#watch that mic cord sir

[supercriminalbean]

Piano man

BAU x GN! Reader.

Request: I was wondering if I could request the BAU Team x GN reader who knows how to sing and play guitar. The team goes on a case where the unsub is killing people who sing from bars and killing them. Reader decides to put on a little proformance to draw the unsub out but it works a little too well and they kidnap the reader. What would happen if the unsub finds out the reader is a BAU agent? Or do they already know? I would totally love some dad Rossi and Hotch

Summary: The reader needs to bait out the unsub, but what happens when their past catches up with them. They're in extreme danger, but does their team get there in time to save them?

Words: 13.4k

Warnings: Abuse, knifes, drugs, blood. Crying, mental break down, swearing, degrading. Injuries, deaths, panic, mention of sexaully abuse and past abuse. Grooming, killing. (If I have missed anything let me know)

A/N: I'm so sorry for how long this took me to write, um also I kinda took this idea and ran with it, like I didn’t mean for it to become this long. I hope I did it justice and you like it, thank you so much for my first request. 

“I got a lead, I got something” Garica squeals excitedly, her face appearing on the tv screen, in the conference room. Her voice breaking the tense silence. At the moment, it's only you, Hotch and JJ in the room, while the rest of the team is out in the field.

“What you got Pen” You're head shooting up at the sound of her voice, gratefully for a lead. The last few hours have just been repeatedly dead end, everyone starting to grow exhausted and hopeless as the case drags along.

“Yes, okay so you know how we couldn’t figure out how the unsub must be meeting his victims will I have found video evidence that places all three of our victims at different bars on open mic night, and damn are they good I mean they are good good” Garcia explains, before putting a video up of elizabeth, the second victim. She up on stage playing guitar singing a cover of Taylor Swift  Love Story, her voice as sweet as honey smiling and hyping up the crowd before she starts singing another song. Garcia turns the video off, her face reappearing on the screen, with a pained expression on her face. 

“You did say the unsub been cutting out their vocal cords, didn't you?” Garcia groans, her face screwing up in disgust.

“Well, that is one way for the unsub to scope out his victims, and after a show like that random people will be coming up to you all night, it wouldn’t look strange at all if he watches them all night after that” You sigh, feel bad for the victims, they never saw it coming. A fun night out with friends turn deadly, just for sharing their talent.

“So if he goes to open mic nights, all we need to do is find one and scope the place out trying to find him, before he finds his next victims” Hotch states sighing with regret, knowing that the chances of finding him before his next victim isn’t high.

“What if we use someone as bait.. Have someone on stage that can bring him out, see if he is in the crowd” You look up at Hotch as you speak, nerves running through your body at the thought of the lecture your boss is about to give you.

“We are not using innocent bystanders as bait (Y/L)”Hotch scoffs, staring down at you in disbelief.

“I wasn’t talking about bystanders” Your voice goes quiet, taking a deep breath as you find the courage. “I’m talking about me, I can go on stage and search the room see if I can find someone who gives off the unsub energy” 

“Can you sing?” JJ asks, turning to you curiously.

“I can, pretty well actually” Smiling at her before turning back to Hotch. “And I can play guitar, I can give one hell of a performance, get him to focus on me, then boom we got him” Smiling hopefully at him, only for him to cross his arms glaring at you. 

“I don’t like this, not one bit” He declares. “We need a different plan”

“Well, you better think of one fast sir, because If I remember correctly, there is an open mic night tonight down at Red Cowboys tonight, and I know it's pretty popular” You lean back in your chair, glaring back at your boss, not ready to back down fully.

~~~

An hour passes and the rest of the team has now returned back from the field and has been fully updated with how the unsub finds his victims. Everyone sits around the table throwing ideas around as to how they could try to figure out who the unsub is, but nothing solid really comes about.

“You know I still think (Y/n) idea is the best we got” Morgan pipes up, interrupting JJ.

“No Morgan, we aren’t doing that” Hotch huffs, glaring across the room at the man leaning against the wall.

“Actually Hotch, think about it, I think Morgan got a point here, If we put one of our agents in the unsub way they have a better chance than just anyone else” Rossi speaks up, after staying quiet on the topic. 

“Dave, it's too risky” Hotch argues back, earning an eye roll from you and Rossi.

“Hotch, I’m not saying I go in with nothing okay, look all we need him to do is get close enough for him to drug me or something just something that we can arrest him on right?” Staring up at him, waiting for a small nod before continuing. “We get that, I give you guys a sign then you guys come in and arrested him, hey you can put a tracker on me just in case something happens, If that makes you feel better but I doubt that he will get out of the area with me alright” Smiling lightly up at him, knowing your logic and the fact no one else has a plan, means you win. It goes silent for a moment, just waiting for him to say something, after some brief silence, he finally sighs.

“How good of a singer are you?” He smiles a little. Relaxing a bit as he watches a grin spread across your face.

“Oh I am the best” 

“Do you need a guitar?” Rossi asks, remembering what you had mentioned earlier.

“Nope, the bar will have one I remember from years ago, they always have a spare” Smirking secretive at them. 

“Hang on?” Reid looks at you. “Have you sung there before?” He tilts his head at you, almost like a puppy.

“Oh did I forget to mention that this is my college town and I used to sing at the bar every Thursday night?” Grinning at them, knowing you have oh so many secrets involving this bar. 

“Oooohhh I’m going to find videos” Garica exclaims loudly on the video call before disappearing, earning a low groan of regret from you while your team all laughs at your face.

~~~

You climb out of the taxi after arriving at the bar, deciding with Hotch that It would be better for you to turn up alone, just in case the unsub is watching everyone arrive. You walk into the bar, knowing that half the team is already in there, you head straight to the bar grinning even more as you spot your favourite bartender serving a group of college students. You decided to wait for him, standing behind them stopping closer after they disappear with their drinks.

“Hey there John” You smile happily at the bartender, your voice startles the older guy. He looks up at you slowly, a grin spreading over his face as his eyes land on you.

“Holy shit kiddo it's been years, how the hell are you?” He laughs softly, pouring you your usually drink already.

“I’ve been good, missed this place though, figure while I was in town I should come and visit you” Laughing softly, pulling your wallet out ready to pay.

“Put your goddamn wallet away (Y/n), this ones on the house” John smiles, handing your drink over. “Please tell me you're going to sing for us tonight kiddo, it's been way too long,” John smiles, cleaning down the benches. Getting the other bartender to take over as he talks to you.

“Oh I don’t know John, it's been too long. I'm probably a bit rusty now” You tease him, sipping on your drink. “Still make good drinks, thanks John”

“Oh come off it, do you know how much business you and your voice brought me back then, every Thursday and saturday night this place was packed out because of you kiddo” John gloats, remembering back to when you would take over the stage, bringing in crowds after crowds. Everyone gathers around just to hear you sing, watching as you perform for hundreds of people those weekends.

“Oh those were the days, weren’t they?” laughing softly to yourself glancing back at the stage. “You know what John, I think I have a few songs still in me” You wink over at him, earning a head tilting laugh from the old man.

“Good, hey you better sing my favourite tonight kiddo” John smirks, before walking back over to the crowd of customers wanting drinks. 

~~~

You walk over to the sign up sheet, writing your name down, glancing up at the stage, where Tom the MC, for the night is introducing the next act. You walk back over to the bar, sitting down before scanning the bar, spotting Morgan and Emily sitting by the smoking door close by the stage. Your eyes next land on JJ and Rossi who are standing by the bar, a few people down from you, keeping an eye on you while still being able to see the whole room. 

Half an hour passes by quickly, only about three people have been on stage so far, their songs and performance have been average so far, nothing that would have stood out to the unsub so far. After the last act is finished the MC walks back on stage, smiling as he holds the sign up sheet.

“Alright everyone, so we have had a few good warm up acts and I have something special for all you guys tonight, some of you old regulars might remember them from back in the days, please welcome back (Y/n) (Y/l)” Tom the MC introduces you loudly, beaming over at you. The table just out the door, from the smoking area, breaks into cheer after hearing your name. You laugh glancing over at them, noticing the old faces of your longtime supporters. You jump onto the stage, highing five Tom as you walk past him, forcing yourself to take a deep breath as your nerves start to rise.

“Well hey ya everyone” Grinning out at everyone, picking up the guitar that lays forgotten in the corner of the stage. You start tuning it as you look out at the crowd, nerves from being on stage after years spinning in your stomach, and the fact you're doing this for an unsub makes you feel even worse.

“So I may be a bit rusty. It's been a few years since I’ve done this, but I recognize a few faces out here tonight.” Smirking a little as you turn to the table that was just cheering you on before, strumming the guitar a little. “You oldies are still here huh?”

“Screw you (Y/L)” Jimmy laughs shouting out at you, his table laughing out at them.

“I'm good thanks Jim, but uh, how's your wife?” Sending him a wink as laughter topples around the room.

“Okay okay, I’m here to sing so I’m going to start with one of my favourites, also my old mate John here requested this, so here it goes” Smiling softly taking a deep breath, your fingers findling nervously with the chords, trying to find the right one. Stepping closer to the microphone looking out at the crowds, glancing over at Morgan and Prentiss who just smile encouragingly at you. 

“Its nine o’clock on saturday, 

The regular crowd shuffles in 

There's an old man sittin' next to me 

Makin' love to his tonic and gin 

You close your eyes as you sing “Piano man” by Billy Joel, strumming the guitar with passion, falling into the rhythm. Your voice is smooth and collected, a smile pushing past the focus that's controlling you.

He says, "Son can you play me a memory,

I'm not really sure how it goes 

But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete 

When I wore a younger man's clothes"

Your eyes slowly open, smiling widely as you sway along to the music, your table of regulars slowly join in, grinning up at you.

“Holy shit, they’re good” Morgan exclaims, letting out a low whistle, sipping his drink.

“Well, if they continue like this all night, there's no way the unsub is going to be able to stay away from them” Emily smiles at you, taken aback with how you managed to hide this talent of yours from them all this time. 

“We need to take them out more often” Morgan grins when you start singing loudly, turning towards the table of regulars, singing louder with them, laughing as you do so. Soon your song ends, laughing softly, forgetting how much fun you have performing like this. But still remembering why you're doing this you scan the room, but you haven't felt any unfriendly eyes on you, yet.

~~~

“Okay, I think I forgot how much fun this place is, well it's mainly you, isn’t that right Harry, my man” Sending a wink over to your table in the doorway, your lovable Harry raises his glass at you laughing loudly. His voice raw from when he was practically screaming the words back at you.

“Okay so are you guys alright If I sing another song, maybe something a bit more upbeat now that I’ve found my voice again” Smirking out at the crowd, your eyes scanning the room once more. The room all burst out in cheers, claps erupts throughout the room, and that's when you get a cold shiver run down your spine. Your eyes glance straight over at Morgan needing to let them know he's here, and you got his attention. 

“Alright I guess that's my answer, seeing as I have everyone's attention now” Forcing yourself to smirk at them all, eyes glance back over at Morgan who seems to be whispering into his comms having gotten your message. 

“Stranger”

“Stranger”

“Stranger”

“Stranger”

You play the guitar, singing “Hot in the city” By Billy Idol loudly full of passion. Dancing and jumping on the spot, getting the crowd up to join you with your dancing. 

“It's hot here at night

Lonely, black and quiet

On a hot summer night

Don't be afraid

Of the world we made

On a hot summer night

Soon a small group is forming in front of you, joining in with your singing and dancing. You can’t help but grin to yourself when you hear your regulars from the table call out names like player and heartbreaker out to you. 

'Cause when a long-legged lovely walks by

Yeah you can see the look in her eye

Then you know that it's

Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight

Tonight

Hot in the city, hot in the city tonight

Tonight”

You can still feel eyes staring at you when you sing, you do your best to look around the bar but you can’t see anyone who fits the profile. You decided to sing a couple more songs, making sure you do in fact have the unsubs eyes on you, and that he won’t be able to resist you by the end of the night. By the time you have finished your fourth song of the set, you feel as if you're starting to lose your voice, laughing as you bid the crowd farewell. Promising them that you will be back for a couple more songs later on in the night, needing to rehydrate your throat before you lose your voice all together. 

~~~

You make your way to the bar, which now seems to be fully packed, almost impossible to move around. Laughing wildly, feeling many people pat you on the back, praising you as you make your way to the bar. Where John already has your drink ready for you, passing it to you with a grin on his face.

“A bit rusty huh?” He laughs when he sees you smile breathlessly at him, taking a sip of your drink straight away.

“Well maybe I still practise at home” You laugh along with the older man.

“I have always said this kid and I will say it again, you could go so many places with a voice and personality like yours”

“And I have told you a billion times John, that's just not what I want to do, I would prefer to help people than be a performer” You smirk at him shaking your head at him.

“Right so what, you're just throwing all of this away, huh?”

“I guess so but I’m happy so what, plus if I become famous, I can’t come back and perform just for you Johnny boy” Teasing him as he walks off, spinning around to look through the crowded bar. Feeling the icy cold feeling from earlier returning, he's close. You look over your shoulder but all you see is a bunch of college students staring at you smiling and giggling excitedly. 

~~~

Throughout the night you don’t know how many times you have felt his eyes on you but you could never pinpoint him down. Multiple people have come up to you to chat and buy you drinks, happily accepting the drinks, but moving on to non alcoholic drinks knowing two in your system is far enough while working a case. Truthly you shouldn’t have any, but you know the unsub is more likely to come after you if you have alcohol in your system, so you took the risk. 

As the night moves on you decide to head back on stage, getting a loud welcome as you do. Lots of young college students heading back towards the dance floor ready for the music to start once more. 

“Well hey again” Smiling widely as you look out to the crowd deciding you weren't going to focus on the unsub no more. Now it's time to just enjoy the energy the bar has created and do your best to relax. Maybe then something will happen. Picking up the guitar again, smiling at the crowd, your eyes shooting out to your table of regulars smiling at them. 

“Alright guys so I'm going to sing one that my old time supports, used to request every weekend, I swear they don’t know any other songs but this” Laughing as you see their eyes pick up, grins breaking out across their faces, cheering breaks out across their area, making you laugh softly as you strum away on the guitar. 

Uptown girl

She's been living in her uptown world

I bet she's never had a backstreet guy

I bet her momma never told her why

You smile as the words slide through your lips, allowing yourself to enjoy the moment. Watching as your regulars all get up making their way over to the dance floor to sing along with you. The song moves by fast, doing your best to stop the laughter slipping through your words as you look down the stage, singing the words back with your crowd. The next few songs slide by and you get informed by Tom that you need to start winding the crowd down as the place is going to close in 15 minutes, nodding at him knowing your time is coming to an end, you look back out at the crowd. Looking over at the door where Hotch and Reid have now entered and our now speaking with Rossi, JJ and Pretniss. Morgan stays at his table, just in case you need him, your eyes skim past him and to the table of regulars who half of them have already left but a few of them are still there and someone new has joined them. Your eyes narrow slightly at him, you're unable to see his face, but there's something about his presence that just seems so familiar about him. Morgan follows your eyes then nods at you, knowing to keep an eye on that man. 

“Alright guys, so Tom here has just informed me that, sadly our time tonight is coming to an end” You force your eyes away from the man, grinning out at the crowd instead, doing your best to keep up the energy. A chorus of boos and no’s start being yelled from the crowd, making you chuckle at them. 

“Oh I know I know, If I could I would stay longer but sadly we can’t do that, but hey we have time for one more song, so why don’t we just enjoy our time together okay?” Smirking out at them, spotting Emily and JJ making their way over to Morgan, your eyes flick over to where Rossi is, seeing him and Reid watching you, smiling encouragingly. Only then do you see Hotch grinning at you, holding up his phone, recording you. You can’t help groan softly before you start singing one last time. 

Just a small town girl

Livin' in a lonely world

She took the midnight train going anywhere

Just a city boy

Born and raised in South Detroit

He took the midnight train going anywhere

You close your eyes as you fall into the song, feeling the warmth of the love of the music fill you up. A small part of you is so excited to be sharing this side of your life with your team, knowing that they would never make fun of this side of your life, it made you feel loved already. Your eyes open again, grinning out at the crowd watching them dancing together, even seeing Emily, JJ and Morgan, swaying away at the table smiling up at you. 

Soon the next couple songs come to an end, and you're helping the staff send everyone home, including your team. 

“Alright everyone tonights been a blast, but it's time you all get out of here and go home, don’t forget to pay you tab and get a taxi home if need be, no one better be drunk driving tonight” You speak into the microphone a few time, watching as the crowds makes its way out of the bar and off onto the street. Your team makes its way out, Morgan and JJ waiting outside by the entrance for you while the rest wait around the building looking for anyone suspicious. 

~~~

You spend about 20 minutes inside the bar, helping the staff pack up, sending a quick text to Hotch letting him know what you were doing. You spent the time chatting away with the staff, catching up with the ones who worked there back in the day you were a regular. Some of your regulars were still around, coming up to have a chat with you.

“I didn’t think you three would still be out this late” You smile at them, feeling tired as the day starts to wind down. 

“Well we couldn't leave before we got the chance to talk to you now could we” Jimmy smiles, bringing you into a quick hug. “How have you been, kid?” Harry asks, giving you a firm handshake.

“I’ve been good, I'm actually working for the FBI now, so I have to say I must be doing something right” You grin at them proudly, taking in their impressed looks, reminding the last time you saw them you were a struggling college student who didn’t even know where life was going to take them. 

“Holy shit you made it, that's real impressive kiddo” Harry smiles patting you on the shoulder as you three make your way to the exit. 

“Woah, an FBI agent, damn and here I thought you would be a singer or something” Jimmy exhales shaking his head. “I knew you were going to do great things but I never expected that” 

“Hey, I never thought I would make it this far either but here I am” You smile at them as you walk out the door, spotting JJ and Morgan standing beside the door waiting for you. 

“Well, you better not be a stranger, (Y/n) you better come on back and perform for us again” Harry shakes his finger at you.

“Oh you know I will Harry” You laugh softly as you watch them both cross the road making their way to the taxi stand. With one final look around, having felt a pair of unwanted eyes on you since you exited the club, pulling your jacket closer around you, you make your way over to JJ and Morgan, watching their eyes light up as you approach them. 

“Well hello rockstar” JJ teases you, earning an eye roll from you.

“Hey, oh I am so ready to go back and sleep right now” You joke, rubbing your arms feeling a cold, given the icy feeling in the air. Morgan can’t help but laugh at you, wrapping his arm around your shoulders, pulling you into him as you three walk towards the SUVs.

“Well I have to say (Y/n) I do definitely think you got our unsub attention, but damn, why didn’t you tell us you could sing?” 

“You never asked” Smirking up at him as he opens the car door for you, climbing in. Morgan and JJ both get in, Morgan in the driver's seat with JJ in the back. 

“So, I’m guessing the plan has now changed, Hotch doesn’t want me travelling back alone?”

“Nope, plus we think he is more likely to attack you tomorrow than tonight anyway, Hotch wants everyone to meet in his room to talk to you tonight, debrief there and then tomorrow see if someone new starts following you around” JJ informs you, looking out the window, making sure no one is following you back to the hotel room. 

“Right” Sighing softly, laying your head on the window, replaying the night in your head, trying to think if you did see him or not. The only person that stood out was that man in the black and green hat.

~~~

After you make it up to your room, walk into the hotel and up to your room alone. You had discussed with JJ and Morgan that you would go in alone and ten minutes later, when the other four arrive they would all come up and all meet in Hotch's room, and text you to join them. Giving the unsub time to check out where you're staying and let him think you're alone, that is if he's watching you. None of you saw anyone following you but he is good at blending in.  

You unlock your door, walking in, shrugging your jacket off before flopping down on the bed, feeling exhausted from the day. You check your watch, noticing it's now two am, you have been awake since six, it's been a long ass day. You sigh softly, struggling to keep your eyes open, your body just wanting to give up and go to sleep already. Maybe that's why you never noticed the wardrobe door creaking open, almost silent footsteps approaching your bed slowly. The thing that does get your attention is the icy feeling running down your spine, your eyes flick open in an instance. Acting on instincts, you roll onto your back away from where you sense thd danger is. You're lucky you do, because as soon as you're facing upwards, you see him. Standing over you, holding a needle in one and a knife in the other. You're regretting leaving your gun inside your jacket. 

“Oh shit” Is all you are able to breathe out, as you stare the Unsub dead in the eyes. His face is screaming familiarity, but you're unable to place it, currently being frozen in fear. 

“Well, well, well (Y/n) I’ve been waiting a long time for this” His grin of evil, makes you lunge into action. Pushing yourself on to your feet, shoving him away. Spriting to the door, you reach alot faster than you should due to hes shoving you against it, a cry slips through your lips, when your head collides against the hook. He chuckles deeply at you, pressing himself against you, his mouth against your ears. His hot breath making the hairs on your neck stand up, fear rushing through your body. 

“Now I got you, now you're going to be all mine, not even your team is able to stop me, are they?” He snickers as the needle slides into your neck, watching as you don’t even attempt to struggle.

You knew the plan was for him to attack you, you wanted this to happen, you trust your team to stop him from leaving this place with you. That's the last thing you think as everything goes black. 

~~~

“Hey Morgan, you did text them right?” Hotch asks again, pacing the room his arms crossed. It's been 5 minutes since Morgan sent that text and it shouldn’t take you that long to get here, your room is just down the hall from his. What the hell is taking you so long?

“Yeah Hotch I did, they should be here by now” Morgan sighs. Everyones tenses up looking at each other.

“I don’t like this” JJ adds getting off the couch, looking at the door then at Hotch. Not another word is spoken by the time Hotch is now through the door. Practically spriting to your room, his team close on his heels. He only slows down to pull out the spare key card, the rest of his team, arming themself readying themself for what they may find. Hotch gives a quick nod to Dave who's the closest to him, before unlocking the door and shoving it open. Everyone enters quickly, spreading throughout the room, their blood running cold when there's no sign of you. Reid slides into the bathroom, calling out ‘clear’  before rejoining his team in the main room, everyone placing their guns away. Everyone's face has a different emotion on it, fear, worry, concern, anger, and everyone is starting to be filled with regret as they make their way to your bed. Your room is in perfect condition, all expect the wardrobe door that is wide open and your bed. Your gun and badge are laid perfectly right in the middle, but between the gun and badge is a collection of photos, photos of you. These photos aren’t just recent, most are dating back to your time in college, a couple from high school and some recent ones from just a few weeks back, just before the murders began. 

“This isn’t good” Morgan is the first to speak, his eyes shooting up to his unit chief waiting for his next order. 

“Okay, Morgan, Prentiss, JJ I want you three outside now, see if anyone has seen anything suspieces, check the carmares ring Garcia, I want her checking security cameras, find something” Hotch barks his order, trying his hardest to keep his fear at bay, his team runs out of the room making their way downstairs instantly. Dave walks over to the bed, taking a photo of how things are laid out before sliding his gloves on and picking up the collection of photos. 

“If.. we know that the unsub would have an end target, its (Y/n) Isn’t it?” Reid's voice is small, his eyes studying the photo in Rossi's hand.

“If they are, then this whole thing was a trap and they're in a lot more danger than they know” Rossi sighs, patting Spencer gently on the shoulder handing him the photos.

~~~

Groaning softly, your body feeling heavily as you slowly start to wake up forcing your eyes to open. You try to roll over onto your side so you can go back to sleep, you don’t want to get up yet. Ugh, the noise that woke you up in the first place is the back, a low beeping sound. Oh its your alarm you realised, you try to move your hand but it wont move far, its like something holding it back. Groaning as you force your eyes to finally open, taking a few seconds to get used to the darkness of the room you're in. Wait, why is it so dark, and so cold? Your eyes are focusing on the door in front of you, confusions filling you before you remember. The Unsub. Suddenly your body becomes full on alert, looking down at yourself, noticing you're tied to an old wooden chair, you trying to even move your finger but they don’t even twitch. You can’t feel them, you can’t feel anything, you can only move your eyes. Gulping thickly as you do your best to keep your heart from racing knowing that it's only the drugs in your system doing this to you, and once your team finds you, you will be fine. From what you can see in the room, it seems like an old wooden workshop. The shelves are full of tools and bottles of things you do not wish to know, knowing that these are his supplies and will most likely be used on you. Makes a shiver run down your spine, goose bumps spreading over your body. Fuck, this is not a situation you really want to be in, but your team will find you, they will come and everything will be fine. You force yourself to take deep calming breaths as you repeat those words in your head, holding back the images of the old victims from flashing in your mind, not needing to know what this man has planned for you. 

~~~

You're not sure how long you're left alone for, sitting in the chair doing your best to keep your mind from spiralling. You hear a few creaks behind you, tensing up as you prepare to speak to the unsub, going through the profile in your mind. You hear a door open and close behind you before heavy footsteps start approaching. 

“Oh so you are awake” His voice is upbeating, sounding upbeat and almost excited.

“You took your time coming in here” You glare up, waiting for him to come into your line of sight. 

“Oh well (Y/n) I had to make sure that your team wouldn’t be able to find us so soon you see, I need to go back and cover my tracks” HIs chuckle is light, he grins coming to a stop in front of you, crouching down. You can feel the blood drain from your face as you see his face, his smile throwing you back into your past. 

“H h hector..” Your stomach feels as if it's dropped past your feet, making you dizzy with the fall. His grin makes you pull at the restraints, trying to get as far back from him as possible. 

“It's good to know you still remember me, especially seeing how long it's been, you have had such a successful career and yet you still remember your college music professor” He smirks, reaching out to stroke your hair, you jerk violently out of his way. You know that's the wrong move, of course it is. But there is no part of you that will ever allow him to touch you, not again. His smile drops, rage filling his once happy eyes, he stands up straight which makes you shiver in apprehensiveness. His hand tangles in your hair, yanking your head to the side with force making you wince, biting down on your lip. 

“Don’t you dare move away from me you bitch!” He snarls, leaning down so he can speak directly into your ear. “If you even attempt to do that again, I’ll make sure that when your team does finds your body, that they won’t ever be the same again, especially that Penelope girl” He push you back away, a chuckle slipping through his lips, as he watches the fear drain on your face. He knows Garica, he knows your team. Fuck, this must have been a trap, this must be his pay back.  

~~~

He leaves you alone for a while, you figure it's so he can regain his composure, wanting to have more self control when it comes to you. His end game. You keep pulling at the ropes binding you to the chair, just hoping you can get it loose enough to wiggle your wrist out of. Then maybe, just maybe you will have a chance of survival until your team can find you, if not then you have no chance back to sit still and play his game until your team gets here. Soon you hear the door open again, your motions come to a halt taking a deep breath ready to play his game. 

“Well hello gorgeous” Hector sings songs. He walks over to you carrying his own chair and places it right in front of you, smirking at you before taking a seat. 

“Hello” You reply coldly.

“Oh your highness, don’t be like that” He chuckles, his eyes fill of mischief.

“Look, I know you're eventually going to kill me, so what's the plan in the meantime, torture?” Scoffing as you roll your eyes, doing your best to put up a bored facade.

“Oh I figured, since the last time we had plans and you cancelled, that you owe me a song” Hector leans forward, raising his eyebrow, almost daring you to challenge him. You stare at him, you could follow his rules but then he could easily get bored of you, or you could play with him, give in after he has a bit of ‘fun’ acting as if it's all up to him.

“No” You glare back at him, which just earns a small smirk.

“No? Do you not remember what I did to my last victims, do you want me to do the same to you?” 

“I know whatever games you want to play I'm still going to end up with my throat cut out” You huff out, glaring at him trying to give him every inch of your anger as you can. His smile grows as he stares at you until his laugh is bouncing through the room. A laugh that feels almost condescending like. 

“Oh no, with you I have something a little more special planned, so why don’t you be a good little doll for me and sing me a damn song so you don’t have to find out so soon what it is, yeah?” His eyes narrow as he speaks, his voice darkening, clenching his fist as he does. 

“I said no, what are you deaf?” 

His hand wacks across your face hard, leaving a stinging feeling behind as his hand wraps around your throat, pulling you close to him. Forcing you to whimper as your restricts yank you backwards.

“Don’t be smart with me, one last chance my sweetness” His words make your mind beg you to agree with him but your profiler side knows if you want to get out of this alive, you need to go through with this. 

“I said no, dumbass” Gulping tickly as his hand tightened, making it impossible to get any air in. Your mind runs empty as he pulls out a knife, placing it on your cheek grinning at you one last time before he starts to slice. You try to clench your eyes close as he moves the knife off your face, the pointed end staying on your skin, tracing down your neck moving down to your arm, where he starts slicing once more. Once the knife begins to slice, that's when you go inside your own mine, doing your best to dissociate from your body.

~~~

It's been 10 hours since the team has had contact with you. Everyone is running on no sleep, and are getting paranoid having no clue as to how long the unsub will want to keep you for. Currently Rossi, Prentiss and Reid have gone back to the bar to see if they can find any clues, see what they can find from talking to the staff who were working last night. While Hotch, JJ and Morgan stay behind at the precinct to work with Garcia on digging into your past, seeing if the unsub could be someone you know from back when you went to college.

“Okay so what am I looking for here?” Garcia asks, popping up on Hotch’s laptop, her face stained with tears, bags under her eyes.

“Okay Garcia, start looking for people who went to college at the same time (Y/L) did, narrow it down with anyone who attended their music class” Hotch instructs, looking down at his file of the previous victims.

“Okay, we have 25 names, small college helps with that I guess, now what?” 

“Okay, do any of them have any charges of violence, or stalking charger?” Morgan asks, turning to look at Garcia, watching as she types away at her keyboard.

“Down to five names, okay give me more”

“Hey Garcia, is there like a Havery or a Henry um something like that on the list” JJ pipes up, eyes widening as she remembers something you mentioned years ago. 

“Um no, but wait, hang on there is a Hector Jameson, why” Garcia looks up, her eyes full of hope. 

“I remember years ago me and (Y/n) were talking about people with names we would never date and they mentioned this guy in their music class and, they didn’t want to talk about it but I could tell there was something about him that they wasn’t ready to talk about” JJ explain, pain and anger flashing on to her face, remembering just how uncomfortable you became after accidentally muttering his name. 

“Oh jesus..” Garica whispers, staring at her computer as she types. 

“Baby Girl, what is it?” Morgan calls for her.

“He’s the music professor at the college” Her eyes land on Morgan, worry and fear running through them. Hotch and JJ tenses up before glancing briefly at Morgan, seeing his fist clenched tightly, anger pumping through his veins. 

“Send us an address Garcia” 

“I will, but he also has a few cabins under his name, but no address for those” She sighs softly, sending them his addressee.

“It's okay, we’ll figure it out, thanks Garcia see what else you can find out about him” Hotch tells her before hanging up. 

~~~

Blood drips down your arms, forced whimpers and cries slip out of you. 

“Please stop please stop, I’ll sing for you” You whimper, finally deciding to give in.

“Oh, what a good doll you are” He grins happily. Sitting back down, playing with the knife in his hand.

“W what would you like?” Your voice is shaky, glancing up at him with fear.

“Why don’t you sing our song?” His smirk digs into your soul. Tears swell in your eyes as the song starts playing in your mind. 

“D do you have a guitar that I can play as well.. That way I can make it perfect” Your lip twitches trying hard to not cry, as he glares at you.

“You just want your hands to be freed, no” He scoffs, coming to a stop playing with the knife, ready to use it again.

“No no I don't.. It's okay I’ll just sing” Gulping thickly as you take a deep breath doing your best to keep the shakiness out of your voice.

I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, 

I'll be your fantasy

I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, 

be everything that you need

I love you more with every breath truly, madly, deeply do.

You manage to sing the song perfectly until the last paragraph where you slip up, your fear making it impossible to keep singing with a stable voice. This only angered him like you thought it would.

“You fucking bitch” He sneers at you, dropping his knife as he gets up, grabbing your hair.

“Im sorry Im sorry, please just let me try again” You beg him, fighting against your instincts to pull away from his touch. 

“No, you know if you just took my offer when you were younger then I could of helped you, you could of been famous by now, instead your some useless FBI agent and that's all you're going to be known for” He smirks, getting to his feet, moving his hand from your hair to cup your face. “All you're going to be known for is someone who never went for opportunities and that's why you're going to die, I mean not right now but soon” His evil smile makes you lunge towards him, trying to headbutt him, no longer caring about the consequences of your action. Oh how stupid that was. All he does is smile more at you, before stepping away, walking to his wall of tools picking up an empty water bottle and filling it up with something you can’t see. He walks back over to you grabbing your jaw with such strength you didn’t know he had.

“I bet your thirsty baby, open up for me” Your eyes widen as things start making sense, you clench your jaw tighter, knowing once you do, that everything is over.

“Stubborn bitch aren’t you” He grabs his knife that lays forgotten on the knife shovinging it deeply in your shoulder, causing you to cry out in pain, your mouth opening wide enough for him to squirt some liquid into your mouth. It slides down your throat, leaving the worst burning feeling you have ever felt behind, as if someone has sent fire to your throat. You scream out in pain as it counts to burn, his laugh is the last thing you hear before blackness takes over. 

~~~

“Okay so we talked to a few of (Y/n) old classmates who were also in Hector class and we think we found something” Rossi announces as he and Emily walk into the room where the rest of the team is currently, all spread around the table throwing ideas off each other. 

“Yeah, it turns out he liked to take a few of his students out camping, apparently the fresh air was known to help encourage the creative flow, (Y/n) apparently went on a few of his camping trips with fellow classmates but everyone we talked to told us that (Y/l) was definitely his favourite student, spent every waking second talking and helping them” Emily huffs taking a seat. “Some students think they used to have a thing together, they were of age so maybe they did” Emily supplies, looking at the papers spread across the table.

“Not voluntarily I bet, they were groomed!” Morgan snaps, slamming his hand down as he gets up in huff, feeling frustrated and scared for you.

“Morgan, we know that could be possible, but we need to stay calm” Hotch starts, looking up at him, worrying. Everyone knew these types of cases already hit him hard, but when it comes to a member of a team, feelings get out of hand.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Morgan snaps, before storming out of the room, quickly followed by a concerned Reid. 

“Okay, I know we are worried about (Y/n) but we are no close to finding where his cabins are so, I want everyone to go back to the hotel get some sleep, It's been over 24 hours since anyone has slept and I can’t have us continuing like this” Hotch decided looking up to see three faces staring back at his in disbelief.

“No, no I'm not sleeping until I know they're safe, until we find them Hotch, no way” JJ argues, crosses her arms.

“They wouldn’t sleep if It was us out there missing, no way I’m resting” Emily agrees with JJ, glaring back at Hotch.

“Guys, we are no help to (Y/n) if we wear ourselves down” Hotch tries to reason, knowing it's useless.

“Hotch is right” Dave stands up for him, having seen how hard the team has been working for the last 30 hours. “It's coming close to 42 hours without sleep, this isn’t good, and when we do find them we need to be rested up enough to take him down” Daves words hang in the air for a few seconds as the girls mull them over.

‘Fine” Emily slowly agrees, nodding.

“Okay, but the second we have any information we got to go” JJ sighs getting up.

“We’ll take shifts, you three go first, after two hours we swap” Hotch smiles sadly, knowing it's what they did last time this happened. 

~~~

It's now been 20 hours that you have been missing, and the team has gotten some sleep. Even including Garcia who fell asleep on the couch in Morgan's office. Now with some fresher eyes they are relooking as to where his cabins could be, looking at where the classes used to go camping. With some connection Garcia now has access to a satellite. Looking through the area they think his cabin could be in to see if they could find something. 

“Guys, do you see this?” Penelope's voice is quiet, but slowly filling with hope.

“Two heat signatures” Morgan responds, getting to his feet.

“That cabin looks to be around 5 miles from where they did the camping trip” Reid replies, everyone jumping to their feet, Instructing Garica to send the coordinates to their phones as they run out the door. They take two separate vehicles, Rossi, JJ and Morgan in one, Hotch, Emily and Reid in the other, with SWAT and medics on the way. 

“Okay, Babygirl speaks to us, where exactly are they in the cabin?” Morgan asks, a phone call connecting them all, when they start getting closer. 

“Okay, so it appears they are out in the backroom, one of them seems to be moving outside, wait wait” Garcia voice grows panic as stares at the screen. Everyone looks at each other, the tension growing.

“Garcia, what's going on?” Hotch demands. His grip tightening on the wheel, terrified of the idea of losing you.

“He’s getting in his car, looks to be moving towards you but um” Penelope's voice fills with sadness, doing her best to keep the tears at bay she takes a deep breath. “(Y/n) heat signatures, its weakening” The shaky words make Morgan and Hotch speed up.

“Alright, just keep an eye on them, kitten” Rossi sighs softly looking out at the road, knowing they can’t be too far away now. 

“Hotch, I think that's him” Morgan eyes widen seeing the unsub car approaching them on the other side, driving fast and impatiently. 

“Alright, Morgan you get (Y/n) we got him” Hotch demands, doing a u-turn as the unsub passes him, turning his sirens on.

