#task 105

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 105

aint that just the way

[purplebass]

I tried to go slow this week and be kind with myself and didn't push myself to do things I didn't feel like doing. I feel better compared to one week ago and to the whole of July, where there were moments I thought I wouldn't make it to the next day. I am still confused and in need of stability in all areas but someday I will have it

[dzthenerd490]

Action Report: The Chaos of Fate

This was possibly the worst thing that could happen, The New Church of the Fractured God had found its way into an old ISU vault. They were a well-known modern faction of religion known as Mekhanism though unlike most sects, who want to make Mekhane whole again; they are mostly driven by obtaining power from their deity. Except they weren't alone, they were currently battling against a group from Zealots on Crack. Both wanted to get some ISU tech, and both were incredibly dangerous enemies of the Foundation. Mobile Task Force Athena-1 "Assassin's Creed" obviously wouldn't have been able to handle the Mekhanites overwhelming power nor the chaos of Zealots on Crack. Not that they could offer the extra hands anyways, their forces were spread too thin at the moment due to Abstergo Industries raiding other vaults like crazy in hopes of replenishing their lost pieces of Eden. Instead, a much stronger and equally unpredictable force was going to be needed to fight. Thus, Mobile Task Force Alpha-9 "Last Hope" was deployed. 

***

It was 2017 and Iris was on one of the SFH-2 "Ravens" she was holding a picture of her wife Meri whose stomach was already quite big since she was very pregnant. Iris smiled lovingly at the picture; she still remembered the joy she felt when Meri said she wanted to have a baby and the overwhelming happiness they both had when Dr. Zeek told them the procedure was a success. Then there was Iris's disappointment when she was assigned to today's mission, meaning less time with her wife. Due to the hundreds of other MTF's that existed within the Foundation and the fact that some of them were more powerful than Alpha-9 like Tau-5, Alpha-1, and Hecate-Alpha, she was rarely ever called to action. Though that didn't make the few times she was called to action any less frustrating. 

The O5 Council only saw people like her as a weapon to be used by the Foundation, nothing more. She knew this as when she was first taken in by the Foundation, they immediately put her through harsh military training and taught her stealth and assassination tactics. It was quite bad at first but as time went on the MTF units she worked with became nicer and praised her on her growing strength and increasing number wins in sparring contests. Though there were always researchers that looked at her like a freak and even insulted her to her face for not being "human enough". Most ended up getting fired but it didn't make the pain and humiliation fade, though spending time with her wife and getting counseling from Foundation therapists did help. 

Most thought she was too emotional and maybe sometimes she was but, in the end, she always felt justified in hating the Foundation. Though, she could always count on her closest friends; MTF Captain Xio, one of her mentors who was also a badass Assassin. Daniel who, despite his bad attitude, she could always trust to protect her from the O5 Council. Finally, there was the love of her life Meri which was pretty self-explanatory. Them and many others she had grown to trust over the years, they were all the only reasons she obeyed the O5 Council. If it wasn't for anyone else, she would have at the very least incited a rebellion and killed the Council if she could. Though there was that... other thing she could do, but even now at the age of 34 she still couldn't control it very well, so maybe it was best not to try. 

"You've been staring at that picture for a while now, something nice?" Iris looked up to see Cain sitting on the other side of the chopper from her. 

"It's just my beautiful wife."

"Ah, of course, I should have known from your smile. The love between the two of you is stronger than anything I have ever seen. It even bore life I recently heard, congratulations by the way."

"Ha, thank you Cain. You always say the nicest things."

"I always try to, it's a small part of my repentance but a significant part nonetheless."

"Oh... does that mean you used to be... homophobic?"

"Wha... oh! No! No! No! I meant kindness in general! Dear me Iris, please, I would never sink that low. Besides, believe it or not, back in the age of new, it wasn't uncommon for males to fall in love with other males and the same for females loving other females. The only reason it was looked down on was because no children could be conceived from such love as such it was called a fruitless form of love, but for those not wishing too or at least not yet it was considered trivial at worst."

"Oh, I see."

"Yes, it was popular during both the Greek and Roman era, I think even in the early years of the Medieval period as well... But then there were those kings and queens that had those... what do the young people call it... Harem! Yeah, that's it." Iris almost choked from laughter after hearing that but quickly cleared her throat so she could continue to hear Cain talk. 

"Yes, especially the older men, they hated the idea of women not joining their harem because of their love for the same sex. With Christianity on the rise, they decided to bribe priests and bishops to add some verses and rewrite some quotes within the bible. Suddenly it was seen as weakness for a man to love another man and for a woman to kiss another woman was the same as bedding with the devil himself. The worst part is that most ended up following it to the extremes, calming those that had such love should be burned at the stake. I say, they didn't call it the dark ages for nothing."

"Wow, sorry you had to go through that Cain."

"It's okay, like all of humanity, as we grow, we may woe, but we also develop. We grow bigger, we grow stronger, wiser, and find more ways to cherish the greatest gift of life. Love." Cain winked at her making Iris smile, she then looked at the picture of her beautiful pregnant wife again.

"Sorry to interrupt captain, but we're at the insertion point!" Iris quickly put the photo on a hidden compartment of her armor, then turned on her earphones. 

"Good, take us down nice and steady boys."

"Yes Captain."

***

Once they landed Iris and Cain as well as the four MTF escorts got out of the Raven. At around the same time the other Alpha-9 units and MTF escorts got off their own Ravens and met up in the middle of the choppers. Iris loaded SCP-AEZ and joined the group to see everyone, it must have been quite a serious mission with everyone here. All members of Alpha-9 were here, both from Division "Dagger" and Division "Sword". Division "Dagger" was the one Iris was Captain of; in her unit was Cain (SCP-073), Claudia Raines (SCP-347), and David McGowan (SCP-AZJ) and about three MTF unique Troopers. Her unit was used for stealth missions against powerful Groups of Interest or dangerous Persons of Interest. Then there was Division “Sword” where her good friend and old anomalous mentor Alexi Belitrov was Captain (SCP-2273). In his unit was Rainer Miller (SCP-4051), Leora Lightfoot (SCP-4818), Lucy (SCP-ADY-Alpha) and several MTF Unique Troopers. Because of their abundance of power and destructive capabilities they are mostly entrusted to fight against overwhelming threats. Despite this, Iris was shocked to see Leora here who was currently stretching with a smile on her face, ready to go on the mission. 

"Alexei!" Agent Belitrov looked over to Iris who was walking toward him in anger. He was in his bio suit, so he assumed whatever made her angry, he had nothing to worry about. But then he was reminded the hard way that she knew AIE Martial Arts as she quickly swung her leg upward to kick him in the face. This was normally how she would strike him when she was mad because of how much taller he was. Thanks to his bio suit he wasn't decapitated, but it still hurt; probably the same way a regular person would be hurt by a slap to the face. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why would you bring Leora here?!" Alexei sighed as now he understood why she was so upset. He rubbed the sore part of his bio suit helmet and stood up properly to face Iris. 

"It wasn't me, young Iris, the higher ups requested she come, and she accepted."

"And you just allowed it?"

"No, I did!" Iris then sighed as she turned to her left to face the Commander of Alpha-9 (SCP-AAS). There Charlie was standing there with her own bio suit and armor standing tall with a smile on her face. 

"Seriously Charlie?!"

"That's Commander to you Iris!"

"Don't start! Especially after pulling this crap! For god's sake! She's thirteen."

"Hey! I can fight!" Both looked at Leora who was now standing beside them and pouting in anger at Iris. Iris sighed, walked up to Leora, and kneeled while placing her hand on Leora's shoulder. 

"Leora, I don't doubt that, but you have to understand you're too young, you're not ready yet!"

"I am ready! Charlie even said I'm almost as strong as she was at my age, and she is super strong!" 

"Leora, I know you and most of the younger candidates think we're heroes, but this job is very taxing, and it can really take its toll on you." Leora looked a little shaken by what Iris said but she just smiled and gently placed her hand on Iris's cheek.

"I know Iris, but really I'll be okay! I learned from the best after all!" Leora then walked away to continue to get ready. Iris stood up but sighed again, still being filled with concern for Leora. Then Charlie was the one who placed her hand on Iris's shoulder. 

"Relax Iris, I'm nothing like those faceless assholes. If this really was something she couldn't handle I would have never brought her."

"Charlie, we're facing against a cult of capitalist cyborgs and a group of suicidal anarchists. Do you honestly think she'll be okay?"

"Yes, I actually do Iris. She's strong, sure, but she's also very smart, quick thinking, very brave, and has scored the highest in simulation training. She's practically excelled at everything at this point, the higher ups think she's ready for field work and honestly, I agree with them." Iris shook her head but didn't say anything else, she just let it go and walked away. Charlie then shrugged and walked to the group to address them all, while she did, she passed by David.

"Iris is still mad at you."

"Stay out of her head David. Mine too."

"... Sorry Commander."

"Alright everyone listen up!" All eight members of Alpha-9 and the MTF Unique Troopers gathered up to hear what Charlie had to say. One of them actually walked up to her to give her a Foundation Computer Screen Pad with all the information regarding the mission. 

"Thank you, ahem! Alright, here's the gist of it, we got two hostile groups of interest fighting over control within one of the vaults of the ISU. Unfortunately, they're the worst of the worst, that being Zealots on Crack and the Church of the Fractured Faith or whatever. Now this vault was actually cleared out by MTF Anetha-1 a while back so as far as we can tell there's nothing actually of value here. However, that doesn't deny the possibility that they might have missed something in the past. Our mission is simple: clear out all hostiles, capture as many of them as possible, and check for possible artifacts left behind. There's also some Researchers requesting we don't damage the vault. Apparently this one is quite special in that it contains murals and possible historical archives at least according to the Archeology Division of the Department of Mythology and Folkloristics. So yeah, that's the basics of the mission. Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah why is it just us? Why don't we have Able or that vigilante bozo?" Iris rolled her eyes at Claudia's question; Charlie was also disappointed due to how the answer should have been obvious. 

"Claudia, Able and Cain are to never be in the same room together you know that."

"Then just get rid of Cain!"

"Claudia, for crying out loud, this mission requires we capture all hostiles and preserve the vault! That's not going to happen if Able is a part of this mission. Look, if you just going to keep complaining then just do us all a favor and keep it to yourself." Claudia just sighed and looked away, or at least it seemed that way; she was still invisible, so it was hard to tell. 

"Alright then, any other question? No? Good, let's move."

***

MTF Alpha-9 moved forward to the target location; Division "Sword" took the front with Division "Dagger" hanging back. Charlie was with Division "Dagger" acting as a primary defender of "Dagger" as well as emergency reinforcement for "Sword" should the situation call for it. Both divisions also had Unique MTF Troopers with anomalous abilities to help in her respective division. However, Division “Dagger” has only 3 while Division “Sword” has 10. 

Once they were close enough Division "Dagger" separated from "Sword" and went to one of the cliffs near the entrance of the vault. Not to close but just enough that they could scout the situation without getting caught. Iris had her earphone connected to Charlie so that they would get immediate updates on what was going on and how best to approach. Iris used her glasses to zoom in and see what they were dealing with. 

At the entrance of the vault was a normal looking cave though the main abnormality is that there were Cultists at the front. One was a hooded figure with the symbol of The New Church of the Fractured God on his hood. Besides that, there were steampunk looking robots, random people with advanced looking goggles and laser rifles, a futuristic looking cyborg, and a vicious looking robot with six spider-like legs. Those last two were standing right beside the one with the hood over him.

"Hm, looks like your typical evil Mekhanites. But that's just the entrance. Hey, which one of you is best at reconnaissance?" One of the MTF Unique Troopers came forward upon Iris's request.

"Me, Captain, after an accident involving an experiment, I am able to have my soul leave my body." 

"That's not too dangerous for you?"

"No Ma'am, I mean the time limit before my soul starts to lose its connection is about 5 minutes but when I'm on the astral plane I can travel at a speed of 90 miles an hour comprehending time as one second equating to one minute."

"Dang, alright, scout out as much as you can of the inside but remember! Come back in 4 minutes and 30 seconds! Not a second longer!"

"Understood." The soldier then got on the ground so his body would be comfortable. He suddenly and seemingly breathed his last breath as his soul left his body and zoomed into the Vault. His soul was actually visible so Iris and the others saw it all happen, the Fractured Cultists would have seen it too, but he was moving so fast they just didn't notice and those that did thought it was a bug. Thankfully after about 3 minutes his soul came back, making his body come to life. 

"Are you alright?"

"Ha... Ha... Ahem! Yes Ma'am, sorry it takes me a while."

"It's alright, take your time and make your report when you're ready."

"Ha... Yes ma'am, Ahem! Okay ready to report. The true entrance to the vault is right inside the cave hidden by some large rocks. It's closed right now so getting in will be tricky. Beyond the door is a long hallway. It's quite long and wide too, filled with different structures almost like a city. The higher ups were right about there being murals there too with lots of weird stuff, but the main takeaway is that it's filled with Cultists. Lots of cyborgs, robots, and other Mekhanites with various augmentations."

"What about the Zealots?"

"Unknown, I tried to go farther but there was some kind of barrier at the other end of the large hall. It somehow kept me from moving on, but from what I could see there were lots of bodies belonging to both Groups beyond the barrier. There were also in the long hall as well. It seems they are having quite the bloody fight."

"Geez, how the hell does a small group like Zealots on Crack afford to have such a loss and still go on with life."

"Actually, ma'am I only saw about four bodies belonging to the Zealots, as for the Cultists I saw about forty-three. Or at least I think that's the case it was hard to tell given their... particular dress style."

"... Woah. Only MTF Hestia-3 has ever achieved killing so many evil Mekhanites with so little casualties. Guess those psychos are good for something after all. Anyways, anything else to report?"

"No ma'am."

"Good, let's continue then. Charlie, come in."

"Go ahead Iris. What's up?"

"The guards up front won't be getting reinforcements from within the cave so we don't need to worry about that. Still, I got some good pictures with my glasses so I think I can ambush them and take them out one by one."

"Actually, I'm going to send Leora to take care of them."

"What?! Charlie-!"

"Iris, the best thing you can do against the Mekhanites is snap their necks or shoot them and we need them alive. I am better at burning things than I am at containing them. Leora on the other hand can manifest binds to hold them in place, particularly strong ones might I add. Only I could ever break from her powers and that's just because I can manipulate anything related to energy."

"Charlie-"

"Captain Clef, this is an order from your Commander, stand down and have faith in Agent Lightfoot. Is that understood?" Iris grunted in anger, but she didn't say anything else other than confirming that she understood. 

***

"Good, You're up Loera." Leora smiled and ran up to the front of the Cave. Leora dreamed about being a superhero ever since she was little but then when she was eight her wish came true. She suddenly got the power to create crystal-like light objects anytime she wanted though she was limited on what she could do. Then one day, strange men in black came to her house and told her parents they had a job offer in this place called New Marais. She thought it was boring adult stuff and that it sucked she would have to move but once they did, she was ecstatic over it. 

It was a place full of aliens, elves, vampires, cyborgs, and other superheroes too! She was enrolled into a school there and met some awesome kids that were really nice and became her friends too. Because her powers were strong, she was given the chance to join the Foundation in an MTF called Alpha-9 "Last Hope". She was nervous at first but then she met Charlie whose powers were similar to hers and learned to use her powers in so many different ways. She grew stronger as time went on and eventually, she reached a point that she could proudly call herself a real hero. 

Her parents were obviously nervous but as Leora got stronger, they began to calm down and even started praising her for how far she came. It did take them longer than her to adjust to New Marais but as they did, they came to accept her powers and her new responsibilities as well. She was a young girl, with supportive parents, cool out of this world friends, an amazing fantasy sci-fi place she called home, and awesome teachers and mentors that gave her the confidence and training she needed to become a real hero. What's not to love about her life? 

As such even when she was assigned to this mission a normal 13-year-old should never be assigned too she wasn't nervous but instead really excited. This was her chance to show everyone that all of her training finally paid off. As such even when she saw the future soldier guys, the cyborg warriors, or the hooded cult guy she wasn't scared. She just ran up to them and stopped right in front so they could see her clearly.

"Sup guys?" The Fractured Cultists were all shocked by her sudden appearance, one alerted the other to go into the cave to get reinforcements. Only for the cave to be sealed by her Photon Crystals; Iris, who was watching, was also shocked to see this. Leora was only supposed to be able to create her photonic matter so long as she maintained physical contact with it, yet she just made a wall manifest simply by looking at the cave. 

Leora quickly manifested binds on all the cultists forcing them to fall to the ground before they could even fight. However, for some reason the Photon Crystals didn't form on the hooded one who just started laughing at her. It then threw its hood off to show his heavily modified body. He was coated in black armor covered in Mekhanite Thaumaturgic symbols. He had snake-like wires and technological tubes slithering all around his body. Finally, he had two large black wings also covered in Thaumaturgic symbols and given vicious blade-like feathers. Suddenly the Thaumaturgic symbols on his body started glowing to hypnotize Leora with their Cognito hazardous properties.

"Foolish child! You will return to your Foundation! Find the pieces of Mekhane and bring them to our church!" Leora actually seemed to be under his hypnotism for a moment but then she smiled proudly and made a pair of shades out of her Photon Crystals.

"Nah!" The Fractured cultists yelled in anger which actually made Leora cover her ears in pain. Some of the wires and tubes connected to his arm and it suddenly grew into a giant hammer which he swung down on Leora. She was scared in one second but smiled the next as she manifested a hammer with her Photon Crystals and swung it at him. The collision overpowered him and broke his fist entirely making him yell in agonizing pain. He flew in the air quickly, once high enough he shot down at her some of his blade feathers though after making a Photon Crystals barrier, the feathers broke on impact. He growled in anger but suddenly his wings were getting shot with small but powerful pellets. With the combination of intense speed and strength his wings were quickly breaking down forcing him to fall back to the ground. 

"Rahhh! I haven't lost yet!" Suddenly his armor started falling off showing beneath a smaller body of shinier armor. He zoomed around Leora so fast for her to see him, but she wasn't scared as she knew the idiot made a fatal mistake, he got rid of his Thaumaturgic symbols. She manifested a wall of Photon Crystal in a random direction around her and the cultist immediately slammed face first into it. He was badly hurt but tried to run away from her, but she proved to be faster. She turned the wall into a sphere surrounding him and condensed it as much as she could without crushing him to death. 

"I just want everyone to be aware that I totally taught her that." Leora turned around to see Charlie smiling at her with the others.  Leora ran to Charlie and hugged her to which Charlie ruffled her hair playfully. Leora giggled but then noticed Iris giving orders over the radio saying the entrance to the cave was secure and to send reinforcements at once to get the prisoners. Leora ran to her and hugged her, surprising Iris. 

"I told you I got it! You saw right!" Iris sighed and kneeled down to face Leora directly with a smile. 

"Yeah, you were amazing. Sorry I doubted you; you belong in Alpha-9." Leora blushed and smiled in pride as some other Alpha-9 units cheered her on. 

“But you still have ways to go, don’t get overconfident okay?” Leora was a little confused at first but smiled again and nodded with enthusiasm. 

***

Once a recovery team grabbed all the captured cultists to be processed back at the nearest Foundation base, the mission continued. Alexi tried to move the door, but it was held strong, so Charlie melted the door down by making her fists hotter than the sun. Once an opening was made, she absorbed the heat to allow everyone to follow her as she took the lead. The first part of the entrance was just a long staircase though wide too, so the group wasn't squished as they went down. Though as they made it down there was another door.

"Hm, this one isn't as thick so I can blast through it, but the problem is that once I do, hundreds of those Mekhanites will be ready to ambush us."

"Commander, allow me. I can take their bullet fire."

"Bullets don't worry me Alexi, the Fractured Church and Zealots have much worse things than that. Even with your new upgrades to the suit you won't be able to protect against everything they throw at you."

"Allow me then." Iris then pressed a button on her glasses and two nearly microscopic drones flew out and through the cracks of the door.

"What the hell was that?"

"My glasses' latest upgrade, nanobots that are able to float into the air and take pictures and send them back to my glasses. Allowing me to teleport to places I haven't been to yet."

"... Nice." 

"Right? I'll provide a distraction so come through hard and fast... okay, I'm ready, on your mark?"

