#inexperienced guy whipping out a Monster

[dipperscavern]

https://x.com/toadinthebowl/status/1882776465483468904?s=46&t=JXMgsK4hMpilhJ5-uZFv6Q

This means that Robb is canonically gifted down there 🙏🙏 we take that

holy moly i just went to bulge town hardcore. Hello there

[georgiaandfriends]

Child Of Tartarus-Chapter 7

Dallas POV:

I could still feel the lingering dizziness in my body, my hands trembling. “K-Kairos…what was that?” I ask, dragging myself off the ground. I genuinely thought that this was a nightmare or something, but the pain in my head was real. Kairos sniffled, the blood drying on her top lip.

“I think there's something you need to know..do you know what a demigod is?”

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

I never expected to be sitting in some Greek god’s living room, with an ice pack pressed to my head. Kairos was next to me, a bag of peas laid across her lap, and a bandaid on her nose.

What I assumed to be her parents sat across from us. So, apparently I’m a child of Zeus, as in the lightning god. And my best friend is a goddess. Now, you may think I’m nuts, and I thought I was too at first but I’m slowly starting to believe it.

Especially since all my life, I’d felt like something was off. I’d never formally been diagnosed with anything, but I’d heard comments here and there about me having ADHD. Despite my entire world being flipped upside down, I felt a sense of closure since I finally knew what was wrong with me. So far conversation had been basically non existent, sure Kairos had made the occasional sarcastic remark, but she seemed tense.

“So. Kairos, you never thought to introduce us to your friend?” The male god said, a smirk tugging at his face. His expression seemed intimidating, yet nonchalant. I still haven’t picked up on which god he was yet, I think Hades?

Kairos scoffed “Well, I thought he was mortal at first” she says, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. Hades nods.

“Right. Now, mortal-” he starts.

“Dallas, my name’s Dallas.” Hades nodded, coughing awkwardly.

“Right, sorry, Dallas. How did you never know you were of godly descent? I’m sure you encountered monsters, considering you’re a forbidden child.” Hades says, adjusting the golden laurel crown on his mop of black hair.

“Forbidden child?” I say. Kairos pats my shoulder.

“You’ll get used to it buddy. It just means your dad broke the rules. Gods in the big three aren’t allowed to have kids.” She says, seeming to find the interaction entertaining despite how tense she seemed.

I shake my head. “I still don’t understand, why didn’t I know? Why can’t I use my powers? Don’t I have powers-?” I say, wringing my hands out with an exasperated expression. Kairos crossed her arms, shrugging.

“I’m not even a demigod, so I wouldn’t know.” She says with a shrug. I look at Kairos again.

I furrowed my eyebrows, before speaking.“I can’t believe that you’re actually a goddess. You just seem so..unassuming?” I say.

Kairos adjusted the peas, pressing them to her stomach. “I mean, I kind of have to keep my cover, considering monsters are- well have been, after me since I got here.” She says, sniffling again

“You know, my brain hurts. Can we get to the point? What's the prophecy you guys keep talking about?” I pry, leaning forward slightly, taking the ice pack of my head and setting it down on the coffee table.

Kairos chuckled bitterly, “Well no wonder your head hurts, you hit a metal fire hydrant.” I punched Kairos in the shoulder, “Hey, Hey- watch the stomach.”

I huff “That was nowhere near your stomach,” I say, smiling. Kairos scowled, waving her hand dismissively.

Hades looked between the two of us with a raised eyebrow, he smirked knowingly. “About the prophecy, we don’t actually know what it entails. It's very complicated, we know there’s a prophecy involving a child of Zeus..and Kairos.” he says seriously.

Kairos sighed, looking over to Hades with a scowl. “At first I thought it was going to be Thalia..but clearly it's you..” she says, looking at me with a scoff. I whipped around, turning to look at her.

“Hey! What's that supposed to mean?” I exclaimed, crossing my arms. She chuckled at me.

“It means you’re inexperienced.” She said, Hades nodded along with her, much to my disdain.

“It means he needs to head to camp,” She added. My eyes widened.

I furrowed his eyebrows “Camp? What about school? And my parents, and my stuff? Am I supposed to just pack up and leave everything behind?” I exclaim, a thousand thoughts running through my mind. I couldn’t just leave could I? Just because Zeus decided to have me doesn’t mean I have to deal with his problems..Yet, I also was intrigued. My life was mediocre. I had to be my mother’s conduit; as she lived her broken dreams through me. Her grip was like a viper, Every little thing had to be perfect, and in her image. I was sick of it..Maybe going to this mysterious magical camp wouldn’t be so bad.

“No, but you’re gonna have to stay there at least for a while.” Kairos says flatly, giving me a knowing look. Her and Kacey were the only ones who knew about my mom. I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded, rolling my eyes.

“Yeah Yeah, I hear you. But, if it's a summer camp, why am I going there now? That makes no sense,” Kairos groaned, face palming.

“Look Dallas, unless you want to come to school the next day in a coffin, I suggest shutting up and doing as I-” She stopped, “We say,” Kairos says, avoiding the stern glare from Hades.

Kairos wasn’t exactly wrong. Preferably, I’d like to stay alive. Hades looked a little too intimidating, and from what I’d seen from my trek down here with Kairos; It didn’t seem like a happy place. “Fine,” I say.

Kairos smiled “Good,” She says, smirking.

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

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There:  7.3

"You shall serve under Childe," the Tsaritsa gestured for you to rise to your feet.  "Mezzetin."

"Uh...bless you?"

"Thus is your new name:  Mezzetin," the archon repeated, raising a brow at your attitude.

"That's not my name."

"Am I hearing you break the contract you proposed to me only a few minutes ago?"  You bit your tongue to refrain from ripping her a new one.  "Childe, why don't you show her to her new room?"

"It would be my pleasure."

Childe led you down an especially long corridor that brought you to what looked like a type of barracks situation.  He opened a door that stood on the left side of the hall and showed you around.  It wasn't that bad of a room; it held a balcony that looked over the snowy landscape outside.  The walls were a deep burgundy color with dim lighting, which only seemed to further mock your dark circumstances .

"How do you like your room, Mezzetin?"

"If I hear that god-awful name again, I--"  That's odd.  Why is there a mask on my bed?  You picked it up and noted it was the same color as the walls.  It might have been slightly similar to Xiao's mask, in that it looked relatively animal-like.  It was harbinger-status, being that it held no similarities with that of the Fatui agent or skirmisher masks and was completely unique.

"Ah, that caught your attention?  It's yours."

Why was there already a spare mask? I barely made the decision to join them not even ten minutes ago.  Do they have a surplus of masks here?  Your gaze rose to Childe's in a questionable manner.  

"What?"  Childe let out an awkward laugh.

"Nothing."

"Well, I should get back to the throne room and let you adjust here for a bit, no?  I'll return soon."  His suspicious hurry to leave made you roll your eyes, but your attention just returned to the mask in your hands.  

Why did they already have a mask for me?

...............................

"Well done, Childe."  The Tsaritsa praised her devoted weapon of war as he knelt before her.  "When you proposed your idea to me I wasn't sure you'd be up for such a task, especially since you hate deception.  Everything played out exactly as you expected.  You have earned my praise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."  Childe rose to his feet and revealed a dark grin.

Signora slowly clapped her hands as she approached the teen.  "To think that our youngest and most inexperienced would come up with a plan to manipulate the girl into joining us by manipulating Morax into waging war--you have matured greatly, Childe."

"Your praise is appreciated, Fair Lady."

"Just do your job correctly and make sure she doesn't get any bright ideas to turn on us," Scaramouche walked out of the throne room.

"Not one to praise another, as expected," Childe sneered.

"The sixth harbinger is correct, Childe.  While your plan has succeeded, your duty does not end here.  Such is why the girl will be in your hands; do not fail me."

................................

"...What do we do now?" Aether's voice pierced the snow that fell upon the trio as they headed for the Snezhnayan border.  The walk had been excruciatingly long and quiet, the atmosphere holding a somber note and sour aftertaste in everyone's mouths.

"...I suppose we continue to look for you sister," Zhongli suggested.  "That is what you originally gathered us for, is it not?"  The archon kept his gaze on the snowy ground.

"It is..." Aether's gaze shifted to Xiao, who was quieter than he usually was.  "What do you think, Xiao?"

"I'm returning to Liyue and continuing my duty."

"So that's it?"  The boy stopped in his tracks.  "We're just going to give up on her? Is that it?  I'm not going to just sit around while she's still stuck in that dreadful place.  Don't you two cherish her like I do?  Don't you, Xiao?"  His hands curled into tight fists as he thought about Lumine.  He couldn't comprehend the idea of giving up either of you.

The two adepti halted, and the yaksha met Aether's eyes.

"Don't think we haven't noticed how the two of you look at each other," Paimon popped up and put her hands on her hips.  "You two like each other more than teammates!  We're not stupid! So why are you just walking away?"

"She chose her path," Xiao stated.  "It's not like I can dissuade her from her decision; she clearly felt strongly about it."

"If she does not wish to be saved, there is nothing we can do," added Zhongli.  

"Well she clearly thought you guys were going to get a bunch of innocent people killed over her!"  Paimon huffed.  "Of course she wouldn't want to be saved if it meant all that death would be her fault!"

"Paimon..." Aether's gaze wavered at his emergency food.

"And you!" The mascot switched to Xiao.  "She clearly loves you, but you have no idea what that means even though it's bright as day that you feel the same for her!  Why didn't you tell her?!"

