#so i should probably publish the second chapter huh?

[dayseedrawz2]

This is gonna be in my drafts until I at least get out every design for [Ring-Misstress] so Idk how much time I got-

So yeah I decided that I'm gonna write this AU in chapters so that it makes more sense when I make content about it, and yall can ask about it ig-

This all takes place after the events of the real series (that of which we have yet to see, so anything different can just be part of an alternate timeline)

Without further ado... Let's get to it!!

[R-M Chapter 1: The Relaunch]

Dialog guide:

Narration

*Perfoming an action*

"Thinking"

Pomni

•Caine•

°○Bubble○°

◆Ragatha◆

Jax

~Gangle~

Kinger

Zooble

Flinally!! After what felt like forever!!! With help from the others, Pomni and Caine found something groundbreaking!! The Games source code! Mostly, everyone was there to look for the exit, but they ended up finding something else...

*sigh* There's nothing here... can we go back now??

Yeah, honestly, this was a complete waste of time...

◆Come on now, guys! I'm sure they know what they're doing!◆

~Wait, look! They're back out!!~

*Pomni and Caine exit a jumble of One's and Zero's*

It's not much, but I think we found something!! But... I'm just not sure what it is... *She hands a small glitching object to Caine*

•Huh... It's... it's a developer's note! I haven't come across one of these in a while!•

Wait, what!?

Oh dang, that's right, it forgot this was even a video game-

~What's it say??~

*Silence fell as Caine read the text out loud*

•Let's see... "With the noticeable decrease in 'Bugged characters', the game should be ready for relaunch soon!" Oh...•

What... does "Oh" mean..?

•...huh? Oh yes! Uh, you all know how we have a designated place for Abstractions so that they don't destroy the place... and you?? How you have helped prevent some altogether?•

Yes..?

•Well I only implemented it after people stopped working on this game. They still think the game is okay to publish!!•

And? This is great news!! People play the game, realize we are stuck in here, and then we get help!! What are you yapping about??

•That's the thing- If more people, who for one are mostly children, come across this, they won't be able to help, and if worse come to worse, get trapped with us!•

◆oh... oh my, that does sound awful...◆

•Normally I'd be ecstatic, but I don't think it would be good if that many more people got trapped at once... let alone kids...•

Gee, missing kids in a video game. How tragic...

~Hey!~

•Wait, there's something else on here to- a "debugging code??"•

Did someone say something about Bugs??

•No, far from it... hey... this is a copy of the code for my "Ringmaster powers!" Interesting...•

Really? That's what you call em??

•Why yes!! What else could they be?? Anyways... now what do we do about this approaching situation of ours...•

Well, we're not just gonna have a ton more people in here being watched by one incompetent AI!

•... You're absolutely right, Pomni dear! Your little remark had given me an idea that might just work! Now... just how does one copy this...•

To be continued...

[Yippee, finally!! Part 1 done!!]

The second part is right here! (As well as the link to Caine and Pomnis blogs!):

[fromkenari]

A mass of fools and knaves

The full email exchange between Alex Claremont Diaz and Prince Henry Fox Mountchristen Windsor from Chapter Nine of Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Put here for my best friend to read.

A mass of fools and knaves A agcd@eclare45.com                8/10/20 1:04 AM to Henry H, Have you ever read any of Alexander Hamilton’s letters to John Laurens? What am I saying? Of course you haven’t. You’d probably be disinherited for revolutionary sympathies. Well, since I got the boot from the campaign, there is literally nothing for me to do but watch cable news (diligently chipping away at my brain cells by the day) and sort through all my old shit from college. Just looking at papers, thinking: Excellent, yes, I’m so glad I stayed up all night writing this for a 98 in the class, only to get summarily fired from the first job I ever had and exiled to my bedroom! Great job, Alex! Is this how you feel in the palace all the time? It fucking sucks, man. So anyway, I’m going through my college stuff, and I find this analysis I did of Hamilton’s wartime correspondence, and hear me out: I think Hamilton could have been bi. His letters to Laurens are almost as romantic as his letters to his wife. Half of them are signed “Yours” or “Affectionately yrs,” and the last one before Laurens died is signed “Yrs for ever.” I can’t figure out why nobody talks about the possibility of a Founding Father being not straight (outside of Chernow’s biography, which is great btw, see attached bibliography). I mean, I know why, but. Anyway, I found this part of a letter he wrote to Laurens, and it made me think of you. And me, I guess: The truth is I am an unlucky honest man, that speak my sentiments to all and with emphasis. I say this to you because you know it and will not charge me with vanity. I hate Congress—I hate the army—I hate the world—I hate myself. The whole is a mass of fools and knaves; I could almost except you … Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some. Affectionately yrs, slowly going insane, Alex, First Son of Founding Father Sacrilege

McQuiston, Casey. Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel (pp. 239-241). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Re: A mass of fools and knaves Henry hwales@kensingtonemail.com                8/10/20 4:18 AM to A Alex, First Son of Masturbatory Historical Readings: The phrase “see attached bibliography” is the single sexiest thing you have ever written to me. Every time you mention your slow decay inside the White House, I can’t help but feel it’s my fault, and I feel absolutely shit about it. I’m sorry. I should have known better than to turn up at a thing like that. I got carried away; I didn’t think. I know how much that job meant to you. I just want to … you know. Extend the option. If you wanted less of me, and more of that��the work, the uncomplicated things—I would understand. Truly. In any event … Believe it or not, I have actually done a bit of reading on Hamilton, for a number of reasons. First, he was a brilliant writer. Second, I knew you were named after him (the pair of you share an alarming number of traits, by the by: passionate determination, never knowing when to shut up, &c &c). And third, some saucy tart once tried to impugn my virtue against an oil painting of him, and in the halls of memory, some things demand context. Are you angling for a revolutionary soldier role-play scenario? I must inform you, any trace of King George III blood I have would curdle in my very veins and render me useless to you. Or are you suggesting you’d rather exchange passionate letters by candlelight? Should I tell you that when we’re apart, your body comes back to me in dreams? That when I sleep, I see you, the dip of your waist, the freckle above your hip, and when I wake up in the morning, it feels like I’ve just been with you, the phantom touch of your hand on the back of my neck fresh and not imagined? That I can feel your skin against mine, and it makes every bone in my body ache? That, for a few moments, I can hold my breath and be back there with you, in a dream, in a thousand rooms, nowhere at all? I think perhaps Hamilton said it better in a letter to Eliza: You engross my thoughts too intirely to allow me to think of any thing else—you not only employ my mind all day; but you intrude upon my sleep. I meet you in every dream—and when I wake I cannot close my eyes again for ruminating on your sweetness. If you did decide to take the option mentioned at the start of this email, I do hope you haven’t read the rest of this rubbish. Regards, Haplessly Romantic Heretic Prince Henry the Utterly Daft

McQuiston, Casey. Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel (pp. 241-243). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Re: A mass of fools and knaves A agcd@eclare45.com                8/10/20 5:36 AM to Henry H, Please don’t be stupid. No part of any of this will ever be uncomplicated. Anyway, you should be a writer. You are a writer. Even after all this, I still always feel like I want to know more of you. Does that sound crazy? I just sit here and wonder, who is this person who knows stuff about Hamilton and writes like this? Where does someone like that even come from? How was I so wrong? It’s weird because I always know things about people, gut feelings that usually lead me in more or less the right direction. I do think I got a gut feeling with you, I just didn’t have what I needed in my head to understand it. But I kind of kept chasing it anyway, like I was just going blindly in a certain direction and hoping for the best. I guess that makes you the North Star? I wanna see you again and soon. I keep reading that one paragraph over and over again. You know which one. I want you back here with me. I want your body and I want the rest of you too. And I want to get the fuck out of this house. Watching June and Nora on TV doing appearances without me is torture. We have this annual thing at my dad’s lake house in Texas. Whole long weekend off the grid. There’s a lake with a pier, and my dad always cooks something fucking amazing. You wanna come? I kind of can’t stop thinking about you all sunburned and pretty sitting out there in the country. It’s the weekend after next. If Shaan can talk to Zahra or somebody about flying you into Austin, we can pick you up from there. Say yes? Yrs, Alex P.S. Allen Ginsberg to Peter Orlovsky—1958: Tho I long for the actual sunlight contact between us I miss you like a home. Shine back honey & think of me.

McQuiston, Casey. Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel (pp. 243-245). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Re: A mass of fools and knaves Henry hwales@kensingtonemail.com                8/10/20 8:22 PM to A Alex, If I’m north, I shudder to think where in God’s name we’re going. I’m ruminating on identity and your question about where a person like me comes from, and as best as I can explain it, here’s a story: Once, there was a young prince who was born in a castle. His mother was a princess scholar, and his father was the most handsome, feared knight in all the land. As a boy, people would bring him everything he could ever dream of wanting. The most beautiful silk clothes, ripe fruit from the orangery. At times, he was so happy, he felt he would never grow tired of being a prince. He came from a long, long line of princes, but never before had there been a prince quite like him: born with his heart on the outside of his body. When he was small, his family would smile and laugh and say he would grow out of it one day. But as he grew, it stayed where it was, red and visible and alive. He didn’t mind it very much, but every day, the family’s fear grew that the people of the kingdom would soon notice and turn their backs on the prince. His grandmother, the queen, lived in a high tower, where she spoke only of the other princes, past and present, who were born whole. Then, the prince’s father, the knight, was struck down in battle. The lance tore open his armor and his body and left him bleeding in the dust. And so, when the queen sent new clothes, armor for the prince to parcel his heart away safe, the prince’s mother did not stop her. For she was afraid, now: afraid of her son’s heart torn open too. So the prince wore it, and for many years, he believed it was right. Until he met the most devastatingly gorgeous peasant boy from a nearby village who said absolutely ghastly things to him that made him feel alive for the first time in years and who turned out to be the most mad sort of sorcerer, one who could conjure up things like gold and vodka shots and apricot tarts out of absolutely nothing, and the prince’s whole life went up in a puff of dazzling purple smoke, and the kingdom said, “I can’t believe we’re all so surprised.” I’m in for the lake house. I must admit, I’m glad you’re getting out of the house. I worry you may burn the thing down. Does this mean I’ll be meeting your father? I miss you. x Henry P.S. This is mortifying and maudlin and, honestly, I hope you forget it as soon as you’ve read it. P.P.S. From Henry James to Hendrik C. Andersen, 1899: May the terrific U.S.A. be meanwhile not a brute to you. I feel in you a confidence, dear Boy–which to show is a joy to me. My hopes and desires and sympathies right heartily and most firmly, go with you. So keep up your heart, and tell me, as it shapes itself, your (inevitably, I imagine, more or less weird) American story. May, at any rate, tutta quella gente be good to you.

McQuiston, Casey. Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel (pp. 245-247). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[taddymason]

Brother

One shot of Kaida and Noah (from @finn-m-corvex)!! This au has possessed my mind and made me really want to write something after reading Finn's amazing one shot. Chronologically this would be a continuation (not relevant, but at least in this one Jay hasn't recovered his memories).

I will publish the next chapter of Lighting Pin soon, these weeks I have been with exams and for some reason the third chapter has been quite heavy to write.

(also sorry for any spelling mistakes, English is not my first language!)

Words: 2.9k

TW: implied child abuse.

Living in the monastery is weird. Kaida feels like an outsider and that sucks.

It's weird because there are times she's too aggressive to let her guard down for a fucking second and stop yelling at any of these people. It's weird because sometimes she allows herself to stop and think about how screwed the Administration was with the rest of the world, that these kids here weren't ordered to kill from a young age or that they've never washed someone else's blood under their fingernails. That there are things that she thought were normal and when she says them out loud she realizes that they were not.

Sometimes she feel like a rabid dog that just wants to bite something and not let go, she feel like if any of them talk to her the first thing they will say will be an insult or something hurtful. She is angry at how things have changed, that her father is no longer hers, that there is no normality to return to because there never was one.

And when Tessa tells her how her father treated her and Noah, that anger doesn't diminish. Not when she knew every word was true.

It was hard to process… that. Especially when her Jay would probably set the world on fire before letting something bad happen to her. When he preferred to stay in the Administration despite all the bad things that happened there, the bad things that they had to do in their job, just so as not to lose her.

They had never talked about it, she didn't even know how he would react if she told him, but she was sure that the reason the Administrator had let him adopt her was solely so that he would stay there. Have two elemental masters nearby. It had worked well she supposed.

After her training, she enters the monastery dining room once she saw that it was partially clear. Only Noah was there, lying on an couch reading a book with complete concentration. She didn't have as much trouble talking to him compared to the others. He was calm in a way the others weren't and he wasn't actively trying to make her angry like Jenna.

"What are you reading?" She asks, raising her voice, a few steps behind the couch where he was.

She had been trying to talk to them more, to build a relationship that wasn't based on her speaking sarcastically to them, to be more empathetic as Jay liked to say. It was an effort, but she felt like she should at least try.

The boy looks up, startled by her presence, smiling friendly in a rather familiar way as he gestures to his book.

“Hey, Kaida! I was working on some ideas for a future project. You want to see?" He says in a kind and jovial voice. It was quite difficult for her to believe how he and Tessa could be so calm, have so much patience with what they had had to suffer. How could they make it look so easy? She supposed it was something that came with having siblings.

Kaida nods somewhat uncertainly, and he holds out the book for her to see, a few scribbles and paragraphs of engineering terminology written on the pages that seemed to be some time old.

She can't help but roll her eyes while huffing. She shouldn't be surprised that half of them were so passionate about inventing. “A mech. You really like these mechanical things, huh?”

Noah raises an eyebrow curiously, not responding to the mockery. “Do you know how to read Ninjargon?” She nodded vaguely with disinterest as she continued searching through the notes for some idea similar to a weapon or a ship. "I had no idea. Although it makes sense I guess…”

She didn't miss the way his tone fell at the end. It was easy to read between the lines. Hoping it wouldn't show, she clears her throat. “Yeah, actually, I have quite a collection of books from here. They are better than any shit from the Administration. Especially the animal ones.”

His face lights up with a smile, he brushes away the blue locks that fell from his forehead as he sits up slightly. "I also like them a lot! What’s your fav-?”

His tone is suddenly cut off when a voice interrupts him from behind them.

“Hey, kiddo.”

Both she and Noah turned their gaze toward the door. Jay enters at a brisk pace while giving her a half smile. She doesn't miss the way Noah tenses next to her at the sound of his voice.

That moves something red and burning in her chest and she pushes it down, remembering Tessa's words. She couldn't blame them.

“Hi, old man.” Kaida waves mockingly, hoping the worried look she gives the boy next to her wasn't obvious. It seemed like he could run away at any moment.

“How was your training?” he asks and she's grateful that in that moment he keeps his distance and doesn't get too close to where they were. She felt stupid for not realizing why sooner, but Noah never liked being in the same room with him for long.

Kaida glances at him carefully, gauging his withdrawn expression before turning to Jay as she takes a few steps forward.

“Well, I still insist that target practice is better.” She jokes, although she actually meant it half seriously. She wasn't used to fighting for so long without using a weapon or her powers, physical strength had never been one of her advantages. The fights had to end quickly in her opinion.

But she had also been able to talk to Tessa more, which ultimately must have been something.

Jay laughs softly while rolling his eyes. “If you want, early tomorrow we can do target practice in the yard.”

She smiles. “Don't you think the green one would be against that idea?”

He frowned half defensively as he snorted arrogantly. “Well, he's not my leader.” And that's when he scans the room, paying attention to the boy on the couch for the first time. Jay's gaze lingered on Noah for a moment, no doubt noticing the boy's rigid posture, the way he had deliberately turned his eyes to his book, how he avoided looking at him or making the slightest sound whenever he spoke.

His brow furrows slightly, and for a few seconds, he opens his mouth as if he wants to say something, struggling with the words with a slurred sound.

However, in the end he just sighs dejectedly and mutters a few words under his breath.

“Let me know if you need anything.” He murmurs, keeping his voice deliberately calm. His hand absentmindedly pats her shoulder as he passes, giving the other teen one last look before he leaves.

She nods firmly, waiting for him to leave the room before turning around and walking over to where the other boy was. He was hunched over, his black hair completely covering his eyes as he read his old book. Although it seemed more like he was glaring at the pages more than reading them.

"Hey." She calls, attracting his attention. Kaida took a deep breath before saying. “You don't have to be afraid of him, you know. He’s not going to hurt you.”

Noah frowns with a small inhale, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he lowers his gaze. His fingers absentmindedly run through the pages of his notebook.

“It's… complicated, Kaida.” He whispers, almost as if he was preparing for her to fight and argue like he had with Tessa. His body was so stiff that he was practically shaking as he crumpled in place. “I don't think you understand. You don’t want to hear about this.”

She didn't really want to hear about it, what Tessa had said had been too much. She might as well have taken that as a sign to continue on her way and mind her own business.

But she didn't want them to continue being afraid of Jay either. Especially when he could definitely tell, and she already knew he was dealing with too much shit right now.

Instead of leaving, she makes a sympathetic face, hesitating for a moment before sitting down in one of the other chairs. Her hands clenching together as she absentmindedly pulled at her cuticles.

“Tessa told me about your timeline.” she murmurs, trying not to make her voice sound as sharp or harsh as she felt. She had noticed that he didn't like it when she and Jay spoke loudly, which was all the time because they were both terrible at speaking softly. Noah's gaze clears with understanding and wonder as he sits up straighter. “I'm sorry about what happened to your parents.”

He seems to bite his tongue and his own voice, running a hand through his hair several times between slow breaths.

“He never tried to be my father.” He says in a heavy voice, slurring his words. His tone is calm, however, there's more resignation than anger than she expected and she didn't know what to do about. “All he did was… make things worse. For me and Tessa. He didn't even care when he hurts us or-“ he cuts himself off as he shook his head in regret. "No, I'm sorry. You don’t want to hear this, kid.”

She frowns, trying to think clearly as she spoke. “If you want to talk about it, I can handle it.” Her eyes dart back in the direction Jay had gone before looking back at him. “Jay is not like that. He wouldn’t hurt you, much less want you to be afraid of him.”

He shakes his head slightly. “I just don't think I'm ready to give him that chance.”

Kaida took a deep breath as she bit her lip nervously. She knew he wasn't winning any awards for emotional talks and she appreciated the infinite patience this boy had in handling her pathetic attempt.

“Look- Noah, I'm telling you this, because I know how you feel.” she explains, the words something bitter that she spits into the air with difficulty. “I know what it's like to be… scared like that.”

He looks at her uneasily, looking her up and down intensely. Looking genuinely confused as he cleared his throat with halting words. "How?"

“It wasn't Jay, if that's what you think.” she assures with a rigid tone. The scars on her eyebrow stung with a burning sensation, the memory of the grip of a gun crossing the air, and she absentmindedly scratches them as she looked away.

She hears him sigh in relief before starting to speak. "But then, what-"

She cuts him off with a sharp sigh, speaking quickly as she waved a hand in the air.

"I, um, I grew up in an orphanage, you know? And it was a military orphanage, so it was double shit." "She explains, clicking her tongue between the pauses in her words. As if she had a mouth full of cotton." "They trained us to be agents. Soldiers." She could hear him swallowing hard, swallowing whatever words he wanted to say, but he doesn't speak. “And the people there didn't treat the children well. We were supposed to be tough and disciplined. They did not tolerate mistakes and they had their… methods to make us obey them.”

Noah looked at her intensely the same way Jay did when she said things like that. When she was a fucking mess who bit the hand of anyone who came near, when her first instinct for any mistake was to run because she didn't know what the punishment would be.

She can imagine what it must be like for Tessa and Noah and it doesn't help her calm the knot of anger that coils in her throat and chest. It was one thing for the stupid Administration guards to give her a scar on her face because of her intelligent mouth, but for their father to do things like that to them? That made her stomach turn.

She makes a sudden gesture with her hand, trying to downplay it, so that it doesn't show how much that look affects her. “I'm just saying, I'm still- I'm still dealing with it. Being distrustful of people. Or- “she takes a breath before continuing. "-being afraid all the time."

Noah purses his lips, his face pale as he rubs his eyes, a tired expression that underlines everything he has endured. “Kaida, I-“

"I just want you to know that Jay helped me with that. It didn't matter if I was practically a burden, or if I was too screwed up not to get upset over the smallest thing-" Noah frowned as if to interrupt her, but she continued. "What I'm trying to say is that you don't have to be afraid of him. He's never laid a hand on me. And I know he wouldn't do it to you either."

He is silent for a moment before speaking. “It's just… it's harder than it looks. It's too much. For me and Tessa. It doesn’t help that he- well, he doesn’t even remember Nya or the others.”

Kaida grimaces, rubbing her hands restlessly. “Yeah, I don't think I'm helping with that.”

Noah frowns immediately as he shakes his head a few times again. "It's not your fault."

“Yeah, but I'm not making it any easier either, right?” she snorts harder than she intended. It takes her a moment to catch her breath again between her teeth. Noah looks at her attentively and not for the first time, she wondered where he got the desire to stay and listen to what she had to say. She wasn't good at this. She clears her throat, eyes closed. “I don't want to pressure you to see him as- you know. Just give him a chance. And, uh-” her tone stumbles stiffly and struggles to keep her words steady and not shake pathetically. “I want you to know that you can talk to me about these things if you want, not just with Tessa. I can deal with it.”

She opens her eyes to see his expression, Noah, to his credit, just blinks in surprise for a few seconds before nodding. Clearly confused as to whatever peace attempt they're forming here, but taking it at least. There is a softness in his gaze that she cannot decipher and she tries to ignore it as she crosses her arms.

"Alright." She hears him say in a stiff voice and she only nodds once.

"Good." Her fingers drum against the arm of the chair several times for a moment before she clicks her tongue sharply. “Anyway, do you know the story about the claustrophobic astronaut?” She asks in complete seriousness, he looks at her blankly as she waits dramatically in silence. She waits just a second before smiling. “He just needed some space.”

If she had known how he was going to laugh at a joke like that, maybe she would have told one of her stupid puns much sooner. His loud laughter only encourages her own, and soon the red acid burning in the pit of his stomach evaporates like a cloud.

Noah interrupts himself in the middle of his laughter with a firm and intense voice.

"Hey, Kaida, you can talk to me too if you need." He wasn't lying. He makes sure to add emphasis to his words as he leans forward. "And you're not a burden. You know that?"

She doesn't really agree with that, but the way he says it sends something warm and safe in her chest and she doesn't have the strength to contradict him. Instead, she nods vaguely with lost eyes.

He gives her a tentative smile and looks back at his book, although he still didn't seem to be reading the pages. Kaida, once she is sure that no one is approaching, takes courage before speaking.

"Do you want to tell me about any of your inventions?" Her hand vaguely points to the notebook.

His gaze practically glowed as he looked at her with a dumbfounded smile. "Really?"

She shrugs, approaches him less cautiously than before. "I'm sure there must be something good about Ninjago's primitive technology, right?"

He laughs again, not even bothering to respond to her mockery, before delving into complex, technical terms about his inventions at full speed. She stays by his side, still a good distance away, but listens to him attentively while he speaks without even stopping to breathe.

Maybe having a brother wasn't so bad after all.

[theviolenttomboy]

Scarlet Koito still is an exchange student from Naranja Academy or it was retconned? I got this from her fist appearance as "helmet", it had stripes, as Naranja Uniform, but in the online version it is solid, like Uva's.

Also looking for the old pages, she already got the solid colour shorts in the pages for the second chapter, so there the retcon already got placed or she changed for the Uva academy uniform?

Ah, hadn't made a chance to make a post about it, but yeah. Good ol' retcons.

Huh, Scarlet was introduced as a transfer student but Naranja was never explicitly named. Later we find out Scarlet faked her transcripts and she admits to someone she didn't have funds to get into Uva (legitimately). She probably never was a Naranja student to begin with.

Either Kusaka changed his mind on a few details or he didn't convey things clearly enough to Yamamoto. Either way, eh, Yamamoto did say on his twitter the online versions aren't the complete ones and everything should be finalized for the published volumes.

[sophiethewitch1]

Small Town Wonders

Chapter Two - My Neighbour Todoroki

–o–

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: Same as last chapter, Bakugou is rudeTM, and slightly odd behaviour because I can’t write nonhumans acting human

“Foxes, or kitsune , are found all across Japan. They are identical to wild foxes found elsewhere in the world apart from their incredible magical powers. Their cute faces and small size make them particularly loved by most people.

Kitsune are extremely intelligent and powerful shape-shifters .”

- Matthew Meyer (A.K.A. Yokai.com) on Kitsune

--o--

Your morning rest is broken by knocking at the front door, and you blink wearily into your pillow. There’s sleep stuck to your eyes, and you’d rather die than greet the neighbour at the door, but you slowly push yourself up anyway. Your phone sits next to you on the floor where it was last night, and you turn it on, checking the time. 8:30 in the morning. Now, any normal sane person with a job would be up by now, but you were not one of those people. 

You see yourself in the mirror, hair mussed and eyes tired, and quickly try to fix at least some of your messy form. You pat your hair down and rub your eyes. It works a little but… definitely not enough…

You hear another knock at your door and curse under your breath, running over to it and pulling it open. There before you stands…

A man with wide green eyes and matching fluffy green hair. He blinks in surprise at the abrupt door opening, but then his face switches to a warm smile that twists the freckles on his cheeks. Behind him are two other guys, one with blond hair and angry red eyes (wow, those contacts sure are a statement), and another with that TikTok half-divided hair you’d seen, one side red and one side white. His eyes are the same in their mismatchedness, one gray and one blue, the blue one having a red scar surrounding it.

...Well, they’re certainly unique…

“Uh, can I help you?” you ask, eyes drifting back to the green-haired man at the front. 

“Uh- haha, we were wondering if you were the new owner of this house? We’re your neighbours?” The guy says, his smile is a little shy. He scratches his neck with one incredibly scarred hand, and you match his smile.

“Yeah, it was my family’s. It’s nice to meet you-” your greeting is cut off by the one in the back with blond hair, his eyes narrowing on you.

“Hah?! You’re the old guy’s daughter?” he asks (rather rudely, might you add), and you raise an eyebrow at him. Your smile immediately drops into a frown at his tone, it’s too damn early to deal with rude assholes. And also, did you look that old? Your Mum was well into her fifties by now… Not that she wasn’t beautiful, of course.

“No? I’m his grand daughter, and what does it matter?” you say, and the green-haired boy waves his hands in apology, moving between the stare off you and the blond had going on.

“Um! Please ignore Kacchan, he doesn’t mean it,” the blond scoffs from behind him, “We knew him... when we were kids! Your grandfather was a very important part of our community,” he says, and your heart heaves slightly. You only had a few memories of Grandpa, and it almost seems like these strangers knew him better than you ever did.

It’s… whatever. Too late now anyway. Hey, look at it on the bright side, maybe you’ll find out more about him up here. 

“...That’s lovely to hear,” you lie, smiling kindly at your new neighbours. One returns the smile, the other glares at you like your gum on the bottom of his shoe, and the other just… stares. Your eyes flicker away from the quiet guy’s immediately, mildly perturbed by his staring. 

C’mon, Sophie, new people, you can do this, let’s make some friends!

“I’m Magers Sophie, may I have your names?” you ask, and the rude one immediately scoffs. Apparently not… you roll your eyes in your mind, but in reality, keep a pleasant face.

The green-haired one laughs, an awkward and stunted sound, as he rubs the back of his neck. He turns and whispers something to the blond one, and you raise an eyebrow when his expression grows even worse.

“Yeah, of course! I’m Midoriya Izuku-” he points to himself, and then hikes a thumb over to the rude one, “This is Bakugou Katsuki,” and finally he gestures at the quiet one, “And Todoroki Shoto. It’s lovely to meet you, Miss Magers!”

You nod, before holding a hand out to the entrance of your home, inviting them inside.

“As you know I just moved in, but I can serve you a cup of tea if you’d like?” you ask, leaning against the doorway and watching as Midoriya winces. He opens his mouth to speak (probably going to say they couldn’t… which doesn’t sound that bad…) but instead the quiet one speaks up.

“That’d be nice,” he says, and you’re surprised by the smoothness of his voice. You get it now, if he spoke too much there would be mass-fainting from women all around Japan. 

Plus the guy was really, really attractive. They all were in their own way, but Bakugou could lighten up and Midoriya… Well, he was… kinda plain. You didn’t know he managed it with bright green hair, but he did. Almost a skill at that point…

You move to let the three of them in, and when they pass through Bakugou- well, he gets extremely close to you, his eyes furious. You think he’s trying to intimidate you, but all you feel is flustered… it’s because you were just thinking about how attractive they were… yeah, that’s it. Sometimes you couldn’t tell what was denial and what was the truth. 

But hey, it means you’re such a great liar you can even fool yourself. Woop-woop!

They enter your home, which barely has any boxes inside (it’s because you still haven’t unpacked them from the car) and look around. You notice they only focus on the parts of the house you’ve changed, and realise they must have been here a lot when your Grandpa was alive. ...Fuu, this was gonna be harder than you thought.

You clap your hands twice.

“Alright, you three can settle down here. I’ll go get us some tea and some biscuits,” you say, and turn, leaving to the kitchen.

Once inside, you grab the teapot and run it under the tap, and then put it on top of its heater. You hum to yourself as you go to your box of food supplies, rummaging through it till you find the biscuits. Happy, you set in to wait for the pot to boil, crossing your arms. You're on the opposite side of the house from them, but since the walls are still so thin you think you can hear them talking.

Hm, wonder what they’re chatting about?

-

Midoriya sits on a floor cushion, nervously biting his nails. He hadn’t believed it when Kacchan had told him someone had moved into Master Akiyama’s old home, and when he heard her say that she was his granddaughter, he thought he might pass out. No wonder he hadn’t been able to sleep a wink last night, his instincts had been screaming at him.

Screaming about a bond that shouldn’t exist.

“...She’s his inheritor,” Todoroki says, and Midoriya looks up at his words. He was right, he was absolutely right but-

“No fucking way! There’s absolutely no way that stupid girl is related to Akiyama-sama, she’s so weak- I didn’t even notice her until she nearly fucking ran me over in the garden. It’s impossible-!” Midoriya sighs at Kacchan’s ranting words, shaking his head. He knew this was gonna be his reaction, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

“I don’t think you should be so upset, the universe has given us a second chance-” Todoroki says, and Kacchan slams his hand against the coffee table, clanking the cups that sit atop it, ready for tea.

“Ha!? You think the universe has anything to do with this?” 

“You know, for one of Inari’s chosen, you sure are quite unfaithful.”

“The hell did you just say?!”

Midoriya rolls his eyes, once again listening to this silly argument between Todoroki and Bakugou. They’d been this way ever since their thirteen year, when the ceremony chose Bakugou… and not Todoroki. Midoriya often thought it was silly that Todoroki even felt jealous about it, seeing as how he was still most likely stronger than Bakugou. Not that he’d ever say that aloud, he didn’t want to be burnt alive.

Midoriya blinks, his eyes darting to his right. He curses under his breath and announces to the other two-

“She’s coming back,” to which they both go quiet, eyes flicking to the exit where the kitchen leads to. Both of them usually would have heard her, but seeing as they were in these forms, they hadn’t. Midoriya’s hearing was better than them in both forms, but even still his hearing was a little muted. It was a weakness being like this, but it’s not like they could show up… well, like that.

You walk back into the room, a bright smile on your face. Midoriya once again finds himself admiring how beautiful you are, your bright eyes and dazzling smile momentarily stunning him. He knows it’s partially the effects of the bond, but as it hasn’t been activated properly yet… well some of it was that you were just generally gorgeous.

“Sorry for keeping you, it’s all a bit chaotic at the moment,” you say, placing the tea down as well as some plain biscuits. Midoriya’s nose perks up at the smell, gingerbread cookies, he thinks they might be. Did you prefer more western-style desserts? He’d have to keep that in mind… Ah, he’s already thinking like you're his Master.

His cheeks heat up a little, and he ducks his head away from your view.

“The tea is very nice,” Todoroki says, his voice soft. You smile again, but this time with pride in your eyes. Todorokie smiles in return, and Midoriya feels his eyebrows raise. He hadn’t seen that in a while...

“Thank you, it’s been one of my habits growing up, brewing my own tea and stuff,” you say, taking a sip from your cup and humming in delight. Midoriya decides to take a sip as well, and lets out a small gasp of surprise when he does.

“Wow, that is pretty good,” he says, and you chuckle. 

“You’re both too kind - you guys must have way better tea down here. I noticed there was a spa-house that advertised tea-rooms?” you ask, evidently curious.

“Ah-! Yes, I actually work there at the moment!” Midoriya says, rubbing the back of his neck again. Your eyes shine in interest, and it’s obvious that you really, really like your tea. 

He hears Bakugou scoff, and Todoroki’s smile disappears. Jeez… they really didn’t need to start getting competitive already, you weren’t their anything yet, and that was important to remember. But it was silly to argue with instincts, especially ones to do with the soul.

“Huh, you guys have quite a lot of traditional stuff here. There’s a shrine near town too, right?” you say, muttering to yourself. Izuku nods, thinking of the shrine that he and the other residents of the town often visited. He also thinks of the grumpy owner of the shrine, the man’s dry eyes glaring him down. 

“Ah… yes, the man that owns the place is a father of a little girl and his son is one of my close friends!” Midoriya says, thinking of Aizawa-san, Eri and Shinsou. He hadn’t been down there in ages, these days he was so busy with his work on the mountain…

“Oh? Is the girl by chance called Eri?” you ask, and Midoriya blinks, surprised.

“Yes, how did you know that? Have you met her already?” Midoriya says, and you nod to yourself.

“Yeah, they met yesterday,” Bakugou responds before you can, and you look over to him. 

“How’d you know that?” you ask, a suspicious look in your eyes. Bakugou rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.

“How do you think I knew you’d moved in? I saw you both, moron,” he says, and you smile at him, choosing not to notice his… particular choice of words. Midoriya is secretly relieved at Bakugou’s ability to lie. Well, it wasn’t really a lie… he had seen you two. Just not in a way one would expect.

...Midoriya is very concerned that you’ll discover something you shouldn’t. He is… pretty sure that Kacchan won’t oust them, but he’s always been a little prickly, especially when it came to superiors. Or those he cared about. Or those he didn’t care about. Hm, he’s just a prickly guy, huh?

“Well,” you turn back to Midoriya, “What’s the father and son’s name? I’ve already met Eri, so…” you continue, making good conversation. You seemed to be quite good at this, but it made sense. Your grandpa could speak for hours on end… Izuku remembers his stories fondly.

“Aizawa Shota and Shinsou Hitoshi,” Midoriya answers. He watches the wheels turn in your head, noticing the son and father don’t share the same last name. He wonders what you think about that.

You go to say something else, but in the distance, beyond your hearing, a bell tolls.

Three. Distinct. Times.

