#restraining movements or using your opponent's moves against them

[amelikos]

Something about the way Spinel, Friede and Liko's first Pokemon all share (or will share) the Dark type under certain circumstances (Spinel's Blacky being Dark type, Friede's Lizardon becoming Dark type upon Terastalization, and Liko's Nyarote will eventually gain the Dark type if it evolves into Masquernya). And how all three of them craft strategies around diversions, creating distractions, observations and running away.

Also thinking about how Spinel's Orbem is a Psychic type, similarly to Liko's Tebrim. Psychic moves being used to restrain or limit movements, or stop opponent's moves and use them against them. (Liko's Tebrim using her Mind Power during the battle against Grusha to stop her opponent's Icicle Spears and send them right back at it really reminded me of Spinel using his Orbem's Psychic moves to restrain Friede's Lizardon's movements back in HZ014.)

[accioscarheadthings]

ULTRAMINE ~ CHAPTER 9

kenji sato x reader

summary: with no time to waste, kenji gears up to face the kdf in a final, decisive battle to rescue you and emi from their grasp

pairings: kenji sato x fem!student!reader

warning: none, violence, use of missiles, combat,

masterlist !

you slowly regained consciousness, groggily looking around to take in your surroundings. your mind was foggy, and your head pounded with each beat of your heart. as your eyes focused, you noticed the familiar corridor ceilings of the kdf.

a wave of realization washed over you, and you instinctively tried to move your hands.

however, they were tightly restrained to the stretcher you were lying on, effectively preventing you from escaping.

the mecha gigantron and emi were making their way through the ocean.

the sudden splash of water caused mecha gigantron and emi to pause. they glanced around to determine the source of the disturbance and found Uutraman towering before them, his silhouette etched against the watery horizon.

as the water rippled around him, he planted himself firmly, blocking their path.

emi chittered, beak open in excitement at his arrival as she flew towards him.

"there's my girl!" kenji held his hands out for her.

when emi got closer to him, the mecha gigantron screeched sharply, making her stop.

"emi. we gotta go, girl. that’s not your real mama," kenji explained softly, "she’s just a fake. something the bad men made to trick you. the very same men who took y/n,"

kenji clenched his fists at his sides, "i know you're up there! I know you have her!" he hollered up at the sky, "coward!"

"mecha gigantron, attack!" dr. onda snapped, ordering the gigantron.

you feigned unconsciousness, waiting for the opportunity to make your escape. as soon as the restraints were removed, you seized the moment and slipped out with a burst of energy.

before the guards guarding you could react, you had already sprung into action. you dodged a punch from the nearest guard, sidestepping to the side in a fluid motion. in a swift counterattack, you struck a blow to the guard's ribcage with a powerful strike of your own.

you continued with a series of swift and skillful movements. you blocked another punch with the leg of the chair and kicked your opponent's knees, causing him to fall hard on his front.

without missing a beat, you somersaulted into the air, landing with a graceful flip on her back atop the dazed man. the chair shattered into pieces under the weight of her impact, adding to the chaos and confusion.

freeing yourself, you rushed out of the room, heading straight towards the combat in the waters below.

just as you reached the hatch of the aircraft, a deep voice stopped you in your tracks.

"stop right there, agent y/n!"

you froze at the voice, raising your hands at your sides, and slowly turning around.

dr. onda stood with a gun aimed at you, your ordering captain beside him.

you narrowed your eyes at him.

"leaving so early?" dr. onda taunted.

"i have no interest in staying here, so by all means, fire away," you raised a fist to the air in front of you.

a rumbling sound was heard and dr. onda and the captain were knocked off their feet by a pile of boxes. a tiny missle shot through the air, zipping right towards your wrist and landing on your skin.

metal plates shifted and crawled up your arm as you sprinted and leapt off the hatch of the aircraft.

firing your thrusters, you plummeted down the air towards where kenji battled the mecha gigantron.

ultraman moves with incredible agility, smoothly dodging and shifting to avoid attacks. with every strike he delivers, the water below churns and roars, its surface becoming more chaotic by the second.

the gigantron had grabbed hold of kenji's neck, raising him up into the air while he struggled to evade.

a beam of energy shot at the kaiju, throwing it aside a good distance away frm kenji, allowing him to land on his feet.

you had had your arm raised as you shot the energy ray frm the chest piece of your warbird suit.

"there you are," kenji murmured, shoulders sagging in relief that you had made it out alive and well.

"well, i can't have you mourning me too soon, now, can i?" you tilted your head at him in acknowledgment and he knew you were smiling at him behind your mask.

"missile attack now!" dr. onda ordered.

several projectiles rained down on you and kenji, the latter successfully held up a shield dome for protection.

but emi got in the way, taking a direct hit from one of the missiles.

"no!" kenji yelled in horror.

letting down the shield, kenji hurried over to where emi had fallen and cradled her in his arms, "no, no," he breathed heavily, "no, no, no. no, no, no,"

"come on. come on. come on," kenji muttered over and over again, "wake up. wake up, girl!"

"emi," you were hovering in the air beside ultraman, your voice carrying remorse.

kenji held emi to his chest in affection while you placed a palm on the kaiju baby's cheeks.

kenji set her down on a rock gently, turning to the mecha gigantron.

you and kenji charged forward, anger fueling your determination to protect emi at all costs.

in a coordinated effort, you took turns delivering powerful blows to the gigantic mecha, surrounding it in a coordinated attack.

the kaiju was on its back, laid back helpless as it was knocked out for the moment.

kenji pulled back a palm, holding a disc of spinning energy on it. just as he was about to bring it down, you managed to hover in the air in front of him, "kenji, no!"

kenji froze, his chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.

"look," you motioned at the exposed skin of the kaiju body under the metal armor of the gigantron, "that kaiju is still alive. project surrogate was about this,"

kenji lowered his hand, "oh my god,"

suddenly, the powerful tail of the mecha giganton struck out, catching you off guard and sending you reeling backward.

before either of you could react, you were plunged deep into the dark and unforgiving depths of the ocean.

as you sank deeper into the water, memories of your past flooded your mind. your father's face, his words, and the times you spent together washed over you like a wave. you recalled him passing down the mantle of warbird to you, the weight of the legacy resting on your shoulders.

"one day, the mantle of Warbird will pass to you," he said firmly, his voice carrying a weight of expectation.

"taking up this legacy won't be easy," he continued, his eyes never leaving your face. "it will require sacrifices, and you may have to carry the burden alone."

you stared up at him, clinging to every word he uttered.

"but I have faith in you," he added, a hint of pride in his voice.

something large blocked the light above you, and you felt a giant palm wrap around you and pull you out of the water.

the grip around you tightened as you were lifted up from the depths of the ocean.

looking up, you saw that the large hand gently wrapped around you, its palm acting as a supporting platform that raised you higher into the air.

you glanced over and saw Kenji nearby, seeming to have gotten knocked into the water like you. he was slowly rising to his feet, staring up at the figure that had come to your saving.

your eyes widened as you were met with the towering figure of mr. sato in his ultraman form. he looked down at both you and Kenji with a calm expression, his gaze filled with both concern and worry. it was mr. sato who had come to your rescue in the nick of time.

"dad? you’re alive," kenji breathed in relief.

"i promised I would always be here," he told his son, sparing you a glance and nodding silently. you nodded back at him in respect.

the mecha gignatron roared loudly, making you three turn towards it. she seemed to be in agony, trying to override the protocols the kdf were feeding into its mind, while trying to decipher who emi was.

it let out a loud screech into the cloudy night sky, sending soundwaves above.

it clawed at its face, scraping out a part of its eye, to reveal its original green ones as it blinked at emi in recognition.

chittering in joy, emi flew towards her mother, snuggling closer to her beak while her mother leaned into her daughter's embrace.

a bright light flashed, showing displaying the way several jets scrambled out of the kdf jet above the clouds.

"is this the part where the villain sends a hidden force we didn’t know about?" kenji pondered

"those are escape pods," professor sato elaborated.

a large laser beam hit the older ultra, right at his chest and he skidded back on the water on his back from the force of it.

but professor sato was careful to cradle you and kenji to his chest. he raised his fist at his side and opened them.

"professor!" your voice raised in panic.

"dad! are you okay?" kenji was nothing but worried.

"it's alright, y/n. I’m fine, kenji," professor sato replied.

the kdj aircraft from above descended through the clouds and landed in front of you all.

a large mechanical suit revealed dr. ondo to be in control of it, staring at you all in defiance.

kenji looked between you and his father, "we gonna do this together?"

"well, i’m not gonna do it alone," professor sato retorted.

kenji transformed back to his ultraman form; your warbird suit covered over your body, the mask closing over your face, and eyes lighting up.

dr. ondo yelled as he charged forward to fight.

the four of you approached at dr. ondo, taking turns to attack him. all of you moved in sync, striking at vulnerabilities and working together to bring down the man in the mechanical suit. the mecha gigantron clawed at him, while the two ultras tried to restrain him by holding him down on both sides. you fired a beam of photon at him, trying to disarm him.

but dr. ondo was able to shake off the ultras and found his arm at you in a punch, tossing you off your balance.

with each blow exchanged, the battle grew fiercer and more desperate. dr. ondo's suit retaliated with powerful strikes, trying its hardest to eliminate the ultra heroes. despite the danger, you and kenji held your ground, determined to take him down.

at one point, dr. ondo had overpowered professor sato and had him on his knees. he pulled out his electric machete, raising it up to swing it down and take his revenge.

kenji swung in between just in time caught his mechanical arm halfway, grunting in effort. in one quick motion, he snapped it in half and tossed it aside, "batter up!"

you swooped in, firing from the chest-piece of your warbird suit and lacerated an arm.

emi had charged from the other side, roaring with all her might as she swung the pipe in her hand at dr. ondo. holding it like a baseball bat, just like kenji had taught her.

dr. ondo was now devoid of both his arms to combat.

emi flew over to you, the metal pipe still in her hand.

"that's my girl," you glanced at her, your tone affectionate. emi cooed at you, bashful at your comment.

mecha gigantron and emi fired at the man, beaks wide open. you fired from your own chest piece while kenji and professor sato held up their hands together perpendicularly, sending a beam of energy his way.

the combined energy forces from all four of you had dr. ondo struggling for his life, feeling the inevitable defeat crawl upon him.

finally, when his suit gave out, he collapsed back on the water, making the four of you withdraw.

all began to walk away from the scene of intense battle, bodies still thrumming with adrenaline. you did a double take when you caught sight of a red blinking light on dr. ondo's suit. it only meant one thing: the suit was about to self-destruct, and danger was imminent.

it seemed that kenji too had realized that and acted quickly. without a single moment of hesitation, he created a protective dome shield around himself and the suit to effectively contain the impending explosion.

"kenji, no!"

TAGLIST !

@earth-to-mee @sassy-cat-in-town @breaddippedinorangejuice @nuhteyam @gameboigyu @byunpum @jennypenny-19 @doublebunv @moonjellyfishie @m00nd0v3 @despacito-uwu16 @reivelmin @seyoran @warlike-morning @crimson-mage-02 @b3e-sat0 @miffysoo @t4naiis @lovingyeet  @imsimping4life @mmeerraa @btszn @jusmango-shak @yobriisstuff @goldenpoison @bat-h-tic @fruchtgeschmack @iateurdad16 @bandolls @lovingyee @reivelmin @f-ergj @arrozyfrijoles23 @aise-30 @simp-hub @armycaratlover @taleiak @ellie-x0xo @femmefqtqle @mp-buezo @bakugouswaif @berryjuicyy @f-ergj @aise-30 @marshhbs @star-flecked-soul @bontensbabygirl @vynwan-cbq @scarasw1f3 @bakugouswaif @deimmortales99 @burnthecheshirewitch

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

i'm so sorry for this messy chapter, I'm not good at writing fight scenes and i just wanted to get it over with.

[shiorihyugawrites]

The Legendary Black Cat

Selena de la Rosa, known across Marley as the Legendary Black Cat, is the world's deadliest assassin—a master of agility, precision, and deception. When Marley turns against her, she is shipped to Paradis as a living weapon, chained and drugged, with her survival all but assured to be short-lived. But Selena is no ordinary prisoner.

Bound by no one, loyal to none, Selena plots her next move, determined to seize her freedom by any means necessary. Yet, her plans are complicated by the Scouts who captured her, particularly Captain Levi Ackerman—the so-called Humanity's Strongest Soldier. Selena is intrigued by his strength and reputation, but her pride refuses to acknowledge him as her equal.

Caught between Levi’s unrelenting gaze, Selena plays a dangerous game of manipulation. She’s biding her time, but when the moment comes, will her calculated escape bring her freedom—or will her path collide violently with Levi’s unwavering resolve?

The Black Cat has always landed on her feet, but for the first time, she might meet her match. (Levi x OC)

Chapter Four

The forest was silent except for the faint rustling of leaves and the heavy breathing of the scouts. Selena’s mocking laughter had faded into the night, leaving the group frozen in stunned disbelief. The scene before them was surreal—Captain Levi, Humanity’s Strongest Soldier, stood disheveled, his uniform in tatters, blood dripping from shallow cuts across his arms and chest. His gray eyes burned with a fury that seemed to darken the entire forest.

No one spoke at first. They couldn’t. It was as though the very laws of reality had been upended. Levi didn’t lose. Levi didn’t get caught off guard. And Levi definitely didn’t get kissed by the enemy.

Finally, Jean broke the silence, his voice cracking with incredulity. “She… she kissed him.”

“What the hell was that!?” Connie added, his jaw practically on the floor. “Did she actually kiss him?”

“She kissed Captain Levi,” Sasha whispered, her eyes wide. “And then kicked his ass!”

Armin blinked rapidly, his analytical mind struggling to process what he had just witnessed. “I… I don’t even know what to say. That was… she was toying with him.”

Eren clenched his fists, his face twisted in frustration. “That wasn’t just toying! She humiliated him! Captain Levi doesn’t lose—how could she do that?”

Mikasa’s expression was harder to read, but her dark eyes flicked to Levi’s face. He was standing perfectly still, his hands clenched tightly around his remaining blade. The way his shoulders rose and fell with each breath betrayed just how furious he was.

Levi’s gaze dropped to the ground for a moment as he slowly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His movements were deliberate, restrained, as though he was using every ounce of his self-control to keep from exploding. The spot where Selena’s lips had pressed against his burned in his mind—not because of the kiss itself, but because of what it represented. He had underestimated her, and she had caught him slipping. That was unforgivable.

“Tch,” Levi muttered under his breath, his voice low and sharp. “Damn stray cat.”

Hange, who had been silent until now, suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter. “Oh my god, Levi! She kissed you! That’s a first. How does it feel to be the target of such… bold affection?”

Levi shot her a glare that could’ve killed on sight. “Shut up, Hange,” he snapped, his voice icy. “Now’s not the time.”

“Oh, come on,” Hange said, grinning from ear to ear. “She kissed you and kicked your ass. You’ve got to admit, she’s… impressive.”

Levi’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Say another word, and I’ll kick your ass.”

Hange raised her hands in mock surrender, though her grin didn’t falter. “Fine, fine. But admit it—you respect her now, don’t you?”

Levi didn’t answer immediately. He hated to admit it, but she was right. Selena de la Rosa wasn’t just another opponent. She was the real deal. Her speed, precision, and flexibility had pushed him in ways few others ever had. She had read his movements, countered his attacks, and exploited his momentary lapse in focus with surgical precision. And that damn kiss…

“She’s skilled,” Levi said finally, his tone begrudging. “More skilled than I expected.”

“More skilled than any of us expected,” Erwin added, stepping forward. His blue eyes were calm, but there was a hint of something deeper in his gaze—concern, perhaps, or curiosity. “This wasn’t just a display of skill. It was psychological warfare. She wanted us to see that even our best isn’t invincible.”

Mikasa’s jaw tightened at the implication. “She humiliated all of us. What does she gain from that?”

“Control,” Armin said softly, his sharp mind piecing it together. “She’s establishing dominance. She wants us to know that she’s not afraid of us, and that she’s not to be underestimated.”

“Well, it worked,” Jean muttered, crossing his arms. “Because now I’m scared as hell.”

Eren scowled, his fists shaking. “We can’t just let her get away with this. We have to find her!”

Levi’s sharp gaze snapped to Eren, silencing him instantly. “Think before you act, Jaeger. She’s in control right now, not us. If you rush in like an idiot, she’ll cut you down before you even know what hit you.”

Eren bit back his retort, though his frustration was palpable. “Then what do we do?”

“We regroup,” Erwin said firmly. “Selena has the upper hand, but we can’t afford to let her out of our sight. She’s still in this forest. We’ll track her, but we do it carefully.”

Hange’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she adjusted her glasses. “Oh, this is going to be fun. I can’t wait to see what she does next.”

“She’s not a game,” Levi snapped. “She’s a threat. Don’t forget that.”

Hange shrugged, though her grin remained. “A threat, sure. But you can’t deny she’s fascinating. You don’t run into people like her every day.”

“Good,” Levi muttered darkly. “Once is more than enough.”

As the group moved to reorganize themselves, the younger scouts couldn’t stop murmuring among themselves.

“She kissed him,” Connie repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, his tone both incredulous and amused. “I still can’t get over it. She actually kissed Captain Levi.”

“Why would she do that?” Sasha asked, her brow furrowed. “It’s so… random.”

“It wasn’t random,” Armin said, his voice thoughtful. “It was deliberate. She knew it would throw him off.”

“Throw him off?” Jean scoffed. “It nearly killed him! Did you see his face? He looked like his soul left his body.”

Mikasa’s eyes flicked toward Levi, who was walking ahead of them in silence. “It worked. She escaped.”

“Not for long,” Eren growled. “We’ll find her.”

“She’s not just going to wait around,” Armin warned. “She’s always thinking ahead. We need to be smart about this.”

As the group continued, the tension in the air grew thicker. None of them had ever seen Levi pushed like that before, and it left them all with a lingering unease. If Selena could challenge Humanity’s Strongest Soldier, what hope did the rest of them have?

Levi stayed at the front of the group, his expression unreadable but his mind racing. Selena’s words and actions replayed in his head, her mocking grin and poison-green eyes burned into his memory. He had made the mistake of underestimating her, and she had capitalized on it with ruthless efficiency. The kiss… that was just the cherry on top. It wasn’t about affection; it was about control. And Levi hated losing control.

But even as anger simmered beneath his calm exterior, there was a part of him—however grudgingly—that respected her. Selena de la Rosa wasn’t just a killer. She was a tactician, a manipulator, and a force to be reckoned with. She had proven herself worthy of her reputation as Marley’s deadliest assassin.

Still, Levi wasn’t about to let her win. She had played her hand, but he wasn’t out of the game yet. The Black Cat might have landed on her feet this time, but the hunt was far from over.

“Tch,” Levi muttered under his breath. “Your move, Black Cat.”

…

Later on the group gathered around a makeshift table in the forest clearing, the night’s chill settling over them as they attempted to regroup and analyze the enigma that was Selena de la Rosa. Despite their injuries, no one could ignore the pressing need to understand their opponent. Levi stood at the head of the group, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, his expression as grim as ever.

The scouts looked worse for wear. Eren’s uniform was scuffed, Mikasa’s blades were chipped, and Jean had a darkening bruise on his jaw. But all of them were united in their shock and frustration.

“She’s fast,” Armin began, his voice cautious. “Faster than anyone we’ve ever faced. Even you, Captain.”

Levi didn’t deny it. His gray eyes narrowed as he replayed the battle in his head. “She’s more than just fast,” he said. “She’s precise. Every movement, every strike—it’s calculated. She doesn’t waste energy.”

“What about that technique she used?” Mikasa asked, her dark eyes glinting with a mixture of curiosity and frustration. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The room fell silent as they recalled the moment Selena unleashed her barrage of cuts. Even now, the memory sent shivers down their spines.

