#the guns holster to her back as well and she pulls them out like swords

[segfaultfault]

fic rec! I had otter thoughts. And have you read That otterly amazing fic by ultranos, "the two-body problem" (AO3 registered users only link).

“Not unless you get a tac vest, Alex.” Okay, wow, J’onn sounds way too reasonable about letting an otter do… whatever Alex is pondering that is clearly dangerous, but oh gosh she’d look adorable in an itty-bitty tac vest

-excerpt "the two-body problem", ultranos (AO3 author page)

You're so right. She does.

[imagine-darksiders]

Not your time - A Darksiders oneshot.

Hey everyone!

A commission from the lovely and generous @humboltsquid, who requested a female Reader who barely survives an assassination attempt that's carried out in front of the Horsemen.

CW: Blood, guns, assassination attempt, mild descriptions of bullet wounds, aftermath, protective Horsemen, whump, angst, fluff, Death centric.

----------

A sudden flash of dazzling light bursts in front of your face, and try as you might to keep your eyes open, you just know that come Monday, there’ll be an unseemly photograph of you squinting out of the front page of a local newspaper.

“Perfect!” the photographer grins without casting so much as a glance down at the screen of her camera.

Blinking rapidly to disperse the shadow floating in front of your eyes, you take another look out at the crowd gathered on the square below the steps of Haven City Hall.

Most, if not all of their attention is rigidly devoted to you as multiple pens sit poised over tattered notebooks, though there are some people who throw envious glares at the photographer as she retreats back into their ranks.

You have to admit, you find yourself wondering where she managed to scrouge up a working camera.

It’s hardly been a few months since Humanity pulled itself out of the rubble of an unrecognisable Earth.

Word of the Apocalypse, its aftermath and the reasons behind it spread like wildfire – words that originated from your mouth, at the behest of the Four Horsemen, all of whom agreed that you’d make a fine ambassador for your species.

Death made it apparent that he and his siblings thought very highly of you after your involvement in clearing War’s name and surviving trials no human ever had before.

You’re starting to wish they thought a little less of you now, though. This is the seventh ‘press conference’ you’ve been subjected to in the past month. That’s without all the one-to-one interviews you’d been forced into with world leaders, heads of national security, historians, religious leaders, scientist… The list goes on.

Today is just more of the same; a whole lot of reporters clamouring to quote you for their articles in cobbled-together newspapers that have finally begun to crop up around the globe.

At a glance, it would almost appear that you're standing on the steps alone. But upon further inspection, it isn't difficult to spot four, hulking figures eyeing the proceedings from the shadows.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Death, Fury, Strife and War. Your guardians. And quite possibly the best friends you've ever had, no matter their quirks and social ineptness.

They've grown tired of the constant questions from your fellow humans, even Strife, and no doubt the only reason they're here at all today is to watch your back, despite how often you try to tell them that they don't have to worry about you.

You might as well be throwing words at a brick wall and expecting it to break.

In the corner of your eye, there’s another flash, and a split second where your heart starts to sink at the prospect of yet another photograph circling the papers. However, in less than a blink, something smacks into your abdomen with a dull, wet ‘thwack,’ forcing you to stumble onto your backfoot.

Startled, you drop your mouth open and look out at the crowd, dimly wondering why one of them had thrown something at you…

A rock, perhaps?

Strange…

You nearly jump out of your skin when there’s an explosion of motion all around you.

From one moment to the next, War hauls his immense bulk in front of you, dousing you in his shadow as he rips Chaoseater from its scabbard and swings the terrible sword out in front of him, shoulders bristling with a rage you can’t yet place.

At almost the exact same time, Strife appears as if from nowhere to your right, roaring like a wild beast and, to your horror, whipping Mercy and Redemption out of their holsters and pointing them out at the anxious crowd.

A woman screams, loud and shrill enough to hurt your ears, sending blood coursing through them until you’re left grimacing at the sound, only dimly aware of the tiny burn blossoming to life in your abdomen, just beneath your left breast.

No sooner have the brothers locked their legs rigidly into place than someone fills the space behind you– Fury, if the warm body pressing a little too firmly into your back is any indication.

“Strife! The rooftops!” she shouts urgently, and you can’t help but grimace again as her voice thrums through your head like a claxon.

Bewildered. you twist yourself sideways, meeting the stare of the last Horseman, Death. He was the furthest away when the rock hit you, though now he seems to warp through the air towards you with the grace and swiftness of a shadow moving across the square, and all the ferocity of a bull charging down its quarry.

Your mouth hangs open, lips twitching as the burn in your chest grows as if an insect has lodged its stinger inside your skin, and you’re about to ask what in the world they think they’re doing when you pull in a breath.

All at once, your chest hitches painfully, and you hurry to throw a hand over your mouth to catch the hacking cough that takes you by surprise. You pull a face at the sensation of thick saliva spattering against your palm.

It had been a sunny day not moments ago, but as Death approaches from your left, the temperature around you plummets by a staggering degree, as if you’ve been cast into the eye of a polar storm. Growing increasingly alarmed by the second, you pull in a smaller breath, one that rattles and wheezes in its way in, but doesn’t quite manage to fill your lungs as you move your hand away to call Death’s name.

The last thing you expect to see when you briefly glance down is the splatter of rich, glistening blood freckling the previously unblemished skin of your palm.

It’s only then that the thought occurs to you; it may not have been a rock at all…

“Death?” you whimper shakily, lowering your trembling hand and touching your fingertips gingerly to the spot on your torso that’s beginning to feel even worse, as though instead of an insect, a lit cigarette has been jammed against your skin with no signs of cooling.

You’d flinch away from the sensation were you not being tightly boxed in on every side by four, bridling forces of nature.

The eldest of them, Death, is upon you in an instant, dragging the shadows of buildings along in his wake as if, for just a moment, the darkness itself is beholden to none but him.

There’s a fire raging in the Horseman’s wide and simmering eyes that contradicts the icy hands that reach out to catch you by your shoulders when you take a faltering step towards him, only to crumple as the numbness in your legs makes itself apparent.

A familiar chill pours down your spine. One you’re all-too familiar with.

They promised you had nothing to be afraid of, not while you have Four of them in your corner.

But you can’t help it.

Right now, as War bellows a thunderous battle-cry out at some unknown recipient, and the breaths start to leave you in great clouds of billowing, white air, you’re scared.

 ---

‘No, no, no, NO! NO!’

Death’s ever-churning mind howls with outrage and disbelief, even if his lips remain tightly sealed beneath his bone-mask as he holds you upright by your shoulders, suspending you an inch above the ground in his haste to scan you for injury.

He’s mutely aware that the crowd of humans have already begun to scatter, though whether they’ve been driven away by the Horsemen’s sudden act of aggression or the culprit who has just made a foolish attempt on your life, Death can’t be bothered to guess.

He knows… As soon as he caught the flash from a broken window that overlooks the city hall, he knew. And he knows, for the rest of his wretched existence, that he’ll be trying to atone for standing too far away to reach you in time. For growing complacent.

They've all grown complacent, though he’ll shoulder the blame for his siblings because they – however unwittingly – follow by his example.

He thought this would be safe.

You weren’t supposed to get hurt, this was just another question-and-answer session you’ve done dozens of times before. Curious humans seeking gaps in their knowledge from you.

Who in their right mind would dare, would even have the nerve to try and hurt the human who has been so obviously afforded protection by the Four? Not even Samael, arguably their strongest adversary, would think twice before attempting to antagonise the Horsemen.

He can feel your warm breaths hitting the exposed skin of his sternum as he clings to you, rolling his eyes down until he spies the patch of crimson blooming outwards underneath your quivering hand.  

The acrid stench of blood – your blood – is quick to slip between the cracks of his mask and into his unwilling nostrils.

Death’s muscles bunch at the intrusion and he clamps his gnashing teeth down on the primal growl that tries to escape through them.

He’s aware that at any moment, his siblings are going to catch the same scent on the wind, and it’ll be all he can do to stop them from levelling the entire city, just to ensure that your would-be killer doesn’t get away. Hell, it’s all he can currently do to keep his own Reaper Form from tearing itself loose and raking up the souls of any human in the vicinity.

As unhappy as his siblings already are though, they’re about to raise merry Hell when he makes his next announcement.

“She’s been shot,” he spits, pulling the metaphorical trigger on three, loaded guns.

As if from nowhere, a maelstrom whips up around Strife, who only just manages to lurch sideways far enough to spare you and his siblings from being crushed as he erupts into the titanic, armoured beast; Anarchy, shaking out his mane and tipping his horned head back to screech up at the sky.

Steeling himself against your sudden whimpers of alarm, Death barks, “Seventh story window to the North. Go!”

And without needing any further spurring on, Anarchy launches himself into a gallop across the street, leaping up to latch his monstrous claws into the wall of the building and hauling himself straight up the side of it, hand over hand.

War and Fury don’t look as though they’ll be far behind their brother, but Death’s voice is enough to still them before they too can unleash their true forms and give chase.                                                                                                                   

“Fury.”

Snarling, his sister whips around towards him, her expression faltering when she sees how carefully he slides his arms beneath your knees and hoists you off your feet, cradling you against his unforgiving chest.

“Rampage is the fastest of our horses,” he continues, “Find Azrael, meet us at Y/n’s home.”

She looks as though she’s about to argue, far more interested in joining Strife to enact some well-deserved vengeance in your honour, but another glance at you reminds her that this isn’t the time for personal vendettas.

Fiery hair bobs as she gives a resolute nod, then turns on her heel and raises a fist in the air. “Rampage! To me!”

Death’s attention flits back to you, secure in the knowledge that at least two of his siblings have been distracted from going on the warpath.

Speaking of…

“Brother… Is she...?” War’s voice has dipped and bowed with rage, lending him the cadence of a beast.

Before he can say another word, Death speaks, his magics flaring about him like coiling snakes, though is tone is deceptively calm. “War, I need you to guard us as we ride.”

Without another word, the Horsemen summon their steeds, and Death is forced to relinquish you to War for a second whilst he hauls himself into Despair’s saddle, immediately reaching to take you again when his brother gently lifts you towards him. You scream as he does, trying to curl in on yourself until you’re deposited in the saddle between Death’s sturdy thighs.

Then, in a moment so rare, not even his siblings can remember the last time they saw it, Death slips his hand underneath yours, trying not to let his stomach squeeze at the feeling of your fingers latching onto his. He meets your eyes, loathing the wide, terrible pain that’s been placed inside them.

Pain has no place in your life, not so long as they’re here to protect you from it.

“Not yet,” he breathes, damn-near begs, spurring Despair into a thunderous gallop with Ruin snorting wildly at his heels.

----------

It’s the agony that wakes you in the end, a raging hellfire that ignites in your chest as you startle to consciousness, never recalling how you’d come to be unconscious in the first place.

As if the unexpected pain weren’t bad enough, your heartbeat thuds strongly in your ears, which are ringing with the shouts of several, booming voices, all far too close and spilling over one another in a furious rush, leaving you feeling as though you’ve been placed inside an amphitheatre.

“- the Hell wasn’t someone watching the buildings!?” Fury’s voice, easily distinguishable from her brothers’ and absolutely drenched in her namesake.

Gritting your teeth, you screw your face up when Strife almost roars back, “Keep lookin’ at me when you say that, and I might start thinkin’ you’re blaming me for this!”

“Perhaps I am! You’re the firearms expert, as you so often like to remind us!”

“Why the Hell should that mean-!?” He cuts himself off midsentence, granting you a second of relief before he promptly redirects his attention to one of his other siblings. “WAR! If you don’t stop pacing, you’re going out the goddamn window!”

Ah, you wince, so that wasn’t your heart beating in your ears.

War’s thundering footfalls come to an abrupt halt somewhere to your right, and he promptly responds to his brother’s threat with a rumbling growl, the kind that emanates straight from his chest and spills across the room like a roll of thunder.

They’re fighting about something…. Which isn’t unusual. But lately, they’ve been getting better at not doing it around you.

God your chest hurts. What the Hell happened?

“Mmgh, ugh…” You feel like you need a crowbar to pry your eyelids apart, but at least the pitiful sound you made is enough to stop their incessant bickering.

A new problem arises though, when they instantly start to exclaim anew.

“She’s awake!” Strife gushes.

“I can see that for myself,” Fury sighs, though not without a hint of relieved laughter.

War’s relief is quieter, but no less palpable.

Through the gaps in your eyelids, you spot a flash of red surging towards you as you try to heave yourself upright, but not a moment later, a strong, uncompromising gauntlet engulfs your shoulder, pushing you down to lay flat on your back.

“Stay there,” War’s baritone thrums, as gentle as you’ve ever heard it, “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Tears of pain are already trailing down your cheeks, but you suppose he means you’ll make it worse. Blinking to clear your vision, you peer up at the three, titanic figures looming over your head.

Strife’s eyes are the first you meet, glowing like raw gold from beneath his silver helm. They pinch at the corners, a telltale sign that he’s smiling under there. “H-hey, gorgeous,” he swallows thickly as if he’s about to choke, “Glad to see you’re awake again… Scared the Hell out of us back there, you know.”

You know it must have been bad if he’s admitting to fear.

“How’re you feeling.”

Before you can open your mouth to tell him that it feels as if your chest is being split in two, Fury scoffs, turning to shoot Strife a scathing look.

“She was shot, you fool. How do you think she’s feeling?”

“Sh-shot?” you croak, once more attempting to sit up, but with War’s gauntlet pinning you in place, you only succeed in squirming weakly on the-… Are you on your bed?

Your breath starts picking up, throat bone-dry as more tears spill down your cheeks. “I was shot?”

To her credit, Fury swiftly clamps her jaw shut, biting her lip and looking at least a little ashamed for blurting that out. War emits a troubled hum whilst Strife hurries to reassure you.

“Hey, hey,” he hushes, reaching out to drop his enormous hand over the top of yours, “It’s over. It’s over now. Azrael fixed you up. You’re okay.” There’s conviction in his words, but you don’t know if he’s trying to convince himself or you.

You roll your neck down slightly to look him over, and it’s only now that you see the blood smeared across his chest plate.

With a sharp gasp, your heart rate skyrockets.

War follows your wide-eyed stare and grumbles, “I told you to wash that off…”

Glancing down at himself, Strife quickly snaps his head up to offer you a shake of his head. “No, no, don’t worry about that. It’s not your blood.”

Despite his efforts, this does little to reassure you.

“It’s yours!?” you bleat.

“Nah, ain’t mine either. S’from the guy who shot you.”

 Your abdomen squeezes in protest as you strain out, “Strife! You killed someone!?”

For a moment, he falls silent. All of them do, flicking pointed glances between one another as a creeping chill begins to seep inside the room, reaching your skin even under the blankets that have been tucked around your neck.

“I gave the order.”

All eyes dart to the open door of your bedroom. You can’t help the aborted breath you draw in when you see Death filling the wooden frame.

His bulging shoulders heave up and down slowly, and that dark, brooding stare is adhered to your face, causing you to squirm uncomfortably as if you mean to escape it.

 “Finally decided to stop beating yourself up, have you?” Fury mutters under her breath, earning a glare from Death so frosty, you could swear you see her shiver.

“But… but I don’t understand?” you wheeze, furrowing your brow wearily and shifting to try and ease the ache in your lungs, “What do you mean you gave the order?”

“Some fool human made an attempt on your life,” War supplies, “Strife did what we all wished we could do.”

Once again, you try to sit up, and once again the weight of War’s gauntlet stops you.

Grunting, you argue, “But, you can’t… kill someone just because-!”

“-Because what?” Death snaps, stalking towards the bed an effectively silencing you in a heartbeat, “Because an overconfident zealot thought you deserved to die simply because you spoke a truth that didn’t align with his doctrines?”

He may be the shortest of the Horsemen, but that doesn’t mean that Death isn’t several feet taller than you, able to loom over your bed like a storm cloud.

“Were we to stand idly by whilst one of our own was threatened?”

You glance up at the others, taken aback by the ferocious, steadfast frowns on War and Fury’s expressions, and the familiar glint of steel in Strife’s eyes. Not one of them are contending Death’s bold declaration.

That you’re one of theirs.

It’s a hell of a claim to come from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ancient Nephilim of legend, laying claim to a human?

You wet your lips, but a response doesn’t come.

Death, however, seems only too ready to fill the space of your silence.

In a single, fluid motion, he lowers himself onto one knee beside your bed, and that action in itself is as poignant as his words.

Death never kneels.

The other three don’t look half as surprised as you’re sure you must, not even when their eldest, their leader, reaches out, hesitates, then rests the tips of his cold fingers gently under your jawline, directly over your pulse.

Wide-eyed, you can only stare into the sockets of his mask, breathing shallowly, missing the way his shoulders slump at the sensation of a strong, steady throb beneath his fingertips.

“You’re under our protection,” he states matter-of-factly, backed up by a concurring grunt from War on the other side of the bed, “And when the Horsemen have your back, nobody touches you. Is that understood?”

You press your lips together, both horrified and equally humbled that you could have earned the devotion of such powerful, ethereal beings.

Holding your gaze, Death firmly repeats, “Nobody.”

You still have questions. No end of them. But right now, frightened, hurt, and vulnerable, you’re wrenching heart seeks safety in one of the few places you know can offer it.

It hurts to raise your left arm, but you bite down hard on your tongue and slip your hand around what you can of Death’s solid neck.

The first sob escapes you when he leans towards you, pretending to be guided by your pitiable strength until you can wrap more of your arm around the back of his shoulders and push your damp face into the column of his throat, shivering slightly from the chill on his skin.

“I’m sorry,” you whimper against him, feeling his muscles turn lax underneath your touch.

In response, the Horseman nudges his mask closer to your ear and in a whisper that’s meant for you alone, he utters, “You’re not the one with anything to be sorry for…”

Unseen by you, the ancient Nephilim’s eyes glare holes through each of his siblings, daring one of them to comment on his moment of rare, uncharacteristic indulgence.

Per the norm, Strife is the one who struggles to keep his mouth shut.

“Aw, how come Death gets a hug?” Strife whinges petulantly, “He doesn’t even like ‘em.”

“And you believed him when he told you that?” Fury snickers.

On the bed, your grip just tightens around your guardian’s neck as his protective hand lays gingerly against your back, cold fingertips drinking up the warmth of your human body with a reverence known only to Death.

[galaxyedging]

Part of the Merged series

Tim Rockford x OFC

WC:2.8k

Warnings: talk of smut.

Summary: Tim and Evie decide to learn more about the world they have found themselves in.

Recon

Tim instantly drew his weapon. "Put the gun down!"

The pirate looked over at him. "Relax. I'm not going to shoot him!" 

The mirth in his voice suggested he thought Tim was crazy for thinking he was going to shoot the man than he had just been aiming a gun at, before holstering his pistol. 

"We're going to duel." He drew a long sword with a flourish.

The knight raised his own sword in preparation for the pirate's attack.

"What the hell?" Evie pulled Tim back into the apartment slightly as the sound of clashing swords filled the space. "Are you really willing to get into the middle of that?

"Yes. Well, it's my job. I can't let people run around brandishing weapons. People could get hurt."

As if to prove his point the Knight cut a portrait on the wall in half with a backswing of his sword. 

"Yes. Us. We're the people who could get hurt. I get that you're a cop but you're not a cop here. You don't know if this is just something they do here."

The two men crossed swords time and again. The clash of the metal like nails on a chalkboard to Evie's fraying nerves. The two swordsmen were either perfectly matched or this wasn't their first rodeo.

"That's enough, you two! I won't keep telling you about this. Words! If you have a problem, use your words." A thick Brooklyn accent preceded its owner up the stairs to your right. "I'm not going to keep climbing up these goddamn stairs."

The owner appeared, a cop in a 1930's uniform. He was fair skinned, blonde, maybe late 20's. 

"Sir. Ma'am." He tipped his hat at you. "Sir, why don't you take your girl inside. I'll handle this."

Evie was out in front of Tim in seconds. "His girl doesn't need to be taken anywhere." 

The cop casually looked at the door number of their apartment. "Sorry, Ma'am. I didn't realise. Henriksen's new recruits, right? I'm Mallory. I'll take care of these guys from here. You enjoy your day." 

As he ushered the pirate and the knight down the corridor to what they guessed were their apartments. Tim and Evie caught bits of a dispute about a shared balcony and the pirate growing an invasive species of plant that keeps taking root in the knight's planters. A little stunned by the whole thing they wandered back into their apartment. 

"So I guess that's normal here?"

The laughter that bubbled up from Evie startled them both. Tim hadn't heard her laugh. He was utterly charmed by it. It was crazy that he knew he loved her yet he didn't know what he loved about her. Her laughter was definitely one of the things he loved. It crushed him when the laughter turned to tears. 

"Hey. Hey. It's alright." Tim hugged Evie as tight to his chest as he could as he guided her to the nearest chair. A comfortable brown fabric armchair in keeping with the style of the apartment. It cushioned Evie as he eased her down. 

"I'm so sorry. I'm being stupid." Evie tried to stop her tears. She hated to show weakness. Logically she knew it was perfectly fine to cry after one had died and moved on to some weird place, with cops and pirates and knights, and having amazing and confusing sex with a stranger that felt like your soulmate. Fuck. Henriksen had said that. Soulmates. Still, she felt weak and didn't want Tim to see her like that. 

Tim knelt in front of her. His large hands rested on her knees provided a grounding point. "You are not stupid. This whole situation. The crazy land and the duel over plants. That is stupid. By getting upset over it all you are being sane and smart. Not stupid at all." He doesn't even think twice as he kisses her cheek. "You're alright. We just need time to process all of this."

"How are you so calm?" Evie sniffed, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"I think it's because this is a giant mystery. Mysteries always helped keep my mind calm. There's a logic to them, you just have to find it." Despite him being the older of the two, he looked boyish as he spoke.

"You're not just a Detective, you're a mystery fan."

"Yeah. My mom and dad worked a lot. My mom even more so after my dad was killed on duty. It was just me and my abuelita most days. She loved mysteries. She would make them up for me to solve."

Evie didn't know exactly why she loved Tim but his love for his grandmother was definitely part of it. 

His eyes were warm and wistful as they met hers. "Look. I don't have many facts to start with here and the one's I do have are based on any of this actually being real. The one thing I do know, and don't ask me how, I know I have these feelings for you."

"I know. Me too."

"Yeah? I know that I'm in love with you but I don't know why. I know nothing about you."

"After last night. I hope you know a couple of things about me."

Tim looked sheepish. "I don't usually do that, you know? Fall into bed with women. Even if they are beautiful. I only got divorced two years ago. I dated a woman for a couple of months. It didn't work out. My ex-wife was my college sweetheart."

"I don't usually either. I mean I have more than you from the sound of it. My last relationship was my longest."

"Kyle? You seemed happy together."

"We were I suppose. We just wanted different things. It was no-ones fault. Just not meant to be I guess."

"Meant to be." Tim's thumbs stroked softly at Evie's skin. It lit a fuse that trailed through her very being. Everything in her burned for him. It was as if she'd been missing him her entire life. Now that he was back, she needed to make up for lost time.

Swallowing thickly she asked. "So what do we do now?"

"I want to take you back to bed. Make you say my name like you did last night. Is that awful? In all this I just want the simple things. To hold you. To make you happy." Honesty, another trait she admired.

"That's not bad at all. It's silly but when I saw you picking at your food yesterday I thought about cooking for you. It's my love language. Acts of service."

Tim smiled as he slid into the seat next to her, pulling her into his lap to make space for himself. "It's not silly at all. It's sweet. I woke up this morning torn between feeling uncomfortable about doing that with a stranger and feeling that it was all so right."

Evie lay her head on top of his as he fit his into the crook of her neck. "Like it was the logical next step in our relationship. Even though we've only known each other like a day. Like it was something that we've always done."

Tim pulled her a little closer as he hummed in thought. "Or maybe we've done it before? Henriksen said soul mates. Don't some people believe that soulmates find each other in different lives?"

"Wow, that actually might be the straw that breaks my tiny mind apart." As Evie's thought drifted she absently ran her fingers up and down Tim's bare forearms. "As much as I'd love to trip out on that for a while. Or let you take me back to bed. We have a deadline. God, that sounded like a pun. Are you thinking about staying here?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Same. We should go take a look around."

"Really?"

"Yes. Detective. If not out of curiosity, imagine all the clues we can find!"

The street outside their apartment building was as busy as any other city street. Cars from all sorts of decades passed by. A young man in a flat cap shined shoes on the corner next to a Starbucks. The sidewalks held an oddity of people. A punk rocker hand in hand with a woman dressed in Victorian clothing. A few kids, one on a skateboard, one rolling a hoop with a stick, crossed in front of them.

"God, Tim. There are kids here." Evie gripped his forearm. 

"Yeah." Was all he replied grimly. Tim was more than familiar that awful things could happen to kids too. For a second his mind wandered to his own kids. No, he couldn't go there right now. Instead, he focused his attention on the road. Forward to the neon signs in front of him. 

"Henriksen said people from different times. Do you think they are from the future?" Evie looked everywhere but at Tim as she spoke. Her eyes tried to take everything in. The buildings were modern, almost futuristic. They had some distinct features of Asian architecture. When the street changed from the slightly retro slice of Americana there was a giant archway. It was intricately decorated. Carvings of dragons and dogs sat on top of the Xieshan style roof that bridged the two large red pillars. Tiles with pictures and writing decorated the front. It looked like the arches in Chinatown back home. Only with one difference. The arches back home didn't have Gaelic writing on them.

"Curiouser and curiouser." Evie muttered.

Tim joined her, blinking against the sun to see what she was looking at.

"This is old Irish writing. I've never seen it on a Chinese arch." Tim looked impressed by her knowledge. 

"I forgot you have a thing for languages. Any idea what it says?" He stared at the language as if it would translate before his eyes.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." A thick Irish accent intoned behind them. 

Evie and Tim both whirled on the source. "I'm kidding. The Paifang represents a fortuitous entry into a benevolent time and space. I just added a few blessings of my own."

"You did?" Evie asked impressed.

