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honibee-arts · 4 years

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ship prompts: nielan ageswapped with their brothers?

The first time Nie Mingjue met Lan Xichen, he was a tiny boy holding tight to his stone faced older brothers hand. His tiny arm was almost swallowed by Lan Wangji's enormous, flowing sleeves. He stood at his brothers side, his honey eyes wide and curious as they peered at Mingjue, studying him curiously.

"Come on didi, say hello to Xichen." His da ge urged quietly, a gentle hand on his back as he clung to the olive and grey silk of his skirts, trying not to pick at the glittering gold embroidered into the fabric.

"H-Hello..." He mumbled.

"Introduce yourself." Huaisang said softly, gently patting his head.

"M... Don't want to."

"Forgive me, Wangji, he's very shy. A moment?"

"Mn. Of course."

Mingjue felt his ears burn in embarrassment as his da ge kneeled down in front of him. He looked away from his brother as Huaisang gently took his hands, softly nudging the slight pudge of his cheek with his fan to turn his head back to face him.

"Didi..." He sighed.

"Mm."

"What's wrong, didi? You can talk to your da ge."

Mingjue said nothing, only stared at the ground, tiny fiat's clenched and cheeks puffed.

"Are you nervous?"

"Keeps looking at me..." Mingjue mumbled.

"Hm?"

"He keeps looking at me like I'm weird..."

"Xichen has never really seen anyone outside his sect before, let alone someone outside his sect who his own age. He's just curious."

"Why can't I be with you and Wangji-ge?" Mingjue mumbled.

"Because Wangji-ge and I have boring things to do. Last time that happened you were lonely, so Wangji-ge brought his didi so you two could play together and make friends." Huaisang said gently. "Can you do that for me? Can you play with Xichen today?"

"Mm... Okay. For da ge."

"For da ge? Okay. Can you introduce yourself to Xichen?" Mingjue nodded hesitantly. "Do you still want da ge to hold your hand?" Mingjue nodded again and Huaisang stood up, taking his small hand in his, squeezing lightly.

"Mm... I'm... I'm Nie Mingjue..."

Xichen let go of his brothers hand and held his short arms out in a small bow.

"I am Lan Xichen. It is nice to meet you. I am sorry for upsetting you."

Mingjues brow furrowed as he reached to stop the boy, holding his arms. The white fabric of his robes was soft and warm in Mingjues hands.

"Why are you bowing?"

"For respect. You are the Second Young Master of the Nie sect. Shushu says I must bow to show respect."

"You don't have to bow to me if we're friends. Da ge says friends don't need to how to each other because they respect each other already."

"Oh... Are we...?"

"Friends?"

"Mn."

"Yeah. You're my friend."

".... I've never had a friend before." the little boy looked down, his sad, honeyed eyes staring at his little white boots.

"Well I'm your friend now."

They had played all day, albeit with some encouragement. Mingjue had learned that day that the Lan sect had many rules, and to him they made life sound miserable. What child could be happy if they weren't allowed to run and laugh and climb and fight?

As the evening began to come in, the boys found themselves growing tired. The last thing Mingjue remembered of that day was his da ge draping his outer robe over them as they curled up in his room on one of his large pillows, Xichens head resting on his chest.

Mingjue had been right about the Gusu Lan Sect rules. Studying here was miserable. He missed his home, the comfort of his own bed. He missed his own rules, his own routine. He missed being able to run, train and fight whenever he wanted. If his days were filled with study back in the Unclean Realm then he would practice the saber until the sun had long since set.

The cursed curfew had banned him from such things.

The lectures were long and dull, his only reprive in this nightmare was Xichen. Mingjue rested his cheek on his fist as he huffed, glaring a hole through the row of Jiang disciples blocking Xichen from his view. He never glared at Jiang Yanli, though. The girl was too kind and gentle for that.

Beside his uncle, Lan Wangji stood tall, the newly minted Hanguang Jun a jade pillar of discipline, the picture of the perfect Lan disciple in modest, flowing white and sky blue robes. His hawk-like eyes bore into Mingjue, silently demanding he sit up straight and pay attention, lest he had to punish him.

Mingjue glanced at the soon-to-be sect leader apologetically. The long lectures made him restless and it was easy for his mind to wander. God's, he couldn't wait to get out of here. He checked to see if Lan Wangji was watching him, but his attention had turned to Jin Zixun and his snickering gaggle of Jin disciples, his bright gold eyes burning as he glared at them.

Taking advantage of Lan Wangji's divided attention, he took a small piece of paperman talisman paper and scribbled a message onto it. His da ge was right. It was a good idea to keep some on him during his studies.

He activated it with a thread of qi and checked if anyone was watching before he sent it in Xichens direction. He hid his smile behind his fist as he watched the red paperman dance toward Xichen in the air, perching playfully on his elegant shoulder.

He felt his fingers twitch as its little arm played with his hair, seeing how Xichens lips twitched into a smile as the paperman relayed Mingjues message. Was he... Jealous of his talisman?

No, no, that couldn't be possible-

Xichen laughed softly, smiling at Mingjue so brilliantly it made his cheeks grow hot.

Okay.

Maybe he was jealous of his talisman but... Xichen was so... So... Pretty. He put everyone around him to shame with his radiance. Since they had been reunited here in Gusu after so long, Xichen had grown almost a full head taller than him and had begun to fill out as he entered the later half of adolescence. His shoulders appeared broader under the countless layers of his blue and white robes, tapering at his waist. His face had lost its child-like softness, giving way to the sharp angled features of a man.

Oh.

Oh no.

He was in love with Lan Xichen.

"Nie Mingjue!" Lan Wangji said sharply. Mingjue startled, turning his attention to the glaring First Jade who was crumpling the paperman in his fist.

Mingjue swallowed thickly, looking up at the glaring first jade nervously.

"Yes, Hanguang Jun?"

"You're in for it now." Snorted Nie Zonghui behind him.

"You were passing notes during a lecture. Go to the library pavilion after this lecture and transcribe the disciplines twenty times. I will supervise you myself."

Twenty? That's a little harsh...

Ignoring the whispers around him, Mingjue stood up and brought his arms out to bow to the First Jade.

"Yes Hanguang Jun. My apologies. It will not happen again."

"It better not." Lan Qiren said sharply, narrowing his eyes at Mingjue. "You may be seated."

Mingjue swallowed thickly, nodding as he sat back down. He felt countless eyes on him as he straightened his spine and squared his shoulders, trying to ignore the snickers of the Jin disciples.

"Try not to take it too personally, Nie-Xiong." Jiang Yanli said quietly, looking over at him sympathetically. "Hanguang Jun has always been harsh with his punishments. A-Xian got punished a lot while he was here."

He gave her a grateful nod, turning his attention back to the lecture.

3000 - appreciate the good people.

Mingjues wrist ached after painstakingly coping all 3000 rules twenty times. He withheld a groan as he pit his brush back into the water, grimacing at ink on his hands, unable to wipe it off onto his white robes. He missed his familiar dark grey robes, comfortable and functional rather than the white guest robes he was ordered to wear.

He checked his ink was dry one last time before collecting the copied rules into a pile. He steeled himself as he stood up and walked over to Hanguang Jun.

"Ah... Hanguang Jun..." Mingjue said awkwardly. He felt his blood turn to ice in his veins as he was met with the First Jades cool gold eyes. "I have finished... I hope these are to your satisfaction."

He plucked the copies from his hand, deathly silent as Mingjue bowed, scanning the copies diligently.

"Nie Mingjue."

"Yes, Hanguang Jun?"

"What are your intentions with my didi?"

"E-Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Xichens just my friend..."

"Lying is forbidden in Cloud Recesses." Lan Wangji fixed him with a blank stare. Mingjue was beginning to feel an anxious cold sweat run down his spine. "I care very little for things in this world. My didi is one of the things I do care about. If you hurt him, if you even consider an action that may harm him emotionally, physically, mentally or spiritually, I will not hesitate to flay you down to your bones in front of your sect, do you understand me?"

"Y-yes Hanguang Jun." Mingjue mumbled, terrified and bewildered at the monotone delivery of such a violent threat.

"Begone. I have other more pressing matters to attend to than your lacking discipline."

Since the day in the library, Mingjue hadn't exactly avoided Xichen per se, but tried not to linger too closely, out of fear of his brother. Jiang Yanli walked beside him, chatting brightly about her family back in Yunmeng as he nodded and listened. Da ge was quite fond of Jiang Yanli's own gege, and spoke of their times in Gusu often. The Jiang sect heir had been something of a role model to Mingjue growing up, as he was admittedly more disciplined than his da ge and a much stronger cultivator.

He smiled politely as she tittered on brightly, laughing happily as she recounted the memories of her summers back at home. The mention of such things made him miss Qinghe too.

A gaggle of Jin disciples walked by, snickering about something.

"- too plain for the Young Master. I heard she's willing to kiss up to anyone at this rate. Who would want her? It's a pity really, considering how strong her brothers are." a boy from the Jin sect sighed.

"Is Wei Wuxian really her brother though? From what I've heard they seem... Close." another sneered. "She might be like her father... Unfaithful. Impure."

Mingjue shot a glare at the disciples, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. The small group bunched together and made a startled sound.

"Nie-Xiong, please, its not worth it. It is nothing to worry about. " Jiang Yanli said softly, but the tears collecting in her eyes said otherwise.

"Keep walking you brute." one of the braver disciples snickered. "She knows what she's worth. She doesn't have her precious brothers to protect her now." behind him, Jiang Yanli sniffled softly. "Especially not her precious A-Xi-"

"Jin Zixun, was it?" Lan Xichen interjected, the polite smile ever present on his face but something dark and enraged behind it.

"You should know who you're sitting next to instead of gazing over at that Nie brute like a cut sleeve."

Oh, that was the last straw.

Baxia pulsed on his back, itching to strike and stain the Jin disciples robes with his crimson blood. The blade twitched, rattling in its holster as Mingjue reached for it.

"A-Jue, don't." Xichen urged, stepping between Mingjue and the Jins. "Fighting is forbidden, please. If you let this de-escalate and calm down then I can get Gege and he can punsih them, alright?" Mingjue grit his teeth, glaring at the cowering disciples. "Please."

".... Fine."

"Report to Hanguang Jun for your punishments. You have broken three rules: no gossiping, no use of frivolous words and no arrogance. You are aware of the rules and yet you have broken them, therefore you must be punished." He said firmly, towering over the Jin disciples who quickly ran off. "Anyway. Gege has heard reports of water ghouls in Biling Lake. He was wondering if you would accompany us on a night hunt, Mingjue-Xiong."

"Water ghouls? A-Xian and A-Cheng could be of help. They're not too far from Gusu and they have lots of experience with water ghouls. They're very common in Yunmeng."

Xichen grinned, laughing softly to himself.

"Yes, I'm sure they'll be of much assistance." He said lightly. Jiang Yanli laughed gently.

"I feel as though I am missing something here."

"You'll see, Mingjue-Xiong. You'll see."

"LAN ZHAAAAAN!" Wei Wuxian screeched as he launched himself at Lan Wangji, throwing his arms around the First Jade.

He had heard tales of the Yunmeng Jiang first Disciple endlessly teasing Lan Wangji, but this happened to be something else... Something more personal as he watched Wei Wuxian wind himself around the statuesque form of Xichens Gege.

"Wei Ying. We are on a night hunt. Behave accordingly."

"He's never behaved accordingly in his life." Jiang Wanyin snorted, folding his arms. "Why is he here? There's no rivers or lakes in Qinghe. I doubt he can swim. His brother couldn't."

"I invited Mingjue-Xiong along so he could gain experience in things like this. Its important to have a broad scope of abilities as a cultivator." Xichen said brightly, humming as he twirled his xiao between his fingers.

Mingjue felt his cheeks burn as Xichen beamed at him. He inhaled deeply and hoped he didn't screw up this whole night hunt.

The water finally settled as the vortex closed, the boats rocking under his feet, causing his stance to waver. He gasped as he stumbled back, colliding with Xichens chest as his arms wrapped around him, steadying him.

"Mingjue-Xiong, are you alright?" Xichen asked, holding him by his waist.

"Hm? Yes, yes I..." I'm trying not to focus on the way you're holding me. Or how beautiful you look when you're a little wet. You're just beautiful. I think I love you.

"You're all wet. Let's get out of here so we can stop to change at the tavern, alright?"

"A-alright."

"Didi." His da ge called from the shade of his seat on the deck surrounding the courtyard, watching diligently as Mingjue moved through sword forms.

"Yes, da ge?" Mingjue replied, flicking his hair off his bare shoulder as the sun bore down on his skin while he trained.

"When were you going to tell me you had a crush on Lan Xichen?" He asked slowly.

"I-I don't!" Mingjue said too quickly, his face flushing rapidly as he whirled around at his brother.

"Your lips say one thing, your body, heart and mind say another. Even your core yearns for him, didi."

"Aiya... Leave me alone... There's no point. I can't have him." He sighed, pointing his blade down into the stone beneath his feet, leaning against the rounded pommel.

"Why not?" Huaisang asked, gently fluttering his fan.

"He's Lan Xichen." Mingjue replied, stating the obvious.

"And you are Nie Mingjue. You are not sect leaders. He is not a sect heir. Union between two men is uncommon but not unheard of."

"So you're, what, asking me to march to Cloud Recesses and demand Lan Xichens hand in marriage from his uncle and gege because of some childish crush?"

"Didi. I brushed off my feelings about Jiang-Xiong like this. Did I love him? Yes. I called it a childish crush to protect myself. When Ba... Joined Mama and A-Niang... I knew not only could I take another sect leader as my husband, but I could not have any weakness. That is why I pushed you to be as strong as you are. You are my weakness, but you can protect yourself. I have my regrets... All I wish is to ensure you do not have to live with yours."

#cheng qing ling #mdzs #cql #the untamed #lan xichen #mo dao zhu shi #nie mingjue #nielan

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dragonrajafanfiction · 3 years

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The Red Well (Part 3) Hearts and Minds

This is it folks! The MC is EMPOWERED! @rurifangirl

The smoke of liquid nitrogen was gone and people finally saw the true appearance of the holy skeleton. It looked like a crippled embryo. Its swollen head had a large single eye. What looked like a tail was actually a flesh-wrapped spine. Its ribs protrude outside the flesh layer, so it must have used these sharp ribs to insert into the host's spine and manipulate the body when it was parasitic. The holy skeleton did not die under the blade of Gathering Clouds. It twisted and made a "hissing" sound. The golden eyes flash at you, but in the glass capture chamber it could not touch any host that could be parasitized. Without the power of a body it was so weak it couldn’t escape through glass.

King General used a strong flashlight and peered through the outer layer of flesh of the skeleton. Inside the half-developed organs were faintly visible.

You could still feel yourself shaking, not only in fear of this thing and its hunger for you, but in fear of Ruri Kazama who was even stronger. Now you finally understood why Ruri Kazama offered to take you here, rob Herzog of the fetal blood and give it to you. It wasn’t just about saving your life. When you stared into his swirling pupils of red and gold, you finally grasped that this was about more than just survival. He wouldn’t stop at Herzog and Chisei.

World Domination.

With you.

You have a nightmare vision of this unstoppable hybrid, killing everyone you know, piling them up like hay. Z understood his true nature. He warned you several times and each time you felt you had a reason to ignore him. His last words were “This one’s on you.”

You thought you were smart, strong, and quick enough to change and control your situation. But you were nothing compared to Ruri Kazama. Nothing!

There was only one way to free yourself...

"Look at it, how beautiful it is! What a perfect way to evolve! Before it was executed by the Black King, it actively evolved to live in parasitic form! It perpetuated its existence in this way!" The king pressed his hands on the capture pod and glorified the ugly parasite.

"Ah Excuse me!.” A voice from somewhere in this massive cave spoke up. “..if the god is a parasite ...... then how does it help us evolve?''

"It's not enough to find a parasite, you also have to find a host and food for it." The King smiled, "Only a very few hosts in this world can be parasitized by the god, such as Izanagi and Susanoo, but unfortunately the ancient descendants did not understand the great meaning of this parasitism and killed the god before it completely evolved into the new white king. It is not the god in this form that can give us the path of evolution, but the White King after the evolution is complete! We will see the new king ascend the throne and open a new chapter in the world!''

Pillars of light descended from the sky, enveloping you, the King General and Ruri Kazama in them. The helicopter's rotor blades cut through the rain curtain, a loud roar echoing through the well. It was a black helicopter with the cabin door open, and Gen Chisei sitting in the cabin, his long black trench coat whipping and flying.

At the last moment, Hydra arrived on the scene.

Ruri Kazama, who had been silent, seemed to wake up from a deep sleep. His eyes lit up, and golden mandala-like patterns seemed to turn under them. He slowly lifted his head and looked up at the black shadow that had fallen from the sky, the gale blowing away the fringes of his Kimono to reveal his ribbed chest.

"Brother! Brother! You've come to see me? Are you here for my graduation?" He laughed wildly in the wind.

"Or have you come for my enthronement ceremony?" His smile tightened into a malicious grimace, leaving only biting ferocity, "With your blood to stain my vestments with your sacrificial red?"

Just like that, Ruri seemed to have forgotten about you. But he already told you what to do.

Hide.

The ancient and stern language descended from the sky, just like the language of God echoing in the sky. The field of “Majesty" enveloped the Red Well, and tens of thousands of stainless steel wall panels fell off the well walls, pressing the king's wrath on everyone's head. The rules of gravity were forcibly changed. Everyone felt ten times their weight on their bones.

You flee. You flee like you fled the soldiers in Black Swan Bay. The huge metal plates smashed down on the helpless Devil Clan elites. But you were not affected and you had the Sword of the Gathering Clouds to aid you. The super sharp master blade cut through the thick steal plates like paper as you headed for the safety cabins. You didn’t understand why you were spared Majesty’s influence. Was this payback for rescuing Sakura on the Tokyo Tower? Or did Chisei understand that you weren't exactly a willing participant in all this?

All around you the moans of the members of the Devil Clan were echoing. They were like souls trapped in hell. You pause in your flight.

A young man had managed to grab your heel. His tears were pooling under his eyes. They were tears mixed with blood. His jaw looked distorted and broken. His chest was whistling with blood. He couldn’t have been older than you were, but he struggled. “Help… me…”

Before you could answer a massive shadow loomed over you and a steel plate came down and smashed through his neck like a guillotine, sending his head flying clear off the platform into the well below.

This wasn’t fair. These were people. They didn’t know Herzog was bad any more than you did as a Black Swan Bay orphan. Again, your mind superimposes Black Swan Bay onto the Red Well. If Herzog had taken you to the capitol as promised, wouldn’t he still be your beloved father? Would he not have infected you with his distorted visions of evolution? These people were just trying to survive! They were all that was left of the Devil Clan. Everyone else was in prison!

