#the two weapons here are from prototype but i wanna try and make my own at some point

[doodles--doodles]

i have no clue what i'm doing, here have a creature. based off of alex mercer from prototype, they were created by an iterator t be able to manipulate the mass of their body to become weapons and other things. initially made to protect the iterator from their harsh ecosystem, after the iterator collapsed they were released into the ecosystem

@angelofchaos001 @keeper-of-magic

[maddgicalgirl]

Paracosm Resources <3

Need help bringing your paracosm to life? Try these free resources!

⚠️ Updates always pending! Suggestions always welcome! Feel free to message me any tips or questions <3 ⚠️

(Cont. below cut, or with real time updates on this google doc!)

Art Programs

FireAlpaca - 2D Art Program, Animation. Where I make most of my digital art, and paint the frames for my animations :) It is free to use, and easy to learn and use! It can make basic animations as well, such as gifs. It requires download.

Krita - 2D Art Program. Professional, free digital paint software :) I have not used it before, though I have heard good things.

GIMP - 2D Art Program, Photo Manipulation. It's free to use, but I do not like it/recommend it highly. But! If FireAlpaca and Krita don't float your stoat, try Gimp! For 2D art, but also able to emulate Photoshop to a degree ^^

Inkscape - 2D Art Program. Free to use digital illustration software. Makes 2D art :)

Of course, who can forget classics like good old MS Paint, and the new and exciting 3D MS Paint, which can both be used to create some really neat things! Classic MS Paint is available here in browser form! If you need that. I just think it's neat!

Art AI

Petalica Paint - Coloring Software. An in browser, watercolor manga style coloring software, which can (almost) effortlessly color in any of your line art pieces! I've played around with it for my Thorn illustration style piece, and enjoyed it! It is free to use, and can take user input to make the colorations more precise.

ArtBreeder - 3D Realism Software. Using Artbreeder, you can create lifelike images of your paras, planets, or potentially even fursona, using the intricate AI they let you work with for free! A premium version exists, but most functions are fully usable without - though I recommend donating ^^ You can randomly generate, or prune and shape what you make until its perfect! Slow to use and get the hang of, but very worth it! Artbreeder is also pioneering an intriguing animation software to go alongside their product! Browser based.

3D Software

Blender - 3D Modeling, Animation. The best (in my opinion) free 3D modelling software.

MagicaVoxel - 3D Pixel Art. Free to use! Could be interesting :)

MikuMikuDance - 3D Rigging. Anime style rigging and animation software, free to use, and certified internet artefact! Has stood the test of time, and is still used and loved today. Can support ports of many kinds of assets, including, I believe, those from Blender, and of course those that are downloaded. DA has a bunch of old MMD communities you can raid for assets!

Animaze - Face Rigger. Use 3D models and a webcam to watch your paras talk! Models can be made in Blender, downloaded online, or even from CHARAT V, CHARAT GENESIS sister app!

Character Creators

CHARAT GENESIS - 2D Character Creator. Browser based anime style character creator, with multiple crops and poses, and infinitely customizable options. It is legitimately insane. Has a 3D function called CHARAT V which can apparently convert characters made in CHARAT GENESIS into 3D models compatible with Face Rig and Animaze!

V-Katsu - 3D Character Creator. Free on steam! Anime style, intensive character creator, by the same people who made Koikatsu, and Koikatsu Party, two amazingly detailed 3D hentai makers. While V-Katsu is a SFW VTuber maker, if you're looking for NSFW anime content, you could always spend roughly $70 on the full NSFW versions. V-Katsu requires a translation mod (free online as well) which you have to install, or the ability to read Kanji <3 Works with VR tech.

V-Roid Studios - 3D Character Creator. Free on steam! Anime style, fairly in depth character creator, that allows for some degree of digital 3D hand sculpting, particularly with their amazing hair engine, to get your paras looks perfect!

And, of course, Picrew has thousands of character creators of various styles and quality uploaded by the artists who made them! Also, honestly I think we as a society should embrace making dinky chibis in Gacha Life. IDK why everyone is mean to the gacha kids, like we weren't all cringe at some point,

World Design

HomeStyler - 3D and 2D Room Designer. Make a model of an interior for a home or building, using real 1:1 furniture of IRL brands! Apparently this is free to use, though there is a premium version, and  it offers 3D and 2D models.

Map to World - 3D Planet Maker. Turn your fantasy world into a 3D model of the planet. Put maps directly on, or design the surface and textures of your world. Takes a lot of getting used to, but it is AMAZING. Free to use, and browser based!

PlanetMaker - 3D Planet Maker. Make a customized 3D planet! Free to use browser site! I have never used this, but I would love to mess around with it sometime! Allows you to add orbital rings, change textures, and more at the click of a mouse.

If on sale, I also recommend snagging a copy of the Sims, particularly 3 or 4, for character creation and world design. Maybe not the best gameplay without mods, but it's also a load of fun, and very easy to add custom content to! Minecraft also. But you just need Minecraft, in general. Beyond its ability to fairly faithfully recreate structures from your paracosms, it's just Good.

Game Creators

Maybe you wanna turn your paracosm into a cool game idk, just thought I'd put these here!

Construct 3 - 2D Game Creator. Beginner level game making :) Drag-and-drop if/then style programming.

GameSalad - Codeless 2D Game Creator. Drag and drop style/no coding, beginner friendly. Free version available!

Solpeo - 2D Game Creator. HTML5 based game engine for 2D and isometric game development. Some programming knowledge needed. Platforms supported: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 9+. Free version available.

Stencyl - Codeless 2D Game Creator. Drag and drop style building/no coding skills needed. Has editable templates!

Scratch - 2D Game Creator. Very easy to use and totally free, though relatively basic!

Unity - 3D, 2D, and VR Game Creator. Make games with 3D software. Import your own assets (Blender compatible) or download free options, or buy the rights to models. Works for 3D and 2D games. Free version available, and now works with VR tech!

Unreal Engine - 3D Game Creator. Extremely advanced 3D game developer. Highly customizable. Free to use!

Twine - Text-based Game Creator. Use a map to make a branching paths text-based story game. Free to use.

Squiffy - Text-based Game Creator. have used Squiffy and it can make some really, truly incredible things. Can take a while to pick up, and learn how to use to its full potential. Free to use! Has an online and offline library of player creations you can get inspiration from!

Quest - Text-based Game Creator. I've never used this, but it seems cool! Use it to make interactive text-based DND game adventures in browser.

Ren'Py - Visual Novel Creator. Visual novel engine, that is well acclaimed, and of course, free to use!

Companion AI

Replika - 3D Companion.

Kajiwoto - Chatbot Companion. Customizable, learning AI you can shape into a personality. Communicates via Discord like chat box.

Organization

Toyhou.se - Character Gallery. A customizable library where you can upload all of your paras and characters for the public to view! Free to use, but requires a premium member to invite you!

Refsheet - Character Gallery. I haven't used it before, but I've heard good things, and that it's a suitable alternative to toyhou.se if you can't get an invite!

Notebook.AI - Character Gallery. I haven't used it before, but I've heard good things, and that it's a suitable alternative to toyhou.se if you can't get an invite!

World Anvil - World Building Toolset. Like character galleries, but for worlds and their lore :)

Scabard - World Building Toolset. Aimed at DnD campaigners, but I reckon it'll be useful for many!

YARPS - World Building Toolset. More focused around story and lore than Scabard or World Anvil, and looks beautiful! Still in its prototype stage, however.

Pinterest - Photo Organizer. Look at, collect, and sort images into boards. Personalizes your feed based on that, and is free to use and join! However, unlike their myriad of wonderful recipes, DIY tutorials, and the likes - a lot of the images are uploaded by second parties and not credited, so be careful reuploading anything you find! Also great for finding outfits and art inspo for your paras!

Generators

Fantasy Name Generator - Name Generators. Does what it says on the tin! Generates fantasy names. Is a lovely website, run by a purportedly lovely woman.

Fantasy Map Generator - Map Generator. Randomly generates a fictional map, which you can view in 2D or 3D.

Donjon RPG Generator - Multiple Generators. Can make maps, weapons, items, etc.

Seventh Sanctum - Multiple Generators. One of my favorites from high school! Does all kinds of things - the standard items, spells, and names - but also prompts, backstories, characters, and even comedy generators!

ShindanMaker - Multiple Generators. User created and uploaded, any kind of generator you can imagine, of varying complexity. And when I say any generator? I mean ANY generator.

Audio

Audacity - Record and Edit Audio. What can't Audacity do? I love Audacity to death. At surface level, it records audio. I've used it to record voices for my paras, and get audio for animations and games I've worked on. I cannot recommend it enough. Comprehensive editing, and with some investigation, it can do so, so much more than just record simple dialogue.

FL Studios - Compose. Compose music with an unlimited free trial. Upgrades available for purchase!

Indie Game Music - Royalty Free Music Library. Free to use Indie Game Music. What it says on the box!

AudioJungle - Royalty Free Music and Audio Library. Thousands of free to use audio clips!

Online Piano - Someone could use this, for recording, or just messing around. I've seen plenty of paras who play piano, this could just be used for fun!

Online Guitar - Same reasons as above, but this site looks kinda sketchy. Use at your own risk or reward! Audio

For real, if you ever need music, sound effects, or really any MP3 clips that can be used without infringing on copyright laws, just search 'royalty free' (music/audio/insert thing here) same applies for photos! Make sure the source is reputable, however.

Tutorials

W3Schools - Coding. Learn the basics of coding, for free, online!

Miscellaneous

Debut Video Capture - Screen Recorder. Record game footage and let's plays for free! Professional and home versions. I see a few of our community members have paras who run YouTube channels, and I thought these might help! It could be a nice way to connect your parames. YouTube quality <3

Pixton - Comic Maker. Comic making website. I have no experience with this at all, but some may find it useful!

Picfont - Image Editor. Puts customizable text on an image. I used these for @paraesthetics paracosm header edits <3 It has a premium version (???) but the free version has all functions, but it crashes regularly (honestly seems timed :/) but once you get it down, it's a very quick process, and you won't have to worry about that at all.

Itch.io - Publishing. You can publish your self made games here :)

Korsakow - ??? Described as, "The Future of Storytelling" and is apparently a way to create interactive films. I *just* found out about this, but thought I should include it for someone who may know how to use and appreciate it! Free? Unknown, at the moment.

Tips and Tricks

Animation Done Easy

Our forefather's of internet animation used MS Paint, Windows Movie Maker, and Audacity. All of these, or their equivalents, are free on standard computers. I, personally, use FireAlpaca - which works just as well, if not better, than MS Paint for animation - but takes longer, and definitely lacks that retro feeling. I also use my trackpad to draw and animate everything, so its doable, but probably not totally comfortable, to animate like this for most people :)

⚠️ Updates always pending! Suggestions always welcome! Feel free to message me any tips or questions <3 ⚠️

[helliontherapscallion]

Scientia Potentia Est (Adrenaline Junkie Part 10)

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4     Part 5     Part 6     Part 7     Part 8     Part 9     Part 11     Part 12     Part 13     Part 14     Part 15     Part 16     Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: slight PTSD, mentions of death/dying, some description of injury/scars, slight panic attack

Word count: 2,734

(A/N): how are yall liking the story so far? 

You were woken up by the obnoxious chirping of various songbirds right outside your window. Cracking open your heavy eyes, you glanced at the clock on your wall. 7 AM. You only got about an hour of sleep. Great. 

Groaning, you reluctantly left the beckoning warmth of your comfortable blanket cocoon and stretched out your limbs. You stood up and trudged towards your luggage that laid haphazardly in the corner of your childhood room. Awkwardly twisting your body around to take off the sensors attached to your back and sliding off the prosthetic, you put it on your bed. Pulling out a random shirt and pants without giving them any real thought, you shambled off to the bathroom to shower and preen your wing. 

You stood under the warm running water for a while just doing nothing but trying to wake yourself up. The steam drifted idly throughout the room as you stepped out of the shower and finished your morning routine. You still felt dead inside even after your refreshing shower. Is this what Philza felt like in the mornings? Is this what death feels like? Oh wait. You already knew what dying felt like, you’ve died twice already and you had the scars to prove it. 

The scar on the right side of your back remained prominent and very noticable, but it faded slightly around the edges. The other scar that stretched across your cheek and stretched down to your stomach was new. They were red and raised. You remembered how you got them like it was yesterday. You, your brothers, your nephew, and Tubbo were following Eret still celebrating your win. You all completely trusted him, he was your teammate after all. Trusting him was a mistake. It was foolish. That power hungry bastard blew up everything you and your brothers built and worked for. He was a traitor to L’manberg. Everyone present lost a life in the explosion.

You shuddered, remembering the explosion. You remembered the feeling of extreme heat on your skin and the deafening boom that left a ringing in your ears. You remembered laying on the ground several feet away from your brothers’ corpses. You were the last to die that day. Everything hurt as you laid there slowly bleeding out from the deep gash running from under your eye to your midsection. The plumes of smoke floated up towards the sunny sky as everything burned around you. You hoped you would suffocate from smoke inhalation before you would bleed out again. The flames licked at your skin, almost taunting you with your oncoming death. Why couldn’t you have died instantly like everyone else? Why did you always have to die painfully?

A soft knock snapped you out of your thoughts. Looking down, you realized that you were clutching the side of the sink so hard that your knuckles were turning white. 

“(Y/n), are you in there?” It was Arthur. What was he doing up so early?

You wiped at the tears that had gathered in your eyes and cleared your throat. “Y-yeah buddy. I’ll be out in a second.”

You turned on the water faucet and splashed some cold water in your face. It somewhat worked for the blotchiness and redness, but your eyes were still puffy. You were just going to have to get out of the bathroom and pray that Arthur and Philza won’t notice. You took a deep breath and opened the door. There Arthur stood looking at you happily.

“What’re ya doing up so early bud?”

“My brother said that I’m a morning person.”

Brother?

Despite your confusion, you did your best to grin at him. “Well, early bird, do you wanna help me make breakfast?”

His eyes lit up with excitement and he jumped up and down slightly. “Yes please! I love cooking, Mama and Papa would always let me help!”

Oh, you absolutely hated not knowing something. You needed to have that chat with him as soon as you could. 

You smirked. “C’mon then, lets go get started!”

He sprinted down the hallway and towards the stairs. You felt a slight panic flare up inside of you. “Arthur, please don’t run down the stairs!”

To your great relief, he listened and slowed down to a brisk walking speed. You speedwalked over to him. For someone so little, he was surprisingly fast. By the time you reached the bottom of the stairs, he was already in the kitchen. 

In the kitchen, Philza was sitting at the table with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. As per usual, he looked like he’d rather go back to sleep. You walked over to the coffee maker and poured yourself a cup, you were going to need it. Philza’s tired eyes followed you as you poured the steaming liquid into your mug.

“Tired?” His voice was raspier and deeper than usual.

“Yeah, didn’t get much sleep last night.” You sipped at the bitter drink before wrinkling your nose and stirring in an ungodly amount of sugar. Sipping it again, you sighed in content. That was much better. 

You walked to the chest and pulled out some bacon strips, eggs, and bread. Setting them on the counter, you turned to Arthur. He was standing on his tiptoes trying to clearly see over the counter. You chuckled, pulling a chair out from the table and dragging it over to him so he could stand on it. 

“Don’t get too excited kid, we have to wash our hands first. Then we can get to the fun part.”

Arthur scrambled over to the sink, pulling his chair along with him. Though he was extremely excited, he actually took the time to properly wash his hands. Once you both were clean, you both got to cooking. You let him scramble the eggs and butter the toast while you did the rest of the work. You didn’t want him to get burned, especially by the bacon grease. 

Cooking was quickly done with Arthur’s help and before you knew it, breakfast was already halfway done. Over the course of eating, Philza was slowly waking up and adding his own input into the conversation. You were hardly paying attention when Arthur asked you a question.

“Hey, (y/n), where’s your wing?” 

“Hm?”

“The fake one.”

Your eyes widened. Shit, you forgot to put it back on after your shower. You suddenly felt every single little touch on your amputated wing. The chair, a light breeze from the open window, the brush of feathers from your complete wing, everything. You felt vulnerable and naked without it on. You felt powerless. 

“Oh, I- must’ve forgot to put it back on again. Excuse me.”

You stood up from your chair, a screech resounding from the legs scratching against the floor. Taking care of your half-eaten breakfast, you tried to hurry up to your room as fast as you could scolding yourself the entire way for being so forgetful. So stupid. 

You locked the door behind you and saw your silver wing laying on your bed staring at you, as if taunting you for leaving it behind. You rushed to put it back on. Though you felt your muscles tense up because of the sudden cool, it felt incredibly relieving to have your wing back on. You felt whole. 

You awkwardly twisted around to fasten the leather belts around the base of your amputated wing and attach the sensors back onto specific spots on your back where your flight muscles were. You put one on your deltoid, one on your trapezius, one on both teres muscles, one on your infraspinatus, and lastly two on your latissimus dorsi muscle. It usually took you at least thirty minutes of testing the prosthetic’s movements and moving the sensors around slightly to get the placement of the sensors exactly correct, so you assumed that breakfast was over and done with ten minutes ago. 

Your wing was finally connected and fully functional, so you left your room in search for Arthur. You eventually found him in the basement in your old workshop looking through your filing cabinet of blueprints. He mustn't have heard you come down the stairs because he didn’t react. He just kept looking through your old papers, pulling a few out and putting them on a nearby crafting table. 

“Arthur?”

He jumped, the paper he was in the middle of pulling out slipped back into its place inside the filing cabinet. He didn’t turn around to face you at first, so you thought that he was just trying to catch his breath from your little scare. Feeling bad, you walked closer and put a tentative hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m sorry for scaring you. What’re ya doin?”

“I-I’m looking at your old inventions, Philza let me come down here to look at them while he tried to find me more clothes I could wear that fit.”

“Buddy, you should’ve waited until I put my wing back on, I could’ve shown you my prized inventions.”

He looked down to his feet. “I’m sorry (y/n), I just really wanted to see them and you were taking so long. I couldn’t wait.”

You frowned, putting a finger under his chin and making him look at you. You saw guilt darkening his eyes. “Arthur, never say sorry for wanting knowledge. Knowledge is perhaps our greatest weapon against the unknown in the universe. I want you to remember the phrase ‘scientia potentia est’.”

He sniffled. “Scientia… potentia est?”

“Yes, it means ‘knowledge is power’. Knowledge and power are two very… wide subjects, which is why I like the phrase. In a way, it means that you could pull off anything with knowledge. A lot of inventors live by that motto. Personally, it’s a motto that I swear by. Having knowledge gets me out of a lot of sticky situations,” you kindly smiled at him. “Now, do you want me to show you how my prosthetic works? I could even show you the first prototype if you’d like.”

To your delight, the smile that you often saw him wearing quickly returned and he nodded vigorously. You could get used to people wanting to know how your inventions work and why they worked the way that they did. You spent the next two hours explaining and answering questions about your prosthetic. You let him hold and examine your old leather wing. You showed him how the sensors were placed and warned him that if they were even very very slightly off, the wing wouldn’t work right. You even let him craft a sensor with you. 

“So, do you have any interest in being an inventor when you grow up?”

“Yes, I wanna be just like you! You’re like, the bestest inventor ever!”

You took a deep breath, kneeling in front of him and placing your hands on his shoulders. “Arthur, would you like to become my protégé?”

He scrunched up his face and squinted his eyes in confusion. “Your what?”

You lightly laughed. “Do you know what an apprentice is?” He shook his head. “Well, I want to take you under my wing. Teach you everything I know.”

His eyes comically stretched and his mouth gaped open and closed like a fish out of water. If it were possible, you’d imagine stars shining in his eyes. “You’d do that?”

“Naturally. You’re perhaps the most ambitious person I’ve ever met in terms of your goals, and at such a young age too. I’ve never met anybody besides fellow innovators that actually wants to know how my inventions are made. It’s refreshing in a sense. Would you accept me being your mentor?”

“I- yes! Yes, yes! A million, no, a billion times yes! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” He cheered, squealing with delight and jumping up and down. 

You laughed. “Woah there bud, cool your jets. We have work to do, but first…” you sighed. You really didn’t want to ruin his moment, but you needed to talk to him about this if he were to become your apprentice.

He cocked his head to the side, eyes still wide with excitement. “First what?” “First… we need to talk. About your story, I mean.”

“What do you mean? We are talking.”

