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heyyy-hey-babyyy · 4 years ago

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Forever After All

Summary: Dean's sure of two truths in this world. 1) Bert and Ernie are gay and 2) nothing lasts forever. It isn’t until you come back into his life that he begins to have second thoughts. Maybe some things last forever after all.

Based on the song “Forever After All” by Luke Combs (lyrics italicized).

Pairing: Dean x fem!reader

Warnings: Mentions of drinking

5,100 words

B/N: I really liked writing the flashback, childhood portions of my previous series “When We Were Young.” This isn’t the same reader I was imagining there (I know I shouldn’t imagine reader inserts...), but I’d like to do some similar ‘reader grows up with Dean and Sam’ type of plot with this story, so if you liked “When We Were Young” I’ve tagged you here too!

Sam was drilling Dean again for reasons why he wouldn’t find someone to settle down with. They were sat at the war table nursing a few beers, and Dean kept shifting under his brother’s gaze.

“Dean, come on.” Sam stated with a huff, noticing his brother’s irritation, but he wasn’t going to back down this time. “You know that I have always thought the same way you have. But then I met Eileen, and I don’t know man,” Sam took a long swig of his beer to hide the smile from his brother that crept onto his face, as he thought of Eileen. “Some things just change.”

Dean scoffed, downing the last few swigs his beer and rolling the empty bottle between his hands, really taking in his brother’s words this time. He let out a long sigh, “I don’t know, Sammy. Nothing lasts forever. Hell, a good beer’s got 12 ounces, a good cars got maybe 300,000. You only get so much until it’s gone.” Dean shrugged simply, lost in his own head this time, considering the words he was telling his brother. Nothing lasted forever, so why bother, right? Sam stood up from his seat, defeated, when a different smile jumped to his mind, just for a moment, giving him an idea of how he might convince his brother that some things last forever after all.

“What about, Y/N? Seems as though you’ve continued to think about her? Maybe she’s your forever?” Dean perked up hearing your name but settled his face into a scowl, not having a clever retort for his brother this time. Sam smirked back in victory, but it didn’t matter. Dean was already lost in memories of you.

You, Dean, and Sam had grown up together. You were closer to Sam’s age, but hung around Dean whenever you and your dad happened to be in the same town, following the same monster John was. John and your dad would go out and get drunk, and you’d be stuck in your hotel room, so Dean and Sam would sneak over, smuggling whatever snacks they could and watching old reruns of I Love Lucy on the staticky tube TV. Seeing you became one of the only constants in Sam and Dean’s life, and as he got older his excitement seeing you changed into something more. Sam adored you because you gave him the attention he craved, giggling at his newest ‘knock, knock’ jokes and putting up with his nerdiness. But Dean’s feelings were more complicated. When Sam left for Stanford, you really had become the only thing worth a damn in Dean’s life, and running into you during a hunt was the only thing keeping him in the passenger seat of the Impala, letting John drag him across the country.

Dean smiled simply into his empty beer bottle, forgetting there was nothing left for it to still be attached to his lips. He hadn’t spoken with you in so long, it seemed like you were really only in his memories. Like he was simply imagining you.

Last he heard, after your dad died, you continued hunting for awhile, mostly spirits easy salt and burns, like your dad used to. The brothers had ran into you about six or so years back, and Sam had begged you to hunt with them, citing your research expertise and describing the bunker, but you merely shrugged him off, eyes locked on Dean while you reminded both of them that you had grown up on the road, and the bunker was “no place for a girl like me.” Dean loved how wild you were, so he didn’t say anything one way or the other to convince you. And with a small flourish, you got into your beat up Jeep and sped away. That was the last time Dean saw you. He had heard through the grapevine that you ended up with some sort of journalism job that allowed you to travel, and keep up with some of the cases that might attract hunters. Dean wasn’t sure if you still participated in the hunt, but he knew from their small hunter circle that you passed on the occasional case to other’s when you were on your way out of whatever town had the latest breaking news.

Thinking back on these memories had Dean pulling out his phone and scrolling until he found your name. Wanting more than anything to hear your voice he hovered over your contact, but decided at the last second to send you a text instead.

<<Hey. I know it’s late. Up for a call?

He waited for a few minutes, staring at his screen before you responded, his phone making an excited ping sound.

<<Hey you! :) You know I’m always down for hearing from you, Winchester.

Dean smiled, hearing your voice ring through the text, always calling him Winchester, emphasis placed on the chester, almost like it was his first name. Before he could think too much, the picture he had as your caller I.D. popped up on the screen, [Y/H/C] hair wild, eyes squinting at the sun, while you gave him a questioning look. It was his favorite picture of you. Dean pressed the green button on the phone screen and waited for you to speak.

“Called you first.” Dean could hear the teasing note to your voice, and he felt himself grinning like an idiot. Something about you had all of his walls crumbling down around him.

“I miss you, Y/N.” He blurted out, his mouth and heart working faster than his mind. There was a pause on your end, but you spoke before Dean could regret telling his truth for too long.

“Oh, love. You know I miss you always.” There had never been anything physical between you and Dean, but the feelings seemed to always exist, growing as you realized what having feelings for another person felt like. There had been a few rare moments, mostly when you were younger, that you had fallen asleep across Dean’s chest and he kept you close to him throughout the night. And it was no secret to anyone that you and him were the only people the other completely broke in front of. You when your dad died, and him after Sam went off to college, and when John died. You had always held a special connection where you were safe to be yourself with the other. Dean loved you with everything that he had, and after what Sam had said, he knew you were his one chance at a forever.

“Come see me.” Dean blurted out again, adding a quiet, desperate ‘please,’ to the end, which made you breathe out a soft laugh.

“Alright.” You responded, trying your best to sound like you were resigning to Dean rather than sounding happier than you’d been in awhile thinking about seeing the older Winchester. “I get the room right next to yours this time, though. The other room was cold, and you were way too far away!” Dean smirked at your request. Anyone else would sound desperate, but you had a way of unintentionally making the people around you compete for your attention, and you were never shy about who you did and did not want to see.

Dean could hear your pout and he smiled, promising and leaning into your demands. You sounded satisfied, but weren’t ready to let Dean off the phone. He heard shuffling as you moved around whatever hotel you were likely staying in, stuffing your belongings into the same white and black polka dot duffle bag Dean had bought you for your thirteen birthday. When you spoke, you sounded far away, but Dean caught your order for him to “tell a story” while you packed.

“Okay,” Dean said thinking about what story he should tell, when a specific memory jumped to his mind. “Do you remember that time we boosted the Impala to go see the Northern Lights?” Dean could hear you giggling from far away, before you approached the phone openly laughing, “and we got it stuck in the mud and had to call John to come help us! What were we 15?”

Dean scoffed, feigning annoyance. “Maybe you were 15, I was almost 18!” You scoffed back in response, and Dean heard the rustle of fabric, knowing you were throwing your clothes into the duffle rather than folding them because ‘they just get wrinkled either way!’ He decided to continue telling the story whether you were listening right now or not.

“It’s one of my favorite memories because while we waited for my dad, we just sat on the hood of the car and looked up at the stars...” He trailed off remembering feeling like nothing in the world mattered but Y/N in those moments of peace. Dean had been young then, but he knew what he wanted and you were it. It just happened that your lives drifted a part shortly after that. John went on more risky hunts, desperate to find yellow eyes, and you and your dad kept taking care of the salt and burns. You two hadn’t crossed paths much after that.

You hadn’t responded to what he said before, so he figured you were away from the phone, but suddenly he wanted to remember more of that moment.

“I hated the world so much during that time. Dad was desperate to find the thing that killed mom, and I could tell Sam wanted more and more out of this life. My family felt like it was falling a part, and I remember thinking that you were one of the only solid things in my life.” It was all true, and though Dean didn’t keep things from you, it wasn’t something he was entirely open about before. The line was silent, so Dean cleared his throat of any lingering emotions, hoping in that moment, that you hadn’t heard what he confessed.

“Okay, Y/N! Enough packing. Get into your car and drive. There’s still plenty of the night left to drink together.” Dean heard you giggle on the other end and you promised to drive safe before hanging up.

He grabbed another beer from the fridge and sat back down prepared to wait in the war room so he could see you as soon as you stepped inside the bunker. You were only about an hour or so away, and with Sam back in his room, there was plenty of time to think through his thoughts. Sam would be ecstatic to see you, and Dean decided to keep it a surprise, hoping you weren’t texting Sam or something, promising to watch his nerdy movies with him when you got here. Though you had been one of the only static things in Dean’s life, you had also constantly been there for Sam. Dean remembered the anger he felt when Sam let slip about a time you had visited him at Stanford, confessing that both him and you talked often, when he couldn’t even be bothered to pick up the phone for Dean or John. Dean got over it quickly, because he didn’t blame Sam. You weren’t someone that either of them could just forget about and move on. And Dean knew that you and Sam still talked, even though it had been years since Dean picked up the phone himself. He didn’t know what stopped him from reaching out, now that the smile was plastered on his face thinking of you walking through the bunker door.

Dean glanced down at his watch, a half hour had passed with him lost in thoughts, his beer warming on the war room table. He hoped you were driving fast as he chugged the warm beer, and rose to get another, when Sam emerged into the room. His hair was dripping into his eyes from his recent shower, and he glanced at the two empty beers on the table in confusion. Sam knew that he had been in his room on the phone for almost an hour, and had taken a shower, and Dean had only drunk one other beer? Sam figured it was turning into a ‘drowning himself’ type of night for the older hunter, but when he caught eyes with Dean, they almost sparkled, excitement evident on his face. Sam couldn’t help but smirk at how happy his brother looked.

“What’s going on?” He asked quietly, coming fully into the room, trying to keep a sense of awareness, hoping his brother wasn’t about to prank him. Dean quickly changed his face to look more brooding but the creases at his eyes gave him away, and Sam wasn’t buying it.

“Dean, what did you do?” Dean looked offended, openly gaping at Sam in mock horror, making his younger brother roll his eyes.

“What?” Dean asked raising his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t do anything. Can’t a guy just sit and enjoy a beer?” He sat back down, even though Sam was witness to him attempting to grab another beer from the kitchen a second ago.

“Sure,” Sam replied, a little bit of a drawl appearing on the ‘r.’ “But one beer? I figured from your mood before you’d be at least a six-pack deep by now.” Sam kept talking as he walked to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from himself and one for Dean, returning to sit across from his brother where he left a few hours before. He uncapped his beer and took a swig. “Or did I have you thinking too much about Y/N and you got lost in your own thoughts?” Dean glanced around clearly about to lie to his brother, and Sam chuckled knowing he was right.

“I told you she was your forever.”

Neither brother heard the front door open as you expertly snuck into the bunker and leaned over the railing to stare at the two men below. They looked exactly how you remembered them, just a bit older, and Sam looked like he maybe cut his hair shorter. You wanted to let them talk a bit more, clearly lost in their own conversation, but you were too excited to see both brothers and your mouth opened before you could stop it.

“Y’all aren’t talking about me, are you?”Dean just about dropped the bottle he was raising to his lips, instantly getting to his feet as you stumbled down the stairs just as quickly, suddenly needing the older Winchester’s arms around you. People could say what they wanted about Dean Winchester, but he was, and always had been, your comfort. Dean met you at the bottom, catching you easily as you launched yourself into his arms, avoiding the last three stairs. You felt him chuckle lowly as you clung to him, your entire existence missing the man holding you just as tight to him.

Sam was still sitting, a crease forming between his eyebrows, and you gave him a lopsided smile, scrunching up your nose, as Dean released you.

“What, I don’t get a hug from my favorite Winchester?” You asked, poking Dean in the ribs with your elbow when he pouted loudly at your words. Sam still looked shocked, but his mouth was moving into a huge smile, and he stood opening his arms. You hugged the younger Winchester back softly as he wrapped his arms fully around you. You barely reached to Sam’s chest, but he rested his head on top of yours and you squeezed him back, communicating silently that you missed him too. Sam released you, almost reluctantly, and you glanced between the two brothers who were clearly having a silent conversation of their own.

“Well, Winchesters,” You began interrupting the weird looks they were giving each other.

“You have me for a few days! What’s first?”

------

You had only meant to stay a few days, then return to your life. Turns out that was harder than you would have ever thought.

The first night in the bunker, Dean grabbed you a drink and ushered you and Sam into the aptly named ‘Dean Cave,’ which was complete with a large couch and recliner, the latter of which Sam claimed instantly. You grumbled jokingly about having to share with Dean, but you caught the small smile Dean wore when you sat next to him and curled your legs up under you. Sam begrudgingly let his brother choose the movie and you were both in hysterics as Dean acted out every scene in Die Hard, including donning a horrible German accent for the Hans Gruber parts.

It was about halfway through the second movie when you shifted to get more comfortable, leaning naturally into Dean, and he pulled you to his side, tucking you under his arm, a large smile on his face. It wasn’t the first time you two had been cozy like this, but between Dean’s impressions, Sam’s giggling and eye rolling, it all felt like home. You snuggled deeper into Dean’s side, and knew in that moment it was going to be impossible to leave these two.

That was almost a month ago, and you were getting into a comfortable routine with the boys. They hadn’t returned to hunts, though you encouraged them to, knowing you had plenty of work you should be doing yourself. But Dean shut down the conversation the first time you brought it up, the anger from years of loss and pain that he hadn’t let go of exploding from his body in one loud yell. He had stomped off right after to work on the Impala in the garage, where you found him an hour later.

He had calmed down and was willing to talk through the fact that he didn’t want to leave you alone yet, afraid that you’d leave. You had smiled at him and promised you wouldn’t ever leave like that, but he had wrapped you in his arms carefully, like he wasn’t going to see you again, and you knew he didn’t believe what you were saying.

The conversation was put high up on a shelf after that, and neither you or Sam mentioned it to Dean again. But you knew that that singular conversation wasn’t appeasing Dean’s irrational thoughts of everyone leaving him. You knew he didn’t believe anything was forever.

But the longer you spent at the bunker, and the more you spent time with this Dean that you didn’t quite know as well as his younger version, the further you were falling.

Dean was many things, but the Dean that had been through so much in the time you were apart had emerged caring and passionate. You caught glimpses of the man he was when he made himself a sandwich and one for you and Sam while you were busy marathoning some Netflix true crime documentary, knowing you both wouldn’t eat otherwise. Or when he offered his expertise freely of any hunter that called one of his phones, no questions asked.

The hot-head from days past was replaced with someone who was open to conversing and sharing his feelings. Whereas you saw frustration and lack of patience from the Dean you knew years ago, this one has grown to feel the brunt of his emotions, and was willing to take the burden away from others. You would have been lying to yourself if you said you didn’t have feelings for Dean all along, but the cocky, sure of himself young man had turned into a person who was filled with empathy for others; a selflessness you had never seen in any human. This Dean Winchester loved with all of him, and you felt it every time he looked at you. You were just waiting for him to act on what he wanted.

Could he believe that some things last forever after all?

Dean tags

@akshi8278

“When We Were Young” Taglist (thought you might like this too)

@vicmc624 @woundedxsmile @supernatural3002 @imaginationisgrowth @thoughts-and-funnies

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proxylynn · 4 years ago

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Underfell: File Name not Edgy Enough #27

Chapter 27: Burden

WARNING: I WANT NO RESPONSIBILITY OVER SPOILING THINGS FOR OTHERS. THAT BEING SAID, THIS IS HOW FILE NAME NOT FOUND WOULD FUNCTION IN THE AU OF UNDERFELL. BEFORE YOU READ THIS, UNLIKE THE NICE TIME OF UNDERTALE, THIS WORLD IS KILL OR BE KILLED. THIS STORY WILL BE GRAPHIC, GORY, USE SWEARS LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS, AND DEAL WITH SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTERS. FOR EXAMPLE, THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE READ THE FILE NAME RELOCATED SPOOF WILL KNOW HOW I PICTURE THIS VERSION OF LYNSIE COMING TO THE UNDERGROUND. IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING DUMB. IT IS BECAUSE SHE CHOOSES TO END HER LIFE. SO TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. I MADE IT BECAUSE I NEEDED TO LET SOME OF THIS EDGINESS OUT OF MYSELF. WHICH I GUESS MAKES UNDERFELL LYNSIE EVEN MORE TRUE TO WHO I REALLY AM. ANYWAY, ENJOY. ^_^

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

[A quick recap]

My melancholy blinds me to my current surroundings. I only come out of it once a spotlight hits me.

"The hell...?"

Things look funny. No doubt it's a setup by Mettaton. But I'm unsure what this act is. I mean, it looks like a receptionist's waiting room. A desk and some random chairs.

"GOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTS...!"

Mettaton zips in wearing a red suit and shoves me in a chair as he takes center stage.

"FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE HERE AT MTTTV WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE LACK OF ME OVER THE COURSE OF THE PROGRAM. DUE TO THE LACK PREP WORK WITH MY COSTAR HERE, WE SADLY HAD TO FORGO A THRILLING ACT BACK IN LEVEL TWO INVOLVING HUNDREDS OF EXPLOSIVES!!"

I so freaking called it. I should let him have his moment...Nah!

"I thought you said that act was shit anyway?"

He extends an arm to cover my mouth.

"FORGIVE HER. SHE'S LOST A LOT OF BLOOD AND NOT ALL THERE MENTALLY."

I leer at him flatly.

"BUT...DARLING HERE IS GOING TO MAKE AMENDS WITH US ALL RIGHT NOW. IT'S TIME TO ANSWER SOME BURNING QUESTIONS."

I'm so confused as he lets go and leaps onto the desk, posing dramatically.

"IT'S TIME FOR..."

A large neon sign shaped like him drops from the ceiling.

"BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL WITH A KILLER ROBOT! THE LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOSTED BY YOURS TRULY."

Huh. Not a bad title.

"I thought you were working on a courtroom trial program?"

He scoots to now sit behind the desk.

"UNFORTUNATELY, WHILE I DO HAVE THE FUNDS, I DON'T HAVE AVAILABLE WORKERS TO MAKE SUCH A SET. SO...WE'RE DOING THIS INSTEAD."

"Heh...Must be hard to meet your expectations."

"DARLING, YOU HAVE NO IDEA."

A tense dramatic score plays.

"SO, DARLING...ARE YOU READY TO TELL ME EVERYTHING?"

Ah. I see now. Fine, Metta, have it your way. Just be careful what you wish for. You may not like it. Now don't get me wrong. I know my limits. I'm not about to tell him EVERYTHING. I'm not that stupid. But if he wants truth, he's going to get a version that's missing some characters and other junk.

"As you wish. You wanna know the truth? You want to scar the entire Underground? Sure. Why not. What else do I have to lose at this point since you exposed me? So congratulations! I hope you like the prize you've been longing to get. Because I sure as hell don't."

Let the show commence.

[Now our featured presentation]

"RIIIIGHT...ANYWAY...WHY NOT INTRODUCE YOURSELF. LET THE UNDERGROUND KNOW JUST A BIT ABOUT YOU."

I wave with a stupid grin to where I think a camera is.

"Howdy, monsters of the Underground. My name is Lynsie. Last I checked, I'm 5'8'', twenty eights years old, born November 7th, am a Scorpio, blood type A+, and enjoy long naps by the beach."

Am I introducing myself or recording a dumb dating profile video?

Mettaton whips out some cards from his desk.

"REALLY? YOU'RE THAT OLD? HUH."

"Yeah. Why?"

"YOU LOOK OLDER THAN THAT."

I sneer.

"It's the raccoon eyes. Insomnia is a hell of a slap to the face."

"THAT ASIDE...HOW ARE YOU FEELING? YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT SINCE THIS PROGRAM STARTED."

"I'm grateful to have this reprieve. It's nice to not be flung into fight after fight for a moment. I don't like fighting. I'd much rather avoid any conflict if able."

"SUCH A KIND GIRL. ARE ALL HUMANS THESE DAYS LIKE YOU?"

I eye him funny.

"WHAT?"

"Do mean 'kind' or 'stupid'? Because every monster has called me a fool for being nice."

"STUPID IS A STRONG WORD. NAIVE IS MORE LIKE IT."

I rumble lowly in my seat.

"But...To answer you properly, no. Not all humans are like me. Or...I'm not like most humans."

"OOOOH~, SUCH AN AMBIGUOUS ANSWER. FINE THEN, IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE LIKE THAT, I'LL HAVE TO BE MORE BLUNT IN MY QUESTIONS. LET'S SEE..."

He flips through some of his cards.

"OH! HERE'S ONE...HOW DID YOU COME TO FIND YOURSELF IN THE UNDERGROUND?"

Blunt? I'll give you blunt.

"Easy. I tried to kill myself."

[SNOWDIN: Skeleton House in present time]

The mood in the room sours as the human continues.

"Yep. You see, Mt. Ebott has a reputation, a legend dating back lord knows how long, that those who climb the mountain never return. This has made it a popular place to die. Not as bad as the literal 'Suicide Forest' of Japan, but it does the job okay."

Mettaton's screen blacks out.

"Don't give me that look. You wanted this. You wanted the truth. So take it. Take the blunt no holds bar truth of the matter. And you know what else? It wasn't the first time either. I can think of at least five other attempts. Each more pathetic than the last. But, if memory serves me right, I do believe my very first try was when I was still so very small. Somewhere around age six to eight. I had learned that apple seeds contain cyanide, a very toxic poison. Of course, there's not a heck of a lot in a single seed, but if you ingest a lot...well...Kid me didn't know how many were needed. Just that it was deadly. As you can see, I didn't have enough and I didn't try that form of suicide again. I don't try the same kind twice. I'm too fearful of messing things up the second time. What if it only partly works and I end up surviving? Heh...Trying to end it all only to live but in even worse condition? The irony would be such a hilarious joke. Then again, that's my life in a nutshell. One big cruel unrelenting joke."

Toriel's eyes water. She knew her child had her demons, but she knew not just how far back they spawned. Mettaton's screen relights.

