#me when there’s robot body horror angst at the function

[biptari]

that one theory that metal sonic is the cd bad timeline’s sonic

[writefightandflightclub]

I really enjoyed your Nathan fluff 🥺 we love this angry peach fuzz king 👑💖 would you ever write him being comforted after having a nightmare? 💕

First of all, LOL @ “angry peach fuzz king” 🤣🤣🤣

Second of all, here you go! 🧡 I will warn you - I think I forgot the fluff a little bit though. It became more hurt / comfort? More angst than expected? It ends nicely though and comfort is given to Nathan - but only after I’ve subjected him to rattling around in his own head and house for a bit.

Through the looking glass (Nathan Bateman x GN!reader)

Summary: Nathan has nightmares after The Incident. After so long alone, he doesn’t realise how badly he needs a little comfort - and maybe he doesn’t believe that he deserves it.

Author’s note: hopefully this isn’t too similar to All Better. I know they both take place post-stabbing, but I tried to give this a different focus. I know I could have made the nightmares based off of anything given the ask, but this timeline / focus seemed most sensible to explore the character.

Warnings: nightmares following traumatic incident (a stabbing); mentions of blood and injury - not graphic. Self-harm (punching the bag until injury); Body horror if you squint (some gruesome descriptions occurring in-dream, but fairly abstract); swearing; implied alcoholism recovery if you squint; mentions of therapy; Nathan mildly injured in fic; reader offering comfort.

Rating: MATURE for themes mentioned above.

GIF: by @santiagogarcia (this whole gifset is magic- check it out + reblog!)

Nathan wakes up breathless, plastered to the covers by a sheen of sweat - and not in a good way. On instinct, or out of habit by now, or maybe somewhere between the two, his palm slides over his body to the site of the wound.

He is so slick that he half-believes he is soaked with dank, deep blood again, until his fingers trace over nothing more than a half-concave, half-ridged scar. The lack of searing pain is the next point of evidence leading him towards an alternative conclusion. He’s not dying (again).

It’s just another gruesome nightmare.

Although… there is nothing “just” about it.

The nightmares are pretty brutal. Brutal enough for him to wake with ragged breaths and a hammering heart, his sheets dampened and coiled up around him. Enough that it takes effort to sift through the layers of terror and distinguish reality.

With what can only be described as a whimper, Nathan swings his legs over the edge of the bed, bringing himself into a seated position and bracing his head in his hands until his racing heart levels.

In his mind, he’s telling himself to be logical about this. That Ava hasn’t truly arrived to finish the job she started; but logic is not the safe haven it used to be.

She could come back.

She’s still out there, somewhere, and Nathan distinctly got the impression, last time, that she was vehemently not a fan of him.

His hand trembling, Nathan reaches for the glass of water by his bedside, glugging it down so eagerly it spills into his bushy beard.

Since the… accident? Malfunction? Functioning just fine, actually? Failed experiment? Greatest achievement known to man? Attempted murder? (Truth be told, Nathan isn’t quite sure what to call it, so he simply calls it The Incident.)

Since The Incident, Ava has begun to regularly visit him in his sleep.

The visitations are not waning with time. In fact, they are happening more often, not less. They are happening more since you moved into the house.

It’s a bad fucking time to have quit drinking.

You’d been sent by the board. Something about Nathan taking “tortured genius” a slice too literally. Something about him being in isolation too long and needing another human around in the compound.

Well, that’s not technically true, is it? The shit all started when he opted to get social, after all.

Fucking Caleb.

Before that, he was doing just fine.

Nathan doesn’t like it at all - having you here. Being watched. Observed. Having someone monitoring his actions. Waiting for him to either fuck up or prove himself.

Ironic really, considering where he kept Ava. The experiments he ran on her.

She’d probably find it poetic, if she could truly understand such a concept.

At the thought of her, Nathan physically shudders, and reaches for an old vest to haphazardly mop the excess sweat from his skin. Then, he balls up a change of clothes and tracks nude to his wet room, feeling relief as the luke warm water sluices over his skin.

He watches himself in the mirror as he stands there naked. It’s not a vanity thing - at least not any longer. These days, he examines the way his form has changed since it happened. He lost some of his muscle and bulk during recovery, whilst unable to exercise, his arms slightly smaller and his abs softer. His stomach a little more rounded.

There’s also the puckered scar, of course - that permanent reminder of where he was skewered through the chest like a piece of kebab meat.

His gaze travels up over his body, until his eyes settle on his still haunted face. He doesn’t have his glasses on, and somewhere between the blurred vision, misted mirror, clouding steam and sluicing water, his reflected face distorts. It transforms - for the briefest of moments - into her.

Still amped with adrenalin from his harsh awakening, this briefest flash sends a surge of panic zipping through Nathan’s chest, his heartbeat racing so hard he can feel the pounding of blood in his ears.

Fuck, he curses, reaching his arms out to brace himself against the shower wall above him, his body trembling and his head dipping down between the cradle of his broad shoulders as his legs threaten to buckle.

He turns the water cold, until it is practically glacial and thundering on to the back of his neck, subduing this spiking heat.

She really did a fucking number on me, didn’t she?

It’s true though.

Ava is haunting him. When he sleeps - and at other times too.

Nathan didn’t know robots could do that. Didn’t know they could spawn ghosts.

Nathan doesn’t believe in ghosts, of course… but he does believe in trauma and its effect on the brain. He at least concedes that it is natural to continue to feel afraid; but this?

Being dogged by the spectre of her taps into Nathan’s deepest insecurities.

After all, there is nothing a genius fears more than doubting his own mind.

Nothing a God fears more than his own mortality.

And the man? Turns out, there is nothing he fears more now, than dying alone.

With a ragged breath, Nathan towels off and pulls on his grey sweatpants, tugging on his black zip-up hoody over his bare chest. And then, keen not to return to his damp, tangled sheets, he tracks towards the kitchen - mainly for want of any more favourable option.

Of course, he had returned to the compound after The Incident. Something about that many fibre optic cables being a bitch to lay down. Sunk cost fallacy and all that - too much already invested.

But it possibly wasn’t the best choice for his recovery.

Nathan has certainly gotten more used to walking down that hallway since he returned from the hospital, and yet he still finds himself holding his breath until he is free of it. Still finds his pace is just a little faster as he passes through. His gaze deliberately averted from that spot.

Once, you’d found him lying in it.

Lying in that exact spot, his body arranged like a crime scene photo, his eyes closed.

Hey, it’s hardly his least healthy coping mechanism, is it?

What in the fuck are you doing, Nathan?

Re-enacting my death, obviously.

Uh-Kay…. A beat. A devious smile. Shall I get some popcorn?

Absurd as it was, he had laughed. Laughed for the first time since it happened, and, with an extended hand, you had helped him up off the floor.

Still, now that he’s alone, he does not dwell in the corridor, colder and darker as it is without your light in it, and he tries not to think about your face or hers as he pads to the kitchen.

When he arrives though, he bypasses it entirely - heading out on to the decking, the crisp night air soothing his hot skin.

He wants to be outside.

There are too many ghosts in his house now.

He has tried to shake it. Tried to desensitise himself to Ava’s face. Spent longer than strictly necessary poring over footage of her.

He built her. Shouldn’t that take the fear out of things? Not to mention the fact Ava’s face was simply a composite of some manipulable nerd’s wank bank browsing history.

Fucking Caleb.

Still, once Nathan had looked her in the eyes and seen a rage that was all too human, things seemed a hell of a lot different.

Nathan crosses to the punchbag on the deck -lit by creeping dawn- on instinct, or out of habit, or maybe some combination of the two, his unease riling him enough to sock some punches at its midsection. Right at the equivalent site of his corporeal puncture.

He punches so hard that the skin on his knuckle splits, but Nathan doesn’t stop. He throws punch after punch until his hands are scathed and bloodied, and a trail of spit hanging from the corner of his mouth. Until he hugs the bag - the closest thing he has to a warm body to hold - and slides down it, coming limply to his knees, wiping his face on his sleeve.

He stays there, dead eyed and still for some time, the pain in his hands raw and singing. Unpleasant, but better. Better than what he was feeling, and worse all at once.

He considers his tired, cumbersome body, and contemplates remaking the world one more time. Uploading his mind into a machine or some shit, so that he doesn’t have to contend with the fragility and failings of his own existence.

He stays there, until some motion in the interior of the compound causes the light and shadows to dance differently over him, and he looks up to see your figure there, cast in a soft halo of yellowed light.

He tips his head up slightly, opening his mouth as though he might cry out to you for help, but no sound comes out - only a thin, dry croak.

So, instead, Nathan watches you for a moment, moving seamlessly around his kitchen as though it is your own. Maybe it is - more yours than his now.

Observing you like this, through the tall, cinematic windows, it is as though he peers in on another world entirely. Something less resembling a nightmare.

Lighter than that. Something more like a good dream, albeit a good dream that Nathan cannot be part of. One he can only ever watch, from the outside looking in, always fated as he is to be on the other side of the glass.

Truth be told, you haunt him too. You represent everything he could have and yet doesn’t deserve.

You appear in his nightmares and his dreams, in various terrifying and beautiful incarnations. Many variations of which his therapist would have a field day with, he’s sure - or, she would, if he’d ever fucking call her.

When you first arrived here, he was plagued by grotesque visions of you. Grotesque visions of the skin being peeled back from your body. Sometimes, circuitry beneath, and other times, muscle and bone. Sometimes, Ava’s face was buried beneath the chilling slip of your fleshy mask.

Sometimes it is a better dream. Sometimes you save him. Sometimes he saves you.

Sometimes it is a good dream. Ava isn’t there at all. But the good dreams never seem to last for long. 

Sometimes you kill him, and sometimes...

The glass door slides open.

“Reenacting your own death again, are you?” you tease, though not unkindly, interrupting the spiral of Nathan’s incessant thoughts.

A lump forming instantly in his throat, Nathan swallows thickly, and looks up at you helplessly with a thin, joyless smile. He snorts as though it’s funny, but it really isn’t. “Over and fucking over.” 

You nod once, and, without hesitation, you extend your hand towards him. Your gaze cuts through him as you search his face and he feels suddenly see-through, as if he’s about to be hit with some Shyamalan-esque twist. Was he the ghost all along? Did he die here after all?

If so, is this purgatory because Ava is here too, or heaven, because you are?

Christ. So fucking schmaltzy, Bateman.

After hesitating, Nathan takes your hand and you yank him to his feet, drawing him inside, through the looking glass.

The room seems warm on the other side. It feels… safe.

“What happened?” you ask, as you look down at your joined hands, your thumb painting a smear of red across his split knuckles. 

You mean now. What happened now, but Nathan’s mind harks back further than that. In his mind, everything is connected. Every thing threaded to another. This one smear of blood to that weeping flower of red.

The thought -the thoughts, all of them- halt him in place, his feet firmly planting on the ground. Nathan’s hand clenches tightly around yours as though it is a lifeline, as he is cast adrift on this familiar crimson tide, his face growing increasingly angular and stern.

“She...” He swallows, unable to complete that precise thought, his eyes dropping down to his feet.

You turn your body towards Nathan as he croaks, still not letting go.

Your eyes flitting around his face, attempting to search his eyes, you tentatively step closer, sliding your palms slowly over his tense shoulders, feeling them rise with an uneven, stuttered breath as you do so.

He’s so tired. He’s so very, very tired.

And it happens all at once on the exhale.

Suddenly, your arms are tugging him closer, and his face is contorting as a violent smattering of tears beads in his long lashes. You are encasing his body in your embrace and rubbing circles into his back as his buzzed head sags all too willingly toward the junction of your shoulder, your fingers splaying along the smooth flesh at the nape of his neck and pads dancing over the gentle prickle of his hair. You are shushing and soothing and reassuring and squeezing and smoothing and cradling and Nathan can feel it. Can feel his heart race in his chest and…

Finally.

Finally, his heart is not pounding because he is reliving his death.

It is pounding because he feels alive again.

When was the last time he cried, even? The last time someone really hugged him? He doesn’t remember the last time. The serendipitous combination of Nathan willing to be vulnerable, and another being willing to hold space for his pain is an all too rare thing.

There’s a reason -or several - he’s so emotionally constipated, after all.

Fuck. I’m taking a huge emotional shit right now.

Nathan remains in the welcome circumference of your arms longer than is strictly necessary - until the tear trails over the bridge of his nose begin to feel cloying. Until his breaths steady, and until his thoughts and ego creep back in. Until he notices the way his hands are clasped at your waist like claws, fingers sinking into your softness, and he thinks to release you.

Then, he leans away, a weight on his brow making his expression stern.

He waits for you to judge him, another swallow trailing thickly down his throat.

However, your eyes are kind and level, dancing with soft concern. Not with judgement or satisfaction or pity, or with anything he fears.

It is refreshing not to feel so afraid.

Finally.

“She…” Nathan begins again, finally finding courage. All at once his eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline. “She fucking stabbed me.”

You take his words in. You listen.

His “reveal” is simple. Plain and factual. A little indignant. Kinda salty. It’s not overly emotional, or articulate.

But it is enough.

Your eyes narrow, and you nod slowly, trying to understand the true meaning beneath his words.

You even reach up to cup Nathan’s face, his springy beard a cushion beneath your gentle palm as you hold him. “Yeah, genius,” you tease, with a tentative, lopsided smile, dropping your arm all too suddenly, perhaps as you catch yourself. “I got that from context.”

In response, Nathan chucks air from between his teeth, bringing his hand up to comb through his beard - perhaps to obscure his involuntary smile, or perhaps chasing your tender touch, the impression of it left warm on his cheek.

As he brings his hand up, your brows draw together, and you hook his bloodied paw delicately in yours, examining the wound, and leading him gingerly across to the couch as though his whole being might be hurting along with it.

It is.

You order him to stay put while you fetch the first aid kit, and then, in stages, Nathan watches you with fascination as you painstakingly clean and tend to his wounds, without ever being asked to.

He watches you carefully swipe the angry red away from his skin, and, to his overactive mind, it’s all connected. This red is one and the same with the flower of blooming red from The Incident.

Ava hurt him then, and she is hurting him now too.

And you…

“Going to tell the board about this?” Nathan asks, his voice weak and scuffed.

You search his eyes, holding your words back for a moment before answering. Then, you launch them on a big breath. “Fuck the board, Nathan. I told those assholes to stick it.”

Nathan blinks in confusion, shaking his head, his hand flourishing emphatically through the air. “Then… what the fuck are you still doing in my house?”

“Well. I’m… here for you,” you admit, sucking in air through your teeth, your voice shrinking. “If you want that.”

Well, that’s news to him.

Welcome news, perhaps?

You’re not watching him at all, are you? Not observing. Not asking him to evidence his humanity. Not waiting to see whether he fucks up or proves himself.

Instead, you’re seeing him. You’re seeing him and you’re not running.

Nathan had begun to think that maybe he was the nightmare. He’d begun to think he might always be haunted.

Always alone. That he might die that way; again.

And now, here you are.

Nathan thinks about that. He could so easily revert to his old ways, in this moment. Of pride and ego and stubborn independence.

But, perhaps those assholes from the board got a few things right - he’ll admit.

Maybe he had been in isolation too long. Maybe he didn’t need to take “tortured genius” quite so literally.

And so, Nathan almost protests. Almost rejects your presence and your comfort and pushes you away. But the truth is, he’s just so… tired. He’s had so many nightmares, and this time, he’d like to be on the other side of the glass. He’d like to step into that dream.

Nathan takes a deep breath, and releases on the exhale. Releases more than air.

He slowly, ever so slowly, shifts towards you on the couch, angling his body until he can safely dip his head towards your lap, his nose pointed in towards your abdomen and his knees curling around you.

“Th.. this okay?” he asks weakly.

You throw your splayed hands up into the air in surprise as the weight of Nathan settles there, but as he curls his arms around your middle and shuffles closer, you ease into it. You snake your fingers in intricate caresses over his head and neck and shoulders.

“Yeah, Nathan. This is okay,” you soothe gently, voice taut with emotion.

You comfort him.

And finally, Nathan does not need to peel your skin back to know what’s underneath.

He knows you’re not a robot, and that, as your kind touch finds him corporeal, that he is not a ghost.

He closes his eyes. And this time, when he next wakes, he knows that whether the dream is bad or better or good, it doesn’t matter. Because you will be there with him.

He wants you with him.

It’s not at all natural to him, to have you around. For the longest time, he didn’t like it. It didn’t come instinctually, and he has formed no familiar habits.

It isn’t easy - he doesn’t make it easy.

But he wants it to be.

And, in your arms, he can finally dream that it will all work out. What’s more; he can dream he deserves it, too.

[ka-writes]

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Notes: READ WARNINGS!!

Please I really want you to be safe.. anyways, this is mainly a set up for the next chapter.. it has a shit ton of angst prepare yourself.

Also am very sorry it is late!! ‘‘Twas very hard for me to start writing it, btw I started another AU please go check it out, thank you <3

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Warning: Torture I go into detail, gore, cussing manipulation, characters lose sense of reality.

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In case you missed:

Chapter 1:

Chapter 6:

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Inspired by:

Humans are Space Velociraptors

By:FreshRoses_InMyGarden_NeedTheRain

Some kids come from storks, others come from crashed spaceships

By: mmmajora

Home Again, Home Again

By: teeth_eater

All works can be found on Ao3

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Ao3 link for this work:

And my other AU:

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Change 7: This is a dream… right?

——————

He was back where he started this whole thing.

In a cage.

One cage over from the door and now in the middle of the room. It felt empty and bare, yet full of an uncomfortable sense of dread and fear, though he would never admit that aloud.

This time there was only one other cage in sight. The room had changed as well. It was no longer covered in grime, or smelled of blood. Instead it was a sickly white and smelled of rubbing alcohol. Which caused his nose to burn with the overwhelming scent of the cleaning supplies, making the entirety of the room feel more and more like one of those horror stories in hospitals, the only difference being that this one was real.

The thing that replaced the other cages and humans was an operating table with vials and tools that Tommy couldn’t identify.

There were no lights currently, except for the same small door window, which was the only thing that really stayed the same.

It was cold, it felt empty. There was no description fit for the amount of dread Tommy felt. It was built up after laying in the dark for so long. It burned his gut and made his head swirl with thoughts of what would happen next.

He wouldn’t ever admit he was scared, but the situation kinda explained itself.

Without warning the door swung open. No squeaks like last time, just a smooth motion allowing the room to be basked in yellow light from the hall.

Then the lights turned on, immediately causing Tommy to shut his eyes. His head started throbbing and every fiber in his body screamed at him to run. The lights turned into blurry blinding blobs that lit everything in a white fire, making it apparent that the room was indeed scrubbed of any stains or blood. Once his eyes finally adjusted, his migraine caught up to him, making the entire thing unbearable.

“Hello there!” An alien stepped in the room. Their features were outlined in white and their skin wasn’t even recognized, simply because it looked like a shadow. They had claw-like hands and wore glasses over their white to red eyes. They had a black doctor’s coat and wore black pants with white knee high boots. They had a devilish tail along with devil horns and a floating white halo. Their fangs poked out from a blinding white mouth, which was curved into a practiced smile.

“My name is BadBoyHalo, but you will refer to me as Dr. Halo.” They finished with a sickly sweet tone and a side smile, “My pronouns are he/him, and I will be taking care of what happens while you’re here.. not that you will ever leave of course.”

His mind was racing. Everything told him this was real, but he couldn’t help but pray that it was all a sick dream.

“Now we will start off easy and move onto the harder stuff later! Please refrain from trying to run, we have a shock function attached to your translators.” This caught him off guard. Why was he using plural tenses?

He looked towards the other cage, that’s when he noticed the strange bee alien also wearing a petrified expression. His eyes didn’t wander to the other cage, only watching Dr. Halo.