Everyone feels on edge as they split up, there is only one reason why he would have left you. Now they don’t know if they’re too late to save you. Time seems to run slow as they race towards the cabin, hope fading away.

~~~

Your throat feels like it's raw, the feeling in your body is back, making everything ache. You feel exhausted trying your hardest to stay awake, knowing your team has to be close by now, right? 

“Well, you’re finally awake bitch?” he snarls, wrapping his hand through your hair, yanking your head backwards making your eyes shoot open.

“Go fuck yourself” You retort weakly at him. When you speak it makes your throat feel like you swallowed a bunch of seawater and choked. The burned feeling makes your eyes water, just begging for all of this to end, quickly. 

“That's not polite” he chuckles, his hand travelling down your neck. Shivering under his touch, wishing you would never have to feel his hands on you again, hopeful today will end it all. You're not going to let him win, not again. You decide when taking a deep breath, spitting up into his face. 

“Your fucking dead for that” His voice is oddly calm, and thats the only thing your able to concentrate on as you feel his fist contacting with your face over and over again. Your sure small whimpers are leaving you as the chair falls to the side, your head smashing into the ground. His feet join in on the beat, but you know it doesn’t matter anymore because your childhood dog is standing him, waiting for you. You smile softly at them, knowing it's finally over. Your dog is the last thing you see as the world goes black. 

~~~

Mogan, Rossi and JJ get out of the car, making their way to the cabin. They enter quickly, checking the whole cabin before they find you in the backroom tied to a chair that lays on the ground. Their hearts drop as they see the state you are in, your head split open, blood pooling. There's dried blood and bruises covering your arms, your face looks swollen, your lips puffy and some chemical burns around your mouth. 

JJ is the first to reach you, falling to her knees in front of you, her mind begging you to still be alive. Her finger slid on to your neck, looking for a pulse.

“I got a pulse” JJ lets out a sigh of relief. “It's faint, but it's there” She smiles weakly up at the guys. Spotting Morgan speaking into his comms as Rossi bends down, pulling out his knife, cutting you free from the restrance.

“Their strong” Rossi smiles at JJ softly, as they both help pull you into a sitting position. Morgan grabs a rag he's found on the workshelf, handing it to JJ, who presses it on your head wound. Earning a low groan from you, your eyes trying to open, all you can do is get a glimpse of someone in front of you. Your mind starts rushing, no no you can’t deal with him again you can’t handle more pain. 

“N n no” Your words are barely audible, you try pulling away from JJ touch.

“Hey, hey it's okay it's us” JJ speaks softly, trying to grab you again, a cry escapes you, which causes you more pain. You are trying harder to get away, not understanding who's talking to you.

“Hey, (Y/n) stop stop, it's okay it's us kid” Daves voice cuts through the room loudly, grabbing your face with both his hands, holding you still. His touch is gentle but firm, his thumb sliding over your cheek.

“Kiddo, it's us, you're safe now” His words soften, the room goes quiet, except for the sirens that are approaching. You look up at him, your body shaking violently.

“D dave” You cough his name out, leaning back into the soft warm wall behind you. A wall that has arms apparently, because it's back to putting pressure on your head. 

“Don’t speak (Y/n) we got you now” He takes his hand of you causing you to whine, lifting up your hand, trying to reach for him. He smiles sadly, taking your hand in his, holding it tightly. 

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here” He kisses your hand softly. He stays true to his words, never leaving your side all the way to the hospital he holds your hand the whole way there, even after you black out again.

~~~

Oh gosh, the light is so bright it takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the brightness in the room. When it does that's when everything else starts connecting in your mind. Your body feels more comfortable than it did before, you're no longer on that chair, tied up in a dark room. Smiling softly as you look around, recognizing the look of a hospital room. Looking down at your arms you see your arms all bandaged up, noticing your hooked up to a few different I.V lines. Your body relaxes a little knowing you're safe now, but you can’t help but feel lonely, looking around the room wishing your team was here. I mean that's why you're here right? 

“You're awake” His voice is light and hopeful. His smile takes over half his face as he walks in. Your eyes shoot over to the doorway, smiling weakly as you see your boss walk in. 

“Aaron” Your voice is scratchy. The burning feeling from early returns as you try to speak.

“You don’t need to speak, the doctor said it could take a week for your throat to heal properly, so for now you need to take it easy” He explains softly, coming to sit beside you, earning a disappointed nod from you.

“The team wanted to wait for you to wake up but I sent them all back to the hotel last night, Dave stayed with you until morning, I sent him back an hour ago” He explains to you, watching you closely.

“W what happened?” You wince lightly, pointing to your throat. Slowly pulling yourself up to a sitting position.

“He poured sulfuric acid down your throat, it was diluted so it didn’t cause major damage” Hotch explains gently, staring at you sympathetically. You have to move your head away from him, unable to deal with that look anymore. 

“Thank you” You whisper, you're not even sure if he can hear you.

“You don’t need to thank us, look please you can’t talk anymore but once you do, I need to know what happened okay?” The softness to his voice cuts deeply into your chest, you always saw Aaron as a father figure, him and Dave. Ever since you joined the team they took you under their wing, making sure you understood what you were getting yourself into, looking after you after hard cases. Normally you can control your emotions, but the way he was looking at you, the way he was speaking is enough for you to break. You suddenly burst into tears, your body being rocking forward as you sob quietly, unable to make noise. Hotch is up in an instant, sitting on the edge of your bed pulling you into his arms. His arms wrap around you securely, one rubbing your back softly. 

“It's okay, I’ve got you (Y/n/n)” He whispers words of sweetness as he lets you cry in his arms, holding you for as long as you need. 

~~~

The morning is filled with doctors checking on you, taking you for scans or tests. You hate being away from your team, hate being alone in rooms, your eyes beg Aaron to go with you, but they don’t allow him into the small rooms. Your anxiety is spiking all morning, soon they allow you to go back to your room, where Hotch is waiting for you, texting on his phone when your bed is wheeled in. 

“So, how are you doing?” Hotch asks when you two are alone again.

“A couple broken ribs, my throat hurts, but I’m fine, and I can go home tomorrow” You smile weakly at him, leaning back in the bed, feeling exhausted.

“Why don’t you get some sleep, the team was thinking of coming to see you but I can tell them no” He stares at you, not wanting to push you, he knows you need to rest. But the smile that breaks over your face at the mention of the team, makes him know that resting will have to wait. 

“No I wanna see them” You grin at him, knowing that right now you can get almost anything you want. 

“Alright, I’ll let them know” He smiles, sending a text.

“Did you get him?” Your voice is so quiet, your eyes as wide as a tennis ball while you stare at the wall opposite you. He looks up at you, wondering how long you have been wanting to ask him that, fearing for the answer he could give you.

“He left you in the cabin, he drove past us when we were on our way to you, we silt up, Me Emily and Reid tracked him down, the situation escalated after we got to him and he got shot, he didn’t make it” Aaron tells you, his voice staying at a neutral tone, not sure how you’re going to take it.

“Good” Is all that you say, your expression staying empty. Rolling onto your side away from him as you wait for the team to turn up, accidentally falling asleep.

~~~

“Well look who's awake” Derek's voice makes you look up. You and Hotch are playing cards, after waking from your nap he informed you that the team was going to come over just tonight, giving you afternoon to sleep. Which you do, and now after growing bored you’re playing cards with Aaron, waiting for the arrival of your team. 

Your head shoots up at Morgan's voice, grinning at him and the others who all trail in, looking at you surprised to see how much better you already look.

“What, I like to sleep” You tease him back, your voice still raw and scratchy.

“How are you feeling?” JJ asks, making her way over. She's the first to give you a hug, cupping your face looking you over.

“JJ, Im fine now, It will all heal” You smile gently, trying to reassure her before moving from her grip. 

“Fine, are you in pain?” She requires the memories of finding you half dead on the floor forever carved in her mind. 

“I’m on so many meds right now, I can’t feel anything” You smile weakly, your throat starting to burn again.

“Relax mama bear, they're fine” Derek pats JJ on the shoulder, leaving his hand there. Pulling her away from you, giving you space

“You know you shouldn’t speak too much (Y/n) it's only going to irritate your throat” Spencer informs you, staring at you with his puppy dog eyes full of worry. 

“Noted” Smirking softly as you lay your head back, looking around at your team. If it wasn’t for them you wouldn't be lying here right now. “Thank you, all of you I–” Your words trail off, not knowing how to phrase how gracefully you are for them.

“You never have to thank us” Emily smiles softly down at you, standing close to you her hand runs through your hair gently. A normal shower of affection that she regularly does with you and Reid, only this time you flinch. Everyone notices it, but they don’t bring it up. They already knew you were going to have some trauma to work through. Emily removes her hand slowly, her eyes flicking over to Morgan feeling guilty. 

~~~

The team sticks around for an hour, they talk and laugh with you for a while, even though you don’t respond offended, trying your best to look after your throat. The team only leaves after the doctor asks to check over your wounds in private. Informing them that you will be able to get discharged in the morning. Once the doctor leaves you alone, fear and anxiety start spreading throughout you again. You know it's impossible for him to come back and hurt you, but that doesn't mean your mind is ready to accept that. You turn the tv on, watching some drama tv show, your mind unable to pay attention to it, but the background sound is nice. 

“Oooh what are we watching?” Dave's cherry voice breaks you out of your mind, your eyes flick over to the doorway watching him walk in holding a couple bags. Setting them down before he takes a seat beside you, pretending to watch the tv and not notice the small smile playing on your lips at the sight of his present. 

“some type of drama tv show” You shrug, looking back at the T.V.

“Wait, hang on, have you never seen this before?” Dave gasps, staring at you. You nod in response confused to his reaction. 

“You have never seen the office before, well that is differently changing, Office marathon at my mansion one night” His grin makes you laugh weakly, his eyes narrow at you, giving you a stern look.

“No nosies, you need to rest your throat, also I got you something for that” He leans forward grabbing one of the bags. You frown at him, wondering what he may have, a grin breaking out as you see him pull out your favourite ice cream tub. He passes it to you with a spoon, a small smile on his lips as he does.

“Thanks” You whisper lightly, smirking at him, having to hold back a laugh when he rolls his eyes at you. 

~~~

You two sat in silence for over an hour, eating the ice cream and enjoying the T.v show. It's getting late, and you're forcing your eyes to stay open not wanting to sleep just yet. Dave had noticed that you have been fighting sleep for the past ten minutes, jumping every time your eyes close.

“(Y/n), you need to try and get some sleep” Dave sighs softly, not missing the way your eyes are watering. 

“I can’t” Your voice shakes, doing your best to try and stop it.

“I can go and get a nurse to see if they can give you something?” Dave watches the way your body tenses up at the suggestion, just knowing that tonight is going to be a long one. 

“No, no more drugs”

“Okay, then what can I do?” Rossi almost begs you to let him help you, just wanting you to get some rest.

“I…” You know what could help but you can’t ask him, he is practically your second boss. Just because you see him like a father figure doesn’t mean he does. 

“Nothing” Is all you say instead.

“(Y/n), please what do you need?” He takes your hand that's shaking lightly.

“H hug?” Gulping thickly as you glance over at him, seeing the worry melt off his face. 

“Now that, I can do” He smiles softly, getting up. “Move over” He sits down beside you waiting for you to scooch over. You smile weakly scooching over enough for him to lay down, wrapping his arm around you pulling you into him. 

“Thank you” You snuggle into him, closing your eyes.

“Anytime kiddo, get some rest” His whisper is full of love, his arm wrapped around you securely as you allow yourself to close your eyes and fall into the darkness. 

~~~

The flight home is long and quiet. You were given the couch to rest on it, which you happily took. Snuggling down in your blanket, staring at the ceiling the whole time, feeling lost inside your own mind. The only time you really move is when it's time to take more meds or you need to hydrate. The team sat at the back of the jet, trying to give you privacy, but also so they could share their worries about you without being overheard. Hotch and Rossi had already spoken about you, knowing the next stage of this is going to be hard for you. Especially when it comes to needing to know who Hector was to you, having to ask what he exactly did to you. 

The flight is now half way over, when you finally fall asleep. The team smiles over at you, happy you're finally resting. Sadly it doesn't last longer, when you're suddenly interrupting everyone with a scream. Rossi and Hotch are up in seconds, both rushing to your side leaving the team to watch in worry. You're thrashing around on the couch, tears and whimpers escaping you. Fear covering your face, your heart racing with panic. 

“(Y/n), wake up your safe” Rossi kneels in front of you, hands cupping your face. Trying to get you to stop moving before you injure yourself. Hotch moves to grab your arms, scared you're going to rip some of your stitches open, holding them firmly as he hopes Rossi can wake you up.

“(Y/n), open your eyes for me kiddo” Rossi shakes your face lightly, your eyes soon flutter open your lips twitching as you try to calm down.

“Your okay Ragazzion, you're okay” Rossi lets go of your face, same time Hotch lets you go. 

“I.. sorry” You utter out, trying hard to control the tears. Pulling yourself into a sitting position in the middle of the couch. 

“It's okay, how are you doing?” Hotch asks, his voice laced with concern as he and Rossi both take a seat on either side of you.

“I don’t know” You look at him feeling hopeless, the tears starting to dry on your face.

“That's okay, do you need anything?” Hotch smiles softly at you, placing his hand gently on your knee, you jump slightly before nodding.

“Water, please?” You lean into Rossi when his arm wraps around your waist, pulling you in close.

“You got it,” Aaron smiles before getting up to get some water. 

You can’t help but lean into Rossi's touch, now that with him, you're always going to be safe. Your head rests on his shoulder, not caring that the rest of the team is watching you, concerned running through them. You're not a hugger, you barely like touching, some say you're even worse than Reid. But here you are, snuggled up to Rossi refusing to let him go even when Hotch brings over the water. Rossi has to pull you away from him so you would drink, nodding as you follow their instruction. The team stares at you worried about how badly the unsub has messed you up, when you're asking Hotch to join you on the couch, and suddenly you're snuggled up between the two bosses of the BAU. The remaining three hours of the flight, you refuse to move from either of them constantly needing physical contact from them.

~~~

The elevator ride up to your office floor is peaceful. You stand in the back, still holding on to Rossi's hand, refusing to even let go after leaving the jet. Rossi doesn’t mind it, he's always happy to hold you close. He's always seen you as one of his kids ever since you joined the team 2 years ago. You were one of the youngest agents he had met, you were barely 23 when you joined. When the elevator doors open, the team slowly make their way out, you're the last to walk out with Rossi. Garica stands by the glass doors, smiling with relief as she sees you. You can’t help yourself, you pull away from Rossi, and make your way quickly towards the woman who constantly produces happiness. Flinging your arms around her, she's quick to respond, hugging you back tightly, no words exchanged. The team all walks past you giving you space.

“Thank you” You smile weakly as you pull away from her, both of you having tears sliding down your face.

“Never have to thank me, never have to thank any of us” She smiles softly, looping her arm with you, leading you into the bullpen. “We never want to lose you, do you understand, you are a part of our family, we will always be there when you need us” She smiles at you, watching as the wheels turn in your eyes.

“I know, I just.. I was scared, there's things you don’t know” You words seem to fail you but she gives you a reassuring look.

“That's okay, all in your own time” Garcia walks you to your desk, helping you pack up some folders, everyone knows you're taking a few weeks off due to doctor's orders. 

“I’ll give you a ride home, by the way (Y/n)” Morgan walks over to you two, grabbing your bag.

“Morgan I can drive myself”

“No you can’t” Was the response of Penelope and Reid

“Oh hell no!” Came JJ and Emily's answer, all looking at you with overprotective looks.

“Guys I’m fine” You sigh, knowing it's useless.

“No you're not, but Morgan it's okay I’ll take them home” Hotch speaks up as he and Rossi make their way down the stairs and over to you.

“I don’t get a choice do I?”

“No”

“Nope”

~~~

Hotch helps you in his car, against your protest. Once you two are finally on the way out of Quantico, that's when you know the question will begin.

“So me and Dave were talking” He starts, his eyes staying focused on the road. “We don’t like the idea of you staying alone”

“Hotch, I’ll be fine” You know that's a lie, truthly you're dreading going home alone.

“(Y/n) please, we all know you're not okay, I don’t want you to be alone, because If you are it's going to drive me crazy” He sighs, glancing over at you, watching as your face falls.

“I don’t want anyone to worry about me” You stare out the window, trying to empty your mind.

“I know, but we will anyway, because we care about you, I know I shouldn’t but I see you like my kid (Y/n), please just let us help you” His voice is so close to begging you to agree with him.

“You have Jack, I can’t stay with you” Your hands start to fidget, hate to be a burden.

“He’s not home tonight he's with Jess, so stay with me tonight and that gives Rossi time to set up a spare room for you, you can stay with him or me as long as you need” Hotch looks at you, seeing as you think over his question.

“Okay” You finally agree, the idea of being alone eating away at you. “But only for a little while”

“Thank you” Aaron smiles, driving to his place.

Three weeks later.

You still suffer with nightmares, still unfit to return back to work for now. For the last two weeks you have been staying at Rossi places, which has been nice, even when he's been away on cases. The fact his place has a lot of cameras and security makes you feel safe. You’ve been going to therapy two times a week, doing everything you can so you can start feeling like yourself again. It was last week when you went into the office and finally told Hotch and Rossi the truth of who Hector was to you, doing your best to not break down as you did so. Hotch and Rossi have become your main support in the past few weeks, making sure you had everything you needed to feel okay. Hotch would come visit you most days he was in town, bring Jack over to have dinner with you and Dave. Their actions constantly reminding you how important you are to them, how no matter what, they will always be there for you. 

One night, you're sitting in Rossi's living room not expecting him to come home. You're playing the guitar you had picked up from home, strumming it slowly. You've had it in your room for the last week but every time you picked it up the memories would come rushing back, but not today. Today when you picked it up sitting on the couch, it just felt normal. You take a deep breath closing your eyes as you slowly start singing, enjoying the way it feels to relax and play again. This is something you used to do everyday and now, it's been three weeks. You promised yourself that no one would take your passion away from you, so there's no way you're going to let him take that from you, no one gets to do that. Soon the song comes to an end, smiling softly as the music comes to a stop opening your eyes slowly. 

“Now that was beautiful” 

You don't mean to jump, but you weren’t expecting anyone to be home until later tonight. Turning around, you see Rossi walk in from behind, smiling softly.

“I didn’t know you were listening” Feeling the heat rush to your cheeks, embarrassed.

“I know, I didn’t want to interrupt, but you have such a talent” Dave comments, walking over taking a seat beside you.

“Thank you” Smilingly softly looking down, falling silent.

“A penny for your thoughts” Dave asks, frowning slightly at you.

“I miss performing” Sighing softly, placing the guitar on your lap.

“Why did you stop?”

“It didn’t fit in with my schedule anymore” 

“Well, If I’m right you do have some time now, and I know we aren’t in town most weekends, but you can still try every now and again” Dave suggest, smiling lightly. Knowing that he and the team would love to hear you perform again.

“I could but I.. it feels weird after what happened last time, I feel like I shouldn’t do that again” You admit your fear, feeling shamefully about it. 

“That's understandable, but that won’t happen again, and me and the team will be right there for you” Dave looks at you encouragingly.

“I know” You rest your head on his shoulder, feeling exhausted from overthinking. 

“Is something else going on in there?” Rossi wraps his arms around you.

“Maybe” Sighing softly, closing your eyes. “I think it's time I go home”

“You don’t have to kiddo, you can stay here as long as you need, you know that” Rossi reminds you.

“I know, but I’m not going to be able to move on with my life If I stay here” You explain, feeling sad at the idea of leaving.

“Well, why don’t I help you set up a camera at your place and we can put in a better security system as well” Rossi offers, wanting you to be safe if you're leaving.

“I like that idea, thank you” You smile weakly.

“Perfect, we can do it this weekend, If I don’t get called away” Rossi kisses your forehead softly.

~~~

It's Friday night, and Rossi has invited the team out for drinks. When they all arrive they aren’t expecting you to be waiting at the table for them already, they have barely seen you in the past few weeks.

“(Y/n)” Garcia squeals out, unlooping her arm with Morgan as she runs over to you, encasing you in a giant hug that you happily return.

“Hey you” Smiling brightly, feeling her happiness bounce off her. Letting her go as you hug the rest of the team, (Excluding Hotch and Rossi who you see regular) 

“I thought I would surprise you all” Smiling softly as you all sit down, letting Hotch and Rossi get everyone's drinks. 

“Please tell me you're coming back soon, I've missed you” JJ sighs, smiling at you hopeful.

“What JJ, we aren’t good enough for you” Morgan teases her.

“Please tell me it's soon, because I can’t deal with Morgan without you much longer” JJ groans, as the rest of the team laughs at Morgan's offended face.

“Well It should be Monday if Hotch approves” You smile at them, forgetting how much you missed your little family.

“Oh he better approve” Emily smiles, noticing how much better you seem to be now.

“He does,” Aaron smiles, approaching the group from behind, carrying some drinks, hanging them out.

“Thank you” You grin at him as the group cheers, Garcia wrapping her arm around your shoulders excitedly.

~~~

The rest of the night is full of laughter and catching up with everyone. There's a stage at the bar and people are going up, singing and playing music. The team watches a few acts but soon it fades into background noise as they all catch up. That is until you disappear to the bathroom, and when you return back you see the stage empty, the guitar sat there just begging for someone to play it. The opportunity staring you in the face, you glance over at your family smiling softly knowing they will always be your biggest support, so you head on up.

“Hey guys, hope you don’t mind me giving this ago” You smile speaking into the microphone, picking up the guitar. Some people turn to look at you smiling, your whole team turns to face the stage, surprised to hear your voice echoing through the bar. Smiles and grins break out as they realise what you're doing, a few cheers come from Morgan and Garcia, earning a soft laugh from you as you strumming the guitar softly. The bar grows quite as the guitar fills the place, taking a deep breath as you start to sing. 