"I...I WASN'T EXPECTING..."

"Yeah, no one does. No one expects me to be so dark. But what can I say? I do a damn good job hiding it."

"BUT...WHY THOUGH? WHAT WOULD MAKE A CHILD THAT BENT ON KILLING THEMSELVES?"

She takes a deep breath and lounges back in her chair.

"You ever feel guilty for something? Something you have no idea why you should feel that way for but you just do?"

She runs her hands over her face.

"I don't remember why I asked her that question. Maybe I was just morbidly curious. I knew my siblings were unexpected pregnancies. The eldest never came to be, so whether it was a boy or girl is forever unknown. My brother came about in the randomness of my mom hooking up with my dad. She married my dad because, well, she did like him but also so that he wouldn't be deported once his school visa ran out. He and his family escaped their homeland to start a new life...but did so illegally. Even on the surface, there's no true freedom. Four years into the marriage, I was born. Things only seemed to spiral from there. Dad would stay out drinking. Mom would be pissed. Bro and I would hide in my room and try to keep the fighting out. Mom gave up on him, someone else charmed her heart and would later be the father of my sister. Eight years into this world and they divorce and months later sis is born. She was unknown and with how old mom was at the time, she now suffers from spontaneous seizures."

The girl looks up in thought.

"So a few years ago, I asked mom...Was I unplanned like they were? Was I another surprise baby?"

She looks back down, her face holding a more cold expression.

"No, she told me. You were the only planned one. ...I should've stopped there. *sigh* I then asked...Why? She answered..."

Emotion leaves her.

"We had you in the hopes that you'd fix our marriage."

Silence. Dead silence.

"So much pressure. And to put that on a babe? How was I supposed to solve your problems? How is it my fault you couldn't stand each other when things got rough?! How is a kid supposed to make sure you don't start taking drugs and acquire sixteen felonies?! How is it my job to make sure you don't regret loving someone else?! How is that fair?! Why not take some fucking responsibility for once in your god damn life?!"

She becomes irate, grabbing one of the chairs and beating it into another one till both are useless before ending with a guttural roar that pains the throat in its harshness.

Toriel recalls similar words from her not long after they became close and she found her.

"Child? You're trembling. Is everything all right? Child, please. Just speak to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I hate you! I hate all of you! You fucking pieces of shit! Why?! Why is it so hard for any of you to care?! I've been missing for days or weeks and none of you care! *sobs* Did you ever love me?! Why did you even bother having me if you don't even care that I'm gone?! *bawling* Why? Why? Someone tell me why...please..."

"I know this isn't the most pleasant of times to ask...But since we've come to know more about each other, I have been curious about something. The humans that fall down here...They tend to not fall down for the happiest of reasons. If it is not too painful...Can you share with me your reason? What made you come to a cursed mountain where none ever return from?"

"*hard sniffling* They used to care. I used to know what it was like to know others cared. I can't remember when they started to pull away. When I became invisible. I just want to know why. Was it something I did? Did I do something wrong? Did I not make them proud? I thought I did everything right. I was a good girl. *voice cracking* I'm a good girl. Aren't I?"

Even Grillby had memories of such talk pop into his head.

"You are an amazing person. You live in his cold place and open this bar to every sad face willing to cast aside their mean spirits for spirits of another kind. You put up with a lot of nonsense, a good bit came from me today, and I'm sorry about that."

"Where is all this coming from?"

"I'm not done. You have been nothing but nice to me. And doing that isn't easy in this world we live in. Since meeting you, you've shown me more kindness than I got from my own family, and this is only our second meeting. Heh, how pathetic is that? I fell into the Underground trying to die, only to end up wanting to live because of the few that showed me any decency. And for that, I give you my thanks."

"Pussycat?"

"I don't know if it was the punch or I'm just in a weird mood. I'm probably making things awkward. No one wants to hear someone ramble about lame junk when at a bar. This is a place people go to forget things. I know I've got a lot I want to forget. Like the three or four times I ran away from home but never had a plan and always had the cops take me back. Or the time I cussed out my grandma because I thought she lost my dog when it turned out my mom had dumped the pup at a shelter and told me it escaped. Or the suicide attempts..."

"Attempts?"

"Oh yeah, there was more than one. Hard to believe, but I'm a very sad person. No, that's being too nice. Depressed is more accurate. 90% of the smiles you see me do are fake. Just part of the mask I wear to hide how truly miserable I really am."

"God, I hate myself. I'm a sad pathetic mess."

Sans now gets a clearer picture of the baggage weighing on her.

"oh! and don't forget, you're making dinner. pap only let that slide because you were practically dead. so don't get any ideas thinking you can get out of it."

"Did you just really say that?!"

"the hell is your problem?"

"Did you really just insinuate she'd harm herself?"

"i dunno...maybe?"

"You can't say that kind of stuff to her!"

"why not?"

"You...You don't know how she came to the Underground, do you?"

"she told me that she fell."

"I'm not comfortable telling you this, seeing as she hasn't and I don't think it's my place, but I can't let you say idiotic things like that."

"okay, weed, you have intrigued me. if she didn't fall, then how did she get here?"

"Well...Falling is how she came to the Underground. But...She didn't fall from an accident."

"you're telling me she..."

"She fell on purpose. She...was trying to die. I don't know about her life on the surface. She doesn't tell anyone about that stuff, not even Mom. But I have been with her since the start and I can tell...Under all that toughness and pass the goofy dork innards...She's very sad deep down."

And that moment that recently happened at Grilbby's.

"enough with the act! you act all calm, with your little quips and remarks. making you look so well put together. but i know better. i know you're just as messed up as the rest of us. so why don't you get off your high horse and get out of my life!"

"You're right. This is an act. Every day, I wake up and I pretend to be this way. To play this role of the girl that never gives in and can smile through it all. I put on my mask and face this world as best that I can. But inside I'm dying. I'm being crushed by insecurities, doubt, depression, and so much negativity that I let myself fall into a pit hoping for the sweet embrace of death. I have attempted to end my life a good handful of times. Each more pathetic than the last. Even now, I'm just a few triggers shy of crumbling into a blubbering mass of tears. Yet there are few things that keep me from doing those bad things now that I'm here. And if putting on this act keeps me in, relative, ease...Then yeah. I'm gonna pretend my ass off that all is fine with me. Because I'm a fucking moron that is too afraid to open up to those closest to me and ask for help!"

Papyrus, of course, takes all this in as vital information he could use against the human. Her emotional and mental instability can be used to manipulate her. Grooming her to be more obedient to his will.

"I'm sorry."

"DAMN RIGHT YOU'RE SORRY."

"No...I mean, I'm sorry for earlier. It was wrong for me to hit you. You just...*sigh* How do I say this without sound like a dweeb?"

"JUST...SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY. DON'T ALTER YOUR WORDS. THEY LOSE IMPACT THAT WAY."

"If that's true, then don't make a big deal out of this."

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"I am an emotional wreck and going through so much internal bullshit that it ain't funny. So know that the stupid things I'm about to say are true because this is making me feel very vulnerable and uncomfortable which I think you feel too."

By now the human was breathing heavily over the shattered remains of once recognizable objects, slowly regaining her composure. She stares at the mess for some time. Mettaton doesn't even try to do anything that could get her attention while in such a state. Eventually, she drops the bits in her hands and takes a seat in the chair she spared. Slumping in remorse and holding her face.

"I'm sorry. That...That was shameful. I'll pay you back for the damage."

"DO YOU NEED A MOMENT?"

She rubs her eyes of faint moisture.

"N-No...No. I'm fine. That...That was just a moment of venting weakness. I normally cry this crap out of my system. But...I'm so sick of crying. Yet...That felt good though. So much pent-up bullshit I don't or can't let out was just dropped like weights off my back. ...Does this count as therapy? Because this feels better than that child physiologist mom sent me to after I ran away...the first time."

"SOUND LIKE YOU DON'T CARE FOR YOUR PARENTS."

"You'd think that, but no. Don't get me wrong. I love my parents. They could've been far worse even with the flaws I've mentioned. Dad never missed work and made sure bills could be paid. Mom always made sure we could eat even if it meant she didn't and often broke the law to do so."

Her head lolls back as she lounges.

"It's easier to dwell in the negatives than the positives growing up. It can make for a bitter soul. This is just the tip of a massive iceberg, there is so much more crap hidden below. But now is neither the time nor place to dive deeper into those murky waters. I'll drown if I stay under too long. *sigh* I don't hate them for the life they brought me into. I'm just...disappointed. Disappointed by the choices they made and things they expected to get from them. Disappointed in myself for allowing all that to have so much of a hold on me. Disappointed...So very disappointed...*long drawn out groan* Could we please leave the personal questions for now?"

"VERY WELL."

He flips through the cards.

"YOU'VE BEEN IN THE UNDERGROUND FOR SOME TIME NOW. HOW HAS THAT BEEN? WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A HUMAN AMONG MONSTERS?"

This gets their attention. The human knows better than to tell all. But she's so far been extremely open. They hoped she was of sound mind enough to remember to keep some secrets.

"Even after all the attempted murder...I prefer monsters to humans. Because at least once the fighting is over, things can be somewhat normal. It's like 'hey, I know I just tried to kill you, but do you wanna maybe hang out for a bit?' and then that happens. It blows my mind how there's no animosity or spite afterward. After Humans fight with each other there's no calm, no peace of it being over, hell, a war might break out if it was bad enough. You never know how bad someone feels after and if the grudge they carry will make them go to extreme measures to make them feel better. Well...Except for the Irish. Those lads can tussle and then be all chummy after like it was a bonding experience. Nice folk. Always fancied them. Heh...Kinda like Monsters. A tough outside but nice inside. Maybe that's one of the reasons they were persecuted too. ...God, my kind is trash. All it knows is hate. We even hate ourselves. And one day...That hate will be the end of us."

She moves some hair from her face. A small smile coming to her.

"Moments like this...It's nice. Brief pauses of reflection and repose. Typically I end up doing this kind of thing in my head or I talk to myself. Funny how that works, the mind I mean. It is a self-aware entity in itself that can be both you and not you at the same time yet won't confuse itself by doing so. Probably why the imagination is such vital part of it. *pause* Heh...My bad. Lost myself for a moment. Back on point...Sure, this all began with you nearly killing me and it's probably just leading up to something else. Something good or bad. Yet till that happens...This is nice."

"SPEAKING OF NICE...YOUR LV HASN'T GONE UP FROM ITS BASE LEVEL. WE'VE SEEN YOU GO INTO FIGHTS, SO IT'S NOT THAT YOU'VE AVOIDED THEM COMPLETELY."

"As I've said...I don't like fighting."

"YOU MUST BE AWARE THAT PACIFISUM IS NOT A RECOMMENDED OR AN EASY THING TO DO IN THE UNDERGROUND. IS IT HARD BEING NICE FOR YOU DOWN HERE?"

"Is it hard for a fish to swim or bird to fly? Nice is my default. I don't have it in me to be genuinely mean. I can be rude or even a bitch, but that's only if that was how I was treated first. The real hard part about it is getting others to understand this niceness is real. Some pick it up with no trouble. But others are difficult. Going so far as to think I'm trying to lull them into a false sense of safety as part of an evil human trap. Can you believe that?"

Sans eyes Papyrus who rolls his sockets at his brother, both knowing damn well she meant him.

"EVEN SO, HAS THERE BEEN A TIME WHERE YOU WANTED TO FIGHT BACK? SURELY EVEN I PROBABLY INCURRED SOME IRE FROM YOU?"

She looks at the mechanical machination with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

"Ire is a strong word. True, I'm not happy about this situation. Exposing me for ratings. One of your goons bashing me over the head. The creepy stalking behavior by watching me through cameras. The needless puzzles and fighting. All of it wasn't necessary."

"I DISAGREE. EVERY BIT WAS COMPLETELY NECESSARY."

"Bull crap."

"NOW NOW, LET ME EXPLAIN. REGARDLESS OF YOUR INTENTIONS, YOU HAVE TO AGREE THAT YOU BEING HUMAN DOES CALL FOR CERTAIN MEASURES TO BE TAKEN. HUMANS DEAL PHYSICAL DAMAGE AND MONSTERS ARE WEAK TO SUCH ATTACKS."

"I know that. Get to your point, Metta."

"MY POINT? VERY WELL. MY DATABASE CONTAINS THE COLLECTED INFORMATION WE'VE GATHERED FROM THE PREVIOUS HUMANS THAT CAME BEFORE YOU. EACH WEAKER AND WEAKER AS TIME PASSED. YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAVE BEEN DISPLAYING STRANGE ABILITIES..."

A monitor comes down, displaying the human in her earlier distress and giving off that strange energy.

"NOT TO MENTION YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN CHANGING IT'S COLOR WITHOUT MAGIC INFLUENCE."

The monitor shows the many different colors her soul was throughout the show.

"SO, DARLING, AS YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN COMPLETELY NECESSARY. EVERY LITTLE OBSTACLE ALLOWED FOR MORE OF YOUR UNKNOWNS TO BE REVEALED. HOWEVER..."

The monitor goes back up.

"I GET THE FEELING YOU'RE STILL HIDING SOMETHING."

She glares at the robot.

"I repeat, this wasn't necessary. All you needed to do was ask."

She sits up straight and focuses. Her soul emerges...it is a deep dull blue.

"I don't know everything. Seeing as this whole 'soul' thing isn't known on the surface anymore. To use now, the soul is an intangible thing. It leaves when we die and does whatever since no one truly knows what happens after death. But...I do know my soul isn't normal. Not normal from what I've learned here anyway. I possess ten traits for which my soul can become."

Shock smacks them. Even Mettaton spits oil from some port.

"T-TEN?!"

She nods.

"Ten traits. Ten colors. Nine of which are completely fine."

Her breathing falters as she concentrates harder, forcing the soul to change color to her will.

"Blue, integrity. Cyan, patience. Green, kindness. Pink, passion. Purple, perseverance. Orange, bravery. Red, determination. Yellow, justice. White, hope. ...These are my main traits. The nine that make up my core personality. Yet...There is one, the last one, that I will not show you. No matter what."

A question mark appears on Mettaton's screen. Toriel and Sans know full well which one she means.

"WON'T SHOW? HOW COME?"

"That soul is too dangerous. One that I can't control. The black soul of relentlessness."

Papyrus sockets widen. Sans wasn't making it up after all.

"IF YOU TRULY EXPECT ME TO BUY INTO THIS BLACK SOUL NONSENSE THAN YOU BETTER FIND A WAY TO PROVE TO ME THAT IT'S REAL!"

"and how do you expect me to do that? have it triggered and let her kill half the town?"

"OF COURSE NOT! SHE'D NEVER GET THAT FAR INTO SUCH A SPREE ONCE I SLAY HER."

"YOU DON'T THINK I CAN KILL HER?"

"her? sure, you'd kill her no problem. she'd probably let you do it if things got really bad. but the black soul? that's a different story all together."

"YOU TALK AS THOUGH YOU'VE SEEN THIS 'BLACK SOUL' IN ACTION."

"..."

"YOU HAVE, HAVEN'T YOU?"

"that thing isn't something you want to mess with. don't go after something you can't handle."

"YOU DARE THINK THAT PITIFUL CREATURE CAN HARM ME?!"

"no! i don't think it would harm you! i know it would kill you!"

"I have no will over that trait. It consumes me utterly. Coldly targeting anything and everything as a threat, then calculatingly eliminating victims brutally with no remorse by any means. Pain doesn't phase it. It has no fear. But I do. I fear this soul. I fear becoming that...that thing. That beast."

The robot's screen blips.

"YOU MAKE IT SOUND TERRIBLE. IF IT'S AS BAD AS YOU SAY, HOW HASN'T YOUR LV INCREASED? SURELY A MURDEROUS SOUL LIKE THAT WOULD HAVE A BODY COUNT ATTACHED TO IT?"

"I have thankfully been taken out of that state when it happens. My brother down here, the flower you may have seen me with, he's the one that saves me. I don't know how he does it as I only barely register what happens when the Black Soul is in control. But it's one of the reasons why we stay together. He doesn't want to die and I don't want to hurt anyone, so it's a good deal for us both."

"AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT TRIGGERS SUCH A STATE TO HAPPEN?"

"I'm not 100% sure but I have a theory. The worst of times. Moments when I lose all hope or can't take the pain. Mentally and/or physically. It takes over when I can't deal with things. And I guess it tries to 'solve' the problem...by getting rid of it."

Her demeanor is becoming more unsettled as she continues.

"I...I normally am unwilling to share this information. I don't like being personal with strangers. But since this is a live broadcast, and I've basically torn open a can of worms full of my emo baggage, I want this to be known. I need others to understand the danger. Because you all seem to view me as an easy kill. The dumb nice human that doesn't fight back. It'll be easy to get her soul. Hell, if it weren't for the black trait, I'd have given this thing to you guys ages ago. But it's not worth it. There's no point going to the surface, otherwise I'd be more inclined to leave and be subjected to the crap I deal with. And trust me...You don't want to know what I deal with."

Her eyes get dark and her expression serious to the point it's unnerving.

"The death that can possibly happen if the black soul activates and isn't stopped could be limitless. As the bearer of this curse, I remain here. Not because I see less harm if it triggers around monster, hell no. I trust my death to you because I have faith in monster kind being able to handle it. It's because I don't want to risk it being weaponized by humanity. Magic...REAL magic like this is gone from the surface. If it were to be discovered now...Magic will be coveted like any other valuable resource. Blood and dust will be spilled over ownership. The experiments to find a better means of harvesting it, the torture, the suffering, the endless cycle of hate feeding upon the lack of morality. I have no doubt monsters wouldn't even be seen as people. We've done it to different creeds of humanity throughout history, hell we still do it. I...I don't want that for Monsters. Part of me is saying I'm overthinking it, but I can't that optimistic side of me knowing all the fucked up shit Humans do. I don't want you guys to suffer. I don't want to cause harm. I don't want to see any more death! Please!!"

Her eyes are watering and her body trembling.

"I...I-I hate this feeling. This h-helplessness. I'm caged. I'm useless. I'm nothing on the surface. I'm a danger underground. I'm my own worst enemy and I don't know how to fight. *struggling* Why? Why didn't the fall kill me? Why can't I just die? Why am I so weak? I can't even bleed to death!"

She's a mess, weeping into her gloved hands. But Mettaton dismisses this display and keeps going.

"WEAK? YOU SELL YOURSELF SHORT. CLAWING INTO YOUR OWN BODY ISN'T A VERY WEAK THING AT ALL. COME TO THINK OF IT...IN YOUR ENCOUNTER WITH MUFFET, YOU TOLD HER WHY YOU DID IT. CARE TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEANT?"

A recording is played.

["I have just spent an ungodly amount of time trapped in that elevator over there having my soul violated by people that don't even exist anymore on this plane of reality. I have clawed my skin off to stop feeling their hands on me."]

Her face has the look of someone biting their tongue fairly hard to stay in control.

"What's to explain? I meant what I said and said what I meant."

"YOU'RE AVOIDING THE QUESTION, DARLING."

"No. You're refusing the answer."

"YOU SAID YOU'D TELL THE TRUTH!"

"I am!"

Agitation mounts.

"BULLSHIT! HOW THE HELL CAN ANYONE BELIEVE THAT?"

"I don't give a crap if you believe me or not! You weren't the one there!"

"JUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!"

"It doesn't matter! You can't do anything about it! No one can! You can't stop people that break the laws of reality!"

Sans didn't like what he was hearing. And none of them liked that her still exposed soul was sparking with that strange energy.

"THERE ARE NO PEOPLE LIKE THAT!"

"How would you know?!"

"IF EVEN A FLY FARTS ANYWHERE IN THE UNDERGROUND, I KNOW ABOUT IT. IF ANYONE WITH ABILITIES LIKE THAT WERE HERE, THEY WOULDN'T BE UNKNOWN FOR VERY LONG."

"Did you not hear my words? They don't even exist anymore on this plane of reality! You can't find people that are outside time and space, you fucking idiot!"

"I'M THE IDIOT?! DO YOU NOT HEAR YOURSELF?! OUTSIDE TIME AND SPACE?! YOU CAN'T EVEN MAKE A CONVINCING LIE!"

"I'm not lying, you insufferable ego-maniacal narcissistic jackass!"

"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!!"

"I did! Accept the fact there is shit in life you can't fathom or comprehend yet is true! Like Bigfoot, life on other planets, or stigmata! Unexplained phenomenons are the backbones of reality! Deal with it!"

"THAT'S NOT AN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENON! THAT'S A PURE IMPROBABLE IMMPOSSIBLITY!"

"By who's rule?! Are you God?! Do you know every infallible law the universe runs on?! No! You know nothing! No one does! So stop digging for shit that isn't there before something bad happens!"

"THEN GIVE ME A REAL ANSWER!"

"Stop...Please stop!"

"DARLING..."

"I s̷ái͟d͝ s̷t̢̛o̧͘p̀͟!̵̕͜!̧"

A surge of energy bursts from her soul, the flash whites out the screen and hurts the eyes. While blinded they all can hear the garbled sounds of pain and the sudden thud of weight hitting the floor. Their sight comes back to see the human writhing on the ground and gripping her soul, teeth bared in restrained growling.

"DARLING?"

She struggles to make her body move. Just slightly getting her head off the floor.

"Th͜i͞s͠...͜T́h̴i̵s̸ ̛įs ̕y̕our ̛f́aul͝t͏..̢.̴I͜ ͟a͡ske͝d ͠y̕o͏u t̷o͜ ͜s̛top..̢.̵"

The energy courses from her soul over her form, a brighter than normal light emanates from her clutched soul. She weakly pulls herself up to be supported by her free arm and the reason for the light is made clear, a crack has marred her soul. But that is far from the worst part. Sans spots it before Toriel but she's the one that points it out.

"Oh no!"

"What's wrong?"

