#i promise these are going up on ao3

[whumpfish]

So! June, which is usually my more productive month, has positively kicked my ass this year with multiple, multiply stressing stressors occurring right in a row. So my @eclipsingbingo card has suffered. But now I am banging out the prompts!

Tonight, for your consideration: Fever Dream + Fate Worse Than Death

Fandom: Invisible

Whump tags: fever dream, trauma nightmare, strangulation, hypothermia, (dreamed) character death, referenced canon death

Spoilers: minimal, mostly dealing with pre-canon events; villain's true ID redacted

Summary: Shimura has hated watching people die in front of him since that night, but losing a friend? He'd rather it be him instead. But you don't get the option of trading your life for theirs when you're trapped in your own head...

---

A long tone broke through the conversation in the café they always went to, on off days where they could see each other outside the context of death. No badges, no guns, no cameras, no microphones. Just the three of them--well, four now. Shimura winced and covered one ear.

"Taka-chan?" Toko asked from across the table. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just... ugh. Awful ring."

"All clear now?" her brother asked. Anno Shingo, still Anno even now.

Their familiarity had reached the point of given names, but they still didn't use them. That remained Toko's unique privilege, though she was younger than both of them.

"I'm fine."

Toko looked around. "Where's Ki-chan?"

"She's coming," Shimura said. He glanced at his watch, though he couldn't remember exactly when they'd agreed to meet.

"Changing clothes?" Anno guessed. "For the ah... third time today? I guess if you're going to be Invisible, you might as well look good doing it."

"Just eat your cookie," Shimura said, picking up a fortune cookie from the plate in the center of the table and placing it in front of his partner.

Not that it was entirely unearned... Kiriko was the biggest clothes horse he'd ever met, never finishing a day in the same outfit she'd started it in.

"You eat your cookie." Anno slid one over to him.

When he unwrapped it, the cookie splintered in his hands, leaving small, slow-bleeding nicks like shattered glass. Hissing, he picked through the shards to retrieve the paper. It was blank.

"Looks like I drew the white this time," he said, smiling.

"Taka-chan, the back." Toko's usually confident, upbeat voice was hushed as she stared wide-eyed at the paper in his hands. She'd gone perfectly still, shrunk down in her chair like a rabbit hearing a gunshot.

He turned it over. SHE DIES. He looked around. They were the only ones left in the café now, it was just an empty expanse of vacant furniture.

"Did you see who brought those over?" he asked Anno.

His partner shrugged.

Toko cautiously opened her cookie, then dropped it like a snake when she unfolded the paper. "She dies!"

"Okay, not funny!" Shimura stood up, scanning the ceiling for cameras. "Toko-chan, get down," he told her in a quieter voice. He hoped this was just a bad prank, but in case it was some leftover Black Friday wacko, he didn't want her in the open if she was the target.

Toko ducked down under the table, and Shimura experimentally unwrapped another cookie and cracked it open. SHE DIES. Another. SHE DIES.

They started coming up through the table in wild, bubbling fits like a burst water main, wrapping melting away, breaking open whenever he touched them. SHE DIES. SHE DIES.

This was too unhinged to be just a prank. He and his partner exchanged glances. Not only the staff but the rest of the furniture was gone, only their table and chairs remaining.

"We should get her somewhere safe before we deal with whatever this is," said Anno.

Shimura nodded. "Yeah. Come on."

He ducked down under the table. Toko was crouched at the entrance of the staircase leading down into the floor, waiting.

"What is it?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"We don't know yet," Shimura said as Anno pulled her to her feet. "We've got to get you out of here first. Let's go."

He led them down the stairs and down a narrow hallway at a brisk walk. The lighting was poor, and shadows stretched in all directions across the brick walls and dingy metal doors that lined it. He tried every door they passed, until finally one opened. Shimura looked inside, finding the room small, spare, with a privacy lock on the inside.

Perfect.

"Stay here," he told Toko, hurrying her inside. "Lock the door, and don't open it for anyone but us or Ki-chan. Okay?"

She nodded, and pulled the door shut.

When he turned back around, Anno was no longer standing behind him. Increasingly on guard--and hyper aware of his lack of a weapon--he cautiously began to work his way back toward the café. As he got closer to the staircase, a single fortune cookie rolled down the hall and came to rest at his feet. He didn't waste time checking it.

"Anno?"

No answer.

He kept going. A cookie crunched under his foot, then another, and another. He felt sick, and he wasn't sure why. There was a smell that came up every time a new one was broken that he couldn't identify, but felt was wrong.

"Anno? What happened, where are you?"

His stomach sank, and a chill shot through him at the raw terror in his partner's voice. He broke into a run. The smell was getting stronger, and now he could identify it, was stumbling through it, shoes sliding in it every third step, making him grab for the bricks to catch himself.

"Shimura--!"

Blood. Dark red and slick and way too much of it to be survivable.

His head banged against the underside of the table as he reached the café again. Snarling, he shoved it to one side, scattering fortune cookies across the floor, and stood up, looking around for Anno with his heart in his throat.

"Anno!" He stumbled up the steps. Slow. He was moving too slow! Why couldn't he see him yet, why couldn't he get there in time

"There's the face I love!" crowed a sickly familiar voice.

Reaper

"Where's Anno?!" he snapped, turning toward the voice.

"Too late for him," the Reaper's voice taunted. "Too late, too late... but, oh! Look what I've got!"

A streetlamp came on across the street, and the Reaper stood under it in his black suit and shiny shoes, ever professional, holding Kiriko by her shoulders, her arms bound behind her.

"Kiriko!" Shimura went to charge out after them, but the door was gone.

The Reaper forced her to her knees, fisting a hand in her hair and pulling her head back just enough to expose her throat.

