#no one is airhorn covers I couldn’t do that to them

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

[writer-k-pop]

Movie Night

나는 또 다른 공기 경적 사고로 깨어나고 싶지않다. I do not want to be woken up by another airhorn incident.

Description: You had planned to watch the movie and then go straight home so you could wake up the next day refreshed for a day of house cleaning. But the events of the day seem to have caught up to you earlier than expected and knocked your plans into loud chaos. Warnings: Swearing Genre: Fluff, Idol!Joshua x Fem!Reader Word Count: 1.7k

Seventeen Masterlist | Masterlists

Hoshi throws open the front door and yells in excitement. "Movie night!"

"Keep the sugar away from him." Woozi says sarcastically.

"You guys have fun, I think I'm gonna introvert for the rest of the night." Wonwoo waves a hand, "You know, prepare for tomorrow and all."

Seungcheol gives him a thumbs up.

"I think I'm headed in too." Minghao comments.

"Same here." Dino quips.

"Aww, but Dino," You whine, "It's Marvel night."

Dino chuckles and Joshua wraps an arm around your shoulders, leading you towards the couch.

"Maybe the next Marvel night. Cause there is no way you're watching all of them tonight." He tells you.

"Wanna bet?" You smirk playfully.

Dino just shakes his head as he makes his way to his room. 

In the kitchen, Mingyu, Hoshi, and Dokyeom are raiding the cabinets for snacks with Seungcheol, Seungkwan, and Jeonghan who are raiding the fridge for drinks. Woozi and Vernon work on setting up the movie while you and Joshua settle into the couch. Jun just sits quietly at the other end of the couch, waiting for the others to do the work. 

"Whatever happens tonight," You turn to Joshua, "I cannot sleep over tonight."

"Okay." Joshua shrugs, "But why not? You're always welcome here. And in my bed." He wiggles his eyebrows and you smack his shoulder in embarrassment.

"Gross.” You say before explaining, “I have a shit ton of house work to do tomorrow."

"You can put it off for one more day." Joshua mutters and lazily rests his head on your shoulder.

You shake your head, "Actually, I can't. I haven't cleaned an inch of my house in a month. It's disgusting." A shiver runs down your spine. "I need to clean it."

"Pshh," Vernon glances back, having overheard the conversation, "A month ain't that bad. I have friend who didn't clean his room for three months."

"WE WERE ON TOUR, ASSHOLE." Seungkwan screams from the kitchen.

Vernon sticks out his tongue in the direction of the kitchen but puts it away before Seungkwan can catch it. You giggle and you can feel Joshua smiling at the younger two.

"A month is a long time." You say once your giggles are finished, "I feel so gross there."

"All the more reason you should stay here." Joshua exclaims.

You nudge up the shoulder on which Joshua's head lays, "You have to get up at the butt crack up dawn and I do not want to be woken up by another airhorn incident."

"THAT WAS JEONGHAN HYUNG'S FAULT, NOT MINE!" Mingyu protests loudly.

Jeonghan's evil laugh is heard soon after, "That was the most beautiful prank I have ever pulled." He walks in and sets the drinks on the coffee table.

"You woke everyone in the house." Woozi says blankly while flipping through the Marvel movies to find the one we wanted to watch, 'Thor: Ragnarok.'

"And it was totally worth it." Jeonghan gives Woozi snapped finger guns but Woozi doesn't turn around.

"Alright, snacks are all here." Hoshi says happily as he and Dokyeom set the rest of the snacks on the table: bowls of popcorn, chocolate candy, fruity candy, pretzels, some fruit (probably Mingyu's doing), and a pack of chocolate chip cookies.

"And so are the drinks." Seungkwan adds as he and Seungcheol walk up behind the snack couple. Cans of Sprites, Cokes, beers, and juices all stand tall on the table.

"Everyone settle in." You announce as Woozi finds the right movie, "Let's watch Chris Hemsworth kick some ass."

"Language." Seungcheol warns making your mouth drop open.

"Seungkwan swore before!" You counter, pointing a finger at the male sitting next to your legs.

"Well, in that case." Seungcheol says then leans over and gives Seungkwan a small smack to the head.

"Ow." Seungkwan angrily looks at his leader while rubbing the spot where he was hit.

Seungcheol opens his mouth to say some comment but Hoshi shushes him.

"Shhh, the movie is starting." He emphasizes every other word and stresses each gesture towards the TV screen.

"Yo, Joshua, can you turn off the lights?" Jeonghan asks, pointing up towards the ceiling lights.

Joshua sighs but turns the lights off before returning to his position wrapped around you. You munch on some snacks and sip on your can of Sprite (because if you drank the alcohol, you wouldn't be going home and the Coke's caffeine would keep you up all night but you wanted something carbonated), as the movie rolls. Joshua steals many pieces and many sips from you, sometimes directly out of your hand, but you let him because he lets you steal his food just as much, if not more.

"Man, I love this movie." Hoshi, who sits next to you whispers excitedly.

"Me too." You whisper back as the intro scenes fade away to the actual movie.

"Tessa Thomson is amazing in it." Hoshi continues to whisper to you.

"I think Chris Hemsworth is better. Hotter." You banter back.

"I'm right here." Joshua says, taking another piece of popcorn from the bowl that sits in your lap.

"Never said I would date him." You correct him.

"Shush." Seungcheol playfully throws Hoshi's previous sentence at us. "The movie is playing."

"Sorry." You and Hoshi whisper back to him.

The movie plays right along while you and the other members laugh during the good parts. Joshua restlessly changes positions from side hugging you to just sitting next to you, holding your hand to leaning slightly away but tangling his legs in yours to slinging an arm around your shoulders. It's like the man is sitting on the world's most uncomfortable sofa. It gets to the point where Vernon, who is sitting near his legs, notices.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, hyung?" Vernon asks, looking behind him as Joshua intertwines his arm and hand with yours.

Joshua shakes his head, "You're good."

"Okay." Vernon takes Joshua's answer and turns back around.

Around halfway through the movie, you found your eyes drooping low. So you shake your head to get rid of the sleep wind and refocus on the movie.

But...

"You know, sometimes I feel like Korg." Hoshi whispers softly, "You know with the- oh." He turns to you only to see your head leaning on Joshua's shoulder with your eyes closed and mouth half opened.

Hoshi quietly reaches over and taps Joshua's leg.

Joshua looks over and raises his eyebrows, silently asking, 'What?'

Hoshi points down to your sleeping figure, "She's asleep." He mouths.

Glancing down, Joshua leans his head forward ever so slightly to check for himself. As he looks over your sleeping features, he can't but smile at how adorable you look. Your eyes are closed and your cheek is smooshed up against his shoulder causing your mouth to fall open slightly. With a happy smile, he turns his attention back towards the screen and stays absolutely still.

Not wanting to wake you, he doesn't move a muscle.

Joshua stays so still, in fact, that Vernon AND Seungkwan begin to wonder if HE has fallen asleep. But when they look back they realize that it's you who has fallen asleep.

"Hyung, take her to the room, we'll pause it for you." Seungkwan quietly suggests.

Joshua shakes his head, "No need to pause. I'll just take her." He gently moves you so you’re cradled against his chest before standing on his feet.

Vernon moves aside to let Joshua past and he crosses the living room.

"Didn't she say she couldn't stay over?" Woozi watches Joshua carry you.

Mingyu shrugs, "I feel like she always says that but ends up sleeping over anyway."

Joshua reaches his room and somehow, don't ask him how, got you under the covers without having you stir even the tiniest bit. He tucks you in and moves a few hairs out of your face. The warm night light brightens up your face with a warm glow and Joshua can’t help but run his fingers along your cheek. Over the smooth skin and tiny pimple bumps that are probably from the massive amount of sugar you two ate a few days ago. 

"So much for not sleeping over tonight." Joshua whispers amusedly to himself. He kisses your forehead sweetly before making sure you're all tucked in. After closing his door as quietly as possible, he makes his way back to the living room where the others are still watching the movie.

"Jeonghan," Joshua says, reclaiming his seat as Seungkwan has claimed your previous spot. "Don't you dare play another prank tomorrow morning or (y/n) legit might kill you."

Jeonghan shrugs, "Her fault for falling asleep here."

"Then I will kill you." Joshua banters back.

"Fine, fine, I won't." Jeonghan raises his hands in defeat, "Though I can't be responsible for noises that the others make." He smiles wickedly.

"HEY!" The other members protest at his prank agenda.

"I'm just sayin', sometimes y'all are fucking loud in the morning." Jeonghan spits back.

Seungcheol smacks Jeonghan's shoulder, "Hey, language."

"Hey, back." Jeonghan smacks Seungcheol back.

"Hey, Tessa Thomson!" Hoshi points at the screen happily as her character rides in on her winged horse.

Joshua chuckles at Hoshi's unusual yet surprisingly successful attempt to reroute attention back to the movie.

When the movie is finished, and Hoshi has completed his whisper-scream shpeel about how great the movie is, Joshua shuffles back to his room, ready to curl up beside you.

He pulls back the covers and does his best not to wake you as he slides in next to you. But he kind of fails.

"What time is it?" You ask with your eyes still closed.

"Late." He answers vaguely, lowering himself completely into bed.

"I shouldn't stay, I gotta clean tomorrow." Your voice protests but your arms reach for Joshua's warmth.

"It's too late. You can still clean tomorrow." Joshua reassures you, "Just sleep."

"I swear to god, if Yoon Jeonghan pulls anything." You muttered angrily yet pouty.

"He won't." Joshua holds back a chuckle, "I have him on pain of death."

"Good cause I..." You trail off with mumbled jargon and Joshua can't hold his chuckle in anymore.

Joshua snuggles close to you and plants a soft kiss on the tip of you nose.

"Night, (y/n)."

*Morning*

Dokyeom blindly makes his way into the bathroom. He brushes his teeth, washes his face, and reaches for his lotion. As he presses the top, the cold, moisturizing lotion never reaches his hand.

Instead, he's scared shitless by the extremely loud blare of an airhorn. His high pitched shriek mixes with the air horn for a second before he drops the air horn, silencing it. He screams for a few more seconds before realizing what had happened with eyes as wide as a dinner plate and fully alert.

Then, from the house, the neighbors can hear 13 angry and/or annoyed voices scream, "YOON JEONGHAN!"

[malfoys-demigod]

Teamed Up - Leo Valdez x Reader

Summary: You and Leo have been trying to individually prank the camp so one of you could be named best prankster of Camp Half-Blood until the both of you unexpectantly team up.

A/N: 

THURSDAY

As cabin inspection came, everyone tried their best to make things quick as possible. Both you and Leo were standing still in your respective cabins, waiting for inspections in their cabin to be finished, and also for your respective pranks to happen. 

You both unaware that you both had pranks planned on the same day, so the two of you were too happy, thinking today was YOUR day. 

Leo was planning on pranking the inspectors while you were planning on pranking the Hypnos cabin. 

You were waiting behind the bush as Annabeth, one of the inspectors, was knocking on the door of the Hypnos cabin.”Guys, it’s cabin inspection day. Open up.” She patiently waited but decided to open the door. As she did, the airhorn you installed in the back of the door blasted loudly for the Hypnos campers to wake up from their slumbers. 

This made them scream and run out of the cabin. What you didn’t expect was for them to step on a net that would wrap them up, shooting them high up to the trees. You stood up in confusion, ‘I didn’t plan that!’ you thought. 

Just right then, Leo popped out with a disappointed face and looking up at the trapped Hypnos children who were still screaming, but this time for help. “I swear, my target wasn’t on you guys!” So you jumped from your bush and pushed him, “Because they were MY target, Valdez! You completely ruined my prank!” 

Leo was enraged after you pushed him, “YOU RUINED MINE TOO! None of the inspectors were caught!” 

Before you could say something back, Annabeth stopped you both, holding the two of you from each other. “ENOUGH! We all had enough of both your individual pranks. You are BOTH single handedly suspended from pranking. Now help the kids of Hypnos out.” 

Neither you or Leo looked at each other in the eye or said a word after this. Both of you were sad because pranking was the only way the two of you could interact with each other. Without pranking, you couldn’t talk with each other. 

You were sitting on a rock, watching the water flow by the lake until you were interrupted by Leo who sat beside you. “Y/N.” he greeted. You looked at him with a small yet sad smile. “Leo.” 

After a few minutes of silence, it was broken when Leo stood up, “I think neither one of us can obtain the title of best pranker.”

“Clearly.” you rolled your eyes.

“No, I mean what if we both take the title.” he said which made you raise an eyebrow. 

“Think about this, Y/N, you and I should team up and prank the whole camp.” he jumped in excitement.

“Is this for real, or is this another small prank?” you cross your arms. 

“For real, I’m serious. You and me, tomorrow night.”

“If there was no context here, what you just said right now would sound like you’re asking me out.” you chuckled, trying not to blush.

“I could, maybe after our prank goes well?” he steps closer with a smirk.

“Ha, ha, ha. Let’s prank some half-bloods.” 

FRIDAY

It was a Friday night, meaning it was movie night. With Jason Grace visiting Half-blood today, the Aphrodite cabin invited everyone to watch Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1. 

The night was going all so well, especially for the Aphrodite cabin who were all crying tears of joy as they watched Bella get married to Edward. They were all Team Edward. 

You and Leo were sitting together on the grass as you both shared thoughts and jokes about the movie. Leo couldn’t stop laughing, “Not gonna lie but Bella looks like a zombie. What a killer baby she has inside of her.” You slapped him in the back, “COULD YOU AT LEAST TAKE YOUR TONE DOWN A NOTCH?” you whisper shout and laugh. 

Percy and Annabeth who were at the back exchanged looks, “Why are they suddnely friendly?” 

As the movie ended, Leo stood up and offered a hand for you to take and stand up. You were both standing close to each other until suddenly Percy jumps right in, “So, I see a friendship between you two, huh? How did that happen?” 

Both of you shrugged, trying to hide the fact that you were waiting for your prank to happen. Annabeth realized this as if she could read your mind and widened her eyes. “Oh my gods. What did you two do?”

Before either of you could speak, there were angry screams in the Aphrodite which attracted all the other campers. “Here it goes.” you nudge Leo in the sides. 

As all of you got closer, Piper bursted out from the room and screamed, “WHO DID THIS?!?!?!?” 

Everybody started laughing when they saw the insides of the Aphrodite cabin covered with “Team Jacob” papers wrapped everywhere. 

Annabeth turned to both of you, “Really? After what I just told you yesterday?”

Leo wrapped an arm around your shoulder causing you to blush, “It was a team effort, it’s different.”

Annabeth scoffed and jogged inside to help unwrap the mess. Percy looked at you guys and patted the both of you in the backs, “You guys are Team Jacob, eh?” and jogged inside. 

Leo looked at you and said, “Are you Team Jacob?”

You playfully shook your head, “Mmmm no, but you know whos’ hot?” 

“Who?” Leo said, waiting for you to say him. 

“Jasper Cullen. He’s definetely hotter.” you smirked which made Leo frown. “Don’t worry, Leo. I’d still pick you over him. You’re literally hot.” you kissed him in the cheek. 

“Team Leo, huh.”

[a-crash-in-time-collection]

Chapter 1: The Crash

She was floating in space. Only it didn't seem like normal space, which she knew all about. It seemed to shine with different colors. She couldn't move much, it was almost as if she was forced into her current position. Voices of old filled her head. Voices she wanted to remember. Voices she never wants to forget. But at the same time, the voices brought back memories of a different time. A different time...

"Us kids should stick together, not stalk one another. I mean, Mafia Town can be a really dangerous place" "If you want it, we'll have to settle it in true Mafia style!" "You Moon Penguins are just gonna write some loud, noisy drivel!" "This last time piece is all for me, darling." "Your contract has expired, sleep now in the fire!" "And do it quickly pup."

Her face formed a smile, before tears started to fall. Wait... why was she...

"Don't leave us!" "Hey kiddo, let's make another contract!" "Don't you dare leave, lass!" "Let's watch our movie, darling!"

That's why... she couldn't have just stayed. She at least needed to try and get home. And her kind weren't keen on creatures from other planets... who knows what would have happened to them? But with the end result, did it even matter-

A large ringing brought her out of the space-like place, finding herself sitting on the soft surface of her bed. Glancing around as she stopped the ringing of the clock, everything was in place. Her relics on their podiums, toys she made based on her time on that planet on the shelves in her room. Most of her badges she bought from the strange badge guy on a pin board beside her bed. Her umbrella was next to her dresser with the mirror.

A glance out the nearby window showed the mostly green and blue planet. It reminded her a lot of the planet that she could now only visit in her dreams. Unlike that planet, there was little if any magic. Talking animal creatures were only heard of in movies. Ghosts were just tall tales. So similar, yet different at the same time...

She got up, yawning as she stretched and walked over to her closet. Opening it, she grabbed a purple blazer and yellow scarf. She paused, looking at them both slightly. The blazer was taller than she used to be, when she first found herself crashed on the planet...

She remembered checking the vault as she passed by, only one time piece was left. She knew that wouldn't be enough to make it home, and she didn't know if she would pass another planet she could survive on in between them. So she grabbed it, and braced for impact. The ship crashed on 'Earth' in the middle of the night, and looking back on it now, she was lucky no big place caught sight of her. She remembered bleeding, maybe having a broken or fractured bone with the sharp pain coming from the left side of her body. She found herself being too hurt to move on her own right away... it was possible that she would have died...

But then two people entered her vision as she picked herself up. Both wore hats like she did, one of them actually had two. Apparently the two hat man, Reginald, had seen the ship pass in front of his airship while it fell from the sky. The two were naturally confused on why she was there, and concerned if she was alright. She remembered them offering to take her to the airship's medbay, but she was more worried about her relics, which were not the only things she had of her time with her old friends. The one with his orange hair in a ponytail that hung over his shoulder, who called himself 'Right Hand Man', offered to do it for her. However, she took liberty and carried them all herself to the airship. Needless to say, the two were surprised by the child's strength.

She now called these two 'Dad' and 'Papa', and they called her their daughter.

She allowed herself to exit her thoughts as she pulled her brown shoes over her purple socks and pants, standing up and walking over to the door of her room. It was a new day.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up." An energetic voice spoke as soon as she opened the door. She was met with a more-humanoid Topbot, with a face that smiled at her, and silver hair that helped make them seem more like a teenager. He wore a blue and orange jacket, with the faintest hint of a green shirt being seen, and dark dull indigo pants that ended in his metal shoes that were literally his feet.

A few years ago, Hat Girl had found herself more lonely. Her dads, while they made time for her, were often busy at work. Most of the younger kids aboard the airship didn't let her play too often, and the teenagers were often on training missions or just plain avoided her. In an attempt to give her someone to hang out with, Reginald took aside a random Topbot, redesign and reprogrammed it to act as a brother to Hat Girl. He spent so long and hard on it that it felt like part of his soul belong to the machine in the end. Which could possibly explained how Platinum wasn't just following an interactive script, but was fully self aware and alive. He did have a small panic attack at first due to the sudden self awareness, but soon after he was able to cause trouble with Hat Kid.

"You ready for today, brother of mine?" Hat Girl asked, a smile forming on her face.

"Uhh, yeah." He said, a smirk forming on his face as well.

"Good, we can get started on our prank plans after breakfast." She stated, passing him and walking down the hall, humming a slight tune as she glanced out at the seemingly-night sky.

"Aww, come on!" Platinum said, racing next to her quickly, rolling his bright orange eyes. "You always have to eat before we can have fun. I don't see what the big deal is."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Brother." She said, sticking her tongue out playfully. She never fully grew out of her childish phase. "I pity you sometimes, food is great and you're unable to experience it."

"Please. I got my Tanks and Family, that's all I need." Platinum replied, rolling his eyes as the two walked into the cafeteria area, which was currently a bit busy as you would expect from it early in the morning. "I honestly don't see why your body decides you need food. Just seems inconvenient in my option."

Hat Girl shook her head slightly with a chuckle as she walked over to the sideboard, where Burt and Fredrick were talking.

"I'm starting to get concerned over your coffee obsession, Burt." The Cheese wearing Toppat said, arms crossed as he glared at the man in front of him. The man always sounded like his throat was sore, at least to Hat Girl it did. She remembered questioning if he was alright when they first met.

"Coffee is nice, Fredrick." Burt said, the dyed orange part of his black hair covering one of his eyes, as per the usual. He always seemed to act like he had no emotions, and spent most of his days in his office or grabbing himself the drink that was currently the topic of their talk. "The fact that you never tried coffee worries me."

"I'm more of a Hot chocolate person, and besides, the smell alone is enough to turn me off." Fredrick stated, grabbing the lake of floating marshmallows in a cup along with the plate of 'Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Bombs' he liked. "But I know all that coffee isn't healthy for you, I swear you drink more coffee then you eat actual food."

Burt rolled his eyes at the statement, before glancing around the area as he grabbed his coffee and toast. "Fine. I'll eat a little more today." With that, temporarily balancing his plate on his other arm, he grabbed one of the muffin-like items off Fredrick's plate and walked away.

Fredrick was frozen in shock for a few seconds, before huffing and glancing to the side. It was only then he realized the children of the leaders. "Oh, sorry you two, I didn't see you there. Off going to cause some trouble later I assume?"

"Possibly, possibly not." Platinum shrugged as Hat Girl chuckled, before giving her breakfast request to the cook-toppat that came by.

"I'll be taking that as a yes." Fredrick said, shaking his head. "Just uhh, do me a favor and don't go on a spree of spray-painting the inside of the vents, again. Took me and Sammy nearly the whole day to clean it last time."

"Alright, no spray paint in vents..." Platinum said, raising his arms in front of him slightly in defeat. He watched as Frederick left, before turning to his sister. "Want to finally see how many people we can surprise with airhorns tape to their chairs and doors?"

"Oh heck yeah!" Hat Girl said, giving her brother a thumbs up. And the Toppats that heard her shout began to feel a faint feeling of fear among them. They knew then that chaos caused by those two would come later that day.

-------

What they didn't know was on earth, a conversation was happening. About the true chaos.

"You sure this is... safe?" One government person asked another as they glanced at the cannon. Although cannon felt like an understatement. The place where the 'cannonball' would come out of look like it itself was 27 miles long. "For Earth I mean."

"Should be." The other replied, hoping away from the gears they were adjusting. "The material should begin to burn up after it makes contact with the toppat orbital station. The worst we should have to deal with are burning pieces of metal and stuff falling down to earth in the size of normal meteoroids."

"Am I the only one who feels this is a bit... extreme?" The first asked as they hop into the tunnel to the underground control system of the cannon. "I understand they've been a pain to deal with since they got up, but can't we just set up traps for them on earth."

"It's not just about the Toppats alone." The second stated as they followed the first, wanting to be as far away from the cannon before it blew its canon ball. "If other criminal organizations see what the clan has done, they'll likely follow in suit. Soon all crime might be unstoppable because those who caused it are up in space. Is that the world you want to live in?"

"No."

"Then we need to make a statement. And this is the only way. Now let's get to the control room, and get this party started..."

-------

Hat Girl had found herself staring out the cafeteria window as she finished her plate of breakfast, slightly blocking out what Platinum was talking about as he sat in front of her. This was a bit normal for the two, half the time they were inseparable during the day. Especially since the incident where Dad was captured, and Papa had to be turned into a cyborg to live. It was a bit of a struggle for the clan then, and even with Dad back it was a lot of work to make up all the money that had been stolen the night before they were meant to launch their station-

Her train of thought stopped as she faintly spotted something outside the window. She got off her seat and walked over to the window, placing her hand on it faintly as she glanced down at the planet they raided. There was some sort of... gray and slightly green ball thing. At first it was just a speck of dust, but it was getting bigger.. and bigger... it was coming to them, faster and faster.

"Hattie?" Platinum questioned, walking up next to his sister in confusion. "What's going on, you don't just leave a plate of food alone suddenly like that." She was a bit wordless at first, but managed to point to the strange thing. Platinum had to squint his eyes to see it. "That's... just a space rock."

"Coming FROM Earth?" Hat Girl asked, looking at her brother. "As a former space traveler, I have NEVER seen that happen, and I know that's not a normal occurrence for this planet. And not to mention it's perfectly... in the path of.. hitting... Get Dad and Papa and warn them, NOW!"

"Time to act serious for once then." The topbot said, quickly racing away from his sister and the group of toppats.

She glanced at the ball again, seeing it was getting closer and larger with each passing second. She found herself frozen like the poor souls in Vanessa's Manor, or the times she used her ice hat years ago. What was she going to do?

"Dad, Pops!" Platinum called as he reached the Cockpit of the rocket, taking an unneeded breath as he reached the door.

"Platinum?" Reginald asked, turning away from his cyborg husband as he glanced at his Robotic son. "What's going-"

"We need to move, or use Supreme Dominance." Platinum cut him off, with worry in fear shining in his orange eyes. "Now-"

At the very seconds, the 'cannonball' of metal and small bits of trash collided with the orbital station, hitting the middle of the rocket.

Hat Girl fell to her feet as the station twisted and chaos fell around her. Everything outside the window became a blur, as Toppats screamed in panic. She suddenly found her grip from the wall she'd grabbed onto slip, and she was slammed against another wall. Everything went black to her after that.

-------

It took a bit for her mind to process things as she awake, her body aching in places like she had a faint sunburn. She slowly opened her eyes with a groan, scanning the mix of dark and light. She appeared to be where the window of the cafeteria once was. Keyword there being once was because now it was a pile of glass on the grass below her. Some of the glass were close to her arms, and likely was responsible for the small cuts she saw on them. She glanced around as much as she could without getting up.

Chaos was the best word that could describe the current state of the station. Well, other then 'destroyed'. Parts of the orbital station the Toppats called home where broken and scattered across what she could only assume was a forest clearing. The earth was dragged up from a few parts finding themselves lodge into it. She was able to see a few Toppat members getting up or helping others up, while trying to take in what had just happened. Not like she could blame them, she knew exactly what happened, but was still trying to process it herself.

Their home was attacked, and was sent far from earth. Yet, judging by the fact none of them were suffocating, it meant this planet had oxygen or some other air humans could breathe in. Which made sense, they did land in a forest. But that meant they were out of the solar system...

Her train of thought was cut off by a sliver of a blur that entered her field of vision. At first she was a bit spooked out, until her vision adjusted, and she saw the familiar metal hand, only with a few faints scratches. She took the cold hand, although by now she was used to the chill, as Platinum helped her to her feet. "You ok, sis?"

"Y-Yeah." She said, letting go of his hand as she rubbed her arms slightly. She picked up her nearby fallen top hat, and made sure to check the side. She sighed in relief as her hand made badge, one that had the hats of her fathers on it, was still there, and placed that hat back on her head. "Some shards of glass cut me a bit when the window broke."

"Well... considering what just happened, it could have been a lot worse." Platinum looked around. "This is all so unreal..."

"Yeah..." She slowly walked past her brother as she glanced up at the sky, then around at all the greenery around them. Why... was she feeling like she had been here before? Her mind told her it was simply because it looked like earth, but her heart was insisting it was something more.

"Oi. Are ya ok, Reg?" Right Hand Man asked, as he helped the Chief onto his feet, worry in his human and robotic eyes.

"I'm fine. But... the others..." Reginald coughed slightly, before looking around the crash site, as much as he could without moving from his spot anyway.

As the leader of the Toppats, one skill he gained over the years was being somewhat-able to get a rough estimation of how many clan members were in his sight. And after seeing at least 100 Toppats in his vision, he knew others were likely on the other side of the rocket. Assuming at least 88 toppats were on that other side, it meant that a few were still stuck inside, likely injured or, worryingly, dead. Not to mention the children...

"Right Hand Man! Check the rumble for any trapped members!" He ordered, his voice and tone clear that there was no time to waste. He was still not fully used to his lover's cybernetics, watching his legs turn into a booster as he flew into one of the openings near the top. But he loved him all the same. He glanced at a nearby group of Toppats. "See if you can find anything from Medbay, and get it setup for any injured members!" The toppats seemed to be slightly surprised by his tone, but they quickly got to work, scanning the nearby areas.

"Sir." A voice appeared behind him. He turned around to see a man in a black jacket with his white shirt visible. "I know you likely don't want anyone else going into the wreckage, but-"

"Yes Quincy, go find the kids. Just be careful." Reginald answered, the fellow father wasting no time to do so in response, likely worried for his own daughter. The kids were in a pod similar to the leader's pod, it was one of the first things Reginald planned out when he made the blueprints. They would spend most of their days in there, it was the safest for them, especially if the place was to below up, they would already be in a pod and on their way to earth.

Hat Girl found herself walking near the nearby Woodline. That's when she noticed the traces of purple deeper down, and found herself frozen in realization.

Reginald noticed his daughter near the Woodline, and walked up to her. "Are you alright, Hattie?"