"The darkness!"

Indeed. Black began to appear in the human's heart. The darkness corrupting the white light and faintly leaking out of the crack. The girl feels this. Panic flashes in her eyes but she's in no condition to handle so much on top of what has already happened.

"Wh̸en̢ wil̡l҉ ̛yo͡u̶ le͘ar͜n.͞..̡Y͘ou ̴fuc̀kín͜g id̴iot.̸..W͢hén wil̡l yoų ́a̶l̢l͜ léar͘n that͏ ̵y͘our act̵i҉o͞ns ͏ha͡v̛e ͘co͡n̴seq͘uenc͘e̶s͘?͘!"

The distortion. The off tone. The malice that seeped out. Perhaps it was enough proof for the automaton to believe her earlier words. For Mettaton seems to be distracted one second and then takes it all seriously the next. One of his hands snakes under his desk and the next thing to happen is the floor beneath the human opens up, dropping her into the unknown. Glitched roaring echoes as she plummets. A sickening crash leads into dead silence.

"WELL...THAT WAS INTERESTING."

His nonchalance about the whole thing is upsetting.

"SADLY, MY CO-STAR SEEMS TO BE HAVING A BIT OF TROUBLE. NOT EVERYONE CAN HANDLE THE STRESS OF BEING IN THE SPOTLIGHT, LIKE MOI."

His flamboyance is rubbing them the wrong way.

"HOWEVER, DESPITE HER TEMPER TANTRUM AND LACK OF COOPERATION, I WILL ASSURE YOU ALL SHE IS NOT DEAD. I MERELY GAVE HER THE SMALL BREAK THAT SHE CLEARLY NEEDED."

It's likely that the break involved her bones or some body part.

"BUT...I CAN GIVE YOU ALL SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO...THIS WAS THE LAST PRELEWD ACT. THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE US TOGETHER, IT WILL BE FOR THE MAIN EVENT. THE FINAL BATTLE APPROACHES, MY ENCOURAGABLE VIEWERS. DO NOT MISS OUT ON THIS HISTORICAL MAKE OR BREAK MOMENT."

The show shifts into a commercial break.

Toriel begins shaking. She can't deal with this much longer. Grillby does what he can to give her support, but he too has much on his mind. His pussycat unloaded a TON of things and a lot of it was incredibly concerning. Papyrus ushers his brother away from the other two as not to be overheard.

"SO...HOW LONG?"

Sans looks at him funny.

"uh...what?"

"HOW LONG WERE THE BOTH OF YOU GOING TO HIDE THIS PART OF THE SECRET FROM ME?"

"um...which part?"

"THAT POWER. SHE HAS TEN TRAITS, SANS. JUST HOW STRONG IS THAT GIRL?"

Sans scratches his skull.

"i honestly don't know, pap. i didn't even know she had that many. my main worry was always the black trait, so i never asked about others."

Papyrus folds his arms and shuts his eyes in thought.

"i swear, i ain't lying to ya."

"I KNOW YOU'RE NOT."

"then...what's wrong?"

"*HUFF* I DON'T LIKE THIS. I DON'T LIKE THE IDEA OF THAT WEAKLING BEING POWERFUL."

His eyes open but look at nothing.

"I SHOULD'VE KNOWN SOMETHING WAS OFF THAT NIGHT...THAT PUNCH...SHE WAS HOLDING BACK SO MUCH..."

Papyrus clenches his fists into tight balls of rage.

"THAT BITCH."

"ya know she didn't want to hurt ya."

"THAT'S THE THING. SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD HURT ME. HOW WEAK DOES SHE THINK I AM? THAT'S WHAT'S PISSING ME OFF MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW."

Sans sighs. One day his brother will taste humble pie and not like it.

[HOTLAND: LAB]

Undyne finishes off her sixth bowel of ramen and looks at Alphys.

"Well...That wasn't how I thought it was going to end. Was it really necessary to tell him to drop her?"

Alphys takes a few more notes and ponders.

"Would you rather there be no main event? Besides..."

She adjusts her glasses.

"If what the human said is true, then the Black Soul being triggered in an open area would result in mass casualties. The zone in which the ending will be shot in is, for the most part, closed and under my remote control. So even in the event of something going wrong, which the odds of such are highly unlikely, then any and all threats can be dealt with in an optimum manner."

Undyne nods.

"I guess that makes sense. Still...I don't what I saw. There was real fear in the human's eyes."

"Good. She should be afraid. She should be very afraid of what's to come."

"And what's that?"

"That would be spoilers."

"Damn it. *sigh* A human soul with ten traits...Sounds tough. I wanna fight it!"

"It does raise a lot of questions. One, in particular, is on my mind."

"What's that?"

"If a human soul, deprived of magic, possesses ten traits and begins gaining magic...What will happen when it attains 100% magic?"

A cold chill runs through the captain.

[HOTLAND: SOMEWHERE ON LEVEL 3]

I am getting so sick of this crap. Why can't I just die at this point?

"*muffled* Lynsie?"

The voice and light jostling is bringing me back to consciousness. Damn it. Here I go again.

My eyes weakly open to the sight of dirt and rock. Just an inch away from losing the ability to see. Like I need a handicap in all this.

"Lynsie? Are you okay?"

Ah, Flowey. It's about time we met back up.

"*groan* H-Hey, bro. I missed you."

He smiles sadly.

"Are you okay? Can you move?"

I roll over on my back and check myself.

[HP ██████████ 10/40]

[HEARTBREAK level ONE in effect]

I figured that's what happened. No wonder the Black Soul was triggering. Thank goodness for the fall knocking my ass out or things would've gone bad fast.

"I think I'll be okay. Sore, but okay. I'm sadly getting used to falling and possible brain damage."

My answer has him pout.

"What's with the face, bro? You know I'm a tough cookie. I'll be fine."

His face gets full of concern.

"I...I heard what you told Mettaton."

Yeah, you and the rest of the Underground.

"I...I understand now why you didn't talk about your past. Why you kept to yourself. I'm sorry."

God, he's too sweet for this place. I reach over and gently stroke his petals.

"I love you, bro. You have no idea how much it means to me that you care. But don't pity me. I do that enough on my own."

I wearily sit up, shaking my head of all that baggage I brought up for the show.

"I wasn't pitying you. It's just..."

He fiddles with his leaves in a shy way but I cut his words off.

"Bro, I get it. I do. It's the same feeling like when you told me your history. Yet, let's be honest here, you're more mentally mature than me and I'm still not completely okay after getting all that off my chest. We can talk more about it later after this ordeal is over. Maybe over mom's cheesecake? Deal?"

"...You mean it?"

"Yeah. I promise."

He smiles brightly.

"Okay. I'd like that."

I pick myself up and stretch, taking a look around at where we are.

"Don't tell me he dropped me back at the start."

"Nope. This is still Level Three. In fact...I do believe MTT Resort is just past this place."

"...For real? Is it a safe space?"

"Yep. There are shops and rooms to rest."

I hear a heavenly choir sing in my head.

"Finally! The universe throws me a decent bone!"

I regret saying that the moment it leaves my mouth. Flowey looks at me funny.

"Don't take that out of context, you know what I meant."

"I don't know. You and Smiley Trashbag are eerily close."

My eye twitches. Things I wish Gaster didn't show me try to pop into my head.

"Are you okay? You look like you're about to puke."

"Never insinuate something like that ever again."

He shakes his head at me. I try to change the subject before I have a heart attack on camera.

"So...Are you able to follow me to the resort? I'm sick of being separated."

"There's ground outside of it and parts I can reach beyond it, but the resort itself I can't get in without some sort of aid like a pot. Cement and tile flooring is a pain to break into."

"Damn, bro, you hella strong."

There's a deactivated reversed conveyor belt that's attached to the artificial platforms.

"Is it safe to cross? It's kinda giving me 'trap' vibes."

"You should be fine. This is normally the part where the colored tiles would be used again, but you know, stuff changed. It's probably off."

"Ah. Gotcha. I guess...See ya soon?"

"You bet."

He ducks into the ground so I take it as my time to leave this pit. The entire time I feel on edge. With my luck, the trap will turn on and I get screwed. Thankfully nothing happens apart from some jets of flame randomly going off in the distance and making me jump like a wuss. At least it got me to the stairs quicker.

After a quite the climb, I reach the top perturbed yet undaunted as a four-way crossroads greets me, though the two paths on the sides are blocked. More Royal Guards, a cat to the left and some kind of insect on the right, both in that imposing armor.

"Well if it isn't my best customer..."

The Ice Scream rabbit pops up from behind the cart I wasn't paying attention to.

"Fancy seeing you again."

As odd as seeing him here is, he's a familiar face that is a sight for my sore eyes. I approach.

"Hey, guy, what's up? Haven't been seeing you much in Snowdin Forest for a bit."

He leans on the cart like a cool guy.

"Yeah...Been moving around seeing if I can make mad gold somewhere where the weather isn't the same temp as my product."

"Any luck?"

"Waterfall wasn't so bad. Even started a new program with rewards cards. Turn in a card with ten punches and get a free doubling of your next order. Speaking of which..."

He reaches into his pants pocket and hands me a punch card. Some holes have already been made.

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the funds to get this far. So...Instead of starting your card full, I may have added your previous buys. Can't say I haven't gotten better at my wonderful salesmanship."

I can't help but smile. He's come a long way. I'm proud of him.

"Well then, wonderful salesman, I'd like to add some more holes please."

"Heh...sure. But I'm warning you, prices have gone up. 25G. Got to charge more here 'cause of the heat."

"Understood, my dude. Um...Just curious...Got fudge pops? Kinda have this hankering for something chocolate."

He shakes his head.

"Sold out. The Royal Guards bought those like crazy."

"Damn. Oh well. One blue, orange, grape, and blood. All bisicles."

He fills my order and I pay the 100G.

"Here you go. All five ready to enjoy."

I look at him funny.

"Five?"

"Yep. Five. I definitely didn't toss in a strawberry one because of customer loyalty. Nope. Didn't do it."

Must...resist...the urge...to HUG!!

"...Thank you. That...That means a lot."

He gives me a wink and I practically skip away up another set of stairs. I place the treats in my inventory for now. I know not what crap will happen from here, so healing items are a big help.

I am met by a large complex. Redbrick that's been tagged with graffiti, yellow-tinted windows with some broken, a gold MTT sign with two Mettaton images with devil horns, a black & white checkered awning over the door, two large plant potters that have dry withered flower remnants, and a blood-red or just stained that way rug embroidered with gold MTTs.

"Classy."

I'm about to head inside when something hits my leg. A paper airplane? I inspect it to find it's a note.

[Hey! Go up the creepy alleyway on the right for some great deals!]

"...I'm gonna get mugged, aren't I?"

It's against my better judgment, but this is a neutral zone, so I should be okay. I wearily creep around, following spray-painted arrows, to end up finding two girls gossiping among garbage. They notice me and straighten up.

"Hey! Check it out!"

"Yeah! Check it out!"

"So, like, what's up? I'm Bratty, and this is my best friend, Catty."

"I'm Catty, and this is my best friend, Bratty."

Oh no...More valley speak!?! Why is that a thing down here?!

Bratty is a tall, green alligator or crocodile monster that wears a primarily black shawl with yellow and red details on the sides. She has yellow hair that flows into curls and red lipstick.

Catty is a plump purple cat creature who wears a set of black overalls with yellow buttons and tufts of red fur with yellow highlighted tips coming out from under it on either side. She has black hair with a red streak in it and a yellow earring on her left ear.

"Uh...Hi? So...This is a shop?"

"Like, the best shop!"

"You should buy ALL our stuff!"

Catty gets this blanket out and opens it out to show me their items. They don't have much, just four things, but I can't turn away from these items.

[25G - Junk Food - Has a big bite out of it]

[350G - Rusty Revolver - Bullets NOT included]

[350G - Tattered Western Hat - ATTACK up when worn]

[600G - Mystery Key - Probably to someone's house LOL]

A gun...How the fuck is that here?

"Oooh! I know that look!"

"That's the look of some wanting something!"

"Bratty! We're gonna be rich!"

"Where did you find this stuff?"

"I mean, like, where does anyone get guns, or food, or..."

"We found it in the garbage!"

I so called it.

"It's GOOD garbage."

"It's like, really good garbage."

"Where do you get the garbage?"

"Like, the garbage store, duh!!! ...Waterfall mostly."

"I found a gun in a dumpster!"

I check my gold...I don't have anywhere close to 1,300G for their garbage.

"Um...Maybe we could work out some sort of arrangement?"

They glare.

"That's poor talk."

"You need WAY more money."

What I need is to get that stuff away from them. That stuff is bad enough with humans, I don't want monsters messing with crap like guns.

"Ladies, I'm sure there's something we can do. Shops run on trade. This is just a trade of a different kind. I can't give you the gold, but I can get you other things. There's gotta something you'd both want that I can fetch for you in exchange?"

They mull it over.

"Thanks, but we, like, don't really need anything."

"Oh my god, can you go get us some Dazzleburgers?"

"We don't. Really need. Anything."

"Wait! I'll pay you 1000G if you get Mettaton to autograph my butt!"

Catty seems to be the easier one here. Maybe I can work with this.

"While I do know the guy, I'm not sure I can get Metta to sign your butt."

"Damn."

"Wait...You know Mettaton?!"

Their eyes sparkle.

"...Yes?"

They squeal with fanatical glee.

"Oh my God. Mettaton."

"Oh my GOD, METTATON."

"He's like...My robot husband."

"Actually he's like...MY robot husband."

"I think we're like...both going to marry him."

"We're both like, ALREADY married to him. He just, like, doesn't know it yet."

They're insane.

"Okay...Can I ask what's a Razzburger? I could try to get that."

Their eyes widen in shock.

"You don't know what a Dazzleburger is?"

"Do you, like, live under a rock?"

Don't we all do since this is a mountain?

"Dazzleburgers are epic!"

"They're only sold in the resort."

Interesting.

"Inside huh? Let me guess...Very pricey."

Bratty nods.

"The stuff inside, is like..."

"TOTALLY wicked expensive."

"But, like, this stuff we found is like..."

"TOTALLY wicked cheap."

"You should..."

"Like..."

"TOTALLY wicked buy all of it?"

"Cheap? You're selling a random key for 600G!"

They giggle at me and I sigh. Bitches, man...bitches.

"So where inside am I gettin' them?"

"The MTT-Brand Burger Emporium."

"You have to get them from Bugerpants."

That name...That name brings back memories...as well as sore spots. Douche-cat...

"Burgerpants."

"Yeah, that guy from the store. Yuck, what a creep."

"Yeah! He's a creep! But he's kind of cute, too..."

"C'mon Catty, don't you have ANY standards?"

"Nope!!!"

...You need standers, Catty.

"Yeah, I met him. Not so much a creep but he is a massive prick."

"OK, like, the annoying thing is..."

"He'd be OK if he just treated us with some respect."

"But he just acts..."

"Really weird."

"And then acts like it's OUR fault he acts that way!"

"Like, when we asked him to get those Dazzleburgers..."

"He dropped them and ran away before we could even say anything!"

"We were, like, going to share them."

"Really? I wasn't."

"Catty!"

This zone is full of awful people.

"One last thing...How many you want?"

Catty waves her paws.

"So many! Enough to fill a dumpster!"

"The mega value pack should cover us."

I give Bratty a thumbs up and leave their shady establishment. Now I enter the main building and this time I'm greeted by someone for once. It's either very diamond-like or very origami-like, but above all, it's a tiny monster.

"Welcome to MTT Resort - Hotland's biggest apartment-building-turned-hotel! Whether you're here for a night or still live here, MTT Resort prides itself on a great stay! Just passing through...? Nice! MTT Resort prides itself on being passed through!"

"Interesting business model. Does it work?"

"Oh, indeed it does, human."

"You know what I am?"

"Oh yes! The staff has been informed of your coming and instructed on how to handle you upon arrival."

Oh god, what now?

"Over on your left, we have a dine-in restaurant complete with a stage which hosts a wide cast of live acts. Either comedy done by locals or Mettaton entertains when he isn't too busy."

"Neat."

"If you're feeling like you hate yourself, behind me is the MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Dazzleburger!"

Well, they know how fast food works.

"All further questions can be taken to my coworker behind the desk."

I scratch my head and shrug.

"Thanks."

I walk away and head for the other receptionist. It's not a bad-looking lobby at least. Red & yellow checkered tiles and the rug from outside continues forward into parts unknown. The obnoxious fountain of Mettaton is gaudy though. I reach the desk and the monster behind it is a weird one. It's blue and its head is a hand with very well manicured red nails.

"Yes, we know. The elevator music volume is super loud and the song is stuck on a three-second loop. We are working on it. Because of this incident, rooms are running at a special rate! 200G a room. Interested?"

Someone sounds grumpy.

"No thank you. I was told to come to you. I'm the human if that helps."

Their head fingers extend in alert.

"Oh! Sorry. I was instructed to inform you on where to go next."

"That would be helpful, yes."

It motions to where the rug is heading.

"If you follow the rug there, you'll be lead out back to the entrance of the CORE. Mettaton will be waiting for you at the top."

"Could I use the elevator instead? All this travel is exhausting."

"No can do. The elevator leads to the Capital and main residence of our people. You're not allowed to go there."

"Oh...That's fine. I didn't want to go there. Just trying to take shortcuts if able."

"*ahem* If you require a small rest, might I suggest renting a room?"

"I don't the gold, sorry."

"That's fine. Mettaton has pre-paid a room for you. One time only."

I'm stunned. Damn him! Why does he confuse me so much?! I want to like and hate him at the same time!

"Um...In that case, sure. Where are rooms?"

They motion again.

"Down the hall to the right."

I wait for them to give me a key or card but nothing is there except awkwardness.

"Is there a problem?"

"No...not really. But...uh...Isn't this the part you give me a room key?"

"What? Room...Key? No, we don't do that. If you leave your room, you'll have to pay again."

So if I enter I can't leave or else I'll have to pay? That's insane!

"On second thought, maybe later."

"Shame. Do let us know if you change your mind. Have a sparkular day!"

I'm getting the feeling they're being nice because they were told to be. Otherwise, I doubt I'd be given such a warm welcome. Oh well. Time to pay a certain someone a visit.

I stroll up to the emporium and find myself paused. I can go about this in many ways. The different choices and outcomes play out in my head super fast. After a few, I settle on something...something that'll leave an impression. I push the doors open. A digital bell sounds. I look at what appears to be a sadder version of McDonald's. And like a mindless corporate drone, he speaks while moping the floor before seeing "who" just walked in.

"Welcome to MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Dazzleburger. Sparkle up your day (TM)."

He begins to turn around.

"What can I do to..."

His eyes widen seeing me, grinning sadistically at him like a lunatic.

"Uh...help?"

This hurts my throat to do, but it really sells this whole thing. I deepen my voice to imitate Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget and just laugh. He is unnerved to say the least.

"*menacing* No one will help you."

"H-Hey now...Don't think of doing anything funny."

I walk up to him and he backs away slowly before leaping behind the counter.

"Stay back! You can't hurt anyone in shops!"

I keep the deep voice.

"*menacing* Hurt you? Foolish boy...Why would I do that? It's not like you put a cigarette out on my wrist and bashed my head with a bat!"

That last part was done a bit too harsh and I end coughing. All seriousness leaves.

"*coughs* Nah, man...*normal* I ain't gonna do anything. For reals. I was just messing with ya."

He eyes me funny.

"Riiiiiight...What do you want then?"

"Preferably, my phone."

He flinches, his eyes looking quickly down then darting back up.

"I..."

"Metta doesn't have to know."

"What do you mean he won't know?! He knows everything that goes on here!"

"Look, you either give me my phone, or I'm gonna go back there and take it."

"You're not seri..."

My dead stare shuts him up. He seems to freeze up now. I sneer and put my hand out. He looks at my hand and then starts sweating. I'm beginning to lose my patience.

"You have five seconds."

His fur stands on end and he suddenly slams his face on the countertop, giving himself a bloody nose.

"Sorry, (Ha ha) it's against the rules to talk to customers who haven't bought anything. And talking with you this long has put me in serious shit. If you want this 'exchange' to continue, you're going to make a purchase."

I'm not happy.

"...What do you have?"

[60G - Sorebet - Very popular food.]

[120G - Dazzleburger - Very popular food.]

[300G - Mythical Villain - Anti-Hero Sandwich. ATTACK UP in battle.]

[500G - Biltong Slab designed to look like Mettaton - Don't ask. Please.]

I huff through my nose and shell out the 60G.

"That Sorebet better come with my phone."

"Yeah yeah. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Fuck you. I wear boxers."

He eyes me with a blush before heading into the back. Might as well chat him up while I can.

"So...Do you know the chicks behind the building?"

"Huh? Oh...Them. Yeah, I know them. What of it?"

"They were talking about you."

"The girls were...Talking about me...?"

Hooked him.

"They mentioned you threw burgers at them and ran."

"Bullshit! That is not what happened."

He comes back to the counter with a glass of frozen dessert and my phone.

"Care to enlighten me?"

He sighs and lights a cigarette. I wonder if he can do that while on shift?

"Never interact with attractive people. Unless you're 'one of them', they're just gonna take advantage of you. Those two chicks asked me to sneak them some Dazzleburgers. And I, the naive teenager that I was, said yes to them. Bad idea."

"What happened?"

He takes a dag and lifts the collar of his uniform shirt open, blowing the smoke in there.

"Does that really keep the smoke from spreading?"

"It's worked so far. *puff* So I went out to the alley to see those two ladies, and uh...you know, see what'd happen next."

"Like...Naughty stuff?"

"...Maybe."

"Nice."

He blushes.

"Anyway...Then my boss comes out of nowhere, sees me, and demands to know what I was doing. I was so startled, the hamburgers in my pockets tumbled out onto the ground. Not wanting to lose face to the girls, I scrambled to pick them up! But, as I was bending down, the weight of the remaining hamburgers...*puff*...caused my pants to fall down."

