain’t exactly unnatural like we are. They’re more...what’s the word...normal.”

“You’re far from normal,” Sylvanas muttered.

“Eh? What?” Hammer asked.

“I said, what the hell are you working on that’s made you put the music on full blast?” Sylvanas lied smoothly. “What about it is so important you haven’t had the cops called on you yet?”

Hammer laughed uproariously. “This? This! My good friend! Is the latest in Jeetilopolis technological warfare!”

Sylvanas appraised it with a slow, long sweep of her eyes. “A single shot cannon?”

“Not just any single shot cannon! It’s a single shot cannon bought straight from the auction block all the way in Jeetilopolis! I spent just about my entire checking account on getting this thing, and spent almost the entirety of my savings on shipping and handling!”

“You can’t be that stupid.”

“What people think is stupid is actually smart! Besides, how’s a woman gonna get by in life if she can’t dip a little?”

“Hammer, spending every copper, silver, and gold on a cannon that is more than likely going to be faulty is not dipping a little. That’s jumping headfirst out of a plane without a parachute and hoping you time your angle just right so you can land in a lake that’ll be deep enough to sustain your impact and not kill you on the spot.”

“And when I hit rock bottom, will it be filled with gold?”

“Whatever it is, I won’t be joining you to find out.”

Hammer made an annoyed sound by blowing her lips. “Aw, c’mon! It’ll be fun!”

“Maybe for you, but I have no intentions of going into bankruptcy.”

“That ain’t gonna happen! You know why?”

“No,” Sylvanas drawled dryly. “Tell me why.”

“Because there was one other thing I got while I was in Jeetilopolis. One little thing that’ll give this baby here one helluva big wallop that’ll scare the bejeesus out o’ people! You wanna know what that is?”

“Not really.”

“Guess!”

Sylvanas sighed. “Do I have to--”

“Yeah! Come on! Take a guess!”

“Fine. Let me think.” Sylvanas feigned contemplation, making a show of looking away and tapping her chin. Then she snapped her fingers. “I got it. A brain.”

“Nuh-uh! Already have one,” said Hammer, and rapped her fists on her helmet for emphasis.

“Two brains.”

“No!”

“Three.”

“Now what am I supposed ta do with that many brains, eh? Play tsukkome and bokke with one while the other plays the straight man...brain...thing? Actually, on second thought,” Hammer added, thoughtfully, “I could probably palaver with them and get some pretty neat ideas for the tank. Yeah.” She nodded approval. “Yeah, that ain’t such a bad idea! But, uh, that ain’t what’s in this thing! It’s somethin’ better than a brain!”

“And that would be…?”

“Aether,” Hammer breathed. “I got me some gods be damned aether in a bottle for fifteen thousand gold! That’s cheap!”

Sylvanas gave her a blank stare, then nodded complete and total understanding. “Okay. So you get blitzed off the life-energy of the universe. It all makes sense now.”

“Did you just call me stupid?”

“No.” Sylvanas shook her head slowly, and drawled dryly, “No. Why would I ever say that?”

“’Cause this ain’t just the life energy of the universe!” Hammer slapped a hand down hard on the base of the manhole. “This is the answer to all my problems! This baby right here can store so much oomph in here...why, I think I might have just become a god!”

“Aether-based weaponry is banned from the League.”

Hammer grinned wickedly. “Not if they don’t find out! All’s I have to do is get the energy output tuned to its usual optimized settings and those old bats and goats in the Houses will be none the wiser! Ahahahahahaha! I’m a genius, Sylvanas!” she cried, throwing her arms up in the air. “A bonafide, grade-A genius!”

“Joy to the world, God is good,” Sylvanas grumbled, shaking her head.

“Hey, I’m thinkin’ of taking the tank out for a test firin’ out in the Shadowskirts in a bit; don’t want the authorities to catch wind of this! You wanna check ‘er out before I go?” 

Sylvanas shrugged. “Why not. Not like I have anything better to do.”