What was the difference between them and you? They were just like you! They were being slaughtered like animals and they were just like you!

The Red Well suddenly echoed with a mighty roar that came from your wide open throat. It was plaintive and piercing like the cry of a lonely wolf or a mourning mother over her fallen child. It was full of sorrow but also fierce frustration that this shit keeps happening and you want it to fucking stop! Your throat stretched and rattled painfully. If you could stop the world with your voice, you would roar until your voice gave out!

Your eyes explode into a kaleidoscope pattern of black red and gold as the blood in your body finally takes full hold. Ruri’s blood has replaced your own. That blood was yours now and all the power that came with it!

Ruri was laughing wildly from somewhere in the cave. “Do you hear that brother! It’s just as it’s written! A rib was taken from a man and from it was formed into a woman! See! I can quote fairy tales too!”

Your hands seize a firm hold of Gathering Clouds and you spin and a dazzling horizontal arc! The secret of this mighty sword is that it could control the wind. One of the first emperor hybrids wielded it to push a wildfire set by his enemies back into them, burning them to ash. In this case, the sword produced a wind so powerful it knocked back all the massive steel plates. Even though they were heavy in normal gravity and ten times heavier under the influence of Majesty, this dragon-tail sword blew those plates away like they weighed no more than feathers! They scattered like dandelion tufts blown by a child!

There was nothing in your mind other than stopping this mindless slaughter. You didn’t care about the Devil Clan versus Hydra. In this matter, you had to agree with Ruri Kazama. There were no good guys versus bad guys. There were good guys in Hydra like Sakura Yabuki and there were good people in the Devil Clan, like Chime and Chance. The only evil that led both astray were Herzog and Bondarev. They should be turning those weapons on them!

Chisei did not come alone. The heavily armed Hydra members followed Gen Chisei out of the cabin of the helicopters. They fired at the shaft wall with grapple guns and hung high from them, but Chisei Gen fell straight down. Kazama Ruri stretched the fuchsia-red sword in the air, Chisei’s twin blades made a dazzling ray of more than ten meters long, and the three blades fought against each other. The violent sparks illuminate the faces of the estranged brothers. Chisei’s face is indifferent like a stone carving, but Kazama Ruri’s is like a bloodthirsty evil spirit.

Around them, gunfire and explosions continued. The Hydra Elites hung in the air by their grapple guns and pulled the trigger before they had even completed their fall. A hailstorm of bullets fell from the sky. The moment Chisei jumped out of the cabin, “Majesty” was lifted, but the engineering team and gunmen of the Devil Clan were cut down and suppressed by gunfire before they could get up and dodge. The Hydra elites were not going to spare anyone in the well. They were thugs among thugs, and now, even though they dangled from ropes, they hold their weapons as still and stable as professional assassins.

A hurricane of violence had erupted in the Well of Bones. Ruri and Chisei’s blades were like lightning, the gun battles were like thunder, and you were howling like the wind.

You ran straight towards the wall, and then straight up the wall. Your face is like the mask of Medusa and your hair quivered like black snakes. You didn’t care how fast you were running, it wasn’t fast enough! People were still dying! If this were just up to you and just about you, you probably could have killed everyone in this well much more easily. That was how you were taught in Black Swan Bay. But now you’d been infected with a new philosophy.

The righteous philosophy of Caesar Gattuso! What was right mattered more than what was efficient. Human lives were worth more than the blood of gods! Your whole body felt like it was on fire as you cut through all the weapons of the Hydra members hanging on the walls. You were just as fast as Ruri was. Hydra leaders took aim at the Devil clan only for the muzzles of their guns to fall off and a strong breeze to shake them from the wall. You were able to easily outrun the bullets that strafed after you as you cut heavy weapons to pieces and cut them from their wires so that they would fall to the maintenance platform.

The surviving Devil clan members cheered as they crawled out from cover and picked up weapons to counterattack, and they aimed at the vital parts of the Hydra assassins, giving them fatal injuries while they were hanging in the air. But then those cheers changed to fearful confusion as this whirlwind of a woman descended on them and their weapons split in half even though they never saw you cut them.. “Stop fighting! Don’t you realize who the real enemy is?!” Your voice doesn’t sound like your own. It sounds like a mix of Ruri Kazama’s voice and yours, speaking double toned, like someone possessed.

“Traitor! She’s a traitor!” Someone yelled among the Devil Clan ranks

“Kill that Devil woman!” Came shouts from the Hydra elites on the wall.

Yelling erupted from every side of the well from both the Devil Clan and the Hydra elites. You’re suddenly enveloped by a hail of bullets from both sides who now viewed you as a dangerous enemy and united to fight against you. A rueful bitter voice echoed in your head. “Well, at least they answered your question. Their real enemy is you… apparently.” A strong wind burst out and the bullets of the Hydra and the Devil Clan shot back into their faces. Dozens of men on both sides on the conflict fell dead or seriously wounded in an instant.

You put one hand over your eyes. You cackled at your own despair. You couldn’t stop yourself laughing uproariously. Your laugh rose to an insane screaming pitch as you rose above the floor of the maintenance platform on a gale of wind like some sort of evil witch. “Fine… Fine! Have it your way. Tear each other’s throats and die here with no one to mourn you!” While you felt the evil of Herzog and the justice of Gattuso, you still had little patience for idiots.

“Leave her to me! I’ll take care of the rest!” A man darted forward. You could tell by his speed and the ferociousness in his eyes that this one was different. The sword he carried glow brilliantly as though it had been superheated. But to you he was just running like a child with a toy light saber. What mattered more was that he was a leader. He had influence.

You met him, but not blade for blade so as not to smash his weapon by accident. Instead you dodged while he struck at you again and again but you were like a ghost in the air. “Tell your men to stop fighting!” You say.

“I will not let you resurrect the god!” His blade suddenly burst into flames, extending its reach and sending a wave of fire at you. The fire ignites your dress, turning the white fabric to soot and exposing your midriff. Delicate white scales sparkled on your abdomen in the rain as though you were made of diamond. The man’s eyes widened in horror as you just absorbed what should have been a devastating blow.

“The god is already resurrected.” You tell him, your voice is shaking, pleading. The rain drops run down your face in a torrent. “You don’t understand its nature. I don’t think you can control it. If you don’t work together with the Devil Clan, you’ll never-”

Now it was the senior member’s turn to laugh. “Ha! Work together? Work with the greedy people who got us into this mess in the first place?!” He pointed the sword at you. His eyes blazing gold. “You’re just a child. We’ve been fighting this war for all our lives. Our sides were determined on the day we were born and I have sworn to follow my righteous path until I die!”

“These people are your family!” You scream desperately. “Chance’s real name was Ichirou Inuyama! He was Inuyama!”

You suddenly see his whole body glow like fire and his clothes burned away. Under his combat suit he was strapped head to toe in layers of plastic explosive! He’d prepared to meet a super-Devil like you or Ruri.

He howled against the wind. “DIE! DEVIL SCUM!”

Time seemed to slow as the raging ball of flame burned his body to ash and came towards you, and the roaring gale of Gathering Clouds bubbled outward to meet it. The force of the suicide vest was so powerful, the flames licked around your body, surrounding you in fire. But eventually, just as in the legend, the wind won out. The full force of the suicide blast flew away from you. Not only that, the blast was fed and accelerated by your ferocious wind until that fire expanded into a fireball a hundred meters wide and heated up to nearly 2,000 degrees. It engulfed men and women who had thrown away their broken guns and pulled out knives and swords. If they didn’t have knives and swords, they fought with fists, feet, and bits of debris. They didn’t even look up when the ball of fire took them over and snuffed out their lives. The massive fireball left corpses and flames and devastation in its wake.

But you didn’t mean it. You were just defending yourself.

A loud crash interrupted you before you could panic. You jerked your head around and saw Chisei Gen standing under a shower of burning wreckage from a helicopter that was rolling down the wall. Gen Chisei did not dodge and it was too late to warn him.

You run forward a few steps but the whirling blade that had broken off from the wreckage already chopped into Chisei’s shoulder, crushing the man flat to the ground as the rest of the blades cut in turn. Immediately afterwards, the crumpled black fuselage hit him and slid across the ground before finally crashing into the tall steel liquid nitrogen tank. Huge amounts of liquid nitrogen poured over the wreckage of the helicopter, frost spreading along the surface of the wreckage and rising up as a thick mist.

The fuel tanks ruptured and the fallen wreckage was ignited. Electric sparks flashed and buzzed as if a thousand suns were burning at the bottom of the well, a wave of gas forcing everyone still alive apart. Columns of light swept across the bottom of the storage well with columns of dust, fiery air currents and flying debris blew across the area.

The Hydra and engineering teams of the Devil Clan were still fighting. They didn't even realize that the leader of the Hydra group had been killed in action. All of them were immersed in a great sense of mission and anger. No matter what the outcome of this fight was, no one could stop anymore. Even though you had the blood, the power, and the faith in justice, you felt lost and without any hope of victory.

You’re not even sure you wanted Chime to come back any more. Maybe this is for the best that he sleeps forever with his brother.

This was not Black Swan Bay. These weren’t little children running from explosions or cold-blooded men. These were adults. These people were choosing to kill each other. Even if they were deceived, they truly believed the deception. Even if you took all their weapons and tied them all up, they would still move and crawl on the ground in an attempt to tear at each other with their teeth.

The trap that Herzog had set was not this well. The burning man was right. The trap had been set and carefully laid in their minds and cultivated from the day of their birth. Just like the trap of the suicide pills. These people had to, not only choose to live and not seek death, but also choose to let others live and not seek the death of other people.

"So sad the end, ah... the family line that stretched for thousands of years, the guardian of Japan, just ended its mission.'' Herzog stands by the burning wreckage and laments in a poetic voice, "From now on in the world, there will no longer be any such thing as Emperor.”

"But no matter," he smiled faintly again, "Emperors were outdated anyway."

Ruri was strangely silent. With his brother gone, shouldn’t he be attacking Herzog?

Herzog hoisted the carrying case in his hand, the glass capture capsule is contained in that case. He has got what he dreamed of all his life. It is time to leave this well. You huff. What a magnificent bastard. He didn’t have to do anything to kill anyone here. Everyone was happy to do it for him, yourself included.

You stare at the sword in your hand. What a poisoned pill that sword turned out to be!

At that moment, a loud heartbeat came from behind him, like a sudden booming death knell, like something returning from hell! Hands covered in white scales pierced the metal skin of the wreckage of the helicopter, and crystal clear claws snapped around the head of the King General!

The flames in the wreckage sucked in and out, getting more and more fiery, as though something huge was breathing in the cockpit. Each time it inhaled a huge amount of air from within the wreck, it exhaled a gushing fire from it.

The suitcase fell to the ground. The King kicked and struggled. Not only is the pressure on that sharp claw increasing, but the sound of breathing was taking on a threatening aura. Kazama Ruri didn't move. Those dull, soulless eyes lit up again, and he watched with interest as the claw slowly tightened. The king's mask was crumbling, blood dripping down from the cracks.

The wreckage suddenly burst apart! The few people who approached the wreckage were immediately killed by the flying flames and debris.

Out of the firelight came the dazzling white shadow, someone who could no longer be called human. He was such a beautiful and hideous creature. He possessed gnarled muscles and rippling sinews that proclaimed what power was in this incredible body. The surface of the scales of his skin were like golden-red brocade in the firelight. The skin on his back split open. Slender bones opened up. Bloody wings stretched themselves out for the first time He was drenched in blood from this wing beat but the wounds on his back healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, after which the fierce and savage back muscles bulged.

The exoskeleton-encircled face could no longer smile or frown, and the newborn Chisei breathed up into the sky with a windy roar in his throat.

He was something between an angel and a devil, a mistake that should not have been made in this world.

"Dragon's blood! You ...... you used dragon's blood?!" The General exclaimed.

Chisei’s voice was deep and echoing. "Yes, as an emperor, I can't kill you, but as a ghost, I can surpass the limits of an emperor." He said softly, "I've been a ghost slayer all my life, yet I didn't understand until this moment why those ghosts crave for power.''

He looked up at the dark night sky, rain pattering on that hard face: "When there is already boundless darkness where you are, how can you not fly to the flame?"

You gasp. Those words. Not those words! Those are Herzog’s words! Why was Chisei quoting the words of the dying Devil Clan? You reach out your hand. And then stop. With a slight popping sound, the skull of Herzog broke like a water pipe. He threw the King's body on the ground and lowered his emperor-like golden eyes to observe. The corpse never moved a single bit.

The King surprisingly just died. And suddenly everything made sense. You were too occupied to think about it before. Didn’t Chisei fall helplessly before Ruri Kazama just hours ago? Didn’t Chisei always save Majesty to the end of the battle as an escape plan because it rendered him as helpless as a newborn kitten? In this instance, he’d thrown it out at the beginning! But he suffered no side effects. He wanted to kill Ruri Kazama so badly that he went against his own morals and principles.

Morals and principals were so troublesome. You think to yourself bitterly. They get in the way of efficiency.

After what you’d seen of Ruri Kazama and after what you’d seen of the god. You didn’t believe you could survive here much longer and you didn’t think Chisei would win. It was best to escape while these two musclebound idiots solved their differences. Knowing them… they’d kill each other and you never got in the way of that before, and bitterly decide not to get in the way of that again.

Since Chisei didn’t suffer any from using his Soul Skill you decide to use your own Soul Skill. You press your foot to the ground and let the spiritual roots take hold without reservation. Mental filaments spread like vines and touch every part of the Red Well until you feel like you wear it as a second skin. You needed a way out. Then you could bury this place in magma. The magma wasn’t far from here. After all, it fed the god that caused all this. You would simply return it to its place.

A strange signature, like three footsteps, catches your attention. Someone had walked up near the rim of the well close to the machinery lift platform. You can’t see anyone, but they’re there. Who could be up there?

Your heart suddenly leaps into your throat and your memory throws up the scene on Tokyo Tower of Ruri beheading and then severing the body of the King in two only for it to pop up again in a second place! The person standing up on the platform was likely the real King! This body is a fake!

“Ha!” You snarl and take the Heavenly Cloud blade and strike the ground. It summons a huge tornado that lifts you off like a rocket. You really did have wings and you were going to pounce on this King creature like and eagle and kill him for real.

But this man was always prepared. What would he have for you? Bombs? Hah. Deadpool? Hah! There was nothing that could save him!

When you approach the rim of the well, it’s too late that you see the fine nano-fiber mesh that surrounds it. It wraps around you like a spiderweb, and clings tight as you collide with it and push with forward momentum. The Sword of Gathering Clouds slips from your grasp and goes falling back towards the well. Immediately your upward momentum comes crashing down onto the flat land that surrounds the Red Well and you roll several feet before coming to a stop next to an armored boot. Your hands are bound, your legs are bound. The nanofibers are crushing into your skin.

You stare up into the sky and a pistol is pointed right at your forehead. Herzog’s masked face comes into view. He waggles his fingers in greeting. “Hello.”

#Dragon Raja

8 notes · View notes

z-iridest · 3 years

Text

My Hero Academia: Ascension

Warning: Language

Chapter 1: Birds of a Feather-

The bitter cold winds of Japan’s early morning in the dead of winter felt crisply refreshing against a young woman’s skin as she soared through the air like her brother had done many times before in her childhood. Her white wings flapped up and down as she flew higher and higher still, eventually breaking through the clouds before she retracted her wings, releasing a deep breath out of her mouth as she stayed suspended in the air for a brief moment before her descent from the nostalgia of the past began, her feathery dark hair flowing upward as gravity dragged her down. She tucked her arms into her body as she allowed herself to twist in midair, pulling reckless mid-air maneuvers that she knew her brother would kill her for even attempting. At the last second, her amber eyes snapped open the same time her wings burst through her jacket, the young girl smirking as she effortlessly sped through Japan’s early morning air. Adrenaline pumped through the girl’s veins, her wings flapping up and down faster than before, allowing her speed to increase. She was headed toward a construction area, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes as she flew toward it, toward the perfect obstacle course to challenge control of her powers. She flew through the unfinished building, maneuvering pretty easily around the framework of the rooms that had not yet received windows nor walls, performing sharp turns in tight spots, loop de loops on the higher floors with no ceiling... Would her brother consider this dangerous? Possibly, but he was never a stickler for the rules, so who ever said she couldn’t be similar to her brother in at least that much of an extent? Coming up on the one spot she knew she couldn’t get through without hurting her wings, the girl quickly switched gears, flipping midair as she retracted her wings once more, this time running along the beams to get through the narrow path before somersaulting off again and activating her quirk for the third time that night to soar higher into the air. “WOOOHOOOO!” She yelled in excitement at the top of her lungs as she soared upwards once more, laughing as the excitement began to dwindle down and she began her flight home, allowing the tailwinds to keep her hair out of her face. Right on cue, her phone buzzed against her leg in her pocket. Unbuttoning the designated pocket, she pulled out the device and looked at the caller ID before grimacing a bit. It was her brother, and something in her gut told her he wasn’t going to be very happy if he ever found out about the type of training she was putting herself through this early... Reluctantly, she pressed the green button, answering the call from her brother. “Kei, before you say anything, I just went for a fly to warm up my wings, I’m on my way back right now.”

“I should hope so...And don’t stop anywhere else like you did last time, okay? It’s bad enough that you go on these night flies, but staying out as long as you do leaves more opportunity for a villain to see you, chickadee... You do realize those wings don’t exactly hide you in darkness, right? With how white your wings are, you’re practically a target day or night..”

“Oh, please, like your bright red wings would hide your dumb butt any better? And that one time I didn’t come straight home, it was to grab breakfast for both of us, because if I didn’t, we’d be eating friend chicken for breakfast again.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with fried chicken? It’s my favorite...”

“Yeah, I know it is, bird brain. But the problem with it is that it’s all you ever wanna eat. Chicken and waffles is one thing, but nothing but fried chicken every night? You’re gonna make us both fat.” A laugh left the male on the other end of the phone.

“Oh come on, with all the extra flying you’re doing at night and considering that I work hard as a pro hero, we both burn it off pretty damn fast.” The statement from her brother caused the girl to deadpan.

“Kei, you literally do nothing but walk around and send your feathers flying to do the work. It’s me burning off the fried chicken you always feed us both.”

“Hey! Hasn’t no one ever taught you to respect your elders, young lady?”

“You’re my big brother who’s nearly 8 years older than me, you don’t count as an elder when you’re not even that old.” A sniff from the other line caused the girl’s eyes to go skyward.

“Hinaki, why are you always so mean to me?” Her older brother whined. Hinaki sighed heavily in response, pinching the bridge of her nose in partial annoyance. ‘Why do I even bother with him? I swear...’ She asked herself.