"I can't make much of human em--"

"No! Here's what's going to happen.  You're going to go back there, confess your lovey-dovey feelings and get her out of there!"

Xiao disappeared before their eyes, obviously agitated by Paimon's annoying rant.  "Great," Aether pulled at his hair.  "Now look at what you did, Paimon."

"He needs to hear the truth at some point!" She huffed.

..................................

"Xiao?"  Aether and Paimon investigated the Wangshu Inn as soon as they got back to Liyue a week or so later.  "Are you up here?"

"What do you want?"  The adeptus appeared next to them in a similar manner to when they first met.  He was just as unwelcoming as he was back then.

"We made some almond tofu!"  Paimon made a giddy gesture to Aether, and the boy held the dish out to Xiao.

"We thought you would like some," he gave a faint grin.  The yaksha didn't return it, instead returning his gaze to the moonlit scenery past the railing.

"I'll pass."

"Oh..." This is really bad.  Aether sent a worried glance to Paimon.  "Are you sure?  You love almond tofu."

"Mortal food is not to my liking," the yaksha grit his teeth in agitation.  "You should leave.  There's no reason for the two of you to be here."

"Don't be so rude to us!  We came to talk about her!"  Paimon flew forward so that she blocked Xiao's view of the scenery.  "We know how much you care about her.  Isn't there a way to contact her somehow?  You know, with your psychic abilities or something?"

"This conversation is pointless.  If there's nothing else, see yourselves out."

"Xiao."  Aether's shoulders dropped as he tried to figure out the correct words.  He failed to come up with something, and looked to Paimon.  "...Let's go."

Xiao didn't bother to glance their way as they made their exit, instead focusing on the scenery below him.  He hadn't heard from you since you saw him off.  'I love you,' she said.  Why does remembering it hurt so much?  He shivered as he remembered the look in your eyes.  They were so gentle, kind, yet broken.  Like you had just...given up on life.  Just what had Childe done to you to make you say those things?  His thoughts were fortunately interrupted when he felt a shift of energy carried through the wind.  He looked to the Guili Plains up ahead, and dispersed.

The yaksha came upon several lawachurls, which were relatively uncommon to the area compared to other places in Liyue.  The evil that consumed them reeked of gods past. Xiao didn't hesitate to wave a hand over his face and manifest his yaksha mask, throwing himself into his life-long work of defeating the evil that plagues Liyue.  Only this time, he used it as an outlet for his frustrations rather than solely fighting to fulfill his duty.

"My fight goes on."  That's right, he watched the demonic smoke whirl around him.  My fight does not stop for her.  My duty is here.  He twirled his polearm and leapt through the air, slicing at the closest lawachurl.  Since he and the monsters were far from the nearest road, he let loose a little.  And by a little, I mean a lot.  

The nearest trees splintered from the shockwave of his attacks, with the other lawachurls shaking off the bulky rock armor off their backs.  The ground rumbled beneath their feet.  Xiao plummeted to the earth and subsequently killed the first lawachurl with the blow.  Then he moved onto the next one, finding no fear in the monstrous bellow that greeted him face-to-face.  He shoved the lance through it's bottom jaw and jutted it through the skull with little effort.

The third charged just as he removed his polearm from the corpse of the second.  This time Xiao whipped around and thrust his weapon into the monster's knee, yanking it out to then deal several blows across its chest and decapitate it.  "Worthless," he growled as he watched the monsters disintegrate.  He continued his attacks on the remaining four until he stood alone among the ruins.  He watched as the spirits of the damned returned to their rightful places in the earth.

Xiao thought nothing of the disturbed soils and began to walk towards the inn once more until the demonic voices called out to him.  Some were quiet, no more than a whisper, while others were obnoxiously loud and demanded attention.  They moaned and whined, each having a unique pitch of anger tinging their curses and cries for help.  Xiao fell to his knees, with his body leaning on his polearm as it was overwhelmed with the hatred of the damned. He forced himself to take a deep breath. Not this again.

...............................

Your time in Snezhnaya wasn't fun so far, and you often secluded yourself in your room whenever you had the chance to avoid the Tsaritsa or her little puppets.  Childe checked on you often, doing so in a way that showed his concern for your obvious depression as you longingly stared out into the winter wonderland from your window.

You were being pestered by Childe yet again when you became overwhelmingly dizzy and nauseous.  "Urk--"  You doubled over and grabbed onto the curtain to steady yourself.

"Hey, are you alright?"  Childe put a concerned hand on your shoulder.

"What is...this...?"  Your fit of nausea transformed into an overwhelming hatred for nothing in particular.  You fell to all fours, heaving from a level of anger never experienced before.  "What is this!"

"...Comrade?" His words were drowned out by the desperate screams that entered your mind.  Your hands hurried to cover your ears in an attempt to make the voices stop, but they didn't disappear.

"They're so loud!"  You cried out, now in physical pain that was equivalent to being set on fire and shredded with knives.  "Stop!  Shut up!"

Childe quickly dropped to your level and lifted your chin up to examine your glowing eyes and the tears drenching your cheeks.  "What's wrong?"  He mouthed, but you still couldn't hear him.

"It hurts!"  You coughed, one hand covering your mouth only to be retracted and painted with your blood.  I'm bleeding?  Panic set in and the pain only worsened, the voices getting louder and louder while Childe desperately tried to get you to answer him.  "This hate!  Why do I feel so hateful?  Make it stop!"  You were screaming hysterically now, squeezing your eyes shut and clawing at your ears until they too began to bleed.  "Make it stop!"  Your senses were easily overwhelmed, and all you could focus on was the pain and the volume of the voices surrounding you.  "Please!" You couldn't seem to catch a decent breath of air like something heavy was sitting on you.

"Hey now!"  The harbinger watched the blood spill from the lips.  This is...  He pulled you close to him and held you tightly, ordering for medical aid when an agent burst through the door from hearing the ruckus.  "It's okay, it's okay--"

All you could do was continue to heave deep breaths to quell the rage that resided within you, to quell the demonic voices that demanded you to succumb to them.  Childe didn't let up his grip around you and pressed your head tightly against his chest.  Rage.  Hatred.  Agony.  The feelings tore through you like you were made of paper.  It was hard to explain, but the emotions felt otherworldly; nonhuman.  Your blood continued to seep from your mouth and soak into Childe's clothes while he continued to rock you back and forth.  Your screams were a mixture of cries for help and manic giggling as you lost all sense of rationality.

.......................................

"Hey girlie," the familiar harbinger was hovering above your face when you finally reopened your eyes.  You were apparently still in your room, this time lying in bed with a damp cloth draped across your forehead and the moonlight illuminating the two of you.  "How're you feeling?"

"Mn."  You blinked sluggishly and tried to move around.

"Ah, I wouldn't do that.  You were bleeding internally, you know," he let out a strangled laugh as you returned to your original position.  "You really had us worried for a sec."

"Yeah right." The growl that emitted from your throat seemed to put Childe off guard, another flash of concern waving over his demeanor.  It was clear residual hatred still resided in you even though that was your usual response to his remarks.  Your eyes were still glowing.

"You feel his pain now?"  He raised a brow.  "Is that how this bond works?"

"What of it?" A dry giggle escaped your chapped lips as the hushed voices continued to plague you.

Interesting...This could pose a possible problem for the soldiers...I should inform Dottore immediately.  Childe removed himself from the bed and headed for the door.  "I'll check on you in a few hours.  Try and get some rest."

A slight draft brushed across the tip of your nose the second he closed the door, and you looked to the window to find a shadowy figure obscuring the moonlight that entered the room. It slowly approached the bed until it stood at your side.  The closer it got, the louder the voices became.  You winced when it leaned over you.

"You..."  Xiao's face occupied most of your vision.  He didn't need to know what happened to understand it was linked to his dealings with the possessed lawachurls a few hours ago.  "I felt your distress."

"What're you doing here?" You snapped quietly, the voices still raging a storm within your words.  It's not like you've communicated with him at all ever since you confessed your feelings.  He had no reason to be here...right?

"Do not fall prey to the darkness," he warned.  "I cannot save you if you allow yourself to be overrun."  He hesitantly placed a hand against your forehead in an attempt to gage your wellbeing.  He didn't have the powers of Zhongli, so there was no point in trying, but he did it anyway.  Your glowing eyes seemed to capture his, and the two of you stared at one another for a few moments.

Another laugh left your lips, and it was nothing short of disturbing unlike the airy carefree ones Xiao had heard you release before.  It was evil.  Mocking.  "I never called you here."

The yaksha let out something between a growl and a sigh.  "I have no choice but to kill you if you're consumed.  Do not let them overwhelm you," he repeated as he locked on your eyes.  While his words were sharp, the look in his eyes was nothing but endearing.  "I can always hear them, but you don't have to.  It's just a side effect; this too, shall pass."

"...It hurts."  Those two pained whimpers broke through the wall of hatred that surrounded you from within.  The glowing lights in your eyes flickered as you regained yourself in his presence.  

"I understand," he assured while his hand left your forehead to accompany your cheek, his thumb rubbing against your skin to wipe the tear that had fallen from your right eye.  He winced when he realized blood was mixed in with it, but didn't let on that he was taking a closer look at your eye.  Mortal bodies cannot withstand this...He bit the inside of his cheek as he thought of the worst-case scenario that had consumed his fellow yakshas long ago.  If we get them out of her now, she should still be able to fully recover.

He continued to stroke your cheek while you stared up at him, still unable to fully move your tired limbs that felt like they were severed at the ligaments.  Eventually you gathered enough strength to move your arm and place your hand over the one that cupped the side of your face.  You weren't sure of how much time had passed, but painful tears fell occasionally and were coupled with Xiao's brief looks of concern.