The three of them tense up, and curse themselves. Barely twenty minutes and they were already being tugged back to their responsibilities. And today especially, they didn’t want to leave. Midoriya feigns glancing down at his watch. It was the only reason he wore it these days, to make it look like he had a real reason to immediately disappear. Not that he looked like a sane person with it either.

“Ah- look at the time! We really need to be getting going now…” he says, an awkward smile on his face.

You startle at his words, nodding.

“Oh, yeah. Yes of course- make sure to take some cookies for the road, okay?” you say with a smile, gesturing to the treats. Midoriya thanks you, doing so and quickly ushering the other two out of your home. You watch with mild concern, wondering where they’re off to in such a rush, but only bid them farewell in the end.

Midoriya waves back at you as he heads down the main path, watching Todoroki grab the back of Bakugou’s shirt and tug him back on the dirt-trodden road. He was about to run straight into the forest instead of taking the normal route. Or well, normal for you, for Bakugou running straight into the shrubbery was what he always did.

“What on earth is that old man calling us for now?” Bakugou mutters, shrugging off Todoroki’s touch violently. Always the same awful attitude.

“Probably about the demons up north again, their attacks are becoming daily now,” Todoroki says, his eyes following the northern mountains, a quiet look on his face.

“We need to find a way to stop them fully…” Midoriya says to himself, his mind as always drifting off to strategies and ideas. 

“Don’t start muttering again, Deku . Nobody can understand you like that,” Bakugou snarks, and Midoriya chuckles awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Midoriya turns back for a moment, his green eyes wandering back to your house.

He can already feel it in his gut, the need to protect you.

He turns back forward.

“Let’s get going, don’t wanna make Yagi-san wait,” he says, hurrying the other two forward into the woods, their forms twisting and shifting. One would think it a trick of the light.

If one didn���t know, that is.

[thera-daydreams]

ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ᴏʟᴅ ʟᴀᴅʏ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ

ᗢ jujutsu kaisen x scarletwitch!reader ᗢ

13. madness

Chapter Index & Synopsis

warning: will contain spoilers from the jjk manga and the latest mcu movies/comics/shows (particularly wandavision, loki, spiderman: nwh, as well as content from doctor strange in the multiverse of madness). once again, this will contain heavy spoilers—you have been warned. angst, cussing, cursing, murder, disturbing themes, & swear words will be here, too. trigger warning as well for wanda's depression and suicidal behavior. so... hi, all! it's been what, 6 months? before i say anything more, here's an ultra-mega-super-duper-long-almost-25k-words chapter—practically a whole story in itself—to make up for my long absence and silence here on tumblr. this was weeeeeks in the making and i'm brain fried as i publish this. honestly, i may never edit or beta this because of how ridiculously long it is, lol. anyways, enjoy! 🥰

(word count: 24,958)

(previous chapter)

The rumbling and shaking continued in the darkness the eight jujutsu sorcerers were in, throwing them off balance. Before they knew it, the darkness ripped open into a... well, it looked like they were somewhere in outer space? But there were pillars and pieces of debris floating around, some objects defying the laws of gravity.

Suddenly, a roar resounded from behind them. Their heads snapped to the direction of the sound, where they found... a ribbon-like monster chasing a young girl wearing a denim jacket and... Dr. Strange in a ponytail?

Just like before, when they were watching and then got sucked into the TV (particularly into the last two episodes of WandaVision), everything felt real. Like a 3D—no, a 4D film. Maybe 6D, even. Yet it was only a glimpse into the past, thus they were still physically unaffected by the events despite them being able to feel and experience it realistically with their five senses.

It was different from the holograms they watched with Loki and Dr. Strange with Spiderman—other pivotal events of your universe that didn't include you.

"Strange looks... strange... doesn't he?" Geto blinked, confused as the duo got closer to their point of view. The Ribboned Creature was destroying everything in its path as it attempted to attack weird-looking Strange and the girl with him. The two individuals being chased went through them like they were ghosts, and so did the angry Ribboned Creature.

"And who's the new kid?" Toji raised one fine, curious eyebrow. The others shrugged.

"Dunno, Toji-san," Yuuji replied. "But that ribbon monster seems to want to get her."

"We should probably follow them," Nanami logically suggested as the Ribboned Creature, Strange-with-a-ponytail, and New Girl got farther away in the distance.

The other seven males nodded, running after the monster and the duo it was chasing (albeit, with some difficulty due to the lack of gravity, the floating debris, and the mess of space-time in the Gap Junction). They jumped and ran, momentarily stopping when Ponytail Strange and New Girl stopped.

"Hey, are they speaking Spanish?" Yuuji asked out loud, overhearing the conversation between them. Choso, beside him, had question marks all over his head.

"... What is... Spanish...?" the cursed spirit thought to himself quietly.

"Uh-huh," Megumi muttered to Yuuji, looking back-and-forth warily between the relentless Ribboned Creature and its victims.

"Well, anyone of you know what they're talking about!?" Toji huffed out, crossing his arms. "'Cause I don't."

"Hehe. Sorry. The only Spanish I know are pick-up lines for the ladies!" Gojo nervously laughed, scratching the back of his head. Geto mimicked the exact same action with a guilty look and a grin.

"... Yeaaaaaah, uhhhh, I didn't really listen during second-year Spanish class with Yaga either. Oops," the long-haired male admitted.

Megumi and Yuuji sighed loudly at that. Best friends, indeed. Gojo and Geto were probably slacking off together that time in their highschool days.

Eventually, all heads turned towards the only reliable person in the room (... or space, since they weren't exactly in a room).

A vein popped on Nanami's temple as all eyes slowly turned to him hopefully (Gojo's and Yuuji's eyes were practically sparkling). The blonde exhaled loudly in exasperation as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "You expect me to know Spanish?"

"We knooooow you do, Nanaaaamin," Gojo stated in a sing-song voice.

Another vein popped up on the blonde's temple. "Stop calling me that."

"You know, you were the only one who got perfect marks under Yaga's Spanish class when you were in second year," Geto chuckled, feeling nostalgic for a second. "You were a damn miracle. That man couldn't teach Spanish for his life."

Relenting, he sighed, "... Fine. I'll translate."

Ah, Nanami Kento. Always so reliable and competent. "Thank you, Nanamin!" Yuuji danced around beside him.

Boom!

They watched (while simultaneously continuing to run and follow the duo) as Ponytail Strange's powers glowed an icy blue as he fired shots at the Ribboned Creature.

"Weren't his powers, like, orange...? Or am I colorblind now?" Gojo yelled, beginning to doubt his Six Eyes after everything he's seen about your Multiverse.

"This guy must be like those other versions of Spiderman. Like that Sivan—Syra—the hell was her name again... the other self that Loki smooched..." Toji muttered to himself.

"Sylvie. The blonde female variant of that Loki guy," Megumi finished for him. "You're getting old with all those memory lapses, old man." Toji rolled his eyes at his son, pinching the boy's ear as they ran.

"So this Ponytail Strange is a variant of the Dr. Strange we've seen before?" Yuuji tilted his head in question.

"Probably," Geto and Gojo chorused.

"What are they saying now?" Choso curiously asked as Ponytail Strange and New Girl conversed in rapid-fire Spanish. Ponytail Strange pointed at something far ahead.

"He's saying that it's that book that will kill the monster," Kento translated from Spanish to Japanese for the other men. Multilingual King.

"Book?" the others questioned.

"The Book of Vishanti!" New Girl shouted, as if answering the spectators watching them, when she recognized the mystical item from afar.

"Jump!" Ponytail Strange shouted as they encountered a gap in the floating concrete. With that, the eight jujutsu sorcerers also jumped high, too, roughly landing on the sloped piece of floating concrete. "Hold on!" Ponytail Strange told his female companion.

"Shit, this feels like a fight but we're not technically a part of it?" Geto muttered to himself as he slid and landed on solid ground. Ponytail Strange and New Girl did the same, too. Unfortunately, seconds after, the Ribboned Creature caught up to them, roaring in anger as it pierced the new Strange's thigh with its sharpened ribbons. Ponytail Strange was able to encapsulate it and restrict it with some concrete and magic, yet only for mere moments as his injury spread further through his leg.

"Sheesh. That looks nasty," Gojo cringed, taking a glimpse of the Sorcerer Supreme's wound.

"Real nasty," Yuuji followed with a disgusted face. "Must hurt a lot. Poor guy."

Megumi's eyes were stuck to the Ribboned Creature. "It's gonna get out," he mumbled, a foreboding feeling running through his veins. "They can't win this, can they?"

"... Unlikely," Nanami answered back, not very optimistic. Just as he said that, Ponytail Strange yelped out. His wound was getting infected by dark magic.

"It's too strong! I can't hold it!" Strange yelled, shaking as he attempted to keep the monster in the magical circular cage he made. All of them gazed in horror as the monster began breaking its way out.

As he came to this realization, Sorcerer Supreme Strange slowly turned to the new girl—whose name was America Chavez. The gazes of the eight jujutsu sorcerers watching them skimmed over to America, too.

"What's this dude planning?" Toji raised a brow.

"... I don't think it's gonna be anything good," Choso's lips pursed. Indeed, the Cursed Spirit was right.

"I'm so sorry," Sorcerer Supreme Strange began, hesitant. "But this is the only way." With that, the man began extracting the young girl's power for himself. The jujutsu sorcerers were surprised.

"Oh no, why... why would he..." Yuuji felt sympathetic for the girl. She looked to be just around his age. Maybe even younger. Megumi felt the same, too.

"Wh—What are you doing!?" America shrieked as she was lifted up into the air. Slowly, her powers were siphoned out of her.

"I can't let that thing take your power. You can't control it," Stephen told her, trembling as he took the girl's abilities while simultaneously holding the monster back. "But I can."

"But we're friends!" America cried out. "You're killing me!"

"I know." Stephen shut his eyes tight. "But in the grand calculus of the Multiverse, your sacrifice is worth more than your—"

Stab!

One of the creature's ribbons went through Ponytail Strange's heart.

"Damn," Toji commented, arms crossed. "I guess he kind of deserves that, though?"

Ponytail Strange fell to the ground, almosr lifeless. America, now free, set her eyes on the Book of Vishanti. She quickly ran towards it, hopping over multiple pieces of floating debris to get to her destination. Behind her, the jujutsu sorcerers followed. Right before she could obtain it, however, the Ribboned Creature got a hold of her four limbs. The jujutsu sorcerers stopped in their tracks.

"Crap," Yuuji's eyes looked frantically around them. "Is there really nothing we can do to help her!?" Beside him, Megumi was thinking the same, but didn't let his nervousness surface visibly to his face.

Nanami shook his head, "... Unfortunately, no. Like everything we've witnessed, this is the past, remember?"

"It's already happened and we can do nothing to stop it," Geto added. Before he could say anything else, the creature roared, scaring America. Out of instinct, her powers activated. Eyes glowing bright blue, a star-shaped portal appeared around her, acting like a vaccuum—sucking everything around them into it. With his dying breath and remaining magic, Ponytail Strange sent out four spinning blasts to cut away America's restrictions. America (and the monster) were thrown into the portal. Ponytail Strange was sucked into it, too.

And as much as they hated it and tried to avoid it, the jujutsu sorcerers watching were thrown into the portal as well—spinning and spinning as they fell.

"Oh shiiiiiiii—" Gojo shouted, voice echoing through the portal.

Before they knew it, they all awoke on the floor of... a bedroom in the New York Sanctum? And they were in a pile on the ground, too (with Toji, unfortunately, on the very bottom with Gojo being on the top, squishing everyone else in-between).

A tick mark appeared on Toji's jaw at the weight on his back, "Get. Off. Now." The men scrambled to their feet. Then they heard wheezing and huffing from the bed in the room. Their eyes widened.

"Whoa. That's the Strange we know... right?" Megumi pointed out. His eye then twitched as he turned away. "He sleeps naked?"

"Who doesn't?" Gojo, Geto, and Toji chorused.

"... I did not need those images in my head," Nanami rubbed his temples, disgusted at the visuals involuntarily implanted into his brain.

"Perhaps he just does not sleep with a shirt on," Choso offered, head tilted. "But were we... watching his dream?"

"Uh-huh, looks like it," Yuuji deduced. He then whistled. "You know, I never realized Dr. Strange was that fit and built." The pink-haired boy glanced at his teacher. "He could give you a run for your money with those biceps, Gojo-sensei."

The Strongest looked offended. "I look much better than this guy, excuse you!"

"Heh. Dunno, Satoru. With those grey streaks in his hair and that awesome beard? Kinda gives me silver fox vibes," Suguru teased his best friend.

"Have you seen my hair!? It's all practically white—" Gojo protested, running his hands through his hair wildly. "I am the epitome of a silver fox!"

"Nah, without a good beard, you're not," Toji scoffed in the corner. Suddenly, a mouth popped out on Yuuji's cheek as they all watched Strange grab his broken watch and get dressed for a wedding.

"Where the hell is Granny." It was a statement, not a question from the King of Curses.

"Dunno. We haven't really seen mom since... that scene of her in her isolated cabin in the woods..." Yuuji frowned. "I wonder how she's doing here in her past. And in the real world. I've almost forgotten what she was doing since we last saw her in our world."

"Getting groceries," his older brother reminded him.

"In the middle of an incoming snowstorm," Kento sighed out heavily.

It was silent as they waited for Strange do to whatever he needed to do. The Master of the Mystic Arts walked for a few blocks, constantly fidgeting with his cufflinks. It was only when they were inside the chapel, familiar names scrawled on a fancy calligraphy canvas outside the large wooden doors of the entrance, that they realized what exactly Strange was there for.

"Oh my god, is he attending his ex-girlfriend's wedding!?" Gojo exclaimed dramatically.

"Well, this ought to be a sight," the Zenin clan deserter snorted. "What was that woman's name again?"

"Christine...?" Megumi answered his dad, unsure. "Forgot her last name though."

"Oof, this is gonna be awkward," Geto cringed beside his best friend. "Brilliant neurosurgeon and awesome superhero but doesn't get a love life."

"He did have to make sacrifices for his... lifestyle," Nanami quietly commented. Of course, as a jujutsu sorcerer, he could relate. At the blonde's remark, everyone else—at least, the adults of the group—sobered. The life of a jujutsu sorcerer was not forgiving. Time would be spent either fighting, recovering, teaching, exorcising, and the like. Romance? You were lucky if you had a partner that knew, believed, and accepted the life of having a jujutsu sorcerer as their lover. You were even luckier if you were able to sustain a long-term relationship, get married, have kids, and grow old.

Normally, that was not in the books of being a jujutsu sorcerer. Death rates and chances of injury were always high. It was always a gamble as you could die at any moment.

They watched the entire wedding silently.

ᗢ▪︎ᗢ

"Look. Truly, I'm just glad that you're happy," Stephen finished, congratulating Christine on her wedding day.

"I am. I really, really am," Christine brightly smiled at him, looking angelic in her simple yet classic, white wedding dress.

"Good," Stepehen nodded, doing his best to hold back his own tears. Right person, wrong time, indeed. Perhaps in another life... in another universe, it would have worked out between them.

"Are you?" Christine asked.

"I'm happy."

"Good. You deserve it."

With that, Christine left Stephen to his own devices.

"... What a load of bullshit." It was Toji who spoke and it was the first time any of them spoke since the wedding proper an hour earlier. His arms were, again, folded against his chest.

"Tell me about it," Geto snorted. "Clearly, he is not happy."

"He's heartbroken as hell. Anyone can see that," Gojo snickered.

Before more jabs at the ex-neurosurgeon could be made, screams and crashes were suddenly heard from outside the building they were in. Strange, plus the jujutsu sorcerers, ran out to the open balcony on... whatever floor they were... to see cars and street poles being thrown everywhere by... whatever invisible threat there was.

"Finally, some action," Sukuna popped up on Yuuji's cheek once more as Strange flew down. The rest of them jumped down the building, too. Thankfully, despite not having their cursed energy, they landed without a hitch.

"Yo... isn't that the girl from Strange's dream earlier?" Yuuji pointed out as Strange used a spell to make the invisible monster... well, visible.

"It was invisible to the naked eye...?" Choso thought out loud. "A cursed spirit?"

"Perhaps," Nanami observed. It was a huge, slimy, tentacled monster bigger than any cursed spirit he's ever encountered, though (well, maybe except for that one giant cursed spirit Aoi Todo fought during the Night Parade of Demons). It had one big eye, too, scanning its surroundings for its target. The girl.

America Chavez.

Strange—and Wong, later on—finished off the monster by stabbing out its single, huge eyeball from on top of one of New York's buildings.

"Giant monsters, I can clearly handle," Strange stared at Chavez closely. "But what bothers me is that last night, you were in my dream."

"That... wasn't a dream," America explained. "It was another universe."

The eight jujutsu sorcerers spectating stilled at her answer. They followed Wong, Strange, and America into a nearby pizza place, wanting to hear more of this girl's explanation.

Stephen huffed, tired of all the questions being directed to him and the lack of answers he was getting. "Now why was that octopus trying to eat you?"

"That thing was trying to kidnap me," America cut in. At their questioning looks, she let out a deep exhale. "It's like a henchman who works for a demon. All we knew is that they wanted to take my power for themselves."

"What power?" Strange's brows furrowed.

America paused, "I can... travel the Multiverse."

"Prove it," Strange challenged.

"That's neat," Geto nodded to himself. All of a sudden, the scene shifted to all of them being on a rooftop. America, Wong, and Strange knelt down, with America uncovering a dead body.

Strange's dead body. Or at least, the variant of him who was Sorcerer Supreme and had a ponytail. The one who died before their very eyes.

"It wasn't a dream," Wong breathed out in shock at seeing the decaying corpse. "That means..."

"Dreams are windows into the lives of our multiversal selves," Strange concluded, wide-eyed.

"Holy shit," Gojo blinked at the declaration. "Does that... apply to our universe, too?"

"... Maybe. Probably?" Geto's eyes were wide, as well. "But that's... it's outrageous. Crazy."

"That was his theory," America gestured to the dead Ponytail Strange.

"So that recurring nightmare where I'm running naked from a clown..." Wong trailed off.

America shrugged, "Somewhere out there, it's real."

"That's sick," Yuuji gaped, both awed and terrified. "I had a dream I got married to Jennifer Lawrence on a beach a few years ago. Megan Thee Stallion was the Maid of Honor! That's true in another universe?" He ran a hand down his face. "Man, that me is living the life, sheesh!"

The rest of them were speechless.

"There could be more creatures coming after her," Wong whispered to Strange.

"The power is dangerous enough in the hands of a kid," Strange replied in a hushed tone. "Imagine if a real threat acquired it."

At their words, the young girl with them became nervous, beginning to back away. Noticing this, Wong assured her. "It occurs to me, young one, that we don't know your name."

"... America Chavez," she answered reluctantly.

"Miss Chavez, will you come with us to Kamar-Taj? You'll be safe there," Wong formally offered as the reigning Sorcerer Supreme.

The jujutsu sorcerers watched as Strange buried the dead Strange with a ponytail... under a bunch of rocks and bricks on the rooftop apartment.

"Won't that, like, smell?" Megumi's face was contorted in disgust.

"Or attract some cursed spirits or something...?" Yuuji scratched his head. "But then again, they don't have cursed spirits in their world..."

"They have terrifying monsters which could be considered as curses, though," Toji remarked. "A ribboned monster? An octopus with one giant eyeball? Hm."

"The creature that killed him," Wong asked, referring to Strange's alternate self. "Did it have the same markings as the octopus?"

"Runes," Stephen stated. At the familiar term, the jujutsu sorcerers' ears perked up.

"Like what Mom and Agatha used?" Yuuji clarified to the other older men, who all nodded.

At Strange's reply, Wong exhaled. "This isn't sorcery."

Stephen's eyes widened slightly in realization. "It's witchcraft."

"Do we know anyone who's faced such a thing?" Wong inquired to his friend.

Stephen paused. One familiar person came to his mind. One he'd fought alongside long ago in the battle against Thanos along with other notable superheroes. "... I think I might."

The jujutsu sorcerers stilled. It was so very faint, but they swore they heard a chime mimicking the theme song of WandaVision in their minds.

Right as Strange finished saying his sentence, they felt the scene before them shift. Suddenly, they saw a familiar-looking woman whose back was turned to them. She was softly humming a song, mixing up ingredients in the metal bowl with a large, wooden spoon.

"Mom...?" Yuuji gasped out first.

You turned around with a smile as you grabbed some baking soda from a nearby cabinet, but did not hear them. You were dressed in a simple outfit—a plain, long-sleeved white top, some faded jeans, and a navy blue cardigan with some flour smudges here and there.

"Y/N..." the older jujutsu sorcerers (ahem, Geto, Gojo, Nanami, Toji, and Choso) breathed out, as if in relief at finally seeing you once more.

"Finally!" Sukuna exclaimed loudly, making Yuuji wince at the volume of his voice. "It's been too damn long!"

You looked you, but...

"She looks a bit different, don't ya think?" Gojo tilted his head, rubbing his chin as he tried to pinpoint what exactly was different.

"Maybe it's the hair color?" Geto pointed out.

"... Happier." It was Nanami who spoke out loud. All eyes glanced at the ex-salaryman. "She's happier. You can see it in her eyes."

They, again, grew silent as they watched you smoothly glide around the kitchen with experienced movements—similar to how you would in their world. In the bakery-café you owned.

"You're right," Toji hmphed. "I wonder why."

They got their answer in the form of two young boys running into the kitchen and dipping their hands in the chocolate mixture you were stirring.

"Chocolate!" Billy yelled happily.

"Hey! What did I say?" you teasingly scolded.

Tommy pouted, "But we couldn't wait."

You raised a playful brow at your children, "Buuuut, what did I say?" At your reply, your twins rebelliously ate the chocolate mix that they managed to sneak on their fingers. Your eyes widened as you laughed, "Oh?" With a loving pinch of their naughty faces, you ushered your kids to the sink. "Go wash your hands!"

"Aren't those two... dead?" Choso asked out loud, referring to Billy and Tommy.

"Supposedly," Nanami answered him. He looked around closely. "And supposedly, this place is gone. Vision Residence disappeared when the Hex disappeared."

They all blinked.

"You're right, Nanamin!" Yuuji blinked. "Whoa, you're so observant!"

"It's part of my job. And my Cursed Technique," Nanami bluntly replied, adjusting his glasses (just like any cool and badass anime character).

"But he's right... this is the Vision Residence... exactly like it, except for a few extra knick-knacks here and there," Geto murmured, touching the kitchen counter.

The scene before them slowly changed to night time, with the twins dressed in their pajamas and getting into bed. It was an extremely familiar scene, making them feel déjà vu as they watched it.

"A family is forever," you spoke to Billy and Tommy gently. "We could never truly leave each other even if we tried." You stroked their heads.

"Hasn't this happened already?" Yuuji scratched his head in confusion, hearing the dialogue and your conversation with your kids. "Like, in WandaVision? I feel like I've watched this already in the finale."

"Hm," Gojo hummed, his head tilted as he watched you tuck the boys in snugly. "Except that Y/N's in her single mom era here. For some reason."

"Where the hell is that robot?" Sukuna asked, very loudly.

"No idea," Choso answered his fellow curse being.

You sweetly give your children a goodnight kiss on their foreheads, whispering, "Love you." They giggled at the sensation, making you smile. The sorcerers smiled, too, seeing you happy. You were about to say something else when the scene cut abruptly. So abruptly.

ᗢ▪︎ᗢ

Your eyes snapped open, the smile on your face slowly fading as you realized that it was just a dream. Again. The jujutsu sorcerers, too, realized that you had been dreaming. You slowly sat up from your bed, the silence in your new home almost deafening except for the soft chirping of birds outside. In your bedroom, you were alone. Somehow, despite the warm sunlight filtering through the curtains on your windows, the air was chillier. The colors around them seemed a little greyer... duller than it was in that vibrant, joyful dream. You tightened your flannel robe along your torso, adjusting a stray strand of your hair behind your ears.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Oh, you were still alive. And awake. You placed a hand over your beating heart, exhaling.

The jujutsu sorcerers realized that this woman—the lonely woman who woke up from the dream and not the happy mother in that dream—was you. The one they knew. The version that they had watched over the past couple of... hours? Days? Weeks? How long has it been? They didn't know.

"Mom..." Yuuji sadly whispered. "So it wasn't real? Mom was just dreaming about Billy and Tommy?"

"So it seems," Megumi replied, feeling pity for you (for what probably felt like the hundredth time). You didn't deserve this pain at all. "It's never gotten easier for Y/N-san, huh?"

Now, they were transported to a lovely apple orchard, with countless, fragrant trees spaced out almost evenly. Not so far away was the new humble home you'd made for yourself after self-isolating, with a dozen or so sheep running past the jujutsu sorcerers.

"Sheep...?" Gojo blinked, seeing you quietly herd them away to some wooden fences. "Neat... I guess? Didn't think she'd be the type who's into sheperding."

"She's taken up gardening, too. So this is where it began," Toji observed as you diligently snipped away at some overgrown tree branches. He and the others were aware that gardening was one of your hobbies (and why Charmed Coffee & Confectionaries had such a gorgeous display of healthy plants all over the area and outside the shop—heck, the mini-garden you had on the rooftop of your building was a tourist spot itself; Geto could recall Mimiko and Nanako taking a lot of selfies there during that time they first came looking for him after you saved him).

"Apples?" You—and the jujutsu sorcerers—turned around at hearing Strange's voice. Hands in his tailored trouser pockets and a friendly smile on his handsome face, he almost looked like he was about to ask you for a date at the park in this very place.

"... Eventually," you replied, straightening yourself. The jujutsu sorcerers watched as you handed him the small branch you'd snipped off. He sniffed it, nodding and impressed.

"It smells—" He began, only for you to subtly cut in.

"Sweet?"

"I was gonna say real," Stephen chuckled. Your lips curved at his remark as you took the branch from him and tossed it away to the pile of branches on a picket box on the grass.

"Oh, it's all very real. Thanks." Then your smile disappeared, replaced by a sad and remorseful look. "I knew sooner or later you'd show up, wanting to talk about..." You paused. "Westview." It was a word you hadn't said in so long. The spectators also felt like it's been forever since then after they'd seen the other things that happened in your universe—Loki, Spiderman, and more. You breathed out deeply, pocketing your hands in your jacket. "I made mistakes. And people were hurt—"

"But you put things right in the end, and that was never in doubt," he assured. "I'm not here to talk about Westview," Strange informed you. This alarmed some of the jujutsu sorcerers.

"Hey. Wait, wait. Hold up." Geto crossed his arms, glowering at the Master of the Mystic Arts. "You mean to tell me this guy knew about Y/N and what happened to Westview? And didn't bother to show up or do anything about it? Like, help her? Against that nosy Salem witch with the crazy get-up?"

"Same thoughts," Gojo huffed. "The nerve of this guy! The audacity!"

"Then what are you here for?" you inquired, appearing confused.

"We need your help," Stephen quickly answered. You gave it a few moments of thought, walking to make your decision. Strange followed behind you, hands pocketed from the air, as well.

"Oh, so now he asks for her help?" Gojo and Geto chorused, rolling their eyes in annoyance with Strange.

"... No one was there for her when she needed them the most," Choso quietly added.

"Yeah," Yuuji frowned in disapproval.

"With what?" you finally responded, strolling along your orchard with Strange beside you.

"What do know about the Multiverse?"

Your eyes slightly widened as you shared to Stephen what you knew, "The Multiverse... Viz had his theories." Ah, finally a mention of your late synthezoid husband. "He believed it was real. And dangerous."

"Well, he was right about both," Strange disclosed. "We found a girl who can somehow travel across it. But she's being pursued."

Your head turned to him seriously, worriedly, "Pursued by who?"

"Some kind of demon. One that covets her power for itself," Strange answered in a grave tone. "We've taken her to Kamar-Taj, and we've got our defenses. But we could use an Avenger."

Avenger. Huh. That was a title you weren't called ever since... what, the Lagos Incident? The fight against Thanos? Both good and bad memories were associated with it. "There are other Avengers," you reminded him, raising a skeptical brow.

"Yeah, but given the choice of the archer with the mohawk and several bug-themed crime fighters..." You chuckled, amused at his joke. "Or, one of the most powerful magic-wielders on the planet, it's an easy call. Come to Kamar-Taj." His eyes gave such a pleading look. Strange then smirked, "We'll get you back on the lunchbox."

"He's using aaaaaall his mystical silver fox charms to sway her, isn't he?" Gojo pouted, like a child stomping his feet because his mother didn't give him candy.

"You forget that he was a very respected genius neurosurgeon who was probably extremely wealthy and, for the record, attractive," Nanami deadpanned, also inwardly irked at the fact that Strange knew about Westview all along. "I get the feel that this perhaps isn't the first time he's persuading a woman to get what he wants from her. He's got an ego that rivals Stark."

"Not gonna lie, used to do that to women, too," Toji commented, making Megumi quietly groan.

However, it was your next remark that made all of them—except Yuuji, who didn't catch on, at first—that made them freeze in their tracks.

"What if you brought America here?"

The jujutsu sorcerers saw that Strange had noticed your words, too. He was almost rendered speechless. But he played along with it, "... Here?"

"Yeah," you shrugged. "I know what's it's like... to be on your own... hunted for abilities you never wanted," you suggested, continuing to stride forward. You really did relate to the girl. The question was...

"How does she know so much about... America?" Megumi's eyes were wide. The rest of the guys had the same expression. Their hearts pumped blood faster through their bodies, adrenaline rushing in their veins.

They couldn't believe it. No. It wasn't possible.

"She could have just read his mind... right?" Gojo murmured, refusing to believe it. "... Right?"

"But she said she put the magic behind her already," Nanami cut in, hazel eyes narrowing at you as you didn't face them or Strange. He continued to reason out, "And I'm pretty sure the Master of the Mystic Arts wouldn't appreciate anyone prodding around his mind and reading it. It's likely he has defenses for that in place."

Toji, Geto, Choso, and Sukuna (the only deranged one who was getting excited about the whole ordeal) chose to be silent, just watching.

"What? Huh? What's happening?" Yuuji's gaze frantically moved from person to person. He didn't understand. But the rest of the jujutsu sorcerers had no words to say as they stared at the scene unfolding before them. "What's wrong?"

Strange stopped walking.

"I can protect her," you promised, only to notice that Strange was no longer beside you and that he had the most disappointed and regretful expression on his face.

Ah, you realized.

You made a slip of the tongue. Oh well. At least you tried. It would've been too easy if Strange was just able to hand you America right then and there. The predator got too excited there, losing the chance to seize their prey in a one-shot kill. Now, the thrilling chase was just starting.

"... You never told me her name, did y—"

"—No."

"Mm."

His voice was far colder now, and he answered instantaneously. Harshly. "No, I didn't." He was about to leave, only for you to speak again, back turned towards him (and the viewers). Antsy and nervous, the jujutsu sorcerers waited for what was going to happen next.

There was an ominous feeling in their gut, something they usually felt when they were dealing with extremely difficult cursed spirits or powerful enemies. The fact that you were the reason why they were feeling like this was... unnerving.

They didn't realize that unintentionally, they were holding their breaths.

"You know, the Hex was the easy part," you divulged quietly, slowly lifting your right hand from your pocket. "The lying... not so much."

With a small wave of your hand, the peaceful illusion of the apple orchard dissolved as the reddish-black fog of your Chaos Magic seeped through your fingertips once more, revealing a desolate wasteland with lifeless trees and scarlet skies. No traces of life were present—not one sheep, not one bird, not even a single ant was alive. In just a blink of an eye, everything down to the molecular level had been altered.

Then, Stephen Strange and the jujutsu sorcerers turned around to see you. Their gaze moved from head to toe, your once-regal and superhero-like Scarlet Witch robes visibly darkened—now a gradient alternating from black to red—and corroded... corrupted, glass-like cracks on the tight bodice originating from where your heart was located, like a metaphor for all the heartbreak you'd been through in this lifetime. Your tiara, too, looked different from the last time they saw it—its two tips pointier and its composition much more hollow. Your half-arm gloves from before had turned into full-on, darkened sleeves which extended to your fingers, which they noted had been stained an inky black. Just like Agatha's before.

The Darkhold floating beside you explained everything.

Even the way you physically appeared had changed. Your hair was longer than when they last saw you, your eyes and cheekbones sharper, lips and lids painted darker, and even the way you held yourself in poise and manner oozed confidence.

You looked downright evil, yet also hypnotizingly and irresistibly a hundred times more attractive.

"Oh, fuck yeah!" Sukuna suddenly cackled, ogling you shamelessly through eyes and a mouth on Yuuji's cheek. On the other hand, Yuuji had the opposite reaction, his face the epitome of horrified and betrayed.

"N-No... it can't be," the pink-haired boy stammered in realization. "Mom's... the demon chasing America? She's the one w-who... killed that other Strange?"

"Yuuji," Nanami placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "... Don't... overthink it. Remember, this already happened in the past." However, the blonde was unable to take his gaze off of you. Like the others, his eyes were trained on you. Even he couldn't believe what was happening.

"The Darkhold," Strange's eyes widened at seeing the book.

"You're familiar with the Darkhold?" you asked curiously.

"I know it's the Book of the Damned," Strange coldly replied. "And that it corrupts everything and everyone that it touches." He gestured with his head to your surroundings. Your territory and domain. "I wonder what it's done to you."

"The Darkhold only showed me the truth," you countered as if nothing was wrong. "Everything that I lost can be mine again." You sounded like you truly believed what you were saying.

"What do you want with America?" Stephen's brows furrowed. "What do you want with the Multiverse?"

"I'm going to leave this reality... and go to one where I can be with my children," you announced calmly.

"Wanda, your children aren't real!" Strange attempted to convince you but to no avail. "You created them using magic."

"... That was a fucking awesome way to say it," Toji scoffed sarcastically, still stunned at what was occuring. "Like she's gonna change her mind at this point."

You knowingly and coyly smiled at him, intentionally twisting his words, a sly glint in your eye, "That's what every mother does."

Were they frightened or aroused hearing and seeing you act like such an enchantress? They had no idea.

"By magic, does she mean that episode in WandaVision with the bed and her and Vision having s—" Gojo began, only to be interrupted by his best friend.

"Yes. Yes, she does, Satoru," Geto sighed out. But he wouldn't lie, he could see himself in this darker side of you. It was jarring him. The déjà vu was real.

You clasped your hands together, beginning to circle Strange, "If you knew there was a universe where you were happy, wouldn't you want to go there?" You stared up at him, almost tempting him. But Strange was a man of steel will.

"I am happy," he said, making you raise a fine brow in bemusement. Strange was a man of steel will, but like in Toji's words, he often said a load of bullshit. Obvious lies, duh.

"I know better than most what self-deception looks like," you hummed playfully, aware that he was lying to not only you, but himself. The way you were looking at him had Strange sweating and nervous (so were the jujutsu sorcerers who had a big fat crush on you).