“I’m almost home, Keigo, and please, for the love of God, no fried chicken for breakfast this time.” Hinaki told him.

“Okay, that was uncalled for, I haven’t even...”

“Keigo Takami...”

“Fine... Ugggh, you’re so mean, I swear.”

“You mean just like how you’re annoying at times? Damn straight, and I love your bird brained dumbass anyways.”

“Love you too, baby bird.”

"Okay, when are you going to stop calling me that? I’m not a baby anymore.”

“Yeah, I know you’re not, but you still are my little sister, Hina.”

“Not so little anymore, but...”

“I know, I know... See you in a minute, birdie.”

“See you in a minute, bird brain...” Came Hinaki’s soft reply before the siblings hung up the phone. A sigh left Hinaki’s lips before she glided down to the front gate of the home she shared with her older brother...

Since childhood, Hinaki knew of the hero world, having been raised within the Hero Public Safety Commission only because Keigo had refused to train if she hadn’t been with him, kept safe and protected from potential threats. Not too long after she turned four, she gained her quirk: Steel Wings, and she still had the scars on her back from the first time she found out why her wings needed to go back to normal before retreating into her back. Wings that she could use to fly as fast as Hawks, if not faster, and feathers she could use as weapons or just use the entirety of her wings as a sturdy shield. The white wings had grown with her as she had gotten older, relying on her big brother to teach her how to control her newfound power of flight and the rules of combat in order to defend herself in his absence... Training that came in handy in more ways than one, as she came to realize. The first time she watched Keigo fight as a pro hero, she knew exactly what she wanted to use her quirk for... Though telling her brother that she wanted to become a hero hadn’t exactly gone smooth as silk at first....

Keigo was waiting in the kitchen with a protein shake waiting for Hinaki when she set foot in the house. “Hi, birdie.” He greeted her as he took in the wide awake eyes that were identical to his own in shape and in color. Both Takami siblings shared the same golden brown, triangle shaped eyes with two little triangles just below their tear ducts. Though, while both siblings had feathery hair, Keigo’s was ash blonde in color, while Hinaki’s was darker, closer to chocolate brown like their mother’s had been. At 22 years old, Keigo was known to the rest of the world as Hawks, though in the current moment, he was just Hinaki’s laid back for the most part, but protective, older brother.

“Hi, Kei.” Hinaki greeted her brother back, stretching her arms a bit before accepting the protein shake and taking a gulp of it.

“Drink up and replenish those muscles, kiddo. After morning training, you’re hitting to books and studying today. The entrance exams for UA are just a few months away, you know.”

“I know, it’s not like I’ve been training for the past nearly 6 months now for nothing... I know the deal, Kei. Train hard, study hard in order to get into UA. I’ve been working really hard...”

“So you can have the choice I never did in becoming a hero... But not just that. You’ll be learning from pro-heroes that had been students at the school years before you. You might even get to make new friends and be able to interact with new people your age.”

“Oh, goodie...” Hinaki’s voice dripped with sarcasm, making Keigo give her a look. He knew why Hinaki had made that comment, meeting new people was not one of her strong suits, tending to hide away and allow him to do the talking more often than not. Deciding to attend UA alone was a huge step for her, not only in becoming a hero, but also in conquering the anxieties she felt about meeting new people before it hindered her as a pro hero.

“Hey, none of that, you’re gonna be fine, you’ll see.” He firmly reassured his sister. The look she shot him told him she wasn’t exactly convinced of it herself. Before she could walk away from him, he made her turn back around to face her and cupped her face in his hands. “Hinaki Takami, you’re one of the most incredible people I’ve ever known. You’re quiet, sure, but you’ve got a heart of gold. You’re quick on your feet, and even faster in the air, you’re talented, smart... I might be your brother, but trust me when I say you’re going to become one of the best heroes in the world if not the absolute best and I’m not just saying that. You. Got. This. Baby. Sister.” The grin on his face made Hinaki giggle, the sound making Keigo’s grin grow even wider. With the final words of encouragement, the two Takami siblings went their separate ways, the younger counterpart heading to her school: Jakku Jr. High. Due to her silent nature, Hinaki didn’t have many friends, preferring to eat lunch on the rooftop, where she could be alone and think. But, as she ate lunch that day at school, all she could think about were the upcoming exams. What kind of tests would U.A. put her through? She knew there would be a practical exam and a written exam, but she was more worried about the practical part of it. How would they test the students quirks? The only thing she knew she could do to prepare was study for the written and train so she’d be ready for anything when it came to the practical.

Over the next four months, that was exactly what she did... She trained hard the nights she couldn’t sleep and every chance she got after school, she studied hard and aced every test she was given in school. Her hard work didn’t pass by her brother, who came home to a plate of food in the microwave and his sister either studying, training outside in the backyard or fast asleep on the couch. He smiled every time he caught sight of her and ate his food before either training with her, studying with her or carrying her to bed in his arms. A couple months before the entrance exams, after carrying his exhausted sister to bed, Keigo decided to do something he knew Hinaki wouldn’t like... But, hey, it was for her own good.

The morning of the exams, Keigo had to leave early for work, but left notes of encouragement by Hinaki’s beside, in the bathroom, and next to a plate of warm and nutritious breakfast for her. When Hinaki woke up to her alarm clock going off, she noticed the little note her brother had left on her bedside. She picked it up and read it: Hey chickadee, sorry I couldn’t see you off, but I know you’re gonna do great. I’ll see you after work, kiddo, and I love you.

- Your Big brother, Keigo

Hinaki shook her head with a smile before gathering a backless high collar top, a pair of black shorts and other things she needed before going into the bathroom and kick starting her morning routine. In the bathroom, she found the note Keigo left for her on the mirror.

Take a look at the mirror, chickadee and you’ll see the hero I’ve always seen in you. By the way, there’s a plate waiting on the table for you, don’t skip giving your brain and body power, ‘kay?

Hinaki glanced at her reflection in the mirror, shaking her head as her brother’s written words echoed in her mind as if he had spoken them to her just before he had left. He had always seen a hero in her? How? She shook the doubt out of her mind and continued getting ready.

As she descended down the stairs just a few minutes later, she pulled her dark, feathery hair back into a ponytail, her hair swaying as she headed toward the food waiting for her on the table. Next to the plate was the third and final note.

Eat up, chickadee, you’ll need to feed that smart brain of yours. I won’t tell you good luck because I know you got this. I believe in you, kiddo, more than anyone or anything... And that’s saying something, because you know how much I look up to Endeavor.

By the time Hinaki left, she couldn’t remember what she was so nervous about... With a brother like the one I have, who has time for insecurities? Hinaki asked herself as she flew toward U.A. High School. Though it was early in the morning, her bird’s eye view was able to pick up a few people commuting to work and or school, including a green haired boy training on Dagoba Municipal Park Beach below her. She notice him look up for a second and gave a friendly wave to him as his eyes landed on her.

As she touched down in front of U.A. High, however, the confidence she’d had earlier dissipated. The school was HUGE. She blinked for a second before shaking it off, forcing herself to walk forward and shoving down the doubts that threatened to make her turn on her heel and run away. Her body slightly trembled as she walked through the doors of U.A. for the first time, but she steeled her mind against her fears. If she was going to be a student at U.A., let alone a pro hero, she couldn’t let her fears get to her, no matter how nervous she was... She took a seat in the designated area, looking around. Not many people were there, and a quick glance at the clock on the wall told her that she was actually early. She sat silently for a moment, observing everyone else as more and more people entered the room, talking among themselves. The hushed whispers of the first few slowly turned into a buzzing noise as it grew closer to the time appointed for the entrance exams to start. Hinaki closed her eyes, letting her ears not focus on one single voice or conversation, but allowing herself to block it all out. If her wings had been out, she knew they’d be vibrating like crazy from the noise, thankfully being tucked away for the moment...

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” A voice interrupted Hinaki’s thoughts, causing the winged teen to open her eyes and turn her attention to the source. A girl around her age was standing near her. Her hair was jet black, tied up and out of her face in a high ponytail, her eyes a charcoal grey color. Only shaking her head in reply, Hinaki silently gestured for the girl to sit down next to her. The teen next to her bowed. “Thank you.” She replied before sitting down next to Hinaki before taking out a thermos and a mug, unscrewing the cap as she continued to speak. “Would you like some tea? I noticed you were looking a little nervous earlier, and since tea always calms my nerves, I figured I’d offer.” Straightening up a bit as the girl poured the tea into the mug, Hinaki nodded, murmuring a small,

“Thank you.” As the girl gave her the mug of tea. Keeping her hands warm around it for a moment, Hinaki watched as a part of the girl’s stomach began to glow before another mug appeared, making Hinaki’s eyes widen. Noticing the look on Hinaki’s face, the girl giggled.

“It’s my quirk: Creation. I can use the lipids in my body to create anything non-living... That is, as long as I know the chemical makeup of it. The more I eat, the more I can create.” She explained.

“That’s a pretty cool quirk.” Hinaki commented, making the girl blush in embarrassment.

“Oh, please, you’re too kind... I’m Momo, by the way. Momo Yayorozu.” She introduced herself. Hinaki smiled softly in response.

“I’m Hinaki. Hinaki Takami... It’s nice to meet you, Yayorozu-chan.” Hinaki replied, an identical smile spreading across Yayorozu’s face.

“Same to you, Takami-chan.” Yayorozu responded cheerfully, the girls talking a bit more while drinking tea. After a bit, all the chatter in the room was interrupted by the intercom going off.

“YEEEEEAH! HELLO, LISTENERS AND WELCOME TO THE U.A. ENTRANCE EXAMS!” The voice over the intercom boomed. The girls exchanged looks.

“Was that Present Mic?” Hinaki asked.

“I believe so...” Yayorozu trailed off before Present Mic continued.

“ALL RIGHT, YOU COOL CATS ARE HERE BECAUSE WE RECEIVED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALL OF YOU! HOWEVER, AS YOU’RE ALL WELL AWARE, ONLY SIX OF YOU WILL BE TAKING UP THE RECOMMENDATION SPOTS, SO I HOPE YOU’RE ALL READY!”

“6 spots, huh... That sure is a lot of pressure...” Yayorozu murmured, meanwhile Hinaki’s mind was racing to figure out why she would be part of the students who were recommended to the school faculty. But, her thoughts came to a halt on the one person she should’ve guessed the first time around and deadpanned at the thought of her brother sending in a recommendation into U.A. for her. Really, Keigo? She thought, making a mental note to talk to her brother when he got home.

“ALL RIGHT, SO THIS IS HOW IT’S ALL GONNA GO DOWN. ALL OF YOU WILL BE DIVIDED INTO GROUPS, AND EACH GROUP WILL HAVE THE WRITTEN AND PRACTICAL EXAMS AS WELL AS AN INTERVIEW! TO ENSURE THAT NO ONE KNOWS WHAT TO EXPECT, THE PRACTICAL EXAMS WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR EACH GROUP!” Present Mic finished explaining the entrance exams before a different voice came onto the intercom.

“We’ll start with the interview. When your name is called, you will be interviewed by one of the teachers here before the written exam. Good luck.” With that, the intercom shut off.

“Not exactly words of encouragement...” Hinaki mumbled under her breath, her nerves returning.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do just fine, Takami-chan.” Yayorozu encouraged her new friend, Hinaki giving a small smile back.

“Thanks... With any luck, we’ll both end up getting into U.A. and be in the same class.” Hinaki grinned at her new friend, making the other girl smile back in response.

“I hope so too.” Yayorozu replied before Hinaki felt a chill in the air and shivered slightly, glancing around the room before noticing him...

The boy looked around 5 foot 9, 5 inches taller than her, with red hair on the left side of his head while right side of his hair was white in color, and Hinaki's sharp eyes caught that his eyes were the same way: His right eye was a grey color while the left eye was a turquoise blue that looked familiar to her for some reason... Over his left eye, however, Hinaki noticed a huge scar and wondered what happened to him to cause a scar like that...

Just as her thoughts started to run, he turned his head, the cold look in his eyes making her feathery hair ruffle before she quickly looked away. "What's wrong?" Yayorozu asked, noticing the look on her face. For a moment, Hinaki considered telling Yayorozu about the boy, but chose to keep her mouth shut, shaking her head.

"It's nothing, don't worry." She gave her friend a reassuring smile before it dropped as soon as Yayorozu looked away. What was with the cold look in the boy's eyes?

"Hinaki Takami." A female voice on the intercom called Hinaki's name. Hinaki swallowed before standing up, feeling Yayorozu gently pat her back to silently wish her luck. Hinaki smiled at Yayorozu in thanks before walking toward the closed door to the office. She paused at the office door to take a deep breath in order to keep herself calm before opening the door. She was greeted by a female hero, one she recognized as Midnight. “You must be Hinaki Takami, correct?” She asked. The younger girl nodded in response.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Hinaki politely responded with a bow, Midnight smiling at her.

“Go ahead and have a seat and we’ll begin.” Midnight told Hinaki, the younger woman taking the seat across from Midnight, her back straight as the interview began. It went on for a good hour or so, and Hinaki found herself more relaxed the longer she talked with Midnight. “All right, Hinaki, I only have one question left for you at this time.” Midnight said as she adjusted the papers on the desk before looking at Hinaki once again. “Every hero has their reason... Some are in it for the fame and fortune, others simply want to do what’s right. I guess what I’m asking is, what’s your reason for wanting to be a hero?” Midnight asked. The question caused Hinaki’s eyes to look away in thought. It was certainly something she didn’t think about too often, the training she went through with her brother was bonus time with him whenever she could get it while learning how to defend herself. After a moment, Hinaki’s amber eyes returned to Midnight, the woman’s eyes showing her eagerness, yet patience, to hear the answer to the last question of the interview. The young girl’s reflected her determination.

“I want to be a hero to protect people. My brother didn’t react well at first when I told him I wanted to be a pro hero, and who can blame him? The line of work itself is dangerous, but I can’t sit still on the sidelines anymore, especially not when I have the power to help... Not with my brother risking his life as a pro. I’d give anything to be a hero and protect people, even my quirk. I’d rather be quirkless in a world safe from villains rather than have a ton of power in a world where innocent lives are constantly put at stake. I’m risking sounding like Hawks here with this next part, but I think the goal should be a world where pro heroes have too much time on their hands.” Hinaki answered, Midnight smiling at the girl’s response.

“Thank you, Hinaki. That’s all the time we have, but I wish you the best of luck in the written and practical exams.” Midnight told the young girl as both women stood and bowed to each other.

“Thank you.” Hinaki replied before she stepped out of the office. Hinaki caught glances with Yayorozu on her way to the area for the written test, giving her new friend a smile and a thumbs up before entering the designated area for the written exam. Now that the interview was over, she knew it’d be a piece of cake for her. She’d studied pretty damn hard to ace the written test, and it didn’t hurt that she had grown stronger from the training with Keigo either, but the nagging question of whether or not it’d be enough kept tugging at the back of her mind. That one insecurity kept rearing its ugly head like a parasite no one could get rid of. Sitting in a seat near the back, Hinaki shook it off once more. No... She could do this. Keigo believes in her, and he’s the 3rd ranked pro hero in Japan, as he had been for the past 4 years. She just had to have confidence in herself, no matter how difficult it was for her...

Before Hinaki knew it, the written exam was complete, and she was lined up with her group at a pair of giant gates, dressed in her workout clothes. She looked around at the fellow examinees around her before her eyes landed on a familiar head of jet black hair. Hinaki smiled and once Yayorozu’s eyes caught sight of her, Hinaki waved in greeting, gaining a smile and a wave back. “Takami-chan, how do you think you did with the interview and written exam?”

“I feel like I did good with both, hopefully it was enough to get in.” Hinaki replied, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “What about you? How do you think you did?”

“Honestly, I feel like I did well, but that just leaves one test remaining...”

“Right, the practical.” The girls faced the gates. “What do you think the practical exam's gonna be?” Hinaki asked.

“I’m not sure... It could be anything, from endurance to strength tests... Honestly, that just means we have to be ready for anything." Yayorozu told her, the other teen nodding in agreement.

"Right." Hinaki replied. Before either girl could say anything more, the intercom turned on.

"Right, then... Group Gamma, your practical exam is simple: Defeat as many faux villains as you can. There'll be certain targets that are worth a certain amount of points, but the biggest targets are worth zero. Try to avoid the biggest targets as much as you can. You'll have 10 minutes to gain as many points as you can. Good luck." The girls exchanged glances.

"Faux villains?" Yayorozu asked.

"Sounds like they'll be robots.... Least, that's my guess. I doubt they'll put us against the faculty when we're not even students yet." Hinaki responded, speaking what was on her mind.

“That’s true.” Yayorozu stated before the gates slowly began to open. The girls stood at the ready.

“Here we go.” Hinaki told her friend. Just as she finished her sentence, an air horn sounded off, sounding the start of the practical test. Hinaki’s feet automatically moved, running through the gates with the others. Once she was clear from the others, her wings sprouted from her back, allowing her to take off into the air as she pulled two feather blades the size of swords from its sheath on her back, flying straight for the robots in her path. She sliced through them both with ease, taking a sharp turn to encounter more. She sliced through them, at the same time, keeping a watchful eye on the other examinees as she took down faux villains. She sliced through robot after robot, all the while, a few of her feathers left her wings to help the fellow examinees in harm’s way. Yayorozu paused for a moment as she watched the way Hinaki fought... Something about the airborne female’s movements reminded her of Hawks... But why?

Just as the thought entered her mind, a few white feathers flew past her to dig into the faux villain that had snuck up on her, allowing her to follow up with an attack that destroyed the faux villain all together while Hinaki flew by several feet above her, the feathers she had sent out returning to her wings. “Might wanna pay attention to the fight, Ponytail.” Hinaki teased from above her head. Yayorozu rolled her eyes at the smirk on her face.

“Thanks for the assist.” Yayorozu thanked her, ignoring the joking comment and gaining a salute in reply. One by one, the number of smaller faux villains shrank more and more in size. As Hinaki sliced down yet another, she heard a scream. Turning her head, she saw one of the students frozen in fright as one or the bigger faux villains headed toward them. Judging by the looks of those scratches on the robot, they had tried taking down the faux villain only to realize that their quirk didn't have enough power. She looked toward the other smaller faux villains before ultimately reaching her decision and diving for the student. While she sent a few feathers to get the student to safety, she somersaulted in mid air, pulling her wings into her back for a brief moment to let herself fall, slicing the robot in half as she fell before landing nimbly on her feet, her feather blade held out to one side as her wings reemerged from her back, straightening out behind her. Her wings flapped a little as she stood up straight, her snow white feathers returning to her as she turned to the student she had helped. "You okay?" She asked the student, holding out her hand. She noticed it was a female around her age, with crimson eyes, pale skin and ebony black hair that hung in her face slightly. The girl glared at her before smacking her hand away and standing up on her own.