"I'm here," he soothed.  Archons, the way he handled you was so delicate.  Had he ever been this gentle with you, even when he caught you in your lowest moments?  If he had, the voices made it difficult to retrieve the memory.  They continued to scream and swirl within the depths of your mind, but the presence of the yaksha subdued them somewhat.

"I-I didn't...want to leave you..."  Your bloodied tears stained his hand and your pillow.  Xiao shifted on the bed upon hearing this and feeling your tears brim the corners of his eyes.  He continued to stroke your cheek.

"Do not speak; you're making your condition worse," he ordered.  "I can't hold your decision against you."

"But--"

"'What matters now isn't failures of the past; we are here together.'  Are those not your words?"  His head tilted slightly, and a fond smile formed across his lips.  "Rest.  I will be here until morning."

"Don't...leave..." You begged, gripping his hand a little tighter.  "Please."

Xiao watched the glow in your eyes eventually flicker out right before you fell asleep.  He took it upon himself to wipe the bloody streaks from your cheeks, and even let you continue to hold his hand while you slept.  He stayed true to his word and sat beside you until the first light of dawn shone through your window, his hand never fully leaving your skin until he had to return to Liyue.

....................

Coming up:  A harbinger’s gift: some much-needed therapy.  Tea time with an archon.  The moonsong.

[itsclydebitches]

Another thing about how rwby views trauma survivors reacting to their abuse or unfortunate background is that it frames the solution to healing is by serving in armed forces. Weiss and Blake joined Beacon to escape their abuser. Ren and Nora joined Beacon after the loss of their families. Winter joined the military to escape Jacques and I'm assuming will become the new Atlas general after Ironwood's death. The Huntsmen Academies are all framed as these safe havens (literally with Mistral) for anyone who can carry a weapon, meanwhile anyone who can't or doesn't want to join, or joins a group outside of the institution is depicted as bad.

To say that this is all muddied would be a huge understatement because even if we put aside the complicated message of, "Overcome your abuse by learning to punch back," at this point the combined huntsmen-military is no longer presented as a means of escape. Rather, between the rewriting of Winter's history – she has apparently been manipulated by Ironwood this whole time rather than choosing the military as a means of escaping her abuser – as well as the military aligned huntsmen – FNKI aren't heroes like RWBYJNOR anymore, willingly protecting their home, they're children who have been forced into this conflict – there's now this major divide between fighters-on-their-own and fighters-as-part-of-the-institution. We could even read this as extending to the huntsmen academies themselves, given that one has fallen, one was destroyed, and the other lost its figurehead. They used to be presented as havens for struggling individuals... now, not so much. The plot's message is not that heroes win by banding together through established structures that were designed to help those coming from bad circumstances (note how aware Ozpin is of these backstories: Qrow's bandit tribe, Blake's White Fang history, looking into Ruby's defense of the store, etc.), but rather you win by rag-tag individuals making decisions based on friendship.

Yet simultaneously, that divide is by no means neat and tidy (since plenty of stories have that latter message). As we've discussed elsewhere, RWBYJNOR is ingrained in these structures despite the story rejecting them. They got their initial training at Beacon (how many fans have argued that they learned enough there? That they're basically full-fledged huntsmen already? So, that school was pretty important, yeah?). They worked with Ironwood for months. They're using the prestige of their licenses to get people to listen to them. They're hijacking military equipment to give the world orders to prepare for an attack. Ruby became a general in all but title in that moment, in the same way that Weiss became the Remnant equivalent of a cop when she tried to arrest her father. Volumes 6-8 suddenly wanted to send an anti-military message without considering the context of their story (what does a military mean in a world where unambiguously evil monsters attack, as opposed to a world where these "monsters" are minorities?) and they failed to separate the heroes from the structures they so passionately reject. You cannot have the group stand in opposition to Ironwood and everything he represents while also encouraging the audience to oohh and ahhh at Jaune whipping out his huntsmen license to lead a group of civilians to safety. The supposed cruelty of the former and supposed heroism of the latter are meant to exist simultaneously, despite the contradiction. We went from the message that huntsmen academies, including Atlas', are a haven from abuse, poverty, etc. but now, suddenly, certain types of escapes are no longer morally sound. So just ignore how many of the heroes took the "wrong" path.

And then on top of all of that we have Rhodes. RWBY is pushing the individualism message hard nowadays – that a group of friends is better than a general and his soldiers just ignore that Ruby is their leader and they all follow her orders – yet it's Rhodes' individuality that is criticized in Cinder's flashback. He, as a single person, tries to take on the complex situation of helping an abused child and he failed. The fandom's reaction to his efforts is pretty telling because most kept falling back on structural solutions: "Why didn't he just call CPS? Why didn't he get her admitted early like Ruby? Why didn't he approach some superior to fix all this?" Most fans seemed to grudgingly acknowledge that kidnapping Cinder and raising this traumatized kid on the road while hunting grimm was... not the best idea, so they turned to the very things they've rejected in Ruby's part of the story: laws that people have to follow, schools with an hierarchy that can serve as support, someone above you whose orders you follow and whose seniority can help you in a tough situation. In Cinder's flashback people wanted Remnant to have structural solutions because, clearly, leaving one flawed man to fix this situation on his own didn't turn out so well. They (and the writers) just don't want Ruby to have to obey those same structures because Ruby is the title hero they've grown to love over eight years. We feel like we know Ruby and we assume that if Ruby is in charge she'd totally make the best decision. But Rhodes? He's a stranger, someone we see for less than ten minutes, so his flaws are far easier to home in on. Few are willing to acknowledge that Ruby is Rhodes on a much larger scale, trying things because she wants to help, but ultimately doing far more harm because she's incredibly inexperienced and is just running on her own, individual ideas, not any of the structures in place that are meant to deal with such crises. Rhodes' "Idk what else to do, so I guess I'll teach a tortured kid how to defend herself and hope for the best" is Ruby's "Idk what else to do, so I guess I'll drop Atlas on Mantle, leave with the Relics, move everyone to Vacuo, and hope for the best." The primary difference is that while Rhodes is punished through his death and the narrative makes it clear that this was the wrong choice (Cinder murders everyone and becomes a villain), whereas Ruby's screwups are continually framed as heroic. And that's because the show can't make up its mind about this structural vs. individual approach. Do huntsmen need to be held responsible for their actions, or do they need complete freedom to do the right thing with the belief that anything that goes wrong was completely out of their hands (Yangs' take)? Well, that depends entirely on which huntsmen we're talking about. RWBY's idea that some people are intrinsically good and others intrinsically bad means that the writing – and the fandom – can demand rogue huntsmen be held accountable while simultaneously cheering the group running away from arrest; curse Clover for following orders while simultaneously gushing over how loyal the group is to Ruby; condemn lies that Ozpin gives while simultaneously justifying the ones Ruby gives, etc. RWBY has no clear message, just the insistence that whatever our heroes does is good. The path they've taken, learning to fight to escape horrific situation is a good thing. The path Rhodes laid out, teaching Cinder to fight to escape a horrific situation, is a bad thing. It comes down to the characters, not the situation.

Finally, yeah, there's a complete lack of acknowledgment that either option – structural or individual – alienates those who don't know how to fight. This is seen most clearly in Whitley who asks why he'd want to be a huntsmen when he can afford an army, yet when armies are painted as unquestionably bad, the story won't admit that this leaves Whitley stranded. He had no way to escape his abuse like Winter and Weiss did. He had no way to defend himself when Weiss shoved a weapon in his face. The story never had to grapple with where it's left characters who can't fight and who shouldn't make the evil choice of relying on soldiers because Whitley unexpectedly got on Weiss' good side and gained her protection. It doesn't matter anymore because Whitley is a Good Guy now who the group will take care of. But if he'd continued to disagree? Gone to his room instead of calling Klein? If, in the future, he does something that annoys his sisters and they decide to ignore him like they did before? Well, Whitley is screwed. In a world besieged by grimm – with attacks growing with each volume – he wanted to rely on an army to help solve these problems. But then that was said to be wrong, the general died, and the army, far as we can tell, was left behind to die as well. So what's left? Rely on the huntsmen. Just hope that there are enough (there aren't), that you get a good one (not a Lionheart, or a Raven, or a Cardin, or a Dudley, or...), and that the good ones care enough to bother protecting you. Even if the story hadn't gone out of its way to show how terribly flawed individual huntsmen are – from Lionheart's devastating betrayal to Qrow teaming up with Tyrian – from a practical perspective it's just not enough. Volume 8 showed without a doubt that in a war like this, one built on a witch's ability to summon endless grimm, an army is necessary. Salem would have been into Atlas in a second without those soldiers holding her forces back. Yang, Jaune, and Ren wouldn't have gotten to the whale without that army. Yet the story never acknowledges this, instead pretending like the few individuals we see – the limited numbers the characters keep admitting are horrendously limited – could have somehow saved the day without that assistance. Everything we're seeing nowadays – which characters can use these institutions to escape abuse, which can lie to help the war, which should rely on structures as opposed to their own ideas and physical power – is a mess of inconsistent, often contradictory messages.

[krystalficloverdh]

My hero - This was sooo not part of the novel!

Second chapter.

Describing fight scenes are hard.

.

.

.

All she could hear were screams as she looked up as she saw big black flames rising above the houses from the tribe.

“Deku! Stay here!” Katsuki commands her while running in the direction of the flames and screams.

