#the computer sparked when he somehow teleported into it

[nalascat]

wonka this is your fault for deciding to reveal these kids’ powers,,,,

[riversofmars]

Could you do a story where Thirteen bumps into the tenth doctor and Donna and thirteen pretends that she's not the doctor but then post-library river comes along and causes mischief please? Also I REALLY love your fics, especially The Oncoming Storm! Yours were the first fanfics I read and they're one of the few I like (I'm picky) so thanks for doing such brilliant stories!

Aww thank you so much, that’s very kind of you to say!! Sorry this took a little while longer, hope the wait was worth it! Turned out a bit longer than expected. Hope it sort of fits the brief lol! Really hope you like it!

Rating: G

Ship: Ten/River, Thirteen/River

Word count: 2400

Read on AO3 or below

River Song Has Been Saved

“Hang on a minute, Doctor.“ Donna walked back over to the TARDIS doors after the Doctor had closed them with a snap of his fingers. She thought she’d seen something, just as the doors had closed.

“What’s wrong?“ The Doctor frowned and followed her, both sticking their heads out.

“Oi, lady!“ Donna called stopping a young woman that had just strolled past the TARDIS and was heading back deeper into the Library. Everyone was supposed to be evacuated by now.

“Sorry?“ The woman looked around, blonde hair framing soft features and big eyes. She looked to them as if she hadn’t expected them to be there.

“You can’t go in there.“ The Doctor gestured to the door that lead further into the Library as they stepped out of the TARDIS again. Only a moment longer and they would have taken off and missed her sneaking in here.

“Ahh… so close. Just a bit too early, wasn’t I, hate it when I do that…“ The blonde said to herself more than anything else.

“Did you just come here? The planet has been sealed off for a hundred years, how did you…“ The Doctor frowned, confused as to how she’d got in.

“Yeah, been meaning to check it out.“ The woman grinned. “The hair is magnificent, isn’t it.“ She eyed the Doctor up who looked back at her utterly bewildered. There was something familiar about her.

“Do I know you?“ He asked.

“No absolutely not, never mind me, I’m sure you got important things to do, so.“ She gave a little wave, intend on heading off.

“You can’t go in there, we’re evacuating the planet.“ Donna backed up the Doctor.

“I know, you have a nice day now.“ The woman grinned.

“Sorry, I can’t let you do that.“ The Doctor was quick to overtake her and step in her way. “This place is gonna get swallowed up by flesh eating darkness soon, you might want to head out not in?“

“I got to check something out of the library, I’ll only be a minute.“ She waved off his warning and tried to push past him. “And like you say, the window of opportunity is closing, so, you should probably leave this place yourselves…“

“And you can’t find your book any other place?“ Donna asked dumbfounded.

“One of a kind, sorry, got to run.“ The blonde replied with a grin pushing past him.

“Alright, have a nice day as well.“ The Doctor let her pass.

“Thanks!“ She grinned and sprinted off.

“Doctor, you're not just gonna let her go, are you?“ Donna asked thoroughly confused watching her leave.

“Not a chance. Just giving her a head start.“ The Doctor winked and they headed after her, careful not to be spotted. They took cover behind some tables in the main area as the blonde headed straight for a computer terminal.

“That was close, stupid box, always with the timing…“  She was mumbling to herself. “Couldn’t have hung on two minutes…“ Without further ado, she started pulling some sort of electrical equipment from the pockets of her impressive coat. There were a lot of parts to it and Donna couldn’t believe it all somehow fit into her pockets. They watched her as she hooked up the equipment to the computer.

“What is she doing?“ Donna whispered to the Doctor who shrugged.

“I’m more concerned with who she is… whatever she is doing, that’s complicated tech…“ He mused, watching in fascination as she continued her work.

“Ouch… alright then.“ The blonde pulled her hands away as she seemed to have gotten an electric shock. She stood and engaged the computer terminal. “CAL, hi, sorry, I know, bit confusing, different face.“ She started talking to the computer and the Doctor and Donna exchanged concerned looks. How did she know about CAL? What she was saying was making very little sense to them without the second half of the conversation. They couldn’t make out what CAL responded. “Just popping in to get what’s mine, alright? Don’t freak out, it’s really me. Can you put her on?“ There was a moment of silence. Neither Donna nor the Doctor said anything but there were only very few people she should be looking to talk to on that computer. This was about to get even more investing than the whole experience had been already. “Hello Sweetie. Surprise! This is gonna be great, you’re gonna love this, had Dorium track it down for me, took a while but here we are.“ The woman sounded thoroughly excited. “Get you coat, honey, let’s see if it works.“ She took a step backwards and pulled something from her coat pocket, pointing it at the computer. Sparks flew and the mechanism engaged.

“Can’t have come cheap, that.“

“Dorium Maldovar is known drive a hard bargain, she must be a hacker or criminal of some kind to have those kinds of ties.“ The Doctor mused, trying to make sense of what they were picking up.

“Perhaps Dorium just owes her a favour…“

“Dorium doesn’t do favours.“ He huffed. It was a ridiculous notion.

“He will.“

“Doctor.“ Donna touched her hand to his arm.

“Shush, Donna, I don’t want to lose the element of surprise.“ He kept his eyes firmly on the woman in the middle of the room who was looking around now, apparently waiting to see if whatever she had tried to do had worked.

“Doctor.“ Donna repeated.

“How much longer until he notices, you think?“

“Doctor?!“ Donna grabbed the Doctor by the shoulder and pulled him around.

“Donna, what?!“ He growled but stopped dead in his tacks when he found River Song standing behind them. He had been having a conversation with her without even realising it. She was dressed in a white flowing dress, a stark contrast to the environmental suit he’d only seen her in, and a grinned spread across her beautiful features.

“Hello, Sweetie.“ She chuckled.

“Oh my God, River, what, how…“ The Doctor couldn’t find words.

“Well, Sweetie, what do you think?“ River grinned at the Doctor.

“Of what?“ He was still in shock. He had watched her die only hours ago, he had managed to somehow, miraculously save her consciousness and now suddenly she was here again? “How did you get out of the computer? What did she do?“

“Some sort of teleport I believe, but like a really clever 3D printer, materialise the body, download the consciousness, boom, brand new wife.“ River explained, enjoying the dumbfound expression on both their faces.

“River!!“ The blonde had finally spotted her and River waved to her.

“Speaking of wife…“ River smirked and the Doctor exclaimed:

“Wife?! I thought you and me, we…“ He looked around to the woman heading straight for them, feeling a wave of jealousy. He knew he’d technically only met River today but he knew how important she would become to him.

“We are.“ River chuckled giving his an amused smirk: “But you know, you can’t talk, all I’m gonna say is: Elizabeth I… so…“ She couldn’t carry on as the blonde rushed around the counter and threw herself at River who pulled her close and twirled her around.

“River.“ The mystery woman took her face in her hands, tears welling up in her eyes, clearly overcome with emotion.

“Hello, Sweetie.“ River smiled the softest of smiles and leaned in to kiss her.

“Sooo… how do you feel about this?“ Donna looked to the Doctor, feeling like they were intruding on a private moment. “You think we should go, or…“ She could tell from the annoyed expression on the Doctor’s face, however, that he had no intention of just leaving it be. He pulled himself up to full height and cleared his throat.

“Okay, so thank you for saving my future…“

“Wife.“ River helpfully supplied the word as they stopped kissing and just held each other close.

“Whatever she is. But who are you?“ He jabbed his finger at the blonde.

“You haven’t figured it out yet?“ The woman let go of River, seemingly reluctantly, and turned to face him. She kept her hand intertwined with River’s.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy River isn’t dead but my future self spent a lot of time thinking about how to save her and then you just waltz in here having to do one better?“ The Doctor crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Well, sadly, you’ll not remember that I came here.“ The woman replied.  

“What?“ Donna was utterly confused now.

“Why not?“ The Doctor demanded to know, unsure whether or not that was supposed to be a threat.

“God, you’re slow. Did I give you a concussion when I knocked you out?“ River raised her eyebrows playfully.

“Maybe it’s cause of the hair spray…“ The blonde mused.

“I don’t use…“ The Doctor was going to protest but River had already changed directions:

“Don’t tell me you’re not using hairspray now.“ She ran her hand through the other woman’s blonde bob.

“Naturally falls like that, thank you very much.“ She huffed in response. “Regeneration is a lottery as you should know by now.“

“Are you a timelord?!“ The Doctor exclaimed, not sure how to interpret the statement.

“Yes.“ The blonde replied in amusement.  

“But I thought I was the last…“ The Doctor stared back at her in shock.

“Yes, which makes me…“

“You can’t be.“ He shook his head.

“Yes I am the…“ The blonde started but the didn’t allow her to finish.

“You can’t be the Master, he…“

“So close.“ The mystery woman sighed hanging her head theatrically.

“It’s like watching one of those dumb and dumber movies, isn’t it.“ River chuckled to Donna who had long given up trying to follow.

“Hang on!“ The Doctor exclaimed as the penny dropped.

“Yes, crossing time streams, you won’t remember this because you are crossing your own time stream right now! I am you.“ The blonde Doctor sighed, she couldn’t believe she had to spell it out for him like that.

“Pretty boy and pretty girl.“ Donna found herself chuckling almost involuntarily.

“Aren’t they?“ River agreed with a smirk. “The mind races.“

“River. Shut up!“ The Doctor chanted in unison.

“But you’re short!“ The younger Doctor groaned in annoyance as he looked her up and down.

“I am actually rather average height, as it happens! Why does everyone call me small?!“ The older Doctor huffed. “Did I really use to be so obsessed with my height?!“

“Size isn’t everything, darling.“ River pipped up.

“Still not ginger then.“ The younger Doctor carried on.

“None of the next four, no.“ She replied with a shrug.  

“Four more regenerations and only now did you work out how to save her?“ He exclaimed looking to River.

“I actually gave her the screwdriver last time we met, thank you very much. One step at a time.“ The older Doctor huffed and turned to her wife: “I booked that suite on Darillium again, by the way, for a few nights, just, you know, if you haven’t got any other plans.“

“Well, this is going to be a whole new experience.“ River smirked looking her up and down. This was the first she was seeing of her spouse’s most recent regeneration and she was beyond intrigued.

“Like it?“ The blonde Doctor asked with a little smirk and River grinned:

“Love it.“

“I don’t like her. Do you like her?“ The younger Doctor turned to Donna, just as his future self pulled their wife in for another kiss.

“Are you jealous of yourself?“ Donna teased and he gave her a playful shove.

“So you’re really him? Just older?“ Donna turned to the future Doctor, still struggling to believe that they were the same person. She knew what regeneration meant but it wasn’t like she’d ever seen the result of one.

“Different face, same dumbass.“ The Doctor retorted with a grin.

“Well done for saving her, Doctor.“ Donna smiled as they looked to River who said her goodbyes to the younger Doctor at present. “She really needed you, this version of you.“ Donna thought back to how devastated River had been at the total lack of recognition on the Doctor’s part. She had missed her Doctor so very much.

“I know. I remember.“ The Doctor gave a sad sort of smile as she thought back to when she had first met River, remembering the pain and sorrow in her eyes. “Donna, I can’t know, you know. You can’t tell me, else I might not get here, details my change and a paradox will be created if I know River lived.“ The Doctor turned to her to explain and Donna nodded slowly, they had mentioned it on the way back to the TARDIS already. This Doctor’s TARDIS was parked right behind their’s where they hadn’t been able to spot it as they got out. “Just be there for him. He’s already struggling, even if he doesn’t show it, even if he doesn’t know her yet, he still knows what and who he’s lost.“ The Doctor tried her best to explain to her what was going on in her younger self’s head.

“How long as it been for you? Since she died. How long have had to carry that with you?“ Donna asked taking her hand comfortingly.

“Some questions are better left unanswered.“ The Doctor shook her head and smiled. “It was good to see you, Donna.“ She pulled her into a hug.

“It was good to meet you, this version of you.“ Donna smiled and let her go, just as River and the other Doctor joined them.

“Well done, Doctor.“ The younger Doctor smiled and extended his hand to her.

“You too, Doctor.“ The blonde smile in return and shook his hand.

“You sure you don’t want to come in for a cup of tea, or…“ River suggested pointing to the TARDIS:

“Down, girl.“ The older Doctor smirked and took her hand in hers.

“You’ll be seeing me again soon, Doctor.“ River smiled at the younger Doctor who grinned:

“I look forward to it.“

“No telling.“ The older Doctor reminded Donna who nodded and smiled:

“My lips are sealed.“

“Now about that suite.“ River smirked at her wife as they turned to their TARDIS.

“Think the TARDIS bedroom will do for now, don’t you?“ The Doctor chuckled as she unlocked the door.

“Bedroom, kitchen, console room, wardrobe hall…“ River smirked and pulled her inside.

“Good for you, Doctor, so you’re not an eternal virgin then.“ Donna teased pulling her Doctor along to their TARDIS before he could get any more jealous.

[luverofralts]

Post Arkhelios

When Lucy had stepped off the plane and into Pleasantview for the first time, she had almost burst from excitement. There was so much green grass, so many little decorative ponds and a castle! A giant castle stood on the highest peak of Pleasantview’s hills, and Lucy desperately wanted to visit it. It was all so different than Arkhelios! No wonder Ulyssa loved being here; everything looked so much fun to explore and try.

However, she was there on a mission for her brother and there was no time to peek into every cobwebbed corner of a castle, or visit any of the exciting, non-axe throwing stores. Apparently the snobby rich kids Roman had gone to school with were throwing him and Abe a baby shower, and Lucy was to bring home the gifts, and profusely thank everyone. Elaine had refused to allow Abe to travel because of the baby, and Adam’s minor concern for Abe’s health. On top of that, if the Bellamys were indeed trying to get to end this pregnancy like Elaine suspected, Abe would be much safer at home out of their reach.

Ulyssa stood with a group of teens, each dressed in identical school uniforms. When she saw Lucy coming, she ran and swept her up in a big hug. Lucy was overwhelmed being this close to Ulyssa, and in such a glamorous and old building! Nothing in Arkhelios looked older than a century at most, and just here in this one kitchen, the stone work looked ancient.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” Ulyssa exclaimed happily. “I want you to meet everyone, I’ve told them so much about you and Arkhelios.”

“You made it!”

Lucy spun around to see her brother filling a computer screen, waving excitedly. There was a mounted webcam on a shelf in the school, and a tired, but very happy Abe on the laptop at home.

Everyone turned to face the screen now that Abe had connected.

“Surprise!”

Lucy smiled. Maybe things weren’t so bad for her brother after all. All of these people knew Roman Bellamy personally, and somehow still wanted to help his partner.

Ulyssa looked into the camera apologetically when she saw Abe scanning the room for Roman.

“I’m sorry Abe, none of us know how to bring Roman here,” she said. “No one can lock on to his location, so the few people who can teleport two people at once can’t even try to grab him.”

Abe nodded.

“Of course, that makes sense. I just wish that I could be there too since he can’t.”

“You know that Mom says absolutely not!” Lucy exclaimed at the same time Ulyssa was adamantly shaking her head.

“If you can’t use a plane, you shouldn’t teleport. You have two skeletons inside of you now. Do you really want to trust beginner witches to sort out which skeleton is which?”

Abe shuddered at the thought.

“Point taken.”

“I could probably bring Roman here.”

Everyone turned to see Adriel already moving her hands, sending purple sparks up everywhere near her. It was too late to stop her, so everyone just hoped that Roman would arrive...and in one piece.

Somewhere on the Bellamy property, the wind blew a thick line of salt away from the house, where it crashed violently into a bloody sigil painted on the ground.

Then without warning, a large popping sound went through the air, resulting in a very confused looking Roman Bellamy crashing to the floor.

“Roman!”

Both Ulyssa and Lucy ran to hug Roman as he scraped himself off of the floor. His eyes lit up immediately when he saw where he was and who was there.

“Ulyssa! Everyone!”

Roman embraced Ulyssa first and then hugged a few familiar faces.

“I’ve never been so glad to be in a school,” he exclaimed. “You won’t believe my life now.”

“Roman?”

Roman froze in place, searching frantically for the source of the voice.

“Abe?! Where are you?”

Roman pressed himself against the screen that was broadcasting Abe. Tears were forming at the thought of actually seeing Abe again.

“Abe! Oh my god! How are you? How have you been? You’re huge now!”

Lucy gave Roman a quick smack and then left him to catch up with her brother. Roman was maybe growing on her a little more than before, but he was still insufferable most of the time. Meanwhile, there was a cake calling her name.

After half an hour, Abe signed off to have a nap, finally able to rest now that he knew that Roman was okay. Roman caught up with a few people, but once the cake was down to the last few slices, and the gifts had been opened, people started filing back out of the kitchen to move on with their day. There was still one person Roman needed to talk to, and by the looks of things, she was eager to talk to him as well.

“You’ve lost the headband,” Roman stated, trying to feel out whether he was being offensive or not. Who ever Adriel was, she had broken him out of his weird prison with a wave of her hand and Roman needed more information from her.

“A friend suggested that I try a new look,” she laughed.

A friend? Okay, they were apparently friends. He could work with that. It was certainly better than an enemy.

“I don’t know what to ask you first,” he confessed. “Nothing makes sense in my life anymore, and I could be wrong, but I think you might be able to help me with that.”

She nodded solemnly.

“I don’t have a lot of specifics at the moment, but it’s a situation that we’re monitoring. Arkhelios has sparked an interest in many groups, especially in how it was founded.”

“We?”

“My mother and some of her close followers,” Adriel supplied. “Sometimes me too if it’s not a school night.”

“What does your mom care about Arkhelios for?” He thought about it for a second, and then shook his head. “Never mind that, how did you get me out of my house? How did I’m assuming either my mom or grandma lock me in there to begin with?

“My mother cares about the improper allotment of power, and there is a great imbalance in Arkhelios,” Adriel answered. “Something terrible and dark lies there. It could be something very big and require...intervention, or it could simply be a witch or two meddling with forces they don’t understand. We’re working on it either way.”

Could it be Wanda? She’s the only witch in town...unless my mother was trying out some weird spell too.

“And bringing me here? Was that also an intervention?” He almost dreaded the answer.

She scoffed.

“That was nothing,” she laughed. “Demon trapping 101. Babies could have broken that seal.”

Roman’s heart landed somewhere near his stomach. What was like a witch, but different enough to use a separate type of magic? Why had that strange magic come so easily to him, where formal magic had not? How could everyone walk out the front door except for Roman? The evidence was piling up, but it was leading somewhere he refused to follow.

“I’m not a demon,” He protested. “I don’t know your deal, or what you cosplay as, but I’m not like you. I have normal human parents and zero horns or cloven feet or whatever.”

Adriel frowned.

“No one has cloven feet, that’s just a hateful stereotype.” She stared coldly at him once more. “And I never said you were a demon. You were caught in a demon trap. Those things catch all sorts of creatures. They’re like a cross between a spider web, and a dumpster. All sorts of things get stuck in them from vampires to demon hybrids, which is probably closer to what you are. Somewhere in your family tree is a full blooded demon, and you’re just an imperfect reflection of it’s powers.”

An expelled student. A teenage father with no home or money. The descendant of a demon. How has my life gotten this crazy?

“Let’s say I believe you, which I don’t. What do I do now? Go home and be trapped again, or take my chances running with Abe now?”

Roman was close to hyperventilating. Why had everything fallen apart after Abraham had died? He had once had normal parents, a normal heritage, admission to a private school, and a ton of sex that had never knocked someone up before. Everything had fallen apart when Abraham died, and now death and illness had swallowed all of Arkhelios with no end in sight.

“Roman! You need to sign something to get Maura’s mom to cover the shipping costs of all this stuff. Get over here!”

Roman didn’t even attempt an escape from his current conversation. He mindlessly wandered to Lucy and signed on all of the lines Lucy pointed to. She was probably also tricking him into signing away custody of his kid, or something devious like that, but Roman couldn’t bring himself to care. He was just tired.

While Roman filled out the paperwork, Ulyssa and Maura celebrated the successful shower. They had helped someone in need, and had fun while doing it. With all of the excitement, it was understandable that Maura quickly gave Ulyssa a chaste kiss to celebrate. It was only polite for Ulyssa to return that kiss, but longer, and with more passion.

The kissing continued until the sounds of Roman and Lucy bickering broke the mood.

“No, I’m not signing away my parental rights and moving back to Pleasantview! You really think Abe would want that?”

Ulyssa slid in between the two and pulled out an envelope from her uniform pocket.

“Um Roman,” she started, pushing Lucy away until she got the hint. “We have an extra gift for you and Abe. We held a charity dinner on the weekend and raised some money for you two.” Her gaze fell to the floor. “You know, some emergency money in case of...emergencies.” “To start a new life and new identity with Abe or to bury him when the Arkhelios curse inevitably strikes again?”

There was an uncomfortable silence when both teens weighed the chances of either option.

“Neither, I hope,” Ulyssa said at last. “Maybe you could put it towards a down payment on a condo or something. It’s just there just in case.”

Roman gave Ulyssa a crushing hug. She was sure she was imagining things, but her shoulder felt damp where his head was. Was he crying?

Roman released her and wiped his eyes discreetly.

“Ulyssa, if something does happen to me or Abe, I want you to promise to take our kid out of Arkhelios. I don’t care where, just far away from there. Promise me.”

Ulyssa grabbed Roman’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

“Nothing is going to happen to you,” she whispered. “You’re going to use a lot of rich kids’ allowances to put a down payment on something nice, and raise your very happy kid with the mountain of toys Lucy is shipping home.” She wrapped her arms around him again, realizing that should something happen, and Roman actually did have to run with Abe, this might be the last time she ever saw him. “And I promise. I promise I will do everything I can for your kid. Just maybe clear it with Lucy first, so she doesn’t try to kill me too.”

Lucy and Ulyssa left together so Ulyssa could show her around and give Roman some space. He assured them that he could get back home himself, now that the trap had been broken, but he was in no rush to return home and the ...complications there.

He stood alone in the hallway for what seemed like an eternity. Where did he go from here exactly?

“Play dumb. Play dumb until the time is right.”

Roman turned to find Adriel watching him carefully.

“Right for what?”

“You may not be accepting of your heritage,” she replied, “but it’s there for a reason. Something is happening in Arkhelios that you are a part of and that you can change. Just pretend to still be trapped, and listen carefully. People are often more careless with their words when they assume you’re still fighting to escape.” She leaned close to Roman’s ear.

“We’re getting closer to unraveling what’s wrong. Give us some more time. It shouldn’t be too much longer.”

[shinydelirium]

MLQC Season 2 Chapter 5 (Kiro) Final Part [Broken Red Wire] & [The Curtain Rises] Translation [CN]

***SPOILERS*** THIS POST CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR CONTENT NOT YET RELEASED ON EN SERVER!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!***

For the previous translations of Chapter 5: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Enjoy~

[Broken Red Wire]

After Kiro and I climbed up, I sat on the ground in shock and realized that someone really did come help us.

This person had a strong complexion. He smiled cordially at me after he noticed my scrutinizing gaze.

He looked familiar like I had seen him somewhere before.

Kiro: You’re also very late.

??: Didn’t I arrive before the end of your countdown?

He scratched his head and walked over, extending his hand out to me.

??: I didn’t say hello to you last time. I’m Ah Liu, nice to meet you.

Ah Liu: As a way of greeting, next time I formally invite you to drink the special offer from my store.

I responded with hindsight, Kiro pulled my wrist like a bear nervously taking away the sweet honey jar.

After giving him a helpless look, Ah Liu retracted his smile.

Ah Liu: There are inexplicable signal and magnetic field barriers. It wasn’t easy using Evol.

Ah Liu: After you entered the game, there was a constant delay in the positioning of the post. We were worried that something had happened. We discussed it and decided that I would go into the game to confirm your accurate location.

“We”?

I stood behind Kiro in bewilderment. Is there someone else besides Ah Liu?

Ah Liu nodded in response to the earphones in his ears and motioned to Kiro.

Ah Liu: After I entered the game, the same situation occurred and other people are still examining what is going on.

Ah Liu: But the problem here is, we’re not sure what special equipment is being used or…

Ah Liu: What special ability.

Kiro nodded solemnly at him.

Kiro: The plan is proceeding as normal.

After Ah Liu gave an “OK” gesture, he temporarily disappeared into the forest.

At this moment, I finally realized that, without a doubt, Kiro arranged everything.

He noticed my gaze and winked at me playfully.

Kiro: You see, I said I will protect you, right?

At this time, there was a “ding” sound from his microcomputer. Kiro looked worried for a moment, but he immediately collected his emotions, sat on the ground, and started the computer.

The progress bar on the computer screen showed 100%.

MC: What is this?

Kiro: This is the data analysis of that metal collar.

MC: You found a way to remove the metal collar!

Kiro was not as proud as I thought he would be. He just raised the corners of his mouth leisurely.

Kiro: Miss Chips, before you said you would get angry if I secretly left….

MC: Yeah? What about it?

Kiro: What would you do if you were really angry?

He looked into my eyes and spoke softly, but I somehow felt that something was wrong.

MC: What are you trying to say? You’re not trying to play any tricks on me, are you?

Kiro: I’m just asking so I can set a reminder to myself.

MC: That is best….

MC: Let me think, I won’t talk to you for a year and confiscate all your snacks.

MC: No matter how much you beg or apologize. No matter the reason, I will never forgive you.

Kiro: You will.

MC: I certainly won’t…

His voice was soft and when I turned my head to look at Kiro, I found that his eyes had turned to pure gold during some point.

Bathed in the morning light, there is an indescribable tenderness.

Kiro: I command you…

He gave me an extremely bright and tender smile.

I suddenly raised my hand to block my eyes, but Kiro moved faster. He quickly held my wrist and my vision was filled with a clear golden glow.

Kiro: All within my range of control belong to me.

Kiro: Get a good night’s sleep now, and don’t mention this game to anyone when you wake up.

Kiro: Then….forgive me.

He stretched out his hand gently to me, and I realized that I had lost control of my body again and couldn’t say anything.

My consciousness was slowly slipping away, and my legs gradually lost their strength. Kiro caught me.

Kiro: It’s all right, MC.

Kiro: I said, I would let you leave here safely.

My brain gradually stopped working, but I pinched my palm so that my consciousness could stay awake at the end.

I looked at Kiro, and strenuously opened my mouth to say something to him.

But I know that my whole body is being drained of energy little by little.

I’m going to fall asleep soon.

During this time, Ah Liu came back. He seemed to have known this would happen, so he didn’t ask much, and neatly connected a data cable to the girl’s neck.

Kiro: Are you sure this is analytical data?

Ah Liu carefully checked the analysis results and shook his head.

Ah Liu: The design of this metal collar is a bit unique. The time is too short so these results can’t remove it perfectly.

Ah Liu: He has a special heat induction system installed, which is quite troublesome. I can give you about 1.5 seconds at most and it shouldn’t be detected.

Kiro: Enough.

Ah Liu: OK.

Ah Liu took out the equipment without hesitation, leaned on the girl’s side and carefully dismantled the metal collar.

Soon, he found a small button that was not easily noticeable and Ah Liu cautiously reconfirmed the other lines before lightly poking in with a metal wire.

With a sound, the metal collar instantly turned into two halves.

Within the next second, Kiro swiftly closed them around his neck, resolutely and firmly.

Ah Liu lifted the girl on his back and said nothing more.