“It was insane,” Jean muttered, shaking his head. “She cut you—what? Eighty times in ten seconds?”

“Close,” Levi said, his voice cold. “It was exactly a hundred.”

Connie let out a low whistle, leaning back in his seat. “How do you even do that? I mean, I’ve heard of speed, but that’s just—”

“Inhuman,” Sasha finished for him, her face pale.

Levi’s jaw tightened as he thought about the way Selena had moved during that attack. The fluidity, the accuracy—it was unlike anything he’d ever encountered. “It wasn’t random,” he said. “She wasn’t just swinging wildly. She zigzagged her blades while striking, alternating between her left and right in perfect rhythm. It’s why she was able to land five cuts per second, with each blade in such a short amount of time.”

Mikasa frowned. “That level of skill… it would take years to master something like that.”

“Or a lifetime,” Levi said quietly, his voice edged with a grudging respect. “She’s been trained for this since she was a child. That technique isn’t just something she learned—it’s something she perfected.”

Armin’s brow furrowed in thought. “But it requires extreme precision. If she were even a fraction of a second off, she’d lose the rhythm and leave herself open.”

“Exactly,” Levi said, his gray eyes glinting. “It’s not invincible. It’s fast and overwhelming, but it’s not flawless.”

“But it might as well be,” Eren grumbled, his fists clenching. “You barely deflected it, Captain. The rest of us wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Jean nodded grimly. “Yeah, I hate to admit it, but if she’d used that on us, we’d all be dead.”

Connie rubbed the back of his neck, his face pale. “Okay, so she’s fast, flexible, has killer aim, and apparently has a technique that’s impossible to block. Great. What the hell are we supposed to do about that?”

Levi’s sharp gaze swept over the group, silencing their murmurs. “She’s fast, but she’s not strong,” he said. “That’s her weakness.”

Armin tilted his head. “You mean physical strength?”

Levi nodded. “Her strikes lack power. She relies on speed and agility to overwhelm her opponents. But if you can slow her down, force her into a situation where she can’t use her agility, she’s vulnerable.”

“Slow her down?” Jean scoffed. “How do you slow down someone who moves like that?”

“By outthinking her,” Levi said bluntly. “She’s clever, but she’s not invincible. Everything she does is calculated. If we force her into a position where her calculations don’t work, she’ll falter.”

Armin nodded slowly, his sharp mind already working through the possibilities. “That’s why she relies on high ground and mobility. If we can take those away from her, we might stand a chance.”

“But she’s so unpredictable,” Mikasa pointed out. “Her fighting style is unlike anything we’ve seen. She’s flexible, almost inhumanly so. How do we prepare for that?”

Levi’s gaze hardened. “By being better.”

The room fell silent again, the weight of his words sinking in. Despite his seething anger over Selena’s escape, Levi couldn’t deny the grudging respect he had for her skills. She was the real deal—Marley’s greatest assassin. And now, she was their problem.

“What about her motives?” Hange asked, breaking the silence. “She spared everyone. Even you, Captain. If she’s so dangerous, why hold back?”

Levi didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his mind wandered back to what the Marleyans had said about her refusal to titanize Eldian children. “She has a code,” he said finally. “She doesn’t kill children.”

“But we’re not children,” Eren said, his tone bitter. “We’re soldiers.”

“She sees you as children,” Levi said, his tone sharp. “Don’t let that fool you into thinking she’s soft. She spared you because she wanted to, not because she had to.”

Erwin, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, his tone measured and commanding. “Selena de la Rosa is unlike anyone we’ve faced before. Her skills, her tactics, her personality—they’re all designed to make her the perfect killer. But even she has weaknesses. Our job is to exploit them.”

“And what if she exploits ours first?” Sasha asked quietly.

Levi’s gaze flicked to her, his expression unyielding. “Then we don’t give her the chance.”

The group fell into silence again, the weight of their task pressing heavily on their shoulders. Selena was a force of nature, a predator unlike any they had encountered before. But Levi wasn’t about to let her win.

…

Perched high in the canopy of the forest, Selena sat on a sturdy branch, her body concealed by the shadows and foliage. The moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting a silvery glow on her caramel skin. She dabbed water onto a shallow cut on her arm with a strip of fabric she’d torn from her makeshift dress. Her movements were calm, methodical. Next to her, a cluster of crushed berries sat in a small leaf bowl she had fashioned. She dipped her fingers into the dark juice and smeared it over her wound, wincing slightly at the sting.

“Good as new,” she murmured under her breath, her lips curving into a faint smirk. “That Capitán… he really does live up to the stories.”

Selena’s thoughts lingered on Levi Ackerman. The way he moved, the precision of his strikes, the sheer intensity of his presence—it was intoxicating. She admired strength, skill, and control, and Levi had all of those in spades. But admiration didn’t mean submission. She wouldn’t let him, or any of these scouts, capture her. No one would control her again.

“They’re all the same,” she muttered, her green eyes glinting with anger. “Orders, agendas, betrayal. I’ve seen it before. Marley wanted a weapon, and when they couldn’t control me, they tried to discard me.” Her jaw tightened as a flicker of bitterness crossed her face. “Never again.”

Selena cast a glance down at the forest floor, her sharp eyes scanning for movement. She knew Levi and his squad were already searching for her. She could almost feel him out there, stalking her like a predator, just as she had done to countless others. But the difference was clear: she was the Black Cat. And tonight, this forest was her domain.

Selena had spent the better part of the last hour preparing for this hunt. Using nothing but her surroundings and her quick wits, she had crafted an array of simple but effective traps. Thin vines twisted into tripwires, heavy branches rigged to snap under pressure, and clusters of dried leaves strategically placed to crackle loudly when disturbed. Each trap was designed not to harm, but to disorient and reveal the scouts’ positions.

She crouched next to one of her tripwires, ensuring it was taut. The plan was simple: force them to reveal themselves and lead them on a wild chase. She didn’t need to fight all of them again—not yet. All she needed was to stay one step ahead.

As she tightened the final vine, she paused and tilted her head, listening. The faint sound of footsteps reached her ears—quiet but not quiet enough. A small, satisfied smile crept across her lips.

“Time to play,” she whispered, darting silently back into the trees.

Levi led the group through the dense forest, his expression as sharp as the blades in his hands. The others followed closely, their weapons drawn and their eyes scanning every shadow. The tension was palpable, and no one dared to speak too loudly.

“She’s somewhere in here,” Levi said quietly, his voice cold and focused. “Stay alert. She’s fast, but she’s not invisible.”

Mikasa moved alongside him, her dark eyes flicking to the treetops. “She’s so skilled, she won’t make this easy.”

“She’s not just skilled,” Levi replied, his tone edged with irritation. “She’s resourceful. If you underestimate her, you’ll regret it.”

Jean huffed under his breath, glancing around nervously. “I already regret it. This whole forest feels like a trap.”

“Because it is a trap,” Armin said, his voice tight with unease. “Think about it—if she’s as smart as we’ve seen, she knows we’re coming. She’s probably been preparing.”

“Great,” Connie muttered. “So we’re walking straight into her little death maze. Fantastic.”

Eren scowled, his fists clenched. “We can’t let her outsmart us again. We just have to—”

A sudden SNAP cut him off, the sound loud and jarring. The group froze as a heavy branch swung down from above, narrowly missing Eren and slamming into the ground with a thud. A flock of birds scattered into the sky, their startled cries echoing through the trees.

“What the hell was that?!” Sasha yelped, jumping back.

“A trap,” Levi said flatly, his eyes scanning the area. “She’s marking our position.”

Another SNAP echoed from a few yards away, followed by the loud rustling of leaves. Then another. Selena’s traps were activating in sequence, their loud noises reverberating through the forest.

“She’s leading us somewhere,” Erwin said, his tone grim. “Or away from her.”

“She’s watching us,” Hange added, adjusting her glasses with a glint of excitement in her eyes. “She probably knows exactly where we are right now.”

Levi’s jaw tightened as he turned his gaze upward, scanning the treetops. He could feel her presence, like a shadow just out of reach. “She’s close,” he muttered. “But not for long.”

From her perch high above, Selena watched the scene unfold with a sly grin. The Scouts moved cautiously through the forest, their formation tight, their weapons ready. She had to admit, they were more disciplined than she had expected—especially Levi. He moved like a panther, his sharp gaze cutting through the darkness, his movements deliberate and controlled.

But discipline wasn’t enough. Selena had the advantage here. She had survived in places worse than this forest, and she had been studying its layout and had used it to her advantage. As the scouts triggered another of her traps—a tripwire that sent a shower of twigs crashing to the ground—Selena quietly retreated in the opposite direction, her movements as silent as a whisper.

“They’re good,” she murmured to herself, her poison-green eyes glinting with amusement. “But not good enough.”

Still, her heart raced with exhilaration. The thrill of the hunt was intoxicating, and she couldn’t deny how much she enjoyed the challenge. Levi, in particular, was fascinating. His precision, his intensity, the way he never seemed to lose focus—it was almost enough to make her pause. Almost.

Selena smirked, her mind already forming her next move. The scouts thought they were hunting her, but she was the one in control. And as long as she stayed one step ahead, she intended to keep it that way.

“Catch me if you can, Capitán,” she whispered, disappearing deeper into the forest.

The stolen ODM blades gleamed faintly under the moonlight, their edges sharp but noticeably dulled from heavy use. Selena paused briefly to inspect them, running her fingers along their surfaces. They would suffice for now, but she knew they wouldn’t last long—especially if she faced Levi again.

“That Capitán doesn’t play fair,” she muttered to herself, her lips curling into a mischievous smile. “But then again, neither do I.”

Her mind raced with possibilities. She needed an edge. Fighting Levi with worn blades wouldn’t be enough, but Selena was nothing if not resourceful. She’d observed the peculiar technology the Scouts used—ODM gear. It fascinated her how they zipped through the trees with unnatural speed and grace. But like all tools, it had its weaknesses, and Selena intended to exploit them.

She crouched in the shadows of the canopy, her poison-green eyes flicking toward the distant rustling of the scouts. They were moving cautiously now, but she knew it wouldn’t last. Soon, they’d tire of tripping over her traps and switch tactics. And when they did, she would be waiting.

Levi’s sharp voice cut through the forest. “Switch to ODM gear. Now.”

“But Captain—” Eren began, only to be silenced by Levi’s glare.

“We’re wasting time stumbling through her traps,” Levi said curtly. “She’s counting on us to stay grounded. If we stay low, we’ll never catch her.”

Erwin nodded in agreement. “She’s fast, but she can’t outmaneuver all of us in the air. Use the gear and stay sharp. She’ll be expecting this.”

The scouts exchanged uneasy glances before activating their ODM gear, the faint hiss of compressed gas breaking the quiet. With a series of clicks and whirs, they launched themselves into the air, the trees blurring around them as they began zipping in Selena’s direction.

“Finally,” Selena murmured from her hiding place. She watched their movements with predatory precision, her grin widening. “Just like I thought.”

As the scouts zipped through the trees, their confidence grew. The open air felt safer than the forest floor, where Selena’s traps had plagued them. Eren, fueled by frustration, moved ahead of the group, his blades drawn.

“She’s close,” he said, his eyes scanning the shadows. “I can feel it.”

“Stay in formation,” Mikasa warned, following closely behind him. “She could ambush us.”

Jean was close behind, muttering under his breath. “Yeah, and knowing her, she probably—”

SNAP!

Jean’s words were cut off as he slammed into a web of vines stretched between two trees. His body twisted awkwardly as the cords tangled around him, cutting off his momentum.

“What the hell?!” Jean shouted, struggling against the vines.

One by one, the scouts collided with the web. Connie and Sasha yelped as they became ensnared, their gear failing to slice through the vines quickly enough. Mikasa managed to halt herself just short of the trap, her sharp reflexes saving her from getting caught, but Armin wasn’t so lucky. He dangled helplessly, his blades slipping from his grasp in his panic.

“Cut yourselves free!” Erwin commanded from behind, his voice calm but firm.

Selena didn’t give them the chance.

As soon as the web ensnared the majority of the scouts, Selena struck. She crouched on a high branch, her chest rising and falling as she drew in a deep breath. Then she let it out—a piercing, ear-splitting scream that tore through the forest like a banshee’s wail.

The sound was so loud, so unnerving, that several of the scouts instinctively flinched. Connie yelped, Sasha dropped her blades in surprise, and even Mikasa’s grip faltered for a fraction of a second. The vines amplified the chaos, shaking violently as the ensnared scouts struggled to recover their bearings.

Selena wasted no time. She swooped down from her perch with the grace of her namesake, her stolen blades glinting in the moonlight. With a series of swift, precise strikes, she severed the cords connecting the scouts’ swords to their ODM gear. The weapons clattered uselessly to the ground, leaving the Scouts vulnerable and disarmed.

Her movements were so fast, so fluid, that the scouts didn’t fully register what had happened until she was already gone. By the time they looked up, Selena was standing a few yards away, two newly stolen blades in her hands and eight extras strapped across her back.

Levi had been the only one to react quickly enough. The moment he heard Selena’s scream, he had cut himself free from the vines and landed on the forest floor, his blades ready. He turned just in time to see her disarming the others with surgical precision, her movements a blur.

“Damn it,” Levi hissed under his breath, his gray eyes narrowing. He darted forward, his boots barely making a sound against the dirt. He reached Selena just as she turned to leave, his blade slashing toward her throat with lethal intent.

But Selena was ready. She twisted her body in a way that defied logic, narrowly dodging the blade as she pivoted to face him. Her poison-green eyes gleamed with excitement as she grinned.

“Capitán,” she purred, her voice dripping with mockery. “You’re faster than the rest, I’ll give you that.”

Levi didn’t respond. His expression was cold, his gaze unrelenting as he lunged at her again, his strikes fast and precise. Selena deflected each one with practiced ease, her grin never faltering.

“Round two,” she said softly, her voice almost playful. She adjusted her grip on her stolen blades, her stance fluid and confident. “Let’s see if you can keep up this time.”

The tension in the air was electric as Levi and Selena squared off, the forest around them silent save for the faint rustle of leaves. The other scouts, still tangled in the vines, could only watch in stunned silence as Levi and Selena prepared to clash once more.

The Black Cat was ready to fight, and this time, she had no intention of holding back.

They clashed again, their blades ringing out with deafening precision. The scouts, tangled in vines or watching from the sidelines, could only gape in stunned disbelief at the sheer speed and chaos of their battle. Selena’s movements were mesmerizing—each strike, twist, and pivot executed with an almost inhuman grace. And Levi, sharp and relentless, countered her attacks with a ferocity that left no room for error.

But even as the two fought, Selena’s voice rang out, teasing and flirtatious, slicing through the tension like one of her stolen blades. “Ah, Capitán,” she purred, deflecting one of Levi’s strikes with a deft twist of her wrist. “You’re even more handsome when you’re angry.”

Levi didn’t answer. His jaw tightened, his gray eyes burning with frustration. He lunged again, aiming for her midsection, but Selena dodged with a spin, her short coiled curls catching the moonlight as she laughed.

“Careful,” she said with a smirk. “You might actually hurt me.”

Watching from the sidelines, Eren clenched his fists. “She’s toying with him,” he growled, his frustration evident. “We have to help.”

Armin, still tangled in the remains of Selena’s vine trap, hesitated. “But how? She’s too fast. If we charge in recklessly, we’ll just get in Captain Levi’s way.”

Mikasa, her eyes locked on Selena’s every movement, gripped her remaining blade tightly. “We have to try.”

Commander Erwin, his leg still smarting from the traps, made the decision for them. “Help Levi. Now. We can’t let her get away again.”

The scouts exchanged uneasy glances. Selena had defeated all of them with ease before, leaving their pride and confidence in tatters. Jean muttered under his breath, “This is insane. She’s going to lay us all out again.”

“She might,” Hange said with a grim smile, adjusting her glasses as she freed herself from the last of the vines. “But we can’t let that stop us. If we don’t help Levi, she’ll outmaneuver all of us. Now get moving!”

Spurred into action, the scouts armed themselves with whatever blades they had left. Mikasa led the charge, her dark eyes blazing with determination. “We’ll go together,” she said, her voice steady. “She can’t block all of us at once.”

Selena caught the flicker of movement from the corner of her eye and turned slightly, her smirk widening as the scouts launched their attack. Levi lunged for her again, but she sidestepped him gracefully, her focus shifting to the approaching group.

Her stance shifted subtly, her feet repositioning on the forest floor with an elegance that didn’t escape Levi’s sharp gaze. His eyes narrowed as realization dawned. She’s going to use another one of those techniques.

The scouts charged in a coordinated assault, their blades flashing in the moonlight. Mikasa reached Selena first, her sword arcing toward Selena’s shoulder. But just as it was about to connect, Selena’s body twisted with a fluidity that defied reason. She pivoted sharply, avoiding the strike entirely, and began to move—the Waltz Of The Flowers.

It was unlike anything the scouts had ever seen. Selena spun, her blades flashing in perfect rhythm as she danced through their ranks. Each pivot brought another strike—clean, precise, and devastating. Within seconds, the forest became her stage, and the scouts were her unwilling partners.

Eren lunged at her from the left, but she ducked low, her blade grazing his side before she twisted and struck Jean’s sword from his hand. Mikasa swung again, but Selena danced away, pivoting into a spin that brought her blade across Connie’s chest, leaving a shallow but painful cut.

Sasha cried out as Selena’s blade grazed her shoulder, and Armin barely had time to raise his blade before it was knocked from his grasp. Each movement was calculated, each strike delivered with pinpoint accuracy.

Erwin and Hange attempted to flank her, but Selena’s focus shifted seamlessly. She struck Erwin first, her blade carving a deep gash in his shoulder that sent him staggering back. Hange’s attack was met with a graceful spin, and Selena’s blade left a sharp cut along her leg.

In less than thirty seconds, it was over.

The scouts lay scattered across the forest floor, groaning in pain and disbelief. None of them were dead—Selena had held back—but their pride and confidence were thoroughly shattered. Selena stood in the center of the chaos, her posture relaxed, her breathing steady. She had barely broken a sweat.

Levi, however, was far from finished.

He clenched his teeth in frustration as he charged at Selena again, his blade cutting through the air with deadly precision. He had sustained a cut to his arm during her technique, but he didn’t let it slow him down. His focus was razor-sharp, his movements unrelenting.

Selena’s grin widened as she parried his strikes, her green eyes gleaming with exhilaration. “You’re persistent,” she said, her voice almost playful. “But persistence isn’t enough.”

Levi didn’t answer. He pressed forward, his strikes coming faster and harder. Selena matched him step for step, her agility and flexibility allowing her to dodge and counter with unnerving ease. But Levi had learned from their first encounter. He could see the faint patterns in her movements, the way her body shifted before each strike.

When she adjusted her stance again, her feet pivoting sharply, Levi recognized the motion instantly. She’s setting up for that cutting technique again.

Selena’s movements became a blur as she prepared to unleash her devastating attack—the 100 Cuts of Pain. Levi braced himself, his gray eyes locked on hers. This time, he was ready.

The sound of blades slicing through the air filled the forest as Selena executed her technique, but Levi moved with precision and instinct. He dodged and deflected, managing to avoid most of the strikes. By the time Selena’s attack ended, he had only sustained about ten shallow cuts—but it was enough to anger him further.

Before Selena could recover, Levi surged forward. He grabbed her by the neck with one hand, his other gripping his blade as he forced her to the ground. Selena’s eyes widened slightly, but her smirk didn’t falter.

“Well,” she said softly, her voice tinged with amusement. “Looks like the Capitán finally got his hands on me.”

Levi’s grip tightened, his gray eyes burning with a mixture of frustration and determination. “You’re not getting away this time.”

Selena’s grin widened, her poison-green eyes gleaming with defiance even as she lay pinned beneath him. “We’ll see about that.”