"I'm perfectly fine, you shouldn't have helped me." She snarled in response. Hinaki blinked in surprise before her eyebrow went up and she placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh, so I was supposed to let you get crushed by that thing? What kind of hero would that make me?" She asked.

"You're not a hero, you're nothing but a wannabe trying to copy her big brother." The girl snapped in retaliation.

"Oh, really? Then why are you here? You talk about how I'm a wannabe hero, but you're here for the same exact reason, aren't you? I know you want to be a hero too. If the opposite was true, you wouldn't be here right now." Hinaki pointed out, the girl pausing before growling.

"Just stay out my way, bird brain." She snapped before hesitating a minute. Just as Hinaki opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, the girl manipulated some water from the pouch that was slung across her shoulders. The water covered the girl's hand and made it glow aqua blue as she touched a deep cut on Hinaki's right wing, a cut that the winged teenager herself had failed to notice. The wound itself glowed aqua blue itself before disappearing entirely as the girl lifted her hand. "There, bird brain. Now, we're even." The girl told her, not meeting her eyes before runnning off, not giving Hinaki a chance to thank her. Hinaki blinked as she watched the girl go. What the hell was that about? She asked herself before shaking it off and continuing to fight.

Before she knew it, the airhorn blared once again, marking the end of the practical exam. Hinaki once again sheathed her feather blades and relaxed so her wings once again retreated into her back. She spotted an old woman hobbling toward her. She noticed that the old woman looked like a nurse and smiled, recognizing her as the healing hero, Recovery Girl.

"Are you all right, dearie?" She asked the younger woman. Hinaki checked herself over and nodded.

"I have a couple scratches, but it's nothing I can't take care of myself. You'll need your strength for those who truly need it." Hinaki told her with a smile. Recovery Girl smiled back before nodding and walking away toward the next examinee. Hinaki's amber eyes searched the area for her new friend, the smile dropping and her brow creasing when she didn't spot her. She was about to release her wings out of her back to look for her when she heard a shout behind her.

"Hey, Takami-chan!" Hinaki turned at her name, relief flooding her face as she spotted Yayorozu behind her.

"Yayorozu, glad to see you're okay." Hinaki replied.

"Same to you. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out together sometime. Even if one of us doesn't make it in, I still want to keep in touch and be friends... If you're willing to, that is." Yayorozu replied. Hinaki smiled.

"I'd like that." Hinaki replied, making Yayorozu excitedly squeal before creating a pen, taking Hinaki's hand and writing down her phone number. "This is my cell phone number. Call me when you get home, okay?" She asked. Hinaki nodded before taking the pen and writing her number down on Yayorozu's hand.

"Here's mine, just so you'll know it's me." Hinaki replied with a smile, causing her new friend to smile back before the girls left the arena together.

A few hours later, Hinaki was studying at home for the finals to wrap up her 3rd year at her junior high. She was listening to music with one earbud in while twirling her pencil in her hand, her golden eyes scanning the pages of her textbook. But, for some reason, she couldn't focus... Why had the boy in the hall looked so familiar to her? She sighed and shook her head, rubbing her eyes a bit and glancing at the time on her phone. 9:30... Kei should have been home by now... Hinaki thought to herself. She had made dinner a couple hours before, and had already eaten. Keigo's plate had been left in the microwave for him like always, and yet here she was, studying on the couch just to wait up for him. She shook her head once more to keep herself awake. However, her eyes kept sliding shut despite her best efforts to stay alert long enough to continue studying. She felt tired, but she couldn't sleep now. She had a test to prepare for....

She jolted awake a while later to a pair of arms slipping under her and lifting her from the couch. She automatically lifted her fists before the soft hushing from her brother caused her to relax against his chest, fatigue taking over the young woman. "You gotta stop staying up so late, chickadee. I know you were studying, but you're gonna end up brain fried if you don't give your all-star brain time to rest too, you know." The 22-year-old's voice rumbled in his chest as he told her, his comment earning a small grunt in response as the pro hero carried her with ease up the stairs and into her room, setting her down on her bed and tucking her in. By the time Keigo had kissed her forehead and left the room, Hinaki had already gone back to sleep.

The following week was nothing short of torturous waiting for Hinaki. Between studying for the upcoming final exams plus training, she had very little free time to worry about the results... "Hey, you know, rumors have been flying around that All Might's gonna be teaching at UA this year." Keigo told her one night during dinner.

"Oh, yeah? That'll be interesting. Wonder what subject he'll end up teaching." Hinaki replied, her head tipped to one side in thought. Though her voice and face didn't show any of her excitement, her mind was bubbling with the possibility of the Number 1 Hero teaching her.

"Probably the Heroes 101 if I had to guess... He is number one, after all. If you're gonna learn how to be a hero, you might as well learn from the best, right?" Keigo asked before smiling a bit. "By the way, I can tell you're excited just by that news, you can hide it from anybody else, but forget it when it comes to me. I can read you like an open book."

"Kei, I'm not exactly holding my breath here, it's just rumors for now... But, the thought of being taught by All Might is really cool." Hinaki answered her brother with a sheepish smile before blinking, her smile dropping. "Don't get me wrong, training with you is just as awesome too..."

"Chickadee, calm down, it's okay. Besides, I know we haven't had much time to train together especially in recent years... I taught you as much as I could from a big brother stand point. Now, it's up to the teachers for the boring but essential part of it." Keigo told her.

"That is, if I get in." Hinaki replied, glancing off to the side.

"Hey, what did I say about that? Stop it. You're gonna get into UA, and you're gonna be freaking awesome because you're Hinaki Takami, damn it. You're a badass through and through, on the ground and in the air. You're gonna be an amazing pro hero because you've got the heart and the drive that every great pro hero has. If I'm wrong, I'll never eat chicken again." Hinaki stared at her brother. Those were words that she thought he'd never utter in his life. "What?"

"You're that serious?" Hinaki asked.

"Hell yeah, I'm that serious. Kiddo, I've been watching you since you were little. You've always worked hard to become a pro since you first got your quirk and I'm proud as fuck with how far you've come. You've got just a bit further to go, but I can already tell that you're gonna help so many people, birdie." Keigo told her. Hinaki smiled.

"If I am, it's only because I had the best big brother anyone can ever ask for growing up." Hinaki responded to her brother's praise. Keigo grinned at her counter praise and winked, shifting so he was close enough to wrap his arm around her.

"And as your big brother, I'll always be here to continue helping you. Always." He promised, giving her a side squeeze that made her giggle. He grinned in response before letting her go and the two continued to eat together.

"By the way..." As soon as Hinaki spoke again, she watched as Keigo stiffen slightly. "I was told a certain little bird sent in a reccomendation letter for me. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Hinaki asked before her brother laughed nervously. "Keigo..."

"Okay, so I did, but come on. You deserve it. The kids that train under the wing of the Hero Safety Commission? They don't do half the shit you do when it comes to training, let alone have to go to school at the same time like you do. Besides, if I can give you a hand in becoming a pro, I wanna do as much as I can." Keigo pointed out.

"Yeah, but the whole point of me training was so that you wouldn't have to." Hinaki told him.

"I mean, it's already been done, what'd you want me to do?" Keigo asked with a shrug and a slight smirk. Hinaki rolled her eyes. "Hey." Hinaki looked at her brother. "I love you, birdie. I was only trying to help, you know."

"I know, and I love you too." Hinaki replied as the two finished their food, bringing their dishes to the sink.

Just a few days after the conversation, Hinaki sat motionless on the couch, staring at the envelope addressed to her. The seal on the back indicated that it was from UA, more than likely with her test results. Should she wait for Keigo to open it? Or just tell him what the letter held for her? She blinked a couple times before shaking her head. Better late than never... She ultimately decided before she broke the seal on the back, her hands trembling from the anticipation. But, instead of a letter, was a little metal disc. She raised an eyebrow, turning it over and over in her hands. What the? But, just as she set it down on the coffee table in front of her, it lit up, coming to life. A loud, boisterous laughter filled the room before a muscular figure came in view. His eyes had been sucken in over the years, but his bunny ear like blond hair and bright grin were more than a little recognizable. "Hello, young Takami! I am here to give you your test results!" Hinaki blinked in surprise.

"All Might? So, the rumors about you coming to teach at UA were true, then." Hinaki answered.

"That's right, young Takami! However, I'll be only one of the teachers at UA High this year! Now, before I get too ahead of myself, onto your results! You passed the written exam at the top of the recommended students, and the practical allowed you to shine brightly, only coming in second to one recommended student. But, young Takami, you didn't just gain Villain points in the practical. You see, there was a secret point value we were looking for... After all, what's the point in being a hero if you can't rescue those in danger? You didn't hesitate to help one of the fellow examinees in trouble, earning you 50 rescue points. But, there's one more thing I want to show you before we move ahead." All Might stepped off to the side as a small video popped up, showing a video of Midnight.

"For someone so young, I have to admit, it surprised me a little that Hinaki has a level head on her shoulders. She shares the same idea as Hawks in that we should aim for a society where heroes have too much time on their hands, yet in contrast to Hawks appearing relaxed no matter the situation, Hinaki looks more than ready for even the worst case scenario, which is something we need in more heroes if I'm completely honest... I can't wait to see the hero she's going to become."

"That's right, young Takami. Though Hawks was the one who recommended you, he's not the only pro excited to see how you'll continue to grow as a fledgling hero. With that in mind, young Takami, it's my pleasure to officially welcome you to the Hero Academia. You've made it in, welcome to U.A." All Might congratulated her. Hinaki smiled brightly back.

"I can't wait to learn from you, All Might." Hinaki replied before All Might signed off and the Holographic disc went quiet once more. Hinaki trembled with excitement before a holler of joy left her, her wings flapping hard and fast in excitement to lift her up into the air slightly before she touched back down. A laugh left her as she ran her fingers through her feathery dark hair, her golden amber eyes lit up in joy.

Wait till I tell Keigo....

Taglist: @bisexualmattholtstan @lirinstaalem

(Message me if you wanna be added to the taglist! Hope you enjoy the first chapter of MHA: Ascension! ^.^ )

#big brother hawks #Hinaki Takami #MHA #ascension #Todoroki Shouto x Oc

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98prilla · 4 years

Text

To Unmask a Hero

Sanders Sides Superhero AU, because why not?

AO3

“Nowhere to run, Empath.” He shivered as the voice rang out through the warehouse. He was crouched behind a stack of barrels, trying to keep his breath even so as to not give himself away.

He'd figured out the location of Prince's lair. He should have waited for backup from Storm, he knew that, but he just couldn’t wait. He had to know what the villain was planning.

He should have known fighting Prince on his home turf was a bad idea, was a trap, but he hadn’t and now he was in a fight, of which he didn’t know what the outcome would be.

He could feel the pulsing burn in his chest with each breath, a cracked or broken rib. His eye was swollen from the punch Prince had landed. The defensive cuts along his arms stung where he'd blocked the sword.

“Gotcha!” he yelped, jumping aside just as Prince's sword swung from above, scrambling away. But he was out in the open now, and Prince waved his hand. A ring of fire erupted around Empath, leaving him nowhere to run, and little space to maneuver. He gulped as Prince stepped through the flames, his masquerade mask hiding his face, but his eyes gleamed orange in the firelight.

Empath felt his pulse race, but steeled himself, summoning his sparkling blue staff and twirling it to meet Prince's sword.

Afraid. You’re afraid. Something behind you. He projected at Prince, trying to manipulate his mind, trying to give himself an opening. Instead, a sly smile slid onto Prince’s face, and he pushed forwards, delivering speedy blow after blow Empath could barely parry.

He twisted out of the way of a blow, eyes widening as he saw the flash of fire that slammed into his chest. His suit was fireproof, but the force still sent him stumbling.

A flash of silver, a searing pain, a burning, scorching cold washed over him. He felt suddenly light headed, and stumbled back, a trip sending him sliding down against the wall.

Red. He was surprised to see red. Blood leaking through his fingers, which futilely clutched at his chest, as if that could stop the flow from the sharp, deep slice through his flesh, from right shoulder to left hip.

“F-fiddlesticks" he gasped out. He really, really should have waited for Storm. Storm was going to kill him. That made him laugh wetly, because he doubted his fellow hero would get the chance.

He looked up at the sound of footsteps, his vision blurred, but he recognized the form of Prince.

“Well, well. Not so tough without your little mind tricks, are you? Can thank Sage for that one.” Of course, Sage was the resident tech of the villains in town, rarely committing any crimes himself, preferring to work behind the scenes.

He was dizzy. Black spots were clouding his vision. He had to hang on, had to find a way out. He struggled weakly as he felt fingers against his face, the pain of moving exploding in fireworks behind his eyes.

“D-don't…pl…please" he gasped out. If Prince saw his face, learned his identity, everyone he cared for would be at risk. He tried to summon any dregs of power, but he was so heavy, his eyes were so heavy.

“Time to unmask the hero.” He was barely aware of the fabric being pulled off his head, of the sharp, shocked inhale of breath. He coughed, feeling pressure in his lungs, feeling wetness dribble down his chin. The last thing he heard before he was lost to darkness was a quiet, scared:

“Patton?”

…

Snippets.

He was moving, swaying, someone was holding him. It hurt, the movement hurt, and he coughed, hearing a curse as he felt more liquid running down his chin.

“-can’t bring him here!”

“-don’t get it... Patton... Please!”

Hands against his chest, it burned, it shot agony coursing up his spine, he tried to get away, tried to move, tried to scream, but nothing came out.

“Still... need you... not move.” Voice, familiar voice, how did he know that voice? Then it felt like ice being shoved in his veins, and he screamed, losing all awareness once again.

….

Storm paced the floor, biting his thumb nail. He should have gotten a call by now, Empath should have called by now, he said he was just going to scope the place out, and they’d plan for a raid together then. He couldn’t shake it, couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. He jumped as the phone rang. He fumbled with it for a moment, before flipping it open.

“Empath?” There was a pause. He could hear breathing.

“Um. No.” He bristled at that voice, squeezing the phone so tight his knuckles went white. He could feel wind starting to pick up in the apartment, his powers often were driven by his emotions.

“What did you do with him? I swear, I will tear you apart if you lay a hand on him.” He growled, lightning flashing in his eyes.

“It was an accident! I didn’t... I didn’t know...” Virgil’s breath caught, cold fear settling in his stomach. Prince was a good actor, but he sounded genuinely distraught. And as much as they played at heroes and villains, Prince had never once hurt a civilian, and their rivalry was filled with banter, both of them having more fun than they’d ever admit.

“Princey, the hell did you do?” He demanded, heart pounding in fear, fear, fear.

“I’m sending you our location. Just get here, fast. Sage is doing everything he can. He says... he says he’ll probably be fine.”

“Princey-” He heard the phone disconnect and swore as a text came in a second later with coordinates.

…

“-Hell you didn’t!” Patton distantly heard the sound of someone being slammed against a wall.

“I didn’t! I didn’t realize it was that bad until he coughed, I didn’t mean to hit him that hard, I didn’t fucking know it was Patton!” That voice made him shiver, sent fear spiking through him, he didn’t understand.

“You weren’t supposed to know! That’s the whole point of SECRET identities! It’s rule number one, never remove a mask, what the FUCK were you thinking you insensitive, disastrous, BITCH!” He heard a thump, as if someone had fallen to their knees.

“I recommend you both calm down. This level of noise is going to disturb him, and he needs all the rest he can get right now. It is also not good for either of you to take your worries out on each other.” That was a voice he didn’t know, but he liked it. It sounded level and sure and soothing.

“I’m sorry.” The scary voice whispered, sounding almost broken.

“Save it. Save it for him, if he ever wakes up again. God save you from Deception if he doesn’t.” He heard footsteps, walking away, and he wanted to call out, he wanted to ask him to stay, but he couldn’t seem to move, to open his eyes, to even breathe left him crying in pain.

“Roman... he will be ok.” Roman? He knew a Roman, didn’t he? It was becoming fuzzy, things were becoming fuzzy again. He felt himself shaking, he couldn’t stop shaking. He heard yelling, someone calling his name, panic stricken, and instinctively reached out with his power to soothe them.

Everything is fine. Everything will be fine. No need... no need to worry...

Then nothing.

Roman sunk into the chair next to the bed with a choked sob, face buried in his hands. Patton, god, Patton, even now, trying to help, even as he was wracked by a fit of shakes that were nearly strong enough to be called convulsions, sending out waves of calm.

What had he done, what had he done, what had he done?

A miscalculation of force and timing. That’s what he’d done. That’s all it had taken. He expected Empath to have time to raise his staff, to dodge backwards, to avoid the blow, he didn’t expect his own momentum to carry him so far so fast, he didn’t expect his own swing to be so forceful, he didn’t intend to cut that deeply or that far.

He should have known it was Patton, should have recognized his voice, or his cadence of speech or his expressions, every use of fiddlesticks, of yelling out random words when Roman himself was about to swear in word association, even his abilities as an empath/telepathy was such an obviously Patton thing.

How many times had he hurt Patton? Bruises, cuts, scrapes, fire, explosions, traps, skirmishes, never anything like this, never anything severe, but enough. Of course, usually Patton was the distance fighter, Storm was the up close and personal one, he was more physically matched to fight Roman, his abilities were much more offensive than Patton’s. It was him he’d really been waiting for in that warehouse, but Empath had showed up alone, instead. He’d meant to capture him, maybe, use him to draw out Storm, and they would banter and battle and of course the bonds would be loose enough Empath would slip free halfway through or something, and everything would be business as usual.

“Roman... we have a problem.” He grunted to show he’d heard, unwilling to move, to face the world. “Storm apparently informed Deception of our whereabouts. He is currently raising a ruckus at the gates.” Roman let out a shaking breath, rubbing his face and pushing back his hair.

“Let him in.” His voice was flat, devoid of emotion, and he could feel Sage’s eyes on him.

“That is not a good course of action. With Empath in this state, and Storm as furious as he is-”

“Let him in. He... he deserves to be here.” He knew what Sage was thinking. Deception was never merciful, more of a brooding vigilante than a hero or villain, operating in the gray of things, but he was connected to Empath in some way. Friends, family, mentor, something. He was fiercely protective and it wasn’t remotely out of the picture that he would attack Roman on sight. He heard Sage hesitate, but sigh.

“Very well. I will open the gates. I will attempt to reason with him before he gets here.” When Roman made no move or sign he’d heard, Sage frowned, concern etched across his features, before he simply squeezed Roman’s shoulder and left the room.

…

Shouting, again. Shouting and a defeated, broken voice, one that sent shivers down his spine, one that he knew, one that was Roman’s. Roman... Roman was upset? Why...

