#sorry i know its early but i got decked thinking of faux's smile

[faulix]

do you ever see your f/o do something simple like smile or laugh and it's so beautiful and you can't but look at them almost stunned. like wow. they're beautiful. and i'm head over heels in love with them

❌️ proship dni ❌️

[eerythingisshaka]

The Coffee Prince Pt. 3

(T’Challa x Reader)

  *Part 1*   *Part 2*

Word Count: 4.8k

Plot:  Stuck in your ways of living, one day at the coffee shop, you run into a tall dark roast that threatens to wake you up from your romantic hibernation.

*Previously*

Hi, I hope this is the right number.  (Y/N), I’m just calling to see if you would come with me to the music festival this weekend.  I don’t know if you heard about it or if it is your thing, but it sounds like a nice time.  We could just walk around, enjoy the sounds.  Uhh, just let me know when you get the chance, or I may see you at our favorite place.  (laughs then clears his throat)  Umm, but yeah, sorry for the long message.  This is T’Challa by the way.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Your phone prompts you to save or delete the message and you carefully save it before you listen a couple more times.  Putting your phone away you turn on your side, squeezing your legs together to bring yourself back down again.  You remind yourself that this is still just nothing more than two people meeting up at a public place with a bunch of other people.  No one has claimed nobody yet.  But like Tavia said, gotta milk it for what it’s worth, and how you feel right now is pretty damn priceless.

You had today on your mind every minute up until now.  When you woke up for work, you felt fully rested and eager to get through the day.  Not even the worst attitudes from customers could dampen your high from getting that call from T’Challa.  What a name, a melody of possibility in your head whenever you thought about him.  You purposely avoided the coffee shop just to make sure to keep anticipation at its peak.  You felt so silly thinking about it.  Tavia told you not to get too excited because it could still not count as a date yet.  The music festival was a 3 day bender, with hundreds of people attending.  She thought something so large and public wasn’t something a dude would choose if he is trying to choose you, in her nicest opinion.  You took her advice with a grain of salt, but one thing that couldn’t be denied is that he wanted to spend some time with you and that’s that on that!

The day of your date, you put yourself through nothing but self-love and self-care to get yourself in the right mindset.  Your playlist of bops hype up your spirit as your Aztec healing clay mask dry whilst you diy’d a mani-pedi for yourself.  Rinsing your face of the dried clay, you feel reborn, giving yourself kissy faces and posing to the beat of your jams.  For your hair, you had to go back and forth with yourself on what to do.  Your hair was currently in two-strand twists, so should you let them down, showing off all you defined curl beauty?  But it’s hot, so maybe a top bun or a faux hawk type of style could fit the festival vibe.  Or maybe save some time and step up the glam with one of your colorful headwraps.  Would he be offended, like you’re trying to be too into his culture or…

You decide to go for a half up, half down do.  Taking down your twists you pony your hair right on top of your head, spreading your curls out, leaving the other half to flow freely down the nape of your neck.  You put in some hoops, and some shorts to show off your most prized possessions.  You thank God and your mother for your gams.  A cool patterned tank and your gold gladiator sandals, you feel about ready, taking a glance in the mirror.  Your curves looked more ready than you felt as you checked the denim hugging your hips, the glint of your epidermis taking up all the attention.  You were a little self-conscious about having your thighs rubbing together or the shorts riding up, but those thighs were getting some attention today, so to hell with that!  Your tank was loose with large holes for the arms so your bra showed in places, which you loved cuz it was a cute one and them titties were sitting proper.  Your phone notifies you of your Lyft outside.  You get your crossbody bag and head out.

Closing your bedroom door Tavia sitting in the living room in a big old t-shirt and bonnet, eating some hot chips, watching the TV.

“Hey girl.  You look dope, wow.”  Tavia said deadpan, without even looking your way.

You click your tongue, “Why you playin? You didn't even check me out.  How I look?”  you say with a twirl.

Tavia looks back at you.  “Mhm, definitely catching somethin.  You shave?”

“Yeah, moisturized, the works.”  You say looking your legs over.

Tavia waves her chip at you, “Nah, nah.  Did you SHAVE though?”  She asks, wide eyed, sucking the hot red dust off of it comically.

“Girl!  Ain’t nobody tryna smash tonight!  What’re you taking me as?”  

“Well damn, why not?  Listen, you walk through here with some carnival game prize bigger than the door, imma assume he got some head.”  Tavia says.

“Shut your ass up!  I’m gone.  I’ll text you the danger phrase if this goes awry.”

“That’s mama’s baby!  Good Night!”  Tavia says throwing up the peace sign as you walk out.

The ride to the festival felt like a cross country journey.  You took the time to recheck your make-up, fan yourself from sweating since the driver seemed to not believe in A/C.  You went through different scenarios of greetings.  Hey!  Wassup?  Hi, how are you doing?  Funny seeing you here!  You fan yourself again trying to calm down, feeling idiotic with every minute.  Maybe it wasn’t the lack of air that was the issue.

Your phone beeps, probably Tavia hyping you or humbling you one last time.

I’m here, outside the entrance when you get here :9

The symbol at the end of the text message was not something you were familiar with, so hopefully it's not a blatant sign for something.  But you hopped in your seat a little. ecstatic at the message.  T’Challa was early, AKA on time and waiting for you!  God, what better way to have a man: ready and waiting.  And the only acceptable occasion for them to come early.

The car pulls up in the parking lot a few yards from the hoopla and you thank them as you get out.  Rows of cars lined the lot and the makeshift grass-converted parking area.  The cacophony of noise you here from the distance welcomed you as you walked down the sidewalk toward the welcoming banner until you saw him.  T’Challa paced slowly to and fro, looking up towards the sky, hands behind his back.  He dressed very comfortably, in a dark green buttoned down short sleeve shirt with some embroidery design on the front, accentuating his ample shoulder span.  T’Challa’s forearms were reporting for that duty, with biceps on deck.  Your pace feels slows as your feet become weights pounding the pavement.  Your nerves get to you as your mouth dries out.  Mixed with the summer heat, and you were officially the epitome of thirsty.  You try to have a proper strut down before he notices you: confident, bouncy, baddie.

T’Challa glances and finally sees you and a smile appears instantaneously on his face as he freezes in place to observe you coming up.  You try to hold your smile down as much as possible.  You don’t want to give him the upperhand of seeming too eager but damn, he looked fresh.  Within talking distance, you exchange greetings.

“How are you, (Y/N)?”  T’Challa asks pleasantly.

You nod humbly, “I am great, thanks.  How about you?”

“Much better now.  You look amazing this evening.”  T’Challa says with a quick glance over you.   Not even in a sleazy way, just like he truly appreciated your style, the apples of his cheeks practically popping off his face.

You start fanning yourself, giggling almost uncontrollably.  “Aww, I know I look a lot different outside my work clothes.  I can’t compare to these arms you decided to let out the house today.  Where you been hiding them?”  You say, turning up the flirt a little so he knows it's real.

T’Challa chuckles at you boldess, “Ahh, stop it.  My sister suggested this shirt.  I wondered if she was setting me up for something.”

“Mhm, for a thirst trap definitely.  But it’s great.”  You’re so starstruck.  “Uh, your text had an odd symbol at the end of it.  What does it mean?”  You pull out your phone and show it.

“Ahh, I meant a smiley face.  I;m not the best texter unfortunately, so typos will happen.”  He puts his hands in his pockets anxiously.   “Are you ready to go in?”

“Yup!  Let’s hit it!” You say excitedly.  T’Challa gives the ‘after you’ motion with a wave of his hand.  Once y’all make it inside, you feel overwhelmed with the crowds of people walking through, dancing, talking.  You get caught up in the scene, your mind fades out not sure what to tackle next.  

“Do you want to walk around?”  He asks over you.

You turn to see him waiting on your answer.  Your introversion was coming back strong.  

“Uh, yeah.  Sorry, let’s walk.”

Walking down the way you pass through see a couple acts performing.  Nothing really bumping in the section you guys are at.  You check T’Challa in your peripheral and he is just looking around, not saying anything.  There is so much you could say but you don’t know the precedence to say it in.  The worst thing about dating for you was the talking and getting to know each other.   

“Do you know any of the acts that were performing today?”  T’Challa asks you.

Shit, you thought.  You didn’t even research anything about this festival.  That would’ve been a great ice breaker.

“Uh...no.  I didn’t.  This could’ve been a country music hoedown and I’d be none the wiser.” you say pitifully.

T’Challa nods, “So, not a fan of the twang vocals of cowboys and saloon girls?  What music do you listen to?”

You shake your head smiling, “Not ‘cowboys and saloon girls’ though!  But those kinds of questions are too hard to ask!  I listen to so many kinds, I can't devote myself to a genre.  Even country sometimes, even though I lowkey trashed it just now.  It has to be done right, white people always take it and bastardize it.”

“Blues, jazz, rock n roll…”  T’Challa lists.

You say with a clap, “Exactly!  We get stuck with the short end of the stick, erased from history.”

“I feel similarly.  I am spoiled by my country’s sound.  I have other artists that I enjoy but I stick to a certain group of them.”

“Any that I heard of?” you ask.

He thinks a moment.  “That's the thing too, I'm not good with names!  I enjoy the art and almost entirely ignore the person creating it.”  You look at him incredulously.  He puts his hands up in surrender.  “It’s bad, I know.  But I enjoy a lot of old school acts, R&B, soul. And of course local bands from Wakanda.”

“You will have to let me listen to some of your music then.”  You say, suddenly shy again.  Did that come off too strong?  Too eager, as per usual.

T’Challa makes a subtle grunt noise, stopping next to you, “Oh, so you definitely want to see me after this, eh?” l

You smile as your stomach does NOLA bounce routine.  Trying not to answer right away, you fake a thinking pose, “Slip of the tongue, but we will see how the night goes.” you say teasingly.  

You guys walk past concessions and T’Challa offers to buy.  

“What do you desire?” he asks.

Looking over the menu, you really hadn't worked up an appetite yet but you sure as hell was hot in the unforgiving humidity.

“Just a slushie, please.”

“Good choice. What flavor?”

“Red.”

T’Challa looks back at you confused, “And by chance, what flavor is red?”

You roll your eyes, “Are you pushing your respectability politics off on me? Red is red, I said what I said.”

T’Challa laughs at your antics, placing the order with the cashier.  He gets one too, in blue.  You both walk down the way, enjoying your treats.

“Mm, this is so good.  Thanks for buying.” you say as you eat the sugary ice.  The coolness radiates through your body against the evening heat.

“You don’t have to thank me.  You’re too polite; I’ll have to fine you for your courtesies.”

“Nooo, I’m poor, please!”  you look to him with puppy dog eyes for forgiveness

T’Challa sips from his straw as he mulls it over.  “I’ll let you off with good behavior, for now.”  

“Too kind, my good man.”  you say before sticking your red-dyed out at him in jest.

T’Challa laughs at your action, “Your maturity is unmatched.”

A bell dings nearby and a crowd erupts.  One of those strong man meters is set up and is obviously a crowd favorite.  

“Hey, you think you could do work on that over there?”

T’Challa checks it out shaking his head slightly unsure, “Ahh, I haven’t been to the gym in a while, I don’t know…”

You look over at the worker passing a teddy to the patron, “Well, I want to at least get a consolation prize.  I’ll give it a go.  Hold this.”  You hand your empty cup to T’Challa, strolling over.  

“Madam, would you like to take a crack at it?”  The candy striped worker said, handing the mallet your way.

“Damn right!”  you say confidently.  

“You can do it!”  you look behind you see T’Challa, beaming, holding up both cups.  You square up and take a swing.  No bell rung, and it didn’t make it past wimp, but the thrill was nice as you came out of your shell a little more.  

“Nice try, young lady, nice try.  But no one goes away empty handed.  For you!”  the candy striped man gives you a mini plushie duck fitting the palm of your hand.

“Thank you!  It’s so cute,”  You say, walking away smiling at the cute animal in hand.

“Maybe it’d ring if she sat on it.”  a nearby voice said.

A white guy red as a beet sneers as you catch his eye, sipping his beer.  You feel your good vibes disintegrate as he smiles pridefully at his joke, you.  One thing that you haven’t been able to shake yet is how hurtful comments to your face about your weight can be.  Remnants from your childhood made for a shaky foundation in your establishment of your worth.  You knew these crowds would be an issue eventually.

“You sir, you’d like a shot?”  You didn’t even notice until he had the hammer in his hand, but T’Challa was at the game getting ready to swing down.  The ball shot up the column, rang the bell like a thunderclap, and knocked the dome clean off of it.  

T’Challa looked over to the man in the crowd pointing the hammer his direction, “If you can only find confidence in talking down to others, I would suggest you lay your head right down here next time, so I can drum some sense into your brain, eh?”  The white man was wiping his shirt, looking back at T’Challa all shooketh.  He must’ve jumped out of his skin when T’Challa brought the hammer down.

The candy striped guy picked up the dome of the bell, “Uh, sir, did you want your prize or…”

T’Challa lays the hammer against the game, “Yes, my good man.”

The worker handed T’Challa a large, plush black cat.  T’Challa took it, striding over to you.  Your heart swelled with delight as he handed it to you.  Not been to the gym in a while, my ass!, you thought.  Those arms, back, shoulders, with some thigh assist didn’t lie though.  You hugged your prize close.

T’Challa stood in front of you with concern, “Are you ok?  I’m sorry if I acted out of turn.”

You looked at him shaking your head, “Don't apologize, or I’ll have to fine you!”  you say with a wag of you finger.

“T’Challa smiled with relief, “He had no right to speak to you like that.”

You sigh, “I’ve heard it before, and I’ve heard even worse.”  You start to walk on as T’Challa followed.  “It was hard for me to fit in growing up at first because of my size, so I was bullied early on.  But I started beating people to the punchline and the bullying soon stopped.”

“Do you ever believe the things people say?”  T’Challa asked.

“No, not all the time anyway.  It’s gotten better since college.  I look at a lot of body positive people online and learn some tricks to cope.”

“(Y/N), I won’t tell you how to feel but anyone that talks about you with ill intent is either insane or not completely right up here.”  He says pointing to his head.

You gained comfort from the respite T’Challa gave you.  “I know, and sometimes it's not even them.  I can be my worst critic.  But I know not to fall for the smooth talking Negros that like to prey on the vulnerable too.”  you say pointedly.

T’Challa looks to you mouth agape, “I don’t consider myself a smooth person, so I won’t take that as a warning to me.”

“Oh please!  You waltzing over to threaten the guy in my honor?  Smoove.  Buying me a water a while back to soothe my scalded tongue?  Smoove.  The fact that you even got me to talk to you?  Smoover than smoove.”

T’Challa laughs, “All right, enough!  It’s not on purpose however.  Certain traits become exemplified when I’m around certain kinds of people.”  He looks at you smiling before looking on.  You hug your cat tighter.  Which cat you ask?  WELL......

T’Challa goes on, “and I'm no stranger to bullying myself.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I have a very smart alek, very calculative jester for a little sister who has no end to calling out my uncool ways.”

You laugh, “Little siblings are the worst. I know, cuz I am one, and we have that right!”

“Bast, when will the tyranny end!”  T’Challa calls to the skies.

A stage nearby lights up with low glow blues and purples, yellows and greens.  The a crowd erupts as the act is about to  start up and you hear something familiar.

“Oh my God.”  You freeze in your place.

“What is it?”  T’Challa asks worrisome.  

“Do you know them??  Oh my God!” You say without anything else, running into the crowd as the act steps up to their mics.  

T’Challa trails you until you reach a stopping point.

“Oh my God, The Internet!  Syd!  Oh my GOD!!”  You scream waving around your plushie.

Syd tha Kyd steps to the mic, crooning the crowd with her soft falsetto.  You sing along right with her, enamored by the surprise.  You look to T’Challa in all the excitement and you catch him smirking at you, nodding along to the music.  You take his hand and raise it up to sway side to side on the track, the electricity you felt being a mix from your idols and the foine dime to the side of you.  You booty bump him playfully to get him loose, he bumps you back.  All worries are cast away as the songs envelope you both, each one drawing you nearer to him, hands clenched the entire time.  

Their set wasn’t long, but you guys stayed for the entirety of it as the night sky cast over the park, stars decorating the sky.  The temperatures became bearable as the sun finally fell.  Torches lit the way for you all to see and walk around.  Once The Internet finished their set and the crowd dispersed, you and T’Challa start scoping for some grub.

“Do they have any wings around here or cheese fries, or somethin?”  you ask out loud.

T’Challa looks over the vendors signs and points, “Ahh, your wish is granted!  I’ll go ahead and order.”

“Wait!  I can’t eat wings AND cheesy fries, I was just playing!”  You weren’t but you wanted to be a lady.

“It’s ok, I’ll get both and we can split.  I’ll be back!”  Breaking from you, he walks on.

You hold your plushie close to you as you wait.  Looking around the park you think this would be a perfect picture moment for the gram.  Pulling out your phone you see you have a text from Tavia.

Ummm, what happened to texting me to make sure things were good though, like….

You text her back.  I was supposed to let you know if things are BAD.  No news is good news right?

Going to the camera, you shoot some scenery shots.  Looking over your options, Tavia texts back.  Well my bad!  Ok, keep doin you boo!

T’Challa comes back with wings in one hand, cheesy fries in the other.  God, you didn’t know what looked better:  the food or him.  And you were hungry regardless.  

“I got some waters too.”  He said, handing you the fries so he could get the waters from under his arm.  