"... Honestly, I would've folded if she looked at me like that," Satoru tilted his head towards you as he addressed his fellow sorcerers. "And I'd instantly marry her. We'd be a hot couple, eh?"

"No thanks," the others replied, instantly shutting him down. Yuuji was a bit kinder, though, but still savage.

"I really admire you, sensei, but I don't want you to be my stepdad," the pink-haired boy awkwardly grinned out, scratching his head.

"I'd be the awesomest stepdad, excuse you!" Gojo cried out, only for Strange to speak again.

"Wanda, what you're doing is a flagrant violation of every natural law and if you take that child's power, she won't survive!" Strange nearly shouted to you in anger.

Instantly, the smile on your face vanished. "I don't relish hurting anyone, Stephen." Then suddenly, you shrugged. "But she's not a child!" you scoffed without a care in the world, both eyebrows high on your forehead as you gave your excuses to Strange. "She's a supernatural being! Such raw power could wreak havoc on this and other worlds! Her sacrifice would be for the... better good." You shrugged offhandedly.

Your words made the jujutsu sorcerers somewhat... sick. They realized that they'd heard this conversation before, with Stark and Cap after the Lagos Incident and during the Sokovia Accords dispute all those years ago. And in America's place, it was you, instead.

To Cap, you were a kid.

To Stark, you were a so-called weapon of mass destruction.

Maybe Iron Man had a point. Not a hundred percent on the dot and definitely not in how he chose to go about it—confining you and putting you in solitary internment—but he knew what you were capable of.

You were dangerous.

And he was absolutely right.

"Well, you can kiss the lunchbox goodbye because that's exactly the kind of justification our enemies use!" Strange argued, making you inwardly snort. Intimidatingly, you stepped closer to him, staring him straight in the eye—daring him to make the first move.

"Is it the one that you used? When you gave Thanos the Time Stone?" you calmly yet bitterly challenged back at his remark. You knew that he knew what he did to you. What he did to Vision. The memory was painfully fresh in your mind, Thanos ripping out the Mind Stone from the head of the person you loved the most after he used the Time Stone to easily reverse your sacrifice.

"Oh shit," Geto muttered, shocked. "Didn't expect that from her."

Clearly, Strange's face showed his guilt, "... That was a war. And I did what I had to do."

You were not convinced by his reasoning. Actually, you were unimpressed. "You break the rules and become the hero," you mocked, knowing about what happened with him and Spiderman, erasing memories and all with the Runes of Kof-Kol he was told not to use. You were merely rubbing salt in the wound; he was oh-so self-righteous wasn't he? "I do it and I become the enemy. That doesn't seem fair."

"Mom's... she's... she's gone psycho," Yuuji whispered, wide-eyed at your attitude and demeanor. "But... Dr. Strange did break a hella lot of rules... especially with erasing people's memories of Peter Parker... but Mom..." Yuuji's eyes became downcast. "I never thought she'd say something like that."

The others looked at the boy with pity. After all, he had always seen you as his strong, powerful, yet kind mother. For that image of you to be crushed... it must have definitely hurt a lot.

"What happens now?"

"Return to Kamar-Taj and prepare to hand over America Chavez by sundown. Peacefully," you stated your terms firmly. You then gave him a tiny smile. It didn't give them any reassurance, though. This smile of yours was darkly mischievous and triumphant, not the smile they loved to see. "After that, you will never see me again." You turned to leave, using your magic to store the Darkhold safely away from view, only for Strange to speak again.

"And if we don't?"

You stopped in your tracks, looking back at him one more time. "Then it won't be Wanda who comes for her. It will be the Scarlet Witch." It was not a threat. It was a promise.

"Hohoho, this is getting interesting," Sukuna almost giggled. Giggled. Out of excitement. If the King of Curses was this happy, it was an omen that bad things were to come.

ᗢ▪︎ᗢ

The scene morphed to all of them being in Kamar-Taj, with Wong—the current presiding Sorcerer Supreme—pacing the room quickly as an urgent meeting was held between various master sorcerers.

"The Scarlet Witch..." Wong murmured to himself anxiously, before declaring to the others. "The Scarlet Witch is a being of unfathomable magic. She can rewrite reality as she chooses, and is prophesized to either rule or annihilate the cosmos."

"Wait, what?" Yuuji exclaimed.

"Rule or annihilate, hm?" Sukuna chuckled darkly. "Interesting. Very interesting. More... more! I want to see mo—" Itadori slapped the noisy mouth on his cheek.

"Now is not the freaking time, Sukuna!" he huffed.

"Then what Agatha said before was true," Nanami pointed out, tense. "That her power exceeds the Sorcerer Supreme and that—"

"—It's her destiny to destroy the world," Toji finished grimly. "Well, goddamn."

"Suspend all teaching at once!" Wong ordered. "Kamar-Taj must now become a fortress!"

The jujutsu sorcerers then watched in surprise as the entirety of the temple and its dozens of residents swiftly prepared for battle, gathering weapons and artillery, even summoning the masters from the other two sanctums of the world: Hong Kong and London.

"... That's... an entire army," Megumi spoke out, breathless.

"Isn't an army of fifty or more wizards, like, too much for one person?" Choso wondered, scratching his head. "Overkill, that's the word, right?"

"We've seen what she did to Hayward's soldiers before," Toji reminded the other man. His green eyes narrowed, though. "But they are sorcerers, too, so we could give 'em some credit, at least. Maybe Strange can talk his way outta this and Y/N will agree. Maybe. And that Chavez girl will be fine."

Gojo rubbed his face with his hand tiredly, "God, you know what? This is reminding me of that time when your smartass declared war on all of us, trying to get Yuuta for Rika." The silver-haired sorcerer glared at his best friend, who only scowled at the memory of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. Geto didn't verbally reply, inwardly still trying to... not be so hateful of... monkeys... damn, he really should stop calling non-sorcerers monkeys.

When all preparations and precautions had been made, the small army of Eldritch magic sorcerers the stood guard on Kamar-Taj. No space was left unprotected outside. The jujutsu sorcerers were also waiting for your appearance.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock!

Exactly at sunset, just as you had vowed, dark, billowing clouds appeared from the distance, slowly engulfing the entirety of Kamar-Taj and hushing the surroundings into silence. It was as if the sun had been dimmed and the area had been separated from the rest of the world. It was eerily silent, yet it felt like they were hearing ghostly whispers around them, too.

Yuuji shivered, even in his hoodie. "This is... kinda creepy."

"Reminds me of Coppola's film when Dracula signaled his arrival to London in a ship," Nanami murmured, eyes scanning the clouds to check for any sign of you. The others were doing the same, too.

"You mean the one with Winona Ryder? You always did like her in highschool, you emo," Gojo turned to him, momentarily distracted by his remark. Nanami only quietly sighed, mentally calming himself down and choosing to ignore the older man.

Suddenly, a red light appeared from the foggy clouds, making way to show you floating. Waiting. But surely you didn't think they'd so easily hand over America, right?

"Choose you words wisely," Wong whispered to Strange. "The fate of the Multiverse might depend on it."

Strange, beside him, felt like his shoulders became a ton heavier. "Right." He nodded. "But no pressure, right?" Wong only gave a nod.

As Stephen used the Cloak of Levitation to move towards you, the jujutsu sorcerers felt a pull to him, too. Soon enough, they found themselves floating nearby you and Strange in the sky, too. For Gojo, it wasn't weird since it felt similar to when he used his Infinity. For the others? It was startling to be in the air.

"Bruh, I'm flying?" Yuuji was in awe, then he grew solemn again, seeing your serious face. "This would've been fun if Mom was... Mom."

"All this for a child you met yesterday?" you thundered, glaring at Stephen.

"Wanda, you are justifiably angry," Strange began, trying to calm you. "You had to make terrible sacrifices—"

"I blew a hole through the head of the man I loved," you sharply interrupted, a hint of your past pains showing through. Your tone nearly made the jujutsu sorcerers wince as the image of your crying visage destroying the Mind Stone reappeared in their heads. "And it meant... nothing. Do not speak to me of sacrifice, Stephen Strange," you criticized spitefully. Then, your gaze grew softer as you moved towards Strange, leaning... closer, closer, and closer, until you both were face-to-face like that time in the apple orchard.

It was a fuming Satoru who immediately made a childish comment. "Are they gonna kiss or something? Why's she standing—er, floating so close to him!?"

"Shhh," Geto elbowed him. "Just listen, Satoru." But even the long-haired man (and a few others) was a teeny bit envious of how comfortable you seemed being so close to the Master of the Mystic Arts. That tiny green monster of jealousy in them grew even more when your gaze at Strange became tempting. Seductive, almost. Just like how Agatha had attempted to entice you to voluntarily surrender to her your powers back in Westview.

"If you give me the girl," you purred to Strange much like a beguiling siren would. The man visibly became much more still as he retained his composure. Whatever the Darkhold had done to you, your entire being and behavior were the epitome of alluring and captivating. Right before their very eyes, you were literally bewitching a man (... or six men, specifically, whose Adam's apples were bobbing as they swallowed at the sight of you). "I'll send you to a world where you can be with Christine," you offered, knowing exactly which buttons to press.

"... She's giving iconic Disney villains a run for their money," Gojo cleared his throat, pulling his collar and trying to cool himself down. "Or better yet, Satan himself, making deals like this and everything."

"Intelligent and beautiful, yet also powerful and manipulative," Geto thought to himself, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to distract himself from the memory of you being so... villainous and obsessed with your motives. The passion you exhibited was quite exhilarating, especially to that side of him who used to want to change the world. Perhaps you two weren't that different, after all. Was he terrified of you? Yes, quite. Was he also attracted? Very much, yes. As strange a combination that was. (Ryomen Sukuna, inside Yuuji, was fully embracing that feeling the five other grown jujutsu sorcerers were silently experiencing).

"... Kinda hot, can't lie," Toji hummed out making Megumi beside him cringe.

"Ew, Dad," the younger Fushiguro almost gagged.

Strange did not falter, though, declaring, "The full might of Kamar-Taj stands against you. Do not dare to enter these sacred grounds!" The jujutsu sorcerers had to give it to Dr. Strange, mentally applauding them for being able to resist you. If it were them in his place... well, that would be another story.

"Defensive positions!" the Sorcerer Supreme had commanded to his army from below.

At his defiant words, your shortened temper flared. "You have no idea just how reasonable I've been," you gritted out, all traces of your enchanting persona gone.

Stephen scoffed, retorting, "Book of the Damned, calling yourself a witch, conjuring up creatures to abduct a kid, I don't exactly call that being reasonable!"

"Sending those creatures after her instead of myself was mercy," you reproached, the glowing red balls of energy keeping you in flight flashing brighter with your aggravation. "And in spite of your... hypocrisies and insults," you condemned him harshly. "I have begged you to safely... Get. Out. Of. My. Way." Strange had a bad feeling about where this was about to go.

He definitely did not choose his words wisely, did he?

Geto was really getting déjà vu of himself at hearing you. Sukuna was even more thrilled. Toji, honestly, was impressed. Gojo was just stunned. Nanami and Choso, too, were simply speechless. Megumi and Yuuji only looked horrified. This was the same woman that gave them free food and dessert in her cute little shop? The same woman who would draw cute squiggles and chibi characters on cookies? The same woman who would patch them up when they were wounded? The same woman who gave almost all of them a second chance at life?

They couldn't believe it.

You continued your monologue, anger simmering as your voice turned lower in volume," You have exhausted my patience. But I do hope you understand that even now, what's about to happen...." You gave Strange a hateful, you-made-me-do-this-stare. "This is me being... reasonable."

Your words sent chills down their spines.

With that, you fired a blast of Chaos Magic at him, only for it to be blocked by a now-visible protective magic barrier spanning the area of Kamar-Taj. As Strange flew back down, the jujutsu sorcerers landed on solid ground once more. They stared back up at you outside the barrier.

And even in the distance, they saw that you had become very, very, very pissed off. Seething through your teeth.

"Uh-oh," Gojo exhaled out anxiously as he stared up into the sky. "She's angry."

"No shit, Sherlock," Geto scoffed beside him. "She's fucking livid." Despite not being in the actual battle itself, they could practically feel everything else, including the terror in their hearts as you charged towards Kamar-Taj once more, blasting the shield in different areas with multiple hexes simultaneously (something new they had noticed).

"Reinforce the shield!" Wong yelled out. Even as more sorcerers came to strengthen the barrier, the jujutsu sorcerers could still feel the quaking of the fortress at your blasts. The impacts had grown to be that powerful.

"Whoa, whoa," Yuuji balanced himself with the help of Nanami. The foundation of the building continued to shake.

Realizing that physical attacks were useless, you stopped, instead changing your strategy. Strange immediately noticed this as he saw you scanning the army of sorcerers.

"She's trying to get into their heads," Stephen told Wong, who grumbled.

"Sorcerers, fortify your minds!" he shouted. Honestly, the jujutsu sorcerers felt like they were also being reminded, too. They were getting a bit too distracted by your... change in demeanor. Still, you continued to look for an unfortunate victim. Surely, there had to be one newbie, right?

And you were right.

There was one, indeed, still so apprehensive and vulnerable. There he was. And he knew you were looking at him. You were locking eyes with your helpless target.

Bullseye.

Wide-eyed, the jujutsu sorcerers watched as your astral form appeared right behind one of the younger sorcerers, like the Devil tempting to consume the Forbidden Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Your physical body, effortlessly awake, floated outside the shield, smirking wide. You astral form only had to whisper one thing for everything to crumble down into pieces.

"Run."

Goosebumps arose on their skins as your prey grew rattled, sprinting away in fear and creating a hole sufficient enough for you to breach in. He had bumped into multiple other sorcerers on the way, too, further weakening the shield. That was when you started channeling more of your Chaos Magic to create another blast.

"Oh fuck, should we run, too?" Gojo asked, yet his legs were already beginning to move. After all, he didn't have his Infinity or his Limitless with him. Right now. And even if this was the past, this was literally, like, a 6D experience.

The blast you shot hit the ground beside them before they could react, knocking them off their feet like the many Eldritch magic sorcerers nearby.

"Oh shit, shit, shit! Get up, Satoru!" Geto grabbed his best friend's shirt as he himself got up from the ground. Toji had Megumi tossed over his shoulder, with Choso doing the same for Yuuji (who had somehow lost his left shoe). Nanami was holding said missing left shoe as he urged the others to run behind Strange near the entrance of Kamar-Taj.

Their reflexes and battle instinct from all their years living in the world of jujutsu had kicked in. But this time, the enemy was you. At least, it felt like it. When they were all near Strange, they took a glimpse of you.

Mercilessly shooting down sorcerers as you charged towards Kamar-Taj, swatting them away like flies with your psionic energy, toppling structures and towers, tossing stone and huge debris everywhere—all while simultaneously defending yourself with an energy shield. You were multitasking offense and defense like it was nothing, reducing Kamar-Taj to ruins in no less than five minutes since the shield was down.

It was chaos.

"Magic on autopilot," Yuuji's eyes were wide.

Right at the entrance, their memory of you as they ran with Wong and Strange was you landing down onto the ground, creating a pulsating wave of energy that decimated any remaining survivors. There was one—screaming and bawling as he crawled on the ground. Without even batting an eye, you waved your hand—literally erasing him from existence with Chaos Magic.

"Holy crap," Yuuji was terrorized. Utterly terrorized. "Did she just... delete that guy out of existence...?"

The others were stunned, as well. But Sukuna? Sukuna was having the time of his life watching you being so cruel and heartless. They didn't even bother telling him off as he openly roared with laughter. It seemed fitting that the King of Curses would laugh so jubilantly, with several fires raging around them, burning bodies into ash and crisp, nothing but sheer blood and destruction at the hands of the Scarlet Witch.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS IT! THIS IS WHAT I WANTED! THE STENCH OF BLOOD! DEATH! RAGE! FEAR!" Sukuna nearly split his sides in delight. "THE SCARLET WITCH SHALL BE MINE! MINE, MINE, MINE!"

However, much to your surprise, ten Masters of the Mystic Arts bravely... or foolishly... appeared before you through their signature yellow-orange ring portals, poised with their swords; ready to fight. Ah, yes. These were probably the best of the best they had aside from Stephen Strange.

But their best would never be a match for you.

"You dare go against me, sorcerers?" you declared in a booming voice, one fine brow raised and one hand glowing red.

Already highly perturbed at the slaughter you had just executed, the other jujutsu sorcerers could say nothing. As you spoke to the Masters of the Mystic Arts, it felt like you were addressing them, too.

What had become of the sweet woman they knew?

"You are a threat to this world, Scarlet Witch," one of the Masters answered spitefully. "Therefore, we must eliminate you!"

For a few seconds, you were silent. They—including the jujutsu sorcerers—anticipated your reply. Suddenly, you chuckled. Darkly. With it, a matching smirk.

"You are more than welcome to try." It wasn't a threat. It was a taunt. A promise, even.

With that, the Masters of the Mystic Arts charged at you with their swords and magic, only for you to forcefully toss them into the air and slam their bodies into the broken ground. This time, instead of using pure magic to kill them, you even incorporated your magic into skillful hand-to-hand combat, something they hadn't fully seen since what, that time you fought Proxima Midnight in Scotland?

In even more shock and horror, the jujutsu sorcerers watched you move swiftly and fiercely, slicing the Masters with their own swords. With one, you even mind-controlled to slice his own head with his own weapon. The red psionics wrapped around the decapitated body—with you using it as a shield against the other Masters. It was an... effective technique, as grotesque as it was. The corpse had two swords in its abdomen, puppeteering it to kill the other Masters even as it was spurting out fresh blood from its severed neck. As you discarded the body, you expertly dodged and evaded the other Masters charging towards you, snapping their necks or manipulating their bodies to destroy one another.

"Holy mother of..." Gojo gulped, flinching as you crushed a man's skull with your magic. The blood splattered on your face, yet you were unfazed. Behind you, the last Master attempted to inflict some damage, only for him to die the most gruesome death of them all with Chaos Magic as you snapped your gaze to him.

Bones and limbs twisted and broken, screaming in agony, until he was nothing but a mangled mess that exploded into nothing but blood.

"Shit, that's..." Geto's eyes were wide open. Now he was really wondering what would have happened if you got involved with the jujutsu world before Yuuji came along. If you... no, if the Scarlet Witch interfered when he was alive... with you siding with Yuuta and Rika, the Queen of Curses...

He would have been fucked. Kenjaku wouldn't have even had the chance to steal his body because after all this, he realized that you could just delete him out of existence. On a whim. That was how great your power was and you weren't even a jujutsu sorcerer.

You were so unassuming and "normal" on the outside that he would have deemed you a monkey. He would've deemed you a scum of the earth... if he had met you before you met him in that fateful day in your shop. And he would've been so stupid because of that because even without cursed energy, you possessed and mastered something that the Multiverse itself was in danger from.

Chaos Magic.

Yeah. It dawned onto Geto that he would have been really doomed.

And despite all of Masters you sent to their deaths, you looked remorseless. Your eyes lacked the soul and warmth and shine that the jujutsu sorcerers adored. Instead, you were a mindless killing machine with only one mission in mind: to make your children yours again.

"Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful," Sukuna nearly purred and groaned as you mindlessly magicked away the blood splatters on your face. "Fit to be my queen, to rule the world alongside me..."

The others couldn't look more disturbed at what you had just done. Was this how... bad the Darkhold's influence on you was?

As if nothing had happened, you stepped towards the main entrance of Kamar-Taj, using the witch's eye to locate your target. America Chavez. The jujutsu sorcerers momentarily found themselves with the girl, and with her, they could hear unearthly whispers—in Sokovian—as you taunted her. Scaring her. You knew exactly where she was. And you were going to get her.

Hide-and-seek was over. It was time for the chase.

Then your intimidation tactics abruptly stopped as you opened your eyes, and the jujutsu sorcerers were now darting their gaze between you and Strange. You gave them man an unamused look, questioning him silently. Daring him.

"You want the girl, you'll have to go through me," he boldly declared.

You accepted his challenge. "Fine."

What you didn't expect was for you to be lured into a trap. Right as you stepped on a button on the floor, your surroundings morphed into kaleidoscopes and countless distorted reflections of space. The jujutsu sorcerers had also become trapped with you, watching as you stared at the infinite reflections of yourself in the Mirror Dimension.

".... Why is a creepy lullaby playing in the background?" Yuuji frowned. "Horror vibes."

"Yo, this is... well, this is reminding me of my time in the Prison Realm," Gojo gasped out. "But this is pretty spacious, isn't it? Prison Realm's pretty cramped."

All of a sudden, gigantic glass spikes shot out from around you, making you raise your arms to instinctively cover your body. Around them, too, but it was nowhere near the size of the shards trapping you.

"Shit, that scared me," Gojo exhaled, a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "And I stand corrected. It's very cramped in here now."

"And sharp," Geto added. "Watch out."

"Ya know, I'm kinda torn between rooting for Strange or Y/N," Toji commented, crossing his arms as he exaimined the glass. "Maybe I'm biased."

"All of us are," Choso pointed out. "It's Y/N, after all. And mind you, a lot of us aren't blameless either." By that, he was referring to himself, Toji, Geto, and Sukuna, specifically. "Technically, aren't we all killers here?"

"... He's got a point," Nanami replied coolly. "None of us are blameless." With that, it was silent amongst them, with only your slightly labored breathing to be heard as you tried to figure out how to get out.

You attempted to break free by firing a bolt of energy at the glass, only for it to continuously ricochet and nearly hit you. Changing your strategy, they watched as you stared at the broken reflection of your face and reached in-between.

Escaping just needed a bit of creativity and imagination.

And, of course, magic.

The scene cut to Strange trying to teleport America with a Sling Ring, only for it to break off and vanish into thin air. The jujutsu sorcerers flinched as they felt an unseen malevolent presence appear in the room, slamming doors shut like a vengeful spirit out for blood. Then suddenly, the guards protecting America were dragged down into puddles of water by a pair of very familiar arms.

"... The fuck?" Toji blinked, baffled.

"Reflections," Strange deduced, warning Wong and Chavez. "She's using the reflections! Cover them!"

The trio proceeded to grab blankets and cloths from around them, quickly covering puddles that remained from an earlier rain last night.

"Makes sense," Geto murmured, deep in thought. "Like in our world, reflections... or mirrors... can be portals to other dimensions. To domains."

They watched as America was about to cover another tiny puddle of water, but as she stared at it too long, an eye appeared.

"Ahhhhhhh!" America and Yuuji screamed at the same time.

Then, a bent arm with crooked, broken fingers suddenly shot out from behind her, like a zombie who had risen from the dead and from its rotten grave underground. This time, it wasn't only America and Yuuji who had screamed (or at the very least, yelped).

You emerged from the golden gong like something out of The Ring, indisputably twisted and deformed, skin split open in multiple places, limbs and neck snapped the wrong directions, and crawling on-fours and on your back as your disfigured bones popped back into place through the Chaos Magic running through your veins like blood.

It was at that very moment that the several jujutsu sorcerers present realized that the Scarlet Witch was a thousand times more terrorizing than any cursed spirit that they would ever face in their lifetime.

"Oh my God!" Yuuji exclaimed. "Ohhhhhhh my God!"

"The fuck is that?" Sukuna and Toji chorused out, watching your body be literally put back together again hideously.

"... I think... I think I'm gonna be sick," a pale, severely-disturbed Megumi unwillingly blurted out as he retched.

"That is... I have no words," Gojo stuttered. Was he disgusted at seeing the insides of your body all jagged up from breaking the shards of the Mirror Dimension? Was he terrified at seeing you come out of the gong like you were that girl from The Grudge? Was he shocked at seeing you reassemble your entire body so repulsively? Yes, yes, and yes. All of them were.

"Never really liked Pennywise anyway," Geto mumbled. He would definitely not be able to erase that image from his head. And he's seen his fair share of revolting curses. "What the actual fuck did Y/N just do to herself?"

"Well shit," Toji was unable to remove his eyes from you as you regenerated. He didn't exactly know what to feel.

The rest were too stunned to speak.

"You gave all those lives just to keep my from my children," you mocked Dr. Strange, walking towards him and his allies like you didn't just break all the bones in your body and fix it. You would've preferred to emerge out of one of the puddles so that you wouldn't come out so distorted, but they'd covered them all or weren't big enough for you to get out. So, the gong was the only option you had—even with how imperfect its reflection was.

"You took those lives!" Stephen yelled back, protectively putting America behind him. "You cannot be allowed to cross into the Multiverse."

"I'm not a monster, Stephen," you defended yourself.

"... Uh, wouldn't be so sure about that," Gojo scratched his head at your remark.

"I'm a mother," you added, stopping a few meters in front of America, Wong, and Stephen.

"Wanda, you have no children!" Strange argued, frustrated by your useless quest for your kids. "They don't exist!"

"Oh, but they do. In every other universe," you enunciated firmly. "I know they do. Because I dream of them. Every. Night." With that, you made a series of hypnotizing hand motions that summoned the Darkhold in front of you. From the Book of the Damned emerged a red mist of your Chaos Magic, and it showed everyone the multiple universes—countless—all containing you and your happy, peaceful family. "I dream of my boys," you whispered, eyes glazing with tears as you watched them grow up with you. "Of our... life together."

The jujutsu sorcerers gazed sadly, suddenly feeling sorry for you as they saw all the other universes that had you and your loved ones as a complete family. The highlights of the alternate universes were mostly Billy and Tommy.

In one universe, they saw you holding the newborn twins in your arms, singing softly a Sokovian lullaby as you rocked them to sleep. In another universe, they saw you clapping happily as you taught the twins how to walk, with them taking their wobbly first steps towards you. There was even another universe where you were simply helping the preschool-aged kids do some arts-and-crafts activities. There was one when they were in the last age they remembered, still kids, almost teens, but you three were running in the field and playing catch with them. In another, you were with the older, teenaged twins as they embraced you, telling you they loved you.

It felt like watching WandaVision all over again, but this time, a version of if it had kept playing until you and Vision grew old with Billy and Tommy. They also noted that in these alternate universes, sometimes Vision was there, sometimes other men were the twins' father, or you were a single mom. Either way, the you of every other universe was far more content and happy with her life. None of them had hurt and experienced so much pain that they were forged into the Scarlet Witch.

None of them. Only you. And God, wasn't that unfair?

"Mom..." Yuuji whispered, seeing tears form in your eyes. "So, all the other variants of her except... her... are happy?"

"Fate really is cruel, huh?" Geto remarked with a tone of pity for you. He frowned.

"If we were in her place, wouldn't we go crazy, too?" Toji muttered. He knew he would go crazy if he found out that in all the infinite universes, it was only in his universe that his life sucked before his first wife saved him and made him truly happy. What if... in other lives, he got to grow old with the love of his life?

Choso silently agreed. What if it was only in his universe that his brothers met their end? That he wouldn't be able to be with them? He'd be pissed, too. But that was a what-if he would never be able to answer.

Nanami was thinking how it would be if he found out that it was only himself that lost Haibara. What if all the other Nanami in other universes had a different destiny? What if Haibara survived? What if... what if...

"Every night, the same dream," you breathed. Then, right as you shut the Darkhold, a single tear dropped down you cheek. It was dark again, with no glowing red magic to illuminate the room. "And every morning, the same... nightmare."

America's eyes showed sympathy; she knew what it felt like to yearn for her family. Her mothers, specifically. Even Strange felt pity for you after seeing what you had just shown him. It truly was unfair. And he felt like he needed to apologize for you for his insensitive comment about you having no children because, it turns out, you did. Just not in this universe. But that didn't change the massacre you had just committed minutes ago. "... What if you reach them? What happens to the other you? What happens to their mother?" he asked, an ominous feeling in his gut for your answer.

Your expression darkened. Slowly, a miniscule yet sinister smirk curved your lip up, only implying one thing. Immediately, they knew your answer through your silence.

The next few minutes were but a blur, with a short-lived fight between you and Wong. The jujutsu sorcerers watched, once more in horror, as you restricted America and began siphoning her powers from her. In her fear, portals to the Multiverse were involuntarily opened.

Strange, in an attempt to save Chavez, flew towards her. You shot a single blast at him to deter him, however, something else happened.

He aimed wrong, still dragging America with him, but this time, into the multiple portals across the Multiverse.

And this time, the jujutsu sorcerers had been dragged along with them.

"Ooooohhhhh, shiiiiii—" Gojo's, Toji's, Geto's, and Yuuji's voices echoed as they got the full experience of travelling the Multiverse. From Kamar-Taj, they were literally flying into worlds with the Living Tribunal, outer space, an icy planet, quantum particles, an underwater space, a world where Stark Technology was prominent, hell itself, a jungle full of dinosaurs, a planet ruled by bees, a place where everything was cartoons and comics, another dimension where they were literally turned into blocks, then another were they became splashes of color, then a world where HYDRA succeeded, and a whole lot more they couldn't process in a blink of an eye because suddenly, they were on a rooftop in a random universe where a lot of things seemed more advanced in New York.

While Strange and Chavez conversed, the others were not too happy.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit." Geto held his aching, spinning head. The others also landed face first into the floor.

"We just travelled the Multiverse," Gojo gawked, then pointed to himself in realization, bewildered and shaken to the core. "I just travelled the Multiverse. Oh God, that felt like being in my own Infinite Void but worse somehow. Much worse."

"Ow," Choso groaned, rubbing the bump on his head (he had been protecting Yuuji's head, in turn, preventing him from holding his own head from the impact).

A grimacing Toji had done the same for Megumi's head, but his son was already in a corner puking his guts out in whatever pail he could find, just like Strange who was also retching from the motion sickness. Nanami, whose glasses were still miraculously on his face, was patting Megumi's back. Still, Kento himself seemed as if he was in a daze after the entire ordeal.

Yuuji was laid flat on the ground, eyes staring into the sky tiredly. "... I wanna go home really bad," he mumbled, dizzy from Multiverse hopping. "I want Mom back. The nice one. The one that gives me rice bowls and dessert out of nowhere and hugs me. I don't wanna be in her past. I just want the present... her. I don't care. I just want my mom."

"Me, too, kiddo," Satoru pulled him up, frowning. "Oi! Megumi-chan! You good? We gotta follow the girl and Strange!"

Nanami offered Megumi a yellow-and-black-dotted handkerchief from his pocket, which the spiky-haired boy gratefully accepted to wipe his mouth. "Y-Yeah. I'm good. I think. Blegh," he cringed at the taste of acid and vomit in his mouth.

The jujutsu sorcerers tagged along with Strange and America as they searched for the variant of Dr. Strange who guarded this universe's New York Sanctum, stopping by for some stolen pizza balls, crossing the road on a red light (also weird for the jujutsu sorcerers), and stumbling upon a Memory Lane free trial—which felt really meta with how they were practically experiencing your Memory Lane—only for all of them to stop in front of a huge statue made in memory of that universe's Dr. Strange. America asked the question they all had in their heads.

"If other you's dead, who's master of the Sanctum?"

With the way things were going, it appeared that the Karl Mordo of this universe was about to fight them, only for him to introduce himself and laugh, hugging Strange. "My brother! Come in! And tell me about your universe!"

Stunned, Strange awkwardly laughed, ushering America to follow the man into the Sanctum. After some quick pleasantries, Strange got straight to the point, mentioning you as they discussed current events through tea. Instantly, the jujutsu sorcerers' ears perked up.

"Our Wanda has the ability to conjure demons and monsters to attack America in other universes," Strange warned Mordo.

"So she has the Darkhold?" Mordo inquired, slightly leaning towards Stephen in question.

"You know of the Darkhold?" Strange asked.

"Oh yes. We have a Darkhold in this universe, too. I guard it here in this Sanctum," Mordo disclosed. "We would never risk a weapon that dangerous falling into the wrong hands."

"Damn right," Strange muttered.

"But if your Darkhold is anything like ours, I'm afraid she can do far worse than just summon monsters to come after you here," Mordo advised.

"Far worse? Hasn't she done the worst already in Kamar-Taj?" Nanami wondered out loud, the chilling memory of you crawling out of that gong sending shivers down his spine, like insects crawling on his skin. It was... extremely... disturbing.

"Who knows? If Y/N did some IT and The Grudge kind of shit, maybe she's gonna go The Exorcist this time. Or The Conjuring," Toji huffed out. "Maybe even Final Destination or something."

Funnily enough, the infamous Sorcerer Killer had no idea how right he was with his offhanded comment.

"What do you mean?" America nervously asked.

"There is a... spell contained within those pages," Mordo revealed in a hushed tone. "Corrosive to the soul. A desecration of reality itself." Whether it was for effect or if it was forbidden to speak about, the multiple candles in the room were suddenly blown out by a wind that came out of nowhere.

"Uh-oh..." Yuuji's eyes darted around. "I've got a bad, bad feeling about this."

"Dreamwalking," Mordo spoke out. "A dreamwalking sorcerer projects their own consciousness from their universe into another, possessing the body of an alternate self."

The jujutsu sorcerers froze at his statement. Gojo spoke out first, pointing at his ear with a befuddled expression, "Wait, wait, did I just hear this guy right? Possessing the body of an alternate self?"

"Dreamwalking...?" Geto quietly repeated to himself in shock. Nanami, who was beside Toji, sighed out.

"Turns out you were pretty accurate with your prediction," the blonde spoke to the ex-assassin, whose eyes were as wide as saucers.

Mordo continued, "They may puppeteer this unholy doppelganger and pursue their enemies from afar."

"That's scary," Yuuji exhaled, running a hand through his pink locks. "So what, Mom's really gonna go even batshit crazier?"

"Sounds like it," Choso answered back, listening intently.

"The possession is not a permanent link between realities. But in the fleeting time they dreamwalk, they can do irreparable damage to the universe they invade," Mordo divulged. "So it may not be a demon you face. It may be the Scarlet Witch."

"Why didn't she do that in the first place?" America asked, confused.

"Because that was her being reasonable," Stephen replied tensely, turning to Mordo as your warnings echoed in his ear. "What do you know about the Book of Vishanti?"

"The Darkhold's antithesis?" Mordo seemed unsurprised and calm. "It can give a sorcerer whatever power they need to vanquish their enemy."

"I need your help to get me to it," Strange requested, only to start feeling queasy. Very, very queasy. His brows furrowed as his vision spun, blurring.

Meanwhile, the jujutsu sorcerers grew bewildered as the scene in front of them began flickering back and forth. Now, they were seeing you restrain Wong with your magic in bits and pieces. Yet, at the same time, they were seeing America and Strange, as well.

"I'm sorry, Stephen." Mordo stood up, walking towards the staggering Strange, "But I hope you, of all people, understand that it is not Wanda Maximoff who threatens our reality. It's the two of you."

"Oh, God," Chavez whispered, losing consciousness.

