#something something yeah the person running into battle half transformed is stupid in the most familiar way.

[razzledazzle-pop]

tfw you run into another Parisian superhero and you have the unidentifiable urge to suplex them.

[dreamerstreamer]

Speak Your Mind

Pairing: GeorgeNotFound / George x f!reader

Summary: Usually, you left George feeling tongue-tied, but apparently not today.

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: requested by an anon who wanted a cute, clumsy george story! another anon wanted something similar, so i hope you both and all enjoy <3 this was inspired by this quote by lemony snicket :)

George slipped into his chair with a slight groan, nudging his mouse with his elbow as he took a sip of water. He watched as his screen came to life, glancing over at the time. It was still kind of early, and he had a few hours to himself before his scheduled stream.

I could probably just play by myself for a while, he thought to himself, setting his glass down to his left as he opened up Minecraft. He reached across his desk, grabbing his headphones and settling them over his head. It’s been a while since I’ve played in a hardcore survival world. 

But then his gaze flickered down to a particular server, and he found his cursor automatically clicking on it, almost like clockwork. In an instant, his avatar was standing on the Prime Path, the blocky world rendering into view around him. Shifting his mouse a few times, George smiled and opened up his inventory.

He spent a few moments sorting everything out, quietly humming to himself. A few seconds later, something popped up on the bottom left of his screen, his gaze darting over to catch it.

[y/n]: hi george!

[y/n]: how are you doing?

George’s heart almost immediately stuttered in his chest, and he spent a moment or two simply staring at the two lines of text.

He couldn’t believe just how much power you had over him.

The two of you had been friends for a long time now—nearly as long as he had been friends with Dream, even. The two of you had met almost entirely by accident, having simply been jokingly trapped together on a random server by one of the admins for a few hours. Under any other circumstances, George probably would have felt awkward to hell and back, but the two of you had just instantly hit it off together.

You were kind and cheerful, while he was practical and goofy. He loved your optimistic innocence, and you lived for his sarcastic quips. While the two of you had never met in person, both of you had most definitely seen each other’s faces before, and George would never forget the first thing he said when he saw your face.

“Woah. You’re really pretty.”

He had blurted it without warning, surprising even himself at his own words. Your face had flushed while you immediately turned off your face cam, letting out a quiet whine. “George, you can’t just say that!”

He remembered sputtering in his chair, then sending an earnest smile at his monitor. “But it’s true!”

“George!”

The image of your cheeks plastered with an embarrassed, sheepish grin and your wide, shining eyes would forever be ingrained in his mind.

Years later, that picture hadn’t changed a bit, still as clear as ever in his head, but the feelings he held for you had transformed. It didn’t happen quickly, nor did he ever want to admit it, but he was incredibly aware of it—almost too aware of it.

You made his cheeks hurt from how much he smiled around him. You filled his stomach with butterflies just with a single giggle. You made his ears turn bright red whenever you made a sly joke.

The three little words sat at the back of his head at nearly every hour of the day, and he just knew that one of these days, he was going to tell you what they were.

Hopefully.

With a smile on his face and a million thoughts swirling around his head, all of them beginning and ending with you, he closed his inventory and began to type back a response.

GeorgeNotFound: i’m doing good haha

[y/n]: i’m happy to hear that! <3

His breath caught in his throat. A heart—you had sent back a heart. He could feel his own heart seize in his chest at the sight of two simple symbols on his monitor screen.

Oh god, he was so screwed.

He walked forward a bit, his head still spinning with thoughts of you and that stupid heart as he contemplated what he should do next. An idea popped up just then, a small wave of anxiety creating over his head. With shaky hands, he began to type.

GeorgeNotFound: wanna join vc 2?

A moment ticked by, and George chewed on the side of his cheek. Then, your username appeared in the corner of his screen.

[y/n]: okay! i’ll be there in a sec :)

A smiley face. His own lips curled upwards to match the smile emoticon as he entered the voice channel, patiently waiting. A few moments later, something caught his attention from the corner of his monitor. Turning, he flinched as your avatar jumped down and landed in front of him, briefly turning red from the fall damage. A split second later, he heard a familiar ping.

“Boo!” you chirped, your voice echoing in his ear as bright as day. He felt warmth blossom in his chest just at the sound of a single syllable spoken in your voice.

“What a grand entrance,” he said teasingly, unable to hide the fact that he was grinning while he spoke.

“You know me,” you said, giggling, “I always have to make a big show of things.”

“I sure do,” he said, secretly thinking to himself.

But I wish I knew you better.

“Woah,” you suddenly breathed, something like awe seeping in your voice as your character stepped forward. “I feel like we haven’t talked in, like... forever.”

He blinked, shifting his mouse slightly toward you. “We talked yesterday.”

“No,” you said quickly, your pitch raising, “I mean like, talk talked. You know, over call or something?” Your voice grew quiet. “I missed hearing your voice.”

George wanted to throw a pillow across his room. Cute. “Well, I’m here now,” he said softly, chuckling, “so you get to hear it all you want.”

He heard you cough, but it was slightly muffled. He wondered what you looked like right now, and he half-wished that you two had your face-cams on. “Now that you’re on the sever,” you prompted a second later, suddenly sounding normal again. “what do you wanna do?” 

He thought for a moment, the wheels in his head turning. “Well, I kind of wanted to work a bit more on my house.”

“Oh, you mean your new house? The one you were building during the, uh—” You paused, searching for the right words. “—big battle?” 

He could imagine you making fake air quotes with your fingers, and he laughed, thinking of your scrunched up face. “Pfft, yeah. That’s the one.”

“I haven’t seen it yet,” you admitted, some rustling coming through his headphones. “Do... do you mind showing me it?”

He smiled sheepishly. “No, not at all. But I’m not a very good builder, I hope you know.”

You let out a brief shout, and he jumped in his chair. “Nope! Illegal!”

His eyebrows knit together. “‘Illegal’?” he parroted.

“Illegal,” you said in an affirmative tone. “It’s illegal to be mean to GeorgeNotFound. Even by GeorgeNotFound himself. Sorry I don’t make the rules.” Before he could even think of a response, your character began jumping up and down on his screen. “Now, show me the goods! I’m sure it looks great.”

He was pretty sure he was just a puddle in his chair, now. You were just far too much for his poor heart. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take of this before he lost his mind.

Shaking his head free of thoughts of you, he pressed the W key and watched as he moved forward down the Prime Path and over a hill. “Here, follow me. It’s a bit far from the rest of the server’s homes, but I kind of like it.”

You hummed, thoughtful and soft as the two of you jumped your way over a few hills. “I get you. I mean, we all need our space. I think having your home being more far away is just cozy. Quaint. Probably not going to get robbed by Tommy. It’s a win-win situation!”

He snorted at your words. Probably not going to get robbed by Tommy was a positive he would never pass up. “I’m glad it’s not just me who thinks that.”

It was then that a splash of red among a horizon full of browns and greens came into view. You let out a soft gasp as his hobbit-hole house came into view. “Sooo,” he began, clicking his mouse, “ta-da! Here it is! I know it’s not much, but it’s pretty okay, I think?”

A cry of awe flew from your lips. “Are you kidding me? Your house is so pretty!” You ran forward, your eyes wide as you gazed at the hobbit-style home. “It’s so round and cozy and—oh, the mushrooms!” Your avatar jumped up and down, punching at the air towards his house. “You even added a little moat with a bridge!”

A certain sincerity flooded your voice as you added, “George, don’t lie to me and tell me you suck at building. I love your house.”

He felt his heart melt at your eager tone. Just how endearing could one person be? 

“Can we go inside, can we go inside?” you asked, your voice growing bolder as you turned to look at him expectantly. 

A bashful smile shot across his face, even though he knew you couldn’t see him. “I—ah, I haven’t actually built the inside yet,” he admitted shyly.

You let out a soft squeal, your avatar running around the screen with a hop. “If you want, we can build it together!” you offered. “I know you’re not super confident in your building skills, but I’m more than happy to help out!”

His heart melted. You were so kind. Too kind, really. How could he say no?

“I would love that,” he said. He moved inside the house, revealing the hollowed out, blank space that would serve as the interior of his house. “So, as you can see, it’s still a work in progress.” He glanced back at you. “Where should we start? 

There was a slight pause. “Hmmm.” He could imagine the way you scrunched your nose as you thought, your fingers tapping against the nearest flat surface as you did so. “We could make most of the inside out of birch planks,” you began, “and have some dark oak details. You know, so there’s some really neat contrast between the light and dark parts of your house.”

He could hear you growing giddier and giddier with each passing second. “And we can also add some red and white carpet to match the mushroom aesthetic! Oh, that would look so good! “Your character turned to look at him, a block of birch wood already in hand. “What do you think?”

His heart beat a little faster. I like you, he thought, clear as a bell. I really, really like you, that’s what I think.

“You what?”

He froze.

Oh my god. Did I just say that out loud?

Your voice filled his ears, quiet and shaky. “Um. Yeah.”

A second passed in awkward silence. Then another.

If a Minecraft skin could blush, George’s face would be a tomato.

“I, um,” he stammered, his eyes darting every which way in search of an excuse to leave the call. Just then, his gaze caught on the glass of water he had set to his left. He barely gave himself even a second to think about what to say before he started rambling, speaking in a single, blurted breath.

“I just um spilled water all over myself and wow it’s about to get all over my set-up and that would be really bad so I’m just uh gonna go now okay great bye—”

Before he could embarrass himself anymore, he found himself pressing the ‘end call’ button and closing the window, hanging his head in his hands as he let out a long groan of despair.

Why did he do that? How did he do that?

Groaning again, he slammed his head into his desk, turning to press his cheek into the wood as he stared at his keyboard. 

He was an idiot—a big, fat idiot.

In the corner of his eye, he watched as his phone screen lit up. It‘s probably a message from [Y/N], his brain helpfully supplied. She’s probably confused as hell.

“Not helping,” he muttered to himself, sitting up once more.

Well, there was really only one thing he could do now, and that was to get help. Fortunately for him, he knew two people he could definitely ask for advice. Unfortunately, he had a feeling he knew how this conversation was going to go.

Sighing, he opened up Discord again on his monitor.

He was sure things could only go downhill from here.

“You what?!”

George grimaced. He was right. This was a terrible idea. “You don’t have to rub it in my face,” he grumbled.

“I’m—” Wheeze. “I’m not rubbing it in,” Dream explained between gasps for air, “it’s... it’s just that it’s funny.”

George pursed his lips. “I don’t know about you, but that sounds like you’re rubbing it in.”

Sapnap’s voice cut through Dream’s laughter. “Okay, okay, Dream, you’re not helping. Gogy here is having, as Tommy would put it, ‘women problems’, and he needs some help.”

All of a sudden, Dream’s laughter stopped. “If I’m being totally honest,” he said, “I’m not really seeing the problem here.”

There was a beat of silence. “How are you not seeing the problem?” Sapnap said. You could hear the frown in his voice. “George just prematurely confessed his feelings to [Y/N].”

“Yeah, and?”

Another beat of silence.

“What the heck do you mean, ‘and’? That’s the problem!”

George sighed, sinking down in his desk chair. “Dream,” he muttered into his headset, rubbing at his temples, “just spit it out.”

“Look,” he began, “I’m just saying that here’s no advice we could possibly give you, because there’s only one solution.”

“Which is?” Sapnap prompted.

“You just have to tell her outright how you feel.”

George’s jaw dropped and he scrambled to sit up. “No way I’m doing that. Nuh-uh, no thanks.”

Sapnap made a noise of approval. “No, wait—Dream does have a point.”

George felt a stone of uneasiness drop into his stomach. “You’re just saying that because you want to see me make a fool of myself.”

“No, no, nonono, I’m telling the truth!” Dream cried. “Seriously, what other options do you really have? Pretend that you never said anything and just act like nothing happened to confuse her and hope that she forgets?”

“Pretty sure that’s called gaslighting,” Sapnap mumbled.

George glared at his monitor, knowing full well no one could see him. “Not helping.”

“Ignore her for the rest of eternity?” Dream continued. “You’ve already declined six of her calls!” There was a pause, then he carried on. “George, seriously. I want the best for you, and I’m not kidding when I say this is the only viable option, really.”

He stared down at his lap, his hands shaking where they lay. “What if,” he began, “she doesn’t feel the same?”

“Well, tough luck then, Gogy,” Sapnap said bluntly, “You’re just gonna have to suck it up and move on like the rest of us.”

George pressed his lips into a thin line. While it wasn’t exactly the nicest way to put it, he supposed Sapnap was right. “What if...” He swallowed. “What if I’m not ready?”

A soft sigh came from the other end. “George,” Dream said, his voice sincere, “believe it or not, but no one’s ever ready, really. But if we all waited until we were ready, then we’d be waiting for the rest of our lives.”

George fell quiet. A strange sense of comfort fell over him as he let Dream’s words soak in. Mustering up a deep breath, he smiled.

“Okay. I’ll call her back tonight, alright?”

Sapnap let out a hoot, the sound of clapping filling his headphones. “Let’s go! Get ‘em, Gogy!”

“You really need to stop calling me that.”

“Nah. It’s funny.”

Before George could retort, Dream stepped in. “Remember buddy, no matter what happens, we’ll be here for you, okay? Don’t let your fear hold you back. Hell, you know what? Don’t let your—” Dream suddenly cackled, his voice wheezing into his mic as he sputtered, “Don’t let your dreams be dreams, George!”

George let out a groan, barely able to hear himself over the deafening sound of Dream’s wheezing. “Oh my god, I’m hanging up.”

“Good luck, Gog—”

It was at that moment that he clicked the ‘end call’ button, the sweet sound of silence washing over him. Leaning back in his chair, he stared up at the ceiling, the tiniest of smiles gracing his lips.

Maybe calling his friends wasn’t such a bad idea, after all.

George stared at his monitor, the dark screen reflecting a mirrored image of himself. His hand opened and closed on his lap, itching to hold onto the mouse.

It had been two days since he’d blurted the words he’d been procrastinating saying for the last god knows how long. 

Every time he closed his eyes, he could only see fluttering shots of you. You, with your mouth agape, staring at your screen with your headphones sliding down your neck. You, frantically texting on your phone about everything that had just slipped out of his mouth. You, with your face inevitably twisting in disgust at the thought of someone like him liking someone like you.

I’m not ready, he thought, his reflection blinking back at him.

That’s exactly why you’re going to do this, his reflection said back as his hand moved to his mouse, hovering over it.

You suck, he thought.

The monitor smiled back at him as he moved his cursor. I know.

His screen burst to life, Discord already open and waiting for him. George moved his cursor to hover over your username, his palm starting to sweat. Clicking, he reached over to his keyboard and began to type.

GeorgeNotFound: hey! did you wanna video call?

The moment he hit enter, he ripped his hands away from the keyboard like it was made of hot coals, wiping his hands on his pants. With bated breath, he waited, staring at the green circle accompanying your profile picture. Suddenly, his screen moved.

[y/n] is typing...

His heart leapt into his throat.

[y/n]: okay!

He exhaled a sigh of relief through his nose, his mouse moving to press the hit ‘video call’ button. A few seconds passed with the ringtone echoing through his headphones. A moment later, the ringing stopped and your face filled his screen, the familiar set-up of your room fading in at the corners. His heart swelled at the sight—both with affection and anxiety.

“Um, hi!” you said with a shy smile, your gaze darting away from the screen as you waved at the camera. Despite your bright demeanour and cheery tone, he could practically feel the tension in your shoulders the moment he laid eyes on you.

“H-Hi,” he said back, swallowing as he mustered up a shaky smile. Your gaze flickered to his for a brief second, and in that moment, it almost felt like you two were actually looking at each other in real life. Then you looked away again and something in his chest cracked.

“How are you doing?” he asked slowly, trying to prompt a conversation. “It feels like we haven’t talked in forever.”

Your lips quirked as you tilted your head at him. “We talked, um, two days ago.”

He ignored the embarrassment flaring up on his cheeks. “I mean like, see-each-other-talk talked.” He paused, then adding in a near-whisper. “I missed seeing your face.”

Your rosy lips parted in awe, and he was almost certain that he was never, ever going to forget that expression of yours.

“And, um, h-how—how are you, George?” you stammered out with a shaky voice, curling up a little in your chair. “Are you doing okay?”

George opened his mouth, then shut it. Whenever people asked him if he was okay, his mouth always defaulted to “fine” or “good” or “okay”. Rarely did he ever find himself telling the truth. But now, as he looked at your shy, bashful face, he knew what he had to do. Straightening up, he looked his webcam dead in the eyes.

“I,” he said, “am really, really nervous right now. Like, nervous out of my mind.”

You blinked, finally turning to face him directly at last. “Really?”

He nodded, his anxiety slowly falling away. “Yeah. Do you know why?”

Recognition flickered through your eyes, and your cheeks grew hot once more. “Why, George?”

He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and smiled.

It’s now or never.

“I like you, [Y/N]. A lot. What I said earlier was true. It wasn’t some bit, and it wasn’t just some spur of the moment thing. I really do like you a lot, and I would like it if you would be my g—”

He almost choked on his own words, oh-so very aware of just how hot his face was. “And I,” he began again, squeezing his eyes shut, “would love it if you would be my girlfriend.”

He couldn’t look—he couldn’t. He missed seeing your face, he really did, but he knew that if he looked now, he would only be met with disappointment. You, with a frown on your face, only deepening with each passing second. You, with guilt in your eyes for not reciprocating his feelings. You, with your soft lips mouthing four words he wish he didn’t have to hear. 

I’m so sorry, George. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so—

“I like you, too.”

His eyes flew open, his mouth agape.

Those were not the four words he was expecting to hear.

He lifted his head, his gaze taking in every inch of his screen. A bright, glowing smile was plastered across your face, your eyes crinkling at the corners.

“For real?” he breathed, disbelief wracking every inch of his being.

You nodded, a laugh tumbling from your lips and lighting up his insides. “Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.”

George felt a smile of his own creep across his face as he ran a hand through his hand, something happier than joy rushing through his veins. 

Oh god, he thought, wanting to scream it from the top of the nearest building. I like you, I like you, I like you. I like you a lot lot.

“I like you a lot lot, too.”

He froze. Did I say that out loud, again?

Your grin widened. “Yes.”

For a second, he almost shriveled up in shame. But then he shook his head and laughed, basking in the warmth of your smile.

A few days ago, he might have been embarrassed. But now? 

Well, if it was with you, he supposed he wouldn’t mind speaking his mind more often.

[ekaterinatepes]

Nothing But The Best

Author Notes: once again I apologize for how long this took to update. Schedule is still hectic and will remain so for the following month or so. But fear not. I shall continue to update at least once a week. Once again reblogs and comments are appreciated!

XVI

Our ability to survive depends on our skill to change and adapt. Everything in life is about transformation.

The drastic changes in your life seemed like a never ending avalanche of heart break and tough decisions… once again, transformation.

Your own choices placed you exactly where you were at, there was no one else to blame but yourself.

Satoru chose to remain in New York for another two weeks during which he had invested himself into re-discovering you (in his mind you never stopped being his. In the sanctuary of his thoughts you are always referred to as his wife, his one and only Mrs. Y/N Gojo. The woman of his life and owner of his heart).

Satoru tried a gentle approach with you. Not wanting to push you too far not to leave you alone all together. Using all his knowledge of your personality and preferences he slowly inserted himself in your life once again.

At 5:30am sharp he would meet you at the entrance of your building wearing his training clothes, he wanted to show you he supported you and your career. He would go for a run with you around the park. This, of course evoked memories of when you both first started dating and Satoru would show up to workout with you or take you out to dinner after training.

You got to know he had been working harder to help Yuuji control the curse inside him but it was a hard endeavor. He didn’t have to specifically verbalize it for you to know it was a loosing battle and he felt responsible for it but he was trying his best to find a way to help the boy. You missed the kids, they were like family. So you made sure to ask Satoru to tell them you missed them.

But despite your ex-husband’s best efforts you still wanted to be alone. You needed some clarity, the opportunity to sort out your feelings. Gojo wasn’t particularly thrilled with you pushing him away but he promised to you and himself that he would change and would do an effort to respect your wishes so he gave you your space.

But Satoru wasn’t stupid, he knew you missed Suguru and felt guilty for choosing your own husband (ex-husband) over your best friend.

And that’s why you kept pushing him away. Saying you needed time to think.

His time was running out, he had to return to Japan. At least for now, he had unavoidable responsibilities with his students as well as the rest of his missions. He went to your apartment the night before his flight and explained to you why he had to return but he also promised to come back to New York as soon as possible.

“It’s alright Satoru, I understand… I’m gonna be just fine” you reassured the sorcerer who didn’t look convinced at all about leaving you alone. “Please, at least answer my calls and messages. I’m gonna be worried sick if you don’t” you nodded and then he hugged you tightly, inhaling your intoxicating aroma as if he wanted to commit it to memory. His lips soon found yours and before either of you knew it you were in your bed ripping off each other’s clothes so you could express with your bodies how much exactly you would miss one another.

He had taken you for granted once, he would never make that same mistake.

-

-1 Week Later-

It had been three weeks since you last saw Suguru, he wouldn’t answer your calls, texts nor your emails. You didn’t even know if he was still in New York for that matter. Not knowing was slowly killing you, consumed by guilt you knew you deserved this treatment.

And yet, you wanted to find him and explain… try to make it up to him somehow. He didn’t deserve the pain you had inflicted upon him.

-

From: Kitten 🐱

To: Sugu

I need to talk to you, please give me a chance to explain. I don’t want to lose you Suguru. I know it’s selfish on my behalf but I can’t let you walk away without explaining. Please Suguru.

I miss you.

-

Another message sent, he wouldn’t answer your texts. At least he didn’t block your phone number. (Not yet, supplied your tortured mind)

The whole reason why you held back from actually having sex with Suguru although you both had wanted that very much during the last 6 months was because you wanted to give Geto everything. Not only half of you. He deserved someone who would chose him completely. At least that’s what you knew was right.

You didn’t want to toy with his emotions. Then again Satoru’s sporadic presence in your life didn’t help at all. Everytime he showed up you were back to the beginning.

There was no other way to explain this other than saying…you could never resist him.

-

It was a Monday evening, you just got home after your training at the academy. Sitting on the couch eating some salad when the doorbell rang. You were not expecting anyone. And most importantly someone who didn’t need to be announced by the guard downstairs. There were only two people who could show up at your door in such fashion.

When you opened the door the first thing you saw was a broad torso covered in a very familiar black fitted t-shirt. Long black hair framing a handsome face and those beautiful amber pools looking at you. Without hesitation you threw your arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Suguru responded to your embrace by surrounding your firmly in his arms lifting you a few inches from the floor.

His sweet lavender and sage scent welcomed your senses once more. It wasn’t until he dried the tears from your cheeks that you realized you had been crying.

“Yo..you are here… Suguru! I am so sorry! I-“ he stopped you by placing his right index finger upon your lips. “You don’t have to say anything. I am here because I have to tell you something important. Come Kitten, let us sit” he took your hand and guided you to the couch where as soon as you both sat next to one another you threw yourself into his arms once more making the raven haired sorcerer chuckle “I missed you too Kitten” he whispers against your h/c tresses.

“Listen…. I was angry… I was mad at you because I thought you would choose me and instead chose Satoru. But these past weeks without you, I have been a wreck to say the least and then I realized… I have always known you loved Satoru from the beginning and that never bothered me before.” Sighing he made a small pause before continuing “Granted… I do resent him for hurting you but I never expected you to completely loose your feelings for him.“ you were about to explain to him that you were trying to sort those feelings out but he interrupted you with a little kiss on your lips “let me finish Kitten” a tender smile spread across his lips making you blush again.

“I realized that I don’t want to renounce to you, I don’t want to give you up. Because there simply is no other person who I want to be with. No one can replace you. And you don’t have to choose between Satoru and me…. At least on my behalf I am ok with sharing you with him. I don’t want to lose you and I don’t want to put you in a position that only will hurt your heart.” Stroking your cheek softly Suguru leaned in and kissed your lips once more, just this time the exchange was sweeter and lasted longer. His tongue teased the entrance to your mouth before fully delving in to revel in your warmth and sweetness. Pulling back and looking into your eyes Geto assured you “I love you… and I want you to be happy. I am not going to make you choose because I don’t want to lose you Y/N”.