"... Now!" Iris then manifested a photo and jumped into it suddenly appearing behind one of the cultists positioned as a sniper. She shot one in the back of the head and quickly disappeared, confusing another sniper before he got shot as well. As bodies of snipers and lookouts started to fall that bellow noticed this and tried alerting others about Iris's attack. However, they were quickly blindsided by the front entrance exploding with Charlie quickly flying up and shooting several cultists with her fireballs and Alexi firing with the laser guns attached to the arms and shoulders of his bio suit. 

"Intruders! Alert Brother Clyde!" One of the cultists nodded and along with a group, tried to go to the other end of the long hall to send the message. However, he and everyone with him was quickly shot down by Iris. While the cultist was going down Rainer manifested a shield made of Plumanium and used it to keep himself, Claudia, and the reserved MTF units safe. Leora made her own shield and was capturing as many of the scriptures as she could. David was also behind Leora's shield and using his anomalous abilities to control any of the cultists who were about to ambush them. He commanded them to attack their fellow cultists instead or just kill themselves. Some tried to form up into a group but Lucy used her meta-arms to jump in the air and towards the center of their group. In a matter of seconds they were all torn up into minced meat. 

Meanwhile an MTF unit that had the ability to fly was in the air using his rifle to shoot down any hiding snipers or cultists that could also fly. There was also an MTF unit with the anomalous ability of never feeling the negative effects of drugs who filled his body with lots of different Foundation enhancement drugs to make himself into a temporary super soldier. He was not only able to withstand the bullets and laser blasts but could easily punch through their metal armor bodies. Another MTF unit with the ability to make a single melee weapon out of an anomalous atomization energy. She could slice through their weapons, armor, and any other forms of defense and quickly burn them all into dust with whatever weapon she made. Then there was one of the MTF units being protected by Rainer's and Leora's shield. She was using her anomalous sight that always showed her the quickest way to her goal which in this case was the weak points of her enemies, allowing her to shoot them down easily. Finally, there was an MTF unit that didn't have any guns at all as his anomalous ability allowed him to puncture a hole in anyone, all he had to do was point with a gun jester and say "bang". 

The cultists however were strong as well, one was with heavy armor covered with memetic symbols forcing anyone who saw it to remember or imagine disgusting and embarrassing images. Then there was one covered in metal like scales all over his body, hiding several guns placed in his body allowing him to shoot anyone from any direction. He nearly got Iris a few times, but she managed to shoot him in the end. There was also a serpentine like cultists that screamed a headache inducing screech and had long laser blade claws. They even encountered a cultist made entirely of metal bug like bots with blades on their shells and each one carrying his consciousness so no matter how many they destroyed he was technically alive through each one. Despite their complexity, the cultists of the Fractured Church continued to fall one by one.

However, the cultists weren't done, the ones closer to the back brought out a large black metal box and opened it. Inside was a strange mechanical sphere that opened up and shifted out six arachnid like legs. Suddenly its armor plating in the front opened and showed several mechanical camera eyes. The machine walked forward and each of its mechanical eyes kept changing color. Suddenly one of the MTF units was frozen in ice and one of Rainer's shields started melting despite not being hot. Another MTF unit near Charlie had his helmet blown off nearly killing him, then he was suddenly hit by an invisible force in the stomach.  She knew that machine was the cause, so she flew up in the air drawing the attention of the machine. She raised her hand and suddenly the camera eyes started going haywire, then powerful lasers blasted from her fingers and tore the machine apart before it could do more damage. With their final weapon destroyed, and ridiculously easy at that, the last of the cultists surrendered and allowed Leora to entrap them all in a proton crystal orb. 

"Alright! Good work everyone! Not a single casualty as well! Alright, Medics! Treat everyone who was hurt and the rest of us let's survey the area and see what we can find." As the medics went to work, one of the MTF units walked up to Charlie with his head down. 

"Sorry Commander. I couldn't get any good rolls with my dice."

"It's alright Lucky, you're still our ace at the end of the day. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Meanwhile Lucy walked over to one of the captured Cultists and used her meta-arm to grab them by the throat. She smirked and glared at him with cold and angry eyes.

“Hey! We’re just supposed to capture them remember!” Everyone was shocked to see Leora standing up to Lucy of all people. Lucy looked back at Leora with the same cold eyes but then her meta-arm suddenly disappeared. She then closed her eyes and smiled at Leora. 

“I was just trying to confirm they were truly captured; you can never be too careful with Mekhanites.” Lucy then walked by Leora and gently patted her gently on the head, making Leora pout in annoyance at being treated like a kid. Charlie made sure to watch and used her energy sense to ensure that Lucy really did get rid of her meta-arms.

“Yeesh, that one still creeps me out.” Charlie then turned to Lucky that was still next to her.

“Yeah, I honestly think the higher ups jumped the gun at making her an Alpha-9 member, but you know the O5, they’d never pass up the opportunity to get just a bit more power.”

"Uh Commander! You're going to want to see this!" Charlie, Iris, and Alexi went over to where the MTF unit calling to them was and saw him pointing at a mural on the wall. It depicted some of the cultists they had just fought as well as ones they haven't seen on one side of the mural. On the other side was clearly Charlie, Iris, Alexi, Loera, and Rainer along with the rest of Alpha-9 on the other side. They were clearly running toward each other for a massive battle. 

"This is... interesting, Trooper, how old is this mural, did the Mekhanites draw it? Did they know we were coming?" The MTF trooper next to them pulled out a Foundation Scanner and after waving it over the mural he read the results. 

"Uh no Commander according to this, the paint of the mural is just as old as everything in here."

"... The ISU knew we were going to fight here?" Iris processed what Charlie said and scoffed while shrugging in annoyance. 

"Well, that's stupid, if they could predict the future why didn't they prevent themselves from dying?"

"Apparently they tried everything, but nothing worked." Iris already knew this, so she just looked at the MTF in disappointment after his explanation. 

"It was a war among the gods, kinda hard to avoid that." Charlie tried to back him up but that just annoyed Iris further. 

"Then why didn't they hide in these vaults? I mean, look at how it's still standing, they should have been safe inside them."

"Maybe they were but then one of the gods made some kind of anomaly that allowed them to wipe the ISU from existence regardless of where they were. Look I don't know and right now I don't care, the research team can figure all that out and we can ask them later. Let's keep looking and if we can't find anything else then let's keep moving." Charlie and the MTF units went to look for other murals and potential anomalous items. Iris sighed as she thought the whole concept of precursor races being stupid, especially since they were more advanced yet were still wiped out. Though her annoyance died out as she looked around, she had never been inside an ISU vault before, so this was really interesting. It really was like some kind of weird city down here so futuristic and alien. 

Right at that moment Iris wished this place was safe so she could have brought Meri and maybe their other friends here to watch. They would have enjoyed the amazing sight, though her gaze turned down and she saw a strange mural. She slowly walked up to it and looked at it in disbelief, Charlie noticed this and walked up to her. 

"Iris? What's wrong, why are... no way..." Charlie looked at the mural as well and saw what had spooked Iris so much. It showed a girl with long black hair, deer horns, and a golden scarf; her hands were clasped together, and she was seemingly praying while hovering over the earth. Around the earth there were strange people in tacky, cool, and mostly colorful clothing and masks seemingly dancing all around it. 

Iris then looked to another Mural next to it, it showed the same girl singing while the people in masks were dancing, seemingly chasing after her as well. However, what really shocked Iris is that on the opposite side was the Scarlet King. He had the scarlet skin, eyes all over his body, and the large horns with the sinister sharp teeth smile on his blank face. There were several of his spawns, some of his cultists, and even the infamous Blade Head was there on his side seemingly chasing after him. It was like the two were only seconds away from fighting. 

"Is... is that Meri?"

"That's impossible, Meri is blonde. She never even told me she wanted to dye her hair black or any other color."

"Huh, maybe it's an ancient god or something. There are lots of ancient gods that have deer horns after all, like that freak deer from Saturn for example."

"No, look at the clothes of the cultists and the dancing people, this isn't the past, it's the present, or future maybe! Is that what these murals are? Are they depicting the future?"

"Hm... Look Iris I really don't know, but it shouldn't have anything to do with you or Meri. maybe the researchers will tell us later, come on it's about time we moved on." Charlie walked off leaving Iris to stand there for a little while longer looking at the Mural. It kinda looked like Meri but also different, Iris knew it wasn't her wife but for some reason something about it gave her an odd feeling. Still Charlie was right, she wasn't going to get answers just staring at it so she shook her head and followed Charlie. 

***

After the recovery team came again and it was confirmed there was nothing to find Alpha-9 continued down the long hall. It took a lot longer than expected or maybe it was the exact amount of time since it did look like a street of a large city. Once they made it to the other side, they found the large barrier that the MTF Trooper who could astral project, mentioned earlier. Iris looked into the barrier and saw that it was being emitted by a device that required a key to lower the barrier.

"Oof it's a locked door, without a key we can't go through."

"Let me try something." Charlie then walked up to the device and placed her hand over where the key would need to be placed. She then closed her eyes and suddenly the device started glowing and then turned off the barrier. 

"Woah, how did you do that?"

"It was simple, I put my own energy into the device and found out where all the energy is sourced and absorbed it." Charlie then walked forward leaving Iris and Alexie standing there in silence.

"I really hate it when she makes impossible things like that sound simple."

"They don't call her goddess for nothing, Iris."

"Her code name is supposed to be JUST 'Fire Goddess'. Ugh, why did the O5 Council make her fight with Sigurrós. Ever since then those two have grown insanely powerful." Iris just sighed as she followed Charlie while Alexie chuckled as he waved everyone at the back to follow them.

.

End of Part 1

.

Part 2 (Coming... Eventually)

[kedreeva]

I did multiple tasks!

1. Checked the oil in the car and added half a quart

2. Sifted compost

3. Cleared a section of garden

4. Planted garlic

5. Started soaking some very gross laundry in vinegar

I’ve been putting off planting the garlic for a solid month, so thanks! Now I feel so much better lol

Currently taking a break and drinking water, but then I will do more tasks!

Wow, great job!! I hope that your garlic comes up lovely!

Putting this one under a cut for length!

Charlie looked like she might protest, but whatever she clocked on Osker’s face, it convinced her to leave them in peace.

As soon as they were alone, Dalton shrugged off Osker’s grasp, glowering. “What?”

“You okay?” Osker asked, worried that perhaps Dalton was having second thoughts about keeping Rhiley’s secret. He’d already told Sam, and Charlie after.

Dalton scowled. “I��m fine.”

“Yeah?” Osker challenged. “Cause you spent all of dinner staring at Rhiley like you couldn’t decide what cut to make first.” His tone left no room for dispute.

With a roll of his eyes, Dalton turned away a little, not quite enough to face away, and then hesitated. His expression twitched with indecision, some internal battle being waged and lost, before he sighed and turned back. He didn’t look at Osker when he spoke.

“I’ve just… been thinking a lot about all of this werewolf crap,” he admitted. “How it’s been two weeks and no one’s noticed. Like it’s just easy.”

“It’s not easy,” Osker hissed, anger flaring. “We’re really fucking lucky they haven’t figured it out. If Sam hadn’t covered for us when we got back, me and Rhiley would be dead. He’d have gotten the silver bullet treatment and I’d have been next as a traitor.”

“Okay, but they haven’t figured it out,” Dalton said. “And it looks like they’re probably not going to.”

Osker scoffed. “Unbelievable. You do realize that if we make it out of this week, it will only be because Marcus – the werewolf – has been out there causing so much trouble, no one’s looked closely at Rhiley. I never thought I’d be happy about people dying, but here we are. That’s what’s saving my ass, and yours, and Charlie’s, and everyone else that knows.”

Dalton closed his eyes, shoulders hunching up under the weight of that truth. “I know. You’re right.”

Though he hesitated, Osker did reach out and touch Dalton’s shoulder to make sure he had his attention. “I gotta know, man. You’re not getting cold feet about this, right? You’re not gonna tell anyone, or freak out on us?”

“What? No!” Dalton said vehemently. “No. I just- whatever. No, I’m not gonna tell, and I’m not freaking out. Are we done?”

Osker dismissed him with a nod toward the exit, and Dalton took the invitation without further question. Osker watched him push through the double doors with more force than necessary and disappear from sight. Only then did he relax, running a hand through his hair.

If Dalton said he wouldn’t tell, then he’d keep his mouth shut, but Osker still didn’t like the look in his eyes. Something was up, and Osker intended to find out what before it got their whole group in trouble.

------

We have not managed to catch my dad. We should have left a week ago, after my wounds had healed, and just left him to his own devices. Let his revenge be the end of him. But I can’t bring myself to do it.

[twinklestarss]

“Brontë, this is a monumental undertaking, a risk beyond words. There is no shame in returning home to us, leaving this to those capable-- No, no! -- and willing. The Silken Squall could use a returning son. Our heir to the Squall's golden seat. No. I will not abandon this task. I love you, I love our home. But I can do this. I can do this.”-Zeru/Dorian

Campaign 3 Episode 105: Collecting Legends

[77gigabytes]

The Fox's Den {Sylus x Reader}

This just kinda...spilled out of my brain... It started off as a few paragraphs and then spiraled into this, but uh, enjoy.

FAIR WARNING!!! THIS IS INCREDIBLY LONG, I MIGHT HAVE TO SPLIT IT INTO PARTS ACTUALLY IDK

|| Masterlist ||

-Seven

You’re finishing some paperwork at HQ when Jenna slides a manila folder on your desk.

“Advance tech labs has another mission for you.” She says and crosses her arms over her chest, “Hear them out first. Then go take a look.”

As if on cue, your watch beeps with a notification.

You click on it and the mission’s user interface window pops up.

Client: Unspecified - Investigative mission Status: ACTIVE Authorisation: Approved entry - No Hunt Zones: 105, 106, 107, 108

Task details: High-class Linkon residents have been seen carrying protocores to Fox’s Den, a host club, on the outskirts of Linkon. There are suspicions that the club is being used as a trading venue to sell and modify high-grade protocores into the N109 zone.

Objective: INVESTIGATE Fox’s Den FOR PROTOCORE SMUGGLERS. DO NOT ENGAGE OR ELIMINATE SUSPECTS. THIS IS AN INVESTIGATION ONLY.

As you re-read the objectives, Jenna speaks once more, “Have a look through this folder before heading to the Data Sector. ” She places her hand above the folder, “Nero and Tara are waiting there with some more information for you.”

You give her a small nod, “Yes, Captain. Will do.”

You do as you’re told and flick through the contents of the folder.

“Huh, the address is near the N109 zone?” You whisper.

Sylus has a safe house near there, I think.

It’ll be easier to complete the mission if you could crash there every now and then.

I’ll ask him when I have the chance.

There’s a few photos of the club tucked into the folder and from what you can see, it’s quite luxurious.

Entering the club shouldn’t be a problem with the brooch Sylus gave me. Hmmm. I might need to visit Jeremiah some time soon to forge another identity.

You sift through a few more pages and a photo catches your eye. It’s of a blonde woman with a hunter’s uniform and badge but stamped across the page is the word ‘TENEBRA’ in bold red lettering.

“Hmmm,” You hum as you read the sticky note attached, “If encountered, detain immediately? Who is this?”

What had she done to be labelled a Tenebra?

With that thought in mind, you think to your own situation.

Your involvement with Sylus is more than enough grounds to label you a Tenebra, but you brush that thought aside quickly.

“MC?”

Your head perks up from the sound of your name and you quickly press the folder to your chest, “Oh! Tara… Nero. I was just leaving to see you guys, actually.”

“About the case, right? Isn’t it interesting?” Tara grins, “But, yes we came here instead because Nero thinks that the Data Sector is too noisy.”

“They’re blabbing about all the time, it’s dizzying.” He retorts.

He pulls a nearby chair and motions for the two of you to come around, “Come, we’ve got work to do.”

The three of you discuss the case for a while until you ask, “Why am I being sent alone? Aren’t mission usually done in pairs?”

“Yes, well… Technically, it’s only an investigative mission, so the higher-ups don’t think we should waste resources on a mere investigation.” Nero makes quotation marks with his fingers. “You’ve got orders not to engage where possible.”

Tara leans forward to argue, “But even still, Fox’s Den is surrounded by no hunt zones! Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Yes, that’s true, and speaking of which…” He opens some tabs up on his laptop, “As I’m sure you’ve seen, you’ve been approved access to all no hunt zones surrounding the area.”

You nod, looking back at your watch and also the map that spread across the table.

“But that’s not the problem.” Nero continues, “The problem is getting into the club.”

You furrow your brows, “What?” You tilt you head, “Can’t I just go in as a client?”

He clicks his tongue, “They’ve got a very specific clientele.” He says and then draws a rectangle with his fingers, “Invite only.” He emphasises. “Did you think you could just waltz into the place?Everyday?”

You tense for a moment. I thought… with the brooch...

But you can’t tell them about the brooch; They’ll ask you how you got it. So you settle with, “I- well,” you scratch your temple, “I haven’t really thought that far yet.”

...

Your meeting with the two ended just as the sun dipped completely below the horizon

Somehow, they’ve got you a position as one of the hostesses.

You huff. You don’t know a thing about being a hostess.

To be fair, being a hostess would give you the widest variety of intel.

Never had you thought you’d be going undercover like this, but the job must be done, you suppose.

You harshly tug your helmet on and head to Sylus’ safe house on your 270HM.

If he says no, then you can just scout the area on the way back home. That way, the ride there wouldn’t have been for nothing.

“Oh! There you are, little miss hunter.”

You turn around at the voice of one of the twins. “Luke, Kieran?”

“Mephisto told us you’d be here.” Kieran says pointing to the sky where Mephisto circles above the three of you.

“Is Sylus-”

Luke responds before you can finish your question, “The boss has a important business deal, but,”

“You’re more than welcome to stay with us in the meantime.” Kieran finishes the sentence as he opens the gate.

You can almost see the grin behind his mask.

“How long will he be gone?” You ask as you walk with the twins into the house.

“It might not even be until tomorrow that you’ll see the boss.”

“If you’re lucky--” Luke starts

“--I’ve checked your luck index today, miss, you’re not.”

“Kieran!” You smack him on the shoulder

“Anyway,” Luke starts again, “As I was saying, if you’re lucky, he might be done by midnight.”

…

Well now, it’s way past midnight and the boys have convinced you to play card games as you wait. From old maid, to kitty cards, to Big 2.

Eventually, they pull out another deck of cards with haphazardly drawn crows. - “We’ve invented our own version!”

Your brows furrow.

“Crow Cards!” They say in unison.

You’re speechless. You shake your head with a chuckle, but oblige them regardless.

It isn’t long before Kieran has passed out on the couch and you can tell that Luke isn’t too far either.

“Luke, why don’t we get you and your brother to sleep?” You suggest.

“Yeah,” He yawns and give you a nod, “but Kieran can sleep here on the floor.” He snorts, but goes to haul him up anyways.

“I can use one of the spare rooms, right?” You ask

“Of course. The boss has even gotten spare clothes specifically for you in every house. They should just be in the closet of the en suite.” He points to one of the doors, “That one is your room.”

It didn’t take very long after your head hit the pillows that you drifted off into a shallow sleep

Just as the sunlight begins peaking through the horizon, Sylus enters into the safehouse

Mephisto is cawing at him incessantly.

“What has you so worked up?” He frowns.

“CAW!”

Sylus walks through to the main area and sees cards strewn across the floor.

He examines them, seeing the poorly drawn crows, and looks to Mephisto, “What?” Sylus raises an eyebrow at Mephisto, “You led me here because Luke and Kieran made you look like roadkill on these cards?”

Mephisto shakes his head and pecks the cards out of Sylus’ hand. He pitter-patters to the door of the en suite and lightly pecks at it

Sylus’ frown deepens but he follows after him.

And there you were - laying on your stomach atop the sheets.

He lets out a small chuckle, “Tsk tsk, kitten,” he shakes his head, “You’ll catch a cold at this rate.”

He gently turns you so he can lift you up into his arms.

With his Evol, he untucks the sheets and lays down with you in his arms.

You have your head on his chest and legs entangled with his own.

With all the movement, you lift your head blink your eyes open, “Hi.” You whisper.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, kitten.”

You plop your head back down onto his chest, “Yeah, I wanted-” you yawn, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh? You’re asking me for a favour? How unusual.”

You only hum in response and close your eyes again.

For a moment, he thinks that seeing you in the sunrise makes the sunlight a little more bearable.

“What is it that you need, sweetie?” he asks, brushing his lips against the top of your head.

“The location of my mission is near this house.”

“And?” he shoots you a smug smile, “What is it exactly that you’re asking, Dove?”

You narrow your eyes at him, “I’m asking if I can stay here for a little while.”

