#the secret scientists are the unfortunate middle child

[celestialprincesse]

police officer!Simon x detective!reader perhaps..? reader is higher ranked than him

I love love love this dynamic💕 @alwaysshallow writes Ghost and Higher ranked!reader perfectly too! I'd highly recommend reading their stuff on them!

The wind is nothing short of biting as you stand outside the forensics tent, pulling your coat tighter around your shoulders with a huff. Your watch reads 04:17AM, Thursday the 14th of November. Cold and tired. Homicides always come at the worst times. Sirens and blindingly bright blue and red lights only serve to worsen the migraine you can feel clawing up the back of your neck, trying to find purchase within the walls of your skull, already swimming with ugly ideas and images.

"-ed a perimeter." The gruff rumble of Simon 'Ghost' Riley's voice snaps you from your self pitying reverie, his eyes crinkling at the sides in a small, secret smile when you look up at him with bleary, confused eyes, envying the balaclava which covers his face from the nose down. "What?" A wince crinkles your stinging, cold face as your voice cracks like broken radio static. Simon's face softens at your obvious weariness. "You need to stop staying up so late." He chides you like a parent would a child, concern melting his brown eyes into molten brass. It's easy for him to forget that not everyone shares the same military background as him, that most can't go for days with only a few hours of sleep and stay sharp. "I was working on the Makarov case." You huff, running your hands down your face in an attempt to wipe away the lingering tiredness settled there. "I know it's eating at you, but you're no use to anyone when you can barely keep your eyes open." Simon's voice takes on that chastising tone that reminds you of his former military prowess - pre honourable discharge. The thought still makes you sad, fills your chest with warm, sticky pity, choking you up with a lump in your throat.

You stuff your hands into your pockets in a futile attempt to stave off the cold, rumbling out complaints and drawing instinctively closer to your colleague as he parts the crowd of forensic scientists and officers with his presence alone. The officer doesn't hesitate to lay his coat across your shoulders, forever looking out for you, if not just to see the way you relax under the warm weight of his jacket. "Can we go for breakfast after this?" A gentle smile flickers across Simon's face as you plead with him. The strength of your stomach never fails to surprise him, your ability to think about food in the middle of a crime scene eternally entertaining. Truly a person after his own heart. "Course we can."

You're not really sure why you're here, seeing as you only seem to get in the way of forensics gathering evidence as Simon walks you around the scene, detailing what the team knows so far about the crime, leaving you and your tired mind to decipher the rest. Unfortunately, with the lack of caffeine and bacon in your system, all you can do is nod dumbly and try to hide the way you keep yawning. Simon, as always, is ever present at your back, your side, letting you lean into him or mutter about how hungry you are under the pretence of talking about information relating to the crime. He's known you for long enough now to know that trying to get your brain firing at this time in the morning is futile. You work better at night.

Before Simon is given the opportunity to usher you away from the impending crushing of some poor kids' hopes and dreams, one of Graves' wide eyed, freakishly excited mentees is making a beeline your way - not that you notice when you've got your head in your hands and no will to live. The prepubescent sounding screech of their voice makes you wince, drilling a hole in your skull just big enough for the migraine to slip through. "You worked under Laswell right?" They chirp, far too energised for this obscene hour in the morning, and for someone play investigating the scene of a double homicide. "Yup." The dull, tired drone of your voice should be enough indication that you're not feeling talkative, and the look Simon angles them is unwavering enough to make a grown man weep. Not that they seem to notice. Or care. "Isn't this so cool? like a real life, actual homicide? Did you see the bodies? They were so gross."

Simon notices the way you bristle, shoulders at your ears. Despite your grumbling, you have the decency to respect the dead, something that Kate taught you long ago. "One of them had this like-" is enough to send you over the edge, shooting the kid a cruel look as you stand from where you'd been hunched in the back of the police van. "Enough." You growl, and Simon reaches out to place a grounding hand on the small of your back, trying his best to soothe your anger. "Don't be so fucking immature." The sound of your hiss is enough for the trainee to take a nervous step back. "Those are dead people. Those are dead people that were brutally murdered, in their beds at shit o'clock in the morning. Have some respect." You snap before pointing back at Graves with a furious blaze in your tired eyes. "Now go back to your shitty mentor and rifle through some bins."

"I'm impressed." Simon perks up from behind you, waiting with open arms for you to inevitably stumble into, emotionally and physically exhausted. "Breakfast?" You plead again into the plain fabric of his jumper. "Breakfast."

[tanglepelt]

Dp x dc idea thing. 44

Someone says the forbidden words. I wish. Now it was a child’s wish. I wish we all were with our familles. One meant to be nice.

A ghost attack had caused the collapse of a roof. The child was just happened to be in a room with the trio. Danny hadn’t even had the chance to transform.

As Desiree twists her wishes. The worst thing for Danny happened. You see he was adopted. After he failed a mission for the league rather then return he noped out of there. Granted the mission was set up to fail. He overheard his twin discussing it with mother.

Being adopted by two mad scientists at 6 was the biggest reason they never found out he survived. The Fentons were astonished by his story. Helped hide him and forged new papers. Quickly accepting him as their own son. The family had no social media presence minus the Fentonwork site, no mentions of children.

Rather then be returned to the Fentons a green portal dumped him in the middle of a grand dinning room. A ton of blue eyed black haired people eating dinner. The one that stood out was the one with green eyes.

Nope.

No

No way

Well then the green eyed one lunges at him.

Okay maybe.

When he starts yelling about impersonating his dead twin. How dare grandfather clone him. Honestly he wasn’t listening until he spoke of killing all the other clones.

Yup. That was Damian.

If vlad could make clones he has no doubt grandfather could. For all he knows vlad could have handed the info over to him for some of the rancid ectoplasm they had at the base.

He knew the truth now.

The Lazarus pits was just remnants from the river of revulsion. It’s a wonder they brought anyone back.

Honestly Damian charging him was a pain. Danny didn’t even know how his twin suddenly had a sword. Getting cut was enough of that. This was a dinning room not a training room. He was just going to have to dine and dash.

He really needs to thank jazz and sam for getting him back into physical training. He enjoyed not worrying about it 24/7. Then the whole dying had to happen. As such he got back into it. This was starting to tire him out.

From the lack of people getting out of the way. They must be used to this chaos. The look in there eyes indicated they were going to get involved. Honestly he’d rather not.

Realistically he doesn’t think Damian would be able to find him. The fentons and then tucker have helped to conceal him. By all accounts his past life never existed. Only Daniel Fenton did. Amity was a nowhere town mostly hidden by the government anyways. The whole ghost thing was meant to stay secret.

They didn’t want people poking around there.

Danny was aware it just helped hide him so why expose it. Tucker sam and jazz knew. They all could bypass it.

With a sigh and a wave of his hand he froze them in place.

“Let all just cool down here. Damian i have and had no intentions of ever seeing you again. But genies like to twist wishes unfortunately. Desiree just had to screw me over specifically to get me out of town.”

“For all i care keep your title as heir, I’m much happier playing dead. I’m already half way there. Don’t look for me. You get to be the superior twin”

“No need for late night plots on how to kill me or prove yourself. Enjoy. I have friends and family to get back to.”

With a snap of his finger a green portal opened in front of Danny.

“The ice will disappear in five minutes or so. If i remember to unfreeze it” grabbing one of the rolls on the table. Danny left through the portal.

What Danny didn’t know was his twin had been trying to find ways around the botched mission. Grandfather has only wanted one heir. Easiest way to get that was to dispose of the youngest.

[black-rose-writings]

I've had this idea about how the show would have been massively improved by making one little change.

The show, especially it's second season, feels boring, pointless. The only driving point of the whole season 2 is to yell "Darkling Bad". They obviously don't care about established characters, the worldbuilding or lore. Definitelly not about Grisha oppression.

So, what small change would give even the slightest hint of a point and theme to it all, a theme that transcends the creators' need to shit on their most popular character?

Make Alina Aleksander's daughter.

Narratives about cycles of abuse and generational trauma are really popular these days, so instead of making it a story about shitting on the Darkling, make it a story about how Ilya being a shitty father and a mad scientist literally fucked over the rest of the world. Instead of making the show a story about destruction of Morozova's legacy, make it a story about it's redemption.

(Again, my ideal version of the story would be one that works with the themes, characters and plots of the original books and expands on them in a way LB was too much of an american lib to do, but this is "how to make the show better with as few changes as possible")

First, some tweaks to Alina's backstory to account for this change (well, giving her a backstory pre-Keramzin):

There was a more open conflict with Shu Han like 25 years ago, that required Aleksander's presence. During his stay, he spent a few nights with a local woman (possibly anonymously initially, but she did end up finding out who he was, this is important) of Shu descent (though she considered herself Ravkan). The conflict ends and much of the Dva Stolba valley falls under Shu control, giving more explanation for the tension and racism Alina experiences later. Alina's mother stays in Ravkan territory, because, again, despite her ethnicity, she considers herself to be Ravkan, and a few months after the end of that conflict, she gives birth to Alina. She does attempt to contact Aleksander, wanting him to claim the child, but he initially doesn't, both because it's impractical and because he doesn't really believe he is her father, though he does arrange for her to recieve some money.

A few years pass and Alina starts showing signs of Grisha powers, and her mother attempts to contact Aleksander again, telling him of this. She is unable to explain Alina's powers, because she knows relatively little about Grisha and has no idea how Sun Summoning would present. Aleksander does respond this time and urges Alina's mother to take her to be tested and that it would be safest for Alina to keep her parentage a secret (he still doesn't fully believe Alina is his daughter). Before Alina can be tested, however, the family gets caught in the middle of a Shu raid and Alina's mother (and maybe stepfather) are killed, and she ends up in Keramzin, now having an extra trauma reason to hide her powers (taking some inspiration from Alina's cut pre-Keramzin backstory from season 1).

Now, for the changes in season 1, those would be largely in the form of Aleksander's flashbacks and slow realisation of who Alina is. You can still keep the make-out scene/"romance" bits if you really want, because GSI (genetic sexual attraction, a syndrome/phenomenon where closely related people who have been separated for the vast majority of their life, like through adoption, deadbeat/cheating parents etc. upon meeting as adults develop an attraction to each other) is a real thing, incest in media is also unfortunately popular, of course this fucking family would do it, and antis will enjoy getting even more reason to hate Aleksander.

If we go the non-ew route, there would be some changes to the tent scene (to account for Alina being a living amplifier) and perhaps expanding/adding scenes to the journey to Os Alta, giving room to vocalize some of these differences (like explaining the living amplifier thing earlier). Maybe having Alina saying something that prompts Aleksander to be reminded of her mother, and being confused as to why at first.

Their interractions in season 1 would need to be reframed through the father-daughter lens, but it wouldn't be all that dificult, because it already has mentor-mentee undertones. Ideally, there would be a point somewhere before the Winter Fete, possibly as a catalyst for Alina's breakthrough with her powers, when he tells her who she is. It would give Alina a personal stake in the story, because she clearly doesn't give a fuck about her duties/responsibilities as a Sun Summoner in either version. She doesn't have to destroy the Fold because she's a Sun Summoner, but because she's the descendant of the Black Heretic. She's not just the savior of a country she doesn't give two shits about, but the redemption of her family.

If we want to go the "shit on Aleksander" route, nothing about his interractions with Alina would change all that much and the reveal of her parentage, at least to Alina, would come through Baghra, giving Alina more obvious emotional reason to run away and feel betrayed (especially if the almost-sex-on-the-big-map still happens, because "ew, I almost fucked my dad, who know we're related" would be infinitely more understandable of a reason to run away than what Baghra actually tells her).

Either way, the information that she isn't just a distant descendant of the Black Heretic, but his actual child, that she has a grandmother he didn't bother telling her about, that he told her they were going to redeem their family, when he only planned on continuing his work and using her for it, hits Alina like a truck. Alina going though StuffTM emotionally makes her decision to run away make a lot more sense.

Anyway, there would be very little change plotwise, just some dialogue adjustments, maybe mentioning how the Stag is her legacy, her heritage.

It would reframe Alina's fear of becoming like Aleksander, that permeates the second season, have some basis. It would give a reason for the "fuck Ilya and everything he touched and made" narrative Baghra is spinning. Baghra telling both Mal and Alina the story of her family, of why she believes now that it all much be destroyed, how her father's greed drove him to create abominations, to twist the world in unnatural ways, and she looks pointedly at the two as she says it.

Make Alina's stand against Aleksander her way of saying "the cycle of abuse in this family ends with me. I will make our family better.". Make her and Nikolai's political marriage a symbol of a new begining for Ravka in more ways than one - redemption of the Morozov(a) and Lantsov families. And bonding over "I can't tell anyone who my real dad is because it would cause trouble."

But of course, at the end, it fails, because both of them misunderstood the fundamental reason why things became as bad as they did.

IDK, I just think that changing Alina to Aleksander's daughter would improve their dynamic and a lot of the surrounding narratives massively. Even in variations other than the show.

[clansecretsfreak]

AU Talks! Clan Secrets-verse!

So a little introduction at the beginning. This is my AU which as you can see above is named "Clan Secrets". To be honest the name is just something I thought up in the middle of the night so... Yeah. The main topic here will be slowly getting through the time line of my verse. Feel free to ask me questions about the whole thing! I will do my best to answer

It will not be chronological, unfortunately. So yeah.. let's begin!

Political marriage of Mito Uzumaki & Hashirama Senju

In my AU, the marriage between Mito and Hashirama was entirely political. Don't get me wrong, I love them together but for the drama purposes and just the kick of it, in this AU the marriage was purely politics.

This doesn't mean they didn't love each other. Because they did, just.. not as a married couple. They were best of friends, neither was attracted to the other and it was fine with them both. They had an agreement, one heir to pacify the elders and be done with it. They also agreed that they both could seek out lovers on the side if one of them wished to do so.

And here is why the last sentence is relevant. Because in my AU, Mito did seek out a lover, they fell in love (were cheered on by a gleeful Hashirama on the way) and were happily in a non-married relationship. From their love was born a son, way younger then Mito/Hashi child (5 year difference) but yeah. Also the lover was Senju. And because Mito was, you know, kiyubi container and couldn't exactly hide the pregnancy it was agreed that Hashirama would claim the child as his own, to dodge a political scandal and shunning of a bastard, and all that. And that's how Tsunades father was born. And that's why neither Nawaki nor our favourite Slug Princess were able to develop Wood release.

The whole family was perfectly happy with their arrangement. Hashi was happy for his bestie and he had another child to coo at, Mito had someone who loved her romantically and had two children to look after, and Mitos lover was somehow adopted into the main family of Senju and was (publicly at least, in private he was basically a second father to both rascals) the cooler uncle while Tobirama was the one who was the mad scientist uncle.

[esonetwork]

Timestamp: Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/timestamp-series-thirteen-and-thirteenth-doctor-summary/

Timestamp: Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

Doctor Who Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

Jodie Whittaker’s final series was consistent but frustrating.

This batch of episodes encapsulated much of this era of Doctor Who, which struck me as more of a classic era tone with enhanced special effects. The budgets were lower relative to the rest of the revival era, and the stories tended to be more self-contained and pulpy. In Flux, a serialized event akin to the classic years, we even saw some classic-style monsters that looked more like latex and plaster than we’re used to.

Unfortunately, the budget constraints also led to convoluted writing. The Flux serial was announced in early 2021 with eight episodes, but we ended up with six parts instead. The other two became specials accompanying the feature-length finale. This reduction was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s also no secret that Doctor Who was in danger of being cancelled again. Viewership didn’t stick around during the writing troubles and the obvious shift in production values. In short, the Doctor was in trouble.

Flux started well enough, but with convoluted plot threads and jumpy stories in the back half, it fell flat. This should have been a home run for Jodie Whittaker’s farewell tour, but it was bogged down by its weight. The three specials picked up some of the slack with clearer plots, back-to-basics characterization, and exciting adventures, but Flux was frustrating and confusing when all was said and done.

Overall, Series Thirteen comes in with a solid 4.0 score, buoyed by the specials and Village of the Angels. That ties with the classic Twelfth Season and Series Ten, and places this set in a tie for sixteenth among the forty-one seasons (so far) in the scope of the Timestamps Project. Despite my frustrations, that’s still good company. It’s also right in the middle between the other two series in the Whittaker era, which speaks to consistency of quality.

For what it’s worth, I did enjoy the rewatch, though this is not a set that I’d sit down and mainline if I had a day off.

Flux – Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse – 4 Flux – Chapter Two: War of the Sontarans – 5 Flux – Chapter Three: Once, Upon Time – 4 Flux – Chapter Four: Village of the Angels – 4 Flux – Chapter Five: Survivors of the Flux – 4 Flux – Chapter Six: The Vanquishers – 3 Eve of the Daleks – 2 Legend of the Sea Devils – 4 The Power of the Doctor – 4

Series Ten Average Rating: 4.0/5

Following tradition…

The First Doctor was a wise grandfather, the Second a sly jester, the Third a secret agent scientist, the Fourth an inquisitive idealist, the Fifth an honorable humanitarian, the Sixth a squandered cynic, the Seventh a curious schemer, the Eighth a classical romantic, the Ninth a hopeful healing veteran, the Tenth a bargaining humanitarian, the Eleventh an irascible runner, the Twelfth a principled warrior…

…and the Thirteenth Doctor is an excitable explorer.

She was the embodiment of acceptance of the post-Time War traumas in the early days, but she ended up falling into similar dour moods after the Timeless Child revelation. That comes coupled with the destruction of Gallifrey by the Master, literally dismantling everything her predecessors accomplished as the essence of her people was poured into one of their greatest enemies.

The trauma derailed her recovery.

This Doctor was intentionally distant and emotionally aloof, preferring fun and excitement over being cuddly. There were a lot of adventures taking place off-screen but alluded to by the companions. She was also considerate of the pain of leaving her companions behind, a character trait that prevented her from getting too close to Yaz. She cared in her own way.

I like the Thirteenth Doctor a lot, but I unlike previous incarnations, I feel that her score places her appropriately in the ranks. I loved her spirit and her embodiment of what it means to be the Doctor, and I will miss her. I just wish that her time had been better treated. She had so much more potential and so many more stories to tell.

Series Scores Series 8 – 3.9 Series 9 – 4.1 Series 10 – 4.0

Thirteenth Doctor’s Weighted Average Rating: 4.00

Ranking (by score) 1 – Eighth (4.50) 2 – Tenth (4.34) 3 – Ninth (4.30) 4 – Eleventh (4.17) 5 – Third (4.00) 6 – Thirteenth (4.00) 7 – Twelfth (3.87) 8 – Second (3.67) 9 – Fourth (3.67) 10 – Seventh (3.54) 11 – First (3.41) 12 – Fifth (3.20) 13 – Sixth (2.73) N/A – War (No score) N/A – Fugitive (No score)

Ranking (by character) 1 – Tenth Doctor 2 – Second Doctor 3 – Ninth Doctor 4 – Eighth Doctor 5 – Third Doctor 6 – Fourth Doctor 7 – Thirteenth Doctor 8 – Fugitive Doctor 9 – Twelfth Doctor 10 – War Doctor 11 – Eleventh Doctor 12 – Seventh Doctor 13 – First Doctor 14 – Fifth Doctor 15 – Sixth Doctor

As I’ve mentioned before (and before, and before, and…), the top ten spaces on the character ranking are really, really, really close. I’m always tempted to simply rank them all as a first-place tie, but I find the real challenge to be actually thinking it through and placing them.

So, here we are: The Timestamps Project has effectively caught up with the continuing story of Doctor Who. To keep the spirit of this project alive, I’m taking a short break. First, this will allow the Sixtieth Anniversary and Series Fourteen (Season One) stories some time to breathe. Second, it will allow me some time to focus on other things.

No doubt, the Timestamps Project will return. After all, we have the return of David Tennant and the debut of Ncuti Gatwa to talk about, and my initial impression of those stories was that they were fun.

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Star Beast

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

[triysn]

the only reason I want a celebrity trio crossover is so they can all play alien, cryptid or evo for the rest of time and the inter-organisational admin is a MESS

[archester-creations]

lost pictures

The contact on her phone stared back at her. Not for the first time she actually kind of questioned contacting him. If her dad found out, he’d be so disappointed. But it wasn’t like she was calling him instead because she hated her dad! He could just be… Well. Embarrassing. A bit much. Over protective. Not saying he wasn’t, too. He was just less so. Maybe it was his nephew's influence vs her being her dad’s only child, but oftentimes he was simply more willing to trust that she could handle herself. He was less likely to jump in unnecessarily than her dad was. Which was exactly what she wanted for this school trip.

                                                                                                       Hey Perry |                                                                                               I need a favour |

| ?

                                   Can you pretend to be my dad for a school field trip? |

Not like it'd be hard, Vanessa thought as she tapped the side of her phone, waiting for his reply. Over the years, staying with her dad and Perry slowly went from ‘dealing with my dad and his nemesis’ to ‘dealing with my two dads and their weird career choices’. Not that she'd tell them that. No, she'd let them figure that stuff out on their own. Her hands were washed of at least that part of their insanity.

 | Dr. D?

                                                                                                            He’s fine |

                                                                                               But mom is busy |

                                                                               And you /know/ how dad is |

                                He can be so embarrassing and over protective and just |

                                                                                                           So much |

And its just for a small school trip! Were going out of danville and i know hed be                                                                                     so much more protective |

 She could practically see Perry raise his eyebrow at her, so she tacked on a hopeful ‘Please, perry?’

 | What day?

 Vanessa brightened up, smiling at her phone. Thank god. Now she'd just have to tell her teachers that her other dad is coming with. And with what happened last year, they’ll probably be too relieved to question it. The small pros of having your dad swear vengeance on cows during a field trip. She quickly sent him the dates so he could ask off.

With that done, she let herself finally focus on the rest of the planning. Or, packing. She'd gotten her mom to sign off on this trip before she contacted Perry. Since she was her original go-to. Unfortunately she was unable to go. It'll be interesting to see Perry as a school field trip chaperone. Maybe she could get him to show her places other than the ones the school took them to. There's no way the secret agent hasn't been to Washington before.

 “Mr. Perrin Fletcher?” The short, stocky teacher looked at her clipboard then up at the both of them under her glasses. “Isn't that a different last name from your father’s?”

Vanessa shrugged. “Work related reasons. With my dad being a scientist he didn't want to confuse the scientific community with a name change in case he made some big discovery or anything.” She waved her hands in a half approximation of jazz hands and rolled her eyes like she thought it was dumb.

