#i thought my team would be fine enough against a fire team but sheesh

[twstinginthewind]

A little story for @theocxcanonweek! I used the prompt "A kiss in the snow" for this little scene between my OC, Punch Carder, and his canon crush, Epel Felmier!

Harveston by Night

“Aw, nuts.”

Punch put down the big mug of hot, spiced cider he held between his mittened hands, and looked over at his companion. “What’s the matter, Epel? Anything I can do?”

The flickering of the bonfire bathed Epel’s pale skin with warm light, making it look like his face was almost glowing against the dim, snowy backdrop of the Harveston village square. The only element that kept Punch from thinking he was in some sort of crush-fueled dream sequence was the intense scowl that crinkled up the other boy’s face.

Epel spat into the fire, then exhaled sharply, his breath puffing into the cold air. “It ain’t nothin’ you kin fix, Punch Carder. Doncha get yer shorts in a bunch on my account.” He crossed his arms. “It’s just that I gotcha all the way up here fer th’ Sledathon, n’ yer not even gonna race, ‘cos that housewarden a’yers grew a spine, finally. N’ I can’t even do the other thing I gotcha up here fer.”

He must really be frustrated, Punch thought. He’s lapsed into Deep Rural, AND used my full name. Yikes. “I’m fine just watching the race, that doesn’t really bother me all that much,” he fibbed. Sure, he’d rather share the victory experience with Epel and the others, and he would LOVE being able to compete. But he was there strictly as a backup in case Idia were to flake on the rest of the team. If Idia was intent on living his Sled Over Heels otaku fantasy, Punch’s job was just to shout and cheer, and he was intent on making sure he was heard. “Why, what happened with the other thing?”

“Clouds.”

“.... beg pardon?”

Epel stamped a foot. “I ain’t stutterin’, ya idjit. I said clouds.”

“No, I heard what you said,” Punch held up his hands apologetically. “I just wasn’t sure what you meant.”

“I meant clouds’re messin’ with what I wanted to show ya. Sheesh.” Epel pouted again, and Punch hoped for his own sake that the light from the big bonfire would hide the sudden flush of his cheeks. Well, he could always chalk the redness up to the cold.

“Is it really that wrecked?” Punch grinned, a bit sheepishly. “I mean, maybe we can go and look anyway?”

“Yer kiddin’, right?” Epel’s expression was blank as he looked the taller boy in the eye.

“Well, I don’t know what you wanted to show me.”

“Fair enough.”

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, watching their companions around the bonfire. Idia was deep in conversation with Epel’s grandmother, an uncharacteristically giddy smile plastered on his face. Sebek was busy sampling the cuisine from all of the food carts, his arms laden with items to enjoy. And Jade was deep in conversation with a craftsman, rolling a wooden carving over and over in his hands, and wearing a smile that said he would be profiting from this interaction later.

Epel stood up. “Aighty. C’mon, if yer gonna be like that about it.”

“Wha—? Like what?” Punch tilted his head.

“Jus’ get yer big butt up already, Punch.” Epel sighed. “I’ll show ya why it’s wrecked.” He waved to Punch to follow, and without waiting for acknowledgement, started off away from the village square.

Curious, Punch rose from his seat and trotted along after Epel. It didn’t take long for him to catch up; his long strides cleared the distance between them before Epel left the square proper, but once caught up, he fell into step with the shorter boy. “So, uh. Where we headed?”

“You’ll see,” Epel grunted. He lead Punch along a series of little paths, winding through his family’s orchards and up onto a hill. Occasionally, he would step a bit too close, and his shoulder would bump up against Punch’s arm. Finally, at the top of the hill, he stopped, and turned to face Punch. “Welp, this here is it. A whole load’a disappointment, if ya ask me…”

Punch looked around him. The view from the hilltop was magnificent; beyond the bare snow-crusted apple trees, he could see the entirety of the town of Harveston, lit up like a brilliant gem set into the snowy countryside. “It’s… not? It’s really pretty, actually. I mean, it might be better with some moonlight, but—”

“Not down there. Up here.” Epel pinched the bridge of his nose. “But it’s so clogged up with clouds right now it ain’t gonna call any attention to itself, anyway. The sky, Punch. I know yer a city boy, n’ when I saw how you were actin’ so excited at the observatory at school, I wanted to show ya what a real, clear night sky was like. ‘N what happens? This!” He gestured upwards angrily, and as if the weather itself was determined to spite him, tiny snowflakes began to drift down from above. Epel puffed out his cheeks.

Punch’s face went soft, smiling mistily. “You brought me along for that? Epel…”

“It ain’t just that. We did need a backup for the Sledathon team, too. But… y’know.” Epel shifted his weight slightly, and he dipped his chin as he looked up at Punch. “I, um. Figgered it’d be somethin’ special to share, n’ all. What with us bein’ classmates n’ such, right?”

“Right…” Punch’s voice was soft, and a little dazed. Did this mean… wait. Did Epel know that he had a crush on him? Did he have a crush back? Heck. He needed a moment. Punch looked around, and spotted an old wooden bench. “Is it ok if I sit?”

“I ain’t gonna stop ya,” Epel said, hesitantly. Punch walked over to the bench and sat down heavily, feeling Epel’s eyes tracking him. The flurries in the air were beginning to get heavier, and he could hear Epel cursing the change in the weather under his breath. Something about how it was gonna mess up the conditions for tomorrow.

Punch sat and looked up into the sky. The snowflakes were starting to swirl in the breeze, dancing round and round above the little clouds of his breath. He could hear the soft crunch of snow underfoot that meant Epel was coming closer, and he shifted a little on the bench. He wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable by having to sit too close together.

The bench creaked and shifted. Punch turned to face Epel…

… and found their faces were VERY close together. Epel was kneeling on the bench beside him, leaning in slightly. “Close yer eyes, idjit. Ain’t nothin’ to see up here right now anyway.”

Punch closed his eyes.

And a moment later?

He was seeing stars.