“Ooh, good thinking.  Let’s find a spot to sit.”  you say as you take down a fry.  Walking into the park you find an unoccupied bench and sit.  The faded music in the background was very chill, setting the mood.  T’Challa takes a wing, eating the meat off.  You absentmindedly watch his mouth chew as he ate.  The muscles of his jaw masticating, his concentration to get every bit off the bone.

T’Challa wipes his hands and looks to you, “You were amazing back at the stage.”

You snap out of your trance, thinking over what he said, “Listen, I didn't do anything.  Syd and them, were going off and they haven’t made a bad track yet.  I’m only a fan.”

“It was pretty cool to see you so free spirited.  And I heard you a little.  You have some singing in your background, eh?”

You make a so-so motion with your hand, “I mean, a little bit.  I’ve never done it for an audience but my shower is a long time fan of mine.”

He laughs, “It’s really captivating to watch.  I wasn’t sure how comfortable you were here, but the music brought out another side I really enjoyed seeing.”

“Right!  I appreciate you noticing that.  I wasn't sure either cuz I’m such a homebody and then that guy.  I still can’t wrap my head around you standing up for me that way either.  I never had that happen for me.”

“Oh, Bast!  I haven’t had someone so endearing to do that for.  He doesn't know anything about you, otherwise he would’ve dusted the ground for you to walk.”

You laugh with your hands on your hips mockingly, “Well you haven’t even done that!”

“I can't defend the Queen and clean the quarters!”

You dismiss him with a wave of your hand.  “By the way, I heard you say that before.  What is ‘Bast’?”

“Where I'm from that is a religious figure that some follow.  A panther God.”

You cock your head to the side in curiosity, “Ohh do you have rituals, symbolism, and things around it?”

“Of course!  Chants, dances, the works.  Every religion just about does.  Do you follow a Christian God?”

You nod.  “Mhm, Team Jesus right here.”

T’Challa smiles, “Well, we have similar teaching just the practices stray off.”

“I always wondered about what religion I would have, had it not been for, you know.”

“Luckily my family does not know of that life, but I understand.  God is all around us, comes in many forms in my opinion.  I try to give honor wherever I am that things still grow, the earth still spins, things like that.”

You look up at the sky overwhelmed with the sensations of a successful evening, “God, it’s so beautiful out.”

He looks up.  “The city sky does not compare to a Wakandan one, for sure.”

You look at him, his neck stretched back wanting to touch it, “Tell me about it.  Your home.”

He leans back, resting his arm across the back of the bench.  “Words couldn't do it justice.  But just think about the most beautiful scenery you can imagine from nature shows, or pictures in a magazine.  Then amplify it by one hundred.”

“You still have family there?”

T’Challa smiles to himself, “Yes.  Mother, sister, and a bunch of people I consider family.  It’s a close knit community”

“Wow.  Do you miss it?” you ask.

“I do, all the time.  But I haven’t thought about it once tonight.”  Looking up to you, his eyes trained on your face.  He says tossing a wing to the side, looking away in the distance again; clenching his jaws, resting his hands on his thighs.   He looks nervous.

While studying his face you notice a unique detail to his hairline.  “You have the most adorable widow’s peak.  Just look at that.”  You reach over, stopping midway as he looks at you expectantly, “Do you mind?”

He shakes his head.  You lightly feel the curls that bunch to form this hereditary marvel.

“I wish I had one.  It adds so much character to one's appearance.  Like you need any but it’s like a little treasure.”  you say smirking as his curls tickled your fingertips.

While touching it, you look at T’Challa who is focused on you, not saying a word.  Mouth slightly agape, his eyes look to your mouth then back at your eyes.  If there was ever a chance to kiss him, this was probably it.

“Uhh, did you hear me, or…” you say trailing off and chickening out, moving away a little to ease the building arousal between you.

“I want to compliment you now.”  He says reaching for your hand, holding it.  “Your eyes have an innocence that makes me feel unworthy to hold your glance.  But I can’t help but to not look at you.  You remind me of every beautiful trademark that makes a woman special.  I could go on, but I don’t want to offend you.  But I hope I can get to know more of you, so I can verbalize it properly.”  

You look down at his long, knuckley hand holding yours. “T’Challa I don’t want you to talk about me anymore.”

T’Challa looks concerned, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

You stomach trembles inside as you try to find the words, “No, I know what you mean.  But this is a lot for me to take in.  I’ll say it’s been a while since I’ve been paid attention to like this, so it’s kind of overwhelming but…” you move his hand and inch closer.  “I’m not a big conversationalist so I just want to...”

Your lips find each other, softly embraced in a kiss made for fairytales.  But you felt so much more than what the kiss portrayed: excitement, joy, aroused at the fact that his face meshed with yours so perfect.  His hand found the small of your back as your hand caressed his face gently to ensure the reality of it all.  Breaking away slowly you both stare into each other, high off on the clouds of infatuation.

“Man, I dig you.”  You say trying to break some of the romantic tension.

He smiles, “And I dig you, umhle.”

You smirk, “What that mean?”

“Something you should be very familiar with: ‘beautiful’”

“I could get used to that definitely.”  you say, embracing him once more.

As much as you could stay on that bench forever, it was getting late and the mosquitoes were being disrespectful.  T’Challa offered to take you home when the time came, but you needed a break or you might invite him up.  You car arrives and you hug him goodbye.  His hands wound around your back firmly, you securing yourself around his shoulders you take a mental note of his frame, so comfortable and meant for you.

“I had a great time, T’Challa,” you whisper in his ear.

“The pleasure was mine, (Y/N).  Let me know when you’ve arrived home safely?”

You nod, giving him a peck on the cheek for good measure.  You get in the car and he closes the door behind you, seeing you off.  You hug your panther plushie tight to your face as you recap the evening.  You were practically buoyant as you rode home, petting your prize tenderly, wishing it was T’Challa in your lap.

Making your way to your apartment, you open the door to see Tavia knocked out on the couch, and even bigger mess of snacks surrounding her and the table as she snores.  You slam the door to wake her up.

She startles awake, looking at you squinty, “Well damn, What time is it?”

“Maybe, midnight by now?”

“Mm, decent hour, must not have given up the draws.  Well go on and tell me about it”  She wipes her eyes, getting a better look at you, noticing your plushie.  “Uh-uh!  You got a prize!!  What did I tell you!”

“Bitch, I didn’t suck his dick.  I’ll talk to you in the morning.”  you say feigning tiredness.

“How fucking dare you!  I aint get no sleep cuz of you, you aint gettin none cuz of me!”

“Girl, you were just knocked out!  Go to bed.”

“But-”

Good night Tavia!”

You close your room door, tossing T’Challa Jr. on your bed.  Kicking your shoes off, taking your hair down, you pull out your phone.

Home safe!  You send to him.  You put your phone down and unclothe to get comfortable.  Suddenly a ding sounds and you dive for your device.  

Glory to Bast.  Sleep well, umhle.

You read it a couple of times before setting your phone back down.  Laying down, you clutch your prized possession T’Challa won you to your chest as the day’s event float in your head: euphorically exhausted.

Part 4

Other Works

King Kil’mawalls  

T’akia

N’Jadaka’s Helpful Hands

Some Weeks Are Better Than Others

Commencement Day

Song of Stevens

My Ragtag

@sweetpeachjones@scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade@hairhattedghooligan@universalbri @therevolution-willbelive@you-like-this-chain @sarcastic-sunshines @airis-paris14 @afraiddreamingandloving @kreolemami

No mans land Tags

afraiddreamingandloving groovybbyy and nyeebey, yall here too! I just can’t tag you for some reason <3</p>

[ecotone99]

[HR] The Peaches

Gerald pulled his Geo Tracker up to the house fifteen minutes early to his appointment with Mrs. O'Brien. He hated to be late. His baseball coach in high school preached the same motto to his team during his four years at the school; "To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, to be late is to be dead". Gerald liked that axiom.

He pulled the dusty sun visor down and slid the mirror open to give himself a final glance before going to the door. His blue scrub top had a small dirt smudge on the shoulder, probably from the seat belt. The car had more rust than metal, the interior upholstery was falling apart, and the transmission slipped more often than not, but the old Neon had done well the last two years. Just one job left. After that, Gerald could by whatever car he wanted. He just had to make sure to make this one count. Gerald's gaze then drifted up to his slim, oblong face. He forgot to shave this morning and his dark stubble peppered his pale skin. His eyes gave away his late nights, with dark bags hanging like loose teeth flanking his long crooked nose. Gerald drew back his lips like a dog snarling to expose his pearly white teeth. He held this look in the mirror for some time before deciding it would be best to tone down the smile a few degrees. Yes, that's it. The perfect used car dealer's smile. Mrs. O'Brien would either like him or she wouldn't, but it would not matter for long anyway. People in his line of business tended to die often. Gerald opened his door with a loud creak and climbed out to take a good look at Mrs. O'Brien's humble abode. His car had some trouble climbing the mountain roads leading out of Maggie Valley to Mrs. O'Brien's cabin. Her log home sat at the very precipice of the mountaintop community, overlooking all the other homes sitting on the hillside and the valley town of Waynesville below. From this vantage point, Gerald could see Shady Lane Trailer Park, the place he called home. He laughed. Not only was his car out of place on the slopes, he was as well. The air was still chilly this morning, his breath coming out in little white puffs. The closest cabin from Mrs. O'Brien sat two hundred yards below, and being this late in the season Gerald doubted anyone else would be living in the hillside community. Out-of-towners and old rich fucks are the only ones that could afford these homes sitting like castles overlooking the peasants. It made for a quiet morning atop the mountain, though. Gerald liked quiet. Gerald stepped up onto the wrap around deck, his footsteps amplified by the mountain acoustics making each step sounding like a giant monster making it's way down the slope. He liked that, it was appropriate. He rounded the corner and stopped at the heavy oak door. Gerald gave two hard knocks on the door. Nothing. He knocked harder this time. Gerald thought he heard something stir inside but once again, silence. Christ, he thought, don't tell me the bitch died already. This time Gerald did hear something, faint, but definitely there. Then again, louder this time, with more sense of urgency, as if she were afraid that she might not make it to the door in time. "Come in! Yes, please, come right in, dear!" Good, Gerald thought, with his teeth bared in malicious smile, Too feeble to make it to the door. This should make things rather easy. He hid the smile and replaced it with what he considered a genuine look of concern and care then creaked open the door a few inches. Unlocked. She's the trusting type, too. Gerald poked his head into the house, "Mrs. O'Brien?" "Yes, yes, dear. Please, come in," she responded before breaking into a coughing fit. Gerald slipped into the home and closed the door gently behind him as he placed his bag on the hardwood floor. His eyes were immediately drawn to the wall of windows that overlooked the valley below, still barely visible through the morning fog. Stuffed animals heads hung on every wall, each with it's dead eyes staring at him. He liked that. The great room consisted of living space, dining area, and kitchen. A staircase climbed up to a loft that ran the length of the great room to a walled off second story room which Gerald guessed would be the master bedroom. Still no sign of Mrs. O'Brien. "Hello?" he called out, his voice amplified in the great space. Shuffling came from the hall just passed the kitchen area. "Yes, hello? Is that you, Gerald?" A walker with tennis balls on both beet appeared from around the corner of the hallway followed by the woman that appeared in the file Gerald read before making his trip up the mountain. "Yes, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. O'Brien," he lied. Mrs. O'Brien flashed him a smile that revealed more gums than teeth. "So you're here to kill me, right?" Gerald's fake smile faltered and a genuine look of surprise took its place. "Excuse me, ma'am?" he asked. Mrs. O'Brien's nearly toothless smile grew wider and she let out a tremendous laugh that surprised Gerald. She let go of her walker briefly to clap her hands together softly before she lost her balance and returned both hands to the safety of the handles. "Oh, goodness," she said, still chuckling, "You should have seen your face, kiddo. Did the good people at Horizon Home Health not warn you of my morbid sense of humor? I figured my last helper, Jackie, would have given you the scoop on ol' Mrs. O'Brien." Gerald relaxed a little and his faux smile and look of care returned to his face. "I'm afraid not, Mrs. O'Brien. I just didn't want you to think I was some kind of monster." Not yet, at least. We'll save that for later. "Actually, Jackie hasn't been into work the past few days. That's why they sent me today." Mrs. O'Brien's smile turned sour and her eyes had a glimmer of tears. "Oh, goodness. When the scheduling folks called me I just assumed she finally got her vacation she asked for. Is she okay?" "Well, she did put in for the vacation but our boss never signed off on it," Gerald replied, "I'm sure we'll her from her any time now, we have a pretty relaxed atmosphere at Horizon. My boss was just happy that I was able to come in her place." Gerald picked up his bag and motioned with it to the table, Mrs. O'Brien nodded and Gerald made his way over to set up his gear. "If I hear anything from her, you'll be the first to know." Mrs. O'Brien looked assured. "Well I appreciate that. Everyone there seems to be so close, like a family. That's why I like when you pay me your visits." "We are fairly tight-knit," Gerald lied. In reality, Gerald didn't give two shits about Jackie or her whereabouts. She was an airheaded cunt who was frequently late. To be late is to be dead. Jackie's recent absence did have its benefits, though. One last job, Gerald thought. "Well, honey," Mrs. O'Brien started, "If you're going to be with me for any amount of time we better get one thing straight, cut the "ma'am" and "Mrs. O'Brien" bullshit, please? I'm Cheryl to to my friends, and with such a handsome face as yours, I'm hoping I can call you a friend. Gerald gave a short, forced laugh. "Very well, Cheryl, I think I can manage that. Now, what can we do for you today?" Cheryl O'Brien fought with her walker, placing it in an angle to the kitchen table before plopping her fat body into the chair. Her nightie slipped shortly, flashing her hairy snatch at Gerald. He gave a slight grimace, she gave no notice. "Could you get me my afternoon snack, dear? I know that's a bit below your usual duties, but I am quite hungry. I usually go for peaches at this time of day. I keep them in the pantry, first door on your right down the hallway." Gerald gave a polite smile. "I would be happy to, Cheryl." She gave him a weak smile before breaking into another coughing fit. Gerald turned into the hall and opened the pantry door. His hand fumbled for the switch on the wall next to the door. He found it. A fluorescent light flickered alive with a hum. Gerald stood in the doorway, confused by what he saw. The pantry had three shelves, each running the length of the eight-foot long walls and coming together at the back on a five-foot wall. A single fluorescent light fixture with two bare-tube bulbs illuminated the room. It was very plain as far as pantries go; the contents, however, were the confusing aspect of the space. Peaches; well over three hundred cans of peaches lined each shelf. The shelves were stacked four high on each shelf, not a single can out of place. A voice broke Gerald out of his confusion. "Diced or sliced, dear, I don't mind!" Cheryl called from the dining room. "I'll see what I can come up with," Gerald called back playfully. Gerald walked back into the great room area where Cheryl waited for him. Her nightie slipped again in his absence, this time exposing a sad, sagging breast. Gerald politely shielded his vision. "Oh, goodness," Cheryl started, pulling the gown up to her chin, "I'm so sorry. Jackie usually isn't as punctual as you were today; I'm usually very-well put together." "No harm," Gerald replied, faking a forgiving smile. He set the can of peaches on the table. "Now, where can I find a bowl or-" "No matter," Cheryl cut in, "This will do just fine." Before Gerald could offer once more, Cheryl reached across the table and pulled the tab on the can of peaches. She turned the can on end and slurped the peaches straight from the can. Most made their way into Cheryl's mouth where she chewed them with an open mouth, while others down on or under her nightie. Gerald watched hiding a look of disgust as Cheryl overturned the orange mass in her mouth, thrashing every peach against the few teeth she still had in her repulsive mouth. She continued gobbling until she slurped the last diced peach from the can and placed the can on the surface of table, now littered with the half-chewed bits that escaped her repugnant hole. "You'll have to excuse me, dear, "she said licking her lips, "I was hungrier than I thought." She belched. Gerald gave her a half-assed smile this time. "No matter. I needed to have a record of food intake today, looks like we can cross that off the list." Cheryl smiled at him, masses of peach clung to her few teeth and the water from the can gleamed on her chin, neck, and cleavage. This may be the easiest one I've done, Gerald thought. "It also has a shower on your list for the day, Cheryl. Would you like to take care of that now?" Gerald asked, trying to hide his sarcasm. "That would be lovely, dear. The bathroom is the second door on the right. Go ahead and run the water for me, please? The water heater has an element that's been acting up and the water takes forever to heat up." Perfect, Gerald thought, The dumb bitch is giving me an opportunity to scope out the place. "Of course, Mrs.- ...I mean Cheryl." Used-car salesman smile. Cheryl's smile widened before she broke into another coughing fit. "Please excuse me," she said after regaining control of her breathing, "I'm still getting used to the air up here."

Gerald turned the corner into the hall. "Beautiful place you have up here, Cheryl. I love the location." For once, that was the truth. It would be days before anyone would be up here to check on the broad, plenty of time to get what money or valuables he needed.

"Isn't it beautiful? Jackie said the same thing the first time she came here. She was delightful."

"Yeah, we are all hoping she comes back after the weekend," Gerald called back. He looked back on habit to see if she made it into the hallway yet. With that walker and cough, she will be like a cow with a bell. He stole a glance into an open doorway, her bedroom by the looks with a hospital bed, daily medication containers, and pill bottles that littered her bedside table.

"I certainly hope so," she called back, still struggling to get to her feet in the dining room, "When I had her for lunch on Tuesday she left her purse here. I wouldn't think she could get too far without it!"