"Yep. I'm Ailerán. Nice to…" He began to introduce himself.

"Holy…!" Tim's voice drew Evie's attention.

"Aye, you see it now?" Ailerán asked him.

Tim had resumed his staring. The text now appeared to be in English.

"Sometimes it takes a while when you're new. Don't force it. Just let it happen." Ailerán informed Evie.

"Let what happen?" Evie blinked at the stranger.

"Look at the writing." Tim's hand found her shoulder.

"Holy shit." Her hand came up to grip his.

"There you go. This place translates everything for us. I'm speaking an old Irish dialect but you hear whatever it is you speak. It makes things a whole lot easier."

Ailerán casually dropped himself into a nearby bench. "We get newbies through here all the time. You'll get used to it. Won't they?" He called behind them.

Turning they were met with the sight of a man who looked like he stepped right off the set of a Shaolin Kung Fu movie. He wore brown robes and carried a Damo, a cane-like weapon, slung over his shoulder. He was slightly out of breath and a sheen of sweat covered his brow.

"They will. They would perhaps feel more comfortable quicker if you were a better host." Walking around Tim and Evie, the man pushed Ailerán's foot, lazily thrown over his other leg as he reclined, until he uncrossed his legs and sat up. "Forgive him. Ailerán is the most laid back man I have ever met. Nothing ever bothers him. He forgets that not everyone shares his disposition. I understand this all must be very overwhelming. We are happy to help you settle in. I am Guo." He gave a small bow of his head.

Both Tim and Evie suddenly felt like they to stand on ceremony. They nervously gave their names. 

"And I'm the one not making them feel welcome." Ailerán pointedly shot at Guo. "He's still a little uptight, it's how he was raised. He was one of the first Shaolin Monks."

"One of the first?" Evie rooted around in the back of her brain to come up with a date. The best she could do was at least fifteen hundred years ago. "You're over a thousand years old?!"

Guo smiled. The laughter line around his eyes aged him a little but nowhere near his real age. He looked to be, at most, thirty five. "We don't age here. We don't feel time the same way either. I remember arriving like it was yesterday."

Tim had been standing quietly taking this all in. "A thousand years and you remember it all?"

"Yes. That is why you new ones are always surprised by the technology. I've been here for a long time. I've had a long time to work on my inventions. Other's come and go and add their own inventions and ideas. This advancement is what happens when scientists are allowed to work in peace with religious or political interference."

As if to prove his point about him having scientific free rein. A machine walked over. It stood as tall as Guo. It moved almost like a man…

"That's a robot." Tim exclaimed with a tone of childlike wonder.

"That is not the term I prefer." The not-a-robot told him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…what should I call you?"

"My name is Asimov." Asimov extended his hand to Tim, who shook it firmly.

"Asimov? As in Isaac?" Evie asked.

"Yes. I thought it was humorous at the time. I, robot." Asimov explained with a small laugh. His voice was human in tone but the speech pattern and inflection were different. "That was some years ago. Thanks to Guo I have learned that I am more than just a machine. I have imagination and free will. I am more like a human. I enjoy human pastimes, like cooking. Dinner is ready if you would like to join us?"

So that's how Tim and Evie spent their evening with an android, his preferred term, a Shaolin Monk and a Gaelic warrior. The food was incredible. It was served on a table that heated up in spots when it felt the plates come into contact with it, yet didn't burn them if they touched it. The glasses were automatically refilled by a small machine in the centre. The conversation varies from the beauty of Ailerán native countryside. A sight that he said was almost comparable with the land you had seen in the distance beyond the castle. Guo spoke about his passion for science. The soft spoken man came to life as he did so. Ailerán looked on adoringly. Asimov spoke about his 'birth'. The android explained that it wasn't the day he was activated that he counted as his birth. It was the day, when Guo trusted him, he was given free will.

After finishing off a beautifully light pavlova that Asimov had baked, they were dropped off at their apartment by a self-driving hover car. Coming in to the apartment, the two of them just sat in silence at the kitchen table.

"Remember when I thought going out would help us be less confused?" Evie finally broke the silence.

"It's funny, after all we saw, it's just Asimov's comment about free will that stuck with me."

"Really? That's all?"

"If we go on the next place, the peaceful, happy ever after one, will we have free will? Surely if it's a place everyone is happy in, forever, they can't be making their own choices? People don't always make great choices and groups of people make even worse ones. Freewill will just bring conflict."

"That makes sense." Being caught up in learning about their host and the wonders of this world, neither of them thought to ask about the next one. Maybe they could have gotten an insight into the next world.

Tim continued. "Plus there's this thing between us. Don't get me wrong it feels so good and so right to be with you. It's amazing…"

"There's a 'but' coming…." Evie instinctively moved away from him. Tim was quick and caught her hand.

"...but I kind of want do things the old fashioned way. I want to get to know you. Date you. I want to find out who you are for myself and why you are my soulmate."

Evie couldn't help the smile that blossomed on her face. "You, Detective, want to solve another mystery."

His lips found the back of her hand. "Maybe I do. It's one that is definitely worth solving."

"I think so too." She pressed a kiss to his lips. "So when you say the old fashioned way. Does that mean you wanna wait until we…again."

"Not at all." Evie squealed as he pulled her towards the bedroom.

[agustdakasuga]

Between The Bloodshed | Chapter 22

Genre: Mafia!AU, Angst, Romance, Fluff

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Characters: Doctor!Reader, Gangster!Namjoon, Gangster!Seokjin, Gangster!Yoongi, Gangster!Hoseok, Gangster!Jimin, Gangster!Taehyung, Gangster!Jungkook

Summary: Being a freelance doctor, this was just supposed to be any other job, helping a private client and taking care of him through his recovery. But you were not expecting to get caught in something so much darker that would change your life entirely.

Finally, it’s time for everything to come to an end. 

Warning: This story is fictional and has nothing to do with real life events or the actual members of BTS. It may contain depictions of violence, blood shed/ gore and mentions of abuse. Please read at your own discretion.

Chapter warning(s): Mentions of abuse, violence, gore, blood and death. There is weapon use in this chapter.  

The door opened, letting the light shine in again. You didn’t even bother lifting your head. Everything in your body ached. How long have you been here? You weren’t really sure anymore. 

“Breakfast.” The sound of the tray being placed down. 

“Not hungry...” You mumbled, pressing your cheek against your arm as you looked to the side. Then you felt a light nudge against your ankle. That made you lift your head slightly. Instead of sitting at his usual corner, he was sitting opposite you, the tray between you. 

“Eat.” He said. 

“I’m not hungry right now.” 

“Why?” You didn’t even reply to that. You let out a yawn, followed by a sigh. The tray was pushed against your leg again. 

“You’ll need the energy.” He said, undoing the binds around your wrists. You didn’t really understand what he meant but you also didn’t really have the mood to banter today. 

“Eat.” He repeated. When he was done, he stood up straight and headed back to his same spot to sit. You gave him a look, pushing the food around the tray. 

“Thanks...” You murmured and took your first bite. Unlike your other meal chats, you were silent, taking small bites of your food here and there. 

“I’m done.” You pushed the tray away. More than half the tray of food was left. The tray was picked up, followed by retreating footsteps and the door closing. You stared at the wall until you realised. 

He didn’t bind your hands back. 

“What...?” You looked around to see if there was someone else in the room. This wasn’t a trap. You scrambled around until you saw, under the water bottle left behind, a key was hidden.

“Please, please.” You chanted, jamming the key into the keyhole on the ankle brace. When the lock shifted, you almost cried out in relief. 

“Where’s the exit?” You bunched up your skirt, trying your best to tie it together so it wouldn’t hinder you when you run. The first thing you did was press your ear to the door to hear for footsteps. There were no sounds outside but you still poked your head out to look first. The coast was clear so you made a break for it, running down the hallways. 

“Come on.” You panted, trying to find the exit but this place seemed like a maze. You guessed that you were probably in some warehouse, judging by the sheet metal walls and concrete floors. 

“She’s gone!” 

“Find the girl!” 

“This way!” You heard shouts behind you and quickened your pace. But all the hallways looked the same. You just kept running, hoping to find an open door or exit soon. 

“Aish!” Someone grabbed your wrist, yanking you to hide behind another wall. You pressed your back against the wall, seeing two guys run past you. 

“Why are you still here?” The male beside you panted. 

“I couldn’t find the exit. This place is a freaking maze.” You said through gritted teeth. He shook his head. As you were opening your mouth to speak again, he hushed you, taking his pistol out of his holster. 

“Take this.” 

“Are you crazy?! I can’t shoot a gun.” 

“I’m not asking you to go crazy and start shooting up the place. Just use it to get away if you need to. Pull this back, aim and shoot. I’ll buy you some time. The exit is down this hallway, make a right. Now go!” He shoved you in the direction of said exit. You turned to look back. 

“What about you?” You panicked. 

“Just go! I’m buying you time. And I have an extra.” He waved his spare pistol in the air. Even if you wanted your freedom, you were still hesitant. 

“Go and don’t look back.” He said before separating from you. You continued running, shaky hands holding onto the gun by your side. Finally, at the end of the hallway, you saw the door. 

“Please.” When the knob turned, your heart soared. Was this really the thing separating you from your freedom now? 

“Where do you think you’re going?” One of the men stood on the other side of the door. You didn’t have a choice, you lifted the gun. The male took a weary step back. 

“Just let me go. And I won’t shoot.” You threatened. 

“Well...” You saw his hands moving to reach for his weapon. On instinct you clicked the gun and shot his shoulder. He cried out in shock as he went down. 

“Move again and you’re dead.” You held the gun over him as you clicked it into place again. But your victory was short lived when you felt an arm wrap around your neck. You would have thrashed around or try to hit him but you felt the coolness of a blade press against your neck, right where you jugular was. That made you immobile. 

“Drop the gun.” He said into your ear. You were defeated, dropping the weapon onto the ground. 

“Walk.” He pulled you backwards and you followed, your feet shuffling backwards. You watched with longing eyes as the door got further and further. Just like that, whatever light you saw slowly disappeared. 

“Tell boss I found the girl.” He told another person before throwing you back into that room. 

“Oh doctor, you just had to try and escape. That’s cute.” The boss said, circling around you. You panted, lifting your head to shoot him a glare. 

“You even shot one of my men. I’m impressed.” He clapped. 

“But because of you...” The boss waved for the other men to bring in the male who helped you escape. He had been roughed up for sure, his eye was bruised and parts of his face swollen up. 

“Take it out on me. Leave him out of this.” You growled. 

“Aww, isn’t that cute? Both of you fighting to play the hero. But unfortunately, this is a matter of betrayal.” The boss kicked him, making the already injured male groan in pain. He managed to peep open his eyes to make eye contact with you. 

“But first, tell me, boy. Why betray your family? Don’t tell me you have fallen for her charm like those stupid Bangtan boys.” He threw his head back in laughter. 

“Family?” He scoffed but coughed right after, spewing out blood. 

“I took you in, took care of you and provided for you. This is how you repay me?” He began to rain more punches and kicks on the boy, making him wince and moan in more pain. 

“Stop it!” You shouted. 

“Don’t worry, doc. I promise, after this, it’s your turn.” He laughed. That was when he took his gun out, the other men that watched lifted the boy up for their boss to press the barrel of the gun right against his forehead. Your heart sank. This boy didn’t deserve to die for helping you. Now you regretted everything that you ever said to him. 

“Any final words?” The boss asked. 

“It’s all my fault, I never should have...” You shook your head, tears slipping down your cheeks. 

“It’s not your fault... It was me, holding onto the last bit of my independence.” He smiled before a deafening bang sounded through the room. Blood spattered out from the back of his head and onto the wall, the bullet having gone right through. 

“Hasn’t there been one time where you felt that you could never do anything for yourself? Then when you’re given that bit of independence, to finally do something for yourself, that’s all you want to hold onto?”

Those were your words. 

“That was touching.” The boss wiped a fake tear. The body fell forward, a small blood pool forming under his head. You wanted to throw up. 

“Now, as for you, doctor.” The boss turned to you. 

“Just shoot me.” You dared, done with all this. Maybe death was really the better option now.

“Tempting but no can do. I need you here for the final show. And our main guests aren’t even here yet. But don’t worry, you won’t wait too long. I think they’ll be here very soon.” The boss smiled. 

“Rough her up before they come.” The boss told him men before leaving.

“Finally. Payback. After what Jungkook did to me back then.” The petty male landed the first punch, followed by kicks. Usually, you were try to cocoon yourself to protect yourself but you just couldn’t take your eyes off the bleeding body before you. His eyes were still open, staring at you. 

“I’m sorry.” You whispered to him as you cried silently. 

-

“Remember our priority. Get (y/n) out of there. Then we kill the boss.” Namjoon reminded. The 6 boys nodded their heads. They were getting close to finding you and bringing you home. 

“Whoever finds (y/n) first, just take her to one of the cars and get her to the nearest hospital. The rest of us will handle the boss.” Jin said. 

“Let’s go.” They all ran towards the big warehouse. With every other possible hideouts having been search and burnt, this was the only place left. When the men saw them, they immediately got into position, their boss having told them prior to expect the 7. But all the boys saw was red. Bullets were shot and blades were swung. 

“Ugh!” Jimin went down as he was attacked by two men but Taehyung swung his bat, hitting one straight in the head while Jimin drove his sword into the other’s abdomen. 

“Thanks.” Jimin nodded to Taehyung, running forward and jumping to hide slash as a few men. Jungkook tackled some men to the ground.

“We’re wasting time.” Hoseok grunted as he shot someone. Jin used the handle of his gun to knock some guys out. 

“Split up!” Yoongi shouted and they all went their separate directions. 

“Watch my back.” Yoongi said to Hoseok and Jimin as he checked the rooms. They were all empty, except for some storage items. Namjoon and Jin opened a room, where more men of the gang were. That led to more wasted time trying to fight them off. Taehyung and Jungkook moved together. 

“Damn our luck. I hope the others were better than us.” Jin laughed sarcastically as Namjoon punched some men. He reloaded his guns and shot at whoever tried to come at them. 

“Jungkook! Get down!” Taehyung pulled the maknae down. Although they wanted to fight, they had to save energy and ammo. 

“Find them! They’re somewhere around here.” A group of men ran past them. 

BEEP BEEP

“Yoongi hyung’s team found the boss.” Jungkook said as he checked his pager. Once the coast was clear, they moved to the location that was sent to them. The 7 of them met up again. 

“He's in there. I heard the men talking.” Jimin informed. With that, Jungkook backed away slightly before kicking the door down and running in. The boys all stood there, blood staining their clothes. They could feel it, the end of everything was nearing. As they came face to face with their enemy, the one who took you. 

“Welcome.” He smirked from his comfortable spot on the couch. 

“Where is she?!” Jimin pointed his katana at him, the blade merely a few inches from his face. 

“Ah, ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He taunted, waving his hand. That was when you were brought in, kneeling in front of the couch. Your dress was dirtied and you were beaten up, bruises and cuts littering your face and limbs. 

“(y/n)...” Jungkook called out softly. Your eyes were lidded as you swayed dangerously. You were losing consciousness, fast. It was obvious from the dried blood trail on your temple. Even when a pistol was pressed to the back of your head in a threatening manner, you didn’t flinch. The boys took a step forward. 

“One more step...” The boss threatened and the male that held the pistol clicked the gun into place. 

“What do you want?” Namjoon growled. 

“Oh, how great man fall. All for a single woman. Honestly, I couldn’t believe my ears when I was told that the dangerous Bangtan had fallen for a girl, some doctor. That was until I saw it for myself.” He started.

“I wanted to know just what about her was able to bring the 7 of you to your knees. Then, I met her.” He turned to you. 

“I can see why you all adore her.” Using his finger, he lifted your chin. There were a few growls and fist clenches. He side eyed the boys, liking the reaction that he was getting out of them. 

They hated it. They hated the fact that you were right in front of them and yet, they couldn’t save you if they wanted you alive. They hated that they were the reason that you were in this position. You weren’t supposed to be here, you were supposed to be well protected in their house, there to heal them when they got hurt.

“I’ll ask again. What is it you want?” Namjoon asked through gritted teeth. They were all resisting the urge to shoot the man in front of them. 

“The Bangtan empire. You all don’t deserve what you have. You don’t have what it takes to run such an empire when you’re so weak for a mere woman.” The boss said in frustration. 

“That’s it? You want money? Our companies?” Yoongi glared. 

“Sure.” The boss shrugged. The boys were suspicious. There was no way this man went through all this trouble just for their empire. 

“Take it.” Jin said. 

“Also, I might keep the doctor with me. She’s fun to have around. Her skills and feisty attitude would be a great addition to my gang.” He smirked. This man was just playing them now. 

“Over my dead body.” Taehyung sneered. Whatever it is, they were going to make sure that you went home with them today. Alive. 

“Looks like we have a problem then.” The boss grinned. 

“Take one step closer.” Hoseok threatened the few men he saw slowly getting closer. It was obvious that they were waiting for the boys to put their guard down attacking them. 

“I changed my mind, I don’t just want your empire.” The boss shrugged. That had been the goal all along. He wanted to make sure that Bangtan is ended here, permanently. And that he would be the one to end them. Namjoon’s eyes followed the movements of the boss. 

“Unfortunately, you don’t have the upper hand. Unless you want to say goodbye to the doctor.” He smirked at Namjoon. 

“Drop your weapons. Go on.” He commanded. One by one, the boys dropped their weapons. With another wave of the hand, the men moved in on them. The boys grit their teeth, fighting to urge to fight back as they were hit. 

“See? Weak.” The boss scoffed. 

BANG! 

The boys froze, turning around. Everyone else stopped. That was when they saw the man, who was holding the gun to your head, on the ground, dead. You stood shakily, holding the pistol in your hand as you aimed directly at the boss. 

“Next time... remove the dead guy’s extra gun before you leave his body...” You smirked. The boss turned to you.

“Tell them to move back.” You demanded. 

“You wouldn’t dare...” He taunted. You clicked the gun, showing that you weren’t joking. Oh, how to tables have turned. If you managed to shoot the other guy already, you didn’t have a problem killing the boss too. Remembering the boy’s fallen body, it only made you angrier. Sensing your threat wasn’t empty, the boss nodded for his men to fall back. 

“(y/n)...” Jin called out softly. 

“A life for a life.” You pulled the trigger, eyes rolling to the back of your head as you collapsed. Luckily, Jungkook was quick to run over and catch you before you could hit the ground.  

“You did well, leave the rest of us.” He whispered. Your shot didn’t kill the boss, only managing to hit him in the thigh. 

“Get her out of here.” Yoongi said to the maknae. He nodded, running out of the place with you in his arms. 

With their boss down and most likely going to die, the other men just surrendered, putting their hands up. The 6 remaining Bangtan boys stood over the boss, who was writhing on the ground in pain. 

“Tell your girl... The boy that was killed because of her... His name is also Jisung... Just like her dear nephew.” He still managed to force out a laugh. 

“You want our money?” Jin gave the first kick. 

“You want our empire?” Namjoon gave the second. 

“You mess with our girl?” Jimin stepped on his thigh, pushing the bullet further into his flesh. He screamed out, straining. 

“We’ll see you in hell.” Taehyung raised his metal bat, slamming it down. They just watched emotionlessly as Taehyung beat the man’s face in. He coughed, choking on his blood as he tried to crawl away. 

“Where are you going?” Hoseok kicked him back. Imaging all the torture and abuse you went through fuelled their anger. The others killed the other men. 

No one was to be spared. 

“We have to go before the cops come.” Namjoon stopped Taehyung. Taehyung took a step back with a smirk, rubbing away the blood that managed to splatter on his cheek. Yoongi took the gun out that he had brought for good measure. He placed the barrel of the gun right over the man’s chest, clicking it back slowly. With a smile, he pulled the trigger. 

“For good measure.” Jin shrugged with a smile and shot two more bullets. 

“That’s enough. Let’s go. We have more important things to do.” Namjoon waved the gang over. Right now, they should prioritise your condition. Same as always, Yoongi grabbed a lighter, torching the place down. 

“Don’t forget to send a gift to the governor to thank him for putting out all the fires.” Hoseok laughed. Namjoon hummed. 

~~

Ko-fi link

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[ikeromantic]

Hiiii!! Congratulations with your milestoneee ^^

Im actually fairly new heree but if it’s alrightt, I’d like to request

Fenrir Godspeed with Time + Willow + Euterpe

That’s all thank youu!! ^^

Awww well, welcome to my ikemen blog ^_^ And thank you for the request! I love Fenrir. His route was so sweet! Approx. 570 word on themes of Time, Willow - safety, and Euterpe - bringer of delight.

Fenrir circled around the back of the building while Seth and his team went to the front. He glanced over his shoulder and gave his partner a wide smile. “We gotta be ready. You feelin’ ok, Alice?”

She grinned and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’m good to go. Do you really think those bandits will come this way?”

“If Seth doesn’t get to them fast enough, they will. And they might have magic crystals.” 

“Well, if they do, it’s not going to help them much.” She gave him a thumbs up.

Fenrir laughed. “That’s what I like to hear. Kiss for luck?”

Alice tilted her head to be kissed and nearly squealed as he lifted her off her feet to give her a proper kiss. Deep and sweet. When he set her down she gave him a wide smile. “I’m feeling pretty lucky now.”

He winked. “Just wait til we get back to headquarters. I’ll show ya how lucky you are.”

The two of them settled down to wait, Fenrir with his revolvers out, and Alice further back, watching the doors through a set of magically enhanced spectacles. It didn’t take long for the back door to slam open.

Two figures ran out a heartbeat later. One clutched a sword and the other gripped a magic crystal. 

Fenrir pointed his revolvers at them. “You guys better stop right now. Keep moving and I’ll get to try out my new bullets on you.” 

The one with the sword laughed. “It’s just one guy. Hit him and let’s go.”

“On it.” The one with the crystal pointed toward Fenrir.

Alice saw the flare of wan blue light arc toward her love. “Nope,” she grinned, her smile feral and her eyes bright. The spell hissed against her shield, sputtering harmlessly into nothing.

“Pffft. Do you even know how to use that thing,” the one with the sword asked his friend. “I’m going to have to do this myself.” They lunged toward Fenrir.

“Yes! I was hoping you’d give me a chance to try these babies out.” Fenrir laughed and shot the two figures. The bullets flashed as they hit the bandits, flaring red on impact.

Both of them fell down, writhing on the ground and howling with laughter.

“What did you do?” Alice moved forward cautiously. 

“Eh, Oliver said these were laugh attack shots but honestly, they look a lot like the last batch of giggle-fits.” Fenrir holstered his guns. “Seems to work pretty well though, eh?”

“Yep.” Alice grinned. 

Seth’s soldiers came out a moment later to round up the last bandits and carry them off to jail. 

“Great job, partner. I knew you had my back.” Fenrir pulled Alice into a hug. 

“I wasn’t gonna let some bandit light my boyfriend on fire.” She grinned mischeviously. “I’m the only one that can do that.”

“Whaddya mean?” 

She put her arms around his shoulders and held on as she wrapped her legs around his hips, first one and then the other.

Bemused, Fenrir supported her. “So this -”

Alice kissed him fiercely, passionate and playful. When she finally pulled back for a breath, he wore a slightly stunned expression. “Feeling a little hot now,” she asked.

“Heh. Like a bonfire.” He started to walk, still carrying her.

“Fen, where are we going?”

He grinned and squeezed her tighter. “To the inn. Turns out we don’t have time to get back to headquarters.”

[andvys]

Longing (part 8)

Warnings: angst, mentions of death, nightmares

Pairing: Ellie Williams x reader

“(Y/n)?”

“(Y/n) can you hear me?”

“Please wake up! I can’t lose you too!”

“Her pulse is weak.”

You heard voices but it sounded like you were underwater, you couldn’t open your eyes. Everything seemed so heavy.

“Come on (y/n) please!” Ellie screamed, sobbing.

Holding your head in her lap, brushing hair out of your face. She didn’t know what to do, Joel is dead and you seemed close to death as well. She couldn’t lose you too. Ellie felt overwhelmed by everything, having witnessed the murder of Joel and now you wouldn’t wake up. After the man smashed your head against the wall and the way you fell down she wasn’t sure if you’d wake up at all.

Poor Tommy had to wake up to see his brother laying dead on the floor and now he had to collect his body off the floor to bring him back home, so he could be buried. Ellie watched how Tommy and Jesse carried Joel away, feeling tears running down her face she looked back down at you.

“Ellie?” You whispered weakly, trying to open your eyes.

“I’m here (y/n).” Ellie said, relieved that you woke up.

“I’m sorry, Ellie.” You said, letting a tear fall.

“It’s my faul-.” You said, closing your eyes, feeling lightheaded again.

“No (y/n), hey! Don’t close your eyes!” She begged you, touching your face.

“Ellie come on, we gotta go.” Jesse said, coming up in front of you to take you.

“She woke up but I think she’s unconscious again.” Ellie said, wiping her tears away.

“Come on, I got her.” Jesse said, moving down he grabbed you from her arms, carrying you to your horse.

Ellie stood back for a second, looking at the ground where Joel was laying just a few minutes ago, in his own pool of blood. Ellie couldn’t bare this pain, she started sobbing quietly.

“I’m sorry Joel.” Ellie whispered, before leaving the room.

Jesse put you on top of your horse, letting your form slump over slightly. The back of your head was bleeding and you seemed to have gotten a few punches in your face as well. Jesse felt bad that he hasn’t gotten there earlier, he has never seen you this way before.

Ellie came out of the room, seeing your unconscious form on your horse and Joel’s dead body on his horse. Not being able to look at Joel any longer, she went over to Shimmer.

No one said anything, Jesse got on top of his horse, grabbing the reins of Helios he started guiding your horse back. Tommy did the same with Joel’s horse. Ellie and Dina right behind them. Dina kept glancing at Ellie and you in concern, not knowing if she should say anything or if she should stay quiet.