Levi's knee pressed firmly into Selena’s stomach as his iron grip pinned her neck to the ground, while his other hand gripped her wrists together. His cold gray eyes burned with frustration and determination, while Selena’s poison-green ones sparkled with mischief and amusement. Despite being at a clear disadvantage, Selena still had the audacity to grin up at him, her lips curling into a sultry smirk.

“You know,” she purred, her voice low and teasing, “You’re turning me on, Capitán. Your hand around my neck, the way you’re manhandling me—it’s kind of hot.”

The silence in the forest was deafening. Every scout, from Erwin to Sasha, froze where they sat nursing their wounds. Sasha let out a small squeak of disbelief. Jean’s jaw dropped. Connie audibly muttered, “What the hell is wrong with her?” Eren stared, his fists trembling in frustration, while Mikasa’s expression darkened. Even Hange, usually unflappable, blinked in astonishment as she adjusted her glasses.

Levi, however, was seething. His lips curled into a snarl as he glared down at her. “Shut your shitty mouth,” he growled, his voice cold and venomous.

Selena only laughed, undeterred. “Why so serious, Capitán? You don’t like a little foreplay?”

Before Levi could respond, Selena suddenly arched her back and swung her right leg up with breathtaking flexibility, hooking it over his shoulder. With a sharp push from the back of her knee, she propelled herself upward, using the leverage to almost roll out from under him.

Levi reacted instantly, his hand snapping out to grab her leg and slam her back into the dirt. His grip tightened as he wrestled her into submission, holding both of her wrists in one hand. His other hand clamped down firmly on her thigh, immobilizing her right leg before she could try another stunt.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Levi hissed through gritted teeth.

Selena raised a single eyebrow, her smirk undeterred. 

She shifted again, this time using her free left leg to hook around the right side of Levi’s neck. With an impressive burst of strength, she tried to lift herself off the ground, twisting her body in an almost serpentine motion. The maneuver nearly worked—her flexibility and agility were unmatched—but Levi’s grip on her thigh tightened at the last second, slamming her back down.

“Enough,” Levi snapped, flipping her onto her stomach and pinning her wrists behind her back. He placed a knee on her lower back, his other hand pressing firmly on her thigh to keep her from wriggling free. For a moment, it seemed like she was finally subdued.

But Selena wasn’t done. She arched her back in a deliberate, calculated motion, pressing her hips upward and causing her butt to push against Levi’s crotch. The sudden, awkward contact made Levi falter for just a fraction of a second, his grip loosening ever so slightly.

“Damn it,” Levi hissed under his breath, his frustration mounting.

Selena seized the opportunity, twisting her body with remarkable speed and turning onto her back. Levi tried to regain control, pinning her arms above her head, but Selena wrapped her legs around his neck, squeezing tightly as she forced him back and tried to choke him. The two were locked in a tense hold, each struggling to overpower the other. Their movements were so intense, so precise, that the surrounding scouts could do nothing but watch in stunned silence.

The tension built as the stalemate dragged on. Both of them were breathing heavily, their eyes locked in a battle of wills. But Levi’s superior physical strength began to prevail, his grip tightening and his movements growing more deliberate as he pried Selena’s legs around his neck with his free hand. But Selena had one last trick up her sleeve.

Her sharp eyes observed Levi’s expression, noting every flicker of emotion that crossed his face. One thing she had learned about him in their short time together was that Levi Ackerman was meticulous, precise,—especially about cleanliness. And he also seemed to care very much for his comrades.

A wicked idea formed in her mind.

She hocked back her saliva loudly, making it clear what she was about to do. “You know, Capitán,” she said, her voice dripping with mockery, “you don’t want to keep me pinned like this. I might get… messy.”

Levi’s eyes widened slightly, a look of pure disgust flashing across his face. “You wouldn’t dare,” he snarled.

Selena smirked, repeating the motion dramatically as if preparing to spit right in his face. Levi instinctively pulled his head back, his grip on her wrists faltering for just a moment. It was all Selena needed.

With lightning speed, she twisted her arm free and reached for one of the spare blades strapped to her back and flung it into the dark forest. Levi’s grip returned immediately, slamming her back into the dirt, but Selena’s plan was already in motion.

“What the hell did you just—” Levi began, but his words were cut off by the sound of snapping branches above them.

Selena had thrown the blade with accuracy, striking a tree she had noticed earlier—a massive oak with an old, heavy branch that hung precariously over the scouts. The blade embedded itself in the branch’s weak point, sending it crashing downward with alarming speed.

Levi’s eyes widened as he heard the sharp crack of wood splitting, his head snapping toward the sound. The branch was tumbling straight toward the injured scouts below.

“Shit,” Levi hissed, releasing Selena without a second thought. His ODM gear activated with a hiss as he launched himself toward the falling branch.

Erwin and Mikasa shouted warnings, but it was too late for most of them to react. Sasha, Armin, and Hange were directly in the branch’s path, their faces pale as they struggled to move in time. Levi reached them just as the branch was about to hit, slicing it into pieces with two precise swings of his blade. The shattered wood thudded harmlessly to the ground, scattering debris but leaving everyone unharmed.

“Move faster next time,” Levi growled, his tone icy as he glared at the shaken group.

But Selena was gone.

The moment Levi let go of her, she had bolted into the shadows, darting through the trees with the grace and speed of her namesake. She reached the riverbank in seconds, her heart pounding with exhilaration. Without hesitation, she dove into the water, her body disappearing beneath the dark surface.

By the time the scouts regrouped and reached the river, there was no sign of her. The water was too dark, the current too swift, and their injuries too severe to pursue her further.

Eren slammed his fist into the ground, his face twisted with rage. “Damn it! She got away again!”

“Of course she did,” Jean muttered, his tone bitter. “She always does.”

Levi stood at the riverbank, his fists clenched tightly. His cuts stung, his pride burned, and his frustration was palpable. He couldn’t believe it. For the second time, Selena de la Rosa had slipped through his fingers.His gray eyes scanned the dark surface of the water as though willing her to reappear, but he knew she was gone. The Black Cat had slipped through his grasp once again, and the fury bubbling inside him was palpable.

Behind him, the scouts staggered into the clearing, their movements sluggish and pained. Mikasa’s uniform was torn, blood dripping from a shallow cut on her arm. Armin limped slightly, his face pale and his eyes wide with lingering fear. Sasha and Connie leaned on each other for support, both sporting fresh bruises and cuts. Even Erwin and Hange, usually composed, bore the marks of Selena’s devastating technique.

Levi turned slowly to face them, his expression thunderous. The scouts froze under his gaze, the sheer intensity of his anger hitting them like a physical force. No one dared to speak. The only sound was the faint rustling of leaves and the uneven breaths of the injured.

“That sneaky little bitch,” Levi growled, his voice low and dangerous. The words dripped with venom, each syllable a razor-sharp blade. “She got away again.”

Jean, standing slightly to the side, muttered under his breath, “Of course she did. She’s like a ghost.”

Levi’s glare snapped to Jean, silencing him instantly. “She’s not a ghost,” he said, his tone ice-cold. “She’s flesh and blood. And the next time I see her, I’ll skin her alive.”

Mikasa adjusted her grip on her remaining blade, her dark eyes flicking to Levi. “We can go after her,” she said, her voice steady despite her injuries. “We can still catch her if we—”

“No,” Levi cut her off sharply. His gaze swept over the group, taking in their battered forms. “Look at yourselves. You’re all injured, tired, and half-useless right now. She knows it. She’ll have more traps set, waiting for us to stumble into them.”

Eren’s fists clenched, his frustration boiling over. “So what are we supposed to do? Just let her go? After everything she’s done?”

Levi’s eyes narrowed, and Eren immediately regretted speaking. “She’s not getting away,” Levi said, his voice deceptively calm. “But if we rush in like idiots, we’ll all end up dead. She’s smart, faster than any of you, and probably has traps waiting for us all over this forest. Use your damn heads.”

Eren bit his lip, glancing at Armin for support. Armin, however, remained silent, his expression thoughtful but grim.

Erwin stepped forward, leaning slightly on his uninjured leg. His voice was calm, but the weight of their failure was evident in his tone. “Levi’s right. We’re in no condition to continue pursuing her tonight. Our priority is regrouping and tending to our injuries.”

“But Commander,” Hange protested, wincing as she adjusted the torn fabric over her wounded shoulder. “If we let her get too far, we might lose her completely.”

“We won’t lose her,” Levi interjected, his voice like steel. “She’s not running away. She’s playing a game, and she’ll keep playing until she thinks she’s won.”

Sasha, her voice shaky, piped up from where she sat nursing a bruised rib. “She’s not… normal. The way she fights, the way she moves… It’s like she’s not even human.”

“She’s human,” Levi snapped, his gray eyes flashing. “She bleeds, just like the rest of us. And I’ll make her bleed again.”

Jean glanced at Connie nervously before speaking. “Captain, she almost killed some of us tonight. I mean, if that branch had fallen a second earlier, Hange Armin and Sasha would’ve—”

“Don’t remind me,” Levi said curtly, his voice cold but simmering with anger. His gaze briefly flicked to Hange, Armin and Sasha, all of whom avoided his eyes. The realization that he had been forced to let Selena go to save his squad gnawed at him like a festering wound. She had played him, and he hated her for it.

Levi turned back toward the river, his jaw tightening. He could still see her in his mind’s eye—those poison-green eyes, that infuriating smirk, the way she moved like a shadow through the trees. She had embarrassed him, humiliated him in front of his squad, and nearly killed his comrades. But more than that, she had forced him to make a choice: his team or his pride.

Levi Ackerman didn’t lose. Not to Titans, not to enemies, and certainly not to some cocky assassin with a flair for theatrics. The next time he crossed paths with Selena de la Rosa, he wouldn’t make the same mistake. He would end her.

“She’s made her move,” Levi said quietly, his voice cold and resolute. “But this isn’t over. Not by a long shot.”

Erwin nodded, his expression grim. “We’ll regroup and strategize. This isn’t a defeat—it’s a delay.”

Hange adjusted her glasses, a faint smile tugging at her lips despite the tension. “She’s good. But Levi’s better. I’d bet my glasses on it.”

Levi said nothing, his gaze fixed on the dark forest beyond the river. The anger rolling off him was almost tangible, a quiet storm waiting to unleash its fury. His squad could feel it, the weight of his resolve bearing down on them like a physical force.

“Rest up,” Levi ordered, his tone sharp and unyielding. “We’ll find her. And when we do…” His voice trailed off, but the threat hung heavy in the air.

The younger Scouts exchanged uneasy glances. Eren looked ready to burst with frustration, while Mikasa’s eyes glinted with determination. Jean muttered something under his breath about “crazy assassins,” and Connie leaned against Sasha, his face pale but resolute.

“Do you think we’ll stand a chance next time?” Sasha asked quietly, her voice laced with doubt.

Mikasa’s grip on her blade tightened. “We’ll have to.”

Armin shook his head slowly, his voice soft but firm. “We’ll need to be smarter. She’s not just fast—she’s strategic. She reads us like a book.”

“And we’ll be ready,” Levi said flatly, his words cutting through the murmurs. “Because the next time I see that filthy stray cat, I’ll make sure she doesn’t escape. Not again.”

The night deepened, the forest shrouded in an oppressive silence. Somewhere beyond the river, Selena de la Rosa was out there, no doubt smirking to herself. But Levi didn’t care. His anger, his determination—it would fuel him for the battles ahead. The hunt wasn’t over.

It had only just begun.

~

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[romance-rambles]

HOW THE BOYS PLAY LUDO WITH EACH OTHER AND YOU

rules of the game: the goal is to have your four tokens inside the your columns. your opponents can impede your progress by stepping onto the same square as you and sending you back to the homebase ("blocking"). in some variations, two dices may be used, and rules can differ even between related families—for example, getting another turn after blocking a token or after getting your own to homebase. it can accomodate only four solo players.

— pairing: [mostly platonic] modern-day love interests & little painter/you

— word count: 977

— tags: none

— author's note: it brings me great joy that ludo is an actual activity in the itinerary. for me, ludo has always been what monopoly is to other people—breaker of bonds, with at least one person liable to flip over the board. i have no idea if someone else has done this before, but enjoy!

return to lbc masterlist | series: none

would not harm anyone unless backed into a corner; alkaid

Alkaid is perhaps the most civilized player at the table. Even as the rest of his companions holler for him to block someone's advance, he will always choose the less bloody option, unless it is the only move he can make or if someone's win [not you] is all but guaranteed and everyone else is indisposed of at the moment.

He will always apologize as he offers the loser their token back, and gracefully accepts his own losses with a smile. His preference for teaming up is with you, and his second most common team up is Clarence. He believes yellow is his lucky color, as he often ends up on the board before his peers—though he usually sabotages the wins that are handed to him on a platter.

Most often, he lets Clarence explain his options for a turn and decides his choice based on what is most beneficial for you. This often results in Lars having to physically restrain himself from bashing his head into the table, since Alkaid's playstyle is in direct opposition of his.

knows which tokens are on the chopping block, only makes use of that knowledge if it can earn him another roll; ayn

Ayn is a very competitive player. He has his next moves decided before the dice are handed over to him, and can quickly recalculate his next actions if the roll is suboptimal. Mercy is not a word present in his vocabulary—if he notices an opening, he will make use of it, especially if it's against you, often resulting in almost everyone banding against him. However, he's already against everyone, so it doesn't bother him.

He doesn't like teaming up with people, but he does demand a game of having you on his team on occasion for "fairness". He also often complains about how long you and Alkaid take in terms of deciding how to move due to his own speed—and he's absolutely a sore loser, particularly if first place went to Lars.

His preferred color is red, and he often has some of the best luck—and often the worst, as he remains the only person to successfully get three rolls of double sixes more than once, which constitutes the end of his turn without any movement on his part.

self-sufficient and absolutely ruthless, often goes easy on you; cael

Cael can be accurately described as a mix of Alkaid and Ayn. He enjoys blocking tokens whenever he can, but unlike Ayn, he enjoys taunting his opponents and he refuses to touch your team whenever possible. Often times, like Alkaid, he has to be consoled if he ends up going against you—though his intentions are decidedly less pure.

His preference is to be paired with you whenever possible, but he often ends up paired with Lars—which you find morbidly funny. Like Godheim, they often clash due to their opposing stances. If the token in their way belongs to you, Ayn often adds them to his hitlist because they take up quite a bit of time in bickering over their next move.

His preferred color is blue. He is usually never the first person to come onto the board, but he is also never the last part—which is a distinction that usually falls on you. However, he often has bouts of bad luck where he ends up with suboptimal rolls at the start and end of the game.

often takes the time to help other players [mostly you and Alkaid], just happy to hang out with friends; clarence

Clarence is an absolute sweetheart and actually a decent player. He could absolutely take the troublesome trio [Ayn, Cael, Lars] on, and does so whenever you and Alkaid hang back. But he often encourages you and Alkaid to block his tokens and often hands out the best moves without requiring anything in return—and Lars often teases him for it.

He's most often left with the color green, as all the other choices are always taken. Often, he pairs up with you or Alkaid, which Ayn encourages as it greatly speeds up the game. Among the group, he also has the distinction of being the only one who gets sad if he doesn't end up in a team, so Lars will sometimes give up his favorite spot to hang out with him.

The first time everyone played together, there were a few minor arguments about the ruleset since everyone grew up playing it differently. As he was the one who led them all to create a rulebook that still gets periodically updated, he's often the referee during any minor disputes—often caused by Ayn or Cael, who are quick to roll their dice on their turn, even if someone else has just barely finished their move. He values Lars' counsel during these moments.

self-sufficient, but enjoys pointing out the many ways in which someone can block a token; lars

Lars is chaos incarnate. If the table is yelling and screaming, he's having the time of his life. He's aware of the tokens on the board at all times and often uses that information to inform others of an optimal move—which often puts him on Ayn's hitlist since he ends up ruining Ayn's plans. Like Ayn, he always has his next moves prepared ahead of time and he often bargains when he is either asked to show mercy or offers it himself [usually to you, but sometimes, he takes pity on Alkaid and Clarence too].

He has the most variable luck among everyone. Sometimes, his run will be smooth sailing, and other times, he will have to carefully claw his way to victory with ones and twos. Despite that, he's often competing with Ayn and Cael for first, while everyone else prepares themselves for a poor showing. Very often, he's the one to suggest continuing the game until everyone has their own placements as he just enjoys the chaos.

His preferred color is also blue, hence why he often ends up paired with Cael. He rarely pairs up with you, mostly because he's the only person on the table capable of inciting a true competitive response from you—as opposed to a desire to merely keep up, like with Ayn or Cael.

[aaaairakibbb]

Grappling in D&D 5e: Tips and Techniques for Success

Grappling in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (D&D 5e) is a powerful yet often overlooked combat technique that can provide significant tactical advantages. Whether you are a seasoned Dungeon Master (DM) or a player looking to refine your character’s abilities, mastering grappling can turn the tide of battle. In this guide, we will explore the mechanics of grappling, the best techniques, and how to optimize your character for success.

Understanding the Grapple Mechanic in D&D 5e

The rules for grappling in D&D 5e are straightforward, found in the Player’s Handbook (PHB, p. 195). To initiate a grapple:

You must use the Attack action to attempt a grapple.

You make a Strength (Athletics) check against your target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

If you succeed, the target’s speed becomes 0, and they cannot move unless they break free.

The grapple ends if you become incapacitated or if the target successfully escapes using an action.

Grappling is particularly effective when combined with abilities that restrict movement, making it easier to control enemy positioning on the battlefield.

Best Classes and Builds for Grappling

Certain classes and builds excel at grappling due to their inherent Strength-based abilities and combat strategies:

Barbarian – With Rage providing advantage on Strength checks, Barbarians make excellent grapplers who can maintain control in combat.

Fighter – Battle Masters can use maneuvers like Trip Attack to enhance grappling effectiveness.

Monk – Combining grappling with Stunning Strike makes Monks extremely dangerous in close combat.

Rogue (Athlete Build) – While not a typical grappler, a Strength-based Rogue using Expertise in Athletics can be surprisingly effective.

Essential Feats for Grappling Success

Certain feats greatly enhance a grappler’s capabilities:

Grappler Feat – Provides advantage on attack rolls against grappled creatures and allows the option to pin an opponent.

Tavern Brawler – Grants proficiency in unarmed strikes and allows you to grapple as a bonus action after hitting with an unarmed strike.

Athlete – While not directly related to grappling, it improves mobility and enhances Strength-based movement options.

Advanced Grappling Techniques

To maximize the effectiveness of grappling in combat, consider these strategies:

Use Environmental Advantages – Grappling near hazards like cliffs, lava, or deep water can add extra risk for your enemies.

Combine Grappling with Spells – Spells like Hold Person or Enlarge/Reduce can give you a significant edge in grappling encounters.

Multi-Classing for Grappling – A Barbarian/Fighter hybrid can combine Rage and the Battle Master maneuvers for devastating grappling prowess.

Shove + Grapple Combo – Using the Shove action to knock an opponent prone and then grappling them makes it harder for them to escape.

Grapple and Drag – Since grappled creatures have a speed of 0, you can drag them into dangerous terrain or isolate them from allies.

Countering Grappling in D&D 5e

If you find yourself frequently on the receiving end of grapples, here are ways to break free:

Use Acrobatics – If your Dexterity is higher than Strength, opt for an Acrobatics check to escape.

Teleportation Spells – Spells like Misty Step or Dimension Door can help you break free instantly.

Magic Items – Items like the Ring of Free Action prevent grapples from restricting movement.

Allies to the Rescue – A teammate can use the Help action or knock your grappler prone to make escaping easier.