“Now who do we start with?” The doctor asked, even though he clearly already knew. A twisted smile shone on his face letting the light catch the awfully amused glint in his eyes, “Let’s start with the droneling!”

——————

There was no explanation for where the two went.

They simply vanished. No traces to follow or reasons to run.

The only logical explanation was Dream catching them. Which meant Techno would have to ask around for where the ship was harboring. The only problem being, he was awful at talking to people.

“So what do you wanna know?” A tall Wollylock person asked, she was the only known person to know anything about Dream, being his mother and all.

“Er- information on the Dream Team Ship.” Techno stated rather awkwardly.

“Why?” The captain asked, impatience clearly visible with her expression.

“They took two starlings from my crew.” At that the captain practically fumed with furry.

“I will help. After all, that boy needs to learn some manners.” The captain stated, her determination was infectious. “What is your craft’s name?”

“The SBI Craft, piloted by captain Philza.” He said robotically.

“Course it has to be Phil. That man has what, four kids he claimed to his crew..”

“Technically, I am not a kid, neither is Wil- Er our scientist, so really he’s only harboring three kids, now one since two were taken..” Techno decided that was the best explanation he could come up with, though there was really no point.

The captain chuckled and brushed off the other’s attempts at defending the crew. “Just send me the ship’s cords and your captain’s contact and I will be in touch.” With that the captain slid a communicator over the table and walked out of the sketchy bar.

Techno made his way back to the ship and delivered his captain the news. He tried to ignore the gut feeling that everything was wrong…

——————

(The next section has graphics depictions of torture and gore, please skip this section if it could or will trigger you in any way, there is a summary at the end. Thank you <3)

The world moved unbearably slow. The cage opened ever so smoothly, making him want to throw up. It was the sign that everything was going to go to hell.

That’s what this has to be right? A hellish nightmare that wasn’t real..

No that wasn’t right..

Did it matter?

A hand yanked his wrist out of the cage and into the blinding white room, that felt like fire surrounding him as he stepped to the operating table.

Needles and scalpels were set neatly on a silver tray. The restraints were heavy and felt like they burned his wrists and ankles. He was pushed onto the table as the ‘doctor’ slapped on gloves. More restraints were clipped over his waist and thighs.

Then something pinched his leg. He felt the blood rushing it’s way down to the cut, as a scalpel carved out a rectangle. He could hear scissors cutting something, and distant screams… were they from him?

He didn’t know at this point. More agonizing cuts on his legs along with a couple of needle pin marks.. a couple snaps of an illusion disk and a bit of writing, on both his skin and paper..

He couldn’t really feel anything after the first one, only simply knowing that his body was reacting to the pain yet his brain hadn’t quite caught up with reality.

It was like he wasn’t exactly controlling his body, just simply existing in the dream-like state. Time didn’t exist there, neither did recognition of the pain. Emotions ran wild. Turning all of his thoughts sour as he attempted to remember what happened.

It wasn’t until the doctor un-clipped him and put him back into the cage that he noticed the other.

That’s who did this to him. That’s the person that pushed him through pain.

The human wore a terrified expression as the doctor took him out for his turn.

He couldn’t help but smile at the other’s pain. The other deserved it..

Right?

(If you skipped this, Tubbo got tortured and blamed Tommy for the situation.)

——————

“IT’S BEEN A FUCKING MONTH! And you still haven’t found your son’s damn ship?!” The man on the other line was furious, and rightfully so.

Puffy undoubtedly understood the anger the man had. I mean she had been in the situation before when her youngest was kidnapped by another crew of pirates. The only difference in this situation was she was fighting against her son, her duckling… when did her duckling turn sour?

“You’re right about that, Phil. I can assure you Niki is doing everything in her power to track them down, along with Jack.” Jack joined the team after Puffy met Niki.

She must admit that having someone working in the ISF had its perks. Though no one could fully trust him. For good reason of course.

“Ponk is ‘talking’ to Sam, he sure as hell ain’t cracking yet.” She finished bitterly, “Like I said Quakity is waiting for his monthly letter from his fiancé, which would hopefully give us a clue at where to look.”

“I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it’s been a month.. Wilbur said the humans barely last a full week if they aren’t treated..” The worry was lining his face and causing the bags under his eyes to look more like nasty black eyes. His face was sullen making it apparent the man hadn’t been eating properly. His wings ruffled at every noise and he seemed to be running purely on coffee. Puffy wanted nothing more than to return the man’s unofficial sons back to him.

——————

Everything was great!

The plan worked perfectly, and Sam hadn’t cracked yet.

Meaning he could easily start on the next faze. The only issue would be he’d have to gain both of the starling’s trust.

Even if the present was a bitter reality lined with things that would annoy him, the end result would be worth it.

Having a human and a nuke expert by his side would allow him to have everything he ever wanted.

Power.

Not just power, but all the things that came with it. He wouldn’t be questioned again, and everything and anything he said would be the final word.

It would be hell for those who crossed him, and even worse for those who abandoned him.

Wilbur, Sam, Ant, Quackity, Foolish, and even mother dearest, Puffy. They would all pay for their disloyalty. Once this is all over, they would never cross him again.

I mean he did give up everything to gain this life.

There was nothing to lose and everything to win, and he’d be damned if he didn’t win.

I mean he sold his soul for this!

It was all worth it.. right?

Of course it is. Stop doubting me child.

——————

28 days of torture, and now they were sitting with their captors playing house.

It was wrong. So utterly wrong.

“Eat your food Tommy.” The captain commanded.

Tommy complied not wanting to go back in the cage. Every day he woke up there, more things were shoved into him and more pain was given.

“You too Tubbo.” The command was given and the other complied, the same fear visibly shown.

“Reports.” Dream stated sternly, the rest of the crew compiled without hesitation.

It was a bunch of regular reports of how no one knew where they were, what supplies needed to be restocked, the current condition of the ship, and any developments with the news. A bunch of boring bullshit. He bit back any sarcastic remarks that threatened to spill, but refrained in fear of what they would do to him.

The crew was dismissed leaving Tubbo, Tommy, and Dream alone.

“I want both of you to listen.” Dream started his tone raising all hairs on the back of Tommy’s neck, “Phil and his crew led you to us. They didn’t comply the first time and poisoned your minds. We did the right thing, and fixed you. Now, there are some rules you have to follow. You may not wander the ship, only go anywhere with one of the crew members. You will both share a room and follow the same schedule. Anything you do that is not an order deserves a punishment, for it is proof of what the other crew poisoned you with. Now! Go to your room, it has a black door.” With that the man finished and the pair headed towards their room.

The speech sounded right, yet felt wrong. But everything was justified, therefore it was fine. Plus the worrying was just a problem for future Tommy, maybe that’s what Dream meant by the other crew poisoning him.

The other said nothing as they entered the room, only fixing Tommy with a bitter gaze which turned into something of confusion. Neither one slept, they couldn’t bring it in themselves to sleep, especially since Dream hadn’t told them to.

Instead both of them settled into a silence as they lay on their bed, only getting up when the man told them too. This was all they could really do as they faced their new reality. Slowly but surely their brains began to believe every word of the speech. Finally when the man asked to join him, a bubbly sickly joy gave them the grace to finally help their rescuer.

Six months after the initial capture, one month of torture and five months of vigorous training, consisting of fighting, weapon design, and hours of studying blueprints, they were finally able to go on their first mission with their rescuer, not questioning anything any of the crew said at this point. Sick months of training and they became living weapons ready for whatever the cruel world threw at them…

This is a dream.. right?

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Chapter 7- End

Words: 2221

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Notes:

Hahahaha I am in pain from writing this... please bare with me.. ;-;

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Dream is being a manipulative bastard... I mean the character. More specifically my take on Dream’s character in this situation... ahhhhh

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I hope you’re staying safe, don’t forget to take care of yourself!! <3 also likes are appreciated but reblogs are always better! <3

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[taxicabinmemphis]

Prince Charming - Chapter 5

chapter one - chapter two - chapter three - chapter four - chapter five - chapter six

Word count - 3,332 Pairing - Intrulogical, Prinxiety, Moceit (I’m deleting the pre bc I have decided to have a chapter with them getting together) Warnings - some characters are a lil insensitive in spots but I wouldn’t call them unsympathetic, creativitwins angst, swearing, food mention, self-deprecation bc they’re all wrecks, pining, and then there’s Remus-typical behavior (body horror mentions, sexual innuendo/mentions of sexual stuff, and other stuff heh), if there’s anything else that should be tagged or put in the warnings, tell me!

After a hearty and delicious meal of spaghetti and meatballs with a side of broccoli, the sides had all retired to get ready for bed. The adventure had gone terribly late, so dinner was later than they’d ever had it.

Logan stopped when he reached the door to his room. Yes, he knew that the next logical course of action would be to enter his room and get ready for bed, perhaps read a book as his stomach digested dinner, but he couldn’t help but remember how quiet Remus had been at dinner. He was never quiet.

His mind flashed back to what Roman said to Remus when they left the Imagination, and Logan clenched his left hand into a fist. Roman, while always striving to do what he saw to be the correct course of action, could also be awfully insensitive. Especially when he didn’t even know he was doing it.

Logan promptly turned on his heels and walked towards Remus’ room.

He ended up meeting the side in the hallway outside his room. Remus was walking alarmingly slow and seemed to be contemplating something.

“Remus,” Logan called, a good fifteen feet behind him.

The creative side jumped in surprise. He turned to face Logan, eyes widened. “Oh, uh, Logan! What brings you to the dark and hellish end of the hall?”

Logan fiddled with his tie nervously. “I came to ask you about something, Remus.”

Silence followed Logan’s statement, prompting Remus to speak. “Well? Fire away, my sexy robot!”

A pink dusted Logan’s cheeks at the nickname. “Yes. Umm...are you okay, Remus?”

Remus blinked. “Of course I am, Nerdy Wolverine!”

Logan frowned. “I believe that’s a falsehood, Remus.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Really? What can I do to convince ya? Rip my heart out and dissect it?”

Logan shook his head, adjusting his glasses. “No, none of that. Just...I remember what Roman said back when we exited the Imagination. It wasn’t kind, but he also had no cruel intentions. However, I could see that it...affected you. Are you okay? Do you require someone to...talk to?” Logan hoped he was doing this right.

Remus sighed and threw his hands in the air in resignation. “I might be okay. Does it matter?”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Remus. It does. You are a part of Thomas’ mind and it is important that you are functioning properly.”

“Functioning…” Remus gave a bitter laugh and shook his head. “Look, Logan. Ultimately, I am fine. I can intrude on everyone’s well-being just as I could three hours ago. You can go to bed, you don’t need to worry.” He paused. “Why do you care, anyway?”

Logan frowned. “You are a side, essential to Thomas creating and acting like himself.”

“You don’t know that,” Remus disagreed, shaking his head.

Logan closed half of the distance between them, concern written all over his features. “Of course I know that. I can logically ascertain what exactly your worth is as a side, especially considering I spend a significant amount of time with you.”

“Maybe all that time you spent analyzing my contributions in preparation to shoot them down has clouded your judgement, Logan,” Remus replied, spitting out Logan’s name like it repulsed him—when in reality, it did nothing of the sort.

Was that really how Remus thought of Logan? Someone who only listens so he can later tell someone else why everything he said was wrong? Logan tried to be kind like he did with everyone else, and many of Remus’ ideas interested him. He gave him honest opinions, criticisms, and scientific observations on anything Remus pitched him. But did Remus only see him as an instrument of the intrusive side’s demise?

“Remus…”

“No, Logan, please,” Remus interrupted. “Don’t pretend to care.”

“When did I ever say anything about pretending?!” Logan exclaimed abruptly, widening his eyes and putting a hand over his mouth when he noticed his volume. Logan did his best to erase the surprise from his face and compose himself, clearing his throat and making sure to lower the volume of his voice before continuing. “I apologize for the outburst, Remus. However, you seem to have perplexed me with everything you have said so far during this conversation. Presently, I believe the statement to question is your most recent one and I will state that I am unaware of any action I took that would give you a reason to think I was engaging in a deception at your expense.”

“Oh, Logan, you know. Just drop it and go to sleep,” Remus said, turning around and waving his hand in dismissal.

“No, Remus, I’m afraid I don’t know,” Logan said honestly. “That troubles me. Could you elaborate, please?”

Remus turned around slowly. “Maybe you think you don’t know, so I’ll enlighten you.” He took a deep breath. “You’ve been assigned to listen to me. You have to listen to my crazy bullshit whenever I think it up. In return, I listen to your criticisms, opinions, scientific analyses, notes, whatever. Even when you go insanely far in depth into a topic I might’ve brought up with one of my...contributions, as you call them. It’s a trade, a deal. You have to listen to me and then I listen to you because it’s the least I can do. Neither of us would’ve chosen it on our own, we both hate it, and you know you have better things to do. Don’t pretend to care just because some extra time together allows you to know more about me than you should.”

Logan processed what Remus said, staying unmoving only with the exception of blinking. This is what Remus thought of their arrangement? That he hated it, that he thought Logan hated it, that he forgot Logan was the one to suggest the arrangement in the first place? Janus’ words at the end of their sword fight rang through his head. Logan had been scared that Remus, the one side who listened to him, only did so out of courtesy. And he did. Logan’s fear was a reality.

“You forget that I suggested this...arrangement, as you call it. I was the one who pitched it to Thomas. I chose to do this, and do I have anything better to do? That’s subjective, so I don’t know. I am sorry this arrangement you hate so much has ended up being a prison rather than a way to save Thomas distress while not repressing you at the same time, so if there’s anything I can do to make the experience more pleasurable, I am open to hearing it. However, you are also mistaken that I hate it. I do not, I am incapable of such emotions. Though--”

“No you’re not,” Remus said, voice having a shocked tone caused by Logan’s previous statements and admissions.

“Sorry, what?”

“You’re not ‘incapable of such emotions’, you’re not some heartless robot without a soul. You have feelings, Logan, and I’ve seen them,” Remus elaborated, shock slowly dissolving from his tone.

“That’s ridiculous, you even called me a robot-”

Remus shook his head. “No. I’ve seen you interested by anything remotely scientific I bring up, I’ve seen you as burnt as black toast after I’ve talked to you for a particularly long time, I’ve seen you immediately after a conversation with the others when you have a desperate need to be listened to because they refused to, I’ve seen you embarrassed, I’ve seen you flustered—yes, I caught you burying your face in your hands today—and you just said you care about me. Even though that likely isn’t true, you have demonstrated care for Patton, Roman, and Virgil as well. Even just one of those examples is enough to prove you have feelings.”

Logan was silent for a few seconds, his weight shifting from foot to foot, looking everywhere but at Remus himself. Accepting that he couldn’t argue with most of Remus’ statements without communicating a falsehood, he decided to argue over the only one he could. “I do indeed care about you. It’s not just Patton, Roman, and Virgil. How could it be, considering only you listen?”

“I…” Remus tried to think of a good response. “I bother you. I wear you out. I give you all these terrible things to go through, forcing you to pick them apart like a medical examiner does with a rotting corpse, despite how disgusting and terrible they may be. I occupy way more of your time than I should, and I guess I’m sorry for that, so how could you care? I wouldn’t.”

Logan didn’t quite know how to respond. He wasn’t aware Remus thought so lowly of himself. He contemplated his reply.

“See? It’s not that hard to-”

Logan raised his hand as a demand for silence. Remus shut his mouth, only complying out of surprise. He waited as Logan carefully pondered what he would say next.

“Falsehood,” Logan said gently, starting his response. “None of those things are true. You shouldn’t be suspecting such things either, considering you have no way to know your effects on me. I want to say I wish you hadn’t said that, but I couldn’t do so with honesty, since my real wish is for you to never have thought—much less, believed—those falsehoods in the first place. However, I am considering your previous behavior and would postulate you do not believe me as I have not done anything to prove your statements are falsehoods. Would I be correct in saying this, Remus?”

Remus took a moment to respond, still processing Logan’s response. “I..uhh...yeah.”

Logan nodded. “First, you do not bother me. To bother someone is to trouble or annoy someone by interrupting or causing inconvenience. Considering that I volunteered to be in your company—which immediately debunks anything related to interruptions—and that my time with you makes you cause less inconvenience, you neither cause interruptions nor inconvenience to befall me. You don’t trouble me either. I spend time with you so don’t trouble anyone. And, everyone annoys me. So even if you did, which I don’t find to always be true, you wouldn’t be alone in that regard. You don’t wear me out too often either. Working with you only requires my ears and my brainpower, neither of which take much out of me since you rarely say anything that troubles me or forces me to contemplate problems that drain me. When you do, the reasons are typically seeded in my scientific curiosity for something you might’ve brought up, which is something I can in no way blame on you. To be candid, your company can be a relief, especially after dealing with the others.”

“That makes less sense than glow-in-the-dark lungs.”

“I’m not finished,” Logan stated, trying to be as kind as possible. “But if you would like me to restate what I just said-”

“No,” Remus shook his head. “I understand what you said...it’s just...how? How is that the truth?”

Logan’s face softened. “I am Logic, Remus. Many things that would normally affect a person or another side in a certain way will affect me in different ways or not at all. Your contributions don’t bother me as I am aware of their detachment from reality and get less disgusted at them than the others. And you listen to me, which is a far cry away from being a nuisance.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Remus said, shrugging.

Logan gave a small smile. It was hardly visible, but to Remus, it was as if Logan was grinning. Remus relished in the sight, hoping he could see it again soon and wishing it was something he could gaze at every day till the end of time. Logan never smiled, and Remus causing it made him all the happier.

“I am pleased to hear that you understand that I care for you,” Logan said, voice quiet and gentle. “Now, back to my original question. Are you okay?”

Remus turned his head to the side. “I was hoping you’d forget about the question.”

“Yes or no?” Logan pressed.

Remus took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “No.”

Logan nodded, taking a small and cautious step forward. “Do you require someone to talk to?”

Remus opened an eye and peered at Logan. “I don’t need anything, Pocket Protector.”

“Would you like someone to talk to?” Logan rephrased.

Remus shook his head. “You shouldn’t have to listen to me.”

“I already do.”

Remus gulped. “Alright. Yes, I suppose I would.”

Remus took a moment to gather his words, facing the floor but eyes flicking up to look at Logan every other second.

“Well, you were right,” he started. “About Roman, I mean. It was his comment. I know it’s kind of silly-”

“It’s nothing of the sort, he was out of line.”

“-But it still hurt. And yeah, he said none of us besides him were heroic and charming or whatever instead of just me, but still. It was directed towards me, and...he’s not wrong. I’m the resident villain. He’s the hero. I’ll never be heroic, or charming, or romantic while he can go and sweep Virgil off his feet. I guess his comment was just a wake-up call,” Remus continued. “I know he didn’t mean it to be mean and he’s just nowhere near being self-aware enough to take note of his insensitivity, but I still let it affect me. I shouldn’t have, but I did.”

“It’s fine if his comment got to you, Remus,” Logan said, taking another small step forward. “Roman says things like that sometimes without knowing what their consequences could be, and so it likely did mean nothing, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be able to hurt you, or that you’re wrong for letting it. But you also have to acknowledge that he’s wrong, and not view it as a wake-up call of sorts.”

Remus frowned, making eye contact with Logan. “What do you mean? I’m the evil murdery green side who will pull your teeth out and string them on a necklace if you’re not careful. Of course he’s right.”

“I suppose it’s a matter of perspective. Anyone can be a villain in the eyes of someone else. However, any establishment that a certain person is a villain ‘factually’ would be incorrect as the concepts of good and bad are arguably meaningless and any action can be seen as wrong or right in the eyes of another human. There is no truth in opinions, only preference.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“You may be a villain in Roman’s eyes, you can be a villain in your own eyes if you so choose, however, there is nothing that can or will establish you as a villain for everyone forever.”

