#the robots assumed fighting postures

[iceslasher]

Oh I just realized I didn’t post this here. I wanted to draft up a few blurbs about my headcanons and how my Ice is pretty canon-divergent in some regards and very headcanon based after having him as a muse for a gazillion years.

I think I did a decent write up about these two in my doc but it’s always fun to reiterate that they are the same person whilst being two very different entities all at once.

---

 On “Soldier” and “Commander” the double A.I. inhabiting the same shell.

“Soldier”

     Typically what most associate as Ice Man himself; a childish, effeminate and sweet intelligence known for being a crybaby and attention-seeker. He has lazy tendencies; yearning to vacation often. This is his way of acting out in a sense as while exploring the vast arctics does well to sate his curiousity it leaves him lonely and homesick. Vacations are just an excuse for him to visit Light and his robots to recharge his extrovert battery.      Soldier is curious and easily influenced by those he considers cool (such as Roll or Elec Man); tending to look up to strong willed or leader types being as he’s more of a follower.       Highly emotional, physically affectionate and ready to release waterworks when happy or distressed, Soldier is somehow both very dependable and selfishly bratty.

“Commander”

     Opposite to his neighboring A.I. in more ways than one. Completely mature and masculine, Commander is highly analytical, work oriented and fiercely bossy. His mannerisms are cold, matter of fact and snappy. When it comes to the science facet of exploration he is on top of his game and more than ready to engage in night long discussions with the human scientists on top of managerial duties and constant computations.      Though he might appear cruel to outsiders, he is quietly compassionate and patient to his other half. They experience emotions in tandem and are synched in this way but he knows Soldier wont get anything done without a little push... constantly.      Despite existing as long as Soldier, no one has ever gotten to know Commander. Whether it’s because Commander is withdrawn and disinterested or Soldier is just more personable and thus deemed more suitable for social interaction by Commander himself is a topic I’d love to explore more in rp.

Ice Man

     Together they form the DLN we all know as a fashion loving, dedicated and utterly huggable bot. His two A.I. talk to each other so rapidly it leaves others confused whenever they vocalize their thoughts aloud, nowadays opting to communicate internally a good portion of the time. However their mannerisms are so distinctive it’s simple enough for those who are familiar with Ice to gauge who is interacting with them, even through posture and expression alone. 

     It is also worth noting that while these two have given each other the names of “Soldier” and “Commander” they both share the name Ice Man, especially to anyone that isn’t themselves. Never having been singled out, simply calling either by their codenames would comically confuse them. They talk to each other only, everyone else talks to Ice Man. (This is not a hard rule, I encourage any muses that actually get close enough to him to use his codenames more naturally. Or even perceptive muses who take notice of his swapping pov speech to curiously direct conversation to one AI or another.)

     Now it’s easy to assume that such stark personalities would clash. This assumption would be correct as one side is always fighting to play and goof off the other is pulling at his hair to get work done. Only a healthy mixture of their interest can bring any bout of equilibrium in their head.

And together they are never truly alone on the job.

[yourfellowhuman07]

Fates Rewritten

A She-Ra: Princess of Power 2018 Fanfiction

________

For years, The Princess Alliance has been campaigning for their independence from the Eternian Empire to no avail. Out of options, they seek the help of Zoria, the only galactic entity that matches the might of the Eternians. Now with the crown prince's army, the Etherians must fight against the Eternian armies and their mightiest warrior: She-Ra.

________

Chapter 3: Simple Conversations

The rhythmic sound of chirping bugs filled the humid air as the sun just began to set. A long table adorned with dozens of plates stacked with cuts of ripe fruit sat in the middle of the outdoor gardens.

High King Orphir and Queen Ziella sat at the head of the table, their twin children sitting together at the other end. The Alliance filled the rest of the seats, speaking quietly to each other.

Angella pushed her fruit around her plate in silence. She glanced up at her husband across from her, who was deeply in conversation with Orphir. She gave short glances around the table to her fellow Alliance members deep in their conversations. Perfuma and CeEllia spoke extensively about the plant life within the castle gardens, while a tall and slightly thin Zorian man spoke to Hordak. Besides Angella, Ziella was the only one not in conversation who, unluckily, was sitting right next to Angella.

Like Angella, Ziella was pushing her food around her plate, glancing around the table. Oddly enough, the utensils in her hand were frosty. Angella glanced down at her own shiny, room-temperature utensils. She looked back up to meet Ziella’s eyes. The two queens immediately looked down at their plates, the frost amplifying on Ziella’s utensils while Angella noticed the humidity's discomfort.

“So, are you enjoying your visit so far?” Ziella asked, straightening her posture.

“Yes, of course. Your home is charming,” Angella answered quickly, inwardly cringing at her choice of words.

“Thank you.” Ziella paused, choosing her words carefully. “I wish you and your Alliance could have seen it under less straining circumstances.”

“As do I.” Once again, an uncomfortable silence loomed over the two queens.

“I assume my children have been hospitable,” Ziella inquired, trying to identify an appropriate topic of conversation.

“They have.” She complimented, “Your daughter gave us an amazing tour of the gardens. I must say, they are wonderful.”

“The compliment should go to our gardeners; I made sure to hire the finest on our planet.” Ziella boasted, “What about my son?”

“Ah, yes,” Angella stammered, struggling to find an answer, “he showed us the way to the gardens.”

“Anything else?” Ziella probed, letting a slight bite trickle into her tone.

Angella shook her head in response, making Ziella grimace.

“What about your daughter?” Ziella asked, regaining her formalities. “Is she enjoying herself?” 

“Of course. Almost all of the Alliance has quickly warmed up to this place. Granted, for many, this will be their first-time off-planet.”

Suddenly, the middle of the table began to descend; robotic arms sprung out of the hole in the table, taking away the dirty dishes. This left the Alliance stunned, well, except Entrapta, who was giddy. Angella looked at Ziella in confusion.

“So the staff is on their feet less.” With her reply, the middle of the table rose back up, now adorned with perfectly cooked cuts of meat from animals none of the Alliance could name and vegetables seared to crispy perfection. Then, a set of doors opened to three staff members who briskly walked to the table. One of the three sat down five glasses of red liquid for the royals while the other two sat down glasses of water for the Alliance.

“How come only you guys got wine?” Sea Hawked wondered aloud, granting him some harsh stares from some of the older Alliance members.

“It is not wine.” Hordak clarified, sipping the liquid that had a metallic smell to it. After a moment, some of the Alliance members caught on, grimacing.

“Do you have any other children?” Ziella asked, pulling Angella back to their previous conversation.

“No, we never really thought to have anymore. Glimmer was such a handful for us, so we decided against it.” Angella sighed, hating being put on the spot.

“Same for us.” She agreed, gesturing to her husband. “Twins are all we need.” The two queens gave light laughs at their mutual understanding.

“Thank you for all you have done for us,” Angella said suddenly, Ziella’s ears perking up at the statement. “I have no idea how to repay your people.”

“Think nothing of it,” Ziella assured. “We only wish to help; no payment needed.”

Angella smiled, praying this spark of hope lights the possibilities for the future.

______________

Entrapta had spent most of her morning exploring the strange castle she would stay in for the foreseeable future. It had not been 24 hours, and she had already discovered so much! Unlike her home, most of the tech was hidden behind the walls. She deduced most of the tech was used to perform menial tasks, like washing the dishes and dusting the shelves, evident by the small cleaning bots she found scattered throughout the castle. The only reason they needed servants was to cook the royals' food.

Eventually, Entrapta found a library on the western side of the palace. It was grandiose, with three cylindrical stories leading up to a clear skylight that bathed the room in the sun’s glow. Leather books and scrolls lined the shelves without a single speck of dust coating their aged surfaces. Murals and tapestries adorned the wall uncovered by the wooden bookshelves. This would be the perfect place to find more information about Zorian technology!

“Do you need help?” A voice asked. Entrapta looked up to see a woman at a desk surrounded by holographic cyan screens. The woman had ink-black hair intercut with streaks of silver. Her eyes were deep pools of midnight purple hidden behind a pair of black glasses.

“Oh, um,” Entrapta quickly scampered to the desk. “Yes, do you have any books about Zorian technology?”

“Third floor, the shelf closest to the staircase on the left.” She answered sharply. “Any electronic files can be accessed through the tables on all floors.”

“Thank you!” Entrapta shouted as she made her way to the winding staircase.

“Hey!” the woman called out, causing Entrapta to stop dead in her tracks. “This is not a borrowing library, so if you take anything,” Entrapta felt the air around her shift as a gust of wind propelled her back to the desk, “I’ll know.” The woman informed her, squinting her eyes and getting in the princess’s face. Entrapta could only nod sheepishly.

With a flick of her hand, the librarian released Entrapta, allowing the princess

to scamper up the stairs and pull out her tape recorder.

“Zoria log 7: I have found a massive library to help me discover more about Zorian technology. I promised Scorpia I would help with her datapad later, so I will assess the books first because I believe I would be here for hours if I had access to their digital files.” The recorder clicked off as her feet made contact with the tiled ground on the third floor.

Swiftly as she could, Entrapta plucked five books off the shelf, stacking them in her arms. After a quick search, she found a set of tables surrounded by tall bookshelves; however, one was already occupied.

Crown Prince Hordak was surrounded by holographic screens projecting from a table covered in open books. Instead of his armor, the prince wore a simpler version of what his father wore, trading out the reds for blues. He still wore the black makeup that framed his crimson eyes, but they were covered by a pair of glasses that were almost on the verge of falling off his face.

Entrapta knew of the prince long before she stepped foot on his planet. She had heard many rumors of him within the scientific community. While the prince was not very charming, his intelligence, on and off the battlefield, more than made up for it. Perhaps he could tell her more about Zorian technology.

“Do you wish to keep staring at me or do you need something?” The prince asked, derailing her train of thought.

“Oh, no.” She approached the table while Hordak leaned back in his chair. “I wanted to do some research on Zorian technology. Can I sit?”

“As you wish.” With that, the prince returned to his research, scribbling notes with a stylist on a datapad.

Entrapta sat and began to flip through the first book she found, pulling out her datapad to take notes on, figuring the prince would not appreciate her blathering her thoughts into the tiny metal box. 

Fifteen minutes had passed; yet, not a single word had been exchanged between the two royals, the only sound was the rustle of paper. Entrapta had become more antsy by the minute, if only she could borrow these books, then she could talk and walk around without disturbing anyone. With this new boredom, along came tiredness. The words on the pages started to blur together and her hair had been taking notes with less vigor. She sat back in her seat and breathed a quiet sigh. She looked around the library, contemplating getting up and walking around to wake herself up.

Needing to do something, she absentmindedly pulled a small cookie out of her pocket, and as she was just about to raise it to her mouth-

“I wouldn’t recommend doing that.”

“Huh?” Entrapta looked up to see the prince looking directly at her.

“Eating,” He added. “Especially if you get caught.”

“Why,” Entrapta asked. “What will happen?”

Entrapta’s answer came in the form of another gust of wind that ripped the snack from her hand, throwing it into a nearby waste bin, followed by the librarian bellowing out a warning to the visiting Princess.

“That will.”

“How did she…” Entrapta’s question trailed off as possible theories flooded her mind.

“She can sense the way air flows around certain objects, and the smells certain things have,” Hordak explained. “She runs this place like it was her little kingdom, so not much gets past her.”

“Hm.” Entrapta quickly decided this system would not work for her. She needed to be able to take things with her and talk to herself, but this particular library wouldn’t allow it. This left her with her next best option. “Is there a library in the city that will let me borrow books?”

“Yes, but the best are all housed here.” Hordak carefully thought about what he said next. After the dinner last night, Ziella had a… word with Hordak. She said it was his duty as the future high king to help entertain and make alliances with foreign dignitaries and guests, and all the work should not fall on his sister. Hordak quickly apologized to his mother and promised her he would try to entertain their guests, even if he loathed the idea. Still, Hordak is good at his word, and maybe helping this princess will be a step in the right direction. “Perhaps,” he said slowly, “I could show you where it is. This city is large and ancient, so it is easy to get lost.”

“Oh, thank you!” Entrapta responds, slightly taken aback at the prince’s offer. “Could we go tomorrow?”

“As you wish.”

At that, Entrapta smiled.

[youtwitinmyface]

SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #19

Written by Mark Millar Drawn by Aluir Amancio Published by DC Comics

"THE BODYGUARD OF STEEL" In this issue, someone has placed a one billion dollar hit on the President of The United States, who is set to sign an international peace treaty in two days. Due to the severity of the threat, Superman volunteers to move into the White House to act as the President's personal bodyguard until the threat is over. Several supervillains attempt to collect on the bounty, the most consistent being the Toyman, who first sends a remoted-controlled squadron of toy plans armed with real missiles and then later a giant robot dinosaur to attack the White House, both of which are disabled by Superman. We also see Superman fighting a group of heavily armored soldiers carrying laser rifles, who are said to be sent by Intergang. But the main supervillain is a character called Multi-face, whom I'd never heard of before. I don't know if he was a comic book villain or perhaps an original character created for the animated TV series? But Multi-face appears to be some kind of shape-shifter, he's got the ability to assume the form of any other person to precision, adopting their voice, mannerisms, posture, etc. He's used these abilities as an international assassin, and the FBI says he's never missed a target. We see an example of his powers as he imitates Lex Luthor, to gain access to the Lexcorp. tower.

Multi-face meets with the real Lex Luthor and in this meeting, we're led to believe that it's Luthor who's put the hit out on the President (Lex, being a weapons manufacturer, doesn't want the peace treaty signed), and hands him a special gun to do it. This all comes to a head when the press conference occurs. I don't want to spoil the ending (although the cover gives a major surprise away), but there is a clever plot twist in the end. This was an even better issue than Millar's first one. It's another exciting self-contained issue, with great artwork by Aluir Amancio, who particularly shines during the opening 5-page sequence where Superman tests the White House's security by breaking into the Oval Office, facing a gauntlet of tanks, soldiers, chemical weapons, freeze-rays, and steel doors. Millar also introduces General Hardcastle, the man in charge of protecting the President, who initially shows disdain for Superman as he doesn't trust working with aliens, but they gain mutual respect in the end. This title is making me miss the days when you could buy a comic and get a satisfying story in 1 issue.

Check it out!

[bambiesque]

New thread for Capaldi!Doctor.

Deep Breath - "Here we go again." Excellent start for Capaldi!Doctor. I do love regeneration episodes and this one was a bit deeper than the usual madness. Always lovely to see the Paternoster gang. And Missy! Missy, my love. <3

Into the Dalek - Danny! "She cares so I don't have to." A good episode - a nice change to the usual Dalek ones. I like Journey, I think she should have come along.

Robot of Sherwood - A funny episode, good performances all around but nothing very exciting. Loved Capaldi!Doctor sword-fighting Robin Hood with a spoon though.

Listen - Creepy, sad, beautiful. Everyone is at their best. Love getting to see the baby!Doctor's history and Clara comforting him, and then comforting Capaldi!Doctor too. They are great together. As are Clara and Danny.

Time Heist - Love a heist. Especially a time-travel one. Keeley Hawes is always good and strangely, always terrifying. Clara looks magnificent. Love Psy and Saibra. I think we should have had little gang again.

The Caretaker - I still don't like all the weird posturing from the Doctor and Danny over Clara. She can do what she wants. They're idiots most of this episode.

Kill the Moon - I completely understand Clara's feelings. Jenna is excellent, as always. I love the moon being an egg and another one just being laid in its place.

Mummy on the Orient Express - Love the whole aesthetic. Love all of Clara's beautiful clothes. A really good murder-mystery. Tense, fun, nice resolution. Great episode.

Flatline - Really interesting concept. Love Clara taking on the Doctor's role and carrying around the TARDIS and the Doctor in her bag.

In the Forest of the Night - A lovely episode. The trees covering London and protecting the earth. The kids are great too.

Dark Water/Death in Heaven - I love Missy so much. Michelle Gomez is having an absolute blast and she looks so gorgeous while being completely deranged. I am sad Danny is dead though. Cyber-zombies. Poor Osgood. Poor Danny and Clara. Poor Missy. The Brig! <3 Danny is a very good boy.

