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dioles-writes · 10 months ago

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• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), Hiraya (she/her), January (he/him), Maddox (he/him), Alzena (she/her), Nyssa (she/her), Astley (he/they), Rory (they/she), Kuali’i (he/him), Wilder (he/him), Ensio (he/him), Ilona (she/her), Akali (he/him), Della (she/her), Winola (she/her), Vincent (he/him), Howard (he/him), Haven (she/they), Una (he/they), Reese (they/them), Shehani (she/her), Paisley (she/they/he)

Credits also to @jiphenn as the characters in purple are hers 😋😋

Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop

Before Felix knew it, over two months had flown by in Paradise.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, he was genuinely happy again. He had slowly fell into the routine of day-to-day life, and by now it was almost easy to forget about Chumps Jr., or the concert. Everything in his life had finally settled down. He really understood now why this was called “Paradise” in the first place.

Training with the Top Five was incredible. It was probably the highlight of his day, meeting up with Hiraya as the two of them fought and sparred with each other, refining their physical abilities. He had even learned a new skill: “Portal Mutilation”, as the two of them had named it. (Although he wasn’t very good at it yet and almost passed out every time he tried to use it.) He even felt like his and Hiraya’s friendship might actually become something more, as the two of them grew closer and closer. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Akali’s face when he finally took her out on a date. He was sure it’d be priceless.

His fights in the arena had been improving too. For about a month or so, he had been quickly rising in rank, defeating each opponent that crossed his path with ease. It felt good to be finally good at something again - and it felt even better to see the large cash prizes that he was getting off each fight.

Paradise had almost started to feel like home. He wrote to Reagan every day, and sometimes he could almost pretend that she was here with him. The Board Game Club had even started to have frequent meetings at the Mansion, laughing and playing board games as they sat in January’s impossibly large room. It was everything he could have ever wanted. Paradise really seemed like it would be the place that he could spend the rest of his life, perfectly happy and content, surrounded by his best friends.

Today, however, was a special day in Paradise. Today, May twentieth, was the day that the people called “The Day of New Waves”. Everyone was in a bustling mood, all preparing for the huge party that was supposed to be happening at the Lim Residency later.

Felix couldn’t wait. He got ready excitedly, pulling on the most lavish suit he owned, making sure his makeup looked perfect, and styling his hair into a fancy up-do.

By the time he had finished with everything, it was already time to start heading down to the Mansion.

“Hi Felix!” As he started his walk to the Lim Residency, in high spirits, like usual, he heard someone call out his name.

It was Hiraya, looking drop-dead gorgeous in her party attire (though he couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t looked stunningly beautiful). He smiled and waved to her. “Hi!”

“Excited?” She asked, coming to walk right beside him. Felix wondered if this day could get any better.

“Mhm!” He grinned. “You?”

“Mhm,” She hummed, pulling at the sleeve of her dress.

“You look nice.”

She smiled. “Thanks. You do too.”

The two of them continued to walk, eventually reaching the huge ebony-black gates of the Mansion. Felix let Hiraya walk in first, the two of them trailing down the expansive halls and entering the ballroom, where they were greeted by hundreds of happy people talking and laughing with each other. The party was already in full-swing.

“Felix!” January called him, sidling up next to the two of them, dressed in what must’ve been the most expensive suit to exist.

“Hi Hiraya!”

“Hi January!”

“You look nice.”

“You do too.” She gave him a grin.

“Well, I’m gonna go meet with the rest of the Top Five, see you guys around!” She smiled before disappearing into the crowd.

January turned to Felix with a knowing smirk. “Woah, did you two come here together?”

“Yeah.” Felix grinned back.

“Maybe you can ask her on a date soon!”

January led him over towards the rest of the Board Game Club. “I’m back with Felix!”

“Hey, y’know what this whole ‘Day of New Waves’ thing is about?” Rory asked, turning to him.

“I’m not too sure, but it is my dad’s birthday today.”

“Guess we’ll figure out sooner or later.” She shrugged.

“Oh look, there’s Astley!”

It was hard to miss him with his tall figure weaving through the crowd, his bright raspberry-pink streak of hair making him stand out even more. He emerged from the wave of people, Nyssa popping up from behind him. “You guys look nice!” January said, taking in Astley’s nice formal suit and Nyssa’s dress.

He looked around. “Have any of you guys seen Akali?”

“He might be with his family.” Alzena said as everyone shook their heads.

“Oh well, he’ll meet up with us eventually!”

The next few hours passed by quickly, the ten of them contentedly chatting and walking around, meeting with all the guests.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed down and a spotlight was shined on the balcony. Vincent stood in the middle of it, the rest of the unit leaders in a row behind him. “Good evening everyone. I’m glad that you could all join us for this very special day.” He smiled and everyone clapped. “Today on the Day of New Waves we celebrate the birth of my dear friend Howard Restall.” The crowd erupted into a chorus of boos, which made Vincent’s smile grow. “But today, we also celebrate the day that will become his anniversary with death.”

“Soon I will be off to kill Howard Restall.” Vincent grinned and the whole crowd listened in anticipation, hanging onto his every word. “But I cannot do it alone. As a society we rely on each other, and tonight I rely on all of you here. As you may know, Howard Restall has many highly guarded warehouses. Once I kill him tonight, they will send out all those vaccines without a second thought.”

“Get rid of the vaccines, the warehouses, the guards! I want to see ALL OF THEM go down in flames tonight!” His grin widened and everyone cheered loudly. Felix smiled; this day could get better. He couldn’t believe his ears. It was finally going to be over. Howard Restall would soon be gone. He was getting everything he ever wished for.

“But this is just the beginning, our waves will crash and consume all of society. We will make the whole world OUR DIOLE-ONLY SOCIETY. OUR PARADISE.” The cheers from the crowd grew even louder and became more erratic. Felix could feel people pushing and shoving, yelling in excitement. “For fifty-four years they’ve divided us and forced us to hide. But tonight, we reform their puny society into something GREATER!”

Felix stopped cheering.

“Guys what the fuck is going on?” Alzena hissed to the rest of them. Felix turned to January in horror, thinking that if anyone could’ve known about Vincent’s plan it would’ve been his cousin. January didn’t even acknowledge him, his eyes locked onto Vincent with a look of shock.

“LET’S KILL ALL HUMANS! THEY WANT TO SEPARATE US? SO BE IT. THEY’LL BE THE ONES TO DISAPPEAR.” The crowd went crazy, yelling and shouting and pushing at each other. Vincent grinned even wider than before, his purple eyes twinkling with this crazed light that Felix remembered very clearly from the Winter Concert. He looked exactly like Gunther.

“He’s fucking crazy.” He whispered under his breath, his smile gone.

“Haven will dispatch you at different places in exactly two hours, when the clock strikes seven.” Vincent continued, and Haven stepped forward from her spot in the back, looking around and waving. “Once the warehouses are taken down, they will open a door and bring you all back to Paradise.”

“Everyone, enjoy the rest of your time here! This is the last day Paradise will ever be this small.”

“One more thing to add.” Haven grabbed the mic from Vincent. “If you don’t plan to co-operate with tonight’s plan, you better start running now.” She smiled and it sent a chill down Felix’s back.

“Thank you everyone and enjoy your night.” The spotlight turned off and the lights switched back to normal, the crowd bursting into applause.

“We have to get out of here.” Maddox mumbled as soon as Haven and Vincent disappeared from view, making his way through the crowd and leading the rest of the Board Game Club away from the party, which was now two times as loud and rowdy.

“We gotta find Akali.” Felix said, glancing around wildly for the familiar head of dark blue hair.

“You find him, we’ll wait in the hall.” Alzena told him, still following behind Maddox.

Felix turned and pushed through the crowd, trying to make his way through the swarm of bodies, as he instantly realized, just like his first time here, that it was very hard to find anyone in a crowd of people this large. It was even harder with how wild Vincent’s speech had made everyone. And even worse - his portals had stopped working. Again. Not at a worse time.

But he wouldn’t leave someone behind. Not again. Determined, he pushed past the happily chattering people, ignoring the weird looks they were giving him and searching desperately for his best friend.

“Felix!”

Felix whipped around, seeing Akali hurriedly weaving through the crowd towards him, Ensio, Ilona and Della right behind him.

“We have to get outta here. Right now.” Felix whispered.

“Where are the others?” Akali looked around.

“In the hall, waiting for us.” He replied, leading Akali and his family out into the hall as fast as he could.

“Let’s follow that crowd.” Maddox said as they met up with the rest of the group, pointing towards other people that were rushing out the door.

“Where ya guys going?” A familiar voice popped up beside them. Una. He ran ahead of them with a grin. “You gonna leave too?”

“Are you leaving?” Felix retorted defensively. He wasn’t sure who he could trust, if Haven was going to send out the Top Five to deal with the unwilling citizens. One thing he knew for certain is that Una could easily pulverize the whole Board Game Club with ease. He prayed that they weren’t crazy like Mr. Lim.

“Yup, I just gotta wait for my buddies before I go.” Una said, seeming not so stressed about the whole ‘kill all humans’ thing. He was somehow his usual chipper self, smiling at them without any worries.

“You know how to get out of here?”

“You gotta run to the edge of Paradise, but I don’t exactly know the way there.” Una said. “Reese knows the way though!”

“Aren’t they with Mr. Lim?”

“Nope, they took off as soon as he finished his little speech. I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now!” They stopped at the doorway.

The next couple minutes felt like hours as they waited for Reese to show up. The doors swung open and shut as more and more people left in a hurry, the sounds of the citizens enjoying the party still loud in the background.

Felix looked to January again, realizing that he had been unusually quiet since Vincent’s big announcement. He stood there silently, staring out into the void. His eyes weren’t shining like they normally did. He didn’t seem to notice Felix staring, or Maddox anxiously glancing around for Reese. He didn’t seem to notice anyone. His posture was slightly slouched over, his expression completely unreadable. It was like he wasn’t even really there.

With a pang, Felix realized exactly when he had seen that look last. Chumps Jr.

“Una!” A voice caught his attention, and he looked up, momentarily forgetting to worry about January. It was Reese, followed by Shehani. “Are you ready to go?”

“Mhm, these guys are all coming with!”

“Okay, then let’s go.” Reese ran out the door and everyone followed.

Well, mostly everyone.

Maddox tugged on January’s arm. “Hey, c’mon, we have to go.”