[goldensunset]

finally oh my goodness mela of team star actually had me on the ropes that took forever

[zerolympiustrife]

Here's a bit of a toughie, Tsundere Yang x Jaune

That’s a toughie indeed.

————————————————————

Anonymous asks: How to Tame Your Dragon (RWBY)

————————————————————

*Outside Beacon*

Yang (walking by, crossing her arms): Hmph.

Student 1: Ugh, it’s her again.

Student 2: What’s her problem?

Student 3: Despite her age, she thinks she already mature enough to go out drinking and partying.

Student 4: That, and her semblance is so cliche. Anger making you powerful? Never heard that before.

Yang (frowning, internally): What the hell’s their problem? They don’t understand what I’ve been through…

Jaune (approaching): Hey, Yang.

Yang (deadpan): Oh. Hey, vomit boy.

Jaune (raising an eyebrow): …I was expecting you to that with a little more enthusiasm.

Yang (sarcastically): Oh, I’m sorry. Let me try again: *Takes a deep breath, then yells angrily* WHAT’S UP, VOMIT BOY?!?

*Everyone turns to look at the duo weirdly*

Jaune (concerned): …You didn’t have to shout…

Yang (rolling her eyes): Whatever. *Walks back into the school*

Jaune (internally): Hm…maybe I should keep my distance away from her until she…simmers down. *Silently giggles*

*3 hours pass as Teams RWBY and JNPR are killing Beowolves*

Ruby (dodging): Agh! There’s too many of ‘em!

Yang (punching some out): There’s no such thing as too many! *Get attacked and pushed away* Gah!

Ruby: Yang!

Jaune (running over to Yang): Lure the Grimm away! I’ll go heal your sis!

Ruby (doing so): Got it!

Yang (grunting): Agh…rgh…

Jaune (checking her wounds): Yang, are you alright?!

Yang (sarcastically): Yes. In fact…Ack!…I’ve never been better.

Jaune (sees a bleeding hole on her back): Nonsense. You need this bad. *Heals her*

Yang (gasping): Ah! Huh?

Jaune (finishes healing her): Oh, and one more thing… *Amplification!*

Yang (getting up, activating her semblance): HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Whoa! Rgh! Now this is quite the power boost, vomit boy! Thanks a bunch! *Runs off into the distance, killing Beowolf after Beowolf within a span of one punch and causing explosions* HAAAAAAAA!!!

Jaune (smiling): Heh, that girl…

*2 hours pass, Jaune is walking down the hallways, and sees Yang approaching him*

Yang: Hey, vomit boy. Thanks again for the help.

Jaune: No problem, anything for our fellow team.

Yang: Those Grimm thought they had the upper hand, up until RWBY’s secret weapon kicked in.

Jaune: Technically, I was the one who helped bring out the big guns. *Makes a bunch of finger gun gestures*

Yang: Shame you were too fire away to check out my one-hit KOs.

Jaune (shrugging): Shame Grimm can’t speak human languages, otherwise we couldn’t hear their flameous last words.

Yang: Is that all you got, vomit boy?

Jaune: If you and Weiss were to join a photographer’s club, would your new team attack be called “Freeze-Flame”? Or a Blaze-ard? Would a criminal who commits arson be flamed for murder? Is your favorite type of jewelry a Safire? Would you mind if we formed a match-ual relationship? Would it be a love-heat relationship?

Yang (sneeringly): Sheesh! I love making puns, but even this is making me cringe.

Jaune (happily): That must mean I’m succeeding!

Yang (taken aback): …You know what? …Screw you. *Runs off*

Jaune (shrugging): Aw…I didn’t even get to say “When, where, and how hard?”…

*The next day, at the cafeteria…*

*Jaune is eating soup, then feels somebody sitting close to him, he turns to look and it’s Yang*

Yang (nervously): …Erm…Hey.

Jaune: …Hi?

Yang (scooting over): Can…I…hold your hand while you eat?

Jaune (raising an eyebrow): What?

Yang (turning away): …You know what? Never mind. Forget what I said.

*Jaune shrugs, slowly lends his left hand out and places it next to Yang. She notices this, turns away in a arrogant manner, but slowly lends her hand out and places it above Jaune’s hand as she blushes*

Yang (internally): …Is he…not going to say anything about this…? *Slowly scoots over as she grabs Jaune’s hand with both of her hands* Hm…this feels so nice…hm…

Jaune (internally): Man, Yang’s been super close to me ever since she sat down next to me. Could it be that… *Feels a note in his hand* …Huh? *Checks the note and reads it* “Can you meet me outside my team’s room? ASAP. -Yang”.

*ASAP, Jaune runs over to Team RWBY’s room, seeing Yang*

Yang (beckoning Jaune): Ah, good. You’re here. Come in. *Opens the door, the duo enter, and they’re the only ones alone*

Jaune: You wanted to talk to me?

Yang: Yeah…um… *Slowly blushes* Hey…Jaune…do you…have a crush on someone?

Jaune: Not really, no.

Yang (happily): Aw, that’s awesome! *Realizes what she said* I mean… *Keeps a stern expression* Gee, that’s a shame.

Jaune (weirded out): What’s so awesome about me being single?

Yang (turns away): N-Nothing!

Jaune (walking towards her): Are you sure-

Yang (eyes turn red): EVERYTHING’S FINE!!!

Jaune (slightly terrified): Ah…

Yang (eyes turn lilac): Oh! Sorry…I didn’t mean to snap…what I meant to say is…”That’s a shame that you’re not seeing anyone, because…I know of an awesome gal who wants to…be with you. Be close you. Be…become an item with you.”

Jaune (surprised): Oh, really? That’s great! Who’s the girl? Is it you?

Yang: Yes! It’s- *Eyes widened* Wait, no! It’s not me!

Jaune (bummed out): Oh, so it’s not you?