“But…!” She yelled as she looked at the big caos, she saw a big dragon near the flames. He had a strange black mist around him and he looked frightened not angry from the look of his eyes. Her eyes widened when she realized that the dragon had a strange gem in his head of the same color as the dark mist around him, like it didn’t belong to him. Someone it’s controlling him. She whipped around to find a mysterious man with green curly hair looking scene up in higher grounds and there was a younger man with pale blue hair scratching his neck. Like they were expecting something.

Little did she knew that there was another man holding a glowed green sword from the other side hiding in the woods waiting for the right moment.

That’s when realization hit her. “That’s it.”

When Izuku was about to take off towards the dragon she hears a scream.

“Some one! My baby!” One of the ladies cried out as the tail of the dragon is about to hit a little girl.

“Girl first dragon later.” She said as she ran. Her body glowed green as she used her powers. “Watch out!” She shouted as she reached the girl avoiding the hit barely brushing Izuku's hair. She wrapped her arms around the girl and they rolled to the ground with Izuku underneath the child with her arms around the little girl. The girl nodded in her direction as a sign of gratefulness and ran towards her mother as Izuku pushed herself off the ground. She raced towards katsuki that was above in the sky leading away the dragon from the people. When she was about 3 feet from it she levitated herself alongside Katsuki grinding her teeth together.

“Aim at the gem above his head someone is controlling him! We must set him free!” Izuku twisted her head at the mysterious man she saw earlier.

“Deku you fuck! I told you…!”

“Now it’s not the time! The gem!”

The scowl in Katsuki’s face disappears and turns in a serious one when he sees the man and heads above the dragon riding it making the dragon squirm.

“I’ll kill you if you’re lying!” He warns her but with no venom comes in it and faces the tribe men making the dragon to back off. “Restrain him!”

The moment they manage to hold him down Katsuki makes a small explosion against the black gem. The mist disappears and the dragon faints making a gust of wind. Izuku lost balance expecting a awful landing, but someone caught her.

“You really are a magnet of danger.” Katsuki mutters as he set her down on her feet.

“Hahaha” Izuku laughs nervous.

“Well I’m not into boys...But I have to admit you’re a great disguise.” Katsuki’s eyes widened at the disgusting voice coming from a big slime monster and pushes Izuku from danger.

“Kacchan!”

“Step away Deku.” Katsuki’s deep voice rang as he got trapped by the villain.

The villain caught his arms making it impossible for him to use his powers and started to force himself against Katsuki’s mouth. Izuku screams in horror as she noticed that the slime is almost encasing him completely. There were explosions but none of them made the monster to let him go, it just made it worse. “Sorry to break it to ya, but you’re gonna die and I gotta to impress those guys sooo...No hard feelings pal?” The creature laughed loudly as it continued to pull him in.

The only feeling Izuku felt at that time was fear.

“Let him go! You asshole!” Izuku shouted loudly at the monster, she planted hard on her heels making the ground tremble, her eyes and body glowed an intense green as she extended her hands towards the slime. The monster widened his eyes looking at the girl as he could feel his victim being pulled away by some force he couldn’t control. A shockwave erupted from her power, that was new to her, she paid no mind. She successfully pulled half of Katsuki’s upper body making sure that his hands were free, the moment his hands got free Katsuki coughs a few times and with a sinister smile made a big explosion against the slime’s head. The monster loses his hold and out of nowhere there was a big sword slicing the remaining slime attached to Katsuki setting him free.

Because of the force of the impact, Katsuki smashed against Izuku, they flew up in the air and rolled. Katsuki managed take Izuku in his arms, they locked eyes, lost in each other. A lot of emotions ran into their eyes, horror, fear and joy from what they witnessed earlier. Tears fell down in Izuku’s face at the sight of him being alive, she grabbed his face and clutched to him like dear life. Katsuki landed so hard that they created a crater and caged Izuku even more with his arms.

“Have no fear! For I am here!” The couple was greeted by a familiar figure, a tall man with shining white teeth and blond hair. ”DETROIT SMAAAAASH!!!!” Another gust of wind blew over them and the villain disappeared.

“All Might?!” Everyone in the tribe shouted.

“I am!” The hero smiles brightly and salutes them with his right hand. “Well keep on cheering me on! Now this hero must go!” All Might gets on his knees and before taking a leap in the sky he takes one last glance at the green haired lady while smiling and leaves.

He found her.

A few minutes have passed, they stopped the fire and the couple still haven’t let go of each other's arms. Izuku decides to break the silence and bites her lip hesitantly.

“Are you okay…?” She whispered with her eyes red from crying and Katsuki nodded with a serious face, unmoving.

“...Ehem!” A voice is heard at their sides and people started to kneel in front of them.

“Your majesty Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugou!”

Izuku blushes hard and gets off Katsuki when she heard the couple in front of them, a smirking woman with the same hair as Katsuki and a man with brown hair. Izuku realized that she looks exactly like Katsuki, she has the same crimson eyes and spiky blond hair.

“My my what a beautiful young lady!” The still smirking lady looking up and down the two teenagers.

“Hello, my name is Masaru Bakugou, king of the Southern Tribe of the Badlands.” He said smiling.

“Mitsuki Bakugou, queen of the Southern Tribe of the Badlands.” She presents herself with a soft expression looking exactly like Katsuki making Izuku turn red, again.

“I’m Izuku Midoriya, It’s an honor your majesty.”

Some recognition flashes in Mitsuki’s eyes and her eyes goes down to her neck for a second to go back to her eyes, she’s good at hiding it from everyone and smiles brighter.

“Oh! Call me Mitsuki...Thank you for your help! You have our gratitude Izuku.”

Izuku starts to move nervously her arms at all directions."No no I didn’t do much.”

“Nonsense, I saw what you did back there.” Mitsuki looks over a woman holding the girl that Izuku saved moments ago. “You saved that little girl and my idiot son.” Katsuki grunts at that but says nothing.

“Uhm…” Izuku looks at Katsuki asking for help.

“Old hag.” Katsuki steps in putting his hand over Izuku’s shoulder.

“Sop calling me old hag you brat!” Mitsuki snaps and wraps her arms around Katsuki almost choking him.

“Oi is that how you treat your nearly dead son?!” Katsuki yells at his mother, Izuku just steps aside and notices that everyone surrounding them were looking at them it was the most normal thing in the world.

Izuku pales at that.

“My...They’re always like that, don’t worry about it Izuku-chan.” A cheery voice is heard behind her.

“Kirishima-san…” Izuki says and turns to Kirishima.

“Oh and they’re not at their full potential....If they were riding a dragon there would be chaos.” A woman with pink skin next to Kirishima points out while laughing.

“You don’t say” Izuku says sarcastically to her.

“I like her, my name is Mina Ashido cutie.” The woman beamed happily and Izuku laughs.

“It was Izuku’s idea to destroy the gem.” Katsuki looks at Izuku while pushing Mitsuki off and she frowns at that.

“Gem?”

“The dragon had a weird gem on his head and I noticed some strange men watching over there.” Izuku points the big rocks in the distance, a perfect spot.

“Those bastards…!” Mitsuki snaps loudly. “We’ll search the area.” She said while fuming smoke through her nostrils and Masaru tries to calm her down.

“How about you give this young lady a ride and I calm down your mother?” Masaru changes the subject and takes Mitsuki away.

“Tell your mom Inko that I’ll drop by to have some tea!” Mitsuki yells in the distance to Izuku and she smiles before turning to Katsuki.

“Hell yeah! Take me to a ride! yeah?” Izuku beams with stars in her eyes. Izuku clings to Katsuki’s right arm as she flashed her eyelashes. Katsuki blinked several times, he ran his crimson eyes up and down like he had trouble placing the six year old Izuku he met in the forest. He could hear his thumping of his heart against his chest, he was shocked, he realized that she is a woman and he is a man, they had grown up. Izuku is inexperienced when in comes to the opposite sex, she didn’t considered herself as a seductress, she had some tricks under her sleeve from those romance novels she used to read and boy that reaction was gold.

“...Alright.” He said and takes her hand.

They flew up in the skies in direction on her village for ten minutes and some memories flashed through Izuku’s eyes. She was an expectator, she couldn’t do anything or say a thing.

A boy and a girl playing in the forest, clear ones this time.

“I’m super strong! I’m going to be the strongest of all heroes!” A six year old Katsuki shouts while puffing his chest and with his hands on his hips.

“Me too! I wanna be a hero!” Izuku standing at her full height and raising a hand.

“You haven’t even manifested your magic, how come you’re gonna be a hero? Stupid Deku” Snorts Katsuki while pointing at Izuku.”It’s better if you just step aside and let me do the job!”

“Just you see! I’ll levitate things like my mommy or breath fire like my dad!...Maybe both!” She snaps angrily at Katsuki.

“We’ll see.” He replies with a bored expression, a loud thorn is heard from the mountains making him tense and faces Izuku with a serious face.”Deku...I have to leave.”

“See you tomorrow here?”

“I won’t come back until It’s safe...We’re moving to the West tribe of the Badlands for a while” Katsuki takes off a necklace, a simple one with a green pendant and puts it on Izuku. “In my tribe there’s a tradition when you wanna stay with a special someone forever, keep this and I’ll find ya.”

“Then we’ll be together forever?”

“Forever.”

The two kids smiled and a woman in the distance was waiting the young Katsuki, he runs to her and takes one last glance at the young Izuku.

“Remember, we’ll be heroes!”

“Mmm!” The girl beams happily and watches the boy leave.

