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aloesarchives · 4 years ago

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Imai Cosmo Headcanons

Alright, now it's time for sunshine boy Cosmo.

(Edit: I am so sorry, I accidentally deleted this for some reason. Sorry for the inconvenience)

You met Cosmo when you both were first years in high school. You just recently transfer to his school in the beginning of the year for reasons not disclose(just move to Japan, came from a different school, etc.)

It was a hard time making friends because you were new and no one would approach you. But it didn’t stop Cosmo from wanting to be with your friend.

Cosmo is pretty much a social butterfly and is always friendly to everyone. When he said hi to you, the first thing you took notice was his bubbly personality. After that encounter, Cosmo actually made it his goal to be your friend. Everyday at school, he would always talk to you when he has the chance. And during after school you two would hang out together whether it be eating out or looking at the latest version of some Martial Arts magazine.

Thanks to the time you have been spending with him, he’s one of your closest friends you have. It’s kinda known around the school that you two always hang out with each other.

You also come over to his house to tutor Cosmo b/c he wasn’t doing so well in math so you had to help out a homie. You did have some encounters with his brother, Meteor. You get along with him as the two of you share the struggle of taking care of Cosmo.

Cosmo’s enthusiasm is contagious and even when you kinda hit your lowest Cosmo’s vibe just somehow revives you and you smile once again.

Cosmo’s energy is so bright and powerful that you feel like you’re standing in the presence of the sun and you need some goddamn visors to look because he’s just pure and happy all the time that it hurts your entire being. But it’s in a good way, sis.

Throughout the time you spent with Cosmo, you notice that every once in a while that he would have a bruise or a bandage on his face or arm when he wears his short sleeve shirt. Come to think of it, Cosmo somehow has some sort of injury that can’t be explained in normal terms. Even when you ask Cosmo when he gets his injuries and small scuffs, he’ll just brush it off with an excuse that wouldn’t add up or make sense to the injury. But again you don’t push it since when you try to press on the issue that Cosmo switched the topic immediately and has completely forgotten about the conversation.

You did at one point remember that Cosmo did have a small rebellious stage but one day he stopped for some reason you don’t know about. But even so, it doesn’t calm your concerns of Cosmo’s random injuries.

In short, he’s really bad at hiding them and not making something obvious. But you being you, you didn’t push on the matter out of consideration.

Now that I mention that, you also notice Cosmo getting ripped and becoming more muscular. Cosmo actually lets you feel his arms and back when you ask him, he’s completely fine with it. Fam, no gonna lie, it has a nice feel to it.

(Y/N):Hey Cosmo, have you been working out lately? You’re back has been getting toned as of recently.

Cosmo: Actually yeah, I’ve been working out more nowadays. Do you want to feel my back, (Y/N)?

(Y/N): Sure, if you’re fine with it.

Cosmo: Go right ahead.

*Proceeds to feels Cosmo’s back

(Y/N): Woah! You’re pretty ripped, Cos!

There were some subtle hints that Cosmo had that kept being in your sight. Like his physical strength when the class would play volleyball, or doing those fitness test everyone has to take, he was somehow on the top on it. Or at least there was a far seeable gap than he was to you and the rest of the class.

You, for sure, know Cosmo is hiding something when Cosmo would turn you down to hang out because he had some business to do. What only push your suspicions was when you were walking home one day from school and a car past by you. Although it was a nice car and you didn’t really care for it, the thing that caught your eye was who was in it. You saw a tan man with cool shades driving the car and Cosmo was in the passenger seat next to him. As the car sped off, you stood still on the sidewalk, completely confused. You’ve seen that guy before when you would go to the gym, but you didn’t put any thought to it.

I mean you don’t to bug him about all of this because you don’t want to be nosy and pester him about it. But you know Cosmo isn’t gonna spill the beans anytime soon so you keep it to yourself.

God, I really, really like to headcanon that Kureshi is a distant uncle/relative of your’s that you’re somewhat close to. You don’t tell Cosmo right off the bat because you thought it wasn’t super important. All you tell him is that your uncle owns a gym and during after school sometimes you go there to train/exercise with him. Cosmo doesn't think much of it too since you didn’t make a big deal out of it. But he was curious on what gym your uncle runs and that at you one point you mentioned he was a fighter too.

The way you found out was pretty much very coincidental. While you were at the gym, your uncle aka Kureshi mentions to you that he took up a student and took him under his wing. This was odd for you because you never saw your uncle to be one to take up someone for training. When he mentions to you that the person he’s training is around the same age and goes to the same high school, you were intrigued by who it was. The week you found out about this was the same week that finals/ heavy testing was being held and so you wanted to distress by going to the gym. You asked Cosmo if he wanted to hang out 2 hours before you go to the gym but he said he was going to do training at a gym beforehand and had to turn down your offer. You were kind of bummed out but you couldn’t convince him otherwise so oh well. Upon going to the gym, you get a text from your uncle that his student came to train and asked if you wanted to meet him. You said why not and when upon arriving to the gym, your uncle greet you and took you to see his student who was dealing some good blows to one of the gym’s punching bags. Upon further inspection, the boy looked familiar, too familiar. Without thinking, you blurted out Cosmo’s name. After stopping his workout, he turn to you and the both of you had equally shocked faces while Kureshi was having a kick out of it. When you looked at your uncle and asked if he was his student, the answer was fairly obvious and you just stood there while trying to process all of this. When Cosmo asked you why you were there, you explained Kureshi and stuff. It was a awkward few minutes before you decided to change into your workout clothes and doing some training of your own. After you were done with your workout, you took a shower and changed into some casual clothes. You waited for Cosmo to be done and the two of you would head home together after bedding your uncle farewell.

Since you caught Cosmo training, he couldn’t really hid it from you anymore because you saw him there at the gym and he had a entirely different training regiment than the average person. You got the courage to ask him about what’s the training for while telling him your suspicions. Cosmo kinda went silent, which is unlike him to do so especially in your presences. Then Cosmo just spills everything to you, the training, the bruises, the times he had to decline your offers to hang out, he explained himself to you why he had to it. At the mention of Kengan Matches and underground fighting, you thought this was like fight club or something. But snapping out of your thoughts, you didn’t see Cosmo any less differently and told him that his secret is safe with you. Cosmo is grateful for you and that he’s glad you’re understanding.

One day, when Cosmo didn’t come to Kureshi’s gym, you asked your uncle how he meet Cosmo. He told you that Cosmo got into a fight with a few guys that had him on the ropes before he stepped in himself to save Cosmo. While at it, your uncle ask about your thoughts on Cosmo and his potential in fighting. When you answered with a Cosmo having untapped potential, Kureshi made a deal with you. He said he’ll allow you to watch Cosmo’s matches and cover your back when you parents ask about your whereabouts. In return, you have to help him train Cosmo and update him on his matches. You didn’t even think about it, you just took the deal and the rest is history.

Another time, you met Mr. Nishihonji while training Cosmo. Apparently he used to use this gym a while back. After learning he was Cosmo’s sponsor/ fighting for his company, you do remember Cosmo subtly mentioning him in your conversations in the past and now you meet him in the flesh. He made a good impression of himself to you and ever since then you’ve been chill with him. The man means well so he doesn’t really give off any bad vibe that you can tell.

Mr. Nishihonji has picked up the both of you from school when Cosmo has a match. Once school is over, you two would head over to where his car is and people from your school would just gawk because who knew the two of you were hanging out with a rich man with a nice car. This happens a lot where you kinda get use to it.

Your crush/love for Cosmo is built up over time and isn’t too obvious that other people can catch on but people close to you can see something is up with you when your around Cosmo. When people ask you about it, you brush it off as simple friendship you have for him. People won’t push it but people like Kureshi and Mr. Nishihonji can piece things together to where they have an fundamental understanding that you really care about Cosmo.

Speaking of Kureshi, your uncle Kureshi loves to fucking tease you about you and Cosmo. He really gets a kick out of how you get all tsundere on him when he does. It’s like an inside joke you have with each other and it’s family love, that’s all.

You never confessed to Cosmo because you 1.) don’t want to ruin or make the friendship awkward, and 2.) you don’t think Cosmo feels the same way as he is oblivious to your small actions/hints towards him.

And by the way, Cosmo is fucking oblivious to everything unless pointed out by him. This sadly includes your feelings, sis. This is one of the things Cosmo needs you in his life because of this. He’s oblivious to the point where you had to point out or explain things to him when he doesn’t get it or it goes over his head.

But your feelings becomes evident when the Kengan tournament goes under way and that you were invited to go with him. You watch on the sidelines, with Mr. Nishihonji of course, Cosmo’s matches. You knew after his first match ended that this tournament was something else when you saw the line up and after Cosmo fainted into Mr. Nishihonji’s arms after exiting the pit. You knew that Cosmo was not going to have an easy time in his matches and he needed to know this. Although you have faith in Cosmo, it’s not impossible to remember that this isn’t a simple walk in the park.

After beating Adam, Adam kinda just became your friend instantly. Like after Cosmo convinced him, he just stuck around the two of you. Even though you hate what comes out of his mouth, Adam isn’t really a jerk and tries to unlearn the things he has said to the two of you. When Adam stays in Japan for training, he literally becomes you best friend/ brother at this point. Adam is probably the only person that actually caught on

But the thing that has been bothering you is Cosmo’s naivety. There’s nothing wrong with his happy go lucky attitude. It’s just, Cosmo doesn’t seem to be grounded a lot in certain situations where he’ll understand the dangers/risks that come with this. Especially when it came down to fighting. You do warn him of being careful and taking the fight seriously, but he just say don’t worry and not really mean it. You knew that this would be problem because Cosmo takes his fighting skills for granted. You love the man but wish he would understand how grave some matches could’ve been if he didn’t take them down sooner.

But that fight with Akoya, oh my fucking god. First off, Fuck Akoya and his justice boner. Second, god this fight did some ever lasting damage on you. This was one of those surreal life changing moments that you can never forget even if you tried. The fight, in it of itself, was one of the most intense, gruesome, but slightly breathtaking things you have ever bear to witness. Although you hate to say this, this was the fight that Cosmo needed for his break through. This gave Cosmo what he’s been looking for in order to evolve and better his fighting.

However, this fight was to you was gut wrenching and mentally breaking. Like when you caught Hiyama helping out Akoya in the matches with Adam and Mr. Nishihonji, something was wrong by her desperate reaction to continue to help Akoya. Then the next you know was when you look down towards the arena, Akoya goes berserk and went total psycho on Cosmo. From biting a chunk of Cosmo’s leg off, cracking his ribs, and practically torturing him by bring him back to conscious after Cosmo pasted out. You, on the other hand, couldn’t shout as nothing would come out of your mouth no matter how hard you tried. Tears were building up, your heart was pounding out of your chest, it was hard to watch. Two things could’ve happened next, you either fainted from the immense fear where Adam had to catch you or you glued your eyes to the match and gripped the concrete so hard your finger nails got damage along with bleeding finger tips. Let’s go with the second one, then. The match in-front of you seem one sided and you feared for Cosmo’s life. But deep down, for some goddamn reason, you believe he can pull through if he found his motivation and drive. You called yourself stupid for having so much faith in him but he never has once let you down, so why should you? Once you said that Cosmo has a chance, Adam thought you were nuts but the unwavering hope said otherwise. For Cosmo, he has the classic anime protag shit where in a near death experience he has a bunch of flashbacks. Most of them was his time training with his master, however, some were times spent with you. With all the memories, Cosmo wanted to win, not just for his life and master, but for you as well. When Cosmo started to have his epiphany and turning the fight around in his favor, you never yelled as hard and as loud in your entire life. You bet his ass that he heard it. After the brutal few minutes, Cosmo came out the victor and you have never felt so relieve and exhausted in your life. You cried, fam, there's no doubt (I cried too, don't worry). When you came to get him and send him to the infirmary, you stuck to him for the rest of the tournament.

The fight didn’t make Cosmo realize he loved you, but it did stir up something inside of him that made him view you in a new light. In which he didn’t want to spend a moment without you. Man, you yelled at him for almost dying on you but spoke of your relief to him. He just apologizes and said he’ll win his next fight. It’s a very tender moment between the two of you.

What shock you the most was Kureshi suddenly appearing at the quarter finals tournament, he stated that he wanted to see Cosmo’s progress. It was odd seeing him but it was probably important as the tournament was nearing the end. He was up against Ohma which prove to be a powerful opponent. But alas, Cosmo was defeated by him. While he sat in one of the waiting rooms, you were right next to him, comforting him. Then you let your emotions speak for themselves, how you were proud of him for coming so far especially someone for his age, that he shouldn’t stop here and strive for more, and that you’ll give him your undying support. Then Cosmo pulls you into a hug and just cries it out, you smile and held him close.

After a few months after the tournament, Cosmo realizes he has feelings for you and confessed to you after he took you out to eat. And the rest is history.

Being with Cosmo is great (I say this with almost everyone, so bear with me). Being happy 24/7, a lot of hugs and kiss, spending endless hours with him. The man, himself, is a ball of sunshine at just happens to be your boyfriend.

The man loves you unconditionally no matter what. He doesn’t really have a preference on appearance. However, I’ll do say that if you’re shorter than him(he’s 5′6 i think), he’s over the moon because it adds some cuteness to you. The man loves you.

Cosmo really likes hugs and cuddles. He knows not the strangle you when he’s cuddling with you, but he loves to squeeze you tight. Meteor has caught the two of you sleeping on the couch in each other embrace in more than one occasion. Meteor thinks it’s cute and doesn’t disturb you two.

Cosmo is more than okay with PDA. He can’t really keep his hands off of you, yet he’ll respect your boundaries. He’ll hold your hand, arm around your waist or shoulder, giving small pecks to you. He’s not afraid of showing you off.

He’s a playful kisser, he likes to play around with you. But there are times where he does kiss you passionately, but that’s usually in private though. Before his matches, it’s a must for you to kiss him before he goes out and fights. Sometimes he kisses you out of nowhere and when you ask him, he just says I love you and stuff.

I can see him calling you baby/babe/ and love. It just sounds like him.

The man’s always hugging you from behind.

I’m gonna say since no one has said it louder: Cosmo with his hair slicked back makes him from cute to instant HOT. Deadass when you see he like with his hair like that, you cheeks heat up quickly and you just quietly freaking over his hair. You tell him that it looks better on him(which it does, btw) but he says it’s a simple haircut for him.

I headcanon that you and Kureshi gave him the idea to grow out his hair since it’ll suit him more. When his hair gets long enough, you sometimes braid his hair or brush it. To him, it’s a very relaxing moment since you’re kinda spoiling him.

Cheer for this man and he will definitely fight even harder in his matches. You’re his motivations.

Cosmo does have nosebleeds so make sure to bring some tissues.

Before the Kengan Omega, you had to help him take care of himself but after the two years he doesn’t have to, or rather not as much.

The only time you got jealous was probably when you found that Mr. Nishihonji took Cosmo to a brothel(?) and you finding out Cosmo had a taste for older women kinda sat with you the wrong way even though you two weren’t an item yet. You didn’t tell him out right what was wrong because you thought it was stupid to be feel jealous. It made you avoid Cosmo for like a day or two. You still haven’t told him yet about it and it will remain like that to this day.

You did take note on Cosmo’s estrange friend group aka the fighters. They’re not intimidating people. You actually had a run in with Wakatsuki on accident. Cosmo invited you to come hang out with him but you were busying with errands that you sadly had to decline. While you were fast walking to your next destination, you bumped into someone and tripped on your own foot. Before your face touched the ground, Wakatsuki caught you and helped you up. He apologizes for bumping into you because he didn’t see you. You said you were fine and ask what he was doing, he stated he was waiting for a friend of his. After you excuse yourself to continue your day, Cosmo comes around the corner as you left. While they were eating, Wakatsuki told Cosmo ran into you. When Cosmo said “oh, you met my girlfriend?” Wakatsuki had to pause because, like what?, the girl/person he bumped into was Cosmo’s girlfriend. Big shocker for him. Before you guys became a thing, Sakura, Sekibayashi, and Wakatsuki, would tease Cosmo about girls that would know him. I mean, they do this a lot when it was with you but to know the two of you ended up together caught them blind sided.

The fact Cosmo can take down opponents twice his size and age is pretty amazing in your eyes. Man’s short but damn can he pull off some impressive moves. Proud to call him your boyfriend honestly.

Food buddy, you guys love to eat with eat other. It’s pretty obvious that Cosmo loves to eat. The man takes you out to eat all the time, fucking bet on that shit.

When Cosmo loves you, he will LOVE you to death. Sure, you were hard on him when he’s training, but he is thankful for you being with him for the long run.

Being in a relationship with Cosmo is just full of fun and love even though it does get serious at some points. Cosmo never fails to show you that he loves you and how much you mean to him.

#kengan ashura #kengan omega #kengan ashura headcanons #imai cosmo × reader #imai cosmo

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officialthiamlibrary · 4 years ago

Note

Hey! Do you know of any where one or both of them play a professional sport?

So sorry for the delay, but we are ready with our finds! These are what we could find, but if we are missing any then please let us know and we will add them to our list!

All the Quads Are My Friends by never_love_a_wild_thing (Teen | Complete | 10K)

Tags: AU - Ice Skating, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Idiots in love, Social Media

Summary: Liam and Theo go to Figure Skating Worlds in Milan, ready to prove themselves to the skating world and end up falling in love along the way.

A Peek Inside: “Theo!” Liam shouted, “You can’t just post pictures of me when I’m sleeping!”

“Aw, but you were so cute, though!” Theo smirked at him. Liam decidedly did not blush. “I don’t think you can even see the drool in that picture.”

Liam gaped at him, trying to figure out how to express his unbridled fury without actually killing anyone. “I do. Not. Drool.” He gritted out.

Breaking The Ice by Bookwyrm (Teen | Complete | 8.8K)

Tags: AU Hockey, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Coming Out

Summary: Theo and Liam used to play for rival hockey teams. Things got explosive everytime they shared the ice, but now they've both been traded to the Beacon Hills Wolves.

A Peek Inside: Theo sat on the ice, and gently pulled out the tissues. When no blood flowed he asked, "What the hell is your problem? Are you just the human version of an overly aggressive chihuahua or is it personal?"

Liam gritted his teeth. "My problem is you are the worst kind of hockey player. You don't care about the rules of the game or who gets hurt, unless of course you hurt them on purpose."

Rings Of Fire by LI0NH34RT (Teen | Complete | 3.1K)

Tags: Figure Skating AU, Ice Skating AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Summary: Figure Skater Liam dreamed of being at the Olympics his whole life but when his partner Hayden breaks her ankle at a practice jump too risky, his dream seems over and done.

Theo is a single skater because his attitude makes him incompatible with a partner but that doesn't stop their coach to pair them off in training – Will the flame of their hate burn them out or light up a different fire?

A Peek Inside: “I absolutely do remember that day. Actually that... unfortunate incident made me aware of the sparks the dynamic between you two has.”

“Sparks? More like fire hazard...”, Theo mumbles to himself.

It is true. Every time Liam Dunbar and Theo are in the same room, they fight. It's lucky they didn't share any ice time yet and that has mostly been due to the fact that single skater and pair skaters trained separately on a team as big as team USA.

Going For Gold by AJP_37 (Explicit | WIP | 15K)

Tags: AU Olympics, AU Swimming

Summary: Scott had just up and quit from the Olympic Swim team.

And someway, somehow Coach thought it was acceptable to bring in Theo to take his place.

Liam was not impressed.

Until he was.

A Peek Inside: “But I want Scott back, I don’t want to swim with this guy.”

“Theo. His name is Theo.” Coach rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Liam when you give him the chance I’m sure he is going to be right up your alley.”

“Coach, he’s been in like three different scandals since the qualifiers.” Liam huffed, slumping down into the chair. “There was a reason why the selectors left him in college. He’s not ready for the big stage.”

“And funnily enough that is what every single member of the team and coaching staff said about you.” Coach snapped back, leaning forward on his chair.

finding love on the offroad tracks by xTarmanderx (General | WIP | 10K)

Tags: Slow burn, Motocrossed au

Summary: When Theo Raeken is injured before a major motocross competition, his twin Tara decides to step up to the plate. While their father is overseas looking for a new rider to take over for the event, Tara begs their mother to keep it from him and let her try and race in Theo’s place. Disguising herself as Theo, she takes up the racing circuit to keep the family name attached to the event. Enter Liam Dunbar, a professional biker from a different circuit that immediately can tell Tara isn’t who she claims to be. Theo pleads with Liam to keep their secret and he agrees: on one condition.

A Peek Inside: Despite the recently added dips and new curve to the track, Theo took each challenge effortlessly and sped past his father for a second lap. This time, he risked a glance at the man and saw him shake his head, scribbling frantically down onto his clipboard. His teeth ground together and he hit the curve hard, losing momentum as he sought to right his bike. His grip grew tight, lips pinched as he committed his focus back to the track. His father may be hard on him, but he was nowhere near as unforgiving as the dirt.

Melting the Ice by ExtraSteps (Mature | Complete | 29K)

Tags: Hockey au, Scott is a prick

Summary: Liam's entire world is shaken up when Scott McCall, the captain of the Los Angeles Rams and Liam's mentor at the club, unexpectedly asks to be traded to the Dallas Stars. As Liam struggles to deal with this in both his personal and professional life, his teammate and friend, Theo Raeken, is there to help him in any way he can.

A Peek Inside: He already feels a bit better. As much as they’ve had their differences in the past, he knows that Theo would bleed for him, has in fact done so on multiple occasions, putting himself on the line to protect Liam. If anyone can make Liam feel anchored, its him.

Don’t Forget To Breathe by snaeken (Explicit | Complete | 28K)

Tags: Ice hockey, disabled character, depression, anxiety, mental health discussions, smut

Summary: Formerly a professional ice hockey player in the NHL, Theo suffered a career-ending injury on the ice which resulted in the loss of everything he held dear to him. No longer able to cope with his teammates pity, and the speculation from the media and the general public on how bad his injury really is, Theo runs away. He goes back to the hometown he left behind when he turned pro, hoping to find solace in a place which has previously caused him so much pain. After a chance encounter in a graveyard of all places, Beacon Hills local Liam Dunbar slots himself into Theo’s life, wanting to aid him in both his physical and mental recovery. Theo quickly discovers he’s not the only one who has demons, and when feelings become involved… well that’s just inevitable, isn’t it?

A Peek Inside: Even at this time of night, his phone is still blowing up on his night stand. Colleagues and fans and hecklers and press and god knows who else. He can’t bring himself to unlock it and turn off the notifications. Hopefully the battery will run dry soon. Even when he’s tried not to, he’s still seen snippets of the questions he’s getting.

#thiam #professional athletes thiam #mod: mary #mod: tara #athletes #professional athletes #otlansweredask

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endof-theline · 4 years ago

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Day 11- Tropetember: Time Travel

This is day 11 of super early Tropetember and I've gone with the prompt Time Travel! When Tony fell out of the portal, no one was sure what to expect... but it certainly wasn't a sixteen year old.

On Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32515678

“Holy shit, you’re Captain America” Tony blurted out as he blinked open his eyes, his body screaming in pain for some reason but the blonde hovering over him had taken his focus. This wasn’t some random blonde that was playing dress up, this was the real Steve Rogers in the real suit and he was hovering over him for some reason.

“Just figure that one out, Stark?” Captain America asked with a laugh before he started to look worried as Tony’s eyes flicked to the other people hovering around him, he didn’t know them but one was a huge, green, monster and the other looked like he was a play his mother would have dragged him too as a kid. Tony slowly realised that he was laying on his back in the middle of the street and the pain running through his body wasn’t the usual pain from Howard.

“Where am I? Who are they?” Tony asked as the panic started to bubble up in his chest, when he tried to sit up the pain in his chest made him gasp and realise that he was trapped in some kind of suit of armour “What the fuck is this?”

“You better not be kidding, Stark” Captain America warned him with narrowed eyes, Tony’s breathing had started bordering on hyperventilating as the other blonde guy knelt down at his side.

“I fear the portal has messed with his mind” Huge Blonde said to Captain America as Tony was left on the floor in a mess of confusion as fear.

“What portal? What are you talking about?” Tony questioned them and couldn’t help the tears of frustration beading at the corner of his eyes as they both ignored him, Captain America pressed his finger to his ear.

“We got a situation on the ground, Iron Man’s alive and responsive but seems to have some kind of amnesia” Captain America said and nodded along to whatever response he could hear, Tony wanted to shrink away as a woman with bright red hair came running over and glared at him like he was a puzzle she couldn’t work out “Do you know her?”

“No, should I?” Tony asked in reply and the redhead just shook her head as Captain America nodded at him, Tony just swallowed thickly as the panic started to creep back to the front of his mind “Don’t suppose you know how to get me out of this thing?”

“I do” Redhead said bluntly as she knelt down and messed with something on his side before the suit opened up and let Tony scramble out of it, his eyes going wide as he stared at what he had been trapped inside.

“Fuck, that’s so cool!” Tony laughed excitedly as he started to poke and play with the suit, he had kind of been right by calling it a suit of armour “Did my dad make this? How was I in it? You still haven’t answered my questions”

“Is it me or does he look younger?” Redhead asked before making Tony yelp when she grabbed his chin and turned his face to look at her, her eyes narrowed at him again as Captain America looked over her shoulder curiously.

“Definitely looks younger, smaller too” Captain America pointed out as Tony realised that the clothes he was wearing were hanging off of him slightly, almost like a kid wearing their parent’s clothes “How old are you, Tony?”

“I’m sixteen, answer my questions” Tony said bluntly as he pulled his chin out of Redhead’s grip before the monster roared and Tony cowarded away from it as it stumbled to its knees, the monster slowly shrunk down and changed to look like a normal man as Huge Blonde quickly threw his cape around him to cover him up since he was completely naked.

It didn’t go unnoticed when Tony flinched as a black car sped over to them and skidded to a stop, the man climbed out and even looked surprised to see Tony staring back at him “Anthony?”

“Nick!” Tony chirped as he scrambled to stand up before wheezing and falling back to the ground as the pain gripped him tighter, his vision blacking out for a moment and when he managed to open his eyes again Nick was crouched in front of him “You look different”

“So do you” Nick shot back making Tony smile before accepting his help to pull him slowly to his feet and Nick startled when Tony immediately hugged him tightly “Forgot you’re a hugger”

“Only for you, Aunt Peggy, Ana and Jarvis” Tony mumbled before letting go and moving to stand at his side as he looked over at the people around him who were looking at him with a mix of shock and confusion “Will you tell me what’s going on? No one’s talking to me”

“When we get to Shield, I’ll explain” Nick told him firmly and Tony huffed but nodded in agreement, he jerked into Nick when vans pulled up around him “Settle, they’re with me”

Tony just nodded and stayed glued to Nick’s side as the people who were around him when he opened his eyes helped move the suit into one van before climbing into another one, another blonde man came running down the street and grinned at Redhead before climbing into the van as well without even glancing at Tony. Nick led him into the car he came in and Tony stayed silent as Nick followed the vans back to, Tony assumed, Shield.

As soon as they were in Shield, Tony was whisked away to medical and fought with the doctors and nurses around him when they tried to touch him until Captain America came in and sat with him, the Captain held him as he realised there was something stuck in his chest and the doctors made him promise to leave it alone even as he panicked and cried in fear over the blue light in his chest.

Once the medical team left, Tony was left with Captain America sitting on the edge of the bed as Tony balled himself up and trembled nervously. It was clear that something had happened to him, he wasn’t even sure if it was the same year as he remembered since Nick had looked older and the technology was wildly different to what he knew.

“Tony-” Captain America started and Tony peaked out from under his messy hair “I understand this must be very frightening for you, believe me I would know, but all I’m asking is that you stay calm”

“Why won’t people tell me what’s going on?” Tony asked with a sniffle and Captain America’s shoulders hunched at the sound of his voice, a whimper slipping out his mouth when the other man said nothing before he couldn’t stop the tears again. He managed to stop himself from screaming but he still flinched and yelped when Captain America put his hand on Tony’s arm “Please don’t hit me!”

“Hit you?!” He exclaimed back and Tony’s eyes went wide as he realised that he had blurted that out, he scrambled off the bed and back when the blonde stood up “Tony, I’m not going to hit you”

“I’m sorry!” Tony squeaked out nervously, the promises Howard made of getting the man in front of him to beat him if he misbehaved repeating in his mind as he backed himself up against the small “I’m sorry, Captain, please don’t hurt me”

“Oh god” Captain America whispered as he tilted his head back up to the ceiling before crouching down in front of Tony with a gentle smile on his face “Tony, I swear to you, I’m not going to hurt you in any way. No matter what anyone has told you, I’m not going to hurt you”

“Y-You promise?” Tony asked hopefully, Captain America had been his hero and Tony had always loved him but seeing him in person and seeing just how big he actually was put some things into Tony’s mind.

“I promise, I won’t ever hurt you” Captain said confidently before he suddenly had to catch Tony in his arms as the teenager fell into him and sobbed hard into him “I’ve got you, you’re safe with me”

“Dad said you were gonna beat me!” Tony choked out helplessly, years of fear pouring out of him as his hero held onto him tightly and let him cry without shouting at him for it.

“Never, I would never do that” Captain whispered to him as he moved to sit on the floor instead, Tony almost sitting in his lap as he leaned into him heavily.

The door opened with a soft click and Tony tensed up and moved to bolt at a moment’s notice, he peaked over Captain’s shoulder to see that it was just the redhead and the man who was the monster had walked in and neither looked angry at him for crying. The man who had been the monster just walked over and sat down with them instead.

“Hi Tony, my name’s Bruce Banner” He introduced himself with a smile on his face that looked kind and it made Tony feel safe as he smiled back to him “I’m not a medical doctor, but I am a kind of doctor so I’ve been looking into what happened to you when Steve, Thor and I woke you up”

“Thor’s the big blonde guy?” Tony asked curiously and Bruce just nodded at him before Tony motioned to Redhead “And who’s that?”

“Natasha” She told him, still blunt, so Tony just nodded slowly and looked back to Bruce who smiled softly at him again.