Conclusion

Grappling in D&D 5e is an underutilized but incredibly effective tactic that can control the battlefield and neutralize threats. By choosing the right class, feats, and strategies, you can turn your character into a formidable grappler. Whether you’re restraining a powerful foe or dragging an enemy into a trap, mastering this combat technique can add a new layer of depth to your game.

[jayfortheday]

hey love!!i have this image of reader being just as aggressive as vance and them matching each other’s energy all the time?idk it’s kinda dumb but i would wanna know how that type of relationship would play out 🤷‍♀️

Bloody Knuckles (Vance Hopper)

Pairing: Vance Hopper x GN!Reader (romantic)

Word count: 807

Description: After Vance sees Y/N get into a fight, he realizes they're not so different

Tags: fighting, blood, cute ending

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vance quickly ran to the source of the commotion outside the school. People shouted loudly as they congregated around a patch of grass. Vance knew it was a fight but he couldn’t see who was involved. He paused just behind the outermost layer of people, standing on his tip toes to see to the inner ring. His eyes widened as he saw you struggling against a boy. Both of you were bloody and he could see the beginning of bruises on your face and other parts of your visible skin. 

You and the boy each moved wildly, each move could easily be passed off as random or calculated. Even from his distance, he could see your mind racing as you scanned the boy before you at every available moment, looking for openings or weaknesses. The boy quickly shot out his hand and managed to grab a hold of your wrist. You, however, saw this as an opportunity and used you and your opponent’s combined strength to twist the boy in a disorietning way. 

Now that the boy was thrown off, you seized the moment and quickly threw him to the ground. He landed onto his stomach, grunting as he hit the dirt. You kneeled down and put your hand on his head, gripping his hair tightly and pushing his face into the dirt. After you were satisfied, you pulled his head up by his hair and leaned forward to look him in the eyes. Vance was having a hard time seeing what was happening, so he quickly pushed through a couple layers of people to see the fight at a better angle. Part of him wanted to interfere but another part of him knew you would win and he wanted to see that. 

The look on the boy’s face was angry and you could tell he wasn’t done. You grabbed the back of his shirt and quickly flipped him so he was laying on his back. He grunted at the movement and his hands tried to reach out to grab you. Before he could reach you, you pinned his upper arm with your knee. Once he couldn’t move his arm more towards you, you moved your knee down so it restrained him at the elbow. The boy was still struggling beneath you, trying to stand and reach a better position. 

You swiftly grabbed his collar and swung your leg over his chest, pinning his other arm with your respective knee. Now with his arms pinned and his head pulled towards you, you pulled back your closed fist and aggressively pushed it into his face. The force of your hit pushed his head back against the ground and he cried out in pain. When he tried to sit back up, you hit him again, and again, and again, until he stopped trying to get up. 

With your opponent’s face thoroughly bloodied, you cocked your head slightly and examined the damage you had inflicted. A shiver of fear was sent down Vance’s spine as he watched you, not because of the violence he had watched you inflict but because of how calm you looked while you did it. Your face would occasionally lapse into something more angry, but you more mostly level. Vance, of course, wasn’t afraid of you, he was afraid of what kind of attention this would bring your way. 

After you stood up off the boy and exit the crowd of people, Vance went to follow you. Once you had reached a good distance away from the crowd, Vance called out to you.

“Y/N,” he shouted. You turned to the sound of your name and your face lit up when you saw him. 

“Vance,” you smiled, turning to meet him. 

“I saw you back there,” he chuckled. “Total badass.” When he stopped in front of you, he scanned the blood on your face, figuring out what came from injuries and what was obtained other ways. 

“You think so?” You asked, looking down to examine your knuckles. 

“Yeah, should’ve known someone like you would have such good fight in ‘em, you looked so cool,” Vance responded, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. 

“I don’t know, V. I always hate getting this much blood on me, i feel like it makes me look weird,” you hummed, pressing a light red fingerprint to Vance’s cheek to emphasize your point. You thought he might wipe it off, but instead he grabbed your hand and pressed it to the side of his face, leaving a bigger mark and eliciting a loud laugh from you. 

“There, not really weird if you’re not the only one with a bloody face,” he smiled, in an attempt to both make you laugh and comfort you.

“You’re crazy, I swear,” you chuckled as you shook your head. 

“Maybe,” Vance admitted with a grin. “But at least I’m not the only one.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Like I've said in the past, I love writing fights so this was a fun one lol

[wanderingswampbeast]

A Collection of Homebrew Feats

Escape Artist

You’re an expert at avoiding and getting out of tight situations. If you are targeted by an attack that would grapple or restrain you, you add +2 to your Armor Class for that attack. When making skill checks or saving throws to escape or avoid being grappled or restrained, you add 1d4 to the roll.

Mariner

You are an excellent and trained swimmer. You gain the following benefits:

Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.

You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.

You can survive while suffocating for 1 additional round.

When you make a ranged attack against a target while underwater, you do not have disadvantage while using a weapon’s normal range.

Outsize Strength

Prerequisite: Your size is Small Despite your small size, you have no difficulty wielding large weapons or carrying large objects. You gain the following benefits:

Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a maximum of 20.

You do not have disadvantage on attack rolls due to your size while wielding weapons with the Heavy property.

When determining how much weight you are carrying, heavy weapons weigh half as much for you.

Prone Fighter

Being prone has less of an effect on your fighting abilities. You gain the following benefits:

Crawling does not cost you extra movement.

You do not have disadvantage on attack rolls as a result of being prone.

You have a +5 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks made while you are prone, as long as you do not move on your turn.

Scroll Adept

Prerequisite: Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature You are especially adept at the use and creation of spell scrolls. You gain the following benefits:

You gain proficiency with the Arcana skill. If you are already proficient, you gain a +2 bonus to Arcana checks.

The time and cost it takes for you to create a spell scroll is reduced by half.

You can use a spell scroll even if the spell contained in it does not appear on your spell list.

When you use a cantrip spell scroll, it is not destroyed, and can be reused. With higher level spell scrolls, roll 1d10. If the number you roll is the spell’s level or lower, the spell scroll is destroyed as normal, but if you roll higher than the spell’s level, it can be reused. A roll of 0 always destroys the scroll.

Instead of the spell save DC listed, you use your own spell save DC for spell scrolls, unless the DC on the scroll is higher.

Whip Expert

Prerequisite: Proficiency with whips You use a whip not just for offense, but for utility and defense. You gain the following benefits while you are wielding a whip:

You can use your whip in the same way that you would use a grappling hook, swinging from or climbing up anything you attach your whip to.

While you are within 5 feet of a creature and using a whip, you can attempt to use the whip to grapple it. While grappling a target in this way, it is restrained, but can escape the grapple as normal.

You can grab tiny objects not being worn or carried with your whip, bringing them to a free hand. In addition, when you attack a creature wielding a weapon with your whip, you can forgo any damage you would have dealt to force your opponent to drop an object it is holding in its hands (you choose the item). You may only do so once per turn.

[a-samwich]

Hope you don’t mind @ninjasmudge but I got some writing inspiration from your insanely cool art of Bone King’s Kaiju and wanted to share it!

Something had gone horribly, terribly wrong. Dropping the mountain on top of the Bone King should have worked- it had worked on so many other powerful demons that it should have been no different this time in order to restrain their frankly extremely overpowered opponent. They were proven wrong a moment later when a roar of fury rose from beneath the mountain right before everything exploded. 

A groan of pain left MK as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, the ground torn up to literal pieces around him from where he had been violently thrown through the air from a literal mountain exploding right in front of him. And now, looking around, it wasn’t just the mountain that had been destroyed. The entire mountain range was obliterated, the surrounding area torn apart so horribly that you could barely tell what the countryside used to look like. And besides MK, the whole place was devoid of life. 

A rumble of thunder rolled through the sky, followed by a flash of lightning as MK forced himself to his feet, one arm wrapped uneasily around his side as rain began to fall from the sky onto the ruined scenery. Trying to ignore the sudden chill as the rain soaked into his clothes, MK squinted against the droplets as he looked around in hopes that he could spot at least one of his friends that he had been separated from in the explosion. 

Seeing as they were nowhere in sight, MK took a step forward, opening his mouth to call out for them when another crack of thunder and lightning flashed over the sky- and with it, the shadow that loomed over the destroyed valley. Anything that MK had planned to yell dying right at that very moment.

Growing still as horror started to crawl up his throat, MK realized that the chill he felt wasn’t from the rain at all, but rather the mist that had started to creep unknowingly against the ground, curling around his ankles and twisting up his legs. Slowly turning, MK gaze went up and up at the most terrifying thing he has ever seen in his life. 

What could only be the kaiju version of Bone King stood over the valley like something out of a nightmare, claws digging into the ruined remains of a mountain as they stared ahead with bright red, sunken-in eyes as their entire form seemed to be wreathed in fog that clung to the skeletal armor they wore. 

MK remained where he was, staring with wide, horrified eyes as the Bone King opened their mouth, blue magic cascading from their fangs like a liquid fire and mixing into the rain as the kaiju rumbled, “C̶̩͊o̵̯̚m̸̤̈́e̶͆ͅ ̵̘̌o̵̒͜u̶̜͠t̴̜͝ ̴̙̂o̵͖̚r̴͆ͅ ̸̱̑I̵̟̔ ̸̘̌w̸̘̽i̸͚̎l̷̥͒l̶͙͝ ̵̺̃h̸̼̃a̴̧̕v̸̟̍ẹ̶̏ ̴̦͝t̶̪͝o̵͚͝ ̶̉ͅf̸̱͒i̶̱͝n̴̬̕d̵̳̓ ̴̫̕ỷ̵̫o̴̼͛u̸̜͠.”

MK took a wobbly step back, his bones practically rattling from the sound of the other’s voice, wondering who on earth Bone King could be looking for-

“Q̴̫͝Ì̶̬ ̷͇̒Q̷̛̗I̵̬̚Ä̵̜́O̸͓̚T̵͉͊Ą̶̒I̶̖͗Ṋ̵̌.”

Oh, MK thought faintly, they’re looking for me. 

Stumbling back with new found fear of what would happen if Bone King spotted him, MK barely had time to scurry behind one of the few standing trees as the red, furious gaze of the kaiju turned towards where he had been standing just moments ago, eyes lingering briefly as blue magic dripped from their sockets before turning in a different direction, once again demanding for MK to reveal himself. 

Letting out a shaky breath, MK moved to take a step back to start running, when his heel stepped harshly down on a stick, the piece of wood snapping sharply from the sudden pressure. 

The sound shouldn’t have made a difference, the roar of the storm and the thunderous movements of the Bone King should have blocked it, but the moment MK had stepped down on the stick, the kaiju’s eyes instantly snapped towards the noise, connecting with MK’s own shocked ones. 

At the sight of MK, Bone King opened their mouth and roared, jolting MK out of his frozen state of terror and sending him booking it as far away as he could from the furious kaiju that had once possibly been his mentor. Feet slipping against the damp and torn up ground, MK ran as hard as he could, muscles already burning from the abuse of having been caught in an explosion and now being used to run for his life. The ground shook beneath him, and MK glanced briefly behind him, and instantly paled at the sight.

The massive size of the Bone King’s kaiju size did nothing to deter their movements, the slow pace easily eliminated simply by the fact that any distance MK got by running, Bone King could easily make the same distance by taking a single step. And they were getting closer every step they took.

Letting out a gasp of alarm as the Bone King suddenly swiped a hand down at MK- intent to either swat or grab at the other- MK scrambled out of the way, almost falling flat on his face at the force of the winds caused by the motion, and spun around a large outcrop of rocks in an aborted attempt to hide-

-only for a yelp to leave him as shadows erupted underneath his feet, causing MK to sink through them with no time to react. He was spat out a moment later, stumbling a bit as he landed back on solid ground as a hand grabbed onto his shoulder and stabilized him. Startling in surprise at the sudden contact, MK’s head whipped up to see the very last person he expected to see. 

“Macaq-” MK’s exclamation was cut off by a hand pressed quickly over his mouth, the hand on his shoulder moving as Macaque placed a finger over his mouth in a ‘hush’ gesture, alarm flashing momentarily in his eyes. MK didn’t need to be told twice as thundering footsteps sounded nearby. 

At the noise that sounded right outside of the small indention in one of the mountains that the two were currently in, Macaque practically pushed MK to the very back before moving himself in front of the human, arm held out protectively over him as mist began to crawl towards them like an incoming plague of doom intent to choke the life out of them. The two held their breath as the movements outside grew louder, stopping just as the form of the Bone King slid into view. 

From where MK was standing, tucked behind Macaque, he could just barely see what appeared to be the kaiju’s shoulder and the lower end of their jawbone. They stared in mute terror as the Bone King’s jaw lowered in a heavy breath, even more mist and magic billowing out and tugging at the other two’s clothing. 

“Ỹ̷̻o̷̼͠ü̵̮ ̴̜́c̴̜͠a̸̮͌n̴̉͜'̷̟̋t̷͕̅ ̴̠̔r̸̹̓û̵̲n̴̙̄ ̶̤͘f̷͂ͅo̴̩͛r̷̝̓e̸̮͆v̴̺̾ȇ̴̱r̷̢̾,” they warned with a snarl, sending goosebumps up MK’s skin as he ducked his head and squeezed his eyes tight, hand darting out and grabbing a hold of the back of Macaque’s scarf in an attempt at some sort of comfort in the situation.

Another beat passed, the Bone King looking around again with piercing eyes, before they moved onward, taking the chilling mist with them. Still, Macaque remained unmoving from his position in front of MK for several seconds, worried that any sound or movement would have the kaiju turning right back towards them and dooming any chance of Macaque hiding the fact that he was assisting MK with escaping. 

Once it seemed unlikely, a small sigh left Macaque as he dropped his arm and turned around to face MK, who still looked shaken at the near miss with the Bone King, but not quiet shaken enough as he was able to turn his focus to Macaque with a confused frown. 

Macaque met the frown with a tense smile, leaning back as casually as he could as he greeted his possibly one and only hope at getting rid of the Bone King and freeing himself. 

“Hey kid, it’s been a while.”

[vonnuvellevillanelle]

D&D Homebrew Subclass #2: Monk’s Way of Grace

(art by xiao sen)

Some may say that gracefulness has no place in a field of battle; some may be wrong. Monks of the Way of Grace incorporate elegance and beauty into their combat styles, disorienting and striking their opponents while moving as if they were dancing to an inaudible tune.

Elegant Stride

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Performance skill if you don’t already have it. Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma check, you gain a bonus to the check equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of +1).

Graceful Technique

At 3rd level, your understanding of the rhythm of combat allows you to better adjust to its beat. Whenever you use your Ki feature, you gain an additional benefit, depending on how you use it.

Defensive Swap. When you use Patient Defense, after a creature targets you with a melee weapon attack before the start of your next turn, you can use a reaction to swap positions with the attacker, so long as neither of you would move more than 10 feet while doing so and the creature is no larger than your size.

Rapid movement. When you use Step of the Wind, you can reposition yourself on a whim. Until the end of your turn, you can choose to instantly move up to 15 feet in any direction. Opportunity attacks made against you while using this special movement are made at disadvantage.

Sweeping Blow. When you use Flurry of Blows, you can choose to replace one of the feature’s unarmed attacks with a sweeping blow. You target up to two creatures within 5 feet of you that are within 5 feet of each other, and make one single unarmed attack targeted toward both. On a hit, those creatures must succeed on a Dexterity save or be knocked prone. A creature that is at least two size categories larger than you automatically makes the save.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier, and you regain all spent uses of it when you finish a long rest.

While you have no uses available, you can spend 1 ki point to use this feature again.

Flow like Water

Starting at 6th level, you can navigate the battlefield and a stage with equal ease. You can move through any creature’s space, regardless of size, and that space does not count as difficult terrain for you. Additionally, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of Strength when you grapple or shove a creature, and you can move at your normal speed while grappling.

Improved Technique

At 11th level, your dominion over the flow of a fight grants your Elegant Techniques several benefits.

You count as one size larger than you are for the purposes of your Defensive Swap and Sweeping Blow techniques.

After you swap positions with a creature by using your Defensive Swap technique, immediately after you change positions, you can make one unarmed strike against it if it is within range.

The movement from your Rapid Movement technique increases to 25 feet. Additionally, if this movement lifts you off the ground, you take no damage from any resulting fall, and are not knocked prone upon impact with the ground.

When you hit a creature with your Sweeping Blow technique, you can choose to immediately push it up to 5 feet away from you. This does not affect the rest of the technique’s effects.

Move like Wind

At 17th level, your gait is attuned to the ebb and flow of reality. Your movement is unaffected by any difficult terrain, and cannot be reduced by any means. Additionally, you are immune to the paralyzed and restrained conditions.

Encore

At 17th level, you can regain your spent performance energy in a pinch. As a bonus action, you can recenter yourself and regain all expended uses of your Graceful Technique feature. Until the end of your turn, you gain an additional bonus action that can only be used to use one of your three Ki features, unless you have already used any of them this turn. When you use one of those features with this bonus action, you don’t spend any Ki while using it.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

[angelanimedesaray]

Wings in the Dark Chapter 1:  Encounter

AN:  All right...we’re flipping the script with this series, hehehe.  Also, I’m doing MOSTLY similar vampire rules to the Investment series, but there’s gonna be some key differences to make things more...interesting. hehehe.

Listen, I’ve honestly had this idea for over a year, and it’s finally coming to fruition, I’m gonna be excited.

Tell me if you want tagged!

Characters:  Levi, Vampire!Reader, Numerous BG Characters

Pairing:  (Eventual) Levi x Reader

Warnings:  Language...don’t really have anything else for this chapter

Word Count:  5616

Masterlist    Next Chapter---->

*Reader’s POV*

The sound of new recruits in the midst of combat training filled the air, a cacophony of moving feet, cries of attack, sounds of pain, accelerated heartbeats and the occasional shouted order from a supervisor.  The wind was strong enough to blow hair about your face, but not enough to be cutting, the sun beating down from above warm enough to drive away any chill from the wind.  The occasional sliding foot kicked dust up into the air, making it hard not to sneeze as your sensitive nose became agitated from all the dust in the air.  Your arms were held up in an at the ready stance, but your mind wasn’t entirely on the training that was happening in front of you.

The Survey Corps.  At long last, you managed to make it past your training in the Cadet Corps and choose your branch of the military to go into.  Despite the high death rate and the negative publicity the Survey Corps got, it had been your clear goal since day one.  It was the only place you felt you could go where you might feel useful, where these abilities of yours could finally be put to good use.

Of course, you weren’t through with the training phase quite yet.  The Scouts had their own tests to put the new recruits through, unique maneuvers and combat preparation that would also help determine where you were going to go within the regiment.  You still had to get past this sorting period, so you didn’t let yourself get celebratory yet.

But still, two years of hard work in the Cadet Corps, learning to readjust, learning your limits, refining mannerisms, careful planning and consideration into your every move.

Of course, that wasn’t what it looked like to your classmates.  To them, you were well aware that you were the cold and aloof antisocial bitch that would knock everyone to the ground like they were nothing in the combat training, and always kept everyone at a distance.

It wasn’t that you were hateful, far from it.  You just didn’t want to risk anyone getting too close to you while you were in the Cadets.  And it wasn’t your fault if the training came too easily for you--you couldn’t help your nature.  Hell, most of your focus had gone into holding back and restraining yourself since day one.  While you wanted to make an impression and prove your skill and worth in combat, you didn’t want to stand out too much and draw unwanted attention.  It had taken ridiculous amounts of concentration and effort, carefully planned throws on tests and combat evaluations, in order to purposely place at sixth in the top ten.  Skilled, but not a shining star that would get full attention.

But that first place spot could have easily been yours, if you didn’t have to be so careful about how you presented yourself.

As important as it was to do well in these tests to get properly placed somewhere you and your abilities could be of use, you still had to maintain the front of someone who ranked sixth, not suddenly display all the skill and strength that belonged to someone easily top of the class.  Not to mention, you were on a time limit for something far more important to your stay in the cadets for the long run.