[ddaenghoney]

SERIES: HALLOWEEN BETWEEN MIDNIGHTS

Chapter 19.2

On October 1st, you attend a Halloween party in an abandoned house rented by some friends. As scary as the idea of cult owners is, nothing could have prepared you and BTS(regular people) for the mayhem and terror that follows until October 31st.

This is an INTERACTIVE fic. At the end of each part, readers will be able to vote to decide what happens next. Analyze everything(except the time) carefully. Choices decide romance, friendship, and deaths; and yes, ANYONE can die.

In other words, please read at your own risk; anything goes in this story.

Start here | Previous part | Next part 

Entering into the venue, you first caught sight of the countless specks of orange lights situated all over the ceiling. A few balloons scattered about. Smiling at Seokjin’s choice of design, you felt relief at the idea of a simple party. Granted the place was full and loud, but at least there wasn’t a looming threat like the last party.

The threat, you adjusted the large, pointy hat balancing on your head as your lips pursed from the thought, the threat was what exactly?

You wandered around, looking at the decor and grinning at the wild costumes some adorned. They made your simplistic witch costume mundane, but at least it would be easier to travel in whenever you left with Hoseok later on. You reached to switch your phone off of silent, enabling you to actually know when he arrived. In doing so your eyes caught the profile picture you had for him, and the couple of emojis besides his nickname. What date was it that you took that picture, anyways?

You shrugged, narrowing your eyes as you considered it being hard to pinpoint since you both saw each other every day. Every day since you got back together with him more than a couple of weeks ago, or maybe it was just about two weeks.

“Y/N, your costume is cool.” Your eyes left the stupor to find Namjoon smiling with a solo cup of something in hand. He pointed to the hat and its glittery cat pin on the base, “I like the little touches.”

“I barely put it together before coming here, honestly.” You reached back up again to readjust the hat, somewhat flustered by the compliment seeing as you were digging through racks at a thrift store about four hours before. “But thanks, Namjoon. The doctor look on you is nice too.”

“I just asked a friend from the medical school for his coat,” He chuckled at himself, arms raising to showcase the long fall of white fabric. You noticed a silly sticky note with his name on it over the embroidery of whatever his friend’s name was. You smiled.

“Hey, have you seen Guk or Jimin?” You glanced around the room, truly not paying the most attention up until now. “I wanted to get a picture with them.”

“I saw Jeongguk towards the back earlier-- close by the balcony.” He turned his head to the direction, “I’ll walk with you there, I lost track of Jin anyways. Hoseok not coming?”

“He is,” You nodded as you began walking, trying to steer clear the makeshift dance floor central in the venue. “Just running late. We’ll probably leave not too late in, actually.”

“Going to go enjoy the full moon?” He inquired lightly, missing your eyes straying up to his face as he continued, “I was looking at it on the way here. It’s crazy how big it is, and on Halloween no less.” As he finished, his eyebrows momentarily hardened, stuck in a sudden thought.

“I feel like there’s something about the full moon I wanted to say, but I forgot.” You filled in the silence, laughing softly at your mind’s inability to recall what kept racking around for attention. “I didn’t really get the best sleep last night though, so maybe I’m just tired already.”

“Me too.” Namjoon nodded, “My head was killing me when I woke up. Not sure why though. I don’t remember what I did last night really.”

“Got drunk by the sounds of it.”

“No.” He chuckled, shrugging, “I mean, I really don’t think so.” Instinctively tensing at the sound of a small scream somewhere mixed into the crowd, you both looked for the source. Seeing a portion begin to laugh, you sighed. Their were so many pranks this past month. “I swear if Jin pulls any of the crap that Jeongguk and Taehyung did at their party-”

“What crap?” You cut in, frowning at his words.

“The haunted house,” He paused, squinting in concentration, “And the seance.”

“Seance.” You repeated rhetorically. Returning your eyes to the front, you thought about the aforementioned events. You felt the urge to grab at your shoulder, like it all the sudden was sore. “Right, that happened huh.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was crazy.” Namjoon’s coat suddenly brushed around as he searched for his phone in his pocket. You thought about the previous party, at that house. You recalled it being incredibly well-kept despite how old it should’ve been. Like it was still active, but abandoned nonetheless.