"Did you think she was safe?" Grinning, he drew his empty, ruined knife hand across her throat in a slashing motion that made both of them flinch. He slowly reached up and pulled his tie off with it, the grin broadening to an unnatural degree. "But since when do I need a knife to kill?"

As Shimura raced along the glass, looking for a way out, the Reaper wound one end of his tie around each hand. He looped the middle over her head and knotted it suddenly, savagely behind her.

Fortune cookies were spilling off the table in an avalanche behind him. Breaking open into the same two words, until he could hear them whispered in the multiplying scraps of paper. SHE DIES. SHE DIES. SHE DIES.

"Kiriko!!" Shimura beat a fist against the glass in frustration, still finding no opening.

She pushed herself up further on her knees, trying to get air to answer, but whatever she'd meant to say was cut off in a pained whine as the Reaper stepped slowly, deliberately on the back of her bent legs.

Frantic now, Shimura abandoned the idea of a door altogether. He picked up one of the chairs, slamming it into the glass between them. Shouting to her to hold on, to fight, that he was coming to get her. But the harder he yelled, the more hoarse and rasping his voice became, until his was screaming in frustration at how long it was taking to crack the damned glass, and it was only coming out a labored hiss.

He could see her consciousness, the light in her eyes fade in and out as she struggled against the Reaper. As he toyed with her, dragging her death out, leering at him.

Finally the chair swung through the pane of glass, and icy water poured in from the other side. As he fought through the current, the sidewalk they stood on seemed to drift further away. He hurled himself forward, chest deep, half-swimming to close the distance between them.

He was within arm's length when Kiriko’s shoulders spasmed and went still. Her head lolled to one side, eyes falling closed. The Reaper unwound the tie from around her neck and let her drop like a marionette suddenly unstrung. He locked eyes with Shimura in a moment of sadistic triumph.

Shimura lunged for them, and the Reaper stepped back out of range. Laughing, he pushed her into the frigid water with one foot, then walked away.

"Thanks for protecting me," he mocked in her voice, the first time she'd said it, the first time her tone had shifted from teasing to genuine.

Shimura tried to stop her descent, feeling around in the murky water for a hand, an arm, clothing, anything. There was something squeezing at his chest, and he tried to ignore it, just took a breath and went under, reaching deeper. If he could find her, he could save her. Pull her out of the water and bring her back. And then they could go after that son of a bitch together.

He couldn't do it without her.

His fingers brushed her hair, and he followed it down, got his hands under her arms, and pulled her to the surface. He pushed her up onto the sidewalk ahead of him, then climbed out after her.

With her on her side, he tugged at her bindings. He was freezing, soaked, and moving was far too difficult with the weight of a waterlogged suit on top of the cold. He jerked awkwardly out of his jacket, clumsy with panic because it felt like he already knew, already knew she wouldn't wake up again. But that couldn't happen, shouldn't happen, he wouldn't let it happen. Not this time.

(This time? How many times...?)

Once he'd freed her arms, he started CPR as soon as he got her on her back, shivering but determined.

"Hey... hey, you," he said between breaths. "What did I say... when we started? I told you... I hate this shit. And you... you p-promised me."

He kept waiting for a cough, a sound, for his efforts to push some of the water out of her at least. But nothing he did made any difference. She stayed cold and still, lips and fingertips slowly turning blue.

"You c-can't," he told her again, forehead pressed to hers, as his shivering made every breath he tried to give her a little weaker. "Y-You c-can't... you s-said you w-wouldn't... p-please..."

He kept trying. Checking. Every time he couldn't hear her heartbeat, he tried her carotid. When he couldn't find it there, he put his fingers to the tattoo on her wrist and pressed down until it hurt.

Then he was shaking too hard to do proper compressions, breathing too erratically to keep up the rhythm as the cold slowly took over.

"K--Kh--"

Fuck, now he couldn't even talk to her to say he was sorry. He collapsed next to her, hand moving up from the tattoo to close around hers in a silent apology.

He closed his eyes and prayed that he would just die of exposure here at her side. That if it had to happen this way, if she had to go, he could at least go with her. He wouldn't make it through another funeral. He couldn't.

---

"Are you in?" Kiriko’s voice on the phone was anxious.

"Yeah," Mantaro answered. The locks had been changed since the last time he'd broken into Shimura’s apartment, but the super had used the same model lock, so picking it had been just as easy as the first time.

"And?"

"One sec." He looked around. The apartment was even more spartan without the at-home murder board tracking every movement of the Reaper. "Well, for one thing, it smells super chemical-y. Like something plastic caught fire, or too much bug spray." He coughed. "It's strong... Detective? You in here?"

There was a light on in the bathroom.

"Det--oh. Shit." He coughed again, and pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth. "Well, you could definitely say he came down with something... like, all the way down. On the floor. With about half a bottle of ibuprofen and a thermometer, shaking like there's a blizzard in here." He bent down and picked it up. "Oof. 103 is... that's ambulance bad, right?"

[sidesteppostinghours]

ok. question.

ortega ended up hallucinating sidestep after they "died", but sidestep doesnt know about that. they know it got bad, but never the full extent of how their death affected them. so if your sidestep Did learn, if they found out ortega looked for them in every little piece they could, would that change anything for your sidesteps? would their relationship with ortega be any different?

[carlyraejepsans]

Halfway to the sofa, they stopped, making a small sound like a grumble of annoyance. For a second, the red glow in their eye grew faint. "Sleep," they rasped out in a low, halting whisper, "I saved you an ache in the neck." It took him a second to register that the kid wasn't talking to him. Mostly 'cause Frisk didn't speak. To him. Or ever.

Sans wakes up late into the night and sees something he shouldn't have.