He chuckles and gently swipes at the space between your brows, “Do you know what you look like right now?” he asks, “A kitten with a temper.”

You untangle yourself from his grasp, “Screw you.”

It quite futile since you end up in his arms once more.

“What mission is so important that the hunter’s association would send you into the N109 zone?” He asks.

“One,” You put your pointer finger up, “It's near the N109 zone. And two,” You lift another finger, “Apparently, there’s some shady trading of high-grade protocores.”

“Hah, when is there not?” He chuckles.

You quickly brush his question aside, “But you’ll let me stay, won’t you?” You pout for good measure.

“I never trade for a loss, dove.” He taps a finger on his temple. “What are you planning to give me in exchange?”

“Um…” You contemplate on the question. “I'll trade any protocores I find that I think may be of use to you?” Your intonation makes it sound more like a question than a statement.

“What makes you think that I don’t already have access to such protocores, sweetheart?” He shifts to lay on his side with his head propped up by his arm.

That’s true. What could you possibly offer to a man who already has everything in the palm of his hand?

You glance up at him, “Well, then… truthfully, there’s nothing I can give you.”

I guess he won’t let me stay after all.

One of the corners of his lips tilt upwards into a smirk, “There is…” he pauses as he procures a piece of paper with his Evol, “Something you can give me.”

You take the paper and frown as you read the contents, “Isn’t this that restaurant by the river? The one with the orchids?”

“Mmm.” He hums in agreement.

“What could I possibly give you there, Sylus?” You ask

He chuckles, “Well, it’s quite simple, really.” He leans forward to whisper in your ear, “I want you to stay with me… Until the moon is high above our heads”

His voice is so close to your ears that you have to turn away

“I want your time.”

A few days have gone by since your…encounter with Sylus.

Now you’re face-to-face with the owner of the club.

He has his hand grabbing the lower half of your face, turning it side to side.

You grit your teeth. Keep it together for the mission, MC. You say to yourself.

“She’ll fetch a hefty price from the clients, that’s for sure.” He chuckles

He almost throws you towards a woman who has a comb and spray bottle in hand.

“Another?” She asks

“Get her ready.” He says as he begins to walk towards the bar where the guests are, “I want her ready for service by the end of the week, Stella.”

The woman, Stella, as you’ve learned, rolls her eyes and grabs you by the arm.

She drags you across to one of the clothing racks and pulls various clothes up to your body. She takes some off, and others she returns.

Your eyes wander as you stay still, and for a brief moment, you see a blonde woman in a red dress, strutting towards the exit.

“Tenebra?” You mumble

“What?” Stella raises her brow.

“Huh? Oh, I was asking If I’ll need to wear a bra.” You gulp hoping she’ll believe your cover-up

She stares at you for a moment but then continues to find you a dress.

After a while, she’s finished with your make up and has given you a run-down of the rules.

“For tonight, you’ll be staying with me.” She says as she walks towards the exit

You scramble after her. You barely catch yourself from bumping into her as she abruptly turns around to address you.

“Keep close and don’t wander. Do you understand?”

You nod, “Yes.”

She wraps a red band across your wrist with ease, “This bracelet means that you’re off limits for the mean time.” She grips your wrist and squeezes, “So I suggest you keep it on your wrist even if your life depends on it. You won’t have this luxury for long.”

What have I gotten myself into?

You spend that night observing each and every one of the hostesses and clients.

Memorising faces, names, voices. Anything.

As the week ends, you’re back at the safe house trying to piece all the information you have so far.

You’re hunched over the coffee table with papers scattered about. Some of which you’ve scrunched up and have unintentionally made into Mephisto’s playthings.

You huff.

Everything looks normal, but clearly that’s not the case if HA has sent you here. They wouldn’t have sent you here if there wasn’t some concrete evidence of a covert operation.

Sylus stops cleaning his gun and smiles as you frown. The bastard.

You huff once more and rub your temples.

“You look as if you’re going into a grand battle.” He chuckles and leans back into the sofa.

“I feel like I’ve gotten nowhere!” You throw your hands into the air.

He carefully returns the gun to it’s case and settles himself on the floor next to you, “Talk to me.” He pulls the pen from your hands and spreads the papers across the table, “We can figure it out together.” He glances at you with the smallest of smiles.

A couple of weeks have gone by and you’ve gotten better at acting as a hostess.

You find that a lot of these clients have a very loose lips - ever so willing to give information with so little incentive

Today, you’re cozied up with a client, your legs in their lap, and an arm wrapped around one of theirs.

You grin internally as he continues to talk about all the protocores he could offer you.

“Oh?” You say sultrily, drawing circles on his arm.

YUCK

“Oh, I do, baby.”

EUUUGHHH

You’re trying your best to suppress a scowl.

“I could give you all -”

You glance up at him as he stops mid-sentence.

Your gaze shifts from his face to the mirror behind him where your eyes meet Sylus’s intense gaze.

What is he going here?

Sylus nonchalantly walks over to the two of you and the room has gone still.

“And who might this be, sweetie?” He glowers at the man, but his question is directed to you.

You open your mouth to reply, but the man beat you to it, “Mr Sylus, I’m-”

"I didn’t ask you.” He says sharply.

“Sylus, what are you doing here?” Your grip around the man loosens and you quickly shift your legs to plant your heels on the floor.

“Well… Sweetie.” He emphasises the endearment as he pulls you from the other man’s lap, “I’m here for you,” He pulls you to his chest

Without another word, he tugs you into one of the private rooms.

With the momentum, you fall to the loveseat in the middle of the room.

“Sylus!”

“When you said you had a mission here, I assumed you were going in as a client.” He locks the door and makes his way to you, “Not a hostess.” He narrows his eyes as he traps you between his outstretched arms on the loveseat.

“Why does it matter?” You glare back at him, “I’m still getting the information I need.”

“You realise that I could get you all that information in the blink of an eye, right?”

You know that. You do. He never lets you forget. Head of Onychinus. King of the N109 zone.

But what does that say about you?

Always relying on someone else to do things.

Always relying on Xavier on missions. Even Rafayel helped you at The Nest. Zayne’s always taking care of your health, and now Sylus, too.

When had you ever truly done anything yourself?

You grit your teeth, “Look.” You say as you muster up all your courage to glare at him, “I appreciate the help, but I’m not some dove that needs saving.” You push at his chest, “I can do this on my own.”

He yields as you push him until both of you are standing.

“I can’t just rely on you for everything,” You say.

Tenebra - the word plants itself at the forefront of your mind

His chest heaves as he looks at you, but he doesn’t speak.

“What am I supposed to say to the association?” You walk towards the door but look back at him with a soft smile, “They’ll label me a Tenebra for even breathing the same air as you, remember? We can’t have that now, can we?”

He takes a hold of your wrist. “You know I’d never let that happen.”

“Mmm.” You shake your head, “I know, but even then… I want to be able to proudly say that I was able to do a mission with my own strength.”

He doesn’t say anything, so you shrug your hand away from his hold.

“So,” You place you hand on the door knob, “Let me do this on my own, Sylus.”

As you leave, he deflates onto the loveseat with a sigh.

As much as it stings that you don’t want to rely on him, he understands what you’re trying to say.

You’ve gone many days without seeing Sylus, not even at the safe house.

At the host club, you return to your dressing room with the brightest smile, you’d think your face would split in half.

That drunk client spilled all the beans. They are smuggling protocores through this host club. He mentioned a warehouse south from here, in the no hunt zone. Luckily Jenna authorised your entry into that zone. You’ll have to check it out after you leave the club.

As you exit, your watch beeps, “Huh? Wanderers? This far from the no hunt zone?”

Your hands settle at the hilts of your hands guns strapped to either thigh.

With vigilant eyes, you scan your surroundings. Trees upon trees in every direction.

Taking soft and steady steps, you head deeper into the no hunt zone.

Eventually you see lights scattered throughout the tree line.

There’s a large building stood in the centre of the clearing.

As you walk closer, you hear voices. “The warehouse.” you whisper.

Then a truck whizzes past and you duck for fear of getting caught.

It drives far into the warehouse and you follow around to get a clearer view.

They seem like specs from this distance, but they’re unloading the protocores from the truck.

The impatient part of you screams to just sneak into the warehouse.

But that fire is quickly extinguished when you notice a few men patrolling the warehouse.

“I need to come back another time. With a plan.”

The next few days you observe the schedules and their protocol for receiving deliveries

You manage to sneak your way into one of the trucks as your shift ends at the host club.

In the truck, you’re shallowly breathing from the adrenaline coursing through your veins. You close your eyes to take a deep breath as the truck slows to a stop.

“This is the last one for today, boys. Let’s do this quick!” You hear a man shout.

Your hand comes up to press at your sternum. Your heart is beating right out of your chest so much so that blood is thumping in your ears.

“You think we’ve got some aether cores to sell today?”

“Tch, I wish.”

As their footsteps grow louder, you take a slow breath-

BEEP BEEP!

You gasp as your hunter’s watch detects wanderers nearby. You grasp at your wrist to dampen the noise. Hunching over, cradling your arm as it beeps again.

STOP! Please!

“What was that?”

What do I do? I’m going to get caught.

“Check it out.”

Think. Think.

From their footsteps, you can tell one of the men has walked into the truck.

THINK!

You don’t have a choice.

With a grunt, you charge at the man, shooting him in the chest, before hauling his body to cover yours as you exit the vehicle.

“INTRUDER!” the other man yells. “INTRUDER! LOCK EVERYTHING DOWN.”

Sirens blare as shots are fired in your direction. One lodges itself into your thigh. With a scream you dump the body shield and limp as best as you can out of the crossfire.

Another shot whizzes past the side of your arm. Another into your lower abdomen as you turn to shoot at them.

Before you make it to the forest, a loud roar shakes the ground and you stumble onto all fours.

A wanderer. A Hoarfrost Wyrmlord, you recognise.

It stomps it’s way towards the warehouse, likely drawn in by all the noise.

You scramble away as best as you can, but behind you are the men from the warehouse.

Your breaths have become rapid and shallow, “Where…”

The Wyrmlord locks onto you, blowing out gusts of air from it’s nostrils.

You begin shooting at the Wyrmlord but it looks unphased.

You duck for cover as it shoot icicles your way.

Protocores. You think. “You must have a shield somewhere.” you say as you peak over the metal pillar.

“You!” A foreign voice takes your attention.

The man has his gun pointed to you.

Swiftly, you kick your leg out in an attempt to disarm him, but he catches it and kicks at your other leg so that you land face first into the dirt.

For a few moments, you wrestle him until he’s got you in a choke hold.

You elbow him in his side and as his grip loosens you try to swing him over your shoulder.

But he uses the momentum to kick off of the pillar, and the action flings you backwards, and your back hits the ground with a thud.

You grunt and struggle to stand.

Before you can shoot him, a Harte Knave slashes through him.

Just as quickly, your bullets pierce though the Harte Knave and it disintegrates in dust.

Another roar shakes the ground as you and many others are pulled into a protofield.

“No!” You scream.

“Sylus!” You yell into the air.

Hoping, praying that he just might appear out of thin air.

...

“CAW!”

Meanwhile, Sylus is seated in another safehouse.

His leg is bouncing up and down.

You should have returned to the safe house hours ago, but there has been no notification of your arrival from the security system.

For every centimetre the moon rose into the sky, so did his worry.

“I appreciate the help, but I’m not some dove that needs saving.”

Your words echoed around in his mind for the past few hours.

“I can do this on my own.”

He knows that. You’re strong. He’s seen it.

“They’ll label me a Tenebra for even breathing the same air as you, remember?“

Tch.

“I can’t just rely on you for everything,”

But something was wrong.

His intuition never failed him.

“CAW! CAW!”

“Mephisto.” Sylus quickly stands and stretches his hand out for Mephisto to land on.

A holographic video pops up and Sylus sees you dropping the lifeless body and limping away into the tree line.

The screen flickers for a moment as you scream his name before you disappear into the protofield.

Even before the video ends, Sylus is rushing out to his motorcycle. He pulls up the coordinates from Mephisto’s previous location history and speeds away.

Why did I leave her by herself? Near the N109 zone nonetheless. I’m a fool.

In the protofield, the Wyrmlord is the last wanderer.

There are only a few other humans left and luckily, the Wyrmlord is beginning to stagger too.

You’ve managed to break it’s shields but you’re heavily wounded and the Wyrmlord has caused the temperature to drop so rapidly that it’s difficult to even pull the trigger.

Sylus… Please…

You know he can’t just appear into a protofield. But somehow his name on your lips gives you enough strength to continue the fight.

Out of desperation, you’ve managed to resonate with some of the Evolvers.

And with great effort, you and another Evolver deal the final blow to the Wyrmlord and you’re transported back to the warehouse.

Sirens are still blaring and the edges of your vision are fading.

“Sylus.” You whisper walking away from the warehouse.

You grunt as you slump against a sturdy tree.

The shards of ice that were lodged into your stomach have vanished along with the protofield and now your blood has begun to soak through your clothing.

With a few harsh tugs, you rip your sleeve off and press it against your wounds.

Everything hurts, but you try to slow your breathing.

Your watch beeps once more.

The adrenaline causes you to perk up at the thought of more wanderers.

WARNING! Critically low blood pressure - severe blood loss. Coordinates have been sent to the nearest Hunter’s Association field lab.

When you wake next, the room is too bright for your eyes to adjust.

You blink and raise a hand to your face to block the light.

Glancing around, you notice it’s like any other bedroom.

You groan as you sit up.

Looking down at yourself, you see the faint outline of multiple gauze pads from underneath your top.

You limp out of the room, using the wall to take most of your weight.

You flinch as you feel a tap on your shoulder, hands immediately going to where your guns would have been.

“Relax, Kitten.” Sylus says, with both his hands up in the air, “I’m just trying to help you.” He begins to lower his hands.

“Sylus…” You croak from the dryness of your throat.

You could do nothing but stare. Was this real?

You were hyperventilating a little, and he’s never really seen you so high-strung.

“You’re safe.” He says as he slowly cups the side of your face.

“Sylus… I…”

He lowers his forehead to yours and you visibly relax.

“You’re safe with me, sweetheart.” He repeats the phrase as he gathers you into his chest.

“I won’t let you go ever again.” He whispers. “Never again.”

I told you it was long XD. I had fun though. If you guys like it, I don't mind fully fleshing this out into chapters. I really enjoyed writing this one actually.

|| Masterlist ||

-Seven

[bongopowder]

looking for trouble! (hisoka)

⁺ . ✦ .　⁺ 　 . ✦ hunter x hunter (hisoka x reader) ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . ⁺

content (18+): nsfw, female reader, hunter exam, zevil island, deep in the forest, degrading, bungee gum bondage?

word count: 4.6k

a tune for you: rule #34 (fish in a birdcage)

The darkness encompassing the indigo forest would be enough to unnerve a weary traveler, to send shivers down an unsuspecting spine, just as the touch of the cold night air nips at exposed skin. To others, however, its representation differs. Perhaps it’s an austere simplicity. The night: homogenous, consistent, peaceful even; a harmonious change from day. Or maybe it’s scandalous. A break from the life which you return to in the rather unsuspecting morning.

Zevil Island was about what you expected; lush trees extended far into the distance, speckled with occasional plains, mountainous rocks, and deceptively peaceful beaches. As the moon casts its glow amongst the scene, drowning every winter leaf and blade of grass with a mysterious sheet of pale blue light, the soft flutter of butterfly wings mingles with the whistling of wind, surrounding you as you walk.

The faint hoot of an owl sounds in the distance, and your breathing grows calmer. Looking down, you study the two badges in your hand: #174 and #105, yours and your target’s. You caught him out in the beginning, a large man with a red nose and a sword, tracking him to a field of tall grass after leaving the boat. Unbeknownst to him, you hid in the shadows, lurking deep in the thick branches of an oak tree until the sun set just below the horizon, casting the subtle gloom of dusk over the meadow.

It was over in a second, the creeping darkness and growing exhaustion hindering his senses as you stalked, hidden by the tall blades of grass. His body fell to the floor with a thud, the sound softened by the dense foliage below, and you quickly swiped the badge from his satchel.

That was mere hours ago. And now, the darkness had crept up on you, just as you had to him.

Yawning, you continue your walk through the trees, somewhat overconfident as you stride down the path which winds between trunks, leading you deeper into the forest. Your only task now is to find a place to hide, to ride out the next few days in peace, safe and away from whoever may be targeting you. Peace and quiet.

“Hey.”

Damn it.

The sound makes you stop in your tracks, eyes shooting up from the ground, seeing a figure up ahead, peeking through the foliage. Your hand instinctively moves straight to the knife in your belt.

Hisoka.

You narrow your eyes as you approach, knowing it would be useless to run from him. You meet his gaze, his stare piercing into you as he fingers a card, leaning casually against a nearby tree. There’s something behind those eyes: a sinister desire. For blood, no less.

Hisoka the Magician, nothing but a merciless killer, scheming and preying on those weaker. And they stand no chance, like a cat and a mouse. A cat with a fetish for carnage. A cat who likes to play with his food.

But you are no mouse.

You had encountered him before, in the sticky fog of the Misty Wetlands, where the heavy air sat deep within your lungs. You were close to the second stage, mind fuzzy as you continued to run, recalling nothing but the sensation of sitting, laying down, or simply standing still. That is, until you stumbled upon Gon’s neck in Hisoka’s hand.

It was an altercation. Hands. Knives. A fishing rod.

And those words he spoke to you, still ringing in your ears as he finally let you go.

You passed.

“I don’t want trouble,” you utter hesitantly, finally reaching the small courtyard with a hand up, approaching cautiously, ready to strike at any moment.

“And what if I do?” he smirks, pushing himself from the tree and making his way towards you. With a hand on his hip, he saunters closer, broad shoulders swaying as he walks.

“I’m not your target.”

“How can you be so sure?” he crosses his arms slyly, flicking the card back in his pocket.

“105 was my target, and I was his,” you pause, growing slightly nervous. You can feel an energy, a craving, a radiating force coming from his body. Something pent up, about to explode. “I’ll tell you what I know about your target, just let me leave.”

“Hmm…” he hums, eyes narrowing further as a smile creeps up on his thin lips. “Your two badges are still worth something to me.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, your mind reeling in dread. You can’t beat him; at least, you don’t think you can. You’ve seen what he can do, what options do you really have? The surrounding trees may offer cover, but he’d surely run you down.

“You wouldn’t come out unscathed,” you say after clearing your throat, the blunt words spoken with a slight apprehensive tone. “And you’d need a third badge too.”

His hand moves to his chin and he hums, that devilish smile still plastered on his damned face. He’s already decided something.

“What if we came to an… arrangement?” he proposes, stepping closer as he lets out the soft huff of a chuckle. “An agreement in which we both stand to gain something… and you can leave with both your badges.”

Your stomach turns with anxiety at his words. Nothing could ever be so easy.

“What kind of arrangement?” you ask, almost knowing you might regret it, the words coming out in a hoarse whisper, caught deep in your throat.

He grins, a fisherman who just felt a tug on his line. Slowly, he reaches out his hand, palm upwards, extending his pointer finger out to you.

Within a second, he snaps it back, a beckoning call which somehow sends you flying ten feet forwards straight into him. Your face hits his chest, your body crashing into his as your hands instinctively move up to try to lessen the blow.

“What the-”

“You see,” he sighs dramatically, interrupting your complaint and wrapping one arm tightly around your waist to hold you against him. “I’ve found myself in quite the bind… a predicament, one may say. So much built up with no way to release it…”

Your eyes widen as you feel the slight touch of his fingers grazing up your neck, his other hand still firmly holding you in place, your hips tightly pressed against him. Immediately, heat travels straight to your cheeks as you look up into his narrowed eyes.

“I… you don’t mean…” you stutter.

“I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, haven’t you?” he smirks as his fingers snake around your neck, his touch firm. Your breath catches as they tighten, and he begins to slowly back you up against a nearby tree, the rough bark tickling the back of your scalp. “I haven’t killed anyone in days…”

You watch his chest rise and fall, his breaths growing quicker, lips parted slightly. And those eyes – dull and clouded with a repressed haze – bare into your soul, scanning every element of your face.

Swallowing, you too let your gaze fall along his face, his body, those muscular arms which hold you against the trunk. What am I doing? This is a terrible idea…

“What’ll it be?” he huffs impatiently, grip tightening as he leans in, causing you to gasp. “You leave in the morning, both badges in hand. As if nothing happened.”

