#image bank teen five

[ded-and-gonne]

[kaybreezy3000]

This one is a little season 4 short story I dreamed up before the real season came out. It gives us an alternate ending and a look inside Five's world both before he jumped to the apocalypse and post season 3.

~~~~~~~~It all begins and ends with Five....

(Rated Teen and Up or General. 10,409 words)(alt season 4 story with ending, reader insert style that allows anyone to be the 'you' character,-as a potential friend to Five or whatever you want to imagine, meant to be sad and sweet.)

warnings: mild description/mention of child abuse, and signs of panic attack, potential trigger by mention of bombing a building

tags: anarchist Number Five, Hero Number Five, ideas from the Gene and Jean script release but not based on what really happened, whump, fluff, trauma, heartbreak, love, revenge, forgiveness, Mr. Pennycrumb, all the Hargreeves and some of our new character mentions from season 4 but not as the show had them because this was written before it came out, Five deserves better, Klaus is awesome, You x Five, Five is amazing and with this one you get to imagine yourself a part of his story/future 👍

He Who Holds The Power

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

From across the table, the couple staring back at Five took a drink from their coffees at the same time.

Five’s lips turned up ever so slightly as he swallowed down the warmth from his own caffeinated beverage. “Jean was it?” he questioned, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, I’m Jean and this is my husband Gene,” the woman replied while the man next to her intently watched him with bright blue eyes that filled his otherwise aged face with youthful looking excitement.

They were nervous, and rightly so. They were finally meeting the mysterious person who had hired them five years ago to hunt down things that shouldn’t exist but did. 

Shifting forward, Five set his empty cup down between them, then casually pulled up the cuff of his dress shirt and glanced at his wrist, noting the time before he raised a brow. “Do you have it?”

“We do,” the man said, passing him a folder.

Five opened the manila file. 

His breath caught in his throat.

Staring back at him were six masked children, all decked out in matching academy uniforms as they proudly stood there with the Eiffel Tower behind them.

Five had seen plenty of evidence already, but this was the nail in the coffin. This was all the proof he needed to verify he was right and he was justified in what he was about to do.

The date on the newspaper clipping was from early April of 2001. 

It was only five months after The Umbrella Academy’s infamous bank job.

They were only twelve years old.

He had lived a lifetime since then, but the memories of that day, and what happened to him after it, hit Five in waves of near crippling anxiety. As if the world was out to get him, it was all made worse by the hateful looking woman who had just walked by with the little yelping dog that she just zapped into submission through the shock collar that looked like it was choking the life out of him.

She looked too much like The Handler, with her fancy dress and spiked heels, and those blood red lips forming a wicked grin. Her sick satisfaction over the animal’s paralyzing fear was exactly how Five’s ex-boss looked at him as she heartlessly manipulated him into doing her bidding.

His fingers curled as his body tensed.

He forced his eyes back to the article with the faded image of his family.

He had looked about as smug as a kid could at the press conference that cold day, and he was, but not long after that, Five would find out how foolish he was to think that by merely doing his best and putting on a show for the press that he could trick his father and himself that he was good enough.

“How is this stuff possible,” Jean questioned with her eyes darting from the stained article Five had just laid down, to his hand retreating under the table where they couldn’t see it trembling.

Pushing aside all that, Five flatly said, “It doesn’t matter.”

Gene didn’t like that. 

“What?” he angrily barked. “We have been searching high and low for this stuff and we have given you tons of proof that this shit is real. That kid in front looks a lot like you,” he pointed at Five in the picture, “and that girl looks like the actress from the VHS tapes we gave you! Something is not right here!”

“It never was,” Five stoically replied while promptly pushing out his chair.

Not waiting for them to argue with him further, he left them and the paper on the table that showed evidence of his past that wasn’t supposed to exist anymore. The envelope full of money he’d dropped next to the file should be enough to quiet them. Not that it would matter.

Time was up.

Five was done sitting around playing Reginald’s victim. 

Five’s fingers gently cradled the detonator in his pants pocket as he walked down the busy sidewalk with his eyes aimed at the tallest building on the horizon-the one that was adorned with huge letters spelling out the last name he had once called his own.

Reginald had erased Number Five Hargreeves and left him with almost nothing. Five had tried to move on and take his second chance for what it was, but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t escape his thoughts of retribution.

In trying to reclaim something he’d lost and couldn’t figure out how to repair, Five was finally going to erase the father that had never loved him.

~~~

Not long before this, across town, with a heaviness tugging at what was left of his cold heart, the heavy door thumped closed behind Reginald at what was once The Umbrella Academy. Though parts of the exterior were in horrible states of disrepair, burnt and bashed by the spray of angry graffiti, the main stones holding together the building stood as they always had, but the home of the once famous children that were born with superhuman powers was now nothing more than another one of his many derelict properties.

Reginald had left it to rot and had taken the world for himself, and he’d done so by using them in the worst way, stripping them of the gifts inside them to fuel his machine that rebooted life on his terms.

He should have been happy with the result. He had gotten everything back that he’d always wanted, but inside, behind those walls that no one was allowed, a life from another time sat silently covered in dust and it told another story nobody else knew.

Ironically, all Reginald cared about always turned out empty.

The Umbrella Academy may not have existed in this timeline but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still there, just like his regret.

Those around him didn’t realize it, but many things were hiding just beneath the surface.

His expensive dress shoes left ghosts of his presence across the once sparkling black and white marble checkering of the foyer at the old manor. His cane tapped along, its echo hollow.

Reginald tiredly climbed the grand staircase, then slowly walked the quiet upper hall, past his children’s closed bedroom doors, heading towards the viewing room.

At a darkly paneled wooden wall, he stopped.

He glanced behind him at the settee where Grace had once sat to recharge. He could almost see her sitting a few feet away, staring off into space, blissfully incapable of truly understanding the dire situation at hand.

Flickers of another face, the same as hers, only animated with life and love, begged him for the truth he wouldn’t give. She was just another mistake haunting him.

He could have found some semblance of peace and maybe even true happiness in those he’d hurt, but like so many times Reginald couldn’t see what was in front of him, he hadn’t realized that until it was too late.

Despairingly, Reginald looked away, opening the hidden paneled door he’d felt drawn to that morning, then he shut himself inside its secret darkness.

The dimly yellowed light from the small desk lamp turned on, the chain slipping from Reginald’s fingers as his weight fell into the familiarity of his old chair. Stuck somewhere in the memories of his past, he clicked on the monitor in front of him.

His eyes fell from the surveillance screen that was playing the live news, moving across the small workspace. The pages of his detailed notes, files filled with medical records, and all the numerous journals about his children from the years he had spent with them all lay there before him.

More than ever, he wondered if he could have done things another way.

Reginald Hargreeves knew all too well the power of love and relationships of the heart, but he also knew that they could be wiped out of existence in the blink of an eye by an ugly twist of fate.

By what he could see, in this case, that ugly twist was the world’s end, again.

He’d seen the signs. Clues of his charade were all around them, buried in boxes of seemingly useless junk put in the trash as someone emptied a musty basement or sold as seemingly worthless treasures on the streets for a small fortune to those who knew.

Yes, there were those that had formed conspiracy theories about him and who claimed they were living in a false existence. They were anarchist radicals, but they weren’t wrong.

Reginald also knew his machine that had been holding this all together was failing.

The end had always loomed, and he’d thought he’d finally beaten it even though he’d done so by failing the ones he himself created and had once dared to call his own. He stole away their chance at a normal life with parents that loved them, then he made them nothing more than his adopted wards. They were his dream of a future, but he was no father to them.

“It has been said that a man who has been through bitter experiences and traveled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time.” Reginald laughed bitterly. “Sadly, not true,” he said, mocking the line he’d just quoted from The Odyssey.

The faraway sound of a determined voice calling out to him, then perfectly reciting Homer in ancient Greek suddenly caused his chest to ache.

Thinking of his wayward son that had rightly lost faith in him and then tragically became lost in time, only to suffer so much more horribly because of it, Reginald looked up at the screen again, looking at the backdrop of Paris with the glitching pulsation of reality starting to reveal the truth. A thick cloud of digitized blackness began to descend over the Eiffel tower and all around it.

He’d prevented nothing and he had caused all of this in his inability to let go of a past that was no more.

Abigail…

He’d done it all for her when really, what they’d had was gone a long time ago, he just couldn’t accept it.

A broken heart was a powerful thing. It could alter everything, and he did. He’d destroyed his children's trust in him and in each other. In his blindness, he was the one that set off this chain of catastrophic events.

It was the biggest mistake he’d ever made. He wished he could turn back time. That was why he’d come to the place where he’d messed things up so badly. This was where it happened.

Reginald clicked off the channel filled with blaring sirens and blurred pixelations from the distortion of time as it crashed.

No one was safe.

It would be happening outside his doors soon enough.

Once again, he stared blankly at the black screen.

He pushed himself up from his chair, ready to return to his tower and wait for the end, but then his weary eyes came back to the tall shelf next to him. It held dozens and dozens of videos from experiments performed on his children. His index finger slowly ran over the titles and the dates, stopping on one.

In bold black ink it read:

April 3rd, 2001 Corrective Training-Post Paris Incident (Subject: Number Five) Speed and Precision Exercise

He pulled the tape away from the many others and stuck it in, making the monitor light up with an old video that showed a day he'd rather not remember.

"It's always Number Five. He was always the key to everything, and I broke him," he whispered with his eyes glued to the small boy who was angrily staring back at him from the screen.

~~~

Using the skills he’d learned in his years as an indentured assassin, Five had done it. The explosives were all set and placed precisely where they needed to be to take Reginald’s Tower of infinite power to the ground. It was just a matter of time, and he would get his confirmation that the building had been cleared due to the fire alarms he’d hacked into and programmed to go off.

Potential casualties were a thing Five would need to add to the blood already drenching his hands. His conscience was unbearably heavy, that was nothing new, but he justified delivering even more death with the knowledge that most of the occupants of the building would be cleared of the tower, as well as the area around it due to simultaneous warnings going off in all the nearby buildings.

Quick enough, what Five had done was easily going to be seen as a false alarm, and that was intentional. Due to safety compliance rules and insurance reasons, people would still be forced to evacuate, but it was well known that Reginald and his wife rarely left the protection of his imposing skyscraper.

They would be right where Five wanted them to be.

As Five sat on a park bench in the spot he had chosen to view the glory of his efforts, he thought again of that article and his family.

He hadn’t seen any of his family members in years, but just as it was in the apocalypse, he could almost hear Diego’s voice as if he was right there, saying something dumb or bitching about the reporters that headlined Five and Luther and not him. His knife throwing brother’s heroics that day were worthy of note, but like so often in their life, the things they did right did not get them the recognition they had so badly craved.

As annoyed as Five was by Diego at times, he never felt that he deserved the punishments he received. None of them did.

Five wanted to protect them. But the truth was, he couldn’t protect them. He couldn’t even protect himself and that was never more apparent than after Paris.

On that a chilly Monday morning in April of 2001, Five and his siblings were all up before sunrise, scrambling to make it downstairs for inspection before their dad got there.

Only the night before, they had just got back from France, having completed their most recent mission. They were all a bit jet lagged and worked up still, bickering and carrying on the way only a pack of twelve years could at 5:30 am. As they thundered down the stairs, Luther and Diego were going on about who stopped the terrorists, both sure that they were the hero in the story.

The truth was nobody had individually done it, but that never stopped them from each trying to take all the credit. As a team, albeit a not very coordinated one, they took down a group that had threatened to bomb several famous landmarks, one being the Eiffel Tower.

Prior to the Umbrella Academy’s arrival in the city of light, these terrorists had been carrying out these types of attacks all over Europe for months, and it was all over the news. The agencies in place trying to stop them were no closer to doing so, and it was gaining more and more worldwide attention by the day.

When Reginald heard about the imminent threat going on overseas, he immediately loaded his academy on his private jet and set off to save the day. At first, the authorities were against sharing information with him or letting a group of superpowered kids near that kind of trouble. But when the first bombs went off outside at the Place Dauphine, injuring dozens, and killing eight, they were more interested in what he and his infamous Umbrella Academy had to offer.

As Reginald worked with the local law enforcement to pinpoint where the terrorist group was based, another bombing happened. That time it was on a sightseeing boat floating down the Seine. The Hargreeves were nearby, so Reginald was able to quickly get his team there. They did what they could to help get survivors to safety and even managed to gather some evidence that ultimately helped track down who built the bomb. Things were coming together, and it was just a matter of time before they were caught. A day later, before they could set off the next round of bombs, Reginald received intel that allowed him to intercept them before they got to their target.

As a vehicle full of explosives tore towards the Arc De Triomphe, the six extraordinary children were positioned and ready with their dad on the mics watching from above. They spotted the van trying to pull out from a side street. Luther immediately moved in and blocked its path, using his enormous strength to shift parked cars across their exit. Unfortunately, this caused them to deviate onto the narrow sidewalk to get around it.

Allison and Klaus were already trying to clear the area of civilians when the van came speeding in their direction. Five had seen it coming and managed to teleport from his position in time to move them, just missing getting plowed over.

Reginald’s screaming rattled their ears. It was nearly deafening and completely garbled. Diego improvised by hitting the driver in the neck with one of his knives as the van tore past him. All at once the vehicle started to lose control, swerving at a breakneck speed across the lanes as the driver bled out.

Reginald barked at Five to get in there and stop the van, so he jumped again, with his goal to land inside the moving target and take the wheel.

He missed.

Five had never been able to blink on or into a moving target and he shouldn’t have been surprised that he failed, and neither should the alien who had ordered him to do it.

The young boy landed on the road right in front of the van. He saw his life pass before his eyes just as Luther slammed into him, knocking him down to the cement before blocking the van from splattering his small body across the pavement. The vehicle smashed into his brother’s shoulder, coming to a metal bending screeched halt.

Five rolled back away from the wreckage, staggering to his bloodied knees as he watched in shock as Luther tried to untangle himself from the bent hood. That was when they heard Reginald ordering Ben to move in.

From Five’s vantage point, he could still see movement inside the van. There was someone else inside other than the dead driver. He blinked, landing next to the man inside who appeared to be desperately trying to set a bomb off even while he was still inside with it.

He looked over at the dark-haired boy in disbelief, his hand reaching for the gun strapped to his vest. With little to work with, Five charged at him before he could shoot, knocking him back against the side of the van. Thankfully, the gun sprang loose from his hand, clattering across the floor. The guy had at least a hundred and fifty or more pounds on Five, and was clearly trained in combat, so his effort, though carried out skillfully, didn’t take him out, it only pissed him off. He quickly turned the tables on the dazed teleporter, throwing him back like he was nothing.

Five went airborne, then landed and tripped backwards right over the bomb. The next thing he knew, the man had the gun pointed at his head. Before he could pull the trigger, using the same trick he’d done with the stapler during the bank job, Five teleported the deadly weapon away.

Just then the back doors of the van flew off. Luther had torn them off, and the moment Five saw Ben set up beside him, he got the hell out of there, blinking himself back out onto the road behind them.

Their dad yelled orders for Ben to unleash The Horror.

Seconds passed…

The terrorist, though taken completely off guard by all this, pounced for the bomb again.

Ben hadn’t moved; it was like he was paralyzed.

Completely out of breath, Diego suddenly rounded the corner, skidding to a stop alongside Five. He had a knife at the ready and instantly sent it sailing towards the persistent and apparently suicidal criminal, landing it deep in the center of his chest. The guy fell to his knees, gasping as he clutched at the blade as his blood quickly drenched his shirt.

That pretty much ended that.

Fortunately, before he died, Allison was able to rumor him into giving up where his accomplices were hiding. After that, the authorities were able to take them down before they could carry out another attack.

It was a success. No one else was killed or hurt.

After, Reginald had his children carry out interviews and partake in the usual media events that followed any mission they were ordered to take. They did as was expected of them, smiled for the cameras, and answered the questions carefully, just the way he would have wanted them to.

On the flight home, Reginald didn’t say a word.

Now, as they stood behind their chairs and his coldly calculating eyes fell over them, Five couldn’t escape the sinking feeling growing in his gut.

After a silent breakfast, before he could leave with the others to attend classes, Reginald abruptly pulled him aside. Five was quickly informed that he was of the opinion their mission was hardly a success, and each of them required aggressive corrective training to make sure it never happened again. As such, he would not be joining the others.

In his naively young mind, Five mused that his father must have liked him the most because he was the lucky one who got to be ‘corrected’ first.

Wide eyed, his siblings all watched him go. Five squared his shoulders as he dutifully walked behind his father, not willing to show his growing unease.

The Monocle had a specific exercise area for Five back in one of the old factory buildings that made up his city block. It was made up of three mostly empty floors that were exposed by a large open galley in the middle. To Five, it was clear what he intended to do with him. That place, and the things that happened there, were nothing new. He used to do bad things to him there all the time. It had just been a while since they’d played that game, so the timing of it seemed suspect.

The boy couldn’t escape the thought that maybe this time he should simply say no, no more, but he didn’t. Refusing to do what his dad wanted or even arguing would send Reginald into a fit of rage, so that was out of the question unless he wanted to start a war with him, which he didn’t. That was far from what Five really wanted from him.

Once Reginald had led his son to the secluded end of his property, well away from the others, the boy resentfully stood there with his wrists willingly exposed because he knew the drill. Reginald unkindly looked down at Five before wordlessly slapping on the two cuffs specifically made for him that acted as a sort of shock collar like a dog would wear. If Five missed a mark by even an inch, he would be punished for it. The targets were wired, and only landing on top of them perfectly stopped the cuffs from zapping him less than a second later.

To Five, this whole song and dance had always felt like a sick game of Operation, or maybe Battleship, only instead of a silly little rubber band or a marked ill-fated ship, he was the one destined to snap or sink to the depths of his own personal hell. That type of training could have been done without the cuffs, but the Hargreeves children’s award-winning dad of the Year always felt that without them, there was nothing at stake, nothing driving this most defiant son to do better.

The truth was it only drove Five to hate him. Over time, he had gotten better. Reginald’s Number Five grew more apt at wielding his power and then he wasn’t subject to that particular form of punishment; not so often anyway.

Reginald set his tea down and made himself comfortable at a small desk in the center of the lower level. He took a moment to look over his notes as his son obediently stood there waiting for him to start.

Five’s thoughts moved at the speed of light, but it felt like he was always waiting. Waiting for something to change, waiting for him to be good enough. Waiting for his father to see him.

It never came.

Once again, he was stuck, waiting for his mercy, for Reginald to see him as something other than a tool to achieve his ends. Five may have been a genius but that didn’t matter. He was so alone and powerless, which in his brilliant mind seemed counterintuitive to what his father was trying to achieve which only made him even more confused.

“It’s time to begin,” Reginald announced without so much as looking at his son as he stared at him down, wondering the reason for his cold indifference and why he didn’t care about them.

Five wanted to stop feeling this; he wanted it not to matter, but it did, it always had, and that was the problem. He needed to stop caring, but he just couldn’t, so he waited, and as always, he tried harder to prove him wrong.

‘I am worth something,’ the boy kept mentally repeating. All he had to do to make things better was to make Reginald see it! Then everything would be okay-he’d finally be able to know what it meant to be happy.

Reginald hit the timer, activating the system while at the same time barking out a slew of coordinates to specific locations. Five blinked as fast as possible to each, and of course, none of them were easy and most he couldn’t see ahead of time, which made landing them harder.

Sometimes it would be three floors up above, or on top of a narrow ledge or precariously placed on some other obstacle Reginald had created for him, with nothing more than a few measly inches to land. Five quickly noticed there were marks everywhere. He couldn’t begin to count them because there were so many. That was out of the ordinary, even for The Monocle, so he knew this was going to be bad.

Five’s mind played games with him, singing imaginary taunts in his father’s cruel voice. ‘Welcome back home, son. I am going to sip tea while I enjoy watching your mind shatter.’

At least Five was on it that day. He completed each order without a single shock until nearing over an hour of jumps, which was a new record. Unfortunately for him, at that point he was drained, sweat drenched, and dizzy, having lost count of how many times he had blinked. He knew he couldn’t get the precision required for what he was doing anymore. That was evident by his shaking hands and the stars at the edges of his vision.

Even though he started to protest, Reginald kept him at it, saying he needed to get better, figure out how to land on moving targets, and learn to go past his limits, because someday he would have no other choice and it would be a matter of life and death for everyone.

Five fought back.

He started to make more and more errors, and the shocks became more and more frequent and stronger each time. Normally, that type of exercise was an hour max, but that time was different for a reason. Reginald wanted to see him fail. It was becoming more and more apparent that his collapse was the point all along. His father wanted to prove to him that he wasn’t as strong as he pretended to be.

Five’s anger and desire to prove Reginald wrong were the only things fueling him in their sick game. That was until he finally crumpled to the ground nearing the end of the second hour.

The boy crashed to the floor after an especially bad jump, missing the precariously placed mark completely. He helplessly fell from an open ledge down to the unforgiving tiles over twenty feet below. He landed hard, the whole left side of his body taking the brunt of it. His head bounced once with an excruciating thwack. Then his dad proceeded to let the cuffs shock him back into consciousness until he was folding in on himself, unable to do anything other than tremor violently as his entire body spasmed.

When Reginald finally turned it off manually, Five could hardly make a sound or move. The mad man that owned him didn’t so much as bother to tap him with his shoe as he laid helplessly in his own drool at his feet, with blood-stained tears streaming down his face. Reginald simply announced, ‘We are done.”

Then he left his son there, broken and alone.

When Five finally made it to his knees, he lost what little contents his stomach still had in it, and then he ended up back on the tiled floor with another thwack of his head against the hard surface.

He lay there too exhausted and dizzy to move or save himself, that was until Grace came to his rescue. Then, when she tried to move him, the sudden disorienting movement and sheer searing pain of it caused Five to pass out. When he woke up an undetermined amount of time later, he was in the infirmary, and it was with his dad standing over him as he lay on one of Grace’s operating tables.

Five was unable to move, but he didn’t know why.

His eyes wildly darted around him as he fell into an all-out panic. He was attached to an IV and it was administering fluids into his right arm. Some type of bandage was on his head, concealing what felt like had to be a hole the size of the Grand Canyon based on how horrible it felt. His current mental state was not good, and he was having a hard time remembering what had happened. He vaguely remembered hitting his head.

‘Was I training?’ he innocently wondered. ‘Did I pass out and fall down the stairs again because I wasn’t eating enough to power my jumps, or was it...’

Five was visibly confused and terrified, but his father only looked down at him hatefully.

Five had to look away from him because it was only adding to how much he hurt everywhere. He looked to his right instead. The sun was low, indicated by how little light was entering through the small stained-glass window above the tall storage cabinets where his mom kept her supplies. Grace was standing there in her operating gown, a heartbreaking look on her normally comforting face.

When Five heard the main doors open and close, he reluctantly turned back. To add to his confusion, his sister was there, standing next to their dad. Before he could so much as ask what was going on, Reginald played his next card, one he wouldn’t have guessed the old monster had in him, and that was saying a lot since the boy already knew that Reginald was the devil incarnate.

“Do it,” he ordered, not taking his eyes off his questioning eyes.

Allison looked like she had been crying. Five’s heart began racing faster as she looked back at their dad, looking completely horrified by whatever Reginald was asking her to do. Then she looked right at him.

“I heard a rumor you couldn’t speak,” she said, her voice trembling as new tears ran down her face. Automatically, Five’s eyes locked on hers in that familiar memorizing trance only her powers could induce on her victims.

It was done; he couldn’t speak a word, not until she said he could.

After that, Five spent the next three days in the infirmary, unable to speak about what had happened or make one word of complaint, not that anyone came to visit him anyway. He had suffered a severe concussion and he had broken his left clavicle. He had also fractured the tibia in his left leg.

On the fourth day, just before dinner, Grace helped him get vertical and assisted him as he dressed. Then, he was told to go straight to dinner. He managed to stumble in on crutches, though it hurt like hell because of shoulder, and he was late, a fact immediately pointed out by Reginald.

Five all but fell into his chair next to Klaus and Luther, looking as bad as he felt, and unable to respond to their questioning stares other than to glare at their father with his hate filled eyes. Reginald merely looked back impassively for a moment before going back to his papers in front of him.

The second Five entered the room, he could tell they all wanted to say something, but one very clear look at the imposing man that owned them, and they didn’t make a peep. Instead, they looked down at their food. Allison kept her head down the entire time, unable to meet his eyes at all.

Everyone else, for the most part, looked stunned and very scared. Even though their dad had done that type of training with Five more times than he could count, none of them knew exactly what they did in their private time. Five never told them what Reginald did to him, and it had never gone that far before. Even without an explanation, they knew something bad had happened because it was written all over his broken body, not just all over his pitifully pale face.

That night, Klaus and Ben came to Five’s room, long after they should have been asleep. He was able to write down what happened to him even though he was hardly strong enough to do so without visibly shaking. They already knew what Allison had done because she had told Luther before she hysterically locked herself in her room. He then told Ben. Allison also warned them they were not to intervene, or Reginald would make her do worse.

Sitting on his park bench, looking back on all of it, Five figured that, all and all that particular training session wasn’t one of his best. Worse, the others didn’t get away unscathed.

When Reginald was done with him, Five learned later that he had moved on to each of them. His taste for suffering must not have been quenched, because he spent the rest of his days that week tormenting the rest of his children, and each was treated to Allison’s special kind of gag order, either before or after, depending on which made the most sense.

Reginald was trying to make the point that real soldiers were not to be heard but to listen, to take orders and comply. He was tired of their complaining and their arguing and their many mistakes. He made it clear he felt that they had it too easy, and it was getting in the way of their development. These sessions were meant to throw their individual deficiencies in their faces but as young and emotionally stunted as Five still was, he saw that all it had done was make them more isolated from each other, feeding the numbness growing inside.

In comparison to his experience with Reginald, Klause’s time in his company was pretty tame compared to his usual in that he was merely forced to take a field trip for a day to the city’s busiest morgue. There, Klaus was put front and center with untold amounts of corpses, both fresh in and refrigerated. Five never heard how many ghosts were there, because by the time Klaus was allowed to leave and come home, he looked horrified and exhausted. His nerves were a complete mess, and being rumored into quiet submission after entering the house did nothing to hide how he really felt.

The idea of that venture was that Klaus may be able to relay information about the deaths of homicide victims or even important messages to loved ones from people who’d passed unexpectedly. Five had mused at the time that Reginald maybe did have a soul because that was actually not a horrible way for Klaus to use his power. But Klaus wanted nothing to do with it, even if it was for a good cause.

Later, Five learned that Klaus did have several success stories from the day, but the price he’d paid for it was evident the moment he walked in the door. He looked more disturbed than they had ever seen him. After that day, Klaus turned to things heavier than alcohol to dull the voices that followed him home and ceaselessly tormented him.

Later that week, the Hargreeves children were all called out to the courtyard after lunch to witness Diego and Luther fight. They were forced to battle it out until both were beyond bloody and bruised. Diego took it like his father knew he would, but Reginald was using his son’s desire for approval and acknowledgement against him in the lowest way.

The sheer force of Luther’s hits, even when he was holding back, were something no one could take for hours and hours on end without excessive damage. Luther wasn’t allowed to use all his strength on Diego, or it would have killed him, but it was during this fight that Diego received the long scar along his temple that he would always bear.

Luther, though built like shit-house ton of bricks, was not impenetrable either. Diego, being allowed to use any projectile he could see, inflicted his fair share of damage. Neither did anything life-threatening to the other, as that was explicitly prohibited, but Luther had to have stitches in numerous places, and he would have several hidden scars to show for it on his otherwise perfect poster boy skin.

Diego’s nose was broken as well as several of his fingers on both hands. He had numerous broken ribs, a minor hip fracture that gave him a limp for a long time after, and his throwing arm was in a sling, fractured in three places.

Afterwards, though they were both rumored not to speak, just like he and Klaus had been, Five didn’t think they would have, not to each other anyway.

The sad thing was, before that, they actually had gotten along ok-not great, but ok.

When it was Ben’s turn on Saturday, he spent a beautiful spring morning riding upstate to a farm, listening to their dad berate him for his inability to handle The Horror’s rath. He was continually reminded how weak he was and that the only way he would become stronger was to take control of the darkness within him and own it.

“You are the killer. You are the one in control,” Reginald had told him.

“Our Ben was not a killer,” Five sadly whispered as he looked down at the pigeons gathering in the grass in front of him.

Ben may have killed more people than any of them at that point, but it wasn’t really him, it was the thing they called ‘The Horror,’ hence why he was so messed up. He never wanted any part of that life and the last thing he wanted was to take ownership of it.

Unfortunately, his field trip to the farm wasn’t to learn about the dairy industry. It was to learn how to be a one man, or better put, one eldritch tentacle baring slaughter machine. He was forced to unleash the monster inside him, over and over, letting it decimate anything alive in its path, which In that case was several head of cattle destined for the meat market anyway, but still awful to say the least.

Ben was still a mess when he got home that night. He had been carelessly hosed off and left with traces of blood on his otherwise caulk white skin. He was put on a piece of plastic in the backseat of the car on the way home, like he was some kind of filth not good enough to touch the smooth leather of Reginald’s Rolls. When his siblings saw him, his jet-black hair was clumped in a gore of sticky redness and his clothing still bore the evidence of how gruesome his day had been. Once he was stripped, Grace threw his academy uniform away.

Too bad the memories weren’t as easy to dispose of.

Ben was speechless after that, even before Allison needlessly rumored him. The only reason they all knew the details of what happened to Ben was because Vanya overheard Reginald talking to Pogo and Grace about it. The whole thing left him in an almost catatonic state. Seeing that he was unable to function normally, Ben was put under watch by Grace and excused temporarily from daily activities, spending the next two days alone in his room.

Though Allison usually got away with almost anything and she was rarely on their father’s radar when it came to anything, that time proved she was not immune to his madness. Though she may have felt she had Reginald wrapped around her pretty painted fingernails, she quickly realized she was not the one calling the shots.

It was obvious she was devastated about having to rumor them into silent submission. None of the traumatized children blamed her, but it hurt anyway. Five was bitter but he had understood. It was no wonder she normally refused to use her power unless Reginald forced her to. Taking someone’s will away from them was not a good feeling from either side of the situation and it was hard not to feel some anger at her about it.

For a long time after, Five couldn’t be in the same room with Allison without hearing her voice stripping him of the right to use his own mind the way he wanted, and that resulted in fear and mistrust that couldn’t be fixed while they were under that roof.

To him, it felt like the man that called himself their father wanted them to loathe each other as much as they hated him, because that was basically what he’d caused. They could scarcely look at one another when it was all done.

Even without words, it was clear everyone was in shock over what had happened. They were looking for someone to blame and not just their dad. To add insult to injury, quite literally, they couldn’t talk to each other about it when they were each in their worst time of need.

They went through the next week without one word of complaint because they couldn’t. Until then, Five wasn’t sure if Reginald could get Allison to rumor them like that permanently, but if he could have, he knew that he would, so at least he had that to cling to but it did little to ease how heartbroken and hateful he felt.

How they felt and what they needed did not matter to their father.

They had seen the truth. They were nothing to him and never were.