To say you were shocked to the core and touched beyond words was an understatement “Suguru… I don’t know what to say…” you start but Geto chuckled

“You don’t have to give me an answer right away.. I und—-“

You cut him by crushing your lips against his, kissing him throughly. Your legs straddled his waist immediately so you could feel his strong and warm body against yours. Was this man even real? I mean… Suguru Geto was a remarkable person but at this point you started questioning your own sanity. Did you make this man up in your imagination? Because you have never met someone sweeter, nor kinder nor more loving than him. And this was without counting all his very alluring physical attributes.

By the time you pulled back you were out of breath and so was he.

Now, the thing was… is this what you wanted? Did you want them both? Wasn’t it too greedy to have them both as lovers?

There was also the possibility Satoru would flat out reject the idea but… you didn’t want to choose between them. You…. Loved them both.

Before you could speak once more you ‘felt’ someone behind you stroking your back.

Almost jumping out of your skin you turned around to find Satoru in his usual jujutsu high uniform sans blindfold.

“You’re late…” Suguru comments as if he had been expecting his best friend to teleport right then.

“I know… Yaga was being a pain in the ass as per usual” added Satoru with a grin before taking a sit next to Suguru with the biggest shit eating grin you could imagine.

“So? Did she agree?” Questioned smirking and moving his hand to stroke your hair away from your neck while you still sat on Suguru’s lap.

“I am not sure… I think we broke her…” added Geto amusedly before chuckling and kissing your cheek.

“I know how to fix that!” Excitedly announced the white haired man. Cupping your face between his hands he pulled you in to kiss you deeply. His tongue voraciously licking the inside of your mouth and enticing you to kiss him back.

This was surreal…. Were you dreaming? You had to be dreaming or maybe you hit your head and now we’re in a coma. Yeah… you have to be hallucinating this.

When Satoru pulled back he laughed “Princess… don’t look so surprised… you must have known this would have happened sooner or later… Sug and I would never give you up and we know you wouldn’t pick one over the other either… and well, we didn’t want to give you the chance to pick neither…” they knew exactly how you were. Even before you knew it yourself. They just knew you would bolt and choose no one if that meant not hurting the other so they had to figure out a solution where all of you were happy.

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[another-bloody-multimuse]

True Intentions

So, the latest Pokemon Masters event gave me Feelings, and therefore I had to write something for it.

Needless to say, this contains Pokemon Masters event spoilers, verbal/mental abuse, and one reference to physical child abuse.

And in case the “read more” breaks, this is also tagged as a long post.

N stepped into the cave, his heart thudding. He could see the oh-so familiar cloaked figure in the distance, and he swallowed hard. He was not alone, for which he was very grateful, but companionship was not doing much to assist his nerves. 

‘You’re sure about this?’ his companion dubiously asked. In Nate’s opinion, N was making a huge mistake, and it was not yet too late to turn back.

‘Yes. This is the answer I’ve come to. I’m sure,’ N insisted, and Nate held back a sigh. Damn it. ‘...Thank you for coming with me, though.’

‘It’s fine,’ Nate replied. ‘I wouldn’t want you to go and see him alone.’

‘Mmmm,’ N murmured. He knew only too well that Nate had a point. ‘We need to be careful when dealing with a man like… him.’

N had tripped over his words. He was uncertain how to refer to the man they were meeting. “Ghetsis”? “Father”? As much as he wanted to call the man “Father”... it was too soon. Much too soon for that.

‘I’m still a little worried,’ N confessed, after a pregnant pause.

‘Yeah, well no matter what happens, I’m on your side,’ Nate promised.

‘Thank you…’

Any further conversation was cut off,  by a sudden interruption. 

‘N! You’ve come to see me!’ a voice called out. For a moment, N froze; when they entered, Ghetsis had his back to them. His and Nate’s conversation had been in whispers, and he had assumed Ghetsis had not seen them yet. 

He shook himself out of his reverie, his face calm, stoic, as he turned to lock eyes once again with the man he called Father, his abuser.

At least in appearance, Ghetsis had not changed. N sincerely hoped that was the only thing that remained static. Incredibly tall, Ghetsis towered over those he met, and his own son was no exception. He still used a cane. N’s gaze lowered to the gloved hand that held onto it, as his mind helplessly wandered to thoughts of what was hidden beneath the cloak. Was Ghetsis’ health the same? Had it improved? Or perhaps worsened?

That was the most likely scenario; Ghetsis always had a great love of expensive wines, scotches and other such alcoholic drinks, and it had taken its toll on him. Combined with one arm, the nerves permanently damaged by his Hydreigon, Ghetsis was an incredibly unhealthy man. 

N lifted his head, staring his father in the eyes. One was still covered, and the other just as vividly scarlet as he remembered. It was difficult for him to maintain eye contact, but he forced himself to push through it. 

‘I’ve come to let you know my answer,’ N declared. He had taken a quiet, deep breath in before speaking, to ensure his voice would not wobble, nor crack.

His head had been spinning, ever since Ghetsis initially approached him. Wanting to be a father to him again…

Though in order for him to be a father “again”, he had to have been one before. N knew that, deep down. But it was a thought he tried to keep pushed to the back of his mind. 

‘Let’s send out our Pokemon,’ N added, when Ghetsis remained silent, just observing him. 

Zekrom and Kyurem were both released from their Pokeballs, two thirds of the Tao Trio coming eye to eye with one another again for the first time in years. 

‘Well? What’s your answer?’ Ghetsis demanded. Still so impatient. 

‘...I don’t think it’s possible for us to become a true father and son so easily…’ N cautiously replied. His nerves were threatening to spill over, and he grabbed the brim of his cap. Something to focus on, while under his father’s scarlet gaze. ‘But… if you’ve really had a change of heart, and are seriously prepared to face people and Pokemon, then… maybe one day, it will be. That’s why I need you to show me that you have love in your heart -’

Ghetsis, the lower half of his face hidden by his incredibly high collar, clenched his jaw together tightly. How the fuck was he going to do that?

‘- through battle!’

Oh. The former Plasma leader relaxed. That was alright, then.

‘Father!’ The word escaped N’s lips, as he called out to the man before him. Ghetsis’ eyes slid shut.

‘I am grateful you’ve given me this opportunity…’ he started, his voice soft. N’s demeanour changed a little - Ghetsis was accepting what he said? Then maybe, just maybe, he had been telling the truth, after all! If Ghetsis could work on his issues, and treat those around him like human beings, and N himself like one, instead of an extension of Ghetsis, then -

‘Thank you for this chance.’ Ghetsis’ voice pulled N out of his thoughts again. The Plasma leader’s face twisted into a wicked grin, as he leant forward on his cane, a malicious glint in his eye. ‘To capture Zekrom for myself!’

No. No, please, God, no -

‘What?’ N gasped. The words left him winded, as though Ghetsis had struck him with his cane.

And it was a feeling he remembered all too well.

‘Now! Restrain Zekrom!’ Ghetsis commanded, his voice thunderous, as N tried to wrap his head around what was going on.

How could you be so stupid? Of COURSE Ghetsis was going to betray you, it’s what he DOES! the former king mentally chastised. How could he have been taken in so well? How, even now, with years free from Ghetsis’ influence, could he still be so easily manipulated? 

As Ghetsis slammed his cane down on the rocky ground, several unfamiliar figures in black and white masks suddenly leapt out, having been waiting for Ghetsis’ signal. More Pokeballs were flung into the air, as more Pokemon were sent out, between N and Ghetsis. 

Crackles of electricity zapped around Zekrom, the giant legendary held in place. N had frozen up again, feeling helpless, lost for what to do. 

‘Zekrom!’ he cried. 

‘It can’t move,’ Ghetsis said, a sinister chuckle coming forth. ‘I took special measures to use Pokemon that can hold it in place.’

N’s hands clenched into tight fists, shaking. How could I be so stupid? The entire thing had been a scam. Not only had Ghetsis prepared his Hydreigon to counter his team, not only had he made sure the Shadow Triad had Pokemon that could take down Zekrom, he had now done the same thing again on Pasio, to ensure he got what he wanted!

And like a fool, I fell for it, N’s mind traitorously whispered. 

‘What d’you think you’re doing?!’ Nate angrily snapped. He looked as though, if the Pokemon were not there, he would run at Ghetsis and try to physically attack him. 

‘I can’t believe you’d actually do such a thing…’ N’s voice was flat, hollow, belying the deep sense of betrayal that was rooting him on the spot. 

‘Of course I would!’ Ghetsis taunted, cackling. In typical Ghetsis style, he seemed to be relishing rubbing salt into the wound. When he spoke again, his voice was a disdainful sneer, not making the slightest effort to mask his contempt for his own child. ‘I only put on that ridiculous act so that I could get my hands on Zekrom! That is all you’re worth to me! As if we could be a true family! Me? With a freak like you?!’

N’s jaw was clamped tightly shut, only barely managing to contain an outburst of pain at Ghetsis’ words. He had heard that insult too many times.

“He’s nothing more than a freak without a human heart!”

“DON’T TALK LIKE A PERSON, YOU FREAK!”

He had lost count of just how many times that word had been wielded like a weapon against him throughout his entire life. Every time he had attempted to talk to his father, particularly about his ability to talk to Pokemon, it had always gone the same way.

And that was no doubt the reason why, as an adult, he was still being called a freak. Because Ghetsis had always refused to believe his claims. 

The fight had left N, and he did not bother to counter his father’s harsh words. But Nate was livid. 

‘How dare you play with N’s feelings like that?!’ he yelled, launching his Pokeball into the air, Braviary bursting from it. ‘I’m going to help N protect Zekrom!’

With an instruction to attack, and N still paralysed, Nate began to battle the Team Break grunts that had gathered under Ghetsis’ command, and easily took them down. As the last opposing Pokemon fell, Ghetsis’ expression twitched, ever so slightly. 

‘...Not bad,’ he conceded. ‘I can feel your anger!’ And it fuelled him.

‘Next is the pair holding down Zekrom!’ Nate declared. The Team Break trainer in question looked concerned as Nate attacked again. 

‘That’s enough.’

A new, commanding voice interjected, as yet another Pokemon appeared. The sleek, yet threatening form of Mewtwo landed between Ghetsis and Team Break, and N and Nate, pushing the latter two back. Mewtwo extended one arm, launching a hard blast of psychic power, taking Braviary down. Trying not to panic, Nate recalled his Pokemon before it could hit the ground, as N gawped at the newcomer.

‘Is… is that…?’ His voice trailed off, his eyes wide in horror when he recognised his father’s ally. 

‘Stay out of my way,’ Giovanni warned, his voice a low snarl. He looked almost exactly as N remembered. He had not seen anything of Team Rocket himself, not even on the news; Ghetsis had done too good a job when Team Rocket were around, of keeping N secluded and ignorant of the outside world. But the boy had heard things from his sisters, and done his own research since escaping Team Plasma. 

This Giovanni did not look too dissimilar to the man he had seen in photos. Perhaps a little older, his face slightly more lined. A few flecks of grey in an otherwise jet black head of hair. But the biggest difference, was the symbol emblazoned on the breast of his jacket. Not a red R, but multicoloured. Reds, yellows, greens and blues, one colour transforming into the other. 

Rainbow Rocket Giovanni rolled up a sleeve. In doing so, he revealed not just the fact that his arm was so heavily tattooed that his skin colour could not be seen, but more importantly, the Mega Bracelet enclosed around his wrist. 

‘Giovanni?’ N questioned, as the man in question approached, coming to a stop beside Mewtwo. ‘W-What are you doing here?’

The realisation that an already bad situation had just gotten worse caused N’s voice to crack. Which in turn made Ghetsis smirk. N was afraid. Good.

‘I just so happened to meet Ghetsis, while recruiting Team Break members,’ Giovanni explained. The apparently leaderless team had been like a gift for him. Already organised, already with their own Pokemon, all they needed was someone to take them under their wing. Someone to guide them.

And who better than Giovanni?

‘He told me all about his plans. And if he’s able to get his hands on your Zekrom, then that works out perfectly for me.’

In just getting him this far, this Ghetsis had already proven himself to be much more useful than the one he had already met and recruited into Rainbow Rocket. But, Giovanni was a smart man. He knew that the Rainbow Rocket Ghetsis had already tried to manipulate him, and was absolutely prepared for the current Ghetsis to try and do the same. Ghetsis no doubt had his own hidden agenda, but he was certainly not the only one. 

‘Yes, so I should thank you for gathering these pawns, and sharing your information with me,’ Ghetsis smirked. ‘I’ll be sure to return the favour. Now, our preparations are complete! I will soon possess a legendary that combines two powers!’

‘No…!’ Nate gasped. 

‘The fusion of Kyurem and Zekrom…’ N murmured, the memories of the exact same thing happening before flying through his mind. 

‘Watch this moment closely!’ Ghetsis cried out, as he approached the trapped Zekrom, Giovanni keeping close behind him. 

‘Zekrom!’ N called.

‘Ghetsis, don’t do it!’ Nate added. He knew too well that there was no way Ghetsis would listen, but without his Pokemon and badly outnumbered, there was not much else he could do. 

‘Kyurem! Absorb Zekrom, use Absofusion!’ Ghetsis ordered, an unhinged, determined grin set upon his face. 

‘Now’s my chance,’ Giovanni quietly said, watching the scene intently. He snapped his fingers. ‘Do it.’

Mewtwo reappeared, floating in the gap between the two other legendaries, facing Kyurem down. 

‘What the -?’ Nate spluttered. N looked similarly taken aback.

‘They stopped them from fusing?’ he questioned, not entirely certain whether he believed what he was seeing. 

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Ghetsis spat, glowering at Giovanni. He slammed his cane on the ground again. ‘Giovanni!’

‘Well, you see… I too have a plan,’ Giovanni replied. ‘I know how you operate, Ghetsis. Perhaps a little too well, and the way I see it, once you have both of these legendaries under your command, your next move will be to secure more pawns to make use of. And as these Team Break members answer to me, I know that it’d be me you target next.’

Ghetsis remained silent, teeth bared. As Giovanni observed him, he could see that he had been completely right. Granted, it would not have been out of character for Ghetsis to lie, and claim he had nothing of the sort planned, but he surmised Ghetsis would only have done that if he were calmer. And the ex Plasma leader, as he was currently, looked apoplectic with rage. 

Ghetsis’ raging, hateful silence was the only answer Giovanni required.

‘So, I intend to take Kyurem and Zekrom before that can happen!’

‘How cunning,’ Ghetsis hissed. ‘But it’s too little, too late.’

More masked members of Team Break appeared, again, on Ghetsis’ cue, standing beside him, as Giovanni’s eyes widened, just for a second. 

‘What?’

‘You are not the only one who has a talent for convincing people to join you,’ Ghetsis gloated. ‘I am more than capable of that, too! A faction of Team Break is already under my command!’

Oh, shit. This was not what Giovanni had in mind. He knew exactly what Ghetsis was planning, yet the son of a bitch still out-witted him!

Despite his inner panic, the Rainbow Rocket leader’s expression continued to be a smug grin, as though it was all a game they were playing. He would be damned if he was going to let Ghetsis know that he was rattled.

‘I guess I underestimated you after all,’ he admitted. ‘In that case… Mewtwo, get them!’

‘Rise! We must defeat Giovanni!’ Ghetsis roared. 

‘...So they’ve broken their alliance,’ N mused, as more Pokemon were sent out. With the attention mostly taken off Zekrom, N felt he could breathe a little more easily. ‘...I suppose they were never actually allies in the first place… 

‘I want to help Zekrom, but there are way too many Pokemon over there…’ Nate fretted. 

‘Go, Volcarona!’ 

Another new voice entered the fray, as a familiar Volcarona appeared over N’s head, striking the Team Break Pokemon. As they were knocked out, N and Nate spun around on their heels to see the former champion, Alder Castillo, striding forward. He was staring directly at Ghetsis, his expression set into a look of grim determination, with a young redhead behind him. 

‘Alder! Silver!’ Nate greeted, a wave of relief washing through him to have some backup. 

‘I had an unpleasant feeling that something bad would happen,’ Alder stated. The sensation of foreboding had been with him ever since he learnt Ghetsis was back. He knew that N had been ambivalent about forgiving him, and having a proper father and son relationship with the man again. And Alder did not want to completely squash his hopes of that happening. He had been direct with stating that he did not trust Ghetsis, but seeing the look of utter defeat in the young boy’s eyes, Alder had to wonder just what he had missed. That maybe he had not been severe enough. Perhaps he should have explicitly told N not to trust his despicable excuse for a “father”, even for the faintest fraction of a second. ‘I’m glad we made it in time. We took care of the Team Break members at the entrance, but reinforcements are on their way right now! We need to get out of here!’

Silver, the young redhead, was not paying any attention to Alder. Nor was he even paying any attention to Ghetsis. No, his gaze was firmly on Giovanni, and his expression was one of hatred. 

‘Oh?’ Giovanni questioned, glancing over. He was uncertain how to react, so he kept the same usual smug demeanour. This boy was not his Silver, but was a Silver. And clearly things had gone the same way between him and his Giovanni, as they had in the Rainbow Rocket leader’s timeline. 

‘I have more important things to worry about right now, than him,’ Silver declared, without giving one single fuck about the fact that his voice was loud enough for Giovanni to hear. Not that Giovanni seemed bothered. He was used to it from his own Silver. ‘Come on, hurry up!’

Now freed, N turned back to the rest of the group to see Zekrom land before him.

‘I’m so glad you’re okay…’ he murmured, relief sparkling in his eyes.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Nate urged. 

Sensing that the situation was no longer in their favour, the Team Break grunts who had followed Ghetsis began to retreat, much to his annoyance.

‘Tch… Worthless fools,’ he growled. 

‘Now that a former champion has arrived, I suppose I have no choice but to give up on Zekrom,’ Giovanni decided. For now. ‘Kyurem, on the other hand, will be mine.’

‘I warned you before…’ Ghetsis started, his voice dripping with rage, before suddenly ramping up to a scream, ‘NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE ME!’

The cane struck the ground, as Kyurem roared. Alder winced at the noise, but Giovanni seemed unbothered. A snap of his fingers later, and he was gone, along with Mewtwo. Alder glanced back, seeing N approach, and noticed how the boy looked mentally exhausted. It was no surprise, Alder guessed that N must felt like he had been put through the wringer.

Because he had been. He was about to speak up, to try and reach out to N, when Nate interrupted with another insistence that they should leave. He was right, the less time they spent in the cave, the better. Giovanni might have been gone, but there was still Ghetsis to contend with. 

N stopped before he reached Alder and Nate. And, without breathing a word, he turned his back, and strode over to his father. 

‘...What?’ Ghetsis questioned, a look of annoyed confusion on his face. N refused to clarify, but stayed by his side. 

‘What are you doing? Just leave him!’ Silver irritably told N.

‘Yes, what are you doing?’ Ghetsis agreed, clearly as baffled as his son’s friends. 

‘...I want to save Kyurem, regardless of whose Pokemon it is. Even if that means I have to help you...’ N finally answered, without looking at any of them. Part of him had to wonder what the hell he was doing, siding up with Ghetsis, after how Ghetsis had betrayed him, insulted him, and openly laughed about it. He told himself that he was not doing this for Ghetsis’ sake, or even his own.

This was for Kyurem.

‘...I won’t call you my father, Ghetsis.’ That was fine with the Plasma leader. His skin always crawled when that word left N’s mouth. Disgusting. N turned and looked at him. ‘But if you co-operate, I’ll help you get out of this!’

‘I see. Very well. That’s convenient for me,’ Ghetsis replied. No “thank you”, but of course not. N had never gotten a “please” or a “thank you” from Ghetsis in his life, and he definitely did not expect that to change now. ‘Let’s take him down, N!’

‘N and Ghetsis, standing side by side…’ Nate muttered. The idea left him unsettled. It was wrong. He brought the Pokeball with his unconscious Braviary in it up to his mouth, whispering to it, as he used a revive. ‘Just a little longer, we need to help N…’

‘Hey!’ Silver called out, as Nate and Braviary took off. 

‘It’s too late to stop them. Let’s just make sure that they have a safe escape route,’ Alder told the redhead. 

‘The plan is to hold off Mewtwo until he can’t come after you any more, alright?’ N told his father.

‘Yes,’ Ghetsis crisply agreed.

‘Well, why don’t we put it to the test?’ Giovanni questioned, as he was joined by his own Team Break grunts again, now they had recovered from the previous fight. ‘Let’s see what your little father-son team up can do!’

Nate’s Braviary, and the two other legendaries opposing Giovanni started the battle, fighting ferociously against the Rainbow Rocket leader and his underlings. It was not long until it was just the legendaries against each other, and with Mewtwo outnumbered, it was Giovanni’s team that fell. 

‘...Hmph, I suppose that does surpass my expectations,’ he reluctantly confessed. 

‘After him!’ Ghetsis then commanded. 

‘No! You remember what I said earlier, don’t you?! We’re getting out of here!’ N countered. 

‘What?’ Ghetsis hissed, angry that N spoke back to him. But he could see that this time, N was not going to be moved. ‘Fine.’

‘Too bad,’ Giovanni said to himself, as the others left. ‘This would have been so much easier had you stayed here...’ He glanced to the cave exit. ‘Go after them.’

‘Hey!’ 

Giovanni had assumed that it was just him, Mewtwo, and his underlings left. That the others had all left with Ghetsis and N. So he was surprised when he saw himself suddenly face to face with his son.

‘That’s enough. Your plan failed,’ Silver glared. ‘Let them go, or else!’ 

To Giovanni’s surprise, the Pokemon that Silver released was none other than Ho-Oh. 

When did Silver obtain a legendary of his own? Giovanni thought, as Ho-Oh flapped its wings and released a loud cry. 

‘...Change of plans,’ Giovanni decided, recalling Mewtwo. ‘We’re leaving.’

His decision confused his underlings, who had been readying themselves for another fight. 

‘B-But sir…?’ one hesitantly questioned.

‘The more people you command, the harder it is to control them. I think learning that much is enough for today,’ Giovanni replied. He tilted his head, glancing to the side at Silver. ‘Besides… I’m very pleased by what I’ve seen today.’

Silver pulled a face, and blinked. Was Giovanni complimenting him? For standing up to him? Obtaining Ho-Oh? But once the shock quickly wore off, his expression turned back to angry. He was not going to be taken in, be swayed by Giovanni’s words! This man had no idea who Silver was, if he thought a few pretty words could appease him.

It was probably a lie, anyway.

Silver headed outside the cave again, where the rest of the group - unfortunately, still including Ghetsis - were waiting for him.

‘I think they’ve stopped coming after us now,’ Silver declared, without offering any explanation as to why he had stayed behind. None of them needed to know about him challenging Giovanni. Or what Giovanni had said to him. 

‘I see. In that case…’ Alder pointedly looked back at Ghetsis.

‘You want to come after me, now? I can’t allow that to happen,’ he warned. ‘Perhaps we can come to a truce for today. What do you think, N?’

‘...I know that you haven’t changed, at all,’ N said, and Alder was relieved. He had been concerned that siding with Ghetsis to protect him might have caused N to start reconsidering, again. He wanted nothing more than for N to have a father he could be happy with, but as long as his father was Ghetsis, that was just not possible. ‘If you do anything to harm the people or Pokemon here, I will be the first in line to stop you!’

‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ Ghetsis replied, tone thick with sarcasm. Clearly he did not believe N to be a big enough threat to him. ‘Then, farewell.’

‘Wait, Ghetsis!’ Nate then called. Ghetsis paused, not turning back around to face them, but instead peered over his shoulder, to see what Nate wanted. ‘I hate you. I’ll never forget what you did in Unova! But you’re still N’s father! You raised him, and spent all those years together!’

Ghetsis had no idea where Nate was going with his tangent, and neither did N. N’s childhood had been spent cooped up inside one room. A very spacious room, admittedly, but still locked away from the rest of the world, and fed only whatever information Ghetsis deemed worthy of him knowing. As much as N longed for change, he was no longer blind to the horrendous circumstances that stole his childhood. 

So why was Nate bringing it up?

‘Are you really going to say you felt nothing when the two of you were fighting side by side?!’ Nate demanded. ‘It’s not too late to change your ways! Please, at least think about it!’

Oh. N braced himself. He was certain that Ghetsis was going to scoff, laugh hysterically at such a ridiculous notion, and he knew it was going to hurt. 

‘Nate…’ N began. 

‘Ghetsis!’ Nate repeated, when he got no reply. And N’s heart sunk to his stomach, when sure enough, Ghetsis began to chuckle. At last, he turned back properly to face them, and erupted with laughter.