This was your grace period to figure out what you needed to do in order to blend in with everyone else.  And not just in skill.  Your main concern was your food source.

Back in the cadets, in had started as a painful struggle, having to find ways to sneak out without anyone noticing so you could get a proper bite that would last you at least half a month.  The cadets had also been your trial by fire to see how well you could handle freshly spilled blood in front of you, though you were painfully aware that particular test was only going to get more difficult when you went out into the field and Titans started eating people.

Right now at the Scouts, though, you didn’t even have escape routes, predetermined, best routes to sneak out and get a drink without anyone noticing.  You hadn’t pinned down sleeping schedules for everyone yet, either, so you could figure out who you needed to be wary of when you were trying to sneak out.  If you couldn’t find good times to sneak out and the best ways to leave and return undetected, then your time with the Scouts would prove to be painfully short, for your own safety.

And you wanted to stay here as long as possible, for reasons that had taken root deep in your heart.

Of course, you still had to worry about the training and some basic parts of being a Scout, as well.  You were still frustrated with yourself for forgetting one of the simplest things--the horses.  Of course, you got a painful reminder when you entered the stables and the majority of the horses got nervous and skittish while the rest went wild.

Not everything was easy to you.  You now had to find and befriend a horse that you could hopefully keep with you that wouldn’t be afraid of the predator it could sense in you.  It was going to take time, and you were certain this oddity about you had already been noticed, but hopefully when you befriended one of the horses, any sparked suspicions would go away.

Then there was the ODM gear.  Obviously you could operate it, you wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t.  The problem was that your instincts and reflexes could happen faster than the gear could operate.  It made it difficult to slow down and operate it properly when you were running on instinct, and even after two years in the Cadets you were still trying to temper your natural instincts to slow down to something the gear could keep up with.  Though you had managed in your personal training time to also craft some maneuvers of your own that was more forgiving to your sharp reflexes and instincts, maneuvers that actually required more physical movement and less dependability on the cables.  The less you tried to do with the gear and more you did with your own body, the less of a chance you had to screw up a maneuver by going too fast for the gear to execute at a costly moment.

But out of everything in this grace period that was going to be the most difficult, it was the social aspect.  You always kept everyone at a distance because you didn’t want anyone to get close enough to find out what you were, or to risk them getting hurt.  As such, you usually came off as antisocial or rude, when really it was maddeningly lonely for you.  But what else were you supposed to do?  You didn’t even want to think of what kind of a disaster could unfold if you allowed yourself to get close to someone, they found out what you were, reacted negatively and then...and then what?  What were you supposed to do with a threat to your safety when it was someone you’d grown close to?

You shuddered at the thought every time it wandered into your mind.  This was one of your greatest concerns with being around people again, but now, you were in a situation where you were going to have to do the balancing act flawlessly anyway.  One thing you had learned watching the Scouts so far was that there was a degree of trust and closeness in the community.  Privacy was still a thing, obviously, and you didn’t have to be best friends with everyone...but people had to know you could be trusted, that you would have their backs out in the field.  You had to be amicable at the very least with people--you couldn’t keep them all pushed far away or give them a reason to think you might be hiding something.  You were going to have to start making friends with your comrades despite your reservations, but you couldn’t quite figure out how to start.

This was what you got for being a hermit living by herself for oh so long before coming back to the surface, back into daylight, back around people--

Your sparring partner shifted, and your eyes refocused slightly on the match in front of you.  It seemed he was going to be one of the many who had seen the glazed over look in your eyes and assumed they could get the drop on you because you weren’t paying attention.

Just like everyone else, he was about to find out how wrong he was.

As he charged you, you reacted rather instinctively, grabbing at his arm and sweeping his leg out from under him before sending him to the ground on his own momentum.

“How?” he fumed.  “You weren’t even paying attention!”

“You probably shouldn’t assume that of your opponent,” you returned calmly.  Just because you’d been lost in your own thoughts didn’t mean you weren’t paying attention.

Your partner wilted slightly, looking dejected, and you had to stop and do some mental math to figure out how long the two of you had been sparring.  It was probably best if you let him win this next one.  Both so you could break this perfect streak and so he could get a bit of his pride and confidence back.  Plus, you’d get to rotate to a new partner, and the cycle would start fresh.  He could probably use some time matched more evenly against someone anyway.  It wasn’t fair to anyone who got matched with you, even if they didn’t know it.

What were they supposed to do against someone they thought was human, that was anything but?

You fell back into your at-the-ready stance, watching him closely this time to make sure you knew exactly what he was going to do.  He came at you again, his feet planted firmly, form practically perfect--

--you shifted one of your feet so that you were standing just a little too wide--

--and this time as he tackled you, he was able to easily knock you off your feet.  Not too easily, you made sure there was enough resistance he found it believable, but for the most part, you let him knock you to the ground.

“Yes!” he cried successfully as he sprang back to his feet, the elation of finally receiving a victory causing his blood to rush in your ears.  You closed your eyes and took your time getting calmly to your feet, brushing yourself off as you regained control of yourself.

You’d had a brief spike of hunger with his blood pumping so close to you.  Thankfully, you had some practice controlling your thirst in these kinds of situations after so long in the Cadets.

While you were getting up, one of your overseers called for a switch in partners now that he had finally won a bought against you.  You got to your feet as your partner scurried away in relief, brushing hair from your face as you waited expectantly to see who would be matched up with you this time.

Unfortunately, it seemed someone had caught your throw this time.

Instead of another new recruit stepping in front of you, a well maintained shock of raven hair and sharp pale blue eyes entered your vision as Captain Levi himself approached, his gaze centered solely on you.

You’d known he was helping supervise the new recruits--all the squad leaders and section commanders were rotating through so they could get a feel for the new recruits and see if there was anyone specifically they wanted with them.  You hadn’t realized, however, that you’d caught his attention.  But instead of looking pleased, he seemed a little irked.

Quickly, you snapped to a salute, body tense for a few moments as you waited to see what he was going to say.  You already knew it wasn’t going to be praise.

“Throwing matches doesn’t help anyone,” Levi said bluntly, his sharp gaze fixated on you.

Fuck, he’d noticed that?  You supposed anyone paying close enough attention could catch it, but you’d hoped you were being subtle enough your throws would go undetected.

Then again, this was an entirely different field from the Cadets.  You were among the true elite, if you were going to put a bit of your bias in there, and if anyone was going to catch on…

You needed to be more careful.

“I felt he would benefit more from a different sparring partner, sir,” you said stiffly.  It wasn’t a lie--hell, anyone would do better if they were paired with someone other than you.  You didn’t mean for that to sound cocky, but it was the truth.  You were naturally designed to outmatch humans.

“You don’t seem to be putting much effort into this training, either.  Do you feel it’s beneath you, cadet?” Levi asked, his voice low.  Some of your old classmates that had come to the Scouts as well were letting their eyes wander to the scene in the middle of the training field, most likely looking forward to the frigid ‘slacker’ finally get what was coming to her.

“Quite the opposite, sir.  Titans aren’t the only threat in the world--you never know when you’ll need training like this,” you countered, meeting his gaze as you gave a reason that you’d once uttered to shut down the dismissal of other cadets for these person on person combat training exercises.  You had your own demons these kinds of moves could be used against, but there were also plenty of...unpleasant...people in the world.  You never knew when your life would be threatened by another person, and it was in those moments when you would want this kind of training.

Of course, with your reflexes and strength, it was easier to execute them.  Your learning process went into learning the techniques, and once you had that down, you really didn’t have much to worry about.

There was a spark of curiosity in Captain Levi’s eyes at your answer--apparently it hadn’t been a wrong one.  You recognized the training’s value instead of brushing it off like most people.  And most people who did realize its value usually didn’t state it openly like you just had.  Maybe you should have cut that last part out.

He still didn’t look pleased, though, which was understandable if his observations had led him to believe you weren’t taking this training as seriously as it should, that you were brushing it off.

“Then you wouldn’t mind showing me what you’ve learned.  I’ll expect perfection with that attitude of yours,” Levi said in a flat voice, taking a few more steps until he was standing opposite you.  There was a dangerous note in his voice, and you had the feeling he intended to make you take this sparring seriously, with full attention.

“Sir?”

Levi didn’t answer.  He fell into an at the ready position across from you, and you realized he wasn’t going to give you time to ask any more questions.  He was about to attack, and you had better be ready for it.

You finally dropped the salute that had loosened during your brief conversation, falling back into a similar at the ready position and feeling your attention start to sharpen.  Around you, people were turning their attention away from their training to see Captain Levi give the careless newbie a lesson.

A small part of you whispered that perhaps you should let him take you down right out of the gates, have him teach you the lesson and then move on, deal with the fact you’d made a poor impression on the captain of the Elite Squad.

You let out a slow breath, the world snapping into attention as you honed in on your opponent, Humanity’s Strongest.

Something inside you refused to lay down and take it.  You were going to at least show him that you had potential.  This was your moment to prove that it wasn’t all bravado and charades.  You had skill to back it up, you were capable, and you were not some slacker that wasn’t taking any of this seriously.  You were here to fight, to help in the push against the Titans,, no matter what anyone thought from their first impression of you.  You were here to stay.

Levi’s eyes flashed, and your body instinctively tensed for the oncoming attack as he darted forward with an almost inhuman speed.  You clamped down on your instinct to use your truly inhuman speed to step out of the way, instead choosing to block or at least re-direct the blow with his foot with your arm as you went low, ducking under the kick and coming up on his side.  Levi was already turning when you were halfway up, and his fist connected with your side, causing you to take a few steps back.

Shit, that hurt.  He really was going to teach you a lesson to take this seriously, wasn’t he?  If you didn’t want to end up beat to hell, you better be ready to show him you were learning.

And after the strength of that blow and the speed of his attack, you were going to have to put some actual effort into this.

Levi was already coming in again with another attack, fist cutting through the space between the two of you.  You turned your body aside to avoid it, knee coming up to try and get him in the gut.  He knocked it aside with his other arm as you blocked the one that had tried to punch you from coming at you again, grabbing onto his forearm and bringing yourself into his space.  You threw a punch of your own, still holding back to avoid seriously hurting him, but he blocked it just as quickly, the two of you grappling up close with a series of punches, blocks, and shifted feet before you decided to break away, fists still up and ready for a pursuit.  He kept using his small stature to get under your defenses and go after your weak spots, using momentum and your own weight against you.  But you were able to return in kind, upping the effort you put into your offense and defense with every block or failed hit.

You could hear his heart, which had started so steady and calm, starting to pick up from effort and exertion as well--so you weren’t the only one who had started to put effort into this fight.  You were both two combatants that rarely found someone on their level to fight, and now here you were.

A voice in the back of your mind screamed to stop and throw the fight before you gave away too much, but you couldn’t stop yourself, your own heart pounding with excitement.  When was the last time someone could actually challenge you?  Which one of you was actually capable of winning this fight?

Hell, you’d never thought someone human could stand toe to toe with you in basic hand to hand without bringing some dirty tricks to the match, but here you were.  As exciting as it was, there was also something strangely...relieving, about it.  Reassuring.

Levi’s knee flashed through your vision, and you had to lean back, hands coming down to meet it and stop the assault before it could connect with your chin.

Reflection could come later, right now...well, you should really be throwing this fight, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.  You kept meeting his attacks and coming in with your own, no matter how much reason screamed at you to stop.

Suddenly, Levi switched tactics, and instead of coming in to hit you, he grappled you to the ground, the two of you now caught in a tussle to see who could pin the other and end this fight.  His arm started to snake around your throat, and you quickly placed an arm against your throat to break the incoming hold, dropping your shoulder with hands wrapped around his forearm to throw him over you.  He managed to keep his grip for the most part, but he was no longer in the position to choke you out from behind.

His heartbeat, as well as your own, continued to pound in your ears, telling you just how much you both were fighting.  This had rapidly changed from a lesson to be taught into a straight up match at some point, both of you fighting for dominance, with not a single peep from the onlookers as both of you started throwing in dirty tactics that looked more like skills learned on the streets than something taught in military training.

He’d landed some solid hits on you, easily bruising your body where he connected, but so had you.  Of course, you were still trying to be careful and not hurt him, but the longer this fight went on, the less restraint you showed, because all the while you were testing his limits, seeing how far you could safely go, and you had yet to see a sign that it had been to far.

At this rate, I wouldn’t mind this being a regular thing.  This is exhilarating.

In the scuffle, Levi ended up below you in the middle of a roll, and you took advantage of the position, leg planted firmly behind him near his head, arm grasping his and pulling it up, about to trap him in a position where he wouldn’t be able to move without breaking a limb.

You felt a tingle on the back of your neck as your eyes met.

Levi’s eyes widened in surprise.

Your ears perked at the first sign of whispers among your spectators.

“Is she...gonna beat Captain Levi?”

“I thought he was Humanity’s Strongest?”

“Some random cadet is gonna beat Levi?”

Your heart froze, even as your body kept moving.

He couldn’t hear the whispers, not that you felt he cared much about such a moniker, but you could hear, and you did care.  Levi knew he was about to be beat, you could see the flicker of realization in his eyes.  And right now, with both of you putting effort into this fight and no attempts to throw from you so far, he might pounce on an opening without seeing it for the throw it was.

Maybe.

Whether that was true or not, this fight had to end, and it had to end one way.

Your grip shifted slightly on his arm, your foot slid slightly to the side, and you changed your weight distribution, giving him a split second window he could still get out of this.  And just as you’d hoped, he took full advantage, breaking your grip on his arm and knocking you off balance with your now unsecure stance and uneven weight distribution.  As quickly as you’d started to pin him, Levi suddenly leapt on top, his arm pressed hard against your chest as you found yourself flat on your back, wind knocked out of you abruptly by the fast move.

In the brief second before Levi pulled away, you saw disappointment in his eyes.

Right.

This all started because he realized you were throwing fights.  And now you’d just thrown the fight with him.  Whether or not he knew why was up for debate, but what matters was he knew you threw it at the last second.

Levi got to his feet, brushing dirt off himself with distaste before he stared down at you with a face that looked perfectly controlled, though those eyes of his were gazing at you with a thousand thoughtful emotions that made you uneasy as you sat up.

“Put that effort into sparring with your comrades, and they might learn something,” he said dismissively, then turned and left the field, most likely to go clean himself up.

You got to your feet, expression hidden by hair that had fallen loose in the match.  Now that it was over, you were able to think more clearly, and you were chastising yourself thoroughly on the inside for such a stupid move.

Who cared if it had felt exhilarating to spar with someone on even ground?  Who cared if you hadn’t wanted to give him the wrong impression of you on what might have been his first time seeing you?  Who cared if the feeling of realizing there was someone out there that wasn’t what you were, that could fight you like that, was akin to not feeling so alone for the briefest second?

You shouldn’t have done that.  You weren’t supposed to be drawing that kind of attention to yourself.  It was sloppy and stupid and you could only see it resulting in trouble.  You should have thrown the match far earlier than when you had, you shouldn’t have given everyone the impression that you could take Levi’s title from him.

Because even if it could, even if you were able to best him in a fight, you shouldn’t.  Not in public, anyway, where word could spread and people started calling you the strongest instead.  It wasn’t right, and the thought made you feel dirty and ashamed.

A vampire shouldn’t have the title of Humanity’s Strongest.

*Levi’s POV*

Coming out of the bath with damp hair still hanging on his face and shirt not buttoned up yet, Levi let out a soft sigh and leaned against the wall beside his office window, hand brushing thoughtfully over a nasty bruise he’d gotten in that sparring match from the cadet, his mind lost in thought even as he started carefully buttoning up the shirt.

That...had not turned out like he’d expected it to.

When he saw her throw that match so cleverly after watching her act with such clear distance during the training, he’d been irritated at the thought that she wasn’t taking the training seriously.  Or that she might think throwing the fight helped her opponent somehow by making him think they’d won on their own merit.  They weren’t going to learn if they were allowed to win.  If anything, such a move hurt their progress more than it helped, so he’d intended to put a stop to that thinking before it got too far.  Besides, with how carefully she timed and planned that throw, she had to have some kind of real skill she was hiding.

What he couldn’t understand was why she would hold back.  Especially now, at the stage where the aptitude shown decided where each recruit would be tasked.

No matter what the reason behind it all, he’d felt a push was necessary to make her step it up and start trying.  Seeing her standing there appearing not to take any of it seriously had been irksome, and he wasn’t going to let it happen while he was on the training grounds.

As he’d thought, she’d sharpened up when he challenged her.  There was no far away glaze in her eyes when he stepped up to spar her, just unbridled focus and determination, perhaps even a bit of excitement.  For a moment, he’d despised it because he thought it was because she was one of those, so hell bent on impressing him, everything else be damned.  The kind of attitude that got people killed out in the field because they were too busy trying to impress instead of actually learn, that showed people to be nothing more than squabbling children who weren’t taking any of this seriously.

As the fight progressed and she started to show her true strength, though, it started to make more sense.

He could still vividly picture the shift in her demeanor, the glint in her eyes the second before their spar began.  How at that moment, he knew he was about to see if she was sitting on true potential and was paying attention, or was just blowing smoke up people’s asses and blowing it all off.

He’d been fully ready to knock her into the dirt in that first strike to knock reality back into her, but that wasn’t what happened.  He’d been genuinely surprised when she managed to block and keep up with him, even more with how well she was able to return what he gave her.  Quickly he’d abandoned the thoughts of teaching an arrogant cadet a lesson and instead started to prod at her capabilities, intrigued and impressed with what he found.  Being able to spar with someone on such even ground was a rarity, and he’d found the experience rather...exhilarating.

She was faster and stronger than she appeared, just like him.  She was also quite clever--predictably, considering the care she’d put into throwing her matches--and had clearly been paying attention to the taught techniques.  However, when he’d thrown something street learned and not taught by the military, she hadn’t flinched, and pulled a few underhanded street fighting techniques of her own.

Which gave him a peek at her background, as well.  If he was to look, he would bet his salary that he would find that she got into some kind of trouble in the past--the illegal kind.

Several of her blows had, clearly, hurt, which told him she wasn’t holding back anymore--at least not as much.  A part of him could tell, through their whole fight, that there was still something she was holding back with, just like he was.  He hadn’t tapped into that strange power of his, not fully, and she had also kept herself from using her full potential--something tipped off by the fact her attacks had been getting progressively faster and harder.  Of course, in a spar, you weren’t supposed��to go all out--for example, neither of them were trying to do anything lethal.  But even then, she was sitting on something.

Now he was fairly confident the reason she’d been holding back on the others had been to avoid hurting a comrade by accident.  That he couldn’t fault her for, but she still shouldn’t have been throwing the fights.  They needed to learn, and making them think they’d won didn’t help them.

Of course, there was also the glaring fact of how she’d ended that fight.

He had definitely been shocked the moment he’d realized she was about to pin him.  Of course it hadn’t been anywhere in his mind that a younger rookie would beat him in a spar--before today he would have thought that kind of suggestion was madness.  But she’d done it, and for the briefest moment, just before she would have pinned him, he saw the faintest red glimmer in her eyes.

Then some kind of realization hit her, she seemed to register she was about to win as well, and she’d shifted.  At first, he’d thought she’d simply hesitated, that her unbalance had come from getting inside her own head in the middle of the fight, and he had pounced on that opportunity.  There was another part of that moment that was worrisome to him, though.

For some reason, he’d reacted off a survival instinct, even though he was well aware that it was a spar.  It hadn’t been a mere moment of ‘I want to win this fight,’ but a split second where he felt like an eagle pinned down by a horned owl, where natural instinct told him if he didn’t break free…

But of course...it had just been a spar, no matter what the novel moment had made him feel for a split second.