“You do realize that you basically married him?” A grown up Izuku tells the little girl, she couldn't be heard anyway.

“Well you’re me sooo we’re on the same boat.” Replies the young Izuku to her and faces her.

That shocked her.

“Wasn't this a memory?! Can you hear me?”

“We are the same but...not the same soul.”

“...Aren’t you mad? That I stole your life?”

“Like I said, we are the same but your soul has changed so many times...The first time we were unfortunate... misunderstood, alone in the world, another one we had no purpose, who knows how many more...Blame god if you’d like and now what are we gonna do...?” The girl asks Izuku expectant.

“Let’s become heroes! We shall not become puppets anymore.” Izuku answers smiling and extends her fist towards the child.

The girl smiles fondly and and a little gust of wind breaks loose making Izuku to close her eyes for a second, when she opened her eyes she is faced with a perfect replica of her in front of her. Like a mirage.

“We shall.” The girl corresponds her fist with her own.

“We’re here.” A voice in Izuku’s ear whispered and she noticed that they had landed back to her home.

Right.

Katsuki gave her a ride back home and now they’re back in the forest near her village, the sun has set down. She smiled at the revival of their childhood, she looked at the ground and their fingers brushed slightly when Katsuki unhooked his arm around Izuku’s waist. She stretched her fingers to let go of the jolt of sensation of his touch.

“Yeah...Um thanks for the ride.” She said, even if she didn’t remembered much of it and just the warm feeling of his arm and chest. She moved to her side and climbed off the dragon with a soft swift of the power and made eye contact with the man riding the dragon before he took off in the sky. Her feet felt numb on her steps back home, she had too much emotions in one day.

When she reached her house her mother was already outside waiting for her. “Darling!” Her mother beamed and hugs her.

“I’m home” Izuku smiles.

.

.

Izuku jogs down in the quiet forest, it was seven in the morning and her head was filled with thoughts about the events of yesterday. Who were those people? Should I ask Kacchan about the necklace? Ahhhh it was so awesome seeing All Might in action!

After an hour, Izuku decided that it was time to go back and have breakfast with her mother when a mysterious voice rang behind her.

“There you are young lady!”

Izuku turns around, while thinking that the voice was extremely familiar, it wasn’t long before she realized why and her eyes landed on the greatest hero of all time, All Might.

“No way?! All might is right in front of me…” Her thoughts raced over and over.

“Young lady?”

“Right! All Might sir!” She saluted with her hand. ”Um, my name is Izuku Midoriya at your service!”

All Might laughs. “I saw you yesterday jumping in to save the little girl and to fight that slime monster.”

Izuki looked up to him confused urging him to continue.

“Tell me, what were you thinking when you ran into the fight?”

Izuku smiles “I guess...My feet moved of its own, when I saw that little girl’s eyes I didn’t need a second thought.”

“That’s the spirit!” All Might said before laughing again.”To be a hero is to put your life on the line to save others, there’s a lot of stories from heroes saying that their feet moved without thinking.”

Izuku was getting more and more confused, it seemed that All Might had more to say.

“Yagi Toshinori.”

“What?! You're giving me your real name?” She responds with a somewhat high-pitched voice but then she clears her voice. “That’s quite an unusual name hahaha...But isn’t it dangerous telling it to a stranger?” Izuku said as she is getting weak on her knees.

“I trust you young Midoriya.”

All Might crouches down to her level to held her shoulders.

“I've been traveling all over the world...looking for someone and that someone is you.”

Something metallic sounds behind All Might as he takes a step back Izuku notices that is a sword, the legendary sword.

“I have chosen you as my next sucesor and so this sword, when I was around the area this buddy was flashing some energy pulling me to you and when I saw you in action I knew it.” All Might says as the plants the sword in the grass.

“Are you s-suffering from some type of a disease? I mean you can still fight right?” Izuku asks.

When All Might was about to answer a small smoke came from him and the very strong man capable of lifting large numbers of men on his shoulders transformed in a skeletal man, not what Izuku expected.

“Ah shit! I’m running out of time…” All Might started to have a cough attack spilling blood.

“Aaaaaah who the hell are you?!”

“It’s me young Midoriya calm down.” All Might lifts his hands and pointed himself.

“Sir Are you okay?!” Izuku yells alarmed.

“I’m fine young lady, this was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“How come you’re fine?! You’re spilling blood!” Izuku panicked.

“A long time ago, I had a battle against our most powerful enemy, we both got seriously injured, I almost died that day and now I can only use the power of the sword for a certain use of time.”

“No...”

Why can’t she remember that?

“Young Midoriya, I need a sucesor, someone to pass down my sword, to be the next legendary hero! And that someone is you!” All Might points at Izuku. “Do you accept?”

Izuku’s face was filled with shock but turned in a serious in a matter of seconds “I do”

“Then, take this sword and forge your destiny! Let’s save the world!”

The moment Izuku touches the sword handle in front of an expectant All Might there is a blinding green light coming from it knocking them both to the ground and a few trees. After a few seconds of silence from the two of them All Might beams happily coughing a little bit of blood.

“My! What a great amount of raw power! I like it!”

“Is that a common thing?” Izuku points the sword with her eyes wide open.

All Might just laughs loudly.

“Let the training begin!”

Previous chapter   Next chapter

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Joint Effort (baon)

Summary: Jeff is getting back on his feet and that’s pretty nice. He’s not so sure about Red and Sans’s version of helping, though.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Kustard, Established Relationship, Humor, Marijuana Usage

Notes: I’m getting my timeline a little scattered, but man did I need something funny and cute.

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

~~*~~

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

Staying in New New Home was nice.

Honestly, one of the nicest places Jeff ever lived and there was something about knowing that if he went outside for a walk at least one person was bound to wave at him, and if it was a skeleton or a Bun or even a Moldsmal, it was, well. It was nice.

Not that Jeff was walking that much, he was only just back on his feet. Blue spent a decent amount of time this morning scolding him not to overdo it, doublechecked that he had his phone and that he’d call if he needed to, and gave him a sack lunch before shooing him out the door.

Maybe it was a little overkill for a walk over to Stretch’s house, but the kindness of it made a warm glow settle in Jeff’s middle and that was a nice change from the itch of his healing stitches. It reminded him a bit of how it felt for Stretch to pull his soul out, but that memory was blurred through pain medicine. Maybe someday he could persuade Stretch to do it again, just to compare his memory to reality. But not today.

Today they were hanging out to celebrate Jeff’s return to being upright. Stretch seemed all for the bag lunch anyway, promptly stealing it and now they were sitting in the backyard together sharing the chocolate chip cookies while the nice, healthy sandwich on wheat sat wilting in the heat, sad and ignored.

The chickens wandered around the yard, occasionally inspecting their feet for possible goodies. This was nice, too, sitting in comfortable silence with a friend, sharing snacks and company.

“hey, you two.”

Swallowing back a yelp, Jeff whipped around to see Sans and Red standing behind them, lounging back against the large tree. He didn’t really know either of them well, Sans a bit better of the two since he’d helped out with the lab work that one time. But the matching grins on their faces filled him with a sense of foreboding.

Stretch seemed to agree. He slouched even more in his chair, rolling his eye lights as he reached out lazily to snuff his cigarette out in the nearby ashtray. “hey, you two back. what do you want?”

“aww, that ain’t nice, honey bun,” Red shook his head sadly. “maybe we just came to visit you and your little feathery dinosaurs for andy’s first real outing.”

“maybe. except every time you come over you have an agenda, short stack, and it better not be trying to sneak in more of your spy shit.”

“i’m here, too,” Sans pointed out. “what’s the agenda, do i need to take notes? got a pen i can borrow?”

“like you’d do anything he says? i know you, you have your own shit planned. better not let him be rubbing off on you and you can skip all the puns around that, i’ve already thought of all the good ones and the statute of limitations isn’t up.”

“rubbing ‘em out as we speak,” Sans said solemnly. “now, if you’re through your daily quota of paranoia, we brought you both a gift.”

“you can’t have any cookies.”

“we ain’t after the fucking cookies. besides the blueberry would hand some over himself if we asked and you know it.” Red nudged Sans ungently and got a sharp elbow to the ribs for his trouble. “show ‘em.”

With theatrical flare, Sans reached into his hoodie pocket and withdrew what to Jeff’s inexperienced eye looked like a joint. “ta fucking da.”

From Stretch’s brutally unimpressed expression, he probably wasn’t very excited. “seriously?”

“c’mon, please?” Sans wheedled, hands clasped together in a pantomime of pleading. “we haven’t smoked since you hooked your anchor to the edgelord.”

“yeah, because the last time my brother was ready to commit a couple murders over what we did to his sofa.”

“he got a new one! besides, can’t burn any of the good furniture if we stay out here. it’ll be fun! andy, talk to him.”

Jeff froze, looking between the twin earnestly pleading expressions (it was oddly disturbing on Red’s face) and Stretch’s skeptical one. “Um. I don’t mind if you guys want to?”

“don’t go into infomercials, kid, you ain’t so good at the ringing endorsements,” Red said dryly. “c’mon, i doubledchecked, it won’t interact bad with your meds.”

“ixnay,” Sans hissed. Stretch only sighed.

“of course you did, you shit. you know, i need to stop bitching about my brother being controlling because you’re valedictorian with an advanced degree in meddling.”

“yeah, yeah, me and those kids with the dog,” Red waved that away. ”c’mon, we could all use some chill. either smoke with us, or sansy and i’ll go back to my place and do it there.”