‘You naive fool! Our relationship is nothing more than that between a master and his tools! What happened here changes nothing!’ he barked, before turning his evil scarlet gaze onto N. ‘As long as I can keep using you, I don’t care what you call our relationship! I do whatever I please! I am not your ally, not your friend, and I am certainly not your father!’

In unison, N and Nate both tugged on the brims of their headwear. Nate in embarrassment, and upset for N, and N to try and cover his face. He was attempting to be as expressionless as he could, but the hurt shone in his eyes.

‘How dare you -!’ Silver began, readying to go into a full force rant. 

‘Despicable,’ Alder quickly interjected, unwilling to let the youngster draw too much of Ghetsis’ attention. ‘You’re the one without a heart!’

‘If that’s all,’ Ghetsis sneered, their anger and words bouncing off him. With another - but more sardonic - farewell, Ghetsis was whisked away by Kyurem, leaving them free of him at last.

‘I had a bad feeling this might happen,’ Alder sighed. ‘N, my apologies. I think I should have stopped you before you went to help him.’

‘Don’t apologise,’ N said, to Alder and Nate. ‘It was my decision. Please, don’t be sad on my behalf.’

‘...Nate, are you crying again?’ Silver questioned. He looked embarrassed.

‘You truly have a kind heart,’ N gently told Nate, ‘one that resonates with others. You got angry for the people of Unova, you yelled at Ghetsis for me… and now, you’re even crying for me...’

‘I can’t help it! It’s just all so messed up!’ Nate wept. ‘You’re not asking for anything special! You just want a normal relationship with the man you call your father! It’s not asking for much! Why can’t you have that too?!’

‘Nate… It’s okay.’ It was a lie, but a lie told for N’s own sake as well as Nate’s. Right now, he felt like being strong for his friend distracted him from his own pain. ‘I may not have a father, but I have good friends like you.’

‘N…’ Nate sniffled.

‘Yeah, you can survive without a father,’ Silver chimed in, and N nodded in agreement.

I’m blessed to be surrounded by such kind people and Pokemon. That’s enough for me. I suppose… a father figure was just never meant to be.

...But it was nice to hope for it.

[emachinescat]

The Neglected Neckerchief

A Merlin Fan-Fiction

by @emachinescat ​

@febuwhump ​ day 21 - torture

Summary: A group of bandits torture Merlin in front of Arthur for their own entertainment, using Merlin’s beloved neckerchief against him in the cruelest of manners.  Now, Arthur must struggle to come to terms with a traumatized Merlin, whose neckerchief has been replaced by a ring of bruises.

Characters: Merlin, Arthur

Words: 4,730

TW: strangulation, panic attacks

Note: Based on my drabble series from “Moments” by the same name. Sorry for no cover/header picture today. I'm sick and doing the bare minimum. I will add one later when I feel up to making one!

Keep reading here, or on AO3!

If you enjoy, please consider liking, commenting, or re-blogging, and you can follow me for more content like this! :)

Arthur had never understood his servant's attachment to that ratty triangle of fabric he wore around his neck. When he had first met Merlin, in fact, Arthur had downright hated it. He'd pestered his servant about it on many occasions, questioning the practicality, the fashion, the function of the neckerchief. Of course, Merlin never failed to follow up with a clever retort, but he never really answered the question, and eventually, Arthur got bored of teasing Merlin for his clothes and moved on to something else.

As the years passed, however, Arthur's derision for the odd neckwear faded, and before long, he found himself associating the neckerchief with Merlin himself. It got to the point where seeing Merlin without the accessory felt strange, and before he knew it, the prince realized that he actually liked that stupid scarf – though he would die before he admitted it to Merlin.

Now that he was older, perhaps a bit wiser than he had been as a young prince, King Arthur had a feeling that it wasn't so much the neckerchief that he'd grown to like, but the person who wore it. And since Merlin and his neckerchief were one and the same, it stood to reason that the king would have grown fond of it as well. Not that he would ever admit his affection for his servant out loud, either, of course. Not in so many words – or any words, really. That just wasn't how his relationship with Merlin worked.

Indeed, somewhere along the way, Merlin's neckerchief had become as much of a staple in Arthur's life as the servant himself. And yet, in the span of one bandit attack during a morning hunt, that all changed.

It had started off, as these things often do, as a normal patrol. It was a beautiful day, bright and warm, the sort of day where you would never expect anything horrible to happen. And yet –

It had been a week since the hunt turned to hell, and Arthur could still recall it so vividly that he might as well have been experiencing it all over again. Those five minutes of torture had branded themselves so deeply into his mind's eye that every time he fell asleep, he would go back – back to the forest, to the bandits and their laughter and their hands holding him back, holding him down. Back to the sounds. Oh gods, the sounds. Gagging, choking, panicked breaths, a mouth gaping open like a fish's, searching desperately for air that wouldn't come. Blue lips, still chest, and laughter. And, of course, in the center of it all, Merlin's beloved neckerchief.

***

One Week Ago

"Looks like we got a fine catch today, gentlemen!" The short, ugly brute of a bandit grinned at Arthur, half of his teeth rotten and the other half missing all together. "Is this a knight of Camelot we've stumbled upon?"

Arthur was relieved that they hadn't recognized him to be the king, at least. He tried to be as inconspicuous as possible on his outings, having Merlin hold on to the royal seal if they were going anywhere outside of the citadel – bandits generally ignored servants and focused on the more important looking people, after all. It was a clever trick, provided Merlin didn't lose the seal. So far, he'd kept up with it well enough on their journeys, and this time, it seemed to be paying off, as these bandits thought they were playing with just another knight and his servant.

But that didn't change the fact that Arthur and Merlin had been taken off guard, ambushed, and tied hand and foot by a band of ten morally bereft, muscle-heavy monsters who wouldn't know hygiene if it crashed into their thick skulls. Arthur had been shoved to his knees and held there by four men, who still struggled to keep him still. Two other men had done the same to his servant, but other than the usual bumps and bruises from fighting a losing battle, neither Arthur nor Merlin were hurt.

Arthur may not have been injured, but he was angry, mostly with himself. He'd known it was a bad idea to go on a hunt without any of the knights or guards to accompany him. He'd let Merlin come along because he knew that the obsessively loyal servant would have followed him anyway, and he'd much rather have Merlin by his side so he could keep an eye on him instead of being forced to listen to him thrashing around in the undergrowth making a racket while trying to be stealthy. As Athur had been reminded by his council many times, he was king now, and he had a responsibility to think not only of the safety and well-being of his people, but of himself as well. That meant no more running around in the forest on hunts or patrols without a guard. That meant telling the council where he was going to be at all times so that they would know to send someone after him if he didn't get back in time.

But Arthur had had enough. It had been a month since his father's death, and he was stifled in the castle. Even when he wasn't in Camelot, people still surrounded him on patrols and hunts, and even when those people were some of his closest friends – the knights – he often felt like he was being smothered, and his skin crawled at the thought of having to sit through one more council meeting or supervised hunt. He'd needed to get away. He'd told Guievere where he was going, of course. And then he'd grabbed his servant, all but dragging him out of the castle at the break of day, and they'd passed a pleasant enough morning, with Merlin scaring away half the prey. But as with most good things in King Arthur's life, this too had to end. The ambush had been unexpected and swift, and Guinevere wasn't expecting him back until evening – they were on their own.

As casually as he could, Arthur implored the bandits, "You have me, a knight of Camelot. My servant is of no use to you. Let him go."

The short, stocky bandit who seemed to be in charge considered this for a brief moment before crossing his tree-branch arms across his chest. "So he can run back to your coward king and bring a rescue party? Not likely."

"We're miles away from Camelot," Arthur pressed. "You could be long gone with me before he brings anyone back."

From the corner of his eye, Arthur watched Merlin frantically shake his head. Arthur ignored him, and prayed that the idiot would stay silent. All it would take would be Merlin saying "Arthur" one time, and the bandits would realize their mistake – and quickly seek to rectify it. Thankfully, Merlin seemed to be aware of the situation, and for once, blessedly, kept his mouth shut.

The leader ambled forward, brow creased as if thinking were incredibly painful for him. "You seem awfully keen to protect that servant of yours. Most knights don't give a damn about the help if their own lives are in danger. What's so special about that one?"

Arthur maintained eye contact with the brute before him. "I care about all those I have sworn to protect as a knight."

"Oh, that's rich!" A chorus of laughter from the surrounding bandits grated at Arthur's nerves. "Nah," the man continued, casting a glance over his shoulder at the skinny servant who glared defiantly back. "With those pretty blue eyes, I reckon he's more than just a servant."

"Yeah," called one of the bandits forcing Merlin to kneel. "The knight's consort I'd wager."

The leader swivelled back to face Arthur. "Is that it, Sir Knight? Is he your consort?"

Arthur didn't answer.

"Oh, now you clam up." The bandit leader seemed genuinely disappointed that he didn't get an answer. He peered at Arthur through slitted, suspicious eyes for a few charged seconds. Then he threw back his head and laughed.

"Well, lads, why don't we have a bit of fun before we head out?"

Arthur glanced at Merlin, and saw the servant looking back at him with wide, uncertain eyes. To Arthur's surprise, Merlin didn't look scared. In fact, Arthur thought that his servant appeared to be more conflicted than anything, like he was trying to make a difficult decision. Baffling as that was, it was hardly the most important thing on Arthur's mind at the moment.

The leader signaled to the men holding Merlin, and then everything went to hell.

One of the men lashed out with frightening speed for someone of his size, landing a devastating blow in the center of Merlin's back at the very second the servant was released. Arthur watched the kick connect, heard the pained cry, felt the thump as Merlin sprawled face-first onto the forest floor, hands tied behind his back, unable to move, barely able to breathe. Arthur had received similar kicks before, and he knew all too well the terror-inducing breathlessness that accompanied such injuries. He'd rarely wanted to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill the bandit who had inflicted such pain and panic on his servant.

But they weren't done yet. It got far, far worse.

The leader of the bandits stepped forward then, and squatted at the feebly stirring Merlin's side, still facing the king. Every muscle in Arthur's body tensed; his heart pounded deafeningly in his ears. Something very bad was going to happen, he could feel it in every fiber of his being. He'd seen enough violence and war and bloodshed, enough monsters, to know that this was far from over.

The bandit leader reached over and fingered the fabric of Merlin's neckerchief – he'd worn the blue one today. Arthur watched the idea form in the man's head even as Merlin began to recover a bit of his breath and attempted to squirm away from the bandit's touch. "Interesting fashion choice," the leader commented, sarcasm slathered generously on each word. "Makes my job easier though."

He clenched his meaty fist around the back of Merlin's scarf, and, keeping his eyes trained on the knight before him, slowly pulled up.

To Arthur, the world had slipped into slow motion. It was like the minutes just before a storm, when nature held its breath, birds forgot how to sing, and all of creation readied itself for the violence to come. He watched, horror coursing through him, as the first waves of realization and then panic dawned on his servant's dazed face. Blue eyes bulged wide, mouth opened in a soundless scream, and still, the bandit pulled.

The bandit took his time. He was in no rush. Arthur could see from the wild, glassy glint in his beady green eyes that he was relishing the control he had over the situation, over the man he was strangling. He never looked away from Arthur, not even when the agonized choking, coughing, gasping, hacking sounds began in earnest. Arthur, for his part, tried to ignore the man, and, as much as it hurt him, tore at his soul and twisted his stomach, the king kept his eyes on Merlin, trying to offer him comfort, reassurance, anything. Until Merlin's eyes started to dim, and his eyelids drooped as if a heavy weight had been tied to them, and the frantic heaves of his chest grew weak, and he knew Merlin was dying.

Despite his resolve to remain strong and unaffected, and despite his hopes that the bandit leader would grow tired of his cruel game if he thought Arthur was not emotionally invested, Arthur lost control. It had become clear to him that the man torturing Merlin did not care if he elicited a reaction from his other prisoner. He was tormenting – killing – Merlin because it was fun for him; the pleasure had written itself into his bright eyes and twisted smile. And Merlin was going to die.

Arthur lunged forward, a feral yell bursting from the deepest part of himself, and even with his hands bound behind his back and his ankles tied together, he nearly managed to shake off all of the four men holding him – and then three more added to their number, and Arthur found himself face-down just feet from Merlin, who was all but unconscious, barely fighting to breathe, and the pressure of the bandits on top of him was crushing. Arthur barely felt it beneath the weight of his failure.

The bandit leader now loomed over both master and servant, and to Arthur's surprise, he eased up pressure, releasing his grip slightly on Merlin's neckerchief and allowing the servant to drag in desperate, halted breaths, his eyes now bulging. Merlin coughed, deep, raw sounds grinding out from a shredded throat. Arthur could see a terrible, angry red line circling Merlin's neck, just beneath the neckerchief.

"Merlin – are you all right?" Arthur kept his voice low, hushed.

Tears were streaming down Merlin's cheeks, whether from fear or lack of oxygen or pain, Arthur didn't know. He tried to speak, and his voice hurt to hear; he sounded like his vocal chords had been slashed. "Aarrrrr…"

"Shhh," Arthur soothed, partially out of concern for Merlin's health, partially out of fear that Merlin would reveal Arthur's true identity. "It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe, okay? I'll find a way out of this." And Merlin looked at Arthur with such unmitigated trust in his gaze that Arthur felt like running himself through with his sword, because he had no plan. He had no hope. Surely, Merlin could see that, even in his state. Arthur had seven bandits piled on top of him, holding him motionless. The guilt crashed into Arthur with all the force of a battering ram into a fortress door. This was all his fault.

"S'not … your … fault," Merlin heaved out with great difficulty, and Arthur's blood ran cold. He was certain he hadn't said that out loud. How had Merlin known? It hit him – Merlin had known that Arthur was blaming himself because he knew Arthur.

The moment shattered as the bandit leader butted in, voice loud and abrasive, sending chills of fury across Arthur's flesh like an attacking army. "Now that you've got your breath back, Merlin, let's start from the top."

Arthur watched Merlin's eyes go wide with fear, and Arthur must have been giddy with it himself, because he could have sworn he saw a tiny bit of gold swirling in their depths right before the neckerchief was tightened and the imagined flame died out, and only terror remained.

The second time was just as slow and measured as the first. The bandit applied pressure in the tiniest increments, and this time, Arthur got a front-row view of the light leaving his friend's eyes. The noises were even worse up close, the coughs and gasps taking on the helm of death rattles. Merlin thrashed at first, trying to escape, to breathe, to do anything, and his lips lost color and turned blue, and now he was barely moving, barely breathing, and this time, the bandit leader had no intention of stopping.

Merlin's head and shoulders were now being held aloft by only the fabric around his neck, and his struggles ceased completely, his chest stilled.

Arthur squirmed desperately beneath the hold of the seven bandits, but even the adrenaline screaming through his body was not enough to throw them off. He could fear hot tears on his cheeks, knowing that if Merlin was not dead now, he would be soon. Arthur had been tortured before – it wasn't a common occurrence, but it had happened. And yet, nothing had prepared him for the kind of torture he had endured – was still enduring – in watching his closest friend die slowly and painfully, terrified, right in front of him. Arthur wanted to rip the men who were doing this limb from limb. He wanted to slowly squeeze the life out of the one strangling Merlin.

He wanted them to be strangling him instead.

All seemed lost – and would have been, if a Camelot patrol hadn't heard the commotion from a distance and come to investigate. There were six men, and they had the element of surprise. One moment, all was anguish and torture and the gut-clenching quiet that came at the end of life. The next, a short, fierce battle raged all around him. As soon as the bandits loosened their grip on him and Gwaine cut him free, Arthur joined the fight, catching the sword tossed at him by Elyan.

He ran through the man who had tortured his servant personally, with the same level of twisted glee and intimacy with which the man had strangled Merlin. It was so much more than he deserved.

Once the bandits had all been slain and lay scattered on the forest floor, Arthur raced to Merlin's side, slamming to his knees beside the servant. His hand shook so badly as he felt for the beat of Merlin's heart that Elyan had to take over, and his dark eyes were grave as he looked back at Arthur and shook his head.

"No," Arthur said simply, refusing to believe that Merlin was truly gone, that he had watched his friend die terribly before his eyes. "No, check again."

"No time for that," Gwaine snapped, falling to his knees on the opposite side of the servant and bending over the prone body. The blue of Merlin's lips was almost as vibrant as the color of the neckerchief that had so cruelly been turned against him.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of anxiety, disbelief, and finally relief, as Gwaine breathed for him, Arthur pounded on his chest, and Percival carried him home.

***

Merlin hadn't worn his neckerchief since that torturous day. He was sullen and nervous, jumping at small noises and avoiding Arthur, and refusing to wear anything to cover up those ghastly bruises.

He hadn't been able to talk for nearly a week after he'd woken up; Gaius said he was lucky that his windpipe wasn't crushed. But even after, Merlin barely spoke.

And gods, those bruises.

They encircled Merlin's pale neck like a grotesque mockery of the very scarf that had caused it. They had reached the stage where the very edges had started to yellow, but the inner ring was black, mottled with red and blue. Just looking at it hurt, and it was a constant reminder of the torture Merlin had gone through … and that Arthur had gone through, watching him. Arthur could not fathom that Merlin would prefer to walk around with those bruises in plain sight – surely they had to trigger bad memories as much as, if not more than, the neckerchief?

It was stupid, but Arthur couldn't stop himself thinking that when Merlin wore his neckerchief again, it would mean things were back to normal. That he was okay.

And so Arthur had a neckerchief made out of the finest material Guinevere could procure in the market. It was silk, so soft to the touch that Arthur wouldn't have minded falling asleep in it. It was a deep, Camelot red, and so light it was almost weightless.

When he presented it to Merlin, yesterday morning, the servant's eyes had twitched down to it, and where Arthur had thought he'd see gratitude, maybe even a hint of a smile, he saw only trepidation. Merlin had rasped a pained, "Thanks," then grabbed the scarf by one corner like it was a serpent poised to strike and shoved it into his pocket, out of sight. He hadn't worn it since.

"I don't understand," Arthur said to his wife over dinner, distress clear in his voice. "I replaced it."

"He's just not ready," Gwen soothed, though her brow was knit in worry.

"It's of a much finer material than his old one," Arthur insisted, as if he were trying to convince Gwen that Merlin should wear it.

"You have to be patient with him, Arthur. What happened to him was… traumatic. He has to come to terms with it in his own time."

Arthur scrubbed a hand over his face. "I just can't stand looking at his bruises."

Gwen squeezed his hand, her eyes sad and wise and more beautiful than anything that Arthur had seen. "I know it hurts," she said, "and I mean no disrespect, but… Arthur, this isn't about you. It's not about your discomfort, it's not about the pain you went through seeing Merlin be hurt like that."

Arthur opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say, not even knowing if he was going to argue or agree with her.

Gwen held up a hand. "I'm not saying that what you went through was unimportant. I can't even imagine watching…" She trailed off, shuddered. "But you can't expect Merlin to wear something that causes him so much pain and fear, just because it makes you uncomfortable."

Arthur knew she was right, and told her so. He would have to find a way to look past the bruises, for now.

Merlin was avoiding Arthur – there were no two ways about it. He got to work early, woke Arthur, and then ran off to do the rest of his chores. Finally, at the end of week two, Arthur cornered him in the armory.

"Merlin." Arthur's face was serious, his eyes uncharacteristically concerned.

"Sorry, Sire, I have work to do," Merlin said stiffly. His voice still sounded as if it were being painfully squeezed from him. He tried to leave, but Arthur caught his arm, pretended he didn't see Merlin flinch.

"For the love of… if I give you the day off, will you stay and talk to me?"

Merlin's eyes were wide and his scowl looked more pathetic than annoyed. "I suppose I have little choice in the matter."

Arthur's heart constricted. "Merlin, I—"

"Look, I'm sorry I haven't been wearing the neckerchief," Merlin blurted, avoiding Arthur's eyes. "I just… I know you we retrying to help, but… Hold on, I'll go get it right now," he flustered. His cheeks were red and his eyes bright.

"Merlin, stop."

Merlin stopped.

"I realize I haven't been fair to you," the king said slowly, carefully. "I haven't been patient. What happened was… wrong. Do you need to talk to me about it?"

The dam broke.

Arthur had never seen Merlin cry like this before. He'd seen tears in his friend's eyes on various occasions, but never had he witnessed the choking, uncontrollable, full-bodied sobs that were now wrenched from the depths of Merlin's soul. At first, Arthur stood, uncertain, terrified that he was going to say or do the wrong thing, but then he thought of Merlin, and tried to imagine what he would do for him if the king were in this situation. A strange calm descended over him, and he gently took Merlin by the arm and guided him to the nearest chair – Arthur's chair, the most comfortable one in the room, the one he never let anyone else sit in, not even Guinevere (she had her own, anyway).

He eased Merlin down, knelt beside him, and wrapped one arm around his servant's shoulders, and just held him while he released all of the pain and frustration and fear and trauma he'd been skirting around for weeks. Arthur felt the hot sting of a tear mark a course down his own face, and he didn't brush it away. He felt, like Merlin was feeling – felt the pain of the torture inflicted on them both, felt the violent sobs shaking Merlin's wiry frame, and finally, felt the tremors ease and stop all together, but he didn't withdraw his arm. He might have even squeezed a little bit tighter, as if assuring himself that his friend was still there, still breathing, despite how hard those bandits had tried to kill him.

Finally, Merlin shifted awkwardly, and Arthur became acutely aware of the fact that his arm was still around the servant's shoulders, and he withdrew with a start, backing away with haste.

Merlin turned to look at him, and his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, the bruises on his neck still visible and angry, and tear tracks streaked down his face. Arthur watched him apprehensively, afraid that Merlin was going to say something emotional that Arthur wouldn't know how to respond to, or worse, openly acknowledge the unusual level of tenderness that had permeated that moment. Instead, Merlin quirked a watery half-smile and simply said, "Thank you."

Relieved, Arthur smiled back. "You're welcome. Feeling better, are we?"

Merlin gave a small, almost timid, nod. "A little bit, actually. I think."

Desperate for some return to normalcy, chest warm with the hope that Merlin really would be okay, someday, Arthur folded his arms across his chest. "Then get your scrawny arse out of my chair."

Merlin actually laughed then, and settled in deeper to the comfortable seat. "Sorry, sire," he said. "I think my scrawny arse is stuck here until further notice."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. Merlin blushed. "I… I don't think I can stand right now," he admitted, and Arthur noted with concern that Merlin's knees were indeed trembling. Merlin was trembling.

Arthur rolled his eyes like it was some great inconvenience. "Fine," he said. "Laze about like the useless servant you are. I'll fetch Gaius."

Merlin surged forward at this, almost fell flat on his face. "I don't need –" He broke off as Arthur shoved him back in the seat. "Gaius."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "You were saying?"

Merlin had never looked so much like a sullen, scolded child.

***

When Arthur returned, Gaius not far behind him, he was shocked to find that Merlin was still where the king had left him. Even more surprising was the fact that Merlin held the silk neckerchief that Arthur had gifted him, almost reverently, gazing down at the fabric with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Merlin, where did you get that?" Arthur asked.

"My pocket."

"You've been carrying that around all week?"

Merlin didn't answer, but he didn't need to – it was obvious that he had been.

Arthur heard Gaius shuffle through the door behind him, but did not turn. He kept his eyes on Merlin, who continued to contemplate the scarf like he had never seen anything like it before. "Merlin, you don't have to wear that," Arthur said in a rush. "I just thought–"

"I know," Merlin interrupted, and that's when Arthur knew his servant was on the mend, because a Merlin who lacked all decorum and propriety was far more normal than one who was actually good at being a proper servant. "But, it's nice. And I was thinking, I've never owned anything so fine." He paused. "But I think I'll leave it at home when we go on hunts and patrols from now on." He gazed up at Arthur imploringly.

The king felt Merlin's eyes on his front and Gaius's on his back. He looked Merlin straight in the eyes and said, "You don't have to wear anything you don't want to, Merlin. If you never wear a ridiculous triangle scarf again, that's completely fine. Don't do it because you feel like you have to. You won't hurt my feelings."

Merlin grinned – a full, mischievous smile that Arthur hadn't seen in far too long. "When have I ever given you the impression that I care about protecting your feelings, Sire?"

Arthur tried to look stern, but ended up laughing out loud. "Fair point," he conceded.

He and Gaius watched with bated breath as Merlin tied the new neckerchief very loosely around his neck. A moment of tense silence, then –

"Does this make me look like a prat?"

"Merlin!"