January blinked, like he was just seeing Maddox. He pushed his hand away, taking a step back. “Do you think he’s right?” It came out just below a whisper.

Felix stopped, hesitating at the doorway. “What are you talking about?”

“Ever since coming to Paradise our lives have been so much better… do we really want to go back?” January took another step back, even further away from the door.

“Didn’t you hear him? He’s going to kill all humans. He’s just trying to replace your dad.”

“Those humans KILLED AVIL.” He snapped.

It went dead silent.

“Are you listening to yourself?!” Felix shot back, staring at January incredulously. “You want to wipe out thousands upon thousands of innocents just because some of them are murderers?”

“Shut up Felix. Like you weren’t first cheering at the news.” January’s voice hardened, his eyes narrowing. It was a look Felix hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Yeah, maybe when he said we were taking down warehouses. Not every single human to exist.”

“January please, let’s just go, you don’t know what you’re saying.” Maddox kept stepping closer to January, reaching out for him with a look of complete desperation.

“I don’t want to live in a society where they kill my friends on the daily. I don’t want to live the rest of my life hiding in fear.” January’s words became more venomous and his aura flickered, growing more dangerous than before.

“What about Adelio? Wasn’t he your friend?” Felix narrowed his eyes right back at January, clenching his fists, uncontrollable anger bubbling up to the surface. “You’re acting like an idiot. You really think wiping out every human is going to fix things?”

“If you want to call me an idiot then go ahead and leave already.” He looked at them, his pupils shrinking as he took larger and larger steps back.

“I’m-“ He took a deep breath, pausing to calm his shaking voice. “I’m staying here.”

Felix stared at him speechlessly. He couldn’t believe that January was saying this. January, who had been by his side from the very beginning. January, who had promised Felix from the start that he’d protect him. January, who couldn’t be seen without a smile on his face. January, who saw the good in everyone, even Felix when he did nothing but scream and throw insults. January, who was kind. January, who was his friend. No, not just that, but January, who was one of the only people Felix had left.

“January, we’re your friends. We care about you, just please, come with us. We can talk once we get out of here!” Maddox pleaded, grabbing onto January’s hand desperately, his eyes wide and shiny. But it didn’t shake him.

“If you’re really my friends then you’ll respect my decision.” January paused, his multicoloured eyes flickering dangerously, scanning between each of them, before he turned his back and slowly started to walk away. Felix felt frozen in time, standing there watching him. It was as if everything was playing in slow motion.

“Well, gotta go follow my leader.” Rory began to walk towards him. “It was nice while it lasted, guys. Get out of here safely.” She turned around slightly, giving them a bittersweet smile before waving and following January. Kuali’i didn’t even spare the rest of them a glance as he left, right behind them.

The atmosphere around them suddenly started to get hotter, the sound of flames crackling to life disturbing the silence. “YOU FUCKING BITCHES!” Wilder stepped forward, pushing in between Maddox and Felix and screaming after the three of them. His fingers twitched, and small but violent eruptions of flames emerged from his palms, white hot. “AVIL DIED TRYING TO PROTECT EVERYONE THAT DAY, NOT JUST US. DON’T USE HER AS AN EXCUSE FOR YOUR ACTIONS.” His face was contorted with fury, eyes bright with pure rage, as the flames started to multiply, forming at his feet, growing in height. For a second Felix could see the Wilder he knew five months ago, not the sullen and quiet boy that had replaced him.

“AVIL PROTECTED THEM AND WHAT’D THEY DO? THEY KILLED HER. SHE SAVED THEM AND GOT A BULLET TO THE HEAD AS A REWARD.” January yelled back, whipping around. “THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US. GUNTHER WAS RIGHT. THEY ONLY SEE US AS MONSTERS.” Despite the way he was screaming, louder and more aggressive than Felix had ever heard before, January looked just as confused and hurt as the rest of them.

“SHE DIED TRYING TO SAVE YOUR SORRY EXCUSE OF A LEADER!” Wilder screamed.

“WELL I’M NOT YOUR LEADER ANYMORE.” January ripped his bracelet off his wrist and whipped it at the ground in front of them. The string snapped, and the pale blue beads spilled everywhere, sliding across the floor. Felix watched as January’s specially made charm - the ace - shattered into a million pieces.

The hall went absolutely silent. The flames around Wilder started to grow even hotter, blazing up around his body, flickering angrily.

“Guys we need to go. Now.” Akali said, grabbing Wilder’s wrist.

January turned around again. And this time, he didn’t look back.

Una led them outside, looking around and trying to remember the path that Reese and Shehani went, considering they were long gone now. He followed along the path of blood spots on the ground, quickly turning to glance back at them. “Be careful guys, as soon as we leave the estate is when the monsters come out!” He warned them. “So all of you be sure this is what you want. There’s no coming back.”

Maddox looked back at the mansion longingly, like there was nothing he wanted more than to be by January’s side, but he didn’t turn back.

As soon as they left through the Mansion’s gates, the same eerie feeling that fell along Paradise at night surrounded them. “Look, there they are!” Una pointed towards the distance.

It was hard to make out exactly what they were looking at. The creatures in the distance were large and disfigured, with these horrifyingly wide, pitch-black eyes that watched Felix’s every move. They walked very slowly towards them, never once looking away.

“Be careful, they can run too!” As soon as Una said that the monsters started sprinting, faster than should’ve been possible with their massive and bulky size. Una started running faster, him and Nyssa easily outpacing everyone.

Felix tried to open up a portal, but it still wouldn’t work. “Shit.” He mumbled under his breath, starting to pick up speed and sprinting as fast as his legs would allow.

“CoMe hErE!” The monsters screamed in a distorted, high-pitched tone, running even faster. They extended a misshapen arm, swiping at the slowest of their group.

Winola.

They snatched her up before any of them could react, their long twisted fingers closing around her body, trapping her.

Una’s body made a crackling noise as a clone splintered away, running at the monster. It leapt into the air, kicking the monster’s hand and sending Winola flying out. Winola fell on the ground roughly, rolling through the dirt with a grunt as her ankle twisted in an odd angle.

More clones separated from Una, running to deal with the monsters. One scooped up Winola, who was trailing behind even more than before with her injured ankle. The rest all started to fight, slowing the monsters down bit by bit.

They sprinted for another thirty minutes.

“Shehani!” Una perked up, spotting his two buddies up ahead. When Shehani saw him she let out a little sigh of relief. “You saw the trail?”

“Mhm!” Una smiled.

Una and Shehani continued to take out more of the monsters as the group kept running, Reese leading them in the front. The more that they ran, the more dead bodies they could see scattered around, surrounded by pools of dark blood. Some were missing limbs, others contorted in ways so horrific that Felix couldn’t make himself look. He focused in on running, not allowing his mind to drift any further. They just had to get out of here. That’s all that mattered now.

He just had to get out of here.

“Oh look, someone over there isn’t dead! Let’s go get them!” Una said, pointing to a person in the distance. Felix looked over, and for a second, time stopped.

Paisley.

They stood in front of a pile of monsters, their back turned to him, but it was definitely her. His hair wasn’t the purple that it had been the last time he had seen them, instead a gentle blue, but Felix would’ve recognized her anywhere.

“PAISLEY!” He screamed, loud enough that it could have been heard back at the Mansion. He shoved past Akali and Una, forgetting about January, about Rory, about the monsters that were swarming them. Forgetting about what they were fleeing from. Nothing else in the world mattered to him at that moment, all except that she was okay. That she was alive.

He tackled her in a hug from behind, grinning from ear to ear.

Paisley didn’t turn to face him. They stood there for a second before elbowing him harshly. “Get off of me.”

Felix’s smile started to fade. “Huh?”

“You have someplace to be. Hurry up and go.” They turned around to look at him for the first time in five months, but when they stared down at Felix, it wasn’t their familiar look of gentle kindness that he had come to expect. Instead, he stared at him like he was nothing but a bug. Nothing but an annoyance.

“Paisley?”

“Didn’t you hear me?” He started walking away.

This was all wrong. This was all wrong.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Paisley was supposed to hug him back; she was supposed to turn to him with a soft smile, eyes gentle and kind. And then Felix would apologize a million times over. He’d tell her everything, starting from all the way back in September, starting from his very day at school. And Paisley was going to cup his face, her hands rough against his cheeks, and give him this look that meant “it’s okay”.

And he would knew it would be. Because it was Paisley, and as long as he had her and Reagan then everything would end up fine.

Everything was going to be fine.

“Paisley, wait!” He grabbed his arm, tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m so, so sorry. Please don’t be mad. I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry I lied, I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as we get out of here.”

“I told you to get off!” Paisley snarled. He punched Felix, sending him to the ground.

Felix looked up at her in shock. “Paisley please, I just wanna go home. Please don’t go.” His voice cracked.

“I’m no longer a part of your home, so don’t make it sound like I’m going there with you.” Her dark eyes swirled, the gray contrasting against the black. Her gaze made him feel so incredibly small. No one had ever looked at him like he was such a disappointment, like he was so… insignificant. But especially not Paisley. He was sure this had to be an imposter. This couldn’t actually be her standing in front of him, because Paisley would never say that. Paisley would never look at him like that.

It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t be her.

“You are! You are.” Felix shakily got to his feet again, looking at her desperately and reaching out with trembling hands. “I’m so sorry. I’ll fix things, I promise. I was just trying to protect you.”

They slapped him, their jewelry raking across his face. His mouth was filled with a metallic taste, which was oh so familiar, but never from Paisley. He reached up to touch his burning cheek, looking at them with wide eyes. “You’re nothing but a burden.” They spat. “You always have been and always will be.”

She punched him in the face again, just as hard, if not harder, than the first time. But the calmness in her voice stayed unwavering. “You’re always making sorry excuses and promises you can’t keep.”

“I’m sorry.” Tears slipped down Felix’s cheeks, hot and salty. His chin wouldn’t stop trembling. “I’m so sorry, I promise I’ll be better. I can- I can control my powers now. Just let me fix things.” His voice didn’t sound right. It was whiny and shaking, as much as he tried to force it not to be. He swallowed hard, trying to push down the lump in his throat, trying to look up at Paisley, trying to make her see that he was sorry. He was so, so, sorry.

They grabbed Felix by a clump of his hair, pulling him up to his feet again so that his face was only inches away from theirs. “There’s nothing to fix, we aren’t family anymore.” He said in a low voice, staring at him with a hollow gaze. His eyes burned with a pure hatred that shouldn’t have been there - not on Paisley - as she punched him to the ground again.