Of course, once he had her pinned beneath him, he realized how easy the motion had been--to easy for someone who was a hair’s breath away from being pinned and the fight being over.  And he could tell from the look in her eyes, the dulling of that sharp gaze and the distance in her posture, that she’d thrown the fight.

Again.

Of course he was disappointed.  The entire spar had started because she’d been throwing matches with her fellow recruits, and at the last second, when she would have pinned even him and proven what she was capable of, she backed off.  She held back.

The only two who knew she really won that fight was him, and her.

He knew she’d been holding back the whole time.  That she threw at the end.  That there was a dangerous edge to her.  That even if he went all out, there was a chance she could take him.

Levi looked out his office window, which overlooked the training grounds that were now empty after combat training had finished.  Why did she do it?  Why did she throw the fight?  Why was she hiding her potential instead of showing what she was truly capable of?  What did she want to hide, and why was she trying to hide it?

Who was she?

Did she have a power similar to his own?

Did he want her on his squad?  That question he was far more unsure about, because while her raw skill alone tempted him to recruit her to the Elite Squad, something stirred uneasily in his gut about her.  From the look in her eyes, that glint, that moment of survival instincts kicking in, all the unknowns...

There were too many questions and too many unknowns about her right now.  He wasn’t about to act hastily.  First, he needed to learn what he could about this new recruit, ask around and keep an eye on her from a distance.  Once his questions were answered…

Well, that all depended on what he would find after some digging.

Next Chapter---->

Levi Tags:  @humanitys-hottestsoldier @clary-quinn @sunny-flo​ @whalerus 

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #144: Quetzalcoatl

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the Ruler of the West, Lord of the Day and the Winds, and the White Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl! She’s a Battle Master Fighter to get her lucha techniques, an Ascendant Dragon Monk to throw in muy caliente jumps and drops, and a Circle of the Land Druid for some extra bonuses and her faithful companion.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here, yes!

Next up: I’ll sleep when I’m dead!

Race and Background

As a divine demiservant, you certainly fit the mold of an Aasimar, but given the fact that you’re half bacteria, you’re probably closer to a Scourge Aasimar. This gives you +1 Strength and +2 Charisma, as well as Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, Healing Hands to help your loyal followers, and the Light cantrip.

Raising your own personal army out of anyone brave (or stupid) enough to face you makes you the Goddess Alliance Legionnaire. This gives you proficiency with Athletics and Intimidation, as well as an expanded spell list we’ll get into when it comes up.

Ability Scores

If you’re planning on flipping Ivan the Terrible on his back, mammoth and all, you’ve got to invest in Strength. Lucha’s also just as much about how you hit people as it is about how hard you hit them, so make Dexterity number 2. After that is Wisdom, yes! You are a great judge of character! (Character is found by fighting people, right?) Your Constitution isn’t particularly amazing, but you typically got your opponents in a crater somewhere before they can hit you. Sadly we couldn’t make your Charisma as high as I’d like, but your racial bonus helps a bit. Finally, dump Intelligence. Like a lot of these builds, it’s just the least bad ability to dump. Sorry Quetz.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: Starting in the fighter class gets you proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two fighter skills. Acrobatics will make your mid-air maneuvers more amazing, and Animal Handling will help you control your pets. And Jaguar Warrior.

You also get the Unarmed Fighting Style, giving your unarmed strikes a serious power boost. Now they deal 1d6 damage, or 1d8 if both your hands are available.

You can also take a little siesta once per short rest thanks to Second Wind, healing yourself as a bonus action.

2. Monk 1: Bouncing over to monk real quick for a second, just here to pick up Unarmored Defense, giving you an AC of 10 + your dexterity modifier + your wisdom modifier as long as you’re not wearing armor. You also can’t wear a shield which is unfortunate, but trust me, it’ll be worth it. 

Your Martial Arts also lets you use your dexterity when attacking with a monk weapon or your fists. You can also make an unarmed attack as a bonus action after attacking with your main action, and all your monk attacks can do at least a d4 of damage. That last one doesn’t really apply, given the circumstances, but it’ll get bigger over time. Again not to a point that matters, but it tries, dammit.

3. Fighter 2: Back in fighter for a bit to grab an Action Surge, letting you slap an extra action onto your turn once per short rest. Now you can make your enemies tap out in round one! You also gain a Necrotic Shroud, transforming yourself for 1 minute. When you transform, creatures nearby have to make a charisma save (dc 8+proficiency+charisma mod) or be frightened of you for a round. Plenty of people would say this should charm them instead. They aren’t wrong, but we work with what we’ve got.

Also, once per your turn you can add extra necrotic damage to an attack, equal to your level. You can pull out your scary face once per long rest.

4. Fighter 3: As a Battle Master, you become a Student of War, giving you proficiency with one artisan’s tool. Statues are big in Babylon, or at least those are most of the things that survive, so I’d look into that. 

You also learn Combat Superiority, giving you three maneuvers that you can use with superiority dice, four d8s that recharge on short rests. This gives you a Commanding Presence, adding the die to an intimidation, performance, or persuasion check so you can become a star in the ring. You also gain a Pushing Attack to launch rudos out of the ring, and a Tripping Attack to land them on their culo before going in for a pin. The latter two also add the die to their damage roll.

5. Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Grappler feat, giving you advantage on attacks against grappled creatures and the ability to pin them with another grapple check, restraining both them and you. Not super useful, but it is very flavorful.

6. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack each attack action. It’s not that flashy, but it is useful.

7. Fighter 6: Your last fighter level is another ASI, bumping up your Dexterity for a higher AC and the ability to use dexterity or strength for equally powerful hits.

8. Monk 2: Second level monks get Ki, which will be very useful later, but right now lets you attack twice, dash/disengage, or dodge as a bonus action. You get a number of ki per short rest equal to your monk level. 

Your Unarmored Movement also lets you move just a bit faster. It’s handy now, indispensable later. Trust us. 

Finally, you can spend a bit of time with your Dedicated Weapon to make any non-two-handed weapon a monk weapon. I’d say a macuahuitl is a bit too big to count as a short-sword.

9. Monk 3: As a ninth level character you can finally take your monk subclass, the Ascendant Dragon. This lets you change the damage type of your unarmed attacks to fire damage (and others, but c’mon), you can read, write, and speak Draconic, and you can re-roll a failed intimidation or persuasion check, turning it into a success once per long rest.

The Breath of the Dragon also lets you replace an attack action attack with fire (or other energy type) breath, dealing two martial arts dice worth of damage to creatures that fail a dexterity save within a 20′ cone or 30′ line if they fail a dexterity save (dc 8+wisdom mod+proficiency). You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus for free, or by spending 1 ki point.

Like all monks, you can also Deflect Missiles as a reaction, possibly sending them back if you reduce the damage to zero.

10. Monk 4: Use this next ASI to bump up Dexterity again, bringing up your attack power and AC. You also learn how to Slow Fall as a reaction, preventing an amount of falling damage equal to five times your monk level. Trust me, this is good.

11. Monk 5: Fifth level monks get Stunning Strikes, letting you spend ki points to force constitution saves on your opponents, stunning them for a round if they fail. You get nothing else. Certainly not any “extra attacks”, where did you even get a silly idea like that?

12. Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki-Empowered Strikes, making your unarmed attacks magical for overcoming damage. You also get the big selling point of the dragon monk, Wings Unfurled. When you use Step of the Wind to dash or disengage as a bonus action, you also get wings until the end of the turn, giving you a flying speed equal to your walking speed. This means you can now grapple someone with your action and pull them forty feet into the air for one hell of a piledriver.

You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus, or by spending an extra ki point when using step of the wind.

13. Druid 1: We’ve had enough of beating the crap out of people, let’s make you a proper rider! First level druids learn Druidic. It’s a language. You also know how to cast and prepare Spells based on your Wisdom modifier. I’ll be honest, it’s not good. 

You can cast Resistance and Gust as your cantrips, and you also get first level spells. Thanks to being a legionnaire, you also learn Fire Bolt and Sacred Flame for some muy caliente casting, and Guiding Bolt and Heroism so you can properly lead an army. This is also usually where I’d explain the kinds of spells you might want to prepare, but we’re literally only here for one third level spell, so let’s get cracking.

14. Druid 2: Joining the Circle of the Land gets you the Guidance cantrip so you can do everything just a bit better. Your Natural Recovery also lets you regain spell slots of combined level equal to half your druid level as a short rest once per long rest. 

You also get Wild Shape, which isn’t in-character, and Wild Companion, which you can use a combined total of two times between short rests. The latter lets you cast Find Familiar without spending any money. The creature also only lasts a number of hours equal to half your druid level.

15. Druid 3: Third level druids get second level spells, including your circle spells Spier Climb and Spike Growth. Neither of those are particularly in-character, but you also get the more military-minded spells Aid and Scorching Ray from your background.

16. Druid 4: Fourth level druids get a Wild Shape Improvement if you’re into that sort of thing, an ASI to bump up your Wisdom so your spells are stronger, and the Produce Flame cantrip, because you couldn’t do that plenty already.

17. Druid 5: Fifth level druids get third level spells, including your freebies: Lightning Bolt, Meld into Stone, Beacon of Hope, and Blinding Smite. This is also the level you can finally prepare what we came here for in the first place, Conjure Animals. This spell takes an action to summon a beast of CR 2 or lower, which hey, look at the stats for a Quetzalcoatlus, it fits the bill exactly.

18. Monk 7: Okay, we got the silliness out of our system. Getting back to monk, you get Evasion, turning your failed dexterity saves into successes and your successes into ignoring the fireball entirely. Your Stillness of Mind also lets you spend an action to end one effect charming or frightening you. You are the one doing the frightening around here.

19. Monk 8: Use your last ASI to become Tough, getting an extra 38 HP now, and two more the next time you level up.

20. Monk 9: Your ultimate level gives you an Unarmored Movement Improvement, letting you run up walls and over water, as long as you don’t end your turn there.

Pros:

Flight is always a great addition to any build, even a limited amount like in here. Having an effective 90 feet of flight gives you great mobility, and it gives you a decent piledriver to boot! Grapple something with your action, fly up using your bonus action, and drop them for a guaranteed 4d6 damage!

Spells like Spike Growth, your own pins, and your maneuvers mean you can control enemy movement as well. Fly/push enemies off cliffs, box them in with spikes, or pin them to the ground so they can’t cast any spells.

Taking so many classes gives you great flexibility, with healing and fighting spells from druid, as well as combat skills from monk and fighter.

Cons:

Your flight only lasts one turn, and if you use all your movement getting someone up into the air that means you’ll probably take as much damage as they do when you fall. Obviously being a monk helps, but then you’re eating all your reactions just to pile drive people into the ground. Totally worth it, but something you’ll have to work around.

Since we have to focus so much on your strength and dexterity, your wisdom lags a bit, making your spells and AC a bit weaker than I’d like. 

We spent five levels in Druid for just one spell. Unless you really want that quetzalcoatlus, I’d suggest just putting that into fighter and/or monk for consistency. 

[lilac-melody]

Breaking Down Sia’s Movie

Okay, so I watched Sia’s movie “Music”. And I bear witnessed how awful it truly is. So before I get into this, here’s some warnings:

1. This is going to be a long post

2. There will be mentions of restraint scenes and how they’re handled as well as images. View at your own discretion.

3. There are Spoilers so if for some godforsaken reason you WANT to see this movie...don’t click “keep reading”

Okay, so before I get into the actual contents of the movie let me say the characters all suck. Not a single character was likable and the plot was barely coherent. The main character, Kazu (or just “Zu”) is a recovering alcoholic and she’s just,,, all around not a good person. She’s very irresponsible.

Ebo, her love interest, is also shitty. Not only is his character based on racism to make the white girl look heroic and brave, but he doesn’t actually know how to take care of Music, the autistic girl.

There was also this weird subplot with this fat Asian guy but we’ll get to that later.

And another thing to address there’s like about roughly 10 music videos sprinkled in throughout the movie??? And almost all except ONE of them were extremely bright and colorful and each time I had to keep looking away. Not only that but ALL of the transitions from “reality to music” was always very sudden and has sent me into sensory overload.

And one last thing before we dive into this- Music stims a lot. And yet in her music videos in her mind, she’s not stimming...like, at all. Considering Sia researched with AutismSpeaks, I’m sure she has the idea that stimming is a bad thing.

So the movie begins with Blackface and immediately we jump into extreme bright lights and music. Music wakes up, and we get a feel of her daily routine. Get up, eat eggs, have her hair braided, go on a walk, come home, watch tv, go to bed. (Or at least that’s the generalization of it) And I DO mention this schedule because it’s important later.

As we already know, Music (who is played by Maddie Ziegler, a neurotypical actress) has very exaggerated movements. She has this very weird way of walking and constantly looks like she’s doped up on medications and is high off her ass.

Everyone around her treats her like a toddler, being overly friendly and being all around accepting and caring of her.

Now I bring this up because that in itself is already problematic. It makes neurotypical people think “oh it must be great being autistic people will buy you things, give you free stuff and you’re so unaware!” when this is the furthest thing from reality. If people saw someone like Music out and about, they would be giving her dirty looks, they wouldn’t buy her free things, they’d move away from her.

Autistic people are not that accepted into society. You’re more likely to get cussed out than helped.

So Music returns home, and finds her grandmother, her previous caretaker, dead on the ground. She has no reaction, just smiling and giggling away and sits down.

One thing I noticed about Music is that she’s literally always stimming. Like, LITERALLY always. There is not a single moment on screen where she’s NOT stimming. And that’s not to say it’s bad but it feels way too forced and honestly? It felt and looked more like a mockery of autistic people who need to stim often.

So George, a man next door, came over to help fix something in the apartment. And it was only After he came in that Music got worried about her grandma. Or at least she was lowkey panicking. This is when Zu comes into the movie and gets a call and has to now come take care of Music.

Also apparently the fat Asian neighbor would??? Flash a flashlight in her room while she’s in bed and move it around as if she was some sort of cat??? I’m pretty sure that scene was just an excuse to launch into the second music video of the movie.

So Music wakes up and echoes “Make you eggs” to Zu, who makes her eggs. Remember the routine I mentioned? How Music gets her hair braided as she’s eating? Well, as Zu’s going back to bed, Music starts echoing “Braid your hair”. Zu doesn’t know how.

So Sia incorporated a meltdown scene of Music being stressed of the routine is being broken. Music starts hitting her head and thrashing around screaming “braid your hair” repeatedly. Zu not knowing what to do tries to pin her against the wall and was literally screaming at her to calm down.

And this is where we met Ebo, Zu’s love interest. He noticed Music having a meltdown and...well...

Zu questions if he’s hurting Music and...

And after that, everything is suddenly all perfectly fine because Music understands that Ebo doesn’t want her hurt and she needs to calm down. And it’s also wonderfully okay because he can braid her hair. She goes back to breakfast as if nothing happened.

Obviously this is extremely problematic. Restraining autistics during a meltdown is a very sure way to kill them. If a neurotypical is reading this and is doubtful, here is one instance of an autistic boy being restrained and killed.

After that, Zu and Ebo follow Music on her walk to get to know her route. After returning, Zu makes a comment about how she’s thinking about sending Music to a “people pound” and then adds “oh but I guess I can keep her”??? Honestly if you took this scene out of context I’d be wondering if they were actually talking about a fucking animal.

Zu later finds some of her old toys and talks to Music about them and mentions how someone “has seizures just like Music”.

Um...when did Music have seizures? This was NEVER brought up prior to this and it will never be mentioned throughout the movie. A meltdown! Is not! A seizure!!

The movie follows Zu around being irresponsible, borrowing money, and so forth.

And then we get to the park scene. Hey remember the first meltdown scene? Music had a meltdown about her routine being broken? Yeah that doesn’t happen. Zu flat out says that the change of route is good for her and Music just happily goes along with it with that dopey ass expression on her face.

Ebo explains that Music wears her headphones “because her hearing is so sensitive she can hear whispering from two rooms away”. First of all, we autistic people are NOT superhuman.

After he says that he says “she can understand everything we are saying” and yet they literally have to repeat themselves several times to get her to understand. They don’t treat her like she understands them. They treat her like a two year old who doesn’t know any better. That was literally the vibe I got throughout the entire movie, especially at some later scenes.

So Music sees some kids running around and that sends her into a meltdown. And Zu wants Ebo to restrain her like he did at the apartment and...um.

Ooooooookayyyyyy. Yeah, that’s your problem??? Okay make the tall white girl be a “hero” then.

Oh yeah just like that!

Also what the fuck is Music’s expression here??? This is a normal look for her throughout the movie and she’s having a Meltdown.

Oh and after Music “calms down” from the meltdown??? She’s back to being 100% PERFECTLY HAPPY.

AGAIN, NEUROTYPICALS, DO NOT THINK THIS IS OKAY!!!!! NONE OF US ARE LIKE THAT!!! IF YOU RESTRAIN AN AUTISTIC YOU WILL MAKE THEM PANIC MORE AND POSSIBLY KILL THEM!!!

So, we keep going on with the movie, following Zu continuing to be irresponsible and frustratingly impossible to care about.

And at one point, she has to bring Music with her to this place where she “works”. And on the way there she tells Music to “not do one of her freakouts and just get it out now”.

Um...so sorry that a meltdown is causing YOU trouble??? A MELTDOWN IS NOT A FUCKING TANTRUM!!!!!!!!!

Later, when walking, Music wanted a snowcone, so Zu got her one. While she was getting her one, Music, QUITE LITERALLY OUT OF NOWHERE, lays on the ground under the bench and starts to eat gum from it.

...Um. What??? Why??? To show us how “hard” it is being with an autistic girl??? Literally what was the point of this scene???

So, afterwards, Music gets stung by a bee, which she’s allergic to. Zu restrained her while she was screaming, though it was brief, it was still uncomfortable. She gets brought to the hospital and she’s gonna be okay because she had an EpiPen with her.

But the doctors say that Zu’s occupation is empty for the insurance.

And here’s where I got from pissed and annoyed to downright uncomfortable.

Zu realizes her bag is missing and for several minutes, she literally starts screaming in pure anger and frustration, at home she’s searching, throwing things, kicking things, screaming some more...

Like WHY isn’t ZU being restrained??? Why is it acceptable for her to do that but it’s bad for Music to have a meltdown??? Honestly when Zu started screaming and throwing things, I actually flinched.

Oh also during these scenes the fat Asian kid was taking Ebo’s boxing class and hugged his opponent during a match and I guess at his apartment his parents argued about that (they didn’t include subtitles on that bit as they were speaking another language....nice. Note the sarcasm.)

and the dad literally attacks his wife and throws his son aside...and the fat Asian kid dies.

So like...what was the point of the kid dude??? No, seriously, what was the point? To buy Music a watermelon pop at the start of the movie??? We didn’t get ANY information about him or ANYTHING. And he just up and dies. Like if you take all his scenes out of the movie, nothing would change.

While the kid’s dying, Zu’s so stressed that she gets drunk and tries to talk to Ebo, but she gets loud and emotional and a neighbor comes out and Zu drunkenly attacks him.

Oh, so even if Zu is drunk and attacking people, pushing them, etc, SHE doesn’t get restrained. She just gets told stop. Okay. Sure.

Zu goes to a bar, returns home after another annoying music number, and makes Music her breakfast before she goes on her walk.

Ebo visits, and he practically says “aight I’mma focus on my own health I’m out”.

Zu starts becoming actually clean after that, she and Music staying with George.

There was pretty much just a dumb montage of her life after that??? One bit was Music having ANOTHER meltdown (for unexplained reasons) and Zu grabbing her yelling to calm down.

After some time Zu decides to drop Music off at a mental health facility, and when they were there, Music suddenly starts saying “don’t go sis” and “sit down now”.

Hold up.