~~~

Feeling slightly off from thinking about the tragedy of that week, Five looked up, finally noticing that there was a little boy coming along the shady path he was sitting along. As if energized even more by Five’s eyes landing on him, the excited puppy the child was trying to hold back suddenly broke free of his hold, sprinting for the park bench.

“Woah there, buddy,” Five laughed as the golden ball of fur aggressively leapt up with its fuzzy paws landing on his knees so it could lick his face. Within seconds, Five’s once pristine wool pants were covered in slobber and dirt.

“Mr. Pennycrumb likes you,” the boy laughed, while scrambling around on the ground, trying to get his hands on the leash.

Just as Five was going to stand up to escape his new friend’s overly affectionate greeting, you came running up to them. “I am so sorry!” you cried as you jumped in to help get a handle on the wild pup.

Once you got the small dog pulled in tight at your heel, Five got to his feet. “It’s okay,” he assured while brushing himself off.

When he looked at the boy, the child staring up at him said, “This is my babysitter. We get to hangout while my mommy is at work. She has to work three jobs ever since the mean monster she called cancer took my daddy away.”

“I am sorry,” Five quietly replied, not sure how to respond to someone so young or to something so awful.

You looked even more embarrassed as you quickly tried to change the subject, “Really. I’m so sorry about your suit. It looks like I owe you a new pair of pants.” Your eyes flickered downwards, taking in the damage. When you looked back up, you added, “Obviously my little guy is very social. Having a four-legged beast is great, but a bit much sometimes. He's up for adoption if you're interested?” you laughed.

You reached down, petting your foster dog, then did the same to the giggling kid, ruffling his fluff of hair. Your smile faded just a little as your eyes returned to the serious looking young man who was curiously studying you.

“Not my nephew here. He is social too, but I didn’t mean to say that he’s a four-legged beast,” you corrected, followed by another laugh that touched something inside Five, making his face animate with a spark of life.

His dimple deepened.

“This kiddo is bit much too, but I love him so, so much and we’d be out here doing this together even if I wasn’t his mom’s go to babysitter,” you rambled, flustered by the way Five was looking at you through the curtain of hair that had fallen over his kind but calculating eyes.

“Don’t worry. I get it, and you don’t owe me new pants. I don’t mind getting a little dirty every now and then. Sometimes I quite enjoy it, and this is turning into one of those times since it meant that I got to meet this little guy, and his very nice companions," Five smoothly replied, and your cheeks glowed even brighter.

Just as you were about to say something, your nephew interrupted.

“You looked lonely. That’s why Mr. Pennycrumb came over to say hi,” he cutely pointed out, then surprised Five even more when he added, “Want to go for a walk with us?”

Five’s mouth opened but nothing came out at first.

Suddenly feeling like he needed to do something with his hands, he tucked them in his pockets and rocked back in his shiny shoes. Of course, that did not help him feel like he was successfully playing off his normal guy act, especially considering his left hand was sitting right next to a button that was about to destroy the city’s largest building.

“I…uhmmm. I would love to, but I have a prior engagement I need to attend to,” he finally replied with his cool green eyes moving between the expectant little boy and you.

Five almost never engaged in conversations that weren’t required of him. When he did, they were never like this. This felt different. All this from a chance encounter and a conversation with real people that were nothing but kind to him.

It felt…good.

Five hadn’t felt the glimmer of hope, or met anyone that didn't have an ulterior motive, or experienced the surprise of something that wasn’t catastrophic in…

He couldn’t remember.

Clearing your throat, you looked back at him while putting a hand on your nephew’s shoulder. Five knew that meant you were leaving, but he found that he desperately didn’t want you to.

He wanted to go on that walk, if only to have a taste of something positive and not so isolating for once.

Five’s brows furrowed as he glanced at the skyline where Reginald’s building stood as if taunting him. When he looked back at you standing between him and what he felt was preventing him from moving on, something in him fractured, but it was the exact opposite of feeling like something inside of him was broken.   

“Well…” you started. “If you change your mind about those pants or the walk in the park, we’ll be strolling by here about the same time tomorrow.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Five said, dropping his head to the side while giving you another small smile.

As you turned and left him standing there, Five was unable to stop smiling.

He took his hand from his pocket, looking down at his palm where the electronic device lay waiting.

Killing Reginald would only prove that he was right.

Five was not weak and never was and he wasn't broken.

He pried the casing open and pulled at the wires under the button that could have activated the bombs.  

The switch was dead, but Five wasn’t. Somehow, while lost in his crushing hatred and near debilitating loneliness he’d forgotten that. In his fight to end his father, he’d accidentally given up on himself.

But Five Hargreeves was not a quitter.

Chucking the broken trigger in the bushes, he started to head back the way he’d entered the park.

That was the moment when the sapphire canvas above him started to falter.

The many colors of blue and white and gray in the clouds suddenly scattered into millions of floating dots, rapidly separating in a way that was not at all natural. The phenomenon of pixelating pulsations quickly swallowed the long needle piercing the sky above the massive glass covered pillar bearing Reginald’s name.

As the top of the building where he and his reclusive wife resided was obliterated, a glittering dust of marigold colored rain began to fall over the park, blowing in the rush of wind before dusting Five’s hair in its otherworldly magic.

The site was almost just like when Reginald had drained them, only happening in reverse. The sensation of first bone chilling ice, then scorching heat began crawling under Five’s skin.

Reacting to the intense pain that felt like it was tearing him apart, Five dropped to his knees, his hands clawing at his body as he screamed.

A fire of blue light engulfed him as his powers violently reclaimed him. Within seconds, Five was filled with an ethereal glow that radiated from his eyes and his fingertips, making him look like a wingless archangel in a tailored business suit.

Then, the world as Five had come to know it evaporated, the ground bearing his weight, slipped away into the bottomless depths of time and space as he fell.

~~~

In the beginning, there was nothing. That was the way it always was. Just emptiness and possibilities, and the one who could not only manipulate time and space but could also create it.

It all started with a boy, only that boy didn’t know it until just now, when life and all material things were gone and his consciousness was all that was left.

Like Reginald had said, it was always Five.

Suspended in a vast swirl of everything that ever was and ever would be, grasping at the fibers of light flashing past him, Five began pulling with invisible hands, starting the unimaginable task of piecing together something better for all of them.

~~~

Much, much later, or six years later, but actually the exact same day it was, but back in their original timeline, but also not, depending on how you wanted to look at things and wrap your head around the fact that time only seems to be linear, Number Five Hargreeves set his coffee cup down on the table between him and his ghost whispering brother.

He was at the same coffee shop he’d been at that fateful morning in another timeline and in another time that he’d filed away among many others that were left behind closed doors inside the vast hallways of his mind.

“Oh, come on Five,” Klaus moaned. “I just got here. I thought we were hanging out today. I even told the rest of the family that we’d meet up with them later. Diego and Lila’s little brat rat is dying to see her favorite uncle Fivey.”

After looking down at his wrist bearing his Umbrella Academy tattoo, taking stock of the time, Five rolled his eyes heavenward and sighed. “Klaus, we were supposed to hangout and have breakfast, but you showed up an hour later. I have already eaten. I bought you your favorite smoothie and a bagel, so that’s going to have to be good enough because I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Where?”

“None of your business.”

“I know you. You’re up to something,” he accused.

Musing over what Klaus would say if he told him where he was going, Five got up, his hand coming to his throat to straighten his tie.

Five knew that he painted an odd picture. One of a just turned nineteen-year-old, dressed like he wanted to take on the wolves of Wall Street, but as silly as his choice of attire may have been being he had no intention of doing that, this was him and always would be. A nice suit meant you weren’t messing around, and he wasn’t anymore. Besides, it wasn’t like the world didn’t know about his crazy life story, or the fact that he wasn’t exactly the young man he appeared to be.

Thanks to having the rug pulled out from under him, or better put, reality as he had known it, Five was seeing things from a much different perspective.

Looking back on it, he still couldn’t stop kicking himself for not putting it together when he saw the other ancient version of himself laying in a diaper in that hyperbaric chamber in The Commission’s paradox proof bunker.

Now it all made sense how he had become the founder.

“Whatever,” Klaus muttered, pretending to grumble when Five didn’t take the bait and tell him what he was up to. “At least you’re finally an official grown up again and you sometimes get out of your apartment and mingle with the rest of the world every now and then. But still, buddy. Reading is fun and Dolores is great and all, but you need to spread those cute little wings of yours and fly. There are tons of other real flesh and blood birdies out there looking to strike up titillating conversations with the right dove, and you sir are all sorts of ripe with things you can use to bore people. Things like how you mastered traversing the bend in the time helix or other confusing stuff like that you like to go on and on about.”

“Shut up, Klaus,” Five dryly retorted as his fingers threaded back through his strands of hair that were hanging every which way, making him look every bit his outwardly young age.

“Go. Off with you then, young man,” Klaus teased. “Next time, it’s my plan for our date day and you are meeting me to get our nails done and then we are going out salsa dancing with Diego and Lila and Sloane and Luther. We need to show them how the better Hargreeves do their damn thing.”

“I don’t dance,” Five huffed as his fingers curled around the bready treat hidden in his pocket.

“Yes, you do,” Klaus laughed, to which Five gave him a quick scowl that just as quickly turned into a smirk because they had gotten exceptionally plastered at Klaus’s apartment only a week ago, and he’d made a total ass of himself dancing in a hula skirt and sombrero on the coffee table. When Klaus and Viktor and then Luther joined him, it was too much and the flimsy piece of Ikea furniture exploded, leaving them in a heap on the shag carpet.

Yes, things were different this time around, just as Five had hoped they’d be after he’d brought them all back to the day of Reginald’s funeral, and then proceeded to avoid all the mistakes he and they had made after it.

It didn’t mean that all the bad things didn’t happen in the years before this. It meant they got a second chance while all knowing everything that they had known about the original run through when they’d been brought back together and then messed it all up.

Miraculously, Five wasn’t just a time traveler with trigger finger you didn’t want pointed at you. He could create time, and that is how he saved the world and brought everyone back, but he did not rewrite like Reginald had tried to do.

He was smarter than that. 

No one can erase the past. It will always be there one way or another. The only thing you can do is learn from it and he did.

“I’ll see you all later?” Five softly offered, before turning to head out the door.

“You better,” Klaus said, calling after him with an outpouring of brotherly love.

The bell on the door chimed as Five walked out into the bright morning sun.

The sidewalk was packed like it always was that time of day and that was why Five almost didn’t see him. 

Reginald wasn’t dressed in his usual fine wool suit of tightly woven tweeds and righteousness. The familiar posture and weakened step aided by his cane appeared in Five’s periphery and the next thing he knew, he was looking into the eyes of someone that wasn’t supposed to be there but was.

To all the others, the eccentric inventor Sir Reginald Hargreeves had died, just as he originally did. But that ruse was a necessary end, just like it was originally intended to be the first time and Five didn’t alter that on purpose.

He knew their adoptive father was more than just the monster he appeared to be. Reginald had been wrong for what he’d done to them, but like him, he’d been desperate and he’d paid for his mistakes, over and over. 

Now, as time had intended it, Five was in a place to do something about that.

Having real power had nothing to do with ruling others or having superpowers. It was in not succumbing to the demons inside you.

Real power happens in making the right choices.

Knowing that he had made the right choice, Five nodded ever so slightly, and in doing so, he received a silent bow in return from the lonely creature passing him by.

It wasn’t over for Reginald yet, and it was far from over for Five. With his excitement building and aware that he needed to move faster, Five pulled at the power simmering just beneath his skin, throwing open a portal.

Less than a second later, he reappeared, stepping out onto a shady pathway in the park.

Eyeing his favorite bench, with sweaty hands hidden in his pockets, he sat down.

As he was looking out, his eyes seeing a ghostly mixture of realities twisting through his memories, he heard the small voice of a boy, calling out to the dog that had just broken off its leash.

It was happening almost the same as the first time.

Mr. Pennycrumb raced across the grass, kicking up the pigeons that were nibbling on the bread Five had thrown down for them.

Reaching the young man on the bench that he’d chosen as his newest friend, the puppy jumped up, paws digging into Five’s thighs as he assaulted his face with his wet tongue.

“Hey, buddy,” Five whispered as the little boy came running over with you behind him.

After slipping the yellow lab a doggie biscuit that he’d purchased that morning at the doggie bakery, Five looked up.

“I am so sorry!” you breathed as you frantically kneeled down to get your hands on the dog’s collar. “Oh my gosh, your pants!” you gasped while also trying to brush off the mud covering Five’s knees.

Realizing what you were doing after it was too late, you pulled your hand back. Your face got even redder when Five merely raised a brow at you and smiled.

“Oh my God, I shouldn’t have done tha- I just- Well, shit,” you moaned, giving into your embarrassment.

“It’s okay,” Five calmly assured. “I don’t mind getting pawed at by the wild animals roaming the park.”

You burst out laughing, your hands flying up to cover your mouth.

“Mr. Pennycrumb and my babysitter seem to really like you, Mister,” the little boy said while giggling. “Do you want to come for a walk with us since you are just sitting here all alone now that your bird friends are gone?”

“My schedule is open so I suppose I could do that,” Five returned. “But only if your babysitter wants me to…”

“Absolutely, you should totally come with us,” you quickly replied. “Please, let me pay for some new pants. I know a decent men’s store off 48th street and we are heading that way. This little fluff head just ruined your pants, so it’s the least I can do,” you added while looking only slightly less mortified.

“How about I let you buy me a coffee and I buy you and the kid a treat and we skip the new pants,” Five countered. “If after our walk, you aren't sick of me and still want to get me out of these dirty things, I can probably find a way to accommodate that while also coming up with something else fun for us to do together."