"I recognized this place." She said, looking at him. "I been here before."

Reginald's brown and blue eyes showed sudden confusion, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. "You... what?"

"This was the planet I was on before I crashed onto earth." She responded. She then pointed out where the green of life and calmness turned into the creepy purple and black of dread and the unknown to all but her. "That ghost who's song Papa sings lives there."

"Really, the one with that Mafia, one of which went into space to try and get a toll from you?" Reginald question. He never thought his daughter was lying about the planet, but he figured he never find himself on said planet so he mostly just consider it stories.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed, childlike joy in her voice. She never really outgrew her childish side.

"Well... I suppose that means there's a town nearby, at least We should be able to get resources there." Reginald sighed, turning over his shoulder as Right Hand Man landed behind him. A look over the cyborg's shoulder showed some toppats in a little medbay-like area, some medically skilled Toppats using their skills to help the more injured Toppats, the 3rd in command Sven among them. He looked back at his partner in crime. "Was that everyone... alive in the rumble."

"Got everyone t'at was in t'e rubble." Right Hand Man stated. "Surprisingly, everyone lived."

Reginald was a bit surprised at this, but a smile formed on his face. "That's very relieving."

"So... what's the plan Dad?" Platinum asked, glancing at the Toppat leader slightly. "We can't just stay here with no place to rest, or prepare food." He paused for a second. "Well, you guys can't, at least."

Reginald brought his hand to his chin in thought, before dropping it and walking up a nearby rock. He cleared his throat, before calling out. "Can I have everyone's attention!?"

The clan members stopped whatever they were doing, except the few tending to the hurt Toppats, but he knew they were listening as well.

He took a breath before speaking. "As your Leader, I would be lying to you all if I were to claim I knew how to fix this, or the exact steps we should take next. We are the first of our kind to find ourselves stranded on a planet that can maintain life. But we cannot let this disturb us. It may be a long while, but I promise you, we will find our way home. But for now, survival is our goal, to watch after one-another, as clan and family." He paused briefly as he glanced at them all, lost souls unsure of what to do, before resuming. "Those of you who are well enough, see if you can move the walls detached from the station in order to make a temporary form of shelter. We do not know when a storm will come by, if this planet has storms at all. Look for supplies that fallen outside of the ship, only go in to retrieve items that are necessary for our survival. Go along the Woodline and look for wood for a fire. And trust in one another." With that, he backed up from his position on the rock.

Platinum watched as the clan members took a few seconds to process the orders, and the fact they were on another planet, before most started to look around. He spotted Burt and Fredrick walking up to a broken piece of wall, and seemed to start debating where the best place would go to serve as shelter. He saw Calla Fox, the one who stole the Ruby alongside Sven, slowly walk away from the Swedish man to help others look for supplies. He found himself glancing to where the purple part of the woods were hidden, his curiosity growing.

Reginald began to walk over to the wreckage that a few hours ago was the base of operations for the Toppat clan. "Hopefully we stolen enough we can sell in order to pay for what we need to fix the station..." He placed his head in his hands. "It's going to be so expensive..." He let out a muffle shout, not wishing to distract his clan members.

"Still t'ink ya s'ould 'ave let me 'unt after t'at pink-'aired government-kissin' t'ief." Right Hand Man grumbled, glancing at him. "Especially since we lost two members t'anks ta 'im."

Hat Girl watched her dads walked closer to the broken station, and went to follow them to help, before feeling a chilly hand grabbed her hand. "You said one of your friends lived in the creepy woods, right?"

She turned to look behind her, taking a second to glance at where the woods were before returning to her brother. "Yeah."

"And the creepy woods is in the direction of that purple stuff, riiiight?" Platinum voice showed intent, and seems to show he already knew the answer.

"Yea, The forest is kinda pretty in it's own way though, if memory serves me right-" She suddenly looked at him, processing the grin that appeared on his face. In response, she gave her own smart smirk. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We sneak away from the clan while they take care of the crash rocket mess and chill with your old pals?"

"YES!" She said, high fiving her brother as she bounced in the air slightly. "I been wanting to see them all again, but never thought I actually could until now! I just... hope they aren't still mad at me for sweeping them off of my spaceship."

"Come on, with your cute face as a child, and you still a bit childish face now?" Platinum asked, warping an arm around her shoulder. "They'll forgive you in a heartbeat."

She nodded, a smile on her face as removed her brother's arm around her shoulder. "Catch me if you can then, brother." She said, sticking out her tongue with a 'bleeh" and raced into the woods. She heard a shout from her brother, something about 'cheating' by 'not telling him' and heard his metal feet click ageist the ground to catch up to her. She let out a giggle before shouting once they were a safe distance away from the clan. "Snatcher, here we come!"

[dem-cp-hoes]

Im here to be a Gremlin in ask for more little sister proxy stuff. Its very cute and heart warming and I need some more of that. Unless asks and closed then ignore this.

Sister!reader gives me the big uwu's 🥰🥰

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

Because she also looks human, she usually helps with the shopping

I mean she tries to, thus...

Chaos Ensues

Masky turns his head for literally 0.1 seconds and when he looks again,

Toby is already cartwheeling Y/n along the aisle

Hoodie is recording, Masky is having an aneurysm

I know I've said this before, but they spoil her like crazy

She tries to refuse them, she really does, but even she can't deny how nice it is when she picks the movie and gets the last of the cereal

As stated in a previous post as well, Ben and Y/n are prank buddies

Some of the pranks are:

Installing an airhorn as a door wall protector behind Jeff's bathroom door

When he got his hearing again, he chased them around the house for 1 hour

They put post-it notes on Hoodie's car, both inside and out

They thought it looked fabulous, Hoodie didn't

He shot Ben, but didn't have it in him to stay angry at Y/n

Printed thousands of photos of Jeff's face and put them all over Jane's room

This one was Ben's idea, and Y/n felt a bit bad tbh, but she couldn't deny that her scream and sounds of tearing paper were a little funny

They covered Jack's bedroom and lab floors with water filled cups

Jack refused to believe Y/n had anything to do with it (she's too pure!)

God forbid, they see her shiver from the cold because she wasn't dressed warm enough

" Jesus Y/n, I told you to wear something warmer" said Masky as he took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders

"We can't have you catching a cold, little one" Liu continued and placed his scarf around her neck

By the time they finish dressing her up, the only things visible of her small form are her legs, eyes and top of her head

She feels like a burrito

Y/n and Sally make flower crowns for everyone and each other

They wear them around the house

Also the following definitely went down

Y/n: Here, I made this for you😊

Jeff: What the fuck do you take me for, a Disney princess?!

Y/n: You don't have to wear it😞🥺😥

Jeff:...no, I'm gonna wear it forever, back off!

It just occurred to me that I haven't talked about her relationship with Helen

He teaches her how to paint!

Also, he definitely hangs her paintings around his studio

He looks like a proud parent as he shows them off

Wholesome Family Vibes🥰😍

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Moriarty 8 - 11 (FINAL) | HypMic 12 - 13 (FINAL) | Taiso Samurai 7 - 9 | Akudama 9 - 12 (FINAL)

Hopefully I’ll be able to get on to all that backlog soon, because...I don’t want it to keep accumulating and Skate-Leading Stars (first winter 2021 anime) already has an advance 1st ep. up...

Moriarty 8

(Moriarty 8 notes deleted accidentally…)

Moriarty 9

If you want a modern equivalent to the Baker Street Irregulars, then I’d suggest you look this way *jabs finger at Odd Jobs Yamada (from HypMic)*.

These CGI background horse and carriages are…kind of distracting…

I’m guessing back in those days, the Irregulars were better than Google at finding info…because Google didn’t exist until the internet did.

Moriarty 10

Just this ep and one more until the end…at least, until spring 2021.

Wow, the use of colour here is really striking!

White lilies mean…purity/chastity…?

I’ve never heard of “bending someone’s ear” until now. It means to talk to someone, especially to ask a favour or to talk at length.

Probatio diabolica: the devil’s proof. I didn’t even know that was a concept until now…(I never once studied law, as you can tell.)

“William” isn’t normally shortened to “Liam”…It’s normally “Will”…also, notice all the footprints on the floor…

Moriarty 11 (FINAL)

Last ep. before spring 2021.

LOL, kabedon.

The fishy thing about Brits is that they’ve named things across the world names from Britain. I know there’s a Doncaster which isn’t anywhere near Britain, for one thing…

Observe the weird finger-like marking made by one of the bloodstains and the scratches on the suitcase. The latter was probably forced open.

Considering the number of signs the killer left, he was clearly in a hurry…

Well, based on that shoeprint we can find the killer if we can find traces of blood on his shoe.

“Duram” (sic).

Ah! If it was raining in Durham, then there would be traces of mud on the killer’s shoes. I remember early on in Detective Conan Shinichi, then newly shrunk, deduced Agasa was running in the rain based on the mud on his pants…this is similar.

Chloral (hydrate…?).

The “washroom” (apparently a Canadian term, the British term is “water closet”) has privacy and a place to get rid of the evidence, to some extent.

What about the rest of Eddie’s clothes?

Considering there are still 5 minutes of the ep. left…there’s going to be some kind of stinger for the next season. I can feel it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait…Director Holmes??? Y’mean, Mycroft?! That is a good stinger! See you next time.

HypMic 12

“Ever since I was born, there was never a time I’d felt I’d accomplished something.” – Aw, Doppo, sweetpea (<- this blogger calls people “sweetpea” when they’re feeling lots of moe feels for them). Please don’t say that. You’ve accomplished more than enough in your life!

…Oh, almost didn’t notice it until Hifumi hid behind Doppo and the angle changed to confirm the jacket was on the bed, but Hifumi doesn’t have his jacket on.

I think I saw a tweet that said something about a wall being wrecked (specifically “Wall: Ow…”) but I wasn’t sure of the context, so I saved it in my bookmarks…LOL, so that’s what it means?

Samatoki, I know you don’t like Ichiro…but please stop trying to preach what his 2nd character song says in the title…(i.e. Break the Wall, LOL)

Jyuto’s very much a “I’ll leave this problem to the other guy” guy.

When the Funi subs say “dame”, I think Samatoki is just referring to an “onna” (woman). It’s a bit of an odd choice, really…although I can’t go and interrogate whoever was responsible for it. I don’t have the authority or the contacts that will allow me to.

This is not the time for fighting one another!!!

Notably, in the manga, Jakurai was going to chaffeur Hifumi and Doppo to their place, but then he had to go to work and so they rode the train with their prize money. This “run from Special Forces” ending is better, I think, since people got grumpy at Jakurai for having to abandon them with the money.

“…permission to cover a story.” - Permission from…who?

*screams* I was thinking Tom, Rex and Iris worked for a foreign government! They work for Ichijiku – why didn’t I think of that?!

LOL, I couldn’t even tell what Tom was saying until I played it back…it’s English, just…said in a spot where you don’t expect it.

“…that scares me.” – This may be nitpicky of me, but osoreru is actually a derivative of osore (fear), so “it strikes fear in me”…? “It strikes fear in my heart”? What would sound right…?

Go, host mode Hifumi! (...but does that imply host mode Hifumi is the only “version” of Hifumi able to rap? Certainly, he was able to do Wrap and Rap without his jacket, right…?)

You can tell Tom still respects Jakurai after all this time because he (the former) calls him (the latter) “Sensei”. Also, this’ll be interesting, we haven’t seen many mics and speakers beyond the standard bad guy ones (depicted in both the anime and the manga).

My gosh! All I knew of this song was that m-flo, also responsible for Human Lost’s theme song (and notably they’re a hip hop group with techno influences), was responsible for this song. Man, this s*** slaps! It’s great! (Sorry, I’ve just never really had the chance to capitalise on all the info I gathered on EDM DJs when talking in terms of things from Japan…m-flo is basically the only act I know which does that, so I’m really excited…can’t you tell from how verbose I’m getting in this note?)

That’s interesting that Matenrou won and Tom still took the gold chair symbolism to represent him and the Secret Aliens as the victor instead.

Iris’s parts are awesome. M-flo has a female vocalist and so I’d assume Iris takes on Lisa’s (m-flo’s vocalist’s) parts.

…Hmm, Gentaro’s made a reference to the track “Me Against the World”, has he?...Maybe.

I’m not quite sure, but I think Ramuda said “majo” (witch) when he was referring to Beauty and the Beast in the English subs.

…gosh, what is up with that airhorn…? Still, next time is the last time. See you on Christmas…no, Boxing Day.

HypMic 13 (FINAL)

This is the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning…y’know, considering how stuff trended on Twitter, I’d say this anime’s gonna get a 2nd season, but you can’t really say that until it actually happens. I mean, Boueibu is much less popular than HypMic and that got a 2nd season…

This is the 1st episode where I woke up early enough to watch without spoilers and had no obligations to place over it, so…this is exciting, in its own sense, but in a sense, it could also be called “profoundly disappointing” because this experience is only available to me as of the final episode.

One of the tweets I saw a few weeks back came to mind – someone became interested in sakuga houkai (terrible animation, literally “animation collapse”) because of HypMic…I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing…

…Dude, you probably shouldn’t answer a call from someone who just revealed themselves to be a traitor last episode…*sweatdrops*

(Spoiler for rest of franchise) Hmm…Dice’s face is pretty straight. Assuming at this point we knew Dice was Otome’s son, this is a good poker face from him…!

This thing about gangs was mentioned in their profiles (although the words used implies they “went delinquent”), so it actually doesn’t surprise me.

I wonder if this subway exists in the mainline story…?

According to the next ep. preview I saw on Twitter, TDD will reform to take down the Secret Aliens. I’m not sure if that was a guess or whether that’s true, so I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on it.

Samatoki-san, not -sama. Hmm…

There was definitely the word “team” in Dice’s line, so it’s “what the legendary team was made of”.

…oh gosh…they’re still using that airhorn…?

Again with the play on “lonely thunder”. It’s a really fun pun, but one I’d like to see in the rest of the series more.

Notably, Iris’s rap in English missed the word “charisma” where it could have fit (unless I missed reading it the first time).

Note Samatoki does actually use the word “shinsensa” (freshness), so there’s no lie there.

I still love how much they went in on Rex’s theme, even in his raps.

Huh, that’s new. Never seen a tag team like this before.

It seems Tom’s signature is using a lot of English, which makes it easy for us English/Japanese pair translators.

Saburo didn’t actually say “Ichi-nii”, did he…?

…based on the rock intro, this is Rhyme Anima, the OP, or something that sounds similar. What I’d need to confirm this is the “nautilus” line and the “ends corruption” line, which are the OP’s two biggest tells for AMQ.

“rainmaking” – Hmm, another link from Gentaro to Rei. This might be a different part of Rhyme Anima (OP) that wasn’t used as the OP proper.

“this white light invites and heals” (<- paraphrased) – Sounds like Sensei, alright!

…now that (rainbow bit). That’s sakuga!

*a silhouette appears* - Oh nooooooooooooooo! Now they‘ve done it! They’ve included Rei! That’s more than enough spoilers to last a lifetime for y’all anime-onlys!

I wish someone would work on this collaboration between Saburo and Riou…

Hmm…what is the series endgame? Putting in Dice as the new ruler??? I mean, Dice is the worst possible politician ever. He’s far too lax about things.

*Nemu enters* - No! Nemu!

Not only is Iris a “ramen shop owner”, it’s Tom’s favourite food…No wonder ramen has significance to her.

…ooh! A new song! Update: I don’t know what this song’s name is, although it probably will become clear what its name is on the 13th. I’ll keep my eye on Twitter in case the answer is there.

…I knew it was far too early to say if there was an s2 – the DVD’s live events go until September 5th and the 2nd DRB finishes in March. That almost felt like a stinger right there. Oh well, I’m more than happy to call this anime a success, even if I would call it the worst of the arms of the franchise. All HypMic’s anime had to do was deliver fun, before anything else, and it delivered on that front. See you around!

Taiso Samurai 7

Anime burnout means I’m coming back to the anime after the day it finishes.

This dancing scene is kind of like the one at the start of ep. 2 of IWGP, except it has the owl to represent the setting as well as the dance stage.

Leo doesn’t seem to know kanji or katakana, only hiragana.

Even though this part of the anime is set in London, the characters are still speaking Japanese (lel…?).

LOL, Edward Scissorhands much?

LOL, these background gossips are like the Plastics from Mean Girls…haha.

…LOL, that’s not one of those dismounting moves, is it? It’s just kind of…jumping off the bar.

Lookit how Leo’s sticker is 90 deg. sideways from what it should be, haha.

I don’t think it’s true that Olympic gymnasts have never failed. Like other people at the top of their game, they’re probably failed millions of times, but only outside the view of most of the world. Persistence and passion are what’s key to becoming the best at what you are, no matter what field you’re in.

Now Aragaki’s what I call a “determinator” (see TV Tropes on what that is).

Taiso Samurai 8

Notably, the word used for “clothes” is specifically for Western clothing, like dresses.

Well, now we know why Leo can do those stretches…

They’ve clearly sped up the dance here, but…it’s basically the same sort of movements Yuri on Ice used to suck me in. I’m here for it!

Leo seems to be the type who tries to push away his worries by distracting people (including himself) with other things…I see. I didn’t have much of a grasp of his character beforehand.

Britney! F*** you, Britney!

Ah, that must be the (a?) fabled owl of Ikebukuro. I’ve never actually been to Ikebukuro…the closest I got was Akihabara (to memory) and even then, that was for electronics, not anime…so I’ve never seen the owl statue I’ve been talking about close up.

Rei does kind of look like her mother like this.

Ah! Rei and Kitty have a pair look now! “Twinsies”, they call it.

Amakusa’s head is located right next to Leo’s butt, so I end up staring at it…LOL.

The Hoover mission.

“I <3 Ninja”, LOL.

LOL, “Nyapoo!”

*sighs* The problem with being multi-talented is that you’re going to be told to one day put one passion above the others, even if you don’t want that.

LOL, you can be a ninja with this WikiHow article. (I was looking for Kitty’s quote, but found that instead. It seems to be a quote from one of Tomoyo’s movies.) Update: I was right.

There’s a movie in the back where the title is “Black Rainmaker”. (Tomoyo, I presume) Mifune is the 1st person credited.

Considering this is 2003…you won’t be on Mars in 2013, Kitty.

Wow, a tape! That brings me back to 2003, indeed.

Charlie’s Angels…so that’s what the tape was.

LOL, a shoebill.

“blade in your heart” – That would refer to the character for “ninja”, which has a blade over a heart. Y’know Kiss Shot Acerola Heart-Under-Blade (from Monogatari), yeah? Like that.

…you might think emails were out of place in 2003, but a virus from an email caused me to be an avid reader and that virus was unleashed around the late 90s – early 2000s.

LOL, Kitty’s cat belt buckle.

You said it, Rei. You said it.

Taiso Samurai 9

Lausanne, Switzerland.

I noticed one of the boxes at the start of the OP says “Horizontal Bars”, rather than some random name to make the boxes look like they were discarded.

Someone encoded the video funny…

LOL, BB’s getting possessive of his territory.

Fuku-chan the fukurou (owl) in Ikebukuro…LOL.

LOL, randomly there’s a skeleton with a hat in the background of Britney’s clinic.

Notably, one of the wall hangings says “heart” on it – alternatively, “soul”.

Notably, Atlanta was the 1996 Summer Olympics…there is no 1997 Lausanne Olympics, as far as I know.

Akudama 9

I watched the part where it glitches twice and I can’t quite figure out what that circular symbol is…maybe it’s Hacker’s symbol…?

Ah! Only now they properly confirm Swindler used to work in the Seal centre.

“Life that never dies is defective.” – Doctor

Does that mean Doctor is actually older than she looks, due to plastic surgery…?

Marker? What marker?

Apparently that flower is a cherry blossom…according to Detective Conan.

…I know this anime wasn’t made in America (it wouldn’t be “anime” otherwise), but Anime Feminist is going to have a field day with this one…if they haven’t abandoned it already due to their idea of morals.

…now I can even see parallels between HypMic’s authorities and Akudama’s. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

“Why did this have to happen when I’m chief?” – Sounds like…basically every authority during COVID and BLM, to be honest.

See? Akudama likes the S word. I told you.

I haven’t watched The Shining, but reading the synopsis, you can figure out why Cutthroat is the way he is…sort of.

How does the iconic quote go? “Heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Danny!” (or something…?)

They even copied the iconic eye shot! There you go!

Way to take a guy out (with the door, LOL).

…with all this killing, I can see why Akudama Drive was only in one magazine now. (Then again, HypMic was in basically all of them and that also has a tonne of problems…)

Akudama 10

万死 literally means “10000 deaths”.

Babel.

That police chief is such a mood, LOL.

I can see why people didn’t recognise Swindler, but Courier never changes his look, so…uh…

You can’t become a police chief without a sense of justice, no?

“Since when did you know that I’m not-“ - *facepalms*

Is this what they call an “ass-kickin’ Christmas”? (LOL)

Y’know, Sister, you could just do the whole “wherever you are, I’m also seeing the same sky as you” thing some other anime do.

Notably, there are shide (the paper strips) and a rope over the vault…they really do treat the shinkansen and its immortal children as a single god, huh?

Hmm? They don’t care about Sister anymore? Just Brother? (Somewhere along the way, the priorities must have shifted.)

In the end, the best ship is Brawler and Hoodlum (lel).

Akudama 11

One more ep after this. I’m gonna miss this anime, even if it was crazy over-the-top and I didn’t finish it until after the day it ended.

I think the scariest scene in all of Akudama Drive is the one where the “cleaner” tosses the girl aside.

“This nowhere place!” – Around this time, the bunny and shark’s shirts say “morning”/”afternoon” (shark) and “evening” (bunny).

The blue bird of happiness…literally. That character on the birds is the one for “happy”.

…LOL, that one glitched Courier looks more like Cutthroat.

Hacker’s drone matches Courier’s head angles, LOL.

I guess if you think you’re falling in Kanto, you’re falling in Kanto and if you think you’re floating (like Courier did), you float. I always liked that concept.

War Games. Now the title makes sense!

…but they can be together if they stay here in Kanto as vessels for the citizens? (That sounds mighty antagonistic of me, but…that logic does compute.)

Maybe swindlers play games with the truth…? (What an interesting concept.)

“Just fine.” – I think Hacker needs a “This is fine” meme.

“We can hear your heart talking.” – It means something like “We can hear you spouting your true intentions.”

“…worth every last penny…” – That’s a weird thing to say for someone whose life got changed by 500 yen…Just goes to tell you how American the subbers can be sometimes.

Swindler’s smug face is so good, LOL.

Akudama 12 (FINAL)

This episode isn’t named after a movie. It’s named after the anime itself.

The TV says “Please watch away from the TV”, i.e. stand back from the TV while you watch.

“They came and stole the offerings…” – At this point, bunny’s shirt says “freedom” and shark’s says honpou, meaning “wild, uninhibited, rampant, extravagant”.

…where did Shikoku come from? Is that where Swindler and Sister landed after they tried going to the moon?

Ohh! That Christian imagery! That’s scary!

Is Akudama Drive a tragedy? No, I think…on the contrary, it’s a story of hope.

LOL, “s*** guy”.

I thought the girl had a bomb. Turns out she has a gun, which is…far worse, come to think of it.

Instead of red characters which say things about the situation, now Shark and Bunny have Hacker’s symbol on them.

There’s no way anyone who wasn’t immortal would survive the attack Courier took…

…why is it that falling over represents vulnerability in children in all of these stores where a war has happened and/or there’s a chase? Hmm?

Wow, Sister did everything with heels on…?!

Anyways, that was a fun time. See you next time!

[marvelgiggles]

Tread Lightly

Tony Stark x Peter Parker x Morgan x Reader 

May I present to you @ilovefanfics2019​‘s prompt. 

Up Next: I have 4 original prompts coming out in the next two weeks and then I will be posting more prompts. 

You had to put a hand on your sister Morgan’s mouth to prevent her from revealing that both of you were in the lab watching your dad and your boyfriend, Peter tinkering in the lab. You were watching both of them from one of the many entrances into the lab. Morgan and you decided that Peter and your dad were working too hard on projects in the lab and they needed to lighten up a little bit. 

You had set up an air horn under a table in the lab. You set a small weight under one of the table legs, which was hooked up to a remote control car and you had the remote. All you needed to do was move the toy car so the table would rest on the airhorn so it would blare into the lab.

“Y/N/N can we do it now?” Morgan whispered to you and you nodded. You let her push the button to move the car forward under the table. The blare of the airhorn let loose. You watched both Peter and Tony jump and cover their ears and run around trying to find the airhorn. Peter finally saw it under the table and shot a web at it and pulled it from under the table. 

Tony turned to see both you and Morgan sitting the doorway trying not to let the giggles pour out of your mouth. Once you saw the look on Tony’s face, “Morgan run!” you yelled and the both of you bolted into the living room with the other Avengers. "You are both going to pay for that.” Tony yelled as he and Peter chased after the both of you.

You saw Morgan run and hide behind the chair Natasha was sitting in, and you knew where both Peter and Tony would come into the living room so you hid near the exit.

“Avengers have you seen either of my offspring?” Tony announced when both he and Peter ran into the living room with the others. All of them shook their heads except Thor.

“Baby Stark is hiding behind lady widow’s chair and the Stark that is dating the spider boy is behind the both of you sneaking out of the living room.” You saw Peter turn in your direction with a wicked grin on his face. You took off running out of the living room in search of a safe place to hide. You heard Peter’s footsteps behind you.

“Y/N you’re just going to make this worse for yourself.” Peter yelled as he continued to chase after you. You knew this compound like the back of your hand I mean you helped your dad design it. “Get back here Y/N.” All of a sudden you felt a sticky substance on the back of your shirt and you were getting pulled backward towards Peter. He quickly threw you over his shoulder and made his way back towards the living room.

“Peter this isn’t fair.” You were lightly hitting his back and trying to squirm out of his arms but you were unsuccessful. You heard Morgan’s hysterical giggles as you got closer to the living room. Once Peter finally made it back to the living room you saw Morgan being held in your dad’s arms and was being tickled silly. “Dahahahahaddy. Stahahahahahap.” Morgan giggled as your dad started to blow raspberries in her neck.  

Peter gently set you on the ground and quickly sat on your waist and looked at you with an evil smirk on his face. “Peter don’t do this.” You grunted as Peter was trying to wrestle your wrists into one of his hands. Although, he lost his patience and webbed your wrists together above your head. 

“But Y/N you are so cute when you’re getting...TICKLED!” Peter said rapidly started squeezing all over your stomach and rapidly switching positions. Peter had you giggling instantly and the fact that your arms were stuck above your head made the sensation worse because you knew that you couldn’t defend yourself. 

“Nohohohoho.” You giggled as you tried to squirm out from under Peter.

“Wow! Y/N you’re really ticklish.” Peter said playing dumb, the two of you had tickle fights all the time so he knew exactly where to tickle you and how to tickle you in every one of your spots. “I should see where else that you’re ticklish.” Peter then moved to up to your armpits.

He wrapped his hands behind you so he could tickle your shoulder blades but he also had his thumbs in each armpit. He rapidly started to vibrate his thumbs and you shrieked before you let out hysterical giggles. “Wait your ticklish here too! I’m going to have to remember that!” Peter was still playing dumb. What was with all this extra teasing today?

All of a sudden Peter stopped tickling you and looked down at you endearingly. You were too drawn in by his eyes so you didn’t see where his hands ended up going. He was squeezing right above your knees. You cackled with laughter as you tried your hardest to kick your legs out of his grasp. Although all his weight on your waist was preventing you from kicking very much. “What’s so funny Y/N. Why are you laughing so hard?” Peter continued to tease you as he moved his hands to your inner thighs making you squeal with laughter.

Once again Peter let you have a breather and continued to look down at you with mischief on his face. He slowly spread a smirk across his face, “Y/N I just have one question for you. Does this tickle?” He rapidly started squeezing your sides all the way up to your armpits. Sometimes he went at the same pace or he’d switch it up that neither of his hands were in the same spot as the other. You were going crazy with hysterical laughter, you desperately tried to scream out ‘YES’ but you were too far gone with laughter. This didn’t cause Peter to stop though. 

Through tear filled eyes you saw him lean down toward your face, you knew exactly what was coming. It was Peter’s favorite way to get you giggle. You started to crane your head so Peter couldn’t get anywhere near your ears or neck. 

“Seriously Y/N does this tickle? Just please tell me!” Peter said quietly to you to further send you into hysterics with him rapidly tickling all over your body and then further teasing you. You can’t process anything in your mind, you were seriously regretting pranking your dad and Peter. Eventually you couldn’t keep up trying to divert Peter and he finally was able to put his head in-between you arm and right ear.