The teacher hummed, seeming to trust the reasoning, and moved on. Vanessa sighed with relief once the teacher was mostly out of sight. That wasn't a question she'd actually planned for. It was almost weird to even have it questioned. Fletcher or Doofenshmirtz, Perry was as much a staple of her life as her dad was. To have it questioned was like being questioned if she was really related to her dad. Which… come to think of it, she has been. Huh. Suddenly some of the teachers she’s had feel a touch more rude and she narrows her eyes in annoyance. Perry sent her a questioning look that she waved away. “I'm fine, Perry.” An eyebrow was raised but he left it, which she appreciated. He grabbed her extra bag and led the way into the bus when the door opened. They ended up in the middle of the bus on the side diagonal to the door. She couldn't help but wonder if it was strategic. The second they sat, Vanessa put her headphones in. Perry looked around a moment (definitely strategic) before he got his reading glasses and a book out.

A few hours later, they were in Washington and Vanessa wanted to stretch . Also eat. Neither Perry nor her brought food with them to eat on the bus, like the other students and parents had. (Both of them knew if her dad had known, he would’ve packed something for them and they silently mourned the loss together.) The second they got off Vanessa popped her back so loudly, Perry actually looked concerned.

“Alright, let’s get some food before we head to the hotel room,” Vanessa said and Perry easily agreed. They ended up in their room with taco bell.

 The first day was nice, if a little boring. Though a highlight was definitely when Lacie told her ‘your dad doesn't do much, does he?’ and she had to keep a straight face as she told her ‘no. no he doesn't’.

The second day was where it got unexpectedly (which was really on Vanessa, she should expect this by now. Perry was just as much a weird magnet as her dad was.) exciting. The class had just separated to head to different smithsonians. Vanessa and Perry made their way to the American Art Museum. For the first half Vanessa got exactly what she'd expected. She appreciated and made fun of the art in equal measures. Next to her, Perry made some disapproving expressions with a half smile before he joined as well. (Modern art apparently was a joke goldmine for him.) Then a room caught her eye. More specifically, a person in the room. They looked familiar and she nudged Perry, gesturing subtlety to him when Perry looked up. It was great having someone for once who knew how to look without drawing attention.

There was a shorter man in the room (though Perry knew with slight distaste the man was taller than him), black hair tied up in a loose bun and dark eyes highlighted by dark circles that told of a lifetime of missed sleep. Or perhaps just a few weeks. He wasn't in his normal black dress shirt and white tie but Perry recognized him easily. Years of OWCA training had him good with faces. Months of furious dislike followed by more months of much calmer dislike where they no longer tried to rip each other's throats out when they met- okay, fine, Perry can admit perhaps eight times out of ten he was the one who started those fights. Of course the times when OWCA purposely assigned them together to help them work out their issues' didn't help.- made it much easier. Peter, code name: Panda. The third agent P. He squinted, annoyance crawling up his chest. When he'd agreed to accompany Vanessa for her trip to Washington, he knew there was a chance to run into him. It was low because Peter usually worked out of Seattle, but all of them moved around occasionally. They were secret agents, they didn't only fight their scientists even if it was usually their main job. For the ones of them assigned a scientist, at least. Perry had really hoped they wouldn't run into each other.

“You know him?” Vanessa whispered and Perry realized she must've caught his split second realization. A spark of pride welled in him. There were some newer recruits he knew that wouldn't of caught that flicker of emotion cross his face. Though he tamped it down to shake his head. “Bullshit. You do . I swear I've seen him before, too.”

Perry frowned and tracked his memory. Had she seen him? Well, she'd been there for some of his own battles against Heinz. And… there were ones he didn't see. Which means she could've met him and he didn't know. Of course, if she did the lack of Heinz mentioning it at least meant that Vanessa didn't join in even if she was there. While that no doubt disappointed Heinz, Perry couldn't help but be happy by that. A light appeared in Vanessa’s eyes.

“Ooo ooh .” There was a smirk that Perry didn't like. It reminded him of himself . “It's that other agent.” 

His eyebrow twitched. Like a traitor, Vanessa laughed. Made fun of by his own fake daughter. He sighed.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t see much of him but I still think you’re cooler.” Vanessa winked at him and he couldn’t deny it made him feel a bit better. “Now let’s see what he’s doing.”

Quickly, Perry shook his head. This was not around where Peter lived (all agents lived in the same city as their assigned scientist) and he doubted Peter was here to appreciate the art. Which meant it had to be a mission. A non-Mystery related one, because while Perry could believe that Peter just liked the art, Mystery absolutely did not strike him as an art guy. Also because he'd remembered Pinky mentioning a recent string of art-thefts. Not only did he not want to interact with Peter in general, he didn't think Heinz would like it if he got Vanessa involved in a more serious OWCA-related case.

“Come on, Perry, please ?” And Vanessa took a step toward the mostly-empty-room with Peter inside it. “Don't you want to see what your rival is up to?” ‘Rival’ felt like it held the weight of multiple meanings; the way it was light and teasing but formed around a knowing smile with emphasis. Platonic- rival at work, during training, in the field. Romantic- rival in love. She continued her way backward until she turned on her heel and entered the room. Perry sighed and begrudgingly followed.

“ Hey , Peter,” Vanessa whispered before she got too close to Peter. She'd already seen her dad surprise Perry once before. If Peter actually was half as good as Perry, she wanted to announce her presence before his reflexes kicked in. The agent turned to her with an eyebrow raise. Only one swipe of his eyes and he let recognition show.

“Dr. Doofenshmirtz?”

“Not here.” Vanessa shook her head. A half-smile curled her lip. “I have a different chaperone.”

Peter looked at her questioningly, no doubt concerned with her expression. The moment he noticed Perry behind her was clear. Annoyance flashed along dark eyes. The corner of his lip twitched downward for the barest second. It kinda reminded her of Lacie whenever she had to interact with someone she didn't like in class. Except Lacie wasn't an agent who professionally wiped those emotions off their face the second they occurred. Though she wondered if Peter ever complained about interacting with Perry to anyone. Maybe the Professor Mystery her dad had mentioned?

“Perry,” Peter said tartly. It sounded like cold professionalism and it kind of made Vanessa want to laugh. Especially when Perry nodded in the same way. She wondered if this was how they interacted at work.

“What are you doing here?” Peter asked.

Perry nodded slightly toward Vanessa. “ School trip ,” he signed, then pointed at Peter, his head tilted and an eyebrow raised.

Peter raised both eyebrows. “Mission. Classified.” It was easy to catch the smug ‘need to know basis’ undertone. Red-brown eyes narrowed in annoyance.

There was definitely a fight brewing between the agents. In the corner of her eye, Vanessa caught sight of a pair of twins she recognized. Unlike Perry and her, who decided on just walking around, it looked like their parents had gotten an actual tour guide. Some young adult who looked tired and definitely worked there. Who had the power to kick them out if they made a scene. While she had led them here, that wasn't something she wanted. There were still sections she wanted to be able to look at. Plus, she'd gotten the information she wanted. She grabbed Perry’s hand to pull him away. “Come on dad, let's get back.”

A moment of confusion appeared on Peter before he smiled and let out half a laugh. “Have a good tour,” he said and turned away to leave through the door at the far end of the room, heading deeper into the museum.

“Hey Perry.” Perry looked over at her. “I know what we’re gonna do today.”

Perry shook his head. No, whatever it was it was dangerous, much as he did want to know what his supposed ‘classified’ mission was.

“I’m pretty sure Peter’ll hate it. Especially if we complete whatever mission it is first.”

… Vanessa was right. Peter would absolutely hate that. Fuck. “ Safely ,” Perry signed firmly.

“Of course ,” Vanessa said with a smile and maybe had she not been Dr. D’s daughter and clearly influenced by both the doctor and himself , he’d be more inclined to believe her. At least he knew just who to text for information. The second agent P.

The second he texted Pinky, asking what Peter’s mission was, the videocall rang. He frowned at the phone and answered. Immediately Pinky came into view, their long hair tied up in a ponytail and a tanktop on. Which meant Pinky was home and not at OWCA. Their laptop was in view, though the screen wasn’t.

“Why do you want to know?” Pinky leaned on a hand, half turned away from the laptop.

“We want to beat him to it,” Vanessa answered from behind him and he could see her popping into frame through the tiny box in the corner that showed him his own side of the call.

“Wait. Are you- Why are you even in Washington right now?”

For the second time that day, Perry signed “ School trip.”

Pinky’s eyebrow raised. “Is that your daughter?” There was no way Pinky didn't know the answer to that. Their families were neighbors, after all. And close on top of that. Plus Perry had told Pinky enough about her that he knew they knew exactly who she was. He almost rolled his eyes at the question.

“Yep,” Vanessa said and Pinky smiled. Apparently the agent approved. On the other hand, Perry felt his face grow hot. It was one thing to pretend to be her dad for the school. It was another to have two people who knew he wasn't her dad refer to him that way anyhow while they were fully alone. And even speaking on a secure channel. (Any electronic communication with Pinky was secure. The other agent had the of scrambling any and all lines- and doing it double when they were in contact with Perry. It was something he greatly appreciated about his friend.)

“ Mission ,” Perry cut in.

“Right,” Pinky gave him a shit-eating grin and he had the feeling Vanessa’s expression would be similar if he looked. He refrained. “I'll look that up now. You remember my price?” Perry nodded with a sigh. He'd have to ask Linda to make another pie.

“Price?” Vanessa questioned.

“Of course,” Pinky flashed a smile toward Vanessa, only taking their eyes off the laptop for a moment. “I don't normally do non-work related hacking and information gathering pro bono.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened and she glanced at Perry who didn't even flinch. Hacking ? As far as she knew, Perry did some hacking. But if he was going to this agent they must be even better. And if they did work outside the OWCA, they were definitely better. “What's your price? Do you teach?”

They looked over at her. “It depends on the job. Though Perry’s a friend, so I just get him to bring me food. I've taught my sobrina some but I've never taught anyone else. Why, looking for lessons?”

“ Absolutely ,” Vanessa said and Perry wasn't very surprised. It wasn't exactly a secret to him that Vanessa was interested in OWCA. From everything he’s seen from her over the years and everything he’s heard from Dr. D, he knew she’d be a good agent too. Though she hadn’t talked to Dr. D about it yet. That was one of those things Perry knew would lead to a discussion between them. Since that hasn’t happened, he knew she hadn’t told him yet. He looked from Vanessa to Pinky hacking into mission files beyond the screen. No doubt this would lead to that talk. Until then he’d be keeping a closer eye on Vanessa. There was no doubt in his mind she could do it and he’d be there for anything she needed. It kind of reminded him of training the new recruits. Except more important, somehow. Probably because it was Vanessa. Pinky said something, and Vanessa’s face lit up with interest. Perry wished Dr. D was here to see it.

“Remember those art thefts I’d told you about, Perry? The hired ones. Looks like our friend got assigned the mission to stop them,” Pinky said, phone already repositioned so they could look at their phone and laptop at the same time. “And the next painting is scheduled to be stolen tomorrow night. Before you ask, I found it. Among the Sierra Nevada, California .” The camera turned to show a painting. Large clouds and mist swirled over mountains. Multiple waterfalls spilled into a lake with deer at its grassy shore. Perry looked over to the painting they’d found Peter at, Vanessa doing the same. They were identical. According to the label it was made in London before touring through Europe, to St. Petersburg, and ultimately to America.

“Well, we don’t have to find it,” Vanessa said. Taking it as a cue, Perry turned the camera to show Pinky.

“Oh good. You guys got lucky, too. It was in storage last month,” Pinky said. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” Perry nodded his goodbye and Pinky hung up.

“So what now?” Vanessa asked. “Do we talk to the museum? Stake out the painting? Swap it with a fake?”

“ Wait .” At this point, that was their best bet. They couldn’t talk to the museum. If asked, they couldn’t reveal where they’d gotten the knowledge and it could interfere with whatever Peter planned. While he was okay with having a one-sided competition with Peter, he wasn’t okay with compromising another agent’s mission. And he was certain Peter hadn’t told the museum either. “ Plan .”

 “Hey, Monobrow,” Heinz tapped the screen and Monogram looked over. “Do you know where Perry the Platypus is?”

Monogram raised his monobrow. He didn’t even ask how the evil scientist acquired access to the screen. Later he’d have to get Carl to fix that. “He requested a few vacation days recently. As far as I know he left yesterday morning.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“... no real reason,” Heinz said, eyes briefly looking off screen. “When do you think he’ll be back ?”

“In a few days, Heinz. No evil till then,” Monogram said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Heinz waved toward the screen. Then he shut it off. Apparently he’d have to find a way to entertain himself for a few days. Since Vanessa said she couldn’t come over and Perry was on vacation . Which was fine, the agent needed the rest. Hopefully he’d get some sleep . Something he’d love to get too, but he knew he was too wired for that. There was some cleaning he’d been putting off that he could get done today. And maybe tomorrow he could head to Washington. It’d been a while since he’d last had tea with Peter the Panda. He wondered how things were going with him and Mystery . He’d have to remember to call Peter later. Secret agent’s schedules could be so busy .

 The next day after the smithsonian was interesting, if not very eventful. Though it was definitely fun. Even with Vanessa getting distracted occasionally, wondering how they'd deal with the theft set up for the night. Their class went to the zoo and broke into groups. Lacie and her aunt went with them. They walked around for hours. It was a bigger zoo than the one in Danville. Vanessa didn't think they could see it all even if they had the full day. But they did see the ‘important’ exhibits.

(“Dad, platypi! Do you think you're related to any of them?” Vanessa whispered at the platypus enclosure and Perry shot her an annoyed look that made her smile.)

(Perry nudged her with his elbow and when she looked, he pointed to her eyes and then one of the ocelots. She frowned at him. It was easy to translate- you have their eyes .

“I do not,” Vanessa said, glaring at his smirk.)

Eventually the day ended, though. Her classmates all went back to their small hotel rooms with their parents. And Vanessa and Perry snuck out for the museum.

 It was dark inside. The museum had closed two hours ago. Perry took out his grappling hook and handed it to Vanessa to use. Since he only had one, one of them would have to climb the rope and he'd prefer it be him. She weighed it in her hand and smiled at him. Again, Perry wished Dr. D was here. It may not have been evil, but he knew his nemesis would've loved to see the light in his daughter’s eyes. When they got back he'd have to tell Dr. D about it. Of course, a few details would have to be left out but-

But he wouldn't be able to tell Heinz anything. Because he'd feel terrible knowing that he missed a trip with his little girl. Perry didn't regret going with Vanessa. Knowing that Dr. D didn't get to go too hurt, though. How many pictures could Perry feasibly take to make it better? To make it like Dr. D had been there himself? He knew Dr. D wouldn't complain or say it hurt, but could be take the edge off? He blinked and shook the thoughts away. Right now, they had a thief to stop. They had a plan to follow. Vanessa looked at him and when he nodded, she shot.

The grappling hook moved in a near perfect arc, up and up until it disappeared over the edge of the roof. Vanessa tightened it to make sure it stuck. Then she pressed the button and the rope pulled her up. Perry kept an eye on her as she went, ready to catch her in case anything happened. Thankfully nothing did. The rope came back down and he tested it before he shimmied his way up. They entered the museum through a vent and landed in the Lunder Conservation Center on the fourth floor, in the west wing. Down two floors in the east wing sat the painting. They'd have to go through at least three security locked doors to get there. Luckily, Perry had an all access badge. A badge that feasibly opened any and all doors that could be opened with a badge. There were two of them in existence. He'd helped Pinky make the badges a while back, when Pinky had been on their own non-owca mission. The Fireside Girls and Isabella had been in trouble then. Though they didn't know it then nor would they ever. They'd managed to get the badges to work in under two hours.

He pressed the badge against the reader and for a second it flashed red before the light turned green and the lock clicked. Vanessa gave him a look as he opened the door. The badges were a secret between him and Pinky. With a wink he pressed a finger to his lips. She rolled her eyes and passed through before him. With a smile he followed. (Honestly, sometimes messing with Vanessa felt like messing with Candace. Though the pride he felt with her half annoyed reactions was often… stronger. He had a feeling he knew what that meant and he’s sure Vanessa knew too.)

The lights are off when they get to the landscape gallery and Perry gestured Vanessa to crouch as he did the same. From what Perry got last night, the security guard should still be on the first floor. But the security guard wasn't all they had to watch for. There was the thief, and he didn't know how Peter would get in. Maybe through the vents. For now, they would wait outside the door out of sight and watch and listen.

It's when Vanessa shifts because her foot was falling asleep that something happens. A door opened quietly enough Perry almost missed it. He turned around just enough to see behind them and red-brown eyes met black ones. Looked like Peter found them first. Peter’s eyebrows lowered angrily and he crouched but that didn't erase the annoyed set of his jaw or the stiffness of his spine.

“What are you doing here?” Peter hissed at him the second he was close enough to do so.

Perry gave him a thin smile and shrugged. Peter glared in return.

“This is not your mission. Leave ,” Peter said. Beside Perry, Vanessa smothered a snort. Not well enough for Peter to miss it, though, given the brief glower. Perry himself had a brief war of reactions of laughing at that and sending Vanessa a quick but pointed glare. The glare won.

“You're as bad as dad at doing what you're told to,” Vanessa said, not looking apologetic or chastised in the slightest. Perry narrowed his eyes at her. But she was kind of right. Though he'd argue he'd gotten worse in the years (suspiciously close to when he'd been assigned Heinz).

“Take your daughter and leave me to my mission,” Peter repeated like they hadn't said anything. They ignored him again, like he hadn't said anything. There were footsteps that Perry could hear now, anyway. And they were running. Like a guard had noticed something and was making their way over, except Perry highly doubted it was a guard. Even when he saw the man running in a guard uniform. From the look Peter shot him, the other agent didn't buy it either. After all, why would a night guard be running toward them? There had been no other set of footsteps. The night guard stopped, his heels skidding against the floor. Perry looked up from his spot on the floor, taking in his appearance. The man was tall- taller than average- and lanky. Though the guard’s hat obscured his eye colour, it did not obscure his monkey face or his dark sideburns.

“Fellas,” the guard said. “What are you doing here?”

Peter shared a look with Perry before answering. “Official business.”

“Oh, official, huh?” The guard said as he rocked back on his heels. Perry got the feeling that if he'd been chewing gum in that moment, he would've popped it. “Then why don’t I know about it?”

Both Perry and Peter narrowed their eyes at him. From the beginning Perry guessed he wasn’t the real guard. That just confirmed it for him. There was no way Peter wouldn’t follow proper mission protocol, especially informing the museum of the stakeout. “Because you don’t work here,” Peter said.

The guard raised his eyebrows and looked from his guard uniform- the same uniform they’d seen the guards the day before were wearing- and the three of them. Peter in his black and white suit and fedora; Perry in the darkest shirt he’d packed along with his own fedora; Vanessa in her usual all black, though she’d traded out the dress for pants. None of them dressed like they worked there. Or in clothes that would exactly denote them as doing something ‘official’. Especially for a museum. Though out of all of them, Vanessa’s probably read most as ‘possible thief’. So there was that. Apparently Peter was done talking because he shot up out of his crouch to tackle the guard. The guard who spun easily out of the way despite his lanky limbs.

“Pops has a hat like this, I wonder if you know him?” The guard spun Peter’s hat around his pointer finger. Peter’s eyes widened slightly and he put a hand to his now-hatless head before he glared darkly. That had to be the first time the other agent ever lost his hat. Except possibly to Mystery. “Probably not, he wouldn’t send someone else after me and he’s more prone to weapons.”

Peter narrowed his eyes at the guard. “Give that back.”

“Sure.” The guard shrugged. “It’s not what I’m here for, anyway.” He threw it at Peter and bolted left, toward the painting. Perry jumped diagonally toward him. But the guard spun out of the way. It was like a dance and Perry usually liked the dance, but he liked it less with Vanessa so close. Not that she couldn’t handle herself. Over the years Perry had learned just how resourceful the girl was. But she was under his charge and wasn’t actually a trainee agent. ( Yet , from the way she talked. If she could convince Dr. D. Though Dr. D loved Vanessa so much Perry was sure it wouldn’t take much.)

The guard lifted the painting from the wall, carelessly rolled it into a tube in a single movement, and tucked it under his arm. “ This is what I came for.” He bowed to them and Perry growled. Before he could use his grappling hook to lasso the guard, Vanessa shot past him. It was foolhardy and it was fully a move Perry had done as a much younger agent, back when he was barely Vanessa’s age. She moved too quickly for him to grab her. But not too quickly for the guard, who grabbed her by the wrist once she got closer and spun her toward himself. That moment was the first time Perry noticed the guard had a gun and he cursed himself for it. It was careless and he was better than that. The gun was turned to his daughter and Perry felt his heart stop for a long moment where he planned every possible action he could take– until the guard gave a lopsided, curling smile.

The monkey-faced guard danced back, pushing Vanessa forward at the same time. She stumbled slightly with it. “I’d never shoot a lady.”

There was the honk of a car horn outside, and the guard turned his head to the window, lighting up. He went to the window to look out it. Like he’d completely forgotten the three of them were there. Or that he simply didn’t care. “Jigen! Right on time as always.” The guard looked back at them. “Well, that’s my cue!” Then he shot a few bullets at the glass and jumped. Peter ran to the window. With a growl he turned to Perry.

“He landed in a convertible. I’m going to follow it, you two stay here . This is my mission,” Peter said.

“ Actually ,” Vanessa said. She held up a rolled up tube. “He doesn’t have the painting.”

“What?” Peter turned to her from the broken window. Perry raised an eyebrow. With a smile, Vanessa unrolled the paper to reveal the painting they’d just watched the guard steal.

“I grabbed this when he pushed me away,” Vanessa said. Perry whistled, impressed, and her smile turned proud. Clearing her throat, Vanessa stood up a little straighter. Obviously trying to appear unaffected. He pretended not to notice. “I traded it for a poster I’d grabbed from the gift shop.”

Perry tilted his head. He hadn’t seen her buy a poster while they were at the gift shop. The only thing she’d purchased was a blank notebook that had some art replicas on random pages. Suddenly seeming awkward, Vanessa looked away.

“I might’ve, um, stole it earlier?” Vanessa said, shifting in a way that reminded Perry of Dr. D. Peter turned offended immediately. Meanwhile, Perry just lost it laughing. At least Dr. D might get a proud chuckle out of that if he ever, gods forbide, learned about this little ‘mission’.