Don't listen to the voice inside your head

You're doing just fine

You're trying your best

If no one ever told you it's all gonna be okay

We're just people never sleeping over stupid shit

We won't remember in the morning

Yeah, we're gonna forget

And no one ever told you it's all gonna be okay

You sing softly, enjoying the way it feels falling into the vibes. Staring out at the crowds seeing them looking up at you, but your eyes only stay on your team. Seeing their smiles full of love and proud as they all watch you. You can’t help but sway as you play the guitar, finally feeling like yourself, and it's all thanks to your team. You know no matter what happens they will always have your back, and nothing will ever pull you away from them.

~~~

[currentlyfckingurmom]

Her Song part 5

Today is Friday, which means tonight we're doing live music. Ash and I named it 'VIP Night' when we were drunk...it may or may not secretly stand for Very Inappropriate Performances. It's not an event we hold every week, but I try to book bands as often as possible. If we can't find anyone, then I host a karaoke night, which most people love. The only downside is that I can't sell booze.

Bummer.

Since there's less than an hour until VIP Night starts, Syd and I are currently moving the shop around. We rearrange all the tables so they face the small stage in the corner of the store; it's only big enough for a few people at a time, but it's all we need. There's not a lot else we can move because of the aisles, but we make it work. I turn the chairs so they face the right way, too, and then sweep off the mini stage.

Syd cleans off the tables while I grab the microphone and tech gear from the back room. As I'm setting up the mic stand, the music abruptly changes from Patsy Cline to Big Time Rush.

Sighing, I give the culprit a 'really?' look and shake my head at her.

"Love you, Momma," she says sweetly.

"Love you too, you little Satanist. And you're only playing this until people start arriving, okay?"

"Deal!"

"Thank you," I say, returning to my task.

"Hey, Momma?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"What's a Satanist?"

"You."

"That isn't a valid definition. Please elaborate. Feel free to use the term in a sentence."

"What- oh my god. Bring me the box of cords, please. This one is done for," I say, tossing the clean-cut cord to the side.

She drags the box of extra cords out of back room and sets it in front of me. "Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome, sir," she replies as she plops down on the stage next to me.

I rummage through the box, but the cord I need isn't there. "Damn. I guess we'll have to splice the one we have. We can get a new one tomorrow. Do you know where the wire strippers are?"

"Yup. In the toolbox under the shelf with the boxes of cups and napkins. I'll go get them."

"Thank you, Syd."

She skips away and quickly returns with the small tool. I strip both ends of the wire and grab the two halves to twist them together.

"Hi, Y/N!"

The sudden loud voice scares me and my body jumps. One end of the wire, which was apparently very sharp, slips and nicks my finger.

"Oh my god! Can everybody please stop scaring me like that," I breathe out as I stand up.

"Sorry," Florence apologizes sheepishly. "I just heard that you're doing a special night here and I wanted to see if you need any help before it starts?"

"Oh, well, I really appreciate that. Thank you, Florence. But I think all we need to do is fix this wire and set up the mic."

"Momma, is that blood?" Syd cuts in. I look down at my hand and, sure enough, there's a steady stream of blood running down my finger.

"Huh," I say. "I'll be right back. Talk amongst yourselves."

I go into the bathroom and grab our first aid kid, doing my best to not drip blood everywhere. The first aid kit has a latch on it, which is very difficult to open when one hand is covered in blood.

Florence walks in and closes the bathroom door behind her. "Hey, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you and make you cut your hand and- why is it bleeding so much?"

"I think the wire, like, punctured my skin. It's fine, it's not a big deal. And it's definitely not your fault, so don't apologize. I'm very accident prone."

"And apparently extremely easy to sneak up on," she adds, taking the first aid kit from me and digging out an antiseptic wipe. "Wash the blood off first," the blonde instructs.

"Yes, ma'am."

She watches me closely as I wash and dry my hands, but I pretend not to notice because I'm too awkward to say anything. When I'm finished, I jut my hand out for her and she takes it with a playful eye roll. She dabs it with an antiseptic wipe and I wince. "Hey! Be gentle, jeez. That shit burns."

"Oh, suck it up you big baby."

"This is all your fault, remember."

"You literally just said it wasn't my fault!"

"I was lying to make you feel better about yourself. In reality, I'm in a great deal of pain because of you."

She smacks my arm and we both burst out laughing. Looking into her captivating hazel eyes, our laughter slowly fades and her cheeks turn a light shade of pink, and I'm sure mine look the same. She quietly clears her throat and breaks eye contact, wrapping a bandaid around my index finger.

"There you go. I think you'll live."

"What, you're not even gonna kiss it better?" I joke. She grabs my hand and quickly kisses my finger before turning around and leaving the bathroom. "Huh," I say in the empty room.

I can hear more voices coming from the shop as people begin to show up for VIP night, so I quickly place the first aid kit back on the shelf and rush into the main area to finish fixing the cord.

The mic is fixed and set up within the next five minutes, so now we're just waiting for the band to show up. For tonight, we booked a small band whose members go to a local college. They're pretty good, and I think Florence will love their music.

I scan the room for Ash since she was supposed to clock in ten minutes ago, and I see her greeting the band as they enter the store. Waving them over to the stage, I help them set up.

One everything is ready to go, Ash dims the lights and I step into the stage, grabbing the microphone.

"Hey, y'all! How are we feeling tonight?" A series of claps and cheers comes from the small crowd in the store. I make eye contact with Florence and send her a small smile, to which she waves. "Thank you guys so much for coming to VIP night. I'll get out of here so the band can introduce themselves. Enjoy the show!"

Hopping off the stage, I join Ash behind the cafe counter to help her with the orders. I assist her with making the drinks and grabbing pastries while David carries the orders to people's tables.

"Y/N, come here," I hear Florence say from the end of the counter. "I want to introduce you to someone."

I look up and see Florence standing there with a guy. He's older, brown hair. Conventionally attractive, I guess. "Uh, hi. I'm Y/N," I greet him.

"I'm Zach, Florence's boyfriend. It's good to finally meet you. Flo hasn't stopped talking about you," he says, sticking his hand out for me to shake, which I do, giving him a polite, tight-lipped smile. The boyfriend. I always forget about the boyfriend.

"It's good to meet you, too. Although Florence hasn't mentioned you at all," I reply with unintentional malice.

Ash, overhearing the conversation, coughs loudly as if saying be nice. I remind myself that it's not my place and I have no right to be upset. "I've gotta get back to work. Have fun," I say with an (almost) genuine smile.

I do my best to ignore Florence's quietude and clenched jaw. She seemed guilty. She had no reason to be. I should've known she had a boyfriend and that she was just being nice. That's on me.

[nyarisu]

Völkerball liveblogging

Dear lord this took me so long to edit you better appreciate it

Reise reise

Oooo~ but I still like the Hellfest version more :)) (Till’s face during the Hellfest chorus will always be my sexuality)

Schneider’s costume is fabulous but I’ll never trust those curls

Also vampire Reesh that’s a good look

Asdfghjklthe vagina entrance XDDD they really had to

Hello nice legs

I’ve watched this only once because i don’t like the sound. Someone said Till was sick and I don’t know what actually happened but his voice kinda sounds like it, especially more towards the middle of the live.

But the chorus is still so nice~

The tongue via Till’s fucked up slut face

Olli’s really serious

"Ist kein Licht am Horizont" REESH DO YOU WANNA KILL ME?? That was one sexy face

I really love Till’s expressions i want to kiss his face

The eyes! And then looking up to the sky<3 (was there even a sky or was inside I didn’t even notice XD)

I really don’t like Paul and Flake’s costumes

Fucking god that entrance is craking me up

Links 234

Hei hei hei!

I love how they all march on the stage

Bwhbwbwhwbhwbwhw XD

That’s a nice middle to wrap your hands around, mr Lindemann

I love when he’s hittig his chest on “links”

THE FANGS

Paul means business XD

You can’t not sing with them during links

Oh the solo<3 sounds so nice live

Thank god my favourite person from this stupid band is also the one most filmes otherwise I would’ve been in trouble

Dem boobs XD

Keine lust

I thought it was Sonne for one sec

He kicked the mic stand XD

Now you can hear he’s a little raspy

Yes Till we know the lyrics’ meaning and also that you’re horny

The chorus sounds nice again, it sounds better when he’s actually siniging vs talking

Who’s foamning at the mouth over that patch of skin under his pants, I’ve seen people talk about that (unfortunately it’s doing nothing for me)

"kaaaalt. Soo kaaaalt" I’ll keep you warm bby just don’t be sad T_T

Ok but Flake’s headpiece is actually hilariuous gotta admit

I really want to kiss Till *opening his mouth like a retarded owl* I don’t think I want anymore

Feuer frei

That was his I’m ready to slut pose XD

DONT HIT YOURSELF YOU DUMB BABY

Ooooooh Olli got shirtless (what were they calling this?)

I really like RZK’s top

Of course he’s gotta bully Flake

Chumby

I’m really trying to focus more on image but the voice is such a big thing for me and it’s clear he has something

The masks!! I love those so much

„Jaaaa”

Wow Schneider’s drumsticks went out with a literal bang

Asche zu Asche

4 lines later I finally realised what song is >.< and only because Till began to sing...

DID YOU SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING WITH THOSE DRUMSTICKS?!? I knew why I had a thing for hands/fingers

Asdfghjkl Richard strutting down the stage with his little red stripe<3

He’s a moody goth and I love his look did he just put his hands on his hips? XD

Till’s cheeks! I want to pinch his face

Everyone’s favourite part and THE NECK TILT ok wow now that was hot

Tho I usually preffer the “In zehn Tagen” to RZK’s “Ich komm wieder” now it was the opposite (probably because I couldn’t see Till that well) and Reesh acting all sexy was definitely improving it

Go Flake go XD he’s so serious and by the end he’s having the time of his life meanwhile Till is having an existential crisis (another)

Olli’s abs are heeeeella nice

Till with his hand over his heart didn’t help his case

Yeah Richard ok you’re sexy i get it holly fuck I’ve never been more attracted to him

And now i’ll never be able to unsee the neck tilt

That ich kom wieder just unmade me

Morgenstern

Bath time XD

I really like when Till slicks his hair back

Dear lord the chorus thank you for your voice sir and congrats on it

I really like the general image of a bassist playing their bass (other verb I could’ve used was fingering XD that’s literally what he’s doing!!)

Ooooh the keyboards sound so nice<3

DON’T pluck your eyes out!

The fire part is really impressive

I love then Richard is doign his gay boy pose XD and then the closeup on him while bobbing his head

I need to say once again the chorus sounds wundershon

Mein Teil

The first 2 seconds I thought it was MHB

Paul and Richard walking towards each other<3

Aaaand the epicness begins!

Schneider is fabulous behind his drums, can’t forget about him

YEET

The tongue’s is at it again

FLAKE POPING UP WITH THAT SMILE CRACKED ME UP you demented human

People are rocking the hell out this song

“durch Engelsscharen” Till’s expression<3

And the maddnes begins. Wow it was shorter than usual... obviously, it was at the beginning

Flake has such a special style of running I can’t XD

Stein um Stein

And everyone is gonna talk about him drawing a house xD it was cute (considering what the song is about)

You’re being a slut again

Aaaaah I want to complain about the playback but I really can’t I rather prefer him with vocal cords. At least the rest of the song sounded excelent!

The little sound at the end of „sein” and his face: childish enjoyment while talking about fucked up shit. If this doesn’t perfectly summarize Till then I don’t know what does

Schenider’s smile

No but really beside the screeching parts he sung it so well!

Were they trying to film Richards crotch? Whatever he’s sexy

Another reason why I watch this only once before was me being kind of meh regarding Till’s look he’s my favourite after all I gotta act the part

Los

My fucking god Scheider’s legs! I fucking love thighs. And he has a nice ass too

Richard’s smile!! Don’t kill me

Is it me or does Till start to stare into space and look generally Not Ok (tm)?

„fucking mickey mouse” XDDD

Los is among the last 10 songs on my list I usually just skip it

I died when I saw him with a harmonica the first time

Flake and Olli XD

Don’t manhandle poor Flake (I really want to say I wish that were me but knowing myself I would probably just deck Till in the face XD)

The sunglasses are sick

RZK and Till headbaning<3

Rip (rest in pieces) to keyboard

Du riechts so gut

THE BOW! The cute flamingo pose aside, that bow is one of my favourite pyro effects ever

And then the synchronised bodybanging<3

That „pang” never sounded so good?

WHY THE FUCK DID YOU EVEN MENTIONED THE NECK TILT REESH IS SO SEXY HERE I CAN’T EVEN

The deepest he sings the lees you hear the raspiness

Lord! The whole audience just fucking went for it

Schneider’s muscles, Richard’s little smirk and Till zombie 2.0

Even more bodybanging. Flake is enjoying himself

WHAT THE FUCK WHY ARE YOU SO PRETTY?!? (me to Richard)

Flake casually going back to his keyboards uthgjkhfzc that looked so cool and smooth

I promise I still drool over Till just... Richard is so prettily standing there! I cant ignore him!

The firesleeves are so cool and it looks so good, especially with them facing different ways

And freeze! Nice and dramatic

Till hammer time

That one guy really feeling the „DRSG” in the audience XD

Benzine

3 consecutive thought: it is Benzine fuck yeah, I can never tell if it’s Benzine or Keine Lust, Till’s terrified face

The most Rammstein song to ever Rammstein

Paul going wild XD but I still don’t like his hat

Flake is spazzing again

Du hast

Thank god I’m actually enjoying this song now, I skipped it for half a year

The drums and the beginning and the keyboards are <3

The tongue >w<

People are going wild

I like Richard’s dramatic gesturing. Pretty rockstar boy

The chorus sounds so good

Flake what is that on your head? XD is he a One Piece character?

Did he just casually shoved the mic into his pocket? XD

I much more preffer the newest effect from Paris onwards (which is also my top favourite)

Sehnsucht

This song has a very special and unique feel to it probably because it screams Live aus Berlin more than any other (and now I feel like watching LAB again)

It’s the chanting in the background probably

He’s sounding sick again :(

You have muscles in the arms (and probably legs too) and chumby in the belly it’s perfect

Lol @ Paul trying to look scary

„SEHNSUCHT!”

Ok Richard honey you can stop with the sexy neck tilt

He’s slapping the hell out of his guitar

Please stop pulling your hair out

Amerika

@Flake on that thing: wierd flex but ok

Sexy fishnet legs

Wow that’s a really soft and nice opening, pretty unexpected

LOL Flake taking off his hat like „sorry for your loss” but considering the song it’s expected from him XD

Beauatiful eyes<3

He’s just nyooming from one side of the stage to the other? XD

That eyeliner looks so fucking good on Till

Flake is suffering :)) (what the fuck was I talking about I can’t remember now that I’m editing)

Even Richard’s hair looks pretty! What the fuck??

The last scene with Schneider (and then his legs)

Rammstein

Those are some fucking guns he has right there

This is the most badass intrumental intro ever

“Scheeeeeein”

Oooooh so this is where that gif was coming from for some reason it thought it was Engel from MSG. Does this live even has Engel on it?

I love when drummers throw their sticks in the air and then catch them again

Ok the image of Till slowly backing off between Paul and Richard who were both vibing in their own way was really nice

Sonne

Schneider is enjoiying this isn’t he XD

For some reason this song doesn’t seem as energic as it usually is?

Was Till humping the mic stand? (more likely than you’d think)

Seing Flake and Till doing the hammer side by side is really funny, that’s some size difference

Ich will

Bye bye mic stand again

Till baby what did you do with your throat to make your voice sound like that?

Richard looking to the side during „ich will” hhhhhHhh

Let me slap that ass Till

I want to lick your face

Ohne dich

Ollie what are you doing

Asdfhjkl Flake comforting Till and the way he just rests his head on Flake’s shoulder is breaking my heart

Poor baby come here and let me love you

You can clearly see he’s trerrified

Lsnhxkvj his eyes<3

Nawwww they are kissing

I am silently thristing over Till don’t mind me

Please don’t cry T_T and then him looking over his bangs sfdghjkl

„is he... ya know” pose with a hand in the air Heirate mich style (aka Till Lehmann is a sub)

Look I know he’s suffering and all but I really can’t focus on that with all the water dripping off him

Stripped

No wonder I didn’t recognised the song it doensn’t even exist to me XD

Till pointing like „you. drop your panties. now” XD

I had half a mind to skip it but then I would have missed Till’s wonderful tongue performance

Was he flicking it to the rythm??

Hearing him sing in english is always so weird (I only recently rediscovered the gem the Children of the Sun is)

Richard what was that sexy face?

Ollie is braving the human seas, telepathy at its finest XD

Hmm that is a really nice lower back

Gangsta XD „how do you do fellow kids”

Paul is enjoying the show

Schneider has killer looks. Literally XD

YEET

Conclusions:

Half of it went really slow and then the other half went really fast? I don’t understand what happened

So this is the setting for Mit Dir Bin Ich Auch Allein... ok, good to know ;)

You sure this was a good idea 4 songs in and I already wrote 2 pages, now the total is at 6.

I’m not particulary fond of the looks and Till sounds sick so I usually avoid this live. Also some songs are weird with the energy so yeah

Richard is so pretty I can’t (and fucking hot how come I don’t remeber this??)

[chuckepisodes]

Chuck vs. The Tango Part 5

Chuck decided to head back to work late at night to help fix the old computers only to find Morgan stuck inside the cage. He helped him out and let Morgan go home so he could fix the rest of the computers himself.

Later in the day, while you were on break, you decided to pop on over to the Buy More to check on Chuck and see how we was doing after everything that happened last night. Chuck was at the desk at the entrance finishing up with a customer when he spotted you. "Y/N! Hey!" You turned your head and smiled and you saw him waving at you. "Hey Chuck! How are you?" "I was going to ask you the same question." he said laughing a little. "Honestly? Last night was crazy but...could have been way worse right?" Chuck looked at you and nodded. All of a sudden he spotted the  two large men from last night walking in and he just ducked and dropped to the ground. "Chuck what the..." You saw his hand pop up motioning you to come over behind the desk. You were confused but got behind and lowered down beside him. "Chuck what's wrong?" you whispered. "The two gigantic men from last night. They're here." Your eyes widened and you suddenly became very nervous. As the men were walking around, Casey noticed them and began to follow them. You and Chuck were still hiding behind the desk when you heard a voice from above you. It was Harry Tang. "Chuck, hiding from work again?" " I, uh, I-I  think I dropped something." "Oh! And you need your girlfriend to help you?" You glared at Harry. The guy was horrible. "Go away, Harry!" Chuck whisper yelled. "Oh, you wish I would. I'm not going anywhere, Chuck. When you go to sleep at night, all you're gonna see is Tang in your face." You and Chuck both looked at each other had a disgusted face. You both then looked up and saw one of the men right in front of Tang. Chuck put his arm around and you both crouched down and you both began to quietly crawl away. You can hear the man asking Tang where Chuck was. You both ended up hiding behind the Nerd Herd desk in hopes that you don't get found.

Outside, Sarah came across a woman delivering a package who looked a lot like the woman from last night, Malena. She watched Malena climb up the ladder on the side of the Weinerlicious building and climbed up to the roof. Sarah carefully followed Malena up to the roof, where Malena was getting a riffle together.

Inside the Buy More, Casey caught up with one of the men. Casey heard that someone called Chuck to the storage cage and the man turned around to Casey asking where the storage cage was. "Oh, just through here, sir. I'll show you. By the way we are having a big sale on refrigerators in case you didn't notice." Casey said as he lead the man over to the fridges. The man then turned around and had a gun pointed at Casey. "Where is he? Where is Chuck Bartowski?" "Sir, I'm just sales clerk. " "Take me to him now!" Casey then twisted the man's arm and began to fight the guy. Casey easily took him down and threw him into a gigantic freezer box, closing the lid on him.

Outside on the roof on Weinerlicious, Sarah started fighting off Malena.

Back inside the Buy More, you and Chuck were crawling on the floor to the storage area in the back. "Chuck this is really killing my knees here." "I know. Sorry Y/NN." Chuck then saw a free spot under a desk. "Over here." He quickly crawled under the desk, pulling you with him. It was a tight squeeze so you were snuggled up pretty close to him which you were trying not to think about at the moment. Right now you needed to focus on not getting caught. You both watched as the man walked inside the cage. "Wait here." Chuck whispered. "Wait! Chuck!" Chuck got up quickly and closed the cage door on the man knowing it would lock on him easily. Chuck quickly ran back to the desk and you got up standing right beside him. "Oh, you! You big 'ol guy... you think... " The man then easily opened up the cage door. "That was so broken this morning." Chuck said. The man then approached you both. You grabbed on to Chuck's arm tightly. The man raised a gun and you both closed your eyes waiting to get shot when all of a sudden a mircrowave crashed hard into the man's head knocking him out. "Now that's what I call moving some merchandise, yeah?" You both opened your eyes to find Casey standing there. You then both turned your heads to see the man knocked out on the ground. Casey then grabbed the man's foot and started dragging him out. You breathed a sigh of relief as you laid your head on Chuck's shoulder.

Back up on the roof, after quite a rough fight, Sarah was finally able to take down Malena, handcuffing her to a pole on the roof.

Back in the Buy More, you and Chuck were walking back towards the Nerd Herd desk, both of you looking so done and tired, only to see Morgan messing around with the microphone. "Uh, Charles Irving Bartowski of the encino Bartowskis, could you please report to the returns desk. Charles Irving Bartowski.." "What?" Chuck asked annoyed. "Nothing, nothing. I'm just loving this thing, man." Morgan said smiling. You know what? We should get one for your apartment. Oh, good news. They fixed the lock on the storage cage, so..." Chuck then grabbed the mic, dragging the cord behind him as you followed Chuck. "What?" Morgan asked confused. It's been a long day.

[langdvnshepherd]

Thick and Thin (Duncan Shepherd x fem!reader)

Summary: Duncan’s serving his time in prison, which means conjugal visits are the only time you have to yourselves.

Word Count: 5.6k

Warnings: smut, oral (female receiving), fingering, dirty talk, slight degradation, cum play, the breeding/impregnation kink jumped out whew

A/N: I’ve wanted to do a conjugal visit with Duncan fic for forever bc it’s like....really hot and finally did it and switched it up a little from what I originally had in mind so here it is ladiesss :-))))). It’s a big switch up from how I’ve been writing, but I’m still really satisfied with how it turned out! Reblogs/likes/comments are always appreciated!! Let me know what you think.

Masterlist in bio!

     The bleak walls of the small conjugal apartment once frightened you; the dull, rigid structure was uninviting, to say the least. You’d thought that a white-collar prison for the wealthy might spare some expense at not making the unit feel like a Motel 6 located in the middle of nowhere, but you'd thought wrong. The box-spring under the mattress squeaked at the slightest of movements, and the sound of the dripping, grimy shower faucet could be heard at all times.

     It had taken some time, weeks, for Duncan to win your trust back after blindsiding you with his illegal side-job hidden under the guise of his oh-so-glorious app. He had been sentenced to 14 months in prison for his crimes. That seemed like a long time, but it was exponentially shorter than the treason charge and life sentence that the Department of Justice was gunning for (thank god for the wealthy and their cutthroat legal teams). 

     After some time away from Duncan, you concluded you were ready to repair the shitshow that was your marriage, although it seemed impossible at the time. First came visits in the common area, where you spoke to him behind a glass window with a microphone, unable to even touch him or feel him in any way. Your meetings were brief; you only stayed long enough to give him a piece of your mind and then storm out of the steel-reinforced doors with a fire lit under your ass, but you still came back each day.

     You realized you missed him, your husband. The bed was always cold and there was no one waiting for you at home to listen to your excessive rants about your bitchy, annoying colleagues that you hated so much. The thought of not waking up to Duncan clutching onto your waist like a koala or feeling his trademark stubble between your fingers (or your legs) ever again made your heart ache. When your anger at Duncan subsided, and after many long, clarifying conversations later, you upgraded to conjugal visits once a month. As husband and wife, you were granted two unsupervised hours to do whatever you wished in the micro-apartment, but everyone knows what conjugal visits were really for.

     Now, after a handful of meet-ups with Duncan in the confines of the dingy room, and some steamy ones at that, it resembled the closest thing you two had to normalcy. Sure, the furniture was in desperate need of repair and the television looked like it came from the early 2000s, but it was all you had to work with until he was released.

//

     You were perched on the stiff mattress, anxiously twirling your glimmering, oversized rock of a wedding band around your ring finger while you waited for a guard to bring Duncan to the conjugal apartment. You had to cancel on him last month because of a work conflict and you’d felt like shit ever since; Duncan tried to casually play it off like it didn’t bother him, but you knew he was so touch-starved that it for certain tore him apart inside.

     Of course, you’d seen him since then during normal visiting hours, but it had now been almost two months since you’d been with him. Since you’d felt his embrace. Since you’d felt him inside of you. There was no telling if you’d be greeted by a loving, soft Duncan that would shower you with kisses and was just happy to finally touch someone other than the CO that escorted him to the rec center, or a stern, cold-faced Duncan that was ready to throw you around and punish you for leaving him unsatisfied for such a long period of time. Just the thought of Duncan’s touch, however the nature, being only minutes away already had your stomach tied in knots and a warmth buzzing in your abdomen.

     Your mind wondered to your last visit with Duncan, how his voice was oozing lust and desire through the telephone mic as he told you all of the obscene things he was going to do to you when he got his hands on you again. How he was going to force his long, thick cock down your pretty, little throat and make sure you swallowed every last bead of hot cum he granted you the pleasure of tasting. How he was going to fill every hole you had with his girth; that you’d be so full of him you’d feel him lingering inside of you for days after. You were mortified that he’d said such filth out in the open, looking rapidly to your left and right to see if any of the other visitors had overheard. Your fingers wrapped impossibly tighter around the telephone cord until your knuckles were white and the muscles in your thighs kept your legs clamped shut, desperately ignoring your own desire to bust through the glass and have your own way with Duncan. 

     You could only hope that he’d follow through when he saw you today.

//

     Duncan was thrown into the room by two tanned, beefy arms. He stumbled forward, almost tripping on the patch of frayed carpet that had been uprooted from the floor. You heard the guard huff at him, muttering something about how Duncan needed to “watch his fucking tongue,” before he got extra time. The door then promptly slammed shut, so hard that it rattled the drywall. The commotion began as quickly as it ended; you weren’t sure that it had even happened.

      When Duncan gained his bearings and turned to face you, that’s when you saw it: the patch of scarlet-red, busted blood vessels and lavender-colored bruising that adorned the peak of his left cheekbone. It looked fresh, like it was still throbbing against his sculpted cheek.

     “Duncan, what the fuck is that?” you demanded to know, jumping up from your place on the bed to reach out and trace the injury with the tips of your fingers.

     He caught your wrist before you could get too close, using his grip to pull your body into his.

     “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing,” he tried to play it off, flashing you a grin to distract you from the incident before yanking you forward to crash his lips onto yours.

     He worked his way into your mouth, his warm tongue running along your bottom lip in an attempt to shut you up. God, had you missed him. He tasted the same as the last time you’d kissed him, as he always had ever since you’ve known him, like the cinnamon gum he loved so dearly, only the faint, cooling numbness of menthol cigarettes also danced on your taste buds. You’d have to get onto him about that later.

     You pulled away, reluctantly of course, in dire need to understand how your husband had acquired a massive, fresh bruise on the side of his face.

     “It’s not nothing. Who did that to you? What was that guard talking about?” You drilled, motioning once more to the mark on his cheek.

     “Nobody, Y/N. Nothing. Please, let’s not talk about it right now,” Duncan pleaded.

     “I missed you so much,” he continued, leaving a trail of hot, exaggerated, open-mouthed kisses along your cheek and down your neck, another obvious attempt to get you to drop your inquiries.

     “I missed you too, Duncan. But seriously, what happened to your face?” Your voice was full of genuine concern, your mind buzzing with the possibilities of what had happened, who had hit him, and why in the fuck he would potentially be serving extra time per the guard that launched him into the room.

     He stalled momentarily, one frustrated huff of oxygen leaving his nostrils. Duncan closed his eyes trying to keep his cool, but you knew his anger was about to bubble over. It was best to drop it, for now, you mentally noted. Gently but firmly, he gripped you by the jaw with one hand, resting his thumb on the pout of your bottom lip. You teasingly bit down on the digit, your own attempt to soothe his anger. Duncan pressed himself further into your mouth so that his thumb was laying flat against your tongue. 

     “I said I don't-” he began, making sure you were looking him directly in the eye as he spoke, “-want to talk about it.”

     Duncan used his grip on your jaw to pull himself in towards your ear, his hot breath fanning over the dip in your collarbones as goosebumps broke through the surface of your skin. It wasn’t with malice, although there was a certain roughness in his motions that let you know he was not to be toyed with.

     “Now, get back on the fucking bed and take your fucking clothes off.”

     A shiver broke out down your spine, arousal running straight from your core. There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere of the room, a change in focus. You wrapped Duncan’s thumb around your lips and swirled your tongue along the knuckle, something you often did when his cock was in your mouth. Removing his finger from your mouth with a pop of your spit-slick lips and a devious grin, you were more than happy to oblige.

     “Yes sir.”

     You backed away slowly, climbing onto the bed and reaching for the buttons on your blouse. Duncan kept his eyes locked with yours from the foot of the bed, occasionally flickering down to watch your fingers work open the center of your shirt, revealing inch by inch of your chest to him. Each button undone sent another rush of blood to his hardening, neglected cock. He had waited too long for this. You both have.

     He began stripping himself down as well, the thud of his canvas shoes hitting the linoleum of the floor in complete disregard. Before he removed his sweatpants, he reached down to stroke himself, palming away at his erection through the thick cotton at the sight of you, his wife, teasingly undressing yourself for him.

     Just as your fingers fumbled for the zipper of your jeans, Duncan approached you. He crawled towards you on the bed like a predator moving in on its fragile, docile prey. You felt the mattress dip around you as he straddled your frame, his knees coming to rest around each side of your thighs.

     “Let’s see how much this pretty, little pussy missed me, shall we?” Duncan posed, dipping down to playfully tug on your ear with his teeth.

     He removed your pants with ease, making sure to tease you through the rough denim with a few grinds of the palm of his hand. You whined beneath him in desperation for something, anything, else. It truly had been far too long since anyone besides yourself had made you feel this way.

     You were more than willing to part your legs for Duncan after he unhooked your now damp, lacey panties from your ankles, leaving your wetness on full display. Without the barrier of your underwear for protection, your arousal ran freely from your core, forming a damp spot on the comforter just underneath where you were seated. Good luck to whoever had to clean this up.

     “Fucking beautiful,” Duncan murmured to himself, eyes fixated on your shining cunt. His mouth watered at the sight, at what he’d done to you without even touching your pussy beyond rubbing you over your jeans.

     “Judging by the looks of it, I’d say you missed me an awful lot. Wouldn’t you?” he teased, referencing to your pussy that was glimmering with your cum, consumed by the need to be filled by Duncan’s cock.

     A strangled, “Mhmm,” left your lips, your head then reaching for Duncan’s face to kiss him once more. He dodged your advances, sliding off of his place at your open legs to scoot further down the bed.

     Your feet were yanked out from under you by Duncan’s large calloused hands so that you were lying flat against the bed. Duncan burrowed himself between your legs, hooking his elbows around the underside of your thighs to pull your body closer to his face.

     “God, I dream about this pussy all the fucking time,” Duncan said, lust dripping in his tone.

     “How fucking tight it is. How fucking good it feels. I fuck my fist to the thought of your cunt every. fucking. night.”

     You mewled in your position underneath him, his words sending another bout of arousal that dribbled down your folds, surely widening the stain on the sheets.

     “Is this what you think about?” he began again, gently pressing his lips to your kneecap. The look you gave in return was puzzled, but Duncan proceeded.

     “When you’re all alone and I’m not there to help you?”

     Another kiss to your inner thigh.

     “What you fuck your fingers to at night?”

     Another to the dip between your pelvis and the top of your leg.

     “The thought of me-”

     One just under your navel.

     “-my tongue-”

     One to your pubic bone.

     “-between your legs?”

     And finally, one smacking kiss over your aching clit.

     A prolonged moan ran from your lips like honey upon the contact. Your spine arched beneath him, your hips then bucking up in attempt to meet his mouth again. Duncan was smirking into your skin. He was clearly satisfied with the effect he had on you after only the slightest of touches.

     “I’ll take that as a, ‘yes,’,” he proclaimed, then dove back in to refamiliarize himself with every curve and dip of your pussy.

     It was if Duncan were the match that lit the fire inside of you. Your body felt electric, pulsing every time Duncan mouthed at your folds, sucking on the outsides and releasing them with a pop. It was overwhelming, it all was. Not only the sensation of Duncan’s tongue caressing your clit with his tongue again after having to wait for so long, but being able to touch him again, feel him again, breathe in his scent again. Sometimes it felt like Duncan was never getting out, and you’d be left alone for an eternity. You were constantly having to remind yourself that he only had a few more months left and it would all be over. As long as everything went according to plan.

     You couldn’t help but run your fingers through Duncan’s dirty-blonde locks as he continued to work you open with his mouth. The strands were slightly longer than the last few times you’d seen them, but they still felt the same in your grip. Just as his scruff still felt the same brushing against your inner thighs: like home.

     His eyes were closed in bliss, fully immersed in drinking from your dripping cunt. He looked so beautiful, you hoped you’d never forget the image in front of you at this moment. His hot tongue darting back and forth through your folds eagerly, his lips occasionally giving your swollen clit a harsh tug. It was as if he was on a mission to make you cum as quickly as possible, and at this rate, he would succeed. But as much as you missed the feeling while Duncan had been gone, you knew he missed the action just as much, if not more.

     “I don’t think I’ll ever forget how fucking good your pussy tastes,” he stated, briefly interrupting your train of thought, “No matter how long you’re away from me. Just like fucking candy.”

      You instinctively ground your hips against his face, fighting for more friction against your freshly drenched core. Duncan caught wind of your yearning, raising his fingers to your cunt to begin massaging your folds, his mouth not pausing as he continued to massage your clit with his skillful tongue.

     When he’d collected enough of your essence onto his index and middle digits, he slowly slid them inside of you. They glided in effortlessly, the stickiness of your slick allowing them to penetrate you with ease. He submerged them to his knuckles, so deep that you could feel the cool sting of his plain, silver wedding band brushing along the side of your ass. A gasp escaped your throat, rendering you breathless. His hands were much larger than your own, meaning he was able to reach places you were never able to during the long two months you’d been left without his touch and every other stretch of time in between visits before that.

     You could feel him inside of you, softly brushing his fingers up into your spongey walls. He didn’t thrust his fingers in and out of you, however. He kept his hand still, using just his fingertips to stretch you out before he inevitably replaced them with his cock. And he never stopped using his fucking tongue, like he’d been stranded in the desert, and your pussy was the oasis that revived him. 

     It was slowly becoming all too much. Your thighs were beginning to tremble and your walls were clenching around his fingers, grasping for straws in your attempt to submit to desire. You began wriggling your hips, trying to fuck yourself onto his hand. Duncan didn’t stop you, he only added his ring finger into the mix, sending you further into a spiral of pleasure and even closer to your release.

     “Duncan, I’m so close,” you panted, reaching out to press the back of his head even further into your heat.

     And you would have, if not for Duncan ceasing his movement all together as soon as the words left your mouth. His fingers withdrew from your slit, followed by an obscene squelch that forced an even deeper blush onto your already fevered cheeks. His lips unhinged from your clit with a “pop,” and they shone in the cheap, fluorescent lighting of the room. Your body ached at the loss of touch, feeling defeated that the finish line had been right there, and Duncan had stripped it away in an instant.

     “Not yet, my little pet. I want to feel you fall apart around my cock.”

     Duncan propped himself up on his knees and leaned over on top of you so that his elbows were resting on either side of your head. He looked at you for a moment, his blue-green eyes boring into your soul. They were full of love, astonishment that you stayed with him even after he’d betrayed your trust so hurtfully. Full of bewilderment that you waited for him, and that you come back for him even though he knew you had hundreds of other opportunities and people that could occupy your time far better than he felt like he could.

     He ducked down to press his lips to yours, not forgetting your failed attempt from earlier. You could taste yourself on his tongue, the odd, almost embarrassing flavor mixing with Ducan’s saliva as his tongue fought its way into your mouth. Duncan was right, you really were sweet.

     You pulled Duncan’s face towards yours as a means to deepen the kiss, your fingers pressing hard on each side of his cheekbones. Duncan flinched into your mouth, almost accidentally nipping your tongue with his teeth as you’d completely forgotten that you were practically digging your palm into the welting bruise that covered the area. 

     “Sorry,” you mumbled into his mouth, your hand immediately flying off of his face and wrapping around his shoulder.

     Duncan chuckled at your apology whilst his lips were still pressed against yours. A silent acceptance. His tongue slipped out of your mouth then trailed along your jaw, where he continued to slowly work his lips against your skin in the same manner. 

     “I love you,” you heard him mutter into your neck, “so much.”

     “I love you too, but will you please just fuck me?” you gave the outgrown hair on the nape of his neck a tug, signaling for Duncan to get the show on the road. Your neglected pussy was still throbbing with want, its only desire to be stuffed full of Duncan’s length.

     “Oh, kitten. I’m not gonna fuck you,” Duncan stated, although his actions suggested otherwise. He placed his muscular arm between both of your bodies, reaching for his cock.

     He was unbelievably hard, the slit of his cock surrounded by tiny beads of precum that resembled minuscule pearls. A low hiss came from the back of Duncan’s throat when he wrapped his fingers around the base and aligned himself with your entrance. His cock was clearly just as needy as your cunt.

     “I’m gonna destroy you.”

     Duncan thrust into you with force, immediately filling you to the hilt. Pre-prison Duncan, while he could be intense at times, would have never. He enjoyed taking his time with you, watching how your mouth fell open in a silent “o” shape as he pressed into you inch by inch, taking what felt like an eternity to enter you before pulling back and starting again. This Duncan still enjoyed the teasing, the winding up, but he was rougher around the edges, more aggressive. There was an urgency in his pace like he was trying to catch up on all of the times he’d been unable to make love to you while he was away serving his time.

     You let out a scream, a concoction of both pain and pleasure. Duncan was impossibly large, and your body hadn’t had time to adjust to anything other than the girth of your own fingers over the last few months, and Duncan’s up until just recently. The change in size was overbearing. It felt like he was brushing against your cervix as he began pounding into you, no regard in his movements as to how it felt as if Duncan had split you in two.

     His pace was animalistic, feral. Duncan spared you no mercy as he obliterated your cunt. It felt like only seconds had passed by, and you already felt the pooling of heat in your lower belly. You became encompassed by an all-consuming heat, your body once again feeling as if it had been set on fire.

     Duncan removed his grip from your waist, his hands beginning to roam around your body. A quick tug at your sides, a slow trail with his fingertips along the valley in between your breasts. He stopped to give each of your tits a hard knead with his palm, making your eyes roll back into your head.

     “I can’t fucking wait to get out of here,” Duncan said he continued to annihilate your cunt.