"Odd," Gerald called back, uninterested. He found what he needed. Tucked under an old rocking chair in the corner of her bedroom was a Sentry Safe lock box. The key was hanging from the lid. "Are doing alright in there, Cheryl?", he called back to her.

"Yes, dear, these legs just aren't what they used to be."

Gerald, satisfied with what he had found, made his way into bathroom where he would spring his trap on the old bitch. He flicked on the lights, felt through the curtain of the shower and turned the water on full blast. He slid behind the door and wrapped an end of a towel in each hand, a crude but effective garrote. "Ready whenever you are, Cheryl," he shouted into the hall.

Gerald smiled at his own wit. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. He heard splashing water and his smile faded. The water from the shower was flowing over the tub walls, forming small rivers on the floor that led to his feet. He hadn't bothered to open the shower curtain, the water effects were just for show to lure the old cunt in. Gerald looked into the bathroom mirror to get a look of what was obstructing the drain and he dropped the towel.

He felt his feet splashing in the water that now covered the entire bathroom floor as he staggered to the shower curtain. He blinked slowly, grabbed curtain, and shoved it aside.

Gerald killed before. He travelled often and travelled far. He always had a different name and background when he applied for these jobs, he was good a forging, faking, and acting. His kills were clean, usually strangulation. Sometimes he used insulin if the client required it for controlling diabetes.

This was not clean.

He covered his mouth and fought the urge to vomit or scream.

Jackie's blonde hair was red with the bloody water that surrounded her. Her face, what was left of it, secreted pus from the sockets that once contained eyes. Her nose was bitten off and floating by her shoulder. Each breast was a gory stump and her intestine hung out like tentacles for the lower half of her body was gone.

"Yes," a mangled voiced said from behind him, "When I had her for lunch Tuesday she forgot her purse."

Something whizzed by Gerald's head and a purse splashed into Jackie's watery grave, spraying Gerald with carnage. He did not dare turn around, his feet were rooted the linoleum floor.

The mangled, distorted voice continued, like a some alien child trying to emulate the English language; "I've killed before. I travel often and I travel far, always with a different name and background. Turn and face me, you may recognize my kind."

Gerald felt a warm fluid spread across the front of his pants. Something slithered around his feet be he did not look; he locked his eyes shut and began a pathetic cry. "You'll have to excuse me," the voice snarled, "These legs aren't what they used to be," the creature let out a tremendous cough, "And I'm not quite used to the air up here."

The being was close now. Gerald could feel its heat on his back.

"Face me, Human. Does mies jeschet boene doesef douvema enitemaus. What do you call me, Human?"

Gerald felt himself rotating and forced his eyes open.

He looked into the mouth of madness and saw the black maw of the universe stretch and grow exponentially without end or beginning.

Then, he knew nothing.

submitted by /u/kirkmaneuver [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/2VCpp7A

[lillaxtrigger]

Young Hope: Chapter 26

Shining down upon the brickwork of an everyday city apartment, the evening sun gleams through the glass of one apartments kitchen window; the light shimmering upon the back of girl pouring a batch of cake mix into a bowl. Obstructing the light be the passing purple merc, who opens the fridge door and digs through its chilling contents; asking the baker: “You know where you keep your eggs?” “On the shelf at the top right.” the girl answers in soft, calming tone. “Right! See’em.” Following the bakers directions, Roy pulls out a trio of pure white large eggs from the depths of the fridge; holding all three of them in a single hand. The girl turns away from her bowl and to the approaching purple angel; her olive green eyes gazing to the mercs only hand in worry as she notices him having trouble clutching onto the trio of eggs; questioning if: “Are you sure you can hold them all? You look like your having trouble.” “Tsk...come on, bae, this is nothing. I’ve juggled worse shit than this. In fact...” Taking his words to heart, Roy begins to toss the large eggs right out from the palm and into the air; juggling all three of them with but his only hand. “Ye-e-eah! Look at this circus act. A whole month with just one arm and I can do the equivalent of a 6 year old’s birthday party act. Practically out showing a 20 bucks an hour clown in their own game.” While the purple merc show’s off the coordination of his single arm, the baker grows more worried as she continues to watch him juggle; standing further back and bumping right into her bowl full of batter. A few bits of the batter winds up escaping the contents of the bowl, splashing right next the merc’s feet; some of which Roy unfortunately steps in. Slipping right onto the batter causes Roy to fall flat on his back, tossing the eggs in his hand upward; soon to break all over the purple merc. Shielding herself from the splattering yolk, the girl glances down to the violet angel lying on the floor; Roy’s face showing to be covered in uncooked egg. The spilling sight draws out a charming little smile from her cheeks, a cute giggle escaping out from between her plush lips; this in turn drawing out the mercs own smile.

Once she finishes giggling, the girl reaches her tan brown hand out to the purple boy; Roy grasping her helping hand to be pulled off the floor. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” “Yeah...guess I kinda had it comin. Thanks Roxanne.” the merc thanks, brushing the bits of egg shell and yolk from the bakers red and brown striped spiked back bob hair. After a little giggle escapes her, Roxanne attempts to return the purple merc’s thanks with: “Don’t mention it. You just gotta be careful of where you-” Surprising the young girl, she feels the boy pull her right in and planting a soft kiss right upon her full lips; the sudden kiss causing her eyes to widen. Soon, both Roxanne and Roy break from the smooch, the purple merc discovering to have left the baker in shocking silence; Roy taking the silence with: “I know. Might be kinda early for that good stuff. But hey, we’ve been going steady on deck for about 2 weeks now. I figure why the hell not? Speaking of not waiting, I gotcha a little something?” “Huh?” the baker utters, watching as the merc strolls over to his backpack sitting in the corner of the kitchen. Plopping his backpack right on the marble counter, Roy begins to dig straight through its contents; pulling out a myriad of various objects. Items he sets aside be a couple of books, some pencils, a binder or two, a zip lock bag full of drugs, a few magical artifacts of questionable origin, a bulls heart, and a glass ball with muffling souls trapped within. “C’mon. I know I had it in here Where the hell is it?...Ha, there!” Pulling out from the mysterious depths of his pack, Roy presents to Roxanne a magnificently carved, small, glass like ice figure of the girl taking a graceful pose; surrounded by flame shaped ice enveloping her feet. Beholding the icy statue with her own two eyes, the girl could barely make a sound; left completely speechless by the figures reflecting beauty as she holds it in her hands. “Yep, it wasn’t easy to find somebody who could make never melt ice and shape it to your figure. Pretty much got lucky in all honesty. So, what do ya think? Does lookin at it make ya go “Hot damn, I look sexy as all fuck. The icy sheen really bring out my eyes and tight ass”? Bet it does, don’t it.” “I...I don’t know what to say. It’s-It’s amazing. We’ve only been going out for just about two weeks and you got me something this...beautiful.” “I thought it make up for all the sweet as hell treat you’ve been baking for me.” “I think I know just where to put it.” Saying such, the young baker walks out of the kitchen with her new icy decoration in hand; strolling straight into the neighboring living room.

Roxanne sets her newly acquired ice sculpture right dead in the center of her coffee table, letting out a small sigh as she stares upon its shinning cold surface; thinking that: “It’s still shocking that he gone through so much trouble just to get such a wonderful gift this early in our relationship. I really don’t have any idea what to say to him...Or what I will have to say to him. God, he’s just been so nice these past two weeks. I just have no idea how I’ll break it to him. I just hope that I can before its too late. I just don’t know what he’ll think of me.” “Holy fuckin jizz rockets! She is rockin that dress. Makes her breasts and butt look oh so spicy juicy…I wonder if she might be down for a threesome?” the merc ponders. “Will you quit being such a pervy horn dog for one minute and get your mind out of the whore house. You remember what your dear sister told you about taking things slow with this girl.” the goddess in his head advises. “I know, I know. A man can have wet dreams, can’t he? Truth be told, these past few week with sexy Roxy have made me happier then I’ve been in a long time. Its like a feeling that’s been dormant for a long time has risen from the depths of my dark, rustically cold soul. And rather taking the form in my indescribable pelvis pleasure pole, it boils somewhere high; somewhere more satisfying and warm...Kind of like my heart. But I forget what its called.” “Would you happen to be referring to the magically enchanting feeling called love?” “Maybe…All I’m feeling right now is some form of content. Like all is well in my little world. You know what that feels like?” “...I did.”

Returning from the neighboring living room, Roxanne grabs hold of the mixing bowl with both hands; reminding her house guest that its: “Time to get back to baking. Mind getting the chocolate chips out from the cabinet?” “Sure thing.” As the merc digs through the cabinet for his girls requested chocolaty chip, he can’t help but question if: “So you making all these sweets just to get on my sweet side; cause let me tell ya, its workin hell a fast.” “Nu uh, that ain’t it. I’m making all these treats for the team later on. Figured I’d be prepared and start now.” Setting the packet of chocolate chips down next to the stove top, Roy goes on to mentions how: “Oh right, that little team you went on about on our first date. You haven’t really brought up much else about them since then. You thinkin about introducing them to your boy someday?” “I don’t know. A girls gotta keep her secrets, ya know.” “Consider my lips sealed then.”

It’s in that moment do the two of them hear somebody’s phone go off, Roxanne pulling hers out from her skirt pocket to check the new message she’d just received from someone called Artemis. “Speaking of which, I just got a text from one of them...” Once having read what the message says, a sharp gasp is drawn inside her lungs; the mixing bowl dropping to the counter. “Oh...oh my god. She says we all been assigned to a mission. An actual mission this time!” “Don’t you guys go on those all the time?” the purple merc questions. “I mean kind of, but those just usually boil down to just doing laundry, picking up groceries, cleaning pets, and polishing weapons. It’s the first time the whole teams been assigned to do anything meaningful for once.” “Whoa, back up a sec there. Polishing weapons? Roxy, what kind of pre-nuclear war fallout after school club did you sign up for?” “I already told you that its a secret.” “Oh come on, it won’t hurt to tell me; I already swore not to open my mouth. Beside, I happen to be one hell of an expertise in fields like this, bringing me along might give ya the edge you need.” “Hmm...I don’t know. I haven’t really planned how I’ll introduce you to the team yet.” “Well, now’s a better time as any. Bettin seeing me in action would make one hell of an intro to them. Think it’s a plan?” From the purple merc’s insistent suggestion, it takes Roxanne a good moment to decide whether to take her recently meet boy friend along to meet up with the gang; with only having Roy’s faux innocent smile to give her any reassurance.

The setting sun finally disappears from the horizon, giving way to the countless stars shinning along Townsville’s night sky; none of which however shine within the dark veil of one of the city’s many alleys. Dwelling inside one particular alley, four figures blanketed in shadow stand in waiting; one of them watching where they step among the piles of trash and rats. “Ew ew ew ew ew! Just why!? Just why are meeting up with Roxy in this dank and disgusting alleyway? Why can’t we just meet up at the nearby seafood restaurant?” one of them with a feminine voice complains. “Why the hell you bitchin at all of us for? Baby blue Charles over here’s the one that shoved us in this trash heap.” another with a loud and sassy voice questions. “Because, we supposed to be staying hidden. We’re on the clock here. Walking around in public would defeat the entire purpose.” one with a guys voice explains. “Oh ho ho, you haven’t seen how much of a bad bitch I can be. I can kick your sorry slimy ass all the way back to the sewage treatment you spawned from if you want me to demonstrate.” “At least I got a juicy ass on me. You can barely count the flat smooth wooden boards on your backside that you sadly call a butt.” “At least my butt is cleaner then your nasty asshole!” the one girl screeches. “The fuck did you say about my ass motherfucker!” the other barks back. As the two girls bickering echo throughout the walls of the alleyway, their only male comrade lets out an irritated growl as he covers his ears; complaining on how: “Why the hell do I always have to be stuck babysitting these loud mouth brat. Its always just constant headaches with the two of them. At least Artemis had enough sense to bring headphone.” Gazing away from the pair of bickering children, the guys eyes are draw to the neon green hair of their forth member; calmly listening to the music that the headphones covering her ears put out. “Mmm. Just when in the hell is Roxanne going to get here. It’s almost been 30 minute since Artemis messaged her and she still hasn’t showed up. Almost afraid someone’s gonna crash this meeting at any moment.”

Right on queue, the two rooftop edges above them suddenly explode into tiny pieces; the lights above gleaming into the alley as the rubble rains down. As all of them cover their heads from the descending stone pieces as the dust blinds their view; one of the girl coughing up the clouds as she complains how: “Ah! Dammit, its in my mouth! Cak! Ak!” The sassier of the two lets out a mocking laugh from her partners suffering, spitting out small bits of rubble as she cackles. From the middle of the dusty cloud, all four of them soon witness a bulky figure stand between the four of them; their wings withdrawing into their back. “What in the blue blazes just crash landed! Artemis, open fire!” Charles demands. “There’s no need to!” the neon green girl calmly elaborates in a semi monotone voice. “What!? Why!?” “Because its who I asked to meet us!”

Parts of the dusty cloud begin to dissipate before them, revealing the olive green eyed girl come out from the dirt ridden shroud; two of the other girls approaching the recent arrival as they excitedly squee: “Roxanne!” The light from the newfound holes in the roofs reveal one of them to be a dirty blonde with long bangs and baby blue eyes, complementing their newly arrived teammate with: “Nice entrance there Roxy! Really attention grabbing and bombastic; cloudy reveal was a nice touch too.” The other to approach her shows to sport slimy chocolate brown skin plagued with lime green bulges across her arms and forehead, her pitch black pony tail stretching down to her wide hips; adding to the blondes statement with: “Yeah girl, what’s with the crashing entrance anyway? Bitch like you typically just go through the backdoor instead of bustin down the roof.” From the side, a pale blue skinned man with charcoal hair swipes the dust off his lab coat; adding to her question with how: “It’d sure make much less of a mess.” “I know, I know. I’m sorry for literally just dropping in like this. But he really wanted to make a good entrance.” “He?” the slime girl questions. “Who’s He.” the blonde follows.

As more of the rubble dust begins to settle from behind their comrade, the purple hue of another figure begins to their view; his violet hair waving in the passing alleyway wind. The dusty clouds finally part from the alley, unveiling to the rest of the team Roxanne’s newfound boyfriend; Roy’s wicked smile sending chills down most of their spines. Once making himself known to Roxanne’s pose, the purple merc begins to approach the two girl closest to him; both the blonde and slimy one backing away to the wall as Roy nears. “And what might these fine ladies names be?” “Un-Un-Uuhh...” the blonde stutters out. “You even think of tryin any shit with us, you getting a whole load of slime shoved down your throat!” the slime girl threatens. “Sounds pretty tasty.” the merc fires back. “Toxi’ander! Quit being so on edge and chill out. He won’t bite, I swear. Looks aren’t everything, you two.” Roxanne scolds. “Yeah Toxi, kinda figured you of all people would know a thing or two about that by now.” the blonde quips with a grin. “Excuse me! The fucks that supposed to mean!? You tryin to piss me off bitch!?” “Gigi! Stop trying to start arguments with her. It always just devolves into an insulting screaming contest between you two.” “Uh, xuse me! Who’s in charge here?” they hear Charles sarcastically question. Glancing to the side, all of them watch as the blue skinned guy approaches; continuing his reminder with: “I was stuck with the job of watching all you brats, so I’m the one running the show here.” To his statement, Roxanne can’t help but look away with a sour frown, mentioning under her breath how: “Should be me who’s in charge...” “Ya know Charles, that just fuckin priceless coming from you. Considering that you order us like grunts while you laze around on your ugly blue ass all day.” Despite hearing the slime girls scathing accusations, Charles simply just lets out a passive aggressive growl. “Hell, we coulda just wait at the back of some Denny’s while waiting for Roxanne and her new boy toy to show up. Least it wouldn’t be nearly as rank.” “Toxi!” Roxanne exclaims, blushing as red as a beat; all the while her “boy toy” behind her just busts out laughing. “I’m likin how spicy your friends are Roxy.”

Turning his gaze over to the blue skinned boy beside them, Roy then follows up by questioning: “Speaking of friends. What’s the deal with doctor blue balls M.D, specializing in testicular examination over here. You wound up getting trapped in a freezer while tryin to rob a bunch of chocolate cookie fudge bars from the ice cream shop.” “What?” “Cause if you have, I know you’re pain, pal. Took me about a week and a half just getting all the sharp icicles out of my nose. But those fudge bars were so fuckin worth it.” From this confusingly sympathetic insult, Charles catches the giggles of both Gigi and Toxi; backing up on how: “I was born with this blue skin.” “That unfortunately happens to be our leader.” someone with a semi monotone voice points out from behind. Glancing back, the merc comes face to face with a tall and well built pale skinned girl; her neon green flaming hair catching his eye. “And you must be Artemis. Gotta say, lovin the rockin green mane. Can you flambe stuff with ya green lit locks?”

A false attention grabbing cough reaching everyone’s ears, forcing everyone to turn their eyes back towards their blue skinned captain; hearing him state how: “Great! Now that we have introductions out of the way, How about we get back on track here. Roxanne, tell your purple lover to leave.” “Uh, about that Charles; he’s actually wanting to help us out on our little mission here.” “Yep, ain’t you all lucky to have me?” Almost everyone in the group jumps from their teammates sudden decision; Charles in particular questioning her choice with: “And when exactly were you gonna mention this little decision through us?” “Sorry, it was kind of a last minute decision. Didn’t Artemis read the text to you all?” Asking such, everyone’s gaze is turned towards the neon green girl; who could be seen reviewing the text and going: “Yep, she did. My bad.” “Still Roxy, you can’t just drag some random asshat on our assignments with us. The people at the top will throw a shit fit.” Gigi informs. “They let your flat ass in, didn’t they?” Toxi quips. “The hell did you say about my booty, bitch!?” “Excuse me! Just some random asshat!? Let me kindly remind y’all on how my girl and I crashed through the motherfuckin ceiling without so much as a scratch between either of us. Like to see any of you do that shit.” “So what, think that makes you better then any of us?” Charles accusingly wonders. “Gee, that kind of abrasive insecurity probably ain’t the best thing for a captain of a team like this to have. Ya practically have such a massive opportunity right in front of ya but just being too “Blue balled” to take it.” “Oh damn. Oh damn! OH DAMN! OH DAMN!” Toxi cries out; her astonishing swears echoing out beyond the entire alleyway.