Waking up again, you were on your horse. Looking beside you, you saw Joel’s dead body on his horse, Tommy guiding his horse back home. You could feel tears in your eyes at the sight of Joel. You couldn’t just go back home and let his killers go. Suddenly sitting up on your horse, your head started spinning but you kept yourself up. “I have to-“

“Whoa (y/n), take it easy.” Jesse said, halting his horse. Everyone else looked over to you.

“(Y/n)!” Ellie called out, getting off her horse she walked towards you.

“I have to go back.” You said, looking around, your friends looking at you in concern.

“I have to- I have.”

“Kid don’t make it harder than it already is, we’re going home.” Tommy said.

“I- we can’t just let them go!” You said, looking around bewildered.

“They’re not getting away with this but we have to go home first.” Ellie said, she was barely holding herself together but she had to stay strong.

“I-“ “you have a concussion (y/n), you can’t just go after them now.” Jesse said.

Nodding your head you looked down. Ellie looked at you one last time before getting back on top of shimmer.

Arriving back home in Jackson, Maria and the guards rushed over to Tommy, gasping at the sight of Joel’s dead body. You couldn’t stay, you would start crying again. Getting off your horse, you almost collapsed if it wasn’t for Jesse holding you up.

“Come on, let’s get you to the infirmary.” He said.

Looking back at Joel one last time, you started walking away.

“Alright, you definitely have a concussion. You need to rest as much as possible, your head is gonna hurt for a while. I’ll give you some pain killers but like I already said, you need to rest!” The doctor ordered but you weren’t even listening, you were just thinking about Joel.

Jesse stood back, leaning against the wall, he looked at you in concern. He noticed you weren’t listening to what the doctor said.

“Alright thank you doc, I’ll bring her home now.” Jesse said, walking towards you.

The doctor nodded his head, giving Jesse the pain killers. “You make sure that she rests, young man.” He said.

“I will.” He said “come on (y/n).”

Ellie waited for you in front of your house already, you didn’t want to see her right now. You couldn’t look at her not when you felt like it was your fault that Joel died.

“Hey I got it from here, Jesse.” Ellie said, coming up next you.

“Alright, here some painkillers.” He said, giving the bottle of pills to Ellie. “She needs to rest.”

Ellie nodded looking at you she noticed you were avoiding her eyes.

“Bye guys.” Jesse said, before leaving.

Opening your door you went inside, shutting the door and locking it, Ellie took of her jacket and helped you out of yours.

“You can go home, Ellie.” You said, your voice still weak.

“I’m not leaving you and I- I don’t want to be alone right now.” Ellie said.

“You shouldn’t be with me.” You said, feeling yourself tear up again, you sat down on your bed.

“I want to be with you.” She said, sitting down next to you.

Sighing you looked down, nodding. You knew that she would hate you if she found out that you saved Abby but you wanted to be with her one last time before she would shut you out forever.

“I’m so sorry Ellie.” You said, looking at her you noticed she had bruises too. You didn’t even notice them earlier when you were avoiding looking at her face. Touching her cheek, you ran your thumb over the bruise on her face. Closing her eyes, she started crying silently. “Come here.” You said, pulling her into you. She immediately latched on to you, hugging you tightly, she started sobbing.

You held her, crying with her. You didn’t even know what you were feeling in this moment. You felt every emotion but you also felt numb. You felt like you were missing a big piece, one that could never be replaced.

Laying down with Ellie, you held her in your arms, with her head on your chest. She was still crying, you were running your fingers through her hair.

After a while she fell asleep, you still held her tightly not wanting to let her go. Single tears escaped your eyes, looking up at the ceiling, you knew that this was probably the last time you would hold her. Your little romance seemed to be short lived, she would go back to hating you once she finds out what you did.

You didn’t sleep at all that night, you spent the night thinking about Joel, holding Ellie in your arms you knew you wouldn’t see her for a while and you didn’t even know if you’d come back alive. You wanted to spent the rest of your few hours in Jackson with her, even if she was asleep.

Looking at her, you allowed yourself to admire her for a while. Ellie lost him, she lost the man who was like a father to her, you’d have to stay strong for her. You knew what you had to do. You promised yourself that you would go after them, you’d kill everyone of them and leave Abby for last. She was going to suffer the way she made Ellie and you suffer.

Getting up from under her, you made sure you didn’t wake her up. Getting out of bed, you walked over to your backpack, putting some stuff in that you would need, you grabbed your gun holster putting it on your leg, getting your jacket on, you stuffed your swords into your backpack and grabbed a few water bottles.

You went over to Ellie, looking at her one last time, brushing some hair out of her face, you leaned in kissing her forehead before you turned around, you wrote a quick letter to Ellie and left.

Walking past Joel’s house, you looked at his porch. Thinking about how just a few days ago you were sitting there with him, drinking coffee and talking not knowing that it was the last time.

Breaking into the armory was not something you thought you’d ever have to do but you didn’t have the keys and you needed more guns if you wanted to go after the group. Ellie told you they were from Seattle, you didn’t even pick up on that but Abby had a patch on her sleeve that said W.L.F, they were probably something like the fireflies and you hated the fireflies.

After you grabbed some more weapons you went over to the stables, getting your horse out, you knew an older man named Darren was on guard duty today and he had the tendency to fall asleep, usually you would get angry at him for falling asleep while he had to look out for any danger coming close to Jackson but today you were relieved. This would make your escape easier.

Walking over to the gate, you opened it just enough so you and Helios could fit through it. After you got out, you shut the gate again. Getting on top of Helios you kicked your heels against him, making him speed off into the woods.

The next few days would be difficult for you. The concussion was definitely going to be a problem. You felt tired and a little lightheaded. The guy that smashed your head against the wall did a good job at making sure that you stayed down, you were looking forward to seeing him again.

You were riding for hours now, it must’ve been around noon now. You were thinking about Ellie, she must’ve been up by now. You knew as soon as she would find your letter she would run to Tommy and Maria begging them to let her go after you or join you, you knew she wanted the wlf’s dead as much as you did.

Ellie woke up to an empty bed, she didn’t think anything of it at first, thinking you were in the bathroom or something until she saw a piece of paper with her name written on it laying on the bedside table. Taking it in her hand, she turned it around, reading it slowly. Eyes widening at the mention of you going after the W.L.F’s.

“Shit.” Getting up from the bed, she quickly put on her shoes, grabbing her coat she left your place. Running over to Maria’s house, she saw her and Tommy walking out of their house.

“Maria! Tommy!” Ellie called out, running towards them, almost crashing in to them.

“Hey Ellie, slow down.” Maria said, putting her hands on Ellie’s shoulders.

“It’s (y/n)!” She said, out of breath.

“What’s wrong with (y/n)? She okay?” Tommy asked, looking at her in concern.

“Yes I- no.. I don’t know. She’s gone.” She said. “She went after them.” Giving them the letter. Maria and Tommy glanced at each other before taking the letter to read it.

“Maria!” A man yelled, running towards them.

“Someone broke into the armory, a few weapons are missing and a horse is gone.” The man said, trying to catch his breath.

Tommy ran a hand down his face. “We’ll deal with it right away, Rafe.” Maria said.

“But-“ “I said we’ll deal with it.” She repeated sternly.

Nodding his head, the man left.

“That was (y/n).” Ellie said.

“We know.” Tommy said.

“I’m going after her.” Ellie said, looking at them.

“Like hell you will.” Maria argued “go home Ellie.”

Ellie looked at Tommy. He must be considering going after them as well, they killed his brother after all. He looked down at her “we’ll talk about it once we buried Joel, Ellie.” He said. “Until then just stay put, (y/n) is a tough kid, nothing will happen to her out there. We’ll catch up to her before she arrives in Seattle alright?”

Nodding her head, Ellie turned around going home. She’d stay for Joel’s funeral but after that she would go after you and Joel’s killers.

It was getting dark out, you’d have to set up camp soon. You wondered if they buried Joel already. You wanted to be there but you felt like you didn’t deserve being a part of his funeral not when you were the one who saved his killer.

How ironic, saving her lead to Joel being killed. You wished you could turn back time, you would have never helped her, you would let the infected kill her but it was too late and Joel was dead because of you.

You were riding through a small town, looking for a place to set up camp. The streets were empty and quiet, no signs of infected. A small house with an open garage catched your eye. Getting off Helios, you led him towards it. Leaving him there you went inside to check out the house, making sure that no infected were inside. After you secured the place you went back into the garage and closed the gate.

“Alright helios, looks like we’ll stay here for the night.” You said, patting him.

Going back inside you left the door to the garage open, sitting down on the couch in the living room, you put your head in your hands. Your mind was racing, all sorts of thoughts plaguing your head. Laying back down, you looked up at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep. You needed some rest, especially if you planned on going after a whole group and who knew how much more people they had back at their base. Closing your eyes, you started falling asleep slowly.

“I was wrong about you (y/n).” You recognized this voice but you didn’t know where it was coming from.

“You made it far but at what cost?” Turning around you still couldn’t see him.

“You lost the only person that cared about you because of your mistake.” Walking through the hallway, you opened a door to see if he was in there.

“I always told you, you can’t defend yourself. I was wrong. You keep getting out of bad situations without an issue but it seems like protecting yourself isn’t very important to you anyways not as much protecting others is and yet you failed. You failed him.” The voice was getting closer now you turned around to see him standing there. Your father.

“You killed your own father and now you killed the man you came to see as a father.” He said, chuckling.

“I didn’t kill you.”

“No you just left me to die, same thing.” He said, shrugging.

“What do you want from me?!” You yelled at him, feeling tears build up in your eyes.

“I want you to understand what you are.”

“What I am?”

“You’re a monster, everywhere you go people die.”

“No.” You whispered, shaking your head.

“Your mother.”

“No, stop.”

“Me.”

“You did it yourself.”

“The man you killed.”

“He deserved it, he was bad.”

“Joel.” Your father said, coming closer to you.

“Don’t say his name!” You screamed at him, pushing him away but he was gone suddenly.

“What the-“ turning around you saw someone else standing there. Eyes widening at him standing there.

“Joel?” You whispered, a tear slipping down your face. He was bleeding, blood running down his face from the open wound on his head.

“It’s your fault.” He said, angrily, walking towards you.

“Joel.” You sobbed, walking backwards.

“All of it! You killed me and you’re gonna kill Ellie as well!” He screamed at you

“No please stop!” You begged, crying.

He pulled out a gun pointing it at you, pulling the trigger.

“NO!” You screamed out, gasping for air. You sat up on the couch. Looking around the room, breathing heavily, you realized it was just a nightmare.

“Fuck.” You whispered, clutching your chest, trying to calm down. You noticed tears were streaming down your face.

You already thought that it was your fault that Joel died, hearing him say it himself put you into even more pain, even though you knew that it was just a nightmare.

Could you ever forgive yourself?

[ddarker-dreams]

New Days. Yan Machi x Reader

Warnings: Yandere themes and unhealthy relationships. Note: this is based off the fantastic mafia AU from @conflatemochi​ !! please consider checking out her content for it if you are 18+, i love the dynamics a lot.

Routines are something you can work with.

Technically, you could just laze around all day, now that you no longer have to worry about rent or looming bills. Which is what you found yourself doing when you were first brought here against your will. That is, until the lack of having something meaningful to do started to wear down on your mind. It took months of carefully timed begging, promises, and gaining her trust; but you finally managed to convince Machi to let you cook.

She only relented once you agreed to cook in a public area, where bodyguards could interfere should you get any ideas. Not that you had any intentions of doing that after all the work it took to gain this privilege in the first place. Tensions run unbearably high when another member’s darling steps out of line, causing a ripple effect that intrudes on your life even if you weren’t involved. It’s the least you could do not to infringe on the other darling’s already miserable lives by lashing out.

“Well? What do you think?” You tentatively ask, clasping your hands together and holding your breath expectantly. This would be the first dinner you’ve made in many months. What you used to consider a troublesome chore in your normal life felt amazing to do after being taken care of for so long. You felt like you were slowly gaining a piece of your independence back, farfetched as the thought may be.

Machi sets the fork back onto her plate. The dish you made was a simple one, you wanted to keep things easy until you got used to cooking again. Pasta with a marinara sauce you’d been taught growing up, seasoned with fresh herbs and sauteed vegetables, all items you had requested in advance for this special night. If it weren’t for how dire the situation you were in was, you might have laughed at the sight of burly men in tuxedos and sunglasses approaching you with grocery bags.

“Hm. Not bad,” she finally speaks up, sending waves of relief over your frazzled person. It’s not so much that you want her approval — you just don’t want this opportunity to somehow get stolen from you — a fear that was in the back of your mind every time you taste-tested the sauce and made adjustments. A touch irrational, yes, but how could you not grow a little paranoid considering your unorthodox lifestyle?

You sway back and forth in place, your heart practically soaring. “So you like it?”

“What’d you expect?” Machi takes another bite, her standard rough attitude not enough to dampen your high spirits. It had been nerve-wracking to cook with bodyguards who had gun holsters visible on their person hovering just a few feet away. In the end, it looks like you were worried about nothing. This has been a major success in your books.

“I’m just a bit out of practice,” you freeze after the words tumble out and she raises an eyebrow. Rushing to defend yourself, you quickly add, “And you’ve never told me the food you like.”

“You’ve never asked.”

Ah, well, she’s got a point there. When you’re kidnapped, the last thing on your mind to ask is what kind of cuisine your captor favors. Machi’s cool demeanor is a double-edged sword. In situations like this, where the other members would get riled up over their darling mentioning their past life, it wasn’t unusual for them to blow up. She doesn’t take offense over made-up transgressions and you’re grateful for that much. Unfortunately, that also makes it more difficult for you to gauge her mood, given her almost constant poker face.

She finishes the meal you made in silence, something there’s a lot of between you two; though you’ve grown accustomed to it. You reach out to take her now empty plate, but she sends you a stare. Before you can ask what’s wrong, she stands, walking over to the sink to rinse it off herself. Playing with your fingers, you follow after her, feeling akin to a kicked puppy. Machi has to say something more, right? This is a big deal for you both, isn’t it?

Machi turns the faucet off and sets the plate down to dry.

“Here,” she reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a pen and paper. “Write down what you need for tomorrow’s meal.”

You gratefully accept the offer, gushing out your gratitude for her benevolence.

What would your past self think of you now? Would they judge you for how you practically trip over yourself to keep Machi content and happy? Whatever the case, you can hardly bring yourself to care anymore, you’re just trying to keep yourself sane.

If this is what it takes, then so be it.

[itsthestutterforme]

Shuriken (Jang Hanseok)

Summary: Y/N is a mercenary with a particular knack for knives and torture. Hanseok hired her as his new body guard against Vincenzo, little did he know that her and Vincenzo have a history. A dark history.

Characters: Jang Hanseok x mercenary!reader (implied sex), Vincenzo x mercenary!reader (past lovers), Jang Hanseo x reader (platonic), Ms. Choi x reader (platonic)

--

You hated jet lang with a passion. You would think that since you're a mercenary, that you're fine with traveling but you really hated it. You pull up your turtle neck to cover your maliscous scar across your neck. It's not that it bothers you to show it, you just didn't feel like explaining to others that someone tried to kill you and failed.

You take a taxi from the Incheon International Airport to the location your employer asked you to meet him. He was explicit with making sure that you get all the luxuries plus the 500k and that you never leave his side. He's definitely paranoid. But this isn't the first time you've had a paranoid employer.

Hopefully, he's not a crazy one. You'vs had enough with the crazy employers. The taxi drops you off at a fairly large, modern-looking house. But from the looks of it, it does not take much to break in here. You'll suggest installing some deadlocks and bullet proof cameras.

You pay the driver before hopping out of the car with your luggage. He drives away and just as you approach the gate, the door buzzes open. You walk in and are instantly greeted by four people, three men and a women. Two of the men looked young, they're probably brothers. The other man and woman looked older.

"I'm Jang Hanseok, this is my brother, Jang Hanseo and my lawyers, Ms. Choi and Mr. Hanchul. This is Y/N, the Slicer." "I see you did your research," "A little. Had to know who I was dealing with." "Yeah, and that nickname did not give me any justice. That's one of my least favorite names given to me."

"There's multiple?" "Yeah, there's Ninja, SheWolf, Shredder, Grim Reaper, Death, Queen of Hell, and my favorite, Shuriken." "Shuriken? How did you get that name?" "A talented magician never tells their secrets," you say. "Now, where's my room?" You add.

Over the passed few days, there is not much action to be on high alert. Which leaves random conversations about favorite foods and TV shows.

He doesn't seem like a terrible guy, he has a messed sense of humor though. He even asked a if you've ever been in love before. You answered by pointing to your scar and saying, "Once, unfortunately,"

You were walking through the parking garage to get the car after having dinner with Hanseok and the rest of his crew when you hear tires screeching. There was a black van next to you and the doors flew open Instinctively, you push Jang Hanseok behind you.

A dozen of guys with masks pile out of the car with their own weapons. They rush towards you and you take out a few thin shurikens from your sleeves and flick your wrists forwards. They hit two men in their throats and you duck under the arm of a man with a wrench.

You grab his arm and throw him to the ground and just when another man headed towards you, you take out your ninjato sword. Clicking the button, it springs into it's full length and you slice across the man's chest.

His blood sprays across your face before he falls to the ground and the man you threw to the ground is starting to get up.

You cut his throat and knee him in the face before ducking and weaving through their blows, cutting their backs and faces along the way. One managed to take your ninajto sword from your hands so you took out your daggers.

Stabbing his heart, you take out the blade before drop kicking him towards his remaining four comrades. They all fall to the ground and before they could get up, you threw a dagger through one of their eye sockets.

The three of them rush towards you and you swing your leg under one of them, tripping him. Then you one with a roundhouse kick and the other with a jumping back kick.

"Now, which of you wants to run back to you boss and say that Shuriken is in town?" You ask breathlessly. They look to each other and one of them hops into the van and drives away. "Well.." you state and before they could run away, you use two more shurikeins that cuts through their throats.

You turn around to see Hanseo, Ms. Choi and Mr. Hanchul looking at you with both fear and shock. You tried to wipe away the blood from your face as you look at Hanseok. He smiles at you with a dark look in his eyes. "Let's go," you suggest.

**

Since you fought those amateurs in the parking garage, Jang Hanseok has been more around you a lot more than usual. It's almost like he was attracted to the fact that you killed people without blinking. He buys you everything from food to jewlery.

He doesn't mention who I'm protecting him from. He doesn't even allow his comrades to say his name. They just call him Mafia Bastard. They were celebrating a victory over said Mafia Bastard. It wasn't until he admitted to killing his mother that you realized just how similar you guys were.

Sitting at the table, you read your book and leave your glass of champagne untouched. You started to zone out after they continue to ramble about the Mafia Bastard.

You felt some tensesness in the room when Ms. Choi said, "Did you really think that you would betray the Chairman and I wouldn't find out about it?"

You still don't look up from your book until you heard a silenced gun shot and Ms. Choi's screams. You reach into your belt and aim your gun towards the perpetrator.

His expression matched yours when you realized that it was him.. Vincenzo. The man you loved and betrayed you. The one that gave you that hideous scar.

Without a second thought, you shot his arm and chest. He kneels on the ground and drops his weapon. "Thats impossible, you're dead." He groans. "There were times when I wished I was." He spits out some blood and says, "Y/N, I.. I'm sorry."

You raise the gun again to kill him but you remember Hanseok saying he didn't wabf the Mafia Bastard dead, not yet. "Get the hell out of here," you say, setting your gun on the counter. He stands up from the floor and staggers a little before opening his mouth to talk to you. You raise your hand for him to stop and he complies.

He holds onto his chest and walks slowly out of the building. That's when you notice the dead man on the floor. From the looks of it, he's was tortured to death. He must have been the one who killed his mom. "Why didn't you kill him! We didn't hire you to let people live! We hired you to kill!" Ms. Choi yells.

You look to Hanseok and ask, "You said to keep him alive, is that correct?" "Yes, I did. And we didn't hire anybody, I did, so watch your tone."

You approach her and take out a dagger from your ankle holster. You press the dagger against her throat and said, "Question my intentions like that again, and I'll slit your throat."

With that, you walk out of the lounge room and went into Hanseok's room where the balcony was. "So he's the reason why you have that scar," Hanseok says, stepping on to the balcony with you.

"I don't want to talk about it," you say flatly. "He's the one that's trying to kill me, so you better talk about it."

"Look at me," he adds, turning you around and pressing your back against the railing. "Why do you care? What matters now is that I'm willing to kill him. No, I'm more than willing. I want to kill him." You say as you throw him to the ground and apply pressure to his chest with your knee. Taking out your blade, you press it against his throat.

"I'm not your brother. Put your hands on me again and I will kill you, do you understand?" You add. He nods and you release the pressure from his lungs. You tuck your dagger away in your ankle. When you try to stand up, he pulls you back down and flips you onto your back.

He pins your arms above your head. "What are you doing?" You ask. "I'm trying something," he says before capturing your lips in a burningly slow kiss.

Oddly enough your body eases under his touch and he lets go of your arm. You sit up to pull off your shirt and he pulls off your jeans, slowly kissing up your stomach.

Meanwhile Cha young walks Vincenzo out of the hospital and to his chair. The bullets were through and through, so it didn't take that long to clean and stitch him up. "Who did this to you?" Cha young asks. "I deserved it," "No one deserves to be shot... except Hanseok."

"I.. I don't know how, but I'm going to make it up to her." "Her? A woman shot you?" "A very special woman that I once loved," "Wait, now I'm even more confused. If she was so special then why did she try to kill you?" "Because I tried to kill her."

[in-my-feels-probably]

INEFFABLE - Kaz Brekker

Chapter Four

If you would like to read this on Wattpad, it’s on there as well, my @ is in_my_feels_probably and there’s a few visuals and better descriptions and stuff on there. otherwise, enjoy, let me know what you think, and you can check out my masterlist for updates and more.

INEFFABLE - Kaz Brekker

ineffable (adj.) too great to be expressed in words, utterly indescribable; too sacred to speak of. 

Chapter Four

Elham had wiped most of the blood from her face, patching up what she could. She could feel the bruises already forming, one across her left eyebrow, which had a nasty gash through it, and one across her right cheekbone, as well as a cut and bruised lip, courtesy of Pekka Rollins. She was following Kaz down the stairs and across the club floor, headed to Jesper, who was seated at the bar.

Kaz was absolutely fuming. His pace was quick, even with his cane broken, and Elham, whose eye was beginning to swell a bit, struggled to keep up. They approached Jesper at the bar, who turned to look at the pair, eyes widening when he noticed Kaz's disheveled appearance.

"You alright, boss?" Kaz slung back Jesper's shot, earning a look of exasperation. He turned to complain to Elham, only to suck in a breath at Elham's appearance.

"Saints, love, are you alright?" Jesper gently held her chin in his hand, lightly turning her face towards the light to check her injuries. She pulled her face from his grasp, offering him a small smile instead, patting his arm.

"I've certainly been better, Jesper. Thank you, though."

"We've been warned off the job."

Jesper hesitated before questioning. "By who?"

Kaz turned to Jesper, a grimace on his face. "Who do you think?"

"Did he remember you?"

Kaz pulled his watch from his pocket, checking the time. "If he had, I'd be dead."

Elham flinched at that, and Kaz continued. "Sunrise is in five hours."

Jesper tugged Elham along and followed Kaz, who had headed for the floor. "Yeah, but we're off the job now, right?"

Kaz glanced at Elham, who just shook her head. "Never make decisions out of fear, Jesper. Only out of spite."

"Well, greed always worked well for me."

Kaz looked unimpressed. "Go guard the door."

Jesper sighed, and Elham gave his hand a quick squeeze, before letting him go. Once he left, Elham was left next to Kaz, who was running his gloved hand through his hair, scanning the room. He suddenly stopped scanning, before motioning to a guard at the door. "I have to handle this, go keep Jesper company."

Elham chuckled, turning to walk towards the door. "Babysitting. It's what I do best."

---

Jesper was messing around, slinging his guns around his fingers, doing everything he possibly could to annoy Elham.

"You're such an idiot."

He turned to face her smirking. "Yeah, but--"

"Jesper." Inej had appeared in front of them, making Jesper jump out of his skin, clutching his chest. Elham laughed at that.

"How do you do that?"

Inej didn't look amused. "...I need your help."

"Of course, love. Doing what?"

Inej stepped closer, a pained look on her face. Elham had stood up now, walking towards her. "I need you to kill a man for me."

Jesper laughed, scoffing. "Ugh, why me? You've got as many knives as I've got teeth."

Inej only frowned, murmuring quietly. "You know why."

"Yeah. But how is getting me to do it any different from you doing it? Besides, we've got the Valkyrie right here, I'm sure she'd be happy to."

"Inej, he's right, you don't have to do this, I can do it. Just tell me who he is, love, I'll handle it."

Before Inej could even let out a sigh of relief, Kaz called from down the alley, making them turn their heads toward him. "Jesper! New job, Elham, come with me."

Elham and Jesper turned back to Inej, but she was already gone. Elham's heart filled with dread, knowing she wouldn't be able to find and get to Inej before she had gone through with it. "Damn it, Kaz. What now?"

Kaz didn't even bat an eye. "Come along."

---

Elham paid no attention to Kaz and Jesper's conversation, something about needing a demo man. She trudged along behind them, hoping Inej was alright. She was beginning to feel naked without her sword on her, vulnerable in the streets of Ketterdam. Sure, she could fight, but nothing like how she could with her sword.

Jesper suddenly stopped, putting his hand on Kaz's arm, halting them. Kaz's eyes immediately looked down to Jesper's hand on his coat, and Elham as subtly as she could stepped in between them, separating the two. Jesper paid no mind to this, seeming to not notice. "Aren't we on Pekka's turf?"

"I go to Heleen now and ask for her buyout, she knows I need Inej and sets a price I can't pay."

"That's evil. Well, how do you know that?"

Kaz hesitated. "...It's what I would do."

Elham scoffed at that, shaking her head, muttering to herself. "Saints."

"Besides, Inej refuses to kill. Would you trust her in a matter of life and death?"