"What was in that tea?" Strange stumbled, falling to the floor and dropping his teacup. "You son of a—" He tried standing up, but to no avail, seeing the teapot on the floor which glowed green. "The Sands of Nisanti..." he realized. No wonder he was so drowsy.

"What's happening? We didn't even have any of his tea!" Yuuji exclaimed, the scene still flickering between you with an unconscious Wong in Kamar-Taj and Strange with Chavez in the unknown universe.

"Please don't let us be thrown in the Multiverse again," Megumi prayed to whatever gods were there, knowing he might puke again. "Please, please, please."

"I'm only acting as you would," Mordo said, leaving. Strange closed his eyes, whispering one last thing.

"She's coming."

Before they knew it, the flitting scene fully morphed to you in Kamar-Taj, standing in the middle of multiple, brightly-lit candles forming a circle. You were performing some sort of witchy ritual, your hands gracefully executing a series of hand gestures which brought forth the Book of the Damned. Your hands glowed the misty, reddish-black fog of your Chaos Magic. All of them were mesmerized—like they were in a trance—as they observed such a... blaphemous ceremony.

"Hmm. This is quite entertaining," Sukuna finally spoke out once more, chuckling to himself as he watched you cross your legs, floating in mid-air with you eyes closed and your blackened fingers resting on your lap.

"Oh God, she really is a witch," Geto breathed out at the sight.

Countless glowing balls of reddish-black energy materialized behind you, connecting you to the entire Multiverse as you searched your variants one by one, trying to see which matched America's whereabouts. When you finally found it, you projected your soul to your target variant, traversing the Multiverse. The jujutsu sorcerers, too, watched with their very eyes as your soul traveled the neuron-like network of universes. They were transported inside the house—the Vision Residence—of your variant, arriving with a faint, echoing scream in the background. Now, they were right behind your variant, who was cleaning up for the night.

"Boys, it's time for bed," the variant of you reminded her kids as she took away the dishes.

"Can we have a little more ice cream? Please, please, please?" the twins begged. "A little more, please?" Alternate you shook her head.

"Hey, don't make Mom out to be the bad guy," other you gently chastised, making them pout.

"Awww, okay, Mom." Thankfully, Billy and Tommy were easily distracted by a game, allowing you to clean up in peace.

Or so you thought.

Alternate you stopped in her tracks around the same time the jujutsu sorcerers' heads snapped towards the empty staircase in her residence. It felt like somebody was watching them. Her. As jujutsu sorcerers and trained killers, they knew better than to underestimate the invisible.

"... Y/N is here, isn't she?" Nanami murmured, eyes trained on the staircase. Nothing appeared to there, but the air... it was unsettling. Like a silent monster hiding under the bed. Or in the closet.

"Even without my Six Eyes, she is seriously giving off crazy cursed spirit behavior," Gojo muttered with a shiver, then turned to one of the men with him. "No offense, Choso."

The cursed spirit just blinked at him, then shrugged wordlessly, as if telling the other man, "None taken."

They observed as alternate you mulled over the sudden, nerve-wracking atmosphere. She knew something was wrong. There was an unseen, foreboding presence with her. She hasn't used her powers in a while, yet even then, something primal in her was telling her she was being watched. Deciding not to think much of it—perhaps it was just an owl outside—she hesitantly stepped towards the kitchen.

As she did it, the sound of crickets outside faded away. The warm lights in the room started flickering strangely.

On. Off. On. Off.

She took a glance at her kids, who seemed to be unaware of what was happening. Dread filled her entire being. Was she going insane? Was she seeing things? As she headed to the sink, the lampshade installed above the dining table began swinging wildly by itself as it kept flickering on and off, its creaks and screeches amplified like nails on a chalkboard. Its angry flickers were making other you feel quite lightheaded, too.

Creaaaaaaaak!

Behind her, the jujutsu sorcerers were seeing and feeling—experiencing the whole thing—unable to describe what they were going through. What alternate you was going through.

When she turned to the other direction to try and ground herself, she saw herself in her own picture frame move. No, it didn't just move. Its head turned and the smile on its face vanished as it glared directly at her.

"What... the fuck...?" Toji said what everyone was thinking, bewildered.

"I've seen a hella lot of cursed spirits but this is just plain creepy," Gojo muttered, feeling cold.

"Damn right," Geto replied, covering his ears in irritation at the scratching sound of the lampshade creaking. "Ugh. That makes me want to claw my ears out."

Breathe. Breathe.

Alternate you was starting to hyperventilate in panic, a random burst of wind making Billy's and Tommy's bowls fall... sideways? Not vertically to the ground due to normal gravity, but horizontally to the counter, defying the laws of physics. She was hearing haunting, evanescent whispers in Sokovian, too.

All of which she understood fully.

As her vision began to tilt, she ran towards the sink to hold herself—to stabilize herself before she fell. However, her eyes caught movement on one of the dirty plates beside the sink. The peas on Tommy's used plate were rolling around on their own, sounding awfully like hard mables on stone.

Rrrrrrrrrr. Rrrrrrrrr. Rrrrrrrrr.

Her head whipped to the right, hearing... ocean waves? In the unfinished cup of tea, she was seeing... roaring tides crashing against each other? Terror froze the blood in her veins.

Shhhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhhh. Shhhhhh.

Something was very wrong.

When she lifted her head, instead of seeing her normal reflection, she was met with you—her evil, deranged doppelganger. Your glowing, scarlet irises stared daggers into her entire being. Not even giving her another second to react, you entered her body—stealing its place and locking her soul away. She struggled against the invasion of her own body, writhing and screaming, eyes widened and limbs taut, but you were the stronger soul.

You'll take her place from inside her.

The jujutsu sorcerers could only watch in muted horror as the depraved, demonic-like spiritual possession took place. Finishing up the possession, your eyes glowed a brighter red before dimming back to its regular shade. You let out a small breath of relief, subtly wiggling your shoulders—as if testing out your new body. Strangely enough, it felt comfortable. Snug and fit—except for the wails of your alternate self in her own mind.

You'd shut her up soon enough.

Suddenly, your eyes met theirs for the first time, making the spectators watching the whole scene visibly flinch and hold their breaths unconsciously. A tiny smirk appeared on your lips as you turned away.

"Oh?" Sukuna, as a mouth on his vessel's face, sounded out in interest. He was the only one finding a sick sense of enjoyment in all of this.

"Did... Did she just... see us?" Yuuji cowered in fear, hiding behind Nanami and Choso. The other men couldn't answer him, also stunned.

"This... is very different... from her interview from that one Modern Family-themed WandaVision episode..." Gojo swallowed, traumatized at you breaking the fourth wall of whatever spell or illusion they were thrown into.

They may exorcise cursed spirits for a living, but the Scarlet Witch introduced to them a sense of dread that was unmatched. You were the stuff nightmares were made out of.

"Mom?"

You halted in your steps, hearing the two voices you've longed to hear for so long. But now was not the time. You couldn't face them now, could you? You had to look for America first. Still, your heart couldn't resist. "... Yes, sweetheart?" you shakily replied, unable to keep the emotion out of your voice. Suddenly, the fear in the jujutsu sorcerers' hearts turned into pity. In this moment, they suddenly wanted to give their condolences to you, now fully knowing how much you'd lost.

You were going to meet your children once again.

"Where are you going?"

Your heart clenched. "Just... to take out the trash," you lied, stammering. However, as they rushed and urge you to come to them, saying they'd show you something. You slowly turned on your heels as the boys asked you to hurry up, your eyes welling with tears as you finally saw them again.

Billy and Tommy.

Your twins. Your babies. The two beings whom you loved more than life itself aside from your late husband. The very beings which were perfectly half you and half the love of your life.

The began arguing on who would start, only for you to cut in, voice trembling with emotion, "Why... don't you both... start... it... whatever it is... together?"

"Okay!" your kids chirped, counting down.

"I wonder what they're gonna do," Yuuji asked, only to sweatdrop at what happened next.

"We like ice cream, like every child should!" the twins sang, off-key. You didn't mind (but some of the jujutsu sorcerers did). "And if you give us ice cream, we promise to be good!"

"Ugh," Sukuna and Toji groaned simultaneously in irritation.

"Definitely not singers," Gojo snorted, trying to push the horrifying memory of you possessing your alternate self into the back of his mind, only for Geto to elbow him.

"I think it's cute, so don't be rude," his best friend chided, his soft dad side coming out. "Mimiko and Nanako did something similar when they wanted candy."

"... Mom's crying," Yuuji suddenly pointed out sadly. Tears were flowing down your cheeks as you cupped the twins' faces gently, like you were touching them as newborns again.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to stay here with them. Just for a little while. You'd give them ice cream and talk with them. Yeah. That seemed like a good plan. Everything else could wait.

Then, the scene changed once more as they were brought back to the original universe you were in, where your original body was floating in the middle of the circle of candles. They saw Wong's limbs restrained by your magic. However, one of the survivors, Sara, came up to him.

"You're alive," Wong breathed out. Sara nodded solemnly.

"Yes. But so many others were lost," Sara murmured regretfully. Wong then turned to your dreamwalking, vulnerable form.

"Set me free. I need to destroy the book," he stated, only for the woman beside him to shake her head, placing a reassuring hand on his cheek.

"No. It cannot be you." With that, Sara took out a dagger from her robes, tackling the Darkhold and stabbing it.

"Sara! No!" Wong cried out.

The jujutsu sorcerers watched, for the nth time, in horror as destroying the Darkhold burned Sara into ash, a sole tear the only evidence of her life. From the other universe, the scene before them flickered once more, between your possessed alternate self and your dreamwalking state. With the Darkhold destroyed, the connection severed and the spell reversed.

Flicker.

You roughly fell to the floor, dropping the porcelain plates and utensils you were going to use for Billy's and Tommy's ice cream. At the same time, they saw your once-dreamwalking body get blasted down to the ground in your original universe.

Flicker.

Hearing the crash from the kitchen, the twins came running to you. "Mom!"

Flicker.

"What happened!?"

Flicker.

Still, they saw you frantically get up, kneeling in front of the twins, flickering from one universe to another and attempting to sustain the possession... trying to stay with your boys.

Flicker. Flicker.

"Are you okay!?" they asked worriedly, helping you get up.

Flicker... Flicker... Flicker... Nothing.

"Billy... Tommy..." you panted, their concerned faces disappearing from your field of vision as you unwillingly returned back to your original universe.

"Y/N..." the sorcerers murmured, again sympathetic of your situation, no matter how twisted and fucked up it was. In a frenzy, you scampered towards the remains of the Darkhold, whimpering at its sorry state.

"No, no, no, no," you whispered miserably, holding the book up. It was gone. Dismayed, your lips wobbled as you became hopeless. The jujutsu sorcerers thought that this would be it. Your corruption would stop. The ink on your fingers grew fainter already, only tinges and traces of it left.

Suddenly, you glowered darkly.

And they stilled in fear once again as you slowly swivelled around to Wong. Before they could react, you had already thrown him to the ruins of Kamar-Taj, striding menacingly towards him.

"I need the Darkhold's spells," you demanded impatiently, playing no games and getting straight to the point. "You are the Sorcerer Supreme. Tell me what you know!"

"You'll have to kill me first, witch," Wong spat out spitefully.

Your eyes narrowed as his defiance, something Sukuna was very much liking. He chuckled once more before Yuuji slapped a hand over him again. The others were watching the scene anxiously, not knowing what you'd do next (because honestly, you were being unbelievably unpredictable in this obsessed state of yours). "Not you," you spoke out, raising one hand. "Them."

From behind Wong, four survivors were swept into the air, your Chaos Magic physically tormenting them and twisting their bodies painfully. Even their cries and wails of pain weren't enough to deter you. You would get what you want. No matter what it takes. You didn't care.

"Wanda, stop!" Wong pleaded, unable to see his students tortured. You didn't stop, cracking and popping your fingers even more to strengthen the pain they were feeling. "Wanda, please!"

"Goddamn, she's crueler here than with Kenjaku," Toji stated. He wouldn't be messing with you anytime soon after this. Not that he would. Ever.

"The Darkhold's clouded her reason so much," Nanami frowned. This wasn't you. You were taking out your pain and rage on these innocent wizards.

"... The Darkhold was a copy!" Wong relented. Instantly, with a wave of your hand, the torture and screams stopped.

"A copy?"

"Legend speaks of a mountain with the wretched spells you seek carved into its walls," Wong shut his eyes. He shouldn't he telling you this, but he had to. The guilt of so many lives lost were already weighing down on him. "It's there the Darkhold was transcribed. Mount Wundagore."

You paused. It was a vaguely familiar place to you. It was near Sokovia, and briefly, you could remember old folktales and legends there from your childhood. "Mount Wundagore?" you repeated to confirm.

"No one has survived the journey," Wong disclosed as you set the four survivors down—astonishingly, in a gentler manner—to the ground. But, from one of the corpses, you used your magic to throw an extra Sling Ring to Wong.

Mount Wundagore was your next destination.

"Perhaps we will be the exception," you stated darkly, accent thicker as you set your goal to the mountain.

Suddenly, the jujutsu sorcerers were teleported to where Strange and America were contained in an advanced research facility. They met 838-Christine... who consequently told Strange that he was 616-Strange... which led to them to wonder.

"What number is our universe?" Choso questioned out loud.

"I wonder that, too..." Yuuji eeplied, scratching his head. "All this Multiverse stuff is making my head hurt."

"Someone from my universe wants that girl," Strange warned 838-Christine, who refused to let him and America go. "And she's going to rip this place apart atom-by-atom until she gets what she wants."

"... That's one way to describe Y/N," Toji shrugged, turning to Yuuji... or the curse inside him. "She did beat ya up in your domain that time ya ripped Itadori's heart, didn't ya?"

"Tch!" Sukuna snarled, but didn't deny it. The other sorcerers and Yuuji himself were surprised, not knowing about the event.

"She beat Sukuna up in his domain?" Gojo questioned, hearing the juicy gossip. "Heeeey, when did that happen?"

"Sometime after ya told her that Sukuna ripped this kid's heart before he got resurrected," Toji shared, smirking at the memory, glancing at Geto and Choso. "Ya two weren't there yet, so it was just the two of us. But I'll tell ya what, seeing an old woman in a dark room with glowing red eyes and floating knives is something ya wouldn't wanna see. No wonder she came back in a good mood after beating the shit outta ya."

"She did not beat shit outta me, bastard!" Sukuna protested, growling. He refused to be humiliated by a man who didn't even use jujutsu!

Funnily enough, after everything that's happened, they could vividly imagine what Toji was describing.

They heard Strange continue talking, "So I don't care if you're from the Avengers or SHIELD—"

"We're neither," a voice interrupted from behind Christine. It was 838-Mordo, with...

"Are those a bunch of Ultron bots behind him?" Nanami recognized. "Like those Stark created when we saw the younger Y/N and Pietro."

"Seems like it," Megumi agreed.

"Well, what then? HYDRA?" Strange shouted. That was a word the jujutsu sorcerers hadn't heard since what? Civil War? WandaVision? They were getting really familiar with the history of your universe... or Earth-616, specifically.

"The Illuminati will see you now," Mordo announced.

"The Illumi-what-y?" Strange (and hilariously, Gojo and Yuuji) said out loud in confusion.

Before more explanations could be made, they were suddenly on top of a freezing, snowy mountain. Unfortunately for them, despite the upcoming snowstorm—actually, beknownst to them, ongoing snowstorm—in their world, they had removed their jackets, coats, scarves, and layers back in your home. Now, they were left helpless to the powers of nature, the icyness nipping at their skin.

"W-W-W-Where a-are w-we?" Yuuji chattered, hands by his shoulders. The other sorcerers were chattering, too, in the middle of the frosty temperature.

"I-I-I t-t-think this i-is M-Mount W-Wundag-gore?" Gojo replied, unsure and shaking. "F-Fuck, i-it's f-f-freezing o-out h-h-here!"

"W-W-We r-r-really sh-shouldn't h-have re-removed o-o-o-our c-c-c-coats," Geto sputtered, visible puffs of air coming from his mouth. No matter what they did, the strong winds were throwing snow in their faces.

That was when a golden-orange portal appeared before them, with you and Wong emerging from it, trekking the mountain shortly. When you arrived, you squinted, spotting a structure hidden by the fog up ahead. God, it was cold.

"You couldn't portal us up there!?" you exclaimed, skin flushing from how frosty it was. Still, the jujutsu sorcerers were surprised by the fact that your teeth weren't chattering like theirs.

"My magic can only take us so far," Wong huffed. "Masters of the Mystic Arts weren't meant to tread upon the forbidden grounds of Wundagore." You had no idea if he was just stalling or telling the truth, but you made up your mind. With a determined gaze, you used your magic to fly to the entrance of ruined castle, dragging Wong (and the jujutsu sorcerers) behind you.

"Aaaaaaand, we're flying again," Megumi muttered to himself, not looking at the steep height below them.

"Weeeee!" Gojo exclaimed. Damn. He really missed flying with his powers, too.

"That's one huge-ass castle," Toji commented as they flew closer to the decrepit stronghold.

"Seriously giving me Coppola's Dracula vibes," Geto remarked, staring up at the impressively foreboding Darkhold Castle.

You landed on the entrance of the former fortress, examining the many broken stone pillars and dust and snow that had accumulated.

"Eons ago, the first demon, Chthon, carved his Dark Magic into this tomb," Wong explained, swallowing nervously. You (and the jujutsu sorcerers) stared at the Satanic inscriptions glowing red on the walls—very similar to your Chaos Magic, which you were currently using as an alternative torch.

Crack!

You lightly gasped in surprise. Their heads quickly snapped behind them, seeing some rocks fall down from above. Nothing was there. False alarm. You all continued to roam the area as Wong spoke.

"There's no telling what soulless monstrosities lie within." He was looking up at a dark, hooded skeleton which had its arms and talons crossed like a mummy. Using your magic, you lit up four large cauldrons, which surrounded what appeared to be a...

"Is that... a sacrificial altar?" Geto asked out loud. "Whoa. Damn." Even his former cult didn't have anything as nefarious as that.

All of a sudden, roars resounded from behind them. From the shadows emerged monstrous, red-eyed, demonic creatures, the Knights of Wundagore. Prepared to defend yourselves, you flew on top of the altar for battle whereas Wong's Eldritch magic circles appeared on his hands.

"The fuck are those things?" Toji asked.

"No idea," the others chorused.

That was when each of the knights formed their claws into fists, resting it on their chests as they respectfully knelt down before you—pledging their allegiance to the prophesized Scarlet Witch.

"They've been waiting for me," you exhaled out, stunned.

"Look," Nanami pointed behind you in awe. The jujustu sorcerers turned around. At the same time, you did, too. And you came to a startling realization.

The chapter devoted to you in the Darkhold was real. The prophecy of the Scarlet Witch. There was a magnificent statue... of you. Old and ancient, but true. Made by worshippers of the Elder God, Chthon.

"This isn't a tomb," you concluded, chin raised higher this time at the demons kneeling in front of you. "It's a throne."

"... A throne?" Sukuna intoned, mind clouded with hunger and passion. Second by second, he was getting even antsier to meet you again. To claim you as his. For you to become his Queen. After a thousand years, he's finally found someone worthy enough to become his partner.

You.

But he knew he had competition. The five other men with him, although he saw them as insignificant sow, held affections for you as well. Gojo Satoru. Nanami Kento. Fushiguro Toji. Geto Suguru. Kamo Choso.

Ryomen Sukuna was eager to win among all of them.

The scene changed from the Darkhold Castle back to where Strange was. He was being escorted by Ultron sentient bots to in front of what looked to be a council.

838-Mordo decreed, "Stephen Strange. You are now called before the Illuminati. I, Baron Karl Mordo, the Sorcerer Supreme, do hereby—"

"Wait, wait. Karl?" Stephen laughed at his enemy, only for a vibranium shield to be thrown beside him. It boomeranged back to a woman. A very, very familiar looking woman. Peggy Carter?

"Isn't that Cap's ex?" Gojo whispered to the others. "Why's she Captain America?"

"She did sound pretty badass when Cap talked about her with Mom back then," Yuuji said, remembering the events right after the Lagos Incident.

"Captain Carter. The First Avenger," Mordo introduced.

"Blackagar Boltagon. Keeper of the Terrigen Mists. The Inhuman King."

"Blackagar Boltagard?" Strange repeated as a jab. "Hidigy hidithere!"

"Pshh. What is this, Game of Thrones?" Geto snickered. Even he found it amusing.

"Captain Marvel. Defender of the Cosmos." Instead of it being Carol Danvers, it was Maria Rambeau, Monica's mother.

"And the smartest man alive, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four," Mordo finished.

"Fantastic Four?" Strange was incredulous. "Didn't you guys chart in the sixties?"

"... Wasn't that the Beatles?" Megumi thought to himself.

"I'm sorry, is this a joke to you?" Maria asked, insulted.

"Well, there's a guy over there with a fork on his head," Strange pointedly looked at Black Bolt. "So, yeah, a little bit." Said man raised a finger over his lips, signalling Stephen to basically zip his mouth.

"Be grateful Black Bolt doesn't engage you in conversation," Peggy advised.

"Why, does he have bad breath?" Strange taunted.

"Huh. Sounds like something you and I would say," Gojo turned to Geto, who was impressed with Strange.

"Definitely. How... strange," Geto replied, making himself and Gojo laugh at their own jokes.

"You two are corny as hell," Toji shook his head. But he wouldn't lie. If he were in Strange's position, he'd say the same things, too. Heck, he used to do that with the Zenin Clan elders when he was younger.

They all listened as Reed explained to Strange the dangers of him in the Multiverse, telling him what incursions were and what their consequences were. Strange, however, had another priority.

"If it's incursions you're worried about, do you seriously think I'm a bigger threat than the Scarlet Witch?!" Strange asked quizzically, trying to convince them of the threat you posed.

"Oh, we can handle your little witch if she decides to dreamwalk," Maria arrogantly countered.

Gojo clicked his tongue disapprovingly, "Wouldn't be so sure about that, Captain Marvel."

"No. No, you cannot," Strange responded. "Not unless you give me the Book of Vishanti."

However, the members of the Illuminati disclosed that it wasn't the Scarlet Witch who was the greatest threat to their reality—or so they thought. That was when a man in a fancy wheelchair entered the room.

"Our final member. Professor Charles Xavier. One of the greatest telepaths alive."

Then, they were in the Darkhold Castle again. You were looking at a statue of a boy, touching it nostalgically. Somehow, it looked like one of your boys. Billy. But older.

"All these scene changes are seriously making me nauseous," Megumi quietly complained. He still hadn't recovered from being thrown across the Multiverse.

"You're wondering what happens now," you addressed Wong.

"No. That, I've already accepted," the Sorcerer Supreme replied. "But I do wonder, when you could force America to send you to any universe you want, why take her power for your own? You know it will kill her."

"For Billy and Tommy. To protect them," you instantly answered, as if it were that simple. You walked towards them. "In the infinite Multiverse, there's a cure for every illness. A solution to every problem," you justified. "I won't lose them again."

"The Darkhold's really clouded her reason," Nanami sighed. "There's no turning back."

"Why's Mom so... good in our world, then?" Yuuji inquired, not understanding.

"I don't know. But more things will happen for sure," Kento replied.

"Try as you might, Wanda, you cannot control everything!" Wong stated. Despite what you've done, perhaps there was a way for you to still see reason. To realize what you were doing was wrong.

"But I can!" you shot back, gesturing to the castle. "Look around you! It's carved. In stone. I was meant to rule everything." You eyed the grandiose statue that imitated your likeness. You were praised and adored even before you were born into this world.

"... Rule everything, huh?" Geto mumbled. "Interesting, indeed." He recalled wanting to do that once by eliminating all the monke—non-sorcerers.

"We can rule everything together," Sukuna cut in. Everyone else rolled their eyes.

"Not gonna happen, sicko," Gojo answered back, making the King of Curses scoff at him.

You shook your head dejectedly, "But that's not what I want. I just want my boys."

"At the cost of a child's life!?" Wong argued, voice raising. "Is there no peace in knowing that even though you can't be with the ones you love, there are worlds where you are together?!"

His remark hit the jujutsu sorcerers right on the nail. After all, in their field, they'd lost so many. But it was comforting to think that maybe in another universe, they were alive and well. You, however, grew enraged at his remark.

"Is that not enough!?" he shouted.

You lifted your hand and raised him in the air, whispering angrily, "No." You then proceeded to throw him off the castle without a second thought, startling the sorcerers.

You were gonna do it your way.

"Oh shit," Toji, Geto, and Gojo cussed.

"She threw him off," Choso gawped.

The next thing they knew, you were repeating the dreamwalking ritual once more and commencing the spell. This time, you had four loyal Knights of Wundagore to stand guard around you should something happen.

Now they were back in Earth-838's Vision Residence. They watched in terror as you possessed you other self again. You kissed your sleeping twins' foreheads and this time, you wasted no time, using your powers to fly off to where America Chavez was.

Meanwhile, Strange and the Illuminati were still speaking. Xavier showed Strange, and consequently the jujutsu sorcerers with them, a memory of 838-Strange's fate. They were on planet Titan, Thanos's home planet and where the original battle also took place in Universe-616. However, this time, a dead Thanos was in the corner, his own sword through his chest. Kneeling before the Illuminati was a repetant 838-Strange, his fingers stained black with the repeated use of the Darkhold.

"I shall miss you, my friend," Xavier bid him goodbye goodheartedly.

838-Strange nodded, forlorn yet ultimately accepting his fate. "... I'm ready."

It was how he died that surprised the jujutsu sorcerers.

A regretful-looking Black Bolt stepped forward, saying two words which eliminated Strange on the spot, "... I'm sorry." It echoed and echoed until the man was gone.

"Cursed Speech?" Megumi said out loud, stunned. "Like Inumaki-senpai?"

Gojo had already removed his blindfold, studying closely how 838-Strange had just... disintegrated. He shook his head at Megumi's comment, "It's similar to Toge-kun's ability, but also very different. Both are extremely powerful in their own rights, but Toge-kun's Cursed Speech... it also relies on the ability to command. This guy?" He pointed a thumb at Black Bolt. "This guy's voice is just plain destruction no matter what he says, it seems."

"Yeah. Even making a sound or grunting looks dangerous," Geto scrutinized, his eyes squinting.

"Thankfully, Inumaki-senpai can still speak in sushi ingredients, at least," Yuuji realized.

That was when multiple alarms began blaring outside. Loudly.

"The building's been breached," Reed stated the obvious, making Strange roll his eyes. All this useless talk made them lose precious time.

Now? You were coming.

"No shit, genius," the former neurosurgeon replied snarkily.

"Uh-oh," Yuuji felt shivers creep up his spine. "Mom... she must be here already."

"Status report on sentries!" Peggy ordered. Before them, several holograms displayed security footage at multiple angles of you, in your other self's body, breaking into the secure headquarters—practically multitasking with how many Ultron bots you were fighting and destroying in all directions. Oil covered you from head to toe, looking an awful lot like blood at first sight. The fact that it was only oil splattered across your face and clothes didn't make you any less terrifying.

"Stop where you are! Stop where you—"

Crash!

The Ultron bot was smashed.

"That is... wow," Gojo blinked, blindfold permanently removed and hanging on his neck now. He was gonna enjoy the feeling of not having oversensitive eyes since he didn't have his powers in this... memory realm of yours. "That is absolutely fucking terrifying and giving me Carrie vibes."

"Uh-huh. She's got Dracula, The Grudge, The Possession, and Carrie crossed off her list," Toji snorted, muscular arms crossed against his built chest. "Up next is what, Final Destination? The Conjuring? Evil Dead? I bet ya five thousand yen it's one of those and that a whole buncha' people are gonna die."

"... I bet you fifteen thousand yen it's all of those." It was Nanami, surprisingly, who made the remark. Everyone stared at the blonde ex-salaryman in shock. A huge grin appeared on the Sorcerer Killer's lips.

"Heh," Toji smirked. "Deal."

Gambling was always one of his vices no matter how unlucky he was.

Again, the jujutsu sorcerers got a good look at how well you actually incorporated physical combat with your magic. Hell, you even destroyed multiple bots in one go. Their last sight of you on footage was you with your arm outstretched with psionics, staring warningly into the eyes of an Ultron bot before crushing its head—losing all contact and sight of you once it did. The fact that they were Ultron bots, of all people, made you even more bitter. You only had terrible memories associated with the name. Terrible, terrible memories.

Perhaps it was why you were so vicious in tearing them apart.

Which was, ironically, what Ultron himself said that you would do to the Avengers of Earth-616. Look who's talking now.

"She's heading for the child," Maria said.

"Watch him. We'll vote on our return," Carter declared, she and the others immediately running out of the council room to give you a greeting. Only Mordo and Xavier were left with an exasperated Strange. He knew the Illuminati would be no match for you. Not without the Book of Vishanti.

"Stephen, should you manage to escape this chamber, you must guide America Chavez," Xavier suddenly declared when his fellow councilmen left. Hearing this, Mordo beside him was stunned.

"What the hell are you saying?"

"Save the girl and get to the Book of Vishanti," Professor X spoke.

"What? You have the book here?" Strange clarified.

"Yes, you built a waypoint," Charles answered kindly.

"Charles, we cannot trust him!" he exclaimed.

"I believe we can," Xavier smiled. Strange appreciated it. "Just because someone stumbles and loses their way doesn't mean they're lost forever."

At his statement, Gojo took a glance at the three men who exactly embodied what Professor X was describing.

Fushiguro Toji.

Geto Suguru.

Kamo Choso.

... You.

They didn't know how all this madness of yours was going to end, but they knew that whatever happened, it had consequently rippled down into a domino effect of you saving their lives and saving their world from the Culling Game.

"We will see what kind of Dr. Strange you are," Charles smiled, making Stephen nod appreciatively.

"Thank you."

Now the jujutsu sorcerers were looking at America and 838-Christine. Countless alarms were blaring in their ears, with more Ultron bots racing towards your location as explosions shook the building.

"Perimeter breakdown. All sentries engage. Intruder approaching," the bots repeated.

"Everybody out! Now!" Christine ordered to her colleagues and workers.

"It's Wanda," America realized in terror. You weren't gonna stop until you got her, huh? Immediately, Christine ran over to manually override America's biochamber restrictions. However, you seemed to already sense this, using your psionic energy to disrupt the communication technologies in the entire building.

"Ultron commands you to halt! Ultron commands you to halt!"

In the distance, they saw an Ultron sentry running into the explosion, only for its head to roll down the floor right after. You emerged from between two pillars, pulverizing the head with your powers without even looking at it.

"Shit, that one was personal against Ultron himself," Gojo whistled.

"Wait, has Mom been... barefoot all this time?" Yuuji blinked as you calmly marched your way into where America was.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! She's coming!" America cried out, utterly scared for her life as she slammed her hands on the bulletproof glass. Your face was emotionless—you were here for one thing only and nothing was going to stop you.

Even if these people tried to.

A woman landed in front of you with her jetpack and... vibranium shield? They saw your head tilt slightly in curiosity and slight familiarity. Instead of the typical white star on it, it was the Union Flag on it... and the woman wielding it... she was that woman on Cap's compass... Steve's first love. What was her name again? Ah, yes. Peggy. Peggy Carter.

After her was a man in a black suit and... was that a fork on his head? You didn't have a clue who he was but you were pretty sure he would be a hindrance to your plans.

The next one who flew down from the ground. She was very much like that woman you fought alongside with against Thanos, based on her uniform and powers. Captain Marvel. But... she looked familiar, too. Somehow. She resembled... what was her name? The last woman you spoke to in Westview and helped you... Geraldine. No, Monica. Your briefly wondered who exactly the Captain Marvel in front of you was before pushing the thought to the back of your head.

You didn't care. All you needed were your boys.

The last man was a man dressed in tight, blue and black suit and a number four emblem on his chest. He appeared to be the leader, based on how he was positioned in front of everyone—looking like he was about to negotiate with you. Impatiently, you kept glaring at all of them.

"Wanda, stop," Reed appealed, voice level—calming and nice. "You've possessed an innocent woman but you can still do the right thing. Let her go." He stepped forward slowly, a hand subtly raising up. Suddenly, you felt like a dog or a bull that was to be tamed by its owner. It annoyed you. "Please. I have children of my own. I can understand your pain," he pled, not wishing for a fight.

The jujutsu sorcerers observed you, who seemed to be in deep thought. Your face was blank, void of any emotion that signaled what you were about to do. Then, you spoke words that made the blood freeze in their veins. "Is their mother still alive?" you asked in a hushed, low volume.

"... Yes," Reed replied. He felt that he was finally getting you to reason. That you would stop this madness.

He was wrong.

"Good. There will be someone left to raise them," you added chillingly, the neutral expression on your face making you even scarier.

"... Oh, shit," Suguru cursed, hearing your statement. He briefly wondered if it was him in Reed's place, telling you about his own daughters, then you just brushing off his condolences like that.

Reed sighed, then turned to his teammate. "Wanda. Black Bolt can destroy you with one whisper from his mouth." Right as he said it, the Inhuman King opened his mouth—no sounds, just a warning.

You only stared at him, unfazed. "... What mouth?"

And just like that, it was gone.

Like his mouth had never existed in the first place, only plain skin replacing where it used to be. They didn't even blink once—there were no mind tricks here. His mouth had vanished at your will. They gasped.

"Mmmph!" Panicking, Black Bolt touched his face, trying to feel his mouth—the greatest weapon he's ever possessed. He screamed, only for it to be muffled within him and consequently, explode his brains inside out. His head grotesquely deflated. Blood dripped from his nostrils as he crashed to the floor.

The jujutsu sorcerers who had seen the entire ordeal were frozen to their feet, flabbergasted and frightened. They couldn't understand it. Their brains couldn't even comprehend it.

"Wha—" Gojo's mouth was agape. So were the others. "She just—"

"She... She..." Geto pinched himself. Was he dreaming? No? What?

"... The actual fuck?" Toji cussed in disbelief.

You just made someone's mouth disappear, on a whim, right before their very eyes. Even in the jujutsu world, no one—or not anyone they knew of—could just... do that unless it was an illusion.

This was real. This was your reality-warping in action once again.

Next was Reed, who tried to attack you. But you ripped Mister Fantastic into shreds, using his stretchy abilities against him and tearing him apart until his head ballooned and popped. You didn't even look affected as you killed two of this Earth's so-called mightiest heroes in less than ten seconds. Without breaking so much of a sweat.

"Y/N just turned him into string cheese!" Gojo exclaimed. "What the hell?!"

"... I now wonder if this is even her true potential," Nanami murmured. The other sorcerers looked at him in question.

"What do you mean?" Geto asked.

"Since she's only dreamwalking and she's not in her own body," Kento explained his thought process. "It would make sense if there's some sort of restriction on her. A limitation."

"You mean to say that she's not at her full power yet? After doing all that?" Toji's eyes widened.