“-Killed him!” His mind jolted. He knew that voice, that voice brought a rush of warmth, a surge of comfort, nothing bad would happen if that voice was here.

“-Think I don’t know that? I do, I do, and I’m terrified and I’m sorry and no amount of either of those will fix this and I don’t know how to fix this, and I didn’t mean for it to happen, I never meant to actually hurt someone, I never meant to hurt...” Roman’s voice. Sad. “I don’t care. Do whatever you want to me, hurt me, break me, kill me if that’s what it takes to forgive me or fix this, I don’t care. If... if we lose him... I can’t...” He recognized that. That gasping, speeding pattern of breaths. He could feel the fear, unease, the panic settling into Roman’s bones.

Breathe. In 4, hold 7, out 8. Just breathe. You’ll be alright. It’s ok.

He projected out, and he heard a strangled gasp, noise coming towards him, then a hiss and the sound of a shove.

“Stay away from him.” Dorian. That’s who the warm voice was, now filled with equal parts anger and fear. He tried to reach out, but the black pit of exhaustion was threatening to drag him under once again, the ache across his chest flaring angrily.

Then there was a hand squeezing his, one gently carding through his hair, softly wiping away tears he hadn’t realized were leaking from his eyes.

“Patton. Patton, Patton, Patton.” Dorian said his name softly, reverently, almost like a prayer. He struggled to the edge of awareness, forcing in a deep breath that set his chest aflame and his lungs on fire, but the pain pushed him awake and he opened his eyes.

“D-Dee... wh... what...” Dorian pressed a gentle finger to his lips, shushing him.

“Don’t speak, pup, it’ll only hurt worse. You’re going to make it, you’re going to be alright.” Patton stared into his mismatched eyes, seeing the doubt flickering there. He looked over Dorian’s shoulder, spying Roman, frozen in place, face a war of relief and worry and fear.

He met Roman’s eyes and recoiled, the shock of the movement sending spots flashing across his vision. He had a moment of awareness, a moment to connect the dots, a moment where he realized he knew those eyes, a moment of clarity.

Roman was Prince. Roman had hurt him. Roman was afraid. Roman thought he was going to die.

…

Sage found Storm on the roof. The hero was standing at the railing, hands clenching it so hard his knuckles were white. The clear sky had turned dark and angry, fat, cold droplets starting to fall as the wind began to blow, lighting flashing in the not so far distance, the rumble of thunder echoing moments later. Storm’s posture was stiff, rigid, unmoving and still as stone.

“Thank you.” Came the quiet, hoarse voice, making Sage jump. He hadn’t realized Storm had seen him, the hero hadn’t turned around, he must have heard his footsteps hesitating at the doorway to the roof. Cautiously, aware of how unpredictable Storm could be, acutely aware of every movement and sound, Sage came to stand beside him. Storm still didn’t look at him, staring out over the horizon, where dark clouds rolled in from the west. “You saved him. Didn’t have to, wouldn’t have expected you to, honestly. But you did. So, thanks. And I owe you one, I guess.”

“no. Not for this one, you don’t. It is partially my fault.” Storm’s gaze whipped to him, eyes narrowed in confusion or suspicion, he couldn’t tell. “I took away his advantage. I found a frequency that when played counteracts his mind manipulation. If he’d been able to have that edge, he would have been able to distract Prince enough to dodge, possibly escape.” Storm sighed, and looked away, shaking his head.

“He should have waited for me. He was supposed to report back, we were supposed to go together, I was supposed to be there to protect him.”

“Storm-”

“Enough, Logan!” He shouted, swatting away Sage’s hand that had been reaching out to console him, glaring at the villain, face wet not solely from the now pouring rain, the lightning flashing mere yards away from the roof, the thunder nearly deafening. Storm seemed to realize what he’d said, the fire in his eyes immediately dying, as he stared at Logan. Then he pressed a spot on his wrist, and the illusory suit that kept his identity hidden vanished.

Logan was speechless. He knew that purple patched jacket, knew those smudged eyeliner marks, knew those deep brown eyes, that messy purple hair. Virgil, his roommate, Virgil. His roommate, who had slumped to the ground, legs dangling off the edge of the building through the bars, head resting against one.

“C’mon, Lo, thought you knew everything. Isn’t that part of the whole evil mastermind schtick?” Virgil asked, his teasing lacking any of his usual sarcasm, instead falling flat. Logan’s mind was whirling.

“How... how long..?” he managed to squeak out.

“Since maybe a week after you moved in. You left a couple notes on the table, a couple odd looking parts here and there that I recognized from tools or schemes of Prince’s, or occasionally toys that Dee used that I knew he got from you.”

“Why... you never said anything?” Virgil shrugged.

“Nah. How awkward would that be? Hey, I know you’re a supervillain and I’m a superhero so this roommate thing isn’t really gonna work out? Besides, you’re a good roommate. You always pay the rent on time and do your fair share of chores, and you don’t actually make me anxious. So, why bring it up?” Logan was dumbstruck by Virgil’s reasoning.

“That has maybe been the most incredulous thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth.” Virgil snorted, a small smile flickering across his face for a single second.

“So. Storm is you, Virgil. We already learned that Empath is Patton. So that means Deception must be...” Logan trailed off, face palming with a groan.

“Dorian? Yup. Give the man a trophy.” Of course. Of course, Deception was Dorian, was Patton’s older brother, no wonder they shared similar abilities, both forms of mind manipulation, no wonder Deception was so protective of Empath, of course they were siblings. And Virgil and Dorian had been dating for at least as long as Logan had known him, probably closer to an additional three years, four years total, if he had to guess.

“Honestly, I'd thought you and Roman had figured it out by now. I mean, me and Dorian figured Roman out pretty quick, he uses the same puns and catchphrases in battle as he does in real life, and I know Patton has never been subtle. Patton knows me and Dee’s identities, obviously, but he didn’t know either of yours. Figured it was best not to tell him, he lets things slip too easy. Knowing him, he’d be mid fight and call out Roman for something he said.”

“But-I mean- why- if you knew why not arrest us?! It makes no sense!” Logan exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Because we were having fun, dummy. Because you guys never do any real, lasting harm, anyway, and we were happy for the excuse to use our powers instead of hiding them. Besides, I was friends with Roman since freshmen year of high school. I wasn’t just gonna rat him out to the cops. And we’ve already covered that I like you. Besides, I’d have to find a new roommate, and you know how I am about change.”

“He still is your friend, Virgil.” Virgil shook his head. The rain that had been lightening up as they talked suddenly surged again, pounding against the roof.

“He is not. Not anymore. Not after Patton.” A blinding flash of lightning struck the roof mere feet away. Logan tasted the ozone in the air, the concussive noise of thunder sending him stumbling. When his vision cleared, Virgil was gone, the door swinging closed.

“Virgil? What are you-” He cut Roman’s question off by pressing the button on his wrist, suit flickering to life for a moment before vanishing again. He ignored Roman’s gasp and further questions, pushing past him into Patton’s sick bay room. Evidently, he’d gotten kicked out by Dorian, not that he was surprised.

Dorian was holding tight to Patton’s hand, gently stroking his forehead, silent tears slipping down his face. He’d cast aside his black hood/mask, and his hair stuck up every which way because of it. Patton was pale, so pale, his breathing pained and shallow, sweat making his hair sticky. Virgil felt guilt roiling in his gut.

He padded his way over, pulling a chair up next to Dorian’s, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and stroking it with his thumb. He felt Dorian let out a shaking breath, eyes never leaving his brother’s face.

“I always thought if it was going to be either of us, it was going to be me. I’m the one going after actual threats. Mob bosses, shady industrialists, morally bankrupt politicians, people with the means and power to actually target and kill me. I never... I never thought it would be him.” Virgil hated the break in Dorian’s voice, hated the sorrow on his face, hated the empty, afraid look in his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I should have gone with him, I-”

“Don’t do that, love.” Dorian turned to him, reaching up and tucking Virgil’s hair behind his ear, stroking his cheek. Virgil leaned into the touch, trying to contain his own tears. “It is not your fault. You’ve done missions like this hundreds of times. You had no way to expect this. Don’t blame yourself.” Virgil felt Dorian draw his hand away from his cheek, instead twining his fingers through Virgil’s.

“Logan knows. He didn’t, already, by the way.”

“Guess I owe you that twenty, then.” Dorian replied wryly, having placed a bet on whether or not Logan had figured out their identities. Virgil let out a small laugh.

“yeah. And I showed Roman. Figured there’s no point now.” Dorian hummed in agreement, before lapsing into silence, still stroking Patton’s hair with his free hand. After a while, he started absently humming, an old lullaby he half remembered from their childhood. He paused as he felt a weight settle on him, smiling softly as he saw Virgil had fallen asleep resting his head on Dorian’s shoulder. He didn’t know how long it’d been, he’d lost all sense of time. A few hours, if he had to guess.

He heard the door opened and stiffened, turning his head, ready to bare his fangs and spit venom if that villain even stepped a foot inside the room. Logan froze in his tracks at that ice cold gaze, nervous. But Dorian’s fury immediately dropped.

“Oh, it’s you. “ He said, turning his attention back to Patton.

“Yes. Is it alright if I..?” He trailed off, already being waved over by Dorian. He quickly checked Patton’s vitals, his pulse, his heartbeat, his lungs. He checked the bandages wrapping the entirety of his torso as well, pleased to see they weren’t soaked through yet, were barely tinged pink, even. That meant the bleeding had stopped, which was the most important thing. He sighed, rocking back on his heels.

“Well. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, he’d lost a lot of blood, but he seems to be doing well, under the circumstances. It’s unadvisable for him to move much if at all in the next five days or so, or risk opening the wound back up, and after that another week of limited movement, excluding any lifting or strenuous activity, and it will take longer for the soreness and tenderness to go away, along with the pain from the cracked rib, of course, but in time he should make a full recovery.” Dorian sunk back in his chair, letting out a long, low breath as he stared up at the ceiling, the wave of relief washing through him making him dizzy.

“thank you.” He whispered.

“Would the two of you stop doing that? I don’t need to be thanked, I wasn’t very well going to let someone bleed out on my front door, no matter who they were. I don’t deserve any thanks, I simply did what was required of me to be of assistance.” Dorian cracked a wry smile, eyes shifting to Logan.

“How did you ever become a villain, with that kind of mindset? You sound just like Patton, you know. And not everyone would have done what you did. I can’t think of a single one of my enemies whom would show me mercy much less save me if I was brought to their door bleeding out.”

“Yes, well, your enemies are slightly more... intense than what your brother usually handles. I was just being a decent human, which is the least I could do.” He paused, considering his next words carefully. “I understand why you are angry. You have every right to be angry. But Roman... this truly was an accident. Roman never wanted to actually hurt him, and he is grieving just as much as you are. I’m not telling you to do anything, or implying any course of action or apology,” Logan held up his hand, forestalling the arguments he could sense growing on Dorian’s lips, “I am simply stating facts that you should take into consideration when deciding how to handle your next interaction with him. Now, I am going to sleep. There is a call button right there on the wall, if anything happens or anything seems wrong, press it and I will be here within moments to assist. Otherwise, I will check in tomorrow morning. The kitchen is out the door and down the hall to the left, I’d advise you to eat something soon, the stress has caused your body to burn though more calories than normal. Also, try and get some sleep, a few hours, at least.” With that, Logan inclined his head, then exited out the door without another word.

Dorian leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. Objectively, he knew Logan was right. He knew Roman hadn’t ever meant to hurt Patton like this, he knew Roman was guilt ridden and grieving and losing it out there, but he was just too tired, too done, to care. It didn’t matter, what Roman felt or thought or meant, he had acted, and there had been consequences.

…

“Dee?” He startled at that quiet voice. He hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep at all, but that voice was enough to send his heart into overdrive and his eyes flying open as he locked on those baby blues.

“Patton.” He whispered, instantly sitting on the bed beside him, hand held in his, stroking his hair as his eyes endlessly roved over his brother’s face. Still too pale, still too drawn, but aware and alive and awake. “How are you feeling, pup?”

“hurts.” He croaked out. Dorian turned, but Virgil was already there with a cup of water. Carefully, aware of every harsh breath of pain, Dorian supported his brother as he helped him into a semi sitting position, Virgil helping him drink. Even that simple movement seemed to exhaust Patton.

“I know, pup. But you’re going to be ok.”

“Roman-“

“Isn’t going to hurt you again, or I swear to god I will smite him.” Virgil growled, making a smile flicker across Patton’s face.

“no. I wanna… I wanna see him.” Dorian stiffened, and Virgil’s jaw clenched, as he looked away.

Roman. He called out.

Instantly, he heard loud, pounding footsteps, the door flying open, Roman stopping in the doorway. His hair stuck up in every direction, eyes red and puffy, dark bags below them. He looked almost as terrible as Patton felt. Instantly, Virgil was on his feet, lightning crackling in his palms, and Dorian was hissing, fangs bared.

“Stop that. I called him.” Patton said, gently whacking Dorian’s arm. “And I am asking you two to leave.”

“Patton-“

“No. Don’t Patton me. I will call you if I need help.” Patton said sternly. Dorian hesitated, but he knew Patton wasn’t going to budge, and he didn’t want to cause him any extra stress.

“Alright.” He said lowly, carefully slipping out of his supportive hold, propping Patton up against the pillows, taking Virgil’s hand as he stood. He glared at Roman as they brushed past him, using his power to show Roman exactly what he would do to him if he so much as blinked at Patton the wrong way. Roman shuddered as the door closed softly behind him, almost wishing Dorian would just do it, because he deserved it.

“roman.” He shook his head at Patton’s soft, gentle voice, tears building up behind his eyes, because he didn’t deserve that softness, he didn’t deserve for Patton to be so worried about him when he was the cause of this all to begin with.

It’s ok. I forgive you. I know you didn’t mean it. I know it was an accident. I know you wouldn’t have hurt me that badly on purpose.

He suppressed a sob, shaking. He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve forgiveness. He’d nearly killed Patton. The best thing in his life, one of his best friends since freshman year, one of his most trusted companions, and he’d nearly killed him.

“I love you.” He whispered, unable to hold it in anymore, unable to stand not saying it, unable to keep it to himself when he had nearly lost the most precious, gorgeous, beautiful thing in his life. “I’ve loved you since I first met you, since Virgil introduced me to you in the library and you made that stupid pun about Virgil spending time there being a novel idea. I love your laugh and your bubbly smile and your expressive eyes and the way you always show exactly what you’re feeling and you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen and I nearly killed you.” He could feel Patton’s eyes on him, but he refused to look up, refused to meet those eyes.

Roman-

“I’ll be going, now. I’m glad, you’re going to be ok. I’m sorry. You won’t… you won’t see me again, I won’t come near you again, I’m done, done with all of it, done with everything.”

Stop. Come. Here. Patton’s words were tinged with his power, now, compelling Roman to do as he was told, though he barely fought against the grip of those words. Patton could do whatever he wanted to him, it was only fair. It was only what he deserved.

“Roman. Look at me. Please?” Not an order, now that he was standing by Patton’s bedside, but he forced his chin up, forced himself to meet Patton’s eyes, forced himself to look at him, see each pained breath, his far too pale face, his soft blue eyes, full of nothing but sympathy and warmth, and he let out a sob, because how dare Patton look at him like that, when he had hurt him so badly?

“come here, baby.” Patton opened his arms, and Roman couldn’t help the sob that tore its way out of his throat as he carefully collapsed into Patton’s open arms, curling tight and gently against his side, avoiding putting any pressure on his chest, head buried against his shoulder, hands grasping at his clothing, desperately breathing in the scent of Patton.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you, I should have known it was you, I should have known and I’m sorry and I hurt you, how many times, how many times, have I hurt you, Patton?”

Patton didn’t answer, instead gently tilting Roman’s chin up, resting his head so Patton’s baby blues were all he could see, his breath catching at how close Patton’s lips were to his, how close he was to Patton.

You absolutely lovely idiot.

Then Patton’s lips were on his, soft and sweet as cotton candy, as summer rain, as spring flowers, warm and achingly, impossibly tender.

“I love you.” Patton whispered, resting nose to nose, inhaling each other’s breath, and carefully, slowly, Roman maneuvered himself so he was behind Patton, Patton on his lap, his body intertwined with Patton’s, Patton’s head against his chest as he pressed soft kisses to his forehead, his cheek, his lips, tasting the salt from his own tears on his lips, before he finally tucked his head against Patton’s shoulder, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, gently holding Patton close around his middle.

“I don’t deserve you. I have never deserved you. I only deserve you less and less, dear heart.” He murmured, taking another long, shuddering breath as Patton turned his head, kissing Roman’s cheek, reaching up and wiping away his tears, hand resting against his cheek. Roman’s own hand covered his, and he turned his head, kissing his palm softly, before intertwining their fingers, kissing each of his knuckles before he lowered their hands.

“You’ve always been enough, Roman. I was afraid, I didn’t want to say anything, I didn’t want to get my hopes up, I didn’t want to ruin our friendship and lose you completely, and then Virgil would be upset and I didn’t want the trouble.” Roman shook his head, nuzzling against Patton’s neck, closing his eyes.

“you could never ruin anything, Pat. You’re the kindest, sweetest, smartest person I have ever met. I don’t understand how one person can be as purely good as you, dear heart. I don’t know what you could possibly see in me, after this.”

“I see you, Roman. I see your care and passion and hope and love. I see your own insecurities and self loathing and doubts, and I counter them with my faith and love. I don’t know what crimes you’ve committed, or all of them, at least, but I still forgive them all, anyway. I love all of you, because of who you are. I love you because I know you care, I know you go out of your way not to cause harm, I know you always let me and Virgil get away because you enjoy the chase and the game more than anything else. And I will always let you catch me. I will always catch you, my brilliant Roman Candle.” Patton murmured, running a finger over Roman’s knuckles, feeling him relaxing against the bed, breathing slowing as he started to drift. “When was the last time you slept, silly?” Roman shrugged, murmuring noncommittally.

“nap time, then. For the both of us. And don’t you dare be gone when I wake up, Roman, or I just might let Virgil smite you, after all.” He smiled at Roman’s low chuckle, feeling him press a final, soft kiss to the side of his neck.

“Whatever you say, dear heart. Whatever you wish, I will make yours. Always.” Patton snuggled back into Roman, melting against him as his eyes fluttered shut, sleeping deeper and more soundly than he ever had before.

He would make Virgil and Dorian understand in the morning. For now, he was warm, and safe, and truly, deeply, exhaustedly, happy.

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himbowelsh · 4 years

Note

Well now I need touch starved Liebgott something! I always imagined Webgott to work the other way around. Y'know Web being unused to hugs and Lieb having no sense of boundaries. But I'm really intrigued by a concept of switching it up.

hello i’m in tears bc this took so long to write, but... enjoy an extremely touch-hangry boi. be warned, for copious amounts of obscenely soft cuddling.