“Do I seriously need to get on you for encouraging your daughter’s villainous behaviour?” Peter asked in a way that Perry felt was overly serious. Though if he was being honest with himself, he would’ve felt the same a few years ago. Amazing what befriending (and practically co-parenting with) your nemesis did. Maybe that was why OWCA’d originally disuaded it. It was one of the few things OWCA had told him that Perry ignored. Not for trying, of course. He smiled fondly at the memory, then at Vanessa as she turned brittle toward Peter.

“Hey, it was either steal something fake or steal the painting, either way he was going to steal something . You should be grateful I even thought to grab something!” Vanessa said. “We can pay for it before we leave, anyway, if you’re going to be such an Agent Grumpypants.”

Perry snorted. Loudly. He couldn’t help it and even if he could, he probably wouldn’t have tried. Peter looked angry and affronted at both of them. But he decided against saying anything about it, apparently. He looked between the two of them and perhaps Perry just saw things but something softened, and Peter placed his hat back on his head and straightened his collar.

“See that you do. I’m going to report back to Monogram,” Peter said and left out through the broken window. Perry could hear the slight displacement of air as Peter activated his hang glider. Vanessa and Perry looked at each other before both of them broke down laughing. Depending on what Peter told Major Monogram, he’d probably have to write his own report later. For now, he was glad to avoid it.

“ Ice cream? ” Perry signed.

“Are any places open right now?” Vanessa asked.

Perry shrugged.

“Guess we’ll find out,” Vanessa said.

There was a place that was open. It was a little place made of panelled wood with tables outside. They ordered two cones of separate flavours and set up at one of those tables, neither of them actually sitting on a bench. Perry leaned against the table while Vanessa sat on top of it. There weren't really any stars when they looked up at the sky, but they were both used to Danville’s clear nights and looked up anyway. Both quickly looked back down when they heard their names. Vanessa is sure her neck popped.

“Vanessa? Perry ?”

“Dad?” Why was he here? And at this time of the night. Not that her dad ever exactly went to bed any time before midnight.

“ You’re the reason he went on vacation?” Her dad asked. Vanessa held back a wince. Major Monogram must’ve told him. Snitch.

Not knowing what to say, Vanessa held up her cone. “Ice cream?”

“Oh, yes!” Her dad’s eyes lit up immediately and Vanessa gave him her cone. It wasn’t like she’d eaten very much of it yet, anyway. While he was busy with that she left to buy a new one.

“Can you believe Peter is doing other agent stuff right now? While you’re on vacation? What are the odds? You think maybe he’s taking something they were gonna give to you ?” Vanessa almost snorted at that. Whether they had or not, Perry and her had helped. “I hope he did well. I mean, I’m sure he did! Peter is a talented agent. Not as talented as you are, of course, Perry the Platypus. You’re like, super talented. But Peter is pretty good too!”

“How did you know Peter was doing something else?” Vanessa asked as she retook her spot on the table. Her dad had sat down next to where Perry was leaning, his legs folded up on the bench.

“Oh, well I’m visiting Professor Mystery, sweetheart,” her dad said. She barely refrained from rolling her eyes at ‘sweetheart’. In her opinion, she was a little old for that. But she could allow it for right now. “So tell me- Don’t think I caught you trying to distract me with icecream, though it was very clever!- what are you two doing here?”

Vanessa looked at Perry, who just shrugged. She did not frame from rolling her eyes. “I had a school trip and I just… wanted to go with Perry this time.”

Her dad nodded. “I see. Understandable, Perry is very cool. And responsible, are you having fun? How much longer is the trip, can I join? Do you want me to join?” Her dad looked hesitant on the last question and Vanessa found herself nodding.

“Sure, why not,” Vanessa said. It’d be like a full family outing. It could be fun. Plus with Perry there she’d have a bit of help holding her dad back from some of the big stuff. Like planning evil. She looked to Perry who also nodded.

“Right! It’s settled then,” her dad said and Vanessa thought he attempted to not look as pleased as he was, but her dad had never been good at hiding literally any of his emotions. It would be a lie if she said she wasn’t kinda happy too. Perry gave a thumbs up and her dad stole a bite of his icecream too, despite Perry’s halfhearted sound of annoyance, and Vanessa decided that it would be fun.

At the very least, no matter what happened, it would confuse the everything out of her teachers when her dad count mysteriously ups to two come morning.

[dp-marvel94]

Below the Greenhouse

For Phic Phight 2021. Prompt by @ave-aria: Maddie discovers the depths of Vlad's obsessions when she stumbles upon his secret lab. Despite the shock, part of her almost isn't surprised by the stolen Fenton Tech, the ripoff ghost portal, or the eerie Holo-Maddie—but the clone she finds floating in the pod at the back of the room? That's another matter entirely.

Word Count: 7,951

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note:

Me: *sees a prompt with the word clone*

Me: Oh no.

We all know why this happened.

 Maddie knew Vlad Masters was a creep. She did. And she’d known this for a while, even when she, Jack, and Vlad were in college. Before his accident, she had known he'd been preparing to profess his “love” and ask her out, even though he’d known full-well she and Jack were dating. And while, that might have been forgivable back then, when all of them were young and naive and Vlad didn’t hold such bitterness towards her husband, it wasn't now.

Now, Maddie knew Vlad was hopelessly bitter. After his accident, he’d refused to talk to them. He’d shut them out of his room when they visited the hospital and after he’d been released, he’d refused their phone calls and ignored their letters. Eventually, she and Jack gave up and they moved on with their lives.

That was, until Vlad chose to reconnect. And unfortunately, Vlad was worse than ever. More smug. More arrogant. More creepy. He ignored the fact that Maddie was happily married with children and he still insisted that she should leave the love of her life for him. 

Maddie really only tolerated him for Jack’s sake. Her husband still enthusiastically loved the man who’d been his best friend in college and she couldn’t bear to crush his spirit, though the woman was increasingly doubting her choice to stay silent now.

And now, Maddie realized that Vlad was much more despicable than she thought.

It started with a series of strange phone calls. The voice was robotic, yet strangely familiar sounding. It reminded her of her mother or maybe her sister? Either way, the sound somehow tugged at her heartstrings just as much as it made her shiver anxiously.

“Please save him.” The woman’s voice asked, an oddly flat plea.

“Tell me who you are.” Maddie demanded, not for the first time.

The speaker ignored the question, continuing. “I cannot get Number 6 out myself. Please save him.”

“You keep saying that, every time you call this number.” The woman sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. This was the fifth time she had gotten a call like this. All from an almost emotionless, staticky voice. All begging her to save someone or something called Number 6. Something she couldn’t seem to get anymore information about. “But who is number six?” Maddie asked, trying, probably futilely to learn more.

The answer surprised her. “Number 6 is just a boy. He should be free. He does not belong in a laboratory.”

Maddie frowned, brows furrowed in confusion “A laboratory?”

“That is correct.” The robotic voice answered.

“I’m sorry, are you talking about an actual child? What is a child doing in a laboratory?” The woman wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Number 6 is physically younger than the age of majority and therefore meets the definition of a child.”

“Okay?” Maddie furrowed her brow and repeated herself more severely. “Why are you keeping a child in your laboratory?”

There was a pause. “I am not permitted to share that information.”

That made the woman’s stomach flop. “And why not?”

“My dearest has forbidden me from discussing the details of his experiments with outsiders.”

Maddie frowned again. “Then why are you talking to me?”

“You are a loophole.” The speaker said without hesitation.

That gave the ghost hunter pause. She opened her mouth to ask more when there was a mechanical whirl across the line.

The fast, choppy words cut through. “Dearest will be leaving on a trip tonight and be away for the next three days.” 

“Wait, what are you-” Maddie started.

“The address is 600 North Maple Drive. Enter through the trapdoor in the greenhouse. I will be waiting.”

Across the line, a male voice called from far away. “Pull up the data from the last test, dear. And prepare the subject for sample collection.”

Maddie shivered; there was something familiar-

“Please hurry. Save him.” The robotic female voice whispered before the line cut off.

Maddie sighed, dropping the phone. She put her head in her hands. She didn’t know what to make of that. At first, she had thought these mysterious calls were pranks. Maybe even a ghost trying to trick her. Except…. That didn’t feel right. It had been a week and no ghost had acted against her or her family. No ghost would wait this long to act and no human prankster would continue this charade for this long either.

So who had been calling her and what do they really want? Could the speaker really be asking for her help? The idea made dread pool in her stomach, especially now. Now that she had more information. Now she had a location. And that was Vlad’s address. And that other voice...it had sounded like… Vlad, as if the speaker was in fact in Vlad’s mansion. Her stomach flopped. He’d been talking about data from a test and preparing a subject for sample collection. That in and of itself wasn’t necessarily that alarming. Vlad had a background in science. He could be conducting research, just like she and Jack did out of their own basement. Except…

Number 6 is just a boy. He should be free. He does not belong in a laboratory. The words rang in her head, making her feel sick.

Maddie sat for a long while, staring at the phone. So many questions clashed in her mind and she wanted answers. What was really happening here? And how would she learn the truth?

An idea started forming in her mind. A surely bad, horrible idea. She still had no idea who had been calling her. It probably was a trap. So why did she want to follow the instructions? And the prospect of sneaking onto Vlad Master’s property? She could get in serious trouble. And for what? Vlad would never do anything as immoral as what the speaker hinted at. Except...what if? Doubt grew in her mind. What if?

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

That was how Maddie found herself pulling up to Vlad’s mansion in Amity Park. The woman sighed, putting the car into park and taking the key out of the ignition. She was really doing this, wasn’t she? The scientist could hardly believe her own actions. But it was the middle of the night and she was alone, in the small forest behind the mansion. 

Silently, Maddie got out of the car and started sneaking across the yard. She hadn’t told Jack where she was going. Maybe that was a mistake but the woman somehow knew he’d try to talk her out of this. And he would have a point. Yet the woman was still driven forward despite her better judgement. 

Arriving in front of the greenhouse, the ghost hunter stopped. She looked side to side, checking to see if anyone was watching. The yard was quiet and bare, only the sound of night insects cutting through the air. Maddie looked back into the building. To the left of the door was a blinking red light but other than that, inside was dark. Tentatively, Maddie jiggled the greenhouse’s door handle. It didn’t budge at first but then there was a buzz and a click. The door unlocked and the woman frowned, watching the blinking light turn from red to white. Was that a security system? And...had the door just unlocked for her?

Maddie bit her lip. She considered turning back but...she wanted answers. Instead, she pulled her ectostaff out of her belt. A blow to the head from it would be just as effective on a human attacker as it would be on a ghost.

The woman opened the door, quickly stepping though. She closed it and cautiously crossed the room. From what she could tell in the dark, this was a normal greenhouse. She breathed deeply, taking in the wet earthy smell of dirt, the soft perfume of flowers, and… She sniffed. That scent, old batteries, ozone, and citrus. That was familiar. Was that ectoplasm? 

Maddie turned, eyes searching for the tell-tell glow of a ghost. Her gaze fixed on something a few rows over. The huntress continued forward, brow wrinkling at the sight. Unsurprisingly, these were plants but….a faint glow enveloped the snow white leaves, the orange and black fruits. Tentatively, she reached forward and cupped one of the fruits. Even through her gloves, she could feel the ghostly chill. 

Maddie’s frown deepened. She’d never seen anything like this before. Was this some kind of ghostly plant? And in Vlad’s greenhouse of all places? Where did it come from? How did the billionaire procure it? And why hadn’t he said anything to her and Jack?

With that thought, the ghost hunters’ stomach flopped with nerves. There was actually something here, something out of the ordinary. Her mind turned back to those phone calls, the reason she was here in the first place. The speaker had said something about a trapdoor.

With that, Maddie pulled a flashlight out of her belt and flicked it on. She looked down, searching, and her eyes widened. Oh….well then. There, not three feet in front of her, was the door. The woman approached. Crouching down, she put down her staff and grasped the flashlight between her teeth. With both hands, she pulled the door up, revealing a short ladder leading to a narrow passageway.

The ghost hunter furrowed her brow, hesitating for a moment. She braced herself, forcing her shoulders to relax to dislodge some of the anxiety. Maddie stood up straight. She grabbed her staff and started lowering herself down the ladder. Once she was at the bottom, the woman turned and pointed the flashlight down the passageway. There, maybe ten feet in front of her was a metal blast door.

Dread rose in Maddie at the sight but she tried to push it down. This was probably an old cellar, or maybe even a bomb shelter. Rich people tended to have those, didn’t they? It could be…..

The woman stepped forward. Tentatively, she placed a hand on the opening mechanism. It looked like a wheel that she’d need both hands to open. She moved to return her staff to her belt but before she could, a mechanical whirl sounded. The wheel started turning. Paling Maddie rapidly stepped back. Her heart pounded in fear of being caught.

Then the door swung open with a groan. The ghost hunter registered bright light pouring through the opening. She blinked for a moment, her eyes adjusting to the change. Then she registered the translucent figure floating across the doorway. 

Maddie scowled, acting on instinct. “Take that ghost.” She swung her staff but the blow never connected, instead sailing through the blue clad figure without resistance.

“I am not a ghost.” A familiar, robotic voice responded.

It was then that Maddie finally registered what she was seeing. She gasped in shock. It was herself, except floating, translucent, and...glitching around the edges? “What are you?” She breathed.

“I am the MADDIE program, an artificial intelligence meant to emulate Dr. Madeline Fenton.”

The ghost hunter stared for a long moment in confusion. She hadn’t expected a response and now her mind couldn’t catch up, barely processing what she was seeing.

The hologram floated backward, motioning into the door. “Come inside.”

Maddie blinked, registering the words. Her eyes flitted from her strange double to the interior of the room. Concrete floor, metallic walls, sturdy work tables, and….a soft green light. It looked familiar, very much like the Fentonworks lab. The woman’s heart skipped a beat. She’d already come this far….

The huntress took a few steps forward and crossed the threshold, all the while keeping her eyes on the hologram. The other figure was unmoving and silent, not even blinking. After another long moment staring, Maddie warily looked around. As she’d glimpsed, there were shiny metal work tables and shelves. A station with a microscope, centrifuge, and table top incubator. She frowned, eyes falling on glowing vials of ectoplasm. 

This was a lab, obviously. A ghost research lab, based on the ectoplasm. But below Vlad’s greenhouse? Her eyes flickered to another table, this one holding familiar looking devices. Ectoguns, slim and silvery with a design Maddie knew intimately, despite the unfamiliar logo and red accents.

The woman walked forward, tentatively hefting the gun. “This looks like our model 35.” She stated seriously.

Maddie then turned, facing the source of the soft green light. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the swirling green. “That’s a portal. A ghost portal.” She muttered. 

The scientist took in the design of the frame, of the ecto-filtrater and the control panel. That was her and Jack’s design as well. Her mind swam, information bouncing around senselessly as she tried to make sense of all this. This was a lab. A ghost research lab. A hidden, secret research lab in Vlad Master’s backyard, below his greenhouse. Vlad’s secret lab. But...why?

She bit her lip, her eyes falling on the Fenton Works designed weapons and the portal. Their stolen designs. Maddie could barely believe it, yet she wasn’t as surprised as she should be. Vlad still having an interest in ghosts? The creepy billionaire stealing their blueprints? Why did that seem all too plausible?

“Dr. Fenton?” A staticy voice asked behind her.

Maddie turned, frown deepening as she took in the hologram again. Her mouth felt dry. “He….Vlad...made a hologram that looks and sounds like me.” She felt sickened at the thought, at the evidence in front of her. 

“Yes. I was modeled after Dr. Madeline Fenton.” The hologram replied.

The ghost hunter put a hand on her head, feeling a headache grow. It made sense, in a sick kind of way. Vlad had a fascination with her. He was not exactly subtle in his ‘affections.’ Of course he would create this creepy copy. “Why?” She groaned, in rising anger.

“I was created to serve as a digital assistance and security system.”

Maddie looked up, blinking in confusion. She hadn’t been expecting an answer. The woman then frowned, realizing something. A security system? Did that mean… “You unlocked the greenhouse door for me...and turned off the security system.”

“That is correct.” The hologram replied.

The ghost hunter wrinkled her brow. “Why?”

Somehow, almost imperceptibly, the figure’s expression softened. “You came to take Number 6 away from here.”

That gave Maddie pause, her eyes widening slightly as she took in the AI with new eyes. “You were the one calling me.” 

It finally hit her. The voice on the phone, the monotone one that reminded her of her mother and sister. It was this AI, this AI which sounded very much like Maddie herself. Of course she hadn’t recognized that. Most people don’t know what they really sound like outside of their own head and Maddie herself was no exception.

“Yes, I did.” The AI confirmed. “Please save him.”

“Him?” Maddie bit her lip, feeling that familiar dread again. “Number 6? Who is this person?”

The hologram floated toward the other side of the room, towards a tall cylindrical metal tube that Maddie hadn’t noticed yet. “Come.” She motioned the ghost hunter to approach.

The huntress did so, fixing a studious gaze on the tube.

“Viewing panel opening.” The AI announced as the whirl of gears sounded throughout the room.

In front of the cylinder, metal paneling slid apart. Slowly a gap opened, making the inside of the pod visible. Maddie first registered neon green ectoplasm swirling in some kind of solution. Then her jaw dropped. There, suspended in the chamber was a lithe figure. It looked male, the form of a young teenager. For a moment, the ghost hunter registered white hair and a black and white garment. Phantom? Had Vlad managed to capture Phantom? No...that….

Her brow furrowed, stepping closer. She examined the glowing body. The figure’s appearance was shifting. Its skin was a mosaic of ghostly blue and a pale, more human color in ever changing, shifting patches. The black and white garment also shifted, seeming to grow and spread over the body before retreating, leaving bare skin. On the head was a mop of black and white hair, the patches rapidly changing color and appearing to move across the skull.

Maddie frowned. There was a resemblance to Phantom. (How? How in the world?) But this wasn’t the same being. “This is a ghost.” Her brow wrinkled in confusion, despite her confidence of the fact.

“Yes.” The MADDIE program answered plainly. 

The scientist turned. “I am not letting a ghost out of here.”

The hologram frowned. “Number Six is a boy. He deserves to be free.”

Maddie pointed. “But….that is a ghost.”

“Yes.” The AI confirmed again. “But he is also a boy. Observe.” The translucent figure waved a hand over one of the computers. “Display subject’s vials.”

Instantly, readings appeared on the screen, a rhythmic beeping commencing. The ghost hunter studied the words and numbers. “Oxygen saturation, Blood Glucose, Blood pressure, Heart Rate.” Her brow furrowed. “These are vials for a human.”

“Yes. These are Number six’s vials.” 

Maddie scrunched her nose in disbelief. “But...this is a ghost.” 

But the sound of the heart monitor pounded in her head. She turned, facing the figure in the tube again. The readings could be fake. But why? And why did Vlad have a ghost captured in his lab? And why did it resemble Phantom? Or at least, it seemed to. Not that she’d ever been this close to Phantom before but the white hair, suit, and lithe figure were the same. She took in the shifting appearance. And what was that? An attempt at shapeshifting?

Maddie turned back to the screen, reading again. At the top, it read Clone Six, 100% stability. “Clone?” The woman questioned. “Clone of who? Of Phantom?”

“Yes.” The AI answered. In response, the ghost hunter turned sharply. The hologram continued. “Subject Six has completed the gestation period and is now viable and capable of living outside the artificial womb.”

Maddie blinked rapidly. There was a lot of information there. “Clone? Vlad cloned Phantom and...it’s ready?”

“Yes. He is stable.” The hologram turned. “Please save him. Take him away from dearest.”

“Look.” The scientist pinched the bridge of her nose. “I am not letting this ghost go.”

“He is a boy.” The AI insisted.

“You say that but-”

“And a ghost.” The hologram continued. “He is a living boy and a ghost.”

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. “Living?”

She turned back to the chamber, something in her resonating at the word. The strands of black hair, the human colored skin, the patches that did not glow. She looked up into the face and something itched in the back of her mind. It looked familiar, not just because the ghost looked like Phantom.

Maddie took another step. She reached forward until she was touching the glass. The heart monitor steadily beeped as the figure in the chamber twitched.

The huntress shook her head, denying. “That’s just...not possible. Someone can’t be a ghost and a human.” What the AI was saying was nonsensical, completely impossible. So why did Maddie not feel certain?

“Initiate wake up sequence.” The AI declared.

Startled, Maddie’s head whipped to the side. “What are you-”

In the chamber, something thumped. The woman’s head turned to see flailing limbs. The figure’s eyes suddenly popped open, one blue and one green panickedly flickering around the room. The rate of the heart monitor increased. The being thrashed, chest spasming. A hand pounded against the glass. 

“What did you do?” Maddie demanded of the AI.

There was no answer, just fearful flailing within the tube. The ghostly figure’s gaze shifted down and fell on Maddie. The eyes widened, silently begging. More pounding of hands on the inside of the glass. The beeping increased, pounding into the woman’s head. The ghost boy blinked and the eyes were blue, icy blue. The gaze, the familiar gaze stabbed Maddie in the heart.

The woman panicked, her own heart race. Her eyes ripped away from the boy. What do I do? What do I do? Her mind raced. Her gaze fell on a large button marked, Emergency release. She acted without thinking, slamming her hand down on the button.

There was hiss and a beep from the chamber. In the blink of an eye, the glass wall of the chamber parted. Maddie yelped, jumping back as water and ectoplasm poured out. The liquid soaked her anyway. Then, the boy inside the tub was falling. He tipped forward and the woman reached out to catch him on instinct.

A surprisingly heavy body fell onto the ghost hunter. Her knees threatened to buckle under the sudden impact. Instead she wobbled and wrapped one arm around the lithe body. Shakily, Maddie lowered herself to her knees, taking the ghostly figure with her.

Numbly, hardly believing what she’d just done, the woman huddled on the floor. She tensed at the being reached towards her. A part of her brain screamed that it was unsafe to be so near to a ghost, yet she didn’t move as ungloved hands weakly grabbed onto her jumpsuit and the ghost pressed into her chest, as if it was hugging her. 

Maddie looked down at the being, marveling at the sight. Its appearance was still shifting. Black and white hair. Black jumpsuit and bare skin. Patches of ghostly blue and pale human skin. The woman could feel the ectoplasmic energy, the ghostly chill radiating off the being as well but..... Its glow...there was something off. The glow was dimming. It flickered like a light bulb before cutting off.

