#its currently trapped in my window since it flew into the screen and i was able to shut the window

[x-nephophile-x]

just gonna scream into the void real quick, brb

[aiiwa]

PRETTY IN PINK — IWAIZUMI HAJIME.

✗ REQUEST: may i request a lil text fic of yn having the most juiciest 🍑 and taking pics in her lingerie to send to her female friends so they can help pic out which one is the prettiest but she accidently sends them to her best friend and crush iwa and how that would go?????

— iwaizumi hajime.

⤷ genre: college au - fluff (?) / crack (?)

⤷ warnings: suggestive / mature themes, cursing, and a photo thirst trap photo (?), also iwa talking about masturbating over your photo

⤷ word count: 2.8k

— a/n: for my big booty anon i would sell my soul for 🍑💖

this is set in the same universe as freshman year, so feel free to give it a read if you’d like!!

life after meeting your boys had changed your daily routine in the best way. not a minute went by that wasn’t filled with the familiar craziness you had grown on.

free time was spent humouring mattsun by shifting the couches in their apartment around and engaging in a wrestling match, originally stemming from a fight the two of you had over the last slice of cake a month ago; the current score was an even tie of 14-14 though you had plans to take the lead. when it came to makki, he was more than happy to indulge on your self-care days; he’d even take part in your skincare routine, let you paint his nails, and liked it when you made smoothies to sip on while the two of you waited for your clay masks to dry. every other week was dedicated to retouching his roots with pink hair dye.

other days, you were set up on your bed; under the soft covers, stash of snacks next to you, while your laptop rested on your lap. and at exactly three a.m. you would receive an incoming call from, oikawa. since it would be three p.m. in argentina, he’d take to sitting out on his balcony, basking in the sun and interrogating you on the relationship, or lack thereof, you had with his dear iwa-chan.

speaking of sweet, gorgeous iwa - in your biased and majorly crushing opinion, hanging out with him was your favourite. though you’d never be heard saying that around anyone. just last week he’d all but solidified your love for him even more, when the two of you were up late, binge watching a new sci-fi show that caught iwa’s attention, and he got up to make you some coffee when you started to feel sleepy.

“here we go, coffee with two sugars for the pretty lady.” the warmth you felt run over your body settled before you grabbed at the steaming cup. taking a sip you realised you’d never told iwa how many sugars you preferred, and after asking him, you watched his faint blush bloom under the harsh light of the t.v. screen. “heh, i don’t know...just noticed it, i guess.”

but as much as you loved the guys, there were just some things you couldn’t do with them. things that required a strictly girls-only day out.

“what do you mean we’re not allowed to come? i wanna go to the mall too!” mattsun whines, tugging at the sleeve of your cropped, button-up sweater, while you were bent over tying your laces.

“it’s a girl’s day out, emphasis on girl.” smacking his hand away, you straighten up; sending him the look your mother gives you when you’re being difficult. “so unless your little pee-pee grew into a powerful vagina, you’ll be staying home.”

“but makki’s practically a girl too!” the couch cushion that flew into his face was true to its aim, the swift whack shutting mattsun up.

“fuck off, little dick.” makki grumbled, lanky figure draped over the couch; sans aforementioned couch cushion that was covering his face before. mattsun tried to throw the pillow back at the pink-haired boy, but it was caught with ease. “we agreed to never bring that up again.”

“yeah well, y/n’s talking about some girl-time shit, like we didn’t take her to a strip club, filled with male strippers.” mattsun sasses back, crossing his arms with a smirk. “like makki didn’t get a lap dance from that guy-”

from the corner of your eye, the bulky figure entering the room catches your attention instantly. you could never get tired of eyeing up the way his shirt stretched around his fit body, how his sleeves cut a bit into his arms and knowing he could rip them up with a flex of his biceps. watching him walk up to you, the tightening of his navy blue gym shorts around his shaped thighs, had you mesmerised; dragging your gaze across the outline of his bulge, you swore it twitched just before he stopped near you.

“ready to go, y/n?” he offered a small smile, twirling his keys around his finger. at the sound of his voice, the other two boys halted their bickering over the strip club incident.

“oi iwa, no fair, are you going with y/n?!” mattsun interrogates, thick brows arched in question.

“i’m dropping her off.”

“oh.” makki chimes in. “out of everyone i thought you would be the one with the most complaints, iwa. just the other day when the two of you were together, i wanted to ask y/n for help with my project but you-”

“yeah, yeah that was the other day.” iwa cuts him off, and you couldn’t help but furrow your brows, wanting to know what makki was going to say. oh well, you’ll just get it out of him after. “c’mon y/n, you’ll be late meeting the girls.”

iwa was on his way to the front door when makki asked you what was so different about this trip to the mall that you didn’t want any of the boys to come along.

“i’m going to buy new lingerie, and i need their opinions.” you shrugged, grabbing your hand bag so you could follow iwa out.

busy with shoving your phone into your purse, and checking you had all of your essentials, you failed to notice the scheming look shared between mattsun and makki. or how iwa stood frozen by the door, hand tightly gripping the handle, until you bumped into his warm back.

“lingerie...hm, i wonder for who?”

at makki’s words you felt heat rise up in your face, as you rubbed at your nose.

“y/n~! you could’ve just asked me to come along! i would love to give my opinion!”

you’d never seen keys flying so fast through the air, finding their mark on mattsun’s forehead.

after spending twenty minutes pressing an ice pack to the growing bump on mattsun’s forehead, and listening to him trying to explain to an irritated iwa that he was just playing around; you’d finally left the apartment, and was nearing the bustling shopping district. iwa had been quiet, though not awkward, with only the mellow songs of his playlist, named after you, playing during the short drive. he flicked his indicator on, spotting the two girls waving at you from the sidewalk, and pulled over to the side.

“thanks for the ride, iwa.” you mumbled distractedly, admiring the veins in his tanned arm as he shifted the gear into park.

“anything for my pretty lady.” iwa lifts the corner of his mouth up into a sweet grin, olive green eyes flitting over you next to him. he doesn’t even realise he’d called you his pretty lady, and you press a hand to your heated cheek; ignoring your friends cooing and pointing at the two of you. “do you need some money? are you gonna be warm?” he leans closer to you, putting his arm behind your seat as he searches through his gym back in the back. the intoxicating smell of his cinnamon cologne invades your senses. “i’ll give you my jacket, just let me find it.”

you couldn’t help but chuckle at his antics, grabbing his bicep to stop him, giving it a firm, very self-indulgent squeeze. “iwa.” you called out to him. he turned to look at you, wide eyed and so fucking adorable. “you’re acting like my mom.” 

his handsome features relaxed as he released an airy laugh. “well i love your mom, so i’m fine with that.” he pulled his arm from behind you, jacket in his grip, though not in a way to make you let go of his arm.

“i still can’t believe she messages you to make sure i’m eating right.” you groaned, still squeezing his arm playfully. “and stop trying to give me money, it’s like you want to be my sugar daddy or something.”

iwa’s arm tenses under your touch as he processes your words. “alright, time for you to go.” you manage to catch the bright blush dusting his cheeks; your hand reaching out to pinch them yet all you feel is the material of his jacket as he shoves it into your arms. “get out, your friends are waiting for you.”

you pout at his dismissal; but with the way he was so flustered, scratching the back of his neck and hiding his pretty eyes, you decide to let him off easy 

“‘kay, fine~” you drawled in a sing-song voice.

making a show of collecting your things together, you dramatically tugged your seat belt loose; reaching for the door but halting in your actions when the weight of his large hand, dropped on top of your head. allowing him to angle your head to face him, he gifted you with a soft smile that had you ready to melt into the passenger seat. 