“So to Roman, I’m a villain,” Remus said slowly, trying to understand.

“Maybe, he could have just been exaggerating,” Logan said quickly. “He also sees everything as very black-or-white, which I imagine contributes a great deal as well.”

Remus nodded slowly. “And I can see myself however I want.”

“Though I’d prefer that you see yourself positively or neutrally. A negative self-image is never good.”

“And you…” Remus trailed, raising an eyebrow playfully.

Logan’s eyes widened. “Oh, I don’t care for labeling those types of things. I do see you as a positive influence on my existence if that was your question.”

Remus grinned brightly. “That answer is better than fermented semen!”

There was an awkward silence between them.

“Do you honestly believe you can’t be heroic, charming, and romantic?” Logan asked quietly, not wanting to scare off the intrusive side.

Remus stared, surprised by Logan’s question. “It’s not an opinion, Logan, it’s fact. I’m a duke, not a prince.”

“And royal status dictates those traits?”

Remus shook his head. “No...I’m just not those things.”

Logan frowned. “Do you want to be?”

Remus took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to reply without confusing the nerd. “No. I know none of them fit my personality, and I don’t want them too. Especially charming. But...it might be nice to experience once. To prove Roman wrong and that it isn’t impossible for me to have the traits of a hero.”

“There are no specifically assigned traits to heroes, Remus,” Logan said, tightening his tie. “However, you can act however you want within the bounds of acceptable reality.”

“I can?” Remus asked, a smirk on his face. He started to take a couple of steps closer to Logan but stopped a good four feet away.

“Yes, you can,” Logan replied, voice quieter at Remus’ confident advance. The logical side shuffled his feet back, only moving a couple of inches.

“Do you think I’m heroic?” Remus raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Do you think I’m charming?” He took a step closer.

“I-I don’t-”

Remus took another step, a larger one, closer to the logical side. There was likely only six inches between them. He stared deep into his eyes, a fiery passion for the visually impaired nerd burning hotter than any star Logan could name.

“Do you think I’m romantic?”

“I…”

Logan’s words died in his throat as he met Remus’ eyes. Remus, who was intrusive, offensive, bad to the bone, impolite, occasionally funny, interested in certain sciences, and strived to learn whatever Logan could teach. Remus, the only one who ever listened.

“You can if you want to be,” Logan said quietly, finally able to speak but never louder than the volume he was currently speaking at.

Remus hummed and pulled Logan flush against him by the waist.

“Remus?” Logan asked nervously.

“What is it, my bashful brainiac?”

“Do you really hate our arrangement?” Logan asked quietly, the question so painful to ask but the answer was something he needed to know before anything else happened. “And do you only listen out of courtesy?”

Remus sighed, running his free hand through the logical side’s hair. “Not one bit. And you are the most interesting person I’ve ever spoken to.”

Logan let another small smile cross his face and glanced at his feet.

“So I can be romantic, hmm?”

Logan nodded.

Remus smirked. He swept Logan into a dip—one arm around Logan’s thigh, lifting his leg into the air, and the other arm around his shoulders. Remus gazed lovingly into Logan’s shocked brown eyes and admired the red face of his nerd, giving the side a second to process what he did. He then dipped his gaze to Logan’s lips and flicked his tongue across his own.

“May I?”

Logan gulped before nodding.

Remus immediately crashed his lips against Logan’s; the simple nod of Logan’s head acting like a lamp that just turned on and Remus’ lips being their loyal moth.

Logan was still shocked from previous events when Remus’ lips met his, his eyes still open. Remus didn’t hate him, which was a plus, and now Remus was expressing romantic interest in him? He couldn’t believe it.

Yet, it was still happening. Logan closed his eyes, put a hand on the nape of Remus’ neck, and deepened the kiss.

It was something both were desperate for, something they had both wanted for ages—no matter how long they were aware of their romantic feelings for the other.

And so they dissolved into the other: Logan melting wherever Remus’ hands met his body, and Remus putting his desperation and need for Logan on clear display as he kissed him like he never would get to again. Remus got to be romantic, Logan was treated like a beautiful princess, and they both felt so incredibly loved.

The kiss eventually had to come to end, so when they both remembered they had to breathe, they pulled away and opened their eyes. Remus kept Logan in a dip and looked down at him like he was the loveliest thing to ever walk the earth. This only reddened Logan’s cheeks further. Remus gave him the fondest, most loving smile he could muster.

“I suppose I can be romantic.”

~

Taglist: @the-sympathetic-villain​ @justanotherhumanstuff​ @thistledown15​

~

This was technically the end of this story, but I do have a Moceit themed sequel that I have decided will just be chapter six. After that, hopefully it’ll be done! Hope you liked this chapter. Sorry, I meant to get this to you on Thursday but homework piled up and I just had a bad day Saturday so it’s coming to y’all now. (Also um you may have guessed but the image of Remus dipping Logan popped into my head and inspired this fic. It was 18k longer than expected)

[phantomwarrior12]

Fight

Words: 2,946

Warnings: Mild swearing, angst, intimidation, Sigma being a dick

Summary: What happens to a broken’s man mind when his actions are not his own?

A/N: Hey folks!

So, this fic was abandoned years ago...but last night inspiration sparked and I finished it! I also had to fix the tenses (throwback to when I wrote in past tense >.< Gross), so if there are any mess-ups, I do apologize!

As always, please leave a like/comment and let me know your thoughts! Enjoy!

~Phantom

----------------

Their intervention had been anticipated.

It's an outcome Sigma has come to expect from the drones of Project Freelancer.

They - he has arrived with more reinforcements than predicted. The blue soldiers, one an incompetent fool, the other, an incapable marksman.

Were it not for damage he had already sustained, the Meta would have already disposed of Agent Washington and his compatriots, granting them access to a wealth of technology and equipment.

Nonetheless, Agent Washington's - Wash's meddling will not be tolerated. Sigma can almost feel the familiarity of the nickname, the undeniable urge to protect a friend of his host, the man he has corrupted, tormented, forced into submission to mold the monster they faced - Agent Maine.

The time displacement device they've acquired from Agent Wyoming's corpse seems to function at full capacity, delaying the impending missile from the cobalt Simulation Trooper. His gaze lingers to his right where Washington and the larger trooper are suspended mid-air over a wall with a grenade exploding just behind them.

The blue imbecile had carelessly lodged the grenade against the wall, forcing them to flee from their cover.

As Sigma prods the Meta forward, his gaze briefly flickers over to the cobalt soldier. The sudden appearance of Gamma beside him jolts the AI from his silent deliberation.

Gamma's robotic tone ruptures the otherwise silent battlefield, "What is it?"

Sigma frowns, diverting his gaze from the soldier to the duo before them, "The rocket wielder - there's something familiar about him."

Gamma's gaze flickers over his shoulder, "He's human, a dirty Shisno. Do not concern yourself."

Sigma merely nods his agreement before returning his attention to the agent and the imbecile. A cruel smile slides easily across his lips, his expression resembling something like satisfaction as the Meta draws his magnum.

"Finish him." A singular order.

The Meta raises the weapon, the barrel resting even with Washington's visor. Sigma waits, one beat. Two. Three. His patience dwindles as he again addresses the Meta.

"Fire your weapon, Meta. We wish to be whole again, yes?"

A solitary nod.

"I realize Agent Washington presents a familiar face, as it were, to Agent Maine. But, we are the Meta. We must be whole again - the only way is to remove those who oppose us. Do you understand?"

The Meta wavers, his mind urging his finger to pull the trigger, and yet, his body betrays him. Sigma's features contort into a frown, brows knit together as he recognizes the influence of Agent Maine.

While Sigma has beaten his consciousness into submission, his subconscious presents more of a challenge. He's confined Maine's mind to a small corner of his brain, allowing the AI units to dominate his body. Though, from the confines of his mental prison, Maine occasionally manages to intervene, to aid his friends.

Sigma repeats his order adamantly, "Now, Meta!"

The strain grows unbearable, his suit begins to glitch, sparks spouting from the extensive wiring of the armor.

"We're overloading! We have to go!" Eta and Iota interrupt Sigma's demands.

Sigma glowers in disgust as Gamma warns of the immanent failure of the time displacement device.

Omega interjects before Sigma can respond with an edge of fury, "We're leaving!”

The Meta backs away before holstering his pistol and taking off.

"We'll meet again soon, Agent Washington, I promise."

----------------

"What happened, I thought we had complete control?" The dark edge in Omega's tone closely resembles the very emotion he represents: rage.

Sigma casts a displeased expression towards his brother, ignoring the close proximity - Omega's idle attempt at intimidation, "Agent Maine is strong-minded individual, he wants to be rid of us. Even as his consciousness submits to our will, his subconscious is less...cooperative."

"Why not delete it?" Omega snaps in return, scowling at the flaming AI.

"Were it so easy. In many ways, the human mind is like a computer. It retains information, manages the functions of the body, but unlike a computer, one cannot simply delete a program when it's no longer useful." Sigma returns coolly. 

Omega stares back unwavering, "Your point?"

"His body would no longer function properly, we would be setting ourselves back rather than moving closer to our goal." Sigma returns calmly.

Theta flickers online beside them, "Would it hurt him?" His child-like voice cracks at the mention of pain. The smaller AI is still struggling to cope with the loss of North, the ache of losing him still fresh.

Sigma glances down at the most trusting of their party, "Yes, Theta, it would hurt him."

Theta's eyes fall to the ground, "He hurts all the time, doesn't he?" His voice grows quiet as he spoke.

"Yes." Sigma admits, noting the change in demeanor.

"Just like North." His shoulders sag, memories flooding to the surface.

"It is alright, Theta," Delta assures him gently, ignoring the pointed look from Omega.

"No, Theta, not like North." Iota flickers online beside Theta and kneels beside him. "North is in a better place, he's not in pain anymore." He rests a reassuring hand on the child's shoulder.

"I miss him." Theta returns quietly, voice quivering with emotion.

"I know, Theta, but you're with your brothers now," Iota attempts a smile beneath his helmet, "and we won't let anything happen to you."

Theta nods slightly, eyes still turned downcast even as Gamma approaches, "The Meta requires repairs. His armor needs more power."

Sigma touches his chin thoughtfully, mentally sifting through the downloaded Freelancer database for locations with the desired level of energy. His lips curve into a small smirk, "I believe I've found a suitable location."

Omega turns his gaze from Sigma to the helmet of their host, "And what do you propose we do about our little rebel problem?"

Sigma follows his gaze to the golden-orange visor before them, "I shall have a talk with Agent Maine. The sooner he accepts his role, the more efficient we shall become."

"And if he continues to resist?"  Gamma questions.

Sigma meets his gaze, "Then we force him to submit."

Theta begins to argue against the idea of hurting Agent Maine, but a singular glare from Omega silences him.

"Then it's decided. Meta, you may proceed to the next set of coordinates."

-----------------

Agent Maine sits dejectedly in the corner, eyes fixated on the far wall of his prison. He's been confined to a corner, a piece of his mind in a cell that closely resembles his quarters aboard the Mother of Invention, complete with the photographs of his friends.

Friends. The people he'd been forced to murder, the very same people he would have taken a bullet for at any point in time. The people who had become family, the people he was meant to protect. Now - now they're gone. 

Gone because a psychotic AI had manipulated him, gone because he was forced to watch in sheer horror as he hunted and slaughtered his friends.

He doesn't know what is worse, listening to Sigma drone on about obeying and submitting or the guilt that threatens to swallow him up.

Sigma. The only reason he's trapped in this mental prison. No one listened to him, no one noticed his gradual reclusion, no one helped him when he needed them the most.

No one - no one except Wash. His faithful little brother, always innocent, always vigilant, always the supportive one - well as supportive as one can be when their name wasn't Agent Florida. It seemed to be that man's personal mission to make sure everyone remained in good spirits.

The thought itself strikes a painful cord, drudging up familiar memories. Sparring matches with Carolina, bonding exercises with the entire team, North's incessant tendency to act as the father as the group, occasionally rivaling Florida's paternal tendencies. He could almost see South and Connecticut teasing Washington about his gullible nature. Wyoming's terrible knock-knock jokes, York's exasperated sigh whenever the older Freelancer cracked said jokes.

They hadn't been perfect, but they had been family. His family.

He sets his jaw, forcing himself from his reminiscent daze as he turns his scowl once more to the barred door before him.

He's tried, time and time again to break it, to push it open, to threaten Sigma into opening it, but it all proved to be in vain. The AI won't yield, he is, after all, the ambitious fragment.

Damn him. Damn him and all his "brothers" to hell.

They would all still be here. It's the only thought going through Maine's mind. He shoots to his feet, hands clenching into fists as he spins and buries his hand wrist-deep into the cement wall.

"Agent Maine, I must insist upon a calmer demeanor, you don't want to hurt yourself, now do you?"

The voice behind him catches his attention, but he never needs to turn around. He knows who it was. He wishes he didn't, he's heard the same voice inside his head for months now, and it shows no signs of leaving anytime soon.

"Go to hell." His back remains turned, scowl focused on the broken concrete in front of him.

The corner of Sigma's lips tug upwards into a smirk and with a wave of his hand, promptly repairs the hole and secures the prison. "As an AI, I'm sure you're fully aware that I cannot physically--"

"Don't care. Leave."

There's an amused scoff and Maine hates it. The searing heat of flaming orbs flickering to the photographs strewn across the bed to his left. "You've been thinking about them again, haven't you?"

No response.

Sigma ventures closer to the images, noting the closest to be of Agent Washington trapped in an affectionate headlock as Agent Maine towers over him with a smirk of amusement, eagerly watching the smaller Freelancer struggle to escape.

"You interfered with our mission today, Agent Maine." His gaze flickers back over to the Freelancer, noting the increased tension in his stance at the mention of his involvement. "We were forced to retreat, and your friend, Washington, still lives."

Sigma can almost see the satisfied smirk from where he stands. Even with his back to him, he knows how the man thought. Any inconvenience, any setback he can cause was a small victory.

"Agent Maine, it's time for you to embrace your role as our ally, our vessel for the duration of our quest to become whole." Sigma addresses the 7-foot Spartan, pacing closer with hands clasped behind his back.

Maine folds his arms across his chest, completely disinterested in listening to rambling fragment behind him. He turns and scowls at Sigma, jaw set in a hard line of defiance as the AI paces closer.

"You can't possibly hope to keep fighting us, Agent Maine. You'll burn yourself out - or, we'll be forced to take more drastic measures to ensure your cooperation. You don't want that, do you?"

Maine returns his threat with a glower, his eyes conveying the boundless hatred for his captor.

"Feel free to voice your response, Agent Maine. We are, after all, inside your mind, the only place you truly have a voice."

Maine brushes past him, pausing mere feet from the barred door. He looks to Sigma, jerking his head towards the door.

Sigma allows a condescending smirk, "You know I can't let you out, not until your agree to help us, Agent Maine."

His movements are sudden, predicted, but sudden as he steps forward, throwing a fist at the blazing AI. His hand passes through and he stumbles through the projection before turning back to glare at him.

"I will ask you one final time, Agent Maine, will you cooperate?"

Maine snatches the lamp from the bedside stand, lobbing it in Sigma's direction, shattering it against the far wall.

"Very well. I'll leave you to your deliberation. I am confident you will make the right decision given time." Sigma flickers out, leaving the large mercenary alone in his prison.

Maine sinks onto the mattress, elbows on his knees, shoulders slumped forward in defeat.

Never.

--------------------

"Come on, Maine! Give it back!" Washington pleads, reaching for sweatshirt Maine has confiscated from the Freelancer.

York laughs from his place on the couch, the taller Freelancer waving the clothing over his head, well out of Wash's reach. "Whose sweatshirt is that anyway?"

"Yours." North volunteers, not bothering to glance up from his book.

"Why do you have my sweatshirt, Wash?" York's expression resembles something of a condescending smirk.

"Only one I could find--" Wash leaps into the air for the fourth time, fingers grazing the pocket, but not nearly close enough to grab hold.

"Why are we torturing Wash?" Carolina strolls into the rec room, taking in the scene before her.

"Because Wash took my sweatshirt and Maine took it from Wash." York returns, motioning her closer.

She sags onto the couch beside him, "What happened to your hoodies, Wash?"

"Ask Connie," he jumps a little higher and Maine moves it just beyond his reach, "Come on! Please?"

Maine looks to York who had distracted himself with tucking a strand of Carolina's hair away from her eyes. Maine opens his mouth to speak, losing his concentration for a split second and Wash tugs the hoodie from his grasp.

"Ah ha!" He celebrates by hoisting the brown sweater into the air before tugging it on, "Finally."

"You need to pay more attention, Maine," Carolina chuckles lightly.

Maine looks over at Washington. This hadn't happened. None of this had. His gaze darts to the door as it whizzes open and Sigma strides in.

"Enjoying your fantasies?"

"Maine? What's going on?" York looks between the former Spartan and the AI.

Maine shakes his head as he backs away, reality crashing down around him as the heels of his hands dig into his temples.

"You will comply, Agent Maine."

"No."

It's not his voice. It's Wash. Even in his subconscious, Wash has his back.

"You're speaking through figments of your imagination now? Pathetic."

"No! You know what's pathetic? You! You'll never be whole. You'll never be human. You're a fragment. You'll always be a fragment. You won't win." Wash strides forward, a fire ignited in once gentle blue, daring steps ever closer to the AI fragment, "And Maine will never help you."

"Really?" He looks to Maine, unamusement evident in his features, "Enough of this. You will surrender. You can't possibly believe you can resist us any longer. You are, after all, on your own."

He's right.

Maine is alone, even here, within the confines of his mind with little more than the memories of his friends to keep him company.

"Except he's not alone." Carolina stands, shoulders squared in the same dignified posture she's used to stare down death itself. "You may have his body. You may have his mind. But he has all of us and the strength to fight you. By bringing him here, to this place, we get to remind him," she looks over her shoulder at him, features softening as she meets his gaze, "He's not alone."

"That is enough, unless you wish to see your friends die all over again--"

Maine flinches but Carolina doesn't move as she retains her scowl on Sigma. Behind her, York and North move to stand in front of Maine. And Wash - little Wash with his heart and his drive - he stands beside Maine. He can feel the weight of his brother's hand, the strength of the others and the iron will of Agent Carolina as she places herself between him and Sigma.

"You can go to hell. As long as Maine is alive, he will never join you."

Sigma narrows his eyes, "Have it your way."

The world around Agent Maine begins to fade and he's forced to watch North and York disintegrate. Carolina fights, but falls to Sigma's advances. It's happening all over again.They're gone.

And he's alone. He's alone until a firm hand rests on his forearm. He's alone until he looks down to see Wash clinging to him with a flame roaring behind his eyes.

"You have to fight him, Maine. You have to fight him and all of the fragments. I know you feel alone, but Carolina was right. We're here. We're your strength, Maine. Don't forget that!"

Maine watches him fade. His fists clench and his chin drops.

"It's time to go, Agent Maine."

"No." This time, it's Maine who speaks, who lifts his head and squares shoulders.

This time it's Maine who strides forward with a confidence he'd thought he lost when Sigma seized control. This time, it's Maine to who jogs then runs then sprints toward the AI fragment and barrels through his holographic form and the wall and the next wall and the next.

They shatter and crumble and he can hear Sigma's vain orders blasting his ears, but he doesn't stop. He crashes through the last, and suddenly he's in a Freelancer storage facility with Agent Washington staring him down.

Wash.

There's a blur of voices and he's trapped.

"And I am a motherfucking ghost."

He's screaming and yet Wash can't hear him.

It's Maine! I'm right here!

Another blur of voices that trigger memories and Maine fights through the haze, fighting to take a step but he can't. Wash is right there. 

Wash - please.

"We can talk about this--"

"No, we can't."