“I will not let go of your hand.”

The girl’s voice seems to be ringing in his ears.

Kiro glanced down and watched his hand slowly close up.

Out of nowhere, the forest was engulfed by a raging fire, and the wind blew away the last remnants of gentleness.

The silver hair was clear and distinct in the flames, like a sharp knife shining with cold light.

Electronic voice: Congratulations to Hunter No. 29 for advancing.

Fiery sparks rose in the air, covering Helios’s fading back.

Half asleep and half awake, I feel as if someone is running with me on their back.

On the electronic screen of the contact lens, the cute pixel bear went away by itself in the opposite direction of the flower bear. The red line between them stretched straight.

The word “warning” kept flashing in front of my eyes.

Warning. About to exceed the connection range.

Wait a moment….I begged silently in my heart.

Warning. About to disconnect.

Suddenly the little bear stopped.

It seems to have seen the same warning. The red thread is tightly connected together, like a distant but silent entanglement.

It stayed in place as if reluctant to sever the red thread.

My consciousness finally dissipated in the vague darkness, and as the little flower bear continued to move forward, the red line quietly broke.

Warning.

Connection disrupted.

[The Curtain Rises]

At the edge of the forest, two figures suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Ah Liu: Feeling this Evol! Strangely, there is a problem with this forest.

The sound from the headset seemed to be coming from another guidance, and he cautiously looked at the sniper rifle hidden in the woods.

Ah Liu: In this way, even if a player had a chance to run to the edge and ask for help, they would be dealt with.

He pointed to the highway ten meters away.

Ah Liu: This distance should still be movable.

As soon as Ah Liu spoke, a silver-white arc was drawn in the air and a man’s figure appeared in front of them.

Behind him stood a teenager in his early teens. The mist made them unable to see the man’s face and his eyes were faintly glowing with dark gray light.

Ah Liu turned around without hesitation. The moment he disappeared with the girl on his back, the man stretched out his hand.

Teenage Boy: Are you sending Evol? It looks amazing!

The boy widened his eyes in surprise as e he looked at the silent forest, showing a cruel smile, then turned to the man.

Teenage Boy: Teleporting Evol should involve jumping between spaces, what if you find that you can’t use Evol while jumping?

Teenage Boy: Joker, where would they be teleported to?

The man named Joker smiled, his eyes full of playfulness, and he did not speak.

The silver-white arc once again struck the air and the dim underground passage behind the white light appeared in front of his eyes.

I woke up groggy, feeling a faint pain all over my body.

I looked around and found myself in a tunnel, like an abandoned underground railway.

I suddenly remembered everything that just happened. The hunter game and Kiro leaving.

MC: Open map.

The air was quiet. I lowered my head and found that the metal collar on my neck is gone.

MC: Kilo, display location!

On the cold mechanical screen, only a bear wearing a flower is shown.

MC: Kilo, display satellite signal, zoom in.

The screen appears to show that I’m still in the forest but underground.

I took a heavy breath, gritted my teeth and stood up.

In any case, I must leave here first.

-End of Chapter 5-

[nicketynic]

no lie in his fire (1/2)

Nameless orphan to indentured battlemage, Jon Snow knew better than to ever cast eyes above his station. No pretty face was worth losing his heart when his head would be quick to follow. What he didn't count on was a princess as unexpectedly brave in love as she was in peril.

A continuation of this drabble, originally intended for @jonsadungeonsanddrabbles before all the computer trouble. 

Some would say that Jon had been born lucky, if only for the magic singing in his veins, but what good was magic if it got him nowhere with no name, no family, no legacy to speak of? Even his spark was considered unlucky at best, accursed at its worst, as baffling as it was for fire to be his element when he was born in the dead of winter, during the longest and darkest night of the year.

An unnamed, fevered, Northern-featured girl had appeared that night on the steps to the Temple of the Most Devout, heavy in labor, delivering a healthy new life at the cost of her own. She survived just long enough to give him a name, Jon, the sisters adding “Snow” for the raging blizzard that prevented a healer or midwife from being summoned. The girl’s name was either lost in the shuffle or just never known, the last rites thereafter anonymous and perfunctory, her newborn shunted off to an orphanage before they even finished.

His caretakers were relieved to find him a quiet, easy babe. Until the day his blankets mysteriously began to singe. He was a calm, obedient toddler, no disruption found until he came down with a horrible fever and scorch marks were found around his sickbed. He grew into a solitary, unobtrusive child, until the day an older boy’s roughhousing dislocated his shoulder, and his panic and pain set fire to the bully’s clothing.

While the North mainly served itself autonomously outside warfare and taxes, orphanages were imperially controlled, all the better to snatch up children with any hint of magic or dragon blood. As an imperial ward, there was little preamble about Jon’s transfer into the custody of the nearest mage tower, and from there forward he belonged not to himself, but the Empire.

Raised a battlemage, a living weapon, he was lucky enough that his spark kept him from being shipped off to Essos and the endless battlefield that was Valyrian conquest. What use would he be, after all, on the front lines where armies were commanded from dragonback and bloodlines were bred specifically for fire magic? Better he be a prize and a novelty for the Westerosi towers, his power and potential bound tightly under the rigid control of the Adepts, harnessed and shaped under their demanding tutelage.

Every moment Jon Snow breathed, his magic was growing and changing, stirring restlessly beneath his skin every waking second. Of course he would obey, everything he’d ever known dedicated to keeping caged the spark turned hungry, burning flame. Obey through every grueling exercise and test, practice and practice under his fingers blistered and his magic ran dry, because the magic writhed beneath his skin like a living, ravenous thing. He obeyed because the first and last time he hesitated had been disastrous.

Deployed to the Wall to turn the tide on a wilding incursion, the reality of turning his flame on living people made him hesitate, and that hesitation wasn’t reciprocated on the other side, black brothers falling all around him in a massive attack of northern ice magic. He reacted instead of obeying, and the fearful inferno he released that day would haunt him until the end of his days.

Sent back to the capital and kept on an even shorter leash for his failure, it was purely for the aesthetic and prestige that he was paraded out to serve in the honor guard escorting the King in the North’s entourage to the Red Keep. Jon obeyed, polishing and affixing his armor, marching stalwart and silent among the other soldiers and ignoring the pompous prattling from the Grand Adept serving as his taskmaster.

Jon knew his place, knew his training, keeping his eyes on the ground until he was forced to do otherwise. The Crownsguard had grown lazy enough in their formation to require course correction before they all stumbled and fell in their obnoxiously ostentatious armor.

As he glared, huffed, and righted himself after being bumped by the idiots beside him (they were the royal guard of a Baratheon Archon holding his position by virtue of his Targaryen blood, why were they wearing those garish lion helms?), he caught his first glimpse of her, curt and fleeting as it was.

She was strikingly beautiful, lithe and graceful as a swan, auburn tresses falling like liquid fire. She stole his breath, shook something deep inside him, but he turned his mind firmly back to his duty. The procession continued, but he never truly resettled, a spike of unease shooting through him as crimson cloaks and snarling golden helms began to close ranks.

The turn came quickly. Crownsguard turned on Winterguard, outnumbering the northern retinue three times over. The Grand Adept barked orders at Jon, urging him to join the fray, on the wrong side .

It seemed that Pycelle, treacherous worm, had forgotten a few key facts, specifically that Jon Snow had winter in his blood and fire at his core. It was not the worm, but the wyrm, who brought fire to heel, and Jon’s flame burned bright and fierce. Fire obeyed dragons. Fire would only burn a lion, not bend for him- especially a lion pretending to be a stag playing at being a dragon. And Jon had been a diligent student, he knew his histories well. The North had only submitted once in millenia, kneeling to dragons and dragons alone. While the rest of Westeros bent the knee to the stag by right of dragon blood and war-might, the quiet wolf did so out of friendship and fraternity.

The North was doggedly loyal, never wavering. Warring against an unworthy dragon to replace him with another of the same blood hardly counted as betrayal when all knew Aerys II was a mad butcher undeserving of his Archonship. The Emperor had certainly agreed, so long as Baratheon’s fealty remained true. The North was loyal to the dragon, the wolf was loyal to the stag, and a peace retinue under imperial guest-right was being slaughtered before his eyes.

When Jon made his decision, it was the easiest he ever made.

The ice in his veins remained strong, even as his rage grew into something feral and potent, swelling with alarming quickness. He found it centering on the collar hidden beneath his armor, layered with spell upon spell, of both protection and restraint. His blood roared in his ears, his heart pounding louder than an kettledrum, and one by one, the enchantments began to pop and burst. His helm and gorget cracked and clattered uselessly to the ground, exposing the red-hot metal resting snug around his throat. Pauldron, vambraces, and gauntlets were all quick to follow, all heavy and unwieldy, all equally bespelled.

His flame sparked and grew, alighting his hands, his arms, the pupils of his eyes. Steam rose from his skin, and finally, finally! liquid metal sluggishly melted away from his neck under the molten force of his magic. Left behind was a thick band of finely worked leather, runed and snug beneath his larynx. The keystone to the whole contraption, but hardly worth his attention as he prepared to unleash an inferno on every flash of crimson and gold in his periphery.

It was an echoing roar of defiance that stayed his hand, if only for a moment, King Eddard wielded the legendary Ice with a wolfish ferocity, but he greatly outmanned and quick to lose any ground he gained. Their eyes met and connected, like recognizing like as Eddard took in long, lean features and dark winter eyes. Recognizing a fellow son of the North, the flagging king took a chance and trusted.

“Protect your princess! Go!”

His teleportation spells were rusty but functional, his memories thereafter a whirlwind as he wrapped himself protectively around the princess, burned a sigil into the nearest stone, and started a journey there was no coming back from.

Over time, reluctant companions became friends and then lovers. Jon Snow proved to be very lucky indeed- not for the magic in his blood, but for the place he somehow, someway, had etched into the heart of a princess.                        

[ormagoden]

12:19 am my computer is purring and I feel like posting about Super Robot Wars Here we go

It is the year 2000, It is the year 3040, It is the year 2016, It is the year 2040, It is the year 2050, It is the year. 

This phrase repeated so many times each with a different date yet with the same story behind it *cut to Gigantor smashing a tank* so many different people fighting for freedom, for the safety of country, to save the human race from the hours that would see it dead *Steel Jeeg blasting a phantom* one thing persists in this timelines an emend arises and so too does a hero using the best form of defense made a giant robot. Go Gigantor! Smash them Giant Robo! Change Getter 1! Volte In! Let’s Combine! Pilder On, Mazin go! Gurren Lagann Combine! Big O, Showtime! Steel JEEEEG! Threats rise and fall like the tide and Heroes the same way including events that bring them together. The power is to much cut it! Just a little more! Chief, Big Fire’s robot is doing something! Gigantor get away! Open Get!

(Some planet, some space, some time, somewhere)

A laud bang echoed in the canyon and the marvel of the 21st century know as Giant in America rose from its kneeled position protecting the remote box controller Jimmy Sparks kid detective, Professor Bob Brilliant creator of the robot and the Chief of Police Inspector Blooper. “Professor where are we?” Jimmy asked “I have no idea Jimmy it may be possible Colonel Strands Teleporting beam sent us to America possibly the bottom of the Grand Canyon if that is at all where the exploding device sent us.” “Well I don't know about the two of you but I say we have Gigantor fly us to the nearest Airport and make sure that dastardly crook is done for.” “Good idea inspector Jimmy if you will.” With a twist of a knob and a pull of a level Gigantor stopped the three up and with a mighty roar flew up and up and up right out of the crack of the canyon and into the sky right away everyone knew something was wrong “Is it me Professor or does it look like that canyon is much bigger than the one in the pictures?” “I think your right Jimmy much longer and now that I see it from this height its doesn't even have a river! Wherever that device sent us we need to get back to Nepal Quickly before the Colonel restarts his operations.” “Right Gigantor to the West!.” with jets roaring and speed increasing like a streak of lighting Gigantor soared across the blue sky westward in search of help or clues to get back home.

“OI Simon! You still kicking?!” “Right here bro!” “Good now where’re the others?” Gurren Lagann a Robot with two heads and massive sunglasses one pilot the timid Simon the other proud and boastful Kamina who wanted to see the surface and somehow always wrapped poor Simon up in them until when Simon was digging a new tunnel he discovered a head with arms and legs which Kamina named Lagann and of course Kamina got his own mech cobbled together from broken gunmen Kamina christened it Gurren and broke the mech during his first time out with it which he then got the brilliant idea, when facing a higher ranking gunman, to slam Lagann onto his now mechs top combining the two somehow into Gurren Lagann.

Posting this now before I forget will get back to it just need a brain break

[pocket-monsters-precure]

Chapter 18: Danger! A Test of Precure’s Worth!

Wish was frozen in shock. The being standing before them was the source of many a cautionary tale, a living urban legend, and it had violated the safety of her mind to communicate.

 Mewtwo’s eyes were fixed on Wish...its precedessor’s power emanated from her. A power once thought only shared by two beings, itself one of them. Its eyes snapped wider. Wish threw her head back, as it burrowed deeper into her memory.

 “Wish!?” Starlight rushed to her side. She whipped her head toward Mewtwo. “What are you doing!?”

 After a pause, it tensed its shoulders a bit, leering at the group. So Mew chose you to receive the power of a Precure. How queer. Your memories show you to be timid…passive. Certainly such qualities would make you unfit to receive the blessing of a legendary pokemon?

 Wish placed a hand to her temple, mouth agape, unable to answer.

 “Where do you get off!?” Starlight hissed.

 “Yeah, who are you to talk!?” Incensed, Rotomi zipped up to Mewtwo, glaring into its unfazed eyes. “If what Fae said before is true, you’re a manufactured pokemon with a legendary’s power—you’re not a true legendary! Who do you think you are that you can decide who can or can’t be a Precure!?”

 Mewtwo stared back at Rotomi, before encapsulating her in a ball of its psychic power, knocking her away with a mere tip of its head and a shooing gesture.

 I don’t care about such a trivial title, it replied, as Rotomi bounced around the cave before the psychic bubble popped and left her dizzy on the ground, but I have seen the cruel, selfish culture of humanity many times since my creation. Why would pokemon choose such shallow creatures, whose cons outweigh their pros, to defend us?

 “…you acknowledge that humans have their good points, though,” Wish reasoned. Mewtwo stared coldly back.

 Not nearly enough.

 “So what do you want?” Starlight stepped in front of Wish, glaring.

 Satisfy my curiosity. Mewtwo raised its paws. Face me, Precure. Show me what the legendary pokemon see in you.

 Rotomi dizzily floated back to the girls, shaking herself back to her senses. “Looks like we don’t have much choice…but there’s only two of you. I don’t think I can teleport back and still have enough energy to bring Sunrise and Willow back.”

 Wish and Starlight shared a glance, before Starlight looked back to Rotomi and replied, “See if you can head back. Once you’re there, try to get some rest and recharge as much as you can before bringing them back.”

 “We’ll do our best to satisfy Mewtwo,” Wish responded. But it was clear her stomach had sunk to new depths. Rotomi looked between the two girls, then nodded, beginning to spin and vanishing with a flash. Wish and Starlight stood up straight, sidestepping to put some distance between the two of them.

 “Mewtwo,” Starlight began, “Our powers were given to us to fight nega-evolutions…but if you want to fight, so be it!”

 Mewtwo flew forward, clashing with a Full Moon Aegis thrown up by Wish. It quickly overpowered her and smashed her against the wall, debris flying out, before flying back and unleashing a shadow ball.

 “Don’t pick on her!” Starlight shouted, charging her arms and legs with stellar energy as she leapt up, sending a diving kick at Mewtwo. It took the impact of the kick with a shield it summoned, arms raised. Dissipating the shield, Mewtwo caught Starlight’s incoming charged punches and kicks in its paws, skidding back in the dirt a bit.

 “Comet BURST!” Starlight slammed her fists together and combined the energy, launching the ball back at it. Mewtwo caught the ball, only for the ball to detonate around it.

 Your control of such power is rather intuitive, it seems.

 “Shut up! You talk smack about my teammate and then have the nerve to sit here and analyze while in a fight!?” Starlight angrily conjured up a Comet Fastball, hurling it as Mewtwo swatted it down, letting it explode on the ground.

 See, analysis is part of any sort of interaction, Mewtwo replied, drifting to and fro to avoid her incoming strikes, I was giving credit where it is due. Mewtwo backed up, finding itself surrounded by spheres of light courtesy of Wish’s Whimsy Pop attack; the lights promptly detonated around it before it could throw up a barrier.

 “Nice job, Wish!”Starlight cheered. Wish kept her hands up in a casting position, staring anxiously at the cloud of smoke left behind. Mewtwo burst out of it, leering at them as it fired a barrage of psychic attacks at the pair, too quickly for Wish to throw up a barrier. It thrust out its paws again, making a swiping motion and using telekinesis to throw the Precure against separate walls and hold them there.

 Impressive power from such young children…but you are only human, in the end.

 It felt like the air itself was pushing down on them. Wish felt like she couldn’t breathe. Starlight clenched her fists and grit her teeth.

 “Wh-what…does this…prove..!?” Starlight snarled. Mewtwo seemed to pause.

 Prove?

 Then...

BOOSH!

 WHAM!

 A combined strike. A Moonblast, followed by a Night Slash, struck Mewtwo and broke his concentration, dropping the two Precure. Clefable and Absol had arrived on the scene, glaring at Mewtwo.

 “C-Clefable….you made it…!” Wish caught her breath, sighing in relief as she was hugged by her pokemon partner.

 “Atta girl.” Starlight rubbed Absol’s head, then stood up. “Mewtwo…you’re wasting our time with this fight.”

 “Sh-she’s right….” Wish stood up as well, Clefable standing in front of her defensively. “Someone nega-evolved an Onix here, and they may still be here.”

 The cursed one who attacked me…I was forced to defend myself. I will give you that much gratitude; you treated the malady; I had no ability to do so.

 “So that’s why you waited to teleport us…”

 I wanted to see the process by which Precure treat the afflicted. But enough of that; my curiosity is not yet sated.

 “Of course it’s not.” Starlight snarled. Mewtwo glanced toward her.

 And how do you mean that?

 “I’ve heard the stories countless times,” Starlight replied, “You were created to fight. To be the most powerful. Fighting’s all you care about, isn’t it? If that’s the case, you’ll never be satisfied.”

 Mewtwo paused. Then tilted its head. You mean to try and tell *me* how I feel? An aggressive young human gifted with powers beyond what she deserves…and another, passive one somehow deemed to carry my predecessor’s power! It snapped its head back toward Wish, who flinched. I had assumed the humans chosen to be Precure were different from the filth I had witnessed before…but it appears the choice was simply based on random opportunity!

 Mewtwo’s power flared around him. You have failed to prove your worth still, Precure!

 ==

 “Mewtwo itself challenged Wish and Starlight!?” Kailani gasped, as Rotomi lay tiredly in her hands.

 “Y-yeah…I need to charge up fast so I can warp you guys back to help them…!”

 “The legendary genetic pokemon…”Dr. Pierce breathed, a hand over her mouth in shock. “To think it would challenge the Precure to a fight…!”

 “We need to get you your strength back, quickly…!” Asuka looked to Kailani’s Rotom Dex, charging nearby. “Rotom! Please lend us your home!”

 “On it, bzzt!” Rotom flew out. Asuka gingerly took Rotomi from Kailani and set her down atop the screen, letting her enter the device to begin recharging her strength.

 “I hope it doesn’t take too long….” Kailani frowned.

 “The Cure Dex has a touchscreen that allows you to generate virtual food she can eat,” Dr. Pierce replied, “But Fae has it, and….she’s with that…thing…”

 “We only know about Mewtwo from stories…” Asuka looked to Dr. Pierce, “What else can you tell us…?”

 “Well, a few experimental logs were retrieved from its birthplace after Mewtwo destroyed it…I had the logs sent to me from the institute I used to work with a few years ago…” Dr. Pierce went to her computer, searching for the logs. “Offhand, I know Mewtwo’s highly aggressive and designed for battle; its raw psychic strength is impossible for anyone to control. Though Mewtwo reacted aggressively to its original creators when it…well…blew up the lab, it simply…ran away afterward. No vicious attacks on humans, or attempts to do so. It simply…wanted to be left alone. There have been occasions where powerful psychic readings were detected in different locations, but whenever researchers tried to pinpoint the source, the readings would move; it was likely Mewtwo detecting humans getting too close and leaving.”

 “So it’s been nomadic all this time…” Kailani frowned, looking to the Rotom Dex. “So why challenge Wish and Starlight?”

 “It wanted them to…’show their worth,’ it said,” Rotomi replied tiredly.

 “You mean like a fight!?” Kailani balked at the thought.

 “That’s not good at all,” Asuka began to fret, “Such an aggressive creature against Fae and Naomi…!”

 “There’s gotta be a way to heal up Rotomi faster…!” Kailani looked around, then spotted Raichu snacking in the corner.  “Raichu!” She ran over, putting a hand on his head. “I got an idea!”

 “Chu?” Raichu stared up at her, cheeks stuffed with food. Kailani pointed to the Rotom Dex.

 “Okay, use your electricity. Carefully charge up the Rotom Dex!”

 “You could really badly damage it if you do that, though!” Asuka replied.

 “It’s more important that we hurry and get to our friends, right!?”

 Asuka went silent at that question, then nodded. “…alright. Let’s give it a shot!”

 Kailani guided Raichu over to the table where the Dex was sitting. Raichu’s cheeks sparked up, as he levitated the Rotom Dex into his paws, beginning to trickle electricity in.

 ==

 “Type: Dark!” Starlight joined forces with her Absol. “Precure Wicked Whirl!”

 A swirling cyclone of dark wind broke through Mewtwo’s barrier, the powerful psychic grunting in pain as its weakness was exploited. But its powers flared up again, now enraged as it swatted away an incoming Wish and Clefable, who were in the middle of executing a team dive kick.

 Foolish! Mewtwo hurled a barrage of psychic energy all around it, striking at the walls, floors, anywhere that made impact. Reckless! It caught an angered Clefable in its paws and threw her behind it. Pernicious humans, and the pokemon who willingly fight beside you! Soldiers in a war in which you do not belong, nor are you needed!

 “You just had to get it angry by running your mouth, didn’t you!?” Wish snapped at Starlight.

 “Anything could have set it off!” Starlight replied defensively. “And I’m still right! It’s wasting our time!”

 Mewtwo showed no signs of stopping; minimal indication of fatigue, still incensed, and still raring to fight. Its paws clenched and unclenched as it spread its feet, tail whipping back and forth. They could barely see its bared teeth, and a low growl was starting to trickle out of its throat.

 Then, a new voice spoke; a drawl with a slight hint of annoyance.

 “Eh? You aren’t the Precure I’m used to seein’.”

 The voice belonged to a tall, lanky man sauntering out of the shadows; he had an unmistakable pompadour, and tinges of a greaser aesthetic. Playing with a toothpick in his mouth, he sized up the group.

 “Who in the…?” Starlight trailed off, then glanced to Mewtwo to check its reaction. It had tensed even further, shoulders hunched and head down, tail still whipping about and occasionally striking the ground, kicking up dirt.

 You. You’re one of them.

 With a flick of the wrist, a comb emerged from the man’s jacket, and he tended to his pompadour. “Name’s Malevo. And this is my turf, by order of Lord Tumult. I was gatherin’ nega-energy in this here mountain, and I saw someone smashed my precious Nega-Onix into the rock face…then when I came back to wake it up, someone had drained its nega-energy! Last I heard, my three normal Precure birdbrains weren’t anywhere nearby—thanks, social media—which means you chicks must be the culprits!”

 You’re one of the humans who has been cursing pokemon! Mewtwo hurled a Shadow Ball in its fury, only for Malevo to make a swiping motion with his comb, dissipating it.

 “Nice try, pal,” Malevo responded, while Mewtwo stared back in shock, “I’m not some normal human from this world, so don’t lump me in with them! Now, to figure out what to do with you Precure brats…” Malevo’s lips spread into a sick smile. “Got it!”

 Mewtwo was still enraged. As it prepared to strike again, Malevo raised a hand to reveal a nega-ring under his sleeve.

 “That’s the same thing Ataxia has!” Starlight cried.

 “You know her? Small world. Then you know what this does!”

 Wish immediately put two and two together. “No!” she squealed, running toward Mewtwo in vain. Malevo snapped his fingers, pointing at Mewtwo as a dark circle formed beneath it, trapping it in place as it immediately began to thrash around inside.

 “Nega-evolution!” Malevo struck a pose, putting a hand and spread fingers to his forehead. “Show your stuff!”

 Mewtwo clutched at its chest, doubling over as shadows overtook it; its eyes shot toward Wish, staring back at her; she knew the look of fear. It opened its mouth, and an enraged, inhuman trumpeting roar came forth as it was fully obscured by shadows. The shape grew and grew, until a massive, clawed paw slammed down before the Precure.

 What was once Mewtwo was now on all fours; bony, spiked, jagged in appearance, a sickly off-white, fangs emerging from its mouth. It was easily the size of a semi truck now, and was emanating nega-energy. It was its core self; a wild animal, confused, afraid, and ready to fight.

 “Oh, baby!” Malevo cheered. “Look at you! Your nega-energy will feed Dys for weeks! Now, show—“

 Nega-Mewtwo swung a paw, smashing into Malevo, sending him skyward and through the ceiling, as he howled in terror and pain.

 “Can’t say I feel bad for him,” Starlight remarked as she watched.

 “Feel bad for us!” Wish replied. Nega-Mewtwo turned its attention toward them, snarling. Wish stared back, shaking. The true Mewtwo was sealed within that beast…all its negative feelings and energy had been turned into this wicked creature.  Wish’s heart ached, despite her fear of both the original and its monster form.

[sibillascribbles08]

One More Time

Uhhh here’s the clone verse nonsense anyway. I apologize for the massive lack of context feel free to drop me asks?

The only things to know is this AU is set in a far future where The Overlord won during season 3. Toby’s the one who defeated him years later when he was sixteen. He’s nineteen during this ficlet.

Everyone has emotional baggage.

    Toby felt the rush of air hit him as he reached the other end of the rift he’d just opened. He had a box of donuts in hand, ready to share them after meeting up with the nindroids to check on the city. He was never good at making his landing location specific, but generally aiming for Borg tower was usually a good idea.

    Not in this case.

    Toby froze as his vision finally stopped blurring. He wound up in one of the big meeting rooms. By now the chairs were scattered everywhere, one of the tables broken in half. As he took in the scenery he saw Borg sitting in the corner of the room. Pixal stood, arms at the ready with ice crystals dancing around them. Echo had out his twin pistols. Acronix was close to the wall, one of his hands glowing red as the other held Cryptor against the wall.

    The android was in rough shape. The part that normally covered his right eye was broken. There were bullet holes in his chest. Ice was still clinging to his shoulders and around his left arm.

    No one in the room moved. Toby didn’t either. He kept studying the scene, trying desperately to wrap his mind around what was going on.

    When no one made a move, he decided to ask.

    “What’s going on?” He tried to keep voice level, but it teetered between fear and anger. His first thought was that Cryptor had gone rogue, forcing the others to fight him, but that wasn’t possible, right? Cryptor wouldn’t betray him. Not this Cryptor.

    But why else would everyone in the room be doing this to him?

    “T-Toby.” Borg finally spoke up. “I swear there’s an explanation for this.”