     “Gonna fill you up nice and deep. Put a baby in you. Let everyone know you’re mine.”

     His head ducked below yours to take one of your breasts into his mouth. He rolled his tongue around your nipple, similar to the treatment he gave your clit earlier on. You arched into him, surprised by your own actions. You and Duncan had talked about having kids only once before, and you both decided that they weren’t something you were interested in. Surely, this was all just talk, something he was doing in the heat of the moment, but you couldn’t believe your own body was betraying you over something you were certain that you didn’t want.

     “You’d look so beautiful,” Duncan mumbled against your breast, “with your stomach all swollen. And god, your tits. They’d be so huge. All for our baby. All because of me.”

     His words were kindling to the wildfire burning inside of you. You couldn’t explain why, but every syllable that rolled off of his tongue spurred you further and further down the rabbit-hole. You weren’t sure how much more you could take before the band inside of you snapped and turned your limbs into jello.

     “But maybe I can’t wait until then. Maybe I need to knock you up right now. So everyone knows who you belong to when I’m not around.”

     You locked your legs around Duncan’s waist, the heels of your feet digging into his ass. Almost as if you wanted him to fill you with his seed and mark you up as his property.

     “Do it,” you begged, “cum inside me.”

     Both you and Duncan were hyper-aware that you were on the pill, and that there was no way he’d actually be able to get you pregnant, but the game you were playing enticed you both, pushed the two of you even closer to the edge. Duncan’s pace grew by tenfold, quite literally drilling his cock into your heat. He was glowing on top of your, a layer of perspiration clinging to his entire body. The light reflected off of Duncan’s sweat-coated injury, making it sparkle in a way. His brow was furrowed in concentration, engrossed in the way your cunt was practically swallowing his cock.

     You were quickly falling apart, your breathing uneven, unable to do anything other than chant Duncan’s name like a fucking prayer. He was holding you as close to him as he could, his pubic bone brushing softly against your clit with each passing thrust.

     “You ready for me?” Duncan asked, his own demeanor faltering ever so slightly.

      A nod was all you could muster as Duncan continued his brutal assault on your pussy. You didn’t know how he was still going. It had to be a combination of pent up energy and frustration from being locked in a 10x10 every day for the better part of a year. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

     “Go ahead, baby. Let everyone know who you belong to. I want to hear you fucking scream.”

     You hadn’t meant to, but Duncan’s cock had hit that spot deep inside of you at the exact time your walls clenched tightly around him and you physically couldn’t stop it from happening. Your orgasm rattled throughout your entire body, your frame shaking as if an earthquake was happening inside of you. The noise that left your body was something between a mangled scream and a pornographic moan. Every single teasing touch and second you’d spent away from Duncan had led up to this, and it was worth it.

     “Fuck,” Duncan growled, feeling every single contraction and twitch as he continued to pound you throughout your release.

     Duncan soon followed suit, a guttural groan coming from deep in his chest as he gave himself over to pleasure once your cunt had milked him for all that it was worth. His seed shot deep inside of you, coating your walls with warmth. The sensation sent another bout of arousal coursing throughout you, but you knew following it was a lost cause. Duncan took a moment to look at the mess he’d made of you. There was a wet, squelching sound as Duncan severed his body from yours, followed by strings of cum that overflowed from your entrance, a mixture of both yours and his. For his own amusement, Duncan gathered the leakage on two of his fingers and playfully shoved them back into your core, a half-hearted chuckle escaping his throat. He’d always been very particular about where his cum ended up, making sure you took it one way or another every single time, whether it was in your mouth or in your cunt.

     Duncan collapsed beside you, swinging you on top of him in one quick, skillful movement. He held you tightly against his bare chest, his arm pressing into the space in between your shoulder blades to keep you from moving. As if you ever would. His other arm took your left hand in his and raised it to his lips, gently kissing the large diamond nestled in between the smaller stones of your wedding ring. You wrapped your free hand around his torso, nuzzling the side of your head into the crook of his neck. It was customary in the Shepherd household to share a cuddle post-coitus, and not even the fact that you were lying in the conjugal room of a prison could affect the long-standing tradition.

     The silence between the two of you was comfortable, but you felt Duncan’s rigidness. His muscles were strained, his eyes fixated on the ceiling in contemplation. You weren’t sure if it was a good idea to ask him about it, seeing as the last time you questioned him things didn’t go over so well.

     “Are you happy?” he spoke up suddenly, never breaking his stare from the ceiling.

     “What do you mean?” you pressed a small kiss to his collarbone rather than turning your face up to look at him, your reassurance that you were listening.

     “If you weren’t happy, you’d tell me right? You wouldn’t keep coming out here even though there’s plenty of other shit you could be doing?” There was genuine concern laced in his voice. And maybe even fear.

     “Of course I’m happy, Dunc. Why would you think that I’m not?”

     “I just feel like I’m useless in here. I can’t do anything. Fuck, I can’t even kiss you more than once a month. You deserve someone that takes care of you. I can’t do that when I’m locked in a cell all fucking day. I want you to be happy, so you don’t have to keep doing this if you’re not happy.”

     His self-depreciating monologue sent you straight up from Duncan’s chest. You looked him dead in the eyes, making sure you had his full attention before you spoke.

     “Duncan Shepherd, for starters, you are not useless. I am certain that you don’t need a recap of what just happened for you to know that useless is the last word I would use to describe you. And I married you. Didn’t I? I said my vows and I meant them. I still do. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, through thick and thin, til death do us part. This is just the thick of it. It’ll all be over soon and we can put it behind us. We can start over. But don’t for a second think that you are useless. Okay?”

     Duncan nodded in return for fear that he might stutter if he made any attempt to respond with words. He’d spent the better half of his sentence wondering if you even cared about him anymore, about your marriage. Your profession squashed his anxieties and caused his heart to swoon. There was definitely no way he deserved you, he though. He was silently thanking the stars that you loved him enough to stay with him throughout this dark period of his life.

     “I love you,” he said in an exhale of breath, pulling you once more back into his naked chest. He turned his head down to press his lips to your damp forehead, where wild strands of hair were stuck in place. You were still covered in sweat, a reminder of the previous events that took place, but that was the furthest thing from his mind.

     “Love you too. Now can it be my turn to ask you something?” you toyed, fingers tracing patterns on his toned chest.

     “Go for it, love.”

     “What was with all of that baby talk? Don’t get me wrong, I was clearly into it, but I thought we didn’t want kids?” your neck was craned upward to gauge his reaction.

     Duncan’s face flushed an embarrassing shade of pink. He ran his hand along his stubble as if he was trying to hide the blush from you.

     “I don’t know,” he shrugged, “I guess I didn’t mean it, but I kinda did? Being in here has given me a lot of time to think about shit. I don’t want to leave this world with nothing to show for it. So, if you ever change your mind about kids, I’m down, I guess.”

     He was fully blushing now, his face beat red at the confession. You knew he was playing it off like he didn’t care as much as he actually did, because he was Duncan Shepherd, and Duncan Shepherd is not known for being as big of a softie as he was being right now. 

     You nodded sarcastically, trying not to laugh at how fucking adorable Duncan sounded babbling on about having chubby little babies with you, the love of his life. Just as he was yours.

     “We’ll have to see about that,” you affirmed to him, “But let’s worry about getting you out of here first.”

     A hard knock on the door of the conjugal apartment cut your conversation short, signaling that you had only five more minutes until your time together ended. You sighed in unison, both silently cursing to yourself that it always felt like being in a time warp when you were together. It was never easy to leave one another, knowing that it would be an entire month before you’d be able to be with each other again. Duncan begrudgingly slid off the bed, placing you off to the side while he reached for his discarded shirt and sweats that had littered the ground.

     When you finished dressing, you turned to Duncan with one last question.

     “Hey Duncan?”

     “Yeah?” he called out, slipping on his shoes in the armchair in the corner of the room.

     “Before you go, will you please tell me how you got that massive bruise by your eye?”

     Just as Duncan opened his mouth to finally tell you how he’d acquired his lovely shiner, there was another pounding on the door. Your time was officially up.

     Duncan chuckled at the irony. His initial anger from the start of your visit had subsided and he was actually going to tell you this time, but fate had other plans. You threw your hands up in defeat.

     “It’s a long story,” he began, “for another time. But I will tell you one thing.”

     “What?” you questioned as he made his way towards the door to leave, twisting the knob with his sizeable fingers.

     “You should see the other guy.”

     He gave you a playful wriggle of his brows before walking through the threshold of the door, where the same guard that threw him in was waiting to escort him back to his cell.

//     

Tagging:

@avesatanormalpeoplescareme @sloppy-little-witch-bitch26 @venusxxlangdon  @aveiangdon @belusima @ccodyfern @readsalot73 @americanhorrorstudies @wroteclassicaly @gold-dragon-slayer @langdonsdemon @langdonshell @1-800-bitchcraft @rocketgirl2410 @hecohansen31

[moviestorian]

Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl 1982 concert (Hot Space Tour) LIVEBLOGGGGGGGG

As promised! :) Initially I was supposed to go directly from Montreal to Wembley, but dear @his-majesty-king-mercury convinced me to do Live at the Bowl before, and I’m glad she did!

Background: The concert is dated at June 5, 1982. As I wrote in the title, it was part of the Hot Space tour and was initially supposed to be played at Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. A day before the gig Freddie had a nasty fight with his then-boyfriend who had bitten him between a thumb and forefinger.

Let’s begin! - ugh Hot Space - but hey, it's gonna be fun! It's Queen, and Queen always puts the bestest live shows! - oh wowzie, this is mah first liveblog since April, long time not seen right? - my pizza's ready, my coffee's ready, my dip is ready - I think I can start watching now - Ooo wow, this concert lasts an hour and 43 minutes? I would die if I had to play on stage for that long - I can already feel the enthusiasm!!! The ENERGYYYY - FLASH AAAAAAHHH AHHHH - they're leaving the plane and look so hella cuuute - oh hi Crystal! oh hi Phoebe! Great to see you all! - gotta say... Freddie's outfit is fabulous. - Brian: plays the guitar and jumps the Crowd: HELL YEAH - I'm only 3 minutes in and my current mood is: fuck the critics whoever trashed Queen and disrespected their music skills - WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU - I love the fast version, slaps 100 times harder than the studio version - Deaky looks awesome in blue, I mean I already noticed that when I watched Rock Montreal, but let me reiterate - It's only been 5 minutes but let me tell you...not enough zooms for Roger - Freddie's in a good shape and form... not that I'm surprised - ROGER - cute red little scarf on mah boi's neck - THE FIRST FREDDIE AND ROG INTERACTIONS, I LIVE, I'M HAPPY - "hello everybody" "hey hey hey" good time to miss Freddie - Action This Time... Anyone surprised that it sounds better live than on the album? - ROGER'S VOCALS HOTDAMN - Brian's hair is floofy as usual... why am I acting like it's an unusual thing - I really really miss hearing Freddie and Roger together... POWER DUO - the synths get introduced... I neither love nor hate it tbh - okay not Queen related but the pizza is not bad, for a frozen one - Freddie, you feeling too hot for that jacket? And you Deaky, too? Get undressed, babes, I certainly don't mind - Play the Game! I love this song... Also Freddie playing on a piano is a blessing to us all - He really puts his soul into this one... Bless this man - Brian's backing vocals always sound so soft... My tenor angel - THANK FRICKING GOD THE SYNTHS IN THE BACKGROUND ARE BARELY AUDIBLE - LOL FREDDIE - he put a towel on his head I'm XDDDD what a legend - this and the famous plastic bag is a thrilling saga - AAAAA YOOOO - LMAO at Freddie throwing his...water?beer? at the audience - *Hot Space apologist speech* :P - we're at the funky part, I guess... - Brian and John's synchronized movements :)))) - ah okay it's Staying Power... I forgot what the song sounds like - Roger in black... I'm swooning - Roger has a nice closeup view on Freddie's butt, I mean back :D - This is not bad, but I'm gonna bet that I'll forget what this song sounds like again in less than two hours - John's haircut is cute and adorbs :D - OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - Somebody to Love!!!!!!!!!!!!! - The intro...sounds so sublime, soft, and raw at the same time - I love that it sounds slightly different, depending on the concert - This is really emotional... We shall see how it goes, but so far it surpasses even the god tier Montreal version! - Forgive me for not saying too much now... I'm fully sunk in the sheer beauty of this sincere performance - Love Roger's drumming and the crowd clapping to the beat! - "I like it" ME TOO FREDDIE - I wish we could hear Roger a tiny bit better! I love the crescendo part - That was beautiful :') - Now I'm Here!!!! asjgashasashjgas - I love it when they perform it at higher speed - The jumping crowd fairly represents what my brain cells currently look like - I hella love Roger's drumming in this song - well not just this song but y'know - Freddie...what was that??? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THAT FINGER??? - hehe you can tell that Brian's very into it :D - Brian trying to get Roger's attention... Rog is, however, fully dedicated to his drums :D - Freddie lying down after the song is a post-exercise or post-dinner mood - "Let's play a game" YES SIR - yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah - "Go pretty boy, go" I'm SOFT - hear that bassline? YES ME TOO - (it's Dragon Attack if anyone's wondering) - Freddie Mercury: lead singer AND fitness instructor - wish I could make some screencaps, alas I'm watching this online so it would take too much effort so here we are - Fred, let BRIAN PLAYYYY nooo don't distract him! - out of context those cuts and shots look like John is jealous of Freddie and Roger XDDD this is gif and meme worthy (around 39 minute) - btw probably no one is interested because you came here for the Queen concert liveblog, but I got my period and I'm starting to feel it - IT SUCKS - ooooo Brian speaking! His voice is so soothing, I could listen to him all day and it would probably calm my nerves - acoustic guitar...I'm already in - WHY SO QUIET THOUGH - Love of My Life, I'm cry - Everyone's singing along from the very first line... this is beautiful - Everyone united by this song's pure beauty :))))) I'm not crying you are - Do you sometimes think about Brian playing the acords for this gorgeous track and there is no Freddie sitting beside him? - Yeah, I hate myself for that thought too - I might be a little bit emotional - No wonder it was this particular song was the one that finally convinced Bri's father to FINALLY accept his son's career - Brian's gentle smile I'm :') :') :') - *clap clap clap clap* SAME - We're at Save Me now... Are we doing a crying compilation or what? - This is almost as bad as the Queen Forever album I recently bought.. TOO EMOTIONAL - Don't get me wrong, I ADORE Save Me - But this is too much - Almost 50 minutes in and Freddie's voice is still STRONG AS A BELL - Remember what I said about the "fuck the critics" mood? Yeah the mood is back - Even the cute Roger/Freddie interaction almost makes me cry I'm agsahjhsAAAAAAAAA - I need a more lighthearted now BLEASE - I'm a tough cookie but when I have Queen feels very little can help! - Is this Back Chat? OH GOD - Please bring me back to the crying mode, I DIDN'T MEAN THIS - (I'm sorry Fidan and all the Back Chat fans over there, I'm not a huge fan of this song :-*) - We get a nice view on Roger's back, though *Lenny face* - The synths sound like a main theme for some mystery-drama tv show from the 1980s XDDD - I forgot how long this song is... - Get Down Make Love *insert Lenny face again* - Okay I gotta admit... lyrically this song is a mess and borderline cringey in the first verse, but I really like it musically - I GIVE YOU HEAT - I GIVE YOU MEAT *three Lenny faces* - Okay, let's just listen to the song and pretend we all forgot the English language, maybe? - That mid parts always makes me feel like I'm about to be abducted by aliens - Thank God I don't do drugs, I would start thinking I might be hallucinating - I assume that Brian's guitar solo starts now? - Nice intro! - And Roger gets time to breathe, the boy needs his oxygen - Actually, this may be one my favourite of Brian's guitar solos? - Brighton Rock :))))))))))))))) - Brian's hands are very pretty - oh noooooo - an error? - poor Bri - that disappointed guy who screamed "No" when the guitar stopped playing :D - thankfully he issue quickly got solved! - hi Roger, nice to see you back <3 - It's Roger's time to shine! - YEs, Under Pressure! - The Montreal version is gonna be hard to beat, though - Let's see - uu I like Fred's red jacket! - ...do you have any shirt underneath, though? Naughty boi - he does not LOL - "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH" - let me tell you again...Roger's mic is definitely not turned loud enough - This is great but still, I prefer the Montreal one - That beer always amuses me XD - Freddie, you want us to slap your ass? - Oh no, he's just announcing Fat Bottomed Girls XDDDD - "I was just a skinny lad" the editing team: cuts to the camera angle which shows Brian first and Freddie after him - Roger's "oooh" is funny because he's really into it :D :D :D - Freddie is now a pole dancer, he changed profession - The crowd, always cheering when Freddie gets undressed :P - I sense Crazy Little Thing Called Love incoming! - yes it is Crazy Little Thing! - Freddie's joke about the three guitar cords XDDD - This song always slaps - "she drives me crazYY" - ReAdY fReDdIe - FREDDIE PLS STOP FCKING YOUR GUITAR - this is pretty - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY YEAH - he sounds so soft :)))) - and now so raw - "Momma UwU" - can't unsee this fricking meme now ajsdhjgdhjds - My favourite guitar solo :')))) - they actually played the video??? - I miss spaniel haired Deaky tbh - *instense drumming* *fireworks* - Oh Brian is wearing this cool shirt he also wore in Montreal! - jumpy Deaky...too bad you can onnly see him from the distance - GONG - that was sexy - Roger hitting that gong in the black outfit is sexier than shirtless Rog hitting the gong, change my mind - TIEE YOUR MOTHER DOWN TIEE YOUR MOTHER DOWN - There's only some 15 minutes left... The time always passes so quickly when I'm watching a Queen concert - Another One Bites the Dust! I've been waiting for thiiiis - Deaky: happy jump - He knows it's his time to shine - wait a second, when did Roger change his shirt? - I need a good closeup - Freddie be like *imma slap my thigh now* - ooo I see Roger's Japanese shirt now! It's pretty cool! - Brian looks great too - Those flashing light are kinda migraine-inducing, thankfully I don't have an aura today - SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER heartattack - Looks like Freddie is flirting with Red Special :P - they're going absolutely crazy XD - WE WILL ROCK YOU DRUMLINE INTENSIFIES - LOL the sombrero on Freddie's head :P - ups mr editor dropped a frame - And now we're truly heading towards the end... I'm gonna start associating We Are the Champions with farewells soon - Well done, boys - I know I say it every single time - But you can't stress this enough - :)))) I'm glad I did this liveblog - They look exhausted but very satisfied :))) - Bye bye!

Next time I’ll be doing Wembley 1986, hopefully soon!

Tagging all the people who expressed their wish to read my ramblings. :) Enjoy!

@his-majesty-king-mercury, @x5vale, @radio-ha-ha, @mephisto92, @39-brian, @melisa-may-taylor72, @silapril, @kitty-rushes-in, @lydiannode, @an-abyss-called-life, @litsy-kalyptica, @importantmuggoophero, I hope I didn’t forget anyone! ^^ Comments are nicely welcome! :3

[mtemplex]

Little Baby Faulkner

# 1

My girlfriend Sashi used to hate it when film crews used her neighborhood to film. She hated it because her neighborhood was quiet—and then come all these film people noising it up, blocking roads, leaving colored tape everywhere. But mostly she hated that she was the insider, and they were the outsiders, and shooting a film was their pass to become tourist in her neighborhood, where she was a native.

Also: Sashi went to film school. And somehow that figured into her hatred of film crews.

I went to film school too. Sashi’s was in New York. Mine was in LA. She studied lighting. She liked to be on crew. I studied directing. If I never pick up another light or calculate line voltages in my head it will be too soon. I think Sashi held it against me that I liked the heady work while she preferred the grunt work. Sashi was smart enough to direct. To write. She considered it more pure to haul cord, to respond to the cinematographer bark orders. When she worked on a movie, she *preferred* not to read the script. She and her fellow crew members would go to Starbucks after filming and talk philosophy—not the casual kind that most people talk, but real philosophy, the kind that to keep up with you had to be read up on every last work by Derrida. They didn’t *want* to know anything about the movie: Their way of filmmaking was *pure*. The less they knew the better.

This story I’m about to tell you took place over one weekend in September (or maybe October). It was senior thesis week and as a director I didn’t have any interest in helping out some classmate by holding the boom microphone—which is what I liked to do when I was required to be on someone else’s set. Much for the same reasons Sashi worked lights: I could be there and not be there. Just get the mic in the right place and my brain could wander to infinite places other than *here*.

I lived right up the street from my school. Three blocks. And right between block two and block three was a restaurant with no name (as is popular in LA). It had a black door and a red carpet and I had never been inside but I had walked past it every day for a year and on Sunday and Thursday the red carpet was rolled out. If I got drunk my apartment was one block up the hill. I could walk there and see the homeless man sleeping on a couch someone had literally thrown out their window. Hollywood is like that: Lamborghinis and rich people live on the same street as homeless ones. There is no plan to help the homeless ones. They wander, move, die.

I had seen people enter the restaurant with no name. In couples or quads, guys and girls, all dressed up. And disappear behind the door into relative blackness.

Now I stand here, ready to knock—realizing what a silly gesture that is—and I’m not dressed up, instead wearing my brown cargo pants that I used to swear by as a film person (due to the extra—the third—side pocket almost to the cuff at the bottom of the pants). I’ve never seen that pocket before or since. Only on the ones sold in a surplus shop on Hollywood B.

I pull open the door, walk a few steps in. I almost leave because no one is in there. The tables are stood on top of each other like they stand when a restaurant crew closes for the night. There was a bar—no one at it, no one behind it. I look around the place:

I see a bar with nine stools. An area in the back with a stained-glass skylight. Tiles on the floor underneath that: Forming the structure of a wave, patterns never lost on me. I think about texting my film school buddy but decide I want to be alone. At the top of the Ave is the Alto Nido building, where I live. Sashi lived with me for a while. Then I threw my phone across the room, shattering it, glass everywhere. Then I kicked her out. I feel bad about it but me throwing that phone was the last in a line of incidents tracing us from Arizona to Ohio and then to LA. I have never met anyone who made me as mad as that girl.

Other than the skylight, there were no windows in this place. The ceiling was packed with cinema lighting, stage lighting. Even underneath the floor, which was glass block, a parade of colors went by as though I was standing on a river.

I went and sat at the bar, put my laptop bag on the floor, leaning against my stool. Maybe there was an underground chamber and *that’s* where everyone who comes through that door went to..some *Alice in Wonderland* in the basement or sub basement where all the kids in Hollywood (not the students, not the ones without money) would go to dance and hook up and go home and fuck and come back next Sunday or Thursday and ignore everyone they had taken home before.

“Excuse me”—that was the bartender.

I smile in a familiar way, as though we know each other.

“Is this place open?”

“We open at seven, actually.”

“Do you have a kitchen?”

“Yes,” he says deeply. “I’ll get you a menu.”

“That’s ok,” I say. “Do you have a ribeye?”

“Yes sir we do.”

“I’d like a rib eye. Extra rare. With blue cheese crumbles on top.”

“Sure thing,” he says.

“Also? Could I have serrano peppers and two eggs over easy on top of that blue cheese?”

“Sure thing? You want a drink?”

“Yes, a glass of Syrah if you have it.”

“We have it! Totally. We have it. I guess it’s ok if you sit here. There’s a party later.”

“I’ll be out of here by then,” I say (having no intention to leave).

The bartender pours me a generous glass of wine in a glass with a thin lip (important if you’re me). He goes into the kitchen.

I flip through my phone book. Almost all the way to the end. I pretend to consider each name, each number, but really I’m looking for a certain name all along: Roberts, my fuck buddy from Ohio. Don’t ask my *why* I picked Roberts. It may have had something to do with my having tried cocaine for the first time a few days ago, and something in me knew that Roberts had done it, or could help me with her sexy words. My sex with her was the best ever—she said our sex was amazing. After our second bout of soap-suds squishy sex on the floor of my apartment in Ohio, she said, “It’s not that our sex is amazing. I just always wanted to know what it was like to have sex with a genius.”

I refrained from asking her what that was like.

Now in LA, in my empty restaurant, I called her.

“Well look who it is,” she says.

“Hey, pretty girl.”

“So what’s going on?”

“I’m on a coke binge and I need a break.”

“So you called me! Ha ha.”

“Have you ever done it?”

“Matt. You will not believe your synchronicity with me and my house right now! We—me and my roomie Hannah—we just got this house. To rent. And we are breaking it in with a whole weekend of coke. The whole weekend. You know what I think would be great?”

“If I fly to Dayton and participate in your coke weekend?”

Silence.

Then Roberts’ voice: “Would you?”

“Umm..”

“Oh please! *Could* you?”

“Ahh..”

“Oh my god we could do coke and have sex all weekend!”

“Ok!” I say. “Tell me about this house.”

“I will,” she says. “Hannah and I live here—the lease is in our name. My grandmom lives here. And Hannah’s boyfriend name of Rambuncto is getting out of jail on Saturday.”

“They let people out of jail on Saturday?”

“You’re my smart boy. As in: Anyone else would have asked me *What is he in for?* but you ask *Will they let him out on Saturday?*

“Well: What is he in for?”

“Assault. On a stranger in a Walmart.”

“Is he guilty? I mean: Did he do it?”

Roberts’ laugh gets two steps louder.

“I’m pretty sure he’s guilty, yeah.”

“Is he gonna be there this weekend?”

A pause from Roberts.

“Matthew, don’t worry about it. Rambuncto may talk some shit but he’s harmless.”

“Not to the person in Walmart.”

“Don’t worry about it, Matthew. You spend so much of your head worrying it’s a miracle you’re not losing brain celluloid whenever you wake up. Come over. Can you afford it? I can send you money if you can’t afford it.”

“I can afford it.”

“Ok, good. ‘Cause I can’t really afford it.”

We both laugh.

“And I have enough money for coke.”

“Ok, this is what I think we should start with: an eight ball,” Roberts says. Then we can get more eight balls when we run out. I don’t know if you remember, but I always wanted to get a Snoop doggy dog and—guess what?—I have one. Do you want me to tell you his name?”

“Hold up. Before that. Is Rambuncto—? Is Hannah—? I mean, are they ok?”

“You’ve *met* Hannah before.”

“Did she go to Colonel White?”

“She went to Stivers. She’s fine. Don’t worry! The house is cool, ok? Say *The house is cool*.”

“I just wanna—“

“SAY THE HOUSE IS COOL!!”

“Ok. It’s cool. The house is cool.”

“We’re gonna have so much fun when you get here, Matt. We’ll fuck *all weekend*. I know you like that slippy little soap suds fucking we do. Look. I gotta go.”

“Can you pick me up from the airport?”

“Guess what my dog’s name is. Just text me the details. What’s my dog’s name? Baby hurry ‘cause I gotta go.”

“I don’t know. What’s its name?”

“Faulkner.” She lays it out like carpet.

“Why did you name him that? Have you ever *read* any Faulkner?”

“I gotta go, my wayward king! Hannah says we have a dead-ish baby in the crib room.”

“Alright, girl—“ I say, but the line goes dead.

Just then the bartender returns with my steak. It is cooked extra rare. With two eggs, blue cheese, and jalapeño peppers instead of serranos. I decide to eat it anyway.

# 2

Roberts and I had a history. From the first I saw her practicing color guard with the school’s JROTC program—her face so smooth, her hair: an angels!—to the time I followed her across the gym floor during a science exploration—projects everywhere, and none more important to me—I tracked her down and we spoke and she did seem kinda dumb to me. But I liked her anyway, and over the years we’d become fuck buddies. From that time watching *The Great Gatsby* (Robert Redford version) sitting in the dark of the basement where her apartment was, her dog outside listening. And Roberts and I moved deliberately to a lying down position and kissed in the dark—and all we did was kiss—but the seed was sewn, and it wasn’t till a couple years since *The Great Gatsby* that we hooked up in my place on Second Street in Dayton Ohio (with the help of a bottle of Aftershock) that we finally took it all the way.

Fucking Roberts had become an exalted experience. Full of imagination and the fulfillment of imagination. Her puss was so red and so tight..it was unimaginable. Truly, the best sex of my life, right there. Soap suds—the works. Tight as a flower mate by a honeybee, the bee shaking his tail feathers to get in there. Before we had stood in the light of a street lamp visible five floors below..and when it turned red we stopped touching each other and when it turned green we started again.

My friend Julian was mad at me when I told him Roberts and I had fucked. He asked me to describe her vagina, which I did. Red. Redder than the purest red in a box of Crayons, a set of oil paints. Tight as a honeybee. Wet and snug and so tight she made me cum in her after five strokes, even after she asked me not to cut. We never used a condom. Kept it clear and functioning. Lord of the *Flies*. The next morning she jacked me off with two hands while she waited for her mother to pick her up. Then it was off and on, whenever one of us happened to call the other. And it never seemed off-limits, even when one of us was in relationship—it was never cheating, with us.

This is the girl I was flying from LA to Dayton to meet. This is the girl when I showed her picture to my film school buddy, he said:

“You fucked *that*?”

To which I said, “Yep.”

And that was the end of the conversation. The end of Mike’s constant pestering me about getting a girlfriend, about everything he pestered me about, right down to the bottom of why I took showers instead of baths. Right down to the end of who my Christmas present was: A girl who I woke up in my LA bed to see. A girl I fucked during film school: brown hair, lovely petite, screaming sex in her chokers and all blackness and pink panties you could see above her back. Her back hurt. She needed relief. Any way I could provide it, I was willing. Fucked that girl in the equipment room, just, like, that.

I don’t remember that film school girl’s name—believe that? I don’t remember my Christmas present’s name. She was a costume girl for Adam Sandler. And the fact that I didn’t remember her name isn’t really an act of pathological sport fucking—more an act of casualty that we all engage in. Fuck one girl, forget her name. Forget her phone number and wake up the next morning with more unknowns in your address book: “Molly, 323.818.9544”—total unknown. Don’t remember a Molly—don’t remember anyone. No one new, no one old. A real bright way of living, there.

But on that night Roberts and I decided to invite each other to spend a coke weekend at her house in Ohio..on the night I invited myself into this anonymous dance and supper club, on that night I stayed sober enough to remember two cute girls a few years older than me who danced and opened up their world to me.

“Do you wanna dance with us?”

These women were formally dressed and I with my six-pocket cargo pants they grabbed me me by the hands and took me to the place under the skylight and they freak-danced me, holding me in the envelope of light where each of them plus the skylight made a triangle of importable lust, striking jealousy in the eyes of the boys more normal to this party. Soon they picked me out as the threat, the tall nail which is inevitably hammered down, and the girls were saying goodbye and the bartenders and bouncers were telling me goodbye and the street lamp having just come on was guiding my home across the street with the intersection of the homeless man sleeping in a couch that had been thrown out the window and my school was far behind me and I let myself into the Alto Nido—it’s the building shown in the opening shot of *Sunset Boulevard*—and I took the stairs (down) and I struggled with the lock and soon was in the wood-flooring studio apartment where I had the pages of an entire screenplay (one I was writing) placed end to end across the floor.

This and some squirrel puzzles (dubbed thee by my friend Michael). They were stacked on the writing desk with a bunch of cocaine stacked next to them. I was reaching for a result and I thought coke could help. It seemed to speed up my thinking, but no result came. These were some mathematical puzzles that had been puzzling me and I didn’t know whether it was more in the problem-solving *vein* to take them to Dayton on my Roberts weekend or to leave them here and take a break.

I thought of the dead man out there on the sidewalk—he seemed dead to me. I had never used enough drugs to make myself actually *homeless*. I didn’t have sympathy for that man. This was what happened when you couldn’t control your addiction. When you lost your job and lost your wife and lost your nerve to walk into a job interview on LSD or walk into a job interview on meth and coke—if you couldn’t make that work, then you couldn’t *make it work*—period.

The idea that there were people out there who had never tried drugs was empty to me: I did not understand how that could be. My cousin divorced her husband after he 1) had back surgery 2) was prescribed opiates 3) became addicted to those opiates and 4) went to rehab to end his addiction. To me that seemed like the best-case scenario, minus the divorce. But, I mean, how in this first world of ours could anyone live for long without coming into contact with drugs. We live on them, can’t function without them. Anyone who has tried alcohol knows that if this drug was introduced today that it would be illegal. Same with cigs. The most dangerous drugs are on the street, legal to get. And a couple of the most transformative drugs are listed as the most restricted in our world. The real problem is you have people walking around with no general knowledge of drugs and their actual dangers and benefits.

I set up a line of coke, snarfed it.

I set up another line, banged it.

Mmm. Salad wenches of lines spreading before me the remnants of ecstasy flying, colliding. Rummaging in my mind tailwinds of stories I had yet to tell. Yardley dangers of Pluto, planets banging across each other to form craters, my jizz the center of the galaxy, girlfriend gone, somewhere at a Starbucks sitting out front talking with a homeless man, treating him better than she treats me (I have seen this) and her going home to some weekly hotel where she barely makes the rent, has to eat off the employee shelf—all she had to do was not wake me up at night, not engage me in impossible swirls of arguments that never end, there is never a truce, never a peace of the day, but me waking up with her kneeling over my body *yelling* at me. Never stopping. One who wants not to live together, not to love each other, but to be one end of a debate course, for us to work it all out *and for her to be right*! I could not take anymore of that.

I punched up my ticket—laptop, coke—making sure I got the flight times, origins and destinations, correct. Making sure I had the times correct. Enough room for changes to and from Dayton Ohio. I’d pack my bag tomorrow. I called Roberts.

“Hi y’all” (said in an English accent) “I hope you have been following my YouTube channel as of late where myself and my house mouse—we will call her ‘H’—move into a *fabulous* house in East Dayton. This weekend we have a guest, my old friend Matt from Colonel White. Anyway—*any who*—he’s coming for a visit. A sortie. An exportage. If you will. I” (sound of a smooch) “you, fuck boy! I smooch you I smooch you I smoooch you!!”

# 3

Listening to Roberts’ voicemail prompts were always like this: spinning in infinity, telling a tale. You could get a glimpse of her, through this medium, that gave you information you could only get in this way. If you saw her grandmother die and then asked Roberts if it saddened her, Roberts would say nothing. Then you’d listen to her voicemail and hang up before leaving a message, she would say the truth right there: she was sad.

Boarding the plane high on coke scared me. I had done a lot of coke before taking a cab to the airport, and I spent the whole ride there wiping down the corners of my bag, licking clean my normal coke holder and burying it in the bottom of my clothes. LAX is a trip within itself, messages of the white zone and the orange zone. I passed through the white zone thinking of all the white I had done, hoping those drug-sensing chemicals wouldn’t expose me—all to everyone. I took off my shoes and put my laptop in its own bin and walked through that fucking machine with the facial expression of the Dalai Lama and the shluffing feet of a would-be LA party goer—I would be a party goer except after that first impression I came across like a kid just broke into a candy store. I had the all the nerve but none of the money: real LA party people had rich parents and bottomless trusts and multiple parts in small movies.

They were the chosen ones. I was the nothing one.

I got through security. Got through the boarding process. Sat with my carry-on beneath my seat, leaned my head against a window, and I’m sure snored all the way through the flight.

During my sleep, I dreamt I was on a bicycle touring a school that was close to. There were a hundred black people in a small gymnasium watching a basketball game that was in cable—only—not on regular TV. I ride through that room and back outside, nodding to a guy who is riding *his* bike and he has crystal meth on him and while my nod means nothing to me, it means that I want some crystal, to him. Soon enough I’m riding my bike, high on crystal, around this park and some people hold a phone out to me:

“This is Paula Abdul. She wants to talk to you.”

I stop my bike and talk on speakerphone.

“Hey Paula!”

“Hey, my bro. How are you doing over there? Where is *over there* for you, anyway?”

“Over there? I think I’m in a poor neighborhood, traveling like a flashlight across the country by air, and my shadow casts a spot over poor neighborhoods across the country. Whatever the plane’s shadow touches, I am there. We’re somewhere in the Midwest now. That’s all I know.”

Paula Abdul continued the dream:

“Look there on your TV. There I am—see? Now tell me what to do.”

I looked at the TV in front of these hundred poor kids here to watch the game. It was an old-fashioned one, SONY, with no inputs but for one—the antennae—and skipping past the part where I wondered how they could see *anything*, I told Paula Abdul to make a heart shape with her hands and fingers and as soon as I said that, she did it!

Paula Abdul, right there on TV—right there for me.

I rode out of the gym and saw the meth guy again and I remembered (in the dream) something that seemed at the time to be a remembrance of another meth experience but which seemed at the time to be a remembrance of *another dream*, or a remembrance of dream—just created!—a memory of a memory, the second memory created *at the time!* to *seem* like a waking-life memory *of* another dream—I don’t know how I seem to you but this tangle tripped me solidly upon waking and it was a few minutes more before I took this dream within a dream to consist of another waking-life dream accessed by myself from within this secondary dream. It’s confusing, I know.

Somewhere in there was a stop to change planes. I stooped around this large airport sitting in a circular intersection of hallways, desperately checking that my carry on was beside me.

I sat down, removed my laptop. It had some of the snail puzzles on it—plus the code to generate them. I tapped this way and tapped thus, there was nowhere else to go with them. I had spent a lifetime (it seemed) in Tucson in front of a white board deducing what originally seemed a system of *two* states and *two* rules to what seemed now to be a system of *four* states with two rules. I could generate, with my new set of pieces, the table of 16 binary Boolean operators just by *copying* them with your hands, with visual pattern matching (and that’s what made this second rule set superior) but I could not generate the actual snail puzzles from them.

This concerned me as I sat alone in—which airport I can’t remember—working out the pattern matching, the visual copying of four rules which allowed *computation* to be known as simple creation and unfolding of patterns. They didn’t even have to be visual!—They could be calculated by a blind person—Even a person with no senses could *sense* this, deep in their brain, I had determined.

That and nervously picking at my coke pill: silver with a keychain and a screw-tight lid. I had carried it with me since I first started doing coke. It came from Amazon. In the airport I unscrewed it and tried tapping its (hopefully non-empty) contents onto my laptop cover. You’ve never lived until you’ve done coke off your MacBook. I was hoping to do some here but the silver pill box had nothing to offer. If you could somehow get your coke over the security points, doing coke in airports would be ideal: it would be a safe environment, no one would imagine you had coke on you and you could tap out lines in clear sight of everyone and they would go: *What? Is that what I just saw?* and they would say *Naw* and keep going.

I had a dangerously long layover—one could say a dangerous hangover—during which I could easily have exited the airport and ended up in Nashville, or Atlanta, or whatever city I was in. I could have easily met up with party people in an airport bar and from there gone off on some other adventure, something far more dastardly than the one I was on. Filled up my coke reserves and re-filled my silver pill box.

On the second leg of the flight I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a window seat. I was in the aisle and this meant there were duplicate waitresses-cum-stewardesses rubbing on my super-sensitive sides. Everyone seemed like they were on coke and everyone seemed like they could sell it to me.

I had a panicky moment wherein I doubted my entire goal: sleeping with Roberts was doubtable, unlikely: she had gained weight and had a child before our last meeting and I had been telling myself this time would be different: she would have lost weight (at least to her high school level) and the child wouldn’t be with her (that was a London baby that Roberts and her boyfriend had given to adoption)—when she had that baby and given her up, Roberts had suckered me into listening to her whole sob story, how they named her London and they *insisted* to the adopting couple that they keep her name and the adopting couple said *Sure, sure* and they obviously were going to change the baby’s name—*obviously*.