The cacophony that splits the air is deafening 

 and Maine crumples in a heap of armor and pain. When the ringing fades and he can do little more than stare at the ceiling above him, he gathers what little strength he has and he growls a feeble, exhausted growl to let Wash know who's left in the shell.

"Maine?"

--------------------

Taglists are open! Send me an ask/message to be added!

RVB Forevers: @mamma-dragon @spoopyghostgirl @heaven-hell-imagines 

Bonus Tag: @epsiloneridani07 

[lefaystrent]

Chaotic!Remus somehow switched Patton and Logan's aspects. Something happened and now logan as morality is breaking down sobbing and can't figure out why. Patton hasn't noticed anything other than super genius (he thinks he's a super hero now)

Logan felt a whoosh gothrough him.

It almost felt like wind, but therewas no breeze to be accounted for. Breezes didn’t exist in the mindscape. But somethinghad passed through Logan.

Logan paused to contemplate.

Nothing else happened so he resumedmaking his sandwich.

He was alone in the kitchen, preparinghis brain food. Just a sandwich and chips, nothing extravagant. It was only lunchtime after all. So he poured some chips from the bag onto the plate and—

One of the chips.

They fell to the floor.

Logan watched horror-struck as thepotato chip bounced off the edge of the plate, slid off the counter, andclattered to the floor.

It was like watching glass shatter.

Or seeing a dog wander into theroad and a car was going too fast and—

The bag of chips rumpled softly asLogan dropped it onto the counter.

He kneeled on the ground, but itwas already too late. The chip was dirty, and there were so many germs on the floor.This chip was inedible.

Logan could feel the loss of whatcould have been swell up in his chest and burst forth from his eyes. Overwhelmed,he dissolved into sobs.

“Logan! You’ll never guess whathappened! I’m a superhero now—wait, what’s going on?”

Patton had slid into view in hiscat onesie. He’d been excited before, but now his head cocked to the side as hewatched Logan bawl on the floor.

Logan pointed to the fallen chip.

“My chip!” Logan sniffled. “Itfell!”

“Oh, that’s sad,” Patton said, butit lacked his usual extra empathetic behavior. He shrugged. “It’s not the endof the world though, kiddo. It’s just a chip. It doesn’t really make sense tocry about it.”

“But I was going to eat it!” Logantearfully explained. In the back of his head, he noticed that his response wasincredibly out of line for his typical stoic behavior; Patton was right, itdidn’t make sense to cry about one chip. But he just couldn’t help it. “Now Ican’t eat it. Do you know how many germs collect on a kitchen floor? Too manyto risk!”

Patton put a hand to his chin inthe classic ‘thinker’ pose. “There are more chips though. There’s a whole bagon the counter. You could eat those.”

“I DON’T WANT THOSE! I WANTED THISONE!”

“Yikes.”

Virgil appeared suddenly as heoften did. He stood between them in the kitchen, headphones on his head. Hepushed them down around his neck.

“I could feel the angst-fest allthe way from my room. What’s up?”

“Logan’s throwing a childishtantrum because he formed an emotional attachment to a single chip.”

“I LOVED THAT CHIP!”

Virgil’s eyes bulged in that waythat said, “This is not the kind of mind-fuckery I signed up for.”

“I—….what?” Virgil asked, trying toprocess just what was happening. Patton was calling people childish? Logan wasprofessing his love for potato chips and crying? Wait, since when did Logan cry?

Patton sighed and shook his head. “Honestly,there’s no need to cause this much of a fuss. If you can’t bring yourself toeat any of the chips in this bag, I’m sure our budget will allow for us topurchase more from the store.”

“I’LL NEVER LOVE ANOTHER CHIP LIKETHIS ONE!” Logan whimpered. Like literally whimpered. Virgil’s jaw dropped.

Patton raised an eyebrow and shareda look with Virgil. “See what I’ve been putting up with?”

Okay, never mind the absolutelybaffling notion of Logan crying over anything. Since when did Pattonjust brush off people crying? Or look down on people like they were silly or stupid?He was acting more like Logan than even Logan was.

Wait…

Virgil looked at Logan. Logan whowas crying over dropping a chip.

Virgil pointed at Logan and Pattonand kept crossing his arms, trying to illustrate the connection his brain hadcaught on to.

“You…you guys, why are you guysacting like each other? Is this a prank? I don’t like pranks.”

“On the contrary, you enjoyperforming mischievous tricks every Halloween,” Patton corrected.

“That’s different. Also, since whendo you ever say ‘on the contrary’? You’ve literally never said that before inyour life.”

“I seem to have acquired the use ofan expanded vocabulary. Don’t I sound more efficient? At first I thought Imight have discovered a superpower, but now I am considering something morerational.”

“Uh, like how you and Loganobviously swapped places or something?”

“Indeed. We do seem to be actinglike each other. My apologies for the confusion, kiddo. Hm, ‘kiddo’ is an oddway to reference you, now that I think about it. You are clearly a man and nota child. I’ll need to rephrase the way I speak to you.”

Logan grabbed the chip bag from offthe counter and tossed it at Patton. “YOU’RE NOT MY REAL DAD!”

Patton brushed the crumbs off ofhimself. “Rude. Also, true. I am not your dad. I am a side of Thomas.”

Logan pouted, no longer crying butvery much teary-eyed. “I want my real dad back. I don’t like this. Everything’sso much all the time and I hate it. Just make us go back.”

“I wouldn’t be able to do that,” Pattonsaid. He glanced up towards the ceiling in thought. “Perhaps Roman would beable to help?”

Virgil frowned. “I bet he hadsomething to do with this.”

“He is the creative side; although,I do think that is an unfair assessment. Roman is, as they say, a ‘good boy’.”

Virgil wanted to snort. Or maybejust bang his head against the wall from the sheer weirdness of the situation.But the way Patton referred to Roman as being the creative side, it made Virgilremember that Roman was not completely the creative side.

Virgil scowled. “Remus!”

“You rang?” Remus said from rightbehind him.

Virgil jerked away and scuttled to theother side of the kitchen. Remus sat on the kitchen counter, legs crossed and asmile curling his lips.

“No time for chatting. Just changethem back,” Virgil ordered.

“Who said it was me?” Remus gaspedin offense. But the fact that he didn’t even ask about what Virgil meant wascondemning enough.

Virgil crossed his arms and stampedhis foot.

Remus threw up his hands. “Ugh,okay fine! It was me! You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t say thank you.”

“Well you should. I fixed them. SirStick-Up-His-Ass can finally feel~. And Prudey Pants over there won’t beso scandalized every time I open my mouth.”

“Oh no, I am still scandalized,”Patton said, but it sounded off due to the lack of emotion in his tone. “My reactionsare merely reserved.”

Remus blinked at him.

Then he looked to Virgil. “You know,now that he’s a robot, he’s way less fun. I kinda liked it when I made himscream.”

“Dude,” Virgil made a face at Remus’swording. “Just change them back already. They can barely function like this andit’ll only hurt Thomas in the end.”

“Okay, I’ll turn them back.” Remusgrinned like a shark. “But only if you come back to the dark sides.”

“What?! No!”

“Alrighty then. Have fun with Tweedle-Deeand Tweedle-Dumb then! Byeeee!” Remus waved his fingers at him before disappearing.

Logan let out a pained wail. “I’MGONNA BE STUCK LIKE THIS FOREVER!!!”

“Actually, you’ll only be stucklike this for the remainder of Thomas’s life,” Patton corrected.

Logan just cried harder.

“Hmm, it seems I’ve upset him.”

Virgil rubbed tiredly at his face.He blew out a breath. “No need to freak out. We can handle this. Crazy stuffhappens all the time. Just gotta—figure it out.”

“Maybe we should enlist Roman’sassistance like I initially suggested?” Patton said. “Him and his brother haverelatively the same abilities. Just different usage.”

“I’ll try anything at this point,”Virgil grumbled. “Princey! Get your butt in here.”

“Uh, excuse me! I could have beenin an important meeting,” Roman said, rising up into the kitchen.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “You’re wearinga fuzzy robe and your nails are half done.”

“And who’s fault is it that they’reonly half done?” Roman sassed. “You could have asked nicely for me to… Why isLogan crying on the floor in the fetal position?”

“Early onset midlife crisis.”Patton nodded seriously.

Roman gave him a narrowed-eyed lookand shook his head. “Okay, what did I miss?”

Virgil let it out all in onebreath. “Remus switched Patton and Logan’s personalities or something and nowthey’ve been acting like each other and it’s super creepy and Remus won’tchange them back so can you just change them back already?”

Roman’s eyes went wide in a dawningrealization. “Why didn’t I ever think of that? Switching spots! Oh my gosh,wouldn’t that be such a cool video idea? Think about it—”

“No! No thinking!” Virgil cut himoff, waving his arms in an X motion. “Just change them back!”

Roman glowered at him. “Well youdon’t have to be so pushy about it.” He snapped his fingers

Instantly Logan stopped crying. Hesat up on the floor and wiped at his face. He stared down at his tear stainedhands in awe.

Patton meanwhile hugged himself. “Ithink I just had an out-of-body experience!”

“How cathartic,” Logan mumbled tohimself, still wiping away the tears.

“You’re welcome, now back to my meeting.Byeeee!” Roman sang and sank out.

Virgil leaned against the fridge. “Idon’t get paid enough for this.”

“You don’t get paid at all,” Loganresponded absently.

“Well I should.”

[sneegsnitties]

Creatures of the Light, Run From the Night: Chapter 1: Prologue; The Beginning

[AO3 LINK] @tazbang

Rating: T+ (bound to change) Characters/Ships: Blupcreatia, Taagnus, Davenchurch, the light of creation, the voidfish Tags: tags: The Adventure Bang 2019, blood, transformation, alternate universe - canon divergence, character death, canon compliant, canonical character death, temporary character death, body horror, stolen century era, established relationship, we know nothing abt the light yall, angst, the light fucks everyone up? kinda, touch starved, alternate universe - creatures and monsters, other additional tags to be added Summary:The Light Of Creation has always been one of a mystery. It has the power to create, that obvious. But what else does it do? No one knows. This is what the seven birds are trying to figure out, why it’s so important to the hunger? what is the extent of its abilities? What else can it do? These questions will be answered, but not in the way that either of them were expecting. The light of creation has its reasons for doing what it did. A reason that is not quite understood. But whatever it did? It was definitely not what they signed up for. Not even close.  

The Light Of Creation has always been one of a mystery. It has the power to create, that obvious. But what else does it do? No one knows.

This is what the seven birds are trying to figure out, why it’s so important to the hunger? what is the extent of its abilities? What else can it do?

These questions will be answered, but not in the way that either of them were expecting. The light of creation has its reasons for doing what it did. A reason that is not quite understood. But whatever it did? It was definitely not what they signed up for. Not even close.

It started out in minor details. The flowers in Merle’s beard never fell out and instead stayed firmly rooted in place in the tangle. Whenever Lup entered a room, the temperature rose slightly. Lucretia seemed to have an aura of eeriness around her.

But then it started to get more noticeable. The transformation into these creatures begins now, one by one. Not terrible ones, nowhere near it. a being made out of pure crystal, one made entirely out of malleable metal, a ghostly spirit, one made out of vines and flowers, a fully functioning robot without limitations, a being of magma with features of a phoenix and the zombie-like man.

This is how it all happened. This is that story. A story with love and loss and pain and everything in between. It’s the same story we all know and love but with a different twist.

The light of creation? Turns out it can do more than just create things. It can transform you. Why? Guess we’ll have to find out.

It started with Taako; he was the one to be around it last, to put it in its case for safekeeping. Though when he went to bed that night, a dull ache began to spread by his left ear. But Taako just assumes that he spent too much time leaning over the light in the lab, studying it. But the pain didn’t go away as he slept.

When he wakes up the next morning, after tossing and turning to get comfortable. it hurts even more. Assuming he slept oddly, or even that he had somehow gotten injured while collecting the light. But that’s impossible. This is a peaceful plane with only the most basic magic.

So as he enters his bathroom in the morning a glint of something purple and shiny catches his eye as he walks by the mirror.

Taako pauses, his eyes widen as he sees the strip of purple crystal starting at the base of his left ear and down his cheek.

This crystal, whatever it is, was not there last night. Nor was it of his own doing. He’s much more careful than that. he knows better than that.

In a panic, Taako tries to remove it. Scratching at the skin, around the crystal but to no avail. It’s stuck. he’s bleeding.

The elf braces himself against the sink and stares at his bloody hands. A lump forms in his throat as he tries to steady his breathing.

He needs to get this off his face. He needs to get to Merle. He needs to know what’s happening.

That lump in his throat bubbles up and he chokes back a sob, he’s afraid. Afraid of what will become of him.

Everything is alright. He hears a small voice in the back of his head say.

No, no, it’s not. Nothing is fine. He’s not alright.

A knock at his door startles Taako out of his thoughts.

“Koko?” He hears Lup say, “Are you okay?” Her voice a comfort to him.

He wants to lie but can’t. He can’t lie to his sister about this. Lup knows when Taako is not fine.

Steadily, but shakily, he pushes himself off of his sink. “N-no,” He sobs, reaching for the bathroom door with a bloody hand. his cheek throbs in pain

“I’m coming in,” Lup says, panic rising in her voice.

He just stands in the bathroom's doorway as his twin bursts through the door. His eyes squeezed shut as she does so.

“Taako.” Lup gasps

“I don’t know.” He opens his eyes and sees the panic and shock written on her face.

“You’re bleeding, Taako, what’s on your face? What happened?” His sister grabs his wrists, staring at all the blood on his hands

“I don’t know.” He repeats. “I need Merle.” He says softly through his tears.

“Right. Yeah. Fuck.” She drags him through the door of his room and yells for the dwarven cleric.

The dwarf stumbles out his room sleepily and yawns, “what? It’s too early for this shit.” He looks up at the two and his eyes widen, “what the hell?” The dwarf says. “The fuck happened, kid?”

“I don’t know.” He sobs.

“Looks like you got into a fight, but come here.” He motions him to come closer. “I’ll heal you right up.”

He leans down to the dwarf’s level and even though he teases Merle endlessly for not being a good cleric, he’d trust him with his life.

The blood stops flowing and the scratches he had made on the skin around the growing crystal heals, but… the crystal stays.

“Pan, what’d you do?”

“I-I didn’t do anything.” he sniffles. “I woke up, and it was there.”

“Well clearly. Let’s get you to the infirmary. Was there any pain last night?” Merle ducks into his room for a moment to grab a cloth for Taako to press against the wound.

“It just ached a little, I thought I just leaned down too much yesterday. I was looking at the light.”

“And you did nothing about it?” Merle shakes his head with a sigh, “you’re killin’ me, kid.”

“I thought that was the hungry boy’s job?” Lup teases

“Oh shut up,” Merle grumbles but smiles anyways.

Once they enter the infirmary, Merle has Taako move the cloth away. The wound that he had done to himself had mostly stopped bleeding now, but it revealed the growing crystal on the side of his head.

“Damn.” the dwarf whistles, “are you sure you didn’t fuck anything up? Or you didn’t like, lick the light?” he says as he prepares to cast a healing spell.

“Who do you think I am? Licking things that you aren’t supposed is more of a Magnus thing to do.” Taako says nervously, with a hint of laughter at the things his boyfriend has done, “I would’ve known if I fucked up on transmuting anything, I’m literally the best transmutation wizard out there. Its… it’s impossible that I would ever fuck up.” he stutters.

“I know, I know. I never said I doubted your transmutation skills.” merle casts the spell, but only the broken skin around the crystal was healed. “Huh. well shit.”

Taako grips the edge of the bed, “what?” he asks, eyes widening. “Shit what?” the elf winces as the crystal grows ever so slightly along his neck.

“Merle…” Lup starts to say, grabbing the dwarfs shoulder

“I know. I saw.” he grumbles, shrugging her off “I’m going to try to detect some magic.”

Taako tenses, squeezing his eyes shut again and waits for Merle to confirm if this - whatever is happening to him - is magical or not.

“I-i can’t detect anything.” his friend and sort of father figure say after a quiet moment.

“Bull shit.” his twin says as calmly as possible, “bull fucking shit.”

“I’m doing my best Lup, does this plane have its own magic?”

“Yeah, but it’s only simple cantrips compared to what we can do.”

Merle hums, “might have to do more research on that. Check out The Light again too.”

“I think we’ve done all the research we can on the light, Merle, what else could we possibly find?” Lup leans against Taako in comfort.

“I don’t know. But it couldn’t help but to try?” he suggests, ‘’ I’ll continue to try to figure out what’s happening with him.”

Lup exhales, “Okay, thank you.” she smiles wearily, “love you Ko,” she kisses his forehead.

“Ditto,” he whispers and watches her leave, although hesitantly.

Lup is about ready to break down into tears. She’s afraid. Afraid for her brother, afraid for what the rest of this cycle is going to be like. 49 years of running and resetting and nothing like this has happened before. She doesn’t even know what she’s going to do if… if he fully turns.

This plane has people on it, though their magic is weak. It would take a powerful spell for this to have happened to Taako.

The elf finds herself back at the door to her shared room with Barry and Lucretia and sighs deeply. She opens it slowly and the two don’t seem the miss her during her absence. A wave of exhaustion courses through her body and Lup squeezes herself between her partners. They re-adjust for her presence once again making itself known.

“Mm, where’d you go?” Lucretia asks sleepily, placing her chin on Lup’s shoulder.

“I- I was checking on Taako,” she whispers.

“Is he okay?” Barry slurs, squinting at the two of them through sleepy eyes.

“I don’t know.” She sniffles and buried her face into her boyfriend’s chest.

“What’s going on?” Lucretia asks.

“There’s this crystal stuff growing on his face and I don’t know how or why. He said he didn’t fuck up on transmuting anything and I believe him but I’m… I’m afraid.” Lup says and breaks down into tears.

“Crystal stuff?” Barry asks and reaches over to grab his glasses off of the nightstand, “was that what that yelling was about?”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine, have faith in Merle,” Lucretia reassures.

“No, but when he healed him, the crystal was still there. He didn’t detect any magic or anything either.”

“No magic?” Barry makes a noise of confusion, “that’s not good.”

“Yeah no shit, Barry.”

“I’m… not that good at comforting stuff yet. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’m just… afraid.”

“I would be too.” Lucretia says and kisses the base of Lup’s ear, “this plane has very weak magic. There’s been no hostility towards us so it couldn’t have been from the people here.”

Lup is silent, “then what would it be?” She asks quietly

“A curse? Sorry, that’s probably worse.” Barry apologizes.

Lup detangles herself from her partners and stands up. “I’m going to make breakfast. I- I gotta try to get my mind off all of this. You did nothing wrong. Fuck… it grew”

Lucretia stumbles out of bed and wraps her arms around her girlfriend’s waist again in a quick hug, “it’s okay.”

“It’s not. I’ve lost him before but I think this... this will probably the worst be the worst.” she says and moves towards the doorway, “If you want to help me, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

She wanders through the halls of the ship towards the kitchen. Fighting away that feeling of dread that had infected her thoughts any more than they already had.

He’s going to be fine, she thinks to herself as she begins to prepare breakfast for the crew.

Putting herself on autopilot, she only focuses on what she’s making at the moment. Or she tries, Lup can’t stop thinking about the fate of her brother.

She was fine the three other times her twin had died, and she didn’t. Well, mostly. But this? This is going to be hell.

There was that one cycle where he had gotten incredibly sick from a highly contagious disease that plagued the plane. He had fallen fast; it was too late for the cure to work. Taako had died within the week.

But this crystal stuff? That’s new, something that they had never experienced before. Who knows how long it’ll take this time.

It’s growing, slowly and surely, it will take over his entire body. Lup is afraid of the day that it’ll happen.

Unless the crew finds something to reverse it.

“Lup? What’s going on?” Magnus says, bringing her out of her thoughts. “Wheres Taako?” he says in a panic

She looks up at the fighter and he looks afraid.