To make the situation worse he was whispering in your ear in the most ticklish way possible. Saying things like, “Y/N I need answers. Does this tickle or not?,” “Why aren’t you answering me?” I need to know. Please please tell me?”

“Alright Peter, I don’t want my daughter passing out.” Your dad finally spoke up. Peter gave you a quick kiss on the cheek and stopped tormenting you. You looked up to see that your dad stopped torturing Morgan and must have for a while because she was contently sitting on Natasha’s lap, breathing normally and her face was normal coloring. Unlike you. 

“I’m sorry.” You giggled out as Peter got off of you and you tried to get up but forgot that Peter webbed your hands down. 

“I’ll go get the web dissolving fluid.” You dad mentioned as he made his way to the lab where they keep an unlimited supply. 

You turned your attention back to Peter and he was lying next to you with his head propped in his hand. “You know Y/N, you never answered my question. Does this tickle or not?” He poked your side. 

“Yehehes! Nohohow stahahahap!” You giggled still frustrated you couldn’t fight back yet. Thankfully, Peter stopped and waited until your dad came back to dissolve the web around your arms. Once you were free, Peter gathered you in his arms. 

“Tread lightly Y/N. You know that I will gladly do this again prank or no prank.” He told you as he picked you up and made his way to the couch to cuddle you further.

[hydemind]

Your thoughts on Isaac, William, Frankie an Jack 🎤?

OHHHHHH CROW I COULD GO ON ABOUT THEM FOR HOURS.

this post is SUPER FUCKING LONG so for the first time in my life im using a read more link.

I'm gonna start out with Will, who, a little fun fact, isn't actually named William! His full name is Willis Grossman. His parents thought it'd be funny. Will doesn't know his full name.

Here are some other fun facts about me and @functionentropy 's Will (along with other characters below) (he is also the one who has been making this entire creepypasta interp with me! Go check out their art or else /lh):

Will was born in the late 1800s early 1900s!

His parents were a lot like a Bonnie and Clyde duo, and they cared and loved for Will very, very much.

Will always looked up to Isaac! He wanted to be exactly like his grandpa when he grew up. Isaac was also a wonderful grandfather as well.

Will, on his 13th birthday, got Isaac's mask as a gift. When he got it, Isaac said to him: "keep it safe. It's a family heirloom.", Will uses that excuse as to why he still wears it to this day.

Speaking of Isaac, he's the underrealm equivalent to a tumblr sexyman. Everyone thinks he's hot shit, but that also goes for a lot of serial killers residing in the underrealm. Will unfortunately had to see his grandfather on magazine covers talking about the underrealm's HOTTEST NEW KILLER. He hates it.

Will ran away from home after Isaac died at around the age of 20 to 21, and considering he was a legal adult, his parents couldn't do much. They're still looking for him. (How, you may ask? Well, a little thing about the underrealm is that it stunts growth. You're essentially unable to die of old age down there. Think shitty immortality. His parents are looking for him, and they know he's in the underrealm- so that's how they are still around!)

Will had the worst time in the underrealm for the first few years he was down there. He wasn't immediately enrolled in the institution and he had a hard time holding down a job. Eventually he met Frankie! They live(d) in an apartment together. The first time Frankie met Will he thought he was Isaac and told his landlord and him HELL NO. Frankie does not like Isaac. Cue [will's offended gasp] and him saying he's his GRANDSON, and WHY IS HE ACTING LIKE ISAAC SUCKED? Cue Frankie making fun of him for being a grandpa's boy.

Frankie and Will had a bumpy relationship for a while. Will wasn't always a good person. Not really bad, just a fucking dumbass.

Speaking of Frankie...

Here's stuff about Frankie!

Frankie's origin story is essentially the same in this interp. Except for the fact that Frankie very much HAD A PAST. (which. If u wanna know more........I would love to talk about it......but this is about CURRENT Frankie so if u wanna know more bro just pop up in my dms or send another ask im feeling wild tonight)

After Amy passed (which was NOT due in part to the operator in this universe. The operator just found her like that) he was found by Bell (prince beelzebub, ruler of the underrealm at that point). You should know Frankie wasn't always an adjusted and normal fuckin person. He was like a rabid dog for a good while there.

While Frankie was unhinged he fucking death rolled Daisy the first time they met. (Daisy is an oc! I'm willing to talk more about him if you want the deets. He's interesting :]) because of this Daisy is the only one allowed to openly make fun of Frankie. (Playfully, of course.)

Daisy and Bell both basically helped Frankie adjust to society.

Frankie is autistic! So is Will. And Isaac. All. Everyone. Everyone has autism. (Shhhh. i'm projecting.)

Frankie can see souls! He's a very good judge of character because of it. However Frankie doesn't know what he's seeing is people's souls.

Frankie goes specifically after bad people. He'll take jobs from bad people, but he'll kill them, too. He says "he's sending them back to where they belong".

Frankie was the first to really show Will killing isn't just something you do. It's more than that. Will had never really processed death and murder of his fellow man like that before. He has a hard time even processing people as people sometimes, outside those of whom he cares for. This is because of Isaac. Isaac taught Will that people are bad- all of them. And that killing them is preventing them from hurting others, even if they haven't yet.

Frankie is a good guy and honestly a softie deep down. He worries and cares for all those who are close to him, even if he doesn't act like it sometimes.

Frankie says Toby "kidnapped him" and "made him diseased". 1. Frankie can very much leave the household at any time and 2. Frankie is referring to the operator sickness. Speaking of that-

Frankie was dragged through the operator's own personal hell! (Aka the realm they reside in more often than not, aka the place that Tim gets tossed around in near the end of marble hornets.) Reason being was because he threatened Toby's life. The operator is very protective of Toby.

Speaking of that, someone else was around when Toby met Frankie...

ONTO LAUGHING JACK!

ohhh man. Oh man. Oh baby. This clown is FULL of illness. Alright. So let's start off simple:

Lj was of course, made for Isaac. That's still a consistency. What isn't is that lj was around Isaac for a lot longer than in the original story. They developed a very close bond over the years they knew eachother, but, all good things must come to an end.

Lj returned to his box when Isaac left for boarding school. However, unlike the original story....Isaac didn't really come back to open the box. In fact, the most Isaac did was...well, I'll wait to spill that for Isaac's part later.

However! Eventually the house got passed off to another family. Years, and it mean YEARS later someone found lj's box in the attic! They were an unfortunate casualty.

After this, lj went and hunted Isaac down. Cue gore filled murder scene.

Things to note: LJ feels HORRIBLE about what he did to Isaac. He regrets it everyday. He wishes he had never done that to him.

But, time skip a bit.. we're further in the future now. LJ has his carnival set up and hidden away in an empty spot in the forest. He eventually comes across a wandering spirit because of this. This wanderer just so happens to be Sally!

LJ takes her in and swears to protect her with his life. In a way, you could say he sees her as a chance of redemption.

Sally was a wandering spirit, meaning she never really was stuck to one spot in particular- also meaning she wasn't very strong. Because of this, LJ gave her some of his own angelic essence. This boosted Sally and essentially made her a poltergeist!

(Note: Sally doesn't know how she died. Also, none of the things in her og story happened to her in this one. Fuck mishimishi. All my homies hate mishimishi.)

A little while after this they actually meet Toby and Jeffery! But this is getting long and to explain THAT entire debacle would make it even longer. but again I fully invite you to send more asks or just straight up dm me if you wanna know!

Now, last, but certainly not least..

ISAAC GROSSMAN.

OH MAN. Isaac is a DOOZY. Just like LJ, this baby is chocked FULL of illnesses! *slaps the top of his head like the roof of a car* but also, fair warning here: im gonna be talking about some heavy stuff. Abuse, physical and mental, gore, just. Death in general. Cannibalism, and EXTREME MENTAL ILLNESS *loud airhorn* so if any of that stuff gets to you steer clear of this part!

Anyways, let's start out simple!

Isaac was born in victorian England.

Isaac's mother was terrible towards him. I'm talking mental and physical abuse. She was a horrible, horrible woman.

Isaac's father...he wasn't a good person either, but he didn't beat Isaac. Nor did he really mentally abuse him either. He just...let it happen. He didn't even hurt his mother like he did in the original story. Isaac's mother was just plain bad for no good reason.

Isaac was sort of. Born having mental illness. They didn't just develop for him due to the abuse he experienced, though they certainly DID make it worse. There were other mental issues he has now that developed due to the abuse, however.

LJ was quite literally a godsend for Isaac. Metaphorically and not Metaphorically. LJ made Isaac happy, gave him comfort, and was basically like the mom he never had.

that's why it was so hard on Isaac when he had to leave lj behind. For a while he even had hallucinations of lj while in boarding school (which only furthered his future belief that lj was a hallucination brought on by the need to cope).

Isaac's first technical "murder" you could say was at boarding school. He pushed a shitty teacher down the stairs when there was no one around and they died. It wasn't even premeditated- more like it just sort of..happened.

Eventually Isaac graduated. When he did, he promptly returned home and killed his parents, as you do. /s

Isaac killed his mom in a rather violent fashion in comparison to his father- he whiplashed her so hard she fucking died.

Not long after this Isaac started his..well. I guess you could call it career.

Basically you know what happens after that. human skin chair, yadda yadda yadda, underrealm's sexiest killer, you know the drill.

Isaac did more than the human skin chair though! In fact, he uh. He. He did a lot. He did. SO much. But that was because Isaac believed in not wasting any part of the body. Which means Isaac not only made human skin chairs, but he was an avid cannibal, as well. (Fun fact, this very much extended to Will's father, mother, and Will as well. Will didn't know they were eating human for a long time. He had to realize that on his own.)

Eventually, Isaac punched his ticket because of LJ. But..I'd be a liar to say he really died.

No, our wonderful boy Isaac didn't die. He became a ghoul. Which, by the way, only further fucked with Isaac mentally! He's so ill. Some other things happened which I won't say here because they're spoilers for the fanfic I'm working on (Oh yeah the hyperfixation is that bad, but if you wanna know, again, I fully invite you to ask), but basically Isaac eventually gets taxidermied by, drumroll please..TOBY!!!! yeah. Toby does taxidermy as a job. He invited a new type of it for taxidermying Isaac. It was to repay daisy for something he did for the group.

But to say, again, that THAT was Isaac's end, would be another lie! No no no. Isaac was alive during the entire process! The good news is that he's never looked better after he escaped daisy's house when it got exploded by Frankie. Which..that's uh..another story for another day. This post is already insanely long and I am NOT putting it in the main tags.

So yeah! Im absolutely crazy for these dudes and I love all of them. By the way if you couldn't guess before Frankie and Will very much get together and are so so gay. Another little thing: Isaac is gay too, he had a past relationship with a man by the name of Dr. Locklear! Locklear is French German and his accent shows it. They were very close but fell out because of Locklear being involved with the institution and...a certain foundation.

I'll leave it to you to ponder on that one.

[bluejaytaco]

Shit, it’s more DND w/ Jay!

(So, things were once again a little retconned. Our DM had been drinking the session before and forgot to mention one detail to us. That being that Ticket Master was there the whole time. He also, apparently, told us he wouldn’t be able to send us back because, so long as Task Master was in existence, he only has half of his power.

He can teleport himself no problem, he just can’t bring anyone else. So, now our mission is to take out Task Master in order to return home. We also have to take down Nerve (The corrupted AI) because it’s been corrupted by Ticket Master’s power.

But, for the moment, we had to focus on Eltbalm and the old man he was holding up, screaming at.)

Art: Uh, hey, how about we don’t kill the old man?

Eltbalm: (sees them and drops Art’s father, who’s okay just a little shaken up. He storms up to Art.) You! You’re responsible! Tell me what the fuck is going on here? Where is Red?!

Reita: (waking up to the tension and seeing Eltbalm in her brother’s face. She bites down on his arm.)

Eltbalm: (shakes her off and turns to punch her. He misses as she ducks out of the way.)

Art: (gets punched in the face by the dragonborn paladin. Takes 7 damage.)

Ticket Master: (watching this all go down) Wow.... you all did very little to stop that from happening!

Art: (snapping around to his teammates and cradling his face) Yeah! Thanks for the help, guys!

(Wreybar just kinda shrugged it off. She’s a little insane right now. But it does get Koejin to jump in and help.)

Koejin: (Notches an arrow and points it at Eltbalm) How about you calm the fuck down? 

Eltbalm: (Sees this and glares at Koejin) You’re gonna shoot me? Do it!

Koejin: (Does just that)

(The arrow finds a home in Eltbalm’s breastplate. He pulls it off and snaps the arrow in half. Koejin finds this to be extremely hot as he pushes passed everyone and storms out.)

Ticket Master: Well, now that that’s handled, I can tell you about the other universe. Everyone sends their regards! Hennessy says (can’t remember for the life of me, I was drinking...), Alabaster says “I’m fine.” With a period. He wanted you to know it ended in a period. And Theodora says “Koejin, I will find you.” Would you like to say anything to them?

(We all think about what we’re going to say. Wreybar went first as Ticket Master pulled out a typewriter and put on glasses, kind of in the same fashion as The Mask.)

Wreybar: I say “Get money. Make bitches. Leave the fuckin haters.”

(Ticket Master reads it back to her so that he knows what he’s saying. We all laugh about it. Koejin wanted to go last so it was Art’s turn.)

Art: I don’t know, Wreybar kinda covered everything. (Koejin: Yeah, like, is there anything more to say here? lol)... I guess just... Sorry for running ahead without making sure you were following. We’ll find our way back.

Ticket Master: Alright. So! “sorry for running ahead without checking with you. I’m stupid. We’ll find our way back.”

Art:.... Did I do something to upset you?

Ticket Master: (now ignoring Art) Koejin?

Koejin: I wanna say to Theodora “Not if I find you first! Bleeeehhh!” (sticks out her tongue as airhorns sound. Watches Ticket Master write for a moment) I’m gonna need you to read that back to me.

Ticket Master: Okay. “Not if I find your first. Bleh, blah, brer bo.”

Koejin: I don’t know where that last part came from.

Ticket Master: (puts away the typewriter and glasses) So, I will send out these messages and return soon. By the way, your friends are in a jail cell with Mrs. Red at this moment. Farewell! (backs into the darkness and now he’s gone, leaving us stunned at this new bit of information.)

Koejin:.....I’m sure they’re fine....

Art: (checks on the two tieflings who just witnessed all of this.)

(Reita’s seen some shit so this is just another Tuesday for her. Art’s father, however, is clearly shaken and confused.)

Art:... so...uh.... remember the “Tentacle Monster” portion of the story? That was him.

Art’s Father: (throws up in his mouth a bit)

((Koejin’s player: Oh yeah, I forgot Art told him everything. DM being all “so you tell him everything? Okay, that includes the freaky tentacle sex!”

Me: Yeah, I just kind of imagine the conversation going like “then the two of us teleported away so I could get railed.”))

(We spend a while trying to figure out what to do next. Because the Ticket/Task information is new, we focused on that maybe a little too hard.)

Art: So, if we kill Task Master, Ticket Master gets all his power back and we can go home.

Haida: (someone else who’s been there pretty much the whole time) Okay, so how are you going to get him?

Koejin:... Will he still show up if I lie?

Art: Try lying.

Koejin: Okay. Art, You’re very talented and I really appreciate your company.

Task Master: (pops into existence with his signature groan)

Art: (looks at Task Master then back to Koejin) That’s hurtful....

(Koejin takes the lead here. She starts talking about how it would be really nice if Task Master could just die. He offers to drink some poison at which point Vincent pulls out battery acid and hands it to the god. Of course, drinking it does nothing.

In the end, Task Master simply disappears and we have to rethink things.)

Art: Guys, we were at full power and couldn’t take out a dragon. We’re not gonna be able to take out a god like this.

Koejin: Then we just need to get stronger! I’m gonna get swol! 

(Cue Rocky Montage! It goes on for long enough for Art and Wreybar to have a long rest. By the end of it, Koejin goes again to summon Task Master by complimenting Wreybar’s mental stability.

Nothing happens.)

Koejin: Okay... maybe deep down, I believed it? Uhm... (Turns to Art’s father) You have a really nice place here!

(Again, nothing happens)

Art’s father: Thank you!

Koejin:.... Art, you’re very talented.

(Nothing happens.)

Art: Guess he’s not coming back. 

Koejin: Wait! One more! .... I hate alcohol (pause. Still nothing.)

Wreybar: Yeah, he ain’t coming back.

(We think about it for a moment when I suggest using Spaghetti Kid, a tool we haven’t used in a while. (He’s a jinn that Art befriended and is meant to act as a guide whenever we’re stuck. He’s summoned whenever Art eats a bit of “spaghetti” from a jar he carries around.) Koejin’s player laughs and says “oh, yeah. Remember when that was the weirdest thing about this campaign?”

The DM also asked “are you sure?” For anyone who plays DND, you know that’s never really a good ask.)

Art: (eats some spaghetti)

(After eating it, Spaghetti Kid begins to materialize and looks at us. After a moment, he says “H-” and then starts to scream in agony as he melts away and dies.)

Art:... (Watches this in horror) I’m sorry!!(Rolls high on Arcana and learns that it’s because he doesn’t belong in this reality. Also, because it was such a high roll, Art realizes everyone that actually belongs here is also back. Despite not going through the portal.)

(Haida’s the one who makes the focus obvious. We need to find Nerve to redistribute the Ticket Master power it’s carrying. Nerve’s place of opperations is the spire that, in our timeline, belonged to General Green. (It also happens to be where Ticket Master seduced Art.) So, we go with her to the front gate only to see thousands of blob monsters swarming in. She screams “shit!” and runs back to the house.

We all follow. Koejin’s throwing her hands in the air and sighing at the whole ordeal.)

Art’s Father: (in the house, opening a hatch that leads into a basement) We’ll be safe in here!

Art:... Basement hatch...

Art’s Father: Yes, clearly this isn’t the first time this has happened!

(Meanwhile, Wreybar rolls high enough on perception to notice Reita staring out the window and salivating over the sea of black ooze right outside the house. She looks at Wreybar and they both have a similar thought.)

Wreybar:...black pudding.

Reita: (smiles and holds out her hand for Wreybar to come with her.)

Koejin and Art: (Preparing to go into the bunker only to see two of their companions missing)

Wreybar and Reita: (already out in the sea of black ooze. Reita is shovelling it in her mouth.)

Art: (Dives for Reita through the window) Reita, get back here! And don’t eat that! (drags her back through the window.)

Koejin: (walks out the front door which lets the ooze into the house, but walks through it to get to Wreybar.)

(once the two more sane members of the party drag down the insane ones, the hatch is closed and they’re all safe.)

Reita: (pouting because she was stopped from eating the black pudding.) Hungry...

Koejin and Wreybar: (start feeding Reita their rations)

Reita: (After devouring them, she hugs Wreybar. She and Wreybar are now besties because they dove into the “black pudding” together. She’s also more comfortable with Koejin considering Koejin fed her.)

(The area below is dark, which leaves Koejin blind to it. But there is furniture and things pushed up against a corridor. Vincent explains that the corridor leads all over Acentria as an underground system, but only Eltbalm knows how to go through it.)

Koejin: I could probably navigate it.

Art: You can’t see.

Koejin: But you guys can!

Art: And you’re gonna take everything we say at face value and absolute truth?

Wreybar: Yeah! 

Koejin: Okay, well, the way I see it we have three options; wait here and die, go out there and look for Eltbalm, or figure out the path on our own.

Art: Or we can have Eltbalm come to us.

Koejin: How?

Art: I can send a message.

Koejin:....why didn’t you do that earlier?!

Art: Because.... as we’ve already established.... I’m a fucking idiot!

((Koejin’s player: We’re not just the chaos group; we’re the dumbass group! Chaotic Dumbass!))

(Art asks what he’s sending to Eltbalm. Koejin then says something along the lines off “Hey, you wanna see Koejin’s nudes? Come and find them!”)

Art:.... (Gives Koejin a thumbs up but sends something completely different) If you want to see “her” again and possibly save this world, come back to the house.

Eltbalm: ...You better not be lying.

(We have some time to spare so we get to know our companions a bit. Art asks Haida about what the other Generals did and gets an earful about how they “protected the people of the city” but were really just arresting anyone who stepped out of line. Including Haida. She eventually fled the city and ended up dying. That’s when Ticket Master found her and offered to either keep her alive or let her die and reincarnate.)

Art:... and you chose life.

Haida: Well, yeah. It’s the better way.

Art:.... is it? You could have just reincarnated and been okay.

Haida: yeah, and be useless for a thousand years!

Art: A thousand ye- how old are you?!

Haida: Ugh, don’t you know anything about the gods?

Art: Considering the “gods” I’m closest with are a narcissistic dragon and a very horny tentacle monster, no. I don’t.

(Haida then explains that reincarnation isn’t instant. It would take time to be of any help because gods don’t exist in a place where time is necessary.)

Haida: Is there anything else you’d like to know, Oh Great One?

Art:... there is never going to be a version of you that likes me, is there?

Haida: (seems thrown off by this) I don’t know...

Koejin: To be fair... no one likes you.

Art:... Thanks, Koejin. That’s helpful.

Art’s Father: I like you.

Art:... Thanks, Dad.

Reita: (waves her hands around frantically as a way of going “I like you!”)

Art: Love you too, Reita.

Vincent: I... don’t really know you so I guess I’m kinda indifferent.

Art: It’s a better relationship than the other timeline.

(No one else really has anything to say so we wait until there’s banging at the hatch. Koejin calls up to see who it is, but the banging just continues. Eventually, she cracks it and sees someone slashing at the ooze. When she opens it, she’s pushed in and falls as something runs through the bunker.

Art can see it’s this universe’s Reita. She is torn apart and looks like she’s seen better days. He goes to follow her down the corridor but is ultimately stopped by his Reita, who grips him by the arm and frantically shakes her head.)

Art: I just want to go check on her. I’m not going far.

Reita: (still not letting go and shaking her head)

Art: Reita, it’s okay! Just let me... (still struggling to get out of her grip. When she doesn’t let up he frowns at her) What’s wrong? Why won’t you let me go?

Reita: (Trying to speak) ....you....f-ear....

Art: (trying to piece it together) I mean, maybe a little... but that can’t stop me from going.

Reita: (clearly frustrated by her lack of being able to communicate)

Art: (Seeing this and knowing getting free is useless right now) okay.... It’s okay.

Koejin: (Tries to go only to be stopped as well)

(We fight with Reita over this for a moment before there’s some more knocking at this hatch, this time with Eltbalm’s voice demanding to be let in.)

Art: (looks at Koejin) Your boyfriend’s here.

Koejin: (looks at Reita) can I go open the hatch for him)

(Reita agrees to let go so that Eltbalm can be let in. He jumps in and brushes off some of the remaining ooze in a fashion that makes Koejin swoon. But it’s also clear he’s horribly depressed. Eltbalm is then filled in on the situation and makes it clear he doesn’t really care about the state of the world. But he does want his wife back. Using Ticket Master’s powers.)

Art:... I don’t know if that’s the best idea. She could come back different. She might not even be your wife anymore...

Koejin: Yeah, I mean, Look at Art’s hand!

Eltbalm: I don’t care. I just want her back; In any form. You told me you could do it and I will go to the ends of the worlds to get her back.

Art: ....I can appreciate that. (Thinks for a second then nods) okay. You help us, we’ll do what we can to bring her back.

((DM: Is he being genuine?

Me: Yeah. Completely))

(After saying this, Eltbalm agrees to help. He goes to lead us through.

Then Reita grabs him and stops him from going. He tries to muscle through but Reita has a very tight grip on him and is holding him by the back.)

Eltbalm: ...this isn’t going to work if she keeps doing this.

Art: (now trying to persuade her) Reita, we have to keep moving forward if we want to get home. I know you’re scared. But we can’t just stay here. 

Reita: (listens to Art and relucantly lets go of Eltbalm and moves back over to Art.)

(He gives her a hug and she returns to practically clinging to him without stopping him from moving.)

( We start to head down the corridor with Reita at our side as well. Art’s father, Vincent, and Haida all stay behind. As he’s reminded that Koejin doesn’t have dark vision like the rest of us, Eltbalm lights a torch which also makes Koejin swoon a bit. But, she can see that his scales don’t have the same luster and, despite being a white dragonborn, he somehow looks paler.)

Koejin: Hey, Art? You have some sort of spell that can help out Eltbalm and make him feel better? Maybe Calm Emotions?

Art: Yeah, I can do that.

(The caverns fill with a calming melody for a while as we begin out journey. We walk for a very long time through the trail, following Eltbalm. As we continue to walk and find we can’t even really tell where we are anymore. We see a light flickering up ahead.)

Koejin: (carefully notches an arrow as she walks up to investigate this.)

(She finds a fairy who looks at her in confusion.)

Fairy: oh! Hello. Are you friendly?

Koejin: I mean, personality-wise, no. But I don’t mean you any harm. What’re you doing down here?

Fairy: Living... (she looks around as the rest of the party walks up) there sure are a lot of you... What are you doing down here?

Koejin: Well, we’re looking to get to the desert.

Fairy: The desert? Oh, I know a shortcut!

(Koejin rolled to find out if she was really a fairy. It was a low roll but the DM said “yeah, she seems pretty real.” But she does remember that fairies went extinct thousands of years ago during the Great War.

Art and Koejin switch places as Koejin goes to talk to Eltbalm.)

Art: Soooo.... where you from?

Fairy: Here.

Art: And you’ve just been hiding down here? 

Fairy: Yes, from the different mechanical creatures that come and try and eat us.

Art: Is one of them.... a giant hawk?

Fairy: Oh no. Nerve is far too big to make it down here!

Art:... how do you know about Nerve then?

Fairy: Oh, I read about it.

(We talk about how cute it is the idea of a fairy attempting to read a normal sized book.

But while Art is talking to the fairy, Koejin and Eltbalm have a conversation.)

Eltbalm: I don’t really trust her but... if you want to take her up on her offer...

Koejin: Wouldn’t we just be safer going your way?

Eltbalm: .... I have no fucking clue where we are. The paths changed.

Koejin: (glares at Eltbalm but then looks at the caverns to see there are some clear indication of fallen debris. She turns back to the fairy) Are there often collapses in the caverns?

Fairy: Over time, yes. You have the ocassional cave in and such...

Art: When was the last one?

Fairy: It could have happened at anytime and anywhere. The caverns go all over the world, you know!

Koejin: But then, how do we know your shortcut is even still there?

Fairy: Oh, I know it is!

Koejin: (Rolls another insight check and finds she isn’t lying. She knows her way around.) Okay! I think we should follow her.

(We all begin to do this and head on our way.)

Wreybar: (notices Reita staring at the fairy. Once again, she’s salivating)... is it the wings?

Reita: All... so tasty...

Wreybar: Mmm, like chicken... you should get it.

Reita: (nods and goes after the fairy)

Art: (catches Reita mid attack as she was still hanging onto him. Pulls her back) you’re not eating our guide.

Reita: So hungry...

Art: (Gives her another ration which she then devours)

Koejin: So... it’s funny that I’m only seeing one fairy here. Where...?

Fairy: Oh, you mean my brothers and sisters?

Koejin: I mean, I didn’t want to assume you were all related. Seems racist.

Fairy: Well... either way, they’re here. They’re just...shy. If you want to meet them, just turn around!

(All of us freeze at that and slowly turn around to see dead, lifeless fairy bodies hanging on string and following us.)

Art: (not looking away from the horror show)... you have a lovely family...

Wreybar: (sees the wire is also on our guide. She follows it up to see mechanical spiders using them as puppets.)

Fairy: (smiles) You’ve fallen for our trap.

(Next time, we roll for initiative.)

[mrs-takami-keigo]

King of the clouds

Chapter 5 

Main Pairing: Hawks/Quinn(OC)

Story Rating: Explicit! 18+

Genre: Romance/Action/ Smut

Words: 7.3K

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Notes: To the people that do read this, thank you so much! This story is my baby and I plan on seeing her through to the end. Everytime I see a like for this I get a little emotional, beacuse I do put a lot of thought and heart into this story. But I would also love to hear from you! Please don’t be afraid to comment or anything, I love reading people reactions to this. 

“Okay so the objective is Phoenix is going to be the villain and it’s up to you, Bakugo, to subdue her before back up comes. Once you put the handcuffs on her you win. You have twenty minutes.” I heard Aizawa explain over the earpiece.

“Tch just start the clock already.” Even without the device, I could hear Bakugou’s loud voice resonating. ‘Why does this kid have such a big mouth?’

“Your twenty minutes start now.”

The sound of an airhorn rang through the training grounds, signaling the start of our match. I was given a head start so I could hide. Figuring my best option was to start off on higher grounds, I stood atop a medium-sized office building. Even though I wasn't in his line of sight I could see him. Watching as he started down the main street of the training ground, looking around, trying to pinpoint my location, Bakugou’s guard was up, ready for anything. I’m sure he’s waiting for me to make the first move.