Felix choked out a broken sob. “Please, I’m so sorry. Please don’t leave me. You’re all I have left.”

She kicked Felix on the ground, the heel of her boot connecting with his stomach harshly, making him cough and gag. “I don’t know why your sister wasted her life for someone as pathetic as you.”

“I’m sorry, please, don’t go. I’m so, so sorry.” Felix stared at her pleadingly. She had been the only person he could think about for over two months. The one person that he had searched endlessly to see. He would’ve given anything to know that she was okay, to have her at his side again. He would have given anything. He couldn’t even recall the amount of times he’d asked Haven about her, just begging to hear about them. And now here they were, standing before him, alive.

And all they could do is stare at him like he was the last person they would ever want to see. Like he was the root of all their problems.

Like he wasn’t their son.

“I don’t know why I stuck around all those years. I wish I never signed those papers.” She said coldly. She gave him another well-placed kick, this time in the face, and his nose started to gush blood, his face stinging all over in pain.

“I love you.” Felix sobbed harder. “Please forgive me. We can just go home. I just want to go home.”

“There’s no home for us to go to together.” Paisley kicked him more violently than before, no longer holding back. Little bursts of pain shot up his body for every time her foot came back down, but he couldn’t make himself move. He couldn’t make himself do anything other than stare at her, silently begging for her to please, understand. Begging for her to just take him home. Just take me home.

“There is, there is. Please don’t say that.” He begged. “Please.”

Paisley delivered one final kick, a million times rougher than the past ones, before squatting down and yanking Felix’s hair, forcing him to look in her eyes. “We’re no longer family. You’re nothing but a stranger to me.” They shoved his head into the ground, hard enough to make his ears ring. Felix sobbed harder, wretching and coughing as she forced him down.

Slowly, she stood back up, keeping their harsh gaze on Felix’s curled up and shaking body for a second longer. He could feel their eyes sweeping over him, filled with nothing but loathing and disgust. She turned her back to him, stepping over his sprawled out limbs, and began to walk away. She didn’t respond to his cries, to his begging, to his pleading apologies, simply leaving him to sob on the ground. Alone.

Someone leaned down next to him, rubbing small circles on his back. Felix sobbed harder, not daring to look in their direction, all while knowing exactly who it was. “Let’s get back to the others.” Una said, picking him up with ease. His voice was uncharacteristically soft and almost awkward.

Una took him to the others, quickly catching up to them almost effortlessly. Felix buried his face into their shoulder, sobbing broken-heartedly. He could feel Akali’s gaze, looking between him and the Una clone, probably wondering what the hell had happened in the ten minutes that they had been gone. Felix didn’t look up. Couldn’t stand to look up. He pressed himself as closely to Una as he could, like maybe if he made himself small enough, he could disappear. Maybe he could make it all just disappear.

The group continued to run for what seemed like forever. They weaved through the streets, speeding past the once-lively parks and shops, which now were now unfamiliar to everyone, empty and dark, littered by bloody corpses. They passed by the Entertainment hall, the Arena, passed by rows and rows of hotels. But finally, Reese stopped.

“We’re here.”

It was a seemingly normal area, no different from the rest of Paradise. The buildings, the ground, the nature, the sky - none of it gave any indication that this was the way out. Reese ran their hand along the side of the building, feeling along the bricks and thinking for a second, before looking towards the rest of the group. Their eyes landed on Felix, still curled up crying in Una’s arms.

Slowly, they walked towards him, reaching out and softly touching his shoulder. “Hey, Felix, I need you to do us a little favour.” Their voice was calm and soothing, unlike its usual monotone pitch. Felix looked up, his crying dying down, just slightly. “I don’t know exactly how to rip out of this dimension, but I do know your portals will work here.”

Hesitantly, he got to his feet again. “I don’t know where to go.” He said, voice barely above a whisper as he tried to blink back the tears that stubbornly kept falling.

“You can open a portal anywhere, right?” Reese stared him directly in the eyes, their gray ones stormy and dark.

“Bring us to Haru.”

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placeinthemiddleofnowhere · 1 year ago

Text

Reign down on me - Part 4

Pairing: Ghost x Hybrid!reader (eventual poly!141)

No use of y/n or mention of gender/race

Summary: Reader is a wolf hybrid in a world that treats them like second class citizens, given a horrible start in life after being thrown into the military with no preparation. After years of struggle, they're finally taken away from their base by Ghost, now a permanent member of taskforce 141 reader struggles to come to terms with the fact that perhaps there's a life there for them - if only they reach out and accept it.

Warnings: hurt/comfort, Angst, abuse mentions, self doubt

-🐺-

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, mutt?”

Your breaths were coming in hard pants, your body was worn to shreds. It took everything in you to look up at the angry face above, and when you finally mustered enough strength to tilt your head, you were met with deeply disapproving eyes. For once they didn’t rattle you, you’d already seen something so much worse.

“She’s dead,” you murmured, looking back down at the empty eyed body across from you.

“And you’re about to be too if you don’t get yourself together, stupid dog!”

You’d been yanked up and forced to keep running, shoved out in front of corners and into oncoming fire. It was a miracle you hadn’t joined your old teammate on the floor - not that you really saw it that way. You drew the enemy’s fire and allowed your current handler to get to exfil unharmed, you in your sorry hollow state had been shot in the chest, or the vest rather. Either way you were terribly struggling to breathe when you were eventually lugged along into the helicopter.

It was difficult to remember much in the days after that. Your memory was a blurry haze, tugged along and shoved into transport and various different rooms until you were abandoned in an infirmary to heal.

The main thing you remember is how the tiger girl you’d been fighting alongside had fallen, and no one else had batted an eye. She had been one of the best hybrids you’d worked with, someone the soldiers had clamoured to get onto your team, and none of them gave a shit when she’d died. The same girl that had so earnestly been teaching you and given you valuable advice for the field was no more than a few hazily remembered lessons and an empty vessel.

The thought burned in your mind when you’d laid on the hospital bed, keeping your eyes narrowed to tiny slits and your tail twitching as you recovered. You’d been too young to actually be assigned to a combat mission, but you’d been sent along with the unit that day because they thought they were doing a routine water run to a nearby village and they’d wanted you to observe.

Now you were marred with your first battle scar and laden with the knowledge that it didn’t matter how good you did - you’d be nothing more than a pile of bones left behind to rot.

“Move along, mutt!”

Maddox loomed over you and smacked you with his club, sending you sprawling as you refused to run his training drill. You’d since recovered and been cleared for work once more, but that was just what the doctors said. You had a different opinion entirely.

“I’m not doing this,” you said quietly, hefting yourself back up to a standing position.

“What?” Maddox’s voice came through in a chilling growl.

The sounds of the rest of the hybrid’s running the training exercise he’d set echoed all around you. You watched them scrambling around, flying through the course like clay pigeons, and blinked slowly. They were all just training to be better canon fodder. What was the point? You were all going to meet the same end, whether you died honourably fighting or were shot down into a pink mist from where you stood, no matter how good any of you were it wouldn’t matter. You’d all just die anyway.

“You heard me,” you growled, puppy voice still too young to actually have much of an impact.

Maddox wasn’t used to being defied. From day one you’d all tried to do what you could to appease him, had run around trying to make sure you weren’t drawing his ire. None of you liked his horrible booming voice when he scrambled at you, you were all afraid of his club and being at the receiving end of one of his thrashings. What was the point?

He looked incensed, he was the most angry you’d ever seen him. He smacked you a few more times, landing heavy blows onto your back, thighs and butt, but you weren’t anymore motivated to get going. Instead you lay uselessly on the ground and cried out, ears drawing back as you prepared for his worst.

“Get the fuck up! Do as you’re told, dog, no exceptions. Now move!”

You whined, but stayed where you were. Even while your back was on fire, even while he still beat dents into you, you didn’t feel anymore convinced to go along with any of it anymore. You just wanted to give up. To stop having to live through the pain, and just accept that it would be all there was.

In the back of your mind you registered that everyone had stopped running, could feel the ground stop rumbling with their desperate footsteps and had all stopped to watch the spectacle. Though you didn’t really think much about it.

It took a few more blows, but eventually Maddox seemed to recognise that you were quite happy for him to mash you into a fine pulp. His lesson wasn’t having any effect. So he left you on the ground and walked away a few paces, his shadow falling over your face and draping you with the weight of it.

You choked out a sob and watched as he addressed the room. His words weren’t immediately intelligible to you, you were too lost in your brain fog still. Everything was dull, and noises were like far away recordings playing on scratchy speakers. Your head was a swelling water balloon fit to burst.

“-see what happens when you decide you’re not going to do what your commanding officer tells you.”

Thwack.

You heard the sound, but you didn’t feel anything. You tilted your head, ears twitching confusedly as you tried to work out why the pain didn’t reach you. The sound of the wailing banshee scream following soon after clued you into why your bones weren’t rattling with anymore pain.

“Please, sir! Please!”

It was like a plastic sheet had been melted from your eyes. The white hot screech of the voice burned through you and you scrambled up with a shock, watching on with horror as one of your fellow hybrids was getting whacked like nothing else. A wheezing breath gushed in through your lungs and you screamed in unison with the poor boy, begging Maddox to please stop.

“Oh now you’re willing to plead for forgiveness? Now you’re ready to participate again? Watch and let this be a lesson - You don’t decide when you’re done! You do as you’re fucking told!”

“No! Please, no! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Sir. Please, please ple-”

-🐺-

“Hey, Pup, hey, shhh. Wake up, Pup.”

You felt raw, throat vibrating with the last of your unconscious screams, your mind raced as you struggled to register your surroundings. Soft lamplight bathed the room in a warm, hazy glow, and all around you were rumpled blankets, all thrown around the place in splatters of blue as if a tower of paint cans had exploded. Most startling of all though, was the behemoth of a man right in front of you; sitting on your bed and looking down at you with a worried expression.

You backed away to the wall when you finally noticed him, panting and growling like hell when you searched through your bleary mind and couldn’t recognise him. His eyes were like molten gems, his long face and pouting lips drawn into a picture of concern. There was something almost familiar about him, if you squinted and ignored the shock of blonde hair that gently curled on top of his head (something told you that you weren’t used to seeing that). The only thing that stopped you from jumping him immediately was the calming scent of citrus peels.