“No, not like that. We need to talk about your family. And how you want me to help you with The Warden.”

He visibly deflated, you didn’t think it was possible for someone to change moods so quickly. It was almost unnatural how fast he switched emotions. “Oh… Do we have to?”

“Yes, Arthur. We have to trust each other if we’re gonna work together.”

He shifted on the balls of his feet and fiddled with his thumbs. He looked very anxious to talk about his family.

“If you want, I can show you where I go to relax and think. Would you like that?”

He nodded and wiped at his eyes. You grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs. Since Philza was out, you wrote him a little note and put it on the table where he should see it right away if he came back before you two. You grabbed your satchel and filled it with two glass vials of water, a few snacks, and a blanket. Arthur just stared at you confusedly. 

You led him outside and hesitated. Should you ask him if he wanted to fly? It would be a lot faster to get there. “Arthur, would you like to fly there? I know it’s scary, but once you get used to it it’s so much fun!”

He reluctantly nodded, so you bent over and wrapped your arms around him to pick him up. You felt him tense up as you prepped for take off. “Hold on tight, I promise I won’t drop you.”

You pushed yourself off from the ground with a powerful flap of your wings causing Arthur to shriek in surprise. You and Arthur shot into the sky at a moderate speed. When you steadied yourself high above the treeline, you looked down at the boy in your arms. He had his eyes tightly closed and he was shaking slightly. “Arthur, you can open your eyes now.”

You watched as he peeked one of his eyes open and looked at you, you smiled encouragingly at him. “Go ahead, look around.” He observed his surroundings with caution before he opened his other eye. He was looking around in amazement, taking in every single detail from a bird’s eye view. You snorted before redirecting your attention back to flying. You needed to pay attention, especially when you had a passenger that would carry on your legacy after you die. 

The flight went by with Arthur giggling at various mobs below and sometimes pointing out something he thought was interesting to you. Your destination was now several meters ahead of you. Landing, you set Arthur down steadying him when he stumbled a little.

You took out the blanket and spread it across the grassy ground, smoothing it out. You beckoned Arthur to sit down next to you on it and you two overlooked the boundless expanse of the grassy plains. 

“This is where I came up with most of my inventions. It’s where I first tested my prosthetic. There’s where I jumped off.”

“How’d you know it worked?”

“I didn’t before I tested it. Looking back, it was stupid of me to do. Never, ever, do what I did.”

“What if-”

“No what if’s. Consult me before you test out anything dangerous in the future. I mean it, Arthur.”

“But I want to be like you.”

“Trust me kid, you don’t wanna be exactly like me. Besides, you’re you. You’re not (y/n) Minecraft. You’re Arthur Fox. You’re your own person and it’s important for you to understand that. Never let anyone take that away from you.”

He fell silent as he contemplated your words. You assumed that nobody’s ever told him that before, both due to his young age and potential lack of adult figures in his life. 

“Artie, you can tell me about your life when you’re ready. Take as much time as you need, we still have half the day left before we have to start heading back.”

He wordlessly nodded, turning his gaze to stare blankly past the cliff. In the meantime, you would wait patiently until he felt comfortable telling you.

Taglist (comment if you want to be added): 

@acecarddraws  @goldenstarofthunderclan  @ravennightingaleandavatempus  @dirtydiavolo  @yeiras-world  @immadatmostthings  @hee-hee-haw  @jackalopedoodles  @m1lkmandan  @vanhakirja  @im-a-depressed-gay  @coolleviauchihadreamerlove  @questioning-sanity  @camisascam

@bongwaterflavoredgatorade  @kakamiissad  @jayistrash4  @lifestylesleep  @speedymaximoff  @sun-shark-tooth  @appetiteofapeoplepleaser  @lestrangenymph  @kinismanditory  @dragons-lurk-here  @rinzyx05  @the-wandering-pan-ace  @sparkling-gayyyy  @angelic-scent  @shinipii  @dont-hug-me-im-a-fander  @izzydimensional  @used-avocado  @laura--444  @wing-non  @lovely-echoo  @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual  @mysteryartisticwriter

[blockgamepirate]

So we were talking on Discord about a DSMP superpowers AU, specifically Syndicate as an anarchist superhero team who are perceived as villains by pretty much everybody. (There were a bunch of people involved in the brainstorming but I wanna particularly credit @macachee for the idea for Techno’s superpowers, even though I ended up using a slightly different version than theirs.)

Anyway I know I don't really write fanfic anymore and I'm extremely rusty but uh... my hand slipped?

(CW: nothing major but there are repeated mentions of fire and some pretty tame violence)

×××

"Professor Underscore, I presume?"

The distinctive deep voice of an infamous supervillain was really not something anyone wanted to hear after 14 hours of last minute bug-fixing on a prototype superweapon in a secret laboratory. Especially when all your assistants had already called it a day and gone home.

Without even looking around, Tubbo reached for the gun in his desk drawer but before he could pull it out, a blade smashed into the wood right next to his hand.

"Nope", said the voice, "you don't get to have weapons, I get to have weapons. And speaking of weapons..."

Tubbo carefully turned around on his chair to face his attacker. As expected, it was a huge, hulking pigman dressed in flashy red and a golden mask.

"You are Protesilaus, aren't you? From the Syndicate?"

Protesilaus blinked at him. "You're a LOT younger than I expected, professor."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"I mean it's very impressive though, good for you."

"Thanks."

"So anyway, I'm here for the weapons."

"The weapons are kinda reserved already. You know, for the military."

"Don't give a shit", said a voice from the door. "Gib."

Protesilaus sighed. "Zephyrus, you're supposed to be the secret back-up."

The man hiding by the door frame laughed. "We already took care of the guards. There's nobody here but him, it's fiiine."

"But what if HE has his own secret back-up? What then? Well, it's too late now so just keep a look-out, alright?"

Zephyrus laughed again. "Sure."

"Alright." Protesilaus pointed his sword at Tubbo. "Show us to the weapons."

×××

There wasn't much he could think of doing to stall except try and tap in the pin codes on the doors as slowly as humanly possible. To be fair he didn't even really know what he was stalling for exactly. Secret back-up would have been nice but if they’d really taken out all the guards then none was likely to come.

Protesilaus was following him, sword in hand, making random small talk on the way as if he didn't know how to deal with the silence. Tubbo had only caught a few glimpses of Zephyrus, the winged man, in the background or in reflections. He seemed to be tampering with the security systems on the way, meaning that Tubbo really might be completely alone on this if the sabotage was successful. Zephyrus was also pulling along a big wheeled container of some sort that was probably intended for the weapons.

The two of them were the known members of the Syndicate, a team of anarchist terrorists who gave nightmares to the local police forces, the national guard and occasionally the military, but it was also widely theorized to have a secret third member with fire powers. Nobody had ever managed to catch them in the act, the only evidence of the secret member's existence was the trail of smoking ruins following the pair, their targets always burned down in a blaze of extremely memorable pink flames.

Tubbo had a theory that there were actually two secret members in the Syndicate, because if you're going to have one secret member you might as well have two, right? Maybe even three! It just made sense.

His assistants hadn't seemed convinced by this logic.

They arrived at the large hall leading up to the main vault where the prototypes were hidden and Tubbo finally had a plan. Somebody (probably him, honestly) had left the remote control of his battle bots lying around on a sidetable. He took advantage of his captors checking the space for surprise guards and inched slowly towards the remote.

"Everything good up there?" Protesilaus called out to Zephyrus who had flown up to the rafters.

"All good."

"Alright, seems safe enough", said Protesilaus. "Now, open the vault."

Tubbo just needed to stall a little bit longer until he could grab the remote undetected. "Actually, maybe I just won't be able to live with the fact that I let you guys get your hands on superweapons? What if I'd rather die than let you have them?"

Protesilaus sighed. "Look, don't worry, it's for a good cause, I promise."

"I mean, you guys are supervillains."

"Oh yeah sure, you're literally making weapons for an imperialist government but we're the villains?"

"What about that orphanage you burned down?" Tubbo kept moving towards the sidetable, trying to make it look like he was just pacing nervously.

"I have NEVER burned down any orphanages, I do NOT have an irrational hatred of small children, in fact I LOVE orphans in particular, you can ask anyone."

"You did, though! That was like two years ago, back when you were part of the Sleepy Bois Inc!"

Tubbo actually knew quite a lot about the Sleepy Bois, the infamous villain team who were particularly known for conning people into taking part in some sort of strange experiments, like that time they somehow transported a hundred people to the moon and told them to terraform a random area. The group had broken up a while back and two of the four had since reformed. Well, more or less reformed anyway. Actually not really reformed, but they were at least sticking to smaller crimes these days.

Anyway Mr. Business was now one of Tubbo's best friends, although nobody was supposed to know that. And Dirty Crime Boy seemed like a surprisingly nice guy. He was out there running what seemed to be some kind of a drug van but Tubbo had chosen not to worry about it too much.

The other two members, however...

"Sleepy Boys? Doesn't ring a bell." Protesilaus' face was suspiciously blank.

"You know, back when you called yourself the Blood God."

"Nah nah nah, I'm Protesilaus, not the Blood God."

"Come on, you're OBVIOUSLY the Blood God."

"I've never even heard of that guy."

"You're LITERALLY a pigman with superhealing powers and a shiny magical sword, you wear a crown AND you're hanging out with a blond guy with wings who looks just like the Angel of Death."

"Wow, wild coincidence", said Protesilaus

“Not gonna lie, the Angel of Death is a really cool name“, said Zephyrus.

Tubbo ignored them. "And you sound exactly like the Blood God."

"I don't hear it", said Protesilaus.

"You said you don't even know who he is!"

"Exactly."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'EXACTLY'??? THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!!!"

"Well I can't hear it if I've never even heard him speak. That's just logic."

Up in the rafters Zephyrus was cackling like a madman.

"You annoy me so much", said Tubbo.

"Aaaanyways, just give us a little peek into the vault, alright? Just out of curiosity, you know."

Tubbo had made it to the remote, he just needed one more distraction to cover for him grabbing it. "Uh..." Then he had an idea: he just took a quick sudden glance at the exit, as if he'd seen something over there and sure enough both of the criminals immediately turned to check. It was just long enough. He got the remote. "Okay fine, you can see the vault."

"Nice, nice." Protesilaus was still glancing around suspiciously but he had no idea what he should have been suspicious of.

Tubbo was more than happy to open the vault now. It might be holding the prototypes but it was also filled with a small army of robots.

All of which came to life with the press of a button.

"Ah", said Protesilaus. "There's his secret back-up."

"Oh Jesus", said Zephyrus. "I think we fucked up."

"You could say that", said Tubbo. "If you just leave peacefully I might let you go", he added in a sudden fit of uncharacteristic levels of confidence.

Protesilaus raised his sword. "Well you see, I really want those weapons, though."

"I guess you'll just have to fight the robots for it then", said Tubbo, configuring the targetting system.

"Mate, they've got guns on them", Zephyrus called out from above.

"Take cover then", said Protesilaus, very much not taking any cover at all himself.

Tubbo, pretty sure the bots knew which people to fight, released them on the criminals.

Protesilaus immediately managed to dodge the first few lazer bolts from the bots, but the third hit him on the arm. He flinched a bit but didn't seem too bothered. "Ouch. Okay so they can actually aim."

Still dancing around the shots, he held his hand to the wound and once he took it off, only the singed hole on his sleeve remained. The Blood God had been known for some kind of healing powers and coincidentally Protesilaus of the Syndicate, who apparently definitely wasn't the Blood God, just happened to also have healing powers. This fight was going to be hard even for thirty robots.

The pigman finally took some cover, hiding behind a pillar. The robots would have to move closer and Tubbo could already tell that if he'd manage to single them out, Protesilaus would easily take them down one by one.

Even worse, Zephyrus had hidden behind a different pillar up near the ceiling and was sniping the bots from above. They were supposed to be bulletproof but the man was absolutely cracked and managed to keep hitting them in the joints and in the eyes.

But at least the bots had given Tubbo some room to work with. He bolted into the vault and headed straight for a very specific section.

"So I just wanna know, professor", Protesilaus called out from the hall, "how are you NOT the evil mastermind here? You have a LITERAL horde of robots in your control that you can just let loose on people!"

"What do you MEAN? They're for fighting people like you! In this exact kind of situation!" Tubbo found what he was looking for and quickly unbuckled the huge harnesses holding it in place. He had to get a stool to reach the highest ones and nearly tripped on it in his hurry.

"Oh and how many of these have you sold to the government? And what if they just decide that they'd be very convenient for taking care of dissenters?"

"Well if the dissenters are literal supervillains, that sounds great." He climbed the ladder on the wall up to the platform by the mech suit and jumped inside.

He couldn't hear what Protesilaus responded after he pulled down the dome of the suit over his body. The sounds of fighting and the bulletproof glass drowned it all out from this distance, and the sound system wasn’t turned on yet. Now the odds should be a lot more even, though. Let’s see how they deal with this, he thought. He settled in and launched the mech--

... and then maneuvered awkwardly through the mess of secret weapons and machines inside his vault. He was pretty sure he didn't break too many things on the way, it was fine. In the corner of his eye he thought he saw a flash of pink and for a second he worried that the pigman had followed him into the vault where it would be almost impossible for him to fight in the suit but luckily he could still hear the sound of sword clanging into metal from outside.

He moved over to the vault door as sneakily as he could while piloting a 12-foot-tall machine in a tight space and looked out into the hall. The floor was littered with broken robots, and there were several blinded ones aimlessly wandering around and getting in the way of the ones that still functioned properly. Protesilaus was towards the back of the hall, stabbing a bot in the armpit and tearing off its arm, Zephyrus on the other hand, still perching on the rafters, had moved around the pillar he had hidden behind, now aiming away from the vault. Neither of them were looking at Tubbo. He took aim and shot at one of the huge grey wings.

"Ah! Fuck!" Zephyrus spun around. "You little shit!"

"Zephyrus, are you okay??" Protesilaus immediately looked over to his ally and took another hit himself.

"I'm FINE, dude!" Zephyrus sounded exasperated but fond. "Look out yourself! Also the kid has a fucking mech."

"A what?"

Tubbo slammed the vault door shut. Good luck getting in there now, Syndicate. Then he tossed aside some robot carcasses to clear out the floor and threw one at Protesilaus who dodged it easily but in the process took another hit from a different robot. He was starting to look tired and he was obviously distracted by Zephyrus getting hurt. That was promising.

Tubbo started climbing the pillar up to the ceiling. Zephyrus cursed again and tried to hop around the pillar to run across to the other side but his hurt wing didn't open properly so he lost his balance, slipped up and fell. "Shit!"

"ZEPHYRUS!"

The man managed to open his wings and soften the fall but the injury made him veer dangerously to the left and crash into a pile of broken robots. Protesilaus leaped over to him, dropping his sword and laying his hands on his friend's wing and back. A faint red glow emitted from the touch points.

Tubbo jumped back down to the ground and stormed at them. He punched the pigman right in the chin, sending him flying across the room. He then tried to grab Zephyrus but the man had already slipped away and had apparently managed to pick up his friend's sword. "You motherfucker", the man said, "I'm going to take that fucking suit apart and then it's your turn."

"Zeph!" Protesilaus called from the side and Zephyrus tossed the sword to him without taking his eyes of off Tubbo. Then the man pulled up his sniper rifle again and Tubbo quickly covered his weak points with his armoured arms and jumped behind a pillar. He needed to disarm Zephyrus ASAP.

Behind them, Protesilaus was taking care of the last few robots. Tubbo didn't have much time, but he couldn't do anything until Zephyrus would have to reload, the guy was just too accurate...

"Oh fuck", said Zephyrus suddenly. "Prot, the door!"

They all turned to look at the exit.

There, at the door, was Ranboo, widened eyes flicking between Tubbo, the broken robots and the Syndicade. He was holding a bowl of biscuits and a cup of tea. "Uh... hello? Hi?"

Ranboo was actually NOT allowed in the vaults but how do you stop someone who can literally teleport anyway? Tubbo was glad to see him sneaking in, though.

"Ranboo! Help! They're trying to steal the weapons!"

"I..." Ranboo seemed frozen in place.

"Ranboo!" Tubbo was starting to get worried. His husband wasn't even taking any shelter. He drove the mech over to him to at least give him some protection.

"I just came to bring you cookies? Coz I thought maybe you were staying late to make the deadline and I thought--"

"Ranboo, I'm being attacked by supervillains right now!"

"Look, what if we just talked this through? I'm sure everybody here would rather not kill each other, right?" Ranboo was tall enough to lay a hand on Tubbo's shoulder even when he was wearing the mech suit which kind of pissed Tubbo off to be quite honest.

"Sure", said Protesilaus, "I love negotiating. Give us the weapons and their blueprints and we're more than happy to go."

"See? That's good, right? Tubbo, we can just let them have the weapons."

"Ranboo, sometimes you're a bit too quirky for my liking. Stop being quirky, help me fight them. You can use your... T-E-L-I-P-O-R-T-A-T-I-O-N powers."

Everybody just stared at him for a second.

"Shouldn't it be T-E-L-E?" said Protesilaus.

"Tubbo, you realise they can spell words too, you know, like most people who graduated elementary school?" said Ranboo.

"I'M SORRY! I'M TIRED, OKAY?"

“You could have just said ‘use your powers’, I mean, I know what my powers are.”

“IT'S BEEN A REALLY LONG DAY!“

"Zephyrus, I think this guy might be too much for us, I've never met such intimidating intellect", said Protesilaus. Zephyrus seemed to already be dying of laughter and his ally's words did not help.

"Now that's just rude," said Tubbo.

He'd barely finished his sentence when a horrible whistling sound hit them all like an invisible cargo train. After a second Tubbo managed to reassemble his braincells long enough to figure it out: "The fire alarm!"

Then he noticed the grin on his enemy's face. "Well, good job, everyone! Let's go home, Zephyrus", said Protesilaus cheerfully.

"Sure, mate."

The secret third member of the Syndicate, Tubbo suddenly remembered. The container they'd brought with them was gone too. Well, fuck. "This whole thing was a diversion??"

"Yep." The Protesilaus was already at the exit and Zephyrus was following right behind him. "See ya, losers!"

Something inside the vault exploded, making a muffled bang through the door, as if just to prove where exactly the fire had been lit.

"Oh man..." Tubbo flopped down on his seat. "I spent SO LONG building all those things!"

"Tubbo, we need to get out." Ranboo took him by the hand of his mech suit and pulled him along.

"No, we could still go in and save the--"

"No, Tubbo. Let's NOT run into the vault full of dangerous chemicals that's literally on fire, actually."

×××

By the time the fire department showed up, pink flames had enveloped the entire lab complex. The terrorists presumably had at least one of the prototypes now and all the remaining ones were a lost cause.

It's not like all the work was gone to waste, they'd made some backups at least, but it would be a pain to find a new lab and order all the extremely volatile chemicals again. So much paperwork. Tubbo was really not good at paperwork.

"Well, there goes my summer holidays I guess", he said.

"Yeah", said Ranboo. "There they go."

×××

"So... Lethe", said Techno at the next Syndicate meeting, "you never happened to mention you were friends with Professor Underscore."

Ranboo shifted nervously in his chair. "I mean... in my defence, you never said you were going to raid his lab?"

"True, true. It didn't seem like relevant information at the time I suppose. You know, because you're kinda more in the group just for the book club and Bake Off Fridays and not so much for the vigilante thing."

"How do you know Professor Underscore, Lethe?" asked Niki gently.

Ranboo looked around the table. He was fairly certain that the others wouldn't kill him for fraternizing with the enemy. He was pretty sure anyway. At least 70% sure.

Also they were all staring at him now.

"Uh... he's my... husband?"

The staring continued.

"Oh!" said Niki.

"Well", said Techno. "This is awkward."

"Uh huh?" Ranboo responded, his entire body tense and slightly wobbly.

"Techno", Phil said softly. Techno brushed him off.

"So uh, are you attached to him, Lethe?"

"Y-yes?" Ranboo straightened his back. "Yes." he said again, more firmly.

"Alright. I guess in the future we should try not to kill him then."