“Come on you old hag I know you're here!”

‘OLD HAG?!’ I could feel my eye twitch and my blood began to boil. This kid sure does have a lot of nerve to talk to someone like that, but it’s one of the reasons I looked forward to meeting him. His attitude, skill, and demeanor reminded me of my own at times. I went to the edge of the building, slamming a combat booted foot on the ledge, my hands on my hips as I yelled down to him.

“Anybody tell you it’s rude to disrespect your elders?!”

“Shut up!” I saw him lift an arm up and a giant explosion generating from his palm. Glass windows shattered as the blast made its way up to me. Using my wings I shot up into the sky, trying to avoid the blast. Covering my face with my arms I felt the heat from the blast run through me, the air around the blast whipping around me, my curls flying everywhere. The sheer force of the explosion was impressive for a kid his age, if I weren’t able to use my wings to fly away, I for sure would have been finished.

“That’s it?! I thought you had an explosive quirk, not a firecracker! Honestly, you must be great during festivals.” The look of annoyance washed over his face as I spoke. “You know that’s what Imma call you from now on. You're just like a firecracker, all you are is nothing but noise!“ I let out a belly laugh as I wrapped my arms around my stomach. I knew I was pissing him off but that's what I wanted.

Straightening up I wiped the tears from my eyes, stopping my laughter. Bakugou’s teeth were bared in annoyance, his gloved hands balled into fists. “Come on firecracker you wanna play with the big dogs right?! Then let's play!”

Lifting my arms towards the sky I channeled all my energy into my palms, that same feeling when I formed my wings ignited through my body. Soon two large fireballs formed in each of my hands. Taking a deep breath I threw both fireballs directly at the teen. Due to their size and how fast they were going, it would take precise movements and fast reaction time to dodge them, but from what I’ve seen previously and from Shouto’s letter I knew he could dodge them with ease.

Just as I had anticipated he shot off his own blast towards the ground to propel himself into the air barely dodging the two balls of fire as they made an impact with the ground.

“Should have guessed an old hag like you didn’t have any juice left!” Changing his direction he used his explosions to make his way to the roof trying to chase me and fight me head-on, but I’m faster.

“No juice you say.” Horror was written on his face when he heard my voice from behind him. My fire wings let me reach insane speeds, the last time I checked I clocked it at a hundred and eighty miles per hour. Using fire to help me, I flipped over myself, bringing my right leg down landing a hard dropkick on his shoulder, sending him straight back down to the street. I made sure not to use my full strength afraid I would cause too much harm to his body.

When Bakugou landed, he was face down groaning in pain. Lowering myself back on the ground, I watched as Bakugou rolled to his side, gripping the shoulder I kicked him on with his hand, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

“What your problem is, is that you underestimate everyone around you.” He had stopped his coughing, glaring at me. “Now, Katsuki Bakugou stand up, and let’s fight for real.”

“You’re gonna regret sayin’ that old woman.” Bakugou stood up, shaking off my last attack. I could sense that his attitude had changed, he now saw me as an opponent.

Using his power like before he launched himself forward at a faster speed, throwing me off for a second. Smirking I flew up into the sky ready to miss his attack only to be stopped. I felt his hand wrap around my ankle. Glancing down at him, a satisfied smirk played on his face.

“Tryna fly away already?” Before I could comprehend what was happening I felt my body be spun around.

Bakugou was using his other hand to set off small explosions resulting in him spinning around like a tornado and taking me along with him. He reached a speed that made everything look like one big blur before letting go of my ankle, I had no time to react with how fast I was traveling through the air.

“AUGH!” The air flew out of my lungs as my back came in contact with the brick, the impact was so strong that I left a small crack in it. Catching myself before I fell to the ground, I saw Bakugou get ready for another attack.

“That was impressive kid but you won't get another shot like that again.”

“Try and stop me.” Bakugou went to move again but stopped in mid-motion. “What the-” Soon he was flung up into the sky, coming back down at neck-breaking speed, slamming into the earth. A chuckle escaped my lips as he struggled to stand up or move in general, cursing as each attempt turned out to be useless.

“I’m well skilled in close combat but I excel at long range. Not only because of my fire but because of my other power.” As I spoke I stalked closer to the young boy, the sound of broken glass and gravel crushing under my boots. Whenever I used this quirk my hair would float behind me, as if I was underwater and my eyes would change from hazel to grey. My right hand was extended out pushing him further into the ground. “My telekinetic powers allow me to do things like this without even touching another person.”

Still holding him down I squatted next to him, balancing myself on the balls of my feet. “Now that you have a taste of both my powers let’s continue yeah?”

“Times up!” We both heard Aizawa say over our earpiece. The training grounds were in shambles, building missing walls, windows blown out. Parts of the street were torn up, it looked as if a war had passed through here. It was partially true, seeing as how after I had un-pinned Bakugou we both went all out. There were times where I was sure he had me but it was always because of a silly mistake on his part that I would escape.

Which led us to this moment, I had him trapped in a cage I made out of metal pipes when I sent him flying across the training grounds with a punch and firepower mixed in it.

“NO! Let me go again! I can beat this old hag!” He had his hands wrapped around the metal pipes, trying to shake them loose.

“So I’m back to being called old hag huh? And here I thought we were getting along.” I reached through the bars ruffling up his hair. “I’m actually thoroughly impressed with you firecracker in all seriousness.” He stopped his manic behavior, a reserved look on his face.

“I’m looking forward to what you do in the future. You’re special, firecracker, that’s without a doubt.” I flicked my wrist, moving the cage off of him. “When it’s time for your next work-study, be sure to contact me.”

“Tch! Whatever old hag.” I couldn’t help but smile, he may have said that but the small blush on his cheeks and the satisfied smile he wore didn’t go unnoticed.

“Okay, kiddo’s, who’s next?”

Stretching my arms above my head, I cracked my back and neck as I sat in the nurse's office. Recover girl had helped ease the pain in my back from when Bakugou slammed me into the building and my sore muscles. She told me if he had tossed me any harder my back would have been broken and that I’m lucky all I had was the giant bruise on my back. Going twenty rounds in combat with those kids wreaked havoc on my body. Some were easy to defeat and some proved to be quite the challenge.  

“That was too much Quinn.” Shouto handed me a glass of water as he took a seat in the empty chair next to the bed I was on.

“Oh please, that was nothing compared to the villains I’ve fought before. And you were holding back, don’t think I didn’t notice Shouto.”

“I was worried, it's only been a few days since you’ve gone back to work after the incident.” Shouto clenched his fist as his expression turned dark. “Since that bastard put you in the hospital.”

It wasn’t until that moment I registered that I haven’t really seen or spoken to him since that day. Fuyumi told me that Shouto was at the hospital that day, and saw exactly what Phoenix Rising does to my body. That image of me hooked up to machines, clinging on to life must have fucked him up.

“Shouto, look at me.” He still had his fist clenched tight, I was afraid that he would draw blood if he held them any tighter. “Come on half-pint look at me.” Facing him I leaned down a little so I could try to catch his eye. Once he heard the nickname I used to call him, his eyes met mine. Those once bright eyes of his now held years of pain, abuse, and burden in them.

“I thought you were gonna die, I-I can’t lose you.” His voice was shaky from trying to hold back his tears as he spoke.

“I’m not going anywhere, half-pint. I would never let scumbags like Dabi be the end of me, I promise you that.” I took his hands in my own. “Do you know why I came to Japan?” Shouto just shook his head, too afraid to speak. “I came to protect you, Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Auntie Rei. I failed in protecting Auntie and Touya, I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

“Quinn…” I got off the bed to stand in front of him, making him stand up with me.

“So don’t worry about losing me okay?” Giving him a reassuring smile I squeezed the hand that was in mine. “Come on you gotta change out of your costume and go do your homework and I gotta go home, there is a nice hot bath screaming my name right now.”

Once I got home I stripped off my costume, noticing that it had some rips in it, I made a mental note to go and try to get that fixed. Grabbing my hair towel and robe I made my way to the bathroom.

Besides having roof access, this apartment had an amazing bathroom. White tiles lined the floor and walls but the sink, cabinet, toilet, and bathtub were a solid black. There was also a separate stand up shower in one corner, while next to it was a clawfoot tub that was so big it could fit two people comfortably.

Turning on the water and stepping into the shower, I washed the day’s sweat and grime off my body, relishing in the feeling of the hot water running down my body and through my soft curls. Once everything was washed off, I filled up the tub with hot water adding in some of my favorite eucalyptus and spearmint bubble bath soap.

Sinking in my body in the hot water, I slid my aching body down the back of the bathtub leaning my head back to rest over the edge.

“Ah now, this is the life.” Closing my eyes I could feel my muscles relax under the water. Between the relaxing smell of my soap and the soft 90’s slow jams playing in the background, I felt myself let my mind wander.

“You’re so beautiful not only cause of your looks, it's that heart you have.”

‘Hawks.’

I could still feel his lips pressed against my palm. How his golden eyes shined under that moonlight. It was only for a moment but the usual playful glint in his eyes had disappeared when he spoke about how that was the only place he was actually at peace. That sadness made me want to reach out and hug him, make sure that the sadness left.

“No! Snap out of it Quinn!” I sunk lower into my tub, the water coming up just past my lips. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I hugged them. The best thing I could do for both of us is just be friends and that’s it. There was no way I could get my feelings involved, not with Hawks.

I stayed in the tub for another ten minutes, the water started to cool down and my fingers turned pruney, telling me it was time to get out. Standing up I could feel a dull ache in my back.

“Maybe I should put a patch on this.” I put on my purple fuzzy robe and wrap my hair in the pink microfiber towel as I walked through the bathroom door that led straight into my room. Going through my draws I found a clean pair of panties, and my favorite red satin shorts and camisole pajama set.

Shedding off the robe and grabbing a soft white towel, I swiped it across my damp skin. Feeling like I was dry, I slid the undergarment up my legs followed by my satin shorts and top. Going up to my white and gold-lined vanity, I grabbed my favorite body lotion that smells of vanilla and coconut.

After applying lotion I went through the rest of my night routine. Doing my skincare, massaging oils into my curls to keep them hydrated, and putting on my diffuser with peppermint oil in it, hoping the essential oil will soothe my aching body and my thoughts about a certain red-winged man.

Just as I stepped into the bathroom to grab an icy-hot patch, the sound of something faintly knocking on the door that connected to the roof caught my attention. My guard went up instantly, no one knew I was there besides my family, Mirko, and Hawks. Putting my slippers on, I tiptoed to the staircase that led to the door. The pounding became more frantic as I crept closer.

I could feel my heart begin to race with each step I took. It would have been one thing if I lived in a house, but I live in a highrise apartment building and there were over thirty floors of people that lived here. If something went wrong I would have to worry about them before backup could arrive and fend off whatever or whoever this is.

Igniting my right hand with flames, I kicked the door open, ready for a fight.

“OH MY GOD!” I stopped my flames immediately and ran to catch Hawks as he swayed to the side, catching him as he started to fall to the ground.

“Hey, fire….bird…” Hawks could barely get my nickname out of his mouth before he coughed, blood landing on my slippers. I could see he was holding on to the last little bit of consciousness he had, his wings were almost non-existing save for the few small feathers that were left.

‘How the hell did he fly here?!’ I slung his arm around my shoulder, my right arm wrapped around his waist, trying to hold him up. After about five steps Hawks lost all consciousness and became dead weight, making it hard for me to carry him.

“Hawks what happened to you?!” I used my telekinesis to help me bring him down the stairs and into my living room. Laying him down on the couch. I ran into the kitchen grabbing a small dish towel, running it under cold water, then running into the bathroom grabbing the first aid kit under the sink.

Running back to the couch I was able to finally take in his appearance. His usual beige colored and fur-lined coat was covered in blood, it looked old seeing as how it was all crusted. His pants were dirty and covered in tears, those brown leather gloves were gone as were his yellow visor and headphones. Not wasting any more time, I kneeled down, opening up the first aid kit.

“Okay, dove lets get you out of this coat.” Placing my arms around his torso I lifted him up, using my body to hold him. Hawks head fell on my shoulder, his chin hair tickling my neck. Bunching the coat in my hands I slid the heavy material off his shoulders, and since he had such small wings at the moment this was easy to do.

I threw the coat to the side, planning on washing it later, I held back onto him as I lowered him on the couch. Getting hold of the wet towel, I brushed his soft dirty blond hair out of his face. I couldn’t help but wince when I realized how badly he was beaten up.

“Oh Hawks, who did this to you?” I could already see a black and blue under his left eye, his lip was split open, dried blood around the wound. I started with the blood around his lip, trying to see exactly how bad it was.

“Fuck that hurts.” My eyes shot to his golden ones, well one, his other one was so messed up he couldn’t open it fully. “Whe-where am I?”

His eye was searching the room, trying to make sense of where he was, but drawing blanks. The panic in his face was becoming more evident. Gently touching his cheek I made him lock eyes with me.

“Hey, look it’s me, Quinn. You are safe, Hawks you’re safe, okay.” His widened eye started to relax as my words hit him and my face came into focus. His body visibly relaxing as I kept my hand on his cheek.

“Quinn? How did I get here?” He tried to sit up but winced in pain, falling back down on the couch.

“That’s what I would like to know, but later let's try to patch you up okay?” I continued to clean his face of the blood, putting ointments where he had open cuts. Pushing myself up off the ground I reached down to help him stand up.

“What are you doing?” Hawks was confused but still stood up in front of me.

“I have to check under your shirt for any other wounds.” Without another word I tucked my fingers in the hem of his shirt, my fingers brushing against his skin, pushing it up. He tried to stop my hands as they began to lift his shirt.

“Oh stop it, like I haven't seen a man's chest before, now let me do what I need to do.” I inspected his torso and didn't see any cuts or scrapes, just mild bruising. Pulling the shirt down I helped him lay back down.

“Mind telling me how and who fucked you up like this?” I was cleaning up the mess I made while in my frantic mode.

“A couple of low-grade criminals is all. One of them had a time warp quirk and one was a power quirk, not a great matchup for someone like me.” By the tone in his voice, I knew he was upset and embarrassed, he probably didn’t want me to see him like this.

“Why didn’t you call for backup? Shit, you should have called me silly.” I looked back down at him, a soft smile forming on my lips as I tilted my head to the right, my hair flowing over my shoulder. “You may be a man that's too fast, but I’m the woman who can keep up.” I bent down to grab the towel that was on the floor, only to feel Hawks palm on my cheek. Using his other arm he propped himself up, bringing his face closer to mine.

“The only woman that can keep up with me, I like the sound of that.” His voice came out as a gentle growl. I couldn’t look away from his golden eyes, there was something behind them, something that left my stomach in knots. It was as if I was under a spell that no matter what I couldn’t break. He kept leaning closer to me, his warm breath fanning over my slightly parted lips. Hawks’ hand that was on my cheek moved so it could cup my jaw. Soon I felt my eyes begin to close as he did, our lips just about to graze each other.

Suddenly the sound of the Imperial March from Star Wars echoed through the room, breaking the spell between us. I pulled back, eyes wide open. My cheeks hot from a blush that crept up. I looked at Hawks just as he flopped back on the couch, his arm covering his eyes as a deep sigh came out of him.

The song kept blaring trying to get my attention. I already knew who it was, my mother. Jogging into my room I picked up the small purple phone off my bed sliding the arrow on the screen to accept the call.

“Hey, mom!” I was still trying to calm down my racing heart.

“Quinn! Honey are you okay? You didn’t call me once you got home from work. I called your Uncle and he said he hadn't heard from you since yesterday!” I could hear the sheer panic in her voice, knowing that she hadn’t slept all night.

“I’m fine mom, just went to Shouto’s school to help out, then came home and took a shower. I was going to call you, I swear.” I may be in my late twenties but my mother still treated me like a baby at times. I couldn’t blame her though, I am her only child and well it’s been rough.

“Well, you could have just texted me.” Even though I couldn’t see her, I could see the pout on her face.

“I’m sorry mom. Wait what time is it there? It’s nine at night here.”

“Well my dear daughter it’s 8 am here and I have not slept because I thought my beautiful child was missing or hurt somewhere!” Shaking my head I knew that, that was coming, guilt trip. Classic Emiko.

“Oh my god mom, don’t start that.” I chuckled, stepping out of my room to check on Hawks. He still had his arm over his eyes, but his mouth was moving like he was talking to himself.

“I wouldn’t have to if you would just call your mother.” I sighed as I went back into my room. I put her on speaker as I went around the room looking for my hair tie. “Oh Quinnie, I wanted to ask if you're doing anything next month on the twentith?”

“No, not that I can't think of why?” Taking my hair in both hands I put it up in a messy bun, black and burgundy curls sticking up out of the bun. I continued to try and fix it when she dropped a bombshell.

“Well, I’ll be coming to visit for six months!” I halted my movements, staring at the phone wide-eyed.

“Wha-” I was going to say more only to hear a crash in my living room.

“Fuck!” I heard Hawks shout soon after the crash.

“What was that?!” My mom’s voice went back to worry as I grabbed the phone from my desk and turned it off the speaker.

“Hey mom I gotta go, I’ll call you back later!” Without even hearing her response I hung up the phone, tossing it back on my bed as I ran out of the room.

There in the middle of the living room floor was Hawks, face down on the ground, his fist gently pounding on the floor, muttering a string of cuss words.

“What the hell Hawks, are you all right?!” I ran to his side, trying to grab his hand to stop the pounding. Once the pounding stopped, I ran my hands through his soft blonde hair. I was trying to coax him into turning his head to look at me.

“Come on dove tell me what’s wrong.”  I continued to rub his head for the next five minutes and nothing happened.

“Hawks…” I gently grabbed his face, turning it towards me. The second my eyes landed on his face I couldn’t help but smile. He had fallen asleep from me petting his head. He looked so serene while he slept. I’ve seen his face countless times, more so in my head but still, I’ve never seen him look like this.

“Alright, you big bird let’s go on the couch.” I used my powers again to move him over to the couch. I figured the most comfortable position for him would be on his stomach, seeing as how even though he had barely any wings it would be uncomfortable on his back. I picked up his head to slide a small pillow under it and covered him with my blanket. I squatted down, running my hand through his silky hair once again.

“Goodnight Hawks.” I stared at him a little longer than I should have. I stood up ready to go call my mother again when I heard him mumble.

“Quinn...please….” I looked at him, my brows furrowed in confusion.

‘Is he dreaming of me?’ I returned down to my squat like before.

“Don’t...don’t go..” His face started to contort into a sad expression, a single tear falling from his eye.

I don’t know what possessed me to do it but I wiped his tear with my finger and leaned closer to him.

“I’m right here Keigo.” I gently pressed my lips against his temple. His soft hair brushing against my nose, tickling it. Pulling away I saw a slight smile form on his lips, his expression went back to the beautiful serene one.

He finally settled down after another minute or so, now snoring his life away. I had moved to my room, after putting his jacket in the wash and just sat in the middle of my bed, hugging a plushie of Mirko, as I thought back to the almost kiss.

‘What the hell was that?!’ His golden eyes replayed in my head, and how low his voice was when he said ‘The only woman that can keep up with me. I like the sound of that.’ I could feel my cheeks burn as I blushed.

“What the hell are you blushing for Quinn!? It’s just Hawks, a wild card, a guy that's five years younger than you. He's an arrogant, big-mouthed, rude, smart assed, man. It’s not like you lik-” I covered my mouth before the last words came out of my mouth.

Shaking my head I knew I had to get my mind off of the guy, so I texted Mirko to see if she wanted to go for a workout in the morning. Knowing that a good workout would set my head straight.

The next morning I woke up, my pajama’s all ruffled, black, and burgundy curls all over the place. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed onto the cold wooden floors. With my eyes, half-closed I slid my feet all around in search of my Winnie the pooh slippers. Once I had them on my feet I stood up, stretching my arms above my head, and that dull ache came shooting from my back again.

“Fucking feral child.” I cussed as I remembered exactly why my back hurt. Walking through the bedroom door I made my way to the kitchen, ready to make my coffee and breakfast before my workout with my good friend Rumi.

I glanced at the couch as I passed it to check on Hawks, who had one leg and arm hanging off the furniture while his other arm was slung over the back of it, and drooling. He was drooling on my nice pillow.

“God Hawks, you really can be an animal at times.” I turned my face up in disgust. ‘How could I possibly think about kissing him last night, look at him.’

I turned on my Keurig to heat up, making my way to the fridge. Grabbing a couple of eggs, onions, scallions, and cheese, I decided on making a nice healthy omelet and maybe some fruit on the side.

“Where am I?!” Hawks shot up from the couch screaming, nearly making me drop my plate.

“Holy shit Hawks! You scared the hell outta me, you damn bird brain!” If there was one thing I hated, it was jump scares of any kind.

“Quinn? How did I get here?” He slowly stood from the couch, looking around the apartment. I know I saw him last night but for some reason, he looked different to me as if he was more attractive. We were about the same height but he looked taller. The was his black and gold muscle shirt clung to him like saran wrap, showing off every definition of his chest and arm muscle. His hair messier more so than usual, lips puffy from sleep.

‘Stop it, Quinn!’ I shook my head as I placed my plate on the kitchen island.

“You flew here after a bad run-in with some low-grade villains.” I walked up to him, putting the back of my hand against his head. “Well, at least you don’t have a fever. You took quite the beating dove.” I pulled my hand from his forehead, going down I took his chin in between my thumb and pointer finger.

“The ointment I put on your lips seemed to start working and your eye isn’t as swollen as before.” As I examined his face I could see the slight blush forming on his cheeks.

“Sorry to have bothered you, firebird.” His voice was soft as if he was in trouble for something.

“You weren’t a bother Hawks, just next time please call me if you need backup. I’d hate to see my friends injured like that.” I had to remind myself he was my friend, and that’s it.

I saw him nod his head, his eyes roamed over my body, before coming back up to my eyes. “Nice jammies you got there princess.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

It wasn’t till that moment I remembered what I was wearing. “Shut up you ass! It’s my house and I can be as comfortable as I want, I could walk around naked if I wanted to.”

“Now that’s when I should come here!” I pressed a finger to the bruised area on his cheek causing him to wince. “Oh yeah!?”

Hawks grabbed me by my waist, his fingers started to move fast, tickling me. I tried to move out of his grasp but he was stronger, even though he was beaten up.

“Hawks stop!” I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, tears falling from my eye. “Come on stop!!” No matter what he did not stop. I moved slightly back, the back of my knees hitting the coffee table. I was about to fall over when Hawks wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my body flush against his.

“Hey Quinn, you ready for the work...out..? My, my what have I hopped in on?” We both looked at the door to see Mirko standing there, her spare key and carrot keychain hanging from her hands.

I pushed Hawks away from me, fixing my top that had ridden up. “Nothing, just some guy pretending to be hurt so he could take advantage of my kindness.”

Mirko pretended to gasp, her hand coming up to her chest. “Hawks how could you?!”

“Ha-ha-ha, you’re both hysterical.” He had pulled out his phone from his pocket. It looked like he was texting someone.

“I’m gonna go change real quick.” I walked back into my room, leaving the bunny and the bird alone.

It only took me ten minutes to change into my workout clothes, which consisted of a hot pink sports bra, black biker shorts, and a pair of running shoes. My hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and my hands wrapped like boxers, knowing full well that I and Mirko were going to do hand to hand combat.

Making sure my hands were wrapped properly I sauntered back into the living room.

“Really!?” I heard Mirko yell, as she laughed in Hawks’ face. His face had turned red as she continued to laugh.

“Shut up Rumi!” Hawks hissed between his teeth once he noticed my presence in the room.

“What did I miss?” I looked between the two. Mirko was trying to collect herself from laughing so much and Hawks looked panicked, his eyes wide as he kept glancing at me and at Mirko.

“Hawks said-” With a quick movement, Hawks jumped over the couch to get to Mirko as he covered her mouth with his hand.

He had one of those fake smiles plastered on his lips. “I said nothing!” He looked back at Mirko, his face turned serious as he whispered in her large bunny-like ears.

“Okay…” I walked past them going to the kitchen, I still had my suspicions about the two. “I’m just gonna eat my breakfast and then we can head out.” I reached down into the fridge to get a water bottle when I felt someone touch the bruise on my back.

“That’s a nasty bruise you got there, Q.” I had flinched a little from her touch.

“Yeah I went to U.A. yesterday to help class 1-A train and that kid Bakugou threw me into the side of the building. It hurt like a bitch but I’ll be alright.”

“That was the one who won the sports festival right?” Hawks was next to touch the mark, but his touch sent chills down my spine. His soft touch against my bare skin felt like icicles against my warm skin.

“Yeah.” I didn’t mean to sound cold when I said it, but I couldn't help it. Moving away from his touch I closed the fridge.

I took a swig of the water, glancing at his face, he looked puzzled but before he could say anything his phone went off.

“Hello?” I turned around walking away from the two of us. Mirko took this opportunity to talk to me.

“I thought you had fire quirk, not an ice one, cause that was cold.” She stood next to me with her arms crossed, her foot tapping against the floor.

“I’ll talk to you about it later, it’s a lot.”

“I’m gonna head out ladies, my ride's here.” Hawks made his way to the front door. I didn't want to be like this towards him but right now he was messing with my head, and I needed space.

“I’ll have my uncle’s sidekick bring your coat back when it’s cleaned.” Not even sparing him a glance, I went to my forgotten food. I could feel Mirko’s stern stare on me.

Hawks just nodded as he sent a wave over to Mirko before shutting my door.

“Do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on with you?” Mirko is the type of person to not hold back on anything.

“First we can just go workout, I got a lot of stress to release.”

“Fine but the minute I beat your ass in combat, you gotta talk Hunny-bun.”

All I could do was smile at her. “Who says you're gonna win?”

Throwing myself on the floor of the boxing ring, my chest was rapidly falling up and down as I tried to catch my breath. Mirko was a monster when it came to combat, she never held back, not even for a second.

“You’ve gotten better, but nowhere near beating me.” She flopped down next to me, chugging her water, then passing it to me.

“That's because you're insane!” I heard her low chuckle as I dowsed my face with the water. “Seriously Mirko, like what the hell? Are you even real?”

“Whatever, don’t think I forgot about this morning now spill!” She gave me a swift punch in my arm.

So I told her, I told her everything. From the lighthouse moment to the moment she walked in on our tickle fight. Tucking my arms behind my head I just laid on the floor, looking at the ceiling.

“I don’t know, what do you think? Am I crazy?”

“Nah I don’t think you're crazy.” She was still sitting next to me, her arm was across my stomach, making her lean over my body. I’ve only known her for a short amount of time, but she was the first hero to be genuine with me. Besides Hawks that is, but he was a different case.

“What should I do? I want us to stay friends and just friends, but the sexual tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife.” Her long hair was tickling my exposed stomach. Reaching down I played with it between my fingers. “I just have to get my mind off of him.”

“I know a perfect way.” She leaned down, her face coming closer to mine. “You need to be fucked, that way all that pent up sexual tension could be transferred to someone else.”

“Oh yeah and by who?” I laughed at just the thought of it.

Mirko had a devilish grin on her face, that scared me a little.

“Mirko, this better work.” I looked at my friend as she walked in front of me. I had to admit she looked hot. She had on a pantsuit, but instead of a shirt, she wore nothing under her blazer. A long gold chain with the initial M hung from the end of it and she had on black stiletto heels. We walked past a group of men who couldn’t help but stare at us as we passed, mouths to the ground.

“Oh trust me, with you looking that sexy, it’s gonna work.” She wrapped her arm around mine as she pulled me to the front entrance. I did have to admit I did feel sexy in my dress. It was a baby blue, satin bodycon spaghetti strap mini dress, that came up mid-thigh. The way it hugged my curves was perfect, and it was low enough to show off my cleavage but not enough that I had to worry about my boobs popping out when I danced. The sound of my clear open toe heels could be heard, stepping in rhythm with Mirko’s.

“Hey, big red.” Mirko stopped at the entrance of the club she decided to take me to. A man that had to have been at least seven foot tall, stood at the door.

“I feel like it’s been a while Mirko. How have you been?”

“Same old, same old! Just taking my new friend from the states out on the town. Phoenix, this is Big Red, Big Red, meet Phoenix.”

“Nice to meet you.” I went to give him a handshake but he just scooped me up in one arm, lifting me into the air. “Oh, we're a hugger I see!” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, I should have warned you.” Big red put me back down on the ground. “Is our table ready, I called Daichi earlier.”

“Yeah! Come on in ladies.” Big Red opened the door for us. As soon as he did the bass from the music vibrated through my body, the lights on the ceiling moved in time with the music, people singing and dancing along with the DJ. It was amazing.