His breath is hot against your ear, rough with his smoldering passion. You freeze, heart racing in nervousness, or… excitement? You can’t tell, and it only makes you feel worse.

To kill… to fuck… is it all the same to him?

The silence is unsettling; his hand remains on your neck, the hold unwavering as a soft dusk breeze makes its way through the forest, rustling leaves along the way.

“Okay…” you steady your voice, looking up into his eyes. “It’s a deal.”

A smile flickers across his face for a fleeting moment, but within an instant, his lips are crashing against yours, hungry and desperate. He lets out a soft sound against your mouth, something between a growl and a moan, as he pulls your hips forward, further into his.

“Good choice…” he murmurs as his grip on your throat releases and his fingers snake backwards, the feeling of sharp nails trailing along your sensitive skin making you wince. Your head snaps back as he pulls your hair, and within a moment his mouth is on your neck. He plants hot, messy kisses along your flesh, occasionally grazing his teeth across you, as if holding himself back from taking a bite.

The cool breeze tickles your neck, now wet with a thin layer of saliva, sending a faint shiver down your spine. Apprehensively, you reach your hand up to the nape of his neck, sliding your fingers through his hair, unintentionally pressing his face closer to your skin.

He groans, and you feel the harsh pinch of a bite at the base of your neck. His hands travel down to your hips, now pulling you away from the tree and backing you up deeper into the forest, the path out of sight.

“Wouldn’t want to be interrupted,” he murmurs between breaths, his mouth moving up to plant kisses along your jaw.

You watch in the darkness as he pulls back, his eyes scanning the environment behind you, expression lighting up for a moment. Without a warning, he pushes you backward, sending you stumbling down into the thick grass below, the dampness of the vegetation cold against your hands as you hit the floor.

He grins, walking closer and leaning over your body between your legs, the moon above disappearing as he steps in front of it, like an eclipse. The white rays of moonlight create a blurry haze around his silhouette, his body a looming shadow above you.

Oh, he’s not gonna be gentle…

Crouching down, his face just inches from yours, he lets his eyes wander over your body fully, taking in your entire form. Your chest, rising and falling swiftly. Your eyes, wide in anticipation. Your hands, propping you up slightly as you rest in the thick grass.

“You’re scared…?”

His question is rhetorical; he knows you’re terrified. Terrified of him and terrified of the consequences. And yet, there’s something that draws you in, something that keeps you from running. Something…

“Does it matter?” you whisper, eyes meeting his through your eyelashes.

“No,” he smirks with a shrug, now moving to settle between your legs, his arm reaching behind you on the grass, steadying himself as he gets onto his knees. “It’s more fun that way.”

As the last words leave his mouth, he captures your mouth in another kiss, his lips moving furiously against yours. You slowly let yourself fall back into the grass, hands gripping his shirt as you pull him down with you. Sounds of soft pleasure fill the air, your senses heightened, feeling the soft skin of his face against yours and the dry tack of his face paint tickling your nose.

You’re just as desperate for it now, your desire snowballing with every kiss, touch, breath. It’s wrong and dirty and indecent but you just can’t help yourself, his body pressing yours deeper into the ground.

And then the movement starts, his hips grinding into yours as he uses a hand to pry your thighs apart. The sudden friction sends a jolt of electricity through your body, a small sound escaping your lips but immediately captured by his.

He lets out a deep breath, his arousal growing more intense as he continues his movement into your hips, one hand keeping you pressed against the grass. Your arms wrap around his body, fingers sinking into the soft fabric of his shirt, tugging at it urgently.

A thin string of saliva connects your lips to his as he pulls back, wasting no time in pulling his shirt over his head and exposing his bare chest to you. His muscles, accentuated under the moonlight, tense slightly as the brisk air hits him.

He leans back in, eyes trained to yours as he tosses his clothes to the side. His hands move to your shirt, not waiting for confirmation before pulling it and over your head, nearly ripping the fabric with his urgency.

You shiver, unable to decide if the reason lies within your exposure to him or the elements, and you fall back to the grass.

“Forgetting something?” Hisoka teases as he slips a finger under the bridge of your bra, lifting your back from the ground as he pulls it towards him. His other hand slides behind you, his fingers working to unhook the clasp.

You feel the color rush to your cheeks as he drops your undergarment to the side, his eyes hungrily trailing down to your exposed chest. He continues to study you for a moment, his tongue pushing against the inside of his cheek as he lets his gaze roam down, and down… and down.

Oh.

Your pants are already being torn off, the coarse fabric quickly sliding down your legs as he tugs them up in the air.

Instinctively, you tuck your knees, pressing your thighs together nervously as he kneels in front of you, eyes still taking in your appearance in silence. It feels demeaning, degrading, dirty, the way he looks at you. And something about it makes heat pool between your legs.

He stands, his fingers slipping under the waistband of his own pants, tugging them down just enough to see his v-line peeking out from the pale fabric.

“Get on your knees.”

His demand rings though your ears, the hum of sound clouding your thoughts. It’s as if your body moves on its own, fueled by nothing but inherent lust and scandal, your knees digging into the dirt as you look up at him.

You tug his pants further down, desperate for him, to feel him, to tastehim. He smirks, allowing you to remove it, letting the fabric fall to his ankles.

The resulting sight makes your breath catch in your throat, your eyes widening as they stare, unmoving from him. The size is…

“Make it fit.”

Your stomach drops, not in fear, but rather sensuality: the thrill of desire. Moving in, you waste no time giving him what he wants, your tongue running up the length of him, pausing gently at his tip and moving back and forth, a slight saltiness spreading throughout your mouth.

Hisoka grows more restless, his breathing staggering, the air caught in his throat as you toy with him.

“Get on with it,” he growls, his hand quickly grasping your hair at the scalp, pulling your face closer to him.

You smirk, eyes not leaving his as you lick a long, thick stipe up your palm, saliva glistening in the night. Your hand moves forward, gripping his cock and beginning to move, tantalizingly, back and forth.

He groans, his fingers intertwining further into your hair and sharp nails scraping against your scalp.

You move slowly, teasing him further with your tongue, taking him deeper, an inch at a time as your hand continues to work at his base. The pressure builds in your mouth, your jaw opening to accommodate him as you continue, almost choking and gagging.

As your lips touch him, taking him in, he lets out a straggled moan, strong arms forcing your head forward again, more and more, until you’ve taken his entire length in your mouth. You grip his thighs, feeling him hit the back of your throat and push harder. You twist, making him fit.

And then he pulls you back, just as you had gotten the chance to adjust. That is, before he thrusts your face into him again, and again, and again. It’s aggressive and violent, his grunts growing louder with every push, his hips moving forwards to meet your face, forcing himself even deeper into your mouth.

You feel tears blurring your vision, unable to feel anything except the sensation deep in your throat, the pain of him hitting against you, but the pleasure of knowing what you’re doing to him.

The muscles of his thighs under your grip begin to tighten more frequently, his gasps and moans growing more desperate.

“Fuck…” he grumbles under his breath, the word barely distinguishable from the series of pleasurable sounds caught deep in his throat, just as he is caught in yours.

He pulls you back by your hair, a strangled grunt escaping his lips, lips which immediately twist into a scheming smile. With his other hand, he places his finger under your chin, using his thumb to wipe the stray saliva dripping from the side of your mouth.

You fall onto your back, pushed back into the grass by Hisoka as he straddles your body. He leans in, mouth finding yours in a kiss as he positions himself over you, sliding his hands along your bare arms outwards, his hands meeting yours. After just a moment, he pulls his hands back, running them back up your arms, one finding your breast and the other, your hip.

You shift to move your hand, but it’s stuck. You tug and pull, furrowing your brow and pulling back from the kiss to glance to the side, staring at your hand, almost cemented to the ground.

“Why can’t I move-”

You’re immediately silenced, Hisoka’s finger moving to your lips, a sly smile plastered on his face.

“Don’t concern yourself with such trivial matters such as your hands…” he whispers, kissing at your jawline as if nothing happened.

The wet sensation draws your attention back to the moment, forgetting about your hands, or lack thereof. He moves again, positioning one leg between yours, pressing down into your body. You move your body up and closer to his as you begin to buckle your hips against his thigh, craving stimulation.

He smirks against your mouth, feeling your slick against his thigh as he continues to kiss you. Suddenly, he shifts his position, moving his other leg between yours. One of his hands travels to your hip, pushing you further into the ground.

“Such a dirty slut for me, aren’t you?” he purrs, his mouth pulling away from yours as his hand moves from your hip, trailing down to your inner thigh. You shiver, eyes meeting his in the starlight, a shadow looming over his face.

He slides a finger up, gently skimming along your skin as he makes his way closer to your core. His finger moves further up, teasing your folds, his touch far from gentle.

“Ah-” you dig your head into his shoulder, your hands gripping at the dirt as he continues to move his finger. Your eyes widen as you feel his sharp nail graze against your clit, the pain and stimulation sending a shudder through your body.

“Careful-” your forced whisper is quickly halted as he moves two fingers into you, slipping easily inside your throbbing pussy. You tighten around him, your heels and hips digging deeper into the dirt as your muscles contract.

It’s messy, inconsistent, almost selfish. He moves his fingers deeper inside of you, forcing small sounds of pleasurable pain from your lips, as if he cares not for your satisfaction, and only for what you can do for him.

After only a moment, he removes his fingers from inside of you, sliding them seductively up and across your neglected clit. They continue their journey up, sliding along your navel, sternum, and up to your neck.

“Clean them,” he demands suddenly, not waiting for a reply and shoving his fingers into your mouth, the tips pressing down into your tongue.

You let out a soft groan, the sound catching in your throat as his fingers muffle you, that is, before you begin to suck and lick him clean. Your tongue moves across and between his sticky fingers, lapping up your wetness from his skin.

As you continue to work at his fingers, he spreads your thighs further apart with his legs, settling between them. His fingers push further down against your tongue, eliciting a small whine from you.

You gasp as you feel him between your folds again, the tip of his cock sliding back and forth against you, lubricated with your slick.

He finally removes himself from your mouth, his hand now resting beside your head on the grass. His body remains pressed against yours, his hips stopping their movement as they slide back, positioning his tip at your entrance.

You bite back a moan in anticipation, pursing your lips as you look up at him, hovering over you.

“Beg for it,” his mouth twists into a smart grin.

“Please…” the word leaves your mouth before you can even register how degrading the situation is. You’re simply too frustrated, too needy. “I want you so bad… please…”

“Say my name,” he whispers close to your ear, his own breathing unsteady as he processes your words. “I want this whole island to hear you.”

“H-Hiso-”

The rest catches in your throat, the sensation of him slowly entering you drawing out a long and straggled moan, mingling with the remnants of a real word. Your fingers tear at the grass below, body contracting as he pushes deeper and deeper, filling you up more than you thought possible.

The movement begins, slowly at first, then speeding up in aggressive desperation. Your head throws back in pleasure, unable to tell if the stars you see above are real ones or not. Hisoka grunts with every thrust, each one growing in power as his fingers dig into the ground beside your head.

And the dirt. It coats your hair as he rocks you back and forth, stuck to the strands with the soft grassy dew acting like glue. You bite your lip, stifling a desperate moan into the night, knowing anyone could be in the surrounding forest.

Hisoka’s hand moves to your neck again, giving you no time to process as he tightens his fingers around you, using you as leverage to fuck you even harder.

“What did I tell you?” he grumbles through his clenched jaw, his pace unwavering. “I want to hear you.”

You oblige, forcing yourself to whisper his name, focusing on nothing else than the word, trying to distract yourself from the tightening around your throat, and the pounding in your stomach. It feels as though your organs are moving, shifting positions to accommodate his selfish length.

“Louder,” he growls.

You try, raising your voice as he continues to grind his hips against yours, his movement losing coordination as time progresses, growing less calculated, more carnal.

It really does feel like he wants to kill you.

You feel the pressure building within you, in time with the tightening of fingers around your neck. Vision growing hazy but body taught with pleasure, you manage to stutter.

“H-Hisoka… I can’t…” Your throat closes tighter, silencing you again.

“I don’t care,” he grunts, his breathing signifying he’s close to the edge. He has no plans of stopping…

You should hate it. It should scare you, terrify you even. The thought of dying: fucked to death on a deserted island by a man who cares not to even learn your name. But your body doesn’t work alongside your rational thoughts.

The constant rhythm, the stimulation, the force, it all comes to a climax.

Your body shakes, his name on your tongue as you feel the release. You tighten around him, your head digging back into the ground, just as he lets out a strangled gasp.

His hand releases your neck as he pushes his lips into yours, his hips moving as he rides out the waves of pleasure. You capture each other’s moans, drowning them in the sheer force of the kiss, passionate and feverous, as messy as anything coming before it.

A final gasp escapes your lips as your body relaxes, growing limp under his as your muscles twitch with remnant stimulations. He pulls his lips back from yours, gliding them against your jaw, his head eventually moving to settle beside yours, with his forehead pressed against the grass.

Breathing. In and out. Just the sensation of it feels like a blessing through all the turmoil. The dark of the night feels duller now, the sky softening into a darker gray rather than a piercing black.

The feeling of time passing is indescribable, minutes turning into hours or hours turning into minutes: you can’t tell. You’re sat there, quietly, simply left alone with your thoughts and a heavy body above you, hands still stuck to the floor.

The silence of the forest continues, as if unaware of the chaos, unaware of the fact you were just fucked to an inch of your life, the leaves still rustling with the same rhythm they did hours before. A peeking dawn cracks over the tops of the trees, the sky hinting to shades of purples and oranges in the distance.

“Hmm…” Hisoka hums, picking his head up to see the changing sky, as if waking from a slumber, the new light now highlighting his face in different ways than before. His face paint is smeared, no thanks to your nose and his sweat, with small pieces having been chipped away. And his hair. His hair has flattened, small pieces falling in front of his face, contrasting their normal pushed-back appearance.

He pushes himself off you, his abs clenching as he lifts himself up, standing up fully with a deep breath. Leaning down, he wipes the slight tint of brown dirt from his knees, the grass and soil falling back to rest on the ground, leaving him completely clean, a different sight from you. In silence, he delicately gathers his clothes, scattered across the grass in different places, putting each item back on, casually but with concentration, eyes no longer darting to you as you watch him, your hands still glued to the ground by some unknown force.

He shrugs his last layer on, smoothing the wrinkles of his shirt as his hand runs across the clove and spade on the front of the fabric before settling on his badge, #44. He straightens it out delicately before adjusting his clothing one more time. As he does, he stares off into the trees, through the dense trucks and into the fading darkness.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure,” he finally says, sighing and waving his hand dismissively as he walks away. With that, your hands are free again, the pressure releasing and allowing you to move your wrists. You gasp, immediately sitting up onto your palms as you watch him, walking back through the forest and to the established path, already beginning to smooth his hair again. Without another word, he disappears into the foliage, his footsteps growing softer and softer as time passes. And then, silence.

And it leaves you: naked, dirty, wet, and disheveled in a patch of grassy soil, blades littered across your body and scattered through your hair. Your breathing slows, the rise and fall of your chest softening as you draw your gaze upwards and to the sky, those warm colors, scaring away the sins of the cold night as they escape to the west, away from the light.

But what could you really have expected?

Perhaps you really were like the others in the end.

Just a mouse.

Happy Birthday Alexis! <3

[even-in-arcadia]

A Consideration of 1st Lt. Edward Little of HMS Terror (As Played by Matthew McNulty)

The thing about Lt. Edward Little is that he had the highest ideals and yet was set up in so many ways to fail them.  

We occasionally see glimpses of the man Edward Little must have been in order to be appointed First Lieutenant on a very prestigious expedition: reliable, capable, stalwart. 

(Continued below the cut, as this got very long)

He had that, before, when he was doing the job he was trained for, ie running a ship at sea.  What he hasn’t been trained for at all is managing 129 126 119 105 ? men stuck in pack ice in endless night, later trudging over ice and shale, trying to keep them busy and out of trouble and from getting killed by a demon bear.  Of course he’s out of his depth, but honestly aren’t most of them?  Of the lieutenants Gore (RIP) is the only one who seems to be in his element and he’s the only one with Arctic experience so that tracks.  Even Le Vesconte is getting by on charisma and the power of peer pressure, neither of which actually make for competent officering.  So that’s the scene he’s stuck in, and no wonder he’s out of his depth.  

Then we have the circumstances specific to Edward Little.  He's spent the first two-plus years of the voyage as the first for a captain who is very depressed and increasingly alcoholic. As Crozier's state deteriorates and especially after Franklin dies, Little has to tread a very fine and somewhat blurry line. He has to cover for Crozier, picking up the slack that is inevitably dropped; he also has to prop Crozier up in such a way that his leadership as Captain isn't undermined with the crew. A big part of both of those is making sure that the right questions are being asked, that all practicalities are being factored in, but he has to ask those questions without seeming to question Crozier’s authority. Thus he must essentially be an acting captain without seeming to do so either to the men or to Crozier . He is not someone who wants power per se; in fact I think what he wants most is to be a good and competent 1st Lt. But because he's under an semi-incapacitated captain, he has no choice but to take on some of that power while appearing to be no more than a loyal lieutenant. He's leading without being seen to lead, and he's already seen Crozier flog three men for among other things insubordination and disrespect (and without due process).

Crozier has also put him in a position of having to lie - both directly and by omission! For example, when questioned he tells Fitzjames (who outranks him) "much to do on Terror is all” - leaving JFJ to draw his own conclusions on the source of that “much” and the extent to which it is falling on Little.  The instruction to procure more whiskey “discreetly” is nearly if not actually insulting in how far below Little's rank it is.  Having to do it “discreetly” is even worse.  He is being treated as an errand boy, and not just an errand boy but one tasked with something that is clearly unsavory, even illicit.   By ordering him to to this, he makes Little complicit in the very vice that is causing all of these problems, and Little by virtue of his position is unable to refuse any of these direct orders, even ones that are way below his station. (The fact that Jopson, Crozier's actual steward who was actually in charge of these things, was not given that task is also telling although I’m not sure of what - perhaps that Crozier wanted someone who outranked the Erebus’ steward to do the asking; perhaps that he felt some shame in asking Jopson.)

Through all of this, Little is having to cover for a man who continues to lose his own respect in ways both large and small, personal and professional. Crozier has endangered the crew for which Little feels himself bound to care - leading directly to Blanky losing his leg - and has spoken flippantly of the situation ("How fares the raft of the Medusa?"). In 1x04, he is clearly galled by both the disregard of due process and severity of Hickey’s punishment.  (While both are not unstandard in the Navy, Crozier’s manner makes it seem like spite as much as anything - which I’m sure Little clocked.)  Overall, Little observes him making inebriated decisions that are based as much on his internal demons as any the practicalities at hand while men continue to die under his watch. This erosion of trust will come back to haunt them all, because even when its causes have been overcome, the deep root and the effects are there. (JFJ gets to have reckonings with Crozier and say his piece in a way that Little never does or will.)

Edward Little also cares deeply about the welfare of his men, perhaps more than anything. Command is a responsibility not just to the navy but to those whose lives his decisions affect. And so he as he sees this disregard for them (and for himself) he is angry, and he is in a profession and position where one is not allowed to be angry with one's superiors. So he spends a lot of his time pretending that he is not quietly furious while carrying out orders that he knows he shouldn't be, and hiding it from everyone , even Fitzjames, because he is also, deep in his heart, loyal (even if he feels it is unearned) and married to Naval structures.  Crozier and JFJ have their reckoning, but Little never gets that, because subordinates aren’t allowed to be angry.  

This combination, the lack of trust both given and received, the anger, the care & loyalty, the necessity to fill the void in leadership, means that he asks a lot of questions . A well placed "Are you sure, sir?" can go a long way. "Yes, but--" is not a phrase that would often have been uttered to a commander by a lieutenant, but Little has not just earned but hard won the right to say it.  Every time he questions Crozier, I think it is out of a sense of duty, not defiance. A duty to the expedition, to Crozier, and above all to the men, because for so long Crozier’s judgement was not something he was able to rely on. He can’t even attend a sunrise party without thinking of the supplies that are being used up! 