    “Then explain.” His anger was starting to win out. “What’s going on?”

    Borg looked at Acronix, who looked back at Borg. Pixal finally lowered her hands, although the ice around them remained. Echo was shaking as he put his pistols away, eyes somehow looking bigger than usual.

    With no one else speaking up, Borg continued. “Acronix and I were ah, working on developing a machine. Cryptor didn’t approve. An argument broke out.”

    That was far too simple. Suspicion began to creep its way up as Toby studied everyone else. If it was a simple disagreement they should be happy to see him, right? He could talk to Cryptor, get this all sorted.

    His gaze darted over to Acronix. “Put him down.”

    Acronix shook his head. “We should have Borg check his–”

    “Put him down.” Toby flexed the fingers in his left hand. The gold rings on his knuckles clinked together. “I won’t ask again.”

    “Toby,” Borg’s voice shook. “Let me fix him up. He’s suffered a bit of damage.”

    He felt a familiar tug on his nerves as he opened his hand. The air shifted around him before it dropped, along with everyone else in the room. Pixal hit the floor, as did Echo. Borg cringed in his wheelchair before clutching the sides of his head. Acronix tried to hold out, but after a few moments dropped to his knees, losing his grip.

    Toby stepped over, slow, putting the box of donuts on one of the tables as he kept walking. Everyone in the room struggled to move or stand, groaning through gritted teeth. Toby didn’t pay it any mind as he reached Cryptor, carefully pulling the nindroid’s arm over his shoulder.

    “Toby,” Acronix hissed. “Listen, we didn’t–”

    Toby cut him off. “Cryptor wouldn’t start a fight lightly. I’m going to fix him up, and talk to him, and figure out what’s going on. And if I need more answers I’ll come back and ask.” He turned, glad that his powers made the nindroid feel so light to him.

    Red light appeared. He could feel the effects of Acronix’s powers slowing and then freezing his steps. The small lights on his arm glowed as he let go of Cryptor’s hand for a moment and snapped his arm out. Acronix’s power shattered. Toby turned to see the master of time attempting to approach him, now frozen in shock.

    Toby lowered his hand as the gravity in the room shot back up.

    With Acronix on the floor again, Toby stepped over, kneeling down so he was at eye level.

    “Do not. Make me. Hurt you.” He couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice. He wanted to do so much worse than this right now. At first glance all of this was nothing short of betrayal, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what they’d been planning.

    But as it was, he didn’t have all the facts. So he stood back up and headed out of the room, not releasing his grip on the gravity until he teleported himself across town.

-------------------------

    [Reboot initiated. Diagnostics running…

    . . .

    Damage report: Right lens damaged. Unable to function. Foreign objects located in the chest, shoulder, and hip. Wire damage next to power source. Right arm function at 70%. Water damage to both plasma guns.

    Restarting in–]

    Cryptor forced his vision to kick back in. He couldn’t sit there waiting for a restart when the others were–

    Where was he? He looked around the dark room, light coming in through a broken window. An abandoned building? He must be on the far outskirts of town but how–

    “You okay?”

    His gaze snapped to his right, finally able to see the person who’d been sitting in his blind spot.

    Toby looked back at him, gaze gentle but wary. Was Cryptor dreaming? Toby was here. Actually here.

    Right when Acronix and Borg were threatening to trick him into powering their damned machine.

    “Toby.” He reached over with his good arm to grip his shoulder. “Listen to me, you can’t be here right now. Not until I shut down Borg and Acronix’s machine. If they get hold of your power–”

    “Cryptor.” His calm tone was always enough to shut the panic in his mind off. “Slow down before you short circuit your voice too. What happened?”

    “Time machine.” He sputtered out. “Borg and Acronix are trying to build a time machine.”

    Toby stared for the longest time, eyes wide. Cryptor never had an easy time reading that expression. What was he thinking? Was he angry? Surprised?

    “They want to reset everything, before the overlord took over. They want to stop it from happening.” The panic was coming back as his vision kept clouding with error messages. His power source wasn’t working properly.

    “And you tried to stop them.” Toby said.

    Cryptor blinked. “I… should I not have? I figured that you–”

    Toby’s expression made him pause, a mixture of pain and anger. He shook his head. “You tried to fight a master of time and a master of ice.”

    “Of course I did.” Cryptor glared. “What else could I have done? This plan… it threatens not only the lives we have now but the lives of all those kids. This future we’ve worked so hard to build would cease to exist. I couldn’t do nothing.”

    Another shake of the head. “That’s not what I was trying to say. I just… your logical self tried to take on all that.”

    “You asked me to protect this country and these people.”

    “I know.” Toby raised his voice and seemed to laugh for a moment. “I don’t know. Sometimes it never sinks in for me how dedicated you are.” He ran a hand through his hair, the strands falling in a rythmic wave across his face. “Nevermind it right now. Do you think you can show me what happened? Let me get some details?”

    “Right,” Cryptor blamed his voice glitch on his broken systems. He tried to pull up his projector only to be harshly reminded that his right eye was broken. He cringed at the sparks it produced, his hand flying over it.

    “Fuck, sorry.” Toby reached out, fingers brushing against the side of his head. “Forgot about that. I’m not super good at fixing this kind of stuff.”

    Cryptor gently pushed his hand away. “No, I forgot as well. We need to find some kind of screen if I’m going to show you, however.”

    “Before I take you anywhere, I need to know who else is in on this.” Toby was touching him again, thumb running under his broken eye. “Because Pixal and Echo were also in that room.”

    Cryptor moved his gaze away. “Acronix convinced them both to aid him during our meeting. Gizmo wasn’t there, I don’t know where he’d stand on the matter. Otherwise they’re the only ones that know.”

    “Not sure I trust the ninja with this if Pixal was that easily swayed.” Toby sighed. “Mindroid?”

    He actually glared at that. “Mindroid would never agree to something like that. You know how much he loves those kids.”

    Toby laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Just figured I’d check. But the orphanage is an obvious spot for them to go looking for us.”

    Cryptor glanced over at where Toby was still touching his face. “It may not be ideal, but the top floors of Borg tower have monitors we could still use. I could probably figure one of those out.”

    “With your power source in that shape?”

    “It’ll be enough.” He once again pushed Toby’s hand away. “Come on, we can’t waste any time. No doubt Borg and Acronix are going to take measures to make sure you don’t find the machine.”

    Toby frowned for a moment before he reached out again. He tugged Cryptor’s arm over his shoulder before taking a single step forward.

    Cryptor had teleported with Toby more than once. It never got less jarring and strange. His system always tried to process all of it, sometimes allowing his vision to be clear enough to see the space around them warp and shift.

    This one was quick enough, however, he didn’t get the chance to see any of it. Suddenly they were on the top floors, all the lights off in the dusty room. The monitors sat unused around the room, big screens that Borg once used for his main office.

    Cryptor tried to walk over to the computers, but his systems protested. He would have hit the ground if Toby didn’t catch him.

    “At least let me get a chair.”

    Cryptor mumbled but didn’t protest as Toby let him lean against the computer counter. There weren’t any actual chairs in the room, so Toby resorted to an unused computer tower. He gripped the sides and easily pulled it out from the desk it was hiding under. The wires behind it snapped as he lifted it up and carried it over.

    Cryptor sat on it, praying it would actually hold his weight as he opened up the computer counter. There should be something for him to plug into, both his power and his visual memory.

    When he found the ports he didn’t hesitate to pop up the badge covering his power core. He reached around for the wires and tugged them out, not missing the cringe on Toby’s face.

    He didn’t pay it any mind as he plugged himself in. The computers chugged before whirring to life, the monitors going blue. More error messages, more warnings. The strain on his power source was enough to make his chest ache, but he ignored it.

    He dug into his memory files, looking for the best place to start.

. . . . . .

    “What is this about?” Cryptor crossed his arms. It was odd for there to be such a sudden meeting. They were typically scheduled twice a week.

    It was more unusual for Borg and Acronix to actually be involved with them. And where was Gizmo? Still at the sewage facility. Probably busy.

    “Ah, yes, I need your help for something.” Borg said, his prosthetic hand tapping against the arm of his wheelchair.

    “What is it?” Pixal said. Odd for her to be in the dark.

    “Acronix and I together have been working on developing something. The unfortunate part is we need something more potent to power it.”

    Cryptor frowned. “Working on developing what?”

    “A time machine.” Acronix didn’t hesitate to answer.

    Cryptor blinked. A what? Just what were they planning to do with something like that? “I fail to see the purpose of that.”

    Acronix snorted. “What else? So we can go back and stop this from happening.”

    His whole body went stiff.

    “Stop what from happening?” Echo chimed in.

    “This, all of this.” Acronix gestured with his hands. “We can go back and stop it. We can make sure Zane survives, that the overlord falls, that you never rotted away on that island.” He pointed at Echo. “If we can make this work we can fix all of it.”

    Cryptor glared. “Hold it. What makes you think it needs fixing?”

    “You can’t be serious.”

    “I’m completely serious. The Overlord is gone now. All of you are here.”

    “Zane isn’t.” Pixal spat.

    “And how much longer do you plan on clinging to his ghost.”

    “He’ll no longer be one if we manage to do this.”

    Cryptor glared and opened his mouth to keep arguing, but Acronix cut in.

    “Face it Cryptor.” The master of time stood up. “The only reason you’re so against this idea is because of your own selfish desire to keep yourself and Toby around.”

    His fangs appeared when he grit his teeth. “Should I remind you that Toby's the only reason that giant mess was fixed in the first place? The only reason any of us are free?”

Acronix opened his arms. “We can make it so that mess never happened.”

    “You want to make that decision then you best be prepared to tell Toby his life doesn't matter.” He stomped towards the man, pointing an accusing finger. “You best be prepared to tell all the kids that too. What the hell would exist in that future that's worth destroying the one we already have?”

    Acronix didn’t back down, despite their difference in height. “You call this a future? The city is still in shambles”.

“That are being repaired.”

    “And how long will that take? Why waste time doing that when we can fix all of it at once?”

    Cryptor leaned back, his control on his temper was failing. He got a warning in the corner of his vision about the rise of his internal temperature. “I didn't take this job for the authority.” He kept his voice level but sharp. “I didn't pledge my life to this continent and the people in it because there was nothing left for me. I made that promise to Toby because I wanted to fix my own mistakes. How dare you.” He began to shout. “How dare you just try and erase it all and sweep it under a rug. Where's the lesson in that? What do you learn by just resetting every mistake? If you wish to call me selfish, fine, but Toby and all those kids have a right to their future and I won't allow you to take it from them.”

Cryptor aimed to shock Acronix, put him on the ground. If he could lock him up Toby could deal with this when he got back.

Instead something sharp hit his shoulder. A warning appeared. He looked back to see Echo standing there, shaking pistol pointed at him.

“Echo, what are you doing?” Cryptor said.

“I could have been found.” He said. “I could have been found so much sooner, before I fell apart.”

“You know there’s not guarantee–”

“Shut-up!” Echo shouted. “You have no idea what that feels like. Trapped on an island, alone, just watching yourself rot!”

“This isn’t the solution!”

“Then what is?” Pixal argued. “Those kids have a right to their future? So did Zane. So did Lloyd. So did all those other citizens who died under The Overlord’s rule.”

“We can’t just go back.” Cryptor said. “We can’t just remove it. That just makes all our efforts to build a better world a waste.”

“A better world for who?” Acronix spoke up this time. “For nindroids? For Toby? For a bunch of clones.”

Cryptor whirled around to face him again. “Watch your tongue.”

“I’m not wrong.” Acronix’s hands glowed. “This future shouldn’t exist. It shouldn’t have happened. We can keep it from happening.”

No. This future shouldn’t exist? Cryptor didn’t even want to toy with the thought. Even with all the memories that haunted him in the late hours of the night he wouldn’t give up this future for anything. He wouldn’t toss aside the future of those kids. He wouldn’t cease trying to build a better world than the one they were born in. They managed to do this. They managed to rebuild a city from nothing. They managed to create a thriving society from the ashes The Overlord left behind. And now all of these people wanted to throw that away?

His hand moved to touch the badge on his chest that Eli made him. It was nothing but cardboard, aluminum and ribbon glued together. The word “hero” was messily painted on.

Yet he still remembered the day he got it, the young child staring at him with wide green eyes, waiting to see his response.

Eli thought of him as a hero. All of those kids did. They trusted him to protect them.

He refused to sit and do nothing while someone else tried to tear their lives apart.

His hand snapped out. His taser fired. Acronix saw through him, however, using his element to fast forward out of the way. Cryptor refused to let up. Catching Acronix was tricky but not impossible.

But Acronix wasn’t the only threat. His foot stuck to the floor. He looked down at the ice and then at Pixal, her eyes turning red.

He twisted out of the ice, hearing it shatter. Echo drew his other pistol and fired. Cryptor managed to duck out of the way as he richoched against the wall. Borg shouted in alarm.

He didn’t stop moving. He had to take out Acronix. He ran at the master of time. The man tried to freeze him. Predictable. Cryptor weaved away from the red lights, aiming his taser once more.

Ice wrapped around his arm. Cold. Another error message. He glanced back too slow. Pixal snatched his arm, using her strength to throw him across the room. He hit the metal table, the structure collapsing under his weight. More errors. His arm wasn’t working right. He tried to get up and turned only quick enough for Acronix’s fist to slam into his right eye. His vision went black for a moment. Another gunshot. There was a bullet lodged in his chest now. Move. He needed to move. He needed to–

. . . . . .

    “Stop.” Toby said. “I’ve got it.”

    Cryptor shut down the playback. The screens went back to their pale blue color. His power core was screaming at this point but he kept ignoring it. Instead he focused on Toby who was leaning against the counter. His gaze was turned away, arms crossed, eyebrows pressed together. He was angry.

    “I’m sorry.” Cryptor said. “I wasn’t quick enough.”

    Toby looked at him. “Cryptor–”

    “I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t stop them. If you hadn’t shown up when you did I would have completely failed. They might have finished their work before you got here. They might have–” His system sputtered for a moment at the realization. “They wanted to use your abilities to power it. Acronix mentioned it when he was trying to shut me down. They said they needed to hide me before you asked questions because then their plan–”

    “Cryptor.”

    He was shaking. When did that start happening? His vision kept flickering in and out. “I–I was scared. That if they defeated me they’d trick you, trap you, use you like some kind of weapon or tool just–just–just like The Overlord wanted to. I didn’t want–I couldn’t stop–I couldn’t stop–”

    “Cryptor!”

    Toby’s hand was pressed firmly against his chest, against the opening to his power core. There were so many warnings about his systems overheating. His power levels were dangerously low. He finally looked up at Toby who stared at him, eye level.

    “Stop,” Toby whispered as his hands moved up tho his face. “Stop. It’s okay. You didn’t fail. I never would have expected you to take out two elemental masters. I don’t expect you to always have the ability to stop anything this universe throws at us. I don’t expect you to suddenly summon the power to take out any threat.”

    Cryptor glanced at Toby’s left arm. “You did.”

    “A streak of luck, trust me.” Toby tightened his grip. “You won’t win every fight. I’m sorry for making you feel like you needed to be unstoppable. You don’t. Sometimes things are too big for you to take on yourself.”

    “But if you hadn’t shown up… they could have–”

    “They won’t.” Toby’s voice took on an edge before softening again. “You’ve done more than enough, trust me. I’ll take it from here. I’ll find that machine and tear it apart.”

    “They were planning to use you to power it, you can’t–”

    “You really think they can stop me?” Toby offered him a smile. “I’m taking you to the orphanage, get Min to help fix you up. Then I’ll go take care of this.”

    “Don’t go alone.” Cryptor reached up, fingers curling around Toby’s hand. “Please don’t.”

    “I’ll take care of it.” Toby kept smiling at him. “Trust me.”

    I do. The words were lost. His mouth hung open for a moment before the warnings in his head became too much. His chest ached. It burned.

    [Warning: Overextension of power core. System will shut down.]

��   No, no. He had to make sure Toby didn’t go alone. He had to keep fighting. What if something went wrong? What if he was lying there useless and Toby got overwhelmed?

    “Trust me.” Toby whispered again, hands still holding onto him.

    The tone of his voice put him at ease, just long enough for his system to take advantage of it and shut everything down.

-------------------

    After leaving Cryptor with a now very distressed Mindroid, Toby wasted no time teleporting out of there. He didn’t want to be caught up with the kids.

    Not when his anger was this dangerous.

    He could hear the walls creaking as he walked around the lower floors of the old factory. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind Borg kept it here. His new lab had no hidden rooms, nowhere he could have kept it a secret from the city. Hell, Pixal didn’t even know about it, and she was the new head of his company.

    Toby felt along the walls with his left hand, keeping his focus on the sensations as the metal hummed under his star patterned skin. He kept his vision focused on it, seeing the different rooms and floors throughout the building. The amalgamations were still fine on the floor below him, that was good. The idea of Borg building something like that so close to him would have been enough for him to blast a hole in the wall.

    He kept walking, kept feeling, moving up floor by floor.

    There.

    He could sense the amount of objects in the spare room, five floors above him.

    He teleported in an instant. The door to the room was locked, but he was already inside, so what did that matter? The lights in the room were off but the glow from the computer lights were enough for him to see. The machine was in the back, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. It looked almost like a mech suit, the mechanism in the center likely to stabilize Acronix’s time power so he could warp all of it to the past.

    Whatever. Toby didn’t care how it worked.

    The metal in the room was already creaking and shifting as his anger got worse and worse. The lights on his arm glowed brighter. He kept his eyes focused on the machine before he lifted his arm.

    The wormhole formed in the center of it. The metal creaked and then screamed as it crunched together, bending and warping. Toby didn’t take his eyes of it. He didn’t move his hand. The room shook around him. Lights flickered. The wormhole tried to tug him forward until he planted his feet more firmly in the ground.

    When most of the machine faded from his vision he finally lowered his hand. Something thudded against the floor, shaking it once more. Open wires in the wall sparked. Steam hissed out of a pipe.

    Toby stepped forward, looking at the now cracked floor until he saw what was left of the machine. A chunk of metal, the size of a coin, stuck into the ground.

    He knelt down for a moment, grabbing it with his left hand. The lights flashed as he picked it up, glad he couldn’t feel the weight of it.

    His anger was still fizzling under his skin as he stared at the object.

    “Toby and all those kids have a right to their future and I won’t let you take it from them.”

    His chest hurt. He didn’t know why. He trusted Cryptor from day one practically. The nindroid clearly regretted his past. He was working to do better.

    Yet somehow it still never occurred to Toby that Cryptor would be willing to risk so much in order to not only protect this universe but him as well.

    He’d never seen Cryptor so scared before. He decided to pretend it’s because his power was so low, that his guards weren’t up. Cryptor was scared because he thought Toby was in danger.

    Well, Toby would just have to prove that there was nothing to worry about.

    He flicked the object into the air before catching it again and teleporting. He felt everything around him shift before it reoriented itself. He was back in the busted up meeting room. No one was there, not much of a surprise. He went over to the table where he left his donuts, glad they were still intact.

    With them in tow he warped outside. A few citizens jumped at his sudden presence, others didn’t seem to notice. Toby didn’t hesitate to walk over to the closest security droid.

    “Hey Hailey, how’s it going?” He offered a smile.

    “Oh! Toby! I’m glad to see you. Have you seen Cryptor? He hasn’t been responding.”

    He frowned. “He’s uh, a little under the weather is all I’ll say, but don’t worry. Can you find Borg and Acronix for me?”

    She seemed to think about it, purple eyes darting from side to side. “Hmmm the pair of them are in his office right now, top floor of the new Borg headquarters.”

    “Anyone with him?”

    “Pixal seems to be.”

    “Perfect.” Toby gave her a grin before he teleported once more.

    This time he made sure to make his arrival more sharp, the space around him snapping, making the room shake. The others turned to look at him, eyes wide once more at his presence.

    “Jeez, so tense.” Toby smiled. “Like you’re up to no good.”

    “Toby,” Borg said. “Listen, I know a lot of this seems bad but–”

    “Sorry but I already heard everything, or at least what you told Cryptor.” His smile only faltered for a moment. “Found your machine, by the way.”

    He tossed the metal object on the floor. It dropped in an instant, hitting the ground hard enough to create an indent in the floor. Everyone’s expressions jumped from shock to fear.

    “Look, I’m not here to just play intimidation cards.” Toby put his hand on his hip. “But I didn’t claw my way out of that factory, watch my friends die, kill one of them myself, grapple with my own nightmares, and then plant this cursed stone in my arm just so you could erase all of it. I didn’t fight tooth and nail for a better future so you could eliminate it.”

    “But you’ve been to other universes.” Acronix said. “You know there’s futures even better than this.”

    He shrugged. “Better in what sense? In those futures Cryptor’s a fucking asshole. In those futures I don’t see cities of people so open to trusting each other because all of us know we’re striving for the same thing. In those futures you’re lost in a time stream.” He pointed at Acronix. “You get stuck in Zane’s head for almost two years.” He pointed at Pixal. “And you still never recover from the guilt for letting The Overlord get loose in the first place.” He pointed at Borg who looked at the floor.

    “And fine, maybe it’s a little selfish of me to want to keep this future so I can stay alive, but like I said, I like my life. I like the life that I fought to have. I guess I’m just sorry none of you feel the same way. You think I didn’t lose something or someone along the way?”

    No one looked him in the eye at this point. Toby figured there wasn’t much point in arguing about it anymore.

    “That was a warning.” Toby pointed at the crater in the floor. “I’m not going to arrest you, or put you away, I’m just going to warn you. If I ever catch you or anyone else threatening the lives of the people here–and yes changing the past classifies as such–I’ll consider you as much of a threat as The Overlord was.”

    Everyone in the room flinched.

    “I get it, the past hurts. I know you want to find a solution, but that’s not it. I hope all of you find a way to sort through this.” With that he turned around and warped out of the building. He took a deep breath.

    Anger time was over. Now it was time to drop these donuts off to the kids, and check on Cryptor, and maybe find Gizmo and Echo so he could talk to them too.

    Seemed more than the buildings in the city needed repairs, but that was fine. They’d find a way to fix all of that too.

[girls-scenarios]

Let’s Get A Little Closer

Idol: Jisoo (Lovelyz)

Prompt: Hiii I would like to request a scenario with lovelyz jisoo and fem reader both being superheros. And them having a crush on each other and always flirting when they are defeating bad guys without knowing who they really are under there masks. Until they have a cute sincere moment and take off there masks and confess. I'm sorry if it was a lot I got excited. 😅 just a thank you in advance 😊

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Since there was no specified powers, I made them up myself. Jisoo’s powers are teleportation and turning energy into weapons, and the reader’s powers are flying and super strength. This was super fun to write and I’ve been excited about writing it from the beginning, but it took me a while to figure out what direction I wanted to take with it. I hope you all enjoy though!

Warnings: Some cursing, someone gets hurt, nothing graphic

“On your left!” Jisoo looked up at your exclamation, dropping the robot she’d just destroyed to the ground and grinning.

“Run and fly all you want, (Y/N), I’ve still destroyed more robots than you!” You laughed as you landed on the roof of a nearby building and kicked the robot guarding it off. This was normal.

Fighting bad guys with Jisoo had almost become a game, and it was fun. The back and forth competition and flirting made the fights go faster, and it was nice to know that someone had your back.

“Not for long, I’m going for The Android himself,” you called to her, knocking the last roof-robot to the ground. In front of you, the old abandoned electronics factory towered, dark and creepy. You were almost positive the villain was inside, especially since Jisoo had been able to trace the control panel inside of the bots there.

“Not without me, you aren’t,” Jisoo said from right behind you, making you jump and spin around. She grinned. “You always forget that, while you can fly, I can teleport.”

“I didn’t forget, I was just concentrating,” you retorted, putting your hands on your hips. She rolled her eyes at you and stepped forward, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Whatever you say, honey. Let’s go.”

The inside of the factory was no more welcoming than the outside, and you squinted into the dusty, dim room. There was a click, and then light filled the room from Jisoo’s flashlight. When you looked at her, she winked.

“Always be prepared, right?”

“What would I do without you,” you said, a playful lilt to your voice, before you paused, listening. There was a familiar whirring sound, and it seemed to be getting closer, echoing in one of the many halls.

“That’s more robots. We must be getting closer.” As she spoke, she tucked the flashlight into her belt and held out her hand. You’d seen it so many times, but every time, her powers still amazed you. A glowing purple sword materialized in her hand, buzzing with energy. The sound seemed to draw the robots faster, because only a moment later, they came stomping through one of the hallways and into the open area where the two of you stood.

“I’m guessing we’ll find our man right through there,” you said, grinning, and then you were in the thick of it. As you raised your fists, Jisoo disappeared from your side and reappeared behind the robots, raising her weapon to strike.

She took care of the back rows, slashing straight through the metal, as you took care of the front, channeling raw strength to tear through their mechanic bodies. Soon, there was nothing but a pile of metal and wires, and she raised her free hand to give you a high-five.

“A few chunks of metal are no match for us,” she said, grinning, and you laughed, dusting the debris off your arms.

“Now let’s go explore that hallway. I have a feeling it’ll lead us right to him.”

The hallway was just as dusty as the rest of the building, but her flashlight cut through the darkness so that the two of you could see. There didn’t seem to be any sign of life, other than the footprints in the dust left by the robots. Still, you had a feeling that the two of you were on the right track. There were always back entrances to these places, and the fact that you’d just been attacked by robots from this area was key.

“God, would it kill him to dust?” She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face, and you laughed quietly, covering your mouth with your hand so you didn’t breathe in too much of the dust yourself.

“I guess that’s not on his villain agenda.”

“I mean, he could always just make his robots do it. Come on-.” You shushed her, and she gave you an offended look before following your gaze. Far down the hallway, there was light coming from one of the stairs, and the sound of energy. The two of you crept closer, until she put her hand up, motioning for you to stop, handed you her flashlight, and disappeared.

She reappeared behind the stairs and crept forward until she was almost at the base of the stairs, still concealed in the shadows. She watched for a few moments before again appearing at your side.

“He’s up there, alright, but he’s expecting us. And there’s this giant robot thing behind him. Our best move would be to surprise him somehow.” She spoke softly enough that her voice didn’t even echo, and you nodded, looking back at the stairs.

“Is it just one secluded room?”

“Looks like it.”

“Then you’ll have to teleport us in there. Behind him.” You handed her back the flashlight, and she killed the light, leaving the two of you in relative darkness. Then, she looped her arms around your waist and leaned in close, whispering in your ear.

“Hold on tight.”

The two of you appeared behind the giant array of computers, and as you leaned out to see what was going on, you saw what she’d told you about. The Android was sitting in his chair facing the stairs, with a giant robot behind him. The ceiling was a little low for your liking, meaning that you’d have to contain your fighting style. When you glanced at Jisoo, she was in position to jump out, hand ready to materialize a weapon. The two of you gave each other a look, and then you reached out and tore the giant ball of wires running the computers in half.

A spark went up from the severed lines and the computers all shut down, the sound causing The Android to spin around.

“What the hell-.”

“Looking for us, Android?” Jisoo stepped out from behind the computers on one side, purple sword in hand, and you stepped out the other, flexing your fingers. His face twisted with anger and he flushed, standing from his chair.

“You two! How?”

“Always study your opponents, dumbass,” you said, rolling your shoulders and grinning. In Jisoo’s other hand, a blue sword appeared, and she twirled it around, grin mirroring yours.