Arthur knew that the ordeal wasn't over just because Merlin had put on the neckerchief. There would still be nightmares and anxiety and days where Merlin couldn't stand to have anything touch his neck. But this was progress. This was hope.

For this one moment, this was Arthur and Merlin, as they had always been, and all was well with the world.

For now, that was more than enough.

[miraculouscataclyyysm]

Part 10

link to part 9

This part is about just one episode, it’s quite important to the au wich is why Iv given it it’s own part, basically, Lila becomes the peacock miraculous holder, this all takes place after feast but before the battle of the miraculous

Lila is at the Agreste mansion getting tutored by Adrian sins she’s so behind *eye roll* she sees Nathalie faint and Gabriel take the peacock brooch  away from her, she follows Gabriel and sees him go into his secret evil villain layer 

Later she goes up to him and straight-up says “I’d make a much better Mayura than Nathalie” Gabriel is taken back by this “ don’t try denying it, Also I know Adrian isn’t the most perceptive guy but you might wanna try hiding all of this a bit better” Gabriel would be losing his shit right now if he wasn’t so impressed by the girls confidence (Gabriel she literally just called your son and idiot and your impresses? Da fuck)

Gabriel being the stupid, evil, sadistic, terrible father that he agrees to partner with Lila and gives Lila the peace miraculous whenever she will be useful (because that’s gonna end well)

The first time he calls her in to fight she takes full advantage of the situation to cause havoc for the class, she creates a sentimonster version of Adrian, Gabriel pulls Adrian out of school for the day for a modelling gig to keep him occupied, when felix asks what’s going on Nathalie just says “Gabriel has decided to focus more on adrians career, after all hes the real Agreste heir, Gabriel needs to put in some more training time with him so you’ll be driven to school alone” felix just closes his eyes for a second to proses that verbal slap across the face and says “right, I’ll be off then” he decides to walk to school and pick Marinette up his way while Lila sends senti monster Adrian to class

Sentimonster Adrian then walks into the art room where Mari and Alix are helping out marc and nath, it starts off fine, but then at lilas command senti-Adrian switches and starts calling bath and marcs work creepy and disgusting “this isn’t art it’s basically a toned-down version of stalking? Do you really think any of Paris’s heroes wanna see your creepy drawings, this is just fan fictions...neither of you are anything special” Mari is taken back by the outburst, this doesn't seem like the Adrian she's grown to know, Alix, on the other hand, is already at boiling point “like you'd now anything about art Agreste, you have as much depth as a glass of water, and for your information ladybug as seen there comic and loves it, she even asked for a signs comply when it’s complete” “then she clearly has no taste just like i already suspected” that’s when Mari sees this can’t be Adrian “Adrian I think you should leave” once he’s gone she turns to the other three and says “I don’t think that’s Adrian guys” nath-“what do you mean? That sure as hell looked a lot like Adrian to me” Mari-“when has Adrian ever said anything remotely bad about anyone? Especially ladybug?” Marc-“she has a point...we should find Alya, see if she can send lb a warning about a possible Akuma” as there talking Alix slowly backs out of the room to transform

After leaving the art room senti Adrian *being pupeted by Lila* went off to hurt as many people as possible and successfully caused juleka, Alya and max to be akumatised, the key insults *by Lila* being:

To Alya-“the fact you call yourself a real journalist is a joke, your nothing more than a half baked gossip blogger using her so-called hero for attention” to Juleka-“your pathetic, your just a scared, sad, emo princess that’s obsessed with her best friend and has no real opinions for herself *evil chuckle* or her own voice, speak juleka...just speak” to max- “you wanna know why your always alone?” Max-“but I’m not alw” “I’m speaking max! You're always alone because nobody likes a know it all, you make all your friends feel less than, you hurt everyone you love, that’s why you’ll always be alone, forever”

Once she’s transforms lb gets a call from bunnix “finally! Iv been try to get ahold of you for 2 whole minutes lb! We have a possible akuma at dupont” “have you gotten ahold of chat?” B-“radio silence” lb-“this isn’t good” B-“don’t stress red we can Handel an Akuma by ourselves” lb-“I don’t think it’s an Akuma though...I think it’s a sentimonster”

After 5 more minutes of failed calls to chat Lb tracks down Felix and tells him he needs to transform “I can’t get ahold of chat Noir and we have a big issue on our hands” “but there isn’t an Akuma” “but there will be...I BELIVE there’s a sentimonster in the school parading around as your cousin Adrian Agreste” felix just rolls his eyes “of course there is” lb-“ felix there’s no time for your broodyness, so drop the dramatics for now and transform...chop chop”

Chat shows up halfway threw the fight “I’m so sorry bugaboo, I was stuck at the other side of Paris, I couldn’t get away from my civilian duties and faster” lb-“it’s fine chat, Renard Arctique and bunnix have lady wifi, Reflekta and know it all (‘know it all’ is Max’s akumatised name, he has the ability to know everyone’s biggest insecurities and uses it against them making it the only thing they can think about) I kneed you help tracking down the sentimonster before it cases any more akuma’s” Chat-what’s the sentimonster of?” “Adrian Agreste” *chats giving lb the biggest oh shit face* they hunt down senti Adrian and after a major fight with himself (hehe) Chat and lb manage to defeat it, then they join Renard and bunnix to finish off the akumas

Yeah she was defeated but lila calls it a successful day, she managed to cause 3 akumas without really lifting a finger or damaging her own rep and proved her usefulness to Gabriel, she calls that a win in her book

The next day when Adrian walks into class with Felix, all eyes are on him, he try’s to apologise to the class but lila runs up to him pushing Chloe out of the way to engulf Adrian in a tight hug *chloes fully red in the face with rage* Mari leaning over to whisper to felix “this should be good”

lila- “it’s okay Adrian we know it wasn’t you! You’d never say such hurtful things to us” alix-“you weren’t even at school yesterday lie-la” lila-“that’s because that THING attacked me on my way to class, calling me all sorts of horrible things, but lucky I’m professionaly trained in yoga and was able to comtrol my emotions, I just had to run home and send ladybug a warning obviously alix” felix- “you’ve been professionaly trained to control you’re emotions yet you e been akumatizes about 5 times...what a joke” lila glares at felix

Sensing tension Adrian interjects “I’m still sorry everyone, I hate that something looking exactly like me hurts any of you, I’d never wanna case anyone of you pain” Chloe gets up and pulls Adrian out of lila’s tight hold “it’s okay adrikins we know that your the sweetest person alive anyone who believed that impostor is utterly ridiculous ” felix grones and murmurs “I’m gonna be sick” Mari smirking “want me to get you a bag”

After sitting down Nino says “don’t worry dude your friends know you, I never had a doubt about it, the second I overheard what it said to Alya I knew that wasn’t you, you wouldn’t hurt anyone” “thanks Nino” “no thanks necessary here bro, if you wanna thank someone it should be Marinette” looking shocked Mari interrupts “what? No! No no no you seriously don’t have to say anything, I was just doing what anyone else would do” Felix looked at his girlfriend and gave her a soft smile

Felix-“it’s true Adrian, she’s the one that talked Nathaniel and marc down after your evil doppelgänger verbally attacked them, then she told them it couldn’t be the real you, because you wouldn’t hurt s fly *trademark Felix eyeroll* she even got everyone to spread the word around school and got word to lb, she was a total hero” Marinette looks at Felix with a small smile and slight blush, Adrian breaks the soft AF moment by saying “I don’t know what to say Marinette, thank you, thank you for having so much faith in me” Mari-“of course I have faith in you, I know you, Adrian, you’re good person” jokingly she giggles and says “a little dens (talking about Kagami) but you have a good heart...down to your core”

After school Nino and Mari join Felix and Adrian at the mansion and chill around playing video games...okay so Felix technically  Doesn’t play any of the games he just sits next to Mari and watches as she demolishes Nino and Adrian at every single game, he can’t help thinking how beautiful she looks when her smile is wide and toothy, her face is slightly pink from yelling with excitement and her eyes are wide and bright...she’s the definition of beautiful

Link to part 11

Tags-

@lunar-wolf-warrior @bamagirl513 @persephonebutkore @charlietheepic7 @7-sage-7 @spicybelladonna @akana-sama @goggles-mcgee

Edit: link to art I made for this part

[akariitsuki42]

Spirit Saga

Ch19

Chapter 18

After my conversation with Talon, I haven't called him father yet, he needs to earn the title, mother, she deserves to be called that. Same with Onyx, he remains being called brother, not big brother or little brother. Turns out we happened to be twins, but he was born first and was waiting for me, something held me back 3 years later.

I was told that Onyx did not start aging until I was born, aside from all that, I went back to only see Jimmy, "I guess Zacky is still upset at you for giving yourself away." "He has every right to be," he sighed. I can tell that something is wrong, "What's wrong, Jimmy?" "Before I came here, I was attacked by no ordinary Hollow," he said, "When were you going to tell me the 3 Menos Classes?" "When the time was right," I said, "Unfortunately, you ran into one, right?" "Ran into? I was attacked by one, Akari," said Jimmy, raising his voice.

I looked around to make sure that no one is listening to our conversation, "Alright, the 3 classifications of Menos, are Hollows that gained Soul Reaper like powers if they removed their mask, they are called Arrancars." "So, what are you wai- oh, you are telling me already," he said, snapping out of his little rant. I continued, "3rd class Arrancars are the lowest level, 2nd class Arrancars are the medium level, and the 1st class Arrancars are the most highest level. The 3rd class Arrancars are called Menos Grande or Gillian, the 2nd class are called Adjuchas, and the final class are the ones you need to steer clear and be on high alert when you see one."

"What are they called?" asked Jimmy. I looked at him, "Vasto Lorde." "I'm assuming that you will translate all the names in English, that would be great and helpful for me to understand," said Jimmy, "Can you kindly please do that for a newbie like me?" "Menos Grande means Lowest Great Hollow, Adjuchas means Intermediate Great Hollow, and Vasto Lorde means Highest Great Hollow," I told him. Then he asked, "Are most Hollows bad as you say? Because you did tell me that you and your other friends, including me, are Half-Hollows." "There are some Hollows that are good at heart, but like I said, it depends on who did good or bad in their lives when they were alive," I said.

He caught on quick, he was lucky that he was saved by me from becoming a mindless Hollow, so I asked, "So, what about this Arrancar that you were attacked by? What did they look like?" "I don't know I didn't get a good look at them," he said, "But, their hair was the color of the Urban Legend of Bloody Mary." "Oh crap, what did she say to you?" I asked, knowing on who it was.

"She said, watch my back," he said, "I never been so terrified of my life." "That happens to be the Mirror Elemental, she must've thought that you were stalking me," I said, knowing that is the case. I know that it was because that eerie feeling was gone, Jimmy was relieved that he felt safe with me.

"Now that's over, anymore questions?" I asked. Jimmy asked, "Do you have forms?" "Yes, I do, but this is not the place to be showing my Hollow forms," I said, "We can only have 2 release forms." "I see, is it possible to only stick with only one?" he asked. I nodded, "I know this sucks for you but you need to say the release call in Spanish." "Damn it!!" he yelled, "I guess I better start learning that language." "You don't have to, just the release call," I said, "Everything else you do not need to do." "But I feel like I have to," he said, pouting.

Synyster Gates comes our way, noticing that something serious is being discussed, Jimmy asked, "So, about these things, what do I do if I see the ones I need to steer clear from?" "Contact me, immediately, don't engage a conversation with it, just try to find a place to hide and contact me, I'll deal with it," I said, "You are not fully trained yet, you are getting there though. You just need to find a perfect fighting techinque and stance."

"Stance?" asked Jimmy, confused on the word. I clarifing, "Fighting position." "Oh, I gotcha," he said, "Do I remain myself or be someone else?" "Do whatever," I said, "I only be aggressive if it's a tough battle and might need to use all the powers to win." "Ah, so everybody is different on the battlefield, correct?" he asked. I nodded, "Just don't be another person that goes in head first, because that can really mess up your chances of surviving the battle."

He got that memo down, "Okay, no rushing in the battle hoping to win, got it." "Don't be stupid on the battlefield," I said, "It might ruin your chances as well." "Well, I did play stupid with Ember Rose and somehow I got away with it," he said, "I guess I did that so I don't wind up dead again." "You won't because the power I gave you, it prevents you from dying, you can only regenerate through a certain transformation like I did," I said.

While we were having a serious conversation about the things that I have not revealed yet, Gates said, "Hey, M Shadows is coming to see you 2, better get ready because he might have you play some songs." "We'll be ready," I said, "We are in the middle of something that does not concern you." "Whoa, hey now, let's not get hostile, I'm just letting you know on what is going to happen," said Gates.

I knew he left because it got quiet, then I asked, "Who else did you see?" "A giant griffin or something flying past me, but it was attacking something else other than me," he said, "Then a lady with horns on the sides of her head, looking like she was made out of lava. She almost attacked me, but that giant griffin and Ember Rose protected me." "Did they tell you to run while you still can?" I asked.

He nodded, "That's when Ember told me to watch my back." "I think she's telling you to be on your guard at all costs, you are lucky that you were saved by the 2," I said, "That one was a Vasto Lorde." "Oh, shit, yep, I am very lucky," he said, relieved and surprised on what I told him.

"We might need to get ready for what Matt has ready for us," I said, "I'll explain more later about the Hollows and your training will resume once the tour is over." "Good idea," he said, "For the sake of being in the spotlight, I decided to lay low for what is about to happen since now I'm an Elemental." "Good idea," I said, sighing.

Then we were led outside, Jimmy had his hood up again, I'm trying to make sure it was safe for myself to reveal him here in front of all their fans. Then I heard a husky voice saying, "Be brave." I looked around, no one was near my ear, then I felt a tap, it was Jimmy, he nodded.

I sighed softly, hoping everything will turn out fine, but something doesn't feel right, Rev looks up, "Akari, slowly look up." I look at who he sees, I see a lady wearing Egyptian style clothing, I hear Rev say, "Look at the necklace that she is wearing." I see a Sphinx necklace, "She was that so called Griffin, it was the most famous landmark and the mythical creature from Egypt, it's called the Sphinx."

That got his attention, "I was protected by an Adjuchas?" "Yes, like I said, there are good hearted Hollows, I'm one of them, along with many others," I said to him, "Don't be too scared if you run into a great friend like me and others. Just, watch out for my father, Talon GrimEarth, he has yet to earn the title of being called a father." "Then why name him that anyway?" he asked.

"It's a way for me to let him know that there is a hope for him to earn that title," I said, "He has to do more than what he does now to earn it." "I see, so who do you see as a father figure?" Jimmy asked. My eyes were watery when he asked that, "He goes by the name of Jushiro Ukitake, he made sure that I had everything I needed."

Then Jimmy got a closer look at her, "She, she has your eye color." "My eye color is not green," I said, "Wait, she can change her eye colors?" "Apparently," he said, "Although, it is very dark here." "Yeah, I think it's suppose to be Sandy Brown," I tell him, "That is how she turns into the Giant Sphinx." "Oh, I see now," he said, "Why is she here?" "I guess she is just making sure you are in safe hands," I guessed.

Jimmy asked, "Have you met her?" "That lady? No, I do not know on who that is," I tell him, "I only know that you might met another Elemental." "I think you may be right about that," he said, "Because she's gone." "Meaning that I'm right, you are safe with me," I said to Jimmy.

"Are you 2 done talking over there?" asked M Shadows. Jimmy saw me rolling my eyes, "Easy on that, try to be civil and nice." "I have been nice to him!" I shouted, "He's been nothing but mean and giving me a hard time ever since I've been here! He even said that I would not make it out into the world, following my dreams!"

Then he looks at me, "He believes in you, he does that to get to your head." "Why has he been harsh on me?" I asked. Jimmy almost answered when M Shadows stomped his way over to us, pulled me away, which surprised Jimmy to no end. Then M Shadows turned to Jimmy, "You, up where the drums are!"

Jimmy just shook his head, came over and gently pulled me away, changed his voice, saying, "I don't know what is going on but this is not going to happen if this goes on." This is when he turns his voice to all to hear, he raises his voice, "So, stop being a douche to this young lady, she has done nothing wrong the entire time she has been here! Or I might have no choice but to give myself away for who I really am."

"Do it! It's not like you are a fake posing as our old drummer," said Gates. I could tell that hurt Jimmy, he looked at me, I nodded telling him to reveal himself now by using the drums. He went to Brooks, Brooks bolted because Rev told him to move or he will make him move, then M Shadows told him to do the whole drum tracks of the Second Heartbeat, Chapter Four, and Unholy Confessions.

Jimmy pulled off his crazy drummer skills, he still has his style, I went to him, he looks at me, I helped him take his hoodie off, his hair was in his face which was great because he took his shirt off, well, almost, I had to stop him.

He understood, I brushed his hair away from his face, then we both heard gasps everywhere, we looked at everyone else, EVERY SPOTLIGHT was on us, I looked at Gates, I swear I started to see tears forming. I felt daggers at me, I looked at M Shadows, he was the source, he was glaring at me.

He's angry with me, Zacky was smiling, Johnny was mixed with emotions. All I had to do was look at Jimmy, he picked me up and ran off with me, knowing that I was going to get yelled at by M Shadows later. Is he protecting me in return? We ran out of the entire building, he got out my phone since he doesn't have his own, contacted the one who is known to this land.

I saw a red, white, and blue beautiful muscle car, out came William Hurricane, he escorted me in the passenger side, Jimmy took the back side, "Her home now!" "On it," Hurricane said. He immediately started to drive away, I thanked Jimmy for calling Hurricane, Jimmy said, "Hey, no problem, it's my time to protect you from what is about to come later."

[incorrect-kotor-quotes]

Please continue to compare Final Fantasy VII and KOTOR. I need more of this.

I don’t have any quotes in mind, but if you find it funny, here’s my reaction as a first-time player to the game so far.

I’m talking to the secondary members of Avalanche, and, yeah, they’re all going to die.

Did they just leave a small child in charge of the bar?

As disturbing as this whole mob boss infiltration mission is, I can’t help but find it funny how enthusiastic Aerith is about getting Cloud to wear a dress. She is dead-set on getting him to wear one. And the wig, can’t forget the wig.

Wow, they’re really going to make me run up all these stairs. That’s… kind of brilliant.

Where’s the option to kill the deputy mayor and get my money back for those “hints”?

I’m seriously doubtful of Hojo’s understanding of biology if he thought… that… would yield anything useful. Also, I am never going to not stop finding Red XIII weird.

I can’t find the button to attack left on my motorcycle, so I’m stuck trying to keep all the other drivers on my right. It’s working, sort of.

I’m romancing Tifa. Thanks to reference osmosis, I know who dies in this game and I’m not getting onto that sinking ship.

I am going to shove my stupidly gigantic sword up the Midgar Zolom’s ass (or whatever you call it on a ten-meter serpent) if it’s the last thing I do.

With the right timing, I was able to run past the Midgar Zolom. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be possible, but at least I can save money on that stuff used to catch chocobos.

Is it possible for this child to die if I screw up the CPR minigame? Also, there’s a CPR minigame?

I utterly failed the infiltration mission at every possible opportunity, yet somehow this had no negative consequences.

There’s a talking cat riding on top of… I don’t know what that’s supposed to be, and he has forcefully joined my party.

Why is this prison infested with weird floating masks?

I lost the first chocobo race. On the second one, I was doing okay, then I had to go take care of something, didn’t hit the pause button, then when I came back it turned out I won. Waht.

Half of the enemies in this game elicit a response of “I don’t know that that is, but I’m going to beat the shit out of it”. I’ve fought living motorcycles, Dobby the elf, a tankceratops, a fabergé egg/matroska doll, and a sentient house.

I hate the frogs the most. They attack five at a time and just keep transforming me into a frog. Why.

The talking cat is going to betray me.

Ninja Misssion Vao is my daughter now and I will kill anyone who harms her.

Okay, after a bunch of backtracking and grinding to get up to the right level, and through the combined power of several gods, I have killed the Midgar Zolom. Finally, I can cross this stupid swamp in peace.

The Midgar Zolom respawns immediately. Fuck, ABORT!

Where’s the option to threaten and attack everyone in Fake Nibelheim until they answer me honestly?

Sweet, I have a plane now.

Ninja Misssion betrayed me, stole my best items, and has left me to die. Once I get them all back, she’s grounded.

Dammit, I can’t ground her, she’s the third-strongest person in the party.

The Forgotten Capital is beautiful, and the music makes it very atmospheric. It’s too bad I can’t figure out how to get to the next door around that goddamn fish. 

Yep, she’s dead. C’mon, with all the enemies we’ve fought, I’m sure she could survive at least one stab through the chest.

“End of Part One”? How long is this game?

Cloud is gone, we have a giant airship, and Tifa is the main character now. I could get used to this.

Dammit, I found Cloud and Tifa is staying with him. Now Cid’s in charge. Fine, as long as I don’t get stuck with Cat Shit.

That was an interesting plot twist. Gonna have to play through the flashback again.

I’ve got a submarine!

There’s a big, green, ethereal thing wandering around the bottom of the ocean, and it is creeping me out. I’m gonna fight it.

That was a terrible idea.

Apparently it’s called the “Emerald Weapon”, and it has a million hit points. Literally 1,000,000. My strongest attacks can’t even take off 1% of its health.

On the plus side, the Midgar Zolom, which has 4,000, has ceased to pose a threat. I killed ten of them in a row.

I’ve been to Golden Saucer multiple times now and I still haven’t found any way to obtain their fake currency. I went to the areas they said to, no one offers to exchange.

Why are we trying to stop Shinra from gathering materials to destroy the meteor? I know they’re assholes, but they do have the most resources to deal with the problem.

I’m with Cid on using the Huge Materia to destroy the meteor. It has to be more effective than slamming it with an empty rocket. That’s just science!

Cid, you fucking idiot, why did I listen to you? You can’t even make your own goddamn tea!

I’m running into a bit of a problem since I did some grinding with Tifa and Ninja Mission, so now they’re a couple levels about Cloud, who keeps dying, then he doesn’t get experience from the battles, so he’s fallen another level behind. And I’m about to fight Hojo, I can’t just go back and slaughter some wildlife to gain their power.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten right now. I’m enjoying it, but this game is really really weird.