To top everything off, he also never appears to be someone who is particularly congenial nor gregarious, he is very aware of his rank, and is competent while not being loved (except by me).  I like to imagine that he and Jopson and Macdonald were able to commiserate in some way as Crozier was going through his detox.  But everyone is so conscious of class & rank & secrets being guarded that it seems unlikely that anyone actually confided in each other. By getting dry and in such dramatic fashion, Crozier earns back his loyalty & respect, but by doing so in secret I wonder if he hasn't further eroded Little's relationship with the other lieutenants.  Do they even know Crozier is drying out or is Little lying to them as well as to the entire rest of the crew?  Little does not seem like a man who cares for lying, and covering up the captain's "gastritis" would only have made Little feel more cut off and burdened by the captain's confidence. (To say nothing of the fact that all of this is going on with the Tuunbaaq in the background - these lieutenants were not designed to contend with alcoholic spirits let alone the spirit world.)

 Crozier’s trust does often  end up being more burden than anything, and it’s beyond the responsibility that would normally come with his rank. That moment when he practically shoves the pistol away from him is so telling of this.  We really were robbed of the moment when Little is so angry after leaving Crozier that he can’t even slam his door: because that’s what’s building up this entire time!  

By covering for Crozier both before and during his sobering up, Little probably lost some of his authority over the crew. They know he's hiding something, and that earns some distrust. He's obviously worn out, and there must be some observation that Crozier is literally using him as an errand boy. In the best of circumstances the commanding-without-commanding is a hard line to walk while maintaining one’s own air of authority. He's also angry, and in working so hard to cover and subdue his anger, what he's left with is the "sad, wet man" that fandom has dubbed him. The crew may not know exactly what’s going on (although what do those men have to do besides gossip) but they must have sensed how Little is being worn away. As much as he cares for them, he wouldn’t fraternize - it seems like he barely fraternizes in the wardroom.  (Which is why that moment of camaraderie with Jopson outside Crozier’s cabin is so important to me personally.) 

That brings us to the mutiny.  We may love a sad, wet man, but in the face of a charismatic mutineer he's never going to match up. He doesn't have the authority, the love of the crew, or really the energy to go against it. At this point, he has no reason to know or suspect that a mutiny is what's the offing in the first place! He is someone who wants to believe the best of his men, and he's been given no reason to doubt Tozer's motives. And what was he supposed to do in the face of a marine sergeant surrounded by frightened, armed men?  They are clearly on edge and afraid, a dangerous combination.  He is practical, and although ultimately it loses him even more face by going along with Tozer, he was never going to be able to stop that in its tracks. Even JFJ wasn’t able to reel back in what had already been done.  So he chooses the pragmatic route: agree publicly to the logic, let Tozer do with him what he's been doing with Crozier, in making the subordinate's idea appear to be the superior's. With the situation and facts at hand, what else is he to do? 

The irony is that Little has been quietly looking out for all of them and their best interests for so long; but because it was so quiet, an undercurrent, when it comes down to brass tacks, none of them have ever seen that, or feel that they owe him any respect or loyalty. Tozer and Hickey appear to be men of action, and unfortunately in a moment like this a group of frightened men is going to follow the one who appears strongest. 

I also want to point out that Crozier specifically says *while the fog holds off*. Well the fog has rolled in! The situation changed! Crozier clearly has suspicions of Hickey and Tozer that he hasn't confided to Little, and whose fault is that! When it comes to investigating Irving’s and Farr’s murders, Little asks what the evidence is, which suggests to me that he has no knowledge of any concerns about Hickey that have arisen post-lashing.  Again, he is inclined to trust them.

One of the realest moments we get from him is "I'm the worst kind of sorry." It's one of the very few times he breaks from naval demeanor. The worst kind because he feels it deeply, but also because he was stuck, and he knows it, and also knows the expectations both from himself and from others that he be Better.

What it comes down to is what he says to Hodgson: "All we have are our instincts and training. If both told you to proceed with what you ordered, then be easy with yourself." That is all Little has had for so long. He certainly doesn’t seem to be having heart to hearts with Irving and Hodgson, let alone JFJ and Crozier; his counterpart on Erebus is long gone.  Who has he to confide in, especially at this juncture of events, when there are no clear paths and no right answers. I imagine this is what he told himself over and over in the long watches of the night.  

And yet!! Matthew McNulty has said that “Little's probably one of the most hopeful out of them all. [...] He still thinks that humanity will prevail in this dark, dark world.”  I’m not sure where to put this, but I think it’s important.  I think it’s part of why he doesn’t always quite have the authority he should: poor, worn down Edward Little sees the best and hopes for the best, and can’t quite reckon that not everyone has the same moral compass he does.  That’s why Tozer & Hickey get the best of him, because he wants to believe the best of them.  He doesn’t compromise his moral compass or belief in humanity, and unfortunately that turns into a blind spot.I think it’s also why Tozer invites him to join them: because some part of him recognizes that they both have that idealism deep down.  They are both doing their best in an inconceivable situation to cling to hope and take care of those they see as under their protection. It pains me to think what they could have accomplished had they worked together rather than against each other. 

(Incidentally, I don’t believe Little ever would have been swayed to join them, but I can’t blame him for the fact that Tozer’s claim about Crozier leaving them gave him pause.  He’s seen Crozier finally grow into a commander he can respect, but to find out that Crozier’s judgment was not just impaired for so long but extended to actively planning to abandon ship & crew, as Tozer frames, as he was working so hard to hold things together - even if he doesn’t believe it, in his heart of course there must have been some doubt.) 

All of these, the erosion of respect, the concern, the exhaustion, the lack of direction and support, the HOPE, come together in a moment for which he (unjustly, in my opinion) gets vilified for: 

We’ve slowed our pace hauling some of the ill in the boats. But if we extend this temporary camp more than a few days, we can allow the ill to rest here while the bulk of us proceed south. We can hopefully find game and trek back for the others once we have something more to offer them–

And Jopson’s anger is both understandable and not unwarranted - but. Based on that look Le Vesconte gives him, this most likely is not a thought that originated with Little.  It’s  being grumbled by those hauling, maybe even obliquely discussed by the officers.   That look says to me “It has to be said.”  And it does, the logistics are evident to everyone and that needs to be discussed.  They’re sending out hunting parties every day, sure, but in an area very close to the one they’re trekking through.  It genuinely does make practical sense to have some unencumbered, able-bodied (relatively) men go ahead quickly to what would hopefully be better hunting grounds, while the sick conserve what strength they have: those able to hunt could move quickly and bring back game, while those who are dying could do so while not being jostled about on boats on shale.  Little does not say (and, I think, would never say) that they should leave them behind entirely: only that this current system isn’t really helping anyone (and it isn’t).  He needs to make sure that Crozier has fully considered the situation, because for so long that was not the case. (Historically, in fact, they did set up a hospital camp while a smaller party moved south.)

I actually do think he says this with hope: the hope that they really will find game, that the ill do just need to rest, that he can save as many of them as possible.  He's also thinking of the practicalities and (though I may be biased) really does intend to return to the ill once they have something to actually provide them with. He doesn't say so that they can move on unencumbered, to better their own chances, he says to let them rest , to find something to offer them.  He knows the situation and the feeling in camp, and that the time has come to have the conversation. It's not even necessarily a conversation he wants to have or believes in, but it has to be had. Once it's been talked about, once Crozier has come out with not just a position but a direction (to leave supplies behind if necessary), Little is entirely on board. Shortly thereafter, when Le Vesconte suggests the exact same thing, he retorts that " Most of us are ill" (note the us - the identification with) and further responds with disgust and anger that "The Captain also ordered that we not leave any man behind. You expediently leave that out."  The Captain isn’t there; Jopson isn’t there: if Little really in any way wanted to leave anyone behind, this was his chance to order it and save himself.  The fact is that he is still arguing for and trying to lead with compassion as well as duty; the fact that he can't override the more selfish majority doesn't negate that.

I wish we could see his decision to go with Le Vesconte even though he so clearly believes that these lesser mutineers are in the wrong; I know why we don't. I like to think that it's because he believes he's doing the best thing for all, that he knows one semi-able bodied man staying behind is not going to help anyone, and that by going south with the group he may be to able to sway them, or find game for the ill. But again - he has been put in a position where there is no right choice, and where any authority he had has been too far eroded to matter.

Regardless: we go from his vehement protestation that they must a) rescue their captain and b) not leave behind the ill to die to this:

A man completely broken, weathered almost beyond recognition, with his flesh pierced by and draped with the chains of watch fobs. That's fobs plural: they're clearly different chains, from different watches, from different men.  But in still uniform.  Because he clung to the to his identity, to hope, to grounding structure of the Navy in which he trained and believed, until the very end.

We don't know what happens in between. Is it madness? Did the mutineers do this to him?   Is it penance? A memorization of the men whose watches those were?  A punishment on himself for what happened on his watch - despite the fact that really, he was powerless to stop it? And this is the only watch he can keep now - watch chains in his face, his eyes forced open to the horrors. Or did 1st Lt. Edward Little spend so long suppressing his anger, marrying that anger to hope, being responsible, keeping confidences, bearing all that alone, with authority that is both shoved on him and disregarded - did he finally snap? Are the chains not a decoration, not a punishment, but an attempt to literally bind himself up and tack himself down to this terrible world where he’s found himself?  

All we know for certain is his last word - “Close?” Close to what? To death? To salvation?  The only comfort either Edward Little or we, the audience, will get - is that at the very end, his captain was there to release him from the duty to which he clung for so long, so fiercely, with so much hope.

[callester]

Extending the details for @ascalide's pinpointed observation on Nightfall's return from recovery post Wheeler's arc.

Nightfall's debut scene in Mission 105 bears a stark resemblance to an almost similar scene in Mission 60, with a subtle difference on the side of the shoulder where she carries her bag.

Through various instances previously shown, it can be assumed that Nightfall's dominant hand lies on the right side.

Though opposing that, there is a notable change on the side she chooses to carry her bag and receiving the required documents from Franky using her left hand as opposed to her dominant hand.

The reason behind the author's decision to commence such change is due to the aftermath of Nightfall's more severe right arm injury when facing off Wheeler. Mission 105 marks her return to her on-site tasks since last seen recovering in the hospital in Mission 87.

Note: While negligible to most, the detailed considerations taken by the author has always been highly appreciated.

[nynyhaha]

Phantom Troupe - failed robinhoods?

As the new chapters told us,the Spiders started out as a revenge based organisation. That’s also what made them the way they are now.

But no one talks about the huge responsibility they have to carry to help their whole town.

Kurapika’s task for instance is to avenge the dead rather than changing the world to better treat the living. He doesn’t have a community whose situation he is concerned with. It’s tragic,but in a way that limits his responsibility. Leorio wants to treat people for free and actually addresses a bigger societal problem that was born out of a personal one.

The phantom troupe are very much concerned with avenging specific people,but they work on utilitarian principles. They’re ready to sacrifice themselves for the whole of Meteor City,so that no kids will be kidnapped again

For that they’re ready to throw away their own morals. Because kid Chrollo isn’t yet evil. He can’t think the same way adult Chrollo does,he’s not hat capable of committing a massacre but he already knows he will kill many people,without really understanding what that means. If you were to say something like this,would you know what it means? I wouldn’t. So in short,they’d chose to pull the lever and sacrifice one person for the five.(Unless it’s up to Paku and Chrollo is the one person)

If this wasn’t a revenge mission,what would it be?

Meteor City needs two things, protection and material goods.

Before the Troupe gained sufficient strength to have a say, the elders made a deal that exchanged people for the mafias “protection”. It seems heavily implied that the very same mafia who agreed to protect them was the one behind the kidnappings to begin with,they just exchanged children for adults.

In chapter 105 Leorio says the following:

Many years after the original deal,there was a second one, but this time the mafia offered goods. Why couldn’t they kept the “protection” deal?

Because the City no longer needed protection. Something must’ve happened for the mafia to take a step back and actually pay Meteor City rather than just not stealing their kids.

See how it’s a forced decision?

And the Troupe abolished even that.

Not only did the Spider scare off the criminals terrorising their town,they also put a stop to the mafia buying Meteor City’s loyalty.

Maybe it’s already pointed out by someone,but we need to talk about that more!

Suddenly their quest to steal makes much more sense. They’re not only scary guard dogs,but providers. It simply can’t be argued that the Troupe’s existence has no positive effects,when it changes everything for Meteor City!

Why then are they “failed” robinhoods? Because while they’re effective,they can’t change the world. They can only scare off the Mafia while they exist,should the Spider die it could all revert back. And also because they can’t help everybody. The cost of their constructive ends is destruction.

While I believe the Kurta clan massacre had other reasons,would it not be the perfect way to show the elders the Troupe is both capable of cruelty for the sake of their community and fit to provide money? “Oh you think you need the Mafia? Watch this.”

In that way they wouldn’t even need to hate the clan,it would merely be killing outsider children for the sake of Meteorian children.

It perfectly shows how trying to achieve radical change in an unfair world can drive one to insanity. “Robinhoods” seem noble. The work that the Troupe does can’t be noble. Just like Kurapika’s quest isn’t righteous,as much as he wishes it was.

Wanting safety for the kids of Meteor City is natural,but it seems unattainable.

Is the thesis here that you can’t help Meteor City without killing someone? Yes. It doesn’t mean killing the kurtas,but it means killing the Mafia. And killing the Mafia often= normalisation of killing. The more often you do it the easier it is,and the lesser justification is required. Eventually,that means killing the Kurtas.

The idea is that they couldn’t keep doing what they did without eroding their morals to the point they’re at now.

They can’t remain pure. But they have to do something.

Meteor City seems like an unsolvable tragedy. It’s sucks up all the misery and filth of the world, and while it’s supposed to represent hope and be a safe place for all the lost,that’s an unattainable ideal.

There will always be people in need is such a place. It’s like the shadow of the World, which is the actual problem. Meteor City is everything that is right and wrong with humanity.

And the saddest part? Any state of peace is fragile. ALL of the Troupe’s achievements might be lost once it’s gone.

So it really was all for nothing? And how is Chrollo supposed to keep caring about human lives back at home when he has ended countless lives himself? How can he feel any attachment to humanity when he uses bodies as bombs and sees himself as a worthless hostage?

If he doesn’t feel it tho..what’s even the point? No wonder bro is lost

[karlachismylife]

Juju's Masterlist

god i love how they look at each other when i place pictures like this

Figured this might be needed! As I am planning to spam-reblog so much cool stuff...

Hi, I'm Juju (or Juju Starr more formally XD), 22 yo and in this blog I primarly write things on the rarepair I came up with, Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3) x Soap (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, reboot trilogy by default).

However, I also write things in both these fandoms with other characters, different ships (including other ships with Karlach and Soap), poly ships, x reader and x OC. There are NSFW ones and I will be checking every blog interacting with them, so minors and ageless blogs DNI, please.

Requests are open! Send in anything <3

*also I have no idea if I'm using the word blurb right, feel free to correct!

The masterlist itself is under the cut!

First mention of Karlach x Soap (a little overview of the ship dynamic)

I Might Have A Type (a post mentioning how the ship was born, trust me, there's concrete evidence of them being compatible)

All things Karlach x Soap (thoughts, fics, little ideas and concepts - simply sorted by hashtag)

Karlach x Soap fics

Morning Routine (blurb, fluff, 238 words) - Karlach, Soap and shaving

Birds of a Feather (blurb, fluff, 271 words) - Karlach and her dynamic with task force 141

They're Horny (blurb, smutty (NSFW), 228 words) - Karlach is horny and Soap is horny, but there's a difference (there's not)

Explosive Love (blurb, fluff, 105 words) - what it's like when you have a demolitions expert and a walking bomb on your team

Not Fair (blurb, angst, 457 words) - Soap is there when Karlach breaks down after the death of a certain bastard

Restless Fingers (blurb, fluff, 130 words) - one word: fidgeting

Scar Twinsies (blurb, fluff, 245 words) - surviving Hell and blowing shit up leaves similar marks

Practice Makes Perfect (oneshot, fluff, 932 words) - something from Soap's weaponry catches Karlach's eye and he does not miss an opportunity for a date

Tactic Tactile Affections (headcanons, fluff, 764 words) - it's not just about kissing and fucking!

Baby Fever (blurb, fluff, 260 words) - can you imagine their babies tho (C)

Is It Visual Stimming or Is He A Romantic? (oneshot, fluff, 945 words) - something about smouldering coal is just so mesmerizing... what are you looking at, Johnny?

Hey Skullboy (blurb, fluff w/angst, 467 words) - Karlach shares with Ghost not only his sergeant, but also trauma

Solar Eclipse mini-series (2 parts)

Total Eclipse of the Heart (mini, fluff w/angst, 1286 words) - dog tags can be so many things, learns Karlach when she spots an unfamilar piece of jewelry among other alien things Soap brought from his world (part 1) Worshipping the Sun (mini, fluffy smut (NSFW), 4201 words) - solar eclipse is beautiful, thinks Johnny when he looks at his circular dogtags blocking out the glowing light of Karlach's engine. He wouldn't mind seeing a thousand of those as soon as he gets a chance to make the little steel plates bounce on her chest (part 2)

Introductions (blurb, fluff, modern!AU, 105 words) - what Soap would call Karlach in modern!AU

Two of Us Wearing Raincoats (headcanons, fluff, partially suggestive, partially modern!AU, 2855 words) - requested domestic fluff, a lot of it!

Love Texting (blurb, fluff, modern!AU, 96 words) - what their texting looks like (Karlach is illiterate, Soap is Soap)

(Be)longing (blurb, suggestive fluff, 190 words) - Johnny and collars, am I right?

Bath Time (blurb, fluff, 246 words) - sharing a bath to save time

Good Night And Joy Be To You All (oneshot, angst or hurt/comfort with hopeful ending, 1233 words) - Karlach finds Johnny standing on the edge of a cliff and knows all too well what it's like to miss your home

Afterglow Kisses (drabble, fluff, 646 words) - they make love, they kiss with love, they are in love

Karlach x Ghoap (Ghost x Soap) fics

Package Deal (blurb, fluff, 135 words) - tame one golden retriever, get one free

None Are Free Until (blurb/idea, angst w/fluff, modern!AU, 558 words) - anarchist!Karlach and everything complicated because of that

All The Leaves Are Brown (oneshot, fluff with a bit of hurt/comfort, modern!AU, 1463 words) - anarchist!Karlach, Soap and Ghost in the face of impending cold of the autumn

Call of Duty fics

Random Characters Assortment

Their favourite body part/touch headcanons (Price, Ghost, Soap, Gaz, Nikolai, König, Valeria blurbs, fluff, partially suggestive, no use if Y/N gn!reader-insert, can be read as character x character too, 1367 words) - their favourite way to touch you and such

Task Force 141 Ensemble

Their reaction to you playing datesim games (individual oneshots, fluff, partially suggestive (NSFW), no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 5073 words) - how do they find out and what do they think?

You're a character in their favourite game (individual blurbs, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 786 words) - how do they approach you in-game?

The Queen of the Clan || Series masterlist (hyena shapeshifter!AU, no use of Y/N fem!chubby!reader-insert) - when you decide to shake up your life a bit and partake in a trip with a documentary crew, you have no idea that meeting an unnaturally friendly hyena and have it mark your backpack would be only the beginning of weird things to come. Whatever will you do when a leaderless clan of four male hyenas chooses you as their matriarch?

You're having a bad time after sex (individual oneshots for every man + poly 141, hurt/comfort, NSFW, dark themes, no use of Y/N gn!chubby/fat!reader-insert, 7351 words) - due to hormonal withdrawal after sex you spiral into a severe episode of self-loathing and body image issues, but you have someone to comfort you

You got sick (individual drabbles for every man + poly!hyena!141, fluff, partially suggestive (NSFW), sickfic, no use of Y/N gn!sick!reader-insert, 1834 words) - their rection if you got sick

You have chronic illness (poly 141 headcanons, fluff, sickfic, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 2388 words) - the way they care for you if you have chronic illness

Mini force 141 headcanons (poly mini 141 headcanons, silly fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 1104 words) - what if task force 141, but reaaaal smol? (Inspired by a tiktok)

Task force 141 VS head massager thingy (individual drabbles for every man + poly!hyena!141, fluff, tiniest bit suggestive, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 1038 words) - their complicated relathionship with the head massager

Thoughts on task force 141 and weed (individual headcanons, 748 words) - my limited perception of the topic

Task force 141 VS cute puppies (individual headcanons, fluff, 628 words) - if they need to take care of puppies, what's their approach?

Task force 141 VS raccoons (individual drabbles, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 2265 words) - how do they deal with raccoons that come to your home?

Task force 141 carving Halloween pumpkins (individual drabbles, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 2425 words) - what's their technique when it comes to creating Jack-o'-lanterns?