“It looks like you went through the portal in this time, a younger version of you came out of the portal” Bruce explained and nodded when Tony motioned at himself for the younger version “It might be some sort of time travel or something along the lines of it, Thor’s gone to ask his people if they know anything about it, and we don’t know how long this you is going to be around or if it’ll ever change back to how things were. But, and I want you to really listen to this, you need to understand that young or old, you have a place with us as your teammates and we will always look after you”

“O-Okay, what do you mean by teammates? What team was I on?” Tony asked since it was clear that everyone else knew what Bruce was talking about because they were all nodding in agreement with him.

“You were a part of a team called The Avengers, it’s me, you, Natasha, Bruce, Thor and Clint who I’m not sure you’ve spoken to yet” Steve explained as he rubbed Tony’s back carefully, Tony leant into the touch as he nodded again “We’re superheroes, we saved New York today and you played a huge part in it, you saved the whole of New York today, Tony”

“I did?” Tony asked with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open in shock as the others all chuckled at him happily “So obviously you’re Captain America, like the coolest person ever, and you were the big, green guy, what do I do? What does everyone else do?”

“I am spy, similar to your Aunt Peggy but ever since I was a little girl, Clint is also a spy but he is also an amazing archer” Natasha explained and Tony could tell she was watching her words, but he ignored that since the information she gave was awesome anyways “And Thor is Thor, the God of Thunder and Lighting”

“That’s so cool!” Tony was aware that he was bouncing slightly as the others were all smiling at him happily “And me?”

“Remember the suit?” Steve asked and Tony nodded rapidly “You built it, you fight in it, you’re called Iron Man”

“Wow” Tony whispered as his young mind desperately tried to learn all this new stuff about his life. He was so cool when he was older and he guesses that explains the light in his chest if he powers a big, metal suit.

Thor’s people never ended up knowing what happened to Tony, nor could any of Shield’s scientists or Bruce for that matter. It didn’t matter though, Tony was happy to be away from home and he had taken it in his stride that his parents were dead. He had been hit pretty strong by the news of Ana and Jarvis but he understood that he was living in the future and that they had just passed of old age.

The team all agreed to make Tony’s time with them the best that they could since the teenager had let it slip about Howard’s treatment of him and Maria’s neglect, all of the team making sure that Tony would feel safe and cared for while he was around.

And if Tony happened to never go back, well then they would figure that out too and keep making sure Tony could grow up safe and happy and surrounded people that had fallen in love with him, Tony had openly sobbed with happiness when Steve had clapped him on the back and called him son so it was clear that Tony was also pretty in love with his new family.

The young Stark was finally happy, he was surrounded by love, and no one had to know that he prayed to anyone listening that he would never go back to his time.

#tropetember #eotl writes #fanfiction #The Avengers #Tony Stark #Steve Rogers #Thor #clint barton #natasha romanoff #bruce banner

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acraftedmistake · 4 years ago

Text

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 13

CHP 13 YEEEE New month new CHAPTER, thanks to everyone who has been very patient with me! <3

If you wanna read it in the Archive of our Own format, click Here!

Enjoy!

‘This is a nightmare.’ Aiden kept telling himself as he pushed past the people in the streets.

This is only a nightmare. He wasn’t rushing back home, he never spoke with Jesse, he’s not holding Olivia’s hat, Olivia’s not even here, she’s gone and he’s in bed. He’s going to wake up in a cold sweat, with the Sun in his eyes, gasping as he forgets whatever it was he was dreaming about. Just like every other nightmare he’s had.

Aiden glanced at the green aviator hat in his hand, holding onto it as if his life depended on it. He could feel bruises forming where Jesse had struck him; they’ll heal.

Aiden looked up, saw the spruce roof of his house, and sped up. He kept his eyes on the roof, not paying attention to anybody who happened to be in his way. He didn’t even pay attention to his friend, Cassie Rose, calling his name through the crowd and running towards him.

“Aiden--AIDEN.” Rose screeched to a halt and stuck her hands out in front of her, afraid she and Aiden were going to crash into each other. She ran all around town trying to hunt him down, and now that she’s finally found him, he was too consumed by his own worries to notice her.

Aiden finally tore his eyes away from the house and faced Rose, slowing down but refusing to stop.

“I messed up. I messed up.” He said shakily, rushing past the redhead. Rose followed him, practically having to jog to remain by his side. Usually she’d crack a joke about how this wasn’t fair, her legs were shorter, he should carry her, but with the way Aiden was behaving, his quickened breath and darting eyes, she knew now wasn’t the time.

“What did you do?” Rose asked. Aiden’s eyes locked with hers for a mere second, but that’s all the time she needed to see the fear.

“You’re gonna hate me.” Cassie Rose heard him say in a horrified whisper. He didn’t answer the question. Maybe he didn’t have to. She was feeling more nervous with each passing second, and she didn’t even know what he did yet.

Aiden could make out Gill and Stella’s heads poking out of the front door and felt his throat tighten. His body tensed when thinking of his friends’ potential reactions to his news. They need to know. He needs to tell them. They’ll hate him but they need to know.

The instant Aiden stepped foot into the house, Stella erupted with frantic questions. “Aiden, what happened?! What was all of THAT about? Oh, and you’re face--!”

Gill started going off, “One second you were goin’ to your room, th’next you were rushin’ outta this house without sayin’ a word.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It--” Aiden started pacing. He couldn’t stay still. He didn’t want to see his friends’ faces. He wanted to calm down. He wanted to think straight. He was still praying that he’d wake up.

Suddenly he heard footsteps racing down the staircase.

“Is everything alright?” A familiar voice asked, “We heard crashing.”

Aiden shot his head up and saw Jess and Olivia getting closer to him, Jess’ worried eyes locked onto him.

Aiden stepped back and pointed at them, “DON’T--”

His sudden shouting towards the two caught everyone off guard.

“Don’t come near me. Don’t look at me. Don’t--Don’t--!” He turned away and shoved his face into his hands. Out of all the times they had to be awake, out of all the times they decided to appear, why now? Why? He can’t look at them. He can’t. He hated glancing at them. Even if it was for a second, he hated it. He hated the memories that would flash by and fill his mind, he hated the hopeful feeling he’d get in that one second, foolishly believing they were actually okay, he hated these reminders of his past friends.

Aiden swallowed and stared at the floor, “Jesse--our Jesse--broke in.”

All talking had stopped.

“He knows Olivia’s here.”

Stella gasped, Gill’s eyes widened, Jess’ mouth hung open. No one said anything. Jess felt Olivia’s hand grab his and squeezed it.

“How did you--” Maya started but was cut off by Cassie.

“You told him?!” Cassie stepped closer to Aiden, clenching her fists.

Aiden stuck his hands out, “No--! Not directly!”

He stared at the green hat and squeezed it again, “He took Olivia’s hat, I told him she needed it back. I never said her name directly but--”

“But Jesse’s not stupid.” Maya finished. Aiden breathed in and nodded.

“Aiden, how could you?” Jess asked, slipping out of Olivia’s grasp as he stormed over to the man.

“Jess, don’t--” Before Aiden could start, Jess snapped at him.

“Don’t what? Don’t get involved in the mess you just got us in? Don’t get upset you put my friend in danger?! Don’t worry about this other Jesse--who sounds like such a wonderful person--and could be searching for Olivia as we speak?!” Jess’ mind kept switching between anger and fear. The image of Radar being carried back, beaten and sobbing, made his hands sweaty. He thought back to everyones reactions when they first met him, and how they treated him before they found out he wasn’t the other Jesse. He thought about Cavern City, and--and--What would Jesse do to Olivia? What would Jesse do to him?

“I didn’t have any other choice!” Aiden shot back.

“Yes you did!” Both Cassie Rose and Jess exclaimed, surprising each other.

Cassie continued, “Why didn’t you punch him? Or throw him, or--or knock him out, or SOMETHING? ANYTHING.”

“Because I didn’t want to make things worse.” Aiden answered through gritted teeth.

Cassie sputtered, “Aiden, I hate to be that person, but punching him would’ve made the situation SIGNIFICANTLY better than what YOU just pulled.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with Cassie, but she’s right.” Jesse joined the red head’s side, “What about when we first saw each other? You thought I was your Jesse, got upset, and grabbed me. Why didn’t you--”

“That was different.” Aiden raised his voice.

“You aren’t our Jesse.” Aiden’s hands were beginning to shake as he stepped closer to Jess, who was now backing away.

Jess opened his mouth, but Maya got between the two before things could get worse. “What’s done is done.” Maya folded her arms. “Aiden messed up. We gotta work on fixing it now.”

“Maya’s right.” Stella started pulling on a strand of her hair while tapping her foot against the wooden floor. “With these two stuck here, The Awakening possibly planning something, and now Jesse knowing about Olivia, we have no time to argue.”

Olivia turned to Aiden, “Where’s Jesse now?”

Aiden shook his head, “I don’t know. He ran the opposite away.”

“That gives us some time to figure out what to do before he comes back.” Maya said. Then the room became quiet again.The only sounds filling the void was Stella’s foot tapping and wooden boards creaking from Aiden’s pacing.

Jess watched everyone think to themselves. No one was communicating or even standing close to each other, and while he wanted to speak up to get people talking, and get the feeling of progress actually being made, he didn’t know what to say. He returned to the stairs where Olivia stood and sat on one of the steps. He rested his head on his hands and sighed.

“You alright?” Jess asked quietly.

“No.” Olivia mumbled, slowly sitting down. ‘I shouldn’t be scared.’ She thought. She really shouldn’t. She survived a Witherstorm, the Admin, and other horrific situations, but in those cases, she knew what to be scared of, she knew what she was working with. What did she know about this universe? That there’s a creepy cult and an unstable version of her friend? She still didn’t know what The Awakening was capable of, nor the other Jesse. What’ll she do when he finds her? She hasn’t met the other Jesse yet--not that she wants to. Would she be able to tell the difference between her’s and the other? What’ll he do when he finds her?

Olivia glanced back at Jess and saw he was brainstorming now. She would love to hear some of his optimism right now. A light hearted joke, a comment poking fun at the situation, or just him telling her it’ll be okay. She needed it.

But she never got it.

“I guess we won’t be able to go out anymore, huh?” Jess muttered.

“No, you won’t.” Aiden approached the two, his arms crossed. “Jesse’s probably gonna start looking for Olivia here. We might need to hide you two somewhere else.”

“Not that I disagree with you, but where could we possibly hide them? Radar’s house?” Stella questioned.

Cassie groaned, “And what’ll Radar do when Jesse breaks in? Flip out again? Cry?”

“Cass--” Maya was about to start but kept her focus on the situation, “I don’t think Radar’s place is the best option either. If someone attacks, he’ll be unprepared. And I don’t think he’d be on board with Jess staying at his place after what’s happened.”

“We can’t do Hadrian and Mevia’s either.” Aiden said.

“Why not?” Gill asked, “They got some pretty good weapons! They could protect ‘em.”

“I know, but I don’t think they’d trust Jess either--” Aiden stopped. A lightbulb went off, “Unless we split these two up!”

“Not happening.” Jess shot the idea down coldly, “First you all treated me like I was some maniac, then you rat out my friend, and NOW you want us to split up?”

“This could be our safest option--” Stella spoke but was cut off by Jess.

“No, here is our safest option. You guys have plenty of weapons, Olivia and I can fight back, there’s plenty of hiding spots,” With each point he listed off, he kept getting closer to Aiden until they were face to face, “and I’ve been through much worse than one crazy person. We’re staying here.” Jess ended, snatching Olivia’s hat from Aiden’s hand.

“Fine.” Aiden said stiffly.

“Glad we… We got that settled.” Stella laughed nervously.

“If they’re staying here we should probably lock… Well… Everything.” Maya pointed out.

Stella jumped, “Right! We don’t know how long these two will be staying here!” She rushed towards the nearest windows and locked them before throwing the curtains over them. “Can’t risk Jesse--or anyone--seeing them!”

Gill sat on a barstool and stroked his beard. He watched Stella go from window to window, repeating the locking and covering process frantically. He watched Jess and Olivia talk quietly to one another, then his eyes drifted over to the table in the living room where the items for the flint and steel and book laid, then something clicked.

“Maybe we don’t gotta worry bout Jesse for long.” Gill said, a small smile forming.

“Hm?” Maya turned her head towards him as she flipped a light switch on. With no street lights or moonlight coming through the windows anymore, their house was beginning to darken.

“Well, I was thinkin’ that if we made th’flint ‘n steel, we’d be able to send those guys home. There’d be no Olivia or Jess for our Jesse to get, then we’d only have to worry bout The Awakenin’!”

Everyone stared at Gill. Stella stopped what she was doing to think about the plan.

“Two birds, one stone.” Maya shrugged, “We could do it.”

“Yeah, that could work!” Jess agreed, feeling a little more hopeful. Olivia nodded.

“Yes, but didn’t Petra tell us she’d take at least a week to find the rest of the materials?” Stella asked, her nails tapping against the glass of the window she had stopped on. Could they keep Jess and Olivia hidden for a week? Could they even stop their Jesse from breaking in after a few days? Locking doors and windows can only do so much.

“I can run over to Petra’s and see if she’s still home.” Cassie Rose spoke up, “I could tell her we need to speed things up and maybe look around her cave. She probably has some of the stuff we need in one of her chests.”

“But what if she ain’t home?” Gill tilted his head.

“And what if she doesn’t have the items.” Maya added.

“Then I’ll mine for the things myself!” Cassie said, already marching to the front door, “I’ll go to the Nether alone if I have to! I’ve done it before!” Cassie said.

Cassie could hear Stella gasp and knew she was about to start lecturing.

“I’ve broken the law a bunch of times. I’ll be fine.” She said.

Stella closed her mouth and clasped her hands together, “I know, I know, but please be safe.”

“I will.” Cassie opened the door, but before she could leave, Stella asked for a favor.

“Since The Awakening is involved in this… Mess, do you think you could ask Radar to come over?”

‘Why me?’ Was the response Cassie wanted to give, but when she looked back at Stella and the rest of her friends, she knew she couldn’t complain.

She gripped the door’s handle, “Yeah, sure.”

And with that being said, she left.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stupid Aiden and his stupid slip ups in front of stupid JESSE. Out of all the nights to do something stupid he does it tonight. Cassie could only imagine what’ll happen in these next few days. Maybe Jesse--or heck, any other Awakening freak--might snatch Olivia and think she’s some weird zombie who’s been resurrected by their amazing ‘Hero’. Or maybe they’ll dig up her body from her memorial and do freaky cult things to it. What if they kill the other Olivia? Then they’ll have TWO dead Olivias.

This wasn’t the first time Aiden’s done something stupid because of Jesse, and it probably won’t be the last.

She wasn’t mad--Actually, that was a lie.

She was very mad. Not just at Aiden, but at everything.

It feels like everything has gotten worse since Jess and Olivia stepped foot into their universe. She and the others had enough problems to deal with before, but now having to deal with two look-alikes of their old friends, the dumb Awakening schemeing something, and now Aiden’s dumb stunt, their stress has been amped up by a thousand.

Maya’s right, though. There’s nothing she can do now to change what’s been done. She needs to focus on getting to Petra. Maybe Petra already found the materials despite it being a couple of hours since they last saw her. Then they could figure out how to make the flint and steel, and then they can send Jess and Olivia home, then they wouldn’t have to worry about their creepy Jesse. Easy!

‘And what if she doesn’t have the items.’ Maya’s voice echoed in her head.

‘Then I’ll get ‘em myself!’ She snapped back at the imaginary Maya. Though she knew if she did that, with or without telling her friends, she’d get an earful from Stella.

Cassie Rose could perfectly imagine what Stella would tell her after she would return from the Nether: “I cannot believe you! Going off on your own to the NETHER of all places, don’t you remember what happened last time? We were barely able to convince the guards to let you go!”

Cassie understood Stella was only looking out for her; she always assumes the worst case scenario will happen, but hopefully she understands stopping The Awakening is far more important than the law. They can’t sit through a bunch of paperwork in some stupid office to get a stupid license so they can hit a few rocks with a pickaxe or explore the Nether when there are caves and a portal close by AND easily accessible. They can’t waste any time.

As she continued moving forward, one yellow house caught her attention. It was the smallest out of all the surrounding buildings, only being a single story, but it was like a beacon under the night sky. The front light was on, but Cassie wondered if it was even necessary, as every light inside was on and were practically illuminating the entire street. The only few things that interrupted the beams of light were the leaves and stems of the many potted plants on the balcony. As she neared the house, her running soon slowed into a walk, and then she came to a full stop.

‘Speaking of wasting time…’ Cassie thought again, staring at the light, dusty yellow home in front of her. It was almost a struggle to stare directly at the house without being blinded. Of course the most obnoxious, unavoidable house belonged to Radar.

‘Radar can wait.’ She told herself, getting ready to move along. ‘Petra has the important stuff.’

‘You told Stella you’d ask him.’ She nagged herself, stopping again.

Yes, she did, but Stella should’ve known better than to ask her. She knew how much she couldn’t stand that little man. Why couldn’t she have sent Gill instead? Gill loves Radar! Stella could’ve sent anyone else BUT her, even Jess would’ve been a better choice.

She stared at the horrible house for another moment.

Maybe she could skip over Radar and claim she forgot.

Yeah, she was soooo caught up on getting to Petra’s, Radar just slipped her mind.

‘Don’t do that.’ Cassie told herself. ‘Stella trusts you.’ And they did need him, whether or not she’d liked to admit it.

The redhead let out a long sigh as she began trudging over to the front door, which shared the same color as the porch and roof. As she grew nearer, she was able to make out more of the plants’ individual leaves, the flowers began looking less like blobs and more like the variety of spherical, funnel, and bell shapes that they were, she could even decipher the different colors of the flowers despite the overpowering yellow light. A long, thin green leaf brushed past her hand, making Cassie flinch and swat at it.

She breathed in, inhaling the overwhelming floral scent which invaded the porch, and gave the walnut-colored door three, hard knocks. She was tempted to break it, but restrained herself.

Her shoulders immediately drooped when she listened to distant footsteps on the other side grow closer. Cassie was imagining the possible responses Radar would have in store for her and found herself getting tired of his voice already, despite him not saying a word to her yet.

The locks started to click and the knob began to turn. She shoved her fists into her hoodie’s pocket.

‘Just get it over with.’ Cassie told herself, ‘For your friends.’

Radar’s head peaked out from behind the door. The caution in his eyes blinked away when he saw it was only her.

“Oh, Ros--Cassie Rose. Good evening. What brings you here so early?” He asked, stepping a foot out of his house, noticeably tense.

Cassie held back her second sigh, “Hey, we’re kinda having some issues right now and Stella was wondering if you could come over and help.” She muttered.

“I don’t know if I could…” Radar’s words trailed off and he thought to himself for a moment, “I… I won’t be able to come over at this mo--”

“Bummer.” Cassie didn’t give Radar the chance to finish. She heard all that she needed to. She turned around and hopped off the porch, giving Radar a stiff wave, “I’ll be sure to let them know, see you.” She said flatly before taking off.

‘There, you did it.’ She told herself as she picked up the pace.

Cassie didn’t know what Stella was expecting. You can’t expect anything good to come from an Awakening member, former or not.

Stupid cult boy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The forest felt different when running through it alone. When she was walking here with her friends earlier, they managed to make this dark, noisy place feel familiar and gave it a sense of security. The same sense of security she felt when they started exploring stranger territories while on their way to collect weapons to destroy The Awakening’s lava beast. The memories of them huddling together as they navigated through the strange, colorful caves whose interior defied logic, or fighting Awakening members who were unfortunate enough to run into them in other chaotic forests far away from town were still fresh in her mind. No matter how bizarre or overwhelming the environments were, they were together, and they made those alien places feel a lot less foreign.

‘Jeez, that was almost five years ago.’ Cassie remembered. It felt like last week.

This was still the same forest with the same thick trees, the same blaring bugs, and the same cracked path, but being alone brought a different sort of familiarity to it. She was reminded of the times before she had met Aiden and the others, when it was just her and Petra. She thought back to the times she’d be rushing to the cave, running through here with the guards on her tail, shouting at her to return the goods she had stolen from the Night Market. She’d take sharp turns every few seconds to throw them off, listening to the men’s voices get quieter and quieter, causing her to smile widely and laugh to herself. The bizarre mixture of fear and enthusiasm--the possibility of getting caught or getting away--it was that combination which motivated her to run even faster.

However, the one thing that remained consistent during her years of going here was how stupidly scary it could be. There wasn’t anything to be scared about, but Cassie’s brain would trick her into thinking the tangled branches were one of those huge, venomous spiders who were about to lunge at her face, or the sound of a branch cracking was actually a monster ready to pounce on her. It was stupid, she knew spiders--though they have attacked her here before--were uncommon, and any other monster was MILES away from Obsidian Town, but that didn’t stop her from doing a double take at any strangely shaped silhouette her eyes would catch.

When she reached the entrance of the cave, she remembered one benefit about coming here alone: Walking along the cave’s path was much easier. On one hand, it didn’t matter if she came here with friends or by herself, she’d still be sandwiched between two cold, wet, stone walls. On the other hand, she wouldn’t be sandwiched between two people while navigating through the tight squeeze.

As Cassie walked deeper into the cave, straying further and further from the light, she realized she forgot to knock. This used to be her home though--technically still is--so does she really have to knock? You wouldn’t knock on your own bedroom door, right? But Petra always wanted people to knock, or at the very least, shout out their name in the cave. One time Aiden forgot to knock during a visit, and he accidentally slammed the door in Petra’s face. She wasn’t too mad about getting hit, but she did go off about the knocking. ‘What if I was dealing with a client?!’ Petra snapped, ‘Or working on something personal? You don’t see me barging into your house unannounced!’. This led to Stella pointing out Petra’s constant law breaking was much worse than forgetting to make their presence known, which led to Petra simply responding: ‘Yeah, but I still have manners.’

Cassie knocked against one of the cave’s walls as she continued walking, “Hey! It’s Rose!” She announced, just in case Petra didn’t hear the knocking.

Cassie kept walking and waited for a response. She waited.

And waited.

She was almost at the door and Petra hadn't responded yet. Petra never takes this long to respond. Cassie sped up, if there was even a chance something bad had happened to Petra, she wasn’t going to take her time. She didn’t want to be too late.

‘Maybe she left already.’ Cassie told herself, not wanting to jump to any wild conclusions yet. She knew if Petra got into any trouble, she could handle herself, and the last thing she needed was another person to worry about. When Cassie got to the door, she kicked it open; the wood collided with the stone wall and made a loud BANG. There'd be no way Petra missed that.

Cassie didn’t see her friend, but what she did see straight ahead of her was an activated Nether portal, confirming her suspicions. Petra was gone. She was a little sad she missed out on saying goodbye to her, but at least she knew she was safe.

‘Better start looking.’ Cassie started for the chests by the stone base where the portals stood. The closer she got to the portal, the louder it’s groans and crackles became, making it nearly impossible to hear herself think. She opened the chest, barely able to hear the wood creak, and knelt down--her legs freezing the moment they touched the cold ground, despite her wearing long pants. She threw her hand in and peered inside to see whatever random items were thrown into the chest.

“Cobblestone, a bunch of sticks, clay, iron, a bell--” She listed aloud, trying to speak over the portal’s racket. Surely ONE of the items she was looking for was in one of the millions of chests scattered around here--

“Thief.” Cassie heard a deep, muffled voice from behind say. She whipped her head around and froze when she saw the Crying Wither looming over. They stared down at her through the eye holes of their wither skull; the white paint coating it had peeled off over time, leaving strips of the skull’s original, charocal-black color visible once again. The strips were thickest under the eyes.

Cassie clutched her chest and breathed in, “Thanks for the second heart attack today.”

“Second?” The Crying Wither tilted their head. They offered their sooty, gloved hand.

Cassie accepted it.

“Yeah, you can thank Aiden for the first one.” Cassie said as she was pulled to her feet. The Crying Wither reeked of smoke, and speckles of the Nether portal were still hanging onto their black, buttoned-up vest and dark gray, long sleeved shirt, which had a few tears in them.

“Oh boy.” Petra took off the skull, “What’d he do this time?”

Cassie ranted about the situation, about how Aiden revealed Olivia--not directly, but that didn’t matter--and now everyone was freaking out. While Petra was listening, she had to remind herself there were now two Jesses. This must’ve happened after they both visited her.

Cassie kept going off for another few minutes, getting everything out of her system, then returning her focus on Petra. “...That’s why I’m back though. That li’l creep is probably gonna be taking Olivia and we need to get her and the other Jess home.”

“Right, I get that.” Petra nodded, “And I get that this is serious, but I’m doing this alone, I’d be lucky if I found any of your supplies in a week.” She said, walking to the edge of the stone base and stepping off.

Cassie watched her friend approach a double chest by the cave’s door. “I know.” She shoved both of her hands into her pocket.

“But…” Petra placed her wither skull on the floor and opened the large chest. She pulled out a neatly folded stack of clothes. Cassie’s eyes lit up when she recognized they were the same dark blue pants and long sleeved shirt she used to wear, topped with her old brown belt and gloves as well.

“The process would definitely be faster if I had an extra set of hands.” Petra smiled as she walked over to Cassie again, “Whaddaya say, White Pumpkin? Just like old times?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“... That’s so weird to think about.” Olivia mumbled, sitting on the guest bed, and hugging her knees with her hat next to her. Lukas is gone. That’s a statement she never wanted to hear. He was a couple of years younger than her when he went missing, too.

“Yeah. It is.” Jess was leaning against the only window in the room, looking away from his friend. One of his hands was gripping the lift of the window, tempted to throw it open and get some fresh air, but he knew it had to stay locked.

Olivia didn’t know what to say. What more could be said after hearing about her close friend’s disappearance? That everything is going to work out? That they’ll find him? That there’s a chance he’s still alive? Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they both knew he was most likely dead. With no knowledge of how he died, Olivia could only hope his passing was painless.

Olivia kept thinking back to the story and what had happened. Her alternate self was involved in the search party, yet Olivia felt a strange sense of grief for not being able to recall memories that weren’t her’s, and she failed a Lukas who wasn’t theirs. Olivia could tell Jess felt a similar way when retelling the story; he’d become so invested his voice would crack and tears would well up in his eyes during certain parts, as if he had experienced it firsthand. He’d pause at some moments to remember what he was told, or to find a way to reword the situation--maybe in an attempt to shine a more hopeful light onto it, to make the blow softer for her or for himself.

“Man, our universe is kinda nice compared to this, huh?” Jess sat next to his friend, laughing a little. He wasn’t sure why he was laughing. This wasn’t funny.

Olivia watched him play with his red suspenders as he continued talking, “Back home, you and Lukas are alive. I’m almost certain Ivor might be dead as well--or heck, the entire Order. We don’t have some crazy cult or a crazy me running around, trying to find you now--”

“Mad at Aiden?” Olivia asked, though she already knew the answer..

“You aren’t?”

“I’m…” Olivia let her mouth hang for a moment, “I don’t really know how to feel right now. So much has been happening, I don’t think I can be mad at one specific person with what’s been going on.”

“I’m not blaming Aiden for this entire mess!” Jess jumped off the bed suddenly and began pacing around the room, “I know these people are supposed to be ‘the good guys’ of this universe, and I want to try to make things better, but being surrounded by these people and the way they’ve treated me--! I was just starting to warm up to them, and maybe we could’ve moved past those bad first impressions but--but--” Jess pulled on a lock of his hair tightly and stared at the ceiling as his pacing became faster, “Aiden slipped up cause of a hat! A stupid…!” He threw his head into his hands, fingers tangling in his hair.

It was quiet for a minute, only the sound of Jess’ heavy breathing filled the room. When he heard Olivia quietly call his name, he peeked at her through his fingers. Worry filled her eyes, but she wasn’t worried about Aiden, about the alternate Jesse, she wasn’t worried about a single thing in this universe right now. She was worried about him.

Jess’ hands slipped off his face and wrapped themselves around his body. “I’m… I’m sorry.” Jess finally said, taking a step closer to his friend.

Olivia scooched to the side, making more room on the bed for him.

“Aiden didn’t mean to.” Olivia mumbled as Jess sat back beside her. “And I know this isn’t the greatest environment to be,” She placed her hand on his shoulder, “but they do want to help us, and they’re trying their best, even if they’re clearly struggling from time to time.”

That got a light chuckle out of Jess. Olivia felt herself grinning as well.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Jess rested his head on his knees. His smile started to fade, “Things are getting worse. I don’t wanna drag you down by being stressed constantly. I want to keep your spirits up, you know?”

“I do know.” Olivia inched closer to Jess, “Do you know how many times I’ve been afraid of being a burden with my constant worrying?”

Jess blinked and lifted his head up, “What? But--You know you’d never be a burden to me or any of our friends!”

“Mhm, it’s because I have you around to remind me that you care, and I can say the same thing to you right now.”

The two pulled each other into what was meant to be a quick hug, but they found themselves holding onto each other for longer than expected. In this moment, the cold world around them grew warmer. In this moment, their worries went away. In this moment, they had each other.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Not their door, the front door on the first floor.

Jess went back to the window and peered down.

“It’s Radar!” A little grin appeared on his face. It was reassuring to see Radar better, especially after the last time they saw him.

“I think I’m gonna head downstairs.” Jess said, watching the front door open and Aiden welcoming their friend in. “They needed him for something and I’m kinda curious about what that something is.”

Before Jess could leave the room, Olivia stopped him. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if you accidentally frighten him?”

Jess thought for a moment. Radar knew he wasn’t the same Jesse who attacked him the night before, but the awareness meant nothing when he looked exactly like the other Jesse. “I could… Sit on the steps? He wouldn’t have to worry about looking at me.” Jess suggested.

Olivia nodded in approval and the two headed off. As they neared the staircase, they could make out Radar and Aiden’s voices. Aiden’s voice was much louder compared to Radar’s; they could hear more of Aiden’s explanation of the current situation, while barely being able to understand Radar’s responses. When they reached the bottom, they sat down and made themselves comfortable on the last few steps. Aiden glanced in their direction and gave them a quick wave--he looked stressed--before bringing his full attention back to Radar, while Maya, Stella, and Gill listened.

“Oh, dear…” Radar was fidgeting with his clipboard and pen, “And you’re positive those were Awakening members?” He found himself struggling to maintain eye contact with Aiden, and kept glancing at the papers on his board rather than his friend.