Roberts told me that story while I was pinned to the bar stool in a Dayton Thai place. Roberts always did that: kept you on the phone too long, long past when *anyone* would insist the conversation must end! She did it to everyone—I was one of the only people who would still talk to her (listen to her) and so my punishment grew. From a virgin boy who wanted to have sex with her to an experienced man who had sex with her and a lot of people, Roberts was always wasting my time. Always making a two-minute conversation into a ten-minute one. Always driving me crazy with superfluous monologues, over-emphasizing small points which Roberts claimed were big ones!

Years after this trip, several moves from city to city for me, Roberts found my number on Facebook and called it. I was on my last few minutes of cell time and that wasn’t even a factory when I finally said to her, “Stop. Roberts, stop. You always call me and dangle all this bullshit in front of my face, how your kids are doing and how this new man in your life is finally the perfect one..but then there is this unmatched thread where you introduce that he’s a wife beater or a drug addict or a crazy Christian. And you never get to it! You’re dragging me on for years with a story that could be told in a minute! Just stop, Roberts—please, stop. This is the last time we talk together. I have seen you for the last time. Don’t find me on Facebook. Don’t call this number—in a minute it will change. I love you—in a way. Were a high school thing. That turned into a fuck buddy thing. I had fun and I truly like you and I will always remember you well. You blew my mind—truly. And I appreciate that Dallas and Caycee have me as their godfather. That was nice if you—more than nice. But I’m not your children’s godfather. I’ll never see them. I’ll never see them, Roberts, as few or many years as you and I and they will pass. I will never see you, Roberts—never again.”

# 4

[i-need-to-stop-stanning]

Stray Kids Reaction To Meeting You For The First Time (Hyung Line)

Each member has a different scenario, this is my first reaction. Hope you enjoy!💜

Bang Chan/Chris

Chan has decided that the boys needed to get out of the house and unwind a little. So he did what any rational father of 7 would do, and got them all a day off from practicing to go to the amusement park. The 00 line, and Jeongin we’re having the time of their life, being able to embrace their childlike side for a day, and Changbin and Minho were enjoying the food that was offered. Chan wasn’t really big on rides, so he decided to sit on a bench in front of the ride that the “kids” had dragged Woojin to this time. He had such a genuine smile on his face watching his hardworking younger members get to have fun as a reward for all the work put into the comeback. While Chan was engrossed in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice the person sit next to him. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sigh of the girl sat to his right. He turned his head to see the prettiest girl he has ever laid his eyes on. Her H/L H/C flowed in the wind and looked oh so soft. He wanted to pet her. Her big E/C eyes shone behind her glasses as she sunk in on herself, practically drowning in the jean jacket, far too big for her. She was staring intentivly at the ride in front of her. He decided to ask if she was okay. “Oh yes im fine thank you. I just got out of going on that ride with my friends. Gosh I would have died.” He chuckled at her hyperbole. “My names Chan, what’s yours?” He asked with a shy smile, showing of his dimple. “I’m Y/n” she replied equally as shy. “Wanna go find something we can do together that doesn’t involve scary rides, Y/N?” He stuck his hand out for her to take and she placed hers into it. He drug her off to find something to do that would be fun for the both of them.

Woojin

The 00 line had dragged him to karaoke in the late hours of the night because they weren’t allowed to go anywhere after they had caused chaos from sneaking out on their own for snacks. Woojin was sat on the couch in the back of the room as Seungmin sang to a BTS song and Felix proved he knew the choreography to it. Hyunjin and Jisung were playing a game on their phone, since they were waiting for their turn. As he began to drift off due to his lack of sleep he heard something. Something beautiful. Someone beautiful. Someone across from them was singing Voices and they were killing it. All the boys froze as they realized the familiar melody and Woojins normal high note being sung perfectly. Felix was the first to exit the room in order to find which room the music was coming from. The music was muffled through the door of the room at the end of the hall. Felix knocked, and waited until a girl about 5’6 opened the door and went wide eyed. “Oh my god, y-you’re Fel-lix le-ee” he gave her his signature smile and asked if they could come in. The girl, still shaking a bit, opened the door wider and they all came into the room as the other girl finishes the song. She turns around eyes closed and a big smile on her face as she practically screams “ Y/F/N, I got 100 dude. Yasss. I’m so happy” she began to jump up and down, and finally opened her eyes. She stopped. Her jaw fell slack as she looked at them. Her eyes on Felix, then Seungmin, Hyunjin, Han, and finally me. We locked eyes and I finally got a good look at her. She was maybe even more beautiful than her voice. Her E/C eyes were so entrancing behind her bangs that looked as though they needed trimmed. Her H/C castcading off her head in loose curls. Her extremely soft looking lips in an O due to her shock. Once she calmed down a little they all introduced themselves, even though the two girls already knew they names of the boys. Her name turned out to be Y/N. Was their anything about this girl that wasn’t pretty? The answer was no. They talked for a while when jisung and her friend began to sing a song they put on. The night was coming to an end, and Woojin knew he couldn’t let this beautiful girl walk out of his life, so he got her number. On the walk him the boys teased him, but Woojin didn’t care. All he could think about where those eyes.

Lee Know/ Minho

Minho was the one to order the take out tonight. Oh how he hated the day when it was his turn. The whole gang had decided that they wanted pizza after getting home from dance practice and when looking at the chart they had on the fridge, it was indeed Minhos turn to call. He dialed the closest pizza place that was still open and waited till someone picked up. “Good evening, this is the Bake n’ Take, how may I help you?” A cheery voice spoke into the monitor and he wondered if she knew It was not evening but midnight. “Ah yes can I please get one large supreme pizza, one large pepperoni, and one medium cheese please?” “Will that be all sir?” She asked in a friendly tone “that should do it” “that will be 35,000 won sir, and it should take about 40 minutes to get to you, have a nice night!” He hung up after saying the same to her, and went into the living room to watch the movie with the rest of his group. About 45 minuets into the new incredibles movie the doorbell rang and everyone pointed at Minho to answer it. He reluctantly got out of the crease he created in the sofa and trudged to the door, grabbing his wallet off of the island in the kitchen. He opened the door, and was greated by someone so beautiful they took his breath away. Her H/L fell perfectly under her bright red baseball cap that had the logo of the ‘Bake n’ Take’ on it. Her polo shirt overtop the black long sleeve shirt had the same logo embroidered to the right side of it. Her hands filled with pizza boxes up to her nose and you could only see her glistening eyes. Minho could have swore he could see the stars swimming in her smiling eyes. “Sir, did you order three pizzas? Supreme, pepperoni, and cheese?” She asked as she read the reciept on the top of the box. “Yeah that’s me.” He said smiling at her. “That will be 35,000 won please.” She handed him the pizza boxes and gave him a warm smile as he got the money from his wallet. When he looked up, he caught sight of her name tag. The small golden plate read “Y/N” in black letters. He gave her the money, thanked her and watched as she descended the stairs, back to the grand lobby and off to give more pizza to other people. He would have to order from them again.

Changbin

3 Racha had decided to go busking since they hadn’t in a while, and to get out of the dorm. They packed up some mics, speakers and all the Necessary cords to plug everything up, before getting dressed to look their best. They got on the bus to the busy street near all the shopping centers. They set up there station and began their first song, Matroshkya. A crowd began to form around them and some Stays spread the word, the crowd becoming quite large. As For You began to play it began to drizzle. Oh how Changbin loved this weather. He began his verse when he looked up and saw you. The cutest thing he has ever seen. A beautiful girl was smiling happily as you moved to the music. Her H/L H/C bouncing in its place. The bangs styled on her forehead blocking her eyes slightly, but not enough to block the orbs behind her round glasses. She was smiling right at Changbin. Orbs meeting orbs. He smiled back and continued his verse. She had stayed the entire time, and had clapped after every song. While they were packing up, she decided to go up and thank them for their performance. Changbin has been left to clean up all their equipment while Chan and Jisung decided to get them all some food, because they were drained of energy. While Changbin was bent over stuffing cords into one of the backpacks they brought, he heard small steps growing closer. He stood to his feet, only to see her. The one he couldn’t stop looking at the whole performance. “You were great out there, thank you for coming to perform” she spoke with a shy smile pushing a bit of hair behind her ear. He blushed a crimson color and returned her smile “thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it...” he trailed off waiting for her to give him her name. “Oh, Y/N, my name is Y/N” she said chuckling slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Y/N.” He kissed the back of her hand causing her to giggle. God, could this girl get any cuter? Changbin thought. “How about I give you my number and i can tell you when we will be back again?” He asked hopeful. “Oh yes, of course” she fumbled with her phone and gave it to him. He plugged his number in and named himself ‘baby Changbinnie💕’ before handing her phone back. “I hope to get a text from you cutie” He spoke with a playful wink before running off to find CB97 and J.ONE. They would be shook that SPEARB got himself a cute girls number.

[cutegirlmayra]

Ember’s Story (Sonic OC Commission) - All Current ROUGH DRAFTS Example

This is all writings for @marydragneell compiled into a huge post. If you’d like to commission me for your own story, please check out my rules and prices first (We can discuss how much you want to pay depending on how many pages you want the story to be :)b)

This is super long, so please remember that ^^ (This contains several chapters and separate commission purchases.) - and Yes, you can pay again for a continuation of the last story I wrote you. :)b

A Spark of Ember

By: Cutegirlmayra (Assisted Story for Marydragneell)

It was the dark of night.

I guess you could say she had been traveling for hours, or at least, still on the trail of G.U.N.

Man, where had the time flown off too?

She paced the dark night, strung with fireflies and lost in her thoughts. The only thing pulling her forward was the dirt in her nails from digging the children’s graves before swearing she’d seek revenge.

‘It shouldn’t have happened that way.’ Her teeth clenched, gripping an object in her hand, round and with the inscription G.U.N. ‘I won’t lose more to those… those monsters!’

***

Maria ran through the ARK, excitedly racing away from something. She was young, full of energy, and wasn’t afraid to skid her knee on the cold steel of the floating spacecraft.

She laughed and laughed, as two figures followed behind her, open-eyed and seeming rather calm though the girl was obviously elated at the game.

“Tag me! Tag me~” she chimed, giggling some more as she twirled around.

One figure looked to see the other’s eyes fixated on Maria’s youthful beauty, her innocence and charms, and smiled.

“Maria!” the figure called, racing even faster, breathing so much harder now, as she reached forward to tag her.

“STOP!”

Maria and the two figures paused, scared out of their game as a large, round man walked into view. His towering figure had his arms wrapped behind his back, his glasses gleaming in the vast sparkling lights of deep space behind him.

“How many times must I remind you.” He handed Maria a vile, and wearily, she trembled and stepped back.

“But grandfather…” she pleaded, before he shook his head, and bent down to her. His mustache moved with each tender word he spoke.

“Now, Maria. You were coughing up blood last night… you must take your medicine and rest more than play. I know you want to play, and feel exceptionally invincible with Shadow and Ember by your side… but you must remember…”

He then looked with a shaded stare to his creations… less tenderly than he had the child…

“They are still dangerous.”

The figure held her hand… stepping back and looking in the light with widened eyes.

Claws…

The other figure entered the darkness, “We can’t actually play with her, Ember.”

In horror and sorrow, the figure began to cry, and lifted a claw to touch it, unsure of what it was.

She flinched back as it scratched her, unaware of her body or her abilities.

She looked to the other figures hands, and shouted, “Why were you created differently!? You can play with her!”

“…No, Ember.” Shadow stepped into the light, his eyes glaring down at her in all seriousness. “I can’t.” he lifted his head up, pride and protection filling his brilliant red eyes.

“We never will.”

***

Ember had crash landed in a separate pod from Shadow. Gerald had sent her down first, having created her to protect rather than cure humanity, as was Shadow’s true design.

In all honesty, she was created as a companion to assist Shadow… but since she couldn’t find him or even know if he existed anymore, she wandered around the earth in search of anyone who needed help.

Her memory of everything was perfect. As was part of her creation, she was a walking scrapbook of every detail she had ever witnessed in her life.

She had stumbled upon a village, who accepted and welcomed her in.

Every day she would venture out to gather food and supplies for them, beginning to learn more about the world Maria loved so much, and happily did her designed purpose of watching over the earth and keeping its people safe.

Until that one day…

***

“Sing, sing!”

Ember, an immortal wolf with dark grey hair, red streaks much like Shadow’s, who she considered her brother; white tips on her ears, feet, and hands, eyes a deeper purple than amethyst, was given new clothes and a home. It was more than she could ever ask for.

“I… could maybe sing… one song~” she winked and stuck her tongue out to the side. The kids all cheered, as the adults smiled and nodded their heads.

Sweet is the winter,…

Calm is the thunder…

And don’t you cry~

Mother is here now…

To bring in the spring and create the things of life~

Rain, rain, rain…

Do you remember the warm rain?

Be patient, my child, and sing without guile

Bittersweet is the spring, that carries in the breeze…

Calmed by the melting snow…

And don’t~ you~ cry~

Before Maria would go to sleep each night, she would ask Ember to sing to her. And soon after that, Maria would sing it to Shadow before he was placed back in his experimentation pod for further study and… ‘fixing’.

Ember’s tail flicked as her face lit up from the children cheering and begging for her to sing it again, but the adults hurried them to bed.

The orphans… on the other hand, wouldn’t stop pleading.

The orphans were rumored to have parents who funded the ARK project, since the pod she escaped in was programmed to land somewhere ‘safe’ she figured it meant one of the funders.

Then… that horrible night… a night she wished to simply forget.

But such was her curse…

To never… forget.

There was smoke everywhere.

G.U.N had tracked down the children, sent to the village for safe keeping… and performed… a horrible, horrible deed…

“No…” Ember dropped all the supplies she was carrying, seeing the village on fire.

“No…” She dropped to her knees when her feet carried her faster than she thought possible to the orphanage.

Blood.

Crimson blood mingled with ash and smoke.

Her claws gripped into the floorboards.

“NOOO!!!”

She tore into them, as something on her chest burst free from it’s hiding and shined brightly around her.

A dark aura rose.

She had failed her purpose…

She was created to protect humanity…

She had failed.

“We can’t actually play with her, Ember.”

Her eyes jutted open, having not realized what she had done.

“We never will.”

She had taken down the whole building. Shredding the beds, ripping the burning roof and ceiling down.

She cried and cried… staring up at the smoky sky, grey as her fur…

Then, she felt something like a ‘tink!’ hit the ground hard and roll towards her feet.

With her horror-stricken eyes, she slowly gestured her head down to it.

Her eyes flinched in a sharpened focus at the words inscribed on the smoke-grenade.

G.U.N

***

“I’ll kill them.”

She huffed, leaning a bruised arm against a nearby tree, and looking out at the G.U.N headquarters.

“I’ll… urk… make them pay.”

She was tried, weary, and but her silliness never stopped coming. She leaned her head back, “Then I’ll buy ice cream~” she laughed, in a maniacal, broken-spirited way before collapsing to the ground.

“50 years… and you’d think Gerald would have considered putting some healing properties into me too.” She struggled, but quickly lifted herself back up again.

She hadn’t eaten in days.

***

“Sir! There’s been a disturbance in sector B!”

“What in blue blazes is going on here!?”

“General it’s… it’s a girl!”

“A girl!? What the devil… Someone’s Ex?”

“Sir… she’s…”

The Solder froze at the monitors, shaking as his mouth and knees wouldn’t move any further.

“…Crazy Ex?”

The general looked old, his short white beard lifted to the side as did his confusion.

“Give it here!”

He shoved the boy aside and then gawked at the image.

Blurred and with a lot of static, you could make out the tail and ears of a figure moving quickly and jumping around the scene, attacking and knocking men and robots alike down with a single strike.

“…She’s fast!”

“No… teleporting.”

“What?”

The General quickly walked down the stairs of his upper division computer-room, pointing and shouting at people in various desks below them. “Get me a Chaos reading on that girl. I want to know what this thing wants. What’s her power level? Do we have Rouge on standby?”

“Sir! Rouge is currently on route to cracking Project Inferno.” A woman stood perfectly straight, having a head-mic that spiraled in a cord around her neck before curving upon her cheek.

He grabbed his hand and threw it against the railing, leaning on it.

Then… slowly, in his moment of feeling trapped… he turned around. “… Put her image on the big screen.”

The soldier looked to his commanding officer, who nodded. He wearily, with sweat dripping down the side of his forehead and cheek, flicked the switch and hit a button.

Ember’s face came in on a close-up, her teeth rearing open to chomp down on a robot, shaking the disk-like gun from it’s small pole and shaking it till it ripped free.

“…More like a monster than little girl.” The General scoffed… before putting his hat back on, and adjusting it.

“…Bring out…”

“Project Shadow.”

(My thoughts: While writing this first chapter I wanted to get the information the reader needed as soon as possible. When going back for edits, I’d like to organize it to be more compelling, but with so much data on her, I wanted to make sure the essential of ‘need to know’ basis was there. I’ll include more based on the Patron’s wishes, but for now, I really wanted to show Ember as loving, conflicted, protective, wild, and still a goofball as her description made me believe she is. I included some minor details about powers, but I want to expand upon them on the following pages. This is simply my first few chapters in introduction before moving on to ‘rising action’ where she will be reunited with Shadow, who won’t remember her until she triggers a memory, which is part of her job/task. I wanted to stay true to her, but leave her as a mystery the audience still wants to figure out, and learn more about. This was the ‘interest’ and ‘hook’ of the story, something I hope to go back and work with if the Patron has any further comments for. : ) Overall, I deeply enjoyed my first attempt at writing for Ember the Immortal Wolf, and hope many others will enjoy her story as I continue writing it!)

The Ashes of Embers

Ember teleported, feeling the radiating warmth of the lost Chaos Emerald Gerald Robotnik stole from Angel Island long ago…

It was imbedded deep in her chest, peeking out on occasion, though she never fully knew the extent of its power.

During times of hardship, she’d sometimes blackout and awake to see her glowing… but what did it mean?

Chaos Emeralds weren’t common knowledge, even to Gerald.

Ember simply tried to harness or ignore it, worried it may control her more than she let on.

She knocked out more robots and security cameras, before the whole sector started shutting down.

She looked around her, her eyes shifting as the lights cut off and large, metallic doors slammed in her wake.

“…So, we’re playing hide and seek in the dark, eh?” She smiled, but a small bit of sweat trinkled down her spine.

What were they playing at?

She couldn’t trust them. She couldn’t even trust the dark. They would play dirty… they always did.

Suddenly, a green glow shined through in lines above the ceiling, and she cautiously looked up, before jumping back in fright.

“Ah!” she put her hands up over the front of her head, trying to defend herself if something should jump down from the air-conditioning units above.

The barred lining above did get dented and hit, before crashing down, along with some ceiling debris, as a figure leaped down and threw out his arm in the dusty green light.

“Chaos Spear!”

“W-woah!”

Instinctively, she raced on all fours away from the explosion, only seeing the shadows of the spears and carefully tumbling into the side of the adjacent wall to avoid injury.

“Offph!” she landed upside, her butt crashing against the wall and taking most of the damage. “Yyyyyeeee-ooooww…” she groaned in some pain, her eye twitching a bit as she turned herself over on the ground.

Getting to her knees, she heard a gun cock, and frightfully looked up with eyes shrinking in terror.

She saw the dust settle… as the front of the gun pierced her vision and hovered steadily in front of her face.

“Don’t move.”

She obeyed, but her eyes couldn’t help and wander up to the figure as the green light still beamed a beautiful aura around him.

She suddenly recognized the red stripes… the hedgehog quills… the serious frown.

“…Shadow?”

She couldn’t believe her eyes!

He raised an eyebrow to her.

“Shadow! It’s me..! It’s-!”

She moved to her legs.

Then a gunshot.

Her vision went blurry as something warm and wet traveled down her leg…

***

“Ember, come with me!”

“But, Doctor, what about Mari-!”

“Shadow’s taking care of her, you must be preserved! For his and her sake!”

The two traveled desperately down a long corridor, on the opposite wing of what they feared were the other G.U.N solders hunting down Shadow and chasing Maria.

Ember would have never guessed the sound of the gunshot, nor the escape pod was only holding one experiment… and not another human life.

“Doctor…” she saw him panting, and realized he wasn’t going to make it.

She tried to take the initiative, gripping his hand tighter that was holding hers and racing ahead of him. “Come on!”

He looked to her in amazement.

“Why… why are you so determined to..?”

An explosion happened by the right side of their faces, and the Doctor was having a hard time stabilizing himself.

“We have to keep moving!” Ember encouraged, her heart full as she dared not turn around to see him suffering to run any longer.

When just in front of the escape chamber, Gerald collapsed, holding his side.

She spun around and gripped his arm with both her hands this time, being careful to not dig her claws into his fragile, old skin.

“Gerald, please!”

“…Gerald?” He looked up at her, “My dear girl…”

Her eyes began to water.

“You’ve always known… you can call me… Grandpa.”

Her eyes widened.

She thought only Maria could address him as true family.

He always seemed so strict…

She started sniffling as her nose became filled with her emotion as well, and in her embarrassment, she shook her head and tears flew everywhere as she cried out.

“Don’t leave me behind!”

“My creation… how beautiful you’ve grown… but I’m afraid it’s me you’ll be leaving behind.”

Another explosion, and this time, they were both thrown against the wall. Pieces of the ARK crash against them, and when Ember came too, footsteps were already approaching.

“Doc… Granpa…”

She wearily summoned the last of her strength, pushing the metallic pieces off of her and digging ferociously through the pile of debris.

“GRANDPA!!!”

When she found his face, her eyes shone with gratitude for seeing him still alive.

“Grandpa…”

“Y-you must go…”

She clenched her teeth. That shine fading.

She looped an arm over her shoulder and hoisted him up, carrying him fully over her shoulders and racing into the room.

“Coordinates…” she stated.

He didn’t respond, just looking at her blankly…

“Coordinates!” she turned more fiercely to his face, demanding he let her save him.

“… 0.003. 27. The planet Earth.”

She typed such things in, and it looked like a speed-dial for earth.

“…You’ll be safe there?”

“…”

He looked down.

“Gerald?”

She looked worriedly up at him, before shaking her head.

“I mean..! …Grandpa.”

“…Hurh..”

He moved himself up, and she lightly set him down, allowing him to lean on the console.

He rested a hand by his chest, and the other… tenderly upon her cheek.

“If only I had the chance to tell you this…with Shadow by your side, so that he may too know how I truly feel.”

“…W-… what are you saying?”

“Open the door!”

Ember gasped, flinging her tail back as she turned around, squatting on her knees before racing forward to grip a large, angular and pillared machine all the way around.

She grunted, squirmed, but her super strength came into play and she hoisted it up from it’s controls, which sparked around as she threw it at the door, causing a barricade.

“That won’t last long…” she feared, speaking out loud, and racing back to Robotnik.

“We have to put you in the escape pod!” she reached her arms out. “Please!”

“…If only Shadow was here…” His sorrowful voice pierced her fragile heart, and she felt the insult of a thousand needles upon a thousand swords rip into her being.

“…Why… Am I not good enough?” Her hands balled into fist, shaking…

She lowered her head, “Why did Maria always favor Shadow?... cause he could hold her? And I could hurt her?” she looked at her clawed-hands. “Why… why did you make me in the image of a monster!?” she started to cry, before Gerald lifted his hands to her face.

“My dear… I created you to scare away the evil of humanity… you’re more beautiful now than I could have ever imagined your design to take form in.”

She slowly opened her shaking eyes, “Grandpa…”

“We’re moving in! All units standby!”

The door was being budged open by powerful hits, freaking Ember out as she turned around, but Gerald moved forward, pushing her back little by little while he moved on his knees.

“You’re all humanity has left in this time of cruelty and panic. Find Shadow. Protect Maria and all humanity. Don’t let my research die in vain. And with all the love of a father… know that I created you and Shadow with the intent to serve and provide humanity a service for the future! You are its last hope! Do this for me..! Do not fail me! Do not fail Maria!”

Her eyes widened, “Granpa…” he shoved her into the escape pod, and pulled down the lever.

“Heh…” he smirked.

“I..! I love y-!”

The pod dropped, as Ember watched the men storm the room with explosives and gunfire. “Drop to your knees-!”

***

“It was over instantly.”

“That’s our Shadow!”

Ember slowly rotated her head, realizing her since of gravity was off, and looked at her restrains on a tilted countertop.

“W-…Where the heck am I?!”

“Silence.”

Her ears recognized the familiar sound and turned to Shadow. Her eyes trembled with joy. “Shadow!”

He looked at her… but there wasn’t anything in his expression that showed the same familiarity.

“Shadow?” She became confused, had they brainwashed him?

“State your purpose.” A man approached her.

She growled, her tail flicking around in annoyance. “To seek revenge for all those innocent children and families you slaughtered to cover up the ARK incident 50 years ago!”

Shadow’s eyes widened, as he unfolded his arms to grip his head.

He seemed in his own world, trembling slightly as he seemed to have a triggered headache.

“Impossible! How can you say such a thing!?”

“As if you don’t know!” She spat out, hitting a guy in the eye.

“My eye!” he screamed and raced out the window.

“Someone get that sergeant a napkin and a new pair of privates, private.”

“I know what I saw…”

She snarled down, glaring at the man speaking.

“You wimps can’t even admit your wrongs!!!”

She struggled from her binds, “RAhhh…!”

“Secure her soldier!”

“Touch me and I’ll rip your arm off with one fell bite!”

The soldier stepped back as she clamped her mouth down with a nip his way.

“Shadow, teach our ‘guest’ some manners.” The man folded his arms.

“…Shadow?”

He didn’t look at him.

“…Shadow! For pete’s sake!”

“…No.”

Shadow rose his head up, fire in his eyes.

“For Maria’s sake…”

“What?”

Shadow pulled up the gun.

“What on earth are you doing!?”

The men stepped back, all aiming their weapons to Shadow.

“What on earth indeed.”

He smirked and aimed up.

He shot a sprinkler-system, causing the rest to go off and then started fighting the men in the room.

They tried to fire, but the water made their gunpowder moist, leaving the guns useless.

“Darn!” the general cried out, before being knocked down.

Shadow turned to Ember.

She held her breath a second, before waving her tail out as if saying ‘Hello, remember me?’ as he raised his arm across his chest.

“Chaos…”

She started panicking, humorously wiggling and shaking in her now cold restraints.

“Spear!”

He shot out some spears that cut her restrains clear-clean off her skins, and she happily leaped down from the counter.

“You do remember me-!”

She went to hug him, but he slammed a hand in her face, and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her out as he blasted the door down.

“Nooope. I think you don’t.”

She blinked her eyes in silly understanding then.

Maybe he had brain damage?

But with his fast recovery…

She then looked to her side, and realized her injury had been patched up and healed as well.

“Phew…”

She was glad something was done to it before it got infected and polluted her recovery.

“Stop them!”

Shadow raised up the Chaos Emerald, as she noticed it was similar to hers…

There was a huge missile that blasted through the water at them.

“Hang on!” Ember, even stationed on his shoulder, still summoned a bubbled-shield around her and Shadow, her emerald glowing from her concealed chest, and guarded them against the blast.

He looked over to her, “…Hmph.” Then away.

“Ah, don’t tell you weren’t impressed.” She looked cockily over to him, waiting for him to thank her, but it never came.

“Woah! Is it possible you got even more serious with dementia?”

“Chaos Control!” Shadow teleported them away, as G.U.N soldiers blocked their every move.

“Dang it!” The general raced out, holding his disabled gun. “She had to mention Code Blue!”

***

(Author’s note: Although this second chapter carries the amount paid for, I decided to give the Patron more for her money. Enjoy! :D I also really liked giving her a silly side, along with an interesting and compelling backstory!)

Shadow dropped Ember down roughly to the ground, and walked towards a tree upon a hill, before turning back to her, the wind rapidly pressing against the two of them.

His quills moved swiftly in the wind, but his face remained stationary.

“Who are you? And how do you know about ARK?”

Ember rubbed her head, “Ouch… can’t you be easier on me? I’m your sister after all.” She sighed, dropping her head. “You always did play rough.”

“Sister? No such thing.” He raised an eyebrow, before turning fully to face her. “Speak up… I have no time for-“

“As far as I’m concerned, you have time to bake as many cakes as you want and eat them all on different days too.”

He seemed confused, unsure of her riddle, as she waited to see if he would laugh, but then knew he never would.

She got up, holding out her hands. “My name is Ember. I was created with you. To be a aid for you and protect humanity. I’ve failed protecting humanity… but maybe I can still help you.”

She then walked forward, cautiously as he seemed to be looking for any sign of lies.

“It’s hard for me to trust people… I’m sure, with whatever you went through, it’s just as hard. Tell me what happened to you and Maria, and I’ll relay everything.”

His eyes looked down, a deep painful sorrow before back up at her, “...What do you mean… relay?”

“Heh.” She smiled, “The word you should get hooked on is… everything. Thus, why I emphasized it.” She joked a little, before straightened up and stretching a bit. “Alright, alright. Here goes nothing.”

She leaned forward, hands on her hips, looking him straight in the eye as she tipped her boots up slightly, trying to look cute and sister-like. “I have a perfect memory. I can remember everything I’ve ever seen. The joy outweighs the sorrow, the anger… but family triumphant over all my memories… no matter what they are. Or how tragic they appear.”

She took a deep breath, leaning up. “Shadow The Hedgehog.” She out stretched her hand to him again.

There was a long pause…

“I’m your family.”

(This was all that was paid for, plus the tip! I would like to remind you to please send me a link where you post this, and also if you could give me a review of your experience with me and the product, I would be very appreciative! As always, you must keep my name and who made this product for you on the document. If you post it anywhere, I have to be listed with it. And please send me a link cause that’s always fun to show-off something I’m proud of making XD I hope you enjoyed it! I really liked fiddling with Ember and figuring out how to organize her backstory for you. You can always pay for me to continue this story, too. So there’s that option. Thank you and I hope you’re satisfied with your purchase! Ember is so interesting because of her emotions being so complexed. For one, she’s kind and silly, but on the other hand, she’s got a darker tone that can almost match Shadow’s. It’s fun to play with those complicated emotions and I really gravitated towards the emerald in her chest and also her detailed memories. Flashbacks would be so common, in my logic anyway, if you had a perfect memory of everything; mostly cause everything would trigger it! Shadow gets triggered a lot, I figured Ember would get triggered even more so. Thank you and I hope to work with you in the future as well! :D If there’s any concerns or things you want me to elaborate on, I’d be happy to go back and review this rough draft. If you’d like anything edited, I should remind you that this is the time to consult me to do the revisions. There is no refunds, and the rules state that only I can edit this document/product. So make sure it’s everything you want before we shake hands. Thank you and I really do love your amazing Sonic Character: Ember the Immortal Wolf! *Also, thanks for the tip ;Db)

(Friendly reminder to please give me link if you're submitting it anywhere, a review of how your experience with me and how the product was for you, and lastly to mention me wherever the document is submitted or posted to with a link or mention. (This is enforced by the rules you agreed to upon your purchase!) I'd also like to reblog or share wherever you posted it so that many may enjoy the work!

 This is the last look-over. So please let me know what you like or would like edited. There will be no refunds or post-edits after this call, and according to the rules only I can edit this document. So please, remember to tell me if you see any errors or things you'd like mentioned. If there's anything you want elaborated on and such. I'd be more than happy to go over the document/product with you till you are satisfied :) )

Embers and Coals

Shadow stared at the hand, a deeper narrowing of his eyes revealed his skepticism, as he swat the hand away from him.

“Yee!” Ember withdrew the rejected hand and spread her frown down, revealing her teeth as her eyes shook in fright. “You don’t have to be so blunt!”

“Family? Heh. Don’t be ridiculous. Did you think I’d fall for your little games?” He stepped back, angling himself away from her. “I’m not sure how you know about G.U.N, or the ARK… but if you think for a second that this changes anything-“

“It does change everything!” She spread her arms out again, on both sides, leaning forward to convey her sincerity once more.

This caught his eye, as she left herself defenseless to attack.

“I’m a lone wolf, not a cunning fox! I’m from the ARK, just like you! G.U.N took everything away from us! Even that nice village…” She looked down, moving her hands back to her chest as she recalled each of their smiling faces… “But… even so… At least you were with Maria…” She sighed, seeming at ease with that.

Shadow stared at her…

“Please, just tell me! I know she was dying already… Gran- I mean,” she shook her head, growing more tender as she spoke now. Not quieter, but in a tone of respect and love she shifted her tough appearance. “Dr. Robotnik wanted to make her immortal too, you know… it was his last resort though. He wanted you to be her cure, first and foremost.” She looked up at Shadow, before shaking her head and gripping it. “But those stupid humans!!! They feared your power! I was just… like a prototype! Maria loved you from the start… but I was…” she removed her hands and looked at her sharp claws…

Her memory flashed back to the soggy dirt piled in them. Burying all those lifeless bodies…

No more smiles… no more singing.

She fisted her hands and took a deep breath.

“I just want to know if she lived long enough to enjoy the planet she loved so much. The world she dared to call home.”

She turned around, facing her back to Shadow, and looking firmly up at the sky. “This world…” the wind was still harsh, blowing her long hair and tail back. “It’s.. dangerous. Not as dangerous as us… but scary.” She looked down, her eyes falling to shadows.

Shadow kept his comments silent. But closed his eyes for a moment.

“W-well?” fearing his silence as a concern for something being wrong, she turned around, a little cautiously. “Did Maria get to enjoy the earth she loved o-or…” she could barely stomach the next thought. She swallowed hard to keep her emotions at bay.

Shadow remained silent.

***

“That little pest! That maggot! That-!”

“Sir, please stop slamming your fist against the expensive tables…”

“Darn it!!!”

Another hard hit collided with the black, sturdy table. Taking the brunt of the General’s anger, before he turned to the operative that had addressed him.

“I want all forces out looking for Shadow! I want that thing captured! We want Shadow unharmed if possible.”

“…If?”

“Alright. Give him some bruises and let him gush out a little bit. He can heal while I’m giving him the scolding of a century! To betray your own people!” he rose his fist to his face, seeing it grow white with the amount of tension he put on it. He then opened it, seeing the true redness of the pulsing blood and impact areas where he slammed it to the table.

“…She knew about Code Blue…” He lowered his hand, and rubbed the bottom of his chin. He wiped some sweat from the back of his neck and shook it off. “She knew the files… I’ve recently reread them. We were covering up Project Shadow. Probably the worst military mistake of all time. We hit a low. Giving an animal the right to supersede humanity. That’s a crime even in and of itself!” he slammed his fist down again, gritting as the pain finally started to burn and turned his head to the side, cursing.

“…Sir, why let the girl survive?” the operative stepped forward, hands behind his back, perfectly straight as his glasses shone to reflect the light from the huge light above them. It encircled the room like an interrogation unit.

“Heh. She’ll try and take him away from us… from our side, I mean.” He pulled himself away from the table. “She’ll want him to side with her. And with Code Blue so sensitive to the hedgehog as is… I don’t know what he’ll do. He’s now unpredictable. Dang it all. And I thought after all that training and successful missions with Rouge… he might as well have been triggered and gone rogue on us again after all these years…”

“Sir? Your orders were given. Shall I execute them?”

“I don’t want the girl dead…”

He then turned around, “Not yet.”

“…Sir?”

“There’s something I wanted to do first… something she got away from once. But won’t this time around… First secure Shadow. I can’t let an asset like him get taken away from us. He’s too valuable.”

“Two of a kind wouldn’t be so bad. If she is like him-”

“No… she ain’t nothin’ like him.”

“…She could be useful. We could use her to our advantage like Shadow-“

“We can’t hope on two brain-concussions AND forgiveness due to an unbroken promise whisked upon by some little girl to happen twice!”

He flung himself around, leaning his plum-sized self with a hunch forward and a hand on the table, supporting it.

The operative stood silent.

“There, now,… you see?” He gestured to the man. “If all of humanity could learn to keep their mouths shut..! … We wouldn’t need to clean up so many messes now… would we?”

“…Yes, sir.”

“Get me Shadow.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And find out where the devil Rouge is? She’s been missing out on call-ins…” he turned away from the light, his figure suddenly more darker than before, and faced the wall. “This room is pitch black. No windows. Just like how our Corporal likes it…”

The man about-faced, but first, clicked his heels together and bowed forward a little, marching—in a sense—out of the room.

“…Keeps our secrets well enough in.”

***

“I don’t understand why you were with them!” she walked right back to him, not liking his silence and getting annoyed by his obvious avoidance on the subject. She stopped in front of him, seeing his eyes open slightly to warn her not to get closer. “…Brainwashed?”

“….”

“Well, they could have probed you for all I know.”

“How can I be sure you’re telling me the truth?” Shadow raised an eyebrow. “What color were Maria’s eyes?” he shifted his head back to her, a sign of interest maybe? If her story were true… what would that mean for him?

“The same as her dress.”

I’m your family.

He grew defensive, biting his teeth down.

“Her hair! What color?!”

He stepped forward.

“B-blonde…” she grew weary and stepped back, holding up a hand to defend herself if needs be…

But finding him… she didn’t want to fight anymore.

She honestly just wanted to embrace him.

Allow herself to cry.

Okay, maybe she wouldn’t cry.

He used to poke fun at her when she cried too easily.

An eye twitched as he rose a fist up in front of himself.

“Grr… And how do I know you didn’t just see some old achieve picture!?”

“I can show you.” She held out her hand.

He lost all of his anger suddenly, moving back and shaking.

“Gr…erk… eh.” He strained to hold himself back, but was clearly distressed.

“…Shadow?”

“What are you planning to do with that?”

He dipped his head down, growing even more hostile as the topic continued…

“I’m… You’re shaking.” She looked worriedly down at his arms and body. “Shadow…”

“Your hand!”

She flinched back.

“Hey! No fair! That was a jump-scare!” she glared.

“Enough toying with me!”

He shook his head and stepped forward, his whole-body tensing.

“If you have no proof… then were done talking here.”

“No, wait!”

She touched his forehead.

Shadow’s eyes widened as a picture formed in his head.

“What… what is…”

“This…?”

***

Maria peeked around the corner of the room, seeing her Grandfather patching up somethings around the laid chamber-pod of his experiment.

“…He’s quite handsome… isn’t he, Ember?” She looked down, as Ember pouted as she looked at how much time the Doctor was spending with this ‘new’ creation.

“I’m his little sister… he told me that.” She responded, and looked up to Maria. “But I was made first,… right?”

Maria gave her a tender, close-eyed smile.

She giggled and snuck back as the Doctor walked out, looking through some clipboard notes, before scurrying in the room.

“Come on.” She whispered, sticking her hand out and gesturing with her finger for Ember to follow her.

Ember didn’t like the idea… but her tail wagged to show she liked being mischievous with Maria.

“Are we gonna pull his plug?” she asked, “Or draw a funny face on his pod? I call the eyes!” she grinned, her tail wagging faster.

Maria gave her a light scold, looking to her with an eyebrow raising and her head tilting to the side and downward, as if saying ‘really?’.

She then lovingly leaned over the chamber, seeing the creature sleeping, her eyelids fell in a motherly way, and she lightly skimmed her fingers over its surface.

“I can’t wait to meet him…”