[septimusmoonlight]

You doing ok?

hi

[compacflt]

well… That’s all she wrote, folks.

i won’t be deleting this blog or anything—still have a few things to post down the line (updated playlist, political masterpoast, sending out final print versions, etc.). But i think, after nearly 400,000 words all told, my time of content production for this fandom has come to an end.

this week, in addition to finishing all the writing for my top gun AU, i also received a research grant for my senior thesis and found out where in the world i will be studying abroad next semester. This seems like the perfect time for me to shift gears.

I’m signing off on my version of ice & mav and it was my privilege to see them off to happiness :)

Writing for this fandom has been such an incredibly gratifying experience & I will cherish the year-odd I spent with these characters for the rest of my life. And to everyone who interacted with me in any way—read my writing, commented, helped me out with research, kudos’d, sent in an ask or a DM, et cetera—i hope you know how much it has meant to me & how much it always will. i love you, i love you, i love you. And i wish the best of luck to you all in the future ❤️ and thank you again for everything.

[stabbyfoxandrew]

you know what's fucking insane though???

it's only been 3 days in the mafia front fic. THREE DAYS= ~34k. (so far, we're still on day three rn)

wow i'm truly insane. three days... mein gott

(potential spoilers for this fic in tags???)

[cecropiacrown]

Chapter 8 Update!

Hey, y'all! Thank you so much for waiting for this chapter!

It's literally nearly 16K words long and I really hope you enjoy it. Please mind these chapter-specific content warnings: hurt/no comfort; heavy angst; grief; talk of terminal illness/hospital stays; allusions to minor character death but no graphic descriptions Happy Reading! <3

[candyriku]

I unfortunately find myself unable to work on my current Soriku fic today due to my mental state, but I was able to make a bit of a teaser for the next big Soriku fanfiction that will be coming sometime after JTSYS is finished.

You can read it under the cut, but TW for blood, death, and uh, general misery. This has been cathartic for me to write but the whole idea of this fic is that things are impossibly doomed, so be warned - this is not the happy fun zone.

Blood. There was so much blood.

He had smelled it before even seeing it, the metallic scent thick in his nose before he had even rounded the corner. He had tried to convince himself that it was his own bleeding wound that he smelled, or maybe the blood of something else, someone else, but in his heart, he knew the truth. He picked up his pace, sprinting at top speed now, his sneakers splashing through shallow puddles on the wet pavement. 

When his eyes finally came to rest on the crumpled form at the end of the alley, the breath was knocked out of his chest as though someone had taken a baseball bat to his sternum. He knew, of course he knew, but he had hoped-

No. It didn’t matter what he hoped for. Hopes and wishes weren’t for people that walked his path. He had been denied the right to hope for anything ages ago. When he had signed that contract, signed away his soul, he forfeited all the cushy pleasures of a normal life. He had given up his chance of knowing peace.

But it had been worth it. If it was for Sora, anything was worth it.

Standing over Sora’s blood-soaked body, Riku tried to remind himself of that truth, the one thing that he had tethered his heart to all this time. It was worth it. Even if the chance of Sora making it out alive were next to none, there was still a chance. He could still fight.

One of these loops, Riku would get it right. He would figure out how to keep Sora safe, how to protect him from this accursed dimension where everything was designed to end his life. They would break out and live a normal life together, just the way they had always planned. 

There was a happy future waiting somewhere for the two of them. There had to be. Riku had gambled everything on it.

He crouched down, his shaking fingers gently brushing Sora’s tear-stained cheek. He could hardly stand to look at his face, but the sight of his broken, bleeding body was no better. The wounds were precise and lethal, and Riku was far too late.

No matter how many dozens of times he had watched Sora die, it never got easier. It never stopped feeling like his chest was a black hole caving in on itself, his heart squeezed until it was nothing more than dust. 

He couldn’t look. He couldn't look away.

Riku kneeled and placed both of Sora’s hands over his heart. He was about to speak and begin the incantation that would throw them both back to the starting point again, but Sora suddenly stirred, weakly reaching one hand up towards Riku’s face.

“Riku…” his voice was barely more than a whisper. 

“I’m here,” Riku said, the words catching in his throat. “Don’t speak. You can rest now. It’s okay.”

He hated to say it. He wanted to plead with Sora, wanted to beg him to stay. But if Riku had learned anything throughout the loops, it was that nothing came of begging. There was no one to answer his prayers; benevolent forces did not dwell here. At best, all it would accomplish would be making Sora sad in his final moments. At worst, future loops would be impacted by Riku’s words to Sora, twisting the knife further. He had seen it enough to know what to avoid now.

“I don’t want…” There was a weighted pause. “...Don’t want to leave you.” The pool of blood continued to grow. Riku knew - though he wished that he didn’t - that Sora wouldn’t be able to maintain consciousness for much longer at this rate. He could hardly believe Sora was awake even now. 

“We’ll meet again.” he assured Sora softly, trying to keep his voice steady. “Don’t worry. It'll be okay.” 

“You…” This pause was longer, much longer, and Riku was all but sure that Sora would not speak again. Finally, with a wet cough, Sora continued. “You promise?”

“I promise.” Riku lied. He leaned forward and kissed Sora’s forehead, his lips lingering there for several long moments as he took steadying breaths. 

“Mm… ‘kay.” Sora managed. “Love you… so much.” 

“I love you too.” Riku said, clenching his teeth so hard his jaw popped. He wanted to scream. After taking a moment to compose himself, he sat up and offered his best imitation of a smile to Sora. Better for him to see that than to see how broken Riku really was. 

The all-too-familiar faraway look settled on Sora’s face as the last of his breath left his body. Riku collapsed over him, the tears finally coming, the weight hitting him all at once with the force of a tidal wave. Even knowing that he would see Sora alive and well again in mere moments did nothing to comfort him. 

It didn't matter how many times Riku had seen it. It never got any easier to watch Sora die.