“They didn’t say anything about The Awakening, and I didn’t see them,” Aiden confessed, “but I don’t know any other group of people who wander around underground.”

“We heard voices--well, Aiden heard ‘em, but he wouldn’t lie about this sorta stuff.” Gill added.

“Worst case, Aiden just went crazy for a second and didn’t hear anything.” Maya said the comment in her usual tone, but her bit of humor seemed to do the job at making Radar relax a little.

“But at the very slim chance they were members,” Stella spoke up, not too enthusiastic over this possibility, “do you happen to remember The Awakening ever mentioning portals? I do recall them attempting to summon--or search--for The Hero.”

“Oh yes, that was one of the portals’ purposes.” Radar placed his pen in his pocket to stop himself from clicking it constantly, “However, another important purpose associated with them is their connections to the afterlife.”

All eyes were on him, urging him to go on. He gripped his board tighter and swallowed.

“The… The portals…” Radar started, doing his best to keep his voice steady, “It was believed that those who were loyal to The Hero would have their souls taken to the universe which he was banished to…” Radar continued to avoid any sort of eye contact with his friends, and focused on sharing the information they wanted to hear. As he kept talking, his nervous rambling soon gained confidence, the same confidence he used to feel when he recited what he learned during the gatherings in front of the Visions, in front of Brenner, enthusiastically talking about this wonderful knowledge he had been gifted. It felt like a switch had been flipped in his mind, and that familiar enthusiasm was rushing throughout him as he talked about how the souls kept in this distant universe were protected by The Hero and treated wonderfully as their reward for remaining faithful. How those who turned against The Hero, or doubted his power, would be sent to an eternal abyss. The Awakening had always tried to create the portal which led to this universe of bliss, Radar remembered the elder members sharing stories about how close they were to making it! How they were disappointed in themselves for failing, but content knowing their loved ones were safe, even after death. Those thoughts, those visuals, oh they were all so comforting. Radar, despite knowing how horrible The Awakening’s mindset is, still found comfort in this idea during the nights he’d be wide awake and sobbing. It was like an embraceful hug, arms holding you carefully, paired with a gentle voice who promised you everything was going to be okay. You’ll be safe. Who wouldn’t want such a tale to be true? To know that when those you cared about left, there was a way to bring them back, even if it was nearly impossible.

“... Perhaps--if The Awakening truly is planning on creating a portal--they want to revive their Sense after his demise!” Radar finished boldly, proud of this conclusion he reached and believing everyone was on the same train of thought as him. When he looked back at his friends, he was disheartened to see the lost expressions on everyone.

“The--their Sense.” Radar said again, thinking this was the detail they were stumped on. “The man with black hair? Beard? He was one of the leaders and ran towards us with his sword--”

“No, no, we remember him.” Stella gave him a small smile and clasped her hands together. “It’s just…” She mumbled to herself, trying to figure out the nicest way to word her next phrase without crushing Radar’s spirits.

“Radar, I love ya buddy, but that didn’ make any sense.” Gill said. Maya nodded.

“Yeah, I got a little caught up on everything else you were saying.” Aiden admitted.

“It… It makes sense… To me.” Radar’s voice fumbled into a whisper.

To me. Those words repeated in his head. Of course everything he said made sense to him, but how could people who’ve never stepped foot into a gathering possibly comprehend what Radar was going off about?

“I didn’t really understand it either, but you really got into it.” Another voice spoke up. Radar turned to his left and yelped when he saw Jess sitting there with Olivia.

“Please warn me whenever you’re in the room.” Radar pressed his clipboard against his chest, catching his breath. A twinge of guilt shot through Jess.

“From what I could make out,” Olivia said, “The Awakening might be creating a portal to the afterlife because one of their leaders died?”

“Yes!” Radar exclaimed excitedly. He spun around to face Olivia’s direction, covering his left eye with his clipboard to keep Jess out of his sight. “That’s essentially it!”

After the others finally understood what Radar was talking about, they discussed what should be done next. Everyone still agreed sending Jess and Olivia home was the most important priority, and arguably the easiest task to complete compared to stopping an entire cult. Maya reminded them there was still a chance The Awakening might not be planning this, or involved with anything portal related at all. Nothing was certain yet.

“Thanks for coming over again, ‘preciate it.” Aiden said to Radar, “We’ll be sure to update Rose when she comes back.”

“I’m still surprised she actually went to you.” Maya raised her brows.

“Yes, so am I.” Stella said, “But I’m glad she did! Hopefully she’ll come home soon, even if she returns empty-handed. I just want her in one piece.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Petra shot out of the Nether portal and landed on the stone ground with a loud thud, her sword slipping out of her grasp and landing on the ground with a clatter. She threw her sack of items on the floor and yanked off her wither skull, coughing widely, trying to get the smoke out of her lungs. She had barely escaped a huge fireball that had been shot out from one of those horrifying Ghasts, but had luckily spotted it in time and was close enough to her portal to dive through it. Her only concern now was whether the obsidian portal on the other side had sustained any damage. It shouldn’t have. Hopefully.

Usually Rose would have been on the lookout for any monsters while Petra would gather up the goods they had found that day. The two of them used to get their hands on great items like blazerods, glowstone, quartz, sometimes they’d stumble upon ruined portals and find an entire block of gold! And even though the two of them knew how dangerous the Nether could be, they’d often treat the place as if it were their own personal playground. They’d climb those bizarrely tall crimson trees, hiding in their thick, soft leaves that would get tangled in their hairs, or sometimes nudging and poking the deformed pig-like inhabitants with their swords until one of the creatures would inevitably get angry and they’d have to run away, laughing as they told each other they’d never do that again, knowing full well they’ll do again.

There were also a few Nether Fortresses within walking distance of the portal--some much farther than others--they enjoyed exploring together. With each visit, the three fortresses would be filled with a new assortment of hellish monsters who dropped amazing loot, or they’d find a chest they’ve missed before and find an assortment of items. Their favorite fortress, however, was the one north of the portal. It was the farthest one away, and also the smallest of the three; having only one room with three separate doorways, one being the entrance, the left leading to a platform outside, and the final leading to what remained of a large bridge. About a quarter of the bridge was left, and whether the giant columns which used to hold the rest had collapsed, or monsters tore it apart was unknown, but it didn’t matter. Petra and Rose would sit together at the edge of the bridge, looking over the ocean of lava--Petra could only look down for so long before getting shaky--and in the distance, they could see more land. Land that they’ve yet to explore. They could make out unfamiliar vegetations, crooked structures, large arches and floating land. They still had so much adventuring to do, they hadn’t even finished thoroughly searching the side of the Nether they were currently on yet!

Her and Rose made a pact, promising they’d work to explore the entire Nether together. They’ll leave no stone unturned; they’ll claw their way up every mountain, fight any monsters that stood in their path, and venture through the darkest caves together. That promise was made years ago, and though Rose doesn’t have the time to join Petra like she used to, Petra was still keeping her word. She wasn’t going to explore anymore of the Nether unless Rose was right beside her.

Ever since Rose moved in with Aiden and her other friends a few months ago, rummaging in the Nether has been a whole new level of difficulty. She didn’t mind the extra challenge, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t lonely.

Petra glanced at the sack on the ground and picked it up, it was light. Kind of disappointing when comparing it to her bags in the past. She loosened the rope around it and peeked inside; chunks of soul sand, mushrooms, and a whole bunch of glowstone. It wasn’t much, but it was still something. She placed the bag on top of the chest nearby the portal and let out a long, loud sigh.

“Rough day?” A voice asked, causing Petra to jolt. She immediately grabbed the sword on the ground and spun around, ready to fight the intruder.

“Wait, wait! I’m sorry--!” Jesse yelped, shielding himself with his arms. Petra lowered her sword and let out another sigh, this one out of relief.

“You’re okay,” Petra leaned the sword against the portal, “but why were you hiding behind my portal? You weren’t planning on attacking me, were you?” She raised a brow. It was Jesse’s turn to jump.

“No, no, no, no! I was looking for you, and I couldn’t find you anywhere, so I started walking around, but then I heard the portal making a weird sound and--”

“I was just being mean, I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” Petra chuckled. Jesse relaxed a little. She tilted her head at him, “Come on up.”

Jesse’s face brightened and he stepped onto the platform. As he approached Petra, the purple light and strange sounds coming from the portal grabbed his attention. His walking slowed as he turned his head to get a good look at this amazing structure. He doesn’t remember the last time he’s been this close to a Nether Portal, he doesn’t even know if he has been this close before. It almost didn’t look real.

And he kinda…

Kinda sorta…

Wanted to stick his hand in it. He really wanted to.

Petra must’ve known what he was about to ask, because before he could even pop the question, she said, “You can touch it if you wanna.”

His eyes sparkled and he gave a quick, excited thanks before shoving his hand into the portal’s glistening entrance.

To his surprise, the purple vortex was cold. He had always imagined the gateway that connected their world to the world of lava would’ve been excruciatingly hot. He didn’t mind being wrong, though, it was strangely pleasant. He’d move his fingers individually, able to feel them stir through the substance with no struggle at all. It was almost like… A small stream, one he’d find near the town’s borders, where he’d dip his feet in and watch the water continue to flow and swirl, undisturbed by his presence.

Jesse was almost tempted to shove his head in there, curious if it’d feel just as pleasant on his face, but then he’d risk throwing himself face first into the Nether. And he wasn’t ready for that. Maybe another day.

“So, why were you looking for me again?” Petra asked. Jesse pulled his arm out of the portal.

“I… I just needed to get--” He cleared his throat, “I just wanted to check on you, you know?”

“Not really.” Petra folded her arms, “I appreciate the thought, but you know I can take care of myself.”

“No!” Jesse blurted, “I mean, I do know that, but that’s not what I meant.”

Petra looked at him. He swallowed, “You’re not… Mad at us, are you?”

Petra blinked, “No?” She cocked her head, “Why would I be?”

Jesse crossed his legs and looked away, “I feel like we took Cassie from you.” He held his hands behind his back, “We busted in here one day, said ‘Hey! We’re gonna save the world!’, grabbed her, and next thing we know it, she’s living with us instead of you. And--”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Petra interrupted, “Jesse, first of all, you didn’t ‘take’ Rose from me, she wanted to tag along with you guys, just like how she chose to move in with you. You’re acting like she died or something, but she didn’t, right?” Her brows went up.

“Right. She’s still in one piece.” Jesse forced out a chuckle.

“Exactly. And guess what? Even if she’s off doing her own thing now, she still visits me. She’s allowed to do whatever she likes and I’m not gonna stop her. Besides, what sort of person would I be if I didn’t let my friends grow?” Her words were exactly what Jesse needed to hear. The frown on his face disappeared and he fixed his posture, much more energetic than he was seconds ago.

Petra found herself grinning at Jesse’s reaction, his happiness was rather contagious. She wrapped her arm around him, “And the best part about her visits is her tellin’ me what you and the others have been up to! Like fightin’ off cult members, or almost setting your house on fire--”

“Hey, that was Stella’s fault!” He laughed.

“Oh right, Miss Professional Baker.” The two of them laughed some more.

Petra kept going, “My favorite story from her so far is when you guys chucked one of those cult creeps into lava!” Jesse’s laughing stopped and he went a little pale, Petra kept talking, “Hero, every time I think about it it makes me pumped! Next time you plan on doing that, you gotta invite me.” She smirked.

Jesse’s throat tightened, “That was an accident.”

“Don’t be ashamed of knocking one of those sickos off this planet.” Petra gave him a light punch. “If I was there, you know I’d never shut up about it. Like ‘Hey! You’re talkin’ to the girl who killed a cult leader! You better watch it’!” She stuck her finger out and gritted her teeth, acting out the fake conversation.

When she saw Jesse still wearing an uncomfortable expression, she changed the subject. “How’s everyone doing in Obsidian Town?”

“Oh, good.” Jesse perked up, “Stella, Radar, and Olivia have been helping with the town’s repairs after that little lava monster incident.”

“Yeah, hardly even noticed it.” Petra rolled her eyes playfully.

“Right.” He chuckled a little, “Cassie, Gill, Aiden, Lukas, and I are gonna be heading off to another city to pick up some materials when the sun sets.”

“Sunset? Today?” Petra asked. Jesse nodded.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t stop worrying about you.” He admitted.

“Awh, I’m touched. BUT,” Petra started guiding Jesse to her cave’s door, “there’s no need. Like I said, I appreciate you checkin’ in, but it’s not necessary.”

“I know.” Jesse’s voice dwindled. They reached the door and stood there for a moment. Petra stared at him, he looked crushed.

“Buuuuuuut if you wanna…” Petra spoke up, “You can come over once a week? Every two weeks? Just pop in, say hi, catch up. You know.” She shrugged.

Jesse was back to smiling, “I’d love that! I can think of a specific day where we can hang out so I won’t scare you again!”

“I didn’t get scared!” Petra shot back, face turning slightly red. She opened the door and shoved Jesse out. “Now get OUTTA here, you got a city to go to!”

“Right, right!” Jesse hurriedly made his way to the exit. “I’ll see you next week!” He shouted, his voice bouncing off the cave walls.

“You better knock next time!” Petra hollered back with a big grin on her face.

#mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm petra #mcsm radar #mcsm cassie rose #mcsm aiden #mcsm stella #mcsm gill #mcsm maya #mcsm jesse #mcsm olivia #APWHNPMCSMWASAMCSM #AU fic #thank u again for being so PATIENT WAAAH #hope u enjoy!!!!!#fic

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phoenixfeatherquill · 4 years ago

Text

Midwinter (3/5)

AN: More smut!

In Pelle’s dreams, he saw her dancing.

It was the first time she smiled. No, that wasn’t right. She had smiled when he had given her the birthday sketch, touched that someone remembered her. That someone saw her. But while the smile had been sincere, it was tinged with Christian disappointing her. Christian hurting her. Even his art could not overcome that.

But when she danced with her future handmaids, she forgot her pain. She was caught up in the embrace of his family, the exhilaration of the dance, and became…joyous. She laughed like a child, threw her hair back as she held the hands of her handmaids. Her laughter touched something deep inside Pelle and he knew in that singular moment that he wanted to make her laugh, make her smile, bring her joy…forever. And when her excitement disappeared, when she caught Christian’s disapproving gaze and her face fell…Pelle knew he wanted Christian to suffer. And suffer he did.

But in this dream, it was not the violent music of the villagers that he saw Dani listen to. Instead, it was a woman’s voice, someone who sounded like his mother, singing a lullaby or a folk song from long ago. He realized with a jolt that it was the same song, but darker, slower, more melodic. And as Dani danced, a shadowy figure appeared and danced with her. The figure had hoofed feet and played the fiddle for her. He looked familiar to Pelle, like a younger version of his father, perhaps, but his eyes gleamed in the darkness. No, that wasn’t right…the eyes were burning like hot embers. The way the temple burned to the ground in front of them all last summer. But Dani was entranced and jubilant.

The song was a popular folk song played all over Sweden, covered by everyone from metal bands to choirs. It told the tale of the devil disguising himself as a fiddler and leading a group of young women away from the comforts of their village into an eternal orgasmic dance until they fell to their feet.

The Christian implications were clear. The Devil seducing wayward women who forgot their new God too easily. But for the Hårga, the meaning was obscured. The dark one, too easily defined by the Christians as the Devil, led the women in a willing sacrificial dance. They gave up their lives for the sake of the village, as was their way. And the dark one was not one half of a simplistic theological binary. He—or she, depending on the tale—was far more complex. The dark one represented the bloody darkness of sacrifice, of sexual desire, the pain of birth, the rot of and stink of decay, everything that was accepted and part of the life of the Hårga. Not as something to be feared or a punishment, but all part of a glorious dance.

In his dream, he saw the fiddler dance with Dani. But instead of her falling to her death, the fiddler stopped his mysterious melody. He knelt before her and Pelle recognized the fiddler as himself—but shrouded in darkness with cloven feet. Dani touched the crown of his head. For she was the goddess. His goddess.

Pelle’s eyes flicked open. Dani was nestled against his chest and his heartbeat sped as he looked at her. He dreamed of her as his May Queen, yes, but there was something more to the dream. The gods had sent it, surely. Dani was something more than their May Queen, their future leader. But what?

He could not interpret dreams on an empty stomach. He wanted hot coffee and a large breakfast ready for Dani when she awoke. So he gently kissed her forehead and rolled away from her. She frowned in her sleep at the absence of his warmth and he stroked her head gently before heading downstairs.

****

When Dani awoke, she was alone.

She sleepily stretched out her arm, searching for Pelle’s warmth. She felt nothing but cold sheets and her eyes shot open.

Winter sunlight flooded the master bedroom. She blinked blearily at her surroundings. Memories from last night flooded her mind, the black dress, the Hårga’s harmonies, Pelle’s tongue…heat filled her cheeks.

She sat up a little and moved towards the left-hand window next to her bed. Snow blanketed the ground and frosted the trees. It looked like something out of a fairytale, out of Narnia. It was beautifully inviting and she felt the intense urge to walk around in it. She swallowed. Her family had died the night of a terrible snowstorm. Snow always seemed ominous and cruel. But here…

She wrapped her blankets around her and she wondered again where Pelle went off to. Was he mad at her? Sometimes when she didn’t want to have sex but still wanted to cuddle with Christian, he’d get angry and leave in the middle of the night. She’d be too embarrassed to bring it up in the morning, and Christian would refuse to speak to her, icily drinking his coffee. This didn’t seem like something Pelle would do, but surely he’d heard Christian’s complaints…

Dani hugged her knees and listened. She thought she could hear movement downstairs. “Pelle?” She called out tentatively.

There was no response. She hugged her knees a little tighter and let the dread rise in her chest.

Before panic could completely consume her, her door popped open and Pelle peered inside.

“Did you call me?” He looked at her in concern, huddled in her blankets. “I was making you coffee. And some breakfast.”

“I thought you might have left.”

She winced—the words sounded pathetic out loud. But Pelle cocked his head, a little like a spaniel.

“Go? Where would I go?” He teased.

“I—I don’t know,” Dani mumbled. He went to her and sat on the corner of the bed. He touched squeezed her knee.

“Sorry,” She rested her head on her knees. “I’m being paranoid. Christian would get mad at me if I didn’t—mornings would be awkward.”

Pelle frowned at that. “Why on earth would I be mad at you?”

Dani combed her fingers through her hair. “I just don’t like waking up alone.”

His eyes widened. She looked away from him in embarrassment. He came fully on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into his warmth and the two of them fell softly onto the bed.

“I will never let you wake up alone again,” He murmured in her ear. “I promise. Forgive me?”

There was nothing to forgive. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heartbeat.

“Did you sleep all right?” He asked. “Would you like me to bring you your breakfast?”

She nodded, still embarrassed. He held her warmly and stood, making his way out of the bedroom to retrieve it.

He returned with a tea tray with a large silver coffeepot and thick white mugs. She noticed thin, dark slices of toasted bread on the tray and an assortment of spreads. She had been in Sweden long enough to recognize the fare, which included butter, cheese, thin slices of ham, pickles, cucumber, and tomatoes.

“And something else,” Pelle said with a smile. He brought another plate that was stacked with waffles and Dani beamed.

“I love waffles,” She took the plate and happily started eating. “My favorite food.”

“I know.”

Dani snorted. “Did Christian tell you that?”

Pelle shook his head. “Do you remember when we first met?”

She thought for a moment. Meeting Pelle? Honestly, meeting Christian’s friends had blurred together. She had seen them sporadically, the nights she spent at Christian’s apartment, the parties she accompanied him at. She didn’t remember the first time she met Pelle.

“I know Christian introduced us,” She offered hesitantly. “But I don’t remember exactly when. Sorry.”

Pelle shrugged. “I don’t expect you to. But I remember. It was after a…late night. Mark had dragged us all to a party across town. We stayed there till about 7AM. All I wanted to do was go back to my bedroom and sleep for the rest of time, but Christian wanted coffee and he didn’t want to go to the cafeteria by himself. He knew you’d be there and he didn’t want you to know where he’d been.”

Dani frowned. Christian often told her that he’d had late night study sessions with the guys…it shouldn’t surprise her that this was less than accurate.

“I hadn’t met you yet. I’d only been in the States for about a week—I arrived a little later in the semester…visa issues. I was heavily jetlagged, exhausted from the parties Mark dragged us to, and the last thing I wanted to do was cover for Christian.” Pelle grimaced at the memory.

“But he insisted,” He stretched out onto the bed and took a piece of toast. “And we went into the cafeteria. All I wanted was coffee and the coffee machine was broken. I was muttering to myself in Swedish, so they wouldn’t know how irritated I was…and you came up to our table to say hi to Christian. You were wearing pajama pants, ones with little black bears on them. I thought you looked so cute.”

“I was in my pajamas?!” Dani groaned a little. It was silly to be embarrassed by this reminiscence. But she was a college student after all, and no college student went anywhere before 10:00AM in anything but pajamas.

“You were beautiful,” Pelle smiled at her and tugged a lock of her hair. “And you waxed poetic about how much you loved waffles, though your mother’s were better. I looked at you and Christian and thought about all the things Christian had said about you…and I felt angry. And jealous. For the first time, I was…envious of something he had. And I hated him for it.”

Pelle had been…jealous? Of her?

A draft made her shiver. “Was that—was that the reason you chose him? To come here?”

He shook his head. “I chose him before I met you. But…the truth is, Dani, he made me so furious with him for how he treated you. I confess…I encouraged him to break up with you, along with Mark and Josh. But my reasons were entirely selfish.”

A smile crept onto her face. “What, were you planning on asking me out if Christian had broken up with me?”

“Certainly not,” Pelle stroked her back affectionately. “How could I ask the gods for such an honor? It would be like demanding the moon and stars come down and dance for me. No, I only wanted him to stop hurting you and treating you cruelly. But after you lost your family…well, I knew the only way to separate you both permanently would be our trip to Sweden. I never imagined he’d bring you as well.”

Dani never imagined it either. She never intended on forcing Christian’s hand. She hadn’t particularly wanted to go to Sweden. But the way Christian had thrown it at her like a dagger, “if you’re so upset about it, you can come, I just didn’t want to invite you because you were going through so much!” He had expected her to turn him down. It felt good to take him up on the offer, to force him to tell the rest of his band that Yoko Ono was coming too. Even if she felt the rest of his friends’ displeasure acutely.

Pelle ran his fingers through his hair and gazed up at the ceiling. “He nearly spoiled everything. I was…terrified that you were coming too.”

She cocked her head towards him. Pelle’s admission was interesting. Like Josh and Mark, he hadn’t wanted her to come—but it seemed to out of a worry for her life, not because she was breaking up the band.

“I can’t really say I’m sorry for it,” She admitted and Pelle laughed.

“I’m a believer in a higher power, Dani,” He smiled at her in a tender way that made her heart ache. “When I learned that your birthday was over Midsommar…and the way you shone like the sun among my family…I knew you were sent here for a reason. I didn’t know what reason. I just knew I was the gods’ courier. And now…you are our May Queen. Nothing was coincidence.”

Dani stared at him seriously. “What would have happened? If I were chosen to be sacrificed for Midsommar?”

Pelle shook his head briskly. “Oh no. That would not have happened. Of this I am sure.”

“But what if it had?” She persisted. “What would you have done?”

He hesitated. It was because of Pelle that Mark, Josh, and Christian were all dead. The night Josh disappeared, Dani had woken up and seen both Josh and Pelle’s empty beds. She suspected Josh’s desperation to create a stronger thesis would lead him to do something reckless and she had no doubt that Pelle had distributed the consequences. She was no friend of Josh’s; he had considered her an annoyance and distraction of Christian’s. But when Christian had declared to him that the Hårga would now be his thesis…even Dani thought it was a scummy thing to do.

“I would not have let it happen.”

Pelle’s voice, so low and barely above a whisper jerked Dani out of her reminisces. She looked at him somewhat astonished. Pelle’s loyalty to his village was one of his distinguishing characteristics. It was an almost rebellious thing to say. And it seemed that he considered the statement selfish; pink tinged his cheeks and he averted his gaze in shame.

He cleared his throat. “But it never would have happened. The moment Siv saw you…she sensed something about you. Everything aligned together. The day of your birth, Midsommar, your coronation…all of it was fated. You were fated to be our queen.”

His eyes met hers. “My queen.”

Heat coursed through Dani’s body. Pelle was looking at her that way, that heart-wrenching and tender way that made her feel short of breath. She felt the strong desire to kiss him again.

Well, why not? I am the May Queen, aren’t I?

She brought her lips to his and she felt him gasp at her boldness. Last night it was Pelle who took control, who kissed her and apologized for taking the liberty. But she didn’t have to apologize. He was here to serve her, to adore her, to please her, and he seemed only to happy to oblige. She so loved how he tasted in the morning…a heady combination of dark coffee and sugar from the glazed rolls.

Dani could feel him hardening against her and to her delight, it no longer made her anxious. It didn’t matter how much she turned him on, Pelle would never guilt her or get angry with her; whatever boundaries or limits she set for herself. The wild comfort of this made her kiss him even harder and run her fingers down his chest.

She paused in her ministrations to observe him. He opened his heavy-lidded eyes and murmured, “Now I shall make you breakfast every morning.”

She laughed and kissed him again. She wanted to taste him everywhere, the flavor of his cheekbones, the smooth curve of his neck, his lovely, golden chest. She pushed him down onto the bed and pinned his arms. He watched her in utter rapture.

“I want you,” Dani admitted. “I haven’t…I haven’t wanted someone like this in a long time. Or I guess…I haven’t felt comfortable wanting someone like this in a long time.”

His gaze was tender. “This is how it should be, Dani. This is how you should be loved. It…infuriates me that you’ve known anything else.”

She swallowed. “There’s something else.”

Pelle raised an eyebrow.

“When I have sex…sometimes it hurts. Most of the time it hurts, actually. My gyno called it ‘vaginismus’. I tense up and I can’t handle penetration. I was working with someone on it before—before my parents died, but…I just…” She looked away from him. “I’m embarrassed about it.”

She released his arms and he immediately cupped her face. His finger stroked down her cheek, but she could not meet his gaze.

“Did Christian know?” Pelle asked.

“I told him,” Dani kept her eyes fixed on the bedspread. “I don’t think he believed me. He just said I was frigid and needed to relax. And then accused me of blaming him for our sex life being bad and I—it was just a mess.”

She twisted a lock of her hair in anxiety. “But I wanted to tell you because—because I feel like you’re doing all the giving and I’m not—I’m not giving back.”

“Oh, Dani,” Pelle sat up and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re thinking about this all wrong. This isn’t a transaction. You are not a vending machine; I do not give you affection in exchange for sex. This is an expression of my feelings for you and yours for me. I told you truthfully last night; if you never wanted to have penetrative sex, that would be all right. You are my May Queen, my summer goddess, and I will worship you however you want.”

She gazed at him levelly. “But what if I want to give back to you?”

He smiled at her. “Then I will gladly receive. But on your terms. Within your boundaries. With the knowledge that you can stop if ever you should feel uncomfortable.”

Dani stared at him as he ran his fingers through her hair. He tilted his head in a silent question.

“I was just wondering how I got so caught up in Christian when you were right there.” She murmured and it made him laugh.

“I didn’t exactly make my presence known,” He chuckled and gently flipped her over on her back. “But now, my queen…with your permission…”

Pelle’s lips traced down her skin and lingered at her breasts. She was rather small-chested; another source of insecurity in her previous relationship (Christian had made no secret of his preference for women with bigger tits) but Pelle worshiped them reverently with his tongue. She cried out when his tongue flicked over her nipple and sucked gently. His teeth grazed over the sensitive buds and Dani curled her fingers into the sheets. How was his mouth so good?

His fingers stroked down the length of her sides until she felt them approach her inner thighs. She took a deep breath and tried to force herself to relax—always a lost cause, relaxation could not be forced. But she so badly wanted to just let go and enjoy herself with Pelle…

“Dani,” Pelle murmured in her ear. His fingers lazily circled her thighs, nowhere near her core. She looked up at him.

“Do you remember when we went bowling?”

She thought. “I think so?”

“It was in the fall,” Pelle told her and she felt the tension leave her shoulders as he continued to massage her thighs. “But a hot fall day. There was a large group of us. Boys against the girls. You and a few friends, Mark’s girlfriend at the time, a girl I invited for an even number…you beat us soundly.”

“I…do remember that,” She reached up to touch Pelle’s beard. “And the girl you brought. She was pretty.”

He grinned at her. “Vivian. She was dating a girl named Andrea. But a very fun girl. She told me not to invite her to things with Mark and Christian again. But she knew how I felt about you. She teased me mercilessly, especially when you came in that little sundress…”

Dani buried her head in his shoulder. “You remember what I was wearing?”

“Of course. A little white sundress with sunflowers on it. It was very…distracting.”

His voice became husky and his fingers traveled up her thighs, barely grazing her. Electricity swam through Dani’s veins as she tried to remember why she wore a sundress to a bowling alley.

“Oh,” She whispered. “That was it. It was—it was my mother’s birthday. We took her out for Sunday brunch. I didn’t have time to change…I was really worried about the dress smelling like cigarette smoke…”

“You sat next to me at one of the little tables,” Pelle’s fingers teased her inner folds, stroking in and out—not enough for her to tense. He was as gentle as butterfly wings and Dani began to feel heat travel up her core.

“I was trying so hard not to stare at you,” Pelle bit her earlobe and she squeaked. “I could not believe Christian barely looked at you.”

Dani remembered. “He was talking to the girl you brought. Vivian. She was wearing a crop top. She had all these tattoos…”

“Vivian thought he was ridiculous,” Pelle sucked on her earlobe gently. “But she thought it was funny to keep him distracted while I talked to you. You were swinging your legs back and forth. You smelled like strawberries and mint and I was losing my mind.”

His fingers delved deeper inside her and to Dani’s surprise, she did not experience that familiar twinge of pain. His voice had relaxed her; she was becoming flushed and heated at the memory of her sitting in a bowling alley, innocently driving Pelle crazy.

“What did—what did you want to do to me?” She half-panted and Pelle groaned at the question. His fingers probed deeper but still so gently, backing off at any sort of resistance, circling her clit with each penetration.

“I wanted to take you, right there on that sticky table. I wanted to knock off all the beers and kiss you until you were breathless.” To show her his point, he captured her lips and Dani moaned at the vivid image.