Before Jesper could even speak, Elham had stepped in front of Kaz, staring him down. "Did you really just ask that? Of course I would trust her, just as much as I would trust you!"

Kaz seemed surprised at her outburst. Jesper stepped from foot to foot, uncomfortable by the staring contest going on in front of him. "You want to tell me why we're scoping out a rival club?"

"To have a talk with an old business partner."

"The bouncers will know you on sight."

"That's why I brought you. Make sure they don't see me." Kaz turned to face Elham, referring to Jesper. "Watch them."

Jesper straightened up, getting ready. "On it, Boss."

Kaz smirked. 'I wasn't talking to you." And then he was gone.

Jesper scoffed, and Elham cracked a grin. "I am the babysitter, you know. Now get to work, try not to get us killed."

Jesper grumbled, pulling his pistol from its holster. "Yes, mother."

Elham rolled her eyes, slipping away from Jesper and to one of the nearby carts, pretending to look like one of the pigeons who'd come in from the harbour to visit the clubs.

A little while later, Kaz came down one of the back alleys in a hurry. Elham met his eyes, and saw the look of urgency. She quickly grabbed onto Jesper's coat and followed Kaz down the street, pulling him with her.

---

Elham was following Kaz still, running up the steps behind him. He had explained to her something about the Conductor, a man with a supposedly safe way to cross the Fold, and he was the man Inej was sent to kill, baited with her freedom by Tante Heleen.

They had made it to the top of the stairs, to see Inej leaned over the Conductor, a knife held in her hand, ready to strike.

Kaz motioned for Elham to get out of the way. "Don't."

Inej released the knife, sending it flying towards Kaz's head, it stuck into the board right next to his head. Elham sucked in a breath, Inej trembling. Kaz took a deep breath as well. "He's our way to Alina Starkov."

Inej grimaced, pressing her arm further into the man's neck. "Him?"

"Heleen knew it, she was using you to sabotage our mission."

Inej shook her head in disbelief. "She and I made a deal."

Kaz stepped towards Inej, Elham following. "It isn't worth more than what we get with him alive."

Inej turned to face the pair. "You'd choose him over my freedom?"

Elhams eyes began to tear, a lump forming in her throat. Kaz continued. "You assume it's one or the other."

Inej took a deep breath, turning back to the Conductor. She removed her knife from his neck, nicking at the skin, leaving a small cut. Kaz let his posture relax, moving towards the conductor.

Elham pulled Inej into her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder, the other moving to hold her hand. Kaz stepped in front of the two. "Conductor. I have a job for you. Get us to the Little Palace."

---

Not long after, Jesper and Inej were out preparing for the heist. Kaz and Elham were being let into Tante Heleen's office, who sat at her desk in fancy clothes, a cigarette lit. Elham glared, it taking everything in her not to launch the knife strapped to her thigh right into Heleen's chest. Just for good measure, Kaz stood in front of her, blocking her from view.

"I'm taking her, and when we return I'll have the buyout to clear the books. Until then, this is my collateral." Kaz had stepped forward, handing her a sealed envelope.

Heleen chuckled, taking the envelope and opening it. "What do you have that could possibly be enough?" She removed the piece of paper, revealing the deed to the Crow Club.

"The Crow Club? Well, I stand corrected."

Elham had convinced Kaz to use it as collateral earlier that night, promising him that the heist would pay off, and if it didn't work, she would do whatever it took to pay him back. Elham stepped around Kaz, who gave her a warning glance.

"Heleen...if we make it back, but without the kruge, you aren't taking the Crow Club. And you aren't keeping Inej. You're gonna take me."

Kaz's eyes filled with fear, his voice now uneasy. "Elham--"

"Don't, Kaz." She turned back to Heleen. "I'm half Suli, half Zemeni. I'll be your new lynx, or fawn, or whatever it is you decide to call me if it comes to it. I...I've got experience."

Kaz's face fell, his posture rigid. She hadn't told him that. Heleen raised an eyebrow, watching the pair.

A few months before Kaz had found her, nobody would hire her. There were no odd jobs to be found, and she was desperate. She found a little club at the edge of the Barrel near the harbour, who was taking in new girls. Elham had voluntarily signed a contract of employment, barely being paid enough to get by. But she wasn't indentured to the owner, and that was what was most important to her.

She did what she had to do. After the first month or so, it got easier. She only came in on nights where she had nowhere else she could go, and in exchange for a bed and food, and a small wage, she worked. After a few months, she had enough saved up to quit, to go look for other jobs she could scam her way into.

What Kaz also didn't know, is that the night he found her, she was working for the last little bit of kruge that could get her by. Another week or so, and she would have been right back at the club.

Elham wouldn't turn around. She wouldn't meet Kaz's gaze. Instead, she kept her eyes on Heleen. "So? Do we have a deal?"

Heleen stood. "Alright, little fawn. You've got yourself a deal. Now step aside, Mr. Brekker and I were talking."

Elham stepped back, lowering her gaze so she wouldn't have to meet Kaz's eyes. He slowly stepped forward, standing in front of Heleen, who was smirking. She held out her hand for him to shake. He slowly took it. "Inej is yours to lose now."

She peered around him, glancing at Elham, who was trying to be as stoic as she could. Heleen leaned in closer to Kaz, still talking to him, but her eyes kept glancing between him and Elham.

"It's all yours to lose."

Kaz nodded, turning around and walking out of Heleen's office, Elham following.

---

They walked back to the Crow Club in silence. Once they arrived, they made it up the stairs to Kaz's office, and Elham turned to go to her room.

"Elham?"

She turned to Kaz, keeping her gaze on the floor.

"Look at me."

She finally gave in, slowly glancing up, expecting to see disgust or disappointment. She saw none of that. Instead, it was a look of pity, which was almost worse.

"Do you need something, or can I go find Inej, get this moving quicker?"

Kaz's eyes softened, and he motioned for her to follow him into his office, a more private place. Once inside, he motioned for her to sit in her chair by the window. She did, slowly sitting, and he pulled his chair closer to her.

He sat across from her, trying to find the right thing to say. He finally settled on something.

"Why didn't you tell me before? I wouldn't have cared. I didn't look at Inej any differently when I found her, why would I look at you any different? And why, why the fuck would you do that? Offer yourself up like that to Heleen. I wouldn't have even brought you in there if I knew you were gonna do something as unbelievably stupid as that!"

Elham felt shame creeping through her, feeling uneasy in her chair, trying to sink further into it. She mumbled, her voice unsteady. "I don't know. I just knew that I couldn't let Inej go back there, not after seeing her so close to freedom tonight. And I couldn't let you potentially lose the Crow Club, not after watching you for years work to build it up. This seemed like the easiest option. If it comes to it, I can handle it."

"No."

"What?"

"No. You're not going back there. I don't care what I have to do, we're getting this kruge. We have to. I have to." Kaz was seething now leaning back in his chair, running his hands through his hair.

His broken cane was leaning against his desk, and Elham picked it up, bringing it closer to her. Kaz stilled, watching her movements now. She slowly slid it closer to him, tapping the end to the base of his ankle, like he had done so many times before to her.

His breath hitched, he was still not moving.

She offered him a small smile. "We're gonna get this kruge. Nobody's going back to Heleen. I trust you."

He gave her a small nod, his lips turning up into the ghost of a smile. "Come on, we're almost out of time. Let's go."

---

A/N - hey guys! i really hope you like this chapter, it's kinda long and it's a lot to handle, but we're so close to actually getting out of ketterdam and getting this heist moving, so i packed a lot in this chapter. i'm slowly gonna start releasing more and more about elham, so i hope you're ready for that. anyways, let me know what you think! feel free to comment or message me with anything, and check out my other work. thank you so much for the support!

[tanakavox]

The screen runs again as shows the red coated Jaune standing around looking annoyed as a voice calls out to him.

"Hey look it's half demon Jaune again!" Nora cheered.

"...Half what? Coco deadpan.

"Jaune in this universe is the son of Ozpin,who's a demon who saved all of humanity. Cinder is like his twins or something." Yang quickly brought the others to speed.

"Teach is a demon?" Coco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait who's the mom then?" Velvet asked, confused.

"That's….. A very good question. We didn't get an answer to that. Yang mused.

"I just wanna know who this person with the annoying voice was." Whitley muttered

"Another good question that we don't get answers to. Sorry."

"Thanks for destroying the lock for me, devil boy! And welcome to hell! Please accept my gift. Don't be humble, just take it. After all, we are buddies aren't we?" The voice the viewers recozinge as Jester as she cackles loudly.

A fountain of blood flows onto the statues which bring out blood bat-based demons called Blood-goyles flies toward Jaune and he cuts it in half with a casual swipe from his sword.

Jaune shakes his head in disappointment. "Well, isn't that special. To be honest, I'm expecting something a little better than this," Jaune then goes to dispatch them and leaves on his way to find Cinder.

The scene cuts to Jaune walking in front of a door with two statues and stopping when they began to start talking. Jaune doesn't look a bit shocked.

"Look brother, it's been ages, but we finally have company," one called Rudra said gleefully.

"I see that," The other is called Agni simply.

"We must entertain our guest."

"You're right. We have to be gracious hosts."

"Brother, what should we do?" Rudra asked.

"How do I know? We need to come up with something," Agni stated.

Jaune began to get impantice pacing back and forward and sighed.

"I don't blame him for getting impantice. These guys are annoying." Mercury stated. He was already starting not like these guys.

"Oh come on they weren't even talking!" Ruby pointed out glaring at Mercury.

"Still annoying."

Rudra took notice with this. "Brother, our guest is... sighing."

"SIGH? What is... SIGH?" Agni asked, a bit confused.

"Well a sigh is when -" Rudra was about to answer until he was cut off by their guest.

"Enough already!" Jaune said, finally snapping, "How long are you two gonna keep carrying on like this? In case you didn't get the hint, I'll spell it out. Your guest wants to go through. Got it."

"Our job here is to guard this door," Rudra said the statue was moving a bit.

"That's right! We can't let you pass," Agni added his piece.

(After Agni & Rudra battle)

"Wow, he took them out without much effort." Fiona said wide eyed.

"That kinda sums up this Jaune huh? He didn't have much trouble with the last guy either. Nora responded with a huge grin.

"He's gonna die when he gets to Cinder though. Emerald said with a smirk. "Remember what happened at the start. Nora turns to glare at her.

"Shut up!" She barked.

After their bodies were defeated in battle, both demon swords spun around in the air until they fell and got stuck on the ground in a crossed-blades position. They see Jaune walking towards the exit of the room, about to leave them behind.

"Wait!" Rudra cried out to Jaune.

Against his better thinking, Jaune turns around to acknowledge the two demon guards

"Yes, wait. We have been waiting for a long time," Agni said after his brother.

"Yes, a very long time," Rudra echoed.

"For someone stronger than us."

"Someone who can control us."

"My name is Agni," the red demon sword said.

"And my name is Rudra. You shall take us with you," The blue demon sword stated.

"We could be a great help to you!" Both brothers said as one.

Jaune took a moment to think about their offer. They were pretty strong together and seeing as how he's already let Cereberus tag along, he could use these two as Devil Arms as well. "Okay, but on one condition," He pressed.

"What is it?" Agni asked ecstatically.

"Name it!" Rudra sharing his brother's joy stated.

Jaune points to both brothers, "No talking!" While they were a strong force together, he would not deal with their constant chit-chat along the way.

"Thank god he said it." Mercury stated.

"Much as I hate to agree with you but yeah." Jaune piped up.

"Jaune!" Ruby cried, lightning punching him in the arm. Jaune raised his arms defensively

"I'm sorry Rubes, But they're really annoying.

"Fair enough!" Agni agreed to the blonde's terms.

"As you wish," Rudra echoed his agreement.

Jaune picks up the two swords and does a kata. The force of every swing of the two swords generated sharp winds and scorching flames. By the end, Jaune couldn't help but smile in satisfaction at how amazing these Devil Arms were and how strong they felt in his hands.

"... That was so cool." Ruby whispered with stars in her eyes.

"Impressive," The blue brother praised his new master.

Jaune flips the swords and bangs the two brother's heads together. "No talking," He repeated their agreement.

Neither Agni or Rudra said anything more, almost like they really were inanimate objects.

"Good," Jaune said in satisfaction, having peace and quiet again.

—

The scene changes to show the young crimsonette walk stealthily down a corridor with a gun in hand, the sounds of heavy steps closing in around her.

"Hey look! It's me! Ruby cheered. She didn't get to show up alot in this movie so far. But she started to get worried. It looked like she was about to get ambushed.

It's all of a sudden when a group of Pride Hell's attempt to ambush her. She's able to evade the swings of their scythe weapons thanks to her fast reflexes, allowing her to retrieve a second pistol from a holster. She shoots at two of the Hells and continues to fire in quick succession. One of the Hells thrusted the blunt pommel of their scythe in her direction, Ruby's able to dodge the strike by hopping on top of it and evade multiple swings directed at her in an expert show of her athletic ability. She continues to return fire to them as they continue to advance.

"WHOOO GO RUBY!" Yang cheered as she went to town on the demons.

Even when she gets cornered she has a plan. Ruby kicked two Hells back with her legs, a gift for each of them in the form of grenades. The explosion results in the Hells along with herself being propelled into the air. She doesn't give them a chance to recover as she continues to send bullets their way via cyclone of death. She finds footing on an embedded scythe in the wall, she fires at a nearby Hell and then uses the scythe as a high bar as a means to continue her attack on the rest of the Hells while performing many acts of peak acrobatic ability and gunfire. Eventually she finds herself upside down, her only support was her feet hooked around two embedded poles. The Hells take this opportunity to strike against Ruby together, they never seem to learn.

"Which version of Ruby seems very skilled,'' Weiss mused.

"You say that like you believe I'm not skilled now Ruby said smiling at Weiss. Weiss doesn't say anything as Ruby stares at her. She pouted at the former heiress. "I'm skilled Weiss!"

"Yes. Of Course Ruby." Weiss replies with a smirk.

Ruby turns to Jaune to get him on her side but stops when she noticed that Jaune crossed his legs tightly and was staring at the screen intently.

"Uh Jaune? Why did you cross your legs so tightly?"

Jaune turns to Ruby wide eyed and stutters out an answer. "Uh I-i just feel more comfortable like this!" No way he was gonna tell Ruby watching her go to town on demons was hot to him. Ruby stares at him for a few seconds and goes back to the movie.

Deciding it was time to bring out the big guns, Ruby draws out her trusty Crescent Rose and fires a missile at the ground beneath her. The explosion knocks back the Hells while propelling her into the air once more. Ruby lands onto the ground in a crouch position with no signs of harm throughout the ordeal. As she looks around, she releases a sigh of relief as the Hells were no longer a threat. She tugs her darling back on her shoulder and continues on, as she leaves the screen pans to an overhead shot to see that the charred remains of the ground resembling a '6.'

Ruby is now seen on a balcony of Temen-ni-gru, reloading her arsenal, sitting on a rock until she hears a voice come from behind her. Upon recognizing the voice she immediately pulls out one of her guns.

"Well, well... You've grown stronger," Raven said as she approached the young woman.

"Mom." Yang had a dark look on her face.

"What does she want with Ruby? Blake asks.

"If you shut your yap you may find out." Mercury said nonchalantly causing Blake to glare at him.

"Go to Hell," She raises her pistol directly towards Raven's face.

"You point a gun at me? Your own kin? Your dear Auntie?" Raven said as though she were truly shocked.

Ruby's face twists in rage, "The only family I ever had was my sister, and she's dead!"

"SHE KILLED ME?!" Yang yelled out in shock? The rest of her team and friends were in shock as well. Qrow couldn't believe it. Yang and Raven never really had a good relationship but he didn't think Raven would kill her own daughter.

Ruby shoots with her pistol four times, but finds that Raven has vanished. She draws out a SMG and aims both guns to her left and right in case Raven could get the jump on her. She scans around her surroundings for any signs of Raven only to find nothing. That only left one direction left uncheck... was above!

"You break my heart. After all, it was I who gave you your name. My darling niece!" Raven yells as she stares at Ruby while hanging upside down on the balcony roof.

Ruby was about to shoot when Raven's book dropped on her face blocking her vision. Raven takes this opportunity to get the jump on Ruby and throws her niece off the platform. Before she was out of Raven's sight, she felt her cheek get grazed by one of Ruby's bullets that she fired her way.

"That should have gone into her head!" Yang screamed, her eyes glowing red. Qrow couldn't help but agree with his niece.

Ruby continues falling Temen-ni-gru, that is until Jaune catches sight of her falling and proceeds to catch her by one of her boots. She looks at what stopped her fall and upon recognizing the boy in red, points both her guns at him.

Jaune looks down at the girl with a grin, pleased to see this interesting girl again. "Well, this is my kind of rain. No wonder the sky looks so funny today," He said while looking up at the cloudy sky.

"Getting bold ain't ya Bondie?" Qrow said, turning to Jaune who gave him an annoyed look.

"Yeah? And you want me to what Old man?" He snapped.

Qrow growled knowing he couldn't do anything.

"Let me go!" Ruby yelled.

"Don't say that stupid" Ruby yelled at the other version of herself.

Jaune looked at her with surprise, "Let you go? But it would be a waste if you ended up as just a pretty stain."

"Smooth Arc. Smooth." Coco teased as Jaune faces red at his alternate self boldness with his best friend.

Ruby having enough this guy's talk shoots him in his head. When the bullet makes contact with Jaune's face, it causes him to let go of the girl which results in her fall down again. This time however she's able to use the blade of Crescent Rose as a means to stop her fall. As she hangs off her weapon, she hears the sound of footst coming from the platform above.

"NO ME NO!" Ruby yelled out in horror at the fact she possibly killed her best friend.

"Huh look at that. He died earlier than I thought." Emerald laughed.

Jaune peers over the edge of the platform at the girl, sporting a bleeding bullet wound on his forehead and a miffed expression, "What the hell was that for? Here I am trying to help you and you show your thanks by shooting me?"

"Oh thanks goodness." Ruby sighed in relief.

"We shouldn't be too surprised. Getting stabbed several times with scythe only made him mad." Oscar pointed out.

Ruby, very confused with how he's even standing, responds by shooting him again.

The bullet once again makes contact, however, Jaune is able to react quickly enough to catch it between his teeth. After spitting the offending bullet out of his mouth he decides it would be in his best interest to ditch the girl, "Whatever, do as you please."

"God me! You just lost your chance at getting a friend!" Ruby said in a disapproving tone.

Ruby lowers her gun as she's finally able to pick up why she's been having a bad feeling about this guy, "So he's a demon too."

As he leaves, Jaune cleans off a bit of leftover blood from his face and wipes it on the wall. "I'm beginning to think I've got rotten luck with women," The line of fresh blood drips down the wall, creating the image of a '7.'

—

The scene changes to the very top of Temen-ni-gru, there stands a black haired woman in the rain, a ethereal full moon shining its light in the night sky, and the only sound that was present was the roaring winds in the air.

The silence would soon be broken as the sound of approaching footsteps began to come up the stairs. Jaune approaches the platform, finally making it to the top of the large tower that was Temen-ni-gru. After fighting multiple demons just to get here he was finally met with his gracious hostess, Cinder.

Cinder turned her head to address her guest, already knowing who it was, "...You showed up," She smiled.

Cinder sat forward in her seat. Ready to see herself destroy this weakening again.

Jaune walks up to her, while twirling Ivory in his hands. There was a smile on his face as he paced around the platform, "You sure know how to throw a party. No food, no drinks, and the only babe just left." Jaune lightheartedly pokes at his sister's very poor party preparation.

"My sincerest apology, brother. I was so eager to see you I couldn't concentrate on the preparations for the bash," Cinder replies with a warmth that was difficult to tell if it was genuine or not.

D-do they hate each other?" Oscar asks. "They seem pretty happy to see each other."

Jaune brushes it off continuing his pacing, "Whatever. At any rate, it's been a whole year since we last met. How about a kiss from your little brother? Or better yet, how about a kiss from this?"

Jaune immediately points Ivory directly at Cinder. The sound of lightning and thunder echoed throughout the dark sky, signaling the change in the atmosphere around the two siblings.

"So, this is what they call a heart warming family reunion eh…" Jaune questions as his face grinned, expressing that he was ready for a fight,

Cinder's eyes darkened, her facial expression becoming cold but determined, "You got that right."

Cinder opens up Yamato with her thumb, its blade gleaming in the moonlight.

"Take down, Fearless leader" Nora cheered.

"Heh. Come red. We both know how this is gonna end up."" Mercury said chuckling at her.

"I thought I told you to shut up?" Nora hissed.

—

Jaune and Cinder separated from each other, both breathing heavily from the battle, after fighting so intensely they took a moment to catch their breath. Their fight in the rain had lasted for some time, as evidenced by Cinder's hair being flat down, wet from all the rainwater.

Jaune is able to recover first so he takes Rebellion and starts charging at his sister, Rebellion's tip generating sparks as he drags it on the ground. Cinder recovers in time to evade his attempted strike, giving her the opportunity to parry with Yamato.

Jaune spins Rebellion with both hands then thrusted the sword towards Cinder, who then sidesteps the blade's path. She rotates Yamato to hold the katana backhanded, following up by knocking Jaune backwards with its kashira (pommel). Both of them quickly clashed their blades together, resulting in both of them being knocked back, Jaune having already off his feet is knocked the farthest back.

Jaune skits to one of the pillars standing on the platform, stopping his backwards momentum. He quickly draws out Ebony from her holster, and fires seven shots at his brunette sibling. The bullets are seen speeding towards Cinder who begins spinning Yamato in a quick rotating motion, deflecting three of the bullets while catching the remaining four that were originally aimed towards her.

Cinder places the caught bullets on the floor with Yamato in single file and then returns them to her blonde brother. Jaune sees the returning bullets coming towards him but he quickly lifts Rebellion over his head and is able to quickly slice through them, which then burst behind him.

"...That was fucking cool. Mercury stated and no one disagreed with him

Cinder points Yamato at him, her face expressing her frustration towards her brother, "Why do you refuse to gain power? The power of our father Ozma?"

"I thought you guys said that teacher was their dad?" Coco turned to everyone with a raised eyebrow.

"He is, that's just his real name." Blake said with a sigh. "It's a long story. Don't ask." Coco shrugs and goes back to the movie.

Jaune, after using Rebellion to help him stand, looks at Cinder as if she told him a bad joke, "Father? I don't have a father. I just don't like you, that's all."

Ozpin's heart ached hearing Jaune say that. He knew that they weren't his kids in his universe but the fact that any kids of his were fighting at all as well one of his sons rejecting him, hurted.

A moment of silence passes before the two siblings charge at each other once more, both of their swords clash against the other, while both Jaune and Cinder stare the other down. The spot where both Yamato and Rebellion met begins turning a bright orange, the generated sparks and heat being caused by the force behind both blades, as the two continue staring down the other. The whining of two metals being tested is heard, Jaune seemed to be exerting everything he had, while Cinder showed no apparent signs of exertion at all. The struggle is finally ended when Cinder strikes Rebellion away from her brother's grasp, the large sword spinning in the air until it strikes against the ground, timed perfectly as Cinder impales Jaune with Yamato.

Cinder smirks as she hears the cries of the blonde fools friends as her blade sinks into his stomach. Today was a good day. Two universes where she totally domanations. She turns to Jaune to see his reaction. To her disappointment the blonde didn't react much. Only had a stoic expression. Jaune knew he was gonna lose but didn't want to give the bitch the satisfaction of his disappointment.

His blood trickles down onto the floor and Yamato itself while Jaune grasps at the blade that was impaling his abdomen.

Cinder looks down at her impaled sibling, her face expressing neither joy or satisfaction in the act, only disappointment, "Foolishness, Jaune, foolishness. Might control everything. And without strength, you can't protect anything. Let alone yourself."

Cinder agreed with her counterpart but didn't really care on how she wasn't enjoying her other self with her impaling the fool.

"She... looks disappointed?" Mercury echoed Cinder's thoughts.

"Maybe they do love others? In some kinda weird way?" Ruby said, scratching her head in confusion.

Cinder forcibly removes Jaune from Yamato's blade then takes his amulet from him and leaves a slash on Jaune's sleeve. She looks at the amulet in her hand for a moment, fixes her hair back to its original shape, and starts to walk away but not before taking hold of Rebellion. When Jaune tries to get up, Cinder turns around and quickly impales him with his own sword.

A pan up shot shows Jaune as his blood begins pooling under him, Rebellion pinning his body to the floor.

"Do you finally have it?" Cinder turns around and there she sees Raven standing behind her, seeming to have just arrived.

"Yes. Now the spell Ozma cast will be broken," Cinder says to the scarred woman.

"Spell?" Velvet asked

"Ozpin in this universe sealed the demon world from the human alongside all of his power.

"And Cinder and Raven want to open the gate to the demon realm to get his power?" Yatshu finally speaks up.

Jaune lays on the platform unconscious, seeming like he is dead… until the skull on Rebellion changes form and the sword is launched into the air, the water rises behind Jaune as he charges ahead and tries to attack Cinder.

She quickly blocks Jaune's fist with Yamato, resulting in his hand being covered in blood as the blade sliced through it. Unlike before, Jaune's face shows no evidence of being in pain due to the injury, instead his face shows significant rage towards Cinder.

"I see, the devil inside you has awakened as well," Cinder said to him. This time showing a peaked interest.

"Holy shit Blondie doesn't that hurt?!" Fiona cried out wincing in pain just watching Jaune's hands sink into the blade.

Jaune forces his impaled arm through Yamato, his tissue healing at such an astonishing rate as once his hand is removed it shows no sign of damage or deformity. He grabs the blade once more, then uses his newfound strength to fling Cinder over his shoulder.

"Interesting. It seems like the boy's regen has increased incredibly."Salem mused on learning forward. "They seem more like my children than your Opsin." She smiles at him mocking but it dropped when Nora spoke.

"Probably because you are their mom."Nora replied nonchalantly while still looking at the movie.

Salem took pauses at this and took a closer look at Jaune in the movie and the one in the theater. She got a weird feeling from him, but she decided to push it to the back of her head and just decided the pink one was talking nonsense.