“I see Daichi!” Mirko shouted over the music, pulling my hand as she led me through the crowd.

“It’s about time you go here Mirko!” When she finally stopped I could see a fairly tall guy, he had long black hair, tied up in a messy bun. His features were that of a god, his gaze would have anybody stopping in their tracks. His dark sharp eyes would pull you in, while his charming smile had you blushing like a schoolgirl with a crush. He wore a simple black and white flower-patterned button-down with his sleeves rolled up and black jeans. Even with something so simple he looked so hot.

“Sorry, my friend took a while to get ready. Phoenix, this is Daichi, one of my best friends and owner of the club. This is Phoenix, she’s a pro from the states.” Mirko took a seat in the black leather horseshoe booth, pouring herself a glass of vodka.

“Nice to meet you Daichi.” I stuck my hand out for a handshake. His large hand grasped it gently.

“To meet a beautiful woman such as yourself, the pleasure is all mine.”

I smirked at him as I took a seat next to Mirko. “Your right Mirko this may work.”

The night passed on and the drinks kept flowing and I got closer and closer to Daichi. I learned that he was a year older than me, quirkless, and no relations to heroes besides being friends with Mirko. He was the opposite of Hawks and that's what I need.

“So Phoenix does a woman with your stature dance with a quirkless man?” He stood up, his hand out for me to take it.

“If the man is you, I’ll make an exception.” I handed my purse to Mirko as she flirted with someone she met at the bar.

Daichi guided me to the dance floor, just as a song with a slow sensual beat blared through the speakers. Once we got to the dance floor, Daichi turned me around, his hands were on my hips. My body started to sway with the beat against his, my butt was grinding against his pelvis.

With each seductive roll, his body met mine, with my back pressed against his chest, I could feel the alcohol run through me. I let it take over my body, not caring about anything. I just wanted to feel the man behind me as he slowly ground himself against me.

There were no words exchanged between us as we continued our sinful dance, or as we made our way to my apartment. Even as he pinned me against the wall, his lips hot on my neck, leaving a trail of kisses down to my chest. His cock, hard and pressed against my leg or when he moaned my name all night while I let him fuck me. I was doing this for myself, I needed to get that image of Hawks’ smiling face out of my head. And if that meant I had to find a surrogate for my desires for him so be it.

‘This is just how it has to be Hawks.’

[fairymadnessyeah]

Memories of the past

Or My Erasermic week day 1 2020

This takes place in my Shigaraki Youtuber AU.

You can find the fic in AO3 here--------------------------------------------------------------------> https://archiveofourown.org/works/23484736/chapters/57040882

And the AU Series here--->https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601044

Notes:  I completely headcanon Aizawa and Hizashi having a crush on each other in high school, but believing that the other had a crush on Oboro, so they would silently pine over the other, accepting they had 'one-sided' feeling, and Oboro would be in the middle of it all, trying to play matchmaker with Nemuri.

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meet cute/first kisses / a fresh start

It was a relatively normal day for class 2a. The weekend was in full swing, and the students were either studying, playing or simply hanging around the common area of the dorm. Shinsou entered the place, carrying two boxes with him.

"Hey Shinsou, what's with those boxes?" Kaminari asks him. He was talking with Ashido while they waited for Jirou to finish her project to listen to it.

"My parents had to clean off their home-office, and this is supposed to be all my stuff," He explained. Hizashi and Aizawa had been planning to clear off that storage room for years, but never got to it. Although now that Eri was living with them, the perfect moment to clean the office had finally appeared.

"You have your baby stuff in there?" Ashido asked excited, concentrating the attention of the others in the room.

"Maybe?" Ashido let out a squeal and took the two boxes from the purpled haired teen. Leaving them in one of the tables and opening them.

Shinsou shrugged as she went through the first box. He had little to be ashamed of, and there weren't many pictures of him as a child. He had hated being in photos when Aizawa and Hizashi had first fostered him. Only after they adopted him, did he seemed okay with the idea, and that was when he was around 10-11 years old.

Mina, and the half the class that gathered round to see, took all of the things inside the first box. There was a fluffy blanket with cats ("That was Nemuri sensei's first birthday present," Shinsou told them as he touched the blanket nostalgically.) , an ugly green sweater that also had cat faces in it  ("Eri has the same one, Aizawa has terrible taste," The others winced at the atrocious piece.) , an old lilac sock-puppet cat with long arms and legs ("Its name its Mr soft paws and I couldn't sleep without it, okay!" Shinsou admitted after a little of convincing and threats of taking it. He was completely red.)  and a used ukelele  ("Mic taught me how to play but I forgot most of the lessons," Shinsou tells them).

Then they opened the second box, now everybody had dropped what they were doing to hear Shinsou's childhood stories with their teachers.

"Look at this retro aviator jacket!" Kaminari says as he tries on the item.

"That's... not mine," Shinsou says confused.

"I think it belongs to your parents," Jirou deduces as she takes a lot of CD's off the box. "These are all very old bands and some of them I haven't even heard about them,"

"What is this?" Sero asks as he takes black plastic rectangles from the box.

"Those are VHS!" Momo says. "They are like old DVD's, maybe there are home movies recorded on them!"

"I have an old VHS player in my room, I'll go get it!" Izuku says as he runs to his room.

As they wait for Izuku, the others take out even more CD's and some photo albums. They don't get to open them though as Midoriya comes back with the device. They spent a couple of minutes trying to connect it to the TV, but they made it and they put on the first tape.

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It was night time and in the middle of the woods. Small chuckles could be heard through the video. The camera points to a tent and a tall young teenager, who was wearing a black undershirt and UA sport uniform pants, zip it open. The guy has white hair styled upwards and he is holding a tiny airhorn. He is trying to hide his laugh by covering his mouth as he shakes the small device.

"C'mon, Oboro, do it," An amused voice comes from the one filming.

The guy, Oboro, places his hand holding the horn inside and with a big smile, sounds it off. A lot of screaming follows.

"Ahhhhhh! What the Hell!? Who is that!?" A young Aizawa pops his head out of the tent and scowls at the retreating and dying of laughter albino and the shaking cameramen. "Hizashi, Oboro, you're  dead !"

"No, no, no,Shouta, No!"

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The video was paused. All the student were speechless. Because that was his teacher. A smaller, younger version of his teacher. In what seemed to be a camping trip. And somebody played a prank on him.

His teacher had been a stupid teenager.

They knew that Aizawa had been their age at some point, but seeing id beliving.

"Keep playing it!" Sero shouted in a frenzy. Exited, astonished and confused for seeing his mature and logical teacher doing things they had done.

The others joined in. Demanding they keep watching, and the video was unpaused again.

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This time the video started in a bus, but the same low chuckles sounded through the tape. Aizawa and Hizashi senseis were sleeping right next to each other in the seats of the bus wearing the normal school uniform. The camera moves as a voice asks somebody to hold it. The boy from before comes into the picture, the guy their homeroom teacher called Oboro. He goes behind them, and moves Hizashi's head to Aizawa's shoulder and then places Aizawa's head over it. Both Oboro and the new camera crew are failing in trying to keep their laughter quiet.

Then, Aizawa opens his eyes and the Oboro guy goes away. Aizawa looks to his sleeping arrangement, then to the camera, back to the blonde and finally stays with the camera.

"Stop filming," The awake future teacher whispers as his face turns red.

More chuckles from outside the frame. "No way, this is gold," A low voice whispers back.

"Oboro, stop filming," The young raven whispers threateningly at the camera, giving it his scarry 'shut-up-class' stare but still blushing.

"Come here and make me, Shouta," The guy Oboro whispers in a challenging way. Aizawa moves, slowly and trying not to bother the other, but the blonde moans and stirs, making him stop dead where he is. Hizashi, then, reaches his arms around the raven and hugs him closer, placing his face in his neck. Somehow, Aizawa's blush deepens and Oboro's laugh gets louder. "Oh my god, Shouta, your face!... I didn't know it could get to that colour!" The boy continues to whisper.

"I hate you," Shouta whispers back and touches the back of the cuddling blonde.

Said blonde starts to stir and blinks himself awake. He looks up to his partner, get as red as a tomato and flings himself off the bus-seat with a 'WAAHH!'. His feet are over the handle and his back against the floor of the bus. Oboro laughs even harder and moves the camera to the blonde, showing a blushing Present Mic as he covers his face in embarrassment and repeatedly says he is sorry. When the camera returns to Aizawa, the boy is pouting with his arms crossed and looking through the window.

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The video starts on the UA campus. The camera is pointed to an Oboro in his school uniform.

"Are you filming?" He asks to the camera and a feminine voice responds positively. "Alright, this is my last idea. If this doesn't work nothing will. Go to the other side of the field and hide under the bleachers, and make sure you film everything. Text me when you get there,"

"Roger," The feminine voice answers and turns the camera to two other young teens. One with a scar across his face and the other was a Tenya-look-alike without his glasses. "Follow me, men," She says and starts her way through one of UA's fields until she and then gets under the bleachers. The small group travels until they stop and point the camera to a young Hizashi and Aizawa, sitting on the opposite bleachers and using their sports uniform. The two are contentedly talking and each have the end an earpiece, probably listening to the rectangular thing they were connected to.

A pair of hands suddenly appear near the backsides of their heads through the space between the seats. Then, the hands grab their heads and smash their faces together. The reaction was instant.

The camera shook in excitement as the small team laughed and got amused, so you could barely see the two blushing teenagers with how much it moved. When the camera focused again, Aizawa and Hizashi weren't there anymore.

"WORTH IT!" Oboro shouted as he ran across the field, Aizawa and Hizashi close behind him.

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The next video started on UA's auditorium. Aizawa and Hizashi were seated on the audience as well as the camera. The two were giggling with the same feminine voice asking what was she filming. Then they turn on the lights of the stage. And as the camera turns to the stage, Oboro that looks naked is picking up his stuff. The camera shakes and Oboro leaves the stage while the other ex-students laugh.

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The class keep on watching and watching going through all of the tapes. They saw one where Aizawa threw their English teacher like a ragdoll in the sports festival, they saw them work together on the cultural festival, they saw them with Kayama sensei, Kan sensei and Iida's brother, Tensei. And they also saw the guy Oboro.

They were on one tape where they had all gone on a road trip, renting a camper van and following a band for the summer before the school camp. They were watching as Aizawa and Kan sensei were getting in a fight with Tensei and Oboro trying to stop them while Yamada and Kayama cheered for them when said woman stepped into the dorm's common area.

"What are you watching?" She asked as they paused the home-video and she got a better look.

"Well-" Shinsou started but never got to finish.

"Oh, I remember that day! We got kicked out of the bar!" Kayama sensei tells them and sits with them to watch.

Sensei Kayama answered every doubt they had and gave them context to the videos and pictures. They watch for a couple of more minutes with the only grown-up commenting on what was happening until Jirou asked what type of concert was that.

"Oh it was the moving concert of Japan, for two entire weeks you followed the concert through the road. You guys would have liked it, too bad the internet killed it," The woman explains.

"How did the Internet killed a concert?" Shouto asks confused.

"What made the moving concert so great was that you didn't know where it was going to go next. The only way to find out was by a connection, if someone called you or by the radio," She explains. "With Social Media, everybody knew in a matter of seconds, so the whole thing lost its magic," Then, she turned to the TV and squealed. "You are going to love the next video!"

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The video started in a bar with some sort of stage. Oboro was climbing on it and once he was on it, he took the microphone.

"Hello, people! How are you doing?" He started talking. "Before you throw me out of the stage, my two best friends who have been pining over each other for a year and a half, are making out in the parking lot right about now, and I want to embarrass the shit out of them, so do you want to help?" A murmur goes around until it transforms into clapping. "Okay, alright. Now, when my two friends come through that door, I need you to scream, shout, clap, celebrate, go ape-shit-crazy!" Even more clapping happens.

"They're coming!" A voice shouts in the background and Oboro shushes everyone.

The lights of the bar dims. The camera moves to the front door and through it stepped in young Aizawa and Hizashi hand in hand. There is silence for a minute and then the whole bar explodes. People are cheering as if their favourite team won the world cup, streamers and confetti flow around, the music to 'Celebration' is going on. And Aizawa and Hizashi are in the middle of it. Both blushing like crazy and squeezing the other's hand.

"KIIIIIISSSSSSS!!!!!" Somebody screams, starting a chant. The chant kept growing until Aizawa grabbed Hizashi's face and kisses him. To which the bar explodes again.

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The days after the weekend, when Aizawa entered his class, everybody clapped and cheered, and then giggled, as if it was some part of an inside joke. And it got even worse when his husband came in for English, as they also put the song 'Celebration', as they laughed

[bestfrownsforever]

Frown of Doom: Chapter 1

(Cover art by me)

That’s right, it’s FINALLY here, everyone!  :D Now prepare yourselves, it’s a big one…

The Unikingdom was sunny and bright as always, and as some of the citizens watched from the bright pink bleachers by the castle, others hopped around in a three-legged race.  They were all enjoying themselves except for Q.T. and Toaster, who struggled to stay in the lead.  The competition was very close behind them, making them sweat.  But before they knew it they tripped and crossed the finish line.  Confetti spread, party lights shone, airhorns went off, and Toast popped out of Toaster with an “OOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Princess Unikitty cheerfully flew over to the finish line.  “And that’s the end this year’s Unikingdom Three-Legged Race Festival!“ she announced, "Congrats on a job well done, Q.T., Toaster, and Toast!”  All the citizens cheered.

“In fact,” Unikitty continued, “I’d say you guys have made this race the kingdom’s best one yet!”

“Yeah sis,” her little brother Puppycorn agreed as he ran her way, “it was a lot of fun!”

Dr. Fox walked over with a clipboard in her hands.  "Numbers don’t lie,” she said as she typed away at a calculator, “and even analytics determined that this was been the best three-legged race in the kingdom’s history!”

“Especially when everyone who fell got back up again to keep going,” Hawkodile said as he swooped in.

“Couldn’t agree more, Hawkodile!“ Unikitty chirped. She flew up into the air again, announcing "Now let’s all party!” to the racers and audience alike.

The music and lights began again as Unikitty, her friends and the citizens began the dance party.  Richard floated over to them, paying extra attention to the spilled confetti and the racers’ dirty bodies.

“Princess, in this mess? Are you sure?” he asked.  “Of course!” Unikitty replied, “Besides, today’s been great! Even if we didn’t fix anything, there’s nothing that can go wrong!”

Everyone kept dancing as Richard only stared.  “I wouldn’t count on it,” he said, no one bothering to listen.

(Art by @x-master-brock-x​)

As the party went on, Master Frown and Possessed Brock parked their (horribly repainted) car behind Unikitty’s castle.  They hopped out, shielding their eyes.

“Ughh, forgot how bright it is here,“ Master Frown grunted.  “You can say that again,” Possessed Brock groaned in agreement.  “Well I’m not going to,” Master Frown bragged as his eyes glowed, “because I’m too starting a ‘special announcement.’”

The speakers in the kingdom streets roared with static and the party came to a screeching halt.  Everyone in the kingdom went silent out of confusion and in some cases, fear.

“Guys, what’s going on?“ Unikitty worriedly asked.  “Someone must’ve hacked into the speakers!” Dr. Fox assumed. She tried to run off and fix them when Hawkodile held her and their other friends back.  “This could be dangerous, everyone stay back!” he warned.

The speakers’ static cleared and everyone began listening to a familiar voice they had almost forgotten about.

“Hello?  Hello?  Is this thing woking?  Ok, my name is…no, that’s stupid, you already know who I am.  It’s just been such a looong time since you’ve even heard about me.  And trust me, there’s a reason.  While you bozos were ‘busy’ with your stupid little ‘positive’ lifestyle, I’ve become bigger and stronger than ever before! I’m not your pesky milk-spiller anymore, no.  I’m ready to do worse.  Far worse!  I bet none of you will even be breathing by the time I’m done with this kingdom!  I’d suggest you’d all run and hide but it doesn’t matter.  I’ll find you no matter what, even if it’s just revenge that keeps me going.  So hear me out, idiots: your hours are numbered, not even your days!”  Master Frown finished his announcement with an evil laugh, unlike any he ever let out before.

Possessed Brock kept his stare on Master Frown as the doom lord walked back to the car.  “Uhh, you mean we’re gonna find them no matter what?” he asked.

“Yeah, yeah, but…” Master Frown paused, his eyes glowing brighter yet.  “…actually, I’ve got an even better idea now!”  Master Frown laughed again, tossing a walkie-talkie to Possessed Brock and walking away.  “Uh..’thank you Brock!?’” Possessed Brock sarcasm was almost as strong as his disappointment.

(Art by @pastel-gothicorn​)

Back at the party, citizens ran in circles and screamed as Unikitty and her friends froze in disbelief, aside from Richard and Puppycorn.

“Well I did say I wouldn’t count on it,” Richard said. 

“Wait, who was that?” Puppycorn asked.  “Master Frown!” Hawkodile yelled at the puppy prince, “And now he could actually be dangerous!”  “But this is is still Master Frown,” Richard reminded him, “We need to consider if he’s as dangerous as he says he is.”

“Well come on guys, we’ve been through a lot worse before,” Unikitty declared, “so whatever he does, we just gotta stay positive!”  “Exactly!” Dr. Fox agreed, “Starting with…”  Dr. Fox took out a megaphone, cleared her throat, and yelled from the top of her lungs to the citizens:

“EVERYONE RUN AND HIDE!!!  THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL!  THIS COULD BE THE KINGDOM’S BIGGEST CATASTROPHE YET!  STAY INDOORS, LOCK YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS, OR BETTER YET, EVACUATE THE KINGDOM IF THERE’S ANYWHERE YOU CAN GO!  UNTIL WE’RE SAFE AGAIN, YOU NEED TO RUN AND HIDE OR ELSE MASTER FROWN WILL GET YOU!!!”

Every single citizen obeyed, flooding the kingdom streets and squabbling for their lives from someone who really didn’t care much about them.  Their princess watched as the animosity grew, the opposite of what she wanted.

“Dr. Fox was that really necessary?” she asked her friend, “Even at his worst you know Master Frown can’t be THAT bad.”  “Yes, possibly,” Dr. Fox replied, fixing her glasses, “But you heard what he said, and if we don’t take what he says seriously we could be goners!  Luckily I know exactly what to do.  To the lab!”  Dr. Fox jumped down a hole that appeared through the floor, leaving her friends behind.

Puppycorn optimistically broke the silence.  “So if Master Frown’s coming back, that means we can all use our super rad skills to stop him, right?  Or at least I think we all have skills.  What can you do, Rick?”

“I can tell you that if we really are in danger,” Richard replied, “the best course of action would be to stand our ground and raise the castle’s defen-“ “FIGHT TO THE DEATH!!!” Hawkodile interrupted.  As Richard signed, Unikitty and Puppycorn came closer to Hawkodile.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Puppycorn shouted as sparkle matter popped from his head.  “Yeah!  I guess.” Unikitty agreed.  As the friends split up, Master Frown and Possessed Brock watched from afar.

“Good,” Master Frown rubbed his hands as his eyes dimly glowed, “now time for the perfect plan to begin!”  He pointed to his henchman.  “Brock, start with the fox nerd’s lab everyone should be fair game without a better way to fight back.  But leave Unikitty alive.  She’s mine to take.”  His eyes became brighter and his smile widened.  “And once she realizes all her friends are gone…”  His words turned more and more into giggles until he erupted into wicked laughter again.  He dashed away into his car and drove off, leaving Possessed Brock behind.

“Wait, where are you going!?”

                                                        : ~~~ :

Down in her lab, Dr. Fox's mind raced in a million different directions at once: about how amazing and complex she could make her inventions, how dangerous Master Frown really was if worse came to worse like he said, how she'd be the hero to save the kingdom by taking him down, or even how absurd it was that water could travel faster than lava but not as fast as Puppycorn could eat all the food in the castle. And all as she was working on several advanced weapons. As she finished another laser gun, Richard floated down from the ceiling to see her.

"Oh hi, Richard!" Dr. Fox turned around and greeted him, "You're just in time! Check it out," She picked up a long, thin bazooka. "This is the Higher-Upper, meant for super long-ranged distance."  She picked up another gun that unleashed a sword when she pressed the trigger, but kept it in the muzzle. "And this one's called the Razor Revolver!" she announced as she swung the gun and attached blade around, "I borrowed some of Hawkodile's swords to make this one." Richard worriedly watched as Dr. Fox pushed the sword back through its cylinder.

"Dr. Fox I appreciate your determination," Richard said, "but this seems a little...overkill."

"Rick," Dr. Fox insisted, "whatever plan Master Frown has to wipe us out could be 'overkill'!"

"Yes but that's not what I mean," Richard explained, "I'm afraid that if you're not careful, these inventions could be more dangerous than Master Frown himself. You have to work with the rest of us if we're going to come up with a proper solution, I mean did you even ask Hawkodile if you could use his swords to begin with?"

"Uh..." Dr. Fox face went blank and she lowered her head. "No."

Richard floated closer. "I rest my case. It's not a good idea to come up with solutions this way." "Yeah but Rick, you gotta show a little more confidence," Dr. Fox assured him, lifting her flamethrower, "We can do this together, like you said, but not without the proper set of arms!"

Richard screamed as Dr. Fox used the flamethrower right in front of him. He could hardly stay calm like Dr. Fox suggested as she stopped and looked up smiling.

"Uh huh," Richard somewhat agreed, "well I'm staying here just in case."

"Be my guest!" Dr. Fox winked, "I guess I could use your approval after all."

She continued work on her weapons as Richard sighed, his tired eyes following her busy paws.

(Art by @friffinx​)

                                                        : ~~~ :

“Come in PB, this is Best Doom Lord Ever, do you copy?” Master Frown’s voice asked through the walkie-talkie.

“Enough with the code names, I told you they’re dumb!” Possessed Brock groaned in a dead-panned voice, “But yes, loud and clear.  Now where did you go!?”  “Nowhere too important, just to get the Frown-copter,” Master Frown shrugged.

“The WHAT!?” Possessed Brock yelled, “You went back to Frowntown!?  Why didn’t you just find her and get it over with!?  You’re making things a lot harder for yourself, man.”

“First of all someone needs to remind you what the word ‘distraction’ means,” Master Frown began, “secondly I’m already on my way back, and third it’s either this or more long trips by car or foot, take your pick.”

“Neither of us have feet,” Possessed Brock said bluntly.  “YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!” Master Frown yelled.  “YES I DID!” Possessed Brock yelled back, “That was just fun.”

“Well the last thing I need you to do is make fun of me and the first is get to the lab!” Master Frown ranted as he started up the helicopter.  “Don’t worry, I’m almost there.” Possessed Brock bitterly confirmed.

“Good, now don’t let me down!” Master Frown declared, “We’re getting that disgusting cat no matter what!”  He laughed manically again, but Possessed Brock couldn’t stand what sounded to him like a cat choking on nails anymore.  Rolling his eyes, he pressed the walkie-talkie’s power button and groaned as he continued on his way to the castle.

                                                       : ~~~ :

Inside the treehouse dojo, Puppycorn wagged his tail and eagerly followed Hawkodile’s every move as the bodyguard opened a chest of weapons.  Unikitty only stared, still believing that Hawkodile was overreacting a little.

“No, you two still don’t understand what’s really going on here,” he warned again, “Master Frown’s trying to kill us all, Princess.  As in actually kill us!  And as your bodyguard that’s something I’ll never let him do.  Besides, when he says he’ll find us no matter what, don’t you think you should take that even a little seriously?”

“Well I’m taking it seriously!” Puppycorn replied confidently, “Why else would we be here other than to test out our sweet fighting skills so we can kick his bingleberry butt?”

Unikitty and Hawkodile exchanged glances, knowing well that poor Puppycorn wouldn’t last a second in any real combat.

(Art by @pastel-gothicorn​, again)

“Well you’re not wrong,” Hawkodile sighed, “It’s five of us against one pest, if you can even call Frown that anymore.”  At that moment Unikitty came to a horrible realization.

“WAIT WHAT ABOUT BROCK!?” she yelled, “We were so caught up in Master Frown this whole time that we didn’t stop and think about him!” Her guilt came on fast, and it showed.  “Huh, yeah what about him?” Hawkodile said,  “He’s always been a real cool guy so it’s a tough call.”

“Maybe Master Frown turned him into a robot,” Puppycorn suggested, “And he’s also an evil jerkface who wants to destroy the kingdom until we stop him and save the day!”  He began playfully mimicking a fight between robotic and heroic characters.

“Well, what if he’s trying to help us?” Unikitty cheerfully suggested.  “Oh yeah that too, good call,” Puppycorn agreed, “Or both!”  He gasped, wagging his tail.  “What if he’s really on both sides!?”

As the siblings went on, Hawkodile hung and shook his head.  He lifted a heavy axe.  “Puppycorn actually has a point,” he said.  “I do?” Puppycorn gasped happily.  “He does?” Unikitty asked.

“Brock’s probably coming after us the same way Frown is, so I hate to think this way but…” he swung the axe around and held its back towards hi, “better safe than sorry.”

Unikitty gasped.  “But I don’t want to hurt him!  He could still be the amazingly wonderful blocky guy we always knew, even if he and Master Frown really are evil.”  She paused.  “Wait, I didn’t make any sense, did I?”  “No you didn’t,” Hawkodile said, “You know what?  He’s always been kinda confusing as is, so let’s just focus on Master Frown.”

“Ok,” Puppycorn and Unikitty agreed in unison, one more willing than the other.

                                                       : ~~~ :

“And this one was made especially for you!” Dr. Fox said as she handed another new invention to Richard; a silver dart gun.  When Richard pulled the trigger, out came a tranquilizer with a paperclip shaped like a needle.

“Wow, silent but effective,” Richard admired, “You know me so well.”  “Of course I do!” Dr. Fox replied, “It’s not actually effective though but hey, it makes for a great distraction while the rest of us do the actual fighting.”  Richard’s face changed to disappointed as Dr. Fox pointed to another table.  “I also have some cleaning supplies in some bigger and longer guns in case you need them.”  Richard floated over to the table and picked up a mop rifle.

“This makes me question your decisions and faith in me more, but I think I’ll keep them.  Thank you,” he complimented with a warm smile.  “Hey no problem!” Dr. Fox humbly bragged.

“‘No problem?’  Hah, that’s cute,” an eerily familiar voice echoed down the lab hallway.

Dr. Fox and Richard slowly turned to their left.  Possessed Brock was coming closer and closer, scraping his scythe on the wall and chuckling as if he were a Doom Lord himself, the shrill symphony accompanied by his evil smile.

“Oh no!!!” Dr. Fox yelled, grabbing Richard, “How did we forget about Brock!?”  “I don’t know, but we have to do something-“ Richard’s voice shook until Possessed Brock swung his scythe in between them.  Both would-be victims screamed as they dodged him and ran in different directions.

Trying to defend himself, Richard aimed his new dart gun at Possessed Brock as his body shook and he began breathing heavily.  Possessed Brock looked in the floating brick’s direction in enough time to see the paperclip fired at him and flick it away.  He raced toward Richard, swinging his scythe only for the brick to avoid being sliced every time.

“Dr. Fox you have to do something or we’re going to die down here!”  Richard called out as he evaded death.  “What does it look like I’m trying to do!?” the doctor replied, peeking her head out from behind a stash of weapons.  Possessed Brock turned around and ran in her direction, jumping into the air to strike her.  Dr. Fox ducked and rolled away, leaving many of her new inventions behind to be smashed to bits.

“NO, MY WEAPONS!!!” Dr. Fox cried.  Richard floated in from behind her as Possessed Brock got up.

“Well isn’t that a fitting reaction,” he commented, “Didn’t know what to expect though.”  He jumped up to strike them again, Richard floating through the floor and Dr. Fox, scrambling to find what other weapons she left lying around.  The Razor Revolver caught her eye, and she crawled as fast as she could to get a hold of it.  She tried holding it properly until she felt the assassin coming her way and pressed the trigger.  Out came a sword in just enough time to save Dr. Fox and give her more time to run back and charge at Possessed Brock.  He charged back, and their blades clashed.

(Art by @samthecookielord​)

As the fight went on, the Frown-copter flew through the cloudy skies, its driver’s eyes glowing with the mere though of what was to come.  Nothing scared him; not the dark clouds, the lighting, or the loud engine giving signs of failing, until a crow flew by and crashed into the front window.

“Out of the way, bird!” Master Frown shouted, swiping with his hand.  But before he could press the wipers button, a swarm of dim red light and fire enveloped the crow and flung it away along with the movement of his hand.  Master Frown pressed the brakes.

“Wait a minute,” he realized, “I REALLY CAN MOVE STUFF WITH MY MIND!!!”