[chikai-a-takuto-mitsuki-blog]

Feelings Under Snow

Pairing: TakutoxMitsuki (platonic dur)

Setting: Anime series between episodes 37 and 40

Lol I don’t normally write much (drawing is my thang) but I wrote this lil one-shot a while ago and looking over it now, it’s actually pretty darn cute if I say so myself. XD going inside Takuto’s head is very enjoyable to write lmao

It might've been a bit unusual for the climate in this part of Japan, but it was snowing. The magical snowfall that Meroko and I had presented to Mitsuki and her little friends had been not even half a day ago...but it was like it'd never stopped since. It was as if we were being shown up by the weather saying, "Oh, so you think playing with snow is funny....well, watch this, you punks!" and put on a show that really made ours look kinda pathetic. Maybe it was yuki onna, the snow woman. Meroko had fearfully suggested that this morning, when we found everything buried in white. Sure. I smirked to myself.   She was so dumb....she'd really believe in anything. Besides, yuki onna only lived in the northern mountains. Or so they said. "........Takuto?" I turned my head from leaning up against the glass window where I had been watching the snowflakes drift down, to the petite brunette, buried in her thick pink futon across the room. You could see her big brown eyes and pale nose.....but not much else. "What's up, squirt?" She looked around; I could tell that she was trying to figure out why her room was so oddly quiet. "Where's Meroko?" "Out shopping with Tanaka. Said there was some kinda pastry she saw on TV that she HAD to try...or something...and was whining about why on earth didn't we have any of them." Mitsuki giggled. Then after a pause, she announced, "I want to go outside." I glanced out the window again. There was at least eight inches of snow on the ground and the old hag's-her grandmother's pond had been frozen into a sheet of glassy ice. The white skeletons of the trees waved fiercely, telling us that a strong wind was blowing. .....what was she? Insane? "Stupid. No." I said. "It's suicide out there and you have a cold today!" "I'm feeling better! Please, just for a little bit!" "No means no." I said sternly. "What could you possibly want to do out there anyway?" "....well....." she said, breaking into a dreamy look. "Whenever it snowed like this at the institution, Eichi-kun and I always made snowmen and then we'd plop down and make snow angels on the ground. It was a lot of fun!" Oh. Eichi. Yes, of course. I was an idiot for asking. "NO BY TEN-FOLD." I said crossly. "Eichi-kun always let me!" Goddammit. I folded my arms and turned away from her. "Guess what? I'm not Eichi! I told you that before! Stop nagging because I'm not changing my mind. You're sick so you're staying in bed! Don't be a brat." Mitsuki stuck out her bottom lip and made "The Pout Face" at me. "The Pout Face won't get you anywhere." I told her cooly. "You think I've never seen that before? Please, I'm stuck when the girl who invented "The Pout Face"!" She mumbled something and slid back under her futon. "What was that?" "...nothing" "Mitsukiiii." I said in my best you'll-never-hide-anything-from-me voice. She didn't answer so I stomped over to her futon and tugged on it. "Don't! Takuto-NO!!" she squealed and tried to pull it back over her head. "What the heck is up with you?" I said incredulousy, lifting the futon out of her feeble little grip in mere seconds. "...hee...." Mitsuki's hair normaly had a piece sticking up in the front....but this time that piece was indistinguishable from about a dozen others that were sticking out at all ends. With her wide eyes, brown "quills" of hair, and pink cheeks she looked remarkably like a blowfish. I had to bite down on my lip to kill my laughter. "Don't look!" "Too late." "I-I forgot to braid my hair last night and...it's...it's the static electricity....that." "Oh, I see..." I was losing the battle and it was evident from how my voice wavered on the last syllable. "Wha....are you....hey...YOU'RE LAUGHING AT ME!" "No-ho I'm not!" I lied through my teeth. Though it wouldn’t be the first time. "Stop that...you're mean to laugh at me...don't laugh at me!" "....I-I can't seem to stop....I'm sorry!" I chuckled, drawing my arms tight around my waist, giving up on holding it back now. "Don't laugh!!!" She threw a pillow in my face and as it flopped off, my eyebrow twitched. "....oh......that's it." "That's what?" I snapped my fingers and a balloon appeared in my hand. Mitsuki's big eyes got a lot bigger. "......you wouldn't dare..." I raised the same eyebrow at her, a devilish grin creeping across my face. "Oh....wouldn't I....?" She started backing away from me like a pink crab. "Takutooooooooo, you stay away from me.....!" "Whatsa matter, squirt? Scared of a balloon?" "You're going to rub it on my hair!!" "No, I won’t! Come here!" "NO, GET AWAY!!" I pounced and she scuttled backwards and I chased after her, slowing down my pace to be fair; all the while she was giggling uncontrollably and I was laughing too and thinking this was probably the most fun I had since the day we spent at the lighthouse...but then she started coughing. "Mitsuki?" Cough cough cough "...I-I'm okay...." "No, you're not, come on, let's get you back in bed." She didn't protest much to my relief and I vanquished the ballon and tucked her in. "......I'm sorry. We fooled around too much...I should've known better." But she shook her head and smiled at me. "It was fun though." "Eh?" ".....I didn't know...you could be like that....." I folded my arms. "And what's that supposed to mean?" "....well you're always so serious sometimes...so....I was happy..." I felt my cheeks grow warm. It felt like an automatic reaction to look in the opposite direction. ".....y-yeah well.......maybe...y'know....I was just as bored as you!" Shit. Not again. What the hell was wrong with me!? Why couldn't I ever just say what I meant to say!? It was like she had some kind of hold over my speech...that my tongue always froze up and I just blurted out stupid, insensitive things. It never happened with anybody else I talked to. Why Mitsuki? "......hey." I muttered, still not looking at her. "......when you get better....and the snow is still there.....let's...." "......let's....um...." She sat up, eyes shining. "Make snowmen and snow angels!?" "Why stop there?" I said. "There are way more fun things you can do in snow!" The kid looked completely estatic. "There are!?" "Of course." "Like what!? Will you show me!?" She looked so eager that I couldn't resist reaching out to pat her on the head and grinning. "Yeah......sure I will...but for now, get some sleep, huh?" ".........okay." I watched her snuggle down into her futon, my mood considerably lighter than before. I flopped down on the tatami, my hands folded behind my head and closed my eyes.The peaceful quiet that followed enabled me to think about the words from before. 'well, you're always so serious sometimes...so...I was happy...' '...I was happy...' Hmm...I smiled to myself. So she was hap-WHAT-HOLD ON A SECOND. I bolted upright, wide-eyed, my mouth hanging open, and I'm sure I looked pretty stupid like that but... '...I was happy...' I blinked. It couldn't be.... Was this.... This was.... This was the first time she told me I'd made her happy without doing anything connected to Eichi. That's right.....anything relating to Full Moon...anything I did for her before-transforming her, helping her with her songs, getting her out of trouble, hiding her identity around the clock, giving her back her confidence. That was all so she could be closer to him. But....but this time... I was able to show her a good time...and I was....just....myself.... I felt the color in my cheeks rise. Did...no way....did this actually mean...in the very depths of her heart, in the darkest corner in the back of her mind, admist the giant area that Eichi undoubtedly owned, ...that I had a miniscule, fleeting, microscopic, ridiculously tiniest, possible chance...? I-idiot...don't let it go to your head I told myself. She loves Eichi. I knew that. After being reminded at every minute, every hour, every day, every week of this year that was part paradise, part pure HELL, I'd seriously be concerned about the amount of brain cells I had if I HADN'T known that. And even if I DID miraculously have a chance....now really, a chance at WHAT, exactly? Being at her side, being more than just what I was to her now....for the remainder of the year... And then it was good-bye forever. My fists tightened...and I somehow felt something in my chest do the same. I couldn't do anything. Not even when she was watching that old man Sanada die right before her eyes....I couldn't stop it. She was so terrified and I couldn't help her. I couldn't help her because of what I was and because of what she was. I turned to the futon. Mitsuki had moved in her sleep from when I'd last looked at her. The cover had been pushed back down to her chest which was partially covered by her right hand, rising and falling with each breath, while her left hand was curled into a little fist and resting on her pillow, next to her face. She looked more fragile, and pale and smaller than ever. I noticed a wrinkled piece of paper near her pajama sleeve. Squinting, I could make out kanji and kana written on it which I recognized immediately as lyrics she had been working on two days before. .....why? I pulled up the cover to conceal her shoulders again, swallowing hard, trying to fight off the emotion that had been steadily growing in my throat. Why do you try so hard...you stupid kid.... Don't you get it.... As a shinigami, I could do stupid little magic tricks. But as a person...as a man... I was.....powerless. It was true. It was exactly how that bastard Izumi said....I was....I am....to her...totally useless in the long-run. Because fate cannot be altered. Not by me...not by Eichi...not by her...or anyone in this world or the next.... ......where was the dunderheaded, insufferable moron who came up with that rule? WHY couldn't fate be altered!? Especially for one little girl who never did anything to anybody...who was the last person in the world who deserved to die before everyone would know her true name in a world she managed to find happiness in... I was suddenly aware of my eyes beginning to sting. Oh hell no...gimme a break! I can't...not now!! NOT WHILE I'M SITTING NEXT TO HER...DAMMIT...! I clenched down, hard, and grinded my teeth, willing with every fiber of my half-existence to hold back. Don't..... Luck was on my side. The big dark eyes slowly opened, startling me. "....ah." ".......Taku....to?" "S-sorry....did I wake you?" "Mmmnnn." she slowly shook her head. There was a pause, followed by, "...but...I am a little bit cold...." "Ah yeah..." I floated over to the windows and sliding door, making sure everything was airtight. "Weather like this can affect temperatures indoors too, probably." "Oh...." "No air is coming in here though, Mitsuki. How about more blankets?" She shivered. "Okay....." I covered her up with everything I could find. "How's that? Any better?" She shook her head, looking miserable... "No...it's still cold...and now the futon's too heavy..." "Where are you feeling cold at?" "....sort of....all over...it feels like it's from inside my body...I don't know..." "It's the fever." I told her dejectedly. "If that's the case....I don't think it could be anything else. Did you take your medicine?" "A little bit ago...but Wakaouji-sensei said it takes a while for it to work." She sniffed. ".....I....don't know what to do....nothing helps...." I looked at her sympathetically. "....I'm sorry..........if I could......." I began, and trailed off as a shameful thought entered my mind. "Eh?" "Nevermind." "What could you do?" "I said forget it." ".....is it something that can help?" "I don't know! Maybe, maybe not." "Tell me-" Mitsuki was interuppted by a second fit of coughing. It was all I could stand. It was like my body was suddenly moving on its own and before I knew it, I was sitting on her futon with my arms tightly around her. I felt her twitch and then heard her voice, soft and uncertain. "....eh...Ta-Takuto...what..." Pulling the blanket up over both of us, I muttered, "....I'm sorry...this is all I can do..." "....eh....." We were so close that I could feel her little heart beating rapidly against my chest. The speed was steadily increasing, more that a normal human heartbeat. My grip on her tightened, as if to tell her every single word of what I was feeling...every word I couldn't say out loud. "....Takuto....you're so warm...." she said. "....go to sleep." "Eh...?" "If you're not cold anymore, go to sleep." "But....you don't mind...staying like this...? What if it's hours?" "Doesn't matter. It can't be helped. Just go to sleep, Mitsuki. I'm not going anywhere. It'll be fine." She looked up at me, smiled, said thank you and put her head back down again. Not after five minutes, I felt her body relax. After making sure she was asleep, I snapped my fingers to make the music box play and the still silence filling the room was replaced by the twinkling melody of Eternal Snow. My addiction to this song was still a neverending mystery to me. I liked all of Mitsuki's songs...but there was something different about this one. It felt really nostalgic and it was almost...sort of painful...but at the same time, as she had described it, "warm". I couldn't stop listening to it. I couldn't get it out of my head and I couldn't shake the feeling it gave me every time I heard it. Whatever the reason, it was a fitting song for today, for when I looked out the window, the white flakes were coming down harder than before. I was thankful to be in here and not out there, thankful I had the ability to listen to the song without barely moving, but most of all, thankful for the warm, sleeping girl snuggled up against me and the peaceful smile that has spread across her face. I closed my eyes, allowing my forehead to rest upon hers, pulling her still closer. I couldn't change fate, change who it was she held most important in her heart, or change what we were to each other. But we still had this moment, right now.

[snorlaxlovesme]

SoMa Week 2017

Day four: Habits

Soul’s fixation with Maka’s hands becomes normal after a while, but is there a reason behind all those impromptu hand massages?

“Hey, whose turn is it to make dinner tonight?” Maka asked Soul, gingerly stripping her dirt-covered gloves from her fingers.

“Yours,” he said with a sadistic grin. Soul was always delighted on any day that wasn’t his turn to cook. “And don’t think I’m letting you back out of it again. I know we have groceries this time.”

Maka nodded absently, looking down at her scarred and calloused hands mournfully. She could barely uncurl them without feeling a tremor run through them.  It was only a month and a half after their fight with the Wolf Man, and while the burns on Maka’s hands had finally healed, the sensitivity remained a constant problem. After missions their functionality was shot to hell. She flexed them gingerly, hoping she’d be able to hold a spatula for next half hour.

“Hey, what’s the hold-up?” Soul called from the living room after not hearing pans clanging together. “You’re not gonna pull that I-have-too-much-homework crap again, are you? You promised to actually make dinner tonight.”

Maka grit her teeth and grabbed a nonstick pan from the drying rack, trying not to think about how difficult it would be to hold a pencil later when she finally did do her homework.

“I got it, I got it. Just don’t rush me, okay?”

Soul must have noticed a change in her voice, because he dropped the asshole routine and turned around on the couch to look at her. “Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing,” she said, reaching into the fridge to pull out the ground chuck for hamburgers. The cool packaging of the beef felt wonderful on her swollen hands.

Soul rolled his eyes and stood up. “Whenever you say ‘it’s nothing’ that means something is wrong and you’re too stubborn to tell me.”

Maka stuck her tongue out at him as he made his way to the kitchen, but didn’t try to dispute him. He was right, after all.

“Your hands are hurting again, aren’t they?” he asked, watching as she tried to grab a spatula using only the tips of her fingers.

Maka sighed. “A little.”

He met her in the kitchen and took hold of one of wrists, bringing her hand closer so he could see it in the light. In most cases, Maka bared her battle scars with absolute pride. She loved her job as a meister and she knew that every scar on her body was an indicator that she made it out of a hard battle alive. But the scars on her hands weren’t inflicted by a kishin, but by her own stubbornness and stupidity. If she hadn’t been so insecure after their fight with the Demon Sword she wouldn’t have caused her and Soul’s wavelengths to be out of sync. The newly pink scars on her hands were a reminder of the way she almost broke up their partnership, and looking at them made her feel a little sick.

Soul prodded one of her callouses without warning. Maka yelped and snatched her hand away.

“Ow! What’s your problem?”

Soul took her hand back. “Sorry, I just wanted to see how bad it was.”

“Yeah, well a little warning would—be—” she trailed off when Soul’s hands moved to grip her whole hand instead, pressing his fingertips softly into the sore parts of her hand. “—nice…….”

It became increasingly hard to focus when Soul’s thumb and index finger were pressing against either side of her hand, massaging slow circles into the meat of her palm. The sensation was foreign and so welcomed that Maka completely forgot what she was talking about. His hands moved slowly up hers, rubbing her knuckles gently and pinching each finger around the joint until she could slowly unfurl her fingers. Maka watched the whole ordeal speechlessly, not sure what to say when her partner gives her a hand massage two minutes after berating her for not cooking dinner fast enough.

“Does the left one hurt too?” he asked.

She nodded slowly, and watched in amazement as he gave her other hand the exact same treatment. He rubbed each bit of her hand with careful scrutiny, waiting until she was able to flex it properly before he finally let go.

Maka looked down at her hands, which definitely still stung but were a lot more mobile than they hand been five minutes ago. How did he do that?

But as Maka opened her mouth to ask him what that was all about, Soul was picking up the package of beef from the counter to get a better look at it.

“Burgers? Cool. Tell me when they’re ready.” And with that, he went back to the couch to watch more TV.

Maka looked down at her hands in bewilderment, flexing her hands again. She still wanted to ask him about what just happened, or thank him maybe, but it seemed like he didn’t want to talk about it. So she picked up the package of beef, intent on leaving it be, for now.

-

“You know, you could just be like a normal person and borrow my laptop,” Soul said, chin resting on his arms as he sat across from Maka in the library, staring at her in boredom.

She didn’t even bother dignifying him with a response, too intent on finishing her essay before study period was over. Her hand was cramping furiously, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from hand-writing it. Maka would type her homework out when she bought her own laptop, not use Soul’s stupid gaming laptop that his rich parents from the east coast sent him for his birthday. Maka didn’t need his dumb charity, not from a slacker partner who didn’t even write his essay at all. No, she had her lucky pencil and fifteen minutes left of library time to finish this essay, if only Soul would stop bothering her when she was clearly BUSY—

Her pencil snapped in half in her furious grip, and Maka’s hand stilled.

Soul looked disbelievingly at the splintered pencil half still in Maka’s iron grip. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a little crazy?”

“This essay needs to be finished, Soul,” she said angrily, looking at the two inches of pencil left in her hand. Writing with this was going to kill her.

Soul rolled his eyes before unceremoniously grabbing her right hand and cracking her knuckles one-by-one. After writing two and a half pages by hand already, she didn’t think it was possible to gain feeling back in her fingers, but there it was, blood flowing to the tips again. He kept his hold on her for only a moment longer to roll her wrist forwards and backwards a couple times before letting go without a word, handing her his mechanical pencil.

“Don’t snap that one too,” he told her with no real heat in his voice, his head already returning to its old spot on top of his folded arms.

Maka looked at her rejuvenated hand, her partner, and the pencil.

“Only twelve minutes now,” Soul said lazily, looking at his wristwatch.

Maka shook her head a little and pulled her notebook back towards her, using her new pencil to write out her third main point.

-

Anya fell unceremoniously onto her ass, and Maka giggled a little at her pout.

“It’s okay to not get it on the first try, it’s a complicated move,” she told the first-year gently. Sometimes she and Soul tutored underclassmen on the weekends (well, Soul’s participation wasn’t exactly voluntary), and young Tsugami and her two meisters had become their favorite team to teach. Anya was a very diligent meister, but she didn’t seem to take failure well.

“But it is not my first try!” she cried stubbornly. “I should be better by now. We’ve been practicing for hours.”

Maka laughed and leaned Soul’s handle on one of her shoulders. “You just switched with Meme fifteen minutes ago. Give it another try.”

Anya took a deep breath and looked at her halberd until she heard Tsugami give her a tinny “I’m ready!”

Anya began the sequence again, spinning Tsugami rapidly while performing complex footwork that would allow for tighter circles when she was dodging multiple attacks. Maka watched Anya’s face scrunch up in concentration as she focused on her steps, but her hands grew sloppy. Before Maka had time to intervene, Anya had conked herself on the forehead with the bottom of Tsugami’s handle.

“You’re not letting your weapon help,” Soul said from his weapon form, where he’d been watching them as well. “Tsugami’s supposed to be guiding half of her movements, but you’re taking complete control, Anya.”

Anya looked bitterly at Soul’s blade. “What else am I supposed to do if she’s not contributing?”

Maka could just barely hear a small “I’m sorry” from the tip of the halberd. Tsugami always had a hard time speaking up for herself under stress.

Maka said, “Tsugami, transform. I want the three of you to watch Soul and I perform the move again.”

Tsugami transformed back and went to stand between Meme and Anya, unconsciously scooting a little closer to Meme in the process.

“Alright, Soul,” Maka said. Soul nodded in his blade and she took a deep breath, letting everything fall away as she took a step back and immediately fell into an effortless rhythm, spinning Soul and twirling her way through the complicated step sequence like it was nothing. She’d been doing it for years, so of course this move was second nature to her, but it was even easier because she had given Soul the reigns on her hand movements. He spun in and out of her fingers in quick propeller motions, never once fumbling in her hands or coming close to hitting her. The trust she gave him allowed the sequence to look less like a battle movement and more like a graceful dance.

After a few moments she stopped, resting Soul’s handle on her shoulder again. Her left wrist twinged a bit from practicing for so long, but she ignored it.

“Do you guys get it now?”

Maka didn’t think it was possible for the three girls to look more bewildered than before, but one look at their little ‘o’ faces made it clear that the lesson still hadn’t stuck.

“Listen, with practice it will become easier. You just have to learn to trust each other and understand your partner’s strengths and weaknesses—Yes, Tsugami?”

Tsugami put her hand down. “Is it customary for weapons to massage their meister’s hands too?”

“Custom—what?” Maka looked beside her to see that Soul had transformed without her noticing, and his softer hands were delicately rubbing circles into her inner wrist. The slight stinging pain was already beginning to wane.

“Oh, uh, that.” After years of Soul taking her hands in his and miraculously alleviating her pain, Maka had gotten accustomed to it. It wasn’t until now that Maka actually stopped to think about it. Was it a weapon thing? Something that Soul was taught in one of his weapon classes? After-mission medical care was something they had learned back when they were still first-years. Cleaning your partner’s battle wounds was supposed to be a bonding experience for meisters and weapons that brought you closer together.

But this didn’t seem like the textbook stuff that they normally did after coming home from a mission. Soul barely needed an excuse to take her by the hand and massage her knuckles. Sometimes it was after practicing, but other times it was just while they sat on the couch watching TV together. Maka could have the remote in one hand, scrolling through their recorded programs, and the other would be between Soul’s while he rolled her wrist and pressed his thumbs into the meat of her palm.

Why did Soul do that?

Maka looked at Soul for some sort of answer, but Soul just continued his ministrations until he seemed satisfied. Maka had to admit that her wrist felt fully functional again. (And how did he do that?)

When it was clear that Soul wasn’t going to respond, Maka struggled for an explanation. “It’s, um, not customary, per se, but maintaining some form of—of physical contact,” Maka swallowed, “with your weapons outside of battle, can strengthen your bond as partners?”

She looked to Soul again, but he was doing a fantastic impersonation of a mute person today, looking in the distance and refusing to meet her gaze.

Even though her explanation didn’t sound the least bit sure, the three freshman took her word for it. Tsugami and Meme both turned to Anya, where both of them attempted to soothe the bump growing on her forehead.

“Ow! Stop poking it, Meme!”

Maka took this to be a good stopping point for the day, and wished the girls good luck on their form work as she followed Soul off campus, where he had already started pacing away.

“Hey!” Maka said, jogging a bit to catch up with him. “What was with the silent treatment back there?”

Soul’s gaze remained trained ahead. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Just didn’t have anything to add.”

She could have just let it go, but now that Tsugami brought it up, Maka was curious. “So I was right? All the stuff you do with my hands is just a weapon thing?” She didn’t even really know what she meant by that, but that’s all it could have been, right?

“Your hands are a big part of who you are as a meister. It would make sense to keep them in good condition,” he said stoically. It didn’t feel like the whole truth.

“So this is just…to keep me in top form as a meister?”

Soul took her left hand in his as they walked, and again Maka couldn’t help noticing how natural it felt after years of impromptu massages. His fingers were warm as he entwined them with hers.

“What other reason would there be?” he asked her, face falling into a smile that made her palms start to sweat a bit.

If Soul noticed, he didn’t say anything, and Maka was glad for that. She spent the rest of their walk home trying to control the frantic beating of her heart, but she noticed with interest that she never made any attempts to take her hand back, either.

[masquad-fanfics]

Siblings - Percy Jackson

For Percy, finding out he had a sister that was as human as he was could probably be the best thing that happened to him. Now, don't get him wrong, he loved Tyson to bits, but it just wasn't the same, and since he started working for Hephaestus' Underwater Forges he barely ever saw him. But still, there was something different with his sister. The thing is, Greek mythology is incredibly confusing by itself. And having two different, but very similar mythologies, at the same time only worsened it. It'd be too long to explain how, him being son of Poseidon, while his sister was daughter of Neptune, worked, so it's just enough for us to know it is possible to happen and that's how it was.

His sister's name was Madison, although he had gotten the liking to calling her Mads. She had brunette hair and chestnut eyes, in contrast with Percy’s jet black hair and sea green eyes. But they were a lot more similar when it came to personality, both being awkward but also charming in their own way. They were only a year apart, and right from the moment they met they’d barely leave each other’s side.

But how did they meet? Well, actually he didn’t meet her at the same time as he did with the rest of the Roman demigods. It was some weeks later, in a very classic place for a son of Poseidon. The sea. Percy was strolling down the beach, not having anything to do and just enjoying the soothing marine breeze and the occasional feeling of the cool water against his skin. He reached the end, where the golden sand abruptly transformed into an exuberant forest. He decided to stay there as he waited for the sun to disappear in the horizon. Little by little, the sky began transforming into a beautiful orange, light red, and lavender watercolour, which was reflected in the vast ocean ahead of him. But suddenly, he saw something that called his attention. There was an object in the water. At first, he didn't give it much thought, it could even be a dolphin, since it was far enough to be able to swim in that depth. But it kept getting closer and closer, until he recognized it was a human. It wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see a human coming out of the sea, if it wasn't for the fact that he hadn't seen their belongings anywhere, and now that they were close enough, he was able to notice that their hair and clothes weren't soaked. Well, not their, but her, it was a girl. In that moment he didn't even think of this, but later that night he'd see how stupid he was not to realize she was one of his kind, since no regular human could be underwater without getting wet. But right then it took him by surprise. The girl seemed a bit startled too when she became aware of his presence, probably because she didn't think there'd be anyone there.

"H-hi." She greeted once she was in front of Percy and with no way of avoiding him.

"Hey." Was the only thing he said. After an awkward silence he managed to form another sentence. "How can you be, you know, dry?"

The girl giggled "It's quite a long story."

"Are you a demigod?" He suddenly blurted out. She looked at him surprised, not expecting him to know, and she simply nodded.

"I'm Percy, by the way."

"Madison." Another silence followed, this time interrupted by her. "Why do you know about demigods?" She asked as she sat beside him.

"I happen to be one." He smirked, gaining his confidence.

"Really?! You must be new then, I've never seen you on the camp."

"Neither have I." He soon became aware of the fact that there were two camps, making it a lot easier as to why they had never seen each other. "Wait, are you in Camp Jupiter?"

She laughed at his question. "Of course. Where else would I be?"

"That explains why we've never seen each other... I'm not from there, I'm from Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp Half what?" She furrowed her brows and gave him a sceptical look.

"Camp Half-Blood. It's the Greek one."

"Well, those are some big news. And what are you doing here?"

"It's quite a long story." He answered repeating the same she had told him before. She laughed, something that for some strange reason reminded him of his own laugh. "Weird." He thought, and just pushed those thoughts aside. "I was there a couple of weeks ago. In your camp. I think it's safe to say that I've now met everyone."