Cinder lands on her feet soon after, preparing to fight him once more before she is stopped by Raven's voice from behind her, "Wait. We should leave. For the moment we have all that we need."

A white aura surrounds Jaune as he walks towards them, his eyes dulled and his steps heavy as he slowly begins triggering the demon inside of him. It was at this time that Cinder and Raven walked away, jumping off the edge of Temen-ni-gru, letting him transform into his Devil Form for the very first time. After releasing an inhuman roar, Jaune falls to the ground unconscious, returning to his human form.

"Holy shit what was that?!" Ruby looked at Jaune in shock.

"Is that what Cinder meant when she said Jaune unlocked the devil inside of him? Because that is a badass looking devil man!" Mercury shouted, getting hyped up.

—

After some time has passed, Jaune awakens once more and gets up off of the ground. The rain having stopped results in many of the clouds to clear up, one of them showing a figure of an '8.' He rips the broken portion of the sleeve from his jacket, then picks up Rebellion. Jaune finds them gone, feeling defeated he slams his fist at the nearest pillar, which results in the top portion of the structure to explode. Jaune looks at what he's done and he discovers he has awakened newfound power, it surprisingly felt...good.

"Oh know that look." Yang had a knowing smile.

Next thing Jaune knows, he jumps off the top of Temen-ni-gru, beginning his pursuit to get his amulet back from his sister and that scarred woman. During his plummet he decides to test his new capabilities on incoming demons. The incoming Blood-goyles will do nicely.

He slays large quantities of the Blood-goes with extraordinary ease, all of his speed, strength, and agility had increased so much that he was like a blur to the normal eye. He throws Rebellion at a number of Blood-golyes, quickly impaling and to finish the job he fires Ebony at the swords pommel, increasing the speed of his sword so much that it reaches terminal velocity. Jaune chases after Rebellion until his outstretched arm is able to reach the same speed as his falling sword. Once he's able to grasp it, Jaune launches himself off of Temin-ni-grun at a horizontal angle.

"... I hate the fact that I've said that's badass to this guy more there once. Mercury muttered.

This new power felt amazing to him, he felt invincible. Powerful. Unstoppable…

That's when the giant Leviathan in the sky showed up and swallowed him whole.

Salem eyes widen at the sight of the giant whale. "Richard?!" she took a closer look and realized that it was not Richard and settled down/

—

The scene changes to a separate corridor of the tower, where both Cinder and Raven appear before an enormous locked door.

Raven is seen looking into her book, very focused on its contents, starts sharing her knowledge with Cinder, "People once cried out in fear of this tower. Temen-ni-gru, a foundation that brought out fear. Fear. Yes, fear. Can't you feel it? The rage and agonies of people. Those who are confined here... with their desires of evil being unfulfilled... It was all because Ozma slammed the door to the Demon World in their faces…"

""

Raven looks towards the gate as it begins to unlock its many safeguards. Once they undone, the doors opened, allowing the two to continue forward.

Raven before continuing on turns around to see if someone she knows followed them.

"What's wrong?" Cinder asked the distracted Raven.

"...Nothing," Raven replies, obviously lying to her about her true concerns.

"I hope Ruby comes and ends up shooting you in the head, you witch. Yang said seething with rage.

"Same here." Qrow growled in agreement.

Without another word being said, the two women begin making their way deeper into the tower of Temen-ni-gru.

—

As soon as Jaune finished destroying Leviathan's heart, the titanic beast let out a final bloodcurdling scream as it fell to the ground.

Ruby is seen somewhere outside of the tower continuing her search until she sees an enormous whale plummet to the ground. The force of the beast as it crashed down shook the very earth where she stood, its shock felt all across the tower and even by those in the lower levels. Even Cinder and Raven took note of the aftershock of the Leviathan, even if they dismissed it completely after a few seconds.

"Holy shit he just killed that Whale by himself." Coco looked on in wonder.

"Okay guys I'm blind. What the hell happened?" Fox asked, getting a bit annoyed.

"Oh sorry Fox! Uh Jaune killed a giant whale and is now covered in blood."

"Oh. That's really cool." Fox said simply.

The young crimsonette finds where the corpse of the demon landed and witnesses as its blood colored eye is being slashed as Jaune, having finally got out of the oversized whale that swallowed him. Although he did end up being covered head to toe in its blood, so it was a Pyrrhic victory.

"So, this is the next stage?" Jaune thought out loud, thinking he was by himself.

"Wait!" A voice called out behind him.

Jaune turns around to see that it was the same girl from before, and having recalled their last meeting, he had a sour feeling towards her, "If you're asking for a date, forget it. Because I made it a point not to go out with women who shoot me in the head." Emphasizing his point by pointing to a specific spot on his forehead, where he knows she shot him.

"That's a deal breaker most. You're a meanie for doing that Ruby." Nora teased the redhead. She sinks into her seat with a pout.

Ruby scoffed, "Date a demon? I'm not that desperate. Besides, I really don't care for guys who stink like blood."

Jaune quickly sniffs at his clothes, then double takes at how bad the Leviathan's blood reeked, "You're right."

That got a laugh out of most of the viewers. But Ruby shook her head a bit. She just didn't get it. A few years ago, She and Jaune were dating, but now they hate each other. It was weird and it made her feel odd. But she keeps watching.

The mood suddenly changed when both Jaune and Ruby pulled out their guns, however, they weren't aiming at each other. Soon enough, a swarm of Demons ambushed them, causing both of them to form an unofficial alliance to fight off all the various demons.

During the shootout between them and the Pride Hells the two moved back to back for a defensive advantage. Seeing as they had time to kill, Jaune thought he should get to know this mystery girl he had allied himself with, "So tell me, what's your name?"

"I don't have a name," the crimsonette quickly replied, not wanting to get buddy-buddy with a demon.

"Uh… But that Raven chick said she named you Ruby earlier." Coco pointed out.

Not dissuaded in the slightest, Jaune continues to ask questions, "Oh, then what should I call you?"

"I don't care. Whatever you want," Ruby plainly replies, she would rather be focused on killing these Hell Prides than getting distracted by chit-chat.

Jaune laughs as he jumps over a group of incoming demons, then turns back to call out to the crimsonette, "Whatever Lady. I'll leave this to you. Because I don't want to miss the party."

"Lady? That's the best you could come up with?" Yang looked unimpressive.

"More concerned that he just ditched Ruby." Blake said, crossing her arms.

"She did shoot him in the head. Might not want to deal with her," Weiss reminded her team to which Blake nods her head in agreement.

Ruby scoffed, "Who counted on you anyway?"

With the red coat demon gone, she continues fighting against the Hells. The screen shows one of her bullet shells that fell to the ground, the ammunition being a '9. millimeter'

—

Jaune enters a gothic structured room, with a stage and all. He was left wondering where the gatekeeper of this room was until a cauldron of bats emerged in the room. They all form into one shape, which happens to look like an extremely attractive redhead with deathly pale skin and crimson eyes, who'd hair acted as a covering for her bare upper body.

Jaune has to admit, as far as demons went for deceiving their prey, this was new. He liked new things.

Nevan looks upon this new guest with great interest and hunger, "Hmm, welcome sir. Is this your first time here?"

"Yeah it is. You'll be nice to me won't you?" Jaune asked her, playing along with her game.

Ruby's eyes dimmed as she turned to Jaune and muttered out "Filth." Which left the Blonde confused.

"What do I do?" He asked but Ruby didn't answer him. What should I do?!" He asked her again but still received no answer.

Nevan laughs sweetly at her guests request, one that was intended to lower his guard, "Of course I will. I'll treat you so nicely, you'll never want to leave."

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Jaune says before drawing Rebellion, making his point clear to his hostess that he wasn't here for that kind of fun.

Nevan, now knowing her guest was not a typical desire driven human, concedes to play with him for a little while. She walks towards her stage until she looks back at her blonde guest, "Then come on, Sugar."

—

Nevan falls back in defeat, or would have had Jaune not catch her in his left arm, "My, you're sweet."

Thinking she has him fooled, Nevan tries lunging at Jaune's throat before feeling her abdomen being penetrated by a bullet from Ivory.

Jaune laughs, "You'd think so, wouldn't you?"

"Good job Jaune." Ruby cheered with a wide smile which left him even more confused as she was just mad at him a few seconds ago.

Nevan also laughed, already knowing she was beaten, having already decided that it would be much easier on herself if she would surrender to him, "Alright. I'll help you. Your father was a handsome devil, but you're no slouch yourself."

"Salem blinked at the she-devil's comment on her ex's looks. And frankly she didn't appreciate it. She wanted to make sure Ozpin never knew happiness with another woman and thankfully her… possibable son killed her.

After giving up her physical form, Nevan transformed into the Devil Arm "Nevan"... an demonic electric guitar.

While performing an amazing death metal solo, Jaune showcases "Nevan's" unique ability as both a demonic guitar and an electrified scythe. The end of his act ending in a shower of fireworks and sparks.

Ruby let out a shriek at Jaune's new weapon. "It's not fair! I want an electric scythe guitar she whines."

"He plays better on the guitar than he did at beacon though." Weiss said with a teasing smirk at Jaune, who stuck his tongue out at her.

—

Meanwhile, Ruby continues to fight against the Hell Prides, utilizing her full arsenal on them while she simultaneously reloads all her weapons throughout the fight. From her pistol to her Crescent Rose.

When all the Hell Prides had been slain, a falling pistol from the sky is caught by the crimsonette, who smiled at its return.

"Welcome back!" Ruby said.

After packing all of her things, she makes her way towards the next entrance, continuing towards her end goal.

—

Raven and Cinder make their way to the final door to their destination, their end goal within their grasp.

Raven expresses excitement to Cinder, having finally been so close to their goal, "Soon we will reach the lair of judgement. Temen-ni-gru will finally regain its full function and lead us into the Demon World. The world where Ozma's power has been sealed. And the one who will lift the incantation is you, his own daughter. It must be fate."

Before they enter the chamber, Raven looks to check back the way they came, Cinder stops walking concerned of the woman's actions.

"Does that woman really bother you?" Cinder asked Raven.

Raven looked at the brunette quizzically, "What are you talking about?"

Looking back at the older woman, Cinder made her thoughts clear, "Why didn't you kill her? Perhaps, because she is your niece? Did some pesky auntie love get in your way?"

"... Why didn't she kill Ruby?" Yang realized Cinder brought up a good point. Raven was fine killing herself but didn't kill Ruby when she got the chance. It was odd.

Raven immediately became defensive in her body language and tone, "That is none of your-"

Raven is cut off when Cinder impales her in the abdomen, causing her to drop her book. Her blood trickles down onto the surface of the book, the drops that landed vaguely reminiscent of the number '10.'

While looking at the wounded Raven, Cinder decided it was time that she shared some of her own background knowledge, relating to Raven specifically, "To further your study of the black arts, you sacrificed your loving daughter, to become a devil as well. Knowing this I thought you'd be more useful to me, but I was wrong. No wonder your attainment of power is incomplete."

"... I'm not surprised my sister did this all in the search of power" Qrow muttered.

Cinder was incredibly giddy on getting her revenge on Raven, Even though it was technically her, it was close enough and she bathed in the scene with great glee.

Raven coughed up some of her blood, trickling from her mouth, before she exchanged an enraged glare towards Cinder, "What about you? You're an incomplete being as well. Both demon and human blood mingle in your veins. You dare judge me, even after you abandoned your own infant child-"

Cinder forcibly removes Yamato from Raven abdomen, her face showing genuine anger, "Shut up. Now that the final door is open, I have no use for you."

Without another word or glance, Cinder left Raven to lie at the entrance of the door as the old woman bleeds out. She has already come this far in her quest for power, she will not allow another minute pass while she is kept away from her birthright.

Everyone in the theater went dead silent at the bombshell Raven had just dropped. No one said a word and they all slowly turned toward Cinder with widen eyes with the expectation of Salem who had a mixture of anger and disappointment on her face. Cinder only look at the floor shaking as the words finally sinked in for herself.

"I… have a child?" She whispered to her in disbelief.

[lala-ladybug]

Healing Hands: Chapter 3

Happy finals week, ugh. As always, reblogs are appreciated!!

Jasonette Sword Art Online AU

Read here on AO3

Tag list: @iloontjeboontje

First | Previous | Next

Chapter 3: Well shit Babs, maybe I like ponies

Marinette sat on a rock and paddled her bare feet in the water. It was a beautiful day, the sun was warming the top of her loose, dark hair and the ocean in front of her stretched for miles and miles.

A noise disturbed her peaceful moment. A distant cry, probably a seagull.

She sighed and leaned back on her hands to breathe in the smell of--

Marinette choked. Why was there smoke in the air?

The cries grew louder as she looked back at the water before her. She started when she saw that they came from her friends, who were in the now-tumultuous water, trying to keep themselves afloat. They were only a few yards away, she could make it if she just--

A force around her waist tugged her hard as she leapt to her feet. Her face collided with the concrete beneath her-- the top of a building, she realized. If the water level was up this high, then....

From where she lay, she could see directly down into the water. It was no longer clear, but a deep crimson. There were dozens of figures scattered about, some still struggling and some motionless. She scrambled to get up as her eyes snapped to Alya’s hand disappearing below the waves.

That damn force jerked her to the other side of the building, farther from her friends.

“No!” Marinette cried out desperately. The force released her and she whirled to find her attacker.

A flash of red caught her eye, and--

Oh.

It was Ladybug.

Marinette shook her head, not understanding. If that was Ladybug, then.... No, it couldn’t be Ladybug, because she was Ladybug. She fumbled for her earrings, but felt nothing.

Ladybug stalked deliberately up to Marinette and pushed her to the ground. Marinette landed on her hands and knees, both of which were now shaking.

“Look at them,” it was her own voice that spat so harshly from Ladybug’s lips. “Look at them.” She grabbed Marinette’s hair from behind and forced her head up.

Marinette could now see Adrien, Kagami, Luka, and Chloe in the ocean in front of her. Their lifeless faces floated just below the surface, the bloodied water doing nothing to conceal their frozen expressions of terror.

Marinette sobbed and closed her eyes. Ladybug pulled sharply on her hair again, and looked into Marinette’s eyes.

“Look at them. Don’t you dare take your eyes off the mess you’ve made. You will never be able to save them all,” Ladybug’s eyes, her eyes, blazed with the vehemence of her words. She opened her mouth to speak again, but a loud beeping sound was all that came out.

Marinette gasped and sat up in her bed, the alarm sending her heartbeat into a frenzy. Tikki flew up next to her as she slumped over with a hand over her eyes.

It was just a dream.

Another Kwami must have turned off her alarm because the beeping had stopped, but Marinette could still hear the echoes of her friends’ dying breaths ringing in her ears.

“Marinette... are you okay?” Tikki placed a delicate paw on her chosen’s arm. “We heard you cry out while you were sleeping.”

The girl lifted her head and gave the little god a shaky smile. “It was just a dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tikki floated back down to where the other Kwami were piled on the side of the bed with similarly worried expressions on their faces.

Marinette exhaled a bracing sigh. “Okay.... It was Syren. Or-or Chat Blanc, I’m not really sure.” The Kwami exchanged a look at that. This was not the first time she’d had a nightmare about water. “But Ladybug was there, and she was attacking me.”

Tikki looked especially concerned about that new piece of information. She opened her mouth to say something when Marinette’s phone lit up with a call. The ringtone was Alya’s.

Marinette picked up, trying to control the shaking of her hands. “H-hey girl, what’s up?” Her tone was deceptively cheerful.

“Hey Mari! Just checking to see if you’re awake. Nino and I are ready, he even put on the goggles already!” Marinette instantly relaxed as she heard Alya’s excited voice bubbling out.

“Yeah dudette, they feel really weird. But comfy!” Nino must have leaned over to pitch in.

Marinette shook off the last vestiges of the nightmare with a giggle. “Yeah, it’s kind of tricky to get the headset to fit over your glasses, but you’ll get used to it!”

“Well if you’re not ready yet then you’d better hurry up, girl! The game launches in five minutes.”

Marinette scrambled to check the time. “Oh crap! I gotta go, see you guys soon!” She hung up and rushed to untangle herself from her blankets.

“Good thing you set three alarms, huh?” Tikki followed her down from the loft and watched her brush out her hair.

Marinette stuck her tongue out at the god of creation.

* * *

Red Hood stalked into the Batcave, nearly running Oracle over as she wheeled herself up to her station at the Batcomputer.

“Woah Jaybird, don’t let me get in your way there,” Babs glared at his retreating back. “Asshole,” she muttered to herself.

Jason hurled his helmet onto the floor of the bathroom and began shucking off his suit with far more force than necessary. He started a shower and looked over his new wounds in the mirror. He’d been stupid, so damn stupid, on patrol.

“Red Hood, report in,” Batman’s gravelly voice cut through on his comms. “Hood, you are not to engage alone. What is your location?”

But Jason couldn’t hear him. The only thing he could hear was blood rushing in his ears, but it wasn’t his blood. No, it was the blood of every monstrous, corrupt asshole in this city. And he wanted it to run on the streets.

The Joker had sent thugs out to a meet-up. Well, Red Hood could send them back in a casket. He crouched beside a gargoyle and watched for the arrival of the van he’d tailed. There were only two men. They left the vehicle and waited outside, lighting cigarettes. Too easy.

Red Hood swept down the building, guns never leaving their holsters. He wanted this to hurt. Them or him, he wasn’t sure. But he got his wish as he beat the two men to a pulp. He wasn’t sure how far he’d have gone if not for the arrival of the gang the Joker’s men were supposed to meet with.

They slashed his back with knives. Shallow wounds, easy to manage. By the time Red Hood turned to face them, the others had arrived-- Batman, Nightwing, Robin. And boy were they pissed.

Jason winced as the hot water hit the cuts on his back. He rolled his shoulders and just let the steam ground him. He didn’t kill again, even if every time that green-haired bastard got involved, he went off the rails.

He would get to choose his own path, not the one Bruce wanted for him, but damn well not the one Thalia wanted for him either. This story was his, he reminded himself while gingerly toweling off. Even if he couldn’t look his own reflection in the eye.

He gripped the countertop, staring down as he let his hair drip into the sink. No, he wasn’t feeling desperate enough to see if his eyes were green again.

Damnit, he had to apologize to Babs. He felt calmer now, but he’d been a real dick when he came in. Jason dressed quickly in sweatpants and an old shirt, then padded quietly back to where he knew his sister would be at the computers.

“Hey,” he said, knocking softly when he entered to announce his presence. Barbara didn’t respond for a moment. She was leaning forward in her chair, typing something into one monitor while listening to police chatter, then nodded to herself and sat back.

“Hey.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Robin told me what happened on patrol.”

Jason scowled. “That little tattletale.”

Barbara offered him a reassuring smile. “That little tattletale is the only reason I didn’t hack into your bank account and order a damn pony.”

“Well shit Babs, maybe I like ponies,” Jason snarked back, but his heart wasn’t into it. “Listen... I’m sorry about earlier. If replacement talked to you already, you know what kind of mood I was in, but that’s no excuse.”

Babs turned her chair to face him and held out her hand. He stepped forward and took it, and she said, “We know you’re trying, Jay. Stuff like this? This is who you are. A year ago, you wouldn’t have been caught dead apologizing to me!” She cringed. “Ah, no offense.”

He chuckled. “None taken, it’s about time you started getting in on the undead jokes.” He patted her hand before walking away back to the main space of the cave. “But thank you, it means a lot.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth!” She raised her voice and turned back to face the computer.

Dick and Tim were already waiting in the cave. Tim was fiddling with some beds and what looked like opaque ski goggles. He always fidgeted when he was nervous.

“Hey replacement,” Jason shouted across the room. He noticed Dick bristle, but cut him off before he could get the patented older brother speech. “How much time ‘til the launch?”

Tim’s eyes lit up, and damn him for caring, but Jason just didn’t want them to be afraid of him.

* * *

Connor and Zatanna were washing dishes in the Cave’s kitchen after dinner. Connor heard the distant sound of someone arriving via zeta tube. He let Zatanna know as they finished drying their plates, then followed her to go greet their visitors.

Wally and Artemis staggered into the room, both weighed down by overflowing boxes of equipment.

“Oh thank god, please help me!” Artemis said, spotting Connor. He obliged and easily took the heavy box from her. She rubbed her arms and smiled gratefully as he held it aloft in one hand.

“It must be so handy having him around,” she sighed to Zatanna.

The magician giggled. “It certainly has its perks, but....” She lifted her hands and said clearly, “Flesruoy egnarra.” The contents of the boxes, some assorted cots, VR headsets, and computers, floated up and placed themselves into a neat formation. “A girl can get by by herself.” She gave Artemis a fistbump.

The zeta tube activated and they all looked up to watch it. The AI announced Wondergirl, and Cassie Sandsmark walked out. She looked up from her phone and waved. “Oh hey guys, whatcha doing?”

Wally zoomed around the set-up Zatanna had created. “We’re just setting up to play this new virtual reality game that’s coming out at midnight! What about you?”

“Oh, what a coincidence, I was just--”

Cassie was cut off by the zeta tube activating again. This time it was Bart, carrying Jaime bridal style, and running at full speed. He skidded to a halt, put a very ill-looking Jaime down, and ran a hand through his windswept hair.

“So totally crash! What’s poppin’?” He made finger guns at Connor, Zatanna, and Artemis.

Zatanna started explaining, “Well, like were just telling Cassie, there’s this new video game coming out at midnight and we--”

She was interrupted by the screech of a green pterodactyl swooping in from the zeta tube. It circled once around the high ceilings of the hollowed-out mountain, then landed and shrank into Beast Boy.

“Just a heads up, Arsenal’s right behind me and he’s a little angry-- oh what are you guys doing?”

Connor was getting frustrated now. “We’re trying to get set up for this new video game that’s launching in five minutes, so if you guys wouldn’t mind--”

A small explosion sounded from the door to the exterior of the island. Roy burst in amidst a cloud of dust.

“Hope I’m not late, I lost my phone.” He sounded like he was in a bad mood.

Bart whispered to Connor, “He means he destroyed his phone.”

Roy dusted off his pants, then looked to Wally and Artemis and asked, “The hell are you doing here?”

“AUGH,” Artemis had had enough. “We’re here to play the video game coming out at midnight! If you want to join us, fine, but if you don’t then get out.” She pointed to the zeta tubes.

Garfield tried to placate her. “Sheesh, it’s just a game! No need to get so worked up.”

Jaime gave him an incredulous look. “Weren’t you just throwing a tantrum yesterday about Bart kicking your ass halfway to Bialya in Smash?”

“...Noted.” Garfield answered.

“Well, looks like we’ve got plenty of hands to help get everyone set up. Let’s get to it!” Cassie expertly maneuvered the two teams away from setting off their more explosive members. They distributed headsets and assigned reclining positions without further delay.

* * *

Marinette put the headset on and laid down on her bed.

“Ready to go back?” Tikki asked her.

She gave the little god a grin. “Definitely.”

In the distance, the bells in Notre Dame chimed six times, but Marinette couldn’t hear them. Her mind had gone somewhere far, far away. Somewhere new.

[pars-ley]

Could you write a mafia au where the reader overhears the boys discussing about a rival gang wanting her in return for some deal and the boys are stressing out because they would never give her up yet the deal is of great significance? Maybe she runs away and hands herself over to the rival gang for the sake of the boys? Major angst and fluff too!💕 I love your writing so much ❤️

Gangs of Fate

Pairing: OT7 x F Reader

Summary: When a rival gang offer Bangtan a tempting deal, can you really let them refuse when it's you who's the bargaining chip.

Genre: Drabble / Angst / Fluff / OT7 / Mafia au / feat. Members of Exo

Warnings: Mentions of guns / Language

Rating: 15+ (SFW)

Word Count: 1.2k

Beta reader: @ditttiii

A/N: First off, no I am not an Exo anti, just needed a rival for the story and chose a group out of thin air. I'm so sorry this took me so long! I really hope you enjoy it and thank you so much for reading my stories!

As you stand there, listening through the ajar door, you're perplexed at what you're hearing. 

"They're toying with us." Jimin's voice sounds. "They wouldn't actually give us that much power. They need those areas."

"What if they're being honest, though?" Jungkook asks innocently.

"It doesn't matter, we're not giving them y/n." Yoongi states, his deep voice vibrating through you.

"We know that, but Jungkook's right, what if they are serious?" Jin chimes in.

There's a long pause, for a moment you're worried you've been discovered but then you hear Taehyung's silky voice slice through the silence like a knife.  "Tell me you guys aren't actually considering this?"

A screech of a chair and footsteps, you peek through the gap to see Tae pacing around the large round table they sit at, staring them all down. "Trading y/n just so we can own more streets? Big woop. We don't need them."

"We kind of do Tae, you know that. Exo has been stealing our territory for a while. We need it back. Otherwise, we hold no power." Hoseok interjects sympathetically.

Tae shakes his head, eyes wide with disbelief. "I can't believe you. I love her, we all love her. We can't trade her to them, who knows what they'll do to her. Not to mention the small fact that she is...what's it called again….oh yea, a HUMAN!" He bellows, the unexpected sound making you jump and sending your heart into overdrive. "I know we're criminals but we don't do stuff like that, jesus!" 

Taehyung scrubs at his face.

"No one wants to do this Tae, you know that," Hoseok replies. "We all care deeply for y/n and we'll protect her at all costs."

"And yet here we are discussing it as though it's an option!"

The room grows silent. Taehyung stares at them, fury in his eyes and veins bulging in his neck.

"What shall we tell them?" Jungkook asks Namjoon, eyes wide and expectant.

Namjoon sighs as everyone else turns to him. "If we refuse this, it means an all out war."

Taehyung stalks over to the table and slams a black counter down in the centre before stalking off to the other side of the room, and leaves out the adjacent doors. 

"Ok, we need to make a decision. If you think we should refuse the deal, place your voting chips in the middle." Namjoon orders.

Yoongi is next to chuck his counter down in silence. Jimin follows. Jungkook slides his alongside the others. Then Hobi and finally Jin. 