Last Christmas - Doctor Who does Inception. Lots of fun and silliness with a lovely ending and Clara staying with the Doctor.

The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar - Have I mentioned that I love Missy. She should be in every single episode. Possibly of every TV show ever. What a brilliant pair of episodes this was. The best Dalek episode in a long time.

Under the Lake/Before the Flood - Very creepy and atmospheric. I enjoyed the story and I'm enjoying these two parters.

The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived - I loved the first episode. It was fun and funny and Clara has grown-up so much, I'm proud of her. Capaldi!Doctor realising why he chose Caecilius' face was a really brilliant moment. The second episode was also good - though not as good, imo but it did have a great ending for the Doctor and Ashildr.

The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion - Kate having more to do is always a good thing and it's nice that we still have one Osgood at least - and then two! Good story with a great resolution and excellent work from Jenna as always.

Sleep No More - I'm going to be singing Mr Sandman all night now. It was a decent episode but nothing special storywise. Just there really.

Face the Raven - Brave, wonderful, stupid Clara. I love you. The whole episode was great and I know it's not her last episode but I think that was a good ending for her and perfectly in character.

Heaven Sent - Weird, fascinating and absolutely terrifying when you think about it. Peter Capaldi is incredible. But not an episode I'd want to rewatch honestly because it too much.

Hell Bent - I don't think we should blame Missy for this when she's not here to defend herself. Amy & Rory mention! I cried buckets because it was heartbreaking. Farewell, Clara!

The Husbands of River Song - And farewell, River (at least I assume it's a farewell). A lovely end to her story. I enjoyed Capaldi!Doctor getting to do the "bigger on the inside" speech he always wanted to hear.

The Return of Doctor Mysterio - The weakest of the specials, across any era, tbh. I don't have a lot to say about it.

The Pilot - Bill is fantastic. Love her. Enjoyed the chase across the universe and Heather doing what she promised Bill she would. Love the pictures of Susan and River on Capaldi!Doctor's desk.

Smile - The Happiness Patrol 2.0 Very good, very creepy, very sad. I wouldn't have lasted five minutes in a place I had to smile all the time.

Thin Ice - Ooo, Regency period, love it. Great episode. Loved the Doctor punching Sutcliffe and giving his house to the orphans. There should be more of that.

Knock Knock - Lovely creepy episode with a nice twist. I loved the Doctor going to have dinner with Missy and her playing the piano omg *hearteyes*

Oxygen - Interesting concept and very believable but not as thrilling as it should have been.

Extremis - I'm just going to sob about how much I love Missy forever. A really great epiode. I loved it - the simulations, Nardole being a badass.

The Pyramid at the End of the World - The weakest of the three I think, but the ending is good. I enjoyed the lab stuff more than the pyramid stuff.

The Lie of the Land - So proud of Bill for shooting the Doctor. I think she should have slapped him when he told her the truth though. I want a whole show just about Missy's time in the vault. I would watch her do anything.

Empress of Mars - Great episode, fabulous to look at. I really enjoyed the story and seeing Alpha Centauri again!!!

The Eaters of Light - Another lovely story. Missy and the Doctor at the end was obviously my favourite part but the supporting cast was excellent.

World Enough and Time - I don't think I breathed for the last five minutes. The Master in disguise is perfect and a perfect bastard. The start with Missy being "Doctor Who" is one of the best things ever on this show. I wish she could have been an actual companion. Poor Bill, she deserves better than this.

The Doctor Falls - Of course the Master is a bad influence on themself. Oh, Missy, I love you so, so much. And John Simm is looking fantastic. Two Masters - my dream come true. They're such shits but I love them. And I'm crying because she died. And that he didn't know she was going back to him. At least Bill gets a happy ending (ish).

Twice Upon a Time - Twelve and One and Bill and Polly and Ben and Mark Gatiss as the Brig's Grandad(?) and Clara. I am sobbing. Mostly it was hilarious and heartwarming, which was much needed after the previous episode. Hi Jodie!

Capaldi!Doctor Era Roundup

Honestly, it took a while for me to warm up to Capaldi!Doctor - not that I didn't like him, just that I didn't get him, I think. But by the end I loved him. Season 10 was probably my favourite. I liked him being grumpy and not wanting to hug people. I loved Clara and Bill and especially Missy. Excellent stuff.

Favourite Companion: Clara

Least Favourite Companion: None

Favourite Episode: The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar

Least Favourite Episode: The Return of Doctor Mysterio

Current Doctor Rankings:

Smith

Davison

Pertwee

Tennant

Capaldi

TBaker

CBaker

McCoy

Troughton

McGann

Hurt

Eccleston

Hartnell

Top 10 Companions: (Bill goes in at 12, Nardole at 32)

Jo Grant

Amy Pond

Tegan Jovanka

Rory Williams

Barbara Wright

Vislor Turlough

Clara Oswald

Sarah Jane Smith

Martha Jones

Donna Noble

Top 5 Masters:

Gomez

Delgado

Simm

Ainley

Jacobi

[ladyknightliveblogs]

Listen, I love the Battle of Hoth, but this chunk of book just keeps going forever.

I swear to god, every time Luke is saying goodbye to his dudes before a space battle, it’s SO GAY. The bit with Biggs in the last book and now Han, I just….ugh. so gay.

THE MOST GAY: “The young commander began to walk away as memories of exploits shared with Han rushed to his mind. He stopped and looked back at the Falcon, and saw his friend still staring after him. As they gazed at each other for a brief moment, Chewbacca looked up and knew that each was wishing the other the best, wherever their individual fates might take them.”

THE. MOST. GAY. THING. TO EVER HAPPEN. IN STAR WARS.

GOD LOOK AT THEM

Even with Chewie there to be like “yeah, those bros...no homo-ing their best wishes through long, lingering glances.....just dudes being pals.....”

Listen, minus the incest, Han, Luke, and Leia is a really great canon ot3 and you can’t stop me from saying that.

Also gay, but now with robots!!: “Artoo whistled and tooted a good-bye, then turned to roll down the ice corridor. Waving stiffly, Threepio watched as his stout and faithful friend moved away. To an observer, it may have seemed that Threepio grew misty-eyed, but then it wasn’t the first time he had gotten a drop of oil clogged before in his optical sensors.” 

Gay robots with bad syntax: what more could you possibly want from this series?

“But above all this activity and noise a strange sound could be heard, an ominous thumping that was coming nearer…” Listen, I know I use too many commas in my writing, but would it kill them to put a comma after their conditional clause??

Oh god. Okay, here we go: 

“There must have been a dozen of them resolutely advancing through the snow, looking like creatures out of some uncharted past. But they were machines, each if them stalking like enormous ungulates on four jointed legs. Walkers!”

There is so much happening here i cant even decide where to start. Ungulates???? The exclamation point on the one word paragraph. Dinosaur and ungulate similes within two sentences of each other.

Ungulates though.

The next paragraph is even wooorseeee:

“With a shock of recognition, the officer identified the Empire’s All Terrain Armored Transports. Each machine was formidably armed with cannons placed on its foreside like the horns of some prehistoric beast. Moving like mechanized pachyderms, the walkers emitted deadly fire from their turnstile guns and cannons.”

Listen, my dudes, are they ungulates, dinosaurs, or elephants? You have to pick one.

“For a moment, Luke thought of some of the simple tactics a farm boy might employ against a wild beast.” Whatever works for you, babe.

“whoea” is not a spelling I’ve sen before, but you do you, my man.

I love that Rebel is capitalized every time. Lends authority and…idk weight? to the organizaion?

!!!! Rogue Two has a name?? His name is Zev!? Who knew…

Every time they refer to lightsabers as “laser swords” I both die a little inside and laugh uncontrollably.

“Luke dropped hard to the snow and became unconscious.” I’m not sure what it is about the phrasing of that that’s so damn amusing, but…became unconscious. Sure.

I feel like the Hoth bit of the movie takes way less time than it’s taking here in the book. Not that I’m complaining–I love the battle of Hoth–but it feels…slow. The pacing is off. And I’m wondering how much of that is because visuals are so much quicker than words…

Anyway, I’ve an essay in me about how certain stories are better suited to certain mediums, but today is not the day for that essay.

I’m...really glad that they eventually standardized that the droids are referred to by their numbers in narration and their phoenetic spellings only in dialogue. Because every time I see “See-Threepio” written out, I die a bit. It’s so ridiculous.

and by “eventually” I mean “by the time they got around to the Force Awakens novelization and not a moment sooner.” 

[tourettesdog]

DP x DC prompt where John Constantine has a no good, very bad, terrible week.

Constantine gets a little in over his head when he visits Amity Park. He is sent there to investigate strange reports of the paranormal and evaluate the threat the town is dealing with. John always assumed that Amity Park was a tourist trap destination with nothing more than Halloween decorations and perhaps a couple of shades. Unfortunately for him, the ghosts are very real.

To make matters worse, it seems like children are the ones fighting the ghosts (children of the human and ghost variety, oddly enough). Constantine can’t even get in contact with the League to report these findings; his comm has been nothing but static since he stepped foot in Amity Park.

To make matters still worse, the children-- particularly the goth girl-- are very mean. They do not trust John in the slightest and are unwilling to talk about anything pertaining to ghosts with him. The ghost boy, Phantom, won’t even let John get within 50 feet of him before he disappears. Considering John can feel power radiating from the ghost at that range, it might be for the best.

John decides his next best move is to pay a visit to the local ghost hunters, the Drs. Fenton.

The name Fenton is not new to John; he’s familiar with their research. They’re brilliant inventors, but he doesn’t think much of them in the way of “ectobiologists”. There’s entirely too much speculation and bias in their findings.

Jack Fenton is a whirlwind of a man with entirely too much air in his lungs and bravado in his posture. John has to bite his tongue as the man rambles on and on about ghosts to him. The entire time he’s speaking, John is painfully aware of a strange and powerful presence coming from beneath the house.

John thinks he’ll have to finagle answers about it from the Drs. Fenton-- but is surprised when they lead him into their basement laboratory on a whimsical tour.

That surprise quickly turns to horror when he sees the giant hell portal in their basement.

John can hardly keep his composure, looking upon the portal-- feeling the death radiating from it. Jack continues his endless prattle about ghosts, with the occasional interjection from Maddie. To John’s mounting horror, Jack eagerly opens the blast doors of the portal.

He turns his back to the portal and John watches, wide-eyed, as a robotic ghost slips out and phases through the basement ceiling. Even Maddie doesn’t notice, leaving John to just stare, open-mouthed at their negligence. 

John can’t decide if he wants to scream, bellow his lungs out at the Fentons, or just turn around and leave.

Before he can decide between screaming and bailing, however, Constantine feels a familiar presence hurtling towards him. He turns around just in time to see the ceiling cave in as the robotic ghost smashes through it with Phantom clutched in his grip. John has no time to dodge before the pair careen into him, knocking him through the portal.

It's a struggle to find his bearings. One moment John is in the disorganized Fenton lab-- the next he's surrounded by a vast sea of green with far-off floating islands and doors. The ghosts continue to fight in the air beside him, seemingly oblivious to the change in venue.

Constantine can’t move to the portal, he can’t dodge-- he’s a sitting, floating duck as he watches the ghosts dogfight. Phantom’s powerful, but he’s not faring well against a new weapon that the other ghost-- Skulker-- seems to have. Things only worsen when Skulker takes notice of John and aims at him.

In a panic, Constantine tries to teleport-- at the same moment Phantom grabs him. 

Rather than freeing himself from the realm-- the Ghost Zone, Jack Fenton had called it-- the magic reacts badly. It twists, it warps, it hurts. 

For a moment, Constantine thinks the spell did nothing. He’s surrounded by the same expanse of green, floating islands, and doors. Only... the more he looks around, the more John realizes that the islands nearby are much closer and much more oddly shaped.

It’s not until Phantom begins to panic, darting around in circles, clutching his hair, shouting “What did you do? Where are we?” that John realizes they’re in trouble. That, wherever they are in this Ghost Zone, even Phantom doesn’t know how to get home.

[dixoterin]

Jay-centric headcanons bc i like him a normal amount i need to get these out of my system

- jay's surprisingly flexible, not because he practices or anything, but because he got trapped in tight places when he would build things/dig around in the junk yard so many times that it practically was demanded of him

-jay often gets cramps and has shrimp posture bc he gets so fixated on his inventions/games that he looses his senses. Nya scolds him about it and she was the one who suggested him to wear a back brace (i'm assuming that's what his straps are in his s11 onward outfit 💙). Cole helps massage his wrists/back bc he knows a thing or two about taking after yourself from his rock climbing days.

-After Jay [jokingly] programmed Zane to speak like a pirate after downloading a speech recognition algorithm into him in s5, Zane said he liked it and asked him to improve on the algorithm. Which explains his detective roleplay (s12) and pirate zane revival (s14).

- Jay's surprisingly well versed in makeup, but Nya demands she chooses his outfits for him. (And by extension Jay would do Nya's make up at times....)

-LOVES zapping cole for the shits and giggles. Cole's kinda building a resistance to it and also has lightning scars because of it.

-The cuddler sleeper. Usually with a pillow or with Mr. Cuddleywomp. If he's sleeping with someone else, he holds their arm, usually Cole or Nya's.

-Jay and Kai both have PHDs in parasocial relationships.

-ngl if kai survived long enough in skybound to catch jay reading gordon's book about wooing women, i'm pretty sure he wouldve beat his ass right then and there

-ADHD haver

-Lloyd asked him to be his gaming coach and he happily obliged

-PIXAL told him that Cyrus is willing to offer him an internship at Borg industries.

-Scott reccomended Jay that they should start a gamedev company after being impressed with his hardware and debugging skills. They still keep in touch after the whole Prime Empire ordeal.

-Superstar Rockin' Jay took his appearance after Scott

-Post Prime Empire, Unagami likes inviting the ninja to play or hear about their stories. To much of PIXAL's dismay, unagami calls her "auntie". Zane and PIXAL are constantly hammering dwyer over if he's taking good robot maintanence care over unagami. Jay gets an excuse to start fanboying over Dwyer's work and Prime Empire as a game. Unagami wants to hear more about how Jay deals with being abandoned/adopted.

as a last thing, please look at him when he does the ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ pose. thank you

i also have an AU where jay merges with the storm in seabound to fight alongside nya and some prime empire rewrite thoughts that plague me. might materialize them. i have no clue.

[clonewarslover55]

The Hunt. A Delta Squad and Yautja Tale. Chapter three

Find the summary and notes here!

Chapter one   Chapter two  Chapter four  Chapter five  Chapter six  Chapter seven  Chapter eight, finale

Notes: Please enjoy and let me know what you think!! Things are finally starting to pickup!!

Warnings:  Blood, Gore, Death, Major death?? Alien technology, Delta squad humor, Horrible language, like so many cuss words, Alien dude, like a big sexy alien dude who’s an OC of mine, Violence, fighting, Planet I made, jungle stuff, suspension, multiple parts, Alien culture, clone culture, injury, major injury, Animal death, the Delta Boys are called ‘clones’ a lot and I am so sorry

*Dajhitt, second day, late afternoon* 

The sun had begun to set by the time they got to the base, and it had begun to rain. It was pouring, making the humidity of the planet rise. The Delta’s weren’t affected by it though, their armor protecting them. The base was massive and surrounded by large jungle trees. The base had a large wall around its borders, and only one large gait that led to a muddy road. The commandos guessed it led to the nearest town, which was a red flag. 

They approached one of the large walls, finding a massive tree beside it. The Delta’s quickly climbed up the tree, making their way to a branch that was a little bit above the wall. The thick branches holding them all easily. The width of one tree branch was easily five feet across, the treads on their thick boots keeping them secure on the wet wood.

It was a little high up for Sev’s taste, but he kept his complaints to himself. 

Boss surveyed the base through binoculars, a grunt leaving him once he got his sights on something. 

“They’re definitely building something here. Take a look at those warehouses.” Boss muttered, handing the binoculars over to Fixer. Fixer nodded in agreement once he looked. 