“give me that,” Stretch said irritably, reaching for the roll. Sans let him pluck it away. He flicked his lighter and held it to the end until it kindled, inhaling deeply. Breathed out a cloud of smoke with a faint cough, “at least if you’re here i can keep an eye on you.”

“oh, yeah, you’re great as adult supervision. i feel safer already.” Sans took it back when Stretch held it out, taking a hit of his own. He held it out to Jeff, “give this a try, andy.”

“Um, that’s okay?” Jeff said meekly. “I tried it in college, it doesn’t do much for me. I don’t want to waste it.”

“can’t hurt to take a hit then,” Red said reasonably. “give it a try. what could wrong?”

~~*~~

“He is hot as hell, though, right?” Jeff slurred out, blinking up dazedly at the bright blue of the sky.

The path of his descent to laying on the grass was only a little convoluted. Starting with his feet being suddenly too hot, so he kicked off his shoes and the grass felt so good on his bare feet he decided that laying on it would feel even better. It did, all cool, faintly prickly glory and that mingled with sweet relaxation lapping over him was a hell of a lot better than simply nice.

He was pretty sure one of the chickens was trying to preen his hair. He damn well hoped it was a chicken.

“the edgelord?” Came from next to him where Sans had joined in on his magnificent quest to the grass. Red and Stretch were occupying their own section of the lawn, solidifying it as a common goal. Sans didn’t wait for Jeff to reply, only added with lazy fervor, “fuck, yeah, he is.”

Okay, so, all of them ending up on the grass was a path Jeff could chart. This topic of conversation, not so much.

After passing the joint a couple times, —and Jeff was pretty sure he hadn’t meant to take more than one hit— the rest of the cookies had fallen quickly to their ravenous appetite. So had the sandwich and the little baggie of chisps, and somewhere in there Stretch was lamenting that Edge wasn’t home to bring them more snacks. Sans made some comment about Edge being a snack, and then—

Jeff wasn’t entirely sure what qualified as attractive to Monsters, but from his own observations of others around them, he was pretty sure when they were handing out the sexy, Edge went back for a second helping. Didn’t hurt to ask though, right?

From somewhere around his bare feet, Jeff felt the grass stir, then a bony finger poked the sole of his foot hard enough to make him yelp. “are you two discussing how hot my husband is without me?”

“nah, you’re sitting right there.”

“i didn’t think so,” Stretch sniffed. “yeah, he’s really hot, isn’t he. fuck, when he wears those jeans—“

“yeah, and those boots of his—“

“And that belt? Kind of, you know, draws the eyes down, yeah?”

The sound that came from Jeff’s left made him frown, trying to turn his wobbly head that way to see how a wounded animal managed to get into Stretch’s backyard. But the only thing there was Red and rather than enjoying the feel of the grass, he looked like he might be attempting to bite out a chunk of the ground.

“can we please not talk about how hot my baby bro is?” Red said, and wow. Jeff never took him for the begging type. “let’s talk about how hot someone else’s honey is. you!”

Jeff froze when Red pointed at him accusingly.

“Me? Oh! Oh, yeah, Antwan is hot,” Jeff agreed eagerly, sighing happily as his mental picture of Edge was overlaid with Antwan. Both of them obviously took far more than their fair share of sexy on their buffet plates, letting it spill over onto everything else like salad dressing seeping into the mac and cheese. Hmmm, maybe he could keep them on his thought player side by side, Edge and Antwan—

His introspection was interrupted by a loud scoff from Red. “we know he’s hot, we can see. how is he in the sack, now, that’s a real question.”

“Um.” There were many answers to that question in varying stages of pornographic, each battling with his dwindling common sense to be said first.

“you can’t ask him that!” Stretch scolded and gave Red a rough shove with his own bony bare foot. Jeff’s swelling relief at being rescued was immediately punctured as he went on. “i’m his best friend, i get to ask. how is he in the sack?”

“Uhmm…he’s…good?” Jeff tried but as answers went, no one seemed very satisfied with it. ”Really good?”

“that’s how you describe a mediocre summer action flick, not getting laid,” Red complained.

“don’t pick on him!” Stretch said, loyal even in his disappointment. “don’t feel bad, andy, edge is good in the sack, too.”

“doesn’t anyone want to know how good my boyfriend is in the sack?” Sans asked.

“no!”

“you ain’t even got a boyfriend, you shit.”

“Yeah, okay. Is he hot?”

Before Sans could answer, a pair of boots came up beside Jeff’s head. He stared in awe at the glory of them. They were nice boots, familiar boots, and Jeff reached out to rub a thumb over the dark, shiny leather. To his disappointment, they moved out of his reach and Jeff sighed sadly, absently looking up the long, long legs, up, up…oh.

Edge was looking down at them, arms crossed over his chest and that look should be patented under Severely Disappointed.

“What are you idiots doing?” It was a question, but Jeff had his suspicions that Edge already knew.

“babe!” Stretch said gleefully and made an attempt to sit up. It failed somewhere around the point of pushing up on his elbows and he sank back to the grass. “you’re home! we’re just…uh…” That laser of disapproval looked like it cut through the cloud of his high and dawning realization washed over Stretch’s face. He made a hasty attempt to change tactics. “hey. uh. love you?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“which one will make you less mad?”

“Neither, brat.” But he moved to kneel next to him, a gloved hand gently smoothing over Stretch’s skull. He made a happy little sound, not unlike the chickens, and leaned into that touch. “I’m not angry. You seem relaxed.”

“yeah,” Stretch sighed. The way he tipped his head into Edge’s petting made Jeff unsuccessfully stifle a giggle. “and we kept it outside!”

“Smoking anything in my house is unwise,” Edge agreed.

Sans leaned up with marginally more success than Stretch, holding up the joint. “you want a hit?”

“No, thank you,” Edge said dryly. “Try not to light anything on fire this time. Do you all want a snack?”

From his wince, they were maybe a little too enthusiastic with their response. But Edge only nodded, his thumb skirting over the curve of Stretch‘s skull a last time before he climbed back to his feet, and Jeff watched in bemusement as both Stretch and Sans lifted their heads to watch Edge walk away.

Or at least Sans tried. For some reason his head dropped back to the grass with a muttered, “ouch! stop it asshole, i ain’t lookin’!”

The door closed and Jeff whispered as softly as he could to Stretch. “I thought he’d be mad.”

Apparently, his whispers were currently set to high. Stretch only flapped a hand vaguely at the house. “nah, he’s cool. also, he can hear you, he opened the kitchen window. gotta be a mamma bear.”

Sans’s voice managed to be somehow vague and still rich with his own brand of disappointment. “aww, so we have to stop talking about how hot he is?”

The loud sound of dishes crashing made a round of wincing go through them all.

Stretch waited for the last of the clatter to fade. “only if you want something to eat.”

“i’ll think about it…ouch! okay, okay, i’m done!”

Jeff shook his head when Sans held out the joint to him again. Whatever snack Edge was making, he wanted some, too, and if the price was ending any chatter about how hot Edge was, eh.

Better to not take the chance.

-finis-

[foxydivaxx]

Septette for the Dead Prince Chapter 8: Turn Back The Pendulum

This will shed some light on Aogiri’s past. Trigger warning: rape mention

“T-There is something that has been disturbing me for the past couple years and I feel it is time to get it off my chest. The boys are also part of this as well.”

The Titans stare at the rest of Aogiri who all nod and get up. “I guess there is no other way around this,” says Kaneki.

“Yeah but is it really advisable that you do what it is I think you are about to do?” asks Lelouch.

Dick has a confused look on his face. “What do you mean?”

“Well....Eren here is going to show you what it is that we are talking about. However, a little heads up. This ain’t for the fainthearted.” Ichigo warns.

“No worries. We are all used to stuff,” says Rachel. The other Titans shoot her confused glances. Eren simply sighs. This is perhaps the hardest decision that he has had to make. Well not just him, the entire group as well as they all went back and forth on it several times and only recently decided to finally tell the Titans. The only question now is how would they take it?

“Right, let’s go,” says Eren. He then closes his eyes and using his powers, teleports them to a now deserted island with ancient Greek and Viking ruins.

“Wait...did you just...” says Garfield. Eren smiles a bit. “Yup. I teleported us here.” It was then that Sick began to realize something. “Just like your AOT character...”

Eren chuckles softly. “Yeah but Attack on Titan only told the world only half of the truth, the truth the others wanted to hear. That is why I brought you all here. To explain the truth to you.”

Rachel then gasps. “So that story is true!! All that stuff happened...” Eren then looks down and nods. “Yes. The monster being portrayed there was me. But like I said, there is more. This place I brought us to is the ruins of the land once called Eldia.”

The Titans gasped. “Oh my....” Lelouch nods. “About 3000 years ago, this land was given to Queen Makaria better known as Carla Jaeger years ago by Lord Hades as a wedding gift after she married Prince Adrian of Athens, Eren’s father who became the first King of Eldia.”

The gang then see what appeared to be past ghosts of several key figures, including Eren’s parents. Eren smiles sadly once he sees the vision of his baby self. Dick and Kory notice this and each takes one of his hands, a gesture that deeply warmed his heart.

“The nine of us were Eren’s bodyguards and best friends and also his cousins for all of us save for 3 were children of the Muses,” says Rin. “Also we were princes from different Kingdoms too.” says Natsu.

“Which says a lot about your talents,” says Rose. The boys grinned as they watched their younger selves run around, singing, dancing and just have fun.

“However, a dark shadow hung over us and that dark shadow was none other than Melinoe, Eren’s aunt and Queen Makaria’s sister.” said Natsu.