“Who the fuck are you?” you growled, curling your hands into fists. “What do you want with me?”

The man blinked slowly, his eyebrows raising from the gentle frown he’d been wearing and twitching up into surprise. He smiled uneasily then, the look seeming foreign on that big scarred up face, one of the scars at his lips puckered with the effort it took to move over the muscle.

“Shit, sorry. It’s me, it’s Ghost,” the man sighed, his accent washing over you like a warm wave. “Forgot my mask.”

You gasped, feeling all your muscles release their tension at once as you slid down the wall and into a weary slump. It was ok. He wasn’t some horrible soldier come to drag you away to a new mission, or an enemy looking to startle you before they bagged a kill. It was just Ghost, and Ghost was safe. And Ghost looked… well you were too tired to really get a solid grip on what you thought of how Ghost looked.

“What are you doing in here?” you asked, only speaking when you were confident you wouldn’t stutter.

“You were screamin’, Pup. You looked like you were fighting off possession or somethin’, that must’ve been some bad dream you were having,” Ghost said softly, gently running a hand over the top of your dewy head.

You gritted your teeth and used the butt of your palms to wipe the stray tears from your cheeks, still feeling your throat burn from all the shrieking. It had been a long time since you’d had one of those dreams, or rather memories, but you knew well enough you’d have been loud. You realised you’d probably woken him if he was coming to you bare faced.

“I’m sorry,” you said quickly, tail tucking between your legs in realisation.

“Don’t worry about it,” he murmured, bringing his hand down to stroke over your cheek. “I’ve woken up with plenty of those myself.”

“But you…you’ve shown your face to me when you didn’t mean to. I’m sorry,” you sighed, looking away guiltily.

Your toes curled and your body froze up, your instincts gone haywire as you tried to process what was happening. Was he going to punish you now? Would he beat you until you forgot what he looked like? You shuddered at the thought of your dreams piercing through into reality.

“No, don’t be sorry, darlin’. I’d have taken it off for you sooner or later anyway,” he shrugged.

You bit your lip, unconvinced that this was the case. Given that his team didn’t think much of the mask, it was clear that he wore it often. He probably didn’t like to be bare faced around other people. Maybe he wanted to keep his face a secret.

“Didn’t think it’d effect you this much,” he chuckled, chucking you under your chin. “I did warn you.”

“You warned me?”

“Mhmm. Told you I was bloody handsome.”

Nothing could help the snort that burst from your nose. That then descended into full blown laughter, your body lightening from the growing load that your mind posed. You wrapped your hands round your knees, in an attempt to contain the giggles, and only stopped when you saw the gentle smile that sprouted back onto Ghost’s lips.

“There you go. Better now, huh?”

You nodded slowly and smiled back at him. For some reason mirroring him felt like the easiest thing in the world. It was like a warm glow had burst from him to you, softening your sharp thoughts and turning your body to jelly. You’d be able to sleep again as if nothing had woken you, usually you would stay up until light broke through your curtains.

“You wanna talk about anything before I get back to my beauty rest?”

“No, I’m good,” you said hurriedly, not wanting to relive everything you’d dreamed again.

“Alright then…You get back to sleep, you’ve got another big day ahead. Try not to scare the piss out of me again for another few hours at least,” He sighed.

You nodded, scooting back over so that you could lie back at the head of your bed. However before you could angle yourself down, Ghost drew you into a side hug. At first you resisted it, curled your hands around his arm so that you could stop whatever harm might come your way, but when there was none. Your eyes grew heavier as he held you, his body heat seeped down into your bones and it tempted you ever deeper into the restful darkness.

You let your hands drop and nuzzled into him. There wasn’t anything to fear.

“S’my good, Pup,” Ghost mumbled, releasing you seconds later.

You sank into bed afterwards, falling into a deep sleep as if a switch had been flicked. There were no more disturbances after that.

-🐺-

“Not so hard, Steamin’ Jesus!”

Soap’s whizzed right past your ears like a bullet, you were too focused on getting to the target point. Paintballs splattered overhead, loud noises rang out from the speakers that’d been set up, and your heart was racing. Everything perfectly combined to drive you wild and send all coherent thought elsewhere. The only reason you stayed put behind your current cover was because you knew Ghost was watching - because of some foreign underlying need to make him proud.

“Johnny, you have to take control.”

“I’m fuckin’ tryin’! Your bloody sled dog has other ideas,” Soap huffed, growling down the line.

Ghost’s chuckle rattled around the comms like a swarm of bats. The ever present hand on the front of your neck dug into your collarbone a little, but still you persisted and pushed forward through the resistance. Soap had no idea what he was doing, had no idea how to control your advancement through the fake field.

“Sled dog tendencies aside, you’re not holding em’ right,” Ghost chastised. “Stop the exercise!”

The splat of the last paintball echoed dully around the room and all at once your more human senses returned. The sharp fuzz in your ears dissipated and the blurring at the edge of your peripheries came staggeringly back into focus. You almost sent Soap crashing when you stopped fighting his hold, though luckily for him he swivelled just in time to keep his feet on solid ground.

“Fuckin’ here we go,” Soap muttered, releasing your collar.

You frowned up at him in question, but you didn’t get an opportunity to wonder what he was so pissed about. Ghost jumped into the little arena he’d created and crossed the floor, patting your vest before he took a hold of you himself.

“You’re holdin’ Pup round the front like this,” Ghost said, sliding his hand around your collar to illustrate his point. “You’re just choking them and driving them forward to get away from ya’ or get to the checkpoint.”

“Because your precious little Angel keep’s growlin’ and turnin round when I hold the collar round the back like you do. I feel like I’m about to get my face rearranged again!”

Ghost sighed and put his hand on Soap’s arm, driving the other man to give a cursory glance down at you before fixing a hard look on the Lieutenant. There was no mistaking the sharp little shake of his head he gave, no matter how much he had tried to hide it. Ghost put his hand down, holding it up in mock surrender before it fell completely.

“It’s because you’re holding on too tight, Johnny,” Ghost explained, his voice growing softer. “You don’t have to. Pup won’t hurt you.”

“You sure about that?”

“Johnny,” Ghost growled. “Don’t say anything stupid, now.”

You looked up, alarmed at the tone Ghost was taking. You didn’t really blame Soap, or anyone else, for being afraid of you. A lot of people were - anyone who knew your reputation at least, and from that little comment you surmised that Soap was well aware of it. Though from the way Ghost was acting, it was as if Soap had told him he was going to shoot you. His eyes were stuck in a stormy glare and his full height was rigidly stretching up over the Sergeant.

“You know this is difficult for me,” Soap said, jaw as taught as a piano wire.

“I know…” Ghost sighed. “But it’ll only be harder if you keep going like this, learning to control a wolf the wrong way will only get you both hurt. You’ve gotta dig deep here, push past the bad memories. This one’ll never hurt you like that.”

“So you keep saying,” Soap grumbled. “Why don’t you try tellin’ them to fuckin’ behave when they’re being handled rather’n having a go at me.”

A creeping feeling of shame crept through your mind, suddenly you felt like a very small child in the middle of a fight between your parents. The tiny little voice you hadn’t heard in so long chimed just as true as it did then, They’re fighting about me again. Your ears folded back straight against your head and you leaned closer into Ghost, accidentally catching eyes with Soap as he registered your movement.

Soap’s eyes softened.

“It’s not that simple. I have a plan in the works though,” Ghost said carefully, shifting his gaze to you as he felt you press against him, and then back at Soap. “It’s gonna take a bit to undo years of shit training, yeah? I told you how it’d be before, those shitheads at Branhaven always train up hybrids to look as showy as possible for their superiors. That means they pull like crazy and bark and growl up a riot while they work because it looks effective and scary to the knobheads who don’t need to handle them. I need you all to learn how to handle Pup as they are now before I’ve worked with them, and then you’ll be prepared for anything…’sides, its always you n me together, Johnny, remember? Realistically you’re not gonna have to actually handle them on the field, you just need to be prepared to.”

The ‘Just in case’ that eluded his last sentence was silent.

The whole time you couldn’t help dwelling on the fact that Ghost was unusually…tender for a man in charge over the Sergeant. Normally when people bitched at the higher ups in your base they’d be shouted at and told to man up or fuck off. Ghost was actually explaining himself to Soap, trying to rationalise what he was doing as if he somehow owed it to him. He treated Soap like he treated you, ensuring he was able to calm down and trying to fill him in so he could take comfort in knowing what was happening.

The treatment seemed to work just as well on Soap as it did you. He huffed out a defeated breath and relaxed, looking from you to Ghost while the irate cloud above him dispersed and became lost in the gentle atmosphere.

“Fine. Can you show me what to do again?”

“Atta boy,” Ghost said, grin evident in his voice. “Hand here, and legs nice and stable. You need to keep moving forward at a nice even pace, you have to set the right speed. Soon as Pup tries to push on ahead, you grip the back of their neck like that.”

You growled as you felt Ghost put pressure on your scruff, instinctively feeling the work drive build up within you. He just shook his head and gave you an unamused stare for your efforts.

“The growling’s all just noise. Stupid noise,” Ghost said, intentionally setting his eyes on you, “but there’s no intention of threat behind it - not while we’re in charge.”

“What do you mean ‘not while we’re in charge’?” Soap asked, making a face.

“Pup won’t have any reason to hurt us. We’re not gonna go yanking tails and hitting like fuckin’ children when we don’t get our way.”

“Wh- y’mean that was a commanding officer that did that?” Soap asked, motioning to your crooked tail.

“Like I said - shit training. C’mon, take the collar.”

Soap didn’t quite look like he’d recovered from the shock of being told about your tail. He gingerly reached out and took your collar with a frown set heavily into his face. You wondered if it was because he really pitied you that much, or if it was because he thought you might take out your anger on him. You leaned more toward the latter reasoning. Despite his reservations though, he was able to do as Ghost asked this time.

“Good, that’s it, Johnny.”

Soap visibly puffed up from the praise. His grip on you tightened. He was more sure of himself now, he marched ahead and set you into an even pace, the rhythm catching onto your feet contagiously. Naturally there were still a few moments where you wanted to pull forward and rush through, but now that Soap was placing his trust in Ghost’s intuition, you were gently guided into keeping within his step.

“Good Pup, keep it up!”

Soap didn’t immediately latch onto what Ghost had told him about your growling, he still wrenched himself back a few times after correcting you. The horrible tractor-like sound would comically twist his features. However this time, he was actually able to get to the checkpoint with you. Then after a few more trials, you were both flying down the course, high on Ghost’s praises and untouched by any paintball that tried to come your way.