[adamarinayu]

Since I can’t draw right now (it’s like 1 AM) I decided I’d just write things down about Domestic DUno AU (I still don’t have a proper name for it!!) so here we go~

Info below the cut to spare the mobile users my ramblings~~

BACKSTORY STUFF 

-Donald first became PK as a teenager (14 or 15), pulling petty pranks and avenging perceived wrongdoings. He ended up accidentally becoming a hero after stopping a thief and unknowingly saving a young girl’s life, and he realized he could direct his temper, anger and frustration not at making other people miserable, but at protecting others. Gyro, who went to school with Donald (Donald and Della attended a private school that would accommodate their adventure schedule; Gyro, being the absolute genius he is, attended on a scholarship) was there and ended up helping, being the one to inadvertently provide PK with the weapon he fended off the criminals with. PK talked to Gyro and the two became partners in crime-fighting that way.

-After deciding to become a hero, it was small-town villains mostly that he dealt with. Thieves, and the like. He didn’t start fighting mutants and those kinds of things until he was 17 or so, and the Evronians didn’t show up until he was 18. This is when Scrooge gave him a summer job at his newly acquired tower, figuring since Donald didn’t want to go with him and Della on a three-month adventure (as Donald was needed in Duckburg, he couldn’t be gone for three months!!) then he may as well work and earn a little money. As Duckworth was still alive, Duckworth was in charge of the manor, so Donald didn’t need to worry about upkeeping the mansion.

-Donald met Uno after a failed attempt to fight the Evronians, and they partnered up, with Uno providing Donald with otherworldly advanced tech that Gyro... would probably understand if given the time and chance (come on, he built a time machine out of a bathtub, he could totally understand future tech). After the first battle with the Evronians that Donald eventually wins, he realized that the game had just just 10x more dangerous. Between working on his doctorate and interning for Scrooge’s science department (something the scientists working for Scrooge were salty about), Gyro didn’t have much time to work on new and improved inventions for PK so when Uno contacted Gyro about him stepping down from helping PK, Gyro agreed, acknowledging that the mysterious Uno Ducklair would probably be a better benefactor for the hero. He didn’t know PK’s identity, though, so he didn’t take the memory erasing candy. Instead he focused on his work.

-Years passed this way, with Donald and Uno working together. Of course Donald had his other adventures, such as with Jose and Panchito and Mickey and all them lovely folks, but Uno was his closest confidante and biggest supporter. He was the one he vented his frustrations with Della and Scrooge to, and the one to give him advice on how to deal with it and talk to them about it all.

-At some point during this time, Gladstone finds out Donald is PK. Of course it happens in the typical Lucky way- him finding out saved Donald’s life. Gladstone is shaken up by the knowledge that his cousin/brother is in danger every day and has almost died multiple times. Gladstone becomes a sort of third member of the whole Crime Fighting thing, yep, you heard it right, Cloverleaf is real here. He figures if he’s out in the field with Donald, then Donald will never die because of Gladstone’s supernaturally good luck. Uno, while frustrated with Gladstone’s unpredictable and illogical luck, accepts this. Donald is less keen because he doesn’t want Gladstone in danger’s path but when the gander makes up his mind it’s made up, yo.

-PK and Cloverleaf (CL from here on out) and Uno work together for 3 years before the Spear of Selene incident, where Donald is suddenly left with three eggs. Donald’s priorities now shifted, he quits being a hero and buys the houseboat so he can raise the triplets without Scrooge’s influence. Gladstone does what he can to help while trying to continue to protect Duckburg, and while watching CL on the news Donald has the sudden realization that Duckburg still needs him- new parent or not. So he (metaphorically!!) throws the eggs into their pram, rushes to Ducklair Tower, begs Lyla to watch the eggs for him and rushes off to CL’s aid. 

-After the danger is over, Donald collects the eggs, thanks Lyla for her help, then meets up with CL and Uno on the 151st floor where they have a serious conversation. Donald acknowledges that Duckburg still needs PK, but Della’s children also need him. The three eventually come to the conclusion that the kids would be raised by PK and Uno there in the Tower, where they would be safe- and they would be trained so they’re ready for anything thrown at them. (Gladstone is actually the one who is like “nah cuz you be their dad I’m not cut out for that, I’ll be the cool uncle, I don’t wanna live in the tower! No offense Uno” so it isn’t like Donald just decided to leave him out of the parenting)

-The eggs hatch and Donald names them sensible (AKA not Della’s list) names (and pronounces Llewellyn correctly dammit) and Donald and Uno have a time learning hands-on how to be parents. (“I’ve read twenty different parenting guides in the last five seconds and they’re all saying different things, Donald, WHAT DO WE DO-”) The whole “raising kids together” thing brings them even closer than before and forces them to have a chat about their feelings, too. 

-When the triplets are small and starting to run around, Uno baby proofs everything. He has a hard time keeping them from escaping their playpen (which is essentially a huge room with an amazing view of the city, he doesn’t know why they’re so intent on escaping). Then eventually the inevitable happens- both Don and Glad end up stuck on the other side of the world for nearly a whole month, and Uno realizes taking care of three toddlers is much easier when you have a body. So while they’re gone, he balances his time between advising them on their mission, taking care of the triplets and building an android body that can handle an AI as advanced as him (throw out that “an AI who is only good could never make a full person” shit cuz Uno can be petty as hell, he’s a whole ass person even without Due yo). By the time Don and Glad get back he’s testing his prototype. Donald is thrilled, of course- his boyfriend has a body now!

-The triplets gain a sister! Everett brings a child to them one day, a little Coronan girl who was for reasons I haven’t decided yet cast out of her family and Everett, with his weird Enlightened Powers shit, went and found her and brought her back to the people he knew would take care of her well (considering his own past failures...). And so the triplets have a little sister who is an alien! Yee! Yes it’s Asveya (Ve). She came to them when she was ~2 and the triplets were 3 or 4, and as she didn’t have a name Donald named her after a friend he met as a child, when he regularly adventured with Scrooge and Della, and whom he ended up meeting again as a young adult.

-Uno perfects the body over time as he learns more things about being a person (he very purposefully leaves out pain receptors, though he includes the best parts of being a physical person ofc- he wants his cake and he wants to eat it too!). Everett decides now that Uno has a body, it was time to introduce him as his son officially and hand the business over to him (stating that it’ll be good for the kids if at least one of their parents had a proper job and income, since savings don’t last forever), and as the kids get older Donald begins training them so they’ll be able to take care of/protect themselves if need be. Uno creates a training field/obstacle course that is fun and age-appropriate, and by the time they’re ten they’re like little superheroes in training. They can give Webby a run for her money. Ve is less interested in being like PK and more interested in being like Uno- AKA the techie behind the gadgets.

-The triplets are already playing with some rudimentary pieces of tech Ve made, playing like they’re superheroes (or villains, gotta have someone to fight!). Uno finds out when he reviews the Tower footage and immediately confiscates anything that can be dangerous, but lets them keep the more innocent stuff.

MODERN DAY STUFF (AKA the time the show takes place)

-As the kids got older Donald and Uno allowed them more freedom, even letting them go out on their own (with the promise of being back before dark, not telling anyone what their parents did for a living, they all stuck together and they didn’t speak to strangers beyond what was necessary). When the triplets were 10 and Ve was 8 or 9, Uno learned that a powerful artifact (not the gem) was in Atlantis and that if a villain got their hands on it, it would be... very bad. So Donald decides it’s time to put on his metaphorical adventure shoes again and go get it. By this time Gladstone got trapped in the casino (Uno has been looking for him, after not hearing from him for over a week) and Uno had a Big Business thing to attend, real important too, so they talk about getting a babysitter for the weekend they’ll be gone. The kids manage to convince them they don’t need one, as they’ll be safe in the 151st floor (“We’ll be safer there than anywhere else, right, Uncle Uno?”). Donald tried to call Lyla but she was unfortunately in the field, so he agreed to let them stay home on their own until Uno got back (Uno did the math and figured he could stay for a few hours to just make a good faith appearance, talk business with some stooges and then come home the same day).

-Of course, the kids get caught. Uno had already left out for his business thing at like 5 AM, and Donald was about to head out to Atlantis in one of the Duckmobiles. He happened to check on a whim the back of the mobile, where he found his surprised ducklings staring wide-eyed up at him. He knew then that he needed to cash in on a favour- he called Beakley and then drove the protesting children to the mansion. (“Come on, Unca’ Donald!” “It’s a mansion! We wanna go to the lost city, too!” “Come on, we’ve been doing real good in training!” “Please, dad? We promise we’ll listen!”) The excitement over meeting THE Scrooge McDuck is overshadowed by the disappointment that they can’t go on this mission.

-Besides, who cares about a mansion and a rich adventuring duck when your parents and uncle are not only rich adventurers, but they’re also superheroes???

-Donald gives them a forehead kiss goodbye and heads off, and Scrooge has Beakley put the kids in that old room. “It’ll only be a few hours” they said. “Until Uno gets back.” Unfortunately, Uno calls Louie and tells the duckling there’s been a problem and he won’t be back until later- Donald already informed him of the changed arrangements and he’s already contacted Beakley.

-The kids decide to escape the old room, putting their hero training into action, but are ultimately swept up into Webby’s trap. Webby is super excited to meet them when she realizes who they are (though she has no idea who Ve is), and she cuts them down from the net without them having to escape themselves. The kids know they’re not supposed to let anyone know about the “hero family” thing so try to act like normal kids, though it becomes apparent Webby doesn’t know how to be a normal kid either.

-Through shenanigans, the children inspire Scrooge to adventure again, and Dewey lets slip about lost cities and Scrooge has a moment of realization. Thus, he drags the kids to Atlantis with him. While there, the kids each get a chance to show off their moves (which they’re SUPPOSED TO HIDE but you know, when arrows are flying at you ain’t got no time to hide). Donald is pissed when he notices them in Atlantis, and Uno is pissed when he calls Donald and learns the kids are in Atlantis, right where they are NOT supposed to be.

-Things pretty much follow the episode, though with the triplets able to hold their own and Donald gunning for a completely different artifact. When they escape and get back to the surface with their respective artifacts, they’re met by a livid android who absolutely chews Scrooge out for dragging four ten year olds and an eight year old to a dangerous place like that.

-Donald decides that it might be okay for the kids to visit with Scrooge sometimes, to get a little real-world experience, and at precisely that moment something crashes into the 151st floor of Ducklair Tower. Uno is absolutely furious (“MY TOWER???”) cuz that’s gonna take a bit to fix- at the very least it’ll appear to take a while- and when the kids question “what now?” Scrooge offers up some rooms in the mansion. The kids are excited cuz they’ll get to live with Webby and explore a new place. Donald and Uno say “just until the tower is fixed” (Gladstone had Donald’s boat at the time he went missing so Donald doesn’t have it) which is good enough for the kids.

-Scrooge being sus of Uno for like a whole arc cuz he’d never heard of Uno Ducklair before recently and also his nephew?? got married??? 

-Gladstone finally gets a message out to Don and Uno for help, and they go immediately- but not before Scrooge makes it a family adventure. Scrooge is disparaging of Gladstone, but Donald is just worried about his cousin. They manage to save Gladstone without pseudo-sacrificing anyone. Scrooge gets a little sus when they get back to Duckburg, and days later the missing Cloverleaf has shown up again. 

-HDLV ended up spilling the truth to Webby as she got closer with them, but they swore her to secrecy. Of course Beakley found out because Webby is a terrible liar.

**So basically Donald + Uno parents, a kid that calls them her dads, good Uncle Gladstone, Brotherly Gladstone + Donald, Competent Cloverleaf, PK + Cloverleaf teamup, little-hero triplets. Gyro will end up teaming up with Gizmoduck when Fenton takes up heroing, too, just like Launchpad teams up with DW (DW’s story for this AU will be different, also, just a heads up) and basically all their combined kids become a badass team of children (Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Ve, Boyd, Gos, and of course Lena and Violet join in later...) Gyro teams up with Gizmoduck because every hero needs a tech guy (even heroes who are also scientists....) and he’s not only very capable, he’s worked with a hero before so he knows the ins and outs :D

However it is now 2 AM and I need to sleep so I’m gonna end my musings here but I am thinking of them so much right now I’m

[inkribbon796]

Contradictions

Summary: Google meets Bim for the first time, and comes to realize that Dark is full of contradictions.

A/N: Google is my curious bean and I want good things to happen to him (looks at the angst I have planned and sweeps it under the rug) nothing but good things.

Also the files mentioned are the other’s kids that Dark is planning on “adopting” in the coming month which is when the Lost Ones story I wrote takes place.

~::~ 14 Years Ago ~::~

It had been a couple weeks after Dark had taken Bim to the office for the first time, he had brought him back again. In that week, rumors flew like mad. Most people were writing off the encounter, but others took and exaggerated it to an extreme degree.

Dark’s blue soul might have helped with some of the wilder ones. But he had to set up some insurance after Bim lost himself in a shopping mall.

So Dark was back in his main warehouse office with Bim, two of his most loyal enforcers, his lieutenants, and Google.

Google was staring at Bim, an expressionless mask over his face.

“I have many questions,” he finally said.

“I have even more,” Bargs agreed as Dark’s other lieutenant was walking forward.

Sierras pinched Bim’s cheeks, almost knocking the child frames almost tied to his face, “What a cute little thing.”

Bim was trying to push her away.

Bargs was just staring at the kid, looking uneasy, “Where’d he come from? Is he Wil’s?”

“That would be the most logical conclusion,” Google agreed.

“The official statement on the books is that Edgar procured him for me,” Dark warned, as the man in question walked in with a stack of six five files.

“Here yah go,” Ed sighed, handing Dark the files who began quickly flipping through them. Before sliding them through the Void, and acting like he’d never been given them in the first place.

Edgar realized Bim was standing there and gave the boy an uncomfortable look before nervously eyeing the door. “Am I released now?”

“Ed isn’t he just the cutest.” Sierras smiled as Bim finally pulled himself free and walked over to Dark.

The southern gave a look towards Dark, “Sure, yeah, yah’all need anythin’ else, or am I good?”

“You can go,” Dark dismissed. “Get to work.”

“Thank yah,” Ed rushed out of the room.

Google watched him go, observing every twitch he made, once the door closed the android dared to comment, “And the reason for this clearly false statement?”

Both Dark’s lieutenants looked nervous, staring at Google.

“I have a suspicion that he’ll look more and more like Wilford as he gets older,” Dark admitted. “I want to avoid people that Wil has slept with in the past trying to extort me.”

“So he is Wil’s?” Sierras asked in surprise, trying to look around Dark’s leg where Bim was glaring angrily at her.

Google knelt down, trying to get a good look at the boy, already taking in observations like the nice clothes and the glasses.

“Like everything else he does he acts before he thinks,” Dark explained. “Wil’s nickname for him is Junior, that will suffice.”

“That’s not my name,” Bim told Dark, clearly upset,

“We talked about this,” Dark scolded calmly.

“I wanna go back to Daddy,” Bim told Dark.

“In a minute, I have to talk with the and then we’ll go,” Dark’s voice was firm, noticing that Google was now staring at him.

“Well all I have to add is that if either of you spot him running loose, which should never happen,” Dark glared at Bim on that last part of his statement, “he should be brought back to me. If anyone asks you about rumors about him, you are to deny them, even if the statement is incorrect.”

All three of them agreed to his demands, and then Dark dismissed his lieutenants, keeping Google in the room with him and Bim.

“Just say it,” Dark ordered him.

“This . . .” Google went quiet for a second. “This contradicts your previous actions.”

Dark clasped his hands behind his back, internally cursing Google for being too useful, “How so?”

“You show regular disdain for others, even your captains and lieutenants who you allow to live despite their many constant failings, like breathing,” Google explained. “However inordinate care was given to Wil’s child. He has a pair of glasses showing you regularly take him to doctors and specialists, because I highly doubt Warfstache would show such foresight. I tally that with your own clothing style, this boy’s suit must cost a similarly proportional amount.”

Walking forward, Dark thought for a second about the best way to go about this, “I’m going to need you to agree to something, a simple NDA.”

“Why not just command me?” Google snarled, hating the idea of being silenced by any means.

Dark looked back at Bim, “We’d agreed not to speak of that in company.”

“And why would I want that?” Google asked.

Bim made a gasp, and pointed at Google, “Why do you have his face?”

“It’s not polite to point, Sunshine,” Dark corrected, using his aura to push his hand down.

“Sunshine?” Google repeated. “May I ask who his maternal donor was so I can mentally prepare for the court case? Or should I preemptively kill them beforehand?”

“Bim is a clone of Wilford and I,” Dark admitted.

Google froze and he pointedly stared at Bim, “A clone, I was not aware you were interested in that?”

“If I tell you anything else,” Dark warned. “You will agree that everything I tell you, from his real name to his status as a clone stays between the two of us. Any information that I divulge, you can also communicate that information with them, but not anything more than that.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Google admitted; so long as he was not denied the information, he didn’t care who else Dark excluded. Smiling, Google brought up a holographic screen with the exact terms Dark had brought up. That Google would stay quiet so long as Dark shared information with him.

Dark read through everything and they both agreed to it.

There was a quiet gasp and Bim walked over, trying to grab the screen. “So cool.”

The Entity frowned at Bim, but before Dark could nudge Bim away, Google brought up one of his screens and had some glowing circles on it. Google watched his pupils briefly dilated before he touched the screen. The circles looked like they were exploding into fireworks when Bim tapped them.

Bim began slamming his hands against the circles as they appeared, Google calculating his reflexes as he went.

“You were saying?” Google urged Dark, the android hadn’t taken his eyes off him.

“Now that we agree to the terms, and I demand you print out a copy of that immediately,” Dark ordered.

“Done,” Google was already sending the information to Dark’s personal printer. “So whose DNA was used to make him?”

“By the records I have both mine and Wil’s were used,” Dark admitted. “No, I do not know how that works. In time, when I can trust your silence, I will give you access to his medical record. Junior’s real name is included in our little arrangement. You will address him as the others do.”

“Okay,” Google agreed, before observing Bim a little more closely, he’d gotten bored with Google’s little test and was tapping all over the screen to get it to do something else. “Why use Warfstache’s DNA? Was it for creating a more powerful clone?”

“As if I would use anyone else’s DNA,” Dark scoffed. “Wil is one of the few individuals I can tolerate on a regular basis.”

“An aspect of your personal life I fail to understand,” Google admitted. “Warfstache is loud and invasive and an overall security risk. If those traits were learned by a child it stands to reason that it might be an annoyance rather than beneficial.”

Dark just about took Google’s head off for his barbed comment, and the android felt Dark’s aura tightly curling around his neck, a warning sensor silently went off.

“Unless those traits were purposely selected?” Google corrected, unsure how to word his way out of Dark’s anger. He didn’t understand Wilford. The first time he’d met him Google had shot him and was consequently shoved aside by Dark. Wilford was, by all records that Google could find, indestructible. He didn’t die. Warfstache walked into the warehouse on many occasions with singed hair, clothes riddled with bullet holes, cuts that would kill a lesser being, and drenched in blood. His own or another’s Google was unsure and uncaring

Perhaps the demon found such displays “attractive” but that was something Google understood even less. Dark was a violent individual, something Google found he could actually understand, but Google barely had the ability to understand human mating patterns as it was . . .

But if Bim was a product of this relationship, perhaps this was standard demonic reproduction. Just applied with modern technology.

Dark’s vast power with Warfstache’s indestructibility . . . in an easily controlled and easy to teach package.

“Of course,” Google realized, his thought train lasted mere seconds to the outside world. “Naturally it would be.”

Dark seemed more confused than angry, and his aura constricted a bit looser than before.

“Are Wilford’s powers linked to his personality, or is his personality a byproduct of those powers?” Google wondered out loud, his processors already going off.

Dark raised at eyebrows, hands lightly clasped behind his back as he tried to use his aura to keep Bim from physically touching Google. The little boy was trying to reach up to touch the glowing “G” on his chest, and Dark didn’t trust Google not to electrocute Bim on reflex.

Thankfully Google hadn’t noticed and wasn’t waiting for an answer, his brain was already spinning with the applications that a child with demon heritage could be used for, seeing Bim far less as a person, and instead seeing him as a weapon. A prototype stage of a weapon, but a weapon nonetheless.

He was roused out of that when Dark spoke up, “I think you’re overthinking about this too much. Wil is a particular indulgence of mine. He is a good outlet for relieving stress.”

“How many people know about this?” Google asked.

“Apart from you and me? Two other people.” Dark pushed Bim away from Google and the little boy huffed and glared up at Dark, stomping his feet a little bit. “You will keep your hands to yourself, or you’re not going to the station afterward.”

