#its actually like a few months ago i had such strong urges to just decorate and set up my own class

[tobesobri]

sorry i haven’t been on much! i’ve actually been teaching full time and will soon have my own class so it’s taken up most all of my time recently. but im still around and i hopefully will share some of my vids soon of harry when i saw him on 10/29!

[mostly-marvel-musings]

Hi! Love ur blog :). I was wondering if you could do a fluff/smut fic of thor x f!reader, where reader is like cold and shut off and thor kinda slowly gets her to be comfortable with him or something? If you can't that's fine! Ty!

You can trust me - Part 1

Main Masterlist

Pairing: Thor x Reader

Warnings: Just some good old fluff, Thor being stalker-ish but cute.

Thor Odinson Taglist – @raspberrymama @bitchycherryblossomlove @jennie22feona @innerpaperexpertcloud @thorfanficwriter

Everything Taglist – @godofplumsandthunder @ladyacrasia @agustdowney @swaggysposts @littlegasps @little-baby-vixen @another-stark-sub @supraveng @kahlanmars @marvelgirl7 @disappointmentofthefam @pandaxnienke @tom-hlover @just-the-hiddles @fyreball66 @asmigurub @avantgardium-leviosa @imerdwarf @gladiosamicitias

…

Quaint, cozy yet vibrant. The coffee shop was a place that couldn’t possibly be located in New York, it didn’t quite fit the description of the city that never slept. Perhaps that was exactly the reason why you kept coming back to the place that once held your happiest memories with the person who was no longer a part of your life.

While you worked for SHIELD and your job included filing paperwork, there were certain perks that allowed access to the Avengers facility to collect mission reports on most days from Natasha or Clint but on some lucky days, Captain America. Oblivious to your knowledge, a set of ocean blue eyes had found yours irresistible and intriguing during your visits to the tower and his rare stay-overs on Midgard.

One rainy afternoon while it was your day off, you chose to catch up on some reading whilst enjoying your regular vanilla latte with some lemon blueberry muffins at your favourite café. The seat you’d unconsciously chosen appeared enormous now that you were alone, that cushioned window ledge seat you cuddled in with your beloved on numerous summer days, laughing and swapping life stories.

Your reminiscent sigh diverted Thor’s attention from the massive platter in front of him towards your direction. He observed how your eyes kept flitting between the book you clutched in your hands and the empty space next to you, how every so often your gaze wandered out the window while your fingers mindlessly played with a stray lock of hair, how your beautiful features held a look of sorrow that made him wonder who in their right minds would dare hurt such a lovely maiden.

The urge to talk to a Midgardian had never been as strong as Thor’s mind raced with ideas on approaching you, just as a plausible one was finalized, Jane Foster tugged on his arm before resuming her ramblings on something related to astrophysics – Thor had zoned out long ago. When his gaze returned towards the table at the far end of the café, he frowned to find an empty table with half a muffin lying a small dish and no sign of you.

.

It had been months since he last saw you, memory of your forlorn face still fresh in his mind as he made his way inside the café after ordering yet another sizeable meal, this time just for himself. Thor was delighted when he saw you perched on the same seat, clutching the same novel, your table filled with the same food he had observed last time. The smell of bacon, eggs, pancakes and coffee filled your nostrils as your head peeked out of your book to seek its source. A rather good-looking gentleman with long golden locks eyeing his meal with a look of utter glee caught your attention. He must have heard you inhale because you quickly ducked under your novel when his eyes had found yours.

“Pardon me miss, do you wish to share this meal with me?”

Thor’s voice loud enough to turn a few heads towards your direction, cheeks burning with embarrassment at this point. How you wished the earth would swallow you up at this moment, since that wasn’t an option, you stuck to storming out of the café, leaving Thor frowning, confused at your unexpected and sudden exit.

.

A few weeks passed since he last saw you, his expectant eyes scanned the busy café before landing on you at your usual table. This time, Thor wasted no time in approaching you, his large strides took him towards you in no time. 

“Umm hello. I’m Thor, son of Odin. Would you be so kind to allow me to join you for a cup of coffee?”

He offered a kind smile and an outstretched hand, while you were temporarily stunned at this sudden interruption, that too by someone as strikingly good-looking as Thor Odinson. You glanced around the occupied tables, considering letting the God join yours before taking his hand and introducing yourself. 

“Thank you Lady (Y/N).” 

“It’s no problem. The place is quite busy anyway.” 

Thor frowned as he saw you get back to your book, feeling a little disheartened that you didn’t seem up for a chat. 

A few minutes passed with you reading the same line from your book over and over again and Thor fidgeting with his phone, not really knowing what people did sticking it in front of their faces for hours on end. Soon, the waitress brought your usual coffee and blueberry muffins, reminding Thor he was actually famished and had completely forgotten about ordering.

“Please help yourself.” You held up the plate of muffins for him to take, a kind smile decorated on your face. 

“Thank you so much.”

Thor accepted one and bit right into it, forgetting to take off the lining as it stuck to his beard much to his embarrassment while you stifled your giggle. 

“It’s okay, I didn’t see anything.” 

Shaking your head, you placed your book right in front, hiding behind it to laugh. 

“May I ask what made you so unhappy Lady (Y/N)?” Thor questioned, after a few moments of silence, taking you by surprise. 

“Excuse me?” 

“I didn’t mean to pry but I saw you some weeks ago and I felt the need to know more, only if you wish to.” 

“Well I don’t and it’s none of your business.” You snapped, angry that he’d approached out of pity and he had the audacity to ask you upfront. You weren’t expecting this and all you wanted was some peace and quiet without having to rehash the past.

Packing your stuff rather clumsily, you stormed out of the shop leaving Thor staring after you once again.

We have a Part 2 coming...

[pomegranates-and-blood]

The Holly And The Ivy

My Masterlist

Pairing: Ivar/Reader, Sigurd/Reader, Sigurd/Margrethe

Summary: “I had this idea where Sigurd (or any of the brothers really) were to marry a Christian, but their marriage is dry and more political than anything, but Ivar is fascinated by her attitude (being opposite of him) and her love for life and simple things. He hears the reader and who she's married to talking about how she loves Christmas and he shuts her down, but Ivar decides to let her pick out a tree from the forest and put it up in the Great Hall and decorate it any way she wants. And the ending would include a kiss under mistletoe? If you can work with it.”

I’m very sorry if I dissapoint you anon, but the story was easier or smoother for me to write as a Modern!AU. I really hope you don’t mind. I can try something in the actual time period still, if you are not happy with au’s.

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings: Mentions of cheating, passing mentions of abusive relationships (not involving any of the relationsips in the tag btw), angst, my poor attempt at holiday fics or holiday spirit. Also, a part is not smut or explicit but getting closer to it than most of my work, so that too.

A/N: I really hope I don’t dissapoint whoever requested this. Also, I made this way more complicated than it needed to be, bc I always do, and for that I’m also sorry. Hope you like this, thank you for reading!

The title is from a Christmas carol, cause why not lol

Taglist: @1950schick @youbloodymadgenius​ (I realized you once asked to be tagged on my Vikings works and I forgot, sorry)

“When we are done with this trip we’ll go back home.” Sigurd points out one night as you both say goodnight, in some hotel somewhere in Norway.

“Home?”

“To my mother’s, in a week. Family time and all that.”

Before you are to leave for your own room, you call out, “For Christmas?”

The blond shakes his head, “Yule. You can celebrate your Christmas when we return.”

“That’ll be after the New Year!” You complain softly, offering a smile because you cannot help it.

“I will have to deal with Ivar and my mother, you can deal with this.” Sigurd sentences, the harshness startling you and prompting you to accept the words with a nod.

He mutters a goodnight again, hesitating for a moment on his bedroom door, as if questioning whether he should say sorry or not. You choose to relieve him of that choice, going into your own room and closing the door with a quiet click.

As if it were waiting for the door to close, your phone lights up on your nightstand.

How’s Oslo?

You type a quick response,

You could just ask me if we’ll be attending your mother’s celebrations, you know.

The response takes a while longer, and you cannot help the smile that pulls at your lips.

…Are you?

I expect all those lessons of yours with Floki to come to use. I’m going to need to learn about Yule, apparently.

So I’m supposed to teach you?

Who else?

Your fiancé. Is the reply you get, so fast you think he already knew what your reply was going to be before you even sent it. After a moment, before you can even think on what to answer, another message comes through. Nvm, my brother is useless. I’ll do it.

Your lips pull into a wide and stupid smile, and God, not even the shame at the quick beating of your heart or the warmth that spreads through you could make you be any less thankful for this, if anything. For him.

Thank you. Are you going to be there by Christmas?

This time the answer takes a while longer, and the indication that he is typing appears and disappears a few times.

I don’t know. Before you can ask anything, or send anything, a new message pops up. Princess, this doesn’t get any easier. I don’t know if I can.

Tears rise in your eyes because a part of you knows you’re meant to say goodbye at the end, and every time you are reminded, either by the pain in your own chest or Ivar’s words, that you are on borrowed time; you realize that end is close than you think.

Well, in that case, Merry Christmas, Ivar.

____

You find yourself being driven to that massive and fancy house by your fiancé.

You toy with your engagement ring as the car approaches the house. You know, rationally, that you have nothing to fear. The brothers have never been mean or hurtful -well, most of them haven’t-, and Aslaug has always been courteous and kind and…incredibly performative.

A part of you never ceased to feel like an outsider looking in. Between the pariah that a stupid business practice will be made into Sigurd’s wife, and the silent and soft woman they ignore as if she were another piece of furniture, you’d much rather be the latter.

“Heavy little thing, isn’t it?” Sigurd teases as he turns off the engine, motioning with his head to the rings on your left hand.

You don’t say anything in response, simply getting out of the car in silence. You know he meant well, he always does.

But a part of you that is hopeful and childish and still looks at the snow that starts to fall lightly over the ground as some miracle that means Christmas is upon us…that part of you cannot help but feel bitter about it all. Regretful, or, maybe, resentful.

You never imagined life would be this, engagement -marriage- would be this. You thought of happiness and warmth and fidelity.

Foolish hopes, really. The hopes of a child that watched her parents dance to the light of the Christmas lights, to the music of the soft music her father hummed. Nothing but foolish hopes.

So, when Sigurd steps out and hesitates in offering you his hand, you offer a smile and take his hand in yours, choosing to appreciate that at least the man you will be forced to marry is one you might call a friend, a partner, one day.

It is easy to forget, it is easy to let your heart be light and just enjoy the adorable giggles of Björn and Torvi’s children, the sympathetic smile of Margrethe, the warm and brotherly embrace of Hvitserk.

You are sipping on wine and watching Ubbe throw Asa over his head as she yells for him to throw her higher when a presence stands by your side and a wine glass clinks with your own in silent toast.

“I know you know about Sigurd and me,” Margrethe whispers, “And I want you to know I am sorry. But…I won’t leave him, not until he asks me to.”

If a year ago someone told you that you’d spent Christmas Eve being told by your fiancé’s mistress that she refuses to stop seeing him, you would have assumed the world turned on its head.

It did, but…you still find it in you to love this world that hurts you, this life that tests you.

You offer a smile, “I know you love him. It started as…”

“Gold-digging?” The blonde supplies, a sheepish grimace on her face.

“I wouldn’t be as unkind as to-…”

“You should. That’s what it was,” Her smile loses the edge, and she falters, “At first.”

You accept her words with a nod, and another sip of your wine.

“Then as long as you are discreet, I don’t mind. Keep him happy, Margrethe, he deserves it.”

You start to walk away when she stops you with a call of your name.

“And you don’t? Deserve to be happy, I mean.”

You hesitate, faltering for a few seconds too long. Her blue eyes are big and uncharacteristically honest as they look at you.

“I…”

You take your gaze off hers, because it feels like she will know something she shouldn’t, something you don’t want her to; but your eyes betray you, it seems.

“Oh, him. Well-kept secret, that one,” She states, and when you open your mouth to argue, Margrethe shakes her head, “It’s okay, I don’t…I don’t blame you. Even if I don’t understand at all how that came to be.”

“It’s…”

“Complicated?” The blonde supplies, and you allow yourself a smile, you loosen your shoulders and close your eyes with a deep breath.

“Ivar, he…understands me.”

“But you two are nothing alike,” She states, and at your shrug, concedes, “Maybe that’s why.”

“Maybe,” You offer, and after a breath, because bitter regret at being the thing that keeps her from the man she loves chokes you for a moment, “Margrethe, I…”

“Don’t you even think of apologizing to me,” She laughs, “Gods, woman, you truly are a soft thing, aren’t you?”

“I have the privilege of being it.” You offer with a kind smile, because you’ve seen the scars, because you remember her when she was more fragile.

Margrethe shakes her head, “The burden.” She corrects, and with a soft squeeze of her free hand on your arm, she walks away.

____

It’s on the day before Christmas that the last of the Lothbrok arrives. You walk down the stairs to a very early breakfast, and jump when the front door opens to reveal Ubbe and Ivar.

He came.

“You are up early.” Ubbe comments as he passes you by, dropping a kiss on your cheek.

You greet Ubbe absently, your eyes on his brother. Numbly, you hear him say something about telling Aslaug that Ivar has come home, and quick steps carrying him up the stairs.

Your lips curve into a smile, or at least they try to, “Hi.”

“Hello, Princess,” Ivar greets, what months ago would have been a smirk curving his lips. Now, now it’s more tired and worn than anything. “Just in time for your…Christmas, right?”

You nod, feeling the stupid urge to cry, “Yeah. Means a lot, you know.”

“Well, I could feel you pouting over the phone, love,” His eyes check the stairs before he moves aided by his crutch towards you with a wince of pain -the cold, you remind yourself, the cold making his legs ache-, and once he is before you, a hand that shouldn’t feel as tender as it does cups your cheek and brings your mouth to his. “I couldn’t leave you alone here. You always find ways to embarrass yourself.”

You chuckle, burrowing your head on his chest as you embrace him.

“I may have fucked up a few times,” You concede, eyes closed as you take in his scent, his warmth, “But I’m cute, I get away with a lot of things.”

____

As the timer on your phone dings, you get up from the couch, leaving a warm but strong drink behind, and make your way to the kitchen, ready to take out the sponge cake -no, a voice too alike Ivar corrects you, Bûche de Noël-.

Uneven steps behind you let you know of who walked in behind you, and you turn around with a slight frown on your brows, meaning to ask something before he interrupts you.

“He’s groping and kissing her in front of you, and you say nothing?” Ivar demands, anger shining clearly in his blue eyes.

“Sigurd and Margrethe?” You ask, and shake your head, “Why would I say anything?”

“You know about them.”

“Of course I do. He doesn’t hide it from me, and he shouldn’t hide it from his family. He loves her, and she loves him.”

“You don’t care that he’s humiliating you?” He presses, and you sigh.

“Everyone here knows how things truly are between Sigurd and me.”

Ivar’s mouth curls into a snarl, and cruelty spews from his lips, “Well, if you had let Ragnar know you had no problem letting your husband fuck whoever he wants, you might have been able to marry Björn, like your father wanted.”

You close your eyes, “Don’t be like this.”

“Like what, hm? Like someone that’s watching the woman he-…What am I supposed to be then, hm? What would make you happy?” He accuses, not losing the cruel edge in his voice even if you both know what he stopped himself from admitting. When you don’t answer, Ivar takes a deep and angry breath through his nose, “I’ve always been jealous of my brothers, you know this. Growing up their poor crippled brother is nothing to knowing Sigurd gets you and doesn’t even know what he-…what I’d do to be him.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Make him be the man you deserve!”

“He’s not the man I want,” You point out before you can keep the words trapped behind your lips. Ivar is inexplicably stunned by your words, it seems, and you lower your gaze. Resting your hands on the counter you drop your shoulders and shake your head, letting go of the previous argument and returning to…peace, or as close to it as one can get with Ivar. “Your brother deserves to be as happy as he can, with the woman he loves. It will not hurt me to see him with her. As long as-…”

“‘As long as it is discreet’, yes, I know. My mother and Ragnar have the same agreement.”

“It works for them, does it not?”

Ivar meets your gaze and doesn’t answer for a few moments, long enough that dread sets in your chest and questions arise in your mind.

Eventually, on the side of his jaw the clear tell of gritted teeth, he replies,

“Not as well as you think.”

“Well, Sigurd and I are friends, we…things will work out. They have to.”

“They have to, of course,” He mocks, moving his head as he rolls his eyes, “Anything to keep Ragnar and your father happy, hm?”

“Ivar…”

His eyes search yours, searching for the answer to a question he has not yet asked,

“I-If I asked you not to do this, if I…if I asked you for more time…” He leaves the words hanging between you, and you blink past helpless tears. He knows the answer, you know the answer.

Thankfully, you don’t have to remind him -and yourself- of the world you live in, of the lives you were meant to live, because the door to the kitchen opens and Aslaug walks through.

You keep your eyes firmly set on the tray before you, even though you can feel Ivar’s eyes on you, demanding an answer. When he realizes he will not get one, he grunts, a clenched fist hitting the counter once before he walks away.

“I’m sorry.” You offer the matriarch as she keeps her all-seeing eyes on you, but Aslaug offers a smile. A fake one, but a smile nonetheless.

“The cold gets to Ivar, it makes him irritable. It is not your fault.” She soothes, but the smile you offer her in thanks still trembles. You both know these are lies you are sharing with one another, and though it makes you falter and stumble, Aslaug moves gracefully from one lie to the next.

“I’ll-…” You point behind you, to the living room, but the woman shakes her head.

“Surely you have time to help me with this?” She asks. It feels like walking into a wolf’s den when you nod your head and approach her.

“Of course.”

She watches raptly as you assist her in preparing the Yule Log, and you focus on doing your best to keep your hands from trembling.

“For someone that doesn’t follow the Gods, you know a lot about tradition, girl.”

“I…It was the least I could do, learning about what is important to your family, to Sigurd.” You offer, and whatever she -who always has the look of someone that sees beyond what normal eyes can- can sense in your words makes Aslaug stop.

She turns to you, and surprises you with a hand on your cheek. The woman towards over you, but the gentleness in her touch, the warmth in her eyes, they help you to not feel threatened.

“Still loving the world that hurts you, sweet thing?”

“It’s all I know how to do.”

Aslaug’s smile is almost sad when she looks into your eyes, “To love, yes, I know. Wish I saw that sooner,” You don’t know what to answer to that, so you offer her only a shaky smile and a shrug. Aslaug chuckles gently, “And you love my son, don’t you?”

The terrifying thought that she knows what she’s doing when not saying any names, the realization nothing gets past her and neither did whatever is between you and Ivar, it all settles in your stomach with a dead weight.

Still, whether she asks about Sigurd or Ivar, the answer is the same.

“Yes.”

One as a friend, a partner, a man you can learn to respect and build a life alongside of. The other, as everything you ever wanted, as someone that will always make you wonder about the ‘what if’s.

She shakes off whatever takes a hold of her, and before you can ask what she means, why it pains her, she steps back from you and turns her back to you.

“You know, Ragnar isn’t the only one in this family with an eye for business. I was once in the same position you are now, the heiress to an empire,” Aslaug’s smile seems to thaw as she hands you a refilled glass of wine to match hers. Resting her backside on the counter behind her, she continues, “My parents were able to teach me a few valuable lessons before their death.

She grabs your left hand, stopping you. Her eyes look deeply into yours, but her thumb rolls your engagement ring on your finger.

“Like how to understand when I can’t make any more moves. And when I can change the wording in a deal to make it favor me.

Your lips part, you think to say something, but Aslaug stops you with a smile.

“Let’s hope you’ve learned the same lessons, my dear.”

____

Ubbe is dancing with Asa standing on his feet, and you watch with a smile on your face as the family enjoys time together, and celebrates the holidays in their own way.

A part of you misses the Christmas lights, the decorations you’d help your parents put up when you were a kid. A part of you misses how simple life was back then, how in this time of year you could forget there was a world past the snow drifting down and the warmth of a hearth and a home.

Ivar comes right up to you, but doesn’t sit next to you, choosing to remain standing.

“Grab your coat,” He orders, and at your confused frown, he rolls his eyes and amends, “Please.”

The most insincere please in the history of pleases, but you know you get more than most, so you don’t comment on it.

Still, you have to ask, “Why?”

“I-…a surprise,” He says, and insists you move with a gesture of his head, “Come on.”

You follow him to the small house the Lothbroks have by the pool, a cozy little home of big windows. When Ivar motions for you to go in ahead of him, a part of you is suspicious, but you still skip your way inside and try not to ask questions as to how it is so warm here when it should be vacant.

Ivar turns the lights on, and you find in the middle of the living room a Christmas tree.

The tree is bare, but still lively and familiar.

You turn to Ivar with tears in your eyes, because you cannot help it.

“You did this for me?”

“You love your Christmas,” He mumbles, embarrassed at the reaction his -to some, uncharacteristic- thoughtfulness got out of you. “I figured you deserved to have some of it with you here.”

“Did you buy Christmas lights?” You ask softly, almost moving up and down in the balls of your feet in excitement, eyeing the bags on a chair nearby.

Ivar chuckles, endeared, and nods, “Go ahead, Princess.”

You skip your way to the bags, quickly looking over the goods and already planning on how to decorate it, how to make it look pretty, how to make it yours.

You don’t truly know how long you spend on it, gleefully putting up Christmas lights, and little ornaments. During the whole time you spent excitedly decorating the tree, you can feel Ivar’s eyes on you, and when you look back at him you find him staring with a strange softness in his gaze.

You choose not to think too much on it, and instead ask his opinion on the decorations, that he gives gruffly and with a very poor attempt at making you believe that -either because Christmas grew on him, which you find very unlikely, or because of your own happiness- he isn’t happy to be here.

____

You smile at the warm and twinkling lights, and burrow closer to Ivar’s warmth, refusing to take your eyes off the dancing lights and refusing to put your feet back on the ground.

Refusing to step out of the fantasy that this could be your life.

Ivar shifts his position, and you lift your head from the juncture between his neck and shoulder and meet his eyes in question.

His eyes give away so much, always have, at least to you. And now they reflect the warm sparkle of the Christmas lights, and they reflect hesitation, fear, uncertainty, love.

Before you can ask what is wrong, Ivar leans in, his hand previously around you tangling in your hair as his lips claim yours.

His kiss is always demanding, but this time it holds desperation in the way Ivar begs for your lips to part with his own, it holds an urgency in the way his tongue dances with yours, it holds a ragged edge in the shaky breath that he lets out through his nose, it holds a goodbye in the way he ends the kiss as if forcing himself to pull away from you.

You try getting your breath under control and your voice to be yours again, but he’s so close, and warm, and yours; and all you want to do is kiss him again.

Kiss him again, and make the furrow in his brow, the pain in his eyes, go away. Kiss him again, and pretend you are not living on borrowed time.

So you do.

You kiss him, and take control of the kiss, and make him groan lightly against your mouth when you tug on his hair, and whimper his name against his own when you straddle him and feel him getting hard underneath you.

When your need for breath makes you part from his kiss, Ivar wastes no time trailing fervent kisses down your neck, panting breaths against the hot skin that he kisses and licks and bites.

You moan his name, forgetting everything but the touch of his lips on your skin, forgetting everything but the scent and taste and feel of him.

Either at the sound of your voice or the grind of your hips against his hardening cock, Ivar’s breath stutters and he breathes your name back at you, voice low.

His brow rests against your collarbone as he takes deep breaths, and your fingers toy at the hair that flows down to his shoulders.

“You know…” He murmurs, pressing a kiss that makes you shiver right on the dip between your collarbones, “There’s nothing I want more right now than marking this pretty neck of yours. Leaving you with…” His teeth scrape against your skin, a tease both for you and himself. Ivar does it a few more times, and moves up your neck again. Your breath shudders past your lips, and you tug on his hair to remind him of what he was saying. You always did love hearing him speak. For all the months you spend apart, his voice telling you what he’d do to you, what he’d have you do to him, is all that keeps you warm. Ivar chuckles, but continues, “Leaving you with my mark all over you, where everyone can see, so…so that they don’t doubt you’re mine.

His hands tighten on your waist, before they travel down, caressing your thighs as he sighs.

“But you’re not, are you? And I can’t…I can’t do any of that. I can’t-…”

You interrupt him before his thoughts can get ahead of him, before he can twist himself into knots about the situation you are both in.

“I am yours. Only yours.” You remind him softly, your lips by his ear. You lean back so you can meet his eyes, and seal your promise with a soft kiss over his lips.

Ivar’s eyes search yours when you pull back, with the same look as before. Uncertain, lost, tender and yet almost sad.

“Marry me.” He whispers, keeping his eyes on yours.

“What?” You squeak, eyes wide. He couldn’t have…he knows that…none of this makes any sense.

“Marry me instead of Sigurd,” He insists, and as if remembering the part he forgot, he curses and hurries to fetch something from his pocket. He offers you a simple but beautiful ring, and swallows, “I-I can make you happier than he ever could, I…I love you.

I know you can, you already do.

I love you too.

But you can’t say any of that, because your breaths are shallow and your head is filled with thoughts and…and you need space.

You scramble to stand, to put distance between the two of you. After a few controlled breaths, you return your eyes to Ivar, whose hand has now fallen back to his lap even if he still holds on to the delicate ring.

He grits his teeth, the obvious tell at the side of his jaw, and he seems to want to divert his eyes from you, but he only blinks and keeps certain eyes on you.

“Your father wants you to marry one of Ragnar’s sons, he doesn’t care who. I…have talked with my father, he agrees that if you want to, we can…” He licks his lips in a nervous gesture, “Mother says any backlash from breaking the engagement can be handled.”

“You’ve thought this through.”

“Of course I have, y-you’d be Sigurd’s wife if I didn’t think of something,” A twitch of anger, of uncertainty, of fear, on his face, and then he amends, “You still can be. But I want you to be able to choose.”

Choose me, is what he doesn’t say.

Your heart is lodged in your throat, and you try a few times before you can finally speak,

“Ivar, we haven’t…it’s been only a few months.”

“And it will not work out, that’s what you’re saying?” He huffs, defensive, “It won’t work out if you marry my brother either.”

“I-…this-…”

“Stop thinking of excuses,” He snaps, gritted teeth and hurt written in his eyes, “I’ll handle everything, no matter your answer. Just…just give me an answer, Princess.”

____

It is open ended cause there’s two ends to this, I wanted to leave the choice to you guys! So, follow the link for the epilogue of your choice:

Will you accept the proposal and be bound to Ivar, for better or worse?

Or will you stay with Sigurd, and be content with companionship and friendship?

Hope you liked this, even if it wasn’t very holiday-ey. I wish you all very happy holidays and a great (or decent, after 2020 I’m happy with decent) 2021!!

(Ik it’s like the 13th and I’m gonna be very much around here posting and bothering the whole lot of ya till the holidays and beyond, but holiday fic and all that, ‘twas the perfect time to send good wishes and all. Love ya!)

[fanfalc-616]

The Rights Of A Nindroid

Chapter Twenty-Seven

(Previous Chapter Here)

Hey guys on a scale of one to ten how much to do hate me?

I bet that number’s about to go up a few notches~

Cole can’t focus on his work.

He’s trying, he’s doing everything he can, but his brain refuses to cooperate, instead going back to one single fact.

Today is Zane’s birthday.

Or, well, ‘creation day’, as he would say in a fondly exasperated tone.

No matter how hard he tries to focus on right now, the only thing he can think about is how happy they all were together.

It’s been so long, so, so, so long, and Cole curses himself for not being able to remember all the details. The little angles of his smile, the brightness of his blue eyes, the softness of his synthetic skin when they held hands… it’s all so hazy now.

But when he closes his eyes, he can still remember how they were when they were together. How startled he had been when they realized Cole was strong enough to pick him up- and how much he laughed and half-heartedly lectured him when Cole abused that ability. How he started pranking Jay by pretending not to understand metaphors and jokes that he actually had already figured out. How he would insist on keeping their bedroom clean and organized even when Kai would absolutely trash it two days after he picked it all up.

His mind is just flooded with memories of him, images and events and feelings- Zane is the only thing he can think about.

He would always insist on pointing out how ‘illogical’ birthday wishes were, he would refuse to let anyone else make the cake- well, at least after Cole’s failed attempt at it.

Zane… he’s irreplaceable. And they- they’ve lost him before. After they fought the Golden Master, after he died. The team split up, they couldn’t even look at each other without painful memories attacking them.

Because… Lloyd leads them. Cole holds them together. Kai keeps them going towards their goal. Jay makes jokes and keeps their spirits up. Nya stops them from falling into their own self doubt.

But Zane? Zane was the one who brought life to them.

He helped Lloyd when he didn’t trust himself enough to lead. He helped Cole when he fell apart. He helped Kai when he felt he couldn’t keep going. He helped Jay when he woke up from nightmares he refused to explain. He helped Nya when she second-guessed herself.

Zane was always there, always bringing out the best in them, always protecting them from whatever tried to hurt them.

Cole can’t let this keep going. He can’t let the purest, kindest, gentlest person he knows be hurt like this.

Whatever they’re doing to him there, he can’t stand for it. He can’t fail, he can’t give in, he will do anything and everything to save him.

He loves Zane with everything he has, and Cole refuses to let them keep him from him.

Zane may not be human, but Cole wouldn’t want him any other way.

They will never take away the one he loves.

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Another wire is pulled on.

Another set of circuits is jostled.

Another panel is pushed to the side.

Zane stares blankly ahead, doing everything in his power to avoid acknowledging it. He had even turned off his artificial respiratory system- with the way his chest plate is open and inner workings are exposed, his circuits don’t need the extra cooling.

A hand pulling his power source almost out of his chest makes a strangled whimper escape the back of his throat. The pain is overwhelming, but he grits his teeth and forces it down.

Showing emotion gets it hurt. And it doesn’t want to get hurt.

After a few more moments of struggling with his own thoughts, he allows himself to listen in on what the people working on him are saying.

The one typing notes into his computer frowns in thought. “Was it- yeah, I think it was actually built today. The exact year isn’t here, but I think it’s sixty? Seventy? Somewhere around there?”

Zane feels himself tense up. He- it’s his birthday? Well, more technically, ‘creation day’, but the others had always insisted on referring to it by the more human term. They-

“Hey, Original. What year were you built?”

The direct question grabs his attention, and he takes half a moment to think back- it’s been quite a long time, given that he watched his father grow old.

“My original body was completed and activated sixty-three years ago. My current body was completed two years, one month, two weeks and six days ago,” he answers, forcing his voice to remain emotionless.

Something is aching in his chest- and it’s not because of the way his workings are being probed.

Has it really been that long? It’s been… over eight months. He’s been here for- for so long, he-

Another weak whimper is forced out of it with the manipulation of his power source, and he once again tries to muffle it.

His birthday. It had always had such good memories attached to it.

He can remember the time Cole had taken it upon himself to be the one who baked the cake. Flour, sugar, eggs- the ingredients ended up almost everywhere except for in the baking sheet. It had been extremely amusing- but in the end, Zane had decided to spare him from his repeated failed efforts and make the cake himself. His attempt was, thankfully, edible.

With that memory, he’s reminded of another- when Kai had somehow gotten it into his head that he must get Zane the best present. The hours and hours the red ninja had spent researching and trying to find what he would like the most actually did serve a use- Zane didn’t think that any copies of that book were still around, and it was very much a pleasant surprise when Kai gifted it to him.

Not to mention the first birthday they celebrated, the one after they had missed the first year due to Zane’s amnesia. Jay had decided that it needed to be perfect, with absolutely no room for error. He spent so long looking into details and small factors that really made no difference, but the pride he had showed was too endearing for Zane to be willing to point that out.

But… in the end, he honestly couldn’t care less about the food, gifts, or decorations.

What really made it special were his friends.

Zane can hear its own processor working as he tries to push the memories into the back of his mind. He- he doesn’t want to remember, it doesn’t want to think about what he used to have, he doesn’t want to acknowledge that he’s never going to have that again, he-

No, no, he needs to stop, it needs to get the thoughts out of its head, if he keeps this up he’ll likely begin to cry, and he doesn’t want to get hurt again, he’s so tired of being hurt, he-

/“Hey Frosty!” Jay had chirped as he pushed the cake towards him. “Happy Birthday!”

“Hey, hey, someone turn off the lights!” Kai waved his hand around as he tried to get someone’s attention. “I’m gonna light the candles!”

Zane’s mouth had quirked up. “I highly doubt blowing out small fires on a pastry will grant any wishes,” he pointed out for the upteenth time, well aware of the response he would get.

“C’mon, Zee, don’t be so technical about it. It’s a birthday wish!” Cole had rolled his eyes, but his annoyance was clearly playful as he flicked off the light switch.

With the candles lit, Zane had smiled as he listened to the poorly tuned singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ from his boyfriends.

When the song ended, Zane had chuckled before blowing the candles out, even though he had no wishes in mind.

He didn’t need any birthday magic- not when he had his friends beside him./

Against his will, his respiratory system is reactivated, his breathing coming in raggedly. Fighting back the urge to cry, Zane breathes out a few quiet words.

“I… I wish I could see you again.”

Once they escape, it’s like a dam had been broken. Despite his best efforts, there’s nothing he can do to stop the sobs torn from him.

The memories… he has just enough of them to torment him without comfort. He can remember their experiences, but not their faces. He can remember how he felt, but not the details of the events that caused the coded emotions.

It can hear the way he’s ordered to stop, but the voice seems so distant, almost muffled. His body refuses to follow the command, and he continues to cry, wishing with everything left inside of him for one thing, just one small, simple thing.

To see his friends.

Just one last time.

They can take him back after, if they wish, and he will return. It will allow them to take him here if he must, if only he could only talk with them once more, just to tell them one final thing.

Just to tell them goodbye.

He’s not going to last here for much longer. He knows this. And it pains him to know that he will never truly see them again. Even if they find him later, once he has truly shattered in their grasp, he… he won’t be Zane anymore. He won’t be the one they recognize. He’ll simply be a puppet, a thing for them to command and control.

And it’s not that that he’s scared of. He knows that this will be his fate. He’s already numbed to their commands and actions against him.

What hurts is knowing that he will never be theirs again. He’ll never be their teammate, their friend, their lover…

He’ll only be a shadow of the one they had loved.

He will not love them in return.

And they will have no choice but to accept that.

His chest panel is closed, and he’s roughly taken from the table, towards the training room. Even as he chokes on his own sobs, it doesn’t resist them.

And even if he can’t truly say it to them, even if they won’t ever hear it… he can tell them. He can tell them what he needs to say.

“I will love you to the very end, my friends.”

“Goodbye.”

[translations-by-aiimee]

Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 27

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 27 - Soul-Catcher

Enemies and friends were actually pretty interchangeable. For example, Lin Yan had to be on his guard with this ghost before, but when a new enemy appeared, it was the first time that he truly felt he and Xiao Yu were on the same side. Lin Yan glanced at the dimly lit hut, his head resting on Xiao Yu's chest. His slightly cool body temperature made him think an inexplicable thought; that he actually felt safe because of the presence of this ghost that never left him alone.

"What happened?" Xiao Yu held the back of Lin Yan's head.

"It's. . . it's nothing" Lin Yan blushed. He broke out from Xiao Yu's arms, hiding his head down and looking at the photo that the old man had given him. He had such a dull expression that it looked like the black and white picture had been taken after he had died. As he took a closer look, the place where the girl in the red coat had been standing wasn't completely empty. Lin Yan aggressively wiped the picture. A thin cloud of gray mist hovered around his legs. If he wasn't actively looking for it, he would've chalked it up to the old quality of the picture.

"Pea cakes, hawthorn jelly, fruitcakes, water chestnut cake, rolling donkeys, glutinous rice cakes." The vendor pushing the cart selling treats noticed Lin Yan standing by himself. He picked up a rag and wiped the glass window of the cart, shouting more enthusiastically. "Would you like to try some?"

The dry, dazzling sunlight shone down. The vendor's voice seemed like it was coming from another world, too distant to be clearly distinguished.

Things were moving in an unpredictable direction. Lin Yan shook his head and dragged Xiao Yu forward aimlessly, wracking through his brain. The first time he saw the little girl was in the hallway of his apartment building. There had been a problem with the elevator that day and he climbed the stairs to the twelfth floor. At the corner of the third-floor hallway, he saw the little girl climbing onto the handrail to play. Later, he would meet her downstairs almost every time he went home. Once Lin Yan arrived home just when the kids had just gotten out of school and large groups of students were playing football in the yard. He hadn't paid attention to the little girl sitting on her own. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen her talk to anyone.

It seemed like it had been a while since he last saw the little girl.

When did this start? Lin Yan walked with his head down, kicking a small stone as he walked. The corner of his eyes flicked across Xiao Yu's embellished hem, a bright white fabric decorated with a greenish emerald dragon spread out underneath the moire belt hanging down, swaying as he stepped. Lin Yan hesitantly cast his gaze towards the ghost next to him. The memory of Xiao Yu appearing on that rainy night resurfaced. When Lin Yan rushed out of his apartment in terror, he saw the little girl standing in the rain, sucking on her thumb and looking at him. If he hadn't been threatened by a ghost, he would've asked why she was standing alone outside on a rainy day.

From that day on, Lin Yan's life completely changed. He thought silently, ever since Xiao Yu had started following him, the girl in the red coat hadn't shown up again.

A thought jolted across his mind. Lin Yan almost couldn't stand still. He shook as he took his phone out of his pocket and dialled Yin Zhou's number.

'Beep. . . beep. . .' Pick up the phone, pick up the phone, Lin Yan silently urged.

". . . Lin Yan?" After ringing seven times, Yin Zhou's tired voice came from the phone: ". . . I'm sleeping. I'm hanging up if this isn't important."

Lin Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He clamped the phone between his ear and shoulder while pulling out his car keys and asked; "A-Zhou, do you remember what Second Immortal Gu told us the last time we asked her to drive away a ghost?"