You had no clue what to say to that, your baffled expression only made Five look all the more thrilled.

"I mean, maybe we can take this kid and the pup swimming. I have two nieces that I know would love to join us and I don't need a suit for that," he clarified followed by a chuckle.

The look in your wide eyes said it all. You were as amused by Five’s odd but funny comments as he was by your kindhearted smile and fidgety ways.

Just then, the little boy’s mom and dad came strolling along, their faces showing humorously shocked levels of concern when they saw all the mud staining the lap of Five’s three-piece suit.

The boy’s father glanced at his wife just before they reached them, mouthing, “Is that who I think it is?”

It was the time of truth.

Hoping for the best, Five extended his hand to you as you stood there stunned, all of a sudden realizing who he was.

 “Five Hargreeves, and you are?”

Visibly shaking your head as you looked him up and down, you reached out, lacing your fingers between his. Giving Five your name, you then introduced your family.

From there, the walk Five had been waiting for finally happened. He finally had people in his life who wanted nothing from him other his friendship.

With a world that wasn’t on the verge of falling apart, Five was about to get what he deserved all along.

Happiness.

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

Thank you for reading this. ❤️ I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have read my original Five Centric 3-part series, and the parts of this one that were describing what happened to Five and his family after the Paris mission seemed familiar, you are not wrong. 😂👍 I have been wasting my time going back to re-edit my older works and I came across a chapter in 'Number Five and the Girl' that covered that sad memory for him. I love anything whumpy and I felt that part had it in a way that touched on something for all of them. I enjoyed revisiting it, and I hoped you would find something of value in it too.  That story goes down much different than this one, but I couldn't help borrowing some of that to turn into something new that tickled our brains with some of the stuff the show has been putting out there lately to get us excited.

Long live TUA and the people who keep the fandom fun. 🤗

Link to my A03 home page

Link to my other art and story posts on Tumblr

Link to my story and art quick link master list

[goncharov-propaganda-factory]

Mishapocalypse: what the-

Hey, former redditors! Welcome to the hellsite, we're all glad that you're here (especially you 196 folk you warm my dead, frozen heart). While on the whole you seem to be adapting AMAZINGLY fast to site culture, if any of you are confused over one of our founding myths this may help.

(or if you're a veteran tumblrina and just want to read an essay that's fine too)

(others key parts of our national identity to learn about if you're curious include Goncharov, I Love You, Color of the Sky, My Three Girlfriends, and many more)

also if you don't want to read my entire fucking essay take this and run

but if you want to know the deal with this man, read on!

Mishorigins

Supernatural is a 2000s-ass TV series that ran on the CW from 2005 to 2020. It's about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, who are "hunters" that protect people from various supernatural entities. The show was originally planned to last five seasons, with an angel character named Castiel (this is important) slated to be revealed as God in the finale. Castiel (nicknamed Cass by the CW and Cas by objectively correct people) was introduced in S4.

left: Castiel, the gay angel of our collective dreams. right: Misha Collins.

The Man Behind the Mish

Misha Collins is a straight man who was forced by a cruel and uncaring god to play a heavily queer coded angel on a TV series intended for any demographic BUT gay teens (which is what it became). His performance as Castiel, and the large queer teen fanbase he drew, were a driving force behind a show would ultimately continue for three times longer its original plan.

I don't have anywhere else to put these facts so they go here

he was an intern in the Clinton administration during the Lewinsky scandal

he knows Tibetan throat singing

he was arrested for climbing onto a bank roof (he was trying to... read a book? 👀👀👀)

he probably made Jensen Ackles (the guy who played Dean less homophobic? Maybe?

he held a scavenger hunt called GISHWHES several times for his charity, Random Acts

cool guy

he later played Harvey Dent on Gotham Knights this very year (2023)

there's icebergs of this shit

he farted on an airplane once

Mishion: Impossible

April 1st, 2013 is a date that will live in mishinfamy. Tumblr a main hub of the SuperWhoLock fandom (a mega-fandom amalgamating Supernatural, Sherlock BBC, and Doctor Who), was the only place the Mishapocalypse could happen.

For boring deets I'll redirect you to the KnowYourMeme page but these images should sum it up.

left: a list of Tumblr users, circa 2013. right: a fine example of Misha culture

There are two takeaways here:

You cannot outrun Misha.

You will become him.

On April 1, 2013, a significant portion of Tumblr changed their avatar to the now-iconic Mishapocalypse photo and their handle to "Misha Collins", followed by similar waves of Mish across other social media sites.

above: the modern Prometheus

This beautiful event was emblematic of pre-Dashcon Tumblr, an era as far away from us now as 1200 AD was from 1208 AD. You'll be pleased to know that the Mishapocalypse returns every April 1st to grace these ancient halls, a small group of pilgrims tracing new paths on the well-worn floor of the Church of Misha.

(this isn't to say the Supernatural fandom is dead, it's just somewhat diminished from it's glory days.

Thanks for reading! Reblog if you liked. I'll leave you with a bunch of Mishimages of my own that I posted for Mishapocalypse 23 (the 10th anniversary). Shameless self-promotion!!!

in clockwise order:

The Mona Misha

Mishius

Misha's extra hour in the ball pit

The Mishian (with Mish Damon)

Future ideas include Salvator Misha. Feel free to ask any questions you have, and I hope you enjoy Tumblr.

Happy Mishing!

ps I have not actually watched supernatural you just learn all of this via osmosis

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning!  I hope you slept well and feel rested?  Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. 

Welcome to Too Much Information Tuesday.

Russia’s second most popular flavour of crisps is crab.

About a third of British adults still sleep with a cuddly toy.

In 2006, a robot taste-taster confirmed humans taste like bacon.

In 1992, there was a bank robbery every 45 minutes in Los Angeles.

Studies have found that being a ‘bad boy’ is no longer perceived as ‘cool’.

The nickname for Crystal Palace and QPR footballer Fitz Hall was ‘One Size’.

Three-quarters of the murders in Chicago are caused by arguments gone too far.

There is a plan to heat 1600 Dutch homes with the heat emanating from sewers.

“Science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”  (Isaac Asimov)

MTV's show ‘16 And Pregnant’ caused a 4.3% reduction in teen births in the US.

There is a library in San Diego, California where you can borrow taxidermied animals.

J. R. R. Tolkien started writing ‘The Hobbit’ on a student’s exam paper he was marking.

The area of the Pacific where great white sharks hang out is known as the White Shark Cafe.

A city council candidate in Washington lost his election by one vote.  He didn’t vote for himself.

There are 93 penises on The Bayeux Tapestry.  Five of those belong to men and the other 88 to horses.

People think about you more than you think they do but they also like you more than you think they do.

New research shows that placebos are effective in reducing feelings of guilt, but they work less well on shame.

Some corrupt Mexican police are now using card terminals to make collecting bribes at traffic stops more convenient.

The Pogues were originally called ‘Pogue Mahone’, which was from the Gaelic phrase ‘póg mo thóin’ meaning ‘kiss my arse’.

Scientists in Singapore have developed a tiny flexible battery, powered by the salt in human tears, designed for smart contact lenses.

The British royal family has an estimated net worth of $88 billion.  Saudi Arabia's royal family has an estimated net worth of $1.4 trillion.

In 1991, Swedish firm locum sent out Christmas cards to customers but substituted the ‘o’ in their name with a heart symbol.  (Think about it.)

Earlier this month in Halifax, Canada, a 220-tonne house built in 1826 was moved over 9 metres from its site using a steel frame and 700 bars of soap.

In 1921, Wisconsin became the first state in the USA to officially give women equal rights with men, including the right ‘to wear trousers and chew tobacco’.

Apple have been granted a new patent for a smart ring that can be worn on a user's "wrist, arm, leg, ankle, neck, head, and/or other body parts."

The Great Male Renunciation is the term historians use to refer to the period at the end of the 18th century when men stopped wearing bright colours.

In the latest Ridley Scott film, Napoleon is played by Joaquin Phoenix who is a vegan.  Because of that, all the Napoleon’s hats shown in the film are plant-based, made from tree bark.

The record for the most Big Macs consumed in a lifetime is held by Donald A. Gorske, who ate his 27,000th Big Mac in 2019.  He has been documenting his Big Mac consumption since 1972.

There’s a village in Montenegro that holds both the World Championships Of Laziness (lying on a mattress for the longest time) and a slow bicycle race where the winner is the last to finish.

In the 1980s, the transit agency in the San Francisco Bay Area awarded a contract to repair vandalised seats to one company.  That company then started paying people to vandalise more seats.

40% of people shown a photoshopped image of themselves riding in a Viking ship as a child claimed to remember the (fictional) incident.  This replicates a similar experiment from 2002 involving a fictional balloon ride.

In a 1960 Danish football game, the ref was about to blow the whistle when his teeth fell out.  While looking for them, the trailing team equalised.  Once he found his teeth, he cancelled the goal and blew for full time.

When Lawrence Sperry crashed his plane in 1916, he was found naked by duck hunters alongside an also nude Mrs. Polk.  They claimed that the force of the crash had stripped them of their clothes.  (Really, mate?)

The UK government recently changed the law to ban company names containing computer code, after Michael Tandy of Hatfield registered a company called “; DROP TABLE “COMPANIES”; — LTD,” which could theoretically erase the Companies House database.

Okay, that’s enough information for one day.  Have a tremendous and tumultuous Tuesday!  I love you all.

[requiem-bells]

Random question…

Give us five story arches, or one shots, or on going run of comics you think everyone should read.

I’m a little bummed you’re making me stick to just American comics but I’m going to try and do some deep cuts from the Big 3 publishers. Gonna do a mix of one-shots, limited runs and finished on-goings.

Marvel:

The year is 2003 and Marvel starts a manga-inspired imprint named Tsunami (this is also where Runaways got their start) to appeal to manga readers. Sentinel tells the story of a Battle-Bot building high schooler that stumbles upon some broken robotics parts in his family’s junkyard that, unbeknownst to him, belong to a mutant exterminating Sentinel. He eventually is able to rebuild it full-size with other scrap parts and Iron Giant shenanigans ensue. Ended/canceled after 12 issues but then brought back with the same creative team for a 5 issue miniseries in 2005.

Avengers Academy was one of the first ongoings to benefit from the groundwork laid by Wiccan and Hulkling for Marvel to include out, queer teens in their stories. A very fun read about superpowered teens in a school setting after being used by Norman Osborn as genuine pigs. With mentors such as Henry Pym, Tigra and Quicksilver - what could go wrong? Ran for 40 issues plus some crossovers with other teen groups at the time like Runaways.

DC:

Martian Manhunter #24 (1998)

A one-shot issue where Booster Gold and Blue Beetle II (Ted Kord) play a prank on the Oreo-obsessed Martian Manhunter by stealing his entire stash and buying out all others in the Tri-state area. This goes about as well as you would assume for the pranksters. Just a fun, non-canon read for any Justice League fan.

Justin League: Generation Lost tells the story of a newly reincarnated Maxwell Lord that has somehow wiped his known existence from the entire world besides for Booster Gold, Blue Beetle III (Jamie Reyes), Fire, Ice and Captain Atom. It’s a fascinating “What If” of sorts where now everything Max has ever had a hand in has been conveniently changed in the publics’ general consciousness and now dealing the ramifications that this has, such as Bruce Wayne being the one to reform the League instead of Max, as one example. One of my favorite lesser known recommendations for anyone that’s a fan of the Justice League International series from the late 80s. This ran for its intended length at 24 issues.

Image:

Without a doubt the most popular series on this list. Sex Criminals chronicles the story of two individuals that learn during puberty that they can freeze time after they orgasm. The stars align and the two meet and begin a budding relationship. They then begin to start robbing banks, postcoital, in order to help pay the debts of the main character’s failing library. This goes about as well as one would expect. A great comedy series by the masterminds of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky. This series recently wrapped up in the last year with issue #31 (tho the final issue is aptly numbered as #69).

This was a lot of fun to think back to some deeper cuts that deserve some love!

[pop-punklouis]

when you say that boyband’s work on a shelf-life and theyre thought of as a cash crop what do you mean? that they’re only an object to the industry?

i mean, let’s break it down. boybands, more times than not, are curated by someone else. it isn’t exactly the boys that come together, find each other, and then start a career. usually, a higher up will pluck 4-5 boys from the crowd and put them in a group together expecting them to be puppets to their success. from the beginning, a boyband is fundamentally under the thumb of the industry due to their origins. then, of course, you have the image branding. these boys, at a young age, are given labels to be to sell records and garner favorites from the fans— which in turn gives more reason to sell more individual product with a certain boy on them. the boys will go through image training/publicity training, and besides putting on a character depending on their branding (zayn malik literally talked about how he couldn’t even really grow a beard in the band), they’re also walking on eggshells to present to the media in a way that is not only broad enough for most of the GP to favor them, but also to give just enough personality away that most of what one knows about them is either created in a boardroom or acts as surface level for fans to push their own attitudes onto them without compromising this carefully patched together image. this doesn’t mean these boys aren’t genuine in how they perform, but there is a lot of tightening of screws and pushing into molds at a young age that can fuck with them when carried out for long periods of time. it’s like appearing as yourself but mimicking someone else’s idea of who you ought to be. it’s the alien impersonator. it makes me think of NSYNC’s music video where they were all puppets on a string, being controlled by the omniscient puppet master. do i think that visual was pointed in makeup? not necessarily, but it is a good reference point for how i’m sure many boybands feel throughout their lifespan

then, you get into the lucrative amount of $$$ people are making off these groups. the global merchandise. the touring. the albums pumped out every 12 months. the chosen teams that surround the boys to keep them on track and keep them feeding into the machine as long as their contract permits. when the $$ begins raking in, that’s what the label begins to view you as. your expectation revolves around their bank accounts, and the more $$ you generate, the harder it is to have freedom and orchestrate a life outside of the spotlight that isn’t predominantly cast in the form of making more $$ for these companies. and these companies know that the pop-sphere only has a general attention span of 5-6 years before a revolving door of new talent comes in, so they’re even heavier handed with how they pump the content out knowing the shelf-life is waning, and there’s only a specific area of time they can milk them for what they are— using it as a justification for dehumanizing a group to line their own pockets.

and god forbid one of them tries to “mess” with that money. even if the intention isn’t malicious. take for example, Brian Littrell from the Backstreet Boys or Niall Horan. Brian had to get open heart surgery, and they pushed him back into a worldwide tour and promo cycle almost straight after. Niall Horan has had knee surgeries that were prolonged for long enough until they were mandatory and he was on crutches during promo stints. their health and well-being is on the back burner if it compromises their ability to be a cash crop. their agency is stripped to be objects to an industry who looks at them and instantly sees wealth. they walk in a room not as individual people but as a well-oiled machine, which can mess with how you think people view you outside of the group. “would these people speak with me if i wasn’t apart of this?” “would i be able to get into the studio with certain producers/song writers if i was on my own?” “would i have the same opportunities without this goliath presence on my back?” “will i always have that part of my life carried on my back, unable to pick apart if my own talents or my past talents is what’s given me the success i have now?” “is this image the only thing people see and use me for when i walk in a room now?” “what is success if it isn’t the success i had in the band?” a lot of identity issues are created in this isolated bubble, and it’s no wonder why any member of a boyband has insecurities and doubts when they leave that model, not knowing who they are or what they represent.

and finally, you have to take into consideration how tightly controlled their entire life is beyond just promo or images. their schedules are blocked months if not years in advance, not being able to have personal freedom unless it works around things that have already been confirmed for the group (i mean let’s example girl group little mix here. two of them were afraid of becoming pregnant when they did bc their schedules are confirmed ages in advance, and they thought they’d be scolded for it). their agency is gone. their independence is gone. their freedom of just existing is gone. they exist in relation to the label and their “handlers.” they have lives, and they can do things, but many of those things have to be worked through the system and approved. think about how isolating the 1D bubble was. almost none of them had gaggles of famous friends that weren’t also there to sell a certain image of the group. they were contained for most of their youth to just those five boys. from 16+, their teen years and growth into adulthood was centered around this bubble mentality. they were stunted, and you can see the affects of that even now— years later.

so, i don’t blame these groups for taking indefinite breaks or disbanding altogether. that environment is toxic and erasing and superficial. it’s harmful. and i think it’s important to know this. because there’s no foul in loving boybands/girl groups and who they are, what their music sounds like, and what they represent to you. they’re a special type of celebrity that many connect with in different ways than they do individual artists. in ways, who they showed to you was genuine and loving and their friendships within the band cannot be faked. most times, they only have each other through the chaos of fame so they rely on themselves and their fans every night as their support beams so, don’t feel guilty or shameful for liking a band and supporting a band as you weren’t the ones who created this for them— it’s the age-old history of how the boyband model operates and tbh until it “breaks” i unfortunately don’t believe it’ll be fixed.

[beardedmrbean]

A Colorado school employee was jailed last week for sexually abusing a former 16-year-old high school student multiple times.

Sarah Jones, 45, turned herself into authorities after a warrant was issued for her arrest on Wednesday, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. She was charged with sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.

In June, Colorado Springs investigators were tipped off to the alleged abuse allegations from an out-of-state law enforcement agency, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com.

The police agency allegedly found images on the teen’s mobile device that “implied nudity from his teacher that he was having sexual relations with,” per the case documents. Investigators later performed an “extraction” on his cell phone and turned over a thumb drive of its findings to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

During a forensic interview, the 16-year-old told law enforcement he met Jones at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs during his sophomore year. At the time, Jones worked as a library technology educator at the school.

The teenager, who told law enforcement he and Jones first “began to talk” in autumn 2021, disclosed that he was homeless and would “bounce from house to house.” He ultimately admitted to moving into Jones’ residence around Christmas that year.

In spring 2022, the minor victim accused Jones of kissing his neck after a night of drinking.

“They then went to his room… and Sarah then continued to kiss him,” the case’s affidavit alleged. “They did not go any further.”

The teen confessed that the pair later had “sex for the first time in Sarah’s bedroom” while her two children were inside the home. Her husband was hospitalized at the time of the alleged sexual assault, case documents stated. The 16-year-old estimated he and Jones had sex approximately five times. He claimed Jones, however, propositioned him for sex as many as 20 times.

In total, investigators uncovered 4,777 messages from the victim’s phone that were exchanged between Jones and the high school employee.

“I love you,” Jones said in one message sent in July, per the affidavit. “I will always be here when we have recovered from losing each other.”

The teen also explained Jones would send him “large amounts” of money through a banking app.

“I’m not strong enough to control my love,” Jones allegedly said in another message sent to the victim.

Under questioning, Jones allegedly admitted to kissing the minor victim when she was intoxicated but denied having sexual relations with the 16-year-old.

Jones also searched online for “signs [someone] is under a police investigation” and whether detectives could access her iCloud if she erased her Apple ID, per the affidavit.

Jones was placed on administrative leave following the incident, according to KKTV. School district officials described the allegations as “egregious.”

“We have learned of allegations of inappropriate behavior and criminal charges being brought against a Mitchell High School employee, Sarah Jones,” District 11 Superintendent Michael Gaal said. “Due to these allegations and an ongoing police investigation, Ms. Jones has been placed on administrative leave. District and Mitchell administrators are working with the Colorado Springs Police Department during this investigation.

Jones was booked into El Paso County Criminal Justice Center following her arrest, according to police.

Anyone with additional information is urged to contact the Crime Stoppers Tip Line by calling 719-634-7687 or 1-800-222-8477.

[fivelakesinwriting]

Out of Character (Rafe Cameron)

Warnings: Violence, sexual content (on the milder side - it's going to be full send soon, friends), swearing.

Author's Note: Only original character's and story lines are of my own. I do not own the character's related to the Outer Banks series, nor the actors.

*This will also NOT be linear with the show. So don't be upset.

It would be referred to as the Red Night. Her dress was red, as was the sky as the day held on for a few more hours.

Then his knuckles turned red. His face oozed with blood as it dripped into the clear waters of the shore. His eyes wild and bloodshot as he doled out the punches one by one.

"Rafe! Rafe, stop!" Her voice sounded like it was miles down the shoreline when she was actually three steps behind him.

"TOPPER, DO SOMETHING!" She screamed as she pulled at his best friend's shirt, everyone else watched in shock.

The shorter, but equally as strong boy grabbed his friend by his shoulders and pulled him off the tall blonde. He whispered something into the taller boys ear as they stepped back.

"Lucky my girl is here, man." Rafe grumbled as he spit blood into the ocean water as he glanced from the Pogue to his petrified girlfriend.

"Which one?" JJ Maybank grinned through the pain in his jaw as he pulled himself up from the water.

"Fuck you! Pogue scum." Rafe spat as he lunged towards the boy again.

"Ah! Not so fast." The Maybank boy replied as he quickly pulled a gun from the waistband of his shorts and pointed it at the group of Kooks.

"JJ, what the fuck are you doing?" She asked as she held her hands in front of her.

"Gemma, come and stand behind me." JJ ordered, his eyes as wild as his cocaine fueled Kook counterpart.

"Gem, don't you fucking dare." Rafe growled from deep in his chest as he grabbed her elbow with his bloody hand.

It was like the Wild West. A stand off after a brawl. Two men at odds with one another. The drugs, the alcohol. And now a gun.

"Gemma, come here. I will take you home." Topper Thornton spoke softly, his voice permeated the tense scene.

All sides watched to see what the girl would do. Stand behind the rogue Maybank boy while he wielded a pistol? Or stay with the wild eyed Rafe Cameron? Who would no doubt drive them home coked out and drunk.

The brunette took small steps away from the standoff and walked towards the boy with the bleached blonde hair. She looked between the dueling boys one more time before before she took Topper's outstretched hand and let him lead her away.

"Topp?" She asked softly as she held onto his strong bicep as they walked quietly up the beach to his Jeep.

"Yeah, Gem?" He asked, both hands in his pockets. He knew better than to put his hands on Rafe Cameron's girl.

" Can I stay with you tonight? She asked with a sniffle. Topper had not stopped to realize how traumatic the situation they had just witnessed had truly been for the girl in the middle of it.

"Yeah, of course." Topper nodded as he helped her into the front seat of his Jeep.

The night was far from over after leaving the Boneyard, although a lot of the parties involved wished it was. An hour after the majority of the teens dispersed, Rafe Cameron was left alone on the shore with nothing but his high, his thoughts, a half bottle of vodka, and her voicemail.

"Gemma, this isn't funny. Pick up." He growled into his phone before he took a swig of vodka. He hung up and tried her number again, only to roar with frustration when it went straight to voicemail again.