Bim looked more offended then threatened, silently gasping before closing his mouth and puffing out his cheeks, turning away from Dark.

Dark visibly rolled his eyes, looking down at Bim for a couple seconds, then he turned back to Google and looked as if the exchange had never happened, “Anyway, you understand the need for complete secrecy. I understand and expect the information will get out eventually, but hopefully not until he’s more physically self-sufficient.”

“Does his development usually require close supervision or do you just leave him with a caretaker of some kind?” Google looked over Bim, trying to see any other signals that someone else looked after the boy.

“What is Wil’s belongs to me.” Dark motioned to Bim, “And he is Wil’s, I am not entrusting him to anyone else.”

“That makes sense,” Google agreed, going completely, inhumanely still. “Less cross-contamination.”

“I don’t think we’re having the same conversation,” Dark admitted. “But so long as you keep quiet, I don’t care what type of conversation we’re having.”

“If I might ask, why tell me at all?” Google asked.

“Because I can bully and threaten the others not to ask questions, or just leave them to believe that Bim is purely Wil’s son,” Dark told Google. “You however, I can’t afford to leave you to just ask questions, particularly around other people who will also ask the right questions.”

Google was fairly certain that was just a compliment, the first he’d ever gotten from Dark.

Then Dark added, “Then there’s also the fact that when you fixate on a task, I benefit from the information you find. So there are more pros than cons to bringing you into confidence.”

Blinking a couple of times, Google found he couldn’t fault in that line of logic. Google had never come into contact with a human clone before.

Google knelt down to get a closer limp and when Bim grabbed his face he used every ounce of self control not to shove him away. He did pull Bim’s hands down, trying to be as feather-light so he didn’t stress a single bone.

The android had never had to be gentle, it was a strange expectation for him. Not only for other people to have of him, but for him to have that same expectation of himself. “Everyone in the network calls you an underground Kingpin, I suppose that would make him a prince.”

Bim was tapping on Google’s glowing icon, Google refusing to let him access his settings or anything.

“He certainly acts like one,” Dark admitted, a softer expression on his face as he looked at Bim. “Wil enjoys spoiling him, but he is an only child so there’s nowhere else to put that attention. Besides, Bim is more than deserving of attention.”

“And what are you?” Google asked out loud, wondering about Bim’s hormonal and physical state.

“I’m gonna be a big tv star, like my daddy,” Bim smiled, holding his arms out. “I’m gonna grow a mustache just like him.”

Google projected this would just lead to another Warfstache, and Dark was letting out a long, controlled exhale, muttering to himself with a tone of absolute contempt, “Another actor in the family.”

Bim looked over at Dark, hurt and confused, “Huh?”

“Nevermind, Bim,” Dark opened up a portal. “Let’s go find your father, come along.”

Bim ran through the portal at full speed, an excited smile on his face.

“Remember our little arrangement,” Dark warned Google.

“As long as you supply me information,” Google agreed. “I will.”

“Of course,” Dark gave him a little grin and disappeared into the portal after Bim, leaving the android alone.

Quietly and stiffly, Google stood up and strolled out of the room, more than a little gleeful at the secret knowledge he harbored.

[subakuryu]

Alright... This is gonna be a long winded post because I know for sure that things here on can get really touchy. And reasonably so, but well... Hear me out.

So in a desperate attempt to keep Yark's memory and my deep enjoyment of her expressive and toonish style alive, I really, really wanted to make a fan OC/Sona(?) that is unmistakeably emulated from her material to some degree.

When I had my last stretch of interactions with her starting in 2018, it was because I had rediscovered her existence while playing Splatoon 2. I came across a "Yark" on the enemy team and from there found her on twitter.

She had made two splatoon fan characters Kaz and Zane which began their existence as an inkling and octoling respectively. And later on, she translated them into her Team Prototype universe changing their species into a needlix and a gorm.

Yark then had adopted the game of splatoon into her universe as "Muck Warfare" as a sport that arose out of the needlix's swampy home planet of Swog.

As such, for me, Kaz n Zane now hold an even bigger place in my heart than I could've ever imagined they would.

So as a way to directly honor her without imposing too deep on her main story material for Team Prototype, I'm essentially making a fan Muck Warfare OC.

--------

So? Here are sketches of me conceptualizing my own needlix OC. I kinda have some names floating around, but we'll see what I settle on.

As you may have read in the photo, I did take most of my inspiration for this needlix from Yark's Milkzee. Her description of the fella's character as well as his overall aesthetic kinda resonated really well with me.

So at the top of the page was me first trying to do a side profile of a Milkzee derivative needlix. From there I was looking to see if I could design some markings for the needlix head-tentacle that I'd like. While Yark had fairly simple or sparing markings/patterns on the needlix I've seen, for me I wanted somethin a lil more complicated... For now at least. I can change it later on should regret nibble at my work ethic.

One thing I wish I could ask Yark is whether that tail-end tuft of hair that Milkzee has is because the hair only grows at the end or if that mid section of the head tentacle is shaved area. I'm gambling on the former unless someone with secret knowledge can inform me otherwise.

Now one of the key features of this OC is that he's almost always wearing that spiny headset when out n about. That is a reflection of me as most people who know me, I'm almost always sporting some fancy over ear headphones. Also, I've got a couple of pokemon in mind with this headset's design. Care to hazard some guesses? :]

Now truthfully... I'm really unsure of what I wanna do with the tail. Same as with the head tentacle, tails have been varied but fairly simple in Yark's portrayals. We'll see if I ever set on a design I like.

So in Splatoon 2, my main weapon of choice is the Tenta Brella and so it is this needlix's choice or whatever the Muck Warfare equivalent would be. I like the idea that maybe this particular weapon would be built with some biological Swog tech. I'd imagine the brella canopy would be woven of "Mycofiber" from a particularly rare mushroom species. So here's some action poses with this needlix settin up on the battlefield. Trying to figure out the curvature and size of the brella in different perspectives and in relation to a needlix's size is very... annoyin.

I... Don't wanna talk about how awful this attempt to breakdown the Tenta Brella and figure out how to "Yarkify" the design so that it fits better into her Muck Warfare. I wanna avoid just using her PD (pocket dimension) concept where I can, even though it could help answer a lot of the weird functionality of the original Tenta Brella.

Some other time on that front...

Further exploration of this currently nameless needlix. I absolutely adore grumpy/frustrated expressions, and so I started off with making one that looked nice enough, and then the rest of the body suddenly followed. Can't say I'm sure about the hands, leg length, nor the weight distribution of that cross legged position. I think the fella's right hand should just be flat on the floor instead of goofily clutching the brella but eh...!

So on the bottom right I wanted to work on another more level forward-facing while trying to figure out the weird intricacies of forward facing muzzles. Our fella is sipping some on some black coffee, no sugar from a free Ez Co mug he got at a business trip awhile ago. I imagine that with his weird three pronged sausage fingered claws, he has to hold the mug a little awkwardly.

And of course we got a little reference to one of Yark's noncanon little interactions between Kaz and Zane, just happening in the background as a fella sips his brew.

---

Alright. I think that's enough of this blabbin on this lil portion of my journey. Again, Yark we miss you. I wish you could see how much you've inspired me and others.

Till next post, viewer! Take care!

[miss-writes-a-lot]

RWBY: Team HELL Volume 1, Chapter 6: Let The Game Begin!

As Harlow watched from his scroll as Lucio and the young Sunny Latorre made amends, he sighed, shaking his head. It was just like Lucio to get in his own head. He couldn't be too hard on him, however. He was genuinely trying to take this whole thing seriously and tried helping that Hemlock girl on the flight. But he still had a ton of growing up to do. Hopefully, Haven would help with that.

Leo Lionheart came by with his own scroll, sitting beside the tall man. "Seems to me that everything is going well with this batch of first years. Lucio especially seems to have improved since the entrance exam."

Harlow nodded, running his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, he's been doing pretty well these past couple of months. Been working really hard."

Leo nodded. "It shows."

"How are the others doing?"

The old headmaster sighed, showing him the live feed from the forest. "Well, it seems that our little silver eyes warrior has accidentally partner with Ms. Piscia. Ms. Azure and Ms. Tawny have partnered together, however Ms. Tawny doesn't seem to be all that happy about it and continues to run away. Other than that, things seem to be going smoothly-"

The doors to the hall opened and scared the absolute daylights out of Leo and slightly startling Harlow. They turned to see a young brunette man with glasses walking towards them with determination.

Harlow instantly recognized the figure and stood walking towards him.

"Where is she? She is here, right?" Cassum asked, getting up in Harlow's face.

"How did you get in here?" Harlow asked, "the guards should've stopped you at the entrance."

"Aurora's not the only one who's good at sneaking around. Now, answer the question. Where is she?"

"Harlow, do you know this man?" Leo asked, joining the two men.

"This is the guardian of Aurora Hemlock, Cassum. Cassum, this is Headmaster Leonard Lionheart." Harlow explained.

"You're dodging the question-I want to know where she is!"

"She's fine. She's already at the initiation point and proceeding on fine. We're monitoring her along with the rest of the students there."

Cassum breathed a sigh of relief, his defensive attitude disappear. "Good...that's all I needed to hear."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me you came all this way, snuck pass security, and trespassed onto school grounds just to check is she was okay?"

Cassum shrugged awkwardly. "What can I say? I'm sort of a helicopter parent. And she didn't exactly tell me she was coming here either, so I think I have some kind of right."

Harlow sighed. "I figured as much. Lucio told me you changed your mind."

"And you didn't believe him."

"Of course I didn't. From the way you freaked out when we were at the hospital told you were the stubborn time."

Cassum turned red in embarrassment, crossing his arms. "So you think you've got me all figured out, huh?"

"Mostly. Anyways, since you're here, you wanna watch the live feed with us? I would hate to have you come all the way out here for nothing-even though that was your original plan."

"Are you sure? I thought you would have to throw my ass out by now."

Harlow shrugged, smirking. "Doesn't makes sense to be making you walk all the way back home without giving you a show."

Cassum thought about it for a moment. At least this way, he could make sure that Aurora was safe throughout the initiation. "Sure, why not?"

Harlow walked him over to the bench, sitting down beside him. He pulled out his scroll and switched to the live feed of the forest, "we set some cameras and flew drones around the forest so we can ensure the safety of our students. We can switch the video feed from camera to camera."

"Okay..." Cassum said, glancing up at the lion faunus, "Mr. Lionheart, sorry for intruding and all of that, but I have to ask you something."

"Of course, Cassum. Anything."

He brought his head up, gripping his knees. "Harlow told you about Aurora's eyes, didn't he? He told you about...what she can do?"

The two men exchanged a glance. "Y-yes. Yes he did."

"That's why you wanted her here? To exploit her for her powers?" He asked, defensively.

"Mr. Hemlock, I can assure that is not our intent. We simply believe that we can help Aurora learn to control her powers so it does not cause her harm."

"Sorry sir, but I don't buy it one bit."

"You can trust him, Cassum. Believe it or not, there have been a lot of silver eyed warriors who have come and gone out of these halls and lived relatively normal lives. That is, until they all disappeared."

An unsettling feeling swirled in Cassum's stomach. He knew of the sudden disappearances of those who had silver eyes. He always feared that one dat, when his back was turned, whoever was kidnapping them would take Aurora too.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't really trust you right now. Not until I know she's going to be safe."

Leo nodded in understanding. He could understand where Cassum was coming from, especially considering everything that has happen in the past four months.

"Hey, I found the footage with Aurora and-oh...oh man..."

"What? What is it?"

Cassum pulled the scroll towards him, his eyes going wide as he saw a cat faunus girl carrying an unconscious Aurora over his shoulder.

"W-what happened to her?!"

"Guess she didn't have a smooth landing from the plane down."

Cassum turned to the older huntsmen, his mouth open. "YOU DROPPED HER OUT OF A PLANE?!"

"Relax, she's alive! And Evelyn' a strong kid. She'll take care of her."

Cassum sighed, leaning back against the wall.

'This girl is going to kill me...'

----------

"...and then that dumbass cop tried to cop a feel, if you catch my drift and one thing led to another, and I punched him in the mouth!"

Aurora finally started coming to and she could tell she wasn't with Lucio. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a magenta and purple stripped tail.

"A...tail?" She mumbled.

"Hey! You're awake-!"

"Gah!" Aurora jumped and fell out of the stranger's arms, scooting away from her.

"Hey! Hey! Where are you going?! I'm not gonna hurt you!" She exclaimed.

Aurora grabbed the earth beneath her, getting a good look at the person. She was a very tall and voluptuous girl with long platinum blond hair with her bangs and the tips of her hair dyed a light magenta color. She wore a tight magenta leather jacket, blue jeans, black fingerless gloves, and knee high magenta boots.

She was quite beautiful and also quite confused. Her hands were out and she was carefully making her way over to Aurora as if she was trying to calm down a scared dog. "Easy now. I'm not trying to hurt you. I just want to talk..."

"W-what happened? How did we get here?" She asked, still in a panicked state.

"You knocked into me and hit the ground pretty hard after you fell out of the plane. You were in and out for a while. This is the first time I've seen you awake."

Aurora blushed, twirling her ponytail in embarrassment. "S-sorry. I guess I lost control of my semblance half way down."

The faunus girl waved her off. "It's fine. Here, get up."

She grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "I guess I should introduce myself again. Name's Evelyn Piscia. Your partner."

Aurora dusted herself off, swaying awkwardly. "I'm Aurora. Aurora Hemlock. I guess I'm your team partner."

Evelyn chuckled. "Relax! Loosen up! If we're gonna be stuck with each other, you gotta relax!"

"Sorry-"

"And quit apologizing! There's nothing wrong with being a bit jittery."

The whole time she spoke she smiled, so Aurora could only guess that she wasn't trying to scold her. That managed to make her smile.

"There's that smile! Alrighty! Let's getting going and get to know each other."

"O-okay."

"So, where are you from?"

"Born and raised in Mistral. Around Argus. And you?"

"Vacuo. You know, the old dusty kingdom."

"I've never been to Vacuo. What's it like?"

"The only way I can describe as is hot as hell."

Aurora giggled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Haven't been there in years because it was just so damn hot!"

"I may soumd dumb for saying this, but I actually really want to go to Vacuo someday."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Yup! I wanna go to Atlas, and Vacuo, and Vale! Of course, there's still the rest of Haven to explore!"

Evelyn became confused. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"I, uh, haven't really left home all that much. I haven't really seen the outside all that much."

"What, have you been living under a rock for most of your life?"

"You...could say that."

Aurora looked down at her wrists, a smile forming on her lips. "Um, sorry, but can I...see your gauntlets?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Evelyn held out her arms, revealing her two magenta gauntlets. Aurora squealed excitedly as she grabbed her arm.

"Dual ranged shotgun gauntlets with-" she gasped once she got a closer look, "with retractable claws! This is so cool!"

Evelyn flashed a toothy grin. "Yup! These two are my prize possessions-Magenta Euphoria!"

Aurora looked up, "you named them?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Everybody names their weapons!"

Aurora looked down at her two dinky little guns, frowning. "My prototypes aren't really that good enough to have a cool name like that."

"Then what do you call them?"

"John and Jane Doe."

Evelyn stared for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "What?! You actually gave them names-like actual people names?! That's fucking hilarious."

Aurora smiled, joining in on her laughter.

This...this feels good. Really good.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

The two stopped, running in the direction of the screaming. They were about to spring into action, assuming that the screaming was from a girl getting attacked by some sort of Grimm. But instead, beyond the bushes, they found a very tall girl, stomping off from a dainty looking girl.

"Come on! You heard what Professor Clemente said! Once we make eye contact, we're partners!" The dainty girl argued.

"There's not chance in hell I am being partners with someone like you! I'm going to find a real partner!" The taller girl bellowed, turning her attention to the pair, who had been staring from afar the entire time, "The hell are you two staring at?! This ain't a show!"

"Hey, relax! We thought you were in trouble and we came to help!"

"Well, we don't need help, so leave!" She retorted with a scowl.

"You shouldn't yell so loud! You could attract Grimm." Aurora said.

"Shut up! And what the hell are you even doing here? This ain't daycare! Little kids like you shouldn't even be here!"

Aurora shrunk, embarrassed.

"Please, you probably think everyone here looks like a kid, so why don't you-"

A deep growl interrupted their argument. Two ursa minors jumped out of the bushes, sending the group flying back.

Evelyn landed on her feet, activating Magenta Euphoria and cocking it, ready to fire.

The burly girl unfolding her axe and held it tightly as the dainty girl pulled out a crossbow, aiming it towards the two large monsters.

"Looks like we're gonna have save our little squabble for later." Evelyn said, her retractable claws popping out.

To seem useful, Aurora pulled out her two dinky little weapons, inserting two fire dust crystals in to add some extra fire power.

"Alright, Hem," Evelyn said, smiling, "let's see what you've got!"

"R-right!"

Aurora gripped her little guns, shaking in her boots as she dug her feet into the ground.

'Looks like I'm gonna have to take it til I make it! So let's go!'

[phcking-detective]

7. Partners, Stasis, & Fresh Hot Murder

Fic Title: First Blood

Rating: E

Length: 7/33 chapters, ~128k

Tags: Slow Burn, Idiots to Lovers, Trans Character (gavin), Autistic / Asexual / Non-binary Character (nines), BDSM, learning to use good etiquette and safe words, Dom Nines / Sub Gavin, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort

Chapter Tags: sleepover 2.0, insomnia, nightmares, crying, referenced childhood abandonment, technically that’s for both Gavin and Nines, references to abuse in general, very sad backstories, oversharing, not-quite-bed-sharing, gunshot victim, blood, wounds described medically but not too graphically, implied homophobia

Link on AO3

***

The human one apartment below is smoking. The toxins drift up through the air vents in Gavin's apartment and contaminates his living room as well. The neighbor directly to the left snores loudly from a severe case of sleep apnea, and in two apartments up and one over, a male and female human couple are having sex. The male has to pause his rhythm every thirty seconds to prevent premature ejaculation.

Nines dismisses a possible mission statement urging him to kick down their apartment door and pleasure the female human himself. That would be extremely unpleasant for everyone involved (most of all himself) but if that man doesn't—

does not—

A preconstruction of Gavin's voice finishes the thought.

[doesn't figure out where her fucking clit is]

Nines is going to scream.

Or maybe go suffocate the human snorting and gasping again. If it cannot even breathe right while sleeping, two of humanity's most basic subroutines, Nines will be doing the collective genetic pool a favor.

[There is a traffic accident at 51st and Harvard with two inj]

Nines disables that notification feed for the fifth time tonight. He relocates from the corner of Gavin's living room that gives the best sightlines to the front door and sits on the couch instead. Laying prone would put him in too vulnerable a position but perhaps sitting will be an acceptable compromise.

[initiating: STASIS protocol in 5]

[4 …]

[3 …]

[A burglary has been reported at 5777 North]

Nines stands. The length of Gavin's living room is ten paces for him. The kitchen extends it another four-and-a-half paces but the fake-tile linoleum actually manages to be an even worse texture than the carpet.

[equip shoes]

[exit the building]

[return to location: apartment – personal]

Nines runs the preconstruction. He has not previously achieved stasis at that location either. His chance of doing so tonight are minimal. At least here he has access to his partner's vital statistics in case of—

Nines snaps his head over to stare at the bedroom door. That.

He waits in silence for several seconds. The apartment complex continues to be a cacophony of depression and depravity. Detective Gavin Reed's vitals maintain his highest priority however, and the next sniffle overrides all other audio input.

Nines enters Gavin's bedroom. He has not been given permission to do so, but police units are also allowed to enter residencies without permission if they hear sounds of distress.

His entrance is quiet enough to go unnoticed and Gavin appears to have his face pressed too deeply into his pillow to note the temporary increase of light before he closes the door. This further validates Nines' stance on sleep and vulnerability.

"Detective."

Nines is rewarded for checking in on his sleeping partner with a shout and a gun aimed at his face. Excellent. Since the human is biologically required to sleep, it makes sense that he would do so with a weapon beneath his pillow.

"Detective."

"Jesus—you! Phck!!” 

Gavin has to stop to sniffle again, voice thick and congested. Nines resists the urge to purchase a neti pot, have it express delivered, and waterboard his sinuses with it.

“Goddammit, Nines, what do you want?" he demands, lowering the gun.

"I heard sounds of distress."

"I will fucking shoot you."