"You were missing the best part then." She said grinning widely. Again, there was something in the way she smiled that also reminded him of himself. He came back to reality when he noticed Madison's stare. "Uh?"

"I was asking who your godly father is. Or mother."

"Oh, it's Poseidon."

"Really?" Her eyes lighted up when she heard his words.

"Yeah."

"My father is Neptune."

"Wait, isn't that technically the same one?"

"I suppose."

"That makes us brothers then." It suddenly made sense. How there were things about them that felt so similar to him.

"But we look nothing alike."

"That must be because of our mothers." He couldn't really assimilate it. And neither could Madison. All that time they had been pretty much by themselves, but having someone just like them felt like nothing they had felt until that moment.

"I just remembered." Percy said excited. "You have another brother. Well, kind of. He's a Cyclops, but he's the best dude you'll meet. I'll have to take you to see him, he's gonna be so happy."

   ~ ~ ~

For the past days Percy stayed in Camp Jupiter. Madison was having a great time being able to show his brother around and having him meet her friends. And enemies. Not that she had many, but Percy had insisted in knowing who they were. Just in case, he said. He had no idea what he had to do when being a brother, so he took the safety path and remained being himself mostly, but his most protective side also appeared from time to time. This always made Madison laugh, finding it really funny how he'd glare at anyone she didn't particularly like whenever he walked past them.

But after another week she was eager to go with Percy to Camp Half-Blood. See how different things were in a Greek demigods camp. Percy was a bit reluctant. He was sure he could easily take care of her, but he wasn't sure if she was ready to leave the camp. After all she had never been on a mission, and the furthest she had left was in her occasional gateways in the sea. And in their case, the sea meant constant protection.

"You’re telling me I can't go when you went in your first mission being how old? 12? 13?" She had a good point in there. If he had been able to literally go down to hell and come back alive, why couldn't she go to his camp? He finally gave in, not before making a mental note not to tell her any of his adventures, at least not in such detail as he had. "But it doesn't just depend on me. You'll have to ask the ones in charge if they give you permission."

"I already did. They said it's ok as long as I go with you. And..." She run to her cabin, and in less than three minutes she was back "I already packed my things. And yours too. So we can leave right now." She said as she handed him his bag. "Are you sure you got everything?"

Madison rolled her eyes "Yes dad." She mocked. Percy lightly hit her, faking annoyance. "Let's go then."

    *time skip*

"Oh don't be like that."

"I said no, boss."

"Blackjack, are you kidding? Didn't you say you'd serve me on everything?"

"On everything necessary, yes. You don't need me for this, I can just stay. It's quite nice here actually."

"But all the dangers there are outside! Can't you at least take her?"

"No is no, boss. Plus, I promised the others I'd go with them to get some donuts. You know there's no way I'm refusing to that."

Percy sighed in exasperation. Even if he was taking Madison with him to his camp, his idea had always been for Blackjack to take them. That way, there was no chance a monster could attack them. But his dear Pegasus friend wasn't helping at all. He saw there was no way of convincing him, so he just began walking away.

"Call me when you need me, boss." Said the horse as Percy left. The boy just huffed, making both Madison and Blackjack laugh. Well, Blackjack neighed, but it could perfectly be translated for a laugh.

"He says he can't take us." Percy said, trying to ignore the fact that his own horse was laughing at him.

"I know." Percy looked at Madison stranged. "How do you-"

"I can understand horses too." She cut him. "I'm a daughter of Neptune after all."

"R-right. I sometimes forget I'm not the only one." He let out a nervous snicker, and Madison laughed again at how forgetful he was. "You can't escape the adventure now!" She grabbed one of his arms and began pulling him towards the exit of the camp, excitement radiating from her.

    ~ ~ ~

Percy had to be grateful. Throughout the whole journey they didn't come across a monster a single time. Madison was slightly disappointed because she had been hoping to fight an epic battle and be able to narrate it when she arrived, but Percy cheered her up by telling her she'd have enough battles in the future. 'If you were me you wouldn't want to go through any of that in the foreseeable future', he once said. It had taken them about two weeks to arrive to the forest that surrounded the Greek camp. Reaching to this part always saddened Percy. Even if his mother was no longer in danger, he still remembered that tragic day vividly. Madison noticed the sudden change in her brother, but decided not to ask him about it.

"So, we've basically arrived." He began, not wanting to remember that day. "Only go up this hill and you'll be able to see the camp."

Madison nodded and followed Percy. They were halfway to reach the top when a noise made them stop in their tracks. "Do you hear that?" Madison asked.

"It sounds like a... " He stopped in the middle of the sentence, analyzing the noises. He could hear the stomps of hoofs, but they didn't sound loud enough to be from a Minotaur. But the noise increased, so it could just be far. "Like a Minotaur. But I think quite a small one." He was able to recognise it coming from his right, so he turned to that side and prepared for the imminent attack. "Stay behind me. Hopefully you won't need to do anything."

Madison was about to protest when the creature appeared from the shadows. Percy would've taken his sword out if it wasn't for the fact that he instantly recognised who it was. "Grover!! Shit, you scared me! "

"That's what I was trying." He went to give him a short hug, noticing Madison standing behind Percy when he hugged him. "Mind asking, who is she?"

"Oh, this is Madison, my sister. Mads, this is Grover, my weird half goat friend."

"I'm not 'half goat', I'm a satyr. But the important thing is, since when did you have a sister?"

"Since like a, uh, three weeks ago?"

"And how did you meet?" Grover asked as they continued heading towards the entrance of the camp.

"While I was at Camp Jupiter, I was one day by the sea and saw her there."

"So she's Roman then." Percy only nodded as an answer. "Does that still make her your sister?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, we later on asked to be sure, and they told us it's something that can totally happen."

"And I thought we had enough with one of your kind. Anyways, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Madison."

"Thanks." Madison smiled. "I was wondering, how are things different here?"

"Uh... Well, first off there are Greek demigods." Madison laughed at his obvious answer, making Grover blush a little. It didn't matter how long it passed, he'd always be Percy's shy and only friend while at school. "I-i can't really know if there's anything different, I've never been in a Roman camp."

"An important difference is that you don't have Mr. D running the camp." Percy added.

"Mr. D?"

"You'll soon meet him. He's an incredible guy." He answered sarcastically.

    ~ ~ ~

Madison was enjoying her time to the fullest. Mr. D had greeted her... Well, like he greeted anyone else. He had already changed her name just like he did with Percy, so they assumed he only did it with any of Poseidon's relatives.

It happened to be a special day, since they were playing Capture the Flag. Madison was nearly jumping from excitement, as Percy told her how was the game going to be, the rules they used and the best tactics to win.

The afternoon finally arrived, coming with it the start of the game. They all put on their armours and helmets with a blue or red plume, depending on the team they were in. As every year, Percy was in the blue team, and thus so was his sister. He told his tactic to the rest of his teammates: both of them would be the ones in charge of the flag. In that way, having some of the strongest ones closer to the flag would make it more difficult for the other team to get it and easier for them to protect it. They then prepared a series of strategies to get the red flag, and after a whole hour of preparations, they were ready to start.

Chiron signaled the beginning, and right then every demigod began running to their places. Percy and Madison found the perfect location to place their flag, where it was well hidden and where, at the same time, the opposite team could catch a glimpse of it without giving away their exact position.

"So the plan is" Percy began saying. "If someone comes I'll go and fight them. You stay next to the flag in case they are too many and I can't deal with all of them." Madison opened her eyes widely "Are you kidding Percy? I'm not gonna stay here without doing a thing."

"Look it's dangerous and-"

"Percy. It's a game."

"I know, but they can be very harsh and maybe they hurt you."

"I've been 16 years by myself, don't you think I can handle a Capture the Flag game?"

"I'm sure you can, but I'm saying that just in case... "

"I swear, you're such an stereotypical brother."

"Why you say that?"

"Cause you're always so overprotective."

"I'm not."

While the two siblings argued about this little thing some other demigods from the red team appeared. By the time they noticed their presence they were incredibly close to getting their flag. Madison was the first one to see them and she run in their direction, drawing her sword. Percy stood where he was for a moment before following his sister. Regardless of their efforts by fighting two demigods each, there was a fifth one they didn't see, who made his way towards the flag and easily took it. Percy and Madison stared dumbfounded at him, realizing how easily they had lost just because they didn't want their respective sibling getting hurt. For some reason they found that very funny and began laughing non stop, while everyone looked at them puzzled. When Grover arrived he just rolled his eyes and said "And this is why you don't have siblings together."

[balshumetsbaragouin]

Bittersweet Future: Chapter Thirteen

Summary:

The main event, an escape, and the aftermath...

Battle Royale: Part II

“I can’t believe I’m being sent back to the RV like a child. I mean sugar cookies what am I five?”        

“Stop your whining! It’s not like you’d be much help as exhausted as you are.”

“Riiiigggght,” Daniel drawled before giving a once over to the person running slightly ahead of him, “and your bum arm would have been perfectly useful for fighting.”

“Oh shut the hell up! I can still shoot with my off-hand; you’re practically falling over.” Jasmine didn’t bother to send a glare over her shoulder, her tone communicating what her face didn’t.

“Yes you’re right, I mean it’s not like I can just make more ener-oh wait that’s right, I can!” Daniel retorted.

“Sure you can,” Jasmine started amicably, “if you weren’t completely wiped from accelerating your energy production twice today already,” she finished with a tone like a sneer. She stopped and turned around to actually send a glare his way this time.

“Oh of course, because being a half-ghost, you’re perfectly versed in the nuances of making spectral energy in your own body. I mean silly me! Here I was thinking you were fully human or something.”

“Oh my God, would you just-”

“Listen, I hate to interrupt this lovely sibling bonding moment, really I do, but do you think the both of you could stop fighting for a few seconds and turn off the shield so I can get inside now?” Danny peered at the two of them from the outside of the RV’s DNA recognition fitted shield, anxious to just get inside already.

The two siblings turned and stared at Danny standing, shifting from one foot to the other, outside of the shield with looks equal measure exasperation and surprise, having forgotten the other boy was even there. Jasmine moved inside first, heading for the control panel, while Daniel leaned against the side of the RV; willing to show some amount of fatigue now that his sister wasn’t around to witness it.

“Alright, it should be off now.” A disembodied voice called from inside the camper.

Danny started forward only to slam into an invisible barrier. “Darn it guys, what gives?” He asked while rubbing the sore spot on his face from hitting the still active shield. Only giggling answered his question before he heard someone shout and the scuffling of feet.

“Damn it Nathaniel! I’m so sorry Danny, Nate’s an idiot, but the shield is down for sure now.” Jasmine said, head sticking out of the door to the RV.

“Oh no, you should turn it back on. Watching him walk into it like a bird smacking into glass is the most entertaining thing that’s happened today.” Daniel smirked as Danny carefully walked forward with his hands out to make sure the shield was really offline this time. He rolled his eyes when he heard his sister call him a morbid jerk and held an arm over the entrance to the stairs when Danny approached them. “Listen, I need to ask you something real fast.”

“Interrogate him later Daniel; we need to get ready to leave, and as much as I hate to admit it at the moment, I’m going to need your help.” The eldest Masters’ sibling frowned from her position at the top of the stairs to the RV before pointing a finger in Danny’s direction. “But mister jerkass over there is right, we have a few questions for you, and you better answer them this time.” She stared over the outstretched arm of her younger brother and into the worried looking eyes of the dark haired teen that had turned their life upside down in less than twelve hours.

“Hey guys! Nate and I finally found Dad with the spy cameras, and boy are you missing a great fight.” Nick claimed from his position crowded around the front of the RV cabin with his twin brother and younger sister. He quickly turned back to the screen, clearly enraptured with whatever was playing on its surface.

The older three kids finally joined the younger three inside before Daniel pushed them out of the way to press a few buttons on the control center panel.

“First things first, let’s turn the shield back on, and turn the weapons system off.” He declared while moving to do just that. Afterwards, he glanced at the screen, and finally noticed what had his younger siblings so enthralled. “Ooookk, that is more amazing than I thought it would be. Everyone to the back, I’m going to turn on the big screen.” He watched with satisfaction as the younger kids practically raced away from the front of the camper to get a better view on the larger screen coming from the ceiling farther back in the RV. Well that tactic worked better than I thought it would. He nodded once to himself before delivering on the promise to display the battle on the larger screens. With a sigh, he finally transformed back into a human.

“Good ploy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them rush away from the control panel that fast.”

“My lord, she does know the meaning of the word compliment.”

“And now I’m regretting giving you one. Do you think you could stop being a dick for like five minutes, or would you implode or something?” Jasmine quirked her mouth into a half smile, knowing she needed to blow off some of her emotional stress as much as he did, and happy he was willing to oblige.

“Implode, highly unlikely. However-”

“Woah! What is that thing?” Danny asked, finally having moved around to a place where he could see the battle taking place on the display.

Daniel and Jasmine moved around to join everyone in front of the screen, before answering.

“That’s one of the GSU’s Air Platforms.” Daniel replied with a shrug. “I mean, I know they look impressive, but they probably have older, lower grade, technology in it than the Hover, and that thing is like four years old.”

“Which makes it like 80 in technology years.” Nick added while settling down next to his siblings, popcorn in hand.

“I-seriously?” Jasmine asked, catching sight of the snack bowl being passed around. While she didn’t begrudge them the world view that made this all seem like a game, sometimes they really seemed over the top with it. She rolled her eyes at their innocent stare and continued, “In any case, old as they are, they’re still effective and dangerous. So-”

“Yeah but not as dangerous as our dad!” Nate interrupted in between slurping on soda materialized from someplace.

Danny had to agree. If there was one thing he was well acquainted with, it was how dangerous Plasmius could be if he put his mind to it…

He always had to be so damnably difficult. A dodge here, a teleport there, and he was 100ft away, always just out of reach. He couldn’t just land and use hand to hand combat like a real man. No. He had to zip and zoom and run like the coward he was, like the coward that his species was. Jack could call Plasmius “he” now, if only in his mind, because unlike the rest of the sniveling excuses for ecto-beings he was different. He had been his best friend once after all… “Are you done playing hard to get Plasmius, or am I going to have to continue for a while longer?” Jack taunted over the distance between them, tapping the barrel of his ecto-gun with his free hand. When his opponent declined to answer, Jack did for him, firing an ecto-blast at him. “Or how about we play tag?” He murmured, bringing another weapon to bear, this time filled with ecto-signature seeking missiles. He loosed another barrage of attacks meant to disable his opponent. Not kill. No that is far too quick and gentle a way to die for him.

Vlad sped off, missiles trailing close behind. He spared a glance behind him to sight his opponent before shooting up sharply into the air. The missiles followed faithfully behind as he zipped and dived in between the remaining Air Platforms. He lost two of the six projectiles in the crowded space between the floating equipment before changing trajectory and heading straight up. Jack easily maneuvered his Levitator into his path, aiming a nasty looking weapon directly at him. He didn’t deviate his course one inch. At the last moment, Vlad turned intangible through a hail of bright green ecto-weapon’s fire. The halfa passed through the attacks and his opponent turning tangible on the opposite side long enough to fire a single bright pink blast in the direction he came.

One of the missiles took the brunt of the damage from the ecto-weapons, meeting an explosive end. The rest dipped around Jack to continue their pursuit and rammed straight into the ball of energy meant as a diversion. The resulting explosion consumed the area in a large ball of flame and destruction that slowly dimmed and faded into a cloud of smoke. Two glowing spheres of different tones appeared as the haze cleared. Slow repetitive claps rang out into the space between the two shields.

“Bravo, bravo Plasmius. You took care of those like they were child’s play, and even used them to incapacitate the launch area of one of my Platforms. I’m honestly shocked. Here I was, believing you had gotten stupider over the last two years since we’d last met in battle. Silly me. It seems instead you’ve just gotten sloppy.” Jack paused as the last of the smoke finally vanished and he got a good look at the other fighter. Not a scratch. Shame. “If you were trying to send your little solider out on a recon mission, then you either trained him poorly or picked the wrong abomination for the task. I would have said you were trying to feint me into a trap if you had not been so woefully unprepared when we arrived. What’s the matter Plasmius? One of your little ghostlings wander away from the nest?” The GSU Commander settled deeper into the Levitator’s seat to balance the large piece on his shoulder.

Vlad frowned at the Commander’s ramblings. “Only you deal with soldiers Jack-”

“Oh yes! I forgot. You are too much a coward to deal with war and the battle field. That’s why you run and hide like the scum you are.” The Commander suddenly laughed before aiming the ecto-weapon a little closer to his preferred target. “I wonder what the rest of your species huddled in my facility thinks about your cowardice; I’m sure they could have used your help when I was eradicating the world of their unholy infestation.” Jack watched in satisfaction as Plasmius hissed and tossed a dark pink attack into his shield.

“Enough talk! I thought you were eager to fight? So here I am Commander.” Vlad bite out his rank through grit teeth and slid back into a fighting stance. He didn’t have to wait long before another set of attacks was headed in his direction. He once again dodged around the initial barrage before teleporting farther off, continuing his strategy from before. He set up a solid ectoplasm shield to stop an even more vicious series of attacks and furrowed his brow in worry. The older halfa had no idea where his wife was, but she was the last member of the group not ready to leave in the RV. He had been trying to find her, but even with the advantage of being airborne, the chaos of the battle below him made the task difficult, especially when dealing with a certain distraction.

It had been annoying to begin with, sure, but now it was simply beyond aggravating. If it hadn’t been obvious before now that his opponent wasn’t taking this meeting seriously, it became so right after he put up a simple ecto-shield and started looking around at the earth beneath him. No doubt searching for Maddie… Still, it hadn’t been as infuriating as the fact his weapons hadn’t so much as dented a single shield the creature had made so far. True enough, Plasmius specialized in energy attacks and manipulation more than the physical, but he had no way to force him into a fist fight where he’d have the advantage. If only…wait! That may work…Jack thought before swerving around to set up another strategy. He slowly moved himself in a circle, watching with delight as Plasmius continued to move himself to face him. After a few minutes he had maneuvered himself and his opponent into the perfect position. Abandoning one of the guns for a moment, the ghost hunter gunned the throttle on the Levitator and sped directly ahead.

Vlad prepared himself for the worse. From the look in the Commander’s eyes he was up to one of his reckless and dangerous, but effective, plots. He watched with increasing worry as the distance between them was reduced by a quarter, and then a half, and finally only three-fourths of its original length. Making a quick decision, he teleported to the other side of Jack to the soldier’s original position. He felt his body solidify and was aware just long enough to see a blazing green blast headed right for him. Then there was a searing sharp pain in his middle followed by a sharp crack that reverberated through his skull. Vlad hissed as he picked himself up from the half-dented half-melted crater in the surface of the Air Platform wall he’d landed in.

The Commander let out a low whistle ending in a ‘bam!’ as he watched Plasmius sail and land into the Air Platform just like he’d planned. That should get his attention. A few of the low ranking grunts hovering around the area chuckled at his sound effect antics before zipping off to a separate part of the valley. “So Plasmius, done screwing around yet?” A blast, tingling with the start of static electricity and swirling with a tinge of green in its cherry blossom color, answered him. He felt a wide grin spread across his face as his opponent hovered a few feet above the surface of the Platform, a fierce look of anger darkening his features. Finally. It’s always more fun when he’s angry. He landed the Levitator onto the surface of the Platform and drew one of his ectoranium laced blades designed to rend ghost flesh. He stared off against his opponent who was still covered in the film of oily grime from the fluid leaking from the damaged wall of the Air Platform. And now it really begins…

Vlad quickly created three duplicates, each of them taking up positions ninety degrees from one another; in a perfect circle around their opponent. They charged a dark green attack in each of their palms, the heat of Vlad’s anger as much as the reduction in strength changing the predominant color of their energy.

Jack slid another sword from its sheath and waited. Now that the battle was on his terms, he was in no hurry. The longer he made Plasmius fight, the easier it would be to subdue him. Despite the persona the creature had made for himself, he knew his energy wasn’t unlimited. He just needed to wear him down.

The start of the battle wasn’t signaled by any sound or movement, just the unconscious acknowledgement of the two fighters involved. Vlad’s three duplicates attacked simultaneously; the one behind him firing an attack, while the two to the left and right rushed forward, hands swathed in energy.

Jack blocked the attack headed for his back with one sword, and then leaned to the right, elbowing in the stomach of one duplicate and sending his ectoranium reinforced boot into the middle of the other. He slid back onto both feet and swiped down at the head of the duplicate on the right while it was leaned over holding its gut. To his surprise, it flipped onto its back, fell to the ground, and blocked the now over-extended downward strike with it energy covered hands. Thrown off balance, Jack threw his weight to the right using the block as a solid base as he cartwheeled to the right. A slash on the left side leading backwards through the cartwheel kept the other duplicates at bay, as he easily landed outside of the old circle. He settled his feet, turned to face them, and then rushed his still startled opponents.

Jack’s boot had just passed over the position of the duplicate on the ground, when a large blast came from the original Vlad. He barely suppressed a hiss as the man merely brought both swords around to reflect the blast and continued charging two of the duplicates. He watched as the copies sent several blasts towards the Commander. Nothing got inside of his expert defense, and he realized with growing frustration that he wouldn’t be able to simply leave the duplicates there while he found Maddie. Well if it’s a fight you want…The eldest hybrid thought while preparing to jump into the fray himself.

Plasmius sent an energy covered foot directly towards his temple, while the duplicates with a clear shot fired towards his body. Jack blocked the kick with his forearm, and deflected one of the two shots, opting to take the last to the middle of his back. His suit sustained the majority of the damage, but his opponent’s energy was hot. It burned more than it stung, but he knew it was better than taking a blow to the head or one of his arms. He gritted his teeth and dropped one of his swords in favor of one of his many guns. He popped two of the duplicates in the chest, before dropping the gun and picking his the sword he originally abandoned in order to deflect more energy blasts. He watched the four equal visions of his greatest enemy regroup and advance as a single line before pausing. “What’s the matter? “ Jack asked as he spied one of the duplicates once again looking at the ground under the Platform. “I promise your ghost sow won’t be killed. So stop worrying about her an-” He didn’t get a chance to finish the sentiment before the hybrid was upon him with renewed vigor.

He knew getting him riled up was all part of Jack’s plan; just the same, he wasn’t about to let the psychotic get away with insulting his wife like that. This time instead of sending all the duplicates to attack at once, he started with one. He wanted to get a good rhythm going in the fight before adding more. It dipped and dodged around the Commander’s increasingly annoyance tinged attacks. Soon, the second and third duplicate had started in on Jack. Two of them kept him busy paring and counterattacking while a third tossed in weak, but well-aimed, energy attacks between the holes in his defenses. Soon enough, the man’s attacks became sloppy from both the burning ache of fatigue and the anger. Vlad saw his chance when the GSU Commander finally dropped one of his swords with a pained grunt as a small ecto-energy blast hit his shoulder.  He rushed forward and sent up a silent prayer that his wife was still alright. Wherever you are…

On a battlefield several hundred yards away, Maddie and Jill were still going at it. Ever since she’d heard Jillian order her men to fire at her son, he’s nearly defenseless when he’s using that much focus, she’d been determined to make sure the woman never threatened her family again. Unfortunately, that was much easier thought than done, and she now had a few more trophy wounds to show for the efforts. Her sprained wrist throbbed from the continued strength it took to hold her increasingly heavy bo-staff, but she wasn’t about to give up so easily. She stood facing her opponent silently, for the third time that day, as the chaos around them slowly began to die down.

Jillian, for her part, was in no better shape. After being tackled to the ground, and having her injured arm-that forearm is definitely fractured-jostled by the fall, she’d gotten a few more bruises and a large lick to the thigh that made standing a struggle. Just the same, she was just as determined as her opponent. She’d mostly been trying to ruffle the other woman’s feathers earlier with her comments, but it didn’t mean she didn’t believe most of it. Except for the comments about her Commander, she was sure Maddie’s offspring were more monstrous than anything they currently had locked up in the GSU labs. Twisted little perversions of humanity that they are. Jill set her mouth into a thin line, and steadied her shaking good arm. She noted with some satisfaction that the other woman was shaking nearly as badly as she was.