“I wanted to make love to you in front of Christian. Have him see you screaming and wet; lick every inch of you until you were trembling. I wanted you to feel every inch of me and I wanted to see Christian’s face as I did it.”

Dani’s back arched as Pelle’s fingers entered her more deeply. It didn’t hurt. She didn’t know if it was because she felt so relaxed and sated in Pelle’s arms or if it was his husky voice velveting every single word he spoke, but for the first time, it did not feel like violation. She ached for him.

But not yet. While his fingers thrust within her, his thumb rubbed against her soaking clit and just as in his fantasy, Dani cried out hoarsely, waves of pleasure rocketing her forward.

“It’s almost a shame he is dead,” Pelle whispered in her ear, thrusting his fingers inside and out, over and over. “I wish he could see you like this. I wish I could’ve done this to him before he died. But I’ll not lie to you my Queen, when you sentenced him to death, I smiled and praised the old gods for you.”

Dani was gasping. She watched dazedly as Pelle pulled his fingers out of her sopping core and, looking her straight in the eye, tasted her off his fingers. She tried to say something but it only came out in a sated moan. He then kissed her again and she could taste her own salty-sweetness on her tongue.

She leaned back on her pillows and tried to return to sanity, Pelle’s fingers lazily carding her hair.

#Midwinter #Midsommar

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19mrs-barnes17 · 5 years ago

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Decide

Summary: You neighbor’s clock is evil and the walls are very thin.

Part: 1/1

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: injury, hospital, ...that’s it?

Word count: 3.412

A/N: Gonna open up my requests for dialogue prompts with a pairing. Enjoy!

The noise was obnoxious, so early in the morning it echoed through the paper thin walls. With a groan you rolled out of bed and slipped into exercise gear. This was becoming a real inconvenience for your lazy natured ass and you did not appreciate it. Stuffing your card into the secret slit in your waistband you waltzed out the door, locking up your apartment as you slipped in your bluetooth headphones. When you reached the staircase you pressed play on spotify before sliding your phone into your single pocket on your thigh and speeding down the steps.

Working out was not an activity you particularly enjoyed doing, but the reward of adrenaline and energy was enough that you began to mind the early wake ups less each day. They had become part of your routine and besides, you were far too nice to tell your neighbor that his alarm echoed into your room and woke you bright and early every day. You were stuck in the habit anyhow, if you didn’t hear the alarm you’d be worried.

On the bright side your endurance was improving with each early morning jog, and yet your courage was at a standstill. Your neighbor was gorgeous, and an absolute sweetheart who had helped you move into your apartment two months ago. Yet neither of you had made a move. Not once.

Today you planned on changing that, tired of waiting for him to do something and done with worrying if he didn’t feel the same. You were in the mood to move against the grain, be the first to make a move. A to hell with it type headspace.

As you jogged down the sidewalk you decided to change your usual route, opting to run laps around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in front of the Washington Monument instead. The area was empty when you arrived, not a soul in sight as you began your first lap. Soon enough, however, you found that a man began to pass you repeatedly and often within the same lap. You knew it was your neighbor Steve, and boy was he driving you crazy muttering those three damn words every time he sped by.

“On your right.” Though you had your music playing, his voice still broke through, the vocals and instruments not loud enough to drown him out. You really wanted to retort or show him off, but you knew that you had to conserve your energy if you were to keep going. Your pride refused to let you stop before he did. While you kept a constant speed and never sped up out of spite, it took all of your energy to do so.

“On your right.” You really were gonna let him have it for these taunts, they were killing you. He was relentless and you were becoming exhausted the more you heard him utter that phrase. This was ridiculous, just because you didn’t have the endurance of a super soldier didn’t make you weak. And yet, you’re stupid pride and stubbornness wouldn’t let you quit.

“On your right.” You couldn’t help but let a laugh slip as he passed by, you could see a hint of a smile dance across his lips as he rounded the corner. When he reached the steps he slowed to a stop, you thanked the gods, reaching the same point a minute or two later and collapsing onto a step.

“Has. Anyone. Ever. Told you. That you. Inspire serious. Competition?” Your words came out in chunks as you struggled to reign in enough oxygen, heart pounding in your chest like a beast. Steve shook his head with a smile, rubbing his neck as a chuckle slipped from his lips. “Well you do, kudos though, you have a terrifyingly good endurance.”

“Um, thank you?” You laughed softly, taking deep breaths as you leaned back on the steps with your head tilted toward the rising sun. “So, how are you liking the city?”

“Never lived in one before, only in smaller towns that no one knew unless they grew up nearby. It’s a faster change of pace, really keeps me on my toes.” He watched you speak with such intent, listening carefully. “And the people aren’t too bad.”

“That’s good to hear.” You pushed off the step and stretched out your sore muscles, definitely going to be feeling that later. Pulling out your headphones and stuffing them into your only pocket, you plucked out your phone and paused the playlist.

“You have a place you usually go after a run?” He cocked his head to the side with a perplexed expression that was vaguely puppy-like. “To eat? Or get coffee or something?”

“Oh, uh no. I usually just head back to my apartment or work.”

“Well if you’re not busy I’m headed to Jo’s down the way. She has the best pastries and I’m told the coffee is to die for.” He nods softly and you motion for him to follow you, eyes watching over your shoulder as he moves to your side.

“Not a coffee fan?” You shook your head, gesturing that you were ‘kind of’ one but not really.

“I like the sugary frozen drinks, but straight up coffee doesn’t give me any energy and so I pretty much find it useless. I’m more of a tea fan anyway.”

The smell of the coffee beans hit you and you couldn’t help but smile as you inhaled the delicious scent. It always betrayed you, made you seem like a fan or an addict but you simply enjoyed the scent not the taste. One peppermint tea and a cinnamon muffin later, you sat with Steve talking about your lives. Though you had read his in history classes and in museums, you preferred hearing the story from the source. The lives you led were different, on many accounts, and yet somehow the two of you shared a state of mind. You were different people with different thought processes, but you had similar values and hearts.

“Sorry, I’ll just be a minute.” Steve waved off your concern as you stood to exit the cafe with your phone to your ear. The conversation lasted longer than you would have liked, but telling your mother you had to go meant absolutely nothing. It may be a stereotype that mid-westerners take forever to say goodbye, yet it was so utterly true. Especially when it came to family and friends. Thankfully Steve was very considerate and waited with patience as you struggled to end the phone call that had accomplished its goal 10 minutes ago.

He found it rather amusing to watch you visibly become a completely different person than he knew. Though arguably he had lived next door to you for two months and hardly spoke to you, and yet he knew you to be quite shy and not too talkative. But with someone you knew, words just seemed to flow consistently and naturally from your lips. The way your body language shifted intrigued him, made him want to become someone you felt that comfortable around. It was a version of you he had only seen in glimpses when running with you this morning. The way you loosened up when he teased you, the lightness of your laughter nearly making him swoon.

Inside the building you went your separate ways, not crossing paths until the next morning when you bumped into him in the hall. You began to wonder if he had waited for you, as you had taken longer to get yourself ready that morning and stopped to snack on an apple. But you bit your tongue and followed his lead.

“What do you do?” He stood at the bottom of the steps in front of you, watching you curiously as you sat upon the step with your chin in your hands.

“Like as a career?” A nod and you shrugged, a small smile tugging at your lips as he shook his head at you. “I’m a forensic pathologist, specializing in identifying causes of death essentially.”

This new routine became your new normal, every day you would run with Steve and talk about your lives. Each morning brought new topics of discussion until eventually they became the most absurd of thoughts. Some runs ended with silly banter while others were followed by analyzing bad dreams, each talk bringing you closer together. He was becoming someone you would go to when you were stressed or when you needed a second opinion. He was becoming your closest friend in the new city. And yet you still longed for more.

“How come you never go on any dates?” He nearly choked on his water, coughing words of confusion with a bemused expression.

“I could ask you the same.” You shrugged with a fading smile, eyes trailing toward the window as you shifted on his stool.

“Just not the object of any guy’s affection I guess.”

“Maybe they’re too scared or nervous.” You smiled softly and returned your gaze to his gentle blue eyes that held a look you couldn’t read. “I don’t doubt that there are dozens of men interested in you.”

“Then these bastards should start speaking up, I’m pretty damn oblivious when it comes to signals apparently.” Steve mumbled something under his breath and you barely caught it. “What was that Rogers?”

“Nothing.” He was saved by the ringing of his phone, you could almost see the relief in his posture as he moved to his room to take the call.

You sipped your glass of lemonade slowly, eyeing the way storm clouds seemed to be gathering in the distance. Might be a rainy run tomorrow, but Steve always had a remedy for such situations. He provided you with one of his rain jackets, and even wore one himself after you insisted upon it. Even if he was genetically modified you were pretty sure he was not immune to the common cold.

He emerged with a solemn expression and you immediately pushed off the stool, brow knit together in worry. Steve waved off your concern, explaining that he had been called in for a mission and would be gone for at least a week. You were bummed but understood that duty called and who were you to deny Captain America.

“I wonder if I’ll just wake up that early out of habit for a few days.”

“What do you mean?” You had forgotten that he still didn’t know that he was the reason you had begun to run in the mornings in the first place.

“I only took up running because your alarm clock wakes me every day at an ungodly hour.” You cringed as you forced the words out, his expression growing more and more baffled. “Paper thin walls Steve.”

“So all this time…” You nodded, laughing softly at the way he seemed to kick himself for waking you daily. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m too polite.” He was reeling from this confession and a laugh of disbelief slipped from his lips and he gazed at you bewildered. “Plus, you waking me everyday gave me an excuse to finally get into exercising in the morning. Ever since I moved in, your alarm clock has been my greatest nemesis.”

His laughter was light and infectious, his guilt seeming to fade as his eyes squeezed shut and his smile spread from cheek to cheek.

“Don’t know what I’m going to do without it for a whole week.” His eyes softened, mind seeming to be scheming behind them.

“I could call you.” His gaze shifted to the floor as he rubbed the back of his neck. “If you want, keep you on track.”

“I’d like that, but your ass better factor in time difference.” His eyes flickered to yours and returned your smile.

“Yes ma’am.”

The next morning he knocked on your door and sent you off on your first run without him in ages, while he hopped into a sleek black car and faded into the horizon. It was lonelier than you remembered, but his texts buzzing on your watch cheered you on. Without fail the man called the same time every morning, even if he was supposed to be in a briefing he delayed it for a minute or two. He did his best to send you silly gifs, which you had introduced him to, in hopes of making you smile.

The mission had been extended. And without missing a beat Steve kept his promise, not missing a call and always sending you a goodnight text even if he still had a debriefing and would be up for another hour or two.

If you had learned anything about Steve, it was that he somehow found the strangest gifs you had ever seen in your life. They never quite matched what he meant and yet you began to become fluent in his gif language. You on the other hand were easily understood, your gif selection unparalleled apart from perhaps your brother. But Steve? Bless his heart, the man did his best and was slowly improving with time.

But in all seriousness, you had learned that he had the biggest heart of anyone you had ever known. He selflessly gave you a wake up call daily, made sure to check in so you didn’t worry about his safety, and always sent you to sleep with a text wishing you sweet dreams. Steve was sweet and he had an odd but sometimes hidden sense of humor.

If he didn’t have your heart before... he did now. Totally and completely.

When the next morning she awoke to the ringing of her phone she expected his voice to be on the other end. However, when her mother’s voice emanated from the other end of the line she was perplexed.

“Mom? What is it? It’s very early in the morning.” Her voice was shaky on the other end and you immediately sat up in bed.

“It’s your brother, he’s in the hospital. There was a car accident, a drunk driver, he’s okay but he’s in surgery now.”

You were anxiously tapping your foot on the rug of the waiting room, brain still not quite awake enough to fully process the situation. Your brother had come out of surgery but was not awake yet, so you sat with his fiance and your mother not speaking a word. The buzzing of your watch caught your attention, a text from Steve bringing you back to reality. You sent a quick response saying where you were with the room number included as the doctor approached.

Steve was frantic on his way to find you in the hospital, his mind racing through thought after thought. He hadn’t felt this afraid in a long time. He hated the feeling. When he saw you standing in the hall grabbing a snack from a vending machine he released a sigh of relief.

“We really need to work on elaboration of details in your texts.” You knit your brow, arching an eyebrow as he read out your words. “In hospital, room 315. Don’t worry.”

“You can’t blame my tired brain, it doesn’t make sense earlier than 7am. Or even after if we’re being honest.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry I made you worry. I’m here for my brother, he just got out of surgery. Drunk driver hit him.”

His arms were around you in a heartbeat and you were momentarily taken aback before hugging him back. You would never have the courage to admit how good it felt to be held by him, the warmth and comfort he provided. When he pulled back you felt the absence of his warmth and almost shivered.

“How is he?”

“He’s okay, bed-rest for at least a month or so to recover. Lucky bastard made it out alright.” You smiled at your little brother through the open doorway. “Thanks for coming, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I might be here a while.”

“Of course I do.” You cocked your head to the side, not quite following his thought process. “You support the people you love, especially when something happens to one of their family members.”

You met his gaze, a weight being placed over your heart. You couldn’t decipher whether he meant that as a close friend or more, the line was too blurry to comprehend. Your mind was in a state of debate, running through the past month and half meticulously. Had he given signs that you had missed? You were never sure about what could be read as more than a friendship, always too afraid to be wrong.

He must have sensed the conflict in you, reading it in your eyes or your expression. Steve took a deep breath and uttered three words you never thought you’d hear. Especially not from a man you had previously expected to remain your neighbor. They made your chest flutter, your cheeks flushing under his gaze. You were speechless, completely and utterly unable to form a coherent thought.

“Are you sure?” Minutes of silence and your doubt still won over your voice, his brow furrowing at the question.

“I’m sure.”

“How do you know?” You couldn’t help it, your mind simply couldn’t comprehend the idea that he had fallen in love with you in about two months. He was quiet for what felt like a long period of time before he finally spoke and rendered you once more speechless.

“Because you’re the first person I want to see in the morning. You’re the only thing on my mind all day when I’m supposed to be focusing on missions and briefings. And you’re the only person I can sit with in a silent room and be content.” He smiles and laughs, almost to himself before continuing. “I love the way you get so worked up about tv shows and their accuracy. I love the way you tilt your head to the side and furrow your brow when you see something that confuses the hell out of you. I can’t get over how you always seem to know every song that comes on the radio, or the lyrics to all the theme songs of the shows you watch. And I love that you find that a critical element of tv, and how you shame Netflix for having a skip button for the intro.”

“If it’s not good enough to watch every time then the show needs a new theme.” You say matter of factly and Steve chuckles as he shakes his head, raising his hands in surrender. “You know it's true.”

“I mean it Y/N. I love all the things that make you who you are. Even the flaws that make you a human being. Especially those.” Your lips part slightly in awe. “Because I love who you are and I love you.”

“I think I’ve loved you ever since you first mocked me on a run.”

“I did not mock you.”

“You were cocky about your speed and you totally mocked my average speed.”

“You are so dramatic.”

“Which apparently you love.”

“Got me there.”

“You’ve greenlit my weirdness as a trait of attraction. No turning back.”

“I have a feeling I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.”

“Oh you have no idea.”

You smirked, eyes twinkling mischievously at him and eliciting a laugh in response. He leaned in and kissed you fervently, your arms wrapping around his neck as he held you close. Steve’s forehead rested against yours, eyes gazing into yours intently.

“You’re going to experience a complete change in your sense of humor, trust me. I have a very twisted and odd sense of humor.” You place a hand on his chest and raise your brows. “You’re also going to end up swearing more often. These are simply traits that people always seem to acquire after spending a lot of time around me.”

“Can’t wait.”

“This also means I am likely going to become much more patriotic and heroic. And I may mess around with your shield, but don’t worry about that.”

“Mhmm. Sure.”

“This is just a taste of what you’re getting into.”

“Anything with you is something I can handle, because it means you are by my side along the way.”

“Jesus Christ I’ve unlocked Captain America’s flirt function, is it a switch or a dial?”

“Neither.”

“I’m going to become mush at this rate.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Never.”

Tags: @qtmeryr @broken-hearted-barnes @asphalt-cocktail @gstran18 @cantnkrusshedevil

Send asks to join character tags or the everything tag!

#marvel #steve #Steve Rogers #steve x reader #steve rogers x reader #cap #captain america #captain america x reader

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wren-fell · 4 years ago

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Stuck In Borderland

Chapter 5: Begrudging Cooperation

To me all the Borderland games are a violent version of childhood games (tag, hide&seek, etc.) Soooo I went from there! Enjoy more interactions as this creeps towards a Chishiyaxoc story!

Thanks for reading!

I gave the militants names because I couldn’t find any listed. All canon characters belong to Haro Aso.

Warnings: language, weapons, mention of death

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Sayaka leaned against the wall with Kuina and Madoka, preparing for her own game tonight. She cast a glance over at Madoka. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and she had dark circles surrounding her eyes. Sayaka frowned, Madoka and her team came back late last night all covered in dirt from head to toe and very shaken up. The 5 of hearts… any of the games would have put them through hell, but a hearts game was both physically and emotionally exhausting.

“You don’t have to be down here with us Madoka,” Sayaka said with a smile, “we appreciate the support, but you can go rest.”

Madoka turned her head to look at her slowly and gave her a weak smile, “it’s okay I want to wish you two luck.”

Kuina smiled, “we appreciate it Madoka.”

Madoka nodded slowly and looked back to Hatter. Sayaka watched her nervously. Usually bubbly Madoka looked… defeated and broken. I hate this place...

“And let the games begin!” Cheers erupted from everyone in the lobby as they rushed towards the tables to get their assignments.

“That’s our cue,” Kuina said pushing herself off the wall.

“Okay, go get some rest Madoka,” Sayaka hugged Madoka who leaned into her embrace with a sigh.

“Yea, I will. See you when you get back.”

Sayaka hesitated, “yea. See you when we get back.”

They pulled apart and Madoka gave Sayaka a sleepy smile, hugged Kuina, and waved to them as she headed out of the lobby. Sayaka sighed as she watched her go with a deep frown on her face.

“You won’t make it through the night if you’re still thinking about her wellbeing instead of your own.” Sayaka turned around to see Chishiya standing there with his hood up and his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

She frowned and glared at him, “who asked you?”

“Just some advice. She made it through her game, now you make it through yours,” he said simply and walked into the crowd of people.

She huffed balling her hands into fists. He was so arrogant and selfish and… and… she squeezed her eyes shut, right. He was right… she needed to focus on herself right now, but that didn’t make her any less irritated with him.

“Hey, are you coming?” Kuina appeared in the crowd and pointed over her shoulder, “what happened?”

“Chishiya,” Sayaka grumbled in response, but walked past her towards the tables.

“Oh.”

Sayaka approached the table and was handed her folded number assignment. She turned to Kuina to compare, but frowned when she saw a 5 on her paper and a 3 on hers.

“Sucks…” she mumbled.

“I’ll see you when we get back though,” Kuina suggested.

“Right,” Sayaka sighed turning around.

“Sayaka!” She looked over her shoulder as Akiko pushed her way out of the crowd over to her.

“Akiko, hey,” Sayaka smiled.

“What group are you in?”

“5, you?”

“Oh, 7,” Akiko shrugged, “I’m with Kaoru and a couple of the other militants, so it’ll be fine,” she said with a smile, but Sayaka could see the uncertainty in her eyes as she tried to convince herself that was true.

“Right,” Sayaka nodded, “you’ll be fine I’m sure. You’re a really bright girl Akiko. Don’t let them shoot you down, okay?”

“Yea…” There was a long silence between the two of them, “I’ll see you after, you, Madoka, and I should grab a drink again,” Akiko smiled and turned to walk to the cars.

Sayaka smiled, “yea, that sounds fun. I’ll see you after,” she said with a wave. Akiko nodded and walked away leaving Sayaka standing alone.

She shook her head and smacked her cheeks, “focus.”

Walking out the front door Sayaka stretched her arms above her head, “let’s do this.” She turned her eyes to the car with the 5 spray painted on the side and immediately scowled. Her team for the evening consisted of 2 militants, a girl with long wavy black hair wearing a tactical vest over her bikini named Saiko, and a boy with short black hair and a frown named Kenji. As well as a random beach girl who looked like she was going to burst into tears at any second, and Chishiya. He smirked at her and waved as she walked down the front steps.

“Ugh, it’s like he planned this…” she muttered, in all actuality he totally could have he is an executive. She walked up to the car giving Chishiya a passing glare as she clambered into the backseat.

The girl who looked like she was about to cry sat down in the far window seat first and gave Sayaka a weak smile, “sorry, do you mind if I sit by the window? I get carsick.”

Sayaka stared at her for a second with a deep frown on her face, “fine,” she mumbled and plopped down in the center seat as Chishiya slid in beside her and slammed the door shut. All the militants in the cars whooped at each other like this was the beginning of some sports event, and revved the engines before peeling out of the parking lot.

The knuckles on Sayaka’s hands were white from gripping the seat beneath her trying not to be flung against either the young girl or Chishiya as they rounded the corners. The militants had brilliantly cut out all the seatbelts of the cars, citing that they “just got in the way”. In the way of what Sayaka really wasn’t sure, and honestly didn’t want to know. The car sped down the road slamming into a pothole going at least 70mph, and Kenji let out an excited scream. Sayaka dug her nails into the cracked fake red leather trying to keep her butt on the seat, while the girl beside her yelped and was slammed into the door. Meanwhile, Chishiya barely moved, and Sayaka glared at him from the corner of her eye. It was irritating how calm he was.

Kenji pulled the car up to the National Science and History Museum. All the spotlights were on in front of the building casting long shadows like ghosts waving them up the steps. Sayaka turned to the girl from the Beach waiting for her to get out, but she had folded into herself and was hyperventilating, “you have to play the game or you’ll die,” Sayaka pointed out causing the girl to wheeze and nod, but she didn’t move. Chishiya got out of the car on the other side and waved at the open door. Sayaka glared at him and stood up slamming her foot onto the seat and climbing out over the trunk glaring at him the whole time. He smirked, let out a breathy laugh, and started walking towards the entrance after the militants.

Sayaka frowned before turning her head to the young girl who was still sitting in the car shaking. You need to focus on yourself… she let out a long sigh and opened the car door holding a hand out to her, but I’m not completely heartless… yet. “Come on. My name’s Sayaka, we need to get inside.”

She turned to look up at her and wiped tears away from her eyes with a nod, and took Sayaka’s hand, “I’m Maiko.” They walked up the steps into the Museum the beep of the laser grid activating making Maiko jump.

“Just keep walking,” Sayaka said heading to the table at the center of the room to grab a phone.

“Facial recognition complete.

10 minutes until registration is complete.”

So far there was only the 5 of them from the beach and one other man who looked just as nervous as Maiko. Sayaka crossed her arms as she waited and dragged her eyes over the lobby. The museum back in the real world didn’t use many lights, and everything falling apart made it look even more dark and creepy. Skeletons of dinosaurs and whales were hanging unevenly from the ceiling like they were about to swoop down and snatch one of them up at any second. Stuffed taxidermy wild animals were decomposing and leaning at odd angles. The whole place was like a disintegrating cemetery beckoning them to all join the animals with this as their final resting place.

“Registration is now complete.

Game: Hopscotch, Difficulty: 3 of Clubs,” Sayaka watched the phone as the card flashed onto her screen.

“Rules:

Reach the finish line in the allotted time.

Time: 45 minutes.” Sayaka pouted, that was it? Reach the end? No other rules?

“Please proceed to the start, once all participants are inside the game will begin.” A door at the top of the stairwell lit up and they all turned their heads.

“Guess we’re going upstairs,” she muttered slipping the phone into the waistband on her shorts, and started for the stairs. They all trudged up and through the lit up door into a new room. Much like downstairs there were only exhibit spotlights that beamed down from the ceiling casting dark shadows around the completely empty room. Maiko was the last to enter the room, and the door slammed shut behind her making her jump.

“Your time starts now.” Another light lit up on the other side of the room showing a white circle drawn on the ground.

“Well that’s simple enough that’s the finish line!” The guy who had been alone in the museum when they arrived yelled, and started across the room.

“Hopscotch…” Sayaka muttered scanning the floor, her eyes widened, “wait stop!” She lunged forward grabbing the man by the back of his shirt and tossing him backwards as the floor gave out. Almost every square tile in the room fell away to the first floor below, all except ones that formed a hopscotch court across the room.

“Oh my god… I nearly died… thank you,” the man said shakily pushing himself up from the floor.

Sayaka rounded on him, “use you’re fucking head! It’ll never be that easy.”

He folded in on himself, and Sayaka saw Maiko take a step back. She turned her head back to analyze the tiles. Each was about three feet apart and there were varying patterns between being single tiles in a row and doubles, where you would use both feet was this normal hopscotch. In between was a 20 foot drop back down to the bones and decayed exhibits below. As she looked at the drop Sayaka’s vision swayed for a second and she took a step away from the edge digging her nails into her palms, just don’t look down.

“Well let’s get started,” Saiko said stepping forward her heels clicking against the tiles. She jumped forward onto the first solo tile and it lit up. Saiko looked down at her feet shocked, “is it going to explode?”

“I think if it was it already would have happened,” Kenji quipped stepping forward, “keep moving you bimbo.”

Saiko glared at him, but jumped to the next tile. Sayaka had to admit she was very agile even in 3 inch heels. The two of them kept jumping until they were 6 tiles in and paused.

“Hey, we can’t go any further!” Saiko called.

Sayaka frowned, “why not?”

“There’s a laser grid here.”

“What?” Sayaka stared at the tiles. This wasn’t like any hopscotch she had played, at what point did hopscotch have lasers?

“I’ll go next,” Maiko jumped forward onto the first tile, Sayaka watched her as she went. The first tile lit up, and so did the second, but when she landed on the double tile it stayed black.

“We all have to stand on the tiles for the laser to turn off and then we can advance,” Sayaka muttered and walked to the edge of the platform. Drawing in a deep breath she jumped after Maiko, just don’t look down. She landed on the other double tile, but nothing happened. Sayaka stomped her foot, “what the fuck.”

Maiko jumped forward onto the last single tile, and Sayaka pouted as it lit up the second Maiko’s feet touched it. She closed her eyes with a long sigh and jumped back one tile turning to Chishiya and the other player.

“We have to jump on it at the same time,” she said. Chishiya quirked an eyebrow at her and the smirk spread across his face.

Sayaka glared at him, but waved him on, “we have to do it together.”

He nodded and stepped forward pulling his headphones out of his ears and shoving them into his sweatshirt pocket. Sayaka sidestepped so she was standing on the edge of her tile making room for Chishiya to join her. He leapt forward onto her tile the closeness causing Sayaka to lean back and her heel to hang over the edge. She looked over her shoulder as she felt herself wobble uneasily, and stiffened when she felt Chishiya’s hands on her waist steadying her. Sayaka snapped her head forward to stare at him wide-eyed.

“Try not to lose your balance,” he smirked.

Sayaka’s eye twitched and she balled her hands into fists on his chest, “if my own survival didn’t depend on it I would push you off this platform.”

He didn’t reply just continued to smirk at her. With a sigh Sayaka turned her head to look at the double tile. If they had to land on it at the same time they would have to jump together, but the tiles were just barely over a foot wide. Groaning she looked back to Chishiya and held out her hand to him, “we have to jump at the same time.”

He nodded and took her hand. Slowly the two of them turned on the tile with each of them having one foot slipping off the edge. Sayaka drew in a deep breath and cast a glance at her hand in Chishiya’s. Why was this oddly comforting? She swallowed heavily, “on three.”

“One, two, three!” Both of their hands let go and they leapt off the platform. Their feet slammed onto the tiles at the same time and they lit up yellow.

“Oh thank god,” Sayaka breathed.

“The grid is gone!” Saiko said and continued forward.

The other player continued behind them, and they all moved forward until Saiko and Kenji came to the far set of double tiles. “So we have to jump together? Ew, I don’t want to hold your hand…” Saiko grumbled glaring at Kenji.

“There are 30 minutes remaining.” They all looked up as the voice rang out.

“Shut up and move over Saiko!” Kenji snapped and jumped forward to share the tile with Saiko. Despite their bickering they successfully made the jump to the double tiles.

“Let’s keep it moving!” Saiko ordered over her shoulder.

“God she’s bossy,” Sayaka grumbled.

Chishiya jumped onto the solo tile ahead of her and turned allow her room to join him. Sayaka tensed her muscles and jumped, but her foot slipped on the plastic of her flip-flop causing her foot to leave the platform a second too late. Her other foot hit the edge of the next tile a gasp escaping her lips as she started to fall backwards. Chishiya’s hand shot out grabbing her arm and pulling her forward onto the tile. Sayaka felt her cheeks heat up at how close they were.

“Thanks…”she muttered looking away from him her hands resting on his chest.

“The whole point of the game is to not fall,” he pointed out.

Sayaka glared at him, but didn’t say anything. She could feel herself shaking as her eyes darted back to the floor a long way below, and Chishiya’s hand shifted on her waist.

“Afraid of heights?” He asked quirking an eyebrow.

Sayaka looked up at him through her bangs, “it’s none of your business.”

“If you two are done flirting we want to finish this game!” Kenji called.

Sayaka felt her face heat up even more and she cast Kenji a dirty look, “okay,” she held her hand out to Chishiya who took it and they shifted to stand side by side, “on three. One, two, three!”

They landed together and the tiles lit up.

“That leaves one set to go! This is easy!” Kenji called as he jumped forward.

Sayaka frowned, “it’s like he’s asking for the game makers to throw a twist.”

There was just one more set of double tiles. Sayaka landed first and stepped aside for Chishiya to join her. He jumped forward landing hard and wobbling a little. Sayaka grabbed the sleeve of his sweatshirt to steady him and snorted, “you know you aren’t supposed to fall,” she mocked.

He gave her a sour look and stood up straight his hands resting on her waist again, “you’re one to talk. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Sayaka frowned she knew her cheeks were red and she desperately wished she could make the blood to drain from her face, “shut up. We have an extra player I could still push you off you know.”

“So could I.”

Sayaka watched his eyes. Always so cold and calculating she knew he would push her off if she got in the way, but why hadn’t he just let her fall before? There was one extra person in this game he could’ve teamed up with them.