Amidst his teammates astonished cries, Charles gazes to the purple merc in a silent, almost vengeful fury; all the while Artemis adds her own thoughts to the conversation with: “This is one of the first times our entire team has been assigned to any missions with any meaning beyond washing clothes and picking up food, we may need all the help we can get. With the kind of background that our purple guest’s profile informs, it could be more than enough to tip the scales in our favor.” “Oh ho! You read up on me, have ya? At least one of you guys is doing their homework.” “Hold up, Arti; background? Just what kind of stuff does this violet freak do?” Gigi questions. “His full name is Roy Shapen Donovan. He is an on demand work for hire mercenary with a caliber of achieving dangerous and high paying jobs for a multitude of shady organizations and political figures; capable of a multitude of darkness fueled powers and abilities that both employers and other mercs would describe as catastrophic and lethel. And that’s barely scratching the dozens of achievements and rumors that have spread through his career of nearly six years by now.” Through their teammates description of their purple guest reputation and profile, each one of them gaze upon the merc himself with encroaching skepticism, worry, and surprise; even Roxanne herself left astonished by his boys perceived profile.

“Aw, come on. Stop. Your makin me blush.” the merc himself sarcastically mentions. “Bitch please, as if his scrawny teenage ass has that kinda street cred to spare. He don’t even look like he washed his rank ass dick after fucking shit all night long.” the slime girl sasses. “Oh, and like you guys get any action. Cause from all I’ve been hearing, you girls barely get any. Tell ya what! I normally charge my services for one hell of a pretty penny; but since I’m really doing a favor for my one hell of a pretty penny; I’m offerin you lot the once in a lifetime chance free of charge discount. Order now and you’ll get the lovely souvenir of whose teeth I knock out first. Sound like a deal?” “Girls, even if Roy’s background is the teeniest bit exaggerated; it still may be a good idea to take him with us. We need all the help we can get for this mission.” “Whatever, I really think Charles should be the one to decide. He is our leader.” Gigi reminds with twinkling eyes towards the blue skinned captain. With everyone else soon directing their gaze towards the baby blue leader, Charles taking a moment to ponder to himself as he stare right to their purple guest; Roy’s less then welcoming smile making his whole spine shudder. After letting out his brief jitters, the blue captain finally gives his answer with: “Fine, whatever; he can come. Ask long as he keeps to himself, I don’t care.” “Oh for fucks sake!” Toxi screams out. “Thank you, Charles.” Roxanne thanks.

With a snap to his fingers, the purple merc points out to his new blue employer and states: “Looks like we struck ourselves a deal, baby blue. You won’t be regretting it anytime soon.” “You mean like I am right now?” “So, now that we got the business bullshit outta the way, which unlucky son of bitch are on our “Fuck over with a 5 foot razor wire string up the bum” today?” “Our...O-Our assignment that the higher ups have given to all of us is to procure a very special gemstone that can conduct a myriad of power sources; including but not limited to electric, plasma, radiation, positive and negative ions, kinetic energy, and even quantum energy. From light to dark, from hot to cold, this jewel can take in and distribute untold amounts of power.” “So if this bling we got here’s as badass as you say it is, why the hell would they send us to gank it?” Toxi questions. A small chuckle escaping from the blue skinned captains lungs, he goes on to mention how: “I thought it was pretty obvious. This little assignment of our is a test. A mission to determine if were worthy to rise in the rank. They probably have a lot of faith to leave this job to us personally.” Shattering Charles’ motivating speech be the neon green haired girl herself when she corrects him on how: “Actually, it was because literally everybody else was busy. Everyone was on their own missions and assignment, so they simply stuck us with this one.” “Agh, I knew it was too good to be true! Why else would they stick this job to us?” Gigi complains. From hearing Artemis’ correction, a small hiss escapes from the mercs teeth; claiming how: “Sounds like you guys got pretty sloppy seconds. Think the best thing you girls can do now it try and make the most of it.” “Roy’s right. Who cares if this job just got dumped on us. It’s still our job at the end of the day. Lets just give it our best and show them that this C team can pull off a fantastic A+”

As the rest of the crew cheers from Roxanne’s motivational speech, Charles takes a quick glance to his phone to find a blinking dot nearing their location; grabbing back everyone’s attention with: “Look sharp, girls. Our coveted prize is nearing its destination.” “If that’s true then we need to move out now. Come on!” Artemis orders, passing right beside Charles alongside everyone who follows her lead. The blue leader himself is left spun and dizzy by his passing teammates, shaking off the daze as he chases after his leaving team as he reminds them: “Hey! Hey! Don’t leave without your captain!”

Through the stretches of Townsville’s city roads, an armored truck drives along past a couple of other vehicles; turning into what seemed to be a far less pleasant part of town. The truck eventually makes its stop along the side of a less then welcoming building; two police officers stepping out of the front and strolling out to the back. Opening up the back doors, the two cops uncover a box made from titanium; dressed with coded and psychical locks abound on all of its sides. Even with the case’s imposing weight, the two officers manage to heave it right out of the armored trucks back; dragging the locked titanium box across the ground.

Between the alleyway of a couple of buildings across the street, everyone watches as both cops haul the case right inside the seemingly bland looking abode. “Why in the hell would these motherfucka’s bring out such powerful bling to this shithole? It makes no damn sense.” Toxi questions. A quick snicker passing through her lips, the blonde among them insults the slime girl with: “Jeez, I knew you were thick. But I didn’t think you were this bad?” “The fuck you sayin, ya blonde bitch!?” “I mean it’s obvious by now that they’re taking it to an underground lab just below there.” “Oh, now I know your just bullshitin us. The fuck makes you so sure.” “From experience, duh. A good couple of my dads labs are built under decrepit buildings like this so nobody finds them out in plain site. Pretty basic there, Toxi.” “She’s right you know.” Roy than weighs in. Hearing the merc so confidently confirm the blondes guess, everyone looks to Roy as he focuses at the buildings grounds; following his statement with: “I can sense me about several people scuttling around beneath that dump. About...30, 35 people I’d say.” “The fuck can you know that? Wait, lemme guess; it’s one of your daaaark powers, ain’t it?” the slime girl questions, putting a mocking emphasis on dark. “Somethin along the lines of that. Its just practically frosty dip n dots to what else I can do. Just wait til you see the whole damn sundae.”

“Is it possible for you to map out the entire facility?” Artemis wonders. “Eh, not really. Can really only see the people scampering around down there...that and the bugs n rodents.” “Guessin those “Senses” of yours aren’t as reliable as you boast, huh?” Charles snides. “Charles, quit being so mean! It still helps, doesn’t it?” Roxanne scolds, soon glancing over to the neon green girl. “He’s right. Even if he can’t map out the place, having constant knowledge of the enemies position is invaluable nonetheless during our mission. We need to handle all of this with as much precision and care as possible. Trip any kind of alarms, any patrol or staff spotting us, any camera’s watching our moves could alert authorities to our presence and risk loosing our target entirely.” “So you mean like with stealth and stuff? Uuuggh! That’s so boring, though. When are we gonna get to the good part and kick people’s shin’s” Gigi complains. “As much as I like your spirit blondie, rockin neon green’s got a point there. Don’t wanna wreck too much shit and risk losing our coveted mcguffin.” “Sounds like y’all just makin up the plan then. How the hell we even get inside?” Toxi questions. “I plan for us all to simply dig out way in.” Charles butts in. “Too noisy. We’d risk drawing too much attention to ourselves.” Artemis denies. “True...though doing it somewhere else might be better.” the merc suggests. “Like where.” Gigi asks.

Down within the darkness, the light of the city shines down a dank sewer tunnel as a manhole cover is pulled right off; the panicking cries of the blonde echoing through the brickwork. “Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Hell, no! You are not making me go through that disgusting sewer! Nuh! No way!” Gigi screeches as everyone begins to descend down into the tunnel. Before Roy and Roxanne could descend down to join the others, she attempts to talk her reluctant teammate into joining them with: “Come on, Gigi. We have to go down here. There’s no other way inside.” “Absolutely not! I’m not being caught dead going down there!” “Are you getting through to her?” “Sorry Artemis, she isn’t moving.” Roxanne states, glancing down the manhole. “You’re damn right I ain’t moving! There ain’t no way in hell I’m setting one foot in that rancid dank shit hole!” “Jeez, girl. Your screamin like a fuckin macaw getting its wings twisted up. Move it!” the purple merc demands. “It ain’t even that bad down here, really. It’s pretty clean here for a sewer tunnel. I ain’t seeing shit down here.” the blue skinned captain confirms. “You’re not helping Charles.” the baker girl claims. “I don’t care how clean it is! I’m not jumping down! No, if’s, and’s, or buts!” the blonde enforces. “Aw, what’s the matter girl; ain’t brave of a bitch enough to come down here?” Toxi taunts. “Shut up, you slime stain! You belong down there and you know it!” “Why don’t you come down here and say that to my face!?” Taking Toxi up on her taunting words, the blonde delves right past Roxanne; the sounds of their fighting ringing through the tunnel. Glancing to one another, both Roy and Roxy shrug off the matter before heading down the manhole; the merc placing the iron cover back on as they descend.

While the entire group travel through the brickwork tunnels lying underneath the city roads, they find their blue leaders words to be right on point; the floors and walls of the tunnel being very clean and tidy for a sewer. As their purple haired guest leads the way through the underground tunnels, the neon green girl of their team questions them all: “While we have some time on our hands, mind if I ask what our plan might be once we break in; cause we are literally marching out towards our destination and I haven’t heard a single one of us come up with one.” Its then that another fake cough draws the entire crews attention, all of them glancing back towards their baby blue captain before he goes on to explain: “If you would all be so kind as to let your leader speak up for once, I got us an idea may let us get our prized mcguffin scott free.” “And that would be?” Roy questions. “While I move out towards the surveillance room and disable the security. Toxi shall await until given the go to move out towards where the gem is and melt through whatever containment that they have it stowed away in. Her plasmic acid being as corrosive as it is, she should have next to no trouble melting through.” “So, how we settin up teams, then? Who goes with who?” Toxi questions. “I think I’d be better off waiting with Toxi then. Better to stick with her and keep her out of trouble so the mission isn’t a bust.” Roxanne offers. “Wherever my flamin hot spicy sweet pepper goes, I’m stickin right alongside her.” Roy adds, picking up Roxanne and holding her in his arms; all the while the girl herself looks to the merc with a faux smile. “If that’s the case, then it’s best that I go with Charles. Our leaders lack of overall combat experience may make him a very vulnerable target.” “Tsk, are you kidding me? I’m not that much of a pushover. I watched my Mom spar with a couple of people. I can totally fight. Watch!” In hopes of proving the neon green girl wrong, the baby blue captain attempts to show off what little punches and kicks that he could muster; his long lab coat flapping in the air as the young man flails about. Charles lack of proper balance eventually gets the better of him however, kicking a little too hard and making his own lab coated ass fall flat onto the slit of water underneath them.

As her blue leader begins to pick himself back up, Gigi can’t help but give a suspicious glare over to Roxy’s new purple boy toy; worry and anxiety beginning to boil within her as she stares to Roy’s devious, almost perverse smile. “I...I think that Charles might need more protection then you think, Arti. Maybe our new purple pal here should go with you two instead.” the blonde suggest. “Hol up, what?” the merc mutters, putting his girl back down. From her teammates suggestion, Artemis ponders to herself for a moment; mentioning how: “I think that might be a tad unnecessary, Gigi. I’m sure I have plenty of artillery that could efficiently-” In the midst of her denial however, the neon green girl takes a closer glance to the blonde herself; noting the anxious gaze in her eyes shifting over in the merc’s direction. “Uh…On-On second thought. There could be a lot more patrols and guards to worry about on our way to the surveillance room. Our guests specific abilities could lend well in navigating the facility and hiding from any potential witnesses.” “Guessin that just leaves Roxy and the blonde bitch and I to wait here while y’all take care of business.” Toxi reviews. “Ugh, why do we have to wait!? I-” the blonde begins to complain, but stops when considering that she was the one who suggested the teams to be like they are. “Uh...nev-nevermind. Forget it!” “Are you sure you wanna wait with us, Gigi? You can go with them if you want to. We don’t mind.” Roxanne asks. “No no no no! I’m sure; believe me. I’d probably just get in their way anyway.” Gigi insists.

It’s after discussing all this does the merc stop the crew right in their tracks; all of them pumping into one another from the abrupt stop. “Ah, what the hell; ya purple prick! Why we stop for?” Toxi aggressively questions their violet guest. “Last stop, ladies; we’ve reached out destination. Over to our right is the basement you wanna bust into; the people inside passing through with none being the wiser.” “So, you really can sense everyone passing right beside us?” Gigi questions. “Yep. All the little people scurrying and working around like little mice. Betting some of them in there are fuckin like mice too.” “If they’re literally right next to us, it might not be a good idea to break in from here. Maybe we should bust in from somewhere else so we don’t draw as much attention.” Roxanne suggest. “Good call there, Foxy Roxy. Glad to know you got brains behind that flamin hot bod.” the purple merc compliments. “Aw, thanks Roy. Really, its why I should be the leader of this team.” “Speaking as the actual leader of this team, where exactly can we break in from here?” Charles cuts in. “Mmm. Let’s see.” Roy ponders aloud as he stares towards the intersection ahead.

The entire team are then caught off guard when their violet guest starts sprinting further down the tunnel; witnessing the merc taking the right of the intersection ahead. “Roy! Hold up! Wait!” Roxy panics as her and the rest of the crew rush in pursuit of the merc. Coming right around the corner, all of them witness Roy’s gaze fixated to a certain spot of the tunnels brickwork; the team approaching the merc as Toxi questions: “Roxy, the fuck is wrong with your boy toy!?” “You find a way inside, Roy?” the merc’s girl wonders. “I think. Among the bugs and rats scuttling along the walls, there’s a little nest of mice wiggling around on the other side here. If they haven’t noticed them all yet, then I’m betting its our safest ticket in.” Saying this, the purple merc turns back towards the rest of the approaching team, asking if: “One of you guys mind carving the way in?” “And why can’t you just bust a hole through it like how you crashed our little meeting?” Gigi snidely questions. “Because if he did, it be the quickest way to announce to the entire facility that were crashing their little research party.” Artemis swiftly points out. “Ding ding! Right on the mark. Your neon green compadre is scoring all A’s on this little test of your’s. I’d suggest the rest of you start taking note.” “Then if we can’t punch through it, how the hell are we supposed to get in.” the blonde questions. Eager to answer such a question herself, the slime girl shoves Gigi out of her way as she steps up; claiming that: “Outta the way, bowlcut bitch; stand back while I work my magic.” Their gooey comrade warning such, everyone stands aside as Toxi approaches the tunnel wall; stretching herself as she faces the brickwork that Roy pinpointed. The slime girl then slaps the palms of her hands right onto the brick wall, smothering her slimy hands across the hard stone side of the tunnel; a thick trail of sludge left behind as she trails her hands across the side. The sludge immediately begin to bubble and boil along the wall, eating away at the tunnels brickwork until parts of the other side could be seen. The slime girls acidic sludge makes quick work of the sewer tunnels wall, soon creating a sizable way inside what seemed to be a janitors closet; a scurry of rats scuttling out into the tunnel.

Once the way inside was clear, Roy was the first of them to enter; his senses letting him feel the life force of the people passing through the hall on the other side. “Right, just a couple more people passing along til we’re clear.” the merc informs. Their purple guest saying such, Charles turns towards both Gigi and Toxi and questions them if: “Now, can I trust you two to not make as much noise while we go out to take out the camera’s? Cause the last thing we need is for the two of you to throw a shit fit over which color dress you think is cuter or whatever and get the attention of anybody passing through.” “Charles, chillax. I’m sure I can get Gigi to keep her damn mouth shut for a least 5 minute.” the goo girl informs. “And you don’t got a worry about slimy Toxi here. I make her nasty ass mouth stays shut.” the blonde reassures. As both girls look to one another with vindictive scowls, Charles can’t help but let out a painful sigh; soon feeling Roxanne pat his back as she assures that: “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they stay out of trouble.” “Thanks Roxy.” “We promise not to take long.” Artemis vows.

As he peeks out from the janitor closet door, the purple merc is happy to inform the rest of the team that: “And that’s when the halls are nooooooow clear! It’s now or never people; move your sexy asses!” Hearing this warning, both Charles and Artemis rush out towards the door; the merc himself bidding farewell as they pass by with: “See ya bae. Meet back with ya when we got shit to wreck.” Saying his goodbye’s, Roy follows out into the hall and shuts the door behind them, leaving the rest of the girls to wait within the sewer tunnels. “Ugh! I can’t believe all we can do is just stand here waiting in this dank sewer shithole while the three of them get to have fun.” the blonde complains. “Might I remind yo flat ass that this was part of your idea to begin with. What yo expect when going on a mission; you gotta get yer hands dirty. So quit your whining and shut yo mouth!” “The only reason that you’re here in the first place is cause your slimy ass excretes so much nasty acid mucus that it sends people running!” Gigi barks back. “Bitch, I’ll melt yo sorry flat ass if you don’t shut yo mouth.” “Why don’t you slither over here and make me!” Falling for the blondes taunts, the slime girl starts chasing Gigi along the stretching sewer tunnel; all the while leaving Roxanne so done with their bullshit.