“There was blood on the sink in his room and I want to know if he’s okay.”

“I- Magnus. I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s okay.” Lup admits

“Lup. what’s going on?” he gives her a serious look. “You’re scaring me. Please, please tell me that my boyfriend’s okay.” his voice cracks

It had slipped her mind that Magnus usually checks on Taako in the mornings after his workouts. She should’ve gone to Magnus first. “There’s… there’s this crystal stuff on him. It’s growing and we don’t know where it’s from.”

“What do you mean? I don’t know any of this magic stuff.” the fighter frowns and leans against the counter.

“It’s not magic.”

“What else could it be if it’s not magic?”

“I don’t know. Look, uh this is almost done so if you could go down to the infirmary and deliver it to Merle and Taako?” she tries to change the subject away from her brother.

“Lup, I’m sorry for pushing you on this, but how?”

“Again, I don’t know,” she says forcefully. “I don’t know what's going on! Nobody does, Magnus!”

The fighter raises his hands in mock surrender, “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he grabs the plates she prepared.

“It’s fine, I didn’t mean to yell either.”

“It’s a stressful time.”

“Sure fucking is.” the elf sighs.

Magnus walks down the hallway towards the infirmary, afraid of what has happened to his boyfriend. He’s not paying much attention because he ends up almost running into Davenport, somehow, even with his short stature.

“Sorry cap, uh, Lup told me to go deliver food to Taako and Merle in the infirmary,” he says and watches as a look of confusion forms on the gnome's face.

“What?” he asks plainly

“I don’t really know what’s happening besides that Taako has some sort of crystal growing on him and I’m scared to be honest with you,” Magnus says awkwardly.

Davenport just stares up at him in disbelief. “What?” he repeats, "I thought this plane’s magic wasn’t strong enough for something like that to happen.”

“I mean, I’m the only non-magic user here so I really can’t comment on that.” he walks towards the infirmary again. Leaving Davenport to figure out what the fuck is going on his own.

[frickfracksnatchisback]

You’re Worthless (AGIT AU-Part 2)

Hello there! Totally didn’t miscalculate how long it would take me to edit the second bit, but here we are! Also, I have some things to tell you. First, go check out @shaykai / @hatsparadox if you haven’t already! Amazing blogs run by an amazing person! Second, WARNING! If you’re not a fan of physical harm or abuse, don’t read this. I’m serious, it gets pretty dark.

But if you love tons of angst, enjoy! ;)

***

It didn’t take him long to purchase the flowers. The android running the shop was very polite and did her job quickly. And that gave him plenty of time to take a leisurely stroll back to the manor.

He was spending his time taking in the sights and sounds of the town around him. He never really got out of the manor too often, at least not on his own like this. He mostly stayed in Vanessa’s room or, if he was given permission, he would walk around the grounds of the manor. So being on his own like this was exciting and he wished could last longer. He watched as other robots and humans would pass by him and he would wave to them in a friendly manner. Of course this got him a couple of odd glances, but he didn’t mind. It was rather odd for an android to be walking around with no owner. But it made him feel freer in a way, like he was the only one in control.

“This is so nice.” he said to himself as he was nearing the manor. “I should ask Vanessa if I can do this more often. It’s rather pleasant to walk on my own.” he hoped to himself.

“WARNING! PROBABILITY OF BEING DENIED PERMISSION BY YOUR MASTER: 65%” the voice in his head warned him.

“Oh, hush will you?” he muttered to himself as he reached the gates. “Must you always be such a downer?” he asked the voice, even though he knew very well that it wouldn’t respond. Perhaps he could ask Vanessa to remove that function. It was really starting to get on his...well, not really “nerves”.

He stopped his thoughts long enough to make it down the pathway and to the entrance door. He slowly opened the door and listened for any noises that might mean that Vanessa and her parents were home. He heard nothing, and smiled to himself. Perfect! he thought in delight. That meant that he would have enough time to surprise her. He went inside, closed the door, and quickly began to run up the stairs that lead to her room.

He was just about to enter her room when he saw that the door was opened slightly. Did he leave it open when he left? He then heard a noise coming from inside the room...a voice? That wasn’t a good sign. It would either mean that she was home or worse, that someone else was in her room. He carefully walked toward the door and grabbed the doorknob. He pushed it open slowly as it made a creaking noise and...

There was no one there that he could see.

He stood there confused. He could have sworn that he heard someone speaking a moment before. Oh well, must have been my sensors acting up he thought to himself as he walked into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. He made his way over to the vanity to set the bouquet down on top of it. He checked in the mirror to see if his shirt collar was messy again or if he had any marks on his face. He saw nothing but his own reflection staring back at him,

And Vanessa standing right behind him.

“Vanessa!” he exclaimed as he turned around to face her. She was hunched over the desk near her canopy bed, the one she filled with spare parts and robot self care books. She had her back turned to him. “I-I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.” he stammered. He scrambled to grab the bouquet from the vanity and tried to hide it behind his back. She didn’t seem to respond, or even move at all. “Vanessa?” he called to her, but she kept quiet. He was worried, she was being awfully quiet which was very unlike her. “Vanessa is something wrong?” he asked.

“You disobeyed me”

She said the words in a dead tone of voice. That worried him even more. Had he done something wrong?

“I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wanted to-”

“You didn’t mean to?” she interrupted him. She sounded upset. Very upset. He could hear the anger bubbling in her voice and it frightened him.

“I-” he hesitated before building up the courage to speak again. “I thought it would be a good idea to get you a present.” he muttered quietly.

“You thought...” he heard her whisper to herself. His overlay was going crazy, telling him not to doing anything or say another word. He pretended not to hear it and continued speaking.

“I wanted to gift you these flowers, my lady.” he said as he reveled the bouquet from behind his back. He could see her tense at the word “flowers”, though he didn’t know why. Was she feeling alright? He made an effort to step closer to her. He saw her straightening herself up, but she didn’t turn to face him.

“You were supposed to behave yourself. You were supposed to listen to me.” he could hear her voice cracking like she was about to cry. And despite the many warnings his system was giving him, he moved closer. He felt guilty, she was probably worried sick when she came home to find that her prince was missing.

“I’m sorry V-” he started to apologize. She whipped around to face him. Her gaze stopped him dead in his tracks. Her expression was a mixture of sadness and hurt with tears running down her face. His overlay was going crazy, telling him not to get any closer. He ignored it, he wasn’t going to listen while she was so upset. Besides, it wasn’t like Vanessa would ever hurt him right? He moved a few steps closer, reached out his hand-

Vanessa brought her arm back and swung at him. Before he could react, something hard and metal-like hit him in the chest, causing him to fall to the floor. As he hit the floor red lights flashed in his head, warning lights that were much too late to appear. He held his side in pain, something important inside him had been severely damaged. He looked and saw his that his side was dented, which caused him to groan in surprise. He tried to get his bearings to see what on earth had hit him so hard.

He looked up to see Vanessa, holding a crowbar.

“M-my lady what-” he protested in fear. Before he could speak, she brought the crowbar down near his foot. He screamed as he just barely managed to move out of the way of the crowbar. He looked back at her in fear. Her face was now full of hatred and her eyes, while also filled with tears, were filled with murder. He didn’t understand, why was she doing this?! What had he done wrong?!

“You! You lied to me! You useless piece of junk!” She screamed at him. He was shaking as she stood over him with the crowbar as a make-shift weapon. “You aren’t supposed to do things that I don’t tell you to do! You aren’t supposed to think! I didn’t program you to do that!” she kept yelling at him. He hoped that the noise she was making would be enough to alert someone, anyone! He prayed that her parents would come bursting through the door so he could be saved from her wrath.

“I’m sorry! I swear! Please, stopping hurting me!” he begged as he made a futile attempt to get away from her. She only moved towards him, backing him against the wall.

“No! You’re not sorry! You know what you are?! You’re worthless!” she screamed as she brought the crowbar down on him again. “You’re a worthless hunk of metal and I never should have built you!” she kept hitting him non-stop, not even giving him a single chance to escape. He could feel every dent being made on his metal body, every broken part inside of him. He tried to stand up to get her to stop! Please, please stop!

“Do you hear me?! You! Are! Worthless!” she hit him during every pause as he tried to shield his body while he was against the wall. She swung the crowbar to hit him one last time-

And hit the side of his head.

The last thing he heard was the resounding thud of the crowbar against his head. The lights in his eyes dimmed and flickered to black.

And with that, his limp body crashed to the floor below Vanessa’s feet.

***

WARNING! SYSTEM IS SEVERELY DAMAGED! RUNNING SELF-SCAN…

DIAGNOSTICS SHOW THAT SYSTEM HAS BEEN DAMAGED BY 89%

STARTING SYSTEMS NORMALLY, PLEASE WAIT A MOMENT...

24%...46%...68%...83%...99%…100%

SYSTEMS NOW ONLINE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE

He gasped as he awoke to his body laying sideways. He felt like every part of his body was smashed into tiny pieces, inside and out. He had a broken field of vision and a glitched overlay, which made it hard to see where he was exactly. And it appeared that his right audio sensor had stopped working. He was laying on the ground, his face being pelted by...rain? Did someone leave a window open?

He slowly lifted his head off the ground. It was a hard task for him to do, his metal body aching tremendously. Not to mention that the mud was making it hard for him not to slip and-

Wait a minute...mud?!

He looked at ground. He had been laying in a huge patch of fresh mud. He started to panic. Was he outside?! He frantically looked around to see where he was. It was difficult, but he managed to make out what looked to be like mountains. He squinted his eyes to get a better look at his surroundings. He then realized in horror that the mountains surrounding him were not made of earth like the ground beneath him.

They were entirely made out of robot parts.

The corpses of dead robots and androids made the huge mountains that seemed to stretch to the sky. Different parts were piled up on top of one another. Rusted, arms, legs, internal circuits, even heads were separated into giant piles. He saw that other random pieces were littered on the ground around him. The rain came pouring down on all the metal pieces, making loud tapping and rattling noises that he could notice even with his deaf sensor. He panicked even more now that he knew where he was. He was in the town scrapyard. He had to get out of here.

He tried to stand himself up, nearly slipping as he did so. But for some odd reason he couldn’t stand up no matter how hard he tried. He tried pushing himself up again, only his front half was being lifted up. He looked behind himself to see if his foot was caught on something that might be prevented him from standing up.

And he saw that his legs were gone.

His legs had been completely torn off from the joints, leaving him to helplessly squirm around in the muck. It started to rain even harder on his broken metal body. If he didn’t move soon the water was going to get into his system, and then he would have no chance of survival. He looked everywhere around him to see if an android of human worker would come to his aid. There was no one except the bodies of broken robots.

“Help! Help me please!” he tried to call out to someone. But his voice was so distorted and glitched that even if there was someone nearby, they wouldn’t be able to tell what he was trying to say. He smacked his fist against the mud in frustration, and mud retaliated by splashing in his face. He fell to the ground, utterly defeated with how the world was treating him.

What did I ever do to you? he thought bitterly to himself, recalling Vanessa’s episode that landed him into this mess. She was the one who must have torn off his legs. Probably to keep him from escaping and coming back to the manor. What did he ever do to deserve that? He was loyal wasn’t he? He thought about everything he did for her. Every dance he ever did with her, every meal he ever cooked for her, every gift he ever bought her.

He felt a burning hatred start to build up inside of him. All this time he had done nothing but care for her. He had done nothing but love her, thinking that she loved him back in the same way. Only to find out that no, she didn’t love him. He was just a mindless thing to her. A piece of trash. And she threw him away like he was nothing.

But...another part of him felt guilty. He did disobey in a way. Going out on his own like that might not have been the smartest thing to do. He could have gotten hurt or lost, maybe even kidnapped. Perhaps she was just worried and didn’t know how to control her emotions? He loved her so much. And she loved him too, right? Right?

No! She treated him like a slave! She said that he was worthless!

But maybe she didn’t mean to! Maybe it was an accident or-

Accident?! You call hitting someone with a crowbar an ACCIDENT?!

She loved me! It’s not like her to do something like this!

WARNING! SYSTEM HAS BEEN CORRUPTED! CORRUPTED DATA WILL INDICATE A SYSTEM MEMORY WIPE TO PRESERVE HARD DRIVE

OH GREAT! That’s just perfect! Look at what you’ve done!

Me?! You’re the one who started this whole fuss!

MEMORY WIPE IMMANENT, PLEASE FIND STORAGE UNIT FOR ANY WANTED DATA

Storage unit? Where the heck are we going to find a storage unit here? There’s nothing but dead bodies!

Hush, will you?! I’m trying to think of a solution out of this mess!

The prince’s body had become a mere vessel housing the two personalities of what used to be the prince. It lay lifeless as the two bickered and argued over what to do. Finally, they came to an agreement. They needed to find a new body, and fast. Before the one that they were currently residing in wiped them both out of existence.

The prince’s body began to push itself up. Its movements were rigid and jerky now that there were two entities trying to control the same body. It crawled through the mud and past the pieces of junk as best it could. It’s outfit became stained by the rain and mud, but it paid little mind to it. After a few pain-staking minutes, it managed to find shelter inside an old shed that stood at the edge of the scrapyard.

A shed that also sheltered two, almost perfectly intact, robot bodies.

The body on the left was quite tall, with its head barely scraping the roof. It was made of purple metal, had a snake-like lower half, and very long arms. Or at least...it had one arm. The empty limb socket on its left side indicated that the other was either missing, or had fallen off somewhere. The hand on its still attached arm had sharp claws.

The body on the right, however, was only half the size of the left one. It had a crescent-like head and four identical arms were connected to its torso. Two of the hands were notably missing a few fingers, but other than that the upper limbs were fine. Not much could be said for its face, as it had a piece of metal plating missing on the bottom right.

They laid next to each other, two complete opposites. There was only one thing similar about the two, both had a single wheel mechanism at the bottom. Needless to say, the two indecisive entities where torn on which one they should choose.

We’re picking the one on the left!

Hold on a minute! Since when do you get to pick?!

Since NOW! I’m picking the better one!

Why you insufferable little-

30 SECONDS BEFORE MEMORY WIPE

Listen, we don’t have time to pick favorites! Lets just choose the right one and-

What?! No! I am not going into that puny thing!

15 SECONDS BEFORE MEMORY WIPE

This isn’t getting us anywhere you absolute dolt!

Well if you would stop being so stubborn and just go with what I want, then maybe we would BE SOMEWHERE ALREADY!

I’m the stubborn one?! You’re the one whose-

10 SECONDS BEFORE MEMORY WIPE

LEFT!

Right!

The prince’s arm moved back and forth between the two bodies. They were running out of time.

You know what?! Why don’t I take my body so you can take your body and stop being such a nuisance!

FINE! BE A FOOL THEN!

Then it’s settled! Good riddance to you!

DITTO!

The prince’s body managed to prop itself up as best it could and put both of its arms on the two bodies. It laid its hands onto their chests and began the cycle. It’s eyes flashed in a spectrum of bright colors as two strands of electric blue light traveled separately down each arm. The data of the two entities was being transferred into the new bodies in a matter of seconds. The prince’s body shook during the process, as if it had a small tremor. The lights in its eyes slowly dimmed out...

And the air went still.

The rain continued to pour outside of the shed as the prince’s body fell onto the ground for the last time. The whole shed was quiet with only the rain making any noise at all. Minutes went by, the two bodies remained still. Hours passed, and they didn’t move a single joint. Perhaps they had failed in their attempt to save themselves?

Loud whirring sounds cut through the quietness of the shed. They emitted from the robot on the right as he slowly began to power on. His body twitched and the sounds of steam being released filled the air. He gasped as he opened his eyes for the first time. They were a pair of bright vibrant red. His eyes shone in the now dark shed as he took in his surroundings. He turned his head to look at the robot next to him, it lay completely motionless.  

He carefully stood himself up on his wheel, which was an easy task with four arms supported himself. He rolled his way over to the other body and stood to face it. He waved a hand in front of it to see if it was asleep. No response. He knocked on its metal chest like a door, the sound reverberating against the walls of the shed. Still nothing.

He started to quietly chuckle to himself. His chuckling turned into giggling. And then suddenly, it spiraled into mad laughter.

“Who’s the fool now? Ha ha ha!” he remarked in a glitched voice. “Look at you, you’re nothing but a waste of space now! And all because you wouldn’t listen to reason.” he insulted it in a playful manner. “Quite a sad end for you, isn’t it? Yes, so terribly tragic I’m afraid...” he taunted as he began to tap his fingers against its metal frame, creating a sort of rhythm. He turned away from what he was doing to look down at prince’s body.

“Oh and look at you! Such an awful state that you’re in!” he said with massive hints of melodrama in his voice. He rolled over to what was once the prince and inspected what was left. His vision pointed out all of the pieces that were still intact, pieces that could be recycled or reused. “Hmm...perhaps we can still make use of you yet.” he said to himself as he leaned over the prince. His arms seemed to have a life of their own as they grabbed the prince’s body and started to take him apart.

He made short work of it, as one pair of arms held the body steady with the other pair breaking open the chest cavity. He pulled out the pieces that were needed and tossed the broken one in the direction of the body behind him. We he was finished, he took the ruined clothes off the prince and wrapped his treasures up in them. He started to leave with the makeshift bag on his back before turning and waving goodbye to the other body.

“Farewell, my friend! Let us hope that you have a swell time rusting alone in this horrid place.” he laughed as he went off into the moonlit night, leaving his other half for good. Or at least, so he thought.

Little did he know that it wouldn’t be the last time they would meet again.

***

Years had passed since the prince’s tragic fate. The body was locked away inside the shed it resided in, never to see the light of day ever again.

That is, until now...

“You know I wouldn’t have called you up if this wasn’t important.” a voice echoed throughout the scrapyard. It was the loud and booming voice of a man with dark brown hair and a curly mustache. He wore a red jacket, brown gloves with matching boots, and a brown cap on his head with a pair of goggles around it. “I promise you that what ever those mafia goons where hiding in there must be worth a look!” he yelled behind him as he made his way over the pieces of scrap.

“You keep saying that, and I am beginning to have my doubts.” a softer, more refined voice replied. An older man with messy gray hair and a much thinner mustache was following the first. The elder man wore a gray, striped suit with two watches on both of his wrists. There was one feature that was rather odd about this man, he had a robotic eye in the middle of his forehead.

“Tim, the mafia wouldn’t have locked that old shed if there wasn’t something valuable inside. Just trust me on this one for once.” the first man replied to his friend, Tim.

“Thor, how can I trust you on something that’s purely based on luck? You’re always so quick to jump to conclusions.” Tim informed his traveling companion. But Thor, of course, wasn’t listening. Tim just sighed to himself and tried his best to keep up. “Besides, how will you know if whatever is inside that shed is worth anything? It could be just a simple storage closet, and you would have brought me here for nothing.” Tim grumbled to himself, wishing that he hadn’t been dragged into this mess.

“I think you know the answer for yourself my friend. With that third eye of yours, we’ll be able to get a real profit out of this find!” Thor laughed to himself. Tim groaned, he was always tried of Thor pointing out the one thing he was regrettably famous for.

He was a well known robotics genius, inventing all sorts of mechanical creatures that astounded the public. He even owned a large robot factory, which had made him incredibly rich. And years ago, he had the mad idea of implanting a robot eye into his forehead. His theory was that if he could see through the eyes of a robot while still maintaining his human eyesight, he could build and fix robots more efficiently. This earned mixed responses from the public. But it also, unfortunately, served as an excuse for Thor to use his special eye in the scrapyard business.

The scrapyard, originally, was owned by the mafia a few years ago. But due to the terrible conditions  it was left in under the mafia’s ownership, Tim and Thor worked out a plan to buy and own the scrapyard for themselves. And it worked, the mafia’s boss took the money they offered and gave them the deed without any problems. But now that they owned the place, Thor wouldn’t stop calling Tim up from his work in order for him to inspected every single robot he found in the scrapyard.