“It’s time, Android. Give up now and you won’t get hurt.”

“Like hell I’ll give up to you squirts!” He thrust his hand into his pocket, and the giant robot at his side whirred to life, glass eyes glowing red and head turning to look at the two of you. Immediately, The Android turned tail and ran back down the stairs, and the robot moved to block your way.

“Damn,” she said, raising her weapons. “I guess we’ll have to catch up with him later.”

“You could always go after him and let me take care of this thing,” you said, watching the bot carefully as it turned to look at you.

“No way. We fight together, remember?”

“Fine. But hurry!” You rushed then, coming a bit off the ground to put more force into your punch. Your fist landed, but to your surprise, there was barely a dent in the metal when you pulled away, still floating in the air near the bot. “What the-.” You didn’t get to finish your sentence. The bot brought up his giant arm and you couldn’t dodge fast enough. The fist hit you square in the stomach and chest and sent you flying back against the wall, crashing through the rock into the next room.

You had never felt that kind of pain before, and it took you by surprise. This robot had been built to fight someone with super strength, if the pain coursing through your back was anything to go by. You winced and lay still, knowing that your body wouldn’t be too hurt but not wanting to move too quickly. Jisoo was shouting your name, and the robot was still whirring, like it was moving towards you, but you couldn’t do anything but close your eyes.

You’d never listened to Jisoo fight. The buzz of energy slicing through the air stood your hairs on end, and you wished you could get up and help. But the pain wasn’t gone yet, and it would be worse for her if you tried to barge in and really broke something.

The robot stopped moving towards you, and you knew that Jisoo was fighting it head-on. You could hear the metal melting as it came in contact with the pure energy of her weapons, and when you opened your eyes again, it only had one arm. You studied it as Jisoo fought it back, looking over the thick metal coating of its middle. It was armored everywhere, it seemed, but then your eyes caught something. There, hidden on the back of it’s heel, was the control box. The metal on the little box was obviously less armored than the rest of its body, and you knew you could destroy it.

Carefully, and as quietly as you could, you sat up, wincing at the pain that still ran through your spine. Nothing was broken, of course, your bones were too strong, but you’d have awful bruising. You picked your way through the rubble of the wall until you were at the wall itself and then laid on your stomach, creeping forward. Jisoo was fighting it back towards you, and you knew that it couldn’t see you. So you reached out your arm and took hold of his heel.

Your fingers tightened, crushing through the metal, and then you yanked as hard as you could. The entire control box came away in your hand, and the gears in the bot ground to a sickening halt, sparking as he crumpled to the ground. Jisoo stared at you with wide eyes as you stood up from behind the robot, and you gave her a smile.

“Didn’t think it could get rid of me that easily, did you?” Her weapons disappeared and she ran towards you, immediately wrapping you up in a hug as gently as she could.

“Oh my god, I was so scared, you weren’t moving and I could’t go check on you-.”

“I’m okay,” you said, patting her back. “We need to get that Android though, we can’t let him get away.” She nodded as she pulled away, pulling herself together, but she still grabbed your hand.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Running was a bit harder now, so you kept up by flying slightly above the ground instead. Had the ceiling been higher, you could have grabbed her and moved faster, but the ceiling was much too low, and neither of you really knew where you were going. Still, she had her flashlight out, shining it at the ground as she ran.

“Look! Footprints in the dust. Those aren’t robot prints.” You landed and looked down. Sure enough, there were prints of men’s shoes in the dust, and the two of you followed them until you reached a closed door. When you tried the knob, it was locked, but one yank brought the entire door off the hinges, and she shined her light inside.

It was a closet, with a familiar man cowering in the corner. She rolled her eyes, and you couldn’t help laughing at the sight.

“Come on, Android. It’s over.”

-

After the villain had been handed over to the police and the facts had been wrapped up, the two of you ended up on the roof of a nearby building, resting your sore limbs. Jisoo sighed and shook her head, looking over at you.

“You really had me worried back there,” she said, gently touching one of the bruises on your arm. 

“I’m okay,” you said again, not really knowing what else to say. This was more intimate than the two of you had ever really been, but it was genuine. You knew she’d been worried.

“Yeah, but what if you’d actually broken something, or gotten hurt even worse? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I’d let that happen.”

“It was my fault. I was dumb enough to charge in without really studying the robot. The ones before were so easy to defeat that I let my guard down.” The two of you sat in silence for a moment, both of you looking at your bruised arm, before Jisoo looked up at your face and smiled softly.

“Your mask got all ripped up in your fall.” It was true. Honestly, you’d forgotten about it, but it had almost come off. You tugged at the fabric and looked around you before sliding it off completely. No one else was really around, since it was still considered unsafe, so you weren’t scared of anyone seeing. Jisoo looked at you with wide eyes before she took her own mask off.

“Are we doing this?”

“I guess. It’s not like you don’t know my name,” you said, laughing and running your fingers through your hair.

“You know mine too. But you don’t know who I am. I’m just a regular person when I don’t have this mask on. I’m a video game producer at the Woollim game company downtown.” You raised your eyebrows in surprise.

“Wow, really? I work at the newspaper office right across from you!”

“Small world,” she said with a smile, and wow, was she pretty. Even with her mask on, she was pretty, but without it, her beauty was stunning. The two of you just stared at each other for a moment before you both burst into laughter over the situation.

“Why are we so awkward? I literally work with you all the time,” you said, shaking your head.

“No kidding. I just wasn’t expecting you to be so attractive without your mask,” she replied, cheeks flushed pink.

“I’m attractive with my mask on, thank you,” you joked, and she elbowed you.

“Whatever. See if I’m honest with you ever again.”

“I was kidding! You’re really pretty without your mask, so I was taken aback too.” She grinned at you, cheeks still pink, and you wanted her see her smile all the time.

“You should go on a date with me. Just us, as regular humans, not superheroes.” The pain faded away as you looked at her, realizing how much you really liked her. She was your crime fighting partner, yes, but maybe you wanted to date her too.

“I’d love that.”

[disrepairhouse]

::Return - Chapter 13

X and Zero were out the door and gone within a matter of minutes, leaving Itara alone with Alia again.  She waited until Alia finished giving out commands to whoever was running backup, getting a number of calls in about both the recent sighting as well as the new orders regarding Sigma.  Whoever this towering, blue-eyed Maverick was, he clearly put everyone on edge with just the mention of his possible return.  She could easily hear the concern and stress in every voice that Alia connected with and, once again, felt a minor hinge of guilt over getting everyone so riled up.  Then again, if this Sigma really was as terrifying as he sounded, it was likely better to have the warning, even if it did come from an unknown point in time.

Once she realized Alia would be busy for some time and it was best not to interrupt her, Itara decided to do her research on her own. There were plenty of computers around the room, all but the main one going unused, so she was sure it was fine if she hopped on one.  She was good with computers, after all.  Crawling her way up into one of the chairs, she searched out the power button and flipped it on, watching with interest as the screen beeped to life.  Luckily, she found that it was no more difficult to work with than some of Robotnik’s computers and got right to digging into whatever relevant files she could find on Sigma, the Maverick Hunters’ past, and both X and Zero’s role in all of it.

Just as X explained before, though, there wasn’t much. Somehow, despite so many robots roaming the land, information regarding the past was scarce.  She found bits and pieces of recollections from X, himself, regarding the handful of years before the Maverick Hunters were founded, all somehow leading back to either Sigma or a maverick named ‘Vile’, but it was difficult to find anything that could help in the current situation.  From what she could gather, Sigma just… appeared. Again and again.  With little to no explanation how he managed to survive every time, though there was a note suggesting he possibly copied and stored his memories elsewhere.  Where, they didn’t know.  Nor who could be putting the saved memories, along with the virus, back into a body each time.

She wished she could travel back and find out for them.

As she was debating the possibility and likely effects, another warning popped up on the large overhead screen in front of Alia, drawing both their attention.  Alia reached over to pull a separate map up as well as a video feed from a nearby street camera.  The warning was for a possible maverick sighting, just a few streets down from the shop Itara and X visited, according to the map.  The video feed showed a dog-like robot, running and bucking wildly around the street, crashing into buildings and rushing anyone or anything that moved near it.  In addition to the violent behavior and glowing white eyes, the reploid was covered in a flashing, red aura that caught Itara’s attention, specifically.

Alia frowned, checking the other map for X and Zero’s locations.  They were still in the midst of a battle with another Investigator.  She would have to call someone else in to take care of this. As she did so, however, Itara scooted over to the bigger computer to study the camera and the strange reploid.

“Wait.”  Alia glanced over at her and she pointed to the camera, “that glow isn’t normal, right?”

“No, not that I’m aware of.”

“It may have something to do with the energy source, then. It’s just the one reploid, right?” Alia looked back at the camera feed, moving it around as much as possible to check the area.  Unlike every other Investigator incident thus far, the dog-like reploid was, in fact, acting entirely alone.  “I can look into it.  That glow looks familiar.”

“Are you certain?  It could be dangerous.”

“Send another Hunter that’s free if you think it’s necessary, but I’ll head in, as well.  It’s near the shop X and I were at earlier so I should be able to teleport right to it.”

Alia frowned, looking over her, but with the reploid continuing to rampage and threatening civilians, she didn’t have the time to argue. “Alright, but be safe.  I’ll see who’s closest and send backup to assist you.” Itara nodded, returned to the other computer to grab her backpack and the gem, and disappeared into the shadows. Alia watched for only a moment before turning back to the computer to call in backup, as well as to let X and Zero know of the situation.

Itara reappeared in front of the shop they’d been at since it was the easiest point of contact and tried to recall which direction the attack was in.  It didn’t take long to figure out.  She just had to follow the screams.  She stuck to the shadows, which was rather easy considering it was nearly the dead of night, and even the heavily lit city was awash in long, reaching shadows.  She arrived at the incident location and pushed past the fleeing city residents to get a closer look at the raging maverick. Just as before, it was crashing into the side of buildings and rushing anything that moved near it.  A non-maverick reploid nearly got flattened in its rage but managed to dive out of the way at the last second.  The longer she watched, the more erratic the reploid’s behavior became, and the more familiar the energy from the glow around it felt.

She edged closer again, against her better judgement, and a realization hit her as soon as the ‘maverick’ was in full view of her.  Her eyes widened at the chipped, red gem embedded in its forehead, the likely source of the glow.  Kipper!  It was possessed, not a maverick!  Which meant she could likely talk it down without hurting it.  She’d planned to use the gem’s power, if need be, but if the problem was coming from Kipper, she wouldn’t need it.  The reploid continued its erratic bucking, destroying a nearby mailbox as it ran it down, but finally seemed to catch sight of her and shifted its stance to face her head-on, growling and screeching defensively.  At least with its attention on her, the others in the area had the opportunity to escape.

She did her best to keep the reploid’s attention until she was sure the area was clear, then finally put her full attention on the ghost in the gem. “Kipper!  Kipper, it’s okay, it’s me,” she called out, standing her ground but keeping her posture as non-threatening as possible.  She wasn’t sure what the travel through dimensions could have done to the doll, after all.  “Calm down.  I know you’ve been inactive for a while but I can catch you up.  Just detach from the robot, okay?  We can find you a different body.”  Though, admittedly, she wasn’t sure how he even had the power to take over the reploid in the first place, his aura had been so faint the entire time. “C’mon Kipper, it’s me.”

She walked carefully and slowly towards the reploid, who watched her with caution but didn’t move right away.  She took it as a sign that Kipper was responding and smiled, “There you go, it’s okay.  C’mon Kipper, these robots aren’t like Robotnik’s, they all have complex AI. You can’t take over them like this. You’ll get this one hurt if you stay in it any longer.  I’ll find you another doll body, okay?”

The reploid continued watching her with narrowed eyes, its mechanical ears pointed back, its stance defensive and unmoving.  But it was better than running rampant.  It wasn’t rushing her, so she took it as a positive sign and inched closer, though at a much slower pace, talking to it all the same and calling Kipper out.  However, just as she was within reaching distance of it, the reploid shifted.  Its stance shifted back and before Itara could react, or even draw her hand back, it pounced.  The heavy mechanical beast’s weight crashed against her, sending both of them sprawling back as the air around them suddenly zapped with static. The reploid sparked, shocking Itara, as the entire world shifted sharply around them.  The once cool, but stuffy night air was replaced with a familiar, encompassing heat.

Her back stung from the crash landing, crushing her backpack between her and the smoldering cement, stabbing the gem into her spines with the heavy weight above her.  The sky turned the harsh red of her world as an equally familiar, bright yellow glow filled her blurring vision.  The mechanical dog keeping her trapped only twitched about angrily as the gem embedded in its forehead, suddenly whole again, sparked violently.  The heavy metal paws caused her to gasp for breath with every shift, knocking whatever breath remained right out.  Before she could even begin to grasp the situation, or look for a way to get the heavy, shaking robot off her, however, a beam of sparking, purple light shot from the being floating far above them, zapping through the mechanical dog, the red gem, and Itara.

The robot sparked as the beam tore through its hull, creating a gaping, uneven hole clear through it as it collapsed on top of her. Kipper’s gem, which only had the original scratch going down it again, shattered and cracked around the edges, taking on the deep gash it had when she found it again.  Her own chest tightened as her eyes widened in horror, pain shooting through her entire body, though whether it was from the beam or the crushing weight of the robot, she couldn’t tell.

But then just as quickly as it appeared… it was gone again.

The burnt red sky returned to the pale grey of Zero’s world and the shattered reploid that had crushed her clattered to the side in a broken heap.  Kipper’s damaged gem jolted out of the reploid and clacked to the ground.  Itara could only lay there, staring up at the sky in horror and shock, trying to comprehend what had happened.  Her back hurt, her chest hurt, she was vaguely aware of her crystals stabbing into her palms, the strange gem in her backpack was still jutting into her spines.  But she just couldn’t will herself to move.  Not yet.

Yet the chaos didn’t seem to be finished as the sky turned black and a massive, swirling portal appeared within the edges of her vision. She didn’t have the energy to sit up and check, still struggling to get her panicked breathing under control, as a figure with Robotnik’s very distinct shape appeared behind the portal.  It was only a shadow and another figure, some kind of hovercraft, zipped through and the portal vanished again.  She hadn’t seen the other person in the hovercraft, but she was almost certain the one behind the portal was Robotnik.  No one else had a mustache like that.  However, her certainty of what she saw was gone just as quickly as the vision, itself, as the overcast grey of the city returned to normal.  She didn’t understand anything that was happening anymore and it only grew more frustrating and confusing.  Kipper’s ultimate demise was one thing, that was likely attached to the gem, itself. But visions of Robotnik?  Here?  Those couldn’t be possible.

Eventually, her heavy, shaking breath hiccupped into a light sob and she finally regained herself enough to realize there wasn’t a gaping hole in her chest this time and that she was, in fact, otherwise fine. Sore, but alive.  With another hiccup, she slowly pushed herself back up to a sitting position and looked to the dented metal contraption lying beside her. Kipper’s aura had retreated back into his gem again, the glow was gone, but she was wary of picking it up.  She had her answer about what happened to the ghost doll after he left them, but that was hardly a comforting thought considering the memories it brought with it.

At some point, she became aware of another presence nearby and was forced out of her thoughts again.  She reached up to quickly wipe the tears from her eyes, wincing when she pulled her crystals out of her bleeding palms, and struggled back to her feet. The legs of the destroyed robot fell to the side as she reached over to grab the troublemaking gem and stood up to turn and face whoever was approaching.  The Hunter Alia sent in as her backup, she figured.

She looked up at the towering dark blue and yellow boots of a reploid as she fought to keep her hiccups under control.  He looked humanoid, like the hunters back at base, with long silver hair and even a buster arm, so she assumed she was correct about him being the backup.  She sighed in equal parts relief and exhaustion as he looked down at her in confusion.

“S-Sorry,” she finally stammered, dusting her shorts off and tucking Kipper’s gem into the front pocket of her backpack, not wanting to lose it again, “I think… the s-situation is as handled as it can be.  Could you just… help me get back to headquarters now?”

The reploid studied her for several, elongated seconds, reaching up to rub at his chin as he contemplated a response.  He grinned after a moment and questioned, “Headquarters?”

“Uh… yeah, Maverick Hunter Headquarters?”  Her head tilted, “You’re the backup Alia sent for me, right?”  She realized, perhaps a bit late, that he quite possibly was not the hunter she was expecting and had no idea what she was talking about.  “I’m sorry, you just looked like the other hunters so I thought… um… I’m… sorry if that was presumptuous.  I…”  Her ears flattened as she looked down again.  She just wanted to go to bed.  That visage was too familiar, too painful, she was struggling to keep her sobbing under control.

The mysterious reploid remained silent a moment, but crouched down to meet her eye level, “No, you’re right.  I’m a Hunter.  I’ve just been… out on a mission for a while, that’s all, so I’m afraid I don’t know who you are.  You don’t look like a reploid.”  He glanced towards the broken reploid behind her, but said nothing about it and looked back at her again.

“Oh, uh,” Itara turned red in the face but took a moment to recollect herself as much as possible.  At least he was a Hunter.  “No, I’m not a reploid,” she sighed, “I’m Itara, I’m not from around here but I’ve been staying at Headquarters for the past couple days.  I came back with Zero and I’m helping to figure this energy problem out.  I… there was…,” she glanced back at the broken reploid, frowning, “X and Zero were busy with something else and there was a maverick sighting so I… I offered to look into it.  Um…,” she looked up again, “I would appreciate it if you could take me back though,” she glanced off to the side and muttered, “I don’t wanna get yelled at by Zero right now.”

“With Zero, huh?” the reploid grinned, though it went mostly unnoticed by the exhausted, troubled hedgehog.  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Itara, my name is Dynamo.”  He held out a hand, which was nearly the size of her entire head, but she gave him hers to shake.  “I’ll happily take you back to Headquarters, but do you mind if we take a quick detour on the way there?  I just need to finish something up.”

“I suppose that’s fine.”

“Great, then follow me.”  Dynamo stood back up and turned towards a nearby street, Itara following after as quickly as possible.  She was sore everywhere and her head was a mess, but having a moment to recollect her thoughts before having to deal with Zero sounded fine to her. She just hoped this wouldn’t take too long, either.  Especially since this Dynamo guy was walking much faster than Zero and X did when she was trying to keep up.  They were distinctly more aware of her much, much shorter legs.  And injuries.

 ---

Zero tread down the halls of Headquarters with an unusual haste, ignoring the passing glances from fellow hunters as he continued his own hunt.  He and X returned to base after defeating the first Investigator, having gotten word that the time traveler left to look into another one, despite his previous warnings about staying home.  Another hunter was sent out after her, but by the time they arrived to the area, the time traveler was gone and all that remained was a broken hull of a reploid. The hedgehog girl hadn’t been seen nor heard from since.  He made another lap around the base before finding himself at X’s office and sighed in annoyance. Perhaps she was hiding in his office. He’d already checked under the console in the briefing room, since that was where she apparently hid last time, but when X only looked at him strangely when he entered, he got a feeling that wasn’t the case.

“Zero?” X questioned, concern spreading easily across his face as he got up from the desk.

“Is the time traveler hiding in here?”

X’s head tilted before he shook it, “No, not that I’ve seen. You still can’t find her?”

Zero sighed with heavy exasperation, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose, “No.”

However, before they could continue their search together, Alia called them both up over the comm unit: “X, Zero, come to the briefing room immediately.”  She sounded concerned, but not panicked, and as soon as they reached her, they realized why. There was a voice-only call screen open on the monitor and Alia looked back at them with a thin line of disinterest once they arrived.  “Someone’s calling for you.”

“Who is it?” X asked as they continued to the console.

Before she had an opportunity to answer, however, the caller spoke up himself: “Hello X, and welcome back from the dead, Zero!”

“…Dynamo?” X’s face scrunched up in confusion while Zero’s only flattened to match Alia’s disinterest, “You’re still around?”

“Well of course!  And I’d very much like those Nightmare Souls you’ve collected thus far.”

“Not a chance,” Zero scoffed.

“Are you quite certain?”

“We’re not giving them to you, Dynamo, why are you even trying?  What do you have to do with all this?” X demanded.

The line went silent for a moment before the console beeped with an incoming request to switch to a video feed.  Alia looked to X for confirmation and once he gave a reluctant nod, she accepted and Dynamo’s smug face filled the screen.  Zero rolled his eyes while X demanded to know what he wanted again.

“I told you.  I want the Nightmare Souls you’ve collected.  Tell you what, I’ll offer you a trade,” he moved slightly to the side to reveal more of the dark room he was calling from.  The hunters studied the screen closely as a faint glow in the background suddenly went out and a figure came into focus on the camera.  Dynamo stepped back and crossed his arms so they could see both him and the very tiny figure behind him explaining, “I seem to have picked up this tiny child of yours-.”

“I’M NOT A CHILD!” Itara screeched from behind him, “Sorry, Zero… I… he said he was a Hunter and would take me back to Headquarters.”

Dynamo glanced back at her while Zero sighed again, dropping his head into his hand while X’s eyes narrowed.  “Point is, I’ll give her back to you, in exchange for the souls. Deal?”

“Dynamo, don’t you dare hurt her,” X demanded.

“I have no intention to,” he shrugged, though grinned again after a minute “Though, I have to admit, the idea that Zero’s been off babysitting this entire time is entertaining.  I told you to release some stress, not adopt.”

Zero scoffed at the idea and turned on his heel, taking off out the door and demanding Alia give him Dynamo’s location immediately.  He fully intended to pulverize the nuisance so he could focus back on work again.  Alia called after him, but he was gone down the hall in seconds, leaving X behind to finish the conversation.  They turned back towards the screen to see Dynamo laughing and X sighed, “Dynamo, you have no idea what you’re dealing with this time.  I suggest you leave the girl be and vacate the area immediately if you wish to continue existing.”

Dynamo stopped laughing only long enough to raise an eyebrow, “I’m not afraid of you or Zero.”

“You should be.”

With a final laugh, Dynamo gave them the coordinates to meet him at before disconnecting the call.  Alia sent them to Zero and turned to X, “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have let her take off on her own like that.”

X shook his head, “Don’t worry about it, we’ll get her back.  Dynamo doesn’t seem to realize we’re not the only threats here, I imagine she’s not really in that much danger.  If anything, Dynamo’s the one who’s in danger here.”

“Well, he certainly will be if Zero reaches him first,” Alia added rather sheepishly.  X gave a quick smirk and nodded, logging the coordinates before taking off after Zero.  He had no intention of giving the Nightmare Souls away and Dynamo was anything but a major threat to that.  If anything, the only reason he was needed at all was to keep Zero’s temper in check.

[k-thequeen-writings]

Fandom Quest ch 8 (long!)

                                                  SKOMO Quest

*Dean Winchester's voice* previously on, "Fandom Quest"...

"Kyoya, my boy! Good to see ya. Are you done with the portal yet?" The girl bounced on her heels as she came into the lab, the young dragon right beside her. It chirped as if it had repeated the question.

As soon as Kyoya heard her voice, a headache began to form, but he powered through and gave her a small grin; she was his boss after all. Though she wasn't as bad as others he knew, she could give them a run for their money. "Welcome back, Sergeant Major. As a matter of fact, I finished this morning." He straightened his posture, a bit proud of his achievement.

She gasped and stared with wide eyes, glancing between the portal and Kyoya. "You're serious?" she screeched.

"Very."

Katy's happy-go-lucky attitude quickly shifted into something serious and her eyes darkened as she eyed the portal across the room. "Fantastic. Get it up and running."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Katy hummed and stared at the screen linked to the portal. The readings were steady. She grinned and jumped up and down. They had a fully functioning portal! The scientific team behind her cheered and gave high fives to their teammates in celebration. The time and money spent on the project hadn't gone to waste so far!

"Okay," she said, "Time for the test run."

A scientist handed her a teddy bear with a cable attached to it. There would be no telling what would happen if they sent a live specimen through, so animal and human testing wouldn't start until later. It would only happen if they could toss something through and retrieve it with no problems. Of course, with any new project, it would take many trials to get close to sending animals. Katy wasn't the type of person to experiment with living creatures unless she was one hundred percent sure they would come back whole and unharmed.

Hestia crooned worriedly at the teddy bear. She thought they had gotten that for her. Katy smiled and patted the dragon in sympathy.

"You can have this if it comes back whole, deal?" she asked. The dragon nodded and walked away, drawn off by a low hanging wire. Katy cleared her throat and addressed her team of scientists. "Ladies and gentlemen this is a historic day for science. A lot of time and effort has been put into this and well... I'm terrible at speeches. So how about we all just toss this thing in and get it over with, eh?"

The scientists whooped and hollered, Kyoya rolled his eyes but he did smile. Katy turned around and walked closer to the portal, grin firmly in place. A crash sounded and she turned around in alarm. Hestia was tangled in wires and panicking. The dragon jumped and its feet were unbalanced. Then like a rock, the dragon fell to the floor.

Whatever beam had been holding the wire up snapped and came arcing down to Katy.

"Oh shit," was all she said before she was flung into the portal via large metal beam.

Katy was gone in the swirling of blues, greens, and purples and the scientific team gasped and rushed forward. Hestia tried to follow but with the wires wrapped around her body, she could only wriggle. But that wriggling was enough to finish the beam and it fell from the roof; creating a huge dent in the top of the portal. The portal sparked and sputtered before finally shutting off, losing its glow. Kyoya wiped away fallen dust from the computer screen and typed in commands to reboot the computer. The screen lit up and reported the reading up until the portal went out, including the destination and whether or not it was successful. He sighed in relief.

"She made it through!" he called out.

But there was no celebratory hurray from the team. Their leader was missing in a faraway land and they wouldn't be able to retrieve her until they fixed the portal. That would take months to do and there was no telling if the world Katy landed on was habitable or not. Not to mention the time difference. It could be 10,000 B.C. where she was or perhaps 1940, and there was also the off chance that the other world moved at a different pace than their own. It would be like saying one day in Othos was fifteen there, or vice versa.

While scientists and dragon panicked on one side of the portal, Katy watched as blue and green flew by and she was flung through what may or may not have been a time vortex or black hole. Then suddenly she was staring at a blue sky and it was hot. Katy groaned and rolled over, taking note of the white bricks that created pillars and walls. They were in ruins however so she assumed she was in an ancient city. She stared up at the cloudless sky, then the ruins, and then the ground that had sand showing through where the bricks weren't.

"Well, this isn't where I wanted to go. I was sure I was headed to the forest, not the desert. That's a problem," she noted mildly.

She shrugged and stood up so she could brush herself off. They could fix that problem with a little bit of calibration. A single look at her watch told her the coordinates of her location and they were inverted to where she had wanted to go. They'd have to fix that too. At the moment, she decided to take a look around.

The city was destroyed and was, as far as she could tell, ancient. There were no habitants, not that she expected any. The occasional lizard passed her by and at one point Katy was sure she'd seen the one with the blue underbelly twice. Eventually, she made her way to what was more than likely the capital, given the size of the ruins and how it was at the center of the city. And then she saw it.

A large incomplete circle was drawn into a wall. Three suns made up part of the circle and lines were drawn to each of them. Writing was etched in and around the circle. Something clicked in her mind and Katy took a step back from the wall. She stared at the ruins in horror as she pieced it together. She knew very well where she was.

"This is definitely not Ferelden," Katy pinched the bridge of her nose in a desperate, and failed, attempt to rid herself of the headache.