Yang: No, of course it’s me, you dumb- *Realization again* Actually, no! No, it’s…okay, you know what? Screw it! *Grabs Jaune by his hoodie collar*

Jaune (gets pulled towards Yang): Screw wha- *Yang kisses him angrily*

*Jaune freaks out a bit, but slowly calms down. Yang attempts to break the kiss, still angrily, but Jaune pulls her towards him, making the kiss last a little longer. Yang gets surprised by this, but calms down as she softly rubs Jaune’s cheeks*

Ruby (walking in): Hey Yang, I was wonder- *Sees her sister and Jaune kissing each other* Agh! Eugh! Never mind! I didn’t know you had a thing for “vomit boy”! *Walks out, slamming the door*

Jaune (breaking the kiss): Do you love me?

Yang: Of course I love you!

Jaune: You could’ve just said so.

Yang (blushing): I was getting sick of myself not outright saying it. So…I felt like it would’ve been better to show, don’t tell.

Jaune (blushing): I…I see.

Yang (raising an eyebrow): That’s it? “I see” is all you have to say to me?

Jaune: Would you rather have me keep the kiss going on longer?

Yang: Well…I won’t say no… *Surprise kiss!* Mmph?!? Mm…

*Jaune presses her against a wall, and the duo continue their little kiss-capade*

Ruby (peeking from the door): Stupid lovey-dovey filth-induced idiots…

[wildfaeworld]

Okay how about "Take me Instead" with Keith! and with platonic Klance or Kidge. :3

Administrative stuff: this is for the @badthingshappenbingo, in the Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom.

For reference, red X has been done, blue circles requested. not that y’all couldn’t figure that out, sheesh

Alright, here goes!! “Take Me Instead”, with platonic Kidge (good one, I live for Kidge friendship) :D This monstrosity is about 1800 words, beware. It was just too much fun.

*PSST*: you can also read this on AO3

——————

“I don’t understand.” Keithscowled over Pidge’s shoulder at the device on the counter before them. “Whatdoes it do?”

Pidge, unwilling to let suchmundane things as purpose dim the stars in her eyes, dug out her pouch of GAC.“It’s a robot, Keith, it doesn’t needto do anything now, I’m gonna upgradeit! How much?”

“Three thousand GAC.” The way thealien shopkeeper’s assessing gaze roamed over Pidge gave Keith theheebie-jeebies. He stepped closer, looming behind her.

“Pidge. You don’t need this robot.”

“Keith.” Pidge did not look upfrom her wallet. “I need this robot.” Now she did look up at him, and somehowher eyes were bigger, wider, and her face was doing something that made it hardto remember why he had thought the robot was a stupid idea. Oh.

“Are you… using puppy-dog eyes onme?”

Her eyes got bigger (was thatpossible? Apparently so), and now he felt guilty for accusing her.

“Is it working? I’m short a couplehundred GAC.”

And just like that, whatever magicwas in the puppy eyes was gone. “We’re supposed to be looking for supplies forthe castle.”

“With your money! I brought myown. I just need a couple hundred, you know Coran gave you way more than we’llneed. Please, Keith, I need this robot. Look at it! It’s socute! How can you say no to such a cute-” “Pile of metal?” “Keeeiiiith,” she whined, whacking him inthe arm. “Pleeeeeeeaaase, Keith?”

Matt probably would have beenable to say no. Shiro too, maybe even Lance. They all had experience withyounger siblings. But no, they sent Keith, who had no idea how to handle hugeeyes and a face full of desperate need for something frankly trivial. He wasnot prepared for this at all.

Sometimes surrender was the onlyoption. Keith yanked out his wallet and began flipping out GAC. “I’m nothelping you fix it.”

“But Keith, you’re my best labassistant! C’mon, it’ll be fun!” Pidge tucked the robot lovingly under her armand turned a blindingly bright smile up at Keith.

Keith sighed and shook his head.He had a feeling that he was going to end up helping fix the robot. “C’mon, weneed to look for that component-thingy.”

“Flux modulator,” Pidge correctedabsently, engrossed in fiddling with the robot. Keith dropped a hand onto hershoulder to steer her through the teeming masses, scowling out from under hisbangs at the scurrying aliens who hurried this way, that, and always across thepath he was trying to steer Pidge through. Crowds had always been hard for him,but since bonding with Red his instincts tended to go haywire whenever he feltsurrounded or not in control.

“Woah,” Pidge muttered, peeringup over her glasses as Keith yanked her to a stop just before a horde of tinyorange aliens screeched across the end of the aisle. “Keith, you okay, man?”

“I’m fine,” Keith said tightly.Something was wrong; his instincts were screaming – he needed to fight, run,fly – anything to calm the fire burning down his spine. “Let’s just get the frackmandala” “Flux modulator-” “-and get back to the lions.”

“You got it.” Perhaps picking upon whatever had Keith’s senses firing, Pidge put the robot into her satchel andpeered around at the stalls. “Ooh, maybe over there.” She wriggled out from underhis hand and darted over to the corner stall.

Something was coming – he couldn’ttake it anymore. Keith drew his bayard, glad he had ignored Allura when she orderedthem to leave all paladin-identifying gear behind. Screw the flip-flop macerator,he was getting Pidge out of here. They could find it somewhere else.

“Pidge, let’s- PIDGE!” Keithpelted for the alley, heart in his throat. A large green arm had snaked out ofthe shadows and latched onto the littlest paladin, yanking her out of sightbefore she could so much as startle at the unexpected contact.

Keith activated his bayard, arrivingin a whirl of violence. Five huge aliens blocked his way, while a sixth hauleda struggling Pidge down the alley, heading for a pod parked at the other end. Ithad her tucked under its arm like a ragdoll, one three-clawed hand wrappedentirely around her head, and though Pidge was one of the fiercest people heknew, without her bayard the size disparity was simply too great for her to domore than annoy the hulking alien with her struggles. 

Keith charged, cutting down oneof the aliens with a swift slash across its throat before the rest swarmed him.He raised his blade to block an overhead strike, letting the angle of his sworddeflect his opponent’s blade down and off to one side, before whirling hissword about to parry the next attack. Shoving the blade off of his own, Keithyanked his knife out of its sheath at his back and stabbed blindly to his left,where he could feel a third alien approaching from behind. The alien gurgledand screamed, but kept coming, and the other two were swiftly recovering aswell. And all the while Pidge was being hauled toward the pod. Keithglanced about the narrow alley frantically. He needed some sort ofadvantage; between their size and their numbers, there was no way he was goingto take all three down on his own. 