Long story short, it goes like this.

David’s just finished an article, two hours ahead of the frankly unreasonable deadline sent by his editor; he collapses on the couch, promptly kicks his sock-clad feet up on the coffee table, and slumps against Joe’s side.

Joe goes very still.

At first, David thinks it’s because of his feet. Joe can be weird about things like that; he values cleanliness, and “not acting like fuckin’ animals in the house, Jesus, Web”. All the things David was never allowed to do growing up in his family’s Manhattan penthouse --- like leave dishes out or discard his clothes in messy piles --- are exactly the sort of things that drive Joe insane. He kind of relishes doing them, just to see the twitch Joe gets by his eye, and for the way he grips his hips roughly when he growls at him to “quit leaving your shit everywhere”. David’s natural sloppiness leaves Joe needing an outlet for his frustration… and their shared bedroom is kept very clean. It works out great for both parties.

So, sure, it’s probably just the feet on the table… he thinks for a grand total of eight seconds, before looking up to catch Joe’s eye.

His boyfriend’s gaze has gone impossible soft. It takes David’s breath away, a little, because Joe isn’t like that as a rule. He’s sharp edges and broken glass, jagged teeth and bladed grins. He’s harsh as sandpaper and smooth as steel. He’s frustrating, and his gentle moments come and go like fickle summer storms.

To be fair, impromptu cuddling on the couch isn’t like them either… but David needs it tonight, and stepping outside the bounds of their normal relationship can’t be the worst crime in the world. He holds Joe’s gaze for a moment, questioning and careful… but, instead of pulling away, Joe just takes a moment before sighing. His arm wraps around David’s shoulders, pulling him close.

“Rough night, Web?” he asks, an undercurrent of implication in his voice. This ain’t like you. You alright?

“You have no idea.” David rests his stubbled cheek against Joe’s chest, sighing deeply as the tension slowly drains from his muscles. Joe is hesitant to react; his actions, even as he rubs up and down David’s shoulder, lack his usual fearlessness. Joe can grab his ass in the middle of a crowded bar, or ruffle his curls just to get on his nerves… but this casual intimacy is uncharted territory for him.

He needs a distraction from his own head. David’s got just the thing. “How would you,” he sighs, “like to hear about the plight of Heteractis anemone? Because I just wrote four thousand words on it.”

“Heter— huh.” Joe sighs into the crown of his head, ruffling his curls. “Pretty sure Guarnere caught that once.”

“Knowing him, he’s still got it,” David replies. When Joe laughs, it reverberates in his chest, a low rumble in David’s ear.

“Yeah, alright, Web. Tell me all ‘bout your anemoles.”

“Anemone.”

“Yeah, what’d I say?” Joe presses his grin into David’s hair. “Amenemes.”

“Anemo-- damn it,” he mutters, burying the words against his boyfriend’s chest. Joe laughs even harder… and, like it or not, the sound it a balm to David’s frayed nerves. Even better are the strong arms which wrap around him, fully encompassing his shoulders and pulling him against Joe’s body. It’s… more than he was anticipating, more than they probably need, but it feels nice, and he doesn’t want to pull away. David melts against him, curling his legs with Joe and letting himself drift off. Fingers card gently through his hair; his boyfriend’s warm breath caresses his temple… and being this close feels so good that he forgets to remember it isn’t ordinary at all.

If he looked up at that exact moment, he might have found Joe enjoying it even more than he was… but David, as usual, preferred to sail away.

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

That really should have been the end of it… but after their night of unexpected intimacy, it’s like a dam has broken.

Joe does it at unexpected moments. While David is flipping pancakes in the kitchen, he comes up behind him and wraps his arms around his waist, chin looping over his shoulder. They just sort of… stay there. David is so surprised that he ends up charring the pancake, which Joe eats anyways, because he’d inhale charcoal if he was hungry enough… but while his boyfriend is wolfing blackened pancake lumps down his throat, no explanation is offered. David doesn’t know how to ask.

He’s brushing his teeth; Joe comes up behind him and holds his hips, just staying there for a few minutes. He’s reading a book in bed; Joe lies down, curling into his side like an automatic reflex. They’re watching whatever B-rated action flick Joe just insisted on going to see at the Cineplex, and Joe holds his hand the entire time.

Calling it strange is an understatement. It’s fucking bizarre.

Which isn’t to say Joe’s been shy about physical contact before, because he hasn’t. He’s just always been measured with it. Joe doesn’t hold back from touching people, grasping their shoulders or clapping them on the back… but he never goes overboard with it. His touches don’t linger. He’s a handsy person by nature, but David never considered before that he weighs every touch before giving them out.

If that’s the case, what’s changed? Why has he suddenly become so free — even apparently craving — touches he’s never asked for before?

David doesn’t know much about the scientific method, but any good journalist can test a hypothesis as well as a lab tech. Early one night, before either of them have gone to bed, he sits down next to Joe on the couch and sets the remote in his boyfriend’s lap.

“Anything but reality TV,” is all he says, and Joe smirks as he turns the station to some late night show.

He’s paying attention; David is not. Instead, his attention is fixed firmly on Joe, not even trying to hide it. The curve of his profile, the shadows along his neck and collar, the way he always lounges when he sits… like he’s trying to take up as much space as possible. Something about him seems inexplicably, undeniably lonely.

David leans over and wraps an arm around Joe’s shoulders. The reaction is expected; Joe goes tense, like he’s trying to figure out what the hell is going on. David counts back in his head: ten… nine… eight… seven…

Before he gets to five, Joe’s relaxed into him. Easy as that — it’s like teaching a puppy to eat food, or a baby to cry. Joe and touch go together like authors and caffeine. Touching is easy for him, but being touched is the most natural thing in the world.

A flame kindles to life within David’s chest, and soon it’s warming him from the inside out. He can’t keep a fond smile from his lips. After a moment, his hand strays up to Joe’s hair, threading gently through the well-maintained strands. Joe’s always had a weakness for having his hair touched, and tonight is no exception. He makes a tiny, content noise and leans into David, the tension slowly draining from his body. It doesn’t take long before he’s leaning against him, head balanced against David’s chest. Arms still around him, David holds Joe tenderly, caressing his hair while occasionally pressing kisses to the crown of his head. Joe’s heartbeat is steady, his muscles lax. David charts the gentle rhythm of his breathing until he’s sure his boyfriend has dropped off to sleep.

When he looks down, a wave of tenderness washes over him. Joe Liebgott with every guard down is a thing to see. He so rarely looks peaceful. There’s something restless about Joe, a relentless hunger thrumming just beneath his skin, determined to break free. He’s always had an edge of urgency to him… but now, dozing against David’s chest, he looks without a care in the world.

He ought to be this way all the time. He deserves to be happy all the time. God help him, if David has any say in it, Joe will be.

“Is it my birthday or something?” Joe asks, when David, completely unprompted, begins massaging his shoulders. “Shit, don’t tell me I’m another year older and just forgot.”

“Not for another few months, old man,” David replies. On reflex, Joe tries to twist and grab him, but David’s massage doesn’t let up; after a minute, he relaxes into it, slumping further back against David’s chest.

“You been acting weird lately,” Joe declares — as though David needs to be good, and as though he wasn’t the one acting weird to begin with. “Everything fine at work? You didn’t… gamble away our savings to the mafia, or promise Sobel our firstborn kid or something? If you got news for me, Web, I can take it without a bonus massage.”

“Why do you think — wait, we’re going to have kids?”

“Head in the game, Web. What’s going on?”

At once, he’s glad Joe is facing the other way, because David’s not sure what he could say otherwise. He frowns at Joe’s back muscles, kneading into them with a bit more force than necessary. Sure, he’s been… more physically affectionate these days. Joe no longer has to seek it out, because he gives it willingly… and even if touch doesn’t come naturally to David, the obvious way Joe eats it up when his touches linger in public or they draw close to each other in private makes it all worthwhile. Joe seems happier nowadays, so clearly it’s working fine.

Why’s he getting interrogated now?

“Am I not allowed to touch you?” he asks. “Just because I want to touch?”

“You ain’t a touchy-feely person. Never have been.”

“People change.”

“Not you.” Joe’s observation is too neutral for David to justify flaring up at it. “Come on, Web. What’s going on?”

He’s silent for a long moment before summoning a reply. “I want you to be happy,” he declares, finishing off Joe’s back massage with a caress of his neck. “I want you… to feel loved.”

Joe is silent for a beat before turning his head to look back at him. “That’s all, huh?”

“Yeah,” David huffs. “That’s all.”

It’s hard to make out Joe’s expression when one half of his face is cast into shadow, but David spots the amusement in his eyes… and something else, too, something softer that he can’t put his finger on. It sparks a familiar warmth in his chest, and he smiles.

“Well, don’t stop on my account,” Joe sighs. There’s no warning before he’s leaning back against David’s chest, but David’s ready this time. He opens his arms, embracing him as they go. Slowly, Joe relaxes into the comfort of his touch, and the world feels a little warmer.

#webgott #david webster #joe liebgott #joseph liebgott #my writing #Anonymous

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conaionaru · 4 years

Text

Honor and Blood (Ivar the Boneless)

Prophecy of fire

Synopsis: Aslaug sees an unsettling vision about Vanya’s and Ivar’s future.

Warning: angst, fluff, Ivar, toxic family, prophecy

Tagged

@shannygoatgruff @youbloodymadgenius @xbellaxcarolinax @heavenly1927 @lol-haha-joke @queenbeeta @didiintheblog

P.S.: Anything in cursive is in Old Norse.

I don't own the gifs. Also, thank you for your support. I really appreciate it.

Waking up next to Ivar became one of Vanya's favorite things in the morning. The way the light hit his tan skin as his bare chest rose slowly to the singing of the birds in the background. It all seemed like a dream she never knew she needed in her life. She put her pale hand on his chest and felt his heart beating slowly. Her husband looked so serene and innocent sleeping. Nothing like the stories she heard of Vikings. She loved the difference.

"Why are you staring at me?" He asked groggily, making her lock gazes with him. His blue eyes still looked tired, like they needed all the rest they could get before he was ready to leave the bed. Vanya chuckled as she laid her head on his chest and smiled in delight.

"I am admiring true beauty." Vanya teased, quoting his words from the wedding feast. Ivar rolled his eyes at her and threw his arm over her waist, drawing her closer to him. She closed her eyes and let his breathing lull her back to sleep. Unfortunately for both of them, a thrall knocked on their door, informing them that the Queen wants them to meet her in the Great hall.

The couple groaned in annoyance before Vanya rose from the bed and slipped an underdress over her naked body. She heard the thrall leave, as they were advised to do since they once entered to wake the royal duo, only to have a dagger thrown at them, when Ivar was getting dresses. So since then, they dress themselves.

Vanya put on a pale purple dress with roses on it as Ivar tied his legs together. She still hasn't seen his them bare, but she doesn't push. It was better to let him do it at his own pace. The more patient she would be, the better, and she wasn't that curious to see them. Different or not, they were still legs.

"What are you doing today?" Ivar asked, getting down from the bed and crawling to her side as she braided her hair.

Vanya looked down at her husband as she finished her little braid and smiled at him. "Brynja and I are going to the market to buy new fabrics. Do you want me to sew you something? Any special requests?"

Ivar shook his head at her offer and told her he is going hunting with his brothers and won't probably return till tomorrow if they decide to stay at the hunting cabin. Vanya wished him a good hunt and kissed him on the lips before they parted ways.

She was still a little bit shaken up from yesterday's argument. The first night they talked together, he told her she could do whatever she wanted to do. Yet he obviously drew the line at Christianity. She didn't care about the Christian God - he was a useless god in her eyes. His punishments were too severe, and his rules cruel. Silas always mocked her with Queen Judith of Wessex, the woman who got her ear cut off. He threatened he would do the same to her if she continued to test him. She prayed to God for mercy, but it didn't come at all. Yet Silas was a sea away from her, and she worshipped other gods now.

There was no place for God in her heart anymore; perhaps there never was. He was her father, God, and the possibility of him being with her even after death was beautiful. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized there never was an angel or God by her side. Silas was cruel to her, giving her bruises that took weeks to heal. And no matter how much she prayed, God did nothing. If he truly existed, he would have done something. What kind of cruel god is he if he does nothing?

Maybe all gods are just stories told by men to justify their choices. The tales of all-powerful gods looking over them and doing incredible deeds gives them an illusion of order in this world. After all, children sleep easier, thinking someone is protecting them. Is that what her father was? A fool believing in a made-up story?

The two sat down with the other Ragnarssons as Aslaug smiled at them a cup of mead in her hand. "What did you want to talk about, Mother?" Ubbe asked her, not liking the suspense.

Aslaug waved her hand at him in a dismissive way and sipped from her cup. "No worries. It is good news. Some traders offered to help Floki build ships by giving him some material. The only thing they ask is that you mention their generosity to the other people who will sail with you."

Bjorn nodded at that information and thanked her, saying he will inform Floki of it before they leave to hunt. Vanya looked at Bjorn curiously, trying to remember if he mentioned a journey. "Where are you going, Bjorn?"

The tall Viking looked at his sister in law and smiled at her proudly. "I found a map on our raid in Frankia a long time ago. I want to sail there, and Floki is building the ships for the journey." He explained excitedly thinking of the new things he would see when the time came.

Vanya smiled at his excitement and wished him good luck on his journey. Apparently, the other brothers wanted to come too, and we're still pondering who would go and who not. Hvitserk was sure he would go even if he had to sneak on the ship.

They all ate, conversating together about their plans before the boys stood up to leave. Ivar kissed Vanya's temple and crawled away. When Vanya stood up to also go, Aslaug called her name. She mentioned for the redhead to sit next to her, cause she wanted to talk.

Vanya braced herself for the hard conversation before her and sat down on Ubbe's earlier chair. "I am very happy for you and Ivar. And I am sorry for pressuring you. I didn't mean it in a wrong way. I simply want you two to be happy."

Vanya nodded at the Queen's words appreciating the less tense atmosphere between them. "Who taught you to behave like that, Love?"

Aslaug's words were curious yet still made Vanya pause. She didn't know the reason behind her question; after all, why should the Queen care about it? "My father always said that people have greater importance than armies. He believed that being loved had a bigger value than being feared. I think the same. However, it is good to have both. Only love won't win wars if the need arises."

"Wise words. He must have been a smart man to think that. How did he die?" Aslaug questioned again, her eyes sharp as a whip. She was looking for something, that was sure.

Vanya swallowed, thinking of her father's pale face and bony hands as he took his last breath in his chambers. "A sudden illness took him. He suffered for a long time before he passed away." Her tone was sad, and she could feel moisture at the corners of her eyes. Despite being dead for nearly three years, he was still a sore subject to her.

"I am sorry, Love. But you have a new family here now. And who knows, maybe one day you and Ivar will have a family of your own if the gods bless you." And there it was—the point of the whole conversation. Aslaug wanted grandkids. "Do you want children, Vanya?"

Vanya frowned at the question, never really thinking about it. It was expected of her as a woman to bear children. She dreamed of a handsome husband who would give her many pretty children with rosy cheeks. She did want them, but she hated that it was expected of her. Silas and Mother always reminded her that bearing Ivar's sons was a must. But she wondered if it was possible for her to bring his children to the world. What if he couldn't give her a child because of his affliction? What would become of her then?

"I do want children. But I--"

"You worry if you will have any with him, don't you?" Vanya nodded at the Queen's question in sadness. "I pray to the gods every night for you to get pregnant. I had a vision."

The ginger looked at Aslaug in wonder. Curious blue orbs met coal lined ones in a silent order to continue. "I saw a little body with eyes as blue as the sky looking up at ravens flying over its heads. The babe's hands wrapped around a snake's neck in a tight grip—the frozen sea behind the child as it crawled towards a fire to warm itself. I don't think it is a bad dream. The child is in danger, but it is a strong child. Brave and determined to survive."

Vanya frowned at the Queen's prophecy and nodded her head in understanding at it. "You could ask the Seer what the gods have to say about it. He will know what to tell you. But I am sure there is a child in your future."

She hoped it was the truth; she wanted children with Ivar. But what if her child was in immense danger? The prophecy sounded anything but friendly to her, no matter what Aslaug said. A snake and a fire was anything but good in her eyes. It meant obstacles in the life of a child that wasn't even conceived yet, and she already worried about it. What if the child died before it would grow up? Or if it died in her womb? What if the fire that was supposed to warm it would burn it instead?

"You are very silent today, Princess," Brynja commented, worried, looking over the silks the old woman offered to them. "Are you alright?"

Vanya looked up from the steel blue fabric she inspected before and smiled at her servant and friend. "Got a lot on my mind, that's all." Brynja nodded her head, not truly believing the Princess but decided not to press the matter.

After Vanya bought the fabrics, did she ask a thrall to bring them to her chambers. "I wish to talk to you privately." Brynja nodded at the whispered words and led the wife of Ivar the Boneless towards a lake in the woods. The grass looked soft while the water was clear and twinkled in the sun. The day was rather warm today for Kattegat's usual coldness.

The two women sat down on the grass watching the lake, neither saying anything for some time. Vanya cast her gaze down to her lap to look at the half-moon wounds she gave herself yesterday. She trailed her thumb over the tender scars and sighed loudly. "What do you think of Ivar? Be honest."

Brynja's head snapped towards Vanya as she watched the young Princess's blank face. Her usual honest front was replaced with a coldness that gave nothing away. She reminded the servant of Ivar at that moment. A hunter waiting for his prey to make its first move.

"I don't know him that well, Vanya. I only serve you." Vanya hummed at the servant's frantic tone and looked back up at the lake.

"My husband's personality worries me sometimes. I like him, that much I am sure. But his mood swings are frightening sometimes. He caught me praying, I confessed to him I prayed to the Christian god too. He got angry at that. He claims he won't hurt me, but yet he scares me." Vanya explained to the woman she barely knew. It was a foolish move; she could report it back to someone. But her feelings to Ivar were no valuable information to anyone. If she told it to Aslaug, the Queen would only talk to her. Vanya was in no danger telling Brynja about her situation. "When I was sent here, I begged my brother not to do it. I was worried my husband would kill me. So I ask you... Is my life in danger?"

Brynja took in a shake a breath and frowned deeply. "The Prince is mean; he isn't very fond of his brother Sigurd, and the Queen spoils him. But I don't think he would hurt you. Somehow you calm him. He isn't like he used to be before. It's not that obvious, but he is getting better. I think you should give him some time. Maybe talk to him."

Vanya nodded at the servant's advice and looked back at the lake, seeing flowers drifting in the lake. She smiled at the pretty things and stood up, surprising Brynja.