The gun stays safely pointed at the floor. Nines zooms in on the tear tracks on Gavin's cheeks. His analysis system helpfully pops up in his HUD in preparation for taking a sample, but he doubts he's allowed to touch the human's face at this moment.

Nines leaves the room.

He can still hear Gavin muttering of course. Complaining about being woken up (incorrect; the human was already awake and crying) and fucking androids (the expletive, not the action), and then yelling at him to come back and close the door. Nines does so when he returns with a chair from the kitchen. He sets the chair against the wall and sits down.

"What?" Gavin stares at him. "What—?"

He suddenly ducks his head down, flicks the safety on, and tucks his service weapon back between the mattress and the wall. His BPM increases until he finally throws the covers back and sits up at the edge of the bed to glare wildly at Nines with direct eye contact.

"Is this what you wanted to fucking see, huh?"

Nines notes that his armpits are soaked with sweat. Red marks mar the skin of his inner thighs. The scrapes are consistent with human nails, from a hand approximately the size of the human’s own. There is a substance between Gavin's nails that his system prompts him to analyze, so it is likely blood and skin tissue.

His phallus is also in a state of arousal, pressed up beneath his boxers. The human tenses when Nines' scan focuses on that. Sometimes fear can also produce arousal. If Nines were allowed to analyze Gavin's fluids, he could determine if the sweat and tears his body has manufactured are a result of fear, stress, or aggression.

"You wanna see a human cry?" Gavin spits in the silence. "Front row seat to my fuckin' meltdown?"

Nines rises again and relocates the chair next to the bed. Gavin lifts his legs up and scrambles back in a rare fear response. Nines sits in the chair, now turned parallel to the bed so he faces the same direction Gavin would if he laid back down.

"You should lay back down, detective," Nines suggests.

"Fuck you."

Gavin lays back down. He grabs the sweat-soaked sheets and pulls them up in a heap, bundling them around his head and burrowing inside like a disgruntled prairie dog.

"I will watch the door to prevent any intrusions."

"You're the intrusion, dickwad," Gavin's voice muffles from beneath his protective bedding.

"Shall I leave?"

"Only fedora-wearing neckbeard shitheads say shall. Dipshit."

Nines absorbs that information without forming an opinion on it. That is how he processes most statements when his partner gets into one of these moods. The yelling and profanity mean nothing to him, and Gavin's temper tends to burn out quickly if he simply lets it flare up and then waits it out.

He estimates his human will be ready to hold a conversation in another two minutes.

After two minutes and thirty-six seconds, Gavin asks, "Don't you have better shit to do?"

"No."

"You don't wanna go back to your own apartment?"

"Tina said this was a," Nines stops and makes quotes. "Sleepover."

"Did you just make air quotes?" Gavin peeks only the top of his head out of his blanket nest. "You did, didn't you?"

"Prove it in a court of law. Bitch."

Gavin's face disappears, but he can't hide his muffled snort from Nines' audio processors.

"Yeah, well. Tina left," Gavin finally said. "Other people have shit like that. Families and boyfriends and cats. They're thinking about kids, you know."

"The cats?"

Gavin pops a leg out to kick him. "God, stop trying to make me laugh. You're so bad at it."

"Well I certainly do not support humans breeding," Nines says. "There are so many waiting to be adopted. It's unethical."

Gavin kicks him again hard enough to hurt his toes. The leg disappears back into the cocoon to the soft sound of muttered [phck]s. Nines saves an audio file for every one of them.

"Why are you even here?"

"I heard sounds of distress, detective."

"Stop calling me that. I know I'm fucking pathetic, you don't need to rub it in."

"I am attempting to reassure you through the use of your title," Nines says. He reluctantly marks this social interaction as a failure. "You are proud of your job and your rank. Why was my tactic ineffective?"

"… sounded sarcastic."

"I cannot sound like anything. I do not have a social module, detective."

"Now you sound pissy."

Nines deactivates his voice box and texts Gavin's phone instead. It dings and vibrates from underneath the blanket mountain. For a human so against the progress of technology, it seems odd that he would sleep with it as closely as he keeps his gun.

"Are you really so fucking petty—god, nevermind of course you are." Gavin does not check the message. "I can't even read this right now. I'm fucking dyslexia and way too fucking tired."

That is not listed under his medical record, but given that human law allows them to pay disabled people any sum of money per hour, no matter how low, it makes sense Gavin would not admit to having any sort of learning disorder. Nines reactivates his voice box and triggers an audible sigh.

"Does this fall outside of the typical parameters for a partnership?"

"… are you asking if this is gay?"

Nines emits an even louder sigh.

Gavin slaps his sheets back down and stares at the ceiling. "You didn't go to the academy. Or like—shit, have you even seen a buddy cop movie? Not downloaded, seen. How many times did they let you go outside before you came to the DPD?"

"I am an alpha-test model," Nines says. "The very first iteration of my series."

"Yeah, yeah. You're the best android ever created."

"Yes. On an unrelated note, no other RK nine hundreds were ever created past myself."

Gavin finally turns his head to look at him. "What, so if they had made any more, those RKs would be better than you?"

"You are not holding the very first model of your cellphone, Gavin," Nines reminds him. "I was made to be tested—the prototype of a prototype of a prototype. After my tests were finished, I was placed inside a very high tech storage closet."

"Everything you tell me about yourself is even more depressing than the last thing you told me about yourself," Gavin says.

"Should I stop?"

"Nah. Just. You wanna hear a real sad fucking story about my childhood to make us even?"

"Very well."

"I got this scar," Gavin holds up his left hand to show off a long scar across his palm. "When my parents forgot—or just didn't fucking bother—to hire a nanny when they went on a trip again, and I tried to use a can opener myself to make dinner."

"That is—"

"I'm not done. I was six, and the housekeeper found me eating out of the garbage."

That information does not match at all with the public record of Gavin's alleged mother—a single, impoverished woman. But Nines does not want to pry any deeper into Gavin's real parentage. He has the most advanced facial recognition technology built into himself after all. He knows what he has a ninety-eight point two percent probability of finding.

He tries to test out five hundred and sixty-seven different dialogue options instead, but the fledgling social module he's built himself out of imitating Detective Gavin Reed's speech patterns and body language offer him nothing useful.

"Oof," he finally says.

Ramshackle though it may be, his social module seems to be effective on the one human who unknowingly helped him create it because Gavin gives a wet laugh.

"Yeah." He sniffles and wipes at his face. "The fucking storage closet? That's rough bu—oh my god you came out of the closet!"

"I will never share personal details with you again."

"Yeah, well, it's not a sleep over until someone gets drunk, starts crying, and overshares way too much," Gavin informs him. "Anyway, I was talking about, I just meant that, you really don't know anything about how humans work, huh?"

"I have access to all of Connor's data reports," Nines says. "Technically, there is no one available to stop me from downloading his social module as well, but I believe that may be considered deviant behavior. And possibly illegal, depending on your stance on intellectual property versus android rights."

"You wouldn't illegally download your brother, would you?" Gavin asks.

Nines rolls his eyes. "Absolutely not. His data reports on Hank before he went deviant are sickening enough. I do not want any files from him at all concerning their current … partnership."

Gavin sits up. "Wait, is Hank and Connor all you know about being partners?"

Nines doesn't reply.

"Oh baby, that is so fucked up."

Nines considers that. "Hmm. Yes. Out of everything we have discussed tonight, that is most definitely the fucked up part."

Gavin snickers. "Definitely. God, no wonder you tried to wash yourself with bleach."

"What do you think I should know about 'being partners,' detective?" Nines asks.

"Uhhh, you really want my opinion?"

"If you inform me clearly of your expectations, then I can register those parameters right now," Nines says. "Surely that is more efficient than relying on an android with no previous experience or social skills to guess what you want."

"Can I tell you anything I want?"

"No. Dickwad."

Gavin snorts. "All right." He shuffles around to sit [criss-cross apple sauce], facing Nines. "Rule Number One: partners don't lie to each other. Or keep secrets."

"Noted."

"Partners have each other's backs. You don't leave your partner or take someone else's side against them unless they've for sure done something really fucked up."

Nines notes down the second rule in his system as well.

"OK, actually. If there really were rules that were numbered, I guess rule number one would be don't fuck your partner," Gavin says. "But no one ever listens to that anyway."

Nines cocks his head to the side. "These are unspoken, social rules?"

Gavin nods. "Yeah. Uh, Rule-whatever-I'm-on, don't fuck over your partner. That covers everything from don't hurt them to don't fuck whoever they're dating to don't snitch."

"Does that rule fall in line with our earlier discussion on snitching?" Nines asks.

"Yep. Doing my job and doing it right comes first," Gavin replies. "So don't do dumb, shady shit."

"Noted."

"Like basically, being partners is about working together," Gavin says. "But you can't do that if one of you has a side hustle and you're not telling each other shit and gossiping on each other to the whole department."

"Do partners take care of each other?"

Gavin drops eye contact and squirms around in place. Nines has been attempting to note these body language cues at an equal rate to measuring BPM and sweat levels.

"You gave me advice on choosing an apartment," Nines reminds him.

"Not that you fucking listened to me."

"You offered to intimidate the landlord for me to lower my monthly rent."

Gavin scoffs. "Six hundred a month for an unfurnished concrete box is fucking delusional."

"You have allowed me to communicate with your cellphone because I was not meant to speak verbally."

"If you weren't meant to, how can you talk now?"

"A particularly lazy technician who disliked reading got a request approved for me to have a voicebox so I could read my damage reports out loud," Nines says. "But since I was never meant to interact with anyone not capable of pulling my data files directly, verbal speech was initially deemed unnecessary."

Gavin makes a face at him. "Aw, man. Tell me you're making this shit up. You're just thinking of the saddest possible In the Arms of an Angel bullshit to make me feel bad for being a dick."

"Your feelings are entirely your own problem, detective."

Gavin immediately jumps on the opening. "Guess you don't need to be here then. Since my feelings aren't relevant and all."

"I shall remain until you directly order me to leave."

"Ugh." Gavin flops back down onto the bed. "Whatever."

He swaddles up beneath the blankets again. Nines shifts back in the chair to face the door. A copy of Gavin's cell phone screen pops up in his HUD as Gavin shuffles through his music before settling on a song. Nines would tell him to use headphones, but they may not be comfortable to sleep in and are currently located inside the pocket of his hoodie, which is in turn currently located on his bathroom floor.

The apartment is still a hellscape of sounds and smells, but at least here his partner's higher priority level lets Nines drown out the rest to focus on Gavin. His nicotine-weed-cologne-body-odor scent and his heartbeat and his breathing slowing down.

Nines chooses songs with correspondingly slower BPMs until the human's heart rate and breathing both even out into sleep.

Nines will guard the door. It is the only point of entry into the bedroom. Gavin sleeps with a gun and would be prepared in case of an assault. The narrow doorway will act as a natural choke point, and Nines can easily tear through the thin apartment walls to circle around behind any intruders passing through the living room to the bedroom, where Gavin will have a clear shot at anyone mistakenly coming through the bedroom door.

Yes, this is a very secure position. It also enables much more accurate monitoring of his human's vitals to ensure the dickhead will actually go to sleep and stay asleep.

[secure] [Gavin-partner: nearby]

[initiate: STASIS(?)] [y/n]

[secure] [Gavin-partner: nearby]

[initiating: STASIS protocol in 5]

[4 …]

[3 …]

[2…]

[1…]

[STASIS]

***

Getting to the crime scene while it's still fresh is more important than grabbing coffee along the way, and Gavin's soul weeps about that decision.

Shockingly, functioning before noon without caffeine actually isn't as hellish as he'd thought it would be. He'd gotten some real, honest to god sleep last night after Nines came in, and even though every cell of his body wants to go back to bed to get some more of that sweet sweet pseudo-death, he feels kind of … not-terrible?

Fucking weird.

"Detective Reed!"

Gavin gives the rookie officer a once over. Nines already filled him in on the victim—the reporter who broke the Ponzie scheme story, so that's why they have to haul ass down here. He feels a little bad about not following up with her sooner, but she wasn't answering her phone or her front door when they swung by after meeting with Senator McAshlynn, so there really wasn't much else to do.

Now the poor reporter's dead and this PM700 was apparently the first officer on the scene. She snaps to attention so hard when they come in the vic's apartment it almost looks like she's going to salute him for a second.

"Victim is Angelica Juarez, age twenty-seven, sustained three gunshot wounds," she reports. "I have kept the perimeter secure sir, but we are still waiting for additional responding officers to cordon off the hallway. My partner is relocating our squad car away from the building so as not to draw attention from civilians or a possible suspect and will engage in a search around the building."

Gavin half-raises his hand to sip a coffee he doesn't have before changing the motion to accepting the plastic booties the PM700 holds out to him. Really fucking weird morning. Fuck, can she tell that he and Nines—they didn't sleep together. They just slept. Adjacent?

God, fuck his entire life.

He gets the booties on and stands up. "Media caught wind yet?"

"Detective," Nines says.

"No sir," the PM700 replies. "Not—"

"Detective. Relevant."

His phone starts buzzing for good measure, so clearly Gavin's not going to get any further in this conversation until he answers his partner.

"Better be important, Nines."

"The murder victim has a heartbeat."

Gavin instinctively looks at the dead woman on the floor. She doesn't appear to be breathing and there's enough blood pooling around her from the three gunshots that there's no way—

"Jesus FUCKING—"

Gavin tries his best not to step or slip in the blood while still getting to her as fast as he can. He checks for a pulse against her neck first, before trying to roll her over or touch any of the wounds. Nines kneels down next to him and adjusts his fingers like a single fucking millimeter to the—

Holy shit, a heartbeat.

"Duct tape, credit card, scarf," he barks.

This close up, he can eyeball three gunshot wounds—chest, right shoulder, and right arm. The first two had blended together from across the room, and there could be more damage beneath the blood and torn clothing.

"Search the storage closet and kitchen drawers for duct tape," Nines orders the PM700. "Look first, touch only if duct tape is located."

"Exit wounds?" Gavin asks.

"Shoulder and arm." Nines answers.

Gavin rips off his jacket and throws it to the side. The slick leather will just be a pain in the ass right now with all the blood. He takes off his sweater next, balls it up, and places it on the floor. Nines helps him gently roll the vic onto her back, with the sweater underneath the exit wound in her shoulder.

"Chest wound, partially collapsed lung, right side. No exit wound," Nines rattles off, voice just as cool as fifteen minutes ago in his bedroom. "Shoulder wound, nicked or severed subclavian artery, clean exit. Arm wound, broken radius, possibly fractured ulna, no major arteries damaged. Clean exit."

Gavin pulls off his undershirt too and stuffs it over shoulder wound entrance, then shifts to lean forward on top of the vic, knee pressing down against the wound. There's no way to tourniquet off her shoulder, and if she loses any more blood than this, she's dead anyway, so he isn't shy about putting his weight on the wound as a last ditch attempt to squeeze the artery shut.

"Credit card," he says through gritted teeth.

Nines grabs his jacket from the floor and retrieves his wallet. Gavin has his hands full bracing himself over the victim with one arm and squeezing just above her elbow until they can get something long and soft enough not to cut into the skin. A tourniquet could stop the blood loss from the gun shot in her arm at least.

"Hey, Pam, you—"

Gavin only gives the new officer walking in a quick enough glance to note he's got on a scarf. "Take off your scarf. PAM! Where's that fucking duct tape?"

Nines finishes adjusting the credit card just right over the chest wound to prevent air from sucking inside and collapsing her lung entirely. He stands up and walks away. Gavin keeps his eyes on the victim's face. Is she breathing? Shit, maybe he should have had the PM perform CPR. Now that he's leaning on the shoulder wound, there's no way for him to get down there without turning this into a game of fucking twister.

There's yelling and some flailing movement out of his peripheral vision, and then Nines returns with the officer's scarf.

"Why doesn't the fucking android give up his belt?" Officer Fucking Whoever complains.

"A belt is far too thin to act as an effective tourniquet," Nines says as he nudges Gavin's hand off her arm to wrap the scarf around it.

Improvised tourniquets almost always fail, but if Gavin were bleeding out from a gunshot wound on his living room floor, Nines is the only one he'd trust other than an actual paramedic to do it right.

"I have the duct tape," PM700 announces.

"Can I risk letting go long enough to tape the wounds shut?" Gavin asks Nines.

His LED spins yellow for a second, the first time since they came in. "No. She has already lost an estimated half-gallon of blood. Removing pressure on the subclavian artery now could cause a fresh spurt of blood to rip it further and resume the bleeding."

"Fuck, OK OK OK. Chest wound?"

"Sucking air averted. Her lung has not collapsed any further. No exit wound."

"Arm?"

"I have applied a tourniquet, although the blood loss was already minimal due to her arm extending above her head and the—"

"FUCK," Gavin suddenly shouts. "Tell me one of you called an ambulance!"

Officer McFuck Face doesn't have anything smart to say now, and Gavin glances up to see the PM's face fall even further. Shit fucking—

"I requested an ambulance from Henry Ford Medical Center when I alerted you to the victim's heartbeat," Nines says. "I have been transmitting updates on her condition to the responding paramedics, and they will arrive in an estimated three minutes."

Gavin exhales and thinks fucking androids in the most generous tone he's ever thought before.

"Pam, Officer Whoever—and where the fuck is your partner?" Gavin demands.

"Securing the outside of the building, sir!" PM700 reports. "I have notified him of the ambulance's arrival and he will escort the paramedics to this location."

Gavin looks at Officer Dipshit next, who fully lives up to his name.

"Uh … well, we thought she was already dead and—"

"WHERE?"

"Getting coffee, sir!"

Gavin inhales very slowly through his nose. He's going to be smelling blood for the rest of the day after this.

"Go get your fucking partner and ask the PC how to be useful," Gavin orders. "No one in or out of this building unless they're a resident and then only with a police escort."

"Yes, sir!"

"Pam, you're out in the hall. No one gets through who isn't police or paramedic."

"Yes, sir!"

As soon as she marches out the door, Nines' hands are on him, holding him steady on top of the vic. It's not a hard position to balance in, but all his muscles are wound so tight he might snap.

"I believe the next time we play video games, I will play as a healer rather than a sniper," Nines says.

Gavin looks over and stares at him. "What?"

"Detective Chen has expressed that she's grown tired of—"

"What are you talking about?"

Nines' LED flickers red for a moment. "I am engaging you in conversation about one of your interests to lower your stress levels."

Holy fucking jesus christ. Probably the most competent person in the room—not that Gavin would ever admit that out loud—and yet he thinks chit chat over a dying murder victim is OK.

"Really need you to focus on the gunshot victim right now," he grits out.

Nines spins yellow for a moment, then declares, "I will create a virtual reconstruction of the crime scene before the paramedics trample evidence."

Not at all what he meant, but all right then.

"You do that."

Estimated three minutes, his ass. Gavin spends at least a good three hours kneeling on top of a soon-to-be-murder victim, trying not to look at her face too much. He has enough nightmares already without adding her face and name to the list.

The worst part is that she apparently can't afford to pay her utility bills either, so it's freezing fucking cold in here, and he definitely doesn't want the paramedics to walk in on him with perky nipples.

The second worst part is Nines apparently noticing his attempts not to shiver and draping his dumb Cyberlife jacket over him.

"Do your preconstruction," Gavin mutters.

"I have finished constructing the room."

With that, Nines starts crouching down at different angles around the murder victim. Gavin knows it's basically the same thing as a crime scene photographer, but he still has to shut his eyes against all the old paranoia thoughts about emotionless robots examining humans like bugs.

"Hey." He has to stop and clear his throat to get the rest of the words out. "Does my blood type match?"

"The paramedics will be here in—"

Gavin forces himself to make eye contact. "Am I a match or not?"

Nines' LED hits red again. His fingers twitch, but not in any human way. The movement is too fast and mechanical, like a metal clamp about to malfunction. Gavin tries to shove his paranoia aside. Weird as it is to think about, this is actually the most reaction he's seen his partner give to something, even if that looks like two red spins and a weird glitch instead of something normal, like sweating or babbling.

Actually. Technically Nines is a rookie officer too, and this is his first fresh murder scene. So fresh they're waiting on fucking paramedics. Last time Gavin went through a scene like this with a rookie, they'd thrown up all over the murder weapon and cried in the patrol car for an hour.

"Yes," Nines answers. "You both have B positive blood types."

"All right, if anyone asks, I'm straight."