[misslisamiray]

Yay, finally, here's the next chapter of Down With the Rickness!

In this chapter, we're going to check in with Space Beth & SumSum, AND we get to hear Rick's thoughts on Jerry's plan. Took me long enough, but Chapter 9 is here and below the cut!

Also, I've decided to start posting screencaps with the new chapters on here & with the links on my other socials, and thought this would be a good one to start with, considering where the previous chapter left off. 😁

Meanwhile, Space Beth was saying to Gearhead, “500 flurbos for these? Please tell me that’s a joke and you don’t realize how much you suck at comedy.” She glared distastefully at the set of cybernetic screwdrivers on the counter in front of her.

“Mean! And 500 is more than a fair price for these, lady.” Gearhead argued. “Take it or leave it.”

“It would be a fair price for the newest model, sure. Not these. Granted, they’re a step up from what Dad has now, but this set is not worth 500 flurbos. Yes, he’s paying me back, and no, I don’t particularly care about you trying to rip him off. But I have zero patience for your sleazy sales tactics. So either bring out the better ones, or knock half the price off these.” SB said, picking up the index and middle finger screwdrivers to inspect them more closely. Unimpressed, she tossed them back on the counter.

“Got it. No sale. Try haggling somewhere else, and…” Gearhead said crossly, grabbing the screwdrivers and starting to put them away. Then, something occurred to him.

“Wait, did you say these are for your dad?” Space Beth nodded.

“But, I only have 3 clients who buy these things, and the only one with a kid is…”

“That’s right.”

“That means that you’re?...”

“Sure am.”

“And you’re not the you that mostly just stays on Earth, taking care of donkeys, are you?”

“Horses, actually. And no, I’m not.”

Gearhead gulped audibly, realizing he’d definitely picked the wrong customer to try and swindle. Space Beth’s grin was unsettling him more by the second. She pulled a large, futuristic looking gun from its holster and raised it slightly.

“H-hold on a second! Let’s talk this over! I didn’t do anything that bad! You’re not really gonna kill me just for trying to get a few extra flurbos from you, right?!” Gearhead stammered, shaking in his boots. Beth kept her gun aimed at him for a few more seconds, then placed it on the counter, laughing.

“Nah. Mostly because this thing could use a few replacement parts, too. And I understand you’re the best person for the job. So, let’s make a deal. For 500 flurbos, and me not reporting you to your planet’s Better Business Bureau equivalent, how about you give me the parts I need, plus the better screwdrivers for Dad?”

“Deal! I’ll even do the upgrade on your gun right now!” Gearhead agreed quickly, pulling out supplies for the repair job, as well as a better set of cybernetic screwdrivers.

“That’s what I thought.” With a smug smile, Space Beth handed over the money.

“Tell Rick I said hello. Haven’t heard from him in a while again. Not since that whole ‘intervention turned birthday party turned kidnapping’ thing with the weird little dude. And, ummm, you’re not going to mention that I tried to, uhhh…” Gearhead said nervously as he started to tinker with the weapon in front of him.

“Don’t care enough about either of you for that.”

“I see. Ya know, you say that, but you’re obviously here as a favor to Rick. And you wanted to make sure he got both his money’s worth, and the best parts in my shop.” Gearhead prodded. That hit a nerve, and Space Beth was clearly flustered.

“You do realize I have a fuckton of weapons besides the one you’re fixing, right? I won’t shoot you because I need you to do that, but I can and will make you work at gunpoint if you don’t back off. Understood?” she threatened, quickly hiding her reaction to Gearhead’s words.

“Okay, okay! Message received! I’ll be done fixing this in about 20 minutes.” Gearhead agreed.

“Good. And I guess when I bring these to Dad, it won’t hurt to tell him you said hello.” Space Beth conceded. Gearhead didn’t say anything else to her, and she chose to ignore that what she heard him mutter was almost certainly, “Like father, like daughter. But I think the daughter’s even worse!”

Summer was not faring as well at the Martian cell phone store.

“Look, even if I believed these charges were mistakes on our end and not the results of a drunk dialing spree, which I don’t, it’s been almost a year since Mr. Sanchez’s service plan with us was terminated. The dispute window is 90 days Martian time, or roughly 126 Earth days. No exceptions.” a very annoyed, bright pink alien said, staring distastefully at the old, tattered bill in his hand.

“But…”

“But nothing! ‘No exceptions’ means No. Exceptions.”

“Excuse me, but do you have any idea who my grandfather is?” Summer asked cockily, hands on hips. Instead of being impressed or frightened, the alien just looked more annoyed and bored, which hadn’t seemed possible a moment before.

Rolling all five of his eyes, he answered, “Unfortunately for me, yes. I just said his name, didn’t I? And unfortunately for you, this store is one of the few places in this galaxy where that name doesn’t carry any weight.”

“But what if?...”

“NO. Look, the only reason we’re not pursuing legal action against Rick, or even trying to collect what he owes, is that everyone here, myself included, just doesn’t want to deal with his shit anymore. It’s easier to cut our losses and be done with him. Do I make myself clear?” the annoyed creature stated.

“Okay, but… Ugh. Alright. Fair enough. Grandpa won’t like it, but y’know what? That’s his problem.” Summer reluctantly agreed. Considering she was every bit as annoyed with the situation as the alien man in front of her, she couldn’t really see arguing with him further.

Back on Earth, Morty was carrying a pile of blankets roughly half his height. Some pillows and two more boxes of tissues were perched on top. He was struggling to look at something on his phone and keep from dropping the pile, which he couldn’t see over.

“I’m back, Rick. I figured this was enough to start with, plus I didn’t trust you alone any longer. You are still here, right?” he said as he walked back into the living room.

“*Cough!* Yes, Morty. You won, remember? I’m not going to try any more experiments to get rid of this stupid cold – uh, I mean alien virus that I definitely caught far away from Earth.”