After the fourth time he called for a break, roughly crossing his hands into a T shape while he doubled over and panted and puffed for air. His signature sage scent wafted strongly from him now, invading your senses and forcing you back a step or two.

A discreet smile stole its way onto your face, a smug one if you were honest. There was a steady tension starting to warm in your legs, but you were no where near over extension. Apparently all the breakfast and rest you’d gotten had done you wonders, because you felt like you could keep going all day and all night, maybe longer than that. It made you wonder if maybe Price and Ghost didn’t have a point to all the nice things they were doing for you afterall.

“You did well, Soap,” Ghost chuckled, wandering back onto the course with a swagger to his step. “You too, Pup. Reckon you’ll be nice and warmed up for Price and Garrick now.”

“Christ, Pup’s gonna do this two more times?” Soap asked, looking over at you in wonder.

“Mhmm,” Ghost hummed.

“You not tired?” Soap asked, directing his question toward you..

You laughed at that, unsure as to why he’d be so shocked you were going to keep going. Normally you’d spend your whole days training when you weren’t on an active mission. Running and sparring were practically all you knew. If you were to tire out early, you’d be punished for it, blamed for not getting enough sleep or not eating your shitty MREs. Stopping wasn’t in the equation.

“I can go all day,” you shrugged.

“Christ, and they tell me I’m hyperactive.”

-🐺-

Overall impressed with your performance that day, Ghost had insisted on dragging you out to a shopping villiage, or as you now thought of it - a torture desensitisation arena. Even later on at night, there were so many people around: screaming children that were moaning about being tired and hungry, teenagers laughing like hyenas, couples arguing over what they should and shouldn’t spend their money on. It didn’t help that there were so many busy shop fronts as well, colours and flashing lights and products you wouldn’t even know what to do with. It was a circus of too many stimuli and you were stuck at it’s roaring centre, sticking to Ghost like a fly on tape.

As soon as he’d parked up you’d demanded to know why he’d brought you there, not able to help the rising panic at being taken somewhere new. He’d explained that it was time to buy you some much needed casual clothes. Personal items. At the mention of that dreaded subject, you’d tried to protest and remind him about getting your brand new stack of clothes from the quartermaster, but Ghost had just snorted and said that he wasn’t taking you everywhere in your uniform. He didn’t care for the looks it would get him - said the man wearing a black medical skull mask over his face.

Undeterred by your saying that he didn't need to waste money on you, Ghost all but yanked you into all clothes shops, leading you by the hand and forcing you to pick casual clothes that you liked from the small selection the hybrid sections offered. It was an exercise made to humiliate, you’d thought, you had no idea how to pick clothes for yourself that weren’t standard issue - had no idea what colours and materials and fits went together with what. He’d made you pick what felt good in the end, said that Soap had told him the important thing was picking something comfortable - it didn’t narrow your search by very much.

Propelled by the thought of getting to leave if you just compiled, you eventually settled on some blue vans trainers, a cosy pullover hoodie, two new pyjama sets, a couple of pairs of jeans and a few T-shirts that weren’t too adventurous - save for the one that had some illustrated plants on it. Even that little amount felt like far too much, overwhelming you with how much choice you’d have when your promised downtime would come. Though every time you asked if you’d picked enough, Ghost would just fix you with a stony look that told you to keep going.

Then as if that wasn’t enough, he took you over to a bookshop as well, claiming you needed something to entertain yourself with in your downtime. Even when you told him you’d managed alright up till that point. However, when you were left to explore so that Ghost could go pick something for himself, it wasn’t the books there that you were most taken by.

“What’ve you got there then?”

You froze, shoulders bunching as you heard Ghost’s voice softly break your awed silence and looked guiltily down at the little puppy teddy you were holding. You weren’t supposed to be looking at that- that’s what you figured when you saw his shadow cross your path. A picture of his sneering face crossed your mind’s eye, darkened by that unruly blonde fringe of his.

What were you supposed to say to him? After blankly looking at a few of the books, you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander over to the little displays of plushies, and had slowly gravitated toward it when you saw the little dog that was now in your hands.

The dog’s fur was so unbelievably soft and its little spotted face reminded you of one of your favourite cartoons from when you were small. It called out to you and lured you in with the reminder of some old theme song that played in your head, made you pick it up and stroke its squishy black and white tummy with a smile plastered all over your face.

“I got distracted, sorry,” you murmured, gently placing it amongst its spotted siblings.

Ghost came round to your side and picked up the same puppy you’d been holding. You tilted your head in surprise and watched as he did the same as you, stroking the soft tummy while inspecting it. It looked comically smaller in his hands though, like a newborn pup.

“You want him?”

Your ears perked in surprise when he spoke. Finally you chanced a look up at him and felt your cheeks warm when you made eye contact, thoroughly embarrassed that you’d been caught. Though he didn’t look judgemental like you’d thought he would, instead he just stared at you earnestly over his black medical mask and gave you a chance to speak.

“I…um...” you weren’t sure what to say.

Of course you wanted him. Every little instinct in you wanted to take the toy and hold it and cuddle it and never let go. However that wasn’t the kind of behaviour befitting of a military class hybrid like you, and it was the kind of thing you’d have been endlessly mocked, if not punished for before.

Soldiers don’t cuddle their teddy bears and blankets, they make their beds quickly and efficiently and don’t concern themselves with such stupid frivolities!

“It’s not a trick question, Pup. No wrong answer,” Ghost supplied, holding the puppy out to you encouragingly.

You breathed out a sigh, but your chest didn’t feel any less heavy. Even if it was such a silly decision to make, it still felt like such a big undertaking. If you said yes and took it, would Ghost think less of you? You already thought less of you for wanting it. You were already filled with judgement, the voices of all the superiors that had ever disciplined you mocking you in one big evil choir.

Stupid little baby wolf.

You whined, but even despite yourself, you took it and held it to your chest.

“Hey, you deserve to have things of your own, that’s what tonight’s all about,” Ghost said, gently setting his hand on your shoulder as he did so. “You deserve to exist outside of the military, to be more than a war dog. If this makes you happy, then we should get ‘im.”

You wanted to keel over then as you rolled your eyes, let your whole body collapse with the motion. This dog at least was a simple decision in terms of what you liked, much easier than when you’d been standing in front of all those dreaded clothes racks, but it didn’t make finalising it any easier. Not when your feelings were colliding like waves against a harbour wall, one side seemingly solid while the other corroded it.

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“I’m not supposed to want things like this,” you mumbled, holding the teddy out in front of yourself again like it was some kind of alien object.

“Why not?” he chuckled.

“Because it’s for children,” you said dryly.

“It’s not for children,” he scoffed. “There’s no rules on who gets to buy cuddly toys. Anyway, you clearly want the little fella, so we’re getting him.”

You frowned, looking confusedly down at the dog again.

“But It’s a distraction…All of this stuff is,” you uttered, feeling Maddox’s voice speak through you like a spell had been cast. “It’ll take my mind off important things and get everyone hurt.”

You thought back to the kid in the bunk next to you, the one that had cried on the first day because they couldn’t have their teddy bear to sleep with. Maddox had lectured you all then and there, almost shouting the fur off your ears, saying that hybrid soldiers couldn’t let anything get in the way of them functioning. Needing a teddy bear to sleep wouldn’t fly when you were overseas and catching bullets because you were sleep deprived, reading books to escape your miserable new lives would get you killed when your heads were still stuck in them, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

“You don’t think we all need distractions sometimes?” Ghost asked. “Distractions make life worth living, and you’re no less deserving of that than anyone on the team. Don’t you think?”

You didn’t have an answer for that. In fact, you were arguing a point that wasn’t even yours. So, in response, you shrugged and traced one of the puppy’s patches.

“I think you care about me like…a weird amount,” you mumbled.

“A weird amount?” Ghost scoffed, hiding a crinkly eyed smile behind his mask. “Why’s it weird to care about you, huh?”

You shrugged again.

“Ok, listen. You’ve been all twisted up by those idiots at your last base and I want you to know that I’m not gonna legitimise a single thing that they’ve taught you. This is what it’s going to be like now, this is what you get for coming in everyday and working your arse off. The fact that you’ve been given no compensation and been run so badly into the ground by those cretins is nothing short of appalling. Believe me when I tell you that I know it’s not as simple as flicking a switch and getting used to good treatment - it won’t happen just because I tell you it’s all over now and I understand that. Just…let me give you a little bit of comfort, yeah? Just to show you how things should be. Just enjoy a distraction or two and see that it won’t be life ending, and it’s not gonna get taken away from you. I promise you’ll be fine”

Your throat was too thick with emotion to answer. So instead of making a fool out of yourself you nodded your assent and looked down at your new prize with wonder. How long had it been since you’d owned something that didn’t have any function or use on the battlefield? How long since you’d held something so soft?

“Now…did you actually look at any books or did you just stand and bully yourself for wanting something nice?”

You jumped when Ghost’s grizzled voice sounded out and brought your mind back to task, shaking your head of all your musings. Choosing books - right. All at once, the multicoloured aisles came back to view and all the people in them, the room filled out around you and made you hold your puppy down low at your side and out of view.

“Yeah, I um- I think I found something cool.”

-🐺-

That night Ghost let you stay up in bed for a little bit to read. Leaving you nestled in your swarm of blankets sitting side by side with your new friend as the plush sat up against the pillows with you. Your eyes poured over the artwork of your new graphic novels in wonder, admiring the bold colours and thick lines, turning the glossy pages ever so slowly as if your heart would stop beating when you got to the end of the book.

When you ended the first chapter you smiled down at the little dog rather childishly and bit your lip. It was silly to name inanimate objects, it didn’t take someone standing over you and shouting at you to know that, though you couldn’t help it when the name seemed to cling to him with an unshakable grip. Simon. You’d name him Simon after the main character in the story. It seemed to suit the little black and white dog just as much as it did the hybrid boy, and now there was no changing it - unfortunately for you.

#simon ghost riley #Simon Riley #Ghost #mw2 #ghost x reader #Hybrid!reader #reign down on me

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trust-goes-both-ways · 4 months ago

Text

I rewrote Descendants: The Rise of Red. Tell me what you think

Songs are in bold, names are not correct

Open on Uma informing us she’ll be reaching out to other lands for their children

They still have the Carlos bit but now it'll pay off

Introduce us to Red in Wonderland being absolute chaos

RED song

Establish Maddox as the son of Mad Hatter and he’s the cool older brother/tutor. He shows her the timepiece but not as a gift more as a plan to understand history.