“We should report in, tell Triple Zero what we’ve seen. Then come back tomorrow and check out what's exactly inside of those warehouses.” Boss spoke up again, looking at his brothers. They all nodded in agreement besides Sev. 

Boss looked at Sev, he was about to say something until he noticed his brother was distracted. Sev’s attention was locked onto the tree beside them, his posture rigid. Boss noticed his tense form and it set off alarm bells in his head. Sev sees something, something unnerving.

The other Delta’s followed Sev’s gaze onto a branch. The thin branch seemed to bow with an invisible weight, the area above it almost seeming warped in their vision. Fixer blew out a quiet breath, switching his stance. 

Something was watching them. Something big, invisible, and very dangerous.

Fixer had an idea of what it was too. He quickly spoke through the comms, he had an idea of how to throw the beast off guard. 

~~~~~~~~~~

R’tka watched the men from his perch in a large tree. They made him quite curious. What did they want with the base? He knew they were enemies with the comically weak robots, but that didn’t clear anything up. 

He clicked to himself and shook his rain soaked tresses(dreads) over his shoulder. R’tka switched helmet views when one of them looked at him. It was the one with the deeper voice and the most scars, he had a hand print like pattern on the face of his helmet. 

R’tka could not see the color of the pattern, but he assumed it was the color of human blood. He didn’t know why he assumed that, but it was hunch. It didn’t drip off with the pouring rain, so it wasn’t blood. Just paint then……Curious. 

They all gazed in his direction suddenly, shifting their stances. Perhaps they knew? He shook his head in doubt, then they spoke. 

“Somethings watching us Boss.” 

“No shit Sev. We’re in a jungle full of animals.” 

“This isn’t an animal.” 

R’tka chuckled to himself. This one was smart. Perhaps he’d kill him first……The thought caused R’tka to chitter to himself in excitement. But he kept still, watching their minor body movements closely. His small eyes suddenly widened, they can switch HUDS in their helmets like he can. Perhaps they can see his heat signature, or even the pheromoans he releases. 

“There’s nothing there Sev. Relax.” The cheerful sounding one quipped, punching the other on the shoulder. The one with the handprint on his face stared at the tree for a bit longer before finally looking away. R’tka released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.  

R’tka chuckled to himself at them. Humans were stupid. He knew he shouldn’t get cocky, but it was difficult when they made his job almost too easy. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Fixer was the first one to speak, only through the comms so the creature wouldn’t hear them. “Shit……..The old man was right. When he said hunters I thought he meant humans or trandoshans! Not that…” 

Sev bristled, “What exactly is THAT Fixer? You’re the one who does the research after all. You said it’s intelligent too, that's why we threw it off acting like only I saw it.” Fixer sighed at Sev’s words, looking at his three brothers, his posture tense. 

Boss knew they should be focused on the giant military base in front of them. But this matter was far too important. They had felt like they’d been followed since they landed here, feeling like eyes were locked on them at all times. 

They had all seen it too. The odd movements in the tree, the way the light in some places seemed to bend and warp.The rain made it all the more visible. It was all so weird, and it unnerved the Delta’s. Something had been following them, stalking them and learning their movements. 

A Hunter. A Predator. 

After a few seconds of tense silence, Fixer finally spoke. “I believe it’s a Yautja. You know……A Predator.” Scorch busted out laughing at his words. 

“No way Fixer. There’s no way in hell one of the most dangerous things in the universe wants us. I mean we’re Republic Commandos! Why-……OH! Oh shit.” Scorch finally realized why they were being stalked by this ancient warrior. They were ideal prey. Very ideal prey. A perfect hunt. 

Sev punched Scorch on the shoulder, mumbling for him to shut up. Scorch decided to listen to him for once, his mouth closing with a click of his teeth. Boss ignored their antics, putting his hand on Fixer’s tense shoulder. 

“Anyway to bring ‘em down?” Fixer nodded at Boss’s words. They’d have to outsmart one of the most intelligent creatures in the universe, its warrior skills far better than theirs. Hell, it probably had centuries more experience than them. 

“I have a few ideas…..” Fixer muttered, Boss nodding at his words. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The clone soldiers sat in silence for a while, all of them staring at the base. Perhaps they were thinking? R’tka bristled slightly, he didn’t like this. Silence was unusual for them. They seemed to have a silent conversation, gripping each other's shoulders and nodding heads. He did not like this at all.

Finally one spoke, the one who he guessed was the leader by the way he held himself and spoke. “We should find a place to rest for the night, then come back here tomorrow night. Besides, we need to report on what we have learned so far……Then tomorrow we can find out what's in those warehouses and what exactly they’re building.”

The others nodded at his words, following the leader down as he climbed down the trunk of the tree with ease. These men were well trained, surprising him more and more as time went on.

He shook the rain from his tresses and hopped onto a branch, following the clones from the tree line as they backtracked a ways. He assumed they’d find a place and set up camp, resting for the night and perhaps the day tomorrow. 

During this time he’d return to his ship and rest himself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

*Early night, Dajhitt*

The Delta’s found a place for the camp by the time the moon of Dajhitt was nearly fully in the sky. The camp was in a tiny clearing between the massive trees in the jungle, a place where the Delta’s could look up and see the stars and twin moons of Dajhitt peeking through thick storm clouds.

A perfect place to ambush the Yautja that was hunting them. 

“What do you have in mind, Fixer?” Boss muttered, his eyes on the tree line. He didn’t see any minor bends of light, nor any brushes of leaves. The animals were louder than earlier as well. Perhaps the beast had left them to go rest? 

Fixer blew out a breath, his eyes on the purple sky. “........Alright here's the plan, boys.”

The night was filled with plotting and long discussions about the complex alien warrior that hunted them. 

The Yautja would be in for one big surprise.

Tags: @just-some-girl-92​

Tags seem pretty empty my friends!! If you want one just tell me!

[milstrim]

Home Is in My Arms

Tony Stark had had a daughter.

Her name had been Penelope.

She had had superpowers.

And he hadn't seen her in four years.

The ten year-old had last been seen on March thirty-first, 2012. The day of the Chitauri invasion. Tony had seen her that morning, and he guessed he could at least be grateful that their last interaction hadn't been like his own with his parents. Instead of a fight that was never resolved, the two had giggled on the couch of the newly furnished tower, him and Pepper with glasses of wine and Penny with her mint milkshake. Pepper had side-eyed them exasperatedly, as though their laughs and jokes had been the worst ruckus anyone had ever made.

And then Coulson. And then Steve. And then Natasha and Bruce and a God he had learned about in history when he was younger. And then Loki and the Helicarrier and explosions that had left Tony's head ringing--but nothing had hurt more than the loss of his friend.

Everything had gone by so quickly, so desperately, there had been no time to do anything about anything except gear up and go. The biggest reassurance he had given himself was that his homework had caused Pepper and Penny to leave the city for a couple of days while the girl was on Spring Break. It meant they were safe from everything was about to happen, and that he didn't have to worry past New York.

And they had won. The Avengers had been formed under desperate circumstances. They had saved the world.

And Penny had been gone.

Pepper had left on the plane, but Penny had managed to convince her godmother that she should stay at her friend's house for a sleepover. The aliens hadn't even been able to make it past the perimeter and into Queens, but the hectic of it had been enough. Or maybe she had run off to help. Even at ten she was braver than he was. Better. And equipped with superpowers from a field trip's rogue spider that made her stronger than even Captain America.

But it hadn't been enough.

No body was ever recovered. No trace of her was ever found. No footage or DNA or witnesses. There was nothing. Nothing for him to even try and grasp onto what had happened to her. How she had died. The best anyone could do was assume that a Chitauri weapon had vaporized her and to try to grieve from there.

And by God did he try.

After the Mandarin and almost losing Pepper, he'd put in more effort than he ever had. He visited the grave where no body was buried, leaving flowers and trinkets and books he knew she would have loved. He talked. To people who had known her like he had. Pepper and Rhodey and Happy and even Natasha.

The two had been so close when the woman had spied on him. Closer than he had been, still trying to change and learn to be a father better than his own after Afghanistan. He'd been dying and hadn't focused on anything but himself. About what he wanted to do before he was gone, instead of what would happen to his family afterwards.

So Tony tried. He tried a lot, but trying didn't always end in success. No, sometimes it ended in helicarriers made for HYDRA to control. Or a robot meant to protect only trying to destroy. Or in the fracturing of the Avengers, with Natasha and Steve on the run while the others sat in a max security prison that he spent every living moment trying to get them out of.

Except for now. Or maybe now too. Tony didn't know why Natasha had texted him. Only that she had betrayed him and texted only a couple of weeks later with a location out in Birmingham, England and nothing else but the message 'Get here quick.'

And he had. With nothing but a quick word to Pepper to keep Ross off of his aching back for a day, he'd stepped onto his plane and arrived in just over six hours. From there the billionaire had stepped into a waiting car and zoomed towards the address the spy had sent him, his heart racing just as fast as the vehicle's as he curved through city traffic.

Tony's thoughts strayed to Steve and Barnes and what had happened the last time he'd zoomed off to help his teammate. He swallowed down on his stuttering fear, reassured partly by the guantlet-watch sat snugly on his wrist and partly because he knew Natasha. Well, he knew her better than he ever had Steve anyway. Him and Natasha had fought, and there'd always been room for disagreements and anger, but at the end of the day they knew each other. And they were family.

The mechanic pulled up outside the run-down apartment complex, giving it a onceover before parking, pulling a baseball cap on low, and stepping out.

There was a drizzle, light and cold for the summer, even in England. He frowned, but only pulled his hood up with a shiver and stepped through the rusted metal gate, allowing him access to the first floor of apartments and a set of spindly stairs that he hoped didn't lead to any kind of locked door. He didn't exactly have a key, and Tony would prefer to not draw any attention to himself while here.

The man didn't need anymore grief from Ross. Not while he was desperate to pin something on Tony, and meeting with a violator of the Accords wouldn't exactly do much for his public image.

Biting on a sigh, Tony headed up the stairs towards the apartment number that Natasha had sent him. Thankfully, there was no locked door in his way, and the only person in the hallway that the stairs had led him to seemed to be much too out of it to pay him any mind. Quicker than he really would have liked, Tony was outside Apartment 9B, the number rusted and close to falling off of its hinges. Sucking in a breath, he knocked.

It only took a few seconds for the door to click! and then crack open just enough for him to catch familiar blue eyes and cropped platinum hair interrupted by a second lock's chain.

Natasha let out a short breath of relief, unlocking the door fully and opening the door just enough that he could slip inside. He glanced around the apartment once as she locked the door back up, surprised to see it was basically exactly what he had expected. It was small and old, orderly but not quite well-kempt, with evidence of past fights staining and fracturing the walls.

"Nice place," he commented. "Very runaway."

"Very last minute," Natasha responded. "It's not as easy as you think it is to get an apartment when everyone's trying to arrest you."

"You seem to slip away no matter what. By the way, how did you get away from Ross last week? I've got to know your trick on that, because I could use some pointers."

Natasha stopped beside him, a small smile tugging at her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. Despite his forcefully loose and nonchalant posture, Tony felt himself freeze up looking at the Avenger. Her expression, no matter what it was, had always been hard for Tony to discern when she was practically the perfect spy. But now, this smile--it was sad and joyful and regretfully guilty.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice dropping to something softer. Rarely sincere.

Natasha glanced away from him to stare at a door for a moment before glancing back at him. Her lips twitched and her eyes threatened tears in a way that he hadn't thought she would express to him.

She swallowed. "Penny's alive. And I found her."

Tony--

Tony didn't react. Not for nearly a minute. Instead he stared, his entire body stilling--even his damaged heart--before he seemed to come back to life all at once like a broken wound-up toy.

The man stumbled back a step, falling into the nearest gray wall. One lonely breath coming in in a strangled gasp as he willed for something--anything--to make sense. 

"She's alive?"

Natasha nodded.

"How?" he demanded. "How--in England? From New York? There's no way anybody could've just taken her while I was--"

The man cut himself off, dragging in another wheeze that rattled through his entire chest. His legs began to collapse under him, but his friend caught him, managing to maneuver him onto the floor slowly. Tony leaned against the wall as Natasha sat beside him, her head propped up against the wall beside him.

Neither said anything. Not for a few minutes at least at Tony's shaking and gasping ebbed. Not until he could force out images and nightmares of Penny his mind had tortured him with for years. He locked them in a box and dropped it in an ocean of useless thoughts, because his daughter was alive. Because she wasn't dead and none of it--a painful death full of fear and confusion while Tony was only blocks away that he had been tortured by for years--had ever happened.

Natasha spoke up when he'd finally managed to take in eight consistent breaths.

"I was raised in the Red Room," she started. "I was taken from my family and tortured for years. I tried to make a family there, and I did. For a little bit at least. But that family was taken too, replaced by the only world I had ever known. One based on pain and dictated structure. A cruel trick to play on a child, but it was normal for the Red Room. What wasn't normal was me not only succeeding more than they had ever dreamed, but succeeding past them. Escaping and deserting. Killing Dreykov was the last step of my defection to SHIELD. It was revenge and justice all at once. The others would be freed and I could clear out my ledger in a life I chose."

She swallowed, taking a moment.

"I failed. I failed and I didn't know." Natasha turned from staring ahead at the wall to stare at Tony. Suffering blue met broken brown, tired and guilty reflecting. In a whisper, she said, "Dreykov lived. He lived until a week ago. And the Red Room, and every Widow in it, lived under him."

Tony was touched to be trusted this much. To be trusted with even a sliver of what his friend had gone through in such a time of suspicion and betrayal. But he was scared. He was terrified, because Natasha never shared just to share. Everything she said had a point, a reason, a direction.

He tore his eyes away, shoving a hand over them and letting his head drop onto his knees. Unwillingly, he croaked, "No... Nat, please don't tell me--"

"Penny's a Widow."

Tony bit his lip, chewing on his cheek so harshly there was the tang of blood in his mouth. He took a moment, letting his head fall against the cracked and stained cement wall. Penny was alive. And she had been trained--no. Natasha's descriptions, however few and miniscule they had been, could not be described as simply training. Penny had been tortured. For four years. And what had he done but grieve and give up? If only he'd known. If only he'd found out sooner.

Natasha continued.

"The Red Room..." She took a breath and licked her lips. "After I escaped, they changed their whole system. Their method. How they hid and how they trained and--and how they controlled the women."

Something about the way Natasha said the last part sent a cold feeling down his throat.

"What did they do to her?" he croaked.

"They um...well, for lack of my understanding of it, they mind controlled her."

"They--Nat what? How would they even--"

"They controlled the brain’s neuropathways through external manipulation," came a new voice, their accent thick. Tony whipped his head around to stare at a woman he had never seen before. Like Natasha, she wore a regular hoodie and sweatpants but still looked as though she could take his life in less than a minute. There was an intensity about her, from her stance to her tied back hair to her ghostly blue eyes that stared at him suspiciously. "It was based off of blueprints for the Winter Soldier. Me and Natasha were part of the mission to retrieve them when we were young."

Despite the insanity of every new piece of information shot his way, he managed to piece it together in his head quickly enough that he opened his mouth to respond with a snapped remark, but Natasha managed to speak before he did.

"What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be looking after Penny."

"I was, but then I heard how badly you were explaining everything and I came to help." Natasha glared. "Relax. I finished braiding her hair and now she's pretending to be asleep so she can listen to everyone talking."

The last part was said with a pointed look down the narrow apartment hall, but everything after Natasha had said "Penny" didn't seem to make sense anymore.

"She's here?" he asked, already scrambling to his feet. He glanced between Natasha and the woman desperately. "Penny's here right now?"