"The old lady was just trying to scam a few bucks off us. . ." Yin Zhou reluctantly grumbled: "I think she said there was a little girl who didn't have any clothes or money to pay to get to the underworld, and then she poured water all over you. Complete bullshit."

Lin Yan's heart dropped: "Then Second Immortal Gu died and her time of death was deliberately changed."

"Yeah." Yin Zhou yawned: "Did you find something?"

Lin Yan dragged Xiao Yu towards the parking lot and harshly slammed the car door: "She wasn't talking bullshit. There really was a little girl in red following me. I took a picture with her but the developed picture didn't have her in it."

"Holy shit!" Yin Zhou was completely awake and bounced off the bed: "Are you kidding me? Another ghost?!"

"I'm not sure yet." Lin Yan turned the key to start the car, staring at the windshield, "That hand, it slapped the windshield when we went to see Second Immortal Gu and we almost got into a car accident. It didn't seem right to me when it happened, but it disappeared so fast, I couldn't see it."

"Now that I think about it, the hand was too small. It's not the ghost that lives in my house at all." Lin Yan glanced at Xiao Yu. "I also saw the little girl the day I went to meet you in the bar. At that time, I thought she was alive. I think she was the reason I was stuck in that loop on the road and she was the one behind Second Immortal Gu's death."

"I'll go ask A-Yan later on. Keep an eye out for anything."

Yin Zhou was silent for a while: ". . . Stay safe."

Lin Yan hung up the phone and carefully backed the car out of the parking space. The market in Shenjiyuan closed early. A group of vendors surged out from the entrance with the earnings from the day like a school of fish swimming by Lin Yan's car window. The jade shop by the side of the road screeched by on its grinding wheels. Lin Yan sighed and clutched the steering wheel, waiting for the crowd in front of them to disperse. When he turned to look at Xiao Yu, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"It's always been you, hasn't it?" Lin Yan whispered.

"The night I first met you, I drove around the overpass for three hours and didn't find the exit until I saw you."

The patter of light rain, the lonely figure standing under the streetlamp like they were waiting for a promise that could never be fulfilled.

"At that time, I thought I was lost because of you. I didn't think that you were the one to help me get out of there." Lin Yan recalled how he had been circling around the overpass like a headless fly. He found it all kind of funny now. The ghost that scared him half to death now shared his house, shared his passenger seat and even shared his occasional uncontrollable sexual desires.

Xiao Yu rubbed his fingers against his temple, trying to remember. A-Yan said that ghosts who had just returned to the human world were in a state of confusion. They would keep searching for the reason why they were stuck in the human world with very few memories of their previous lives. Some of them were able to remember and reincarnate easily while others weren't successful, their resentment growing stronger and stronger. Lin Yan grabbed his hand and held it, feeling a little depressed, and murmured: "Forget it, don't worry about it."

He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly: "You've got your hands full now. Someone's trying to kill me before you get to."

". . . You're mine." Xiao Yu said slowly, pulling his hand back.

"I'm not." Lin Yan said. He didn't know why he was so stubborn every time this topic came up: "Even now, I'm not sure who you are or where you want to take me. A month ago I was a complete atheist, but now I've now more ghosts than people. My life is already a mess and today I ran into a little girl that almost killed me on a highway."

Lin Yan started getting choked up. He sniffed. For some reason, he felt a strong feeling of outrage: "Who did I provoke? Why won't they just let me live my life?"

Xiao Yu held Lin Yan's shoulders and rubbed his chin against his forehead. Lin Yan gritted his teeth and the stinging in his eyes grew more intense.

"I'm going to ask A-Yan about the little girl later. Xiao Yu, don't move. Let me rest for a minute." Lin Yan wrapped his arms around his waist and curled into Xiao Yu's arms. "I'm exhausted. "

Long, slender fingers stroked through his hair. They were cold but the gesture was very gentle: "Don't worry, I'm here."

"I know." Lin Yan played with the crimson silk belt around Xiao Yu's waist and let out a chuckle: "Save me for yourself. Don't let someone else kill me."

Lin Yan buried his face in Xiao Yu's chest. If he had heard that a month ago, he would've thought he was out of his mind, but now he said it sincerely as if he meant it when he tried to reassure him. He instinctively felt that what had happened recently was much more than a simple coincidence. It was as if a well-prepared lasso had been placed on the ground long ago, waiting for him to walk ignorantly into the center of the rope loop only for it to be violently tightened by an invisible giant hand. The staring little girl, the dead old lady, the pre-determined internship and obsessive ghosts. The crowd outside the car window slowly dispersed. Lin Yan held Xiao Yu's waist and couldn't help but think that even if he really fell into some unpredictable conspiracy, there was always something to hold on to.

He knew that there was something between them that couldn't be resolved or reconciled. He cautiously avoided thinking about it. The ghost made the first move. Lin Yan let out a long sigh. He struggled to sit up straight, turning and driving the car out of the parking lot.

There's still time. Think about it later, Lin Yan thought to himself.

The alleyway where A-Yan lived was as dark as the first time. The spider web he saw when he came last time had grown bigger. A round gray spider was hanging underneath and climbing with its eight hairy legs. The broken bicycle beneath the spider web was gone, replaced by a pile of large cardboard boxes covered in advertisements for weight loss tea.

A-Yan didn't have a candle lit like he were a ghost this time. The living room was lit, and after making a cup of kuding tea for Lin Yan, A-Yan looked at the black-and-white photo carefully with the light, his face growing serious.

"I can't sense anything. Even the weakest ghosts have dark energy, but I can't see anything like what you said." A-Yan looked at the air around Lin Yan strangely, and then lowered his head to study the photo.

"I haven't seen her since Xiao Yu showed up. Today was the first time." Lin Yan pointed to the ghost behind him, embarrassed: "His name is Xiao Yu. I don't think I mentioned that."

He didn't know why it made him flustered to mention his name in front of others, so Lin Yan coughed quickly to cover up his embarrassment.

"X-Xiao Yu, I'll remember that." The little Daoist muttered to himself. He opened the cabinet and took out the large red lacquer pen and a glass bottle filled with cinnabar that he used to exorcise ghosts earlier. He unscrewed the bottle and paused: "Was he also there when you met the little girl you mentioned?"

"No." Lin Yan recalled: "There was a talisman hanging on the door to ward off evil spirits and he couldn't get in."

"If there was a talisman to ward off evil spirits, then that means there must have been a ghost. What did the talisman look like?"

Lin Yan drew a crooked pattern on his phone's whiteboard based on what he remembered, like gossip that was fed down the grapevine. Dancing lines of symbols and patterns were encompassed by a large black box. The little Daoist frowned while he studied it and said with certainty: "T-This is made specifically to repel ghosts. Sticking this on a door will prevent even the most powerful ghosts from getting in." A-Yan's slender fingers pointed to the cloud of gray mist near Lin Yan's feet in the photo: "Like I thought. It's not a ghost, it's a curse."

"Curse?" Lin Yan clutched the cup, bewildered: "Like in the movies?"

A-Yan took out the yellow paper from under the table. He dipped the pen in the cinnabar and haphazardly scribbled a Daoist talisman. He lit it with a lighter and moved it across Lin Yan's shoulders and head. He frowned and said: "N-No, this kind of talisman is an evil art used in practices like Nanyang Black Magic and Miaojiang compulsion techniques. They use insects, ants, dolls, and even ghosts to injure and harm people. It's different from Daoism. Daoism only targets ghosts while curses target people."

The flame of the yellow paper increased immensely when it passed over Lin Yan’s shoulders, making a small crackling sound. The little Daoist flicked the yellow paper to put out the flame and wondered: “It's impossible for a gray shadow to appear when trying to take pictures of ghosts that appeared naturally. The little girl had to be imprisoned somehow to make this kind of curse. I'll help you to get rid of it. I-It's such bad luck to run into this kind of thing."

"Lin Yan, who did you offend recently? Why did someone put a curse on you?"

Lin Yan took a sip of tea and sank into the sofa, shaking his head with a bitter smile on his face. Something that Second Immortal Gu said popped into his head. The little girl had been locked up with deep resentment. At that time, he thought she was talking nonsense. It's a pity that this person was already dead and gone.

Gone? Lin Yan looked back at Xiao Yu in surprise. If a person's soul still exists after they die. . .

"A-Yan." Lin Yan grabbed the little Taoist's thin wrist and said in a low voice: "Can people still talk after they die?"

The little Daoist priest was dumbfounded. A smirk danced on his lips. He stared at the ceiling for a minute and whispered: "N-Not necessarily. Some that died recently still can, but not for very long."

"Less than a month." Lin Yan roughly slammed the teacup on the table, water splashing into small round spots on the yellow paper. "I want to attract a person's soul."

The little Daoist thoughtfully stroked the cinnabar-coated pen and hesitated: "I-I'll try. A month might not be enough time."

The lights in the living room were dim and the whole room smelt like traditional medicinal herbs. After staying for a while, it felt like he was drifting farther and farther away from the normal world. Lin Yan took out his phone and stared at the bright screen, trying to bring himself back to reality. He scrolled through the people in his contacts. A text message suddenly popped up.

"I have some news. I'll ask the secretary to double-check and I'll get back to you tomorrow."

The one who sent it was the man who gave the lecture on Monday, Professor File Folder.

[tundrainafrica]

Title: Sugar Rush

Summary:  

Marley brings the celebration of Halloween to Paradis. Hange and Levi go trick or treating with their child for the first time and start to realize how much the world has changed since the war.

A Halloween piece for the Levihan spookfest, one year late. (I hope you’re still accepting them.)

Written for @levihanweek. to cap off Levihan Angstober. Happy Halloween everyone!

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Notes: For people who read "Rough day," this domestic fluff piece is set in the same universe. I just wanted to contribute a Halloween piece for the Levihan Spookfest. I am one year late though.

"Happy Halloween!" Hange chimed as she entered the kitchen and plopped her already dolled up kid down on the table next to her. 

"So what are the tacky decorations and costumes for?" 

Hange was wearing a full body suit of the colossal titan while Luke, their five year old child was wearing a mini armored titan costume. A part of Levi wondered how people of Paradis had so easily forgotten the attack of Shiganshina that titan costumes existed and were actually being sold. He had seen a few people in titan suits on the way to the market just that morning. 

"These are all to scare away the spirits!" Hange explained.

"Of dead people?"

"Of dead people."

"It would be nice to be visited by some ghosts. Wouldn't you want to see Erwin or maybe even Moblit again?" Levi had seen enough death in his life that the holiday which Marley introduced to them which was supposed to them did not seem as scary as the people were painting it out to be. The idea of the dead people visiting felt almost desirable for that hardened soldier one who'd seen too many people die.

"But daddy, ghosts are scary! They can kill you!" Luke said as he walked towards Levi.

What are they teaching this kid in school? "What if those ghosts were daddy's old friends? Do you think they’ll kill you?" Levi bent down to face his son only to see the boy looking utterly confused.

Levi only had to look back at how they raised him to understand why. Despite his parents background, the boy was raised with what they have considered too peaceful an upbringing. The closest thing to a blood bath he had seen was when Hange so enthusiastically pulled out his baby tooth just a few months ago. Levi was not sure though if the kid had been scared of the blood or the strong reaction of his mother. 

"Levi, get dressed. It'll be our first trick or treat."

"I'm ready already." Levi walked to the balcony room where he had let his old survey corps cloak hang out to dry after thoroughly washing it. 

"You're wearing that?" Hange asked, raising one eyebrow in disappointment. "Isn't that a bit too lazy?"

"Let me try out this new festival of yours and if it's any fun maybe I'll try harder next time." 

Levi and Hange both lived towards the center of Paradis since Hange was closely working with the government to help the island catch up to its peers. They had agreed to use the holiday as an excuse to see parts of the new Paradis they had not seen in a while, having rented a space in the outskirts for a few days. Hange had seen her fair share since she was back and forth from the ports and the center due to work. Levi on the other hand barely visited the outer cities, having spent his time keeping the household running and raising Luke while Hange worked full-time.  

They made the thirty minute walk to the outskirts where Hange concluded was the start to the most time efficient route with the highest possible yield of candy, that looped all the way back to their rented bungalow.

It turned out the strategy of the former commander had been almost foolproof. One kilometer in and Luke's bag was almost half full.

"Hey man, your survey corps costume looks pretty good!" 

Levi looked to the voice behind him to see a teenage boy in a titan costume. 

"Did you make it yourself?" The teenage boy continued. 

Levi looked to Hange as if to ask "Who made our costume?" In fact, Levi had just wanted to walk on, ignoring the teenage boy. It had been less than a decade since the end of the war. With the quick advancement of technology, it felt like more of a century ago to Levi. That instance only reminded him what people saw as a soldier uniform's long ago has been reduced to a costume prop.

"I did actually. What do you think?" Hange asked 

It was a blatant lie.Technically though she did design the new uniform when the war against Marley started. Levi thought to himself. 

"Well you got the colors of the wings of freedom wrong. The blue wing is on the right side not the left." 

                                               Sugar Rush

"Hey Hange, you should monitor how they make the survey corps costume. This is slightly pissing me off," Levi muttered as they started to get to the denser parts of town. 

"Well, with a port to run and research to do, I don't really have time to monitor holiday costume designs."

Although there were many people in titan costumes, there were also a fair number of people donning the survey corps cloak, a few in garrison uniform, and fewer in the military police. Although the survey corps had a rocky start, towards the end of the war against Marley, they were painted to be the main hero, their stories told in bars, restaurants, wherever people would listen. It was only natural that clothing manufacturers got on wind with the popularity. 

But they got it all wrong. Levi thought. He turned to Hange to see that she was just slightly amused at it. 

As they walked on, they passed by a park where a group of kids in survey corps cloaks were playing. 

"I'm Levi! Humanity's strongest soldier!" One kid said as he climbed on top of a rock.

Levi heard Hange chuckling behind her as he stopped to watch the play between the five kids unfold. 

"No I wanna be Levi!" The smaller kid protested as he tried to pull the larger kid down from the rock.

"You can't be Levi! Levi is big and strong! Mommy and Daddy said so!"

Levi did not know who mommy and daddy were but he found himself interested enough to approach the group of kids. At first, they looked almost terrified to see an adult stranger approach. Levi made an effort to smile though which worked enough at least for them to stay put. 

"Levi can be as tall or short as you want him to be." Levi patted the small kid's head then looked at all the kids. "Kids, make sure to take turns." 

"It's okay! I'm Captain Erwin!"

"I'm Captain Hange!"

"I'm Captain Mike!" 

It's Mee-keh not Maik. "That's good. Don't play too rough." Levi found himself struggling to keep the friendly smile. He walked away from them, quickening his pace with every step, trying to stop the urge to play cop and point out the inaccuracies in their casual game of soldier. 

Erwin and Mike probably would not have minded those inaccuracies but something inside Levi protested the omission on his end. 

"You're not going to correct them?" Hange said as he walked back at her. 

"Erwin and Mike probably wouldn't have cared. Do you mind?"

"No. Not really. But humanity's strongest being big and tall..." Hange widened her eye in emphasis as she gave him a onceover from head to toe. 

“Humanity's strongest might even like that.”

"Daddy did you meet captain Levi? Was he really big and tall?" Luke pulled on Levi's cloak as he asked. 

"He can be as big and tall as you want him to be Luke."

                                           Sugar Rush

"Tell me more about Captain Levi! Was he big? Tall? Was it weird that you were also Levi?"

Hange and Levi had allowed their son to eat a few candies that night. Levi was sure he had at least rationed it well to keep the child happy but prevent a sugar rush. 

Maybe it was when he went to take off his cloak, wash it and leave it out to dry did Hange sneak him a few more candies in. As he looked inside the bag to see everything had been opened and half eaten, he was sure that that could have been the only explanation. 

As Levi snuck a glance at Hange, he could tell she was regretting it. I told you a while ago a handful is enough. 

“Where did you learn so much about this captain Levi figure?” Levi asked, humoring the young boy.

“The teacher tells stories about him. He was part of the Ackerman clan and he could destroy one hundred titans in one swoop.” Luke excitedly yet awkwardly swung his imaginary sword in the air and Levi could not help but note that he would have never swung his blades in that manner. “You and mommy were both soldiers right? Did you get to meet him?”

“A few times.” 

“I told my friends in school that my parents were retired soldiers and they said that the soldiers were playing and eating inside the capital while the survey corps actually went outside and fought the enemy. I think you and mommy were different. Mommy would have done research right? While you were fighting the bad people in the walls right?”

“Maybe I was.” Levi turned to Hange for help. The latter was too busy rummaging through her kid’s bag for candy. Luke did not seem to notice or probably did not care, his eyes were fixed on his father and Levi wondered how long the kid had been keeping it in.

“How was Captain Levi?”

“He was a friendly guy.” Levi answered. He heard Hange snort next to him.   

“Did he ever save you from titans?”

“A few times.” 

 “Then you must know what happened to him? Even our teacher doesn’t know!”

                                                Sugar Rush

It was almost midnight. Only thirty minutes ago did Luke’s sugar rush die down. Soon after though, the young boy had fallen asleep and like on most other nights, Levi and Hange were left alone together. They were going through the pile of uneaten candy of their son, having decided that they had to eat what was left since they had no place to store it without risking an ant infestation.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Hange asked as she went back to the table. She had checked up on their son just a second ago, making sure she was asleep before she brought up the elephant in the room. 

“Didn’t you hear the kid? If we told him where Captain Levi was, he was gonna tell all his friends. We can’t really trust a five year old kid to keep secrets just yet.”

“And you don’t want people to know where Captain Levi is,” Hange said matter of factly.

“I went for this type of life because I wanted peace.” Levi popped a half eaten chocolate in his mouth. 

“Which explains why you wanted our kid to take up my name instead.” 

“Ackerman never stuck. I’ve always been just Levi.” 

Luke Zoe was the more conservative naming choice. Levi Ackerman had become a household name while the full name of the commander had been known only among those who did the research but her stories were not as blown up as that of the captain. 

Oddly enough, their child had not picked up on both their first names being the same ones as those of the survey corps soldiers. Levi had attributed it to the fact that the boy spent most of his days with him while Hange was at work. The retired soldier had dedicated his time to other things like cleaning, housework, child rearing and tea mixing, having put his bloodier past behind him. The kid saw them as parents, not as the heroes he was hearing about in school. 

I wanna meet a survey corps soldier! They sound so cool! You must know one! Bring me to one. I wanna thank them for their service! Ask them how they flew through the air. I wanna see how big and burly they are.

Or possibly, Luke already had expectations on what they looked like and Levi and Hange just did not fit the profile.  

"Maybe we should buy him a mini survey corps cloak too. It feels weird that the survey corps played such a big part of our lives and we’re not even giving him that,” Hange suggested. 

“And support shitty research. No way.” Levi rolled his eyes as he imagined the erroneous design of the wings of freedom insignia. 

“As someone who has worked on research her whole life, I can sympathize.” Hange gave Levi a consoling smile. The cloak was last used more than fifteen years ago and the more recent designs had probably already overshadowed the one used back when the survey corps was still seen as inferior to the garrison and military police. “Hey, can you eat this gooey colorful one? It sticks to my teeth.” 

“How much more do we have to eat?” Levi emptied the bag on the table. Luke had eaten half of every single candy in the bag

“Maybe your trick or treat route was just a little too strategic Hange.”  

They did not sleep that night.    

[cinnamoonsworld]

Two Worlds Collide - Chapter 9 [Aizawa x fem!reader]

Hi guys!  There are very few chapters left at the end, and this chapter (which I loved writing) will be ultrafluff! Thanks to my boyfriend for the translation, enjoy <3  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------  Previous chapters: ch1 | ch 2 | ch3 | ch 4| ch5 | ch6 | ch7 | ch 8 You can also find me on Ao3! Word count: 1885  TW: none, pure fluff  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "(Y/N), is this chord ok??" Azai asked you by playing a chord with the guitar. "That’s exactly what I had in mind, very good Azai!" You said smiling. December had already started a few days ago, and the Christmas air was starting to feel more and more in the air. You liked to walk around the street and see all the decorations and lights that seemed to wrap around shop windows, trees and street lamps. Besides, you were very happy to see the decorations every day since you had to go to the rehearsal room to try with the band you had found together with Present Mic. In mid-November, Present Mic invited you to its radio show. He had decided to interview you and, during the interview, to make an announcement to find a band that would support you during the famous U.A. Christmas party. You were very concerned that your former manager had been spreading rumors in order to hinder you as much as possible, instead, a few days later, a flood of musicians appeared. After a long audition, and a long discussion, you and Hizashi chose the musicians who, in your opinion, found themselves more in touch with you to play. The time was short, and there were many things to do. In a month you had to write at least six new songs, with lots of music and arrangements together with the members of your new band. You felt happy to work with someone who dictated his choices to you and gave freedom to your tastes and opinions. The songs were taking shape, although you couldn’t find the lyrics to the sixth and final song. You used to crank up your thoughts trying to knock something down, but you just couldn’t. Aizawa also noticed this block. Usually, while you were correcting your homework, you would suddenly stop with your face glowing, and you would rush to get the notebook that you had in your work bag and then start writing quickly so you wouldn’t lose the ideas that you had just come up with. Aizawa didn’t blame you if you momentarily left in half what you were doing, he understood perfectly that what you were experiencing was a crucial moment for your career. "Well guys, that’s enough for tonight!" You happily announced. "Thank you all, we were very good all as usual! I’ll see you tomorrow night." You all applauded for the job well done and greeted each other. You were thinking about the shopping to do before going back to the dorm (with all these commitments you often did not remember to have an empty fridge), when at the entrance of the studios you found a figure familiar to you that controlled lazily the cell phone. "Shouta?" You asked a little out of your mind. "What are you doing here?" "I was on my way, and I thought I’d stop and wait for you." He replied with his usual tired tone. He actually asked Hizashi where the rehearsal room was where you went every day, and he decided to surprise you. He had this weird urge to see you, and since he didn’t have to go on any rounds that night, he decided he wanted to spend some time with you outside of school. Even though he was wearing a heavy black coat and a pair of jeans of the same color, you still thought he was beautiful. You immediately turned red in the face to think that of your superior, and tried to hide your face inside the scarf. "How would you like to go to dinner somewhere?" the hero suddenly asked. "Since it’s already dinner time now..." "G-going out to dinner? You and m-me?" You stuttered trying to hide badly the embarrassment and emotion that were taking over you. Aizawa stared at you with his obsidian eyes, perfectly concealing the panic he was experiencing at the time. He didn’t understand where all that courage was coming from, but he decided to play it all. "Of course." You said, finally, with a big smile in your heart that you felt it pounding in your ears. "With great pleasure." Aizawa was a very rational person, and he almost couldn’t get over how he kept thinking about you all the time. These new feelings a little scared him, but he was curious at the same time. So it was happening to you too, that you had never felt such a strong attraction to someone even though you were always a person who almost never followed logic but a lot of instinct. As you tried to keep your embarrassment at bay, the raven stopped in front of a family restaurant, carefully pondering whether it was the right place to take you or not. "Shouta." you chased him, seeing him in trouble. " I have no problem eating anywhere, I’ll settle for a bowl of ramen." Feeling relieved, he made his way into the restaurant. As much as it was a family restaurant, the environment was cozy and very reminiscent of a country house. A smiling waitress welcomed you and took you to a smaller table than the standard ones. It was full of families with small children, all very excited about the arrival of Christmas and the gifts that Santa Claus would have found under the tree. After studying the menus and ordering, you and Aizawa stayed quiet for a while. You didn’t know where to start, everything in your head seemed stupid and you didn’t want to look stupid in front of him. "Excuse me for asking (Y/N)." Aizawa said, ending the silence "Why don’t you ever use your Quirk?" Here, the question straight to the stomach like a punch. "It’s not that easy..." You sighed, looking for the exact words with which to answer. " Here...see...I don’t know where to start exactly." While inside you the panic began to rise, Aizawa noticed and took you by the hand. He didn’t understand why he did it either, but that instinctive gesture seemed like the right thing to do at that moment to calm you down. You began to feel the fear waning feeling the warmth of his hand over yours. "As beautiful as the Quirk of telekinesis can be, it is very difficult to control." You told quietly. " In addition to training for many years, you must also be a person who does not get caught up in strong emotions. Unfortunately I am not one of them." "Did your manager ever help you control your powers?" asked the raven. "Unfortunately, no...it was not uncommon that many times I destroyed the dressing rooms in anger, frustration or stress. He was willing to pay handsomely to keep people quiet about how destructive my power could be. But it’s much better now, I’m much better and I’m much quieter." As soon as the speech was over, the waitress came with your orders. "Have you ever had problems with your Quirk?" You asked for a bite. "In high school, I thought my power was useless." Aizawa replied, sketching a smile. "Until I realized, after a bad accident, that my friends were right about me, that I was strong but I was afraid I wouldn’t live up to the expectations of others. Then in the third year I decided to become an independent Pro Hero...and now here I am, teacher and independent Pro Hero." "Now I understand why you always encourage kids to improve and overcome their fears." You spoke with a smile, and Aizawa felt her heart tremble. The dinner went on with your stories and anecdotes of life, surprising you both of how well you were with two totally different personalities. Aizawa knew perfectly well to intimidate many people with his apparently cold and detached character, so he did not care to deepen the acquaintance with someone. With you, it was different. Your sunny character attracted him almost like a bee is attracted by honey. He never got tired of you. You, on the other hand, found this character of him fascinating, a bit rough on the surface but so kind. His low, warm voice made you feel wrapped in a soft blanket. After dinner, you went to the dorms together. Sometimes you stopped showing Aizawa some light or Christmas decoration that you particularly liked. "We should put something inside the dorm too." You sighed as you watched a Christmas tree. "Well...you can ask Nezu if you can do it." Aizawa said with a little smile. " I’m sure the kids will appreciate it too, it’s not a bad idea." "Y-you mean it?" You answered the hero smiling. Aizawa didn’t like Christmas decorations very much or in general, but seeing you with such a dreamy look just couldn’t say no to you. As you turned to look at a particularly beautiful decoration, your phone fell out of your coat pocket. You were about to pick it up, when Ereserhead was about to do the same, and your hands touched. You looked straight into each other’s eyes, with you getting even redder than usual and he feeling his heartbeat soaring. "Look... before I did not asked you... can I hold your hand?" Aizawa asked, trying to best disguise his embarrassment.  "Of course." You answered without the slightest hesitation and smiled gently as you began to blush conspicuously. Aizawa’s hand, callous as it was, was warm and big. You would have wanted to sink your face into his hand. You wanted those big, hot, callous hands to caress your whole body... Hand in hand, you arrived at the U.A. dormitory, on the way you had talked a bit about what Aizawa wanted to do as a program in class before the Christmas holidays and the last dreadful surprise task that he would have found on the 1-A desks in two days. You had a lot of laughs about what to put on the test, and some faces that the kids would read certain questions. "So tomorrow we’ll meet right after the lessons that we finish writing the paper for the boys?" asked the raven holding your hand again. "Of course!" You replied smiling "I have rehearsals in the late afternoon anyway, so there are no problems." Even though you were room neighbors, he walked you to the doorstep of your bedroom door.

"Then good night Shouta.- Pronounce yourself trying to shake his hand as much as possible." Thank you for a wonderful evening."

"Thanks to you." Pro Hero replied in turn, sketching a little smile. Before he left your hand, you gave him a kiss on the cheek. You ran immediately inside your room and closed the door immediately. Your heart was racing, and you felt warmer than normal. Even though that was a rash gesture, you were happy to have done it. 

Aizawa was impaled for five minutes good at touching the point of his cheek that had come into contact with your lips. He was trying to figure out whether what had just happened was real or not. And that’s when the light finally came to you. You knew what would be the last new piece you would present. The song you cared about the most and wanted to use as a battlehorse. Without even getting undressed, you rushed to your desk and started writing in a flash.

[jerkbitchidjitassbutt]

What Mattered Most (2)

Characters: Dean x Reader; Sam

Summary: Dean wakes to find she’s gone. What would make his best friend leave him? Sam may just know.

A/n: This will be a mini-series of two to three parts, based on the song “What Mattered Most” by Ty Herndon. This has been rumbling around in my head for a while, so I finally committed to getting it down. This is a little later than I was hoping to get it to you today, for that I apologize. 

Warnings: Angst. Sadness.

Dean stood in the doorway of the bunker’s kitchen, resting his weight against the wide frame as you stood at the stove, flipping sizzling bacon in a cast iron skillet. Your hips were swaying to the sounds of music flowing from your headphones and you would shimmy your waist every few beats, oblivious to the world and thoroughly enjoying the Saturday morning off. A smile played at his lips as he watched you, content to savor the moments where you were lost in a melody as you took care of him and Sammy.

You turned slightly and caught his movement out of the corner of your eye, making you jump and yank the cords from your ears, “Dean! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” you yelled, clutching a hand to your chest.

A small chuckle erupted as he held his hands up in surrender, “Hey, you can’t blame me. There was no way I was going to ruin that show.”

Dean smirked as your cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink and a hint of a grin made a small dimple appear on the left side of your mouth.

He loved mornings like this; in the safety of his home, his brother snoring down the hall, and his favorite girl waiting for him to wake up.

“Yeah… well, you could have warned me. Not given me a heart attack.” You grumbled, but still cheekily beaming as you turned your back to him, setting to work at the stove with the pancake batter.

Dean moved slowly, placing a foot in front of the other methodically and allowing his strong legs to carry him to you. He rounded the small island, reveling in the sight of your falling in ribbons around a messy bun and your bare legs tucked beneath your sleep shorts.

It was a sight he adored. You.

When he reached you, he planted his feet on either side of your stance, his arms sensuously winding around your midsection. His fingertips trailed lightly against the skin exposed as he pressed his lips against your collarbone.

“How are you this morning, sweetheart?” he purred, caressing the shell of your ear with his mouth.

Reaching behind you to thread your fingers in his soft locks, you replied with a hum, “I’m good. Slept well, had good dreams.”

“Oh yeah?” he questioned mischievously. “About me?” he asked, attaching himself to your backside and locking you within his large frame.

You giggled. He could get lost in your laughter. “Of course, honey. Always about you.”

He spun you gently to cage you against the counter, leaning in to run his nose along the curve of your jaw, “I had good dreams too. I missed you when you weren’t there when I woke up, though.” his lips curling while he brushed a few stray hairs from your face, feeling the smoothness of your skin against his palm.

Stretching to your toes, you pressed a longing kiss to his plump lips, slipping your hands under the hem of his shirt to feel his muscle beneath. Dean knew he could live in this feeling for eternity.

“I’m sorry,” you whined, hugging him tightly and burying yourself in his chest, “but I had to go.”

“Go?” Dean questioned, confusion knitting his brow.

“Yeah, Dean.” You stated simply, pulling away from his embrace to look into his eyes, a sadness in your voice that he hadn’t heard before. “Remember? I left. I’m not here anymore.”

Dean stood speechless, witnessing the once happy glow fade from your gaze. A single tear flowed down your cheek, but you were steadily fading even as he still felt your warmth in his arms. “Y/n…”

Before he could continue, you slipped from his grasp, his hands still reaching for you as you vanished, words echoing in the darkness, “I’m gone. You can’t find me. I’m never coming home.”

Dean awoke gripping the sheets around him, a thin layer of sweat covering the length of his body and a panic in his chest that he couldn’t calm. He sat up quickly, searching his surroundings for something he wasn’t sure he’d lost. Sleep still fogging his memory, he struggled to remember what he was holding onto, but his dream haunted him none-the-less. He shook the covers from his legs and swung his bedroom door open with force, moving towards the room across the hall. Sam’s gentle snores could be heard from behind his cracked door to the left as he stood in front of yours.

When he twisted the knob gently and the door opened with a whine. He flipped the light switch, illuminating the pitch-black space to reveal a pristine, yet empty bedroom. He felt his stomach turn in knots and his eyes burn with fresh tears.

It wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t his imagination… You really were gone.

He’d tried for two months to find you, but every shred of your identity was left behind. Every link or connection he had turned up empty. Fake badges, ID’s, and every burner phone he knew of yours sat on the small desk adjacent to your bed. He dragged his body towards it, slumping into the chair and resting his elbows on his knees to run a hand through his hair tiredly. Retrieving your most recent license from the stack before him, he took a moment to study the photo displayed on the plastic pinched between his thumb and forefinger. Your eyes, your nose, your lips. The smile hidden beneath them.

The images of his dream flooded back to him. He felt your skin touching his, your body cradled against him, and the smell of your shampoo. His hands could still feel your heat, though they were cold to the touch.

The scene in his vision wasn’t entirely fantasy, but one that he’d been a part of years ago. A memory of breakfasts you’d shared so many times made his chest tighten in agony. They were always filled with laughter and deep conversations. The secrets you kept from the world were often shared over the most amazing coffee and arguments ensued over the last shred of bacon. The only difference now was the intimacy. The touching. The kissing. Holding each other. That was something that had never been reality. It was never that he didn’t love you—at least not in the profound, elegant way, but rather it was something that hadn’t blossomed within him, until recently.

Until Sam told him everything. Until you left.

Now there was a longing in his heart that bloomed like a thirst that could never be satiated. He reasoned that it was just the feeling of missing his best friend, the person that had been there for him through all of the ups and downs that accompanied this life. But he knew. Deep within him, Dean knew he was in love with you—he could deny it, pretend he didn’t know the feeling, but there was no mistaking it. He also knew that he was too arrogant to appreciate it when he’d had the chance to act. He drove you away to the point that you didn’t want to be found, all the while burying himself into a hole of his own creation. He could try to move on, to try to forget and pretend to be his old self with a devil-may-care attitude, but there would be no use.

He stood from your desk chair and moved to stand by your bed, envisioning you lying there curled beneath your favorite blanket. Strangely enough, your scent was still etched into the very fabric of the room he now stood in. Your once decorated nightstand and dresser were bare, drained of the photos that use to adorn them. Dean resisted the urge to crawl into your bed and instead settled for running his fingertips along the hem of your pillow, cold and unused.

Dean shuffled back to the confines and darkness of his own room; closing your door to hide the haunting sight of its bareness, before slowly lowering himself back onto his mattress. He tucked himself tightly beneath the sheets, praying for the release of sleep if only to see you once again.

Hours passed before he was being gently shaken awake by Sam informing him of a case. In a state of confusion and hollowness, Dean packed his small bag of belongings and kept the radio silent during the entire drive, pertinently ignoring Sam’s questioning stares. He tried to pretend with Sam; pretend he wasn’t torn apart, but his brother knew him all too well.

Now, here he was, in a bar in nowhere, Nebraska, trying to chase the tiniest bit of his sorrow away. They’d arrived in town at 7 p.m., too late to follow any leads of the case, so Sam elected to stay behind and do research as Dean elected to do anything but stare at motel room walls.

“Another round?” the bartender asked.

“Yeah, then close out my tab.” Dean replied; opting that two was actually a good place to stop for the evening, something he potentially wouldn’t have done two months ago.

The bartender, a man probably in his late 40′s and hardened by life, grabbed the bottle of scotch and poured another three fingers over the remaining ice in Dean’s glass, “You from around here?”

“No.” Dean shook his head, lifting the amber liquid to his lips. “Just in town for a few days.”

“Didn’t think so. Only a few newbies ever make there way to these parts. But, let me give you some advice…” the stranger replied, reaching behind him, “This place has the best steak in town. My neighbor owns it; it’s an institution around here.” He set a paper menu in front of Dean on the glistening wood, next to the coaster that would house his drink.

Dean picked it up, prepared to thank him before he excused himself to help the new round of guests that poured in.

As he was studying the menu, a commotion sounded from the other end of the room, where two men were in a heated discussion about a recent game of pool. Dean took notice of the increase in bodies in the small area, not surprising for a Friday evening in a small town bar. At the other end of the space, a squeal from the speakers sounded as a few workers set up equipment for karaoke that would apparently be happening later that evening.

Glasses clinked together, the cracks and clanks of the balls being pushed by  pool cues flooded his hears, and voices sounded from all around him; but nothing could have drowned out the sound of the voice he’d missed for months.

“Can I have a Jack and coke, please?” he heard from the opposite end of the bar, causing him to freeze. It was unmistakable.

He slowly turned his eyes in the direction of the wonderfully chilling melody and was met with the sight of you leaning over the edge of the bar, your Y/h/c hair falling in waves around your face and your eyes shining as you smiled at the bartender.

Dean attempted to force every cell of his body to tear his eyes away from you, but to no avail. Your skin was flushed and healthy. You were wearing a new shade of lipstick; a slightly darker red then the natural pigment of the flesh of your lips.

The bartender passed you a glass as you left a few bills on the counter, but you stayed planted where you were standing when you ordered. There was a lightness to you that Dean hadn’t witnessed in many years, feeling a fresh wave of guilt as the knowledge passed that it had been his doing that you’d lost it.

As he was taking you in, Dean felt a new found determination and strength to right whatever he’d done wrong. In that moment, he’d give anything to give you everything.

He began to stand, until he heard your name called.

A new fire rose to your eyes as you glanced in the direction from which it came, a bright, dazzling smile gracing your lips.

Dean watched as a man made his way through the crowd, steadfastly making his way to you.

And when that man captured your lips with his, Dean felt his heart shatter.

To be continued...

<Part 1 / Part 3>

Masterlist

[letsperaltiago]

We’ll sweep out the ashes in the morning |CHAPTER 6|

Even in the middle of New York's freezing month of February, a scandalous familiar fire is ignited within Jake and Amy when they run into each other after years apart. Luckily there's nothing wrong with being caught up in a fire that has to die out soon, right?