I have to get to the RV. Maddie realized when she detected the din of battle quieting as the remaining soldiers and machines regrouped towards the last remaining Platforms. She could just make out the rumble of tanks as they barreled towards the middle of the valley, and she noticed with dismay, that she could no longer assume she had the strength to fight off troops if Jill got reinforcements. Just the same, she had to get past the GSU’s second in command first, and she didn’t look inclined to just let her pass. The mother of five chanced a glance into the sky looking for her husband. She knew he was around here somewhere; she’d just seen him flying about, what felt like only seconds ago, but was likely several long minutes before. He’d be able to just grab her and fly them back to the RV with little effort. If only I could get his attention. She thought wistfully, before turning her attention back to the task at hand.

Jillian was about to rush her opponent for what felt like the umpteenth time that day, when a loud explosion rang out over the valley floor. A few minutes before, it would have been indistinguishable from the roar of battle, but with so many men either dead, injured, or regrouping the noise caught her attention. She swiveled around for the source, before locating a plume of green-grey smoke coming from the top of one of the Platforms. She recognized the smoke as the remains of one of their ecto-grenades, but it took a few seconds for the smoke to clear enough to see one of the shapes. Even from this distance, she’d know the person hanging over the edge of the Platform anywhere. She hissed as a separate figure became clear hovering a few feet away from the first, and came to a decision. Her grudge match with Madeline would have to be put off yet again. She spied a group of Levitators heading towards her position, flying towards the Platform, and moved to get picked up. “Sorry dear,” she started while crouching to prepare herself from a leap, “but this is going to have to be postponed. I hope you understand.” She narrowed her eyes as one of the Levitator pilots saw her and made for her position.

Maddie went from confused to shocked when her normally stubborn opponent just called it quits. She was about to count her blessings, when she noticed where the woman was looking. She risked a single look to her left and immediately realized why Jillian was trying to leave. Maddie growled and prepared to stall her further, when she saw her jump and get pulled into the sky on a Levitator. “NO.” Damn it all, just when I figure out where Vlad is. Maddie groused mentally, and prepared to run the distance on foot.

Right then, a group of soldiers practically materialized out of nowhere. They had been approaching from behind, wanting to reinforce their Second in Command, before she’d been picked up by the Levitators. When they saw her get snatched up, they recognized they were in a unique position to catch the usually hyper aware Maddie Masters off guard. They planned on capitalizing on the advantage. They drew their weapons and prepared to fire while on the run, knowing they’d only get one chance at surprising her.

She’d just watched the tired, but still dangerous, Jill disappear to attack her husband when a barrage of weapons’ fire rained down on her. She’d been lucky that the grunts firing at her had bad aim. Still, several of them had to be deflected, and before she could figure out how to get over to the Platform, Maddie had to refocus herself onto the group of fighters approaching from the rear. I hope he can handle them both until we can meet up for an escape. The former ghost hunter thought as she faced off with her newest adversaries.

Vlad’s gambit had worked, and he’d easily grabbed his opponent. Unfortunately, like anything to do with the GSU Commander, the man was making pinning him a battle in and of itself. Two of the duplicates rushed forward to help twist him up, and after a few more seconds of struggling, they’d finally gotten the man’s arms pinned behind him. He smirked as he aimed a blast large enough to knock the other man unconscious. “Anything to tell me before handing off to dreamland?”

“Yush, shuff havd atch’d meh-”

“What?” Vlad slightly lowered hand in confusion.

“I said,” Jack started around the piece of his uniform in his mouth detaching from his collar, “you should have watched me more closely.”

He watched in horror as a mini ecto-grenade rolled into their midst. Vlad looked up just in time to see Jack smile around the pulled pin, before everything went bright green and painful.

Fudge ripple my head is killing me. And my core isn’t much better. He grimaced with the effort it was taking to stay in ghost form. That last blast had taken it out of him. The eldest ghost hybrid looked around to survey the damage done by the grenade. His duplicates had been destroyed in the blast, and had rejoined his ghost form. The Platform’s surface was both smoking in some places and badly scorched in others. Finally, Jack was nowhere to be found. “Where did he…” It wasn’t as if the grenade would turn him into ash, it was mostly calibrated to harm ghosts, and even from point blank range, it wouldn’t do more than burn him. Vlad floated over the surface of the Platform before peering over the edge. Ah, so that’s- “where you gotten to.” He said finishing his thoughts out loud.

Jack was clinging to a twisted edge of the Platform for dear life. He’d expected the blast to throw him some distance, but he hadn’t planned for it to be towards the edge of the Platform instead of towards the interior. He’d had just enough wits about him to grab a hold of something, despite being temporarily blinded and deafened by his own grenade. Now sporting a couple of nasty energy burns on his legs from the blast, it made climbing up a challenge, which was why, nearly three minutes after the explosion, he was still making his way back to the top of the Platform. Just then, he saw Plasmius peer over the edge of the machine. Oh great, it didn’t even incapacitate the bastard. Now more clear-headed than before, he wasn’t sure what had possessed him to fight the creature in a fair one on one fight. Not only did ghosts not deserve a fair fight to begin with, this specific one especially didn’t. He ground his molars and braced himself when he saw Plasmius’ hand light up.

Vlad looked down at the vulnerable GSU leader and, for a moment, he imagined blasting him right off of the Platform and watching while he made a nice big splat on the ground like a bug against a windshield. Before the thought was even fully formed, he changed his mind. For some reason he couldn’t really pinpoint, he just couldn’t kill the man in front of him. The ghost hybrid sighed, and was about to work out how to get Jack back to safety without getting shot at, when a blast slammed directly into his chest. What was…He barely had time to wonder before another equally large shot sunk him further into the surface of the already compromised Platform.

“Does it sting Plasmius? I hope so. We had this gun modified and calibrated especially against your energy.” Jill hopped off the Levitator and onto the top of the Platform. She looked back at the side of the vehicle and noted with concern the way the Commander let go of the side. Sore, injured…I’ll make it pay for that.

The eldest halfa started when he recognized her voice. “Jillian? Still saving Jack’s incompetent apple dumplings are you?” He asked while teleporting out of the crater he’d made and a few feet off. He smirked when she shot at the now empty hole and, when she growled in frustration, it only grew in size. The small victories.

“My Commander doesn’t need saving, but you’re going to need more than a rescue when I’m done with you. In fact, I doubt even our boys in the labs will be able to put your Humpty ass back together when I’m done with it.” Jillian threatened while flicking her oversized weapon to full power. She was joined to her right by Jack and she watched with grim satisfaction as he pulled out one of his deadlier guns. Let’s see if you keep smiling after we blast off your limbs.

The two of them fired right as Vlad erected a light green shield. This is not good. Despite his previous bravado, he was more tired than he initially supposed. Taking them both on at once would be a challenge on a good day, but he was already battle worn, and despite the surety they were just as tired, they didn’t need to fire their own energy. He grunted as an especially large shot hit his ever weakening shield. The tiring ghost backed into one of the walls to brace himself while he thought of a way out of this.

Jill shared a look with her bedraggled Commander; they had the hybrid on the ropes for sure this time. She backed away to let him advance, but continued to pepper his shield with enough weapons fire to keep him preoccupied. They just had to wear him down, and it would be easier to do if one of them was firing from near point blank range. They had little reason to worry about a retaliatory blast at this point. It was taking everything Plasmius had to keep the shield up.

The GSU Commander advanced on his prey, his dimming glow enticing him better than the moon did a moth. It was nearly his. Victory. Jack brought up a different gun, the most powerful in his arsenal, and leveled it right at the creature across from him. With a satisfying crack, the ghost’s shield fell apart, and he charged the gun for another shot.

Vlad had known as soon as Jack had drawn that last gun that his shield was done for. It was hard enough to stabilize it against the current blasts, but he had a nasty scar on the middle of his back from the last time that particular gun had been fired on him from this range, and he had no intention of getting a matching one on his chest. Right when the first shot slammed into his shield, he’d stopped reinforcing it and redirected his energy into an ecto-energy attack. Jack never knew what hit him…

The attack knocked Jack off his feet and several feet away. Before the glow had even stopped, Jillian fired a grenade that blasted her opponent six inches into the wall behind him. She watched with a twisted glee as he collapsed panting on his hands and knees to the ground after bouncing off the wall. She’d switched her gun for an ecto-grenade launcher a few seconds ago, and when his attack threw the Commander away from him, she’d had the best chance to use it.

Vlad curled up holding his middle. He pressed an exploratory hand into the wound and winced. Jelly doughnuts… His hand came back stained with ectoplasm and he suppressed a groan when his last attempt to get back onto his feet left his center feeling like there were shards of something inside. The first grenade hadn’t had done anything like this, as it was mostly energy, but this- he froze when he heard the conspicuous whine of a ghost weapon pointed at his head. He sent up his fiercest glare in Jillian’s direction as she hovered over him with a deadly grin on her face.

Jack was just pulling himself up after that last attack when he saw Jill holding that creature at gun point. He was sore all over, even if not badly injured from his suit’s protections. He took a moment to catch his breath and looked over at Jill once more, noticing this time the way she was cradling one of her arms to her body. Must have seriously injured it earlier. He concluded while working his way back to his feet. He picked up his fallen weapon and walked over to join Jill standing over Plasmius.

“So, ready to give up, or” Jill paused to flick the gun into ready mode once it finished charging, “will you give me the pleasure of shooting your head clean off?” She watched as doubt began to flicker into the eyes of the creature below her. But never fear…what would it take to make him afraid? She felt more than saw her commanding officer saddle up next to her. She could almost feel the smug satisfaction radiating off of him. After all this time, they were finally going to get this son of a bitch. She only had a moment to consider that thought, before she noticed the light in his eyes change from doubt and worry to confident and calm. She followed his eyes over her shoulder and turned to see the Levitator heading for her person. “Jack! Mo-”

Maddie rolled to a stop a few yards away from the flaming wreckage of the Levitator she’d crashed into the surface of the Platform. Unfortunately, the blast had thrown both Jack and Jill out of the main fire, so because of their suits, they likely weren’t dead. Luckily though, her husband had seen her coming, and she was sure he- oh there he is now. She watched with apprehension as Vlad half-floated, half-limped out of the burning fire while still intangible.

The crash and resulting explosion hadn’t hurt him, but he was already so exhausted from the previous fighting and the- oh goody it’s still bleeding- wound to his stomach that even maintaining intangibility at this point was a struggle. He joined his wife away from the fire with a weary smile. He could always count on her whenever he needed it. Now, he just had to get them back to the RV. Through the rising smoke in the last of the daylight, he could see other GSU grunts coming to investigate the fire and explosions. But the ones stomping up from inside, underneath our feet, are the real problem. The oldest hybrid once again fought back the urge to transform. If he transformed now, the injury to his stomach could be fatal. No, he had to soldier on, if not for his own safety, to make sure the rest of his family got out of this clusterfuck alive. Vlad took a deep breath and lifted Maddie into his arms before she could protest.

They were flying, hiding in the light of the setting sun, before she’d had a chance to demand to look at that injury he’d sustained sometime in the fight with those maniacs. Just the same, there was likely little she could do about it at the moment, and there was no other way off the Platform after she’d so thoroughly trashed her ride there. She gasped when she felt something hot and wet when she pressed the hand trapped between them into his stomach. That’s serious. But before she could worry about it further, they were through the shield around the RV and on the ground.

Vlad rushed towards the door and threw it open, climbing the steps before his complaining legs could give out on him. He strapped himself into the driver’s seat and turned on the systems of the RV while doing a head count. …Elizabeth, Danny, Maddie. Thank God, that’s everyone. “Alright, we’re getting out of here! Kids, strap in.”  

Maddie settled into the seat next to him, brought up the weapons system, and changed the shield to a cloaking mode to save power for what she knew would be the nastier part of the escape through the mountain passes. She glanced back and made sure everyone was buckled before Vlad punched it. She felt the RV zoom to life, heading straight for the woods, through a well practiced path out of the valley. “Is everyone ok back there?” She hadn’t seen anyone look injured, except her husband, but the older two were much better about hiding it than she liked.

“Everyone’s fine mother, we’re just tired.” Daniel winced when he noticed how drained his own voice sounded. He began to relax as the last rumbles of the battlefield faded away behind them. It would take about half an hour to get back into the open in the mountains, so he knew he needed to relax now while he had the chance.

“Are you sure Daniel? I saw you get shot-”

“It drained a lot of my ghost energy, but I’m mostly bruised. I’ll be completely recovered in a few days, I’m fine now so don’t worry.” He hoped that was enough to convince her, he knew that she could read him like a book when she wanted to. He traded looks with his older sister, who was likely thinking the same thing about her own injuries.

Maddie wasn’t fooled, he was likely much more hurt than he was saying, but it also wasn’t serious enough that he thought it warranted attention, and that was a comfort in and of itself. He couldn’t be that badly injured if he still had the energy to lie about it. The rest of her children answered just as emphatically that they were fine. She didn’t believe her eldest daughter either, but the same logic that applied to Daniel applied to her. She frowned when she heard Danny reply. The boy was the reason her family was in trouble in the first place, and she hadn’t gotten a chance to get good answers out of him, not least of which about his ghost powers. She ground her teeth when the end of the forest came into view. “Alright everyone, hold on,” she started while switching the shield back into active mode, “here’s comes the hard part.”

The hard part? What did she call everything before this? Danny wondered with a growing pond of bubbling worry in his gut.

As soon as the RV drove out of the relative safety of the forest, the shield was attacked from above by what remained of the GSU’s air support. A few jets, that had escorted the tanks, fired bullets into the shield, and a few dozen more men on Levitators that had tracked them through the forest fired their own personal weaponry. That wasn’t the main concern at the moment though. Directly ahead of them was a line of tanks. The GSU had surrounded the valley to the best of their ability, and had dropped a smaller number of tanks around all parts of the valley, even as the main force attacked from the east.

Vlad maneuvered the RV around the majority of the tank fire and continued forward at full speed. He wasn’t about to be scared off by a few tanks when he knew the shield could hold up to a direct hit from one of them easily. They just had to get into the narrow mountain passages, and the tanks would be no problem at all. They couldn’t follow on the steep slopes and thin rocky roads-they were more like large paths- he’d cut himself through the mountains for a quick escape. Honestly, an ordinary RV couldn’t either, but he hadn’t built this thing basically from scratch no reason.

The RV zoomed through a gap in the tank line the shield made, and they passed into the mountains. There was a short break in the action as the tank fire stopped and the jets lost sight of them. Then they came out from behind an outcropping of rocks, and the Levitators found them again. The pilots let out an especially large barrage, hoping to knock the speeding behemoth off of the increasingly thin road it was traveling on.

“Geez, that was a big one.” Danny said through rattling teeth, as another set of loud booms echoed off the shield. He glanced out the window and spotted the flying contraptions still in pursuit.

“They are going to have to do better than that if they want to get to us.” Nate said with an energetic smile on his face.

“Let’s hope they don’t have any better than that.” Daniel said while unclipping himself from his seat and pulling down a set of stairs farther back in the cabin.

Danny was about to question what he was up to, when he disappeared up the stairs, and he heard him call down, “ready whenever you need me.”

“We’re coming up on it, so go on and get ready. Jasmine, could you give him some extra cover fire? There’s more of them than I thought there would be.” Vlad turned back to the control panel and shut down the shield. They’d never make the tight turns coming up with it on, the shielding making it impossible to create the needed ecto-energy bridges far enough in front of the RV. “The shield is off, get ready Daniel.”

“What! Why the hell would you turn the shield off?!” Danny would have jumped out of his seat if he wasn’t buckled in. His eyes darted around the cabin, wondering when the next shot would take out a piece of the vehicle he was riding.

“Because we’d never make it around the corners with- never mind, you’ll see.” Daniel said before boldly popping out of the top of the RV and transforming once again.

At the same time Jasmine opened one of the windows on the side away from the mountain wall, and leaned out of it with a gun balanced on her shoulder. She took a couple pot shots at the Levitators trailing them through the mountains before they saw her, trying to keep them focused on her instead of her more vulnerable brother. In her opinion, he had a hard enough task ahead of him without being shot at, even if they did have the majority of the RV’s weapons online.

Suddenly, the path in front of them turned into a hairpin turn of the most extreme proportions. The RV didn’t even tap the breaks, zipping forward up the slanted slope at nearly 70 miles an hour. The turn neared with alarming speed, and before Danny could think to worry, a solid glowing green angled extension to the road appeared.

He blinked when it just as quickly disappeared after they rounded the turn, and Danny realized with a start it had been made out of ecto-energy. He faced forward again and spied another equally wicked turn coming up and he resisted the urge to groan as another stomach lurching seemingly impossible turn took place.

By this time, the Levitators had caught up to their position and they hailed bullets down on the RV. Most of them hit the mountain wall, but a few had to be blocked by a quickly made shield by Daniel. “Please tell me we’re almost there.”

“We’re nearly there.” Vlad replied without thinking.

“No we aren’t.”

“No…we aren’t. Just… hold on a little while longer…” He panted through the growing pain nipping at the corners of his vision. The throbbing was more like sharp shooting pains at this point, but he’d been through worse. If only the road wasn’t so blastedly bumpy. He thought before pushing the RV through another even tighter corner. He audibly groaned when he settled back into his seat from the centripetal force. Something had definitely moved around inside him that time. He gripped the steering wheel as his vision swam after another turn. Just a little further. They weren’t remotely close, but if thinking that kept his vision clear, he was fine with self-delusion.

Danny jumped as this time the energy road underneath them cracked and buckled. He’d have volunteered to replace a much more tired Daniel, but frankly, he wasn’t sure if he could. He’d never tried to make solid ectoplasm that large before, and certainly not that strong. He had no idea if he’d be able to hold them up, and now wasn’t the time to experiment. So, instead he winced when they flew over a gap in the road ahead of them instead of a turn, and prayed they were close to where ever they were running to.

“I’m out of ammo over here! Does anyone have a free battery?” Jasmine slipped back inside the cabin to look for another battery when her mother tossed her gun at her. She didn’t even bother to thank her, quickly leaning back out of the window to give her brother what help she could. There were times when she really wished she had ghost powers like the majority of her family. If only to help out more than taking shots out of a window.“Last turn!” She heard her father call from in the front of the RV, and she braced herself against the window seal.

They were finally out of the worst of the turns, with only a long flat terrible half a mile separating them from the entrance to the cave system. He could turn the shield back on, and pray that the GSU didn’t try anything else today, but he knew from experience that was unlikely. Before Vlad could even set his hand back onto the wheel from resetting the shield, he heard something whistle over head and shoot ahead of him. It was the fighter jets they’d lost when they’d first entered the mountains. He frowned, and pushed the pedal into the floor. Now that they didn’t have to worry about turns, he could floor it.

Now it was a foot race…

The fight jet squadron leader whooped for joy when they were finally able to get a clear shot. His happiness was short lived though, when he realized that the RV was about to disappear into a cave entrance. The Head Commander would flay me if I left them get away. Better a wreck than an escape. He rationalized before picking out a set of missiles on his display screen. He sighted them again, and watched as they closed in on the opening to the cave. “I hope you like being a pancake in a cave-in ghost vermin.” He hissed before letting the missiles fly.

“Uh father, that was the entrance to the cave.” Daniel unnecessarily noted.

“Well aware-”

“Hey I think the cave is collapsing behind us!” Nate called out.

“Well aware. Daniel,” Vlad said while watching in the rear view mirror as the quickly advancing wall of rocks fell, “turn us intangible.”

Daniel took a deep breath and pressed his hands against one of the walls of the RV. The intangibility started and then faltered out. He groaned and then tried again, only to fall to his knees this time.

“Dad if you took off the bracelets we could-” Nate and Nick started at the same time.

“You’ve never turned something this large intangible before!” Their mother interrupted

“I could-”

“-No you couldn’t Danny, the system wouldn’t let you. The RV has been ghost proofed to counteract tampering!”

“I’ll do it!” Vlad hissed out through the pain before glancing at his wife. “Maddie, grab the wheel and keep us straight. You remember where the cave off-shoot is right?” The question was mostly rhetorical; they didn’t really have another option. Vlad closed his eyes and placed one hand on the dash and the other on the driver’s side window. For one terrifying moment, he didn’t know whether he even had the energy necessary, then he reached deep for the reserve of energy inside his core he knew had to still be there, and shifted the RV intangible right as the cave-in caught up to them. His whole body shook with the effort it took to keep them intangible, but he determined he wasn’t going to stop until Maddie told them they were clear of the falling debris.

Maddie jerked the wheel to the left as they passed the last marker she remembered before the opening to the smaller cave they were using as an emergency hideout. She gripped the steering wheel harder and hoped they ended up in the open space of the passage instead of a wall. He can’t keep this up much longer. Finally, the rocks cleared into a medium sized path heading deeper into the mountain. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and said, “ok we’re through.”

Vlad nearly passed out when he stopped keeping the RV intangible. He leaned over the steering wheel, gasping for air, before easing up off the gas. The RV slowed down to a reasonable speed, as he finally caught his breath and waved off his concerned wife. “I’ll be fine, I’m just tired.”

God, do Vlad and Daniel do that on purpose, or is that lug headed stubborn streak just genetic? Maddie wondered as she shook her head. “Everyone still ok back there?” After a chorus of ‘yes’ and one from Daniel she completely disregarded, she faced forward again and blinked when she realized they were already stopping in the chamber directly ahead of their sleeping space. The Hover was parked inconspicuously, as much as a giant beetle shaped machine could be, off to one side, and she could see the light from the generator powered equipment her husband must of turned on when they’d come through just an hour back. She sighed as the RV groaned to a stop. They’d probably have to do a couple repairs along with recharging it with how it sounded.

“We made it. God, I thought we were deep fried apple fritters for a second there.” Daniel said from on the floor, leaning against one of the walls. “Not that I doubted you for a second, father.” He added while pulling himself into one of the seats.

“Uh huh, which is why you thought we were deep fried.” Nick fired back.

“I said, ‘for a second’, I didn’t say when that second was thing one.” He settled boneless into the seat with a small groan. His muscled ached like they were on fire and he still had to get out of the RV.

“Yeah but, you totally implied it was just a few seconds ago when you mentioned Dad turning the RV intangible, right Dad?” Nate leaned out of his seat and looked at the front of the RV, hoping to get some parental back up. He frowned when his father didn’t respond. “Hey, Dad, you just going to let him call you weak like that.”

“I did not Nate, I specifically-”

“Both of you stop arguing! My head hurts and I don’t want to hear it.” Jasmine cut in.

“Yeah? Well I got slammed head first into the ground from 200 yards up; I can promise my head hurts worse. And besides, I didn’t call him weak, in fact-”

“It doesn’t matter! I don’t want to hear you guys yell.”

“Said the only person in the room yelling. God, do you try to be that hypocritical or is it some innate talent?” Daniel glared across the space in front of him at his complaining sister

Maddie ignored the bickering go on in the back of the RV in favor of trying to force Vlad out of the ball he’d curled into in the front seat. He’d finally transformed back into his human form, but from the look on his face, he was in serious pain. She finally forced him to sit back so she could get a look at the wound to his abdomen like she wanted to for the last hour. “Jesus!” She exclaimed when she saw how much bright red blood was all over the front of his shirt.

Vlad held up his hands and groaned when his wife lifted up his shirt to get at the lacerations on his middle. He was feeling oddly numb all over and the dizziness was back with a vengeance. He sent a weak smile her direction when she gave him a fearful look from her crouched position. “Sorry hun…” he trailed off as the spinning turned into a growing cold darkness.

“Plasmius!”

“Sir! Sir calm down, it’s alright.” One of the grunts standing around in the infirmary cried, placing a hand against his superior officer’s shoulder. They’d found both the Head Commander and the Second in Command lying near a fire on the top of the Air Platform. By the time they’d arrived, 1st Priority and his brood mare had already escaped. Luckily, they’d been able to send out the remaining Levitators and fighter jets in pursuit. Even better, despite the size of the explosion and the resulting fire, both of his commanding officers had been relatively unharmed. It’s good to find the silver lining in things. The grunt reasoned knowing the Head Commander wouldn’t be thinking along those lines when he got his wits about him.

Jack held his aching head. It felt like someone had practiced kicking field goals with his skull. Various muscles screamed in protest whenever he so much as wiggled, and there was the pulling sting of healing lacerations and burns he felt blossoming across his skin. All in all, he felt like shit, and he couldn’t quite remember why. He was in a battle certainly, that much was sure from his injuries. But he couldn’t place where that fight had taken place, or why he’d been fighting. There wasn’t much of a reason for him to be in ghost fights now-a-days, and he couldn’t recall any of the powerful ghosts they had in the facility escaping…so why-

“Head Commander, did you get the number of the hybrid that hit us?” Jill griped from her make-shift bed right next to his.