"We found her yesterday," Natasha answered cautiously. "Me and Yelena just started to free the Widows deployed around the world. We managed to give her the antidote during a shootout in Estonia. After that a friend of mine managed to get us here."

"A shoot--is she okay?"

"Just a couple of burns," Yelena said. "She may be enhanced, but she still has plenty to learn. She could still kick your ass, though."

"Thank you. Truly," Tony said, a bite of sarcasm to his voice, before turning back to Natasha, his desperation bubbling. "Which room?"

"Tony, I don't think you need to just go bursting in there. Let me--"

Tony stopped listening, every word his friend was saying dying out on his ears as he spotted a brunette and wide brown eyes poking around the corner over Natasha's shoulder. He felt his breath catch in his throat as their eyes clicked.

Penny had grown. She'd sprouted almost an entire foot from the short ten year old she had been, awkward and gangly limbs that the girl had always seemed to struggle with were replaced by obvious muscle and carefully controlled movement as she stepped out from behind the wall, their stare still holding. Despite the sharper angle of her chin and jaw, she still held baby fat in her cheeks that dwindled the look of her down by a couple of years, not helped at all by the familiar roundness of her deeply brown eyes.

He swallowed. His voice broke.

"Penny?"

—-

“Penny?"

It had been years since Penny had seen her dad. Since she'd heard him. Anything about her father not privy to missions had been carefully shielded away from the teenager for years. Sometimes on the few missions she had been sent on she would catch news clippings and pictures on TV channels before she had to move on or that terrible voice in her mind would force her to ignore him. But, despite the scarcity of which she was allowed to know about her father, she had always thought about him.

Penny had swam in her memories whenever she could. Whenever she needed. She'd think about the games she and her dad had used to play. About lessons he'd taught her and days they'd spent together. About hugs and braided hair and kisses to her head. The memories had felt faint and washed away underneath everything, but she'd clung to them like a lifeline.

That being said, she hadn't expected Dad's voice to sound like that. For him to look like this. He was always so put together in her mind--so strong--even when he was messy from the lab or tired from a long day of work, always accompanied by fond child-like adoration. But now he didn't look it.

There were bruises on his face, faint but still noticeably purple. His hair wasn't as dark or thick as she remembered, growing back just a little higher on his hairline, and more lines grabbed and pulled at his face. But that wasn't what ruined her memory of strength and warmth, people aged after all, that was just reality. It was the expression on his face and glossing over his eyes. It was the way he'd said her name, so unsure and weary.

Penny, finally, looked away from Dad, instead glancing over at Yelena and trying not to look like she was too desperate for help. Yelena stared back, raising her brows and gesturing to Tony with a slight nod of her head, as if telling her to not be a coward. But Penny didn't know how to do that. Not now.

Thankfully, Natasha took over.

"I'm going to go get us some dinner. Yelena?"

Okay, so not the kind of help she'd been looking for.

Yelena gave Penny one last glance, nodded, and then followed the Avenger out of the door.

The door clicked shut and then it was just father and daughter.

"Penny," he tried again.

She hid a flinch at how small and tired his voice was, how broken he felt standing only feet from her. She hid her shock and her fear and apprehension exactly how she'd been taught, schooling her features into something easy and bored. She let her shoulders drop and her posture loosen, but the hardest part was hardening her stare. That had always been the biggest complaint of her handlers. Her senses had been sharp but her expression always so readable by her eyes.

"Hi, Dad," she said, her voice cool and casual on default. The words felt terrible leaving her lips, so she crossed her arms in an attempt to feel more stable. "It's been a while."

He chuckled, short and sad. "Yeah. You could say that."

And then there was silence. It trickled in, slow, awkward, and tense between them. Penny tried not to let it get to her, but she couldn't deny that she wasn't tired and disappointed. When Yelena had smashed the antidote beside her, it was the first time the teenager had seen clearly in a long time, and her first thought had been of her Dad. There had been worries about if he missed her and if he'd been okay, but a fear had stabbed at her so strongly that she was still thinking about it.

Would he still love her? After all she'd done? She had hurt people. She had killed people. Not in defense. Not in good reason. But in fear and control.

"I, uh..." Penny blinked at her dad's voice, beating away her thoughts and instead focusing back on the bruised and stuttering man in front of her. "Sorry. I would've thought of something better to say if I'd known I was going to see you again. Maybe some presents too. Do you still like those peanut butter cookies?"

"The ones we used to make?" she asked. "With the Hershey Kisses?"

"Those are the ones."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't had them since I was with you."

"Oh. Yeah. I guess you wouldn't have..." he trailed off, glancing down for a moment. She stared at him, watching his expression carefully as he loosened and looked back up at her. "Well, we can't make them again? At home?"

"Sure. Sounds fun."

Penny couldn't stand how dull her voice sounds, like she couldn't care less about something that really made her want to cry in happiness. But...she didn't know what else to do. What to say. The Red Room had made sure she always knew what to do and what to say, but that had been for politicians and businessmen and people she was supposed to trick. She didn't want to trick her dad. She just--she wanted to--

Dad stepped closer, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down in a deep and concerned frown. She kept a wary eye on him as he approached, trying to force down feelings of apprehension and fear that she had become familiar with whenever anybody was in her space. But he stopped about a foot short, his reached out hand halting just away from her face as he whispered, "Oh, piccolina. It's okay." His voice broke. "It's okay. I'm gonna make sure it is... I promise."

And finally she broke.

And it hurt. It really, really hurt.

Penny leaned her cheek into his open hand as hot beads of tears caught on her eyelashes, allowing for Dad to cup his other hand around the back of her head and tentatively pull her in. It took the teenager a moment to adjust, so wired on the need to fight and never let her guard down, but then she just--crumpled.

Like a switch had been flicked, Penny buried her nose into his neck and wrapped her arms around him in a tight squeeze, swallowing down tears. Dad pulled her in tighter, his nose pressed into her tightly braided crown.

And then he sobbed.

It was a strangled, inhuman kind of sound that rumbled from his chest to escape the back of his throat. He cleared his throat, as if embarrassed, but Penny wasn't an idiot. She could still hear his heart thumping and feel a tear slip from his chin onto the back of her neck. It all shocked her, but the sound found itself ringing in her ears painfully more than anything.

She flinched in his hug.

"Oh, Penny. I'm so sorry," he apologized, his voice sore with tears. "So, so sorry."

"For what?" she asked. "Not finding me? You wouldn't have been able to, Dad, even being you. Draykov made sure of it."

"I don't care. I should've done something! I should've--I should've--"

"Dad." He fell silent as she pulled away from him, crossing her arms back over her chest as she came back to her training. Dad stared at her, his dark copper eyes as guilty as she felt. "Please, just... Don't be sorry. Because I'm sorry, and if you're sorry then we're both sorry and we can't both be sorry it's--"

"What on Earth do you have to be sorry for?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Penny--"

"I'm not ten anymore, Dad. I don't think I'm even a kid anymore... I've--I've done too much harm. I have a lot to be sorry for."

Dad stared at her, a familiar sadness in his eyes. He chewed his cheek, brows furrowed in thought, and she was brought back to a time when she would watch him solve problems in the lab, or try to answer one of her inane questions that she never seemed to be able to stop asking.

"Let me ask you something," he started. "Do you think I'm a bad person? That I'm at fault for losing you?"

"No," she answered immediately, because her dad had always tried, no matter what. She'd known he wasn't perfect, and that a lot of people hated him for the mistakes he'd made, but she'd always known how much he really cared. How much he really cared and tried for the world. For the Avengers. For her.

"Well, then what makes you a bad person? What makes you not a kid anymore?"

Penny could only stare. She could only answer, "I've hurt people."

"I know. And I have too. But you don't think I'm a bad person, so you're not a bad person either. And what about Nat? Or your new very scary friend?"

"I forgot how much I hated arguing with you," she deadpanned.

"'Trying' to argue with me," he corrected, a smile pulling at his face. Surprisingly, she managed to smile back. Even more surprisingly, it didn't feel fake. Sure, it was small and tired, but Penny couldn't remember the last time she'd actually smiled. "See? Everything's going to be okay."

"How do you know?" she asked. "I'm a violator of the Accords. If it ever gets out that I was part of the Red Room--what I did for the Red Room--almost nothing could keep me out of prison. You'll have to explain how you found me and it would make you a violator--"

"I'll handle it," Dad said. "I always handle it. And just because you don't feel like a kid doesn't mean you aren't one. There are protections for you. And we found protections for Nat. Wanda too, if she would've taken them." He muttered the last part under his breath, the words emotionless but regret and guilt clear in his eyes. He cleared his throat and looked back at her with a raised brow. "And how do you know about the Accords? Do they have a current events class in the Red Room?"

"We do actually have to keep up with some events for missions. But, no. I've been reading old newspapers. Did you know you were on the front page for almost two weeks in June?"

"No. Nobody reads the paper anymore. Unless you're a dinosaur anyway."

"Uncle Rhodey likes the paper," she said with that still small but still real smile. "For the crossword puzzles."

"Yeah. Like I said: Dinosaur." With that, the jokes seemed to slide away as he took on a more serious tone. "But I'll handle it. I've already been trying to handle the Accords. You'll be safe, and free, at home, Penny. I promise."

"I can really come home?"

Dad paused. "Did you think you wouldn't?"

Penny shrugged. "I don't know. I wanted to. I want to. But I just... I didn't know how safe it would be, and I know how to live by myself. How to avoid suspicion. I was...I was prepared for other options."

"If you were planning on running, why did you meet with me?"

"I don't know," she said. But truthfully, there had been a hole in her heart. A knot in her stomach. She'd just--she'd needed to see her dad. To apologize and let him know she was okay. She'd missed her family for so long, she had to imagine they'd missed her too. In fact, Penny had wanted nothing more to know they'd missed her. That those years in the Red Room wondering where her family was hadn't been because they didn't care.

Realistically, Penny knew Dad had missed her. Had loved her enough to grieve and look for her, but being there for so long--so terribly long--had been enough for seeds of doubt to sprout and root itself in her mind. But the teenager didn't tell her dad that. That would make him upset, and Penny was tired of being upset. Instead, she said, "Just missed you. Wanted to know that you're okay."

"Well, now you're gonna know every day," he said. "And you're going to know that Pepper is okay. And Rhodey and Happy. And you're never going to miss us again."

"Never?"

"Nope. Well, maybe when you go to school. But we can homeschool if you would prefer that. Would you?"

"Oh, uh, I don't--"

"Yeah, never mind. You don't have to know right now," he said with a wave. Then he smiled at her again, that genuine smile that squinted his eyes and pulled at his wrinkled laugh lines. "Right now, why don't we just go home?"

"Yeah," she said. And suddenly no other thought occupied her mind. Home was all she could think of. Of tall New York skyscrapers and the bustling city. Or maybe they'd go back to Malibu, even if his house was gone. Either way she'd see her uncle again. And Pepper. And Happy, who were all family to her. Family she hadn't seen in so long. "Let's go home."

Dad smiled, his eyes misty. Penny smiled back, taking his hand and leaning against him in another hug. He readily accepted, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a light kiss to the crown of her head.

The best part: Nothing about him whispered danger. Or discomfort or uneasiness. There was just...comfort.

Just home.

It was the best feeling in the entire world.

—-

“Should we tell Uncle Rhodey we're on the way?"

"Nah. He loves surprises."

"He hates surprises."

"Exactly!"

Penny laughed. And the sound, the feeling, was just like home.

[five-rivers]

Danger First

Chapter 4

Hiya @pocketramblr

.

While the other ghosts watched poor Izuku more and more, Yoichi gathered a pile of pillows and beanbags, and a small container of popcorn, then dropped unceremoniously onto the pile, ready to watch a bunch of teens beat the tar out of each other. En noticed this, glanced at him, and did a double-take.

"Since when do you have popcorn? How do you have popcorn? Where did you get it? Have you been holding out on me? Can I have some? I'll fight you!"

"Uh... it isn't real," said Yoichi.

"Neither are we!"

"No, I mean, you can't taste it. Or smell it. It's just a construct. For the aesthetic." Something none of them really bothered with, lately, but Yoichi wanted to put the effort in for Izuku. Even if Izuku probably would never be aware of it.

"But... popcorn..."

"Shhh! It's starting!"

.

The first round was Kouda and Satou vs Yaoyorzu and Kirishima.

If he had to guess, he'd say Yaoyorozu and Kirishima would win. Yaoyorozu's quirk was perfect for setting up quick and simple barriers and traps, and Kirishima's was good for defense as well.

That wasn't to say Kouda and Satou couldn't win as well... Satou had what seemed to be a fairly powerful strength enhancer, perfect for ripping through hastily constructed defenses, and Izuku didn't know if Kirishima would be able to completely counter him.

Izuku also wasn't entirely sure what Kouda's quirk was. His first guess would have been a physical mutation, given his appearance, but thinking back, it didn't seem like he'd used anything like that during the quirk assessment, so those features were most likely vestigial, like Izuku's hair color, which suggested a less physical quirk. It had to be something that could be applied in combat against robots, though. Izuku was the only one who'd passed without villain points.

So, it could go either way.

He could continue to analyze, but his attention was drawn back to the team he'd be facing. Hagakure and Monoma.

A blush rose up in his cheeks. It had to be Hagakure. He still hadn't apologized for running into her during the entrance exam. Hand to hand against her was going to be tough- he could only hope the support department had given her an invisible costume, and she wasn't... well... uncostumed. Again.

But, beyond that, not being able to see her would be a problem. She could get to the fake bomb without him even noticing.

Monoma would be a challenge, too. Given the number of pocket watches on his costume, Izuku suspected he had a time limit for how long he could copy a quirk. But he had no idea how long that could be, and it could be misdirection, too. Izuku certainly wouldn't want to telegraph a weakness like that if he had that kind of quirk.

Another option could be that he could only hold one quirk copy at a time. That'd be trickier for Izuku to deal with. Either way, he doubted Monoma could permanently hold an unlimited number of quirk copies. Monoma's personality was all wrong for that, and he didn't have Iida's engines anymore- unless he could choose to dump quirks? But why would he do that? Izuku's (formerly) quirkless sensibilities rebelled against the very thought.

He was overthinking this. He'd have to assume that Monoma could come at him with any quirk in the class. So. What would be the most inconvenient? All Might's, except Izuku had All Might's, and Monoma wasn't able to use it.

(Oh, and that could be a problem, couldn't it? Could Monoma be able to tell All Might didn't have a quirk anymore?)

Well, judging from what he was seeing right now, Izuku really didn't want him to take Yaoyorozu's quirk. It was sort of terrifying.

Other scary ones would be Todoroki (he'd launched that ball with a glacier) and Tokoyami (a sentient quirk! So cool!) but he thought Monoma would avoid Shouji and Asui (full body mutations). Other than that... Monoma would probably wait and see who did the best, or which quirk would work best with Hagakure's.

He'd have to take Hagakure's quirk into account, too. What if they both came at him invisibly (and naked)? Izuku would die...

Each battle lasted for up to fifteen minutes, not counting the ten minutes the villain team had to set up. That's how long Izuku had to defend the fake bomb. As the defender, Izuku had another handicap. He only had to fail once to fail entirely...

No. Stop that. This was a school exercise, and All Might wasn't going to expell him. Losing would suck, but he'd be together with half the class on that front. The important thing was learning from the experience. And not getting too hurt.

Right. He returned his gaze to the screen as the match started.

.

"We're a sentient quirk, too," said Banjo. "Aren't we cool?"

"He doesn't know we're sentient, though," said Yoichi. "Also, he spent like two months straight gushing about how cool One for All was when we were with Eighth. Didn't you get enough?"

Banjo sulked. "It isn't the same."

"Speaking of Monoma," said En, "why didn't you slap his little grabby hands away from One for All yesterday?"

"Because a late bloomer is one thing, but someone confirmed not to have a quirk suddenly having bone-breaking super strength? Yeah. No. Yagi might have beaten my brother, but that doesn't mean everyone who worked for him is gone. Eight never knew about Garaki at all."

"Way to bring down the mood, En," said Banjo, elbowing the younger ghost.

"The mood was already brought down by the fake popcorn."

.