A pile of crates stackedhaphazardly against the wall protruded from a mounded pile of discarded trash.Keith yelled and ducked under the rightmost alien’s scythe-like weapon andjumped up the mound. His footing was precarious at best, but his back wasagainst a wall now and he was nearly at eye level with his opponents. One swungat him with a heavy-handed overhead strike – really, again? Clearly these guyswere not used to actual opposition – and Keith blocked it easily, twisting theblade aside and lunging in to take out the alien’s eyes. Three down, two to go.

The one he had just blindedstaggered into one of his remaining opponents, keening loudly, and Keith tookthe opportunity to leap atop the other one, wrapping his thighs around its’ neckand stabbing downwards through the alien’s skull. He rode the enormous body tothe ground, cleaving the last alien from neck to navel on the way down. Thatleft only the blind one, staggering across the alley in futile search of itscomrades. Keith took a running start and leapt up its back, using his momentumto bring the disoriented alien crashing to the ground. Stunned, the alien frozeas it felt Keith’s blade against its’ neck, cold metal warring with hot bloodagainst its scaly flesh.

“Let her go!” Keith shouted, proudthat his voice projected only his anger and not the crippling fear underneath. Not Pidge, please not Pidge. “Let hergo, or you lose the last of your team!”

The alien halted, its reptilianeyes skittering over the carnage Keith had wrought. Over its clawed hand, Pidge’senormous brown eyes locked onto Keith’s.

“You have brought blood-debt uponyourself, stranger,” the alien snarled.

“Let her go, and I’ll give you achance to collect,” Keith retorted. Beneath him, the blinded alien shifted, andhe ground his heel harder into its spine until it stilled.

“This small one is a lawful prize,taken fairly. She will bring good price to me.” The alien shook Pidge slightly,and Keith’s gut twisted at the strangled whimper that emerged past the thickscaly claws wrapped around her head. “What have you to offer, stranger? Your blood-debtis already greater than you can pay.”

Everything was speeding up,unlike in battle when time seemed to slow; this was too fast, too much, and allKeith could think was not Pidge, notPidge in endless, frantic loop.

“Me,” he said, ignoring Pidge’ssudden muffled cy. “Take me.”

The alien snarled. “I havealready said your debt is greater than you can pay. I tire of this. Flee, whileyou still can, before the debt-hunters are given your scent.”

“I’m a paladin!” Keith blurted. “I’ma paladin of Voltron, heard of them?”

The alien’s sudden stillness wasanswer enough.

“Take me, and I’ll pay yourblood-debt. But you have to let her go.”

The alien watched him, reptilianeyes unblinking and hard as stone. Keith stepped off the blinded alien,shifting his sword back into bayard form and sheathing his knife. “Take me,” herepeated. “But let her go.”

“What is she to you?”

“No one,” Keith said quickly –too quickly, damnit. “A messenger,” he tried again, locking eyes with Pidge’s furioushoney-gold orbs and hoping that just this once he could communicate what he wanted.“She’s just a messenger. I hired her to carry my stuff while I shopped. She’s aninnocent.”

The alien lifted Pidge, eyeingher satchel dubiously. With a single claw, it ripped the satchel down thecenter, sending the robot and various other wires and connectors they had alreadypurchased clattering to the ground. It glanced back at Keith, gaze lingering onhis bayard. Keith thanked whatever gods held sway out here for its distinctivered-and-white coloring. Thanks to Coran’s Voltron shows, most of the galaxy nowrecognized the paladin colors and bayards. Beside him, the blinded alien rolledover, scrambling to its feet, and Keith stiffened, but kept his bayarddisarmed. “Take me,” he repeated. “But let her go.”

Slowly, the alien lowered Pidgeto the ground. “Go, child,” it said harshly. “Offer thanks at your hearth thisnight for the foolish ideals of this paladin.”

“Keith,” Pidge whisperedhoarsely. Bruising was already darkening her pale skin, crossing her face inmottled hues that didn’t belong.

“Go on,” Keith said, his mindstill circling madly, stuck in its loop ofnot Pidge, not Pidge. “You’ve got a job to get back to.”

“No, I-”

The alien shoved her towards theentrance to the alley when she stayed rooted to the spot. “Run, child. Deliveryour messages.”

The giant claws descended on him,then, wrapping around Keith’s torso and pinning his arms painfully to hissides. His bayard clattered on the ground, but the alien’s sinuous tail snakeddown to seize it as well.

“Get out of here!” Keith snarledas it began to drag him away. He couldn’t try to escape until Pidge was safelyaway. She couldn’t start tracking him until she was back at her lion, she wasn’tsafe until she was back with Green.

Finally, Pidge fled, dashingtears out of her eyes, and finally, Keith’s panic over her began to subside,even as his own spiked. But Pidge was safe. He could handle whatever came next,as long as it was him and not her.

[sherrybaby14]

The Distraction

This is for @aquivercactus who requested a Dark!Steve Rogers where the reader is innocent.  

A/N:  This can be read more like a prologue since making a good guy a bad guy without going totally OOC usually requires one for me.  Instead of writing one long story I’m splitting it in two.

Warnings: None/dark thoughts (Non-con Smut in the next chapter). 

Pairing: Steve X Reader 

Tags: @thecynicalnerd @marauderice @mac5323 @idonthavehusbandsihavelovers @negan--is--god @kellyn1604 @roschelesworld @taintedgenre @screeching-pterodactyl-fangirl @purplemuse89 @blondesouthsquad @buckyscrystalqueen @kawaiirepublic @captainemwinchester @xbergiex @bellaballanda @theariel85      

 Don’t move to New York.  It’s dirty.  When you arrived you bleached your tiny apartment from floor to ceiling and kept hand sanitizer on you at all times.  