"Maybe. Just maybe," Nanami replied, turning back to your fight against the female members of thr Illuminati. "It's just my thoughts."

Your eyes flared red as Captain Marvel and Captain Carter engaged you ina 2v1 battle. One was throwing energy blasts at you while the other was throwing a vibranium shield. Debris and concrete were flying everywhere as you tossed statues at your opponents. However, as a result, dust had flown up into the air around you, obstructing your vision. Peggy used this as a window to tackle you down.

But you had also been trained by two of your world's fighters. Black Widow and Captain America—with your late best friend slash sister being much more ruthless than the latter, practically handing over the training she got from the Red Room to you.

(Perhaps you could be an honorary Black Widow at this point. Hell, technically, you were already a widow after Viz died, weren't you?)

You were able to swiftly roll back from being tackled, glaring at Captain Carter.

"Haven't you had enough?" you grit out to the woman.

"Oh, I could do this all day," Peggy replied confidently, spitting out blood from her mouth. Her reply made you recall the blonde friend you once had. Wherever he was now.

But right now you couldn't care less about them. None of them mattered. Only Billy and Tommy. With that, the jujutsu sorcerers watched you imbue your magic and psionics in your hand-to-hand combat, reminding them of that time you fought Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight. Yet this time, you weren't on the defensive.

This time, you were very much on the offensive.

"... Damn," Toji nodded, impressed as he observed your movements as you threw Captain Carter across the room. You had astounding reflexes and agility. "That was pretty badass."

Whirr!

Captain Carter threw her vibranium shield to you. With your psionics, you easily caught it and prevented its impact, instead swinging it back to her with much more force than she did.

Whirr—

It sliced her cleanly in half, exactly where her midsection was. She could only let out one small gasp of shock, her upper body and lower body falling to the floor—blood and organs spilling out. The light in her eyes instantly dimmed, crimson gurgling from her dead mouth. Her bloody, stained shield implanted itself to the wall behind her. You? You only stared at the body, eyebrows ever so slightly furrowed—the only mixed reaction you've given to all the slaughter you caused.

For a moment, you thought about Steve. Just for a moment. It disappeared very quickly, the Darkhold's whispers of encouragement in your ear. You were very close to getting your children. Just a little more.

"... Holy shit," Gojo stared at the bifurcated cadaver in front of them, still so fresh. "She cut this lady in half with her own shield. Half! Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit."

"Fucking brutal," Toji muttered. "But I'm not one to judge." Sure, he's an assassin, but that was one real clean cut there and admittedly, one of the most savage methods to murder someone. Very... Final Destination.

"... I'd rather not stare at it," Nanami inwardly shuddered, turning to look at your thinking face, instead. He was already hiding a sick-looking Megumi behind him and a frightened Yuuji, too.

Your other enemy, Captain Marvel, emerged from the wall you'd tossed her in, blasting extremely concentrated energy at you. For a moment, they saw you in your original body, hair flying around and your face scrunched up in concentration as you released even more of your power in your alternate self's body. As a result, you began sucking in Captain Marvel's energy blast and her power, too, her uniform breaking and fading away.

"Raaaagh!" you yelled as you overpowered her, blowing her away to a large statue. You quickly used your psionics to wrap around the statue, pulling it down until it crashed onto Captain Marvel, appearing to kill her. You'd taken a lot of her power, after all. Maybe you'd rendered her useless, just like a normal human. Again, you didn't care. Not your priority.

"She's just slaughtering everyone who comes in her way," Choso spoke out, more and more shocked at getting to know the seemingly sweet woman he's known.

Meanwhile, Strange was purposefully riling up 838-Mordo, cunningly using the latter's anger to fight and get out of his restraints. (Honestly, it reminded them of how Gojo would piss enemies off, too. What was it with smartass genius sorcerers and their overly huge ego?)

Finally, you had arrived right behind where America was contained. She had punched a small hole into it, amazing Christine, but it wasn't enough to set her free. They gazed at you—barefoot, limping, bruised, bloodied, and covered in oil—in horror for what you were about to do next.

"Enough!" a voice called out.

You snarled, your hand glowing red once more at the person who dared interrupt your goals again. It was a bald man in a wheelchair. He raised his right hand to his temple and his left hand towards you.

Suddenly, it transported all of them—including the jujutsu sorcerers—into the mind of 838-Wanda. 838-You. They winced, seeing glimpses of you, the original one. You were screaming in pain, for the first time since Agatha, getting your mind forcefully invaded and broken in. It was shaking the dreamwalking connection, making you feel nauseous. Like a huge migraine or headache pummeling your head.

"Aaaaagh!" you wailed, eyes still shut.

"Mom! She's—" Yuuji gulped, looking at you in concern. The others had the same look, too. "She's in pain." Despite what he'd just seen you do, seeing your pained, crying face still hurt him. A lot. It always would.

Then, your original self vanished from view. And they found themselves in... somewhere. It was all white everywhere, except for a broken concrete structure and a single, standing door in the middle. It was completely silent, except for Charles's footsteps. The door creaked open. He entered it, the jujutsu sorcerers following curiously behind him. In front of them were a bunch of fallen debris, with some random knick-knacks here and there. On the bottom center was a pitch black hole.

"... Is that WandaVision playing on that TV over there?" Nanami asked, pointing.

"Oh. You're right. It is WandaVision," Gojo answered in wonder. "That 1950s-themed one in black and white, yeah? Where she was in a wedding dress?"

"Uh-huh," Megumi said, frowning. "I don't like this place. Really damn creepy."

"Creepier than any of your missions?" Geto asked.

"Yup."

Right as he answered, a hand shot out from the pitch black hole, making all of them flinch along with Charles.

"Shit. Thought it was going to be the Grudge Mirror Dimension all over again," Geto placed a hand over his beating heart.

"This is not good for my blood pressure," Toji scowled, cracking his neck.

"... Never knew you were such an old man," Gojo snickered, only for the black-haired middle-aged man to give him the finger in response.

"Help me. Please," 838-You whispered, trying to reach her hand out more from where she was stuck.

"Wanda Maximoff. Your mind is being held hostage by your alternate self," Professor X explained. At that moment, the debris over her began to teeter over, trapping 838-Wanda even further below.

"Uh-oh... again..." Yuuji said, concerned as sirens began ringing in the background.

"Grab my hand!" Charles ordered. "Perhaps, if I can pull you from under the rubble, the spell will break!" Panting, your other self was able to slightly squeeze her head out, but only until her shoulders. The rest of her body was still trapped.

"Hey... look," Megumi pointed behind them with wide eyes. They all pivoted backwards, seeing an ill-boding, crimson fog approaching them. Professor X froze. The blaring sirens turned into hushed, feminine whispers in Sokovian, chanting, echoing in their ears.

They saw a flash of your original body back in the Darkhold Castle, cold sweat on your forehead, with you looking... less lively than before while you regained control over your other self's mind.

838-You was terrifyingly pulled back into the darkness, like she was being dragged down to the pits of hell once more.

Scream!

Then, they all flinched as a pair of elongated, sharp talons with blackened tips wrapped around Charles's entire face. A monster with cracked, chalky skin, bloody red eyes and decayed, pointed teeth throughly ripped it open in two different directions.

Back in the research facility, Professor X's actual body slumped down lifelessly, blood dripping from his eyes. Your eyes dimmed down into their normal color as you stared coldly at the man's corpse. However, you then saw that Chavez and 838-Christine were gone. As they reunited with Dr. Strange, the jujutsu sorcerers stared at one another. Sukuna was the only one chuckling in amusement.

"Heh. This oughta be the best thing I've ever seen," the mouth on Yuuji's face grinned wide. "Heh!" It was confirmed in his head now. Ryomen Sukuna, King of Curses, saw you as his partner. His equal.

"... That... monster... was Mom, wasn't she?" Yuuji quietly asked, spooked as his eyes darted around skittishly.

"Yeah," Nanami answered somberly. This time, you did look like an actual cursed spirit—eyes, skin, teeth and claws. It only happened for what, five seconds? But the appalling image was imprinted in their heads.

"She snapped his neck?" Megumi clarified. His father shook his head, eyes narrowed.

"No. It looked like she did, but she didn't." He glanced at Megumi. "She ripped it open with her bare hands."

"Damn," Choso muttered.

Funnily enough, they were only speed-walking behind America, Stephen, and Christine as they searched for the waypoint to the Book of Vishanti. But when you—looking like a zombie—forcefully opened the metal doors that the trio had closed, angry red eyes staring into them, something inside them told them to run, too, even if this was the past.

It was a 6D experience, after all.

So when you blasted the storage room with your powers and a stray computer screen knocked Gojo over the head, they were shocked. They were lucky enough to not be harmed during the Battle of Kamar-Taj, but that was proof that anything happening here—in spite of it being in the past—could physically affect them.

"Oh shit! Satoru!" Geto cussed, dragging his best friend out of the way.

"What—" Gojo was shocked. Yes, he didn't have his powers, but he was affected.

"Sensei! Did it actually hit you!?" Yuuji exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah, holy crap..." Gojo blinked, rubbing his head as he processed what was happening. "Ow? That hurt. A lot." A rapidly-forming bruise on his skin was evidence that he had been hit.

"Then I think we should all run, too! Now!" Nanami shouted—for once, raising his voice in alarm as they stared at your terrifying form in the doorway. Right as he said that, Strange was warning America and Christine.

"Go! Go, go, go, go!" Stephen urgently yelled. The jujutsu sorcerers followed after them, running as fast as they could from you—even overtaking Chavez, Strange, and Christine.

When they looked behind their shoulders, you were there—bloodied, limping on one leg, stepping on broken glass shards and debris with no shoes, blasting away doors and blockages.

"I feel like I'm in a horror movie!" Yuuji cried out as he ran. "You know, being chased by a crazy killer in a stinky tunnel! I love Mom but crap, I really wanna pee right now!"

"Me too! Holy shit!" Gojo yelled. "I've seen too many fucking jumpscares today from Y/N!"

Christine was able to close a door before you could pass, though. They staggered to a stop, hearing only the drops of water from the river above them.

Drop. Drop. Drop.

"Why the fuck did we stop?" Toji whispered harshly. "Shouldn't we continue running?"

"Same thoughts," Geto muttered, listening intently for any sign of you.

"She's here. Somewhere. Probably gonna pop out of nowhere," Gojo said with a nervous frown. "So just keep your eyes peeled. She won't lose America so easily."

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.

"Where did she go?" America whispered, scared.

Snarl!

You came out out of the shadows, the dim, flickering lights of the tunnel blinking over your red eyes.

"I swear, for a fucking moment, I saw that monster in her face," Gojo rubbed his eyes. "Not kidding. She looked a hella lot like Valak just now."

"... I saw it, too," Megumi swallowed quietly. "Her face... it was all cracked and decayed... and her teeth..."

"It was pointy. All of them," Choso murmured, watching you approach America.

"... So her appearance right now, it might be an illusion, too," Nanami deduced, moving back slowly with the others. "Her face might not be... well, as nice as we know it to be."

"The Darkhold's taken Y/N's pretty face, too? Well, shit," Geto snorted. However, when they looked at you now, it looks like you'd "fixed" your face to be normal again. "Thank God she destroyed the last one last time."

No wonder you were so good at fooling them you were an old woman when they first knew you. You could fix up your face, body, and surroundings any way you wanted.

"I warned you," you told Strange lowly.

"Other Wanda, if you're in there," Strange's hands lit up orange. "Hold your breath." He then proceeded to make river waters crash down on you, giving them time to run to the waypoint.

Fortunately, 616-Strange was able to open it. And it took them back to where Supreme Strange and America were first running from the Ribboned Creature. In the center was the shining Book of Vishanti. They all jumped down into the Gap Junction, the Space Between Universes.

"Really shiny up close, isn't it?" Gojo whispered in awe.

"Yeah," Geto and the others exhaled.

"Give me what I need," Strange murmured, taking the Book of Vishanti carefully from its seat.

"I think we're forgetting something," Yuuji scratched his head.

Their eyes widened. "They didn't close the damn door!" Nanami yelled and turned around, only for America to be literally dragged by the hair with red magic.

"It wouldn't have made much of a difference!" Gojo argued, eyes wide. "She can blast it open anyway!"

You were extremely pissed from being drenched in river water. This had to end now.

Christine cried out, running to America, only for Strange to stop her and protectively place a hand in front of her. Strange fired a blast of Eldritch magic at you, only for you to absorb it with your free hand and deflect it back to him and Christine, sweeping them off their feets. Tragically, the backlash also hit the Book of Vishanti, burning it to ash.

"Shit!" the jujutsu sorcerers cussed, ducking to avoid the violent blast.

You lifted America's struggling form from the ground with one hand, annoyed. Instantly, you took over her mind—as evidenced by her eyes glowing blue and her going limp. You manipulated it to open a random dimension in the Multiverse, using your magic to restrict Christine and Strange then toss them into the portal.

Wasting no time, you once more controlled America's mind to open a portal to your original universe. And there it was. Your own body, sitting cross-legged in the air, surrounded by sanguine wisps allowing you to dreamwalk. With a dark smile on your face—now that you were finally getting what you wanted—you tossed America into the portal. Then, in your original body, you opened your eyes—ceasing the dreamwalking spell.

As the portal slowly closed, the jujutsu sorcerers ran to the other side where original you was. And their last vision was 838-Wanda falling to her knees tiredly, finally in control of her own body, no matter how battered you caused it to be.

"My boys..." 838-You mumbled worriedly, levitating back to the entrance of the waypoint to the Gap Junction.

Behind the terrified America, the anxious jujutsu sorcerers watched as you wordlessly stared at the girl as you stepped closer, like you were wondering what to do next.

"... She looks different," Megumi pointed out, squinting. "The same, but really different?"

"Mom looks... sick," Yuuji frowned. He's frowned probably more than a hundred times today, seeing how your life played out.

"Yeah. It's the crazy look in her eyes," Gojo answered quietly, noticing the darkened bags around your eyes and that your skin tone had become ashier—like the Darkhold was physically (and mentally) making you ill. Your hair was wilder, messier.

You truly did look insane. Even the way you were staring at America, like she was some sort of prey; it wasn't like the normal you.

"The isn't what your children would want!" America weakly told you, only for you to ruthlessly throw her onto the sacrificial altar of the Darkhold Castle and pin her down. You circled her like a predator, the jujutsu sorcerers watching uneasily. You stopped right behind America's head, your blackened fingers mindlessly stroking the cool stone of the altar. You gave America an emotionless smile.

"They'll never know," you replied offhandedly, sending chills down their spines.

"Maybe not," America shot back. "But you will."

For a few seconds, you appeared to contemplate your whole decision. Like a glimpse of your kinder, uncorrupted self had shone through. Then, the scene rapidly changed to Strange and Christine, who had become stuck in a bleak universe where an Incursion had happened. They met... other, other Strange... who seemed a lot more sinister than all the other Strange variants they'd met. He had a longer beard, and his skin—ashy and pale, almost lifeless, like yours. This... Sinister Strange possessed a Darkhold.

"Careful. The Darkhold exacts a heavy toll," Sinister Strange declared, refusing to give 616-Strange the Book of the Damned. His words resonated through the jujutsu sorcerers, remembering how much you had changed. "Not just on its reality, but on its reader."

Eventually, the whole conversation took a dark turn, with a third eye ominously appearing on Sinister Strange's forehead.

"Ew. Reminds me of that damned Prison Realm," Gojo cringed as the two Stephens broke out into a fight made out of musical notes. It ended with Sinister Strange falling off the Sanctum, dying when he fell through the pointed entrance gates.

Then, they were momentarily back at the Darkhold Castle, seeing Wong suprisingly alive and trying to climb up. On the other hand, you had spread your arms to the side, beginning to siphon America's powers from her body. She screamed in agony as your hands and the sacrificial altar below her glowed crimson.

Strange, now holding the Darkhold, was attempting to execute the dreamwalking spell with the help of Christine.

"While I'm under, I need you to protect my body in case they attack me for trespassing," Stephen disclosed.

"Who's they?" Christine and the jujutsu sorcerers chorused.

"The souls of the damned." With that, Stephen summoned multiple candles from around the Sanctum, beginning to dreamwalk.

"Okay...? But doesn't a version of you have to live in that universe so that you can dreamwalk into them?" 838-Christine asked, confused.

Stephen peeked an eye open, "Who said they had to be living?"

That was when the jujutsu sorcerers found themselves where Supreme Strange was buried. Thunder rumbled from around them. His hand shot out as he rose from the ground, bones cracking as he opened a portal to Mount Wundagore. This time, it was Geto who was severely disturbed.

"I don't... like this," he muttered, looking away instead as he briefly recalled what Kenjaku had done to him. Up to this day, he still felt violated. Possessing a dead man's body? Yeah. He didn't have the greatest experience with that.

And the jujutsu sorcerers were back in Mount Wundagore, shivering in the icy cold. However, from Supreme Strange's corpse emerged dark, skeleton-like spirits.

"Stephen Strange!" they snarled, attacking him. "Possessing a dead body is forbidden!"

"Forbidden!"

"Trespasser! Trespasser! Trespasser!"

"Cease your dreamwalk, or face the eternal consequences!"

Weirdly enough, three of the spirits turned to them, making the hairs on their skins rise. The three approached them, hissing. "Trespassers! Trespassers!"

"Into the wretched memories of the Scarlet Witch!"

"How shameful!"

"How deplorable!"

"Sinners, sinners, sinners! All of you, who destroy the cursed!"

They were stunned. No beings in your memories had ever interacted with them. Yes, they experienced everything with their senses, but this? This was new. And were they... talking about cursed spirits? Were the souls of the damned cursed spirits, too? Vengeful ones?

Thankfully, before the souls of the damned could do any harm, Stephen was able to overpower them with Christine's help, using them as makeshift wings. They were all transported to the Darkhold Castle. Your head snapped towards Strange, stopping the ritual to get America's power.

"Dreamwalking, you hypocrite!" you screamed. Scornfully, you threw a blast of Chaos Magic at him, only for the souls of the damned to eat it up like dinner. You threw another blast at him, but he dodged it, directing the souls to you. They swarmed at you like bees, chanting and cackling. And for once, it was you who was frightened and wide-eyed, caught like a deer in headlights.

"Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!"

"Those things are scary," Yuuji winced, seeing as Wong restricted you in another magical ball along with the souls of the damned. "Kinda feel sorry for Mom."

Strange set America free, encouraging her that there was only one way to defeat you. At that same moment, you released a powerful blast of energy, escaping the souls and the magic restriction you were in. You paced towards Strange, throwing a ball of Chaos Magic at him, which dissolved his dead body like acid.

Well, at least until a roaring America Chavez landed a solid punch at you, creating shockwaves all over Mount Wundagore.

"Damn, that kid packs a punch," Gojo and the others were impressed.

"I'm even more shocked Y/N's still standing after that," Toji added. "Her durability's out of this world."

America stared at her fist in shock, then looked up at you confidently, "Uh-huh."

You were cradling your jaw, mania in your eyes as you madly smiled back, panting, "Mmmhmm—agh!"

America landed three more punches and a kick to your stomach, opening a portal that nearly made you fall into the boiling, lava-filled pits of Hel. Yes, Hel.

"I'm amazed by how durable she is but now Y/N really looks like she escaped from a mental asylum," Geto commented, arms crossed. "She looks insane! And not in a good way!"

"... Huh. It looks like Vecna's lair behind her," Yuuji pointed to the portal, shrugging. "Just saying."

Balancing yourself once more, you slowly—terrifyingly—turned back to America, a murderous glare in your eyes as you stopped being the punching bag. If looks could kill, America would've been dead long ago. You overpowered the girl, blocking her punch with your magic. The portal to Hel closed.

"I can't beat you," America realized, then closing her hand into a fist. "So I'll give you what you want." With that, she landed another strong punch at you, opening a portal. The jujutsu sorcerers watched, aghast as you lifted America by the neck with one hand, strangling her.

Just like what Agatha did to your Billy and Tommy.

Just like what Thanos did to Vision.

Unbeknowst to you, you had become the very thing you hated. The very person you despised.

The jujutsu sorcerers, on the other hand, witnessed your downfall. All of it.

"What was the saying?" Gojo murmured, remembering how you faded into dust during The Snap. "You either die a hero..."

"... Or live long enough to become the villain," Geto finished, looking at his surroundings. At the same time, you realized where you were. And you saw your boys, sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating popcorn peacefully.

"Billy... Tommy..." you breathed, only for them to scream in fear at the sight of you.

"Mommy! It's the witch!" the twins screamed, dropping their bowl of popcorn and running over the sofa.

"What. Have. You. Done," you hissed to America, tightening your hold on her neck as your hair flew wildly around your head.

"Damn, Y/N, this isn't you," Gojo muttered, shaking his head.

"Mom!" the twins shouted as your other self came running down the stairs, all washed up and changed into new clothes, but still scratched and bruised. She moved in front of the twins protectively, one hand glowing red, but it was clear she hadn't mastered her powers and didn't use them very much, judging by the terror and apprehension painted on her face. Her powers were primitive in comparison to yours.

"Wait! Boys!" you cried out desperately.

"It's okay, it's okay," 838-You assured them.

"I'M YOUR MOTHER!" you asserted viciously, chucking the couch to the wall. "Get away from them!" You then proceeded to fling your other self to the corner, making the jujutsu sorcerers wince at your cruelty. Other you screamed as she was thrown into a cabinet of books. She fell roughly to the floor.

"... That's how delusional she's become from the Darkhold?" Choso blinked, feeling pity for your variant. She's been through much over the past day.

Seeing what you did to their mom, 838-Billy and 838-Tommy ran down the stairs, hurling toys and multiple items at you. "Mommy! Get away from our mom!"

You blocked their throws with your arms, trying to appease and calm them with a gentler tone, "Hey—boys—stop!"

"You're not our real mom!"

"Please—please—"

"Get out of our house!"

"Wait, boys, stop it—"

"You're not our mom! Get out! Go away!"

It was when they threw a whole scooter at you that your patience snapped.

"STOP IT!" you screeched in a shrill, earsplitting volume, eyes hysterical. They all flinched in fear. Even the jujutsu sorcerers grew silent. They'd never seen you scream like that before.

Afraid, the twins retreated to the opposite side of the staircase. Slowly, with a joyful smile, you approached them, reaching out to touch their faces with your very hands after so, so long.

"Please don't hurt us," Tommy begged.

"Please," Billy sniffled, scared for himself and his brother.

Their words made you freeze in your spot. "... I would never hurt you," you assured them in a whisper, shaking your head. "Never." A single tear dropped to your cheek. "I would never hurt anyone. I'm not a monster."

Slowly, their young, terrified eyes peeked behind you, looking at their beaten, whimpering mother. Their eyes turned back to you, telling you it was a lie.

It was all a lie.

And everything came crashing down to you in realization, their gazes harsh as you slowly detached yourself from the influence of the Darkhold.

Murderer. That was what the souls of the damned labeled you as.

Monster. That was what these children saw you as.

And they were right.

"I'm—" you stammered, stepping back from Billy and Tommy. The jujutsu sorcerers watched as your pale, chapped lips began to tremble, more tears falling down your cheeks.

Oh, God. What have you done?

"... I-I'm sorry," you barely choked out, shaking as you placed a hand over your mouth. Other you tried to get up, only for her to stumble down helplessly. She was too injured and exhausted.

"Mom!" Billy and Tommy ran to her. Not you. "Are you okay!?"

"Hi! Hi!" she breathed out, touching their faces. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

Those were the exact same words you told your Billy and Tommy when they were running to you when you closed the hole in Westview during the fight against Agatha. To save them. And their father.

Seeing this, you sobbed, a hand over your stomach. Empty. Void of your children. Your twins. Your babies. To everyone else, it wasn't real. But to you? It was real. It was real to you.

The jujutsu sorcerers watched as you fell to your knees, crying at the familiar yet different sight.

"How long has it been since WandaVision?" Geto asked the others, crestfallen seeing you.

"A few months, perhaps? Maybe a year?" Nanami answered mournfully.

"You think... you think that maybe, Y/N had postpartum depression?" Suguru murmured.

"... Yeah. Likely," Toji replied, gazing at your kneeling form, clutching your stomach.

"Then she's no different to all the mothers in Japan who've lost a child," Nanami said. "And out of grief, brought to life cursed spirits." It wasn't uncommon. They'd exorcised many cursed spirits like that. Miscarriages, stillbirths... a mother's pain and suffering was unlike any other.

"... What is grief, if not love persevering?" Choso repeated to himself the words your late husband said to you.

"Unfortunately, love is the most twisted curse of them all, neh, Gojo-sensei?" Yuuji wiped his tears, sniffing at seeing you cry.

Gojo was quiet for a few moments, "... Yeah. It is."

All this madness and chaos, born out of your love. You had so much of it to share and spare, yet received none because all your loved ones were gone. The Scarlet Witch, born and forged, was just like a cursed spirit.

And your curse? It was love.

Your alternate self stood up, cautiously approaching you. The twins tried to stop her, but she assured them it was fine. You couldn't find it in yourself to look at her out of guilt and shame. You'd wrecked her world, her home, and her own body. It was unforgivable.

Then, she reached out to you, touching your cheek. Who else was there to comfort you... but you?

"It's okay," the jujutsu sorcerers heard from around them. It was your voice—no, it was your variant speaking to you. Telepathically. "I've had nightmares... over past few weeks... but they're not nightmares, are they?"

You slowly opened your teary eyes to look at your other self, so same, yet so different.

"They were your life. What you'd lived. What you've gone through," she told you mentally. Mirthlessly. "And while I was having those nightmares, you were having dreams. Dreams of my life. What I've lived. And all the happiness that was unfairly stolen from you. While you were possessing me, I also saw what you've seen from our other alternate selves. Their happy lives, too. I can't imagine how much pain you're in, being the only one who's gone through so much. The only one who's been deprived of a loving life."

You were silent, staring at her sadly.

"I'm sorry. For everything you've had to endure alone—" she murmured in your mind, her warm hand calming you. "Mother. Father. Pietro. Vision. Billy. Tommy."

You pursed your lips, tears welling in your eyes once more.

"I forgive you," she whispered. You stared at her—so good and kind. Capable of forgiveness. What you once were before you became... this. Then, finally, she spoke out loud as she removed her hand from your cheek. "Know that they'll be loved," she announced, reading your mind. Your only question to her. Your only wish—telling her to take care of them.

From the sidelines, listening and watching, some of them had silent tears fall down their faces. It was a painful goodbye, just like the one you had with Vision and your children. This time, you had to let go. Again. America closed the portal, bringing you back to the Darkhold Castle. You cried, knowing what you had to do next. You levitated towarda the sacrificial altar, kneeling down, hands glowing a misty, reddish-black. This time, you would be the sacrifice. Then, they saw in your face, the same exact expression you had when Thanos snapped his fingers.

Staring up at the sky hopelessly, waiting for death to come and take you once and for more. But as much as you wanted to, your Chaos Magic wouldn't allow you to die.

Not when you were the Scarlet Witch.

The Darkhold Castle began shaking. You allowed America and Wong to return to Kamar-Taj, leaving you alone with Stephen, who was still dreamwalking in his other self's corpse. They saw you slowly turn to him, repentant. This time, it was sincere, unlike that time in the apple orchard.

"I opened the Darkhold," you whispered regretfully. "I have to close it. No one will ever be tempted by the Darkhold again."

Strange slowly nodded at you. And inwardly, he was right about you. He knew that deep inside, you were a good person. Just hurt and lonely. He knew that as always, you would set things right in the end. And he never doubted that. Just because one has stumbled and lost his way doesn't mean that they're lost forever. Professor X told him that. And it looks like you were able to read his mind.

With your powers, you made the Darkhold fall, taking it down with you in it. Before they could be hit, the jujutsu sorcerers were suddenly teleported afar to a cliff overlooking the crumbling castle, their last sight of you being a blast of red.

"Mom—" Yuuji whispered worriedly. Suddenly, they were with 838-Christine and Strange. The former neurosurgeon woke the unconscious woman up.

"... Is it over?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Is America okay?"

"She's on her way to get us."

Christine swallowed, "... Wanda?"

The jujutsu sorcerers' ears perked up. Strange, sadly, shook his head. "No." At that moment, though, the Darkhold beside them burned into ash from red flames.

"So she destroyed the Darkhold in every universe," Strange realized.

"She did the right thing," Christine smiled.

"Yes. She did." Strange smiled back.

The consequent scenes they were seeing now all seemed glitchy, but then they saw you—in another universe—destroy the knowledge and contents of the Darkhold. You absorbed the entity chained in the main Darkhold: Chthon, the primordial god of chaos. Somewhat like Cthulhu. A Lovecraftian beast.

"You do not possess me, Chthon," they heard your voice declare as you absorbed the god. "I possess you."

None of them knew that something was chained and sealed within you—something that that ancient and dangerous. It was almost ironic: like mother, like son. Chthon was sealed within you while Sukuna was stuck inside Yuuji.

Then they saw snippets of you with Agatha... then Loki... and other individuals. The glitchy flashbacks with you ended when a hole appeared in the now-empty space they were in... and a feminine hand dragged them out one by one.

Thankfully, it didn't have talons or crooked fingers. They knew it was you who'd come to save them.

The sorcerers were back in their world; in your living room, specifically. You—the present you they knew as Y/N L/N—were staring at them with an unreadable expression. Were you angry? Were you pissed? Were you sad?

"... I'm not angry," you told them all quietly, reading their thoughts and everything they'd seen. "You've seen it all. What I've done." You chewed your lips, suddenly averting your gaze. "But what matters is that you're all okay and in one piece. Whatever... spell Agatha put in that flash drive had gone bonkers and dragged you all into it." They were silent as they stared at you, still processing those last few scenes of you they were able to see. "I'm sorry—"

Ding dong!

Your doorbell rang. Sighing, you walked away from the jujutsu sorcerers and opened the doors (thankfully, you'd magicked up the heater and everything else in the house before dragging the boys out of the television screen). You blinked at the person at the door, wrapped in lots of thick layers but still shivering from the blizzard outside. Did he... travel all the way from the grocery shop to here?

"You... uh... d-dropped y-y-your keys," Higuruma stammered from how freezing it was outside. He handed you your keys. Wide-eyed, you immediately let him in, worried about how long he's been in the cold.

That was when he saw the guys in your living room, all scrutinizing him and wondering who he was and how he knew you.

"Who the hell are you?" It was Sukuna who spoke... as a mouth... on Yuuji's cheek. He wasn't supposed to hear or see anything since he wasn't a sorcerer, but the jujutsu sorcerers were only shocked when he tilted his head at Yuuji in question.

"Attorney Higuruma Hiromi," he introduced himself, unintimidated by all these men glaring at him. He's had worse, facing criminals and all. And right, he also sees those weird spirit thingies. He always has since he was a kid. In the corner, you sighed, leading Higuruma to the kitchen to offer him something warm to drink. You popped your head back into the living room, eyes boring into the speechless jujutsu sorcerers.

"I'll talk to you boys later."

At least they were back home again...?

(to be continued)

Author's Note: Hi, everyone! It's been a while! Sorry for being gone for so long and being inactive, even in answering my asks. Thank you also for your patience. After my very draining and somewhat hectic slash traumatic semester last June, my body basically took a break. Mentally, physically, and emotionally. All I did was rest, do nothing, and catch up on sleep for a month or so. I also went home to visit my dad, spending time with my family and looking for other ways to earn extra income from other gigs because I need to save up on allowance. Then... after that and currently, I'm working on my thesis because dang, I'm halfway through college now! Wow! Still, I tried my best to really write the entire DSMOM2 accurately inbetween my short breaks—so that was almost 2 hours of dialogue plus brainstorming for the JJK men's reactions. I hope you understand! And thank you all so much for your overwhelming support! I can't promise when the next updates will be, because time flies so fast and I'll have to move away from home, into a dorm, in less than a month since my 3rd year of uni begins again. It's hella stressful, but I'm 2 years away from graduating as a speech-language therapist! 🙏🥰

[TL ; DR: Got burnt out from school, took a vacation and mental health break + social media detox, gonna become a junior college student soon, could really use some extra money from writing these fics. I love writing and it's emotionally fulfilling, but physically and time-wise, really exhausting. 😅]

If you can and wish to, please support me on my Ko-Fi here! Thank you so much to whoever would like to help me out more even if writing is just my hobby! I'd appreciate it a lot. ☕️

Reblogs, comments, hearts, constructive criticism, and any kind of interaction are much welcome! Thank you for 1100+ notes on this fic. I've never imagined it would get so far. I'm hoping to publish it on AO3 if I find time. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts about this chapter and even just the DSMOM2 film! See you next time! And please don't spam my inbox about when the next chapter will come out. You can ask, but a reminder to please ask nicely and don't be demanding! 🤨‼️

(For the taglist, I'll try to keep up with all the requests to be added but I've kinda lost track, hehe. Just comment in this chapter if I forgot to add you or you would want to be added or if you've updated your name/URL. 💗)

taglist: @vampireindistress @sparklingmallow @gummy-dummy @haleypearce @artemishunter18 @torasshu-sama @thewordfae @nanamin-pointo @whoreuc @simpinsimpleton @sache41 @osiris1rhi @crzyinluve @dame-sunflowers @thirstyfangirl @yuh-tears @vespertio @butyfigers @fiona782 @t-misaki @jihaegguk @revenge-of-the-bucket-demon @beeframon @simpforporcoandlevi @unkn0wn2024 @dibhachu @todaywasafairytale07 @vishousmate @tangoogle @lyralibra @fleurwritesitsblossom @deviljoonie @pearlstiare @moss-murin @surhii @senjuasuna @njisano @marbleii @sheitsme @kiyosato @moonchild-artemisdaughter @shadowyknightbeargoth @yuki-chan23 @akuri-shinsou @tellatoast @nako-ley @depresso-404error @siriusblackrunmeover17 @lovely-maryj

@tojidilfs @ikisstoga @sleepydang @fall-myriad @friedtyrantthing @bl6o6dy @fandomfangirl006 @lovely-maryj @marycarabell @bealiz13 @lowilaufeyson @eva-616

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE SEVEN || ASSAULT

↳ featuring : fushiguro megumi + kugisaki nobara + zenin maki + inumaki toge + panda from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of forced marriage + EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 28 february

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 2.5k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : after rain 

↳ next episode : boredom

↳ barista’s notes : hi again....barista violettelueur is back from the shadows of not writing anything  ┬┴┬┴┤•ᴥ•ʔ├┬┴┬┴ but i want to apologies to you all for not working on your coffee orders, i just been really being in a non productive mood theses days but i should really bring it back up since i have mocks coming in soon....ʕ ㅇ ᴥ ㅇʔ but overall, i hope you enjoy today’s episode and have a wonderful day/night ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only.

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’ - but none is mentioned in this chapter.

2.5 for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique

no cursed spells used this episode...

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing.