He expected me to mock him. But I can't feel anything more than pity for the guy. This surprises him and he continues his story.

"Then the girls laughed at me. Everyone calls me Burgerpants now. It's gotten to the point I can't remember my name half of the time. It's even on my name tag for fuck's sake!"

Poor douche cat.

"I think you're the first to not laugh at me or that story."

"Why would I laugh? That's...That's messed up, man."

He takes another drag.

"You know something...I misjudged you, human. I know it ain't much, but, I'm sorry for being an ass."

I rub the back of my head.

"I'll be honest, guy...Since the bar thing, I've seen you only as a prick. The idea of you having hard times and lashing out didn't cross my mind at all. That's my bad right there. Sorry on my part for being a bitch."

He smirks.

"So...You're really not going to tell Mettaton about this?"

He hands me my phone.

"Dude, this stays between us. Besides, he's kinda been pissing me off lately."

"Yeah, he does that."

He takes a deep drag before putting the cigarette out on the bottom of his shoe.

"Can I give you some advice? I'm getting on in years, so take it from me...You've still got time. Don't live like me. I'm 19 years old and I've already wasted my entire life. I'll probably be trapped at this stupid job forever. But wait! There's one thing that keeps me going! If ASGORE gets just one more SOUL, we'll finally get to go to the surface! It'll be a brand new world! There's gotta be a second chance out there for me! For everyone!"

"Maybe. So, what did you want to do before this?"

"Oh...I wanted to be an ACTOR."

"Neat."

"When I first came to Hotland, it was my dream to work with Mettaton. Well, be careful what you wish for! God, look what that idiot has done here. This place is a labyrinth of bad choices. And every time we try to change something for the better, he vetoes it and says that's not how they do it on the surface. Oh! Right! Humans are always eating hamburgers made of RHINESTONES AND GLITTER."

"...I can assure you we don't eat that. Eating that would be very bad for our health. Maybe even fatal. Monsters don't really eat that...Do they?"

His eyes shift and I facepalm.

"And you guys think I'm gonna hurt ya?"

"You should probably get going. The boss will get his gears in a bunch if you take too long getting to the CORE."

"Fine."

I put the Sorebet in my inventory and remember my awkward side-quest.

"Oh! Before I bounce, can you help me with something?"

He tilts his head.

"What?"

"The chicks, Bratty and Catty, they have items I want but don't have the crazy amount of gold. They say they'll trade for a mega value pack. Any way you might be able to help make this trade happen?"

He sighs.

"Really? Do you know how much that is?"

"1300G close? Because that's how much I need."

"...What kind of shit are they selling that's worth that much?!"

I goofily shrug. He groans and rubs his face.

"I can't just give you that much for free."

"Catty thinks your cute."

"...For real?"

I nod. He fidgets, fingers tip-tapping and pitter-pattering.

"Okay, I'll tell you what...You score me a hook up with her and I'll give you the burgers."

Damn you rule of three in side-quests!

"Argh...I guess I can try. It won't be the weirdest thing I do today but it is on the list though."

His eyes light up with excitement. I can't mess this up now. How often does he actually smile like this?

"Thank you! *ahem* I mean...Cool."

I slink out of the emporium and head for the exit.

"Um, excuse me, human...The CORE is the other way."

I groan.

"I know. I'll be back."

Exit building, go into the creepy alley, and meet the girls again.

"Look who's back."

"Do you have the Dazzleburgers?"

I show my empty hands.

"Ha! I knew she'd blow it."

"Sucks to be you!"

"Hold up. He'll give me the goods. But..."

"But...?"

"Catty...Do you really think he's cute? 'Cause he thinks you're hot."

Catty's face flushes. Bratty rolls her eyes.

"For reals? He wants a date?"

"A date? A hangout? A simple meeting while he's working? I don't know. For all I know she can walk in, say hi, and that's it. All I need is confirmation and you get all those shiny burgers."

"Yes!"

"Catty...?"

"What a deal! A cute guy and free food! It's the score of a lifetime!"

"Catty, he's a loser. You hang out with him once, then he wants to hang out... All. The. Time."

"But don't you feel bad for him, Bratty? Poor Burgerpants...Think about how cool we are compared to him!!! We'd be saving his LIFE with our awesomeness!! His LIFE, Bratty!!"

"Uh, so?"

"Think of all the Dazzleburgers he could get for us!!"

And just like that, I feel like shit for doing this.

"...So is he free after work?"

"*huff* I'll be back...again."

Leave the alley, enter the building, meet up with Burgerpants.

"I don't like the look you have there. Did she say no?"

I can't lie to this guy.

"Dude, I'm really uncomfortable with this."

"What's wrong?"

"She said yes. But..."

"She said YES?!"

"I mean, she agreed, but please listen..."

"Ha! Ahahaha!! Yes!!! You've brought a tear to the eye of this old man."

I feel so bad.

"Dude, please...I'm, like, 100% sure she's gonna use you for free food and maybe gold."

"...So?"

I'm taken back.

"Look, you don't think I didn't think of that? I know she's probably going to use me. Everyone does. If it's for the food, I don't care. That's just another way I can stick it to my boss. Speaking of..."

He plops this cardboard case down on the counter.

"A deal's a deal. The mega value pack for the girl."

...Okay, they're made for each other. Everyone here is trash!

"So, uh, what time did she say she wanted to hang out?"

I hate everything about this!!

"I'll be back again."

Take food, leave, exit, alley. At this point, I nearly shove the shit at them.

"Oh my God!"

"Is that the mega value pack Dazzleburgers?"

"OH MY GOD!!! GIMME!!!"

"God, Catty. Try to have some self-control."

"Sorry..."

"'Cause they OBVIOUSLY brought the Dazzleburgers for ME."

"NO WAYYY!!!!!"

I point to the items.

"Trade. Now."

Bratty puts the key and gun into the hat before handing it over to me.

"Thank you."

I put the key in my inventory and equip the other two.

[You equipped the Tattered Western Hat]

[You gain 12 Defense and 5 Attack]

[This battle-worn hat makes you want to crew on straw for some reason. It also raises attack by 5.]

[You equipped the Rusty Revolver]

[You gain 12 Attack]

[An super old gun. It has no ammo. Must be used precisely, or damage will be low. Duh.]

[HP: 40 ATK: 62 DEF: 50]

I am becoming OP!!

"Oh! Give burger-boy this!"

Catty hands me a scrap of paper with her number.

"Fine. I'm just glad this is done."

Back to Burgerpants. I slap the paper down.

"Here's her number. I hope you don't regret this."

His face contorts in a weird way...Is he...Happy?

Sweet! I need to pick a spicy outfit for my little shindig later. Though, now that I think about it, I had to throw away all of my clothes to make room for the outfits Mettaton gave me."

"...What?"

"Don't take it the wrong way. They're just all these...Weird getups. 'Promotional' costumes. For 'holidays'. Or 'specials'. Or 'because he felt like it'. The thing IS though! Most of the time I'm the only employee who has to wear this stuff! Sometimes he even calls me into his office just to...Make me put something on...Then he laughs and lets me go back to work as normal."

My pity meter is breaking.

"Anyways, I won't sweat it. I'll take it casual. NEVER let hot people think you care. That's how they GET you."

And the pity meter dropped dead.

"Good luck with that."

I leave on that note. Fuck this resort. Fuck this quest plot. Fuck this whole damn thing!

Wanting this shit show to be over and done with, I do as instructed by following the rug's path out some doors that have a giant sign above that says "CORE". Lazy-ass designers, I swear.

Weirdly this leads to a balcony. A balcony that has been opened and a walkway built that connects to the massive facility. The light from the resort barely shows half of the path as the CORE itself surprisingly gives off the faintest glow. The CORE is an entirely mechanical complex that is largely black and yellow with red accents. The blah colors aside, what gets my attention are the two monsters that were minding the entrance that slip inside when I show up. I don't like this.

"Flowey, you better be able to get here. I have a bad feeling about this."

Approaching shows more of this crazy thing. The CORE appears to be the most industrial and modern region of the Underground. Ozone, a byproduct of electrical power, is omnipresent below the floor level of the CORE. This could mean the CORE might be made of stainless steel, titanium, or platinum; as ozone is highly corrosive to most organic materials. If this is the case, they could use this stuff. The CORE could be a source of ozonated water, which cleans clothes, sanitizes food, and purifies drinking water. This also implies this might be the greatest source of oxygen in the Underground as ozone simply decomposes into oxygen at high concentrations and temperatures. The only hazard I can think of is that oxygen is a shitty thing to breathe. Breathing pure oxygen at high pressures can cause nausea, dizziness, muscle twitching, vision loss, convulsions, and loss of consciousness. Breathing pure oxygen for a long time can irritate the lungs causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. Higher exposure may cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs and subsequent death. Guess how much more O2 is needed to do this to a person? 20% more. God, Humans are so freaking weak. I'll need to be careful here.

The lobby of the CORE has an elevator to the north and two paths to the left and right. Not a bad looking place, very lavishly decorated, the floors are engraved with intricate patterns and multicolored neon tubes serve as wall ornaments and embellishments. I check the elevator, which is disabled, I'm not shocked at this point. Not much else to do, I go to the path on the right, which turns out to be a small room with a square platform overlooking a pit of fire. Not bad. I do enjoy looking at fire. It's pretty. Moving on! Going through the left path leads to a rectangular stretch of wall-less hallway with a doorway at the end.

"Hmmm...My bullshit senses are tingling. I'm willing to bet a random encounter/ambush is about to happen."

As if cued by my words, something cracks the back of my head and then hits my gut as I turn.

"*wheeze* Called it..."

My attacker appears and my dull cracked purple soul is forced out to play.

[Madjick pops out of its hat!]

Madjick has a typical appearance of a wizard. It wears a curved wizard hat, a pair of boots, and two rotating orbs emitting cross-shaped particles. Madjick has a sly smile on its face, but a pair of bright eyes are hidden just under its hat.

[FIGHT]

[ACT]

[̴͝SP͜͞E͡L̵͜L͟͠͏]͘͢

[ITEM]

[MERCY]

I wonder if SPELL will work on this thing? ...N-No. No. Can't chance it. Stick to normal tactics.

[ACT selected.]

[New options available.]

[CHECK]

[TALK]

[STARE]

[CLEAR MIND]

...The fuck kind of options are these?!

[CHECK selected.]

[MADJICK – HP: 190 ATK: 29 DEF: 24 – This enemy can only speak in magic words.]

Finally! My states aren't shit compared to my attacker. Also, only speaks in magic words is the most fucking adorable thing I've ever heard.

"Abra cadabra."

An orb spawns off to my left and rapid-fires crosses at me. I dodge and the orb tries to cut me off by going where I'm headed. It fires about eight times and moving around is not so great.

[HP ████████████████ 16/40]

Thank goodness my defense got increased during all this crap. I could've been really messed up.

[Madjick flaunts its orbs in a menacing manner.]

It snickers.

"A smug one. I like that."

[TALK selected.]

"You know...I can do magic too."

It looks at me intrigued.

"Yep. I can make your smile disappear."

It pauses before sneering at me.

"See? I made it vanish before your very eyes!"

It didn't seem to like my humor.

"Hocus pocus."

[Madjick begins chattering to itself. Its gibberish dizzies you...Your DEFENSE drops by 1.]

My head feels fuzzy. Did it just jinx me? Are there more types of magic than what I've been told?

One of the orbs begins to chase me while deploying harmful but immobile crosses. Yet due to the jinx, my sense of direction is ass-backward. Left is right and right is left. Up is down and down is up. However...much to Madjick's dismay...I'm used to being incredibly dizzy. My childhood was filled with countless hours of boredom appeased by spinning around till I couldn't see straight.

[HP ████████████████████ 20/40]

Ha ha...Suck on those magic balls, wizard-boy!

"*slur* Is that what you call magic? Boo! Disappointed!"

[Madjick whispers arcane swear words.]

"*slur* Oh...Someone needs to put some gold in the swear jar. I'm gonna tattle!"

It growls.

"Eh eh eh. It's not your turn."

I slap my face a few times.

[CLEAR MIND selected.]

"I wonder where Flowey is?"

[You think of pollen and sunshine. Your confusion abates. Your DEFENSE increased by 2.]

"...What?"

"Alakazam!!"

It tries to surprise me with that following orb trick. But now that I know that move it's not so bad.

[HP ██████████████████████████ 26/40]

Huh? Am I auto-healing faster? Sweet! Surely that only means good things for me.

[Madjick peers at you with strange eyes.]

"What? You scared? My sick moves and auto-healing too much for you? No worries, wizard-dude, we cool. I got you."

The hell did I just say? Am I magic high? Fuck it.

[MERCY selected.]

[New options available.]

[FLEE]

[SPARE]

[SPARE selected.]

It looks at me funny. Then it looks at my HP.

[HP ████████████████████████████████ 32/40]

It flinches.

"Please and thank you."

Madjick accepts my act of mercy.

[YOU WON!]

[You earned 0 XP and 120 gold.]

The fight ends, my soul returns to my body and I give my opponent claps of approval.

"Good show, buddy. Keep up the good work."

It seems confused but nods, hovering away behind me towards the exit.

"Well...That was weird."

My head still feels odd. Nothing a few brain sloshing shakes of the old noggin won't fix. Anyway, no time to question strange feelings or whatever. I gotta get through this so I can get back to Toriel. Onwards I go.

Continuing forward, I enter a room with a bridge that is cut off by a tesla coil. Wow. Hadn't seen that in a long ass time. How much do I wanna bet there's a convenient off switch nearby. Oh, look! A super obvious switch right there on the wall. Who could've ever had guessed! I flip the switch and lasers fire at me! First blue, then blue again, and orange. Thankfully they're slow, so once I triggered the first blue laser I easily hit the deck to avoid the others that pass by.

"Setting booby traps on top of other traps now. Geez, Metta, I'm starting to think you don't like me very much. Well, that's fine. I don't like me either! So come at me already and quit this pussy bullshit!"

Calm down. No need to get riled up. Get through this and go home. Then I can just stuff my face with Nanny's awesome cheesecake and pass out happy. I march on, doing my best not to look down or notice how some of the walls and floors are chipped away. Now I'm paranoid about if any other laser that turns up is functional or decorative.

The path leads into a crossroads with a path to my left and a path straight ahead. My bullshit sense is tingling when I look at the left path. Straight ahead it is.

This room contains a bridge with many blue and orange lasers followed by a massive wall of blue lasers.

"Nope. Just nope. Screw the rules! I have plot armor importance and common sense!"

Fuck this outfit. Fuck this shit! I have lost all my fucks! I get down on the floor and combat crawl the long as fuck cold metal catwalk.

"*muttering* Stupid bullshit. Why do I have to be nice? If I wasn't nice, I wouldn't have to put up with shit like this. Bitches don't end up in laser catwalk traps. But no...I have to be a decent person. *getting louder* I have to be a good girl. I have to not give in to the overwhelming urge to punch assholes for being assholes because that's wrong for dumb reasons! *shouting* Why am I pissing myself off?! This is extremely counterproductive given my current situation! Fuck!!"

I blame all this on Mettaton. That's a healthy way to look at it. Probably not. But I'm not a mental health doctor! The fuck do I know?! After crossing the bridge, I storm grumpily along another walkway only to reach something called "Core Branch".

Turns out the "Core Branch" is a four-way intersection. Fan-fucking-tastic. Man, my mood is fucking sour. Maybe the digital sign can be useful and give me directions.

[North, the warrior's path. West, the sage's path. Any path leads to The End.]

"*growling* This is so...FUCKING STUPID!!"

Nope. Not falling for anymore of this. I choose neither side and go straight. This middle path of the "Core Branch" has me entering a vertical room with a right path leading to the eastern portion of the "Core Branch". There's nothing to my left. It just drops into the ozone, so it's certain death. I'm so sure this place followed all safety measures. There is a sign on the wall that is telling me to "Get lost...And stay that way".

"Wha...Why have signs telling me to leave when you told me to come here?! Stupid metal moron giving me dumb mixed messages."

I hate everything. No monster better encounter me while I'm in this mood. I take out a gold piece and flip it. Heads for straight and tails for the right. It lands on tails so right I go. This has to be the stupidest designed building ever! What the hell was Gaster thinking?! Was he on the drugs? Because this seems like he was on the drugs! 'Cause now I'm at another four-way crossroads. Only now I have two digital signs.

[To the East! This is The End.]

[I cannot fight. I cannot think. But, with patience, I will make my way through.]

A third, and hopefully final, tesla coil blocks what has been established as the exit. This means there's a switch somewhere. F that shit. Know what? You know what'll piss everyone off? I'm gonna do what that sign said. I'm going to be patient. Because if I know Mettaton, and I know massive egos very well, he won't want boring content to be televised and eventually spice things up. I plop my edgy tush under the sign and...wait. Using this time to chill. Let this negativity go and...

*Clank-clank-clank*

Oh hell no!

A large monster ominously approaches. Knight Knight is a monster that wields a great staff with a sun symbol in her right hand. She wears a suit of black armor and what resembles a horned helmet with a crescent moon emblazoned on her forehead. The helmet's eyepiece occasionally widens and un-widens as if it is her mouth. Her torso is dominated by a dragon face whose beak occasionally opens and closes, revealing a small eye. It is unclear whether which face is the true face.

"Let me guess...You're here to make me move?"

"Yes."

"No."

She's confused.

"...No?"

"Did I stutter? I'm not moving."

She readies her spear.

"Then prepare for..."

"Let me stop you right there. I get that you're doing your job and following the law, and blah blah blee bloo, whatever. I have been through one of THE worst days in my life. My mind, soul, and charitable goodwill have been pushed to limits that are very VERY thin now. I am in no mood to deal with any more crap. So I'm going to say this once because I ain't fighting you or moving from this spot till this electrical blockaded is gone...Turn around and go home."

She doesn't take me seriously and laughs.

"Heh heh...You have no power to give me orders, human."

She takes a step closer and I snap.

"I͏͟ ̧̀̕W͝IL͘͡L̴ ̶Ŗ͟͜I͝҉P͘ ̵O͜F̧F̛͞ ̸̀Y̧͡O̡͢U̡͠R ͠H̸EA̶͏D͏͢ ̸̕A͜N͢D S̢̛͜Ḩ̶Į͢T̵̕ ͝D̶̀OW͞N̷̴͠ ҉͞Ý̸̢O̡͡U̡͢R ̸ŅE̴͝CḰ̡̧!͞͞!̧͢"

She stumbles back in shock. The strange energy sparks off me. I regret everything.

"I̵'͘͟͏ḿ͢͞ ̧̕͞so̧̨͡r̴̢ŗ̷͜y̧.̵̛.̢͞.̛p̢l͝ea̷se͢.͟.́͢.leave me. I'm so sorry."

I seem to have disturbed her. She slowly steps back and turns around when she's convinced I'm not going to move.

"Adieu...Human."

She leaves me and I let out a shaky exhale. It's getting worse. I'm losing control. I can't do this for much longer. I haven't been given any proper time to deal with this shit. My internal bottle has been shaken too much! It's going to explode! I...I...

"What the heck was that?!"

Flowey pops up beside me and I'm too freaked out to be startled.

"Sis? What's wrong?"

I hold myself in an attempt to squeeze into a tiny ball of self-loathing. This only worries him more.

"Lynsie?"

I...I can't...I need a break. If only I had my music. I could drown out all this. Lose myself in the lyrics.

"B-Bro..."

"Yes? Talk to me. I can help. Tell me what you need."

"...H-How fast can you get to Snowdin?"

He frowns.

"You want me to get 'him', don't you?"

All I can do is nod.

"I...I can help too. You don't have to turn to him."

My eyes dart to the blocked path. He puts things together. He is a smart boy after all.

"True. Mettaton is that way and the room his encounter takes place in is an elevating platform. I can stretch from my roots pretty far but not THAT far."

He pouts.

"*huff* I guess there's no other option. He does have experience helping you out when things get bad. And he can teleport."

I feel bad that I'm making him do this...again. Like in the dead timeline.

"I...I'm sorry."

"Wha...N-No! Don't apologize. I understand. You're worried. It's okay. We'll get through this. Family helps family. What kind of big brother would I be if I didn't do everything to help? Even if that means getting others to help when I can't."

"...I need a hug...please?"

It pains me to see him hesitate. But vines come out to wrap around me for a bit.

"Thank you."

The vines retract and he extends to nuzzle my cheek.

"It won't be like last time. I promise. You won't kill anyone. No one's going to die."

"H-How do you know?"

"Because you're strong. You just have to believe in yourself. I know I do."

...I needed that. I give him a smile.

"There we go. There's my sis. Now keep that smile. I'll get Smiley Trashbag and we'll be back home with mom in no time."

He really is too sweet for this world. He sinks into the floor and I forgot to ask how he was able to get through this floor. I mean, I guess he said he can get through cement so metal can't be too far of a long shot. Asriel sure is a super strong boy even as a flower.

*BUZZ*

The power to the coil suddenly is shut off remotely like I so knew it could be. Damn it. I was hoping to have more time. How impatient is Mettaton for this? Reluctantly, I get up and walk down this new road. Halfway along this bridge, I am blocked by three vaguely familiar monsters that look like tougher versions of monsters I see in the Ruins.

Final Froggit has spike-like protrusions on its head and eyelids, accompanied by a crown-like muff on top of its head. Its lips are marked with lines, as though wrinkled from age. Its "shoulders" are decorated with sharp excrescents, while the silhouette between its legs forms a face with a triangular smile and cross eyes.

Whimsalot has a more human-like appearance than Whimsun. Also, its antennae are thicker, and there is a muff on their head that branches in two. Whimsalot's appearance is also accompanied by a double-bladed spear and a knight mask. Its ghost-like torso is skinnier and shorter.