Forehead kisses (individual headcanons, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 569 words) - them giving you forehead kisses

Soap

Rushed (blurb, fluff, 78 words) - what some consider rushed, Johnny considers almost too late

Mohawk Appreciation Time (blurb, fluff, mentioned Karlach x Soap but Soap-centred, 249 words) - I do not condone calling his mohawk stupid unless it's fully affectionate!

Emotional Support Dog (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 1132 words) - when you're struggling with work-related stress, Johnny's there for support

I'm In Love 100 Times (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 485 words) - when you look at Soap, you almost choke on your love for him, but he's there to rescue

Don't You Forget About Me (oneshot, silly fluff, no use of Y/N fem!reader-insert (reader is Soap's mother), 1208 words) - your son is a troublemaker, but he's a good boy (and you're just as stubborn as him)

Masochistic Kid With a Split Lip (oneshot, hurt/comfort, no use of Y/N gn!sergeant!reader-insert, 1106 words) - Soap gets messed up on a mission, but he's just as irresistable

Fear Of the Depth (blurb co-created with @killerpancakeburger, kinda hurt/comfort or a little angst, mentioned Soap x reader but Soap-centred, 334 words) - what would Soap's one fear be?

Elevator Story (blurb/irl storytime that is very Soap-coded, fluff I guess, 277 words) - a story from my real life that was just too good to not tell

Gratitude From The Top (Of His Lungs) (oneshot, short smut, no use of Y/N gn!bottom!reader-insert, 569 words) - sometimes Soap whimpers when you let him finish inside

Gratitude From The Bottom (Of His Heart) (oneshot, short smut, no use of Y/N gn!top!reader-insert, 639 words) - sometimes Soap whimpers when you finish inside

Ghost

Now They Ain't Got a Prayer (oneshot, hurt/comfort, no use of Y/N gn!military!reader-insert, 1479 words) - after a mission goes not like planned, there's a heavy feeling in the air, but there's something even heavier in your chest

Flutter Into the Skies (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N fem!girly!reader-insert, 1277 words) - Simon is being a menace while you're trying to get ready for a friend's wedding, but you have your ways to take revenge

And We Just Disagree (oneshot, hurt/comfort, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 900 words) - arguments are an unpleasant, but unavoidable part of life, and good thing you and Simon can resolve them well

Chains Of Love (oneshot, hurt/comfort, no use of Y/N gn!civilian!reader-insert, 929 words) - dating Simon Riley wasn't an easy job, but an honest talk might save you from falling off this tiring swing

Wanting To Hold You (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reder-insert, 1534 words) - Simon is a menace, so why can't you be a menace too, just to put him in his place for once?

People Are Strange (oneshot, no use of Y/N afab!reader/self-insert, 2917 words) - you're in your own artistic world when someone who says he's your neighbour knocks on your door (this is very-very my self-insert)

Gaz

I Need a Hero (oneshot, fluf, no use of Y/N gn!civilian!reader-insert, 538 words) - Kyle is finally getting a medal and you're just happy for your man

Come On Baby, Light My Fire (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!civilian!reader-insert, 887 words) - you finally get to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night, with Kyle by your side no less

Temptation When I Look At You (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader, 2229 words) - going out with friends for a board game even turns into you poorly executing your flirtint skills and... scoring a date?

Price

I Need My Love To Be Here (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N fem!reader-insert, 715 words) - while your husband is away, you daughter is being a little troublemaker. But you're both good enough girls to recieve a special gift!

Valeria

Desnuda Tu Mente (oneshot, suggestive, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 1015 words) - your life depends on the will of her blade, and you're absolutely thrilled by it

Ghoap (Ghost x Soap)

Help! (blurb, fluff, 213 words) - thoughts on Simon Riley and The Beatles

Fem!Ghoap mini-series

Wrestle Ye (oneshot/blurb, fluff, 751 words) - what would fem!ghoap be like and how would they fall in love? (Spoiler: with a bang) No Woman Left Dirty (oneshot, suggestive fluff, 1192 words) - how does Soap find her way into Ghost's apartment? And why does hair length matter?

Nikprice (Nikolai x Price)

Sleepy (blurb co-created with @devil-in-hiding, fluff, partially suggestive, no use of Y/N fem!mom!reader-insert, 498 words) - waking up on rainy mornings is hard, especially you have the weight of responsibilities for your baby and home on your shoulders. Unless there's someone to share the burden...

Hesh

Standing For Something (oneshot, hurt/comfort, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 660 words) - getting ambushed and shot isn't exactly pleasant, but your Lieutenant is a good man and makes everything a little better

Baldur's Gate fics

Dammon

Forged Under the Stars (oneshot, fluff, no use of Y/N gn!reader-insert, 1157 words) - at the Tiefling Party Dammon comes over to sit with you under the stars

will be re-working this thing

[thepineconelord]

Ghost-Maker Reading List and Order (ultimate cool version by me so its correct)

essential reading/recommended reading/optional reading

Batman v3 (2016) #100 [this is his first appearance, but it's very brief and not necessary to understand the character]

Batman v3 (2016) #102-105 [Ghost-Maker's introduction arc, very important]

Batman v3 (2016) #106-111 [lead-in to the Fear State arc, lots of good moments, the secondary story starting in #107 is Ghost-Maker focused and absolutely essential to understanding him]

Batman v3 2021 annual [my favorite Ghost-Maker story of all time]

Batman Fear State Alpha [he's barely in this, but if you want some context]

Batman v3 (2016) #112-117

Catwoman (2018) #37-38 [I have a fun time with these appearances, but you don't need to read them unless you like the Wight Witch story-line]

Batman Urban Legends #11-13 [he shows up briefly in the Wight Witch 'Stigma' story-line]

Batman Fear State Omega [he's barely in this, but he has such funny lines]

Batman v3 (2016) #118-121 [context for Batman Inc stuff if you want it]

Shadow Wars [an event story that Ghost-Maker shows up in. Find a reading order on the Wikipedia page]

Batman: The Knight (2022) #1-10 [technically he doesn't show up until issue 4, but just read the whole thing. Also this is the most up to date cannon of the backstory, even if I like it less :/]

Batman v3 2022 annual [Batman Inc kick-off]

Batman Incorporated v3 (2022-2023) #1-12

DC Pride (2023) "The Dance"

DC vs. Vampires: World War V #3 & #4 (he's in these. I don't know much about Dc vs vampires, but if you like it, he's here!)

Misc non-story appearances (you'll be disappointed if you read these for him)

Infinite Frontier #0

Justice League (2018) #75

DC Pride (2021)

DC Pride (2022)

Harley Quinn: Uncovered

DC's 'Twas the Mite Before Christmas

Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special

Absolute Power Task Force VII #7

Trade Paperbacks

Ghostmaker/Clownhunter [collected issues that mostly feature stuff from the issues I've already mentioned above]

[hood-ex]

Everyone shut up. So you know how Dick saved Jason from falling off the train?

Nightwing (Vol. 2) #105

Well, Jason ended up paying Dick back years later by saving Dick from being hit by a train.

Task Force Z #8

I mean, is it Jason's fault that Dick was nearly hit by a train in the first place? Yes. But let's just ignore that for a second and focus on the grab and pull. The, "I got you, kid," and the, "Gotcha."

[dzthenerd490]

SCP-239 vs SCP-AAS

On the moon in 2016 they were working around the clock to use Grey Concrete to create the perfect containment cell for the event. It was an unbelievable event that no one would ever thing was going to happen, yet it was. Apparently, Agent Charlie Wells (Currently 40) challenged Dr. Sigurrós Stefánsdóttir (currently 31) to a fight. Not only did Dr. Stefánsdóttir accept but the O5 gave their approval of the fight ensuring that all resources were devoted into making this happen. It was going to be battle of the century between two girls that were arguably the strongest in all of the Foundation. Both had the best combat training, extremely powerful anomalous abilities, and experimental training to ensure they had mastery over said abilities; It was really tough to say who was going to win.

None-the-less almost everyone who was able to put down what they were doing while those who had to keep working kept a recording of the events close by so that they could either watch now or later. It was going to be an extraordinary battle, so no one within the Foundation was willing to miss it. 

***

Agent Iris Clef and her wife Dr. Meri Clef were in their new house/room with all of their friends: Emily Evolution, Dr. Stella, Agent Cindy Victoria, Agent Miller, Dr. Mathew Wells, and Agent David McGowan. They were all in the living room sitting on a large couch that could surprisingly fit all of them. Those that had hazardous abilities were wearing their protective gear so none of them were a hazard to one another. Furthermore, they were in a really expensive looking place that was nicely furnished and had lots of cool decorations as well as cute photos of Iris and her wife. You'd be forgiven if you thought the outside looked like a mansion from the interior alone, though that wasn't true since they were with the invisible flying fortress of Site-AM. 

Iris and Meri were also gifted with an AFA-3 servant, it was made to look completely human and was programed with a Level 3 A.I. making it quite friendly. It would help them with whatever they desired though they didn't let it do much as they were afraid it was a spy for the O5 Council to keep an eye even on their private life. Despite all of that, they had everything they needed to view the fight comfortably especially the large flat screen TV in front of them.

However, none of them were actually really happy about the fight Especially Dr. Wells. He did admire his wife for her strength, but he was also aware that she often bit off more than she could chew. Though most of the Foundation was wondering how this was going to go Iris and her friends kinda could tell how it would go, Sigurrós would use her reality warping abilities to turn off Charlie's powers and easily win the fight with a single move afterwards. Though everyone in the room knew it they weren't willing to say it, especially since Dr Wells was in the room. Suddenly AFA-3 entered the living room form the kitchen wearing a butler suit. 

"Excuse me everyone, is there any snacks or beverages you'd like me to prepare before the show begins?"

"Oh, no 568NO, we're good."

"Actually, do you happen to have some whiskey or wine?" Everyone then looked to Dr. Wells in either confusion or shock as he was looking at 568NO in anticipation.

"... uh... well, we the Foundation is in possession of certain bottles-"

"Get me the strongest!"

"... right away, Dr. Wells." Everyone kept staring at Dr. Wells with concern, he eventually noticed this and glared at them all.

"What?!" They all quickly looked away and focused back to the TV and didn't say another word until the battle started.

***

"Alright everyone! Who's willing to bet on Agent Wells and who wants to bet on Dr. Stefánsdóttir! Place your bets now!" Within lounges, resting areas, cafeterias, and other various places in the hundred Foundation Site's around the world; there were MTF units, Security, Researchers, Doctors, and other various Foundation staff getting ready to watch the fight. They were all on their Computer Screen Pads or handheld versions of the device to places bets on the fight. Within the Foundation there wasn't really any such thing as currency for payment, instead the Foundation's massive wealth was only saved for controlling the world's governments and its people to remain silent about the anomalous world.

The staff of the Foundation didn't need money anyways as they had many, MANY different resources that they earned or collected through their years at the Foundation. It was about the closest to currency within the Foundation as MTF units and Researchers often traded their food and personal items with one another for various reasons. Today was no different and was probably going to be the biggest bet some would ever make earn and would either make them win lots of food and the best resources the Foundation had to offer or have them loose it all. 

***

Dr. Zeek was actually at the one of the classrooms at Site-AF where they taught lessons to children under the care of the Foundation. This included children that unfortunately had Class F status, Children of personnel at the Foundation, talented children found in Foundation owned orphanages, as well as anomalous children in Foundation custody. This particular classroom had Elrin and Kasta also known as ACY-Α and SCP-ACY-Β (both 9, same as the other kids in the classroom). Elrin loved learning from every class just like she liked doing anything positive, but Kasta only enjoyed knowing how to better bring suffering to others, anything else was pointless and boring to her. However today none of them were learning anything, as Dr. Zeek instead had a holo screen in the front of the classroom ready for them to watch the fight. 

"Now children, today instead of learning about the chemical structure of penicillin we will be instead watching the scrap between yah seniors! Agent Wells and Dr. Stefánsdóttir!" The kids were visible confused but also kinda excited that they were going to be watching something cool rather than learning about complex subjects again. Dr. Zeek didn't really have to teach them since he wasn't a Level 2 researcher anymore, but he just enjoyed teaching them anyways, so he did so. Also, he didn't trust the younger researchers to not corrupt or biased towards the kids. 

"Does this mean we're going to watch them die." Kasta spoke with a smile on her face while having her hand raised which seemed pointless since she didn't wait for Dr. Zeek to give her permission to speak. Dr. Zeek just looked at her with disappointment.

"No, we're just watching them fight that's all. They're both professionals so no one is going to die, they merely want to see who is stronger than who." Kasta just groaned in disappointment.

"Teacher! I heard some of our parents were betting on this match, can we do that too?"

"No!"

***

"I mean they're going to be okay right?" Dr. Wicked was sitting at his desk within his office at Site-AD. Though he was currently watching Dr. Corvio in annoyance as she was walking back and forth within his office. 

"They'll be okay right; I mean they're both strong."

"Melissa..."

"But what if they do hurt each other, Charlie has always been reckless and Sigurrós doesn't even know her own limits!"

"Melissa."

"No. No! They could vaporize one another! Or erase each other from existence! Come on Wicked! We need to stop this fight now!"

"MELISSA!" Dr. Wicked then slammed his fists onto his desk breaking it entirely while also scaring the SCP-AEK-2-Ξ instances in his office. They all quickly scattered and fled to the dark corners of his office. Dr. Corvio was a little frightened as well while Dr. Wicked glared at her with bloodshot eyes. However, his eyes reverted back to normal as he took a breath and sat back down on his desk chair. 

"*sigh*... Melissa they are not children anymore. You can't protect them forever. Not that they need protection."

"Wicked... we're the Foundation! Our whole job is to protect!"

"Yes, but not everything can be protected forever, sometimes it must be left alone so that it can grow strong enough to protect itself. Charlie and Sigurrós are possible the greatest examples of that. They've already grown mentally, physically, and anomalously stronger than any of us. They don't need our protection anymore."

"But-"

"Besides, your worried about the wrong thing."

"Wha- what do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? This is a political play by the O5, their trying to show everyone who should be feared more. The Anomalous Employment Department or the Department of Technology, Magic, Science, Alchemy, and Warfare. Both departments are some of the strongest within the Foundation and their coming close to being able to even overpower the Ethics Commitee and soon after the O5 Council themselves."

"But then how does this battle benefit the O5?"

"By buying them time. Having the Departments go against each other instead of the O5? How could they not benefit form that? With everyone fighting each other they're not going to focus enough on the O5 Council, allowing them to resume their most heinous experiments. Even the Ethics Commitee will be busy trying to keep the peace between everyone else."

"... So that's why the O5 approved the fight, they don't really care who wins or loses. Because it doesn't matter who does, either way it will spark a rift between the MTF's and by extension the departments they answer too. Everyone will hate one another."

"And no one will notice the O5."

"But that's too basic, there's no way this will be enough to cause a true rivalry between the two departments."

"No but it will spark curiosity among everyone. Researchers and MTF's alike will start asking the same questions: who's stronger than who? Soon everyone who's got a powerful weapon or anomalous abilities within the Foundation will want to fight one another and that's when fun little fights will eventually turn into power moves for dominance within the Foundation."

"... Then isn't that all the more reason to-"

"The entire council of O5 agreed to the battle. There's no stopping an experiment when the entire Council is on board with it."

"So, there's really nothing we can do."

"No... All we can do is hope that whatever the O5 is planning to use this opportunity for, the ends will justify the means."

"... So, hope for the impossible?"

"Basically yeah."

"I'm not religious but may the Gods help those girls."

"Hmph..."

***

Finally, the battle arena was complete it was created on the moon and inside an experimental pocket dimension created with both vibration crystals and grey concrete. How exactly it was created was classified, it was modeled and created by AFA-3's programed with Level 3 A.I. that answered directly to the O5 Council. Afterwards the AFA-3's was destroyed by MTF Alpha-1 along with all the data needed to create the arena, so everyone could tell how serious the O5 Council were when they said "classified".

Both Agent Wells and Dr. Stefánsdóttir were transported to the battle arena via sperate SB-1 "Turtles". During their flight both were given a personal AFA-3 servant to give them whatever food, drinks, music, and other accommodations they desired so that they could have enough energy for the fight. Like everything owned by the Foundation on the Moon the battle arena was placed on the dark side of the moon so that lesser organizations like NASA or civilians wouldn't be able to find it. Once they landed, they were inside a bubble barrier that protected them form the void of space, just another example of the O5's dedication to this. Honestly Charlie was a little flattered, but Sigurrós could tell the O5 would never do this out of the kindness of their hearts. Like Iris, Sigurrós felt firsthand just how little the O5 cared about its staff, they only cared for results.

Sigurrós didn't even want to fight to begin with but the as soon as Charlie challenged her the O5 immediately approved. They didn't even wait, they just hacked into a TV that happened to be in the same hallway the two girls were in and on the screen was the voice of the O5 Council, giving their approval of the fight. Charlie was hyped but Sigurrós was annoyed, she knew that the O5 wanted something out of this, but she wasn't sure what. 

However, before she could ponder on it anymore her AFA-3 was done escorting her to the main building where the fight would be taking place. It bowed and went back to the SB-1 "turtle" for take-off, Sigurrós just sighed and walked into the arena. The area was large and vast, which was to be expected since it was made of Grey Concrete. However, she noticed form both the exterior and interior it was circular like a dome, Grey Concrete only works when it's made in a cubic shape. 

Sigurrós then used her anomalous abilities to scan the entire room and saw that there were vibration crystals hidden within the Grey Concrete. There were also other components to the complexity of the dome, but she knew better than to speak out loud about that stuff. Don't need to give the O5 more reasons to plot for my death, she thought to herself. 

Suddenly however she was transported to the center of the dome where she saw Charlie was there too. Both her and Charlie were confused on how that just happened but due to them being used to strange things happening around them, they quickly calmed down and looked at one another. Sigurrós was hearing her typical lab coat with basic Foundation security armor underneath. Charlie Foundation Shock Nullification Armor and underneath that her bio suit that was able to survive any form of energy, fire, lightning, radiation, and even atomic energy that Charlie could survive; which was essentially everything. 

"Heh, the O5 really spared no expense huh?" Charlie smirked at Sigurrós but stooped when she saw Sigurrós glaring at her with disappointment.  

"Be honest with me Charlie, why did you want this fight to happen?"

"Hm? I already told you; I just want to see which of us is stronger."

"I can control all aspects of reality to my will, I can turn your powers off easily and win this fight within a second. Come on Charlie what's the real reason behind this."

"... You can keep asking, Sigurrós. But I'm gonna keep giving you the same answer, I really just want to see which of us is stronger." Sigurrós just huffed and sighed in disappointment, as far as she could tell Charlie was being genuine but still something felt off. Like Charlie had a secret motive behind this but she couldn't tell what. Suddenly an AFA-3 appeared between the both of them but seemingly wasn't focused on either of them. 

"members and staff of the Foundation! Today is the experimental battle between two members of the Foundation who are arguably the strongest in the entire Foundation! Agent Charlie Wells and Doctor Sigurrós Stefánsdóttir both of which have powers making them stand on par with even Apollyon Class anomalies!" Charlie smirked with pride because of that description but Sigurrós just crossed her arms in disappointment. But she did nothing else because she knew that doing so at this point would be no different than complaining. 

"Today is they are going to answer the question of who's is the strongest? Who will stand tall and who will fall? This dome was specifically designed to ensure that will they have all the space they need to fight to their heart's content! Right now, what you the audience is seeing is being broadcasted through an anomalous all-seeing eyes created by the Department of Technology, Magic, Science, Alchemy, and Warfare! Meaning the broadcast will be able to capture every detail of the fight with no worry of interruption at all! So, place your bets! Set your votes! And without further adieu! Let the fight begin!" The AFA-3 then disappeared leaving Charlie and Sigurrós alone in the room, neither of them could hear it but on throughout the solar system, Foundation staff everywhere was cheering for them to fight. 

Charlie then raised her fists and punched them together not only making a loud whacking noise but also setting off some sparks as well. Sigurrós just sighed, she knew people were going to be mad at her for this, but she really just wanted this fight to end as soon as possible. So Sigurrós just raised her hand at Charlie's face.

"Perfect Cancel!" This was a spell that allowed Sigurrós to completely erase someone's anomalous abilities. However, Charlie was still smirking at her as she raised her hands and flames combusted from her fingers. 

"Wha- what?! How?!"