Izuku wrote furiously in his notebook, trying to record every detail of the match. He pulled one of his gloves off with his teeth to get a better grip on his pencil. He'd need to practice writing with gloves on. He was missing important notes. Speaking of which...

"Can we get copies of these recordings?"

"You should be able to access them through your Ultra Account on the school website!"

Izuku nodded and continued writing. As expected, Kirishima and Satou had gotten into a one on one fight down the hallway from the bomb room. Unexpectedly, however, they had seemed rather hesitant to hit each other. At least, until Satou dumped a packet of white powder (sugar according to All Might) into his mouth and started smacking at Kirishima indiscriminately. Kouda, meanwhile, had sent a small army of mice (animal control! Very cool) at Yaoyorozu, who had responded with mousetraps.

The clock ran out, to the villains' victory.

.

"It was surprisingly hard to hit someone," admitted Kirishima in the debrief.

"We've been socialized to avoid violence," said All Might, nodding. "Overcoming that hesitation is part of our training. As is when not to use force."

.

Next up were Kaminari and Sero vs Aoyama and Jirou.

Kaminari entered the building first, quickly engaging Aoyama, who had been directed towards Kaminari by Jirou. That fight got loud quickly. Sero, meanwhile, scaled the outside of the building with his tape.

Kaminari ultimately defeated himself with his own quirk (that was a pretty severe drawback- maybe Kaminari should consider other fighting styles?), which allowed Jirou to hear Sero climbing up the wall. But Aoyama couldn't get back fast enough to prevent Jirou from being captured by Sero.

.

"I think Kaminari was the MVP," said Izuku. "He did hurt himself, which was bad, but his sacrifice allowed his teammate to safely reach the objective. If he hadn't, um, shorted out...? It would have been better, of course, but..."

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "Sero managed to capture one of the villains and safely reach the bomb. Additionally, he's the one who came up with the plan of attack."

"Ah," said Izuku, "that's- that's true..."

"Regardless, it is a plan that only bore fruit due to teamwork! Excellent work! Jirou, Aoyama, your division of labor was also a good plan, but don't forget the enemies you don't see! Time for our next match!"

.

This time, Asui and Tokoyami were defending against Todoroki and Uraraka.

"Good luck," Izuku said, waving slightly to Uraraka.

"Thanks!" She gave him two thumbs up as she trailed slightly behind Todoroki. "So," she said, as they walked out through the door, "how are we doing-?"

The door closed. Izuku winced. Surely, they had strategized beforehand...

.

"Young Todoroki," said All Might, somewhat sternly, "you... that was certainly an impressive display, but even when dealing with real villains, a hero has to be conscious of the damage they may do. A large number of villains are only minor criminals, or even otherwise ordinary citizens having a bad day."

"That's not what the media says," mumbled Todoroki, though he looked pale as medi-bots carried Asui from the scene.

"The media is full of sensationalists. And even if it weren't, Asui isn't a real villain. There is a difference," he said, very gently, "between going beyond and going too far."

All Might paused. Todoroki hunched his shoulders. There was something familiar about his posture, something that made Izuku's stomach knot.

All Might continued. "It was a good strategy. Against another team, or against real villains, it would have been a more than appropriate strategy. In fact, it was even an appropriate strategy in this case, since you didn't know Asui had trouble with cold temperatures. But when you encountered her in the hall and noticed how poorly she was doing, you should have hit the emergency stop button."

Instead of laying down mode ice when Asui struggled to get free, which was what actually happened.

"Why didn't you stop the match?" He didn't sound accusatory. Just flat and resigned.

All Might made a face and gestured to the screens on the wall. About half of them showed static and the rest blurry shades of white and gray. Like the rest of the building, they had been iced over.

Todoroki sighed. "How much trouble am I in?"

"You aren't," replied All Might. "In trouble, that is. As your teacher, this is entirely my responsibility. I shouldn't have set you against Asui or should have gone over safety concerns more clearly..." All Might paused, his face that of someone who knew they weren't getting their point across but didn't quite know what the problem was. "Injuries are inevitable in heroics and hero training, but you don't want to maim your classmates. Or minor villains, really, if you can help it. So... consider this a learning moment."

"But it was just ice," said Kaminari.

"Cold kills people frequently," said All Might. "People lose fingers and toes to frostbite regularly. Again, for anyone but Asui, this level of ice for such a short time period wouldn't have caused lasting damage, but it is something to be mindful of. Does... that make sense, young Todoroki?"

"Yes," said Todoroki, head bowed.

"All right. Young Uraraka, thank you for hitting the emergency stop button. It showed good thinking and good awareness. Young Tokoyami, your decision to hide the bomb in the basement was a good one, complimentary to your quirk."

Izuku glanced over at Monoma. He had a sinking suspicion he knew what quirk he would copy.

.

After moving to a new building, Iida and Ashido managed to pull a win as heroes from Ojiro and Shouji by melting a hole in the ceiling above the bomb and then jumping through to tag it after Iida confirmed its location with a scouting run. The general consensus of the class was that it was surprisingly clever and out of the box, but that it probably wouldn't have been feasible in real life. Ashido had then sheepishly admitted that she'd come up with the idea after hearing Izuku mumble about it.

This, of course, made Izuku blush. Strawberry would probably bee his nickname from now on.

Better than Deku.

It was his turn to go set up, now.

He was unlikely to be able to beat Hagakure and Monoma at the same time, even if Monoma didn't copy any quirks at all. Assuming they didn't split up, a ridiculous course of action, he'd have to find a way to protect the bomb other than physically defending it.

This was the problem that had been plaguing him all afternoon.

He had to hide it. Then, he either had to hide himself or use his location to steer them away from where the bomb really was. His capture would also lose him the match, so he had to be careful.

He carried the bomb to the top floor. Uraraka's quirk could get them up there, but Izuku didn't think Monoma could handle the nausea. And if he did have a time limit, he wouldn't want to be airborne when it ran out. Sero had demonstrated his quirk could get him up the side of the building, but that had clearly also required a lot of skill in climbing, not just the quirk itself.

Iida's quirk would get Monoma to the top of the building fast, but since he'd have to go room by room... Either way, the top floor would slow them down the most, buy Izuku the most time.

The room he picked was full of prop boxes. Izuku had to rearrange them to completely hide the bomb, and there was a chance Monoma and Hagakure would remember what it looked like before, from the camera feeds, but he hoped they'd overlook it.

He still had time. Next...

The second floor had office equipment in it. Clearly old junk the school didn't mind loosing. Izuku pulled as much of it out into the hallway as he could, his experience from the beach helping him maneuver quickly. He dumped a lot of it into the stairwell. The rest he left in the hallways.

How much time did he have?

Not long.

He ran up the stairs, to the fourth floor, where Ashido had melted a hole in the floor. Here, he had multiple egress points. It would be harder for them to corner him. Also...

He randomly closed half the doors on the floor. He could pretend to be guarding one of them. Delay them. How much longer?

No time at all.

Right on schedule, the air went dry and cold. Izuku, having planned for this, leapt for one of the door frames and held on. A thin layer of ice, not as thick as the one on the floor, crusted over his gloved fingers.

Izuku counted to five, then let his hands slip out of his gloves and dropped to the floor. Then he reached up and tugged his now empty gloves out of the ice.

He inspected the ice momentarily, and tested his ability to move on it. It wasn't as even or as thick as it had been when Todoroki used it, and the surface was a difficult and unpredictable mixture of smooth and rough... but it would become slicker as it melted.

Good. Izuku had predicted this. It made his closed doors and stacked boxes much more formidable obstacles. The ice wouldn't allow doors to open easily, and the boxes would also be reinforced and hard to move.

Izuku was glad for the conversation All Might had with Todoroki. Although it probably hadn't been his intention, the way he had phrased his commentary on Todoroki's freezing strategy had made it seem like an automatic win, given that it wasn't used against someone who'd be seriously injured by it.

Izuku hadn't been sure they'd do it, since it would handicap Hagakure so much. She couldn't walk around on ice barefoot. Unless she had a secondary mutation that made her skin tougher, or less sensitive to temperature- that would be so cool! No, focus, focus.

Monoma wouldn't have Iida's quirk, either with this strategy. Even if was unfamiliar with speed quirks, he would know that high speeds and ice didn't mix... Unless you were a speed skater, Izuku supposed. But Monoma didn't have ice skates- Unless, unless he took Yaoyorozu's quirk and made ice skates. But that would be horribly impractical with this uneven ice, and probably wouldn't work with Iida's quirk at all. So.

He'd probably have Yaoyorozu's quirk anyway. And after that, for this exercise, Jirou's would be the most valuable. With Jirou's quirk, Monoma would be able to locate Izuku quickly.

Another reason to separate himself from the bomb.

They were coming.

He hid himself out of immediate sight, in the room with the hole, on the off chance that Monoma couldn't hold that many quirks.

There was a clatter from the stairwell.

They were coming.

Muffled voices. A louder thump.

"Maybe if you hadn't frozen everything-"

A sort of fwoosh brought an oddly warm breeze and Izuku hissed. Todoroki's quirk must be more than ice. Given his overall appearance... Fire? Izuku was screwed.

Well. Hopefully his precautions would at least get him a good grade.

There were more scrapes and clatters as Hagakure and Monoma forced their way through the stairwell. Then, relative silence.

They were coming.

"I thought you said he was on this floor," said Hagakure, plaintively.

"He must have gotten free," said Monoma.

"Can't you listen for him again?"

There was a pause. Monoma must have responded nonverbally.

"We'll just have to be careful checking everything out," said Hagakure. "The bomb must be on this floor, after all."

Okay. Okay, great, this was good news for Izuku. He eyed the hole in the floor. Part of him really didn't want to jump through. His brain was supplying him with all the things that could go wrong with such a jump. Especially with the layer of ice. Ugh, he should have dragged one of the office desks up underneath it.

Too late now.

Minding his visibility, Izuku crept over to the side of the hole and lowered himself until he was hanging by his finger tips.

It was still a long fall. Monoma and Hagakure's footsteps were growing closer.

He let go.

He tried to hit the ground properly, but his roll turned into a slide, and he hit a wall at a higher speed than he would have liked. Reflexively he grabbed at his left arm. Ow.

He knew this was going to happen.

"He's on the third floor!"

"What?"

"He jumped through Ashido's hole!"

Izuku forced himself to his feet and sprinted towards the stairs. The second floor had more hiding places than the third. At the last minute, something twinged in the back of his mind, and he tried to stop. Tried. The ice made this difficult.

His legs went out from underneath him, and he went skidding down the hallway on his back, taking a mercifully, mercifully, clothed Hagakure out at the ankles. They slid together into the bottom of the stairs descending from the fourth floor, further battering Izuku's poor arm.

He dodged Hagakure's capture tape and briefly considered pulling out his own, but there was Monoma, cautiously coming down the icy stairs.

Icy stairs.

It seemed neither Izuku nor Monoma had fully considered the obstacles that would result from coating a building like this in ice. Todoroki's ability to maneuver easily on this terrain was, in retrospect, a keystone of the 'freeze everything' strategy, not incidental.

He needed to get away.

He pushed Hagakure off of himself (and noted that she was just as muscular as he was) and slid on his knees to the banister. He pulled himself up and slid down the rail, using the ice to his benefit. Using his uninjured arm, he gripped the end of the banister connected to the wall to slingshot himself down the second floor hallway.

... and almost right into a desk he'd half forgotten he'd put there. He dodged it and recovered quickly before scrambling over the other obstacles in the hallway. He came to a scraping halt and tucked himself into the leg well of one of the desks. A convenient bar meant he could keep his feet off the ground and out of sight as well.

Just like hiding from bullies. Only less dangerous and more fun.

How much time was left?

It had taken them about five minutes to get past the desks on the stairs, then maybe two or three to get to the fourth floor? They hadn't been moving quickly, probably because of the ice. Then, they'd been on the fourth floor for another couple of minutes before Izuku dropped to the third, even if it had felt longer to Izuku. The tussle on the third had taken a minute, tops, so he had... Four minutes left? Less, now.

He could win this. He could run out the clock. Maybe it wasn't the most heroic way to win, but he was supposed to be playing the villain, and he hoped Mr. Yagi would be proud of him anyway.

"Show yourself!" called Monoma. "Or I'll freeze you out."

Could he do that? Maybe he had Jirou's quirk at first, but switched to Todoroki's later, and lost access to Jirou's? If only he knew more about how Monoma's quirk worked... It could be a bluff, too. Even if it wasn't, why would he reveal himself? This late in the game, even if he was frozen in place, he could still win.

And winning... it wasn't something he got to do very often.

A buzz signaled the end of the match. "Villains win! Or, rather villain wins? Good job everyone! Come on out for the final debrief."

.

"MVP, MVP, MVP," chanted Yoichi, Banjo, and En, arms slung around each others' shoulders.

"Our boy is MVP!" cried Banjo.

"You know what this means, of course," said Hikage during a pause in the noise. The other ghosts looked at him. "It means, my quirk is the most valuable. The greatest power in the universe is the power of anxiety."

"Take that back!" said Yoichu, throwing an imaginary kazoo at Hikage. "The most powerful thing in the universe is the power of friendship. Everyone knows that!"

"What about those two?" asked Hikage, pointing at Second and Third.

"Unfortunately, the power of spite is also great," said Yoichi. "Even so, they will soon find themselves defeated."

Nana rubbed her temples. "If I hadn't given up on sanity within ten minutes of waking up in here, this would be what did me in."

.

After an intense practical, the next stop was the nurse's office. There, the class found Asui already mostly recovered, and Izuku found out that he had, in fact broken his arm.

"Are you sure it isn't just a sprain? It is broken?"

"A fracture, and, yes, quite sure. But a sprain can actually be worse than a break- many true sprains never quite heal correctly... either way, with my quirk you don't have to worry about it." She pressed her lips to Izuku's forehead. He felt his energy ebb to a new low. "You should talk to Mr. Aizawa about falling techniques. Your body type is more like his than your other mentor's."

"I- I will," promised Izuku.

"Good. You can go get changed, now."

"Thanks," said Izuku, not quite wobbling out of the room.

"Midoriya!"

He almost jumped out of his skin. "A-ah! Uraraka!"

"Sorry to startle you!"

"No, no, it's fine. What is it?"

"Oh, well, Iida and I were wondering if you'd like to come out with use to a café after school? It's nearby and apparently it has discounts for UA students?"

"Indeed! My older brother talked about it frequently when he was a student here!"

"W-well," said Izuku. He looked at All Might, who was awkwardly supervising and directing other students in the hallway to the locker rooms. All Might caught his eye and nodded. "Sure! That sounds like fun!"

.

This would be the last time Shouta would have to nap after school for a while. From tomorrow on, he'd be alternating quirk counseling with Midoriya with hero work. Why did he agree to do this again?

Kan opened the door to the break room. With him came the acrid smell of smoke and hot dust. "Which companies did the first year costumes this year?" he asked, voice dangerously soft enough to impress Aizawa.

"Why?" asked Hizashi.

"Because I want to... talk to whoever thought it was a good idea to give a fifteen-year-old with no training in demolition not one, but two weapons that could level buildings at full charge. I just want to talk."

Judging by the expression on Kan's face, Shouta seriously doubted that.

Kan took a deep breath. "What about your hellions?"

"Don't know. Yagi had them today."

"And you didn't watch?"

"I was in court."

"What's wrong with Yagi, anyway?"

Shouta, Hizashi, and Kan all turned to where Yagi was splayed in a chair. If the scene were a painting, it could easily be titled 'depression.'

"I'm a failure as a teacher and a hero," he moaned.

"Huh?" said Hizashi. "Why?"

"Young Asui nearly became hypothermic, and young Midoriya fractured his arm."

There was a beat of silence as the others waited for him to go on.

"What?" Kan asked. "Is that it?"

[kino-alternative]

“ This will be a long one! Also, trying angst, so uhh . . Don't be surprised if it's bad! ” ( Inspired by: The Story Of Evil )

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

“ The Servant ”

Keywords: Y/N- Your Name, T/N- Twin's Name ( Your twin is a girl )

Notes:

This is a Nagito Komaeda X Reader.

This will obvious have SPOILERS for the game. Specifically, the whole Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair game.

Reader's Gender-Neutral. Also suggest listening to “ Daughter of Evil ” “ Servant of Evil ” and “ No Regrets ”.

0: 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 -

Y/N L/N was a part of the Future Foundation, 14th division. While their twin sister, T/N who was the Ultimate Queen ( Originally Princess but a certain blonde already took the title ), was a Remnant of Despair along with the rest of their class.

It pained the twin to see their other being controlled by the strawberry blonde fashionista. Especially since they had to capture her themselves.