Read here or on AO3 - CHAPTER MASTERLIST HERE

In the form of dawn, reenacting the moon’s casting of light from a few hours earlier, the sun rose to its designated time to penetrate the thin material of her bedroom’s curtains drowning said room in a soft, drowsy light. A soft, drowsy light which happened to be strong enough to wake him up or at the very least cause his eyes to stir while rest of his body had a hard time following the cues coming from his barely conscious brain. Though it wasn’t a lot, he was nonetheless aware of a few facts: his surroundings were not the ones of his apartment, the morning’s arrival was upon him, there was softly curved body lying next to him and lastly he was aware of the warmth the body radiated curled up into his chest like it belonged there.

His eyes managed to fight against the heavy tiredness restning in every limb of his body and open to help him finally fully understand the scene he was currently taking part in.

Time: the clock on the nightstand in his immediate field of vision told him the horrid fact that it was just barely 6AM.

Location: delicate colors, decorations of all kinds and last but not least a perfect neatness reminded him of a certain someone’s apartment.

With who: warmth pressed against his chest immediately drew his sight to the right spot, where he got to take in the purest sight he’d been met by in a long time; also better known as Amy Santiago fast asleep on her right side fully doubled up in his arms like it was somehow the most natural thing in the world. Behind her, spread out on her floral pillow, unruly waves of hair dispersed wildly and with no regards to defined patterns as if it were a field of dark wild flowers.

Of course all he wanted to do was touch and explore the tangles, pick these flowers growing from her. But, just like picking and taking home flowers meant to thrive in the wild, that would be selfish of him. Plus it’d also mean he’d have to draw her from her peaceful rest - something he for nothing in this world wanted. Therefor, instead, he settled on admiring, staring at and taking in every little detail of her; everything from the intense fullness of her lashes to the way her skin tasted, sweet like he’d always imagined, when he tranquilly allowed himself to lean down and peck the side of her face that wasn’t hidden against the mattress.

The peck was light yet the longer kind even though he tried to be careful. She’d wake up when she was ready to; not because he had this strange feeling of missing her even though she was right there in his arms, as close as they’d ever been. He drew back to allow himself another good look at her, mainly to admire but also to make sure she was still peacefully asleep.There he was also met by the feeling of tiny bursts of happiness revolting like a chain reaction in his chest and stomach: this was what he’d been looking to feel for so long however not knowing until she came along.

Movement in his arms instantly drew him out of his thoughts only to be met by something so much better than the previous daydream. Indeed, it was the beautiful reality that was Amy Santiago unconsciously shuffling, burying herself further into his chest, and his arms automatically tightened around her even though there was almost to no more space between them to give to her. Then, after sliding his hands to the lower part of her back, his fingers would start forming small drawings of affection. This went on for God even knows how long. Him showering her with silent admiration and even softer kisses to any exposed skin that might be exposed whilst she slumbered peacefully in the love cot formed by his arms and chest. At some point her fingers gradually, more and more purposefully, started stroking him back making the skin covering his collarbones tingle beneath the touch, but even then she still seemed asleep and so he let her be, enjoying feeling of being alive and present in this silent moment with her.

It was only hours later that, or so the clock told him, he could sense her stirring washing away the nagging feeling of missing her. She’d move a bit then lie still like nothing had happened, this repeated a few times, before her head finally tilted just enough for him to see her look at him and, damn, who would’ve thought a pair of drowsy, golden brown eyes could make Jake’s heart do a billion summersaults? Certainly not him but it very much did.

For a moment, when his eyes were met hers where they were perfectly placed right where late morning sun highlighted them perfectly, she said nothing. Instead she simply craned her head further to angle a peck to the underside of his chin, light as a butterfly, before repeating the action, placing one more and one more, progressively moving down his chin, neck, jaw and lastly neck. The world around them was silent and all he could hear was the delicate sound resulting from her lips detaching from his warm, dewy skin. Finally, paired with a heavy exhalation, the last peck stamped his sternum.

Jake had never felt so alive. He was sure of it.

“Morning,” he yawned into her hair before adoringly placing a kiss to the same spot.

As a reaction to the affectionate touch, one so untried yet a feeling she already felt appealed to grow addicted to even though she knew addictions were often a dangerous matter, Amy instantly felt blood rush to her cheeks adding to her skin a warm pink tint. This shade of ting being similar to, Jake briefly remembered, a color he’d noticed in the sky on multiple early mornings where he’d been making his way home from working the night. Perhaps he didn’t exactly love morning but he remembered loving the glow and soothing color palette of a Brooklyn dawn.

“Hey,” she smiled utterly overwhelmed by the instant urge to bury her face back into the safety of his chest but instead, having to somewhat strain herself,  settled on keeping her head tilted back as to keep her gaze fixed on his - no backing out this time, she’s made up her mind. Circling around whatever their predicament was, still very much undefined, would be further waste of precious time they’d already missed out on. And she could’ve sworn to herself that, solely based on the way Jake’s eyes shone just a bit brighter when his eyes traced her entity, they were meant to be something greater than just what ifs and could’ve beens. What exactly she, or anyone else for that matter, couldn’t tell but she was sure of one thing: Jake Peralta was a chance she was willing to take.

“How are you feeling?” He languidly brushed a strand of hair away from her face and back into a safe hold behind her ear which had Amy swearing to herself she could feel tingling where he’d just brushed her skin. The night’s remains made themselves present through a slight hoarseness to his voice but, looking past this fact, Amy had never heard him speak with such softness before. Sure, they’d had moments; ones where they felt things they couldn’t speak up about though there was definitely something there; ones of admiration and maybe just a bit more; ones of growing henpecked emotions. Although this? This was something else. This was every single atom in his body channeling the vulnerability that was his infatuation for her right into the open space between them as well as her.

“I’m… good,” because ‘Better than ever before because you’re here with me’ maybe was a bit soon in their given situation.

“Good?” he popped his eyebrows humorously creating a very ‘Jake’ contrast to his still drowsy eyes and that was one of the many things that drew her to him: he was not just anyone but rather someone who had a certain something about him, a way of doing things, that no one else could quite imitate.

“Just good? That’s a shame.”

It took seconds, barely, for Amy to pick up on the teasing ring to his voice which laced up with the tiredness would’ve been very well camouflaged, if it wasn’t for the simple fact that she apparently had cracked the code to his way of being a long time ago - even with all these years in between.

“You don’t deserve me stroking your ego too hard when you come running here in the middle of the night, waking me up and whatnot.”

Two could play that game. The thick sarcasm in her voice was definitely weighing heavily as she spoke - all of this paired with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders? Jake had without a doubt been challenged to a duel.

“Oh, is that so?” his tiredness held nothing against a smile when he could be nothing but very entertained by this frisky side of Amy Santiago.

“Yeah,” even encircled by his arms Amy managed to fully arch her back in a stretch only to top it off with a performatory yawn  “I actually still feel kind of tired so I’m just going to go back to sleep…” she trailed off as she turned over to lie on her opposite shoulder facing away from Jake. Her shuffling out of his arms definitely crossed a certain line within him, a line he until that very moment was was yet to know he truthfully possessed but quickly came to realise he shamelessly did when it resulted in what could be classified as a growl escaping him.

“Oh, don’t-“ he shuffled after her only to latch onto and pull her back first into safe return to his arms. “Don’t play me like that, Santiago,” surprisingly there was no hesitance to the way he then pressede his lips to her ear where spoke directly into it, earning him a full-blown laugh, and it at no point came across, to either of them, as odd or staggering.

“You're stuck here with me now,” he joked while nibbling possessively at the ear along with the area surrounding, loving but somehow also not able to believe it.

“Ugh, really?” her laugh had quieted down and she now spoke with a breathy groan.  

That breathy voice was soon cut of though when suddenly, somehow, earning Amy’s confusion, Jake managed to spin her around in his arms as to place them face to face; nose to nose; staring directly into each other’s eyes with such intensity that goosebumps spread all across her body.

“Really,” his voice switched back to soft, very soft, yet also stern and so sincere Amy would’ve believed anything he said in that moment. “If you wanna be?”

Although it was metaphorically when she felt like she was swallowing her previous pride and cockiness, Amy did swallow, what felt like, quite loudly in reaction to the exceedingly intense position they were all at once in as dust particles tumbled around the sunlit space around them.

There was not exactly a way of pointing out what had shifted within her but something had, and she had such strong urge to to act on it. Maybe it was the way he’d grabbed her waist, forcing her back into his arms and then somehow also into a certain headspace, where it really finally hit her that this moment was not a fever dream but instead very much real and would have real life consequences - consequences of which the fallout she was ultimately in charge of.

Noses were still pressed up against one another, the tip of his to the bridge of hers, when the animalistic part of her brain won an internal battle, one she wasn’t completely aware of until then, and drove her to grab his face and pull him into a searing, heavy kiss.

The air around them exploded with an energy made of temporarily forgotten, although always returning, yearning for the other’s uttermost closeness and it was only a matter of seconds, milliseconds, before Jake could neither more or less but give in to their bodies’ demands conducting him to crowd himself on top of his newfound muse who gladly accepted her new designated spot beneath him.  Meanwhile their lips almost never lost contact, busy with relishing and only briefly parting in need of respiration, exchanging gnaws and tugs. The limiting themselves to pecks from earlier was very much forgotten and out the window.

Slender hands gripped his biceps intuitively provoking a flex under her touch. Continuing up his arms and shoulders before taking on his sides she made sure to take it all in: his every muscle, the way the skin shaped around his ribs, small beauty spots who’d up until now had been a mystery to her and more importantly the way his flesh and skin seemed to be her perfect handful no matter where she grabbede him; as if he was meant to be touched and adored by her. Only her.

Her touch continued its travel all the way down his ribcage, both sides covered by a hand each, until she reached his lower flanks prompting her hands to centre and meet on the lowest part of his spine.

From there on and all the way up to his neck, delicately with the full surface area of her palm and inevitably inflaming the desire taking over him, Amy traced every joint of his spinal column, internally counting each and every one of them.  

Upon reaching its final destination, which from the very beginning had been the thick curls on top of his head: somewhere she’d always dreamed of grabbing, fist full, and tug onto like it was a matter of life and death.

They’ve reached the point of no return. This time there would be no interruptions, no panicking and no running away. The heat between them gradually increased.  Sloppy, but good, kisses accompanied by just as sloppy, but oh so satisfying, breaths, moans and whimpers filled the air. The situation was taking them where they’d wanted to be for so long, the closest they could ever physically be. It quickly but carefully took them where their yearning souls and craving vessels soon were clad in nothing sweaty sheets and each other’s skin, moans and declarations in the form of lustful whimpers.

Their bodies, although many parts still complete strangers to each other, fit and moved in perfect harmony. They were insatiable and this could only be stilled by each other by reaching the final climax.

Following this, in the late hours of their morning, Amy’s entire body was now freshly tattooed by red love marks created by his teeth and grasping fingers, meanwhile Jake, especially his back, displayed clear trails of where her nails had held onto him, matching the purple imprints of possession on his neck. Jake would’ve kept adding to the collection forming on her skin, continuously placing licks and bites to her skin even after slowly coming down from their climax, if she hadn’t pushed him onto his back and hovered over him creating the most beautiful scene before him.

There was something about a dewy-skinne, naked and unruly-haired Amy Santiago looking down at you with an ‘i got you’-look in her eyes that simply couldn’t be anything but the best thing he’d ever witnessed with his own two eyes.

“We can’t lie here all day,” she smirked knowing very well that she, and he neither, would really mind staying in bed all day to repeat the act till they ran out of hours.

“We could,” he reached up to grab her face and pull her down into a lingering kiss; a kiss which she just barely managede to get back under control and interrupt before she could get lost in the rush of it all once more.

“Yes, maybe, but let's get up, okay? I’ll make us some coffee,” she smiled sweetly, returning to the sweet innocent persona she was known for and, of course, Jake Peralta couldn’t deny her anything at all even if he wished to.

In the lukewarm air of the forenoon which had grown while they were caught up in bed, Jake, who now stood in her kitchen, alongside the brewing coffeepot, had a surreal almost overwhelming feeling of more to come mulling inside of him. No way he would’ve believed them if someone had told him just months ago that he’d be caught up in the perfect epiphany that was witnessing Amy Santiago clad in (only) his trademark flannel, and apparently she could do pretty much anything, like stand on her tippy toes in order to reach two mugs from upper shelf in her overhead cupboard, like she was currently doing, and it was enough to have Jake pinching himself. Simply standing by, watching, instead of trapping her against the kitchen counter to do anything he wanted to her was beyond average self-control and Jake knew it.

“Here you go,” she poured them both a cup before handing him his.

“Thanks,” the steam coming from the warm liquid hit his face making it impossible for him to know if it was the coffee or her effect on him (maybe a bit of both) working its magic on him.

She leaned back against the kitchen counter throwing him a shy look over the top of her mug, eyes clearly smiling enough for him to know she was shyly biting her lips behind it. They stood in a comfortable silence for a bit although it was no secret to either of them that there were things to be talked about. Someone had to and so after about two silent sips Jake did it: he took the leap.

“So…”

Immediately letting him know that he (of course and always) had her undivided attention by cocking her eyebrows gently, she miserably failed to conceal the fact that she’d hoped he would. She must’ve realised this since her blush blew up significantly, and God, he just wanted to kiss her again and preferably never stop.

“How are you feeling, like, about… this?”

Another silence followed behind the sound of his voice and Amy taking a quick sip but then also breaking into a shy smile. Although she definitely felt a strong sensation of giddiness, happiness and incoming calm in the midst of the deep sea of confusion, how could she tell him what she believed in, them, without overwhelming him and taking the nature of reality for granted? She felt so many things that it was still incredibly hard to tell it all apart. Already scaring him off, so early on, would be such a shame. Yes, she knew he had been the one to show up on her doorstep in the middle of the night; he had been the one to leave Sophia for her… Then why was she still doubting her instincts?

“I feel… good.”

She couldn’t deny the very clear fact that, from the way butterflies went crazy in her stomach, she loved the way his smile grew wider as a reaction to her answer.

“That’s good…” his nod was eager but Amy could also tell he was nervous, restlessly biting his lip when not knowing how to shape and share whatever was on his mind. On the other hand, he had nothing to worry about because neither did she - it wasn’t like any of them had ever been, or even imagined being, in a similar situation. A situation that all at once was very easy but then also very complicated. Furthermore, even though this specific square in the big puzzle they were currently trying to place was complicated enough on its own, Amy couldn’t help but feel specially curious about one other thing.

Athough, she guessed, it didn’t really concern her…

Or it did but then again not really.

The confusion and uncertainty about how much she should question the matter roared in her mind suddenly escaping her off the cuff.

“How did Sophia take it?”

A bucket of ice cold water being poured over the ambience was an appropriate, if not understated, way of describing the following seconds. Jake was no longer smiling like he’d been before but instead looked like a person whose dream scenario, by the flick of a shift, had suddenly turned into a nightmare would look. Just as fast as he Amy came to understand that what she’d previously been enjoying was the calm bliss to be found in the eye of the hurricane, and was now, after stepping onto unsafe grounds, caught and about to be lurched into the hurricane itself.

“Take what exactly?”

The look on his face wasn’t quite oblivious, after all, they were both very much aware of their tricky situation, but Jake still looked somewhat… puzzled. As if he’d honestly and absolutely not, under no circumstances or in any other parallel universe, expected this specific topic: Sophia Perez.

What did he mean by what exactly? Yes, she had messede up too, but it was him who’d bailed on his future wife on their wedding day, and not her, after all. But apparently there now seemed to be more to the story than what he’d told her yesterday, she just hadn’t thought to ask having been all caught up in Jake confessing his feelings to her and all the chaos.

The heavy feeling in her gut, a gut that was almost always right, she’d come to learn a long time ago, along with her heart picking up speed now racing with anxiety, underlined the fact that things were definitely not going where she’d hoped just moments ago. Why on earth did she have to explain to Jake that him leaving his almost-wife for Amy herself was bound to raise questions and an aftermath to resolve?

“What do you mean ‘what exactly?’? You sure haven’t forgotten that you basically left Sophia at the altar to come see me just yesterday, right?” A nervous chuckle was thrown in in a desperate attempt to save the prevailing turn the situation had so suddenly taken.

A pregnant silence immediately killed off said attempt.

“I- uh,” it didn’t go by unnoticed how Jake put down his mug as if to brace himself for impact as he half-stammered. “I never actually told her the uhm- reason behind my decision.  I just told her I couldn’t marry her, then ran back to the hotel I was staying at for the wedding, packed my things before dumping them at Charles’. Then Charles of course had to pry so I told him everything, and then, after taking some time to wrap my head around the whole thing, I came here to see you.”

Amy had managed to bury it, given that she trusted Jake, but had deep down feared the storm after the quiet, the war after the peace and this was it: he hadn’t told Sophia about them. For all she knew Sophia could be God knows where in Manhattan’s concrete jungle thinking that Jake just wasn’t ready get married to her rather than not wanting to get married to her - there was a world of difference between the two and it all came pouring down on Amy in that very moment.

Eyes briefly closed in despair she tried to figure out her next move: had she completely misread the situation and even worse misread Jake? Jake that she, looking past their years of falling out, thought she knew so well? Had she gotten so caught up in the rush of feelings upon seeing him that she’d failed to take into consideration the true colors of the situation? The questions all flooded her brain with the force of a tsunami.

“You didn’t-“ her breath hitched and eyes closed once more, somewhat giving herself room to put herself back together, before jumping in head first. “You didn’t tell her about us?”

And although Jake did look awfully regretful upon hearing her question him like this, truthfully representing the good heart Amy deep down knew he had, there could be no other way. She needed the truth even if it wasn’t what she’d hoped for.

“Ames, listen,” he took a deep breath.

“Back then I though I could brush past it. You and I weren’t talking after that nigh at Shaw’s and I, idiotically, thought I could fix myself by still marrying her. I-“

“No, Jake,” she interrupted looking sternly into his eyes, allowing him to see a shade of dark brown he’d never seen in her eyes before.

Feeling trapped in the kitchen she brushede past him in search for safer distancing in the wider space of her paired living/dining room. “I don’t mean back then.”

It dawned upon her just how much worse the problem actually was. She had now actually been the other woman not once but twice - the second time being just this morning and going all the way. “I mean: you didn’t tell her why you were not able to marry her?”

In the rush of the moment where Jake had looked his dressed in white and, he had to admit, beautiful fiancé that no, he was so sorry but he couldn’t marry her, it hadn’t occurred to him to actually explain Sophia why. To him the explanation had been clear: Amy.

Though he’d completely brushed past the fact that Sophia had no good explanation to this, completely unaware of Amy’s newfound presence in his life, and could now, possibly, be thinking that he just needed time or space.

Sophia didn’t even know her future husband had met up with Amy all those months ago, let alone that he had feelings for her that caused him to call off the wedding.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly, Amy,” he wasn’t trying to excuse it per se but he was feeling hopeless and this felt like grasping onto whatever small explanatory bits he happened to have left. He never had any intentions of hurting Amy, of course not, he wanted to be with her!

But now he saw things from her perspective: a perspective where she was caught in the role of the secret ‘other woman’, who he couldn’t commit fully to for a list of reasons, one of them being the fact that his relationship with Sophia technically, explicitly wasn’t over.

“Oh, so you weren’t thinking clearly when you interrupted your own wedding and then decided to come here?” Amy’s words were pure venom at this point as she paced back and forth between the dining table and the couch.

“That’s not what I meant,” he defended himself following her path from earlier out of the kitchen.

“I meant that I didn’t exactly have a script or a clear explanation ready, when I told Sophia. I just… even with Sophia standing right in front of me, all ready and dressed in white, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and so… I just snapped: I told her and got the hell out of there.”

As soon as it was out Jake realised it didn’t exactly sound as good as he had intended it to. It actually made him sound rather inconsiderate of both women’s feelings. It was an understatement to say that this fact was slowly sinking in and eating him up alive.

“… Which I am now realising was dick-move on my part-“

“God, is this really happening?” he could hear Amy mumble to herself rubbing her temples as to appease the horrifying headache the situation had brought upon her.

“Ames, I-“ he started marching over to where she’d somewhat delimited herself behind the couch.

“Stop.”

Jake Peralta wasn’t about to oppose Amy Santiago, especially given the circumstances, and froze on the spot across from her with the couch between them as a border. They looked right at each other clearly communication the large range of emotions they both felt: anger, fear, confusion and disappointment which resulted in the feeling reigning within the both of them: frustration.

It was as if every word, movement, sound and thought that had been thrown around for the past 10 minuets solidified in the air only to drop to the ground creating a non-existent sound of shattering glass. Deafening silence could be used to describe the moment as well but didn’t quite contain the amount of distress they both felt standing there staring hopelessly at each other.

Perhaps they weren’t meant to figure this out after all.

“I can’t,” her voice trembled which immediately reminded Jake of the feeling he got that one time a perp stabbed him in the arm. Except now it was times a thousand, the dagger’s target was his heart and he wasn’t hurting for himself but rather for them. Her.

“What do you mean-“ he tried.

“I know it’s far beyond too late to advert the consequences of what we’ve done, but… I can’t stay in this tangled web you, we’ve, spun ourselves. I’m not about to stand by and act like nothing, when deep down I know Sophia is completely unaware of the truth and you’re not actually… mine.”

The words burned and blessed her tongue all at once. Oh, how she wished to be his.

“I don’t want to be a secret, Jake.”

Jake had never intended for her to be; he simply hadn’t thought the procedure through. Although, he now did see how bad it had to look and therefor couldn’t blame her for reacting like she did. She was just trying to protect herself.

On the other hand he also really wished he’d let him explain: let him explain that he never intended for her to be or feel like a dark secret. Amy Santiago deserved better.

“Ames, you’re not-“

She didn’t let him finish. All hints at emotion had been drained from her leaving him to stare right into dead eyes and a blank expression.

Her defence mechanism loaded a metaphorical gun and shot his heart.

“I need you to leave.”

What was left of their doomed hope, now shot down and left to die, was left scattered on the floor surrounding them both like deep waters around an island of despair. Before him he saw the woman he actually truly wanted to be with, but he couldn’t force her to look past his mistakes, when he was the one who’d rushed the job and left it to blow up in his face - hers too, actually. There was nothing for him to do but, unwillingly, comply and respect her choice at least until he had a solid solution to offer her.

What worried him the most though was the uncertainty: was this his chance to clean up his mess or was it actually the end?

He never got an answer: before he could even begin to ask she shot him down for good.

“Please leave. Now.”

And so he walked out in silence leaving his hearts sad remains behind for her to take care of until his return.

That is if she actually wished to.

[heartshredded]

💏 // just fuck me up

fifty ways to kiss someone.   send me a 💏 and i will randomise a number in order for my muse to kiss yours…

50 …out of love.

‘ johnny! the next one’s lesson 5! ‘ 

he remembers saying that in the heat of the moment, yet long enough to realise his inevitable demise against the president. gyro was no fool, and there was a sinking feeling in his gut, there was no guarantee that he would not die. he refrained from calling it the final lesson, but truthfully it was his farewell gift to johnny as he sat on his horse with lucy seated behind him, the ocean parting like in greek myths for the body of the holy saint. 

the wound headed for his heart, it was only a matter of time. everything he did, hopefully johnny would be able to make use of to win this fight, there was nothing left he could do. gyro refused to make use of the fissure of light emitting from lucy, he didn’t want to watch anyone else suffer the injuries he got upon himself, it would have potentially saved his life but what about them? it makes him no different from the innocent boy he had been trying to save this whole time. 

he recalls the scent of the ocean blown by the breeze, the sweat trickling down his forehead, his final breath and view as his body collapsed onto the ground. soon swept up by the waves and washed off, all he could do was watch as his body and spirit drifted off separately. god was cruel yet merciful, at the very least he spares johnny’s life, already so many has been sacrificed throughout this dreadful race. 

gyro had found it ironic that this all began because his father always urged him to blindly follow orders, like he expected a rebellious kid like him to actually listen wholeheartedly, the need to prove the boy’s innocence was out of his own values of morality. it was strong enough that he would willingly partake in this race of life and death, the money had never been his main goal, merely to save a single soul jailed to a fate of death row. 

someone.. he was suppose to execute. his first victim, that was what had been written on that document. a job that his father would not be around for the very first time, before that gyro had spent his time wiping off and sterilizing a bloodied blade, as well as the technique passed down his family for generations. he never understood it himself either. visualizing the golden ratio and whatnot, his father was a terrible teacher who left him to his own devices.

on that note, how long has it been? god could have written into their fate that not even johnny survives, and he would thank him for letting the other jockey go, he has suffered as much as the rest of them who had passed on. he deserved to live a longer life, find someone he loved and start a family, no longer chained to the past but moving onward. 

johnny could live the life gyro would never have anymore, the opportunity never existed as his demise was determined, but he was happy for him. he’s been watching him for years now, even if the other could not see him, even if his words would never reach, and even though the italian could have moved onto heaven long ago. he chose not to, he never got to say the words he wished to, the regrets and cheesy thank yous that he should have mentioned before they approached the accursed train that fateful day.

though it seemed it was time to pick johnny up now, to greet him and give him a hug, shining that familiar smile he always has decorated by the gold teeth that spelled his iconic phrase. a translucent hand stuck out to hold the other’s and pull him into the purgatory he had been in ever since, it was between heaven and hell, there was no rush to move on but there existed nothing here as well. the place seemed to never end and he hasn’t met another soul besides johnny himself.

arms wrapped around the jockey’s waist in a tight hug, the taller male nuzzles his forehead against johnny’s own out of joy, for the plain fact that he could meet him again. the concept of time was lost on a spirit like him, everything looked the same from the view here, but he had always watched johnny, wishing him happiness. gyro soon retracts his head a little, a beaming yet bittersweet smile, ‘ johnny! long time no see, miss me? ‘ he teases jokingly, a hand lightly patting the other’s back in a show of comfort, a kiss on the cheek in innocent affection. nobody was going to separate them now, there was nothing to worry about anymore with all the time in the world, and he could pay him company for as long as johnny wants.

‘ ..good job out there. ‘ his voice is soft and sweet, its unlike how he ever talked in their journey together, in those few months together. typically it would have felt slow with how many days those were, but time traveled fast when you were struggling to survive each and every day to make every second meaningful and count. ‘ i knew i could leave peacefully, you were strong even when i wasn’t there anymore, and thank you for the flowers you left me. ‘ 

for all these years he has visited his grave, perhaps few and far in between but it still meant something to him, that johnny would remember him after all this time when he had a life of his own now. he could have forgotten about gyro and continued living, but johnny kept a piece of memory with him anyway, a steel ball that belonged to him. all the words he had said at his funeral and during grave visits, the tears he shed and the gifts he left for him. he remembers it all.

‘ so do me a favor and tell me again.. the story of how you’ve came so far. this time, face-to-face. ‘ 

[ask-svt-hearteu]

florist! Wonwoo

Anon requested: “A florist Wonwoo scenario please? The reader or Wonwoo could be the florist...whichever you think fits best! :)”

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 2061

A/N: I’m kinda a mess with this one I hope it’s ok haha I had to rewrite it a few times lol hope you enjoy!

ok but florist! wonu is literally everything

imagine him getting up early every morning to head to his shop

and he’ll unlock the glass door and pull open all the blinds 

and sunlight is just streaming into his colorful and beautiful floral shop

as the sunflowers start to wake up and face the morning light

and he ties the cutest beige apron with a simple lily embroidery around his waist as he starts retrieving the new flowers for the day 

and he loves organizing them

sometimes he’ll organize by colors

so when he gets fresh flowers

he’ll sort them from reds to oranges to yellows

to greens to blues to violets

roses to daisies to carnations to forget-me-nots to lavender

so that his shop window is a rainbow that attracts any passerby's attention

and he’ll be humming to himself while he’s arranging bouquets for the day

and if you listen really closely sometimes when he has the windows to his shop open

you can hear his voice

deep and steady

like the water in a pond

slowly singing a song

because co2 is necessary for plants 

and damn even the flowers would fall for his voice

as his hands gently brush across the petals 

and he very carefully and concisely snips at the stems so that each flower is proudly on display

and the arrangement he was working on is perfect

not a single leaf or petal out of place

a beautiful 

and almost unreal 

collection of flowers

which has made his little shop the most popular in the neighborhood

even if he works there alone

 just like his arrangements 

he’s never missed a beat

never failed to make a customer 117% happy with what he’s made for them

and never been late for an event ever

he has a very tidy schedule

like how every thursday

he’ll put out the orchids he recently ordered out on display on the outside flower holders

because he knows

that when you pass by his shop on thursdays as you do on your way to work

you can’t help but stop and admire them

and then he gets to steal a few snatches of conversation 

“Good morning y/n!”

“Oh, good morning Wonwoo!”

and he’ll have to cough or clear his throat 

in hopes you don’t notice the slight brush of pink on his cheeks

that could put even the peonies to shame 

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been well, thank you! And you...?”

“It’s been going well for me too.”

and he’ll give you a small little smile 

that’s got your heart fluttering 

“Ah one second y/n”

you wait curiously as he enters the back of his shop

standing a bit awkwardly and nervously while you wait for him to come back

and when he does

your heart does a bit more than flutter

it skips whole beats when you see what he’s holding

it’s a small pot

with the most beautiful orchids you’ve ever seen

they’re dark blue on the edges

that blue that the sky gets right after the sun sets

and as the blue travels into the centers of the flower

it gets brighter until it’s almost an aqua blue

they’re small and the pot fits into your hand

as he gently hands over the pot

fingers lingering maybe a tad bit when they brush yours

“You said you were looking for orchids to brighten up your working space.” he said smiling as he looks up from the pot to you

“...and these reminded me of you so I thought they were perfect.”

you’re kinda stunned

not even just about the flowers

or how beautiful of a blue they were

or how they reminded him of you

but also because of how lightly his hands had brushed yours

“You’re giving them to me?” you ask

still a bit out of it hey y/n get yourself together thanks

“Yea well I know how much you like orchids and these ones aren’t too difficult to care for, just add fertilizer every week and make sure you water them amply but let them dry out between waterings and they should be fine”

he shyly goes through the care tips for the plant and sends you on your way 

quietly patting himself on the back for having the guts to finally do something after just short conversations every thursday morning

and when you set the little pot down on your desk

you can’t help but let your thoughts wander off to the florist shop where Wonwoo works

and think about him

when you entered that shop for the first time a few months ago

you had been surprised at how airy the shop felt despite being fairly small in size

as you waited by the counter

you hadn’t really expected someone as beautiful as the flowers like Wonwoo to be the shop owner

but when he had stepped out of the back room with a vase of orange calla lilies 

you had to use every ounce of willpower you had not to stop and stare

“Hi there, how may I help you?”

“Um yes hello... it’s my first day working here, I mean not here at the shop but- um as- I’m actually new to the neighborhood and I was wondering-” stumbling over your words as he broke into a bright smile

“Ah do you need some flowers?” 

“Yes please!” you laughed lightly at your nervousness

“What’s the occasion?”

“I’m throwing a house warming party actually! I just moved in.” you did your best to smile comfortably

he let out a low chuckle and set the vase down on the counter

“Alright can I get your name?”

“Oh um right it’s Y/n l/n.”

“Do you have any ideas for what colors or flowers you want for your party?”

“Actually I was hoping you’d be able to help me with that, I don’t know where to start and it’s mainly just a gathering of a few coworkers I’m friends with and some neighbors...”

“Ah how about we start with a color scheme then?”

you nodded enthused by how friendly he seemed as he led you to the rows of flowers and pointed out warmer and more pastely tones compared to the bright flowers and asked you which you perferred

time passed a bit too quickly as you watched him work after you had chosen the flowers you wanted

how deftly he placed each flower as if they had always belonged in this arrangement

and when he handed the carefully wrapped vase with the final masterpiece

the flowers seemed to glow as you thanked him

“They’re absolutely beautiful thank you!” you said as you held them

“So how much do I owe you?” you laughed setting the flowers down carefully to reach for your purse

“Ahhh no it’s fine! Consider it a welcome to the neighborhood gift.” he smiled 

and that had been your first encounter with Wonwoo

you had to admit he more than captivated your interest 

and with every passing week you felt that interest grow a bit more with your small conversations

sometimes about what recent books you had read 

or books he had read

or sometimes just about how nice the weather had been lately

or about the latest project you were working on for work

or his latest event he had to prepare floral arrangements for

it kind of naturally began to be a habit

to stand by the flowers every thursday and just discuss whatever small little topics passed by your mind 

“Oh I’ve been meaning to ask, Wonwoo...”

“Yea..?”

“How did you decide to open your floral shop?”

i’m sorry but wonu is a garden fairy 

“I’ve always liked gardening and plants haha and I guess I always wanted to explore the more artsy side of my personality. So while at school for business I kind of just thought what’s a good way to incorporate all the things I want to do and this sort of came to mind.” he looked fondly around at the flower shop

“It must be nice.” you reply with a smile

“It is.” he chuckles 

you look down at your watch and realize its time to go or you’ll be late to work

“I’ll see you next time then Wonwoo.” you grin and wave as he waves goodbye as well

and you’re almost at the street corner when you hear your name

“Y/n!” 

with Wonwoo calmly jogging up to catch up with you

“Hey so...” he begins

“I was wondering if maybe you wanted to catch a movie with me tonight? I’ve been meaning to see it and haven’t had time but I do today but only if you also have time...” he quietly stumbled about the sentence as you felt your cheeks burn up

“I’d love to.”

“So that’s settled then?”

“Yea I’ll see you tonight!” 

the urge to scream is strong while writing this sorry

you basically made a big fuss asking your boss if you could leave just a tad bit early from work

as you raced home to prepare for your

what was this

was it a date?

did you want it to be a date?

your head raced a million miles per hour as you turned your closet upside down looking for an outfit

did Wonwoo even consider it a date?

or was he asking you as a friend?

you shook your head out of excitement

panicking slightly at the thought of seeing him

your stomach churning a bit in it’s anxiety

you decided to choose a simple outfit, casual and comfortable but nice 

as you walked along the street to the movie theater

it was a bit chilly but the street was decorated with string lights 

twinkling like fireflies on a summer night as you walked up to the theater to see Wonwoo standing there 

wearing jeans and a black jacket

holding calla lilies in his hands

the same lilies he held when he first met you

“Y/n!” he said waving walking up to you

“Did you bring these for me?” you asked looking at the flowers brightly

“Ah yea haha, they’re pretty just like you.” he laughed not letting his cheesy line deter him 

you felt your cheeks burn up again and accepted them 

“Thank you wonwoo they’re beautiful.” 

“Shall we go in?”

“Yes let’s.”

honestly you had no idea at all what kind of movie it was you watched

all you can remember is the way his arm gently rested on the armrest between the two of you

elbows brushing 

as he slowly reached out a pinky to entwine yours

before he ended up just holding your hand through it

and when the movie was over you walked out of the theater

hands still held as he pointed to a frozen yogurt shop across the way

“My treat?” he laughed quirking an eyebrow and giving you a sideways glance

you both ordered your frozen yogurts and sat discussing the fuzzy plot points of the movie you could still remember and laughing at the story line

“I’m sorry but the main male lead is a dumb ass.” you say spoon scooping up some melted yogurt to finish the night

“I agree he seems to lack common sense... If the writers were going to make him out to be this stupid I would have reconsidered watching it.” wonwoo laughed before helping you toss out the empty cup and cleaning up the table 

and too bitter sweet an end 

“I’ll walk you back home” he chuckled taking your hand in his again as you both set off down the street

the street lamps glowing 

when you reached your street 

you didn’t really want to let go of his hand

“So just so we’re clear...” Wonwoo said pulling you to a stop and looking you in the eyes... a teasing little glint in his dark brown irises

“This means we’re officially dating now, in case this didn’t make it clear” he smirked pointing out your interlaced fingers

“...and just so we’re extra clear...” 

he reached for your cheek with his free hand

before pulling your lips to his 

softly his lips on yours

smiling you could feel 

before he cheekily pulled away and gave you a wink

“I hope I’ll be seeing you more than just on thursdays at the shop.”

god i’m crying

MASTERLIST 

[selenelavellan]

HWRC Redux Part Five

One Two  Three  Four

Dirthamen, Fear, and Deceit are @feynites

Marriage is a complicated concept.

It comes with all sorts of bells and whistles; promises and vows and obligations laced with expectations. Joining your life with another isn't something to be taken lightly, and Selene is no stranger to the inherent risks in such a venture. Had run off largely to avoid them, really.

Unsurprisingly, it is much harder to explain to a God that you did not mean to marry them, after the fact.

If she were more talented with her words, she thinks, she could do a better job of this. Could explain that, no, she thought they were really just birds, and that while she felt affection for them had not even considered the possibility that accepting a ring she had thought they'd found on a street somewhere would create a marriage bond strong enough to pull someone out of the fade and into her living room.

Dirthamen tries to explain that that is not precisely what happened, but Selene is more preoccupied with bridging one misunderstanding at a time. Asking about lost secrets of magic and math and science can come later.

(Hopefully.)

Somehow she still ends up traveling through a magic mirror (Des right behind her because he adamantly refused to stay at home) and stepping out into a land that Alaris would give his left arm just to know for sure was real.

Something like guilt pulls at the pit of her stomach (it shouldn't be her; she abandoned her culture, her people. Someone else should be doing this, someone with loyalty, someone who deserves to know it wasn't all lost) while she follows someone she used to whisper prayers to during fights with her father or troubles with her studies through a large garden, hand held by an elf who is sometimes a raven that she once tried to keep away from her mothers grave by way of a cedar branch.

Part of her still thinks this is all some elaborate hallucination, or prank.

A quick glance up to find towers and spiraling staircase floating above them, and it becomes harder and harder to dispute the reality of her situation.

“This will be our home,” Dirthamen states, two large doors made from a stone she doesn't recognize opening before him.

It is a castle.

It is....it is an actual, magical, castle. Dark and gleaming, flames of golds and greens burning in torches and chandeliers. Walls covered in murals and mosaics and tall, thin windows to let in precise beams of light over the perfectly polished floors. Fear fluffs their wings slightly from where they are perched on her shoulder, and something in the corner of her eye darts away too quickly for her to catch.