“I think you can do that,” you stated in a quiet tone, causing Fushiguro to look in your direction only to see you staying still in the position that you had set yourself in before slowly pulling yourself back up to sit in a normal position, leading Fushiguro to go back to what he was in deep thought about.

‘I don’t get it, though. Why...did you run back then? What a waste of talent, but the girl back at that place, she knows how to use her technique extremely well’

“You possess such intellect, such skill, such power and such talent and yet you refuse to go against me with your full potential, are you mocking me?”

‘I have the potential to beat special grades? Is that what he meant by that?’ Fushiguro thought, before turning to look at you to discover you were looking into the distance while continuously sipping on your orange juice like the addict you were. 

‘What was she trying to tell me? It seemed like L/N knows something...intellect?’

Slowly but curiously, Fushiguro began to reciprocate your previous movements by letting his hand touch the step between his legs before waiting for a second to see what you were trying to inform him, only for his hand to steadily go deeper into his shadow leading him to widen his eyes at this discovery.

“Tuna, tuna,” Inumaki mentioned, as he pointed at Fushiguro since he noticed what he was doing, leading Zenin and Panda to look at their classmate wanting to know what he was trying to bring their attention to.

“Huh? What?” Zenin asked in confusion, before turning her head in the shikigami user’s direction to realise what he was doing.

“Senpai, I think I can do it,” Fushiguro stated, with a rare smile before looking in your direction once again to see you were still staring at the field in front of you.

‘Such intellect…’

                                               ꕥ

 “Ahh?”

Suddenly, after you masterfully was able to swipe Zenin’s footing with the metal pole-arm she had given you for the practice match, you were suddenly hoisted into the arm once you fully turned around, only to suddenly find Panda effortlessly lift you up with his paws on either side, catching you by complete surprise.

“Are they finally going to get her?!” Kugisaki shouted in question since, for the past few days of training, no one was able to defeat you in any of the practice matches they had set out.

However, before Panda could act of on his plan, you gracefully spun your body around to face the other way like a professional gymnast before concentrating your cursed energy to your leg and foot as you swang down to kick the sorcerer in the back causing the animal to let go of the pole in pain as he fell while you landed with some stagger since you didn’t have enough time to plan your footing with Inuamki behind you to make sure you didn’t fall down.

“Maybe not...” Fushiguro muttered while sitting next to his classmate as both of them were sitting on the stairs spectating the fight going on between you and the two other second-years.

“Wow!” Kugisaki gleefully mentioned as she lightly clapped her hands for your performance.

“Ah sorry senpai, did I kick you too hard?” you sincerely asked, as you crouch down by his side to check if he was doing okay, to which he gave you a thumbs up to indicate his well-being before praising you for your performance which led you to stand up straight to move over to Zenin to give her a hand on getting back up.

“You’re really strong,” Zenin muttered with a smile causing you to smile back before stating, “Nah, you really made it challenging since it’s been a while since I fought someone good with weapons,” which lead your upperclassmen to tell you to get Fushiguro since it was his turn.

Leisurely walking to your classmates by the stairs, you casually threw the pole towards Fushiguro, who caught it instantly, before mentioning to him that it was his turn to train with Zenin leading him to get up from his seat to move to his designated area for you to then take his seat next to Kugisaki, leading to your classmate to place her head on your shoulder as you took out your phone to scroll through a bit.

“Is that your sister, Gojo?” Kugisaki question, leading you to turn your head slightly to look down at her only to find her staring down at the screen of your phone to which you turned back to you.

“No, that’s my mother,” you answered as you stare down at your wallpaper that showcases a picture with you and your mother in what seemed to be in a professional setting as you both were seated on what seemed to be on an antique-like style couch while wearing similar baby-blue colour dresses as you had a familiar bouquet of blue hydrangeas with white roses in hand.

“Really?! She looks so young,” Kugisaki commented, as she, in a state of shock, grabbed your wrist and looked closer into the screen to observe the picture. “You really suit baby-blue as well, but black is more of your suit in my opinion,” your classmate commented as she released her grip before lifting her head off your shoulder to peer at your outfit.

At this current moment in time, you were wearing some black nylon cargo joggers as well as black trainers paired with a long-sleeved black cropped top since you knew it was going to be a little hot today but you never really liked wearing bright colours - you were just more comfortable with darker ones like your uniform.

“Do you think so? So, should I get this Balenciaga bag then?” you asked as you tilted the phone towards her to show the bag that has been on your wishlist for some time.

“You like Balenciaga too?!” Kugisaki screamed in shock as she turned to you with widened eyes, resulting in your doing the same, only for you both to then suddenly thoroughly search the whole website to tell each other your favourite items while planning a shopping trip together since you both were giving each other ideas on clothing to purchase.

“That’s such a cute jumper,” you commented, as you, once again, presented Kugisaki your phone for her to agree with you before showing a jacket that she has been eyeing for quite some time. “That looks so good, you could pair it with a jean skirt and maybe a top, maybe orange to match your hair,” you commented, leading Kugisaki to smile and nod at you.

“That jumper is quite long, so you could wear like a cropped white turtleneck or maybe the same coloured blue dress shirt, add that to your wishlist!” Kugisaki mentioned, while at the same time pressing the heart icon to add the item on your wishlist without you lifting a single finger.

Suddenly, while you two were busy looking up items together, a sudden shadow overcast you both leading you to look up to find a roughed up Fushiguro in front of you before he mentioned that it was Kugisaki’s turn to train which cause her to pout before giving her phone to you, so you could take care of it before making her way to the two second-years that were waiting for her as the shikigami user took her seat.

“How was it?” you asked, as you closed your phone, only to hear a sigh from your classmate.

“It’s not bad, just not used to using weapons,” Fushiguro commented, as he stared out into the distance to see Kugisaki running away from Panda with Zenin looking at them in complete confusion.

“We got more than a month left, you should be fine,” you commented, as you looked at your phone screen to see the date. “Besides, you won’t constantly use them but it’s good to use since you can combine physical attacks with weapon attacks when it comes to battle,” you explained as you continued to stare at the family photo on your phone.

‘When was the last time I wore a dress like that?’ you thought, as you tilted your head in confusion.

“What was the reason you kept being on the run?” Fushiguro suddenly asked, causing you to break from your trance to turn to look at your classmate in confusion, only to discover a nonchalant look on his face like it was a common question to ask - maybe it was for the jujutsu sorcerer world.

“Because I’m not supposed to exist Fushiguro, you’re a Zenin by blood, you should know that my clan shouldn’t exist after the golden age, we disappeared,” you answered since you were perplexed on why the sorcerer beside you, asked a question with an answer that he probably already knows.

“But you’re a powerful sorcerer, you wouldn’t have that much trouble would you?” Fushiguro asked, leading you to shift your eyes down to avoid any eye contact before turning back to the track field in front of you to see the now common sight of Kugisaki being spun around in the air by Panda.

“I don’t know what they’ll do to me, I don’t need a bounty on my head everywhere I go, it was better for me to hide in the shadows as long as the L/N clan did,” you answered with a hushed tone, to which Fushiguro barely caught since you turned so quiet.

                                             ꕥ

“If any of the other clans knew of her existence, she would be forced to bring the L/N clan back up again or forced into a marriage,” Gojo explained, as he relaxed in his usual black chair, while Fushiguro leaned against the windows of the room they were at right now.

“Marriage?” Fushiguro questioned in confusion since he was confused on what the point of you being in a forced marriage when you were enough as a sorcerer by yourself.

“To continue the inheritance of her cursed technique,” Gojo informed his student, as he sat up from his relaxed posture. “Her inherited cursed technique is an extremely powerful one that any sorcerer wants, I don’t think she has mastered all the extreme spells as of this moment in time, but she knows what she is doing,” Gojo expanded on his explanation while tilted his glasses down to eye his student to check if he understood what he had said so far.

“But what would a marriage between the clans do? It would only decrease the change of the technique even being inherited,” Fushiguro asked, only for his teacher to smirk.

“I’m sure Y/N knows this, but that’s what the Zenin Clan demanded back in the Heian era before Sukuna was sealed, that a marriage was needed to ‘strengthen their power’ only for the L/N clan to refuse,” Gojo stated bluntly causing Fushiguro eyes to widen, as the Six Eye sorcerer continued with, “her real existence must be kept a secret and that’s my job now as her adoptive father since I’ve been entrusted with her safety,”.

“Entrusted? By who? L/N?” Fushiguro interrogated in a perplexed tone, only to receive a shrug at the end, gaining no answer to his pending question.

                                              ꕥ

Continuously staring at you, Fushiguro couldn’t but recall the conversation he had with Gojo, remembering the details that were mentioned within the chat. There was no surprise in his mind now on why you were extremely anxious about him and Gojo when you first met them; you probably thought you were going to be forced into something that you didn’t want to happen.

“Do you…hate me?”

“Huh?” you confusingly said before quickly turning your head to look at Fushiguro, once again seeing his usually stoic face looking straight at you while you gave him the surprised look. “What makes you ask that?” you queried since you didn’t expect him to ask such a question especially since you both had worked together for a few weeks now as well as fought together against Sukuna back at the Eushi Detention Centre.

“Since I’m a Zenin by blood, do you-” Fushiguro explained before he was cut off by you flicking his forehead with your finger in an annoyed manner, as the impact reflected on your emotions causing Fushiguro to wince slightly at the pain since he didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it did.

“Why would I hate you? As much as I hate the Zenin clan for what they did to my clan, you and Zenin-senpai ain’t that bad. In fact, you both ain’t bad at all,” you stated before sighing in annoyance since it was an extremely stupid question for him to ask. “Fushiguro, if I hated you, I would have made you fight Sukuna alone and wait until he came to me, don’t you think, you drag?” you rhetorically asked, before lightly slapping the side of his head to shake some of his brain cells to wake up before looking at the track field to see Kugisaki getting up from the floor with an angered expression as she demanded a re-match causing you to giggle lightly at the sight.

“We’re cool Fushiguro, there’s no need to worry about it,” you reassured the sorcerer, before standing up on your feet with your hand out towards your classmate’s direction.

“Come on, it seems like we’re taking a break and about to run some errands for the second-years,” you commented, causing Fushiguro to turn to look at the field to see Inumaki signalling a timeout sign before imitating a drinking action, informing you both to get some water for them as well as yourselves.

Taking your hands, he pulled himself up before you both disconnected your hands, leading you to turn around to grab the desired bottles of water that were required before coming back to resume training.

“Gojo! Wait for me, we need to talk more about our shopping trip!” Kugisaki loudly shouted, causing you to halt and turn your head to see your classmate rushing up the stairs to come to you before resuming once she was by your side.

Slowly from behind, Fushiguro decided to walk behind you both as he knew his upperclassmen would tell him to hurry up with the errands that they had placed on your three.

“You really need to stop with your assaults Gojo,” Fushiguro stated, as he pressed his index and middle finger on the middle of his forehead, as he remembered the pain that came along with your flick as well as complaining about the side head slap he had gained from you.

“Nah, you just got to stop asking stupid questions Fushiguro,” you commented back before asking Kugisaki want she was planning to get.

‘So make sure you’re not alone in this world like I am Y/N, I want you to be happy even when we’re both stuck with this burden!’

‘I’m trying mother,’ you thought, as you tightly gripped your phone that was still in your pocket.

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[beetlesacquired]

WIP Update

Hi, between work and uni, I haven't been able to write a lot lately, which sucks, but I graduate in about a month (!!) which means that starting about midway through December, I'll have way more free time and creative motivation to get fics out. In the meantime, here's a rundown of all the wips I've got going through my head that will hopefully get updates/see the light of day soon (warning for nsfw fics)

Published WIPs

Promptober

I'm over a month late and only on day 10, so least to say, she's my highest priority. Currently I'm working on day 11: oviposition, and it's almost done, so that should hopefully get out this week! If you're not into that, day 12 is a cute Padme and Luke fluff, so you can look forward to that one instead.

Higher on the Streets

This is a podracer!Anakin and kind of sugar daddy senator!Obi-Wan fic that currently only has one chapter published several months ago, but rest assured, it haunts me every single day. It's not abandoned! But this was my venture into trying to write a multichap where I post chapters as I write them instead of once the fic is complete, and as it turns out, my brain doesn't like working like that. The second chapter is in progress, though it's kinda low on my priority list.

now there are four of them

Sith!Obikin x canon!obikin. This is my favorite of my posted wips, and I'm already several thousand words into a part two, I just have to have the time to really dedicate myself to writing it, because if you've read my smut fics before, you know they're obscenely long. As a sneak peak for part two, Obi-Wan uses the artifact to visit the sith and gets lowkey cucked. ALSO because I've had people ask me, part three WILL be Vader/Anakin, promise promise promise

Omegaverse Week 2021

YES this is still a wip because I'm the WORST. I've had day 7 almost done for over a year. I just need to finish it. Please give me the motivation to finish it. It's body worship, fluffy, so wholesome, I just have to finish it.

will it feel like the end?

Omega prince of the sith Anakin is betrothed to alpha king of the jedi Obi-Wan after the death of Anakin's mother and father. Not only does Anakin want nothing to do with the Jedi, but he has suspicions that King Obi-Wan is behind his parents' murders.

I really did omegaverse week dirty huh, I said over a year ago that I would turn this one shot into a fic, and I got so many comments asking me to do just that. And Yet. It'll happen. I swear it'll happen. I mainly just need to get my thoughts together for it.

Unpublished WIPs

gather ye children of men

TW: religious trauma, internalized homophobia

I, like all the other obikins, watched that angels and demons movie and felt things. Alas, I don't know enough about catholicism to write a priest kink, so I had to improvise. I give you: southern baptist preacher's son Obi-Wan is asked to be a good influence on local bad boy Anakin, who's fallen away from christ in pursuit of tattoos, piercings, alcohol, and *gasp* homosexuality.

all the skins of a life in this world

TA!Anakin who's in love with professor!Obi-Wan. In order to try to get over his feelings, he joins a BDSM discord server where he meets Mod Ben. Possibly trans!Anakin? Still thinking about that one.

if brokenness is a work of art

TW: child abuse, trauma

Master!Anakin agrees to take on padawan!Obi-Wan as his apprentice after Obi-Wan's master, Maul, is deemed unfit for duty in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan has some strange habits, however. He only speaks when spoken to, doesn't keep any personal possessions, and has cast off all the friends he'd made when he was a youngling. At first, Anakin puts it down to the stresses of going into the Clone Wars too young and being reassigned to a new master, but as time goes on, Anakin starts to question what really happened to Obi-Wan when he was with Maul.

This is probably my favorite one here, but it's a newer idea, so I'm still working through the planning process to make sure that everything works out the way I want it to. More likely than not, it'll actually probably be platonic Obi-Wan & Anakin rather than shipping just because of the nature of everything.

currently unnamed fic

My newest idea, as is apparent by the lack of title, so I don't completely have a summary yet? But it's modern/magic au, definitely a darkfic, lots of whump for obikin especially but also everyone else they drag into their problems.

Those are my wips! I greatly anticipate the day that I can write about things that aren't ancient scandinavian poetry and the effectiveness of college entrance exams. If you've gotten this far, asks about wips or any of my other fics are always welcome <3

[karmaischerryred]

🍒 NSFW 18+

🍒 Dazai Osamu from Bungou Stray Dogs

🍒 x Fem Reader

🍒 A/N: Hello! This would be my first time posting my work here. I create fan fiction on a different website but I'm linking all my R-rated chapters or one-shots here; also for y'all to enjoy, to whoever finds this.

🍒 Background:

The story I published on the other website is a book of Fem Reader x Dazai One Shots of them doing ordinary (and sometimes not-so-ordinary) things a couple would do. It's kind of parallel to the events happening in BSD, but they're not in chronological order. Every six short stories, I'll be uploading an NSFW 18+ one, and this is the first. Reader's character is consistent all throughout the stories.

🍒 My inbox is always open for suggestions, though I can't promise fast productivity because I have classes :) Enjoy! xx

Y/n took another sip from her wine.

She grimaced as she swallowed the warm liquor, disliking the smell. Normally, she'd prefer champagne over this, but she had associated the sparkling drink with parties and celebration.

And nothing was worth celebrating about tonight.

Under the dark blue glow, Y/n sat on the couch overlooking Yokohama's city skyline. The clock reading almost forty-five minutes past midnight.

She pulled her silk robe tighter to her body. Even with the air-condition off, the breeze at an hour like this still managed to make her chilly. The alcohol was only doing so little to heat up her insides, and her uneasiness wasn't helping either.

Dazai had left her a message earlier that afternoon that he'd be home late. And that could only mean the agency had assigned him a job that so much required his ability; a job that was most likely dangerous.

Y/n trusted in his ability, and himself even without them. But she still couldn't help but worry about him at times like these. She didn't want to see him suffer terrible injuries, or at worst, actually die.

A sudden clicking from the door lock fortunately snapped her out of her building worries.

"You're awake."

Y/n placed her wine glass on the small side table, not turning to look at him. Instead, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back on top of the sofa's backrest, letting out a sigh of relief. "You know I choose to wait for you to come home."

Dazai walked towards her. "Ah, I wish you wouldn't. I would always come home to you no matter what."

She felt Dazai's arms rest on both sides near her head. Opening her eyes, she was greeted by her smiling boyfriend. His eyes glinted in reflection of the city lights right outside the big floor to ceiling windows in front of them. He looked extremely handsome under the teasing of the darkness.

How did she get so lucky?

He kissed her forehead, taking the time to inhale her scent, before making his way to lay on her lap. "Seriously, you should rest. I'll be busy often so you can't keep tiring yourself."

Y/n stroked his dark, perfect hair. "What was the task tonight?"

Dazai unconsciously drew circles on her thighs, the tip of his cold fingertips leaving goosebump on Y/n's already freezing skin. "Just had to er, capture a weretiger."

"The tiger that's been on the news?"

"That's the one."

"Why did they send you after it?"

"Him," he corrected. "The weretiger's an orphan's ability even he didn't know about. Poor boy scared everyone away at the orphanage, even himself."

Y/n let him continue. He might not proudly announce or show it, but she knew that he was growing to love his work.

The side that saves people.

He sat up and stretched. "Not even a scratch on me. Okay, Y/n? There's nothing to worry about."

She hugged him by the neck and kissed him right on his jawline, the most convenient place to land a kiss considering their height difference.

"Wait." He chuckled, standing up and pulling Y/n with him. "The job was done in a warehouse, I should probably clean up."

"All right." Y/n yawned and walked towards their bedroom. "I'll head in first while you go take a shower, you do smell like dust."

Y/n hung her robe by the door before sinking to relax on her side of the bed. She was grateful Dazai had been coming home more often recently. He'd sometimes choose to stay in the agency's dorm when there was too much work or when he felt like he was being closely observed by an enemy of some sort.

She closed her eyes, still trying to keep herself awake until Dazai joins her.

The door to the room swung open and she could hear his footsteps drawing closer. Dazai likewise found himself under the cool, white sheets and spooned Y/n, kissing her on the cheek while doing so.

"Y/n, you're hot."

"Thanks," Y/n mumbled sleepily.

He smirked. "Of course you are, but I meant your body temperature, kitten. Are you sick?"

She shook her head. "I maybe had too much to drink."

"You didn't have work to take home?"

"I drank while working until you arrived," she admitted. "It helps keep myself in check."

Dazai sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to brood so much."

Before Y/n could answer, she felt him lightly kiss her neck, his breath teasing the shell of her ear— her weakness.

"D- Dazai," y/n warned, doing her best to suppress a moan. "Aren't you tired from the job?"

She tried to control her breathing as she felt him go hard against her butt.

"I'm not tired," he assured, pulling her closer to him by the arm as his lips continued to plant soft kisses on her neck. "Turn around."

Y/n was sure her cheeks were flustered red by now. Good thing it was a little dark, with only the glow coming from outside the windows as their source of light. She turned to face him, now laying face to face.

He cupped her face with both hands. "You're too cute when you worry, but I'm sure you stress yourself enough at your internship."

She closed her hand around one of his and kissed it by the palm. "I don't mind. I want to wait for you."

Dazai smirked. "Then we must do something to relieve that stress, no?"

"W-Wha—? Dazai!"

In one swift movement, Dazai was on top of her, pinning her down with both hands at the side of her head.

"You're always so stubborn, Y/n." Dazai's lips hovered above hers. "But it's my turn now."

His lips pushed hard against hers, Y/n struggling to suppress a smile. Dazai rarely asked for them to do 'it' and like today, he'd usually find a way to pin the need on her benefit.

"You're playing hard to get, huh?" He kissed the area between her breasts, his hand finding its way underneath her tank top.

"Why can't you ask for this like a normal person?" Y/n moaned as he continued to play with her breasts.

He hummed in amusement, now tracing a finger from her nipple down to the hem of her pajama shorts. "Because I'm not a normal person, love."

Y/n held her breath as Dazai's fingers circled around her clit.

"So I'm going to make you ask for it." He kissed her on the forehead and pushed a finger inside her without warning.

On instinct, Y/n gasped and closed her eyes at the sensation. He was too good with his hands that even though she wasn't an ability user, she could suddenly almost understand how it would feel like to be nullified by his touch.

"No." He grabbed her gently by the jaw with his free hand, making her open her eyes. "Look at me."

"Dazai..." was all Y/n could muster through her moans as he continued to flick his finger from inside, and that's only one. She barely held his gaze as her own eyes would threaten to retreat at the back of her head.

"Yes?" He stopped abruptly.

Before she could stop herself, Y/n screamed out, "No!" And immediately avoided his gaze.

Ugh.

"You were saying something?" Dazai started again, now going for slow thrusts with the same finger. It was sliding in and out easily now that her body had given in to him, betraying her mind.

"Now that you started it," she seethed. "Please."

Even though he was still climbing back to the quicker tempo he had earlier, Y/n squeezed his free left wrist, signaling to him that she was close.

Dazai's love for control flashed over his dark orbs, he loved it even more when it involved applying it to Y/n in bed. "Please, what?"

He pushed another finger inside her, his other hand teasing Y/n's bottom lip before inserting two twin fingers into her mouth.

Y/n sucked on them to conceal her moans. She was reaching a different kind of high compared to how close she was a few seconds ago.

"F-Fuck—" Y/n struggled to talk now that her breathing has quickened, mimicking the pace of Dazai's fingers, while also still trying her best not to break their gaze.

Her body went rigid as she clenched around him, her fluids slipping past his fingers and onto the bed sheets.

Dazai took his fingers out of her mouth and covered it to muffle what was almost a scream from her, while his other hand continued to work their magic from below. His weight now slightly pinned half of her body down as she squirmed, overcoming her orgasm.

Once she was done, he retrieved his fingers and stretched them out with a smirk on his face, admiring the fluid dripping from them. "Can you talk properly now?"

Tears were forming at the corners of Y/n's eyes. She was already too sensitive down there, but she wanted more of him.

It could only get better than this.

"Please," she said with a shaky breath. "Fuck me."

"I love seeing you helpless like this." Dazai pulled out his member and stroked the tip with the wetness from his fingers. "Your wish is my command."

He grabbed a pillow and placed it underneath her butt to elevate the lower part her body, since she was smaller and shorter than he was.

They kissed again as he thrust inside, slowly but hard.

Y/n gasped into his mouth but he was quick to claim it again. His elbows resting at her sides, barely pulling out of her as he continued to stroke deeper and deeper into her insides.

She grabbed his hair as they continued to make out, fortunately stifling their moans for their neighbors not to hear. Every stroke made her eyes water up more as she reached for her second orgasm.

"Dazai," Y/n whispered in between kisses. "Faster."

He pulled away and grinned.

"Good girl." He pressed his lips on hers before rising to support his weight with his hands. "Safe word if it hurts, okay?"

Y/n nodded as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. She tried to grab at the pillow underneath her head, but Dazai reached for her hand and held on to it instead.

No sound came out of her mouth as she struggled to regain proper breathing, even though she was very near screaming her brains out. Dazai, too, was close to reaching his peak with his own moans muffled on to his shoulder.

She couldn't feel anything else with the rest of her body except for the part that's being pleasured greatly down there. She was so wet she could hear the sound liquid with every stroke, together with the sound of skin slapping against each other.

She squeezed his hand to signal him again. "Dazai, fuck!"

"Me too," he said, focused. "Fuck, I love it when you're loud."

"Cum in me."

"What?" He started to thrust rougher at the same fast-paced jolts. It was starting to hurt but it turned her on even more.

And he knew this. He brought a hand up to her clit and started rubbing them.

"It's safe today," Y/n tried to catch her breath. She was dangerously close now that Dazai had done his final trick.

Her back arched as she arrived at her second orgasm, a bit more intense than the first one. She could feel Dazai empty himself into her, his jaw clenched as he slowed down.

He collapsed into her arms, whimpering in satisfaction. "You feel so good, Y/n."

She was too breathless to speak, her legs were shaking and she was throbbing down there. Y/n was in ecstasy, but the exhaustion came crashing down quickly to her.

"I'll go get you water." Dazai stood up and took a box of tissues from the dresser to clean his member off before tucking it back inside his boxers. He then left the room.

He came back with a glass of water, and assisted Y/n to sit up.

She took the glass gratefully and began chugging down the water. She then placed the glass on the bedside table once she was done, trying to get her breathing right.

Both of them shared a smile as Dazai tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You know I fucking love you, right?"

Y/n nodded. "And you love fucking me."

[sineala]

Captain America: The Great Gold Steal

I wrote this up last week because I did not have access to my usual comics files but I figured I could review something that was just a book. So here is a review of the 1968 Captain America novel Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White, with an introduction by Stan Lee. I really liked it, actually! It was surprisingly good!

This novel features: Cover art of Captain America holding his shield in one hand and a very large gun in the other! A scene where the villains dramatically unmask Captain America and have absolutely no idea who he is! Captain America being extremely, extremely depressed about being in the future! Captain America dropping acid!

(I'm not kidding about the last part. In this novel there is a lot of LSD use. By Captain America. Talk about something the Comics Code wouldn't ever let you put in a comic book. Thank you, 1968.)

Faithful readers may remember that some time ago I posted reviews of Marvel prose novels from the 1970s. There was a line of prose novels featuring everyone's favorite Marvel superheroes, published by Pocket Books in the late 70s; I have reviews of the Iron Man, Captain America, and Avengers entries in the series; I liked the Iron Man one best, and I also have a Doctor Strange one I have not yet read. They're all short and action-packed paperback reads, of varying quality; the only one by anyone you might have heard of is the Avengers one, which was written by David Michelinie, who was actually writing the Avengers run at the time. That one was, um. An experience. 

(Yes, it's "prose novel" because otherwise the assumption is "graphic novel.")

Marvel still publishes prose novels now, of course, also of varying quality; some are new plots and some are straight-up novelizations of comics arcs, which I guess is useful if you want to, say, read Civil War and not look at pictures at the same time. I also have a bunch of those that I could probably review if anyone wants. But, anyway, I personally am particularly intrigued by the older Marvel prose novels, both because the stories are all original and not retellings, and also because I often prefer the characterization found in older comics. And the older prose novels of course use the then-current characterization. So reading a Marvel prose novel from 1979 is like getting to read a brand-new comic from 1979, and that's a whole lot of fun for a nerd like me. Also do you know what's not subject to the Comics Code? Prose novels. So things can happen in these that definitely could not happen in comics of the same era.

This brings me to my current prose novel, which is something else entirely. I mean, okay, not really, it's still a Marvel prose novel. But it's not part of the same line. It's actually a lot older.

Bantam Books actually published Marvel prose novels in the late 60s. Yep, a full decade earlier. They published exactly two, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they were probably not bestsellers. The first one, which I do not own and now sort of want to track down, was an Avengers novel in 1967, The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker. And then in 1968 they published the novel I am currently holding in my hands, Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White.

(I am still not sure why no one involved in titling this book thought of the word "theft.")

Judging by the back copy, it appears to be about Captain America foiling the villains' dastardly plan to steal gold from the Federal Reserve. Oh boy. Fun.

So this book is from 1968. The modern Marvel universe had kicked off just a few short years ago! Captain America was just getting his own solo book after the end of Tales of Suspense! And here's a novel about him, back when certain elements of his characterization were perhaps a little more flexible than they are today, by which I mean that the cover art -- which the internet informs me was painted by Mitchell Hooks -- is a striking full-body portrait of Captain America, head held high, shield in one hand... and a very large gun in the other. Hell, yeah. Not gonna see that in today's Cap comics, are you? It's amazing and I love it.

(Okay, you might see that in Ults. I'm pretty sure I have seen that in Ults, actually. But this is still cool.)

So the cover art is a definite plus, and apparently it's one of the few reasons anyone has ever heard of this novel. The other reason -- and the reason this is more expensive than the later novels, I assume -- is that Stan Lee's name is slapped on the cover, because he wrote an introduction. (I think I paid about $30 for this. The others were definitely under $20.)

All right. Here we go.

The first page is actually a brief summary of Steve's origin story, but not a version I was familiar with. Steve was born July 9, 1917 (yes, I was surprised too), was orphaned at a young age, and was a student at Columbia University (!) before Rebirth, which in this version is a gradual process that is also extremely body-horror. Steel tubing was inserted into the marrows of his bones. He was fed "high-protein compounds." Then they gave him a chemical that "gave him complete control over every nerve, muscle, and cell in his now-magnificent body." Sweet. Where can I get some of that?

The blurb also confirms his control over his own metabolism as well as his healing factor ("wounds would heal in half the normal time"), which is nice, because sometimes I wonder if canon even remembers the healing factor.

(I don't know why Marvel has this kink for filling people's bones with metal, though. It's not actually empty in there, guys! You need your bone marrow! How else do you want people to make new blood cells?)

The book is dedicated to "Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, without whom there would be no Captain America." Hey, Marvel, Joe Simon would like a word with you. I'm just saying.

The Stan Lee introduction is three paragraphs written in Stan Lee's, um, inimitable, distinctive and extremely florid narrative style -- if you've read any of his work, you know what I mean -- and making the point that Captain America is incredible and you will like him. If you are just discovering him for the first time, you will definitely like him. Okay. Thanks. I guess.

Oddly, the writing style here is substantially different than any of the other Marvel prose novels I've read; it doesn't immediately front-load you with exposition and a cast of colorful superheroes. It opens with a sort of James Bond spy-novel feel, running through a series of unnamed villains and bystanders, and a man who wants nothing more than to talk to Captain America but is killed before he can. Steve comes in halfway through the chapter, and he seems to be written for a reader who doesn't necessarily know who he is, and he isn't introduced as Captain America with his shield flying ahead of him to smite evildoers, or anything like that. He's just a tall, handsome blond guy who is reading a bunch of novels and is unsatisfied by all of them because all he can think of is the past. It's definitely an attitude I would expect from Steve in this era -- he is very much a Man Out Of Time here -- but it's also not how I expected the book to introduce him. You wouldn't even know he was Captain America by the end of the opening chapter, which then ends with a digression about the history of NYC subway tunnels. It's like it wants to appeal to someone who has watched a bunch of Man from UNCLE and just wants to read a cool thriller. Which is not at all what I was expecting.

By the beginning of the second chapter, of course, we discover that Steve is Captain America, as he changes into his uniform. The narration refers to him as Rogers when it's in his POV, if anyone is curious. He apparently keeps the cowl off in the mansion, because the cowl annoys him.

It was not so much that he needed to conceal his identity these days, because for all intents and purposes he had no other identity. Steve Rogers was officially dead, and had been for almost twenty years. Captain America *was* his identity. It was only when he donned the tight-fitting blue uniform with its shield chest-emblem, the red snug-fitting leather boots, and the heavy, yet pressure-sensitive red-leather gauntlets, that he began to feel real -- a complete human being.

Steve? Buddy, are you okay there? You're really not okay, are you, huh?

You see what I mean? They're really hitting the early-canon angst. Hard.

(Also it sounds like his uniform is a few sizes too small.)

We then get an expanded version of the backstory from the beginning excerpt. In this version of canon, Steve actually has an older brother, Alan, who is handsome and athletic and basically amazing, and when they are orphaned they are raised by their aunt and uncle. Steve gets TB twice as a kid, nearly dies from it, and when the stock market crashes, ends up separated from his brother and in an orphanage after his uncle loses everything.

(Honestly if I were writing this book, his brother would be the secret villain. Chekhov's Gun!)

Steve has glasses, gets bullied, is a nerd and an honor student, and studies law at Columbia because he wants to help stop fraudulent business practices and also fight organized crime. Legally, I mean. In a manner relating to law. I guess he's sort of like Daredevil. The lawyer part of Daredevil.

And then he joins Rebirth, and this is the part where I had to put the book down for several minutes, because Erskine's secret chemical, the key to making super-soldiers... is LSD.

Oh my God. You should see my face right now. My expression is, I am sure, indescribable. I'm trying not to wake the dog up laughing.

I just. Holy shit. This book is from 1968 in a way I definitely was not expecting. What the fuck, Marvel?

This project was headed by the brilliant biochemist, Dr. Erskine. His work with the endocrine system, and chemical body control, was well beyond that of his contemporaries. Only he, of all his colleagues, had fathomed the secrets of the Swiss Dr. Hoffman's 1938 discovery -- the mind-controlling LSD-25.

Let's just pause here for a few minutes and contemplate this.

I will point out that Albert Hofmann (yes, the book spelled his name wrong) didn't actually discover that LSD was a hallucinogen until 1943 when he accidentally tried it, but I am positive that 1968 here was a time when Some People were convinced LSD was a wonder drug. I'm still laughing. As far as I can tell, legal manufacturing of it stopped in 1965 so I am pretty sure that the author did not just decide to name a drug that had an ostensible legal therapeutic use, because it wouldn't have still had one by '68.

Anyway, in this version of events, Rebirth is a month-long process that involves a lot of vitamins, physical conditioning and training, and, yes, putting metal in his bones like he's the next Wolverine. They're filling his bones with stainless steel rods to make him stronger. That doesn't seem like a great idea to me, but I am also not sure about dropping acid to gain superpowers. Clearly I am not a genius scientist. Also Erskine knows what DNA is, apparently, because he's just that great. Anyway. Other than the metal, those all seem like relatively normal interventions. So far.

Now Steve has become fairly big and strong (and I guess he still has metal in his bones? this concerns me!) but they need to make him superhuman, so, yes, really, it's time to drop acid. Several pages of this book are devoted to describing Steve's acid trip. His acid trip is amazing and he discovers that he has conscious control of his entire body down to the cellular level. He can control the adrenaline in his bloodstream! He can tighten his muscle fibers! And when he's done tripping he still remembers how to do this, if not exactly on a conscious level, but he can still access the abilities. And that is how you make a super-soldier. It's LSD. Remember, kids, drugs are awesome! Do drugs!

Let's maybe take a few more minutes to think about this.

I just. I have no words. How did anyone at Marvel agree to print this?