“be safe, alright?” your eyes blinked with each gentle pat on your head - once, twice, thrice - most likely ruffling your hair you’d spent a good amount of time on. “now go, text me and i’ll pick you up later.”

puffing your cheeks, you nodded as he squeezed your scalp affectionately. unlocking the door, you stepped outside into the cool air, wrapping iwa’s big jacket over your shoulders as goosebumps rose underneath the thin material of your sweater. bumping the door closed with your hip, you bent at the waist and stuck your head through the open window 

“bye, iwa.” your lips pressed together in a shy smile.

he mirrored your smile. “see you later, pretty lady.”

walking away, tugging the collar of his jacket closer, you could feel his eyes following after you. only half-listening as the girls teased you, hooking their arms through yours to walk through the entrance of the mall; you glanced back once more to see iwa stick a hand out and wave, before driving off once you disappeared from his view.

steam whirled up and around iwa, as a contented sigh escaped his parted lips. stood underneath the spray of warm water, he felt the tension begin to evaporate from his taut muscles 

iwa’s gym sessions, as of late, had been rather extreme. well, it had been this way for a couple of months now, ever since he had met you. he had to overwork his body, send it into overdrive and power through the fatigue - it was the only way to release some of his pent up frustration. the frustration that came with crushing on you, and not acting on it.

you were so fucking gorgeous to him, and you were so damn sweet. every part of his being was steadily entangling itself around your presence, and he had no idea how to stop it. not that he would even want to try. when you were nearby, his ears would begin to twitch at the sound of your voice, searching for you; and when you touched him, wrapping your delicate fingers around his arm to steady yourself, or poking your fingers at his back absentmindedly while teasing his roommates, he could feel his skin tingle all over. but it was when you would look up at him, sparkles in your beautiful eyes, that iwa knew he was a goner.

you had him wrapped around your pretty little finger, and he just wanted to make you his. have you in his arms…and bury himself so deep inside you-

“fuck.”

he shut off the shower with a bit more force than necessary. this was exactly the reason why he’d been visiting the gym more, working out for longer, because his mind was plagued with thoughts of you under him.

especially after seeing you in your cute outfit today. he feared that you’d catch his eyes lingering too long on the exposed skin of your tummy, or trying to memorise the curve of your lush thighs in those jeans. hell, he could barely say anything to you on the drive to the mall, tongue running dry with you so close to him.

with a huff, he carefully stepped out of the shower; wrapping his fully white towel around his hips, and moving into his room. kicking the door closed behind him, he made his way towards his side table just in time for his phone to go off.

grabbing the device and waiting a second for the facial recognition to process; he was surprised to see it was an instagram notification from you. expecting another food porn post, he was dead wrong; with absolutely nothing that could’ve prepared him for what greeted his eyes.

“holy,” he collapsed onto his bed, holding his phone to his face. “fuck.”

you...you-

“fuck!” he growled out.

you’d sent him a photo in your new lingerie, albeit it was most likely by accident, but there you were modelling your new all-pink set. the one he had 'chosen’.

with your arms raised above your head, brushing your hair over your shoulders, the stretched out pose accentuated the curve of your breasts, almost spilling out from the strapped confines of your bra. could he even call it that? it was all studded belt straps and buckles, that matched the thick choker-collar around your lithe neck, and it was not helping his current situation. grazing his eyes lower, a thin belt was clipped around your waist, before a sliver of skin lead downwards to the skinny, almost sheer, material of your panties. it was high waisted, dipping behind your wide hips and the teasing curve of your ass. and then your thighs, fuck how he wanted his face to be squeezed between them. thigh-high stockings dug into your plush thighs, squished out from the way you were sitting on your rug.

leaning back onto his bed, iwa was tempted to check if his heart was still beating, if he was even breathing at this point. but he did check, and he was alive; and the blood circulating his body was currently flowing straight to his groin.

the sight of you, so fucking pretty in pink, was burned into his mind forever.

under his palms the prickling sensation spread across his fingers, itching to relieve himself. one hand trailed across the panes of his abdomen, while the other grabbed at his phone; though it almost went flying out of his hand when it started vibrating and your contact photo flashed on his screen.

“shit.” he cursed, clearing his throat and trying to even out his breathing. he accepted the call after a moment. “hello?”

“iwa?!” at the sound of your voice he could feel his dick twitch, and he clenched his teeth together; annoyed at himself. he needed to get a grip. “oh my god, iwa, i am so sorry!”

‘no, i’m sorry that i want to fuck you so bad right now.’ is what he wants to say. “it’s...fine, y/n.” is what he manages to get out.

he hears you chuckle a bit awkwardly on the other end of the line. “shit, i’m so embarrassed right now.” you confess. “i meant to send that to the girls…”

“you don’t have to be embarrassed.” if anyone was to embarrassed it was him. he’d spent months pining after you, and now here he was lying on his bed aching to touch himself to you, towel fisted in his free hand. “you’re beautiful, y/n.” at least that managed to come out right.

“thank you, iwa...i only realised what happened when i was about to send another showing the back!” you laughing at your antics fell deaf on his ears, when the thought of your ass seized control of his mind.

how often had he admired the shape of you the past few months. daydreaming of the way you’d feel in his big hands, silky skin dug into by his long fingers, cheeks jutting out between them. he wanted to hold your ass in the palms of his hands, squeeze and tease you...his hips buck up, grinding against the cotton of the towel and a loud groan escapes his mouth.

“oh- iwa? are you okay?” you asked him, so innocently. he couldn’t take it anymore.

“i’m good...i just- something’s come up,” he hissed out, glancing down at the red tip of his cock peeping up at him. “i’ll call you later.”

“oh, of course! sorry again iwa, hehe, i’ll delete the photo. talk soon!”

his eyes shut at the sound of your giggle, free hand already rubbing himself. “bye.”

ending the call and moving the phone away from his face, he stared at the photo again, thumb hovering over the ‘save’ option, before pressing yes. he’d keep it locked away just for him, a treasured piece of you in his gallery. starting to stroke himself to your perfect body, he waited for the notification that you had deleted the photo from the conversation.

but it never came, though he did, and the photo remained buried under new food posts sent from you.

yet it wasn’t til a few weeks after that iwa began to think that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t as much of an accident as you made it out to be.

© 2020 AIIWA. please do not copy, modify or repost my work.

[skybiome]

Left Behind

for @mine-sara-sp‘s shadow au. specifically, the au of the au because we’ve started rabbit holeing

warning: xisuma thanos snaps the shadows

part 2

Murmur wasn’t sure where Mumbo had gone. He wasn’t sure where any of the players had gone. For a week they had said things like "leaving" and "new season".

The shadow wasn't quite sure what that entailed, but about two weeks ago, all of the hermits had gathered around a special nether portal that Xisuma had made. All of them had waved goodbye to the gathered shadows and walked through the portal. Murmur’s summoner was one of the last ones few and told the shadow that he would see him soon.

Murmur was doing his best to keep up hope, but none of the shadows had seen any of the hermits in the full two weeks since they’d left. And a lot had happened without them.

Jigsaw had tried to mess with Apex and gotten himself killed. Apex had then tried to fight Killjoy and gotten killed. Keloid, Avarice, and Paladin had gone through almost everyone’s bases at this point and stolen any riches they could find. Trigger had wired the entirety of the shopping district and Hermitville with redstone traps. Solo had claimed the abandoned hippie compound as his own, and Shadoc was shaking up with Gleam and Clamor. 

The shadow that Murmur honestly saw the most of was Admin. With Xisuma gone, Admin was the only one who had any access to commands. Occasionally, the shadow would join Murmur at the foot of the nether portal and mess with console screens. 

Admin seemed especially partial to “the rubber ducky method”, as Mumbo has once explained to him. The shadow would explain whatever it was doing to Murmur, in an attempt to work out the kinks in its current project. That project being away to bring back the shadow’s that had been killed. 

Two weeks in an Admin still had made zero progress. It had figured out how to change game modes though. The shadow of X could normally be found either at the steps of the season portal or sitting inside the shadow temple trying to bring back the lost shadows.

For the whole two weeks, Murmur had stayed near the portal, rarely venturing out of eyeshot in case one of the hermits came through it. And today seemed to be his lucky day.