Don’t move to New York. The people are mean. You weren’t outgoing anyway, it was easy to keep to yourself.  Who cares that you made no friends over the past year? You didn’t even keep in contact with the ones you had from back home.  Your monthly phone calls to your parents turned into monthly e-mails after your latest nephew was born those dwindled too.  They were busy with their newest grandson.  You were never their favorite child.  

Don’t move to New York. It’s dangerous. You tried a self-defense class, but it wasn’t for you.  The thought of hurting anyone, whether they deserved it or not, was almost foreign to you. Besides, you would never react in time. Instead, you never left your apartment after dark, avoided eye contact with strangers and kept to yourself.

Don’t move to New York. It’s expensive. There was no denying that fact. Outside of your main career, you worked side jobs on the weekend.  It was the easiest way to keep up with the rent and still have some money in savings.

For all the reasons not to live in the giant city, there were a few good ones. First of all, your main job was a great starting point, but soon after your arrival, you realized you were not stand out material.  You didn’t think your bosses knew your name, every time you finished a project someone else took credit for your work.  You had a feeling your bosses knew since they never fired you, but it also meant the odds of moving up were slim.  

The second reason was the sense of freedom.  You were the sixth of seven children in a strict household.  Growing up you followed all the rules, but your parents seemed to pay more attention to all of your siblings.  When you announced your decision to move outside of the four complaints above they just shrugged and waved you off.  Now the only rules you followed were the ones you imposed on yourself, but you were starting to feel like they were stricter than the ones your parents enforced.  Maybe the freedom was an illusion and you would have been better off moving back to the middle of nowhere.  Nobody missed you or wanted you back though.  You sighed and shook your head.  

 “Good morning Miss.”  The man pulled a bouquet of flowers out of one of the black buckets in front of you. “How much for this one?”

 “Thirty dollars.” You looked at the array of flowers, knowing the same bunch would cost five dollars top back in your hometown.

 “Sheesh. Back where I’m from this would have cost a nickel.” The man laughed.

 You looked up at him, sure the cheap paper the flowers were wrapped in would cost more than that. Your eyes locked with him for a split second and your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest.  You dropped your gaze, hoping he would not interpret your stare as rude.  It was Steve Rogers, Captain America himself.    You didn’t know how to respond.  The last few months you manned the flower stand inside the lobby of Stark Towers on the weekend.  Never once had you seen anyone famous, not that you paid attention to the people walking by, that would be rude.  

 “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”  He reached out and put a hand on your shoulder. “Are you alright?”  

                His hand felt like a burning weight.   You lurched backward and nodded your head.  

                “I’m fine.”  You kept your eyes on the ground. “I am sorry Sir, but I don’t set the prices.”

                “That’s alright.  I was only teasing.”  Steve reached into his back pocket he set two twenties on the counter in front of you. “Thank you, and keep the change.”  

                You gave a small nod and grabbed the cash. Without lifting your head, you went to the register and dropped both bills inside.  You thought you heard him let out a sigh as he turned away.  You pinched your eyes shut, certain you’d just embarrassed yourself beyond reproach with America’s favorite son.  

~~~  

               Steve cracked his jaw as he rode the elevator up.  He didn’t like the way she flinched when he touched her, but outside of that, he enjoyed everything about their interaction.   The way she kept her eyes down, how she was almost scared of him, and he particularly liked her use of the word Sir.   He licked his lips at the memory and felt his cock grow in his pants.  He shut his eyes and shook the memory away, having to save it for later.

                The doors opened with a ding and Steve was not surprised to see Nat waiting for him on the other side.  

                “You’re late.” She unfolded her arms and started walking.  “What’s with the flowers?  One of your fans corner you?”  

                “No.” That was the reaction Steve normally got, which is what made Y/N’s response so intriguing. “You want em?”

                “Come on, there has to be a special girl waiting at home for the Captain America to drop them off?” Nat glanced over her shoulder.

                Steve plopped the flowers in a trash can as they continued walking down the hall, knowing the action would be enough of a response for Nat.

                “Alright.” She looked forward. “I’ll stop asking.”  

                They arrived at the conference room and she pushed the doors open to show the rest of the team sitting around the table.  

                “Nice of you to join us.” Tony pointed towards the tech. “There’s only a terrorist at loose in the city we have to stop.”  

                “Why wasn’t I informed of this first?” Steve glared at Director Fury.

                “You’re the one who wanted more privacy.” Tony twisted the chair. “You move out of the Tower, you don’t get information as fast. Now let’s stop swinging our dicks and listen to the details so we can form a plan.”  

                Steve scowled.  Tony was right, but as Captain and the leader of the Avengers Steve should have been the first informed and already presenting his plan of attack. Once they had the situation under control he and Fury would be having a little chat.

~~~    

               “I TOLD YOU TO CUT LEFT!” Steve slammed his fist on the table. “Then like a showboat you have to move right.  You almost got people killed!”

                “But I didn’t.” Clint stood up from the table.  “We stopped the bad guy with zero casualties.”

                “No.” Steve shook his head. “We got lucky, running in there like a bunch of lone rangers!  There was no teamwork, nobody paid any attention to the plan. All of you went after the man like you were there by yourself. That is NOT how a team works.”

                Steve stood up straight and ran his hand over his head.  Tony, Nat, Clint, and Fury all staring at him.  

                “Have you all lost your minds?”  He looked around the room at the shocked faces. “Tony, you just ran into the man with your suit, what if he didn’t drop the detonator? The entire building would’ve blown!”

                “But it didn’t.” Tony shook his head. “This is a win for us Captain.”

                “Director Fury.” Steve went around the table. “You saw the footage.  Admit that I am right, we are not working as a team.”  

                “It was a little rusty, I will give you that.” Fury held up his hands. “But this isn’t wartime.  It’s peacetime.  Your first mission of this level in months, I’m putting it in the win category.”  

                “It’s always wartime.” Steve didn’t understand how nobody else could see that. “If we let our guard down if we’re not prepared another one will pop up.”  