“Yeah. Someone to wrestle with.”

“A new friend…”

“H-huh?”

Ember looked to Maria, seeing a shift in her eyes from how she looked at her.

She looked away, her ears bending down.

Then Maria turned back to her, surprised by her sad actions, and smiled in understanding. She moved her other hand to rub the top of her head, and laughed sweetly.

“You’ll always be my friend too, Ember! You protect me… and he…”

She turned back as Shadow lightly opened his eyes, and stared up at her.

He tilted his head up, amazed almost at the sight of her.

She smiled warmly to him, looking excited to see him.

She gave him a shy wave.

“Hello, my little Shadow.”

She cooed, like a mother to a child.

Ember noticed the strange connection the two were having and grew more jealous, tugging on her dress and jumping down to pull her down too.

“Maria! Maria! Let’s play tag!”

“Haha, Ember. Quit it.” She played and tugged the end of her dress back up.

“Offph!” Ember toppled over, and let little tears form on the sides of her eyes as she watched Maria turn back to Shadow.

“We’ll play later… Shadow? Grandfather says your to be my savior… But I want you to always know… you’ll first most and forever be… one of my most treasured friends.”

Shadow blinked his eyes, but couldn’t take his sight off the lovely being in front of him.

She lowered her hand back to the top of the see-through pod, as his hands moved off from being folded across his chest…

He looked to one of them, and then to Maria’s hand.

He gently placed it upon her hand.

She smiled and giggled.

He tried to mimic the expression, and was able to smile back.

“Ah!” she rose up from leaning over and looking at him. “Ember! Ember you have to come up here! He’s… he’s smiling!” she cheered, aweing every second of him being awake and vigilant.

“He placed his hand on mine! I think he understands!”

“…Great.”

Ember had sat down and leaned up against chamber-pod, folding her arms and letting her tail flick around in annoyance.

She lowered her head and hunched up her shoulders… ‘pfft’ing out to the side of her mouth.

Maria continued to giggle…

***

Shadow sight returned to him as Ember removed her hand from his forehead, then placed both hands on the sides of his head and pulled herself closer.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t really like you when you first created. But once I got to know you, I could see what Maria saw in you.”

She then closed her eyes and placed her forehead on his again, as he continued to remain motionless and overwhelmed at the memory he had seen.

“But this… this memory will show you why we can’t let G.U.N go unpunished…”

The memory started with Gerald, then to the village, the ruined orphanage…

Still unable to handle the first image he saw, Shadow broke off and resisted her sight-vision she was relaying back to him.

“Woah!”

Shadow shoved and pulled away, pushing her and once again smacking her hand away. “Enough!” he gripped his head, “What… what was all that?”

“The truth.” Ember’s eyes turned fierce, not taking anymore of his hesitance. “This is what G.U.N really is!” she gestured her hand out to her side. “Shadow… help me destroy them. They can’t go unpunished for imprisoning Gerald and taking Maria from us!”

“…Mind tricks.” Shadow turned away.

“Why… why don’t you understand..?” She stepped back, her eyes in amazement and fury at him rejecting her yet again.

She couldn’t handle it. “I… I searched for you everywhere… I thought maybe… you’d be searching for me b-but…” she looked down, starting to cry, her emotions getting the better of her.

“WHAT WERE YOU DOING ALL THOSE YEARS?!”

“….”

“THE YEARS I NEEDED YOU!”

She collapsed to her knees.

“When Maria finally left this world… did you just not want to find me?”

He remained still, before a crack of thunder revealed an on-coming storm.

The grey clouds rolled quickly over them, showing that the wind was foreshadowing this inevitable conclusion…

“….She’s dead…”

Ember looked crossly up to him.

“Well, no duh! It’s been 50 years! Of course she’s-!”

“She died.”

“Wha-…”

Her eyes suddenly widened.

Shadow looked down to her, stepping up, seeming completely unaffected by what this could mean to her.

“Her last wish was to give humanity a chance. I promised her I’d do anything for her. I even could kill… if necessary.”

Ember couldn’t understand… but her chest grew in warmth and she could feel the raw power slipping into her body.

“I… I can’t trust anymore… not after what humanity has done.”

She looked down as a light rain started to pour.

Shadow dropped to a knee, staring straight into her, as if into her soul.

“Ember… was it?”

She gripped the ground.

“Quit acting like you forgot me too!”

“…G.U.N found signs that your hostile actions were being powered by chaotic influences… they wanted to take the Chaos Power they found in you. I was meant to rip it out.”

Ember shook her head, crying.

“I can’t control it! What happened to Maira!?”

As she shouted out into the night, Shadow remained still and stoic.

The lightning started flashing down and the rain grew heavy, turning the gripped ground beneath her claws into mush and mud.

She sobbed as Shadow leaned his back away from her, looking off into a void of darkness within the forest ahead of them…

“…We should contact Rouge. If that is what I suspect to be a Chaos Emerald… a certain red Echidna may be after you.”

“WHAT. HAPPENED.”

She gripped his white chest fur, pulling him back down to her as he stared expressionlessly back at her.

His attention on her was brief, as he closed his eyes.

“You don’t listen very well.”

“Then tell me a story.”

He hesitated.

A flicker of light. Tiny hands pushed with all their might. A mourning creature lay hysterical, trapped in an escape pod, banging on it’s surface.

A man. A loud blast of gunfire. A shot that pierced more than his heart. His very soul.

She lay in blue and red… she begged in beauty and love… and she used the strength of her fall to send the soul she treasured into the world she cherished.

Into the world… that killed her.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

Ember’s Chaos Emerald blasted Shadow away, leaving him to roll and grip to the tree near him.

He used all his strength to hang on and strained against the power surge.

The Chaotic blast revealed that she had shifted. Her whole being animalistic and tearing into the ground, ripping the mud all around her and crying out like a wild beast.

She blamed him, then swore to rip into the hides of G.U.N, and destroy the world that destroyed Maria.

Everything Shadow knew, felt, understood.

None of her words were unfamiliar.

When the blast stopped, he simply got himself up.

And he walked.

The rain crashed down to the side of him, but his eyes never blinked.

The storm roared and was muffled by Ember’s cries, mud looking like blood in her eyes, trying to hurt the earth that hurt her, as he came over to the massacre of dirt. She cried out something like a ‘Chaos Slash’ that rent the earth in twine and split right by him. A rockslide happened far behind him from the continuing strip of power, before the earth shook slightly in aftershock and stopped.

He just kept walking, before pausing in front of her, looking at her with no sign of anger,… no sign of anything at all except-

Empathy.

“That’s enough.”

She kept ripping into ground, screaming her revenge.

“…Vengeance… was Maria anything like how your feeling now!?”

He punched her in the gut.

This stayed her, snapping her out of her frenzy as the pain snapped her momentarily out of it.

She still was in her dark, sinister form… but she refused to strike him.

Even if she did blame him for not protecting her, she couldn’t help but feel she wasn’t alone because of his presence.

She did care about him.

She wanted her family.

But to hear of Maria’s death…

“How…”

She slowly came out of it, collapsing into his arms.

“How did you forgive them..?”

“…I didn’t.”

She looked almost blindly up at him.

She gripped his arm tighter than before.

“Shadow… Why…”

“…I simply spared them.”

She cried into his chest.

“…I…”

He slowly rose his hand to the back of her head, as something about it felt familiar…

Similar…

His eyes shook as he felt the unexpected reaction was more reflex than anything else.

“…I keep my promises…”

He thought suddenly…

“There was a song… you sang it… to Maria..?”

Ember’s head jerked up, her eyes full of tears and rain.

“Shadow?”

He seemed apprehensive, afraid of whatever this was triggering.

“…A song… about…”

“Rain?”

(Author’s notes: This was really fun to do! I already had an idea on how to continue the story, so getting the opportunity to really helped! Finding paths and ways to tie in the first 20 pages with the next chapter was really fun to discover and figure out! I wanted that head-touch with Shadow and Ember. I wanted that symbol of family to resonate, along with being reunited. I didn’t except myself to write Shadow remembering Ember, or anything about her. But now I feel I can continue the story with a flow of that theme more easily now. With Shadow being able to connect to her like no one else, and having that bond with her, I feel like they can strengthen and cling to each other in different ways. Shadow for the emotional support through her achieve of countless memories, and Ember for needed that emotional connection and family tie. She needs to trust SOMEONE, right? And having Shadow back should help :) )

From the Embers Come Past Flames

After passing out from so much stress on not just her body, but all the emotional and mental stress her memory-sharing and breakdown from learning of Maria’s fate brought her through; Ember woke up to find herself on a raft, heading towards a strange floating island.

Instantly having anxiety, she leaped up and began to softly nipple on her tail, looking around.

“…You’re awake.” Shadow was on one knee again, letting the raft follow the current to the dangling green vines of the lush floating island.

“Y-yeah… I had a dream… that you punched me in the gut.” She continued to bite on her tail.

He frowned, and patted her head in a scold, “Stop that.”

She pouted, but swished her tail away from her mouth.

It was like… old times.

That gave her some comfort, at least. She could barely remember everything, only that she knew Maria was dead from G.U.N. Strange… she had these random blackouts… but she only recalled that happening one other time…

“I couldn’t use Chaos Control… Your Emerald kept… shining and cancelling it out.” Shadow held up his emerald, showing that when he moved it towards her, the emerald in her chest flashed and stopped the other Emerald from activating.

“…Huh.” Ember looked down her shirt and tapped her Emerald between her chest. “I didn’t know it could act on its own.”

“It can’t.” Shadow glared, “Clearly, you don’t trust me.”

“I was asleep!” she cried out, “As were you, apparently. For 50 years!” She crossed her arms, upset by learning this.

Shadow suddenly shifted his head to her, as if he had been threatened, “How do you know that?” He looked as though he was growing defensive, but let it go as he tried to regain his calm demeanor. “I never told you that.”

“You’re probably lonely after having no one understand you until now. If that dream was real, then you carried me, and before I passed out, I was able to sense your mind remembering different events in your past. I saw them all, Shadow. Your plot for revenge, Maria… Even that Rouge girl you talked about before. And yeah, a real deep ‘technological’ sleep… By humans, might I add!” She lifted a sharply pointed finger, matter-of-factly. “And all while I was off facing wars, tracking down the killers of innocents, and treading through snow, mud, and the drops of blood from battle… Hey, Where are you taking me?” she folded her arms, leaning away.

“…Don’t do that without my permission again.”

“No promises.” She winked, but grew worried he was truly upset and dropped it.

“Rouge said Knuckles has all the 7 Chaos Emeralds. It’s impossible for you to have one embedded in your chest. He’s doing some research and wants to confirm it’s truly a Chaos Emerald.”

“And how’s he going to do that?” Ember covered her chest, blushing in embarrassment.

Shadow didn’t seem to understand and looked back to her. “What do you mean?”

They climbed up the island, her complaining and trying to explain by beating-around-the-bush what exactly that meant before Shadow looked fixated on a plane that was landed not far from the where the Master Emerald’s shrine lay.

“Not him…” he growled out, and in sheer exasperation, he turned to walk on. “Not now…”

“Whose ‘him’?” Ember dropped the conversation and grew curious, following after Shadow. “And there’s no way I’m letting him look down my-“

“Ah! If it isn’t Shadow! Huh? And company? Say, you’re not getting lonely are you, Shadow? Or maybe it’s a new recruit your training, hmm?”

A blue hedgehog turned around and folded his arms, raising an eyebrow to Ember, and poking fun immediately at Shadow.

Ember clearly saw the annoyed expression on Shadow’s face, but was impressed he didn’t say a word.

He only folded his arms and dipped his head.

She trembled in fury that he wasn’t going to explain, and exploded in rage back at the fur-ball. “FOR YOUR INFORMATION I’M HIS SISTER! AND I EXPECT SOME RESPECT BE SHOWN TO ME AND TO MY BROTHER! AND ON TOP OF THAT I WOULD NEVER JOIN THE LIKES OF THOSE HEARTLESS, MONSTEROUS, MURDERING SAVAGES!”

“W-woah… brother?” Sonic looked to Shadow, holding his hands up in hopes at calming ‘the raging beast’ down. “There’s more of you?”

Shadow looked away, sweat dropping as he grew embarrassed by her outburst. “So she tells me…”

“You know the truth!” she hollered back at him, as Tails stepped forward and bowed himself a little, giving her some respect.

“I’m Miles! Miles Prower! That biplane over there is mine.” He pointed to it. “It’s a later model, but I thought since this wasn’t a fight against Eggman, I could give it a short joy ride! For old times sakes.” He rubbed behind his head, “But you don’t need to worry about calling me Miles. Everyone just calls me by my nickname now, Tails!” he seemed excited to mention that, before stepping to the side of her, looking her over. She covered her exposed midriff, feeling vulnerable to all these people she didn’t know and trying to close herself off, before his sweet voice kinda broke her rude silence. “What’s your name?”

“Eggman?” she seemed confused, but remembered vaguely hearing about him.

Tails laughed, “No, no, no… haha! Your name!” he turned to Sonic, “She’s funny.”

Sonic shrugged, “Man, you must really hate G.U.N…” he smiled in a friendly way though.

“…Ember…” she looked away, unable to refuse him after he kindly did as she asked and showed her respect.

“Wow! That’s a really cool name! Do you have fire abilities?” He curiously wagged his tail and tilted his head. “Or maybe you’re like a phoenix. You rise from hardships and become even stronger!” he puffed up his chest and threw his arms up, trying to look tough.

She couldn’t help but think that cute but had to keep up her tough demeanor. “…Insightful.”

He grinned.

“Wait, wait, wait… hold on.” Sonic walked forward, waving his hands out in disbelief a moment and stood before Ember, making her feel like she had to be ready to attack if necessary.

“…Isn’t Shadow 50 years old… or something or other like that?” he seemed to be always joking around.

She nodded with a huff. “That’s right. I’m immortal, just like Shadow.” She folded her arms and turned away, acting above-it-all.

“Oh, really?” he leaned up, thinking her acting cute and playing along. “Well, then…” he put a hand under his chin and use the other to grip his elbow. “Excuse me for being rude… Granny.” He smirked.

She twitched a lower eyelid.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”

“Enough already. Sheesh. Give a girl a break.” Rouge walked out, or what she figured would be Rouge, and looked a little more distrusting as she saw her confidently walk right up to Shadow.

Being aggressive protective of him, her only real ‘kin’ so to speak, she zipped as quickly as she could behind him, peeking out over his shoulder to her as she placed both hands on them.

“Rouge, where’s Knuckles?”

“Coming soon.” She gave him a flirty look that made Ember growl slightly. “And who’s the kid?” she curiously looked over his shoulder and smiled fondly to Ember, before crooking her neck to the side but holding eye-contact.

She turned her head, “Shy… isn’t she? A younger sibling… perhaps?” She batted her eyes to her, before flapping her wings a little. “Oh yes, I know all about you, little pretty.” She pointed to her then, “I hear you have a gem in your chest. Lucky find, but hard to retrieve.” She moved herself in a feminine way, as if calling Ember out, who looked away and sized her chest-size with hers at once, before giving up and looking away.

“Hmph!”

“Sorry, sweetie. I wasn’t looking for a fight. Besides… competition for gems can be rough for girls like us. We should be friends.”

Ember heard her alluring voice but didn’t accept that as real. She forced herself to believe that everyone around her was instantly and undeniably an enemy…

Until… proven… otherwise…

When an echidna, who she assumed to be Knuckles, came racing down the hill; she unfolded her arms and clung back to Shadow, barking at Sonic and wagging her tail at Tails in a ‘shooing’ fashion.

She only wanted her and Shadow, if you weren’t family, then get out of her circle and space!

(Author’s note: Although I’m not done with this chapter, I wanted to add that I enjoyed placing different facts and things, like shared ideas Marydragneell (the customer and original creator of Ember the Immortal Wolf) sent me so I could include them in my rendering of her story. I didn’t know how to include all of them, but I included as much as I could. I’m stilling looking for places to put things, but I think I got the majority of what I wanted to put in here ;) I think she’ll notice a ton of them! Lol Trying to make sense of Ember in the world of Sonic wasn’t too difficult, however, I did want to give logical reasons for everything she could do or was. Which is why carefully working out her backstory is helpful as I move on. I know Shadow’s reasoning seems a little on the weak side, but that’s because he’s so sure and at his core, strong enough to not care about anything other than his resolve to do what Maria asked of him. He will keep his promise, no matter what Ember’s reasons or logic are. I hope I showed that well! Okay! Back to the show!)

Knuckles saw Rouge leaning to see something behind Shadow’s back and was surprised to see Ember there.

She lightly growled and bent her ears back, looking over to him but Shadow moved away and used the side of his hand to bonk her on the head a bit, scolding her.

“You’ll remain alone if you continue to act like a wild animal.” He spoke very plainly, but you could also tell he was trying to distance himself from her.

She felt bad then, fearing he may not want her around… Did she make him uneasy? Learning about having someone from the past still alive and able to be with him today…

Was it more painful than comforting?

She held her head close to her chest where the emerald lay… he was more worried about that than personalizing her existence to himself.

She looked away, dusting her tail in a swish to cover her. She felt a little… trapped.

“It could just be an emerald made to act like a Chaos Emerald. I’ve made one of those before.” Tails interjected, looking back at Ember with a kind, reassuring smile.

Maybe he noticed she had bundled herself up a little bit in uncertainty.

But she still didn’t think she could trust him…

She turned her head further away.

“Either way, G.U.N’s on the hunt for you too.” Rouge intersected, as Ember’s eyes went wide with fury. “It may be safer if-“

There was a loud whirling in the air then, and suddenly the gang was blocking against a powerful wind and the metallic ring of machinery.

“Is it Eggman?!” Tails called out.

“No!” Sonic exclaimed, looking up to the sky, “We’ve got company!”

Missiles fell from the G.U.N helicopters, as Sonic smirked and dived for the emeralds.

“Knuckles!” He called out, but Knuckles was already protecting the Master Emerald and carrying it away from the shrine, watching the missiles damage it.

“Grr… Those… You hooligans!” his mouth fully opened to shout above the sound of the spinning turbines before a voice boomed from within one of the copters.

“SHADOW. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING. SURRENDER THE GIRL AND RETURN TO YOUR POSITION.”

Shadow scowled, moving a hand out over Ember.

Seeing that gesture… Ember’s eyes shook, being extremely touched that he still wanted to protect her, even if he was uncomfortable with her existence being made known to him again.

Her eyes grew a bit glossy, missing the feeling of having someone there for you… someone to protect you… just as much…

As you wanted to protect and serve them.

She felt her emerald glow and suddenly her eyes flash black, covering the whole of her eye sockets, and then her body blaze with white.

She flew up to the helicopters, actually feeling she had control over this form, and shot out a powerful move, “Chaos Slash!”

A helicopter was perfectly split in two, and the pressure kept the two parts moving away from the other, before the pilot ejected along with his gunners. While they parachuted down, the copter exploded, and the Chaos Emeralds shone brightly once again.

“Hey!”

Ember turned around.

She wasn’t expecting the former blue hedgehog to turn a golden gleam, even less expecting that he’d charge into her.

“Ah!”

“You can’t hurt people!”

“W-woah! HEY! Geeeeettt offff!!”

He was pushing her far away from the island, but she threw him behind her, turning around to fight him if needs be.

“Ember!”

She widened her eyes again to the familiar tone of voice, but when seeing Shadow’s colors change and him charge her too, she felt almost betrayed.

“Enough!”

He spun a kick at her, plummeting her through the sky and straight for the ocean.

She began to cry as the wind whipped past her on her decent…

… Why… would he attack me?

Why… did he care so much over that filth’s lives?

G.U.N was a monster.

Why did these two… how did they transform? How did she get this power? It wasn’t like when her emerald overacted the last few times…

Shadow…

Did he love murderers more than…

Than his family?

…Maria…

She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as she hit the ocean’s floor.

She allowed herself to sink.

Maybe she could just… slip away.

That would make Shadow happy…

Wouldn’t it?

The last of Gerald Robotnik’s creations… he would live out the rest of his days being the last.

Wouldn’t that ease her pain.

Knowing she wasn’t causing pain or discomfort to anybody else.

Then there was a bright light.

Her body faded back to it’s original form before a huge claw, below an even larger net, broke the water’s surface and came in after her.

* * *

“Her name is Ember. For she is the beginnings of my experimentation into immortality for all humankind! Go on, she’s not perfectly harmless but…”

Ember slowly blinked her eyes open, the world was blurry… and she couldn’t decipher all the images around her.

She shook her head back and forth slowly, feeling each muscle and tension squeeze or release in them.

Life was strange… existence was memorizing.

She looked up to see a pair of blue eyes, the first color she noticed in waking up for the first time.

“…Gentle now. She’s unused to her surroundings.”

“She’s… Beautiful.”

That voice… was soft and loving.

She gravitated to it at once.

Ember lifted her a moment.

“Careful!”

A hand quickly strapped it down, and she could feel the added weight and limitation.

She didn’t know what she did wrong, or even what ‘wrong’ was.

She moved and she was restrained, so she felt that was life. For what was normal?

“Grandpa!” Maria exclaimed, still holding Ember’s head and positioning her and her upper back on her lap. “She didn’t do anything wrong! She was just trying to explore!”

“Her claws were given her for your protection, Maria! I won’t allow her to unknowingly harm you. You’re frail as it is and—“

“Grandpa… please… Give her a chance to say hello.”

Ember closed her eyes, feeling weary suddenly, before feeling the strap loosen from her arm.

“…You’re far too kind and trusting, Maria… I would warn you… but I fear you’ll only reprehend me back.” There was a small noise, a chuckle? Was he happy? Content?

She twitched out a finger, testing her limits, before turning her sleepy head back to the form of the girl.

“…Hello, Ember.” Maria smiled, like a loving mother or angel over her head.

Ember wouldn’t know it, but when the time came for Maria to smile to Shadow like that, she would be insanely jealous, wishing to have Maria never cease to smile to her like that.

She would love to remember that that smile never did leave her side.

But when Shadow first woke, that smile was for him and him alone.

Maria claimed to never have favorites.

But Ember always knew… She was the puppy,… and Shadow…

Shadow was her favorite.

Shadow was hers.

* * *

“Subject contained, wearing a red cloak, heavy dark boots with straps, and fingerless gloves. Subject appears to be waking up, standby for quarantine.”

“Emm… huh?”

Opening her eyes, Ember was in some sort of cargo-transport. She could feel it shifting in the air, as though she was being pulled away by helicopter.

Where was Shadow? The others? Though she didn’t really care about the others, but all she could remember was the sinking of falling into a vast ocean…

She touched her head, shaking it before sharpening her claws, looking at the metal around her.

“Pfft. If they think I’m going through isolation again…” she spat out to herself, leaning back and relaxing a minute. She usually sharpened her claws when she was bored… but this… was for a purpose.

Shreek.

Shreek.

Shreek.

“Subject appears to be sharpening long claws on her fingernails.”

Tip, tip, tip.

“Subject is flicking thumb and index finger against the surface of those nails. Small sparks are being created… wait a minute—”

She smirked.

“Dumb human.”

When the crate was about to land, there was a sudden hold up from the helicopter.

The crate was suddenly thrust into by large claws, shredding their way down the sides and frightening all who were ready to engage out on the landing dock.

It was inside the G.U.N, heavily-guarded artillery base. Retrieving her hand back, Ember continued to shred from the inside out the metal surrounding her imprisonment, before crying out another Chaos Slash and exploding the remaining container.

She dropped with the floor of the crate down as lights flashed on and sirens roared to life.

She bent her knees, holding her hands out to defend herself whichever way anything was about to come.

“Subject loose! Repeat! Subject not contained!”

“Who’s first?”

As the bullets and other such explosives rose around her, she covered her face and laughed.

“Child’s play!”

She jumped up and slashed through launchers and other canon fire, the machine gun getting knocked out by the repercussion.

“I’ve been wanting to slaughter your sorry butts for a long time now!” Ember was having a field day, destroying all their machines with agile accurately, although it looked like she was just quickly racing around on all fours and being unpredictable.

She was actually bidding her time… waiting…

“General!”

“I know! I know!”

Cocking his pistol, the General swiftly moved down the stairs and sternly walked through the demolition of his forces, having a handful of men protecting him before he fired a shot and hit her arm.

“Ack!”

She spun around, her tail quickly lifting up behind her as she hunched over and held it.

“You…” Her cape swiped back to her side as an explosion went off to the side of her.

He slowly lowered his gun.

“You know I can’t let you live with the knowledge you possess about Code Blue.”

“...”

Ember just kept a small look of resentment. Her eyes slightly honed in on him… and the revolver in his hand.

“A pistol?” she laughed, shaking her head. “You guys were all about hiding your mistakes… but if Code Blue stands for what you did to Maria and Gerald Robotnik…”

“He was a mad man. She was an unfortunate causality in a list of-“

Ember’s head shot straight up to silence him.

“…I know… I saw that list… I saw their cold bodies being warmed by the fresh blood on their faces… I saw how you ‘clean up’ your messes… and I’ll dish out the same justice.”

She got up, beginning to walk towards him.

He staggered back.

“You don’t want to do this!”

He cried out, remaining in his place as many more men went to cover him, aiming red dots all along her body…

Rage filled her eyes, she wasn’t going to stop now.

“I knew them by name… you didn’t even look twice.”

She positioned herself for a Chaos Slash, but a noise stopped her.

Something crashed through the ceiling and landed straight between her and the General’s gap apart.

“…Shadow?”

Super Shadow slowly rose up from his knee, glaring in all seriousness at her.

“I’ve got G.U.N.” Super Sonic was behind him, facing the general, but looking over his shoulder to Shadow.

For the first time, she saw seriousness in his face too.

“What’s going on? Why are you protecting them again!?” Ember roared, feeling the emerald in her chest begin to feed a dark power into her…

She didn’t want to lose control in front of Shadow… not again.

Sonic smirked and waved to her, before charging into the fray with the rest of G.U.N.

“Hey! Let’s not disrupt the family reunion!”

“Sonic!? Cease this instant!”

“Not likely! You’re willing to hurt another little girl? Shame on you!”

He spun through their tanks and other machines they were wheeling out into the open indoor area, as the general was rushed away from the scene.

“No!” Ember saw him being forced to retreat and quickly leaped to follow, but Shadow jumped to speedily grab her by the waist and throw her down.

“I didn’t mean to knock you out.”

“Wait!? Let me go!”

“I… I can’t do that.”

“You..! You’re the real reason why they’re able to get away with all these killings! It’s you! It’s you, it’s you, it’s you!”

She struggled, fighting him as he kept her pinned down.

“…You fight like a child.”

“I’m your little sister! But I was made first! Why is that!? Why did Maria choose to be protected by you!? I was made to defend her! I had the claws! I was supposed to be with her and you were supposed to be for Gerald’s experiments! Why!? Why did she pick you!?”

Ember began to cry, shaking her head as Shadow’s professional uncaring look suddenly bent into one of passionate sorrow.

“You’re… You’re just… letting her killers go.”

He looked to her hands,… seeing the sharp, long claws on the ends of them.

“You… You’re failing her. Cause you weren’t designed to protect her! You were designed to cure her! Make her immortal! All humans—Evil, stinkin’ humans—Immortal! Only Maria should have been like us! Only Maria should have been spared!”

She kicked and squirmed again.

“If Maria knew what they were like-RAUGH! Then… Then she would approve of-!”

“No. She wouldn’t have. She knew.”

Shadow pulled her hand to his head, as she gripped it and pierced her claws down into his skull.

He twitched at the pain, before the anger in Ember suddenly died down… and she leaned up.

“Shadow… what are you-?”

“Look… into… my mind.”

He squinted through the pain, barely able to speak through it as her claws were crushing into his head.

“…See… Maria’s… Last wish…”

She couldn’t look away… what was he thinking?

She gulped and closed her eyes, loosening her hold on his head as she breathed faintly to try and stop herself from crying any further.

* * *

Sirens.

Panting.

Shadow awoke to being inside a containment pod.

He cried out her name.

Standing at a distance, near the ejection switch, she held her chest where a bullet had recently pierced…

“Shadow… I beg of you… Please do it for me. For a better future.”

“MARIA!”

“For all the people… on that planet…”

She softly let out a faint breath, trying to breathe.

“My planet…”

“No! Stop! Maria!”

The doors were about to be crushed off their hinges, and soon, a swarm of G.U.N soldiers were about to appear…

“…give them a chance to be happy. Let them live for their dreams… Shadow, I know you can do it.” She slightly fell to her knees, before willing herself back up, hearing the doors being to budge, and looking back at them.

She looked to Shadow with fear.

“Maria!!!”

He wanted to throw her in the capsule, not him! He wanted to die in her place, not her!

ANYTHING BUT HER!

“That’s… the reason you why… you were brought into this world.” She leaned on the control panel, coughing.

Everything in him loved her, and wanted nothing more than for her to not suffer. He threw back his fists and pounded them into the capsule, but the pod never even shook, only toned out a mellow sound to show the impact had landed.

He was… useless to stop her.

“Sayonara… Shadow The Hedgehog.”

“Maria… I…”

Shadow reached a hand out to her.

Just like upon his awakening… she rose her hand, and smiled.

Just before the capsule took off, her body leaned and he saw her fall on the switch, her eyes losing the radiant shine of her life.

He never saw the body hit the floor… as the capsule was launched away.

“MAAAARRRRIIIIAAA!!!”

* * *

“I promised her. You need to do the same.”

“Dreams..? Happy..? What about our happiness!? Our dream!? We wanted to be on earth with her! We wanted… we wanted her to live…”

Ember pulled and tugged her claws out from his head, as he reeled back in pain and gripped it.

“Shadow…”

Her eyes watered again, seeing the pain she gave him.

“I’m… I’m a monster…”

“No… If Maria loved you…”

Through the pain and blood she couldn’t see through his quills, he squinted his eyes to look back at her.

“Then you were worth the whole of the world to her. You were not a monster!”

It was as if he was also addressing himself, pulling Ember up by her arms and shaking her.

“You are part of her family!”

“Shadow!”

Sonic called, flying into view and looking back behind him.

“They’ve taken the whole place into a shutdown! They said something about being compromised? Whatever that is. We probably should head out though.” He looked to Ember. “Yikes, she looks shook.”

“Enough games.” Shadow glared up to him, “Take my sister and get out of here.”

“What about you!?” She ripped his arms right back, that look of not wanting to lose anything precious to her again still apparent in their fear…

He tenderly looked back, but then closed his eyes to open them in a return of his old stoic ways.

But something had changed in his tone of voice, and she knew he was accepting her now.

“Make that promise to Maria… I’ll be back.” He lightly placed a hand on her own, holding his arm before slowly moving it away, and then getting up.

“Trust Sonic… He may be a clown at times… but…” he looked up to Sonic, who was slowly coming down to stand before the two.

He smiled and put a hand to his hip, waiting to hear how Shadow would finish that last comment.

“…He’s still a hero to this world.” He smiled, a mutual respect as Sonic nodded.

“Geez, Shadow. That’s the first kind thing you’ve said to me.”

“Don’t let it get to your head, Hedgehog.”

“Save me the sentiment. I’ll only say that you’re not half bad yourself. Although mostly an angsty brooder.”

He looked annoyed with an unamused face to Sonic, who only grinned widely and then offered Ember his hand.

“Shall we? It’s nice to see Shadow finally found himself a little sister. I think every dude wishes he had one just as cute.” He tilted his head and closed his eyes, showing some trust and kindness to her.

She pouted, “… I’m… I’m not a child!” she took his hand, and Sonic helped get her into a bridal position in his arms before looking to Shadow.

The two nodded, and Shadow raced off further into G.U.N.

“Why won’t he let me go with him?”

“…Because you haven’t made that promise to Maria in your heart yet.”

Sonic looked back at her.

“Before, we lost track of which helicopter you were in. So Shadow took down, single-handedly, each copter they flew in the sky.”

Sonic relayed the story as he flew out, while Ember clung to him as she listened carefully… cautious as to not dig her sharpened claws into his hide…

She pressed her head against his chest and listened… much like a child.

“He interrogated the crews. Tied them up and shouted in their faces. Heh. We were all pretty surprised he cared so much. It was if Maria had reappeared to him, and now, he wasn’t going to lose her twice.”

Ember’s face shifted into pure shock and love. She had no idea… maybe he wasn’t as uncomfortable with her as she had supposed.

“He was… protective?”

“Huh? Oh… hmm… I think he was just worried about ya.”

Sonic continued to fly off, as Ember felt her body losing its power, slowly slipping off into sleep.

“But I could tell something had changed in Shadow. It was like he had a purpose again. Someone to protect. He found out where they were taking you and what tactic they used to get away from us. He felt horrible about using so much power and force on you. He thought, if you were like him, then he needed to be aggressive and strong. After all, it wasn’t easy changing Shadow’s heart. He was a real power-house. But… I guess you are slightly different. Since you are Shadow’s sister, you must equal his power, and maybe he was a bit too much…”

“…It didn’t hurt that badly…”

Ember looked away.

“I just… I gave up.”

Sonic looked down at her, and then smiled.

“Well, I know you’re both siblings but… can’t you stop fighting enough to realize that you two care a lot about finding the other?”

She smiled and let out a sigh, falling to sleep.

“Thanks… Hero.”

“Heh, don’t mention it!”

Sonic winked down to her, before seeing her close her eyes.

“Oh? You’re not falling asleep now are ya? Aww… and I wanted to talk more.” He acted bummed out, but she peeked an eye open to see him smiling and flying faster now.

“Don’t worry… I don’t think Shadow’s gonna leave you behind anytime soon.”

When she woke up the next morning, Shadow was standing a little ways away from her.

He turned and smiled to her.

“…I promise.”

She gave him the same smile back.

(This was a really fun adventure! I think it was important to relive Maria over and over again to establish how much the character meant to Ember just as much as she meant to Shadow. I wanted to nail the feels, lol xD But another thing is that Ember needed to let go of the past just like Shadow did. He understood that, and by giving her a memory she never had before, I felt like did the trick. This was fun and Ember was always a delight to write! Thanks for everything and I hope you enjoyed your commission! ^^ Please remember to give me a review of the experience and also please look through and tell me if there’s anything you wish to edit as well! This is the end of the story, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!!!)

Fires from Embers

(Bonus Chapter)

By: Cutegirlmayra (For Mary! :D)

“I don’t understand.” Ember held her arm and lightly scratched at it with her sharp nails, being careful not to damage herself, but still looking antsy.

“You’ve given me your memories, although you have a mutual respect for Sonic, you yourself aren’t very close to him. So then… why do you think it’s a good idea for me to spend time with his team?” she raised an eyebrow and held her hand up in a light shrug of curiosity. “I want to spend more time with you-“

“Enough.” Shadow stopped walking as she abruptly halted from behind and to the side of him. He tilted his head back to her, over his shoulder, as he addressed her again, “You have a lot to learn. All that anger for humanity… you need something Sonic and his friends have reminded and taught me further of…. You need to learn the significance of this planet.” He then looked forward. “Of humans… and their dreams.”

“Dreams?”

It was an odd thing to her. Usually, her dreams would consist of nightmares from past, perfect memories.

She looked down, saddened that Shadow still saw her as something needing correction. All she wanted to feel like she had some of her family again.

Then again, his rough exterior wasn’t much compared to his melancholy nature when she last saw him 50 years ago.

He’s lost a lot… so has she… yet she can still smile and joke around at times. He seems to only smile when it’s appropriate or acceptable too.

He’s so choosy with these things…

As they approached Sonic’s best friend’s house, Tails the Fox, she worriedly fixed her attire and tried to look presentable.

‘This was the fox that was nice to her… or, relatively kind back at the floating island.’ She reminded herself.

She sucked her lips in and tried not to breathe as the door opened, and Tails looked puzzled to see her.

“Oh, hello.” He looked to Shadow, then smiled weakly. “W-what can I do for you?”

“I need Ember to spend time with your ideologies.” Shadow placed a hand on Ember’s back…

…And pushed her into Tails’s home.

“W-woah!” she fell, landing on the poor fox and having dizzy eyes as Shadow lowered his seemingly uncaring eyelids and looked down with authority over Ember.

“Learn all you can. I’ll be back before the month has passed.” He then turned around and called out, “Chaos Control!”

“He had that this whole time?!”

He vanished with a brilliant flash of green.

Tails held his head, still a bit dizzy himself before shaking his head to balance himself. He looked around and then to Ember, seeming apologetic and also a little frantically worried.

“W-wai-wait! I can’t just-! You can’t-!” he flew up and looked out the door, seeming concerned. “Shadow!!! She’s your sister! Don’t just…” he slowly turned to look back at Ember.

She had curled herself up with her tail cutely wrapping around her legs in front of her, whimpering and tearing up with big, chibi-anime eyes as her ears flopped down on the side of her face.

“He abandoned me…” she whined out, clearly upset by his dismissal of her into unknown company.

Sweat-dropping in clear awkwardness, Tails hung his head down and sighed, closing the door. “Want some ice cream?” he smiled.

Later that day, Tails turned on a record and played some music, heading to the garage and offering her any of the books on his shelves to read while he worked.

After a few hours, he turned the drill off and sighed, wiping some gunk from his face and rubbing the oil-stained cloth all over his face before breathing in that tainted air and sighing in relief.

“Done~” he looked satisfied, before realizing something was echoing from inside the house.

“H-Huh?” his ears perked and twisted a little back to try and hear better.

It was so faint, so he quietly spun his tails and slowly made his way to the door, creaking it open with a soft turn of the handle. He was being careful not to make too much sound to startle her, but also to hear more clearly what she was singing…

Sweet is the winter,… Calm is the thunder… And don’t you cry~ Mother is here now… To bring in the spring and create the things of life~ Rain, rain, rain… Do you remember the warm rain? Be patient, my child, and sing without guile. Bittersweet is the spring, that carries in the breeze… Calmed by the melting snow… And don’t~ you~ cry~

“Wow.” Tails smiled and flew into the room, spooking Ember who was sitting on an armrest near the record which kept spinning but didn’t make any more sound.

Frazzled, she jumped up and blinked her eyes, blocking with her arms before swiping her index-claws together up and down. “S-so-sorry… I… It stopped singing so I…”

“Is that your favorite song?” Tails glided down then, and walked over to the record player, taking the tonearm and placing it off the record.

“I…” she looked down and away, being strangely shy, and not knowing how much information to tell him.

But… what could be the harm in talking about music? She had a deep passion for it… although… music meant something entirely different to her.

“…I only know one song…” She admitted, and again, embarrassedly clicked her two claws together as she blushed shyly and looked away.

She clicked them right near her nose,… making some faint sparks by her eyes and pretending to not be afraid of getting burned…

“O-oh.” Tails crooked his neck to the side, thinking it odd she hadn’t heard other songs before. “Have you ever thought about listening to them? Or making your own?”

“My… own?”

“Tails!”

“Sonic!”

Suddenly, a gust of wind blasted Tails’s door open, shocking her out of her thoughts and having Tails look ecstatic to see his friend.

He flew up to him and to two high fived.

“What’s up?” Tails greeted, chuckling a little before Sonic nodded to him.

“This.” He held up a letter. “My folks found me. I’m not sure how to respond, but they’re coming down in hopes of hanging out and catching up. I’m not much of a talker but…” He scratched his head, looking at the letter.

Tails scoffed, “Sonic? Not being able to brag and boast about his many epic adventures?” he folded his arms, landing by the door as Sonic smirked to him and then looked over to Ember, losing the smile.

“Woah, you have company!”

“How unobservant of you,” Tails smiled, teasing and closing the door. “That’s really why you should knock before barging into people’s houses, Sonic. At least call first.”

Sonic made a face, before walking happily over to Ember and offering her his hand. “Sonic. But we’ve met.” He winked, trying to be charming.

“H-hello.” She looked away, not sure how to feel about him.

“H-huh?” He blinked his eyes, not sure why she didn’t take his hand. He looked back to Tails, a playful smile on his face, “Looks like I’m not the only guest who doesn’t talk much.” He snickered to himself as Tails rolled his eyes, used to Sonic’s joking and smiling along with him.

“She’s a singer.” Tails pointed out, as Ember flinched with him so willingly giving such personal information out like that.

Maybe she should have been more careful…

“Really?” Sonic cocked an eyebrow up, getting an idea… “My folks are musical. Hey, that’s it!” he snapped his fingers, “We can play in a band again! That’s how I’ll avoid conversation!”

“You’re really funny, you know that, Sonic?” Tails looked slightly amused at seeing Sonic struggle for ‘activities’ to do with his family, but figured Sonic just wasn’t very social about these things.