The blistering sun beat down on her as she trudged through the desert sand in, what she hoped, was the direction of Amestris. Katy fiddled with her watch to try and get in contact with Kyoya. The watch beeped.

"Kyoya, can you hear me?" The static sound was barely heard over officers freaking out about the mishap. Luckily, when the beam broke the portal it didn't take out communications, entirely anyway.

Kyoya shushed the scientific team and pressed the green blinking button to return his voice. "Katy is that you? Can you hear me? Over."

Katy sighed and ran a hand through her blonde locks. "Yeah, I read you, over."

"Are you okay? Did you sustain any injuries? Over."

"I'm fine so the portal succeeded in taking me somewhere. Except this isn't where I wanted to go. Over."

"Pardon? You say the portal made a mistake? Over?"

"More like we did. The coordinates I'm showing are inverted compared to what I put in. Thankfully I know this place, relatively anyway. Over."

Kyoya sighed and nodded. Her tone when she mentioned knowing the world hadn't sounded too optimistic. "Where are you, over?"

"First I must admit that I didn't see this one coming, not in a million years." Katy groaned at the hot sun and huffed as she climbed the next sand dune. "I landed in the ruins of Xerxes, are you familiar with the name? Over."

"I'm afraid not, over."

"Well it's like this; I am now in the land of Hiromu Arakawa. Also known as Fullmetal Alchemist. Over." There was silence and Katy paused her walking. "Kyoya, can you hear me?"

"I read you just fine Katy. Are you sure there isn't some mistake?" Kyoya asked, trying his best not to pull his hair out due to stress.

"I don't think so. Not with those ruins and transmutation circles." She hesitated a moment but continued on. "You're not gonna like this, but I can't go back to you guys just yet. There's something here I need to do in the future of this world and you still need to fix the portal so we can test if it can return people."

Another scientist shoved Kyoya away from the mic and took her turn speaking. "Katy, it's Christine and I can tell what you're thinking. Those events may be happening years into the future or they may have already happened, there's no telling until you get there!

Katy rolled her eyes but she nodded. "I can see your point Hange-"

"That's not my name!"

"- and while it is very valid, I'm going to elect to ignore it. If the events haven't happened yet then I'll stay here undercover. If it's years into the future then I'll make time speed up here if I have to."

Kyoya and Christine groaned before Kyoya was put back on the mic. "And you're not willing to teleport home like you normally do?"

"No. This is something I have to do guys."

They sighed at the finality in her tone before they nodded. Even universes away that woman was still their leader so while they maintained contact she would remain in charge.

"It'll take months on our part," Kyoya said, trying one last time to persuade her.

"And possibly years here. Don't worry about me guys, I'll be fine. I already have a plan."

They continued talking as Kyoya updated Katy on the damage and what needed to be repaired. With that they also discussed her cover story, Christine having pulled up more information about the place that Katy could use. She committed it to memory and communications were cut off. But not before they set up check-in times and an excuse to Katy's absence.

Throughout the day Katy trudged on in the sand, cursing the sun to hell and back. Somehow she hadn't passed out from heat exhaustion. Only when it became night did Katy internally scream at herself for being stupid enough to walk through a desert when she could go anywhere in the blink of an eye. So instead of continuing on her way in the dark or resting, Katy pulled her strength together and teleported to East City, thankful that she didn't need to see places first to get to them. It did, however, make the journey safer so when she dropped several feet in altitude onto a roof it was only due to the fact that it was a random teleport.

She sighed in relief as the cool concrete soothed the sunburn on the back of her neck and arms. Note to self, remember to travel over deserts only as a last resort.

After Katy hopped down from the rooftop, landing with surprising grace on the street below, she set out to find a place to stay for the night. As she traveled down the street she saw a women's clothing store and changed her clothing to match the style she saw. There, now she didn't look out of place. Her outfit was something a little more clean and appropriate for the setting. Then Katy put her hair in a ponytail, the strands of hair that didn't reach the entire way framed her face.

She nodded in satisfaction before vanishing the conjured body mirror. Three blocks later she happened upon a motel and headed inside. The clerk at the counter raised a judgemental eyebrow at the hour but gave her the room for a reasonable price. Or what seemed like one as she didn't know the exchange rates. Thankfully there was a tip jar sitting out so she could copy the currency. She feigned ignorance and said she was from a different country so the clerk would tell her which was worth what.

On the way up, she noticed a paper in the corner and the date, 1909. So the Ishvalan War had just ended. The night was spent perfecting her cover. She would be from a town in the East but they wouldn't be able to pull up her records because they'd burned in the war. With so many alchemists leaving the military it would be the perfect time for her to show up and take the exam. With no friends or family to speak of there would be no one to question about her existence.

With her past out of the way, Katy focused on appearance and what she would do for the practical part of the exam. The written quiz would come easily and the psychological evaluation would only question what she would do if she passed the exam. Easy peasy. Appearance-wise Katy hoped her attire wouldn't attract too much attention.

The next morning Katy asked the clerk at the desk, who had changed shifts and was now manned by a man, when the State Alchemy exam would be held. Fortunately, the man knew due to his brother being in the military. Unfortunately, it was that day. So with no more than directions to Eastern Command, Katy rushed out the door in a hurry, thankful that it was early enough in the morning that there weren't many people around to see her sprinting.

The men at the gates tried to stop her from getting in but when Katy explained how she was going to take the exam they let her through. Not without looks of confusion and amusement, though. They clearly thought she couldn't do it.

She pursed her lips and marched forward into Eastern Command, determined to make any man who thought they were better than her know their place; she was a goddess after all. Another soldier pointed her to the correct room and she grabbed a quiz and pen on the way in. A lot of looks were shot her way but Katy ignored them and took her seat at the front of the class, daring anyone to glance her way.

Sadly for Katy, the quiz was surprisingly harder than she thought it was going to be. It wasn't that surprising she didn't know who Nicholas Flamel was, she didn't know Amestris' history. The only reason she passed was due to her high scores in writing out the Periodic Table and basic reactions between elements. Her circles were perfect as well so that may have been a huge factor.

As they waited out in the hall for their results, Katy stood off to the side, away from the rest of the recruits. More men shot her looks until she finally snapped at them.

"What?" she barked, folding her arms over her chest.

Most of the men turned away except for one. This man haughtily stalked towards Katy in an attempt to intimidate her but when she didn't move he glared at her. She only raised an eyebrow. The others stood by and watched in interest.

"You should leave now while you can," the stocky man said. "Alchemy is a man's profession, something a girl like you would never understand."

"If you don't back off, you won't have what it takes to be a man, if you catch my drift," Katy replied easily. A few whistles sounded from behind the large man.

The man turned red and glared even harder down at her. Before he could say more a voice interrupted them. "Problem here, ma'am and sir?"

The man turned stiffly to look at the soldier staring him down. He immediately took a step back and shook his head. "No, sir," he ground out. Then he walked away.

Katy rolled her eyes and turned to her savior. "Thank you, but I had it handled."

The soldier laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know, but still, men shouldn't pick on others." He fixed the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "So, uh, what are you doing here? Not that it's any of my business."

Katy laughed and leaned against the pillar behind her. Something about this man was familiar. "No, it's fine. I'm here to take the State Alchemy exam. The name's Katy," she held out a hand, "Katy... Erwin."

The soldier took her hand. "Kain Fuery." Katy hid her staring by looking at her boots, feigning a blush. Fuery was one of Mustang's. Maybe she could end up in their team if she was lucky. She could use that advantage to keep an eye on them for the coming future. "You're trying to become a State Alchemist? That's awesome! I have a friend who'd love to have you around, but she doesn't have her own team currently."

Katy frowned in sympathy, "Well that's too bad."

A soldier walked through the doors across the hall and started calling off names one by one. These people would be advancing on to the Psychological Evaluation, the rest would be provided with a train ticket home if needed. The annoying man from earlier shot her a smug look as he was announced to be going on to the next part and left to the room he was directed to.

"Katy..." the soldier tailed off and squinted at the writing. He looked up and the remaining people and singled her out. "I have no idea what this says but you're obviously the only 'Katy' here so you're on to the next part." The man turned back to the list.

"It's Erwin," she said. "Sorry about the handwriting." The soldier nodded and scribbled it down with only a question on how to spell it. He went on with only two more names.

Fuery smiled, "Wow! Looks like you're advancing." He gasped as he remembered his duties. "Oh! I have to go, I apologize. Good luck!" Fuery booked it down the hall and was gone in seconds.

"Thanks! I guess!" Katy called after him.

Then she shrugged and made her way into the next room. The rude man looked at her in surprise, as did the rest of the men. Without looking closely Katy could count that only ten of them were left, including herself. The men were watching her closely, one, in particular, wishing her failure.

One by one, people were called in for an interview. Finally, she was called in. Katy stepped into the dark room, her steps echoing in the chamber. There, under the light, was the golden chair standing on only three legs tethered to a transmutation circle on the ground. She ignored the circle and focused on the chair. It would be the thing deciding if she had an aptitude for alchemy. It was only when you had an understanding of balance, equivalent exchange, that you could sit on the chair without fail.

Katy took a breath and sat in the chair. It didn't waver, not even a centimeter. She sighed in relief and a voice sounded from in front of her, an area she couldn't see. It wasn't illuminated at all.

"Why are you here?"

Caribbean green eyes stared ahead and fixed themselves on an invisible object. "There's someone that I need to look out for, and I believe the military would be my best choice."

"Why become a State Alchemist rather than a regular soldier."

"Alchemy is what I do best. I figured I could help more people with alchemy rather than guns."

"'Alchemist, be thou for the people' is it?"

Katy shook her head. "No. It's more equivalent exchange. I would use whatever resources are given to me to help protect the ones I care about. In turn, they will protect the ones they care about, and so on."

There was silence for a moment until the man's voice sounded again.

"You would be serving under the military. Obedience is required when joining the military. Can you guarantee this to your service?"

"If obedience is the price I must pay for the protection of me and mine, then I will gladly pay it."

Thirty minutes later she was standing outside the room. The rest of her group had gone in and the verdict had been decided. Only five of them would be advancing, anyone who wouldn't be was sent home. The practical would be starting the next day so they were all advised to take the night off and prepare.

The night was spent tailoring her outfit for the last part of the exam, the Practical. She knew what she'd be doing, and it may get her kicked from Eastern Headquarters altogether. If she succeeded, however, there wouldn't be any reason to not accept her.

She made her way back to H.Q. the next morning, waving at the soldiers who stopped her the day before. They stared at her curiously but let her go on her way. Katy joined up with the other four, barely glancing at the large man from before. The other men showed surprise at her arrival and shot looks between the two, but otherwise left her alone. That didn't mean they didn't glance at her, more than likely due to her outfit.

Katy wore a blue jacket that came just below her chest, the sleeves ending just above elbow height. A light blue t-shirt was worn beneath it and ended inches below the elbow. Her forearms were covered in grey arm guards which led down to her wrists and to the black fingerless gloves. Only her thumb and middle finger were covered by the black material, a silvery substance coated her middle fingers covering while her thumb had a slight rough edge to it. A blue transmutation circle was seen into the back of the glove. Grey leggings covered her legs, while more leathery material guarded her shins and waist. Black boots covered her feet and a thin blue sash was tied around her waist to complete the ensemble.

The group was led into a large field with trees, a small pond, a glacier, and boulders littering the far area. Clouds blocked the sun, signaling that it may rain soon.

"These materials are free to use in the final of the State Alchemy Examination," the soldier said, points at the objects. It made sense to use the earth, wood, water, and ice to create what they wanted. "Any damages are expected to be repaired. Begin!"

Four of the five set off to the materials, chalk in hand. Katy stayed where she was and surveyed the land. Then she walked forward, passing all the men, and climbed a tree before promptly sitting on one of the lower branches. The bored look on her face enraged one man and gained her curious looks from the judges/Generals and a few competitors.

One of the Generals walked forward, an eyebrow raised. "Do you plan on creating something miss?" he asked.

Katy shook her head and pointed to the other four who were doing their own things. "I'm waiting for them to finish so I may ask for a request."

"'A request'?" the old man repeated.

Is there an echo out here? Katy thought. "Yes. I wish to demonstrate my alchemy by combat."

"Your alchemy you say?" The man brought a hand under his chin, intrigued with the woman in the tree. He caught sight of the blue circles on her gloves and grinned. "If you promise a good show, I'll personally send my niece down here with her superior. He's a good alchemist."

Katy grinned, "Sure. If you think he can beat me."

The old man laughed and walked away, grin set firmly on his face. He waved a soldier over and then sent them off within a minute. Katy turned back to her group and noticed the works. One man had created a small army, maybe five or six, of bears. The detail was good but the man was out of breath after his transmutation. The second man created an ice sculpture of... something. Katy wasn't sure what it was and she didn't think the Generals knew either. The third man, who had officially been dubbed Jackass for the occasion, had only just finished his circle. Obviously, Jackass had been watching the second man because he too created a statue, only that time it was made of rock and one could clearly see it was a king sitting on his throne. Grudgingly, Katy had to admit that he had a bit of talent with rocks. The fourth man finished his transmutation by heating up sand to create glass and using it to create a large dam. The detail was amazing and the man wasn't tired at all.

The soldier came back just as the dam was finished. He was flanked by two people. Katy hopped down from the tree and made her way over to the Generals, specifically the old man and the two new people. Katy grinned internally, they were just who she wanted to see.

"... and this here is the lovely lady who requested a combat test," the old man finished, waving a hand over to Katy.

Katy smiled sweetly and held out her hand. "Katy Erwin, nice to have you here. It'd really be helpful if you'd dual me with your alchemy."

There was silence as both processed her words. Then the man smiled and took her hand, "Roy Mustang, a pleasure. This is my Warrant Officer, Riza Hawkeye." He motioned to the woman with the short, blonde hair to his right. Katy shook her hand as well. "I must admit I did not expect this when I came here. Are you sure you want to dual with alchemy?"

Roy looked unsure. Katy wasn't sure if it was because he was afraid of hurting her or something else. She nodded.

"Absolutely!"

The old man grinned and clapped his hands, "Excellent!"

The four men in her group must've seen what was going on and they scampered off to the sidelines. The Generals looked on in interest and Hawkeye was shaking her head. Katy didn't know if it was at Mustang, the old man, or her. But she took up residence in the field, twenty meters away from Mustang.

The opponents each held a hand free, ready to make a move. One hand was behind Katy's back, tilted ever so slightly that Mustang couldn't see the circle. One of Mustang's hands were inside a pocket. There was silence.

"3... 2... 1..." the old man intoned. He tossed a chunk of ice in the air and Hawkeye shot it.

They snapped.

Red flame met blue and they collided, canceling one another out. Katy allowed Mustang the moment of shock before she snapped again, running toward the man. Roy reacted quickly and sent off his own flames. This time the blue went out and Katy dived to the side, sliding behind a large rock in time to avoid the flame. She went to take a step around it but was cut off from both sides, the flames encircled her.

"Does this mean you give up?" Mustang called.

"Not a chance!" Katy yelled back. She turned and faced the boulder, gripping her hands where she could. Then she climbed as fast as she could. She reached the top in a second and dived off, snapping her fingers. A blue halo of fire encircled her and it vanished once more with Roy's flame.

From a distance, Hawkeye gasped. "Did you see that?" she asked.

"I think so," one of the new recruits answered, staring heavily at the fight.

Hawkeye startled as a raindrop fell on her cheek, and then another, and another. She sighed, the fight was over.

"Aw," the old man groaned. "And it was just starting to get good. Too bad the rain had to step in, eh?"

When Katy felt the first raindrop she thought it was water from the melting glaciers. The second one though, that sent a smile to her face. She breathed deeply as the scent of rain hit her nose and sent a grin at Mustang.

"What are you grinning at?" he asked as they circled like vultures.

"Can't you smell it?"

Mustang was confused for a second before he sighed. "So the fight's over now."

Katy's grin widened. "Not until it rains it isn't."

She snapped again and her blue flames met the resistance of Mustang's. Eventually, he continued to drive her back toward the entrance of the arena, cornering her. It was then that the rain poured down. Mustang grimaced and sighed as the Generals, recruits, and Hawkeye started toward them.

"So that's that then," he said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Katy intoned. Her other hand was brought forward and she snapped both sets of fingers. "I have the high ground."

Twin flames rested on her palms and Katy grinned at Mustang who stared in astonishment. Her flames weren't going out. The fires became brighter and Mustang had to take a step back. Lightning flashed and everyone paused at the image behind Katy.

"You have to say you lost, Mustang." There was silence from him and the group. Katy frowned and lightning flashed multiple times, almost coinciding with her action. "My flames work in the rain, yours don't. I win."

Mustang sighed in frustration and nodded, "Fine, you win." The flames dissipated and Katy grinned, sending a shiver down his spine at the almost malicious feel. Then Katy was skipping through the doors to await her results. "Surely that wasn't natural. Hawkeye, you saw that too, correct?"

"I did, sir."

"And what did you see?"

Katy Erwin's dark grin. Blue flames that threatened to destroy whatever came in contact with it. The light of the flames illuminating something as the two dueled. The lightning providing a clear shadow of feathered wings at Katy Erwin's back.

"Wings," she replied simply.

A recruit yawned as they walked back into H.Q.. "I don't see what you're all spooked about, no offense. Honestly, it was probably burn marks from the flames or paint."

"But when would she have time to paint?" another asked.

The first one shrugged, "No clue. And if she couldn't paint then it was just burn marks. She just needed to get over to the door so we could see them for dramatic effect. Mystery solved."

The old man grinned and nodded. "Heh heh," he chuckled, running a hand through his short beard. "I guess so. And the little lady did come through with an entertaining fight."

Four days later Katy was called back to H.Q. to receive her State Alchemist watch and codename. Apparently, she'd made quite an impression on the Generals. The watch had her name carved onto the back in small lettering, as all other watches did. The old man personally gave her the watch and her name.

"So what's my name then? If it's something girly I'll be gone," Katy laughed. She was completely serious. "First female State Alchemist or no."

The old man grinned and handed her a folder. "Why don't you find out."

Katy took the folder and scanned the document inside quickly, lips moving to the words. She paused and grinned. "Awesome."

The old man laughed, "Yes, I thought you would appreciate it. Now tell me, Blue Devil, are you ready for your future?"

"As I'll ever be."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Katy tapped her foot and scowled as she waited for her commanding officer to finish his meeting with the rest of the senior staff. Apparently, she'd done too many things once again that challenged her C.O. and now she was being let go. She shifted against the cold seat in Central Command.

"I have had it with her!" his booming voice came from the other side of the door. "One of you have to take her!"

"You think we want that demon spawn in our teams?" another voice asked. "She was with me last time and last I remembered, Erwin doesn't listen to me! Let's not forget her mouthy tendencies."

Katy snorted, thinking back to the time he told her to 'stay' and she responded with: "Do I look like a damn dog to you? Do I have a tail sticking out of my ass? I may be a dog of the military but I don't respond to animal commands."

Her C.O. had stared at her. "You'll sit and stay like the dog you are."

She punched him for that, which led her up to the moment she was currently in. She sighed and stretched; they'd been going at it for almost two hours. No one wanted her on their team because she was described as unstable among other things.

"I'll take her."

The smile instantly slid off Katy’s face as she looked towards the door. She was baffled that someone was willing to take her on their team. They must be ballsy or they just haven’t heard the stories about her. The other officers apparently thought the same.

"Come again?"

"I'll take on Erwin." The voice was soft and distinctly female. "Major or not she needs a commanding officer."

"You're digging yourself a grave with that one, Wilson. You're brand new to dealing with teams."

Katy raised an eyebrow. Wilson was the name?

"Doesn't matter. I'll be taking her on."

The door opened and several men stepped through, followed by a woman. Katy’s eyes landed on the woman, giving her a once over. Black hair, dark green eyes, obviously someone from the senior staff if she was allowed a team. She also noticed she was a few inches taller than Wilson. The name didn’t sound familiar and her looks were too detailed, too much thought was put into her. Was she just another background character? 

“Hey, Wilson. I’m Katy, nice to meet you,” Katy stood and held her hand out to shake Wilson’s hand, giving her a smile. 

Wilson smiled up at Katy and returned the handshake, “I’ve heard. I’ve also heard you have a particularly long rebellious streak.” Wilson let go of Katy’s hand. “From now on you’ll be working under me. One upside of being transferred to my team is that you don’t have to move; I’m stationed here in Central.”

Katy frowned, “Yeah, I guess.”

Arguing. That was all they did. The rest of the team found it amusing most days as it was a source of entertainment for them. Katy found out Wilson wasn’t her commanding officer’s first name when Jack, one of her new teammates asked her why she referred to Wilson with her last name. 

When asked why Katy didn’t know her first name Wilson smiled and said, “It’s just because you didn’t ask. My name is Aiden.”

Katy expected to be reprimanded when she kept on using Aiden’s first name rather than her last, but no such thing happened. When she went off on her own to do her own thing she expected to be yelled at and put in line. That didn’t happen either. It became apparent that Aiden’s team was rather lax in enforcing certain rules and keeping soldiers in line. 

“I just don’t see any reason to order someone to do something when I can ask them instead,” Aiden said while scribbling something down on a sheet of paper. “If you want to research something then go ahead, I won’t stop you. Just make sure you can pass your yearly assessment when it comes around. And when I need you I’ll expect you to be there. Is that understood?”

After that, the two almost never fought, the atmosphere of the office becoming a lot more peaceful. Of course, even with Katy’s quiet persona, her quick-witted responses and sarcastic demeanor never let the time in the office be spent in silence for too long. Aiden herself rather enjoyed their spats and the two began to spend more time together. They got together like a house on fire - which was sometimes bad for those they didn’t favor.

Two months passed by and Aiden held the record for how long Katy was under one person’s command. Much to her surprise, Maes Hughes dropped by and talked a lot with Aiden and the two seemed like close friends. According to the woman, they’d known one another since the Ishvalan War. He easily welcomed Katy into Aiden’s team, even though it wasn’t his place to do so, and her fate was sealed when she didn’t push away his pictures. Katy and Aiden were the top targets when Maes had a new photo.

Even after weeks of nonstop pictures, Katy didn’t seem to mind the things, and she really didn’t. In fact, she loved them and gave Maes ideas on how to snap better pictures. After that, the man started to commandeer Katy to his team. Aiden had to repeatedly tell Maes that Katy was her subordinate, not his. He retaliated by almost kidnapping the two of them when he wanted their help in a case.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Eastern? Why the hell are we going to the East?” Katy scowled, following Aiden out into town since they both lived fairly close to one another. Suddenly Katy remembered: that’s where Roy Mustang and the Elric brothers were. “Wait, isn’t the Flame Alchemist in Eastern?” 

“You’re right on the money, Erwin. Who told you?” 

She shrugged, straightening her figure, “Wild guess.” 

“Well, I’m wildly guessing that you know something I don’t.” Aiden paused to stare at a stall of fruit. She purchased a couple apples and handed one to Katy. “Anyway, there’s a case we’re being called to. Some kind of murder and the Eastern teams can’t figure it out, so they called us in. It happens more times than you would think.”

She, Aiden, and Maes met later at the train station, all three headed to the same destination with a long ride ahead of them. Aiden had advised Katy to pack about a weeks worth of clothes and then the necessities. She did as asked and boarded the train with the other two. The rest of the teams weren’t going due to housing issues in the East and they were left with instructions to not burn Central Command down while they were gone. Katy had only left the note as a joke.

The two days it took to get to the East took a toll on Aiden’s mental health. Katy had spent much of the time making random noises, repeating phrases, and mocking Aiden when she’d been told to shut up. Once the train had made its final stop in Eastern, Katy was the first one off and cheering like she had just won first place in a contest. With a snap of her fingers, she spelled the word ‘freedom’ with her flames in the air, all while chanting the same word and dancing; which drew some attention. 

Maes watched amusedly as the two women bickered back and forth as they walked toward Eastern Command. He wouldn’t be so chipper if he had to sit with her during the nights, Aiden thought bitterly. They paid no mind to their baggage, which would be taken and sent to their rooms.

“Come on guys,” he grinned. “We’re all about to go to work. Act civilized please.”

They looked at the man with matching stares. 

“We’re perfectly civilized,” Katy said.

“Everyone else is just uncivilized,” Aiden finished, nodding her head.

“It could be worse-”

“Yes it could-”

“But we know-”

“When to call it quits. Don’t we Katy?”

“Of course we do.”

They’d stopped walking and Maes was staring at them with a grimace. He glanced between the two and waited for more words. When none came he sighed. “Has anyone ever told you, you are creepy?”

The two women shrugged and resumed walking. “Not really,” Katy said. “But you should be proud of us. We’ve been practicing that for a while.” Aiden hummed in agreement and jogged up the steps leading into Eastern Command.

The three spent the day talking to the investigative teams and reading over any information they’d gathered. It wasn’t much, but Maes had been able to identify a lead. The baker across the street from where it had happened hadn’t made a report of anything happening on the night of the murder and the investigators hadn’t asked. That earned a stern lecture from Aiden about the importance of casing the area and talking to the people who may or may not have been present at the time.

The chatter at Mustang’s table in the mess hall came to a halt as Katy busted through the doors, a large smile on her face. “Mustang! Long-time no see!” She rushed over, throwing an arm around the man’s shoulders, “Mind if we join y’all for dinner?” 

Y’all? Who the hell says that in a place like this, he thought. “Yes, actually-”

“Great!” She made herself comfortable next to Hawkeye, Mustang’s Lieutenant, and instantly struck up a conversation with the woman. 

Aiden simply sat down on one of the seats and sighed tiredly. In followed Maes who collapsed in the opposite seat. It had been an excruciatingly long day for the pair; dead leads, uncooperative suspects, and plenty of files to read.

“Long day?” Mustang asked.

“I’ve had better,” they chimed.

Barely twenty minutes into the meal, Katy’s eyes suddenly darkened as she pushed herself away from the table and started walking towards the doors without an explanation as to where she was headed. Both Aiden and Maes caught a glimpse of her face and she seemed livid. Maes sent Aiden a questioning look but all she could do was shrug.

Katy stormed out of Eastern Command and stood in the nearest telephone booth. “Kyoya! Why the hell are you calling me earlier than our scheduled time? I almost blew my cover!” the woman yelled through the payphone. Her voice wasn’t the usual cheerful tone, but a dark, spine chilling one. 

“I apologize ma’am, but there is something important that I need to inform you about.” 

“Cat got your tongue? Tell me!” 

“The Weasley twins were out of a few items needed to fix the portal. They said to expect a two-month delay.” 

Katy groaned in frustration, her grip tightening around the phone, leaving a small crack. “That isn’t acceptable, Kyoya. Tell them if they don’t have it in two weeks time, I’ll skin them alive, literally.” 

“But ma’am-”

“I don’t have time for this!” she screamed, her blue flames circling the booth as she slammed her fist against the glass door. The glass cracked in a spiderweb formation and blood dripped from her knuckles. Hissing from the pain, she finally took a breath to calm herself. “I need to get back home, Kyoya. I have something important going on soon that I can’t miss, but I want this taken care of before I leave, so please… just do it.” 

“Understood, ma’am. Although you must realize that we won’t be able to finish for at least a month, even with the parts.” 

“Yeah, I know. But you need the parts for the next step, so one month is better than three or more.

“I will inform the brothers of your request. Until they respond we will continue with the original contact schedule.”