Namjoon stands and places his chip on top. "War it is."

You feel strangely calm as you walk upto the building you know Exo reside in. A strange sense of ease fills you, even though you didn't want to leave bangtan, the love you have for them will forever be unmatched and the thought of them going to war because of you? You couldn't, no, wouldn't allow it.

You hope they will understand what is going through your mind by reading the words you left for each of them. Your fate doesn’t matter anymore, you know you did whatever you could to keep your boys safe.

You confidently push the button and listen to the aggressive bell echo throughout the building.

The door swings open and you are face to face with Kai, momentarily taken back by his beauty, his pouty lips pull up into a slight smile.

"Y/n?" He offers you a puzzled expression, before peering out and scanning the night. "Are you alone?" 

You nod. "They don't know I'm here...yet. I would like to speak to your boss, please."

He pauses, eyes skimming over your face before he steps aside and indicates for you to come in with a wave. 

"I'll need to frisk you." 

You assume the position, legs and arms spread as he pats you down. He removes your gun from your thigh holster and tucks it into his belt, once he's satisfied and completely misses the small gun hidden in your boot, you follow him.

He leads you up a long, dark staircase, and your heart pounds in sync with the echo of your steps. You focus your gaze on the back of his head to stop you from losing your nerve. You are doing this for the boys.

He opens a door, flooding the stairwell with bright light, momentarily blinding you. When your eyes adjust you see him there; Suho. His swept back hair gives you an all-inclusive view of his handsome but impenetrable stare.

"Well, welcome y/n, so lovely to see you. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? Did Bangtan finally let you out to play?" He smirks, looking pleased, as his gang mates snigger.

You resist the urge to roll your eyes, instead, choosing to place the rolled up piece of paper you carry on to the table in front of him.

He looks at it, the red ribbon the only seal between your current path and your new fate. Once he pulls the tie, that's it, your life belongs to them.

"What's this?"

"This is my contract. Please, read it through. They are my terms for me joining your gang."

His eyes widen before he masks it with a self-satisfied stare. "You will leave Bangtan?"

You nod, swallowing the lump forming in your throat. "As long as my conditions are met."

"Well let's have a peek then, shall we?" He pulls the ribbon, letting it unravel and lay limp on the table. Scanning through the document he rubs his chin.

"Hmm...interesting."

Your unwavering stare stays glued onto him. A battle of dominance. As long as you're here you will not yield to him, to any of them.

"So, as long as we don't start anything with Bangtan, you'll join us, is the jist I’m getting?

"If I have your word that they are off-limits, to all of you, then yes. I'll join you."

His mouth stretches into a broad smile, his teeth almost glinting in the light. "Deal."

Your heart sinks. You don't know what you expected. Him to refuse? Someone to rescue you? For him to simply change his mind? You knew none of those would happen, but yet, a dangerous hope still bloomed inside you.

He waves over Lay, another handsome yet serious face coming your way, bringing along with him a wax seal and a candle.

Once his seal is on that paper, there's no going back. Can you do this? Doubt rears its ugly head as you start losing your façade, your bravery trying to jump ship and abandon you, but you hone it back.

The boys beautiful faces flash in your mind, reminding you, once again why you must do this. 

He lights the candle and holds the deep, red wax into the flame, you watch as it softens and begins to drip. Your eyes follow it until it’s hovering over your contract, poised and ready.

"Once I do this, you're bound to us?" He looks up at you with questioning eyes and you reply with a curt nod.

And so, he brings the wax down, just above the page. 

A loud bang ricochets through the room, making you jump and your head snap up to greet the noise. Your heart swells before panic ensues seeing your Bangtan standing in the doorway of their enemies, swords and guns drawn. Here for you.

[anjuschiffer]

Amira Wayne - Chapter 21

To think this took me two weeks instead of one...oh well...

Chapter 21: Advice

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P.Tag: @theatreandcomicfreak @daminette-is-life @toodaloo-kangaroo @elijahcrevan @vixen-uchiha @nathleigh @startouchedqueen1318

Tag: @we-want-mini-mini @ramos123 @bluesimani @redscarlet95 @greatcatblaze @promiswords @fantasiame @corabeth11 @anonymously-odd @alexandriamw @officiallydarkgeek @galla02006 @maleive07 @jayjayspixiepop

-

MASTERLIST | FIRST | PREV | AO3

Amira pushed Damian aside, not having a moment to yell at him before she was engaged into combat by Deathstroke yet again. 

She blocked attack after attack with her staff, having to spring off his blade at one point, connecting the end of her staff to the side of his head, cracking his eye-sore of a helmet. Just as she was about to attack again, she was pushed aside by Damian, Amira rolling and colliding with a destroyed column. 

“I told you to stay out of my way!” Damian yelled at her as he exchanged blows with Deathstroke. Metal grinded against metal as Damian drove Deathstroke into a waltz, the two exchanging attacks, using picture frames and statues in hopes of slowing the other down. 

Amira watched as frames were destroyed, faces distorted as wood flew all over the place, statues crumbling to pieces as they met a blade or the floor. 

When Deathstroke finished introducing himself earlier, Damian quickly launched himself into combat, the two quickly making a mess of the study. Not wanting them to destroy it even further, Amira extended her staff and rammed it into Deathstroke’s back, causing him to plant his face onto the wall. 

“Stay out of my fight.” Damian gritted, Amira not backing down.

“This is my fight as well. This is my home after all.” Amira bluntly stated, watching as Damian huffed at her response. “And I want him out and away from here.”

Before either could continue their argument, Deathstroke was back up and ready to go, which Damian happily continued where the two had left off.

Amira watched as Damian led Deathstroke to the entrance of the manor, even at the cost of the staircase, Tim almost launching himself into the fight before Amira held him back.

“Isn’t your arm injured?”

“Aren’t we going to help him?” Tim asked back, flinching when Amira glared at him. 

“I will be helping him. You stay here.” Amira instructed, extending the staff into its full length.

“I can still fight.”

“Not with that arm you can’t.”

“Let me-”

“Drake.” Amira sternly said, watching as Tim sunk into himself. “Remember how I told you a Robin has to be well rounded and excel in combat?” She didn’t let him respond. “They also have to know their place in a fight, so for you, it means to stay here, at the sidelines.” With that, Amira left Tim alone to provide some type of support towards Damian…

Or at least that was the plan…

Whenever she tried to help Damian, she would get attacked by him or have him collide with her. Or even worse, be his personal shield or decoy. He would then have the audacity to yell at her for interfering and for being merciful. When she would have an opportunity to take Deathstroke by surprise, Damian would get in her way and cast her aside, not caring about having wasted a perfectly good plan.

And that’s how it had been playing out for the past few minutes since then, leading to now.

“Argh!” Damian yelled out as Deathstroke had managed to knock his sword out of his hand and stab his own into Damian’s arm. 

Unsheathing his other sword, Deathstroke was about to use it to pin Damian to the wall only for Amira to catapult her way towards Damian, dropping kicking Deathstroke in the face. 

“I had it handled.” Damian told her as he pulled out the sword from his arm, the blood dripping onto the floor.

“You’re welcome.” Amira threw back, taking out the weapons in the holster she had picked up earlier, watching Deathstroke charge at her.

Deciding to meet him halfway, Amira somersaulted, kicking the hilt of his sword, causing the sword to fly elsewhere.

With a quick motion, Amira stabbed his arm with a blade before cartwheeling backwards.

Deathstroke let out a groan as he took the blade out, not expecting to have the blade pulled away from his hand, letting out a grunt as blood seeped from his palm. But just as he composed himself, he was met with consecutive hits from another rope dart, having to remain still as the force of the hits grew stronger.

Amira continued to whirl her rope, alternating hands to increase the speed and force of her hits, only for it to be deflected in the end. That’s when he noticed it wasn’t a rope dart, but instead a yo-yo.

“Is that all you got?” Deathstroke asked her. She didn’t respond, instead, she redirected her rope dart to swing under her leg, the heavy alloy yo-yo connecting with his chin, causing him to take a few steps back from the impact.

“How’s an 8-lb yo-yo to the chin feel?” Amira asked, catching the yo-yo with ease before wrapping it around the man, causing him to fall to the floor. “I have some questions for you.” She walked towards him, only for him to break free from her grasp.

She froze as he took out a gun, only managing to snap out of it when a small device attached itself to it and exploded, causing Deathstroke to drop it. Judging from its trajectory, it had to have been Tim’s doing.

That and the fact that she doubted Damian would do anything to try and defend her when his pride and ego were on the line.

However, within that second, a kunai found itself digging into Deathstroke’s eye, Amira feeling the sudden urge to retch. She watched as Damian flew past her and dug the kunai further into the eye socket, only then causing Amira to react.

“Stop it!” She yelled, pulling off Damian of Deathstroke and facing him. “You’re going to kill him!”

“He needs to be killed for trying to-”

“We still need to-” Amira grunted as she was forced into Damian, causing the two to tumble forward. 

“Squabbling while turning your back to your opponent? Not a very smart thing to do.” Deathstroke reminded them, taking out another gun and aiming it towards the two of them. While Damian tried to pry Amira off of him, he stopped when he noticed her frozen expression of fear.

Just as Damian was going to roll the two of them away, someone slammed a staff behind Deathstroke’s helmet, causing the thing to split into two.

“Tim.” Damian heard Amira whisper, watching as fear still filled her eyes. She pulled Deathstroke back when she saw him make a dash for a retreating Tim, Tim using that opportunity to drop an axe kick.

Damian watched as the two continued to fight together, Amira calculating every strike, not wasting a single swing. Damian watched as Tim dodged and danced with Amira, not a single word spoken between them as they fought Deathstroke together.

He felt like he was being casted aside...unnecessary...not needed...

As he continued to watch them fight, Damian noticed them leading Deathstroke to the center of the lobby, Damian eyeing the chandelier above them. He then noticed the other rope dart Amira had brought in with her, lying abandoned at the side of the room.

It was then that he remembered the other thing he always found himself carrying with him...

A small plan began to form in his mind, Damian quickly picking up the rope dart to start setting it up.

Tim regretted having missed Amira’s soreness from having been using her weapon for the past ten minutes, watching as her attack barely reached Deathstroke’s face. With an attack having gone to waste, the man used the opportunity to focus on Tim alone, allowing him to throw the boy in the direction he had finished jumping from.

Amira managed to grab Tim before he met the floor, not noticing the incoming attack from Deathstroke. Just as his dagger was about to reach her, something hit Deathstroke in the face, Tim noticing a black case landed at his feet.

“Over here!” Damian yelled, causing everyone to look up, watching as Damian landed perfectly square on Deathstroke’s shoulders, the boy not only wrapping his legs around the man, but also the chain of the rope dart Amira recognized as her own.

Amira watched as Damian kept Deathstroke in the hold, watching as the man was starting to find his way out of it. “Use the thing inside the case!” Damian yelled at Tim, Tim freezing when he saw what was inside.

“I-I can’t use this.” Tim whispered, turning to Amira after having read the label. “We can’t-” He watched as Amira grabbed the case and casually walked up to Deathstroke.

“Don’t worry Tim.” Amira took the needle out of the case, wondering where Damian even managed to get his hands on the venom. “We’re not killing him, just torturing him.”

Without hesitation, Amira stabbed it into a patch of exposed skin (courtesy of Damian’s sword), watching as the man screamed and grunted as he fought against the pain. “After all, we don’t kill.”

“Well said, Amira.” Tim jumped from Amira’s flinch when Bruce spoke up.

The three turned their heads to see Bruce at the doorway, an elderly man with a smile on his face next to him. While a majority of his hair was tied back, tufts of white poked a bit from the side, Amira knowing who he was the minute he saw his eyes…

So he was the man whose eyes she inherited.... 

“Father...Ra’s.” Damian addressed, tying up Deathstroke before going to them, his heart sinking a bit when Bruce walked past him and went towards Amira, not even bothering to acknowledge him.

“Are you alright, Amira?” Amira turned away from her father as he fussed over the bruises and cuts on her face. 

“I’m...fine.” She said, swatting away her father’s gentleness, only then noticing that Alfred had silently joined them. “Grandpere.”

“Amira, my child, look at yourself.” Alfred softly spoke, Amira letting him examine her face. “Lets get those cuts cleaned in the infirmary. Master Tim,” he addressed, Tim flinching when he was called. “That goes for you too. I can’t have that ghastly gash of yours infecting under my watch.”

“Yes, sir.” Tim said with a nod, going to join them when he watched the other elderly man make his way towards Deathstroke.

“To think I treated him like a son once.” Ra’s said, disappointment visible on his face. “To think I ever considered him to be my heir at one point. Never would’ve thought he would be the one to try and betray me.”

“Him?” Damian asked the question in Bruce’s mind. “He was the one who you considered worthy of succeeding you?”

“At one point, yes. But then, you came along...or rather, the two of you came along.” Ra’s said, turning slightly to see Amira’s reaction. The girl mentioned stopped in her tracks. “Two grandchildren, but only one was able to claim the throne.”

“More like only one was considered to be your heir.” Amira spoke once turning to look at Ra’s in the face. “After all, ever since you found out my mother was going to have me, you wanted me dead. Me, a mere infant.”

No one noticed the paleness in Damian’s face, the way his eyes widened upon hearing those words. 

His grandfather...wanted his sister, their own blood...dead?

“I gave your mother the opportunity to let you live.”

“You threatened her to get rid of me!” Amira yelled, remembering her mother’s retelling of Ra’s threat. 

“You, a mere infant who I could’ve easily disposed of myself. But instead, I choose to show you mercy.”

“You kept me alive to keep her in line!” 

“Be grateful, child.” Ra’s snarled, causing Amira to take a step back. “You’re the only being in the world whom I’ve shown mercy to. Because of me, you got to live and learn from your father, a skilled fighter. A great detective. If it weren’t for my generosity, you would already be de-“

“That’s enough!” Bruce sternly shouted, standing in front of Amira who’s eyes were filled with unshed tears. Alfred placed a hand on her shoulder, frowning when he found her trembling as well. “I will not allow you to speak to my daughter that way, nor anyone in my family for that matter.

You said that you came here to leave Damian in my care. To keep him safe until you found your traitor.” Bruce walked up to Ra’s, allowing Alfred to guide Amira and Tim to the infirmary. 

He motioned to the passed out Slade. “Well, now he’s taken care of, so I suggest you continue your way back to the League to ensure that it’s safe enough for Damian to go back home. After all, that was your original goal, wasn’t it?” Bruce and Ra’s stared each other down, waiting for the other to back down. 

Surprisingly, it was Ra’s who broke the contact. 

“Very well.” Ra’s huffed, looking over to Damian. “You got to see firsthand how skillful those who learn under your father are, so just imagine how much you can improve by learning under him as well. I expect you to learn everything you can during your stay. Understood?” Damian nodded. “Good.”

Without a second to spare, Ra’s disappeared into the night, Damian wondering when would be the next time they would see one another. 

—

Adrien lifted his head the minute he heard the apartment door open, hearing laughter fill the room. 

It’s been a few hours -okay it’s been seven or eight since he’s heard about any news about Marinette. Seven-ish hours of being in the dark about Marinette’s whereabouts...since then, he had been by Chloe’s side, making sure she was doing alright.  

He held back a sob, gently pulling himself away from Chloé and headed down only to not find Marinette among them. Walking into the apartment was Dick, Wally and Nino.

“Where’s Marinette?” Adrien asked, everyone’s laughter rescinding. That’s when he noticed Jason, or rather recognized him. Wasn’t he...wasn’t he...the dead Wayne?

“Freund von dir? [Friend of yours?]” Jason asked Dick, Adrien looking at Nino for clarification. He simply shrugged. 

“Nien. Favoritinnen. [No. Favorite’s.]” Dick answered back. “He’s Adrien and the one you met earlier is Nino.”

“Y el novio, cierto? [And the boyfriend, right?]” Jason asked, a grin on his face as he pointed towards Wally. Wally quirked a brow. 

“They’re not quite there yet.” 

“Seriously?”

“Yup.” 

“Gotta do something about that, don’t you think?” Jason asked, causing Dick to chuckle, confusing the others in the room. 

The shattering of a teacup was heard, everyone whipping the heads to see who dropped it. 

“Jason.” Selina whispered, slowly walking towards him, Jason hesitating to move forward. “That’s really you, isn’t it?” She placed her hand on his cheek, wiping away a stray tear on his face. 

“Yea. It’s me, Ma. It’s really me.” Jason let himself get pulled into a hug, letting Selina crush him to death...well not really, but let her hug him until she was satisfied in knowing he was still alive...and with them once again. 

Adrien’s eyes darted between Jason and Selina. Then to Dick. Then back to Jason. 

“Apparently they all know each other.” Nino spoke up, Adrien realizing he had been standing beside him for a while. “Mlle Kyle, Dick, Barbara and M.Bruce...they all know Jason. And apparently, so does Marinette.”

Adrien turned to look at Nino with wide eyes, failing to notice that Barbara had joined the reunion at that moment.  

“What?”

“Yea. Apparently they've known each other for quite some time. Heard Jason telling Dick that he had been catching up with Marinette before she went off to tell their grandfather about...him. Wonder what they meant by that.”

Nino looked at Jason, who was busy annoying a flushed faced Wally. “While their entire dynamic was odd, that wasn’t what had me confused the most.”

“So she’s not here…” Adrien told himself. “And what do you mean by ‘the most confused’?”

“You know how everyone has some type of nickname, whether it comes from a family member or friend?” Adrien nodded. “Could Marinette have another name as her nickname?”

Seeing Adrien’s confused face, Nino continued. “Marinette once told me that her friends have only ever called her two nicknames: Mimi and Baguette.

Wally and Dick call her Mimi while you call her Bugette. So then...why...why was Jason referring to Marinette by Amira when her name is Marinette?” Nino asked.

Adrien froze. 

“Nino...Are-are you sure that’s-“

“Positive.” Nino confirmed, watching as Adrien’s face morphed into a stern expression. “Dude, what-”

“Nino.” Adrien said in a low tone, causing a shiver to run down Nino’s spine. “Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone else what you just told me.”

“Dude, why-“ Adrien placed his hands on Nino’s shoulders. 

“I’m I clear? Don’t. Tell. Anyone.” Adrien enunciated, looking over at Dick ruffling Jason’s hair. “Promise me that.”

“I promise.” Nino promised, wondering what it was that Adrien had found out.

Letting Nino go, Adrien looked at the group of family and friends talking within themselves, as if forgetting about the crisis just moments ago.

Or was it more than that?

Did they trust Marinette being fine even after her kidnapping? And what about the kidnapper? Were they going to let them roam free after what they did to Marinette?

Whatever it was, Adrien knew it had to be linked with the other secrets they held...even the one he found out by complete accident...

—

It didn’t take long to get patched up. It did, however, take very long to convince Alfred and her father to let her leave the Cave, Amira having to use the excuse that she was tired to be able to retreat to her room. 

And once more, everything looked just like she had left it months ago...

She headed to the wall of photos, dragging her hands over them, until she stopped over the one she took of the Parisian night. 

It was already two in the morning in Gotham, meaning it was eight in Paris. She hoped her friends would forgive her, especially Wally. She hopes he would forgive her for scaring him like this for the second time this month. 

Which reminded her, she had yet to tell Grandpere that-

“Amira,” She quickly turned, half wondering if her grandfather could read mind, only that instead of finding Grandpere there, she saw Damian. A scowl found its way to her face.

“How dare you mock-“

“It was the only way to get your attention.” Damian cut off, joining Amira by her wall of photos. “Out of everyone here, Pennyworth is the only one who you-“

“Grandpere is Grandpere. Of course he would have my complete respect. He’s my grandfather after all.”

“Ra’s is also our grand-“ Amira’s scoff caught him off guard. 

“Ra’s is not my grandfather and in no way part of my family.” Amira felt her hands begin to shake. “What I heard from him had portrayed him in a bad light and today,” she quickly dug her nails into her arm to try and prevent herself from trembling. “Today proved those stories to be true.”

“We have his blood-“

“Blood doesn’t just make family, Damian.” Amira sternly said, looking at a new photo she hadn’t placed on her wall at all. It was taken from days ago, one where Dick was trying to engage Amira into a conversation with his other friends. Wally was there beside her, holding her hand in case it was too much for her. “And even if it did, so does trust, acknowledgement. And love.

And while I acknowledge Ra’s to be our mother’s father, our grandfather, I do not trust him. And I never will, as I will never love him either. 

After all, he never dared to acknowledge me as family, so why should I? Why should I bother to respect him when clearly, he doesn’t deserve it?”

Damian stood there, soaking in his sister’s words, because...she had a point, even if he thought it was a point that was stupidly based on emotions. “If that’s all you came to talk to me about, then I suggest you leave. I have a few things to do before I have to go elsewhere.”

“You’re leaving?” Damian asked, wondering where his sister should go at this time of day. “What about your duties as Ro-“ 

He was not expecting his sister to erupt into laughter.

“Duties? Robin?” Amira promptly shut up, weirded out by the lack of envy in herself whenever she would say the name ‘Robin’ outloud. 

“Surely it’s yours, isn’t it? You are Robin, aren’t you? After all, you are father’s-”

“Blood child.” Amira finished for him. “Sorry to say, but that alone doesn’t give you the right to the mantle.”

“Are you saying someone else is the current Robin?” Damian seethed. “Someone who isn’t Father’s blood child is the one by his side, as his successor?”

“Not successor Damian. Partner...and possible candidate towards taking over Bat-”

“Then why haven’t you taken it back Amira? Why aren’t you claiming your birth-”

“Because it is earned Damian.” Amira sternly growled. “Robin isn’t just a mantle, it's a symbol. A symbol of fear...and hope. Robin is a collection of knowledge, passed from one Robin to the next. That knowledge is passed down, refined and added to as it gets handed down.” Damian watched as Amira walked away from her wall of photos. “But what thinks you’re worthy of being handed Robin?”

“I am the better option. I’ve been trained by the League for years, mastered-”

“Mastered being a bloodthirsty and uncooperative person.” Amira finished off. “And that’s based on one fight that took longer than it should have.”

“You were getting in my way.”

“And that’s exactly why you can’t be handed Robin and why you’ll never be Batman.”

“Are you-”

“I’m only telling you the truth. Robin has to be well rounded and excel in combat. They need to know when to stay on the sidelines. They must know when to call the shots.”

“You just contradicted yourself.”

“Did I?” Amira smirked, heading for the door. “Or did you misinterpret my words?” She opened the door, wondering if she would find Grandpere in the kitchen now that she and Tim were fully mended from their injuries. “Until you understand what that means, you will never know what it means to be Robin.”

With those words, Amira left Damian behind, heading out to accomplish the mission she had before the whole fiasco with Deathstroke.

—

Finding and telling Grandpere the news wasn’t the hard part, Amira finding him in the kitchen preparing some much needed early morning snacks. However, she wasn’t prepared for the tears that came afterwards from her usually calm grandfather upon hearing the good news.

After a much needed crying session, Alfred packed some food for Amira to give to Jason, assurring her that she would tell Bruce about Jason’s return at a more appropriate time.

With that done, she headed towards the zeta tube, having finished plugging in her coordinates when she sensed Tim.

“You’re leaving.” He simply stated, looking at her bandaged hands and bandage on her face.

“Yeah.” 

“Shouldn’t you-”

“I need to go back…” Amira easily answered. “And...thank you.”

“Huh?”

“Thank you for saving me back there...I had forgotten that Gotham doesn’t operate like Paris...with the whole no magic and meta business.” Amira confessed. “Also, if you hadn’t done what you did...I could’ve been dead.”

“B-but Bruce said-”

She showed him her bare ears, a single piercing causing Tim to pale.

He had seen Ladybird’s fights, he had seen Amira take punches to the gut without a single drop of blood seeping from her mouth. He had seen her get thrown into a stone pillar and get up without a single sign of pain. She would always get up no matter how many times she was thrown down. She was indestructible...until today…

Today, she actually feared death, something that wouldn’t have crossed her mind despite her upbringing in Gotham. “You... you could have died today, couldn’t you?”

“And that’s why I thanked you, Tim.” Amira ruffled his hair, Tim not knowing how to react to her gesture. “I was wrong about you in so many ways... to think it took me this long to realize it.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Tim pried, getting the following as a response.

“Keep up the good work, Robin.”

Tim found himself sending those words to Dick as well as telling him that Amira was on her way back.

—

“Recognized: Ladybird B13.” An automated female voice said out loud, Amira finding herself not irritated by it unlike the previous times. 

Then again, her previous code wasn’t Ladybird but rather MDC. 

It was nice to have a code that actually belonged to her... or at least used to. 

“I’m back.” She told herself as she exited out the telephone booth, not expecting to be pulled into an embrace, feeling her eyes watering when the scent of cat hit her senses. 

“Thank god you’re safe, Amira.” Selina barely whispered, tightening her embrace. “You’re safe.”

What started with a hic soon erupted into muffled cries, Amira burying her face into Selina’s coat, only then realizing the emotions she had been holding in over the course of several hours. She tightened her hug back, her cries growing louder as she let it all out.

Talía watched as Amira and Selina reunited by the old telephone booth, letting a smile appear on her lips despite her aching heart.

“You’ve grown so much Amira. Take care and stay safe and know that I will always hold you close to my heart. Goodbye, baobei.”

NEXT

[this-is-moony-lovegood]

Nat’s Plan (Part 1/2)

Summary: When a recon mission in Lagos goes sideways, Sam and Bucky have to find a creative way to slip away from terrorist agents without causing another international incident. To do so, Bucky suggests they use one of Natasha’s old plans that helped her and Steve dodge HYDRA agents back in 2014. In other words, I can’t help my obsessive need to write about the kiss-to-hide-in-plain-sight trope for Sambucky.