Astigmatism's body consists of a large ball and four spiked limbs. The ball is accompanied by two "horns" on each side. When idle, a large eye can be seen on the ball also with three eyelashes. However, it changes from this face to another where the eye hollow is changed with a smile. When having its eye closed, the two side eyelashes become Astigmatism's eyes, while the middle one simply becomes a marking.

I don't know what I must look like to them. Probably dreadful. Because they move aside with not a word being side. I nod in thanks, proceeding to the end which for all I know might be the most tragic moment of my life second to Grillby dying. No! Stop it! Do as Flowey said. Smile. Stay chipper. Think of something silly. Like how dumb this place is. Honestly, was Gaster high making this place? I'll have to ask him later. Nah...I'll ask Sans. Less hassle.

The bridge comes to an end, leading to a shadowy doorway and an elevator that probably would've been super handy but was out of order to pad out the length of this bullshit subplot. Augh...It's so much easier to think my life is a fictional story or internet abridge series. It's the only way my brain allows most of this crap to make any sense.

"So this is it, huh? The epic conclusion of this grand show. Heh...I want to feel accomplished for making it this far. Almost. But all I do feel is..."

I can't finish my sentence. The weight I thought I got off my back earlier begins pressing on me again.

"Nothing...I feel nothing. *sniffling* Damn it...Don't fucking cry!"

With a breakdown seconds away from happening, I enter the doorway to the room of darkness and a door shuts behind me then locks. There is no going back now.

Please...I made a promise...Please...Don't make me have to RESET...Please...I'm begging...Please...

#undertale #underfell #Anomaly #Lynsie #sans #papyrus #gaster #grillby #grandpa semi #flowey #Asriel #toriel #asgore #frisk #chara #undyne #mettaton #napstablook #alphys

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the-wiresmarvelau · 4 years ago

Text

T.H.E. W.I.R.E.S.

Peter and his Friends are allowed to design the compound and couldn’t help but riddle it with secret tunels and hallways. While Peter installs said hallways he makes some new acquaintences who he has to help and gets help from.

Chapter 1, Chapter 3

Chapter 2: Dramatic enterance No. 1

The prisoner took a deep breath, closed his eyes and concentrated.

Concentrated on his knees and legs; tucked away underneath the weight of his torso.

Concentrated on his shoulders; tense and raised up to his ears.

Concentrated on his forehead and nose; laying on the insufferably warm stone floor.

Concentrated on the pain, pulsating in his black left eye and on the ripping, burning agony emanating from his lips, tong and cheeks; sewn together with silver wires and chains; embroidered to look like a wide, cruel silver grin.

"A silver chain to bind a silver tong" Odin had said while watching as the young, terrified guard pulled the wires through Loki’s parted lips.

The young man had shaken all over and rambled on about how stupid it was of him to mention to his peers that he liked to sew, then he wouldn't be punished for ‘enjoying a girl's job’.

All the while the prisoner beneath him glared at the allfather, determined not to cry out in pain and to stay in the present…

Because otherwise his head would bring him back in time to a scene oh so similar to this one.

Only that he hadn't been bound by chains then but by a dwarf, standing on his calf’s and hands, pushing down his shoulders.

The hands sewing his mouth shut hadn't shaken then.

He hammered his head against the floor, with a frustrated grunt.

These memories kept distracting him from the only chance, of preventing to collect more of them.

Loki wanted to scream in frustration but knew it would do more harm than good.

So, he took a couple deep breaths to calm down and began to concentrate again.

He concentrated on the hot stone against his shins and the top of his feet; And on the bruises all over his legs and sides, most of them either strained or compressed by his folded position on the floor.

Concentrated on the heat in the cuts and abrasions on his back. Loki still hadn't figured out when exactly he would be beaten; the periods of peace between the beatings where too irregular to follow a pattern.

Concentrated on his throat and the feeling of dry air grating through it with every breath he took; like sandpaper over chalk.

He concentrated on every fibre of his being looking for the small, tiny bits of magic he held; gathered it in a bundle just below his sternum and - when he felt like he had mustered up almost everything he had left - he began to channel it in a shallow rivulet and pushed it.

Pushed it up his chest, down his right arm into his wrist and from there: past the handcuffs that had until a few days ago, not only suppressed all of his ability to rebuild his own magic, but also kept him separated from his power’s origin and made him numb, blind even, to the magical streams, he knew were all around him.

But the guards had been sloppy.

One of the whip strokes had caught on his handcuffs and carved a small notch in the metal of his restraints. Just big enough to allow his magic to regenerate the tiniest fraction of his original power.

Not powerful enough to heal the numerus wounds Odin’s... "audiences" left behind. But sufficient, to ... say.. Send an illusion to his mother dearest.

Adopted or not, he loved her more than anything and he needed her to know what her husband was really doing to him over the past few years in the dungeons.

She was still under the impression that his punishment was simply isolation and had even send him a few books, which Odin had ripped apart and burned before his very eyes.

But before he could visit Frigga, he needed a plan.

During the time he had magic available again, he had tried to find out more about the Avengers, he had encountered back then on Midgard.

It would be the last place the other Gods would look, as his crimes there were the newest. But that didn’t mean hiding anywhere else was easier.

Additionally: Midgardians were far stricter regarding what did and did not count as a crime; while that might not sound advantageous to his cause, regarding that he had killed several dozen Midgardians. But by treating their prisoner much worse than was agreed upon, his captors violated those morals too. Thus, justifying a relocation.

Since the Avengers called themselves heroes, they probably had the moral compass to see it that way.

But for some reason, they seemed to have splintered and were preoccupied with what seemed to be the aftermath of whatever had divided them.

While he searched for others who might be able to help, the ravenette stumbled over a promising individual.

"Spider-Man" he called himself.

From what he'd gathered, the spider themed hero wasn't an Avenger but he had a close bond to Stark.

Otherwise, Ironman wouldn't've shown up, mere minutes after the aforementioned spider had been stabbed in the side, to bring him to the tower personally.

He also didn't kill any of the criminals he encountered and seemed repelled by it; rather trying to talk them into seeing their wrongdoings and changing their ways.

Additionally, he probably didn’t have a personal reason to dislike Loki; While the Avengers might still hold a grudge against him because of what happened with the Chitauri and the thing on the hellicarrier.

All in all, the spider seemed to be his best chance.

His only chance.

Keeping that in mind Loki focused on creating an illusion of himself on a, more or less random, roof within the young hero’s territory.

Since he wanted to be recognised, he gave the illusion the armour he had worn during the battle of New York, minus all the golden parts.

That way the boy could recognise him from pictures more easily, but he didn't look like he was going in for a fight.

He didn't bother to conceal the glowing that would give away the illusion’s nature. It was best to play his cards open, if he wanted to be trusted.

But he masked his black eye and other injuries.

His goal wasn't pity and his pride kept him from showing such vulnerability to a stranger.

The Jotun was aware though, that he might be forced to reveal his physical state; either as prof for the mistreatment or because changing his appearance drained a bit more magic than simply projecting himself.

And just like that, he waited.

It didn’t take long until he could see the kid swinging around. Loki tried not to turn around as the hero swung by.

Had he seriously not noticed him?

Normally the boy seemed to be automatically drawn to anything odd happening in his vicinity; did an illusion not register?

Giving in to his desire to look around just the tiniest bit, he turned his head a little to the side.

Relief flushed over him as he saw a red silhouette on a nearby roof in his periphery vision.

Spiderman looked at him. That meant that he had noticed the god.

Now he had to hope that their conversation would go well.

“KAREN..? activate ’don’t tell mom Protocol’ please”

‘Are you sure Peter? Whoever that is could mean you harm’ KAREN objected.

The worry in her voice sounded so real that the boy had to remind himself that she wasn’t, in fact, human.

“I’m sure,” he replied; sounding anything but. “If they wanted to hurt me my Spidey-sense would warn me about it”

‘Alright. Just remember that I am calling Mr. Stark the moment they touch you’

Peter couldn’t help but smile a little at how protective she sounded.

He began running over the roofs in the direction of the green shining figure.

They didn’t turn around when the hero arrived on their roof; They just lowered their head and brought their hands to the back, the palms turned up to be visible.

Even though the teenager wasn’t familiar with such behavioural customs, he understood that it was meant to show that they didn’t want to seem threatening and wouldn’t be the one to initiate this conversation.

“Excuse me?..” the younger one started, cringing at how childish he sounded.” Do I know you?”

Great. If he was wrong and this was a stranger, he had just made himself sound like a creep. And even if this was Loki, he couldn’t say that he knew him.

“You might have heard of me” The ravenette answered.

Slowly he dared to turn around; still carefully telegraphing his every move but conscious to make his movement seem graceful and smooth.

“Yeah, one could say that. You’re Mr. Loki, right? Thor’s brother?”

The addressee gave a single nod, taking the chance to bring up his head a bit.

He didn’t like to be personified over his adoptive brother, but rather Thor being the first association than the destruction he had caused while under the influence of Thanos.

“I thought you were grounded, for like.. forever?�� the boy asked curiously; tilting his head to the side.

“How fortunate, then that this is only an illusion” Loki replied. He had seen the other one sassing pretty much everyone he had come across and hoped that mirroring that would make him more likable.

Otherwise, he would be screwed, because that was how he was used to speak and to change the way you speak long-term is tiresome.

But there seemed to be no need to.

“That explains so much. But what about the distance! Isn’t Asgard really far away? Or does that not affect illusions? ... Doesn’t matter right now! What is your illusion here for? I assume it`s not just to enjoy the view.”

The Jotun almost bit his lip, before registering that that was not a good idea in his current state.

“I’m here to ask a favour. -Or rather for help.” In that moment he regretted that he hadn’t led into this talk with a prepared speech. Asking for help was difficult.

“For you as in your people? Or you as an individual?” The Spider powered teenager asked, cautiously.

‘And I messed up.’ The Jotun thought ‘Of course he wouldn’t want to help me’

But the Midgardian continued before Loki could answer.

“I’m just asking, cause if it’s something all of you can’t handle, I wouldn’t know what I could do about it. Mr Stark would be a much greater help with that kinda thing.” He was about to continue on but shut himself up.

His teachers hated it when he just rambled on, and the face before him showed too little emotion to figure out if that was the case here, too. Better safe than sorry.

That was not what the trickster had expected.

“It’s not that kind of problem. And I doubt the Ironman would even be willing to hear me out, no matter what I’d have to say.” It was worded as a statement but the prisoner’s raised eyebrow seemed to ask for conformation.

“Yeaah.. You might be right on this one. He tends to hold on to grudges. But we’re working on it! He-..Anyways what can I help you with?” The young heroes body language changed like a boomerang from shy and embarrassed to excitedly proud and back to shy again.

If his conversational partner hadn’t been so utterly exhausted, he would have noticed how often he had cut himself of in this little time alone.

“Right. You see, the whole being .. ‘grounded’ as you described, it.. isn’t actually this. Harmless.”

The shorter tilted his head to the side and the lenses in his mask did a creepily good job at conveying a mix of scepticism and confusion.

“I know this sound unwarranted considering what happened. A-nd I wouldn’t be here if it was only the lifetime in prison that was agreed upon b-but.. It isn’t”

his voice broke and the image flickered, revealing the true appearance of the magician projecting it.

Curled on the ground with dried blood and open wounds covering almost every inch of his back and shoulders.

He had lost concentration a bit as memories and sensations washed over him for a second. Threatening to take over his thinking but he managed to push back.

This was his only chance.

He couldn’t mess up now. Now that somebody seemed to listen.. to care.

When he had gathered himself and looked up, He saw the eyes of the mask before him, wide with shock, and the body beneath it stiff.

Frozen in time.

The prisoner tried to make his image smile.

But it was drenched in dread and sadness. And his body froze; resembling the boy in front of his eyes.

Slowly, the stiffness in Peters body seemed to melt.

A finger twitched.

His arm began to inch upwards, while his shoulders began to sag.

The second arm wrapped itself around his waist, plucking at his suit subconsciously.

And, in a move that surprised even himself, the brunette pulled down his mask. Clutching it in his fist as if his life depended on it.

Peter didn’t care about KAREN`s protests right now.

He needed the god to understand, to know. That he believed him.

The Spidey-sense still hadn’t made an appearance, even though it normally alerted him to anything directly threatening him including his secret identity. *

Like pulling his mask of while people who might tell on him could see.

But he was either too absorb in what was happening or Loki just.. didn’t pose a threat whatsoever.

The god of mischief before him couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

How could a genuine superhero, for which paranoia and distrust seemed to come with the profession, trust him enough to reveal his otherwise hidden identity.

Just like that.

One of his titles literally was god of lies.

“I need somewhere to stay.” He whispered after a few beats of silence “somewhere I can rest.. And serve the rest of my sentence. Without – Odin, finding me.”. He didn’t bother to move his image’s lips.

The spider teen still needed to wrap his head everything while also trying to find a solution for this situation.

“Riiight... Uhm-..there’s uhh. Maybeishould.. no - he wouldn’t” It really didn’t help that to his already frantic thoughts, his super sense started to act up now; Telling him to PUT ON THAT MASK and TURN RIGHT.

He let out an irritated huff before following his instincts.

“Okay. I-I’ll figure that out. D-“

‘If I could remind you who you’re talking to. It may be in your best interest to hand over those matters to SHIELD or Mr. Stark.” KAREN chimed in.

“Not right now KAREN, I’ve got this. Mr. Loki, do you know how to get here? Because I have no idea how to get to Asgard let alone free you. Finding a hideout should be easier.”

His answer was a nod and after a beat of silence: “I should be able to contact . my mother in a few days. If I am correct she does not know of my treatment and will bring me here.”

Loki had carefully observed the Midgardian’s behaviour. Something to his right must have distracted him, for he turned his head that way before putting on his mask again. But there hadn’t been any movement nor was there anything attention-grabbing; just the roof and more buildings.

And then he started talking while scanning the street to their left with his eyes, only to stop in the middle of a word for several seconds and dismiss something his illusion’s ears couldn’t perceive.

For anybody else that would be a clear sign of hallucination, or worse; But he knew that this mortal before him had his own set of special skills and since Stark always seemed to talk to a somebody in his suit it wouldn’t be impossible that Spiderman’s suit was sentient too.

It wouldn’t be too farfetched to say the boy had his reasons.

“And what if she won’t?” the teen’s voice was small and just this side of trembling.

A few seconds went by in which the older of the two just stared at the younger in front of him.

His vision was unable to focus on the figure; But his mind...

His mind couldn’t seem to hang on to anything but the small frame in front of him.

On the hunch in the narrow shoulders; the tilt of his head, down and a bit to the side. On those slim hands and fingers who couldn’t seem to stop plucking on the black web covering the suit. On the fear in his voice and the knowledge that not once over the course of this talk did either of them lie. And not once did the hero lose a single bad word about him.

It took him a few second to gather his bearings.

By the time he was able to concentrate again, he had sat up, kneeling on the ground.

The body in front of him mirrored his position. Heavily suggesting that his illusion had yet again slipped to resemble reality.

He didn’t bother altering his appearance again. Instead, he tried to listen.

What first sounded like a murmured stream of incoherent rambling soon cleared up to be cautious, soft-spoken reassurances.

Things like ‘it’s gonna be okay’ ‘I’ll get you out of there’ and a lot of ‘safety awaits’.

Again.

Not once did he lie. Not once did he use present tense and not a single sentence invalidated the hurt he felt in that moment; like all the typical, sweet nothings people normally said would have done.

It broke the ice giant’s heart. To realise that this young, naïve mortal knew enough about pain and panic-attacks to be aware of such details.

“It’s alright. I’ve got it together again” He said and briefly masked his illusions mouth with a smile.

He got a nod in return.

“Does she need my name to find me? Or should I set up some sort of signal?” the boy asked. Trying to get the conversation on a more positive note again.

After all.

The God’s appearance had pretty much answered his question.

“I doubt she will miss someone running around in bright red spandex. I didn’t see that many people doing it.” He joked.

The teen knew this reaction all too well. Humour to distract from whatever it is you don’t wanna think about.

He would let it slide this once.

“But I’m not in my suit all the time!! What if something happens and she has to find me during the day?! Or I’m not allowed to go out that night?”

‘Right.’ The Jotun thought. ‘Midgardians keep their young under close surveillance much longer than we do.’

“I could show her an image of you.” He answered. “She will inform you of when and where she can hand me over.”

While saying that he had closed his eyes. Exhaustion clear on his face.

“Yeah! Sure. Gather your strength. I will prepare something for you.”

“I can’t thank you enough” were the last word he heard from the god, before the apparition disappeared, letting Peter alone on the roof.

Alone with his thoughts.

Down the street to his left stood a woman in a window, holding a camera.

She hadn’t managed to get a shot of the vigilante’s face. Or see it for that matter.

But she knew he had taken his mask of. Revealing his face to a green shining figure, strangely resembling the Norse god of mischief.

‘well done Jones.’ She thought ‘this might just become useful in the future.’

*I took this from the comics. In those Peters spider sense alerts him to anything threatening his interests, even bluffs while playing poker or reporters and cameras during identity compromising situations.

Chapter 1 Chapter 3

#peter parker #loki #loki marvel #tw mention of violence #tw mention of torture #chapter 2 #chapters #mcu #fanfic

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stubbornness-and-spite · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter One

Link to Prologue

Summary: The oldest son of Captain Hook, once known as Killian Jones, Peter Jones has been on the Isle of the Lost as long as he can remember. When he was younger, his father used to tell him stories of his mom and papa, who lived in a far away place called Neverland, but it had been years since Peter had been calmed by fairytales. Peter is torn, between the island that calls to him in his dreams and the one where the only family he’s ever known lives: his father, his brother, Harry, and Bronwyn, the boy who has more secrets than he can count but who Peter loves more than anything. When destiny comes calling will Peter choose the magic that runs in his veins or the family he’s built for himself?

Relationships(possibly to be updated): Peter/Bronwyn, Harry/Gil/Uma, Captain Hook/Peter Pan/Tinker Bell

Notes: I don’t know anything about actual psychics and any descriptions in this story are based off of a fantastical magic system. Any similarities to real life practices are not intentional. *Chapter continues under the cut*

Warnings: Non-graphic mentions of blood, mild violence, occasional language

Word Count: 2132

Chapter 1

A familiar figure was perched on a rock just off the shore not far from the ship. Peter grinned as he made his way over. He slipped behind the figure and wrapped his arms loosely around the other’s chest. “Hi, Bronwyn,” he whispered, grinning.

“Shit, Peter,” Bronwyn yelped, jumping. Peter dropped his head onto Bronwyn’s shoulder and leaned on his back. Bronwyn laughed as their cheeks touched. He turned his head to Peter and kissed him on the corner of his mouth. “Good morning,” he murmured. Peter settled down next to him on the rock, one arm falling to his side, the other staying wrapped around Bronwyn’s shoulder. Bronwyn let his head fall onto Peter’s shoulder as the last of the sun broke free from the horizon. Peter rested his head in Bronwyn’s hair and sighed, watching Bronwyn’s hair ruffle with Peter’s breath.

“Something bad is going to happen,” Peter said to the wind.

“How bad?” Bronwyn asked the sun.

Peter grimaced and exhaled sharply. “Bad. And soon,” he promised. “I dreamt the king was here and he stabbed me in the heart. I woke up gasping. It’s probably not literal, you know it rarely is, but I’m worried.”

Bronwyn reached up to Peter’s hand on his shoulder and gripped it firmly. “We’ll get through it,” he said, his voice steel.

“There was more to the dream that I didn’t tell my dad,” Peter confessed. “The king, he was dying. He looked fine but I could tell he was dying. We were on a ship and the sea was made of blood.” He swallowed. “On the horizon, there was a shining green light and it wanted to help, but it couldn’t. I think it might have been Neverland.” He took a shaky breath and squeezed Bronwyn’s hand. “I think Neverland pushed harder than ever last night to warn me of what was coming.”

Bronwyn stayed silent for a few minutes. “Or maybe it was trying to give you a chance. You’ve said it yourself, Peter. Neverland wants you to come home. Maybe it pushed through because there’s a chance to leave here coming.” Peter desperately wanted to latch onto Bronwyn’s hope like a lifeline, but he couldn’t grab it any more than he could grab the fairy dust that should have been in his lungs and running through his veins. “The king’s already taken kids to Auradon. Maybe him stabbing you through the heart symbolized him killing the part of you that belongs on the Isle and letting you go home.”

“I don’t remember Neverland. I don’t remember my papa. I don’t remember my mom.” Peter closed his eyes and tried to picture it, but all he could see were his dad’s descriptions. “I don’t want to leave you behind. I don’t want to leave my dad behind. Or Harry who couldn’t leave Uma or Gil.” He let out a breath. “Fuck,” he shouted, frightening away a flock of seagulls.

“You know we’d all want you to take the opportunity to go if you got it, right?” Bronwyn asked, sliding an arm around Peter’s waist.

“Yeah, I do,” Peter said. He smirked. “You know I won’t take it without you, right?”

Bronwyn rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I do,” he said.

“Wanna go get lunch?” Bronwyn gently pushes Peter off of him and leans back to face him. The darkness of the day where the sun was hidden behind never-changing clouds had risen.

Peter shrugs. “Yeah, sure. Ursula’s Fish and Chips?” he suggested. “We can check out the trainwreck that is Uma, Gil, and my brother.”

Bronwyn grinned. “Sounds like a good time.” He stood up and stretched, before leaning down to offer Peter a hand. Peter took it, laughing. He let Bronwyn help him to his feet and they made their way down the coast to Ursula’s ship. The dock was falling apart even more than Peter’s. He sneered at the stinking fish and rotting boards that had clearly never seen a broom, let alone been scrubbed. Bronwyn grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together, drawing his attention away from the ship’s state of disrepair. Peter sighed fondly as they made their way onto the ship, avoiding the areas of the dock that looked like supporting weight might be the last thing they ever did. Gil was sitting outside the door when they reached it.