“So, when are they coming?”

“Soon. Hey, Ember… right?” Sonic scooted his foot closer to her, making her nervous before he bent his head down to match her lowered gaze.

This also startled her, and she regrettably felt a reflex to stab at his stomach.

“You wouldn’t mind singing with us, would you? I mean, if you don’t mind.” He rubbed the back of his head.

She didn’t even have time to speak and say ‘NO!’ before another Pink Hedgehog raced in.

“SONIC!!!”

“Ah! Gotta run! See you in a couple of weeks!” Sonic quickly dashed out the back window and took off lickety-split.

“Huh? See….” She stopped herself, taken aback before shifting her eyes slowly to Ember. “YOU!?” she pointed dramatically to Ember, “Who are you!? And what are you to my Sonic!?”

Her Sonic?

Ember lowered her eyelids in annoyance.

They seem made for each other… what, with all their assumptions and what not.

“Amy, wait! This is Shadow’s sister-“

“Shadow has a sister?” Amy withdrew her finger, which Ember was strangely tempted to chomp at, but withheld herself as Amy did take it away…

“Well… this is kinda recent news. It happened a while back…” Tails also seemed to pull back and withdraw into himself, blinking a little more and sweating harder.

What was this girl’s deal?

Amy placed her hands on her hips, and turned to give a scrutinizing eye up and down Ember’s body.

“Hmm… Well, then. Let’s make one thing very clear then.” She straightened herself up and gave a pleasing smile, offering her hand. “I’m Amy Rose! Official Girlfriend of Sonic The Hedgehog.” She closed her eyes and said this proudly, as if she had worked all her life for that title.

“…Self-proclaimed.” Tails coughed into his hand, “Sorry, cold.” He made an excuse when she glared over her shoulder to him, but then snickered silently and pointed to his throat for only Ember to see, then pretended to strangle himself, as if stating Amy was a bit much for him.

Ember pfft’d, but tried to hold it in.

“What? You think it’s funny?” Amy furrowed her eyebrows, pouting a minute as Ember put her tongue to the side of her cheek.

“Nnnnothing.” She responded, and then smirked slyly back to her. “I just think it’s funny your boyfriend left on such short-notice.”

She blushed in embarrassment, as Tails covered his mouth in shock before slapping his knee and holding in his snickering.

“Shut up, Tails!” Amy turned around, growing upset.

“Hey! Don’t bark at me!” Tails held up his hands defensively. “You saw where he went…”

“Hmph!” Amy started for the door. “I saw him coming here, I just wanted to say hi!”

“Some ‘hi’.” Tails looked sarcastically to Ember, who continued to hold in her laughter.

“OOOOooooOOOhhhhHHH.” Amy whined out, her signature cry, before racing off. “I’ll be back!!!”

“That’s her way of saying, ‘nice to meet you’.” Tails informed, “She was just riled up from seeing Sonic. He did leave pretty fast, and in an extreme fashion…” Tails looked awkwardly back to his window. He sighed, “You’ll have to excuse them. This is kinda a normal occurrence with those two.” He twisted to turn back and look to her before gesturing an arm out in apology.

“Is she always this… um…” Ember didn’t know how to put it, sucking her lower lip in, and trying to think of a ‘polite’ way to say it.

“Proud?”

“No.”

“Direct?”

“Nu-huh.”

“Entitled?” Tails kept going, as if none of these words were new to him.

Ember laughed.

“Hey! I finally got you to laugh!” Tails looked thrilled, but his enthusiasm bothered Ember and she quickly quieted down again.

“I was just gonna say much… Ehem.” She continued, “I guess ‘dramatic’ would be a good way to put it.”

Tails noticed her shift, and pulled back, bending his ears to try and give her some space. “R-right. That is a good word.” He smiled again and gestured to the couch. “Uhh… I know it’s not usually right but… Amy kinda left before I could ask you to bunk with her. I’ll make a call, and until then, you can room on the couch for now if you like.” He tried to be hospitable, and Ember appreciated it.

“Sure.” She nodded, and went to take a small nap.

---

Not too long after that, Ember was working on lyrics, not sure how to do music quite yet until Amy came in with breakfast.

“So, you said Shadow wanted you to learn the importance of something found here on earth?” She dusted off her hands on her apron, as Ember began to touch and test the food, seeing it didn’t look disgusting, and began to eat it. “Did he mention why? Or what?”

“Dreams.” She responded, not caring about being secretive anymore. Besides, Shadow would pick her up eventually. She was assured by his parting words.

If he was just abandoning her, he wouldn’t have given her a set amount of time.

She slurped up her eggs and began devouring her ham sandwich, then started to sip at the milk.

“Wow, you sure eat a lot.” Amy giggled, “That’s good! I once heard something from a show or… was it an article? Men like women with a big appetite!”

“I don’t think I care much about those things.” She took the napkin and happily began to shred it, liking the noise and fiddling with something her claws could do, as Amy looked a bit horrified by the image.

She looked straight at Amy.

Amy looked straight at her, then the napkin.

Lifting another napkin up, Ember never broke her creepy smile or eye contact as she raised her nail to the paper napkin… and gently stripped it down to cut the napkin in two.

She placed it by her side and then entangled her fingers together, politely leaning over her empty plate.

“That was delicious!”

“Emm…hmm…” Amy shivered in fright, before quickly pointing to the plate.

“Yes, I’d love some more.”

Amy took the plate and quickly stopped talking to her, giving Ember a rather quiet day, which was kinda what she wanted.

Lifting her feet up on the table, Ember flipped through channels, leaving scratch and jabbed marks on the buttons and device, but finding something she enjoyed and watched as people sang on t.v.

Amy was doing dishes, before hearing the channels finally rest on something and sticking her head out.

“…You like music?”

Turning a little defensive, Ember decided she had scared Amy enough today with intimidation and just remained silent. She lifted a leg over the other and kept them off the ground still.

She tried to relax, but Amy made her nervous for some reason… maybe it was because she was so… so… open about her life? Herself? Maybe she slightly envied that in her.

“…Well.” Amy walked over the T.V, turning it off and looking sternly to Ember.

This new direction made her lower her feet from the table.

“Oh, thank you.” Amy saw the unpredictable movement of her taking her feet off her lovely table and was a little surprised by it, but continued as she folded her arms. “I’ve been nothing but kind to you! The least you can do is let me help you out!”

“…Huh?” Ember was under the impression she had been helping her this whole time…

“My dream. Let me tell you about my dream.”

“I’d… rather not.” Ember sunk into the couch, before Amy came over and excitedly sat next to her.

Was that intimidation not enough?

Ember was hoping to wait out the time and just get back with Shadow, pretending to have learned something and spout out general things just to continue traveling with him.

But no…

No, there was Sonic and his friends…

They seemed determined to get her to open and liven up around them.

She sighed as Amy continued, “I want more than anything to marry Sonic The Hedgehog!”

Ember thought that odd, and put a hand to her cheek, leaning on the couch.

“Okay.”

“But that means more than just being with Sonic.”

“…?”

“My dream can only be realized if Sonic understands how much we both need each other.”

Amy looked up above the fire place at many photos of her friends and her with Sonic.

“Sonic wants a carefree life, and I want more than anything to be with him. In order for both of us to have what we dream of, we need to find ways that we both can be happy living and being the way we are.”

She closed her eyes and smiled, as Ember wasn’t sure if she understood that… but seeing Amy’s sudden passion and drive…

It slightly… moved her.

“One day, you’ll meet someone that you want to share your dreams with, too.” Amy opened her eyes and rose her head to once again give Ember an incredibly unselfish smile, full of grace and unconditional love. “I hope you’ll find ways to be happy too. Living both your lives the way you wish too. The way you dream it to be.”

“The way I… dream it… to be.” Ember looked down and daydreamed about her and Shadow, living peacefully as a family, and taking care of one another.

A sudden understanding rose in her like a wave upon the shore, and she nodded with a new found energy inside of her. “I think I get it!” she picked up her notepad that Tails had given her and wrote some lyrics down.

“Hmm?” Amy peeked over to see her notes.

Twisting and falling in a sea of oceans, I find my memories~ Threaded and woven into shreds that bleed my anxiety~ I long for your dream. Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~

Amy’s eyebrow twitched, thinking the lyrics a little punk rock or dark.

---

Back with Tails, it was getting close to the time that Sonic’s friends would show up.

Ember watched the clock, still unsure if Sonic still thought she’d sing in his family’s band.

She looked over at Tails, deciding the time would go faster if she spoke with him.

He was cleaning some dishes at the open kitchen and cleared her throat, getting his attention as he looked up.

“Hmm? Did you need something?”

She placed the book she was pretending to read down and tried her best to not look scary, “…What’s your dream?”

He froze up a moment, startled she supposed, before dropping a plate into the sink and quivering in nerves.

“W-w-wha-what brought that out… all of a sudden..?”

“May I know?”

She tried to look innocently inquiring, but she wasn’t sure why she felt she needed too. Were dreams meant to be secretive?

“…My dream? Hmm..” Tails thought about it. He looked up and absentmindedly began to speak out loud, rubbing a plate he had picked up from the dirty, soapy dishes below in his sink. “I guess… to be of use to my friends and Sonic! I used to be bullied a lot as a kid… so…” he nodded and smiled kindly over to her. “Definitely to be an asset to the team!”

“…To not be lonely again?”

“Ah!”

He dropped another plate, having it splatter into the water and wet his face. Luckily, it didn’t break, but he rubbed the water off his fur and looked a little nervous to reply to her.

“I… Um… p-perhaps? Haha…”

Maybe that was too direct or personal.

“Hmm…” she took out her notepad and began to write.

“Oh! My notepad!” Excitedly, Tails flew up a little and looked over her head from in front of her. “I’m glad you found it useful! … huh?”

Am I just a burden, to your living nightmares? Tell me where I need to go? Tell me where I need to be? There’s only one hope left for me. I must survive~ I must thrive~ To keep your sacred dreams alive. Tell me what’s your dream? Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~ And I want to be of use~ To you~

Tails shook a little in the air, clearly spooked a little but happy she was writing something. “S..Song.. lyrics?”

“Hmm.” She nodded, sucking her lips in.

Do or die, you will survive. I’ll never give up, even through countless lies. These dreams we carry, it’s much to heavy, but I’ll push you through, till the battle’s, murders, are done and over!

“This sounds good.” She smiled, seeming to really connect to it all, but Tails slowly shied away, unable to handle words like ‘murder’ and ‘die’.

---

Finally, the hour came and Sonic joked and laughed, seeming at ease with talking although Ember silently knew the truth of his comfortability with seeing them all again.

She kept mostly away from them, until food was served, and helped Tails and Amy pass out food.

She was looking for one last plate to hand out, not sure where the guest was, considering Sonic said he had a brother who was hiding out somewhere in the other rooms.

The garage was fashioned into a ‘concert’ of sorts, and she decided it was best to check there.

Opening the door, she heard the tapping of some metal and closed the door behind her, seeing a green hedgehog making a rhythm on the constructed band set.

He was playing drums, or rather, was in front of the drums and tapping a stick to the most annoying part of it; the cymbal.

Her ears hooked back at each ‘ting’ or ‘clank’ it made before clearing her throat and handing him the plate.

“Here.”

“Oh? My bad, miss.” He certainly looked like someone was a past era, the way he dressed and held himself.

He took the plate but flinched back.

“Y’ouch! Plate scratched me, man!” he looked at his hands, a cut had noticeably formed and was bleeding as Ember put the plate down and quickly looked at her claw.

She had accidentally scratched him while trying to hand him the plate!

“I’m sorry.” She held her finger, not sure what to do but quickly turned to get help.

“Woah! Hold your horses, cowgirl.” He pulled her back, and the sudden touch of someone’s hand on her arm unwillingly froze in her in mid-step.

No one had touched her for a long time… she was living on her own, after all… all those years…

Even this time with the Sonic gang… them laughing and smiling with her… They never really approached or touched her either.

She wanted to yank her arm back, but something about the way he held her arm left her completely in the blank, and she just stared at his hand, listening…

“It’s only a scratch. Those are some rad, long nails you got there! Freaky~” he snickered, only trying to compliment.

She grew self-conscious and looked away. “Sorry.”

“Nah, dudette. You’re alright. Battle scars are cool.” He licked his finger and then pulled out something to wrap it in. “It’s not very deep. Man, you must sharpen them like blades! How long you’ve had them?”

“What?” she didn’t understand, and lifted one hand up to show him her claws. “I was… created with them.”

“No, no, man! Haha! I mean the length. Do you trim’em?”

She didn’t know why she laughed, but the two of them started bursting out laughing.

He put a hand to his forehead, “Haha! You must be Sonic’s friend. I’m Manic. Lil Sis in there is Sonia. Though she’s not really lil, we’re all triplets. Spooky, right?” he twiddled his fingers in front of himself, then snickered to himself again, putting his hands to his sides. “Man. You’re chill. What’s your name?”

“..Ember.”

“Epic band name. Sick.” He gave her the finger guns, and she thought that so weird but strangely cool when he did it.

“Do you play, my dudette?”

“Your?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, my bad… uh… Ems. Do you play?” he gestured to the instruments. “I prefer drums, here!” he raced to the seat as she thought over his strange, and quickly inspired nickname for her.

“Listen to this!” He lifted up his sticks, tapping them three times before playing a fast-paced drum beat.

It was… loud… but wonderfully rhythmatic.

She smiled as he finished it off and then tossed his stick, grabbing it backwards and handing her the front of it.

“Here you go.”

She only stared at it a moment.

“Don’t worry, just try it out for size! It’s amazing what one little tap of this baby can do.”

She carefully took the stick in two fingers, pulling it out delicately as to not scratch him again, and then started tapping the cymbal.

“Yeah… real nice beat.” He nodded.

“Hehe, thanks.” She couldn’t help but find him charming.

He leaned forward a bit, “I guess your instrument isn’t drums?”

“Nah.” She smiled, then tapped his nose with the stick, “Guess.”

He looked completely smitten by that action, and immediately started listed a ton of instruments. “You don’t look like a violin kind of girl… Guitar? Bass? Tell me it’s… Oh, not the triangle.” He covered his head as she shook hers, giggling and leaning over the drums.

After a moment, he was officially stumped, and she pointed to her throat.

“Woah, Ems, hang on… you’re…” he pointed to her. “…A yodeler?”

She laughed, “What!? No! I sing!”

He smiled, seeing she liked his little joke. “Right. I should have guessed! The instrument of the soul, man.” He tapped his forehead and then gestured out to her.

She thought that funny, “Soul?”

“Yo, Ems. Got any music for your soul-song?”

She looked down, almost saddened, “I barely have a dream to give it.”

“Woah, deep.” He placed a hand on his heart. “You know, dreams are meant to be played through and learned from. It sometimes takes a band to play your soul-music, Ember. Allow me.” He spun his one drumstick, and offered her his hand to take the other. “To demonstrate~” he winked to her, with as much charm as his brother usually showed off as well.

Creating a phenomenal beat, Ember tossed the notebook and sang the last part with all her might, grabbing the mic as Sonic and the others came down into the garage, picking an instrument up and picking up where they left off.

Tell me what it’s supposed to mean? The meaning of a soul? The loneliness frightens me, I need your dream to breathe! Ohh-ooohh-oh-oh! ohoh~ Gather family and friends, loves ones- come and see! I’ve found, at long last a dream. Now that I know what it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want this dream~ I want to be, with, you!~ Ohh-oooh-oh-oh! Ohoh~

“Girl got some lungs!” Manic praised, as Sonia nodded in agreement.

“She would be fantastic as a career girl!” Sonia clapped for her as Amy drooled over Sonic, who tried to ignore her and turn his attentions to Ember.

“Want to go again?” he offered her his hand.

With a new resolve, Ember nodded confidentially, and took his hand.

I want to make more dreams with you!

Songs:

- Sweet is the winter,… Calm is the thunder… And don’t you cry~ Mother is here now… To bring in the spring and create the things of life~ Rain, rain, rain… Do you remember the warm rain? Be patient, my child, and sing without guile. Bittersweet is the spring, that carries in the breeze… Calmed by the melting snow… And don’t~ you~ cry~

- Twisting and falling in a sea of oceans, I find my memories~ Threaded and woven into shreds that bleed my anxiety~ I long for your dream. Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~ Am I just a burden, to your living nightmares? Tell me where I need to go? Tell me where I need to be? There’s only one hope left for me. I must survive~ I must thrive~ To keep your sacred dreams alive. Tell me what’s your dream? Whatever it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want a dream~ I want you!~ And I want to be of use~ To you~ Do or die, you will survive. I’ll never give up, even through countless lies. These dreams we carry, it’s much to heavy, but I’ll push you through, till the battle’s, murders, are done and over! Tell me what it’s supposed to mean? The meaning of a soul? The loneliness frightens me, I need your dream to breathe! Ohh-ooohh-oh-oh! ohoh~ Gather family and friends, loves ones- come and see! I’ve found, at long last a dream. Now that I know what it is, I’ll seize it through any means~ I want this dream~ I want to be, with, you!~ Ohh-oooh-oh-oh! Ohoh~ I want to make more dreams with you!

 The Crackling Embers

By: Cutegirlmayra (Thanks for the commission! Here’s something sweet! 😉 )

Ember was rotated backwards on a steel stretcher, strapped with leather, she laughed and figured she could tear easily through them.

Except… she couldn’t move.

The electric steel receptor would zap her even on slightest movement, but that didn’t stop her from wiggling her tail when the door slid open and she saw Shadow.

“Shad-! AHHHHEEEEEOOOO…ouch.” The electricity immediately turned on, shocking her into a stillness again as her tail flopped down over her.

“Hello.” She smiled sweetly to him. “You gonna bust me outta here?”

“…We need you for something.” Shadow stopped in front of her, folding his arms.

“Ohh~ A mission?”

“For G.U.N.”

“Pass.”

She frowned.

“…For Sonic… and his friends.” He glared a warning, showing his need for her to reconsider.

“Ehmm… we’re buddies, but… favors?” she was only stalling now, playing around.

She hadn’t seen Shadow in a while, so she was hoping-

“…For me?” he looked agitated.

“Sure, anything for family!”

He nodded to a camera and she was rotated back into a straight position as he untied the straps.

“This is serious… Sonic team requested backup.”

“Little Hedgehog got his foot struck in a drain?” she teased, smirking.

“… Eggman has taken over 20 percent of the world… And Sonic couldn’t stop him.”

He seemed to grimace at that fact before helping her down.

“Thanks.” She took his hands and hopped off the steel, “One sec.” she lifted a sharp claw…

She shred through the steel with a few quick and precise swipes.

Sparks flickered everywhere and she cockily placed her claws up to her mouth, blowing on them.

“Alright, continue.” She grinned, looking over her shoulder to him.

“But I warn you… I will never work for G.U.N…”

“Hmph, then work for me.”

He looked annoyed, and she wagged her tail.

“There’s never a ‘good side’ to you, is there?”

She followed him through the sliding door of G.U.N’s base, looking around and pretending to be amazed at the technology, but mostly there for Shadow.

“As family, it’s almost like my job to try and find that good side to ya, bro.”

“…Bro?” he seemed confused, turning around. “You were created as my prototype, a companion to me and have restored more memories of Maria than I can count. I owe you that much… but no. We are not ‘family’.” He glared, holding a hand up to her as she went to take it, but winced back when he said such a cruel thing.

She puckered her lips and side-commented over her shoulder, “Grumpy quills…”

They continued to walk and she didn’t take his hand, seeing as he was only gesturing, but she didn’t quite understand the socialisms…

She was still living alone… sometimes running into Sonic and his friends, but not much.

“Who’s Eggman?” she asked, walking into an elevator with him.

Shadow turned around and clicked a button, which fascinated her when it turned bright from the touch.

“He’s Gerald’s evil grandson.”

Her finger went to spike into the next buttons, hoping to see them light up, but her shock at hearing that made her miss and stab the side through instead. “WHAT?!”

Shadow saw the fizzing of the area as she struggled to try and pull her finger out, sighing in disappointment at her childish ways and rubbing the bridge between his eyes with his fingers…

They arrived at an upper level, and Ember looked very confused, finally seeming to take some things seriously.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she followed Shadow out of the elevator, “You mean… Gerald had other family we didn’t know about?” She made a face, showing some sorrow. “Shouldn’t we try and reform him? I mean,… he’s kin!” she ran after him, but Shadow pivoted and continued his cruel stare at her.

“Reform Eggman?” He scoffed, “He’s bent on taking over the world. He’ll robotize every living thing till there’s nothing left to conquer. Then he’ll build a ridiculous theme park!” he swiped a hand out, making Ember step back and look down in greater sadness. “He’s insane… and once again, we have no kin… we’re experiments. Remember your place.” He went to continue walking, but a voice from above suddenly spoke out, making him look around.

“My, my… you’re so cruel to her, Shadow… I’m glad I’m used to it.”

“Show yourself, Rouge!” he almost demanded, making her pout as she was sitting on a beam in the shadows.

Her wings flexed out, making a sound that spooked Ember as she dove down and landed quite gracefully.

“Remember me?” she batted her eyes and then winked to Ember, who swiped a claw at her and growled.

Her ears drew back, not liking this bat girl…

As Rouge flew up again and circled Shadow, she grew even more tense, shaking as she raced to grab Shadow’s back quill. It was instinctive, she just didn’t like other people around Shadow… especially those she didn’t know really well.

She poked her head over Shadow’s shoulder and stuck her tongue slightly out at Rouge.

Rouge smiled back to her before landing by the control panel, revealing monitors as she typed in certain things.

“Eggman has conquered a continent, but he’s not done there. According to Tails, he’s spreading out. We’ve let sleeping eggs lie for too long… it’s about time we stop underestimating Eggman’s potentials.” Rouge turned to them again after typing, “My guess is you’re taking the rocket?”

“Yes.” Shadow turned and grabbed the back of Ember’s red cloak, pulling her back to follow him.

“Whhaa-a-a!” she was startled, tip-toeing back before pouting and turning around. “Yeah, yeah… I’m coming, I’m coming…”

“G.U.N only protect certain areas… we’ll have to infiltrate his base and take him down at the core of his invasion…” Shadow grabbed a large rocket, then gripped her hand.

This made her look down and smile, thinking he was going to help her into the rocket.

But… his grip was really… really strong.

“You should brace yourself…” he mentioned.

“Wait,… What do you meeeeeeAAAANNNNNN!!!” she was shot into the air as he held her hand while the rocket shot up and arched through the skies, a direct route to the continent.

Her gums flapped everywhere, making a silly expression as they finally began to move swiftly through the open skies towards their destination.

“This is gonna take time to get used too!” she screamed through the disturbance in the air, but Shadow kept his eyes fixated on the direction of the rocket.

She frowned again, arching her eyebrows back. “Shadow…”

Her purpose… if he didn’t need her, what was it? She hated the fact that she was just a companion. A prototype… the second favorite…

She looked down at the ground, gripping her arm and starting to feel some pain from dangling behind him.

She looked back at him.

No pain? Or was he masking it under that cold exterior?

She wanted to believe there was kindness in him… and she was sure there was! But…

Will he ever show it to her?

She squinted her eyes shut, biting her jaw down. ‘We’re family! Yet… he says we’re not!’

Once again, she went to inquire, “Shadow!”

His eyes shifted frighteningly fast down to look at her, but his head never moved.

She gulped, “Uh… shouldn’t we be serving Eggman? If he’s Gerald’s grandson…”

“What part of ‘evil’ and ‘taking over the world’ did you not understand?” he scolded.

She looked away.

Suddenly, Shadow’s face shifted, and he looked back at the rocket…

“Hhhmm…” he seemed to disagree with his tone and spoke out again. “I understand that Gerald means a lot to you… perhaps how Maria meant to me…”

She looked back up at him, hearing his voice turn a little more empathic.

“…But Eggman’s not like Gerald. He’s eccentric. Maniacal. There is some good in him but only when the odds are against his favor… then he helps us to defeat a foe that challenges himself.” He glared forward. “He’s selfish and has no care for nature. Life or not, he’ll stomp on anything just to seize power over it…”

“…Sounds unforgivable.” Her mind raced to the children…

“….Ember.” he looked down to her, less angry now.

“Yes?” innocently, she looked up.

“…Stay close. I…” he looked away, being vunerable for a moment. “…I don’t want to lose you.” He stared off into the smoky distance yonder… there, in the grey and brownish hue of cloud cover, or was it smoke..? There came a few robots with jetpacks on, holding guns as their arms, and a large—oversized and ugly—megabot that’s eyes glowed red through it all.

“…Get ready.” He took on a serious look, pulling out a gun.

Ember, seeing the amount of foes waiting for them in the skies, narrowed her brow and swiped her cloak away, revealing her black emerald imbedded in her chest.

“Bring it on!” she cried out.

He protected the rocket as long as he could, but then released his hold and pulled Ember towards him as it exploded from being fired at.

He didn’t even glance at her, just kept shooting, but she used her Chaos attacks to knock out the littler robots flying after them.

“We’re heavily out maneuvered!” she cried out, looking around and noticing they were dodging a lot of their hits. Her chaos moves weren’t necessarily fast enough to get the targets right away, and Shadow’s gun was running out of ammo.

Click, click, click!

Shadow glanced down at his gun.

“Shoot.”

He threw the gun and a robot’s jet spiraled out of control.

“Ember!”

“Right!”

She exposed the spot on her chest and he gripped the outer, slightly protruding part of the emerald.

She closed her eyes.

“CHAOS CONTROL!”

They were teleported before a huge beam of light from the giant robot was able to melt them out of their immortally…

They were flashed back into existence as Ember fell into his arms, exhausted from the dark, prototype power that dwelt within her.

She breathed heavily as Shadow removed his hand and hoisted her up. “Are you alright?” he looped her hand over his shoulders, another hand to help lift her waist up.

“I just… need a moment to breath.” She admitted, but they heard a strange noise…

“What was that?”

Water noises and engines were heard in the distance…

Then, quickly, Metal Sonic and Chaos swerved around the corner of some ruined buildings. A red light flashed and Shadow looked up.

“Darn!” he threw her up into a bridal style hold, and raced on his skate shoes away while the two of them chased them down.

“Find Eggman!” Shadow shouted.

“What!? I won’t leave you!” she gripped his chest fur…

He glared down, “You want to be of use to me?”

Did… Did he know?

“Then stay alive! And get your job done!”

“B-…But what about-!”

What about you?

He threw her into another alley way, flinging her quickly through the air as she flailed a moment and landed in a garbage disposal.

The two raced by her, focusing on Shadow and not noticing the difference.

She shifted around a moment, before coming up with a banana peel on her head, looking upset.

“…Hmph!” she gripped it and threw it down.

“Yuck! Now,…”

She turned around with a glare, bearing her fangs.

“WHERE’S EGGMAN!?”

Pacing around his base, Eggman looked at the blips on his monitors. “Where’d he go…” he gripped his floating chair… “I’ve only conquered this continent… no big deal! Why send him of all things!?” Eggman shoved the chair away as it swiveled in the air and spun rapidly away.

It regained a neutral hover as Orbot and Cubot continued to cower away from it.

“M-may I suggest… we also call in our own backup?” Orbot lifted a finger up, and then placed his hands together. “There are some lovely mercenaries who would be happy to dispose of-“

Eggman’s rage got the better of him. He soared his fist up into the air, and it came crashing down with a terrifying power against the control board.

It dented the area and he lifted his hand, now quivering from the pain and rubbed his other thumb inside the palm of the hurt hand. “Grr… I’d rather deal with this pest myself…”

“Gosh, that looked painful!” Cubot chirped.

“To what? His hand or his ego..?” Orbot muttered, but the two scattered in fear as a wrench was thrown at them.

“You’ll see… I’ll destroy Shadow, and then next-!” he stomped towards them, making a big scene before something rattled above them.

“…What the-?”

Ember smacked a air vent’s entrance down as it slammed against Eggman’s raised head.

“OFFPH!” he fell backwards as she dropped down, landing on his stomach. “IIIEEEE!!!” he arched forward, hovering his arms up as he stared at the unfamiliar face, but Ember didn’t seem to notice him.

She flicked her tail and hit him down, not feeling anything really and looked around.

“Huh? I thought I heard an evil monologue?”

“T-the… The Boss!” Orbot shivered, his hands quaking up by his mouthpiece.

“Boss..? OH!” she looked under herself. “It was so round! I thought it was just a rug or something!” she jumped up and down.

“OFFPH! OFFPH! OOOOO!” Eggman was like a squishy trampoline, every time she jumped up, she stomped both feet down, smiling giddily.

Finally, she jumped off on the third hop and he gripped his stomach, turning away with tears starting up from under his glasses… only on the far edges could you see a trace of them bundled up by his eyes corners.

“That hurt… you little…” he whimpered out while she dusted herself off.

“You know, those air vents really need some dusting.” She then struck an animalistic pose, showing off her claws as she scraped them against each other in long swipes.

Sparks flew off of them and Cubot ‘ooh’d and ‘aw’d as she did so.

She smirked, “So… you’re robotnik’s grandson? You look a little like him, I’ll give you-“ her smile faded, seeing him rise up and shake his head, then turn around to loom over her.

Her perfect memory triggered and before her wasn’t Eggman anymore… it was Gerald.

“And how do you know my grandfather..?”

Her eyes shook, unable to break out of the vivid memory.

She stepped back.

He looked too much like her former master… how could she ever battle him now?

“Who are you?”

He cocked an eyebrow up.

“I… I’m Ember…” she felt her whole body wanting to obey, falling slowly to her knees, catching herself before she did so.

‘Why… Why am I acting this way? My fidelity… is it this strong?’ she twitched violently every few seconds, unable to figure herself out for a moment.

“Ember..? Ah!” His glasses shone a moment across before he put a finger up to his chin.

“Ember Wolf? The immortal prototype. Yes… I remember reading something about that…”

She suddenly looked up, amazed he knew about her.

But how..?

“I… I thought all records were-?”

“Born as one of the first experiments. First to live, however. You’re embedded with a cursed Emerald, one my great Grandfather found and tried to erase from history… It produces a dark energy from time to time… corrupted and unpure, it’s said to completely envelop you in utter chaos...” He looked up, nodding to himself. “Yesss… I think I understand now. It described you as a companion to Shadow. Someone designed to protect, unless Shadow. You’re primary purpose was to-“

He paused, looking down at her and smiling.

“Say… you would be a fine asset to my cause!”

“What cause?” she glared, almost growling out the words as she bent her head down, trying to will her body out of submission. “To rule and ruin the known world!?”

“…What has the known world done for you?”

Her shook and she felt something sink within her heart.

“Join me… Ember~” he spread his arms out, “You’re… family…”

“My what!?”

Now she was able to push herself off the ground, stepping back as Eggman moved forward, snickering…

“Hohoho… Yes, indeed. Ember. For burning passion and everlasting flames that never burn out of loyal love! This is what your name means… I could teach you about yourself… the many things you possess… the many things you can do…”

He lifted his pointer finger up, winking beneath the glasses before moving closer to her.

Shadows of their silhouettes loomed behind Cubot and Orbot as the two watched the scene. Scarily enough, as Eggman grew closer, his shadow turned more diabolical, and Ember’s began to decrease in size…

“We could make this world anew… the way dear old Grandfather Gerald hoped it would be…”

“S-…Stop talking. You don’t even know him!” she struck her foot hard to the metal floor, a vibration came off of it that stopped Eggman’s eager approach. Her tail swished behind her, readying for a counter…

“Oh? Do I?” he leaned back, his smile growing and curving up across his face. “No sick. No afflictions of any kind. A world without sorrow and hunger… an immortal realm of perfection.” He spread his arms out, stating his grandfather’s ideals as though it were poetry.

“You… weren’t you designed to sustain these ideals?” he raised an pronounced eyebrow up, looking back to her. “I mean… you were designed to protect Shadow, and all other experiments. To keep them doing their jobs… After all…” He put his hands behind his back, leaning forward with an all-knowing look and losing his smile. “Shadow was the cure. You were to deliver the package safe and sound…”

“I…” she gulped, unsure if that really was the meaning behind her life. “I’m a delivery girl?”

“Hmm?” He blinked his eyes, surprised by that. He then leaned his head back and let out a mighty laughter, making her flustered and embarrassed as she growled.

“What’s so funny!?”

“Hoho! I meant that figuratively, my dear. This… wonderland that I’m proposing… it’s what you and the doctor always wanted. Even Maria would have been satisfied…” he outstretched a hand to her. “Join me… it’ll be fun.”

She stared at the hand… remembering how Shadow’s hand outstretched to her but she chose not to take it.

She looked away.

“Come… now… be a good little guard dog.” He smirked wider now, his eyebrows coming down slightly as Cubot and Orbot rushed over to her.

“It is rather fun.” Orbot admitted.

“Well, when you stay on his good side.” Cubot countered.

“Ember…”

She froze.

“What would dear old Grandpappy want..?”

Her shoulders fell slightly…

“My Ember…”

She looked up, eyes filled with purpose and determination.

Shadow races through the barren streets, looking to see Chaos and Metal Sonic have disappeared. “Where is she..?” he mutters to himself, whispering it as a quiet plea it seemed to find her. His head shifted back and forth, “She couldn’t have gone far…” worry seemed almost apparent in his voice as though he wasn’t trying to hide it.

“HYAH!”

“What!?”

He spun around, getting taken down by an unknown enemy.

He tossed and fought through the fog…

Gripping their hands, he held the enemy in a lock in front of him. “Show yourself, you coward!” he spoke through gritted teeth.

As the fog cleared, Ember breathed heavily, matching his power…

His eyes widened, “What..? Ember..?”

“WHOHOHOHO!” Eggman’s eggmobile floated down from the smoke above. “HOHOH-ACK! HOFF, HOGH, HAR!” he coughed from the smog and lifted a foot up, standing in his carrier to hack out the dust that entered his lungs, among other unwanted chemicals…

He wiped his mouth and then sneered down to Shadow. “At least one of you is proving useful! Behold! My great grandfather’s experiments do still remember their purposes!!! To serve me!”

“Ember…” he glared at her, but his eyes looked torn between fighting her or not. “What’s going on? What did he bribe you with?”

“No bribe, simply loyalties.” Eggman took out a handkerchief, blowing into it. “Poor little dear…” he faked sobbing, “All she ever wanted to serve her delightful creators. And now that she has one again, she’s putting everything else aside to serve her dear family~”

“Ember, no!” At the word ‘family’, Shadow’s eyes widened in horror. “He’s lying to you!”

“I’m more of a father than you are a brother. After all, tossing her to the side? Tsk, tsk, tsk.” He shook his head, waving his finger as a scold. “You should know better. Well, Ember knows her place now. Best to serve real family than those who refuse to be so!”

“Ember… you’re better than this!” he pushed back against her power, but she stepped forward and challenged it.

“…I…” he looked a little shaken up, something she wasn’t used to seeing. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

“Heeeeh… too late for that. Ember! Dispose of him! He’s not upholding the measure of his creation!” Eggman rose up again, swiping out his hand in a dictator fashion.

“Roger.” Ember cried out and swung Shadow over herself, causing him to crash down.

“Erk!” he sweated profusely against the new outcome… he rolled into a ball to avoid most of the damage, hitting her away by rushing into her gut in a spin-dash, then uncurling away. “Ember, what is this madness?! Your purpose is to be my companion!”

She turned around, smiling. “No…” She swiped a Chaos attack back at him, but he dodged the air slash…

Still looking torn, his eyes shook as he narrowed his stare at her, unable to bear a glare…

“I was designed to keep you in check. Just in case you failed your purpose and went on the unbeaten path.” She rose her head up.

“And looks like you did…”

“Destroy him!”

“Is this about G.U.N?!”

He dodged another attack as she raced up to swipe her deadly claws at him.

Jumping from building to building, the two began a chase, which Eggman followed willingly, enjoying the spectacle.

“Ember! Don’t do this..!” he cried back, “Chaos Spears!” he swiped his arm and yellow spears of energy mass were created, hovering for a second in the air, remaining still until shooting forth after her.

She raced between them, jumping from left to right, before crossing her arms and then slashing them out to cut the beam in half.

His eyes twitched again, her power was much like his.

Since he was startled and in the air, Ember used this chance to leap up, slamming him down.

“WHOHOHOHO!” Eggman stuck up his nose and showed his mouth creating an ‘o’ as he laughed. “Splendid! She’s proving more useful then you ever were, Shadow!”

As they crashed through old, half-burnt buildings, they finally hit a floor that wasn’t just loose debris, but sturdy enough that it could catch their fall.

She held him down by his neck as he looked up to her, reaching for his power limiters…

“Ember…” He wearily spoke out, straining against her hold. “You leave me no choice… I… I didn’t want to lose you… but …” he began slipping one off, “I can’t lose the world… Maria… I promised to give the world she loved a chance… she… she loved it so much…” he was about to get it off before a dainty and gentle hand was placed over his own.

“What?” he looked up, amazed.

Ember smiled lovingly down to him.

“No need…” she stated.

“Brother.”

“Ember..?”

His eyes shook in awe, but she slowly leaned up and off of him.

“I know how to stop Eggman. I gained his trust long enough to at least secure that.”

She winked, flicking her tail.

“Honestly, did you really think I’d get so butt hurt over one little toss?”

She rotated her shoulder, feeling it a bit hurt from the fall and then extended her hand to him, leaning down.

“Let’s defeat him… Together, Shadow.”

He stared for some time, leaning up and then smiling down as he closed his eyes and put his limiters back on.

“I should have known… a double-agent.”

He then looked up with a much kinder expression.

“See? I know my purpose.”

He lifts his hand.

“And what’s that?”

His smile is contagious, and she smiles bigger as well.

“Taking care of my little brother.”

“…Excuse me?”

He looks unamused by that phrase.

“Alright, alright.” She giggles, “Being your helping hand…”

He smiles again, taking her hand with as he’s hoisted up from his spot.

“Then let’s take him down… Sister.”

She squees in delight, crunching her body up tightly and lifting a leg up, glad he finally said it!

“It’s about time!” she exclaimed.

As they came out, they both targeted Eggman’s eggmoblie, holding one another’s hand and remaining close in their leap skyward.

“H-huh!?!?!?” He rears back, moving out of their way. “What’s this!?”

She looks over to see him smiling again, ‘I’m so glad…’ she thinks to herself.

‘He seemed so shaken up when he thought he had to stop me… I’m glad I know my true purpose.’

She then turned back to Eggman, a look of fierce conviction on her face.

‘…To never break his heart…’

After a huge explosion and Shadow and Ember taking down some of Eggman’s forces… Eggman flies home on a half-broken Eggmobile, smoky from hits and his head all crisped up from their Chaos attacks.

He falls onto the floor and starts bashing his huge fists into it. “It’s not fair! It’s not fair! Everything was looking up so well…” Eggman sprayed chibi-tears, whining about his mishap of trusting Ember.

“Sir… if I may…” Orbot hovers over, typing some things into the monitor as Eggman throws his tantrum, kicking and crying, before looking over to the screen.

“Hmm?”

Cubot wipes his tear with a handerchief, “Here, blow.” He instructs lovingly as Eggman turns back, broken down and defeated, and blows his nose into it.

“Yuck! This blows!” Cubot didn’t like the snot on his hand and ended up making a pun as the handerchief stuck to him. He waved his robotic hand frantically around in disgust, “Ahh..ahhh!!!” flying around in despaired distraught before Orbot showed the mercenary group he mentioned beforehand.

“There. Now these are some of our finest allies! You should hire them.” Orbot scanned the screen closer in on the face of their leader…

“Oddly enough, he’s never known defeat. Sound promising, boss?” Orbot turned to look back at him as the screen kept closing in on the main leader…

Eggman sees them,…

Then the leader.

He smirks with a shine in his glasses…

“They’re perfect. Hehehe…hohoho…WHAHAHAHA!”

End

EMBERS OF SOULS

 By:Cutegirlmayra

 “Hyah! Rah! Take that! Have some more! Stupid rocks and trees! Taste my fury!” A grey wolf spun and tumbled away, hitting and kicking trees and rocks as she trained herself.

She scratched her nails in a wild swipe against a large, mostly flat-sided boulder and left sparks trailing in its wake. She breathed hard a moment, smiling as her white teeth showed her satisfaction at the mark left on the rock.

She wagged her tail a moment in sharp swishes before putting a hand behind her back, using the other’s pointer finger to carve her name into the rock.

EMBER – THE LAST OF GERALD ROBOTNIK’S CREATIONS

And underneath that she wrote:

SHADOW – THE LAST OF US ALL.

She smiled at the oddity, wondering what some passerby would think of her little, funny inscription. But she began to wonder about it. Life and death… but then she got a call.

 “Huh?” She pulled the communicator out of her red cloak’s pocket and place it up by her ear, careful to not stab the buttons in with her newly sharpened claws. “Is this Shadow? If not, I’m not talking.” She stated firmly, but a sigh was heard on the other end and she excitedly perked up. “Hey, Big Brother!”

 “…I have a mission for you.”

 “Oh! This is a first. You didn’t even backlash about the ‘Big Brother’ comment.” She lightly itched her nose, not sure what he wanted but glad he was finally accepting her as part of his ‘forged’ family.

“Sonic and the others have a bit of a crisis. Eggman’s attack left one of their friend’s house decimated in the crash. Luckily, there were no serious injuries except for a young girl needing a cast on her arm.”

Ember heard the line and closed her mouth. A deep sorrow stung at her heart. A little girl..?