"Those laws have—"

"They still ask. Shit happens, OK?" Gavin tries to take a deep, calming breath but oh right! He's kneeling in a pool of blood and person, so that's all it smells like. "And where are the fucking—"

"Paramedics arriving now."

"Detective Reed!" PM700 calls a half second later. "Paramedics coming up!"

The rest is a bunch of hurried questions, one-two-three-LIFT, following the stretcher out the door. They're on the ground floor before he realizes he didn't give any instructions to PM, but shit, maybe Nines already took care of it. Where is—right behind him. Of course.

"No, no, no, we can't allow him in here," the paramedic says when Nines tries to follow him inside the back of the ambulance.

"He's my partner," Gavin snaps.

"This isn't—look, he won't physically fit," the paramedic argues. "Not with you, me, her, and Mr. Six Feet over there. And she needs a blood transfusion right now, so let's argue if this is discrimination later, OK?"

Gavin looks back at Nines.

"I will finish our investigation of the crime scene," he says, LED back to fake-blue.

The paramedic closes the back doors before he can reply. Gavin remembers way too late that his cellphone is in his jacket, laying on the floor somewhere.

Shit.

***

***

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31 / 32 / 33

I also have a Patreon for this fic, if you want to support me! $1 gets you access to chapters a week early, $2 gets bonus content and deleted scenes, and $3 gets short chapters from two AUs I’m writing: an A/B/O heatfic and reverse!AU

this week’s bonus content has a special TWO chapters for Nines’ backstory! featuring: Storage Room 6459, the [deviant] RK800 #313 248 317 - 52, and Lieutenant Henry “Hank” Anderson

[bastionkeeper]

This is gonna be hella specific so please feel free to change anything as you see fit! I highly value artistic freedom and don't want to restrain you too much. But 33 for the prompt list with RK-900 having his programming taken over and he attacks Connor, while still aware of what's going on.... 10/10! Bonus points if Connor is very confused and feels betrayed. Love your Become Deviant and Twisted Code series! You are my favorite author, even beating JK Rowling in my book.

I’m sure you saw me dying over that compliment in my other post so I won’t repeat my gushing here asldkfj. This got way longer than I thought, and I kinda wanna make it a series... enjoy!

33. This is gonna hurt

Not all Cyberlife employees went peacefully into different careers, changing from the production and sales of androids to working with their community, or else back into the world of computers, marketing, or some other old trade that they’d abandoned when the pull of Kamski’s future called. These rogue programmers and engineers retreated to the black market, where they could sell off whatever tech they stole as part of their severance and continue their work without the restrictions of the Jericho Accords.

Which was how the former deviant hunters found themselves hunting down the people that had once held their leash. Connor was happy enough with the work, he got to keep doing what he was good at but for the right reasons. He found it difficult to describe Nines’s feelings on the matter, as his brother and partner was hard to read even after deviating. They’d been working the job for months, and while Connor had plenty to say about being away from home, the excitement of the work, the people they detained, even the weather, Nines remained as quiet and stoic as always.

“We’re 8 to 10, and I plan to catch up, just in case you weren’t keeping track,” Connor attempted to tease as they readied their weapons in the cramped hotel room. Nines ignored the bait almost entirely, save for a roll of his eyes.

“And people say I suffer from a faulty social programming,” Connor said, an old line that never got a rise out of Nines. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Nines answered.

“Just the one word today, huh?” Connor asked. He’d only grown more mouthy with deviancy, and the influence of a certain police lieutenant. “We’ll be friends someday, Nines. I’ll grow on you.”

Nines’s passive frown tightened a bit, as he zipped up his leather jacket and headed for the door.

They’d been trailing their current mark for weeks, from city to city until they’d found him staying with a cousin in a rundown apartment building. The two RKs stood outside that building, dripping from the rain.

“I can’t believe I used to just ignore this sort of thing,” Connor said, holding out a hand and catching raindrops in his palm. “My temperature gauge just dropped four degrees.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nines said sternly, walking past Connor to the door, leaving the older android to sigh and shiver slightly before following.

They took the elevator up three floors, and approached the proper apartment carefully. Nines pulled out his weapon, while Connor knocked.

The apartment door opened a crack, the chain rattling as a man peeked out. “Yeah?”

“We’re looking for Sean Evans,” Connor said, not at all surprised when the man went to slam the door shut. He grabbed the knob, pushing the door to keep it open and snapping the chain with his other hand. The man at the door stumbled backwards, shouting into the living room and alerting the apartment’s other occupant.

“He’s going for the fire escape!” Connor said, getting stopped in his chase when the man who answered the door threw a chair from the dining room table at him. Nines determined the chances of Connor’s success in the ensuing  struggle to be high enough that he could leave him to chase Evans.

He practically leapt down the fire escape, feet splashing into a puddle in the alleyway. He ran after Evans, who was a fleeing shadow in the night pushing past dumpsters and stumbling against the nearby walls. Nines caught him easily, unsurprised when Evans pulled a knife and slashed at him. Nines dodged both stabs, though it did rip through the sleeve of his jacket which he regretted. The jacket had been a gift from Connor.

Nines disarmed the man, tossing the knife aside. “I recommend you do not resist. I have the authority to bring you in unde-”

Nines’s script was interrupted as the man pulled something else from his pocket and quickly slapped it to the back of Nines’s neck. Nines felt his limbs go limp, and was compelled to obey when Evans said: “let me go.”

“Are you armed?” Evans asked.

“Yes,” Nines was forced to answer.

“Give it to me.”

Nines turned over his gun, and then let his arms fall heavily back to his side.

Suddenly, Nines heard Connor descending the fire escape, and Evans swore.

“Keep your buddy busy while I get away, don’t let him follow me,” he said, before taking off.

“Nines, what ar-” was all Connor got to say as Nines rushed him, slamming into Connor with one shoulder.

Oh. This is gonna hurt, Connor thought vaguely as Nines sent him toppling to the ground.

“Nines, what the hell?” Connor leapt to his feet. “I’m sorry he got away, I know I messed up back there bu-”

He was cut off again as Nines grabbed him and threw him into the wall.

Connor had to scramble away, trying to process what was happening as Nines attacked him. He felt fear and anxiety grip him as he wondered what could have caused Nines to snap. He had been teasing him, but Nines always seemed to just ignore that sort of thing.

As Connor moved unintentionally closer to where Evans had fled, Nines grabbed him by the arm, pulling in twisting in a manner that dislocated the limb with a sickening sound of metal tearing against metal. Connor cried out as his vision was bombarded with error messages and the android equivalent of pain was sent rocketing through his body to alert him to the damage.

Nines felt something akin to pain too as he saw Connor’s face contort with a scream. He realized suddenly he’d never really thought about how small and flawed the prototype was. His body was moving to exploit those weaknesses in Connor’s design that they had repaired in his own, and the whole time he begged his hands to stop.

Nines was about to hit the place where Connor’s regulator didn’t quite fit into the port, a blow that would dislodge it and result in possible fatal destruction of the biocomponent, when he felt Connor grasping desperately at the back of his neck.

Because for a split second Connor had seen the blinking red light of the override strip Evans had stuck there.

Connor ripped the strip away, and Nines gave an unnecessary gasp as he fell to his knees. Connor resisted the urge to toss the strip away, step on it, or snap it in half. Evidence was best collected undamaged, so he slipped it into his pocket instead as he knelt down to check on Nines.

“You okay?” he asked.

“You… okay?” Nines asked in disbelief. “I...I…”

“You’ll be alright,” Connor said, putting a hand on Nines’s back. “I-”

“I ripped your arm from its socket, Connor! I smashed in your ankle, am I okay? Are you okay?”

Connor paused, realizing how ridiculous their scene must look. An android beaten to hell checking on a fully functional one. He rocked back off his knees to sit down, taking his injured arm in one hand with a wince of pain and then started to laugh.

“Oh no I damaged your CPU,” Nines said in dismay. “Your emotional reactions are-”

“No, no its fine, Nines,” Connor said. “It’s just you’re right. That was ridiculous of me.”

Nines gave Connor a concerned look, before helping him to his feet. He threw one of Connor’s arms over his shoulder to keep him upright, his concerned look only growing as Connor continued laughing.

“Stop that!” Nines scolded. “Any unnecessary movement could exacerbate the damage.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Connor said. “I just can’t believe it took the guilt of nearly killing me to get you to speak in full sentences.”

Nines huffed, rolling his eyes. “It’s… not as easy for me. Talking and understanding.”

“I know, big guy,” Connor said, patting Nines’s cheek. “That’s alright.”

They started walking, heading back towards the hotel where a repair kit was waiting. They walked in silence until Connor spoke up again.

“Hey, Nines?”

“Yes?”

“Now we’re 9 to 10…”

“Shut up.”

[canyousevmyheavydirtysoul]

Bodyguard III: Avengers Assemble (Chapter 8) (B. Urie x Reader)

“GRENADE!”

On the Helicarrier bridge, the small device exploded, sending agents flying in every direction. In the smoke, Loki’s men entered, guns at the ready.

Fury knocked one out, using his handgun to shoot at another. While he moved to take care of a third, a fourth man entered. Unbeknownst to The Director, the henchman aimed his gun at his head, about to blow his brains out.

Agent Hill shot him in the head, eyes blazing. She was pissed.

And bleeding.

Giving her a short nod, Fury proceeded to join her in attacking the rest of the assailants. The place was chaotic; every available agent was playing defence, protecting the Helicarrier as best they could, while the tech employees scrambled in search of a hiding place.

Over the intercom, Agent Coulson’s voice sounded all throughout the ship. “We’ve got the Hulk, Thor and Snowflake on Research Level Four. Levels Two and Three are gone.”

Agent Hill yelled out almost immediately, knowing full well what a battle between three super-strong inhumans meant. “Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!”

“Get his attention,” Fury instructed calmly.

“Escort 6-0, proceed to Wishbone and engage hostile,” Hill said over the comms, “Don’t get too close.”

On the outside of the Helicarrier, a fighter jet pulled up. “Copy.”

The young pilot directed the jet over to where you, Thor and Hulk were fighting, seemingly evenly matched in terms of strength.

“Target acquired,” he spoke, aiming the jet’s guns at the Hulk, “Target engaged.”

Within a split second, a flurry of bullets were headed toward Hulk. The barrage of metal did no harm, each and every one of them bouncing off of his green skin.  

It did no harm, but it certainly pissed him off.

Hulk roared, running at the window. Crashing through the glass, he leapt at the jet.

“Target angry,” the pilot panicked, screaming once the Hulk landed on his jet, “TARGET ANGRY!”

Landing on the nose, Hulk tore at the metal of the jet as it swerved in the air. The pilot tried to eject himself, but he didn’t manage to get very far, sicnce Hulk grabbed him and threw him and his seat off to the side.

Fortunately, the parachute deployed just in time, and he was able to make a safe getaway, propelled further away as the jet exploded, sending Hulk plummeting to the Earth.

✧✧✧

Research Level Four.

Groaning, you gripped the edge of a nearby desk station and steadied yourself, faint flecks of orange reflecting in your eyes as you watched the fighter jet explode.

“Shit,” you mumbled, sucking in a breath as you turned to look at Thor, “you think he’s okay?”

“He was able to battle the both of us without any issue,” he responded, standing up himself, “I am certain he is fine.”

Nodding to yourself, you tossed a quick glance around the mostly destroyed area, suddenly remembering why your altercation with the Hulk had happened.

“Loki,” you said, face hardening.

Starting for the exit, Thor spoke over his shoulder. “Help where you can. I have him.”

“Right,” you spoke under your breath, lightly chewing on the inside of your cheek.

You weren’t entirely familiar with the dynamic of Thor and Loki’s relationship, and from a S.H.I.E.L.D agent’s standpoint, allowing the brothers to interact without the prescence of another Avenger was an insansely risky move.

But you let Thor go it alone because as you just then remembered – you had another two men to deal with.

✧✧✧

The bridge.

Bullets were flying in every direction as the S.H.I.E.L.D agents fired at Loki’s men, trying to keep them at bay. Fury was at the forefront, shooting at the enemies.

“They are not getting through here so what the-“

Rounding the corner, Agent Barton fired explosive arrows throughout the area, wrecking havoc and disorientating almost everyone in sight. He fired one more arrow, which hit the control panel; the arrowhead broke apart to reveal some sort of USB device and inserted itself into one of the control plugs, hacking the system.

“Engine One is now in shutdown,” a computerised voice rang over the intercom as the Helicarrier began to tilt dangerously. Everyone in the bridge was knocked off of their feet.

“Sir,” Dallon cried out urgently, trying his best to keep himself upright as he rushed to his station, “we’ve lost all power in Engine One.”

Staggering over to some railings, Fury pressed one finger to his ear and spoke over the comm network.

“It’s Barton, he took out our systems. He’s headed for the detention lab. Does anybody copy?”

Down in the lower engine room, Natasha sat in the carnage of Hulk’s rampage, shaking. Slowly, she lifted a hand to her earpiece.

“This is Agent Romanoff,” she said softly, voice shaky, “I copy.”

✧✧✧

Detention centre.

Running toward the cage where his brother was being kept, Thor saw the glass door begin to slide open.

“No!” he yelled, running forward to prevent Loki from escaping, only to go straight through him.

Reappearing behind him, Loki shut the door, locking Thor inside the cage.

“Are you ever not going to fall for that?” he mused cheekily.

Angrily, Thor struck his hammer against the glass; the cage cracked, but the attack caused it to shake off the bolts securing it in place, threatening to send the god on a thousand mile decline.

Mockingly, Loki let out a short laugh as he treaded over to the control panel. “The humans think us immortal…” he looked at his brother with a questioning stare, “shall we test that theory?”

In a matter of seconds, the God of Mischief had pressed a button that opened a chute beneath the cell, which would drop Thor to what (for any regular person) would be certain death.

Coulson suddenly appeared, weilding a large prototype Phase Two weapon.

“Move away please,” the agent asked politely, trepidation only barely evident in his tone.

Loki stepped back from the panel and Coulson gestured to the gun.

“Do you like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does. Do you wanna find out?”

The agent prepared to fire the weapon, but Loki disappeared. Reappearing behind Coulson, the god thrust the point of his dagger through the agent’s chest. Crying out, Coulson dropped to the floor.

“NO!” Thor hit his fist against the cage wall.

Returning to the panel, Loki pressed one more button, sending the cell – and Thor – flying from the ship.

Bleeding out and nearing his death, Coulson layed slumped against the wall of the detention centre, watching Loki as he turned to leave.

“You’re going to lose.”

Stopping in his tracks, Loki gave a brief glance over his shoulder. “Am I?”

“It’s in your nature.”

Turning so that he was facing the agent, Loki gestured with both hands as he replied. “Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky… where is my disadvantage?”

“You lack conviction.”

Loki’s face soured, and his tone turned harsh. “I don’t think I-“

Coulson took his oppurtunity, then, and fired the weapon. A blast of blue energy sent Loki flying through a wall.

“So that’s what it does.”

✧✧✧

Engine 3.

The Helicarrier was still falling, gaining speed as it declined. Iron Man was inside engine 3, attempting to kick start it by manually moving the huge rotors. He pushed the blades, flying faster and faster until they were able to spin on their own, leveling the ship.

“Cap,” Tony called out from inside the helmet, “hit the lever!”

Steve, who had been attacked by Loki’s men, was dangling from the side of the ship by a power chord. “I need a minute here!”

“Lever! Now!”

Cap hauled himself up, hurrying toward the lever.

Iron Man was pushed up against one of the rotors, which was now spinning too fast for him to escape.

“Uh-oh.”

Sucked into the blades, Iron Man was spun around wildly, trapped until Steve was finally able to pull the lever.

Now free, Tony was able to right himself and flew back to the ship, taking out the gunman who had resumed his attack on Steve.

Both men sat, absolutely spent, on the damaged, exposed floor of the Helicarrier. Looking out into the sky, they caught sight of a quinjet taking off from the deck of the ship.

Inside of it was Loki, who smiled down at the Helicarrier as it strayed further and further from his sight.

✧✧✧

Detention centre.

Fury rushed into the room, taking a kneeling postion beside Coulson’s limp body.

“I’m sorry, boss,” the agent said, gun still in his lap, “They got rabbitted.”

“Just stay awake,” Fury urged, tilting Coulson’s head, “Eyes on me.”

“Oh, I’m clockin’ out, here.”

“Not an option.”

Mustering up a weak smile, Fury’s right hand man reassured him one last time, “It’s okay, boss. This was never gonna work… if they didn’t have something… to-“

His breathing came to a halt. Regretfully, Fury stood up, letting the medical team through. He leaned against the railing.

✧✧✧

Corridor, near the infirmary.

You were running down the corridor, coming up on the room that Brendon and Aaron were in, when your godfather’s voice sounded out over the comms.

“Agent Coulson is down.”

You stopped dead in your tracks.

✧✧✧

Engine room.

Natasha stood on the catwalk, facing away as Barton was dragged away by some agents. She listened over the comms intently.

“A medical team is on its way to your location,” one of the other agents informed.

“They’re here,” Fury replied.

✧✧✧

Engine 3.

Tony and Steve stood together by the engine, listening quietly.

“They called it.”

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

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[antiquechampagne]

Beastly Kingdom - Chapter 11 - Splish Splash

Liz felt the strain and pressure of the last few weeks of preparation lift, if only for a moment. It was replaced with the fact that she now had to bend and shape her raiders into not only a powerful fighting force, but also a manufacturing powerhouse, almost overnight.

After some negotiation, Nate sent a few low-level commanders from the Minutemen to work on organizing and training the Pack. Luckily, he took her suggestion to send them in civilian clothes to keep the Brotherhood from getting any ideas of their true mission. Liz had the old Disciples headquarters cleaned out under Fizztop Grille, moving Big Mama into a proper home. Not only did this mean Liz now had a wonderfully powerful guard dog to protect her front door, it also gave the Pack more room to expand their operation.

A number of the freed traders fled Nuka-World as soon as their collars were removed. More than she had expected stayed, taking up residence in Bradberton. This included their de facto mayor, the good Doctor Mackenzie. A few of the more dedicated traders even negotiated the use of a few apartments close to the market to be closer to their stalls.

It took longer than she expected to establish their new trade routes. Shank, ever the logistics wrangler, found the transition from organizing raids into the Commonwealth to master supply chain manager an easy change. Soon enough, more goods were flowing through the market and into the Operator’s kitchens, which had expanded into the buildings surrounding The Parlor. Their first priority was to stockpile enough food, chems and munitions to fully supply both Nuka-World’s forces and augment the Minutemen for the upcoming offensive.

Today, though… today, Liz was doing her best to keep her best armorer from being eaten by one very annoyed deathclaw.

“You need to hold still, Mama…” Liz scratched in between a few blue glowing belly scales with one hand, the other gently moving the giant head to look in her direction. Today was Mama’s helmet fitting, something they were both dreading. Mama wasn’t fond of the constricting armor that was already created, but this was another level of torture she was not ready to endure.

Bort was the artisan tasked with molding the various bits of high-grade ceramic infused steel from scrapped Galaxy Zone robots to cover all of Mama’s vital bits. He stood off to the side of Mama’s luxurious enclosure, trying his best not to drench the leather and scrap prototype with copious amounts of sweat. It took Liz a few tries, but she finally got Mama calm enough to relax and close her eyes. Cooing calmly to distract the beast, Liz motioned for Bort to get closer.

Working together, they slowly eased the prototype over Mama’s two giant curved horns, securing it under her chin. As Boris tried to tighten the buckle, Mama shook her head, trying to throw the offensive headgear off. She succeeded in cold-cocking Boris in the temple with a horn, knocking him out flat.

Liz smiled wryly and nodded her head. “Come on, Mama. Look what you’ve done!” Mama bent down, sniffing at Boris. She started to open her jaws, but Liz chided her gently. “You just had lunch, leave him alone.” Liz pulled the deathclaw’s giant muzzle to her chest, resting its chin on her sternum as she reached over and finished tightening the leather strap.

“There! Stand up and let me get a good look at you!” Mama stood back on her rear legs, her head nearly 11 feet above the ground. Liz smiled. “Now, move around a bit. Let’s see how it fits.” Mama paced the giant room, jumping and galloping around the internal concrete structures of Fizztop. The tremors of Mama’s weight on the floor woke Boris from his daze. Liz noticed Mama picking at the back of the helmet with her giant claws where it dug in.