“Are you ready to jump?” He asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Yea, yea I’m ready,” she said and he held his hand out for her. Sayaka took it slowly and turned on the platform.

“One, two, three!” Chishiya counted down and slipped his hand out of hers as they jumped off the platform. The tile lit up yellow and the final laser grid faded away leaving them a clear path to the winner’s circle. Saiko and Kenji were the first to jump and run into the circle their phones lighting up to congratulate them. Everyone else followed letting out a relieved sigh as the countdowns disappeared and their visas were displayed on the small screens.

“Congratulations all participants have been issued a 3 day visa.” Sayaka pulled the phone out of her waistband to stare at the screen before tossing it over the edge. It clattered to the graveyard below, and Sayaka glared at the still lit up screen shining in the darkness. It was like the makers were reading their minds before every game using their own fears against them.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here then!” Saiko called and was already stomping to the door. Sayaka looked over her shoulder to watch her and Kenji leave. Maiko and the solo player following, while Chishiya walked over to the pedestal in the center of the winner’s circle to pick up the 3 of clubs card.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, “something wrong?”

“Why didn’t you just let me fall?”

He raised his eyebrows at her and paused, analyzing her again making her feel small, “you were the lesser of two evils,” he said simply turning to leave. Pulling the hood back up over his white-blonde hair he walked out of the room leaving Sayaka alone to sigh.

“I should’ve expected that answer,” she mumbled and followed him out of the Museum.

Sayaka followed behind the rest of the group as they all walked into the lobby of the Beach. Kenji held up his pistol and let out a triumphant yell that was echoed back by the other militants in the room. Sayaka rolled her eyes; they were acting like all of this was fun.

Another group walked through the door and Sayaka turned to see who it was. She saw Kaoru and the rest of his squad and searched the crowd for Akiko, but froze when she didn’t see her. A lump started to form in her stomach and she sucked in her bottom lip. Balling her hands into the fists she glared at Kaoru as he threw an arm around a random beach girl.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Sayaka turned around as Chishiya walked up to her.

“I wasn’t.”

“That’s the face you made during the executive meeting before you snapped,” he pointed out. Sayaka felt her cheeks heating up again and turned to look at Kaoru as he whispered into the girl’s ear making her giggle.

“She’s dead, and he’s acting like she didn’t even matter…” She whispered.

“That’s because she didn’t.”

She swung her head around to glare at Chishiya, “how can you say she didn’t matter? She was the only reason I survived the 6 of diamonds. She deserved to live more than that waste of space!”

“She didn’t make it. There’s no point in being upset about it. She’s gone, she doesn’t matter now,” he said firmly giving her a hard look, “if you want to survive Sayaka you’re going to have to start letting go of the people who can’t make it on their own.”

She stared at him. That was the first time he’d said her name. It was like all of the blood in her veins froze solid, but there was a fluttering in her stomach that made her want to vomit. She drew in a long shaky breath and pushed the feeling in her stomach deep down, “then why didn’t you let me fall?”

Sayaka didn’t wait for him to answer and turned walking out of the lobby leaving him standing alone. A smirk curled his lips as Chishiya dropped his head letting out a breathy laugh, and put his headphones back in his ears.

#stuck in borderland #alice in borderland #Alice in borderland oc #chishiya x oc #I'm trying not to make these really long #but I have so many scenes and things I want to add #Now the real angsty stuff is coming up

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lyssismagical · 5 years ago

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no question, no competition, I love you more

Parker Febufluff - 5 & 6 – Dance Under the Stars & “I love you” “I love you more”

Read on A03

Harley was not sulking. Absolutely not.

He would not sulk over a dance he didn’t even want to go to in the first place.

Just because Peter asked him to Homecoming and didn’t show up, did not mean Harley was going to sulk. He wouldn’t.

“I’m going home,” he tells MJ and Ned. “Have a fun night.”

“He might show,” Ned tries, eyes shining with sympathy. “He didn’t stand on you up on purpose.”

Harley shrugs, trying to play it off like it’s not a big deal. “It’s whatever. I’ll see you at school.”

It doesn’t matter, he tells himself over and over again as he heads out of the gym and out to the parking lot where Happy’s already waiting for him. It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t care.

“Hey, kiddo. You feeling already?” Happy asks, a carefully extended olive branch. He normally stays quiet and pretends Harley doesn’t exist.

Harley shrugs, tucking his legs up to his chest and resting his cheek against the window. “Yeah, I’m fine… I just- I really liked him, you know?”

Reaching out, obviously awkward and nervous, Happy pats the teenager on the shoulder.

The car falls silent as Harley checks his phone for the millionth time.

His sixteen messages ranging from casual to worried to confused to angry, are all left on delivered.

Harley sniffles, turns off his phone, and focuses on the scenery blurring outside his window.

When Harley makes it up to the penthouse, a wave of nostalgia washes over him.

The whole floor is empty. Everything having been loaded onto planes while he was gone, taking everything to the new place upstate.

Harley’s been living with Tony for seven years, ever since Tony crashlanded in Rose Hill and offered Harley a spot in Manhattan with access to equipment, good schooling, and opportunities. So, he moved to New York, and now they’re moving again.

“Hey, kid,” Tony calls out, emerging from the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate. He passes one to Harley and leads him to the couch. “When I see Parker I’ll make sure to knock him upside the head for standing you up like this.”

“You don’t think it was for a good reason?” Harley asks. He doesn’t know if he has faith in his best friend of five years. Peter’s always been the kind of person to drop everything for the people he cares about.

Tony’s face creases in inquisition. “I have his suit. It’s in the last of the boxes we’re driving up ourselves. It’s not a hero thing.”

Harley shrugs, trying not to think too hard about what that means. “I just- He was so excited when I said I’d go with him. I didn’t think he’d just skip. Especially not without telling me first.”

Slinging an arm around the teenager’s shoulders, Tony sighs. “Maybe he just got scared. You said a stupid kid was always giving him a hard time?”

“More like everyone at the school but me and Ned.”

“So, maybe he just got scared that people would bully him worse for being at the dance with another guy,” Tony suggests. “Or maybe he was worried you’d get bullied for going with him.”

Harley shrugs and settles closer to Tony’s side. “I just wish he’d text me back.”

“How about, instead of sulking over a guy, you get into some comfy clothes and we watch one last movie here?”

Harley offers a small smile, trying to shake off the awful heaviness that lingers on his shoulders.

He wants to be angry, but all that’s there when he reaches for those feelings is worry. He’s worried that Peter’s hurt or something happened to him because Harley doesn’t believe Peter would’ve purposefully stood him up.

Even if Peter was worried about the things Tony suggested, he would’ve texted. He would’ve told Harley, or at the very least, Ned.

Peter’s been Harley’s best friend for five years, ever since they started going to Midtown High together. Even when Peter became Spider-Man, the first person he told was Harley. That’s how Tony found out to take Peter to Germany.

It doesn’t make sense that Peter was so excited to ask Harley to Homecoming and then he wouldn’t show. At least not without a good reason.

* Hours later, Harley wakes up on the couch alone.

The living room is dark, their movie long since ended. Tony’s gone. Their hot chocolates have been cleared away.

Harley’s phone is ringing. That’s what must’ve woken him up.

Eighteen texts from Peter, nearly as many from Ned. Four missed calls from Peter, as well. And Peter’s calling him again.

“What do you want?” he asks, voice thick with sleep and rough with anger.

“I have a good reason for everything. I promise. Just… Come outside. Please?”

Harley sighs harshly. He’s wearing his pajamas and it’s nearly one in the morning. The last thing he wants to do is go outside. But it’s Peter who’s asking him.

Peter who sounds hurt, upset, exhausted. “Please?”

“Fine. But I don’t give second chances easily, Parker. You better have some wild explanation for me.”

When Harley makes it outside, to the back lawn according to Peter’s instructions, he nearly collapses.

Peter’s wearing his old suit, the stupid sweatpants and hoodie, sans mask. With his suit jacket over top and his tie hanging untied around his neck loosely. There’s a string of fairlylights strewn in the tree he’s leaning against.

Worst of all, his ‘suit’ is stained dark red with what Harley can only assume is blood. He’s cradling one arm against his chest, breaths escaping him in little pained wheezes. There’s a nasty cut across his temple, already mostly closed but blood is drying all down his cheek and jaw.

“Holy fuck, Parker,” he breathes, hurrying across the grass to the boy. “Are you okay?”

Peter frowns, looking down at his suit like he didn’t even realize he wouldn’t be okay. “Oh shoot, I probably should’ve cleaned up a little better.”

He looks up at Harley, a little bashfully, and shrugs. “S’alright. It doesn’t hurt too much.”

“Fuck, what happened to you?”

“Toomes tried to take your plane,” Peter explains, crinkling his nose. “Had to make sure he didn’t get away with it. I’m really sorry about-”

Harley shoots him a glare. “Don’t you dare apologize for being a hero, dumbass, I don’t care. I need to get you to a doctor or something.”

Shaking his head, Peter pulls his cracked phone out of his pocket. It takes him a second of fumbling, fingers looking burned, to get it open, but he does and a moment later, a song starts playing.

Harley doesn’t recognize it, but it’s obvious what Peter’s suggesting.

“I didn’t get to dance with you at homecoming, but this is the next best thing, right?”

The fairy lights in the tree, the suit jacket and tie, the music. It’s Peter’s version of the homecoming he couldn’t make it to.

Harley opens his mouth to, he doesn’t even know, call Peter a dumbass? Or crazy? Instead, no words escape his throat. He just gapes at the boy standing across from him with wide hopeful eyes, and tries to blink back the tears in his eyes.

Peter lifts his hand out to Harley, a shy smile on his face. “You wanna dance?”

“First,” Harley finally says, closing the distance between them. He grabs Peter’s untied tie. “Let’s fix this.”

Peter shrugs, breathing still painfully off, and his hands are shaking as he tucks his phone into the pocket of Harley’s sweats. “Never learned how to.”

Once the tie is tied, Harley carefully wraps his arms around Peter’s waist.

Peter, obviously exhausted, leans into Harley’s chest gratefully. “Thank you for not hating me.”

The older teenager shrugs, sniffing. “You’re a superhero, Peter. I can’t be mad at you for not putting me before everyone else. You took down Toomes, I can’t be angry for that. You could’ve texted me, though. I was worried sick.”

“Left my phone in Toomes’s car. Met him in the parking lot when he was dropping off Liz. I stole Flash’s phone and called Ned to track mine so I could follow him.”

“For a genius, you can be so dumb, Parker. You could’ve, I don’t know, called for backup. You didn’t have to-”

Peter shrugs. “I just wanted to do something right for once. Now, we’re dancing, aren’t we?”

Harley does most of the movement, the other boy falling mostly limp against Harley. With all the injuries, Harley’s surprised he hasn’t passed out yet, but it’s obvious Peter wants this dance.

“Look.” Harley nudges Peter, getting him to lift his head. “You can see the stars.”

Normally, with all the air pollution in the city and all the lights, the stars are hard to see. Tonight, they shine nice and brilliantly overhead like they’re watching over them.

Peter smiles dopily, resting his chin on Harley’s shoulder. “I wanna do this every day.”

“What? Dance?”

“Mm, ‘n hold you.”

Harley can’t help the blush that touches his face, pulling Peter a little tighter against him. “Me too… I really like you, Peter, I have for a long time.”

Peter, face hidden mostly in Harley’s shirt, laughs against him. “Me too. Forever. Wanna be forever.”

They don’t have to say it. It doesn’t have to be made official. Harley doesn’t have to ask Peter to be his boyfriend, everything passes between them silently, as Harley sways them from side to side to the music.

If there’s anything Harley’s learned from living with Tony and Pepper is that superheroing makes life complicated. It makes the idea of permanency seem impossible. It makes everything feel like it’s sped up to the extreme.

Because you never know if you’ll get even another day with a superhero.

“I love you,” Harley murmurs, pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead. He needs Peter to know. Just in case.

He’d beat himself up for the rest of his life if something happened to Peter and Harley never got the chance to say it. With how bloody and limp Peter already is in Harley’s arms, the thought of losing the hero is already something Harley has to think about every single day. Just in case.

“I love you more,” Peter says against Harley’s collarbone.

Smiling, Harley presses another kiss to Peter’s temple. “Don’t think that’s possible, love, but I’ll let you win this time.”

#lyss writes #febufluff #parkner #harley x peter #harley keener #peter parker #irondad #parkner fic #ignore that this is bad lol i'm tired

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imagineseclipse · 5 years ago

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Stiles Stilinski x Reader-Unexpected

Your hands fell to your hips, fallen leaves blowing across your ankles as the wind hit your frozen body. Your lips were slightly parted as you stared forwards at the abandoned blue jeep. Your phone began to ring in your pocket-probably Scott and Lydia wondering where you had run off to.

Deciding to ignore the phone for the time being you continued to gaze at the vehicle in front of you. Over the past couple of weeks you had often found yourself being drawn to that jeep. At first you were confused because you had never seen it in your life but then other aspects of your life had seemed to fall out of place.

A sense of loneliness washed over you even when you were surrounded by your closest friends. The pack had noticed your sudden withdrawal, they had noticed the deep daydreams you would fall into.

Lydia waved her perfectly painted fingernails in front of your face, trying to gain your attention. The flash of colours waving before your eyes snapped you out of your daze. Your cheeks heating up as your head turned to face the pack. At least five pairs of eyes were staring into your soul.

“Y/n, this is the seventh time you’ve spaced out today and it’s only ten o’clock in the morning are you sure you’re okay?”Scott leant forwards to tap your arm gently.

It took you a minute to gather your thoughts that had been scattered all over the place recently, sighing as you looked over at your friends once more.

“Don’t you guys feel like something’s missing? Like-like somebody is missing?”you asked pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Yeah, I mean someone is missing everyone’s here but Liam he’s getting some extra lacrosse practice in before the game tonight”Malia informed you before taking a sip of her coffee that sat on the table.

“No-no that’s not it, I know that’s not it”you repeated, causing Lydia to become concerned at the discomfort evident on your face.

Strawberry blonde hair filled your vision as Lydia leant forwards, her body drawing closer to yours.

“Sweetheart everybody is accounted for nobody’s missing”she tried to reassure you, reaching up to squeeze your shoulder but the frown on your face deepened causing wrinkles to appear just above your eyebrows as you lightly shrugged Lydia away.

“You don’t understand, I’m not going crazy he’s supposed to be with us I know he is”you cried out finally, bowing your head as you ran your hands through your hair.

“Who is?”Scott’s confusion taking over.

“I don’t-I can’t remember, but his name his name is literally on the tip of my tongue I just-

“Calm down y/n, just breathe and explain”Malia’s hand gently clamped around your wrist encouraging you to start from the beginning.

“I’ve seen him, it’s like he’s there in the back of my mind I just can’t remember-we just can’t remember but he meant something to all of us I can feel it”you answered regretfully.

“Y/n, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t forget about a whole pack member, I would know if one of you went missing”Scott scoffed under his breath, you were becoming more stressed by the second. It seemed like your alpha and best friend didn’t believe you.

Lydia sent Scott a tight lipped scowl before turning to you once more.

“Where did you see him y/n? Maybe we can find him?”Lydia asked, her tone of voice becoming soft.

“In my dreams at night, I’ve been having them for a while now I just didn’t wanna say anything because there’s so much going on right now I just i really have this feeling-

“Maybe that’s all this is then, a dream. Look y/n I know that it may seem real but they are just dreams okay?”Scott interupted, offering you a sympathetic smile.

You stood from your seat abruptly, pulling your bag over your shoulder.

“No, this is different, I know he’s real and if you guys won’t help me figure this out then I’m just gonna have to do it myself but after everything we’ve been through and after everything we have seen I thought that someone in this damn group would’ve believed me”you croaked out, feeling worn out and defeated you turned your back to your friends. Storming off into the halls of Beacon Hills High school.

The moonlight bounced off the hood of the run down jeep as you inhaled deeply. You were so sure that you had seen this particular vehicle before. For some reason you felt so connected to the mysterious boy in your dreams, and as every day passed the sense of loss was so overwhelming you found it hard to breathe.

It was like a constant heartache, that only become stronger. Life had been miserable for you, and you wondered how you had ever lived like that without noticing that there was a problem. The dreams and the visions had made you realise that life was much better with the boy in it.

“You’re really not helping me here, c’mon give me something to work with I know you’re parked here for a reason I mean how would you even get here? Someone had to have parked you here”you mumbled to the jeep finally losing the plot.

“I know you belong to him, I just need a name that’s all I need”you cried out to no one in particular. Yes, you had definitely lost more than the plot at this point.

You waited for a moment or two, waiting for a sign, waiting for anything that would prove you weren’t entirely insane. After recieving nothing but silence you began to sob uncontrollably, leaning forwards to place your hands gently on the blue jeep for support.

The moment your hands touched the car material you felt the floor beneath you disappear, your eyes widening as you took in a deep breath. Before you knew it you were sat in the back of what seemed to be the jeep you had just been absentmindedly having a conversation with.

You didn’t have any control over your body as you lifted your head to glance at the drivers seat that was once empty. The brown haired boy who had been following your train of thought was now sat in front of you. Looking over to the passengers seat you saw...a version of yourself you hadn’t remembered. This wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. They had all been memories.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”The boy addressed you, his voice wasn’t deep but there was something about the way he spoke to you which made you freeze up, butterflies swarming your stomach.

“Not really, it was kind of traumatic I’d rather not relive the embarrassment thank you very much”you listened to your own voice ring out from the seat in front of you. The boy wearing the checkered flannel shirt tapped his free hand impatiently against his thigh as he sped down the streets of Beacon Hills.

A comfortable silence fell over the two of you before the y/n in your memory piped up again.

“How did you get here so quick?”

The boy whose name you’d been trying so hard to remember reached up to rub the back of his neck nervously.

“Oh y’know I was just going for a drive nearby when you texted-

“So you followed me basically”you replied, a hint of amusement lingering with your words.

“Thankyou for coming to get me, I was convinced that you were still angry at me from the argument we had earlier”you continued , your voice trailing away.

“I could never stay mad at you, I was never mad at you in the first place...besides it was my fault I should have never said the things I said I was being selfish”He replied, glancing over at you in the passengers seat.

“You were right though, all the things you said before you were right...”Memory y/n made eye contact with him properly for the first time.

“I was right?”he squeaked out, his eyes briefly looking at the road before meeting yours again.

“Yeah, you’re always right, I should have never gone on the date especially with that guy i don’t know why I ever thought it was a good idea he didn’t actually want me, I don’t know what I expected”you rambled on.

From where you were sat you could see that the teenager had something to say, and it seemed that this other version of you could see it aswell.

“You can say I told you so now, I know you want to celebrate being right”you scoffed out.

His eyebrows furrowed together.

“There’s nothing to celebrate- he hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh.

-y/n he doesn’t deserve you, you are way too good for him, you deserve to be treated like a princess and you should never settle for any less you hear me? I mean Jesus Christ look at you, you’re fucking gorgeous and he’s literally crazy because he’s just let the best thing that could have happened to him walk out of those stupid restaurant doors-not to mention the fact that he didn’t even check beforehand if you liked sushi we both know how you swell up with allergies even thinking about it”the driver of the blue jeep ranted passionately in front of you.

You watched as the two teenagers in front of you exchanged a glance that said a thousand words. Seeing things from the outside really did change perspective on things.

Your mouth had fallen open whilst watching this scene play out in front of you, tears streaming down from your eyes as you started to wonder how you could have ever forgotten this boy that was so clearly in love with you, how you could have forgotten the boy that paid attention to everything you did and said. How could you have forgotten the boy that had saved your life countless times promising himself he’d do it over and over again.

“I’m sorry y/n”the boy spoke out again, gaining your attention.

“Sorry? For what you don’t have to be sorry”

“I’m sorry because I’m glad he let you slip through his fingers”

That was it. That was the moment it all changed, that special moment in that jeep had made you realise that you had always been so dangerously in love with the boy in the checkered flannel.

“Just a name, say his name c’mon”you muttered from the back seat, wiping the tears from underneath your eyes. Urging the memory version of you to just say it once.

The y/n in the passengers seat turnt her head, a small smile growing on her face before she opened her mouth.

“Stiles”

And with that fifteen years worth of memories came rushing back to you all at once, knocking you out of the memory you had just relived, sending you on a trip down memory lane.

“Y/n, this is our first ever school dance and I don’t want to trip over my two left feet with anyone else but you”

“You really have a way with words did you know that Stiles?”

“Stiles promise me, if we both get to the age of forty and we’re both not married we have to marry eachother by default”

“I’m marrying you anyway y/n”

“Oh and when did you make that decision”

“When we were 4”

“You don’t care about getting hurt do you?!”

“I do care about getting hurt, I just care more about you getting hurt Stiles”

“Mieczysław Stilinski, why the hell are you hanging upside down from my roof, it’s like two in the morning”

“Well I did come here to tell my best friend that I missed her and I don’t want her to ever go on holiday again but I guess I’m now here to murder her for using my whole name”

“Stiles, I was gone for three days”

“Way too long for my liking”

“Hello pretty girl”

“Okay Stilinski what have you done now?”

“Wha-what would make you think- okay fine I did something”

“Y/n you need to go it’s dangerous you need to run, find Lydia and the two of you go somewhere safe”

“Stiles I’m not leaving without you I mean that was never even an option”

“What’s gonna happen when we go off to college are you gonna forget about me?”

“Y/n wherever you go, that’s where I’ll be”

“Don’t be silly Stiles I wouldn’t ask you to give up your whole life for me”

“I would though, I would give it all up for you”

“And I would do the same for you without a doubt in my mind”

“Y/n I can’t believe you, are you insane I don’t think you understand how mad I am right now you seriously just jumped in front of a bullet for me!? You could have died I could have lost you I-

“And I would do it again”

“Stiles, you came back for me?”

“Of course I did”

“You can’t be here, they’re coming and they’ll take you too, Stiles you have to go”

“We both have to go, I’m not going anywhere without you”

“Stiles”you gasped, returning from the visions you were having, your grip on the jeep had tightened and you remembered everything, you remembered him. Stiles Stilinski. You had been his best friend from the age of four, somewhere along the way the dynamic of your friendship had changed into something much more. He was your soulmate and you had forgotten him.

Your shaking hands reached down into your pockets searching for your phone so that you could inform the pack on your discovery. Just as you were about to dial Lydia’s number in the jeep sprung into action, the lights blinding you making you jump backwards abruptly.

Your heart began to beat out of your chest as you watched two hands reach up to grab the steering wheel. The boy you had been searching for so desperately popped up from behind the wheel. He looked flustered as his eyes flickered around his jeep settling on you finally.

Stiles stared forwards at your frozen body stood in front of his jeep, your eyes widened as they glanced back at him with shock. He realised in that moment that you had been the one to bring him back. Of course it had been you.

“Stiles”you repeated.

He was real, and he was sat right in front of you the only barrier between the two of you being the Jeep doors which crashed open as he fumbled around aggressively trying to get to you.

Your legs began to work again, running hurriedly around the side of the jeep to meet Stiles half way.

“You remembered”his voice was slightly hushed.

“I’m sorry I ever forgot”you mumbled out quickly before his lips crashed into yours, his hands wrapping around your body pulling you in closer. Your eyes fluttered closed and you felt like the puzzle was complete, he held onto you as if you were going to evaporate into thin air and you clutched onto his checkered shirt scared that he would leave again.

When the two of you pulled away it was only a matter of seconds before Stiles tugged you close again into a tight hug, you buried yourself into the crook of his neck as you felt his hands nestle in your hair.

“I can’t believe it was you, I thought Scott would- or even Lydia but it was you”he spoke out again.

“Why wouldn’t it have been me?”you raised your eyebrows.

“I don’t know it’s just, I’ve always- and you’ve never-

“Stiles seriously I love you but I thought you were supposed to be the smart one”you laughed lightly.

“Yeah maybe the tables have turned I mean you brought me back and you did it alone maybe you’re the genius”he smiled as he intertwined his fingers with yours.

“Well we’re gonna have to put our brilliant minds together because we have a nazi werewolf running around Beacon Hills, the pack need us”you informed Stiles who hadn’t been present during that fiasco.

“Let’s go get this show on the road then”Stiles sighed as he pulled you along gently, the two of you running towards the school hand in hand.

165 notes · View notes

grouptalekindnesssoulstories · 5 years ago

Text

I was sitting in the shadow of the couch, my dark outfit lending me cover. I was stuck like this, and none of the others could see. Least of all, the side currently walking in. Roman was humming to himself, and I refused to come out. Unfortunately, he decided to fling himself onto the couch. I reached for the couch too late, and was tossed onto his shoulder. I froze, hoping he’d think I was some bug or something. He had an arm draped across his face, so I could get away clean if I was careful…

“ANXIETY! Did you conjure more of those ugly decorations to freak me out?” He yelled, reaching towards me. I scrambled away, making a leap just as his fingers brushed off his shirt. I made it back to the safety of the shadows. He huffed at my lack of answer and stood up to choose a movie. I took the chance to begin lowering myself to the floor. He was singing to himself as he flipped through them. Another set of footsteps started at the top of the stairs. I scrambled back up, wiggling into the crack. Not comfortable, but I didn’t exactly need to breathe. I recognized the eager footsteps as Patton’s and was relieved I was hidden.

“Another movie night? Should I get the others?” He asked, dropping blankets over the couch. There was a hum of approval from the creative side, and the steps retreated again. I poked my head out, seeing a blanket conveniently on the floor. I jumped into it, a soft thud the only thing indicating my presence. Princy was too busy picking a movie to notice. I ran under the couch as the quick patter of Patton and Logan’s precise footsteps came downstairs.

“I couldn’t find Virgil. He isn’t in his room, and there’s no sign of him” Pat said anxiously, and I felt a twinge of guilt. I wish I could be my normal size. I didn’t like disappointing the fatherly side.

“Ugh. DOOM AND GLOOM! You’re gonna miss out on Mulan! I picked it with you in mind” Roman called. I poked my head out, using a bit of my meager power to make my voice echo from somewhere else.

“I’ll be there in a minute. Just.. busy” The last word snapped back to my location as I ran out of power. I squealed and ducked back under the couch. The others accepted that as me doing something, so they started the movie. Logan was taking Patton upstairs after it finished when Princy got suspicious again.

“Where is he?” He mumbled, hurt.

“Oh, Princy… I’m sorry” I responded, not realizing he’d hear me. He dropped down on all fours, and reached a hand under the couch. I attempted to roll out of his reach, but his pinkie hooked on my hood. He automatically closed his hands and pulled me out. “Let me go!” I snarled, swinging around by one hand.

“Vir-gil?” His voice broke in confusion.

“Go away, I’ll be fine in the morning. I promise I won’t miss the next movie night” I snarled, crossing my arms. His eyes lit up at the subtle message and put me down on the table in the kitchen.

“What happened?” He asked.

“I don’t know, ok? I just.. Was normal than I wasn’t. Maybe Thomas did something? I have no idea”

“In that case, We’re both sleeping here tonight. A prince must protect his lov-lower class people!” He did his typical princy thing. I huffed, yet his hands were gentle as he scooped me up. He nestled me..almost carefully, in the palm of his hands. He made me promise to stay on the arm of the couch before running upstairs to find something to make it easy for me to sleep, He was trying hard to take into account that I may be normal sized by morning. Logan, being the observant idiot he is, came downstairs while I waited.

“Ah, Virgil. I was wondering where you got to. Please assure Patton you are ok in the morning” He continued passed me, adjusting his glasses after finishing speaking to me. I pulled my hood up, and shoved my hands into my pockets.

“Yea, whatever. Not like I was purposefully avoiding his company”

“I am aware, but it would still help you both. Sleep well” He went back upstairs, a glass of water in his hand. I was picking at the edge of my pants when Roman reappeared.

“Ta-da! A hammock! That way, you can sleep in anyway you’d like, but it is adapted to give away if too much weight is on it!” He showed me a bright hammock.

“Oh. Thanks, Princy. Roman. Thanks Roman” I blushed at the glowing smile he gave me. He lay down on the couch, putting the hammock in such a way that the table supported me, but I wouldn’t hurt myself falling on it. I climbed into it. He had forgotten about a blanket, so I just pulled my hoodie around me. I kept tossing and turning, unable to get to sleep. I finally gave up, and crawled to the couch. Roman was out cold, snoring quietly. I pushed one of his bangs out of his face, tucking it behind his ear with a smile. I put one hand on his shirt, focusing the little energy I had on changing it to his onesie. I toppled over as my vision swam. Princy had been shifting in his sleep, and his hand was underneath me at just the right time. I was crushed into his cheek, which I squirmed out of. I sighed and climbed onto his shoulder. I fell asleep listening to his heartbeat in its soothing, slow, steady way. . .

“Virg?” A voice woke me up. I groaned, rolling over. I felt the warm, squishy bed. I didn’t want to wake up. Even if I was floating. It did smell like Pattoncakes, though so maybe I’d get up. In five minutes. I was trying to go back to sleep when I remembered.

“Did it work?” I asked, before realizing what was going on. I groaned again, rolling to face Roman.

“Nope. How did you manage to get onto my shoulder?” He asked, setting me down. A finger poked my head thoughtfully.

“Logan, leave me alone. I’m not some experiment. I couldn’t sleep and your heartbeat is calming” I stood up, clenching my fists to keep myself from falling over again. I’d used far too much yesterday. Ro caught me as my body gave up. He offered me a small pancake, setting it next to me. He cupped his hands as he talked to the others. I started tearing off bites of the pancake, trying hard to focus on not passing out.

“We have a problem, Virgil is still small, and we have a video today. If I’m not mistaken, Thomas is setting up now” Logan stated. I shuddered at the thought of having to endure a video in my state.

“I’ll stay here to help him. You guys can handle this, we’ll be ok” Roman jumped in before anyone else could speak.

‘Or.. Deceit could take my place. That way, there’s still a balance. I can...I can help him” I pulled myself up against Roman’s fingers.

“No! Not happening” He pulled me to his chest, glancing around fearfully. I blinked away the dizziness.

“I agree. It would be horrible if I actually helped wouldn’t it?” The snake leaned against the counter. Patton wordlessly offered him a plate. He took it, and pulled a chair over.