“Agreed.” Katy hung up and sighed once more, resting her forehead against the cool glass. Three or so months left in the other world to get home. A few years left here until she had to save Maes from Envy. She could do it, it was nothing compared to her hundreds of years as a god once before. Except… last time she could visit whoever, whenever she wanted. 

The woman glared up at the shining lights of Eastern Command. No, she’d be fine! She looked at the shattered glass and her bleeding hand before restoring them to the undamaged selves they’d been only minutes ago.

The mess hall was still mostly empty when she got back to her seat. Her commanding officer glanced up from her food, “What was that all about? You looked like Hell on wheels.”

“Sorry, Aiden but it is none of your concern.” The girl grabbed her bread roll and walked back toward the doors, waving bye to the group as she left to get some rest. 

“Uh, okay then.” Aiden looked back at her friends and shook her head at their silent questions. “I have no idea guys.”

The next morning Katy was on better terms with the world, if one could call singing ‘better terms’. No one from either team considered singing about a murder to be a good thing, but it was a good wake up call for those who were low on power. Poor Kain Fuery was startled from his chair when she burst in.

“Can’t you control your subordinate?” Mustang ground out irritably.

Aiden rubbed her forehead to try and keep the early morning headache at bay. “There would be no point, she’d still do things rather than say them.” She took a sip of the terrible coffee the East provided. “I think we’d all agree when I say that having that one singing about murder is better than her actually committing the crime. I wouldn’t put it past her to know how.”

“Especially if she’s your subordinate,” Jean nodded, speaking up from beside Aiden. He sat across from Hawkeye who was next to Mustang. “Remember that case you set up a year ago that you actually got away with? Let’s hope she’s not taking any queues from you.”

When their attention was back on Katy, she was nowhere to be seen and the room was quiet for a moment. “You��d be smart to not put murder past me, Aiden,” she whispered in her commanding officer’s ear, giving a glare to Jean. “Wanna know how I’d do it?” 

Aiden jolted to the side and glared at the floor before giving a sidelong look at Mustang as if to say, ‘You see what I mean?’ On the other side of Katy, Jean leaned away from the woman with a cautious stare. “Sure, I’m curious.” He didn’t catch Aiden’s look over her shoulder that obviously told him his answer was the wrong one.

Katy stared at the man, a bit surprised by his answer. A grin slipped on her face and the dark aura surrounding Katy disappeared. “Okay! So-” she hopped up on the table, facing Aiden and Jean with her legs crossed, back towards Riza and Roy. “Books teach me useful things, ya know. For instance, did you know that if you electrocute someone while holding them underwater, it’ll leave no burn marks on the body?” With the dark aura surrounding her once again, and the grin now creepy instead of sweet, she crossed her arms over her chest and laid back on the table, looking to Roy and Riza. “Isn’t that interesting, Roy?” 

Mustang looked a bit unsettled with the grin, stare, and random fact the woman had just shared. Riza calmly sipped her coffee and nodded thoughtfully at the piece of information. She’d moved their food to the side before Katy had the chance to lay in it. Aiden was shaking her head and even Maes was unsettled, while Jean lightly shivered at the woman before him. She turned her head and creepily stared down at the man. Jean gulped.

**********

The meal ended quickly after that and the teams were sent home. The next day Katy was walking back to Eastern Command and stopped for a drink at a store when military police suddenly surrounded the place. A confused look was shared between all of the customers, all three of them.

“Come on out, Jenkins!” one man shouted. “We have you surrounded, you have nowhere to run!”

Jenkins? Wasn’t that the name of the kidnapper from the West who stole away kids and sold them for profit? Katy looked over the shelves and didn’t find the man in question. There was, however, a teen who looked remarkably like the criminal. Oh, it was a classic case of mistaken identity. She moved over to him.

“They mean you,” she said.

“Huh? What? Who are you? Why do they want me?” the teen asked.

“You look like a criminal from the West, but you don’t have blond hair.” She nodded towards his very black hair. “Just go out and explain that you’re not him. They should be able to see that.”

The teen took in her military uniform. “U-Uh, okay. If you say so.” He walked to the entrance with his hands up and proceeded outside. “Uh, hi. My name’s Orion Webber, I’m not the guy from the West.”

“Ha! Like we’ll believe that. Anyone can dye their hair and say a name,” another officer voiced.

Orion looked over his shoulder helplessly at Katy who groaned at the stupidity of the military police. Katy vaulted over a low rack of store items and rushed to the aid of the young man. She held her hands out in front of her and glared at the MPs. A deep breath, “Don’t shoot dickheads!”

There was a stunned silence from the people around her. The officers took in her blue military uniform and the stripes on her shoulders. What on earth was a Major doing protecting a criminal? One of the officers gasped.

“She’s a State Alchemist!” he cried, pointing at the silver pocket watch in one of her hands.

“A female State Alchemist?” 

“That must mean…”

Katy grinned and pointed at her chest. “That’s right, boys. I’m the Blue Devil Alchemist, Katy Erwin.”

The soldiers immediately lowered their guns and saluted their superior. “We’re sorry ma’am! We didn’t know you were a State Alchemist!”

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, glaring at the men. “You morons! You couldn’t tell that this kid was too young to be Jenkins? He doesn’t even look old enough to grow a full mustache! You should know by the pictures we have of him that he’s blond and had a full-on goatee.”

Orion was a little offended at the statement but he kept silent. The MPs and Katy talked more and eventually, he was sent home with a formal apology from the MPs and a small smile from the alchemist. He made sure to thank her before he left and told her that he was going to tell his little sister about meeting her, as his sister was one of Katy’s biggest fans. Katy gave a stern lecture to the military police about fact-checking and using common sense before trying to arrest an innocent.

By the time she made it to headquarters, she was a full hour behind schedule. She burst into the room and took up her seat almost a second later before her head dropped onto her desk with an audible thunk.

Aiden raised an eyebrow from her own place and Maes set a cup of coffee in front of her. “Should we even ask or will I get paperwork on it?”

“Paperwork, sorry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sitting in her office, Aiden was staring down Katy. Aiden could never figure her out; there were inconsistencies in every report regarding Katy. One would say that she interviewed a criminal at three in the afternoon while another said she rescued a kitten out of a tree roughly at the same time, across the city. When more and more of the inconsistencies kept popping up Aiden did her best to cover them up and research as far and wide as possible to see how far back it went.

Everything started just after the Ishvalan War ended and Katy was assigned her first superior officer. As one could guess, Katy being in two places at once was never looked at, as there would have been a file for Aiden to look through. So she was the first. The only explanation Aiden could come up with was that Katy was a homunculus. The chances of Katy being with Father and the rest of the Seven Deadly Sins was rather low, but she didn't want to take any chances. There was no telling just who made her, and with Katy being in two places at once it was obvious that Katy could duplicate herself. Aiden refused to believe that Katy could time travel.

So with a new homunculus around with an unknown agenda, Aiden wanted her gone until the thing with Maes came and went. There was no chance of her taking 'no' for an answer. Katy was a wild card in her plans.

"I have to stay!" Katy argued, glaring at her superior.

They'd been going at it for a while, the rest of her subordinates were sitting at their desks and doing their best to ignore them. Aiden asked Katy to go with the Elric's but Katy kept on refusing. She wouldn't answer why and then the argument escalated into a shouting match that had Jack thankful for the thick walls.

"For what?" Aiden shouted back. "What could you possibly need to stay for?"

Katy gave a frustrated sigh and paced the area in front of Aiden's desk. "I said I can't tell you."

"Well until you can I expect you to be on that train."

"Why can't I-"

"Major Katy Erwin I am formally ordering you, as your commanding officer, to board the train headed for Rush Valley. You will serve as protection for the Fullmetal Alchemist, his brother, and their friend. Do I make myself clear?" Aiden growled.

Out of their field of vision, Aiden's subordinates tensed and stared in shock. Aiden had never once given a formal order to any of them. She would only ever ask them to do their jobs and take care of themselves so they didn't work their minds and bodies to death. They knew she hated pulling rank even on new recruits with attitude. For Aiden to do so with one of her friends... it was unthinkable!

Katy pursed her lips and glared furiously at her commanding officer. "Yes. Ma'am," she said through clenched teeth. Then Katy turned and stormed out the door.

The woman grumbled words of anger as she stormed down the sidewalk headed to her home. “Why now, of all times does she have to order me to do something! She never orders me around, at least formally!” Stopping in front of Aiden’s apartment building, which was right next to Katy’s, she took a moment to think. Something clicking in her head. “Not possible…” 

Katy checked her surroundings then teleported into her commanding officer’s home, putting her gloves on as she walked around. “If I were her, where would I hide something?” she mumbled while on her hands and knees checking under the couch. “Oh!” she hopped to her feet, going into Aiden’s room. “Somewhere that would be close to me that I wouldn’t have to check every day, and somewhere no one would think to look…” she stood in the doorway, hand over her mouth as she thought of a place to look, her eyes scanning every open space she could see. 

With a small groan of frustration, Katy search through Aiden’s drawers, almost slamming the nightstand drawer closed. When she did the desk hit the wall, making a quiet echo rumble through the wall. “When did you learn alchemy?” she whispered to herself, placing her hands on a section of the wall and making a little door so she could look inside. When she did, she found something wrapped up in a towel, which definitely sparked an interest in the interloper. 

As she unwrapped it on the bed, she could tell that the journal was old, given by the faded pages and worn cover. When she opened it, though, she didn’t find what she was expecting. A love journal, personal secrets, maybe even a family cookbook for some reason or another. Written inside, in English rather than Amestrian, was a bulleted list of all the important dates and events that have happened, and will happen in this world. That was all Katy needed to confirm her suspicion: Aiden was like her. 

In the beginning, Katy had noticed how close Aiden was to Mustang and Maes. At first, she thought it’d been a coincidence, how easily Aiden worked alongside the pair and Mustang’s team. But then she focused on how the woman was in terms of plot. She’d never been mentioned in the manga or the animes. If she had then Aiden would’ve helped Mustang behind the scenes of the coup d’etat at the end of the series and not once had she been mentioned or even thought of. When she heard that Aiden had stepped forward to protect Edward from Scar in East City, right after the Tucker incident, she knew something had to be off. And again when Aiden stepped in when Mustang fought Scar by the river, which never happened. Aiden was obviously misplaced. But a person can’t just show up from nowhere unless they were like Katy!

If Aiden was from her world, and knew about all of these things, she must be planning to stop Maes Hughes’ death! A flip to the end of the journal confirmed her thoughts and Katy grinned. She shouldn’t have doubted her friend after all! Aiden was going to save Maes! After placing everything back where it needed to go and making sure there was no evidence of Katy being there, she teleported to her own apartment and packed for her trip to Rush Valley, meeting the brothers and Winry at the train station not long after. 

It was hard saying goodbye to Maes without fully knowing if Aiden’s plan was going to work or not. But she did her best and gave the man a hug before she left. The train ride to Rush Valley was a long one but it was worth it. Katy and Winry got along well, and Ed found it disturbing how easily Katy was able to tell Winry how to knock a person out with only a wrench and a piece of ice.

Rush Valley itself was nothing special to Katy. The town was full of automail mechanics that wanted to take a look at Ed’s arm and leg and nearly undressed the kid to less than the bare minimum. To make things worse, for everyone else anyway because Katy found it hilarious, Ed’s pocket watch was stolen by Paninya. Katy had wandered off while her three charges chased after the pickpocket, but she caught up to them quickly with drinks in hand.

“Katy!” Ed yelled. “Why didn’t you help us catch her! Winry was the one who got her!”

She sipped her drink and stared impassively at the teen. “I’m your bodyguard, not your maid. Only you can protect yourself against pickpockets in a crowd like that.”

When the rain poured she did her best to help with the delivery of the baby. But even she couldn’t unsee those horrors. “That’s it,” she said, kneeling on the ground. “I’m swearing off children until I’m not suffering from nightmares.” The new parents laughed and nodded in understanding.

Since there were no signs of Scar in Rush Valley, Katy went with the brothers to visit their teacher in Dublith. Though, they warned her beforehand that Izumi wasn’t like normal women. Meeting the woman was… an interesting experience. She’d kicked Edward across the yard and tossed Alphonse onto his back.

“And who are you?” Izumi asked. “A military officer? No, judging by the chain at your waist, you’re the first and only female State Alchemist.” She smiled and held out a hand. “Izumi Curtis, nice to meet you. I’m sorry you’ve had to stick with these boys for so long.”

Katy smiled and shook the woman’s hand. She winked and then pulled an overly fake voice. “Yes, I can’t believe I was saddled with these heathens! Seriously,” she pointed at Edward, “this one snores and he’s short!”

“Who you calling short?! I’ll break down your legs and stick them on your head!”

Katy cracked up laughing and dodged the swing. Suddenly Edward was sent careening out of the yard and into the street. She whistled lowly and turned to Izumi. “Ten points to you, he landed face-first in a bucket.”

“Brother!” Al called, racing after his fallen sibling.

When Alphonse was kidnapped and Edward went after him, Katy went with Izumi to get the troublesome brothers back. She ended up with a few scratches and bloody knuckles. At Izumi’s request, she didn’t use her alchemy to burn the chimeras or Greed. Although she couldn’t use her flames due to being in such a small space. When the military came every soldier showed her respect but they didn’t comply to her orders. Not that she gave any. She knew that with Fuhrer Bradley around they’d only listen to his orders.

She’d met the man once before at a military function. It was a formal event so Katy had to be dressed up to look the part. As the only female State Alchemist, and a new one at that, she was required to attend. Bradley had mentioned how he was intrigued by having a female alchemist in his ranks and he was excited to see what she could do in a crisis. Katy simply smiled and said she’d do her best like any other soldier. He’d laughed and said he admired her determination and loyalty. There wasn’t much to remember after that.

Armstrong met up with Katy just once when he could. He passed along the news that Maes Hughes had been murdered and asked her not to tell the boys. Then he bid her farewell and left back to Central with the rest of Central’s men. The few weeks following was spent making sure Edward and Izumi healed from their injuries. Ed was the difficult child that wouldn’t sit still and Izumi was the same, but Katy didn’t have the guts to say so.

They left from Dublith back to Rush Valley and met Winry at Mister Garfiel’s automail shop. Ling was an interesting character, literally and figuratively. She’d stayed with him when the brothers, Lan Fan, and Foo went off to fight one another. However, when Ling too left she went back to the automail shop to wait for the Xingese group and eventually the brothers and Winry. Watching Edward get smacked with a wrench was more entertaining than she thought it would be.

There were very few threats between the Xingese people and Edward when Katy finally stepped in and shouted at them while she was trying to get some sleep on the damned train. Although, even without their help she wasn’t able to sleep well. She was too worried that perhaps something had indeed gone wrong on Aiden’s mission to save Maes and the man had actually died. There would be no way to tell by the time she had to go home unless she asked her commanding officer directly, which was very unlikely to happen. And to top it off, she had to leave in only a week! Katy groaned and buried her face in her hands.

Being in Central was no better than being on the train. Each step toward her job was another beat her heart skipped. Ling had wandered off yet again and his two servants, in turn, left to find him. Normally she would have turned around and waved up at the man standing on top of the train station, but she wasn’t feeling like it and instead followed the brothers. She almost had a small heart attack passing that dreaded phone booth where Maes was supposed to have died. 

“Oh, hey Hawkeye!” Katy cheered, a bright smile on her face as she tackled her friend in a hug. Luckily, the receiving party balanced herself so she didn’t fall. “How are you? It’s been a while.” 

“Oh I’m fine, thank you. Good to see you too, boys.” 

As Ed starting thinking, Katy heard two distinct pairs of footsteps approach. “Hang on,” Ed stated slowly, “if the Lieutenant’s here then so is…”

“Thanks for waiting for us,” a familiar voice intoned. Edward made a rather good impression of a shark as their commanding officers walked around the corner.

When the officers turned the corner, lo and behold, there stood the brothers and her subordinate. Katy returned Aiden's stare with a raised eyebrow of pure boredom. The woman almost grimaced, she still felt guilty about ordering the alchemist away. 

“Yep, the Colonel,” Ed finished.

Mustang looked at them in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting to see them. “Oh, well hello, Fullmetal.”

“Colonel Mustang, what are you doing here in Central?”

“You didn’t hear? I was transferred to this branch last month.” 

“Great,” Ed said less than enthusiastically.

Aiden sighed and shook her head. “So why are you guys here? I thought you were still in Dublith.”

Edward looked Aiden over quickly. He’d met Greed who said he didn’t work with the rest of the Homunculi, which proved true when Fuhrer Bradley killed him. Ed never had the chance to ask Greed if Aiden was one of them. There was no telling which side she was on or if she was on a side at all. But given how many times she’d helped them, whether it be for her own benefit or not, he’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

“We’re doing a little information gathering. After that, we thought we’d go see Lieutenant Colonel Hughes later today. Where is he anyway?”

“He’s not here,” Aiden said, her face carefully blank. Katy’s eyes watched her closely.

“He retired to the country,” Mustang added, “and took his wife and daughter with him.” Riza stared at her commander in confusion. Why would he lie when they would figure it out later? “He wanted to take over the family business. So, he’s not here.”

The boys looked genuinely saddened to hear that their favorite soldier-friend had left. Katy simply stared at the ground and didn’t try to correct her superior officers. It’d be a harsh thing to do in front of the boys.

“I see. Well, that’s too bad.”

“We were hoping to see him,” Al nodded.

Mustang turned and walked away. He made it only a few steps before he paused, his back still to the boys. “Fullmetal. Watch yourself. Don’t do anything crazy.”

“Hmm? Okay.” He was a bit confused as to why the Colonel of all people would caution him. It wasn’t like the man didn’t, he just tended to tell them after a dangerous event.

The Colonel continued walking and the two women followed behind him. Katy’s eyes narrowed at the trio, glancing down to Ed then back at Aiden as she watched her walk away. 

“Is he alive?” Katy called in English, so no one other than Aiden understood her, since they spoke Amestrian. 

The brothers stared at Katy in confusion and Mustang and Hawkeye paused to look back in confusion. Aiden was rigid under Katy’s stare. She turned and looked back at her subordinate with wide eyes. Then her eyes went blank as her posture became tense.

“I’ll see you two later,” she said to Mustang and Hawkeye. “I need to speak with my subordinate.” Mustang raised an eyebrow at the word ‘subordinate’; Aiden almost always called her officers by their names. Unless they were in trouble.

“Sure.”

Aiden grabbed Katy’s arm and dragged her through the halls and into her personal office. No one on the team got to greet either woman as they passed them too quickly. She closed the door behind them, locked it, and paused to stand behind her desk. Aiden drew her gun and aimed down the barrel at Katy.

“Who the hell are you?” she snarled.

“First, I’d like to apologize for going through your apartment.” Katy held her hands up in defense for a moment before lounging on the couch. “My name is Katy, and I’m from your world, but I got here a little differently than you did, I’m sure.” 

She raised an eyebrow in curiosity but didn’t lower her gun. “You went through my apartment and now you’re saying you’re from my world. Aside from the fact that we speak the same language, there is no proving the fact that we are from the same Earth. As for how I got here… I paid my way via Truth.”

“Well, I came with a portal. As soon as I saw you, I had a feeling you weren’t supposed to be here. Mainly because I never actually saw you in any of the animes. With how close you are to Maes and Roy, you would have been in the series at some point or another.”

Aiden finally lowered her gun. “Okay, fine. We’re both misplaced people of Earth. Answer this: how did you get into my apartment and figure out I was from another world. As far as you could’ve known this may have just been another variation of Fullmetal Alchemist.”

She smirked before disappearing and reappearing in Aiden’s chair. “Like that, miss smarty-pants.” 

“And I thought the ‘Devil’ was just a title,” she stated dryly. 

Katy gasped, a hand on her chest in false shock. “Rude! If anything, I’m a goddess, not a devil! And another thing, I wasn’t exactly ‘misplaced’. My portal wasn’t supposed to go here, it was meant to go to another world. But it’s being fixed and I’ll be leaving in Xerxes, so don’t get your panties in a wad.” 

Yes, Katy was still a smartass. Aiden rolled her eyes and set her gun on the desk. “Don’t be an ass, I’m still your superior in this world. I don’t care if you’re a goddess, a demi-god, or Truth himself. Now answer my question. How’d you figure it out?”

“I saw your journal, period,” she shrugged, grabbing the crackers from her pocket. They were leftover from lunch on the train. “Now, miss Wilson, you never answered my question: is he alive?” 

“You mean to say you deconstructed my wall to look at my stuff,” she corrected. Katy didn’t dispute it and she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She reached into the desk and pulled out a piece of paper before scribbling something on it and handing it to Katy. “I’ll direct you to my cabin in the woods.” Aiden holstered her gun and moved around Katy to exit the office. “Try not to die. We’ll talk later.”

“Oh no worries, I’m basically immortal!” she laughed, giving her friend a wink before walking out of the office and into the team office. She opened the window and jumped out, landing gracefully on the grass. Aiden’s cry of alarm rang out as she peered over the ledge, only to glare at her subordinate who gave her a mild heart attack. When Katy looked through the window next to her, Jean was staring right at her with a roll in his hand. She waved, before running off and teleporting into the cabin and on the dining table. 

Maes screeched and threw his knife into her shoulder. “That’s fair. Good to see ya, Maes!” When she pulled the blade out of her shoulder, it slowly healed. 

Maes pulled out another knife, “Katy, nice to see you. Are you here to kill me too?”

“No Maes, I am-” she stood on the table, arms stretched out at she took a ‘hero’ pose, “your savior!” When Katy looked down at him, a sweatdrop went down his face. “You’re no fun, Maes!” she pouted, jumping down from the table. “I was wanting to save you too, but Aiden thought I was a bad guy so she sent me away with the Elrics, but I’m here now.” 

“So Aiden sent you, you say? Prove it.”

Katy looked at the paper in her hand and took a deep breath. "Fear constant exile thatcher."

There was silence as the man lowered the knife. It was one of the code phrases the pair had come up with in case they’d been found out or in case of an emergency. It was a fail-safe to make sure Envy wasn’t among them. "Attached fruit printers differ. Alright, you have my attention.”

“Well, really I just wanted to say bye because I’ll be leaving. For good, anyhow.” She sounded a bit upset to leave, but there was a look in her eye that said she was ready. 

“I see,” Maes said shortly. “And I suppose Aiden will clear things up for me if I ask?”

Katy nodded. “Yeah, she will. Everything's gonna be over soon, then you can see your girls again, I promise.” She smiled, giving the man a hug. “Oh, and when you see Roy, can you tell him I said he needs to not be a bitch and ask out Aiden? That would be much appreciated.” 

Maes snorted, “Will do.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Katy and Edward were baking under the desert sun. There was a good chance of being able to cook an egg on Ed’s automail in five seconds flat. She cursed her superior officer’s way of sending her to Xerxes, fairly certain it was Aiden’s way of payback. In fact, she was sure she could hear her laughter coming from the sun itself.

She and Ed almost cried in relief when they were submerged in the watering hole. Katy had never felt such sweet relief.

“Who’s idea was it to bring the kid and lady?” Foo asked.

Breda was the one to answer. “It was a direct order.”

The two climbed out of the pool and wrung their clothes in satisfaction. The ruins hadn’t changed any since last she’d been there, not that she expected them to.

“So,” Edward said, looking at the fallen ancient city around him, “this is Xerxes, huh? Looks just like the fable described it.”

Foo spun around. “Did you say a fable?”

“Yeah, ‘The Eastern Sage’. It’s a story about the origin of alchemy in Amestris. It claims the entire kingdom of Xerxes was destroyed in a single night. And that the only survivor wandered into Amestris shortly afterward. He was the one who went on to spread the science of alchemy.”

“How interesting. We have a similar legend in Xing about a drifter from the West. It’s said that his teachings were combined with our ancient techniques to form the Alkahestry we practice today.”

Katy’s mind instantly translated the stories into her known history of the land. The Eastern Sage was Father, the man who founded Amestris and introduced alchemy to the people and military. The Western Sage, Hohenheim, was the one to wander into Xing and teach the people how to heal with alchemy. She wasn’t sure when the Dragon’s Pulse reading came in, but it was obviously a big part of the Xingese culture.

“Alkahestry is primarily used for medical needs, isn’t it?”

“Yes. He guided this process, and we greatly revere him. We know him as the Western Sage.” Foo turned and began walking further into the ruins. “Come, we must continue forward.”

Breda stared at the ruins surrounding them as they walked. “So the West in his title is supposed to refer to here?”

Katy nodded and shrugged. “I don’t see why not, it makes sense. Amestris wasn’t even formed by the time these men traveled. They’d be about forty years too early for that.”

Edward turned to her in surprise. “How would you know that?”

“Easy. Amestris was founded in 1550, whereas records of Xerxes being destroyed showed up almost half a century earlier. I’m a State Alchemist too Edward, it’s not that hard to pick up a book,” she said with a knowing look. 

Then she tuned out the rest of the conversation and instead took in the scenery. Somehow being in ruins made her at peace, even if said ruins only ended up that way due to genocide. They were morbidly beautiful. She made a note of the location of the transmutation circle responsible. The castle was still in one piece and its shadow was used to take refuge from the sun.

“Edward!” a female voice called.

Katy turned in time to see Maria Ross come bounding down the Xerxes ruins. She grinned when Edward chuckled. “That damned Colonel,” he laughed.

Major Armstrong burst into tears and, as if were tradition, shed his top. He declared loudly how he missed her when he thought she was dead and chased the woman in hopes of hugging her. The rest of the group watched from a distance, most of them with a smile on their faces.

“There wasn’t really any place in Amestris we could safely hide a dead girl,” Breda explained. “Especially one that’s still alive, you know?”

“So the Colonel and Aiden knew that Lieutenant Ross was innocent all along?” Edward asked.

Breda went on to explain how Mustang and Aiden created a plan to rescue the innocent woman. They migrated to a shadowed area and sat in a circle to fully explain the story to Edward and Armstrong. Katy interjected at some points with her ideas and how she was involved in the entire affair. 

“I still think we could’ve hid her in Central,” she repeated. “‘The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It’s the last thing they’ll expect’. Haven’t you heard that saying?” Katy suddenly halted her mind process. Aiden was working off of a plan used in another series entirely. She sweatdropped. “Okay, nevermind.” Her boss was a lunatic.

Foo sighed and continued the story. “After madam Ross was prematurely freed, the Young Lord made a deal with Barry the Chopper. The orders I’ve been given are to personally escort this woman to the East to take refuge.”

“So we all agreed to rendezvous here, in one big effort to aid the Lieutenant’s escape,” Breda finished.

“I see,” Armstrong said.

Edward slumped in disappointment. “You’ve gotta be joking. I can’t believe they were able to pull one over on us like this.”

“He knew it’d be easier to convince you if you actually saw Lieutenant Ross.”

“Fine, I’ll admit it alright? The Colonel actually knew what he was doing this time. It may have also just been Aiden coming up with everything.”

“He mentioned something else. He said he didn’t want to take a chance on some hot-tempered kid endangering the operation. So he sent you out here,” Breda laughed.

“Hot-tempered kid?” Edward raged.

Katy splashed water in his face from her canteen. “Cool it, Sharkboy.” His response was an irritated glance at the woman. She grinned and didn’t regret her actions.

“You said ‘operation’,” Alex steamrolled over the pair’s actions. “Is there a phase beyond liberating Lieutenant Ross?”