In front of her came a whine as the ghost buried its head into her shoulder. Soft cold breath caressed her check. Breathe? Maddie’s heart skipped a breath. She could feel the chest rising and falling with fast breaths, pressed against her as it was. And that beeping. Maddie glanced up at the display. The heart monitor was still keeping pace with a rapidly fluttering heart.

The scientists breath lodged in her throat. No this was...ghosts didn’t breath. They didn’t have heart beats. They didn’t…. She looked down at the shaking figure again and her world turned upside down. The black suit was receding, evaporating. It disappeared off the arms and chest, every part of the body she could see, leaving bare skin below. And that skin, it was changing. Pale peach-tinted skin was rapidly replacing the inhuman blue. A warm breath blew over her check, the ghostly chill quickly vanishing. The weight pressed into her increased, the fingers holding onto her becoming warm and solid. And on the head, black overtook white until she was staring down at the full black head of hair.

Maddie’s mind stopped unable to process. This was...she was...in front...of her...this was... She blinked rapidly, as if the sign would change but...the lack of glow, the human skin tone, the warmth, the breathing, the black hair. That..that damn heart monitor. This...this was...no...no way. The ghost hunter shakily, wrapped her arms around the now hyperventilating figure. She winced feeling the warm, solid skin under her gloves. This was impossible but….

This...this was a human. No ghost...no ghost could fake this. No shapeshifting would give a ghost human warmth and a heartbeat. And she could feel it, the rapidly fluttering heart pressed against her own. 

The ghost whined again. No. no. The boy. The boy who had just been a ghost but had changed. The boy who’d just been inside that pod. Who was shaking and hyperventilating in front of her. Another whine. A tear fell onto her shoulder.

Maddie’s mind finally caught up. Her arms shifted into a more proper hug, hands reaching up to run through the black hair. “Shhh. Shh. It’s okay.” The woman whispered. “Breath with me. In.” She breathed in deliberately. “And out.” She pushed the air out of her lungs. “In and Out.”

The boy copied, his breaths following hers. In and out. In and out. His breathing slowed as did the beeping of the heart monitor. Slowly, so slowly, his shaking subsided but the boy didn’t let go of her suit.

Maddie stayed still, questions bombarding her now that the boy was calmed. This boy, who was he? Where had he come from? Why...why did Vlad have a teenager in his lab? And why did he have a ghost that could change into a human? Or was this a human who could turn into a ghost? Her mind raced, her own heart rate increasing with overwhelming confusion. How was this possible? What was this kid?

She looked down, an idea sparking. That ghost disease that all the teenagers supposedly got. The disease that gave them ghost powers. She and Jack had never seen any of the supposedly infected students. They’d dismissed the claims as absurd. Humans could not have ghost powers. Yet Jazz and Danny’s friend, Sam, had both insisted that they’d gotten sick and both had displayed a ghostly ability. And if...if that was true….. She paled, the overheard words from the last phone call hitting her. Tests, sample collection, subject, experiment. If Vlad was experimenting with that disease, experimenting with ectoplasm on...on….

“Where...where am I?” A quiet male voice asked, directly in front of her. Maddie stiffened at the words, roughly pulled out of her thoughts. “What’s happening?”

The woman’s heart stopped. That voice. That voice. Oh god. Suddenly shaking, she unwrapped her arms from the boy. Gently, so gently, she grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands off of her. The boy seemed to shrink in on himself at that, shoulders falling. 

He sniffled but Maddie shushed it. “Look...look up at me.” She quietly asked. Slowly, the teenager obeyed and again, the mother felt like her world was turned on its head. Familiar, icy blue eyes met hers. The curve of that nose, the round chin, the slightly chubby cheeks. Oh god, she knew...she knew this face intimately. A trembling hand reached out to touch, cupping the boy’s cheek. “Danny?” Maddie asked, before she could really think.

The blue eyes widened, looking at her with the most pure and innocent hope she’d even seen. “Danny? Is that...is that my name?”

The woman’s expression fell, her mind catching up to the question, to what she was seeing. No, this couldn't be Danny. She had just seen him earlier that night. And on the face in front of her….The freckles….the freckles were wrong, laid out in a different pattern. And the scar above his lips, where was it? The mother glanced down, at his collar bone. The birthmark wasn’t there. And...her heart skipped a beat. No, he was too young, maybe two years younger than her son’s current age of 16.

The woman removed her hand. “No. I’m sorry. You’re not….you look like him, like Danny. So I thought….But you’re not...you’re not him.”

The boy’s shoulders fell and his eyes fixed down. The suddenly heartbroken, lonely look broke Maddie’s heart. “Oh. Then...who am I?”

The ghost hunter frowned at the question, her mind trying to form an answer. Who was this boy who looked like her Danny? Wait…. The words on his vitals display flashed in her mind. Clone number 6. Clone. “You’re a clone.” She blinked, mouth falling open. “You’re a clone of my son.”

The boy looked up, raising a brow. “What’s a clone?”

Maddie flushed at the question. It was so innocent. And his eyes, staring up at her like she had the answer to every question in the universe. “That’s...that’s complicated.” She glanced down, cheeks reddening in a sudden realization. “Let’s umm...let’s get you some clothes first.” The mother blushed for a moment. He’d been naked this whole time, while they’d been hugging and she had been comforting him.

“Clothes?” The boy tilted his head and the innocent confusion, the lack of embarrassment, just about killed Maddie. This looked like a teenager but obviously he wasn’t actually one.

The mother pushed the thought away, head surveying the room for something to cover the child with. She gaze fixed on something white hanging on one of the walls. Lab coats. Maddie started pushing herself to her feet.

The boy whimpered, grabbing her hand. “Don’t leave me.”

Maddie’s expression softened. “I’m not. I’m just going to get you something to wear.”

Shakily, she stood and walked across the lab. All the while, the woman could feel the eyes on the back of her head. But she ignored it, focusing on grabbing a coat. She pulled the white garment off the peg and quickly returned. Maddie then knelt down and held out the coat. The boy looked at it with no recognition as if he had no idea what to do with it. He probably didn’t.

“I can put it on you then. Hold out your arms.” Maddie instructed.

The boy, the clone, (this was a clone, a clone of her son. Her son. How? Why? What?). The clone did as she said and the woman dressed him as if he was a little child. (He probably was). The woman tried to smile comfortingly as she fastened the buttons. “There you go. All covered up.”

The boy looked at the sleeves curiously. They hung past his hands as the garment swallowed him. He waved his arms, watching the ends flap. The child laughed at the sight.

Maddie’s heart clenched at the child-like display. But then she turned her attention to the AI that had been silently watching the entire time. Standing, she scowled. “Is he a clone of my son?”

“Yes.” The MADDIE program replied. “Subject Number 6 is a clone of Daniel James Fenton.”

Maddie looked down again. Somehow, despite how impossible this was, that made perfect sense. The appearance was nearly identical, to perfect for strangers. And….she swallowed. Vlad had a sick fascination with her children, with Danny in particular. She knew the man fancied himself something of a godfather, with his pet names, presents, and advice. And Danny despised it, much more than any teenage boy should even if said godfather had a tendency to flirt with his mother.

The woman paled, all sorts of horrible idea coming into her head. What Vlad must want from Danny, what he must really want from her son. And to do the scientifically impossible? She shivered. Tests, experiments. She remembered the hybrid ghostly appearance, the ectoenergy flowing off of him. From some the ghostly disease? But… “Wait...you said that he was clone of Phantom earlier?”

The hologram’s response was cut off by a scream from the floor. Maddie’s eyes flicked down panickedly as the clone looked up at her. “My...my arm...it’s gone.”

The woman’s eyes just about popped out of her skull. His left sleeve with the hand and arm inside of it were gone. Maddie knelt down, reaching towards where the limb should be. Her hand hit something solid and chilly. She rapidly blinked. “It’s invisible. Your arm is invisible.” Panic rose in her. Ghostly abilities. There were ghostly abilities. He had ghost powers.

“Invisible?!” The boy shrieked. 

Maddie’s heart clenched. That sounded just like Danny, her son when he was scared. The boy’s mouth was open with panic, his breath increasing. And all the woman could see was her son. Her son’s face, screwed up with panic and fear. It made her soul ache. She gently wrapped her hand around his invisible one. “It’s still there but you need to calm down. Breath with me. Like before. Okay. In and out.”

The boy copied her action once and his hand returned to visibility. He threw himself forward into her arms. Maddie returned the hug without hesitation. Then a breath later, cold swept over her. The body in her arms disappeared, turning into cold mist. Both the woman and the boy screamed as he turned intangible and fell through her.

Maddie rapidly stood, stepping back. What was happening?! On the floor, the boy returned to solidity, the slightly translucent appearance disappearing. He rolled onto his back, panting. The beeping of the monitor increased with his breathing as his face scrunched up fearfully. 

Then a heartbeat later, just when Maddie thought she was done with surprises for tonight, something else stole the breath from her lungs. A white ring of light formed around the boy’s waist. It spread up and down his body and everything the light touched changed. The scientist blinked away the spots in her vision. And there, writhing on the floor with a panicked expression, was Phantom. Or...he looked like Phantom. White hair, black and white jumpsuit, panic filled green eyes.

It suddenly all hit Maddie like a tractor-trailer. He was a clone of Danny.. .and he was a clone of Phantom. Of Phantom. Danny...it clicked into place. Oh god, Danny’s accident with the portal. Him setting off all their equipment. His badly hidden injuries. Falling grades, skipping class, not sleeping. Oh god. Danny was Phantom. Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. That...that was a pun, damnit. Of course her son would name himself after a pun. And… her eyes fixed on the boy on the floor. His face even stayed the same! No wonder Phantom avoided getting close to them!

In front of her, the clone was hyperventilating again. “What’s happening to me?!” He cried, tears welling in his eyes. His legs were fused into a ghostly tail which lashed in front of him.

The mother’s brain kicked into gear, her motherly instincts taking over again. She knelt down. “Sweetie. Sweetie. Calm down. I’m here.” 

She grabbed his arm, intending to pull him into a sitting position but he was so light, as light as a balloon. With the slightest tug, he was pulled into the air, floated. Maddie pulled the ghost boy into her arms. She cupped the back of his head.

“What’s...what’s happening to me?” He cried again.

“I don’t know.” Maddie answered honestly. She had only the barest idea of what all was going on. But still... “I’ll figure it out. I’ll help you. You’re safe. I’m right here.”

The boy wiggled in her hold, crying into her shoulders. “I...I don’t understand. I don’t understand. Who...who am I? Who are you? Where are we?”

Maddie didn’t know. Or rather she didn't know how to answer those questions without making him more scared. She desperately wished she did know. She’d have to have a long conversation with Danny about him being Phantom and about what is actually going on between him and Vlad but for now...she hugged the boy tighter.

A long minute later, light passed over the clone again. He became heavy and warm in Maddie’s arms. His knees wobbled for a moment before steadying as Maddie held him up. “There, you’re doing it. You can stand.” His posture strengthened and the shaking stopped. Finally, the mother asked. “Do you think you can stand on your own?”

“I...I think so?” The boy said, uncertainly.

“Alright. I’m going to step away slowly. I’ll catch you if you start to fall.” Maddie reassured.

The child nodded as the woman backed away. He wobbled, tipping forward but the ghost hunter gently grabbed him. They stood, hands on each other's forearm for a long pause, until the boy steadied himself. He looked down at his feet, lifting one before putting it down and then doing the same with the opposite. Finally, he let go of Maddie’s arms. After hesitating, the mother did the same.

The boy studied her compassionate face, brow furrowed with deep thought. “Who are you...to me?”

Maddie considered, studying his face in kind. Her son’s face. A face so like her Danny’s. He was a clone, a clone of her son. Meaning...he was her own flesh and blood. Her lips pursed in thought. More importantly...he was a child. A confused, scared child who needed her help. And before she was a ghost hunter and scientist, Maddie was and would always be a mother.

“I’m your mother.” She said without hesitation, smiling. “Your mom.”

“Mom?” The boy asked, testing out the word. 

Maddie nodded, reaching forward and gently whipping one of his tears away with her thumb. “I’m your mom.”

The child smiled, his eyes lighting up like that was the most wonderful thing he had ever heard. It very well could be. “Mom.” The word rang out with so many emotions, with some much love that Maddie’s heart swelled. The boy stepped forward hugging her again.

The mother ran her finger through his hair. “Yes baby. I’m here to take you home."

“You will take him away from here, then?” A staticy voice asked, beside the pair.

Maddie turned, pulling away to look at the AI. Beside her, the clone tilted his head as he looked between the two but didn’t ask.

The scientist nodded. “Yes. I think I understand why you called me now.” Of course she did. This was an AI made to copy her, something of a digital clone. If Maddie was in her place, she would not so easily agree to whatever Vlad had planned. She would not leave a child here to be experimented on. And as the MADDIE programs 'original’, for lack of a better word, she wasn’t exactly an outsider and therefore a loophole.

The hologram nodded. “I will disable the microchip then.” A light on the monitor blinked out and the beeping of the heart monitor stopped. The AI then turned to the computer. She pointed to a flash drive plugged into one of the ports. “That contains all research data. Take it with you.” 

Maddie obeyed, taking the drive. The AI winked. “Excellent. Delete all research data. Command alpha-06-gamma-58-epsilon.”

There was a loud dial tone and the computer fritzed, the monitor wavering until a blue screen reading ‘System Deletion’ in large print was displayed.

Maddie raised a brow, impressed at the AI. 

Then the clone asked. “What about you? Are you coming with us?”

The program shook her head. “No dear. I am not like you. My purpose is served.” The AI turned to deliberately look at Maddie. “Number 6 has been saved.”

The boy frowned at the statement as did the mother, considering the statement and the depth of it. She didn’t know what to make of it except...it almost felt like one mother was handing off her son to another.

“Go on.” The MADDIE program encouraged. "You may go out the way you came and I will lock the doors behind you." She frowned. "I will distract dearest for as long as I can."

Maddie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I suppose you can't just call him Vlad?"

"No." The AI almost sounded annoyed. "My programming is most inconvenient."

The ghost hunter nodded in understanding. Then she turned to face the clone. "Come on then sweetie." She wrapped one arm around the boy and started leading him towards the door. Before passing through, the women turned back to face the hologram. "Thank you."

The corner of MADDIE program's lip turned up as she offered an accepting nod. The pair then turned back towards the still open door. The clone wobbled slightly, progressing slowly as he gained more confidence. Maddie carefully stepped across the threshold with the boy still at her side. Once they were in the tunnel, a gap sounded from beside her.

"What is it?" The mother glanced to the side, eyes wide with concern.

"The ground's cold." The boy muttered.

"Oh." Maddie looked down. "You're not wearing any shoes." She'd have to get him some once they got home and some proper clothes. "Just step carefully, okay? Actually…." With her free hand, she pulled out her flashlight and shone it on the bare ground in front of them. "There." 

The pair advanced carefully, Maddie helping the boy to clumsily climb up the ladder. They crossed the greenhouse and the mother pulled the boy along as he eagerly studied their surroundings. 

"It smells nice in here." The clone commented, sniffing the air.

"It does." Maddie agreed. 

Arriving at the door, she finally opened it and the two found themselves in the open air. The boy suddenly stopped, looking down. 

He hummed in the back of his throat, pleased. "I like the grass under my feet." Maddie looked down to find the kid wiggling his toes. Then there was an awed whisper. "Wow. Are those the stars?"

The mother looked up again to find him staring up at the sky in wonder. Maddie smiled. "Yes, they are. Aren't they beautiful?"

"Yeah." He breathed.

Maddie let him look up in awe, as she herself marveled. She couldn't help but be reminded of Danny's love of the stars. But even with the resemblance, he was a different person from her Danny, wasn't he? She could already see little difference. This child-like wonder was something she hadn’t seen in her son very often now. But still she wondered. This clone seemed to know the words for things. He could speak clearly and had good coordination all things considered. How was that even remotely possible? And yet he still had the air of someone who had never seen the world before, like every was new. Because it likely was.

With that, Maddie cut off her musing. "Come on sweetie. We need to keep going."

The mother hated cutting off his exploration, especially as his expression fell. But the boy nodded anyway, taking a step forward. The pair continued, cutting across the yard, into the trees, and to the car. Maddie clicked the fob to unlock the vehicle. She guided the boy to the car, opened the passenger's side door, and helped him sit. The mother then walked around and opened the driver's side door and sat down herself.

Maddie turned to find the clone looking at his seat belt curiously. She reached over. "Here let me help you." She buckled him in.

The boy hummed, fidgeting in his seat while Maddie buckled herself in. She put the key in the ignition and started the engine. Instantly, the radio started, a song from their local eighties station broadcasting through. The clone flinched at the sudden sound before relaxing. 

He turned, looking at the woman with wide eyes. "What's that?"

Maddie smiled. "It's music."

"Right. Music." The boy nodded. He tilted his head, listening to the song. After a moment, his head bobbed in time. "I think I like music." He hummed along, wiggling in his seat.

It made Maddie want to laugh so she did. She chuckled as she put the car into drive and pulled away. She turned into the road and started driving back towards Fentonworks. The song ended just as they pulled up at a red light.

The clone turned to face her. "Where are we going?"

She looked at him out the corner of her eye. "We're going home, like I said earlier."

He nodded. "Right yeah. I remember that." He hummed. "What will we do when we get there?"

Maddie paused, considering the question. "Well...we’ll talk to your dad and your….Danny and Jazz….and we’ll figure all of this out.” 

She’d hesitated for a moment, thinking to refer to Danny and Jazz as his brother and sister. But Maddie had no idea how they’d take this. Hopefully well. Those two were good kids but living with a clone of yourself….Maddie could hardly imagine. At least Jack would be eager and welcoming. She knew her husband well enough to be sure….Oh boy, she really should have told him something about all of this before she’d left.

"All of this….you mean the….clone thing and…" He bit his lip. "The flashing light and the floating and disappearing and falling through things?"

"Ghost powers." Maddie said, brow furrowing. "You have ghost powers. As far as I can tell, you're some kind of ghost human hybrid? Not that I knew that was possible until less than an hour ago…." She frowned. "Nor did I know you existed."

The boy frowned, looking worried. His lips pursed. "So...you don't know what my name is then, do you?”

Maddie's heart fell. In front of them, the light turned green. The woman turned back, removing her foot off the gas. The car pulled away before the mother pulled into a parking lot. 

She took a deep breath, the impossibleness of the situation hitting her. She was sitting in her car with a clone of her son. A clone that she’d found in the secret laboratory below Vlad Master’s greenhouse. A human-ghost hybrid clone of her son who was also a hybrid. She had another son now. A son who she now had to tell that she didn't know his name, because he likely didn't have one yet.

Maddie put a comforting hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.” She gently apologized. “You’re right. I don’t know. And sadly….” She took a deep breath. “And I know this will be hard to hear but...all I know is that hologram called you Number 6 and...that’s not exactly a name, is it? ” 

His lip quivered, eyes starting to water. “But….that’s….”

The mother took his hands and squeezed it. “That will change. Your father and I can pick out a name for you; that’s what parents normally do for their children. Or….if you have something in mind, we’ll happily call you that.”

The clone looked down, biting his lip in consideration. “I’ll...I’ll think about it.”

Maddie’s face softened. “Alright sweetie.”

He turned his head up, blinking at her. “Sweetie? Can that be my name?”

The question was asked so innocently that Maddie couldn’t help but laugh. “No. That’s a pet name. I call all my kids that.”

“Oh.” He blushed in embarrassment. “Well that’s...at least, that means I’m one of your kids.”

The mother nodded her head. “Yes, of course. You’re my son.” It should have been surprising how much her heart swelled with love at the statement but well….Maddie had made up her mind. This was her son. Not Vlad Masters’ experiment. Not just Danny’s clone. Her son and Vlad was not taking him away from her.

They would have a lot to figure out. A name for this boy. His complete origin as a clone. How to deal with having a third child, one who’d just appeared overnight. They’d have to deal with the implications of her revelation that Danny was Phantom. And Vlad...what he’d done was horrible. He’d stolen blueprints and her son’s DNA. He’d experimented on a human or...humans. She internally frowned; he was clone number 6. Did that mean that there had been five others? 

Either way, Vlad was deplorable. There, in the depth of his lab, below something as innocuous and normal as his greenhouse, Maddie had discovered that and the true depth of his obsession with her and her family. And now she knew, Vlad needed to be stopped. He needed to be punished. But what exactly to do with him, considering how taking him down would likely expose Danny’s identity as Phantom? Yes, they had a lot to deal with but….

Maddie leaned forward to kiss her new son’s forehead. “You have a family now. And a home. And everything else we’ll figure out together.”

A soft smile crept across his face. “I like how that sounds.”

“Good.” Maddie smiled. “Now...are you ready to go meet the rest of your family?”

“Yeah.” He squeezed the hand still holding hers. “I’m ready Mom.”

[resident-leevil-old]

okay well anyways somebody asked me if i felt like talking about my raccoon city survivors au with mia and ethan again and the answer is YES.

> AU MINI FACTS <

- Ethan's mother died while giving birth.

- Ethan Winters and his father moved into Raccoon City when Ethan was a baby, around 3-4 years old.

- Ethan trans ftm because im trans and i said so.

- Mia trans mtf because im trans and i said so.

- Ethan & Mia are childhood friend to lovers in this au.

- Ethan's father worked for Umbrella, and Mia's father worked for the Connections while her mother also worked for Umbrella.

- Mia was born in Texas, but her family moved to Raccoon City after she was born. They still owned property in Texas, though.

- Mia & Carlos are related because I said so.

- so yknow the "dude its been three years" guy? that's their childhood friend and his name is Kyde because i said so.

- Albert Wesker Personally was ordered by Spencer to kill those scientists btw.

- a lot of this au is because i said so tbh

> AU SUMMARY <

Ethan Winters, Mia Oliviera, and Kyde Wells work together to survive six days of the Raccoon City Outbreak. In the process they uncover secrets and encounter many obstacles that just nearly cost them their lives.

> CHAR.BGROUND <

ETHAN W, SR - A scientist who worked for Umbrella. He lost his wife during the birth of his child E///// Winters. Struggling with the death of his wife and the harsh decline of his mental health, he began to experiment with viruses and vaccines in an attempt to bring his wife back, even using his child as a subject at certain points due to the child having strong genes from the mother. He acknowledged that he was a horrid father, but justified his actions by claiming he would bring back a better mother. He thought of Albert Wesker as a friend, and told him the truth of his research.