“Huh? Why are you back to your dumb lie about that?” Morty was understandably confused. After dropping the new supplies onto the couch, he was able to see again, and immediately noticed Jerry was there.

“Oh. Hi, Dad. Yeah, now that makes sense.” he said wearily. Jerry ignored him, staring intently at Rick.

“Well? I explained my entire plan to you, and you haven’t said a word. What do you think, Rick?”

“You explained your ‘brilliant’ idea to Rick? The one where you’re going to magically know how to cure his mysterious alien virus after you watch an episode of Sailor Moon a few times? Oh, this is gonna be good. Yeah, Rick. What do you think about that?” Morty said with a chuckle, fully expecting Rick to start mocking Jerry relentlessly. At first, all he got for an answer was Rick gesturing for him to give him more of the blankets.

As Morty wrapped two more around him, Rick cleared his throat and finally said, “There’s definitely some flaws in your logic, Jer. A few things I’d do differently. But overall, your plan’s solid. I *COUGH!* I get what you’re trying to do.”

“Go on.” Jerry said, while the only word completely dumbfounded Morty could manage was “WHAT?”

“There’s just one thing I can’t get past, Jerry. Sure, Sailor Venus tries her best to help the other girls, and she means well and crap, but isn’t the premise of the entire episode her being terrible at it? Correct me if I’m *Sniff!* wrong, since this is literally the one thing in the universe you might know more about than me. But it is, right? Doesn’t the 90’s dub call this episode “No Thanks, Nurse Venus!” specifically for that reason? Because the others don’t want her taking care of them because she sucks at it?” Rick continued, eagerly grabbing one of the tissue boxes.

“Well, yes, but…” Jerry said hesitantly. He had a feeling he knew where Rick was going with this and he didn’t like it.

“So, if you’re trying to learn how to deal with this sickness from watching her, won’t everything you’ll learn be well, wrong?” Rick pointed out.

“I, I hadn’t thought about that.” Jerry admitted, the realization slowly washing over him.

“That’s the biggest flaw you see in this plan, Rick?! Really? And Dad, you said yourself that she was bad at taking care of the other girls – why are you acting like this is news to you?!” Morty asked, disappointed by Rick’s reaction.

Rick sshshhed him, while Jerry said, “I did know that, but I guess I hadn’t really thought about how it would affect the outcome of my plan. Everyone does get better in the end, but that’s just because they defeat the monster, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, sounds like it. *Cough!* *Cough!* There’s also the fact that, while the illness was caused by some sort of magic spell, for most of the episode, don’t they all think they’re dealing with an ordinary flu? I mean, how’s that at all *ACHOO!* relevant to us?” Rick replied.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” exasperated Morty sighed. His father and grandfather both ignored him.

“I guess it’s not. Not even a little.” Jerry said sadly, looking more and more defeated. He held onto the tape tightly but let the rest of his supplies fall to the floor.

“Okay, Rick. I’m not going to be able to help you beat this weird sci-fi sickness you have, but I can still make your day a little better. Go ahead and make fun of me. Another stupid, useless idea from stupid, useless Jerry. Let me have it.” he sighed.

“I could, but you meant well, Jer. You’re way outta your league with this thing, but you tried to help me out anyway. Even if this was never going to work – and it wasn’t - , I *COUGH!* appreciate the effort. *COUGH!* *COUGH!* Ow.” Rick answered, his voice growing hoarser.

“That’s awfully nice of you. Too nice. Either you’re making fun of me in a much more subtle way than usual, or you must really feel terrible, Rick.” Jerry commented, watching his father-in-law closely. It was hard to be sure with all the blankets wrapped around him, but he seemed to still be shivering in spite of them. His nose was red and irritated, and he looked considerably more unwell than just a short time ago.

“Dad’s actually got a point. Are you getting worse?” Morty worried, feeling Rick’s forehead again. Still a little too warm, but not alarmingly so. And there was no noticeable change from earlier.

“Morty, stop that. If you insist on fussing over me, there’s better ways to do it. For starters, I’m still cold.” Rick complained, pulling away from Morty’s hand.

“Better?” Morty asked, wrapping another two blankets around him. Rick nodded.

Then, forcing a laugh, he said, “To answer your question, Jerry, eh, maybe a little of both. Mostly the second one, though. I’ll be okay, and let me repeat again, this thing isn’t dangerous. But I *SNIFF!* guess it’s pretty obvious I’m having a bad time right now, huh?”

“Well, yeah. If this is what it just mimicking an ordinary cold does to you, I’d hate to see what happens when it moves onto something worse. Does Mimicking Disease also act as a Magnifying Disease? Like, the version of whatever it’s copying is magnified to be x amount of times worse than the real thing?” Jerry replied. Rick glared at him, at first angry over the implication, then miserable over the fact he could easily see where Jerry got that idea from.

“No, it doesn’t. And I’m done talking about this now.” Rick groaned, flopping down on the couch in his blanket cocoon.

“Right. You should get some rest, Rick. Especially since I’m certainly not going to be curing your illness today.” Jerry sighed, getting up to leave. He gathered up the notebook and writing utensils he’d dropped.

“Dad, wait. Yes, you should let Rick sleep, but now that you’ve finally realized your dumb plan is dumb, I could still use your help with some stuff.” Morty said, following Jerry as he started to leave the room.“*SIGH!* Not now, Morty. I have a lot to go think about. How could I have been so sure about something, and been so wrong?” Jerry mumbled, heading back towards his man cave. Morty followed him a few more steps, then gave up and went back to Rick.