“Indeed. He’s got a plan to reel in the puppeteer, the one that’s behind the conspiracy. You remember Barry from the fifth lab, right?” he asked Edward. “He went on one hell of a rampage. They’re bound to send someone to reclaim him.”

The people in the know went on to explain what they knew about the Homunculi group. Edward said that each of the people had an ouroboros tattoo somewhere on their body; Greed had one on his hand, Lust’s was on her chest, and Envy’s was on his thigh. Aiden’s was on her wrist. Armstrong had drawn out the figures in question along with the ouroboros tattoo and the human transmutation circle. Breda was thoroughly shocked when Armstrong and Edward mentioned Aiden 

“I’ve got nothing to do with this. Zilch. And yet here I am stuck in the middle of it, and framed by Homunculi,” Maria moaned helplessly.

“Yeah… sorry about that,” Katy apologized. “You kinda just drew the short stick on this one.”

“We’ve collected a fair amount of intelligence,” Breda said. “And once we piece it together, we’ll have the General’s killer.”

“Well before you go on,” Katy spoke, “you can’t put Aiden in the same group as the rest of these people. Her tattoo is only just a tattoo, and in the book I read about them, it said homunculi couldn’t perform alchemy.”

“Still though, her actions are questionable,” Edward replied. Then he drew a question mark in the sand under her picture.

“I don’t think that someone who asked me every day if I was eating enough is responsible for Hughes’ death,” Maria defended.

“I promise Lieutenant, we will absolve you of this crime,” Armstrong vowed.

“Lieutenant Colonel… I mean General Hughes,” Ed corrected, “it’s just hard to accept that he’s gone.” Katy looked skyward and did her best not to spill the beans from that particular can.

“And what shall you do now, Edward Elric?”

“Al and I committed a taboo. We still have people that help us. Some people get angry at us, others support us silently. Each one of them has tried to help me keep my promise to my brother.” He gripped his automail wrist. “So I have no choice, I can’t turn back. Which means, all I can do is move forward, right? I refuse to let another person become a victim, not while I’m alive. I know that’s a hard promise to keep. It’s hard enough just trying to take care of myself. I think that I’m even capable of it. I’m just arrogant. But… it’s the only thing I can think of. So I have to do it. I have to.”

The group was silent for a moment as they listened to Edward’s words. Breda and Ross smiled at him. Armstrong looked to his subordinate. “And you Lieutenant, where do you intend to seek asylum?” he asked.

“Well, I think that I’m gonna give Xing a shot.”

The afternoon passed into evening and the group gathered to see Lieutenant Ross off.

“Any parting wishes?” Armstrong asked. “Shall I tell your parents?”

Maria smiled and shook her head. “No, sir. As much as I want them to know I’m okay, I’m scared it will be too much of a risk. I just don’t want to put them in that kind of danger.”

“Very well.”

“Major Armstrong, Lieutenant Breda, Major Erwin, please deliver a message to the Colonel and the Lieutenant Colonel. I need them to know how grateful I am to how much they’ve done. If there’s any way I can help them, tell them to send for me.” She stood straight and saluted. “I owe them a great debt and I am willing to put my life on the line to repay it.”

The soldiers saluted in return, Katy more out of habit and respect for the woman than anything. “Can do.”

Edward sighed and went to salute as well but Maria walked forward and stopped him. She smiled and held out a hand. “Goodbye, Edward. Take care of yourself, okay?”

Ed smiled weakly. “I still owe you for that slap.”

“You can get me next time.” Edward took her hand.

The groups parted ways and they watched as Maria became a small dot in the distance. When the group started to leave, Katy admired them, taking in their details as she removed her gloves, shoving them in her pockets with a sigh.

Armstrong was the first to notice the girl’s absence, nudging the boy’s shoulder to keep him from walking any further. “Look,” he whispered, looking back to Katy and watching her. She seemed emotional, and he had no idea why. This was supposed to be a happy moment, wasn’t it? 

“Katy? Aren’t you coming?” Ed furrowed his eyebrows as Katy flashed him a smile, a tear rolling down her face. 

“No, Ed. I’m afraid I won’t be seeing you again,” she walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know how long it’ll be, and it might be never, so this is goodbye, my friend.” She pulled him into a hug, which he hesitantly returned. When she pulled away, she gave him another smile and ruffled his hair a bit. “You’re gonna do great things, kid.” 

Lieutenant Breda held out a hand for her to take. “We all know you’ll miss me the most. Ain’t that right?”

Katy snorted and nodded, shaking her comrade’s hand. “Always Breda. Do tell Jean that he still looks like a horse for me, will you?” A nod was her answer and she turned to Armstrong. She gave him a hug as well. “Give a message to Aiden for me. Tell her E.T. had to phone home, okay?” 

“Of course miss Erwin. I’m sure she’s going to miss you, I hope you know that,” the man replied, giving her shoulder a light squeeze before she stepped away. 

“I know, I’ll miss her too, all of you.” She sighed, checking her watch: two minutes. “Alright, you need to get going. If you want, come up with some badass story for my disappearance. Like I died fighting thirty assassins or something.” She smiled again, the three men huffing a laugh at her comment before saying their final goodbyes, again. 

The two minutes were up and luckily they were far enough away when the portal opened. Katy smiled at the flashing lights in front of her. She had done something great for the country, something that could help in wars if needed. When she walked through, she was greeted with an entire room cheering for their leader’s return. 

“Hey, Guys! Good to see ya!” Katy’s smile lit up the room more than it already was. “Did you all behave while I was gone?” 

“We tried, Sergeant Major. Good to see you,” Kyoya smiled. He actually smiled, not a smirk, a full-on smile. Katy felt privileged to be on the receiving end.

“You too, Kyoya.” She shook his hand before looking around the room for her dragon. “Where is Hestia?” 

“She hasn’t been allowed in the lab after the incident. She’s the size of a large dog now, so she’s out in the training field destroying the dummies.” 

Katy chuckled, nodding in understanding at his answer. As she left, she told the staff to take the rest of the week off for their hard work, which they cheered for, again. As she walked to the training grounds, everyone was saying hello left and right. The usual five-minute walk almost took twenty. She finally reached the huge open field, a few explosions going off in the distance, dummies flying into the air shortly after. By the color of the explosion, it was obviously her dragon. 

“Hestia!” she called in her thoughts. Instantly, a head popped up from behind the short wall. The green eyes of the dragon took only a moment to land on her rider, a small roar coming from her as she flew to Katy. 

“Katy! Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” she called back, tackling Katy to the ground and licking her face repeatedly, only stopping when Katy made a disgusted noise from all of the slobber. 

“It’s good to see you too, Hestia. You’ve grown, and learned how to talk!” Katy chuckled, snapping her fingers and she was clean again. “I have to go, but I’ll see you later, okay?” 

With a groan, Hestia nodded, rubbing on her rider one more time before Katy left to go back home. And with that, Katy’s trip through the land known as Amestris had come to an end. The portal was up and running, ready to take anyone through. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hello, my lovelies! Well, this is a long-ass chapter. Don’t worry, the next one will be shorter :) Hope you enjoyed my crossover with SKOMO (Soldier Keep On Marching On). The story is Minecraftian’s fanfic about Fullmetal Alchemist and her OC, so go check it out! (on wattpad!)

~K-The-Queen

This entire thing was basically written by me because as we kind of just agreed, FMAB is my domain even if this is her story. Apparently, I’m the all-knowing fan of Fullmetal Alchemist. Who knew right? Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed!

~ Minecraftian1213

[trifoliate-undergrowth]

Crisco 129: A Dystopian Sansby Dream AU-pt 5

Grillbz appeared to take a moment to process the change of scenery. Slowly he looked up. “Wh…??” “I can teleport.” “You can..?” “Teleport. Space-shift. Jump travel. You know, the thing. That thing you do where you don’t need stairs.” Grillbz stared at him. “How long have you been able to do that?” “Since I was a kid. Dad made sure nobody but him knew about it. Heheh, I’d be in trouble if anyone did… find out… yeah.” Grillbz smiled. “I already said you can trust me. No one else will know, not if they freeze me to death for it.” 

“Yeah thanks.” Those were words. Words were easy. But he’d always been able to trust Grillbz. He wanted to believe that he still could. And anyway, no going back now. “Where are we?” “You know that shaft that leads to the old wine cellar?” A look of sparking realization appeared on Grillbz’ face. “But it’s been boarded up for years. And there’s no ladder.” “Lucky I can teleport. Double-lucky, because the top of the shaft looks like it hasn’t been opened in years, which it actually hasn’t. So if someone does find it hopefully they won’t look too far, or it won’t implicate any of us too heavily even if they do find my stuff.” Sans’ equipment was set up behind a stack of empty crates in the farthest corner from the disused shaft that led into the restaurant’s storage room. “Won’t implicate us too heavily?” “Well I mean if anyone does come all the way down here the gig is up but I’m hoping that doesn’t happen.” Grillbz stepped away from Sans and walked carefully around the mini-room that he’d made of crates. “I stacked them so they don’t look too suspicious from the outside and I haven’t been out there since, so the dust is all undisturbed out there,” said Sans. “It should look completely abandoned from the outside.” “This isn’t safe.” “Eh, nothing is safe really.” Grillbz stopped abruptly and looked at him. He started to say something, paused, shifted his weight and looked down at the floor. “What?” Asked Sans. Grillbz looked back up. “I don’t.. w… It’s not safe.” An icy calm settled over Sans. This was a fitting end. “Are you trying to tell me something?” “Wh… I’m, I’m telling you that it’s dangerous, and…” he looked at Sans. “Sans no!! What—why would I betray you?! I just—I want you to be safe…What do you think I am?” “I don’t know, actually.” “I’m a coward. I just want to live, that’s all. And I want you to be safe.  When it’s some disembodied voice on the radio, someone you don’t know, you feel like they can never be hurt, somehow, and... but it's you. I know you. I.. want to say I’m proud of you but I’m just terrified. No, I am proud of you. And scared. I don’t know…” “I’m careful, believe me. I don’t broadcast from here, I send the data to my contact, and she has her own setup for broadcasting. She hasn’t told me the details but she says it’s secure. And she seems pretty sharp, so I trust her not to get caught. As long as she doesn’t I don’t think anyone will come here.” Grillbz nodded vacantly. “What is that?” “A computer.” Grillbz looked blankly at it. “Built it myself and it’s crap, but it works, and that’s enough. It runs on that generator there.” Grillbz glanced at the generator with something more akin to recognition, then did a doubletake. He stooped and hooked a bottle out from under the table with one finger. “It runs on moonshine?” “Yep.” Grillbz looked at Sans and cracked a smile. “Heh…. Thank God, I was worried you were an alcoholic.” “Ah, so you did notice—“ “I knew it had to be you taking it, I just didn’t know what you were doing with it.” “Ah geez.” “But you seemed fine, and I wasn’t sure how to bring it up.” he tapped his fingers on the bottle and chuckled. “You actually built a generator to run on moonshine.” “Actually, no, I bought this from someone whose identity will remain undisclosed. Though at this point I might as well have built it myself with all the repairs I’ve been doing.” “You can buy moonshine generators?” “Well, what else are we gonna run them on? There is an underground, you know.” “Yes, I’m well aware, since we sell massive amounts of—“ he froze. “Sans.” “Heh?” “Is that it? I’ve always wondered where it all goes to. There are either a lot of invisible alcoholics in this town or people are using it to run generators.” “Yep.” “…I’ve been a party to illegal activity all along.” “In more than one way.” Grillbz gave a ragged laugh and put the bottle down. “Can we go? I’m… still getting used to this.” “Not yet, this is the safest place in the house to talk, I think. How did you know about the broadcast?” “Found it. There’s not much on the radio anymore, it wasn’t hard.” “So you were just… searching radio stations, listening to static?” Grillbz nodded. “Static is a sign that there’s something out there. Sometimes I’d hear scratches of music that couldn’t quite get through. And then one morning there was suddenly music coming through loud and clear, and I had to turn the volume down because I was afraid someone would hear it. I don’t remember what it was. I think I was too happy to notice. And then your broadcast came on.” Grillbz snorted. “I’d never been that happy to hear puns. The next day I checked to see if it would happen again, I thought it had to have been some kind of fluke, but it did. That time it was piano music. Beautiful.” He half-smiled. “You like piano music?” Grillbz nodded. “My sister used to play, once. I’d plink on the keys sometimes, trying to figure out a tune.” He covered his face with his hands. “I can… almost see her.” He looked down at Sans, flames swirling slowly. Good God, he was beautiful. Sans stared up at him, willing himself to speak but strangely unable to think of anything appropriate. Useless phrases flickered and died in his head: I’m sorry, are you OK, I love you, who are you, talk to me, kiss me. He gave up: he’d place all his trust here, he’d done it before and never been let down. If Grillbz wanted to betray him Sans wouldn’t even fight. He’d go with a smile, because they’d had this moment and it seemed only reasonable that it would end. It couldn’t be real. “Sans?” said Grillbz. “Huh.” Grillbz frowned. “Is there something I can do to convince you?” “What?” “I want you to trust me.” “You don’t have to convince me. I should have told you years ago.” Sans walked forward, took his hand and kissed it. The room grew a little brighter. Sans looked down at the hand still cradled in his. Magic and light danced across his fingers. He kissed Grillbz’ hand again, then his wrist, then his arm, and Grillbz wrapped the arm around him and pulled him close. He nuzzled into the front of Grillbz’ vest and laced his fingers around his belt. Grillbz folded the other arm across his back, a warm weight. Sans sighed. They stood like that for several moments. “We should go,” said Grillbz finally, “Or we won’t have time for breakfast.” “Mm.” Sans released one hand from its grip and snapped his fingers, teleporting them at the same instant. They appeared in the kitchen. Grillbz only tensed a little bit this time. “Nice.” “Yeah, it’s pretty nifty.” “Yes… hmmph.” He chuckled as he bustled around the kitchen. “What?” “Moonshine. All this time I was taking pride in my work, making something edible out of completely shit unwanted grain rations, and nobody actually ingests it anyway.” “Eh I wouldn’t say nobody. Just… the bulk of it may find other uses.” “All of my work has been for naught.” “I like it.” “Don’t you start now, I’m still getting over the alcoholism scare.” “C’mon, me? Where do you think I’d fit that in my schedule?” Said Sans, pressing up beside him as he fidgeted with the griddle. Grillbz looked down at him, then smiled. Sans smiled back. “Hey, are you thinking about what I—“ Grillbz leaned down and kissed him briskly on the edge of the mouth, then walked away. Sans teleported onto the counter directly in front of him. “One of these days you need to do that and not run away afterward.” “AAUGH! ..Please don’t do that.”

Several days passed more or less normally, except for a strange light that seemed to charge everything around Sans. Between running the restaurant, checking the mash in the shed in their backyard and getting some amount of sleep before the broadcast, he didn’t have much free time, and life stayed confined to its set patterns—except that sometimes Grillbz would rest his hand on Sans’ head or shoulder as he passed, and their nightly conversations were getting longer, despite the need for sleep. Sans looked forward to Saturday, when they closed early—it was a café, not a bar (legally).

>do you have any piano music we could play?

He asked the old lady.

>Piano music? Yes, I believe so. I’ll check. Why? I didn’t think you had preferences.

>it’s for a friend.

>Aaah. Is it ‘that’ friend?

>the one we talked about? yeah.

>So how are things going?

>pretty good. I told him.

>About?

>the broadcast. he’d already figured it out, actually, from my voice. evidently it’s not as hard to identify as I’d hoped, heh. though he says it’s only because he knows me well.

>Well. If he already knew and hasn’t done anything I think we can trust him.

>one would hope. I don’t have a choice now. and I’m glad that he knows, anyway. I like him a lot and it’s nice not to have secrets.

>Good. Just let him know that if I ever get a sniff of something not right in any respect whatsoever on your end I’m coming over there with a frying pan.

>haha thanks.

>I mean it. He better treat you well.

>he always does.

>Mhm. Play the music.

>all systems go, captain.

>So tell me, what’s your honey like? I want to know.

Sans stared at the screen, then laughed. He couldn’t tell any important details—they had agreed not to, it was safer. He didn’t know the old lady’s name or race, and she didn’t know his. But they had discovered little things about each other, such as that she liked to bake whenever she got the chance and he was short.

>mmmmm. physically, he’s taller than me, dresses sharp and is very warm.

>From all the jokes you’ve made about your height I would expect that many people are taller than you.

>well yeah. but not everyone pulls it off with style.

>I see. ‘Warm?’

>warm. like a fireplace. a very attractive fireplace.

>…I see?

>yep. and he’s quiet, usually. he can talk if he wants to, but generally doesn’t. neat and orderly, but patient with er, less-neat people. gentle, I’ve only seen him get angry once.  sort of casually graceful in the way he moves. he just. aaaagh. he’s gorgeous.

>He sounds lovely.

>aaaaaaaaaa.

>Is your broadcast just going to be lovestruck screeching today?

>aaaaaaa nnnoooo  I can stooooop I sweaaaaarrr

>  :)

>  ;] >you’re taking this well I thought you would be horrified

>Oh I am very horrified! I’m just struggling to be an optimist! For you! I’m sure he’s very nice and very trustworthy if you are! I trust your judgement!

>that is a lot of exclamation points and a lot of implied uncertainty and now I am uncomfortable.

>Oh don’t be, I’m just being a silly worried old lady who thinks too much about how things could go wrong. I’m glad you have this relationship. Have fun. I think? Is that what one says? Good luck? Congratulations?

>….please desist.

>If you have babies can I be their honorary grandmother? Please?

>………………. ewdsxc

>Moving a bit fast? Sorry. I love babies. Humor an old lady.

>edkfjjaweskdzcnxvkejrfdc yes. >wefdscdgjerjjsd >this literally just happened pls no I’m still trying to figure out what our relationship is now

>Hahahaha poor dear, I’m sorry. You have less than a minute, get ready to gab.

>aaaaaa!

>Compose yourself dear, surely my untimely request for substitute grandbabies hasn’t unsettled you that much?

>aaaaaaaaaaa!

>Hahahahah oh my. Have you discussed it at least? >shoot you have tendseconds

>aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa no! nothing1 we have discussed nothing h e l p ineedtogodoabroadcastnowbye  

>SOrry >*Sorry. >I’m laughing. I’m terrible. Sorry. Sounds good so far.

Sans viewed the completely normal broadcast which followed this conversation as one of his greatest achievements.

Thursday night Sans was awoken by a crash from downstairs. He checked Grillbz’ room and found it empty and, reassured that it was probably not a burglar, went down to find Grillbz draped across a still that was lying on its side in the hallway. He was covered in mostly melted snow and panting. “Heya. What’s the still doing inside—is that our still?” “It is now. I found another one.” “ ‘found’.” “…Yes.” “You bought another still? Why?” “Sans, we make drinking alcohol. It can’t be the best fuel.” “It’s really not. But hey, desperate times.” “is it safe?” “Eh. If you know what you’re doing and have a good filter.” “We’re going to start multiple-distilling batches for fuel.” “No. We can’t sell that. It’s too obvious, even if we pretend it’s for something else. And when are we going to find the time?” “Alright, then you can have it all. I don’t want you to blow yourself up while you’re down there. And as for time, that’s what the second still is for. It’ll take the same amount of time if we work on it together instead of taking turns.” “You bought a still because you were worried about me?” “I never do anything with my money. Help me move it if you want to make it up to me.” “Heh. Will do.” Sans teleported from the stairs into the shed in the backyard, double-checked where everything was so he didn’t try to teleport himself and a still directly into the fermenting mash or the wall, and reappeared on the carpet next to Grillbz, who was struggling to right the still. “Let me do it,” said Sans. Grillbz let go and looked questioningly at him. Sans lay down next to the still, wrapped his arms around it, and then teleported himself—and the still—into an upright position. Grillbz whistled quietly. “Yeah it’s hella useful. Or would be if I could do it in public.” “Mm. Do you ever slip up and do it anyway?” “No. Never.” “Good.” Sans held out his hand. “The time-and-space-disregarding Sans Express is leaving the station. Come with?” Grillbz took his hand. A moment later he, Sans, and the second still appeared in the shed. It was brighter than Sans had expected. He kissed Grillbz’ hand before dropping it and the white flush threw sharp shadows across the walls.

Friday night Sans came back into the main café from putting away the mop he’d just used and found Grillbz wiping down the last of the tables. “Friday night. Are you tired?” Grillbz straightened slowly to look at him. “No more than usual. Why?” “We should go dancing.” Grillbz lifted an eyebrow, amused. “Where?” “Here. Dancing around tables is easier than dancing around other couples anyway.” Grillbz smiled. “That’s antisocial of you, but I’m inclined to agree. But I’m not sure if I can remember.” “OK, stand right there.” “What are you planning?” “Lift your arms up.” “…Like this?” Grillbz circled his arms like a ballerina, frowning in confusion. “Yeah.” Sans trotted towards Grillbz from across the room. After a few steps he vanished, appearing at Grillbz’ chest level. Grillbz gave a startled squeak and caught him. “Heya.” “You’re going to give me a heart attack.” “…Did you just—?” “Hm?” “You did. You squeaked.” “Sans, I am a mighty and fearsome fire elemental. I do not ‘squeak’.” Grillbz said it with a straight face, but Sans knew from his voice that he was struggling not to smile. “You definitely squeaked. Like a rubber ducky.” Sans squished Grillbz’ cheeks. “Squeek squeek squeek.” Grillbz gave a choking laugh. “Stop. I thought you wanted to dance?” “I did.” “Well then.” Grillbz adjusted his hold on Sans, supporting him with an arm behind his back and lifting his hand with his free hand. He stepped into a waltz step, carrying Sans around in a circle twice, then drifting over to a table, setting him on it and spinning him. Sans finished the spin, caught Grilbz’ hand and guided it onto his back, taking his other hand instead and reversing the step. He led Grillbz in a small circle with Sans’ half covering an arc from one corner of the table to the next and then spun him, flames licking under his arms. Grillbz reversed the step. “I didn’t realize you could waltz,” Grillbz said. “I haven’t in forever. Please don’t make me do anything complicated.” “I can’t even remember what I would try. You are safe.” Grillbz spun him again, and Sans spun twice, ending pressed against Grillbz’ chest. He pulled Grillbz’ glasses off, kissed him on the cheek, pocketed the glasses and reversed the step, leading again. “Sans I can’t see.” “Yeah you can.” “Everything is dark, except for things which are blurs.” “You’re doing fine. Trust me.” “Alright.” It worked perfectly, until Sans spun him. He spun at a wonky angle and Sans realized he was going to hit the table. “Shit wait—“ There was a thump and the surface he was standing on tilted. He clung to Grillbz. “Gaah!” He fell on his back and Grillbz fell over him, stopping himself with his arms. “…Oh.” He said, blinking down at Sans. “Uh, hey there.” “Did you do that on purpose?” “Surprisingly, no. I merely obey the mighty laws of gravity.” “Ah. You mean, the attractive force between objects.” Grillbz let his arms go limp and flopped on the floor next to Sans. “Oh dear. Your gravity is too strong. Help. I can’t move.” Sans laughed, banging his head against the floor. “What? You cannot argue with gravity,” said Grillbz. “No, of course I do not presume. Oh, but you’re responsible for a horrifying breach of etiquette. Who lies on the floor in a nice bowtie? The poor tie. All it’s done for you and this is what it’s come to.” “Alas.” Snorted Grillbz, and let Sans undo his tie and loop it around his wrist. “Better?” “Much better. Perhaps the bowtie gods will have mercy on us.” Grillbz snorted, which made Sans laugh, which made Grillbz laugh. They clung desperately to each other for a few moments, choking. “Stop being so damn funny, I’m trying to flirt with you but I can’t stop laughing,” wheezed Sans. “But you look nice when you’re laughing. At least, I think? Judging from past experiences. You still look like a dark blur to me.” Grillbz put his hand out, feeling Sans’ face. Sans folded his hands behind Grillbz’ neck. “You look kinda like a bright blur.” “Really?” “Yeah. So bright. Like, I can look straight at you without hurting my eyes, but it still feels like I’m missing stuff, cuz you’re just… so bright. It turns into blurs.” Grillbz traced his finger over Sans’ brow ridges. They were pursed. “What?” he asked. Sans was running his fingers over a spot at the base of Grillbz’ neck. It felt odd. It took him a few moments to figure out why. There was a patch which was noticeably cooler than the surrounding area. “What is this?” “A scar.” “Does it hurt?” “No. It just feels a bit off.” Sans turned the collar down and kissed the cool patch. His entire vision blazed white. “Better?” “…Not worse.” Grillbz’ arms tightened around him, enclosing him in warmth. Sans snuggled in. Grillbz slowly rubbed circled on his back. Suddenly he stopped, tensing. “What?” whispered Sans. Grillbz remained tensed for a few seconds before relaxing. “Nothing. Thought I heard—“

Someone pounded on the door. He flinched. Sans balled his fists in his shirt.

“Shit.” Grillbz stood, setting Sans on his feet. “Go upstairs, I’ll get it.” “What? No—“ “Hush. It’s probably nothing. It’ll look strange if we’re together.” “Er—? I don’t see why—“ Grillbz carried him to the kitchen, set him inside and closed the door. Sans cracked it open and watching him walk to the door, bumping a table one and putting out his hands to check for more. Whoops… He still had his glasses… He hesitated at the door, and glanced back at the kitchen. ‘Probably nothing’ my ass. He was scared. Sans contemplated running out to join him, but that would probably make him more upset and not less. He was opening the door. Whoever it was hadn’t knocked more than once, that was good. It probably wasn’t too… urgent. …

He couldn’t see very well around Grillbz, but it was someone in a Guard uniform. He couldn’t tell how many more there were, but it was unlikely that there was just one. “What do you want?” said Grillbz, with exactly the right blend of politeness, thinly-shrouded irritation and exhaustion. The Guard didn’t answer immediately, which was.. vaguely menacing. Grillbz took a half-step back and raised his hand. Sans tensed, magic balling in his chest, then saw with confusion that Grillbz was running a hand over the Guard’s face. “…Papyrus?..” “CAn I cOme iN?” Sans’ soul raced. But it couldn’t be, the voice was wrong, wasn’t it? Grillbz stepped quickly to the side, giving Sans a clear view of a tall form that filled their doorway. It seemed to be alone. A red scarf was tossed over its shoulder. “Please do.” Papyrus(!??) didn’t move, but stood on the threshold. “Is SAnS hEre?” Sans pushed the door open and ran across the café to the door. “Hey, bro.” Papyrus looked at him in a way that made Sans wonder momentarily if his memory was intact, but then his face cracked into a smile. “HELlo BROTHeR.” He knelt and pulled Sans into a tight hug. Over Papyrus’ shoulder Sans saw Grillbz push the door shut and lean against it. He appeared to be hyperventilating.

Pt 1

Pt 6

[thundertempest]

Cliche

“Today is going to be terrible. Everything is absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt, going to go wrong,” I said, as I climbed out of bed and turned off the alarm by my bed. And for a moment, I thought my little trick had worked. Nothing seemed to go wrong for all of five minutes while I checked my phone, and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

Then, as I was heading out of my room for breakfast, I stepped on the remains of my kid brother’s LEGO sculpture, and tumbled down the stairs.

“Motherfu-” I managed to say, before I fell into the glowing portal that had appeared at the base of the stairs, still in my pyjamas.