                “And what do you think we’re doing?’ Tony laughed. “Was today not being prepared? Stopping that from happening?”

                Steve started to respond, but it was as if his voice caught in his throat.  He stood agasp, unsure how to respond.  

                “I need some air.”  Steve went straight to the balcony.  

                He leaned over the edge and tried to hide his disappointment at the team.  Not only did they perform poorly, but then they couldn’t take criticism.  What happened when a real threat hit?  One even more severe than today?  They would be crushed like ants.  

                “Hey.” Tony walked outside and leaned next to Steve.

                “If you’re going to tell me I’m wrong you can save it.” The anger was out of Steve’s voice. “I won’t change my mind.”  

                “I know you won’t.” Tony spun around so his back was against the railing. “I don’t expect you to.  But can I give you some advice?”  

                “I’m sure I’ve heard it before.”  Steve turned around with Tony. The sun was starting to set, and he wanted to avoid the glare.

                “See those people in there?” Tony pointed through the glass to Clint, Nat, and Fury.  “They are as much type A personalities as the two people out here. If Banner and Thor were here today, that would make two more type As.  Well, maybe not Thor, I’m not even sure what sort of personalities Asgard has.”

                “So?” Steve was well aware he was competitive, controlling, task-oriented, maybe even hostile from time to time.  Almost a textbook definition.  

                “So all of them have found ways to curb their less than pleasant personality traits.”  Tony pushed up his sunglasses. “Clint focuses on his family, coaches every little league sport possible and those kids play like machines.  Nat has a very active private life where she takes out her aggression on people who want to have it taken out.  Fury spends every waking second worrying about and building SHIELD like it’s a precious baby.  Banner focuses his energy on either finding a cure or helping starving children.  I can’t keep it straight anymore.

                “And I build shit in my spare time, which is every second I am not doing this.”  Tony pushed off the railing. “What do you do Cap?  The Avenger’s cannot be your only outlet or you will blow us up from the inside. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

                “You’re saying I need a hobby?”  Steve raised an eyebrow.  

                “Not a hobby.”  Tony started towards the door. “An obsession.  One that will let you work out some of those control issues, so you don’t keep busting in here ready to take over a split heads open whenever things don’t go your way.”  

                Steve glanced around the room and noticed the three inside were saying goodbye.  They all had other places to be and things to do.  All Steve had on schedule for the evening was getting in a workout and reviewing the tapes from today’s mission, studying them for errors.  He hated to admit it, but maybe Tony had a point.

                “Do you have any suggestions?” Steve kicked off the balcony and followed Tony.  

                “I’m not sure.” Tony shook his head. “But I don’t think a guitar is going to cut it.  You need something where you are in complete control, that requires a time commitment.”

                Steve wasn’t sure if the idea had always been there, buried in the back of his mind, and Tony’s words just brought it to the forefront or if it was a branch new concept.  He’d hoped for the later but was certain it was former.  Maybe it was time to embrace that part of himself, the piece he denied existed for so long.  

                Hearing the words complete control made his pants twinge and one face come to mind.  The girl who worked the flower stand.  

[journeysintowebcomics]

Worm Liveblog #16

UPDATE 16: The Zeroes and the Non-Heroes

Ahahaha, what a lame title I made. Oh well.

Last time it had been the time to deliver the money to the boss, but it turns out two villains stole it and are now making a show out of a fight with the Undersiders. It’s likely to involve bombs. Let’s start that!

It’s strange to read there aren’t good bugs around here. I’d have imagined that bugs had a way to permeate pretty much any place in the city, but all there’s in the storage are cockroaches, spiders and moths – and I suppose there aren’t that many. Skitter is already at disadvantage. Hopefully that won’t be a problem. There isn’t much time to consider what to do because Uber charges in, with the power of raw talent!

I didn’t get a chance to dwell on it, because Über charged us.  I hurried to get out of his way.  Über’s power made him talented.  It didn’t matter if it was playing the harmonica, parkour stunts or Muay Thai, he could pull it off like he’d been working on it for hours a day for most of his life.  If he really focused on it, the way I understood it, he could be top notch.

Huh, that’s actually a pretty cool power! As I interpret it, it’s pretty much a parallel to Tattletale’s, just that instead of intel, Uber goes for practical application. Just that is enough to be decently impressive.

Grue is not afraid of some guy with a leotard and an antenna on his head, talent or not, he confronts him straight ahead with darkness. Uber does fall to the floor, but then he channels the power of fitness and stands up in one move. Huh. May I suggest incapacitating him, then? The less he’s able to move, the better.

Skitter manages to find a nest of wasps one minute away. That’s a problem! In one minute this fight could tip onto the foes’ side. I used to have a friend who played in this online forum game called Mercenaries, and he often told me that every time a skill made one of his fighters be a minute late or so to the battle costed him the victory many times. The Undersiders better be able to hold the fort for one minute, then!

Leet stepped in as Über circled around us.  Reaching behind his back, Leet retrieved what looked like an old school bomb; Round black iron casing with a lit fuse sticking out of it.  The way the light bounced off it made it look wrong, though. Like it was a picture of a bomb instead of a real one.

Did he make it out of pixels? That’s...far less impressive for me than Uber’s power. How did these two get together as a team, anyway?

The bomb is thrown and the Undersiders manage to run away from it with ease – well, not without Regent making Uber trip again and eat asphalt near the bomb, which makes him fly away. These two villains are outright pathetic, sheesh. It is such a bad challenge that Tattetale has the liberty to stand around and start dishing them a speech.

“I keep wondering when you guys are going to give up,” Tattletale grinned, “I mean, you fail more often than you succeed, you make more cash from your web show than you do from actual crimes, you’ve been arrested no less than three times. You’re probably going to wind up at the Birdcage the next time you flub it, aren’t you?”