[myloveforhergoeson]

writing a little tasw short story about the boys new town high appearance and i got so fucking distracted in doing research about the universal studios (aka colossal studios) lot and i forgot what i was originally doing. did you know it takes 3 days for them to fill their fake lake. 10 hours if you only fill the pit. 4 days to drain and it will never, ever be clear water. they have 47 soundstages. a gym. 2 banks. a coffee bean and tea leaf. the bates motel is there if you even care!

[seumyo]

we’re cooking with this (bnha oc insert RAAGH 🦖)

[zukkaoru]

🥃 look what we became 🥃

Chuuya freezes. He looks over his shoulder, and Dazai chooses to not know what emotion is shining in his eyes. “You think I care enough to spare you that pain?” “No,” Dazai answers honestly. “In fact, I think you love me enough that you don’t have a choice but to hurt me.”

two months after dazai leaves the mafia, chuuya finds him in bar lupin

🥃 1.8k words || soukoku 🥃 (slightly) edited version of this fic based on an ask game prompt from brooke

[autisticbsdfan]

welp heres the preview i mentioned yesterday. the full thing is gonna go up on ao3 once i get my invitation. i still am not fully sure where its going to go, but its gonna be a slow slow slow burn. very slow.

oop heres a tag for the only person who wants to see this @mothjinxed

[luna--dragon]

So I uh did a thing

[solalunar-eclipse]

Sonic Boom - S3E12

Chapter title: Schrödinger's Hedgehog, Part 1

Summary: The final mystery about Shadow begins. Who is he, really? Why has he always stayed distant from others? What is his story?

This four-part special will answer all of those questions and more.

AO3 Link

First | Previous | Next

[Scene opens on the six heroes playing volleyball. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails have formed one team, leaving Amy, Sticks, and Shadow on the other.]

“Knux! Knux! I’m open, let me spike it!” Sonic shouted, leaping into the air. The echidna obligingly passed it to him, helping their team score a point as Sonic smashed it into the sand. Shadow teleported in front of the ball before it could roll into the forest and carried it back, shooting Sonic an absolutely deadly look in the process (whether for scoring a point or for making him go get the ball, it wasn’t entirely clear).

“Come on, guys, we won’t lose to them, will we?” Amy insisted, doing her best to inspire her teammates. Carefully, she served the ball, giving Sticks an opportunity to set it over the net. After a few more minutes of tense play, Tails stumbled in the sand, giving Shadow a perfect opening to spike the ball himself. He smirked, making direct eye contact with Sonic as his palm connected with the volleyball.

Unfortunately for him, the angle of his hand turned out to be just ever so slightly off. He realized this quickly, only seconds before all the others, and his expression shifted into one of mild horror before his hand had even left the ball. It was obvious enough that the moment he landed, everyone else automatically turned towards the water, waiting for the splash of an out-of-bounds shot.

Instead, they all watched, mildly stunned, as it sailed over the horizon.

The moment Shadow landed in the sand, they turned back to him, staring incredulously. He winced. “I guess I hit it harder than I meant to.” he said nervously into the silence.

Suddenly, the entire team exploded in cheers and laughter. “Man, that was awesome!” Sonic cried.

“I just wish I’d gotten it on video.” Tails sighed wistfully.

Sticks walked up to the group, smiling one of her rare genuine smiles. “This’ll be one of those stories we’ll talk about for years, won’t it?”

“You know it!” Knuckles cheered excitedly.

Meanwhile, Shadow just smiled awkwardly and wished with all his might (despite all of the positive attention he was getting) that he hadn’t done it at all.

…

[The same intro sequence plays as last time, but Shadow is slightly less irritated. He still refuses to play along with the others, but is no longer outright angry. If anything, he looks slightly amused by the others and their antics.]

[There is no villain reveal in this episode, however, and so Dr. Eggman is introduced like an ordinary character (since he is one of the main characters of the show, as he himself would inform anyone at the slightest provocation).]

[The intro then continues on, before ending with the title of this week’s episode.]

…

After the abrupt ending to their volleyball game, the team decided to wander around town and see if there was anything else interesting to do. In Shadow’s opinion, the simple fact that the other five existed was entertaining enough to count as ‘interesting’ all on its own, but they didn’t seem to agree.

Approximately two and a half seconds after they stepped across the town’s border, an extraordinarily loud shriek of “My baby!” was heard, and everyone except for Shadow (who hadn’t experienced this enough to get sick of it yet) groaned. 

“Not this again!” Sonic complained, even as the entire team headed in the direction of the shout to investigate.

“Does this woman know the first thing about childcare?” Amy sighed. “You’re not supposed to keep your eyes off your child for any extended period of time!”

Once the six made it to the scene, they discovered that this time, the baby in question had somehow managed to clamber up to the top of the highest building in town. They were currently attempting to climb the spire at the very top, but kept on slipping each time.

Sonic sighed. “Can someone else keep the baby from falling today? I’m just not feeling it right now.”

“I got it! I’m great at climbing!” Knuckles said, immediately digging his spikes into the side of the building and hauling himself onto the roof. He was just in time, too, as the baby’s most recent attempt to clamber up the extremely thin spire ended in a near disaster. They completely lost their grip on the metal pole, and began to slide down the roof towards the edge—on the opposite side from Knuckles.

Just as the baby was about to slide over the edge, the echidna dove across the roof, caught the baby in one arm, and then rolled off the side before catching himself on the gutter with his other hand. Gently, he dropped to the ground and handed the baby back to their delighted mother…who immediately wandered off to resume her shopping, not even bothering to give him the praise he deserved.

Thankfully, his friends were there to do that for her.

“Ohmygosh, Knuckles, that was actually so cool!” Tails cried, his eyes wide. “Where’d you learn tricks like that?”

“Oh, you know.” Knuckles said, and then didn’t elaborate.

“No, we don’t, actually.” Sticks replied, giving him a slightly bewildered look.