Des looks as though he has just won the lottery on his birthday while being told his favorite holiday is happening twice this year, and that he now has the power to make people orgasm on demand.

Selene feels nauseous.

“Do you like it?” Dirthamen asks, turning to look at her, face hidden beneath a mask.

Selene opens her mouth to answer; 'its very creepy and I'm not sure if you know what haunted means but also almost certainly that' would probably be rude and Gods aren't really known for handling insults well (and she's already got to divorce him, she supposes) so instead she opts for  “It is a very...elegant look.”

He nods, and she supposes that even if it isn't the compliment he wanted, he doesn't seem to have taken offense to it which makes it a win for her.

There is a quick tour then, where Dirthamen points out places and monuments she has never heard of that all sound interesting, but she is still unsure of which questions will and won't offend. She gets strange stares from the people they pass, many dropping to their knees as their group walks past; eyes peeking up from masks and long bangs to stare curiously at her. She's not sure if it's the clothing, the bruise still apparent on her nose, or the hand holding that is doing it, but it only exacerbates the feeling of being misplaced that pervades her, here.

Finally, they pass through a long hall without the presence of others, arriving at another pair of large stone doors that echo the first.

“These will be our chambers,” Dirthamen announces, turning around to face Selene again.

She blinks up at him.

“...Ours?”

He blinks back.

“Typically, those with a marriage bond share a bedroom. Their first night together traditionally involves...some sort of physical reaffirmation to their bond. Often in a way that is sexual in nature.”

Selene nearly chokes on her own spit.

“I-well now, hold on, I never-we're not-I mean I know you say we are but I didn't-That is, I know that you're...” She gestures vaguely to his person with both hands, pulling her grip from Deceits “...you, but that doesn't mean you get to just-just-decide that I'm supposed to-I thought you were birds, I'm not down for bestiality that's a hard no ok, I'm not-no, I mean-no, I mean no!”

“I'll volunteer as tribute,” Des chimes in from behind her, and she has to resist the urge to flick at his ear.

“You are not the one we are bonded to,” Deceit points out in a near sneer before trying to take Selenes hand in back in their own, only for her to pull back from them again. They pout while Fear speaks up. “We would not force you,” They add.

“You..” She laughs incredulously and drags a hand down her face. “You've pulled me away from my home, my work, my life, after lying to me for nearly a month, forced me into a bond I didn't know I was agreeing to and uprooted any sense I had of what I thought was a story versus what was tangible! You followed me to my home and moved in under false pretenses, and while I may not have known what was going on, apparently you all did, and thought that was perfectly fine! You have robbed me of things I thought were truths, were absolutes, were facts of history-not to start in on the fact that apparently our gods have been in hiding and unperturbed by the plight of our people while our lands and lives are taken at the hands of anyone else who sets their sights on them-but thank fuck you're not going to rape me! What a relief! Absolutely, making this one, single concession makes up for the rest of it! What heroes, what princes, what-what-what...UGH!” She throws her arms up in the air, storming off and back down the hall alone, needing space, needing air, needing something, anything familiar and reassuring.

Des hums, hands on his hips as he watches Selene vanish into the shadows.

“She might need more time to adjust there, babe.”

“I can't imagine you are any help in that regard,” Deceit gripes. “Injuring her and trailing where you are unwanted and uninvited.”

“You're going to need my help if you want to keep her around,” Des shrugs. “Clearly, you're no good at this.”

“We were doing just fine before you barged in-”

“From what Selene has told me, you went from choking on a crunch-berry and shedding feathers all over the apartment to announcing you were part of a god and showing up naked in her bed, so, no. I don't think you did as great as you think.”

Deceits shoulders raise in frustration before they storm off, following Selenes path down and out the hall.

Des sighs and pats Dirthamens shoulder consolingly. “Don't worry; Selene'll come around. You're actually her type, if she could calm down long enough to notice.”

Dirthamen nods, slowly. “How could I go about showing her?”

Des looks up, tapping thrice on his bottom lip before they spread into a large, devious grin.

“What do you have to work with?”

–

“Selene,” Deceit calls for the umpteenth time, as she only increases her pace further, taking twists and turns down hallways she didn't see during the tour. They finally snag her wrist when she swings open a door and nearly steps into what appears to be an entirely empty room. Empty of everything; ceiling, floors, walls. Just an empty abyss that stretches out into infinity. Deceit pulls her back before she can fall (or float?) into the room, quickly closing the door behind her. “You should not run off like that,” they warn.

“Why am I here?” She demands.

“Because...” Deceit hesitates. “Because we love you.”

“You don't even know me,” She sighs. “You're...projecting. From isolation, probably.”

“We love you,” Deceit repeats with conviction.

“Dirthamen only met me a few hours ago,” Selene points out. “We've barely had a real conversation. He tells me things and I...”she sighs, hand tearing down her face again. “And I yell at him. That's not love. That's certainly not marriage. Who would want to spend their life doing that?”

“You are upset. We upset you, and I am sorry for that. We did not mean to overwhelm you. We were excited.”

“Yeah, I heard what you were 'excited' for,” She scoffs. “You know, Des really would be a better choice if that's what you're looking for. He'd love to live here, and that sort of thing is right up his alley.”

“I did not mean...we did not bring you here for sexual encounters. You have shared your home with us; we wished to return the favor. That is part of being partners, yes?”

“Yeah,” Selene admits, suddenly sheepish. “Yeah...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...I just don't understand this. Any of it.”

“Ask.”

Selene raises an eyebrow.

“Knowledge is under our purview. If you do not understand something, ask. So long as the answer would not endanger you, we will gladly give it to you.”

Letting out a long breath, Selene nods. She steps towards the walls, and points at a large, glowing symbol. “What is that?”

“It is a rune. Some are enchanted, but this one is more decorative. It means 'now you must endure'. A reminder, for our people, and ourselves.”

“It's writing...?” Selene murmurs, eyes narrowing as she inspects it more closely. “It doesn't look anything like the trade language...”

“It is elvhen. Do you not recognize it?”

“Written elvhen isn't...I mean it's not really a thing. The language itself is largely guarded by our keepers; it's not known. Certainly not fluently.”

“Interesting,” Deceit muses.

“Is that what everyone else here is speaking as well? Elvhen? Like, fully fluent elvhen?”

“Yes,” they say “We learned common to communicate with the outside world, when necessary. To read maps and street signs and translate ideas where magic is less superfluous. Ideas in your world are shared with words and symbols, but here we could share them in concepts; feelings, magical energies, auras. It was an adjustment.”

“Will you teach me?” Selene asks.

Deceit tilts their head. “I could. But there is a quicker way, with our marriage bond. If you are open to it, I could share the knowledge with a simple spell.”

“What sort of spell?”

“It would require a physical link,” They admit, quickly adding “Not a long one. But for language, mouths are often the easiest catalyst for the transfer.”

“Is this some sort of trick to kiss me?” Selene asks, mouth quirking slightly.

“I assure you, my tricks are much more clever than that.”

She snorts.

Turns, and looks back at the rune, finger tracing lightly over the bottom rung of it.

“...alright then.”

She turns around to face them, only to find Deceit already leaning towards her. Their thumb lands gently on her chin, tilting her head down just enough to line up with their own. She swallows, as they begin to close the gap-

and suddenly pull away.

Selene stares in a sort of numb shock while they hold an internal argument of some kind. Finally, Deceits shoulders slump, their fingers lacing through hers as they lead her back out the hall.

“You should come with me,” They sigh, reluctantly walking her down a large staircase and into another hallway, where Des and Fear and Dirthamen are all standing.

Dirthamen shifts awkwardly in his robes as they approach, and Selene looks up at him in curiosity.

“Did something happen?” She asks.

“I wanted to apologize,” He admits. “I did not mean to upset you by bringing you here. I was only...overcome. My judgment is not always the best, when that happens. If we have caused you any discomfort, I apologize for that as well. I do care for you, and even if you do not return my feelings I would very much like for you to stay here with us. I have...” He hesitates, and Des nudges him slightly, gesturing for him to continue. “I have arranged for you to have access to my libraries. All of them, any that you would like. This is the largest of them, and so it was recommended that I start you here. If you desire more specialized subjects, please do not hesitate to ask me. I would very much like for you to be happy, here.”

Two sturdy oak doors open inwards behind him, revealing a space larger than her entire apartment building that is packed full of books. Shelves line each wall, stretching up to the raised ceilings. There are tables and chairs full of elves with scrolls and parchment papers, and only the soft hum of pages flipping pervades the silence of the room.

Her gaze flits from sign to sign, each covered in writing that she can not decipher.

A library larger than she ever dreamed.

And not a single thing in it that she can read.

Dirthamen seems to pick up on her disappointment, at least.

“Do you not like it?”

“It's a great apology,” She assures him “But I uh...I don't read, or speak, elvhen.”

“Oh.”

...

“Kiss me?”

Dirthamens head tilts as she spins around to look at him.

“To do the spell thing,” She explains quickly. “Deceit mentioned it, and I thought-I mean, you don't have to, obviously, I just thought-”

“If you want me to, I have no objections to the matter,” Dirthamen assures her, stepping closer.

“What about...” She taps on the side of her face, indicating towards his mask.

Dirthamen makes a soft 'ah' sound, before removing it.

Selene swallows, her mouth suddenly dry.

His skin is a deep ocean blue, eyes bright in contrast as long dark strands of hair fall across his cheeks without the mask to hold them back. His lips form from nothing, suddenly pale and pink and warm. Plush and pliable as they press to hers, carefully prying her mouth open as she feels the tingle of magic press against her; like a shared breath, from his body to hers, spreading down every inch of her body until her fingertips feel like they are buzzing from the thrill of it. Her eyes drift closed, body relaxed and responsive as she answers him eagerly. Small questions filling her mind along with his knowledge, that she responds to in kind without even meaning to. Four arms wrap around her waist and hips, pulling her close to a still robed body, her own arms wrapping around a long, slender neck without even thinking about it while his magic courses through her, filling her mind, pressing against magical reserves she hadn't even realized existed. Soothing flames from raging infernos to something more akin to bonfires as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

She doesn't even realize how long it has been until she has to pull back to breathe.

Her forehead is pressed to his, eyes half-lidded while she hears an echo of a single thought from him, a word with new meaning and old memories wrapped up between them.

Vhenan.

She clears her throat, less overcome now by her hormones and her body's desires, and takes a small step back. For space to breathe, ostensibly.

“I um...” She swallows, and licks her lips, still tingling with energy. “I'm going to go explore the library now. I...will see you in our room later?”

Dirthamen stares back at her, skin buzzing with motes of lights before nodding.

“I look forward to it.”

[17caratstorytime-blog]

You Were My Fairytale

Member: Jeon Wonwoo

Words: 2.85k

Genre: Angst with some fluff

Warnings: none~

A/N:  This was actually a story idea I had a little while ago and out of nowhere I was like “oh shoot, Wonwoo would fit this so well” so I went back last night and wrote it up and there you have it folks~ I hope you guys enjoy! Lemme know what you think~! 

This was never meant to happen. None of this. I was never meant to be at the bookstore until closing hours. I wasn’t supposed to have fallen asleep reading another novel, the cup of coffee from before long forgotten and cold. I don’t remember what I had been dreaming, but I remember waking up to find a red leather-bound book glistening from one of the bookshelves. As soon as I blinked, it was gone. Despite every neuron firing in my body, screaming at me not to touch that book, to walk away and pretend I never saw that soft flickering light, I couldn’t fight the strong pull of my heart leaping towards that book. That was how I found myself in his word for the first time. Granted being pinned against a shirtless, very disheveled young man amongst a room of about a dozen other young men in the middle of what seemed to be a dinner plus drunken brawling was not what I was expecting but it left a strong impact on our friendship. At first, he didn’t believe me, labeling me instead as another alien from somewhere in the galaxy out to take his throne, but as I began to appear and reappear out of nowhere, it started to hit him. As for me, I realized eventually the red journal would teleport me to his world every time I opened the book, the memories of our adventures with a pre-written destiny bewitched into each piece of parchment. That was how Jeon Wonwoo and I first met.

“Wonwoo, you’re so dead when I get my hands on you ” I seethed as I blindly stumbled through the cavern, the damp coldness sticking to my body like a second skin. Behind me, heavy footsteps caught up with mine, snickers spilling out of the lips of the men accompanying me.

“This should be interesting to watch,” one of the mages behind her cackled. “Wonwoo’s told us of your anger issues but seeing you take it out on him is going to be the best yet.” Normally more silent and nonchalant, Lee Jihoon was fairly ecstatic to see one of his best friends be turned from unbreakable to shattered china.

Next to Jihoon were Jun and Soonyoung, the two also beaming with mischievous grins. Before any other words could be spoken, a burning ball of flame flew past the group, barely missing them before another flew right at them. Jun immediately snapped into action, dropping to his knees and slamming his palms into the ground. As he began to mutter words, a pale mint force field surrounded the four of them. Jihoon closed his eyes, mapping out their location and finding the source of the flame as Soonyoung and I deflected any flying flames that Jun couldn’t stop. Just as sudden as they came, the flames stopped. A few terse minutes of silence ticked by, not even our breathing audible. Until...

“(Y/N), look,” Jun whispered, fingers pointing at the dark floor barely illuminated by their torches. At first I noticed nothing, until the stone Jun was pointing at jumped. Soon, the entire cavern was shaking, from the small pebbles on the floor to the ominous stalactites hanging above. Jun’s force field kept them safe. Otherwise they would’ve been turned into human kebabs for whatever flame breathing monster was headed their way. But before that...

“WONWOO?!” the group collectively yelled at the stumbling figure that appeared, the edge of his cape still alight with dying embers. Rather than explaining, Wonwoo grabbed my arm and began to run.

“There’s no time to explain,” he panted out. “Let’s get out first, and avoid being eaten alive.”

That was all we needed to run alongside him, the thudding footsteps of whatever beast Wonwoo messed with much louder and faster than before. We barely managed to find the exit before a massive shadow flew over our heads, knocking us into our backs.

“Shit,” Wonwoo hissed as he stood up, hands glowing a bright red as he unsheathed his sword, Soonyoung and I right behind him as Jun took rear with Jihoon.

I glanced at Wonwoo from the side of my eyes and found my heart pounding. His eyes were set on the beast, focused and sharp. Smooth skin with a sharp jawline. Rosy lips set in a straight line. It was something I could never get used to.

“Something on my face, (Y/N)?” Wonwoo asked, a smirk overtaking his features.

I huffed and instead turned my head to stare back at the yellow serpentine eyes staring us down, thankful the dark made it very hard to see the red creeping along my cheeks. “Nope, just planning on how exactly to murder you when we get out just to bring you back and murder you again for being an absolute moron,” I retorted. He chuckled, a deep sound that made my heart skip.

With that, the creature charged at us. Jun’s force field kept us just out of its reach but the light glow illuminated on its body, scales lighting up in shades of sapphire. It’s long, massive body was covered in scales. Sharp teeth, heavy feet, large webbed wings...

“YOU MESSED WITH A DRAGON?!” Soonyoung just about shrieked as we all turned to stare at Wonwoo with shock and horror decorating our faces.

Wonwoo was undeterred by the outburst, eyes instead going back to me. The sudden seriousness made me take a step back. “(Y/N), didn’t you say you always wanted the scales of a sapphire dragon?” he asked me, to which I could only nod. His serious expression was then replaced with a soft smile. “Well, I’d been meaning to find a way to confess the right way and w-“

Before he could complete his thought, a burst of fire charged towards us. The five of us all split up in five different directions, moving out of the dragon’s reach. Jun and Jihoon took front, immediately launching an array of spells as Soonyoung charged up his sword with magic. Wonwoo found his way to my side, worry etched over his faces.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he grabbed me by the elbow and helped me up.

For some reason, this small action was enough to make me shy away from his touch, his unfinished confession ringing through my head. “I’m fine, Wonu,” I mumbled, looking at everything except his eyes. His hand reached out to cup my cheek, inspecting a cut I didn’t realize I managed to get as I had dodged the debris. His thumb gently ran across my cheek, my breath stuck in my throat as our eyes met. It was fairly dark, yet I could feel his eyes on me, taking in what he could. Time seemed to slow down around us, everything forgotten but the two of us. Well, until a screeching Junhui went colliding into a wall near us with Soonyoung following moments after. Our heads then snapped back to the situation at hand, the cavern full of dancing shadows and ferocious flames as the livid beast rampaged.

“We would very much appreciate it if you two lovebirds would help us out here for a bit,” Jihoon screamed as he jumped away from the dragon’s tail only to be launched back by a gust of wind from its wings.

Wonwoo chuckled before leaning over and kissing my forehead. “I’ll finish what I was going to say when we get out of here,” he promised. All I could do was dumbly nod and watch as he ran to help the rest of the group. I shook my head, pulled myself out of my reverie and joined them, doing my best to focus on the task at hand. The rest was history. We defeated the dragon. We went home. We confessed and were harassed by the rest of our friends. 

It had been a good few months since that day. The dragon scale had be forged into a small ring, one I never took off, one that matched Wonwoo’s charm. For some reason, my heart was aching when I woke up in the evening from a nap. I hadn��t seen Wonwoo in a few days, not having been called into the book, but today the book glowed fiercely bright, the red harsher than an angry setting sun. Slowly, I walked to my desk. Sweat trickled down my neck. Saying I was nervous was an understatement. The book then flipped open, and it was then that I realized the amount of pages I had already taken up.  

My eyes flitted word to word on the page, the scene of flying dust and raging shots of condensed magic filling my mind. All I could think of was him. As though reading my thoughts, the pages of the book flipped themselves, stopping at yet another blank page. “Are you okay?” the words imprinted themselves onto the word without a sound escaping my mouth, my mind penning down the letters instead. A few long moments passed before he wrote back. “I don’t have long left,” he solemnly wrote. “We’re at the end of the book you know.”

And with those words, I was yet again transported to the space in between. This time it was the edge of a cliff, the sun slowly kissing the horizon as the sky began to drown in inky purples and pale pinks. His dark calculating eyes looked into my worried ones, a small bittersweet smile on his face.

“Remember how earlier into the book, when I first fell in love with you…I said to you ‘Please, don’t close the book. I don’t want to die’ and you listened, kept the book sitting there and open for days as the story wrote itself?” Unable to speak, I simply nodded and silently urged him to speak. His eyes broke from mine to look back at the sun, the dying rays making his eyes shine. But when he turned back to me, I realized it wasn’t just the sun that made his eyes shine. It was the tears he was trying to hold back. His large, calloused hands grabbed mine the way fear was grabbing my heart. “I need you to let me go,” he choked out. My knees gave way and suddenly I was kneeling in the dirt. Pebbles bore into my skin, but the pain was nothing compared to the sensation of my heart being slowly ripped apart. He kneeled down in front of me, one hand holding mine and the other cupping my cheek for the last time. “This book, this world, this is my home. This is where I am from, where I will live, and where I will exist. This is my world. You have your own. Where magic doesn’t exist. Where humans drive mechanical vehicles and fly in the large machines from one place to another. You do not belong here,” he softly said, the tears making their way down his cheeks. “I want to be selfish. I want to keep you here. I want to travel with you across the worlds, build a home with you, a new life…a family, but…” he managed to choke out.

“But, I don’t belong here,” I finished for him. He slowly nodded.

“You and I both know how this story will end,” he gently said, his hand wiping away my tears as they fell. “I love you. I love you very much and I will love you until my last breath. This…this is my last mission and after that, I too will be gone. The book is ended as we speak. So, this…” he trailed off, unable to find it in himself to say those words.

I decided to say it for him. “This is the last time we will ever see each other. You’ll cease to exist and I…” I let out a bitter chuckle. “I will have to live the rest of my life pretending you never existed.”

He pulled me into his arms, cradling me as my tears turned into sobs. “I’m sorry, my love. I truly am sorry,” he continuously whispered. He pulled back, his hand grabbing me by the chin, eyes scanning my face as my own scanned his, desperate to memorize everything there was about him. And with the last light of the sinking sun, his lips descended on mine, soft and gentle, full of love and apology. Before he pulled away, his hand pushed a small, cold object into my hand. Little by little, his body disintegrated into ashes, flying away in the wind. The last to fade was his face, one last “I love you,” escaping his lips and as the sun finally vanished, so did he and once again, I was all alone on my bedroom floor, my only solace the cold gripping my body and the locket he bought months ago in the arabic market, inside it the only image I would ever have of him. I watched as the last words of the book imbedded themselves onto the parchment. And as the reality finally sunk in, I sobbed. The love of my life was now dead and for him, I would mourn. This was it. This was goodbye.

For months afterwards, I was unable to continue the way I did before. How was I supposed to? No one knew of us. Our story. Our love. I could tell no one. Who would believe me? Soon enough, the journal was packed away and hidden from sight. I had reread our story many times, tears littered across multiple pages as the memories burned my heart, the embers liquefying and falling from my eyes. The day I locked it away, I sobbed. It was like saying goodbye over again. I moved to a new apartment at the opposite end of town, a new job and a new setting. The clothes, random trinkets, the dagger Wonwoo forged for me...I parted with them all, each item placed deep in the back of storage. I was able to put everything away except that locket and the ring. No matter how hard I tried, I was never able to put those away. Eventually a year flew by and the unbearable pain dulled into an ache, the ache a dull throbbing. I was able to smile, go out, actually live my new life. I did try my hand at dating, but found myself comparing each to him. Maybe I wasn’t ready just yet.

The autumn air this morning was fairly chilly, the promise of winter on its heels. It was an off day, streets buzzing with the sounds of the city and its inhabitants. Today, I found myself wondering about Wonwoo. For the first time in weeks, my heart was back to that initial suffocating heart break where my lungs were unable to take in air and sobs were threatening to escape my lips. That was how I found myself wandering around the city, my feet stopping in front of a familiar bookstore. As I opened the door, the scent of book pages and fresh coffee hit my nose and immediately I remembered that day. Sad smile on my lips, I went to order the same sweet concoction I had that day. I slipped the red boom out of my bag, fingers running across the unblemished red leather. Taking my coffee and thanking the old lady behind the counter, I found a small, secluded seating area and began to read with a fond, bittersweet smile on my lips. Time ticked by without me ever realizing.

“May I take this seat? All the other ones are taken I’m afraid,” a deep voice questioned, snapping me out of my reverie. My eyes flicked up, immediately widening in shock as I took in the appearance of the young man before me. Dreamy brown eyes, dark messy hair, a sharp jawline, those pink lips...it can’t be. I could only nod as I stared at him, speechless. The man gave me a grateful smile before taking a seat across from me, ignoring my presence as he sipped his coffee and read another book, the velvet blue cover matching his calm persona and oddly enough the suit he was in. I took a deep breath. It’s just a coincidence, I told myself. He’s not real. This is someone else.

Silence ticked on between us as we eventually engrossed ourselves in our respective stories. I was rereading the day Wonwoo and I confessed to one another when I heard the man close his book and clear his throat, gaining my attention. Our eyes met before his flickered to the red journal in my hands as mine looked at the blue one gingerly held open by his hands before we once again looked at one another. He gave me a small smile before reaching out his hand, a sapphire scale charm peaking from his sleeve.

“My name is Jeon Wonwoo and I believe we’ve met before.”

-Admin 🐯

[kathyprior4200]

Fanfiction: Super Dragon Ball Heroes! (Rights to Bandai Namco and Akira Toriyama. No copyright intended)

Part I: Prison Planet Saga

I.                  The beginning

The Prison Planet Saiyan let out a low groan as his red eyes slowly opened. He turned his head and observed his surroundings. He appeared to be on a bed in a small room with wooden walls. From outside the window to his right, the sky was a bright blue, decorated by a few puffy white clouds. Green grass and a forest spread out as far as the eye could see. The place appeared to be a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

“How in the world did I get here?” Cumber thought. “Was this some sort of afterlife?”

He lifted himself out of bed…literally, hovering a few inches off the ground. His head nearly touched the ceiling. He spread out his thick fingers and a ball of dark energy appeared.

“Good, my powers and energy are restored.” He was still alive, even after his defeat at the hands of Goku. Resisting the urge to release the energy, Cumber closed his hand and the ball disappeared.

Cumber gazed at his reflection in an ornate gold-trimmed mirror nearby. For the first time in months, he could see large chest, covered by a red muscle shirt. He was wearing loose blue pants that had somehow been repaired. His white boots were placed in an open box by the front door in the other room. The only thing that was the same was the metal restraint that obscured his mouth.

It felt weird not being in a metal straightjacket 24/7. Not too long ago, he served as an experiment subject for Fu, a curious kai with mischievous plans. Cumber still remembered his light purple face, pointed ears, white hair in a large pony tail, and round black glasses upon his face.

“I have been preparing for this moment for a long time,” Fu had said. “Now that Goku, Trunks, Gohan, and Vegeta are trapped here, it will be the ideal moment to test their powers. I’m also fascinated by the interactions between Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Super Saiyan 4 Goku! Believe me, it wasn’t too hard to bring them to my battle ground…I do have some good plans up my sleeve as a Time-Breaker.”

“Will this guy ever stop talking?” Cumber thought with hatred in his eyes. He sat on his hard bunk bed, looking at the screen above him with Fu smiling down. He was tempted to roll his eyes up at the ceiling but also knew that the kai scientist watched his every move. Even a powerful ancient Saiyan like himself could not easily break through his straightjacket and the metal door of his small cell. With a snap of Fu’s fingers, Cumber was transported to a cavern cell surrounded by boiling lava below.

 II.               The Prison Planet Battle

Whis, the angel happily dodged Goku and Vegeta’s attacks and kicks as they trained on the God of Destruction Beerus’ planet.

“You two are in fine form,” he mentioned. Lounging on a chair in the shade was Beerus himself, taking a snooze.

“Quite quick on your feet!” Whis called. His staff appeared in his right hand and he knocked both Saiyans to the ground in one swipe.

“Goku! Vegeta!” called Mai, a black haired girl who was running to them in a hurry. Her voice sounded urgent.

“Hey, Mai!” said Goku in greeting as he sat up.

“Please come with me! Trunks has vanished!”

“What?!” both men asked.

“Vanished?” asked Goku.

“The future Trunks was supposed to come to this world for training,” mentioned the Supreme Kai.

Just then, a figure stepped out of the shadows. “I’ll fill you in.”

He was a lavender skinned Kai who wore big round glasses and had white hair. “My name is Fu. I’m a friend of Trunks.”

“His friend?” asked Vegeta, not believing a word.

“Trunks has gotten mixed up into something terrible,” Fu stated. “Right now, he’s on the Prison Planet.”

“Prison Planet?” Goku asked.

“How do you know that?” asked Vegeta, crossing his arms.

Fu smiled. “Don’t look so angry! My friend’s in trouble! Naturally, I investigated. They say that dangerous criminals from throughout the whole universe are gathered on the Prison Planet. If we don’t hurry, Trunks will be in danger!”

Fu raised his finger and vanished.

Vegeta scowled. “Trunks can sure be a nuisance! Let’s go, Kakarot!”

“Yeah!” Goku agreed, his fist hitting the palm of his hand.

Whis stared at the Saiyans with a far-away look in his eyes. “That ‘Fu’ fellow concerns me.”

The Supreme Kai nodded. “Indeed. Mai…”

“Yes?”

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

He walked up to her and placed two Portara earrings in her hand.

“If things go downhill, give these to Goku and Vegeta. It may be your only hope if the enemy’s too powerful.”

Mai bowed in thanks. “Thank you, Supreme Kai.”

 Soon enough, the heroes arrived on the Prison Planet, which was actually a group of seven large planets connected by a large chain with a lock around them. One of the planets looked like Earth. Another one was covered in lava and several others looked like Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. Large chains held the sky in place and the landscape was rocky and rough.

“What huge chains!” Goku exclaimed as Goku, Vegeta, and Mai appeared on a cliff.

Vegeta noticed unfamiliar energy nearby. “Hey, what’s this ki?”

Goku sensed it, too. “Yeah it’s…”

They were interrupted by a figure flying toward them. He was a man who looked like Goku, but was wearing a red cape and had a pole strapped to his back. His sash was blue and his muscle shirt was black. He landed in front of the trio, who all gasped.

“Goku?” asked Mai in disbelief.

Fu hovered in the background with an evil smirk on his face.

“Found you!” the new Goku yelled and powered up into Super Saiyan 4 in an instant.

At once, Goku turned Super Saiyan Blue and both Goku’s fists made impact.

“I see…” said Xeno Goku. “You’re the me from over there…”

“Over there?”

“Are you in league with him?” he growled, glaring at Fu.

He shot a ki blast, which Goku dodged.

“What?” he asked as the blast struck a pillar of rock behind him.

Xeno Goku fired another blast, which Goku jumped over.

Goku flew up into the air until banging his head painfully against some kind of barrier.

“Argh!”

“Huh?!” asked Vegeta.

“The sky!” said Mai.

“It’s no use,” Xeno Goku explained. “Seems this is a fully sealed space. Escape is impossible!”

Goku rapidly rubbed his head in pain. “What?!”

Xeno Goku smiled. “That’s it…”

Getting the same idea, Goku powered up a Kamehameha at the same time as his counterpart, both blasts impacting.

The smoke cleared, but not a dent had been made in the invisible field.

Xeno Goku looked up. “No good huh?”

“What do you mean?” asked Goku.

Goku looked down to hear Fu laughing out loud.

“Fu?” Mai asked.

“That’s the Saiyans for you!” he exclaimed. “Two Son Gokus! I’ve got my hands on a pair of super interesting specimens!”

“Cut the crap!” yelled Xeno Goku, firing a blast at Fu. He casually swatted it aside and it exploded behind him.

“I know what you were thinking,” he said.

“What?!” yelled Xeno Goku.

“You were trying to break through this space with both of your Kamehamehas, right? But it’s useless, useless!” He wagged his finger at them mockingly. “Still impressive of you to think that up on the fly. I’d expect no less of the Time Patrol!”

“Time Patrol?” Mai wondered.

Xeno Goku turned to his counterpart. “I’m the Son Goku from a different dimension than yours. My job is catching dimension-crossing evildoers.”

“Wow, you’re a good guy!” beamed Goku.

“You seem quite knowledgeable about this planet,” mentioned Vegeta to Fu.  

“Naturally. The Prison Planet is a testing grounds I created. I gather strong warriors from various times and places and have them battle…forever!”

“Strong warriors, huh?” said Goku.

“Red guy,” called Fu to Xeno Goku. “You got captured on purpose so you could investigate this place, right?”

“You lied to us!” declared Mai. “Is Trunks really here?!”

“Trunks has done the unforgivable. Though a mere mortal, he travels freely through time and space! That’s why I’m making him pay the price! Besides, I knew that if I brought him here, I could use him as bait to draw you in, too!”

“You’re terrible!” shouted Goku.

Fu wagged a lavender finger with a childish grin. “Wrong! I’m not terrible; I’m amazing!”

“Where’s Trunks?!” Vegeta demanded.

Fu rose into the air. “Find him yourselves! Oh, but even if you do, you’ll still need to gather seven special Dragon Balls to escape from here!”

“Dragon Balls?” Goku asked.

“This,” said Xeno Goku, pulling out a one star ball from his pocket.

“You’ve got one?”

“He gave it to me.”

Fu continued. “The remaining six are in the hands of other prisoners. They’re all strong, so it won’t be easy! Now, let’s start the experiment!”

“Fu!” Goku yelled as the trickster Kai vanished.

 Trunks lay down on a bunk bed in a cramped dark cell, wearing green clothing. He sat up and clutched the side of his head. He stared at a restraint on his wrist.

“What’s this?”

Two metal doors opened in front of him, trunks briefly blinded by the white light shining through.

“What’s going on?”

The area was revealed to be a city-like landscape with spotlights moving in the distance and tall buildings everywhere. Trunks ran down the street, glancing at a figure in the air. It was Cooler.

“Hand over the Dragon Ball!” he demanded.

“Huh? Dragon Ball?” panted Trunks, backing up.

 In a lab, Fu was lounging on his floating chair, observing the battles on a large domed holographic screen. Several other monitors showed Trunks, King Cold, Goku and Vegeta.

“Well then, the actors are all assembled,” Fu said with a grin, his glasses framing glowing white circles in place of his eyes. “The most interesting experiment in the universe can finally enter its main phase!”

“Enough of this nonsense,” Cumber thought. Sparks of black energy scattered from his body, making their way outside. Fu turned around and grinned evilly, his eyes as red as Cumbers.

“Oh, your turn won’t come until a little later…Evil Saiyan.”

Cumber powered up, his eyes a blank white.

Inside the rock walls, Cumber folded his arms and stared at a floating Dragon Ball in front of him. Another Dragon Ball floated next to him, but he couldn’t grab it since both his arms were restrained in his metal straightjacket. Chains held him in place by his feet and legs. IXI was written on one of his restraints. His hair was long, spiky and black, reaching down to the middle of his back.

 Listening to Fu’s cocky attitude and lectures was torture enough. There was only one thing he wanted to do…the one thing he was born to do.

“The time has come, Evil Saiyan!” Fu said on another screen that was hidden in Cumber’s cell. “It is time for you to defeat those Saiyan warriors out there. They are Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and his human friend Mai.” Small images of the warriors appeared on the screen. “Based on your blood sample and DNA, your power should be more than enough to challenge all of them.”

Cumber remained silent, obedient. The urge to fight and corrupt the Saiyans stirred him to the core. It was a feeling as strong as hunger, perhaps even more prominent.

“You know what to do from here.” Fu said. “Perhaps I will send you back to your time if you manage to succeed in your mission. Or will you let Goku and his friends defeat you? That would surely please Yamoshi.” The screen went dark just before Cumber let out a murderous scream.

How dare he mention that name! Yamoshi, the original Super Saiyan God from his time. A stubborn rebel who led the fight against him and the other evil Saiyans. Unlike Cumber, Yamoshi was a righteous man, always believing in fairness, harmony, and not destroying every civilization they came across.

To Cumber, he was nothing more than a pathetic weakling. Though he did put up a good fight, thanks to the energy given to him by his five comrades. However, the transformation didn’t last long. Then, Cumber was more than happy to finish the young rebels off with a red fiery blast from his mouth as a Great Ape.

He vaguely remembered being pulled off into space, and his body stretching excruciatingly painfully in various directions. Once he woke up, the first thing he saw was Fu standing above him, holding a Super Dragon Ball and saying, “Welcome to the future! You will do nicely.”

He opened his eyes, which were completely white with rage. “I’ll show him! I’ll show all of them!” he raged in his head. “They don’t know who they are messing with!”

He powered up in a flash and a burst of red and black energy shot out from the top of the volcano prison. In an instant, the boulder on top exploded, his prison, no more. Fu watched the scene from his monitor and laughed while clapping his hands.

“Evil Saiyan, you’re the best!” He then leaned back and said, “I’m glad I brought you here!”

 Vegeta led the way across the field, followed by Goku and Mai.

“Hey Vegeta,” said Goku. “Who are these strong guys Fu was talking about?”

“Cut the crap and help look for Trunk’s ki!” Vegeta responded. “Huh? Kakarot?”

He noticed something in the distance.

 As soon as Cumber spotted the group of Saiyans, he flew toward them at top speed.

“His ki is massive!” exclaimed Goku.

Surrounded by dark energy, Cumber landed on top of a cliff.

Goku turned to Mai. “Mai, it’s too dangerous! Go hide somewhere!”

“Yeah!” Mai said with a nod and ran off.

Without moving, Cumber shot disks of dark red energy at Goku and Vegeta. The two Saiyans dodged the blasts.

“Is this guy a Saiyan?” Vegeta asked as he swiped a blast to the side. “I’ve never felt such evil kai before!”

  Goku punched a disk aside and went Super Saiyan. Goku rushed at Cumber and raised his foot to kick him, almost touching his face. Seconds later, dark energy spread around Goku’s hand and he cried out in shock. His golden aura quickly turned dark and he grimaced in pain. Black tendrils of lightning cracked around him as his thoughts went blank. Then Goku went still and his eyes turned white.

“Get him,” ordered Cumber through telepathy.

Goku let out a deafening yell and charged at the prince. He landed a punch, which Vegeta blocked. Vegeta landed down to the ground for stability as a corrupted Goku followed.

“What’s the matter Kakarott?!” Vegeta asked in surprise.

Vegeta dodged Goku’s punches aimed at his head. Vegeta slid back, careful not to get too close to Goku.

As if Cumber was working through Goku, the Saiyan fired dark discs of energy at Vegeta. Vegeta punched through the blasts in quick succession, the blasts increasing and moving faster toward him.

From behind a rock, Mai watched the battle with concern. A blast flew toward her and she flinched. Thankfully, Trunks teleported in front of her and swiped it away.

“Trunks?!” asked Mai in surprise.

“Mai, why are you here?” Trunks asked. She was supposed to get to a safer place.

 Vegeta interrupted the moment. “Trunks, you handle Kakarott. I’ll beat this guy!” Vegeta flew off toward Cumber.

“Got it,” said Trunks, going Super Saiyan and fighting Goku.

Cumber watched as Vegeta flew toward him, only for a yellow blast to hit him to a halt.

Vegeta turned around and saw…

“You’re Cooler!” he exclaimed, shocked to see his rival’s older brother on the scene. Sure enough, the lizard, like alien stared with contempt at Vegeta with his red eyes behind his mask. His skin was dark purple and his armor was white.

“Everyone had better watch out!” Fu called with glee in his voice.

“Fu!” Mai yelled in anger.

“He’s the evil Saiyan ‘Cumber.’ His evil ki snaps the minds of whoever it touches!”

“At least he finally said my name,” Cumber thought.

“Cumber…the evil Saiyan?!” asked Vegeta.

Trunks punched Goku away and called to Vegeta: “Father, Cooler is on our side!”

The dark purple armored lizard crossed his arms. “We simply share a common goal,” he stated.