Peter bit back a laugh and forced himself to sound sympathetic. “What’s Uma pissed about this time?”

Gil glared at the ground in what Peter would have called a pout if he’d wanted to start a fight. “She was complaining about the awful things that Mal did and I reminded her of one she didn’t want to think about,” he admitted.

Bronwyn grimaced. “Mal was a bitch to her.”

Gil nodded. “I know, but I thought she wanted to bring it up so she could complain and I didn’t notice her and Harry glaring at me until it was too late. She had a whole song about it which ended with me in a net with her using my feet as a chair and shoving me across the bar. I got pissed and brought it up again. Now she’s mad and Harry’s mad and I can’t even go in and apologize.”

Bronwyn closed his eyes for a long moment, his jaw set. “One: I hate that the ambient magic around here makes people break out into song and dance. It’s stupid and useless and you would think magic would want to build up its power so it could do something actually impactful instead of wasting it on creating enough harmony to make our lives a literal musical.”

“Babe.” Peter put his hand on Bronwyn’s arm, his expression fondly amused. “You’re ranting.”

Bronwyn sighed and shook his head. “Two: Uma’s being a self-centered bitch and you should really consider your other options if she’s going to keep taking you for granted,” he said to Gil.

Gil shrugged and grinned ruefully. “I think I’m good. Uma and Harry are…” he trailed off.

Peter nodded. “You know Harry loves you too, right?” he asked. “He’ll never say it, but he does.”

Gil nodded. “It’s the Isle, we’re fucked up. If this makes Uma feel like her entire life isn’t out of her control, then I’ll sit here forever. Maybe if we’d gotten picked instead…”

Bronwyn gave him a regretful look. “I know.”

Peter spoke up. “You’re cool if we go in, right? We were going to get lunch and I should probably talk to Harry.”

“About your… you know?” Bronwyn asked.

Gil’s eyes went wide. “Is something bad going to happen? Not the kind of bad we like but like the kind of bad that-”

“Gil,” Peter interrupted. “It’ll be alright. Don’t worry about it.”

They stepped onto the ship, pretending not to hear Gil call out. “That wasn’t a no!”

Peter waved at Harry as he and Bronwyn walked onto the ship. Harry grinned manically and made his way over. “Was wondering when you two would make your way over here,” Harry said, roughly guiding them to a table. “I’ll get out of your way.”

Peter grabbed Harry’s arm. “Wait, I wanted to talk to you.” He said, biting his tongue. “Just… be careful, alright.”

Harry nodded. His eyes were dark, his mouth pressed into a thin line, and his jaw was tight. “Eyes up, head down?” Peter echoed the statement. Harry nodded again and made his way over to Uma. He whispered something in her ear and she stiffened. A moment later, she relaxed as if she’d never frozen at all. She jerked her head towards the door and Harry nodded sharply. He walked over and out, but came back inside a moment later, dragging Gil along with him. He gestured at Uma and the three of them slipped away.

Peter relaxed. They’d taken his warning to heart. He turned to Bronwyn and smiled. “Are you going to bother ordering or just eat whatever?”

Bronwyn laughed, “I’m not in the habit of wasting words or time, so no. I’m not ordering.” Peter reached out and placed his hand on the table, instantly Bronwyn placed his hand on top of it and smiled. “We’ll get through,” he said. “Just like we always do.”

“Again.” Peter bent forward, his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. He gasped a few more deep breaths and threw himself into a fighting stance, his feet shoulder-width apart, his toes pointing away from Bronwyn to give Bronwyn less of a target from his current angle. Peter’s hands shook on the handles of his knives, his dagger long since knocked away. His skin glistened with sweat and blood leaked from shallow cuts on his arms.

Bronwyn leaned back on his heels, putting himself off-balance to signal to Peter to wait. “Are you sure you can go again?” he asked skeptically. Bronwyn’s shoulder-length black hair was slick with sweat and strands fell loose in his face. His breathing was heavy but more controlled than Peter. His long leather pants and long-sleeved leather jacket had protected him from most cuts by Peter’s knives. The gold patterns on his green jacket looked worse for wear and his black pants had taken the cuts that hadn’t reached his skin.

Peter glared furiously at him. “Again.” Bronwyn sighed, flicking his wrist to send a throwing knife spinning towards Peter’s face. Peter’s feet didn’t move, but he twisted his body back and out of the way. Bronwyn sent a second knife flying to where Peter had moved to avoid the first one. Peter noticed a second too late and pulled out of his twist a hair shy, taking the cut across his cheek. He stumbled back at the sudden pain. Still half twisted and standing up as he staggered away, he lost his balance and ended up on the sand. He made to push himself up, but Bronwyn walked over before he could and pushed his chest down until Peter lay flat on his back. Peter strained to push Bronwyn off of him, but Bronwyn picked up the knife that he’d thrown a moment ago and spun it around to grab in his fist. He held the point to Peter’s throat.

“We’re done,” he growled.

Peter dropped his head back and groaned. “Fine, we’re done,” he acquiesced. Bronwyn let out a breath and rolled off of Peter to flop on the sandy beach beside him.

“You’re running yourself ragged over this vision,” Bronwyn remarked. “Getting yourself killed isn’t going to stop anything. Fighting me until you literally can’t anymore isn’t either.” Peter didn’t answer. “You’re sloppy when you’re paranoid,” Bronwyn noted. “You can usually beat me half the time, but when you’re swinging wide and putting too much energy into everything, you aren’t hard to evade.” Peter groaned and smacked Bronwyn in the chest. “I’m serious, Peter.” Bronwyn stressed. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Pretty sure I can’t,” Peter reminded him. “They brought people back to life to imprison them here, do you really think this barrier will let us die?”

“Get yourself permanently maimed, then.” Bronwyn let out a harsh exhale.

“I’m going to be okay.”

“Sorry if I don’t believe empty words over actual prophecies,” Bronwyn scoffed

“That’s not fair,” Peter muttered. “My prophecies are shit and vague and you know it.” Bronwyn didn’t answer. He stared up at the dark clouds that covered the afternoon sun and sighed. He let the back of his hand touch Peter. He turned his arm and wrapped his hand around the back of Peter’s hand, lacing their fingers together and running his thumb softly up and down the skin it could reach. Peter sighed contentedly and Bronwyn closed his eyes.

The sun was setting when the boys finally stood up. Bronwyn pulled himself up and offered Peter his arm. Peter grabbed it and pulled himself up. He stretched his arms over his head until his back cracked. Bronwyn put his hands on his arms and twisted to stretch. He hesitated.

“Can I borrow your belt?” He asked tentatively. “I’ll give it back in the morning. I just need to borrow it.”

Peter looked at him with a furrowed brow and narrow eyes. “You want my belt?”

Bronwyn hissed softly. “And your dagger,” he said. “Peter, I promise I’ll give them back first thing in the morning, please.”

Peter sighed. He slung off his belt and grabbed his dagger, placing it in the scabbard. He held it out to Bronwyn. “Don’t make me regret this.”

Bronwyn grinned. “Thanks, Peter. See you tomorrow.” He leaned over and kissed Peter lightly on the cheek. He turned to leave, but Peter caught his wrist, smirking. He spun Bronwyn into him and dipped him, kissing him deeply, with the sunset framing their silhouettes.

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midoriyaizukustan-inactive · 5 years ago

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Angst ending- Deku focuses all the energy stored in OfA into his fist, including his own life force. He manages to defeat the villain, but not only his arm is ruined forever, but he manages to lift and clench it into a fist as a final gesture of victory, before dropping dead on the ground.

actual picture of me reading this ask:

HHH but,,,i can see this happening and ive actually thought abt smth similar

so im thinkin in the inevitable final battle we’re gonna have of ua vs. all for one and the league of villains, midoriya probably is gonna have to face off shigaraki and all for one all by himself (cause toshinori is not gonna be in any state to fight)(but i refuse to believe hs gonna be dead though nope no no)

maybe bakugou will be there for a couple of seconds but midroiya’s mostly gonna have to deal w it on his own

anyway so the nomus r the biggest problem. theyre strong and have absolutely no qualms abt hurting and killing ppl, and worst of all, they will not stop at anything unless u somehow manage to kill/incapacitate them bc they will Not stop obeying orders

and who gives them orders? shigaraki and all for one

midoriya picks up on this during their fight, so he’s trying as hard as he fuckign can to stop them bc holy shit his friends and teachers and schoolmates are all on the line and he CANNOT afford to mess this up

so as the battle wears on and as midoriya gets more exhausted, he realizes,,,theres only gonna be a couple ways to end this in his favor. and fuck, he’s so scared, he’s not even technically done with high school yet, he hasnt saved nearly enough people, but his friends, they need him to focus now, so-

so he starts building up one for all, but its gonna take time so he needs to figure out how he can distract all for one and shigaraki while he does this

so he talks and dodges attacks mostly bc he can’t attack at all if he wants a build-up of power

this leaves him,,,vulnerable,,,though,,,

shigaraki probs decays some of his chest nd hero suit, but its nothing midoriya can’t ignore for the time being. no, he’s mostly worried abt all for one, and if he’ll figure out what midoriya is doing

all for one does, in fact, figure out what midoriya is doing, bc this is exactly how his brother would act

so he does his power/red-black stabby quirk bs nd midoriya gets stabbed like three times (leg arm and shoulder) but still midoriya is holding on bc he needs their attention to stay on him so they cant give the nomus additional orders, nd also he needs to end this like yesterday

since midoriya is focusing on one for all, he can hear the other users’ voices. some of them are yelling at him, asking him what the hell he’s doing, doesnt he know he’s gonna kill himself?, some of them are shouting out directions for him to dodge and jump and run and anything to help keep him alive, and one voice (all for one’s brother) is telling him how to keep the power buildup so it wont rebound onto midoriya (…at least, not until it’s supposed to)

so midoriya listens, cause he cant really talk back to them to reassure them otherwise, nd he’s just. so exhausted honestly, and also his arm is starting to burn which is frankly the last thing he has time to worry about, but also it means it’s working, just a little longer-

midoriya feels smth click when his life force slides into the deal, nd all for one’s brother is kinda like “hey kid so problem” but midoriya still can’t talk back, and he can see his friends in the distance behind all for one and shiagraki on another part of the battlefield, and they look- they look-

theyre just as exhausted as he is, and theyre surrounded by nomu, and midoriya will not let them get hurt, so-

so he begins to charge, because when his life force connected with one for all’s power, he knew the build-up was ready to be used

all of the previous users are screaming at him for a hot second, before all for one’s brother gives midoriya directions on how and where to hit his brother to be most effective. midoriya ignores how sad and choked up he sounds cause he just doesnt have time-

just like all might, midoriya fakes one hit and parries with another; shigaraki is right next to them, a hand reaching out to disintegrate midoriya’s arm, so he gets caught up in the blast as well.

everything goes white for a moment and midoriya cant really feel anything for a split second.

then the world fades back in, and midoriya’s entire fucking body is burning, gaining intensity the closer you are to his arm. He’s almost certain his arm has been completely blown off, but when he opens his eyes, it’s still there.

horribly mutilated, but there. his hand is still curled into a fist, still punching all for one.

oh. all for one.

midoriya tries not to throw up at the sight.

yeah, he’s not getting back up again. the only problem is, midoriya thinks as he stumbles back a couple steps, he himself is probably not, either.

the force of the blow left him in a crater. he almost wants to cry, because dammit, everything is on fire; he knows that his entire arm and shoulder are broken, and it seems like everything else is not far behind. his nose and mouth are dripping blood, in addition to the flesh wounds on his chest (thanks, shigaraki) and the stab wounds from earlier bleeding like no tomorrow; how is he gonna climb out of here?

still, despite his grievances, midoriya shuffles forward, each step aching as he tries to claw out of the literal hole he’s punched himself into. he cant move the arm he punched with at all; his fist is still clenched.

still, he manages to heave himself up and out of the crater. the battle is at a standstill, is what he finds when he reaches the top.

some people have passed out from the sound, midoriya can see. jirou lies protected by yaomomo and kaminari as she tries to get her bearings again.

others have passed out due to the blast snatching oxygen away from them for a few precious moments. they’ll be fine, though, midoriya can tell; he can see kirishima’s chest rising and falling as he breathes unconsciously.

midoriya raises his gaze, exhuasted, to where his friends were in the distance, seconds before he punched all for one.

he can see shigaraki passed out, having hit the side of an upturned rock too hard, which was there thanks for pixie bob

his friends are okay. theyre stumbing to their feet, looking about, and he catches todoroki’s eye while they do so.

he smiles then, breathes out a sigh of relief – theyre okay – before raising his fist (the one that’s horribly mutilated; it hurts to move, but midoriya doesn’t care).

he starts falling back, then, and he can’t shift his feet to regain his balance.

he falls like a house of cards.

his breath rattles in his chest, and it’s how he knows he’s not long for this world, anymore.

he’s too exhausted to feel panicked, per se, but he- he’s gonna miss his friends so much, he’s gonna miss mom, toshinori-

tears start collecting in his eyes, but he’s too dehydrated to form enough of them that they can fall down his face freely.

he doesnt- fuck, he doesn’t regret doing it, he just-

he’s not going to last long enough for anyone to even get to him, he’s going to die with no goodbyes-

then the voices of the other users fill his head again.

their soft, sorrowful congratulations, reassurances that he did the right thing, and that dying is scary but it doesn’t hurt, and he’s going to be okay, wherever he ends up next.

it does little to ease the fear, but it does do something, so midoriya is thankful nonetheless.

im sorry, all for one’s brother says abruptly.

why?

my fight with my brother should never have ended at the cost of a teenager’s life.

midoriya can’t help but laugh a little then. he coughs up blood for it. if all it took was one life, i’m glad it was mine. i wouldnt want anyone else to fall to him.

and it’s true, midoriya isn’t lying, it’s just. he’s gonna miss his loved ones so much.

he closes his eyes, breathes out of a broken chest one more time. his lungs are too tired to inflate again.

distantly, he can hear his friends calling his name, but he’s just…so tired…

there are soft murmurings from the other one for all users, but midoriya can’t make them out anymore.

all he can really hear is a ringing in his ears, an echoing call of, “Midoriya!” but he cant…

he hasnt done nearly enough. he doesnt feel like he deserves this rest.

but…all for one is gone. surely he can take a few minutes for himself?

yes, that should be fine.

the world falls away.

#fun fact! i cried while writing this #also holy SHIT this got long im so sorry djkfjnkd #i just. have feelings #oh shit #also i learned how to finally add a read more link to go me #anyway im in tears #me: midoriya is my favorite character!#also me: what good is mha angst if midoriya doesnt fucking die in it huh #anyway u have simultaneously fed and hurt me with this ask #im cry #midoriya izuku #c makes a word #answer

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jess-the-vampire · 6 years ago

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Sky And The Forces Of The Multiverse, Chapter 17

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Nora sat on her bed, writing in her book and doodling some drawings alongside them. Her subject matter of the day being judas's cursed arm, a detailed sketch of the matter on one side, and notes of what she knew next to them. Growing up with judas and sky for years, she always had watched them from afar, they never had been close, but at the same time she felt like she knew them. She could point out their quirks, what they liked to do, their relationships with their parents, anything. Her parents were always so cautious, probably because they were dominant when it came to preventing sickness and curing it, and that mindset has sunk into wanting to make sure they didn't get involved with anything that seemed harmful. If they saw her drawing her journal now, or saw the pictures she kept of judas or sky in her drawers, they'd probably freak. They meant well, but nora honestly was surprised they didn't chain her to their side every day.