“I mean, living alone in the wilderness for most of your formational and adolescent years means you learn all kinds of cool survival stuff.” Knuckles explained. “Have you…oh right, you guys have always had houses! I forgot that not everyone is new to this house thing like me.”

“You…forgot?” Amy asked, frowning.

“Yep!” Knuckles smiled cheerfully, clearly unaware that it was abnormal to have spent most of one’s life on this island without a house.

Now that the latest crisis had been averted, the team continued throughout the town in search of something at least as exciting as a baby almost dying.

“Oh, wow!” Tails gasped when they passed the movie theater, running up to the front doors. He pointed at a poster excitedly. “Look at this, guys! I can’t believe the theater is actually getting the new Tommy Thunder movie! It’s coming out next week, and see, it’s called Rise of the Robot Overlords! It’ll be so cool to see someone fighting robots on the big screen just like us!” 

Shadow twitched, his legs slowing down automatically. The poster depicted Tommy Thunder (obviously) stabbing one robot through the chest with a massively oversized sword and shooting another robot’s head off with an equally massively oversized gun. 

Shadow wrenched his eyes away from the image with great difficulty, staring at the ground instead.

Amy shrugged. “I’m glad you’re excited, but we fight robots every day! What’s so special about these ones? They’re all just there to get destroyed in battle or blown up anyway.”

The striped hedgehog opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it again.

“They’re made with really cool special effects, that’s all!” Tails said, his eyes sparkling. “Plus, I always like to see if I can figure out what’s a model and what’s CG.”

Sticks’s eyes grew so wide it was a surprise that they didn’t take up most of their face. “Wait, hang on, why is nobody talking about the title of the movie?! Rise of the WHAT? They’re not even hiding their plans anymore! Everybody! Find food and shelter while you still can!” they screamed, running around the town at top speed.

[Their shrieking is still faintly audible for most of the rest of the scene.]

Shadow winced again, before doing his best to mask it as something brought on by Sticks screaming.

Knuckles frowned. “I dunno, Tails…your robots are cool, but I don’t trust any of the others. Most of them are either made by Eggman or don’t do what they’re supposed to. Or both!”

Tails folded his arms. “What about FriendBot? Or Q-N-C and MAIA?” he asked, not noticing the way Shadow outright flinched. “They were helpful!”

“Oh, are you guys talking about robots?” Eggman asked, strolling up with his arms full of grocery bags. 

“Yeah!” Tails said. “Knuckles thinks that most robots are bad, and Amy thinks they’re boring.”

“Wait, where did you come from?” Amy asked the doctor suspiciously.

“I heard someone talking about robots—which is my specialty, in case you hadn’t noticed—and decided that the conversation would undoubtedly be improved by my input!” Eggman said proudly. “Also, I came from the grocery store. Could you not tell that by the fact that I am currently holding groceries?”

Amy sighed, pinching her brow, and refused to dignify that with a response.

Eggman rolled his eyes, returning to the original conversation. “They’re plenty helpful! All you have to do is keep reminding them that they’re replaceable, or else they’ll start getting all high and mighty about ‘wages’ and stuff like that. I mean, do you remember that time mine went on strike? It was a disaster!”

“They are not replaceable!” Amy cried. “Bea is absolutely unique, and I love her very much!”

“So are you saying that not all robots are boring, then?” Tails replied smugly. 

Amy huffed. “Not all of them! I’d never generalize like that. But look at all of the ones in this movie! They’re faceless and boring, like those Sentinel things. Bea has much more personality than this!”

Shadow cringed at the sound of the word ‘Sentinel’. He began carefully moving towards the side of the movie theater, hoping to escape this conversation.

“Hey Shadow!” Sonic called, making him freeze in his tracks. The hero had bought a box of popcorn and was leaning against a wall, watching the others as they argued. “What do you think of robots?”

“I…don’t have much of an opinion on them.” he said, measuring each word carefully. “Lyric’s robots were awful for the most part, but the doctor’s are less so.”

Sonic ate another handful of popcorn before replying. “Fair enough! I just figure, if they’re cool and can help us, then sure, they’re great! But otherwise, I’m happy smashing them. Tails is the one with all the gadgets—I can live with or without ‘em.”

“Oh. I suppose that makes sense.” Shadow said quietly.

[The camera cuts to show him clenching his fists at his sides, tightly enough that his claws begin to pierce the fabric of his gloves.]

Suddenly, a violent rumble shook the ground, making everyone reel and struggle to keep their balance. Sticks skidded to a stop next to the rest of the group, dropping down to all fours immediately. “Earthquake!” they screeched.

The moment that the first wave had passed, the heroes sprang into action. “Alright!” Sonic cried. “Everyone, get into a doorway or under a table! You’ll be safe there until this thing is over!”

He and Shadow began to rush around the village, helping the people who were stuck outside with nowhere to go. Meanwhile, the others began rapidly to get those closer nearby to safety, switching into ‘hero mode’ with ease. 

Except for Eggman, of course. He just leapt into his Eggmobile and flew away to his island (though he did help one or two people before leaving, and immediately swore them to secrecy on pain of death).

Sonic dashed back to the movie theater, tucking himself under the ticket counter with the others just as the second wave began. They all linked hands as quake after quake passed through, riding it out until the very end.

The moment it ended, the hero checked on Tails first, making sure his little brother was okay. “I’m fine, Sonic!” he insisted, waving the hedgehog away fondly. “I was right here with you, wasn’t I?”

“Everyone else alright?” he asked, checking in on the rest of his friends.

“All good here!” Amy replied, smiling at him. “Sticks and Knuckles seem fine to me too. How’s Shadow?”

“Shadow?” Sonic frowned. “Wasn’t he with you?”

“No, the last time I saw him was when he was running around with you.” she insisted.