From around the corner of the clean hallway, Artemis peeks out to the hall ahead; discovering a couple of scientists traveling along its polished marble. “And there they are.” she whispers. After the two researcher turn the opposite corner, the neon green girl turns back to both the blue and purple boys behind her; informing the violet merc that: “Seems like your senses aren’t a lie after all. And here I though until this point, you’ve been going off of blind guesswork alone.” “He he, guessin your not the blindly gullible type?” “I still have...some doubt.” “I like that. What I don’t like is figuring out how to get to this control room.” In saying this, both Artemis and him the turn towards their baby blue comrade; Charles softly groaning before question: “Your having me figure that out? How I supposed to know where it is in this secret club house basement?” “Because it was part of your plan smartass. You really just expect us to check every room in this damn scientist orgy dungeon til we just happen stumble on it?” Roy scolds. “We don’t have nearly that kind of time. We need to find a way to get to the control room, now.” “Alright, fine, Jesus. I guess we can hack a computer somewhere and get a map of the place.” “That’s the spirit.” Roy claims grasping his only hand upon the shoulder of Charles lab coat; soon dragging his big blue ass across the polished marble of the underground hall.

Further along the clean confines of the facility’s halls, a single researcher dances to the music in his earphones as he strolls by; passing right under a lone camera underneath. The music in her ears prove more of an unseen hindrance however, as she fails to catch the glimpse of the barrel of the rifle behind him. The silencer barrel fortunately for her isn’t aimed at his occupied ass, instead fancying the camera above; the rifle firing out a single bullet to the surveillance equipment. Though the bullet leaves no physical damage, the energy it releases proves more than enough to disable it; the camera going completely dead. While distracted by the music in her ears, the researchers dancing stroll is put to a sudden stop once bumping into somebody in front of her; gazing down to discover the purple mercs ominous smile. “Who the-” Before the scientist could finish questioning where the violet young man came from, she feels the merc hand tightly grasp at her mouth; her panicking screams muffled by the boys single palm.

From behind the closed door of a nearby supply closet, the researcher finds herself bound upside down against the closet wall via duct tape; the neon green girl listening to the music that she was once dancing to. “Let me go, dammit! Do you honestly have any idea what we’re doing here?” “Energy transfer and application use?” Charles guesses while digging through the contents of the supply closet. “How-how did you know?” “The equipment you got stashed here pretty much says it all. You guys got some real state of the art stuff stowed in here.” “She has pretty good tastes in music too. For this, she may live another day.” Artemis claims, taking off the researchers ear buds. “Ya hear that, my sultry scientist. Seems like it’s you lucky day after all. Though if I were in your sort of peculiar position, I’d both be aroused and willing to cooperate answer whatever questions your captive may have. Else they might make you wish you were dead.” Roy warns, a sinister smile drawn across his cheeks.

Seeing the mercs less that inviting grin proves more than enough to send chills up the researchers upside down spine; the scientist questioning them: “What do you people even want?” Her questions are put on hold indefinitely when feeling something jabbing her tapped arm, glancing over to discover the neon green girl jamming the barrel of her technological rifle into her side as she reminds her that: “We’ll be asking the questions here. First one, where might the nearest computer terminal be?” “D-down the hall to the right, take two lefts; right from the three way intersection; third door you see.” “What are you guys doing with this little gem you have?” Charles then cuts in. “We-we had it delivered from the famous museum in downtown New York. We were hoping to utilize it to solve a potential energy crisis.” “And the final question!” Roy exclaims, his eyes drifting away from the scientist and to Artemis. “Are we really here on a mission to steal this gem from them.” he questions the neon green girl. “Yeah.” “Okay, cool. Just wanting to make sure. Let’s head out.” Having been told the direction to the nearest computer, both Roy and Artemis ready to head back into the hall; glancing back to find their baby blue leader still rifling around the stored equipment. “Quit digging around and come on, Charles. We’re leaving.” the neon green sniper states. “Just give me a minute. I wanna see what else these government lackies have stashed away.” “Right now, young man.” Roy sarcastically scolds, grasping the shoulder of Charles lab coat as he drags him away from the lab equipment. As the trio head towards the door of the walk in closet, the researcher attempts to warn them that: “No, stop! You can’t take the jewel away from us. We could save potential thousands with its power. Don’t-” But before the scientist could beg them any further, her mouth is swiftly tapped shut when Roy slaps a piece of duct tape over her; the sound of her muffling being what can only escape as she watches her captors leave her inside.

Following the directions that their captive had oh so kindly given them, the trio continue their stealthy travels through the underground facility; Roy soon sensing the life force of a few staff approaching. Silently warning his two escorts of the oncoming staff, he points over to the door nearby; all three of them scuttling inside before the two guard turn the corner. As the merc had sensed, a couple of armed security staff nonchalantly pass right through the hall; not even paying any mind to the door that their unknown intruders had hid behind. Once the two policemen pass right on through, Roy emerges from the other side of the room that both him and his comrade hid; silently directing them to continue with him.

In the midst of guiding both Artemis and Charles through the polished white halls, Roy is about to turn through the next corner; soon feeling the back of his hood being snagged back just inches from the corner. Glaring back, he discovers his neon green teammate having grabbed hold of his hood; Artemis soon stepping in front of him to take a quick peek around the corner. After seeing what lies along the other side, she turns back towards her violet partner, pointing out towards the top of the hall beyond. Coming back to the front, Roy looks out to where Artemis had pointed towards; spotting a lone camera perched between the opposing hallways. Back towards his posse, the purple merc gives the neon green sniper a thumbs up while making way for her to move in; Artemis peeking the barrel of her sniper rifle down the hallway. Her crosshair aimed right to the camera above, she fires her bullet right into the camara’s side; causing the piece of surveillance equipment to go completely dead. Artemis having taken care of the camera, Roy once more takes the lead, all three of them taking the right like their help little informant had told them.

Coming upon the third door down the hallway, the three scurry right inside before anyone could see; soon finding themselves within what looked to be a small office space. In the middle of the office stood a lone desk decorated with pictures of people, presumably of friends and family; all of which surrounding a lone computer displaying a simple password screen. Passing between his two escorts, Charles makes his way around the office desk to the seat on the other side, ploping his lab coated ass right onto the padded chair and typing away as he tells the two escorters that it: “Should be pretty easy to pull up a map from this thing; just gimme a minute or two to work.”

“And since we got a minute, I got something to ask you that’s been bugging me.” Artemis states with her eyes drifting to the purple merc. “Sure thing, what you wanna know? Bank accounts, previous jobs, slaughtered enemies? I’m an open book.” “How in the hell did someone like you wound up getting with somebody like Roxanne?” “Oh, that? That’s piss easy. See, one day I was flying low through downtown; getting back from school and going to meet up with my bro somewhere. That’s when I wound up seeing sexy Roxy herself strolling through the streets; one look of her face being all she needed to make me fall head over heels for her...and straight into traffic. After climbing out of the crater that no doubt caused numerous accidents and traffic jams, I race over toward Roxanne herself and asked her out then and there; simple as that.” “That’s...admittedly a rather bold move. Right after taking such a humiliating and destructive spill like that; you just rushed out and asked the girl who just watched. I’m more shocked how she said yes after watching all that play out in front of her.” “That’s what life’s all about, my neon green rocker. Learning how to get right back up after being brutally butt fucked by the massive throbbing cock of misfortune.” “Definitely not the way I would word it, but I get what you mean. A lesson that Roxanne is no doubt familiar with too. The poor girl.” Hearing Artemis comment such makes the merc drop is snarky demeanor for a moment, mild concern spread across his face as he wonders: “What do you mean?”

“And I got it. Cracked wide open like a freshly pulled scallop.” Charles declares, both Roy and Artemis glancing over to witness Charles giving them a smug smile. “Hot damn, man; that fast!? You cracked that open in like minute. And here I though you were just these girls whipping boy?” “Wasn’t that hard, really. Can you believe that these government assholes were using a previous gen operating system? I’d be pretty damn embarrassed if I had that on even my laptop.” “Charles, did you pull up the map or not?” Artemis questions. “Yeah, okay. Here. Don’t need to be so pushy.” the blue skinned captain confirms, turning the computer monitor over towards the two. The monitor showing the floor plan of the underground facility, Artemis takes a quick picture of the map on screen; reviewing it and mentioning how: “Seems that the surveillance room to the right end of the facility. And according to this, we’re on the left most bottom.” “If that’s the case, then we best get movin. Who knows how much longer the girls can take sittin around in that tunnel. No doubt Roxy can only hold both the blond and her slimy rival from tearing each other into chunky beef broths for so long.” A small chuckle escaping from underneath her breath, Artemis turns over towards her blue skinned leader and orders him to: “Agreed. Come on, Charles. We need to move.” “Agh, fine. Just about to log off anyway.” Right after logging out of the lone computer, Charles joins the other two as they prepare to head back through the halls; the merc making his way out of the office with both the hacker and sniper at his back.

Back within the dank wet tunnels of the sewers, the rest of the team await to hear word from the others; each of the girls passing the time on their phones. While attempting to look through social messages, Toxi’s ears can’t help but catch Gigi’s obnoxious giggling; the blondes echoing laughter literally driving the slime girl up the curving brickwork. “Arrgh! The fuck you laughin at, ya blonde bowlcut?” “My gossip blog is trending so hard right now. Posting photo’s of Victor’s porn collection was a juicy one.” “Oh wow, that’s great. How long do ya think it’ll be before ya wind getting your flat ass bitten off from this shit.” “I don’t know how he’s gonna find out. The guy can’t read, remember?” “Bitch, that ain’t the point. This whole gossip shit is gonna get yo teeth punched out sooner or later; and I’m grabbin be a bag of popcorn when you bitin the curb.” “Tsk, your just jealous that you didn’t have the brains to come up with it first.” “Oh…Oh ho...Oh ho ho...” Hearing the blondes insulting defense, the slime girl starts to slither over toward the side of the tunnel where Gigi stands; questioning if: “Did you really just fuckin went there, motherfucker!? Tell me you did not fuckin say that!” “Bitch you know I did. And you know what else? I got more a lot more brains than you to build my own damn gadgets. Bombs, master keys, holograms, weapons, even my own personal robot assistant that hovers around and makes milkshakes for me. You nasty ass acid can even come close to my technological prowess, bitch!” “My slimy acid is about to melt through yo brains if you don’t shut you fuckin trap.” “Why don’t you try and make me?” Gigi screams. Before either of the girls could tear into eachother, Roxanne comes between them just in time to split them up; scolding the two of the with: “Stop it, you two! We supposed to be hiding in here! Someone might here us with you two having a screaming contest.”

Once seeing Toxi back off, Roxy turns her attention over to the blonde, requesting to her with: “Gigi, can you please keep it down while you mess around with your gossip blog? We’re trying to keep things on the down low.” “Yeah sure, Roxy. Ya know, speaking of rumors; what’s the deal with you and your new boy?” Gigi eagerly asks. Taken aback by her teammates sudden question, Roxanne stumbles back from the blonde: “W-What? What are you talking about?” “Oh come on, Roxy! Don’t play coy with us! How many bases did you and him run through in under two weeks? 1st, 2nd, 3rd, home run and victory lap?” “No! Nothing like that! All we done is just some hugging and a kiss. No more.” “Really, that’s all? He hasn’t made any moves on you?” the blond questions with disappointment. “Not really. Though something tells me that he might be wanting two. It honestly feels like Roy is restraining himself sometimes.” “Purple piece of shit better.” both of them hear, glancing back to witness Toxi approaching to join in their conversation. “If he thinks of tryin any of that nasty shit on you girl, I’m gonna smack his sorry violet ass straight to hell.” “Toxi, don’t say that!” “Girl, can you blame me even? Creepy ass motherfuckin lookin like he crawlin out of the bowls of some B rated horror shlockbuster. Why the hell you bothering to shell yo sweet as to his purple creep anyway?” “Ah...It’s kinda hard to explain.” Roxanne admits. “Go on girl, we got the time.” Gigi assures.

“Well, it kinda started one day about two weeks ago when I was walking back from school to the hospital to see how my little brother was doing, when out of nowhere something just crashed like a falling comet in the middle of the road; caused a couple accidents, but nothing serious. I race over to see what landed along with tons of other people nearby and we all found that it was this purple hooded teenager, getting up in the middle of the crater he made; just like that, no injury, totally fine.” “He really just happen to crash right in front of you. What was he doing before?” Gigi asks. “I don’t know, I never asked him. But apparently it wasn’t that important since he crawled right out of it and asked me on the spot on a date.” “And you said yes? Why?” Toxi questions. “He had these eyes like he a lost puppy. Like was silently begging me not to turn him down; especially with literally everybody watching. How could I possibly say no with all that?” “So he just put you on the spot, what a dickhead?” Gigi states. “I don’t...think he meant to put me on the spot like that. He seemed just so...geniune.” “So what you plannin to do now?” Toxi wonder. A small panicked groan leaves through Roxanne’s lungs before she admits that: “God, I don’t know. I knew this was a really bad idea, but I didn’t wanna break his heart. I just don’t know how I’m gonna get outta this, especially since I’m still da-”

Just before she could finish her statement, the girl shuts her own mouth mere moments before saying something she’d know she’d regret blabbing about. In doing so however, she sparks the curious gazes of both her two present teammates; Toxi being the first to asks: “Girl, what were you about to say?” “No-Nothing! You what j-just forget I said anything.” “Oh no way. You gotta spill it now. I’m feelin some real rumor juice sloshing in you. And I ain’t stopping til its squeezed out.” “Come on, Roxy. What’s the deal here?” Toxi joins in. As both girl continue to push for info, they soon back the poor girl against the tunnel wall; feeling the brickwork scrape against her back a she continues to feign ignorance with: “Really girls, its nothing. I swear.”

Thankfully for the baker, a forth voice then reaches their ears; their eyes glancing back towards the hole in the wall as someone in janitorial attire waltz’s inside and wonders: “Why the hell is there a giant hole in the closet? I-” In that moment does the guy discover the three girls within the breached sewer tunnels; nothing but silence echoing through the brickwork as they simply all stare at one another. Breaking the silence, all three of them lunge forth towards the janitor; tackling the poor guy and shutting his mouth just before he could cry out for help.

Casually strolling through the white halls of the facility, a lone researcher turns the corner to find a single armed patrol approaching; a smile planted across his cheeks as he greets the officer with: “Evening Marty! How’s the family?” “All good Pat. The kids are doing amazing in school this year.” “Guess its quite an improvement from last year, ain’t it?” “Don’t mention it, Pat...Just seriously don’t.” Both passing beside the only door in the hall, neither of them were the wiser of the trio hiding on the other side; the door cracking open to let out the silent barrel of Artemis’ rifle squeeze out. The guns barrel aimed out to the camera perched along the corner, she fires her rifles straight into the camera’s side; the bullet she shot out disabling the surveillance equipment for the time being. Once having took care of the camera, Artemis and her two comrades move beyond the door and continue their stealthy venture through the underground facility; taking the path that the armed patrol went through.

While the lone facility guard wanders along the polished marble halls, he fails to notice the three intruders encroaching around the corners behind him; that is until he begins to hear the faint sound of their footsteps echoing nearby. Curious of the quiet taps sounding off behind him, the patrolman swiftly turns back to see where exactly its coming from; confused to discover not a soul at his back. A nervous breath escapes his lunges as he starts to approach the corner that he turned from; taking a tight grip of his firearms the closer he nears the end. Finally, he jumps out to the other side of the corner with his weapon aimed down the hall, finding not a soul awaiting him. A relaxed breath then passes through his lips as his guard dissolves, shaking his helmeted head as he turns back; telling himself to: “Calm down, Marty. Your just hearing things. Just think of the time you and Donny shared a kiss under the tree, should calm ya right down.” In telling himself this, the guard returns to his patrol route while calming himself; unaware of the intruders he grew paranoid of hiding along the next corner beyond. Once sensing the guards departure, Roy leads both of his comrades further through the facility, continuing on route through the guards patrol path.

Dwelling within the dimmy lit confines of the surveillance room, countless screens of dozens of camera feeds light the small darkened room, a lone staff member sat right in front of the glowing screens. Despite some of the screens clearly displaying the camera’s blacked out, this obvious warning sign goes completely unchecked by the staff member sitting right in front of them; the man having drifted off into a peaceful slumber. The sleeping staff member also remains unaware of the three intruders standing right beside him as he rest; the purple merc crouching to the slumbering man’s level and claiming: “Awww. Ain’t we just a little sleepy weepy. Dumb bastards takin a little snoozy cruise while were breakin and fucking with his shit. I just wanna pinch his little cheeks.” Turning the mans swiveling chair to face him, Roy pinches the man’s cheeks to disturb his slumber; the watcher mumbling to him if: “Is there more apple juice in the fridge, mommy?” “Yes sweetie. I got your apple juice right here.” Roy jest, soon clocking the poor bastards right in the face; the watcher stumbling to the marble floor. After taking care of the camera watcher, Charles swiftly takes his seat; turning back towards the security control panel and stating that: “Should only be a few minute to turn their security system into a poor example of government kept upkeep.”