Also give Jack of Diamonds something else to do, PLEASE

They receive the invitation and the QoH surprises everyone by letting her go

When packing Red reveals she stole the time piece, the voice over about the dangers of changing the past plays but she still pockets it

Chloe’s character- still cute and naive with a belief that love is the most important thing because love and being a good person changed her mom’s life. Shethinks love conquers all and is very by the book because Cinderella always did as she was told and believes it was her good attitude and perseverance that helped

Love Aint It is the same but without the stupid assembled voices

Altered LOVE AINT IT

Queen still takes over, Red and Chloe still accidentally travel back in time

They still have a fight song but a better one

Better fight song

They still meet Merlin, still pretend to be transfer students.

They go to class and meet Bridget and Ella.

Bridget is so kind and sweet and accepting

Ella is still hard working but cautious towards all royals, because her stepsisters are friends with the royals

At Merlin Academy, there’s a tradition of playing pranks that leads into social acceptance

Prank is played on Aladdin (who transferred in the year before, pretending to be a Prince when he wasn’t but he and Jasmine fell in love anyway) symbolizing his acceptance into MA social scene

CRUELLA is now the main villain kid. Dara Renee can still play her.

Life is Sweeter song plays, goth kids are introduced, and establishes Cruella as the mean girl because she feels like she has a lot to prove since she doesn’t have powers or a thing, just a desire to rule the fashion world.

LIFE IS SWEETER, mostly the same but with different characters and dancing

She adheres to a strict code of modern, sleek fashion and she hates Bridget for her Wonderland style and Ella for her shabby-chic look

Gets embarrassed (maybe her outfit is ruined) and vows revenge

Red and Chloes visit Ella and that part goes mostly the same

Chloe breaking the vase gets Ella grounded from Crowncoming

They still travel to the goth kids hangout and discover Cruella has enlisted Morgie and Maleficent to come up with a way to humiliate Bridget

VILLAIN SONG

They still go to Bridget's room

Shuffle of love bc why not

Red looks in the looking glass and still sees the dark princess future

Chloe doesn't see anything bc she's accidentally erased herself so now they have two missions

Red pockets the Looking glass so they can keep checking in on the future

The two still fight about what to do next, with Chloe insisting her parents would want her to be a rule-following person and Red telling her goodness without action is nothing

Chloes goes back to Ellas and they have essentially the same talk where Chloe realizes her goodness isn’t all-inclusive

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY

They still have a break in, Red using her epic heisting skills

They confront the goth kids and stop them in much the same way

After they steal the book, they still have to get Ella to Crowncoming

Red, Chloe, and Bridget convince Fay she needs to help them get Ella to Crowncoming, all 5 of them get gorgeous dresses

Ella and Charming still dance because he does something to prove he's a good guy

SO THIS IS LOVE REMIX

Crowncoming happens, all goes well then BOOM, Bridget still gets pranked/turned into monster as her ‘acceptance into the cool kids club’ prank but she’s too humiliated to care

Red goes after Bridget to convince her its okay. She tells her the anger she's feeling will fester and grow and she’ll become something she hates

Chloe has to go get Ella to go help her friend. She realizes her parents will have to earn their love like everyone else bc true love doesn't just come easy, and if it’s meant to be one dance shouldnt change anything

Red forces Bridget to look in the looking glass, showing her both of their futures. Bridget is confused and horrified

The four of them end up using the watch to go back to the (unchanged) future

Bridget has to confront the QoH and reminds her why she used to be kind and that it didn't make them popular but it got them Ella

Ella confronts Cinderella about how could you let your friend go even for love

Uma talks about her friend Carlos, and how he believed it was never too late to change, and even though his mom spent her life pursuing fame and style above everything, he still believed with patience and understanding she could be good. After he died Cruella realized no amount of fame mattered as much as him and asked Uma to expand the VK program in his honor

Red and QoH make up AS THEMSELVES. QoH tells Red she loves her and everything she’s done has been out of fear of her being hurt like she was.

Sends Ella and Bridget back and we have a BIG transformation

End with a real song and dance number about new beginnings

A REAL SHOWSTOPPING END SONG

#descendants #descendants the rise of red #the rise of red #disney's descendants #princess red #chloe charming #descendants 4

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ronance4everbrainrot · 3 months ago

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Moooore descendants 4 incorrect quotes with Glassheart/CharmingHeart (they back)

(and other ships)

Red: Sometimes I get so caught up on being gay that I forget I’m actually bi.

(Girl. Same)

---

Maddox: Man, I’m gonna get fat if you keep feeding me all these chips and junk!

Red: I’M NOT! I was eating them and you took them.

Maddox: You said I should try some!

Red: I said they were good.

Maddox: That’s not how I heard it.

(MADDOX! HIIIII! SOME LOVE FOR YOU TOO BUDDY!)

---

Red: Tomorrow’s the Cooking Contest. Maddox always tells me one thing every year. They say, “You might win if you’d stop eating your entry!” But how would I know whether it’s an award-winning dish without tasting it first? This may be a problem humanity will have to grapple with for eternity.

(AU. Red is a good cook)

---

Chloe: So how’s the food Red made?

Cinderella: It's great! Compliments to them.

Chloe: *goes to the kitchen*

Chloe: You're adorable.

Red: *blushes*

(again. Red is a good cook. She invites the Charmings for dinner and then asks them for their blessing when Chloe leaves)

---

Chad: we could make a boys club!

Maddox: Im non-binary.

Chad:

Chad: Anti-girls club.

(Slay. Also can't decide if Maddox should be green or purple. Maybe even orange but I chose green for now. Will change later if I'm in the mood)

---

Red: Can you PLEASE peer pressure me into doing my project?

Chloe: Do it or you're straight.

Red: I said peer pressure, NOT THREATEN!

(That's too far, Chloe! Are you mad?!)

---

Chloe: Operation no more distractions is a go!

*not even 10 seconds later*

Chloe: Oh, look! A butterfly!

(She's either laser focused or cannot concentrate at all)

---

Red: *clicks pen*

Maddox: *clicks pen in response*

Queen of Hearts: Stop that.

Red: Stop what?

Queen of Hearts: You’re talking about me in Morse code!

Red: Yes, that’s what we doing. In our very limited time, we took a class on a very outdated, very unnecessary form of communication just so we could talk about you in front of you. Congrats, you figured us out!

*later*

Red, to Chloe: That’s actually exactly what we were doing.

(I'm surprised you kept your Head. And they absolutely did learn that because they had nothing else they could do)

---

Chloe: Come on, Chad. Nobody actually believes that Red is in love with me.

Chad, to The Squad: Raise your hand if you think that Red is helplessly in love with Chloe.

*Everyone raises their hand*

Chloe: Red, put your hand down.

(*raises hand* what more evidence do you need??)

---

Chloe: The salary of a clown is 51,000 dollars.

Chloe, gesturing to Chad and Red fighting: And yet these idiots do it daily, and for free!

---

Red: When I first got my autism diagnosis, my first thought was “woah… it’s canon” and I think that maybe thoughts like that is why Chloe made me get tested.

(It is canon now. Headcanon)

---

Chloe: Anything else?

Red: Yeah. Stay away from me!

Chloe: Alright. See you in the room we share

(Literally them. Canon. can also be switched)

---

Queen of Hearts: If looking good was a crime, you’d be a law abiding citizen.

(rather that and not off with my head)

---

Queen of Hearts: We are gathered here today because someone- *glares at Red’s coffin* -couldn’t stay alive!

(Oop-. Damn. She would care more tho. I think..)

---

Queen of Hearts: So you're looking for information on this thing, huh? Well, I feel like it must be from far away.

Mal: What makes you say that?

Queen of Hearts: If it's something even I don't know about, then I'm sure nobody else must have a clue. So it's gotta be from some faraway place. Impeccable reasoning, isn't it?

Mal: Your Majesty.. You don't have a clue about this thing, do you?

Queen of Hearts: *screams in anger*

(Just a meeting between two Queens ✨. Canon

---

Queen of Hearts: Standing next to sunflowers always makes me feel weak like ‘look at this fucking flower. This flower is taller than I am. This flower is winning and I’m losing.’

Maddox: Wow, you are not ready to hear about trees.

(ssSSHHhhH. Not so loud. Don't want you to lose your head. Canon tho)

---

Red: I’m terrible at expressing myself.

Uma: Don’t worry, actions speak louder than words.

Red: Yes, but my actions are also bad.

(Girl same. Getting advice from the principal ✨ she probably did something 👀)

---

Queen of Hearts: God has let me live another day and I'm going to make it everyone's problem.

(She for real does make it everyone's problem)

---

Hope you liked it!

Wanted to add more but then it would have been too long.

So the next one has more of the OGs

Byeeee

#chloe charming #redcharming #rise of red #glassheart #charminghearts #red of wonderland #descendants 4 #princess red #rise of red incorrect quotes #red of hearts #maddox hatter #queen of hearts #bridget of wonderland #cinderella #ella charming #chad charming #uma descendants #mal descendants #mal bertha

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theaviatorthatcouldnotfly · 1 year ago

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shoutout to ej caswell for:

overcoming and moving past everything that happened in season three for his own good

accepting that he was only going to be held down by his father’s unfulfillable expectations and distancing himself from him

managing to work four jobs and go to school but still attend clubs

doing things for himself and not because he feels like he needs to do things to live up to some perfect ideal

being the nerd of his new friend group <3

giving ricky the advice he’s really needed to hear since the past few seasons and guiding him through his problem

(and more or less being the backbone of the show whilst doing it because who knows what ricky would’ve done next if ej hadn’t been there to give him that tough love honestly.)

having a good conversation with gina about their breakup and just going with it when she told him about the movie

listening to miss jenn and honestly giving his take on her situation

for being everyone’s therapist and advice giver this season and just vibing with it the entire way

trying to boost ashlyn’s confidence about maddox, then helping them get together with the tree trunk he carved their names in way back when in season three when he predicted they would get together! our boy sees the future

agreeing to take the role of coach bolton when it was spontaneously offered to him on opening night and still managing to pull through with a great performance

and all in just two episodes!

gonna miss you, elton john caswell, king that you are. thank you for your service.