"You're not the only one who has tricks up your sleeves!" Charlie then raised her fist, ignited it in stronger flames, and used her fire to thrust forward to punch Sigurrós. Sigurrós quickly raised her arms up defensively, but the punch still hit her hard and pushed her back a few feet. Leaving her arms badly burnt, but like all other times she healed extremely fast as if she was never burned to begin with.

"You can't kill me, Charlie." Charlie then looked at Sigurrós in shock and confusion.

"What the?! Kill you?! I don't wanna kill you! Geez your morbid! I already told you I just wanna see's who's strongest! Especially since I figured out how to resist your powers!"

"Wha- what are you talking about?"

"Ha, I used my energy manipulation powers to create a forcefield so powerful and so condensed all around me that nothing can affect me! Heck I could probably stand next to a blackhole and feel nothing more than a cool breeze. Not only that but it's also powerful enough to block out frequencies including anomalous and metaphysical frequencies! I mean, how do you think I managed to punch you and even hurt you?" That was true, Sigurrós was actually burned by Charlie's attack, as far as Sigurrós new, not even a hundred nuclear bombs can even touch her. Yet Charlie managed to burn her, and she did so without any external help, it was all thanks to both her powers and her mastery on said powers. 

Earlier today Sigurrós was annoyed that this was even happening and that everyone was making such a big deal out of it. As far as she knew it was just going to be another zap and done, but now it was much more than that. Now Sigurrós had a real problem she needed to deal with, now she was struggling, now she had the possibility to lose. Sigurrós's heart started beating faster as she looked at Charlie and smiled, this battle was going to be really exciting. Sigurrós then manifested orbs of energy around her hands while Charlie ignited her hands in scorching flames. 

***

Back at Iris's and Meri's apartment, they were wall watching in silence as there were several explosions on the screen. They weren't really sure how the battle was going to go but this definingly wasn't close to what they had in mind. 

"Those two are crazy." Everyone in the room then looked at Agent Miller in silence.

"... Well, aren't they?!"

"Yes..." Everyone then looked at Dr. Wells as he took a large gulp directly from the bottle of wine he was holding. Since it was wine Dr. Wells can't get drunk but the fact that he was drinking so much still concerned his friends. But still, no one said anything else, so they just went back to watching the fight.

***

Sigurrós blasted Charlie with a concentrated ion beam hoping it would disrupt Charlies forcefield. However, Charlie raised her hands to catch the beam while also increasing the intensity of her forcefield around her hands. With the combo she was able to suppress the beam and keep it from disrupting her beam; she wasn't worried about being hurt since she was immune to energy.  

Sigurrós grunted since that didn't work so instead, she waved her right arm forward and all beside her left and her right, manifested were rows of miniguns. There must have been at least 50 of them in total and they all instantly started firing. Charlie just smiled as she raised her hands making the bullets stop midair before they were even close to shooting her. Sigurrós made her miniguns stop firing; afterwards, Charlie grabbed a bullet and looked at it to see it was an Incineration Bullet.

"Pfft really?" Charlie laughed while raising an eyebrow at Sigurrós wondering why she thought that would work. However, Charlie then noticed another bullet, made it float to her closer and saw it was a Cryogenic Bullet. There were also Explosive Bullets, Necrosis Venom Bullets, Acid Bullets, Paralysis Venom Bullets, and even more dangerous one like Cold Iron and Deep Silver Flow Bullets. Charlie then looked at Sigurrós impressed, if she just focused on the Incineration or Explosive Bullets, she probably would have ended up ignoring the rest and thus would have foolishly taken them head on. 

"Damn, a bit overkill but well played!" Sigurrós then smirked.

"Eh, even if I did kill you, I can always just use my powers to revive you; besides, I'm just getting started." Sigurrós then snapped her fingers and all the miniguns including their bullets were changed into different combinations of metals that had no magnetic properties. Charlie could manipulate energy and by that extent electricity and she could use electricity to create magnetic waves allowing her to manipulate metal and by small extents gravity. However, this meant that she couldn't control metal without a magnetic charge or any ferromagnetic properties. Charlie barely had time to react, but she quickly used her fire to thrust herself out of the way only mere seconds before the miniguns started firing. 

Thanks to her magnetism, Charlie still hand thousands of bullets around her, so she started firing them right back at Sigurrós. Unfortunately, Sigurrós had trained herself to be able to focus on several different things at once, each with 100% focus. As such not only was she able to see the bullets coming at her but she erased their existence the moment they got too close. 

"Ugh, god damn, reality benders!" Instead of continuing to shoot pointlessly at Sigurrós, Charlie she instead focused her efforts on both shooting the bullets at the ones getting too close to her as she ran and at the Miniguns. However, that also proved fruitless as not only was Sigurrós giving the miniguns unlimited ammo, but she was also repairing them if they ever got shot. Charlie was deeply annoyed as her own supply of ammo was running out, she started manifesting lighting around her to shock the bullets that were dangerously close to hitting her. Charlie was still untouchable but also running out of time, then an idea popped in her mind allowing her to smirk at Sigurrós again. 

She raised her hand at the miniguns and started filling them with heat, she made them so hot that they couldn't function anymore. Some of them even exploded which blindsided Sigurrós, though obviously it didn't hurt her. The miniguns continued to raise in temperature till they reached the point that they started melting. Sigurrós tried repairing them but for some reason couldn't control them anymore. Charlie, no longer having to flee then shoot the remainder of her bullets at Sigurrós to distract her while she used her powers to gather all the melted metal. 

"Ha! I don't need magnetism to control metal!" She then made the melted metal flow to her and had a portion of it flow onto her body making it reinforce her shock nullifying armor and her bio suit. She made sure too cool it down just enough to make it hardened armor but also kept it superheated so that she could continue to control it. She then made what was left of it reinforce into a hammer and charged toward Sigurrós with it. 

Sigurrós had just gotten done dealing with the bullets and after the smoke cleared, she was just standing there glaring at Charlie with her arms crossed. Then when Charlie came in with the large, superheated hammer, Sigurrós merely punched it lighting and it fell apart on impact. Afterwards, Sigurrós looked at her hand and raised an eyebrow when she saw her knuckles burnt but quickly looked away as they healed quickly, not that it hurt in the first place. 

However, Sigurrós quickly dodged when she saw a giant plasma sword swinging down on her nearly cutting half of her head off. Sigurrós then backed off and glared at Charlie who placed the superheated long sword on her shoulder and stood proud with her superheated armor. 

"Oh, come on! It's not like that was going to kill you!"

"It still hurts having my head split it two, even if I can just grow a new one." Sigurrós then raised both her arms and within her hands manifested a heavily condensed diamond swords in both hands. But she didn't stop there she also coated them continuously with Nitrogenic Gas making them beyond cold. As such, these swords were immune to both Charlie's magnetism and her heat. Charlie then smirked and raised her sword to strike but Sigurrós ended up striking first and striking fast. Despite the large size of the swords Sigurrós was swinging them very fast and with great precision. It was getting to the point that not only was Charlie forced to defend but her superheated long sword was getting bits of it torn off by the second. 

Charlie then backed off to hopefully think of a new strategy, but Sigurrós wasn't going to give her the chance. She manifested more condensed diamond swords also coated with Nitrogenic Gas. There were four of them in total and all of them flew straight towards Charlie like missiles. Charlie only barely managed to create a magnetic field around her, powerful enough to block away the swords form stabbing her. Sigurrós wasn't stopping and instead kept firing more and more swords at Charlie trying to eventually stab her. 

The swords each time were reaching closer and Closer to Charlie, and they overall were starting to land all around her, slowly trapping her. Charlie was now getting frustrated and started yelling out in anger as her whole body started emitting waves of intense energy. Charlie only did this to force Sigurrós to stop but after doing so she ended up getting a great idea. She then focused all the cells on her body to help her in this next part of focusing all the energy on her into the atoms all around her. She then did something that she hadn't done in a long time due to how dangerous it was, she started manifesting massive amounts of energy through fission. 

She kept it up as much as she could as it was going to take a while to get to the level she wanted. Sigurrós on the other hand was getting overwhelmed as it was no longer intense heat, she was dealing with but also intense nuclear energy.  Sigurrós couldn't be hurt by such weak energy, but it was still pushing her back with its intensive manipulation of gravity, not allowing her to focus. 

Sigurrós tried filling the room with Nitrogenic Gas but all of it surrounding Charlie just ended up evaporating extremely fast. She then tried putting Charlie in an alternate reality bubble where she was in an area no different than the cold void of space but again this did nothing. It was actually here where Sigurrós realized what Charlie was trying to do, she was trying to turn herself into a sun. 

Sigurrós yelled out in anger and held out her hand, within her palm, she manifested a weak but destructive black hole. She then threw it at Charlie and in doing so Charlie was quickly overwhelmed by its gravitational pull. Charlie held out her hands trying to stop the Black Hole as it was absorbing her energy. Charlie tried to crush it or destroy it with her fission energy but doing so did nothing to the Black Hole. 

It was even thanks to the Black Hole that Sigurrós was no longer getting overwhelmed by the nuclear energy Charlie was emitting anymore. Thought it was still uncomfortable to breath due to the gravity pulling and pushing so Sigurrós put herself in an alternate reality bubble where the gravity, air, and temperature where just right for her to be comfortable. She then manifested a lawn chair as well as a cup of her favorite soda so that she could wait comfortably for Charlie to admit defeat. 

***

"Is she really sure she wants to relax right now?" Dr. Wicked was still sitting on his chair while watching the fight on his Foundation Computer Screen Pad. all while two AFA-1's had just gotten done getting him a new desk. With the desk back, his SCP-AEK-2-Ξ instances crawled onto it to watch the fight with him. Dr. Wicked got each of them very tiny drinking cups, inside each cup was a specialized juice created by Site Director James herself for all SCP-AEK-2 instances to enjoy; which of course she gave to Dr. Wicked for his SCP-AEK-2-Ξ instances. Dr. Corvio was originally distracted by how cute she thought the SCP-AEK-2-Ξ instances were, but she was shot out of it when she heard what Dr. Wicked said.

"What do you mean? That's a black hole! There's no way Charlie can withstand that for long!"

"Melissa, I know you're not an astronomer but what do you know about black holes?"

"... I know they devour everything even light, I also know that they are the result of a star dying by collapsing in on itself, also the closest one to earth is right at the center of our galaxy, the milky way."

"All correct but there's one thing you missed, well several actually but not the point, what you missed, was that black hole's produce energy." Dr. Corvio's heart skipped a beat out of fear, she then looked at Dr. Wicked.

"You see, when a black hole devours massive amounts matter, they always ended up releasing massive amounts of energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the process. And it produces a LOT of it."

"I... she... back when me and Zeek were helping her test out her powers she... She didn't even know she could manipulate radiation until-"

"Until she was exposed to it, correct?"

"... So that means."

"Dr. Stefánsdóttir just ensured a way for Agent Wells to have a victory over her. While also quite possibly giving her the power to become a true reality bender."

"... Dear God."

"Possibly that too."

***

Sigurrós got bored of the soda quickly and instead made herself a dragon fruit mango lemonade mix. She then created a floating TV and put on something to watch while she waited for Charlie to give up and surrender. It was at times like this that she really enjoyed her powers, however she knew that so long as she stayed in the bubble, she wouldn't know Charlie's status. As such Sigurrós created a clone of herself to watch over Charlie, this clone was expecting Charlie to already being crushed under the pressure of a black hole, but she was shocked to find the opposite. Instead, Charlie was still holding the black hole in her hand, but she wasn't struggling anymore if anything she was smiling pridefully. 

The Black Hole started releasing electromagnetic radiation and now that she was exposed to it, she was starting to convert her solar flames into the same radiation. It actually didn't take her long before her entire body was coated in electromagnetic radiation and with said radiation, she ended up dissipating the black hole. Charlie then stood there proudly while covered in radiation that was shining like blinding light.

"Whoo! I was trying to go Sun Goddess mode, but you know what I think I prefer this one better! I'm going to call it... Galaxy's Light!"

"... Sun Goddess? Galaxy Light?"

"What? Every superhero always gives names to their moves and powers!"

"You're not a superhero."

"... Geez, Sigurrós. You really are a buzzkill sometimes." Charlie then blasted a small blast of EMR light that flew so fast it hit Sigurrós in the shoulder, it actually ended up vaporizing a bit of her shoulder though that's all it did. If Sigurrós was a normal human, all the radiation would have quickly spread through her body with critical levels, killing her instantly. However just because she was alive doesn't mean she was happy, as her shoulder healed, she looked at Charlie in shock. Charlie then looked at her hands in shock which surprised Sigurrós and everyone watching since her body was coated in blinding light.

"Whoa! I don't even need the forcefield anymore! I can just use this to beat you with this alone!" Charlie then seemingly disappeared, only to quickly show up near Sigurrós and punched her across the face. Charlie was now able to thrust herself faster than the speed of light without tearing herself apart. She used this speed to hit Sigurrós all over her body, more specifically her weak points like the neck, the back of the head, the arm pits, the back of the knees, and the shins. 

However, despite going at the speed of light Sigurrós managed to catch Charlie's fist before she punched her again. Sigurrós then managed to overpower her by twisting her fist making Charlie fall to her knees by the sudden pain. Charlie then looked up in anger only to be shocked by Sigurrós transforming herself. Her skin became pitch black like a void and like a black hole all the light around her started to warp. 

"I already told you; you can't kill me. but I'm telling you now, you can't beat me either!" It was a surprise either of their voices could be heard as the laws of physics was being warped around the two of them. Regardless Sigurrós punched Charlie in the face forcing her to the ground, but Charlie retaliated by swinging her fist at Sigurrós shins again making her fall to the ground. Charlie supercharged her fist with as much of the electromagnetic radiation she could and started punching Sigurrós in the face as much as possible. She ended up punching Sigurrós five times in the face before Sigurrós grabbed her fist again and threw her back. 

Charlie was flung back but she stopped herself midair thanks to the radiation, but she was suddenly then shot toward the ground. Charlie tried to get up but was quickly getting crushed by an overwhelming but invisible force form all directions. It was quite obvious this was Sigurrós work and unfortunately it was working Charlie was getting crushed by an ever-shrinking bubble with no visible way out. However just when hope seemed lost, Charlie came up with a dangerous idea that might just work. She then placed her hands close together and started manifested fusion energy. 

Sigurrós kept crushing the bubble, she then turned her black hole body back to normal, thinking that the battle was already over; however, once again she was proven wrong. Charlie busted out of the bubble only now she looked much different, she was no longer coated in blinding light but instead the gases and elements of a supernova explosions. Charlie smiled raised her hand and released a blast of pure energy resulting from a supernova explosion right at Sigurrós. Sigurrós raised her arms in defense, made a powerful forcefield in front of her, and filled it with as much energy as possible. The blast over proved to be much stronger and was quickly getting rid of the forcefield. Sigurrós then out of desperation erased the entire beam from existence and sure enough it worked. Charlie was shocked her attack just suddenly stopped out of nowhere but still she stood tall and smirked at Sigurrós.

"Come on, I think it's safe to say I got this fight! I can manifest the energy of an entire galaxy in my hands! It's okay to call it quits now Sigurrós!"

"... Fine you wanna break reality? I'll play along." Sigurrós then started walking angrily towards whole just smirked at the sight. Sigurrós then wiped her hand across her view of Charlie, suddenly it was like all of reality was sliced and Charlie was cut in two. Charlie screamed in pain only to open her eyes and see nothing happened. Charlie then glared at Sigurrós and manifested six orbs filled with supernova explosion energy and had them blast concentrated beams at the approaching Sigurrós. However even as she was being hit with the full force of six different supernovas Sigurrós remained unphased as she walked forward. Sigurrós then again wiped her arms across the air in front of her, suddenly not only was all the energy gone but so was Charlie's arms leaving her screaming in pain only to once again realize a second later that seemingly nothing happened. 

Charlie was shocked by this and was actually getting concerned, especially since Sigurrós was getting closer. However, Charlie wasn't out of the fight yet, she raised her hand and in one fighter she made nuclear fission energy, in the next finger solar fusion energy, the third electromagnetic radiation, the fourth finger she created an orb of the same energy and frequencies she used to make her anti-reality warping field earlier. It was difficult to be maintaining four different forms of energy but right now she was desperate, so she pushed forward. 

Charlie then blasted all four orbs in four separate concentrated beams at Sigurrós hoping to do some damage. However once again, Sigurrós was unharmed as well as unphased by the attack, not even showing a hint of discomfort. Charlie was shocked, how was she was able to resist attacks that were hurting her earlier. Sigurrós glared at her in disappointment and used her thumb to point to the left. Charlie then looked over to see the original Sigurrós, still in her bubble only rather than relaxing she was using holographic computers to analyze all of the data from the battle and developing new methods for the clone Charlie was fighting to use. 

"Wait I've been fighting the clone the entire time?!" Just then the Sigurrós clone managed to reach Charlie and smiled at her.

"Yes." The Sigurrós clone then grabbed Charlie by the shoulder and started gripping on the shoulder in an extremely painful way. Charlie grunted in pain but raised her fist and tried hitting Sigurrós with more supernova energy. She made sure to this time release the energy within her fist as soon as she punched Sigurrós. The resulting explosion was devastating and could quite clearly vaporize an entire solar system. Yet once the dust cleared the dome was fine and unfortunately so was Sigurrós.

 Charlie was then reverted to her electromagnetic radiation form, so she started punching the Sigurrós clone in the stomach but again that did nothing. Now Charlie was in her Solar fusion form, but she didn't fight back anymore as she knew at this point, she could do nothing. Then she was reverted to her fire form and finally back to her normal form. 

Charlie then looked down at her bio suit, it was actually steaming and slightly damaged for the first time ever. It was probably because she coated her body in supernova energy which was already a bad idea from any perspective. Charlie then looked up at the Sigurrós clone and sighed while smirking.

"It's my loss." The Sigurrós clone then let go and raised her hand to the real Sigurrós in the bubble. The Sigurrós in the bubble was then turned into energy that flowed into the palm of the clone Sigurrós making her the real Sigurrós now. Sigurrós then looked back at Charlie who was staring at her wide-eyed in shock. 

"... damn reality benders."

"Oof... man that took a lot of brain power. I've never had to use so much before."

"Brain power?"

"Well yeah, all my power comes from my brain, it's pointless to worry about any other part of my body since my brain can control that too." Sigurrós raised and then flexed her arm, right before Charlie's eyes it started growing larger and her muscles were getting thicker. Then after a half minute Sigurrós lowered her arm and it started reverting back to normal.

"Hmph... hey, were... were you trying at all in that battle or was it all just a game?"

"There were a few times I had to try a little hard but mostly I just went with the flow."

"Why? Even if you couldn't erase my powers, you still proved you could just erase my limbs one by one. you didn't even need to struggle to beat me? So why bother?"

"Because it was fun, I haven't had fun like that in a long time. Testing limits and seeing how far you can go is always an adrenaline rush even for me. I'm sure you won't deny it, given that you coated your body in the same unstable and destructive energy of supernovas."

"Yeah, it was really stupid to try that but hey it worked! Though I don't think I'll ever get an opportunity to try that again, I'm sure if I did that on earth everyone on the planet would instantly die of radiation poisoning."

"Hm... well at least you got to reach new heights I didn't even get to use my Multiversal Madness spell against you."

"Aha! So, you do name your attack! You hypocritical superhero wannabe!" Sigurrós then blushed in embarrassment and glared at Charlie who was still on the floor and smirking pridefully at Sigurrós. Sigurrós then sighed and walked over to Charlie to help her up.

"Still, you can be a little extreme with your powers sometimes. You should probably come to one of my stresses releasing sessions, it helps clear your mind and prevents you from going overboard with your powers. It helped me form ever doing anything too extreme when dealing with anomalies and hostiles."

"Ha, sure! I'll even take my hubby with me, maybe he'll take it as an apology for nearly giving him a heart attack while he was watching this fight. Speaking of which." Charlie then walked over to Sigurrós, grabbed her hand and raised it high while looking up hoping that whoever was managing the broadcast had the camera view in front of them.

"Give it up for the winner! Dr. Sigurrós Stefánsdóttir of Hecate-Alpha! Division Oracle's Third Eye!"

***

Foundation staff everywhere who were lucky enough to watch the fight started cheering now that a victor was clearly declared. Though there was a small portion that were annoyed and depressed now that they lost the bets. Only about 10% of all Foundation staff actually betted for Charlie to win as most just agreed that Dr. Stefánsdóttir was unbeatable. 