As their blue skinned friend works his magic on the security system, both his purple and neon green escorters stand aisde; Artemis turning back to their violet guest and questions him with: “So, keeping on topic about Roxanne. What do you plan to do with her in the future?” “Eh, not to sure, really. Why’re you takin an eye with the two of us being a thing? You lime green jelly?” “I’m just worried about the kind of stuff you might try on her. The way you’ve acted during this entire ordeal hasn’t really reassured me that you’re not as mentally well rounded for her. Not to mention what I’ve read on your profile not giving me much hope either.” “We’ll, glad I’m breaking some expectations at least.” “I’ve only been with this group for about 3 months now; and so far, Roxanne is really the only one out of this team that I’ve held any respect for.” “Eh, you wanna think about rewording that a bit there?” Charles question. “Despite the others lack of effort and poor direction, Roxanne is the only one of us that has a palpable reason to be with us besides obligation or insecurities.” “Seriously, I’m right fucking here. Would it kill you not to at least talk crap about me in literal earshot?” “In the time that I’ve been with everyone here, Roxy has been like a little sister to me; comforting and caring through all the harsh and horrible times and vice versa. So I’m sure you can understand me when I say to you that...” Cutting herself off, the girl with the neon green flame main steps intensely closer to the merc with a threatening glare; promising that: “If you do so much as make her cry even a single tear, I will snipe your purple haired skull straight between the eyes; do I make myself clear.” “It’s a promise then? Better hope you not miss.” Roy states with a smile. “I never miss.”

After this exchange, the two of them hear their blue skinned hacker give another attention baiting cough; both Artemis and Roy glancing back towards Charles as he informs that: “If you two are done hate flirting over there, I disabled the security system and erased all the footage. Which one of you want to text the girls.” “How bout I-” Roy attempts to suggest while pulling out his phone. Just before he could finish, his neon green comrade cuts him right the fuck off; pulling out her own phone and insisting that: “I will tell them.”

Back inside the dank brickwork of the sewer tunnels, the girls had just finished taking care of the janitor that waltzed in their little hiding spot; tying the poor bastard to the piping above via a moving metallic rope. “And you thought that the little metal rope snake I thought of was a stupid idea. Self tying rope that coils around somebody to trap them and keep their mouths shut, what the hell made you think it was a dumb idea.” Gigi boasts to her slimy comrade. “Bitch, it’s a stupid ass idea cause its just a fuckin metal rope that moves. How the hell you don’t think that’s stupid.” Toxi claims. “Girls, just quit fighting already! This is exactly what almost got us caught in the first place.” “Tell her to quit spewin bullshit and I’ll stop.” the slime girl claims. “Tell this slimy stain to shut her damn trap!” the blonde mentions. Just before either of them could pick up their argument where it left off, all of them hear the sound of Roxanne’s phone going off; Roxy pulling it out to check her messages as Gigi asks: “Is that them?” “Don’t know. Let me see. Uh...Yep! They just disabled the security. Even sent us a map telling us where the gem is.” “And where’s it say it is?” the slime girl wonder. “See here...Oh wow’ its not that far actually. Just a couple halls away.” “The hell are we waiting for then. Lets get movin!” Gigi proclaims as she rushes out towards the hole in the tunnel. “No. Gigi, hang on.” Roxy plea’s as both her and Toxi coming running after.

With the security camera’s disabled, the three girls sneak through the polished white halls with caution in their step, tiptoeing along the marble floor so not to draw any attention. They soon peek out from around the oncoming corner, discovering on the other side a single door with two guards standing at its side; Roxanne glancing to her phone as she whispers that: “Kay girls, the room where our jewel is store lies just beyond that door. We just need a way to get rid of those guards there to get inside.” “Just gimme a minute there girl, I’ll melt some holes in their chest before you can even blink.” Toxi claims. “Toxi, don’t; were tryin to be sneaky. I’m not sure all three of us can take them on anyway. We need something to distract them with.” “Yeah, you heard her. Calm your slimy tits, bitch. I got this one.” Gigi boasts. “And just what the hell you think you gonna do.” the slime girl wonders. “Watch.” Saying such does the bowlcut blonde pull out from her back pocket an itty bitty cube with wheels attached to the bottom; Gigi rolling it over towards the direction of the guards as she finishes with: “And learn.”

As the little cube rolls out towards the two stationed guards, the panels on its top start to unfold to reveal a little projector; casting out the hologram of a sexy buff man dress in only a speedo. The two soldiers notices the holographic beef cake as he skips along past them, hearing him offering them to: “My beautiful followers. Come with me to the land of tanning oil and surfing pleasure, let your dreams come true in the waves of paradise!” Even with the seemingly random trespasser confusing the ever loving hell out of them, the guards nonetheless give chase; pursuing the holographic man around the corner. With the blondes distracting tool a complete success, Gigi moves in towards the door as she tells her other two teammates that: “Looks like my little test run was a complete success. Come on, girls.” As both Toxi and Roxanne come out of the corner, the slime girl can help but question her about: “What the hell was all that about?” “Oh that? That was one of my trusty little invention I like to call “My little holocube”. I usually use them if I wanna cause distractions or make easy getaway. Pretty neat, huh.” “Kay, but why did it have to be a guy dressed in a speedo.” “Cause they’re my cubes, Roxy. I can put whatever the hell I want on them.”

Once facing the door leading to their little coveted mcguffin, Toxi stands in front of its steel and reaches out as she tells the other to: “Gimme a sec here, girls. Meltin through this door won’t take long.” Just before her gooey mitts could touch the door, Roxanne stands in her way; advising that: “Maybe we shouldn’t melt our way inside. The acid could raise some eyebrows.” “The hell you suggest we do then.” “Just let me pick through the lock instead.” Roxy suggests, pulling out a small bobby pin from her black headband. “Since when the hell do you know how to pick locks?” Gigi wonders. “Since I was in a little gang a couple years back.” “Girl, you didn’t tell us you was a gangster.” Toxi mentions. “It really wasn’t all that big. More of after school ruff club to be honest. The worst we ever did was just steal trinkets from dollar stores.” The snap of the lock soon sounds off, Roxanne pulling her bobby pin from the lock as she tells the girls that: “There we go.”

Opening the steel door wide open, all three girls find on the other side what seemed to be a massive open room covered from floor to walls in countless electrical wires; several control panels and screens laying across the wide chambers. Standing right at the very end of the chamber be the prize they seek; the coveted jewel suspended within a glass case, the countless snaking wires hooked to its base. “Well damn, this lookin easy. Only thing stoppin us is tripping flat on yo ass.” Toxi states as she prepares to slither forth. Just before her slimy bottom could even touch any of the wires, Gigi stops her dead in her tracks; the blonde confirming that: “It does look pretty easy. A bit too easy. Why is there no one here?” “Bitch, the hell you talkin about.” the slime girl asks, pushing away Gigi’s arm. From a pocket in her pink sweat pants, the blonde pulls out a tiny metal ball pinched between her fingers; soon chucking the ball out towards the middle of the chamber. The ball soon explodes in the middle of the air in a puff of gas, the white clouds engulfing the entire chamber in its shroud.

The clouds eventually part to unveil the dozens upon dozens of security lasers that litter the entire chamber, Toxi stepping away from the couple of beam that were inches away from her face. “The fuck!? Though Arti said Charles took care of the security system.” the slime girl reminds them. “I guess he might have missed a few. Nice save, Gigi. I’ll call Artemis and tell her we’re still stuck.” Roxanne states. As her teammate fiddles with her phone, the blonde gazes out towards the other end of the room; discovering a small panel wearing a brand symbol familiar to her. “I don’t think were as stuck as you might think.” Pointing over towards the panel on the other side, Gigi begins to explain with: “This security system is my dads brand. I can just disable it myself.” “Really?” “Yep, I designed it along side dad myself. I know just how it works and how to stop it.” “Kay, cool. How the hell you plannin on getting past all this shit to turn it off.” Toxi aggressively questions. “You gotta show off your stuff. Now its my turn to show mine. Just watch and learn girls what years of dance and gymnastics training has sculpted me into.” Mentioning this, the blonde leap out towards the bramble of security lasers ahead; Roxanne reaching out for her leaving teammate as she exclaims: “Gigi, wait!”

From above, the gymnast flips down the cavalcade of red glowing beams spread through the chamber, landing right on her hands between a lone beam; her head mere inches from its bright red glow. In her handstand, she then lunges herself through a cluster of rays in front of her; landing right on top of one of the computer panels. Noticing the bramble of beams across the top of the panel, Gigi slithers and weaves her slender body through the bright red cluster of lights; contorting and flexing her figure in ways that lend to her to be on par with a professional gymnast more than her own comrades. After squeezing herself through the myriad of lasers, the blonde jumps across more of them littering the chamber; gracefully landing upon the countless wires littering the floor. Though these uneven wires prove to make her a tad off balance, Gigi nonetheless retains her stance and leaps forth through more of the lasers littering the room.

Her gymnastic feats soon take her only several more paces away from the glass case along with the security panel behind it, a straight wall of glowing beams blocking her from progressing any further. Though she finds the wall of rays far too closely knitted to effectively squeeze through, she does notice the wall failing to reach up to the roof; a rather sizable opening perched under the roof of the chamber. Gazing along the cluster of lasers set before her for a way up, she discovers a part of the chamber wall free from any alerting beams; decorated in only loose hanging cable wires. While it may seem risky to some, this proves to be just the path that the young girl needs; a smile beaming on her face as she prepares to leap out towards the wall. Taking a bounding jump over one more bush of beams below her, Gigi reaches out for the wired wall before her; clasping tightly to the cables coating the chambers side. Taking a tight grip of the hanging wires, Gigi pulls herself up the wall as quickly as a well trained Olympian; soon perched right at the very top of the chamber. Stuck along the ceiling, Gigi takes a moment to position herself before leaping out to the hole atop the wall of beams blocking her way forward. Finally, the blonde makes the jump out towards the wall before her; gliding over the countless lasers and beams below as Roxanne watches her in awe. Utilizing the momentum of her kickoff, Gigi successfully weaves herself through the gap between the laser wall and the chamber’s ceiling; soon descending right near where the glass case stands. Once landing on her feet, the blonde strolls aside the case containing their prize and over to the control panel for the security grid; swiftly typing along its keyboard as she claims that: “Aaaaand there we go. Down and out.”

Pressing the last key on the panel, Gigi glances back and watches as the grid of beams dissolve before her eyes; the entire room soon void of any security lasers left. Both of her teammates waltz through the laserless chambers to meet with the blonde at the very end, all the while Gigi gazes to them with a smug grin; Roxanne applauding her efforts while Toxi looks on with bitter scorn. “So, you two enjoy my little performance or did you love it? Pretty spectacular, wasn’t it?” “It was amazing, Gigi. You really-” Roxanne attempts to compliment, though finding herself being rudely interrupted by her slimy comrade. “Bitch, you call that an olympic showcase? I know at least half the peeps above us that can make your sorry ass flips look like grade school gymnastics.” “Toxi! Using other people accomplishments and abilities instead of your own to try and leave scars? And here I thought that your slimy ass couldn’t stoop any lower.” “Bitch, I’ll leave more than a scar when I’m done with you!” Just before either of them could throw down, Roxanne gets right in the middle and swiftly reminds them of their objective with: “Girls! Job! Jewel! Melt! Case!” Seeing their partner point out towards the case in question, Toxi and Gigi give one another spiteful glares before breaking off; the slime girl slithering to the glass case before them.

Finding herself showing within the surface of the glass veil, the gooey girl gets to work on melting through the clear glass; reaching her palm out to her own reflection. Touching the glass with her slimy hands, she begins to spread her corrosive acid across its clear reflective surface; the ooze she leaves behind bubbling and seething as it starts to melt through like melting butter on a piece of glassy bread topped off with delicious face melting acid. Toxi’s slimy deep violet goo makes quick work of the clear vial, dissolving a massive hole leading to the coveted shiny prize contained within. Once cracking the case wide open, Roxanne reaches out for their glimmering target; snatching the gem right off the pole it was perched upon. “Good work, girls. The people up top might just not take us for granted anymore. Maybe even make us go on more missions like this if we’re lucky.” Roxanne informs as they all stroll towards the exit. “I’m betting they’ll let me work out in the premium practice room after all the stuff that I’ve done.” Gigi claims. “All the stuff you did? Bitch, did you not see all the shit my acid melt through today? They outta gimme my own fuckin personal chef for all the shit I did.” Toxi asks. “Girls, you both did amazing on this mission. I’m sure they’ll be proud of both of you.” Roxanne attempts to tell the both of them. “Oh, like you did so much. You’ve just been sitting on your slimy ass while I had to jump and flip through a damn security system.” “Oh yeah, cause I like to see your flat ass flip through a brickwall. We wouldn’t even be here if it weren't for me.” From failing to quell her partners incessant bickering, Roxy’s face swiftly deflate; just being so done with both of them. Even after being with eachother for nearly 4 months now, they still think of ways to piss each other off; they can at least not be as loud. Practically keeping everybody almost every damn night. Wish they’d just stop for once.

Roxanne’s wish is swiftly granted when only a few feet from the exit, all three of them discovering a bright red energy barrier barring their only exit. “What...what is that.” Roxy questions. Approaching the barricade, Gigi reaches out to the force field and taps the surface of the blockade; the energy surface echoing her taps across its face. “This might be a problem.” “A problem my ass! Stand back, motherfucka. I’ll show ya how big a problem this is.” the slime girl boast, pushing the blonde aside as she approaches the door. Just like the glass case before hand, Toxi lathers the face of the force field with her own acidic goo; the slime she leaves behind bubbling before her and her comrade. The slime girls prideful smile swiftly dissolves however when finding her slime simply sliding right off the barrier; leaving not a single melted hole along its surface. “Wow, just look at that. I guess we’re just as fucked as I thought.” Gigi sarcastically claim. “Whatev bitch. So what if I can’t melt through the damn door. They ain’t got them barriers on their walls. Should be pretty easy meltin through the dry wall and wires.” “Oh yeah, you’re right. Should be pretty easy melting through it all as the wires fry you alive.” “I’m afraid Gigi’s right, Toxi. Your acid could conduct the electricity flowing through all the wires dressed through here. And since you can’t melt through anything without touching it first, It probably wouldn’t be hard to imagine hurting yourself.” Roxy adds. After an irritated growl escapes from between the slime girls gooey lips, Toxi points out towards her two comrades as she accuses Roxanne that: “This shit ain’t fair! You always taking her side, Roxy. You never back up what I think.” “That’s cause she knows which of them is the smarter out of us.” “The fuck is that supposed to mean.” “It means you aren’t the one whose got all A’s on their report card.” “Guess it also means you ain’t got one hell of a bodacious bod like mine.” “The hell did you say about my body, bitch?” Witnessing her two partners stirred into a furious arguing fit once again, Roxanne can’t help but let out an exhausted sigh; wondering how in the hell can she get them to stop doing this shit.

In the midst of her emotional exhaustion, Roxanne’s eyes trail up to the roof of the chamber; fixated on a hole in the middle beginning to open up. “Uh, girls.” “Least I don’t gotta wear shitty contacts to see three feet in front of me.” Toxi mocks. “Is that way you have to keep yourself locked in a tube to keep yourself from looking like literal shit?” Gigi barks back. “Girls.” Roxanne utters. Taking a glance back towards the ceiling, Roxy discovers the hole above them to have opened wide; gazing back towards the two as she once again exclaims in dismay: “Girls!” Alas, the panic in her voice fails to reach her two comrades; neither of them batting an eye to her as Toxi continues with: “Oh, like you lookin any better right now. Bitch, you gotta whole lotta work to do if you wanna make that bowl of yours work cut work.” “Same for you with all those nasty ass boils. Betting not even a dash of makeup could cover up all those.” As her two partners argue among themselves, Roxanne looks up to the ceiling once more; witnessing a massive block of metal drop down from the hole. The oversized block crashes down right in the middle of the chamber, the quaking impact finally breaking both Toxi and Gigi out from their bickering as they glance over in its direction. As all three girls stare out to the heavyweight piece of metal, they watch as its metallic surface begins to unfold before their very eyes; a pair of arms emerging from its sides and grasps the countless wires below it. “Roxy, the fuck you didn’t warn us about this?” Toxi questions. “Yeah, Rox. Could’ve used the heads up.” Gigi adds, both of their responses drawing out yet more frustration from their red haired partner. As the transforming block of metal lifts itself from the floor via its morphing legs, it uproots countless electrical wires from throughout the entire chamber; dressing itself in the loose broken wiring as it breaks out from its cube like shell. Once the body finally takes its shape, the boar like head pops out from the middle of its chest; its glowing indigo eyes glaring out towards the three intruders.

Once finishing its grand transformation, the massive metallic automaton lumbers over towards the trio; the girls backing away to the approaching robot as Gigi states that: “Oh...They must’ve shelled out for my dads deluxe security package. Security droid and all.” “Tell me you text the others.” Toxi questions, her eyes shifting over to their red haired partner. “They’re on their way now. We just have to buy them enough time until they get here.” Roxanne informs.