#ej caswell appreciation post #really fucking missed him this season and yet despite the lack of screen time he still managed to be an icon. we stan #ej caswell #hsmtmts #caswen #gina porter #ricky bowen #miss jenn #hsmtmts spoilers #ej caswell defense squad #avi rambles

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pink-chevalier · 5 months ago

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"So what?"

"So in love. It's annoying and stupid."

Previous — Next Transcript Below ↓

Tasha: Yeah, and then Nina said that Hailey's parents walked in on them kissing.

Maddox: Shit, really?

Tasha: Yup.

Maddox: Then what happened?

Tasha: Hailey's parents freaked the hell out; like Nina said, they went off on them, and she swore that Hailey's mom was crying.

Maddox: Damn, dramatic, much?

Tasha: Same thing I said, but Nina wanted to talk to Percy about it.

Maddox: For advice?

Tasha: I'm assuming it gotta be that. But where is he?

Maddox: Percy didn't tell you?

Tasha: If he did, I wouldn't be asking you, Maddox.

Maddox: Gotta give me attitude like that?

Tasha: Just tell me.

Maddox: Percy joined the yearbook club.

Tasha: Why?

Maddox: He wants to spend more time with Oliver.

Tasha: Of course.

Maddox: What's with that face?

Tasha: Nothing.

Maddox: Sure, it's nothing.

Tasha: I think it's stupid.

Maddox: What?

Tasha: That Percy's so desperate.

Maddox: Oliver is his boyfriend, Tasha.

Tasha: And we're his friends.

Maddox: And?

Tasha: He should be spending time with us too.

Maddox: We see Percy at school and when they don't have club.

Tasha: Yeah, but they act so... so...

#simblr #sims 4 #ts4 #s4 #The Knight Family #sims 4 legacy #sims 4 story

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kumikokane · 10 days ago

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"If there are no objections, let it be unanimous, a very merry unbirthday to us!~"

Name: March Hawthorn

Twisted from: March Hare (Alice in wonderland)

Age: 18

Birthday: Mar. 21st

Height: 173cm (5’8)

Gender: Male

Dominant hand: Right

Grade: Junior

Class: N/A (attends RSA)

Club: N/A

Hobbies: Singing, pin making

Pet peeves: Talking before you think

Favorite food: Macaroons

Least fav food: Carrots

Talent: Sculpting and pottery

Three ocs down! Hopefully I stop making these soon before I start to lose track of them all.

Originally I was going to just leave it at Whitney and Maddox, but I was reading about the mad hatter on the Disney wiki and saw that it had listed the March hare as his best friend. And, obviously I can't deprive my oc of his best friend! So here he is.

But since the universe separated me and my best friend (goes to different schools) they don't get to go to the same school either. It's okay though, he sneaks in to NRC with Chenya to attend the unbirthday parties lol

On another note, one of my friends said he's doing the super senior "where my hug att" pose, and now I think I need to re-evaluate the way I pose my characters.

#art #my art #kumikoart #oc #oc art #oc artwork #disney twst #my ocs #twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #twst oc

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casterhex · 6 months ago

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Could you tell us some fun facts about Kevin?

of course. my bad on taking so long to answer this

Goes by "K3VLAR" and other variations online, though most of his irl friends just call him Kev. most famous online for his doom wads and maddox-style trolling

only listens to three kinds of music: chemlab style electronica, video game soundtracks, and classical orchestral

favorite soft drink is cream soda

plays the saxophone

works at a fictional video rental place called Videomania

in addition to being the leader of the computer science club he considers himself the head of the charge in the "war" between geeks and jocks. gets away with so much bullshit at school because he's kind of a teacher's pet and more tech savvy than over half the school staff. uses this privilege to watch violent movies on the projector during club hours and sneak parts of his knife collection into school

totally no joke bisexual (takes him 'til college to realize this though). also jewish.

he's also surprisingly hard to draw. still working on that part

#hex answers #hex originals #that link takes you to the hate mail section of Maddox's site. uh. racism warning for some of the mail sent in if you click it #I think ive talked about some of this stuff before whatever I heart kevin #kevin weary #tfa

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brynwrites · 1 year ago

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Maddox and Diego from the Stars and the Stage, drawn by @thistlearts

Guess what's coming out NEXT WEEK?!

(Hint: it's the new prequel novella for the Guides for Dating Vampires series, the Stars and the Stage!)

While we're waiting for the third main series book, I'm so excited to bring you this wonderful, fierce second chance couple who comes back together like a thousand fireworks after ten years apart. For a little sneak peak at who they are as a couple, check out this snippet from the first chapter that shows a bit of their teenage relationship before their breakup…

Once Diego's safety had been his arms, clutching them close when they lost a lead role in drama club or holding them back when the nastier kids had insulted them for their heritage—as though many of their ancestors hadn’t lived in California longer than any of these preppy white families—with whispers that this wasn’t the time, that vengeance would be sweeter if it couldn’t be traced back to them. He had been the safe haven who’d helped them paint everything from dicks on the expensive leather of those bullies’ sports cars to the elaborate stage sets that only he and Diego truly appreciated. His were the screams that had echoed their own across the school halls and the hands that had pressed them against the lockers with every ravaging kiss, the only person who avidly agreed with them that the highs and lows of their teenage love was a thing the whole world had to play audience to. He had been the boy who never tried to tame their fire, but always managed to stoke it in a better direction. Then he’d torn that protection down in one terrible night.

(For one more week, you can still pre-order the ebook for only 99 cents!)

#my writing #queer books #trans representation #vampire books #gay vampires #writeblr #booklr #gay romance books

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dioles-writes · 11 months ago

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• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), Grandpa Racman (he/him), Maddox (he/him), January (he/him), Astley (he/they), Reagan (she/her)

Credits to @jiphenn as the characters in purple are all hers!!

Four rhythmic knocks sounded from the front door before the sound of keys jingling interrupted the Board Game Club’s silence. The door rattled as it was unlocked, swinging open.

In walked Maddox’s Grandpa Racman, carrying two boxes of fresh-smelling pizza. Maddox immediately jumped up, going to help him with the boxes. “Hope you kids are hungry.” He said with his usual smile, going back to lock the door and joining the group next to Maddox.

Felix had never been more grateful to see him in his life. The day had been passing slowly, with not much food to go around in the morning, so by the time Racman had shown up, he was starving.

January, Akali, Wilder, Winola, Kuali’i, Felix and Rory had all spent most of the day in the separate room, doing muscle exercises and physical therapy to regain their strength. Felix welcomed the distraction, as it took his mind off things, and it meant that he could avoid Reagan for most of the day. The rest of the club just laid around, staying in the other room in nothing but silence. At least when he was moving around Felix didn’t have to be alone with his thoughts, guilt and grief dragging him down. He didn’t have to think about Paisley, or Bliss, or Avil, too busy focusing on the pain in his legs, ribs, and his shoulder. It grounded him. He was pretty sure he would go crazy if he was Astley, with nothing to do all day, nothing to do at night, constantly just sitting and thinking, not even able to fall asleep and get away for a few hours. He had no clue how they hadn’t fallen apart yet. Felix knew he would have.

Racman opened the boxes, revealing two beautifully crafted pizzas. The smell was a relief from the usual blood and sweat stench, making Felix’s mouth instantly water. It looked like they were straight out of the oven, all gooey cheese and tomato sauce finished with a perfect golden crust.

“How are things outside, Grandpa?” Maddox asked, passing everyone a slice. Felix took his, too excited to be bummed out by the fact that they all could only eat one. He dug in, absolutely in heaven.

“Not good.” Racman said, looking troubled. “These attacks have been getting out of hand. There was another Diole attack recently at one of the GDEO warehouses. At least that means the vaccine release has been pushed even further.”

Felix listened in, glad for some news about the world. It was odd, not knowing anything that was going on, trapped in Chumps Jr. with no access to the outside. It had been almost two months now since he last left this place. Chumps Jr. was starting to grow suffocating, stuck with the ten other Board Game Club members and his sister every day. As sad as it was to admit, Racman’s visits were the only thing he had to look forward to. He regretted so many months ago, insulting the poor old man in January’s limo, acting like an entitled prick. Racman was the only person that had been genuinely nice to him since they were all exposed, harbouring eleven fugitives without any complaints, bringing them food and blankets when he could.

“How about some lollipops to make you kids feel better?” Racman reached into his jacket and pulled out a handful of candy, going around the room to give one to everyone. He handed them out, some people taking them more reluctantly than others.

January accepted his with a quiet thank you, Racman being the only other person besides Maddox that he had dared to even look at in the last two months.

It was the oddest sight.

Before the concert, January had been nothing but smiles and laughs, constantly in a good mood no matter what. He didn’t care how rude Felix was, January always just smiled and reassured him everything would be fine. He always had a positive attitude, always had a huge grin on his face. Felix didn’t realize how much he had grown to care about January, to care about the whole club. Didn’t realize how much Avil had held them all together. His heart ached at the thought of her, her absence becoming even more obvious. Every day it felt like something was missing, the room appearing even more empty and sad.

Felix couldn’t remember what his last conversation had been with her. What his last conversation had been with January. It was so insignificant at the time. Before, he had no doubts that he would be spending the winter break with all of the club, going ice skating and enjoying their vacation. It never would have occurred to him that he could lose Avil. He had been so naive, so blissfully ignorant back then.

Racman handed him a lollipop: orange flavour. He accepted it with a thanks and a small smile.

“You kids are looking so much better than the last time I saw you.”

Felix wanted to laugh. They definitely were not doing any better, if anything they were doing worse. January was a shell of a person, going through his days in a daze. His head was always bowed, hair falling in his eyes, slouching over like he was trying to curl into himself. It was nothing like how he had been before: tall, confident, radiating this pure joy as soon as he entered a room. Akali looked like he hadn’t slept in days, his eye bags now making his eyes appear sunken in. No one talked much. Felix and Reagan weren’t on speaking terms anymore, and the only time they actually communicated with each other was in their screaming matches, both of them getting in each others faces and yelling at the top of their lungs. Sometimes one of the Board Game Club members would intervene, usually Rory, Alzena, or Maddox, who Felix knew was getting fed up with their fights, but most of the time Reagan just stormed out, bawling. She cried a lot more now, to the point where it was almost constant.

“I think I could bring hot chocolate next time, it must be really cold sleeping in here.” Racman continued with a small laugh.