“No. I’m not letting Virgil out of my sight if I don’t have to” He was stubbornly holding me away from my old friend.

“I’ll be in your sight. What do the rest of you say? Willing to let Dee help?” I glared at the prince, before sighing and sitting down at his concerned look. “Or not. Maybe it is best I sit this one out. Get some more sleep to get back to usual”

“Liarrr” The other side sang. I hissed at him through Ro’s fingers.

“We can handle this Virgil. Just get some rest!” Patton called, and I waved a hand in acknowledgment. The other sides sank out of sight, except Deceit and Roman.

“Dee, can… can you make sure my brother. My brother doesn’t show up? I don’t want Virgil getting hurt” Roman finally choked out. A quiet shift was all the warning I got before I was transferred to the gloved hands. I watched Roman leave too.

“Worried I’ll hurt you or take you back”

“A little, yea. Perks about being like this is that Princy will come and fight to get me back” I shrugged, leaning against his fingers. He sighed and brought me close to his chest. I hummed a thanks and shifted my weight to it. I dozed as he cleaned up the space, a quiet hissing of complaints whenever he thought I was asleep.

“You’re still here?” Roman asked a while later.

“What? Thought I’d go behind your back and hand him to your brother? Please, I don’t have that much of a death wish. Besides, I know… even if I’m still upset, he’s far too vulnerable like this”

“Thank you. You’re not so bad”

“I’m so honored” He handed me over, Roman’s warm hands soothing me more than Dee’s heartbeat had.

“Look at the Prince protecting the bad guy” I mumbled, mostly asleep.

“You’re not the bad guy. I love you too much to think that” was all I heard before I was fully asleep.

I woke to a bunch of fabric around me. I started freaking, trying to find a way out.

“Virg?” A sleepy voice came from somewhere above me. A hand entered, open for me to climb on if I wanted to. I grabbed onto it, scared. I was pulled out to see a very sleepy princy, wearing a reddish, white version of my hoodie. The Prince’s sash was across it. “Sorry, I thought this would be easier to carry you, and it’s familiar, sorta?”

“It’s..It’s ok. Just warn me next time. I thought.. I thought one of the others had me”

“I’d never let that happen. Here, want to sleep higher up?” He showed me an inner pocket, shaped like a hammock.

“Nah. I need something to eat”

“Oh, Pat left some leftovers. Hang on, they should be over here” He stood up, gently closing his hand briefly. He was digging in the fridge with his free hand when I got sleepy again. I felt him gently place me in the inner pocket, leaving the hoodie unzipped.

“Thanks Princy. You’re far too nice to me now”

“No, you’re just less snippy about it”

“Mhm. You just like me” His heartbeat sped up when he heard that. “...do you?”

“I uh.. I thought.. I thought you were just… playing hard to get…” He choked out.

“What?? I.. You like me?? Like, a boyfriend??”

“Yea, dark and spooky! I had a crush on you since the beginning! You were like, the darkness to my light, as sappy as that sounds”

“..oh. OH! Ima… Ima.. I dunno what ima do”

“Trust me? You seem to be getting color back, but it's still not affecting your size. I promise, no harm will come to you”

“Of course. You’re my knight in shining armor. Now be quiet and let me sleep”

#g/t #prinxiety #sympathetic virgil #sympathetic deceit #sympathetic logan #sympathetic roman

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wtfobiwan · 5 years ago

Text

Savior | Ralph Dibny x reader

Words: 1,604

I don't know why this took me so long to write. I gave up at the end too. But I really hope @kurtbastianlover likes this.

Warnings: death (I guess)

Y/N

"Ralph! Just, fight it, alright? Fight it! I'll save you!" I heard Barry yell, making me run into the speed lab, seeing Ralph on his knees with light glowing through his head as DeVoe began to move all his powers from Edwin's body to Ralph's.

"You already did, Barry," Ralph said before his eyes closed and his head dropped, Edwin's body falling beside Ralph. Tears pooled in my eyes as I cover my mouth. I watched as Cisco and Killer Frost appeared in the speed lab from a portal, Cisco falling to his knees, pressing his fingers to his ears. I looked back at Ralph, his head being pulled up slowly, a smirk resting on his lips as he stood. I watched as Barry phased through the floor and passed me in a blur before grabbing the tuning fork, trying to hit the ground to knock DeVoe out. DeVoe hit Barry with a sound wave, knocking him into the entrance of the running area. Cisco sent a vibe blast toward, but the blast with through a portal and hit Cisco, sending him across the room. Killer Frost went to hit DeVoe in the head, but the man grabbed her wrist.

"Melt," he spoke, Killer Frost's hair turning brown before she was lifted up into the air and thrown against a metal wall, her body dropping to the floor. The lights flickered above me as electricity swirled around my hands, the bolts of lightning and electricity shooting towards DeVoe as I lifted my hand. A portal opened in front of him, another portal opening in front of the first one, the electricity and lightning hitting me in the chest, throwing me against the wall behind me. I watched painfully as DeVoe walked through a portal, disappearing from sight before I passed out.

I woke up hearing soft voices around me, pain surging through my head as I moved. Caitlin was talking softly beside me, my eyes opening slowly, letting me look up at the ceiling. I felt pain in my arm, making me look down to see my arm in a sling. “What happened to me?” I asked Caitlin, making her turn to look at me.

“When DeVoe threw you against the wall, your collar bone snapped. It’s going to take a while for it to heal due to how much damage he did,” the brunette told me as she helped me sit up. She showed me the x-ray of my collar bone, allowing me to see three breaks in the bone. “Your powers should be able to heal you, but you obviously won’t heal as fast as Barry.” She informed me. I slid off the bed and walked into the cortex, watching as Iris talked to Barry and Cisco looked at the computers for any breaches.

We worked on finding Ralph for weeks, but had no success in finding him. I sat on the floor, rubbing my temples as I thought of a way to save Ralph. Iris and Harry returned to the time vault with Marlize and the chair DeVoe had used. “The only way to stop him is getting into his mind and saving your friend,” I heard the woman say, making me lift my head up to look at her. I quickly stood up and walked to Marlize, looking at the floating chair.

“I’ll do it,” I said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Caitlin and Cisco looked at me with concerned looks on their faces. I smiled at the two before nodding at them, getting in DeVoe’s chair before looking at Cecile, who smiled sadly at me before nodding. Marlize put the cerebral inhibitor on Cecile’s forehead. Marlize looked at me and nodded, silently telling me to put the cap on my head. I slowly put the cap on my head and let out a heavy sigh. Caitlin explained how I would get into Clifford’s conscience and Marlize hit a button on a tablet, transferring my conscience to DeVoe’s.

I fell through the dark matter portal and let out a grunt, getting up quickly and looking around. I watched as DeVoe floated over the street in his chair, forcing me to hide in the bus. “Y/N. What do you see?” I heard Iris ask me as I hid behind a seat on the bus.

“Well I see DeVoe and I’m hiding in the 405 bus until I get a clearing. Where do I need to go?” I asked the people that were watching over my body.

“You’re at where it all started,” Marlize said “Go to our house.” She told me. I turned into a little ball of electricity and sped to the DeVoe’s house. I shifted back when I got to the house and landed on my feet carefully. I walked into the house and looked around.

“Guys? There’s nothing here." I told the others, hearing the others talk to each other in confusion.

“Little vague for the viewers at home. What do you mean nothing?” Cisco’s voice echoed, making me roll my eyes before looking around the home more.

“It’s empty,” I told the team. I picked up a picture frame and flipped it over, seeing the cracked glass with no picture inside the frame. “It’s completely empty. Alright so where should I go?” I asked, not hearing a response from the team. I looked around the house more before hearing the team talking again.

“Harry had an idea. Go to Oxford,” I heard Cisco say as I walked down the stairs. I repeated the name of the college in a confused tone.

“The Hamlet of Boar’s Hill. The place where we fell in love.” Marlize’s voice echoed, I nodded before turning into a small ball of electricity and going to the location Marlize told me to go to. I got to the location and changed back, landing on my feet roughly and looking around, seeing a blanket and picnic basket set out on the ground, a car with the door open playing music, and a gazebo beside the parked car. I looked around and let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

“DeVoe’s not here. Is there anywhere else he would go?” I asked quietly, hearing silence on the other side.

“Sparky?” I heard someone say my nickname from behind me, making me turn around to see Ralph standing by the tree line.

“Ralph?” I asked as I walked to him cautiously. “I thought you were gone. I’m so sorry,” I said, wrapping my arms around him.

“I missed you too, Y/N,” Ralph said wrapping his arms around me. I let out a relieved laugh and smiled.

“Did you just say Ralph?” I heard Iris and Barry ask in unison.

“Yeah guys, it’s Ralph, He’s alive.” I told the others as I let go of the brunet. I smiled and grabbed his hand.

“How are you here? Did he get you too?” Ralph asked me, his question shocking me and forcing me shake my head quickly.

“Cecile is using her telepathy to transfer my conscious into DeVoe’s. We don’t have much time. Have you seen the good DeVoe?” I asked him, watching him shake his head. I let out a sigh.

“I just see the evil floating chair variety. He visits me all the time,” Ralph told me, a frown forming on his lips.

“In this place I do as I please, Y/L/N. The fact that you didn’t think I would calculate this feeble plan to rescue your friend is insulting. There will be no defeating the Big Bad this year, Y/L/N. See, You’re in my mind now,” DeVoe said, Ralph’s hand tightening around mine. “And there’s no escape.” I looked at Ralph, who nodded and we turned into small balls of electricity and left the area. I looked around the city and went to the university DeVoe had taught at. We got into DeVoe’s old lecture hall and we shifted back, Ralph nearly falling as he landed on his feet. Both of us ran to the stage and saw DeVoe, dead at his desk with a large hole in his chest. I covered my mouth and looked away from the body.

“DeVoe didn’t want the good version of him getting control back,” I told Ralph. Lightning crackled around my hands, making me look outside. “I know where we need to go.” We ran out of the university and we ran to the street there the 405 bus crashed. I saw the portal and pointed to it. “That’s the nexus of DeVoe’s mind. We get through that, We get out of here.” I informed Ralph. I watched as an army of DeVoes. I grabbed Ralph’s hand and looked at him.

We turned into small balls of electricity and we pushed through the DeVoes and went through the portal, my eyes opening quickly. I got out of the chair and walked to DeVoe, watching as his body shook and he yelled out. He dropped to the floor and went towards his chair before sitting against the wall.

“This is not my will!” DeVoe screamed. I crossed my arms and smirked.

“No, but it’s mine,” I heard Ralph say, DeVoe’s head shaking as Ralph took control of his body again. I helped him stand up and held onto him as he regained his footing. I smiled at and watched as Marlize overrode the command for the Enlightening. We all watched as percentage rapidly dropped to zero. We returned to S.T.A.R. Labs and smiled as Iris told us there was no more dark energy in the city.

#dc tv #the flash #ralph dibny #ralph dibny x reader #ralph dibny one shot #requested #writing blog #ask me stuff #send in requests

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minijenn · 5 years ago

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Universe Falls Chapter 75

AN: Just realized I never posted Gravity Falls Drift on here in the usual format so here’s this super fucking late whoops my bad oh well byeeeeeeee

Previous: https://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/189818825584/universe-falls-chapter-74

Chapter 75: Gravity Falls Drift

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“They told me there wasn’t enough room on the road for the Universe. And I told them, the universe is my road.”

Steven grinned confidently as he adjusted his sunglasses before gripping the steering wheel in front of him. And then, with a deft move of the gear shift, he pressed the pedal to the metal, more than ready to take on the road ahead.

“Pew! Pew! Pew!”

The young Gem was slightly caught off guard however as he looked to the passenger seat, or namely, to Mabel, who sat alongside him, leaning out of the open car window as she held her fingers together in the vague shape of a gun. “Oh, were we not doing the whole cop thing?” she asked, noting Steven’s look of confusion.

“Well, if you were, you guys aren’t really doing a very good job of it,” Dipper noted with a casual grin as he came to stand beside Mabel’s window. “No offense.”

Before either of the pair inside the car could counter this, a sudden knock on Steven’s window caught their attention. Connie smiled as the young Gem turned to her, offering him a bright wave until he rolled down said window to greet her.

“Oh, hey, Connie!” Steven grinned, taking off his sunglasses before opening the door to the brand-new used vehicle. “Thanks for letting me practice, Dad,” he said to the former rock star, who stood by, admiring his new set of wheels as he had been for the past several hours now. “Hey, maybe one day when I’m older, you can teach me how to actually drive using it!”

“Eh, l-let’s not get ahead of ourselves there, Schtoo-ball,” Greg remarked with a small, if not anxious chuckle. “We’ve still got several years until--well, then again, you are 14 now so… Oh boy…”

“Your new car is sooooo cool, Mr. Universe!” Mabel quipped excitedly as she got out of the car herself. “Though… ya might wanna think twice before you move into it. It seems like it’d be just a bit too small to live in it like you do your van.”

“Heh, thanks for the concern, Mabel, but the van’s still home sweet home,” Greg said. “I just thought that now that I’m swimming in dough, why not get a new car?”

“A new car?” Connie questioned, looking over the vehicle, particularly its bumper. “But it’s got this big ‘used’ sticker on it.”

“I like to think of it as more experienced than used,” Greg grinned, slapping a sticker of his own, one that read ‘Dad on Board’ over the one the car came with.

“So what kind of car is it anyway?” Dipper asked, curious.

“Glad you asked,” Greg proudly placed a gentle hand on the top of his new vehicle. “This baby’s a Dondai Supremo, from the era of frosted tips, mood rings, and slap bracelets.” A beat of silence passed at this, in which all four of the kids simply stared up at the former rock star, completely clueless as to archaic period he was talking about. At least, until he kindly clarified. “You know, before you kids were born.”

“What a time to be alive,” Connie remarked, impressed.

“Whoa… that’s like… forever ago!” Mabel gasped, awestruck. “Then that means this car must be super old!”

“Ah ah ah,” Greg wagged a correcting finger. “Not old, experienced. I’ve had my eye on this Dondai even way back when.” At this, the former rock star pulled out a stack of photos, depicting a younger version of himself in a car lot, fawning over a then brand-new Dondai. “I loved that car. I wanted that car.” The series of photos eventually reached a bizarre conclusion as the younger rock star was caught romantically sharing a plate of spaghetti with the car before ultimately being chased out of the lot by security. “A-anyway,” Greg cleared his throat, tossing the photos aside. “Another great thing about these cars? They’re crazy on the road.”

To prove his point, the former rock star took over the driver’s seat, pointing out several of its best-known features to the kids. “Front wheel suspension, tons of ponies, and best of all, it has a tape deck!”

Greg readily inserted a favorite cassette of his into said tape deck, allowing the Dondai’s strong speakers to play out a laid-back beat across the car wash’s parking lot. Caught up in the chill vibes of the music, the former rock star “rocked” out to it via air guitar as the kids decided to pitch in to help him spruce up the new car up a bit. Taking up wet sponges and a hose, they began washing the Dondai in the hopes of making it shine as if it were completely new rather than lightly used. However, they didn’t get very far into it before the lighthearted mood of the afternoon was interrupted by an unexpected, unwelcome arrival.

Said arrival came in a sharp yellow sports car, one that sped down the hill that led toward the car wash, loud booming rock music rising over its roaring engine. The group gathered at the car wash all got a good scare as it drifted aggressively onto the otherwise empty lot, spinning a tight circle to turn itself around before grinding to a stop. And yet, as unruly and downright disrespectful as this sudden entrance was, the person behind it was hardly surprising at all as he rolled his window down to bark out an order right off the bat.

“Give me a wash, old man,” the teen called, barely even sparing a glance out the window as he continued the conversation he was having on his phone.

“Uh, right away, young man,” Greg responded, dutifully taking up a bucket and a sponge to head over to do just that.

“Huh, you know, that really rude guy seems kinda familiar…” Mabel noted with a frown.

“Yeah, I--wait,” Connie squinted to get a better look at the teen. “Is that-”

“Kevin…” Steven scowled, instantly set off as he squeezed the water out of his sponge in quiet fury.

“Ugh, that guy?” Dipper asked disdainfully. “He’s still around? I would have thought he’d been kicked out of town for being the biggest creep ever.”

“Yeah, he should have been,” Mabel agreed, sticking her tounge out in disgust. “He was super icky at that part, especially when he flirted with you guys like that,” she said to Steven and Connie in particular.

“Tell us about it…” Connie glanced down, rubbing her arm. She did take pause however as she spared a glance over at Steven. The young Gem’s expression was consumed in a rare type of fury, fury that was all directly aimed at Kevin alone, even if he didn’t seem to be aware of it whatsoever. And in light of that newfound, almost unsettling fury, Connie couldn’t help but be instantly concerned for Steven’s wellbeing in light of being met with one of the biggest obstacles they had faced during their first time fused together.

“I didn’t say iron the socks,” Kevin huffed as he continued on the phone. “I said I want my socks pressed. And--whoa, wait, wait!” He snapped at Greg quite suddenly as the former rock star began wiping down his wheels. “Careful with the tires, grandpa! I got a big race today and my car has to look as beautiful as me.”

“Back off, Kevin!” Steven exclaimed, boldly rushing to confront the callous teen in his father’s defense. “He’s not a grandpa! He’s just a regular pa!”

Kevin took pause at this, lowering his sunglasses a bit to give the young Gem a dry, cursory look. “Have we met before? I think I’d remember a twerp like you.”

“You do remember a twerp like me!” Steven shot back harshly, his hands in tight fists at his sides.

“Uh, y-you… you just look like another guy we know!” Connie hastily interjected with an uncomfortable laugh, Dipper and Mabel joining her in doing the same.

“Yeah, t-though totally not like this really scummy guy who was at this party we cra-” Mabel was abruptly cut off before she could give too much away by Dipper quickly covering her mouth just in time.

“Uh, l-like Connie said,” he said much more cautiously. “You look like someone we know. That’s all.”

“Tch, that’s impossible,” Kevin scoffed, rolling his eyes at the kids. “There’s only one Kevin.” At this, the teen turned his nose up at the kids, coldly speeding off in his car every bit as noisily as he had arrived without even sparing any of them a second glance whatsoever.

“Hey!” Greg called after the sports car as it zoomed out of sight. “He forgot to… Eh, what do I care? I’m rich.”

However, even in light of Kevin’s departure, all was not well, especially not with the young Gem as he let out a frustrated growl, glaring off in the direction the teen had went. “Augh! I hate Kevin!” he huffed hotly, ignoring the startled looks the others sent his way upon hearing this.

“Whoa, Steven!” Dipper exclaimed, practically shocked. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you hate someone before.”

“Yeah, or seen you this angry,” Mabel noted before muttering something to herself with a discreet smile. “It’s kind of cute…”

“Yeah, watch the four letters, bud,” Greg cautioned with a frown. “Hate’s a strong word.”

“It’s a strong feeling…” Steven grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Do you kids know that guy?” the former rock star asked, curious to know exactly who Kevin was to have elicited such a strong reaction from his son.

“Well, kind of…” Connie explained apprehensively. “When we fused into Stevonnie, we met him at a dance and-”

“And he was a creep!” Steven interjected harshly.

“Steven!” Greg scolded, surprised once more by his son’s severe language.

“What? That’s five letters!”

“He kept asking us to dance with him,” Connie continued much more calmly. “Even though we said no. It was really… uncomfortable.”

“He didn’t even care about how we felt at all!” Steven professed, still quite upset by the unsavory experience. “He only cared about himself and getting what he wanted! He’s the worst!”

Greg wavered upon hearing this, his stern expression turning sympathetic as he met his son’s clear anger evenly. “I… had no idea that happened,” he sighed softly. “I’m really sorry. But that guy? He’s not even worth the time of day. Don’t even give him the satisfaction of thinking about him.”

“Thanks, Mr. Universe,” Connie smiled, thankful for such good advice.

“Yeah!” Mabel chimed in with a supportive smile. “Why think about a loser like Kevin when you could think about ice cream, or puppies, or roller coasters, or-”

“Or literally anything else,” Dipper interjected before Mabel could keep her otherwise endless list going.

Despite the bout of light laughter everyone shared over this, Steven didn’t join in on it. Instead, he kept his gaze on the ground, his expression still quite cross and bitter. It had been quite awhile since he’d felt like this, and it certainly wasn’t a feeling he enjoyed stewing in for very long. And yet, for whatever reason, he couldn’t let that feeling go, not as long as he remembered Kevin and what he did to them. Not as long as he thought about how terrible it had felt then, and how it still cut deep, even now.

Which was why, even hours after the fact, the young Gem thoughtlessly held onto that feeling, willingly letting himself fall even deeper into it all the while.

The starry evening sky was crisp and clear and warmed by the lofty summer air. Normally, such a night would have been a relaxing sight to the kids, but even as they sat comfortably atop the Dondai to admire it, a noticeable air of discontent still hung over them all. Discontent that the others could all practically feel from Steven in particular as he heaved a long, frustrated sigh.

“Um… you ok, Steven?” Dipper asked, glancing down from the spot him and Mabel were sharing on the car’s room with apt concern.

“Never been better,” the young Gem replied, disgruntled as he continued reclining on the hood.

“...Are you still mad about Kevin?” Connie asked, looking over at him knowingly.

“Yes!” Steven instantly admitted, his expression souring even more at the mere mention of the haughty teen.

“Well, that explains a lot,” Mabel noted, leaning forward somewhat. “But Steven, remember what your dad said; Kevin’s such a major jerkface that he isn’t even worth thinking about!”

“Ugh, I know!” Steven groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes before he sat up to turn to the twins. “But it’s not that easy! You guys only watched what happened; me and Connie were there when he--a-and it was… we just… AUGH!” The young Gem let out another angry growl as he flopped back down onto the hood, barely even able to articulate just how much of a negative impact the awful experience really had on him.

While the twins exchanged a worried glance over Steven’s rare anger, Connie simply kept her sights steadily on him. And, when she spoke a moment later, her tone was much softer, yet it still carried a hint of lingering satisfaction all the same. “Steven… I know how you feel,” she said, sitting up. “I’m mad about what happened too.”

Steven finally stilled at this, looking to her with apt surprise as he also sat up once more. “You don’t seem mad,” he noted, concerned.

“I’m thinking mad,” Connie sighed, shaking her head. “I still feel like there’s something… big I wanna say to him, you know? Something to make him think, like we’re thinking.”

“Ooo, maybe you guys could call him a major jerkface to his face!” Mabel suggested pointedly.

“Uh… somehow I don’t think that’s really gonna help, Mabel,” Dipper remarked, deadpan.

“To bad we can’t just… race against him,” Steven said, remembering just how much shallow pride Kevin seemed to have over his impressive vehicle. “Then we could use the first place ribbon to wipe that smug look off his face!”

“Well, that’s not the worst idea ever,” Dipper said with a shrug. “Just a little flawed given the obvious problem with it…”

“Really? What problem would that be?” Mabel asked, somewhat obliviously.

“Uh, we’re kids,” Connie replied, furrowing her brow. “And kids can’t drive; that’s against the law.”

“...We weren’t kids when we met Kevin…” Steven pointed out with a growing smile as he looked to Connie hopefully.

Connie smirked at this, understanding the young Gem’s intent almost immediately. “I smell what you’re steppin’ in,” she noted somewhat deviously.

“Ew,” Steven returned, his own wry grin still apparent.

“Ohhhhh my gosh!” Mabel gasped, getting the point of the plan herself. “Fusion racing! Its like regular racing, but with fusion! I LOVE it!”

“Uh, ok, but we all realize that this whole thing is still pretty illegal, right?” Dipper asked with a frown. “I mean, it’s not like either of you have driver’s licenses that are gonna just… fuse along with you, right?”

“You don’t need a license to drive a Dondai,” Steven remarked, taking on a cool, sauve tone.

“...Yes, you do,” Connie noted. “But then again, street racing is pretty illegal too, so… I guess two wrongs make a right in this case?”

“It will,” Steven’s tone turned serious once again at this, solidifying his resolve toward this plan and how it could--or at least he hoped it could--at long last set this egregious wrong against them right. “Especially if it finally helps take Kevin down a peg like he deserves…”

Out of all of the various hills and outlooks surrounding Gravity Falls, Demon’s Peak was by far the most notorious, and the most popular with the town’s young racing crowd. Most of its long, winding stretches of road were covered by a dense forest canopy, concealing much light at all during the later hours of the night. And as that road led to the top of the small mountain, drivers who took on its challenge were often met with a perilous journey filled with sharp turns and narrow paths along the way, not to mention the countless rumors of the peak being haunted, which of course, had contributed to its famous name. However, many of the town’s teens still flocked to the mountain each Friday night to get a taste of the high-octane thrills each race had to offer.

This night was no exception as a large crowd had gathered at the base of Demon’s Peak, many within it bringing their own vehicles to compete for the title of the fastest racer around. And yet, try as they might, there was really only one among them who could even hope to come close. A fact that they were all bitterly reminded of as a certain yellow sports car zoomed past the finish line in first, just as it always did.

A loud, disappointed groan arose from the bystanders as Kevin rolled his window down to smirk triumphantly over the car he’d just bested. Jenny returned that smirk with an irritated scowl, her frustration only growing as she pressed against the wheel of her car. “Ugh! My practice didn’t pay off at all!” she groaned, frustrated. “That was so bad.”

“I know, baby,” Kevin grinned as he stepped out of his car and walked past her. “I’m the worst.”

Jenny simply returned his smug, flirtatious remarks with another bitter scoff before she rejoined the spectating crowd herself. “Ugh… what a creep…” she grumbled as she came to stand alongside her friends.

“Seriously, and I thought I was a jerk,” Robbie remarked, his arm casually flung over Tambry’s shoulder. “But Kevin’s on, like… a whole other level.”

“Tell me about it,” Tambry remarked dryly, texting away as she usually did.

“Oh, I will, I-”

“Don’t, babe,” she glowered, briefly glancing up at her disgruntled boyfriend.

With yet another competitor beaten, Kevin also reconvened with his pair of friends, or rather, his partners in racing. One was clearly the muscle of the group, a large, intimidating, towering young man who barely even looked like teen with his impressive frame and noticeable facial hair. Flanking him was a much smaller girl, one with a keen, expensive fashion sense and layers of makeup to spare to match her practically flawless golden hair. Despite the drastic differences, both of them carried the same exact air of haughty arrogance as Kevin himself did, one that was apparent as they surveyed the crowd of apparently much less “fabulous” teens before them.

“Yet another flock of losers down,” the girl remarked, eyeing Jenny, Robbie, and Tambry smugly. “So… who’s next?”

“Anyone else think they can beat us and my Himitsu X-12 on the downhill course, step right up,” Kevin formally offered the challenge, though nobody seemed to take it. Instead, several members of the crowd seemed to shrink back at the offer, all of them too afraid of the inevitable shame they’d face upon so much as even trying to beat Kevin and his friends at their own game. “Oh, come on,” Kevin teased, disappointed by the lack of any real competitors. “How are we gonna get a cool-down lap if no one wants to go?”

“I’ll race you!”

The entire mood of the crowd shifted to surprise as a new car drove onto the scene--a certain Dondai, to be exact--driven by a certain fusion who, after a few self-taught driving lessons, had come more than ready to race.

The bystanders’ muted amazement continued as Stevonnie stepped out of the car, their expression stern and brazen, even as they faced their old foe once again. While Connie’s father’s jacket had been rather large on her, when she fused with Steven, it now fit Stevonnie perfectly, adding a unique sense of flair to their already bold style. As the fusion properly stood, they fluffed the collar of said jacket, briefly glancing down to the Dondai’s tinted window to exchange a discreet nod with Dipper and Mabel as they watched everything from their hidden spot in the back seat of the car. After all, even though the twins couldn’t exactly compete in the race itself, they were still dedicated to standing by Stevonnie’s side for any support they could offer, especially when it came to getting back at Kevin for everything he’d done.

As baffled as Kevin and his pair of friends were by this unexpected challenger, before any of them could say anything to Stevonnie, Ronaldo happened to run up to them from the crowd instead. “Ah! Is that a ‘96 Supremo?!” he asked the fusion enthusiastically.

“Uh… I think it’s a Dondai?” Stevonnie replied, looking to the car behind them.

“A Supremo is a Dondai!”

“Whoa. Really?”

The teen adjusted his glasses, dumbfounded at this. “..Are you saying you don’t know the true power of the Supremo?”

“Uh…” Stevonnie frowned, unsure of what to say. Briefly, they looked back toward the twins for help once more, both of whom shrugged, just as clueless as they were.

“Hey!” Kevin suddenly interjected, glaring at the fusion from across the lot. “That’s why I knew those brats at the car wash; they’re you!”

“Oh, you mean those ten year olds you flirted with at that party a few weeks ago?” his female friend asked with a sharp, teasing smirk. “Creep.”

“Ugh! For the last time, Lacy, I didn’t flirt with them!” Kevin growled before turning back to the fusion. “You twerps totally tricked me by looking like... that. But your whole ‘two kids in a beautiful trench coat’ routine isn’t gonna fool me this time, so don’t even try it!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Stevonnie shot back just as coldly as they slammed a hand down on top of the Dondai. “And I’ll show you what I’m made of when I beat you at this race!”

While a ripple of “oos” and “aahs” passed through the crowd at this, Kevin himself was hardly phased as he instead let out a smooth, sardonic snicker. “Oh. I see what’s going on here.”

“Do you?” Stevonnie asked, crossing their arms disdainfully.

“Yeah,” the teen smirked knowingly. “You’ve had a taste of Kevin, and now… you’re obsessed.”

Needless to say, Stevonnie was absolutely taken aback by such a remark, as were the twins inside the car as they met the fusions shocked look of disbelief evenly as they looked toward them once again. Yet even so, Stevonnie was absolutely having none of it, especially not from Kevin. Not again or ever again. “What?” they asked harshly, essentially whispering the word through their tightly-clenched teeth.

“I get it,” Kevin shrugged innocently. “I have that effect on people. Its cute. But aren’t I a little old for you?”

By this point, Stevonnie was far too set off by the teen’s continually slimey behavior to even come up with a coherent response. Instead, they simply let out a frustrated, disgusted groan, their hands shaking in fists of tight fury at their sides. Even so, they were more than ready to keep this argument going, at least until Kevin’s friend, Lacy, happened to interject.