Corrupted Goku slowly got up, his body shaking. His head turned with a twitch toward Cooler. He jumped through the air for an attack, but Cooler blocked his fists with his strong purple hands. The two opponents strained to get the upper hand and shared angry looks. Goku grinned evilly. One thing that Cumber and Fu had in common: they enjoyed watching the show.

A capsule was thrown into the air with a boom, and Trunk’s sword appeared in Mai’s hands, wrapped in a red cloth.

“I’ve brought your things,” said Mai. Trunks thanked her with a nod and carefully took hold of his sword.

Cooler shot a yellow blast from his hand which forced Goku back.

“Fu, you said Frieza surpassed me by becoming Golden Frieza, right?” asked Cooler. His red slanted eyes stared through his white battle helmet.

“But if my little brother can do something, then so can I!” Cooler declared.

The ground shook and little pebbles floated up as Cooler clenched his fists in front of him. He powered up and his aura turned golden. His armor and long tail, previously white, was now golden in color. “I think I’ll call it…Golden Cooler!” he said, amazed at his new powerful form. He hoped Frieza would be jealous.

“Now then, shall we begin?”

He charged and attacked Goku once more. The forceful blow knocked Goku to the ground. The ground below him cracked. Cooler raised his hands and formed a large sphere of golden light. Using both hands, he thrust his energy bomb forward toward Cumber.

“Well this is unexpected,” Cumber thought. The ground shook violently and the bomb burst into white light.

“Goku-san!” called Trunks, racing toward his friend who had lifted his head from the ground. His orange gi somehow remained intact and his hair was its usual black color.

“Goku-san! So you’re back to normal?” Trunks asked. Cumber felt his mental control on Goku collapse.

“Yep!” said Goku, his left eye squinted. “Trunks, you OK too?”

“Certainly! Sorry to worry you.”

The ground shook once more and the two Saiyans looked toward Golden Cooler. Apparently, the energy bomb did no damage to Cumber. Cumber was now hovering in the air surrounded by rocky debris.

“I like you guys,” Cumber spoke out loud for the first time. Now…fight me!”

His red eyes opened wide and alert. His dark energy rays pointed through his straightjacket. The straightjacket and the restrains exploded, freeing his arms. His red muscle shirt was revealed. More dark discs of energy spread out and destroyed nearby rock structures. Mai, Trunks, and Goku covered their eyes to shield themselves from the surrounding smoke.

The smoke cleared and Goku asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “Who is this guy?!”

Vegeta landed in front of them and answered: “He’s Cumber! The evil Saiyan!”

“What?!” asked Goku.

“That’s right!” Mai said from behind the rock wall. She reached into her blue dress pocket and pulled out a pair of yellow porta earrings.

“Goku-san! Vegeta-san!” she called, tossing the earrings to them. They both caught them in their left hands.

“Porta!” exclaimed Goku.

“Kaioshin-sama gave them to me!” said Mai.

“I’ll draw his attention!” said Trunks. “And while he’s distracted…”

Trunks went Super Saiyan and charged at Cumber. He unsheathed his sword, only for Cumber to grab hold of it with his hand.

“Annoying pest,” Cumber thought.

Cumber’s thick hand gripped Trunk’s throat, hard. He pulled Trunks closer into a chokehold. Trunks gasped in pain as dark energy spread across his body, his sword falling to the ground. His Super Saiyan power faded but another blast from Cooler hit Cumber in the side. Cooler fired a series of more blasts.

When the smoke cleared, Cumber was standing in the same place, unaffected by the attacks.

“That brats done for,” Cooler deadpanned.

“That bastard!” Vegeta exclaimed. “Kakarott, let’s do this!”

“Yeah!” Goku agreed as both men put on the earrings, Vegeta’s earring on his right ear, Goku’s on his left.

Cumber was still holding Trunks when he noticed a light from below. In a black gi, a blue sash, white gloves, and boots stood a single different person. The man was wearing both earrings and his hair was bronze instead of black. He raised his left gloved fist.

“Cumber! The fight is on!” he said in a mixture of Goku and Vegeta’s voices. He was now Vegito, a fusion of the two Saiyans.

“Okay, that’s a lot of power I’m sensing here!” thought Cumber. “Looks like they aren’t weaklings after all.”

Vegito powered up and his hair and aura turned blue. Sweat formed on Trunks face as he struggled to free himself from Cumber’s grasp. Cumber raised his left arm and oriented his palm to the sky. A black ball of energy appeared and grew redder and larger by the minute. Vegito flew at Cumber just as Cumber released his dark energy sphere. He flew inside the bomb toward the purple center. The power briefly tuned the whole sky red. The ball then exploded in a great flash and the ground below burst apart.

Back inside his lab, Fu watched with fascination and amazement. “It’s really heating up now. Their fight’s great!” He clapped his left hand on his knee and chuckled.

Both Cumber and Vegito stood in a crater, facing each other. Cumber held his left arm, and grimaced in pain. “Damn you!” he cursed.

“Are you okay, Trunks?” Vegito asked, turning his head toward his friend.

Trunks slowly stood up. “Yes.”

“Stay back!” warned Vegito.

The fused Saiyan powered up once more and charged at his enemy. The two fighters punched and dodged each other’s attacks at lightning speed. They appeared and teleported to different spots in the area.

They both punched each other and appeared back in the crater. Vegito yelled and aimed his fist at Cumber, who blocked it with his arm. Cumber landed a punch of his own, which Vegito blacked with both his arms crossed. Vegito was forced back against the incline, but was still stable on his feet. Cumber’s bulging muscled arms were visible, the red sleeves on his shirt nearly torn to shreds.

“I’m amazed to find so worthy of an opponent,” said Cumber through his mask. He raised his right fist. “Destroying someone like you gives me joy!”

He raised his right hand up to the sky and blood red energy snacked out from his palm. The energy morphed into a clawed hand.

“What the…” began Vegito.

Cumber sliced through the air before Vegito barely dodged the attack. The dark energy swirled through the air, matching Cumber’s arm movements below. The dark energy soon hit Vegito in the chest. The fused warrior was knocked into the rock wall. He closed his eyes, trying to fight through the new sharp pain in his back.

Cooler stood on top of the crater, observing the scene. “This is starting to get interesting.”

In a flash of light, Vegito’s aura changed into blue and dark pink. He was planning on going kaio-ken, increasing his power further.

“Kaio-Ken!” he called, before flying at Cumber once more.

Mai carried a hurt Trunks to safety as the two Saiyans teleported and fought in the distance.

“Trunks, hang in there!” Mai urged.

“Yeah,” Trunks answered with a pained groan. He turned his head. “Still, that’s an incredible ki.”

“Will Goku and Vegeta be alright?” Mai wondered with worry.

 Meanwhile, the Kaio-Ken Vegito landed a punch, which Cumber dodged. With his knee, Cumber retaliated with a kick to Vegito’s side, which he blocked.

Golden Cooler calmly watched as the force waves from the fight caused a crack to appear in the gigantic chains holding the nearby planets in place.

“More, more!” exclaimed an ecstatic Fu. “Take it even higher! This is the mightiest energy, higher than the highest!”

Both Vegito and Cumber fought and briefly were pushed back.

Cumber formed another sphere of black and red energy in his right hand. A shocked look appeared on Vegito’s face and he flew several feet backward.

Cumber smirked from under his mask as his ball of energy grew larger. Black electricity flashed around the dark sphere in purple auras.

A familiar ball of blueish white light appeared in Vegito’s hands. He cupped his gloved hands together and spoke the combined attack: “FINAL…KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!”

“Take this!” shouted Cumber.

The two blasts of energy collided. Vegito’s Final Kamehameha had the blue appearance of Goku’s attack and the yellow lightning of Vegeta’s. Vegito yelled and struggled to push Cumber’s energy back. Cumber leaned forward and his energy started to push Vegito’s blast back. Vegito closed his eyes, then opened them as he screamed. He pushed Cumber’s blast back toward him, causing the dark energy to disappear. The force of the blast caused one of the large chains holding up the artificial sky to crack.

A stunned Cumber quickly recovered by slashing dark energy across the sky in frustration. A dark clawed hand appeared, made from his energy. It slashed through Vegito’s blast and knocked Vegito back. The fused Saiyan quickly recovered and faced his opponent.

“Scum!” Cumber yelled. “I shall bury you with my own hands! Consider it an honor!”

In his right hand he formed another ball of energy, though this time it was smaller and whiter. He threw it into the air, not aiming at Vegito.

When Vegito figured out what he was doing, a feeling of dread came upon him. “Don’t tell me…” Vegito said with worry.

“Burst and mix!” Cumber commanded, clenching his fist closed. The ball exploded in a flash of white light.

Everyone covered their eyes while Cumber stared wide-eyed.  The light gave off the appearance of a really bright full moon…

In an instant, the evil Saiyan turned into a Golden Great Ape. His eyes glowed a demonic red and fur grew over his body. Golden hair extended from his head, halfway down his back. His arms and legs grew more muscular in an instant. With a large thud, Cumber landed on the ground, his white boots breaking the ground apart on impact. His long golden tail swished back and forth and smashed a hole in the ground. His hair was now golden.

“Not good,” thought Vegito.

Despite being inside the large prison world, Cumber felt free and truly powerful in his beastly form.

“Damn, he transformed,” said Vegito.

“He’s so huge!” exclaimed Trunks.

Seeing the fear in his opponent’s eyes made Cumber smile.

Cumber launched a stream of dark energy at Vegito from his mouth like a stream of fire. Moments later, Goku and Vegeta broke apart from their fusion. The blast hit the glass barrier disguised as the sky.

“Damn, so we’ve used up all our power?” asked Vegeta in frustration.

Cumber turned around and shot the beam of dark energy from his mouth, further destroying the ground in a semi-circle.

“Damn monster,” spat Cooler.

“Mai!” Trunks called under a dark red sky. He shielded her from the impact behind a large boulder.

More cracks appeared in the chains and a large crack appeared in the sky.

Goku and Vegeta weakly got up from the ground and turned to face the monster towering in front of them.

 Meanwhile, Fu was clapping in his observing room, enjoying himself.

“Excellent, Saiyans!” he cheered. “I’ve been waiting for such an incredible fight! More! Fight More!”

Cumber smashed a rock to pieces with his tail and let out a ferocious roar showing rows of sharp teeth.

“Vegeta!” called Goku.

“I know! No need to tell me!” replied Vegeta.

“Let’s cut off his tail!” said Goku.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Vegeta yelled.

Mai stared at the Portara earrings in her hand, disappointed that the fusion didn’t last too long.

Cumber fired another blast from his mouth and the two Saiyans teleported away before it hit. Goku and Vegeta went Super Saiyan and flew toward Cumber.

“What?!” cried Vegeta.

In a quick motion, Cumber swatted Vegeta aside with his tail.

“Vegeta!” cried Goku. He yelled again and raced forward.

A dark foot hovered over Goku and he gasped in fear. “H-He’s so fast for a big guy!”

Goku flew around and barely dodged Cumber’s giant boot.

“Goku-san!” cried Trunks.

When it looked like Cumber had stepped on Goku, Trunks charged at Cumber, only to be knocked aside with his fist and then his tail. He crashed into a rock wall. From underneath, Goku strained under Cumber’s boot and struggled to lift it up.

“Trunks!” called Vegeta.

Trunks nodded.

In union, Trunks and Vegeta fired yellow blasts at Cumber, who blocked them with his hairy arm. In anger, Cumber turned toward them. Cumber shot more blasts from his mouth at the Saiyan father and son. Trunks and Vegeta shielded their eyes from the flying rocky debris.

“He’s really cutting loose,” remarked Cooler, still watching the fight.

He jumped in the air before Cumber’s blast could hit him.

“Don’t get cocky,” remarked Cooler, firing blasts of his own at the Great Ape. In response, Cumber fired another red blast at Cooler, pushing him back.

“What is he?” Cooler asked in stunned shock.

 “More, fight more!” Fu said, in a frenzy. Just then a red light flashed on the warning system and a beeping sound rang through the room. His monitor showed the sky nearly broken and the chains with deep cracks in them.

Fu frowned and seethed. “I didn’t tell you to go so far!”

He smashed his fist at a screen in anger. “You guys only need to give me energy.” He pushed up his glasses and he glared with his red eyes. “Guess I’d better teach you that.”

 “You bastards,” taunted Cumber, back on the battlefield. “You can’t even touch my tail.” He stomped hard on the ground, Mai, watching in horror.

“Goku-san!”

“Goku-san!” cried Trunks.

“Kakarot!” Vegeta chimed in.

 Then, from underneath his boot, Goku fired a blast of blue light, allowing himself to break free. Goku was standing with his arms spread out in Super Saiyan Blue. He shot himself at Cumber, the Great Ape leaning back slightly.

“KAIO-KEN… TIMES TWENTY!” Goku yelled.

His aura changed to blue and pink. With a scream, he landed his fist between Cumber’s eyes.

Cumber raised his arm to slap him, but Goku teleported away. He tried to grab Goku, but Goku disappeared first. He shot a blast from his mouth, but Goku vanished yet again. The blast caused more cracks to appear in the sky.

“This is getting annoying!” thought Cumber. “Stay still, you bastard Saiyan!”

Goku landed on the ground and wordlessly fired his Kamehameha. It had no effect on the Great Ape, who had raised his hands to block the attack. Cumber raised his right fist at Goku as Goku flew forward… only for a blast of purple light to intercept the fight. Goku slid back and took heavy breaths.

Fu was hovering in the air with his arms crossed. He looked like a disappointed teacher about to discipline a bunch of troublesome kids. His skin was lavender and his white hair was tied back in a ponytail. Yellow pants covered his legs and a black muscle shirt covered his chest.

“You’re…” Goku started.

“Fu!” Vegeta finished.

 Fu landed on the ground and stared at Cumber.

Cumber growled and some glass shattered, revealing a hole of outer space.

“Hey, don’t break it!” scolded Fu.

Cumber growled louder. “Don’t bark orders at me!” “You, huh?” he spat.

“I’ll rein you in,” said Fu.

A purple wand of energy appeared in Fu’s left hand. Fu’s irises turned yellow, his pupils white, and sclera red. In this stance with a black aura of ki surrounding him, he looked demonic.

“What?!” yelled Vegeta in shock.

Fu flipped his purple energy weapon in the air. “Mix and bound!” Fu chanted.

The white sphere of light turned into tendrils and flowed into Fu’s raised wand. Fu landed safely on the ground, crossing his weapons.

Blinded by a searing pain, Cumber felt himself shrink and his power wane. Without the appearance of the “full moon,” his Great Ape form shrank. Soon, he was back in his base form.

 He launched himself at Fu, but missed. Cumber grew a shadow tail where his tail used to be.

“Wow!” breathed Goku.

“How did he do that?” asked Trunks, referencing Fu.

“Okay, resume the fight,” stated Fu.

“Then I’ll fight you!” exclaimed Cooler, aiming a ki blast at Fu. Fu vanished before Cooler could hit him. “No way!” he spat. “You guys are the only ones who are fighting!”

“What’s that bastard planning?” asked Vegeta suspiciously, referring to Fu.

Cumber powered up and this time, two shadowy claws appeared behind him.

“I’ll take you on!” declared Goku, getting into a fighting stance. Goku then turned super Saiyan God; complete with magenta hair, and a fiery gold aura. His eyes were now red.

Cumber’s shadow claws flew at Goku, but he jumped out of the way.

Cumber stared intently at Goku.

“That red hair…”

He leaned forward, his eyebrows shaking. “So you’re…”

“Yamoshi’s reincarnation? That’s impossible! He’s the new Super Saiyan God to replace Yamoshi? How does he look just like him?”

He was definitely going to kill this warrior!

  Soon, the two Saiyans were fighting yet again though the smoke and debris. Ki blast after ki blast exploded against the ground and walls like mini atomic bombs.

Goku shot out his fists twice, while Cumber avoided the blows.  Cumber flew backward into the air and Goku followed. Cumber grabbed hold of Goku’s oncoming foot and kicked him toward the ground. He went flying and crashed hard into the ground. Goku weakly stood up and faced him again, catching his breath.

Goku looked up to find that Cumber had already formed a gigantic ball of red energy from his hand.  He threw it down. Goku held the sphere back as the ground shattered apart, rocks flying in the air. This time, the chains completely broke apart.

 Large cracks spread across the ground, Fu looking on in fear. His lab was now demolished, his monitors broken and the room in disarray.

“I can’t do my experiments like this, can I?”

He noticed something metal on the ground and picked it up.

“Who…who did this?!” he demanded, crushing the metal object in his hand. There was no way he would let his hard scientific work go to ruin.

 Goku was back in his base form, panting on one knee. A drop of sweat fell from his cheek. Cumber could tell that Goku was getting exhausted.

Goku stumbled forward and raised a fist, only for Cumber to easily catch it with his left hand. He twisted Goku’s arm and Goku fell to the ground. He lifted his boot and stomped onto Goku’s head. The Saiyan yelled in pain as Cumber mockingly rubbed his boot against Goku’s head.

“Now this is more like it!”

“What’s the matter? Finished already?” Cumber taunted. He continued roughly messing Goku’s head, causing more pain for the Saiyan. He removed his boot to reveal an unconscious Goku. Well…momentarily unconscious since he slowly opened his eyes.

“Now that he’s defenseless, it’s time to finish him off!” Cumber thought.

He rose up in the air and formed red energy from his hand. “Become dust!” he shouted as he released the blast.

The blasts hit the ground and exploded. He first several more blasts that hit the ground where Goku lay. The smoke cleared to revel debris on top of the unconscious Goku.

“Now to finish you!”

He shot another blast, but this time, it was intercepted by Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta.

More surprising, they were both Super Saiyan 4!

“What?!” Cumber yelled.

“You’re fighting us now!” yelled Xeno Goku, his pink hairy arms at the ready. He stared defiantly at the villain with golden eyes. Both men had bare chests and pink tails. Apparently, Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta were the counterparts of the regular Saiyans from the future.

“I don’t know who you are,” said Cumber, “But you’ve got guts! I’ll take on all challengers!”

Indeed, it was a new exciting moment for him. Like all Saiyans, he loved pushing himself beyond his limits. Super Saiyan 3 was a great form to use.

  Cumber landed on the ground as Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta also landed, standing protectively in front of Goku.

“There’s two dads?!” exclaimed Trunks, who couldn’t believe his eyes.

“The Time Patrol?” guessed Mai.

“You guys! Take that Kakarot and get away!” ordered Xeno Vegeta, turning to Trunks and Mai.

“Come on! I want to cut loose some more! Fight!” shouted Cumber.

  Cumber powered up with a loud scream, as rocks rose up. Cumber’s hair was now the golden color of a Super Saiyan.

“What?!” asked Xeno Goku in shock. Both Saiyans teleported away from Cumber’s dark shadow claws at the last minute.

“His ki is incredible,” said Xeno Goku.

“Guess we’ll have to use these!” mentioned Xeno Vegeta, pulling out the pair of Porta earrings.

“I thought you hated fusing?” asked Xeno Goku.

“This time’s an exception,” Xeno Vegeta replied as both men attached their earrings.

They leaned into each other, their bodies bathe din golden light and instantly became…

 Super Saiyan 4 Xeno Vegito!

 Cumber’s shadow hands closed around him, but the energy was soon broken and pushed back.

Xeno Vegito yelled and charged at his enemy, his eyes now blue.

The men’s two fists collided, causing a large explosion. More chains snapped apart in succession. Cumber fired blasts at Xeno Vegito, only for the fused warrior to walk right through them and leap at him through the dust. He landed a hard uppercut to Cumber’s chin, pushing him into the stone wall. He teleported away, dodging another ki blast from Xeno Vegito.

Cumber formed his signature dark energy bomb and released it.

Xeno Vegito powered up an attack of blue light, “KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!” Yellow flashes of lighting sparked randomly around the blue Kamehameha beam.

The two beams of energy clashed once again. Both warriors were evenly matched for a while.

“Uh oh,” thought Cumber as he watched his blast get smaller and Xeno Vegito’s Kamehameha get bigger and closer. He was blinded and hit by the blast in an instant. And man did it burn like hell!

Cumber felt himself being pushed hard against the glass roof.

The fusion then ended and the two men separated.

 “Did we do it?” asked Xeno Goku.

 Fu appeared and looked at the red sky and a red shadowed planet in anger.

“So the seal’s come undone?”

“Fu!” called Trunks.

Fu looked down at the Saiyans. “You guys, huh?” The pieces of the chains floated in the dark sky.

Fu rounded on them in anger. “You’re the ones who smashed my laboratory!”

He powered up and his eyes turned black.

“So you’ve come huh, Fu?” asked Xeno Goku. “Well you’re plan’s all over!”

“You guys have gone too far!” replied Fu, putting his hands on his hips. “Now my plan’s kaput!”

He pulled out a staff and his purple energy weapon.

He crossed them into a red glowing X. His sclera turned red and his power rose up. “Here’s your punishment!”

He shot a blast of black light at the Saiyans, both of them getting into defensive positions. The other Goku was still unconscious.

Goku’s white hand twitched. The Super Saiyan 4 warriors protected themselves by crossing their arms, then turned to face Fu.

“You can still move?” asked Fu with a crazed grin.

“Capturing you…” said Xeno Goku as he powered up,

“…is our mission!” added Xeno Vegeta.

  Yellow lightning flashed across the blood red sky. Columns of volcanic magma shoot out of the rocky landscape in several places. Fu avoided the Saiyan’s attacks while Xeno Goku dodged a swipe from Fu’s staff, which sliced in a red arc. Xeno Vegeta dodged Fu’s purple weapon.

Fu stood posed to fight, with a red moon in the background. In the distance, a shadowy figure came into view. It was Cumber. He wasn’t finished yet.

Xeno Goku stared in surprise. He was certain that the Kamehameha had finished him. Vegeta, Trunks and the others covered their eyes from the dust.

“Haven’t you had enough yet?” asked Golden Cooler.

“Fight…” said Cumber. “Fight me!” As a Saiyan, Cumber could never have his bloodlust fully satisfied.

“What?” asked a stunned Fu.

The heroes, Cooler, and Fu blocked the dark energy discs that Cumber fired.

Fu looked at the red moon and grinned. “Well that’s great. Looks like I achieved my objective. They will revive soon. Things should get even more fun from here! You have my thanks, Saiyans!”

Fu sliced his weapon and staff at the same time, creating a purple tear in the fabric of reality. Fu disappeared through the X shaped portal.

“Why you…you’re not getting away!” Cooler yelled, racing after him.

But the clever demonic Kai already had.

“Oh no!” cried Xeno Goku as the portal closed after Cooler had just made it through.

“We’ll deal with Fu later!” said Xeno Vegeta to Xeno Goku. “First let’s get Trunks and the others out of here!”

 Cumber stared at the Saiyans with a murderous look in his eyes. He held a ball of evil red energy in both hands. He thrust the energy ball at Xeno Vegeta and Xeno Goku. The two Saiyans held it back together. The muscles in their arms felt like they were on fire from the strain.

“Kakarot! How long do you intend to stay asleep?!” Vegeta yelled at Goku’s still form behind him. “Wake up already!”

 Finally, Goku opened his eyes…which were now silvery gray. At once, a fiery blue-white aura surrounded him.

It was the power of Ultra Instinct. Goku briefly closed his eyes, walking forward while sensing the energy around him. Goku’s hair and eyebrows turned silver once his opened them again.

“Y-you…” stuttered Xeno Goku.

“What’s going on?” asked Xeno Vegeta.

“That’s…” said Mai.

“It’s Ultra Instinct,” stated Vegeta, jealously tinged in his voice.

“Ultra…Instinct?” Trunks asked.

 For the first time, a hint of fear appeared in Cumber’s eyes. He had never heard of a form like that in his life. In the blink of an eye, Goku appeared in front of him.

“What in the world are you?!” Cumber shouted. He raised his fist but Goku dodged it effortlessly. A swipe of Goku’s arm caused Cumber to crash to the ground.

“So strong!” exclaimed Xeno Goku.

Cumber shot discs of energy at Goku, all of which he avoided. Goku pummeled into Cumber.

“Now’s our chance! Let’s use teleportation!” called Xeno Goku.

“Ah! Right!” said Trunks.

Xeno Goku safely teleported Vegeta, Xeno Vegeta, Trunks and Mai away just in time before three thick pillars lava burst out from the ground.

  No matter how many times Cumber punched Goku, he always ended up missing. Anger flared in the dark Saiyan’s eyes. He was an ancient Saiyan God for crying out loud! If he could beat Yamoshi, why couldn’t he beat his opponent right in front of him?

This time, Goku was the one who easily caught Cumber’s fist in his hand.

Goku’s fist make hard contact with Cumber’s face. He fell backward and steadied himself on the ground. Goku wordlessly fired a gigantic Kamehameha at Cumber.

“This is nothing!” Cumber shouted, even though he knew there was no way he could win this time. The searing light covered his hands and blinded him. The attack enveloped him and he felt like his whole body was on fire.

“What?!” he yelled in disbelief.

The blast knocked him to the ground and his world turned black.

  Cumber’s reflection stared back at him. “Curse you Kakarot!” Cumber yelled, now in the present in the strange cabin. With one hand, he blasted apart a hole into the wooden wall.

“That is hardly proper behavior, young warrior,” said a voice. Then the voice lowered. “Then again, I would expect nothing less from filthy Saiyans.”

Cumber turned around and saw a man with green skin, pointed ears, and a metal patch over his right eye. He wore an elegant black gi with a red sash on it. His hair was spiky like a Saiyan’s hair but was white. One part of his green face was covered with metal.

“Who the hell are you?” Cumber asked.

“That’s no way to speak to a god,” the man replied with disapproval.

Cumber yelled and thrust his fists forward, but the Kai easily avoided the blows. A blade of purple energy formed from his hand and he stabbed Cumber right in the chest. Cumber gasped in horror. The pain felt like a hot white knife had gone through his body. Furthermore, this strange power seemed to be paralyzing him.

The man raised his hand and in a flash of light, the hole in the wall was repaired. “I can’t let anyone destroy my home nor this land. It needs to be purified to be of use to the gods.”

The man cleared his throat and paced back and forth. “You’re wondering who I am, yes? Well, I am Lord Zamasu. Well more like fused Zamasu as I am the fused version of my past and future selves.”

Even being frozen, Cumber still looked confused. Zamasu waved his hand and Cumber could move. With great restraint, he forced himself to remain still.

“I am from another time period…two time periods in this case. My future self used the Super Dragon Balls to switch bodies with Son Goku. I became Goku Black and I sought to rid the world of all mortals. They are corrupt beings who destroy the world and themselves in their greedy ways. I would have made thus world a better place…if that troublesome brat Trunks hadn’t arrived and sliced me in half.

“That’s harsh,” Cumber thought. “Guess I’ll have to endure another lecture from a Kai.”

“Eventually, I did destroy all mortals and even became one with the universe itself! But then out of nowhere, the Omni King Zeno appeared and made my beautiful world disappear, myself along with it.

Cumber finally gathered the courage to ask a pressing question. “Then how are you still alive?”

“Let’s just say that a fellow purple Kai traveled back through time and took me with him before I could get erased. He offered me free rein of this universe as a part of his so called “social experiment.”

“Fu!” spat Cumber. “He’s up to no good, again!”

“I figured that you two were connected,” Zamasu mentioned.

Cumber scoffed. “Yeah, sure. More like I was a subject used for his own gains.” Cumber hated to admit one of his weaknesses to a stranger.

Zamasu observed Cumber some more and the Saiyan found himself feeling uncomfortable. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No, I was brought to Fu’s Prison Planet,” Cumber replied.

“No, I mean, you’re not from this time period.”

“How…”

Zamasu interrupted him with his hand up. “I am a god. I know things like that.”

“Fu brought me to the Prison Planet and used the Super Dragon Balls to bring me to thus universe. So what?”

“So that…means…we have something in common,” said Zamasu. “I, too, was brought back into the past by an ally. Unlike with you, it was a good thing for me. Although, I had to use this metal mask because the fusion didn’t quite go as planned.”

“What are you playing at?!” Cumber demanded.

“Show some respect, mortal, and I might tell you!” Zamasu barked back.

Cumber went silent. He lowered his head in apology. “Why not just let me die on that planet?”

“Because I can sense great power and potential in you,” said Zamasu.

“You were knocked out after son Goku defeated you…”

 In a flashback, Goku stood next to Cumber’s unconscious form. Time suddenly stood still, and the moon turned from red to a bright purple. A small white crack on the moon froze in place. Five shadowy figures appeared against the purple light.

“Zamasu?!” Goku cried in shock.

Zamasu smirked and raised his arm. His pointed finger pointed up toward the sky. The unconscious Cumber gently flew toward Zamasu as he was moved into the air by Zamasu’s purple energy. Finally, Cumber, Zamasu, and the figures teleported away.

The moon turned red once more.

“What’s going on?” asked Goku. He powered up and screamed as the Prison Planet exploded in a flash of light.

  “So you were the one who brought me here?” asked Cumber.

“Correct. You are an enemy of Goku as am I. Usually, I have no desire to work with mortals…but due to a certain ruler…it’s time to move forward with a new plan.”

Cumber connected the dots. “You want to destroy this Zeno freak?”

“Yes,” he replied. “But we won’t be working alone.”

He grabbed onto Cumber and they both found themselves transported to somewhere else.

Zamasu looked to the side and mentioned for more people to arrive. The first individual was a woman with long braids, a white battle shirt, dark pants and white boots. The second person was another Kai with light skin, wearing a dark robe, and dark pants with a belt. The last two individuals appeared to be android twins. The boy and girl wore identical dark battle suits and both had white hair and white faces. Their eyes were light blue with red stripes arching from above their eyes toward the sides of their faces.

“This is Hearts,” said Zamasu, mentioning to the Kai warrior who was also the leader. He nodded to Cumber.

Hearts introduced the alien woman as Lagss, an individual who could control large crystals of glass. “Lagss,” she stated. “The last survivor of the Glass Tribe. I was the one who restored the Saiyan.”

“And these are Oren and Kamin,” said Hearts, referring to the Tuffle-like mutants.

“Cumber,” Cumber said to them, not feeling like getting involved in a social gathering.

“I defeated Hit along with my brother,” Kamin bragged. “We also attacked Super Saiyan Kefla from Universe 6. Harm us, and you’ll regret it.”

“Am I supposed to know any of these people?” asked Cumber.

“The only thing you need to do is join us,” said Zamasu. “Zeno has been playing God for far too long. His angel children have done nothing to balance the universes. The low mortal level of Universe 7 is all because of the inhabitants polluting their world like beasts. It is time to overthrow Zeno once and for all. With him gone, my world will remain intact and I will merge with the universe once more.”

“What’s in it for me?” Cumber asked.

“Well, I suppose I can spare you, despite you being a Saiyan. You can get your revenge on Fu and son Goku. I could even use the Super Dragon Balls to return you to your time when all is said and done.”

Cumber was hesitant about these people, but then again, he didn’t have much of a choice. If this was a way of getting revenge on his enemies, then he would be willing to take the risk.

The Saiyan and the Kai god lightly shook hands. “Looks like we have a deal, my lord,” said Cumber, grinning from beneath the restraint.

“I’m in charge, though,” said Hearts. “We shall travel to other universes to gain energy and cause fear in our opponents.”

“You sure this plan is a good idea?” asked Oren to Hearts. “Can’t we just manipulate the population ourselves? It’d be more fun that way.”

The alien woman rounded on him with a sharp point of glass she formed in her hand. “Don’t you question Heart’s plans if you want to live.”

Oren sighed, mumbled an apology and walked off with his sister.

The sooner Cumber could achieve his goal, the better.

   Part II: Universal Conflict Arc

 I.                  Invasion of the Core Area Warriors

Back on Beerus’ planet, Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta exchanged farewells.

Xeno Goku placed his two fingers against his forehead, preparing for an Instant Transmission. “See ya. I hope everything will turn out okay in your world.”

“Goku-san is on it, so I’m sure it will be fine,” Trunks replied with confidence.

Xeno Goku nodded. “Right.”

Xeno Vegeta placed his hand on Xeno Goku’s shoulder, and together, the two Saiyans vanished.

“Tch,” scoffed Vegeta.

The Supreme Kai from Universe 6, ran along the path, teleporting forward. “We have an emergency!” he cried. His skin was pale yellow and white hair crowned his head. He wore blue pants and a maroon colored fancy top. The Kai stopped to catch his breath.

“Kaioshin of Universe 6,” Vegeta stated. “What happened?”

“An unknown enemy has invaded Universe 6 and now were in the midst of a war!”

“What?! What happened to your God of Destruction?”

“Staring with Champa-sama, we’ve tried contacting all the Gods of Destruction to come to Zeno-sama’s, but we haven’t been able to get through! F-Father!”

Vegeta walked toward the stomping frantic Kai and grabbed hold of the Kai’s shirt with his gloved hand.

“How could you treat a Kaioshin like this?”

“I’ll take care of those enemies,” Vegeta stated.

“O-okay,” the Kai stuttered. Vegeta let go.

Vegeta raised his fist. “I’m ready to go on a rampage.”

The Saiyan Prince and his son, Trunks, left Beerus’ planet and headed for Universe 6.

  The former city in Universe 6 lay in ruins and flames. Smoke curled like dark tendrils into the green colored sky. Rubble and exposed pipes protruded upward on the ground, decorated by thick black cracks. The apocalyptic scene looked eerily similar to the future city Goku Black had destroyed. Several explosions shook the area, sending more debris to the ground.

The smoke cleared to reveal several warriors fighting in the air. The purple assassin and time breaker, Hit, shot purple ki blasts at a white female android like individual. She appeared unaffected by the attacks, and simply barreled through the smoke to attack her opponent. From the ground, the young Saiyan Cabba weakly stood up, clutching his arm. The other Saiyans, Kale and Caulifla were both busy fighting the woman’s twin brother.

Both Saiyans were in their Saiyan forms, Caulifla’s spiky hair golden, and Kale’s hair green. They both wore the same loose pants and sports bras they had worn during the Tournament of Power. Kale wore red clothing and gold gauntlets on her wrists, while Caulifla wore her signature purple pants and pink top.

In union, the two warriors charged forward, only for the Tuffle mutant to block both their attacks. His blue eyes gleamed mischievously, his face and hair completely white just like his twin sister’s. A red and yellow stripe was positioned over both of his eyes like eyebrows.

“Is that it?” he asked. “Not doing it for me.”

“Hoo!” Caulifla exclaimed. “How could you say that?”

“Don’t take us lightly,” warned Kale.

The Tuffle vanished before the Saiyans could kick him.

Meanwhile, the Tuffle woman continued to fight Hit. She was gradually pushing him back, while he went on the defensive. Hit launched a hard kick, but she had vanished beforehand. She displayed a series of graceful backward flips in the air.

The twin brother smiled and looked up at his sister. While he wore a blue jacket, she wore a red one. Both wore skin tight black suits with a circuit shaped design along the center.

“Sis, that guy seems pretty tough,” he called out.

“We can switch if you want,” she suggested.

“Okay, I’ll take you up on that.”

The brother teleported in front of Hit and punched close to him. Hit landed a few hits on the Tuffle, sending him back.

“Nice. He’s strong; I like it.”

 Meanwhile, the Tuffle sister sent pink ki blasts at kale and Caulifla. The Saiyans blocked the attacks as they impacted. Moments later, they swiped the smoke aside and continued their way toward their new opponent. Kale fired her green ki blasts at the woman, who gracefully dodged each one.

The sister stopped in front of Kale and leaned around. Catching the Saiyan off guard, the Tuffle launched a hard kick at her, sending Kale to the ground.

“Kale!” called a concerned Caulifla.

“So weak.” The Tuffle deadpanned. “This isn’t even a fun way to kill time.”

“Damn you,” Caulifla growled.

 Hit spread out his palm, using his ability to freeze time to his advantage. When it looked like the Tuffle brother was frozen, Hit teleported forward, only for the Tuffle to teleport behind him.

“What?!” Hit gasped, stunned that anyone could escape his power. He soon found himself locked in a tight chokehold from the Tuffle.

“Is that Time Skip?” he asked. “It won’t do any good. I’ve been input with information about you.”

In anger, Hit rammed his fist into the Tuffle’s gut, spit flying from his mouth. Hit grabbed hold of the enemy’s head and roughly flipped him over. After getting hit by Hit’s purple blast, the Tuffle hovered in the air, smoke coming from his arms.

“Ouch. Not bad.”

 “Take this!” Caulifla shouted, firing a fury of red ki blasts at the Tuffle woman. She fired pink blasts in response and the impacts caused mini explosions in front of them. From the ground, Kale stood up and steadied herself. Kale shot her green ki blasts at the Tuffle, who blocked the attack, firing her blasts from her other arm.

The Tuffle grinned, but soon gasped as Caulifla launched herself in front of her, fist raised.

“Got ya!” she called, launching a large red blast into the Tuffle’s face.

“We got her!” Caulifla declared. Kale gave a thumbs up in response.

The smoke cleared to reveal that the Tuffle had blocked the attack, though smoke flowed from her arms.

“That was sort of effective,” she stated.

Caulifla growled in frustration.

The two Tuffle siblings rose together in the air. A pink aura shined from the sister and a blue aura shined from the brother. Their bodies were engulfed in the light for a brief moment. When the lights faded, the scratches and burns on their bodies had disappeared. Even their hair was back in place.

“They restored themselves!” Caulifla exclaimed. Hit let out a stunned gasp. It was at this moment that the heroes realized they were dealing with formidable enemies.

The two Tuffles moved toward their enemies together.

“Crash Break!” called the sister.

Her body was enveloped in a pink sphere, which blew Caulifla back in a bomb-like explosion. Caulifla crashed into the ground in the distance.

“Sis!” cried Kale.

“Smash Break!” called the brother.

His body was surrounded by a blue sphere, which forcefully pushed back Hit in a blinding explosion.