***

Iris, Meri, and friends were all clapping and cheering knowing that things ended well between their friends Sigurrós and Charlie rather than a festering bitter rivalry. 

"That was such a cool fight!"

"I'm glad it didn't happen on earth but I'm also glad I got to see it!"

"Haha! Even if she didn't win Charlie is definingly the strongest member of Alpha-9!"

"Yup that's the power of my beautiful wife!" Everyone then turned back to Dr. Wells who took another large gulp from the bottle of wine he was holding. He then wobbly placed it on a table near the cough and got up. 

"Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go and give her a big *hicup* kiss!"

"Uh, Mathew? Are you okay?"

"I think he's drunk Cidney."

"Whaaat? No! I was drinking wine, and I can't get drunk form whinnnne." Dr. Wells then opened the door out of Iris's and Meri's apartment, only for him to collapse and pass out on the ground. 568NO then entered the living room again only to stop and stare in shock at the passed-out Dr. Wells.

"568NO? What exactly did you give Dr. Wells?"

"I came him the wine's tears like he asked."

"What?"

"Wines tears, it's an acholic that prides itself in being classy like wine but intoxicatingly delicious like beer."

"Why did you give him that?"

"Uh... well he said he wanted wine, but he also wanted the strongest, so I gave him the option that had both... is something wrong?"

"... Please don't serve drinks to Dr. Wells anymore."

"Understood ma'am."

"Wait, can I have a drink!" Everyone looked at Agent Miller and shouted "No!" at him, he then slumped back into the couch in annoyance.

***

Dr. Zeek had to blink a few times to allow his eyes to adjust after all of the flashy and reality warping chaos that just unfolded. He then realized that the kids probably saw that as well and it might have made a few of them go blind so he quickly turned to them in worry. But instead, they were all wide eyes in amazement and quickly started cheering and talking about how cool and amazing the fight was. Dr. Zeek then sighed in relief, though he then noticed that Kasta was sitting at her desk in disappointment probably because she wanted to see more blood and gore. 

Dr. Zeek just smiled and shook his head, he knew that one day that girl was going to learn there was more to life than carnage and destruction. But obviously today was not that day so for now he was just going to let the kids talk amongst themselves about their opinions and personal highlights of the fight. 

"Teacher, can we do something like that one day?!" All the students then looked at Dr. Zeek with eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Only if you all study hard." The students all just went "Awww!" to which Dr. Zeek chuckled.

***

"Hmph, not exactly what I predicted but not bad either, though there's no doubt in my mind that the O5 are going to hate this. What do you think Melissa?" Dr. Wicked rolled his chair around only to see that Dr. Corvio wasn't there anymore. He then got up only to see that she was on the ground for she had passed out. Dr. Wicked sighed but then smirked under his mask for he got a funny idea. He then whistled and his SCP-AEK-2-Ξ instances quickly swarmed onto his desk at attention. He then gave them an order and they all obeyed.

later that day Dr. Wicked started laughing as he received reports of Dr. Corvio unconsciously being carried to her temporary office at Site-AD by his SCP-AEK-2-Ξ instances. He even received photos which made him laugh harder. 

Of course, the next day Dr. Corvio was furious and even tried strangling Dr. Wicked to death, but even as his throat was getting crushed, he just kept laughing. 

***

"Well, that couldn't have ended any worse!" With a dark room, in an unknown location, in a building that can't be entered only when those inside allow it. The O5 Council were having a discussion after the fight. They were in a specific room that only they could see, hear, and understand each other. Even if someone was standing in there with them, they would have no idea who was currently talking. It was a room where you needed to be an O5 Council member to be able to comprehend anything going on in the room, making it perfect for their personal meetings.

"It was still a spectacular fight, now we know that SCP-AAS has the capabilities to become an Apollyon class anomaly if she wanted too. It's useful data to have."

"But they left the fight on good terms! They're not angry at one another, which is what we wanted!"

"Exactly! The whole point of the battle was to form a rivalry between the AED and the DTASMW! Having everyone point their spears at each other rather than at us will keep us in power!"

"For crying out loud, you sound like those GOC dogs! Always complaining about power."

"Your way too calm about this! How long, do you think it will take for the MTFs, the researchers, or even the fucking SCPs to realize they can overpower us with both quality and quantity! We're keeping the peace now but how long is that supposed to last?!"

"We are all well aware of that, however why see this as a failure? For me it's a blessing."

"Blessing?! Those two girls are still friends even after nearly killing each other! What happens when they decided to kill us off or worse the entire Foundation! Everything we worked on burned to ash or never existing to begin with?!"

"Yes... their more united now... and soon so will the rest of the Foundation as they follow their example. A new age of unity is coming to the Foundation and soon that comradery will make us stronger than the entirety of the ACPA."

"What's so good about power if we can't control it?"

"We can, we're the ones to let the fight happen remember? Just like how we're the reason that the SCPs are being given more freedom than they ever had before The Reset. It's thanks to us that Hecate-A, Zeus-1, Apllo-1, MTF Hephaestus-1, Demeter-4, and the recently created Hades-4 exists! We're the ones both in power and providing said power. Everyone knows it, if they ever challenge us then all that power goes right down the drain as well as new opportunities for more power."

"Carrot and Stick huh? But that's only meant to be a temporary solution."

"But what about when the carrot is given with a side of hope? Then that's when people can't get enough of the carrot. That is what everyone in the Foundation has now thanks to this fight, hope. Hope that through anything they will stand united like how SCP-239 and SCP-AAS stand united. Hope that even the Scarlet King will fall before the might of the Foundation and its powerful staff. Hope that even the most unbeatable monsters will one day be beaten and contained. And hope, that the Foundation will always be a beacon for not just humanity but all organisms that stand beside it."

"What are you blabbering about?"

"I'm saying that the plan to divide the Foundation with hatred and fear was stupid from the start. I would know, I originally believed that there was nothing more powerful than to rule through fear. I was wrong, hope will always beat fear, because hope unites all good, hope conquers evil, and hope makes anyone who has it stronger than ever before. We are the O5 Council, the ultimate secret, the ultimate price, the ultimate cruelty, the final order, and the first as well as the last drop of hope. And, my fellow council member, nothing is stronger, more terrifying, than controlling the weapon known as hope."

"Hmph, powerful words, but hope doesn't last forever." One of the O5 Council members then grabbed the necklace around his neck and lifted it up to show that it was SCP-963. 

"Then it's a good thing we do."

.

SCP: HMF Tales Hub

[thatfeelinwhenyou]

KINDRED — 31

It’s your final year of highschool, and your only goal is to graduate top of your cohort, as usual. Except as student council president, your advisor can’t seem to leave you alone. What happens when you take Decelis Academy’s top student, their star athlete and put them in front of a camera?

smau + written (2.0k words)

❥･• episode 31 — the name above me

tw! y/n’s mom

The two-week break flies by rather quickly, and you find yourself back in your school uniform on a Monday morning, realising that nothing has really changed. You had already half-convinced yourself that post-midterm would be different for you, you had hoped for clarity regarding your plans after high school. Alas, uncertainty clings to you like an unwelcome companion.

Walking onto campus, you encounter a throng of students gathered in front of the ranking boards. Right, your results are released today.

Oddly, though, the weight of your grades hasn't been preoccupying your thoughts these past two weeks like it would in the past, marking the first time in your life that you haven't been consumed by overthinking your grades or endlessly reviewing test questions, as if every time you did it you didn’t get the same exact answer.

No, you actually enjoyed your break. You allowed yourself to breathe, to embrace the carefree spirit of a high school teenager.

You went café hopping with Bora and Jungwon again, only this time you ensured a mango juice mishap did not befall you. The girls, including yourself, enjoyed a truly relaxing girls' day where everyone dressed up just for the joy of it. Then there was that unforgettable excursion to the amusement park; you rode the Ferris wheel for the first time as it had been a long-standing prohibition from your mother. Though fairly insignificant, you record as it as a ‘win’ in your books.

Before you knew it, your final term at Decelis Academy had already begun. The documentary is in its concluding stages, with tasks remaining on the itinerary, including capturing your and Jungwon's reactions to your grades, the student council's senior farewell party, Jungwon's upcoming competition, and then the final confessional.

Arriving on campus, you initially worry about being way too early but lucky for you, the camera crew had arrived hours in advance and established their vantage point on the left side of the ranking boards—the higher-scoring side. Despite their meticulous preparation, you inadvertently squeeze yourself into a group of students gathered in the middle, unintentionally defying their plans for the perfect front-row view of your reaction from every angle.

Your eyes scan the list.

74 ***

75 ***

76 ***

77 Yang Jungwon

Found it.

You let your fingers glide over the paper, seeking out his Mathematics scores. 105 out of 150. Relief floods through you, a broad smile gracing your face at his passing grade. Not just barely but with a decent score, just enough to pull him up to a C, securing his spot in the competition just 15 days from now. You’re smiling so wide, the joy evident without even knowing how you did for your own papers.

And as if you were sharing the same brain cell, you find Jungwon standing at the front of the board, his expression tense as he gazes at a name at the top. Concern brushes your thoughts, but you manage to conceal it from the cameras as you cheerfully call out, "Wonnie! You passed your Math paper, you’re going to compete in the Asian Championships!"

"I-I’m so sorry, Y/N," he stammers, a heavy silence lingering between you. Reluctantly, you follow his gaze, and there it is.

1 Lee Haerin

2 Park Y/N.

Your name, usually perched at the top, now finding itself below another.

You know Lee Haerin, she’s a familiar face from the book club, and you know this having seen her in the library more times than you could count. And you were there almost every day. You also recognise her name as someone who was consistently ranking below you, but how the tables have turned.

You don’t loathe her; surely, it isn’t her fault that your English Literature scores fell short, causing you to drop in overall rankings. Besides, it's only mid-terms, and you still have your preliminary exams to pull your grades up before the CSAT… Right?

You sense someone settling down beside you on the ledge you've chosen to occupy on the roof. You had chosen to forgo lunch, knowing you can barely keep anything down your throat at the moment. Shifting your gaze from the clusters of shops just outside the school gates, where the popular takoyaki stand beckons memories of post-school visits with your friends, you turn your attention to the person you had already half-expected to be Jungwon.

“You should eat something, even if just a little.” Jungwon places a piece of custard bread, banana milk, and a packet of your favourite gummies on your lap, almost pleading with you to eat.

“You didn’t have to.”

“Not when you look like as if the world is ending tomorrow.” Jungwon jokes, only to cough awkwardly when he realises you didn’t respond to his jokes, even with an eye-roll like you usually would.

“It might as well be. I just know my mother is going to KILL me.” You make sure to emphasise the word ‘kill.’ Because you aren’t wrong; if the world isn’t going to kill you tomorrow, your birth-giver will.

Unbeknownst to you, tears well up in your eyes, threatening to spill over. Witnessing you in such a vulnerable state tugs at Jungwon's heart; the girl he likes is breaking down in front of him and he doesn’t even know what to do. As he battles his inner thoughts, contemplating the best way to console you, he senses you clutching onto the sleeves of his uniform blazer. Pouting and fighting back tears, you say, “I’m going to be okay, right?”

“Yes, crybaby, everything is going to be okay.” You feel him begin to gently stroke your hair down to your neck, rubbing circles into the back of your ears as he makes another crybaby joke in an attempt to cheer you up.

“I’m not a crybaby,” you manage to say between hiccups and sobs, prompting Jungwon to emit a small snicker. The irony strikes you—a few weeks ago, you were in Jay’s garden comforting Jungwon as he held back tears, and now he's here comforting you in your most vulnerable state. The situation doesn’t go unnoticed by Jungwon, as he also recognises the irony of it, judging by the bittersweet way he smiles.

“Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything.” Jungwon holds your cheek and tilts your head to face him, his thumbs swiping away fresh tears staining your cheeks.

“I don’t know… the one thing I’m good at, and I just flunked it-“

“Shh! Believe in yourself because if you don't, then who will? Life’s beautiful, and there's so much more to it than numbers on a piece of paper, Y/N. I hope you see that.”

In that moment, you realise you never really did look at your scores for the papers. Then you realise it wasn’t the scores that had you feeling worthless. Thinking back, you had already forgone looking at your scores a long time ago, as long as you stayed in that number one spot, as long as you didn’t disappoint your mother. You wanted to satisfy her, try to get her to praise you, but as your heartless mother has once said: “Why would I praise something that is supposed to be a given?”

You've spent your entire life routinely studying, evolving yourself into the machine your mother probably wished she had instead of a breathing human child—you.

In the echo of your academic routine, the fear of losing her approval looms larger than the tangible rankings you've held. The relentless pursuit of excellence, though driven by an inner desire for acknowledgment, is entangled in the web of your mother's expectations. So, what scares you isn’t the fact you no longer retained the number one spot; what scares you is disappointing the one person you craved validation from. What were you expecting? Because when the given is taken away from you, will she praise you then?

No. She’ll criticise you, blame your father, blame the documentary, and undoubtedly, she’ll gun after Jungwon. Because nothing is ever really her fault, and you knew sometime along the way that nothing will ever satisfy her, but you still try anyway. You try because you don’t know what else to do other than sticking to the status quo. Until, at least, the documentary featuring Jungwon happened.

What was initially supposed to be a pawn in your masterful plan to build your portfolio for University becomes the very documentary that breaks you out of your shell, as the looming prospect of your mother’s disapproval, like an oppressive cloud, pushes you to strive for success, even when you know it may never be enough for her.

“Eat.” You come back to your senses to find Jungwon has opened the packet of bread and shoved it into your mouth. He then watches you bite into it before he lets go to open the bottle of banana milk, handing them to you between bites of the bread.

Again, Jungwon with his overly friendly gestures that graze the delicate line between friends and something more than that. Jungwon, who once again, manages to empty your mind by babying you and treating you like a princess who needs rescuing.

“You’re confusing me.” The words fly out of your mouth before you even get the chance to rethink

“Doesn’t mean I’m feeding you like a baby that you are actually one.” He teases, and you watch him as he takes a sip out of the banana milk, from the same straw you used. Pushing away the thought that you’ve just indirectly kissed him, you're just glad he didn’t catch onto the intention behind your statement.

“I feel bad that you’re here comforting me, when you should be celebrating having passed a certain Math paper after all that hard work.”

“It was your hard work as much as it was mine, Y/N.” Jungwon takes his thumb, wiping at the corner of your lips where custard from the bread had oozed out and stayed. He then brings it up to his own lips, eating it off his finger. You just indirectly kissed him, again.

Your heartbeat quickens, a symphony of excitement drowning out any lingering worries about exams or your mother. Your mind is a canvas painted with thoughts of Jungwon and his unexpected gestures that got you contemplating the possibility of him being interested in you. Surely, Yang Jungwon isn’t known for being a romantic guy, but once again, you're proven wrong; he is that guy.

This certainty solidifies as he opens the packet of gummies, deliberately picking out the red-coloured ones first, knowing that you ate them in the colour of the rainbow; a subtle detail that shows he pays attention to your preferences.

At first, they were really subtle gestures that made you realise how horribly you have misjudged him. Then came the heartfelt actions, revealing a caring side that made you question if he had always been this way. The tipping point was realising these gestures were exclusively reserved for you, unveiling sides of Jungwon that remained hidden from everyone else. While others perceived him as mundane, cold, and mysterious, you alone saw a different Yang Jungwon.

And when you see the scoreboard, someone else’s name above yours for the very first time, it shocks you to the core that you, in fact, did not care. That the first thing you sought was Jungwon’s rankings on the board, eager to know if your efforts in tutoring him paid off, if he can participate in the competition that has become crucial to him and, by extension, vital to you.

For the first time, someone else's grades mattered more than your own. This epiphany stretches beyond academic priorities, signifying that Jungwon holds a place in your life beyond the confines of friendship; that he is more than just a friend that you make him out to be.

You like him, more than you let yourself on.

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♡。·˚˚· ·˚˚·。♡

authors note: i kept my promise yall 😁😁🤟 and yes yn mom needs a whole ass tw. i’d say we are a good 10 chapters away from the finale and i’m currently considering next projects but we’ll see 👀 also do expect more written chapters, i rlly tried to reduce them as much as possible but it’s so hard to write without going into detail… BUT i’ll defo make it up with super fluffy and sweet chapters 🤭

perm taglist. @hajimelvr @s00buwu @urmomssneakylink @grayscorner @bubblytaetae @mrchweeee @artstaeh @sleeping-demons @yuviqik @junsflow

taglist open! @uuzhanggggggg @jayhoonvroom @missingemobeomgyu @jiawji @ocyeanicc @s7noo @asterizee @nwjws @noascats @yunwonie @saturnmooonxx @enhaz1 @jiaant11 @clairecottenheart @i2lain @miumiuoi @zhounauts @hoey2k @neocockthotology @nanuer @yenqa @ahnneyong @chanhee-hee @yanqiiuver @yujmelon @beomsbeanie @sloobydooburmomjungwon @keiisu @jaeyunniesimp @jiamini @jihanniee @lilriswife4life

[ashitakaxsan]

🎉Franky: The Unsung Hero of Spy x Family 🕵️‍♂️💥

Franky Franklin seemed like the goofy, lighthearted informant in Spy x Family, but Chapter 105 shows how much rigorous training he underwent. Besides the humor and awkward moments, Franky is a man who plays many roles—some light, some heavy, all vital to the mission and to those around him.

On a day that feels almost ordinary for Franky, we see him waking up in the morning to Japanese karakuri. Interestingly also he starts his morning ritual by enjoying listening to government-banned music. 🎉 🌟 As a well-functioning informant he listens to Fiona Chan's request for a "forged pass for the Podam School of Science. Cool that agent Nightfall(our cute, lovable Kuudere is here) has absolutely recovered after the fight against Mole Wheeler. And he's got the guts to remind her how has wants to be treated :)

and a man still holding out hope for love. His day starts with babysitting Anya, a task that, for anyone else, would be overwhelming. But for him, it’s just another part of his vigilant life. His relationship with Anya is one of the most endearing parts of his character—he’s her goofy uncle figure, someone who can make her laugh and doesn’t mind stepping up when needed. The man is a solid uncle figure, he makes it where Yuri simply fails. 🎭✨

As he takes the fee he goes to invest the money to a bet in horse races, but he's unlucky.

So he's up again to get info about any lucky route. that's when he hears the bad news from the teller. The only informant regarding access to gates 4 and above, Latchkey Lachy(whoever he is) got arrested by the always-feared force throughout Ostania, the SSS! So there's the looming menace of the Secret police.

What’s striking is his relentless optimism—even in the face of constantly changing hideouts and near-constant danger, Franky holds onto the hope that one day, he’ll find love. That's why now he's on a date with a familiar girl, Priscilla, and they'll go to watch a movie.

It’s this mix of resilience and vulnerability that makes him so relatable. He’s a man living in the shadows, often overlooked, but still working to hold onto the idea that there’s more to life than just survival.

Suddenly the news comes: Their teller is arrested "by the you-know-who": The SSS who has him, and Franky has to act quickly to save him.

The way Franky charges in and saves him is Amazing: He steps up prepared, with an effective plan as a real spy, saving the teller from the clutches of the SSS.🕵️‍♂️🛡️👧

The seeming "flower bouquet" is actually a pistole of smoke gas to make the SSS interrogators lose their focus, briefly and it works!

Watch this. How he gives them an awful time:

As they see the SSS reinforcements arriving he says: "They're welcome to try. But I'm going to show them just how hard catching rats can be!" With goggles for concealment, he fights them, using a real handgun, he presses a secret button to open a hatch, and they escape with his well big balloon:)!

This is Franky at his best—quick and profound thinking, resourceful, and willing to risk everything for the people he cares about. In this moment, we see his true heroism. He may not have the physical strength of Yor, but Franky's improved, worthy peer of Twilight. He’s a man who understands the dangers of the world he’s in, yet continues to put himself on the line.

Then he listens to Priscilla, about how she has found a boy to chaperone to the movies.🤔💔 Despite the disappointment, he calls it a good day.

Thus he and the teller go to watch a romance movie:

"How did he get so determined for the rigorous training?" you'll ask me the question.

The failings for finding love didn't get the better of him, so he made up his mind: To become someone as effective as the two people he's looking up to: Twilight and Nightfall.💪🕵️‍♂️🤔

Franky’s ability to juggle these different aspects of his life—his spy duties, his loyalty to his friends, and his optimism for happiness—makes him one of the most vital characters in Spy x Family. He reminds us that even the seemingly ordinary people in a story filled with super spies and assassins can have profound, heroic moments.