Their robotic adversary nearing, the girls witness the metallic giant flings its wiring out towards them like a makeshift whip; their electrical ends sending out a constant flow of sparks as they fly. From dodging the oncoming lightning whip, all three of the girls splitting off as they sprint away from the towering automaton. Once gaining enough distance from their lumbering foe, Roxanne aims her site out towards the blonde flipping away from the giant; Roxy asking if: “So if your dad built these things, does that mean you know how to shut them down?” “I should. If we could melt through its metal shell, I’d just have to mess with the circuitry to break it down.” Whilst slithering away from the pursuing android, the slime girl is all too eager to rudely remind Gigi that: “Bitch, you forget what you said? Touching just one of those wires might reduce my sexy ass to a fine chard sludge.” “You think I don’t remember that? Like I said before, leave that to me.” the blonde retells, a determined smile stretching across her face. From her determined grin, the bowlcut blonde pulls out from her jacket a pair of brightly colored pom poms; shaking the two of them in the palms of her hands. “Girl, you lost your fuckin mind or what!? This ain’t the time for one of yo shitty cheering practices!”

Partially ignoring her slimy comrades less then encouraging input, Gigi takes a moment to breath before preparing to start; soon jumping around while flailing her pom poms around as she cheers with: “Hey hey, you you! Automaton! Fuck you! Dressing in wires is so last year! You outta be running in tears!” The cheerleaders enthusiastic taunts prove effective enough to draw her robotic foe’s attention; the metal giant halting in its tracks and glaring over towards the mocking blonde as she continues with: “You overblown fax machine! Bet you can’t touch this teen! Come get me! Come, come, come get me!” The mocking cheers cause the massive android to charge out in her direction, drawing her metallic foe away from her friends as she witnesses the automaton ready to strike with its loose wire whips. Just as the iron behemoth casts its electrical wires out to the cheering girl, Gigi springs up high into the air; flipping across the slither of loose wiring and landing right atop a clean spot of the giants arm. Hopping from the top of its metal limb, Gigi glides right over the metallic automaton’s boar like head; gliding over its sharp mettalic teeth. The blonde cheerleader soon comes to face the giant androids wire coated backside, continuing her cheer as she claps her red and white pom poms together with: “Now it’s time to end this cheer with a blast! A-A-A blast!” Between the palms of her hands, the paper making up her pom poms suddenly burst apart; revealing under their glittering paper a sizable explosive. The cheerleader waits not another moment to chuck her bomb towards her iron adversary’s backside, the explosive releasing its deadly payload upon impact. Gigi’s little bomb shows to be more than powerful enough to knock the security android right off its feet; the automaton falling to the wire littered floor on its stomach.

Once landing back onto the floor, the bowlcut blonde looks towards her two teammates; gloating on how: “And that is how a genius downs a giant. Hidden expanding explosives mark 2!” Just as they hear Gigi say such, both Toxi and Roxanne witness the iron colossus quickly begin arise from the floor; seemingly unfazed by the cheerleaders surprise explosive. Upon seeing this, the slime turn glances back to her blonde partner; looking to her smug ass face as she wonders aloud to her: “The hell all the good that did!? You didn’t even put a dent in it! You just tryin to show off again?” “Toxi, it’s back.” Roxanne points out. Gazing out to the rising giants backside, they find the wires that once coated the automaton’s back to be rendered to burnt chards; the pieces fluttering down to the floor as the colossus stands back on its feet. “Hey, slime tits. Time to get your gooey ass a movin.” Gigi order. “Bitch, you don’t tell me what to do.” the slime girl states as she moves in towards the approaching security droid.

Slithering out to the nearing giant, Toxi watches as the massive robot prepares to lash its wired whips towards her; the slime girl refusing to move as the wires near. In one clean swipe, Toxi is slashed into meager puddles by the cast wire whip; parts of herself spreading across the semi wire littered floor. Even with their comrades presumed demise and the security droids approach, both Gigi and Roxanne remain completely confident as the hulking metal giant nears. From around the chambers flooring, the puddles and drops of Toxi’s remains begin to slither their way around the countless wires and towards the giant, halting underneath the metal monsters feet. As soon as the metallic colossus steps onto Toxi’s own slimy remains, the automaton fumbles right back to the ground; falling flat on its stomach once again. The giant fallen forward, the bits and pieces of the slime girl climb across its small bits of wireless metal; reforming into her old slimy self right atop the robots backside. Having pulled herself back together, the Toxi acts fast and smears her slimy acid across the iron giants backside; her gooey substance quickly beginning to melt through its metal shell and exposing the circuitry within. Before she could reach for the circuits however, the giant android beneath her begins to roll back on its feet once more; Toxi left to slip right off its backside.

After her partner splatters along the floor, Gigi leaps above her as she thanks the slime girl with: “Thanks for the assist. Have fun, sitting in a puddle of your own filth.” The bowlcut blonde races out towards the lumbering metal monster, watching as the droid prepares to cast its wire whip out to the approaching cheerleader. Once leaping over the massive androids lightning whip, Gigi slides right between the giants metal legs and faces its exposed backside; seeing the melted hole that her slimy partner had made just for her. Gigi then spring up to towards the automatons back, climbing her way up via the wires leading to the hole; the blonde careful not to grab hold of any sparking ends. Finally, the blonde reaches up to the security droids open hole; taking a peek inside as she claims to herself that: “Right. Now just to rewire the insides and direct the output to the mainframe to overload it and this little droid here should-” Its while gazing at the insides of the giant that shock and bewilderment spread across the blondes face; Roxanne noticing her agile teammate simply staring at the inside and wondering: “Gigi, what’s the hold up? Is there something wrong?” “Th-the circuitry. It’s...it’s completely different…They modified this model! I can’t believe it! They can’t do this. It’s a violation of the deluxe packs user agreements. These cheap, lab coated rats! They’ll-” Before the cheerleader could rant on any further, the android begins to shake itself in an effort to toss the blonde off its back. Despite her desperate attempts to hold on, Gigi eventually goes flying off the modded androids backside; the robot itself lashing its electrical whips upon the helpless cheerleader. The bowlcut blonde can’t help but take in the full brunt of the sting, the lightning like strike sending her careening across the chamber. Roxanne watches in horror as her comrade is sent slamming straight into a wall, rushing to her aid as she tumbles to the wire littered floor; crying out: “Gigi!” As Roxanne urgently dashes towards the injured cheerleader, the giant pulls back its lightning whip in an effort to intercept her; failing to catch Toxi slipping underneath its metal foot. Stepping onto the slime girls entire body causes the giant to take another spill onto the wired floor; the tip of its whip missing the rushing Roxanne entirely.

Finally coming to her downed teammate, Roxy kneels before the lying Gigi to inspect her; discovering several bruises and burns across her body. “Gigi? Gigi? Come on, please! Are you still with us? Say something?” Upon pleading such, Roxanne hears uttered from her partners mouth a painful groan; the sign of life making her let out a relieved breath: “Oh thank goodness. Just gimme a second here, Gigi. I’ll have you fixed up in no time.” Declaring this, Roxanne gently places the palms of her hands over the bruises and burns plaguing the young cheerleader; a bright lavender light beginning to light up underneath her hands. Its in that moment does Roxy lift her hands off her friend, unveiling a small lavender flame awaiting beneath her palms. Rather then burning the blonde even further, Roxanne’s light purple fires instead mend her injured friends bruises; Gigi’s painful expression coming to a calm as her wounds disappear within her friends blaze. Her bright lavender fires blaze across her comrades body, consuming more and more of Gigi’s bleeding bruises and burns the further it goes; extinguishing itself when the blonde body is left completely healed. Once the last of the flames go out, Gigi rises from the wired covered floor simple like getting herself out of bed after a long and well deserved nap; stretching her arms out as she sits up beside Roxanne. The blonde looks to where her painful bruises once were, finding not a scratch left on her as she tells her gratitude to the medic who tended to her with: “Thanks for the heals, Roxy. I’d probably be dead if you hadn’t had stuck with us.” “Don’t thank me just yet.” her medic disappointingly suggests, turning back towards the scene of the action.

Gazing back towards the iron giant, the two witness their slimy comrade slithering around the massive android; the androids whip slinging her back towards her team. Pulling herself back together beside her fully healed partner, Toxi shakes off her sudden blow; glancing over to the blonde as she wonders: “Glad to see yo sorry ass back from the dead. So how you plannin on hackin this metal dick?” “I...I don’t know.” “Yeah, real fucking funny. Seriously, what’s the plan?” “Bitch, I said I don’t know! I can’t stay on the robots back long enough to understand the newly place circuitry.” Before any of them could plan further on what their next move might be, all three of the girls witness the metal giant lumbering over towards them; bracing for the worst as the iron colossus pulls its whip back.

Right before the security android could lash its wires out to the three, a resounding boom echoes throughout the entire chamber; everyone gazing out to the side to find a part of the chamber wall having burst open. Shooting out from the resulting cloud of dry wall dust, a massive green beam fires out towards the iron giant; the ray proving more than enough to send the security droid crashing straight towards other side in one clean shot. Before the steel behemoth could stand back on its two iron feet, something slams down upon its stomach and keeps it glued to the floor; its indigo eyes meeting the purple mercs devious grin. Keeping the giant grounded to the wire littered floor, Roy starts pummeling the automaton further into the ground; each pounding strike quaking the entire chamber from bottom to top. “Roy?” Roxanne utters, shocked to find her boy before her beating down the colossus that troubled them so. Turning her eyes back towards the dispersing clouds of dust, all three of the girls find standing behind its shroud to find both of their other comrades coming out from the freshly busted hole in the wall; a large technologically enchanted bazooka perched over Artemis’ shoulders. “I still don’t get how exactly you managed to carry that monstrosity of a gun with us. You’re not exactly sporting a lot of pockets on you, much less a holster to luge that beast around in.” Charles points out as he walks alongside the sniper. “No time for questions, stay sharp and look alive.” she simply counters with.

Once the two of them come to the rest of their team, Artemis kneels down and offers them her hand; asking them all if: “You girls okay?” “Uh...yeah, obviously. We were just about to hand this tin can motherfucka’s shiny metal ass on a silver plate til you guys busted in. Knocked this metal bitch flat on its face at least a good couple times.” Toxi brags. “All thanks to my ingenuity and planning of course.” Gigi smugly adds. “If that’s the case, then it shouldn’t be much of a problem for Roxanne’s purple demon she oddly calls her boyfriend to finish off.” Charles states. “Charles! Don’t just go calling him names like that. He’s not that bad of a guy when you-” Roxy attempts to scold her blue leader for; though hearing Roy’s maniacal laughter echo in their ears proves to be detrimental to her point.

Gazing back towards the scene of the action, all of them watch as the violet merc continues to beat the bot in; Roy eventually smacked aside by the hard steel of the automatons backhand. Despite being smacked back by the full brunt of the iron behemoth’s metal strike, this fails to keep the merc back for long; Roy regaining his aerial balance as his black wings sprout from his back. His metallic foe standing back on its steel legs, the merc takes the moment to give the giant a less then friendly middle finger; taunting on how: “Surprise motherfucka! Your rustic metal asshole ain’t got nothing on my glorious cheeks. I got enough spunk in me to take way more than you can dish out with your tiny wire string dick!” Hearing their purple guest mock the security droid in such a lewd manner, Roxanne’s entire team glances in her direction; all wearing face ranging from worry, disbelief, and “What the fuck were you thinking when hooking up with this maniac?” kind of looks. Roxy can do little but give her crew a semi insincere smile, letting out a nervous giggle as she can only shrug.

From the black angels taunting mockery, the metallic monster thrust his free hand down the rest of the wires beneath his feet; pilling out more of the electrical wiring littering the floor. Once uprooting whatever wires are left lying on the floor, the robotic behemoth whips both the mess of wire strings in his hands and swings them out towards the purple bastard himself. Roy shows to be more than capable of evading the bots makeshift whips, dancing around the lightning like wires in a 360 pirouette; soon countering the giants swing with his own power in the form of pitch black beam. The giant automaton takes in the full force of the merc’s deadly ray; Roy’s beam piercing straight through the security droids side; its pieces flying across the chamber. Even after taking in such a lethal shot to the side of its torso, the iron colossus still refuses to fail back on the floor; standing against the odds as if nothing happened. “Ya gotta be fuckin with me here! The hell did yo daddy make this asshole out of to take a hit like that.” Toxi questions, everybody glaring eyes locked to the blonde cheerleader. Gigi can’t help but let out a nervous chuckle, explaining to everyone that: “Only the best for his inventions. The motto of his company.” “Lets see it stand up to another shot of this.” Artemis mentions as she aims the tip of her plasma bazooka out towards the standing giant. Firing her massive weapon off from the wayside, the neon green markswoman lands another clean hit to the hulking androids shoulder; the blast strong enough to knock the behemoth straight into the wall.

After lending her own support in handing the iron giant a piece of its own rustic asshole, Artemis glances over to the other girls and questions if: “Did you all manage to get the jewel.” When asked about such, Roxanne pulls out the little coveted prize in question; presenting the shining jewel as she declares that its: “Right here. All in its glimmering glory.” “Great work, you three.” After complimenting the Roxanne and her friends for the accomplishment, the neon green sniper shifts her gaze over to their airborn purple guest; demanding that: “We have what we need here. We need to make our escape ASAP.” “Right behind y’all.” Roy acknowledges; gliding in their direction as the rest begin to take their leave through the hole in the wall. Before heading out with the rest of her team, Roxanne stops inches from the way out; taking a look back to her boy as he glides in her direction.

Just when Roy was about to reach for his purple flamin girl, the merc feels something wrap around his body; a whole cluster of loose shocking wires entangling around his entire body and jerking him back. Having caught the black angel in its electrical whips, the mechanical colossus wastes no time in beating the merc across the entire room, shocking and slamming the black angel constantly into the concrete floor. In the middle of his battering punishment, Roy’s purple eyes venture out towards the hole in the wall; discovering his girl watching the scene in horror. Roxanne worry is all the merc needs for motivation; stopping himself from crashing onto the wireless concrete floor and landing back on his feet. Though the android attempts to pull the merc back, its purple captive proves to have far more strength under his than its mechanical servos can fight against; Roy refusing to budge where he stands. Its in this stand off does the black angel burst free from the wires that bind his entire body; the resulting shock wave causing the automaton to stumble back. Just when the security droid was ready to fall, something prevents it from crashing down; the boar head gazing down to witness the purple merc taking a tight grip on its makeshift whips. Even when having felt the millions and millions of volt coursing through his entire body, Roy refuses to let go the electrical wires that once bound him; instead pushing the power current back with his own power. Roy’s own pitch black power creeps up the wires dressing the androids arm, soon consuming the rest of the wires alongside the massive metal giant itself; causing the automaton to explode in a mess of black smoke. Roxanne backs away from the drifting clouds of black, soon finding her own purple boy emerging out from the clouds and flying in her direction; Roy sweeping Roxy off her feet as he jets out of the smokey chamber.

Racing through the white halls ahead of the underground basement, the rest of the crew sprint across the polished marble with the mcguffin in their mitts; their proud getaway coming to sudden blockade. Standing in the entire teams way be a whole battalion of armed guards and patrol facing them down; their weapons squarely aimed right at the four. “So, how much more ammo do ya got in that cannon of yours?” Charles wonders. “Don’t think it matters. One blast from it could make this whole hall crash on top of us.” “How the hell we getting outta here then.” the slime girl wonders. Right then and there that they here the blonde cheerleader behind them warn that: “Guy, something’s coming up on our tail fast.” “Is it more security?” Artemis questions. “Not unless they’re on fire.” “Heh?” From their teammates bizarre answer, everyone else glances back from where they sprinted from; witnessing a giant ball of purple flames swiftly approaching. Jumping out from the burning comets path, all four of them witness their red headed comrade leaping off of its back; Roxanne greeting them all with: “Hey guys.” “Roxy, but then is that-” Toxi questions. Coated in a dark purple flame, the black winged angel rockets towards the blockade of guards with a smile on his face; the battalion he approaches scattering in attempt to flee from his blazing charge. Alas, there escape from the merc was but a fleeting wish; Roy ramming straight through the squad in a literal purple firestorm. Once the blazing inferno quickly comes to a calm, the girls then rush past the countless downed guards; Roxanne helping Roy off the burnt marble floor as she hears him thank her with: “Thanks for the quick fix there, Fox Rox. You’re fires were pretty sick.” “No problem Roy, happy to help. The way we came in isn’t too far from here. Come on.”

Following the rest of the squad, both Roxanne and Roy make it back to the janitor’s closet they broke in from; Roy stopping right next to the doorway and facing the way he came from. The red head turns back towards her violet boy toy, wondering: “What are you doing? Reinforcements will be here any minute.” “Covering our tracks. You go ahead with the others, I won’t be far behind.” the merc informs, a pitch black power forming above the palm of his hand. As her boyfriend has instructed, the red head races through the hole leading right into the sewer tunnels; leaving Roy to face the oncoming pack of security guard himself. With the power in his hand fully charged, Roy fires out a massive black beam out towards the oncoming mass of guards; the ray consuming the entire mob in its agonizing darkness. The catastrophic blast causes the entire underground facility to furiously rumble, pieces of the hallway collapsing from the resulting quake; a clear queue for the merc to take his leave as he dashes through the janitor doorway.