He laughed again as he drove the helicopter and controlled different of its functions at once using just his mind.  Buttons, switches, and fans kept going on and off, all of it meaning nothing to the driver other than his powers were indeed getting stronger.

The forces of good and evil continued their fight in the lab, avoiding each other’s attacks and scowling, knowing that they were both so close yet so far from winning.  Possessed Brock swung his scythe over himself again when he stiffened.  He groaned, holding his face with one hand and his scythe with the other.  Dr. Fox watched, confused as to what was going on and wondering if she should keep her guard down.  The red light in Brock’s eyes and demonic sounds in his voice faded as he opened his eyes.  He looked around the lab he never thought he’d miss, then at Dr. Fox, staring with equally bewildered eyes.

“W…Dr. Fox??” Brock asked, his head (or lack thereof) still hurting, “What am I doing down here?  What’s going on…d-did he really get back to the kingdom like he said he would!?  No no no NO NO NOOOOOO!!!”  He dropped to the floor out of guilt.

“Brock, what do you mean?” Dr. Fox walked over to him, “Why aren’t your eyes red anymore?”  “He mind controlled me, that’s why!” Brock clenched his fists and grunted in the middle of his breakdown.  “Wait mind control?  Since when could he do that?” Dr. Fox asked, “Either way it does explain why you were just trying to kill me and Richard.”

Brock gasped, tears staining to the lab floor.

“Listen, I am SO SO sorry, I didn’t mean to do any of it!  I’d never hurt you, or any of our friends, or anyone who lives here!  You didn’t do anything wrong, and I would’ve warned you if I could but the last thing I remember was being told we were coming back here and that he had to control me again.”

“Well,” Dr. Fox suggested, trying to calm him down, “how about we put our weapons down and talk more about this?”  “Really?” Brock dropped his scythe and looked her in the eyes again.  “Definitely!” Dr. Fox helped him up.

“I’ve helped people with their problems plenty of times,” she continued, “So trust me Brock, there’s nothing a little science can’t fix.  Helping you out should be a breeze!  Right Rick?”  She turned around to find more broken machines and totaled weapons, but Richard was nowhere in sight.

“Richard?”

The gray brick floated up from behind a shelf, his eyes reflecting every inch of fear in his little body.  “Is he gone?” he asked with all his strength.

“Nope, he’s right here” Dr. Fox said as she walked his way, “But he only come after us because he was mind controlled.  Maybe we can help each other out now!”

Richard floated close to Dr. Fox again, this time inches away from her face.  “Doctor, mind control or not he just tried to kill us!  Can we really trust him if he’s supposedly under a supervillain’s control?”

“Good question,” Dr. Fox replied as she fixed her glasses, “but hey Brock’s never been as big of a bingleberry as Master Frown is.”  “Uh…thanks?” Brock said from behind her.

Richard’s stare went from back and forth between Dr. Fox and Brock, giving the latter a colder focus.  “Fine,” he groaned, floated over to Brock.

“So, care to explain what happened since we last saw you and your ‘friend?’” Richard asked.  “I’ll tell you everything, I promise,” Brock nervously said, “just please don’t get mad, ok?  It’ll just make things worse.”

“Don’t let Rick get you more upset, Brock,” Dr. Fox butted in, “All we need is to find out why Master Frown’s so different.”  “Got it,” Brock understood, “Just prepare yourselves cause it’s gonna get heavy.”

“Umm, alright,” Dr. Fox still tried to accept everything warmly.  “Believe me, I’ve heard worse than you’d think,” Richard reassured him.

                                                        : ~~~ :

Several moments passed before Brock could explain everything to Richard and a nearly trembling Dr. Fox.

“Wait, what!?” Dr. Fox shrieked, “I never imagined he could ever do THAT!  And you’ve been living like that for how long again!?”

“Six months,” Brock answered.  “Brock…I don’t know what else to say other than…well, that this is terrible!” Dr. Fox stammered.  “I’ve still heard worse,” Richard said bluntly.

“Well, not everything’s completely different.  It’s kinda hard to explain,” Brock admitted, trying to stay optimistic but becoming sadder with every word, “One day he’s his usual, silly self, and the next he’s as evil as his bosses were.  And I don’t know if he really knows what he’s doing sometimes, either.  It’s like he knows he has these weird new powers but not what they are or how to use them.  Maybe it’s some cry for help when he looks at me all mad at himself, but it doesn’t change the fact that this whole thing’s a living nightmare!”

“Well,” Dr. Fox said thoughtfully, “hopefully we can figure out all these question about the Doom Lords and pummel that stupid, selfish Frowntown scum to the ground, and get you somewhere safe and sound!”

“Yeah,” Brock nervously giggled, “just try not to pummel him too much.”  “You just told us about everything he’s done and you STILL- ” Dr. Fox grumbled before taking a short, deep breath.  “Well, I do understand how much he means to you, ” she admitted, “and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that your friends’ lives matter more than any experiment ever could.  So we probably won’t punish him too bad for you.”

Brock began feeling warmer inside as he thought about it.  Maybe they could get Master Frown to finally open up about what changed him so badly and they could find a solution that benefitted everyone.  Maybe Brock and Master Frown didn’t have to be so awkwardly afraid of each other anymore and they could be as close as they used to be.  Maybe they could be friends without constantly reassuring each other that they were, or even more, like Brock always dreamed they would be.

He cuddled Dr. Fox in an attempt to not think about it too deeply and focus on the present.  “Don’t know what I’d do without you Doc, can’t thank you enough!”  “Oh it’s quite alright,” Dr. Fox said, bringing Richard in, “So what do you say guys, let’s get this started!”

Dr. Fox, Richard, and Brock walked through the castle halls, just making it to the first floor when Brock’s head began aching again.  He held it and tried to hold back his pain.  The red in his eyes was coming back.

“Brock, are you ok!?” Dr. Fox asked as she and Richard tried to help him.  “I-it’s happening again!!” Brock said, struggling, “Go, g-get e-everyone else before I hurt you!”

Though not wanting to leave him behind, his two friends ran forward anyway.  After more yelling Possessed Brock opened his eyes and came to his senses, realizing that his scythe was missing.  Remembering that he was last in the lab, he ran back down to find it lying on the reflective, blue floor; waiting for him to pick it up and run back out.  He tried to sprint as stealthily as he could to the foyer when he heard an optimistic “And then things are gonna go back to normal!…hopefully.”

Possessed Brock stumbled mid-run and tried to pick himself up before he could make too much noise.  Then he hid behind a potted plant under the staircase and listened carefully to what was behind him.  He could recognize the voices too well; Unikitty and Hawkodile were getting closer.

“Princess, you seriously still think you can just go easy on them, force them to talk it out, and then BANG the whole thing just blows over!?” Hawkodile still tried reasoning with her, “This is the time for combat, not words!  Just think; the announcements, the threats, all the potential danger, and nothing scares you but Brock!?”

“Oh come on, Hawk,” Unikitty confidently said, “ just think: all we have to do is…”

“…surrender or your lives end here and now!” Possessed Brock finished, revealing himself and slowly coming up the staircase.  Unikitty and Hawkodile held onto each other and screamed.

“Brock!?” Unikitty asked, now fearing what her supposed friend could do to her, “What happened to you!?  Why are your eyes red!?”  “You won’t need answers to those questions,” Possessed Brock drew his scythe, “You’ll be too busy begging for your lives.”

“NOT ON MY WATCH!!!” Hawkodile yelled.  He guarded Unikitty and winded his arm back to punch the distorted personification of his once good friend.  Possessed Brock dodged the punch and made his way up the stairs swiftly.

“GO, HURRY!” Hawkodile commanded.  Unikitty flew up the staircase but turned to watch the fight from the top of the stairs.  She still tried to understand what was going on as her bodyguard and would-be friend fought.  Hawkodile angrily kept trying to punch and kick Possessed Brock, who avoided every attack with ease as he was chased up the stairs before he made it to the top and grabbed Unikitty.  The princess squealed and struggled to free herself, trapped in his grasp as he ran down the steps again, past Hawkodile and out the castle door.  Possessed Brock reached for his walkie-talkie as he ran through the castle grounds.

“I got her, let’s go!” he yelled into it.

Along came sudden swirling of the wind and sound of the Frown-copter came closer as Master Frown landed it on the hill, feet away from Possessed Brock and Unikitty.  The princess froze as she peeked at his grinning face out of the entrance; not just because of his new look but also how he looked at her back, eyes and all.

“Good,” Master Frown relished over the loud engine, “Let’s do this.”  For the first time in his live, he felt more evil than he ever had before.

“Master Frown!?” Unikitty screamed, starting to sweat, “I guess it’s great to see you again but WHAT’S GOING ON!?!?  WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!?”  Possessed Brock ignored her questions and hopped into the backseat and all Master Frown said was “Aww man, we actually got her, let’s go!” with the innocence of a child getting candy or a new toy.  The Frown-copter took off, and Hawkodile made it in enough time to just see it start zoom away.  He wanted nothing more than to fly up to it at lightning speed and punch the red-eyed crooks into oblivion, but he knew that in order to take them down he couldn’t do it alone.

Hawkodile flew to his dojo, where Puppycorn, Dr. Fox, and Richard were discussing a potential plan of attack, and almost crashed landed into the entrance.

“GUYS, THEY’VE GOT UNIKITTY!” He announced, “EVERYBODY GO, GET OUT THERE OR SHE’S A GONER!  COME ON, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!!”  Everyone raced outside and through the streets, following the Frown-copter.  Its driver heard some strange commotion from below even over Unikitty still screaming to get out.  He peeked down from the driver’s seat he found Unikitty’s friends running after him, then up his way to find Hawkodile flying after them.

“Brock,” Master Frown aggressively whispered through his teeth before yelling, “WHY ARE THEY STILL ALIVE!?”  “Not now, bingus!” Possessed Brock yelled back.  “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME!?”  Unikitty still tried to squirm out of Possessed Brock’s grasp as he and Master Frown went back and forth and her friends raced after her.

Puppycorn and Richard ran side by side until the prince grabbed Richard and threw him up at the Frown-copter.  It took only a few seconds for the screaming brick to reach the helicopter, and one more for Master Frown to smack him away, sending Richard falling as fast as he came.  He landed next to where Dr. Fox stood, aiming the Higher-Upper at the helicopter and firing a missile.  It seemed as though the missile would really hit them, and Unikitty and Possessed Brock began fearing for their lives.  But Master Frown effortlessly raised the helicopter’s altitude higher into the air so the missile would miss it, land on the ground, blow a kingdom shop up, and make Dr. Fox furious.

Master Frown looked down and laughed at her rage when Hawkodile caught up to him.  He stood on the landing skid and grabbed onto the doorway, shaking the entire helicopter.  While Master Frown screamed and frantically tried to regain balance Hawkodile reached his hand out for Unikitty.

(Art by @friffinx​, again)

“Princess, grab on!” he pleaded.  Unikitty reached back, but just before their hands touched, Possessed Brock knocked Hawkodile off the skid and sent him falling.

“HAWKODILE, NOOOO!!!” Unikitty cried.  This seemed to be her last straw as she growled with rage, turning into her angry form and shaking the Frown-copter again.

“ALRIGHT, YOU BETTER EXPLAIN WHAT’S GOING ON AND WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO MY FRIENDS-”

A tranquilizer dart hit her cheek, and she was fast asleep on the floor in her normal form.

Possessed Brock looked up to see Master Frown spinning a dart gun with a smug look on his face and chuckling again.

“Not bad, scrub,” Possessed Brock slyly thanked his boss.  “Hey, watch it,” Master Frown said with the grin still on his face.

Richard, Dr. Fox, and Hawkodile helped each other get up as Puppycorn gazed into the sky, his heart feeling heavy.

“She’s gone…!  MY BIG SIS IS GONE!!!” he sobbed, “What are we gonna do guys!?”  Everyone else looked to each other, waiting for someone to give an answer.  After a moment Hawkodile took it upon himself to give one.  “Honestly Puppycorn, we don’t know.”  He put his arm around the prince, and all four looked up to the setting sun.

WOW, that took forever but HEY, it’s finally here!  And don’t worry, the other chapters aren’t as long as this one. (Except for maybe chapter 4, a lot’s gonna happen in that one too)

But thanks again for sticking around and being patient for so long, and an EXTREMELY huge thank you to me co-artists, who are linked above.  Please check them out and give them your love.  And to the co-artists who signed up but had to leave for one reason or another: don’t worry, I’d be happy to have you on board again if/when you’re able to.

And if you’re not a co-artist but would like to be, just message me here or on Amino!  I’d be happy to show you how we do it and feature your art for the next chapters!

I promise the next few chapters will take less time to release, so stay tuned!  ;D

[eviesmyspiritanimal]

Sweet Revenge

Summary: Uma has thought of a rather interesting idea to prank Mal on April Fool’s Day, aiming to get the faerie back for all of the times that she’s tricked the gang. So Uma enlists Jane’s and Evie’s help to pull it off. The prank doesn’t quite turn out the way Uma hoped. A hint of Bal and lots of friendship feels all around. Thank you to @thatblueprincess for the suggestion. :) I know it’s a little different than your original suggestion, but I hope it’s still good.

  “Blue! Just the person I wanted to see!” Uma announced, strolling into the room as she looked at the bluenette sitting in her room at Mal’s castle. Uma had already checked Evie’s starter castle, and when she found nothing there, she knew she had only one other shot that was actually in her compendium of knowledge surrounding the location of Evie.

  Evie looked at Uma with a big and beautiful smile, putting down her fabric in order to give Uma her full and undivided attention.

  “Hi, Uma. What do you need?” Evie asked sweetly, fully willing to help with anything that Uma might need from her. After all, she had become quite fond of the pirate. Her affections toward Uma were nowhere close to what she felt for Mal, but they had managed to bond despite their obvious differences.

  Uma started to speak, but shut her mouth quickly, looking around skeptically as if she expected someone to jump out of the closet or roll out from underneath the bed. She looked at Evie with an eyebrow raised.

  “Is Mal here with you?”

  “No. She’s with Audrey learning about proper manners and conduct expected of the queen. Audrey offered to help her since she’s been so stressed lately. I was going to go up and help out when I’m through with this dress,” Evie explained, proudly holding up the green dress for Uma to see. Uma’s eyes widened a bit, impressed with the fact that Evie wasn’t practically attached to Mal. Uma offered a slight thumbs-up to Evie, realizing that the bluenette was eagerly awaiting approval of her work.

  “Good job. Okay, so I’ve got something to talk to you about. It’s a proposition, actually,” Uma expressed, and Evie furrowed her brow a bit but looked at Uma curiously, interested in what Uma had to say.

  “Go for it,” Evie replied easily.

  Uma started into the room and she suddenly paused before stepping back to the door. She then dragged in a very freaked out Jane by the back of the collar of her shirt. Evie eyed Jane in surprise, and Jane just offered Evie a small wave before Uma dragged her over to Evie’s bed so they could sit down and talk to Evie.

  Jane looked like she’d rather be anywhere else right now, and Uma was just holding onto her firmly. Evie couldn’t help but wonder why Jane was there, but she was sure Uma was going to explain. So, Evie just watched Uma attentively, waiting for the pirate to start talking.

  “You know how Mal always without fail pranks us on April Fool’s Day?” Uma started.

  “Yes, I most certainly do,” Evie replied quickly and easily with a bit of fond exasperation in her tone, remembering Mal’s many pranks on her that Evie had never managed to get retaliation for. She also remembered a few times that Mal had asked for her help in pranking Uma. However, Evie wasn’t planning on bringing that part up.

  “Okay, good. So, here’s the plan. I think that you and I should prank her before she manages to hit us with one of her infamous ones later today,” Uma told Evie with a wicked smile, and Evie furrowed her brow, considering the idea.

  “Oh, goodness, I’ve told you, I don’t want any part of this!” Jane cried, and Uma just held onto the girl tightly, keeping her from running off.

  Evie did want retribution for all of Mal’s many pranks that she had played on Evie. And Evie knew that no matter what she did, Mal would hit her with one of those especially brutal ones. Like the one where she replaced all of the insides of Evie’s Oreos with Crest toothpaste. Or when she had placed airhorns in all sorts of spaces that Evie was sure to accidentally find when it was too late. Or the time that Mal had replaced all of Evie’s perfectly normal ink for her calligraphy with invisible ink.

  But Evie still didn’t know about retaliation. Revenge wasn’t a game that Evie was particularly good at playing, despite how much she would like to do it.

  “I don’t know, Uma. Are you sure?” Evie asked somewhat skeptically, and Jane nodded in agreement with Evie, hoping that the bluenette wouldn’t agree and that it would soil Uma’s plans.

  Uma just rolled her eyes in response, but managed to muster some patience for the bluenette, knowing that Evie was undyingly loyal to Mal and it was likely that dedication talking when Evie asked that question.

  “Look, Evie, Mal’s done all sorts of things to you, right?” Uma checked, and Evie nodded simply.

  “Yes, she has.”

  “Good. Now, how does that make you feel?”

  “Well, I don’t like it, that’s for sure,” Evie expressed honestly, and Uma grinned, pointing at Evie.

  “Alright! Now, Imma need you to take that energy and turn it into the vicious desire for sweet, sweet revenge and serve it up cold to ol’ Dragon Breath,” Uma told Evie, and the bluenette sighed slightly, considering it carefully.

  Ultimately, Evie really couldn’t see any negatives in getting Mal back for all of the times that the faerie had so relentlessly pranked Evie. So, Evie shrugged a bit before offering Uma a smile, shooting an apologetic glance to Jane.

  “Okay, I’m game. What do you have in mind?” Evie questioned, and Uma smiled wickedly as she eyed the bluenette. Jane looked completely and utterly terrified as she looked between the two VKs.

  “Perfect. Well, for you, we’ll need your darkest clothes and makeup available. For me, we’ll need something adorable. And for Jane… I’m thinking spikes,” Uma told Evie, and the bluenette’s eyes widened, unsure of what exactly she had just agreed to.

  Either way, it was bound to be interesting…

     ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

       “Okay, so do you two got yourselves all ready?” Uma questioned, uncomfortably tugging a bit at the frills of the--- dare she say it--- cute dress hanging around her knees.

  Uma was currently dressed up in the most adorable and girly outfit imaginable. It was a frilly teal colored dress that had a sweetheart neckline and a gorgeous gold necklace with a small, flat shell pendant on it.

  Uma couldn’t help but think that Evie must have made this with Uma in mind. Especially considering Evie’s exact knowledge of where it was located and how similar the dress was in color and theme to what Uma usually wore.

  In concern to Uma’s makeup, she had soft shades of teal accenting her facial features, and her hair was fixed in a manner that was most definitely not like her usual edgy braids and Isle chic.

  In fact, right at this moment, Uma looked like an actual Auradon girl, which absolutely disgusted her to no end. But she guessed some sacrifices had to be made in the name of the greater good. Or the greater bad as the case may be.

  Evie finally emerged from the large closet, and Uma was surprised to see before her what appeared to be a true goth. Evie’s lipstick was black, her eyeshadow was black, and all of the rest of her makeup was black-themed. Her hair was hanging about her face in a sort of dark shroud that surrounded her and further accentuated the blackness covering her face.

  She was wearing black ripped jeans and a dark grey t-shirt with a black jean jacket on with silvery studs. She had black combat boots with a few of those same studs covering them as well.

  Evie truly looked the part, and she was even currently lacking a smile.

  “Wow, you look amazing,” Uma complimented, nodding to Evie appreciatively as she reveled in the fact that her plan was all coming together.

  However, Evie’s entire look was immediately ruined when she offered Uma an enormous grin and puffed up in that usual pleased with herself manner in response to the pirate’s praise.

  “Really? Thank you! I was a little worried that I didn’t do that well, but it is such a relief to know that I actually succeeded,” Evie gushed, proud of her abilities and happy with Uma’s complimenting of her outfit.

  Uma simply rolled her eyes, and she stepped around Evie, knocking on the closet door.

  “Jane? Get out here,” Uma called.

  “No! I’m not coming out! I can’t wear this, Uma! Why do you even want me to wear it?! You still haven’t told us why you want us to dress up like this,” Jane exclaimed, her voice conveying her skepticism and concern.

  “Yeah, Uma. Why are we wearing these outfits?” Evie questioned, her usual bubbly personality shining through as she eyed Uma sweetly. Uma narrowed her eyes at Evie, unimpressed with the bluenette’s happy attitude.

  “Okay, first, lose the grin,” Uma told Evie, and Evie’s smile quickly faded away in favor of a confused expression.

  “Why?”

  “Well, the reason I’ve had us all dress like this is because we’re pranking Mal.”

  “Yeah, but how?” Jane questioned from inside Evie’s closet. Uma grinned at Evie as she glanced at the door.

  “Well, our clothes that we’re wearing reflect the personalities that we’re going to have all day,” Uma pointed out, and Evie looked down at her own dress worriedly.

  “But I’m dressed like a goth…”

  “Yes, because you’re going to be apathetic and not care about anything or anyone,” Uma told Evie, and Evie suddenly looked quite upset indeed.

  “How am I going to do that?!” Evie demanded, greatly worried over this. “I can’t not care! It’s in my very nature to care!”

  “You can not care. It’s not like you’re seriously not feeling anything toward others. You’re just not showing those feelings on your face. It’s just acting, Evie,” Uma explained carefully, and Evie nodded slowly, deciding that she could at least try to do what Uma was trying to tell her to.

  “And if I know anything about you, it’s that you are really dramatic and good at acting,” Uma told her, and Evie started to get an enormous smile on her face, but Uma waved a finger at her in a scolding gesture. Evie quickly lost the grin and kept a neutral look on her face, despite the fact that she still had the slightest bit of happiness in her eyes.

  “Okay, so Evie’s apathetic, but what am I?” Jane asked somewhat fearfully from behind the door, and Uma just grinned widely.

  “You’re going to be mean,” Uma told her shortly, and the pirate immediately heard the gasp from the poor, shy girl.

  “Uma, I can’t do that! I know I can’t do that!”

  “Oh, come on. Just harness the attitude that you had toward Mal after the Family Day disaster,” Uma nonchalantly pointed out, and Evie stared at Uma as if she had lost her mind. Uma just shrugged simply in reply.

  “Who told you about that?” Jane questioned, sounding very much ashamed of herself, and Uma just shook her head.

  “Nobody told me. I just read it in Mal’s diary,” Uma explained, and Evie glared at Uma with some betrayal.

  “You read M’s diary?!” Evie demanded, disbelieving that the pirate actually would do that to Mal. Uma grinned at Evie, winking at her deviously.

  “You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to find people’s diaries. They just don’t hide them like they used to,” Uma told the bluenette and Evie just eyed her with intense disapproval, very unhappy with the fact that Uma had violated Mal’s privacy in such a manner.

  “Oh, don’t act all high and mighty. You’ve surely read her diary before.”

  “No, because she tells me everything she’s feeling,” Evie expressed to Uma, crossing her arms over her chest, and Uma just snorted.

  “Well, did you know that she was planning to replace all of the Oreos in your possession with York peppermint patties as soon as she got the chance today?” Uma questioned.

  “Oh, my gosh, seriously?!” Evie demanded, and Uma just nodded easily. Evie was properly surprised about this for a moment before she suddenly narrowed her eyes at Uma.

  “Did you read her diary today?”

  “No, she just plans ahead for April Fool’s. She’s got a whole friggin’ checklist of ideas in her diary,” Uma explained to Evie. Evie’s eyes widened a bit as she took in that piece of information. Uma shook her head before turning her attentions to the girl behind the door.

  “Get out of there, Jane!” Uma called, knocking on the door somewhat firmly.

  “No, wait! You haven’t said what you’re doing!” Jane pointed out, hoping to do anything she could to distract the pirate from her task of getting Jane out of the small room.

  “I’m going to be like Evie but times one thousand,” Uma explained shortly, and Evie tilted her head a bit.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Evie questioned curiously, honestly not sure if she liked that statement.

  “It means that I’m about to go all Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on you people,” Uma explained shortly, and Evie suddenly looked very disturbed by that statement.

  Uma watched the door for a bit longer before finally opening up the closet door and barging in. She grabbed Jane, pulling her outside, and sat the girl down on the bed.

  To Uma’s mild surprise, Jane hadn’t changed her clothes from her usual plain blues. But Uma supposed it really didn’t shock her. Besides, perhaps the same clothes would benefit the entire shock factor of Jane’s sudden personality change.

  “Oh, no! I guess I’m not wearing my clothes. I guess you guys will just have to go on without me,” Jane told Uma, and Uma just raised an eyebrow, knowing that Jane was just trying to get out of helping them prank Mal and by extension, Audrey. Audrey wasn’t really necessary, but she was certainly a bonus that served to make Uma really want to go and start pulling this prank as soon as possible.

  “Don’t worry. Your usual clothes will add to the whole surprise of your meanness,” Uma waved her off, and Jane just shook her head.

  “I don’t think I can do this. I can’t!” Jane exclaimed worriedly, and Evie eyed Jane sympathetically, wishing that Uma would let the poor girl off the hook since she was so worried about it.

  “C’mon, Jane. I need you. Don’t fail me now,” Uma pleaded with the daughter of the Fairy Godmother. Jane just winced, gazing at the other two girls worriedly. Jane finally sighed deeply and shook her head, giving in to Uma’s begging expression.

  “Fine,” Jane murmured, and Uma patted her on the shoulder affectionately.

  “Excellent!”

  “But how do I be mean?” Jane questioned, and Uma furrowed her brow, pursing her lips as she tried to think of how to answer that question.

  “Be the opposite of yourself!” Evie pointed out cheerfully before quickly losing her smile and trying to look uncaring. Uma just nodded slowly, agreeing with Evie but also attempting to find a better way to answer that question.

  “Well, think of how you feel when you… When you don’t get enough sleep!” Uma started, gesturing toward Jane with a smile. Jane just shook her head a bit.

  “Well, I don’t know… I guess I feel kind of grumpy.”

  “Great! Do just like I told Evie! Grab that feeling and run with it,” Uma instructed, and Jane nodded slightly, planning to take Uma’s advice to heart. Uma nodded resolutely, and she started toward the door, Evie and Jane moving to follow her.

  “Now, let’s go find our lucky victims--- I mean, contestants,” Uma spoke, and Evie just offered Uma a huge smile before forcing it to fade away. Jane tried her best to put her meanest look on her face.

  Uma managed to muster a big grin so that she would look her part as well, and they were off.

     ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

      “Queendom is all about appearances, Mal. You must look the part to be the part,” Audrey explained, and Mal almost rolled her eyes, but fortunately kept her sarcasm under control. After all, Audrey was just trying to help her per Mal’s request.

  It had been ages since they had started this mess and Mal was fully ready to throw in the towel and go running to Evie so they could do one of their usual hangouts. She was so looking forward to snuggling under a warm blanket and cuddling close to Evie while they shared Oreos, Mal scraping the cream off of her own to give Evie double cream since Mal liked the cookie better than the cream part. Mal was so ready to relax.

  Audrey had been nonstop critiquing every small move that Mal made, and Mal was about to pull her hair out from pure desperation. She knew Audrey meant well and was not trying to aggravate her, but the princess was not teaching something that Mal was well-versed in.

  “Straighten your back!” Audrey suddenly chastised, and Mal obeyed quickly. Audrey narrowed her eyes, tilting her head slightly as she examined the faerie.

  “A little less straight. Make it look comfortable,” Audrey pointed out, and Mal slumped somewhat.

  “No, a little more straight,” Audrey told her, and Mal complied. “No, a little less straight… More, less… right there! Now freeze!”

  Mal was almost contorted as she tried to obey Audrey’s command of perfect posture.

  “Remember, always keep your back straight. It communicates elegance and competence as Queen,” Audrey explained, Mal’s back painfully poised as she attempted desperately to keep herself upright.

  “Now, offer greetings and introduce yourself,” Audrey gestured carefully, stopping in front of Mal as she looked down at the girl sitting there in the chair.

  Mal cleared her throat a bit before speaking up, already terribly frustrated with this entire ordeal.

  “Hello, I’m Mal---”

  “No, a proper introduction. ‘Hello’ is not working. Try ‘greetings’ or ‘good whatever-time-of-day-it-is,’” Audrey instructed, and Mal barely resisted a groan before starting again.

  “Greetings, I’m Mal---”

  “Use your title!” Audrey interrupted swiftly. Mal growled under her breath but tried again, considerably less enthusiasm in her voice at this point.

  “Greetings, I’m Queen Mal of Aura---”

  “With more confidence! Be sure of your title. Embrace and grab your title tightly in her hands,” Audrey explained, and Mal was ready to grab Audrey’s neck tightly in her hands, but the faerie attempted to keep her patience.