“The supreme arrived,” Jimin’s arm reached to take hold of your wide sleeve as he came out of nowhere. Grinning at your apparel, he eventually locked faux grey irises to yours, “You look cute.”

“Not threatening?” You tugged your arm away to cross your arms, wondering how he managed to put together such an elaborate vampire look despite telling you he was going to scavenge at Walmart. His head shook at your question,

“Not with a cat pinned to your hat.” He turned his head, eyes scanning, “Oh,” Yours followed the direction as he called out, “Jeongguk, I found her over here!”

Your lips tightened to stop the endeared laughter as Jeongguk’s head perked with large rabbit ears flopping around on his head. Smiling wide when he saw you, he wandered over, boxy pink shirt tucked into plain jeans.

“A bunny?” You prodded at the sharpie whiskers on his cheek.

“The ears were three dollars, so it seemed right.” You giggled at his simple frugality, earning the crinkles around his nose to show as he smiled. “Meanwhile you’re a cult girl I guess?” He looked at the long black cloak, “Spooky.” He didn’t think so.

“Cult,” Your lips pouted, glancing to your attire. “What like what you and Tae wore?”

“Huh?” His smile dissipated. “When did we dress up as cult people?”

“At the last party,” You frowned, glancing to Jimin, “Right?”

“I didn’t go, so-”

“You did too,” Namjoon cut in from behind you, “Remember you wanted to explore?”

“I did,” Jimin wondered, rubbing his jaw as he thought about it, “Oh yeah,” His shoulders trembled, “I feel weird thinking about it. I bet that place was cursed. Where is Taehyung, though? Did he ever answer you, Guk?”

“No.” Jeongguk looked at his phone after answering. Checking again. “Have you heard from Yoongi, Y/N? I didn’t think he’d come, but I still haven’t heard from him at all today either.”

“He,” You stumbled in thought, not entirely sure when the last time you spoke to him was. You remembered an argument days ago over him moving, but at the thought of more recent events you couldn’t recall. One of your hands fiddled with the other, mindlessly rubbing your thumb over the knuckles, “I don’t know. I haven’t texted him today.”

“Hey, look at this guys,” The three of you turned towards Namjoon as he then groaned at his phone. “Internet in here is awful, hold on.”

“Love.” You didn’t catch Jeongguk’s eyebrows twitch from the familiar voice. Instead, you arched your neck to look past him, smiling as you caught sight of Hoseok walking towards your group with Seokjin as an apparent guide.

“I knew they’d be by the balcony, it’s really nice overlooking the park district, right?” Seokjin went to Namjoon as he muttered something again about the internet, “What are you doing?”

“Hey, I saw something on the way here I wanted to show you it after we leave in a bit okay?” Hoseok’s hand found yours, smiling as he spoke. Out of the corner of your eye, you noted Jimin’s hand nudge at Jeongguk. You ignored it, instead nodding,

“Okay, sounds good. Actually, have you heard from Yoongi at all? You have a class with him.”

“He wasn’t in class today.” Hoseok shrugged, “He’s been like that you know?” You frowned,

“Yeah, but I thought he would’ve stopped by now.” Hoseok shook his head,

“Unfortunately not,” He looked past you to the large windows that left the outdoor space completely visible, “Let’s go out there, love. It looks pretty.”

“You’re obvious about hating him.” Jimin grinned wider as Jeongguk’s eyes rolled. Glancing at you and Hoseok wander out through the door, Jimin looked back to the stiffened jaw of his friend. “What don’t trust him?”

“No.” Instantaneously the words fell. Jeongguk’s eyebrows creased. He didn’t realize he felt so strongly about this. He didn’t remember hating the idea of them getting back together a week ago. Really, he didn’t know at all why he had this distrust engraved against his conscious. He didn’t have a good feeling.