Ah, so that’s why. He slowly moved his hand away from his temple as the memories started returning. He grimaced when he realized they had all gotten away. “Agent…” he started after opening his eyes. He fumbled around for a name to go with the face for a moment, he was usually much better at this, before giving up. “What’s the status on the hybrids?” He hoped against hope that things were better than they had been when he’d been knocked unconscious. He had superiors to report to himself. They had put a lot of money on this operation. And a lot of favors I can’t afford to lose at the moment.

The grunt frowned as the Head Commander didn’t immediately come up with his name. He’d been a member of the medical team for several years now, and the GSU leader had a knack for remembering the names of everyone who worked under him. I hope he doesn’t have a bad concussion. It was certainly a possibility considering his injuries, but they didn’t have a scanner of any type here to check. If it was anything more serious, they wouldn’t be able to tell until they got back to civilization. “Last I heard, sir, the Levitators and fighter pilots were in pursuit and the tanks were giving them back-up. I saw them fly out of here about an hour and a half ago.”

“According to their last communication, they are chasing the hybrids in the tight mountain passes to the west of this position.” One of the communication specialists said from her position by a large array of keys and screens.

“And when was that?” Jill said while making her way to her feet.

“About a half an hour back.” The communications specialist answered with an annoyed twist of her lips. She knew as well as anyone that they were supposed to check in more than that. Their beacons were still broadcasting, so they hadn’t been shot down, they just hadn’t radioed. That meant one of two things. Either they were so busy that they couldn’t get to a radio at the moment, or they didn’t have anything new to report, so they were avoiding checking in. Or well there’s another option. They don’t have any good news to report, so they aren’t checking in. Let’s hope, it’s something else. She thought before she felt the Second in Command lean over her shoulders to peer into the data flitting across the screen.

“And this is current?”

“Yes ma’am. Their beacons are still broadcasting so-”

“Yeah I get it, they haven’t been shot down; they are just being radio silent. Well that stops right now.” Jill reached down and opened a channel to the leader of the squadron of jets. “Agent Y, pick up your communiqué when home base calls you.” She admonished when she heard the line connect.

“Agent J! I uh, I’m sorry ma’am! It’s just the action has been so intense-”

“Save it soldier, and give me a status report.” Jillian ordered and leaned against the console in front of her with one arm. It hurt to stand, but if she sat now, she was sure she wouldn’t get up for a week. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard one of the examining tables groan as someone shifted their weight on it.

Jack carefully made his way over to the communications area inside the room. It was not as fancy as the stuff in the commander center of the Platform, but it worked well enough. He scrunched his eyebrows when he didn’t recognize the man on the other side of the screen either. I must have hit my head… he thought absently as the subordinate gathered enough wits to properly respond.

“We’ve lost sight of them ma’am. They just zipped into some of the caves around here. But don’t worry!” he hastened to add when he saw both of his commanding officers faces darken with anger. “I sent a missile right into the caves. They’ll be stuck in a cave-in, if it didn’t crush them flat.” He said with a smile inching its way onto his face. He was sure they’d be at least mollified by the news. Instead he got to watch as their faces went from anger to surprised and then boomerang right into pure rage. They looked like they were going to skin him alive.

“Agent Y, you do realize we don’t know where those caves empty out right? They could be stuck, but knowing Plasmius, there is more than one exit out of that cave system. The only thing you’ve done is cut off our entrance to them, and our ability to continue pursuit!”

“Ma’am! There’s no way the rocks coming from the ceiling didn’t crush them to death.”

“Don’t be an idiot soldier! These creatures can walk through walls. All he’d have to do is turn the RV intangible and the rocks would pass right through them.” Jack paused to let the information sink into his underlings’ mind. Of all the incompetent morons! It’s a shame Agent H got killed in action earlier today facing 2nd Priority, she was much more capable. Jack mused through a now throbbing headache right between his eyes. He turned away from the gapping fish of a jet pilot and back towards the medic. “Please tell me you’ve got something for a headache over there. Something good. I don’t want it to knock me out, but you’d better hand me something other than baby aspirin.” Jack grumbled while walking back over to the examining table he’d previously been using as a bed. He sat on top of it, and left the verbal dressing down he knew was coming to Jill. He didn’t have the tolerance for it at the moment. He would have just fired the useless dipshit on the spot. But recruits were hard to come by these days, and they’d just lost-God he didn’t even know how many- in this failed assault. So despite his screw-up costing them another chance to chase down the hybrids, he was worth keeping around with a serious demotion. This cracker-jack is never leading anyone again if I have anything to say about it.

Jill heard Jack groan as her tirade started up. She knew his head was killing him, but she was too completely pissed off to care. They’d just cashed in years worth of good will and favors to get this full assault financed and authorized, and this asshole just blew up their only lead to following the hybrids. Fuck this guy, who placed him in charge of anything? She knew it wasn’t productive to chew out her subordinates, but at this point, it was the only thing she could do, and she wasn’t in a charitable mood. “You goddamn empty headed jackass! Do you have any idea how much effort you’ve-how many people’s lives whose sacrifice you’ve just wasted? I-”

“Ma’am I hate to interrupt you during a good rant, but Secretary Dirk Muller has been trying to get into contact with you both for the last hour. I told him you were both unconscious, but I can’t keep delaying him. He didn’t seem to believe me the first time I told him that.” The communications officer said.

“No that’s alright. Tell him we just woke up, and that we need to get a status update from all our departments before we can talk. Tell him we’ll talk in about half an hour. Patch him though to the command center at that time and the Head Commander and I will deal with him.” Jill set her mouth into a thin line. “You’re lucky we have to deal with this, but I can promise this conversation isn’t over. Once we’re back in HQ, I want the name of your base and your commanding officer.” She dismissed the jet squadron leader and turned around to face Jack.

He was still sitting on the examining table, holding his head, but he took a deep breath and looked up at Jillian. “So how badly are we fucked?” he asked with a little amusement in his voice. At any other time he’d be furious, but the head trauma was making it hard to stay mad.

“Well, we have half an hour to figure out what happened, and come up with an excuse to Dirk as to why we didn’t catch the hybrids. So, not too bad. I mean we’ve explained that mess in Amity four years ago, this should be a piece of cake.” She reasoned with a shrug, though she wasn’t anywhere near as confident as she sounded. They’d had more allies four years ago for one, and the Head Commander didn’t have a head injury for another. In any case, they’d figure out a way through this like they always did. First things first, we need to talk to our troops and see how badly this went.

20 minutes later, the answer to the question of “how badly?” was “pretty goddamn terrible.”  They’d not only lost an enormous amount of equipment, 8 out of 10 of the Air Platforms were irreparably damaged, dozens of jets, hundreds of guns and thousands of munitions,  they’d lost over one hundred good men and women and injured nearly three hundred more. In between those pilots lost earlier today and the damage to Amity Park and the tanks at Wisconsin and- it was just a never ending nightmare. It wasn’t as if these things were easily replaceable. Not even counting the devastating loss in man power, which was completely priceless in her opinion, the costs of replacing the broken equipment alone would eat into this year’s surplus. I guess we can forget about Christmas bonuses this year. Jillian mentally groused before rubbing her sore wrist. It had already been set, but she’d refused to have it placed in a cast just yet. She still had to report to Dirk, and if he saw her sporting a cast, it would give him an even worse impression of how things went, and they didn’t need that at this point.

“Please tell me all the bodies are at least identifiable. I don’t want to have to delay giving people back their family members because we can’t tell one person from another.”

“Everyone is pretty much indentified, except for a group of pilots who died in a multi-plane wreckage earlier today. Their bodies are too charred to identify right off, but everyone who died in the valley has already been tagged. We just need to notify their families when we arrive back in D.C.”

Thank God for small miracles. It wasn’t much, but getting his people back quickly was something he prided himself on. There was nothing worse than hanging in limbo for a week or more while a coroner tried to pick apart one person from another. Still, this entire operation had been a disaster. Plasmius and especially 2nd Priority had been much stronger than the encounter two years back. This was despite the fact 2nd Priority had been encountered not a full 6 hours before this.

Now there was just the matter of analyzing the massive amount of data from this fight. He truly didn’t envy the men and women working in the data retrieval sector of his organization today. There was a never ending amount of it. Black boxes from the crashed jets, Levitators, and Air Platforms, the recordings and readings from the various tools and instruments, and even from the suits of the fighting GSU soldiers all had to be downloaded, organized, and sifted through. The background noise had to be filtered out, the old data found and discarded, and the novel pieces transferred back to HQ for further study.

Then again, I’m not exactly looking forward to my conversation with Secretary Muller either. There was not one discernible piece of good news to give him. Between the destroyed equipment and the death of his men, Dirk would have been frustrated enough as is, but for all of this to happen with nothing to show for it…If only we’d just caught one of those little bastards. Then I’d be able to justify this massive waste of time. Jack groaned as an extra large sharp pain shot through his forehead. He’d concluded the headache was as much from stress as injury, and it wasn’t likely to improve any time soon.

“The only thing we have left to do for now is lock that mysterious hybrid’s energy signature into the system. I’m sure he’ll show up again sometime, and being able to track him on the network will help us find the others.” One of the technicians offered from in front of the set of computers that were connected to the rest of their tracking systems.

He nodded in agreement, and in a couple strokes of the keyboard, the hybrid’s energy was uploaded into the satellites monitoring ghost activity around the globe.

“Sir, Secretary Muller is on the line.”

“Patch him through.” No sense putting it off any longer.

“Commander, how nice it is to finally speak with you. I heard from one of your subordinates that you and Jillian were incapacitated. I’m glad to see you’ve recovered so quickly.” Dirk’s icy smile beamed out of the large display screen in the command center. What was left of the brittle smile vanished in an instant, swallowed up by a look that could only be described as thunderous. “Now, you plan on telling me where in the Sam Hill you screwed the pooch?”

Well the pleasantries disappeared quickly…”Sir, we may have underestimated the capabilities of the mysterious hybrid we tracked here.” Jillian offered gingerly.

“So you’re trying to tell me that one teenage boy threw off your entire plan?” The Secretary hissed darkly.

“No sir, it would be fair to say that both Plasmius and 2nd Priority have increased in strength well beyond the projections of even our most ambitious models. Either we’ve done our math wrong, or they’ve found a way to get more powerful even faster than we previously thought possible.” Jack answered and stepped next to his Second in Command.

“That’s bullshit Jack and you know it. I’m reading the data that you sent over, and while both of them were much stronger than before, and even ahead of all of your models, it’s nothing you should have been unable to handle.” Muller stopped to set down the set of preliminary reports he’d been reading. “You know what I think the problem was?” Dirk frowned at the tired looking officers standing nearly half way across the country. “I think the problem was poor leadership. Now, normally, I know the both of you are more than capable of turning any ghost inside out or bringing any problem to heel, but this isn’t an ordinary circumstance. Neither of you have historically made the best decisions when it comes to the two adults leading the hybrids, and I think the thirst for vengeance clouded your vision. Now make no mistake,” he held up a hand when they looked ready to interrupt, “you’ve done a lot better than I think any other person in this same situation could have done hands down. If I didn’t know how well you usually perform, I’d chalk it up to you making the best of a crap shoot in terms of chances. But I do know you both can do better, which is why I’m so disappointed. I’d say that in the future I’d suggest you don’t lead the mission yourself, but I don’t know a single person who’d make a good field replacement for you two in this situation, so I’ll just give you the same advice my first commanding officer gave me. ‘Suck it the fuck up’ his exact words mind you.”

“Sir, I know-”

“Damn it I know you know, and that’s why this is so frustrating. I know you can do better, you know you can do better, and we both know even as badly as you did, no one could have handled it better. That’s not the issue here. What am I supposed to tell your detractors back in Washington? ‘Well, gosh I know this looked like a clusterfuck, but just think of how badly it could have gone if someone else had led?’” Dirk set his forehead into his hand, “that’s just not going to cut it. I called in a lot of my personal favors to get you that authorization Jack, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fight off all the vultures after your funding after this.”

“They can’t cut our funding! We’ve been making them money for years, they owe us that money.”

“I know that too, but they don’t see it that way. Look, you know as well as I do, that the average sheeple doesn’t understand what it is you all do. You’ve eradicated ghosts so well that most of them have forgotten how truly nasty it used to be. A bunch of youngsters with big dreams running around in the Capital now-a-days, mucking everything up.” Dirk paused and shifted his gaze from Jillian to Jack and back again. “You understand that I’m completely ass out here. I promised the president a hybrid, at least one, would either be dead or captured, and you’re telling me neither of those things have happened. Just what do you expect me to do about this?”

“Nothing Dirk. I’m going to be back in Washington in a few hours. I’ll deal with them tomorrow.”

“Damn right you will, because they’ve called an emergency hearing about your competency as soon as I had to report the mission wasn’t a glowing success. These jackals want your head Jack, and they smell blood in the water.”

“Dirk, I’ve dealt with worse before, I had to convince a whole planet that ghosts were real remember? I can handle some pencil pushing show ponies who want to make their constituents think they are doing something against government expenditures. Trust me.”

“You’d better handle it, because it would be a shame to see you fired over some bull like this when I know no one else can handle it. Or worse, see the whole agency dismantled by funding hungry piranhas. I’ll see you at the hearing tomorrow morning then.”

Jack nodded as the picture faded to black. He rocked back into his seat behind the main table in the command center with a loud sigh. That could have gone a lot worse. He was lucky it was Dirk on the phone and not the president or, even more appalling, the Secretary of State Fitzgerald. That man was a bear on a good day, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with him now. He looked up as one of the technicians called his name. “Take us home. Make sure the rest of the ground troops have regrouped before we head out and make arrangements for the rest of the tanks that can’t be air lifted at the moment to get transportation home.” Jack closed his eyes when he heard Jillian settle next to him in her seat.

No one else in the room was as disappointed as he was, and the only thing he could think about was Jillian’s warning that he should have sat this one out. Dirk was being nice by passing the blame equally onto both of them, but he knew as well as anyone that those admonishments had really been meant for him. I let my demons get the best of me. And he didn’t have to pick a specific demon; there were plenty of bad memories to pick on.

Austin two years ago, Amity four years ago, Wisconsin eight years ago, all failures. He had a record for success, some would even call it impressive, but it was all the times that hadn’t mattered. He’d trade every other victory and captured ghost just to put Plasmius’ head on a pike. He’d trade his entire career to make sure none of it had ever happened. One stupid argument…it was funny when he thought of it that way. So much for regrets…She’d made her choice a long time ago, and if she wanted to chose a monster over him, he’d make sure they both got to watch as he made their lives burn.

At least, that’s what he always told himself before he got a chance to look at her again. Sympathy for the devil. Jack told himself while settling farther into his seat for a good long nap. He’d have a lot to do back in Washington, so it was better to rest now. He wanted her to suffer just as much as he did, but in an entirely different way. Sympathy for the devil that wears a dress. I’ll kill her happiness the same way she killed mine. I loved her once; she deserves to live at least. Plasmius was a completely different ball game. He still wasn’t convinced he hadn’t hypnotized her. Even if he hadn’t, he had a particular kind of hell waiting for that demon. He’d make sure they both burned, in their own way, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

“Jasmine, get the door! Daniel, get up here and help me with his legs!” Maddie ordered in a tone the brokered no arguments.

The siblings immediately stopped bickering and jumped into action. They didn’t know exactly what the emergency was, but their mother didn’t use that tone unless it was serious.

Jasmine was outside holding the door open before she even got a good look at her father. “Oh my God-”

“Stay calm sweetie. I need you to get the medical supplies from the Hover. Do you remember which crate they are in?” Maddie asked while shifting around her eldest son to let him get a good hold on Vlad’s legs. She was already making a list of the supplies she would need in her head. I hope he doesn’t get an infection from this cave.

“Yes I remember, but where do you need them?” Jasmine stepped out of the way as her brother and mother descended the stairs to the RV. She shoved the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach away. There wasn’t time to be weak.

“Set them in the back chamber. Danny,” Maddie stopped to call back into the RV, “I need you to clear off a space in the back of the cave where I can work.” She stopped and hoisted more of her husband’s weight when she felt him slip.

Danny fumbled with his seat belt, before bounding down the stairs and out of the RV. He skidded to a stop when he saw his otherworldly twin struggling to stay on his feet while carrying Vlad. He looked to him, then the light coming from farther in the cave, and back again before making a snap decision. The ghost teen rushed over to Daniel and muscled him out of the way. “I’ve got him.”

Daniel was about to argue the rough treatment when he realized how much faster Danny was moving than he had been. At least he’s not totally useless. He raced back to the back chamber and cleared out some space on a flat surface, working so fast that a few things were just swept onto the floor. He heard his sister call from the entrance to the chamber and rushed over to help her set up a make-shift infirmary. “You go. I’ll set up things here. You’re the one who knows where everything is.” He said while grabbing the last of the items from her arms.

Jasmine nodded and barely avoided colliding with Danny and Maddie on their way into the chamber. “I just need to grab a generator!”

“Bring one of the new ones.”

That last request startled Daniel. As far as he knew, the newest generators were powered by ghost energy, which could be tracked without a shield. They made up for the possibility of discovery with efficiency, renewability and cost, but after just being chased by the GSU…“Shouldn’t we set up a shield if we are going to use those?”

“Not enough time. Besides, I’m not going to use it power the lights.” Maddie answered after setting down her charge. She grabbed a pair of scissors and went to work on what was left of Vlad’s shirt. After tossing the ripped material to the ground somewhere behind her, she set to work organizing the tools she’d need to stem the bleeding. She gasped when she looked down at the wound. It was even larger than before! It wasn’t as if the edges had torn, it was like it was deepening and widening all on its own.

“Why isn’t it healing?” Daniel pondered while handing his mother a roll of gauze.

“He took the injury in his ghost form, so it shouldn’t be this bad. It’s why he stayed in ghost form for so long. I don’t understand…” Maddie cleared away some of the blood before looking back at Daniel. “Do you think you could induce a transformation for me? I need to get a good look at the original injury.”

“I-” He stopped before answering in the affirmative. Usually, it’d be no problem at all, but he was so drained, that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to turn a pin invisible, let alone transform himself or his father. “I just don’t think I have the strength.” He admitted with a silent bitter curse on his own weakness.

“I could do it. Um, if someone talked me through what had to be done.” Danny offered from a few feet away. He watched as Jasmine carried in the small generator and set it next to the quickly cobbled together infirmary bed.

“Jasmine, could you set up some lights closer to us?” Maddie finished checking his vitals and pressed harder on the wounds to help the bleeding. She’d already inspected it for the debris or some other source of the bleeding, to no avail. Despite the fact the wounds continued to deepen, there was nothing cutting into him. At least in this form… “Danny, all I need you to do is transform with your hands placed over his chest. That should be enough to start the transformation. After that, you have to pour energy into him like you’re building an ecto-energy attack in your hands.” She nodded her thanks to her daughter when the lights flipped on connected to the battery in the back.

Danny stepped forward and followed the instructions to the letter. He sighed in relief when Vlad transformed without any other prompting on his part. He was so distracted by the fact it had worked so easily, that he nearly forgot to continue to pour out his energy. “Sorry about that” He said after he watched the other halfa’s black rings frizzle back out.

The Masters’ matriarch had used the time Danny was settling in next to Vlad to start the process of converting the spectral generators to exude their energy not in the form of electricity, but spectral energy again. She handed the wires over to her eldest son to finish up the task for her, and headed back to her husband’s side. “I hope you’re not squeamish Danny,” she said while plunging a pair of forceps into one of the open wounds. It pressed back on the edges of the injury and revealed a piece of metal no bigger than her pinky. She frowned when she finally got a good look at the metal. “This is coated in ectoranium. No wonder it’s only getting worse, this stuff is eating through him from the inside.”

“You know I’m so glad I don’t faint when I see blood or anything because that’d be terrible.” Danny wasn’t a wuss when it came to blood and guts, slasher movies and his own injuries from ghost hunting had made him pretty stalwart, but this was pretty freakin’ gross.

“You’re right that would be terrible. It would mean you’d stop being a battery, and considering that’s your only use at the moment…” Daniel trailed off as he finished the last of the work needed to convert the generator. “Finishing this now means you are completely useless.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be such a-”

“Do. Not. Bicker.” Maddie commanded as she pulled out a few more pieces of metal. How in the world did these get into him? She supposed the reason wasn’t as important as getting them out. Every second they stayed inside increased the chances of a fatal ectoranium exposure. Typically, his energy would neutralize such a small amount, but with all the energy he’d expended and all the blood he’d lost, that wasn’t going to happen. If it kept up, the stuff would end up circulating back to his core, and when that happened-no she wouldn’t think about that. It wasn’t going to happen.

“Where do you need these leads connected?” Daniel ask holding up two intimidating looking clamps.

Maddie pointed it out as Danny steeped as far away as he could while still being in contact. Daniel attached the clamps and retreated to flip the switch to turn on the generator. With a nod, the two boys timed the switch so that there wasn’t a loss of energy, and so that Danny only got a mild tingle of energy.

Danny lingered around inside the back chamber a few seconds after the Masters siblings had vacated, shooed off by Maddie insisting a room to work alone. Seeing Vlad so badly hurt was eating at him. This is all basically my fault. “He’s going to be alright, right? I mean, Vlad’s tough-”

“Danny, I need to work, so if you could go back out in the front of the cave? I’ll call you if you’re needed, until then, why don’t you help everyone else set up?” Maddie didn’t even look up from her work. She had to make sure she got every sliver of metal…

Before Danny had even gotten into the forward chamber all the way, Daniel was upon him.

“You moronic worthless piece of Ent dung!” Daniel swung his fist directly into the other boy’s mouth. He regretted not having the energy to send a punch enhanced with ghost strength into his chomps, but this would have to do. He dragged the other dark haired teen up from the floor, fists full of his shirt. “My father could die because of you! Do you have any idea what in the name of-of the Emperor you’ve done?” He gave the Danny an extra large shake and stared him down.

“Dude, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. It was just a-”

“Do you really think I give a flying fudge? Do you?!” He shook the other teen again and drew back his fist for another punch. This time though, Danny turned intangible and slipped out of his grasp. “You’re more trouble than I could have possibly imagined! I should have put a cauterized hole through your chest the moment I saw you!”

“Damn it man! I know you’re mad-”

“MAD!? I’m not mad, I’m utterly enraged. I’m so ticked off if I had the energy, I’d-I’d…I can’t even think straight.” Daniel threw up his arms before crossing them and giving the dolt across from him his most ferocious glare.

“Wow, it takes a lot to make him speechless, congratulations. I don’t think that’s ever happened before. Maybe we should carve it on the tomb stone when we bury your ass. ‘Here lies Jackass: So unfathomably stupid even Daniel can’t think of a proper insult strong enough to describe him.”

“I really am sorry-”

“Oh sooo sorry you are. So sorry you destroyed our Camp and got us shot at, and nearly got us all killed. So sorry you destroyed an important cache. So sorry good sir, my mistake.” Daniel sneered. “You want to make it up to us? You’re going to start by answering every single question. And if you even think of refusing to answer, I’ll slap a bracelet on you, take the twins’ bracelets off, and have them phase you to your neck into the floor. Then Jasmine can use that empty skull of yours for fudging target practice.”

“I’ve had just about enough of your attitude! I know you don’t like me, and that I’ve royally fucked up. You don’t need to rub my face in it; you arrogant prick. You wanna fight so badly? Then come over here and throw ghost rays like a real halfa instead of using your brothers as a shield.”

“Shield! You Ork-faced twit! You want to talk cowardice? You’re using my father’s trust, my mother’s good graces, and my whole Danish filled family as a shield. You think you’re such hot ginger snapping strudel, then why don’t you go fly right to DC, and tell the GSU where to shove it?”

“Oh yeah? Well why don’t you then since you’re so much better and more powerful than I am, mister know it goddamn all-”

“If I had my way,-” Jasmine started before Danny interrupted.

“Yeah well you don’t!” Danny screamed back, and then sent a glare at both Jazz and Daniel. “You both are worse than your parents! What gives you the right to just antagonize me like this?”

“Because you’re the one who brought the enemy to the middle of our freakin’ lives. If you hadn’t shown up, none of this would have happened.” Jasmine stated matter-of-factly.

“If I hadn’t shown up, none of you would EXIST!”

“Who do you think are you!?” Daniel screamed incredulously.

“My name’s Danny Fenton! And I’m from the alternate reality that got ground up to make yours happen!”