"ANSWER ME!"

Hi, it's Gemma Mercer. I'm probably on the beach or working at the country club. Leave me a message. Bye!

"Baby, I'm sorry. Please, you have to call me back. Just let me know that you got home okay." He slurred as his vision got blurry, but the redial button was habitual at this point.

"Just don't fuck him , okay? Not Topper." He grumbled as his head nodded forward and his chin touched his chest. He wanted to sleep on the beach tonight, but not alone.

Rafe woke up a few hours into the night ready for another hit, angry and deep down he was worried about his girl. He checked his phone with what little battery it had and saw the message from her.

At Topper's tonight. I'm ok.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Topper whisper yelled as he came running out of the driveway to meet his still very drunk friend.

Rafe spat the thick blood that remained in his mouth into the ocean before he stood up and trudged through the sand towards his Jeep.

Rafe peeled into Topper's driveway as he laid on the horn for a solid five seconds before he got out.

"Where is she? Why is she here?"Rafe asked as he looked around the property. His mind raced with accusations that maybe she was cheating like he had before.

"She wanted to be. That was fucking scary, bro." Topper replied as he looked Rafe up and down. He was covered in dried blood from his nose down to the hem of his Polo.

"Well, I didn't pull a Wesson on everyone" Rafe muttered as he lit up a cigarette."

"You started the fight with that Maybank kid. You guys looked like one of you was gonna leave in a body bag, man."

Rafe shrugged. He had found the perfect place to assert his dominance over JJ Maybank, and he used it. Maybank looked at Gemma too much, talked to her too much. And Rafe didn't like that.

"Rafe." Her voice came from behind Topper. Rafe looked behind his friend and saw her there inn one of Topper's shirt. His blood boiled and his mind raced.

"It's not like that, Rafe. She needed something wear after the party that wasn't her dress. I ...I gave her some clothes. Nothing happened." Topper stuttered as he looked between the sleepy Gemma, and the rage filled Rafe.

"Yeah? Well, next time my girl asks you to take her home, don't take her back to your bed and get your into your fucking clothes." Rafe seethed before he brushed passed his friend to walk to Gemma.

"Baby, I'm so fucking sorry. Please, come back with me. I'm sorry about the fight with Maybank, and the coke. All of it. I don't want to be alone tonight." Rafe pleaded as he stood on the ground and looked up and the small woman on the porch.

He hated seeing her in Topper's clothes. It gave him heinous images of Topper and Gemma together that made him sick.

"You did a dumb thing, Rafe Cameron." She stated, her arms across her chest. She looked him up then down. Rafe felt like she looked right through him.

"I know. I fucked up. Baby, please just get in the Jeep." Rafe begged. He felt his high begin to dwindle. All he wanted was his bed, his girl and total darkness.

It had always been hard for Gemma Mercer to say "no" to Rafe Cameron. From the first beer he handed her a house party, to the first time he pulled her panties down her legs. Gemma had a difficult time using judgement with Rafe.

"Fine. You have serious making up to do, Cameron." She replied as she walked down the steps towards Rafe's still idling Jeep.

"Whatever my baby wants." Rafe muttered under his breath so Topper didn't hear as they walked by. Rafe got in the car and peeled out as fast as he pulled in , leaving Topper Thornton in a daze.

Back at Tannyhill Rafe silently pulled Topper's clothes off of Gemma, and made silent vow to burn them at the next Boneyard party. He nudged her bare backside towards his bed, speaking a soft "go" before he took of his bloody shirt and pants. He quietly moved to his en-suite bathroom to wash the blood from his face before he climbed into bed with her.

"You know that Maybank was just talking shit tonight. You're my girl. My only girl." Rafe muttered as he pulled her close.

"I know, Rafe." She whispered into his chest, an arm around his thick torso.

"Do you?" He asked firmly as he pulled back to look at her.

"Yeah, baby. I know I'm your girl, and JJ only said that to get under your skin. Which worked. If I wasn't your girl then why would I be your date to Midsummer?" She smiled as she rolled over to straddle his hips.

Rafe groaned as he held onto her bare hips. "Don't start something you can't finish."

"I always finish." She grinned as she placed her hands on his chest, her hips raised a little to never give him the satisfaction of her heat.

"Fucking right you do." Rafe growled as he dug the pads of his fingertips into her hips to pull her down to his lap completed. He sat up and covered her gasp with his mouth.

"Please." She whispered against his lips as he rocked her hips back and forth on top of him. Her hands weaved themselves into his now messy hair and pulled, desperate for his attention.

"I kinda like this." Rafe smirked as he held onto her hips, his eyes on her mouth as she chased his lips.

" Baby, please!" She whined out loud before Rafe slapped a hand over her mouth. He knocked the tiny brunette onto her back and laid between her legs.

"Desperate for me tonight, huh? Poor Topper. Missed out on the ride of his life with you." Rafe growled as he kept one hand over his lover's mouth and the other ran down her stomach to between her legs.

Gemma glared at him over his fingers, both for the Topper comment and for his fingers barely touching her. She wiggled her hips to get closer to either of his appendages, but Rafe pulled away.

"Be a good girl." Rafe growled in her ear as his middle finger found it's way inside of her. She gasped into his hand, and Rafe's stomach dropped. No drug was like her and the way she reacted to him.

Gemma flipped the switch on him as her her hands that gripped his biceps reached down to his manhood for the gentlest squeeze.

"Ah! Fuck you, Gemma." Rafe hissed as he thrust into her grip and released his hand from her mouth.

She gave him eyes that sparkled and he knew that she was nothing like the girl everyone else saw. She wasn't the good girl who served his parents margaritas after 18 holes of golf.

Rafe knew she was more than an ironed Polo and a nice smile. She was vodka straight from the bottle. A short red dress with no underwear on at a house party full of Kooks. She was driving too fast down The Cut with her head out of his sunroof, flashing passersby , before she climbed back in and let him have his way with her in back seat.

Gemma Mercer was Rafe Cameron's girl. And he would never let her, or anyone else forget it.

*Thank you for reading the first part of my Rafe Cameron fic. Please let me know what you think, like it, message me. What have you. I'm looking forward to chatting with you OBX cuties :) More to come if it is received well.

[alienwoohooer]

The Socks Saga

in which we meet our hero

i guess this kind of a rags to riches meets runaway teen challenge thing? maybe it’ll even be a legacy playthrough idk we’ll see but either way i don’t follow any challenge guidelines so don’t hold me to any unless you’re into disappointment, ig

open the images in a new tab for better quality

transcription below the cut

panel one

text 1: day #1

text 2: location: kiyomatsu point, yukimatsu, mt. komorebi

funds: $0

panel two

text 1: proof that girl scouts wasn’t completely worthless

text 2: future-ass splinters

panel three

text 1: Stolen™

text 2: Stolen™

text 3: actually, this was a gift from mom & dad

panel four

text 1: our hero’s weapon of choice

text 2: the only thing our hero paid for

panel five

text 1: a way to obtain brightly colored, animal shaped objects

text 2: [ C L A S S F I E D  I N F O R M A T I O N ]

text 3: mixter chom-chom (NOT FOR BABIES)

text 4: 25 pounds of education

text 5: on-the-go blood bank

panel six

text 1: fucking worthless

panel seven

text 1: the face of a 13 year old whose hopes & dreams have not yet been  crushed by the weight of reality or, in other words, OUR HERO

text 2: name: socks leanne buttons species: vampiric earthling age: 13 (duh) pronouns: they/them gender: incurable dumbass orientation: queer traits: animal affection, daydreamer, perfectionist, sweetaholic mbti: enfp zodiac: cancer likes: orange, guitar, singing, dancing, s-pop, kids radio music dislikes: research & debate, fitness, wellness current goal: basic survival

[hauntedbythefanficsofmypast]

Universe Jump

Marinette, Adrien, and Chloe travel to the DC universe and create lives for themselves as a family. A little side info Marinette is a certified genius with an IQ of 187, Adrien has eidetic memory, and Chloe has Hyperthymesia.

Eidetic memory is when you can remember an image with high precision after seeing it once.

Hyperthymesia is where you remember a vast majority of your life with no problems.

A little background first. At 16 and 15, Adrien and Marinette have their final battle with Hawkmoth and Mayura, after they are defeated Chat and Ladybug hurry away from the scene both about to de-transform. When they find a hiding place Chat Noir breaks down finally de-transforming into Adrien. Marinette drops her transformation pulling Adrien into a tight hug. Neither letting go for over half an hour. They slowly make their way back to Marinette's house, Adrien crying on Mari's shoulder the whole way both unaware of the glares being sent at Adrien.

Since it was confirmed that it was Gabriel Agreste, many were speculating that Adrien was in on it. Some just wanted to take their anger out on Gabriel for torturing them by going after his son. Neither noticed the hatefully eyes following them as they entered the bakery. Tom and Sabine automatically hugged Adrien who was crying so hard he couldn't see or speak. After their hugs Marinette led him upstairs and they simply sat on the couch cuddling, not wanting to leave each other's side.

It wasn't until an hour later that the police arrived to question and inform Adrien on what they found in his house. Adrien tells them he had no idea that his father always talked about the heros with high regards whenever he saw them. When the police tell him about Emilie in the underground Garden, Adrien breaks down sobbing into Marinette's shoulder mumbling about how she'd been underneath him dead the entire time.

The police come to the conclusion that Adrien was not a part of it at all. And is grieving the loss of both his parents now, they agree to come back in the morning to talk with Tom and Sabine about where Adrien will be staying. However the morning never comes for Tom and Sabine, a group of people break into the bakery and set it on fire determined to get back at Gabriel by taking his son's life.

Marinette and Adrien only escape with the Miraculous box, Tom and Sabine had already been caught and it was too late for them. That night all four were pronounced dead. Adrien takes Marinette to Le Grand Paris, knowing Chloe would hide them for as long as they needed. They hide at Chloe's for a week while she pulls strings getting Gabriel's, The Dupain-Cheng's and Fu's bank accounts completely emptied and into her own without anyone knowing. During this time the three talk with the Kwamis on what they should do. It's Orikko that suggests the Kwami's move the money into their own dimension and take the three to a different universe. At first they are reluctant but Xuppu points out that they have no real reason to stay and their Kwamis agree. Pollen points out that Chloe's parents still aren't around. While Tikki and Plagg point out that their chosen are considered dead.

It gets Marinette thinking and she quickly goes over the ups and downs.

"Alright so here's what to know about us leaving this universe. It's a completely new start, no one knows who we are and according to Tikki the last time the Miraculous Box was there was when Hippolyta was Ladybug. So only the Amazonians will know of them. We'll be safer than we are here, not having to worry about people coming after us thanks to Gabriel. We'll have plenty of money and I know enough to be able to fake us having a 'parent' and buy a place for us as well as use it to our advantage. However based on where we end up it may be harder for me to get us IDs, and definitely hard to get us faked birth certificates. Not to mention, I'd have to teach myself an insane amount of hacking to successfully make it look like we've had previous education in that universe."

Together they decide that leaving is the best option even if they are slightly afraid. Plagg and Trixx snag all the money from Chloe's account and transfer it to their home dimension. Then together all the Kwami surround their three holders and transport them to an abandoned warehouse in Gotham with all their bags including the extravagant dollhouse Chloe had made for them. Once there the Kwami quickly swarm the house laying down in their respective beds as Adrien gives each one their favorites to eat before sleeping. Marinette explores the warehouse plotting out everything that must be done in construction while also making sure that no one else was there.

Once it's clear she returns to Chole and Adrien and they begin planning their first moves. Tomorrow Adrien and Chloe will go to a cafe that has free wifi with Tikki and Pollen. And using Marinette's USB they'll insert the 'parent' into the world from there they will create a bank account online, have Pollen transfer some money in, and then buy the warehouse. Meanwhile Marinette will be walking the town during the day with Plagg. As he points out places that give off the most sketchy energy, although they all can feel the destruction energy surrounding the city. He'll be able to find where the worse off people are staying. When meeting back up at the warehouse Marinette will confirm that their transaction went through. Then go from place to place with Plagg radiating as much dangerous energy around her as he can until she finds a bar where the bartender has what she needs.

Marinette meets with the bartender and a contractor the next day when the bar is closed. She tells the contractor she wants everything under the table and is willing to pay in cash half up front and half when the work is done.

"I want it done within a timely manner, bring in those you can trust not to squeal and are good workers, ten of them. I don't want any cut corners. If it'll cost more to do something safer, I'll pay it. And if none of you squeal within five months of it being done I'll give each other you an extra seven thousand and five hundred. These are the plans I have drawn up and this is the location. You'll start in two days. Do we have a deal?" 

The Contractor nods promising Marinette the best he has to offer and everything under the table with workers that are capable and wont speak of it. She simply smiles politely nodding and picks up the briefcase sliding it across the table to him. She then tosses a thousand to the bartender telling him to remember her because she'd definitely come back for more and will pay him.

Once back at the warehouse Marinette drops the tough girl persona exhausted from the day. She collapses on one of the three beds Tikki created for them and grins softly. Telling them that construction starts in two days.

When two days pass Marinette is a little surprised at how respectful the workers are and when she questions the contractor, lets call him Doug. Doug tells her that these aren't actually his workers, their friends of his that were contractors as well before they lost their jobs. Told her that he knew they needed the money, and that they wouldn't say anything once they realized they were working for a young girl and not a mob boss.

When Marinette here's that she is much nicer to the men and begins to bond with them Adrien and Chloe join in. Chloe sells a story of their parents being killed in Paris when they were still young and how they were basically sold to slavery. Claiming that they recently escaped after their 'owner' was killed. When asked on how they got the money Chloe immediately turns on Marinette.

"That easy! Mari here is really smart I mean seriously if we hadn't been-well you know- she'd already be in college! She was able to transfer his money into another account and then use one of his fake IDs to get us away!"

Construction lasts for four months and in that time the workers and the teens become closer. The workers even begin helping them with getting furniture, a few of them offering their trucks free of charge and willing to go pick up anything they can't have delivered. Doug even brings in a friend to install a top of the line security system for them. Once construction is over they have a solid bond between them and Marinette promises to call them anytime they need construction done.

At this point the warehouse has been turned into a home for them. With all the necessities and furniture. And in the basement of the warehouse Marinette has a parkour funland put in. They have also had time to research their new city and its heroes. Marinette deems it best that they do not transform or go parkoring in Gotham.

"Something about Batman tells me that if he sees us he won't stop until he knows everything about us. If you feel the need to run transformed or not, go to the basement."

Soon almost every night is spent in the basement for at least an hour and a half. The same time patrol lasted in Paris.

Marinette begins making all of their clothes, bored and missing designing. Soon they have donated all their old clothes and only wear Marinette's designs. It's Chloe that gets the clientele rolling in when a few women ask where she got her shirt. She gives them Marinette's information and soon Marinette is making clothes for others back in her element. She is slowly making a name for herself in Gotham taking up the name MDC.

Marinette also returns to the Bartender asking for help once again. Let's call the Bartender Chasen. She has him get in contact with someone that could fake documents for schooling. She explains to him that while she already has her profession, Adrien loves science and Chloe lives for business. Chasen calls her the next day informing her that he'd found the perfect person.

Chasen-For the right price all of you will be considered legal immigrants in America. He will get you all the paperwork you need within a week's time.

Marinette- And you trust him?

Chasen- Yes, with my life.

Marinette- Very well, what is his price?

Chasen- He wants to know why two 17 year olds and a 16 year old are in need of this paperwork.

Marinette- What is his name?

Chasen- John Constantine.

Marinette-Very well give him my address.

Marinette gives him two thousand dollars before leaving the bar.

A few hours later the trio is relaxing together in the living room. Adrien is excitedly talking about what they could do once they get the paperwork. When a portal opens up in their kitchen, and a blonde man steps out introducing himself.

John- Hello there, I'm John Constantine. Now please tell me why multiple gods have returned to this universe with three teenagers?

The trio is shocked into silence that this man knows they're from another universe. John sighs muttering out a few curses before turning around and opening their fridge pulling out a drink. He sits down at their breakfast table taking a long sip before leveling eye contact with Marinette.

John- Alright pigtails sit down and talk, you're the one Chasen told me to talk to.

Marinette huffs at the name glaring at him before sitting down and telling him their story. Plagg sits on her shoulder facing away from Constantine. Pretending to eat cheese while he is ready to jump to Marinette's defense if needed.

By the end of the night the trio has a foul mouth yet compassionate new friend. John agrees to get them all the documentation that makes it seem like they've lived in the universe since birth.

John- The only people that will be able to tell something is unusual is superheros. My friend is going to tie you all together as siblings with the same father, me. Though you'll all be emancipated and the only time I'll come into play is if one of you gets hurt. Chloe and Adrien will pass as fraternal twins with the same mother, Marinette due to your differing appearance will have a different mother. The only thing that will give you away to heros is my name, they know I do not have kids. Unusually I have enough time to find others to pose as you parents but you're stuck with me.

The trio agrees to the conditions and John smiles gently surprising them. He ruffles Marinette's hair telling them he'll be back periodically before he gets the paperwork. He tells Marinette his phone number and before he leaves Marinette grips his hand tightly.

Marinette- That is really all you wanted? Just our story?

John turns to her squeezing her hand gently before nodding.

John- I'm not one of the best people in the universe, that much your little Gods and Goddesses can tell you. But I would never not help a child or children when I can, and while your eyes are older than they should be you're still children. Now enough of the soft bull, I have a reputation to keep! If you need me, call me!

John leaves the same way he came, not seeing Marinette smiling gently at his back. Chloe and Adrien share a grin behind her teasing each other on who the cuter twin is. Marinette rolls her eyes as Plagg and Pollen start arguing for their chosen. 

A week later they are now the Constantine siblings.

A few weeks later both Chloe and Adrien have taken their SATs and their ACT, skying some of the highest scores in Gotham. Marinette decided not to take the test knowing that it would be suspicious if they discover she is a genius. People will be asking why it wasn't documented in Paris, instead she uses their week of studying to teach herself hacking, much to John's amusement when he visits.

His amusement fled when he made a snarky comment and Marinette turned to him smirking.

Marinette- At least I didn't sleep with a humanoid shark.

John-....ya f*ckin got me there pigtails!

He then turned and disappeared through a portal unable to look any of his self proclaimed kids in the eyes. Once gone Marinette and Plagg start laughing hysterically together causing Tikki to roll her eyes and start complaining about Plagg trying to steal her Chosen. Plagg sticks his tongue out at her before floating over and resting himself in Adrien's hair.

A few weeks later Marinette is dragging John to a car dealership ignoring his whining. She simply signs and tells him that she needs her parental figures help with buying a car.

John sighs before agreeing to help her get a car, in the end he is glad he is there when the dealer attempts to push Marinette into buying a terrible car.

He immediately gets in between them glaring the man down before telling him that he is shopping for a car for his daughter. The man nodded before stuttering out that he'll get the keys for their safest cars, before rushing back inside.

John huffs not looking Marinette in the eye as she smirks at him.

Marinette- Watch out Dad, keep this up and people might think you care about us!

John-Shut it Pigtails, or I'll leave right now.

Marinette- No you won't. 

John doesn't respond because he knows she is right, he got attached to these sassy brats. His only hope is that his enemies don't find out about them. That night he stays for dinner and when the kids fall asleep he places magical sigils on each of their souls. Protecting them from attacks from both Heaven and hell. When confronted by the Kawami he just huffs telling them the brats wormed their way into his heart. Tikki simply smiles patting his cheek before telling him to use the guest room.

The next day John is grumbling sitting at the breakfast bar dressed in only his boxers as Marinette makes breakfast. Adrien sits next to him laughing at the dark look on his face, while Chloe rolls her eyes at both of them sipping her coffee.

He sighs softly thinking about how Bats would kill him for being in his city this long. However when he hears the three burst into laughter together. He can't find it in himself to actually care.

Two months later Chloe and Adrien are attending college classes and Marinette is getting ready to open her own boutique with John's help. They bought a shop in the nice parts of Gotham and with Doug's help they were practically ready to open. They had a large floor room. The right floor of the store was designated for specially designed clothing, a doortalong the wall opened to a fitting room. The left side was for her clothing manufactured in bulk, and the changing areas were located on that side. She also had the walls set for clothing designed by the designers she hired. Above each rack was a whiteboard that each designer was allowed to specially decorate and have their name displayed. Their clothes were being sold under her name in return for only 25 percent while they got the other 75 percent. The back room housed a designing area for Marinette and her designers with extra sewing machines along with racks and shelves for finished clothing. John was helping her set up signs for the day unknown to the both of them they were being spied on.

Bruce Wayne had spotted John Constantine in Gotham over three weeks ago. He didn't confront him because at the time he'd been walking out of Gotham University with two blonds, before getting in a car that a black haired girl with sunglasses was driving. He proceeded to investigate even deeper, finding two new students with the last name Constantine and an upcoming designer sharing the name as well. His first thought was that John had relocated some of his allies into Gotham, which pissed the Bat off greatly. 

However it had been Dick that pointed out to him that the kids we're Tim's age and they didn't have any history beyond what John had created for them. Instead of confronting the man and kicking them out he had the entire family taking turns watching the three.

They saw a family that found itself the three obviously weren't actually siblings but that didn't matter to them. They also saw John get closer and closer to the kids slowly starting to spend more time with them. When Marinette began setting up her shop Bruce and Dick watched John smile gently at the girl when she began to ramble on and on. It was that moment that made Dick turn on Bruce telling him that if he even threatened to kick them out Dick would be upset.

Meanwhile Jason was continuously joking and making comments that Bruce was only mad because John managed to adopt a black hair blue eyed child before he could. Bruce got out of his car walking into the unfinished boutique, his eyes zeroing in on the recently named Marinette Constantine. She greeted him politely telling him the store wasn't open yet and only tenseed slightly when John froze at the sight of him. She played it off and quickly turned to John.

Marinette- Hey Dad can you take those extra racks to the back for me, while I give this nice man our opening dates.

John looked like he wanted to argue but instead he nodded picking up a couple racks and taking them to the back. Marinette's eyes were immediately back on him calculating him in seconds. Which surprised him greatly, the only people able to pick him apart like this were his kids.