  “Greetings, I’m Queen Mal of Auradon---”

  “You sound like Maleficent. I’m not looking for too much power in your voice. I want confidence, but subtly so that it’s not intimidating,” Audrey told Mal, and Mal narrowed her eyes at Audrey irritably, almost having her fill of the pink princess’s instruction despite the fact that Mal had explicitly asked for it.

  “Greetings, I’m Queen ---”

  “And smile, okay? Convey friendliness and approachability,” Audrey interrupted once again, and Mal offered her a grin that looked more like baring her teeth. Audrey just shook her head, rolling her eyes at Mal.

  “A pretty smile.”

  “This is pretty!” Mal told her through gritted teeth, and Audrey raised an eyebrow.

  “More like pretty scary,” Audrey quipped, and Mal set her jaw, having her fill of this nonsense.

  However, before she could voice any of her feelings, she heard the door open and a familiar pattern of footsteps enter the room. Mal immediately knew it was Evie, and she smiled in pure relief, starting to turn around to address her best friend.

  “Oh, Evie, thank goodness you’re,” Mal immediately trailed off as she gaped at the girl standing there that looked like anyone but Evie. Upon a closer examination, it was Evie, but she was terribly shocked to see that the bluenette was currently wearing her true shade of navy-blue hair color and her face was covered with blackness in various places.

  “What’s up with the outfit?” Mal asked, the question just falling from her brain and out of her mouth in a tumbling question as she gaped at Evie in pure surprise. Evie just gazed upon Mal absently for a moment before tossing her hair.

  “Thought I’d try out a new style. Something that would bring out my feelings of perpetual bleh,” Evie told Mal simply, and Mal just stared at the other girl.

  Mal couldn’t help but feel that something was terribly wrong with Evie. She would never normally act this way. Something was odd but familiar about the look in the bluenette’s eyes, but Mal couldn’t put her finger on it. Therefore, Mal decided to compliment Evie and see how she reacted.

  “Well, it’s very original. I love the design on the jacket and the boots,” Mal praised as she knew Evie so loved for her to do. A miniscule smile passed Evie’s features, but she quickly forced it away as soon as it had appeared. Mal furrowed her brow a bit, wondering what was going on with her best friend.

  “Have you lost your mind?! That outfit looks like it was puked out of a biker hangout!” Audrey cried, and Mal barely took her eyes off of Evie to glance in the pink princess’s direction.

  “Hey, hey, hey!” Uma’s voice suddenly sounded off from behind Evie, and Evie stepped to the side to reveal the most frightening thing that Mal had ever seen in her entire life. Uma was dressed in the most Auradon-like clothes that Mal had ever witnessed and scariest of all, the pirate had a grin on her face that expanded from ear to ear and only communicated sweetness and loveliness.

  “Mal! My best friend! Give me a hug, give me a hug! I haven’t seen you all day,” Uma cheerfully spoke, hurrying over to Mal and grabbing her in a tight hug. Mal froze, stiffening a bit in pure shock at the contact.

  Uma was most certainly never one to hug Mal unless the faerie was in deep emotional pain. The most contact her and Uma shared was through hand-holding, and that was only very occasional. So Mal was very reasonably terrified at this new development.

  Uma let go of Mal swiftly, and then she looked at Audrey with a big smile.

  “And, Auds! Come here, bring it in!” Uma cried, heading over to Audrey, and the girl jumped backwards, avoiding Uma’s embrace in terror.

  “Stop, stop, stop!!! What have you done with Uma, you body-snatcher?!”

  “Oh, come on, Audrey. It’s a gorgeous day. All sunny and shiny! It just really lifts the soul, you know?” Uma expressed in pure happiness.

  Mal looked over at the door once more and was terribly surprised to see that Jane was standing in the doorway. Mal sighed, knowing Jane would be perfectly normal.

  “Hello to everyone but you!” Jane announced suddenly, looking in Audrey’s direction, and everyone turned to look at Jane. Audrey’s eyes widened and she worriedly eyed the daughter of the Fairy Godmother.

  “Jane? Are you okay?”

  “Don’t talk to me! I said hello to everyone but you!” Jane cried, sounding almost like a nutcase about to take the plunge. Mal tilted her head slightly, narrowing her eyes somewhat suspiciously as she started to realize that something wasn’t quite right about this situation.

  “Oh, well, what are you doing here, Jane?!” Uma suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, hurrying across the room to hug Jane.

  “Just thought I’d stop by a-and insult you!” Jane proclaimed, and Mal watched as Uma’s eyes flashed in some odd emotion before returning to that peppy way.

  “Well, I thought you were on your way to the store,” Uma sweetly pointed out, and Jane gaped at Uma for a moment before eagerly nodding.

  “Yeah, yeah! Well, uh, smell you people later!” Jane told them before hurrying out the door and leaving.

  Mal glanced at Audrey to see if the princess detected anything odd about this situation. Oddly enough, Audrey didn’t look skeptical at all and appeared instead horrified by Jane’s sudden attitude, Evie’s choice of clothing, and Uma’s way too sweet cheerfulness.

  “Bye!” Uma called behind the other girl. Mal shook her head, knowing something wasn’t right.

  “Evie, come here and sit down,” Mal gently commanded, knowing Evie would never deny a chance to snuggle close. Evie looked at Mal longingly for a moment before suddenly losing her emotion and sitting down on the far end of the couch, keeping that same frustratingly neutral expression on her face.

  “Whatever you say. Really doesn’t matter to me,” Evie spoke, lacking absolutely any emotion whatsoever.

  Mal immediately knew that there was either some sort of prank being pulled on her or there was something seriously wrong with Evie in concern to her feelings toward Mal. And if Uma’s overly sweet disposition that was completely out of character was anything to go by, Mal was willing to bet a prank.

  But why would they be trying to prank her?

  Mal considered this question carefully, trying to figure out exactly why Evie and Uma were doing this. But then it occurred to her that it was April Fool’s Day today. Mal had been so busy with Audrey and everything else that morning that she had forgotten all about her favorite holiday.

  However, it seemed that Uma and Evie hadn’t, and they were actually trying to pull one on her. Mal raised an eyebrow as she gazed at the pirate and the bluenette. Uma was just beaming and happily chattering to Audrey while Evie was currently trying not to look in Mal’s direction as she narrowed her eyes in an unimpressed expression.

  Mal allowed the slightest hints of a smirk onto her face, and her eyes gained that familiar mischievous glint in them.

  It was on.

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

       “Oh, Audrey, you are looking so absolutely gorgeous today! I love how you’ve fixed your hair and got it to do that poof thing that it’s so good at,” Uma gushed, personally feeling as if she might barf at the very thought of all of this gushy mushy stuff that she was having to overflow her speech with.

  She was just thankful that she had sent Jane on her way. She had to give the poor girl a way out after such a horrible attempt at meanness. Of course, Uma figured it made sense that Jane had done so badly, but she still had hoped that the girl would do better than that.

  Uma reached out to, ugh, touch Audrey’s hair, and Audrey jumped backward out of the pirate’s range. Uma then just cheerfully turned to Mal to see if she could further unnerve the faerie. Mal was looking up at her strangely, so Uma offered the girl a huge grin.

  “But don’t worry, Mal, I think you’re beautiful, too.”

  Mal’s face suddenly illuminated in a smile that Uma had never seen directed toward her, and she was honestly quite afraid of what she was currently witnessing before her very eyes. It was one of those grins that she only ever reserved for Evie and sometimes Ben depending on what mood she was in.

  “Thank you, Uma. Come here and sit with me,” Mal invited, patting the seat on the other side of her. Uma sat down and she couldn’t help but realize how close that she was squished to Mal. Mal leaned near the pirate and placed her head on Uma’s shoulder.

  Uma tried desperately not to widen her eyes, definitely uncertain whether she was actually comfortable with this new position and sweetness directed toward her.

  Evie, however, was absolutely certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that she did not like how Mal had suddenly decided to get all snuggly with Uma. Evie narrowed her eyes unashamedly as she glared at the both of them. Uma looked at Evie over Mal’s head, a sort of “help me” look on her face.

  For her part, Audrey was completely and utterly terrified of Mal’s sudden physical affection for Uma, Uma’s insane cheeriness, and Evie’s weirdness. Audrey backed away from the three girls, grabbing her purse from behind her where it was resting on the kitchen table.

  “Okay, I honestly don’t know what’s going on with you people, but I’m not hanging around for it. I’ve got things to do,” Audrey proclaimed, passing around the back of the couch. Uma, trying to get away from Mal’s sudden weirdness, reached back, aiming to grab Audrey’s arm in order to get some enjoyment out of this situation as a result of aggravating the pink princess.

  Audrey quickly jumped to the side, dodging Uma’s outstretched hand.

  “Nope! I’m leaving!”

  “I don’t care,” Evie stated aloud, forcing herself to speak up despite her teeth were somewhat gritted together in response to how comfortable Mal seemed there beside Uma.

  “Bye!” Audrey called before shutting the door swiftly behind her.

  “You know, Uma, I’m so glad that you finally came around and dropped that nasty attitude,” Mal spoke, and Uma forced a smile onto her face as she tried to resist the urge to gag at all of the excessive adoration in Mal’s eyes.

  Uma nodded in fake happiness, and Evie just narrowed her eyes a little more, not taking her gaze off of Uma and Mal sitting there so happily together.

  “Nasty attitudes, good attitudes, who cares? Emotions are unnecessary,” Evie expressed as she glared at the two other girls almost ferociously. Mal barely offered her a glance before looking back at Uma with a huge smile and bright eyes.

  “Hey, Uma? Why don’t we watch a movie? You know, since Evie’s acting so weird. Hey, I’ve even got a super fluffy blanket that I know you’ll love, and maybe we could paint each other’s nails, too!” Mal exclaimed excitedly, and Uma resisted the urge to growl, instead agreeing with Mal wholeheartedly.

  Evie’s eyes widened a bit as she stared at Mal in surprise. That was her and Mal’s activity that they always did exclusively together.

  “Sure! Whatever my best friend in the whole entire history of the world wants to do!” Uma told her, laying it on thick in hopes of making Mal uncomfortable like she had in the first place. However, Mal just looked even more pleased with her enthusiasm.

  And Evie looked even more ticked off.

  Mal got up, squeezing Uma’s arm before hurrying to go get the blanket in the other room.

  Evie stared at Uma silently as she seethed, setting her jaw in irritation. Uma happened to look in Evie’s direction, and she raised an eyebrow.

  “Whatchu looking at me for? I don’t know what’s going on with her!” Uma spoke, her voice hushed as she talked to the bluenette. Evie just crossed her arms before her in irritation.

  “Yeah, but you don’t have to get so snuggly with her. That’s my place,” Evie quietly and somewhat jealously told Uma, and the pirate rolled her eyes.

  “Believe me, I don’t want your place! I’m trying to make her uncomfortable!” Uma whispered to the other girl. Evie just hmphed, furrowing her brow as she considered this carefully.

  Mal suddenly came back, pulling in that especially wooly blanket that held in so much body heat. Evie would recognize it anywhere. It was her most favorite blanket that always made her feel so sleepy and safe as she cuddled near Mal happily. She couldn’t believe that Mal was actually allowing Uma of all people to use Evie and Mal’s blanket.

  “Here, what would you like to watch?” Mal questioned as she threw the blanket over Uma, Evie lounged on the other side of the couch and just out of the coverage of the fabric. Evie eyed the fluffiness of the blanket longingly.

  “Whatever you want to watch, Mal. You know best,” Uma replied with a sweet smile, really dreading what Mal was going to come up with but still trying to creep out the faerie with her sudden friendliness.

  “You’re so sweet! I was thinking we could watch Titanic,” Mal told the pirate, and Uma’s eyes widened incrementally, but she quickly pushed away any signs of surprise in favor of a more neutral and perhaps even pleased expression.

  “Sounds good to me!” Uma forced tons of fake enthusiasm in her voice. Mal nodded happily and went into the kitchen.

  It was then that Evie growled under her breath and made Uma aware of precisely how angry she was with this whole arrangement. Evie was completely and utterly frustrated with the fact that Mal had now chosen to watch Evie’s favorite movie with Uma.

  Uma looked at Evie helplessly when Mal suddenly came in with some sort of snack. However, it wasn’t just any ordinary snack.

  It was a bag of double-stuffed Oreos.

  Evie could practically hear her heart shattering into one million pieces as she watched Mal, her best friend in the entire world sit down with Uma underneath Evie’s favorite blanket to watch Evie’s favorite movie with Evie’s favorite snack. Evie gaped at the two, suddenly feeling her throat tighten up a bit.

  “Hey, I brought Oreos! And I got a knife so I could scrape my cream off on yours so you can have quadruple cream,” Mal sweetly explained, and Evie felt the beginnings of tears in her eyes as she watched Uma sit there in her spot. That was Mal and Evie’s thing to do. They shared cream together since Mal knew Evie so loved the sweet cream in the centers of the Oreos.

  Uma, however, was completely grossed out. She did not want Mal’s cream for two reasons. Number one was that Uma didn’t want Mal’s cookie’s germs on her cookie. Number two, Uma didn’t even like the cream part of the cookie. Like Mal, the pirate enjoyed the chocolate cookie part more than the cream.

  However, she tried her best to look enthralled despite the fact that she already felt like quitting this entire endeavor.

  “Aww, you’re so sweet!”

  “Well, I thought it’d be a perfect thing for us to do, and it could be our thing,” Mal told her with an overly enthusiastic smile. Uma almost made a noise aloud but managed to control her momentary panic at the insinuation that they could be doing more of this in the future.

  Evie’s eyes widened in surprise from out of Mal’s range of sight, and she tried to hold back the helpless whimper that was threatening to escape her.

  Mal then turned on the movie on some streaming device that she had, and she snuggled closer to Uma, drawing her legs up underneath the covers. Uma resisted the stiffening that was her body’s first reaction, and she relaxed, despite the fact that she really didn’t know how to handle being that close to Mal.

  Evie just unashamedly stared at the both of them.

  “Well, I just don’t really care about movies. I’m leaving,” Evie declared boldly, deciding she’d see how Mal would react to her departure. Mal turned and offered her barely a single glance as she gestured in the vague direction of the door.

  “Go for it. Whatever you want to do,” Mal dismissed her before grabbing onto Uma’s arm and cuddling against her.

  Evie just gaped at her best friend, completely and utterly shocked at the fact that Mal didn’t seem to care whether Evie left or not. Just for that reason alone, Evie decided that she couldn’t leave. Not until she had completely supervised what time that Uma and Mal were spending together.

  “Leaving is overrated, though. I’ll probably just stay here and contemplate the pointlessness of life,” Evie haughtily announced and Mal never even acted as if she heard her.

  Admittedly, Evie was growing very, very worried about this situation.

  Mal opened up the container of double-stuffed Oreos and Evie looked on hungrily, wishing that Mal would offer her some as well.

  Mal took one out and, very heartbreakingly for Evie, scraped the cream off of her own cookie to put extra onto Uma’s. Uma swallowed hard before forcing a smile onto her face as she took it gracefully. She then proceeded to shove it in her mouth swiftly and attempted to quickly send it down her throat so she wouldn’t have to taste the additional cream.

  Evie just sat there staring at them longingly, and as if Mal had felt her intent gaze, the faerie turned to look at Evie. The bluenette avoided looking quite so interested, but in her eyes, she unknowingly conveyed a great hope for Mal’s attention.

  “Oh, Evie, you’re probably hungry, too. I got some licorice in the snack cabinet in the kitchen,” Mal informed her easily before returning to watching the movie. Evie gazed at Mal in pure, unadulterated horror, trying to figure out what possessed Mal to offer her licorice. After all, Mal knew she hated licorice with a passion.

  However, licorice was one of Uma’s favorite candies. Currently, Uma was staring at Evie from behind Mal’s shoulder with a glare, shaking her head as she silently commanded Evie not to touch her licorice.

  Evie just looked at Uma for a moment, raking her gaze over Mal and Uma sitting there so closely. Evie then offered Uma a positively wicked smile as she stood up from the couch and turned to leave for the kitchen.

  Evie took the licorice from the cabinet, inwardly gagging at how disgusting it looked, and she stepped out of the kitchen with a victorious smile. Uma was just turned slightly, glaring silently at Evie. Evie just narrowed her eyes as she watched Uma who was currently in her spot with Mal. Evie honestly didn’t care if Uma was acting or not. All Evie knew was that Uma was getting much cuddlier with Mal than Evie ever recalled consenting for her to.

  Uma slightly shook her head before having to quickly turn to Mal and take an Oreo from her as if nothing was wrong. Uma chewed quickly and swallowed the cookie before she could really consider anything about it. The pirate then immediately resumed in threatening Evie with her eyes.

  Evie just stared Uma in the eyes with a cold glare as she put a large amount of licorice in her mouth. Evie then chomped it hard and deliberately as she watched Uma’s reaction.

  Uma frowned at her and furrowed her brow, pulling her arm a bit from around Mal in order to point at the bluenette.

  In simple response, Evie just somewhat grossly and childishly showed Uma her licorice-covered teeth. Uma rolled her eyes in response, forcing herself to return to watching the movie as Mal started scraping more Oreos for the pirate.

  The action was a bit out of character for Evie, but right now she was feeling exceedingly angry with this entire situation. Therefore, she was willing to do whatever she could to get revenge on Uma. After all, the pirate started the entire prank and had roped Evie into it without Evie even knowing the details up front.

  Evie then stalked back into the kitchen and put what was left in the licorice bag back inside the cabinet.

  When she came back into the living room, she snarled underneath her breath as she realized that Mal had sunk even more against Uma’s side. Evie strolled in and plopped back down on the couch in her previous spot, seething at how Uma was stealing her best friend from her right before her very eyes. After all, Mal didn’t know they were pranking her, so everything Mal was doing was completely of her own accord and because of her own feelings.

  Suddenly, before Mal could hand Uma another extra cream Oreo, Ben walked into the room happily.

  “Hey, honey,” he greeted, but suddenly froze as he took in the scene occurring on the couch. Ben looked between Mal, Uma, and Evie quietly and in pure and utter horror. Evie just glanced up at him for a moment before returning her attentions to her best friend and that girl. Mal looked up at him for a moment, waving to him and then looking back at the movie that she was engrossed in.

  Ben stood there quietly for a moment, looking between them all as he tried to figure out exactly what he thought was going on with the girls. Evie looked like she was ready to kill Uma or cry hysterically--- Ben honestly wasn’t sure which one--- and Uma looked way too sugary sweet to be herself. And strangest of all, Mal was snuggled up to Uma watching a movie instead of with Evie as she always did.

  Ben swallowed, looking at Evie once again as he took in all of the dark makeup and the insane outfit she was wearing. It was attractive on her, but it was not at all the way she was supposed to look. He then looked at Uma. Once again, it was pretty, but definitely not right.

  Ben finally decided to open his mouth to find out officially what was going on.

  “So… What are you girls up to?” Ben finally questioned, and Mal looked at him happily.

  “Oh, not much. Me and Uma are watching a movie, and I guess Evie is, too. I dunno,” Mal flippantly explained, looking at him with an easy smile. Ben glanced at Evie, seeing that the girl looked even more upset after Mal’s words.

  “Is, um… Everything okay?” Ben asked, trying to understand this strange behavior, and Mal just nodded.

  “Yeah. Everything’s wonderful! I’m getting some quality time with my best friend,” Mal explained to him, and Uma offered an encouraging thumbs-up in reply, her face looking falsely cheery.

  Ben stared at the three for a bit longer before starting to back up and leave.

  “Well, okay. I gotta go. Y’know, king stuff to do,” Ben laughed somewhat nervously.

  “Hey, you could stay. There’s room on the couch,” Mal told him, and he shook his head with an anxious smile.

  “No, no, king stuff can never wait! You know how it is. I love you, bye!” Ben expressed before hurrying out of the room and shutting the door swiftly behind him.

  “Love you, too! Bye!” Mal called after him before snuggling more against Uma, her body sinking against the other girl’s.

  Uma raised an eyebrow, considering Ben’s supposed king stuff, but ultimately decided to let it go as she tried to muster excitement when Mal handed her yet another of those disgusting cookies.

  The pirate mustered a smile as she took it from Mal and ate it quickly, resting the urge to shudder at the ridiculous amount of sugary sweet cream in it.

  “Oh, Uma, let’s do your nails!” Mal suddenly announced, and Uma nodded eagerly, knowing that Mal would have to get up and away from her to get the polish. Uma was getting terribly uncomfortable underneath this blanket, and she felt like she was positively burning up.

  Mal turned to look at Evie, and, in spite of herself, the bluenette allowed a bit of hopefulness in her expression. Maybe Mal would finally pay attention to her and care about her.

  “Hey, pass me the nail polishes from over there,” Mal told her, and Evie’s face fell a bit, her throat constricting on her stubbornly as she tried her best to avoid the tears that were threatening to overtake her.

  “Whatever,” Evie replied somewhat shakily, reaching over and taking the nail polishes out of the end table where Evie always made sure there was some so that her and Mal would have it when they needed it. Evie handed it to Mal, and Mal took it from her easily, turning to face Uma.

  Uma’s upper lip threatened to roll up in disgust as she stared at the faerie sitting there on the couch and shaking up the nail polish containers. Mal then looked at her with a big smile.

  “Alrighty, we’ll start with your feet,” Mal volunteered, and Uma was immediately disgusted at the idea of Mal’s hands on her feet. Despite all of Uma’s teasing about getting people to massage her feet and treat her like a queen, she honestly didn’t want anyone to touch her feet.

  However, Uma finally and very hesitantly took off her shoes and brought them up onto the couch.

  Evie immediately wrinkled her nose, strongly resisting her initial urge to puke. She placed a hand over her nose and mouth, trying to keep the smell out and the contents of her stomach in. Uma’s feet smelled absolutely horrible, and Evie couldn’t understand why Mal would ever offer to do her feet for her.

  Besides, Mal never offered to do feet first. Mal had an enormous disgust for feet, quite possibly more than anyone else that Evie knew. This was exceedingly confusing for the bluenette. Of course, after she considered it for a few moments, Evie decided that Mal must have for some reason been able to put aside her disgust of feet for Uma’s sake, which was particularly heartbreaking for Evie since it obviously meant that Mal didn’t care about Evie as much.

  However, Uma was currently going through troubles that were just as bad as Evie’s or worse.

  Uma watched as Mal actually put her hands on the pirate captain’s feet, and Uma almost shuddered in response, repulsed by the action.

  However, throughout it all, Mal was simply full of smiles, and at this rate, Uma was sure that she was ready to tuck tail, run, and forget all of her silly ideas about pranking the faerie.

  Mal looked between the two nail polishes that Evie had handed to her, and Uma subtly assessed them as well, trying to figure out which form of torture that Mal was going to slather on her first.

  Very unfortunately, one of them was a plain teal blue and the other one was a bright, sparkly, hot pink. Uma immediately knew which one she would rather, but quite honestly, she didn’t want either of the two on her feet. She didn’t want Mal putting stuff that didn’t belong on her toenails.

  Mal furrowed her brow, trying to figure out which of the two polishes she would like to use on Uma.

  “Huh… Which would you prefer, Uma? Pink sparkly or plain teal?” Mal questioned finally, gazing at Uma in the manner that she would normally eye Evie. Uma raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to speak.

  “Well, I think the tea---”

  “I totally don’t care about nail polish,” Evie piped up suddenly, “but if it were me, I’d go with the sparkly pink since it expresses so much… ugh… happiness.”

  Uma glared at Evie unashamedly, losing all of her desire to keep up her act in the midst of Mal about to cover her toes in pink, sparkly mess. Evie just stared at Uma in return, and the pirate could easily see that Evie was in fact quite hurt by this entire situation with Mal.

  The pirate swallowed hard, watching carefully as Mal’s polish applier drew ever closer to her bare toes. Uma watched for a few moments more, the sparkly nail polish about to touch her. But before Mal could do it, Uma jumped out of the way, moving her feet swiftly.

  Uma couldn’t keep it up.

  All of this mushy gushiness, snuggly and girly activities, and having to be so darned happy about everything was more than Uma could handle.

  Uma shot up from her position on the couch, standing up quickly as she stared at a very shocked Mal and Evie. Uma shook her head, furrowing her brow.

  “Naw! Naw, I ain’t doin’ this no more! I’ve had all I can stand!” Uma announced, and Mal tilted her head slightly in concern as she looked at Uma sweetly in that way that was driving Uma positively insane.

  “What is it, Uma? We can do the blue nail polish if you want.”

  “NO! No nail polish!”

  “Well, Uma, you’re starting to sound like your old negative self,” Mal pointed out, and Uma shook her head swiftly, an almost crazed look about her.

  “Heck, yeah, I am! Guess what, Mal?! This was one big fake thing! Me and Evie were pranking you!” Uma announced, pointing at Mal insistently, and Mal suddenly looked very surprised as she looked at Uma worriedly.

  “Evie’s not a goth, and I’m sure as heck not a sugar sweet cinnamon roll! So, take that! We beat you at your own game!” Uma proclaimed, laughing victoriously as she glared at Mal.

  “Huh… I thought you were finally enjoying getting all close and comfy with your best friend,” Mal acknowledged, and Evie growled ever so slightly under her breath, crossing her arms in front of her. Uma just waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

  “Aw, forget that bull. I’m getting me a shower. Man, I’ve gotten so cozy with you that I’m stinking like you now!” Uma spoke, starting out the door with her shoes in her hand as she left.

  “APRIL FOOL’S!!! WE BEAT YOU!!!” Uma yelled before slamming the door behind her and exiting with a flourish.

  Evie and Mal just watched the door for a few moments, and before anything else could occur, Ma jumped up from the couch and almost ran for the bathroom. Evie furrowed her brow as she listened to the bathroom sink run in what was presumably Mal washing her hands.

  Not too long after, Mal came back to the couch, plopping down in the same place that she had been. Mal closed her eyes tightly, keeping them shut as she relaxed there for a moment. Evie just watched her quietly, wondering what was going through the faerie’s mind.

  “Evie, come here,” Mal finally murmured, and Evie complied quickly and easily, almost with a whine as she moved in swiftly, squishing her body against Mal’s side comfortably. Mal’s face lit up in a grin in response to Evie’s closeness, and Mal turned her face to nuzzle the side of Evie’s head.

  Evie hummed in appreciation, cuddling nearer to Mal as she thoroughly enjoyed the attention that she was supposed to receive as number one best friend, and Mal wrapped an arm around the bluenette lovingly. In reply, Evie allowed all of her weight to lean into Mal heavily.

  Evie wasn’t sure what had prompted the faerie to all of a sudden start giving her attention and snuggles, but she was more than willing to take full advantage of it. Even if Mal had been treating Uma so sweetly and had seemed perfectly ready to replace Evie with Uma.

  They sat there comfortably for a moment, Evie curled as closely as she could get to Mal, until Mal finally spoke up.

  “Do you have any idea how much it killed me to do that to you?” Mal spoke quietly, and Evie looked up at Mal from her somewhat hunched position next to the faerie.

  “No… You were doing that on purpose?!” Evie exclaimed in shock, and Mal nodded with a slight chuckle.

  “Yeah. I knew you two were trying to prank me. Besides, I’d never ever seriously treat you that way. I love you,” Mal expressed to Evie heartfeltly, and Evie felt her heart quickly and magically mending as a giant smile bloomed across her face.

  “I love you, too,” Evie replied, caressing each word with a gentle softness and meaning that conveyed just how much she valued her sister.

  “How did you know, though?” Evie finally questioned after a few moments, and Mal grinned wickedly.

  “Well, something about the fact that you never don’t care, and Uma never does care,” Mal somewhat jokingly explained, and Evie chuckled under her breath, shaking her head as she looked at her best friend adoringly.

  “Did you have any idea that I was pranking you two?” Mal asked, and Evie shook her head.

  “No, not a single clue,” Evie replied simply, and Mal suddenly looked particularly stricken as she gazed at Evie.

  “So it must’ve been really hard for you when---”

  “Yeah. It was,” Evie trailed off, and Mal shook her head, bringing up her other arm as she pulled Evie near in a hug position that was rather unusual for them both. Evie was currently squished in Mal’s embrace, her head tucked underneath Mal’s chin tightly, which was a position that Mal always took in their hugs due to her shorter height. However, this time, Mal felt that Evie needed to feel all squeezed, safe, and secure.

  Definitely, Evie wasn’t complaining in the least.

  They sat there together for a little while longer, Evie toying with Mal’s fingers as she examined the deep purple nail polish that was starting to chip, and Mal absently looking at some scene of Titanic that was currently playing on the television.

  After only a moment, however, Mal laughed a bit, and Evie looked up at her questioningly. Mal just gazed at Evie with an expression of pure mischief.

  “What?” Evie asked.