After running the program, Y/N decided to enter as a secret agent of the Future Foundation to help the two others when needed. It hurts knowing the truth but they were glad to see everyone before the tragedy struck.

Their dear twin sister was indeed a troublemaker and others even say she's ‘ evil ’ due to her cruel and awful personality, but of course as - not only her twin - her loyal servant ever since they were reunited, Y/N stood by the girl's side.

There was also another that they treasure, Nagito Komaeda,The Ultimate Lucky Student. Yes, even knowing how he is, he managed to make them fall for him. It was interesting really, since T/N isn't really fond of him ( Most of them don't ). But their was something about him that made them feel . . . Loved. Not platonically.

Y/N and their friends, their fellow survivors of the first killing game, had thought everything would go smoothly.

Sadly, that was not the case. That's the reason why I said ‘ first ’ after all. Y/N had failed to protect the Ex-Remnants of Despair from Monokuma's sick game. They could only think of him being the reason the virus entered in the first place.

Three trials. Three blackeneds. Four victims. It was awful. They hated the fact they had to go through another killing game. Now here they are, starving in two fruit-based buildings. Unfortunately, that was not the only motive the despair loving bear had planned.

1: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫.

“ Upuhuhuhu! That's right! T/N is an agent working for me! ” Monokuma announced to the eleven remaining students. Everyone's eyes widen as they all looked at the said girl with shock and anger.

She took a step back, almost stepping on the skirt of her dress as she clicked her tongue and gritted her teeth. “ Seriously!? You peasants believe him!? ” She asked with a glare.

“ How can we not? You're basically . . Evil! ” Kazuichi exclaimed, hiding behind Mechamaru to avoid the girl's glare. Everyone agreed with what he said. T/N was definitely cruel and awful, how did she managed to get her Ultimate anyway?

“ Silence! You shall not call them ‘ peasants ’! ” Sonia ordered with a stern look on her pretty face. The young queen scoffed, crossed her arms and looked away “ Isn't that what we call others below us, your highness? ”

“ I mean, as despairing as it sounds . . Monokuma hasn't lied to us ” Nagito pointed out, to which T/N replied - “ Hush, you hope obsessed freak! ”

But it seems like everyone seemed to believe it's true.

-

“ You asked for me, your majesty? ” Y/N entered the deluxe room of Grape House. There, at the desk, was their twin who's eyes were shining with anger. “ That damned bear . . Those peasants . . ” She began to curse under her breath as she stabbed a certain area on the map.

“ I will make him pay for ratting me out ”

The elder twin sighed and walked up to her, placing a blanket they grabbed from the bed over her shoulders. “ It is getting late, you should rest. Some sleep should give you energy for now ”

T/N whined but listened nonetheless. As soon as the girl plopped onto bed, she was out like a candle light. Y/N smiled softly and kissed her forehead, bidding her goodnight before leaving the room.

“ That devil shall not live to see the light of day . Not after she poisoned us with her thorns ”

-

“ A body has been discovered! ”

“ A body has been discovered! ”

Two. Two victims. One was a destroyed robot and the other was a stabbed with gunshots H/C girl. That's right. The victims were Mechamaru Nidai and T/N L/N.

2.1: 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞.

Nagito knew something was off.

The moment he saw his hope, Y/N, he knew that they were hiding something. And that something was indeed shocking. “ Ah, I apologise for not introducing myself earlier . . I'm Y/N L/N, the Ultimate Servant ”

That was a lie.

After completing the final dead room, he got his prize. It was files about them. Not only did he found out that Hajime was talentless and was a reserve course student, but his dear hope, his true love of his life, Y/N was not only talentless, but an agent of the Future Foundation.

He was upset but understood Y/N's reason. But for some reason . . He can't help but feel like he missed something.

2.2: 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭.

After the trial . .

“ That's right! The blackened who killed T/N L/N and destroyed Mechamaru Nidai isss . . . Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Breeder! AHAHAHA! ” Monokuma cackled as everyone looked at the breeder, who seemed to be prepared for the up-coming punishment.

Despair was painted on everyone's faces, a few tried to hide it. But one let out the pain that was weighing their down, slamming their hands on their podium which surprised them.

Tears streamed down their face as they asked, “ Why did you choose to murder her!? Why in the brutal way!? ” Their voice cracked from the sobs that came after the question. They knew that the H/C haired servant would be upset, but it was shocking to see them break down so . . Easily.

But . . Come to think of it . . They weren't acting like themselves. They usually back Hajime up with no hesitation but during the trial, they kept their mouth shut. Like they're scared to say something wrong or spill information.

Gundham replied while looking away, “ Mechamaru did not deserve death . . But that daughter who's lord is a devil did. She was a demon and lived in the depths of darkness ” ‘ Y/N ’ 's eyes widen those words, their grip tightening.

“ That's right . . I deserved to die ” Everyone looked at them with confusion as they straighten their posture “ It's my fault they died . . ” Placing a hand on her chest, she exclaimed “ So pin the blame on me! ”

Then it finally hit. This wasn't Y/N . . This was T/N. If that's the case then . .

Nagito lowered his head and whispered, “ Y/N's gone . . ”

-

Knock Knock ** Click.

“ Y/N, you're here! Good news, I have an idea on how to prevent . . Huh? ” T/N turned around to see her twin that was wearing her clothes and their hair down like hairs. They looked identical to her. “ Why are you . . ? ”

They only smiled and gave her their clothes, a letter was placed on top of it. “ I actually have a plan of my own, dear sister ” T/N's eyes widen in sudden realization, “ You don't mean . . I will not allow it! Besides, that damned bear would know! ” She exclaimed, her eyes glistening.

Y/N shook their head and placed the clothes on the bed. After that, they put their hands on her shoulders with a firm yet gentle grip. “ I already took care of that issue ” “ But- ” “ Listen now my dear, you and I will switch and you will be me. It is fine, we're twins and I'll be here to take the strike ”

They wiped away her tears with their thumbs and kissed her forehead, “ They won't know because we look alike ” Y/N stood on the original position their twin was in as T/N hesitantly switched clothes. “ B-But what about Nagito!? Surely, he'll miss you! A-And I'm the devil here! I'm the demon! Not you! ”

Their smile saddens, “ . . . ” They knew how the pale luckster likes to pin the blame on his luck and himself. But they already wrote to him in advance. They hoped it would help him in some way. Y/N truly love the luckster just as much as they love their twin sister. But they live to serve their sister, even if it kills them. Even after knowing everything the other's don't.

Dodging the first question, they replied with closed eyes “ If the devil's your lord as they all curse your name . . Then I am a demon too, for we have the same blood ” As soon as T/N finished dressing, they pulled her outside and ordered “ Now go, don't look back and be free ”

The twin sister hesitates before turning away and acted like they had a normal conversation, holding back the tears as the cameras assumed she was the other. Y/N watched her leave before closing the door, leaving it unlocked and sat on the chair while watching the fire on the candle dance.

“ If the day comes that we are reborn once again, it'll be nice to play with you ” They could hear the footsteps “ I'm sorry for leaving you Nagito . . But until then . . ”

* Creak!

Glaring at the breeder, they asked ( sounding like their twin ) “ How dare you, you pest!? ”

-

Watching the execution was painful, like always. T/N handed the letter to Nagito before leaving the trial room “ . . They wanted you to have this ”

3: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.

“ My Dearest Nagito,

I am guessing that T/N gave you this after revealing the truth, correct? But, that is not the point.

I know what you're thinking.

You're blaming yourself again, are you not? You blame your luck. You regret letting me get close to you.

But you shouldn't.

Yes, I have broken our promise. And I truly am sorry but I will never regret getting close to you. I'm sorry for leaving you behind so early.

And I know you may think you have nothing to live for but please, live and fight the despair.

That's what you tell me, right?

A daily reminder that you are not useless nor worthless, you are more than that. You're more than just a stepping stone. Don't be afraid to acknowledge that, even if you don't believe it.

Can you do me a favor? If it's alright.

End this killing game for me. I know you know about the files but that's the past. The future is still out there, right? So please, live and end this killing game with the others.

It seems like I'm running out of ink, so let me say this one last time, alright?

I truly and deeply love you, Nagito Komaeda. Please do remember that. Even after what you did, I can not help but love you. So, if the day comes where we are reborn, I'll gladly fall for you all over again.

I'll die with only one regret. And that is, I wasn't able to protect you.

- Signed, Y/N L/N <3 ”

4: 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡.

“ Please, wake up ”

Y/N slowly opened their eyes, trying to figure out where they were and what was going on. But as soon as they sat up, they were pulled into a hug. “ Y/N! You're awake! ” “ T/N . . ? What . . ? ” Their gaze then landed on Nagito who stood beside Hajime.

Then it snapped, they hugged back and smiled “ So you did it . . I'm so glad ” They whispered as T/N pulled away and Nagito walked up to them. Tears finally streamed down his cheeks as he held both of their hands and leaned his forehead on theirs. “ You're here . . ”

Y/N kissed his nose, “ Everything's alright, I'm here, you're here, we're here. Safe and sound ”

Everything turned out to be great in the end. T/N slowly warmed up to everyone. They're working with the Future Foundation on Jabberwock Island. And all is good.

Arms wrapped around their waste as the luckster placed his chin on their shoulder, playing with the ring on their finger. With a content sigh, he says “ I love you ”

Yes, everything has it's flaws but nonetheless it was perfect to them.

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

“ I hope you all enjoyed it! Angst isn't really my strong suit but hey, I'll get better at it! ( I was originally going to put a bad ending, but I'll make that someday ) ”

- Sincerely, Mizuki Kioku.

[aiekerman]

Medicine - Levi Ackerman

Levi x Reader - fluff

AN: I am not usually a Valentine’s person but here we are. Levi can really get anything out of me. Also, I realise my fic titles seem a little random but I’m titling them after songs that make the vibe in my head - not necessarily based off, just vibes you know. So yeah this is Medicine by The 1975.

Word count: 1.9k

Summary: It’s Valentine’s day and you’re in work at a café all day. But Levi is there to at least provide some eye candy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘He’s so pretty I might pass out,’ Hitch leant over the counter, her chin in her hand as she unabashedly stares across the café at the man sipping at his tea.

His posture is perfect, balancing a book in one hand while his other holds the top of the tea cup delicately to his mouth.  He blends into the café atmosphere like he was there upon its creation. The shop is earth toned, plants hanging all over and soft lighting that cast shadows across his bone structure.

He looked pulled straight out of an indie movie.

The air around him was mysterious yet all consuming, You spent the entire shift stealing glances at him every time he was in. Which was most days. However, Sunday’s took the cake, you assumed he didn’t work on Sundays whatever his job was, as he took the luxury of bringing a book in and spending hours planted at the same table. Working through a multitude of tea as he sat in perfect view to act as eye candy for the baristas for the day.

You steal a last glance at him, while restocking the pastry baskets, internally agreeing with Hitch but turning to her and speaking, ‘Is he worth getting yelled at for not doing anything when a manager sees you?’

Hitch gives her an eye roll before standing up as a customer approaches the counter.

In your own head, you silently think that, yes, he absolutely was worth getting yelled at.

Across the café floor, Levi glances from over the top of his cup when he feels a pair of eyes darting in his direction once again. He took a self indulgent moment to look over you as you gently placed the warm croissants in one of the wicker baskets. From your well-loved sneakers that he presumed to be pair reserved for work, up to your head of hair that bounced and swayed along with your steps.

He was a man who found the joy in life through small moments. His first sip of tea in the morning. Running his hand through his hair once it was freshly washed. Spending his Sunday in the café that was an extra few blocks from his apartment so he could steal glances at the beautiful barista. He could never bring himself to properly talk to you though, that would make it the exact opposite of a small moment.

        *           *           *          *            *         *          *           *          *

You enjoyed Valentine’s day. Your day had started with a card arriving from your parents and your friend back home sending a text message thanking her for flowers that you had booked to be delivered.

When you reached the café for the usual Sunday shift you were met by heart shaped bunting criss-crossing around the whole ceiling.

You settled in behind the counter. It was still early, an orange tint hanging on the edges of the sky. And Sunday mornings were quieter than most, people taking their time to get out of bed. You imagined especially on Valentine’s day, couples would spend the early hours wrapped up in their ‘i love you’s and gift giving. Many opting for breakfast in bed rather than a café trip. You sighed at the dreamy thought.

You were single, and happily so. But you were allowed to indulge in the scenario of a coffee and pancakes being brought to you while you awoke slowly.

Were the pancakes accompanied by steel grey eyes and an undercut from time to time? You could neither confirm nor deny.

Still stuck in your daydreams, you hadn’t noticed that exact pair of grey eyes entering the café and approaching the counter.

He took a moment to look you over while it seemed your head was somewhere else. Your hair sat neater than usual, extra makeup seemed to have been applied; your cheeks more rosy than usual. A pink sweater draped around your figure and Levi swore he could smell the fresh laundry scent wafting from it.

His heart deflated slightly. You probably had a Valentine’s date. He scoffed at himself in his own head. Of course you did, one look at you screamed that you were bound to have people flooding your phone. He chose to ignore any time he noticed a customer flirting with you, but it definitely happened.

You leap when Levi lets off a small cough to catch your attention. Your face immediately blaring with heat as you search for words in your head. You often found herself flustered when it came to serving the stoic faced man.

‘Hi.’

‘Hey’

‘What, uh, what can I get you?’

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes. Yes! I’m fine thank you for asking. Ignore my last question by the way I know- uh, I know it’s tea.’

You cut yourself off from rambling. Giving a small nod and beginning to tap on the register screen in front of you, putting through his usual pot of black tea.

You stare at the screen with an unnecessary intensity, trying to focus on the words and wipe the image of Levi delivering your breakfast from her mind. An irrational fear that maybe he was secretly a mind reader brewed in the back of your head. It would explain his constant blank slate of a face, he was constantly processing other’s thoughts.

What was actually running through Levi’s head was how pretty you looked in the glow of the morning sun, your face tinted pink in nervousness.

He only slightly fought off a small smile when you beamed up at him with your sweet voice, ‘I’ll bring it over once it’s ready.’

Levi spent the rest of the morning watching you dart around with drinks and dishes. You did most Sunday mornings solo, smiling at usual customers, rhyming off your catalogue of memorised drinks. Levi felt like a dark cloud hanging over the café, dressed in dark colours in the corner and avoiding conversation. While you were a bright ball of sunshine that seemed to honestly just want to make others smile.

The thought of actually talking to you had his tea cup trembling in his hand.

And so he buried his head deeper into his book, settling for hearing your sweet laugh float around the shop.

You sighed, what was originally a five hour shift extended to ten after Hitch called you begging to cover her half of the day, a last minute Valentine date cropping up or something. And who were you to deny the girl some romance?

Your eyes drifted around the shop, it was now three thirty pm, only an hour and half until it was time to shut. The day had mostly been couples wandering through to pick up a takeaway drink in the midst of a romantic stroll. It was hard to resist a wistful look after them as they huddled together in the February chill.

You shook your head from the thought and continued to restock the muffins, even though it would be unlikely that all would be sold before closing came around.

Standing up your head automatically took a turn in Levi’s direction, this was usually the time he would be due a tea top-up. And on cue he set down his empty cup and glanced up at you.

Two pairs of eyes met and you struggled to fight off the heat rising up your neck under his intense stare. His mouth drops open slightly, barely noticeable from the distance between them.

But you notice, the half inch that his shoulders tense up. The miniscule shake of his book. Your throat is suddenly dry, but manages to croak out, ‘more?’

‘Yes, please,’ the words come almost as a sigh. You hold the electric gaze for another second, before scurrying behind the counter, busying your mind with making up the pot of tea.

You drop it to him wordlessly. Keeping your head down, adrenaline still pumping through you from the previous moment.

The last hour and a half of service passes by easily. You avoid any of your usual indulgent looks at the man in the corner of the café, while you begin closing up.