“The witch was jealous that her sister was more popular than she was and decided to destroy whatever happiness she had by first having her husband killed and plunging them into war and darkness and hurt Eren the Crown Prince.”

“Wait....but I thought Zeke was the older sibling.” Says Rose. “Nah. Eren is the true firstborn.”

Eren looks down, tears flowing down his eyes as he watches the witch kill his father in front of his young inexperienced self.

“I....I was forced to become King on that day but...I failed...plus....t-that witch did something terrible to me.”

The gang was horrified by what they saw next. Prior to Eldia’s destruction, the evil witch tortured and defiled the poor Prince. Days later, The Kingdom of Eldia is set ablaze as Viking warriors similar to the ones that enslaved Ymir Fritz years later, laid waste to the entire Kingdom and massacred thousands.

Rachel was in tears as she saw this, prompting Garfield to comfort her whilst Jason, Conner and Rose are disgusted by this.

Aogiri’s past selves led by Eren head to battle whilst Armin, Jean, and Connie; the three boys that would eventually walk out of the group stayed in the Palace to protect the Princesses with Zeke.

“The three traitors that walked out of the group were also traitors as they slaughtered Eren’s siblings,” says Rin.

Everyone grimaced when they saw Jean, Connie and Armin stab and kill Eren’s siblings. “Those bastards!!” says Dick.

Back on the battlefield, Melinoe and Makaria engage in one last duel. “I will make you pay for what you did to my husband you witch!!” Makaria yelled as her sword clashes with her sister’s.

Melinoe simply cackles. “It is too late!!” She sends her sister’s sword flying and without hesitation, she stabs her sister straight in the heart, killing her.

“NO!!!” Eren’s ancient self screams and drops to his knees, tears in his eyes.

Dick and Kory both show concern for Eren who simply looks away.

The evil witch then heads off to the Temple of Hades to carry out one more diabolical act. “Now that those fools are out of the way, might as well steal the power of Father dearest from here.”

“Not so fast!!”

She whips around to see Eren and his friends stand in front of her. “Ah!! If it isn’t the cowardly Prince and his friends.”

“He is not a coward!!” Lelouch shouts back at her, his eyes glowing red with anger. Eren simply shoots a death glare at her. “Less talk, more action.” Without hesitation, they proceed to attack.

Natsu shoots a fire blast whilst Naruto sends a pool of water at her but the witch teleports out of the way. Ichigo and Izuku come down, trying to hit her with lightning and wind blasts but she blocks it and throws both boys aside.

Luffy punches the earth beneath him and kicks some rocks at her which again she blocks whilst Rin tries using a light attack but it fails and she sends him flying with a dark magical blast and also kicks Luffy in the gut.

Lelouch and Kaneki charge towards the witch, Lelouch trying to freeze her whilst Kaneki tries to use his telepathy. Unfortunately for them, the woman stops their attacks and uses her telepathy to send them flying back, causing them to hit the others.

“Now where is the Prince?” she asked. Before she could say anything, she gasps and coughs out blood as Eren stabs her. “It’s over witch.” he says.

She smirks evilly. “Or is it?!” Unfortunately for Eren, the one that he stabbed was just a fske clone. The real deal shows up and proceeds to use all of her magical powers to not only kill the boys but also to destroy what was left of Eldia, sacrificing even her soldiers.

“What a monster.” says Kory.

“Are you satisfied?” Melinoe turns around to see her mother Persephone. She then panics. “I...I THOUGHT I KILLED YOU!!”

“You didn’t. You did however destroyed the rest of Olympus including your own father because of your greed.”

“What?! How is it possible for anyone to destroy Hades?!” said Rachel. “Only the witch would know.”

“You gave away my birthright to that bratty sister of mine!!” she argued. “And for your sins, I hereby cast you to the dark pits of Tartarus!!” Melinoe screams as she is teleported to Tartarus.

“That child went overboard. Even Ares at his worst won’t go this far.” Persephone turns around to see Hecate. “Nice to see you Lady Hecate.” she says with a bow.

The Goddess sighed. “We have one heck of a mess to clean up.” She then turns to Eren’s corpse.

“If she hadn’t attacked, that boy would have grown to be great. Not because of any prophecy but rather because he was born into this world.”

“There would still be war and conflict and corruption in this world.” says Persephone. “A reflection or the politics of the gods. It is just how life itself is. Something so complex even we the gods do not often understand it.” Says Hecate.

“And in the midst of such darkness, there shall be light.” Persephone adds. The elder goddess nods. “I believe that we should allow the children to decide their destiny once we begin anew.” And with that, everyone gets reincarnated once again.

Meanwhile in Tartarus, the evil Melinoe struggles to break free from her chains. Angered that the gods somehow managed to ruin her plans, she utters a very terrifying curse. 

“Mark my words Makaria!! You and your people shall never know peace!! The Eldians shall be destroyed by one of your children!!! And another shall be so hated that the world shall mark him as a demon regardless of his good deeds!!”

“Holy shit!” says Jason. Rachel gasped. “Now I really want to punch the shit out of that bitch when I see her!!” says Conner.

“All nine of us were separated through time and space and thrown into different worlds until that great Eldian War where Eren sacrificed himself by playing a demonic character which went against his morales. Something I can relate to because I did a similar thing too.” says Lelouch.

“Let’s be honest. All nine of us were forced to play demons for the sake of saving humanity because the worlds we were raised in brought out our inner darkness.” says Ichigo. “I am shocked that the gods did not punish us.” says Rin. “They kind of did by making Eren go on a 12 Labours journey as atonement once he got reincarnated in this current world and us being the loyal boys that we are, we went along for the ride.” says Izuku.

Eren simply hugs Dick and breaks down in tears. Dick pulls him closer and hugs him tight with Kory joining in for support. “It’s ok Eren. You will regain your happiness again.” 

“Is it me or are the cowards a bunch of cowards?” says Conner. “Yeah why do all the demigods have to suffer for them?” says Rose. “Melinoe somehow scared the shit out of them but she isn’t supposed to....”

“Unless some other god or powerful being on that same level is aiding her behind the scenes but who?” says Natsu. “There is only guy that I could think of and he is someone we collectively hate.” says Eren.

The mysterious man he speaks of is ironically locked in a secret meeting with Melinoe in a secret lab. “So those children have recovered their memories huh?” says the man. Melinoe simply sighs. “Unfortunately.” He nods. “I see. Still they better be prepared for they will not know what is about to hit them for I have a secret weapon .” he says, pointing at a tube that had the body of a certain young Amazon.

Notice the powers that they all have. Which Kpop group does this remind you all of?

[jaz-xedarix]

Merry Christmas!!!

Hey guys!!!! I am sooo bloody busy! (mexicans goes crazy when you have to cook for many people...)

I am done with the translation of the introduction, but I will post it here because the coloring I did was a surprise I wanted to give you with this translation. I didn’t have time to finish it and give it to someone who can check it, even if there are just few pages... 

I decided to take the risk and post it as I did it, because this time I didn’t use a bloody translator to do it (no internet conection at home. Here it is, as terrible as me, and with this coloring I made with all my love. 

  ROM IV

Prologue The Winter Visitor

  …and in the name of our God we will put up our flags. Psalms, 20-5

—We request permission to enter into combat, excellence.

The first snow storm of the winter had turned the snowy road into a mud puddle. The mist. that was floating from the river that cross the plain was covering the terrain in a cold embrace.

It was six in the morning and the sun hadn't rise yet, which was normal in that time of the year. Typically, the darkness and the silence should have dominated the scene, but that day was different. The peace of the dawn disappeared with the clatter of the hoofs of the horses that were ridden by six figures and many lights were pursuing them. Turning to those lights that shine between the lush trees, an old man called out again:

—If we continue like this will be a matter of time to be captured. We will entertain them here so your excellence can scape.

— Silence, Ahmed!

 Even with the fur of her horse all wet in sweat, the Countess of Babylon hit it again with the whip, while she asked her loyal servant to shut up. In the frozen air of the  dawn, her screams turned into a pale steam.

 —I will not left behind any of you. Instead of loose the time saying foolish things, you should run faster!

—   I... I am so... sorry, exellence... It's my fault, we were discovered because of me.

The shaking voice was from Selim, that was riding beside his mistress. The youngest of the servants of the Countess of Babylon was holding the reins with a worried face.

 — If only they hadn't saw me...

—   Now it doesn't matter, stop blaming yourself — the Countess sighed trying to calm down the young terran

 There had been three days since they escaped from Timisoara through those savage lands. At first they had traveled without being recognized, being careful they don't look suspicious when they got provisions in the Terran villages. But an inconvenient scream of the young Terran provoked that the barbarians discovered them. When they found a patrol, Selim. thought that the tobacco that the soldiers were smoking was a fire.

 Anyway, the Countess of Babylon did not have the intention to scold the inexperienced guy. At the end, the fact that they were in that situation was her fault. If she hadn't been implicated without knowing in the complot organized by her uncle, the Duke of Tigris, she hadn't had to abandon her country taking her servants along, and they hadn't been persecuted by those barbarians of foreign lands.

 Everything was because of her new condition as a rebel.

 — We are lost, your excellence, the sun will rise soon! — Ahmed shrieked as he saw the outline on the mountains beyond the river.

 The snow filled clouds had made them to take a long time to realize the bluish color that had begun to take over the sky. The original plan had been to hide in the thick woods and wait there for the sunset. The next day, they would continue their way to Albion through those barbarian lands. That was what they had planned, but everything had changed at once. As the situation was, even if they managed to escape the barbarians, they would not have time to find refuge in the city before sunrise.