  “Well… I think I need to pay Uma a visit…”

   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

       Uma had just gotten out of the shower when she heard a knock on the door. Uma rolled her eyes, not knowing who that could be, but most assuredly unimpressed at the fact that someone was on her doorstep.

  Uma was definitely not in the mood for visitors. At all.

  But when the knocks persisted, she growled under her breath and strode out of the bathroom clad only in a towel. She stomped over to the door and pulled it open.

  To her surprise and mild horror, there was Mal standing there in the castle hallway.

  However, unlike that sickeningly sweet expression that she had earlier, she was now smirking and looking at Uma with a positively evil glint in her eye. Uma narrowed her eyes, and before the pirate could say anything, Mal spoke.

  “April Fool’s… I got you.”

[gayregis]

**SPOILERS FOR LADY OF THE LAKE / HANSA FATES**

Q:

In the fifth volume of the Witcher Saga, that is, "Lady of the Lake", the heroes accompanying our brave monster killer die in less than an hour and in the same place. The dying characters were " polished" by you sometimes throughout the entire saga. Many details contained in their fate predicted a pretty good future, and then suddenly they die out of the blue and in quite controversial ways. 

First, the Vampire-abstinent, who seemed to be someone with a strong will, is tempted to have short snort, which is the reason for his excessive bravado, and subsequent death, or something similar. Our brave archer dies from an ordinary, soldierly arrow, yet from her previous adventures one could conclude that those arrows do not harm her. Young and cheeky girl strangely "earns" a blow from which one apparently does not die, and yet here, there is a surprise. 

And our young man Cahir, an individual who would seem to be prudent and sober, throws himself with his sword at a newly met man, despite warnings from both Ciri, in the form of words, and Bonhart in the form of acquired Witcher's medallions. While Geralt is known to be the best Witcher, the very contact with a warrior of his kind should make the boy realize that it is damn difficult to defeat such a character in close combat. Nevertheless, he throws himself into a fight and, as we all know, loses completely. 

My question is: Why? Why are such intricate characters killed right away? Death is inflicted on them in bulk. Is it because you had to get rid of the excess of heroes? I understand that this is sometimes necessary, but it was possible to come up with some more subtle way than an ordinary skirmish and, in a few cases, stupidity that none of the readers would have expected. 

However, my biggest pain is over Cahir, who finally meets Ciri and dies. I don't mention here, Regis, because a sly bastard will probably reincarnate, after all cutting off his head and melting is only a difference of a few aeons. 

Doesn't this episode reveal any of your hidden sadistic inclinations towards the reader? I bet that after the death of Cahir, half of your admirers could not recover for half an hour, while the other half for another hour.

AS: 

First of all, I did it for you and other readers who reacted in a similar way - to excite them, to provoke a reaction, to give them a hot roast, not a bland soup. 

Secondly, I did it as part of a long war with the fantasy stereotype, with the banality of "the final duel in the Black Citadel", politicized and calculated on the so-called young adults banality. 

Thirdly, all the characters mentioned above are background characters, so contrary to your suppositions and accusations I did not break any literary convention and did not commit any technical offence, because the background characters are to be killed slowly.

The fourth one is addressed only to you. The fact that you did not sense how far all the unfortunates from the Stygga are being led by death, I accept - mea culpa, apparently the text was not as clear as I thought. But as far as the rest is concerned, you did not read it clearly. 

What is strange about Milva's death? The Lord God is carrying arrows, it's an announcement of a "damned fire weapon" with which any fool can bring Hercules down. In addition, Milva dies of the nobility I command so that the rest, including the wounded Angouleme, her eternal antagonist, can escape from the hail of arrows.

Cahir, the knight and officer, dies of nobility (and love, because he defends Ciri). Will the knight and officer, defending his lady, run away, because he will decide "soberly and thinkingly" that it is unwise to fight, even if the opponent is the Bonhart type? That would knock the whole legendary story and the whole matiere de la chevalerie off the ground! It couldn't be like this! And that, apart from the fact that the living Cahir was not fit for further action.

Angouleme, I admit, dies stupidly. In other words, just as ninety percent of those who lost their lives died in such battles. However, you are greatly mistaken when you write about "a blow from which you do not die". A cut femoral artery causes irrevocable and fast death, which was known to occur when they attacked - because if an incompetent man instinctively pairs blows on his head, neck and body, he is often late with the cover on his groin.

For Regis, I admit, it was more difficult, and the versions in which the vampire survived existed. I resigned from them, however - nevertheless, I consider it not only a mistake, but also hurtful to accuse me of, as you write, "getting bored with the hero" or "getting rid of excess". The vampire dies because he sacrifices himself - to save Geralt and Yennefer - to kill him, Vilgefortz must severely "shoot out" himself with his sorcerer’s power.

please read this interview with sapkowski from 2001, translated by the amazing boskee.

this question and answer in particular struck me. my reactions are as follows:

sapkowski knows what he did by writing these deaths ... he knows how we all lost our absolute shit

acknowledging that angouleme, who annoyed the shit out of milva, was saved by her in the end. milva’s death was “noble” and saved the rest.

really cementing that cahir died for ciri in the end, when in the beginning he was such a terror to her...

angouleme symbolizing the casualties of violence on a greater scale -- those who get caught up in something they may not entirely understand, and die for it. how vulnerable we all are, as humans.

speaking of humanity, the readers weren’t the only ones getting a “hot roast,” as sapkowski says earlier

“and the versions in which the vampire survived existed.” [airhorns sound]

vilgefortz lost a great amount of his power from dispelling regis, which means that regis did NOT die in vain... he truly “saved geralt and yennefer.”

the deaths were not senseless, but symbolic and logical in the grand scheme of things; however, that does not mitigate the pain felt by us. please insert crying cat memes here

[dontdoitluke]

We Could Be Heroes (Superhero!5sos AU)

Sky High AU, but instead, it’s a superhero University.

Featuring Jenna, Skyler, Emma, and Val, more to come!

Summary: After graduating from the Superhero high school Sky High, students can choose to enroll in the University for Supernatural Abilities and the Valiantly Educated (S.A.V.E.U) to further expand their powers.

Chapter 1/?

CHAPTER INDEX

Word count: 2,607 

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list!

Tags:  @calumamongmen   @myloverboyash  @wildhearthood  @vintagehoods   @lukescherrypie   @burncrashbromance   @dukesnumber1  @calsophat   @kindahoping4forever

“It is a great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected for admission to the University for Supernatural Abilities and the Valiantly Educated for the fall semester.

You were chosen from the largest and most competitive applicant pool in the institution’s history for this opportunity based on your perseverance, potential for improvement, and your exceedingly high scores on your H.E.R.O. exams during your time at Sky High. On behalf of our Headmaster, the faculty, and students - congratulations and welcome to the S.A.V.E.U. community!

As a S.A.V.E.U. student, you are joining the very best, along with a student body from around the globe, all here to educate themselves on how to further improve their supernatural abilities, just like you.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we hope you take advantage of. Please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Admissions if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to greeting you in the fall.

Sincerely,

Malinda Breton

Director of Undergraduate Admissions”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ally threw her last suitcase into her dorm room and closed the door, immediately turning to throw herself on to her bed. She had begun to question her decision to pick a room on the top floor sometime during the second trip upstairs. This school has so much money and they can’t install a damn elevator?

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, smiling to herself. “I did it, mom. I made it into the best Superhero University in the world.” Then she erupted into a fit of giggles. “And you said I couldn’t do it! Haha! Suck on that!”  

She was floating and jittery with happiness and was about to start unpacking but was interrupted by a knock at her door. Without even waiting for Ally to answer, the door opened and a girl with straight blonde hair poked her head inside.  

“Hey, have you seen a 6’4 Australian dork pass by here? Probably sopping wet, looks like a douche nozzle, and sounds like a dog whistle?”

“Um...no, no I haven’t.”

“If you see him can you tell him Jenna is looking for him?”

“Yeah, uh, okay.”

The door closed and the girl was gone.  

This year is going to be very interesting indeed.

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

Ally’s first class of the semester was Supers History. The class itself was surprisingly small for such a large university, maybe only 15 students, maximum. While waiting for the professor, most of them were occupying themselves. The girl that poked her head into Ally’s room earlier was there also, twirling her fingers and making a cyclone out of the water in her water bottle, and there was boy at the front who was using what looked like telekinesis to draw crude pictures on the whiteboard.

“Good morning, class.”

Everyone jumped. No one saw the professor come in, but there he was, erasing the drawings on the board. “You’re not in grade school anymore, son, try to act like an adult and keep the phallic artwork to yourself, okay?”

“Welcome to Supers History. In this class you’ll learn about Heroes past and some present. You’ll learn about mistakes they made so that we don’t make the same ones. You’ll learn which Heroes turned to the dark side and which Villains came to the light. I’m not here to waste your time, so I hope you’re not here to waste mine.”

No one said anything, so the professor continued.

“We will get to the syllabus in a moment but we have to do ice breakers first. I know what you’re thinking and I agree. They’re a waste of time. But they’re required for some reason so let’s just get them over with as fast as possible. I’ll start. My name is Professor Reinchecht. I’ve been a professor at S.A.V.E.U. for 27 years now, my power is teleportation."  

If you had blinked the very second he teleported, you would have missed it entirely. There was no noise, no cartoonish whoosh sound, and no movement except for the fact that he was standing behind his desk one moment and in front of it the next.  

Again, no one said anything at first. Most of the students were taken aback by how deadpan and to-the-point Professor Reinchecht was, as S.A.V.E.U. had a reputation for having fun and comical professors. One of the girls in the back stood up shakily however, and wrung her hands together nervously.  

“Hello everyone, uh, my name is Emma, I’m majoring in animal sciences and biology, and I’m a shapeshifter.”

“Are you comfortable with giving us a demonstration of your power, Emma?”

She nodded and walked toward the front of the class before turning to face the students. She bent down on her hands and knees to shift; her skin seemed to vibrate and pulse, then a sickening crack was heard as her bones began to grow and change shape. She began to grow fur and her face stretched into a long snout, and her hands turned into huge paws with long claws. The entire class was buzzing and murmuring with excitement. Shifting was a pretty common power but it’s not every day you get to see one of your classmates shift into a giant tundra wolf up close and personal. Even Professor Reinchecht seemed impressed. Wolf-Emma bowed her head and shook her entire body, and in a split second, she was back standing in her human form.

The professor spoke up with a slight smile. “Fascinating. Tell me, can you shift into anything or just a tundra wolf?”

“I can shift into anything I’ve seen in person, or have a clear image of. But I haven’t been able to stably shift into other people yet.”

“Wonderful. Well, that’s why you’re here at the University, to learn how to expand your power. Thank you for your demonstration.”  

Emma smiled brightly and walked back to her desk with a spring in her step. At this point the entire class was excited to see each other's powers and to show off their own.  

Without being asked, a tall, leather clad guy sitting next to Emma stood up, smirking cockily. “Hey, my name’s Luke, some of you know me, the rest of you can’t wait to know me. I haven’t picked a major yet, and my power is my voice.”

Even the crickets were silent.  

Reinchecht blinked twice and looked at Luke with a bored expression, having seen arrogant students like this every year. “You’re gonna show us what that means, aren’t you?”

Luke nodded and smiled widely. “You guys might want to cover your ears.”

No one moved to cover their ears. However, Luke looked around the room before setting his sights on Reinchecht’s desk. Taking a deep breath, he let out a very quick but very loud yelp, similar to the sound of an airhorn, albeit higher pitched, causing one of the pencils in a cup on Reinchecht’s desk to shatter into dust. The students let out groans of protest and rubbed their ears, and the professor just sighed and took his glasses off to clean the pencil dust off of them.  

“That was my favorite pencil, but go off I guess, as the kids say these days. Have a seat, Luke. Who’s next?”

Ally thought to herself that this guy must have been the one Jenna was looking for. She was excited to see the rest of the student's powers.  

The girl who visited her dorm earlier that week stood up quickly. “Hello, I’m Jenna, I’m majoring in criminal law, and I can do this.” Jenna opened her water bottle and poured some into her right hand, but instead of the water pouring over and onto the floor, it formed a grapefruit-sized orb in her palm. She turned toward the back of the classroom and threw the water orb directly at Luke’s face, soaking him and all of his belongings as the class roared with laughter. Luke sputtered and tried to shake the water out of his eyes, but it seemed as if Jenna was also using her powers to force the water to stay on his skin.  

“Fuck, I knew I recognized you! I ought to burst your eardrums.”

The professor finally spoke up. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. Jenna, can you dry him off?”

“I can. But I don’t know if I should.”

“Jenna.”

“Okay, fine.”

With a wave of her hand, every drop of water on Luke and his things reformed into the orb that flew toward the front of the classroom and dropped itself gently into a potted plant. The class was still laughing softly and Luke was red-faced with embarrassment. Ally, however, was getting more and more anxious with each power she witnessed. She felt as if her power paled in comparison to her classmates powers.  

Another guy sitting toward the front of the room stood. He was wearing a pair of noise cancelling headphones, and looked like he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks.

“My name is Michael, I’m also studying criminal law, and I have supersonic hearing. I don’t really know how to demonstrate it well enough to prove it. I can’t turn off my power, so I just use these all the time to dull down the noise so that things aren’t so loud,” he said quietly, tapping his headphones and shuffling his feet.  

Reinchecht replied softly,“That’s alright, Michael, you don’t have to demonstrate your gift to us. Thank you for sharing.”

Poor guy, Ally thought. Is it a gift or a curse? He must never get a break.

Another girl stood and waved. “Hi, I’m Valeria, I’m here to study human biology, and I can shrink myself down to the size of a pin head.” She’d begun shrinking before she’d finished speaking, but her dress didn’t shrink with her so she was struggling to hold it up and keep herself covered. Luke and a couple of other students catcalled and whistled, much to Michael's dismay. He pressed the cups of his headphones harder onto his ears and grimaced. Valeria shrunk herself down to about a foot tall before holding her dress up became cumbersome and grew herself back to her normal height. She swayed in place for a second and fell back in her seat dizzily.

“Very useful, I imagine. I should have you come shrink down for me if I ever accidentally lock my keys in my car.” Reinchecht chuckled and took a seat on top of his desk. “Anyone else?”

A boy with tan skin and bleached hair stood. “My name is Calum. I’m majoring in powers theory, and I have indestructable digestion. And a spare stomach pouch. I can swallow and store or digest pretty much anything I can fit into my mouth. I...guess I can show you”

Valeria made a pained noise in the back of her throat that sounded like a cross between a groan and a squeak at that.

Calum moved on, pulling a small leather bag out of his pocket and taking out a small handful of large glass marbles. He popped them into his mouth as if they were a handful of peanuts and swallowed them whole.

A red haired guy scoffed and shook his head. “You’ve been trying to prove that since we were kids, Cal. I’m still not convinced that’s a real power. Anyone can swallow some marbles with enough practice.”

Calum furrowed his brows and frowned. “Yeah, but can they digest them? Not everyone can digest glass marbles, Ash.”

Ash shrugged and slouched in his seat. “Still not convinced it’s real.”

“Real enough for me,” Valeria sighed, smiling at Calum, who was beginning to look very uncomfortable.

“Alright, we have to finish up soon, let’s move on,” Reinchecht interrupted. “Anyone else want to volunteer?”

“I will,” a girl with long black hair bounced up excitedly. “I’m Skyler, I’m studying physics, and I have invisibility and forcefields. Jenna, can you shoot some water at Luke again?”

“What!?”

“With pleasure,” Jenna grinned evilly. She pulled another orb of water from her bottle and sent it flying toward Luke. Skyler raised her hand and summoned a shield of light in front of the blonde Aussie, preventing him from getting soaked again.  

“You have GOT to stop doing that. You’re like a nerf gun gone wrong.”

“Hey, Sky asked me to, yell at her,” she raised her hands in defense and pointed toward Skyler, but she was invisible all except for her clothes. It was kind of eerie to see clothes sitting in a desk without a body.

“It takes me a little bit to come back...sorry guys, I’ll be visible in a few seconds.”

The red-haired guy from earlier stood. “I guess I should go. Hi, I’m Ashton, I’m majoring in geology and earth science. And, surprise surprise, I’m an earth elemental. Cal Pal here used to call me Captain Earthquake when we were kids because of it.”

“I called you Captain Earthquake because your farts shook the whole room.”

“Gee, thanks Cal. Love you, man.”

“Of course, you’re my best bud.”

Luke opened his mouth to say something but Jenna flicked two fingers and shot a water stream directly into his mouth, making him gag.  

“Moving on, now. Jenna, please stop trying to kill Luke, you can do that in the arena on rally days. Skyler, that’s a pretty incredible power. I can’t wait to see how you end up progressing. Alright, who hasn’t gone yet?”

Ally looked around the room to see if anyone else would volunteer before her, and when no one did she stood up shakily. Public speaking always made her nervous.

“Hello, I’m Ally. I’m, uh, here to study environmental science, and I can...multiply things.”

Emma looked at Ally with confusion. “Like...mega math powers?”

“No, um...like this.” She grabbed the pen off of her desk and rubbed it between her hands. It was one of those things where if you weren’t paying attention, you’d miss it. One pen turned to two, two turned to four, and four turned to eight, until she had a handful of blue ballpoint pens in her hand. Some of her classmates clapped in approval, and that calmed her a little. She felt subpar to her classmates, so even the slightest bit of approval made her feel much better.  

“Thank you, Ally. That’s a very useful power. I imagine you’ll be able to improve far beyond your expectation.”

Reinchecht cleared his throat and glanced at his watch. “However, we are out of time. We’ll have to get to the rest of you tomorrow. Please, take a syllabus on your way out today. Read over it and make sure you get the required textbooks. You’re dismissed.”

All the students stood up and started gathering their things, chit chatting with each other about their powers. A now-visible Skyler and Jenna were bombarding Emma with questions about her power, Luke and Ashton followed Michael out of the classroom, and Valeria busied herself with trading phone numbers with Calum, pouting when he exclaimed “I have not and will never attempt to swallow a human, no matter how small they are.”

“But you CAN do it, though.”

“Bye, Val.”

“Wait, I have more questions!”

Ally stuffed all the new pens in her bag and headed for the door, but she was stopped by Jenna.

“Hey, what are you doing for lunch?”

“Uh, I was just gonna grab a sandwich or something from the commons, why?”

“Why don’t you join us? We’re gonna meet the boys at Pablo’s and have lunch there. They’ve got the best fish tacos. Please?”

Ally smiled to herself. This was already much better than high school and regardless of what her mother assumed, she loves it here.  

“Sure. I’ll meet you there.”

[kakashibabe02]

Finished Penta fic =)

I’ve gone over this with a fine tooth comb and it’s as good as I can make it haha. Hope you all enjoy @monstersmaid @earl-01 @ghostofviper

      “And I already told you Penta that I don’t think it’s a good idea!” She shouted at him. Pentagon Jr. shook his head and, continued to get his ring gear on. Tonight he was having a “friendly” match with his brother Fenix and Cariño wasn’t happy about it. She knew that the brothers brought the best out in each other, but also the worst. Whoever lost that night would be in a foul mood the next day (to say the very least) and while she loved Fenix like a brother, she wasn’t ready to deal with an even more agitated Pentagon if he were to loose. Pentagon wouldn’t just be in a foul mood, he would be ready to tear the locker room apart and anyone that got in his way. Cariño knew that the Lucha Brothers as a tag team would suffer because of this match, and she wouldn’t let the best tag team in the world collapse due to one match. They had been arguing about this for weeks now and she was exhausted at having to repeat herself while he didn’t listen. When it came to Pentagon’s career he knew how to handle his business and usually Cariño didn’t butt in, happy to be traveling with the masked luchador all over the globe and valet for him from time to time just enjoying the ride. However, this time she was putting her foot down.       “Look at the size of the crowd Cariño! The Lucha Brothers pull them in!” He said while lacing up his boots. Cariño stood in front of him with her arms crossed.       “YES! The Lucha Brothers, together! They love to see you two work together, not rip each other apart! Besides, you sound like you’ve been hanging around LAX too much.” He shot her a look at her last comment, silently telling her not to push her luck anymore. She sighed heavily. “If you’re doing this then you’re doing it by yourself.” Cariño walked over and flopped down on the old dilapidated couch that seemed to be at every event they went to, and picked up her phone holding it in front of her face. It was a weak tactic and they both knew it.       “Que?” That got his attention. “What did you say Cariño?”  Cariño wouldn’t look at him, she knew if she did then she would cave. There was something oddly hypnotizing about Pentagon when he had his contacts in and makeup on. While Cariño was a strong woman, she had to be to be with Pentagon as long as she did, she could’t resist him sometimes. This was important to her so she needed to stand her ground. Pentagon had walked over to her, grabbed her chin in a firm but gentle grip, making her brown eyes meet his silver ones. Setting her phone aside she calmly repeated herself.       “I’m not going out with you tonight. I hate seeing you and Fenix go at it and I wont be a part of it.”  He held her chin a second longer then growled.       “Have it your way Cariño. If you want to act like a child then you can stay here and pout like one.” Pentagon whirled around and finished getting ready. She wouldn’t let him bait her into another fight. After weeks of arguing he must have known this was going to happen, that she would pull the last card she had in her arsenal. He called it childish, she saw it and making a statement. Many people thought that standing up to the infamous Pentagon Jr. was a death sentence, she herself believed that at first. After years of being together she found her courage to stand up to him when it really mattered, and this mattered a lot to Cariño.       “I’m sorry Penta, I’ll be here when you get back.” Pentagon said nothing, just grunted at her then slammed his locker room door shut.  Cariño heaved another unhappy sigh and turned on the television that played the live feed of the show. Just because she didn’t go down to the ring with Pentagon doesn’t mean she wouldn’t watch him. Cariño had been a fan on his long before she had met him at a random bar after a show. It was an instant attraction, one that had been sustained through out their relationship. Sighing once again she watched the match progress, her heart in her throat as the brothers put on an amazing match. She hated to admit when Pentagon was right, but the people in the crowd were loosing their minds, and after a while Cariño was as well. She couldn’t be happier that the crowd was backing Pentagon, admittedly she felt bad that Fenix wasn’t getting all the cheers like he normally did. There were a few risky spots, but that was to be expected in a lucha libre match. Once the match was over Cariño leapt up, so excited that Pentagon had won the and bolted for the door.       She was met with defining applause and cheers when she made her way ringside. The fans had gotten used to seeing her helping both brothers at different federations. Pentagon continued talking to the crowd, only shooting Cariño a sexy knowing smirk. He was right and there would be no living with him once they made it back to the hotel. Cariño listened to his speech in Spanish, letting the rolling R’s and deep timber of his voice carry her away and she was too distracted to see the group of men making their way to the ring behind her. Cariño suddenly was violently pushed out of the way, falling hard on the concrete floor. She lay there for a second, only hearing the sound of her own heartbeat thunder in her ears while she took stock of her body to see if anything was hurt. Once the ringing in her ears stopped she sat up and pulled herself to the ring apron and was horrified by what she saw. Both Fenix and Pentagon had their masks ripped off, their hands covering as much of their faces as they could. They were also trying to protect each other by crawling towards one another and fight of the 3 members of Los Mecenarios who were taunting them and taking turns stomping the brothers. With a distressed cry Cariño wasted no time in throwing herself into the ring and pulling both brothers to her body, trying to help shield their faces and protect their identities. She knew that their identities were very important to them, and their masks were sacred, how much they meant to both men. The screams and shouts of the crowd were deafening, the only sound rising above them was the ever present air horn. Los Mercenarios laughed at Cariño’s noble attempt to shield the Lucha Brothers. They came out to send a message, and Cariño was only in their way.       “Cariño what are you doing?” Fenix shouted, his face pressed into her shirt.       “Cariño you’re going to get yourself hurt, LEAVE!” Pentagon demanded at the same time. Cariño had shoved Pentagon’s face in the crook of her neck; arm behind the back of his head, his breath hot against her skin. Any other time it would be a huge distraction, but she was terrified for her loved ones. The simple fact that she couldn’t feel Pentagon’s mask against her skin made fat tears start to pool in her eyes. Never in a million years would she imagine herself in this scenario, it felt like a nightmare come to life. Even though both men were telling her to leave they kept their arms around her, anchoring themselves to her shaking body.       “Like I’m going to leave you,” Before she could add an insult to her sentence another sound ripped through the air, the loud crack of a thick bull rope coming down onto Cariño’s exposed back. She screamed in agony as the rope burned and worked its way into her tender flesh. Both brothers were cursing and shouting in their native tongue while trying to move her away from Texano’s vicious attacks. Cariño held her ground, she would have rather died than let her boys down. Texano and laughed wickedly and swung the rope down again and again, causing bright red burns to appear on her back and shoulders while the other Los Mercenarios taunted the Lucha Brothers. Suddenly the booing crowd began to cheer and part as a tornado of color drove Los Mecenarios out of the ring. Before Cariño knew what was happening she felt both brothers push themselves away from her protective body and she blindly reach for Pentagon, terrified that he was being ripped from her side. To stop her frantic movements Pentagon grabbed her hands in one of his, a comforting gesture to his panicked girlfriend. Due to her blurry tear-filled eyes she couldn’t see what was going on but when Pentagon’s masked face came into view she let out a happy wail. She could tell he was torn between seeking revenge and getting Cariño medical attention.       “Go.” She told him, making his decision for him. Penta carefully pushed her brown hair away from her sweaty forehead and tear stained face, and whispered.       “Stay still mi Cariño, I’ll be back.” With his hand cradling her face he placed a small kiss on her forehead, which drove the crowd into an even bigger frenzy. Pentagon then dove out of the ring to help the Psycho Circus and his brother, who also had regained his mask, destroy Los Mecenarios and get retribution for what they had done to the Lucha Brothers and Cariño.  Her back and shoulders were on fire and every breath she took made the ache even worse, but her boys identities were still secret and they had regained their masks. Cariño couldn’t help but laugh nervously as the adrenaline was starting to wear off and the pain was starting to make her feel woozy. The last thing she remember hearing was Pentagon cussing and the blair of dueling airhorns and her last thought was,       “Damn I hate those things” then the world went dark.       When Cariño awoke she was on her laying on her stomach, the scratchy bedspread and pillow indicated that Pentagon must have taken her back to their hotel room. Pressing the heal of her hand to her pounding head she went to push herself off of her stomach but was met with sore muscles and blinding pain.       “Cariño.” Pentagon’s deep voice came from behind her making her stop moving. He sat a glass of water down on the beside table and lowered himself gently to her side. “Here, take these.” a few pain relievers were thrust into her hand. She did as she was told, knowing an ass-chewing was about to commence so she would do as he said to make things easier on herself. “What were you thinking?” Pentagon said rather calmly, his silver eyes flying over her face. Cariño stayed on her stomach, nervously playing with the corner of her pillow case, trying to think of an answer Pentagon would accept.         “I couldn’t sit there and do nothing.” He growled and jumped up, pacing by her bedside.       “The hell you couldn’t!” He snapped back angrily running his hand over the top of his mask, playing with the tie that ran down the back. Cariño knew he did that only when he was really agitated, she had to tread carefully. To try and stall for time Cariño took a few small sips of her water and just watched Pentagon stalk by her bedside. “Fenix and I had it covered!” His comment caused Cariño to choke on the mouthful of water she had in her mouth, and against her better judgment she laughed in indignation.       “Had it covered? You two were no better than newborn babies out there!” As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted it, her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Now who had been spending too much time with LAX? She had let her mouth get her in trouble again. “Penta, I didn’t mean…”       “No” He looked at her with intense eyes “you may be right, but you had no business out there, getting yourself hurt to protect me and Fenix.” Pentagon would naturally blame himself for Cariño getting hurt, and it was time for her to open up and be truthful. With a smile Cariño slowly pushed herself up off the bed, throwing out a hand to stop Pentagon from trying to stop her. After a second she righted herself and looked up at Pentagon, the yellow glow from the bathroom lighting her serious face.       “It is my business, I have to protect those I love. You would do the very same thing, as a matter of fact you have! I’m not sorry for what I did. I love you Penta and I will always go to war for you.” Pentagon stood here for a minute, just looking at her face his eyes frantically drinking in her features. Suddenly he leaned forward, cradled her face in his hands and kissed her soft lips causing Cariño emit a small gasp. This was unexpected from the breaker of bones, but not unwelcome.       “Estupida.” He said once he pulled away from her, and shot a boyish grin her way. Cariño knew his insult wasn’t a malicious one, it was his way of ending the argument that there was no way either were going to win this pointless fight anymore.  She laughed at Pentagon and pulled him in for another kiss, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. It didn’t matter at that moment that he didn’t proclaim words of love and devotion back to her, because he showed it to her the rest of the night without saying a word.