Judas and Sky got to go on adventures. She was forced to learn to cure boils. They stood up to people who treated them like garbage. Nora could barely even keep eye contact with most people, much less talk to them without softening her timid voice. They had such great relationships with their parents, who were so loving and playful. Nora's parents were boring, finding enjoyment together in finding a new species of moss and consistently restricting their daughter from doing literally anything. Despite everything though, here she was, trying to do as much research as she could on the cursed arm judas had. She was probably in over her head trying to do this but why not right? She had nothing to lose by at the very least, looking into it. The infection itself was harbored into the poor boy's dna, so it was not like another curse or a normal parasite. Not to mention the whole thing was magic, so she'd need to do some research on magic to get what she needed. Her family, being magicless, made that incredibly difficult. It probably didn't help that magic itself made her so anxious, but then again everything seemed to have that kinda affect on her most of the time. Doing this would mean diving into new territory, something nora was far from used to. The girl closed the book nonetheless and put it in her nightstand drawer, it was getting super late and if her parents saw she was up they would make her get some rest anyway. She'd have to figure out the details of her research at a later date. "Nora? Sweetie?", nora froze as the door to her room swung open and her mother stood at the top of the steps, smiling. "Dear, i hope i wasn't interrupting anything, you ok?". Nora nodded meekly, she really should say something to her mom, anything, about last night. But as much as her voice fought to speak out, nora's lips keep her words sealed in. "Ok well, i wanted to wish you a good night, and me and your father want to speak with you early tomorrow morning ok?". Then she let out a small laugh, "Also, we're replacing our sheets tomorrow, your father keeps staining ours.....let me know if you need any yourself ok?". The girl only simply nodded, eyes not even looking at her mother, instead they were off to the side, avoiding eye contact and scattering around her bedroom. Nora was always like this, avoiding eye contact, or avoiding any contact if possible if she could.Where speaking to someone, even a family member, was torture for her. The queen didn't seem to notice though. She smiled at nora sweetly as the door closed and nora felt like punching herself. The lights turned off and the girl slipped under the covers of her slime covered bed. Her hair made so much of a mess but there wasn't a ton she could do about it, these stains were more then permanent at the point and trying to clean them of slime would be a waste. She closed her eyes gently and made herself comfortable, nothing but the sounds of crickets outside and gushes of wind and.....tapping? The girl suddenly froze, eyes wide open and looking at her window. There was no one there. And yet, that's where the noise was coming from. Grabbing a rather heavy book next to her, she got out of bed, position the item as a weapon just to be safe. She crept to the window silently, hesitant as she unlocked the hatch, opening the window to get a better look at whatever was making that racket. Only to find... A girl's face suddenly appeared in front of nora, dark hair, blue eyes. Sky "Hi nora..." Nora fell on her back, clearly startled to see sky's head peeking in as she scooted across the floor behind her. Sky shushed her as she stepped in, and nora watched as someone else followed in behind her, no longer invisible and keeping an eye out for guards as she closed the window. Upon closer inspection nora remembered this girl, from the night before! However, she still didn't move or approach the pair, and sky awkwardly rubbed along her arm as she put her wand into her back pocket. "Uh, sorry to drop in like this....but we uh.....we needed, well..I needed....to talk to you.", she wasn't too surprised nora seemed so freaked out, but it wasn't like sky could give her so much as a warning before she showed up tonight. She moved towards nora, she couldn't say she had the comforting presence judas seemed to have but she had to try. If nora's parents found sky in her room, she'd be in such big trouble not to mention she'd most likely be unable to leave the castle when she wanted ever again. She'd end up like nora. Nora's eyes shifted around the room, she clutched the book to her chest. She needed to say something, anything. She wasn't even sure if this were some trick or not, it could be right? Magic could make someone do many things, things that could hurt her. She refused to move when sunny stepped forward, "Nora, we're sorry we uh...broke in, but well, sky wanted to help you....speak to judas again. ". Nora's eyes shifted to sky, who seemed to slightly be regretting this choice. "Sorry the night before was a mess....but well, judas has kinda been sad ever since you left and I thought.....I should help everything with your folks, so...you can hang out with us..", the monster girl slightly moved her book away, and that gave sky the opportunity to move forward a bit. "Like, i know we're all not SUPER close, but It's just....well, he likes having you around and he wants to help and he kinda feels like he failed and...I guess I thought, we should fix that...". "Did he tell you I wanted to fix his arm?", she mumbled out. "Wait, you wanna fix his arm?". Nora nodded gently, "He's been really nice to me since we were little and I-I wanted to help him...". "But you can't if you're stuck in here...right?". Sky fell to her knees, "We never should've ignored you for so long, i mean, i don't what we would've done when we were younger but....we totally would've snuck you out of the castle to hang out if we really thought about it. I mean, i know it's not our fault your like this, but...we knew and....we didn't try hard enough to spend time with you or make real friends with you. Me and jude, we've just kinda always been bad at trying to make people like us....but well, these days, we got a lot of things going on and....we kinda think you should be in on it.". "Sky...", nora dropped the book, "I uh no.....it's...i always REALLY wanted to hang out with you...I mean.....well, who wouldn't? I mean...oh this is embarrassing......", she pulled her hair in front of her face. "I get scared talking to you two, sometimes i worry you guys think I-I'm....silly or weird or....you guys are only nice to me to make me feel better. I keep wanting to talk to you but i'm bad at it and I panic and.....please don't blame yourselves! It makes me feel bad.". "Nora.." "You shouldn't be in here, i don't want you getting in trouble because of me!" "Nora-". "And judas, oh if my parents find out they'll never let me go to another ball with you guys again!" "Nora!". The girl quieted and her intruders looked at each other, "Please...It's ok......look, that's the point, we uh....we want to help you so you can leave the castle! And uh...so your parents won't make you stay in here! Please don't panic we want to help! Just please, calm down!". Nora looked up at the girls and wiped her face, "I'm sorry, I'm not good at this...I...I just.....I mean, I-I WANT to talk to my parents about it...but i can't talk to them about it, I mean, they're my parents sky.". "Yeah but well...I mean, have you tried?", the girl's light green eyes looked to her wooden floor, "What would I even say to them sky? That i want to hang out with you and judas? That i should leave when I want? That i can protect myself?". Sky answered quickly, "Yes!", but nora sighed. "Sky, my parents aren't like that, they worry about my safety. I mean, i'm scared of magic, scared of being attacked, i've never even held a weapon before and my parents know it.". "You held that book pretty well..", the girl turned to sunny, who nodded to the book in nora's hands. Nora blushed and eyed away, "It was just on instinct, I-I don't know if i really would've used it on you if you were evil or anything.". But sunny persisted, "Well, you know, we could help you learn to protect yourself? If that's all it would take to convince your folks you can handle yourself.". The girl moved away some of her slimy hair, "Look, you should talk to my parents.....not me, they want to keep me safe..a-and i get it, i just want to...you know..". Sunny twiddled her thumbs, "I know how that feels....my family kinda kept me and my brother under protection for years too. We couldn't leave or go anywhere without assistance....but then, I learned to fight, my parents trusted me to handle myself. And I could do it! I mean, your parents can't keep you in here forever....". The princess nodded, "Judas told me something similar, I think, but, they're my parents sky....what if they make it stricter for me to leave? After last night, they're panicked...they doubled security....". "Well.....do you have dimensional scissors...?". "Sky....are you suggesting i sneak out of my room? I-I can't do that! What if my parents come in when i'm not there or someone sees me and rats me out?! I really want to sky, But-". but sky grabbed onto her shoulders and pressed their foreheads together , "But nothing nora! If you want it, you should go do it! I mean, c'mon! It's not fair for your family to keep you from making friends or helping someone or letting you explore! Yeah like, it's dangerous but you're their daughter, they should trust you!". "What if i get caught?". "Can they really do much worse to you then keep you here? Not let you hang out with anyone most of the time? Never let you go anywhere without them?". She thought for a moment. "Maybe not....but...". Sky felt her hopes sink further and further as this conversation went on, her shoulders sinking and a frown on her face. This wasn't going to work was if? Then again, what was she expecting? Nora to just jump at the chance to ditch her parents? The same girl who had a hard time just talking to people normally? Even if she wanted this more then anything, leaving the castle like this was brand new to the girl and incredibly scary. She wasn't like her or judas, and sky sighed as there was a bit of silence. "Coming here was risky, it was kinda stupid of me to think i could just easily convince you to do something like this." , she mumbled out, "I shouldn't have put all this pressure on you to leave. It's just, judas cares about you and i know you don't want to be here. You don't have to agree to it if you don't want I just....I just think if you want something....you kinda have to grab it. I just....i don't know when we're going to be able to talk again but if you want to help judas....i know it'd mean a ton to him..". "Does...judas really miss me?". "Yeah, he feels bad he didn't do anything to stand up for you before and...look, you don't have to do it-". "I guess i could try..". "Hmm?". "I'll do it.". "For real?", sky couldn't believe it, nora actually said yes. God she hoped she didn't pressure her into it or anything, but nora stood up, walking to a drawer near her desk and pulling a book from it. She opened the old thing to show her recent drawings and notes on judas's condition. " I just want to help him, I just.....I cure sick people all the time and....he's always been really nice to me. If i really want to help him, I-I....I can't stay here, i'm supposed to help sick people in need..". "You sure..?". The girl took a deep breath, closing the book and holding it to her chest. "Well, he'd do the same for me....wouldn't he?". Sunny now stood in front of her and smiled, on her tippy toes to be a bit taller," I think he would, and i think he believes you can do it too...". Nora blushed and smiled, "But.....what about my parents? Or being seen outside of the castle?". The two girls exchanged looks, "Well, maybe you should tell them you want to do your own research, even if you don't tell them it's with us...". "But you know my parents .....they're paranoid right now, they won't just let me go around on my own. They especially won't let me into your castle after last night.", sky eyed the door, "Does that thing lock?". The slimy girl nodded, "Then instead of you coming to us, how about we come to you?". Nora blinked at her, and sky explained, "You just tell your folks about a private study session, me and jude pop through a scissors portal, and like...we can use magic so they don't know we're in here?". "You two....are going to hang out in MY room?", she asked for clarification, thinking to the photos she had of sky and judas in her drawer that she would most definitely have to hide if these two were going to be anywhere in her room. And the butterfly princess nodded, "I mean, you can't leave, but me and judas still can....so if you don't want to get caught, we can come to you. You can study jude's arm while he's here for your "Study session", and we can leave before they even notice we were there.". "That's.....actually a good idea sky...", nora blushed and brushed aside some hair, "Thanks, I thought about using scissors to get here tonight, but uh.....it's probably a really bad idea to teleport in a room until you're sure everything's ok and everything. Plus that might've been worse then tapping on a window.". Sunny slapped her on the back, "She's more talented then she thinks she is, and she thinks the only thing she's good at making is clothes.". "Well....sorta, but i only started that because my mom wasn't very good at picking out clothes for me...", sky grumbled, "But uh, yeah, we can drop in tomorrow and you can tell us the time you have set out for you, ok? I'll tell jude tomorrow morning.". Nora nodded and took a seat on her bed, "Uh...sky, i've never told you this before, but i really love your hats...". Sky smiled a bit at that, nodding to the other princess, "Thanks nora..uh....maybe i'll make you your own sometime." "I'd like that...like...a lot...", they exchanged a smile as sunny grabbed onto sky's hand to teleport away, "I'll see you later nora!". Nora's eyes then turned to sunny and they lit up, "Thanks sunny, i'm glad you came to visit too." The two vanished in a flash as nora was left by her lonesome once more. Sky really came in the middle of the night to see her? To help her? The princess of the butterfly kingdom snuck out with risk to go and see her? Nora couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Tomorrow was going to be a great day. - "Why are you pacing so much all of a sudden?" "Because my MOM is coming here soon." Luna grumbled as she walked around her room, celeste on the bed and munching on chips. "Yeah well, I already got a load of my parents...so...", luna shot her a look, "That's not the point, my mom is the head knight in this universe and i'm not remotely sure what to expect from it. Not to mention if the head guard is arriving early from a long mission that can't mean anything good. Especially not for me, kelly might like me, but, i don't know what to expect from my own mother...". "Why? What's she like back home?". "I'm not talking about my life back home, you all already know this.", celeste snorted, throwing a chip at the blonde, "Why? What are WE supposed to do with the info? How in the heck could i possibly get to believe me anyway?". Luna shook her head, "Haven't heard you talk anything about your home either, so you might not want to sound like a hypocrite.". The brunette eyes to the window and the pink sky outside, "Well, you did tell us king lucitor didn't have kids, so that's something." Luna made a face and turned her head. "Wait a second, you lied didn't you.....?". "What?" "I could see it on your face, just now, you lied when you told us he didn't have kids....", luna was about to say something and celeste smirked, "Oh, don't try and deny it now, i'm used to being lied to, i know a liar when i see one.". Luna crossed her arms, "It's none of your concern what goes on back home for me, we're better off not trying to get attached to each other.". The girl on the bed just rolled her eyes, "You're lame luna, no fun to hang out with at all.". "You're one to talk, every time i see you anywhere in the same room as your father you look like you're going to hit someone, if you're so open to sharing you might as well explain your lousy attitude. Have daddy issues back home?". Celeste threw another chip at her, "Shut it...", this time luna caught the chip, "Then i suggest you do the same, right now i need to get back on track of what to do once my mother gets here, what approach to do?". "Don't most people tell you to just be yourself or something?", luna turned back to the brunette and she looked off to the side, "At least, that's what everyone says. Cause apparently the "Real you" is what matters, even if they hate the "Real you". The blonde finally took a seat on her bed, leaning back against it as her back hit the mattress, "Depends if the "Real me" is the person i need to be to avoid any further issues, and clearly around here people don't seem fond of "The real me". The girl on the bed snickered, finding joy in luna's frustration it seemed. It was behavior like that that made the wheels in luna's head turn, though she would do better to not waste much of her energy on understating the psychology behind the girl when she had more important things to think about. The events of the day before left her frustrated and angry, mostly with judas and sky. Before luna understood the push for secrecy, even supported it, but her time and patience was running out. Then she took a look at celeste, "Why did i even let you in here again? All you're doing is leaving crumbs on my bed and i'm pretty sure you're supposed to still be down in the underworld still before the lucitor family freaks at you being gone". She didn't look amused as the younger girl propped her legs up and on the older one's knees, "You invited me here, you said everyone else was being so inactive you thought i'd be the only one to i dunno...take action or something. You really gotta be going nuts if you forgot already...". Luna clapped a hand over her face, "oh right, THAT'S why, though it's just my luck the princess most willing to take action is the one with the smart mouth.". She moved Celeste's legs off her and faced forward, "It's clear if we're going to get anywhere we need to use magic and get the info we want and clearly i can't get anyone else to do it....except for you for some reason." Her companion finished her chips before crumpling up the bag and throwing it to a trash bin, missing it. "It's almost like you all forgot i was here until you guys needed me for something dirty...". "Well, it's not particularly much like you have much to say or do anything...", luna commented, "Ever since you got here all you've done is complain, you barely like talking to anyone and you don't even make yourself remotely welcoming. But if we're going to work together I'm going to have to just deal with it". Luna half expected the girl to argue with her but celeste said nothing, it wasn't like she had proof or anything, even lexi spent her time drawing and making friends. The closest thing to a friend celeste has made is Landon, and even then landon was now spending a bunch of time with that human boy he dismissed LIKE liking. Celeste was left on her own more and out of the minds of everyone else. Though she supposed it could be worse, making comfort out of sitting around and finding things to do, sometimes that meaning for her to play with magic for a bit on her own. Shooting at cans or rocks as she waited for hours to go by. "You done insulting me?". "Are you? If we're going to work together, the less this, the better.". Luna stood up, arms behind her back and in a formal position, she continued to walk around the room, speaking to Celeste. "We need more eyes on eclipsa, and not only that, we need to really step up our questioning. But the matter is where to start, the high commission would be suicide trying to go for, not even i can handle all of them at once, even in my own dimension. I wonder if this masked figure has an accomplice somewhere around here, someone to tell them what they need.". "Well, considering they broke into two castles supposibly, wouldn't it mean they'd know both places inside and out? how many people are gonna know THAT?". "Good point.....unless there are either more accomplices, one accomplice knows one and and the other...the other, or this person knows both without much help....", luna's mind seemed to be working at a rapid pace, did this girl ever take a break? She looked like she'd combust have the time and her face was clearly stressed, she picked up the crumpled bag on the floor and expertly shot it into the trash can before resuming. "How could ANYONE be this powerful though? I can't even counter charm something like that?!", she was talking to no one anymore, just herself. "Luna, you're mumbling to yourself." "Look, how about this, you go do some digging in the kingdoms. And I start going through the queen's offices." Celeste raised an eyebrow, "You hadn't done that before already?". But the girl looked her over and turned her head, "I still have a cover to maintain, I wasn't THAT desperate, but now, I am. If i'm caught, i'll just erase their memory of me, i can get in and out without being seen, at least if i rule them out we won't have to worry about them afterwards...". "And then-?". "And then we investigate the lucitors, we have to put them on the top as they all are powerful magic users that may know more then they're letting on. Being is disguise would only make sense so they wouldn't be recognized, or they could've even hired someone to help as the queens were at that meeting the whole time supposibly. They could all even be working together, after all, they all know their security systems better then anyone.". "Ok, and you want me to run around mewni and do what exactly? I don't even know where to start, this dimension isn't exactly small, you should be smart enough to know that." Luna was clearly very annoyed with the girl's constant insults but she summoned her wand in all it's pink,turquoise,and orange glory as she used magic and summonsed a map for the girl. "I want you to mostly check out the woods, there are secret areas around there the creep could be living in and better you search those first.". "Gross....", she twisted her fast in disgust but luna didn't seem to care, "You have to get dirty to get what you want sometimes, And besides, if they're abandoned you should be fine. But if you do find anything, take some pictures, and if you find anyone, get out of there as soon as possible.". Celeste looked incredibly unhappy with her job, clearly it wasn't what she thought she was getting into at all when luna decided she needed her help with investigation. Was she trying to get her killed? She was totally trying to get her killed. "I know you clearly aren't fond of this plan...", she started. "Oh? What gave you THAT idea?". "BUT...", she closed her eyes, "You seem capable to handle it, and you know how to contact me. As long as we stay safe and follow my directions we should be just fine and dim down locations and suspects.". She leaned again a wall, "I'm in a tight spot, i know the team doesn't trust me, but you're on the outs just as much as me, we are the only ones trying to get things done here, and i'm done sitting here and doing nothing because of them." Her companion let out a breath, blowing her bangs out of her face. "When do we start?". - "Sorry sky, Judas isn't here right now, i send them with their father to the cloud kingdom. Ponyhead hasn't heard much on the matter of the masked crook, so they're working on something in case they break in there next, it's just me here today." Marco went through some files in their office, looking up to the girl who was standing in front of them, "You'll have to wait till they get back, we're all a little stressed and busy, and that's not to mention tom's parents have been fussing with me all day.". "How long will they be gone?", sky adjusted her hat and watched as the queen took a seat at their desk, "As long as it takes, in the meantime i promised to feed lucy and keep an eye on mason's garden for him in their absence. I'm sorry sky, but right now is not a good time, you should head back home and i'll tell judas when he gets back.". The human quickly organized the files they were holding, drinking what was probably coffee out of a mug before setting the files off to the side and opening up a letter. Sky was about to think of her next course of action when the door opened, a couple of demon servants entered. Marco's attention was then diverted to them, putting down their mug and watching their rather frantic faces. "Your highness.....we uh....your son's garden has gotten out of hand....", marco stood up quickly, brows furrowed,"I told you two to feed his plants appropriately, what did you both do?". The demons eyed each other before going back to their queen. "Well, we did as you asked, but then a plant you hadn't listed attacked us! They wrapped around our ankles and almost poisoned us, we just barely got away but those two girls..". The mention of two girls made marco raise their voice, "Two girls? what two girls? I only sent you two in". The pair were now sweating, one trying to hide behind the other, "Sire, the demon girl you're keeping as a guest, she ran inside, tugging along a friend, we couldn't go back in to save them-". On instinct, marco summoned their skull mask on their face, their piercing green eyes making the servants more nervous. Marco was more then used to his own kids being in danger, and their parebtial/hero instincts activated almost immediately, '"Sky, stay here, you two, come along, we need to get in there IMMEDIATELY.". Marco left in a flash, the two demon servants quickly behind him and leaving sky alone in the queen's office. She almost forced herself to stay put, but that only lasted a few seconds as she ran out after them. Sunny must've ran in thinking she could handle the plants herself. And taken lexi with her. She was going to be in so much trouble but trouble was better then her friends being dead. She waved her wand, needing her cloudy to move faster, but much to her dismay, it wasn't working. "Oh come on! My friends could be in serious trouble and you're not going to work NOW? I don't have time for this!". She kept running but then she tripped as she felt the ground shake, for a second she assumed it might've been judas's grandmother. Only to see a dog, with three heads, bouncing through the corridor, it stopped as it saw sky, smelling her. Familiar with the girl already. Lucy got out. "Hi girl?". The dog started barking, and licked sky as the girl stood up. "I guess you haven't been fed yet...huh?", the dog barked in response. "Sorry, lucy, i gotta get moving to mason's garden....I-". Then the dog used one of it's heads to grab onto sky's shirt, lifting her up. "Lucy!! What the-WOAH", she'd ridden lucy in the past, with judas, but never had lucy lift her up and carry her. She was practically being shooken like a doll as lucy bounded her way over to mason's garden, dropping sky onto the ground. "Ahhh....uh....thanks?", sky got up and rubbed her head only to see Queen Lucitor call for lucy to come forward, so they had summoned lucy, she hadn't just escaped this time around. Sky watched the dog wander into the garden after it's master. Marco using magic to brush aside the plants as the dog sniffed around for the missing girls, sky walked in after them, and the servants weren't kidding. There was one plant going on an uproar, vines with spikes waving around and it practically screaming. no doubt this was one of the plants landon gave him, one their parents would not have approved of. Tom and Marco let their son keep a ton of things, but they had their limits. No plant in the garden could be an eater of meat, nor could be incredibly dangerous to take care of unless supervised. But mason was a child, and he wanted to own as many plants as he could. The fact there hadn't been an accident like this sooner was a miracle in itself. Sky had her wand out at the ready, this place was terrifying, like a jungle full of nightmares. She was going to be in such big trouble with her parents for going in here but she felt obliged to do something. These were her friends, sisters, out here and she knew judas would do this in her position if given the choice. She heard yelling and seems cloudy wanted to work today and the bat-winged creatures lifted her into the air to get a better view. She spotted the plant and on instinct her licorice rope extended from her wand and around some of the vines, holding them in place. Next thing she knew, Lucy's heads were already grabbing the vines and pulling, the plant quickly dying and falling as marco grabbed the girls from nearby. The giant three-headed dog teared the thing up like a chew toy, it was almost gruesome as the plant fell to pieces and crumpled. Mason was going to freak when he saw this, he already freaked enough when his family had to trim his plants, now he had a dead one, with traces everywhere. Sky didn't know nearly as much as mason did about plants but she had a hard time believing this thing was going to recover from something as bad as this. "What are you girls doing in here!? You two could've been seriously hurt!!", Marco's parent instincts kicked in fast. Before sky dropped down and Marco turned their attention towards her, "and YOU, what are you doing here sky? I told you to wait because it's dangerous.". Sky twiddled her fingers as the small demon came to her defense, "She probably just wanted to help....she's our friend after all.". The Queen signed, crossing their arms, "Fine, but never do it again, are we clear?". Sky nodded, Sunny sending her a smile as a thanks. Marco led the girls out, lucy following behind, dropping the dead plant vines onto the ground. "Mason's not going to be happy but....he's also going to be in big trouble when he gets home for keeping something like THAT in there. Those guys are highly dangerous, they have acidic spurts. Why mason had this and how he got a hold of it i have no idea but he knows better then to do this. Ugh, i even send it servants to help in the garden and even they didn't point this out to me...". The mask was removed and marco's hand trailed through their brown locks, "Why did you girls go into that garden anyway? Even without plants like that it's not safe without some supervision, we can trust mason with most plants because he's an expert but...you two could've been hurt.". Sunny took a hold of lexi's arm and nodded, "We're sorry, we saw the plant and we just wanted to help, since you know, we handed that last one so well before.". "That's not the same thing, this plant went on a rampage because of it wanting to feed, the previous one needed trimming and it was reluctant to it. It can hurt you but with me and tom around you're all in safer hands taking care of those things. You two are not allowed to go into the garden without our permission, you understand that?". Geez, and there were times judas thought his parents were too busy flirting with each other to pay attention to their kids. Queen Lucitor didn't fool around. The human walked over and patted one of the heads of their dog, giving it a small smooch. "Good girl, c'mon, get on back, we'll see about dinner later.". The dark Cerberus licked the human before barking and turning itself around, hopefully towards it's usual home. Marco tried to wipe off the slobber but