Marinette-Bruce Wayne and by Dad's reaction you're either a hero or a villain. It's easy to tell you're not a villain though so that only leaves the hero. In Gotham very few heroes are allowed. Based on your age and when heros first appeared I'm assuming you Batman. This means Richard Grayson was the first Robin, going through assumptions once again. This would place your family as the heroes of Gotham. You're Batman, and I know that you know damn well that John isn't our actual father. Probably suspicious of why he has three kids relocated into your city as well. You have a no meta policy in Gotham and I understand why. However John is not a meta, he is a mage and he is our guardian. I fear that the foul mouthed a**hat got attached to us though so he stays. You want answers, that's why you decided to confront us in public, everyone is wondering what Bruce Wayne is doing here, so we wouldn't dare make a move to run. What you didn't account for was going up against someone who could pick you apart in seconds and learn your weaknesses. For instance you've had your back broken, you've healed incredibly however to the right trained eye you can see that you wear back supports. Not only that you still get pains from the injury, pains that you're experiencing right now as shown by the tension in your back. Pain medication not kicked in yet Brucie?

She finished the polite smile never leaving her face even when both heard John laughing hysterically in the back room.

Bruce- You're good.

Marinette-I would hope so in my universe I was one of the best heros and a certified genius.

Bruce- Your universe?

Marinette- Yes my universe. I think we both know talking about this in public is stupid Brucie. Find the warehouse that belongs to Margie Willkins, and you will find us.

Bruce-Margie Willkins, very well. Will she be there as well.

Marinette- Not likely considering she only exists on the internet. You won't find her anywhere else. Now Brucie it is time for you to go.

Bruce- Don't call me that.

He finally growled out, Marinette's smile didn't waver but he could see the glee light up in her eyes at his annoyance. Reminding him of the gleam his kids would get for the same task.

Marinette-Oh but Brucie, I think it's just the perfect nickname! Show me you deserve my respect Brucie, you maybe Batman but you came in here to intimidate one of my family members. I believe you can understand I am very protective of my family. After all I've already had two murdered and I won't lose anymore. Now turn and leave my store with a smile on your face Bruce, or I'll start crying.

John- She will  the girl had me running around to get her favorite snacks until Chloe pointed out she was faking.

Marinette pouted looking at John behind her stating that Chloe had to ruin her fun. She turned to Bruce staring him down once more. Bruce nodded confirming that he'd be there.

That night the three were relaxing when Batman jumped down into their living room in front of them. Neither teen flinched Chloe scoffed going back to her nails while Adrien threw popcorn at him complaining that he was blocking the tv. Much to his kids amusement over the coms. Marinette simply sighed before flipping herself over the back of the couch. Gesturing him to follow her, she stopped however and looked him dead in the eye.

Marinette- Oh, and you're seven backups are doing a terrible job of hiding. Might as well tell them to just join us.

This left the entire family stunned as Marinette simply turned back walking into the kitchen and sitting down. Soon she was joined by eight members of the Batfamily. She took in their appearance quickly determining who was who with ease. She smirked when she felt Plagg settle into her jacket pocket. Him being there instead of Tikki meant Marinette wasn't representing Ladybug. She could be as sassy or rude as she wanted.

Marinette- So I get to talk to Batman now and not Brucie. Interesting, nice to see you finally drop your mask around me. Now I can see the real person, oops I wasn't supposed to say that was I?

Batman's glare hardened especially as Red Hood and Nightwing began to silently laugh.

Batman-Get to the point of why we're here.

Marinette-So serious maybe you should try getting a spa treatment, it does wonders. But I digress. Do you want the short version or the long version?

Batman simply stared at her causing Marinette to roll her eyes, before telling the trio's story. Shortly after explaining everything Chloe and Adrien joined them with all the Kwami flying in around, Plagg leaving Marinette's pocket heading back to Adrien.

Nightwing immediately gushes about the Kwami being cute cause Marinette to giggle softly. Each sibling begins to check the Kwami out as well as talk to the three fromer heroes. While Bruce was studying Marinette watching her switch from a mischievous and sassy persona to her actual personality. He watched the kids all talking and getting to know each other. At some point the Batfamily save Bruce had taken their masks off.

That's when both he and Tim noticed Marinette pull out a laptop and start typing. Tim decided to approach asking her what she was doing, Marinette rolled her eyes telling him that she is deleting all of tonight's security footage. Stating that he needs to leave her alone because she only recently started learning how to hack and getting into a company known for their security. Tim makes a noise before pulling her computer away and hacking into the company within five minutes. Marinette stared at her computer for a minute before grabbing his hands and getting closer to his face causing everyone to stare.

Marinette-Teach me, and I will make you my famous caffeine death coffee everyday for a month.

Tim blushed at her closeness until the words coffee hit his ears. He raised his eyebrow before questioning how good it was. Marinette simply released his hand and stood up walking over to the coffee machine and making the coffee in under five minutes. Everyone noticed Adrien and Chloe eyeing the coffee like it was poison when Marinette placed it in front of him. Tim stared at it for a while Marinette sighed picking it back up taking a big gulp swallowing it for them all before placing it in front of him again. Tim finally picked it up and took a sip only to freeze then down it in down gulp. He placed the cup down before grabbing both of Marinette's hands while looking her in the eye dead serious.

Tim- Marry me.

Everyone stared at him in shock especially when he didn't laugh saying he was joking.

Marinette blushed brightly, sputtering out a few unrecognizable sentences before taking a deep breath looking away from him.

Marinette- Honestly, I'm not a girl that marries before the first date. We barely even know each other.

Tim- Your right, what are you doing tomorrow night at six?

Marinette- Uh well I was going to be at my shop until five thirty, after that nothing really.

Tim- Perfect, I'll pick you up from your boutique at five thirty. We'll go on our first date and as many dates as it'll take me to convince you to marry me.

Marinette just sputters out a confirmation unable to look Tim in the eye.

Tim is the last of the family to leave before going he grabs Marinette's hand again. Letting a gentle smile cover his face.

Tim-I am not asking you out just because of your coffee skills Marinette. I had the task of researching you and your siblings. I found you rather fascinating, and we also have quite a bit in common. Your amazing coffee was just a plus. I will see you tomorrow at five thirty?

Marinette- Five thirty. I'll be waiting.

Tim-I won't be late.

He kisses her hand before releasing it and grappling away. He was not ready to deal with his family's teasing. Marinette refused to meet Adrien or Chloe's gaze as she walked to her room, her face bright red.

@abrx2002

@chocolateherringtacofan

@blackmagicforever

@mythogaychic

[dancingthesambaa]

Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 15

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 15: Plotting Revenge is a Good Bonding Activity

“And then you showed up and, well you know the rest,” Red Son exhaled as the three of them sat down on the swings at the park. It had taken a week before he eventually had the courage, and while making sure his father was rested, to face his friends once more.

“So you're the one who took the skeleton key,” MK said.

“Yeah,” the prince nodded and braced himself for the accusations.

“Oh thank god, I really thought I lost it on accident,” MK sighed in relief as he sagged on the swings.

“Still kinda lost it,” she pointed out.

“But at least it wasn’t through me just forgetting it somewhere!” He pumped his fists in the air, promptly forgetting he was on a swing and was now flailing his arms trying to not fall off.

“…okay you're both taking this a little too easily,” the prince deadpanned as he stopped himself from tugging on his hair, “why aren’t you both mad at me?”

“For?” They both turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

“For? For?!? I stole from you and didn’t say a word until everything blew up in all of our faces and had a crisis that almost destroyed the city-AGAIN!” He had to jump off the swing as he paced in front of them. “Why aren’t you both pissed off at me?!”

“Well for one, the key was cool and all, but it didn’t have, like, any real sentimental value,” MK shrugged, “I mean I had it for like a day.”

“Two, it just opens locks, which is pretty bad with certain things like banks and homes, but at least it’s not a weapon of mass destruction,” Mei finger gunned him.

“And three, most importantly, it’s you,” MK finished.

Red Son looked at him with the most dumbfounded look.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well you like to call yourself a villain, but I have never actually seen you do any hardcore villainy stuff,” he pointed out.

“I once saw you make fire animals to a group of children because they complimented you on your flame head,” she grinned.

“They have good taste,” he averted his eyes away from the both of them as a small flush appeared on his cheeks.

“But my point is,” MK stepped off the swing and put a hand on his shoulder, “you have been with us to know long enough that what you say isn’t what you do. You have a very soft and squishy heart underneath all those flames.”

“No! I do not!” He instantly denied, ignoring how his face brightened.

“Yes you do,” both humans said as MK confined, “and I like to think that while it has only been a few months, I know you wouldn’t steal something of ours unless you were forced to.”

Red Son said nothing as he clenched his fists, but that was all the confirmation that the two needed.

“Exactly my point, so I was hurt at first, but it turned out alright in the end, so don’t be too upset about it okay. I have already forgiven you,” he gave a big hug to the demon.

“It’s in the past nightlight, all is already good between us,” Mei joined in on the hug and grinned, “but I wouldn’t mind some ice cream after this.”

The demon Prince froze in their warm embrace as he slowly relaxed and lifted both his arms around his friends. “We’re going to the good one, not the rip off that tries to scam up for a mint chocolate chip, only for it to be vanilla and fucking peppermint candy inside.”

“Agreed,” both humans instantly said, that was the most disappointing I’ve cream joint they have ever been to and they saw ones where they can even mess up vanilla ice cream.

“We so need to catch up,” Mei said as she laid her head on Red shoulder, “there have been so much that you missed, and learning that the Monkey King and pops have a thing for each other is a whole nother ball game that needs to be discussed.”

“I’m sorry WHAT?!” He held them both out as his hair slightly flicker in shock at that abrupt news.

“Ohh boy,” MK sighed as he slumped down. “I need some mind numbing ice cream before we even go into this.”

“Ice cream,” Mei echoed.

“…fucking ice cream,” the demon eye twitched. This was going to be one hell of a conversation.

“They like each other?!” He slammed his spoon down.

“Not so loud,” MK groaned as he put his head to the table.

“But yeah,” Mei continued with a spoon in her mouth, “they have a total thing for each and the real kicker is that both sides are dense enough to not realize that.”

“Your fucking with me,” he deadpans.

“There is no fucks to be seen.”

“Unless they do it with each other.”

“Mei!/Why’d you put that image in my head,” Red yelled as MK groaned.

“What?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just saying, besides I still don’t like the half priced knock off Monkey god trying to hook up with pops,” she narrowed her eyes.

“Oh,” the prince was a bit surprised by this, “I thought you idolized him, what changed?”

“Well first, never really idolized him, that’s all on MK.”

“I feel no shame,” he crossed his arms.

“Got really disillusioned by him with all of Makkie’s stories. And secondly, I hands down don’t believe that the great almighty Monkey King is good enough for him,” she bluntly stated.

“I mean you're not wrong, but explain,” the bull demon leaned in. He has known the Six Eared Macaque for a very long time, the monkey healer has taught and shown him many things throughout their lives, and has saved it just as many, if not more. So it’s needless to say that he sees the monkey as an uncle for a very long time.

“I mean other than fighting pops and almost trying to kill him over his fuck up-”

“WHAT!/He wasn’t trying to kill him!”

“He can’t just expect to walk in and pretend everything is all fine and good between them after he made pops blind and severed their friendship for five hundred years. Pops had mourned for him and self deprecated himself during his bad days, he feels the guilt and shame that had overcome him and he emotionally understood his wrongdoings but has been trying-no he has turned over a new leaf. He had changed and has learned better from the immature monkey he once was, but the same can’t be said for the Monkey King. Cause instead of talking about it, what does he do? He fucking yells and attacks him!” She slammed her fist on the table. “He attacked him and when MK stepped in between the two, which is still so very fucking stupid by the way.”

“You did what?” Red looked towards the sheepish human.

“I had to stop them somehow!”

“Not with your life!”

“Well, now I know for next time.”

“There better not be a next time!”

“It was still MK who had to stop the dumbass from fighting,” Mei growled out. “And he still had the audacity to question pops about trying to use MK like the fuck?! Who the fuck does he think he is to think that he has any parental right over him other than Pops. None! Zilch! Fucking zero! He has nothing except that pretty little staff that MK somehow is able to lift, which by the way we really need to figure out how that is possible.”

“Oh believe me, I’ve been trying so hard to figure that part out as well,” MK sighed.

“But my point to all of this is, I know he is a good monkey, him saving the city and mentoring MK and all that, but he is absolute garbage when it comes to actually acknowledging the fact that things don’t stay the same, everything has changed.” She let out a huff and proceeded to finish her melting ice cream.

“Wow…you really have thought about this,” the demon said as he watched her.

“Well I had some time to think and I still stand by Monkey King not being good enough for pops.”

“No one is good enough for dad,” MK muttered, making his two friends a bit surprised.

“I’m a bit shocked, I would have thought you would have been all for letting the Monkey King and Macaque court each other,” he tilted his head. “Why the change of heart?”

“No change, it’s just that-well” he began to fiddle with the ends of his violet headband, “I know the Monkey King and I know he is an amazing mentor, always includes me when the tribe comes around, loves to feed me, and he is just a good person. I grew up on the stories about him and what he has accomplished. I can’t help but idolize him and want to stay by his side through thick and thin. It’s just that-that…” he trailed off and hesitated with his next words.

“But not as much as pops,” Mei saw what he was getting at.

“…yeah, not as much as pops. As much as that seems mean, he has been with me for so long that I can’t imagine my life without him…Have I ever told you guys how I met dad?” He suddenly said as both human and demon shook their heads.

“All I know is that he found you in an alley one day and you’ve been with him since then,” the pigtail girl stated. “But I have a feeling there’s a lot more to it than that.”

“Yes and no,” MK pushed away his bowl, “he did find me in an alley and took me in for the night, fed me, treated my injuries, and comforted me, but that was supposed to be my only stay there.”

“So what changed?” Red softly asked.

“My former parents weren’t good people,” he breathed out. It took a long time before he could finally admit to himself that his sperm donors were selfish, good for nothing, assholes that only cared about two things, their nonexistent reputation and money. That night might have set a world record on how long he hugged his pops as he just wouldn’t let go even when the morning came.

Both human and demon knew exactly what he meant without any unneeded details as both their eyes glowed an ominous scarlet and viridian.

“Where are they?” The Bull and Dragon successor echoed as a small burst of energy flickered off them.

‘Should really be glad that today is a Monday and no one is around,’ MK winced as he took a glance around outdoors. “Guys, calm down. I’m fine, it’s been over ten years since I last saw them and I doubt I will ever see them again.”

The two begrudgingly settled down like a petulant child and slouched in their seats.

“Look dork, all I need is an address and I can promise you that I can make their lives a living hell,” Mei leaned in with a malicious smile. “They will regret even wanting to breathe by the time I’m done with them.”

“A name would suffice as well, it’s always prudent to know who the enemy might be in case there are no longer using the same location,” Red added as well.

“I am not giving you a name nor an address,” he sternly told them, “It’s been a long time since I saw them and I haven’t thought about them since,” which may be a teensy lie as they do pop up from time to time in his head during his not so good days, but it’s best not to tell them that.

“Besides, while I don’t exactly remember what happened that night I last saw them, I do know that they were terrified of Dad, whatever he said to them thoroughly shook them to their core.” He let a bit of vicious delight show on his face, he may not be a cruel person, but even he will happily admit that it was a bit cathartic to think back on that night and watch the emotional journey they went through that night as the life drain out their face the longer Dad spoke to them. It’s a bit messed up yes, but can you really blame him, he had to put up with their shit.

“Like he would do anything less for his child,” Mei smirked, “I guess I’ll let them off this time.”

“Good,” MK smiled as he got up to throw away all of their trash.

“We’re so getting it off of Mac,” Mei whispered to Red.

“Undoubtedly,” he subtly nodded, “they will feel pain.”

“When I’m done with them not even the morticians would want to come near them,” both shared a devilish smile, but quickly widened it when MK came back.

“Anyways,” he sat down with a huff, “before I got into all of that, what I was trying to say is that yes I respect the Monkey King, but I will always hold Dad to my heart first before anyone else.”

“Hear hear,” she pointed in the air, “so, does that mean you don’t want the great and powerful Monkey King to date pops.”

“Not really,” he winced at how bad that sounded. “I mean don’t get me wrong, but they just got back to being friends and I don’t think that it would be a good idea to jump into any type of romantic relationship so soon.”

“Sounds like an excuse but I don’t care, preach it!” She laughed and threw a fist in the air.

“It’s not an excuse,” well maybe a little, “it’s just that Dad said that he swore off dating for a long time after his last partner.”

“By the gods, we don’t talk about his previous partners, especially lemur bitch,” Red groaned as he knocked his head on the table, hoping that this would be the blow that would finally free his mind of those atrocious memories.

“Yeah I’ve been hearing that a lot, but what exactly did he do?!” Mei turned to look at the groaning prince.

“You really don’t want to know.”

“Heard that a lot as well and I still say, yes I really do,” the monkey successor added.

“I’m not-”

“Pleassseee!” Both humans begged with a puppy dog look in their eyes.

“All I’m willing to say is do not eat anything that he gives you and don’t show signs of high intelligence,” he pushed their faces back.

“Well I don’t have to worry about the second one,” MK grinned.

“Same!” Mei high fived him.

Red Son just looked at the two humans, one who was trying to earn his doctoral degree in Medicine and the other who almost finished with her bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering. He blinked once, then twice, opened his mouth, then promptly closed it and instead pinched his nose.

“But about that first thing,” Mei turned her attention back to the demon, “is his cooking really that bad or is there a little extra something he puts in there.”

“The second one, I don’t know exactly what happened, and I thank everyone for that, but I do know that Macaque was unconscious for a few days and when he awoke he felt an underlying desire to grovel at Shun’s feet and adore him and only him.”

“He made a love potion?!”

“More like a love poison,” he shuddered. While he had never ingested one before, there have been times where he was sent food laced with these poisons. Luckily he had never taken a bite of it before, but the first time it had happened, he swore that he had never seen both his parents so furious before. “They make the user attracted to the designated target and they will forever obey their every whim and command while under this spell, or at least until the spell wears off. The more potent and permanent ones have either been destroyed or kept under a watchful eye of a higher deity or demon.”

“That sounds fucking horrible,” MK grimaced.

“Yeah, like a 50/10 of no fucking thank you,” Mei scrunched up her nose.

“Exactly, so this is one of the reasons why Macaque decided best to get the fuck out of that and break up with him.”

“One of the reasons?”

“One of the reasons,” Red didn’t exactly know how to tell him that Shun had an unhealthy obsession with the simian, always stalking him, getting overly possessive, and those were just the blatant things. Yeah, it’s best to just let it be and forget that creepy ass fucker, it’s not like he’ll ever show his face again after his beat down courtesy of Macaque.

“And that just further emphasized my point!” The teen said, “he wants nothing to do with a romantic relationship of any kind, so he and Monkey King getting together would just be bad all around.”

“And I totally agree, so if Monkey ass tries to hurt Pops at any time, I already have Operation Sticky Surprise all bundled up and ready to go,” the dragon successor gave an evil looking grin.

“Sticky Surprise?”

“Mei has been making plans on plans on how to make the Monkey King life a living hell aside from outright killing him,” MK deadpanned.

“Killing is boring, humiliation is a lot more fun and it comes with the added bonus of there being so many different ways to do it! I also have Operation Inkblot, Stink Butt, Bug Devastation, Hangman Riot, Gossip Thrill, Paranoia Pandemonium, Faeries Laughters-”

“You got the Faeries involved in this?” Both boys looked horrified. “Why?!”

“I asked and they were more than happy to agree. In fact, I got a lot more creatures to help me out as well, I have an entire file just for the forest!” She eagerly held out her phone and showed them the numerous folders in the file that was labeled ‘Dragon Revenge: Forest Edition.’ “Want to hear about it?”

“…yes,” he leaned in closer. He had to admit that he is morbidly curious on what exactly some of the plans may entail.

“Well, I have Operation Ní Chorus, Qilin Stampede, BaBa Appetite, Macaque Monkeys Mania, Kappa War, and so much more. I even have another file that contains the one Daiyu and the rest of them made.”

“Even Ahmed?”

“Even Ahmed,” MK nodded. He should know as he was there that day when they were coming up with all of these elaborate plans. He felt he shouldn’t have been so surprised when the lion demon came up with some gruesome one, involving a bag of blood and some nasty curses, but that has nothing on Minsheng and their ideas. Who knew glitter can be used that way.

“You're just trying to humiliate him and possibly injure him in the process?” The demon asked.

“He’s an immortal monkey that has been through a lot of shit, he can take whatever we throw at him,” she bluntly stated.

“Have you thought of using a vast amount of flour then igniting it? I know from experience that using the two would make an unexpected explosion,” the first time he cooked he burned down the whole kitchen while holding the bag of flour in his hands.

“No, I did not,” Mei raised her phone and opened a new document, “tell me more.”

“Nail polish is another flammable object, which is why I have never worn it until you forced it upon me, powdered sugar, Ping Pong balls, oranges-”

“Why do you know this,” MK asked with a bit of horror in his tone.

“Well after I set my Pomelo on fire inside a safe house that we don’t use often, I decided it would be best to look up what else in a regular home is fucking flammable and not so surprising, a lot of things are. But on the upside,” he matched Mei’s sinister grin, “it’s not common knowledge and I don’t think the impulsive Monkey King would look up something like this if you know what I mean.”

“Oh I know exactly what you’re getting at,” she grinned even wider, “it would be a damn shame if someone were to perhaps spill some sugar on him, and there just happens to be a flame.”

“Or maybe if someone wanted to try something daring with a Ping Pong ball only to ‘accidentally’ hit it in the wrong direction,” he ominously said.

“Oh that would be bad.”

“Very bad.”

“Annoyingly bad,” Mei leaned in, “Tell me more.”

“With pleasure.”

“I feel like I should stop them,” he pondered to himself as he watched his two friends plot his mentor not-demise. “…nahh, I’m sure it will be fine.”

“We can dump sodium medals in the water to really make an explosion!”

“Yeah I’m good,” MK deadpanned as he leaned back, “Monkey King can handle it himself.”

“What are you bozos doing here,” Mei huffed as she saw Yin and Gin at the arcade.

“We may be elite demons with awesome powers and the everlasting hunger for a worthy fight,” Jin dramatically said.

“But even we can get bored sometimes and MK mentioned this place before,” Yin finished as he concentrated on shooting the zombies. “Speaking of, where is he? I usually see the two of you together.”

“I will mention the creepy stalking if I didn’t do that myself,” she muttered, “but couldn’t make it, he’s currently doing his online courses right now.”