Levi knows he has to go, he’s closed over his book already, one hand on his jacket that’s been draped over his chair all day.

But he can’t just go. His assumption from the morning has proven wrong - at least so far. You don't seem to have a Valentine’s date. And after your...whatever that was, he’s not about to just leave without so much as a hello.

You stood on the small step ladder, fingers nimbly unpinning the heart shaped decorations when his voice pulled you from your thoughts.

‘Um, thanks for your service today.’ Levi cringes. He swears he sounds like a robot.

‘Oh,’ Kasia stares down at him from atop the ladder, ‘thank you.’

Levi swallows. It’s a start.

‘You don’t usually work this late. On a Sunday.’

‘One of the other girls asked if I could cover her. She got a last minute Valentine date.’

You’ve descended the steps now, standing only a metre away from him. You look him over,

His hands are stuffed deep in his pockets, book tucked tightly under his arm. His usual sleek black hair is slightly messed. You didn’t know but he’d spent the last ten minutes tugging at as he tried to find the right conversation starter.

‘You don’t- uh, you don’t have a date?’

You shake your head softly, a small smile beginning to form across your lips.

‘What about you? Don’t you have a girlfriend you should’ve been with all day?’

‘Do you think if I had a girlfriend I’d be here all day every Sunday?’ He lets out a laugh that could be mistaken for a cough.

‘Oh. I just thought…’

‘Thought what?’

‘I don’t know actually. You’re just, uh…’ you stutter, the phrase you’re just so pretty, balancing on the edge of your tongue. ‘What?’ Levi cringes again, his voice coming out harsher than intended, but he freezes up at the quiet words that escape your mouth.

‘Just really pretty.’

They’re barely a whisper, he thinks he could almost be making it up. His subconscious is dreaming up what he wants to hear. But upon looking up at your face, there’s a fear evident in your eyes. As if the words hadn’t meant to escape.

You next words have more energy behind, ‘I am so sorry. That was so inappropriate.’

‘It’s fine, really. You’re, um, also really pretty.’

You swear if your face could get any hotter it’d melt the chocolate in the cookies. Voice immediately fades away again, ‘thank you.’

‘So is it uhh, just you closing up?’

‘Yeah. Just me.’

‘Do you mind if I wait for you? To walk you home? It’ll be too dark to walk alone by the time you’re finished.’

This time you can’t fight the smile as it consumes your whole face, ‘I’d like that.’

His hand reaches out suddenly and a thumb swipes against your cheek.

His eyes go wide upon realising what he did, ‘you had some chocolate. On your cheek.’

You try to respond. But all you can feel is the tingling left over from his touch. And how you wanna feel it again.

[maddrmatt]

A Beautiful Future: A Premonition or a Punishment?

New to this fanfic? Click here to properly begin!

Greetings, readers and fellow SoKai fans!

Time for a certain Princess of Heart to take the spotlight in this story!  

Fair bit of warning though, I sort of used this chapter to showcase a few headcanons and speculations regarding the future of the series.  

Also, there’s a little challenge within this chapter that you can take on if you wish.

Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3: Writings of a Princess

Land of Departure

Dear Sora,

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote to you.  I haven’t really had anything really important to tell you since I came here.

Now something incredible has just happened and I had to tell you first before anyone else.  But before that, here’s a few updates on what’s been happening on this side of reality.

I’m still training hard.  No offense to Merlin, but I think I’m getting way better with my Keyblade training under Master Aqua than him.

My days here at the Land of Departure are filled with learning various fighting techniques or improving my magic skills.  And to test them, I often spar with Aqua, Terra or Ven.  One day, I might even get a perfect score against one of them in our matches.

All of three of them and Chirithy have been very good to me. They’ve really made me feel like part of their family.

But as great as it’s been with them, they’re no true replacement for everyone back home.  I miss everyone:  Mom, Dad, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Riku, and you.  Especially you.

Sorry, Sora.  It’s just so hard every day knowing that you’re trapped in that fictional world.  I really wish I could’ve gone there with Riku to save you.  But after being out of action for a year and the fact that I couldn’t even land a single blow on that memory of Xehanort, I knew it was the better choice to stay behind and train even if I didn’t like it.

I really hope Riku finds you soon.  We’re all so worried about both of you.  Since nobody really knows anything about this Quadratum place, we’ve all thought Riku was a little hasty in just taking off there alone.

We still haven’t heard anything from Mickey yet either. Hopefully, he’ll come back soon from Scala Ad Caelum, and he’ll have found something we can use to help you and Riku.  Until that happens, all the rest of us can do is wait.

Anyway, time to tell you the real reason for this latest letter, Sora. And you are not going to believe what it is.  I can hardly believe it myself.

Last night, I had a dream.  It was actually the first dream I’ve had since I came to the Land of Departure.

Not that I’ve minded not having dreams just in case they ended up being recreations of my worst memories.  I’ve already watched you vanish twice.  I don’t think I could bear to watch it happen again in my dreams.

But the dream I had was nothing like that at all.  It was of a wedding, Sora.  Our wedding.

It was an amazing sight.  It was in this gigantic chapel that looked like it was in Radiant Garden, and it was filled with all your friends from around the worlds.

Many of our fellow Guardians of Light and closest friends made up our wedding party.  It was hardly a surprise to see Selphie as my maid of honor or Riku as your best man.

You looked so handsome in the suit you were wearing.  And judging from the stunned look on your face when you saw me coming down the aisle, I must’ve looked pretty beautiful to you.

It was truly incredible, Sora.  It felt so real and so wonderful.  I wished it never ended.

But, unfortunately, as it is with dreams, we all have to wake up eventually.  And when I did, the happiness I felt ended up giving way to other emotions as I reflected on the dream.

First of all, I felt a little confused.  As good as that dream was, I couldn’t help but wonder why I had it at all.  I mean, wouldn’t you find a little strange to have a dream about a wedding especially since we haven’t even had our first kiss yet?  It’s kind of rushing things a little.  

But don’t get me wrong, Sora.  I know, deep down in my heart, how we truly feel about each other. I wouldn’t have shared that paopu fruit with you otherwise.  And when the time is right for it, the idea of getting married to you is something I will embrace wholeheartedly.

So, I thought more about the dream and believe it or not, I started to think that it was not merely just a dream.  I wonder if what I saw was our future.  It definitely did feel like that since there were so many unfamiliar parts in it.  

For example, I had no idea there was a tradition in Radiant Garden weddings for the bride and groom to crown each other with symbolic flowers.  Then again, I could have known that if the knowledge came from a memory from when I lived there.  Maybe I attended a wedding there when I was young.

But what really stood out to me and made me believe that this could be our future was the many unfamiliar guests.  I knew that because I’ve been studying the details of your last two journeys from Jiminy’s Journal and the Gummi Phone.  And even though the Journal of your first journey was erased (Naminè’s still really sorry about that), I still remember everything about it from being in your heart through it all.

So, I was able to recognize who you had met and who were strangers. They were far too numerous to mention. But here are some examples that really stood out to me.

A tall woman with long black hair wearing a tan colored dress and a beautiful turquoise necklace with a raccoon, a dog and I think I saw a hummingbird flittering around her.

A pair of robots, one yellow and box-shaped, the other white and cylindrical, who were holding hands.

A couple that consisted of a redhaired woman and blonde-haired man who appeared to have some kind of hairless rodent on his shoulder.

A teenage boy and girl along with a younger boy and a company of animals such as a bear with gray fur, a panther, an elephant with a tuft of brown hair and a quartet of vultures.

A large family that appeared to be a mix of humans and skeletons along with a very colorful winged dog and a giant winged cat.

A boy with red hair (whose head looked triangular) along with another boy with green hair and a bunch of other teenagers as well as some kind of strange teal animal that looked like a cross between a duck and a beaver and a man with brown hair, poor posture and wearing a lab coat (who wears that to a wedding?).

A princess dressed in a beautiful green gown accompanied by a prince in a green suit with a blonde woman dressed in pink, a short old woman dressed in white and wearing sunglasses and a snake around her shoulders as well as an alligator who was carrying a trumpet.

A very unusual group consisting of two men and a woman with blue skin and pointy ears along with a dog-sized dragon, a centaur, and a winged lionlike creature with horns and a scorpion’s tail.

A girl with bushy brown hair among what appeared to be a family of giant frogs.

A woman dressed like she was some kind of islander with a burly man with numerous tattoos (I think I saw one of them move) over his body along with a pig and a chicken that didn’t look very smart.

A family who seemed to be some kind of royalty consisting of a princess in a simple green dress with long curly red hair along with three identical boys with the same kind of hair, their big, strong father with a peg leg and their very elegant mother.

A boy and a girl who looked like they were twin siblings who were accompanied by a pair of old men who looked like twins as well.

A redhaired boy in the company of a group of what looked like various human-sized bugs.

There were so many more, but I think I’ll stop here.  With the large number of guests at this wedding, I could go on listing them for a long time.  But it does seem there’s a lot more friends for you in the future.

Unfortunately, while I was mulling over the dream further, a horrible thought came to me.  I started to wonder if the dream, as beautiful as it was, wasn’t meant to bring me happiness at all because it was actually showing the future that we could have had but now would never have.  And the true reason of it was to punish me for my failures in the fight against Xehanort.

I know you wouldn’t like to hear this, Sora.  But there are still days where I can’t help but feel responsible for your disappearance and think that if I had made some different choices, you’d still be here.

I know it was my choice to fight alongside you because I wanted to keep you safe the same way you’ve always done for me.  But looking back, I now see it was foolish to assume that my training alongside Axel would turn me into a Keyblade wielder on yours or Riku’s level. And it was probably an even worse idea for a wielder with very little actual battle experience to go from basic training to a high stakes battle with nothing in between.

We may have been desperate to stop Xehanort before he went after the New Seven Hearts especially since he had already assembled all his darknesses. But we probably could’ve and should’ve explored some other options instead of going to fight the Organization right away after you woke Ven.

Since Ienzo told us that they had a replica body ready before we even left for the Keyblade Graveyard, we could’ve gotten Roxas or maybe even Xion out of your heart before the fight.  In Axel’s words, they were the old hands when it came to Keyblades.

We also could have made a bigger effort to find and save Terra first even if our chances were pretty low.  That would not only have gotten us a more experienced wielder, but it would’ve also lowered Xehanort’s ranks by one.

Maybe if we had done things that way, we would’ve had more experienced Keyblade wielders to fill out the Seven Guardians of Light.  And even if it would be disappointing to be put in the reserves, it would’ve been worth it if it led to you being safe.

So, those are the reasons I believed that dream was a punishment. But you’ll be glad to know, Sora, that I only entertained those beliefs briefly.

After thinking it over some more, I decided that it didn’t matter what that dream’s purpose was.  Comfort or punishment, I’m going to actually use it to serve my own purposes instead.

I’m going to let it remind me of what my ultimate goal is and drive me to be the best Keyblade wielder I can be.  One that’s going to make the forces of darkness think twice before causing trouble and one that you and Riku will be proud to have fighting alongside you.  And hopefully, that will lead us to a future like the one in the dream or at least one that’s pretty close.

In fact, after seeing that dream, I think I may end up actually proposing a couple of ideas to Aqua and Master Yen Sid.  I’ve been thinking about them a lot and maybe now is the time to try to put them into action.

Since I need to get some real battle experience to become a stronger Keyblade wielder, I’d like to go on a journey throughout the worlds to gain some. Hopefully, Aqua will think it’s a good idea.  And even though there’s been little sign of the Heartless and Nobodies since Xehanort’s defeat, there is one thing I really wish to do.

I’d like to try to find and identify the remaining three of the New Seven Hearts.  After all, who’d better to find them than someone who’s part of the same group?  And if we knew who they were and what their home worlds were, we’d be in a better position to protect them if someone tried what Maleficent and Xehanort did.

Who knows?  Maybe all those unfamiliar faces at the wedding were not only friends you’ll make on future adventures, but ones I’ll make on my own adventures.  Maybe even the remaining New Seven Hearts were among them.

I also have an idea that may be able to help in the quest to bring you home. If Fairy Godmother could bring me back to the Final World, I could talk to that girl from Quadratum again.  She may not be able to remember certain things. But she might be able to tell us something about that world that could help.  

Naminè might even be able to help with this plan.  Even if you only met that girl briefly, that may be enough for her to be considered connected to you and therefore, Naminè’s memory powers can work on her.

Hopefully, the Masters will think that these are good plans.  I really want to do any part I can to not only help bring you and Riku home, but also to protect the worlds as both a Keyblade wielder and a Princess of Heart.  After all, with you two gone, someone’s got to pick up the slack.

Well, I think that’s enough for now.  It’s nearly time for breakfast and then it’s training until lunch.  But before I go, there’s just one final thing I’d like to say.

Whether that beautiful dream shows a wonderful future that is meant to be or not, it doesn’t matter.  Because the only kind of future I’ll ever wish for is one in which we’re safe, we’re happy, and we’re together.  That’s all I really need.

See you soon,

Kairi

________________________________________________________________

Much later, the training hall in the Land of Departure was filled with the sounds of clashing Keyblades and various shouts of magical invocation.  While those sounds were nothing uncommon in that location, there was an unusual intensity that day.

As Aqua, Ven and Chirithy watched, a heated sparring match was taking place between Kairi and Terra.  But much to their surprise, the more experienced Keyblade wielder was actually struggling as the young rookie was keeping him mostly on the defensive.

“Wow!  Kairi’s on fire today!” exclaimed Ven.

“She is, indeed,” concurred Chirithy.

“Well, she has improved a lot in her skills since she came here.  But you two are right.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this driven before,” said Aqua.

“You’ve got that right, Aqua.  If she lands one more hit on Terra, this’ll be the first time she’s won by a perfect score,” said Ven.

As the match went on, Terra blocked blow after blow from Kairi.  Then, strangely, she ceased her attack.

Terra saw his opportunity and charged toward her with a downward slash. The Princess dodged to the right narrowly avoiding the hit.

“Light!” she cried out as she fired a small but powerful Light spell at Terra’s side.  He grunted as the magic struck him and knocked him off his feet.

“Point to Kairi,” declared Aqua.

“That’s three to nothing!  Kairi wins!” exclaimed Ven as Chirithy clapped its paws together.

“Well done, Kairi,” said Aqua.

“Thank you, Master Aqua,” Kairi said as she walked over to Terra and helped him up.  

After exchanging bows with each other, the Princess of Heart said, “I hope that didn’t hurt you too badly, Terra.”

Terra chuckled.  “Not at all.  It helps that you’ve learned how to restrain your magic during training.  But I’ve got to say, Kairi that I am impressed. That’s the first time since you’ve come here that I’ve been unable to land a single hit on you.”

“You’ve certainly come a long way, Kairi.  Today, you showed some truly exceptional skill and strength.  You should be very proud of yourself,” said Aqua as she, Ven and Chirithy approached.

“Well, I’ve had a good teacher and some great sparring partners.  But I think it really helped that when I woke up today, I just felt a little extra drive,” said Kairi.

“Yes.  We noticed,” said Aqua.

“Why is that exactly?” asked Chirithy.

A certain smile came to Kairi’s face which caused her four friends to exchange knowing looks.  They had spent plenty of time with her by now to know what exactly brought out that special smile of hers: thoughts of a certain someone close to her heart.

“I had the most amazing dream.”

________________________________________________________________

Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I thought the best way for Kairi’s spotlight chapter would be to do in the style of one of her letters to Sora.  I’ve used it before as readers of my big fic Kairi’s Epic Journey would know.

So, in case it wasn’t obvious, the challenge I mentioned at the start is that list of unknown guests.  It was quite a challenge to write all those characters by description alone.  I hope you all will take a shot at identifying them. Some are pretty obvious, but some may be a little more difficult.

I hope I did a good job in trying not to make this chapter’s narrative too similar to the previous chapters.  I actually tried having Kairi leap to the punishment notion before the premonition notion.  But unfortunately, the flow didn’t work right.