So this movie is telling me that Music is nonverbal, but she can say some phrases, and also she understands what’s going on and YET NO ONE IN THIS ENTIRE MOVIE HAS TREATED HER LIKE SHE’S A HUMAN BEING WHO KNOWS WHAT’S GOING ON...suddenly, out of nowhere, she knows what’s going on. She suddenly knows she’s about to be left alone and suddenly she can talk more than repeated phrases.

I...I don’t think that’s how that works there, chief!

Zu changes her mind and she and Music go to the wedding that Ebo is at. Ebo is a guest at his brother and ex-wife’s wedding. (Which he mentioned earlier in the film and said he’ll tell Zu the rest of his story later which he never does btw)

and while he’s on stage finishing his speech, which is about how he doesn’t know what love is, Zu and Music come running in and Zu goes up on stage and basically tells him she’s now clean and she’s learning to love. And suddenly Ebo’s in love with Zu and introduces her to his entire family at the wedding, share a kiss and then everyone started clapping.

...No, I’m not kidding. Everyone was applauding them. At his brother’s wedding.

They start to play a song, but then Music starts kinda quietly kinda brokenly singing, it was hard to hear but yeah.

And then it cuts to another bright music video and the movie THANKFULLY ENDS.

GOD. That was so frustrating to watch.

I hated the characters, I hated the plot, I hated how Sia chose to “represent” autistic people, it was all a one, big, irritating MESS.

And in the end, do we learn ANYTHING about autism??? NO.

In fact, if I was a neurotypical with NO knowledge of autism, I would assume autism makes you some stupid 2 year old that you need to restrain when they’re stressed.

I wish I was kidding.

Just because some autistics are incapable of fully taking care of themselves doesn’t mean they’re just “teehee brain empty everyone around me is in a super bright music video!” like what the fuck???

This movie was problemtic, offensive, and WHY is it titled “MUSIC” when literally Zu is the protagonist??? Zu is the protagonist, her main story is about her and Ebo falling in love, and her subplot was...taking care of Music.

And then the mini subplots of the movie too. I genuinely don’t understand the point of the Asian kid. And Once, Ebo mentioned needing medication but they never bring THAT up again either.

Even if you erased Music’s character entirely in this movie and it wasn’t about a recovering alcoholic taking care of her autistic sister, the movie would be trash, poorly made, poorly executed, poorly directed.

And, the site I used did NOT add any warnings about restraint NOR did it say “hey don’t restrain autistics in a meltdown” or anything. And considering this movie had 4 RESTRAINT SCENES (2 of them being fleshed out and the others being quicker)...that’s pretty bad.

All around, this movie was awful.

-50/10, I would sooner watch 2019′s Cats.

[princess-peregrine]

here’s a lil bit from the fic I’m working on, I’m not very good at fight scenes and would like some feedback

Piper and Cyclonis keep their eyes shut as the flash of light starts to dissipate. Cyclonis opens her eyes slowly at first, letting go of Pipers wrist confident that she wouldn't try anything now that they were in Cyclonia. “Home sweet ho-” As Cyclonis eyes opened and adjusted, the darkness of the area threw her off. The rolling field of green grass and forestry told her she was not in Cyclonia, or at least not near the capitol. She had expected to see lights from her kingdom in the distance but the only illumination came from the sky. Piper used this time to roll over and run forward, she charged Cyclonis with her arms open, gripping around Cyclonis' waist and throwing the shocked girl to the ground. Piper held Cyclonis down by the elbows as she positioned herself on top of Cyclonis' back. Piper tried to get a grip on Cyclonis' left arm first as she did her best to try and put the cuffs on Cyclonis' wrist. She knew it was pointless and that Cyclonis could easily slip out of them at any moment but she was panicking, still trying to figure out what she should be doing during this fight. Sky Fu wasn't so much for force and more for restraining your opponent. Which didn't help when she was up against someone she couldn't restrain like Cyclonis.

Piper was so caught up on trying to get the cuffs on that she completely ignored the staff in Cyclonis right hand glow and lift both of them into the air. Cyclonis quickly lifted them both into the air a few feet when Piper started to slip off. Cyclonis made a quick maneuver, she spun around and grabbed the collar of Piper's shirt just as she slipped off and lifted Cyclonis to be face to face.

“What did-” Piper craned her head back, “GAH!” Pipers head swung forward hard hitting Cyclonis just above the nose, missing her mark. Cyclonis dropped Piper, gripping her nose as she floated higher. Piper rolled as she hit the ground and looked around. She tried to find her staff to no avail, either it was too far away or it didn't get teleported with them. Piper cursed as she look up to see Cyclonis already recovered and falling fast with an outstretched foot. Piper thanked her luck as Cyclonis was finally doing something she knew how to fight against. Piper was so busy being thankful she nearly missed her chance. Cyclonis form becoming more clear against the dark sky as she got closer. As Piper's hand pushed away Cyclonis' foot, rolling into her leg with her left arm curled over her chest. Piped pushed her arm out hitting Cyclonis in the gut, the continuous movement pushed Cyclonis into the ground as Piper's knee hit the ground to finish the move. The slam of Cyclonis' back hitting the ground with a wet throaty sound let her know she did it right.

Piper wasn't allowed to catch her breath as Cyclonis rolled on her side and sweeped under Piper's knee forcing her into a splits. Rather than float or get up like Piper had thought she would, Cyclonis got halfway to standing before leaping onto Piper knocking her onto her back with the pale girl on top of her. Cyclonis gripped at Piper's shoulders and slammed her head into the ground. Piper was starting to see lights from the impact and as Cyclonis brought her up again for another slam Piper leaned forward and grabbed and Cyclonis' wrists and rolled over so she was now stradling Cyclonis. Piper struggled with Cyclonis' as she pushed her arms down, their arms stuttering as they pushed against each other. Cyclonis was the first to give out and as Piper's hands fell down, she let go of Cyclonis' arms as her hands fell into position around Cyclonis' neck. Her hands didn't wrap all the way around and instead gripped the sides of her throat and pushed into the ground. Cyclonis' hands slapped at Piper's eyes locked the whole time.

Something happened when they looked at each other. Cyclonis knew what she was feeling, she had only woken up to the feeling since she met Piper. Piper was more confused by the feeling as it contradicted what she was doing, but the thought of Cyclonis' lips only frustrated her as she pushed harder into Cyclonis throat. The sudden boost in pressure made Cyclonis think and she stopped slapping at Piper's hands and reached down and lifted Piper off of her by her legs. Piper rolled over off of Cyclonis as she breathed, no longer moving as she listened to Cyclonis cough and rub at her throat.

[heyheyloki]

Combat Training with a Demigod

Summary: No one can rely on their powers alone, so, the reader makes the day sparring with Loki. 

Pairing: Loki Layfeyson x male!reader

Warnings: None

The training room was one of the few rooms in the building that isn't, surprisingly enough, crowded all the time like the living room or kitchen. Steve was normally down here, as well as Y/N, if he wanted to spar. Other than that, no one. Tony, Bruce, Clint, Thor, and Loki practically had no use for it. Though, Natasha did come down once in a while, but that was usually after nightfall.

A large wrestling mat was laid out over the wood flooring, practically covering the entire floor for the comfort of whoever was about to thrown around. The room almost identically to the size of two high school gyms. On the mat were two unpredictable foes, both a few good feet from each other. Neither daring to unlock their gaze with the other. Minds racing with anticipation. 

"Are you sure about this?" Loki questioned as his hands were open at his sides, his forest orbs questioning why he even agreed to do this as he watched the man across from him stretch his limps before the show got underway.

"Yeah. I can't think of anyone who's better at close combat than you." He replied. He ringed his neck before turning it to gaze over at Thor and Steve on the side lines. One looking amused at the situation before him while the other hating the idea.

"Thor, after I get in a couple rounds with Loki, I want you to help me with flying." Y/N called out. It was one thing to be a normal human being without any powers, like Clint or Tony. But, he wasn’t like them. No, instead he had superhuman powers, fire driven powers.  

"You can fly?" He asked curiously. His words were definitely filled with a bit of joy, anticipation.

"Yeah," he said plainly. "I didn't test it out much but I think I was burning around  5,700 kelvin."

"You mean to tell me when you reach the temperature of a star, you fly?" Loki asked, a brow cocked up.

"No, not fly." He shook his head. "My feet just kinda lift off the ground. I'm guessing I have go beyond my limits to actually fly."

Steve's eyes glazed from left to right, focusing on whoever was talking in the moment. He stood tall with his chest slightly puffed out, his arms crossed over one another. Of course, the news didn't surprise him, but what got under his skin was why he asked the Asgardians for help.

"And, if I start getting ahead of myself, Steve's here to knock me out." Y/N chuckled with a cheeky smile like the words he spoke were normal, everyday conversation.

Steve nodded, unsure of even what he would say to something like that. Either way, he knew one way or another he was there to keep an eye on them. Though, he thought it would be from someone else, not from himself.

Steve watched carefully as Loki’s opponent bent his knees slightly, his palms outward as his trigger happy fingers twitched. "Ready?" He asked with a certain tone that rubbed everyone in the room the wrong way.

Loki nodded. With the flick of his wrist two small daggers popped out of his sleeve and onto the palm of his hands. "On your mark." He stated.

With a moment of intense stillness, the crushing feeling of anticipation, it was only seconds after that everyone watched Y/N's hands curl into fists. They marveled, awed even at the way his hand engulfed in beautiful and deep red flames. Though, those stares were quickly long gone as he began to charge straight on at Loki.

Y/N threw a quick left hook. His attack instantly blocked by Loki's forearm. It was an understatement to say that Loki was as strong as Steven Rogers, if anything, he was stronger. Physically, his strength was something to marvel at. However, Y/N had no time to be surprised. He knew who he was fighting, he knew that Loki would be stronger than other opponents in more ways than one.

He acted fast and moved his right fist close to the green-orbed man. Loki took no pleasure in getting it in the face, his head leaning back as he felt the subtle heat trace over his skin. In a way, it was soothing, but he knew how dangerous it would be if it touched his skin.

The God of Mischief took this as his opportunity to turn on the offensive. He used his free hand to move the dagger close to Y/N's neck, though right when he was about to nick his throat, Y/N made a clever move of his own. He used his trapped and yet forgotten hand to grab a hold of Loki's wrist and twist his body around. In a manner of seconds he stood behind the god who was kicked down to his knees when the young man slammed his foot down on Loki's shoulder.

Their breathing was now the only sound around them, well, that was until boisterous laughs came from the side lines.

"What are you laughing at?" Loki growled in irritation, his glare ice cold upon his brother.

"I never thought I'd see the day when a Midgardian bested you in a fight." Thor laughed. "It's kind of amusing!"

"Well, I got my training from the best super soldier I know." Y/N smiled, his words allowing Steve to mirror his expression.

Loki let out a deep groan, his eyes rolling in the back of his head as he acted quickly. In a swift and smooth movement he hit Y/N's foot away from his shoulder and twisted his own body to get back front and center. Taking two steps back, he pointed a dagger at the young man who stood on guard.

"Beginners luck." He stated, his pride shooting out of every pore on his body.

"Maybe you've just met your match." Y/N snickered, his eyes ice cold. His fists glitching open and igniting into flames.

"We'll see about that." Loki stated, his feet stomping his way to the competition.

A solid swing was thrown by the God, his dagger barely nicking at Y/N’s skin before the young adult blocked it with his forearm. Loki stared forward, eyes narrowed on the smug expression that was presented to him that rubbed Loki the wrong way on so many levels. He took a chance, swinging his free hand only for it to be blocked once more.

With both hands blocked, trapped on both sides. Loki smirked. One of those smirks that was cunning and coy, one that made Y/N's head cock the the side. The look of confusion quickly distorting into pain when Loki's foot shot waves of pain down onto his competition’s knee. It was so unexpected, so intense that it made the young man lose his footing and loosen his grip on Loki's arms.

Before either of them knew it, the flat end of Loki's dagger comfortably rest on the base of Y/N's jaw. The very tip of the blade poking at the young man's adam's apple that bobbed as he gulped.

"Look who's on their knees now." Loki cooed, his need for control uncontrollably making the dagger lift up Y/N's head to look up at him. For a moment, he couldn't move his eyes away. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't shake the eye contact between the two. He felt trapped, stuck by some magic he didn't understand. It only troubled him more when his heart started to stammer again his ribs. Though, that moment was his downfall.

A deep yelp left his breath as he came stumbling to the ground by the sweep of Y/N's feet. The action was so quick that the demigod lost his senses for a brief moment. He couldn't see much, couldn’t hear. His sense of touch was completely altered when he felt his hand suddenly grow cold without his dagger's presence. And for a moment, his hand felt like it was being boiled alive over a scorching flame.

Then, sight was granted to him again. His hearing brought back. Everything was new. He had a different view, and his sense of touch allowed him to feel something new.

His forest greens focused on a face above him, his mind locked onto the sensation of a body on his lap. Though, the cold feeling of metal against his neck caught his attention just as quick.

He was caught in a daze. He couldn't take his eyes off of the orbs above him, not to mention how Y/N's hair flowed with gravity and overlapping in his face a bit. Unconsciously, Loki couldn't help but hold his breath as he processed the entire situation. At one point his hands even twitched, but he quickly restrained himself. His mind questioning his body's reactions to this one mortal.

"Is this really necessary?" Loki asked, his voice layered with annoyance as if to hide something.

The body on top of him remained silent. His eyes noticeably targeting where the dagger was placed, almost possessed by it. Though, he soon smiled. It wasn't one that required much thought as it didn't reach his eyes. Still, not long after, he got up and dropped the dagger at his side before extending his hand out to the god.

"Thank you." Y/N said politely. "You're really skilled at hand to hand combat."

"Well, I've only been at it for a few decades or so." Loki sarcastically let out as he grabbed the hand extended to him firmly. "But, for a mortal, you weren't terrible, I suppose."

"Aw, was that a compliment?" Y/N teased as his arms crossed over his chest. Side-eyeing Loki mischievously.

The Asgardian sighed, not even having the will to answer that since he knew he would only be digging his own grave. He didn't have to worry about it so much since almost instantaneously, Y/N called over Thor for the next part of his practice training.

[thekitteninlove]

I had some free time this week, so i wrote another fanfic. Now i won't be surprised if you said that i'm annoying you with my love for the twins, but i can't help it. I rarely fall in love, but when i do it tends to last a long time and be quite intense. I made this blog to express myself, so i don't give a damn if you don't care about what i have to say. I'm going to express myself whether you like it or not.

Anyway, on to the fanfic

Title: A lesson in martial arts

Characters: Dean Tweedle

Warnings: smut, fingering, light bondage

The polished wood floor of the large gym room creaked under me as I was practicing the self-defense techniques Dean had been teaching me over the past few days. Since I wasn’t used to exercising so much I was quickly getting tired, while he looked like he could keep at it for a few more hours without breaking a sweat. I wanted to take a break, but at the same time I also wanted to impress my boyfriend, so I didn’t give up and continued training.

After a few minutes Dean sighed and said in a slightly amused voice “You don’t have much stamina, do you? We can take a break if you want to”

Dammit. Is it that obvious? I was a bit embarrassed that he found out how weak I was so soon. A part of me wanted to act tough and keep going, but I realized that I wouldn’t be able to fool him, so I accepted his offer and sat with him on one of the benches that were lined up against the wall. Since all the students were on vacation now the school gym was all ours to use.

While I was trying to figure out what the use of a piece of equipment in the far left corner of the gym was, I felt Dean shift on the bench and heard him say “As much as I enjoy teaching you this, there’s no need for you to learn this kind of stuff. You can just let me protect you”

This made me turn my head towards him, letting out a small gasp of surprise as I realized how close he was to me. He was leaning towards me and when I looked up at his face I saw that he was gazing at me fondly while giving me a sweet smile. My heartbeat finally returned to its normal rhythm after all that training, but now it began to beat faster again upon seeing his charming face so close to mine. I returned his smile and said “There’s no way you can protect me 24/7. We can’t always be together, which is why I need to learn this even though I don’t like it. I don’t want to be a burden to the people around me either. Also, I want to be someone who can be proud of themselves and being able to do most of the things alone would make me feel just like that”

“Alright then, if you’re so determined to do this then I won’t stop you. Just bear in mind that I won’t be lenient with you just because we’re dating.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, I’m pretty much aware that I’m dating the strictest teacher in the country” I doubt the word ‘lenient’ is even in his dictionary.

“If you knew that then why did you ask me, of all people, to teach you this?” Dean sounded a bit confused

“The truth is…” Since I felt a bit embarrassed to express my true feelings I hesitated a bit before continuing “I missed you, so I used this as an excuse to spend more time with you” I turned my head to the other side so that he wouldn’t see me blush, but he placed his hand on my cheek and turned my head back towards him. When I looked up at him I noticed that he had a mischievous grin on his face. Then I saw him leaning even closer to me before his lips met mine in a sweet kiss that filled me with warmth and left me wanting for more.

After he pulled away from the kiss, Dean told me “I also enjoy teaching you all sorts of things.” Then added in a slightly playful tone that told me he might be up to something “In fact, how about I teach you how to pin down your attacker?”

I wasn’t very confident in my strength so I thought of refusing his offer at first, but since Dean was the one suggesting it… well, I thought that I may as well give it a shot, so we went back to where we were before we took this break.

“There are many techniques in martial arts that can make your opponent submit. Now I’m going to teach you one that I think is easy to learn and I’m going to do that by first showing it to you.” Dean came over to me and continued his explanation. “This move can only be done if your opponent has his back to you, so turn around”

So I’ll first have to make my opponent turn his back to me or take him by surprise, hm? I thought as I did as he said.

“First you need to put your forearm in front of their neck like this. Then clasp your hands above their shoulder so that you can use the strength of both of your arms to strangle them” At that he tightened his hold on me, but not too much. “You’ll have to put more strength into it if you want to choke them, obviously.” He said in a lower voice since he was right behind me and the only thing that stood between us was our clothes. Just being so close to him made my heart race madly in my chest and my body buzz with excitement, making it hard to concentrate on what he was saying. “At this point your opponent should be slowly losing strength and sliding to the ground” Even though I was so flustered he sounded like he was quite calm as he continued with his instructions, seemingly unaware of how he was making me feel. “You must keep your guard up because there’s a chance that he might just be pretending to be weak to make you drop your guard. This is why…” He pressed my shoulders down to make me crouch down on the floor. “you shouldn’t release them from your grip. Instead, go down with them and if you have something with which you can bind them at you then use that to restrain them until help arrives” He grasped my arms and held them behind my back to illustrate his point, which I didn’t mind at all. He then unfastened the belt that I was wearing around my martial arts uniform and used it to bind my wrists. Once he did that, he suddenly pulled me even closer to him by the arms and murmured close to my ear “and make sure they won’t be able to escape. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master” I said trying to make my voice sound as calm as his despite the desire that was growing within me as fast as fire in a forest.

“That’s good” he whispered just a few inches away from my ear. “However, your lack of stamina is a problem”

Since the belt wasn’t holding my uniform top anymore, it was open and Dean took advantage of this to slide his fingers first under and then over the curves of my breasts. This made me sigh with pleasure and lean against his chest, wanting to feel him even closer. Then I felt his mouth on my ear as he grazed it before he said in a low voice “But don’t worry, my pet, I’ll help you increase your stamina”.

Judging by his actions, he was going to do that the naughty way and my heart began to beat faster in anticipation. Once he pulled off my trousers he began sliding one of his hands over my thighs and stroking them. It felt like a nice massage, which was exactly what my sore muscles needed at the moment. Meanwhile, his other hand was still on one of my breasts, teasing it by moving his fingers around my nipple. His massage was making me feel quite relaxed, but his teasing was making me want more. I would’ve used my hand to move his hand where I wanted it to be, but it was tied up behind my back, so I couldn’t do that. Then I decided to squirm a bit and since my movements weren’t completely restricted I managed to achieve what I wanted. I let out another sigh as I felt his fingers touch that sensitive spot.