Word Count: 2.9k

Link to AO3

Lagos, Nigeria - 2024

The last time Sam Wilson was in Lagos, was eight years ago in 2016. He, Steve, Nat, and Wanda were on a mission to get a bioweapon out of the hands of Brock Rumlow and his merry gang of ex-Hydra agents which should have been successful. Technically, it was successful - minus the international incident that ensued when Steve didn’t clock a bomb vest and Wanda accidentally blew up a building trying to stop the blast. Maybe semi-successful was a more appropriate word.

Regardless of Sam’s interpretation of the events, the US government and SWORD took extra time and care to warn Sam, Torres, and specifically Bucky Barnes that this trip to Lagos was meant to be incident-free. No super suits, no guns, no knives, no weapons of any kind unless absolutely necessary.

After everything with John Walker over the past few months, Sam thought it was a good idea for Captain America to not go in guns blazing. Yes, they were trying to stop a new terrorist cell, but if Sam could use this trip to gather intel that would help stop them without exposing the Nigerian people to even more threats, then that would appease the government and his conscience.

For the most part, everything had been going swimmingly. No one had recognized them, they were working incredibly well as a team, and had easily slipped inside the terrorist HQ due to Torres’ ease of hacking into the security cameras, and Bucky’s innate ability to knock people unconscious with ease. Bucky and Sam had even managed to make it through the mission without bickering (at least, not more than the usual acceptable amount).

See, everything was great. Was being the keyword, because, after five minutes of trying to hack the cell’s computer to retrieve the data they needed on their upcoming attacks, Bucky got a little too impatient and accidentally tripped an alarm.

Sam groaned and threw his head back, “You’ve got to be shitting me. You’re the ex-assassin, aren't you supposed to be the stealthy one?”

“An ex-assassin with a metal arm who used to not give a fuck about who saw him coming. I didn’t have to be stealthy as the Winter Soldier, Sam. I just took what I had to and killed anyone who got in my way.” Bucky replied, ripping the flash drive out of the PC the second the last file transferred over. Sam sighed, watching the wave of guilt washing over the soldier’s features.

“Don’t start.” He added, holding up a hand to shush the former PTSD support group leader. “This is not the time for a therapy session.”

Lying, Sam began, “I wasn’t gonna-”

“Yeah, you were. Now, let’s get outta here.” Bucky said, motioning for Sam to follow him over the door.

“Hold on, Cap, let me get the wings, and your suit. I’ll be there ASAP.” Joaquín called over their coms. Sam could hear a rustling in the background like he was tripping over items as he rushed for the wings. Sam knew he had been itching to use them but now was not the time.

“No, stay where you are.” Sam insisted, physically holding his hands out as if he could touch Joaquín. “No suits, no wings, we can handle this.”

“Are you sure about that? ‘Cause according to these cams I hacked, you two are severely outnumbered.”

“He’s got a point, Samuel,” Bucky said, reaching for his gun he had tucked in the back of his jeans. Sam reached out, holding onto Bucky’s right wrist. 

“No guns.” Sam’s eyes darted to Bucky’s metal hand inching towards his knife holster, “Or knives. Not yet.”

Bucky rolled his eyes, “then what’s the plan, Cap? Cause you know I hate to admit that the kid is right.”

“A kid that outranks you.” Annoyance flashed across Bucky’s face at Joaquín’s quip, and before he could snap back Sam immediately stepped in by saying, “Alright, Torres use those cameras and find us a route out of this building. If we get out of here first, then we can go from there.”

“On it.” Sam could hear the rapid clicking of keys against Torres’ keyboard, before he said, “Head down that hallway and take the first door on your left.”

With Joaquin’s directions, they two made their way out of the building, only having to fight a few agents (which the partners easily took care of without weapons), but unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones with access to the cameras. More agents were hot on their tails as they burst out one of the side doors. Sam and Bucky took off running, cutting through side streets until they slipped into the crowd at the marketplace.

“We’ve gotta blend in,” Bucky said, immediately stripping off his jacket as they walked, and dumping it on the back of a chair outside a small food stand. Sam couldn’t help but admire the way his flesh and metal arms flexed as the super-soldier revealed that black t-shirt that hugged his chest and biceps in the best possible way. He quickly swallowed, before averting his eyes ahead, only to catch Bucky swipe a pair of sunglasses off a merchant table.

“Woah, what are you doing?” Sam said, gripping Bucky’s army to stop him in his tracks. “You can’t just steal shit, Buck.”

“Now is not the time to lecture,” Bucky said, looking over his shoulder, to see a few agents following them, eyes scanning rapidly scanning the crowd. “We need to hide in plain sight. Dressing like the locals is our best shot to do that.”

“Find another way, besides stealing,” Sam said, taking off his black baseball cap and quickly setting it on a kid’s head that ran while chasing after his friend.

“Fine, hand me your wallet,” Bucky said, extending his metal hand. Sam rolled his eyes before stopping briefly and begrudgingly gave his wallet to the super-soldier. “Good, now take off your jacket.” Without hesitation, the captain slid out of his jacket and tossed it over to Bucky.

Sam watched as Bucky quickly ducked over to an open clothing stall, and greeted a local merchant woman in Yoruba, a smirk spreading across his face as he pointed at a few clothing items and then pointed in Sam’s direction. The woman smiled brightly looking back and forth between the two of them as Bucky handed over a few bills from the wallet along with Sam’s jacket for a short-sleeve button-up shirt with a blue geometric print, a Nigerian football polo, and two brightly colored baseball caps. Bucky said something else quickly, causing the woman to giggle while she placed one of the caps on his head and pinched his cheek.

The entire exchange probably lasted no more than thirty seconds, but Sam couldn’t help but be enthralled in the moment. First, Bucky knew Yoruba? How many languages did he learn as the Winter Soldier? Second, what exactly did he say to that woman to get her light up like a Christmas tree? What did Bucky tell her about him?

“What did you say to her?” Sam asked as Bucky approached quickly.

“I’ll tell you later,” Bucky replied, tossing the polo in Sam’s direction and placing a blue and pink cap on his own head. “Put that on.”

As they continued weaving their way through the crowd, Sam slipped the polo on over his t-shirt. The shirt was a bit snug, hugging his chest tightly. What the hell had Bucky bought him? “Looking good, Samuel,” Bucky said, giving him a once over with a glint in his eyes and a smirk playing on the corners of his mouth. He then threw the button-up over his own short-sleeve shirt (which he didn’t bother to button) and set the other cap on Sam’s head backward. “There you go, now you look like a real local.”

“You know that was one of my favorite jackets that you gave away.”

“Don’t like the shirt I just bought you? I think it suits you. Shows off all those shield throwing muscles.”

“You mean the shirt I just bought me?”

“Semantics.”

“Where are you guys?” Joaquín’s voice called over their earpieces once more.

“Blending in.” Bucky’s smile faded, as he responded. “I count six agents trying to track us. What does the bird say?”

“Redwing,” Torres began, and Bucky could sense the sass rolling off his tongue, “shows six behind you, and six approaching from the front.”

Immediately Bucky stopped them in their tracks and scanned the crowd ahead of them. Sure enough, he could make out six familiarly dressed agents scanning the crowd for them. “Fuck.” Bucky cursed, “Come on.” Before Sam could react, Bucky had grabbed his hand and pulled them into a small alley between two buildings. He had been hoping they could sneak through onto another side street, but no, the alley was a dead-end into another building. “Damnit.” Bucky dropped Sam’s hand, and Sam nearly sighed at the loss of contact.

Bucky groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “I think it’s time for guns, Sam.”

“Do you see how many people there are out there? They will all be caught in the crossfire. Do you really want that?” Of course, Bucky didn’t want that. Sam knew - hell was there for - the nightmares Bucky experienced because of people becoming collateral damage for the Winter Soldier. He’d been there to talk Bucky through the aftermath of them when he was willing to talk and fix a cup of coffee or hot tea when he wasn’t. The pain and guilt in his eyes for something he had no control over… that look alone hurt Sam, he couldn’t even imagine how much it hurt Bucky. No, he would not allow Bucky to feel that pain any more than he already was - you know, on top of not harming the civilians. “We need an alternative plan.”

“They’ll be approaching you in about forty-five seconds, Cap. What’s the plan?”

“I have an idea,” Bucky said, looking up at Sam, a look of uncertainty across his face. “Steve told me once about one of Natasha’s plans that they used years back to slip away from Rumlow and the rest of HYDRA’s agents. It could work.”

“One of Nat’s plans? Hell, it’s got to be good. What is it?”

“Don’t know if you’ll be up for it.”

“Buck, we’ve got twelve bullets and a metal arm between the two of us, and I - and the US government - would like to avoid using any of them if possible. If Nat’s plan doesn’t require using those, I’m down. Does it?”

“No guns, no weapons of any kind actually.”

“Alright, then I’m up for it. What’s the plan?”

“Not a lot of time to explain. Really going to just have to show you.”

“Well, go on with it then.”

“Thirty seconds.”

“Do you trust me?” Bucky asked, a question directed only to Sam, sincerity in his eyes. 

Do you trust me? What kind of bullshit question is that? Sam thought. Of course, he trusted Bucky. They’d been going on missions together for months since they stopped the flag smashers and they’ve had each other’s sixes constantly since then. He'd welcomed Bucky into his home to be around his family - and practically live there. Sam Wilson trusted Bucky Barnes with his life, with his family’s lives. No questions about it. Attraction (or deep-seated feelings) aside, how could Bucky not know that by now?

“We don’t have time for this, Buck.” Sam protested, peeking around the corner of the alley to look for the approaching agents.

“I need an answer, Sam.”

“Fifteen seconds, whatever you’re going to do, hurry it up!”

Groaning, Sam said, “Fine, yes, I trust you. Now, will you just-“ Before Sam could finish scolding him, Bucky had swiftly pushed the captain back against the brick wall, and covered his lips with his own. 

Bucky had his metal hand securely on Sam’s hip, while his flesh had cupped Sam’s left cheek simultaneously holding him in place and pulling him as close to the soldier as possible. To say Sam was surprised was an understatement, but it only took him a few seconds to just let go and relax under Bucky’s touch. Bucky’s lips were wet and warm, and moved effortlessly against Sam’s. Sam wasn’t sure what compelled the super soldier to do this, but at that moment Sam didn’t care. This mission at hand and the approaching agents faded from his thoughts as he melted into the kiss he had secretly been waiting for.

Bucky’s tongue swiped across Sam’s lower lip, asking for entrance, which Sam immediately obliged, letting him deepen their kiss. As he did so, Sam roughly fisted the collar of Bucky's new button-down, tugging him forward as he tried to eliminate any distance between the two. Bucky’s flesh hand ghosted down Sam’s neck, then his left arm, and his side, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake before it settled under the hem of Sam’s shirt, before settling on his lower back. The touch sent a shiver up Sam’s spine and he let out a small moan, which Bucky easily swallowed with another kiss.

Sam couldn’t remember the last time that he had been kissed like this - so passionate, yet so gentle. In an attempt to make it a little less so, Sam let go of Bucky’s collar and snaked his hands up to the base of Bucky’s neck, and buried his hands as deeply as he could in his short dark locks, giving them a tug. The moan that followed this action, was much louder than Sam’s, and almost resembled a growl. Damn, Sam loved that sound and knew he’d do anything to make Bucky elicit that sound again, and again.

Bucky responded by kissing Sam harder than before, and pushing himself closer to him, settling his body into between Sam’s legs, as he moved to deepen the kiss once more. He gripped Sam’s hips so hard he was sure they were going to bruise, but Sam loved every second of it.

He didn’t know how long they had been like this - seconds, minutes, hours - it didn’t matter. Time had stopped the moment their lips touched, and everything else around them had faded, which is exactly why Bucky had to be the first to pull away - because Sam wouldn’t have dreamed of it.

Bucky had disconnected their lips, but both of his hands lightly rested on Sam’s hips. “Sam,” he breathed, his words barely coming out above a whisper before he swallowed hard.

Sam loosened his grip on the Sergeant’s shirt but still rested his hands against his chest. “What... was... that?” He asked, a bit dazed. He was breathing heavily and his hooded eyes lingering on Bucky’s pink, slightly swollen lips.

After a moment, Bucky responded, “Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable.” Sam hummed in response, but only because he couldn’t string any other words together. All he was thinking about was that uncomfortable was not the word that he would use to describe what just happened at all. “When I kissed you the agents only looked for a second before turning away and going right past us.” 

When did Bucky have time to look for some damn agents during that fucking unbelievable kiss (more like a make-out session if you asked Sam)? “They did?”

“Yeah.” Sam needed a minute to let the words sink in. The kiss was just a part of a plan. Nat’s plan. A kiss as a distraction/cover. Of fucking course that was a Romanoff plan. A damn good plan, but he couldn’t help but feel the sting of thinking that the kiss - that fucking amazing kiss - was supposed to be… strategic. 

For weeks he had been battling over this lingering feeling of wanting something more with Bucky than just a partnership… until this moment of crushing realization, it felt like they had possibly moved to the next step.

Then again, if it was just strategic, why was Bucky still so close to him? He hadn’t made any attempt to move away, still holding Sam against the wall - albeit, without the arousing force he had minutes before.

“Do you think they’re all gone?” Sam asked, loosening his grip just enough for his hand to rest on the sides of Bucky’s neck.

“Probably.”

“But not for certain?” Sam questioned, rubbing his thumbs along Bucky’s strong, stubble-covered jawline, and down his throat. His fingers grazed over Bucky’s pulse point, and he could easily feel the artery pounding beneath the surface.

“Would probably need some more recon to confirm that.”

“Well until then, better to be safe than sorry, right?” Sam dared, doing anything he could to get Bucky’s lips back on his. From the way, the soldier’s heart was racing Sam could only hope that maybe, just maybe, Bucky would want to kiss him again, too.

“Right,” Bucky breathed, and without hesitation, leaned forward once again to kiss Sam, only to be interrupted a minute later, by Torres’ voice in their coms calling for their attention. 

“Cap, Sarge.” This time, when Bucky pulled away he dropped his hands and took a few steps back, instantly putting a few feet between the two partners. The captain silently cursed Joaquin and his incredibly terrible timing. “I’ve got eyes on them, they’re headed back to base. You should be in the clear.”

“Okay, good,” Bucky said, a little too quickly for Sam’s liking. “We should be back at the safehouse in 20 minutes. Gotta run an alternate route just in case we’re being followed.”

“Got it,” Torres said, signing off. 

Bucky quickly removed the earpiece before shoving it deep into his pocket. He looked around the corner, scanning the crowd before motioning for Sam to follow. “Come on, it’s hot as fuck out here, and I need a shower.”

Yeah, me too. A fucking cold one, Sam thought.

[finrelia]

I Always Told You I Didn't Like Knives

Prompt:

anonymous asked:

Could I request a Alex Danvers x reader where reader is a DEO agent and gets hurt on a mission so Alex becomes very protective and refuses to leave readers side?

Pairing: Alex Danvers x Reader

Word Count: 1,782

Warnings: Angst. Blood/Violence. Minor swearing. Bad Writing.

A/N: Sorry If this isn't exactly what you meant when you meant,,, I didn't focus as much on the protective side of things. But!!! I hope you like it!!! Also, its REALLY long aha. Anyways, Enjoy! (Again, sorry that I changed it a little,,, I got carried away.)

Everything was okay in your life right now. You had a job you loved, in a city you loved, and a girlfriend you loved. Everything was okay. J’onn had sent you and Alex on a routine mission to check up on a new cadmus threat that surfaced. He mentioned a weapon that could stand as a threat to Kara, because they manufactured it with kryptonite in order to weaken her. So, since she was at risk, supergirl was ordered to stay on site at the DEO headquarters, much to her dismay. The location of the threat was a cadmus owned warehouse at the base of a mountain far outside of national city. Winn had picked up on the kryptonite signature which is what started this whole thing.  

It was you, Alex, and a few recruits. Your squad was armed to the teeth, and alex had her gun (that she loved almost as much as you).  You, however, opted for your knives, that you’ve been favoring for years. Alex had persuaded you to keep a gun in your holster just in case, though. She trusted you, and your skill, but she didn't trust your knives. Especially when the threat was a gun. “I’ll be fine, babe. I always am. I can take care of myself, you know that.” you said to her as she gave you a concerned look.

“I know, (Y/N) I just worry sometimes.” She responded with a sigh. You got up from your seat on the jet across from her, and planted a solid kiss on the top of her head as the plane touched down.

“I think it’s cute that you worry” you whisper, as your hand cups her cheek.

It took around an hour of scouting to make sure the warehouse didn’t come equipped with unnecessary traps, or mines. There were minimal guards outside of the base, which you found odd, but not odd enough to worry you. Alex was quick to take out the two men that stood watch over the side entrance of the massive concrete and steel building. You looked to the recruits, and used two fingers and a pointing motion to order them off to go secure the front entrance, and by the time you looked back to where Alex was, she was gone. Alright, I guess we’re going in. You thought, always impressed with your girlfriend’s audacity.

You slipped into the barely open steel door, your two knives gripped firmly in your hands, blade lightly resting against your forearm as you held them in a defensive position. Something didn’t feel right. Something in your gut was off. The power in the warehouse appeared to be non-functional. None of the lights were on, not even the emergency bulbs you saw that lined the walls inside. Your eyes adjusted to the new, dim light, and they rested upon Alex, who was crouching over a body around twenty or so feet from the door. You walked over to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Alex?” you asked. She didn’t look up at you. When she responded her voice was cold, distant.

“They’re dead. The recruits. All of them. This was a trap set up by Lillian.”

You looked around the room. Littered on the cold concrete floor were twelve bodies. All wearing the black DEO standard-issue kevlar. You felt sick. You remembered distinctly ordering them to flank. They listened to you, followed orders.  You slipped your knives back into their place in your thigh strap. “This is my fault. I told them to move to secure the front.” you said to yourself. Alex said nothing, just stood back up from where the body was.

“We need to get out of here. The people that did this could still be in the building.” She said cooly, her hand wrapping around your bicep, and pulling you to the door.

Before you could even take two steps, there was a mechanical thunk, followed by an electric whirr as the lights suddenly turned back on. Not just on- but full force, flood light bright. You instinctively brought your arms up to shield your eyes from the violent change, and Alex did the same. “What the-” Alex was cut off by the sound of gunfire. You were still blinded, and were too busy worrying about the recruits to memorize the layout of the boxes strewn about. Alex, on the other hand, was much more fortunate. Like always, she had everything down to a science. As soon as she heard the gunfire she was safe behind a cluster of metal barrels, never once having to open her eyes. She reached up to you, and pulled you safely down next to her.

As soon as you rested your back against the metal, your eyes adjusted, and your knives were in your hands. Bullets collided with the side of the barrel, grazing the metal and sending small sparks flying into the air. You looked to a stack of scrap metal, that was a risky ten feet away from where you were know, but going there would allow you to get close enough to charge and engage in hand to hand combat, in which, you had an advantage thanks to your knives. Alex gives you a nod, to acknowledge your idea. You duck down under the line of fire, and sprint to the metal. Before you knew it, you were safe, and closer to the threat. As you moved, you looked to the origin of the gunshots. “I spot four agents, all armed with semi-automatic rifles!” you shout to Alex.

“Alright! I’ll take the two nearest me!” she shouts back, holding her pistol tightly against her chest.

She poked her head and arms up above the barrels, and fired three quick shots, downing the two agents in question. The others, closer to you, focused their fire towards her, and she ducked down under the barrels again.

Noticing the opportunity, you ran out from behind your cover, and flipped your knives over, their blades pointing directly at the agent closest to you. By the time he noticed you advancing, it was too late. He fell to the floor, unconscious from the blow you dealt him. Using the hilt of your knife as a bludgeon. You moved from him, to his partner, who was aiming his rifle directly at you. Before he could fire, your knife sliced open the skin of his hand, which caused him to drop his gun. You kicked him in the ribs, and then in the head, to ensure he was out.

“Clear!” you shouted to Alex, who you heard rise up from behind cover. “I think I got them all. Must’ve been an extra guard detail. Still doesn’t explain what killed the recruits though, because four men couldn't take them out.” You said, confused.

“(Y/N) MOVE” You heard Alex scream. Your head whipped around to her, only for your gaze to be met by a massive man, easily a foot taller than you, standing within arms length. How didn’t I hear him??? You thought to yourself. You raised your knives, ready to react, when he lunged at you. There was a massive glowing green sword in his hand, likely the weapon you were sent to destroy, and, before you could move out of the way, It sunk deep into your abdomen, right above your left hip. You cried out in pain, Going limp against the blade. It ripped through your stomach, causing immense agony to ripple through your body. You felt blood begin to seep out from around it. The man released his grip on the handle, satisfied. You heard five responding shots, fired from Alex’s direction. The man collapsed in front of you, littered with bullet holes. You looked up from your stomach, hands gripping the blade protruding from your body, to Alex. She gasped, seeing your wound, and rushed over to you just soon enough to catch you as you fell weakly to the ground.

She set you down carefully and became panicked when she saw how bad it was. “(Y/N) IS DOWN. I REPEAT, (Y/N) IS DOWN!) she screamed frantically over the comms. “SOMEONE GET KARA HERE” she screamed through tears. “It's going to be okay, baby, everything will be okay.” She said softly to you, as your face paled, and your eyes lost focus. You could feel the cold ground grow warm as your blood pooled underneath you. You knew you were losing too much blood. That you might not make it. You swallowed dryly.

“I’m not doing so good, huh?” you asked weakly.

“No, no you’re not, but everything will be okay, I promise. I can't lose you.” Alex said, as she pulled your limp body into her arms. The world went dark as you heard her whisper into your hair: “I can’t lose you.”

Your eyes fluttered open. As they came into focus you realize you recognized the ceiling. You were in the med bay at DEO headquarters. You tried to sit up, only to gasp and cry out in pain, clutching at your side. Tears well up in your eyes, and you glance down to the source of your pain, and see a long line of red begin to blossom across a bandage that was wrapped around the length of your abdomen. There was a stirring sound next to you as Alex woke up, apparently having never left your side. “Oh thank god.” she says, shooting up to pull you into a hug. You winced slightly at the movement, and she released you with whispered “Sorry”s.

“It’s been five days. I thought you’d never wake up.” she says, choking back tears, as her hand gripped yours.

“I’m tougher than I look babe.” you say with a smile and a groan as you shuffled to get comfortable with where you were laying.

“I know- I know.” she responded back. “You really scared me back there.”

“Won’t happen again, I promise”

“It better not. Oh, and I’m not leaving your side until you’re healed.” She said sternly as she tightened her grip on your hand.

“Fine by me” you responded with a smile.

Alex leans over and presses a much-needed kiss to your lips. It was soft, and full of tenderness and care. You sighed into it, you missed the feeling.

When she sat back down, you looked to her, a smile on your lips, and on hers.

“You know-” she said with a raise of her eyebrows. “I always told you I didn’t like knives.”

You laughed as whole-heartedly as you could (without hurting yourself).

“I know babe, I know.” you said quietly as you felt her thumb caress the back of your hand. Everything was okay again.

[sunshinelulusplatoon]

(This has been far overdue. So is the Calamity stories but that’s a different story.)

(Anyway, with Sora’s reveal, I finally got the kick to post this. So Enjoy!)

“You know,” Lulu started to speak.

“Hmm?” Lu remarked as she took another bite of her chocolate bar.

“You never did tell us how you were allowed to meet us,” Lulu remarked.

“Oh, I forgot?” Lu questioned.

“You did,” Lutarna commented.

Sitting on the side of the ramps of Blackberry Skate Park, the twins were hanging out with the Lulu from the Smash Brothers universe. Having grabbed some snacks, the girls were eating before getting back into some turf wars practice.

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Lu replied through her chewing.

“We have time,” Lutarna replied after finish a bite of her ice cream, “And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Geeze, sounds and acts like my Tarts,” Lu chuckled after clearing her mouth.

Deciding to stretch, Lu started to pull off one of the finger-less gloves she was wearing with her teeth. Once off, Lu held her hand up as a triangle mark was imprinted on the back of her hand; three triangles in whole with the bottom left filled in with gold coloring.

“Well, for starters, this is part of the reason,” Lu stated.

Leaning in, the twins were shocked.

“IS THAT-” Lulu began.

“THE TRIFORCE OF WISDOM???” Lutarna finished.

“Yep. Got this back quite a while ago. Not sure how but it was helpful,” Lu chuckled.

“So what happen?” Lulu asked as she leaned back and propped herself with her arms.

“Well, it happened a while ago. When doing some training rounds,” Lu started to explain.

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

“Hiyah!”

“RAAAAAAAAAAWWWWR”

“MEEEEHHAA!”

“HEEEEEEEEYYA!”

Early morning training was taking place on final destination as two teams were battling. Lulu and Min Min against Link and Bowser. As Bowser spouted flames, Min Min grabbed Lulu from a distance and tossed her into the air before jumping out of the way. In the air, Lulu tossed an ink bomb out before squid jumping and landing behind Link. As the bomb went off, Link got covered in some ink, blocking his view of where Lulu went, before be smacked from behind by Lulu’s roller. As for Bowser, Min Min was keeping him busy with her stretching arms and distance attacks.

Just as things were heating up, the ground below started to shake. The vibrations so strong, the stage it self started to shake as Lulu lost footing and was about to go over the edge. In quick timing, Link grabbed onto and pulled Lulu back up as the group was wondering what was going on.

GUYS! THE SKY!” Bowser called out.

All looking up, clear blue sky started to become twilight as the sun started to shine brighter and brighter.

“What is this?” Min Min questioned, confused by the changing skies.

“Tsshhhh, I recognize this!!” Bowser growled.

“It can’t be,” Lulu questioned as fear grew on her face.

Just then, a ringing sound from Lulu’s jacket went off. Pulling her phone out hastily, it was a call from Meta Knight. Putting it on speaker, Meta Knight spoke.

“LULU! ARE YOU STILL WITH LINK AND CO?” Meta Knight questioned as his voice was harsh.

“Yes! What’s going on?” Lulu questioned as panic crept into her voice.

“A HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE! GALEEM HAS RETURNED! WE’RE NOT SURE WHY BUT IT’S BEEN SPOTTED AT THE WORLD’S EDGE!!!” Meta Knight replied, “WE’RE JUST OVER THE RIDGE TO PICK YOU ALL UP!! YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE US!!”