“Ugh, enough already,” the girl rolled her eyes, clearly bored. “I swear, Kevin, I’m gonna puke if you keep this going any longer. Let’s just settle your whole ‘baggage’ with this fashion-blind wanna-be on the road, k?”

“Y-yeah!” Stevonnie agreed, glaring Kevin down once more. “You wanna race or not?”

“Do you?” Kevin raised a critical eyebrow at the fusion.

“Uh… yeah?”

“Hmph, then I guess you didn’t hear,” the teen smirked coldly. “Tonight’s race is a tag-team gauntlet. Three on three, with each racing one leg up to the top of the mountain and back down again. I’ve already got my team with Brock,” he nodded over to the mighty teen alongside him, who simply nodded gruffly and silently. “And Lacy here.” Lacy offered Stevonnie a patronizing grin and playful wave, her ego clearly large enough to match Kevin’s own. “So… where’s yours?”

“Uh, a-a team…?” Stevonnie frowned, briefly taking a look around the group of teens gathered behind them. Despite their initial support of the fusion however, they were all quick to avert their rather pleading gaze for help, none of them willing to face could very well be an embarrassing defeat against Kevin and his friends. “Um… well… I don’t…”

“No team, no race,” Lacy interjected, wagging a finger at the fusion. “Those are the rules.”

“Yeah, so if you can’t follow the rules like us ‘big kids’ here,” Kevin added, hands on his hips. “Then why don’t you go back to kindergarten and play with the rest of your little friends, hm?”

Stevonnie took in a sharp breath at this, gearing up to shoot back just as harsh of a retort back at the callous teen. That is, until they paused to actually consider a part of what he’d said, something that actually managed to give them a timely idea, especially as they turned to glance down at Dipper and Mabel still inside the Dondai beside them. “‘Little friends’, huh…?”

“You want us to what?!” Dipper asked, completely shocked by the outlandish idea Stevonnie had just proposed to him and Mabel.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy,” Stevonnie began, pacing around the secluded clearing they’d pulled the Dondai into to talk this out with the twins. “But I-”

“But I LOVE it!” Mabel suddenly interjected, stars in her eyes. “Just wait until Kevin and his jerky friends get a load of MAVEN! They won’t know what hit them once we blaze past ‘em on road, leaving them behind to eat our sparkly fusion dust!”

“That’s the spirit!” Stevonnie agreed brightly. “So obviously, Maven’s in but… we can’t be a real team without Stepper too…” The fusion looked to Dipper with a hopeful, pleading smile. “So… what do you say, Dipper?”

The most Dipper could really do was let out a small, relenting sigh as he looked between both Stevonnie and Mabel, knowing he couldn’t very well say no to either one of them. Even if the entire situation as a whole was an odd mix of ridiculous and risky. “Ok, fine,” he said. “But… this is gonna be tricky. I mean, you look normal enough, Stevonnie, but Maven has four eyes. And I don’t even wanna know what they’d say out there if they got a load of Stepper’s extra set of arms….”

“No woes, bro-bro,” Mabel grinned, tossing an arm over her brother’s shoulder. “That’s where Mabel comes in. Now, Steven… if you will…” Her smile widened as she extended a hand out to Stevonnie, who was more than happy to comply by gracefully unfusing. And with Steven and Connie apart, the latter was just as ready to go from one fusion right into another.

However, what none of the kids spotted as that fusion was formed in the usual flourish of radiant light, was a bright flicker of purple flame sparking in the nearby woods. Nor did they notice the lone figure, completely obscured by shadow outside of her more fiery features, discreetly watching the entire scene from afar. “Well, well… How interesting…” she grinned deviously to herself. “Better get a front-row seat. After all, this is one race I’m not about to miss…”

Though they had agreed to allow Stevonnie enough time to gather their “team” together, the longer Kevin and his friends were left to wait, the more impatient they became. Said impatience was first voiced by Brock, albeit in his usual wordless way in the form of deep, disgruntled grunt.

“Yeah, I know,” Kevin huffed, annoyed as he glanced up from his phone. “They’re taking forever. Should have expected as much from a bunch of dumb kids.”

“Who knows?” Lacy remarked with a broad grin. “Maybe they chickened out. You know how little kids get when they’re scared. They’re probably running home to their mommies and daddies even as we speak.”

Both Kevin and Lacy broke into a round of mocking, vindictive laughter at this and even Brock let out a small, albeit very slow chuckle. However, that laughter was short lived as the Dondai came speeding back toward the crowd, albeit rather haphazardly to the point that several of the teens had to hastily leap out of the way just to avoid being hit. As surprised as everyone was by this wreckless arrival, it soon became apparent that Stevonnie wasn’t behind the wheel this time as a seemingly new figure entirely emerged from the vehicle instead.

“Hi, everybody!” Maven cheerfully exclaimed the moment they burst open the door. The fusion rose to their full height just as brightly, showing off their more “mature look” as they decided to dub it in the form of the sweater now tied around their neck, their long hair tied up tight and most importantly, the pair of dark sunglasses completely concealing their upper pair of eyes from view. Confident in that look, Maven strode forward, clearly happy to be there as they continued waving to the dumbfounded crowd while passing them by. “Hey! Hiya! Maven here, ready to race!”

“Tch, looks like they managed to scrounge up a team after all,” Kevin remarked with a dry glower, though it soon turned into a flirty grin as he looked Maven over. “Hey there, baby, I-”

“Whoahohohoho--whoa, whoa,” Maven instantly cut him off, aggressively shoving a finger over his mouth to silence him. “Back it up there, big guy. You really oughta learn to quit while you’re ahead before you go and embarrass yourself. Again.”

Kevin was admittedly quite taken aback, especially as he met the rather dour, disapproving glare Maven was sending his way. Even so, he did his best to play it off with a cool scoff, backing away from them as he maintained his usual pompous demeanor. “O-oh yeah? Well, maybe you should learn that socks and sandals together are about the biggest fashion mistake anyone can make! Same goes for wearing sunglasses at night!”

Maven was clearly unaffected by such shallow remarks, however as they simply shrugged easily. “Eh, it’s a look. One that I can totally pull off. Makes me stand out in a crowd, ya know?”

“Ugh, whatever,” Kevin scowled, crossing his arms. “So, where’s the rest of your team? Did ‘Stevonnie’ or whatever their name is wimp out and head home?”

“Nah, Stevonnie and our other teammate Stepper are just… a little busy right now…” Maven turned, sparing a brief, wry wink over at the Dondai. From its back seat, Dipper and Connie spared a peak outside the window, not wanting to give their cover away, to the point that they had already carefully cautioned Maven not to do exactly that. Not that they believed such caution would do much good when it came to the somewhat flighty fusion but still, it was a protective measure all the same. “But don’t worry, they’ll be ready when they need to be. For now, Kevin,” they remarked pointedly, turning back to the teen. “Are you ready to race me?”

“Oh, I won’t be racing you, sweetheart,” Kevin grinned evenly. “I’ll leave that up to Brock.”

“Oooo what?” Maven said with a challenging grin. “Are you too scared to take me on your… self…?” The fusion stopped short as they noticed the large shadow looming over them. When they turned however, they were met face to face with the practically massive form of Brock, who easily towered over their own impressive height, making them feel quite small by comparison. Even so, Maven took it in stride, offering the much larger teen a wry, cheerful wave all the same. “Oof, you’re a big fella, aren’t you? Say, what kinda diet does a guy have to be on to get that… you know…” Maven trailed off, puffing their chest as they flexed their muscles to show what they meant. “Is it a protein thing, or like a balance of the right vitamins and minerals, or do you, uh….” The fusion frowned as Brock turned without answering a single one of their questions, instead heading toward Kevin’s car to begin the race in earnest. “Oh, um… good talk, I guess?”

“Don’t mess my car up, or you’re done, you hear?” Kevin remarked to his teammate, his tone cold as Brock barely managed to squeeze his way inside. As always, Brock simply nodded silently, his expression stern and unreadable as he turned his sights toward the starting line ahead.

At the same time, Maven returned to the Dondai, eagerly taking the driver’s seat as they gripped the steering wheel confidently. “Alrighty,” they grinned, adjusting their mirror to get a glimpse to catch a view of Connie and Dipper in the back seat. “You guys ready to be a part of the best, most action-packed race ever!”

“Uh… maybe we could tone down the ‘action-packed’ part, just to be safe?” Connie purposed, anxious.

“Remember what we talked about, you guys,” Dipper reminded cautiously. “You need to drive carefully. Losing to Kevin and his pals are one thing; but sending the car plummeting over the side of a cliff with all of us inside it is… something else entirely. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who would rather not have that happen.”

“Aw, relax, Dip-bro,” Maven assured, adjusting their shades. “I got this. Not only are we gonna beat Kevin and his cronies, but we’re gonna do it in style.”

“That’s… kind of what we’re afraid of…” Connie muttered, exchanging a nervous glance with Dipper.

Even so, the race was clearly all set to begin, the pathway leading up the mountain clear and open for both cars competing on it. And, with a swift wave of the checkered flag, the first leg of the three-part race was at last underway.

“All right!” Maven cheered, daringly pushing the clutch forward as they pressed the gas pedal all the way down. “Full speed ahead!”

Both the Dondai and the sports car blasted forward right out of the gate, their engines equally thunderous as they peeled out onto the road. For the first stretch, both vehicles were neck-and-neck, clocking in the exact same speed as they rounded the first bend uphill. However, as that turn leveled out, Borock began taking on the slightest lead, something that the pair of passengers in the Dondai’s back seat were quick to notice.

“He’s getting ahead!” Connie warned, glancing back to the fusion in the driver’s seat.

“Not for long!” Maven grinned, shifting gears to gain more speed. The Dondai suddenly jerked forward on that speed, throwing Connie and Dipper back into their seats, though Maven readily thrived on it as they leaned forward, exhilarated, especially as they passed Brock by. “Whoo! This is so fun! Its like I was born for the road and the road was born for me!”

“Uh, m-maybe you should keep your eyes on that road!?” Dipper suggested tightly, holding onto his seat for dear life as Maven recklessly swerved around another hairpin turn.

“Hey, no worries, Dip-bro!” Maven assured, glancing back at the pair to the point that they weren’t looking at the road at all. “Like I said, I got this in the bag! There’s no way that big guy will ever catch up to us! Especially not when we shift into turbo!”

“T-this car doesn’t even have any turbo gears!” Connie exclaimed, aptly frightened by Maven’s dangerous driving.

“Wait,” Dipper gasped as he caught sight of what awaited on the road dead ahead. “Maven, no-”

“MAVEN YES!” the fusion exclaimed, pushing the Dondai as hard as it would go toward the natural ramp made up of a handful of logs. They still had a solid lead over Brock as he trailed behind them, but with this new, risky route in mind, Maven hoped to claim a victory that would be all but guaranteed.

As the Dondai reached that ramp, Dipper and Connie were mutually covering their eyes out of sheer terror for what could very well be their painful demise in the very high likelihood that the vehicle didn’t stick the landing. Even so, Maven took the leap confidently, their sunglasses flying off to reveal their upper pair of eyes, which were practically sparkling with excitement as the car soared into the night. For a few brief, breathless seconds, the car was completely weightless, until gravity began to bring it back down toward the road. Or rather, toward the entirely new pathway that had suddenly been paved, as if by magic, right as the Dondai landed solidly (and above all else, safely) upon it.

However, said magic pathway did divert its driver off of the main path, something Maven didn’t notice until they happened to catch sight of a familiar yellow sports car breezing past them out their rear view mirror. “Hey!” the fusion exclaimed, grinding the Dondai to a screeching halt within the wooded clearing they’d accidentally driven into. “What gives?! This wasn’t part of my totally awesome plan to victory!”

“Maybe not yet… but it could be!”

“Huh?” Maven blinked, surprised as they looked around the clearing. Likewise, Dipper and Connie exchanged a confused, still quite breathless from the harrowing leap they’d just miraculously survived.

“Who said that?” Connie frowned, looking out the window to notice the surrounding trees were encompassed by an odd purple glow.

“I don’t know… but I’m gonna check it out,” Maven said, summoning their grappling shield just in case.

“So are we,” Dipper said, Connie agreeing as they all slowly, carefully got out of the car. The woods were strangely quiet as the kids all grouped together, Maven still brandishing their grappling shield as they looked around for anything out of the ordinary. The race was all but forgotten in place of a possibly more important threat, one that, even without their swords, Dipper and Connie were more than ready to back Maven up in facing.

And that supposed threat soon made itself known as a bright, mischievous laugh began echoing through the woods. It was accompanied by a ring of sudden pinkish flames that surrounded the kids and the Dondai, catching them off guard even more as they all pressed a bit closer together defensively.

“Who’s there?!” Dipper demanded brazenly.

“Show yourself!” Connie added just as sternly.

“Yeah! I got a whole, loaded grappling shield here and trust me, you do not want a piece of it!” Maven warned, holding said weapon aloft. “I should know, I’ve accidentally bonked myself in the head with it more times than I can count and it really smarts.”

The odd, chuckling voice didn’t respond to any of these threats, however, as it was instead replaced by the loud din of an approaching roaring engine. The kids still had no idea what to expect as the shape of a motorcycle soon began to materialize amidst the flames, though what was even stranger was that its silhouette soon seamlessly transformed into the shape of what seemed to be a racecar. However, as the flames finally began to burn out and the wild laughter quieted down, that car somehow became a vibrant bike once more. A bike carrying an even more vibrant rider.

The motorcycle screeched to a stop right before the startled group of kids, allowing them all to get their first clear view of that rider. Based on her sharp horns, claws, fangs, and tail alone, she clearly wasn’t human, as if her bright purple skin and matching, literally flaming hair weren’t telling enough of her otherworldly nature. Yet beyond that, her entire look fit her high-speed ride quite well, from her pink torn jacket, to her slick black leather skirt and gloves. All this was topped off by a sharp black biker helmet, with a pink visor that obscured her eyes but did reveal her large, broad, toothy grin.

“Beware foolish mortals!” she began, hovering high over the dumbfounded group of kids, displaying her claws threateningly as her flaming hair burned brighter. “For you have incurred the wrath of-” She cut herself off sharply as a sudden small shield zipped past her, nearly hitting her in the process, though she happened to dodge it just in the nick of time. “Hey! I was trying to pull of a dramatic entrance here!”

“Oops, sorry!” Maven apologized as they reeled their grappling shield back in. “Please, continue.”

“Ugh, no, forget it,” the biker groaned, annoyed. “It’s already ruined. ‘Sides, I’m not really one to drag on with a bunch of dumb ‘theatrics’. Really just drags things down to a crawl if ya ask me.”

The kids still had no real idea of what to think about this strange being, though even so, Dipper was the first to speak up to get a better read on her. “Uh… who and… what are you, exactly?”

“Ooo, gettin’ right to the point,” the biker grinned, levitating a bit lower. “I like that. Well, since you asked soooo nicely, the name’s Zoom. And I’m what your kind calls… a speed demon.”

“A-a demon?”Connie asked, exchanging mutually nervous glances with Maven and Dipper.

“Aw, what?” Zoom asked with a patronizing smirk as her visor disappeared to reveal her set of five multicolored eyes. “Are you kiddos scared of a big, bad demon? Lemme guess, it’s ‘cause of this guy, right?” Her devious smile widened as she positioned her hands in the shape of a triangle over her singular, center eye.

“B-Bill?!” Dipper exclaimed, aptly alarmed. “You… you know him?”

“Ugh, wish I didn’t,” Zoom finally scowled as her visor reappeared. “Cipher’s a total chump. Gives all of demon-kind a bad name. Sorta like how those ‘friends’ of yours give racers a bad name.”

“Kevin is not our friend,” Maven clarified much sharper than they usually would have.

“Yeah, I kinda figured seeing how you kiddos are so dead-set on beating him in your little race,” Zoom noted, casually reclining back in midair. “I’m usually not too keen on all these punk mortals, thinking they can tear it up on my turf. I’m the only one with enough skills to really race around here; that’s why they call it Demon’s Peak. ‘Cause it’s mine.”

“Uh… well, we’re… sorry for racing on your peak,” Connie began earnestly. “But we-”

“Eh, don’t be sorry,” Zoom shrugged. “Believe it or not, I’m actually a big fan of how you kids operate. The whole ‘sparkly, glowy magicking into the same person’ thing? It’s a pretty killer angle, even if it pales in comparison to what I can do on the road.”

“Uh… you mean… fusion?” Maven asked, somewhat confused.

“Sure, if that’s what you wanna call it,” Zoom said, leaning in closer to Maven to get a better look. “And just look at you! Lovin’ the look, especially the whole four eyes thing you’ve got goin’ on. Almost as wicked as my look. Almost.”

“Wow, thanks!” Maven grinned, warmly accepting the compliment. “You know, for a demon, you’re awfully nice.”

“Yeah, sure, ‘nice’,” Zoom said, emphasizing with air quotes. “Anyway, enough talk about you, let’s talk about me. See, like I said before, I got a little… problem with so many mortals racing on my mountain. But I think you kids might just be the solution I’ve been looking for to curb that little problem once and for all…”

“Uh… how do you see that?” Dipper asked, somewhat uneasy.

“Simple,” the demon crossed her arms confidently. “You wanna take those chumps down a peg, right? Well, you’re never gonna do it in an old hunk of junk like that,” she seamlessly teleported behind the kids to take a seat on top of the Dondai. “Though I will give ya points for keeping it classic. So here’s the deal; I’ll use my special “speed demon powers” to help you kids win the race.”

“In exchange for…?” Connie asked, worried.

“Nothin’!” Zoom smiled amicably. “You get to win and I get the satisfaction of watching a bunch of dumb, tresspassing losers drive home with their tails between their legs. Everyone leaves happy! Well, ‘xcept for… ‘Kyle’ or whatever his name was.”

“Kevin,” Maven corrected. “And… I… really kinda like this idea! Especially if it involves putting Kevin in his place.”

“Uh, Maven?” Dipper interjected. “A word?” The fusion agreed, leaving Zoom on standby as both Dipper and Connie pulled them aside. “This is a really bad idea,” Dipper began in a tense whisper. “She’s a demon. And we should all know by now that deals with demons are practically destined to end badly.”

“Aw, but c’mon, Dipper,” Maven protested. “Zoom seems really cool! And if she wants to help us out, then why don’t we pitch in to help her in return? After all, wouldn’t you be mad too if a bunch of strangers started racing all over your mountain?”

“I highly doubt this is actually Zoom’s mountain, you guys,” Connie frowned. “But still… she could give us a leg up in the competition… which we’re currently losing, by the way.”

“Yeah, we are,” Maven crossed their arms, disgruntled. “To Kevin and his friends…”

“Wha--Connie!” Dipper exclaimed, caught off guard. “You’re supposed to help me be the voice of reason here!”

“I know… but... maybe this won’t turn out as badly as you think it will, Dipper,” Connie proposed thoughtfully. “That’s all I’m saying.”

“You better believe it won’t!”

The kids were all caught completely off guard as Zoom suddenly interjected into the conversation, appearing seemingly out of nowhere as she hovered in the space between them. “So, do we got ourselves a deal here?” she asked, extending a hand out to Maven in particular.

Maven took pause at this, glancing between Dipper, who shook his head disapprovingly, and Connie, who simply shrugged indecisively. Even so, though one half of the fusion themselves wasn’t quite sure what to do, their other half had essentially no doubts. Kevin deserved to be humbled, needed to be knocked off his high and mighty pedestal. And if beating him and his friends in this race was the only way they knew how to do that, then they would just have to do whatever it took to win. No matter what.

“Deal,” the fusion said, shaking the demon’s hand solidly.

Zoom simply smiled at this, her fiery hair blazing brighter as her visor flashed with unknown intent. “Perfect…”

“Ugh, keeping us waiting again?” Kevin asked as he stood alongside Brock and Lacy at the end of the first leg of the race. “What’s wrong with those dumb kids and their dumb friends?”

“They had to have chickened out for real this time,” Lacy remarked, touching up on her makeup. “Figures they wouldn’t be able to hand the heat, right, Brock?”

Brock simply nodded, his icy expression set straight ahead as it always was. Even though he’d crossed the finish line without contest quite some time ago, he’d hardly celebrated the easy win like Kevin and Lacy had. Still, the latter pair were more than happy to claim victory in the first third of the leg of the race, confident that they’d be able to do just as well in the other two rounds.

“Ohoho, look who decided to show up after all!” Kevin called as he spotted the Dondai finally approaching. “What, did you get lost on the straightaway up here?”

“Nope,” Maven remarked smoothly as they stepped out of the car. “I was just… taking care of some business, is all.”

“Heh, well, while you were busy with your ‘business’,” Kevin said with a pointed grin. “Our boy Brock here was basically driving circles around you. Or at least he would have if you had been here.”

“Oh, I know,” Maven nodded coolly, adjusting the shades they’d recovered their upper eyes with. “Congrats, by the way. Though, I’m sorry to say, that’s the last one you guys will be getting tonight.”

“Oh, really?” Lacy asked with a scoff. “And why is that?”

“Mm… let’s just say we’ve got a little extra… team spirit on our side…” the fusion grinned, looking beyond the trio to the forest behind them. Or rather, toward Zoom as she casually sat atop a distant tree. The demon’s visor disappeared, allowing her to offer Maven a playful wink, one that the fusion readily returned, albeit with one of their hidden upper eyes.

“Whatever that’s supposed to mean,” Kevin rolled his eyes. “So is your next racer coming or not? You’ve already made us wait on you guys twice now and we don’t have all night. Kevin needs his beauty sleep.”

“Next racer… oh, right!” Maven exclaimed, hurrying back to the Dondai. “Uh… lemme get go him! Be back in a jiff!”

“Ugh, seriously?!” Lacy groaned as the fusion took off once again. “More waiting!?”

Mabel and Connie both sat on the hood of the Dondai, watching with anticipation as the light of fusion steadily died down to reveal their ‘next racer’. Like Maven and Stevonnie before him, Stepper’s attire was somewhat changed, though only really in the form of him wearing Dipper’s jacket as opposed to his usual vest. Even so, the fusion was diffident right off of the bat, especially since half of him was largely still opposed to most of their rather risky undertakings this evening.

“Ok, Mabel... “ Stepper began, frowning down at his lower arms. “You came up with a pretty clever solution for Maven’s extra eyes, I’ll give you that. But… how exactly are you planning on hiding these?”

“Hm… you do propose an interesting challenge, dear… technically half-brother of mine…” Mabel nodded thoughtfully. “But… if I recall correctly, Dipper happened to bring his backpack along with him, didn’t he?”

“Uh… yeah?” Stepper shrugged, confused. “It’s in the back seat. Why?”

Mabel didn’t answer, instead sliding off the hood to fetch the aforementioned backpack. Connie and Stepper watched curiously as she dumped everything out of the pack before pulling a pair of scissors out of her sweater. “Um, Mabel?” Connie spoke up, quite bewildered herself. ��What are you doing?”

“Less talk!” Mabel exclaimed, digging the tip of her scissors into the backside of the pack. “More snip!”

“Wha--hey!” Stepper gasped, reaching for the pack. “Mabel! That’s my, o-or that’s Dipper’s backpack!”

“Correction, Ste-bro, it was Dipper’s backpack,” Mabel grinned as she turned to present her finished product to him. “But now, it’s your backpack, ‘specially made just for you, Stepper!”

“Um… thanks?” Stepper said, half smiling as he took the pack before his expression and tone turned deadpan and flat. “Yeah, thanks, you cut a gaping hole into the back of it. Super helpful.”

“You bet it is!” Mabel proclaimed proudly. “Especially when it comes to tucking away those extra arms of yours out of sight where nobody can see ‘em…”

“Oh? Oooooo…” Stepper’s eyes widened as he looked back to the backpack with newfound realization. “That’s brilliant, Mabel! Well, at least it will be if it actually works…”

“Well, try it on and find out,” Connie encouraged with a small, curious smile.

Stepper did so, sliding the back on before (albeit a bit awkwardly) bending his lower arms behind his back to slip inside the pack’s opening. It took a bit of doing, and while it wasn’t the most comfortable setup in the world, it certainly worked in concealing his lower arms perfectly fine. “Oh wow!” Stepper smiled excitedly. “We might actually be able to pull this off after all!”

“You’d better, kiddo.” The fusion gasped in alarm as Zoom suddenly materialized out of thin air alongside him. As startled as he was, his shield journal flashed into his grip, a small shield forming over it as he braced himself for an attack he found he didn’t have to unleash after all.

“Oh, hi, Zoom!” Stepper greeted, blithely at first before shifting into clear distrust. “Ugh… you again. How exactly do you plan on ‘helping’ us anyway? What, are you gonna turn our car into some sort of soul-eating monster? Turn the road into a lava-filled death trap? P-possess us to make us a better driver?!”

Zoom barely even flinched at any of these suggestions, instead only letting out a wry, amused chuckle after the fusion was done. “Ohoho, all good ideas! When you think, you really think big, dontcha, four arms?” she proceeded to playfully pinch Stepper’s cheek at this, something that set the on edge fusion off even more, especially given the demon’s sharp claws. “But… luckily for you, my strategies are a little more… subtle. And you’ll just have to wait to get a taste of them until you’re actually out on the road.”

“Hmph, I’ll be looking forward to it…” Stepper remarked dryly, crossing his arms.

“Uh, speaking of the road, you guys should probably get back into the race,” Connie reminded.

“Yeah, you don’t wanna keep Cody or Kameron or what’s-his-face waiting,” Zoom teased, turning Stepper’s cap backward as she floated past. “Or more importantly, you don’t wanna keep me waiting. See you on the road, kiddos.” The demon let out another smooth chuckle as she called upon her bike once more, revving it loudly before driving it out of sight in a bright burst of her iconic purple flames.

“Ugh,” Stepper growled as he straightened his cap, though he still left it on backward as he took his seat inside the Dondai. “Let’s just get this over with…”

Compared to Stevonnie and Maven, Stepper was admittedly much less comfortable behind the wheel, a fact that was made obvious given how touch-and-go the fusion was in so much as driving back to the start of the next leg of the race. The Dondai slowly, almost cautiously approached the trio of waiting teens, largely as a result of Stepper trying his best to drive as safely as possible, especially after the wild ride Maven just had.

“A-alright,” Stepper began somewhat unsteadily as he got out of the car to face the teens. All the while, he made sure his lower pair of arms were safely secured out of sight within his backpack, hoping to come across as normal enough. Or at least, to not completely blow the cover they’d all been scarcely keeping up so far. “Let’s race?” he offered the trio an apprehensive smile, one that none of them returned as they instead offered him a shared cursory look.

“Are you kidding?” Lacy spoke up, hands on her hips. “I have to race you?”

“Uh… yeah?” Stepper raised an eyebrow as the girl walked up to him. “What of it?”

“Tch, I knew this was gonna be easy, but this?” she laughed, essentially circling the confused fusion. “Schoolyard backpack? Baseball cap? What are you, 12?”

“N-no!” Stepper snapped, flustered. “I-I mean… t-technically not right now I guess, b-but whatever. It doesn’t matter how I’m dressed; I can still race laps around you!”

“Heh, maybe if we were racing tricycles,” Lacy mocked, leaning in close to the fusion. “You know, despite your garbage taste in fashion, you are pretty cute. Say, why don’t you and I ditch the rest of the race and go have a real good time…?”

“Augh!” Stepper instantly recoiled in disgust at such a flirtatious suggestion. Even so, he was hardly surprised by it; after all, this was one of Kevin’s friends who was offering it in the first place. Even so, the fusion was quick to regain his cool, adjusting the sides of his jacket as he took a large step back from Lacy. “Sorry,” he said with a cold glare. “But I’m already spoken for.”

“Hmph, your loss,” Lacy shrugged, heading back to stand alongside Kevin and Brock. “Enough talk; let’s race.”

“Finally,” Stepper groaned, turning to get back into the car. He was still largely simmering with anger even as he got back behind the wheel, largely ignoring the surprised looks both Mabel and Connie were sending his way as he did. “She’s going down…” he grumbled crossly, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“Ohoho! Feisty Stepper!” Mabel grinned excitedly. “I like it! Throw some of that fire under our tires and we’re sure to win!”

“Well, between that and Zoom’s help, I’d say our chances are pretty good,” Connie noted with a relieved smile.

“We don’t need her help,” Stepper scoffed, annoyed. “We can do this on our own.”

“Oh, can you now?”

“Ah!” the fusion gasped as he glanced to the passenger seat, only to find a certain speed demon casually reclining in it. “Will you stop doing that?!”

“Aw, c’mon, kiddo,” Zoom grinned playfully. “I just figured I’d hitch a ride, get a taste of how you are on the road before I make my move.”

“No need,” Stepper huffed, pulling up to the starting line. “I’m just fine on the road, thanks.”

“Lemme guess,” Zoom said knowingly. “This is your first time ever getting behind the wheel, right?”

“Uh, technically it’s my third,” the fusion corrected. “But it’s also sort of my first--b-but it doesn’t matter. I can do this.”

“We’ll see about that…” the demon remarked, getting comfortable in her spot in the passenger's seat.

“Well, we believe in you, Stepper!” Mabel cheered brightly.

“Yeah! You’ve got this!” Connie warmly agreed.

Enthused by their encouragements, Stepper resteeled his grip on the wheel, blocking out any further distractions as the countdown to the start of the race began. And yet, the moment the flag came down to start it, Lacy instantly sped off, the sports car blasting out onto the road that led the rest of the way up the mountain. However, Stepper on the other hand, noticeably did not.

“Uh… Stepper?” Mabel frowned, leaning forward from her spot in the back as she noticed Stepper’s relatively low speed. “We gonna… pick the pace any time soon?”

“Um, no?” the fusion scoffed, keeping his eyes on the road. “The signs say the speed limit is 30 miles an hour here. I may be trying to win, but I’m also trying to keep us from crashing. Unlike another fusion I happen to know.”

Mabel stuck her tongue out at Stepper upon hearing this, at least until Connie worriedly interjected. “Uh, ok, but… we’re never even gonna catch up to Lacy at this rate. Staying under the speed limit is important, but I think, in this case, it might just be ok to break it…”

“And risk speeding off a cliff?” Stepper asked incredulously, still maintaining his slow, steady pace. “I don’t think so.”