The servant looked up at the Princess, who took off her shoes and lifted her dress. "What is your favorite flower, Brynja?" She tiptoed over to the edge of the lake and dipped her feet in before walking into the water.

"Princess! Get out of there!" Brynja warned fearing for her Lady's health from the cold lake. Yet Vanya ignored the worried shouts and walked to the flowers. When she realized that she couldn't pick the flowers while holding her dress, she dropped the skirt and plucked the pretty flowers.

"Stop worrying, Brynja. Come on! What flowers do you like?" Vanya giggled a few Lily-of-the-valley flowers in her left hand as she walked closer to the coast to pluck more of the pretty flowers.

Brynja smiled, watching the excited Princess enjoy herself; her white skirt floated around her as she walked over the bottom of the lake. She looked so serene and kind at that moment that marrying her to someone like Ivar seemed like a mistake. Yet the girl's good heart and patience were a plus for the youngest Prince. "Forget-me-not's, my Princess. I like purple flowers."

Vanya chuckled at the information and gathered a few of those flowers in her hands, making a bouquet for her red-haired friend and servant. The lake was cold, but she could endure the chilly water until her task was done. She loved picking flowers back in the gardens of Slegia; the flowers were always put into a vase and on her father's table afterward. "Are you not bored with me, Brynja?"

Brynja shook her head at the question and watched the Princess make her way back to the shore. "Of course not, my Lady. I like serving you more than serving in the kitchen with the thralls."

With Brynja's help, Vanya crawled out of the lake and presented the curly-haired girl her findings. Brynja thanked her and put a forget-me-not into her hair, she also put one into Vanya's hair, complimenting the pretty Saxon on the look. The two girls left the lake in a good mood and went towards Vanya's and Ivar's room to change her wet dress.

#Vikings #ivar x oc #original character #original female character #ivar the boneless #ivar lothbrok

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laineybug04 · 4 years

Text

A Helping Hand

Amy has a hard time being taken seriously after Chaos destroyed Station Square. So when she has a vision of a boy stuck in a capsule who may be the key to Eggman's next big scheme, no one is willing to listen or help her. Determined to help save the day this time, Amy strikes out on her own to save the mysterious black hedgehog from her dreams

Chapter 1- Next Chapter

I saw this concept while browsing tumblr. Special thanks to mewmewhakusho and another-sonic-blog for letting me play around with this idea. I've been a Shad/Amy shipper for YEARS and I've never seen this idea play out before. Here's my take.

Extra special thanks to Nothin' Fancy for beta reading for me once again!

Visions of Grandeur

A delicate white-gloved hand hovered over a deck of cards spread in an arc on a table covered in red lace. The cards were shiny and looked almost brand new. Amy knew better- they were a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. If her mother was to be believed, they were almost as old as the chaos emeralds! The candle sat to the right of the cards- its flickering light dancing against the shadows, causing the patterns on the cards to sway with them.

A young pink hedgehog stared with green eyes bright from excitement, and glowed in contrast to the dark, ominous mist which surrounded her. The mist was thick with sinister whispers, yet the girl hardly heard or cared to listen. Her anticipation at what was in store trumped any caution she may have had.

She greedily took three cards from the deck and laid them hastily but neatly in front of her. One straight horizontal line that would reveal her destiny. Her hands gently laid them perfectly straight, over the first to the left that represented the past that she needed to know. She continued over the present that the unknown past had affected. Finally she caressed the final one on the right- the future! She twirled in place, her joy was just too much! Sure the last one tended to be fuzzy, but she could usually guess based on the first two, so it was mostly just to complete the rule of three.

Amy Rose was no stranger to tarot readings, in fact she had even used them to find out how to be with her hero, Sonic! They'd shown her Little Planet, where Sonic had bravely saved her life. They'd shown her future- a life of adventure, thrill, new friends and becoming a hero alongside her Sonic in their fight against the old, and nasty, Dr. Eggman.

A gleeful smile took over as she imagined what the cards would show her now! Their first date? Kiss? Wedding day? THEIR CHILDREN? She giggled in sheer delight at the prospects of her happy future. But even as her heart pounded, demanding she quickly reveal her fate, she took a shaky breath to calm her nerves. She wanted to retain some adult-like dignity- this was her future after all! Amy steadied her hand, and flipped over the first card on the left.

The shadowy mist that surrounded her table converged on her and turned to an unforgiving steel color. Her smile faded and her happiness ebbed away- the past was almost never this cryptic. Not unless something horrible had happened. She searched through the fog but only found a large window with thick glass and a foggy reflection. Immediately her heart began to thump painfully, and so quickly, she felt it could give Sonic a run for his money. She pressed her hand to the cold glass and listened to the horrors going on behind her. She heard screaming, gun-shots, and shouted orders over stomping boots. When she inhaled, her nose was assaulted with an unfamiliar scent, it was a sharp coppery smell, with a dark, burnt undertone to it. Her whole body hummed with fear and hopelessness, a heavy weight of despair pressed down on her from all sides.

Amy tried to breathe, and her throat seized, so desperate to help, but with no way to know what was wrong, she floundered. Even in a lucid dream, it was so hard to make out the view behind the glass. It was blurred at first, but as she strained her eyes, she started to make out small white dots within a deep velvety black. The sounds behind her muted slightly as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. And then she realized, she was staring out into the void of space. She looked down, and to her despair, she saw her beautiful home planet of Mobius being drenched in blood that was flowing from the window.

She stared on in horror- she had no way to fix this. Worse still, she hadn't seen Sonic, or really anyone who could help her. She turned back into the fog, trying to see something, anything that the fog could show her how to stop the blood. She searched but still saw nothing and only heard the same conniving whispers under the sounds of the invaders. She growled in frustration and just jumped into the fog. She cried out, "Where are you!? Please, I can-"

She heard a gunshot, one that was louder than the rest, almost as though it was by her head. That wasn't what stopped her in her tracks. No- it was a scream that was so broken and filled with such heartbreak that she'd never heard in her life. The voice was young, maybe only a few years older than her, and it was deep and gravely with fear. Tears burst from her eyes as her heart broke from the anguish in his scream.

"MARIA!"

Amy could feel herself being pulled back out of the dream but she fought it, bringing herself back to the table and looking at the face of the card. She rolled her eyes, she should have known- Eggman's emblem was plastered over the dark background of space- it's eyes bleeding down to the earth below.

"The Death Egg," she decided, shaking her head, "Like that's a big surprise."

Still, her whole body shook. She knew the terrors Eggman had brought onto the world- the Great War between mobians and humans had been unkind to both sides. Eggman, specifically, had chosen himself over either side. It was only recently that Princess Sally and King Nigel had reached out and cultivated a more friendly relationship with them. But the history between the two people was still painful. Even with Eggman as a common enemy...

"I wonder if the United Federation will be involved," she murmured cryptically.

She glared skeptically at the second card, her excitement from earlier had been murdered and thrown out into a ditch. Now she was hesitant to see what else these cards had in store for her. Her frown deepened and she squared her shoulders- she knew how her tarot worked. It would not show her the past unless it was going to have a huge impact on the unseen present.

Amy flipped the card.

This time the mist retreated entirely and she found herself deep in the heart of a jungle. Lush greenery surrounded her, and the warm, tropical wind rushed around her, making the leaves rustle in a soothing lullaby. Her head bent backwards and she saw small twinkles of the afternoon sky between the gaps in the thick canopy above. Her eyes closed for a moment, as she felt peace enter her troubled heart and chase away the horror from the previous vision. She took a deep breath, allowing the damp, warm air to embrace her. She felt light, joyful, and her feet started to move in rhythm with her happiness. As she twirled, her eyes caught the glimmer of gun-metal that froze her heart.

She fell before she could get a better look at it.

A gasp ripped out of her throat as she fell into darkness, but then there was a glow of harsh chalk on a concrete background, 'Was that red chalk?'.

Her fall slowed to a stop before she hit the ground and the writing on the wall was gone. Before her was what looked like some medical, mechanical monstrosity. She looked around to try and get a grip on where she was, but found only more rusted metal, abused cables, and neglected machinery around her. She looked up and saw the ceiling so far ahead, she wondered if she wouldn't die from the fall, normally. The walls were an uninteresting metal grey, and Amy decided to move her attention back to the console in the middle of the room.

As she got closer, she found the thing was so old and covered with dust, she couldn't quite see into the capsule. But she could see the outline of someone inside. She rubbed at the glass desperately, calling out to them. She let out a frustrated huff when she couldn't get them to respond. Instead she made her way to the console attached to it. She ran her hands over the dusty console and saw four buttons specifically that glowed through the dust on them.

"A... R...I...M..." Amy read out loud, "Arim?"

The scream from earlier ripped into the forefront of her mind and she realized the 'A' key had been pressed twice. She looked on in the capsule in sadness, "Are you Maria?"

The capsule pulsed, not in assent, but in Anger. Red mist seeped from the cracks in the capsule and the walls echoed a scream that was much older than the one she'd heard before. This was the roar of an older man- not a child like before. But before she found herself back in the room with the red table, she felt the room ring with a terrible, evil laugh- very much like the one she'd heard come out of Eggman before.

When she was back in the red room, she looked down at the card. It showed multiple strings of chains, some an old, but strong metal and others almost see-through. They were wrapped around a black arm that clung to them so tightly they practically bit into the skin. Over all of the chains was stamped what she recognized as Eggman's insignia. She scoffed in annoyance and confusion, "What the heck is Eggman up to this time?"

A small, scared part of her wondered if it would be worse than what had happened with Chaos and Station Square. Using a literal god of destruction hadn't been enough to take Sonic down. What else was that crazy old doctor willing to do in order to win against the Hero of Mobius?

Her jaw set as she looked at the final card on the table. She knew she wasn't going to get too many answers from it- the future was never truly set in stone after all. This time the main character of the cards was not Sonic or her, but Eggman. She was worried about what the future may hold, but she shook her head. Amy still had no idea what Eggman was up to and she knew she couldn't leave here without at least a tiny clue about what he was up to.

She flipped the card.

Now she was in a new, dark room. The walls were scrawled with the same crazed red chalk she'd seen earlier that seemed to pulsate with malicious intent. In the center of the room sat a lone black hedgehog, curled into a ball with his hands over his ears.

"Hey!" she called out as she ran to his side, "Are you okay?"

The ball unfurled and was on its feet so quickly Amy gasped in surprise. The hedgehog twisted around to face her and Amy was struck by what she saw.

There were dark red streaks in his fur that matched the writing on the wall and his wide eyes. A snarl twitched on his lips as his white gloved fists clenched at his sides, ready for a fight. The white puff over his heart heaved with his labored breathing. To anyone else, this creature would be terrifying. Who on earth had naturally red eyes that seemed to permanently glare into your soul? However, Amy's heart broke for him- the hedgehog was barely out of boyhood, almost Sonic's age, chained to the floor of the room by his wrists and ankles.

"Here," she reached out gently, "Let me help you."

The hedgehog's eyes widened in surprise and he seemed to lean forward for a brief moment. But the next second his sneer deepened and he swung his arms out, "Don't touch me. This is where I belong!"

Amy looked around incredulously before shooting him her own shocked look, "You... don't look happy being here."

"Tch," he scoffed as he folded his arms, "It's not about happiness. It's about what they deserve. What I deserve."

Now the walls seeped with a red mist that the boy was starting to choke on and walls rumbled ominously. Still she stared on at the shadowed hedgehog in front of her and all she could think about was how to get them out of there. She reached into her pockets and was amazed and elated to feel her fingers brush against the cold, metal shape of a key. Amy smiled- she knew this was the key to the hedgehog's chains.

"Nobody belongs in a place like this," she called out in spite of the poison surrounding them, "Come on! Just give me your hand and we can get out of here."

The boy growled and lashed out with the chains, "I said NO!"

Amy dodged the chains and now she was angry, "Stop being silly! This place is going to kill you!"

"You're too weak to stop it!" he growled out, his sneer turning into a soft but cruel smile, "You're pathetic!"

Now Amy's cheeks puffed out in rage. She clenched the key in her hands and she lunged for the hedgehog, "I'LL SHOW YOU WEAK!"

She was pinned to the ground before she'd reached him. As the hedgehog stood over her, holding her down by her throat and his other arm pressing down on her chest, the room began to collapse around them. The mist surrounded them and was only pierced by the glow of seven bright lights that circled around them ominously. The boy's red markings faded into a shadowy mist and his whole body blurred into a vague black monster that held her down and kept her from breathing. As the world faded around her, Amy saw the final card float in front of her- the earth and moon shattered against the backdrop of space.

She heard a sad sigh reverberate in her mind...

Amy found herself on her back, in her bed, with the shadow creature still trying to choke her.

She groaned lowly in frustration. This creature was not the same boy she was trying to save in her vision but some vague dark monster that would try to "choke" her while she woke from her lucid dreams.

"Ugh," she thought as she began to hold her breath, "Sleep paralysis. My favorite."

Amy held her breath for what felt like forever- even as her body shook with desperation and fear of the monster in front of her, she knew there was only one way to escape the beast. She waited as her body slowly woke from the hell, first with tingling sensations in her toes. It was not a pleasant feeling, it felt like tiny, heated needles poking into the pores of her skin. It slowly gravitated up her legs and when she attempted to move her feet to quicken the process, she found she couldn't move them.

Maybe twenty seconds later she finally felt herself wake up and she shot up from her bed with a gasp. After several harrowing seconds of catching her breath she searched the room for the shadow demon from earlier. Only when she found no signs of it did she rest her head in her hands with a groan. Normally she loved being able to consult her tarot cards, even if it always ended in her being caught in sleep paralysis. They tended to show her premonitions of hope, happiness and adventure!

Tonight though...

Amy shook her head, she knew she wouldn't get another wink of sleep tonight. She turned to the window and saw the soft light of the night just before dawn. Amy heaved a large yawn and got up anyway. She dressed in her signature red dress in the dark of her small windowed tent, bemoaning the loss of her apartment six months earlier. As she picked up a bucket from the corner of her room she dreamed about the running water she used to enjoy. She walked out into the pre-dawn landscape, swinging her bucket despite her conflicted mind and got ready for the day.

She walked out into the cleared ruins of the outskirts of Station Square. As desolate as the area was, she couldn't help but give a small smile. The tents each represented at least one person from Knothole Village who chose to help in rebuilding Station Square. At a glance, Amy counted well over three dozen tents- almost a third of the population of Knothole. Amy scanned the horizon- the work on the city was slow going but it was coming along. The water had been completely drained since about a month after the god, Chaos, had wreaked havoc to the city and the buildings were now mostly safely demolished. Despite the devastation, the Mobians were determined to help rebuild what the human's had lost to be better and stronger than before.

"Not to mention learning more about human building techniques," Amy thought with an eye roll. She'd overheard Sally bring that up at the beginning of the rebuilding project. She couldn't argue with how smart it was, and it had gotten so many more volunteers out. Amy couldn't help but feel a bit leery at the phrasing, however, "It's like people can't just help because they can."

Speaking of helping, as Amy filled her bucket from the well- a mechanical marvel very unlike the traditional wells they'd had to use in the past- she couldn't help but think back to the poor boy she'd tried to save in her dream.

"I wonder what Eggman wants with him," she murmured under her breath, "And why he's okay with it...

"If he was okay with it," she corrected herself, a sad weight clutching her heart, "What was that writing on the wall, anyway. Part of the curse...?"

"Hun?"

"I wonder if those lights were the chaos emeralds," she continued to mutter under breath with a shrug, "Wouldn't surprise me if they were involved, somehow."

"Rosie!"

"There's always got to be some sort of magic when it comes to Eggman," she sighed as she stretched her neck mindlessly, "For a mechanical genius, he sure relies on the supernatural a LOT."

"Amy!"

Amy was pulled out of her reverie and shrieked when she saw her bucket was overflowing and she was wasting so much water. She scrambled to shut the water off and turned apologetically towards the person behind her.

Bunnie Rabbot looked on at Amy with a concerned raised brow over sharp green eyes, one mechanical hand resting on her hip and the other holding her bucket. One mechanical foot tapped methodically against the silence before she pointed to Amy with her good arm. But before she could say anything, Amy gave a little chuckle,

"Hey... Bunnie!" Amy smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I got a bit distracted."

"Y'all right, there Rosie Cheeks? It's awful early in the morning for you to be up. You sleep alright?"

Amy stood aside to let Bunnie get her water before shaking her hand in a 'so-so' motion, "Could have been better. I... I drew my cards today"

Again, Bunnie raised her brow, "Drew your cards? That a Station Square sayin'?"

Amy shot her a deadpan look, "My tarot cards? The ones I used to find Sonic? The ones that told me to move to Station Square?"

"Right, right. Sorry Rosie-Cheeks, I forgot," Bunnie shut off the water and gave her own sheepish look, "My stahs, I've been runnin' mahself ragged out here. 'Tween helping Sugah 'Twan with the soup kitchen and the main construction site I've been getting pulled in all sorts a ways..."

She giggled but then blanched at her joke, "Don't read too far into that, I shouldn'ta said that..."

Amy rolled her eyes- at twelve years old, she was way too used to hearing the older crowd telling her what she should or shouldn't hear, "Sure... anyway... have you heard anything about where Sonic is? I need to talk to him about what I saw."

Bunnie winced with a small sympathetic hiss, "Ah'm sorry, hun, but Sugah Hog left to go chase a rumor about Doctor Eggman. He left a while ago for Oil Ocean Zone just a few minutes ago..."

Amy's cheeks puffed out and her hands found her hips, "UGH, SERIOUSLY!? He didn't even say goodbye?!"

Bunnie sighed, "Ah'm sure if you called him he'd answer. Or you could talk to Sally..."

Amy's arms crossed and she scoffed, "Please, he never answers his calls. And Sally's been too busy rubbing elbows with the President. Rotor and NICOLE don't believe in my 'mumbo jumbo' and Tails has been loosing it over his stupid project..."

"Now, Amy," Bunnie chided while picking up her bucket and pointing at Amy in a scolding manner, "He helped save the city from Doctor Eggman, too, you know. He deserves a rest..."

"He isn't resting though!" Amy cried, "And I helped save the city too!"

"Of course you did, Rosie-Cheeks. Takin' down that Zero fella really took a lot outta you... but, we're all doing our part," Bunnie chided dismissively, "Look... I get that you had a bad dream..."

"Vision."

"Yea... that," Bunnie took a deep breath, "If it's that important to you I can listen for a bit. I don't need to check into the kitchens for a while..."

Amy stared her down in frustration before she sighed, "Yea... okay... So you know how Tarot readings usually include a past, present, and future card?"

"Can't say I do, but I believe you!"

"Okay... Anyway, the past card had me in space and... I think it was another Death Egg."

Bunnie gasped, "You don't say..."