Murmur was sitting at the steps of the portal, petting a rabbit he had managed to befriend during the lonely two weeks. Behind him, the season portal made an especially loud noise and the rabbit bolted into the tall grass. 

The shadow looked behind him and saw Xisuma walk out of the portal. The helmeted man waved a hand in front of himself and a floating, semi-transparent screen appeared. He typed something into a bar at the bottom and tapped the screen, causing the text to disappear. Admin had once explained that those screens could only be pulled up by an admin.

“Murmur do you know where Shadoc is?” He seemed to be in a hurry. He typed something else into the console, then highlighted and deleted it. 

All Murmur could say was, “Gleam.”

X thought for a second and then spoke to himself. “Gleam, that’s Keralis’s.” It looked like Admin got his rubber ducky solution from someone. The admin then looked back at Murmur. “Is he in the new village?”

Murmur nodded. 

Xisuma said a quick thanks before lifting off the ground and heading towards New Hermitville. Murmur watched the admin disappear into the distance. He then turned his attention back to trying to find where his bunny friend had gone. Whatever Xisuma was doing, he probably could do anything about it.

A few minutes later Admin landed beside the portal and Murmur pointed him in the direction X had gone.

—

Xisuma touched down in the middle of the village. Almost immediately, Gleam came out of one of the houses and started walking towards the admin. 

“Gleam, I know that this is a no-fly zone. Right now, I need to know where Shadoc is.”

Gleam just looked at Xisuma, placed one hand on its hip and held the other out to Xisuma. 

X verbally sighed and pulled up the creative inventory. He grabbed a stack of diamond blocks and handed them to the shadow. Gleam’s eyes lit up even brighter than normal and it gladly took that diamonds from Xisuma. It mumbled something about “the iron skeleton” before running towards Hermitland.

The admin was genuinely surprised that the cache in Run hadn’t run dry already. Unless Killshot was restocking it when it got bored. Either way, Xisuma ran to where Bdubs’s iron golem skeleton rested. 

It was easy to spot the shadow standing beside the massive skull. Xisuma walked through the grass, making sure that Shadoc heard his approach. It worked and Shadoc turned to look at the admin.

X pulled his helmet off and tucked it under his arm. He came to stand beside the shadow. They stood for a few moments before Shadoc spoke up.

“What brings you to our lovely server?”

Xisuma chuckled slightly at Shadoc’s sarcasm. “We miss you guys.”

“Then you shouldn’t have left.” 

“We had to go. We’d already been on this server for far too long.”

“Things were getting unstable?"

Xisuma chuckled, "That's putting it mildly." When changing servers X normally tried to give at least a month's notice. He had been so caught up with all the issues with the shadow update that he had barely been able to give the hermits a week's notice. "We thought that you guys would come with us, that we could resummon you guys in season 7."

Shadoc was quiet for a moment. "What happened when you tried to summon us?"

"Everybody had new shadows."

The shadow made an agreeing noise. 

"So are we just getting tossed aside for the newer, shinier versions of us?"

Xisuma turned to look at Shadoc.

“Do you really have that little faith in us?”

Shadoc shrugged.

“You all just seemed so eager to leave us behind.”

“Because we planned on everyone coming with us. A day’s barely gone by without Mumbo, Doc, Joe, or someone else asking if I’d finished the temple. And now that it is, I can bring all of you to the new server…”

“Why am I sensing a but after that?”

“In order to get the shadows to the new server, you need to die here first."

Shadoc didn’t say anything. When Xisuma finally turned to look at him, the shadow was sitting on the ground. He was messing with a flower and staring past it. Xisuma lowered himself to the ground beside Shadoc and set his helmet on the side of him. For a moment, he reached to set a hand on the shadow’s shoulder, but thought better and retracted it. 

“I have a way to kill everyone at once.” The admin grimaced at the morbidity of the sentence. “Then you can be resummoned in the new season.”

The shadow picked the flower from the ground. 

“Will it hurt?”

“For a split second.” Xisuma held up a hand and snapped. “Then you’ll be in the new season.”

“How do you know it will work? That we won’t be gone forever?”

“Because there’s already a few shadows from here that are there already. Even when I’m not in the server, I can see the console logs.” Xisuma waved a hand in front of him and pulled up one of the logs. 

“Since all of the hermits have left, not much goes on in the console, but with the shadows being special mobs, the console tells when they die.”

The admin pointed towards a specific line of text. Shadoc leaned in closer to read it. 

{Grian’s shadow was killed by Biffa2001’s shadow}

X scrolled through the logs some more and pointed to another line of text.

{Biffa2001’s shadow was killed by joehillssays’s shadow}

Xisuma swiped a hand through the floating screen, collapsing it so that only the bar to enter commands appeared. 

“They’re already causing chaos with the new shadows. And the friendly shadows can’t wait to meet everyone.” Xisuma was mostly speaking about Joyful, but he was certain that the more shadows would at least be curious about the season 6 shadows.

“How would you…” Shadoc couldn’t bring himself to say “kill me”, so he simply lifted a hand and mimicked Xisuma’s snapping motion. 

A sad smile appeared on Xisuma’s face. He turned back to the console window and pasted in a command.

/kill @e[type=Shadow] 

“This will kill all shadows on the server at once.”

“And you’re sure that everyone will be on the new server?”

“I’m certain.” Xisuma didn’t like how unperturbed Shadoc seemed about everything and he knew it was something that he should be worried about, but right now, he just needed to get this done.

Xisuma reached forwards to enter the command. Shadoc watched the entire motion. X was centimeters from tapping to screen to enter the command when Admin crashed into the ground. He righted himself and turned towards his summoner.

“XISUMA! WHERE’S MY BROTHER?” He sounded pissed.

Shadoc was pulled from his daze at the interjection but Xisuma didn’t pause. He reached forward and entered the command.

In the corner of his eye, Xisuma saw his shadow freeze for a moment, before collapsing and leaving behind a very familiar inventory. X’s attention was focused on the shadow beside him though.

Shadoc was still holding the flower when he disappeared into a fuzz of yellow particles. Xisuma took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. The difficult part was done. Now he just needed to go back to season 7 and tell everyone they could resummon their shadows. But there was something he wanted to do first.

Xisuma put his helmet back on and carefully sifted through the contents of Shadoc’s inventory and held onto two things: the flower and his trident. The admin flew back to the portal and touched down in the field surrounding it. A little way in the distance, he could see a pile of items that he assumed had belonged to Murmur.

In front of the steps to the portal, Xisuma placed a pillar of spruce planks three blocks tall. He set an item frame on the top block. Inside of it he put Shadoc’s trident and was sure to align it vertically.

On the second block be placed an oak sign and wrote a brief message on it.

“A toast to this season and many more. Family is always stronger together.”

In front of the lowest block, X planted the flower.

He stepped back from the small monument and looked at it for a moment. Then, he climbed the steps to stand beside the lit portal. The admin took off his helmet to look at the server unobstructed. The portal had been built within earshot of Hermitville and Xisuma could see everything that had been built in the new area.

The build off was easily seen, towering above the tree line. Wel’s mansion and the church were also visible. Further off in the distance, X could see the edges of Hermitland. He could also see the faint silhouettes of the Area 77 planes through the clouds.

The admin rested his hand on the obsidian frame for a moment before stepping it to the shimmering portal.

[programaticallydelicious]

Stardust Racing - The Sol 1000

I looked to the distance, beyond a field of ice, obstacles, and debris. The pale blue of live jumpgates glimmered through the gaps, shadows dancing across the wastes behind the larger objects in our path. Beyond even that, the dim red glow of an interdiction field marked the edges of our track.

Tabbing my throttle forward, I felt the low rumble as my thrusters tightened from a pale red cloud to a brilliant white pinprick. My ship moved forward slightly, locked in place by the station’s massive tractor array. Above and below, side to side, I saw light flare into life as a thousand others did the same.

Begin in three.

The pinpricks of light stretched out behind our ships, eager to fling us from the station’s tyrannical grasp.