sighed, there goes another suit, but it was probably worth it. A guard was called over and the queen told them to grab a team and further examine the garden for dangerous plants that were not to be kept and the guard left as soon as they could. Marco then motioned for the girls to follow them. "My family leaves for one day to have a meeting and the place is already falling apart on me.", marco walked ahead and sky got close to the two girls, even lexi was oddly quiet for someone as bubble and out as her. "Lexi says she drew a plant like that awhile back...with shampoo...". Sky gave her a look and mumbled, keeping an eye on the queen, "Ok, why did you guys really go in there? It's really freaky in there and everyone would've flipped if you both got hurt." "We saw the plant freaking out just wanted to take it down, we weren't lying." "Ok, but why were you around the garden in the first place? Did you know mason was out?". "Well, lexi told us to come here, i think she wanted to see if mason wanted to play more DND but......all we saw was the plant and we had to do something". The girl sighed, her expression turning sad, "Mason's going to be sad about his plant....isn't he?". The older girl crossed her arms, "Yeah, yeah he will, his plants and stuff mean a lot to him. When his parents had to release some of his pets back into the wild he cried for days, and he kept hiding in his wings...". "Pets?". "Mason snuck animals into the castle to take care of, but most of them weren't the "Pet Type", so his folks had to take them back where he found them. I mean, with the dog and the bunnies , dragon cycle, and the skeleton horses, feels like their's enough critters running around. Also, queen lucitor's allergic to cats, so that kinda means they need to be careful whose allowed in the castle so they don't have a sneezing fit or anything. There have been incidents after all.". "Oh......". "Anyways, mason's...not going to be happy at all, i mean, he did raise all those plants after all. So he's going to be heartbroken.". Originally, sky thought marco was leading them back to their office, only to find where they actually were leading them, was sunny's room. They opened the door for them and let the girls go inside before closing the door behind them and leaning against it, they still didn't look happy, whether it was about the girls, the plant, or what they were going to have to tell their youngest son, sky couldn't be sure. It was probably a mix of all three though. "Girls, i want you to stay here for a moment while i call sky's parents for a bit. No leaving, i'm not ok with any of you getting out of my sight, especially since sunny here is supposed to have guards watching her and somehow evaded them despite their orders. I take safety seriously, especially during this time around when we have a possible threat running around, none of you may be my children but under my roof you need to follow my rules, i don't want any of you hurt.". The human turned to sunny, nodding at her. "Your bravery in wanting to help is great, but do not willingly put yourself in danger under my roof, i'd never forgive myself if the worst happened.", they sighed and rubbed their forehead, strained and stressed from all the work and issues of today. "Me and tom normally split the tasks of today but he has a job to do and i need to hold the fort until he gets back, and we're already off to a bad start. So please stay here till i come and get you, alright everyone?". All the girls nodded, making it clear. "Good." They yawned and lifted themselves off the door. "Alright, i'll see you girls soon.", they messed with their dark hair before walking out the door of the room. Gee, sky comes all the way here to talk to judas and finds herself locked in a room, great. Judging by Sunny's face she knew exactly why sky was here and spoke up, "You should've texted him instead, called him, It's usually not a good idea to walk in when you don't know where he might be today.". Sky fell on the bed, "i TRIED texting him, but he didn't reply. I think he's being held up...". "It's ok sky, you can wait till he gets back.", Sunny took a seat as well, watching lexi start sketching in her book. "I know but.....ugh....", she grumbled as her arm covered her eyes, the small girl smiling and laughing. "Something else getting under your skin?". The dark haired princess uncovered her face, sighing, "I might be also still kinda annoyed i'm stuck with angel a few hours everyday, i'd much rather my mom teach me and risk taking my wand then be stuck with angel...". "he's really not that bad...". "Hm?". Sky sat up, looking the girl over, "What?". Sunny bit her lips, "Well, i talked to him a bit more during the interrogation, he kinda just seems like he needs help, is all. I think he wants so many things but just makes some bad choices in getting those things. But, he seems ok if you talk to him.....just maybe a bit defensive with touchy subjects.". The other girl just crossed her arms, not buying it at all, "Sunny, c'mon now, i don't know what he said to you, but i've spent so much of my time kicking him out....and my mom doesn't do anything about him, he's so stubborn.". "Well, wouldn't you do anything if your mom or people were in trouble?". "You're starting to sound like judas, and....yeah, but i'm not gonna stand outside of their castle and annoy them until they listen! Like angel just wants to go back in time! He thinks we can do so many ridiculous things and fix all our mistakes with a snap of our fingers!". She raised her arms up before they fell down to her side, "And his dad trusts ME to be someone to look after him, why me? Why not judas? Judas is way better with him then i am....way calmer, i think angel prefers his company too...". "Maybe because you are kinda more strict with him....maybe he needs that...". "Have you seen his dad?" "Well, maybe you have something that his dad doesn't?", sky bit her lip, trying to recall anything about her relationship with angel. Yeah, she showed him sympathy at times, never really wanted him hurt, and felt bad for him at times when she did hurt him. But was that really enough to warrant her helping him? Just because she didn't want him hurt or felt even the least bit guilty for what happened to him, or his people in the first place? Did the king just want angel to get close to sky in particular for a reason? She was a butterfly after all, the kinda person angel wanted to speak to, maybe it had something to do with that? It left her thinking. The demon dropped down from the bed, summoning her wand, the staff clinking to the ground. "Maybe you both just need to talk, this could be fun!!", now she was starting to sound even MORE like judas. Ugh, no wonder they got along so well. Sky groaned again in protest as sunny summoned a flower necklace, throwing it around sky's neck. "You two should work things out, he told me he does really think you and judas and cool people so.....maybe you guys can all be friends.". "Friends? Us? C'mon now, i don't want to be friends with angel....". "Better friends then enemies...". "Sunny, the dude has been a pain in my side for what feels like ages, if he's gonna do nothing but cause more trouble and complain about my family, why would i want to be friends with him?", sunny looked rather sad, but not surprised either. After all, it was clear sky didn't seem to like angel, there was no way she'd convince sky to change her mind about him so easily. But she carried on, "Well, i think you should think about it, maybe you just need more time to talk to him personally....instead of fighting." "You can't just be friends with everyone and expect that to fix things sunny, at least not around here. ". "Yeah but......you'll never know how to fix these things if you don't try right?" Sky turned on her side and closed her eyes, maybe she needed a nap or something. The girl next to her decided no longer to bug her, her focus over to galexia, who was doodling on her sketchpad peacefully. She needed to take some time, time to clam down and stop thinking about all these troubling things that were clearly getting under her skin. If she was stuck here, she might as well doze off, off until her best friend came back to talk to her about it. "Maybe..". - Judas shook his compact, grumbling, just great. How was anyone supposed to contact him if there was no reception up here? Granted, his focus should be on the meeting instead of on his compact but he was worried, what if there was an emergency and he couldn't speak to anyone? The girls could take care of themselves but still, he wanted to be able to speak to them. And yet, here he was struggling to get a signal in the cloud kingdom of all places. His brothers seemed fine though, landon listening to music with his headphones and keeping to himself and mason playing with the pom pom on his hat as he usually did during meetings like this. His father was trying his best not to look annoyed to be stuck in a room with ponyhead. Tom put up with pony way more then marco did, but out of all the royals in mewni, pony was not the easiest one to talk to nor the best listener. As she was arguing with her husband since they all go there instead of talking about the crisis. in fact judas wasn't sure if pony even knew why tom was here at all, instead assuming he was there to be their marriage counselor or something. Bring the boys they said, it'll teach them how to be a good king/prince they said. "-And we can't even get reception here today! It's totally no fair, now i gotta go to boring meetings and not text b-fly and plan our next party.", Queen Ponyhead was a master of first world problems, and how tom put up with her was astonishing, guess his anger management had really gotten that good since marrying marco and fixing his life. He let out an annoyed sigh, probably wondering how his partner was doing back home more then anything. Judas put away his compact, asking to be excused as his father sighed and waved him off. Honestly, there was really no reason he needed to be there with what little progress they were making anyway. Judas thanked him and promised to come right back as he headed out of the office, contacting his friends was a bust. But there was someone he could contact while being stuck up here, and perhaps he really should talk to loki again since he hadn't seen him since he hid in his room and ran off. Or as how Coral put it, since judas did something Ponyhead wouldn't like and that his parents covered up for him. Though, his parents had yet to even mention it to him, so did pony even mention it at all? Never mind, he needed to find loki, even if it were just to talk for a few minutes. He'd been here a few times in his life but he couldn't say he new his way around at all, but as long as he watched his step and didn't eat the food he'd be fine. Honestly he was surprised loki didn't find him himself, especially since he was commonly found following judas or sky most of the time, judas chuckled to himself, maybe loki and angel should hang out, they could annoy each other. That'd be a sight to see. Approaching the pony's room, he knocked on the door. "Hey loki, I know i normally don't visit you , but it's been some time and i wanted to check up on you. Is it cool if i drop in?". It was only seconds when loki magically opened the door, stunned to see judas standing there as he frantically looked at his clearly messy room behind him. "Judas....I uh...I didn't know you were coming..uh...", he floated away and started quickly trying to clean his room, and by clean his room he meant stuffing stuff behind things and under his bed. "You didn't know, didn't your parents tell you?". "I was sleeping, I think....", the pony zoomed around and judas looked at him more closely, noticing he still looked tired and a little bruised. "Loki? Everything ok? You look kinda like a mess....", loki froze and turned around, "Oh that? I keep sleepwalking and running into things during it, that's why, mom's been keeping me in my room more often. Kinda sucks, but hey, i don't have to go to those lame ceremony's to be king right? So it's not so bad to me....". "When did this start up?" "I don't remember honestly, it's kinda blur......but don't worry, I'm uh...I can't believe you came to see me."He then looked behind judas, "Wait, is sky with you, she's always kinda attached to your hip it seems ,so?". And here we went again, the demon sighed as he answered, "Loki, my dad's here to meet with your mom and dad, did your sister tell you about what happened, at the sleepover she went to? There was a masked creep that broke into butterfly castle?". "Wait what!? You kidding me!!?". "Your sister really didn't tell you? She was there, and her parents had to pick her up early.", the pony shook his head, "My sister doesn't really tell me anything, she keep to herself and we only talk when we're taking care of our sister. Mom yells about stuff all the time that it's hard to kinda like....pay attention to what she says? It all ends up kinda blending together after awhile and you really stop listening to it. To be honest, that wasn't entirely invalid, one second his mom would be complaining about her phone and another about a world crisis. "Well, turns out a creep snuck into the castle during the night and we ran right into them, we don't know what they were doing , but they got away and we're all trying to investigate and protect our homes in case they come back. That's why our parents are talking, security is bumping up and we don't know if your kingdom is a target, so we're working on a better system to catch this guy in the act. Loki looked panicked, "Wait, you SAW them, did they attack you, they totally attacked you right?!". "uhhh....no, they kinda retreated when i showed up...". "Oh...". "anyways, i hadn't seen you since you left me that note about finding angel and i thought while i was here i'd see how you were doing, sorry if this was a bad time.". , Honestly he was probably only encouraging loki to follow him and sky and bother them more by doing this, but considering how long it'd been judas really had no reason to dismiss the prince. And it was probably a good idea he showed up because loki was more informed on the situation, although...it seemed to freak him out a bit. "Wait, what about angel?". "What do you mean what about him, you left a note saying you were going to talk to him, you were trying to see if talking to him would make sky want to hang out with you more. I assumed you decided not to and went home instead considering what your sister said". The pony still looked utterly confused though, as though judas had said something outrageous or insane. Judas's curiosity peaked as the pony turned his back to him and seemed to think to himself. "Loki, are you sure everything's ok? You seem a bit more absent minded.....", but the pony brushed it off, turning back to judas and rolling his eyes, "Yeah yeah yeah, i'm totally fine jude, you're just being silly dude, like c'mon.....". Judas bit his lip but sighed, no point in pushing it, "Alright, well maybe you need to get some rest for a bit, you look tired....and um...maybe we can work something out in the future, so you can maybe hang out with me and sky.....maybe.". The pony's eyes lighted up, "Wait, REALLY? Wait, sky still doesn't really like me does she? Does she?". Judas nodded his head, "Well, no, she's still not fond of you, but right now she's also got a bit on her plate this time around. But we're making an effort to work that out and making when you're feeling better we could try and hang out some more.". Yeah, sky would not be happy at all he proposed loki hang out with them, especially since the guy invaded into their business a lot. But then again, judas was more willing to fix things so they didn't have issues then sky. "Wait, what kinda issues..?". "Uh......well...", Judas couldn't exactly spill the real big issues to loki, especially since there's no way he wouldn't blab about it, but then again he could at the very least stick to a part of the truth. "Well, she and angel are going to be working together, she's not entirely happy about it, but i'm sure they'll be fine.....angel is pretty harmless and maybe they can talk things out. If ether of them stop being stubborn and just listen to each other at least...". "Angel angel angel, why is he all you're ever talking about, like...whose obsessed with who here?", loki flopped on his bed, "Like, i'm WAY cooler then him. Also, working together? What are they working together on, something weird? Are they dating now?". Well, at least loki was acting like loki again, "They're not dating loki, they have study together now, so they're just going to learn how to be a good ruler and do the things they need since they're both kinda behind....". "Oh.....well that's kinda lame....", loki snorted, trying to brush his light green hair using magic now, "I dunno, honestly, i think you could maybe benefit from it too, especially since your parents are so persistent on giving you the crown as soon as possible.". The horse didn't seem to be buying it though, "Uh...no....i don't want my mom making me do more work, that's so annoying judas why do you put up with doing this kinda stuff all the time?". "Uh, because i kinda have to?", judas let out a weak laugh, "I mean, you kinda have to take being a king seriously and study dude, i think your parents stink at helping you but when you take over you should be prepared. I mean, aren't you excited to be king, even a little bit?". Loki's blue and yellow eyes looked right at judas, and his glare made his answer rather clear. "Loki, it's not that bad, when you get on that throne, you'll be seen as a leader...someone to admire..". "I'm already someone to admire...". "Uh...yeah, well i mean, you'll be even MORE impressive to everyone around you.". "That's better....". "Look, it's just, maybe you outta make the most out of it? Things will be OK Loki , i promise. ", he was trying to be reassuring but it was hard to tell if loki was even remotely being shifted my the boy's words. Judas eyes to the wall, and all the posters in the boy's room. Popular mewni celebrities, boy bands, and hair products lined the walls and judas looked back to loki, sometimes he forgot loki was a teenager, his behavior at times felt so childish for a pony his age. "Loki? Listen, i know we have our issues at times, but I do want to work stuff out. But, if you really admire me like you say you do, you need to take my advice. You need to take being king more seriously, you'll have people counting on you to decide things for them, to make their lives better. If your parents aren't gonna help, then maybe you need to get some advice elsewhere, but you have no choice but to be king, you can't hide in your room and ignore it..". "I'm only important to my family because i'm a boy, otherwise they don't remotely care about me. I could live in your room for the rest of my life if i weren't the only boy to inherit the throne. But guess what? I am, so therefore, my parents need me, coral gets to sit in her room and play games all day and do whatever she wants. It's not even remotely fair for me to not be able to do anything i want cause i got no choice, how am i supposed to look on the bright side of this?". "You don't even want the money or anything, nothing?". "Well, yeah i want the money but....i still don't want to be king....", granted, loki didn't seem built to be a king but there really wasn't much judas could say that he hadn't already told loki. "Loki, you have to do something with your life, and it can't be just following me and sky around. Even if you could not be the next king, what would you do? Loki you need to stand for something, you need to find your place on mewni and you kinda have to take it.". "For the record, i DO have a place judas! i'll be totally fine", the green pony sat up and made themselves comfortable , "I want to do what I want to do, not have my mom make me do it. You're cool judas and everyone loves you but i'm not doing this stuff. I got better places to be and i'm not giving my mom the satisfaction.". Judas sighed, "Well, i can't make you........but i think i better get going anyway, before my dad worried about me. We'll see each other sometime ok?". "If i can leave the house again, sure" Judas sighed as he walked out and closed the door behind him. So many stubborn princes in this dimension, so many he had to deal with. "Judas! There you are!", the king of the underworld came around the corner, hugging his son instantly, "I was worried for a second, just wanted to tell you i FINALLY managed to get a word in with Queen Ponyhead. So.....we'll all be implementing a call button, we'll use it to instantly summon someone to the scene during another emergency. We'll also in the meantime be letting lucy out for walks to sniff around for the culprit and the culprit's been put on a watch list...." "Uh....". "I know I know, it's imperfect and things are starting to get scary but....", tom placed a hand on his son's shoulder, sighing, "Trust me, it's worth it. Anything to keep you and your brothers safe right now is important to me and your mother both.". The boy nodded, "I just, hope we find them soon, i uh....i know you both worry about us.". Tom pulled his son into a hug, he tended to do that often during times like these, as king lucitor was known to be very affectionate to his family. Judas could recall when he and his brothers were smaller and their parents gave them goodnight kisses. It was like this, small but sweet moments, the kinda moments judas kinda felt he needed more of these days. He hugged his father back, "You're getting so tall....". Tom mumbled under his breath, and judas could tell he was smiling, "I'm almost taller then you....must be the demon side of me coming out more and more.". Tom laughed before letting his son go and reaching to ruffle the boy's hair. "You're cute, just like your mom...". "DAD!". "Sorry!, But it's true and you can't convince me otherwise...i know my children are amazing, even if you won't admit it.", tom patted the boy's shoulder before his smile slightly faltered, ending the sweet moment. " Anyways, we better go collect your brothers, they stopped to go to the kitchens to get some lunch and we better find them before they realize they have to eat from troughs around here.". Tom seemed way too happy about that idea as he ushered judas along. "Hey judas, D-" "No dad, no girlfriend...". "H-". "No boyfriend either...sorry, you gotta wait longer if you expect grandkids...". Judas knew him too well, and tom smiled to himself once again. "Eh don't worry, my dad did the same thing at your age, nu rush in your case.". The king twiddled his fingers, "But, you'll tell me if you start dating anyone, right?". He was met with an elbow to the side and tom wrapped an arm around him, "Alright alright, i'll stop.". The walk along the cloud kingdom still remained lively, the two talking amount each other on the way to the cafeteria. Judas could even feel his own stomach start growling, he really hadn't eaten much at all today had he? Guess the stress and stuff had been getting to him a little more then he would've liked. Even tom seemed to have noticed it as he led the boy along, finding both demon children easily among the cafe of floating horse heads. Mason even ran up to hug tom as tom approached the table they were sitting at, ushering judas to sit down. "I think maybe we should get a bite before we go back, but....no troughs....ok?". Landon made a face, "Yeah, no duh dad...". "Love you too sport..". "I want PIZZA!!", Mason excitably took a seat next to landon and landon went back to listening to music, pulling out his compact to no doubt text bernard. Tom took note of this as he tapped on the table to get landon's attention, "Hey...landon, i don't mean to be a bossy dad or anything. But you mind taking the headphones out and put down the compact? I'd like to talk to all of you while we're here, i'm sure your friend would completely understand". Reluctantly, landon, obeyed, the headphones coming off and and compact sliding into his hoodie pocket. Landon looked less then pleased to be told he couldn't talk to what he considered practically his only friend and he crossed his arms as his father called for a servant and told them their order for lunch, the pony giving them as look as tom told them that they wanted it on a plate rather then a trough. Them tom focused on his sons, clearly relieved to be hanging out with them then with ponyhead. "Sorry boys, i thought our meeting would've been way better then it turned out. Wanted you to see your old man be a real king but uh....guess maybe i'm better off doing it with a much different kingdom..", though mason's expression showed he didn't seem to mind as much landon still didn't seem pleased. "Yeah well, no wonder mom didn't want to come here, they probably would've lost their cool sitting in a room with queen ponyhead for an hour." "Well, your mother also just wanted to make sure someone was in charge back home, sometimes it's better one of us stays at home to keep everything in order.", he was smiling, looking off into the distance, clearly lost in thought about his spouse. If his father wasn't in front of him, judas was sure landon would fake gag about the king's cutesy and puppy dog-like love for marco. Even when they weren't together it still felt like they were, and tom attempted to hold himself together too focus on his kids. "Sorry sorry, didn't mean to phase out there...I know you boys think it's gross, but you won't be saying it's gross when any of you start dating.", he winked to all the boys at the table, judas snorting and face palming as mason smiled and landon tried to hide his face. Mason never seemed phased by much, at least not like his brothers, he rarely got embarrassed about anything and most things that bothered him related to his family or his garden and pets. "i don't think it's gross, you guys are cute...". So of course he'd say that. "Thanks little bat....", tom made a face at mason and mason made a matching face back, "Anyways it's good to sit down and eat together, i mean, i know we do that during dinner. But i mean it's nice to do it without my parents as...you know how they can get sometimes.". He sat back in his seat, watching mason tear off the bottom of a straw wrapper and bow the rest using the straw at judas, the boy taking it as a challenge and doing the same back to him. "I know they mean well and everything but sometimes they do crazy things and it makes me and marco on edge, i'm not to deal with them when they probably take some drastic measures themselves to find the guy we're all looking for. Especially since star and janna both suspect them as a magic user...". Judas's ears perked up, guess he couldn't be surprised his dad found out, their parents weren't stupid, they were going to come to similar conclusions eventually. Even landon's expression perked up for a split second. But mason, being the oblivious one, seemed a little more surprised. And a little scared. "Wait, if they have magic doesn't that mean they could hurt us more easily.?", tom instantly regretted speaking about this matter in front of mason. The boy was not frightened by some things, but no doubt something like this would probably give him nightmares. "Mason, no no no, because me and mommy will take them down if they do, "No one will hurt any of you, you have my word.". Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted judas's shock bracelet and closed his eyes, "No one...". They ate in a bit more silence after that, tom trying to crack jokes in order to lighten the mood. But it didn't seem to entirely be working, not even pizza was enough to make mason feel less anxious, and he loved pizza. Landon didn't seem any better, annoyed he couldn't take his compact out and talk to bernard. Clearly there were no pleasant thoughts surrounding the masked foe and the danger surrounding them. Tom sighed, putting down his slice and closing all three eyes. "Boys, we didn't mean to worry you...any of you. Me and your mom, we're scared too....but we've been in tight spots before, and you know me and your mom would do anything to keep all of you safe. It's just part of the job, and we won't let any of you get hurt.". Tom, glimpsed to judas's arm, "I'm not letting anything bad ever happen to any of you....we'll catch this guy soon and everything will go back to normal, ok? We promise you, we'll find them as soon as possible...". "And what if you don't?", landon blurted out suddenly, "What if you don't and things get worse...?!". "They won't landon, we're the lucitors, we are some of the most powerful royals in all of mewni. We control the dead, we control fire and lava, we've been here longer then the butterflies ever did. You can't tear a lucitor down so easily. We have never failed before and we won't do it now, magic or no magic this being can not evade us forever. Me and marco have been taking bad guys out since before we were even dating, and we've handled tougher then this...". That seemed to get landon to stop talking, tom wrapping an arm around judas and reaching out to landon's shoulder. "We're family, we'll get through this mess, and i have complete faith in all of you to be able to protect each other if you have to.", mason seemed a bit relieved, breaking out into a smile. "Will mommy wear their scary mask like before? To go out and get em?". This seemed to lighten tom's spirits as well, "Oh heck yeah, mommy will scare the heck outta this guy....make them regret it.". The exchange between judas and landon in facial expressions said it all, what would their dad think if he found out they were trying to track the guy down? He'd probably be proud to a degree they caught them, but on another hand tom hated his family getting themselves into danger. Or even putting younger kids into possible danger as well, as the adults would take full responsibility if one of them ended up hurt under their roof and protection. And god, worse off, what if they suspected the girls of not being who they say they were. Showing up oh so conveniently when all this started happening? There was no way they could keep this charade up forever, if they didn't wrap this up soon, they were all busted. Then what? Be grounded forever? Even if their father was ok with it there was no way their mother would feel the same way. They were all about safety and the one of their family was a huge priority for them. The food was finished, the group was ready, and judas couldn't wait to talk to sky about Loki. Though as the flames lifted and they were surrounded in the familiar warmth of the underworld, it was clear something wasn't right. Even tom sensed it, calling a servant over and asking about the situation. "There was an incident, no one was hurt thankfully, but your husband wants to speak with you.....immediately. And you uh...better bring the boys as well..". tom exchanged looks with his sons and ushered them to follow as they moved forward, walking to marco's office, tom opened the door, almost in a panic. "Marco what hap-", their lips were pushed instantly against marco's who tugged them forward before hugging them tightly. Marco looked to their sons, who looked stunned and nervous. "We need to talk, now...".

#star vs the forces of evil #svstfoe #svtfoe #sky and the forces of the multiverse #tomco bby #starkie bby #janstar bby #tomstar bby #starco bby #ostar bby #tom the demon #tom lucitor #marco #marco diaz #my art #fanfic #fanfiction #spiderslime

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