Oh god. I can’t believe it. After the bank robbery, after fighting a whole team of Wards and two recognized heroes, the next fight is against two denizens of the YouTube comedy category. The difficulty curve took a sharp dive, didn’t it? Heck, Tattetale even says that the reason why people watch this is because they’re so lame it’s funny – and I can see what she means! Also, apparently the reason why they have a videogame motif is because their objective is “Spreading the word about the noble and underrated art form that is video games.“ Underrated? I don’t know, I think in this time and age videogames are anything but underrated.

The worst part here is that these two have enough potential they could be more or less respected, in my opinion. The possibility of being good at everything and someone who can invent anything, even if it’s just once. It could be a real challenge, yet here they are. Their actions so far include falling to the floor and rolling a weak bomb – bomb that Leet can’t make again, from the sounds of this, unless he invented a machine that dispenses these bombs.

Tattetale and Regent are doing an excellent job antagonizing them, Leet is getting riled up. He’s even more ashamed when Grue simply blasts him in the face with a cloud of darkness mid-speech. They have a lot of guts broadcasting their shenanigans to the Internet if this is how their escapades tend to be.

The reason why Uber is sticking with Leet is because they’re friends. There it is, the redeemable trait.

Pissing off Leet with constant taunts make him want to fight even harder, getting more bombs and throwing them, catching Skitter off-guard enough to blast her away.

The air and the fire that rolled over me wasn’t hot.  That was the most surprising thing.  That wasn’t to say it didn’t hurt, but it felt more like getting punched by a really big hand than what I would have thought an explosion would feel like.  I could remember Lung’s blasts of fire, Kid Win shattering the wall with his cannon. This felt… false.

...so this is pretty much a make-believe fight. Perhaps it isn’t meant to be a real fight. Perhaps it’s a distraction, keeping the Undersiders busy for a while. I don’t like this convenient timing. The money may not even be nearby anymore. I don’t think it’s impossible that this is all organized by a certain benefactor who’s getting away with scamming the Undersiders. I mean, this is pretty much a good excuse to not give them payment. The problem here is Tattletale, as usual, I’d expect she’d get an inkling of what’s going on once she has the time to think about it all. Maybe I just have overblown expectations of her power.

It’s a good thing these aren’t real bombs! Regent made Leet trip and fall near two of his bombs, which exploded and catapulted him away. That’d have been a very embarrassing way to die. Regent is pretty much kicking these two’s collective behind. I really underestimated how good his power could be during a fight.

I was about to wonder if Uber had just sat around and watch Leet get pummeled, but then I reread and found out Grue pulled him into darkness. I suppose Uber is done for.

Skitter’s bugs arrive and are a minor nuisance, while Regent continues making Leet trip, Skitter just approaches behind Leet and starts choking him with the baton. Thaaaat pretty much seals his own fate too. This whole fight lasted...what, one minute and half? And it was a humiliation show for Uber and Leet. So that’s why people like to watch their show! Nothing like public humiliation to gather the masses.

The viewers have a first-row seat to watch the Undersiders tie up these two minor villains, now it’s matter of waiting them to wake up to find out where Heckpuppy is. I shook my head, “No.  These guys have henchmen, don’t they?  They’ve probably got them watching over the money.  We’d likely find Bitch in the same place.” Do they? I’m no internet streaming professional, but I really don’t think that’d give them enough money to be able to pay for henchmen. Maybe Leet made a few solid holographic Koopas to carry the money away. Shouldn’t be hard to track down a few bipedal turtles lugging around a bag of money.

Right after Skitter says that, a third person comes by, wearing the same Bomberman costume these two were wearing. It’s a woman with a gas mask. The special guest they were about to introduce?

“Bakuda?” Well, crap. The return of this gang happened much quicker than I thought it would! Sure, Lung isn’t around – hopefully – but I thought Bakuda and Oni Lee would do their revenge much later in the story than this! After reading a bit more it doesn’t seem like Oni Lee is around here. Instead there are a couple dozen gang members, all of them prepared to fight. Now this is great! A challenge on the level of the bank robbery chapter. Looks like the focus of this arc has been found!

“Goes without saying, I’m still with the ABB,” Bakuda stated the obvious for us.  “In charge, matter of fact.  I think it’s fitting that I commemorate my new position by dealing with the people that brought down my predecessor, don’t you agree?” Man, if only you weren’t wearing the silly Bomberman costume. That kinda takes a lot off the intimidation department. Still, Bakuda is bound to be dangerous. Without Heckpuppy around, the Undersiders lack some raw force, this is going to need quick planning to overcome. This is going to be great! And in the next chapter, I’m going straight ahead to read that!

And theeeeeen my excitement deflates like a balloon when I see the next chapter is an interlude. Welp. Oh well, I can’t complain. In technical terms, the interlude is placed properly, there’s suspense about how the fight will go, and the other interludes have been interesting. This is no big deal, it’s likely I’ll like this. This interlude is about nobody I have read about, it’s a new character. Name: Kayden. She has a baby.

The baby isn’t the only minor in this apartment. There’s a teenager watching the TV. Curiously enough, although the narration had talked about the baby as her baby, this teenager isn’t referred at any point as her boy or as her son, even though she seems to be taking care of him. The teenager – Theo, from now on – is rather distant, and knows Kayden is a cape. Yeah, Theo isn’t her son, it’s someone else’s, someone Kayden loathes.

“It’s fine,” Theo said, just a touch too fast.  It wasn’t fine, apparently, but he would never admit it.  Could never admit it.  Kayden felt a flicker of hatred for the man who had eroded every ounce of personality and assertiveness from his son.  She would give her right hand for a smart-alec remark, rolled eyes or to be ignored in favor of a TV show.

Huh. Sounds like this Theo kid’s father isn’t the kind of father most people would approve of. Given the relatively dark themes of Worm, I’m already imagining many grim scenarios. Kayden holds back her frustration and steps out, getting to the roof to pose for the reader’s benefit before jumping off to fly away, thinking of her baby to give herself strength.

Her powers...hmm...flight is here; any other powers haven’t been revealed yet. Her hair and eyes turn bright white, making it hard to look at her directly. A tactical advantage, fantastic. It sounds like she’s a hero, and so far she’s looking far more sympathetic than Glory Girl and Panacea. Great!