Two.

All around me, thrusters and skip drives and more bloomed into a prismatic, disorienting field of raw light and color.

One.

Swirling clouds of dust and mist dimmed our vision as the station’s own thrusters kicked in, their brilliant light dimming even our army of tiny stars by comparison.

Go!

Sudden force pressed me back into my seat as the station’s tractor array’s reversed their pull into a push, tossing us beyond the start line and into the race. I dragged my stick to the side, going into a hard spin as I bobbed and weaved through the initial rush, gunning it towards the first round of glowing objects ahead of us.

As they came into focus, I pulled back hard on my stick and put my throttle to full, reversing my ship entirely as it picked up the glowing box I had been aiming for. As soon as the light blinked on, I smashed a button down, and my viewscreen dimmed as the explosions began to fill the field around me. Pushing the stick forward again, I spun and started screamed across the field at a diagonal, searching for what I saw as I waited at the start.

One moment, two, three, there! A shadow passed over me and I tabbed my throttle back up to full. Ahead, a series of rings floating between the obstacles. First, the violet. My ship bounded forward, pressing my back into my seat yet again.

Then, the indigo. My shields flickered to life as flecks of ice impacted them with enough force to punch a hole through my armor.

Blue. My viewscreen dimmed as my shielding flared, brilliant white flashes going off like popcorn.

Green! The screen flipped to an overhead view from spectating cameras beyond the interdiction field.

Yellow, then orange. Red! I rocketed beyond the edge of the ice field, a brilliant white comet of shielding bleeding off behind me. Ahead, the pale blue glow of the first set of jumpgates began to surround me, to draw me in.

Behind me, their blue glow faded and vanished. The ice and dust were gone, and I spun and laid on my boosters hard as the walls of an abandoned station closed in around me. I flipped a switch and my lights came on, followed by the green lines of a scan map in the corner of my viewscreen.

Dots flickered to life as more ships fell through the blue, explosions following in their wake. I stared at the green labyrinth for a moment, twisted my ship, and rocketed down a corridor. Blinding white followed behind and to the side as others traced their own paths.

Spinning hard to take a sharp corner or three, I left trails of glowing red in my wake, the old deck plating of the station objecting to the heat of my thrusters as I bobbed and wove through the maze of corridors, rooms, and breaches left by old players in bygone races.

Ahead, a rapidly shifting rainbow of light. Behind, traps laid for anyone with the misfortune of taking my path. A thin wall here, a brittle window and glittering shards of glass there. Scraps of fabric vanishing in a barely visible glow, debris swirling in the wake of my passing.

And then I saw it. The old residential deck fell away behind me, and ahead I could see the core of the station. My thrusters burned into a white streak as I sped down the freight line toward the docks. Behind me, ahead of me, all around lights flickered and converged as others found their way.

And the blue called out to us as we once again vanished into its folds. The blue glow faded behind, but stayed ahead.

Midnight surrounded us as my thrusters burned white and trails of bubbles marked our passage. Rainbows glimmered as they were snatched up and used, explosions rocking the entire field while shields flickered and fought the water.

We were tossed and turned by the currents of our own passage, the water itself rejecting our presence, our speed an insult to its implacable, unending stillness.

A field of rings ahead of us, surrounding us. Violet first, then indigo. Blue, then green. Yellow, orange, red! Shields flared as water frothed and boiled, and the pale blue of the gate beckoned as it vanished behind.

Ahead of me, an endless storm raged. It cared little for me or the the ships bluing into existence around me. It cared little for anything but its endless war with itself and those like it.

We dove into the buffeting winds and caustic clouds, moving as much by the will of the storm as by the thrusters long since left on maximum. To my left a bolt of lightning flashed, a chain of ships taken as a shortcut from from nothing to nowhere. A series of explosions and emerald flashes.

The storm raged on, and we were simply toys and tools for its unending battles as we flew deeper and deeper. It pressed in on us, each gust stronger than the last. Each gust more substantial.

Lightning and thunder, scalding rain and burning heat. And ahead the blue beckoned yet again. Behind, it vanished as my screens went dark.

My shields burned and roiled as an overhead view showed on my darkened screens. Below, a swirling mass of white exploded outward, my ship fighting against the wrathful pull of magnetic storms beyond its meagre protections.

Around me columns of plasma made the inscrutable will of an existence beyond mine known, as its fury at our intrusion tore away at our pitiable and worthless shields. My thrusters invisible in the light of the star below me, I put them on full and dashed toward the gate marked in the distance.

Sol’s unending scream of rage battered at my ship as the blue guided me from his grasp. Behind us it faded, empty rings shrinking into the distance. Ahead of me was a field of debris, broken ships and unending motion.

As I dove into the field toward the blue in the distance, red lenses spun and focused. Gears turned and turrets aimed. I tabbed my throttle erratically, bobbing and weaving and changing speed around shrapnel and debris that ebbed and flowed with the endless tides of an unending battle from a war long concluded.

Another ship flashed into view before taking a shot meant for me. I dove through as the green flash that saved its pilot faded, using the rapidly expanding cloud as a short term cover. Bobbing and weaving, bouncing to and fro, I danced with the explosions and ordnance. Picking up a rainbow here, a prism there.

For a moment, I slowed. I lined up my view, redlined my engines, and smashed the brightly colored button yet again. A disorienting wave of nausea hit me, and I went from here to there, the cargo door of a cored and listless battleship drifting in my place.

I spun my ship and bolted down the broken center as bars of light shone through the rips and tears in its ancient hull. My shield glittered white as I trailed swirls of glimmering red specks in my wake, the motes and dust of a war that can never truly cease.

Then I was through, and the blue of the final gate drew us in. The finish line fell behind us, the few pilots to finish the Sol 1000 this year.

[minimin1993]

S/M 35 & B/L 30

Warning: BuckLin?

The next few months flew by, Sebastian and Min had been exploring their ‘Relationship’ in lots of ways where there friends all start to question if they were actually together or not. The pair just shrugs it off and says they are just friends but none of their friends were buying it especially when they are literally always together either in Los Angeles or New York, even to the point where they have each others clothes in their closets.

Their publicist were having a field day with the pairs relationship because there was always pictures of them together either just going on morning runs, workout at gyms, out to breakfast, lunch, dinner, to vacations together. So they decided to play it to their hand saying they were just best friends and fans all around are going crazy about it shipping BuckLin everywhere. 

 They were currently on the press tour for Captain America Civil War and the pair are always doing interviews together fueling the fans. 

“So we are here today with our favorite onscreen Marvel couple, Sebastian Stan and MinYoung Tudor, how are you guys today?” 

“Hi there, we are doing great actually. Quite excited for you to watch the movie.” Min said 

“In the trailer it looks like you guys are going to have more BuckLin scenes, is that true?” 

“Yes, in the movie there will be a few BuckLin scene.” Sebastian answered.

“You guys chemistry on screen is just as great off screen. So fans out there have been wondering has BuckLin dynamic leaked out to real life as well since there have been lots of picture of you guys together lately.” The interviewers ask making the pair laugh.

“I told you this question is one of the hottest questions this press tour.” Min said nudging Sebastian playfully. 

“No Min and I are not together. We are best friends actually who enjoys each other company hence all the pictures of us together.” 

“Ouch I think you both just broke a lot of hearts just now.” 

“I doubt it, I think if news of Sebastian Stan is no longer single then there will be a lot more broken hearts.” Min answered winking at the camera. 

  After Steve dropped his shield helping Bucky and Linda out of the base they were confronted by T’Challa who apologized for his actions, knowing now that Bucky wasn’t the one who killed his father and offered Wakanda as a safe Haven for them. 

  “She is going to be fine, you need your rest.” Steve said to Bucky who was watching Shuri and the team examine Linda through the window. 

“I can’t lose her Stevie. I just got her back.” Bucky said painfully. 

“I know, Linda is strong she will be fine.” Steve said before Shuri comes out with a frustrated scowl on her face. 