“Thank you Grandpa, we’d like that a lot.” Maddox said softly, twirling his lollipop through the air slowly. Racman gave him a sweet smile.

“Well, I’ll leave you kids alone now,” Racman said, shakily getting to his feet. “You probably don’t want a boring old man’s company.” Felix really wished he would stay, really wished he wouldn’t leave so quickly every time. He hated how lonely he was now, with not even his sister to talk to, or to sit with.

Maddox helped walk him to the door. “I’ll be back sometime next week with your hot chocolate.” He called out to the group with a smile, unlocking the door once again. Maddox nodded. “Be safe, Grandpa.”

Racman waved and headed out again, leaving the Board Game Club back in silence again. Maddox returned to the couch with January, his smile fading. The group went back to sulking, everyone sullen and quiet, pizza finished.

The week passed like usual. The injured Board Game Club members did physical therapy with Rory. Felix and Reagan fought, the latter crying loudly into the night. January sulked. The days were impossibly cold and windy, the only view from the windows was snow falling down on the gloomy street, the sky always dark.

But finally, there was a knock at the door. Racman walked in, a plastic grocery bag in hand. “Good afternoon, kids,” He gave his usual warm smile, locking the door. “I got hot chocolate like I promised.” He said, rattling the contents inside of the bag.

Everyone looked up, almost appearing excited for the first time in weeks. He placed it down near the couch. “Do one of you mind heating the kettle?” Maddox jumped up, heading into the kitchen and pulling it out of the cupboard.

“I also brought marshmallows if anyone wants them.” Racman produced two bags of mini marshmallows. Felix had never loved someone more.

Racman joined Maddox in the kitchen, grabbing some Chumps Jr. cups for everyone and filling them with a couple spoonfuls of chocolate powder.

He turned to Maddox with a smile, “Do you remember when we would have hot chocolate together, Maddox?”

Maddox hummed and nodded.

“Your mother made the best hot chocolate. Do you remember how she would draw things on top with whipped cream and cinnamon?”

Maddox nodded again, a gentle smile working its way across his features. “Her favourite to make would be flowers.” He reminisced.

“I haven’t heard from her recently, I wonder what she’s up to.” Grandpa murmured, as Maddox helped him fill up more cups with chocolate powder.

“I wish you could’ve stayed with me these past years, maybe things would have been better.”

Maddox hummed again, seeming to be lost in thought, too wrapped up in what could have been. “Me too, Grandpa.” He said softly.

The kettle clicked loudly, signalling it was done boiling. Maddox started to pour the water in the cups, condensation rising in the freezing air. “Come take a cup guys.”

Felix’s hot chocolate was nice and steamy, the cup warming up his hands. Everyone sat down, drinking their hot chocolate and relishing the sweet taste, Rory helping Wilder hold his own.

Sitting there, Felix could almost pretend that he was back home, warm and safe, no worries in the world. It was Sunday, which meant that he would’ve just been getting up right now, with no school to disturb his sleep. Paisley always made dumplings on Sundays. It was tradition by now; he would wake up to find her by the stove, frying up the dumplings into golden deliciousness as Reagan prepared eggs and hash browns, the two of them laughing and joking as he walked in. Then the three of them would all sit down, enjoying their hot and filling breakfast - which would be unlike what Felix’s actual breakfast had been, just a piece of stale half-frozen bread thinly spread with margarine.

He took another sip, wishing he was a few years younger, wishing he was with his family. Wishing he was home.

Reagan used to make hot chocolate for him when he was younger. Cold nights when the wind howled and snowflakes fell onto the ground, covering outside in inches of thick snow, transforming their whole street into white. She would stand by the stove, smiling at him as he sat at their kitchen table, swinging his feet impatiently. She would melt chocolate and heat up the milk, mixing it all together into sugary goodness. The two of them would curl up on the couch, drinking and watching movies until Felix eventually fell asleep. Sometimes Paisley would join them, baking brownies for the three of them to snack on, cuddling next to Reagan.

It made him sick thinking about it.

Felix had never thought that he could miss a person that was only feet away from him, but for the past three weeks he missed Reagan more than anyone else.

A part of him had always regretted joining the Board Game Club, even back in September, before he even met Gunther. Back when it was just the eight of them. He hated lying to her, hated how she was so worried all the time, so terrified. He hated the guilt it brought, as he pulled away from her more, talked to her less. She had been the one person he had always been honest to, always had by his side. She was the one person he could trust.

Reagan had always protected him, always kept him safe. And now she wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t do anything other than scream and cry. He really wished he could hug her, have her tell him that it was going to be alright, that they were going to be okay.

She sat as far away from Felix as was possible in the small, cramped room, her back turned on him, expression closed-off and cold. Her cup was in her hands, but it was still full to the brim, Reagan just staring down at it numbly.

She hadn’t spoke to him in two days. They had another one of their fights, only this time it was so much worse. This time Reagan didn’t hold back, didn’t stop herself and storm out. She screamed at him, yelling things he would’ve never expected from his sister, the one person that he cared about more than anything. Reagan had been screaming in this raw, desperate way, so full of pent up resentment and bitterness, with these hot, angry tears streaming down her face.

“BECAUSE YOU MESS EVERYTHING UP, FELIX! YOU RUIN EVERYTHING. I HATE YOU.”

Her words resurfaced in his mind, still laced with pure hate that was alien coming from his big sisters mouth. For a moment, he hadn’t been able to react, not really believing what he heard was true. Reagan would have never said something like that to him, at least, not the Reagan he knew a few months ago. She wouldn’t have screamed at him like that a few months ago, so angry that it kind of scared him, this hidden side of her coming out. She would have protected him, would have hugged him and reassured him that it would be okay. A few months ago they never would have fought like this, and he would have never felt like he couldn’t talk to her. Though, he guessed he was different too. A few months ago he wouldn’t have hid something like the Board Game Club from her, wouldn’t have lied to her like he did. They both had changed. More than he wanted to admit.

Sitting there, so very alone, he wondered if it had been worth it.

He’d lost his family. Lost his best friend. He couldn’t consider the Board Game Club his friends anymore, they were simply nothing, a group of strangers stuck together in a shitty, disgusting restaurant, just trying to stay alive and survive, despite their circumstances. He no longer felt at home around them. No longer felt like himself around them. He’d lost practically everyone - everything - all in one night.

Yet, for a short time, he had been happy. He’d had friends for the first time in his life. Actual friends that he didn’t have to hide from, friends that were like him, that didn’t care that he was a Diole. It had been nice. He had learnt to control his powers, and had honestly believed that maybe, just maybe, things would be okay. He’d fallen into a routine these past couple months, going to Chemistry with January, Gym with him, Winola, Adelio, Maddox and Avil, Drama with Bliss. He went to club meetings every Monday and Friday, laughing and joking alongside Akali.

And then it was all ripped from him with one fatal act.

He glanced around the room, stared at his sister who wouldn’t even talk to him anymore. Who he was sure wouldn’t ever look at him the same ever again.

And then it dawned on him that it never would matter anyway. He couldn’t go back. He would never get the life he had, for those five short amazing months, back. He didn’t even know if he would ever leave these rotting four walls. If he would make it to next week. He had made his choice, all those months ago. And Gunther had made his. There was nothing he could do but accept it.

Felix took another sip of his drink, trying to forget about Gunther, about his guilt, and just enjoy his hot chocolate. He looked away from Reagan, who still hadn’t met his gaze, unable to stare at her any longer.

That’s when he noticed the ant on the ground.

It slowly made its way towards Felix, crawling across the cement, all on its lonesome. It was weird for an ant to be around during the middle of winter. Especially in a place like this. Felix eyed it for a moment, curious, before flicking it away.

The ant went flying, landing a few feet away in the other direction, before resuming to crawl around on the floor, circling around the different Board Game Club members.

Suddenly Astley looked up. “Shhhh.” He said, glancing around.

The door busted open. A bunch of heavily-armed men ran in, footsteps booming as they shoved the tables in the front room away and charged into the kitchen. “SECURE THE AREA. RELEASE THE GAS.”

Canisters were thrown and smoke instantly filled the room. Gunshots rang out, millions of bullets spraying the walls, the furniture, the floor.

Felix jumped up, glancing around wildly. Reagan.

She was his first thought, instantly, everything else forgotten. He didn’t care about their fights anymore, didn’t care that she hated him now, not when she was in danger. He wouldn’t let her get hurt. Not her too.

Fortunately Reagan wasn’t hard to find, from the way she was screaming his name. He was at her side in a second, his hand gripping hers as tightly as he could muster, trying to avoid the bullets zipping in all directions. He couldn’t see anything through the smoke, relying on pure instinct as he led Reagan through the room, trying to get to safety. He didn’t even know where they were supposed to go, didn’t have anywhere to go.

He searched blindly for Maddox, the only one here that would know what to do right now. The only one that he could really trust right now. If anyone could get them out of this, Maddox could.

He didn’t make it three feet before another loud blast went off, and his free arm was flung back. A bullet ripped through his bicep, warm blood immediately starting to gush down it, pain burning white hot. He choked, trying to bite down a scream, praying that Reagan hadn’t been hit too, picking up his pace despite the pain, even more desperate to find Maddox.

There was another loud bang, and Felix stumbled over, his leg almost giving in on itself. People were yelling, screaming. He couldn’t tell from what direction, couldn’t tell where the bullets were coming from. The only reassurance was Reagan’s hand in his, as she held on so tightly that he was starting to feel numb.

Maddox was still nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile Felix was bleeding out slowly, barely even able to hold himself up anymore, stumbling through Chumps Jr. disoriented, as even more bullets were fired towards him.

He felt dizzy. His vision had started to go fuzzy, his clothes soaked completely through with blood. Everything was a blur. He had no clue where he was supposed to even go anymore, what direction he was even running in.

He staggered into the corner of a wall, head bumping against the edge. The whole room was spinning now. He couldn’t see, couldn’t focus, couldn’t think. Felix could feel his hand start to slip from Reagan’s, felt his legs start to give out. Reagan screamed his name, reaching out to him desperately. He could vaguely feel her grabbing him, trying to pull him up, but it was too late.

Everything went dark.

#dioles tag #oc: Grandpa Racman #oc: Felix #oc: Reagan #oc: Maddox #oc: January #oc: Paisley/Marigold #oc: Astley #oc: Ensio #ocs: The Board Game Club #my ocs #ocs #oc fic

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