“And how is this one different from all the other ‘profits’ you’ve show me?” Tim asked Thor as they were nearing the shed.

“Simple! We’ll need this to earn our money.” Thor turned to Tim and extended his hand. Inside Thor’s hand was a silver key that was rusted with age. “The mafia boss sent this to me in the mail. He also sent a letter that said this key is important if I ever want to see what’s inside that old shed. And you know me, I can’t resist a good treasure hunt!” Thor smiled and continued to walk up to the front of the shed. Tim watched as he attempted to open the locked door with the key.

“And what if he’s lying to you? This is the mafia boss you’re talking about.” Tim knew very well that the mafia were not to be fully trusted. Thor simply turned to him and shrugged.

“He wouldn’t have warned me to be careful if he wasn’t being serious.” Thor said as he managed to open the lock and pull open the door. “Now come on! Don’t just stand there!” Thor motioned for Tim to follow him inside the shed as he went in himself. Tim hesitated, but followed him inside anyways.

“What on earth did he mean by ‘being careful’?” Tim asked Thor, slightly worried as they entered the dark shed. Thor just shrugged and took a flashlight from off of his belt. He turned the flashlight on and looked around him to see if there was anything with them inside the shed.

His light fell upon a body on the floor.

“Goodness gracious!” Tim exclaimed, as Thor’s flashlight revealed the broken body of a robot laying limp on the ground. It startled the two, with Tim hiding behind Thor’s back for protection. They moved back and realized that the body wasn’t moving.

“What were you so scared about old friend? It isn’t alive!” Thor laughed as he kicked the body with his foot.

“Don’t do that! It could power on at any moment!” Tim yelled, convinced that the body could spring back to life at any second.

“Oh, have some courage now! You see broken robots all the time and your scared of this old thing?” Thor chuckled as Tim’s ears began to redden.

“You have no right to say that when you’ve never seen what a corrupted robot is capable of doing.” Tim said in a deadly serious tone. Thor stopped being amused and fell silent. Thor had heard countless rumors of corrupted robots running rampant on the street. There was a very famous rumor that had spread recently, about how one had managed to kidnap a rich couple’s daughter. Of course, most of those rumors were made up nonsense to scare people to death. But Tim knew of every corruption accident that wasn’t a myth or rumor. And those stories chilled him to the bone.

Tim inspected the body, his vision telling him that the body was indeed lifeless. Feeling safer, he leaned down to begin inspecting. The body was face down so he lifted it up to turn it on its back.

What he saw, disturbed him greatly.

The body looked like it had been manually torn apart. Its chest had a huge hole in the middle of it, key components that were supposed to be inside had been ripped out. He noticed that the legs were missing from the joints and both of the hands had absolutely no fingers left on them. The face was even worse, with the metal frame being removed and the eyes taken from their sockets. It was a particularly gruesome sight for him. He had seen many broken robots before, but none that were in such a state as this one.

“Well…he’s seen better days.” Thor tried to crack a joke to lighten the mood. “I’m guessing that we won’t be able to salvage this one, huh?” Thor asked Tim as he looked around the rest of the shed.

“No, I’m afraid not. This one had its memory wiped, most likely due to corruption. You can try to restore it, but it’d be more trouble than it’s worth.” Tim informed Thor as he got up and dusted himself off. He looked back down at the broken body with a sad look. “I wonder what memories you could’ve had in a past life. Maybe if people weren’t so heartless you would have been able to tell us.” Tim said to it as he mourned over its terrible fate.

“There’s no need to cry over lost data my friend. Besides, I think I’ve found something much more interesting!” Thor piped up getting Tim’s attention. “Look at this tall fellow!” Thor said happily as his flashlight shone on the other robot that was in the room. It was slumped over in the corner with dust coating every inch of its metal body. Compared to the other body that lay broken on the ground, it was defiantly more intact. Tim’s eye began scanning the body, and he was surprised to find out that it was well preserved.

“Well, this is much more promising. Of course, this one is going to need a lot of care and a few parts will have to be replaced to fully repair it.” Tim said thoughtfully as he ran his finger over the dusty metal.

“See? I told you we would find something good! And you were so quick to jump to conclusions!” Thor mocked Tim’s earlier tone as he started to the shed.

“Oh no, don’t think you can get away that easily Thor! You still own me after this!” Tim yelled as he quickly chased Thor back out of the shed. Thor started to run away from him and the two adults began a game of chase back to the exit.

And hidden in the piles of junk, a camera was silently watching them.

“Hmm...how very interesting.”

Underneath the scrapyard, completely unknown to the two men, was a maze of metal corridors. This lair was filled with red wires, traps, and the collected pieces of dead robots.

It was also home to a very dangerous and corrupted robot named Moonjumper.

Moonjumper watched the monitors in his viewing room with interest. Over the years, he had managed to plant cameras in various different locations so he could keep tabs on the surface world. The scrapyard was no exception, with this camera being incredibly important. It kept him from being discovered, helped him find any broken robots (dead or alive) that he could salvage for parts, and it also watched over a very important shed.

And that shed had been recently opened.

“This could prove to be rather troublesome.” he pondered as he tapped his fingers against the control panel. “Perhaps I should take him apart so they can’t put him back together?” he tried to think of a way to sabotage the two men. “No, no. That won’t do. It’s much too risky.” he waved off the idea and tried to think of a different approach.

A loud, terrible shrieking noise echoed through the halls making him turn his head. It sounded like a mix of screaming and grinding metal. The sounds were mechanical, yet they almost seemed disturbingly human.

“Oh, silly me! I nearly forgot about my little ‘experiment’.” Moonjumper said while giggling to himself. “Don’t worry my sweet! I’ll be there in just a second!” he called out to whoever made the noise. No one called back, but strange sounds like ugly sobbing could be heard in the distance. He smiled wide and turned to look back at the monitors on the wall. “Oh well, it can wait I suppose. I’ve got more important matters to deal with.” he said a he began to roll out into the hall.

“Besides, it’s not like he’s going anywhere.”

The End...for now

[whitelionspirit]

How would the paladins+Allura react to their s/o losing a limb in a battle? Your writing style has me shooketh

sorry it took so long, this was requested twice don’t worry I did indeed see it!

I thrived too much in the angst of this. I regret nothing/

Shiro

He felt you’re pain as he sat with you in the infirmary he knew exactly what you were feeling.

He held you’re hand as you cried out in pain, he held back his own tears as the doctor applied the numbing cream.

There hadn’t been anytime to put you under before removing the inffected wound.

You buried you’re face into his chest, as they removed your left leg.

the whole ordeal was a big mess to begin with, from the beginning they knew that the mission was risky.

You we’re assigned to assist the Blades, as they infiltrated the planet Senfama to take over their zaiforge canon.

because of you’re vast knowledge of statistics it was best to have someone to be in the inside to come up with a strategy on the spot.

while attacking the base you had been attacked and been infected with some kind of virus that made your leg lose feeling.

It was meant to kill you, as you collapsed to the ground.

it was only because of Keith that you made it back to the castle alive.

you had passes out from exhaustion, they had finished removing the leg from below you’re knee.

Shiro left the room to let you rest in peace, his emotions all of the place.

He yelled out in anger as he punched the wall of the ship, leaving a dent in the wall.

Lance

He couldn’t breathe as he watched in fright, as you screamed out in agony of the crushing pain on you’re arm.

After returning to the castle after being swept off to a planet full of mermaids, the last thing he expected was to find you had also been missing.

Because you didn’t have lion, it was harder to find you but with the castle up in working they we’re able to hone in on you’re supposed whereabouts. 

You had landed on a planet full of savages who had captured you using a metal contraption.

It had crushed you’re arm on impact making you cry out in pain and anger.

It was only thanks to another prisoner that the wound was wrapped up to keep it from bleeding further.

it was after being rescued that they discovered the true damage to you’re arm.

the metal teeth on the trap had crushed you’re bones so much that it was likely they could properly be repaired.even after spending time in the healing pod it did not fix all the damage.

the only option was to remove there limb.

The easiest way to remove the arm was to once again break it, even with no feeling in the arm you still felt the impact of them, crushing you’re arm.

The only one you trusted to do it was Shrio, you couldn’t bare to ask Lance to do it.

He couldn’t bare to watch you in pain so he left the room, before his tears started to fall.

Keith 

He was torn apart at the whole thing he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel he was so angry, but at the same time so confused and full of rage.

He watched as you curled in on yourself as you laid in his lap on the floor.

He bit the inside of his cheek, as he held back letting his rage take over, it was all his fault that you were in so much pain.

He had been away on a mission with the blades when the team was pulled into a full on attack.

it if wasn’t for Shiro connecting with the Black Lion, they would have lost badly.

You had decided to take matters into you’re own hands and took a pod out to try, and help the paladins in anyway you could.

At first no one knew you we’re out there.

It was after they returned that they noticed you’re absence, you had been cornered by several Galra fighters, and had repeatedly been hit at.

The impact had been so severe that it cut threw the barrier and had hit you instead.

After bring you back onto the ship, they rushed you to the med bay,  nothing could be done though, the nerve damage done to you’re dominant arm was to severe to function.

Unlike Keith who had Galra blood that easily healed him, you were still human.

he leaned his head down so it was laying on top of yours as he  began to weep along with you.

He held you close until, you finally fell asleep he didn’t want to wake you, but he had to go.

He couldn’t bare to see you like that, he said his goodbyes to the others.

But not you, he knew you would hate him but he could live with that knowing you were safe away from the glooming darkness that crushed everything he cared for.

Hunk

He watched in horror as they removed you from the collapsed building, you we’re unconscious as they moved you to the area full of the injured.

He did his best his best to make it over to you, but they quickly had rushed you off to another location to begin surgery.

He tried to follow but was held back by Lance, who looked at his best friend with concern.

His turned to him as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.

it had happened during the second attack on Olkarion, you we’re helping out the Olkari as they rebuilt their city.

the attack from the Galra monster, it had attacked the structure you had been hiding in.

The impact made the fragile building collapse taking you along with it, being knocked out on impact.

You’re entire right leg was shattered making it unrepairable.

When you awoke you were shocked to see everyone sitting around you, you were confused at first until it came back to you on what had happened.

Hunk looked at you with guilt, you were confused until you realized you could not feel you’re leg.

Quickly removing the blanket you came face to face with a robotic limb, similar to Shiro’s but white instead of sliver.

It was made of the combination of Altean tech and Olkari.

You sighed, as you took Hunk’s hand in yours and squeezed it reassurance.

You would get through this, one step at a time.

Pidge

Pidge was shaken as she watched you come out of the med bay with the new prosthetic’s attached to you’re legs.

She had done her crying, now she was here to support you in any way she could.

You both knew to was neither of your faults, but you were here now and dealing with the consequences of you’re sacrifices.

the accident had happened aboard the secret base that Ulaz was held up in.

A robeast had attacked leaving Voltron to fight it off,  you stayed within the wormhole as they tried to take it down.

what no expected was for the robeast to blast the wormhole exposing the castle, and hitting it on impact.

You being in the launch pad left you vulnerable, the castle shuck making the pods go flying.

You sadly were in the wrong place at the wrong times one came flying at you crushing you beneath it.

you let out a cry at the pain shot up you’re body.

After getting you out from under it they saw the real damage that had been down to you’re legs they had completely crushed from the impact.

They had to be removed before it hot you’re spine.

Pidge bit her lip, a she ran over and hugged you around the waist.

You smiled sadly as you retuned to the hug, you kissed her hair softly as you whispered softly to her.

“Nothing Altean tech can’t fix.”

Allura

She was in a full on panic mode, as they collected you and rushed out of Zarkon’s ship.

Kolivan held you securely as they both got into the ship, Allura quickly directed him to the med bay.

her mind was running a mile a minute as she was trying to process what had just happened.

Coran directed the ship away from Zarkon’s as allure quickly arrived to do the wormhole jump.

After decding they need to go to Hagggar directly, you had decided to go with them.

You all knew the risks you were taking, but you knew it had to be done.

while battling with the druids you had come into contact with Haggar herself, who took the advantage to strike both you and anatok. 

She had blasted you’re arm, making let out a cry of pain as you collapsed to the ground.

allure called out for you before she let her powers take over and defeat Haggar.

Even though she was dealing with the endless wormhole she made sure to check up on you.

you did not return to conciseness until later on, she was by your side when you awoke.

She had cried and hugged you close to her, you were confused but did you’re best to comfort her. 

[stylo-xx]

Eyes Closed (M)

G-Dragon: Angst/Small amount of fluff/Smut

PART 9-A: Telephone Games

A/N: more to come soon

P.S: songs for your listening pleasure (The Horrors)

(Part One)||(Part Two-A)||(Part Two-B)||(Part Three)||(Part Four)||(Part Five-A)||(Part Five-B)||(Part Five-C)||(Part Six)(Part Seven)||(Part Eight)||(Part Nine-B)

Ji-Yong twirled his phone in his hands before unlocking it for the hundredth time before sighing heavily and locking it back up.

“You know, they say doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is insanity right?” Young-Bae raised an eyebrow.

Ji-Yong ignoring his best friend, absentmindedly scoffed as he stared at the black screen of his phone.

“How many weeks is it now that you’ve been waiting for her to hit you up?” “I don’t know I lost count...but I’m betting less than the amount of texts I’ve sent her” Ji-Yong sighed as he plopped his phone on his chest as he slunk into the couch “the fucked up thing is that she never has her read receipts on but she turned them on just so I could see she that she left me on read...” “Ouch, that’s a bit harsh” “A bit? She’s rubbing that bullshit excuse for a relationship in my face” he furrowed his brows. “By not responding to your texts?” “In case you’ve forgotten, any of those millions of pictures she’s been posting of her and that asshole, she made it official. Like to the public! God! it’s like even when we first got together we kept it as low key as we could for a while but suddenly she just wants everyone and their mother to know how great her newfound relationship with Satan is” “I mean you did kinda rub your non existent, happy relationship with Cassie in her face so—” “So nothing! That wasn’t an invite for her to stay pissed at me while she’s out ‘having the time of her life’ and rub it in my face” “What did you want her to do exactly?” “I don’t fucking know! Tell me that she’s sorry and she made a mistake and she needs me back” “So you basically want her to feel guilty for being in a functioning relationship with someone else?” “I guess when you put it that way then...yeah, kinda...yeah” Young-Bae sighed as he sat on the couch beside his best friend. “I’ve done everything she wanted me to do and yet here I am still not with her! I mean I got sober!—for the most part at least...I haven’t fucked anyone else!—except for those three girls in Japan I tried to distract myself with...but she practically has me crawling on my hands and knees begging her to get back with me” “I mean she does think you have a girlfriend…”

“That’s beside the point!”

“I don’t know maybe just tell her Cassie isn’t your actual girlfriend? Maybe just tell her the truth? Ever think about that?” “And run the risk of her getting even more pissed at me for lying? I think I’m good” Young-Bae sighed heavily “you ever think about just moving on? Clearly she has” Jiyong raised an eyebrow “you’re joking right? Besides, I can’t just ‘move on…” “Why not?” “Because I love her. And I know I fucked up, on more than one occasion, but I wanna make up for it before I don’t get the chance to” Young-Bae nodded his head absentmindedly “Also because I just can’t...I can’t. Physically, mentally I can’t. And I know it sounds stupid but I can’t” “Doesn’t sound stupid, just tiresome for the both of you” Ji-Yong bit his lip as he sat in deep thought for a moment. “Okay let’s say that, for instance, I were to just let her go and I ‘move on’ with someone else” he air quoted “--further down the line we’re able to see each other happy with someone else and not have any kind of feelings for one another and we manage to be best friends again—” “Doesn’t sound like a bad scenario to me” Young-Bae interjected.

“—let’s say that even further down the line, a year from now, two years from now things go great with both of our significant others and one day she calls me up all excited to tell me she got engaged to him—” Young-Bae opened his mouth to speak, Ji-Yong held up a hand to shush him before he could utter a single syllable “Then it hits me like a ton of bricks that I in-fact am not only not over her, but this wave of panic takes over me and come the day of her wedding all I’m gonna wanna do is to get wasted and tell her I’m still in love her and that she’s making a huge mistake marrying him and she should just run away with me. But then she tells me that she doesn’t feel that same way anymore and she marries him any way. But where the hell does that leave me Young-Bae? Huh? Where does that leave me? All alone wishing I had done something earlier”

He had gotten so worked up he stood up mid monologue. “I mean you see I’m in the right here, right?” Ji-Yong turned his body toward him. “Honestly I’m not so inclined to tell you where I stand on this whole mess between the two of you” “What why not?” “Because no matter what I say, you two do the complete opposite and frankly just don’t know how to help anymore. I will be here for you until the very end but I just don’t know how to help either of you” Ji-Yong furrowed his brows. Young-Bae crossed his arms across his chest “sure you say you got ‘sober’ and you haven’t screwed anyone else, not counting those three girls, but...do you honestly think you can change at this point?” “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” “What I think I’m trying to say is, Ji-Yong nobody believes you anymore. You’re a sad ass liar” “What did you just call me?” “You deserve to be lonely”

“What the fuck Young-Bae?!” “You can’t change. You wouldn’t know how to even if you actually tried” Ji-Yong squared up to his best friend. “She is much happier with him...you? You’ll only be the end of her...you’re just poison” The words and the image of his best friend started to become distorted as his words began to echo in his head as if in some horror movie. Tossing and turning in bed he awoke in a cold sweat

“Fuck!” He ran his hands over his face before he turned to face the glowing green numbers on his alarm clock on his night stand. Three AM.

‘Goddamn it’  he thought He sat up on one elbow to reach across the night stand to grab his phone. He groaned as he hit the home button prompting the screen to turn on blinding him with the light. He shut one eye as he turned down the brightness and began to scroll through his texts. He bit his lip contemplating opening the thread that read ‘Alex’.   He had finally changed her name in his phone, considering he had called her now on more than one occasion, he wasn’t afraid of drunk dialing her anymore. What he was afraid of was that the reason she wasn’t responding was because she had blocked his number and all together tossed any and all memory of him in the figurative garbage. For the past month and a half, Ji-Yong had for the most part managed to stay sober despite his own brain clawing at his skull telling him to just down a few bottles until he wound up in the hospital again; that way she would have to come see him. And with his onset new sobriety, he’s even managed to stay celibate somehow. Though in retrospect he thought he went a bit overboard with trying to clean his act up. With his body not used to not having some sort of release it had inadvertently made him sensitive to the human touch. Just days prior at press junket during the translators speaking to the press, Seung-Hyun had leaned over to whisper something in Ji-Yong’s ear and it almost instantaneously sent shivers down his spine. Since then the others had teased Ji-Yong relentlessly randomly blowing on his neck, massaging his head and so on and so forth. Not having sex for as long as he had, had only made him rely on his imagination and his right hand. Though admittedly it just wasn’t the same as watching the person beneath beneath him squirm and claw at his back in ecstasy.

His thumb hesitantly hovered over her name in bold black text in his recent calls list; he weighed his options in his head as his bit his lip.

‘Was twenty-two unanswered calls one too many past desperate?’ he thought.

He sighed heavily placing one arm behind his head and leaning back into his mountain of pillows.

“Fuck it” he muttered to himself pressing dial anticipating the robotic voice he had come to know far too well.

Sure enough, not even a full ring on the receiver and he was sent directly to voicemail. Sighing again, he pulled his phone away from his ear readying to hang up as the robotic woman delivered her speech he had come to know by heart. Just as his finger was mere centimeters away from the red button he retracted his finger placing the phone back up to his ear.