“She is in a comatose like state, I can’t pinpoint exactly what because technically she isn’t exactly human but her brain function is still there and nothing inside her is wrong. I think we should just give her time to wake up on her own I guess.” Shuri said with an apologetic look on her face. “Are you sure you want to go through with the Cryo Sergeant Barnes?”

“My mind is not safe, until you find a way to remove the words out of my mind I am not safe anywhere.” Bucky said. 

“What if Linda wakes up?” Steve asks. 

“Then I hope she will understand my decision on keeping her and everyone safe. I know she will be under great care and have you with her.” Bucky answers Steve while touching her face with a sad smile. “Please don’t be mad at me my love.” He said giving her forehead a longing kiss before Shuri and her team hooks him up in the machine. 

  A month later Shuri was in her lab working on the solution to help Bucky remove his trigger words when Linda room starts to buzz on her Kimoyo beads causing her to rush over to her room only to run right into Steve who was already there.

“Did you trigger anything?” Shuri asks Steve. 

“No, I thought you did.” Steve said punching in the code to her room. When they door opens Linda was sitting on her bed with her head down. 

“Linda?” Steve asks cautiously walking toward her, when she lifted her head up he stopped in his tracks seeing her stare back at him with black eyes. 

“Steve. I can’t feel Linda.” Luna answered obviously crying. “I can’t feel her anymore.” 

Steve approaches the crying girl hugging her tightly into his chest not knowing how to comprehend the feeling of his lost friend. 

“What am I going to tell James?” She whispers into his chest feeling him flinch. “Steve wheres James?” Luna asks only to have him pull away to look at her with a sad look on his face until Shuri spoke up. 

“Sergeant Barnes requested to be put back into Cryo until I am able to help remove his trigger words and hoped you would respect his decision.” 

“I want to see him.” Luna said ripping the IVs attached to her body. 

“Hey don’t do that.” Shuri said frustrated trying to stop her. 

“Take me to see James.” Luna said radiating her energy to the things around her to float. 

“Luna calm down, I will take you to see Bucky.” Steve said calming her down bringing her over to Bucky's pod. 

Steve and Shuri watches Luna approach the pod slowly lifting her hand up to touch the glass near his face before closing her eyes resting her head on the glass as tears slowly falls. 

“I am sorry, I can’t save her.” Luna whispered. “How long has he been in here?” 

“Sergeant Barnes has been in Cryo for about a month.” Shuri said.

“Thank you for keeping him safe Princess Shuri, I am sorry for my episode before. I just need to see him, he is my anchor here.” Luna said bowing to Shuri. 

“No need to bow, I am surprised you know who I am.” 

 “I am Luna Raforkun born over a thousand years ago, I know many things.” Luna answered before looking over at Steve.  

“So you can’t feel her anymore?” Steve asked. 

“When she fought Tony that day, she generated so much power by herself, she couldn’t handle it. I tried to help her but she stopped me.” Luna said shaking her head as tears continue to fall. Steve tried to approach her but she steps back. 

“I was supposed to protect her but I failed you, I failed James, I failed Linda. I don’t deserve you.” Luna said looking back at Bucky peaceful face. 

“Don’t say that, we will figure this out.” Steve said approaching her again hugging her into his chest. 

“Captain Rogers is right Luna, we will figure this out. We will help Sergeant Barnes and bring Linda back.” Shuri said confidently. 

“How are you so sure you can do that?” Luna asks.

“So I was in the final stages of figuring out how to remove Sergeant Barnes words before you decided to make an appearance. Plus when you were out we received a letter addressed to you. Captain Rogers insisted on it being an invasion of privacy but this is my lab, so my rules I opened it. I think you would find the letter to be helpful.” Shuri said opening her cabinet pulling out the letter and a small package handing it to Luna. 

“I tried to stop her but she is consistent in opening it.” Steve commented.

“Yeah but I was quite disappointed when I did because I can’t seem to figure out the language it is written in.” Shuri admitted making Steve smirk at her. “Oh rub that smirk of your face. At least I know it's not a bomb or something.”  

“The reason why you can’t figure out the language its written in because its written in a language only your soul bond can understand.” Luna said softly looking at the letter. 

  Dear my love Luna, 

Right now you are confused on why I have written you this letter, I know you have lost your connection with Linda but I promise you she is still in there. She right now is trapped within yourself, almost like a protective bubble, and the only way for her to be free is through your both mutual love for James Buchanan Barnes. If he loves you like he claims he does then there is only one way for you to bring Linda back. You have to soul bond with him like how you once were with me. Inside the package is the crystals you will need, he is the only one that can help you set free Linda because he is the one that shares that connection deeply with her. However, if he doesn’t love you like he claims then you already know the result of what happens when you soul bond with someone who doesn’t truly love you. I hope this will help you my love. I wish you all the happiness in your life and if James is the one to do it then I hope you two the best because no matter what you say or do I will always love you.

Forever yours Loki. 

“What did the letter say?” Steve asks knowing who it was from.

“It lets me know how I can bring Linda back.” Luna said.

“Thats great news how do we do it.” Shuri said excitedly. 

“Through the person who has a strong connection with Linda.” Luna said looking over to Bucky pod with a sad smile on her face. 

“Why aren’t you happy?” Steve asks confused. 

“Because in order to bring her back we have to soul bond with James.” 

“And?” 

“What if he doesn’t want to soul bond with me?” 

“Luna, is that even a question? Bucky loved you since he practically met you, he will be stoked to soul bond with you and whatever it entitles.” Steve said. 

“Because he loved Linda, how do you know if he loves me too?” 

“Then there is only one way to find out. Now let me get back to work finishing this trigger word 2.0 remover.” Shuri said earning a weird look from Luna and Steve. “What? I haven’t had time to create a name for it yet.” 

[thegnasticious]

Enlevé

Life as I know it

is a sequence of places overlapped and intersected one after another.

Somewhere in-between there is a function of time and years, slowly breaking the proverbial clock’s gears.

That last night at home,

is what I remember most.

I laid holding her, watching the Tele’, Emiline was her name. I watched her from the corner of my eye as she slept, slow rise and slow fade with each breath. The serenity around her was like nothing I ever felt, almost trance-like. 

This is one of the many reasons she was special to me.

At our feet was our dog, Bowie. A slightly portly Albino Beagle. Strange snores and huffs came from him. I felt my self drifting off into a haze as a noise sounded from the TV.

A storm alert starting running on the bottom of the screen it read,

“Severe Tornado with damaging winds in excess of 130 miles per hour, moving across Kankakee and Dekalb counties at approximately 1:33 a.m.,

Please seek shelter in the lowest part of your house, away from windows”,

I brushed Bowie off my feet and slid from Emiline. As I approached the front window, I felt the house tighten as a strong wind gusted outside. I didn't remember hearing anything about a storm. I looked out the front window to see the trees outside beginning to thrash with the rising winds. The clouds above lit with strange green and yellow lights, a strong red light bursted behind. I immediately went back to the room to find Emiline awake now, holding Bowie.

“Did you see this?”, she asked, rain started panging against the roof.

“Yes, the alarm woke me up, it said we should get to the basement immediately”, I said.

Another strong wind gusted and something batted hard against the house.

A bright yellow light lit through the room window, the power in the house blew out. 

I reached out in the dark for Emiline and felt her hand.

“Follow me”, I said and led her to the main walkway. 

As we entered the hallway, the house shook and coursed from the terrors outside. Rain doused the windows in sheets making visibility outside near impossible. The different colored lights started up even more and Emiline was more terrified then I had ever seen her before.

I led her downstairs to the old basement, down a long set of steps to a dark corner technically underneath a small landmass in the front yard. It was the safest spot in the house come tornado and/or high winds. 

I lit a small candle for her and draped the blanket over her.

“Where’s Bowie?”, she asked. 

I thought he had followed us as he usually did, 

but he wasn’t anywhere downstairs.