“Oh right he did mention something about wanting to be a…healer I think was the word.”

“No dumbass, he is trying to be a physician. Healer is so Ming Dynasty bro,” Jin corrected his blue twin.

“Hey I’m the social one, you're the one who has their nose all up in the books,” he shrugged then pumped his fist in the air. “Hell yeah, new level!”

“I’m still pissed off at the both of you for the stunt you did at the race track,” she said as she leaned on the racing game next to theirs.

“To be fair, we knew we wouldn’t win,” the orange demon said.

“Yeah, it was mostly for fun.”

“Well that ‘fun’ almost cost me the medal and you really pissed off a lot of racers that day,” she stretched and hopped onto the bike. “Side note, if you ever meet a girl with purple hair, bright green eyes, and utterly jacked, you might want to scram. She was one of the competitors and she’s the least bit happy with either one of you.”

“Is that so?” Jin hummed as he hopped on the bike next to her.

“Yeah she wants to use your corpses as a gaudy rug for her front porch.”

“It be like that sometimes,” both twins said.

“You both seem way too chill about that,” she raised her eyebrow.

“We have seen people, demons, deities, and creatures alike much scarier,” Yin started as he continued to shoot the zombies down.

“We had masters who threaten to crush our bones, people using scrolls to torture our minds, deities making us relieve the worst days of our life over and over, demons stabbing us in the heart over and over, and the sheer presence of Macaque bearing down on the both of us,” Jin casually said.

Mei blinked a few times, “Okay that seems like a lot, but understandable. You met pops before?”

“You know the Six Eared Macaque,” the blue demon turned his head to her, “of course you do, cause why not.”

“We met him a few times after the whole Calabash incident and he is much scarier than the rumors made him out to be.”

“But demon knows how to put on a good play.”

“Yeah, his shadow play is a real banger,” Jin gave a toothy grin.

“So you guys met him at the theater,” she deadpanned.

“Yup,” both said.

“Why am I not surprised,” she sighed and began the game, “well I’m gonna smoke your ass on this.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Jin grinned as he revved his engine.

“Children, both of them,” Yin rolled his eyes, but he gave a loud shout as he noticed he finished the level. “Hell Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!”

“I refuse to believe that you managed to make peaches taste sour,” Wukong scrunched up his nose as he disdainfully eyed the peach dried chips. “This has to be some mockery or imitation, cause ain’t no way in hell are those actual peaches.”

“Hate to break it to ya,” Mac smirked as he took a chip in his mouth, “but they are.”

“You heathen,” he hissed out.

“Payback for the tainted Mango,” he smirked.

“Oh come on! That was centuries ago!”

“And I hated every last bite of that disgusting piece of fruit that dared touch my tongue!” He barked back.

The sage threw up his arms and marched to the kitchen, “I am raiding your kitchen! I need to wash put that nasty taste and hope that it doesn’t taste like a cup of lemon juice has just been freshly squeezed into my mouth.”

“You big baby, it’s not even that sour,” he snorted as he took another handful of chips. He knew that Wukong hated the taste of anything sour, revenge never tasted so good.

“No, no, no, why do you even have this,” he asked as he held up a bottle of Olive juice.

“Blame MK, last time he brought home an Aloe Vera milk which I didn’t realize was even a thing,” and the sad thing was that it didn’t taste bad, just extremely weird.

“Course he did,” was all he said as he continued to scrimmage through the kitchen. “Aha! Here we…go?” He paused as he moved over the soda and spotted a large jug. “What are you?” He opened it up and the familiar smell hit his nose as he never forgets that smell. “You mangy monkey!”

“Hmm?” Mac raised his brow as Wukong leaped over him with a familiar jar in hand, “No, you are not about to drink wine right now. I can’t deal with your alcohol self, you are too fucking clingy and a hundred times more impulsive.”

“I won’t, but how did you manage to sneak this away,” he grinned and swished the half full jug in hand.

“Huh? What are you babbling on about?”

“How did you get the Immortality wine, I know they have it locked up nice and tight after my little fiasco,” he held it up for further emphasis.

“The what wine?!” He stalked over to him and snatched the jug out of his hands, “Is that what this is?!”

“You drank it without even knowing what it is?” He shot the black simian an incredulous look, he knows that he is the one who is the most suspicious of getting anything from anyone, let alone something he doesn’t know.

“Don’t look at me like that!” He barked, “It’s from a friend who stops by once and a while. When-how-what the fuck Shen?”

“You know someone who can just give you immortality wine,” he couldn’t help but find a bit of amusement from his friend's expression.

“Apparently, he comes by every once in a while and that fucker never told me what this shit is,” he growled that last part.

“How do you know him?”

“He was a friend of Ping!” He threw his hands in the air and marched back to the kitchen and put back the jug of very rare and sought after wine…on second thought it would probably be better if he found a better spot to put this.

“Ping? The same Ping who taught you medicine and helped grow the forest Ping,” he stated as his tail swished behind him. He really wanted to just shake him and ask what the human was to him, but (for once) he kept down his impulsive thoughts and gently prodded him.

“Yess,” he rubbed his neck out of a bout of nerves, “but technically I made the forest, he said it would be a good way to plant a seed and take care of it to vent my frustration. Which is weird, but oh well and the next thing I know there is a forest.”

“So you just forgot that seeds grow and made an entire ass forest without you even noticing,” Wukong smirked.

“I’m not that fucking blind that I didn’t see an entire damn forest, it just didn’t…occur to me that I made it,” he winced at how dumb that sounded. He rolled his eyes when he heard the first snort then a full blown laughter coming from the brown furred monkey. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up.

“Don’t worry,” he said in between breaths, “I will! Pffftttt! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

He gave a petulant huff and went back to his warm tea with a laughing monkey following close behind. Eventually, the laughter subsided and all that was left was a smirking monkey leaning on a simian dead set on ignoring him.

“Only you moonshine,” he smirked as he watched his friend turn his face away with a faint red blush. He knows that calling him cutesy nicknames doesn’t get on his nerves no matter how many times he says so, but he secretly likes them. It’s how he got away with some of the things he did, but now he has a new goal in mind as he casually stretched his arms behind Mac and gently let his fingers rest on his long fur.

‘Soft. So soft. I don’t think I ever felt his fur ever be this soft before,’ he eyed the tantalizing fur curled in between his fingers. Just taunting him and begging him to please thread your fingers throughout the fluffy locks. ‘I really want to groom his fur,’ his hands twitched as he watched to see if Macaque would stop him, but he saw his eyes closed and leaning back. He almost let out a purr at the sight of his friend's trust and really wanted to just put his whole body on him for cuddles, but managed to keep it down in time and instead readied himself to put his other hand to his fur, a door slamming open stopped him.

BOOM!

“Guess who's back and is hearing an obnoxious ringing noise in their ears!” A loud voice shouted out which made the two separate from each other, much to the ire of a brown furred simian.

“Who the-” he began to mutter.

“And what have I told you about keeping your voice down inside?” Macaque yelled back.

“Too many times to count,” Bohai sighed.

Minsheng chuckled as they walked in and noticed that his friend wasn’t quite alone. “Well what do we have here?”

“Hey there, you might know me, I’m the-” he was cut off by the lion demon.

“The Monkey King, I have seen images of you before,” Ahmed then gave a slight nod, “I’m Ahmed, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Right back at you.”

“The name is Daiyu chimp,” she gave a very harsh slap on his shoulder and sat on the edge of the couch.

“I mean not really a chimp-”

“I’m Bohai,” the jellyfish demon said with a glow, “we’ve heard many things about you.”

“What kind? I mean there are a lot of stories-” he was cut off once more.

“And I’m Minsheng,” they said as he sat in between the two monkeys, “and I would introduce you to Yanyu, but she’s at work right now.”

“Yanyu?”

“His student,” Bohai commented as he watched the monkey demon sit the vulture down and is currently examining her ears.

“You had a student?”

“What can I say, I have that charm,” he deadpanned then shot Daiyu a glare, “how many times have I told you not to fuck with strange magical plants unless you know what it is!”

“Again, too many times to count,” the jellyfish reiterated.

“She heard the rumors about him and just went to the forest and forced him to teach her. But secretly, we all know Mac attack has a soft spot for the kiddos,” the bunny grinned as he saw that Mac was now purposefully tuning them out.

“Yeah, I can tell,” he gave a sweet smile as he remembered all his interactions with both of his children.

All the demons not preoccupied silently blinked at Wukong’s words and expressions and it was all at once did it click for them. And they all shared a knowing look to one another.

“It’s nothing too bad,” Macaque concluded after he checked both her ears, medians, and body. “You should be fine after some rest and water, which you will do even if I have to strap you down to that damn bed.”

“You got it doc!” She saluted him and walked off.

He rolled her eyes at her antics and didn’t even flinch when Ahmed sat down beside him. “Please don’t tell me you got injured in some way as well.”

“Don’t worry, I did not,” he gave a deep chuckle.

“Thank fuck,” he sighed and felt the lion began to come closer to him and began to nuzzle the top of his head. He knew exactly what was happening, “Going through one of those moods again?”

“Yeah, sorry bout this” he murmured.

“Eh, it’s fine. Just do what you want,” he flippantly said and felt a purr of appreciation as he felt his fur getting licked.

And if the nuzzles didn’t catch Wukong’s attention then the lion demon currently licking his longtime crush did as he had to hold back a screech of displeasure at the sight, but that didn’t stop his whole body from twitching.

“Yeah, Ahmed does that sometimes,” Min smirked as they watched the brown monkey's eyes twitch. “Apparently lions do this for some social bonding and whatnot, but he especially likes to do this with Mac.”

“Oh does he,” Wukong let a small hiss out.

“Mmmhmm, sometimes hours would go by and he would still be at it,” Daiyu added and watched as his fingers dug into the cushion. Ohohoho she knows that look, it is the same look her sister gave to another male when he was trying to court the same chick as her, needless to say he can never land the same again, especially since he’s missing a foot and all.

“Hours then they're rather…close then,” he had to put on a wide grin, but he couldn’t help but bare a few teeth.

“Oh yeah, we might have known Doc and Med first before they met each other, but when the two met, it was like a perfect match.” Bohai drew out. He knows exactly what his friends were trying to do and he finds no shame in joining in. Even without the stories of the two monkeys' relations, it was too easy to see the fondness that was coming off from the both of them.

“Like a puzzle piece fit together,” Sheng emphasized. They know that the Monkey Pleb had quite the temper on him, not even counting his impulsiveness, and they couldn’t help but taunt the ever-loving fuck out of him. Life threatening, perhaps with all the killing he does, but fun, it is starting to look so much fun. Besides they already had their fun teasing Mac about this, now it’s the dumbass monkey's turn for his time in the spotlight.

He said nothing as he watched the two demons curl closer together.

‘A perfect match? Fit together?! Like hell they are! I’ll show you-no calm down and breathe,’ he took a deep breath and relaxed. ‘It’s okay. Moonshine trusts him and is okay with the…grooming the lion is doing. They have known each other for quite some time, so of course he wouldn’t mind.’ He glanced back at the scene, watched Mac's content face and he further relaxed. ‘I’m really glad that he had people watching out for him and besides it’s not like there is any bigger reason behind this than bonding.’

Then Wukong’s eyes caught Ahmed and as the monkey was about to smile wider in his direction the lion gave a little smirk and nuzzled his face a little bit harder into the long black fur and let out a content purr. Ahmed may not have any romantic feelings towards the smaller demon, but that doesn’t mean that he will willingly let go of him that easily. Macaque is a part of his pack and he is known for being…violently protective over each and every member of his small pack.

The Sage Monkey froze and barely stopped the growl coming out of his throat as he gritted his teeth while his eyes glinted a faint golden glow. ‘I’m gonna skin that overgrown cat!’

The rest of the demons subtly gave a thumbs up to the lion as they held back their laughter. Oh yes, they were all going to have so much fun with this.

A pack of fossa laid still in the grass as they quietly stalked their prey from behind. They followed the figure for some time waiting for the opportunity to strike as the prey continued a steady walk. The leader could almost feel the tender meat upon his teeth as he gazed upon their oversized prey. They have been only getting the small rabbits and birds and that wasn’t enough, it’s never enough to fill them so they're quite…hungry.

Then the prey stopped and so did they.

“I know you're there,” they all stilled as a soft voice called out. “I know you’ve been following me for quite some time.”

They all glanced towards the leader for guidance on their next approach, so he hunched down low and began to crawl closer in preparation to pounce on him.

“Ah ah ah,” the voice tutted, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Though I am talking to mindless beasts, so perhaps I should speak in their language.”

Before any even had the chance to feel offended by the words, they all smell a strange odor before-

EYES. THEY WATCH WATCH WATCH WATCH ALL

SEE THEY SEE SEE SEE EVERY LITTLE

STEP

STEP

NO ESCAPE

STEP

STEP

CAN’T RUN

STEP

STEP

CAN'T HIDE

STEP

STEP

FIGHT NEED TO FIGHT FIGHT CANT FIGHT

WIDE WIDE WHY SO WIDE

TEETH TEETH SO MANY TEETH WHY WHY WHYWHYWHYWHYWH

They’re brought back to the field, their back with their bodies, back with their heads with no teeth about to snap it right off-

“I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let you off easy okay,” they all flinched at the soft voice. “Well, what are you waiting for? Run.”

And they did, they ran and ran and ran so far that not even the growl in their stomach bothered them. They just needed to run away fast, it was no wonder they didn’t spot any other prey on the way here, they all must have sensed the predator. The terrifying predator with the teeth, why teeth, why so many teeth.

And they kept running.

“Well that’s enough excitement for one night,” the voice sighed as he continued back on his path and threw out in the distance the illuminating sight of a city. “I am almost there, I’ll see you soon my love.”

While there was a moon high in the sky there was still vast darkness upon the path as not a single critter chirped nor a single rustle of leaves as he walked upon the path. The animals all cowered away from the frightening presence and hoped that the predator wouldn’t look at them. But there were a few that were brave enough to slightly peek out from under their leaf or quietly look a smidge over their hole and get a glance at the predator retreating figure. All that they could see as it got farther and farther away was a black and white striped tail swishing softly behind him.

[nasabeck]

the last 20 years playlist (spotify)

(photo credit: found on pinterest and text added by me, i assure you that i scoured pinterest, instagram and google searched the image to find the original creator but cannot find them anywhere. if you know, please drop me a message so i can credit appropriately) this playlist has been unfinished for so long that the title changed from the last 15 years to the last 20 years, albeit none of these songs were actually a major deal to me when I was 7 y/o, more like 10+ y/o. but these songs have all meant something to me at some point in my life, they represent a good time or a tough time, a happy time or a really sad time, they were the monumental songs that got me through life up to this point. there’s pretty much a tale to tell for everything on this list, so let me know if you want to hear a story about a song or band!

1. numb without you - the maine // 2.  can’t take my eyes off you - lady a // 3. i’ve got a dark alley and a bad idea that says you should shut your mouth - fall out boy // 4. transatlanticism - death cab for cutie // 5. northern downpour - panic! at the disco // 6. roses for the dead - funeral for a friend // 7. beating heart baby - head automatica // 8. runaway - cartel // 9. diamond days - kids in glass houses // 10. you’re not alone - saosin // 11. run away with me - aaron tveit // 12. stay together for the kids - blink 182 // 13. disenchanted - my chemical romance // 14. ghosts - laura marling // 15. walk on water - 30 seconds to mars // 16. terrible things - mayday parade // 17. cute without the “e” - taking back sunday // 18. family portrait - pink // 19. there’s a good reason these tables aren’t numbered honey, you just haven’t figured it out yet - panic! at the disco // 20. you owe me an iou - hot hot heat // 21. the middle - jimmy eat world // 22. two beds and a coffee machine - savage garden // 23. (un)lost - the maine // 24. love steals us from loneliness - idlewild // 25. makedamnsure - taking back sunday // 26. did you hear the rain? - george ezra // 27. nicotine and alcohol saved my life - deaf havana // 28. everything is alright - motion city soundtrack // 29. i caught fire - the used // 30. sunshine - kids in glass houses // 31. slip the noose - the maine // 32. if i didn’t believe in you - jeremy jordan // 33. c’est la vie - stereophonics // 34. disconnected (live) - 5 seconds of summer // 35. time to dance - panic! at the disco // 36. english girls approximately (live) - ryan adams // 37. do you hear the people sing? - les miserables 2012 film soundtrack // 38. love to love - jessie ware // 39. you matter to me - waitress obc soundtrack // 40. take on the world - you me at six // 41. history - funeral for a friend // 42. shimmy shimmy quarter turn - hellogoodbye // 43. r-evolve - 30 seconds to mars // 44. remembering sunday - all time low // 45. helena - my chemical romance // 46. i like america & america likes me - the 1975 // 47. simple man - jensen ackles & jason manns // 48. moments - one direction // 49. this is gospel - panic! at the disco // 50. it ends tonight - the all-american rejects // 51. red sky - thrice // 52. i don’t want to be - gavin degraw // 53. ocean avenue - yellowcard // 54. i could be in love with someone like you (live) - norbert leo butz // 55. taxi - the maine // 56. passion for publication - anarbor // 57. carry on wayard son - kansas // 58. red is the new black - funeral for a friend // 59. local boy in the photograph - stereophonics // 60. the gambler - fun. // 61. rite of spring - angels & airwaves // 62. dying in la - panic! in the disco // 63. somebody told me - the killers // 64. as if we never said goodbye - glee cast // 65. three cheers for five years (acoustic) - mayday parade // 66. raise hell - kids in glass houses // 67. why - busted // 68. bodybag - hit the lights // 69. send in the clowns - judi dench // 70. on my own - the used // 71. not alone - mcfly // 72. all too well - taylor swift // 73. the mother we share - chvrches // 74. bennie and the jets - elton john // 75. beggin for thread (gryffin & hotel garuda remix) - banks // 76. teen idle - marina // 77. give him a great big kiss - the shangri-las // 78. found/tonight - ben platt & lin-manuel miranda // 79. hurricane - 30 seconds to mars // 80. good enough - little mix // 81. it must really suck to be four year strong right now - four year strong // 82. vegas - all time low // 83. champagne supernova - oasis // 84. set the fire to the third bar - snow patrol ft. martha wainwright // 85. gemini feed - banks // 86. rubber ring - the smiths // 87. this scene is dead - we are scientists // 88. wasted - cartel // 89. we’ll all be - the maine

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday 29th December

JOYCE: Is it a vampire? BUFFY: Mom, what are you doing here? JOYCE: I brought you a snack. I thought it was about time for me to come out and watch. Y-you know, the slaying. BUFFY: You know, the slaying is kind of an alone thing. JOYCE: But it's such a big part of your life, and I'd like to understand it. It's, um, you know, something we could share. BUFFY: A-actually, it's pretty dull, you know, it's bam boom stick... poof. (vamp jumps out, she starts fighting it) JOYCE: Good, honey! Kill him! Buffy, he-he's over here! Oh, my God! It's Mr. Sanderson from the bank! And he's getting away! BUFFY: (to Joyce) Stay! (runs after it, stakes it)

~~Gingerbread ~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Turned To Black (Willow, Tara, Warren,PG) by badly_knitted

Eagle’s Observation (Xander, Crossover with Assassin's Creed/possibly Mummy??/Supernatural, Not rated) by madimpossibledreamer

Not me (Spike, crossover with TVD, Teen and up) by Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen

Faith's Submissive Princess (Buffy/Faith, explicit) by RavenclawSlayer

what you want to hear (Faith/Willow, not rated) by bodytoflame-ao3

Five Times Buffy Fell Asleep on Spike's Watch, Plus One Time They Look Forward To It (Spike/Buffy, PG-13) by acekoomboom

[Chaptered Fiction]

overcome in this war of hearts 1/3 (Spike/Buffy, Mature) by Krewlak

Changes, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, NC-!&) by Jws1993

Interrogated: Spike, Chapter 1 (Spike/Buffy, PG) by Jws1993

Unexpected, Unwanted, Unbelievable, Chapter 19 (Buffy/Spike, R) by the_bronze

Gray, Chapter 39 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Dusty

United We Stand, Chapter 9 (Faith, crossover with Nikita, FR-15) by batzulger

Christmas at the Folly 5: Dead Slayers (Ensemble (Spuffy-oriented), not rated) by myrabeth

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Buffy and Willow (SFW) by buffyandwillow

Artwork:Buffy and Faith (SFW) by malvymary

[Reviews & Recaps]

Blog: No-One Ever Dies and Everybody Lives Happily Ever After (Passion) by buffythoughts

[Community Announcements]

Masterpost: Buffy Femslash Secret Santa 2021 by buffyfemslash

[Fandom Discussions]

Spike Thoughts Some Fans Might Dislike by herinsectreflection

Possibly unpopular opinion: Buffy didn’t try all that hard to connect with and be friends with Faith. by initiumseries

The Tragedy of Drusilla by theglassphantom

The Scoobies (and particularly Willow) being convinced that Buffy is being tortured in some hell dimension by duchessofbuffonia17

Ted is one of the most horrifying episodes of Buffy by sunnydalebimbo

Kennedy could’ve been much more interesting with some character development. by imsorrythatusernameistaken

It actually says a lot that Willow only decided to go cold turkey with the magic after almost killing Dawn. by girl4music

Name a city that is probably on top of a hellmouth and tell me why. by Ok_Mathematician_697

Is it worth watching Angel? by Guzwat

Does Xander get better? by The_only_Spencer

S5 E16 (The Body) needs a MASSIVE trigger warning by Damaias479

Xander vs Spike by DrivingGoddess

Buffy crying moments that literally break your heart? by jdpm1991

Willow and The Scarlet Witch by bloomforu

How do you feel about Giles refusing to help Angel in season 5? by jdpm1991

Do we know what the original plot of (AtS)season 4 was supposed to be? by heart-slobs

How would Buffy react to a puppet version of Angelus? by shonenhikada

Season 7 Buffy: Spike is the only one watching my back by grandfell

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[freddyjoncs]

𝙲𝙾𝙾𝙻𝚂𝚅𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟻.

t a g g i n g : fred jones sr, judy reeves, brad chiles.

t i m e f r a m e : summer 1995

l o c a t i o n :  coolsville

n o t e s : zulema said it’s finally time to expand the coolsville cinematic universe. for more insight to the foolery read freddy’s self-discovery para. 

when the town of coolsville comes to mind you don’t think of the white picket fences, family barbecues in the summertime heat or pleasantville USA. No, you think of the deaths, the monsters, the mysteries that run deep within the town. for years, mayor jones has tried his best to bury the past. He wanted to present this squeaky clean image. a town you could raise a family in, after all, his family was the mold. perfect mayor & father and perfect son. 

and if he couldn’t do that, he would just bank on how marketable the town was.

not everyone could keep up with the joneses after all.

judy reeves knew that all too well. her curiosity is what ultimately lead to her demise. had she only stopped digging perhaps she could’ve had the white picket fence dream her boyfriend always dreamed for them and their son.

being a coolsville native, judy always knew there was something off about the town. bad things always happened to coolsville inhabitants. the neighbouring city of hallow falls seemed to have the same luck, not as bad, she thought. sure, they had the myth of the sanderson sisters but at least people didn’t die every couple of years in their town. coolsville didn’t have that luck. she could tell you the stories of each killer by heart. she had memorized them, found an interest in it like every teen had.  

captain cutler, miner-forty-niner, creeper, fireball mcphan, ben ravencroft, jonathan jacobo, lena dupree and most recently tommy lomis. all infamous for the crimes they had committed against the town. all now stories told to scare children. but judy knew there was more to it. these weren’t stories or just random happenings. it was a curse.

coolsville was cursed.

over the years the stories no longer struck fear into the hearts of the people of coolsville. the last spree had happened in 1978 at the now demolished camp Grimwood. The Jones family had seen to it that the camp would be gone in hopes for the town to move on. They had healed now. it felt right to go back to a life or normalcy. it’s what brad had wanted for them - especially when their son robbie came along.

judy reeves and brad chiles, high school sweethearts turned young parents had always been stuck to each other’s side through thick and thin. Judy a bright girl with an extraordinary future before her. at least, that’s what everyone said. valedictorian,  prom queen, top of her class and just over all a wonderful girl. everyone believed she was going places until she found herself shacked up with brad chiles, the boy from the other side of the tracks who was nothing but trouble. they all said the moment they met her life was over. when she got pregnant her senior year of high school everyone believed it to be true. another waste of a perfectly good future. it’s why the elite of coolsville stayed on their side. 

but Judy had never been like them. she wasn’t a classist asshole like her parents. Brad wasn’t some fun little side project either. she genuinely loved him and their son who game into the world on graduation. she didn’t need fancy titles, nice cars or riches to make her happy in life. the family she had created with brad was enough. life was perfect in her eyes

that is until her brother murdered innocent people. 

it was a late summer in june. Brad’s brother, Jacob, who worked at the local mall was on a closing shift. He was supposed to return home just like he always did but instead they received a call from sheriff stone. Jacob was dead. Not only that he had murdered five people at the mall including his best friend, Alice May. The only way to stop him was a shot through the head.