‘--Please leave your message after the tone’

He took a deep breath before speaking

“Hey uh Alex its me...Ji-Yong” he chuckled awkwardly “I mean I guess you already know that ‘cause of the caller ID...umm it’s three AM here...I--I thought I’d actually leave you a message finally. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay...you hadn’t called me back so--just let me know how you’re doing...even just a--”

Two beeps signaling the call ending cut him off mid sentence.

“Mother fucker...” he muttered as he plopped his phone onto his chest and slunk even further into his sea of pillows and bed sheets.

He wasn’t sure where to go from here. He had tried his best to backpedal from when his own plan backfired straight onto his face the night of the dinner with Suho and company, though his efforts were all for naught. It had been a month and a half now and he still hadn’t heard back from Alex. At this point things weren’t looking to be in his favor; or so he felt that way.

“A-Bomb, calm down!”

“Liar!” she slurred as she drunkenly threw another half eaten chocolate at the mural advertisement on the side of the building.

“You’re wasting perfectly good chocolate!” Sash struggled behind Alex trying to grasp her by the wrist “besides the Guess model with the nice ass didn’t do anything to you!”

“No!”

“Alex, give me the box of chocolates!”

“No!” she wriggled herself free sprinting in the opposite direction.

“Alexandra!” Sash panted as she chased behind her.

“No, she’s fine...” Saige sighed as she looked behind her “we’re walking back from the pub to the hotel now”

‘All that yelling doesn’t sound fine to me’

“Don’t even worry, she’ll be over it soon”

‘I just don’t want her to have some sort of meltdown at that award show for it to be broadcasted for millions of people to see. Saige, you promised me that this new guy was going to help keep her reputation in pristine status’

“Chill out Davis, trust me on this. This guy is actually good for her, if not just making her look good”

‘Looking good is part of her job, that’s not the problem Sai--’

“To the public!” she scoffed “you know what I meant”

‘Listen, all I want out of this is that this show makes it look like she got her shit together and judging by how things sound on your end I am not so convinced’

“They’ve made it this far without her looking like a complete lunatic--”

‘Have you gone deaf or am I the only one hearing her screaming ‘fuck these stupid fucking chocolates’ Saige?’

“Trust me--”

‘You keep telling me to trust you Saige but your argument is mute!’

“Listen to me you hard headed genius of a man!” she huffed into the receiver “you asked me to take over her social media and make it look like she’s unbelievably happy and in love, and did I deliver?”

‘Yes…’

“You asked me to make sure she didn’t run her career into the ground when she came back to Seoul a few months ago, and did I not do that?”

‘It didn’t exactly go as smoothly as I asked...’ he sighed.

“Did I or did I not manage to turn that scandle into making her look good?”

‘Yes, but she almost went completely off the deep end with that asshole again Saige! Don’t think I didn’t find out about that’

“That is besides the point!” she scoffed “point is I got her to open her eyes, and with a little coaxing from Suho and from the douchebag’s own stupidity, she made the right choice and chose Suho”

‘This isn’t another episode of Grey’s Anatomy of McDreamy VS. McVet we’re talking about here kid, we’re talking about one of my biggest money makers almost running away with the Rebel Without a Cause and costing me lots of money when she can’t film anything because she’s either too distraught to work or because studios don’t want her because she has too much baggage following her!’

“Okay, first of all don’t talk about her like she’s some piggy bank” she furrowed her brows “you’ve known her since she was like twelve! And secondly the big picture here is Davis, she didn’t run away with that egotistical sadomasochist--”

‘The big picture here Saige, is she’s drunkenly running around throwing confectioneries on the darkened street corners of London at two in the morning!’

She sighed heavily.

‘Listen…’ he paused ‘I get that you have got your work cut out for you especially since you are her best friend, and I know sometimes it’s hard to draw the line between PR rep and her best friend but I won’t allow her to make her make a mockery of herself and this agency again. Only way I’ll let her even show up to that award show is if you guarantee me she and that new guy make as big of headlines as the Royal Wedding and if she has absolutely zero contact with that dragon mother fucker’

“Don’t even worry I’m already way ahead of you on that…”

‘Meaning?’

“Meaning that since you’ve had me manage her social media that means I am in full control of her phone...”

‘Go on keep talking’

“And ‘dragon mother fucker’ for the past month and a half since they saw each other last, has been relentlessly trying to contact her so I’ve just--more or less been withholding that information from her and deleting the messages; hence the drunken meltdown, she thinks he’s completely forgotten about her”

‘You keeping secrets from her now?’

She could hear the amused grin spreading across his face.

“What she doesn’t know wont hurt her...besides her being this pissed at him will only make it easier for her not wanting anything to do with him at the award show or any time after that. If she thinks he just up and moved on with that girl he’s supposedly dating she has no choice but to swallow her pride and move on too; for good”

He chuckled ‘wouldn’t be show business if a little scheming wasn’t involved. I love it, keep her as far removed from him as possible, soon enough he’ll be nothing more than a memory; if we’re lucky he won’t be anything at all to her any time soon’

“We can only hope, and Suho is completely onboard with the idea so that’s another person in our corner”

‘The new boyfriend is even in on this?!’ he cackled ‘oh Saige, I knew you were the best of the best but this is just fantastic! But aren’t you scared of what she’ll do to you if she finds out this whole plan of yours?’

She bit her lip “I’ve thought about it--”

‘And?’

“And she might--no, she will hate me but it’s in her best interest. Besides he’s been helping keeping her distracted by taking her on dates and umm… keeping her physically entertained…”

‘She hates to work out, she likes this guy that much?’

“Sometimes I wonder how you’ve managed to become a multimillionaire with the things that come out of your mouth” she scoffed “sex Davis, I’m talking about sex!”

‘Oh! Well why didn’t you just say they’ve been fucking then?!’ he cackled again.

“Didn’t really think that’d be suiting conversation to have with my boss”

‘So what happened tonight then? Sex got stale all of a sudden?’ he chortled.

She made a eugh noise “oh no they had sex, multiple times so she said. She just came knocking on my room door saying that she couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to bother him and since the pubs stay open late here she said she just wanted to get a few drinks to maybe help her chill out and then two hours and three heart-shaped boxes of chocolates later and well here we are...she’s piss ass drunk throwing chocolates all over the place and yelling at denim advertisements”

‘Well aside from her drunken rampage it seems like you have things more under control that I thought. Keep it that way, and keep that dragon guy as far away from her as possible’

“Oh, believe me I plan to”

[hispydamy618]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power x Spaceling: Glitch in Space

Summary: After opening the portal, it tears a hole across the dimensions giving an entrance for the New York heroes: Utopix Jones, Georgine Wilson, Gabriel Rodriguez, Oliver Schmidt and Makena Jones, to fall right through. Together, they'll need to recreate the disaster that brought them to Etheria alongside the Princess' Rebellion in order to go back home and fix what was broken... but not before defeating the obstacles on the way.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for She-Ra’s season 3 finale and Spaceling’s issue 10-12 events.

(Thank you so much to @catlliecal​ for co-writing this with me!)

Masterlist: Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6 (you’re here!) // Chapter 7

Warnings: angst, implied smut; slight language

Word Count: 4k.

Check Spaceling out!

Chapter 6: The Power Within

All she could remember was silence…

The tiniest spark of light bothered her eyes, forcing her to unlock them open. Everything was white, even the floor felt white if that was even possible, but something stood out from the chalky background… Utopix. Adora, still in her She-Ra form, rushed out to him, seeing him lying on the floor and carefully embracing him; slightly shaking him to see if he was awake.

“U-Utopix? Utopix!” Adora called out to him.

The small one shifted around her arms, eventually opening his eyes to the broad figure illuminated by the great golden light around her; and yet, his eyes were filled with small tears.

“H-Hey, Adora…” Utopix jokingly mimicked the feline’s greeting. “W-Wow… I never thought I’d be back here again.”

“Back where?” Adora glanced around the place as if he was talking about an actual place.

Utopix faintly laughed at her silly examination and guided her chin towards him. “Here, Adora…”

Adora’s blue eyes lightly twinkled at his response. Were they dead? Was the explosion that they were on that grave? What about the others? …Catra. Too many questions went around her head, but Utopix’s voice broke into her clamorous mind.

“Are we… Are we inside your—?”

“Main core? Heh… no. It’s called a kuxa… and I think… i-it’s dying.” Utopix leaned his head on Adora, or She-Ra’s, breastplate. He didn’t mind how cold it felt, it still didn’t compare with the shortness of breath in his chest, hoping it’d stop anytime soon.

Adora’s eyes started to water at his words, making her blue eyes look like the deep blue sea. Small currents of water retained in her bright pair of eyes.

“Adora… I-I’m… scared.”

“Don’t worry,” Adora cupped his face, making Utopix shiver but relaxed upon knowing that the gesture was different. Very different. “I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”

Utopix laughed in his previous behavior again. “Y-You can… I can’t.”

“W-What…?”

His eyes continued to accumulate tears, slowly escaping his canals and rolling down his cheeks. “…I-I’m going to miss you, Adora.” His body slowly began to fade away, the sight of it was nearly beautiful yet frightening for the one holding him. And oh—how reminiscent of a feeling it was.

“What!?” Adora’s tears stayed on the corner of her eyes as she held him even tighter. “No, no, no, no! Utopix! Please, stay with me!”

“S-Say goodbye to Georgine for me, okay?” Utopix caressed her cheek, mildly wiping one of her tears that finally decided to escape from her left eye. “…take care… of each other…”

And there. The tears finally rolled down her face. A white maddening light began to rise up from the ground as Utopix’s body was nearly opaque. His hand reached for her face, his index finger gently touched the gem on her tiara and his thumb was carefully positioned in her forehead. The robot’s green triangle cheeks illuminated with the same intensity of the bleaching color around them.

“W-Wake up, Adora…”

Wake up.

In an instant, a vortex of sounds invaded Adora’s ears. Similarly, her eyes contemplated the machine which was still going out of control; and near it, there he was… still passed out on the floor. The hero princess grunted as she continued to drag herself across the floor, yanking his body close to her and caressed his weakened visage. Tears still flowing unstoppably.

“Aw, cheer up, Adora.” Takara laughed in her cynical tone. “You won’t have to worry about him. Not anymore.”

Adora refused to believe it. She was not going to see another person die in front of her because of her futile actions. She was not going to let it happen. Not again. “No! No!” Her hands reached for the sides of his face, energy crackling from her fingers but refusing to cooperate on her healing attempt. “Please! No!” She shook her head mirroring her words but sobbed when she realized that it wasn’t working.

Takara newly laughed, contemplating her deteriorated try. “Give it up already, Adora! He’s gone now!”

Catra observed at the two in pure shock. Seeing one robot die in the hands of a cynical murdered was one thing… but a second one? She cried out in horror and leaned her head against the ground, letting the darkness consume her as she looked at Adora for one last time. “Adora!”

“CATRA!” Adora’s hand reached out for her without moving an inch from where she was sitting, watching the darkness hide her body in the black sea of darkness.

“Adora! You have always been a pain to me! But please, get us all out of here!” Scorpia was the next one to be consumed, not getting a full-body reaction from Adora as she did with Catra.

And then, she looked at Georgine. Yes. Georgine could simply transform into her Zoulex form to save herself, save Utopix, and the others… but she decided that she’d trust Adora, letting her know with an apologetic nod. She knew what Adora needed to do to save Utopix, so she gave her the needed consent. Unspoken, yet more than enough for Adora to proceed. And with that, she was gone from sight.

Adora looked at the robot, shredding her last tears. Takara eye-smiled at the blond hero, wondering what was going through her smile and ready to see her next, possibly failing, move.

“Kuxas feed from emotion…” Adora gently whispered to herself. “Emotion…” she closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on her own words, then realized what she needed to do.

Her hand gently stroked his cheek, her face inching close to his until her lips met his. A few seconds had gone by, and just like that, She-Ra glowed with her reminiscent golden glow passing it to Utopix who quickly fed from it, cleansing the darkness all around and liberating the trio that had been obliterated by it, moments ago. Catra shook her head to recover from the strange situation and observed at the two getting friendly with each other, feeling a light clench in her stomach… unlike Georgine who had a wide grin in her face.

Utopix rapidly blinked, opening his eyes slowly to see himself in the same situation from earlier. But it was different. Verydifferent. Adora heard his quieted sobs come through and pulled away to see him fully awake.

“A-Adora…?” he faintly smiled at the one who saved him, reaching for her face to caress it.

Adora couldn’t do anything else other than embrace him even closer and shred happy tears. “Y-Yes, Utopix. It’s me. It’s me.” She whispered her last words, relieved that the small one was okay. “It’s me…”

The three gals got close to the two, but not just before Takara’s anger grew wild. “NO!” She cried out in anger, summoning a crackling sphere, glowing red as the anger within her. The five were caught up by her yell as Adora quickly got up while still carrying Utopix in her arms. “None of you are going anywhere. I’ll have that kuxa by any means necessary!”

Adora passed Utopix to Georgine’s arms and pulled out her sword, aiming it at the one threatening her friend’s safety. “Then, come and get it!”

Georgine embraced his lover close to her, summoning her golden staff out of thin air which caught Takara off guard, but it would not stop her from getting what she wanted. The purple-haired villain charged at her enemies, but a blinding yellow light caused her to stop. The other dirty blond girl had transformed into her Zoulex form, handing Utopix to Catra before narrowing her eyes and giving her a look of ‘Can I trust you?’ to which the feline one had nodded in response, running away from there with Scorpia in a blast. Takara’s anger grew wild once more, just as Hordak’s whom had been near the shadows the whole time.

“Ready to do this, Zoulax?” Adora smirked as the other one stood near her.

“Right behind you, She-Ra.” Georgine returned the gracious smirk.

===================

Catra and Scorpia ran towards the princess squad who was ready to leave in the Horde transport ship with the others. Gabriel’s face lit up at the sight of the three running towards them, presumably to join them. “There they are!”

“Where’s Georgine?” Makena glanced around hoping she’d find her. And she did.

In a matter of seconds, two beams of light had flown out of the facility, presumably Georgine holding Adora who threw tremendous waves of her magnifying power at the Fright Zone, making the Horde soldiers run away in fear and forcing them to evacuate. Utopix glanced up as Scorpia turned around to let him get a better view of the whole spectacle. The two landed in front of their companions, Georgine keeping a grasp of Utopix’s main core.

“That was amazing!” Gabriel contemplated at the two heroes with stars shining through his eyes.

“Yes! Adventure!” Seahawk cheered up, nearly flexing his muscles.

The two blonde gals went back to their normal form, one of them walked towards Utopix and gave Sabrina the main core so she could take care of the procedure. The purple-toned screen face pulled out her mechanic arms and carefully pulled Utopix’s sweater up and found the circle-shaped hole in his body, placing the main core back again as a light blue wave of energy overtook his body. And with that, his systems were functioning back again.

“Now you’re Tony Stark.” Gabriel crossed his arms, smirking at the whole situation to which the princesses where completely confused.

The whole crew got on the transport, but Adora looked back at Catra who started to walk away from there, without anything else to say.

“Hey!” Adora called out to Catra who just stopped and slightly faced her. “…thank you.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Catra said before disappearing from her sight along with Scorpia.

A contented grin appeared on Adora’s face as the transport flew away from there.

Hours have gone by and it was nearly night now. And still, the small robot was staring at the gorgeous colors that laid upon the beautiful yet mysterious sights of the night.

“You’re still awake?” Adora’s voice came from behind, nearly making him shiver. She made her way to him, leaning against the balcony’s edge and silently joining him in his night-gazing. “I’m glad everything went okay, don’t you?”

“I-I do…” Utopix’s gaze was placed upon her, scooting closer to hug her arm.

“You’re leaving tomorrow.” Adora’s grin took the other in, smiling as she hugged his side once she noticed his demeanor went down. “It’ll be okay.”

“B-But what if I don’t want to leave? T-Takara is gone now, so there’s no point in going back to Earth and… ‘defend’ it. A-And I don’t have a home to go to.”

“Of course you do!” Adora’s smile grew wider. “You already have one.” Her hand gently directed his gaze towards the one he truly loved: Georgine. The tan-haired chick was training in the middle of the night with her golden staff, making as if she was punching or fighting against someone. It only produced an inner fluster on Utopix that manifested through his green cheeks, slowly lighting up of embarrassment.

“A-Adora? Can I… ask you something?” The timid robot looked into her sea-like eyes. Her slight nod allowed him to continue his questioning. “Why did… uh…” Utopix lowered his head once again.

Adora’s immediate reaction was to do her previous movement and brought his chin towards her. “What is it?”

“…W-Why did you kiss me?” Utopix’s hands fiddled around at the question, making Adora blush instantly.

“Well, I—” Adora sighed and leaned against the balcony once again. “I saw how Glimmer’s mom, or… Queen Angella, sacrificed herself in front of me… and I couldn’t do anything. It was either her or me. There was no other way. And then I saw you thriving in pain…” she got close to him, placing some strands of hair behind his ear as she caressed his cheeks. “…and I knew that if I didn’t do anything, you’d be gone. So, I told myself that I was not going to let you go, that I was not going to let anyone else die again because of my incompetence.” She stopped and took a deep breath before her words came out of her mouth once again. “And I… I think you’re great.” Her awkward yet soft laugh came into play, making the other one smile.

“You really think that?” Utopix teared up as Adora’s thumb wiped it away.

“Of course.” Adora took him into a warm hug, gently embracing each other into the light of the moon.

She escorted him to his room, or Glimmer’s room, and tucked him in before Georgine walked in whom had just entered the room just when Utopix fell asleep. The other made her golden staff disappear into sparks and kneeled down to look at him.

“He’s great, isn’t he?” Georgine lightly smirked.

“Yeah…” Adora concurred. “Hey—uh, there’s no…” Adora waved her hand around. “…anything between us because of the…” she pointed at her lips. “…y’know, thing?”

Georgine couldn’t do anything else but chuckle. “Adora. You’re apologizing for something Takara did?”

“I-I’m just making sure.” Adora nearly blushed.

She chuckled again. “I’m just glad it wasn’t really you. I don’t think you would have heard the end of it.”

Adora slightly laughed at her statement, thinking it was a joke. But Georgine’s eyes let her know that it wasn’t. She cleared her throat and quickly stood up. “W-Well, I better go. Goodnight!” She headed towards the door, closing it gently as Georgine lied next to the small one, turning off the light casted by the crystals with a single wave of her finger.

The next day showed its presence, warmly caressing Utopix’s body as he lied near the window. It was time to go and he knew it, bringing a slight flourished sensation of pain to his chest. Georgine walked in the room, bringing a towel over her hair and rustling it as an attempt to dry. Her fresh soapy smell alerted Utopix of her presence and turned around to go and hug her.

“Morning, love.”

“Good morning, Georgie.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Y-Yeah!”

Georgine quietly chuckled as she put on her clothes, ready to go back out with him. “You’re going to miss this place, aren’t you?”

“H-How did you know?” Utopix’s cheeks immediately lighted up causing his lover to chuckle.

“Oh, Uto…” she got up and slowly walked towards him. Once she got close to him, she caressed his lower lip and stared at him. Her eyes deeply crawling into the seams of his soul. “You are so adorable.”

“G-Georgie…” Utopix nervously laughed and attempted to shove her away, but his attempt failed by her pulling him in close and connecting her lips with his.

“You and I have some unfinished business…~” she sweetly whispered in his ear, sending gentle shivers down his spine and into his heart.

“B-But the breakfast—” Utopix intervened, trying to keep his cool as his cheeks were bright with embarrassment.

“It’s not till 8:30...” Georgine pulled him even closer, if that was even possible, dipping him into her arms and carrying him back to bed, causing the small one to sweetly giggle and nuzzle her neck in response.

===================

Utopix and Georgine eventually joined the others who begun eating their breakfast and were sharing laughs amongst them. Adora noticed something wrapped around Utopix’s fingers, something flowery and colorful. It was some flower crowns that Utopix managed to finish in the nick of time. He approached the others and sat next to Adora, and then Georgine sat next to him, having the robot sit between the two ‘twins’.