Amy nodded, "So at first I thought Eggman was hiding in space, but that's in the past. So the present one had me in a jungle and I dropped into a cave with really creepy red writing on the walls and I thought maybe that's where Eggman is hiding."

"Right, okay..."

"But the last card, the future card, didn't have anything to do with Eggman at all!" Amy ranted, "It was a black hedgehog... I think Eggman's going to use him for something really bad..."

"Oh, really? Who was the hedgehog?"

Amy shrugged, "I don't know. I've never seen a hedgehog with red tiger stripes in their quills like that, and the way his quills bent is like I've never seen before... and his eyes... he looked so angry and sad..."

Now Bunnie gave a knowing smile, "Well I'll be, I never thought it'd happen!"

Amy shot her a confused look, "What?"

"I didn't think you'd get over Sonic so quickly, Rosie-Cheeks!"

Amy's eyes widened, "Weren't you listening? This isn't about him!"

Bunnie rolled her eyes, "Sure it isn't. Look, hun, I don't think it's about Eggman. AH think, yer getting a lil crush on someone else and you're feel'n guilty 'bout leaving Sonic behind..."

"But I'm not..."

"And y'all shouldn't!" Bunnie put her bucket down and grabbed Amy by the shoulders gently, "Yer growing up now and that comes with a lot-ah complicated feelings. It's okay ta look a lil closer and see what happens! Don't ya feel bad about chasin' yer happiness Rosie-Cheeks! Yer still so young. Don' be afraid ta go chat up your lil friend when you see him 'round the camp again. I'm sure he'd really like a nice chat with a cute lil lady such as yerself!"

"But I haven't even... I don't have any..." Amy, enraged, stumbled over her words, "You're not even listening to me!"

"Aw, Ah'm sorry I couldn't help you more sweetheart," Bunnie said glumly before gasping, "Oh, I gotta go! Sugah 'Twan's waitin' on me and I still haven't gotten myself presentable yet!"

Amy huffed and sputtered as Bunnie waved goodbye and called out, "Go talk to Sally-girl if you need more help! She'll help y'all with your new boyfriend!."

Amy shook with frustration and her cheeks burned red-hot. She gave a growling shriek and kicked her bucket of water over. Too late, she realized she would have to wait in a now much longer line for water to brush her teeth and wash her hands. As she grumbled under her breath over not being taken seriously, again, she resigned herself to a long drive to Central City and a meeting with one Princess Sally Acorn.

White House-Central City, United Federation

10:16

Amy's mood had not gotten any better after her journey to Central City. Not that she was surprised, she'd had to walk the entire way to the other city because the buses to the other cities wouldn't let her on without permission from her mommy.

Amy growled in her seat in the waiting room of the White House, practically grinding her teeth down to the root. While she'd only been there a grand total of ten minutes, each moment seemed to tick by at a snail's pace and she was left consumed in such an angry aura that no one wanted to be anywhere near her.

"I swear, if Sally keeps me waiting just one second more, this whole house is going to be nothing but rubble when I'm done with it!"

"Miss?"

Amy's eyes shot the older human man, who dared to interrupt her incensed thoughts, with such a withering look she made the rest of his group flinch in fear. She was both angered and relieved to see the older gentleman was entirely unphased by this and even seemed mildly amused by her pouting.

Amy took a deep breath to reign in her temper, but her voice still came out curtly, "Yea, what do you want?"

The man raised one brow and replied, "I was hoping to ask you the same question. Are you lost?"

Amy's pout deepened but rather than give into her rising rage, she smoothed out her dress and held her nose up at him with an air of importance, "I'm waiting to see Princess Sally Acorn. I have important information about Dr. Eggman's whereabouts that I need to share with her."

Amy raised her eyes smugly to him, only to see that man's eyes widen only ever so slightly. She was even more infuriated when he folded his hands behind his back and leveled her with a condescending look, "Oh? That's odd. We've just gotten very reliable intel on his location. I imagine you've done your own well-founded research to come to your conclusions?"

Amy's cheeks puffed out. To be honest, she didn't have a reliable source and all she really had to go on was a jungle...

But her heart never steered her wrong- she knew she had to talk to Sally as soon as she could, "Call it a woman's intuition. I need to talk to her. Tell her it's Amy Rose."

His brows crinkled slightly and Amy was struck by the man's eyes. She'd never seen eyes that were different colors- one green, one brown. Something stirred in her heart and told her to be kinder to him. She took in his clothes- a deep green, almost black military jacket with matching slacks and the shiniest black shoes Amy had ever seen. Two stripes over his left breast pocket and the numerous medals put him high in the chain of command, although Amy had no clue where exactly. He was conspicuously missing a name tag on his uniform- a bit annoying but then she could always ask.

Finally the man offered a kind smile, "I recognize you now- you were with the princess upon her arrival a few months ago. I'm on my way to a meeting with her and the President. I'm sure we can spare a few moments for you two to... have a little chat before our meeting..."

If looks could kill, the old man would have keeled over from the terrifying glare she shot his way. He had turned and began to walk away by the time she took a few deep breaths and began to follow him. Slowly but surely, she soothed her irritation as they briskly strolled through the winding corridors of the mansion. Through it all, a persistent feeling thumped in her chest- a sort of deja vu that refused to let her go. Finally she turned to the old man, "I'm... sorry, I never got your name."

"Lieutenant Commander Towers," The man said with a restrained smile, "I'm with the G.U.N."

"...The...?"

"The Guardian Unit of Nations," he answered, "We oversee the defense of the United Federation against her enemies."

Amy frowned in confusion- the feeling of deja vu was just getting stronger, "...Did you... fight in the Great War at all? I feel like I know you from somewhere..."

The man stopped in his tracks and eyed her with concern, "Did you?"

Amy shook her head, "I was only three when Eggman took over. My parents did. Sorry, I thought I'd maybe seen you or your name in one of the old history books. It's starting to bug me, actually."

The man sized her up and Amy couldn't help but straighten her back and face him head on. For all that he'd made a poor impression, Amy still wanted to measure up. Finally, he offered a sad smile and a nod, "We're almost there, right this way."

He moved, and Amy was immediately gripped by tunnel vision. Her eyes honed in on a map of what she presumed to be the entirety of the United Federation from the Western shores of Soleanna to the Eastern most tip of Chun-An up to Holoska and down all the way to the most Southern edge of Mazuri. Amy scrambled to get a closer look at the map and zone in immediately on a tiny spot of an island almost 100 miles off the coast of the Mystic Ruins. Amy was just taking in the latitude and longitude of the island when the man came up ever so silently behind her, "Ms. Rose? Something the matter?"

Amy pointed to the island immediately, "Does this island have a jungle on it?"

The man frowned in confusion before deciding to humor her. His face quickly hardened then smoothed over when he had a moment to realize what island she was talking about. Despite his brief unrest, his voice was smooth and seemingly unconcerned, "I couldn't say- I've never been."

Amy huffed then gave a small determined grin, "It's off the coast of the Mystic Ruins... it has to."

The man shrugged, "I believe you. Now, if you'll follow me, I believe you have important information to share?"

Amy pouted and folded her arms over her chest, "Yea, yea, I'm coming, Abe..."

Now the man froze completely and halted Amy with a look that was both highly suspicious and entirely ill at ease, "What did you just call me?"

Before Amy could answer, someone called from around the corner, "Lieutenant Commander! There you are!"

They both turned to see a broad, stout man with an impressive beard in a similar military outfit to Towers. He clapped the tall, lanky Towers on the back and started to guide him away, "Abraham, you won't believe the progress the young princess has made in her little country, and so close to enemy lines! My dear, Knothole village has been in very impressive hands!"

"Thank you, Commander Thunderstrike," Amy heard the smooth, but very tired tones of Sally's voice and her heart lifted in relief, "That is very high praise coming from..."

She turned the corner and her eyes widened in surprise, "Amy! What are you doing here?"

If Amy had been the type to look before she leapt, she would have seen Sally was in no position to entertain any surprises. The princess looked tired, her hair, while not technically out of place, was drooping. It was clear to almost everyone that Sally had been in the middle of meetings with barely a chance to change clothes before the next stage of plans. All for the sake of having a mutually beneficial relationship with the humans that the mobians hadn't seen in literal centuries. It was clear that such lofty goals bore a heavy price. As determined as Princess Sally was, she was at the edge of her good graces.

It was a shame Amy caught none of this. She pointed immediately to the map, "I know where Eggman's hiding!"

Sally frowned in confusion while Amy lunged towards her and grabbed Sally's hand. The Commander and Towers looked on as Amy dragged Sally to the map.

"Oh? Do you, young lady?" Now the Commander turned his amused gaze to Sally, "Another savant in your entourage? Wonders never cease with you young critters, isn't that right Towers?"

Towers only gave an uneasy nod as Amy pointed to the island she'd been so fixated on moments before.

"There! Right there! He's on that island!"

There was a pause just before Sally gently massaged her temples and the Commander began to roar with laughter, "Oh, there's a good one. Trust me, my dear, no one is on that island."

"I know Eggman is!" Amy retorted, "Or at the very least he plans on being there soon!"

Towers' frowned down his nose at her, "And your sources?"

"None," Sally groaned, "Amy, please. We don't have time for this. We're in the middle of planning something. Go back to Station Square. We have everything under control here."

"Sally, please, you have to believe me! Something is going on on that island and we have to send Sonic there to check it out!"

"No, we don't," Sally countered, "We know where Eggman is and he's not on some desert island-"

"Jungle island."

"-WHATEVER island in the middle of nowhere!"

"Then let me go and check it out!" Amy begged, "Please, I know I can handle it, and I can at least see what's going on!"

"Absolutely not!" The Commander thundered, "Your Highness, I can allow some modicum of freedom within the country but..."

The Commander began to stumble over his words as he realized he couldn't very well explain how he knew Eggman wasn't there in the first place. In answer to his prayers, Towers took a step forward and offered, "This is within our sphere of influence and if Ms. Rose's information is even remotely legitimate, it's worth at least a cursory investigation. Allow us to look into this on our own while we work together on our separate venture to bring Dr. Eggman to justice."

Sally sighed, "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. I appreciate your diligence and kindness in this matter. I suggest we consider this settled."

She shot Amy a look that made the pink hedgehog's blood run hot with embarrassment, "You don't believe me, do you?"

Now Sally's eyes flashed with anger and she grabbed Amy's arm roughly in turn.

"Excuse us for a moment gentleman, I'll return for the second meeting shortly," the princess said hurriedly as she dragged Amy around the corner into a room.

The room was filled with a series of maps and blueprints on it. The room had only two others in it, another tall man that Amy recognized as the President of the United Federation, and a white bat, with bright teal eyes that looked on in the barest hint of interest. Sally let go of Amy just long enough to grab a small pile of papers and slam them in front of her. Amy looked down, her heart frozen in shock as Sally revealed the pictures of a clearly reactivated Eggman base in the middle of Oil Ocean zone near Shamar. As Amy's hands gently hovered over the pictures, at one point even hovering over one of Eggman himself, Sally spoke to her in low but harsh tones.

"I understand that you want to be a Freedom Fighter. I admit we've given Tails a lot more leniency and responsibility that we've given you. And I promise once this is over we will be taking your training much more seriously than we have in the past-"

"I don't need training, I need you to listen to me!" Amy growled, "There's a boy who needs our help! A black hedgehog with red eyes!"

Sally continued unimpeded, "You're being incredibly childish and nearsighted if you really think you're the only one doing anything about all of this."

"Eggman has to be tricking you! Just let me go with them to the island and I can..."

Sally's fist clenched and she barely stopped herself from slamming it on the table. She took several deep breaths behind clasped hands before she tried again, "I believe you have visions. I believe you have insight into things that we don't. But this is hard evidence that anyone can see while yours are just vague apparitions that we can't analyze the way we can with these. There are only so many resources we can spare and frankly- I can't focus on some unknown black hedgehog, and Eggman, and rebuilding at the same time. So please… just..."

Now Sally drew close and her voice was now a harsh whisper, "Go back to Station Square. Stop throwing a tantrum and help where you're needed."

Amy stared into the cold, hard blue eyes of the princess, and she felt tears begin to burn at the corners of her eyes as she realized that once again Sally insisted on treating her like a small child. Sally put her hand on Amy's back and opened the door to the room, and with a gentle push, ushered the young girl from the room. Mortified, she saw the commanders had been right behind them, faces pale but unmoving. Amy only started down the hall when the door was closed softly behind her and she was left alone and with a pounding sense of anger and determination.

Back inside the room, Sally took several more deep breaths before she addressed the President directly, "Forgive me, sir. That was one of our trainees. She's... very excited to officially join our ranks."

As the President waved off her apologies, Sally failed to notice the stoic, almost fearful silence between the two commanders of the G.U.N and the bright, interested look of the President's mobian guest.

Mystic Ruins-Tails' workshop

15:22

Tails was in the middle of the most peaceful sleep of his life. For days before this, he'd stayed up late into the wee hours of the night- tinkering with the chaos emerald he'd been awarded for his part in saving Station Square. It was all worth it. If everything went as planned, the days of Eggman getting the jump on them or someone using the chaos emeralds for their own nefarious purposes would be a thing for the history books. He dreamed of being awarded the World Genius prize, the parades in his honor, and best of all- the thumbs up and hair ruffles he'd get from Sonic. He could practically hear the magic words come out of his mouth, "I'm proud of you, buddy!"

Just as he was about to get the key to the world and a solution to grow four, no, FIVE inches taller- he heard a frantic pounding at the door of his house. He gave a loud shriek as he was pulled from slumber and jumped from his bed. He fell, in a tangle of blankets and tails, to the floor below him. His eyes were so heavy, he could barely keep them open as he wrestled with the fabric prison that kept him from shutting the incessant pounding up. He groaned pitifully as he stumbled his way through his house and towards the door. He opened the door and was immediately blinded by the light of the summer afternoon. Tails adjusted his eyes and found, not Sonic, or a key to the world, or even a tiny emergency. To his dismay, he only found one Amy Rose at his doorstep with a wicked smile on her face and a full backpack behind her.

"Hey, Taaails... whatcha doin'?" She said in a cloying sing-song voice.

Tails glared at her pathetically before rubbing his eyes, "What'dyou wan'?" he whined.

"I need a faaavor~"

"I'm not driving you anywhere and I don't know where Sonic is," Tails quickly ground out while rubbing his poor blood-shot eyes, "Tools are over there, take whatever you want, just let me sleep and don't break anything."

Amy frowned, "You sure? I need to..."

"Please... Amy," he shot her a look that was practically in tears, he was so exhausted, "I... need to sleep. I don't even care if it's the Tornado. Just bring it back when you're done and let me sleep..."

As Tails stumbled into the wall a few times, Amy gently took him by the shoulders and guided him back to his room. Tails whined under his breath but allowed her to tuck him in and tousle his hair gently, "Sleep tight, Tails. And thanks for your help!"

Tails yawned and grumbled something under his breath before snuggling into his pillow with a smile. He was snoring by the time Amy marched back through his kitchen and into the basement area that led to his garage. She turned on the lights and was amazed by the absolute armory this kid had in his hangar. The walls cut deep into the cliff side, using the natural formation of the cliff to provide protection against the elements. Cables and rebar laced the walls from the ceiling all the way down to the water and they were lined with tables laden with gadgets, and experiments. The water, at high tide at that moment, was snaked purposefully around the machines like a moat. When she looked up to the ceiling, she saw the outlines of trapdoors that would open and lead up to the runway just outside his house. She ooh'd and aww'd over the planes for a moment before she stopped and frowned.

"These are great... but I don't know how to fly." She grumbled a little bitterly. She hadn't asked for flight training, but then Tails' hadn't either, if she remembered correctly. The empty promises of the princess, the Freedom Fighters, and even Sonic to teach her the basics mocked her at the edges of her mind.

"Why does Tails get to learn all the cool stuff? He gets to go on missions, be involved in planning… but I'm the one too young for that?" She thought, a little jealousy bubbling to the surface.

Amy shook out those miserable thoughts. Now wasn't the time to wallow in self pity or petty jealousy. She had a mission to complete. Someone had to look out for that haunted boy from her vision, and if everyone refused to help, she'd do it herself.

"Just like Birdy, and his family," she decided with a resigned nod.

She huffed in frustration but eyed the ATVs and the two cars Tails built and her frown deepened, "Those won't work..."

Her eyes feel on a three half-built boards on display over his workstation that sent her foot tapping in frustration, "I could boogie board my way there, I guess, but once I get to the island I'll be too tired to spy on Eggman!"

She pursed her lips and looked around the garage some more before she leaned against one of the cars. To her horror, the car actually started to slide. Before she could stop it, she had fallen over and the car had slipped and crashed into the moat of water around its display. She scrambled to try and get the thing back out of the water. As she pulled it back she realized that rather than sinking, the large car had started to float?

Upon closer inspection, she realized the car had a point in the front with a white bottom and bright golden yellow stripes on its sides. The seats were shaped like regular seats in a car, but the bottoms were now exposed so they could swivel and the floor was replaced with a hard wood deck. The clear black writing on the side declared this vessel to be dubbed, "The ROS Tsunami MKII". There was a lot of room to move about the cabin turned deck and Amy's smile grew brighter. She clapped and squealed with glee as she threw her bag inside and climbed aboard.

"I can't fly. But I can drive!" she crowed, "A boat can't be much different than a car! How bad could it be?"

She looked over the console and studied the buttons before her eyes fell on something that made her gasp, "A chaos emerald?"

And there it was, in all its golden yellow glory, sitting in the center console under a glass display dome that secured it into the boat. She smiled at this, "Great! No need to worry about running out of fuel! Now... where's the... AH HA!"

Amy found the button that displayed the map and fumbled through putting in the coordinates that she remembered from the map. She gave a victorious whoop as the engine roared to life and jerked towards the exit of the workshop. Her whoop turned to shrieks of fear as she barreled headlong towards a wall of rock. Just before she hit the solid wall she lunged towards the bow and summoned her hammer. She swung against the wall with all her might, opening a gaping gash that led out to the ocean. The boat sped out over the waves, leaving Amy to melt in a relieved puddle on the bow. She crawled back gingerly towards the captain's chair and practically slid into it. She wiped her brow and watched the console as it revealed the map to her destination.

"Okay... just a slight bump in the road," she murmured warily, "I can fix that when I get back. Tails never has to know. I can take some pictures, prove that Eggman is on the island, figure out what that capsule thing is and maybe find that boy stuck in the curse room! Easy as pie..."

Little did she know that pie is just... an absolute bitch and a half to make.

#Amy Rose #Shadow the Hedgehog #havenofear #Amy Rose is here!#Sonic Adventure 2 #coming of age #just a side story from One Hundred Moments #A helping Hand

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