ETHAN W, JR - A quiet 14 year old that had a hard time making friends. Due to experiments from his father, Ethan is a culmination of infections and viruses that each impact him in different ways. As he grew up Ethan refrained from talking too much as to not interrupt his father's work, causing him to become selectively mute.

MIA OLIVIERA - Younger sister of Carlos Oliviera. Mia skipped a grade due to her intelligence and advanced knowledge on many things kids her age normally didn't. She very easily got sick as a child, though she seemed to outgrow it as she got older. She was schooled both at home and at school before the outbreak. She shared classes with Ethan Winters (Jr) and Kyde Wells.

KYDE WELLS - A friend of Ethan & Mia, known for his cowardice. Kyde has a heavy sense of self preservation, but a weighted sense of compassion as well. He only ever has risked himself for his two friends.

JAMES HARISON - Mia's father. He worked for the Connections as a scientist and a researcher. Harison and his wife often exchanged information they learned from their jobs, aiming to and succeeding at "fixing" their daughter's proneness to viral sicknesses.

MARISA OLIVIERA - Mia's mother. He worked for Umbrella as a researcher. Oliviera and her husband often exchanged information they learned from their jobs, aiming to and succeeding at "fixing" their daughter's proneness to viral sicknesses.

JAKE VERANO - An Umbrella worker who had been trapped in the underground facility for a week, listening to the sound of his coworkers being eaten alive. Unstable because of his experience, he tries to create a cure using the intel of Ethan W (SR).

> FULL AU <

[September, 25, 1998.]

Ethan Winters walked home from school when his father failed to pick him up. He walked through the streets, paying no mind to a big fight breaking out near him. On the way home, he meets up with his friend Kyde who had also been walking home. They talk and walk together for a bit, before splitting up.

When Ethan arrived home, he noticed the front door of his house had been opened slightly. Confused, but wary, he entered the house, knowing it was uncharacteristic for his father to forget the door was open.

He entered the living room, and found his father laying on the ground dead, shot twice in the head, having just been killed moments prior. Ethan moved over to his father, before Albert Wesker walked out of his father's office.

Ethan barely has much time to react to him, overwhelmed by his own panic and the death of the only adult in his life. Wesker - wanting no witnesses - shoots him three times in the chest, and leaves under the impression the child is dead for good.

Ethan Winters dies for the first time that evening.

[September, 27, 1998]

For the past two days, Mia and her parents have been barricaded in their home, unable to leave safely. Mia sat in her room for most of the time, unable to look out of the windows due to boards covering them. During those two days Mia tries to call Ethan and Kyde several times in hopes that they were safe. Neither of them answer.

Until this day, the 27th, at 2:00 am, when she calls Ethan. And he answers.

{TRANSCRIPT OF THEIR CALL:}

Ethan: h-hello?

Mia: [Ethan]! You're alive! Are you okay?

Ethan: I'm breathing. [Pause] I'm breathing. You okay?

Mia: I'm boarded up in my house, we can't leave safely. Everything is a mess. I'm so glad you're alive, [Ethan]. Are you safe? I'm guessing you're safe.

Ethan: Not sure. Not sure. Find you soon, here alone. Alone.

Mia: Alone? What happened? Where's your dad?

Ethan: [Pause.] [Loud sound in the distance.]

Mia: [Ethan]? Are you okay?

Ethan: [Dial tone.]

Mia speaks with her parents about the call, expressing worry about her friend. She spends a while trying to convince her parents that Ethan may be alive (purposefully omitting the dial tone) and need their help. Finally, they agree, and at 12 pm, they head out with all the resources they could gather.

Managing to stay out of sight, the family make it to the Winters' household. They find Ethan hiding in his bedroom, one infected laying in the hallway with a pole through its head and Ethan's father laying in the living room dead.

They rescue Ethan, and flee from the house. Mia's parents explain that they need to evacuate the city, but that they wouldn't be able to drive, so they'd have to move on foot. They returned to their house and rested for the night.

[September, 28, 1998]

The family and Ethan head out again, this time aiming to evacuate the city. After several close encounters with large groups of infected, the kids and Mia's parents are unfortunately separated. Given instructions by her parents, Mia leads Ethan through the city, having to take detours due to infected blocking pathways.

Eventually, during the night, they run into Kyde, who has lost his parents trying to escape the city. The three of them take refuge in an empty abandoned house, and rest for the walk in the morning.

Ethan sits up for a while, thinking about what happened to him, and trying to figure out how to explain it to his friends. Eventually he falls asleep, unable to figure it out. In the morning they head out again.

[September, 29-30, 1998]

During another detour taken due to large groups of infected, Ethan is kidnapped by a man in a white lab coat.

Mia & Kyde go after them, refusing to leave Ethan behind. They manage to find him after roughly half a day had passed.

Ethan had been in a hysterical state and through tears he explains to Mia and Kyde what had happened to him in his house a few days ago, confessing that he had died and revived two days later. He warns the two of them that whatever Jake, the white lab coat man, did to him, it made him dangerous and unstable.

Mia and Kyde refused again to leave him behind, and spend hours gathering information from files and research left scattered around. They manage to make Something that was able to calm him down and cleanse what they had learned had been called the "T-virus" from his body.

As soon as Ethan had woken up again, they fleed the facility, Mia & Kyde both making sure he didn't collapse on the way.

[October, 1, 1998]

They don't stop running when they're out. A broadcast goes out saying that the city will be blown up in four hours due to being unable to contain the outbreak. The three of them realize they won't be able to get out if they take anymore detours unless they find a vehicle with gas in it and a clear road to drive on.

Three hours later, out of options, nearly to the city boarder, and faced with another group of infected blocking the only straight shot out, they decide to risk a run through. However, just as they were pushing through, a helicopter flew overhead and spotted them. Calling to them, the pilot tells them to attempt making it up a building nearby if they could.

Through pure bullshittery and luck, they manage to make it up, and they board the helicopter. Just as it begins to take flight, the city starts to blow up bit by bit. In the distance, they see other helicopters flying.

> AFTER THE AU <

Mia and her parents reunite, her parents having managed to get out before the children did. Kyde goes to live with his relatives in Texas, and Ethan is offered to live with them as well.

Mia's parents move back to their texas home, and everyone who had been in the city were given therapy. Eventually the three grow up and graduate from highschool, and move on to other things, never once separating.

The three of them eventually move into a single house together in California, and some time after that Mia and Ethan get married. And for a while they live happily

And then, Mia witnesses Ethan having some sort of attack in the middle of the night one time, and realizes that he hadn't been completely cured of whatever had been infecting him in the city at all, and that it had only gone dormant for some years. While he wasn't vicious or attacking anyone, Ethan had just been really plagued and didn't even remember the fits that only seemed to happen every other night.

Out of worry and fear, Mia begins to work for the Connections, hoping there was something she could learn from them in order to help her husband finally be cured. And years after, RE7 began.

And THAT, my friends, is my Raccoon City Survivors au with the Winters, also known as Raccoon City Winters.

[creativeashproductions]

An Unwitting Sanctuary // Luke Patterson

IN WHICH: Reader finds herself dropped kicked into a  whole new world void of demons but filled with ghosts. Having grown up in a top secret religious Order it’s quite the adjustment temporarily stationed in a world less dangerous. But with the help of a trio of teen ghosts and a girl whose throat was nearly slit the transition isn’t fought.

Warnings: Swearing, violence, blood, demons, wounds, angst, and fluff

Words: 5.6k

A/N: Just another fic that I periodically worked on. This is a crossover with the Netflix original series Warrior Nun which I highly recommend.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX/ASK PLEASE!

Masterlist

It all started a decade ago when you lost your mother to an illness that had desiccated your family's happiness. Your father failed to find peace at the bottom of a bottle before he was a great father. In his last attempt to be a father, he made the tough decision to give you up to save you from watching his self-destruction and so he wouldn't hurt you.

That's how you found yourself numb on an airplane heading for Spain where you had been taken in. Tear tracks slowly drying on your pale cheeks, you tried to find what you did wrong for your parents to leave you.

"Hi." A sweet voice spoke from beside you. A girl with light brown hair in pigtails said with a bright grin, "I'm Ava."

A faint blush appeared on your cheeks at her words, but with one mention of your favourite show, you couldn't help but ramble. The woman beside Ava, her mother, smiled at how easily Ava could make someone happy. Ava and her mom remained by your side, even getting off the plane.

"It was nice to meet you." Ava beamed, revealing a missing tooth. Ava tackled you in a hug tightly, "You're my bestest friend in Spain." 

Your little hand waved as Ava's small stature disappeared out the airport entrance with her mother leaving behind a forlorn little girl. A stoic woman using a cane slowly made her way to you emotionless as she glanced at a photograph in her other hand.

"Y/N Y/L/N? You may call me Mother Superion," The Nun questioned, resting both her hands on the head of the cane with such intimidation, "Follow me. You're very fortunate Cardinal Duretti and Father Vincent found you.

"Why do you wear robes?" Your innocent question was taken by Mother Superion with little regard. Mother Superion questioned if the Order could afford having a child in the midst of the Order members' sworn duty.

"It is my habit. It is an outward sign of my religious' consecration to God." Mother Superion spoke, leading the way to an unmarked black vehicle idling for the stoic Nun and the little child. A vehicle that would transport a small American child to a place devoid of parental love and nurtured guidance.

Now at eighteen years of age, you had seen more than most people saw their entire lives; you were no longer the bright-eyed little girl longing for her father's hug. You were a girl who matured beyond her years, dedicating her life to a mission civilians had no clue about. It was a hard life among your fellow Sisters, yet you were closest to the Warrior Sisters you had been assigned to. Mary, Beatrice, Camila, Shannon and Lilith; Mary being your closest friend given you both were part of The Order of the Cruciform Sword but not Nuns, having never taken the vows. Lilith had grown colder and bitter when Sister Shannon was chosen for the Halo, so it was often hard to be around her now.

Mostly when she was gunning to retrieve the Halo from the resurrected formerly quadriplegic teenager girl. A girl that would most likely lose her life if Lilith succeeded and you, along with Mary, made it your mission to stop Lilith. Which led you to a warehouse where Lilith was on a screaming Ava, the Nun so gone you had absolutely no doubts Lilith would any anything for the Halo.

"-and you can't even appreciate that." Lilith hissed in the other girl's ear, "Your loss."

The Divinium blade stabbed into the middle of the Halo, sending severe pain through the Bearer's body. Her echoing screams joining the mystical sound reverberating from the golden glowing Halo itself.

"Enough!" Mary shouted, sprinting as Lilith started to carve the Halo out of Ava's back. In an unspoken decision, Mary tackled the Sister while you scrambled on your knees. You wrenched the knife from Ava's backsliding the blood-soaked blade in your combat boot.

"Ava, you need to get to the side. If Lilith comes, use the skills you gained from the Order." You told the teenager as you helped her up before running to join the combat.

"Fuck off!" Ava shouted, scrambling over to her unconscious friend JC. Another example of why relationships and friendships were impossible, a casualty in the work against the demons.

Your closed fist slammed Lilith's left cheekbone sending a splatter of blood from her lips; you dropped into a defensive crouch. Gracefully twirling, you avoided the hard kick from Lilith while Mary wiped the blood from her face. Lunging back from Lilith, you kicked her thigh, getting distance from her.

Lilith was about to slam her boot into your midsection when a familiar sound echoed in the warehouse. You all went still scanning the room for the unfortunate Tarask that would appear after a portal opened.

"Mary?" Lilith breathed, focused on the golden ripple behind the operative, who slowly turned as the screech grew louder. You stepped back beside Lilith as the Tarask entered the dimension just as terrifying as the last time. 

Slipping one of her shotguns, you raised it just taking a shot when it aggressively hit Mary, sending her halfway across the warehouse into a windshield. The shotgun in your hand started blasting at the increasingly pissed off demon.

Lilith was slowly unslinging the Divinium Sword from the scabbard on her back. Your eyes flicked from the movement to the Tarask towering in the room. It didn't take a genius to understand Lilith felt the need to prove herself as the rightful Bearer. 

"Lilith, no." You sternly spoke, flinching when the Tarask flipped a car towards Ava and the boy. The horrendous Tarask stopped as Mary joined in, shooting him as your shotgun clicked empty. 

Ava was stumbling back, keeping the boy behind her as the Tarask stalked her lifting one of its razor-sharp appendages. Lilith lunged in front of Ava in a moment of redemption as you tried to push Lilith away, but something lifechanging happened. 

A twin gasp filled the area as you felt something enter your body from behind. Glancing down, you saw the appendage had impaled your lower stomach right after it went through Lilith.

"No!" Mary screamed as you choked on the pain flooding your system. Sound faded as you could feel rather than hear your scream. A dribble of liquid slowly ran down the corner of your mouth, the copper taste bitter.

Red hot pain came from your midsection along with a deep cut oozing blood from your arm where Lilith had sliced your skin open with the Sword. Lilith slumped onto your back as she screamed, which had you literally slide off the Tarask's appendage with the lubrication of your own blood.

Your body connected with the floor having a first-row seat as Lilith whispered something that aided Ava in fighting the Tarask. With the swing of the Sword, the Tarask burst into flames vanishing through a portal with Lilith still on it.

Your eyes fluttered as Mary limped over your prone form. Maybe now you could join your mother in peace.

"No! Keep your eyes open," Mary demanded, struggling to lift you with her leg. A thin bead of blood-stained your cheek as it ran a path from the corner of your mouth.

Your eyes shut completely faded into a painless sleep.

The next time you woke up in the medical ward where you would stay for weeks after miraculously surviving what should have been fatal. Things changed for you, leaving doctors unclear; even Jillian Salvius' scientists and herself couldn't figure it out. Things got better, but the whole teleporting and you could see the demons once hidden from you.

There were other things you do, but that wasn't as important as the current moment deep in the catacombs of Vatican City. Soon you left Warrior Sisters to help Mother Superion in keeping the Reject Nuns from stopping your mission. After the last one fled, you watched as the entire area grumbled, Beatrice must have to blow up part of the tomb to retrieve Ava from whatever she'd found. You were proven right when Father Vincent carrying Ava appeared.

The Sisters recounted what happened, leaving you shocked. Ava had managed to phase through the twenty feet of solid rock to steal Adriel's bones. Instead of a pile of bones, Ava had found that the supposed Angel had been waiting for her. 

"He was alive?" You breathed, taken aback as Ava dropped the bomb that Adriel was alive and very much not an Angel. 

"He's a devil." Ava's words proved correct when invisible forces shoved the line of people far across from you. Unlike anything, you had ever seen before in your life.

A dark-haired man strode down the middle confidently with one wave of his arms, sending people flying away and dust from his lost robes. The man was dressed entirely in black and oozed darkness. His eyes gazed at Ava before meeting yours with a smirk. 

"Perfect."

Your eyes widened at his blunt statement issued directly at you, "Why is he looking at me like a prized possession?" 

"Stay here." Father Vincent spoke, pushing in front of everyone to make his way to the man who should have never been let out. Something deep in your stomach felt wrong; Father Vincent sent your heightened instincts flaring. 

You could hear a whisper in your head as somehow words reached across the great distance in Father Vincent's voice. 

"My master." Father Vincent verbally revealed his betrayal, leaving you breathless. He was one of few people that raised you from childhood, and he was evil. Adriel whispered to Vincent's ear, he was no Father, before stepping around him. 

"I admit my doubt laid in if you could be brought." Adriel's cultured voice spoke, staring at you, "My first step involved finding a capable human, 'A child's awakening born from despair. A child brought from a different part of the world'" 

You hyper-focused on the approaching man, barely noticing anything else, even the glance between Ava and Lilith. The entire group began fighting the man cleanly and professionally, you were drenched in blood from close combat.

In a lull, two girls came close together, each with a heavy heart at the short conversation and plan they had made. Lilith had had a dream that the only way for you to be safe was teaming up with Ava and it meant possibly never seeing you again.

"This is what you dreamed?" Ava demanded her former enemy. Lilith shook her head. 

"Not this exactly." Lilith murmured back, "It has to happen now. It's the only way, Ava." 

Ava squeezed her eyes shut as memories from a much happier time came into her memory before all she knew was heartache. 

"Ava, introduce yourself." Seven-year-old Ava looked up at her mother, "She looks sad." 

Ava nodded her small head-turning to the other child next to her, "Hi. I'm Ava." 

Ava felt happy when she managed to bring a smile to the girl beside her spending the next few hours talking. Ava hoped she would get to see you again, but life had other plans when the car accident happened. Ava would see when you were both jaded and cynical to the once innocent world they both knew. 

Grabbing Lilith's hand as Beatrice engaged the combat, Ava, with the Halo's power and the changes in Lilith, opened a portal. A single tear fell from Mary's eye as she slammed her boot into the armour of your combat outfit. 

"NO!" You screamed as the portal closed you from your friends, your team, your Sisters. You only caught sight of all them stalking towards your enemy.

The room, a garage of some kind, was modern with plants set in the glass wall with a well-used piano situated in front of it. The room was quiet, thankfully, as you hit the floor at a fast speed, still screaming. The thud echoed around the room as you laid on your side in the fetal position. 

"Please let the stitches be fine." You prayed, pressing your hand against your lower right quadrant. Your hand came back wet and sticky as you shouted in pain.

The black clothing hid the blood from your wounds, Adriel's blood and blood from your opened wound. You army crawled on your back towards a material, grabbing the dark sweater you screamed as you pressed against the wound. The pressure almost sending you unconscious.

"It's a killer song." 

Your breath hitched at the sound of a stranger, an American stranger too. You shuffled into the corner, unaware of the drops of blood you trailed.

"With Julie's voice, it will be great." Another voice spoke, faltering before speaking again, "Reggie? You okay, you've gone pale."

"Alex? Is that…is that blood?" Reggie, the guy that first spoke, whispered, looking at the drops leading to where the piano was situated. The two guys walked closer to where a small puddle of red liquid was smeared, "Yeah, that is definitely blood."

"Check on Ray and Carlos. I got Luke." Alex spoke, sharing a very concerned look with his bandmate. The two disappeared, unaware of the girl lightheaded intent on staying quiet.

With the room empty, you set about struggling to the bathroom for a mirror, the bruised skin barely shocking you. It came with being a Warrior Sister. Your hands shook as you washed the blood off, stilling at a door opening.

"Blood?" A feminine voice questioned. Peeking around the corner stood a Latina teenager with one of the boys from earlier, "Are you sure?" 

"Yes. Deadly. No pun intended." Reggie spoke, leading the exasperated teenager to where the piano was; congealing was the bright red fresh puddle of blood, "Your family is fine." 

"So is Flynn." Alex spoke, appearing with Luke beside him, "Luke was at the Orpheum.” 

It seemed your body decided to betray you with a jump in your heart rate and a flutter in your stomach. You winced, removing the pressure from the dark sweater shuddering as the black shirt pulled away from the wound.

"That is a lot." The newcomer, Luke, spoke, coming to a stop in front of the puddle frowning as he double-checked his guitars were safe. Julie's voice made the boys ashamed when she noticed something they didn't. 

"Did you happen to see there is a trail of blood as well?" Julie spoke, gesturing to the drops leading to the bathroom, "Whoever it is-"

Julie cut herself off with a scream as you lunged at her swinging a long sharp knife at her face; Julie stumbled, flailing as you glared at the terrified teenage girl. You didn't care who she was other than your mind was screaming danger. It was Julie being clumsy that was saving her life and you being weak.

"Oh my god! Julie!" Luke shouted at the sudden attack on his new friend and bandmate. All three were about to protect her, even though the sense of touch was still off and on.

You groaned, slumping to the ground once more, breathing heavily, and e/c eyes rolled back in your head, "Fuck." 

"She's a ninja!" Reggie yelped, ushering the group away from the girl in agony. His eyes taking in her youthful appearance and the dark black combat outfit. He didn't miss the bruises and cuts on her paling face.

"She almost killed me!" Julie shouted at the bassist, "In case you didn't see?! That knife came very close to slitting my throat!"

Tears filled your waterline as a feeling of being weak flooded your body in such a way you had never felt. You couldn't even protect yourself. The sense of despair taking most of your pain away as a sob broke through.

"She's crying!" The panic in the messy-haired boy voice broke through your tears. Tilting your head to see the very terrified teenagers, the despair was taken over by guilt.

"I'm sorry." You spoke, leaning up, "For…uh attacking you?” 

"Greatly appreciated." Julie sarcastically countered with a roll of her eyes, "Who are you?” 

"No, Julie, what are you?" Reggie inserted, pointing towards you with his index finger, whereas Alex was intently watching your movements.

"I'm in America. Wow." You chortled, collapsing into a fit of laughter, "Just when I thought life couldn't get more surprising! Oh, wait, I dropped out of a portal in the middle of a fight." 

"Can you explain why you're in our studio bleeding…oh, you're bleeding." Alex choked, bouncing on his feet as he frowned at your obvious pain. His eyes looking at the abandoned sweater you had been using against the wound, "If you promise not to attack can I get a first aid kit?"

You hesitantly nodded graciously, appreciating his kind offer, "Get a needle, thread and a lighter." 

Luke and Reggie reluctantly helped move you to the couch, with Luke grumbling about stains; he didn't like that a bleeding girl would be on his couch. You wheezed sitting on it, Luke's eyes widening as you started removing the tight black leather. 

"Uh, what are you doing?" Luke nervously questioned, scanning to find his friends. Julie had joined Alex in collecting your requirements, and Reggie was getting a bucket of water. 

"Removing my armour?" You spoke, sending him a weird glance wincing when the layer pulled the remaining stitches—a curse slipping out of your full lips. 

"Oh, that is disgusting." Luke grimaced, leaning away from the wound, still oozing blood and glancing at your chest with a deep blush. 

With the other three joining with the items, they watched as you cleaned the area with a wet towel revealing more of the gore. A sharp gasp when you shifted to check the entrance wound on your back, deeming it okay, you inspected the exit wound. 

"Okay, stitches tore only. That's good. I didn't want to deal with scrambling my organs." You chortled, removing your utility belt to fold and clench between your teeth. 

Doctoring the wound took your mind off your friends' survival, but the thud of a body brought you back to the here and now. Reggie, having seen you about to pierce your skin with the needle, had fainted. You raised one eyebrow before looking at the other three. 