Looking over, the Halberd was indeed coming into view. Grabbing their things, the group waited till the right moment before jumping off of Final Destination and landing on the Halberd where Zelda and Peach were waiting.

“Mario and the others are already at the world’s edge,” Peach explained.

“We’re not sure what is going on but somehow Galeem has survived. Whether Darkon has or not, there is not time to waste,” Zelda stated.

“Let’s go then,” Link replied.

Others nodding, the group rushed inside as the Halberd picked up speed and headed towards their destination.

Upon arrival, the battle had already presumed as smash members were fighting off master hands as Galeem hovered in the distance.

“Tsssh, guess nemesis brains couldn’t take the hint the first time,” Lulu huffed.

“Well, there is more of us now, so let’s give that ball of light a good ass kicking, shall we?” Bowser laughed.

“Ready to help as best as I can,” Min Min agreed.

As the Halberd came close, the group jumped off as Lulu pulled out a bomb and tossed it towards a master hand. The ink explosion causing damage to the hand, Lulu squid jumped on top of it to do a down kick before jumping off of it as the hand dissipated. Blowing flames, Bowser was taking multiple hands out at once as Link was shooting them down with Min Min’s help.

Joining up with the rest of the group, the smash members were taking hands down one by one but soon it became inevitable that Galeem could easy make more. One by one, the smash members were getting tired. Joining up with the rest of the turf crew with Banjo and Kazooie’s help, Lulu and the other were barely keeping the hands at bay when more kept coming. Trying to do jumps, one laser hit Lulu and almost tossed her to the ground. Though speeding through the attacks, Sonic caught her in time before getting pelted by and smack down from a hand.

“Thanks Sonic,” Lulu replied once they got to a safer spot.

“This is getting nuts. They just keep coming,” Sonic remarked.

“We just got to keep trying,” Lulu reassured with a fist pump and a determined look.

Nodding, the two did a hand slap before rushing back into battle. Yet the odds were against the group. More and more, the smash members were getting hurt and tired but Galeem still stood strong.

Then things went quiet. As the hands pulled back, the smash members were confused. Then the familiar sound started up.

The sound of Galeem’s ultimate attack.

None of them were in proper shape to try and dodge the attack; if it was even possible in the first place.

“All over again!” Lulu thought as she recounted how she came to the smash universe the first time.

As light started to build up around Galeem, the members were fearing the worse.

Then suddenly it stopped.

Galeem froze still.

“The shell?” Lulu questioned.

“It...it just stopped,” Kazooie remarked in shocked.

All confused, the members watched as the very light from Galeem drained to black as it’s body started to come apart in two. As the wings and the Master Hands started to dissipate, a figure loomed behind the decomposing corpse of Galeem.

“Who is that?” Sonic questioned.

Confused, Lulu caught glimpse of Cloud moving past them and towards the figure before stopping; possibly trying to get better view of the person.

Squinting, Lulu could barely make focus of the figure but faintly caught glimpse of a very long sword in hand. That’s when Lulu realized who they were dealing with.

“It can’t be,” Lulu stated in fear.

“Sephiroth,” they heard Cloud say.

All stood in silence as the newcomer revealed himself.

“Sephiroth?!? From Cloud’s universe?!?” Daisy spoke in fear.

“How?” Isabella cried out.

“How doesn’t matter at the moment,” Lulu remarked as she heard Isabella from a distance, “Right now, we got a much worse fight on our hands.”

Watching above as Sephiroth descended some, a sinister smile turned into a smirk at the sight of Cloud and co.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Sephiroth spoke as he extended an arm upwards, “Now I shall give Smash despair.”

Once a twilight sky, now bleed into a sinister gray as clouds thickened. Taking aim towards Cloud, Sephiroth dived down towards him before taking a swing at him with Masamune. Reacting quick enough, Link rushed in and took the hit with his shield. Bouncing back, the fight began with swords clashing as Link and Cloud fought against Sephiroth. Taking this opportunity, many of the members took to others to heal wounds and rest as others jumped into to help take down this new foe.

Having recovered her ink and tending to some wounds of hers and others, Lulu was about to jump into the match when Alex stopped her. Placing a diamond sword in her hand, Alex looked up at Lulu.

“Steve’s badly hurt.  I can’t leave his side right now but you know how to use this right?” Alex asked.

Nodding with an assured look, Lulu placed her gun in it’s holster as she took the diamond sword from Alex. Watching Alex waved as Lulu rushed into the battle.

As blades struck, Sephiroth bounced back both Link and Cloud as the rolling sound of an ink bomb was heard. As the bomb exploded, covering Sephiroth some, Lulu came from behind and did a long sweep with the diamond sword. Blocking the attack with Masamune, Sephiroth and Lulu stood clashing blades.

“So, the little light makes her appearance finally. It will feel good to finally strike you down before you get in my way again,” Sephiroth spoke as he pushed back on Lulu.

Jumping back, Lulu was confused by Sephiroth’s words as she dodged a forward thrust from him before taking a swing at him.

Thus the two began a dance of clashing blades as Peach and Mario got Link and Cloud out of there for the time being. Being a double welder, Lulu was easily passing the diamond sword from one hand to another to block and strike at Sephiroth. As easily as Lulu could toss them though, Sephiroth could dodge them. Back and forth the two went but slowly Lulu could see the diamond was cracking. Dodging a slice of the Masamune, Lulu back flipped and tossed a bomb at Sephiroth’s face. Using a reflect, Sephiroth went for Lulu. Using the last of the diamond sword’s strength, Lulu was sent back flying as the sword broke. Hitting the ground and rolling, Lulu landed hard on her back but was slowly able to get back up.

“Something...isn’t right here,” Lulu thought, “Almost as if a darker presence looms around us. It’s as if something is preventing him from falling.”

Breathing hard, Lulu was trying to hold things together as Sephiroth lunged forward towards her. Though before he could reach her, a blast form Samus’s gun hit the ground before him as Mario took a punch towards him. Dodging backwards, Mario and Samus stood in Sephiroth’s way from getting to Lulu.

“Lulu, we got this. Take heed,” Samus spoke.

Taking the hint, Lulu nodded as she rushed to take cover and find others.

Running, Lulu was trying to put pieces together of what was going on as she spotted Zelda and Palutania. Rushing to her, they got Lulu some distance away before tending to her wounds.

“It’s as if his body won’t tire,” Lulu spoke.

“Something tells me Darkon is behind this,” Zelda spoke, “As if another being is waiting in the shadows, it’s presence I sense.”

“I’ve been sensing it too,” Palutania replied, “Waiting for the right time to strike.”

“But why? How could they have survived?” Lulu questioned.

Before the girls could give reason, a voice spoke up.

“What does it matter. You will all die at my hands.”

Looking up, a new foe stood upon the rocks above them.

“WHO ARE YOU?” Palutania demanded.

Recognizing him immediately, Lulu took a fighting stance.

“That’s Kayuza Mishima,” Lulu growled.

“You know him?” Zelda questioned.

“Where I’m from, he’s from a game called Tekken. He was born with demon blood and a main antagonist of the series,” Lulu replied.

Jumping down from the rocks, Kayuza went straight for Lulu. Sliding in the way, Zelda used Din’s fire as Kayuza dodged.

“LULU! HE’S AFTER YOU!!! RUN!!!” Zelda shouted.

Taking hint, Lulu dashed and ran for her life as she tried to seek others. Though easily outdoing them, Kayuza took to the skies in his demon form as he chased after Lulu. Tripping on a rock, Lulu hit the ground hard as Kayuza landed near her.

“You can’t get away from me that easy little light,” Kayuza spoke.

Getting back on her feet, Lulu took a fighting stance.

“Going to fight now are we?” Kayuza spoke before thrusting forward at Lulu.

Dodging, Lulu threw a hard leg kick which knocked Kayuza to the ground.

“I may be tired, but I’m not out yet! I may be stuck in this inkling form, but I can still fight like an octoling!” Lulu huffed.

Getting back up and wiping some blood away, Kayuza smirked before going at Lulu again with punches. Dodging and weaving out the way from down thrust and attacks, Lulu was dishing her own attacks. Hand to hand combat, the two fought but slowly Lulu was getting tired. Stuck in the inkling form was her biggest disadvantage and with one hard trust to the stomach, Lulu was on the ground.

Trying to get up, Lulu was slammed back down onto the ground by a foot into her back.

“Hehehe, this is the end for you little light. Tell your maker she shouldn’t have disowned us like she did. Now she can see the effects of her mistakes,” Kayuza spoke.

Switching back to his demon form, Kayuza was about to attack Lulu as she tried to get back up when-

“HADOUKEN!!”

A ball of blue light, it smacked Kayuza away as Ryu, Ken, and Kirby on Dragoon came rushing up. Grabbing Lulu up, Ken placed Lulu on Dragoon with Kirby.

“Get her out of her!” Ken ordered.

Nodding, Kirby made sure Lulu was properly on Dragoon before flying upwards and away from the fight as fast as the little pop star fighter could. Far from the world’s edge and into the world of light, Kirby flew Dragoon as Lulu held on with what strength she had left.

Finally landing were the two first met, Kirby jumped off Dragoon as he rushed over to where some waddle dees and MetaKnight were waiting. With them were some bottles of ink and tomatoes for Lulu. Rushing over, the group went to work tending to Lulu.

“Thanks guys. Thanks Kirby. Always got my back, huh?” Lulu spoke softly as she ate a tomato before sinking down into the ink to rest; laying on her back.

“Poyo,” Kirby replied before patting her inkling head.

“Rest Lulu. What ever those two want with you, you need your strength. Right now we have you far enough away to give you time. The others should be able to hold them off,” Meta Knight spoke.

Nodding, Lulu closed her eyes as the sounds of the quite environment took over.

Resting there for a while, Lulu hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep till a voice spoke up.

“Seems Darkon won’t give up, huh? Has finally killed his brother and now has turned his aim at us. Because he wouldn’t do what I asked of him long ago. Even using new fighters for his work. I’m sorry you’ve gotten involved like this. He can’t reach me anymore so has turned his revenge towards you. I figured the first time bringing you here would be enough to deal with them but stubborn fools they were. I now have to ask you again to finish these things for me. But not alone. If things get tough though, you have the strength, will, and power to call for others. I believe in you princess. Use your light to guide others hearts towards you,” the voice spoke.

It took Lulu a moment to recognize the voice.

Her voice.

“LULU!”

Opening her eyes, Lulu sat up from the ink puddle to see Marge rushing towards the small group. Squatting down, Marge hugged Lulu; seeing her friend was alright. Wrapping her arms around her after the initial shock, Lulu hugged back.

“LULU THANK COD! EVERYBODY’S BEEN FIGHTING AND NOBODY CAN SEEM TO TAKE THOSE TWO DOWN AND I GOT WORRIED CAUSE I COULDN’T FIND YOU WITH THE OTHERS AND THEN I JUST,” Marge spoke in panic before starting to cry.

“Hey, I’m fine. But there is more going on then just two new fighters. I have… a feeling Darkon is controlling them. When asleep… this voice spoke…. My voice spoke,” Lulu explained.

Confused, Marge thought on it some.

“Perhaps the creator. Talking to you in a familiar tone,” Marge suggested.

“I think so,” Lulu questioned, “She talked about Darkon and Galeem. It seemed like they had a bigger role in our world at one time but they went against it. But were strong enough to survive the first attack we did to them. But now all that is left is Darkon.”

“What do we do?” Marge asked, fear in her voice.

Getting up, Lulu brushed off the leftover ink on her hero gear before looking towards where the fights were.

“We win this!” Lulu replied before holding a hand out to Marge.

Realizing her words and confidence, Marge took Lulu’s hand with a nod.

Packing up and getting back on Dragoon, Kirby led the way with Meta Knight following as the Waddle Dee’s waved goodbye.

Back at the world’s edge, things were looking grim. As the fighters pressed on, Sephiroth and Kayuza held firm. One by one, the fighters were falling to their knees with only a few still standing.  Fighting Sephiroth, Cloud was holding his ground as Ryu was doing his best against Kayuza’s demon attacks. Flying over, the two turf crew members watched.

“They need help now,” Lulu remarked.

“Lulu,” Marge spoke as she held out a capsule, “It’s not much, but it might have something handy.”

Taking the capsule, Lulu nodded as she popped the cap. Popping out, a staff fell into Lulu hands, the girls nodded before watching as Kirby flew them closer. Once in range, Lulu and Marge jumped off as Lulu did a down stab at Sephiroth.

Not reacting quick enough, Lulu was able to slice his arm as the fight turned into a two verses one. Helping Cloud get back on his feet from the last attack, Marge threw a bomb to cover her and Ryu’s tracks as they got Cloud out of there.

Taking lunges at her, Lulu dodged, weaved, and maneuvered through Sephiroth and Kayuza’s attacks as she dished her own out. Remembering what her grandfather taught her, Lulu was twirling the staff around for styled attacks and protection as the two fighters came at her. Staying determined, Lulu was keeping up as Sephiroth was starting to look annoyed.

“Tssh, not going down without a fight, huh? Seems you are more determined this round. Fine. I’ll just use my resources to better use,” Sephiroth spoke.

Looking at Kayuza behind Lulu, Sephiroth lunged forward with Masamune as Lulu dodged; stabbing Kayuza through the chest.

“You are no use to me anymore. One body is all I need,” Sephiroth spoke before blasting Kayuza away with a fire ball attack.

Shocked and confused as Kayuza’s body rolled and laid lifeless yards away, dark energy started to glow around Sephiroth as he rose into the air. Above, the sky started to crack and turn red, pieces fell as Darkon showed himself before Lulu once more.

“Now, let’s finish this,” Sephiorth spoke as he flew down towards Lulu. 

Dodging, Lulu swung the staff towards Sephiorth’s head but quickly grabbing it, Sephiorth was able to yank it out of Lulu’s hands before kicking her in her stomach. Falling backwards on the ground, Lulu rolled before Sephiorth could stab her with Masamune. Getting up, Lulu started to throw punches but Sephiroth with new found speed, dodged them before grabbing her by a tentacle, lifting her up and tossing her to the ground. Before even reacting, Sephiroth threw a fire ball with made Lulu roll. Casting a shadow flare, Sephiroth lunged forward at her. Dodging, Lulu did an aerial kick but Sephiroth was too fast for her; causing his shield as the flare went off. Taking heavy damage, Lulu was leaning forward, trying to calm her spinning head as blood dripped to the ground. Lulu barely noticed Sephiroth’s forward thrust. Dodging, a tentacle was cut off as Lulu lost balance and fell to the ground.

“Seems what strength you had is slowly fleeting now little light, isn’t it,” Sephiroth chuckled.

Slowly getting back on her feet, Sephiroth’s hits had taken too much out of her; as if they had drained her of all her strength. Thought that didn’t mean she was giving up. Lunging forward, Lulu took a swing at Sephiorth as he easily dodged before grabbing her other tentacle, tossed to her the ground, and stabbed Masamune through the tentacle. Crying out in pain, Lulu tried to pull the sword out, but Sephiorth slammed his foot on Lulu’s chest to know the air out of her. Couching up blood, Lulu tried to breath as Sephiorth started to walk around her.

In the sky, Darkon’s tendrils started to stretch out as Sephiorth stopped behind her.

“This was fun little light but I need you gone,” Sephiroth spoke.

In a loud roar, the tendrils came towards Lulu. Barely catching her breath as she struggled to even speak, her mind was screaming.

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!!!”

As if a calling, the triforce on her hand started to glow, shocking Sephiorth. As light grew stronger, in a flash, time stopped; just before the tendrils touched Lulu. Then things faded to black.

Pitch black.

Not a sound.

Except Lulu’s breathing.

Finally realizing all the pain was gone, Lulu moved her arm to feel for things. Instead of just feel inkling tentacles, Lulu found that she felt her octoling ones as well. Deciding to sit up, things around her were impossible to see. Getting up on her feet, Lulu didn’t know where she was.

“Am I dead?” Lulu spoke to herself.

Feeling her chest, Lulu could feel a pulse but wasn’t truly sure. Looking outwards, Lulu was confused.

That was until her hand started to glow again. Looking at it, Lulu saw the triforce glow in golden light.

“Hello?” a voice rang out through the darkness.

“Hello?” another spoke.

Shocked, Lulu spoke up.

“Hello? Is someone there?” Lulu asked.

“Hi, who are you?” one voice asked.

“My name is Lulu. And you?” Lulu replied.

“My name is Pyra. I heard someone call out for help. Was that you?” Pyra replied.

“My name is Mythra. Are you okay?” Mythra replied.

“Yeah, that was me. Though I’m not sure if I need it now. I think I’m okay. But my friends. They may need help!”

“What troubles you?” Pyra asked.

“A monster name Darkon has come back to reek havoc on my friends and I. They may need help! Please, will you help them?” Lulu begged.

Out of the darkness, a green light and a burning flame appeared in front of Lulu.

“We heard your call Lulu. We will help you,” Pyra and Mythra replied.

Appearing before her, two woman, one red headed with a red dress and one blonde with a white one, held hands out to Lulu. Smiling Lulu held her hands and grab each of their hands. In a golden light, the two disappeared.

Back in darkness, Lulu was confused.

“Hey, can I help?” Another voice spoke; coming from behind Lulu.

Turning around, light from under Lulu’s feet shinned as a stain glass image appeared.  In the glass was an image of Lulu holding the triforce of wisdom as smash members had pictures around her. In front of her, a young boy stood holding a key shaped sword. His brown hair was spiky as he wore a red and black outfit with poofy pants and big black yellow shoes. Surprised, the boy walked up to Lulu.

“I heard someone cry for help,” the boy remarked before looking at Lulu, “Wow, you look like someone from Atlantica. What’s your name?”

“Lulu. What’s yours?” Lulu asked.

“I’m Sora,” Sora replied with a smile.

“Sora? I like your name! Will you please help me? A great monster is attacking my friends. I wasn’t strong enough on my own to stop it,” Lulu explained.

“A monster? Is it some type of heartless?” Sora questioned.

“Heartless? I’m not sure what that is but it does lack heart and it wants to hurt my friends,” Lulu replied.

“Well, that’s good enough for me. I’ll gladly help,” Sora replied.

Holding a hand out, Sora smiled a big smile. Smiling back, Lulu grabbed his hand as he too disappeared into golden light.

Still left in the dark, Lulu was confused. But something told her things were going to be alright now.

“I have help. That’s a start. But how to deal with Darkon. He himself is so far away. And Sephiroth is just a vessel he is using. If I had a way to hit him at long distance,” Lulu spoke to herself.

“Will a charger do?” A voice spoke up.

Spinning around, Lulu called out, “You again!”

“You did good. You found help. But they can’t fight this alone! And you can’t deal with Darkon without some help. Here, hold your hands out,” the voice spoke.

Holding her hands up, Lulu saw a long light formed as a golden charger fell into her hands.

“It’s infused with the power of the light arrows. Should help. Good luck Princess,” the voice spoke again.

Nodding, Lulu held the charger close.

“Thank you. This time, I’ll do it. I’m not giving up!” Lulu replied.

As the triforce glowed again, Lulu clenched her fist, before holding it up and shouting, “LET’S GO HELP MY FRIENDS!!!”

Time starting again, the light shown bright as Sephiroth jump back as figure rushed at him. Blocking with his sword, a giant fire blade came down to clash with the Masamune.

“WHO ARE YOU?” Sephiroth shouted.

“Here to help out Lulu!” Pyra replied before switching to Mythra in a greenish light and taking fast swings at Sephiroth.

Coming to, a hand was held out for Lulu as Lulu realized it was Sora. Grabbing his hand, Sora helped Lulu up as Lulu held the charger; healed up and tentacle in tack again.

“You look different,” Sora commented as Lulu was back in her inkling form.

“So does your clothes,” Lulu remarked.

Looking himself over, Sora’s clothes had changed to a red outfit with a white jacket and big yellow shoes. Chuckling, Sora gave Lulu a smile.

Hearing Darkon roar, the two looked up at him.

“So that’s the monster?” Sora asked.

“That’s Darkon. His eye is his weak spot. We need to get close to it so I can shoot at it with this charger,” Lulu explained.

Noticing Mythra dealing with Sephiroth, Lulu realized the opportunity.

“While he’s distracted, we need to go,” Lulu pointed out.

Nodding, Sora grabbed Lulu’s hand as he pulled her forward into a run.

Running past Pyra and Sephiroth, the two were heading for the edge as tendrils were raring for an attack.

“Believe in fairies?” Sora asked.

“Met a few. Nice beings,” Lulu replied.

“Then believe you can fly!” Sora replied.

As the tendrils came down, Sora and Lulu jumped off the cliff’s edge as the tendrils crashed into the ground. In an upward swoop, the two flew off towards Darkon. Tendrils coming at them, Sora used magic to freeze them and burn them as Lulu took shots with the charger. Closer and closer the two got as Darkon tried to push them back. Dodging, weaving, and attacking, the pair were getting closer to Darkon’s eye. Though as a final attempt, Darkon shot multiple tendrils at them. In quick thinking, Sora pushed Lulu forward as Sora took the hit; knocking him out of the sky.

Now in range, Lulu held the charger out as she charged the ink. Not enough time to react, Darkon watched as light formed at the chargers end as Lulu pulled the trigger.

“EAT INK YOU FUCKING SIPHON!!” Lulu shouted.

With a large bang, light swirling around a long ink shot speed towards Darkon and hit him straight on. Split in half, the light shown bright as the Darkon and the tendrils started to dissipate.

Back on land, about to take a swing at Pyra, it was if the wind was knocked out of Sephiroth as he fell to the ground; shocking Pyra as she looked up to see Darkon falling apart.

“LULU DID IT!” Pyra cried out.

Hearing footsteps, Pyra turned around to see Cloud and Mario, bandaged up, as they were shock to see the sight.

Then a bright light flashed as the red sky turned back to clear blue.

Still floating in the sky as the golden charger faded out of her hands, Lulu took a moment to process things before realizing something. Hastily flying down, Lulu looked for Sora.

“LULU!” Sora called out, floating in the water below.

“SORA!” Lulu cried out.

Seems Sora was okay as she flew down and grabbed a hand to pull him back up and flying again. Pulling each other into a hug, the two flew around for a bit.

“WE DID IT!!” the pair shouted in excitement before heading back to the main land.

Waving, Pyra was waiting for them.

“HEY!!!” she called out.

“PYRA!” Lulu called out before landing.

Rushing up, Pyra hugged Lulu and Sora as the three laughed and giggled.

“LULU” Mario called out.

Looking around Pyra, Lulu called out, “MARIO!” before letting go and rushing to Mario.

Arms open, Mario hugged Lulu and patted her back.

“Wahoo! You did it!!” Mario spoke as he patted her back.

“Sora?” Cloud questioned as he spotted him.

“Woah! Cloud! Is that you?” Sora questioned in shock as he let go of Pyra and rushed over to Cloud.

“How did you get here?” Cloud questioned.

Rubbing the back of his head, Sora replied, “Uh...I guess through Lulu. I was on Destiny Islands when I heard a voice cry out for help and then the next thing I knew I met Lulu.”

Crossing his arms, Cloud gave a smirk and a huff.

Walking up, Pyra remarked, “I also heard Lulu’s cry for help. Are you all alright?”

“Now we are it seems. Darkon is gone and things have seem to gone back to normal. That is..” Cloud replied before tailing off.

Looking over, Sephiroth was still on the ground. All noticing, Cloud began to walk over when sounds of pain could be heard. Starting to rise up, Sephiroth rolled to a sitting position as he got his bearings.

“Where… am I?” he spoke.

“Smash world,” Cloud spoke.

Looking over, Sephiroth didn’t seem surprised to see Cloud.

“It seems we have been transported to this world,” Sephiroth spoke, “But I do not know how.”

“What do you last remember?” Cloud asked.

“Leaving the last world with you,” Sephiroth replied as he got up on his feet.

“So I was right. Darkon was controlling him and Kayuza,” Lulu remarked.

“Do you think he’ll cause trouble now?” Sora asked.

“He would be stupid if he tried,” Cloud remarked.

Looking around, Sephiroth noticed the others taking fighting stances; faces he had never seen before.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Sephiroth stated to Cloud.

“Long story,” Cloud replied.

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

“So what happen to Kayuza?” Lulu asked.

“Same boat as Sephiroth. Taken control by Darkon and mind controlled to be a puppet. Once Darkon’s control was free, he woke up confused and lost to where he was,” Lu replied.

“So what happen then?” Lutarna asked.

“Well, given their presence, it seemed they too were new smashers and thus we welcomed them in. Knowing how many were around, like the other villian characters, they agreed to behave and join the smash fights. Explaining everything to them on how the worlds worked, we showed Pyra, Mythra, and Sora how to get home and to come back and visit,” Lu explained.

“Man, talk about a crazy adventure. You have all the fun!” Lulu huffed.

“How did Sidon take to everything?” Lutarna asked.

“He insisted Link rest in the domain and my butt to stay out of fights for a while,” Lu chuckled.

“Fair enough,” Lutarna chuckled.

“Still, did the creator every give you answers on things?” Lulu asked.

“No sadly. No letter this time. I wish I knew why but perhaps it’s just left up to the wind I guess,” Lu replied.

Jumping up and stretching, Lulu hopped down the ramp before looking at the other girls.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but that story has me worked up now. Let’s get some more practice shall we?” Lulu chuckled.

Nodding, the two cleaned up the food mess they made before jumping down the ramp before rushing off to start a match.

Watching in the distance up in a tree, a being smiled as she watched the three play.

“I probably should have wrote a proper thank you but making that charger took a bit out of me. Oh well, things are good now. Might as well let it be. Still, to think my lower gods would betray me like that when all I asked was to just balance the smash world with what fighters were allowed in. Instead they grew power hungry and thought they could over throw my rule. Oh well, Maybe next time I’ll get better help,” the being spoke.

Smiling again, the being faded into nothing as the trio played their game; peace brought back again to the worlds.