Hit skid back and was resting on one knee. Cabba looked on in fear.

“You seem to be enjoying this fight,” Hit seethed at the Tuffles.

“Let’s keep it going,” the brother encouraged.

“We’ll make you kneel to us,” the sister added.

The Tuffles fired a blue and pink blast at the group, only for two yellow blasts to intercept. Kale, Cabba, and Hit turned to see that Vegeta and Trunks had arrived.

“Universe 7!” Hit exclaimed.

“Master!” Cabba called with glee and admiration to Vegeta.

“Don’t get distracted, Cabba!” Vegeta chided.

“Yes sir,” Cabba mumbled. He looked at Trunks. “Who’s that boy?”

“My son,” Vegeta replied.

 “Look sis, some new guys showed up,” said the brother.

“I hope they’ll make for worthy time-killers,” added the sister.

Vegeta turned Super Saiyan, as did Trunks, who unsheathed his sword.

 The Tuffle twins were excited to take on new opponents. They calculated that the Saiyan men were pretty powerful. Sure, they could fight them in their regular forms…

 But why not fight Saiyans…with Saiyans, instead?

 “We’re taking you on!” Vegeta yelled.

 II.               Evil Forces at Work

In another dimension, the fight was displayed on a hovering glass cube from multiple angles.

An evil Kai, by the name of Hearts, grinned as he watched the battle. He wore a fur coat, and golden glasses over his eyes. He put his red gloved hand against his chin in thought.

“We weren’t planning to hunt down those from Universe 7 until a later date but…”

The revived fused Zamasu marched over to Hearts from the shadows. “They are…”

“Hm? Oh yes!” Hearts replied. “You know them right?”

 Boy, did the self-proclaimed god know them, alright. The Saiyans had foiled his plan to eliminate the universe of mortals. From his perspective, mortals were selfish and inferior to the Kais and other deities. He had fused with his alternate self, Goku Black and merged into the divine being. The worst parts? When Trunks cut him in half with his Spirit Sword…and then Zeno-sama, the Omni-King, erased him from existence.

 Zamasu did not exist for a while…until a strange purple Kai brought him back to life with the Dragon Balls.

“You’ll do nicely for this new group,” Fu had said. “I have gathered warriors from across multiple eras. With my chosen warriors working together, you’ll be able to gather energy to create a new universe.”

 Naturally, Hearts was thrilled with the idea of creating a new world of his own, free from the rules and incompetent natures of the deities. Freedom to mortals and criminals! Hearts didn’t hesitate to take the role of the mind-reading leader.

 Lagss, the member of the Glass Tribe, also joined the Core Area Warriors, being sent to the specific timeline by none other than Fu. Like the others, she was thrilled at the prospect of gaining power over the universe. Plus, it would be nice to have her special glass bending abilities be recognized.

 The Tuffle Twins were known as Oren and Kamin. They had been created by the Tuffles long ago as part of their AI experiments, just like Baby; even having the ability to take over the bodies of others. However, when the twins became too smart and powerful, their creators tried to destroy them instead. For Oren and Kamin, the actions were unforgivable. Rebelling against their creators, much like Androids 17 and 18, they killed them off.

Strangely enough, they eventually found themselves transported to another time in the far future.

“Show the world how powerful you truly are,” said Fu. “Feel free to have some fun. After all, it’s what I enjoy doing. You are more than just someone’s experimental subjects. For you two…are the most intelligent, powerful warriors of the universe.”

Enraptured by Fu’s words and Heart’s leadership, Oren and Kamin joined up.

Cumber, of course, joined, on his condition that he would get to kill off all his rivals, and cause destruction like he had done in his time. He especially wanted to erase the remainder of those soft, weak-hearted Saiyans, who ignored their true primal nature. Destroying the Omni king and authority was just a bonus.

 As for Zamasu himself?

He only joined the group to get revenge on the Omni-King for erasing him, and the Saiyans for ruining his Zero Mortal Plan. One thing was for sure…he didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t in charge of the whole operation. Like with the others, he had given in to Fu’s suggestions. Since the Kai had brought him back to life and given him a metal covering to protect his purple distorted side, Zamasu decided to spare Fu’s life.

“But you must refrain for now.”

Heart’s words brought Zamasu back to reality.

“Damn mortals,” Zamasu scoffed.

“Just be patient,” Hearts explained. “Wait until after the Omni-King is defeated.”

Zamasu scoffed in response, not liking the fact that he had to take orders from someone else. Why not just finish off the mortals and be done with it? After all the trials he had been through, it was hard for Zamasu to be patient.

 III.           Universe Six Battle Continues

Back in Universe 6, the battle was still going strong. The area filled with black smoke and forceful explosions from every direction.

Oren and Kamin were pushed back from the explosions, but both had smiles on their faces.

“Now this seems fun,” said Kamin to her brother. Both of them were taking pleasure in toying with their opponents.

“Yeah, it’s finally gotten interesting,” Oren agreed.

Vegeta and Trunks stood their ground, black smoke rising from behind them.

 Oren turned his head toward Kamin. “Isn’t it about time we did our thing, sis?”

“I was just thinking the same thing, Oren.”

Vegeta narrowed his eyes. “What are you up to?”

“Don’t get careless, Trunks,” warned Vegeta.

“Right, Dad!” he replied, holding his sword.

   The Tuffles grinned from above.

“I’m thinking about using that girl…” mentioned Oren.

“Good idea. So will I,” Kamin replied.

Both their bodies glowed in auras, Kamin’s pink, Oren’s blue. They exploded into energy particles of their respective colors. The pink ones entered Kale’s body through her arm, while the blue ones entered Caulifla’s body through her chest. Kale and Caulifla struggled to resist, but to no avail. Just like Baby’s victims, the Saiyan’s hair turned white and red lines appeared on their faces.

 “These guy’s bodies…” said Kamin.

“…are ours!” finished Oren.

“What in the world is going on?” asked Cabba.

“Watch out,” warned Hit. “They’ll be coming after us.”

 Sure enough, Kamin rushed forward and called, “Crash Break!”

Her body became surrounded by a pink sphere, knocking Cabba back.

“Smash Break!” called Oren, knocking Hit back with a blue explosion attack.

Using Kale’s body, Kamin rushed at Vegeta, the two of them attacking each other.

Oren used Caulifla’s body to attack Trunks.

Trunks dodged a kick from the Tuffle. “Dad! What should we do?” he called.

“Don’t worry about it! Just beat them!” Vegeta answered, turning his attention back to the fight. Kamin landed a punch, which Vegeta blacked, and Vegeta punched her hard in the side, sending her skidding back with her arms crossed protectively. Trunks threw Oren back with a shove, sending him skidding back as well. The two siblings were now by each other’s sides.

 “These bodies sure are useful,” mentioned Kamin.

“They are Saiyans after all, sis,” said Oren, rubbing his chin.

 “What a ghastly ability,” stated Vegeta.

Kamin explained their backstory. “We were created by Tsufruian super science. The ultimate artificial lifeforms.”

“Right,” Oren added. “We were input with all of their battle programs. However, those Tsufruians feared our power.”

“Awful, isn’t it?” asked Kamin. “Creating us, then trying to destroy us. That was unforgivable.”

Then the Tuffles had destroyed their own creators.

Vegeta clenched his fist. “We’re taking those bodies back.” Vegeta, Trunks and Hit all shot blasts at them around the same time, but the Tuffles teleported away.

Vegeta and the others avoided the blue and pink blasts flying at them from above.

Vegeta looked at Trunks, who both had the same plan in their minds.

“Dad, now’s our chance!” Trunks called.

Hit followed Trunks into the air. Trunks landed punches at Kamin, while Hit fought Oren.

Vegeta yelled and powered up, the ground shaking around him. Cabba looked on at his teacher in amazement. Vegeta leaned slightly forward, spread out his hands and then brought them together.

“I get it!” Cabba exclaimed. “While they’re both distracted…”

A bright golden ki blast formed from Vegeta’s hands and grew larger.

“Now!” called Trunks.

Hit grabbed hold of Oren’s arms and pinned him against him. His right hand held Oren’s hand back, while his left arm wrapped around his neck. Oren struggled to break free, Caulifla’s face scowling.  Trunks held down Kamin with both of his arms going around her shoulders.

“TAKE THIS!” screamed Vegeta as he fired his signature Final Flash.

 The Tuffles figured out the Saiyan’s plan too late. If they remained where they were, Vegeta’s attack would kill both of them…while also killing Caulifla and Kale. Oren and Kamin needed to survive to carry out their mission. Thus, the auras glowed and the twins left their hosts in particle form.

The real Caulifla and Kale screamed as the blast headed towards them. Just before it reached them, Hit and Trunks teleported them away to safety. Vegeta’s blast disappeared off into space and exploded in a supernova.

Cabba ran over, just after Kale and Caulifla landed on the ground in a heap.

“You two! Snap out of it!”

“R-Right! I’m okay.” muttered Kale, turning her head toward her ally.

“Dammit…!” Caulifla said in anger, lifting her head.

Trunks and Hit landed on the ground. “A-are you okay?” Trunks asked.

Hit nodded. “What about you?”

Trunks nodded in response.

 Oren and Kamin hovered beside each other, back in their regular forms.

“Too bad for you,” Oren taunted.

“It was fun. Seeing you all desperate like that!” Kamin added.

“Dammit, how dare you mock me!” yelled Vegeta, getting ready to attack.

 Out of nowhere, a circular gold force knocked everyone, except the Tuffles, to the ground, pinning them down. Oren and Kamin looked up to see a crystal star shaped device from overhead. Six spikes surrounded the crystal structure and a red circle shown from the center, like an ominous eye. A ring of a dozen small green gems made a circle around the crystal.

 Standing at the top of the crystalline structure, stood Hearts himself, both of his hands out and yellow energy emitting from them. His aura glowed indigo around his body. From underneath his fur coat, was a golden belt below a white well-developed chest with a prominent X shaped scar.

“The Universe Seed…is now brimming with energy!” he declared.

“Who the hell are you?!” Vegeta demanded under the pressure.

“I am the man who will take down the Omni-King. Hearts! With this Universe Seed, I will crush the Omni-King, the Kaioshin, the Gods of Destruction, underfoot!” Malice shown through his red eyes.

“Absurd,” said Vegeta, struggling to push himself up. “You could never pull that off.”

“Oh, but I can. And only me. And then I’ll bring true freedom to all mortals. Isn’t it the best?”

“You call this freedom?! You hypocrite!”

“Indeed, I am!” Hearts answered, embracing Vegeta’s remark.

Hearts then raised both of his red-gloved hands and conjured a large glass cube that rose into space.

“What the hell is he doing?” asked Vegeta.

The cube flew in space until it came across a small orange-brown planet. The cube slowly crashed into the planet, causing cracks to rapidly appear. The planet then seemed to explode from inside the cube. The cube then diminished and faded out of sight. The Universe Seed was, in fact, the crystal structure that Hearts was on top of. For every planet…or living thing the cubes touched, it transferred energy to the Seed. Fu’s grand plan? Apparently so.

 Hearts conjured five more glass cubes that hovered over the six heroes on the ground. “All of you will now become nourishment for the universe!”

Just then, the twins flew up in front of Hearts.

“Those guys are ours!” Oren argued.

Kamin chimed in. “They’re really strong. We can still play with them some more.”

“Very well. If that is what you wish,” Hearts replied.

He snapped his fingers and the glass cubes vanished.

“Dammit, how dare they mock us?!” scoffed Caulifla.

 Hearts smiled. “Now, shall we head to the next Universe? Zamasu, come with us. We’ll see our dreams fulfilled together.”

Zamasu hovered up to him. “Very well. But I will only say this once…don’t order me around, mortal.”

“Zamasu?!” cried Trunks in disbelief.

“Him again?” Vegeta asked.

Hearts turned to face Hit. “You there. Who is the strongest man in all the universes?”

Hit remained silent.

“Aha! So you believe the strongest man in the universe to be Jiren of Universe 11!”

Hit gasped in shock. “Did he read my mind?”

Thoughts pounded in Vegeta’s head. “One after another, they’re brushing us Saiyans aside! It’s pissing me off! Just what are you doing, Kakarot?!”

“The strongest mortal…” Hearts began. “Perhaps we should pay him a visit.”

  Meanwhile on a distant planet, Goku was wearing an identical blue uniform to what the Grand Minister was wearing.

“Are you ready, Goku-san?” the angel asked.

“Yeah,” Goku replied, excited as ever. “Ready when you are.”

It was the perfect time for Goku to train under one of the most powerful individuals in the multiverses, even more powerful than Whis and Beerus. While on the training ground by Zeno-sama’s palace, Goku learned how to control his new godly power, Ultra Instinct.

 IV.           Enter Universe 11

 The city in Universe 11 lay in ruins and smoke under a dark indigo sky. The lake nearby was still and dark. From down on the ground, Topo fired purple destructive blasts at Cumber, which seemed to have no effect. Using his claws of dark energy, he grabbed Topo in a chokehold and slammed him hard into the ground. Topo went still and unconscious. Jiren stared menacingly at Cumber, wearing the same black and red Pride Trooper uniform he had worn during the Tournament of Power. The wild Saiyan had just knocked out one of his comrades. Now he was going to face justice at Jiren’s hands.

   Trunks and Vegeta teleported to Universe 11, looking around at the wreckage.

“Trunks, this is Universe 11.”

“Right. It looks like they’ve run rampant through here.” Their clothes and hair swayed in the night breeze.

“Seems so,” Vegeta said darkly as he noticed the enemies approaching and the Universe Seed in the distance. The device glowed bright white, forming an eight pointed illuminating star. Oren floated through the portal, his aura glowing blue. Trunks and Vegeta covered their eyes from the light. They were so blinded, they didn’t notice that Oren was nowhere in sight.

“Dad, what in the world was that light?”

He turned to his father. “D-Dad!”

Vegeta’s body hung limp like a rag doll, eyes closed. A blue aura outlined Vegeta’s body. Like moving clay, Oren’s blue outfit, face, and appearance molded over Vegeta’s. The yellow circuit designs appeared down the center of the battle shirt. Sharp yellow shoulder pads emerged from his back, while the red and yellow stripes appeared over the Saiyan’s eyes. Vegeta’s face was soon covered by Oren’s white face and blue eyes. Now in complete control of Vegeta’s body and mind, he cackled loudly. He powered up, sending waves that knocked Trunks back.

“Dad!” Trunks yelled.

Oren, sent a blue ki blast into Trunks. He looked the same, save for Vegeta’s spiky hairstyle that was now on his head.

Trunks broke through the smoke. “Damn you! How dare you take Dad!”

 Soon enough, Zamasu, Hearts, and Kamin had arrived on the scene.

“The surprise attack was a success,” stated Kamin. She turned to her brother. “Oren, how’s that body?”

“It’s the best! It’s bursting with power!”

In anger, Trunks went Super Saiyan and charged toward him. Oren gave a sinister grin and called “Smash Break!” His sphere bomb attack knocked Trunks backward. Trunks screamed out loud in pain and crashed into the lake below.

 The red gem on the Universe Seed, blinked several times, the device humming with power.

  “Take this, Universe 11!” yelled Cumber. He extended his arms, and dark energy claws snaked their way toward Jiren in arches. Jiren blasted them apart with his orange ki blasts. Cumber barreled through the smoke and thrust his fist forward, Jiren dodging the blow. Jiren ducked to avoid his feet and blocked another fist with his arm. Jiren yelled and punched the Saiyan in the face. Cumber returned with more ferocious attacks.

From the ground, Topo slowly lifted himself up. “Beat him, Jiren!” he called out.

Jiren held Cumber’s fists into place, and both men struggled in a sort of hand wrestling match. Cumber glared at Jiren with his red demonic eyes.

“Seems were evenly matched,” said Cumber through his mask. “But you can’t beat me.” He powered up to Super Saiyan and knocked Jiren to the side. He fired dark blasts at Jiren which he blocked as he moved through the smoke. Before he could land an attack, Jiren was pinned to the ground by Heart’s force attack.

“Nice job, Jiren,” Hearts taunted from atop the Universe Seed. He turned to his ally. “Oren, give him a try.”

“Leave it to me,” he responded, before teleporting in front of Jiren. Hearts released his hold on Jiren and the warrior stood up. Oren and Jiren began attacking each other in the air.

Cumber looked up in anger. “Hearts! He’s my prey.”

“You’ve done enough here. Cumber, go to Universe 3 now.”

He snapped his fingers and the evil Saiyan vanished.

Cumber was transported to the technology-filled Universe 3 to gather more energy for Hearts. He went on a rampage, destroying robots that tried to attack him with pathetic blasts. Sure, it felt good to have more power working with another group, but still…he was so close to defeating his opponent and Hearts had to ruin the fun of it. Oh well. It was time for him to complete his mission to destroy Zeno and gather energy for the Universe Seed.

 Jiren and Oren continued to duke it out until a pink blast intercepted them.

Kamin pushed her short white hair back. “Let me join in on the fun.”

Both Tuffles fired blasts at Jiren, who crossed his arms, shielding himself. Jiren landed on the ground, his opponents doing the same.

Landing in front of the Tuffles, facing Jiren was none other than Zamasu.

Zamasu yelled and charged at Jiren, who blocked several of his attacks. Both men glared at each other, evenly matched. Jiren thrust his fist forward, sending a few white hairs of Zamasu’s away.

“Don’t you dare touch a god who those filthy hands!” Zamasu said his tone, condescending. Oren and Kamin landed on either side of Zamasu.

“Zamasu!” screamed Trunks, slicing his sword down at the spot where the usurper god was moments before.

“Don’t interfere!” said Oren, blasting Trunks back into a rock wall. His sword landed with its hilt up, blade in the ground. Oren grabbed Trunks by his hair and formed a blue blast in his other hand.

“You’re done for.”

A light nearby made him look to his left. “What?!”

  Arriving via a great column of light were none other than Goku and the Grand Minister. Both of them wore blue clothing with an orange downward pointing triangle on their chests. Both wore red belts with a gold Chinese symbol at the center.

“Son Goku!” Jiren gasped, remembering his former opponent. Even Zamasu was shocked to see him. Even more surprising, Zamasu could sense Goku’s incredible new power.

Goku-san?” asked Trunks, turning his head to look.

Goku had a serious look on his face, which was usually uncommon to see. In a flash of light, Goku knocked Oren off of Trunks, sending the Tuffle crashing into the rock wall.

“Oren!” Kamin cried.

A silver aura outlined Goku’s body as he carefully held Trunks in his arms. He looked at the Grand Minister who nodded with approval.

“Oh? Well then, take care of this as you see fit.” The Grand Minister vanished in golden light.

“I-I knew it!” Trunks declared. “You’re still alive!”

“That power…it can’t be!” Zamasu exclaimed.

“So it’s godly then?” Hearts asked, confirming the situation.

Having a mere mortal…and rival surpass him in power was enough to make Zamasu go mad. He raised his fist and prepared to charge, only to be blocked by Jiren.

In one swift motion, Jiren punched Zamasu backwards.

Oren scowled at Goku, frustrated at his new power. “What is your deal? You’re pissing me off!”

He flew head-first toward the Saiyan, but Goku sent him flying backward with one punch. Goku moved slightly, avoiding all the blue ki blasts that Oren fired at him. Goku charged up his fist, which glowed in a blue ethereal light and rammed it into Oren’s gut. The Tuffle gasped and the force of the impact knocked the Tuffle from Vegeta’s body. Oren crashed hard into the ground, his sister racing after him. Goku sent her back with another ki blast.

Vegeta woke up and stood on one knee, already jealous of Goku’s new power. He couldn’t even sense Goku’s power level. Goku’s silvery eyes glimmered, ready for battle.

 Hearts watched the city burn below him, feeling like the emperor of the universe on top of the Seed device. His plans were one step closer to fruition.

Goku slowly lifted himself up to face Hearts.

“So you’re Hearts, huh?”

Hearts smiled and said “You have a scent of danger about you,” in a mocking tone.

Goku suddenly vanished before Kamin and Oren’s blast could hit him.

Both Tuffles looked up at Goku, awestruck. “When did he…?” Kamin began.

“…Do that?” Oren finished.

Kamin whisked her fist forward, only hitting air. She kicked Goku’s leg to no effect. Goku turned around and kicked her hard in the gut. She flew back into her brother, who held her protectively as they both crashed into the rocky ground.

“Oh?” said an intrigued Hearts, watching Goku go Ultra Instinct and dive down toward the fallen Tuffles. He dodged the pink and blue blasts, despite the smoke in the air. Both siblings attacked Goku at once, Goku blocking all their attacks. Goku landed a punch to Oren’s face and a kick to Kamin’s stomach.

Vegeta held his wounded left arm, (always the left one) as Trunks landed near him.

“Dad, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Vegeta replied.

Jiren threw a gigantic orange energy bomb at Zamasu, who got hit with the blast.

“You did it,” said Topo.

But Jiren wasn’t so sure. “Something is stirring.”

As the smoke cleared, Jiren was stunned to see Zamasu appear, unscathed.

“What?!” gasped Topo. Jiren’s mouth opened.

“Are you surprised?” asked Zamasu with a grin. “I am invincible.”

“Invincible?!” cried Topo.

“Now then, I’ll make the next move.”

 Goku dodged more of the ki blasts fired by the Tuffles. He appeared between them, landing hard uppercuts to both of them with his fists. They both crumpled to the ground. Kamin opened her blue eyes and looked at her brother.

“Oren, let’s do it.”

Oren grinned and looked at her. “I guess we’ve got no choice, sis.”

Both of them clasped each other’s black gloved hands together. Blue and red light from their hands merged into purple.

 A tall fused mutant figure was revealed. The fusion’s right arm and leg were red, left arm and leg were blue, and the rest of the chest was white. Blue and red gemstones were embedded in various places, along the hips, hands and one purple stone in the center. The figure’s eyes were blue. Red and blue stripes framed either side of their white face. Flowing white hair spread slightly upward from their head.

 “Th-They merged!” Trunks exclaimed.

“Surprised?” said the figure in a combination of Oren and Kamin’s voices. “So, since we’re Kamin and Oren, you can call us ‘Kamioren.’”

“Kamoren…Orenami…all these fusion names are confusing,” Trunks thought.

Kamioren leaped at Goku, the Saiyan dodging all their hits. Goku landed a hard kick at the fusion, who was pushed back, but didn’t fall.

“Not as much impact as before,” Kamioren chuckled. Goku stood and glared.

  Hearts grinned and floated down to the red center of the Universe Seed. “Lagss! Lagss!” he called, searching around.

A giant group of crystals appeared in front of him.

“I need your power again.”

“I’m pleased,” she replied from inside.

Kamioren looked up. “There you are, Lagss.”

Hearts moved his palm forward, and a purple aura outlined his body. His right hand turned yellow as he manipulated the large crystalline mass downward. All the sharp points aimed at Goku and the mass lowered to the ground.

“Goku-san!” Trunks cried.

 Letting out a yell, Goku held onto the crystals with both his hands, fighting against Heart’s force. Goku pushed forward with more energy. Soon, small cracks began forming around his hands. The crack grew larger and snaked up the surface of the glass.

 “Dad, let’s go!” called Trunks. The two Saiyans flew forward to help Goku, but were both knocked back by a large purple blast, sending them to the ground.

“We’re taking you on,” said Kamioren.

“Damn you!” cursed Vegeta.

 Finally, Goku unleased the rest of his energy, spreading light blue cracks against the glassy surface. To Lagss’ shock and disappointment, the crystal structure shattered.

“That silver aura…” Hearts said to himself. “It seems he’s not perfected it.”

Goku stood up and panted heavily.

Lagss appeared from among the floating glass shards. She was an alien with light blue skin, and long white hair, done in two waist-length ponytails. She wore a light blue dress that trailed behind her, decorated with gold trim along her hips, under her arms and around her neck. She glared at Goku with icy eyes. Dark purple gloves covered her hands and weighted bracelets were on her wrists.

 “My glass…slice him apart!”

The shards rained down on Goku in yellow slants of light. The shards pierced through Goku’s outfit and skin. He screamed in pain as a million cuts spread across his body.

“Who…Who are you?” he asked weakly.

“I am Lagss.”

She pointed two fingers upward, and the shards pierced through Goku again. The Saiyan collapsed to the ground.

 “Stand back,” Vegeta told Trunks. “They made a complete fool of me. I’ll take them.”

Kamioren charged at Vegeta, their aura purple. Vegeta yelled and charged at the fused being, in Super Saiyan Blue. He dodged the purple blasts and rushed at Kamioren. Their powers clashed as they shared punches and kicks. Vegeta knocked Kamioren back and fired a yellow blast from his hand. Kamioren shoved Vegeta down to the ground with a mighty punch.

But the Saiyan prince was not done.  He rose from the ground and flew into the air. Letting out a high pitched scream, he powered up and transformed. His muscles bulged and grew, and a godly light shined in his blue eyes. His hair, formerly light blue, had turned a dark royal blue. He charged at Kamioren.

“Dad’s evolved again!” exclaimed Trunks.

 Vegeta had transformed into Super Saiyan Blue Evolution.

 Meanwhile, crystal spears of glass stuck out from the ground at various angles, giving off a faint mystical glow. Goku’s entire body shook violently as he strained to push himself up. Goku watched as SSB Evolved Vegeta fought the fused Kamioren in the night sky.

Kamioren dodged Vegeta’s attacks just as fast as Vegeta initiated them. Swinging his leg forward, Vegeta landed a hard uppercut to Kamioren’s chin, briefly knocking him back. The fusion barely had time to recover before being punched hard in the gut by the Saiyan prince. A punch to the left cheek added to the attacks.

“We’re counting on you, Vegeta!” Goku encouraged from below.

Lagss rose into the air, gathering the glass shards into the air. The two dozen glass shards in the air would have been a beautiful sight to see, if they had not been pointed toward Goku.

“Glass, cut him up!” Lagss commanded.

The shards turned yellow and plummeted toward the Saiyan.

Sweat formed on Goku’s face as he braced himself for another painful impact. He closed his eyes…

…only for the shards to explode in midair. Goku looked up as the smoke cleared. Trunks in Super Saiyan form, had teleported in front of Goku, blocking the attack.

Trunks glared at Lagss. “I’m going to fight you. Here!!”

“Thank you Trunks,” breathed Goku.

Trunks powered up and leaped from the ground.

The yellow shards of glass shot at Trunks, who maneuvered around them. Ignoring the painful pricks in his skin, Trunks conjured up a yellow ki blast in his hand and fired it at her full force. Lagss flew backwards, arms crossed in front of her, steading herself on the ground.

 Up in the air, Vegeta fired ki blast after ki blast at Kamioren for several minutes. He hoped that the being wouldn’t fly through the smoke and charge at him. Fortunately, he seemed to be holding them back.

Vegeta briefly stopped, then dove into the smoke. Kamioren had just removed their arms from across their chest when Vegeta kicked them hard across their face. Kamioren spun in the air before crashing back first into a rock.

“This person, he’s still got more power to fight,” they said.

Kamioren barely dodged the next punch from Vegeta, which completely broke apart the rock. Kamioren turned back to Vegeta, only to be met with a kick to the face. The two of them punched and attacked on the ground, sending debris into the air.

Hearts stared down at Goku and grinned at his helpless form. Jiren landed a hard punch to Fused Zamasu’s chest. Saliva flew from his mouth as he gasped. With a flick, Jiren sent the fused god into a rock in the distance. Orange ki blasts shot at Zamasu from Jiren’s fingers. Through the smoke, a wounded Zamasu approached his opponent. His cheek was swollen and his clothes were torn. Tendrils of dark magenta energy crisscrossed around him, and in seconds, his wounds and clothes were restored.

“No effect?” Zamasu asked with a grin. “Thanks to my immortality power, I will always regenerate.”

“Immortal?” Jiren asked in disbelief. Jiren had prided himself as one of the strongest warrior in all 12 universes. They say he was a mortal with a power that could surpass the gods, but now here he was, facing an evil one.

 Vegeta showed no mercy, as he cupped his gloved hands together.

“FINAL FLASH!”

A burst of blinding yellow light shot from his hands and hit Kamioren head on. Kamioren screamed in pain in two different voices until finally, Oren and Kamin separated.

Both Tuffles stopped to catch their breath.

“What power!” Kamin breathed.

“He’s got an amazing power,” Oren agreed.

“Come,” said Vegeta with a grin, using his hand to mention them over.

  Lagss knelt down and placed her palm on the ground, her aura glowing light blue. Glass shards rose up from the ground, quickly surrounding Trunks. Goku leapt forward and rammed Trunks out of the way. The glass shards cut into Goku, pained screams ejecting from his mouth.

Trunks looked on and glared at Lagss who increased the movements of the glass shards.

Her attacks soon stopped and Goku panted heavily. Even with sharp pains all over his body, Goku grinned.

“Your power is astonishing.”

Lagss stood up to face Goku and Trunks once more.

 Lagass glanced over to see Fused Zamasu move toward the Universal Seed device.

“All this power is now mine!” Zamasu declared, reaching forward.

In an instant, Lagss shot both hands forward and encased Zamasu in glass. The weight caused him and his glass prison to plummet to the ground. Bits of glass shattered and Zamasu managed to free himself, his cuts already mending themselves.

“I’d eliminate you for your treachery if I could,” she stated coldly. “Heart’s ambition is my reason for living.”

“Not much of a life then,” Zamasu spat. He vanished before she could say anything more.  

 Lagss then looked up at Hearts.

“Let me finish them,” she called, referring to her opponents.

“Go to Universe 3,” he ordered, “and fight with Cumber.”

“You’re really giving me charge over this?”

“Of course.”

Lagss nodded. “Ok then.”

She then vanished in a flash of teal-white light.

 V.               Brutal Battle of Universe 3

In universe 3, Cumber was busy punching a group of large metal robots that were guarding the city buildings. He rammed his thick fist into the asphalt, causing thick cracks to appear and spread. The ancient Saiyan grinned as Universe 3 citizens were hurled into the air by the force of his attack. A cannon blast from a flying tank hit Cumber in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He landed hard on the ground, quickly surrounded by robots pointing their ki guns at him. The robots posed to attack, only to be impaled by sharp glass shards. Sparks and wires flew out of their chests, giving Cumber enough time to stand up and swipe the bots aside with a powerful kick. He conjured his black clawed energy hands and threw the remaining bots out into the distance.

He turned around. “Lagss.”

“Looks like I made it in time,” she said.

“I could’ve finished them.”

“I bet,” she said with no emotion. She briefly imagined that Fu would have the time of his life with all the science and technology from this universe.

“Hearts sent you here too?” asked Cumber.

Lagss nodded. “I was just about to slice that Saiyan to bits, but Hearts sent me here to fight with you.”

Lagss moved her hand, sending shards to the ground toward the unlucky civilians below. The screams she heard from them were music to her ears.

“Any word from him?” asked Cumber.

“It looks like he has gathered enough energy from Universe 11. He and Zamasu and the twins will probably meet us here in Universe 3 soon.”

“I wonder how many more Universes he’ll want us to conquer,” said Cumber, intrigued.

“All of them, I imagine,” Lagss replied. “One he has enough power for the Universe Seed, then Heart’s grand plan can be put into place.”

“What is it, exactly?” asked Cumber, firing a red blast that took down two buildings at once.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Lagss led Cumber over to a large slender device hidden behind a corner. The top of it had a reflective satellite dish aimed straight up in the air. It was supported by strong metallic pillars holding it in place. The center of the device had a red sphere that pulsed, similar to the one on the Universe Seed Device.

“Me and Kamin made this machine to provide extra power to Hearts,” Lagss explained. She mentioned to two figures guarding the device nearby. One of them was a tall imposing figure with a white face, light purple muscular legs, and a black muscular chest. Two horizontal white horns jutted from his head, serving as his ears. He was fitted with red gems from his wrists and a green gem in the center of his chest.

“That is Agnilasa,” said Lagss.

The second figure wore a glass visor over his face and wore a white battle suit with a large red P on the front.

“And that is Catopesra. Paparoni, the scientist helped build this for us. He also brainwashed those warriors into joining our cause. By pressing this button when the meter is full…”

Lagss pushed a red button and a band of white energy shot from the uppermost point into the air.

“…Hearts gains extra energy for the Universe Seed! Hopefully, the energy gathered here will reach him in Universe 11. For now, we await his commands and continue to fight.”

“I take orders from no one,” Cumber grumbled. “Don’t you forget that.”

Sensing strong ki close by, the Saiyan raced off into the distance.

  VI.           Heart’s Ascension

Back in Universe 11, Hearts turned back to Goku.

“Available to fight me?” asked a tired Goku.

Hearts and Goku stared unblinkingly at each other for several seconds, contemplating their next words or moves.

“I’ve got a glimpse of you,” Hearts explained, seeing into Goku’s head. “Your shining aura power still has more to give. It’s not fully evolved.”

“What?!” Goku yelled in disbelief. He had evolved this far, how many more transformations did he have to go through to beat this new enemy?

“I will make it re-emerge,” Hearts claimed. “And after that, you will lose your battle with me.”

Goku bared his teeth together and clenched his fists. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Goku powered up to Super Saiyan and flew toward Hearts. Hearts grinned and held out his hand, palm glowing yellow and an evil purple aura surrounding his arm.

Goku felt his whole body weighed down, like the last time he tried to overcome the gravity in the training chamber. The powerful force glued him to the ground, his yellow hair turning to black.

“Goku!” yelled Trunks, before he too, was forced down.

Even Vegeta, who had previously flew toward Hearts, was also knocked down to the ground, his hair turning back to black. All three men struggled to lift themselves up, but it was like trying to get up from underneath a full truck.

Goku’s arm shook and one of his eyes was closed. He slowly moved his shaking hand, fingers curved.

“It’s not over yet!”

A yellow ki blast flickered on and off in his cupped hand.

“Just like that, keep trying,” Hearts said. Was he actually trying to make Goku stronger, or was he merely toying with him?

Goku didn’t know how much more he could take.

 Then, a shining beacon of shimmering blueish light rained down in a column from a hole in the dark sky. Hearts glanced at the light in surprise.

A comforting light purple hand rested on Goku’s shoulders. Goku looked up to see the smiling face of Shin, Universe 7’s Supreme Kai.

“Goku, use teleportation.”

Goku groaned under the strain.

“Who is that?” Hearts asked, releasing his grip.

“Quick!” Shin urged Goku.

“Yes,” Goku said.

He placed two fingers to his forehead and the tow of them appeared next to Trunks and Vegeta. Shin placed his hand on Trunks’ shoulder, while Trunks grabbed hold of Vegeta. The four of them appeared, standing on the ground, facing their enemies. Then they were lifted into the sky by Shin’s powerful light. The light soon vanished and the hole in the sky closed.

“That guy,” Zamasu told Hearts. “He’s Universe 7 Kaioshin.”

“I see,” said Hearts. “Then let’s move to our next destination. We collected enough energy from Universe 11.”

“Stop!” Jiren called from below, powering up a ki blast.

Hearts grinned. “That guy has a tremendous amount of power. He’ll do nicely.”

He lifted two of his fingers and a glass cube enclosed around Jiren.

“Jiren!” called Topo, looking at his trapped companion and the two enemies. “What’s happening here?”

The villains smiled and vanished in teal-white light.

 Meanwhile, Fu was enjoying himself in his new lab; a beige round building hidden in foliage near a waterfall. He sat in his chair and glanced at the screens, replaying the battles in Universe 11.

“So great! Everyone is part of my experiment, I don’t want this to ever stop!”

He pushed up his glasses, mischief gleaming in his red eyes. He looked at another screen. “Now…you will enter the game.”

The screen revealed the metallic face of Metal Cooler, his eyes red, and black sclera surrounding his left eye.

    VII.  Universe 7 Decisive Battle

Over the city of Universe 7, a spiral of gray clouds parted to reveal the Universe Seed arriving and hovering in the air. The sky was a dull dark gray overhead. One by one, the Core Area warriors appeared around the crystalline device: Oren, Kamin, Zamasu, and finally, Hearts at the pinnacle.

“Finally, we are here! Universe 7!” Hearts declared. He spread out his arms, looking down at the gray buildings and grass far below. Apparently, this was the universe where the Saiyans and all his opponents were from. A sinister grin formed on his white face at the thought of obliterating their home world and seeing their horrified reactions. Plus, he had a feeling that Universe 7 held tremendous power that the Seed could use.

“It’s time to destroy it!”

“We won’t allow it!” Goku declared, standing with Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, and Android 17.

“Come!” said Hearts, making a “come here” motion with his red gloved finger.

Goku, Trunks, Vegeta, and the other Z Fighters all powered up and charged at their foes.

“ZAMASU!” Trunks bellowed in rage, speeding forward.

“Trunks, wait!” shouted Vegeta.

Oren and Kamin appeared in front of the Saiyan prince, blocking his path.

They launched their fists at him, which Vegeta blocked with both hands.

“You’re fighting us!” said Oren.

“We’re gonna get our revenge,” added Kamin. “You have humiliated us in Universe 11.”

Vegeta yanked hard on his enemies’ arms, causing them to briefly run into each other in a stumble. He kicked the twins aside before Oren fired a big blue blast toward him. Android 17 created a green barrier that protected Vegeta from behind. Kamin was about to shot pink ki blasts from her hands, only to be kicked away by Piccolo.

“Go, help Trunks!” Piccolo urged Vegeta.

“Hurry up,” 17 added.

“Don’t let them take control of you!” warned Vegeta, before speeding off toward his son.

Trunks swiped his sword down while dodging yellow blasts from his foe.

“What are you saying?” asked a confused Piccolo, though Vegeta had already left.

Piccolo jumped to dodge Kamin’s blasts.

“You, there, who are you?” Kamin asked the Namekian.

“You’re strong, right?” asked Oren to 17, while they stood off, facing each other.