A year ago, she had made the ABB a priority target. Well that’s convenient, given what’s happening right now! Now I’m fully expecting Kayden to appear during the arc. If so, pretty much the only reason why this is an intermission and not a chapter more of the arc is because Taylor is not the narrator. Oh well. Potato, potahto.

Kayden’s work has lasted a year so far, and it includes surgical strikes against that gang. Sometimes it’s effective, sometimes it isn’t...one time she was injured a lot by Lung, stopping her job for a while. But now Lung isn’t here. She should have free reign, but things can’t be simply when powers are involved. It had been the best chance she’d get, she thought, to clean up the ABB once and for all. Get that scum out of her city, while they were leaderless. But there’s Bakuda. That’s the problem here, isn’t it? Bakuda is the factor that has stopped Kayden from doing her best, right?

Bakuda isn’t mentioned anywhere because it doesn’t seem Kayden is aware of her. Bakuda’s influence is noted, though. The ABB was still active.  Even with their boss gone, they were more organized than they had been under Lung’s influence. So they’re being more effective under Bakuda than under Lung. Hmmm...maybe Bakuda isn’t in any hurry to get Lung out of the special jail, who knows...

Even broken arms and legs hadn’t hurt or scared the thugs enough to get them talking about what was going on. Welp, my sympathy for Kayden was nice while it lasted. I admit it’s not entirely gone, but breaking limbs isn’t exactly the most heroic move ever. Another reason why Kayden isn’t having much success is because her network of information and alliances isn’t working well right now. Max, Theo’s father, was to blame for that.  Just as she’d left his team a more broken person than she’d been when she joined, others had gone through the same experience. Okay, so, Max is a cape too. Given that Kayden was part of his team, I suppose that means Max is a hero. Hah! Another hero with less than heroic behaviors. You’re totally doing this on purpose, Mr. Wildbow! Golly, I’m glad the Wards were introduced and shown to be decent people – so far – or else I’d think Mr. Wildbow is making heroes be bad just to make the Undersiders look better despite the Undersiders’ own bad traits and behaviors. I mean, I’m aware that it’s completely normal for a good person to have traits and moments where they don’t seem like good people, but...I don’t know, there’s something about seeing it from someone with the label of ‘hero’ that makes it stand out much more than it would otherwise. You understand?

Since the ABB was out on a big job and Kayden has no idea what’s going on, she goes to the building where Max is at. Max takes her arrival calmly, as if this was something that happened everyday. Was this something Max planned, I wonder? Pressure Kayden’s allies so she’d have no more option than go see him? It wouldn’t be a surprise if that’s what happened. “And our daughter?” Aha, so that baby is Kayden and Max’s daughter. Not a good sign. Kayden herself knows this is a veiled threat, a reminder he can take the baby away whenever he wants.

Since Kayden can’t do anything about the ABB right now, she requests to reunite the old team, to which Max replies “Not interested” Charming. The reason why nobody is helping Kayden is because they’re afraid of Max and his reaction/influence, or at least that’s what it sounds like here. Max doesn’t state he’d help, but he says that Kayden returning to his team would be good, and that he’d give her a separate team. “You’d double check with me on anything you did, but other than that, you’d be completely autonomous.  Free to use your team as you see fit.” So...so Max would pretty much have control of that other team. This is a terrible bargain.

Max’s methods are no different than a villain’s. “You do it by putting drugs on the street, stealing, extorting.  I can’t agree with that.  I never did. It doesn’t make any sense, to improve things by making them worse.” Is the Protectorate unaware of this? Looks like these weren’t heroes after all. I mean, Max does state he wants to make things better and all, but there’s no way this all can be considered by anyone as the actions of a hero. It’s possible the public as a whole considers him a villain more, and by an extent, anyone who associates with him would be a villain as well.

And then Mr. Wildbow proceeds to throw dirt on Kayden.

“Of course,” he replied, and she didn’t miss the hint of condescension in his voice, “You left my team to go do good work, it’s just pure coincidence that it’s black, brown, or yellow criminals you target.” “And in the process, you’re doing little to shake the notion that you’re a part of Empire Eighty-Eight,” Max smiled, “It’s amusing to hear you try and justify your perspective, but you’re ignoring the elephant in the room.  Cut the B.S. and tell me you don’t feel something different when you look at a black face, compared to when you look at a white one.”

Is that so? Well...my sympathy really was nice while it lasted. Look at that, it’s gone now, gone with the wind as if it was never there.

What’s more, this Max guy seems to be the leader of Empire Eighty-Eight, and he pretty much states they – including Kayden -- aren’t superheroes. Yeah, I kinda understood that many paragraphs ago, Max. Subtlety isn’t anyone’s trait, that’s for sure. Max offers to leave the whole gang to Kayden if his methods and work aren’t useful at all, and she...she’s actually considering it. She’s not even thinking about rejecting it. So much for the righteous behavior from earlier!

The deal is done. Kayden is back into the gang, her alter ego is called Purity. Max follows her example in showing off his power, he can manipulate metal and make it sprout from any solid surface around him. Interesting power. They shake hands and Mr. Wildbow calls it a day, ending the intermission there.

Well that was kind of a curveball. I didn’t think this was how the thing with Kayden would go, it sure was a twist for me. These were no heroes; my former thought was wrong on that regard. There’s no room for discussion in that these two are full-fledged villains, even if they don’t seem to be in a hurry to think of themselves like that. So that’s the leader of the Empire Eighty-Eight gang...huh. The war between gangs continues.

I don’t think it’s likely anymore that Kayden or anyone will appear during the ABB’s fight with the Undersiders, but I suppose it isn’t impossible for Max to be aware of where the gang is right now and that Bakuda is commanding it. There’s a chance she’ll appear during that, so I’m not ruling it out. That aside, that fight is bound to be good to read! Unfortunately for me, the intermission managed to sap the remaining free time I had today to read, so I’ll have to leave the fight for next time.

Next update: five updates