Welcome to my life.

----------

Usually, my days don’t start so dramatically. Heck, sometimes I even get weeks of pure, blessed normality. Well, as normal as I can be, because I don’t think I’ve aged in what feels like ten years. Every year, I turn sixteen. I’ll probably turn sixteen again this year, exactly like I did last year. I'm even willing to say that the same people will show up to my birthday party. Anyway, as I was saying; normality. Sometimes I get weeks of it at a time. But most of the time, I’m a victim of what are often the most clichéd ‘Call To Adventure’ situations you could imagine, and I can’t not follow through. Call it a morbid curiosity if you want. I’ve fallen through multiple portals to other dimensions, I’ve discovered powers inside of me that I never knew I had, I’ve lived entire lifetimes in other worlds and come back home to find that not even an hour has passed, and I’m back in this body.

But the worst thing is that after about seven or eight of these adventures, I go to sleep, and everything resets, and I’m just Casey, a few months before my sixteenth birthday. At least I can usually maintain some semblance of personality across these experiences. The closest that I've gotten to an answer is that time is sort of fluid around me. Cause and effect still happen, but exact dates are difficult.

Heck, most days I'm lucky if I remember if I have homework for school to do.

------------

I woke up on cold ground, leaves tickling my face. Instincts from countless battles half-remembered in places almost too fantastical to describe scream at me to get out of the open, to find shelter, and figure out where the heck I am.

Also, I was mentally placing bets with myself as to when the elf, or animal person, or dwarf, or whatever was going to show up and declare me the saviour of the land. Best current odds were on between ten and thirty minutes.

I stood up slowly-portals tended to leave me nauseous. The last time that I'd fallen through a glowing portal in the air, I'd moved and eaten too quickly afterwards, and spent an hour throwing all of the food I'd eaten back up. Now standing, I could begin to get a proper look at where I was. It was definitely a forest of some kind, and definitely not the kind that was around my house. Senses that I had half-forgotten sparked into life, telling me that this world had magic of some form, but attempting to manipulate it when I had no clue how it worked would be a very bad idea.

So, my very first priority was to figure out where the heck I was in this world. If there was a village or something nearby, I could use that to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do here, unless something found me first, but aside from the soft chirping of birds and skittering of animals, I couldn't hear anything approaching me.

So, time to climb a tree. Get up somewhere high, find out where the heck I am, and where I potentially need to go.  I picked a tree that didn't look too difficult, and began to scale it, making my way through the canopy. Once I could go no higher, I poked my head as far as I dared out of the branches, and scanned the horizon. Nothing immediately jumped out at me in the way of destinations or things of importance.

------

"Hey-o!" said a voice, just as I  was about to start my climb down. Startled, my foot slipped, and I began to plummet with a yelp.

A minute passed, and I couldn't feel anything hit me. I couldn't even feel that I was moving, so I gingerly opened my eyes. The world had taken on a greyish tint, and I seemed to be suspended in mid-air. My body was frozen in position, only my head was still free to move.

"I've stopped time for a sec. Hold on, let me get you down from there," said the same voice as before. I felt a hand grab onto the back collar of my pyjamas, and pull me down towards the ground. A few moments later, I was back down on the ground, and the man who had saved me walked into view. He was tall, but bulky. Heavy, not stringy like some of the guys at school.

"Let me just check something with you, okay? You are Casey, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Casey Bell?"

"Yes?"

"Casey Isadore Bell?"

I grumbled another yes. I hated my middle name.

"Great," said the man, clapping his hands together, "Now, to state the blindly obvious, you are a very long way from home, Casey."

"Yeah, no shit," I said, "please tell me you're here to help me stop this stuff happening to me and get me back to a normal life."

"Yes and no," said the man, "I can't pull you home now-you've crossed The Gap. The prophecy is in motion now, and I can't interfere directly with that. But yes, I am eventually going to get you back to a normal life, so you'll stop falling through portals, or being teleported at random."

I breathed a sigh of relief, then my mind caught onto something the man had said.

"Wait, prophecy?"

He sighed, and then took a deep breath.

"Yeah. You've probably read books, or seen films or whatever it is you kids do these days, about young teens getting pulled into fantastical worlds, to help bring it back into balance, and in the process, learn the value of self-confidence or whatever."

"Yeah, but they're just-" I trailed off as the man raised an eyebrow at me. "So all those stupid books are real?"

"Not all, but some are. Those kind of events, as I am sure you have discovered, are capable of happening."

"But that would mean magic is real. Why hasn't anyone talked about this?"

"Who would believe a seventeen-year-old girl who said she found a magical land of elves and dwarves in her closet and adventured with them to find the meaning of courage?" said the man.

"Okay, fair point," I said, after thinking for a bit, "but how do you know about all this?"

"I'm the guy who's in charge of regulating this shit. So it is, indirectly mind you, my fault that you've ended up in the situation you have. My name's Andrew, by the way."

"Your fault?!" I half-screamed, trying to reach him, but I still couldn't move anything but my head.

"Look, a few centuries ago, I implemented some automation into my job, to take care of lapsed prophecies. Somehow, the system fucked itself and they all got shunted to you very recently."

I blinked.

"At last count, this now-disabled system has given you..." Andrew paused for a minute and a glowing square appeared in the air, with what looked like computer code scrolling down it. "Eight thousand and eighty five lapsed prophecies. Now, I can't just cancel these things, or delete them. They have to be fulfilled, but the original people these were intended for either died, can't be found, or out grew the need for them. Thus, we arrive at your situation, Casey. For some reason, they all defaulted to you, but because most of them demand that you be within a few months of your sixteenth birthday, rather than lapse the prophecy again, it has somehow instituted a form of time loop."

I watched as Andrew's fingers danced over the glowing screen, swiping things left and right at almost random.

"You get from exactly four months before your sixteenth birthday to four months after your sixteenth birthday. And let's see...you've done that cycle seven times and out of the eight thousand and eighty five prophecies that you were assigned, you've completed forty-three. Wow."

"How does this help me stop this stuff from happening, though?" I said.

Andrew coughed, slightly embarrassed.

"Right. Helping you. Technically, it doesn't, but the information is helpful. However, we do have a problem."

"What's that, besides the obvious one?"

"I am technically not allowed to help any person who has been assigned a prophecy. Even me being here is technically a bad thing. Once they've crossed The Gap-the space between their world and the world of prophecy-I can't do anything to help directly." Andrew paused for a moment, and dug something out of his jacket pocket, and dropped it on the ground.

"Whoops," he said, with a half-manic grin, and then clicked his fingers, and the colour bled back into the world. Finally able to move again, I picked it up.

"The Hero's Journey- A Guide to Fiction? A writing guide?" I said, "how the heck does this-Oh. Oh, I get it."

"You're not half dumb, Casey. Not everything is going to be exactly as it is in there, but you've already gotten a sense of how this whole scene works. You are, in essence, the protagonist of  a young adult fiction novel right now. Use that knowledge, and abuse the shit out of it. Prophecy magic says that you more or less have to live through this intact, so go wild. I'll be in touch with you later," said Andrew, snapping his fingers. The world instantly regained its colour, and he vanished into thin air.

---------

"Go forth, brave Casey, and hold your head high as you walk through life," said someone from over my shoulder. I wasn't sure who, because all that mattered was the portal in front of me. I felt the people that I had come to know over my fairly standard adventure pat me on the back as I strode into the portal.

Then I remembered exactly how I'd gone through the portal when I arrived.

"Motherfu-"

"-ker!" I finished, as I bounced off the last step, back in my pyjamas.

"Language, Casey!" yelled my mother from the kitchen, and I grumbled a few more curse words under my breath as I picked myself up off the floor. Despite my annoyance with the whole 'falling into portals every other week' thing, it was an escape from the drudge of my everyday life.

I shuffled into the kitchen, nursing the bump on my head as I sat down and a bowl of cereal was shoved in front of me. Partially on autopilot, I dug in, trying to remember if anything important was happening at school today.

As my mind churned through its gears, I finished the bowl of cereal, placed it in the dishwasher, and wandered back upstairs, and begun to get ready for the day at school.

'I'll be in touch with you later.' That was what Andrew, whoever he really was, had said. But he'd said he could help. And I'd certainly never met anyone who could control time like that, but there was definitely something slightly wrong about him, as my half-awake magic sense told me.

"Casey! We're leaving in five minutes!" called my mother from down stairs, interrupting my thoughts.

"Coming!" I called back, throwing my backpack on my back, and hurrying down the stairs.

------------

Found this while I was cleaning out a laptop of mine that I don’t use so much any more. Cleaned it up a bit, added some stuff, and here we are.

The initial prompt was from @jllongwrites

The prompt: Write a story where the protagonist is fully aware they’re the protagonist in a story.

[nothingnoteworthy]

Chapter 8: Liminal Sandwich Shops

Overload loved a good rave. The louder the music and the bigger the crowd equaled the better the time.  Plus, no one really noticed if you were physically sparking on the dance floor. You could lose control, generate too much energy, teleport to an entirely different rave in an entirely different country and no one in either rave really cared. Well. No one cared if you ended up at the right type of rave. Not every party with bad lighting and glowsticks counted.

It wasn’t surprising that it was the buzz she was sensing. A large party in the middle of an otherwise empty, quiet commercial area would be putting off noticeable electricity. Apparently it wasn’t her sole opinion. Some sort of insect with too many legs and too much body slammed itself onto the roof. The crowd panicked and they were in the right. She would too if she hadn’t given herself the responsibility of protecting people from superpowered threats. Ash was a lot more prepared to take it on. Probably a mixture of bravery and excessive experience in killing bugs. Overload wasn’t going to do it, Caroline thought her fear was hilarious, and Lyric tried to pied piper them out of the fucking apartment. Like the nonviolent effort was appreciated but please set it on fire.

Overload snagged Ash before she could start the fight. There was something at the edge of her awareness, one powerful and familiar enough to make Overload retreat into the shadows. Sure enough Scream Queen showed up in a burst of that signature PDU light. The creature was done for in the most humane way possible. Which, given that its legs were being chopped off, probably wasn’t much better than being lit on fire.

She kept backing up, deeper into the alley. This was not a good time to have a run in with Scream Queen. Overload had the presence of mind to not wear spandex but if your ex catches you lurking in an alleyway wearing head to do black and metal plating with a cheap mask and a girl that breathes fire she’s gonna know what you’re up to. She didn’t want to get caught working as a vigilante, especially not by this ex. It was weird.

Her anxiety spiked. Scream Queen lingered after the battle. Just. looking around. Casual. Calm. Collected. Fucking creepy with her god damned spiny teeth just sorta stapled onto the burlap. She seemed to lose interest and leave but. She might come back. Overload wouldn’t put it past her to mess with someone like that. Jumpscares and all.  Even if she didn’t, a UN clean up crew would and that meant it was high time to move on. This was getting them nowhere anyway. It was time to seek outside help. On the lucky hand, she had another ex in the area who was much more comfortable with masks and usually had good information. On the unlucky hand, she had another ex in the area. Tonight sucked.

Overload tried to keep thinking of him as her contact. But that just made it seem like they were friends on superhero facebook or something. Which she actually would be, although she would probably hide him from her feed. The thought would be mutual. Probably. He hung out in a sketchy looking sandwich franchise that she was pretty sure he actively worked to make sketchy. Single story, had to have been at least a 20 year old building, hidden at the end of the road with two four story office buildings on either side of it.Weirdly large parking lot for a tiny shop that literally no one was at, ever. There wasn’t a single car in that parking lot and the open sign was so heavily aged you probably couldn’t tell when it was on. The inside was extremely sterile in contrast with the outside dinge. You could smell the antiseptic. The floor was so shiny you could do your make up with it. It was weird. She didn’t like it. One day she’d bring Caroline here to get confirmation that he somehow set up his life in a pocket dimension.

Overload pushed open the employees only door, weaving through the shimmeringly clean racks straight for a box freezer. She shoved it to the side, revealing a narrow staircase that revitalized the rust chic the outside had. It was less rickety than it looked. Ash went first, a small fireball in her hand lighting just a few feet in front of them. Enough to see where they were going but not enough to be able to tell exactly how much of the stairs were iron and how much were thin flaky rust.

They ended in a bare cement room, empty except for a flickering lightbulb. Her ex/contact was nothing if not cautious. Understandable, given his particular situation. Overload walked up to one of the walls and began to bang on it with her fist.

“Heeey buddy, open up, I need some info and there’s a 75% chance you have it. Come on, don’t be annoying it’s alright like 12 at night I know you’re up and I know neither of us want to be up. Or, well, okay, you probably want to be up because you don’t sleep because you seem to think you have infinite health and will never get sleep deprivation ever but you’ve gotten it before like right before my damn eyes so I know it happens and then you get the sleep headaches and you get all grumpy and frankly that’s uncalled for. I mean you might be sleeping right now but I don’t think -”

The wall slowly slid to the left, revealing a large grey bipedal wolf. With hands. Now how he would describe himself (he liked getting out a large red plastic binder with printed wikipedia entries of various werewolfs, wolfmen, and humanoid dog creatures and showing you the highlighted portions) but it was how Overload did it. Wolf on two legs with hands. There we go. At least he was wearing a pair of loose black workout pants. So that was a bit of description embellishment. Something fancy to get going on. Pants. His ears slid back slightly and he tapped one of his feet against the ground. “What’s the other 25%?”

“Fleas. 75% information. 25% fleas.”

“You’re hilarious. Come in, tell me what you’re looking for.” He paused, glancing at Ash. “I don’t have fleas don’t listen to her. That was one time and it was her that had the fleas first.”

“It’s true, I did. It was finals week, I spent a few hours at the dogpark with a giant bucket of dried chicken livers buying the love of the city’s dog population.” Overload explained. Ash sighed heavily and walked into the spacious room. Half of it was laid out like an apartment, a little kitchen, a tiny table, a beat up couch and a coffee table. There was a large bed, piled with pillows and blankets, that looked like it had never been made. There rest of it was covered in computers. Desks and tables were arranged in a large U shape, with a cluster of servers and other components in the center of the room. Several large screens hung from the wall, each displaying several windows full of numbers, pictures and documents. It was a lot. Gave Overload one hell of a headache.

“I’m Kevin by the way. A lot of people call me K9, my project code back at Biotech was really unfortunate. Or really well planned.” He held out a large furry, clawed hand to Ash. She hesitated for just a moment, cautiously giving his hand a small shake.

"Ash."

"Nice to meet you Ash. What were you looking for Overload? I've got my own project right now but I might have gotten something on the side." He quickly moved to the other side of the room taking a seat into a large plush rolling chair.

“You’ve probably heard of the digital attacks on some companies in the area? We tried to see what was going on but their server room was fried. You could go in any room in the building and see every scream freaking out. It was pretty bad. Plus there was this weird person in red? Teleporting?” Overload dropped onto his couch. Kevin wrinkled his brow and stared at her before shaking his head.

“The teleporting person, I’m not sure. There’s a lot of possibilities but it quickly becomes too many possibilities. If they’re good, cameras will never catch them. If the cameras never catch them, neither do I. All I get is some word of mouth and that takes forever to form into a profile. The attacks, yeah. Everyone’s heard about that. It’s another Old Series Biotech soldier, I don’t remember her project code but her project name was Antivirus.”

“Ironic.”

“Yeah. Let me see what I have on her, I’m glad you’re on her trail. She’s low key but dangerous. If she stays on the streets she’s going to start fights with other ex-Biotechs, both old and new series.” Kevin turned his focus back to his computers, sorting through files. He went quiet for a bit, massive body hunched over his keyboard, staring into the rows of screens. At least Kevin and Overload got along still. It would be kind of unfortunate if an information hound like him was  out to get her. It would also be unfortunate if he ever heard her make that pun. Someone needed to get a new sense of humor, or at least learn to respect the beautiful time honored art of wordplay. It was the one sore spot in their otherwise decent relationship. If only.

“What are you working on?” She asked, watching Ash unsuccessfully try to wipe a few stray hairs off her pants. They would be there forever.

“Something a lot more interesting than some computer problems. The city’s grown itself another cult. A lot of them are just smoke, mirrors, and sedatives but some of them have Astral influence. This one’s got something big.” Kevin got excited, his ears perking up. “I think they’re trying to resurrect or even create some kind of deity. So Cool. I mean. It’s not, not really cool people will die and I gotta put a stop to it but they had to pick up a lot of ancient forgotten stuff, thousands of years old.”

“Is it a bad god?” Ash didn’t seem comfortable with the couch or the conversation. Overload smiled sympathetically.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s a good one. I’ve already found a ritual spot covered in blood. Whatever they’re creating it’s not friendly. I’m not done decoding all of the information I’ve found, but I’ve found enough references to a ‘sea of blood’ and ‘cities full of emptiness’ to come to the conclusion that maybe this shouldn’t happen. And there we go. Here, the flash drive is secure but try not to put it on an internet connected device.” Kevin swung around, pulling one of the dangling drives off his tower, tower. “I’m gonna call you if I need a hand. I work well with lightning powers.”

Hm. Oh yes. The, other thing that stained their relationship. One of his exes. Fun. Fun reminder. Still. Sounded bad. Probably a lot worse what they were working on. But also a bit weird that the PDU wasn’t involved. Kevin would’ve never gotten into it if they were. “I’ll bring the whole crew. Who knows what powers their evil-cult-god will have.”

“I’m hoping I can put a stop to it before they actually manage to wake it up. I should be able to pull a few strings and get them cut off. Fingers crossed.” He grinned, managing to not look like he was trying to eat them. Overload laughed and took the drive, motioning for Ash to get up.

“Fingers crossed. Thanks for the help.”

“Anytime Duracell.”

“See ya later Rover.”

“Bite me.”

[helloyoucreatives]

WTF are creative superpowers and how do you get them?

We’re Alex and Emily, a creative team who’s done the hire, the placement, the freelance and the unmotivated… all probably in the wrong order, but we’re rolling with it, putting ourselves back into the game by starting again, learning what we want and as much as we can from the industry. We’re currently back on placement at Publicis, making some cool stuff, trying to find the right agency we want to work for. When helloyoucreatives asked us to write a lil’ summin’ on the creative superpowers talk, we lapped up the opportunity, with the hope it’d help keep us motivated, plus get a few ideas for the briefs & projects we’re currently working on.

To be totally honest we approached this talk with sceptical hope, the same kind you have when somebody recommends a film by saying 'trust me it’s sick, you’ll love it'. You want to love it, but something in the back of your mind says it’ll probably be a bit crap, and make you feel bad at the end of it.

So while Alex swapped our free drink tokens for a few bevs we asked ourselves whether we were going to come out of this feeling like mere mortals having not achieved much at all. Or whether we’d walk out with a renewed sense of purpose and creative superpowers of our own?

We still weren’t sure but as Daniele (one of the writers of Creative Superpowers) started his introduction; I think we both started to feel glad we decided to ignore the inner sceptic. He talked about entering the age of creativity, where the rise of new tech like Artificial intelligence and Crowdsourcing will, through something called ‘neuroplasticity’ (our new word of the week), change the way we think and solve problems forever.

To do this he says we need some new skills or in other words, what we all came to hear about, some creative superpowers: Hacker, Maker, Teacher and Thief. There’s loads we wanted to write about, they gave us a crap tonne of great advice and dropped some quotes that could put your best pinterest board to shame. You might say enough to a fill a book, so instead we’ll share a few things things from the talk that affected us most.

Some of the most mind-blowiest stuff came from Laura Jordan Bambach Creative partner at Mr.President, founder of the SheSays awards, a former D&AD president and quite frankly a straight-up ‘don’. In her words no matter how many decks, docs, and client presentations we do, “we aren’t makers,” all that bollocks takes away the craft, experimentation and the failures that make “Happy Accidents” the little sparks of genius where the real great stuff lives.

Even when Bacardi asked her to create content for a massive crazy A-list party, right in the Bermuda Triangle! (Sounds like some James Bond meets the Hangover typea thing), that would surely connect with Bacardi's audience right? Well i guess not because instead of just filming an influencer party “normal guys aren’t really cool enough to go to” she decided to go against the brief, gather a bit of cash money and run with the thought ‘what if we could break into the Bermuda Triangle?’ What they came up with instead was something that not only was incredibly cool but pretty damn inspiring, in a ‘millennial’ Robin Hood kind of way. Basically the next time a planner gives you a brief just burn it right then and there, JK but do really think about what isn’t on that piece of paper.

Link to the trailer worth a watch–https://vimeo.com/13166886

We learnt how hacking doesn't necessarily mean just tapping into a computer and fraping your mates facebook, but instead is a way to channel your brain into overcoming systems, and having the desire to solve difficult problems and find unique creative solutions.

Which makes the thief section a bit of an odd one because if you did all that to find a great creative solution and somebody else presented your idea, you’d probably want to punch them in the throat. But if you really think about it, everything's a remix; a great quote we took from Mark Earls was: “Originality is for people with short memories”. Some of the best solutions to real world problems come from stealing somebody else's approach and applying it to your own. Apparently David Bowie was at it too, famously cutting up other songs and rearranging them for inspo, so next time your conscious starts creeping up on you, just think,  “what would Bowie do?”

The main bulk of what we took from Teacher is that you’re “illiterate” if you stop learning and if you’re stuck in a rut, you need to accept that in order to progress you need to LEARN, UNLEARN and RELEARN some things. Like, imagine nowadays tackling a brief straight on without the help from google or your account planner. You’d have to live through the product yourself… and that to us was damn right insightful.

We asked them what advice would they give to broke creatives trying to make it, they told us to say yes to everything and no matter what they may be, to think about your talents (for me he suggested charging for caricatures) and just start making stuff because that’s where opportunity comes from.

All in all they’ve somehow managed to combine a boatload of different experiences into a fresh way of looking at the things we all do everyday, after this I'll be able to say confidently my fav superpower is still  teleportation. But what these guys proposed is definitely a close second.

Thanks to the guys at Creative Social & Dan at HYC for the tickets.

(P.S If anybody wants a caricature send us a cheeky email at alexandemilycreatives@gmail.com I charge by the hour)

Go support the Creative Superpowers project here -

https://unbound.com/books/creative-super-powers

[dunpla-blog]

Doctor Who/Star Trek: Voyager Crossover: Part 1

This is something I started a while ago but never got around to finishing it until recently. Let me know what you think. It involves the tenth doctor getting drawn into another universe when Voyager gets into trouble.

The Doctor was alone in the TARDIS when a voice started coming over the intercom. “Chakotay to the bridge.” The Doctor was flummoxed at first, but quickly got over it and responded.

“Who is this? How did you get this number?”

“Who is this? And what do you mean ‘Number’?” the women’s voice came through, but it was really staticky.

“Hold on, let me clear up the signal.” The Doctor was flying around the controls pressing several buttons and flipping switches. He was able to keep the signal but barely. It remained staticky, but the Doctor could smell trouble, and he was ready to fly in and help. If he could not talk to them, he would need to go to them. He looked at his computer screen and found the signal frequency. He went to the next console and programmed the engine to follow the signal to its origin point.

On Voyager, Captain Janeway, come across an odd looking space station. Having never seen anything like it, she hoped it would contain some helpful technology. They were still very far from home.

“Ensign, Scan for life signs,” commanded Janeway.

Ensign Harry Kim scanned but came up with nothing. He shook his head at the captain and continued to monitor ships systems. All of a sudden, the station started emitting a strange energy signature. It did not appear to be affecting anything vital, but Janeway needed to know what was down there. It may not have been affecting much, but it was a lot. She should be able to at least recharge the ship.

“Chakotay to the bridge” Janeway tried to call her first officer to the bridge, but instead she got someone else.

“Who is this? How did you get this number?” came the strange voice over the intercom.

“Who is this? And what to do you mean ‘number’?”

“Hold on, let me clear up the signal.”

On the TARDIS, Sparks and explosions are happening everywhere. Smoke is starting to fill up the control room. The Doctor had no idea where he was going to end up, but TARDIS certainly did not like it. The Doctor was knocked back and fell onto the couch. He bounced back up and continued to fiddle with the controls. Finally, the engine settled and the sparks stopped, but the room was still full of smoke, and it would take time for the TARDIS to repair itself. The Doctor made one last check of his pockets before heading out the door.

On Voyager, the com link is closed, and the bridge crew is very confused. Chakotay just got onto the bridge when everyone heard a strange noise, like a siren, and then slowly, a shape started to appear. It was faint at first, but the shape got more visible. It looked like a blue box.

“Police Public Call Box?” Paris was confused. “It was an emergency station from the 1960′s,” He explained, “But it shouldn’t be able to teleport.”

The door opened, and a tall man in a suit and a bunch of smoke stumbled out of the door. Tuvok quickly drew his phaser, as the man closed the door and turned around.

“Hey, whoa. Why does everyone I meet like to point guns at me? I mean look at me, do I look like a threat?”

“You are an unknown intruder, while we are in hostile space. It is logical to assume you might be dangerous,” explained Tuvok.

“Oh, I am very dangerous, but so are most people. Especially those with guns.” the man said pointedly at Tuvok, “But I asked if I looked like a threat.”

That is Janeway stepped in, “It might help if we knew your name.”

“I’m The Doctor,” He said and stepped forward to shake Janeway’s hand. She took it, and that is when he noticed the view screen, “Oooh, now that looks dangerous.”

Janeway signaled for Tuvok to lower his weapon. Tuvok reluctantly obeyed, “Doctor is not a name, it is a position.”

“Maybe for you. What are your names?”

“I am Captain Katheryn Janeway, this is Commander Chakotay, the man with the phaser is my chief of security, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, This is Tom Paris, our pilot, and over there is Ensign Harry Kim. The rest of my command crew is elsewhere at the moment, but you can meet them later.”

“Names are funny, they mean so much and so little at the same time. One word that can sum up an entire life, yet that word is so arbitrary. So many people with the name Harry or Tom, but the name means something completely different for each person it belongs to, and for everyone else, for that matter. But you have no control over that word. Well, I do. Look at that, I don’t usually explain that. Usually, something explodes.” And with that last remark, the console in front of Kim exploded.

“That’s more like it.” exclaimed the Doctor as he ran over to look at the console. “I take it this is the where you scanned the station?” Kim nodded. The Doctor gently pushed him out of the way so he could get to the controls.

“Somehow, when you scanned it, it made a connection to your ship. From there it spread to other systems, like your communications, but that does not explain how I got contacted.”

“Well, it must have redirected the call,” explained Kim

“My ship can go anywhere in the universe, without a problem, yet when I came here, it had a terrible time landing. This only happens in rare cases, based on your level and style of technology, I would say I am in a different universe. That is quite the long distance call.”

“How is that possible?” asked Janeway.

“At a guess, I would say that station is designed to siphon energy from dimensional rifts and other universes. That is incredibly advanced and immensely dangerous. Now be quiet so I can concentrate. I need to separate the ship’s systems from the station, and I am unfamiliar with the technology.”

The Doctors fingers wizzed over the keyboard; panels were starting to explode all over the ship. It was only a matter of time before it hit the engines and destroyed everything. The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and used it on the panel, and everything settled down.

“Damage reports,” demanded Janeway into the comms before turning to the Doctor, “What did you do?”

“I severed the connection to station,” the Doctor looked at Janeway like she was stupid, “I did just explain that. Now I need to get to that station. And bring the TARDIS,” the Doctor said as he walked off the bridge and down the hall.