Judy couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. Brad’s brother would never do such a thing. Jacob was a good kid he wasn’t capable of murder. there was only one reason as to why he would behave in such a way.

the curse.

it had to be the curse. Judy was so sure of it. There was no way Jacob could ever do such a thing. 

“There has to be some knowledge about it.” Judy said as she looked through books in the local library. 

“babe, it’s late. we’ve been at this for hours. we’ve found nothing.” which is exactly what brad expected. he didn’t have the heart to tell his girlfriend to stop. nor did he have the heart to tell her that trying to place a curse on his brother’s actions didn’t help the grieving process. 

“brad, I know there has to be something here. everyone chants about that damn curse and spit it in your face. they write it on the walls, for christ sa-” a hand fell on judy’s hand during her tangent.

“our son is at home.” was all brad said and judy stopped to look at him with sad eyes. as much as her stubbornness wanted to keep pushing for answers Judy knew that Robbie was waiting for them at home. Another day, she thought. another day she’d try it again. for now, she would go home and take care of her son.

.....

as much as brad wanted judy to stop her wild goose chase he knew she would never stop. by the end of june he had enough of it. they fought more about her trying to break this silly curse than anything else. he had made peace with what happened with his brother why couldn’t judy just leave it the fuck alone? 

“there is no curse judy!” he yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Yes there is, brad! Why do you think bad things keep happening to this town? consistent murders don’t just happen like they do here.”

“people are monsters. what do you expect? it can’t all be sunshine and rainbows. I know the north side taught you that it was.” there was a silence that fell over them.

“I didn’t mean-” fuck, but he did, didn’t he? he resented judy at times because she came from privilege because she lived in the land of white picket fences and green lawns and he came from the side of the town where your brothers killed innocent people. 

“I know that I had it much easier than you. You don’t have to throw that in my face. but why can’t you just believe me? The stories-”

“they’re just ghost stories, judy.” 

she turned away from him, not wanting brad to see the tears welling up in her eyes.

“but they’re not.”

.....

it turns out her relentless searching wasn’t for nothing. on her journey for the truth she discovered two of her classmates, Cassidy Williams and Ricky Owens, were believers of the curse as well. in fact, they had a uncovered more clues than judy had alone.

the curse, was believed to be brought upon by annabeth fier. a witch from hallow falls. it was said she cursed the town for hanging her and every so years she came and exacted her revenge on coolsville for what they had done to her. 

for the first time it made sense. a town full of mysteries and this had to be the biggest one of all. Ricky and Cassidy held the biggest clue of all - an occult book with information on the curse and a path to the witches mark. it felt like a long shot and maybe it was but it was also the closest judy had gotten to the truth. she couldn’t give up now that she was close. the truth was being dangled before her. if she could prove that the curse was real maybe she could also break it as well. 

although things were tense between her and brad he had promised to accompany her on the journey. not without a price of course. if this turned out to be a hoax, as he believed it to be, he made judy promise him this is the last that she’d ever bring up the curse. it was the deal judy had agreed to. she would do just about anything to bring back some normalcy between her and brad again. she knew he was mostly going for his own peace of mind since he didn’t trust the stranger leading judy on her wild goose chase.

the four of them were going to uncover the truth of coolsville.

......

The witches mark was located until the coolsville mall which is where the grimwood camp massacre took place. the mall was reopened now that a month had passed after the murder. judy could tell brad was tense sitting the the driveway. the pain would never go away, the wound was still too fresh. there was a wave of guilt that washed over judy as she stared at the building before her. 

Cassidy’s uncle worked as a janitor for the mall so they had access to the place after dark. the only way to get under was to get in. after strategic planning the four made their way into the building once closed. From the looks of the map the closest entrance was a grate near the emergency exit. it was a tight squeeze but the four of them managed to get in.

it was dark and cold. the underlying tunnels under the mall were cave like. the further they ventured the more the air in the channels seemed to shift. there was buzzing in the distance of what seemed like flies and a pounding? why was there pounding in caves. It sounded like a heart, beating rhythmically in time to theirs. it seemed to grow louder, faster the four swore the ground beneath them was vibrating. as they continued the once barren cave was now grown with red moss, littering every inch of the walls around them and soon they found themselves at the heart of it all.

etched out before them was the same symbol in the book cassidy was holding. the witches mark. The four of them stared at it in awe until ricky’s voice broke the silence. “Yo, guys y’all might wanna see this.” the trio turned to see giant slabs of stone before them with writing present on each one. judy got closer to see what was written before her.

 captain cutler, miner-forty-niner, creeper, fireball mcphan, ben ravencroft, jonathan jacobo, lena dupree, tommy lomis and jacob chiles.

all the names of the coolsville killers.

“Every single person written here went on a killing spree.” Ricky said softly as he began to reach out to touch the stone but was abruptly stopped by brad.

“So what does that mean someone’s playing god and forcing people to do this shit?” brad spat, his eyes staring intently at his brother’s name.

“Close.”

a voice called from the distance. 

“I wouldn’t call it god.” from the shadows of the tunnel appeared Fred Jones, the mayor’s son. coolsville’s golden boy in every single way. The Jones family was one of if not the wealthiest family in town with immense power in their hands. the way he was staring at the four of them left judy’s stomach uneasy.

“how do you know about this place?” she asked, pretending to not hear the latter part of his statement.

“better question, why are you and how did you get that?” he said, nodding towards the book that cassidy was now holding close to her chest.

“Don’t make me ask you again or else-” judy started but was promptly cut off. “Or else what? you’re going to cry curse again? my god, Judy, you’ve turned into the town nut. who’s going to listen to a word you say? after you’ve lost your status shacking up with that southside trash no one is going to care what you think. I mean, if you dump him maybe they would but with that brat of yours....” and as if on cue another figure emerged from the shadows carrying a sleeping robbie in their arms. “no one will ever believe you again.”

At the sight of their child, Brad began to lunge towards Fred but was halted by a raised finger and a a string of tsks. “You wouldn’t want to wake the baby now would you?”

“What do you want, Fred?” Judy croaked out, her hand placed on Brad’s arm as she tried to keep her boyfriend at bay. she was barely keeping her own composure.

“I want the book. It belong to my family. I also want your compliance. The four of you know too much. I can’t have you silly little wannabe sleuths exposing the truth. So i want you gone. All of you are to leave coolsville before sunrise. that is, if you’d like to live of course. Give me any problems or tell a soul about any of this and i’ll make sure brad’s name is right under his brothers.” he paused to look brad dead in the eyes who was now looking as pale as a ghost. “you’ll only remember bits and pieces of killing them, Bradley but I know you’ll remember the sound of their screams and their blood on your hands.” the wicked grin on fred’s face struck fear into the very core of all four of them. 

“and to make sure no funny business occurs. i’m keeping him. for collateral.” Fred added as baby robbie was placed into his arms. and at that the four of them were being escorted out of the cave by fred’s goons. judy doesn’t remember much. the entire situation was a haze of emotions. the next thing she remembered was driving away in brad’s van, an unsettling silence hanging over them as tears streamed down her face. the sunset before them was a sign that day was here once again. how could she begin to think of a new day when her entire world had been shattered in an entire night?

she should have listened to brad and stopped searching for answers in ghost stories. 

that’s all they weren’t after all.

stories.

......

looking down at the child in his arms fred’s brows furrowed as his index finger caressed the smooth cheek of the child. It caused the baby to stir but never waking up. Fred almost found it endearing. almost. There was no time for attachments. There was a prophecy to be continued. the baby in his arms was the key for their success. 

“Dad always said I needed an heir. you’ll be just perfect won’t you, freddy?”

......

freddy looked down at the book in front of him. when he searched his father's belongings he had found the book hidden next to his files. after the monsters had attacked freddy looked to the book for answers. he was going to show the gang but with all that was going on how could he bring up coolsville mysteries when they were fighting for their lives? he knew how to read a room.

so now here he was alone in his room looking at the book. he hadn’t dare open it since he brought it back. what laid within it scared freddy more than anything but if he was going to get answers about his father he needed to start here.

why else would his father have this if it wasn’t important?

so he opened it only to find that the curse was true. the one he had heard stories of that his father said was nothing but bullshit. just like his pretend mysteries. 

the only way to break the curse was to unite hand with body. 

[sunmoon-starfactory]

Forging On - Metalsmithing Station

Steel yourself and strike while the iron is hot! With an anvil and the proper body skill, a sim may forge various components, wares, tools, and even weapons and armor.

Download  Metalsmithing - SFS

Download Auto Tool Update - SFS

Download/View - The Keep

See under the cut for details and instructions, or visit the Keep link for the same and more images.

REQUIRED OTHER SUN&MOON SETS: ● Refine And Shine – Metal Ingots, Shovel Tool ● All Fired Up – Fire Grates ● Great Grains – Field Sickle Tool ● Cheese Please – Cheese Knife ● Gone Fishin’ – Fillet Knife ● Mining 3.0 – Pickaxe ● Rainy Day Savings – Metal Safes/Strongboxes ● It’s A Trap! – Animal Traps

THE ANVIL: This is the station used for metal smithing. It comes in two versions, one that is a whole set up of anvil on stump with quenching barrel, and the other that is just an anvil to be placed anywhere. Of course if you choose just the anvil, be aware that the animation may be off depending on the height of the surface it is placed.  

Skill Level 0-2: Perfect starting projects for an apprentice or someone just getting into the craft. Learn the basics first! ● Wooden Components ● Chains ● Nails ● Findings ● Hoops Skill Level 3-4: Now that the basics are there, time to learn to make more complex or delicate shapes and bends. ● Previous Tier Items ● Horse Shoe Set ● Spigots ● Sink and Washtub ● Tools ● Kitchen Utensil Set ● Lanterns ● Alarm Bells ● Tableware Sets ● Animal Traps ● Candlesticks/Holders Skill Level 5-6: Those shapes are muscle memory now, time to get to confidently producing more sturdy goods prone to wear and tear. ● Previous Tier Items ● Cookware Set ● Security Keys ● Stoves ● Fire Grates ● Buffet Platter ● Safes Skill Level 7+: Items that require more fine detail or precision are now the goal. ● Previous Tier Items ● Idols ● Iron Sword ● Mail Armor Writ Of Mastery: ● Previous Tier Items ● Plate Armors ● Steel Weapons

FUNCTIONAL ITEMS ANIMAL TRAPS: While the files for the traps themselves are not included in the download, the metalsmith station is capable of making three fully functioning animal traps. *Note: Traps are not restockable from inventory in a business setting. Future update to Animal Hunting will cover that. ● Fox Trap ● Wolf Trap ● Bear Trap

PORTION KNIVES: ● Cheese Knife ● Fish Fillet Knife

LANTERNS: Place Anywhere/Holdable Lanterns: Copied files of existing creations from Ocelotekatl who allowed me to incorporate the files into the station. Retains old GUIDs, but have been renamed and given Restocking From Inventory Code. Accessory packages are included. ● Box ● Cylindrical ● Oblong

STOVES: ● Skyrim Cauldrons/Pots/Spit: Copied files of existing creations from Sunni. Retains old GUIDs, but have been renamed and given Restocking From Inventory Code. ● Muffin Maker: Copied files of existing creations from Motherof70. Retains old GUIDs, but have been renamed and given Restocking From Inventory Code. ● Cooktop Ring: A stove that can be placed on countertops or anywhere really. ● Pot Belly Stove: Copied files of existing creations from Numenor. Retains old GUIDs, but have been renamed and given Restocking From Inventory Code. ● Eva's Hanging Cauldron:Copied files of existing creations from Eva/Sunni. Retains old GUIDs, but have been renamed and given Restocking From Inventory Code. ● Auld Crow Stove: TS2 stove with some bits and bobs removed. 

BELLS & KEYS: ● Fire Alarm Bell: Copied files of existing creation by Kate. Retains old GUID, but has been remapped, renamed and given Restocking From Inventory Code ● Alarm Clock Hand Bell. Based on Inge's Alarm Clock for more customization and setting. ● Security Keys - Custom Burglar Alarm. Make sure to download Midge's Mod for Custom Burglar alarms to make it work. 

BANKS While the files for the banks themselves are not included in the download, the metalsmith station is capable of making three fully functioning metal banks. ● Skyrim Metal Safe ● Skyrim Strongbox Safe ● Witcher Metal Safe  

SWORDS/DAGGER: Based off of Paladin's Dueling Swords, but heavily modified, new weapons are available for use by sims teen and older. All swords and the dagger may perform the following actions: ● Challenge: This action allows two sims to spar with swords. They will continue to do so until they reach motive failure, but the action can be interrupted at any time. ● Practice: This action allows a sim to practice their sword work and footing and thus gain mechanical (dexterity) skill. Note that the sword will “disappear” from where it has been placed with this action, representing a sim has it in use. ● Kill: This action allows the current selected sim to have a brief fight with another sim and the target sim will die at the end of the fight. Use with caution, death is always the outcome for the target sim. ● Grab: Standard Grab function that adds a sword into a sim’s inventory. It is enabled for visitors, as well as children. So deliveries can be made, or thievery can happen. The grab in non-autonomous however. All Swords use NixedSims Accessory Swords from her Training Dummies V3 set, and retain their original GUIDs. If you have these already in your game you can delete them from this set. Each Sword utilizes 5 packages. All swords share the FIGHT AREA package but must have their own Object, Accessory, and Actions Packages. Different swords cannot share the latter 3.

IDOLS: Models picked based on aspects they can represent rather than any real world religion. These objects are a combination of the available actions found on KevinHope's Cross and Rebecah's Bible. Each comes in gold/silver/bronze recolors. ● Azura ● Dibella ● Mara ● Meridia ● Mermaid ● Watcher

WASH BASINS: Two items for hygiene and cleanliness. The tub is enabled for pets, and the sink is a place anywhere style. ● Metal Washtub - Bathtub ● Basin Sink

ARMOR: These smithed items can be sold to a sim who can then use it for an actual clothing grant to their wardrobe. It is one time use, thus incentivising a smith to continue to make more. There are five levels of armor that require different base metals: Iron, Steel, Gold, Mithril, and Chain. Armors DO NOT come on prebuilt display racks. They float in the air and are meant to be slotted into a display.

STATIC/SLOTTED ITEMS COMPONENTS: Components are to be used as parts in the making of other items. They are purely deco and intended for sale or further refinement. ● Chain ● Nail Box ● Spigot ● Hoops ● Findings ● Horse Shoe Set ● Wooden Bits and Bobs

INVENTORY TOOLS: The metalsmith may craft any autonomous inventory tool from Sun&Moon sets. The versions of the auto tools included in this download are updated with restocking code ans should replace any previous versions in any set released thus far. *Not pictured: Shears

COOKWARE/KITCHEN UTENSIL SETS: A set of items that when opened places single items into a sim's inventory. These items are considered inventory tools for future stations, as well as decorative slotted items. ● Cookware Set Contains: Stock Pot, Gratin Pan, Pancake Frying Pan, Roasting Pan, Sauce Pan, Saute Pan, and Wok. ● Kitchen Utensil Set Contains: Spatula, Dipper, Slotted Dipper, Ladle, Large Fork, and Whisk.

TABLEWARE SET/PLACE SETTINGS: A set of flatware, charger, and drinking vessel to set upon your sims tables. Sims will place their bowl/plate on the charger and eat. Each set has an invisible recolor of the drinking vessel/flatware so that they can be hidden. With everything but the charger plate hidden, players can decorate around the plate using five different slots with tableware or items of their choosing. Comes in three styles; Lower Class, Middle Class, and Upper Class. Each set has a different drinking vessel and is made of a different metal.

CANDLE HOLDERS: A set of various candle holders with functional slots. ● Fancy Candlestick - Tall and Short ● Fancy Candelabrum ● Simple Candlestick ● Simple Candle Dish

BONUS ROUND ARMOR STANDS: You can’t have your armor just floating there in the air (unless it’s an enchanted shop of course) so you have to have something to put it on. Some basic wooden armor stands that are found in the catalog under Surfaces > Shelves. The Armor stand has two slots to pop in Armor of your choice and a sword of your choice. The Chainmail Shirt stand had one slot. CHAIN DISPLAY STAND: Can't have floating chains either, so store them here. Five slots for five lengths of chain. Can be found in the catalog under Surfaces > Shelves.

REFERENCE TOME: A handy dandy knowledge source to know how to craft various items. This will tell you what metals and how many of that metal you will need for each item. Can be found in Hobbies > Knowledge.

REPO FILES: This set is HEAVILY respositoried. A list of all main files follows:

● Sun&Moon-Smithing_Product_TablewareSet_LowerClass ● Sun&Moon-Smithing_Product_TablewareSet_MiddleClass ● Sun&Moon-Smithing_Product_TablewareSet_UpperClass ● Sun&Moon-Smithing_Product_Cookware_StockPot ● Sun&Moon-Smithing_Product_KitchenUtensil_Spatula ● Sun&Moon-Smithing_Product_Findings ● Sun&Moon-Smithing_Product_Candlestick_Fancy_Tall

DUPLICATE FILES: All items from other creator’s sets have been renamed to match the file structure, and have been given additional restocking code or other minor updates. They retain their original GUIDs and should be removed in favor of these versions of files.

EXTRA CREDITS & THANKS: Nixedsims, Davina, Fire_flower, CelestialSpider, crowderhead (sims-historicalish),  Gayars, Ocelotekatl , mustluzcats, solfal, Paladin, Sunni, Mo70, Liz, Sherahbim, Inge, Cynnix, Maxis, Cassandre, Numenor, S99, Kate, TSM, TS3, Skyrim, The Nexus, DAZ3D, Unity.

[celestialvoid-fanfiction]

The Broken Spirit

Five years ago, Stiles Stilinski went missing. Derek’s pack find him in the basement of an abandoned bank, but he’s not the same kid he was when he disappeared.

 For @originfire 

[AO3]

 He lay on the cold stone floor, curled up in a ball.

He drew in shaky breaths, his body trembling as the icy chill of the darkness seeped into his veins.

His lips quivered as another wave of tears welled in his eyes.

The stone walls rose around him. There were no windows, no light. The only way in and out of the room was the heavy vault door that locked from the outside.

His stomach had stopped growling, replaced by an unending ache.

The heavy iron shackle that was clamped onto his legs tore at his pale skin, leaving angry red welts, weeping blisters and streams of blood across his skin.

He didn’t know how long he had been there—days, weeks, months—but he had long given up any hope of being rescued; he’d given up any chance of ever getting out of there.

His eyes grew heavy, his body weakening.

He blinked his eyes open, watching as the shadows began to warp and morph around an emerging figure.

A creature pulled itself forward out of the darkness. Their body was gaunt, the ridges of their ribs standing out against their grey flesh. Their legs were nothing more than bone draped in ashy grey skin. Their head was shrouded by a deer skull, the ivory bone cracked and aged. Streams of black ran through the cracks in the bone like veins of ink. Black antlers rose from the creature’s head. Beneath the jaw of the skull, the monster’s mouth hung open, exposing sharp teeth and rotting flesh. Its heavy breaths rolled through the enclosed space like a howling wind.

Stiles held his breath, hoping the creature wouldn’t see him. Tears rolled down his cheeks, clearing away trails through the dust and grime that covered his face.

The creature stalked forward, talon like nails scratching at the marble floors. The creature towered over him, hunched over and resting its weight on its front legs. It leant forward, bringing its face closer to Stiles’.

Beneath the hollowed eye sockets of the skull, Stiles could make out the marbled white eyes of the wendigo.

Stiles held his hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he cried.

Give in, child.

The creature’s words rang in his head, its deep and gravelly voice leaving chills clawing at Stiles’ spine.

Stiles’ drew in a sharp breath as tears streamed down his face, blurring the image of the creature. Teardrops fell against the dusty stone floor, shattering like glass.

Give in and it will all be over.