I think for the most part superhero origin stories tend not to involve real drugs because people are generally aware that drugs they've heard of won't make you into a superhero. I guess this is what it looks like when you invoke the names of real drugs. They probably wanted something that sounded more realistic but somehow I don't think this was the best way to go. (Radiation, of course, will definitely make you into a superhero but I feel like most people have accepted that as one of the conventions of the genre.)

Anyway, after that Erskine gets killed by Nazis, of course, and Steve goes to war, and for some reason this book contains footnotes by Stan Lee himself listing the comics you can read all of this in. Just like the actual comics do!

We are introduced to Bucky, who for some reason is also from the LES in this version, although not anyone Steve knew before the war, and there is of course a description of Bucky's tragic death and Steve's subsequent icing.

They are really, really stressing the Man Out Of Time thing here:

No other man could have survived so fantastic a voyage through time. And no other man could feel so displaced by time.

He was a man twenty years in his own future. By rights, he should be nearly fifty years old -- nearly twice the age of his fellow Avengers. Yet his mind and his body were not yet thirty.

When the Avengers had brought him back to New York with them and insisted that, as an honored hero of the past, he join them, he felt a sort of melancholy homesickness for his own time and world.

We then get a few paragraphs with the usual being sad that he let Bucky down and got him killed, and also that he misses his family, and that Steve Rogers doesn't exist anymore, and that nobody is alive who remembers him, and that war is hell.

Hey, Steve, maybe the drugs you should do are antidepressants. Just a thought.

Also, this book is 118 pages and we're not out of the origin story flashback until page 34. I think there are some pacing issues here.

Actually, I lied, the flashback keeps going, but now we're up to the Avengers finding him, and I have to say that the list of things Steve finds strange about the future is kind of charming when the future is 1968. Men have long hair! Women have shorter skirts! Everyone is kind of blasé about rocket launches because there have been so many space missions now. (Oh, come on, you haven't even landed on the moon yet, 1968! You're not that blasé.) Color TV! And, excitingly, LPs! You can now listen to 36 minutes of consecutive music. (I actually don't know what previous standard he's describing that is a ten-inch record that holds six minutes a side because I don't think 45s are that big. Yeah, no, I just checked and 45s are seven inches in diameter. Hmm. Oh, never mind. He means 78 rpm, doesn't he? In my defense, the record player my family had when I was a kid didn't play those.)

The description of Steve coming into New York for the first time is definitely written by someone who knows New York, which is fun. There is generally a lot of local flavor to the setting of this book. That’s one of the best parts.

There is a brief summary of Steve's feelings about all the Avengers -- he is most impressed by Thor, which, I mean, fair, he's an actual god -- and Hank telling him all about how he can live in Tony's mansion. With Jarvis. Who Hank says is actually from Flatbush. Apparently Steve spent a lot of time at the NYPL branch at 5th and 42nd trying to catch up on history. And then of course the Avengers ditched him and gave him the Kooky Quartet, and for some reason they're not here right now either so it's just Steve being sad and alone and dealing with this mysterious dead guy. I think probably the book is also done explaining fiat currency now. This is definitely the weirdest Marvel novel I've read.

Anyway, we have now returned to what is ostensibly the actual plot. Steve shows up at the New York Federal Reserve Bank (I guess the theft is happening here and not, like, at Fort Knox) with the gold bullion that the dead guy from the beginning of the book had on him -- I think I got distracted by the LSD bit and forgot to mention that part, but the dead guy was carrying some US government gold -- because the actual plot is that villains are trying to tunnel into the bank vault and steal gold. Steve discovers this after he gets the bank manager to give him a tour. The bank manager tries to refuse, citing security concerns -- Captain America could be anyone under that mask, after all! Steve just smiles and says, "If I removed my mask, would you have any better idea of who I am?" and I guess that's a flawless argument because he gets his tour.

(I'm sorry, all I can think of is that one gif from the JLA cartoon where Lex Luthor bodyswaps with the Flash, announces that now that he's in the Flash's body he's going to discover the Flash's secret identity, then pulls off his own mask, stares at himself in the mirror, and says, "I have no idea who this is.")

Given that the theme of Steve's interior life in this novel is "Steve Rogers died twenty years ago" it seems even more sad that Steve is just walking around basically saying, yeah, well, I'm nobody. And apparently that is being reaffirmed for him by the narrative.

So Steve goes down the tunnels, takes out some of the bad guys, and gets himself knocked out and buried in a collapsing tunnel. Don't worry, he's gonna be fine.

A lot of this book, by the way, is from the POV of random people, like this bank guard who went with Steve into the tunnels:

He had wondered, briefly, if a man like Captain America ever knew the pinch of too many bills, had ever felt desperate over the arrival of yet another mouth to feed. But, of course, Captain America had no family, and would hardly concern himself with such matters. It didn't occur to Thompson to wonder if this in itself might not be something for which to pity Captain America.

Rude. I mean, come on, do we really need random characters telling us Steve is a sad sack whom nobody loves? Steve's already got that covered!  (Also, how does this guy know Captain America has no family?)

Anyway, thanks to the power of LSD, Steve is going into a trance, amping up his metabolism (he loses "several pounds" in a few minutes), and making himself super-strong so he can dig himself out. Hooray. This is definitely how human bodies work. Also LSD. This is definitely how LSD works. Yes.

Steve then finds out that a couple of the guards who were with him in the tunnels died down there and he goes home and eats dinner while stewing in miserable guilt because he was responsible for their deaths. He's really not okay. I'm not sure the book actually understands how not okay they have made him. Then someone from SHIELD is on the phone for him and he is briefly cheered up by the thought that it might be Sharon although I think we should also note that the narrative makes it clear that at this point in canon Steve still doesn't know her name. Remember when that was a thing?

Alas, it is not Sharon; it's just a random SHIELD agent who happens to have information about the plot and asks to meet. Then, as Steve leaves to go to the meeting, we get two pages of exhaustive description about the mansion layout and how it's built relative to the surrounding buildings. It feels like this book was written by a frustrated city planner. But anyway, the meeting is a setup and the villains capture Steve.

They knock Steve out, drug him, take him to their hideout, and tie him to a chair. Except, once again thanks to the power of LSD, the tranquilizer they're using wears off way sooner than they expected and so Steve feigns unconsciousness and listens to them discuss their evil plans.

And then the villains unmask him and I swear it's exactly like that JLA gif:

Rogers heard footsteps scuffing across a thick carpet, and then Sparrow's voice again, almost directly over him. His ears still buzzed, but he fought to catch the elusive familiarity of the man's tone. He wished he dared open his eyes.

"This is a moment which I, personally, have long awaited," Sparrow said, his voice rising in triumph. "*The unmasking of Captain America!*"

Then, his nails scraping along Rogers' face, Sparrow dug his fingers under his cowl, and ripped it back. Rogers felt air strike his exposed cheeks and forehead. Then fingers clutched his blond hair and pulled his head back. "Behold!" Sparrow said.

Raven was first to speak. "Well, I dunno about you, Sparrow, but it rings no bells with me. I never seen him before."

Starling agreed. "His face means nothing to me."

"He could be anybody," said Robin. "What good does this do?"

Sparrow let Rogers' head fall back to his chest, and his voice when he spoke was defeated. "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. I always wondered. I felt, if these guys -- these costumed heroes -- wore masks, it must mean something."

"Captain America was missing for twenty years," Starling said. "That could mean the first one died, and this one took his place. He looks awfully young."

"Perhaps. It doesn't really matter. Let's get going."

(Yes, the villains all have bird-themed codenames. I have no idea why.)

This scene just makes my day. I love dramatic unmaskings. I bet they'd have been a lot happier unmasking Iron Man.

The villains then leave Steve and go to a power plant, where we switch POVs to one of the plant employees and get two entirely unnecessary paragraphs about his racist and anti-Semitic thoughts about his coworkers before the villains murder him. Great. Thanks.

Anyway, the villains cause a blackout, while meanwhile they've left Steve alone with the girl villain, and Steve is busy trying to persuade her that crime doesn't pay. He's moved from the "do you know what they'll do to you in prison?" theme onto "how exactly are you going to spend a billion dollars in gold bullion when it's illegal for civilians to possess? who are you going to do business with?" and then points out that gold is heavy and hard to transport, which is when she gets out a a knife.

The bad guys are off to steal the gold, and Steve has now successfully turned the girl they left him with, because she frees him. Of course, the first thing he does is put the cowl back on.

"Why do you wear that?" she asked.

"The mask?" He smiled. "It gives people something external to concentrate upon."

"But..."

"Without it, I'm just another ordinary-looking man. With it, I become a symbol. For some people it creates awe; for others, fear. Look at me. I'm different now, aren't I? With the mask on."

"Yes," she nodded. "You look -- bigger, somehow. Stronger. Fierce, implacable. You look a little scary."

"Exactly. You no longer see me as a person, but as a thing -- an Avenger. It can be a potent psychological weapon."

"They were so disappointed, when they took your mask off. As though underneath they'd find a famous person."

"Maybe that goes on TV -- handsome playboys, and all that. But I've been anonymous all my life. Even my real name would be meaningless to you, to them. No, the mask is part of the uniform, a psychological device. That's the whole story.

Now: let's get out of here. You have a good deal more to tell me yet, and we can't waste more time."

Bwahaha. In a few years, Steve's going to be pretty surprised about who superheroes are, I think.

STEVE, now: Superheroes definitely aren't secretly handsome playboys! That would be silly! STEVE, after Molecule Man: fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK I'm such an idiot

I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Also, not that the issue of Steve's psyche actually recurs after this, but he's once again having the narrative vindicate his belief that Steve Rogers is dead and whoever he is under the cowl doesn't matter. Steve, I don't think this is very healthy.

Steve then tracks down the villains stealing the gold, has some geopolitical thoughts about where the gold could be going (he thinks either South Africa or Russia for the best laundering potential) and then hides himself in the villains' trunk while they drive to Staten Island, which is where they're taking the gold out of the country from.

During the final confrontation, Steve finally gets to see the villains, and he discovers that the one in charge is in fact the director of the Federal Reserve Bank who Steve met at the beginning of this book. Gasp. But that's not all! He's also... the Red Skull!

Honestly, I was kind of surprised; I didn't think this was the kind of book where we'd get any known comic villains, but I guess it's always gotta be the Red Skull. I think he's the only one of Steve's big villains who likes to disguise himself; Zemo has obvious disguise issues and I imagine it's also hard to cover up Zola's Teletubby-esque television body.

Steve shoots one of the villains, because I guess that's what he does in this era of canon.

So the plot wraps up in, like, two pages, because for some reason all these early Marvel novels wrap up very fast. Red Skull, of course, attempts to escape and then disappears and his body is never found. The end.

Well.

That was definitely a book. That I read. Believe it or not, I actually think it was the best of these early Marvel prose novels that I've read so far, even if it was also the absolute weirdest; I thought the thriller-style plot was entertaining, I liked Steve and his Extremely Sad characterization, I obviously enjoy all the identity themes, I liked how very detailed the New York setting was, and I do like how they tried to treat it all seriously. I mean, sure, this did lead to LSD in the super-soldier serum in presumably the name of realism, but I felt like the book was trying to present superheroes in a way that didn't feel silly and also didn't really take for granted that the reader would automatically accept superheroes.

It felt like a book that was written hoping that people who weren't superhero fans would read it, if that makes any sense. And I thought that was interesting, because most modern superhero work that I can think of assumes they've got complete audience buy-in and everyone is willing to suspend their disbelief and we all know the genre conventions and are expecting people running around in brightly-colored spandex. Whereas this is more like a James Bond novel if for some reason James Bond were called upon to defend his decision to wear brightly-colored spandex instead of bespoke suits. But I assume no one read it, because Bantam never published a Marvel book after this one.

If you can actually find a copy of this one for a price you're willing to pay. I recommend it. It was delightful and way more solid than I thought it was going to be.

Also, come on, you know you want to read about Captain America's acid trip.

[weighty-ghosts]

‘Blame it on the Firewhisky’ (wolfstar)

Blame it on the Firewhisky, by weightyghosts

“Sirius makes a drunken mistake at a Hufflepuff party and has to find a way to convince Remus that he’s still completely devoted to him. Unfortunately, Sirius is also still very drunk and really just wants to go to sleep.

Aka Remus’ patience is stretched beyond its reasonable limits.

Aka Sirius is a bad doggie.”

Rating: teen

Word Count: 5408 (2 chapters)

Pairing: Remus x Sirius

Published on: February 22, 2021

Warnings: swearing, intoxication, alcohol consumption, infidelity, dub/con (I promise the two people kissing at the beginning of this fic are equally drunk and no one is being taken advantage of, it’s just a misunderstanding- however, if consent and alcohol makes you uncomfy, please skip from “at some point” to “er, I actually have a-”)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29596605/chapters/72748656

    Sirius Black loved snogging. It was rather one of his favourite pastimes (just above tormenting Snivellus), and up until recently, four months and three weeks ago to be exact, he’d thought that snogging was as good as it could get. If he was involved in the snogging, it was bound to be brilliant because he was brilliant at snogging. Ask anyone.

What occurred four months and three weeks ago, was that Sirius discovered there was a way to make kissing even better, to make it a mind-blowing, body-shaking experience. All he had to do was kiss Remus Lupin. And Merlin, did Sirius fucking love kissing Remus Lupin. It quickly became his preferred way to spend his time.

Last week, during a thoroughly delicious snogging session, Sirius briefly considered placing one of his infamous Permanent Sticking Charms on their lips so they never had to part. But that would have impeded his other hobby: consuming firewhisky. (Also occasionally eating and shouting obscenities at his brother, but he could’ve sorted something out.)

The party this evening seemed to have an abundance of both Remus-kisses and firewhisky, and both in excess. It was a raucous affair, in celebration of Hufflepuff’s defeat of Ravenclaw in Quidditch, and boy do those Hufflepuffs know how to throw a party.

He couldn’t be sure how much firewhisky he’d ingested, but seeing as he could hardly stand up straight at the moment, it was safe to assume it had been a lot. There might have also been a butterbeer or two at some point. Or maybe Remus had drunk the butterbeer. Sirius could certainly taste it on his lips now.

His mind swam back into consciousness and he realized there was something hard and uncomfortable pushing into his back. There was also something hard pushing against his front, but it was more soft and pleasant.

His tongue was definitely in action, and he should probably do something with his hands (Remus did enjoy a good bum squeeze during times like these), but it was entirely too much effort to move his arms from their resting place on his boyfriend’s shoulders.

Remus didn’t seem to mind though, judging by the throaty noise he’d just made. It wasn’t a noise Sirius had heard before, but that’s alright. He also seemed to be producing more saliva than usual, but that’s alright too. There was a hand slipping under his shirt, and Sirius sighed happily, making Remus’s shoulders shake with giggles. Remus didn’t often giggle, but that’s alright.

He found a way for his brain to send signals to his limbs again, and slid his hands down Remus’ chest and abdomen, and around to his cute little bum.

“Bloody hell,” Remus whispered, though it didn’t sound like Remus, but that’s al-

Wait. That didn’t sound like Remus?

Sirius sluggishly opened his eyes (not a small feat), and looked up into the bleary, blinking brown eyes of someone that was definitely not his boyfriend. “Agh!” He exclaimed, pushing the person away from him, “The bloody hell’re you doing!”

The person, a bloke, a student, a Ravenclaw by the looks of him, stumbled backwards, tripped over a chair, and fell in what seemed like slow motion, landing on his bottom.

“Whaz’tha for, Black?” The Ravenclaw boy asked indignantly, though his outrage was severely undermined by how much he was slurring his words.

“You were kissing me!”

“You asked m’too!”

“I- what?” Asked him to? Sirius would never ask anyone to kiss him that wasn’t a honey-haired werewolf with a repressed biting kink.

“You dragged m’in here!” The boy said as he slowly stood up. He swayed heavily on his feet before stumbling sideways into a desk, which he managed to keep himself upright with. “Ow. I mean, I think y’did. Someone did the dragging in the...here.”

Ah, good. At least they were both completely shit-faced.

“Well y’shouldn’t snog dunk-drunk people,” Sirius declared, quite righteously, though he had a sneaking suspicion his outrage was also being undermined.

“Neither should you!” The other boy pointed out.

Sirius thought about this for a second, then decided he would rather be doing anything other than thinking. “Fair enough,” he replied pleasantly.

He straightened himself up, taking a deep breath to steady the alcohol he could feel dancing through his veins, and took a step away from the door he’d been leaning against (and the large brass doorknob that had been digging into his back). He walked towards the Ravenclaw, almost tripping over his own feet, and stuck his hand out to shake the boy’s, but missed wildly and jabbed him somewhere south of his ribs. “Whoopsy, sorry, mate.”

The boy waved him off and pushed away from the desk, moving quickly towards the door.

“Hey! I’m going tha’way!” Sirius yelled.

“’S’only one exit, Black.”

Sirius was fairly certain there were two, but he could have been seeing double and therefore didn’t trust his eyes. He nudged the other boy out of the way and opened the door, walking through and blinking into the sudden brightness of the torch-lit hall.

“Where the sweet Circe am I?” He mumbled to himself, not able to remember what part of the castle he was in or how he’d gotten there. Damn Hogwarts for having so many wings and hallways and walls that all look alike.

“Did y’know your hair smells like- like candy floss?” the Ravenclaw slurred, coming up from behind Sirius and leaning in to his side.

“Huh,” Sirius replied distractedly. He had no idea why that would be, and didn’t really care at the moment. Where even were his so-called best friends?

“Y’know what?” The boy asked.

“Mmh?” He tried to focus his eyes on any portraits or landmarks so he could figure out where he was. There seemed to be a fair number of students in the hall; it must not be past curfew yet. How pathetic. Blackout drunk before curfew.

He felt warm puffs of breath on his neck. Was that the painting of the fruit near the kitchens? Were they near the Hufflepuff common room? That rang a bell, didn’t it?

“We should do this again when we’re sober,” the boy said directly into Sirius’ right ear.

“Er, I actually have a- Moony!” Sirius called excitedly when he spotted his boyfriend, relief flooding through him at the sight. Moony will be able to tell him where he is.

Remus was standing very still after just emerging from a hidden door with a few other people Sirius didn’t bother looking at. Remus didn’t look very happy for some reason.

“A what?” The Ravenclaw mumbled questioningly into Sirius’ neck.

A muscle in Remus’ jaw twitched and it was like a switch had been flicked: he stormed over to Sirius, fists clenched, with an absolutely murderous look on his face. Sirius couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was when he wanted to kill someone, his eyes bright and deadly.

“What the fuck are you doing, Sirius?”

“Aw, why’re you grumpy, Moony?” Sirius pouted at his beautiful angry boyfriend.

“Ohh, ’s’this Moony?” The boy asked, lifting his head and circling a heavy arm around Sirius’ shoulders, “I thought y’said, ‘moon me,’ which I thought was a bit, y’know, aggressive since it was our first time snogging.”

Sirius giggled. He was definitely going to ask Remus to moon him later. He was about to tell Remus so, when he noticed the hurt look flash across his face, followed by stone cold fury.

“Snogging?” Remus asked in a deep, dangerous voice.

Sirius frowned at him, then turned to the Ravenclaw boy, having to lean back so their faces weren’t too close. He’d forgotten they’d been accidentally kissing. He looked back at Remus for an explanation for this strange turn of events. Remus was always able to explain things so very well with his smart words.  

“I see,” Remus said, and Sirius swore he saw the wolf lurk behind his amber eyes; not the playful wolf who liked to romp around with Padfoot, but the wolf that would tear a human to shreds if given the chance. “Guess you don’t need me around, do you, Sirius?”

“Moony!” Sirius whined, attempting to push the other boy off of him. “It’s not like that! ’S’just a mistake!”

He wished he wasn’t so pissed so he could properly explain to Remus what had happened; he was sure Remus would laugh about it when he knew all the facts. He managed to prop the boy against the door of the classroom, and finally got a good look at him in the warm light. A small laugh escaped his lips.

“Look, Moony, Moons, look, you’re practically twins.”

This wasn’t strictly true. But the boy was tall and lanky, with similarly-coloured hair to Remus’. He whipped his head back to Remus with a grin on his face, the bun on top of his head wobbling carelessly, certain that Remus was about to start laughing with him. He did not.

“Sirius,” he said in that same low voice, “When have you ever known me to wear a fucking Ravenclaw Quidditch jersey?”

Sirius’ eyebrows knitted together in confusion and he looked back at the not-Remus-bloke. Sure enough, he was wearing a blue and bronze Quidditch jersey, an eagle prominently displayed.

“When’d you put tha’ on?” He demanded, suddenly very annoyed with this person he only now hazily recognized from one of his classes. Herbology maybe.

Remus huffed. “Don’t worry, Sirius, I’m sure you can offer to take it off for him. Don’t let me stop you.”

“Noo, Moony! I don’t want to take anything off, it’s-”

But Remus shoved Sirius aside and kept walking down the hall, not noticing, or not caring, that Sirius had tipped over and fallen into a statue of a badger. It gave Sirius a dirty stare for disturbing it, before returning to its regal position upon a boulder.

“Y’r boyfriend doesn’t seem very happy,” the boy stated, helping Sirius stand up, then helping him again when they both fell back over.

“No, I don’t s'ppose he is,” Sirius murmured, brushing off the boy and starting to walk away in the direction Remus went. At least, he was pretty sure it was this way. He called over his shoulder as he went, “Bye, Ravenclaw.”

“M’name’s Benjy!”

“Yeah, yeah, bye, Benny,” Sirius said, waving vaguely behind him and pushing through a group of Hufflepuff girls. His mind was whirling like the first time he tried to apparate, but he managed to focus on one thing: Moony. Moony thinks he cheated on him. His Moony thinks he cheated on him. His Moony is upset.

He has to find his Moony.

*

Read chapter 2 here!

[trekkiehood]

Practically the Same (Part 1) - SPN Fanfic

Title: Practically the Same

Part: 1/6

Fandom: Supernatural

Words: 1.3k

Setting: AU - Modern Setting - No Supernatural

Title Inspiration: "You know, I finally get why you and Dad butted heads so much. You two were practically the same person." - Dean (4x19)

Characters: Dean, Sam, Benny, Bobby, Sonny

Ship: None

Ao3 Link

Summary: Dean's working two jobs trying to care for Sam's needs and wants. With John finally gone the Winchester's can live their life without fear abuse. Until the cycle of abuse continues when the youngest Winchester starts drinking.

Trigger Warnings: Sam-bashing, PTSD, Violence, Alcohol, Verbal Abuse, Physical Abuse

Authors Note:

Hey guys! I've been working on this for about three months and it's finally ready to publish!

Just a forewarning this is NOT Sam friendly.

This does deal some with PTSD and drinking related violence. So be ready for that too.

If you're going to get mad at me for hating on Sam don't read.

I wrote the story as one block and then tried to split it up into chapters so sorry if it's a bit awkward.

Anyway!

Please enjoy!

---

Dean was beat. Full and simple exhausted. He’d closed the bar last night and opened the garage this morning. He hated doing both. One was fine, both was torture. He’d been trying to grab up as many hours as he could. Sam had a big school trip coming up. Something about an honor-student only outing to D.C.? Dean wasn’t sure. He just knew his only job was to get Sammy money.

He was supposed to get off around six, but he’d been attacked by a herd of wild boxes causing him to hurt his leg. It wasn’t bad, barely a limp, and he could have easily kept working, but his boss insisted on sending him home. So here he was at home at 4pm on a Tuesday wondering what he was supposed to do until his 9pm shift at the bar. He closed again tonight, but thankfully he wasn’t opening the garage the next morning. He plopped down on the couch, running a hand through his hair. He should probably nap. And shower. But once he sat down he wasn’t sure he wanted to get back up.

A loud slam of the door had Dean snapping awake, horrified to find he had fallen asleep at all. He blinked rapidly, frantically looking down at his watch. He sighed, melting back into the couch when he realized it was barely even 5:30.

“Dean?” Sam stood in the doorway. A look of anger and confusion crossed his face.

“Heya Sammy,” He mumbled, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

“What are you- you’re supposed to be at work! Why were you here sleeping!?”

Dean pushed himself off of the couch, “Chill Sam, I came home a bit early becua-“

Sam was on top of him in a second, shoving him back against the wall. Dean only blinked. He didn’t fight back, unsure of what exactly was happening.

“Because what, Dean? Huh? Because you’re lazy ?! Because you don’t want me to go on this trip?!” He gave another shove against Dean’s chest. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re jealous that I’m making something of myself and get to do things while you wasted your chance.”

Dean thought he should be angry, should fight back, and normally he would, but right now he was just so tired he wasn’t sure his brain was keeping up. “Sam-“

“No! I’m sick of getting stuck with your laziness! Why should I be punished for your lousy work habits?!”

“Sam!”

Dean’s confused eyes finally left his brother to find Bobby standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Sammy, man, I’m sorry, okay?” He wasn’t exactly sure what he was apologizing for but he didn’t have the energy to de-escalate. In the back of his mind he thought he got too comfortable. Too complacent. He should be able to wake up and be ready to defend himself in seconds. Not that he was sure why he was having to defend himself at all. “Just, back off man.”

The fist appeared out of nowhere. Dean’s head slammed against the wall as Sam’s fist connected with his cheekbone.

“Samuel Winchester!” Bobby barked as he forcibly pulled Sam off of his brother.

Dean’s hand came up to feel his face where a bruise was already forming. He stood slack jawed as his brother panted from across the room.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” He heard Bobby hiss, still trying to process what exactly had just happened.

“We need money!” Sam shouted, “Our clothes are from clearance at Goodwill , I still owe a good amount in school equipment this semester, and the deadline for the D.C. trip is coming up and I haven’t even paid the down payment ! And Dean thinks it’s a good time to slack off? Perfect time to take a break! Just because he dropped out of school and screwed up his own life doesn’t mean he gets to screw up mine!”

Each word felt more like a blow than the actual punch. He felt his heart pound heavily in his chest, unsure of what to say or what to do.

“Go.” Bobby snapped.

Sam paled slightly, fear of what Bobby meant warring with his anger, “Come on Bobby-“

“Outside. I can’t trust myself to talk to you right now. Cool off then you can come back in.”

Dean was only half listening to the conversation, attempting to breathe through the rising panic as his brain screamed not good enough not good enough not good enough not good enough .

“Dean!”

Dean’s head shot up, staring Bobby in the eye. From the look on the older man’s face, he could assume that this wasn’t the first time he’d called his name. His heart beat became quieter even if it didn’t slow.

“Sorry, sorry Bobby. Uh- what?”

Bobby moved Dean’s hand from where it was covering most of the left side of his face. Dean didn’t mean to flinch, but Bobby immediately backed off, holding both hands up placatingly.

“Just let me look at it.”

Dean nodded dumbly. Pain blossomed at Bobby’s touch but he did his best to not move away. He felt too numb. The pain was almost relieving.

“It’ll leave a nasty bruise but I don’t think anything’s broken.”

Another brief nod.

“Dean, don't listen to anything he said. He’s just angry. He got into a fight at school today, some rich kid who thinks he’s better than everyone else. Not an excuse and not your fault, but he was just blowing off steam.”

“Uh, yeah, yeah. I know.” He answered distractedly.

Bobby sighed, “Don’t kill yourself over this. You’ve been working like a dog the last week to get him the money for his stupid trip. Don’t kill yourself trying to get him to understand.”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya Bobby.” He gently felt around the growing bruise as he followed Bobby to the kitchen.

A bag of frozen vegetables that Dean didn’t know existed in the house were thrown at him. He caught it, bringing it up to cover his eye while Bobby handed him a beer.

“If you don’t mind me askin’, what are ya doin’ home so early?”

Dean shrugged slightly, “Hurt my leg and Sonny insisted. Tried to tell him I was fine but he practically forced me.” He took a sip of the beer, if being a bartender had taught him anything, it was to drink with moderation. He thought it might have done a better job at “rehabilitating” him than any AA meeting could have.

“What’d you do?”

“Got attacked by some boxes. Nothing too heavy just… landed on my leg wrong. Really I’m fine. It wasn’t worth… all this.” He waved his arms. “Probably a good thing he stormed in.” He huffed a laugh, starting to feel a bit more like himself, “Fell asleep. Didn’t set an alarm or nothin’, totally would have slept through my shift.”

Bobby frowned, “Maybe you should take tonight off. I’m sure I could find someone-“

“No, I’m fine Bobby, honest.” He paused, knowing what he wanted but afraid to ask for it, ��I, uh, I think I’m just going to stay in town tonight.”

“Dean…” Bobby sighed, “I know that Sam’s upset, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave.”

“I know Bobby, this isn’t for him, it’s… for me. I just… I’m closing anyway, I’ll just crash in the back, give Sam a chance to cool off and me a chance to recharge.” And possibly pick up a few extra hours at the garage without anyone paying too much attention.

The older man watched him incredulously, but finally shrugged, taking a swig of his own beer. “You’re an adult. And I ain’t your daddy. You can do whatever you want.” Then as if to reassure him, “Regardless of what you choose, I’ve got Sam the next couple days.”

Dean nodded, “Yeah, I uh, I think I’m gonna do that.” He put his beer down on the table. “Don’t be too hard on Sam, okay? I’m not mad at him.”

As he walked away, he heard Bobby mutter, “I know, and that’s what worries me.”

Notes:

Let me know what you think! I don't know if I'm going to post every day or every other day, we shall see.

I hope you enjoyed that! Next chapter we'll see how some of the people in Dean's life react to his black eye.

If Sam seems mean... I warned you. This is AU so leave how Sam would "really" be out of it and just accept that this is how this story is written.

Oh! I also wanted to say, that if it seems like I'm posting less lately, it's because I've been working on some longer stuff but don't post it until I'm done. I like it better this way because I don't feel super stressed about getting the next part to you guys or like I'm letting people down by not updating or losing my train of thought. Waiting until it's done means less constant content but more completed stories.

Anyway, let me know any thoughts you have!

God bless,

Jamie

[deansmom]

(ao3) pls accept this very old mcdanno fic I never published, in which there are feelings and a kiss. also, soup snakes.

"So, Steven."

Steve smirks a little bit, leaning back against his desk like the smug asshole he is. This conversation has been a train wreck from the start. 

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Danny raises his voice for dramatic effect to accompany the accusing look he's shooting at Steve. "You and me."

"Have you ever considered that maybe I'm interrupting you because you talk in incomplete sentences when you're nervous?"

Danny glares at him and flails his hands around unhelpfully, "See, this! This is what I'm talking about!"

Steve rolls his eyes, "You weren't talking about anything Danny. We were tailing a suspect and you said, out of the blue, 'do you know what a soup snake is' and here we are.”

"This -" Danny shakes his head and runs a hand over his face, "You know, if you ever let me finish a sentence I wouldn't have to bring things up like that."

Steve grins as he watches Danny start ramping up to a full-blown rant-down (the Williams version of a meltdown). He gets up after a moment and sets a hand on the other mans shoulder, his smile a little kinder. "Hey. I'm listening."

Danny looks up at him and deflates. He brings both of his hands up to his face and groans, "Okay. Okay, so..."

He walks a few steps away from Steve and collects himself before saying, "So Gracie is reading this book, right? And it's been so long since she was excited about a book so I said sure, I'll read it with her, cause y'know, that's what you do, you read books you don't care about just to spend time with your daughter before she starts to hate you."

"Danny," Steve sighs and rests against his desk again, "Gracie could never -"

"Shut up," Danny interrupts with a flail. He's yelling with his hands. "Shut up or I'm never gonna get through this okay?"

Steve stays silent as way of answer. 

It takes another few seconds before Danny says, "So this book. Some actress wrote it and she was on that show The Office."

Danny turns to look out at the rest of the squad room and runs a hand through his hair, "She's got this friend and he's - he's her ex. Best friends though, like, the kinda thing you hope for growing up.

"And Mindy - that's the actress - everybody wants to know why they're not together. So she's got this chapter in this book and she says y'know, it's weird, their relationship, but they're soup snakes."

Steve has to bite his tongue. 

"And - Gracie, you know, she turns to me and she says, 'That sounds like you and Uncle Steve, Danno.'"

On instinct, Steve's body tenses up and he's got to remind himself to breathe. 

"So I'm thinking you know, she's just a kid, she doesn't know things. She's smart but she doesn't, you know - she doesn't know this."

Danny lets his head fall forward so it's resting as close to his chest as it can. "Do you know what soup snakes are, Steven?"

He has to take a moment to get his voice to work before he responds, "Uh... No, afraid I don't."

Danny spins around suddenly, and gestures around, "It's from an episode apparently. The main guy, his ex comes to town and he spends the whole episode trying to explain why he doesn't have feelings for her when he clearly does and he doesn’t want to be friends with her and - it's jibberish. Makes a toddler look like a genius."

He takes a few steps closer to Steve, apparently more determined now, "And he makes this list. The number one reason on it is because they're soup snakes."

Danny pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and pretends his hands aren't shaking. It's harder to pretend his voice isn't shaking though when he starts reading it. 

"I lied to Kevin. Holly and I can never be just friends. I wrote down a list of bullet points why Holly and I should be together, and I'm going to find the perfect moment today and I am going to tell her. Number one: "Holly, you and I are soup snakes." The ... and the reason is... because... in terms of the soup, we like to- that doesn't make any sense. We're soul mates. Holly and I are soul mates."

Steve's heart is pounding in a way that it hasn't since he went through basic training and he's suddenly sweating bullets. "That's, ah..." He licks his lips and tries again, "That's a nice story, Danny."

Danny seems to ignore him, keeping his eyes on the paper, “So, there I am, sitting in my living room with my daughter, my lovely, amazing girlfriend in the kitchen and...” 

He looks up at Steve finally and he looks terrified - like walking into a tunnel terrified.

“And see I’m - I’m having a crisis. Because this?” He gestures in between the two of them, “This wasn’t - it’s not -” 

“Yeah,” Steve croaks out, his voice rough for a number of reasons. 

Danny opens his mouth uselessly, the words on the tip of his tongue and refusing to come out.

Steve takes a step closer, well within his personal space now and swallows nervously, “It doesn’t have to be. I mean, if you...” He lets out a breath, ignoring his stuttering heart, “If you don’t -” 

He’s not an idiot. Despite what Danny likes to think, he’s not a ‘neanderthal.’ He’s got feelings, lots of them, and he knows what they all mean.

He knows that he’s been in love with Danny since the day they met. 

“But it is!” Danny yelps, his hands coming up to rest on the back of his head, “It already is Steven, it doesn’t matter if I -”

Steve sets a hand on his shoulder, effectively shutting him up. It doesn’t matter, not really, because the only thing he can hear is the sound of his heart racing in his ears. 

“Did you break up with her?” He asks, terrified of the answer. 

Danny makes a face that clearly communicates how dumb he thinks Steve is, “What, are you insane? What kind of person do you think I am, huh?? Realize I’m in love with my best friend and keep dating a perfectly nice -”

And, well, that’s enough.