“Hey, both of you look at this,” Namjoon gestured to his phone, “Jin’s vlog from the last party. Tell me if you remember this.” Seokjin appeared contemplative as the younger two moved closer. Namjoon also seemed slightly distressed as he clicked play.

Jimin’s mouth opened in a small gasp as he watched the events of a seance take place, “Did you guys do that last time?” He murmured in a stain of nerves. Jeongguk ignored him, focusing entirely on the scene and feeling his heart rate accelerate as Taehyung’s body fell to the ground. 

“He wasn’t the same after that,” Jeongguk didn’t know what he meant by the comment. “Y/N-” He startled as he listened to the replay of worried yells you made because you hadn’t been able to move. 

“I remember that,” Seokjin pointed out in surprise as he watched himself try to help Y/N, only to be met with, “She felt like she was a fire, or something.” 

“Because you dumbasses used a real chant!” Jimin huffed, watching with a scowl as you eventually regained movement and the scene cut to something else. “I told you not to mess with the real stuff, Guk!” 

“Well it happened!” Jeongguk countered, his voice raised through frustration. Jimin stayed steady in glaring at Namjoon’s phone, before Namjoon pulled it back.

“We should show Y/N.” He said calmly, despite the unsteady hold his hand mounted the phone. 

“No, she’s with Hoseok.” Jeongguk huffed.

“You sound like Taehyung-”

“We should show Taehyung, too.” Seokjin intervened before the two could start arguing, “Is he here?”

“No, he’s,” Jeongguk sighed, shrugging, “I don’t know.” 

Please feel free to send thoughts, predictions, interpretations; they really help me to know how to word the story so that everyone successfully understands the plot points I’m trying to get across ! More than happy to answer questions you may have !

[ravens-and-writings]

A Witch’s Familiar

Fantastic Beasts Inktober/Drabbletober Prompt Fill #31: Writer’s Pick.

Have a modernday AU featuring Auror Tina on Halloween duty. This far too long “drabble” also doubles as a fill for the last Promptober Prompt by @fantasticprompts.

And with this one I complete my Drabbletober writings. I hope you enjoyed it!

Halloween. For most of the No-Majs and Wizardkind it was the most fantastical time of the year: dressing up in extravagant or shocking costumes, walking up to stranger's houses and begging for candy, playing tricks and spooking each other for fun...

For Aurors it was unarguably the worst holiday of the year. Numerous wizards and witches trying to get away with a bit of magic in the open, poorly disguising it as mere magic tricks and slights of hand. People under the influence having their "fake" wands stolen by equally drunk No-Maj teens. And then some individuals thought to make a quick Dragot by selling potions and artifacts to No-Majs... conceived fakes that were anything but and often caused serious harm or damage. The number of illicit activities always spiked towards the end of October, and found its peak on Halloween night.

This year it was Tina and a small group of Aurors who patrolled the streets of Manhattan. MACUSA knew their usual culprits and had eyes on them, but feet on the ground were necessary, too. They knew what to look out for to stop any newcomers from spreading magical items among the No-Majs this night. So far, it had been pretty quiet, though.

"Alright, let's make a turn right over there and head back east again," Tina proposed. It would bring them right by Central Park, a hot-spot for illicit trade on Halloween.

The group was suitably dressed up to blend in with the unsuspecting No-Majs. There was the pirate, Johnson, complete with eyepatch to hide his actual missing eye. Diez had gone with a clown costume, though not the bright and colourful kind children were so fond of, while Higgins had turned into the token vampire for the night. Tina herself had made the most obvious costume choice there was. To the amusement of her colleagues she had donned dark robes and a pointy hat to dress up as a witch.

"I still don't know what's up with your cat, Goldstein," Higgins commented as they made their way across the street. "Something doesn't feel right about it."

Tina rolled her eyes and righted her pointy hat. This witch came with an actual familiar following on her heels tonight. "You say that about every animal."

Not long after their patrol had started, they had been joined by a red tabby cat. Much to her chagrin, she had instantly recognized the animal as an Animagus. And a certain, familiar Animagus, at that. Newton Artemis Fido Scamander, Magizoologist and overly curious boyfriend. He had wanted to see her on the job for a while now... and apparently thought tonight was a good time for it.