No more pain…

No more suffering...

Just let go.

Stiles let out a broken sob. He shut his eyes, feeling his body weaken as he surrendered.

The creature charged at him, tearing through his body.

There was a deafening rush of air. Ice flooded his veins, knocking the air from his lungs and leaving him breathless.

He collapsed on the ground, shaking violently.

He fell still, his eyes falling shut as he fell into the abyss.

The next thing he remembered was the sound of the vault door screeching as the metal bars slid back, the heavy door groaning as it opened.

Footsteps echoed across the stone floor.

Stiles opened his eyes, his dark irises fading to a marbled white as he looked up at the man.

The alpha’s eyes lit up red and the corners of Deucalion’s mouth turned upwards in a wicked smile.

“Good.”

----------------------------------- 

 Derek stepped into the abandoned mall.

Bright halogen lights – the kind used in construction – stood on tall stands in a circle around him. The glaring lights were pointed at him, making Derek strain to see what lay beyond them in the shadows.

The smallest sounds seemed to reverberate off the walls around him, quiet voices echoing in the darkness. 

Derek squinted against the light, trying to make out the shapes among the shadows. He could see a large walkway overhead, an old railing running along the edge of it—some of the glass panels smashed in and other stained with dirt and grime or covered in graffiti.

The air was stale and dusty, plumes of dust stirred—the particles dancing about in the bright light of the halogens and the silvery moonlight that bled through the dusty skylight overhead.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Scott muttered under his breath as he looked around.

“So do I,” Derek admitted.

Boyd, Erica and Isaac stepped up behind them, turning as their eyes scanned the shadows.

“Hello, Derek,” the man’s smooth voice rang out through the darkness.

Derek turned to see Deucalion standing at the top of the broken escalators, a pair of blacked-out glasses over his unseeing grey eyes and a cane in his hands.

“I’m so glad you came,” Deucalion said, a hint of mockery and insincerity in his voice.

“Why did you ask me here?”

“I come with an offer,” Deucalion told him. “Join my pack or I’ll kill you and your pack.”

“That’s not an offer, that’s an ultimatum,” Derek corrected.

Deucalion’s expression soured.

“Make your choice, Derek,” he said—or rather, warned—his voice deep and threatening.

Beside him, a young woman stepped out of the shadows beside the still escalator. Her lips curled back in a snarl, exposing her sharpened teeth. She flexed her hands, balling her hands into fists before unfurling them again to expose her jagged claws. Her long straight hair hung loose around her shoulders. She wore a loose shirt and a pair of leggings, standing barefoot among the rubble and glass that covered the floor.

Kali.

Behind them, a man made his way up the stairs of the broken escalator that led to the floor below. He was tall and strongly built, with a square jaw and cold clear eyes. His hair had been shaved off. As he stepped into the edge of the light, his eyes lit up red.

Ennis.

From the balcony overhead, two teenagers leapt down, landing on their feet.

Scott turned, watching as their bodied melded together, morphing into a singular towering figure. The alpha had a seam running down the middle of their body like a scar. Their eyes lit up with a crimson glow as they roared.

“I guess we’ll have to make the decision easier for you,” Deucalion said.

He glanced in Kali’s direction and nodded subtly.

Her howl rolled through the darkness as she sprinted at Derek.

Derek braced himself, catching her arms before she could land a blow and tipping her off balance. He tossed her aside, digging his feet into the dusty floor as he faced off against her.

She charged at him again, slashing at him with her jagged claws. She swung her leg, slamming her foot into Derek’s gut and knocking him back.

Scott and Isaac glanced at each other before charging the Alpha twins.

They grabbed Isaac by the front of his shirt and threw him to the floor, quickly deflecting Scott’s attack. He threw Scott back against the nearby wall.

Scott’s back collided with the concrete with enough force to send cracks across the wall like fissures on ice. He collapsed to the floor with a painful thud, letting out a weak groan as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

He didn’t get time to recover.

The Alpha was on him in seconds, slamming their foot into Scott’s stomach and dropping him to the floor again.

Boyd and Erica turned their attention to Ennis.

Erica lunged at him, slashing at him with her claws.

Ennis grabbed her arm, holding it up as he dug his claws into her ribs and tore open her side. He knocked her feet out from under her, twisting her arm behind her back.

Boyd threw himself into Ennis with enough force to make the alpha let go of Erica’s arm.

Ennis recovered quickly, blocking Boyd’s attacks and knocking the teen to the ground.

Ennis grabbed Erica by the front of her shirt, hurling her across the floor. He hauled Boyd to his feet, wrapping his arm around Boyd’s throat in a headlock as he held him still.

Kali stepped over to their side. She swung her leg out in a roundhouse kick, landing a blow to the side of Boyd’s face. Her claws tore through his cheek.

Ennis let go, letting the teen’s body fall to the ground.

Kali stepped over to Erica and pinned her down, digging her talon-like toes into the girl’s throat.

The Alpha twins dragged Scott and Isaac across the floor, making them kneel as they held their claws to the napes of their necks.

Derek froze, looking around at his pack.

Erica struggled beneath Kali’s foot.

Boyd pushed himself onto his elbows, blood dripping from his mouth and streaming from the gashes across his cheek.

“Kill him,” Deucalion ordered, his level voice ringing out through the darkness. “And the others can go.”

Derek looked from Deucalion to Boyd.

Boyd looked back at him, his yellow eyes wide with fear.

“You’re beaten,” Deucalion said, a hint of pride in his voice. He sauntered down the still escalator. “Do it. Take the first step.”

“Are we serious with this kid?” Kali asked. “Look at him. He’s an alpha—to what, a couple of useless teenagers?”

“Some have more potential than others,” Deucalion mused.

“Let him rise to the occasion then,” Kali sneered. “What will it be, Derek?”

Derek looked to Boyd, his eyes wide and full of pain. He was torn.

A sharp whistle broke the silence.

Derek dropped to the ground as an incendiary arrow struck the Alpha twins, bursting into flames and tearing the two apart.

Scott, Isaac and Boyd dropped their heads, shielding their eyes from the bright sparks. Erica squeezed her eyes shut as another arrow struck the ground beside her, igniting into bright white flames and a spray of sparks.

Kali screamed as she staggered back, shielding her face.

“Cover your eyes!” Deucalion bellowed, but he was too late.

Another arrow struck Ennis, knocking him back.

Erica leapt to her feet, swinging her leg and roundhouse kicking Kali. The heel of her boot stuck the alpha’s jaw with a sickening crack, knocking her to the ground.

A figure stepped closer to the railing of the higher level, the light illuminating Allison’s face as she raised her bow and fired another arrow; a normal arrow that pierced Ennis’s chest.

The alpha fell back against the ground with a blood curdling howl.

Isaac sprinted to Boyd’s side, helping him to his feet.

“It’s over, Deucalion,” Derek said, turning to face the man.

“No quite,” Deucalion replied, his voice low. The corner of his lips curled up in a smug smirk.

Derek’s brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to ask something when the sound of claws dragging across the tiles reached his ears.

He turned, looking at the shadows.

He watched as a figure emerged; tall but gaunt, towering over them. The creature was hunched forward, resting their weight against their front arms. Their face was shrouded by an aged deer skull and black antlers rose from the creature’s head. Beneath the jaw of the skull, the monster’s mouth hung open, exposing sharp teeth and rotting flesh.

The creature stalked forward, talon like nails scratching at the marble floors.

Derek’s eyes widened, his heart hammering against his ribs.

He turned to Isaac, who held Boyd up. “Get him out of here!”

Isaac nodded, half-carrying, half-dragging, Boyd out of the mall.

He looked around.

The Alpha pack were gone.

He dug his feet into the ground.

Scott backed up to Derek’s side.

“What the hell is that?” Scott asked, his voice breaking as he stared at the creature.

“A wendigo,” Derek answered.

“What do we do?” Erica asked, joining them.

“Nothing,” Derek said.

“What?”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Derek explained. “Wendigos are stronger and faster than we are. If we run, it’ll hunt us down.”

“Derek?” Allison called from the higher level.

“Allison, you and Erica get out of here,” Derek instructed. “Slowly. Scott and I will keep its focus.”

“Derek…” Erica started.

Derek turned to look at her, his pale aventurine eyes softening as he said, “Go.”

She backed away slowly.

Derek took a step closer to the wendigo, catching its attention.

Scott did the same. “Why hasn’t it attacked us?”

“I don’t know,” Derek replied.

The creature stalked forward, tilting its head as it looked at Derek. Its marbled white eyes stared at the man.

The wendigo reached forward to the exposed concrete before Derek’s feet. It dug its claws into the floor, drawing what looked like four arrows pointing inwards.

Derek looked down at the ground, his brow furrowed in confusion.

The wendigo opened its mouth.

“Help me,” the creature said, mimicking a familiar voice.

Derek froze, his blood turning to ice in his veins as tears pricked at his eyes.

“Cora.”

The name fell past his lips in a breathless whisper.

The wendigo looked down at the insignia on the floor and back up at Derek.

Derek met their gaze.

The creature opened its mouth, letting out a blood-curdling screech.

Derek and Scott dropped to the floor, covering their ears.

When the ringing in their ears died away, they opened their eyes.

The creature was gone, leaving only the symbol on the floor.

  -----------------------------------

 Derek didn’t sleep. He stood hunched over his desk, surrounded by piles of old hardcover books, leather bound journals and other books that looked like antiques, all bound in magnificent colours of scarlet, burgundy, deep green, gold, and grey. The spines of the books were decorated by gold or silver lettering that read the titles, adorned with small metal studs and a few were even fastened with small hinges that looked to be made of brass or silver.

He turned through the wrinkled brown pages that had been thumbed smooth with reading, searching through pages of runes for something that looked like the symbol the wendigo had drawn, but to no avail.

He grew more and more frustrated, feeling desperate and helpless.

He glanced up, looking to where Boyd sat on the couch. Erica carefully cleaned and redressed the gashes across his face and chest.

The back of her shirt hung low with strings of fabric criss-crossing across her back, low enough that you could see the blood-soaked bandages that covered her ribs.

Injuries inflicted by an alpha took longer to heal.

He had to put an end to this. He couldn’t put his pack in danger again; he couldn’t let the Alpha pack hurt them again.

He let out a frustrated sigh, slumping down in his desk chair.

“Anything?” Isaac asked, stepping over to Derek’s side.

Derek looked up.

Erica and Boyd were also looking at him, hoping for good news.

“Nothing,” Derek said, dropping his gaze.

“Maybe you should take a break,” Erica suggested.

“I can’t,” Derek replied. “Not until I have answers.”

“Maybe try Googling it?” Boyd suggested.

Derek’s brow furrowed. “What?”

Isaac tried to hide his smirk as he picked up Derek’s laptop. He opened it, taking a photo of the symbol and running it through a search engine.

A match showed up.

Beacon Hills First National Bank.

Derek sat upright, opening the web page for the old bank.

“That’s it,” Isaac said, trying to hide the hint of excitement and pride in his voice.

“The symbol is the logo of the old bank,” Derek announced.

“The old bank?” Scott said. “The one that supposedly closed because it was haunted?”

“Yes, that one. And I’m sure that the fact it was robbed had nothing to do with it closing down,” Derek replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Do you think the rumours of the bank being haunted had anything to do with the wendigo?” Boyd asked.

“It’s possible,” Derek answered. “Regardless, it’s a lead I’m going to follow up.”

“We’re coming with you,” Boyd said, wincing as he pushed himself upright.

“No,” Derek said firmly. “If the Deucalion and his pack are there, you’re in no condition to fight them.”

“Or they could be waiting for you to leave so that they can kill us while you’re gone,” Boyd argued.

Derek opened his mouth to argue, but his words died in his throat. Boyd was right.

“Alright,” Derek begrudgingly agreed. “But I want you all to hang back until I know for sure if it’s a trap or not.”

“Okay,” the pack agreed in unison.

  -----------------------------------

 The building stood tall among the abandoned buildings on the far side of town, the streets left eerily quiet. The marble pillars either side of the front door were carved with elegant shields and filigree. The glass doors were still intact; the gold printing of the bank’s logo and the bold lettering of ‘BEACON HILLS FIRST NATIONAL BANK’ still clung to the dust glass, chipping away slightly. The glass doors had been walled up with cardboard and old brown paper that had withered with time; torn and falling away from the door.

Derek stepped up to the door, glancing into the dark building.

Allison stepped over to his side, notching an arrow as she glanced through the torn brown paper of the other door.

“Looks clear,” she whispered.

He motioned for the rest of the pack to hang back before gently pushing open the door.

Allison slid into the building and Derek followed, letting the door shut silently behind him

The rest of the building was in ruin; the tables were overturned and sheets of paper were scattered across the floors. One of the large chandelier-like lights had fallen to the floor, the chain rusted and the light bulbs shattered, scattering glass across the floor. There was a layer of dust over everything, disturbed by a few footprints.

The mezzanines that ran along the sides of the large building seemed to be intact, leading up to two large vaults—the one on the left hung open but the one on the right was locked shut. A third vault was behind what used to be the teller’s desks.

The building was silent.

Derek motioned for the pack to join them.

He looked at Scott and Allison. “Check the second floor.”

They nodded, making their way over to the staircase to their left that led up to the mezzanine.

The pack searched the old storage rooms, the file cabinets coated in dust and the smell of mould and musk hanging heavy in the air.

Scott made his way to the vault on the far right side of the bank.  Loud screech rang out through the old building, echoing in the shadows, as Scott pulled the heavy vaults back. He hauled the door open.

A moment later, he let out a startled cry as he was thrown back against the railing.

A figure darted out of the vault, sprinting across the mezzanine and down the stairs.

Derek ran to her side, catching her before she could reach the door.

“Let me go!” she yelled, thrashing about.

“Cora, it’s okay,” Derek said, gently shushing her as he bundled her up in his arms. “We’re not going to hurt you. You’re safe.”

The girl stilled, slowly turning to look at him.

“Derek?” she whispered breathlessly, his name falling past her lips.

Derek reached out, gently brushing a strand of her dark hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He offered her a soft smile.

Cora let out a sigh of relief, wrapping her arms around her brother and holding on tight.

Derek let out a breathless sigh, resting his face atop her head as he hugged his sister back.

“I thought I’d lost you,” Derek whispered, fighting back his tears.

Cora pulled back slightly. “Where is he?”

“Who?” Derek asked, craning his neck slightly to look his sister in the eye.

“The other one,” Cora replied, her voice quiet as she looked around the dark building.

There was a loud screech as Boyd hauled open the heavy vault door downstairs.

“Oh my god,” the beta muttered under his voice, frozen in place. He turned his head slightly, keeping his eyes forward as he called over his shoulder. “Derek.”

Derek turned. He glanced at Erica who nodded, stepping over to Cora’s side.

He made his way through the rubble and over to Boyd’s side. His heart began to beat faster when he saw the look on his beta’s face.

He looked into the vault, his heart dropping into his gut. His breath caught in his throat, his heartbeat hammering in his ears as he stared in horror.

He leapt over the threshold and rushed over to the body that lay curled up on the cold stone floor.

He carefully rolled him over, watching as his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.

He let out a sigh of relief, carefully manoeuvring the unconscious teen and lifting him.

“What is it?” Allison asked as she and Scott made their way downstairs and over to the vault door.

Derek stepped out of the vault, the frail unconscious body bundled up in his arms.

His face was turned in to Derek’s chest, but they knew who it is. They saw the moles that were scattered across his pale skin. His dark hair was a tousled, unkempt mess and his face was gaunt, but it was him.

“It’s Stiles,” Derek said.

  -----------------------------------

 Derek stood in the hallway, leaning back against the thin piece of wall between the doors to Cora’s room and Stiles’. Cora sat up in her bed, talking to a young police officer – Parrish – who was taking her statement. She shifted nervously, glancing at Derek for reassurance or screwing up her face at the discomfort of the IV in her arm.

Derek turned his head the other way.

Stiles still hadn’t woken up, his frail body laying still. The crisp white hospital sheets made his already fair skin look deathly pale. He too had an IV in his arm as well as a heart monitor that beeped wit the steady rhythm of his heart.

The Sheriff had rushed to the hospital, sitting by his son’s side for as long as he could before he was called away, his face torn and pained as he pulled himself away. Derek had promised to stay with him and to call the Sheriff if anything changed.

“Do you think one of them is the wendigo?” Scott asked, keeping his voice low enough that only Derek would hear him.

Derek nodded.

“How do you even become a wendigo?”

“A wendigo is believed to be an evil spirit. A human becomes a wendigo after their spirit is corrupted by greed or weakened by extreme conditions, such as hunger and cold. In some versions of the legends, humans become wendigos when possessed by a wandering spirit during a moment of weakness.”

“And you think that happened to Stiles?”

“Stiles is stubborn and resilient,” Derek said. “He’s a fighter. But there’s only so much a human can take.”

“But when the wendigo spoke, you said it sounded like Cora,” Scott argued.

“Yes, but wendigos don’t speak; they mimic,” Derek explained.

“You think it’s Stiles?” Scott asked, his voice still edged with disbelief.

Derek nodded.

The idea didn’t sit easy with Scott, but there was no point in arguing it.

Parrish came out of Cora’s room.

Derek pushed himself off the wall, straightening up.

“I have to head back to the station for a little while to write up this report,” Parrish said. “Please call me as soon as Stiles wakes up or if your sister remembers anything else that she’d like to add to her statement.”

Derek nodded.

“Can I sit with him?” Cora asked, standing a few steps back from the doorway.

Parrish offered her a friendly smile. “I don’t see why not.”

He turned to Derek, gently patting his arm before heading down the hallway to the elevator.

Cora shuffled towards the door, wheeling her IV stand forward.

“Come on,” Derek said, stepping back from the door and nodding towards Stiles’ room.

She shuffled into the room and sat down in the seat next to the bed.

“Erica and Boyd are still downstairs,” Scott told Derek. “Alpha wounds take longer to heal and my mum wanted to make sure they’re okay. Isaac’s gone with Allison to see if Chris knows anything more about wendigos or the Alpha pack.”

Derek nodded.

“I’m going to check in on Boyd and Erica.”

“Alright,” Derek said quietly, not taking his eyes off Stiles. “Keep me updated.”

Scott nodded, glancing at Stiles one last time before heading down the hallway to the elevators.

Derek stepped into the room, pulling the other chair over to the side of the bed and sitting with his sister.

Derek let his mind wander, time drifting away as he looked at Stiles’ pale face.

Stiles’ eyes flew open, wide and alert as he bolted upright in the bed.

“It’s okay,” Derek said softly, rising from his chair and gently holding Stiles by his shoulders as he tried to reassure him. “You’re safe.”

Stiles stared across the room, not looking at Derek as he said, “They’re here.”

Derek’s heart dropped, his body tensing. He stepped back from Stiles, looking towards the door.

“Stay here,” he said, glancing over his shoulder as he edged towards the hallway.

“I want to help,” Cora insisted. “I can fight.”

“You want to help? Stay here and protect him,” Derek ordered.

He stepped out into the hallway, the LED lights flickering overhead. The hallway was eerily quiet; the staff had disappeared into rooms to care for patients, leaving only Derek.

The elevator let out a quiet ding and the doors opened.

Deucalion stood proud in the elevator. A smug smirk turned up the corner of his lips as he stepped into the hallway.

“It’s good to see you again, Derek,” he greeted, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he made his way down the hallway.

Derek glared at him, his eyes flickering with a crimson glow as he faced off against the alpha. He balled his hands into fists by his side, flexing his fingers and exposing his jagged claws.

“It’s over, Deucalion.”

“Is that what you think?” Deucalion said, turning his head slightly and looking past Derek.

Derek turned.

Stiles stood behind him, his face void of any emotion. His dark eyes faded to a marbled white. His jaw twisted, revealing rows of jagged teeth as he half-shifted.

“You see, Derek,” Deucalion started slowly. “I’m his alpha. I control him.”

Stiles stalked forward, his gaze locked on Deucalion. His body began to morph, growing tall and gaunt. The shadows crept forward around his face, melding together in the shape of a deer skull before receding into the cracks and leaving the ivory bone over Stiles’ face. His body arched forward, resting his weight against their front arms, his talon like nails scratching at the linoleum floors.

Derek tensed, ready to fight.

The wendigo walked past him, dragging themself towards Deucalion. They paused for a moment, bracing themself before lunching forward, sprinting – full speed – down the hallway at the alpha. Their claws tore at the linoleum and the plastered walls, leaving gashes like open wounds as they moved too fast for either alpha to react.

The wendigo threw Deucalion back against the wall, towering over him. Their bloodied mouth hung wide open as they leant in close to Deucalion’s face and let out a deafening screech.

Derek and Cora covered their ears, dropping to the floor as they winced in pain.

The wendigo drew back, slowly morphing back into Stiles’ slender form. His eyes were still white, but his body was tense and his face was livid with rage.

“You are not my alpha,” Stiles said with finality, his voice low and firm. “You do not control me.”

Deucalion’s composure fractured slightly, glimpses of fear showing through.

“This is not your territory,” Stiles said. “Leave now, and don’t ever come back.”

Deucalion opened his mouth for a second to argue, but Stiles cut him off.

“I have your scent—and if you threaten my friends again, I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb,” he warned. “Now, I suggest you leave, before I change my mind and kill you now.”

Stiles stepped back, holding his head defiantly as he watched Deucalion stumble backwards into the elevator, his hands shaking as he pressed the button.

He waited until the doors closed before letting the white fade from his eyes, his dark irises returning to their natural hue as he turned to look at Derek.

Derek looked back at him, equally stunned and relieved.

“Are you okay?” Derek asked somewhat hesitantly.

“I’m fine,” Stiles said nonchalantly. “A little tired, to be honest. But other than that, I’m fine.”

“You can control it?”

“Mostly,” Stiles replied. “It gets a little hard sometimes, but for the most part I’m in control.”

“What about the blood lust?” Derek asked.

“I’ve been friends with Scott since I was four years old, I learnt many years ago how to resist the urge to kill someone,” Stiles answered, making his way over to their side.

Derek let out a low chuckle.

“As for the craving flesh part, I’ll eat a raw steak every once in a while—probably on a night when my dad’s not home, otherwise I might freak him out,” Stiles mused. “And if the wendigo doesn’t like that, it’s more than welcome to leave.”

Derek couldn’t help but smile, looking at Stiles in wonder; if anyone could defy an alpha and tame a wendigo, of course it was Stiles.