Steve leans down, slamming their lips together in both an effort to shut him the hell up and finally, finally find out what kissing Danny feels like.

Danny groans into it, his hands coming up to fist Steve’s shirt. 

They’ve always been a bit of a disaster together, two halves of different puzzles that shouldn’t fit, but they do, they fit so well, and kissing is no exception.

There’s a literal push and pull and before Steve realizes what’s happening, he gets pushed back into his chair. Danny’s standing there looking absolutely wrecked, the toes of their shoes knocking against each other, and Steve has never seen anything more beautiful.

“You,” Danny huffs, trying to catch his breath, and points at Steve’s chest. “Are an asshole.”

Steve squawks, his hands coming up to grab Danny’s thighs, “Me?!”

Danny glares at him, but still moves so that he’s partially on Steve’s lap. 

Something fizzles out in Steve’s brain with all this physical contact and he’s expecting something, something like a kiss or frotting or - something. 

Instead, Danny pinches the sensitive part of his upper arm, hard, and Steve yelps. 

“Do not interrupt me when I’m talking to you,” he hisses. 

“Talking at me is more like it,” Steve mumbles, unable to take his eyes off of Danny. They’re so close, they’re so fucking close, and he’s got years of pent-up frustration and theories he wants to explore. 

There’s a bead of sweat rolling its way down Danny’s throat and Steve just watches it go, wonders how angry Danny would be if he leaned up and licked it right now. Probably really angry, he seems like he’s really pissed, and Steve’s not sure why. 

Then again, he usually isn’t totally sure why Danny’s mad at him. 

Danny’s hand grabs his chin, forcing Steve to look back up at him, “Steven.”

Steve licks his lips, his mouth feeling suddenly very dry, “Yeah?”

“We are at work,” he reminds him, his tone going a little softer. 

He sounds, for lack of a better word, wrecked. He sounds like Steve feels, which is a little raw and a little off balance and - 

Steve groans, his head falling forward and landing on Danny’s clavicle. Stupidly, some part of his lizard brain can only think about how good he smells. 

“Yeah,” he sighs, his eyes closing. “Yeah, okay.” 

Danny presses a kiss to his temple, softer than anything Steve thinks he deserves, and finally pulls away from him. Steve makes a noise of complaint at the loss of contact and it feels like his chest is going to explode with the quiet laugh from Danny it earns him. 

God, he really loves him. 

He watches as Danny fixes his hair, fixes his shirt, tries not to look like his whole world has been rocked in the last ten minutes. 

Steve doesn’t even try to pretend he isn’t doing exactly what he’s doing. 

Danny catches his eye after a moment and grins, walking around to the front of the desk. 

This is the part of Danny that Steve’s always had to experience from the outside looking in, and now, he’s the center of that look and. Wow. 

“Hey Danny,” he hears himself choke out right as Danny’s about to walk out of the office.

Danny turns around, the door half open, and somehow the bastard looks like he always does, like this is all normal. “Yeah?”

It takes his brain a little bit longer than normal to figure out what it was he was going to say, and when it does he wants to laugh.

“I’m gonna need that report before we leave tonight.”

Danny’s face does that thing where it scrunches up like Steve’s being the most unreasonable dictator in the world and he starts yelling (’I don’t yell at you Steven, I explain loudly’).

Because he’s an idiot, and he’s hopelessly in love with his partner, Steve just grins.

Yeah, he thinks to himself. Yeah, this could work. 

[duchesschameleon]

what if - chapter 8

pairing: Aaron Hotchner x GN!Reader words: 1929 a/n: Carolyn is here! this is the second to last chapter and we get some happiness and some angst. I’m super, super excited to share this with everyone!! the last chapter still needs some editing, it’ll get posted probably next week! as always, thank you to @qvid-pro-qvo​ for being the best beta

warnings: angst, some discussions of death

what if masterlist

You watch Dave’s face as for the first time in nearly 50 years, he lays eyes on Carolyn Bartolini. His jaw drops in surprise, face full of disbelief and wonder as he takes in the sight of Carolyn approaching on her horse.

“Oh my god,” Dave whispers, slowly moving closer to Carolyn as if being pulled by a magnet. She pulls on the reins, coming to a stop and you finally get a good look at her face. She’s aged gracefully, you can see the ghost of the girl she was from the photos Dave showed you. Right now her face is mirroring Dave’s shock as she slides down from the horse and approaches him.

“Dave,” she whispers, stepping closer to him. “Is it really you?”

“Si, Caro,” Dave says, coming the distance between them and grabbing her hands. “It’s me.”

Aaron’s standing next to you, watching Dave and Carolyn reconnect, watching their eyes search the others’ faces and seeing the changes from nearly 50 years apart. You don’t notice the tension between you and Aaron, the tension still lingering from last night's kiss. You’re too focused on Dave and Carolyn as they smile at each other.

“I’m a little late, Caro,” Dave says, voice thick with emotion and you can picture the tears welling in his eyes.

“You’re here now, that’s what matters,” Carolyn responds.

And then they’re kissing. It’s chaste, but you can see how tightly they’re holding on to each other, needing that contact to believe they’re together again. When they part, they’re still smiling and then Dave is turning, beckoning to Aaron and you.

“Caro, I need to introduce some people to you,” Dave says, shifting so he’s standing next to her, arm around her shoulders. He gestures to Aaron and smiles broadly. “This is Aaron Hotchner, he’s a dear friend and basically family, and he insisted on coming here to find you with me.” Aaron goes to shake Carolyn’s hand and she laughs, pulling him into a hug instead and kissing him on both cheeks. The tips of Aaron’s ears are red and you bite back a laugh, focusing instead on Dave who’s introducing you now. “- a writer, from New York, who wrote the letter that convinced me to come here and find you,” he’s saying, smiling softly at you.

Carolyn kisses you on both cheeks as she hugs you too, holding on to your arms as her expression conveys the thanks she cannot say. You nod and pat her hand, silently telling her you understand.

She turns back to Dave, taking his hand and smiling at him. “You all have to stay for lunch. You have to meet my family, and I want to hear about yours,” she says, nodding at each of you. You smile weakly, and catch Aaron looking at you from the corner of your eye. But you ignore him, instead nodding at Carolyn.

Carolyn’s family comes up to her, trying to figure out what’s going on. She’s explaining in rapid Italian, hands gesturing to you, Aaron, and Dave and then her daughter is nodding, catching on and moving to bring you all to the big house.

There’s a large table out behind the house, on a little covered patio. The Bartolini’s settle around it, leaving space near Carolyn’s spot at the head for you, Dave, and Aaron. There’s an impressive spread of food on the table, plus wine, and you all tuck in to lunch, getting to know each other over the food.

Once you’ve all had a chance to eat and get to know each other, Carolyn stands up and gets her family’s attention. “Mi famiglia, today I went on a ride as an old woman, and came back a teenager.” She pauses as everyone around the table chuckles. “Truly though, it’s been the greatest gift to have Dave come back here and to have him meet all of you, and for us to have met Aaron and their wonderful friend who is responsible for all of this,” she continues, gesturing to each of you as she talks. After a moment, she starts up again, “Dave, you have told me that you lost your Hayden, and you know that I have lost my Giovanni,” she says, voice wavering with emotion, “but destiny wanted us to meet again. Grazie destino.”

Everyone echoes the sentiment as Carolyn sits back down and grabs Dave’s hand. They haven’t let go of each other for more than a few moments since they saw each other. It’s sweet, seeing them reconnect and hang on to one another. Seeing that physical manifestation of love that’s lasted over the years.

“Caro,” Dave says quietly, “I’m sorry I was late.”

She smiles softly at him, “No, no. When we are talking about love, you can never be late.”

You smile at them before turning back to your plate. Lunch finishes not long after that, the younger children congregating in the yard to kick around a soccer ball. You see Carolyn and Dave wander towards the fields hand in hand and you smile as you sink down into a chair, a warm feeling spreading through your chest.

At least someone gets a happy ending, and you can finally finish your story. And then go back to New York, hopefully get your piece published, and move on to the next story. No more seeing Aaron, no more seeing Dave, this whole trip fading into a simple memory. You blow out a sigh, staunchly ignoring the tears pricking at the corner of your eyes.

“Well, there’s your ending, huh?” Aaron says, walking up from behind your chair. You twist to look at him, a confused look on your face. “Just when all hope is lost, she rides in at the last minute on a white horse. Who’s gonna believe that?” Aaron asks, running a hand through his hair. You shrug, still so uncertain what to say to him after last night. After you just walked away. Before you can even open your mouth to attempt to say something, anything, about it, Aaron’s walking around to sit on the table in front of you. He says your name urgently, immediately grabbing your full attention. “Promise me you’ll finish the story. It needs to be shared, and your writing deserves to be seen,” he says, voice full of conviction.

“Of course,” you whisper, nodding. Aaron nods too, wiping his hands on his slacks.

After a moment he lets out a breath and meets your eyes. “So I guess this is it. And I’m sorry it is.”

“I guess it is.” You lick your lips, still searching for the words to explain last night but again, Aaron beats you to it again.

When he says your name this time, there’s a weight to it, sincere feelings behind it. “I, I never should have kissed you last night,” he says, glancing down at his hands. You control your face, trying not to let it crumple and show your disappointment. “I was completely out of bounds, you’re still grieving and I’m-” He clears his throat and runs his palms over his knees. “Well, I shouldn’t have done it.”

You swallow around the lump in your throat and nod in understanding, even passing agreement. Of course, he’s not actually interested in you. It was a spur of the moment thing. Something that never should have happened. No matter how much you want it to happen again, no matter how hard your heart clenches when you look at Aaron.

So you do what you have to. You look back up at Aaron, meet his eyes, and say, “I guess it’s time to go then.” And then you’re pressing a kiss to his cheek and standing, walking away without looking back, again. Ignoring the tears forming, again.

You focus on Carolyn and Dave, who have come back from the fields, and jog up to them. “Hi,” you say smiling tightly at them, “I, uhm, I need to get back to Verona. My flight to New York -”

“Oh, of course! I’ll have Aaron take the car, we’ll get you back, no worries,” Dave says, moving to untangle himself from Carolyn but you’re shaking your head.

“No, no, Dave, I can’t take you away from this place,” you protest, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. “You should stay here, you and Aaron. This is what you came here for anyway.”

Carolyn steps forward, putting a hand on your shoulder. “My son can drive you. It’s no worries,” she says and you nod your thanks, finding it hard to speak. She squeezes your shoulder before unwinding her arm from around Dave’s waist and searching for her son.

Dave puts his hands on your arms as he searches your face, noticing the tears in your eyes threatening to fall. “Is something wrong?”

You shake your head, “No, it’s just,” you shrug and glance around your surroundings, “all of this is...” you trail off unable to find the words.

“I know,” he whispers, bringing you in for a hug. “An angel brought you to me,” he says, kissing your cheeks. You smile wetly, and he wraps an arm around your shoulder, walking you towards the front of the house. Carolyn and her son are already there, grabbing your bag from the rental car and moving it into theirs.

You hug Carolyn, kiss her cheeks, and thank her as you climb into the passenger seat. Dave waves goodbye as he wraps an arm around Carolyn again and hugs her close. And then your door is closed and the car is moving, Dave and Carolyn waving to you as they grow smaller in your vision, going blurry as the tears finally fall.

Back at the house, Dave looks around Carolyn to see Aaron walking towards them. He kisses Carolyn’s temple and then stands next to him. “Aaron, we’re practically family so I think you understand why I’m telling you you’re an idiot.”

Aaron whips his head towards Dave, brow furrowed. “Sure, don’t sugarcoat it Dave,” he grumbles, arms crossed.

“I won’t,” Dave says. “You don’t know where this one will end up settling. Don’t wait 50 years to get your head out of your ass like I did.”

Dave’s words slowly register with Aaron. He realizes what Dave is saying, is telling him, and it hits him instantly. He’s fallen for you. He’s in love with you. Aaron springs into action, running to the car and driving off after you.

Halfway to Verona, Aaron thinks about what he’s doing. About what he’ll say when he finds you. He looks around to the empty seat next to him. Or almost empty. There’s a pen there, one that fell out of your bag this morning. He pulls over to the side of the road and picks it up, holding it reverently in his hand. The only piece of you in this car, the only evidence you’d been here at all. 

He sighs, the realization washing over him. He can’t follow you to Verona, can’t think of anything he could say to you. Can’t think of anything except how you’ve already walked away from him twice. He can’t risk you walking away again, not with Jack to think about. You’re heading back to New York, he’s going back to DC and will probably never leave. Even if he had proof that you did like him, that you love him the way he loves you, he can’t risk putting Jack through that, much less himself.

So he sighs and turns the car around, heading back to Carolyn’s.

taglist: @qvid-pro-qvo @averyhotchner @kelstark @hurricanejjareau @oreogutz @whentheautumnleavesfall​ message me to be added to the taglist!

[deliriousgeek]

She’s The Alpha (Owen Grady x reader) .9

Here’s chapter nine lovelies! Sorry that it took so long to finish, but it’s here! Also, idk if anyone pays attention to the lore or actual timeline of the Jurassic World franchise but in case anyone does, I will not be following that timeline. The events in this series will be different from that of the actual canon series. There are probably typos since I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible so I heavily apologize for that. Any who, enjoy!

Masterlist

Warnings: fluff?

The synthetic, white light illuminated the creation lab in a haze. No computers beeped and no screens flashed. The few movements in the room belonged to the lights flickering off in the nocturnal specimen containers, slowly rousing them from their day time slumber. The sun had set outside, but there were no windows in the lab and so the white overhanging lights gave no indication that any time had passed at all. If one stood quietly in the middle of the room, they could hear the wake up songs of croaking frogs and tweeting good nights from birds, each in their respective containers. One could look around and see the blinking eyes of lizards and watch as a lone paleontologist observed a substance as it dripped into a beaker. 

Yn’s eyes narrowed as she watched the amber toned liquid flow through the tube. Millions of years in development, 10 years of research, and a grueling year’s worth of testing flowed into a glass beaker. The action itself seemed too underwhelming for the labor and effort put into it. Her studies in Jurassic World would finally come to fruition if this one test worked. After tweaking experiments and hypotheses, it would all rely on this serum. 

It all relied upon the inspection of this serum. One look under a microscope was all she needed to confirm her suspensions. Due to staring at the beaker Yn failed to hear approaching footsteps outside of the laboratory doors. It wasn't until three raps on the glass door disturbed the incessant sound of dripping liquid, did she notice she wasn't alone.

"Uh, should I leave you with the beaker or should I go?"

Letting out a chuff Yn swiveled her chair to face the door.

"Sorry Owen, I didn't hear you come in."

He rolled his eyes and leaned against the door frame. A brown, paper sandwich bag with the Jurassic World logo printed on it was in his hands. He lifted a brow and impishly smiled. "Yn you're working too hard again. Do you know what time it is?"

Blinking her eyes and readjusting to turning so fast, Yn rested her hands on her knees and leaned back. Eyes flicking to the clock she sighed. 

The clock face stared back at her and read 10:30 pm.

"Damn."

Letting out a relinquished sigh as her hand slid down her face. For the past year Yn had been working as a paleogeneticist for Jurassic World. After her first initial visit to the park, which went smoothly, she returned home and endorsed Jurassic World. Shortly after the endorsement was published Jurassic World attendance skyrocketed. Mr. Masrani had reached out to Yn once more, but this time with a job offer. His hooking line that convinced her to leave the traditional paleontology world was “You won’t have to study dried out and dusty fossils. Instead you’ll be able to work with them in the flesh.” With an offer such as that, she couldn’t say no. Yn was elated when she had finally made her decision. However, her joy did not extend to her father, or any of her other extended family. Each shared their concerns and worries, much like the first time she traveled to the park, but once again they were met with Yn’s hard researched evidence on the park’s safety and personal confirmation that she would be fine. After that, they couldn’t say no. Three weeks later she was hugging her father goodbye and hopping on a private helicopter to Jurassic World. This time she was taken to the Hammond creation lab not as an endorser, but as a respected colleague. 

Now, Yn was on the brink of connecting something big, something that would revolutionize everything the world knew about dinosaurs. 

“Yeah, ‘damn’ is right. Now, are you going to stay locked up here all night or join me for a couple beers?”

Yn smiled at Owen’s offer, but she knew her answer. “I’d love to, Owen, but I really need to finish this. I’ll be outta here soon. Don’t worry about me.”

 This time Owen’s eyes slightly narrowed and his arms crossed, “You’ve been working late like this for the past month. What are you working on anyway?” He inquired as if trying to figure out what the purpose of the experiment was by analyzing the liquid. 

“Just confirming some stuff Dr. Wu theorized. With the late nights I’ve been pulling, I’ve actually gotten a lot further than what I expected.”

“Hmm.” Owen stepped back and let the paper bag drop to his side. “Well that’s great. Uh, okay well. I guess I’ll be off then. Want me to leave you a beer?” 

A laugh escaped Yn’s lips. “Nah. If someone came in and saw it I’d be immediately fired.” She was about to end the conversation there when a thought came to mind, “but if you’re still awake in say, about an hour? Would you still be down to share a beer and a late dinner?”

Hearing her suggestion Owen perked up. “Sure, I’ll be up. Meet at my place?” 

Yn nodded. “Yep.”

Turning on his heel with a slight jump to his step he shouted down the hallway, “See you then!”

Yn shook her head with a fond chuckle. She could always count on Owen to cheer her up. Or remind her when it was time to go home. With a made up resolve that she had done enough for the night, Yn began to clean up the lab and head to Owen’s trailer.

The test tubes were cleaned and put away to dry. All the tools she used were put back in their respective places. Now all that was left to do was save the research she had completed. Yn sat down in front of the computer, typing in the last details into the report. Then with a few clicks the file “Indo.Genome.2” was saved. 

With a satisfied sigh Yn closed up the lab and began her journey to Owen’s trailer. Upon arriving and exiting her car, Yn smiled. “Did I miss a celebration?” She observed the strings of light that hung across the open space between Owen’s trailer and the trees. A table set for two sat in the middle of it all. Owen occupied one chair, grinning with a teasing smile.

“Oh no, you didn’t miss anything.”

“Then what’s all this?” Yn gestured to the lights as she took her spot across from Owen.

He reached for his beer bottle and shrugged. “Can’t a man do something nice for his friend?” 

Yn laughed. “You can, but you usually don’t decorate unless we’re celebrating something.” She mused.

Placing the bottle down his teasing resolve softened. If Yn didn’t know any better she would think he looked sheepish. Owen didn’t answer after a few seconds so Yn took that as her cue to drop the interrogation.

“Got a bottle opener?”

“Oh right.”

Owen took the bottle from Yn and opened it, handing it back to her.

“Thanks.” 

Yn took a sip and sighed. She always preferred Owen’s place to hangout over hers. Yn looked out into the lake. It’s inky black surface reflected the white light of the moon. The lake was beautiful and quiet, encompassed by local foliage and the soothing noises of the jungle. 

Contrary to her condo in the park that was surrounded by late night bar attendees and bustling guests. It was peaceful here. She enjoyed that. 

Observing Yn take a sip of her beer and see her shoulders visibly relax gave Owen a sense of triumph. A few minutes of silence passed between them as they observed the lake before Owen spoke up. 

“Actually n/n, there is a reason for setting this all up.”

Switching her attention from the lake to him Yn turned. “Oh?”

“Yeah, uh,” He had a little trouble finding his words. “Actually uh, I’ve noticed the way you’ve been acting the past two months.”

Yn tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Leaning back into the patio chair Owen spoke. “Every time I’ve come to check on you, I find that you haven’t eaten. You’re the first person at work and the last one to leave. I hardly see you during our lunch break. To top it off you stopped coming by the paddock at the beginning of the month. The first couple times I noticed these changes I didn’t say anything, but now seeing as nothing’s changed I’m a little worried.”

Yn stared back at Owen with wide eyes and a mouth slightly gaping. Hearing all the differences in her routine surprised her. Had it really been that bad? Taking in a breath at her realization Yn reclined into her chair. What made it worse was that she had made Owen worry and fret over her. Now it made sense that he would check on her late at night in the lab every so often. He was worried about her well being. 

Taken aback Yn replied, “Wow. I’m sorry Owen. I didn’t mean to worry you. Honestly, I’m okay. I’ve just been really distracted with this project.”

“That’s the thing Yn. I know how much of a workaholic you are, but this is a new level.” Owen stated, a little displeased. 

A chuckle came out of Yn. “It’s not that bad.”

“Oh really?” Owen dead panned. “When was the last time you got a full eight hours of sleep?”

Yn quirked a brow. “Oh please. I got a full eight hours of sleep just last,” Her brows knitted. “Last,” Her memory must’ve been foggy because she specifically remembered that on- “Last..” Huh. She couldn’t remember. “I don’t know.” She replied.

“Exactly.” Now Owen’s brows tightened. “Why are you working yourself so hard?” 

“Psh Owen it’s not that bad! I’m seriously okay-”

“Yn.” Owen’s tone held no room for rebuttal. His shoulders tensed and face hardened, then his posture loosened. “Are you sure you’re okay? The last time you threw yourself into your work something bad happened. I can’t have you go into that dark place again.”

Touched about Owen’s worry for her, Yn softly smiled. Reaching across the table to his hand that rested across from her, she placed her palm on top of his closed fist. Looking into his eyes Yn spoke, “Owen. I am okay. I can promise you that I am one hundred percent mentally and emotionally okay. Nothing bad has happened. All that’s kept me busy is this project. I can’t really talk about it other than that it’s something I’m really proud of. If something did happen or I wasn’t feeling like myself, I would tell you. Okay?” She squeezed his hand for an extra bit of sincerity. Looking into her eyes Owen confirmed she was being serious. Letting go of his resolve he nodded. “Okay. I just needed to make sure.”

Yn gently smiled, retracting her hand. “Thank you Owen. I really appreciate your concern for me.”

“Hey, I’m not the only one,” His playful side coming back. “The girls miss you too.”

Yn laughed. “I miss my raptor babies too.” “Uh no no, they're not your raptor children, they’re mine.”

Yn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

Owen laughed. His eyes widened in remembrance. “I forgot, your sandwich is in the fridge. I’ll go get it.” He stood and headed into the trailer.

Yn smiled and uttered a “thank you” before he disappeared behind the trailer door. Looking back out into the lake, Yn was grateful. She and Owen had come to develop a special friendship. She would go as far to say that they were best friends. Without him, Yn probably wouldn’t have made it through the first month of working at the park.

Just as she was about to take another sip from the beer bottle Owen came out from the trailer; his phone in one hand and Yn's sandwich in the other. “Hate to cut this dinner short but there's trouble at the paddock.”

Standing with alert Yn began walking towards her car. “What happened?” “Delta’s fighting with Blue.”

Yn nodded, already opening her car door. “Get in, I’ll drive.”

Tag List

@littlegangrel @thebadassbitchqueen

Constructive criticism is welcomed!  If you want to be added to the tag list, please don’t be shy. I don’t bite :3

And to my followers or anyone that is reading this, if you’re going through something and hurting please know that there are people to talk to. If you’re stressed or overwhelmed, let me remind you to take breaks. 

Don’t be like “Yn” and not take care of yourself. You are loved! You are valued! Please treat yourself like how you would treat someone not taking care of their own needs. 

Sincerely, DeliriousGeek <3

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

One Shot- To The Stars And Back

Intro: Steve and Katie receive a message which Tony left before his death.

Warnings: “Language!” 

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: This was originally a full chapter, however I as I ended up publishing Stark Spangled Man I stripped out the flashback, and it left me with this little mini. It always sat in my head that Tony would leave personalised messages for Katie and Steve, along with the rest of his family, not just the generic one we saw at his funeral so here we are.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Happy?” Katie frowned momentarily as the man strode into her kitchen, followed by Steve. “Wasn’t expecting to see you today, not that you’re not welcome, of course you are.” She hastily added.

“It’s okay, Kiddo, I know what you meant.” He chuckled softly “The kids not here?” “Jamie’s gone to the park with Bucky and Sam, and Emmy’s taken Lucky for a walk.” She answered. “Why, do we need them?”

“No, I was just gonna say hi but I’ll see them tomorrow I suppose.” He smiled sadly at the thought of the funeral. “But, anyway, I came to deliver this. It turns out even, well, even when he’s gone your brother has me running errands.”

Katie smiled softly as he held up the box in front of her.

“He left three. One for you and Steve, one for Pepper and Morgan, and one for his Funeral….so…”

“His Funeral?” Steve frowned, as Katie opened a drawer and retrieved a knife before she walked over to the table. She had a feeling she knew what was in there, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she carefully slit the tape on the cardboard box and took a breath as she realised she was right.

Inside was an Iron Man helmet, one of his many spares from his suits over the years.

“He’s erm, ” she took a breath as she instantly recognised which suit this had come from. “He’ll have left a message or something, like he did all those years ago from Tennessee.”

Happy nodded. “He did. The boxes arrived at the house today. Along with instructions that if he had, you know, then they were to be distributed accordingly.”

“Thanks.” Katie set the helmet on the table and glancing into the box. There was another, smaller package inside, to which an envelope was attached. She smiled as she read her brother’s handwriting on the front. It simply said ‘Spangles’.

“We were just about to get lunch.” Steve tore his eyes away from Katie as he looked to Happy. “Do you want to join us?”

“Thanks but I should be getting back.” Happy declined the offer politely. “Stuff to do before tomorrow.”

Katie gave him a small smile, placing the smaller box on the table “Can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me neither.” Happy swallowed, dropping a hand to her shoulder “But we’ll get through it. We always do, huh?”

“I’ll see you out.” Steve said, as Happy gave Katie a hug before he nodded and the two men left the room.

Katie looked at the helmet which now sat on the table, and she took a deep breath before she picked it up and looked straight into the eye sockets. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, resting her forehead against the cool metal she held in her hands. She had no idea which suit this was from, but then again Tony had made so many of the damned things, it could be Mk500 for all she knew. The tears began to fall down her face as she screwed her eyes shut, head pressed against the helmet, before gently hands pried it from hers.

“Hey,” Steve spoke softly, dropping into the seat next to her, placing the helmet on the table. “Come here.”

She turned into him, pressing her face to his chest as she shook with silent sobs. His hand gently rubbed her back as he soothed her, waiting for her to calm down.

“Sorry,” She pulled back. “Stop apologising.” Steve shook his head, wiping her tears with his thumbs. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

Katie took a deep breath and glanced at the helmet, before she remembered something. “Oh, here.” She reached out for the smaller box, and nudged it towards him.  “This was in there for you.” Steve frowned and took the box, looking at the envelope. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes “That fucking nickname.”

“Open it.” Katie urged. “I wanna see what it is.”

Smiling at her ever impatient nature, Steve tore the envelope open. His eyes scanned the writing and his brow furrowed slightly, before his lips turned up in a soft smile and he handed the note to her.

Hey Old Man. My dad once told me that no amount of money can buy a second of time, yet he had a hell of a lot of expensive watches, so go figure. This particular one, however, I couldn’t auction for charity. I always intended to pass it to you, one way or another. And if you’re reading this note you’re getting it after my demise…so I best explain.

I did a bit of digging and it turns out that most of the guys involved in ‘Operation Rebirth’ and the Howling Comandos got one of these post the War. It’s a Wartime Rolex Oyster, probably worth a fair dime or two but the sentiment makes it priceless as you’ll see when you look at it. (Here’s a clue- check the back!) It only feels right that you have it. I had intended to pass it to you for your 40th,or your 107th, whatever you wanna call it, but again, as you’re reading this I won’t be there for that.  

I know Jamie’s surname is Rogers but there is half Stark in him so he’s not a complete lost cause, and maybe when he’s older you can pass this down to him. Or if you have any more kids that are boys, I dunno, maybe you can give them a strap each or something. Whatever.

I’m also assuming you’ll be reading this before watching the message I left as we both know Kiddo is an impatient brat so I’ll leave it there, I don’ t wanna spoil my heartfelt speech too much.

T 

Whilst Katie was reading, Steve opened the box and he gently took the watch in his hand. It was silver, with a black leather strap and a simple, classic face. He studied at it before he turned it over and he instantly felt a lump in his throat. Engraved on the back was the Howling Commando emblem- they had adopted the wings from his helmet which had adorned their uniforms in whichever place they chose- with the words ‘To The Captain’ arched over the top in copper slate writing.

He gently handed it to Katie and she glanced down at it, turning it over to read the inscription, her fingers running over the writing.

“Wow.” She whispered, wiping her eyes “I’ve never seen this before.”

“It’s erm, ” Steve cleared his throat, his voice thick, “it’s pretty…”

“Awesome.” Katie smiled up at him.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded as she handed it back to him, and he placed it back in the leather box, setting it to one side.  Seeing that had brought a wave of emotions crashing back over him. Nostalgia, slight sadness at the loss of not just Tony but his other friends, and pride.

Pride that even after he was gone they’d remembered him in such a touching and genuine way.

Shaking himself out of it, he looked at Katie and then nodded to the helmet. “Do you wanna do it now or…” She nodded and picked it up in a shaking hand, before she put it on.

“Retinal Scan authenticated” FRIDAY’s voice spoke “Greetings Mrs Rogers…accessing Stark Secure Server, hologram projection activated.”

Katie removed the helmet and placed it on the table, pointing it away from them as the footage beamed out from the eye sockets. She took a deep breath as the hologramatic form of her brother appeared and he smiled at them.

“Hey Kiddo.” He spoke, “Cap…”

Katie wanted to speak back, so badly, but she knew it was pointless, he wasn’t actually there. Steve gently reached for her hand and she linked her fingers into his.

“So, I thought I better record a message, you know just in case it all goes sideways tomorrow.” Tony sniffed, sitting down on a chair. “I’ve left one for Pepper and Morgan too and the gang, but I wanted to leave you your own. I hope that you’re watching this back and our plan worked, that everyone came back and we did it,” he took a deep breath, “but there’s a couple of things I wanna get out of the way before we get into the soppy shit. So, first off, I’m leaving half my shares of Stark Industries to you, the other half goes to Pepper who will more than likely keep it for Moo once she’s old enough. If you both come to the decision to sell then, that’s cool. It’s probably run its course anyway. If not then good luck taking it in whatever direction you choose, not that you need luck, you’ve proven yourself more than capable of running it pretty much singlehandedly over the last five years.”

Katie took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes with her spare hand, the one that was entwined with Steve’s tightened around his fingers.

“Second, most of the cash assets I have pass to Pepper, but I’ve left instructions that there’s some for you as well. I know you don’t need it but I want you to use it for the kids, however many you end up with. Tell them Uncle Nee wanted to leave them something. And thirdly, the house in Malibu. I knew we never got round to rebuilding it but I still own the land and I want you to have it, Kiddo. That was our home for years and I watched you grow up there into the strong, beautiful woman you became so it only feels right. Plus it’s where we buried that fucking turkey too so it’s probably haunted by the evil bastard anyway. There’s a fund set up as well which should let you rebuild it however you want.

I know you probably won’t want to move from Brooklyn, I mean Cap’s lived there pretty much all his life, well, maybe, if you don’t count the sixty-five years doing time as a Capsicle or the time in DC and then wherever the hell you were when, well, you know,” Tony waved his hand, “whatever, the point is you can rebuild it how you want and use it how you want, nice little holiday home maybe.” Katie took a shuddering breath as now her tears were falling thick and fast. She’d forgotten all about that house, their home that had been destroyed. The fact that Tony had never sold the land so she could have it back in some form was astounding and overwhelming at the same time.

“So now that’s dealt with, onto the good stuff. First off, Spangles.” Tony spoke and Steve shifted slightly “I know we’ve had our differences, but I just wanted you to know when it comes to Katie I trust you implicitly, I think I always have done in a way. I never really had any doubts in my mind since that day I spoke to you in DC. To be honest you’re such a straight guy I trust you with pretty much anything, well, maybe not quite, I’m still not sure about our driving but that’s a different story.” Tony winked and Steve spluttered a chuckle. The fact that Captain America was a bit of a speed demon behind the wheel and been a long running joke amongst the Avengers since the beginning. “You’re a good man with a good heart, everyone knows this, I mean that’s the reason you were chosen for the serum anyway isn’t it? Because it makes the good better. I know I’m leaving my girl in good hands, but just so you know,” he raised his fingers to his eyes in the familiar ‘I’m watching you’ sign and Steve smiled, “and that won’t stop now, because if you ever do let her down I’ll make it my mission to haunt you for the rest of your life.” Tony smiled “But I know you won’t. And because I know you probably still don’t believe me I wanted to tell you once and for all that I don’t blame you for any of the shit that went down. I Love you buddy, Take it easy.”  Steve took a deep breath and wiped his tears with his spare hand as Katie gently squeezed his other again as hologram Tony shifted in his seat and his attention turned to Katie.

“Kiddo,” he sighed, “I don’t even know where to start. I know I’ve said it and said it again, but my biggest achievement in life will always be how well and good and honest and…amazing you turned out, even with me as a role model. If Moo turns out to be anything like you when she’s older then…” he trailed off and shrugged, “well, I only wish I was gonna be there to see it, oh, and that reminds me, Spangles I’m counting on you to be there to vet all potential boyfriends for suitability.” Both Katie and Steve let out a watery chuckle at that.

“But yeah, where was I…oh, right…I watched how you took Emmy under your wing, then when you had Jamie and how they’re both growing into spectacular people, it’s awesome and I really couldn’t be any prouder of the woman you became. Never lose that will to do the right thing, never lose that Stark stubbornness, never lose that streak of ferocity that leaves everyone quaking in their boots. After everything you’ve been through, I’m just sorry that I’m bringing more shitty times to your door by meeting an untimely death, but I know you’ll get through the other side, you always do. Just remember, this was my choice to fight, my choice. So I don’t want anyone thinking they’re to blame. You know, I think, deep down, I’ve always known it would end this way ever since New York. And rather this than some crazy old bastard rattling round in a home not knowing what day it is.”

Katie took another deep breath as Tony wiped his hand down his face.

“Anyway, please make sure they don’t play any soppy shit at my funeral. AC/DC, Queen or Led Zep will suffice, maybe some Train, I dunno.” He winked and Katie smiled through her tears “And if Ross is there, give him this from me.” He raised his middle finger of his right hand before he chuckled. “But I don’t know why I’m recording all of this anyway as I’m sure it’s gonna work out. I’ll probably be sat here watching it back and grimacing at how ridiculously stupid I sound and look, but just in case…I want you to remember that I love you to the stars and back my girl, I always will, and I’m beyond proud of you.”

And with that the message cut off, leaving the kitchen quiet bar Katie’s shaking, soft sobs. Steve gently turned towards her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. She pressed her face into his chest, her hands sliding around his back where she gripped at his shirt her brother’s final goodbye to her echoing in her head.

**** Chapter 60

 **Original Posting**