As I went up the stairs

I heard the winds tear at the walls.

The ground let out a tremor below.

Emiline ran to the staircase,

“Can’t you call him down, there is lights of all sorts, the whole house seems like it’s going to come down, I’m scared, don’t go up there, please”, she pleaded.

“Stay down here, I’ll be back”, I said.

As I opened the door upstairs, lights of all sorts were flashing outside the Kitchen, like some sort of multicolored lightshow. Objects flew against the windows as the winds started to escalate outside. I heard Bowie’s bark start up, loud and vicious like another dog was in the house. I hurried my steps down the dark hallway to where I thought I could hear him. He was in my Grandma’s old room, I rarely set foot in there since she passed, usually Bowie evaded it as well, you couldn’t even carry him in there normally.

As I neared her door, It slammed shut hard. I went to grab at the knob but it seemed to be stuck, I felt a certain heat from inside the room, the knob burned into my hands as I budged on it. The house shook even harder then, I could swear the roof was going to come right off. I grabbed a wet towel from the bathroom beside and wrapped it around the knob, it seemed to turn and I rammed the door, as I entered the room. I could vaguely see Bowie in a green light incrementally flashing. Above him the darkness of the ceiling seemed to be forming into a vortex. He looked at it happily, wagging his tail. 

I picked him up and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut. A woman’s scream sounded from the room, in anger. 

I turned and all of a sudden Bowie vanished from my hands. At the end of the hallway near the Stairwell entrance a dark Black shadow grew from the basement.

“Emiline?”, I called out and it grew down the hallway towards me. 

No voice responded from the basement.

A strange organ shrill was all around the shadow.

I felt my body go limp as it’s tentacles reached around me.

I couldn’t scream or move.

Darkness grew all around

and a deep humming noise picked up like an old radiator.

Bright colored flashes made my vision kaleidoscope like a 70′s oil-light.

The colors bled as walls vanished around me. 

I could see clear through the roof of the house and an immense transparent ship was looming above, sucking me into it. A black vortex coursed at the center of it, luring my body into it’s hypnotic grasp. As my body began to cross into it, a great White light filled my vision and a feeling of euphoria and warmth.

Then I awoke in my bed again, the morning sun shining in my eyes. As I brushed hair from my eyes, I realized what time it was. I had school in a matter of minutes and I hadn’t even gotten my clothes on! My mind seemed foggy, caught in a haze, I couldn’t quite recall what happened the night before or why I slept through the alarm. As I approached the mirror, I recognized the exact day and something pulled me from the boy’s body into a shadow in the corner of the room.

A disembodied voice sounded, “it’s not you”.

I looked at the younger version of myself perplexed about why I was brought back here, to this day.

I approached my Grandma’s room to find the door shut.

Why wasn’t she waking me up today, like she had always done?

I approached her bed and I saw her just as I tried to forget for so many years.

The eyes, like dimmed marbles, the hand outreached to something above,

then the crescendo of life seeping from her as she falls oblivion. 

If it had a melody, it would be “Clair De Lune”,

Lonely, empty and yet somehow transcendent.

I watched the younger version of myself held her hand as the last trickles of life left. When she passed, the room faded to pure Black. Darkness yet again surrounded me as ash slowly drifted from the sky. A feeling encompassed me of weightlessness, like I was that ash drifting down and I fell back into my bed.

I awoke with a thud, like I had fallen into my bed. My room was cold and dark this time. No windows adorned the walls, I attempted to get up but every time I did I could only get 3-5 paces from the bed and then somehow I would be back in it in a snap. Finally I decided to stay in the bed and not try to leave it. With that, I heard a deep voice in the room, sounding like an Indian’s chant with looming Tom Toms. It spoke in tongues, pronouncing much of its words in reverse. I felt a warm trance over take me again and this time I closed my eyes and let it take over.

Yet again, I awoke in a bed, I could tell it was not my bed. The features were different; usually being wood the sides were now metal. I seemed to be in a ward of sort. Handcuffed on all 4s to the bed, all I could do was look above me. A dark figure loomed in the ceiling above looking right at me. I could see the white’s of his eyes blinking every so often, then a mouth opened, dripping a strange blood from the ceiling on to me. 

As the blood contacted me a voice started in my head, 

“Let it take over”, it said. 

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine any place but that and all of a sudden I realized something. 

That I was never in any of these places. These places were in me from the start. Even my childhood bed, it was switching because the design always was an implant. I knew all of these little details so well but I didn’t identify what was making me identify. That face in the ceiling, it was so familiar, almost a face that makes you remember, not forget, yet I now recognized it, it was most definitely parts of me. I always thought growing up that the house was infested with aliens or ghosts, but the true irony I was finding was I was all of those things.

I opened my eyes and a figure approached from the darkness. 

I recognized it immediately as Bowie, unlike the bed and the house, he was exactly as he was.  

He led me further into the darkness until finally a light’s glow appeared. 

As we neared I recognized the figure as Emiline. She did not react to Bowie and I, as if we weren’t there. I tried to touch her but my hands passed right through her. She sat weeping uncontrollably, her sobbing seemed to naturally echo around her. Bowie jumped up on the bed and tried to greet her as he always had, but he too passed right through her, not able to effect her current state.

I still sat there and held her, looking deep into her beautiful eyes. Even though she looked sad, something inside me could see a beauty in it, something unfound and in a way it reminded me of how we are all found initially in this world, alone. 

With that realization I felt a bird’s eye presence in my conscience. My perception ascended to far above, I could see a standard suburban house with a back drop of thousands of stars and distant planets. Roots hang in droves from the house. Most of lights are off inside but some flicker incrementally as it drifts away. I could faintly see myself, trapped inside it’s confines, 

never to truly escape

[cupnoodle-queen]

CHASING SUNS: Chapter 1  World of Ruin

1,587 words Here we go, kids. 

Two years of darkness passed.

The final day with light lasted only an hour. Cam watched the sun disappear that day with Nolan by her side. He’d shrugged it off as something that would pass, something that wouldn’t last more than a short while.

Sometimes she reminded him of his words, whether to jest with him or in pointless argument. But not long after the sun left they began to feel the effects of what some eccentrics on television coined, ‘Starscourge.’

Weather was unpredictable, often dismal. Winds blew without a straight course and changed direction multiple times through the day. Sometimes the cold became uncomfortable, frost forming ruts in the driveway and forcing them to pull out their winter clothes on occasion. Rain was the worst. It came down in a black residue, staining the ground with a tar-like appearance.

Within the first few weeks, looters came. Fresh food was scarce and the farm was a target early on. When Nolan attempted to drive them away, one held a gun to his throat. After they’d cleaned them of the final root vegetables, they tried to grow more.

But without sunlight, the crops didn’t last long. They sowed the seeds, checked each day for progress but they wouldn’t even catch roots, their pods turning to rot. Not surprising, though Cam had high hopes. Said hopes only had shallow wells to draw from, and so it was the end of an era for her family name. At least her family couldn’t reprimand her for it; after all, the dead didn’t talk much.

Death was inevitable, everywhere in abundance and at any given moment. Daemons roamed the roads, fields, woods and highlands especially. They were intelligent, learning human habits and gathering at places they frequented, overwhelming unprepared locals and causing grief to hunters who underestimated the job.

Such was the employment Nolan took on when the daemons came. It was fast, reliable income, and there was always work to be done. Always hordes to slaughter. Always Injured people to rescue from underneath a bridge. Always small children clinging to his knee, begging for him to tell them where their mommy or daddy was, their remains a whitish-pink residue against the pavement and their clothing caught on a guardrail…

Their love strained, Cam trying to be the beacon of light they so desperately needed in this eleventh hour. They’d gone weeks without touching eachother, Nolan unable to sleep properly each night had resorted to balling up in the fetal position on the couch, repeating in his head how he wasn’t ready for this, body racked with sobs until his head throbbed.

They were all each other had though, and so it was enough. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t the love they intended to share, but it was enough. And in this world of ruin, it was everything to them.