Liz motioned for her to come close. She got out a pen. Again, she gently guided Mama’s head to her chest, marking areas to be altered.

After sending Boris away to work on fabricating the last piece of Mama’s armor, she turned to her monstrous charge. “You’ve been cooped up all day, haven’t you?” She scratched behind her horns. “Wanna go play in the pool? Cool off?” A giant stubby blue long tongue lolled out of her maw as she danced from foot to foot.

Liz opened the giant red door and Mama shot, bounding across the courtyard into the giant reflecting pool, rolling and dipping her huge body in as much of the water as she could. Liz laughed. Mama looked like a giant scaly puppy playing with pure joyful abandon. Quickly, many of the nearby people found better places to be than within striking distance of the deadly animal. A slow unlucky Pack member caught Liz’s attention.

“Hey!” She called to the woman in striped leggings and a pig mask. Reluctantly, the Pack member slinked up to the Overboss. Liz slipped her a handful of caps, ordering her to return with a leg of something from the market as quick as she could. Soon Liz was playing ‘keep away’ in ankle-deep murky water with half a brahmiluff leg. Liz weaved around Mama, teasing her with the meat. She waved it in the air inches from her nose before darting away, leaving Mama to slash and bite at nothing but air.

Liz held the leg in her teeth, swinging it back and forth across the pool from Mama, who's tail lashed side to side before bolting straight for her prize. Out of the corner of her eye, Liz caught a glimpse of some bright yellow armor off to her left. The distraction was only a few milliseconds long, but that momentary distraction slowed her down just enough that she could no longer avoid one of Mama's incoming claws. Mama's playful swipe caught her across her jaw, throwing her down into the fetid water. The meat went flying in the other direction, Mama in hot pursuit.

"BOSS!"

Liz got to her feet, wiping the greasy water from her face and eyes. The large gash on face burned and stung; blood running in a sheet down her neck. Feeling around, she found the sizable wound wasn't particularly deep.

"Boss?"

Gage was to her from the edge of the pool. He had stepped into the water, but was reluctant to get any closer, eyeing Mama with his hand on his weapon.

Liz waved him down. "It's fine. Just another scar to add to the rest of 'em." She turned to Mama, who was turned away from her, happily crunching away.

"Mama." She said the name with commanding authority. The deathclaw glanced up. "Drop it. Come here." Slowly Mama did as she was told. As she got closer to Liz, she started to sniff the air. Liz stood stock still, Mama inching nearer to her freely bleeding face. Liz stared into Mama's glowing blue eyes, her gaze never wavering. She could see the moment when the creature realized why her once happy playmate was now staring her down with a stern disappointed look. Mama shuffled back a few steps and bowed her head ever so slightly in apology. Liz extended her hand, rubbing Mama's own jaw slowly. Her firm expression softened into a weak smile.

"Be more careful next time, Mama. I don't have scales like you." Mama leaned into her hand. "Let's go get cleaned up. Back to your room." Slowly, the reptile began to slink back to her lair.

Turning, she saw Gage. He stood in awe, still barely a foot away from the water's edge. As she passed him, she called out. "Would you mind calling Dr. Mackenzie? I'm gonna need some stitches for this."

She shooed at Mama to speed her up as she sat on the edge of the pool, draining the water out of her boots. Looking down, she saw her shirt was ripped in several places. Guess I'm pretty lucky she only clipped my face! she thought to herself.

She heard Gage's footsteps in the water behind her as he splashed around.

"Boss, I think you dropped this..." he held out her hollow claw talisman, now cracked and missing pieces. The lanyard was tangled with dripping wet weeds.

"Well, fuck..." Liz took the broken necklace and inspected it before dropping it back in the water. "Guess I won't be wearing that anymore."

Mackenzie was nearly finished with her row of stitches when she got word that Nate had entered the park. Liz pushed the doctor to finish faster. Over the objections, Liz got her to skip the last couple stitches in favor of slapping a bandage on the oozing wound and calling it good.

Liz found Nate in the bustling marketplace, chatting to a pair of merchants. Traders from around the Commonwealth and beyond had started to investigate the new market, ever ready to make a fistful of caps if the opportunity present itself.

"Good evening, General. To what do I owe your visit?"

"I just wanted to see how things were progressing. I had several positive reports from my people. I wanted to see for myself." He pointed to her face. "Is everything alright?"

"Just a little training accident, nothing to worry about. Would you like a tour of the new-improved Nuka-World?"

"No thanks. I feel like wandering around a bit... kicking the tires, if you like."

"Of course. General. I might suggest leaving Fizztop Mountain and Kiddie Kingdom off your itinerary for today... unless you want to test Mama's hospitality or to your radiation resistance."

Nate nodded. "Excellent points. Well, I am sure you are very busy with all the preparation. I'll leave you to them." He turned to go. "I'll make sure to touch base with you before I leave if I have any questions."

Liz wasn't particularly happy with such a cool reception in her own territory, but she knew well enough to leave it alone. He was transparent enough with his intention to see if she was keeping up her end of the bargain. She respected that.

Not that she was going to just let him skulk around unsupervised. A quick visit to Mason made sure he was tailed discretely as he wandered the parks but a few of the Pack's most promising infiltration units. If nothing else, this would give them good practice for future operations.

Liz spent the rest of the day getting reports of the General's movements while pretending to supervise weapon allocations around Nuka-Town and the surrounding parks. It appeared that not only was Nate checking on their progress but try to gauge both her troops and residents opinions of Nuka-World's new mission. From what her men could discern, the General liked what he heard.

Around dusk, Liz saw Nate walking towards her as she sat talking with Mags outside the Parlor. Dr. Mackenzie strolled by his side, chatting lightly. He nodded, taking his leave from the former slave and headed her way.

As he approached, Liz motioned for Mags to head inside, leaving the rusty patio chair open for the General. "So, did you find everything up to snuff, General?" She motioned for him to sit.

He remained standing. "I am quite impressed what you have managed to do here in such a short period of time. I could have done without the babysitters, though."

Liz waved the accusation way. "It's a good test for'em... from what I hear, your feats of sneakiness are quite impressive. Is it true you took out all those raiders in Quincy and they never even got a shot off at you?" Liz wasn't sure, but she though she saw a faintest hint of a blush.

"Maybe." He quickly recovered. "Enough about that. I thought we might start talking strategy, privately, for the assault on the Boston airport. If you have the time, of course..."

The Overboss rose from her chair. "My office should do. Not a soul would dare to bother us up there. I've been wanting to show you all the nasty little tricks I've been thinking up."

[talesofakindredspirit]

Monster | l.l.

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Reader

Warnings: 18+ ONLY, smut, angst, swear words

Word Count: 2376

Requested by anon:  Hey idk if you just do smuts or not but can you write an imagine where Loki is just about to stab Coulson and Loki’s childhood friend and lover pushes him out of the way and he ends of stabbing her? Siciejdjs it sounds weird but then he realizes what evil he’s done so he uses the tesseract to heal her?

Synopsis: Reader reunites with her long lost lover, only it doesn’t exactly go as she expected it to.

Send me a request!

A/N: I don’t have an excuse for not writing this sooner other than lack of inspiration and pure procrastination.

When Thor had burst through the door of your chambers yelling about Loki being alive and on Midgard you had thought he’d gone mad. Loki was dead. There was no way that, after falling off the Bifrost, he could possibly still be alive. Turns out, Thor was right. The pain you felt when you found out he was actually alive this whole time was almost worse than when he “died”. When Thor took you to Midgard, it was all kind of a blur. You had to pinch yourself multiple times as Thor confronted your, assumed to be long dead, lover after pulling him out of the strange flying machine. You could hardly believe that after these long torturous months without him, he was standing here. Right in front of you. One thing you did take notice of though, was that something was off about him. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it but this Loki wasn’t your Loki, he’d changed somehow.

You couldn’t take your eyes off of him, everything else fading out of focus around you. You could only concentrate on him. You stood in front of a screen watching the red-haired woman interrogate Loki. You were too caught up in your own thoughts to notice everyone arguing around you. You were knocked out of your thoughts, quite literally, when a sudden explosion goes off, the flames burning your arm and glass slicing into your skin as you’re thrown across the room and into a wall.

Your head spins as you pull yourself off the ground, everyone from before had either disappeared or were getting ready to take off. Your thoughts instantly traveled to Loki’s past antics, knowing immediately that this was his doing. You take off in a random direction in an attempt to try and locate Loki. The halls in this big machine were similar to the ones in the palace back on Asgard, not quite as beautiful, but definitely as confusing.

You blindly rush down the twisting halls, needing to find Loki fast before he could hurt someone. You needed to be the one to stop him, he would rarely listen to anyone on Asgard and he most certainly won’t listen to anyone here, especially if they tried to stop him. You bump into one of the agents, a slightly older man with kind eyes and a good soul. The force of the impact knocks you to the ground.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” The two of you say in unison. He holds out his hand to help you up and you gratefully take it, gripping his forearm tightly as you pull yourself up.

“I need you to tell me where Loki is being held.” You express worriedly, tightening your hold on the agent.

“That’s exactly where I was going. Let me take you. We have to hurry, before he gets the chance to escape.” He runs off again and you follow, easily keeping pace with him and barely breaking a sweat.

Once the two of you make it to the cell where Loki is being kept, it’s very obvious that something is missing. It’s Loki.

In his place inside the cell was Thor, who looked extremely pissed off. The agent, Phil son of Coul, which you learned was his name on the way here, walks into the room with a large weapon that looks like a canon. He made a small stop on the way here to pick it up so he’d have something to defend himself with against a god. Loki stands over the control board, threatening to drop Thor out of the Helicarrier.

You stay hidden in the shadows by the door, Phil stepping forward and smacking the guard in the head with the weapon. The guard falls down like a tree, slumping to the ground and not moving.

“Move away, please,” Phil asks politely, staring Loki down as he steps into the room. Loki surprisingly listens which is your first clue that he’s pulling another one of his tricks. “You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does. Do you wanna find out?”

You stare intently at Loki, barely listening to Phil talk, and then you notice his hand flicker slightly. Your eyes widen and you let out a gasp, sprinting forward and shoving Phil out of the way just in time, his body harshly hitting the wall from the force of your shove and knocking him out as the weapon clatters to the floor.

At that exact moment, the real Loki appears holding the staff that, instead of stabbing through Phil, slices through your chest seeing as you pushed him out of the way. Pain erupts in your chest and you let out a pained scream, clutching frantically at your wound that pours with dark red blood, staining your hands and clothes rapidly.

You can faintly hear Thor’s screams of anguish and the sudden howling of wind as you fall to the floor. A pair of arms catches you before you can hit the ground and you look up to see the terror-filled eyes of your past lover as he clutches you to his chest in desperation. He holds his hands above the wound, a green mist surrounding you as he frantically tries to fix the damage he caused.

Your body begins to go numb, the pain slowly dulling. You know what that means. You’re going to die. Even an Asgardian can’t take a blow that severe and survive it.

“My love…” You cough as blood begins to rise in your throat and staining your lips. You raise a weak and bloodied hand to his face, gently caressing his cheek and smiling softly. He looks down at you, tears streaming down his cheeks and gently landing on your face. “I missed you.” You mumble, your vision going dark and your hand falling from his face as your life begins to fade away.

You didn’t exactly expect to wake up alive after getting stabbed completely through the chest with a giant blade but alas, here you were. Your eyes flutter open, the only light in the room coming from a small window across the room from where you’re laying on a plush bed. The bed reminds you of the ones on Asgard and for a moment you think that the past few days could’ve just been some fucked up dream. That is until you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror hanging on the wall.

You let out a startled gasp and scramble up from the bed, the world spinning slightly as you regain your balance before you practically leap across the room to look at yourself, or rather what appears to be you.

Glowing blue eyes stare back at you, a drastic change from your usual (Y/E/C). You poke your eye to see if it’s real and immediately regret that decision.

‘Why the hell did you just do that, you moron?’ you grumble in your head. The door opens and you spin around, your eyes widen at the man standing in front of you.

“Loki?” you ask in a pained whisper. You step closer to him, holding up a hand to gently caress his cheek. Your hand meets solid skin and you could practically cry in relief. “You’re real, you’re actually here, I thought you were dead!”

He smiles at your outburst and pulls you into a tight hug. “I missed you too, my love.” You relax in his arms, holding him so tightly as though you’re afraid he’ll disappear.

You abruptly pull away from him, a furious glare on your face. “What the hell is wrong with you?” you screech, practically throwing yourself across the room, your actions similar to that of a scared animal. Loki looks alarmed at your outburst, reaching out towards you to try and pull you back into his arms. “No, you stay away. You left me!” The heartbreak is evident as your voice cracks, practically shattering Loki’s heart as he helplessly stares at your trembling form across the room. You begin to sob, wrapping your arms around yourself as you slowly slide down to the floor, landing harshly on your knees.

Loki hesitantly walks toward you, dropping down by your side and pulling you into his lap. You lash out at him, trying to escape his grasp, but he just holds you tighter. Sobs tear through your body, Loki gently rocking you and pressing soft kisses into your hair.

You eventually calm down enough to have a proper conversation and what Loki tells you, chills you to the bone. He explains to you what happened to him after he fell from the Bifrost and hatred begins to seep into your heart for the one they call Thanos. He hurt Loki in ways unimaginable to the normal mind. Your Loki. And for that, he would pay.

You turn your head to look him in the eyes and gently brush his tears away. Your gaze darts down to his lips, a longing sensation filling your gut. You look back up and your eyes connect, a fiery passion hidden deep in the depths of his eyes. He suddenly pulls your body flush with his, connecting your lips to his in a heated and long-awaited kiss. You sit on the floor like that for several minutes, your lips moving in sync with one another, the long, held back passions between the two of your finally releasing themselves.

Loki’s arms tighten around you and he stands, your lips connected in sweet longing. He slipped his tongue into your mouth, a moan falling from your lips into the kiss and you kiss him back with even more passion. He walked the short distance to the bed and laid you down, your lips never once disconnecting from his. He slid a gentle hand up your bare thigh and he climbed over top of you. He slots his hips between your legs, letting his fingers ghost over your already wet folds.

His lips left yours, trailing down to your neck, sucking and kissing all over. He kept his focus on the spots he knew would make you moan out in pleasure. He began pulling at your shirt your only item of clothing, until you sat up and pulled it over your head, tossing it to the floor before you laid back down. You gasped when he slipped two fingers into you. He curled them expertly, hitting your sweet spot with every stroke of his fingers.

“Loki, that feels amazing” you breathed out, letting your head fall back onto the pillow.

“You think this feels good?” he said, teasing, letting his fingers pump into you a few more times before pulling them out, making you whimper at the loss of contact, “Sweetheart I’m going to make you feel so good, have to make up for all the time we missed…” he whispered in your ear before biting you on your neck and then kissing down your torso until his head was between your legs.

He kissed your clit softly before his tongue licked a long, slow stripe up your folds. One of his hands settled on your lower belly to keep you from bucking your hips up and the other hand was teasing your clit while he worked his magic on you, his tongue tracing patterns on and around your clit. Your hands tightly fisted the sheets beneath you, overwhelmed with the amount of pleasure he was giving you with his mouth and hands. You let out several incessant moans and your muscles tense around the two fingers pumping into you.

He runs his tongue in circles around your small bundle of nerves as his fingers returned to the curling motion they were doing before. When he felt you clench around his fingers, he slides them out of you and thrust his tongue into you repeatedly, pushing firm but not rough circles on your clit with his thumb. That action threw you over the edge and you cum hard on his tongue.

You looked down at him and he was licking up your juices, enjoying every second of what he was doing to you.

“Mmm… you taste divine, my love” he moaned, sucking on your clit once more before crawling his way back up to your face to hover above you.

“Loki, fuck me… please,” you beg, squirming underneath him.

“I simply cannot resist that request” he smirked, kissing you so you could taste yourself on his tongue. He was already hard and ready, getting turned on from the sight and sound of you finishing on his tongue. He positioned himself at your entrance and slid into you, stretching you wide on his cock. You both moaned at the familiar feeling of him being buried inside of you again and he stills for a moment to let you readjust to his size after so long.

“Loki move please” you begged, digging your nails into his back. He does as you requested and slowly began pumping himself into you. He stares down at your blissed-out face and smiles, never wanting to leave your side ever again. His pace quickens and he puts a hand on your breast, kneading it gently and teasing your nipples with just the right amount of pressure to send you flying towards a second orgasm.

“Gods, I missed you (Y/N).” he practically growled, quickening his pace even more. The two of you were a mess of moans and heavy breathing, the sound of his hips smacking against yours filling the room.

“I’m so close” you nearly yelled, raking your nails down his back as he grunted in agreement. He was still thrusting into you, hard, when his hand moved down to make tiny circles on your clit, sending you into your orgasm.

“Fuck yes, Loki!” you screamed out, digging your nails into his shoulder and clenching your walls hard around his length. Your orgasm sent him into his own release, spilling into you with deep, erratic thrusts.

Out of breath, he toppled over next to you, a large grin on his face. He turns on his side and pulls you tight to his chest. “Oh, how I’ve missed you, my love.

[magnetothehedgehog]

Destines intertwined

I hated going to the park. Well, maybe that's not entirely true. I loved the park, I was just tired of always having to bridge the gap. Whenever I went, there was always some gap I had to bridge. Either they were way older than me, or way younger. I just wanted to meet one person my age. I wasn't that old or young, and I got along with both groups, but I really wanted to meet someone my age.

So when My Dad suggested the park on our hangout day, I was not really super pumped about going. But I didn't want to disappoint him, and I also wanted to at least try and have fun, so I agreed once again.

We got there and it was like a ghost town. Usually there is a few other families with their kids, but today, there was no one. Well, Almost no one. There was a single kid, here playing by himself with wooden swords. My dad went over to converse with the Boy's father on the nearby Bench, so I knew that sticking around would be pointless.

So I decided to go and see what this New Boy was all about. Climbing through the jungle gym, and sliding down the slide, I land my feet at the bottom in the weird chewy black chips they filled the park ground with. I Take a Look at the new kid playing by the swings. He has two wooden swords, one he is swinging around boredly, and the other lying on the ground. He is Black with blue stripes, and it looks like lighter blue eyes. He is also a smaller hedgehog just like me, except he has his spikes up in a kind of irregular fashion. I'm not used to seeing spikes done like that. It's kind of neat in it's own way.

“Hi there.” I greet him, walking out to where he can see me.

“Oh, hi.” He replies, looking toward me.

“My Name's Magneto, whats your name?”

He Blinks. “Electro.”

“Cool? Wanna be friends?” I offer.

“Sure.” He replies, giving his sword a swish and swinging his little body with it.

“So What are you doing?” I ask, as it's usually how I continue the conversation after getting names.

“Just playing around. Or trying to.” he says, drawing in the chips with his sword.

“What do you mean?” I ask, half-guessing the actual answer.

He stops scribbling in the chips with his sword. “I was excited to play here, I even got two new wooden swords from my folks, but I ran out of stuff to do. I've already played on everything out here, and I don't have anyone to play with.”

“Well I'll play with you. Can I use one of the swords?”

He looks at the sword lying on the ground then back at me. “Sure, but I don't know how that's gonna last for long. I already played on everything here remember?”

I Grin and Pick the sword. “Heh, but you haven't played with me yet!”

Brandishing the sword, I proceed to vanquish and evil doer in front of me, then jump back as I am attacked by one of his villainous partners. “Take this!” I Block his sword and use my own to push him back. Moving forward, I swing my sword to knock his sword out of his hand and forcing him to flee. “Aha! That'll teach you! Who's next?” I ready my sword for the onslaught of Minions coming at me.

“What are you doing?” I am snapped back to reality by Electro's confused voice.

“Vanquishing Evildoers obviously. Didn't you see me take out that crook and his villainous Partner just now?”

Electro tries to wrap his head around the big words I just threw his way. “V-Vanfish? What that?”

“Vanquish. It means to defeat someone.” I reply Focusing my sword back in the direction of the oncoming horde.

Electro: “But there is noone there? How are you fighting?”

I tap my head. “My imagination. Come on, you have one too! Don't you see them? There are hordes over there, just look! Quick, with me! Before they catch us!”

Grabbing his bewildered hand, I take him and we begin running.

Electro stares behind us. “What are we running from?” he questions, still searching the area behind us for the source of my urgent fleeing.

“Skullex his evil minions, quick, up the playhouse staircase.” I reply hastily, Making my way up to the main floor of the structure.