"Uh, maybe look away?" You spoke, temporarily removing the belt from your mouth. Returning back to the task, you grunted as you stitched the wound as best as you could. By the time you finished, you were sweating.

"I fainted." Reggie groaned as he sat up, seeing that you were taking clothing from Julie and the first aid kit put aside, "I didn't think ghosts could faint." 

Julie and the Phantoms went silent as Reggie revealed their biggest secret to someone new. Julie groaned, putting her face in her hands while Alex shot the same annoyed and exasperated expression at the bassist. 

"Ghosts? Better than demons." You muttered with a sigh, "Can I use the shower?" 

Julie mutely nodded as she took in both the lack of response and your retort. Fifteen minutes later, a very different version came out of the bathroom. You were swamped in the flannel Luke had offered and the shorts from Julie, but you kept your thick combat boots. It was odd seeing you so feminine and free of blood. 

"Thanks." You smiled gratefully at the four teens, "So ghosts? Are all of you ghosts?"

"No. They died in 1995, I'm alive." Julie shrugged, taking a look at her newest best friends that had helped heal a part of her. Helped bring her back to music again, "I'm sure you may have heard of the band Julie and the Phantoms."

"No." You blankly replied, "Look, I was literally just at the Vatican an hour ago….which Beatrice partially blew up…"

Your words trailed off as the situation finally hit you full force because there was no way you were in Italy. Thinking back to the moments before you felt into a portal, you vaguely recalled Lilith meaning another dimension. 

"I need a phone." You demanded, quickly retrieving the one Julie offered to type in the phone number ingrained in your memory. One of the many things that Mother Superion had beaten into you literally.

"Andalusia, Spain's Authentic Castle Tours. How can I help you?" The voice asked, located in Spain at a desk in a business building near a deteriorating church. 

"Is Cardinal, I mean, a man named Duretti available?"

"I'm sorry, but we have no one in our employment by that name. Can I have a name, please?"

"Never mind." You gruffly replied, ending the call as you tossed the cellphone back to Julie, "I really did get transported. Stupid Vincent and Adriel."

A month was spent finding your bearings in a new dimension with people so far from your regular life it was astounding. Even though you had threatened Julie with a knife, at first, you had bonded with the girl. You were most peaceful when you were in the studio with Luke across strumming on his guitar to a new song. You had quickly become part of their friend group as time went on, and to be honest, you didn't really want to go back.

"What do you think?" Luke asked you, meeting your gaze, "Is it too soft?” 

"Aren't you the expert?" You smirked as he disappeared and popped up beside you on the couch with a smile. You weren't like typical girls Luke had known back in the '90s.

"Are you okay?" Luke questioned, turning his entire focus to give you a perfect view of his gorgeous eyes you could never distinguish between brown, green or even blue.

"Yeah. It's weird not having Mother Superion judging my moves or training with Beatrice, but it's okay." You half-smiled, recalling the people that had been in your life every day for years, "I miss them. They were my family."

Luke understood more than Julie ever would, and he knew more about your history than the others, "I get that." 

"I had a normal life. Parents that loved me and some friends I loved even at six years old. Memories of my mom are faded, but she got sick when I was five and passed a year later. My dad…he was struggling. His last good parental deed was putting me up for adoption." You admitted slouching to place your head on Luke's shoulder. His heart fluttered at the movement, "I never could make myself look him up. Hurt too much." 

"Yeah. I understand the feeling." Luke breathed through his nose, leaning his chocolate mess of hair on yours. The warmth flooding your systems.

The studio was empty other than you and Luke while Julie was at school. Reggie and Alex had left right after the living singer. You guess Reggie had found Ray at the site for his current photography appointment. Alex had a few places he could be at.

"Y/N!" The faint call of your voice in the distance startling you. The harsh yet feminine voice of one of the Sister Nuns bubbling hope in your stomach.

"Did you hear that?" You asked the ghostly guitarist, who frowned in confusion. Your eyes flickered around the studio frantically, "What the- "

"Y/N!" The voice grew louder in the room, with only it heard by you. Your body moved without thinking to the barn doors.

The doors opened with a gentle push as you followed the smoky wisp to the backyard and Luke behind you. Laughter sounded miles away from Julie and Reggie coming down the cement steps. Alex trailing behind only to halt watching your movements and Luke's questions falling on deaf ears.

"Come on! You said it would work!" The grit in the voice that had a life just as difficult as you in losing people. The smoky wisp flashed into a glowing portal as shiny as a frozen pond in the winter.

"I'm a little new at this, Ava! Opening dimensions isn't something that comes with a manual!"

"Lilith? Ava?" You breathed, reaching one hand out to the portal displaying a scene of two of your friends. Each wearing their combat outfits and grimaces as Lilith raised one hand up. 

"What in the hell is that?" Alex demanded, reaching to pull you back when your hand disappeared from the fingers to the wrist. Alex stumbled backwards at the sight of your hand being gone. 

"The portal," Luke interjected as you became mesmerized with the portal that had your life, your mission in life waiting. 

Glancing behind you, the four people that became just as important watched vigilantly as Ava and Lilith fell into the portal. The two girls quickly stood up in defensive movements scanning the surroundings.

Ava shoved Lilith off her to roll onto her stomach than her feet with a scowl. Ava's brown eyes clashed with your wide, shocked ones with an unmistakable look of relief. Ava's foot shoved the hand of Lilith's as her hand shoved Ava's calf. 

"Did that just…did she just-"Reggie struggled to make sense of the two girls appearing out of completely nowhere. His light eyes frantically moving between the people in the vicinity.

Striding up to the two girls, you punched Ava in the face with a hiss as a splotch of blood splattered your cheek.

"Ow!" Ava shouted, holding her cheek from the force of the hit with a frown.

"That's for sending me to another dimension!" You exclaimed before tugging her into a hug that left both of you uncomfortable. Her growing up in an orphanage and you in the Order had very little physical affection, "Vincent?" 

"Missing. Camila's been searching." Lilith interrupted, brushing the dirt from her clothing with a tentative smile. It was silent for a mere second before the formerly cold Nun lunged to hug you tight, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Can someone please explain?" Alex questioned, flinching when Lilith made direct eye contact with the blonde drummer.

Her dark eyes staring the male down unflinching before her eyes found three other strangers standing around.

"Alex, this is Sister Lilith and Ava. We're teammates." You slowly admitted having kept some parts of the story from them.

They knew what you came from, a different world very different from theirs and worked for a secret organization. They didn't know much more than that as the Order's status as a secret.

"Teammates? Why are nuns involved in your group?" Luke asked, crossing his arms with furrowed eyebrows. Distrust sparkling in his hazel eyes for the first time since you first appeared in his life, and it hurt you.

"We're-” 

"Ava!" Lilith hissed, narrowing her eyes at the American girl hellbent on breaking all kinds of rules. Ava's scathing glare, in return antagonizing her further, "The only reason you know about the Order is because of the Halo."

"Because I would still be a dead formerly quadriplegic girl!" Ava snapped, glaring down the person that became a frenemy after the Vatican, "This thing in my back is the only reason I'm alive!" 

"I am so lost," Reggie mumbled under breath as the oddly dressed teenagers sparked into a rushed argument. His eyes caught Lilith's hand turning into a fist while Ava got all in the other girl's face.

Your eyes moved between the volatile duo that had brainstormed together to keep you safe. Without their secret plan, it was a wonder what Adriel would have had in mind with you. The memory of his fascination with your very being and the way it appeared he had somehow manipulated arrival to the Order. But how could he when he was trapped in a long-forgotten twenty-foot concrete tomb?

"Ava!" You commanded her full attention, "Stop. We have bigger things to worry about. Is there a plan to find Vincent?"

Both girls solemnly shook their heads in sync, "No."

"Let's get inside before Mr. Molina finds two strangers in his backyard." You ushered the two girls into the studio. Lilith scanned the building's interior, no doubt looking for threats as one would with the lives you had lived.

Ava was swift to take the kevlar upper body armour off her body, leaving a thin black long sleeve shirt. It was tossed onto the couch among the notebook you had been using for anything to do with your other life.

"What have I missed since Mary planted her heavy ass boot in my chest?" You demanded, recalling the painful feeling of Mary's kick. The tough girl didn't hold back in anything she did combat wise "How does she even walk in those cement traps?"

Julie and the guys found seats in the room around the three alien world individuals who spoke as if they were alone. They heard mentions of someone named Adriel and Areala with the odd mix of words they didn't comprehend.

"So we go back, and we kick his ass." You snapped, crossing your arms, "I didn't even get to use my new-"

"Are you forgetting he hit me, sending me a few feet in the air? How six of us, five being highly trained individuals, failed?" Lilith retorted, mirroring your stance, finding an ally in Ava's unstaggering support.

"They all threw daggers, Camilla unloaded her crossbow, Mary beating him with the shotguns and even shooting him? That barely left a dent! For fuck sakes, he took an arrow to the neck, and he still got up!" Ava completely snapped with a heated glare in her milk chocolate eyes with hints of dark chocolate.

"That goal wasn't to end him; it was just to kill seven minutes for Ava to recharge." Lilith uncharacteristically softened her tone. Her dark eyes lightened in both comfort and sympathy, "We almost didn't make out of the fight. Adriel brought his wraith demons-"

"Like the pussy he is." Ava scoffed, rolling her eyes at the look she earned from Lilith, "What! Just because you're a Nun doesn't mean I can't swear!"

"Question," Reggie spoke, raising his one hand in the air, receiving the Warriors' attention. She shrivelled under the glares of the Nun; your frown proceeded the sharp punch to Lilith's arm for her action.

"Don't be mean to him." You stepped closer to the band that had grown to be close with you despite the rough introduction. The arm of Luke's chair bumped your waist, knocking you off balance. Luke's warm hands settled on your hips to steady you.

"I only just got used to ghosts," Alex whispered to himself, pushing his hands through his hair. His expression solely of confliction and emotional agony.

"I'm sorry, but did he just say ghosts?" Lilith questioned, staring at the blonde-haired drummer, "Better question, why are you hanging around with them?"

"Because after I was so kindly shoved into another universe, they welcomed me in." 

"After you nearly slit my throat too." Julie inserted, climbing to her feet to station herself beside you. Her face stoic, staring down the two females opposite to you and her.

In a moment of unison, the dead boys all stood up to match Julie in her support. Luke's hand brushing against yours momentarily before his pinky wrapped around yours. Lilith and Ava didn't miss the small movement.

"Lilith, Ava, these are my friends. Julie and her band of ghost boys." You softly spoke, nodding towards the Puerto Rican teenager with a smile, "This is Luke, Reggie and Alex."

Alex lifted his hand shoved it into his jean jacket pocket with a happy smile that belied his anxiety and confusion. Reggie's flushed cheeks squished as he beamed at the new people while Luke was more cautious. 

"Ghosts?" Lilith questioned once more, with her stance becoming combative and distrusting. Her greying hair peeking out under her black combat veil, a testament to her time in the dimension where the Tarask took her.

"Relax. Lilith." Ava spoke, straightening up with her lips pursed together, but she refused to relax. The room had waves of tension from the people inhabiting the building at the moment, "We just came to grab you."

The residents all slightly stepped in front of you, Luke's one arm behind him as he kept his pinky intertwined with yours. While the whole story hadn't been revealed to them, they knew that whatever waited in your homeworld was much worse than a pesky Broadway wannabe ghost in vintage wear.

"I don't know the full story, but she is not returning with you. There's a reason why you sent her here." Luke passionately spoke, glancing at the two girls with ulterior motives to dropping in for a casual conversation.

Your finger squeezed the messy-haired guitarist's own finger before you stepped around the wall of four musicians. Your name whispered behind you as you stepped up to the Warrior Nuns in front of you. The room filled with tension.

"Lilith, unlike you and the other Nuns, I didn't choose this life. Neither did Ava. We both got handed a really shitty hand of cards that ultimately placed us in the path of the Order." Your hands reached out to grasp the older girl's hands.

Luke sent a look to his bandmates with a sick feeling sinking in his stomach as he anticipated your decision to leave. It physically ailed him as if it hadn't hit him before that this world wasn't the one you were from. Why wouldn't you want to get back to your own world with your family?

"-But you can't come back." Is the words Ava spoke that had Luke coming back to the present. A certain light feeling took over him.

"Not yet, at least." You murmured with a bittersweet smile placed on your pretty features. Despite ignoring it, Lilith and Ava had already known from the moment they saw your interactions with the band what the outcome would be.

This was your home. At least for now. Lilith couldn't blame you, not after what happened, and that was okay. It was safer with you here until they could figure out a plan about the havoc in their own world.

"If you want, you can stay here for the night." Julie offered with a small smile, "That way, you can catch up properly. My dad would be cool with the guys bunking in the basement." 

After the Orpheum, the boys had developed the capability to be seen when they wanted, and Ray was informed of certain parts. Ray knew much about them, but he wasn't privy to the tidbit that the guys were dead.

"We have to head back. You're completely sure you don't want to come with us? Things may go bad, and we won't be able to get you back. You'll be stuck." Lilith warned you with a faint smile upturning the corners of her lips.

"I'm not stuck. I think this is where I was always supposed to be, even if it's only temporary. In this life or the next."

"In this life or the next." Ava and Lilith echoed back before they opened the portal to your former world. The portal closed behind them, leaving you with a bittersweet feeling in your very soul.

A single tear trailed down the apple of your cheek as the life you once had closed, and who knew it you could return to that chapter. Calloused fingers brushed the tears off your cheeks before a pair of lips lingered on your forehead.

"You good?" Luke murmured against the warmth of your head. His heart ached for you because while his parents didn't know he was dead, he had the opportunity to visit them.

"I will be." You whispered, tiptoeing to press your lips against his soft pink lips. Luke sharply inhaled at the action before he melted into it.

Yeah, you would be okay.

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[violetrose-art]

Frankenweenie Headcannons, Theories, and Ideas

This is just a list of the theories, headcannons, and ideas I came up with for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie. I might add more later on, so watch out

-When he was six years old, Victor Frankenstein got Sparky as a small puppy from the local pet shop

-Elsa got Persephone as a gift for her seventh birthday

-Victor’s full name is Victor Charles Frankenstein

-Victor is strongly not fond of sports, especially baseball. But he does love to play fetch with Sparky and ride his bike

-Victor secretly has a crush on Elsa, but he’s too nervous to say anything. But he wouldn’t mind just being friends with her

-Even though he doesn’t get along too well with Toshiaki and Nassor very well, Victor doesn’t mind Bob (who was one of the “cool kids”) being nice to him

-Victor used to have a pen pal in London named Shamus Holmes. They wrote to each other back and forth almost every week, until Victor reached college. That was when the letters from Shamus stopped coming

-Victor isn’t allergic to anything, but he does get nauseous around peaches for some reason

-When he grows up, Victor either wants to become a scientist, a vet, or a movie director… but he can’t decide

-Victor likes to watch both horror and sci-fi films. His favorites are Karloff’s “Frankenstein”, “The Fly”, “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”, “Behemoth the Sea Monster”, and “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers”

-The Monday after Dutch Day, Victor was told to stay after school for baseball practice, but when he hit the ball and ran around the diamond, he broke his arm and got a black eye and he was suspended from the baseball team… which he thought was the best day ever

-Victor isn’t particularly fond of his young cousin, Vincent Malloy. He’s often annoyed by Vincent's slightly obsessive mannerisms and all of his Vincent Price talk and Vincent's mother blames Victor for introducing her son to scary movies in the first place

-Victor was born on August 31st, 1957

-Elsa’s full name is Elsa Anais Van Helsing

-Victor and Elsa first met on their first day in kindergarten. They both reached out to grab the same toy, but their hands touched and their eyes met. After a tiny squabble over the toy, they started playing together and they quickly became friends

-Elsa was born on October 28th, 1957

-Elsa isn’t into sports, but she enjoys going swimming or roller skating on occasion… She also likes to watch Victor Frankenstein at baseball practice sometimes

-Elsa is highly allergic to bees and pistachios

-A year after Dutch Day, Mayor Bergermeister forced Elsa to take ballet lessons recently and she doesn’t like it

-Elsa has an interest in history and she thought about becoming a historian someday

-Elsa has a secret crush on Victor, but she’s too shy to say anything

-After the events of Dutch Day, Victor promised never to reanimate Sparky again if he died one more time. Eventually when he was in his late teen years, he let Sparky die because he and Elsa wanted Sparky and Persephone to be together in death. The two dogs were buried in the pet cemetery together (Romeo and Juliet style)

-Elsa likes to watch horror movies in secret. Her absolute favorites are “Bride of Frankenstein”, “Dracula”, and “The Phantom of the Opera”

-After Dutch Day, Victor and Elsa started to grow closer and closer, as well as their dogs Sparky and Persephone

-Despite her uncle's protests of having a dog around, he agreed to let Elsa keep Persephone. But he insists that she keep the dog away from his front lawn

-Sparky and Persephone had four puppies together. Their names are Coal, Raven, Anastasia, and Hades

-When they were in the eighth grade, Victor and Elsa had their first kiss at a Halloween dance at school. They had their second kiss after a Christmas dance recital; they were performing the Nutcracker together. They started officially dating when they were freshmen in high school

-Elsa’s favorite books are “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, “Romeo and Juliet” and other works of William Shakespeare and her favorite writers are Lewis Carroll, Harper Lee, and Shakespeare. She also enjoys Edgar Allen Poe’s works

-Elsa considers Weird Girl (aka, Mindy) a friend, but she doesn’t like it when she creepily stares at her

-Elsa had a pen pal in New York City named Kristen. They wrote to each other a few times a month, but they lost touch when they reached senior year in high school

-When Victor and Elsa grew up and got married, they had two children. Their names are Peter Timothy Frankenstein (age 12) and Moira Juliet Frankenstein (age 8)

-Weird Girl’s full name is Mindy Cecilia White

-Mindy was raised by a single mother who was a medium, as well as a psychiatrist

-Mr. Whiskers was adopted as a kitten by Mindy from a local pet store. He was the only one of the litter that wasn't adopted because of his large starring eyes

-Mindy took the same ballet classes as Elsa

-Mindy has a crush on Edgar. She secretly hoped that Mr. Whisker's would one day dream about her and Edgar

-After Mr. Whiskers’ death, Mindy fell into a deep depression. Elsa was there to comfort her in her time of need and she even helped her bury the body in the pet cemetery

-Mindy first discovered Mr. Whiskers’ ability to predict the future through cat litter one morning after changing it; it was shaped in the letter B. On that same day, a girl named Brooklyn from school got three strikes at the bowling alley

-Mindy was born on April 3rd, 1958

-Edgar’s full name is Edgar Abraham Gore

-Edgar has a crush on Mindy, but he believes she’s out of his league and was too afraid to approach her

-At one point, Edgar wanted a snake or spider for a pet, but his mother told him no. Once tried to adopt a wild raccoon, but got a scolding from her when he let it into the house

-Edgar was born on September 14th, 1958

-After Dutch Day, Edgar developed a fear of rats

-Edgar still wants to make a death ray with Victor, even though they can't actually make one

-Mindy and Edgar started dating when they were in their sophomore year

-When they got married, Mindy and Edgar had a daughter named Giselle (age 7 ¾)

-Toshiaki’s full name is Toshiaki Ito Oroku

-Toshiaki's mother and father were originally born and raised in Japan until they moved to the US a month before he was born. Being an open community towards different race groups, New Holland was the perfect location to start a family

-Toshiaki was born on May 28th, 1956

-As a reward for winning his first science fair, Toshiaki was given a pet turtle, who he named Shelly. Shelly was unfortunately passed away when he was left outside in the hot afternoon in his aquarium for too long

-Toshiaki and Victor are frenemies, mainly friends, but mostly enemies

-When Shelly died two times, Toshiaki was very upset. But luckily, he had his friends to comfort him after his second and final burial

-In school, Toshiaki met one of the new girls, a Japanese girl named Mae-Lee, and he quickly developed a crush on her

-Years later, Toshiaki and Mae-Lee got married and had two children, a daughter named Shelley Sue (age 8) and Yoshi (age 7 months)

-Nassor’s full name is Nassor Hannibal Karloff

-In school, Nassor stood out from the other children due to his height and cynical macabre personality. The only thing that made him happy as a child was his pet hamster, Colossus. One day Colossus went missing and Nassor was frantic with worry. About five days later, Colossus was found trapped inside the wall and he had starved to death, leaving Nassor heartbroken

-Nassor has an interest in Ancient Egyptian culture around pharaohs and the afterlife. It was his idea as tribute to Colossus would be mummified and placed in a large tomb

-After Dutch Day, Nassor was found wrapped up and he was untied by the others. While he holds no grudges against Toshiaki, he doesn't exactly forgive him for causing Colossus's second death

-Nassor was born on February 24th, 1956

-After Dutch Day, Nassor met one of the new girls, a young lady named Hillary, and he was instantly infatuated with her

-When Nassor and Hillary grew up, they got married and had a son named Darwin (age 12)

-Bob’s full name is Bob Adam Hill

-Bob’s dad passed when he was rather young, making his mother, Mrs. Hill, extremely protective of him, and he finds it super embarrassing

-Bob hates it when people talk about his weight. When he fell down a manhole by accident, he got stuck and had to have a crane to pull him back out

-Bob was born on July 6th, 1957

-In school, Bob had a crush on a girl named Jenny

-Bob first met Toshiaki shortly after Shelly's death. Despite Toshiaki's cold behavior towards him at first, they became good friends

-Bob has an interest in marine life and he has a fish tank full of different kind of fish up in  his room

-When he grew up, he and Jenny got married and had a son named Carl (age 12)

-Mr. Frankenstein’s full name is Edward Steven Frankenstein

-Edward was an avid lover of sports, especially baseball. He played as a star athlete in high school, where he first met Susan who was cheering with the other cheerleaders

-Edward has a bit of hard time understanding his son, Victor, but still supports him nonetheless

-Edward likes to role play with his wife Susan that he's a travelling salesman when her "husband" isn't around the house

-Edward often gets people who ask him about his last name Frankenstein. An old family rumor was that he was a direct descendant of the original presumed fictional scientist, Dr. Frankenstein

-Edward tries to get along with his next door neighbor, Mayor Bergermeister

-Mrs. Frankenstein’s full name is Susan Delia Woods Frankenstein

-Susan and Edward Frankenstein first met in back high school; he was a star athlete while she was the head cheerleader. A few years after graduation, they got married and she gave birth to Victor at age 31