Cam sat across from Nolan at the dining room table, thumbing the rim of her coffee mug, the Ebony stale but better than nothing. She took a sip, peeking at her fiance over the cup wall. She couldn’t recall when they last spoke, the only sound re-run newscasts on the TV set. She grasped for something, anything, to talk about. “Hm, so,” she mustered, throat stuck together. “When are you heading out next?”

Nolan sighed, leaning back in his seat, eyes never leaving the broadcast. “Dunno, Greyson has to text me the details. Haven’t heard from him in a few days, though.” He stood, finally offering Cam an empty look. A man almost broken. Almost. “I’ll give him a call soon. Going for a shower.”

He left to go upstairs, the floorboards creaking with each step. Cam cradled her knees to her chest and let her attention be consumed by the year-old broadcast, bright ticker-tape along the bottom reading ‘Lestallum Packed: Refugees Refused Admission.’

She flicked through her phone, tapped on icons and closed random applications, something to keep her out of the dark recesses of her mind. She opened the gallery, scrolled to the bottom, and worked her way up to more recent pictures. Photos faded from bright color swatches and selfies and smiles and life, to dimly-lit offerings of daemon sightings and pictures of missing people with no identification. The depressing gradient tightened her chest. She pocketed her phone, resting her chin on her knees as she heard the water turn off in the bathroom above.

SLAM!

Cam jolted off her chair as a thunderous crash came from outside, the ground jarring. She flew to the opposite wall of the kitchen and peered out the window, squinting her eyes to adjust to the darkness past the spotlights. When she could make out the source of the disturbance, her pulse doubled.

An iron giant, glowing red from within and yielding a sword the size of a freight truck was heading their way, the house in it’s current path, eyes flared and a craving the taste of destruction. It swung its weapon sideways, cleaving into an old grain silo without restraint, the tower crashing into the earth with a shock wave.

Cam shrieked and called for Nolan, who bounded down the stairs in just a towel, chest still damp. “Hun, we gotta get outta here!” she cried, scrambling to throw her boots on over the cuffs of her jeans as Nolan sprinted upstairs to dress himself. The ground shook with greater tremors, the light outside growing dimmer and dimmer as the daemon knocked spotlights over like matchsticks, their bulbs popping on impact. Her mug of coffee jumped on the table and spilled everywhere. The TV screen shattered, smoking from the inside. The refrigerator door swung open.

“NOLAN!” Cam screamed, the iron giant outside so close she couldn’t see the top of it’s head anymore. A pause, the earth quaking had stopped. She could hear Nolan upstairs, his movements-

The roof split mere feet from her right and Cam launched forward, barely missing impalement from a supporting beam and sprinted for the front door. Before she reached it, the monster brought his blade down on the house again, splintering wood flying dangerously in all directions as countless items, trinkets, family treasures shattered in a second. The door frame took the brunt of the damage and it caved in completely.

They were trapped.

“NOLLLLANNN,” Cam screamed, tears warping her vision as she searched for her fiance, dust and dirt fogging what remained of the kitchen. The only sound came from outside, the rumbling of the giant’s battle roars popping her ears.

Nothing. But then, “Cam! Cam babe, are you okay?”

He was behind a wall, blocked in from the daemon’s horrendously well-placed blows. Cam scouted an access point, but walls of wood and shingles and brick barred entry. “Nolan, I-I can’t find a way in!”

She attempted with insufficient strength to lift a rafter off the rubble, her arms shaking from the strain, giving up with a furious exhale. “FUCK!” she cried, sobs wracking her chest and her vision going red.

The ground shook again and the giant stomped around to the other side of the house. Oh no. One more blow and she’d be crushed. They’d be crushed.

In her desperation to find something, anything...a window, broken from the impacts but open without interruption. The daemon was on the opposite side of the house, and she had a clear path to the truck. “I-I see a way out!” Cam yelled, thankful she’d forgotten to hang the keys on the hook earlier.

“Cam, go honey. Get out of here! Please!”

Her anguish at the decision before her was palpable. “I can’t leave you, oh my god oh my god, Nolan-”

“GODDAMMIT, CAM!” Nolan bellowed from the blocked-off room beside her. “GO! Please get out of here! FOR ME! DO IT FOR ME, CAM, GO!”

She hyperventilated as the giant roared from outside, the sound of another grain silo being felled stinging her ears. Leaving him meant only one thing and they both knew it. “Camellia, please. Please go, please live,” Nolan pleaded, his voice choking up.

Cam nearly buckled over from the weight of the decision on her shoulders. Though she’d rather await the eventual death that would come from the daemon outside, Nolan needed her to try. He needed her to live, for the both of them.

“Nolan...I l-love you so much...” her voice trembled, sniffling constantly to keep her airway free.

“I love you, Cam. Now go!”

His words sent adrenaline through her system and she whipped self-doubt to the wind as she leapt out the broken window, glass snagging against her sweater. She yanked it free in time, sprinting with long-since used muscles to make it before the daemon spotted her. She dare not look up, nor around her at the destruction of her family farm. All she let into her blurry field of vision was the door to the truck, the key in the ignition, then her foot to the floor. But as the tires skid in the mud and the vehicle launched forward, gaining better traction once she hit asphalt, Cam caught a glimpse of the ruins in her peripherals...right as the iron giant brought his sword down on the remnants of her house.

She fought the urge to vomit up her internal organs as she struggled to keep on the road, lit only by one working headlight. She drove to the only place she thought of despite knowing she wouldn’t get in. The only place where long ago in a different life, she had shared better days with Nolan.

Lestallum.

[ashroseevans]

Enter Mister H and Mind over Matter

Jumin Han and Jaehee Kang are Mister H and Mind over Matter and when faced with a super villain known as The Pyromaniac, they must find a way to stop him. But can they before it's too late?

Who is this new person who came into heal the injured victims from the fire and why does she want to know about the superheroes that protect Korea?

“Reports have shown that the Pyromaniac has set the area surrounding the building ablaze so that rescue units can’t save the hostages. The fire brigade is currently working on trying to put the flames out so that the rescue team can safely enter the build—”

Jumin pressed the button on the remote, turning off the television. He quickly pulled out his phone and dialed the phone number of his assistant, Jaehee Kang. She answered on the first ring.

“I take it you’ve seen the news, Mr. Han?” she said without any prompting from the other man.

“Yes. We should get going. I’m sure 707, Angel and Star will be there or be arriving when we get there. And if not, well, I think we’ll be able to handle this on our own.”

“Understood,” Jaehee said and the line went dead.

Jumin sighed and looked around his apartment before he spotted his cat, Elizabeth the 3rd, lounging on the couch. He neared her and gently stroked the soft white fur. “I have to leave for now, but I will return soon,” he told the cat who just looked at him, purring from the pets.

Once he was close to satisfied with the attention given to his cat, he disappeared into his room.

*     *     *

Mister H walked up to where he saw the black cat suited woman near the edge of the room. Star was standing next to her.

“So whats the situation?” he asked.

Mind looked at Mister H. “The building seems to be on fire, but the weird thing is…”

“Nothings burning,” Star finished.

“Nothings burning? What are you talking about?”

“The fire around the building is real enough and I’ll use my power to get you and Mom though—,” Star started explaining

“I really wish you would stop calling me that…” Mind said.

“Sorry about that… I can’t help it.”

“I hate 707 for starting that…”

“Please, let’s get back to the matter at hand,” Mister H said with a sigh.

“Right, sorry. But as I was saying the flames around the building are real and the ones in the building look real, but when I tried using my power to suppress them, they went right around the barrier so I don’t think they’re real at all.” Mister H frowned. Did the Pyromaniac also have illusion powers too? “Strange. Either way, we should go in and save those hostages.”

“I think its dangerous,” Star said. “It could be a trap.”

“Regardless,” Mister H said. “If there are hostages involved we can’t just stand around and do nothing.”

“I understand that, but we should at least wait for the others, just in case,” Star said.