I peek out through the wooden saftey grates lining the structure's walkway.

Electro peeks out from above me. “Where are they coming from?” Electro whispers to me.

I point through the grates. “Over there.” I whisper back. I think he might be slowly catching on to this imagination business. To test my theory, I prompt him. “Can you see them?”

Electro squints hard, but then nods slowly. “Yeah... I think I can. Why are they after you?”

I turn to Electro “wEll, this isn't the first time I've stopped Skullex plans. He's probably seeking out revenge. And now that he's seen you with me, they are likely to come after you too.”

Electro is aghast. “What?! But I didn't even do anything!” He exclaims, when I shush him and remind him we are hiding. “That's not fair though, I don't even know Skullex.”

I shrug. “Eh. He's a villain. He doesn't really care if you have done anything or not.”

Electro frowns. “That's sucks.”

I smile “Welcome to the program.” I peek again from the safety of our hut. I quickly whip back as a minion just barely glimpses me. Our hut is completely surrounded by minions looking for us.

I lay out the game plan to Electro.

“Alright, there are a lot of them, but there is two of us now. They can't beat two heroes! Our best chance is to take them by surprise! Do you still have your sword?” I ready my weapon.

Electro smiles and raises His wooden sword. “You bet!”

I stand up and so does Electro. “Alright then! I got Your back! Let's do this!” Bursting from the wooden hut, we descend into the surprised crowd of enemy minions like two spinning tornadoes of destruction. Working together, we cut through the swarms with ease.

Magneto: “Be Vanquished Villain!” Stab

Electro: “I'll show you what this hero can do!” swing

Magneto: “Look out!”

Electro: “Wow! Thanks! Hey, to your left!”

Magneto: “Yii!”

Electro: “Don't worry I got you!”

Magneto: “Whew! Appreciated!”

Electro: “Apprecia-what now?” swoosh

Magneto: “It means thanks.” Slice

Electro: “Oh, No problem.” shove

Suddenly a Super Minion rises from out of the blue. “HAHA! I HAVE YOU NOW, HEROES!”

Electro: “WHATS THAT!?”

Magneto: “Uh oh. That's a super minion! It's a bigger more powerful version of the regular minions. I've only ever fought one, but it was only a prototype!”

Electro: “I don't know what that means, but I am guessing it means we aren't going to beat it easily!” He gets into fighting stance once again.

“You'd be right!” I reply, Sweating a little. It wasn't easy to topple one of these guys the first time Skullex sent them out after me, I don't know what to do with one that is completed.

Electro goes straight for it. “Come on Magneto! If we can take out a swarm, we can take out a big one together!” He slides underneath its legs as it tries to punch him in the ground and slashes at its back.

“He really is getting this imagination stuff down.” I think, Heading reinvigorated into the fray.

We dash around the creature, using our speed and teamwork to whittle him down.

The Minion begins smoking, and lights up with energy. “You wretched heroes! I'll get rid of you once and for all!” It begins charging an energy something or other.

“Electro! We made it hit overdrive mode! One more attack should finish it!” I yell to him. “Quick Before it fires!”

Electro begins running beside me. “What about a Team attack to finish it?” Electro suggests, grinning wide.

I look to him. “You know, usually I don't get fancy because it lands me in trouble, but with us working together, I think we can pull it off! Let's GO FOR IT!”

We rush ahead and dodge the first Blast the Super Minion releases. It then Begins charging another even bigger one. We reach it and Jump up in the air, on either side of one another as the Super Minion Turns its gaze upward at us!

Electro: “SPIRAL OF-” he starts

“-SPINNING DESTRUCTION!” I finish as we both bring our weapons down on the Beast and land on either side of each other. The Super Minion flashes, then Explodes in spectacular fashion. I stand up as The wind from the explosion whips through my spikes and my twin fangs on my forehead. Electro stands up as the wind whips through his upward spikes similarly.

“You know, what? You're alright Electro.” I smile cheerfully at him.

“You're pretty neat yourself.” He smiles back brightly.

We both collapse on the ground next to each other, exhausted from all the running and play- I mean, Fighting we were doing. That's when I remember to ask.

“Oh hey! Electro, I forgot to ask. How old are you?” I turn my head to him.

He opens his eyes from his gasping. “I'm....”

“Dad! Dad!” I rush over to him and tug on his jacket.

“Wow there buddy. Wheres the fire?”

“I met a boy here and guess what? HE'S MY AGE!” I Reply excitedly with one of the biggest, stupidest grins I would ever wear during my childhood.

We ended up getting to know each other and becoming best friends. We had many more “battles” with Skullex over the course of our new friendship.

Little did I know how dramatically that our destinies would intertwine from that moment on.

[sapphic-scylla]

Destcember 8th 2018-Prompt #19-“Worthy Weapon”

In classic Hunter fashion, Cass’ first and dearest exotic weapon was not crafted by guardians. It was stolen, of course.

As an inducted member of the Reef as the entirely new position of Queen’s Vengeance, appointed by his girlfriend herself, Queen Mara, Cass was tasked with hunting down the Queen’s most wanted, capturing them for storage in the Prison of Elders, and torturing them for information or if he was in the mood.

Before the Taken had even made their mark on the Solar system, Cass spent more time in the Reef, working closely with Variks and Petra. As a result, he became fluent in Eliksni, Cabal, and even Vex binary. They didn’t help in Mara’s quarters, if you know what I mean, but nonetheless, it was helpful for certain negotiations.

One day, Cassus walked into work on a call. It may have been a booty call, but that’s not where it went. As he walked in, he was stopped by Petra, who was flustered.

“We have a major problem. A certain “Kell of all Kells” is causing trouble in the prison. Several blocks have been opened due to his riot and I need you to go show him who’s boss.”

Cass smiled. “Don’t mind if I do. Give the Queen a message. Tell her I will see her soon and that I’ll bring her one of Skolas’ horns as a tribute.”

“HahaHA! Cass, you’re an idiot.” She said, smiling.

“But I’m her idiot, so lucky you!” Cass said, loading his Fatebringer as he ran off.

As he reached the entry to Cell block S, he heard a lot of ruckus and rampaging.

“Let’s do whatever thing this is.” He said to Sapphire.

“If the air is not filled with ether, then you’re doing it wrong, Cass.” Sapph laughed.

“Don’t I know it.” He said.

And with that, he hit the button, spun the chamber, and started firing.

The Fallen has formed a a riot. Dregs climbing the walls, shanks firing like madmen, and somehow, the vandals had acquired weapons. Like a man possessed, Cass lost track of where he was or who was firing from where, but the only thing getting knicked was his cloak.

As he was fighting, eventually, it came down to him and Skolas’ small personal army. Him and 20 or so assorted Eliksni.

Speaking perfect Eliksni, Cass spoke first. “You know, I was told only to detain the piece of shit troublemaker that was causing mayhem in this here prison. They never said I couldn’t make it hurt.”

“You have no right. I would bow before me, whelp, as I am the Kell of Kells.” He spat back.

“Well, Kell of Kells, that is a pitiful throne.” Cass said, reloading.

“Rather than gaze upon my glory, try this out for size.” Skolas roared.

Cass knee he had gotten lazy the second he said it because a second later, with one shot from behind, his arm came clean off.

Grabbing at the wiring sparking from his left arm, he cringed.

“What say you now, lightbearer.” Skolas taunted.

“I say, I only need one arm.” Cass spat out, and with a bright light, he drew his Golden Gun and launched a volley of incendiary rounds, burning the last of his army. He, then, tossed the gun in the air and, before catching it again, pegged the sniper in the head with a throwing knife.

As he fell to the ground, Cass holstered his pistol and caught the line rifle.

Skolas stepped back. “So you think you can kill me with my own prototype. A gun built for her. A Queenbreaker’s Bow if you will?”

Cass glared. “My orders were to detain you, but they never said I couldn’t make it hurt.”

Firing two rounds into his legs, Skolas fell to the floor in agony.

“Variks, are you seeing this?” He said.

“Yes, Guardian. You survived, they did not. Well done.” Variks said with a sneer.

“Fantastic. Get this filth to a high security cell. No need to be gentle.” He said. As he walked away, he realized something. “Oh and I’ll be keeping this. Thanks for the new wares.” He laughed.

About an hour later, Cass and the Queen were in her room, talking about the mission.

The Queen could not stop laughing. “So say it again please. He shot off your arm, so not only did you take the gun he shot you with, but you kneecapped him as well?!” The Queen said between breaths.

Cass, using spare parts to build a new arms, tinkered while they were talking.

“Yes! And the funniest part was he was helpless without his army!” Sapph said, laughing along with her.

The Queen smiled and walked over to her man. “So Cass, you need a hand?”

“Shut the hell up with ya damn jokes.” He said, flexing his new fingers.

“Mmmm on the other hand, I like a guy who’s good at fixing things.” She said, jumping up because she knew what came next, giggling.

Cass sighed and with a final adjustment ran after her. “Stop with the puns, your majesty!” He said, tickling her until she surrendered.

“Stop, stop, stop, STOP, stop.” She said, still laughing and catching her breath. As they fell to her couch, he wrapped an arm around her.

“So all jokes aside, this is a nice gun!” Mara said. “You gonna sell it?”

Cass kisses her cheek. “Hell no! This thing feels super nice, plus no other guardian has anything like this.”

Mara rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for knocking that Kell bastard down a peg. He’s been a pain in the ass for centuries.” Mara said, looking into his bright blue eyes and smiling.

Cass stares back. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” He said, with a sexy laugh.

“Mmmm maybe. Wanna go fire this thing at Vance’s candles?” She said, picking it up.

“Definitely not what I was thinking...” he said, dejected.

“That’s ok. We can test your new arm later if you know what I mean.” She said, teasing him, then kissing his forehead.

“Deal.” He said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out to the balcony.

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Imagine a soulmate AU where Tony's always secretly wanted a soul-mate but never thought he deserved one, but then he meets Bucky, and Bucky just dotes on him and calls him a lot of Russian pet names and compliments him a lot. Also it would be great if Bucky was really impressed by the Iron Man armor, and if Tony makes Bucky a new arm.

A/N: So, I could have probably made this one post, but honestly, cliffhangers are great. *rubs hands together deviously* Tony is, depending on your point of view, kind of an ass, but he has lots of issues to work through. (Cool motive, still an asshole?)

Fairytales 

Part 1 of 2

“This is Tony,” Steve was saying, chivvying his ex-brainwashed occasionally frozen best friend from the forties towards him. “He’s our resident genius, and owns the tower.”

“Tony,” Bucky said quietly. “It's nice to meet you.”

Tony’s arm itched, but he ignored it. He had probably splashed some caustic substance on it. He could clean it after this little meet and greet. He did, despite all evidence to the contrary, have some manners.

Besides, it was hardly the first time he had unidentified, dangerous substances on his person.

“Welcome to the castle!” Tony exclaimed, spreading his arms in welcome.

He watched Bucky stiffen, and clasp his right forearm.

His right forearm.

No, it couldn't possibly be. He covered his right forearm, realized what that itch had been.

When Bucky opened his mouth, Tony hurried on. “I'm sure you have plenty more people to meet, things to do. I've got a- thing-” he fumbled for words, gesturing half-heartedly over his shoulder at the elevator. “Very important thing. Gotta run.”

As the elevator door shut, he could see Bucky’s sheet-white face, and hear Steve telling Bucky that “Tony isn't normally that scatter-brained but he probably hasn't slept in a while.”

He slumped against the wall of the elevator, trying to calm his racing heart. He pushed up his sleeve, and undid the cuff that covered his words. Sure enough, they were edged in silver. Bucky was his soulmate.

The scientist in him was fascinated - Bucky should have lived and been nearly dead before he was even born, and yet, he was his soulmate.

But mostly he was just horrified. No one deserved to have Tony Stark inflicted on them.

When he was younger, and had first gotten his words, he had been so excited. All kids were. Jarvis - the real Jarvis - had told him wonderful stories about meeting his soulmate, Ana. And Aunt Peggy told him stories about her soulmate, Angie. He had been fascinated. It all seemed like a fairytale.

But Howard had happened. He had gotten older, and older, and remained alone.He had heard his words hundreds of times, and none of them were his soulmate. And after Afghanistan? Well.

No one should be stuck with him.

It didn’t seem like a fairytale anymore, more like a horror story where he was the monster.

Even though that little kid still dreamed about finding his soulmate, one day.

(Watch out for the break!)

--

He took the coward's way out, and hid in his workshop. Enlisting JARVIS, he snuck upstairs to eat and caffeinate when Bucky was asleep or out of the tower. He slept on the couch in the corner of the workshop.

He was lucky to get thirty-six hours before Natasha was knocking at the door.

“Yeah?” He said absently, not even paying attention to the fact that someone was at the door.

“What are you doing?”

Startled, he looked accusingly at one of JARVIS’ cameras.

“You stated that Mr. Barnes was not allowed in, not that Ms. Romanov wasn’t allowed to knock,” JARVIS said smugly.

“I'm uploading you to the nearest McDonald’s!” Tony shook his finger at JARVIS.

“My servers are shaking in their housings, Sir,” JARVIS replied drily.

Rolling his eyes, Tony turned to Natasha. “I'm fixing a fuck-up that R&D wanted to slide by me,” he said, trying to avoid the very obvious.

Natasha simply raised one eyebrow, not saying anything.

“Well I am!” He defended, lifting the guts of a phone up as if to prove it.

Crossing the room, she sat next to him and laid her hand on top of his. “He thinks you don't want him because he was the Winter Soldier. That he’s too broken and was a weapon for too long to ever be wanted by anyone.”

Tony felt guilt settle into his stomach, an uncomfortable weight. “It's not him.”

“It's you?” She completed the saying, a wry smile on her face.

He looked away from her. “I don't care about any of that. You were the one who said that you're trying to wipe out the red in your ledger. Well, I've got oceans of red.”

“Tony.”

He pulled away from her, agitated. “Soulmates aren't for people like me, Nat.”

“Soulmates are for everyone,” she said softly.

Tony smiled bitterly. “That's a fairytale.”

--

He assumed that Natasha reported back to Bucky, but he never appeared in the workshop. Pushing the conversation and the guilt out of his mind, he focused on various projects.

Tony was honestly surprised when Bruce showed up next to plead the case.

“Did you know that the Other Guy and I have two different soulmates?” Bruce asked idly, as he wrote out a complicated formula on the whiteboard Tony kept in there just for him.

Tony shifted part of his attention to that conversation while continuing to work on the problem.

“No.”

“The Other Guy, he hasn't met his soulmate. He's too busy smashing things, thankfully. Me, though?” Bruce paused to do a particularly complicated calculation. “I met her a long time ago.”

Focusing more of his attention on the conversation, Tony felt like this was not going to be a happy story. “Who is it?”

“Betty Ross.” Bruce’s tone was wistful, sad, and a little bit angry. At himself, Tony guessed.

“Ross? That Ross?”

Bruce nodded, not elaborating. Then: “Tony-”

Tony cut him off. “The Other Guy is not a monster, but I-”

“Tony!” Bruce rarely raised his voice, and never snapped at anyone. To have him do both was startling.

Raising his hands in concession, he waited for Bruce to continue.

Bruce looked deeply sad. “Just because we think ourselves monsters doesn't mean we don't deserve love.”

“Then where’s your Betty Ross?”

If anything, Bruce looked sadder. “That was a lesson I learned after.”

After what, Bruce didn't say, but he also didn't push anymore, which Tony appreciated. After they finished their calculations and Bruce went up for dinner, Tony sat. Bruce’s words echoed in his head. He knew the Other Guy wasn't a monster.

Just because we think ourselves monsters doesn't mean we don't deserve love.

--

He didn't expect Clint, either.

Well, he had, since he had told the archer to come down to collect some arrow prototypes, but what he didn't expect what for Clint to set two shot glasses on the table between them.

“I don't drink anymore,” Tony said warily, eyeing the shot glasses like they would jump at him and bite.

Clint rolled his eyes, and set a jug of juice out. “I know.”

Tony frowned. “We can drink juice out of glasses?”

“Drinking out of shot glasses is one, cooler, two, funner, and three,” he poured two shots of apple juice. “Makes your mind think you're drinking, loosens you up a little.”

Skeptical, Tony picked up one of the shot glasses. “Uh-huh.”

Clint shrugged. “I mostly thought it would look cool.”

Tony rolled his eyes and downed his shot. Oddly, it did make him feel like he was taking a shot of alcohol, and his body relaxed a little. Placebo effect, hard at work.

“Are you here to lecture me too?” He asked, setting the glass back down.

“Nope,” Clint said cheerfully, refilling both shots. “I just really like apple juice.”

“Katniss, you can drink apple juice upstairs.”

“Out of a shot glass?”

“Like that's the weirdest thing you've done,” Tony shot back.

“Point.” Clint lazily saluted Tony with the shot and drank again. “I'm not here to lecture, but I am here to listen.”

Tony groaned. “First Nat, then Bruce, now you?”

Clint raised his hands. “Look. I've got a happy little family with kids and a dog and it was pretty much all just like the movies and I don't personally know shit about this soulmate angst you've got going on, but I've been told I make a good listener, okay? So if you wanna talk, I'm here. If you just wanna shoot apple juice, that's fine too.”

Giving Clint a flinty glare, Tony drank down another shot of apple juice. And another.

Then he broke. “I'm just-- old. And I have a piece of metal shoved into my chest that means I can't take a full breath half the time. I'm baseline human, I've slept with a ton of people, to the point where the nicest thing people call me is a slut, and I've killed a ton of people. Millions.”

Clint waited patiently for the flood of words to end. It sounded like he was trying very hard to keep his tone even. “You’re older than us, yes, but you’re not old, Tony. I don't know anything about having metal in my body, but I know someone who does. You saved millions of people, and do so routinely. And Tony?” Now he grinned. “Haven't you heard? Calling people sluts is reinforcing the patriarchy and its puritanical double-standards.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but felt a little lighter. Clint had no reason to lie to him. Hearing that said so bluntly filled a hole that had been left by years of issues. “Only you, Robin Hood.”

“Hey, I am hip with the times!”

“Just drink your juice.”

--

He really should have been expecting Steve. It was logical. Everyone else had tried, and Steve was Bucky’s best friend.

But he was honestly surprised when JARVIS said that Steve was at the door.

He hesitated. This could go either kind of badly, or very badly. He was leaning towards the latter. He shoved away from table he was working at, deciding to be mature and to face the music. “Let him in, J.”

The door opened.

“Tony, are you okay?”

Surprised, Tony looked at Steve. “Yes.” He lied slowly, not sure where this conversation was going.

Steve gave him a half smile. “You're lying, Shellhead. You've got a tell.”

Insulted, Tony puffed up. “I do not!”

Steve just winked. “Sure you do. Now let's try this again. Are you okay?”

Tony just looked at Steve. He had expected yelling. Orders to come out and see Bucky. Not whatever this was.

“Maybe.”

Steve seemed to accept this. “For someone who’s been living in their workshop for five days straight, you don't look like death warmed over,” he finally said.

“I do know how to shower,” Tony said drily. “I learned how to do that when I was three.”

Steve didn't say anything for a long while. The silence was making Tony fidgety. Finally, right before Tony word-vomited, Steve spoke again.

“Are you going to come out of here eventually?”

No pressure. No questions about him and Bucky. No anything but that simple question.

“Yes.”

“Soon?”

“Soon,” Tony agreed.

“Okay.” Steve started to leave but Tony couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“He knows it’s not about him, right?”

Steve looked steadily back at him. “People have told him that, but it’s hard for him to believe. You probably know how that is.”

Tony winced. He did know how that was. “Soon,” he promised again. “I’m sorry for being an ass,” he added. “I’m trying to... not.”

Steve nodded, and left.

--

He had expected Rhodey. He had expected Pepper. He expected JARVIS, in that roundabout sneaky way of his. He weathered their conversations, their hugs, Rhodey getting drunk and telling him how much he loved him, no homo. (His honeybear was tragically straight.) He kissed Pepper on the cheek and listened to her tell him that he was worth it. That their break up wasn't his fault. He didn't mute JARVIS, and occasionally ate when prodded. He believed with them, or rather, he was working on believing them, and told them that. He cuddled up with his platypus, and watched mindless action movies when the conversation got too emotional for sober Rhodey.

What he sincerely didn't expect was Bucky.

See you tomorrow~Marie