Back out the dark alley atop the surface; Charles holds their well earned prize in the clasp of his finger; admiring the gems cut as he declares to the rest of the team that: “Ladies. Our mission has been accomplished.” From their blue skinned leader declaring as such, most of the team cheers from their victory; others admiring the shinning jewel in pride. “I still can’t believe it. We pulled off our first big mission, and none of us loss a single limb.” Gigi exclaims. “Still can’t believe yo flat ass didn’t screw us over. Though for sure we’d be dead with your loud ass mouth.” Toxi mocks. Despite this promptly starts up another argument between the two of them, their baby blue leader promptly ignores them both as he approaches his neon green sniper; admitting to her that: “I never thought in my time with you all that I’d be one day proud of everyone. Each of you played your parts well.” “Roy did too. We wouldn’t have pulled off this big assignment if it weren't for him.” Roxanne reminds him. A reluctant groan escaping from his mouth, the lab coated leader swiftly showing his weak gratitude for: “Yeah, fine. Thank you Ray for your excellent services, we’re lucky to have had you on the team. Blah blah blah blah blah.” “Eh, no need to thank me.” “Good, cause I wasn’t.” “Really I should be saying the same for my lavender hot bae here for the fun night out.” the merc states, giving his girl a peck on the cheek. The sudden smooch causes Roxy to let out a nervously faux giggle as she strolls over to the neon green sniper; Artemis knelling to the red heads ear and asking if: “Mind if we have a little talk. Girl to girl.”

Once taking the red head to a little more private side of the dark alleyway, Artemis takes in a deep breath before coming out with: “I hate to be the one to ask this out of the blue, especially with all the luck that we’ve been having, but...how’s your brother’s disability treatment going?” “Oh...It’s-it’s been rather slow as of late. Taking baby steps I guess. Hopefully all the money the Alliance is feeding me can go to helping him deal with it until I improve.” Roxanne hesitantly informs. “Well, if it isn’t enough, I’ll be more then happy to send whatever money I get your way. It’s the least I can do after making my time in the Alliance as comforting and stress free as possible.” “No problem, Arti. I’m more than happy to help you.” “By the way, did you mention any of this to the mercenary yet?” “Roy? Uh, no. I really haven’t figured out a way how to yet. I was hoping to do it naturally.” “Are you sure its a good idea to tell him at all?” “Artemis. I know you’ve read up on all that he’s done through his supposed career; but with the few weeks that I’ve spent with him, he really isn’t as bad as you think.” “I’m just wanting you to watch yourself.” “I know, and I will. Thanks Arti.” Unaware to either of the girls, the purple merc in question stood on the other side of the corner behind them; taking in the entire conversation with a sort of mild unease.

Strolling along the nearly empty city walkway, both Roy and Roxanne walk together hand in hand; the dimly lit streetlights to their side lighting their way. “Ya know, we still got us a lot of night on us to burn away. Could go somewhere else tonight, like a restaurant, arcade, mall, lake, fight club. You got the wheel on where how this night can go.” the merc suggests. “Actually, I already have a place in mind that I wanna stop; though its not really as fun as any of those places. You don’t really have to come with if you don’t want to.” “What, you mean like a hospital.” “Actually, yeah. I was planning to stop their for a little bit to maybe help out.” While walking alongside his red headed girlfriend, Roy loosens his grip on Roxanne’s own hand; eventually letting go of her as he asks her if: “Is it the same hospital where your brother is staying?” “Yeah...How did...Were you overhearing Arti and I talk back there?” “Kind of.” “Oh, I’m sorry for the way she talked about you. I know she can be defensive, but-” “Don’t be. She’s a good friend looking after you like that. That neon green gal’s lucky to have somebody like you with her.” With her boy mentioning such to her, Roxanne can’t help but crack a sincere smile; soon hearing Roy continue with: “Plus, I think I know a guy that can help out just as much with your little bro’s problems. A blue bro of mine with healing powers somewhere close to yours; I figure with his help, we could get your brother back on his feet. I ain’t too sure if he could fix him up completely, or if at all. But hey, can’t hurt to try; right?”

It takes the red head a few good moment to ponder upon her purple merc’s offer; but eventually responds to him with: “It sounds too good to be true...but I don’t think I can take you up on your offer.” “What? Look, I know my bro can be act like an idiot sometimes, but he’s pulled through for us lots of times before. I’m pretty sure that he can fix your-” “That’s not what I meant...I was...hoping to one day heal my brother myself.” Roxanne corrects. “What?...Why? Why would you wait for something like that?” Roy questions. “Its the Alliance. Being with them gives me a good outlet to practice and hone my healing flames; practice that I may one day heal my brother myself. Once I master my powers to do something like that, there may be no one else in this world I can’t heal then. To take care of the needy and sick that dwell in this cruel world, awaiting for somebody to end their pain and suffering; I can become a beacon of hope and life for everyone.” His girlfriends explanation on denying his offer drives Roy to the point of silence, his only fist trembling behind his back as he finally answers her with: “Are you kidding me?...” “Huh?”

“That has to be some of the biggest pile of bullshit I ever heard!” The merc harsh comment shocks and appalls the red head; backing away from the black angel as she questions him: “How...could you say something that?” “You mean to tell me that your using your brother as a milestone for something that you don’t even know might happen, all the while leaving the poor kid to suffer; how could I not say it!” “He’s not suffering, Roy! All the money the Young Blood Alliance gives me help treat and comfort him in his hour of need!” “He wouldn’t even need any of that cash if you stop being so self centered and get him actual help!” “It’s like that! You don’t understand!” “No, you don’t understand! If you actually gave a damn about your brother, then you wouldn’t have him wait around for who know’s how fuckin long until you muster up the skill to actually do it; all just so for you hope of what you could do in the future rather than the reality of what you can do now. That’s not dreaming, that’s just being selfish.” Taking in the merc’s harsh words, Roxanne stands before him shocked and silent; attempting to hold back the flow of tears welling in her eyes. Roy lets out a small sigh as he pulls out his phone, passing by the shock struck red head as he tells her to: “Now, come on. My bro can meet with us at the hospital.” “No...” Roxanne utter. Stopping dead in his tracks, the purple merc turns back towards the red head behind him and simply states: “Why now?” “It’s over Roy...It’s all over...We’re through.” Hearing the girl uttering this with his own ears, the merc’s phone slips out from his grip and onto the cold concrete walkway; staring at Roxanne’s back as he himself utters: “What?” “...Goodbye.” Its with her final word that the red head runs from the merc, disappearing into the darkness and leaving Roy under the light of the streetlamp; Roy crumbling to his knees as his eyes drift down to his own shadow.

In the midst of his heartbroken sorrows, the merc hears a familiar voice ring inside his head; the goddess within asking if: “Are you going to be okay?” “I…...I don’t know anymore.” “Why did you say all that to her?” “I was just hoping to talk some sense into her. Get her to see and do the things that are in the now rather than what may be in the future.” “...What do you plan to do now?” To Hera’s worrying question, the merc can’t bring himself to answer her at the moment; simply rising from the concrete walkway and flying up into the night sky.

Perched atop the edge of a buildings, Roy gazes down to the few people left strolling along the streets; staring down to a couple holding one another in their arms. “Hera...” “Yes...” “Is it wrong that I still love her?” “...No.” “But with everything that’s happened...It still hurts. She just cut me out so fast, all while I was offering to help her. I know I was being aggressive. But I did it to try and get through to her...” “Did you think it would’ve been better simply to not say anything?” “How could I not say anything to something like that? Anything to change her mind...But all I did was just ruin everything.” Ruminating in silence, the merc’s gaze drifts up towards the moon perched high in the sky; staring upon the glowing half crescent as a heavy breath escapes him. “Sometimes, I wonder if I even deserved to be loved.” “Oh Roy, of course you do.” “Then why am I so bad at keeping it?”

With his last question baiting out no answers from the goddess, the merc stands from the edge of the building as he prepares to take off into the night sky; his black wings unfolding from his back. Just as he launches right off the rooftop, an unexpected green beam blasts into the side of his head; the surprising headshot causing the merc to plummet to the streets below. The impact of Roy’s crashing descent could be heard ringing across the entire block; accompanying the merc cursing: “Fuck!”

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The final episode before the season finale. I'll be honest, I had the scenario at the end in the back of my mind for a very very long while now; the thought of Roy severing a sort of romantic connection with his own stubborn morality and beliefs was one that I was wanting to experiment with for a long time. I especially wanted to make this argument as two sided as I possibly could, with readers being able to see both sides of their argument without demonizing either; plus for both parties to have their own mistakes in the relationship beforehand. I really hope that I pulled it off well...Just in time for Valentines day too.

Gigi, Toxi, Artemis, Charles, and Roxanne all belong to: @princesscallyie

[shatteredmirrors-and-lace23]

First Lines

Tagged by @laudanumcafe​ and @im-back-with-the-madness​

Rules: List the first lines of your 20 stories. See if there are any patterns. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

Note: Oh jesus help me.... These aren’t in any particular order, But I think I’m just gonna do 16? (sorry!)

In the Breaking:

It’s been three weeks. Three weeks, 67 failed phone calls, 75 un-replied texts, and 23 unanswered voicemails…they hadn’t talked for over three weeks… not since Patrick walked in of him. It was the longest they’ve gone without a single word to each other, sure there were other times where they had not physically see or heard each other’s voices for months on end, but there was always some form of communication: an email, a text, a late night phone call or hilarious picture messages they would send each other. But this…this was different. It was deafening, it was heartbreaking, and Pete knew it was all his fault. 

Come and Save Me (From Myself): “Why do you have to go so far away…”

“U.C. is only about an hour, maybe hour and a half away, dude!” Pete laughed as he packed up some of his clothes into a suitcase, haphazardly tossing a few random items into it as he went.Patrick rolled his eyes and sighed sadly, the 14 year old looking over his best friend excitedly rummage through his closet from where he was perched on the 18 year old’s desk. “I know, but still,” he mumbles, his eyes hiding under the bill of his trucker hat.

Pete stopped and looked over his shoulder at his best friend, screw the age difference, Patrick had always been there for him. “Hey, its not like I’m leaving the state, man,” Pete reassured with a smile, standing from his spot and walking over to the teenager. “Besides, I’ll visit on weekends when he don’t have games, and maybe I’ll kidnap you so you can chill out with me on campus.” He pulled on the bill of Patrick’s hat, pushing it up to expose bold frames and green, blue multicolor eyes that have always captivated Pete.

Heartbeat:

Patrick leaned back heavily in the passenger side of the car watch the lights flicker by, each one burning out like a match as they flew down the highway just as  another lit up the road and vanished in a blink of an eye. The rhythm of the passing lights, the soft orange glow in the never-ending pitch black of night, enough to want to lull the singer to sleep, but the gentle hand on his thigh was warm and kept him awake.

The Price I Pay: He knows he shouldn’t be back there, back in the dressing rooms amidst the frills, shimmer, and lace, perfume burning his lungs, as the lights of the vanities hurt his eyes. As he walks through the crowed area, he catches several glances, each with pity in their eyes, boring holes into his skin with each second he’s in the room. He ignores them, adjusting his vest as he makes his way to the private dressing rooms, which were only reserved for the “Prized Dolls” as Mr. Morris, the establishment’s owner and manager (and disgusting excusing for a human being, but Pete knows better than to be vocal about his opinions) calls them.

How to Save a Life:

“Are you okay?” Patrick tensed as the question reached his ears, his back to Pete. Casually swiping the incoming text away, he simply looked over his shoulder at the dark- haired man standing in the doorway of their kitchen.

“Of course I’m okay,” Patrick stated, the words sounding too harsh, even to his own ears.“Why wouldn’t I be?” He sounded matter-of-fact, but it was laced with annoyance and he didn’t know why he was being so defensive with Pete, of all people. Maybe it was because he was about to start a 36 hour shift at the hospital, and he just wasn’t up to it today…or maybe it was because he had just gotten a text from his new co-worker before Pete had spoken up. “Come over to my place after your shift, we can have some drinks…and chill ;)”  The text in and of itself was flirty, and Patrick knew that the person who sent it had other definition for chill….

“And you know you want to say yes,” the sinister voice in his head hissed teasingly, mocking him.

All That Glitters: Hailing from a prestigious clan in Chicago, Pete was every bit as rash, dangerous, and protective as any typical person of dragon lineage could get. Patrick learned that early on, practically from the moment they first met with Pete had been standing on his front porch blowing smoke into the wind as Joe introduced them.

And Patrick was quick to learn that if Pete was anything like his lineage, he was fucking stubborn as hell, whether it be lyrics to song, his seat in the van, or even constant cuddles against Patrick’s will, despite the numerous thinly veiled threats and seething looks.

Hot to the Touch (Worried on the Inside):

It’s not the first time one of the kids has had a fever.

Bronx always broke out into fevers when he was an infant, and even through his toddler years, but as he grew older, they were few and far in between, often going unnoticed considering how active the blonde little boy was. (Patrick would be the first to scoff, like father, like son.)

Saint was a pretty healthy baby, too. He only had less than a handful of fevers, again, each going unnoticed, and when they tried to get the little boy to take medication, he would simply pout and turn his head at the pink liquid in the spoon, or crawl away as fast as his chubby little arms and legs could take him.

By Carousel Lights:

“Melancholy does fair well against your scheme, such a sad shade does not suit the rogue on your cheeks nor the jolly yellow of your wardrobe.”

He looks up into the tree, leaves dancing in the wind as he catches sight of a familiar  blue-green knitted hat with pointy ears, a painted feline-like smile with jagged teeth, and sweater faux paws hanging over her wrists. Her legs swing giddily in the air as she sits on a branch peering down at him with such rapt content and mischievous wonder. The Mystical being was the last creature he wished to see on a day such as this. Yet he, bright and warm as the colors of his clothes, felt blue and cold like the dead winter’s lows.

Kitty Chester was a most unwelcome sight, indeed

Treat You Better (Than He Can):

Pete knew his place in the student hierarchy.

Pete was the ‘King of Emo’, and with the title, he had the appearance to do it –dark, flat ironed hair, skin-tight girl jeans that others could barely breathe in, dark shirts and band tees, as well as his precious hoodie and studded belts. His fingernails painted every so often with artfully chipped black nail polish (or black permanent marker if he was lazy, which was most days), and his eyes lined a deep shade of black.

Completed Puzzle:

Pete’s thumb hovers over the post button, and for the first time, in a really long time, he actually has to think about posting this for the world to see, which normally wouldn’t be that hard, but considering how ‘big’ this was…well, he wasn’t sure if he was ready yet. Hell, hecould barely wrap his head around it.

He sighs softly and his places his phone down, scrubbing his hands down his face, in a desperate need to shave, but fuck it, they just finished a tour he’s allowed to avoid the razor for a little bit. His eyes flick over to a familiar figure sleeping curled up on the couch, laptop forgotten and two dogs curled with her, a puffball of a Pomeranian sleeping on her side, and a white husky puppy keeping guard on the floor.

More Than Music:

Patrick watched from the wings of the stage as Pete threw himself around the stage with his bass, lost in the music and that stupid grin that he loved so much etched onto his face, jumping his way back to one of the microphones to sing back up for the chorus.

The blonde singer simply smiled brightly, unconsciously bringing the slightly too long sleeves of Pete’s bomber jacket that he was wearing, closer to himself, mouthing the words to the song and swaying along to the heavy rhythm pulsing through the floor.

(Coffee Beans and Vinyl Records Series!)

Today You’re Barista Is:

It started off innocently enough, an idea to make the customers feel more welcomed, as Brendon explained, taking turns between the four of them when it came to the “Today your Barista Is:” sign in front, between the cash register and the espresso machine. It worked out pretty well for the first three months, many of their customers enjoying the personal touches, everyday a bit of trivia about that day’s main barista displayed and their drink recommendation.

That was until Gerard and Hayley got a hold of his board before he knew Brendon had switched shifts with him. When Patrick had gotten the text from Brendon for the switch, he didn’t mind, but when he entered their quaint little coffee shop, he stopped and stared at the blackboard sitting in front of the register, Gerard and Hayley snickering behind the counter.  On the black board, a signature Hayley William’s stick-figure image of Patrick, decked out in glasses and a fedora, underneath the painted “Today Your Barista Is:” and beside the stick figure, additional writing in Gerard’s chalkboard lettering:

1. Hella fucking gay (and flippin’ cute).

2. Desperately single ;)

Then under the “For Your Drink Today, I Recommend:”

You give me your number.

He Always Stops for the Coffee( and the guy who makes it):

Being a CEO of a relatively small, yet highly successful record label wasn’t really all it cracked up to be, but that might be the shit load of paperwork, the endless boring meetings with pushy, snobbed nosed executives, and the high amounts of stress and endless nights of sleep talking.

But Pete loved it.

Jitters( And I Swear It’s Not the Espresso):

Five in the afternoon was their usual after-work rush, and usually, rush times make the day go so much faster. College kids were pouring in from after class rush, and business men stopped by for their after work fix, and this isn’t even the busiest they get, not until the 8pm rush, when students are in desperate need of their caffeine to help get them through homework and study sessions, and couples, along with their regulars come in for some late night coffee.

That all being said, the shop is actually full and they’re keeping a steady flow of customers going and coming- lattes are being made, Brendon’s cupcakes and cookies are flying from the display case. The chairs and tables are being taken up and crowd is lively, chatter filling the warm walls as the smell of coffee drifts in the air. But, for some reason, the clock can’t seem to go any faster, and Patrick is getting antsy.

Coffee For Closers (Truths over Mochas):

“We should do something.”

“What, exactly, do you have in mind?”

“I don’t know dude! Something, if we don’t, he’ll lose his mind!”

Open Mic and Caffeine Nights

Gala Macchiato :

It’s fucking cold, which, okay, Pete admits, it’s the beginning of November, hence autumn, but still, it’s cold. And it sucks.

But fuck it, he wants to get coffee before his meeting, and he wants to see a his boyfriend.

***

Tag! You’re it!

@immoral-crow @shark-myths @a-smile-like-that @travtrick @saverockandsoulpvnk @thepetetoherpatrick @personalized-radio

(I feel horrible because off the top of my head, there are the only writers I know on Tumblr, please don’t hate me)