“You naughty pet” I heard him whisper right next to my ear before he began to caress that spot.

“Mmh, Dean~” His touches were always making me feel at ease and content, but this time they were also fueling the fire of desire within me.

His other hand, which was stroking my thighs began to slowly make its way towards my core until he reached my panty lines, where he slid one finger under them and used it to caress that area. One thing I noticed about him after dating him for so many months is that he really enjoys making me squirm and doesn’t miss a chance to tease me. Now was no exception and as I began to squirm I heard him chuckle behind me, clearly amused by the predicament I was in. He moved his fingers along my panty line before he decided to take them off. However, his teasing didn’t stop there since he kept caressing me between my legs without going inside. Although it was a bit frustrating, I was enjoying the naughty things he was doing to me, so I further relaxed against his chest and let him do whatever he wanted with me. His fingers were doing wanders to me and I moaned in delight as they moved in circles on my sweet spot. After a few minutes though, I was at my limits so I said in a thin voice “I want them… mmh… inside me please”

“Hmm, you’re too vague. What do you want where?”

Dammit, how do I make him stop teasing me? I wondered to myself as I tried to bring myself to say those naughty words he wanted me to say “I want your fingers to, uh… slid in… um, right there where you have your hand”

As soon as I said that I felt his fingers steadily come into me and I relished in the delightful sensations their movement made me feel. Meanwhile, his other hand was still fondling my breast, which was intensifying the pleasure I was feeling. He then pressed his lips against my neck before he moved them further down and kissed me there too. While he was leaving a trail of kisses down my neck the dirty things he was doing to me with his hands were making my body gradually get hotter and the desire within me grow even stronger. Since my back was pressed against him I could tell that he was feeling the same way too. After a while he said in a low voice close to my ear “Now that I’ve got you so warmed up, it’s time for you to do some exercises”, then he pulled back his hands and told me to turn around. Once I did that he took off his trousers and beckoned me closer with his hand while smirking and saying “Ride me”. He was so alluring at that moment that I felt as attracted to him as if we were two magnets that were drawn together by an invisible force. I placed my legs on either side of him and took him inside me, moaning due to the pleasure given by the friction within me. I wanted to put my hands on his shoulders to lean on him, but they were tied behind my back. “Mmh, Dean… could you, ooh… untie my hands?”. However, he only smiled at me and said “If I do that you won’t get the exercise you need, so I won’t do that”

Ugh, fine then, I should be able to do it like this too. I kept moving my hips to and fro, while his hands roamed my body. He first placed them on my hips, then he moved them upwards with one of them going behind my back and the other over my waist. I could see that he was panting as hard as me and I thought that he looked so sexy like that, disheveled and with a flushed face.

“Don’t stop until I tell you to” he ordered me, to which I replied “Yes, Master”. I knew he likes to be called that, so I use that word whenever we’re alone like this, doing naughty things.

His face then drew even closer to my chest and kissed one of my nipples before taking it in his mouth. The sensation of his hot tongue over that sensitive area made a pleasant feeling spread throughout my body, which added to the waves of pleasure I felt within me that were steadily growing stronger the more I moved. Dean eventually lost his composure and pushed me down to the floor, moving faster than I had before. He pressed his lips hard against mine and began to kiss me passionately, while holding me tightly by the hips. I lost all train of thought as an intense and delightful sensation spread through me like lava during a major eruption.

It took a while for me to recover and when I did I said “I love you, Dean. I love everything about you, even your flaws”

He seemed surprised for a moment, but then he brought his hand to my cheek, gently caressing it, and said “I wish you would’ve seen me as the perfect gentleman, but…” a dazzling smile spread over his face as he continued “hearing you say this also makes me very happy”

“I also have my flaws and unlike you, I want you to acknowledge them. I want you to accept me for who I am. I know it’s a big favor to ask of you, but can you do that for me?”

“That’s not a big favor at all. I also do love you for who you are.” He looked fondly at me as he drew closer and gave me a quick, but tender kiss. After he drew back he untied the belt around my wrists and helped me to my feet. While I was putting my clothes back on an idea came to my mind, so I asked him “Will you teach me more things? I want to learn more”

“Sure. As I said before, I do enjoy teaching you. But do you have anything specific in mind?”

He seemed pleased by my request, so I replied “Well… anything that would prevent people from deceiving or manipulating me” My ex taught me a lot, but I still feel like I don’t know enough. I don’t want to be an idiot. They are the ones who are easy prey for those kind of persons. I want to learn more so that no one will be able to deceive me anymore.

“Hmm, alright then. Don’t tell me you’ve been deceived” Dean sounded a bit concerned

“Uh… no” Not recently at least

“If anyone ever tries to do that to you I’m going to make them sorely regret that”

“Thank you, Dean” My boyfriend was so protective and it made me feel really happy and loved. I hoped that our relationship would keep lasting for years to come so that we’d be able to continue making sweet memories together.

[five-rivers]

Long Night in the Valley Chapter 2

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Everyone turned to see Midoriya standing on the stairs to the beach, looking down at them.  None of them, least of all Shouto, had ever seen that expression on his face before. That… flatness that almost rivaled his own.  

Uraraka took a step forward.  “Deku?” she asked, uncertainly.  Suzuki, the commission instructor, threw his arm in front of her, blocking her path.  

“Whatever that is,” he said, voice strained and low-pitched, “it isn’t Midoriya Izuku.  Saito’s quirk doesn’t allow for the subject to have an avatar in the dreamscape without a lot of practice.  There’s another quirk at work here.”

“You need to leave,” said Midoriya, descending a single step.  “Now.”

“It could be a result of his own quirk,” said Aizawa, who nonetheless had a hand on his capture weapon.  “He’s had odd reactions to mental quirks in the past.  Jumping to conclusions is illogical.”

“We have evidence Midoriya Izuku is working for the League of Villains,” said Suzuki, backing away from the stairs, slightly.  “By the rules laid out in the standard—”

Shouto tuned Suzuki out, by now quite convinced that the man had nothing particularly meaningful to say, in favor of examining Midoriya.  

It was Midoriya.  Just, a Midoriya that was annoyed, defensive, and maybe a little offended with just a touch of something else.  Which was a weird combination on Midoriya.  Especially as muted as it was. Midoriya’s expressions, no matter what they were, were always so big.  

“—I am recruiting you to aid this investigation and determine the League of Villain’s plans!”

“If you don’t leave, I’ll make you leave,” growled Midoriya.  

Wow, for someone who was the embodiment of sunshine, he could be really threatening.  Then again, sunburns were a thing, so maybe it wasn’t too surprising.  

“You’re here against my will, after coercing me into allowing a quirk to be used on me.  I want you out.”

“Eraserhead, I suggest you restrain this projection, whoever it belongs to.”

“I’m not going to warn you again,” continued Midoriya.

“I suggest,” said Aizawa, “that you listen to him.  We can ask Midoriya about this when we’re all awake and not in his head.  Like you should have done in the beginning.”

Midoriya tilted his head slightly to one side.  

“I agree!  This is very unethical,” said Iida, chopping at the air.  “This is basically an interrogation, and Midoriya is a minor! You need parental permission!”

“Which, before you start talking about him willingly participating in this course,” said Aizawa, “he has explicitly withdrawn. Not to mention his mother signed those opt-out forms, so her permission is withdrawn as well.”

“You can’t be serious—”

“I am,” said Aizawa.  “Take us out.  This whole thing is illogical.”

“I can’t,” said Suzuki.  “Saito is the only one who can shut down her quirk prematurely.”

“What?” said Uraraka.  “There’s no way for you to contact her in an emergency?  That’s really dangerous!”

“That’s not what Saito Yume said, either,” said Midoriya, flatly. “’The dream state persists until either I release it, the people involved break free, or eight hours pass.’ Implying that there’s another way to break free.  One that you, by necessity, must know.  So, leave. Or I’m going to start to defend myself.”

Suzuki took a deep breath.  “I am here,” he said, “to complete a mission given to me from the Hero Commission.  Your refusal to comply with the terms set out in your licensing agreements will be noted.”

Midoriya brought his head up straight again and squared his shoulders.  His hands clenched.  He was wearing gloves, Shouto noticed.  Not the gloves that went with his hero costume, but work gloves.  He’d seen the landscapers who worked at his family home wear something similar.  

Why?

“Fine,” said Izuku.  “Then I’m going to kick you out.”

“That’s impossible, you—”

“I know this beach very well.”

Abruptly, the pristine white sand was covered in towers of trash, separating Shouto from the others.  Suzuki’s insistence that Midoriya was a spy had already had him on edge.  This put him fully into battle-mode.  

He dropped into battle stance, and carefully froze one of the trash piles in front of him, making an icy stair to the top.  His first priority was to find Aizawa and his classmates and regroup.  To do that, he had to get a better vantage point.  

He jogged up the stairs, noting, absently, that he was now in his hero suit, not his school uniform.  What had he been wearing before this turned into a fight?  He hadn’t particularly noticed.  

He reached the top just in time to see Midoriya bludgeon Suzuki with a piece of rusty rebar.

Alright.  Maybe that wasn’t Midoriya.

.

Aizawa wasn’t fast enough getting around the piles of trash. He would have tried to scale them, but there was no safe place for him to grab on to.  The piles were simply too unstable, too untrustworthy, too poorly shaped.

He arrived just in time to see Midoriya, or what looked like Midoriya, impale Suzuki with a pole.  

Before his mind could fully process the problem child attempting what looked a whole lot like murder, he had him wrapped in his capture weapon.

Midoriya had the gall to look confused, if only slightly.

“Todoroki,” Aizawa barked, spotting his other student on top of one of the horribly dangerous trash mounds.  “First aid, stat.”

“Yes, sir,” said Todoroki, making an ice ramp to glide down.

“Midoriya,” he said.  “What was that?”  Perhaps it was illogical to ask, but he still couldn’t quite believe his eyes.  

“I was testing to see if he’d wake up and go away if he got knocked out,” said Midoriya.  He made a tiny, not-quite-shrugging motion.  “This is just a dream, after all.”

Alright.  That was true, but it was still incredibly disconcerting to see Midoriya act so callously towards the life of another human being.  Although he was unsure how many times Midoriya had hit Suzuki, and certain places of impact were less lethal than others, blunt force trauma, especially to the back of the head, could still be deadly.  

There was the sharp report of a gun, and Midoriya jerked forward, blood leaking from some invisible wound to drip down his face. Then he vanished.  

He turned towards that utter bastard Suzuki, eyes blazing, only to find him entirely encased in a glacier except for his head.

While Aizawa had been trying to train Todoroki out of reflexively encasing human beings in ice, due to frostbite, hypothermia, and other potential health issues, he was willing to let it slide.  Just this once.  

“I told you,” said Suzuki, teeth chattering.  “That isn’t your student.  And even if it was, he’s a traitor.”

“Sensei,” said Todoroki, “what are we going to do?”

“First,” said Aizawa.  He didn’t get beyond that, because Uraraka was abruptly launched from behind a wall of trash, trailing a makeshift tether of salvaged bungee cords.

“Found them!” exclaimed Uraraka.  “I don’t see Deku, though!”

“First,” said Aizawa, feeling exhausted despite technically being asleep, “we regroup.”

.

Toshinori was supposed to be teaching a third-year heroics course.

He wanted to be with Izuku at the Hero Commission training, even if he was retired, with only a retiree license to his name.  

He was in the nurse’s office, getting his brain checked by Recovery Girl, because sudden debilitating headaches weren’t on the long, long list of symptoms he’d come to expect from his injuries and medications.

Chiyo was worried he might be having a stroke, an aneurism, or some other sudden, lethal, brain condition.  She’d used her quirk on him at once, and the pain hadn’t stopped. She’d said that, at least, it should stop an aneurism from getting worse.  

Toshinori hoped it wasn’t brain cancer.  As far as personal abilities went, all he had going for him right now was brainpower and a stupidly high pain tolerance.

He closed his eyes against the bright lights of the room. Everything seemed too bright and blurry.  Sounds warped oddly in his ears.  The fabric of the bed underneath him felt gritty against his fingertips.  

It was like he wasn’t entirely here.  

Oh, the joys of hallucinations.

(Something like urgency pushed against the back of his mind. Whispered Eight, and help, and Nine.)

(Something was going more wrong than usual.)

He waited for Chiyo to step out of the room before he snuck out.

.

Izuku emerged from sleep with a choked gasp, heart racing, head spinning.  Where-?

It took him several fraught minutes to get his breathing under control and recognize where he was.  The room for the Hero Commission course.  His classmates and teacher were sleeping next to him, as well as the commission instructor.  What had his name been?  Something with an S?

Thinking was hard.  It was like his brain was occupied with something else and he kept having to nudge it back on track.  It was like—

He shook his head, which pounded with the movement, distracting him further.  He—He should—

What?

An odd sensation overtook him, and he found himself slowly, cautiously standing up.  It wasn’t like Shinsou’s quirk, where his body was out of his control, but more like he was almost sharing control, somehow.  Like he could, at any point, take control back.  And he did, just to test the theory, stopping for a moment, his hand halfway to his backpack.  

But that was hard, and he really wasn’t up for much in the way of decision-making, and the others were quite adamant that he had to get out now.  They’d know.  He trusted them.  

They picked up the backpack.  

Eight was coming.  They could trust Eight.  

The door slammed open.  Izuku froze.  Several heroes in costume and a man with a suit and a commission nametag stood in the doorway.  

“Get him!”

Four moved so differently from Izuku.  Precisely, like he knew exactly how his opponents were going to act, where they were going to be.  It reminded Izuku of how Sir Nighteye moved.  

In seconds, they were in the main hall, sprinting past crowds with the help of One for All.  Izuku felt bad about leaving Aizawa and his friends, but they knew, they weren’t targets. Izuku was.  

Izuku didn’t know how they knew that, how he knew that.  

Parking lot.  Streets. Alleyway.  Rooftops.  His UA uniform was too attention grabbing.  They dropped his blazer behind one of the rooftop ventilation shafts and tugged off his tie.  The button down by itself was less attention grabbing.  There was nothing they could to about his pants.  Alley again.  The people chasing him could track his phone.  They needed to get rid of it.  

Preferably in a way that wouldn’t immediately tip their pursuers off to the fact they had gotten rid of it.  Sending them the wrong way would be a good distraction, would buy them time.  

They slipped onto a bus and dropped Izuku’s phone into a woman’s purse.  Hopefully, she wouldn’t notice the change in weight for a while.  

Six and Two were very good at this kind of thing.  Not to mention One.  

It would probably sound weird to an outsider, but it was comforting.  The experience and care of the past users wrapped around him like a thick blanket, making it so that Izuku didn’t mind so much about his distraction, even though he wished he could help more.  

He got off the bus.  They needed to find Eight.

.

“Just so you know,” said Aizawa, several registers shy of conversationally.  “If you’ve harmed my student in any way, I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell.”

“Nothing here actually affects the mind of the subject,” said Suzuki, rolling his eyes.  “Otherwise, we wouldn’t use Saito’s quirk.”

“Your information hasn’t exactly been accurate so far,” said Tenya, pushing his glasses up and frowning.  Suzuki had, in fact, been fundamentally unhelpful.  “In fact, I believe you have outright lied to us on several occasions.”  He glanced at his classmates for support and did a double take.  

Standing behind Uraraka, half-hidden behind a beaten-up old refrigerator, was Midoriya.  A smaller, slimmer, younger Midoriya, who was wearing an ‘ALL M’ t-shirt, thick gloves, and… and an awfully large amount of rope?

He was also crying, silently, and staring at Suzuki.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said.  He pulled on the rope.  The refrigerator came free, destabilizing the pile of trash it had been supporting.

It all came tumbling down.  

.

Ochako managed to avoid most of the debris coming for her, and slapped most of the remainder, making them float with her quirk.  Even so, by the time the dust settled, she was covered in scrapes, the pink fabric of her hero suit torn—

Wait.  Hero suit?

Whatever, she was asleep, and the more important thing was to find Iida, Todoroki, and Aizawa-sensei.  They had been in the direct line of the collapse.  She was pretty sure Deku had been able to get out of the way.

“Shouldn’t have done that.”

“Five-point touch activation.  Seems to affect buoyancy of objects.  Possible martial arts background based on movement.”

Ochako spun to face not one, but two small Dekus. The new one was, if possible, even smaller than the first and wearing a gakuran.  He had a notebook spread out across his left arm and was writing in it at lightning speed.  

“Hands are a possible weak spot, but a known one.  Be careful of kicks.”  Gakuran Deku’s words devolved into mumbling, but t-shirt Deku was still nodding, so he must understand.  

T-shirt Deku also had a length of pipe.  Ochako did not like where this was going.  

Then again, the whole point of this exercise was to learn how to defend one’s mind.  She couldn’t exactly fault Deku for doing just that.  She dropped into a fighting stance and grinned.  

.

It was nothing short of a miracle, Aizawa decided, that they hadn’t been killed yet. Then again, it was possible that Midoriya, despite his obviously altered and disturbed mental state, was still holding back against them.  

Which was annoying.  Because neither of the two small Midoriya-lookalikes was particularly strong.  Nor did they appear to be using Midoriya’s quirk, despite the fact that Aizawa, Iida, Uraraka, and Todoroki had no trouble using theirs.  The problem was that they were terrifyingly intelligent, just shy of ruthless, and had an incredible home-field advantage in that they seemed to know the location and nature of every bit of trash on the beach and in that they could evidently make it disappear and reappear at will.  They also avoided head-on combat whenever possible, letting the terrain do their work for them.  

Fighting them was, in fact, like fighting someone with a quirk completely unlike Midoriya’s.  With a fighting style completely unlike Midoriya’s.

And that made Aizawa wonder, because all too often, he caught Midoriya trying to replicate All Might’s style, and if he did that when he could be doing something more like this—

But this wasn’t the time for such speculation.  

He pulled Todoroki away from a trap again (he evidently hadn’t yet grasped that Midoriya was attacking them), and then jumped away from a chain reaction caused by whatever Uraraka just threw.  

Unless they wanted to spend the next hour being beaten up by the problem child… “We need to get somewhere he has less control over the environment.”

“Off the beach?” suggested Uraraka, panting.  “He said—He said he knew the beach well, so…”

Aizawa nodded.  That was good thinking.  Where were the stairs?

“You need to leave!”  

“We’re trying, problem child!” snapped Aizawa, and, miraculously, that made Midoriya hesitate.  Aizawa pulled Todoroki towards the stairs.   The others were able to follow on their own.  

They made their way up, and as soon as they hit the top step the previously clear sky opened up and it began to pour.  Aizawa was soaked through in seconds.  

Wonderful.  

However, the attacks—which had been relentless up until this point—stopped.

“We left Suzuki,” observed Iida.  

Aizawa held back a groan.  

“Who cares?” asked Todoroki.  

“We do,” said Aizawa.  “We can’t let him run around unsupervised in Midoriya’s head.”

“I think he might have gotten crushed,” said Uraraka.  “He was still in your ice, wasn’t he, Todoroki?”

“Yeah,” said Todoroki.  “Trash should stay with trash,” he mumbled under his breath.  

“We have no idea how any of our quirks will function long-term in a dream,” said Aizawa, not addressing the trash comment because he honestly sort of agreed.  “Nor do we know what his quirk is.”  He sighed. “We may also have to consider that he is correct and Midoriya is compromised.”

Predictably, there was quite a bit of protest.  

“He may also have other information regarding the situation at hand,” said Aizawa.  “Which we need.”

There was a rattle among the trash heaps, and Aizawa turned to watch Suzuki drag himself out from under a mound of trash.  

“You left me!” accused Suzuki, loudly.  “You almost let that gremlin kill me a dozen times!”

“Well,” said Midoriya from behind them, where he absolutely hadn’t been a minute ago, “then maybe you should have left when I asked."