 — Stop everyone! ordered the countess, raising her arm.

 In the distance were the domes and pinnacles of the strange city, surrounded by the course of the river.

  It seemed like a lively city, but she knew her body would not last long enough. After making a decision, the Countess turned to her vassals.

 — I want to thank you for following me until here. The house of the Counts of Babylon will always be grateful to you for the fidelity and dedication you have shown

— But ... what are you doing, Your Grace? — Ahmed cried urgently.

 How could her mistress allow herself to talk so calmly in such a desperate moment? With the face of wanting to grab her from the lapels and run away, she continued in an urgent tone:

 — We must hurry or they will overtake us!

 — Indeed. Anyway, reaching us is only a matter of time ... That's why I've decided that I'll stay behind.

 The faces of the vassals looks like if they were electrified. They were so astonished that they even forgot to answer, while the countess of Babylon spoke to them with serenity, but in a tone that could not allow a negative.

 — I'll stay here. Thus, while I gain some time, you can flee. Then you can go back to the Empire and look for a new lord, or stay abroad ... From now on you are free.

 — Have you lost your reason, Your Grace? — Ahmed cried when he recovered from the surprise. The old servant, who had accompanied his mistress since childhood in the house of the Duke of Tigris,  shed tears of pain.

 —No matter how many nobles there are in the Empire, we have no other mistress than you! Be it on the outside or in the Badlands, we will never abandon you! Please allow us to follow you.

— No way!

 The whip banged hard.

 With her eyes glittering, the imperial noble looked upon her vassals.

 — Even if it was against my will, to have betrayed Augusta is my responsibility. If I also drag my vassals with me into disgrace, the name of my family will be dishonored for all eternity ... I have thought long and hard to make this decision. The next one who answers me I will slap him!

— But, mylady ...

 Under the glare of amethyst of their mistress, the vassals bowed their heads.

 If they had stretched out the arm, they could already have touched the halo of light of the lamps that pursued them. The gigantic silhouettes covered with iron plates would have them within reach of their automatic weapons in a few minutes.

Under normal circumstances, the fighting power of an imperial aristocrat would have been sufficient to disperse a patrol of armored cars like that. However, they were in hostile territory, and their final destination, Albion, was still more than a thousand miles away. To leave her mistress in such a situation was for the vassals as ripping off half of the body, and more considering that it would be for them alone to be safe.

 —Then we'll take our own lives right here — Ahmed muttered, his head drawn, drawing his sword and wrapping it around his neck. — if our lady asks us to leave her behind. It is not for a loyal vassal to live more than his master. Even less to abandon his master in enemy territory, when every option is unloyality, there’s no other way than death!

— Dobitoc! What kind of nonesense are you saying! — shout the Countess with a nervous stare when she look at the first drops of blood running on the blade — you only have a short life and you want to waste it like this?

  — Excuse my daring to said this but, isn’t your excelency the one who is going to waste her life? —answered Ahmed, without quiting the blade off his neck—. In this Badlands there’s not a wall of lapislazuli that can protect a methuselah. Staying here, alone is equal to suicide, you are smart to understand it!

The old man was screaming while his tears run through his cheeks, He wasn’t the only one who was sobbing. Selim, who was beside her and the rest of the vassels, all of them have the face full of tears. Looking at the Countess who was silent, ashamed, Ahmed tried hard to convince her.

— We are weak, but we have enough strenght to protect you from those barbarians… I beg you, let us stay with you until the end!

 — You fools…

 For an Aristocrat of the Empire, crying in front of Terrans was a big shame. The Countess rised her face to look to the sky, that was taking the color of the dove’s wings and said firmly

—The truth is, you don’t have remedy, well then, if you insist, I don’t have anything else to said. Do as you pleased.

— Tha… Thank you!

 The five of them lower their heads at the same time. Looking at the wet but smiling faces of her vassals, the Countess of Babylon sigh to herself with a hint of hapiness.

Until when they will continue following a master so irresponsible as her? Any other noble would be happy to have so loyal vassals. They could have turned into vassals of the State or serving another aristocrat family. They could do whatever they wanted, instead of following her to a defeat and abandon the land where they had always lived in. They could…

 “I have to protect them at any price”

“The noblest blood is the first to run” The Countess of Babylon took with decision two large silvery gloves that were hid on the saddle. She put them and extend them to the elbow and make the horse turn to face the armored vehicles that were chasing them.

— Well, the priority is to disperse the enemy, follow me! — she shout while whiping the horse.

 As if it was possesed by the warrior spirit of its rider, it run like a bullet to the armored vehicle. When the machinegun on the vehicle of the right turn to shoot her, the methuselah wasn’t on the saddle anymore.

 The Countess appeared like a mirage on the turret marked with the emblem of the double cross and aim in middle force one of her arms dressed in silver to the armor of the vehicle.

With a dull noise, the turret began to burn, the protection didn’t show any visible damage, but the engine of the of the iron monster was all destroyed and with a squeak of the brakes, the vehicle fall into a gutter and stopped.

 —Now, Ahmed! Take advantage and cross their lines! — shout the countess when she was aiming to the next vehicle.

 After she check that her vassals listened her orders, she tense her body again to enter into haste mode. The precious gems on the silver gloves began to shine with a blue light and the air surrounded her tremble like a flame under the effect of the vibration of the artefacts.

 Meanwhile, their enemies hadn’t been with the arms crossed. The vehicle of the center managed to aim to the methuselah with the machinegun and fired.

 The gust of bullets go through the bluish wind stright to where the Countess was.

But there wasn’t any agonic scream or the noise of ripped flesh. With a metallic noise, the bullets were  deflected. It was like if an invisible wall appeared in front of their objective, the methuselah rush upon the origin of the attack. She put her hands under the vehicle and it and turn it around with a savage yell. The armored vehicle roll through the floor and it was now useless.

—Now the last one…

Looking at how their comrades dissapear at that rate, the vehicle of the left had a moment of confusion and it move erratically through the moody terrain. When they notice the confusion of their enemies, the countess smile. She didn’t lnow what was going to happen further, but it seems they can be out of this. Anyway… how weak were those enemies. She didn’t expect that the army of the Vatican…

 Viendo cómo sus compañeros desaparecían a esa velocidad, el vehículo de la izquierda tuvo un momento de desconcierto en el que se movió de manera errática por el lodazal. Al percatarse de la confusión de sus adversarios, la condesa esbozó una sonrisa. No sabía qué les esperaba más adelante, pero de momento parecía que podrían salir de aquélla. De todos modos, vaya enemigos más debiluchos. No esperaba que el ejército del Vaticano…

 —Your excelency!

The tense voice was of one of her vassals.

   Up to the hill, there were more enemies!

—Damn! ¡Ahmed, you give up, I will…!

  The voice of the Countess cut suddenly, she didn’t even know what was going on.

 An horrible pain run all through her body, like if she was in the middle of a fire and a bright white light blind her. When she turn around, tambaleándose, her skin was full of burn wounds.

 Was it the sun?

 She can’t even scream.

 A golden light illuminated the hills that were on the left. Even if the winter sun was weak, that golden disk was the lethal enemy of the methuselah. The bacilum, activated with the ultraviolet rays began to devour the body of her host. The aristocrat fall to the floor, suffering as if she was burning alive.

—No, your excelency!

 Selim rush to her mistress and tried to rescue her. The methuselah was shaking and her mouth was forthing.

 —Excelency, excelency!, hold on!

 —Exceleny, are you ok?!

  If they have keep on riding, maybe some of them could make it in the middle of the confussion. Whatever, the five vassals turn around their horses. As if they weren’t saw by the soldiers that were decending from the vehicle, they all go to see their mistress.

—Excelency, please, answer!

 —   Wh… why didn’t you scaped…? — the countess moaned violently, spitting blood, while she was looking all the worried faces of her vassals and the soldiers that were getting closer with their weapons ready — You must escape, there’s no need to…

—Excelency, please don’t ask us to…

 The blood was filling the mouth of the methuselah turn her words into an incomprenhensable mumble. Anyways, her vassals seem to understand her perfectly.

  —   You are everything for us. — said Ahmed— If we have to left you behind, it’s the same for us to live or to die. Even the first choice is the worst… if we couldn’t survive all together, at least we will die together.

 Kneeling, the five vassals were in circle around their mistress, trying to protect her from the sun with their shadows. At their back, the chief of the soldiers that surrounded them make a sign with his arm.

 — Aim!—said to the soldiers and the machinegun of the armored vehicle, shout with tense voice. — The enemy is a vampire, we cannot fail, it was…!

 —Wait, lieutenant Dobó!

 The voice that interrupted the officer came from the vehicle

  The man, equiped with auriculars, that looks like being a radio operator, shout from the top of vehicle

 — There’s a call from the headquarters for you lieutenant!

 —A call?

 Once he recovered from the impression, the officer nod. He run to the vehicle and took the auriculars.

—   It’s Dobó —said with an annoying formality—. Affirmative. One of the objectives is in fact a vampire. We had captured it and we are going to kill… What!?, no, but… fine, understood. We will do as you instructed.

 The lieuteneant was nodding with an angry expression like if he was taking a nasty medicine. When the red light announcing the end of the connection turns on, he give back the auriculars to the radio operator and turn to face his second officer that was looking at him, waiting for orders.

 — Hit the prisioners until they shut their mouths — said firmly —. And prepare the Holy Water, we are going to act according to the protocol.

I hope you like it, and it don’t have so many mistakes, if so please tell me.  Merry Xmas! <3