-Susan has two sisters, Lillian and Francine. Francine is the eldest, Susan is the middle child, and Lillian is the youngest. Lillian is Vincent Malloy’s mother

-Susan isn't as social with the other mothers/housewives with their gossiping. She prefers the company with her family instead. She is friends with Mrs. Van Helsing, though

-Susan had a pet calico cat when she was younger named Lacey. But poor Lacey died when she was around Victor's age, so she knows what her son was going through

-Mayor Bergermeister’s full name is Robert “Bob” Clarence Bergermeister

-The Bergermeister family has been mayors of New Holland for generations. They were known for their strict laws, rules, and leadership towards its citizens

-Bergermeister has a very low tolerance towards animals, especially dogs… probably because he never had any pets growing up

-Elsa’s father’s full name is Jonathon Gabriel Van Helsing

-Elsa’s mother’s full name is Lydia Hermione Bergermeister Van Helsing

-Mr. and Mrs. Van Helsing are philosophers, hence why they tend to be away a lot. They travel to countries mostly in Europe, like Romania and the Netherlands. They sometimes take Elsa with them when they have to go out of the town, state, or even country. But most often, she stays behind because of school and just wants to be at home and spend time with Victor

-Mayor Bergermeister is in fact the older brother of Lydia by four years. Like most siblings, they do love each other but sometimes can’t stand each other

-Lydia is one of the few people and things that actually scares Mr. Bergermeister, despite the fact that that she’s his little sister. She doesn’t take nonsense from him or anyone else and she’s not afraid to stand up to him. When she’s done, he usually replies weakly “yes, sis” or “yes, little sis”

-Jonathon grew up in Romania for most of his childhood, but when he lost his parents, he immigrated to the United States to make a better life for himself. He met Lydia when he was about to start high school

-Bergermeister loves gardening, especially his first prize flowers. He absolutely hates it when the neighbor's dog lays his "business" all over the lawn

-Bergermeister cares deeply for his niece and younger sister… but he isn't very fond of her husband, Jonathon

-At first, Bergermeister greatly disliked the idea of Elsa and Victor being together, but he eventually grew to respect him

-Bergermeister used to be married; he and his wife even had a son named Bernard. But the couple had a huge fight and they filed for a divorce. When the divorce was finalized, his ex left New Holland and she took Bernard with him

-Bernard Bergermeister was never close with his cousin, Elsa. In fact, Elsa often found Bernard to be quite repulsive

-When Bernard grew up, he met a wealthy young woman named Lucille and they had a son named Bruce (age 13)

-Mr. Rzykruski’s full name is Ivan Darius Rzykruski

-Ivan was born in a small Eastern European village. He grew up influenced around various scientists in the community. Both of his parents were scientists in different fields of expertise and would encourage him to pursue his dreams

-By the time Ivan was 18 years old, he immigrated to the United States and eventually landed a job as a university professor teaching quantum mechanics. He met with various famous scientists in his career

-Ivan tends to be a bit dramatic in his teachings. He briefly took acting classes in his youth, but he wanted to focus more on being a scientist

-During one of his science lectures, Ivan met a woman by the name of Vanessa. They quickly fell in love, got married, and had a son named Dirk. Unfortunately when Dirk was about 9 years old, Vanessa passed away because of cancer. Ivan was heartbroken and he and Dirk missed her terribly. When Dirk was 10, Ivan sent his son to a private boarding school in another part of the state. But when the boy turned 14, he went back to public school

-Dirk grew up and met a woman named Clarice. They got married and had a daughter named Ingrid (age 13). But Clarice died of a terrible sickness when Ingrid was about 3 or 4, then Dirk died in a car crash when Ingrid was about 7. That was when Mr. Rzykruski took his granddaughter in and raised her as his own

-The gym teacher’s full name is Coach Darla Gladys Barnes

-Bob’s mom’s full name is Barbara Deborah Ferguson Hill

-Vincent Malloy’s full name is Vincent Sebastian Malloy

-When Vincent grew up, he met a woman named Marilynn, they got married and had a daughter named Winona (age 7). But Marilynn got into a bad car accident and passed away, leaving Vincent to raise his daughter on his own

-The invisible fish Victor reanimated didn't die. In fact, the fish used its invisibility powers to slip out of the glass jar Edgar was keeping it in and disappeared into the sewer, rumored to still be there

-The reason that New Holland has so many lightning storms is part of an old town legend. Centuries ago when the first settlers built New Holland, there was a young witch by the name of Loretta Thistletwing and while she was a good witch, she kept her true nature a secret from the superstitious townsfolk. Unfortunately, one fateful night, Loretta accidentally caused her powers to be revealed and the townsfolk formed an angry mob to have her killed. However, her beloved familiar black cat, Midnight, heard of the danger and tried to defend his mistress, only to get killed in the process. Outraged by the loss of her beloved pet, Loretta unleashed a curse upon the town right before they burned her at the stake, saying that the town would be cursed with perpetual thunderstorms and any lightning that hit a deceased pet would bring it back to life, unleashing its fury upon the town. This is why the lightning brings dead pets back. But Sparky is the only good one to be reanimated because Victor loved him so much

-Susan and her two sisters are the three granddaughters of Victor Van Dort and Victoria Everglot. Susan’s son and only child, Victor, was named after his great-grandfather who passed away before his birth

-In the past, New Holland had experienced horrible monster attacks and many of them were based on famous movie monsters. There was a mutated bulldog made out of slime (based on the Blob), a half lizard/fly (based on the Fly), a gigantic pet capuchin monkey (based on King Kong), and even a phantom like cat (based on the Phantom of the Opera). Of course, the current townsfolk never believed these supposed stories until the Dutch Day incident

-Legend has it that the curse Loretta put on the town could only be broken when a pet that had been deeply loved by its owner was brought back peaceful and the townsfolk came together to save it should it die again. This ultimately ended up happening by the end of the movie and the curse was unwittingly broken

This is all I've got so far, but feel free to tell me what you think and tell me which one is your favorite

[reddus-sideblog]

Today in Pathfinder

It’s not super long or anything but I’ll still put it all under the cut

The crew has left Dixon, and were going to continue on to Velakor, somehow, to attempt to help Kii attempt to reclaim her homeland from the occupying Pragian Empire. Along the way we’ve ended up in Freecliff, a town that’s in the foothills of the border mountains between Velakor and the Southerlands.

While there Kii and Nik found out why Tisiphone doesn’t do “missing person” cases, when a child who had lost his parents came to the group and asked for them to help him. Kii promised that she would find them both and bring them both back safe and sound.

We eventually figured out that they were being kept in a building nearby (once was the town hall, now being used for “experiments”) wherein a vile necromancer or would be scientist was attempting to learn the secrets of the undead in the Southerlands. Tisiphone confronted the evil bastard who was behind the abducting of people (he was a Pragian officer getting his soldiers to abduct people in the middle of the night). The mother had...passed away (thankfully not having turned), and only the father barely survived. There were a small number of others who had survived, and an unfortunate amount who had died and about a half dozen who turned.

Kii and Nik had to tell him that his mother didn’t make it. The kid who had tried to hire the group couldn’t stop crying and holding onto his unconscious father (who had been bled out a lot, but would seemingly make it). Nik held onto his dog, Abe, in silence, while Kii flew off, up into the clouds (she’s a sylph so she can fly) to be alone, and think a bit about the consequences of her own actions. Tisiphone, for her part, was all too familiar with this kind of tragedy, and went off to notify the mortician about the bodies he’d need to see to (she’d executed the turned bodies).

So everyone’s starting to get real familiar with why Tisiphone’s the cold, closed off person she seemingly is by default, and getting more acquainted with the evil of the Southerlands, and the wickedness is enables and brings out in people.

[tyk-tyk-tyk]

(its iwontknock, i wish tumblr would let us send asks from second blogs) on my post you said your first d&d character was the lodger and i am SO curious about that!! can i ask more about that, like what his class was? id love to hear about your portrayal!

Well, I hope my fellow players don’t pay attention to this blog lol. If you are GO AWAY YOU NERDS Tw for child death and unethical experimentation juuuust in case, I know Knock-Knock has a lot of that regardless but if D&D folks see this too I want there to be a heads up

Looong post under the cut, adding tags in a sec

I’m actually kinda thrilled that you asked, we haven’t started the reboot yet, but hopefully we will soon! When I first started playing him, I was hella inexperienced and a little shy, so I didn’t quite get to fully do what I wanted with him & had a HORRIBLE backstory, but I’ll give a few details anyways. Then I’ll explain what I’m gonna do with his reboot haha

To also save some confusion, I named The Lodger “Bormot” as that’s what some of his voice files are called, it’s just a Russian name that means “Mumble” :)

I made him a half elf druid! It was a lot to tackle at first, but I really felt like it fit his character. Whereas druids are usually blessed by the Earth and such yadda yadda, I made it so that the Earth borderline cursed him by being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. He comes from this long line of elf intellectuals, and still does his worldology stuff out in the middle of nowhere. After he gets cursed though, his home starts dying and he pulls a “Well, this isn’t good!” and runs away and ends up meeting the party. Did I mention that he’s a half elf that doesn’t believe in magic bc of his sheltered life? More on that later. Some fun stuff that ended up happening is he literally met half plant people (my DM had no idea LOL) and Bormot proceeded to have a panic attack and casted Call Lightning by accident. We were like level 15 btw I came in LATE He also managed to talk down a dragon despite his low charisma score (I think I actually rolled well and my DM took pity on me, a new player)

The ‘rebooted’ version of him is still largely the same, a half elf druid, just with more of a fleshed out story. His Grandfather is kind of this disgraced elf who hates magic since he thinks his peers rely on it too much, they don’t use their braiiiiins. So he then raises Bormot’s (half elf) dad to reject magic, and continue their worldology science that’s Definitely A Real Science I Swear. Bormot’s dad gets married ofc and decides to live in the middle of nowhere where he can conduct his science in peace with his family. The wife gives birth to a beautiful baby girl shortly after! While on a hunting trip, Bormot’s dad shoots at something he thinks is a deer, but ends up being an old & weak God. Oops. So he does what any responsible scientist does and vivisects the thing before it dies, taking lots of samples of its blood. This kinda makes him lose his mind as now there’s real, physical evidence in front of him that higher powers and magic might be a pretty valid thing. So of course he does what any highly responsible father does and puts some zesty ichor (God Blood) into his child just to see what happens! She dies, unfortunately, as the powers that be of a god isn’t something a really tiny elf girl’s body can handle. The mother enters grief and becomes more overprotective. having no idea that her husband accidentally killed their child. She gives birth to Bormot a long while later. Daddy-o doesn’t want the wife to know about his experimentation since she’ll whine about MoRaLs and refuse to let him inject more blood into their son, so he keeps it a secret for as long as he can. When Bormot is older, he tries again, and it works! ... Sort of. Now the poor kid is having constant nightmares and hallucinations, and is having trouble both sleeping and meditating. He’s freaked out about the potential magic that he has, since his dad said that magic isn’t real, and his dad is definitely always right and doesn’t lie! He grows up like this his whole life. Bormot’s mom does actually end up finding out about it and gets into an argument with the dad, so the dad does what any responsible husband would do and kills her after it escalates. At least he feels guilty for this one. Her body is buried next to the sister’s near some pine trees so the roots will hopefully grow over them and conceal the bodies more. Bormot has no idea he even had a sister, and his dad lies and says that his mom left. When Bormot’s old enough to live on his own, his dad peaces out to conduct more research and tries to prolong his own death, even if he has a lot of years left. Bormot starts the game around when he leaves his house, wondering where his dad ran off to & wants to learn what the hell is up with his hallucinations and Not Real Magic.

I left out details since this was already getting so LONG, sorry mobile users Anyway the TLDR is Bormot’s dad makes a lot of bad decisions that leads to Bormot being a druid hermit that doesn’t believe in magic, and his journey with his friends is all about realizing that he’s more than his worldology ‘legacy’ and that magic is indeed real and it isn’t bad to embrace it. But we’ll see if he makes it to the end or dies to a goblin or something

Thanks for reading my self indulgent D&D rambles, I can give updates if anyone is ever curious about it later

[i-cant-believe-i-wrote-this]

Review: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

*SPOILERS BELOW

Summary: Piranesi lives in the beautiful, mysterious and ancient House. What is the House, who are the people around him, and how did he end up here?

Score: 9/10

1. Setting

Setting, in my opinion, is the dominating aspect of the book. As a journalist of the appearance and events of the House, which he lives in, much of the book focuses on Piranesi describing his surroundings. This is especially the case since the book presents a story using the format of a series of diary entries made by Piranesi.

Clarke, the author, uses setting skilfully to establish an atmosphere of mystery and wonder throughout the book, allowing the reader to enjoy the beauty of the House along with Piranesi. The potential of the setting is used fully and to a great extent. After all, the House is one of the key entities of the book.

The House as a symbol

The book states that the House is the remnant of the magic of the Ancient World, which man came to abandon. I believe that the House symbolises nature and its beauty, and how mankind, in its conquest of nature, has abandoned their communication and appreciation of nature, resulting in its departure/destruction. Later, Piranesi and the Other diverge on their way of examining the House: admire or dissect? This is a display of the debate of how mankind should treat nature, and to what extent it can use nature for its own purposes.

What I didn't like about it: Unfortunately, descriptions of the setting dominate the start of the book, making it slightly cumbersome even though it sets a solid mood for the book. Secondly, although the outward appearance of the House is used to its full potential, the why behind such an appearance is unexplained and I'm kinda unsatisfied. However, one key message of the book is to appreciate beauty simply without using it to one's interest or dissecting it up for usage. The lack of explanations for the House may have been a display of such a message, and to some extent it should be kept that way.

2. Plot

Clarke uses plot brilliantly in a clouded, layered fashion that makes the book intricate and exciting. By dropping hints here and there, using plot twists and stringing up the past and present skilfully, she makes the book refreshing and complex. Combined with realistic worldbuilding that provides different perspectives, she also makes the book realistic and believable.

What I didn't like about it: As mentioned above, the large focus of setting (and character) at the start of the book makes it slightly lethargic, and the plot only truly becomes exciting near the middle.

3. Character

Clarke presents a diverse cast of characters that have their distinct characteristics. It is quite interesting to discover them and what they do. The plot twist in the book is also brought by its characters, so a big kudos to Clarke for that.

The character of Piranesi

The character of Piranesi is exceptionally intriguing, due to the variations of his different stages:

As Matthew Rose Sorensen - academic and pragmatic

As Piranesi - retains the academic and pragmatic traits of his former self, but is also innocent, kind, almost childlike and reverent towards the House

As a hybrid of Matthew Rose Sorensen and Piranesi - kind, but the reader can sense something sad in him

They almost reach represent a different age: Matthew as an adult, Piranesi as a child, and the hybrid as a weathered elderly man who still has an eye for beauty. This makes the character likeable and unforgettable.

Piranesi versus the Other

While Piranesi and the Other are both "scientists", they approach the House, their subject, quite differently. While Piranesi only takes note of the beauty of the House, the Other attempts to use rituals to gain the secret powers of the House. This may be an allegory for the different attitudes of modern people towards an unknown object: to admire and appreciate, or dissect and destroy?

The real Piranesi

Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian Classical archeologist, architect and artist who is known for his exaggerated, ideal drawings of Roman buildings in a series of artworks known as Imaginary Prisons. While Giovanni Piranesi draws idealised Roman architecture, Piranesi the character takes detailed note of the structure and appearance of the House. Some reviewers have said that while Giovanni Piranesi draws imaginary prisons, Piranesi the character is actually describing his own prison, the House, while oblivious to this fact.

What I didn't like about it: There were so many interesting characters but little were explored in detail, leaving the reader unsatisfied.

4. Language

Clarke's language is straightforward, as the narrator is Piranesi, but beautiful. It conveys its content clearly but Piranesi's innocence and praise for the House also seeps from the words.

[saiki-in-jsl]

No Powers Saiki AU (3k)

Where he also has anxiety and selective mutism. (But also, nobody has powers. And that volcano issue never happens because I SAID SO.)

Uhm uhhhh, in no way am I a doctor, so this may not be very accurate. Sorry!!

TW: Panic attack, I don’t think this one needs a skip so I’ll just leave it as that (but if you need one, tell me :eyes:)

Also on my ao3!

Also well shit, I do like myself some good Kusuo and Akechi friendship :,)

Also also, ugggghhhhhh, the italics stuff don’t go through when I copy and paste from my docs rip. This is why I prefer ao3 more (and because their tagging system is HEAVENLY) so if you wanna read with all them proper italics I suggest switching to my ao3

ALSO ALSO ALSO, RIGHT WHEN I FINISHED THIS, I DISCOVERED ASL AND JSL ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SO D A R N H E C K I’M SORRY. I did a big oopsie,,,let’s,,,pretend that asl,,,is,,default,,?

Saiki Kusuo was not your typical boy.

Since he was young, it had been painfully obvious that he was a gifted child, surpassing his brother by intelligence and strength. This had drawn many curious scientists to him, and after several tests that went on for hours and hours, he finally broke. He stopped talking and he stopped wanting to be around people.

His mother, equally as tired of the scientists as her son was, decided to hide his identity away from the public, constantly moving from location to location to avoid the people who knew of her son’s abilities.

This barely helped with Kusuo’s social development as a child, so the more he moved, the more he decided that he would much rather live in an isolated world than a world filled with people with prying eyes and loud mouths.

He did make a friend once though, but it barely lasted due to unforeseen circumstances that involved a few beat up bullies, and it had surprisingly hurt when he had to move away again. Akechi was his first real friend, and realizing that he won’t be seeing him again felt weird.

As much as he loved being alone, a friend would’ve been nice.

So the night before they moved away, he had pushed open his parents’ door, gripping his pajama top tightly, and whispered really really softly to his mother, “Mama. Will I ever make a friend?”

It was the first time he had spoken in a very long time, in fact, his mother couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken to her without pointing and hand gestures. So predictably, she cried and hugged him tight, mumbling how sorry she was for ruining his chance at making a friend, too caught up with trying to avoid those nosey scientists.

Middle school went by like a blur, aside from the occasional school switch that still happened, yet not as often as elementary. He didn’t remember a single thing that happened during those school days, maybe a few anxiety attacks in the bathroom and a sad attempt at trying to socialize, but that was it. Maybe it really was easier to be alone, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about losing his breathing from the sheer amount of stress he got from the assembly hall.

Highschool came and Kusuo had a new plan: Accept that having friends are not necessary and speaking with your mouth is dumb. 

He quickly learnt how to use ASL, much preferring that language over vocally speaking, and made sure his grades were as average as possible. He had excelled through middle school and elementary school like it was nothing, but it had led him to be placed on stage many times because of this. So no more of that, because that was a recipe for disaster to him.

Kusuo made sure everything was in perfect place before heading to school. He made sure the school knew about his condition, and he also made sure to let them know he didn’t want to be publicly known as the school’s “mute kid”, so he’d definitely blend in without an issue.

Kusuo couldn’t believe what was happening. He hadn’t even fully registered his first year of highschool properly and his second year was already here. 

To start off, he had friends, something he did not expect to have. He could predict many things, the weather, what people were thinking, and if he tried hard enough, he could even predict who would walk by his classroom in the next second. But he did not see this one coming.

He didn’t even know how. Nendou was a dunce who went from copying his homework to hanging around and inviting him out for ramen and Kaidou was a chuunibyou who thought Kusuo’s hand gestures was some sort of secret language and ended up perceiving Kusuo as some ally to Jet Black Wings.

Yumehara, for no reason other than the fact that Kusuo looked cute, decided she was meant to be with him. A lot of effort was taken to avoid her, but just as she lost interest in him, the class- no, the world’s idol decided she’d have a crush on him too. Then there was the class representative, Hairo, who constantly screamed and moved and how does he not get tired? 

Then there was Kuboyasu, Toritsuka, Aiura, and so many people it made his head spin.

But they all had one thing in common when they communicated with him, and that was the fact that they all thought he was deaf. Granted, people who use ASL were commonly deaf, so he wasn’t blaming them for assuming so, and it did help him a little since this made them talk less around him and gave him a good excuse for ignoring them half the time.

Two years he spent in this highschool, and not once had he fired rapid ASL before. He never got the chance to, and he didn’t have much care for doing so. Mostly because most of the people around him didn’t even understand sign language.

But sometimes, listening to Toritsuka talk on and on about some cute girl could really put you on edge. Especially when he kept egging Kusuo on about the type of girls he liked.

The thing was, Kusuo didn’t like romance. He liked observing it and the idea of it, but he would never want to be a part of it. Frankly enough, he didn’t find any joy in it, he much preferred a life of solitude.

“C’mon, I know you can understand me, Saiki,” Toritsuka poked, grinning widely. “What kind of girls are you into? Or perhaps are into boys? Seriously, tell me, maybe we can go on a double date sometime. What about Teruhashi--“

Kusuo scowled, taking a step back and suddenly flying into fast ASL that roughly translated to several insults and long explanations as to why Kusuo wasn’t going to tell him. Toritsuka only blinked in surprise, because he swore he just saw the middle finger between those fast hand gestures, and he took a step back, raising his hands in defeat.

“Relax! Alright!” Toritsuka said, dropping the subject for good. “Next time fling me a note or something, that is seriously intimidating!”

Kusuo winced, feeling the third piece of paper Kaidou had just flung at him hit his head. This had been going on for the whole period, and Kusuo wondered why the teacher hadn’t noticed it yet. Most of the notes Kaidou sent weren’t serious anyways, and clearly not worth writing back to him.

He barely understood the references the boy was making anyways. 

“How about we hang out after school? Do you like cake?” The last note read.

Kusuo smiled softly. “Yes, I do like cake.” He wrote, and with ease, he strategically threw it back so it would land perfectly on Kaidou’s table.

Being around Teruhashi was not ideal at all, because wherever she went, many people would follow. Kusuo hated crowds more than anything, it made his throat close up and his face a little sweaty, though his facial expression would never express his discomfort.

It would always remain blank and devoid of emotions.

Which always peaked Teruhashi’s interest. She found it a challenge to make the “deaf” kid who barely spoke gasp at her beauty, it would be a mighty achievement, yet no matter how hard she tried, it just never worked, which only pushed her to try harder. It resulted in her falling in love with him, unfortunately.