“Yawn,” Zoom groaned tiredly. “You’re puttin’ me to sleep with all this ‘safe driving’, kiddo. Looks like you need my help more than I thought. So… why don’t we turn up the heat?!”

“Wha-” Stepper cut himself off sharply as the demon suddenly disappeared, only to reposition herself on top of the vehicle. Then, before the fusion inside of it could even try to protest, Zoom slammed her hands down on top of the car hard, engulfing it in a bright, purple aura. The Dondai suddenly catapulted forward, flames of the exact same color erupting from its tailpipe as Stepper panicked under this newfound burst of manic speed.

“W-what’s happening?!” the fusion cried, desperately trying to maintain control over the car as it zipped around a sharp turn. To help the effort, Stepper hurriedly pulled his lower arms out from his backpack, gripping the wheel with them as well in the hopes that they’d give him some better leverage. A tactic that, surprisingly enough, actually happened to work.

“I’m happening, kiddo!” Zoom laughed loudly from her spot atop the Dondai, her flaming hair flickering wildly in the wind. “And if there’s anything you should know about me, it’s that I race… to WIN!”

“Whoohoo! Yeah, you do!” Mabel cheered, pumping her fist as she took a peek out the window. “Look! We’re about to catch up!”

“I-If we don’t crash first!” Connie exclaimed, aptly fearful.

“Aw, relax,” Zoom scoffed in amusement. “I like you kids too much to let ya crash. But as for your little friend up there… well, she’s an entirely different story…”

As the Dondai sped forward, Lacy did largely the same in Kevin’s car, brazenly confident in her victory to the point that she was hardly even trying at all. “Tch, looks like ‘baseball cap’ should have thrown in the towel when he had the chance,” she smirked as she adjusted her rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of her own reflection. “There’s no way he’ll ever be able to catch up driving so--what?!” Lacy snapped harshly as she stole another glance out of the mirror to see the Dondai rapidly approaching from behind. “Hmph, looks like he’s more than just a pretty face after all…” she noted before shoving the car’s clutch forward aggressively. “But so… am I!”

While the sports car got a hitch of speed, Zoom responded in turn, pressing the Dondai even further as she disappeared out of sight to carry out the next part of her plan. At the same time, Stepper’s eyes were wide as he watched the speedometer waver wildly back and forth, never able to settle on a single speed as he continued using all four of his arms to keep the car on track. “I-I can’t stop it!” he cried, slamming his foot on the break only for the car to continue on its haphazard way. “W-what do we do?!”

“Win, silly!” Mabel exclaimed, exhilarated as she pointed out the front window to what lay ahead. “Look!”

The fusion did so, only to find that Zoom had taken up a perch atop the sports car this time, where she briefly glanced around before finding exactly what she was looking for. A burst of purple flame materialized above her hand, one that she instantly lobbed toward the forest far ahead of her. Her aim hit true, striking one of the several shorter trees bordering the road squarely at its base. The blast was enough to uproot the tree entirely, sending it careening forward into the road right as Lacy sped toward it.

The kids inside the Dondai all let out a startled gasp as they saw this, genuinely frightened that the teen would actually end up in a deadly crash. However, Lacy herself managed to spot the falling tree just in time, letting out a terrified scream as she slammed hard on her breaks. The sports car spiraled out, coming to a sharp stop just shy of the downed tree now barring up half of the road ahead. Shaken by the harrowing experience, Lacy took a moment to catch her lost breath, her usually pristine hair and makeup completely askew. However, she was about to receive an even greater shock as a certain Dondai suddenly drifted past both her and the tree in her way.

Stepper spun the wheel hard to avoid hitting the tree himself, finding a place on the small patch of the road not covered by it. As he did, the Dondai swung out to the point that its front window was briefly facing the sports car, effectively allowing him to be face to face with Lacy. And, even despite his own abject terror, it was an opportunity the fusion wasn’t about to waste as he flashed her a broad smile, lifting three of his four hands away from the steering wheel to offer her a playful, teasing wave.

“WHAT?!” Lacy gasped, dumbstruck as she saw this, though only for a moment before Stepper sped past her entirely. Acting quickly, she forced the sports car back into action but it was already far too late now. The Dondai had gained an incredible lead, still pressed on by the otherworldly power Zoom had fueled it with. And, unlike before, Stepper reveled in this lead, letting out an excited laugh, one that Connie and Mabel gladly shared as their car glided swiftly over the finish line at the peak of the mountain, completely uncontested.

With one victory in hand, Zoom finally cut her magic off, at last allowing the Dondai to come to a safe stop. The moment it did, Stepper, Mabel, and Connie all piled out of it, more than happy to celebrate their unexpected triumph together. “W-we did it!” the fusion exclaimed, both sets of arms happily embracing himself. “We actually won!”

“Correction: I won,” Zoom remarked, taking up her usual spot on top of the Dondai as she appeared out of nowhere. “You… well, you mostly just sat there screaming the entire time, but I guess you were there, so kudos to you for not dying, kiddo.”

“Uh, yeah, speaking of that,” Stepper’s smile finally faded into a disapproving look. “Can we talk about how you nearly killed someone back there? That wasn’t part of our deal.”

“So what if it wasn’t?” the demon shrugged, unconcerned. “You won, didn’t you? And that’s what you wanted, right?”

“W-well… yeah, but…”

“But nothin’, kiddo,” Zoom turned her back to the kids. “Far as I’m concerned, if you wanna win any race, then you’ve gotta be willing to do whatever it takes. No matter what…”

Upon hearing such an ominous statement, the kids all exchanged a mutually concerned glance, all of them silently wondering exactly what the demon’s true intentions really were. And yet, they didn’t get a chance to figure that out as the loud roar of a familiar engine sounded out from just down the road. “Look alive, kids,” Zoom advised, smirking as she disappeared into her usual purple flames once more. “The final lap is about to begin…”

If there was one thing the kids could all agree with the demon on, it was that. Which was why Mabel and Connie quickly piled into the back seat as Stepper concealed his lower arms once more, just as the sports car pulled up alongside the Dondai.

“Look, I’m not crazy, Kevin!” Lacy snapped, getting out of the car first as Kevin and Brock sullenly followed. “He really does have four arms, see?!”

Her companions took a skeptical look over at the fusion, who simply offered them an innocent smile and wave, his lower set of arms still completely hidden away inside his pack as they’d been before. “Yeah, ok, whatever, Lacy,” Kevin scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Sounds to me like you’re just coming up with excuses about why you lost,” Stepper pointed out with a patronizing smirk. “But there’s nothing to be ashamed of. I am pretty great behind the wheel after all.”

“Tch, suuuure you are,” Lacy deadpanned crossly. “If driving like my grandma is what you call ‘great driving’.”

“Hey, it was enough to beat you, wasn’t it?” Stepper snarked right back.

“Only ‘cause you cheated.”

“W-wha--how’d you--I-I mean, no, I didn’t-”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Kevin interjected, coming to stand between the pair. “You ‘ladies’ can always argue about which one of you is prettier later. ‘Cause now, it’s time for the main event.” The teen turned to Stepper, who only had a severe scowl to offer him and nothing more as he continued. “Tell your friend, Stevonnie, that Kevin’s ready for ‘em. And this time, the winner takes all.”

Upon hearing this, Zoom simply laughed quietly to herself, perched against her bike just past the nearby treeline as she watched the exchange unfold. “They always do, bud,” she grinned, her visor flashing mysteriously as she prepared to get in place for the race’s final leg. “They always do…”

Stevonnie let out a deep, steadying breath as they pulled the Dondai up to the starting line. The last third of the race would lead all the way down the mountain back to where it had all begun, taking a much shorter path than the two-segments of the race that had led up to the peak to begin with. Even so, it was a tricky stretch of road with sharp turns and narrow passages aplenty. Even so, the fusion was determined to tackle both it, and more importantly Kevin, head on in the deciding lap of the currently-tied race.

“You know,” Kevin spoke up, looking out his open window with his usual smooth grin. “This mountain pass has some really beautiful views. Shame you’ll only be seeing my tail lights the entire time.”

Stevonnie gripped the steering wheel tighter at this, agitated as they clenched their teeth and let out a hissed response. “You wish.”

“Don’t listen to him, Stevonnie!” Mabel encouraged from the back seat in a bright whisper.

“Yeah, he’s just trying to get inside your head,” Dipper added just as supportively. “You can do this! H-hopefully in a much less dangerous way than the past two rounds…”

“Thanks, guys,” Stevonnie grinned, remaining subtle as they set their sights on the road ahead. However, as they waited for the starting flag, they failed to see Brock send Kevin a subtle signal from the sidelines. One that only the teen saw, prompting him to get the race started before the flag even fell.

“It’s Kevin time!” he grinned, slamming his foot on the gas to peel out from the starting line several seconds early.

“Shoot!” Stevonnie exclaimed, startled as they quickly gathered their bearings, pushing the Dondai into motion itself. The vehicle took off, speeding down the road at a steady, yet confident pace, matching the fusion’s own determined confidence as they made their brazen attempt to win this race once and for all.

At the same time, Kevin also carried an air of confidence in his own driving, assured that he’d be able to turn the current tie in his favor, all for the sake of maintaining his undefeated title. However, he was quite caught off guard upon catching sight of none other than the Dondai starting to gain on him from behind, in no small part thanks to another round of help from a certain unseen speed demon.

Zoom smirked as she reclined against the back of the Dondai, the bright flames sparking out from her feet giving the vehicle the exact boost of speed it needed to catch up. It was a boost Stevonnie readily took as they steered the vehicle deftly, shifting gears and barely even flinching as they breezed right past the very disgruntled Kevin.

“Ha ha!” Stevonnie goaded, sending the bitter teen a taunting grin, that is, at least until they spotted what awaited them on the road ahead. “Uh oh…”

“C-cliff!” Mabel yelled warningly, hugging Dipper fearfully as the Dondai sped toward it.

At the same time, by now the race had reached a point where the group of spectating teens at the foot of the mountain could see the competing cars clearly again. And as the Dondai approached the dangerous cliff turn first, needless to say they were all beyond captivated to see what would happen.

“Oh my gosh!” Ronaldo exclaimed, lowering his binoculars. “This is it!”

“A-are they gonna crash?” Jenny asked, worried.

“Should I be recording this?” Tambry asked, poising her phone to do just that.

“No! We’re about to witness the true power of the Supremo!” Ronaldo said, pointing back toward the mountain.

At that exact moment, Stevonnie reacted just in time, shoving the car’s gear hard as they slammed their foot on the break. At the same time, Zoom maneuvered around the car, using her powers to craft a few extra inches of road to give the fusion enough space to make the tricky turn. And, through this partnership, they fortunately did, drifting skillfully around the turn before quickly straightening back up once again. “Whoa…” Stevonnie gasped, amazed, especially as they spotted Zoom gliding past their window. “Zoom, did you do that?”

“Eh, yeah, just a little trick I picked up a few decades back,” the demon shrugged casually. “No need to thank me, you kids winning will be thanks enough.”

Stevonnie didn’t get a chance to ask what she meant by this as she vanished into thin air once again, ready to help whenever needed. However, in place of the speed demon, something else soon began speeding by the fusion’s window, and a much more unwelcome sight at that.

“So you do know how to use that thing,” Kevin remarked with a wry, somewhat vindictive smirk.

The fusion did their best to ignore him, remembering the twins’ advice as they paid attention to the road instead. However, as they approached the next turn, Kevin remained tight up against them, never passing them as he instead opted to remain neck-and-neck instead for some reason Stevonnie couldn’t possibly begin to understand. As both cars cleared that turn, they were essentially inches apart, nearly scraping against each other as their speeds remaining consistent all the while, neither of them daring to slow down whatsoever.

“I know you wanna be close,” Kevin began, once again peering over at the fusion smugly. “But this is a little clingy.”

“Ugh,” Stevonnie stuck their tounge out in disgust at this, shuddering at this blatantly flirtatious remark.

“Ew, seriously?!” Dipper remarked quietly from the back seat. “Can this guy be any more of a scumbag?”

“Can anyone?” Mabel asked, quite baffled herself.

“What’s the matter?” the teen continued to patronize the frustrated fusion. “Feel like giving up yet?”

Stevonnie growled, gripping their steering wheel tightly to the point that they could bottle up their growing anger no longer. “Why do you have to be such a jerk all the time?!” they snapped hotly, more than ready to receive one of Kevin’s usual catty responses. What they actually got, however, was perhaps the very last answer they could have ever expected.

Kevin was quiet at this as he glanced down, his smile falling into an ashamed frown. “Truth is… I don’t mean to be this way. I-I just lash out because of my little brother.” He took in a sharp breath, clearly trying to hold back tears as he continued. “He’s sick. Been sick all our lives. Sometimes, I think if I act real cool and never let anyone see my pain… t-then maybe the pain will go away. A-and maybe…” He briefly trailed off, covering his eyes with his hands as he choked out what sounded like a sob. “I can take his pain away too....”

Stevonnie stilled at this, exchanging a brief, surprised glance with the equally dumbfounded pair of twins in the back seat. With this brand-new bit of rather tragic context revealed, it was as though their entire demeanor toward Kevin had changed. While his behavior was absolutely abhorrent, yes, perhaps there really was a grounded, grieving reason behind it after all. And in light of that fact, Stevonnie couldn’t help but feel rather guilty for their own attitude toward him as well. “Kevin…” they began sympathetically, earnestly. “I-I… had no idea…”

The teen didn’t respond at first, instead still crying, at least until his ‘sobs’ steadily turned to a bout of harsh, mocking, hysterical laughter instead. “Dude!” he cackled deviously, satisfied that his sob story had worked perfectly. “I don’t even have a brother! I’m like this because its funny!”

“Oh what?!” Mabel exclaimed, appalled from the back seat. Her initial reaction was to leap forward to give the callous teen a piece of her mind herself, though she was narrowly stopped by Dipper pulling her back just in the nick of time.

“Like I said,” he scoffed, just as disgusted as his sister was. “Total scumbag.”

“Augh! You’re awful!” Stevonnie snapped back at Kevin, absolutely floored by his despicable lie.

“You better believe I am,” Kevin chuckled, still quite amused as he his car finally began speeding past the Dondai. “Chowzers.”

The teen offered the fusion a playful wave as he passed them by, barely even paying any mind to how absolutely outraged they were by his terrible behavior. “KEVIN!” they yelled after him, forcing the Dondai to go as fast as it could possibly go. By this point, they didn’t care about anything, not about whether or not Zoom was lending them a hand, not about what obstacles might be on the road ahead, not even about the concerned pair of twins calling for them from the back seat. As far as they were concerned, the only thing that mattered now was Kevin and how they were going to beat him, no matter what it took.

And with that sole, sharp thought in mind, everything else seemed to disappear, the forest around their vehicle turning to sheer darkness as Dipper and Mabel’s worried cries turned into strangely distant echoes. Some part of the fusion noticed this, gasping in surprise as the road ahead suddenly seemed to narrow to a dangerous degree. “W-what’s happening?” they asked, suddenly nervous, at least until their former rage returned full-force. “Ugh… Kevin!”

That fury wavered back into shock as they stole a glance out of their rear-view mirror however. The road behind them was crumbling, rapidly falling to pieces behind them to to the point that soon, there would be nothing left for them to stand on at all. “W-wait!” they cried, both panicked and angered as they returned their bitter glare back toward the Himitsu before them. “No! We have to beat him! He deserves to lose!”

The fusion could barely, barely feel two pairs of hands on their shoulders, desperately trying to shake them back into reality. Likewise, the panicked cries had all but fallen on deaf ears as they tried their best to lock their focus onto the car currently in the lead, refusing to back down until they’d finally passed it. Until they finally bested him. Until they finally won.

And yet… just before they could…

Stevonnie lashed back in shock, their terror and anger finally overwhelming them in the form of a ghastly image of Kevin’s face, looming large and powerful before them. That image overtook their entire window, rushing for them with glowing red eyes as it prepared to devour them entirely. In a last ditch effort to avoid it, the fusion snapped the steering wheel hard to the left, closing their eyes tightly in an attempt to avoid their gruesome, hateful fate.

And as they did, it was with a flash of bright, blinding pink light that everything suddenly went black.

“-even! Steven!”

“Connie! Wake up, you guys!”

“H-huh?” Steven slowly opened his eyes, groggy yet largely unharmed. He was quick to notice that they had unfused, largely since he sat shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Connie, still buckled up in the Dondai’s driver’s seat.

“Oh, yay!” Mabel cheered, catching the young Gem’s attention. Both her and Dipper stood just outside the open door, fawning over the pair with immense concerned written all over their faces. “You’re both alive!”

“N-not that we thought you were dead,” Dipper clarified. “I mean, we somehow didn’t hit anything, but still, you can never be too careful.”

“Ugh, what happened?” Connie asked, rubbing her sore head.

“We don’t know!” Mabel answered honestly. “You guys just… shut down and wouldn’t listen to us even though we were super scared for you! And then ‘poof’! You unfused!”

“And without Stevonnie, the car spun out so… here we are…” Dipper added with a worried frown as he offered a hand to help Steven out of the car first. “Are you guys ok?”

“I think so,” Connie said, accepting the help that Mabel was extending to her. “Are you ok, Steven?”

“...Yeah,” the young Gem nodded, quietly glancing down as he stepped out of the Dondai. He stopped however, upon noticing Connie turn to face the road leading down the mountain, her expression stern and solid as she looked away. “W-what are you doing?” Steven asked, confused.

“What are we doing?” she turned the question back around as she turned to face the others.

“Uh… I thought we were racing…” Mabel pointed out with a frown.

“Well, at least we were…” Dipper noted, knowing their chances of catching up to Kevin were practically non-existent now. .

“W-we’re getting back at Kevin!” Steven added instantly. “We’re about to beat him at his own game! We’re about to win!”

“Yeah…” Connie nodded solemnly. “But… why do we even have to play his game?”

“B-because!” the young Gem exclaimed tightly, his anger starting to build up all over again. “He… h-he’s… augh!”

“I know!” Connie agreed, understanding Steven’s frustration all too well. And yet at the same time she also knew, there just had to be a better way of dealing with that frustration than losing themselves to it as they had mere moments ago. “So why should he get to have any say over how we feel?”

“H-he doesn’t!”

“But he’s the reason we’re racing,” Connie pointed out. “Steven… he’s the reason we all fused…”

Needless to say that Dipper, Mabel, and Steven alike were all taken aback by it, unable to deny that this was completely true. Because like it or not, the very reason they had formed Stevonnie, Maven, or Stepper this time around had been solely for the sake of this race. Solely for the sake of trying to beat Kevin and his friends at their own twisted games.

“W-we… we are obsessed with him…” Steven muttered, letting out a small, shaken gasp of realization.

“What were we thinking?!” Mabel pouted regretfully. “Fusion is supposed to be for fun--and the occasional throwdown with uber-powerful bad guys--not for major jerkfaces like Kevin!”

“W-we really let ourselves get carried away… didn’t we?” Dipper noted, just as perplexed by their mutual error.

“We did…” Connie nodded with a sigh. “But… it’s not too late. I wanna finish this race… but not for him.”

Steven paused as he noticed the hand Connie was offering him, one carried a message of solidarity rather than spite. And as he met that hand, suddenly he completely understood. What Kevin had done to them, how he made them feel was awful, yes. But holding onto those feelings, letting themselves linger in just how awful it all was, was doing none of them any good. And chances are that besting him in some simple, silly race wouldn’t change that fact. The only ones who could have any sort of power over how they felt were themselves. Which was why there was no doubt between any of the kids as they all exchanged warm, resolved smiles with one another as they came together; this time around, they were going to feel better, win or lose.

“For us!” they proclaimed in an affirming unison, ready to take this last leg of the race on together, no matter what happened.

And yet, before Steven and Connie so much has had a chance to try and fuse again, a sudden blast of bright purple flame broke out between the kids, quickly forcing them apart. And in the midst of those flames, Zoom herself materialized, her expression absolutely outraged as she hovered high above the startled kids. “What do you dumb kids think you’re doing?!” she hissed harshly, her clawed hands in tight fists at her sides.

“We’re gonna get back into the race!” Steven exclaimed brightly.

“Yeah!” Connie, Dipper, and Mabel readily agreed, though Zoom, on the other hand, was having none of their shared enthusiasm.

“You’re gonna LOSE the race at this rate!” the demon snapped angrily. “While you brats were sitting around here ‘talking about your feelings’ or whatever, that chump Kelvin is taking the lead! And you’re just gonna let it happen?!”

“Uh… sure?” Connie shrugged, unconcerned.

“Yeah, it’s just some silly ol’ race,” Mabel smiled with a wave of her hand. “Who cares if he wins as long as we’re having fun?”

“I CARE!” Zoom shouted furiously, her flaming hair flickering wildly. “We had ourselves a deal, kiddos. I help you brats out, so you could win! That’s what ALL this was about! That’s what it was always about! That’s what everything’s about: WINNING!”

“Yeesh, somebody’s a little over-competitive…” Dipper remarked with a bit of a wry smile, eliciting a brief laugh from the other kids.

“Oh, what am I some kind of JOKE to you now?!” Zoom growled, snapping her fingers to call her set of shapeshifting wheels onto the scene. “Well, we’ll just see who’s laughing when I’m standing in the winner’s circle, kiddos! Catch you in the photo-finish… NOT!”

The speed demon let out a cackling, wild laugh as she hopped onto her bike which was quick to turn into her otherworldly car as she took off, barreling down the road in a burst of violet flames. The kids stood by, watching her all the while, hardly minding as she, much like Kevin, got an impressive lead ahead of them. Yet even so, they hardly minded, instead exchanging a blissful shrug just shy of Steven and Connie reclaiming each other’s hands, engulfing themselves in the light of fusion once more to face this final lap, and whatever came after it, together. And this time, they were going to do it entirely on their own terms.

The Himitsu thumped rhythmically with the electro tunes blasting through its speakers, Kevin nodding along with them as he rounded one of the last bends of the race with ease. He hadn’t the faintest idea as to what happened to the fusion, nor did he care; all he knew was that his victory was all but guaranteed, just as it always was.

That is, until an entirely new competitor blasted her way into the race entirely out of nowhere.

“Tch, finally,” Kevin grinned, spotting the shape of a car approaching from behind in his rear-view mirror. However, it only took a second glance at the fiery pink car to see that this vehicle was not the Dondai he’d been expecting. “Wait, wha-”

“Outta the way, slow-poke!” Zoom shouted, honking her horn obnoxiously as she easily caught up with Kevin. “I don’t got the time or patience to deal with a second-rate novice like you.”

“Hey!” Kevin snapped, offended and absolutely dumbfounded as he glared over at the demon. “W-what and who are you supposed to be?!”

“Oh, me?” the demon smirked. “Nobody important. Just the demon who’s gonna win this race without even trying!” Zoom let out another rowdy laugh as her car swiftly roared past Kevin’s, leaving the teen even more baffled, and even more set off than before.

“Over my beautiful dead body!” Kevin scowled, shifting the Himitsu into high gear to catch up with the speed demon. He managed to keep a good pace behind her for quite while, that is, at least until his other competitor finally returned to the race. The teen’s cold grin returned as he caught a glimpse of the Dondai out his window as it pulled up alongside him, knowing that it wouldn’t be able to keep that tie going for too long if he had anything to do about it. “You caught up,” he remarked to Stevonnie. “I was worried you’d miss seeing me win.”

Much to the teen’s surprise, however, Stevonnie didn’t even spare him a single glance, instead looking forward with a calm smile on their face. “What, so you’re shy now?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at them. Still, the fusion didn’t answer, even as they happily began to catch a bit of a lead on him. Shocked and appalled by this, Kevin accelerated, pushing the Himitsu hard, even as both cars rounded another tight turn. However, it was only as they cleared this turn that Stevonnie finally happened to glance away from the road… and toward the view on its other side instead.

“Whoa…” the fusion gasped in amazement, taking in the grand sight before them. From their spot on the mountain pass, all of Gravity Falls could be seen laying out before them, bathed in the cool, milky light of the full moon. From the mysterious floating cliffs to the north to the glistening lake to the east to the temple statue towering high into the western sky, the charming little town sat peacefully, resting easily under the beautiful canopy of endless stars hanging over it. Stevonnie couldn’t help but smile as they took in those stars, elated by just how lovely it all was now that they had spared a moment to enjoy it. Briefly, they glanced back at Dipper and Mabel behind them, both of them pressed against the window to catch a glimpse of the radiant outlook themselves and admiring it just as much as they were. And as the fusion met their delighted smiles, they reveled in them and the fun they were having, to the point that they didn’t even notice, nor did they care as Kevin raced past them altogether. After all, simply being here, together, was more than enough for any of them.

However, even as the finish line came into view, Kevin himself wasn’t the first to cross it. Zoom sped over it, cackling wildly all the while as her tires treaded flames behind them. The spectating crowd all gasped in surprise at this unexpected racer, especially as her car seamlessly shapeshifted into a motorcycle as she peeled past them, high on the adrenaline of her easy victory. “Let this be a lesson to you, punks!” Zoom shouted back to the confused crowd with a sinister smile. “Demon’s Peak is my turf! And anyone who thinks they’re good enough to race on my turf better be ready to put the best to the test! See ya, LOSERS!”

With yet another triumphant laugh, Zoom raced off into the woods, leaving a very baffled group of teens behind in her wake. “WHOA!” Ronaldo shouted first, trying his best to capture any photos he could of the demon for his blog. “Who was that?!”

“I dunno... “ Robbie remarked, hoping to get another glimpse of the retreating demon himself. “But she was kinda hot--ow!” He was quick to rub his sore ribcage the moment after Tambry harshly elbowed it to remind him to keep his eyes on her instead.

Mere moments after Zoom claimed her victory, both the Himitsu and the Dondai came careening across the finish, the former only barely scraping a clear victory past the former. The crowd let out a collective disappointed groan at this, knowing that, as always, Kevin had triumphed in yet another race.

“Aw, I was rooting for you, Dondai!” Jenny called supportively.

“Kevin is the worst!” Ronaldo exclaimed, briefly putting his phone down. “Boo!”

“Hmph, guess that crazy pink girl wussed out…” Kevin noted to himself as he got out of the car, not spotting any signs of Zoom in the vicinity. “Uh… I mean, that’s right! First place, baby! It’s like I invented winning!”

“Actually… I think you were in second…” Stevonnie noted with a small, cordial smile as they approached the smug teen. All the same, they offered their hand out to his, maintaining their even calm, manner all the while. “Still, good race.”

“You… tryin’ to kiss my hand with your hand or something?” Kevin asked, eyeing their hand suspiciously.

“You know, Kevin, you were right,” Stevonnie said, still smiling.

“I know,” the teen said, turning away before looking back to the fusion, slightly confused. “...About what?”

“The view from the mountain was pretty great,” Stevonnie grinned warmly, nodding back up to the mountain itself.

“H-hey! Don’t try to teach me a lesson! You lost!”

“Eh, third place isn’t so bad,” Stevonnie shrugged, accepting that fact as they made their way back over to the Dondai. “For my first time driving a car!”

“Ugh!” Kevin scoffed, agitated by just how unbothered the fusion seemed to be. “Look at you! Y-you’re so obsessed with me, you’re gonna drive away!”

Stevonnie did just that, smiling contentedly all the while as they began to drive off away from the mountain, even as Kevin tried hurrying after them to prove his point. “Fine! Go play with some kiddy toy cars with your dumb baby friends! I-I could beat you at that too! Don’t forget! You’re obsessed with me! Obsessed!”

“Yeah, you guys are totally the obsessed ones…” Dipper deadpanned to Stevonnie as the Dondai continued driving away.

“Looks like he’s got me pegged,” Stevonnie shrugged just as sardonically, taking one final glance at Kevin out of the rear-view mirror before they passed over a hill, blocking him from sight.

“You guys!” Mabel cut in blithely. “This was so much fun! We should really break out Stevonnie, Maven, and Stepper back to back like this more often! It’s like we had our own personal fusion party!”

“Well, it would have been more personal if it had been just for us from the start…” Stevonnie noted thoughtfully. “But yeah… it was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?”

“You can say that again, kiddo.”

“Huh?” the fusion gasped, looking over to see Zoom casually reclining in the passenger seat once more. “Zoom… y-you’re… not mad?”

“Pfft, please,” the demon scoffed with a small chuckle. “I was never mad to begin with. I was just itching to get out into the race myself, so I did. And I’m glad I did. The look on all those chumps’ faces? Classic!”

Zoom let out another amused snicker, eliciting shared looks of apt confusion from all of the kids until Dipper finally addressed it. “Wait, I still don’t understand. You helped us in the race, yeah, but what was really in any this for you to begin with?”

“Ooo, did you wanna teach us an important lesson about how winning isn’t everything?” Mabel asked, curious.

“Uh, no,” Zoom scoffed. “Like I said, winning is everything. I just did all this to mess with you kids.”

“Uh… why?” Stevonnie asked with a frown.

“Because it was a total blast!” the demon grinned brightly. “This is the most fun I’ve had in centuries! Gotta hand it to you kiddos, you got a ton of spunk. Well, for a bunch of mortals, at least. Maybe next time you’re in my neck of the woods, we can have ourselves a real race.”

“Yeah,” Stevonnie smiled, allayed. “Sounds like fun.”

“Well, this demon’s gonna call it a night,” Zoom stretched out with a fake yawn as she began hovering above her seat. “I’ll see you kids around. Keep it real.”

“Always,” all of the kids agreed in solid unison as the demon disappeared for the last time. Still holding onto their warm smile, Stevonnie turned some relaxing tunes on to accompany the drive home. A drive that each of the kids readily enjoyed as they rode through the crisp warmth of the beautiful summer night solely for themselves… and for each other.

As they did, a single engine drifted its way up to the very top of Demon’s Peak, awash in vibrant purple flames. As it came to a slow, easy stop, its enigmatic, demonic rider proudly sat upon it, smiling up to the full moon above her, always ready for another race.

#jen writes #universe falls #gravity falls #steven universe #crossover #au #steven #connie #dipper #mabel #stevonnie #stepper #maven #kevin #greg #gravity falls drift #please dont read these chapters on dumblr they're not formatted correctly alsdjlkasdalsdl

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