“Well…I hope this fight will at least entertain us!” said Oren. A light blue aura surrounded Oren before he charged forward through the air. He launched a kick at 17, who blocked it with his left arm. They shared some punches before 17 grabbed hold of his wrist.

“You’re an outsider,” 17 scoffed before kneeing Oren in the gut and pushing him away.

Piccolo dodged Kamin’s fast punches, before stepping backwards. He launched his flexible arm forward and grabbed hold of Kamin from a distance. Just then, Kamin morphed into a silver liquid, escaping Piccolo’s grasp. Retracting his arm back Piccolo stared in shock. “They’re androids.”

Kamin soon merged back into her natural solid form.

 Meanwhile, Goku was thrust downward by the strong gravitational force of the Universe Seed, crashing into the ground and sending a nearby crowd running for safety. Goku flew back up, but was soon forced down again by Heart’s power. Heart’s hand glowed bright yellow and he let out a brief cackle. Goku yelled in pain at the impact.

  “Universe 7 is giving you trouble, Hearts,” Fu mentioned while in his darkened lab. This will be the perfect place.” He glanced over at another screen. “Oh look there…Universe 3 will be entertaining too.”

Universe 3 was a technologically advanced place, with sleek gray buildings from every direction. The sky was an indigo color and no stars were visible. Lagss and Cumber were busy scaring off the robotic citizens when another enemy approached them. Without hesitation, Lagss fired huge shards of glass at the enemy, but the figure was too fast. The glass warrior soon found herself being thrown back into a building, the impact making a dent in the structure. Lagss stared at her foe with shaking eyes: it was Metal Cooler.

Metal Cooler slapped his metallic tail against the side of a building, staring at his opponent with calculating red eyes. A beam of crimson light emerged from his finger, before the building he was on started to rapidly crumble from the bottom up. A sphere of ki had formed in his hand before Cumber burst through the rubble and grabbed his wrist. He head butted him hard and landed a hard punch to Cooler’s face. Charging full speed at his enemy, Cumber turned Super Saiyan, following the flying fiend. Cooler thrust his fist forward, as did Cumber. Cooler kicked and punched at the Saiyan, while Cumber blocked his attacks. They flew through the air and battled intensely for several minutes.

Fu grinned as he observed the battle. “I wonder who’s gonna win between the giant Saiyan and Cooler. Let the fight continue.”

Cumber landed several hard punches to Cooler’s face, which seemed to not have any effect. They punched each other some more, and soon, Cooler launched a yellow ki blast at Cumber. He retaliated with a dark red blast of his own. Both blasts exploded on impact, the thick smoke soon clearing up. Cooler fell down toward the ground, Cumber diving down after him. Rocks and rubble rose from the ground as the impact was made. Cumber soon had Cooler pinned to the ground, grabbing both of his hands.

“How foolish!” Cumber declared. “Turning yourself into metal!” Strangely, his eyes were sky blue instead of red.

Cooler, instead, had a trick up his sleeve. “Actually, I’ve obtained a new power.”

Cooler slapped the Saiyan with his tail and teleported into the air. In rapid succession, he pummeled the Saiyan toward the ground, reappearing in different spots, and landing attacks. Cumber was thrown into a building, but soon recovered. A gold outline glowed around Cooler as he avoided Cumber’s red ki blasts. Cumber barely had time to think before Cooler thrust his head against Cumber’s chin in a hard uppercut. The impact sent black spots before his eyes and he felt himself stumble. He righted himself by dragging his boot covered foot in the ground and fired more blasts. Cooler blocked the attacks as he was pushed back into the air. He let out a yell and faced the Saiyan.

“Playtime is over.”

He let out an earth-shattering yell and powered up to a higher form. His aura glowed bright yellow and darkened into a bright gold. His silver metallic skin turned golden.

“See…this is Golden Metal Cooler! Amazing!”

He marveled at his new power and strength, opening and closing his hand.

Cumber shot a volley of dark blasts at him, only for them to harmlessly bounce off.

In the blink of an eye, Cooler flew through the blasts and appeared close to Cumber’s face. Cumber’s eyes widened in pain as Cooler punched him hard in the gut. Cumber flew backwards while Golden Cooler followed him. He landed an upper punch to Cumber’s face, sending him flying through the air. Cumber flew back and thrust his fist forward but missed. Cooler’s gold foot impacted Cumber’s groin and he gasped in pain. Cumber tried to elbow Cooler but missed again. This time, Cumber managed to land a punch to Cooler’s face, but a ki blast had already formed in Cooler’s hand. With a blinding flash, Cumber was sent plummeting to the ground.

“What’s this strength?” Cumber gasped, wincing in pain as he lay on his back.

Cooler’s eye flashed red and he powered up once more. He raised his hand and three orange spheres formed in the air above him.

“Well, I can’t believe this is it,” Cumber thought.

Suddenly, a short circuit fired off in Cooler’s left side of his face and he yelped at the sharp shocking pain. Wires were exposed on the outside of his face and he covered his left eye with his hand. Still, he was able to launch the spheres at Cumber with his other hand. The three spheres hit Cumber head on, and he braced himself for the pain.

Cooler, still grimacing in pain, powered up and fled the scene.

Frustrated, Cumber smashed the ground with his fist. “F-fight me…” he groaned, his body stumbling every which way. Finally, his body couldn’t take it anymore and he slumped hard to the ground, face first, his hair returning to black.

“Hmm, Cooler overheated?” Fu guessed. “But at least we were able to collect useful data.”

 Back in Universe 7, Zamasu swiped down his pink energy blade, which cut through the space between Vegeta and Trunks. Zamasu fired more energy blasts at the duo, while Piccolo and 17 held off the Tuffle twins.

“Sis, let’s do it!” called Oren, dodging a curve of yellow ki blasts.

“Sure, Oren!” Kamin called.

Both twins flew into the air, Oren glowing blue, Kamin glowing dark pink… and fused into Kamioren.

“They merged?” asked Piccolo.

 Goku tried to stand up, but Heart’s power was too strong.

“Damn these gravity powers…I can’t stand up,” he said in exhaustion.

Hearts noticed one of the red circular parts on the Seed blink twice.

“Perfect timing.”

He pulled off his fur jacket and tossed it aside. His white muscular chest was revealed, complete with a gray X shaped scar across it. Smiling widely, he powered up, with a dark purple aura surrounding him. The aura turned into a column of dark ultraviolet light and soon, the Seed started to descend. Using wind energy, Hearts blasted Vegeta and Trunks away, and then did the same thing to 17 and Piccolo. Hearts stood with one leg forward, knee bent, on top of the device. He bent down and placed one hand on top of the crystal surface.

“Soon, the Universe Seed will be complete. You will see, I will accomplish it!”

Goku and his allies stood up, ready to face their greatest threat to themselves and their universe.

 Hearts stood up from his knee, clenching and unclenching his fingers from inside his red gloves. He couldn’t wait to test his new power against this Saiyan opponent.  With his hair the golden of a Super Saiyan, Goku stared hard at his enemy and rose up vertically into the air. He was not going to let this man destroy his world, kill his friends, or defeat his buddy Zeno-sama. For several moments, they stared at each other, anticipating any next moves.

Hearts charged at Goku in the blink of an eye, but Goku was equally fast to react. Down below, round white buildings blew up in several places at the force of the fight. Goku blocked Heart’s punches, both of his muscular arms crossed in front of him. Both of them used Instant Transmission to appear and teleport to different spots in the air. It was so fast, it was hard for the observing eye to see what was occurring.

“Goku-san!” Trunks called from nearby, holding his sword in his hand.

“So this is Heart’s power?” Vegeta asked in curiosity and concern.

Fused Zamasu charged at Trunks, clashing his magenta energy blade from his hand against the metal of the sword blade. Vegeta barely dodged a dark ki blast from the fused god.

Zamasu grinned manically at Trunks. “Is this the best you can do?”

 Further away, Goku let out an ear-splitting yell and powered up to Super Saiyan. Moments later, his hair and aura turned bright blue. Hearts was only briefly pushed back. He smirked with satisfaction as he observed Goku’s more powerful form. After a stare down in the air, it was Goku who initiated the fight this time. Hearts blocked Goku’s elbow with his own, and each took turns blocking attacks…two punches, a fist and a foot…the two of them used instant Transmission several times.

Teleport…teleport…teleport…teleport…

Finally, Hearts managed to grab hold of Goku’s muscular arm in a strong grip. He leaned his white face close and grinned.

“I’ve read your mind. You seek out strong opponents, and always hunger for more. I can satisfy your need.”

With that, he used his power to knock Goku down into a roof of a building. But the Saiyan retaliated with a swarm of yellow ki blasts. Hearts held out his hand and the blasts froze in mid-air. After bending one of the orbs and tossing it back at Goku, Hearts moved his arms in a flurry. Soon, Goku’s ki blasts rained down back at him, though he managed to dodge each one as he flew. Goku swiped one of the blasts aside and charged at Hearts, who blocked his fist with his left arm. They exchanged kicks and punches at lightning speed once again.

“Are you satisfied?” Hearts asked as he attacked.

“Not enough!” Goku replied.

Hearts held out his hand and it glowed yellow. A strong gravity force caused him to fly backwards, almost impacting the building behind him. Powering up and righting himself, he slowed his decent by digging his fingers into the building’s surface, leaving deep marks.

“You’re not going all out yet,” Goku mentioned.

“Neither are you.”

There was one thing that Goku and Hearts had in common: their thirst for battle and disappointment at their opponents holding back their power.

A purple blast spiraled out of Heart’s hand, destroying the building that Goku had been next to. Goku flew through the smoke, hopping and flipping from one slab of rock to another. Goku could sense more of Heart’s attacks, and thus he dodged Heart’s energy cubes. Three of them chased Goku through the air. Through graceful loops and dodges, Goku singlehandedly broke all the remaining cubes with a long blast of golden ki.

The Saiyan then moved side to side, dodging Heart’s purple blasts. The blasts harmlessly bounced off Goku when his aura turned blue. Hearts fired a larger purple and white energy blast, but Goku turned around, grabbed it and threw it back.

For a while, Goku kicked at Hearts, who blocked his attacks and was slowly getting pushed back. Goku appeared below him and kicked him into the air. Goku had wordlessly formed a Kamehameha attack, while Hearts had already shot out a dark attack of his own. The two blasts collided…and then the Kamehameha pushed Hearts back and down across the ground. The blast broke several buildings, then went off with a loud boom. Goku paused to catch his breath, his hands still cupped.

 Meanwhile, Piccolo was busy fighting off Kamioren. Kamioren fired dark purple ki blasts at Piccolo’s back. Fortunately, Android 17, formed his green energy shield, protecting himself and the Namekian. They were evenly matched…until Kamioren yelled and pushed harder into the attack. 17 held the shield, even as it began to crack. With a final burst of power, Kamioren’s blast shattered Android 17’s shield.

Kamioren responded with an evil laugh, but was soon stunned and silenced by piccolo’s special beam cannon.

“Sorry. This attack needs time to charge,” Piccolo stated, revealing their plan. Kamioren screamed and fell to the ground. A purple hole formed in their chest and soon shrunk and healed. Kamioren stood up in anger clenching their fists.

“There’s no way I could be beaten by you.” They lifted their head. “I’m the strongest!”

“What?” Piccolo asked stunned, as Kamioren released a devastating dark purple blast of energy, similar to Vegeta’s final attack against Majin Buu.

  Trunks held his sword aloft, and swiped it down at Zamasu, who blocked it with his arm.

“Zamasu!” Trunks declared in rage. “After trying to exterminate all mortals, why would you join forces with one now?”

“As if I would answer you,” he replied. He slashed his energy at Trunks who dodged it and flew off. Zamasu chased after Trunks, while Vegeta followed from below.

 Goku watched as Hearts pushed two large boulders, setting himself free. He casually brushed off his chest, as Goku’s attack didn’t faze him. His hand glowed yellow and he made a “come here” motion to Goku. Goku was pulled toward him against his will.

“Is that all?” Hearts asked.

He lowered his hand and Goku was held in place on the ground. Hearts smirked and rose up into the air.

“Gravity Fist!” he yelled. Transparent energy cubes surrounded his hands and feet. Goku powered up and broke free from Heart’s hold. He pushed Goku back with an attack, but Goku broke free of it again with a mighty yell. Streams of ki blasts flew from Goku’s hands, while Hearts dodged them all. Hearts flew through them and drop-kicked Goku into the ground.

“Tremble at my power,” Hearts declared with a grin, before his aura glowed dark purple and black. Goku seethed and stood to face him again.

  Hearts grinned evilly at Goku from the air, his dark aura surrounding his body. A dozen small transparent cubes surrounded his hands and feet, four around the three areas. They soon glowed with a magenta aura. At the speed of light, Hearts rushed at Goku, who blocked the attack. Hearts flew straight up into the air, Goku soon following at Super Saiyan Blue. They both collided at an angle in the air, and with a powerful punch to Goku’s gut, Hearts sent the Saiyan plummeting to the ground with a tremendous crash. An explosion shook the ground and air, leaving plumes of smoke behind. The smoke cleared, revealing Hearts pinning Goku down with his foot on his chest.

 Goku winced and then yelled in pain as Hearts sank his energy charged fist deeper into Goku’s stomach.

“More…you can’t make this more exciting?” Hearts mocked at Goku’s helplessness.

A crazed look appeared in Heart’s eyes as he increased his power, causing a purple explosion to destroy more of the surrounding city.

Meanwhile Kamioren stood in the air and laughed at Piccolo and 17. “So how was that? Did you see my power? I’m THE STRONGEST!”

Android 17 created his green energy barrier around himself and Piccolo. They rose into the air, where 17 made the barrier vanish. He glared coldly at his opponent, Piccolo behind him.

17 launched a swift kick at Kamioren who blocked it with their arms.

17 rapidly kicked the Tuffle, but missed each time, the Tuffle kicking 17 to the side.

“Makankosappo! Special Beam Cannon!” cried Piccolo, as he fired his signature attack at Kamioren’s face.

17 and Piccolo fired yellow ki blasts simultaneously at Kamioren, pushing them around, causing them to yelp and their skin to crack in several places.

Hearts glanced over to his right at Kamioren, his foot still on Goku. “Geez…I didn’t expect this from you, Kamioren!”

He looked at the Tuffle in disapproval…then came up with an idea.

“If you want to be the strongest, you need more power.”

 Hearts held out his hand, which glowed yellow. His body surged with a lavender aura. Miniature cubes formed near the Universe Seed.

With a curl of Heart’s fingers, the miniature cubes merged together to form one giant transparent cube, enclosing the device inside it. The device shrunk and collapsed within itself, until it became a small speck of light.

 Hearts smirked, held out two fingers and flicked the speck rapidly downward.

 From within the smoke, Piccolo noticed the speck and dodged it. The speck moved toward the beaten Kamioren and entered inside their central purple orb in their chest.

 “Dad!” Trunks called.

“What the hell is going on this time?” Vegeta asked.

Zamasu looked at the bright rays of light and gave a small smile.

 Kamioren roared loudly as white power surrounded their body. They dug their hands by their chest, trying to diminish the pain within their core. In a flash of light, Kamioren’s body grew many times bigger…until their body resembled a large Hulk-like boulder. Long horns extended from their head and their eyes glowed a demonic red. Their formerly purple orb was replaced with a newer red orb in their chest, with six black curved spikes around it like a sun. Golden orbs decorated their body in several spots.

 Dark indigo light crashed down onto the ground as Kamioren’s new form was revealed: a Tuffle hybrid Great Ape!

 Well, Kamioren wasn’t hairy like an ape, nor did they look like one…but they now had the power and strength of one.

Kamioren shot a volley of purple energy from their mouth into the air, their sharp fangs revealed.

 Hearts looked impressed. “Well, not bad.”

 Kamioren roared and punched the ground with their huge right red fist, causing the ground to crack. 17 and Piccolo looked down with concerned expressions.

“He fused with that huge energy?!” Piccolo exclaimed.

“Begone!” Kamioren roared, firing a purple energy blast from their mouth.

“Oh no! Get out of the way!” Piccolo yelled as he and 17 dodged the blast.

Like other Great Apes, Kamioren could move and aim his destructive blast around him…which destroyed a great chunk of the city and buildings in a flash of explosive light.

 Zamasu grinned. “Oh so this is the power of the Universe Seed?”

Piccolo and 17 flew up in front of the giant and fired more ki blasts, to no effect. Kamioren’s face was revealed as the smoke cleared. Piccolo was knocked to the side by Kamioren’s right fist, Android 17 got knocked away by Kamioren’s left fist.

Then, Trunks and Vegeta arrived on the scene, facing the monster. Piccolo and 17 flew up shortly after, 17 clutching his arm.

“What have you done?!” Vegeta bellowed. “Your time ends now!”

He kicked the mutant in the face, briefly making them stumble. Kamioren conjured up another blast, which sputtered out after Piccolo kicked them in the chin.

At the same time, the Z Fighters fired ki blasts at Kamioren. They stopped when the smoke obscured their face.

Foolishly, all four of them stayed where they were…and as the smoke cleared, Kamioren’s purple blast hit them straight on!

 Hearts grinned as he watched the scene. “Oh, the Universe Seed is almost complete!”

Kamioren grinned at the sight of Piccolo, Vegeta, 17, and Trunks, hurt on the ground, smoke still fuming from the newly made trench.

Vegeta shakenly stood up, much of his armor ruined. “Damn it!”

 Kamioren stomped forward and raised their fist, only for Goku to appear out of nowhere to block it.

“Kakarot!” Vegeta exclaimed.

Though still beaten up, Goku focused on his new opponent.

Kamioren grinned and flicked Goku away with his fingers. Goku soared through the air, before turning around to face them again. He yelled and rapidly kicked Kamioren in the face.

With their right large hand, Goku was slapped away. Goku then found himself grabbed by Kamioren’s blue hand. Kamioren put both of his hands together, squeezing Goku hard. He winced and tried to escape, to no use. He then took a deep breath and let his mind go blank.

 Kamioren then gasped in surprise as Goku broke free from their grasp. Kamioren fired another blast from their mouth, but Goku emerged from the smoke, unscathed.

The Saiyan had turned Ultra Instinct once more.

  Goku stared down at the monstrosity below him. Kamioren stomped with one giant foot toward him, staring up and seething. Goku stared at them with serious eyes. The Ultra Instinct power made him calm and collected, unfazed by Kamioren’s snarling face. He wasn’t going to let them harm his friends and destroy Universe 7.

 “Take this! I’m invincible!” Kamioren boasted, suddenly. They thrust their red right fist forward but Goku vanished before their fist made contact. Kamioren formed a purple blast in their mouth and aimed at Goku, who promptly vanished on the spot. In the blink of an eye, Goku slammed his foot down on their forehead, causing them to stumble back and the blast to explode in a cloud of smoke.

Goku landed on the ground and walked forward, eyes unblinking. The rest of the Z Fighters heaved themselves up from under the rubble. From up above, Zamasu and Hearts watched the battle, glaring down.

Kamioren fired another purple blast straight at Goku. He raised both his hands, holding the energy sphere in place. With a loud yell, Goku pushed the blast right into Kamioren’s face. Goku then dodged their fists in rapid succession. A swift kick to the cheek made Kamioren yelp slightly. Goku appeared above the Tuffle fusion and slammed both fists hard into their head, sending Kamioren to their knees.

With ease, Goku avoided their antennae swiping at him. Kamioren launched another blast from their mouth, this time hitting Goku.

“Goku-san!” Trunks cried from below.

Kamioren snickered evilly, their sharp teeth showing. Then they let out a bellowing laugh. “Serves you right!”

The villain paused when they saw flashes of blue light shine from the smoke. In a flash, the smoke was blown aside…and there stood Goku in the air, his hair platinum in color, without a scratch.

“What?!” they gasped.

“The power of a god,” Hearts murmured from above, impressed.

Before Kamioren could blink, Goku appeared in front of their face and fired a yellow blast straight into their face and eyes. Furious, Kamioren fired several more purple blasts wildly. Five blasts impacted the ground like bombs.

Goku dodged their gigantic fists and grabbed hold of their antennae. Kamioren was flung into the air. Kamioren screamed at the top of their lungs, landing with a crash on the rocky ground.

“Amazing!” Trunks exclaimed as Goku stood up.

Eyes blaring with rage, Kamioren stood up and swiped at Goku once more. They momentarily grinned, thinking they had caught him in their fist. Then he opened it and saw nothing. They then felt the heels of Goku’s feet rapidly strike them in the face. They even had to cover their eyes at the sudden force.

Kamioren tried to swipe at Goku again, but the Saiyan was too fast. He fired several ki blasts at their legs, chest, and arms. Kamioren was then hit with a volley of more powerful yellow ki blasts in four different areas.

“Son’s power is waning!” called Piccolo. “Finish them off at once!”

At the same time, Piccolo, Vegeta, Trunks, and 17 shot ki blasts from all their hands, keeping the Tuffle Mutant in place. They moved to the side as Goku prepared his signature attack.

“KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!”

The blue blast struck Kamioren right on. The force of the attack caused the red seed-like gem in the center of their chest to crack. Seizing the chance, Goku rushed forward and pummeled his fist right into the gem.

The fatal attack resulted in cracks rapidly spreading all over Kamioren’s body, their screams ringing through the air. Fourteen beams of light shone from the cracks and then…

Kamioren shattered into pieces.

Goku and the Z Fighters covered their eyes as the debris flew outward in every direction.

Piccolo uncovered his eyes as the dust cleared. “Did it work?”

Goku phased out of Ultra Instinct and to his base form, exhausted and out of energy. He started to fall, but Trunks and Piccolo held him up from underneath his shoulders.

“Hang in there!” Piccolo urged.

“Yeah,” Goku weakly replied.

Trunks pointed down at the orange flames in the pit. “Look, over there!”

Rising from the flames was a small speck of light. The small sphere rose up right into Heart’s gloved hand.

“What the…?” Vegeta asked, puzzled.

Hearts grinned. “Behold! This is its completed form! At long last, all this power has been condensed into the Universe Seed. Beautiful, is it not?”

The Universe Seed glowed with an ethereal power, glowing in transparent colors of blue and magenta, yellow waves moving inward.

Hearts continued. “Kamin. Oren. I won’t let your deaths be in vain.”

Hearts raised his hand and his body took on a white aura. Dozens of transparent cubes surrounded him as he merged with the new power source. The Z Fighters were knocked away into the air.

Zamasu looked on with a grin, admiring the tremendous new power. “Hearts, so it’s finally time for your wish to come true? How I’ve waited for this.”

Hearts let out evil laughter as the cubes grew larger and his power increased further.

 Groups of transparent cubes flew in place in the air, then moved into place together like a puzzle. Below, the wind caused debris to dash across the ground, creating more dullness in addition to the dark gray sky looming above. Piccolo, Trunks, 17, Vegeta, and Goku slowly pushed themselves up from the ground, hurt, but anxious to get a better look. Goku seethed at the flying materials forming a sort of barrier. The condensed cubes flashed colors of dark green, lavender, and teal as it grew. At last, it began to form and take shape, the lines soon disappearing. The surface became smooth and in a wave of light, the color turned golden.

The Universe Seed hummed with ethereal power from inside a giant golden transparent cube. Eight green spheres hovered around the outside.

 From inside the Universe Seed, Hearts was bathed in tremendous power. It was the all-consuming force of black holes…the energy of exploding supernovas, the churning of galaxies, stars, planets. The entirety of the universe…of all 18 universes flowed through him.

  The five Z Fighters lifted themselves off the ground, standing beside each other. Goku’s shirt was almost completely ripped off.

“What’s that?” Goku asked.

Vegeta dashed forward as if saying “Let’s find out!”

“Vegeta!”

He rose up and formed a yellow ki blast with both hands. He launched it forward toward the cube, only for Zamasu to appear and knock the blast away.

“Zamasu!” yelled Vegeta.

Goku and the others fired ki blasts, but the kai god batted them all away.

“I thought you wanted to kill all mortals?” Trunks asked. “So why are you protecting a mortal like Hearts?”

Zamasu grinned. “Hearts will defeat the Omni-king. And with him gone, there shall be none to stop my Zero Mortal Plan.”

Trunks clenched his fists and seethed.

Zamasu raised his hand into the air and chanted, “Hammer of Judgement.”

Little dark red blasts rose up into the air. Zamasu lowered his hand in a swipe. The red spheres turned into blades of energy, which rapidly rained onto the fighters. All of them protected themselves by crossing their arms together and ducking their heads. Just when they thought they couldn’t bear the sharp pains any longer, the blasts faded.

In the blink of an eye, Zamasu appeared in front of Vegeta and rammed his fist hard into his gut. Vegeta gasped painfully, saliva flying from his mouth. Zamasu kicked 17 in the gut, then moved on to swipe Piccolo out of the way. He fired yellow/green ki blasts at Vegeta and Goku, further blinding them with smoke on the ground.

Goku turned around and spotted his opponent. He rushed at him and began to fight. Goku launched his fist, but it was blocked by Zamasu’s hand. Zamasu blocked all of Goku’s punches as they flew. Goku pushed Zamasu back, then he did the same. Zamasu blocked Goku’s fist once again, holding it in his hand. Goku tried to land another hit, but the kai easily blocked his arm. Holding the Saiyan down, Zamasu pressed his white boot hard into Goku’s back. Goku bellowed in pain, with no way to escape.

Zamasu chuckled as he watched his helpless opponent. “What’s wrong, Universe 7? Is this really the best you’ve got?”

“Goku-san!” Trunks yelled.

 Back inside the Universe Seed, Hearts realized that he could be the new mortal stronger than the gods…even more than Jiren, as those in Universe 11 claimed. Zamasu’s immortality had proved very useful. But even immortality couldn’t compare to this new power. While Zamasu tried to become the universe and killed off mortals in Future Trunk’s timeline, Zeno had appeared and erased him. Hearts knew Zamasu only joined him because both of them hated the Omni-King. Zamasu wanted vengeance against Zeno for ruining his victory. He wanted nothing to stand in his way during his second chance.

 Hearts, however, wanted Zeno killed for different reasons. Tired of the incompetency and laziness of the gods, kais, and angels, the warrior wanted to create a new world in his own making. A world where he and the strongest fighters could conquer and experience newfound freedom from Zeno’s rules. Indeed, he shared characteristics, and even somewhat an appearance to Fu. Both wanted to rule the world and take control in their own ways. Could he be distantly related? He brushed the thought aside. Hearts shared the power-hungry personalities of King Piccolo, and Moro, a planet-eating goat entity.

 Next, Hearts wouldn’t admit this to anyone else, but he was deeply devastated at the erasure of the other six universes by Zeno. The Omni-King had wiped entire worlds from existence… for what? Because he was bored? Dissatisfied with lives so different and less divine? The six angels were left dormant in space, but everyone else was gone.

 The power coursing through his veins and the thought of giving Zeno a taste of his own medicine filled him with more confidence and glee.

   Back outside, before Trunks could make his move, a figure appeared in a flash of light.

With a hard kick to the head, Zamasu was knocked off Goku.

“You’re…” Zamasu gasped.

The savior was none other than…

“Jiren,” said Goku as he stood up.

“How’d he get here?” asked Trunks.

“Universe 11’s Kiaoshin must have sent him,” Piccolo replied.

Indeed, the Kaioshin’s power had also freed Jiren from his cube prison and transported him to Universe 7.

“Resistance is futile, Universe 11,” said Zamasu.

He formed a magenta energy blade surrounding his right arm.

Jiren fired orange ki blasts and Zamasu swiped them away with his ki blade.

A white halo appeared behind Zamasu and his raised his arm again.

“Take this!”

Before he could attack, cracks appeared in space and time. Through the white gap came another figure.

“You’re…” Zamasu began, rooted to the spot.

A familiar purple assassin answered with a mighty hit.

Zamasu was pushed back and wiped his mouth from the blow.

“Scoundrel, how dare you strike a god?!”

“Hit,” said Goku.

“Universe 6,” Jiren began, mildly surprised to see him.

Hit turned to them. “Kaioshin hired me…to take them out.”

Goku smiled. “That so? Glad to hear it. Let’s go!”

Together, the strongest warriors from Universes 11, 6, and 7, charged forward toward Zamasu, their rivalries from the Tournament of Power forgotten.

 Suddenly, all the heroes were all pushed back by waves of energy.

“Its ki is rising,” warned Piccolo.

Zamasu looked eagerly at the cube. “Come out soon! I can’t wait!”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” stated Vegeta, uneasy.

Goku sensed energy building up rapidly, like a volcano or earthquake. “Something’s coming!”

 The Universe Seed pulsed with a white light. Purple cracks appeared on the cube’s surface. It grew smaller as more cracks appeared.

Then it grew rapidly, bursting out of the cube. Shards of yellow energy flew in every direction like glass.

The seed vanished to reveal Hearts…now surrounded by a golden aura. His hair was golden and spiky like a Super Saiyan, his formerly white chest was now golden as well. His arms and figure were now muscular. He bent down and six transparent spikes emerged from his back, curved and almost metallic. A dozen green spheres flew toward him and stopped in place, surrounding the spikes in a circle. Heart’s red eyes were even more pronounced through his golden eyewear. The Universe Seed was nestled at the center of his chest just above his white X scar.

He moved his eyes toward his right, glancing at the beaming Zamasu. He turned around, his hand in a fist, and opened it. A faint white aura glowed around his body.

Zamasu was thrust forward and held into place when Hearts spread out his arm. Zamasu’s arms were spread out and held by Heart’s power.

“You’ve done a good job so far,” Hearts remarked. “I appreciate that immortal power of yours.”

Zamasu stared in shock, opened mouthed, unable to move.

“But unfortunately…” Hearts grinned. “I wish to destroy the gods.”

He closed his fist and let out maniacal laughter. The cubes quickly merged in on Zamasu. The cubes condensed and enclosed him. He saw Hearts through an opening in his prison one last time before the last cube locked into place. Hearts held out his arm and the cube began to shrink. It shrank more and more until it vanished in a sparkle of light.

Goku looked on in horror.

“He’s gone!” cried Trunks.

From the divine realm, the Grand Priest looked on the events with concern.

“Gentlemen of Universe 7! Behold!” Hearts declared.

He spread out his arms and a wave of purple energy shot from him. Like a nuclear bomb, the blast wiped away the city, though nothing was left except empty ground.

“What?!” cried Goku. He looked up at Hearts in anger.

Hearts grinned. “I am the ultimate…Godslayer!”

Hearts stood proudly, his aura glowing light golden. Hit, Jiren, and Goku stood off in the distance, staring him down and anticipating his next move. Piccolo, Vegeta, 17, and Trunks also stood together. The Z Fighters all had a single goal in mind: to protect their universe at any cost.

“Feel my power!” Hearts declared.

Goku gasped as the dozen green spheres from behind Hearts shot forward like a hailstorm. They flew in every direction around the heroes…then they stopped in the air. The spheres were soon surrounding all of them in a wide circle.

“What does he intend to do?” Piccolo wondered.

Hearts grinned. “The show starts now.”

With a snap of his fingers, the spheres glowed and spun faster in the circle. Then, they rapidly raged through the air at the warriors. Goku, Hit, and Jiren dodged several of the spheres. Vegeta fired a blast at one of the spheres…which sailed right through his attack! Having no other choice, Vegeta held his arms in front of his face and blocked himself from the impact. Smoke obscured his vision.

“Father!” called Trunks in concern.

Piccolo also tried to dodge the spheres, but one of them also exploded in front of him.

From a distance, the spheres surrounded Heart’s opponents like wild emerald electrons.

Vegeta and Trunks bumped into each other’s shoulders.

“You’re in my way, Trunks!” yelled Vegeta.

17 and Piccolo stood back to back. Hit and Jiren used their arms to try and block off the oncoming spheres. Goku flew backwards between them.

All the spheres suddenly changed course and flew at the warriors straight on. The volley of spheres each impacted the warriors straight on target, each exploding in smoke. Using the cover provided, Hearts charged forward and hit Goku hard in the gut with his knee. Jiren, then Hit, Trunks, Piccolo, 17, Vegeta…all were rapidly knocked to the side with hard punches. One by one, the fighters plummeted hard to the rocky ground. Smoke and dust rose from seven newly formed craters. New green spheres appeared behind Hearts, ready for use.

 Hearts let out a loud arrogant laugh. “This is the best!”

Vegeta pushed himself up with some effort. “Damn it, with just one attack!”

Piccolo pushed a block of rock from over him to the side.

“So this is the power of the Universal Seed…”

17 and the others stood up, still ready for round 2. Goku stood up, eye twitching, battle garb mostly torn off at the top. Goku leapt into the air, charging toward his enemy. In a flash, he turned Super Saiyan Blue…but Hearts just sneered. He held out his hand and his aura glowed light blue. The force from his hand was enough to hold back Goku. The Saiyan strained against the force holding him back, trying in vain, to reach him.

Hearts smiled at Goku. “I can see everything. Your movements, your heart…”

With a yelp of pain, Goku was pushed back by the force. His feet scrapped the ground as he tried to slow down the powerful backward push. Jiren and Hit launched themselves at Hearts, but even the expert warriors were also held back by Hearts.

“Both of you…this is useless!”

Jiren and Hit were stopped in mid punches, Hearts only using one hand to hold them back by a gravitational force. Both of them were thrown back forcefully.

Hearts called out a signature attack: “Gravity Finale!” following with a spread of his hand.

 Goku stared down at the ground, which was now glowing with more transparent cubes. Vegeta and Piccolo gasped and spoke, but were soon cut off.

Hearts flipped his hand upward and the cubes rose from the ground. Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo yelled in pain as the cubes shot upwards, hitting them hard in their faces and bodies like hard rocks. Hearts rose his hand into the air and the cubes disappeared into the dark cloudy sky. From the center of his chest, the Universal Seed glowed white and released flashes of blinding light which spread in every direction.

The clouds soon parted and then lowered in a funnel to reveal a giant orange cube. The cube came crashing down onto the warriors below, each of them struggling to hold it up. None of them could run, as the gravitational force held them in place. The super-powered villain laughed again as the glowing cube pushed the warriors further down into the ground, the cube creating a larger crater in the ground and then fading away.

Any regular human would’ve been crushed to death, but all the fighters were still alive…but badly hurt. They lay sprawled on the ground, trying to catch their breaths and comprehend what just happened.

But Hearts wasn’t done yet. He launched more light and power out and caused the ground to crack and debris to fly. The attack ended with a flash of yellow lightning followed by a nuclear explosion of force.

The fighters strained to get up, Piccolo even taking off his white robe and turban, clutching his head in pain.

“We can’t run! This power. It’ll destroy the entire universe!”

Everyone knew Piccolo was right.

Jiren stood up and glared straight ahead. “I won’t let that happen!”

After he leapt forward, Hit followed. “This is my job!”

Hearts played around with the two warriors, dodging their attacks and knowing their every move. A flurry of fists flashed through the sky, Goku staring up. If Ultra Instinct and his attacks wouldn’t work…

…maybe he would need the help of someone else’s…

He gasped and looked at Vegeta, a familiar idea forming in his head. He flew over to Vegeta, who was hunched forward in exhaustion.

“Vegeta!”

Vegeta clutched his left arm…it always seemed to be his left arm. “What is it?”

“We need to combine our powers!”

Vegeta gasped, then seethed. “Are you talking about fusion?!”

Goku stared at his hands. “I don’t know when Ultra Instinct will be available to me again. We need to combine our powers like that time!”

Vegeta wasn’t sure whether Goku was referring to the battle with Janemba, the battle with Fused Zamasu, or the battle with Broly. Fusing before fighting Broly had been particularly embarrassing…it took them three ties to get the dance right. He knew there was no other choice, but he still didn’t like doing it.

Without a word, Vegeta got into position, Goku following. Both men held out their arms, Goku to the left, Vegeta to the right.

Piccolo gasped. “They intend to fuse?!”

He turned to Trunks and 17. “They’re going for fusion. Let’s buy them some time. Let’s go!”

“Yeah!” Trunks agreed.

The three warriors charged at Hearts, fighting him as a distraction.

“Fusion-ha!”

Goku and Vegeta’s pointer fingers met, their bodies glowed and they vanished into a sphere of golden light.

Hearts swiped all the fighters out of his way just as the light and golden aura faded.

Hearts glanced down at the new warrior: white battle pants, light blue slash, a black sleeveless jacket with two yellow coverings on either side. A man stared back at him, eyes black, hair spiky and black, with Goku’s hair style in front, Vegeta’s toward the back.

Hearts grinned with excitement at fighting his new opponent. “You’re interesting. What’s your name?”

The man spoke in two voices: “Goku and Vegeta, we’re Gogeta!”

Hearts lifted his head back and laughed. “Do you think you can defeat the Ultimate like that?”

Gogeta smiled with confidence. “Let’s have some fun, Hearts!” They lifted themselves into the air, both enemies staring down the other.

  Hearts grinned again. Both of them charged at each other at the same time. Both dodged each other’s fists and feet at lightning speed. The other fighters could barely see what was going on. Gogeta flew back and shot out several blue blasts from their hands, Hearts avoiding them with flips and turns.  Hearts held out his hand and Gogeta fought against the gravitational force. Though Gogeta struggled, they were not pushed back.

“Impressive,” Hearts thought. “So this is what is called a fusion. Still useless, though!”

Hearts flicked Gogeta away into the distance. Gogeta did a flip and landed safely on the ground. Gogeta teleported themselves behind Hearts, aiming their fist at his head. Hearts blocked the attack with his hand and for a moment, the two struggled in a hand-wrestle. Soon, both of their hands were fighting for domination.

“This is a fun way to warm up!” Gogeta mentioned. “Though we have yet to see what you’re truly capable of.”

“A pathetic being like you could never comprehend my true power,” Hearts replied. “I will destroy the Omni-King with the Universal Seed, and then each of the universes!”

“You’ll have to get through us first,” Gogeta stated. “And we won’t go easy on you!”

“Come at me then,” said Hearts.