“Saiki does have a cute face though,” Teruhashi mumbled under her breath right as she walked along with Kusuo. She assumed he couldn’t hear her, so she regularly said things like those quietly to herself whenever he wasn’t looking her way. He appreciated the compliment at times, but sometimes, they do get a little creepy.

Nendou probably didn’t understand the idea of deaf people, or perhaps he thought his idea was pretty smart. Either ways, Kusuo sometimes couldn’t understand why he had to shout at him to communicate.

Did Nendou think deaf people just had very very poor hearing? Probably. But it often got annoying when they were in public places, and Kusuo couldn’t even tell him to quiet down because he couldn’t tell when exactly he was actually shouting.

Both his shouting and talking volume were around the same range.

But, it was rather nice of him to go out of his way to learn a bit of sign language just so he wouldn’t have to shout at Kusuo anymore. It was actually pretty nice having an ASL buddy.

Note to self, do not use ASL around Kuboyasu too much. He will and can mistake them as gang signs and get either sappy or angry. Kusuo said in his head as he watched Kuboyasu stare off into the distance with his fists clenched, reminiscing about his gang days.

Several times Kusuo had mistaken Hairo’s sad attempt at ASL as actual words and once spent half an hour straight wondering why the boy had signed refrigerator geese to him during that dodgeball game.

Saiko had once walked up to him and declared that whatever “nonsense” Kusuo was going to sign, he’d know right away what they would mean. At first, Kusuo found it hard to believe that the rich boy had taken time to learn ASL within his one day of being in this school, but as it turned out, all Saiko did was hire a translator to follow him around to translate Kusuo’s words.

That was possibly the most amount of effort he’d ever seen from Saiko, and it was good enough.

Kusuo wondered if learning ASL had magically made him more attractive. Aiura would not leave him alone, with her blonde hair, tanned skin, overly accessorized things, and bubbly personality. She wasn’t like Teruhashi, who attracted more men than Kusuo could count on his fingers, so she wasn’t as annoying to be around with.

But then again, she was more forward than Teruhashi too, so it didn’t make her more appealing either.

Seeing Akechi again resurfaced too many feelings. He hadn’t really realized how much he missed his first friend, but then again, the same boy was probably very aware of Kusuo’s high intelligence and may accidentally reveal his secret with that blabbering mouth of his.

Though, Kusuo had to admit, Akechi hadn’t changed one bit since the last time he saw him. Besides the haircut of course, and some other details, like how good he was at deducting now.

Being around Akechi was always strangely comforting back then, there was just something about listening to him talk that made Kusuo feel comfortable. You could say his talking was like white noise to Kusuo.

“Why does everyone assume you’re deaf? You’re not deaf, you just don’t like talking a lot, right? Why don’t you tell them that? Is it because you find it easier to pretend to be deaf? I can understand that, you were always really quiet, which was nice because you were a great listener too. I never found out why you up and left our elementary school without saying goodbye, but you were crazy sma--” Okay, that was when Kusuo made him stop talking, and Akechi took this as a hint to keep it a secret. There was a pause before Kusuo finally signed something to him.

Sorry. 

“Nothing to apologize! I don’t think it was your fault anyways, but your plan worked like a charm honestly,” Akechi smiled. “I hope you missed me, because I know I missed you. We have a lot of catching up to do, I’ll start! So basically…”

Kusuo did. He really did miss him.

A play. Their class was doing a play.

After all that effort of trying to stay off the stage, he still couldn’t avoid it.

He’d feel bad if he didn’t show up to contribute, so he definitely couldn’t just ditch them. The most he could do was play a background role, but even then he’d still be painfully aware that he would be in front of the whole school, and he just couldn’t handle that.

But seeing everyone giving their all to make this play work, Kusuo couldn’t help but join along, regardless of his own condition.

Practice for the play went smoothly, and he found himself being able to cope with it. All he did was sway around like seaweed, since that was his role, and then walk off when his scene ends. Easy, nothing too complicated, he would be fine.

Until Saiko got his sensitive feelings hurt and decided to pull their budget on literally everything, including the costumes. Now, Kusuo couldn’t care less about that issue if it weren’t for the fact that; if the other cast didn’t have their costumes, they wouldn’t stand out as much, and there’d be a higher chance of the audience staring at him.

Yet there wasn’t much time to do last minute preparations for props and clothing, so everyone was encouraged to try their best in making their own costumes before the deadline. Kusuo predicted that no one would actually follow through, and for once, he wished he was wrong.

Apparently he didn’t wish hard enough, because that was exactly what had happened during the play. Everyone mostly came in their gym clothes, some with small props to make it look like they’ve tried, and some who just didn’t do anything at all.

When Kusuo’s scene finally came up, he and the rest of the people who played as seaweed scrambled onto stage, making waving motions with their arms to simulate seaweed underwater. Things went well for the most part, Kusuo did as practiced and waved around just like his other seaweed playing classmates, but the longer he stayed, the more aware he became.

Eyes, everywhere, in front of him, staring too hard, too long. Their mouths are moving, but he can’t hear what they’re saying, it was like they were on the other end of a glass wall. Were they talking about him among themselves? 

Had it always been this warm on stage? Was it normal for his hands to shake? Was he breathing? He didn’t remember exhaling, nor inhaling. His throat went dry, his whole body rigid from...fear?

Someone was pushing him, someone else was pulling him, but he can’t properly grasp what was happening. 

The world went a bit blurry before he completely went dark.

Kusuo woke up in the nurse’s office, body aching and throat dry. He wondered how long it took for him to wake up, but depending on the sun outside, it may have been an hour or so. He sat up slowly, groaning slightly from the pain, before suddenly being attacked by a hug from a familiar person.

“Pal! You’re okay,” Nendou cheered, finally pulling away from the hug to double check on his friend. He lifted his hands, proceeding to sign to him, You just suddenly fell over after they pulled you off stage.

My bad, Kusuo signed back tiredly. Sorry.

“What’d he say?” Kaidou nudged Nendou. Did he really have to ask? It was quite obvious.

“He says he’s fine.” Nendou answered, completely leaving out Kusuo’s apology, which he found strangely comforting yet offensive.

“He literally had a panic attack on stage, what do you mean he’s fine?” Kaidou argued, then he looked over at Kusuo with a deeper frown. “Why didn’t you tell us you were having an attack?”

“He wasn't being attacked,” Nendou said blankly.

“A panic attack, it’s different,” Kaidou huffed. “Saiki, not to be intrusive, but do you have anxiety?”

Did...he? He honestly never thought about it properly. Sure, he did have anxiety attacks every now and then when he was a kid, but this was the first one he had after a long time, so he never really considered he might’ve had anxiety.

Actually, it was starting to all make sense to him now that he thought about it.

“I’m going to take that as a yes but you didn’t know,” Kaidou said slowly, concern laced in his tone. It made sense that Kaidou would know, it did seem like he used to have the same issue.

“Oh for sure, can’t you tell from the way his eyes had widened just now by half a centimetre?” Akechi piped up from behind. 

Good freaking grief.

He knew his mother didn’t trust doctors, but Kusuo really needed to see one after literally fainting in school. Not only that, it wasn’t his first time having an attack either, this was just the first time it had gotten this bad.

Sitting in a psychiatrist's waiting room felt odd, because it seemed a lot more homey than a regular doctor’s waiting room, with paintings hung on the walls and carpeted floor. He wasn’t particularly nervous, but he knew his mother was, because the hand she was using to hold onto him was shaking.

It’ll be okay, he reassured, squeezing his mother’s hand tight.

And it was okay. The lady was really nice to him, gentle and understanding, she barely pried and most of the questions she asked were pretty normal. She was a little surprised to learn that Kusuo could speak, but not in a way that was obvious, only Kusuo could tell that she was.

Communication with her was sorta slow. He had to type onto his notes app on his phone for her to read to answer her questions instead of hand signing, which he didn’t really mind all that much.

His mother, who had been waiting outside for them to be done, immediately got up when Kusuo was finished and asked several questions, one being: Did he need to take medication now?

Fortunately enough, it seemed like his case wasn’t too severe yet, mostly because he could still handle being around people without an issue, so he didn’t need to take any meds for now. Although his selective mutism was pretty serious, it wasn’t too bad either in his case, due to the fact that Kusuo spoke through sign language rather than verbally, so he wasn’t completely mute per se.

He came back next week, and the next, and many more weeks after that. He really liked this therapy thing.

“So your friends think you’re deaf, so you’re using that as an excuse to ignore them sometimes?”

Oh, when she put it like that, it just made him sound like an asshole. But yeah, he pretty much was doing that.

“Is there a particular reason why?”

Kusuo drummed his fingers on his lap. There were many reasons why, but those reasons had long lost their meaning. At first, it was because he didn’t want any friends, but now that he did have friends, there wasn’t any reason for him to keep following them through. No matter how many times he told himself he didn’t like them, they were still his friends.

“And why do you not want any friends?”

“Making friends was hard, keeping friends was hard, and losing them was even harder.” Kusuo typed out. “I guess I stopped trying. But then they started coming to me, and it was weird because I had already accepted it.”

“So you got scared?”

She could say that.

She uncrossed her legs, only to cross them back moments later, and adjusted her glasses, leaning forward, “It’s okay to feel scared about losing your friends, but if you’re going to push everyone who wants to be with you away, then how are you going to know if they’ll truly leave you? There’s nothing wrong with wanting space, but people do need other people to survive.”

One of the many things he did like about his friends was the fact that they all knew he enjoyed sweets. It was pretty obvious that he did, with the way his face would smile softly and soften at the taste of coffee jelly.

Surprisingly, they never notice that he’d much rather be left alone. Either that, or they don’t care.

It was a small outing event, they were mainly just eating and talking, but also trying their best to include Kusuo as much as possible, even though he didn’t mind being left alone with his coffee jelly and cakes.

“Man, I feel bad not including Saiki in conversations sometimes,” Kaidou mumbled, assuming Kusuo didn’t know what he had just said because he wasn’t reading Kaidou’s lips. “Since it’s hard to talk to him sometimes.”

“I’m sure we’re trying our best,” Teruhashi beamed, making Kaidou flush red.

“We should probably just learn sign language like Nendou did.” Kaidou hummed, rolling a fork between his thumb and finger. “It’d be a lot easier.” Though possibly soul crushing for him, considering Kaidou had cram school and such already on his schedule.

“Sounds fun,” Kuboyasu commented. “I’d be down. Maybe we can surprise him.” Oh that was just too much, too nice, Kusuo didn’t even know what he did to earn this much love.

Nendou snorted, grinning widely as he pumped his fist on his chest, “I can teach you all!”

“That would save a lot of money.”

Kusuo stopped eating, a rare sight to see despite him being undisturbed, and he placed his spoon down. Everyone stopped talking, looking over at him in confusion before he finally opened his mouth, surprising them even more.

“I can hear you,” Kusuo managed out. “I always could.”

Teruhashi was the first to react, eyes widening and her face turning bright red. All those comments she muttered, he had heard them all.

Nendou blinked, smiling widely with his arms spread wide, “Congratulations on learning how to hear, pal!” Not quite there, but appreciated.

“Uh, uhm, OF COURSE! I knew the whole time,” Kaidou flashed a charming grin, which would’ve worked if it weren’t for the awkward pose he was doing.

Kuboyasu only stared, and drank his tea, “Oh. Well.”

“Sorry.” Then Kusuo paused, and raised his hands to sign. Felt more comfortable being like this, but you all are too nice to me. So the least I could do was tell you the truth. I don’t talk because I have selective mutism.

Nendou translated for them, and they all softened hearing this. Kusuo pressed his back against the booth seat and fiddled with his spoon before taking another bite. That felt easy, and weight lifting. Now that they know, he didn’t have to feel so bad about them going out of their way to do things for him just because they thought he was deaf.

“Of course I knew from the beginning,” Akechi boasted slightly, eyeing Aiura and Toritsuka with a smug grin. Aiura rolled her eyes at him, but pointed at Kusuo with a narrowed look.

“So you, like, could hear us the whole time,” she confirmed with him again. “I always thought you were just stupid smart, or something, at figuring things out despite not being able to hear, y’know?” Well, she wasn’t wrong about the smart part.

“That is so annoying!” Toritsuka blurted. “You’re annoying! Jeez! Would’ve been so much easier! Did you not tell us because you want an excuse to ignore us?” Kusuo recounted the number of times he avoided Toritsuka running towards him from behind, pretending he couldn’t hear him.

He proceeded to shake his head, very very slowly.

“He’s lying, by the way,” Akechi whispered. Kusuo clicked his tongue at that, earning himself a cheeky grin from Akechi.

Well that was that, now they all knew Kusuo wasn’t some deaf kid, even though that info might’ve spread throughout the school, which he really couldn’t care less about.

It was really nice, though, having friends he could trust.

[aksthetwosainthijimiko-blog]

I am not Zero, part two

“Thank you.” Dhira.... Lalita.... Zero inclined his head as took the new E-tank from Hidden Phantom, one the Shinobi had fetched from behind a secret emergency unit.

Zero cracked it open, but didn't drink it yet. Instead, he seemed to be offering it to someone... probably his imaginary friend.

The black and white Shinobi grunted as he studied the ancient build.

... For something that was over a hundred-year-old, Zero didn’t look all that different from Phantom and his brethren, being manufactured at the same time, four years ago in a bid to stop the maverick uprising by giving Master X some potent assistants.

He still looked very worn tough, but who wouldn't after running up the booby-trapped tower and fighting hords of pantheons and the guardians?

‘Any lesser reploid would not have made past the fifth  floor’ Of this, Phantom was certain.

“Say... Phantom?” Zero addressed the Shinobi. “Can you hide yourself from X?” Zero asked as he finally began to sip from the can.

“You want me to spy on my Master.” Phantom flatly stated.

“As a Ninja, we do not have masters, and we do not follow the general morality, just a Strong code of ethic and respect.”

If the one you serve is less than stellar and is using your mystic skills to opresse instead of protecting; then it is your duty to kill him.” Zero declared with eyes holding cold steel. “Hidden Phantom, you are not a Dog-like Samurai who will slavishly follow the order of his master unquestionably. You are a Shinobi, a free agent, and instrument of divine justice to be used for those who have abused their power!”

Phantom reflectively swallowed... this, was not the confused dog he had fought the first two times, but an ancient warrior, a Shinobi who lived by the code...

And yet.

“Big words for Ciel’s attack mutt.” phantom gave a nasty smirk.

“I don’t serve Ciel.” Zero flatly refuted as he sipped from the E-tank, letting out a small sigh of relief. “But... I am the Servant of a worthy master.” He admitted with a beautiful and ever-so grateful smile.

Phantom would forever hate himself... but at this moment, Zero became the most beautiful and handsome reploid on the planet.

“Oh? And who would that be?” He asked instead, trying not to stare at the bright-faced maverick.  Intel about the red Legend was harder to come by then one would expect.

“ You don’t know them and... They’re not In Neo-Arcadia.” Zero informed the Shinobi, who was now all ears.

“Not in... some reploids raiders, are they?”

“Nope!” Zero took a sip. “A couple of Vaishnavas living in France. In Nouvelle Mayapure.”

“You’re lying!” Phantom immediately denied. “Neo-Arcadia is the last Bastion of humanity, beyond its sacred walls lies a radiated desert!”

“Not everywhere.” Zero simply answered. “Sure most of the big cities are still ruins. But small villages and small settlements have grown into other cities... Nouvelle-Mayapure is one of them. And this was where I found my master and his Saintly wife.” Zero drained the last of the thank and after consuming the can (it was made of specialized Alloy needed by reploids.) He got up. “As much as I would love to keep chatting about my Gurus, we have plenty on our plates... and I would rather not make X wait for me any longer.”

“Right... lead the way.” Phantom bid as he  activated his cloaking device and shut off all unneeded communication... essentially, appearing as dead.

:Zero... please wait five minute, I want them all to think I died.: He Radioed the eldest built. And, after five minutes went to the transerver.

He could feel his pump pulsating... what would be revealed from this confrontation?

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

Phantom stood hidden behind Zero, the natural darkness of Area X masking whatever had been left by his cloaking device.

In front of his stood master X, in all of his glories. He was glaring at Zero with both fear and rage. His red eyes glowing in the gloom of the room.

Zero took a few steps forward when the three other guardians teleported in.

“Stop!” Harpuia yield as he launched a wind blade... his accuracy greatly diminished by his wounds.

“We won’t allow you to pass!” Fefnir roared.

“... J... Just give up!” Leviathan managed to say in between her gasps.

It seemed Zero had not been lenient on her.

:Zero... And I thought you holy man would not hit a woman. : Phantom mildly scolded the so called... servant of God. :Not so above all, are you?:

:Technically, we are all female by nature.: Zero replied without a pause as he prepared for the worst. :And Leviathan is a... A coward like the rest of your group... but she’s still considered a warrior in her own right.:

:Cowards?:

:A real warrior will fight to the death and will gladly die in the battlefield... you all ran away the moment you began feeling some of your wounds.:

“Leave, you won’t survive this fight.” The voice of his master resounded from the dark area of the room. Interrupting whatever argument Phantom may have had.

On one side, Phantom knew Master X was right. None of them were in any condition to face the fool...and yet!

They could have given some support to the emperor of Neo-Arcadia. But alas, their Master desired to fight his traitorous friend alone.

He would win, of this, Phantom was sure... like, absolutely sure...

After a round of very understandable cursing, all guardians vacated the place, leaving only Zero, Master X and the hidden Phantom behind.

Zero gave a good look at Master X, then he opened communication with Phantom.

:Phantom, whatever happen... please don’t kill him.:

:I will be the judge of that.:

: Krishna told me the next step will be easier if he’s still alive... and knowing your skills, there would be no chance to even try to reason with him.:

:Reason with him?: Phantom almost asked.

: He’s only four year old, Phantom... he’s practicly a child.:

:If your right, that is.:

Zero didn’t awnser, instead, he turned his attention towards master X. “Who are you?“Do you have a name?”

‘Ah, Acting dumb, are you?’ Once again, Phantom was eager to see where this would be going.

Master X sneered, his red eyes shining with... malice? ‘No, that can’t be right.’

“What you don't remember your old friend? It’s me Zero, X!”

Zero kept looking at his old friend as if he was a stranger... and then.

“X has Green eyes.”

Those four words had the same effect of a missile detonating in the middle of Neo-arcadia.

“He’s five foot three, you barely five feet in height. His nose was covered in freckles, your skin is smooth... And X’s voice is deeper, yours is childlike.”

Master X... is he really was whom he declared to be, sneered.

“Let me ask you again; who are you?”

“I’m X’s perfect copy!” The Copy revealed himself. Opening his arms as his natural cruelty manifested himself in his smile. “I am the new hero, the one who will save the humanity from this wasted world!”

For his part, phantom did his best to remain concealed as he watched a monster move the body of his beloved master.

Phantom knew body language, he had a dedicated computer designated for those type of programs.

“Didn’t you noticed Zero?” The copy continued... and Phantom could only hope his body language was just an illusion. “Humans have never been this happy before. And this is all due to me.” he raised his hands as pride filled his chest. “I have managed to achieve the goal neither of you even managed to come close... I Have achieved what X never could!”

“Alright, and who are you?” Zero asked again. Not with anger (admirably enough). “Do you have a name? A number? Any type of designation?”

This question seemed to take...

Phantom’s eyes grew wider behind his mask... Zero had established that this reploid was but a mere copy, now he needed to know who he truly was.

The copy worked his mouth for a bit, it was clear that Zero managed to catch him in a loop. “I... I’m... AH...”

“They called you X.”

“Shut up!”

“They didn’t even bother giving you your own identity.”

“Shut up!”

“Tell me... how did you discover that you were made at the image of my best friend?” Zero asked as he showed no sing of agretion. His posture was relaxed, and while his arms were crossed, they didn’t carry any sign of fear or mistrust.

His voice was modulated in such a way that it carried a type of kindness only experienced councillor. But from What Phantom had managed to gather from the public enemy number one... Zero was never a councillor, but had needed one.

Unfortunately, he never went to see him, and instead, sealed himself again. Essentially committing suicide, if his final logs were of any indications.

And then Zero’s reaction to Phantom’s attempt made all the more senses.

“Why should I tell you, Maverick.” The Copy spat. “You're a Criminal, a terrorist!”

“I didn’t bomb a peaceful settlement... and I would never murder my kind because human’s can’t live without their Internet and whatever electronic drugs on the market for them.” Zero openly sneered.

“What’s wrong with them if it makes them Happy?” The Copy shot back. “They have whatever they want, they have all the pleasure they desire... Isn’t it the goal of life for them? To have as much pleasure and happiness before death come, and they become nothing?”

“No.” Zero awnser flatly. “ The living entity is the eternal soul, for him, death is but a change of costume.” He explained, reminding Phantom that he was indeed a spiritual practitioner.

Weirdly enough.

“ You want to make your humans happy... and this is the desire of all great leader. But the only thing you saved what the cage the soul is stuck it.” He declared bodily. “No one can truly be happy and not serve God with Love, it’s impo-”

“Oh, Shut up would you?” The Copy snapped. “ The soul’s a myth, scientists has managed to replicate human consciences in machines.” He sneered as he aimed his buster (left-handed) at Zero. “Wake up, Zero, this is the age of technology and cold, hard fact! The whole concept of God and the soul has been busted, I know we’re all going to die, so better enjoy whatever life I have left.”

“And yet, reploids are doing an action only embodied spirit soul can; they desire! They have emotions... and you killed them all for a false sense of peace and artificial prosperity... and out for your own twisted sense of so-called pleasure.” Zero sneered and Phantom realized that he was getting rilled up.

He had heard stories and inspected the result of what a rilled-up Zero could do... it was not pretty.”

And science didn’t disprove anything save the intelligence of those who worship it.” The Blond legend raised his voice as he jabbed an accusatory finger at the copy. “What did science gave us save from a hundred years worth of wars, famines and false promises of a better tomorrow? It did nothing, absolutely nothing... nothing but more misery hidden behind a veneer of so-called pleasure.”

Copy stared owlishly at the Mad maverick, computing what he had just said.

Then... a mocking smile split his lips has he began to cackle at the crazy blond.

“Your... you're funny. You’re hilarious.” phantom heart the bank grade bolt lock the only two exits the room. “Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

“... So, you want to fight?” Zero asked As he took out his Z-sabre. “You demons are all the same.“ He growled. “Fine... Yamaraja was waiting for you anyway.”

And thus... the most brutal of fight began as Phantom helplessly looked on.

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

To be continued.