Suddenly, they all realized the same thing at once. “Then…where is Shadow?” Amy whispered.

Sonic turned pale. “Oh, no…”

[cut to commercials]

[…]

[fade back in]

When the show returned, the entire team was already rushing all over the village, searching for Shadow. Tails was busy scanning for life signs from above, while Sonic sped throughout the streets as quickly as he could, hoping to spot Shadow safe and sound anywhere at all. Amy asked around, searching for clues as to where he’d been seen last, and Sticks and Knuckles took the more direct approach of simply digging through rubble at random in hopes of stumbling upon him.

After several tense minutes, including more than a few futile calls of his rival-turned-friend’s name, Sonic stumbled upon the little pink porcupine who had been a fan of his in times past weeping on the ground.

“Mister?” she sobbed. “Mister, please, get up…”

Sonic felt his body go cold. “Hey there, kiddo.” he said softly, forcing his face into a noticeably false smile. “What happened?”

“That hedgehog, he—he saved me,” she whimpered, “‘cause the big house was gonna fall on me but it fell on him instead!” She began to wail openly, and Sonic hugged her, his body moving on autopilot. He sent an SOS to the rest of the team, calling them to his position.

“Oh my…” Amy whispered, the first to arrive.

Tails and Knuckles held each other quietly as they appeared on the scene, and even Sticks found her usual energy vanishing as she saw what had happened. However, she was also the first to step forward and take charge, since she was (somehow) the most no-nonsense of them all at times.

“We should start by clearing off all of…this.” she said, gesturing at the house covering Shadow. 

Immediately, all five of them began to clear away the ruins of the house. At first, the porcupine girl helped a little, but they soon returned her to her mother, not wanting her to see whatever might lie underneath. Sonic dug frantically until Tails pulled him back for a quick hug, which he silently accepted. Sticks worked more methodically, Amy smashed bigger rocks into easier-to-lift chunks, and Knuckles hauled the biggest rocks of all out of the way. Tails mostly showed them where to dig without making the rubble collapse and crumble any further than it already had.

Soon enough, Shadow was exposed, and Knuckles carefully lifted his limp body out of the ruins of the house. Tails leaned over to listen for a moment, before sighing with relief. “I can hear his heartbeat.” he announced, letting the entire team relax for the first time in nearly an hour.

The fox flew with Knuckles as he carried Shadow back to the workshop, while the other three stayed behind to clean up a bit of the mess. It was very clear that they were struggling, though—Sonic couldn’t seem to stop tapping his feet, even when he was working, and Amy clutched her hammer like a lifeline. Sticks figured it made sense. They were two of the most exuberant and friendly people on the team, and they’d been the first ones to befriend Shadow. Of course they’d be the most nervous about him now.

As soon as the three were done fixing up what they could, Sonic dragged them back to the workshop as quickly as he possibly could. He burst through the doors frantically, looking everywhere for a glimpse of Shadow. 

“Is he okay?” he asked fearfully, rushing over to Tails. 

“I think so.” the fox replied. “I just can’t make sense of these pulse readings!”

“Does he need CPR?” Amy asked. “I’ve taken a couple of certification courses, just in case.”

“It’s not that…his heart’s beating just fine.” Tails explained. “It’s just that—you know how our hearts beat twice per cycle? Like this.” He tapped out a double rhythm on the table. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.

“Yeah?” Sonic said. “What’s this have to do with Shadow, pal?”

“His heart isn’t doing that. It sounds more like this.” Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Is that safe?” Knuckles wondered nervously.

“I…I just don’t know.” Tails muttered, disappointed. “It’s like whenever I try to scan him for injuries, something stops my machines from seeing what’s inside him. Like, they say the scan is finished and then a blank image of his insides pops up.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have any organs for you to scan.” Sticks’s eyes darted from side to side suspiciously.

“Sticks, that’s downright impossible!” Tails exclaimed. “There’s no way anyone could live without organs.”

“Maybe no one on this planet.” Sticks whispered. “But aliens could.”

Tails sighed, shook his head, and went back to recalibrating his machines.

Hours passed, and Shadow still didn’t stir. Amy, Knuckles, and Sonic had gone into the house to eat, even though none of them seemed particularly hungry. Tails suspected they just needed a break from worrying about their friend.

Sticks was still standing there, watching the prone hedgehog carefully. “It doesn’t make sense.” they murmured to themselves at one point. “If he was strong enough to break through my defenses, then he should be strong enough to deal with a house…”

Suddenly, while Tails’s back was turned, they crept up to where Shadow was lying. They’d never trusted machines before, and these scanner failures were just proving them right. Whether Shadow was an alien or not, he was still their friend, and they were determined to help however they could.

(Though they thought it would be very exciting if he was an alien.)

Carefully, they held his wrist and took his pulse themself. It did feel strange, but it was very faint and difficult to read through the glove. Despite that, though, Sticks was certain that whatever this was…

…it definitely wasn’t a hedgehog’s heart.

Determined to learn more, they began to carefully slide off his glove, feeling a tiny bit guilty but pressing forward anyway. If Shadow’s survival depended on uncovering his potential secrets, then a single glove couldn’t stand in the way of that.

They closed their eyes as it slid off, before peeking quickly. What they saw made their eyes widen and their fur stand on end.

“Tails?” they said weakly.

“Yeah? What is it, Sticks?”

“You, uh…might wanna come over here for a sec.”

“Did you find something new? Is—”

The moment he noticed what Sticks had seen, he froze.

“Oh, Chaos.” the two-tailed fox breathed, already reaching for his communicator.

[screen fades to black]

[Sticks complains, “Seriously? A cliffhanger now?! The government is trying to silence me! Don’t let them win!”]

[roll credits]

[cyanidas]

Hope yall are having a good holiday season!

I'm excited for the new year ;w; small update in tags