“How about this,” Mind said. “Mister H and I will go in and you wait out here for the others and come in when I give the signal.”

Star frowned and looked at his two friends. But he sighed. “All right, fine. I don’t like it though.”

“You don’t have to like it. You just have to deal with it and let us go in there before something serious happens.”

“You really are…” Star muttered before he shook his head and walked away from them a ways to use his power get ready to create a path. “Once I open up a gap in the fire you have to go quickly because, well it’ll be really hot, and to be honest, the fire might form around the top again.”

“Understood.”

*     *     *

After Star parted the flames, Mind and Mister H dashed through. The second they got through, Star’s power faded and the fire closed again, leaving Mind and Mister H isolated from any help unit the others arrived.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Mind asked as she walked behind Mister H.

“It’s the only choice we’ve got,” he said. “We can’t just leave those people in here to burn.”

Mind nodded and the two walked around the building, trying to find a place to enter without being detected by the Pyromaniac. They came across a broken window on the west side of the building. Mind blew out the rest of it with her power and she and Mister H climbed through. They stalked through the building, trying to find the room that the dastard was keeping the hostages to free them.

Finally they made it to the lobby of the small hotel. The Pyromaniac was standing in the front of the lobby doors, standing grandly with a smile on his face, looking out at his handiwork. In the far corner of the room, Mister H and Mind noticed that there was a column of fire and Mister H thought that he saw darker patches of fire that looked almost like people. He nudged Mind’s shoulder and motioned towards the fire. Her eyes widened when she noticed what he was trying to show her.

Mister H motioned his head towards them and started making his way over as quietly as he could. As he neared the fire, he expected it to get warmer and warmer, but instead, the temperature stayed stagnant. However, before he got to investigate further, the Pyromaniac turned around and a wide grin stretched across his face.

“Ah, Mister H and Mind over Matter, so good of you to join us,” he said and spread his arms in a deep bow.

“You’re the Pyromaniac, then?” Mind said.

“Indeed. Don’t you like my handiwork? It’s all to prove a point,” Pyromaniac said.

“And what point would that be?” Mister H said and straightened up.

“Simple, that even with super heroes like you and 707, Star and Angel, no one is safe. Not even people vacationing,” he said.

“And how would you accomplish that, hmm?” Mister H said and stepped closer, attempting to use his powers of persuasion on the Pyromaniac.

“Simple, by killing you and the others,” Pyromaniac said and threw out his arms.

Fire flew out from his palms and reached out towards the two heroes standing by the column of fire that imprisoned the hostages. Mind threw herself out of the way while Mister H stood his ground, using his power of augmentation to make him impervious to heat. He ran forward through the fire, jumping out of the fire just as he started to augment his strength.

But he was too slow. The Pyromaniac swept his arm around and caught Mister H in the jaw, throwing him into the glass door of the lobby. Mind rushed in behind him and tried to throw her power out quickly enough to stop the Pyromaniac in her place. The joys about astral imprisonment is it works like a dream, but only when she’s focused.

The Pyromaniac had a hand facing out towards her when she stopped him in his tracks. He looked at her with a smirk before fire erupted from his palm straight at her. Mind’s eyes widened and she dashed out of the way, breaking her concentration. But that was all Mister H needed. Mind created the distraction while Mister H came up behind him and slide kicked the Pyromaniac’s legs out from under him, knocking him to the ground.

Mister H stepped over on top of him and pressed his shoe down on his neck.

“Looks like you’re plan failed,” Mister H said.

“You thats what you think,” he replied. The Pyromaniac started to fade at the edges. “I’m just the first wave. There’s more of us. The Savior and Mint Eye will throw this world into despair and then build it back up again as paradise. But first, we need you out of the way.”

Before Mister H was able to question what the Pyromaniac meant, he was gone completely and his foot fell onto the concrete.

“What was that all about?” Mind asked coming up behind Mister H.

“I don't… know. But we should talk to the others about it,” Mister H said. And then he remembered. “The hostages!” Mind and Mister H ran over towards where the column of fire contained the hostages. The area where the fire was was empty. Not a soul in sight. The fire also disappeared. And there should have been scorch marks on the ground from the flames, but there weren’t. Mister H frowned.

“Illusion magic,” he said.

“Illusions? But I thought only V could use that kind of power,” Mind said.

“That I know of,” Mister H said. “But I'm sure that there are others like him out there.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

*     *     *

Mister H and Mind walked out of the building only to be swarmed with reporters. They broke away as easily as they good, giving little information about the encounter with Pyromaniac except that the claims of hostages were false and he somehow managed to get away. When they finally broke away, the two met back on the rooftop where they left Star. 707 and Angel were there waiting for them.

“So what happened?” Angel asked.

Mind gave the run down of what happened.

“The Savior and Mint Eye?” 707 asked.

“That's what the Pyromaniac said,” Mister H said.

“Do you know anything about them?” Mind asked.

“I don't, but I can see if I can turn anything up about them,” he said. He focused on he small screens on his glasses lenses before he looked back at the others. “Note made. I’ll get the research done when I get back to my set up.”

“All right.”

“Well, since there's nothing left for us to do here, I think it’s about time that we leave,” Angel said.

“Agreed,” Mister H said.

*     *     *

-Jumin Han entered the chat room-

-Jaehee Kang entered the chat room-

Jaehee: It seems that we are the only one’s here, Mr. Han.

Jumin: For now. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Zen or Seven come online.

Jaehee: Can we talk about what happened earlier?

Jumin: Not here. You know this, Assistant Kang.

Jumin: We can talk tomorrow in the office.

Jaehee: Yes sir.

-707 entered the chat room-

707: hey

707: hey hey

707: How’s it going?

707: Oh. It’s only you two.

707: I guess that means Yoosung and Zen aren’t home yet.

Jaehee: What are you talking about?

707: Nothing, nothing!

-Zen entered the chat room-

-Yoosung entered the chat room-

Yoosung ★: did you guys here what happened today!? At the hotel!

Zen: Were you guys watching the news!?

Yoosung ★: …

Zen: …

707: Whelp.

Jumin: the answer to that question would be

Jumin: Yes. We did see the news.

Jumin: what about it?

Zen: That Pyromaniac guy got away.

Zen: What are w

Zen: What are those guys gonna do?

Yoosung ★: Yeah! What if they start another fire?

Jumin: We’ll just have to wait and see if 707, Mister H, Mind, Star and Angel will be able to catch him next time.

Yoosung ★: I think that’s a pretty lame answer.

Yoosung ★: shouldn’t they go out and try to catch him?

707: I agree with Yoosung.

707: They should probably go out and do something.

Jumin: I don't think there's anything that they can do.

Jumin: I heard from a reliable source that the guy just…

Jumin: disappeared. No trace.

Jumin: if that’s true, then I don't think that there’s much they’d be able to do about finding him.

707: Ugh.

707: I hate when you make sense.

707: you’re making it hard for my hero

707: To

707: Be

707: A

707: HERO

707: ★

707: !!!

Jaehee: One message please.

707: -3-

Jumin: anyway, I have to go.

Jumin: Good bye

-Jumin left the chat room-

*     *     *

A young woman sat close to the the tent where the wounded were laid out on cots. She was leaning over the fourth burn victim, her hands over the man as her hands glowed with a green light. The doctors stared awestruck as the woman as she healed the men.

When she finished the burn victim, she sat back on her heels and took a deep breath as pain lanced through her leg, the same spot where the man was burned. But as soon as it came, it disappeared. She stood up and moved over to the next man.

“Are you sure you’re okay with helping us, miss?” One of the doctors asked.

“It’s no trouble,” the woman said. “I just wish that I was here in time it try to help prevent this from happening.”

“No no. You’re doing more then enough to help us right now. Thank you so much,” replied the doctor. “Is there anything we can do to repay you?”

“Actually… can you tell me everything you now about Mister H, Mind over Matter, Star of Creativity, Defender of Justice 707 and The Angel?”

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