"Yeah, something's not right with that cat. It hissed and scratches at me when I tried to pet it earlier," Diez complained. "And cats usually love me."

"It's a he," Tina corrected them. "And yes, he's a very unusual fellow." She looked down to see Newt trotting right beside her on the sidewalk, as he had been for the past hour. "Overly stubborn, too. You must be bored out of your mind by now." The cat meowed up at her but stuck close.

"You got a very loyal companion there," Johnson added. She could tell from the tone of his voice that the older Auror knew exactly what the cat was.

She chuckled. "I know."

"Wait, that's your pet?" Diez exclaimed. He was the youngest of their group, barely out of training and still lacking a little in the observation department, it seemed.

"Something like that, yes."

Her wristband vibrated softly as a new message from headquarters came in. "We got a new address," she announced. " A 401." Spike of magical activity in a No-Maj residence.

The group nodded and ducked into the nearest alley, waiting for the leading witch to pick up her familiar before disapparating. "Okay. Let's go, people."

The address belonged to an old brownstone, not unsimilar to her own home. This one stood in a better part of Manhattan though, and was fixed up lavishly with spooky Halloween decorations. Thick spiderwebs, moving skeletons that looked eerily realistic, a few Jack O' Lanterns on the stairs...

"Keep your wands out," Tina said as she put her hand on the doorknob. "We don't know what we're dealing with."

A voice from the back spoke up. "Probably just a bunch of kids having fun on Halloween. How bad can it be?"

Just then a shrieking sound could be heard from inside, followed by a number of panicked screams.

Tina turned back to Diez and glared at him. "Yeah, just how bad can it be?"

The front door clicked open before her, revealing an equally enthusiastically decorated inside of the house. These No-Majs really went all out for Halloween, it seemed.

"Newt, no!"

The moment the door was open, the tabby cat bolted forward, off into the hallway and vanishing through the next open door, deeper into the house. Tina only barely supressed her impulse to run in after him. He was a capable wizard, she told herself. He'd been all over the world, wrangling down beasts off all kinds... he'd be able to look after himself. And Newt probably knew a great deal more about what lay ahead than they did, thanks to his cat senses.

"Goldstein. We going in or what?"

She nodded at Higgins and slowly proceeded into the house, wand raised and ready to stun whatever was waiting for them here. The smell of something burning became stronger, the further she got in. The hallway was empty of No-Majs or any threats, though, as was the kitchen beyond.

"Livingroom," Johnson mouthed, pointing to the swing door in front of her. The smokey smell seemed to come from behind there.

She nodded. "Diez, front door. Make sure, no one leaves behind our backs." She watched the young Auror retreat before pushing through the door... and stopped in her tracks not two steps into the room.

Tina Goldstein had expected some form of havoc and mayhem waiting for her in the livingroom and she was not disappointed: furniture overthrown and smashed, parts of it on fire. Just like some of the spooky decorations were. She had, however, not expected to see her boyfriend right in the midst of it. Newt Scamander was kneeling by the stylish fireplace and cooed at a medium-sized baby dragon that mustered him curiously.

"Calm down now," she heard him say. "Everything's going to be alright. You're going to be alright." The dragon sniffed at his outstretched hand for a moment before erupting into a violent sneeze, spewing little sparks everywhere.

Tina finally reacted then, checking for further creatures and locating the No-Majs that had to be here somewhere. She found them huddled together by the second doorway, staring at the scene in disbelief. As were her colleagues, much to her dismay.

"Right. Higgins, put the fires out. Johnson, look after the people there."

The watched them scramble before carefully approaching Newt and the beast. "Care to explain, mister?"

He glanced at her for a short moment, not letting the baby dragon out of his sight for long. By now it had calmed down again and even became agreeable to some petting. Curious little creature.

"You know that I've been tracking a group of traffickers for a while now," he said. "Stolen dragon eggs, from reserves and wild nests alike. They never showed up on the markets, though."