Fortunately, the views on the punishment notion are a little different. Sora has absolutely no regrets for what he did and believes that he’s being unfairly punished for breaking rules he had no idea existed.  Kairi, however, believes her punishment is deserved since she blames herself for what happened to Sora.  Fortunately, both are able to use that dream to keep on fighting.

I hope you all aren’t put off that this is more like a series of one-shots centered around a certain plot device (the wedding dream) instead of a congruent storyline.  That was what this project ended up being.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @fandomchanger, @flynn-science​, and @ladylucky​ for their likes on the previous chapters as well as @sokaiweek, @phoenix-downer, and @the-secret-place​ for reblogging the previous chapter.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated!  Stay tuned for what comes next because it’s going to be a real feel-good chapter!

________________________________________________________________

Onto the next chapter!

[ladyknightliveblogs]

listen, I know I use too many commas, but my dudes

you could at least use a few commas

occasionally

[eastofthemoon]

A Paladin in the Fire Nation

Chapter 1

Rating: PG

Series: Voltron Legendary Defender/Avatar the Last Airbender

Summary: After the fight with Zarkon, Shiro accidentally gets tossed into another reality where humans have the ability to bend the elements. His best shot at returning home is with someone called the Avatar, while he waits he might as well take on the job of being the Firelord's bodyguard. 

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

Shiro groaned. Despite his body feeling sore, he forced himself to sit up as he held his head.

“I feel like I got hit by a truck,” he muttered.

Then he recalled. The fight with Zarkon. All of the paladins in Voltron.

And it suddenly dawned that he was not in the Black Lion. His eyes opened wide and panic struck when he saw his armour had been removed and he was in his black bodysuit.

His heart started to race.

Was I captured? No, no, not again!

Frantically, Shiro scrambled to his feet but his fear began to subside as he looked around. He was in a cell, but it was clear it wasn’t a Galra one.

In truth, it seemed like an old fashioned prison cell he had seen in museums on Earth. He frowned as he walked over to the bars and tapped one of them before he gripped it.

It looks like regular iron, Shiro thought.

If that was the case he could probably bend them easily with his cybernetic arm and escape, but it was probably better to wait until he knew exactly where he was.

Could the others be here too? Shiro thought. Did I end up on another planet?

“Hey, I hate to interrupt your deep thinking, but might be wise to look over here.”

Shiro jumped and looked to the right. He spotted a person that assumed to be his guard. The person seemed female, and although he didn’t recognize the red and black armour there was something else that stunned him.

He blinked as he pointed at her. “Are...are you human?”

The woman raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. “Yes, last time I checked.”

Shiro narrowed his eyes. “Are there other humans here?”

At this the woman leaned against the wall and folded her arms. “No, the rest of the palace is operated by moose lions.”

Shiro sighed. “Are you serious or are you joking?”

The woman dropped her arms. “Um..clearly joking?” She stepped forward. “Did you honestly think I was serious?”

“I’ve seen weirder,” Shiro admitted, not that he knew what a moose lion was.

With that said, was it possible he ended up on a planet that also somehow had humans? It seemed unlikely, but a few years ago Shiro also would have said that of giant robot lions.

The woman looked ready to say something else when footsteps approached. The woman stood straight and saluted.

An older man appeared, wearing similar armor to the woman.

“At ease, Ling,” the man said with his hands tucked behind his back. “I merely came to see if the intruder has woke up”

“Yes, sir,” she replied and pointed, “and he has, Sir.”

The man turned and his eyes instantly narrowed upon seeing Shiro.

“I am Admiral Jee,” he stated firmly while keeping his arms behind his back. “Who are you?”[1]

Shiro straightened his own posture. “I’m Takashi Shirogane.”

“We found you unconscious in the royal gardens,” Jee said as Ling was as still as a statue. “Gave the servants quite a fright. Mind telling me what you were doing there?”

“It was just me?” Shiro asked.

“Yes,” Jee said as he stepped closer, “unless you are saying there were supposed to be others with you?”

“No,” Shiro replied quickly.

Last thing he needed was further suspicion, but that did answer one vital question. The other paladins weren’t here as well. He was likely alone.

The man didn’t look convinced, but stepped back.

“In any case I was instructed to bring you to the Firelord once you’ve awoken for questioning.” He sharply turned to Ling. “Go fetch the handcuffs and some robes for him.”

“Yes, Sir,” Ling said as she marched off.

They were left in silence, but thankfully it didn’t last long as Ling returned with the items. Jee took the robes and passed them through the bars.

“I don’t know what kind of clothing you were wearing under your armour but I imagine this grants you some more dignity,” Jee said.

“Um, thanks,” Shiro said as he took it.

The robes were a bit shabby and not exactly high class, but they were still better than his prison uniform the Galra used. He tossed the uniform over his current clothes as Jee unlocked the cell while Ling held out the handcuffs.

Shiro flinched at the sight of them but ignored the stirrings of memories as he let Ling put the cuffs on. Shiro pulled at them slightly and felt relaxed. The cuffs, like the bars, were made out of regular metal. It wouldn’t take Shiro much effort to break free if he had to.

Jee stared at Shiro with narrow eyes. “Don’t try anything funny.”

“Don’t plan to,” Shiro said honestly as Ling escorted him out of the cell. They walked in silence out of the dungeon and into the hallway.

Neither said a word as they three of them walked, but a few more humans who walked by cast Shiro with a curious glance.

Their clothing style was odd. It was both familiar and yet unfamiliar. It was like Shiro was seeing real life pages from his grandfather’s history book, and yet it didn’t quite feel like he was on Earth.

Shiro was forced to stop pondering as they approached a large pair of doors.

“Wait, here,” Jee instructed as he opened and shut it quickly behind him.

Ling kept a tight grip on Shiro until the doors opened again and Jee gestured for them to enter. Ling shoved Shiro forward, and he obeyed.

There were only four other people in the room. Two were guards stationed at the door, and two others were sitting at the far end of the room. One was an older man with a beard, nex to him was a younger man sitting in the centre.

His eyes were glaring at Shiro like a cat waiting to swipe back if need be. Shiro had to assume he was this Firelord. However what really caught Shiro’s attention was the large burn that took up half of his face.

He can’t be much older than Keith, Shiro thought grimly. What kind of accident burned him that badly?

Shiro didn’t have time to ponder as he was forced to halt and kneel on his knees.

“I am Firelord Zuko,” the young man spoke tensely. “Who are you?”

Shiro swallowed as he straightened his posture.

“My name is Takashi Shirogane.”

“We found unconscious inside the royal palace,” Firelord Zuko continued as he leaned forward. “Who sent you?”

“No one sent me,” Shiro replied.

“Then why did you come here?”

“I didn’t mean to.”

Firelord Zuko raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t mean to?” He gave a huff. “You honestly expect to believe you got by my guards and just wandered into my palace by accident?!”

Shiro sweated. Yeah, he had to admit it did look bad.

“Tell me the truth,” the Firelord Lord demanded.

“I am telling the truth,” Shiro repeated.

“Do you think I'm foolish enough to fall for that?!” the Firelord cried looking ready to stand up.

“No I don’t,” Shiro replied.

“Then tell me why you are here!”

“I don’t know,” Shiro shot back, his words echoed in the room.

The Firelord’s eyes, but Shiro noted the older man looked at him with a tight frown.

Shiro took a deep breath to calm himself.  “Listen, this is a misunderstanding.”

“Is it now?” Firelord Zuko asked.

“Yes,” Shiro said as he straightened his posture. “I’m not an enemy, I'm a Paladin of Voltron. I’m sorry for my intrusion, but it was an accident. I mean your people no harm.”

Firelord Zuk blinked and seemed surprised by the answer. “And what exactly is a paladin?”

Shiro frowned. “What?”

“And where is Voltron?” Zuko continued. “It does not sound like a Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom town.”

“It’s not a town,” Shiro began but then stopped himself. They had never heard of Voltron. Did that mean-

“Does the word ‘Galra’ mean anything to you?” Shiro quickly asked.

The Firelord’s eyes twitched. “You just said you were from Voltron? And now you’re saying you’re from ‘Galra’?! Which is it?”

Oh boy, Shiro thought. How do I explain this?

The older man sitting next to the Firelord cleared his throat. “Firelord Zuko, perhaps we should save this interrogation for later.”

The Firelord turned to the man and pointed to Shiro. “Why? We have him right here-”

“And you also have the meeting with the royal treasurer,” the man replied and pointed to Shiro. “You know how she does not like being late and I believe you will need more time to question Mister Shirogane.”

Firelord Zuko frowned and then sighed. “Very well,” he said and looked back at the guards. “Take him back to his cell for now.”

“Yes, my lord,” Jee said with a bow as Ling pulled Shiro up to his feet.

Shiro said nothing as he was escorted out of the room and stole one more glance at the Firelord.

Shiro didn’t know where he was, but he had a feeling it was going to be tricky to get back home.

1 Is this Lieutenant Jee from Zuko's crew during season 1? Yes. Do I think it would have been nice for his crew to reappear in the show at some point? Yes, I do. Did I decided to correct this by making him an Admiral and taking over Zhao's position. Yes, yes I did.

Notes: Normally I wait until I have the full story written, but I couldn't resist posting at least the beginning chapters I have. I can't promise a weekly schedule, but I will try to work and update it as much as I am able.A few notes. 1. This takes place right after season 2 of Voltron and partly during season 3, while on the Avatar side it takes place three years after season 3. 2. I am ignoring the Avatar comics simply because I really didn't care for how they turned out so don't expect any mention of them here. It's just based on the three seasons of the show. 3. Except for some background Sokka/Suki I'm not putting any ships in this. I got enough happening in this story, and I didn't want to be bog down by any romance. The canon ships just decided they were better off as friends for the time being.

[bisexualklausmikaelson]

the sinking man (8/?)

a/n: i really am looking forward to picking this story back up! The previous chapters are up ao3! I have the same username on there so make sure to read my fics there too!!

.

eight: whispers in the dark

.

The hybrids are not what she expects, at all.

She thought them to be this group of friends - odd souls that came together through these mysterious powers and bonded over their shared pain. Maybe even a merry band of misfits - like something out of a teen movie.

But instead, the hybrids seemed more like a strong and intense group of warriors, trained in to submission.

"They all look," Hayley sighs, as Tyler shows her around the vast field. She sees all their eyes from a distance - the ones fighting on the grass, the ones practicing their running, the ones working out. "So sad," she says.

Tyler shrugs at her as if he's used to it all by now. "That's because they're all stuck here," he reveals. "This place has a barrier around it, I'm the only one who can freely come and go," Tyler explains.

Hayley tilts her head to one side and raises a brow. "Why?" She wonders.

And unexpectedly, Tyler laughs. "Klaus really didn't tell you much did he?" he asks, jokingly. Hayley looks away, feeling ashamed. "We're his secret weapon in the war, no one else really knows about the hybrids," Tyler adds on.

The she-wolf takes another careful look around the field all of the hybrids seem to be trapped in. Other than a few entry ways into small cabins, she can't see much else for them - no place to do their hobbies, no books, no instruments, or anything else to pass the time with really.

It's as if they were robots.

"So, what exactly do all of you do all day then?" Hayley questions

"Mostly training," Tyler offers. "We have access to pretty much everything we need here, bathrooms, food, showers are all in the cabins - some of Klaus' compelled vampires minions shows up every two weeks or so to clean and replenish anything we need," he tells her, while bringing her to one of the cabins where she assumes that she will be staying in.

It doesn't look like anything special, just a large room with a bunch of bunk beds, a seemingly reasonable sized kitchen, a bathroom. "Wow, sounds like a pretty sweet deal," Hayley comments, thinking of the free lodging.

She regrets her words as soon as she sees the broken look on Tyler's face.

"Hardly," he whispers. "When we agreed to do this, we didn't realize this meant becoming Klaus' pack of bitches," he spits, with anger.

She feels as clueless as ever.

"What do you mean?" Hayley says.

Tyler walks closer to her, looking her straight in the eyes. "We're sired to him - we have to do whatever he says," he confesses and her face is nothing short of surprised. "And Klaus isn't exactly known to be a kind man."

She feels a smidge of betrayal by this information, and even more confusion due to the fact that she doesn't feel so sired to Klaus in the same way that Tyler seems to be.

"He never told me any of that," Hayley softly releases.

Her expression reminds him of when he first became a hybrid. He felt so strong and powerful - the thought of not being forced to turn at every full moon was no longer a worry.

Tyler pities her.

"Yeah," he says. "We didn't know about it either."

-

(Klaus is gone for longer this time.

Days, maybe even weeks.

It's hard to say - time passes by so slowly in this place.

She spends her days training with Tyler, he's so impressed by how strong she becomes in such a short amount of time that he almost compliments her on it.

The other hybrids are a bit cold towards her at first - they test her, looking her up and down and judging her.

When she does ask about Klaus, she's met with a lot of silences. Almost as if they aren't allowed to speak his name.

It makes her wonder what else he's hiding from her).

-

A few towns away - the vampire and witch factions seem to be gathering close. The bloody species war has only just begun and the rumbling from each side has torn apart so many.

The original family has always been a group of rulers, leaders - creatures who were both the hunters and hunted.

Elijah and Freya, being the eldest, took it upon themselves to attempt to unite their family as well as the different species they incorporated.

"Brother," Freya, the leader of the witch faction, enters the scene. "Have you gotten in touch with Kol and Rebekah?" she asks, placing a hand on Elijah's shoulder.

He looks out the window of their manor - one of the many Mikaelson mansions located around the country. "Yes," he nods, staring into the night sky. "They won't be joining us, I'm afraid," he admits.

"I see," Freya sings, flipping her long hair. "And Niklaus?" she wonders, as she carefully watches Elijah's reaction.

"He, surprisingly, is on his way as we speak," he smiles, sounding rather cheerful. Well, as cheerful as an original vampire can be anyway. "I'm hoping we can get him to cooperate and join forces with us," Elijah considered.

His sister doesn't seem as enthusiastic. "He's going to be hard to convince," she points out. "He's not exactly fond of teamwork," she asserted, with a finger on her chin, pondering.

He turns to her, his face fills with hope. "It's the only way to bring peace amongst the species, " Elijah claims - he passes his hands along the folds of his blazer, pressing them down and maintaining his perfect posture. "This war is going to get worse and worse if we don't find a way to bring it to an end," he believes.

"I have my witches in alliance with your vampires," Freya repeats. "They aren't fond of the idea of welcoming in Klaus and whatever band of wolves he's been rumoured to gather," she recalls.

Elijah's heard them too - the stories of the missing wolves, the ones who suddenly, overnight, vanished without a trace. The assumption is that it's Klaus' doing, he's the only one known to seek such companionship.

The wolves were a minority of a species, the weakest of the three. It's only natural for them to be desperate enough to team up with even the unbearable likes of Niklaus Mikaelson.

"My brother is," Elijah laments. He could say a million and one things about him, but he settles on this. "Misunderstood," Elijah concludes. "He's not all bad - I assure you."

He thinks of not the monstrous hybrid who makes everyone quake in fear but, of the painter, the dreamer, the sensitive soul who lurks deep inside his brother's body.

"I've never seen that man care for anyone but himself," Freya finally says.

She truly won't believe it until she sees it - the true nature of her mysterious younger brother.

-

Klaus makes his way towards Elijah's manor.

He hasn't seen his brother since they all got together to celebrate Kol's birthday - their relationship had become somewhat estranged. They have a bad habit of stealing each other's lovers. First Tatia, then Katherina - now well, no one really.

Elijah had occupied himself with his families matters for quite some time. Starting with bringing their elder sister Freya back from alienation. Then, mourning the loss of their brother, Finn.

Afterwards, their mother.

Klaus wonders how his visit will go.

-

(The wolves are stirring that night -

Hayley feels connected to them, all of them, strangely.

Almost as if she can hear all their hearts beating, the blood coursing through their veins, how they all sink together - like a symphony.

The hybrids suddenly begin having a weird attraction towards her, they start to follow her around like lost puppies, it even confuses Tyler.

He swears he's never seen them act this way.

She's never spent a whole lot of time around other wolves - it was almost as if she was kept away from most of them on purpose. Hayley often thinks about all the things she doesn't know about her past, how she barely remembers her childhood.

Somewhere, in her locked away memories, holds the answers to all her questions.

She hopes that she will be able to recollect them soon).

-