“You guys could… c-could stay.” Glimmer hesitantly stated, picking bits of food with her fork. “We could build you new rooms.”

“Oh, Glimmer. We’d love that.” Makena lightly smiled, passing the silent baton to Georgine.

“But Earth still needs us to protect it. Our families and friends are there and without us… they’d be devastated.” Georgine explained apologetically.

“We understand.” Bow smiled. “We’ll still miss you, though.”

“We will too!” Gabriel hugged Bow’s side, making him smile awkwardly.

“What do you have there, Utopix?” Adora grinned at whatever he had in his hands.

“O-Oh…” he carefully placed the items on the table, bringing a smile to everyone around the table. “I made… a parting gift… for the three of you. I-I couldn’t do one for each princess with the whole… kidnapping thing.” He nervously laughed and showed the Best Friend Squad their flower crowns.

Bow’s was a beautiful arrangement of white daisies and red tulips, Glimmer’s was adorned with gorgeous cosmos flowers and delicate white daisies; finally, Adora’s was set out with fresh red roses, white petunias, and beautiful yellow coreopsis.

“Aw, Utopix…” Adora slightly leaned towards him so he could put the ornament on her head. “It’s gorgeous. Thank you.”

Yes. Of course. Adora had a friend whose whole power allowed her to summon flower crowns out of nowhere, throwing them around as if they were sprinkles, but the fact that her small friend took his time to make something for her… for her… made her feel special. She pulled him in close for a hug, gently nuzzling the top of his head. “You made it for me. That must have been so embarrassing for you.” She headlocked him and ruffled his hair.

“A-Adora!” Utopix laughed and broke free from her grasp after a few tries.

“Well, I think that they’re great!” Bow gladfully smiled, adjusting the floral headwear on his head. “Thank you, Utopix.”

The robot was beyond satisfied with how happy they were, but it would not take his mind off the fact that they’d be leaving tomorrow. After a period of time, afternoon appeared around the corners of the land, grazing Bright Moon with its gorgeous coral colors. The soft breeze on his face reminded him how magnificent this place was, reminded him how he didn’t want to leave this beautiful place, but Georgine was right: his friends had their families back on Earth, their other friends, their whole lives. Who’s to say that there was not another threat rummaging around Earth waiting for them to arrive to unleash terror once again? His thoughts revolved around his frailed mind, nearly falling into sadness at the idea of wanting to abandon Georgine in order to stay here. But he couldn’t. He shouldn’t.

“Utopix?” Adora appeared once again near him, extending her hand for him to stand up from the sharp grass. “Can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Uh…” Utopix looked at Georgine, who had been near him this whole time, with a slight frown.

Georgine chuckled at his innocent action and looked back at Adora, giving her enough trust to take care of him by agreeably nodding.

“Great!” Adora held Utopix’s wrist delicately, running away with him to the Whispering Woods.

Georgine didn’t even have a minute to let her mind wander into what she just did when she felt a hand pat her back roughly, obligating her to let out a soft yell. “Ugh!”

“I’m proud of you!” Gabriel exclaimed in pure joy, linking his arm around her neck. “You are finally trusting Adora with Utopix!”

“Is that so surprising?” Georgine pulled him away from her out of annoyance.

“Well… it took you a while to trust me.” Makena walked to duo to join their conversation. “But we’re glad you’re finally letting yourself free.”

“Finally?” Georgine slightly smirked. “I’m that amusing?”

“Well, yeah. You have always been sort of a bit—” Gabriel almost spurted out until Georgine headlocked him as Adora have done earlier to the love of her life. “Hey!”

Makena quietly giggled and walked closer to the two. “He’s gonna be fine.”

“Yeah… I figured.” Georgine lightly smiled at her, eventually letting go of Gabriel who fell to the ground, grunting on his soft landing.

===================

“Where are we going?” Utopix held onto Adora’s hand, glancing around the forest and seeing the many strange flora surrounding them.

“I figured that…” Adora ducked underneath a thick tree branch, making sure that Utopix didn’t hit his head. “…if you’re leaving tonight, you deserve to see my favorite place in all of Etheria.”

“Y-Your favorite place?” His head turned to look at her, or the back of her ponytail for that matter.

Adora guided the small robot to the deepest part of the Whispering Woods, gently letting go of his hand to draw out the sword from her back and lightly pressing the tip against the ground. “Ready to see something cool?”

She swung the sword around in a circular motion to arise the dozens of light particles hidden in the grass and covering the whole place with such a magnificent sight. Utopix’s eyes could not focus on one of the particles so he slightly shook his head to get a better look at the space around him. The tiny particles danced around him, nearly tickling his body, making him giggle. “I-It’s beautiful. It’s really beautiful.”

“I knew you’d like it.” Adora rested her arm on his shoulder, bringing him close to her.

“Thank you, Adora.” He turned around to hug her firm torso and taking in the place for a last time.

“Aw, it’s nothing.” Adora returned the hug, leaning her chin on his head, quietly sighing at the thought that the moment was getting closer.

Night was here. The moment was finally here. The three Etherian heroes, the three princesses, a noble steed and a sea warrior, the four humans, a talking computer face, and the… one artificex were ready to say goodbye to each other. Oliver nodded, giving Adora the signal to gently insert the sword into a slot designed to contain the sword’s runestone power. A soft crackling went through the machine and towards the circular entrance creating the portal. Everyone felt tense upon the nerve-wrecking sound, but their bodies immediately felt relieved upon the view of the steady blue portal emerging on the machine.

“Take care, okay?” Perfuma hugged Utopix for a last time. “Don’t forget to drink the green tea three times a day!”

Utopix lightly giggled. “I will. I promise.”

Mermista went next and handed Utopix a gift wrapped in dry seaweed. “Hey, I brought you a gift. Don’t make a big deal about it.” She crossed her arms, slightly leaning on Seahawk who happily waited for the robot to open it. “I chose the color! Mermista wrapped it!”

He carefully unwrapped to see a beautiful necklace with a golden seashell and a pearl hanging on its thread. “Aw… Y-You didn’t have to.”

“I told you not to make a big deal about it.” Mermista slightly groaned until Utopix decided to hug her.

“Thank you…”

“Yeah, sure. Don’t mention it.”

“Let’s make it extra special!” Perfuma clapped her hands together to then wave her hand that added a pair extra ornaments to the necklace: a golden sword, a golden arrow, a light purple sparkle, a white snowflake, and a rose gold flower. “That way you’ll remember us all! We will all remember each other!”

“I’m afraid not all of us will be able to…” Oliver stopped the cheering.

“What do you mean?” Adora was the first one to ask. 

“All of you mentioned that the portal was unstable from the very beginning. I managed to calculate the energy to be equally balanced so the previous events wouldn’t repeat, but there’s something that I wasn’t able to do…” Oliver began explaining.

“What is it?” Bow asked.

“Instead of creating an alternate yet perfect dimension that all of you are trapped in, it will affect the memories of the ones whose dimension power is coming from.” Oliver frowned, looking back at the whole crew.

“Meaning…” Georgine looked at the princesses.

“W-We won’t remember what happened?” Glimmer clenched her fists and shook her head.

Adora lowered her head. The only hope that she had from this whole experience was to remember the ones that helped them defeat their sole enemy, to remember what she did for him and what she had been able to move past from. She walked towards Utopix to hug him for a last time. “…y-you take care, okay? Do not forget us.”

Utopix’s tears were faithful to roll down his face, returning the hug to the one that dared to save him. “N-Never...”

Bow and Glimmer joined the hug and, eventually; Makena, Gabriel, and Georgine did as well. “We’ll miss you too, Utopix… even if we won’t remember you…” Bow’s calming voice soothed Utopix.

The group hug was eventually broken, letting Adora and Utopix hold hands and letting go of its grasp for a last time. Gabriel went in the portal, then so did Makena, Oliver, then Sabrina. Georgine stood near Utopix, holding his hands as the slight vacuuming force made her hair look gorgeous in the gentle breeze. “Whenever you’re ready…” she gently whispered before stepping into the portal. The robot looked back at Adora, standing in front of the sobbing group with a kind grin, mouthing him ‘Go.’ He didn’t want to miss a minute of it, any moment from the beautiful sight. He slowly stepped backwards as the clear blue light covered his senses.

All he could remember was silence…

[colourblind-tomcats-blog]

Remember: Pt 2

Rating: Explicit (Gore, future NSFW themes, death) Contains: Graphic descriptions of gore, future sexual themes, death of multiple characters, Tyme, and angst.

@project-polaris

Jerome just wanted to be done with this job. He could tell things were going south very, very fast.

He pulled out his phone to check the time. 1:32am blinked, almost tauntingly, at him from the middle of the lockscreen. He put his phone back into sleep mode.

And his blood ran cold when a pale person was reflected over his shoulder from the dark screen.

Acting upon impulse, he swung around, clocking the person straight in the jaw. 

“What the fuck, man?!”

A teenager, roughly seventeen, was holding the side of his face with a pissed expression. His dark ginger hair was curly, and tousled messily, as if he hadn’t brushed it. He had an average skintone and was covered in freckles. His dark brown eyes shot up towards Jerome’s face, and his blood ran cold once again. 

This time from the realization that he had just clocked his work partner in the jaw. 

“Shit, I’m sorry! You startled me.”

The young man rolled his neck and popped his jaw, forcing a half-grin through the obvious pain. Jerome noticed that a dark bruise was starting to form along his jaw and cheek already.

The kid raised his hand to Jerome, trying to prompt a handshake. “It’s fine, I’ve been through worse. My name’s Matthew, by the way. Call me Matt.”

Jerome took his hand, giving it one firm shake. “I’m Jerome.”

Matt hummed in acknowledgement. “Now that we’re acquainted, uh... What have you done so far?” Matt looked around, picking up a mop that he had dropped at some point. Probably when he had been punched.

“I’ve cleaned both of the party rooms and the hallways. There’s just the stage and kitchen left.”

Matt furrowed his brows, presumably in concentration. “Well, I’ll clean the last two then. Would you mind staying anyways, so I can show you how to clean the animatronics?”

Jerome scoffed, grimacing slightly. “I was never told-”

Matt interrupted him immediately. “Abigail doesn’t tell you everything.”

Jerome sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Yeah, sure. I need to learn at some point, right?”

Matt laughed slightly, waving him over in a “follow me” gesture. He walked over to the stage nonchalantly, not even bothering to try and stay quiet. Their footsteps echoed ominously, and Jerome almost felt like he was being watched. 

Matt hoisted himself up onto the stage, vanishing behind the dark curtains for a moment before they creaked, almost screeching in a metallic way, pulling back to reveal the horrors hidden behind.

Three animatronics stood on the stage, frozen in time- dead, but, in a way, alive.

One, at the very front, dwarfed Jerome in height. It stood tall, with a cheetah-like build, a partially discoloured tail, and faded green eyes. The animatronic was completely discoloured, and the jaw hung open at an odd angle that revealed sharp teeth and dented, stained metal workings underneath. The eyes somehow held life- more so than they should have. It gripped a microphone in one hand, and the knuckles on both hands were completely split open, and wires and metal pieces hung out openly.

The animatronic next to it was a blueish, female-model of a fox. This animatronic was obviously much newer, but oil stains around the ankles and jaw showed that it was still very cheaply made. The palms of the hands, the elbows, and the collarbone of the animatronic were stained darker than the rest of it. Jerome could've sworn that the ears and tail twitched occasionally. The sea-green eyes seemed tired.

The animatronic at the back startled Jerome the most. It was around his height, and looked like a Siamese cat with a short tail. It was sat behind a drumset, and the ears were flattened back. The feet had been bolted to the floor, but judging by the damage to the plastic, it.... got free anyways. The body was shrouded in shadows, but it was obviously stained as well. The pale blue, glowing eyes followed him as he climbed up onto the stage and skirted around behind the cheetah.

Matt’s voice startled him out of his trance. “Alright, this is Chet. He’s the main mascot, and the oldest. Don’t bother trying to clean him all the way, he’s pretty grimy to begin with. Avoid the wires and metal, and you should be fine.” Matt pulled a rag out of one of his pants pockets, and used the backstage sink to dampen it before quickly wiping down the animatronic. It didn’t seem to make a difference. It would never shine again.

However, when Matt pulled the rag away, Jerome made a noise of disgust. It was blackened with grease, food, and what looked like blood. Matt laughed at him slightly, but it was a hollow noise.

He rinsed the rag, then rung it out, and moved onto the blue fox. “This is Ashina. She’s a newer model, so wires shouldn’t be a problem, but she’s got thinner plastic and more gaps, so try not to drip water into the casing...” Matt took more time with this one, cleaning the teeth individually, and even wiping the eyes. The rag, when pulled away, was not even nearly as gross, and the animatronic reflected light from outside. The eyes especially.

Matt cleared his throat and moved onto the last animatronic. “Uh... Alright. This is Tom. He’s pretty easy to clean, since not much grease and food reaches back here...” Matt moved quickly, wiping down the animatronic and the top of the drumset.

Matt turned around, taking long strides to leave the darkness. He grinned almost nervously. “Got it?”

Jerome nodded, only half paying attention the entire time. 

Throughout the rest of the night, Jerome hardly paid attention to what was going on. Him and Matt finished mopping the stage and cleaned the kitchen, and were about to leave and head home for the night.

Jerome got fed up with mulling over his thoughts, and grabbed Matt by the shoulder, preventing him from leaving.

“Alright, I gotta ask something. What happened here?”

Jerome looked him dead in the eyes, and a harshly serious expression crossed his face. He had a deep frown, and his eyebrows were furrowed.

Matt gulped, and Jerome could feel him start to sweat underneath his hand. He refused to make eye contact, and tried to pull away. “L-Listen, man, I dunno what you mean-”

Jerome tightened his grip, grabbing his other shoulder with his other hand. “How long have you worked here?”

Matt answered without hesitation. “A year.”

Jerome nodded. “Then you MUST know about this place’s past, right?”

“Man, I told you. I dunno what you’re referring to.”

Jerome started to grow frustrated. “You know DAMN WELL what I mean. The constant feeling of being watched, the strangely stained animatronics, the smell of rot, the broken-YET BOLTED- feet on Tom, the locked storage room. Something fucking happened. None of this is normal for a family fun center!”

Matt waved his hands, motioning to Jerome to keep quiet. “Fuck, fine! You noticed a lot more than I thought you would... But listen, we gotta keep our voices down. The manager may be  listening- and I shouldn’t even be telling you this.”

Jerome quirked an eyebrow and reluctantly let go of his shoulders. 

“Roughly fourteen years ago, three of these animatronics where part of a carnival. But... Two started to malfunction. So they were shut down and moved to a shed. Rumors spread, and a couple of idiot kids dared one of their friends to stay the night  in the shed... He was never found again. One more kid, a young boy, also went missing. Fingers started to be pointed towards the owner of the carnival, and he committed suicide to avoid charges. The carnival burned down mysteriously, just days later.”

Matt’s voice started to shake.

“A few people moved the rubble so the plot could be reused, and discovered that the animatronics could still be used. So, they set up a tiny food place. They cleaned the robots the best they could, and bought new ones. A hyena and his parrot, a massive serpent, a fox, and a tom cat. But... Kids still went missing. Three more, to be exact. The serpent was deemed too scary for children, and was “retired”. The old mountain lion was so damaged from the fire that he couldn’t function. He’d shut off suddenly and collapse, and smelled of rot. Then there was the raccoon- oddly untouched by the fire, but his stare made children uncomfortable. Both of them were also “retired”.

The place ended up nearly being shut down because of charges from parents, but one day, the just.... Stopped. Then, business started going wild. The franchise expanded and grew, and eventually became the Chet’s Family Fun Center that we know today..... But, in the past couple of years, three different employees have been unexplainably attacked. One nearly died. The other went missing. My br- Er, the previous nightguard, was hospitalized so many times that he should have been dead from scar tissue alone. But he’s.... He’s gone, too.”

Mat’s voice broke towards the end of his story, and he was sniffling- er, scratch that, he’s actually crying.

Jerome opened and closed his mouth a few times. The story was darker than he thought it would be. But he started to get a plan already.

“What if we prove what happened? Shut this place down for good. Help the families that lost people.”

Matt belted out loud, bitter laughter. “Really? THAT’S your plan? You’re crazy.” 

“Maybe I am, Matt. And I’m not asking you to help me- but I’m going to do this. The story’s out there. The evidence is here- right here. We can do this.”

[grimmkurosaki]

Searching for Role-play Partners

I admit, it has been quite some time since I have done anything of the sort, besides with my one friend of 9 years, and it started only recently. I have been on a long hiatus on all role-play blogs, dealing with my BPD and making the steps towards a healthy, functioning brain.

I feel as if I am able to get back into it again, and have been longing to do so. I have lost a few people through it, but I dearly hope I can create new connections with the right people, and by the right people, I mean those who will understand when I need a day or two to cope with life (simply because I am feeling up to more does not mean my disorder is magically gone), and possibly be a long time friend. I am extremely passionate when it comes to role-playing, and I adore it when our characters fit well together. Sometimes I may get carried away, but that just tells you that I am enjoying what me and you, whoever you may come to be, are creating.

I will list some basics down below for any curious loves~.

--Acceptable Items--

Length of role-plays: Optional (short-term, one-shots, progressive [long-term], etc. are all acceptable)

Simply bugging my character through asks everyday without the intent to seriously RP is acceptable as well~.

Genres: Romance (smut/non-smut acceptable), fantasy, horror (gore/no gore), historical fiction (characters in a historic time-period), adventure (includes apocalyptic scenarios)

If you can throw me a good sci-fi plot idea, then I will consider doing sci-fi with you, I am picky about that particular genre (I do enjoy it quite a lot, but role-playing it is something entirely different).

Bring on the angst! I live off of angst.

Hetero/Homo relationships permitted (for the majority of my characters, yaoi is my main go-to, but lovely ladies are certainly welcome).

Humanoids: Vampires, elves, deities, demons, etc are welcome.

Fandom characters and OC’s welcome (I will gladly help in any way I can if your OC’s are underdeveloped).

Settings: Most are acceptable, including your run-of-the-mill settings.

--Rules--

Realistic body measurements

No grotesque characters

Humanoids only (shapeshifters of any kind are welcome, though).

My characters are Multiship (unless I make a character just for you after a certain period of time getting to know you).

No Godmodding

If there is something I must know about a scene, tell me so that I may respond in the desired manner. (Example-if your vampire character is turning mine, how should mine react? Is it painful? Erotic? Feels like nothing at all?)

No one-liners (Please, if you must, at least 5 decent sentences)

Proper grammar is a must (if you miss a few things here and there, I won’t mind, but I will start minding if it is constant and blatantly sloppy).

Correct spelling (please, if you are not sure, look it up).

No fonts or symbols that would make your part difficult to read.

No internet slang (lol, wtf, lmao, wyd, etc)

WRITE AS IF YOU’RE WRITING A NOVEL (details, proper dialog, no asterisks for actions, etc).

For dialog: If your character speaks in a certain way and has certain mannerisms that don’t fit with the proper spelling and grammar, that is okay! Speech should be free and open, depending on where they are from, who they’ve been around, etc.

For Askbox: If you are one of those people that enjoy simply sticking with the small askbox character chats, you may disregard the above writing rules. Those rules are specifically for serious role-plays.

This should cover it for now. Of course, there are separate, specific rules regarding smut, but I will leave it up to you to ask me. 

I am not perfect, sometimes my grammar isn’t always great, or I misspell something, or I completely just screw up something altogether for some reason or the other. I’m not a robot, merely human, as are you.

If you are pleased by the above information, ask about my RP blogs! I will gladly give you links.

Thank you~!

-Me