Tina nodded. "Yeah, I remember. "

"Well, meet one of the eggs." He gestured at the beast before him, and the pile of crimson eggshells near the fire.

She stared at him. "How did you-?"

"I overheard some No-Majs talking on the subway this morning, saying someone was selling really realistic looking dragon eggs on this internet thing the Muggles have. This is a Chinese Fireball and their eggs are really a sight to behold." He grimaced. "Of course, extravagant people like this would want one for their Halloween decorations."

"Mercy Lewis... why would anyone want that?"

Newt shook his head. "Apparently they're all the rage now. Something about a television show from what I heard."

Tina shook her head. "Poor beast. That must have been a shock, hatching in here." She watched the scarlet hatchling clumsily taking a few steps towards them. "Please take care of him until the Beast Division arrives, okay?"

Newt nodded and settled down, rummaging through his coat pockets. "Come here, you. You must be hungry, huh?"

She turned back to find Higgins idling about now that the fires were out, curiously watching the scene again. "Higgins, we got a trafficking situation going on here. Go back to headquarters and fill them in. And call in the Beast Division with their Dragonologists."

"Yeah, okay. I'm on it." The Auror in his vampire get-up stared for a few moments longer before finally disapparating... hopefully back to MACUSA.

"Who are you?" the older No-Maj suddenly called out from the back, eyes wide and still slightly shocked by the turn of events. "And what is that thing? And that guy? He was a cat and then-" He gestured wildly. "Just... who are you people?"

"Don't worry, sir," Tina calmed him, quickly slipping off the pointy hat for a more professional look. "We're police. That thing is a Dragon, just hatched from the egg you bought online. Care to tell us a bit more about that?"

That seemed to do something to the man, suddenly turning defensive at the realisation of strangers and the police in his home. "I'm not gonna answer any questions until I see a badge first!"

Tina rolled her eyes and produced one, thankful that MACUSA's Auror badges were charmed to appear as ordinary NYPD ones to any No-Maj eyes. "Now, the egg. Who sold it to you?"

By the end of the night, there had been 10 more incidents of freshly hatched dragons in Muggle homes all across the country. And one successful major arrest of a trafficking ring. The group operating from a dusty old warehouse in Brooklyn had not been quick enough in vacating the premises, though not for lack of trying.

Tina fell into her desk chair in the small hours of the morning, groaning in delight of being off her feet for the first time in hours.

Newt grinned at the sight, offering her a well-deserved cup of coffee. "You did well tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if your next promotion came up a little faster after this."

She shook her head. "No, we did well tonight. Though I don't appreciate you keeping things like that from me. You said you'd be out with Jacob."

He shrugged. "It was just a hunch I had... there was no way of knowing if they'd even hatch tonight. Not all of the buyers put their eggs by the fire, after all. And I wouldn't have been allowed to tag along on an official Auror investigation."

She shot him a glare ove the rim of her mug. "You wouldn't have been allowed to tag along on any Auror business, actually. You're lucky you're a cute little tabby or Higgins might have kicked you to get rid of you."

She heard a pile of paper dropping to the floor behind her. "Wait, you're-?" Tina turned around to find Diez standing a few paces behind them.

"-the cat that tagged along earlier?" Newt chuckled. "Yes. I'm an Animagus."

The young Auror stared at them. "Oh no. I'm so sorry!"

"Where do you think he dropped by from so suddenly?" Tina couldn't help but ask after Newt accepted the apology.

The man shrugged and hastily raked the papers together before dropping them onto Tina's desk. "I dunno. Came in with the Beast Division perhaps?" He quickly glanced at Newt again before hurrying off again into the maze of cubicles, muttering to himself. "Mercy Lewis, I tried to pet Newt Scamander today!"

"Tried being the key word there," Newt grinned after he had left. He leaned close and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, as he so often did to show his affection in public. "There's only one Auror who gets to pet me, cat or otherwise."

Tina smiled up at him. "I love you, too."