Both of them yelled and Gogeta managed to punch Hearts hard across the face. He used his arms to block Gogeta’s other attacks as Gogeta pushed him back in the air.

Hearts glanced down below him and held out his hand. The green spheres from behind him shot out in arcs. Just as the spheres were about to make impact with the Z Fighters, Gogeta teleported in front of them, dodging the spheres and swiping several away. The spheres exploded around Gogeta and smoke obscured their vision. Gogeta jumped out of the way just in time…Hearts had almost landed a hard blow on them.

“Your tricks won’t work this time, Hearts!” Gogeta called out.

Gogeta rushed off into the distance, as Hearts sent a shower of transparent cubes after them. Gogeta expertly dodged every one as they flipped and flew.

Hearts formed a large orange cube in his hands, the energy expanding more and more. Hearts yelled “Take this!” and threw the large cube at Gogeta from above. Excited about another challenge, Gogeta landed on the ground and used both hands to hold the glowing force back. Debris, dirt, and rocks blew off into the air, the ground shaking from the impact.

Gogeta’s arms started getting tired and they began to strain under the effort. They felt their body slowly inch down from the gravity. No, they couldn’t give up. They would not be crushed this time. Gogeta stood their ground, not even daring to blink. After several moments, the fusion warrior yelled and powered up into a Super Saiyan. Gogeta’s hands thrummed with blue energy, and blue cracks started to form across the orange surface of the cube. The crack increased more and more until, finally, the orange cube shattered into neon pieces. Hearts vanished before Gogeta’s attack could make impact.

Hearts appeared behind Gogeta, launching dark purple blasts, which Gogeta narrowly avoided. Gogeta swiped some of them away, being careful not to hit any of their allies. At the same moment, both of them punched each other in the guts, sending each other back with tremendous force. The impact caused the other fighters to cover their eyes from the flying dirt.

Hearts and Gogeta stood up once again. Gogeta wasted no time and launched into the air, forming a blue sphere cupped in both hands.

Hearts leapt after the fused being and formed another cube of dark destructive energy.

“Kamehameha!”

“Gravity Ultimate!”

They shot out their attacks at the same time, and the energies clashed in the sky. The purple and black energy battled the pure blue energy, each trying to push the other back.

Piccolo gasped as the black stream of energy started eating away at the blue. “This isn’t good.”

“We have to help him!” Trunks cried.

“Wait,” said 17, pointing upwards. “Gogeta’s still holding his own.”

Sure enough, Gogeta was still yelling and using their power to shove some of the dark energy away.

17 had a plan and teleported not too far away behind Hearts. He shot out several green blasts at his back…which were blocked by the green spheres shooting out. Hearts narrowed his eyes, looking at 17 from the corner of his eye.

Seizing their chance, Gogeta powered up further and pushed the blue energy further ahead. The blue sphere was now close to Heart’s face. He found himself being pushed back from the impact…being carried away by the Kamehameha. The attack exploded in the distance and the ground was split apart where the attack moved over it.

A thick cloud of smoke appeared moments later and all was silent.

Gogeta panted and then spoke in triumph.

“Ha! How was that, Hearts?”

“He did it,” breathed Trunks.

But a concerned Vegeta and Piccolo knew better than to assume victory so early. For not a minute later, Hearts rose up from the ground in the distance and flew over to Gogeta again before stopping short.

“Huh. That one actually hurt a bit.”

Everyone gasped in surprise, while Gogeta calmly stood, waiting for their enemy to make a move.

“Is that really the best you’ve got?” Hearts asked.

“Wanna find out?” Gogeta asked, powering down to base form, their hair now black. “Let’s have some more fun!”

Gogeta landed down on the ground.

“Honestly,” said Hearts with another laugh, “Do you really think you can beat me with this transformation?”

“Shall we enjoy ourselves, Hearts?” Gogeta asked.

“What are we waiting for?” Hearts replied.

Hearts then glanced over at Piccolo, 17, Hit, Jiren, and Trunks.

“You don’t understand. You’re in my way.”

He lowered his hands rapidly, palms spread out. Gravity waves shot from them and made impact with the warriors. The green orbs glowed from behind him, firing forward and exploding against the fighters in clouds of smoke.

Getting the message, the other heroes lowered themselves to the ground.

“Come at me!” Hearts yelled to Gogeta. In response, Gogeta powered up, their aura a bright blue. With a yell of two voices, Gogeta powered up further. They rose into the air, and their current form crumbled away into blue specks of energy.

Gogeta was now Super Saiyan Blue.

Gogeta rose up to Heart’s level in the air, the blue column of energy vanishing.

Hearts spread out his arms and spoke in a mocking tone, “That’s so nice. Feel free to attack.”

So that’s what Gogeta did. They rushed forward and delivered a powerful punch that caused the ground to be torn apart, rocks thrust into the air. The other warriors covered their faces as the debris flew in their direction.

Hearts had grabbed hold of Gogeta’s fist. For a moment, they were locked in another stare-down. With a smirk, Gogeta yelled again and pushed his arm forward. Hearts moved out of the way before Gogeta could reach him. Hearts was momentarily pushed back, but he soon recovered. Hearts wiped his mouth with his hand and bared his teeth. He was done fooling around. A golden aura surrounded his body as he screamed. Little transparent cubes formed around his hands, which rapidly spun around his hands and arms. It looked like Heart’s hands were inside violet twisters.

Unfazed, Gogeta smiled and signaled for him to come over.

Gogeta first dodged one of Heart’s fists, moving out of the way. Hearts turned around and tried again. His second attack missed and the wind energy spiraling toward the ground with a crash. Gogeta dodged a third attack, then a fourth. The next one blew on the surface, dangerously close to where the warriors were. Gogeta held Heart’s fist in his hand, glaring without a word. He pushed his attack forward, the cube energy blowing across Heart’s shoulders. With a pained gasp, Hearts was sent tumbling through the air.

Recovering, the villain fired energy blasts of white, purple and light blue.

SLAP, SLAP, SLAP. The three blasts were swapped away by Gogeta.

Hearts fired more blasts, but Gogeta expertly dodged them all, keeping a steady eye on his opponent. At last, Gogeta was able to land a hard hit across Heart’s face.

After being pushed back, Hearts flew forward and through Gogeta’s yellow blasts. Both of them gripped each other’s hands. In a flash, Gogeta lifted their leg and knee, and got Hearts square in the gut.

“Argh!” he cried out, spit flying from his mouth. Wincing in pain, he flew back up to Gogeta. The two men held their fists at the ready.

“You’re pretty good to be able to keep up with me,” Hearts mentioned.

Gogeta didn’t respond.

“But I don’t understand,” he continued, a crazed look in his eyes. “With that amount of power, we could even defeat the Omni-King. Join me, and let’s fight together for the true freedom of mankind!”

There was no way that Gogeta would let themselves be influenced by this powerful rebel god. Even if they did join him, they would eventually be thrown to the side when they were no longer needed. Besides…Goku’s part inside of him was pleading to not let Zeno-sama, his new buddy, be defeated. And as much as Vegeta disliked the Omni-King and the deities in general, he would do anything to not let another villain harm his family and the universe.

“You still don’t get it,” Gogeta stated. “I’m already free.”

“So much for gaining another powerful pawn,” thought Hearts.

Then, thinking of an evil idea, Hearts broke into malicious laughter. “Well, is that so? Then why don’t you try and stop this?”

He rose higher and higher into the sky. He raised his fist, which glowed with the fiery golden aura. The ground shook and the gravity held down the other warriors.

“What’s happening?” yelled Trunks.

Even Jiren wasn’t faring well against Heart’s power. He yelled as he strained to stand up. “Is he trying to destroy the planet?”

 Jiren’s question was soon answered…

Hearts lowered his arm and the clouds parted. From up in space, a giant meteor hovered ominously like a giant sun. Dark tendrils of energy slithered along the sides of the rocky surface like shadowy snakes. The waves on Earth rose and fell rapidly from the force. The meteor fell down fast, breaking the sound barrier. Then, it appeared from behind the gray clouds, descending further and further.

“What?!” Piccolo cried in shock and terror. He hadn’t witnessed anything that powerful since Super Saiyan God Goku fought Beerus. Beerus had summoned a fiery sun-like Sphere of Destruction that was similar to this attack.

Even more reminiscent, Gogeta was standing there, eerily calm, like Goku had done when faced with the Earth’s destruction by Beerus. Hit and Jiren stared skyward in shock.

Heart’s aura and spikes glowed in a bright light. The meteor glowed brighter and hotter.

“Now, disappear once and for all!” Hearts cried out, teleporting to the side out of the path of the meteor. “Disappear! Take this!”

He thrust out his hand and the meteor lowered further. Gogeta powered up once again.

“What is he planning to do?” Piccolo asked from below.

 Gogeta stood at the ready, forming a golden ki blast in their hand. The blast grew and grew, purple electricity flashing around it. Then it rapidly expanded into the size of the moon. Gogeta yelled and fired it forward. It impacted the flaming meteor and held it in place. Inch by inch, the ki blast pushed the meteor back. Debris flew around Gogeta, but the warrior remained focused. The ki blast briefly closed in and shrank, while the tendrils of electricity streaked over the scorching surface. Down below, Piccolo, 17, and Trunks watched with worry.

“He’s holding it back,” Hit commented.

“No, not yet,” Jiren replied.

“You don’t get it,” Hearts boasted from above, his aura and spikes from his back, golden. “Resistance is simply futile!”

With a yell, he lowered his arm and curled his hand into a fist. The meteor wobbled and pushed back against Gogeta’s ki blast. The ki blast vanished and the meteor slowly descended.

“Go!” Hearts cried, shooting out his hand. “This is the end!”

But it wasn’t the end for Gogeta.

“YAHHHHHHH!”

Gogeta’s bright blue aura rose higher and higher as they powered up.

“He can’t stop it?” 17 asked, concerned.

“The Earth is done for at this rate,” Trunks stated.

“We can’t let that happen!” Piccolo added.

The Namekian flew into the air.

“Piccolo!” Trunks cried, but he ignored him. Jiren and Hit also flew alongside Piccolo.

Gogeta cupped their hands, preparing Goku’s signature finishing attack:

“KA-ME-HA-ME-HAA!”

The circular blue blast shot like a cannon from Gogeta’s hands, hitting the meteor. The ground burst open below and waves crashed against the separating rocks.

Hearts moved his mouth slightly in a crazed grin. “You just don’t get it…I’m Ultimate Incarnate! I am the very Universe itself!”

Trunks was strongly reminded of Fused Zamasu.

“Hit?” Gogeta asked, as he stood beside them.

“Jiren?” Gogeta asked as Jiren took his place to Gogeta’s right.

Both warriors held out both hands. Gogeta grinned at his new backup allies. “Alright! Let’s do this!”

The three warriors yelled at the same time, yelling their signature attacks. Hit’s purple blast and Jiren’s orange blast curled around Gogeta’s blue blast, infusing it with power. Gogeta’s blast turned from blue to a much thicker column of white energy. Their combined power was enough to make Heart’s eyes go wide.

At last, large white cracks rapidly spread across the meteor’s surface until the cracks filled the whole sphere.

“What?!” Hearts gasped in disbelief.

Beams of white light shot out from the widening gaps in the rock. The meteor soon exploded into dozens of chunks. Hearts screamed and was flung back.

“Leave this to us!” called Piccolo. Piccolo, Trunks, and 17 fired ki blasts of their own, destroying the remaining debris from the meteor.

“Hearts!” Gogeta screamed, bursting through the smoke into the air.

Hearts still stood, confident as ever. “Do you guys not have any limits?” Hearts powered up as his aura turned golden. “Incredible!”

The two men yelled and charged at each other straight on. Hearts shot his fist forward, but Gogeta’s fist blocked it. Gogeta pushed their fist forward and heard the small sound of shattering.

Hearts yelped in pain and closed his eyes…his golden visors were now shattered.

Angry, Hearts turned on Gogeta, but Gogeta dodged Heart’s punch. Gogeta yelled and in their right fist formed a sphere of sparkly rainbow light. It was the same attack that Gogeta had used to defeat the demon Janemba. Gogeta’s fist landed right into Heart’s core…and the Universal Seed shattered into green-teal pieces.

 Hearts could do nothing but gasp in pained shock as Gogeta’s attack shot through Hearts and out his back. Heart’s golden spikes shattered and dissolved. Yelling in agony, Heart’s leaned back, hovering in the air, head tilted upward.

A rainbow aura formed from his body and rays of energy rose skyward from his body. Gogeta’s eyes widened as Hearts flew lower. Even as he lowered, Heart’s still smiled, his red eyes never blinking.

“Zeno could destroy the universe in a single thought. I just wanted to liberate you all from that lack of freedom. But you have shone and surpassed your limits. That’s why I adore you mortals…”

Hearts had the pompous, superior attitude the Zamasu had. Ironically enough, he looked proud in the moment…just like a Saiyan after a satisfying fight.

Hearts smiled peacefully, closed his eyes and his illuminated body vanished in sparkles.

Gogeta had saved the world.

Even the sky cleared up after the battle was over. Rays of sunlight shone from the clouds.

Back at Zeno’s palace, the Grand Priest sensed the end of the fight and the heroes’ victory.

“Well done, everyone,” he praised, before walking back inside. In the throne room, Champa and Beerus stood with their backs against the hovering marble pillars. One of the Zeno’s was on his throne, closing his eyes. The other Zeno happily floated in place.

“96…97…98…99…100,” counted the sitting Zeno. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready!” answered the second Zeno, from behind another pillar.

The first Zeno flew from the throne and soundlessly teleported around the room.

“Where are you? Where? Where?”

The second Zeno laughed and evaded his other self.

“Not there…” said the first Zeno, floating around the spacious chamber. “Where…where?”

The second Zeno appeared behind the throne, smiling.

The Grand Priest smiled genuinely. “Looks like Zeno is still immersed in hide and seek.”

 As the sun began to set, it turned the sky a brilliant beautiful orange. Gogeta stood with Jiren and Hit in midair.

“My job is done,” Hit stated.

Jiren turned to Gogeta. “If you guys can do that, why not use it during the Tournament of Power?”

“That is because…” Gogeta began before diffusing in a flash of golden light. Goku and Vegeta separated.

An annoyed look crossed Vegeta’s face. “That’s because, I never want to fuse with this guy!”

Goku merely grinned. “Then next time, I’ll deal with it myself!” He giggled. 17, Piccolo, and Trunks stood happily beside their friends, thankful to have saved Earth once more.

 Back at Fu’s lab, the scientist lounged in his revolving chair, happily. With his hands behind his head, he stared at the many screens before him.

“Hearts, thanks. The results for the Universe Creation Experiment were quite interesting.”

Fu pushed up his glasses and grinned evilly. “Now, for the next experiment…let’s begin…

[a-little-bit-colorful]

This is for @devils-deeds-23 coraline au!! I had a blast writing this! 

- 

"So... can I go see john today?" 

"Not today, no." 

Luke stopped untangling his head phones, a task he chose to keep his mind off of the pretty blue eyed boy he befriended few days ago. "Aw come on! Why not?" He threw his hands and the tangled mess down on the table, shuffling some of the papers that seemed almost torn apart from being in a cabinet for so long.  

"It's raining, there's mud. And I don't want you to slip and hurt yourself." Luke's father, Evan, said with a look of disinterest. He was a strong man and could easily take you down in a heartbeat. But he was also a softie. He took an injury a few months ago because of his profession, he was a hockey player. Key word: was, past tense. Evan had their family move all the way to North Carolina. Both of Luke's fathers were pretty well off, so he didn't really have to worry about your normal 'my family is poor' stuff. Luke really did enjoy his life... except for the fact he can't keep a good friend for more then a month. He misses their old house, the neighbors were nice, it wasn't a 'bad' part of town. His fathers didn't enjoy it as much as their son did. THEY of corse wanted to be secluded and anonymous. 

 The 14 year old sighed, giving up on untangling the wires, putting the jack into his iPod. "I'll be careful! Come on... please?" Luke begged his father. With a sigh, Luke accepted defeat. Deciding that convincing Evan was a lost cause, he came up with another idea. Of course Evan was so engrossed into doing his taxes that he didn't even notice his son slip away, a small doll in his arms. 

Walking through the hall ways, Luke found his second fathers study after awhile of roaming around aimlessly. Dathi is an author, though his husband would call him the 'dork of all dorks'. The tall Irish man sat at his desk typing away on an old computer, bags under his eyes. He seemed hard at work, but Luke could care less as he knocked on the office door. His attempt to get his fathers attention was proving fruitless when he was given a half assed reply to everything Luke said. 

 "So... can I go to the orchard?" Luke finally mused. 

"What'd the big man say?" 

"He told me to ask you!" The fourteen year old replied with a hopeful smile. "Okay, that's a lie and we both know it. Evan would never let the fate of our son rest in my arms!" He chuckled. Dathi then proceeded to go back to his work. 

Luke, still bored as ever tapped his finger to a beat on the cardboard box beside him. That beat grew to a drum solo, Luke was jamming out in no time. No one, and I mean no one, can stop that little devil when he has music on the mind. Slaps and knocks on the boxes to tiny taps and silent beat boxing under his breath. Luke almost forgot where he was, bobbing his head to the artificial beat.

It was all cut short though when Dathi groaned. "Can't you just go n unpack your stuff? I gotta finish this chapter today, or boss'll have my head! I swear I'll help ye set up your computer later. Just go n explore the house!" Dathi rambled with a tired expression. Huffing in defeat once again, Luke goes to explore the hundred year old house as his father suggested. 

Of course it didn't help that his head phones would catch on every single door knob. Or that everything in the house was so dull you couldn't even tell if the old thing had color in the first place. It was all so... old. He tried to turn his music up to drown out the sight of how boring everything was. But it only made it worse. Luke's mind drifting from the old house back in Canada, then to Jon. 

He ran the memory of meeting him through his mind. Remembering every detail. He walked out of the house to explore the property while his parents got everything situated. Luke shoved his headphones on, blasting techno through his skull. It sounded almost like a shrill screech, he was surprised he even heard it through the music. It was a cat, it was sitting on the gate that lined the pink palace. The poor thing looked almost homeless, thin body, matted fur. Even a torn ear, from what he could tell, this cat meant business.

The cat seemed to smile when Luke went up to greet him. Luke was shocked to see how friendly this cat was. The cats eyes followed his hand as he proceeded to scratch the cat behind his ear; doing his best to not mess with the small white woolen hat that hung upon the cats head. 'Weird, but cool.' Luke thought to himself. The mysterious black cat jumped down from his perch, walking into the orchard. He looked back to see if Luke was following. Luke caught on quickly and ran up to the cat, walking alongside him. Dead apples littered the floor, leaves on the verge of falling off the trees. The orchard felt as it should be a horror movie setting.

 Luke hesitantly stopped walking all of a sudden when the cat slowed to a halt. He looked up at Luke with a look of expectancy. Luke not catching onto the cats plan looked around them. To their right was a tree stump, a pretty large stump at that. Almost platform like. On top of the stump was a person. Luke's eyes followed the lean legs up to see a hockey mask. The kid looked to be around Luke's age, he wore a ragged blue hoodie. Skinny jeans hugging the boys legs perfectly. In his hands were a baseball bat, a skateboard in the other. The stance the masked boy was in looked almost majestic. Stoic even. But, little Luke was so startled by the hooded figure, he tackled him to the ground. 

The two wrestled for a bit before Luke was finally able to snatch off the hockey mask. Underneath it was blue eyes and a smile so bright Luke thought he might have gone blind. Getting out of his trance, Luke pushed the boy away. Sticking his hand out for a hand shake, "That was a bit unnecessary, I'm Luke." He seemed almost excited to meet this blue eyed creature, but you couldn't tell, with his cool kid facade n all. 

"I'm Jon! Short for Jonathan, but call me what ever you like!" Luke resisted the urge to say 'guess I'll call you mine' and gave up on the handshake. 

"I see you've already met Marcel?" 

"Who?" 

"The cat! He has a name! And feelings," Jon stated, "he's wild but, still a really cool cat. He'll come to my window at night and bring me dead things! Like this one time-" Luke didn't bother to listen in to Jonathan's story, only focusing on how excited he seemed. Or how his voice sounded so... delirious? Yeah, let's go with that. 

The two kids talked for a bit, even going so far as to wrestle for a second time. After a bit they both mutually agreed they'd become friends. You could hear a bell ring and a mans voice following suit. 

 It's been five days since that whole ordeal happened. But each would meet by the same tree stump everyday. They'd talk and play like they've know each other for years rather then days. At least until that darn bell rings and a voice calls him home. Luke learned later that the voice belonged to Jons grandpa. He always seemed to call him home at the most inconvenient of times. Luke really liked Jon, platonically of course, why would he like Jon romantically? That'd be ridiculous! 

Luke was brought back to earth by a drop of water landing on his nose. Shaking off almost all thoughts about Jonathan, he gripped the doll in his hand tighter. Luke turned up his music a bit more before moving on to the next room of the apartment. 

 The living room was nicely decorated so far. A few paintings here and there, snow globes and four trophies lined the top of the fire place. Three of them to Evan, and the other to Dathi. Luke placed the mini doll on the table. 

It was weird, the doll was an almost complete copy of himself, besides the devil horns and tail. A complete copy. The thing looked professionally made, the stitchings were neat and even. The fabric was well kept, very clean. Luke wouldn't dare say it out loud, but he appreciated the craftsmen ship. He found it on his door step one day. Jonathan left the thing wrapped in newspaper for him. It had a note attached to the package. Luke read the note, smiling at the nickname Jon gave him a few days prior. 

 Hey Toonz! found this lil guy at my house. He reminds me of you! - Jon 

Confused at first, he started to pick at the stitching. It didn't work of course, but he still tried for some reason. The doll seemed to grow on him the more he carried it around the house. Luke even took it to dinner, got the doll its own chair. Sometimes Luke would stay up and just talk with the doll. Who knew how much of a bad thing that was. 

Back in the present, Luke picked up one of the pictures above the fire place, it was a picture of Evan. Right before his injury. He smiled, this photo was the only proof he has that his father did indeed smile. His father was in his team uniform, hockey stick in hand, smile on his face. He put the picture back on the mantle. He tried looking around the room for something else interesting, coming up with nothing. He went to go grab the doll he left on the table, Luke's hand came up empty. 

 Confused as ever, he searched around the table, to see if it fell off when he didn't notice. That's when he saw it. In the corner of his eye. It was the doll. The head facing him, half of its body stuck behind a shelf. Luke moved the shelf to the side. Gathering up the doll he saw an indent in the wall. He realized it was a door. Studying the supposed key hole, he thought about getting up to find the key that opens this tiny hidden door. 

He was to lazy to actually go all the way to the kitchen to find a simple key. So he called for his dad instead. "Hey dad! Think you could get the key to this door?" 

"What door?"

Luke didn't know how to explain his predicament, so he went with a simple answer, "Just come over here!" 

Evan walked through the living room archway, his eyes wandering from his son to the impression of a hatch on the wall. "You're not going to give up till I do this for you... Fine. Just don't bother me after this." 

Luke's father sighed in exasperation. After a minute or two Evan came back with a black old time-y key in hand. Luke watched in awe as his father cut the wallpaper and stuck the key in the keyhole. Turning the mysterious key.

It opened with a click. 

 - 

 And that was part one my friends!!! This was really fun to write so, if you want to see more of this let me know!! Have a good day!

[mysidewriting]

Through the Storm

Note: Hey everyone, I don't know if this is really necessary but I will say it anyway - eventually this story has various T rated themes (I guess) such as strong language, alcohol use, and super super mild gore (basically just infers it, doesnt get descriptive). Also! Thanks for reading! I hope everyone is enjoying what I have posted so far c:

From the start --> Previous Chapter

Chapter Two

Dad was acting strange

After a week in Kanto I was well aware that he was hiding something. Every time I came back to the house he was startled and seemed ready to jump away from me. I'd seen him on the phone for hours at a time and I knew it wasn't my mother or work that was on the other end of the line.

I wanted to question him about it, but there was this uneasy feeling in my gut every time the thought crossed my mind. My own body was telling me I didn't want to know what he was up too. I had my suspicions but I hoped to Arceus they weren't true

In three days I was due in Pallet Town to meet with Professor Oak and learn about his research. Before that, I wanted to stop and see Lillie. She had picked up a side job at a convenience store a month or two ago and I vaguely knew her schedule just from our short conversations over the phone.

She was off tomorrow, if my assumptions were correct, meaning I only had to wait another twenty four hours before I saw my best friend for the first time in two years. The word excitement didn't even explain my feelings over this. I could not wait to see how much stronger she had grown while away, couldn't wait to see the Pokémon she had teamed up with.

I was even excited to see the progress her mother had made in her mental health. I wanted to know who Lusamine really was rather than have this horrid, corrupted image of her stuck in my mind. She clearly had to have some good in her if she had raised two of the most important people in my life.

The day was much more pleasant than the last time I had been out. The sun was high in the sky, dipping behind thick fluffy clouds sporadically. A pleasant breeze fluttered through the expansive meadow I was exploring, creating a smooth rolling wave through the grass and flowers. Kai and Null were leaping through the thick greenery, playfully chasing after each other and ignoring the imposing stares and chatters of the disturbed wild Pokémon underfoot.

One of the disrupted Pokémon charged at me and I quickly side stepped out of the way of the blue spiked beast. It turned as I moved and cried out at me, I released Tsunami to calm the foe before lugging a pokeball towards it. Rotom whizzed up as the ball flashed white, confirming my capture. It was a nidorina, a poison type Pokémon with considerable strength. I welcomed her to the team before recalling Tsunami and quickly catching up with my other two mons.

I decided to return to my father's earlier than I had been throughout my stay with him. The sun was only just starting to set as I opened the door to the house and I was surprised to hear two voices coming from the kitchen. The second voice, the one that did not come from my dad, was obviously a woman's. The way she giggled made my stomach churn and my heart skip a few beats.

Keeping as quiet as possible, I stalked into the kitchen. Only glancing around the corner to see who was over and why. My dad was cooking, a glass of wine in one hand and a skillet in the other. A woman dressed in a tight black dress stood next him, the hand that wasn't holding her own wine resting on my father's back. He turned to face her, planting a kiss on her lips. I slapped my hand over my mouth and slunk back to the living room.

He's having an affair?! I felt sick with hate and disdain for the man. I had thought that, although my father and mother were apart at the moment, they were doing fine. Mom always spoke fondly of him and he called rather frequently... He had always been welcome to visit, he had been invited a countless amount of times but he claimed work was holding him back. Mom... She would not handle this well. I knew she still loved him, she missed him so much and wished he was there with her in Alola almost everyday. This would wreck her poor weak heart, likely set her back with her medical issues. Stress wasn't good for a healing mind and body - that was the whole reason we had moved in the first place. I couldn't tell her... not now while I was away. But I couldn't not tell her either. I couldn't bare to let her go on thinking so highly of a cheating man.

My hands shook with rage and my eyes overflowed with tears as the woman let out another flirty giggle. I couldn't believe that my father would give into such a primitive urge... to be with another woman while the other was away. I'd always thought he was higher minded than that. But then again, who could think negatively of their father they remembered so fondly.

I can't stay here.

I rushed to my room, quickly collecting my things and shoving them into my bag. I left a note on the bed, words scribbled out in lines across the sheet of ripped notebook paper. Not knowing whether to tell him that I knew or to just leave him a goodbye. I settled with "how could you" and ran out the front door, making sure to slam it hard on my way out.

Despite my prior hesitance to ride on the back of Type:Null, the minute I was outside I called it out and hopped on it's back. I leaned into the neck of the strange beast and tried to hide my tears from the many passersby staring at my Pokémon. I told Null to just run, get out of here... I didn't care which way we went or where we ended up... I just needed to get away.

The beast seemed to understand my pain and charged out of the city at top speeds, whizzing past hordes of startled onlookers.

I need to talk to Mom, she needs to know this is happening. No. I need to talk to Lillie. She'll be more steady minded about this, she'll talk me through it. She'll help me figure out what to do.

Once out of the city I redirected Null towards Cerulean, stroking it's feathered neck and muttering my thanks. I momentarily wondered how I had gotten through day to day life without my Pokémon to keep me company and keep me safe. How anyone could manage anything without these nonjudgmental companions. My heart panged with guilt as I thought of old Brutus back at the house. I would probably never see the grey growlithe again, I should have kissed him goodbye.

The air surrounding Cerulean smelt like the river that wrapped around it, fresh and lively. The heavy pounding of Null's mismatched feet came to a stop and I slid off it's back, patting it's side and feeding it a few berries before recalling it to its ball.

The marble of the city streets reflected the brilliantly colored sky. The bright oranges and reds of the sunset danced through my vision as I wandered the neighborhoods next to the downtown shops that Cerulean was well known for. Lillie lived in a small white house with her mother, the front lawn well landscaped with the flowers Lusamine had named her children after. I searched for that house, knowing I would be able to tell which one it was with the minimal description I had received.

I found a house that matched the image I had in my head of Lillie's home. A large window in the front granted me a sneak peek into the building and I could just see a girl with long, icy blonde hair sitting at a computer desk. I grinned, it had to be her. My phone vibrated as I approached the front door, readying myself to knock and possibly explain to foreign faces that I had the wrong house. I checked my phone before doing so - Hau was video calling me, Lillie and Gladion's names on the list of others invited to the chat.

Really? Right now?

I denied the request and knocked at the door, not surprised to see it was Lusamine who answered. She looked at me blankly for a moment and I worried she hadn't heard me when I said hello. Then her face softened. "Ah, you must be one of Lillie's friends."

"Yes I am." I said, relieved to hear the words. "Is she here? I came to surprise her." The smile I pulled across my face was genuine despite the ounce of hesitance and worry resting in my gut.

The clearly changed woman nodded and invited me into the house before turning and calling for her daughter. I awkwardly stood just inside the door for a moment, looking around the rather bare house. There were few decorations and not much furniture beyond the necessities, I had expected Lillie to go crazy over decorating a house... But I suppose it was rather hard too when the main focus was on helping someone regain their mental strength.

Lillie's voice echoed from another room in response to her mother, "What's going on Mom? I'm talking with friends!" So she accepted the video call...

"Someone is here for you!" Lusamine replied with a musical lilt. I followed the older woman into a kitchen that overlooked the room Lillie was in, the girl seated at a computer.

Lillie sighed and stood from the desk, I felt my body lock up in suspense and time seemed to move much slower as I watched her turn to face the kitchen. Her bright green eyes met mine and shock plastered across her ivory face.

A moment later she charged at me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight embrace and yelling, "What are you doing here!"

I laughed and hugged her back just as tight and willingly moved with her as she hopped and spun me around with the hug. "Oh my Arceus, Moon! How did you get to Kanto?!"

She released me from the hug so I could properly reply. "I'm actually here for league stuff, but I thought I'd come and surprise you while I could."

She hopped in place again, her long hair bouncing and falling majestically across her shoulders with the movement. Her hands clasped together as she spoke, "Oh thank you thank you thank you! It's so so so nice to see you again!"

I giggled as she hugged me again. Her mother's voice sounding out over the noise of both our excitement. Both Lillie and I turned to see she was now seated at the computer talking with the two guys waiting for Lillie.

The girl ran over to attempt to pull her mother away and I burst out laughing as I saw Lillie's red cheeks. I stepped into the living room too.

"Oh but Lillie, your brother is on the screen! I want to talk to him!" Lusamine said with a tone similar to that of a grandmother.

"You can talk to him whenever you want, just not right now!" Lillie said, pausing from pulling on her mother's arms so she could rest her fists on her hips in frustration. "It's my turn to talk to him."

I covered my mouth, attempting to drown out the sound of my incessant laughter. Gladion's voice fizzled over the speakers, nearly drowned out by the sound of Hau's loud chuckles. "I can call you later, Mom." He sounded annoyed.

"Oh fine fine. I'll leave you kids too it then." Lusamine said with a dismissive wave as she stood from the desk and wandered off to another room, humming pleasantly under her breath.

I glanced to Lillie as she took the seat again, pouting dramatically at the screen before matching my gaze and waving me over. "Come talk with all of us?" She asked.

This meant I'd have to explain myself to everyone, finally. Explain that I was gone for six months... I didn't mind it, if anything it would be relieving to get it out of the way. Now that Lillie knew I was here there was no reason to not tell the others.

So I did as she asked and we both squeezed into the one computer chair, giggling as we bumped and squirmed against each other awkwardly. When I finally looked up to the computer screen both Hau and Gladion were staring at us with huge round eyes and slack jaws.

"Moon!" Hau yelled out of surprise, "what?!"

Lillie had a huge grin on her face, "She came to visit me!"

"Yeah that was part of it." I said, tilting my head to the side. "I'm technically here for work."

"What?!That's why you're 'off' but 'busy'?" Hau said, accentuating his words with air quotations. His mouth was pressed into a thin line, his annoyance with the situation rather obvious.

"Yeah." I said, dragging the word out as I wathced his face on the screen. "I'm basicaly on vacation, but also expanding my horizons as a champion." I laughed.

Lillie's eyes grew wide, "That's so cool that they let you do that!"

"I thought so too! It is cool!" I passed her a thankful smile.

"So you're just in Kanto?" Hau said, "I'm even more jealous than. I want to see Lillie!" He cried out.

Both Lillie and I laughed, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Kanto fo rnow, then the rest of the regions with professors afterwards." I said.

"You're going to every region?" Gladion scoffed, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Yeah." I was starting to feel awkward having all this attention on me, but it was necessary.

"Damn." Gladion muttered, his eyebrows rising high across his forehead.

"So when will you be back then!?" Hau called. "I wanted to go get pizza on Ula'Ula with you and Glad-boy sometimes soon." He pouted.

I watched Gladion's green eyes roll at the strange sounding way Hau said his name and I let out a nervous laugh, "well here's the crazy part... I'm spending a month in each region."

Both the guys fell silent and I felt my own mouth press out into a thin line, though it was of guilt rather than annoyance. Lillie bounced next to me, making the overcrowded chair rock with her movements.

"You get a half a year off!" She nearly yelled, the smile on her face was relieving to see. But of course she wouldn't be impacted by me being away from Alola for so long since she never saw me to begin with. It was the other two I was worried about upsetting. "That's so exciting!"

"You're gone for s-six months?" Gladion stuttered and I nodded sadly.

"How dare you." Hau grunted.

The conversation eventually moved on once Lillie explained that a trip like this was a once in a lifetime chance and it would have been wasteful to not go. After that was mostly settled we started discussing Lusamine's mental health progress.

She was no longer polluted by the ultra beast's toxins, so her sanity was back in place. They had used the famous researchist Bill's work to fix that situation and it was nice to hear that the whole ordeal was over. Lusamine was still a little lost on her place in life and didn't seem to remember anything beyond her children's faces and names. She needed constant supervision to assure she didn't accidentally harm herself and Lillie was feeling more like a nanny than a daughter. She didn't much mind though, she cared very deeply for her and wanted to get her back to her old self.

I couldn't help but notice that Gladion had basically dropped out of the conversation after remarking about me being gone for six months. Hau had become slightly less energetic and more sullen after finding out, but still acted relatively normal. I found it surprising that Gladion would be the most upset about it. I was so surprised that I refused to believe that was the actual reason he had grown so quiet. He had to have been distracted by something.

We were all on the call for an hour or so before Hau had to sign off to help Hala with getting the tauros penned in for the night. After he had left, Lillie asked Gladion if he really planned on calling their mother soon, to which he denied.

"Well then why did you say you would?" Lillie complained, huffing at him.

I sat there awkwardly, twirling a lock of hair around a finger. I didn't really want to sit and listen to them bicker about their mom, they'd done it enough times for Hau and me to realize that it was a growing issue. Considering the stuff I planned on telling Lillie about after this, though, it was only fair for me to listen to her familial issues as well.

Gladion shrugged, "To get her to leave."

"That's not nice." Lillie protested.

He sighed reclining backwards in the chair he sat in and looking away from the screen, "she won't remember anyway, Lill."

That set Lillie off and she stood from the seat, nearly knocking me over with the force. The tips of her ears were red. "Well maybe if you actually did call her, or talk to her in general, she would remember things better!" She fumed.

"You're the one who wanted to send her away in the first place, Lillie." He snapped back.

She groaned and stepped away from the computer desk, leaving the room. I watched her figure recede down a hallway as she told me to hang up and that she'd be back momentarily.

I looked back to the computer screen to see Gladion rubbing tiredly at his face, his hands dropping away after a moment and his eyes locking on mine. "Sorry." He apologized.

"It's fine." I mumbled.

He sighed frustratedly, "tell her I'm sorry too. There's no use in letting this petty argument get out of hand."

"Well you probably should talk to your mom..." I said without really thinking, then sputtering out quickly. "Not to take sides on this or anything it's just..."

"No your right." He grumbled, "I do plan on talking to her eventually, I just don't feel like speaking with the equivalent of a ninety year old woman for hours."

"I don't blame you for that." I said with a short laugh.

He simply nodded in response.

"I should go, there's some things I need to talk to Lillie about." I glanced down the hallway to see she was heading back towards the living room once again. She seemed to have calmed down a bit, her face was no longer enflamed in annoyance.

"Alright, enjoy your trip, Moon." He muttered, his voice oddly flat, before cutting the call short himself.

I closed everything off the computer before setting it to go to sleep. Lillie walked into the room and flopped onto the couch and I quickly told her that he had apologized. She brushed it off, claiming he always did but never actually attempted to solve the issue.

Moving to sit on the couch next to her, I readied myself to explain everything that had happened in the last few hours before I arrived at her house. The ball of nervous energy in my stomach tightening and expanding as my mind drifted back into thoughts of my parents. "Lillie, something crazy happened tonight and I really need to talk to you about it. I need your help."

Note...cont: So I guess I'll have to rearrange my chapters because this hella long and I still have a couple more pages left of chapter two! Haha.