“I was hoping I could send you to watch over them and help fix their home. Sonic and the gang still need to track down the other parts of Eggman’s machine that scattered when Super Sonic destroyed it. It could have caused more damage. Stay there until further instruction.”

 “So… you’re sending me on clean-up duty.” Ember arched her eyebrows, pouting childishly at that remark. “Hey… when can we ever… you know… hang out again or something?” she was started to feel lonely. She hated the mission assignments Shadow gave her from G.U.N, mostly because they were always apart and never had time to reminisce together.

She knew he was a loner… but still.

She hated being alone…

“Enough chatter. I’ll entrust you to this matter.” The phone clicked on the other end and she held it away from her ear, swallowing her feelings down and just looking off into the sky.

“…He’s always so busy… I guess that kinda makes me happy though.” She put the phone away, carefully, since she knew she could barely control her strength after a training session. “It means he can keep his mind occupied on other things… instead of that thing.” She was referring to Maria and the incident that happened over 50 years ago.

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Ember followed the coordinates and came across a crash site. Seeing the debris of wood and home appliances everywhere, she figured she was in the right place.

She grimaced at a burnt oven with its door agape and scratched her neck lightly. “Man, this looks rough… poor kid.” She thought, “Poor family…” but she spoke aloud, which gained the attention of a older woman, a bunny whose ears perked up at the sight of the stranger coming by.

 “Are you the friend Sonic spoke about, young lady?” she was removing things from the mess her house was now in, rubbing her hands to clean them on an old dish towel. “With everything going up in an array of chaos, I was very pleased to hear that Sonic and his friends would send some help to clean up the awful mess Eggman made.”

 Ember immediately felt herself tense up at the stranger. She seemed polite and kind, warm and friendly in her face, but the tenderness was swiftly ignored as Ember braced herself.

She pulled her shoulders up and clenched her fists, sadly, a case of having learned to distrust others flooded her memories and kept her from speaking right away.

“I guess we’re friends.” She slightly spat out, not liking to admit it. “But Shadow asked me to… attend… so here I am.” She put her hands to her hips and tried to relax herself, but her attitude was rude and she knew it.

She looked away, ‘Why am I being this way? I should have outgrown this behavior by now…’ she mentally scolded herself, but the bunny lady just blinked her eyes in surprise at her passive comeback.

She giggled sweetly, throwing Ember off guard and causing her to falter on her stance just a moment. She wiggled in the imbalance that suddenly came from her feet and looked back at the woman, her arms flailing about, “W-w-why are you laughing at me!?” she didn’t mean to make it sound so demanding, it was more a curious question out of shock and less from anger.

“You remind me a bit of him.” She cooed, and it left Ember with a faint red on her cheeks.

“R-really… you really think so? Me?” She put her finger up to her face, pointing at herself in disbelief.

She didn’t know why the comment made her so happy, but she gleefully smiled and pounced up to the lady. “The name’s Ember.” ‘I like her.’ She stated, finding the woman much more approachable now.

“I’m Vanilla.” Vanilla offered her hand and Ember stared at it a moment. She leaned forward, sniffing it, finding only wood and burnt smells on it and lightly placed her finger and thumb on her fingers.

“Pleasure.” She ‘attempted’ to shake her hand, but it was just awkward.

Vanilla giggled again, “You’re so funny! May I?” she gestured to Ember’s hand. “You don’t seem used to our ways… are you not from around here?” she took Ember’s hand and lightly placed it in her own, letting Ember feel the soft but tight embrace of the hand wrapping around her own and then shaking it gently with light jumps.

“…Fascinating…” Ember twitched a moment, but then watched with fixated wonder as she allowed the stranger to take her hand and intimately hold her hand with it.

It was like…

Maria…

“Are you alright, deary?”

Vanilla blinked again in confusion at her silence, but Ember shook that thought and continued, smiling and waving her other—free hand—to show Vanilla she shouldn’t be concerned for her.

“O-oh! Just a memory! Nothing to worry about!” when Vanilla released the hand… however…

-flashback-

“Hold my hand, Ember. That’s it! No need to fear. Grandfather is hard into his study, let’s just enjoy this time together being he ruins all our fun!” Maria took her hand lovingly, careful to avoid the tips of the fingers where her claws lay in wait.

“That’s it… like so.” She bounced the hands up and down together, then more quickly as she noticed Ember’s hold stick more and more.

“This is dangerous…” Ember nervously allowed the girl to do whatever she wanted too with her hand, but the thought of Shadow or her creator charging in and scolding them worried her.

“Nonsense! This is how people on earth communicate with one another.”

Ember looked up into Maria’s beautiful eyes.

“With hands?”

“Sometimes. It’s a form of greeting. How do you do?” Maria nodded her head and shook the hand again.

“…How… do you do?” Ember repeated, but barely copied the motion back.

Maria delightedly laughed and praised her, “That’s it! You’re a refined woman now.”

“Refined..? Like metal?”

“Uhh… like a well-rounded human being with manners.” She corrected, but very lovingly as she took her other hand and held Ember’s again.

“…Promise me you’ll always remember your manners, for when you go to earth someday… promise?” She leaned forward, and Ember was slightly taken aback.

“G-go?” she leaned back, holding up her other hand in a flinch of fear over her herself, her arm crooked to show that emotion very clearly. “To earth?”

“It will be wonderful! We’ll be a proper family then.” She nodded again and released Ember’s hand, leaning up, and kissing her forehead.

“Be good, Ember. I’ll try and sneak some treats from the kitchen!” she winked and scurried off, being careful to check down the corridor before charging to find some goodies for themselves.

Ember continued to kneel on her legs, looking up from the floor to the door that Maria just exited from.

She looked down at her hands, longing for the warmth and comfort the sweet touch had given her moments before.

“People… greeting one another… just like Maria and me.”

She imagined that, and smiled.

-End of flashback-

“W-wait!” Ember was cautious as she reached forward to take the woman’s hand again, making sure that this time, she would keep her promise to Maria.

Slowly, she formed the proper handshake with Vanilla, leaving her slightly speechless at the sudden touch from Ember reaching for her out of nowhere.

“…How… do you do.” She shook the hand, then tenderly smiled down to it. “Sorry… I shouldn’t forget my manners.”

Vanilla stared a moment… before nodding with a kind and understanding smile.

“That’s alright. You don’t know me very well, and I just met you. I can understand if you’re nervous.”

Ember smiled up at her, “You’re very kind. And could you not call me ‘Deary’ please? I know you meant well, but it makes me slightly uneasy…” she bent her ears back in apology, she just didn’t like the loving pet-names right now. It wasn’t a good time.

“Alright, forgive me then.” Vanilla also looked apologetic. “Ember.” She stated. “What a beautiful and true name.”

 “True name?” Ember cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”

“A true name. As in, it matches you very well.” Vanilla smiled gleefully, releasing her hand after the awkward moment of Ember forgetting it was even there.

“Ah! Sorry!” Ember apologized again, scratching the back of her head. “Ow!” she accidentally spiked herself with her claw, and pulled it out to stick it in her mouth.

“My,… you really are just bursting with life! That’s why I think Ember is a great name.” she looked back into the burned and torn apart house. “Cream, darling? Would you please introduce yourself to our new friend, Ember?”

‘Cream..? And Vanilla?’ Ember raised an eyebrow, ‘What a weird ‘true’ name they have. But both must be sweet.’ She silently thought with a cheery smile.

But when Cream walked out with her cast on, Cheese hovering in the air after her, and the burned down house around her…

Ember’s eyes changed…

“Hello!” Cream stated, but then a flash changed the setting. A dark sky, a miserable sack for a dress and a little girl beaming her big, innocent eyes up at Ember.

“Pleasure to meet you!”

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Back at G.U.N, Rouge was typing some things into a computer when Shadow walked in, removing his limiters and placing them down on a table.

“Oh? You look pretty banged up.” Rouge turned around, smiling as he groaned and rubbed his arms.

“Eggman give you and the gang a hard time?”

“Sonic was being careless and reckless again… but we finished the job.” He commented, “What news on Ember..?” He looked behind his shoulder at Rouge, as she smiled and kicked her leg up onto the other, tapping it in the air a moment.

“These days it’s never about ‘Hi, Rouge. How are you doing?’ but always, and I mean, quite frequently about your little sister’s well-being.” She smirked and looked back to him from the corner of her eye. “Makes a girl slightly jealous sometimes…”

“Hmph. Quit playing around, Rouge.” He began to stride towards some water, picking it up and cupping of it in his hands. He dumped it over his face and looked as though he was trying to relax. “I don’t know her well, but I do know that there’s some sort of… connection between us two. I only ask because she knows my past perfectly. I owe her for the memories she has granted me.” He shifted himself back to Rouge, letting the water drip off his quills and over his muzzle. “Now… what news of her dealings with Vanilla and Cream the Rabbit?” he asked very directly, not taking any more funny busy.

Rouge frowned, but then shrugged, “If you must know, she apparently went through an episode and nearly scared the two half to death.” She clicked on the computer and showed a white figure screaming up and tearing more of the house apart, her eyes black—blinded by rage.

“She fell unconscious soon after. Vanilla and Cream made it out alright but were unsure why she suddenly started attacking the house. They’re caring for her on their torn sofa and waiting for a reply-“ before Rouge could finish, Shadow had grabbed his limiters, his eyes wide in horror and shock, and was charging out the sliding steel door.

“I won’t be back till late!” he called out, just before the doors behind him slammed.

“Heh, knew you cared.” She closed her eyes. Even if he never outright stated it, Rouge could tell he cared for the girl and went back to her boring work… she tilted her head, “Aw man… now I’m stuck here again…” she continued to type up her reports.

Ember went rogue again. Requested Shadow’s Assistance. Project Shadow went to secure her. End of Update.

“These reports on her behavior are starting to look grimer and grimer by the minute.” Rouge didn’t like writing it, but knew she was under contract too. “Pfft, since when did I ever listen to rules?” she back-spaced and typed again.

The unit known as Ember is still under mission. Requested backup by Project Shadow. End of Report.

She smiled.

“Go save your family, Shadow… I’ll help from this end. Just…

—Be careful.”

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Shadow skidded to a halt near Amy’s home, since Rouge had sent him coordinates stating they left the ruined home and came there instead.

He breathed a bit heavily, worry striped over his face like a paintbrush. He immediately composed himself and knocked on the door.

When Amy opened the door, he glared, “Where is she?”

“Don’t be too hard on her, Mr. Shadow!” Cream’s voice rang from inside, causing the two to turn and look to her.

“She honestly seemed to be having a PTSD moment… She was screaming something about G.U.N…” Vanilla also piped up, her hand daintily coming up towards her face.

Cream nodded and took her bundled fists up near her cheeks as well, “Please don’t be angry at her, Mr. Shadow! She didn’t hurt us, honest!”

“Chao, Chao!” Cheese waved his hands about in a pleading manner too, his face showing the love and concern of his family’s desires within them as well.

“We moved her from the scene, thinking this might trigger her less. She’s inside.” Amy turned to reply to Shadow, looking sorrowful at the situation but allowing Shadow the right to make his own decisions based on what he heard. She opened the door more and stepped aside, letting him enter.

“She didn’t harm any of you?” He repeated the information, checking to ensure this was correct.

The girls nodded, “Not one of us were harmed. Even while moving her.” Vanilla stated. “I reached out and soothed her to calm down, she fell right into my arms and let me carry her about.”

“…Let me see her.” He moved past the girls, clearly calm but inside, he was shaken up at the news.

“Did she injure herself?” he knelt by the couch, seeing Ember breathing with her mouth open and looking fairly passed out.

“I don’t think so, she just lashed out and started destroying the already crumbling house.” Amy was only stating what she had heard from Vanilla and Cream, and then looked to them kindly, “I’ll get us something to drink.” She smiled, trying to reassure them it was all alright. “Now that’s Shadow’s here, I’m sure Ember will come around and tell us what happened.” Her positive attitude did in fact calm Cream and she smiled with a nod.

“Thank you, Miss Amy.” She stated as Cheese leaped in the air towards the kitchen after Amy, wanting to help.

“You should go help Amy, Cream.” Vanilla turned to Cream, lovingly. “She may need help with carrying the trays in.”

“Yes, Mama.” Cream got up and caressed her cast, looking to Ember one last time before bounding off after Amy.

“Thank you.” Vanilla nod, “Please be careful not to trip with your cast!” she cried out as she noticed Cream’s fast pace.

Cream stopped and turned around, waving and then nodding apologetically. She used her ears and flew carefully after Amy.

Vanilla turned to Shadow, a look of worry again she didn’t want Cream to see. “What do you think could have caused her to snap like that? All Cream did was say hello. Did she had a past with children in it before?”

“It wasn’t just the child.” Shadow had his eyes fixated on her stressed body, seeing it heaving for air and her head slightly tossing at irregular intervals. “I believe it was the sight of an injured child.” He reached out, lightly preparing himself as his hand hovered over Ember’s head.

“What are you doing to her..?” Vanilla asked, raising her head up to see what he was going to do.

 “Ember has the unique ability to share her memories with others through mostly touch.” Shadow explained, a strand of wary sweat fell from the side of his head as he readied to dive into her thoughts. “She’s so engrossed in her mind right now… she’s not even aware of the physical world around her. I believe if I touch her, she may feel my presence and let me enter her thoughts.” He was about to do so, but Vanilla asked another question.

“Is it dangerous? She won’t lash out again, will she? I mean… how will she know the touch is by your hand?” Vanilla’s worry was deeply appropriate, considering Ember could tare into Amy’s house like she did Vanilla’s. Or worse… what if she attacked him?

 “…I hold chaos power within me.” Shadow stated. “But perhaps you’re right.” He removed his hand, “Out of the slim chance she may retaliate, it’s best to drop us in the middle of the woods somewhere where you’ll all be safe.” He looked back at Vanilla. “I was hoping to clear her record of her mischievous actions since she’s joined G.U.N. They’re still hesitant to trust her, and for good cause, but… this didn’t end well.” He looked back to Ember. “I’ll take her out and leave you three be. Sonic and the others should be informed that you still need help with your property. Forgive her… she’s…” he looked back up at Vanilla, seeing a mother’s care in her face, and took a bit of mercy into his consideration. “Deeply disturbed by the pains of her past.”

 “If I’m not mistaken, when we first encountered you, you were the same.” She smiled in the understanding that Shadow figured she would have concerning this event. He nodded and smiled lightly up to her. “You’ve taken her under your wing, haven’t you, Shadow?” her inquiry was more suited for a statement, but Shadow just bent his head and closed his eyes.

A light chuckle escaped his lips.

“She’s certainly a handful.”

“Like a child.”

“But children must grow up.” He opened his eyes and the sweet moment was lost. He picked up Ember, careful not to disturb her restlessness and trigger her again.

“I’ll take my leave now, tell Amy I won’t be around for the drinks.” He continued to look to Ember, cradled in his arms as he then nodded to Vanilla and departed.

She bowed respectfully to a guest leaving, and then worriedly looked out the window. “Please be safe… Shadow… Ember…”

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Deep in the woods, where owls hooted with frightful, intimidating cries—Shadow lay a tossing Ember down on the cold, grassy ground with slight mud patches here and there.

“Alright… now let me in.” He held his hand up by her head again, “And this time… don’t try to break my limps.” He slowly lowered it down to her head.

Nothing happened…

“Tsk.” In disappointment, he rubbed her head and tried to stimulate her to feel his presence.

She made slight noises of discomfort, shaking her head left and right, still out of it.

“Ember… let me in.” His words were more gentle this time, but still firm with command. “You have to let me see… let me help you…”

He rubbed his thumb between the bridge of her eyes, then patted her head to try and again alert her of his presence.

Her tossing fit stopped and she continued to breathe hard, but then…

There was a flash of light.

Shadow’s consciousness slipped and he fell beside her, his hand still on her head as the vision of a burning village was now before his dream-like appearance.

“Am I… a ghost?” he looked himself over, “No… I’m not supposed to be here. That’s why I’m like this.” He noticed his hand was see-through, and looked around the dream. It had never been this strong before, her memories… and seeing them so vividly disturbed him.

The air was silent except for the roars of the flames, and he searched for any other sound that could indicate people in the village, but there was nothing but silence…

“Where are the screaming? What has happened to the people?”

He then heard a loud cry, “NOOOOO!!!”

“Ember!” he turned himself around and started skating towards her. He saw her fall to her knees on a hill, seeing the destruction, then racing up and charging towards the fires.

“She’ll get herself killed…” he bit down on his words, glaring as she wobbled into a house and burst into her super form.

“That foolish girl… she’ll get burned in the flames.” He watched, knowing he couldn’t do anything.

After the destruction, he witnessed her digging the ground, “What is she doing..?” He came behind her and folded his arms. “…She’s been at this all day…” he looked up to the sky, watching the memory speed by and slow only when she carried a limp body in her arms.

Suddenly, Shadow’s eyes trembled at the sight of the burnt child’s body… it’s face hidden from view as the shadows of the following night came into view.

“She… no…” She had to bury the bodies… all by herself.

He watched in sudden agony as she placed each child in a grave, each adult that was also found into separate and larger piles.

In her hands… was a piece of metal with the G.U.N insignia.

“No… They couldn’t have…” He didn’t understand, and something within him didn’t want to know.

“They..!” he turned around, a hand over his face as he was overcome with emotion, but dared not to let it out.

“I’m through with this memory! Take me out of the vision! Now!” he swiped his hand and a flash of light returned him to his body, laying on the ground, blinking his eyes open.

He watched as Ember rose up, no more harsh gasps for breath and walking away from him.

The wind lashed against her on the cliff side as she staggered, then took on a firm stance.

“You serve a people of murderers!” she cried out, tears breaking the barriers of her eyes. She sharply swiped her head to the side, “You… You work for them… the people that killed any and all survivors that could retell our story… Gerald Robotnik’s story… Maria’s… story…” she clenched her fist.

He rose up, “Gerald Robotnik was a lunatic.” Shadow stated with no sound of remorse, causing a spike of anger in Ember as her eyes burst open and a flood of spraying tears leaped from her eyes.

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!” she flung her cloak behind her, holding her twitching and enraged hand out in front of her. Her claws were drawn… but she was trying to hold back. “HE’S OUR CREATOR! He wanted a better world than this!”

“He was willing to kill an entire planet upon the death of his research!” Shadow opposed, stepping boldly to her and swiping out his own hand. “I loved Maria just as much as you and he did..! Maybe even more than the two of you combined!” he declared with a somber but heroic tone. “I had to place her wishes above my own… she never wanted us to revenge the mistakes of her grandfather. She wanted us to help the world! G.U.N has many crimes under their belt, but they’ve paid for their misdeeds! They’re a new order now!”

“NOOOO!!!!” Ember charged forward, swiping her hands at him as he skillfully dodged and lurched back. “They’ve deceived you! You’re becoming one of them!” she tightened her fist and pulled back the claws, finding an opening and punching him back across the face.

He stumbled but then swiftly replied with a punch in her gut, causing some spit to fly out of her mouth and get pushed back and off of him.

He wiped his cheek, not seeming too phased by her as she gripped her stomach. An open frown revealed her clenched teeth, her eyes shaking at him attacking her back.

“I had to master my own demons.” Shadow continued, “What have you done to forgive?!”

“Maria… You want me to believe that Maria would forgive murderers..?!” Ember shook her head. “Why does everything revolve around what she would want and what she would do!? As though she was an angel!” Ember shut her eyes tightly, as Shadow’s anger now spiked.

“Because she was-!” he threw a kick forward, but Ember caught it and used her arm to push it back.

She stumbled back, “I don’t want to fight!”

“Then what do you want!?” Shadow crouched down, ready for anything.

…Ember’s shoulders bounced.

Sounds of crying ensued.

Shadow held himself back, leaning up as he saw the tears but not her eyes, hidden by having her head held straight down in misery.

“Maria wanted me to save them… to properly greet the world with a kind and warm handshake…” she began, before shouting out at Shadow. “You haven’t cured anything! You want your purpose to be about pleasing Maria’s memory. You don’t even have every memory that you spent with her unless I was there to witness it! You don’t even know who you were back then! You can’t know… you just see it through my eyes and are content. Who are you, anyway!?” she fell to her knees, sobbing.

He lowered his fists… walking slowly up to her.

“You want me to just put thousands of lives behind me!? Act like they never existed just because their one wish was to live a life free of strife and panic!? You want me to-… to…”

 “It’s never easier just because it was one life or more.” Shadow bent down, placing his hand on her shoulder and kneeling in front of her. “What makes us so powerful, Ember… is that we craft our own purposes. This is something I had to learn. Something you’ll have to discover for yourself.”

 She continued to listen to cry. Overcome by her own memories she couldn’t shut out.

“It’s difficult to bury the past… I’m sorry you had to do so alone… but you’re not the only one who’s lost loved ones. Who’s witnessed injustice go unpunished. We must consider the welfare of all over the few. We must try and save those few. We must try and redeem ourselves and see the world for all that is good within it. We shouldn’t ignore the bad, but we should protect what is right and pure.”

 Ember shook her head, “You’re not making sense… murderers should die. They should.”

 “…You’ve killed before… haven’t you?”

 She suddenly jerked violently, unable to speak.

 “…So have I.” Shadow moved a bit away, “But those days… I’ve tried to rectify through many more good deeds… knowing they can’t outweigh what I’ve done… or tried to do.” He looked back to her, lifting a hand and placing it on her cheek.

The sudden touch filled her with that same warmth from the handshake, and she looked up weakly into his eyes.

 “…Do we deserve the same fate? To die?”

 She bit her lower lip.

 “After all the good we’ve done since… do not even we deserve a second chance at redemption?”

 “…I love you… brother.” She lowered her head, shaking his hand off of her. “But… I will need time to answer that.”

 “Then give yourself time. I don’t blame you for anything, Ember. The house will be repaired, so can a soul, so can the past…” he stood up, offering her his hand. “And I… Care about your wellbeing too.”

 She looked up, a strange, childish and open smile coming across her face.

 He lightly smiled for a moment too, but when it became too odd or sentimental, he turned to look behind him and away from her.

 “You’ll discover your truth… I just want to prevent you from thinking and feeling as I did… so long ago.”

 “Don’t worry.” She took his hand, careful of her claws and feeling secure in his touch. He helped hoist her up, “I don’t feel like blowing up the whole planet over a few people’s misdeeds.” She sighed, “But… I can’t say I’ll just agree to everything G.U.N says or does willy-nilly… I’m only doing this for you. To be close… to you.” She looked away again.

“…Well, we have eternity.” He ruffled her head in a sign of comradely, which made her giggle and wipe the remaining tears from her eyes. “Let’s not waste it on tears.”

 She nodded.

 “Is… is that little girl, okay?” She looked down, “I tried to control myself… tried not to hurt them…” she seemed disturbed by this fact.

 Shadow smiled again, “Actually… she was more worried about you.”

 Ember turned to Shadow, hearing him repeat Cream’s pleas for him not to be angry with her, and carried Ember back to the G.U.N headquarters.

 Ember heard how Rouge covered for her, but didn’t thank her, still uneasy with the bat.

 The next day, Ember did come by Vanilla and Cream’s home, helping them pick up the pieces of their broken home and even helped with repairs.

 Rouge was relieved to write a good, honestly decent report about Ember for once.

 Success never felt so sweet… especially with delicious treats at the end of their hard days work provided by Vanilla and Cream themselves! Oh… and of course, Cheese too. “Chao, Chao!”

  https://marydragneell.tumblr.com/post/155863341779/oc-mobian

 From the Embers

By: Cutegirlmayra

Commission for Marydraneell

Ember sharpened her claws by striking at a tree, then turning around to rapidly spin and slash a bolder. She was training, having decided to travel some ways away from G.U.N and where Shadow occupied his time. He was gone on a mission and told her to stay put. She pouted, remembering how stern he had been.

“He never lets me play with him…” She mumbled, practicing some techniques like kicking her legs up in the air to stretch and full force strike the air.

When she had done everything she knew, she lightly skimmed the emerald on her chest, feeling it’s stony hide and wondering if she should practice her chaos powers.

She looked it away… it was pretty risky. If she lost herself, she could turn insane. But she had always wondered about that archived data of Sonic and Shadow turning super to save the Arch. Shadow had asked Rouge to show her the data and read some documents, which would have been cooler if they were written like a story and not a government conspiracy.

Still, she missed Shadow… Maria… Gerald…

She sighed and sat down, still tracing the smooth surface of the emerald. “Why would I be given a cursed emerald, and Shadow tainted blood?” she wondered what Gerald was thinking, her beloved doctor who saw her more as a prototype and dangerous than he did Shadow. He let Shadow and Maria interact because Shadow knew to keep his distance and not play too much with her. Ember didn’t have that kind of self-control… she wanted to play with Maria, but even just one nick and Gerald would have scolded her. Shadow might have even punished her.

It was a hard-knock life…

She laid fully down, letting the shimmering light bounce off of the emerald as she pulled her shirt a little down to let it soak in the sun.

…Wouldn’t it be nice to just be a normal wolf?

She thought maybe that was going too far.

Her eyes watched the sky… What’s so great about chaos anyway?

She just wanted to be with Shadow…

“Now!” A voice billowed out the command as Ember’s ears twitched, leaning up and looking around.

Robots flew everywhere, swarming in different sizes and all sorts of different designs as they fell around her.

They grounded themselves with a loud stomp as wind picked up around them, a huge airship suddenly dropped its invisible camouflage and she gasped.

“Eggman!” she saw the symbol on the side of the airship and powered herself up with chaos power. “I thought I trashed you a year ago!”

“I got better.” She could imagine Eggman smirking behind the speakers. “I hate to make our reunion so uncharacteristically short but I’m on a tight schedule and I have no time to dawdle!”

“But I like dawdling…” Ember smiled, looking at the robots surrounding her from the ground to the air.

“Chaos-!” she withdrew her hands in, feeling the power begin to soar through her.

“Not so fast!” Eggman’s voice rang through the skies as Robots began to put up a forcefield of some kind.

“Control!” She spread her arms out to create a huge explosion, but somehow, the reflective shields caught it and pushed it outward, barely touching the airship.

“H-huh?!” Ember was flabbergasted. “That… usually works.” She sweat dropped, but it was almost humorous how surprised she was.

‘This doesn’t look good.’ She thought, ‘I could take them all out one by one but… I’d only be climbing up to the ship…’ she looked around her, swishing her tail for balance at the powerful wind gust from the chaos explosion.

“Maybe I could teleport away using the cursed chaos emerald…” she gripped it, but something told her it was no use.

“Nice try! Whohoho! But I’ve taken extra precautions this time!” a hook dropped from the air ship, and then millions of them started to dangle down and reach out for her, zipping down through the air with loose chains that held them to the ship.

“Wahhh!!!” Like a crazy crane game, Ember jumped and dodged as many falling claws as she could, but with the surrounding robots it wasn’t easy.

She was trapped!

“Grab her, you fools!” Eggman cried out as the robots began to maneuver around the bungy-jumping claws and keep her tightly in place within a small area.

She growled, slashing and striking down a few, missing others in her frenzy to get away.

There was too much action going on now, her mind was racing just as fast as her eyes could follow movement.

If she didn’t get away…

She ran on all fours, trying to increase her speed as she slashed Chaos strikes through the air and managed to damage one of the claws chains, having it crash to the ground.

“Grrrrahhh!” she picked the broken chain up and swung it around, using it to knock down other on-coming robots and tie other claws together, leaving them uselessly opening and closing while tied and spiraled together.

“Vermin!” Eggman insulted, “I was hoping to use this new strategy on Sonic after testing it out on you! But clearly you’ve found a few kinks in the matrix!”

“Heh, you flatter yourself too much, Eggman.” Ember smiled, though panting at the exertion of keeping the robots back. She began to power up her swings, having her emerald glow as she used abnormal strength to bring the chain and claw she was swinging up over her head.

“Hmmmm????” Eggman’s voice seemed enraged but also curious as to what she was trying to pull off.

“You’re not smart enough to form a matrix with anything!” she threw the claw up to his ship.

“Eeeeee!!!” Eggman’s airship started pulling up. It’s long, blimp-like nose diving upwards towards the sky in hopes of dodging her attack.

The claw gripped the airship, driving its sharpened talon trio into the metal like paper against scissors.

“You little-! What’s this!?”

Hanging by the chain, Ember used her upper body strength to grip onto the chain and pulled up along its side. ‘There was no way out of there besides up! I didn’t want to board the ship… but I’m gonna have to!’

“…heheheh….hohohoho!” A laugh came from Eggman’s mic. “Welcome aboard!” The ship suddenly began to spiral, turning as it twisted upwards like a rocket, causing Ember to have to hold on for dear life.

“Whaaa!” she couldn’t climb while the wind pressure flung her back so heavily. She ducked her head, hoping to breathe but it was difficult too with all the wind smashing into her face.

“We’re experiencing some minor wind turbulence, but nothing a failed experiment can’t handle, right?” Eggman mocked, flying the ship horizontal again and having the robots all surround it. “Fire!”

They shot at her as she found her breath and grip again, climbing towards the claw as the other dangling ones were withdrawn up into the ship.

She saw a hole opening, and though her back was being fired by gunfire, she jumped and managed to get air-sucked into it.

When it closed, she crashed on her back and winced in pain.

“Great… now I’m in the ship.” She wondered if that was what Eggman wanted in the first place.

She felt fire suddenly and gripped her emerald. “Awh… Ow! Why?” it was burning in her chest, something it didn’t usually do.

“What’s happening?” she turned to look at something glowing green in the center of the large metallic area.

She walked towards it, hearing a slight hum that continued to flare up her emerald.

She blew down towards her chest, not sure how else to stabilize its sudden rapid temperature spike.

Then she saw it.

“The… Master Emerald?”

It was hooked up to the core of the ship, and Ember thought it might be convenient to destroy the ship from here.

There were large tubed wires hooked up to the Master Emerald, and flicked her claws together, creating sparks.

“I could start a fire… but then at this height, the smoke could really choke me.” She was trying to strategize, something Shadow had taught her on missions to stop and do.

She hated thinking too much, since her nature was naturally to just go and have at it, but she wanted to do this right.

Without Shadow to come and save her, she wanted to make sure she did this job proper, maybe get a praise or two from her figurative brother.

She smiled and closed her eyes, wagging her tail at imagining Shadow patting her head in approval.

“Here I go~” She began to swipe at the tubes, easily cutting their rubber skins and having gas fly out everywhere.

“Huh? No electricity?” she was shocked she wasn’t zapped a little. “What was this? A ruse?” the lights suddenly turned off as red eyes turned on all around her.

“Look at what you’ve done!” Eggman’s voice came back on the radio throughout the airship. “You’ve ruined my stage!”

“It’s a fake!” Ember exclaimed.

“Not the Master Emerald, how else would I get Sonic into my perfectly disguised trap?”

“So, I’m just a guinea pig to you…” insulted, she formed a tight fist with her hands, but was careful to keep her claws out of her palms. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t cry wolf?”

As the robots charged their blasts, a yellow light in the dark, it illuminated just enough to show her cocky grin.

“Chaos control!” she blasted the area, sending the robots flying.

“Hahaha! Do you know why your emerald is cursed?!” Eggman suddenly blurted out.

“H-huh?” Ember felt her whole body on fire, falling to her knees to grip her chest. “It burns, it burns!” she cried out, tears falling from her eyes as the emerald felt like it would melt her from the inside.

“My grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, found that emerald in the rubble of the Ancient ruins! Thoughts turn to power with Chaos’s abilities, but all their evil thoughts, including his own, were given to that emerald… It became so polluted with their selfish and dark desires, that the Master Emerald has rejected its power! Shadow can control chaos, while you… you are cursed with it.”

“I already knew it couldn’t be purified.” Ember strained to move her legs, still hunching over and gripping the emerald with her arms intercrossed to do so.

She turned to the speaker, enraged but too hurt to do anything. “W-why am I even here? What’s your game? Your trap failed.”

“On the contrary,” Eggman’s voice sunk into a wicked state, like a submarine turning into position to strike. “You’ve become the trap!”

Electricity suddenly zapped around her feet. She cried out in pain as the electric bolts scaled the surface under her and danced about in jagged forms.

She collapsed.

When she woke up, she ached everywhere. It was dead silent, with only a few lights above her. Bright white, dulled by a blanket of dust in the air.

It was a stuffy room, but she could feel she was restrained and looked down.

More tables with straps to keep her in place?

She would have struggled more but just flopped her head down. After all, she was exhausted from the effects of the cursed emerald being repelled by the Master Emerald.

“Stupid thing.” She growled, closing her eyes.

“Powerful thing…”

She immediately was startled into lurching up, eyes wide open. The strap caught her though, stopping the motion as she looked in front of her.

In the back, a faint form stood, until he walked into the light with a big white smile on his face.

His glasses glowed a devious shine before he rubbed his hands together from the side. “Allow me to remove that burden for you, dear…”

“R-remove it?” she started growing nervous, seeing him jerk down some analog sticks. The action followed with surgical equipment slowly, like sentient vines, wiggle and sharply turn as they fell down above her.

“N…No,” her eyes shook in horror.

“Oh yes…” Eggman beamed.

“No!” she tried to kick her legs, but she just couldn’t summon enough power to break free of the restraints!

“Yes…” He leaned forward, clicking a red button on the top of one of the sticks and having the saw turn on and slash around the air.

“Stop it!” she screamed, trying to use her tail to some use but it just flailed around and knocked over a few cans on the ground. They were full of cotton swabs and bandages.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Eggman pulled the machinery up, and for a second, she stopped struggling and breathed hard.

Giving her some time to rest wasn’t wise, but she was thankful for his ego as he started to ramble. “I haven’t told you why I want your emerald yet.”

In her mind, she wondered why it mattered. But it could give her just enough time to recover… she better keep him rambling. “Yes…” she swallowed hard, trying to calm herself down. “Do tell.”

“Hahaha! Well, it all started with… eh, why stall? Hahaha!!!” he turned the devices back on, toying with her as she started to freak out again.

She tried desperately to move around, break free, but it was no use.

The machines encircled around the emerald, a beam of red laser light began to slowly make its way towards her like a surgeon’s blade.

With hysteria at feeling the heat of the small laser touching the surface of the emerald, it immediately retaliated.

The device was meant to give a small incision, not really do much damage to Ember, but as soon as it scaled the side of the emerald to get to removing it, her whole body shone with a dark aura.

She was lost in the shock and fear, and her body was fully possessed by the 8th cursed emerald. It looked like she had fainted, but her eyes shot open to reveal black, then stripes that shone a black light and her body flaring up into white.

“What!?” Eggman pulled the weapons back. “I thought she couldn’t control it?!” he was growing panicky.

“This looks an awful lot like…” Orbot was manning the grids, checking out her power levels and seeing them begin to rise. “Super form.”

“That’s impossible.” Eggman swiped a hand back to him, “Cubot, get the backup machine ready. I don’t want her blowing my place up in unbridled fury!”

“Right away, doctor!” He saluted, but rammed into a wall and had to readjust himself, rubbing his square head.

However, the intensity of the insanity lead to her almost growling or roaring in slight, agitated aggressions. She continued to fight to be free, but the straps were holding tight.

They transferred her to a machine, locking her in by her arms and legs, holding her up as the power flared around her, like a misty glow that warned danger.

“She hasn’t tried to attack yet.” Orbot stated.

“That’s obvious. The Emerald’s only concerned with defending itself. She’s too absorbed in the madness to figure out how to summon enough power to fight back. She’s not even really there, so it seems.” He snapped his fingers, but there was no response from Ember.

“Hmm… Start draining her, like the aliens on those planets.”

“But sir! That technology is out dated! Wouldn’t you rather use the world sucking life-“ Orbot tried to suggest an alternative but Eggman just gave him a look and he quickly retreated from the idea. “Eep! Right away, Doctor Eggman!”

“Bumbling bots…” Eggman grumbled under his breath. “Metal!”

Just then, Metal Sonic emerged from the shadows.

He looked to Ember’s insane head shaking and slamming herself against the machine’s back to try and escape. He then turned to Eggman, ready for an order.

“She’s delirious and weak from the Master Emerald’s influence right now. But soon… she won’t be. Guard her and make sure Sonic doesn’t wander in here by mistake. And if he does…” Eggman leaned down, raising an eyebrow to see if Metal Sonic had understood his implications.

Metal Sonic immediately slashed into a defective body of a robot beside him and ripped it out.

“Excellent.” Eggman grinned, patting Metal Sonic’s head and storming off. “Cubot! Orbot! To the main ship!”

Metal Sonic looked over to Ember, he walked up to her and began to shake his head, mocking her for her illogical movements.

After several minutes, and the insanity still present, Metal was alerted to Sonic and his friends having infiltrated the trap area. He wondered if he would even be needed… Infuriated at the thought that he would only play guard here while Sonic was running around the rest of the decoy ship.

Her grunting and snarls picked up pace, continuing her savage look and actions.

He simply tapped his finger on his folded arms, waiting for something exciting to happen… like for her to really lose her mind.

He lifted a claw up, suddenly getting an idea.

How easy it would be to just…

He started to move his hand towards the emerald radiating its light from her chest…

He was bored, so why not give it a try?

But as he began to try, the pressure around his arm began to crunch it inwards, and he quickly pulled it away.

Studying what the emerald’s power had done to it, he glared her way.

Then there was an explosion at the door.

Metal Sonic turned his attention away from her and she let out a cry, the pressure causing the machine and its electrical circuits to malfunction and begin shorting.

Sonic rolled into the area, uncurling with a hand up behind him and one knee pressed firmly to the ground.

“Miss me?” Sonic cockily smirked up to Metal Sonic.

His engine flared in response, a spark of rivalry and endless loathing as the two began to duke it out.

“H-huh?” Tails looked around the corner to see Ember, “Ah! It’s Shadow’s friend!” he hollered out.

“What, Ember’s here too?” Knuckles charged in, “Darn! What’d he do to her?!” Knuckles began to pound his fists. “You turn off the machine, I’ll punch her out of there!”

What they didn’t know, was once the electricity stopped shocking her, and the machine’s hold on her released, that she was just getting enough power to really wreck havoc again.

And they were in her way…

“Ember?” Amy raced in, hitting away some following robots and dodging Sonic and Metal Sonic’s fighting to successfully catch her from her slight fall.

Knuckles nodded.

 “But why here?” She continued to ask, but Ember was still far from everyone as her body was still being possessed.

Her head rolled back, hands twitching, like a panther readying to pounce and storing energy inside itself for the kill.

“What made her so weak..?” Amy noticed she didn’t have a scratch on her, but the power also made her concerned.

“No time for any more questions.” Tails pressed a button and the side of the ship exploded, creating an opening to the outside where they were. “Let’s get her on the X-Tornado!”

“Not without my emerald we’re not!” Knuckles protested, stepping forward.

Sonic and Metal Sonic still fiercely battled behind them.

“I’ve already got the Master Emerald when we first broke out of his trap!” Tails explained, “But we don’t have time to talk about this right now!”

The wind rushed by everyone, and immediately, Ember’s head shot up and a blast burst from her.

“AHHH!!” Everyone took cover but Amy was shot to the side.

Sonic grabbed Metal Sonic’s foot, seeing Amy get flung back, he threw Metal Sonic’s body in front of her to stop the blast from spreading past him.

It gave him just enough time to grab Amy and roll to safety.

The blast grew over the entire ship…

Their bodies were being singed, so Knuckles quickly grabbed Tails, throwing him out the opening and fought through the burns to run past Ember and get Sonic and Amy.

Metal was slowly boiling, but he got up, resisting it enough to still fight.

“My eyes… ahh!” Knuckles had kept one eye open, but the blast had stung them so badly that he was forced to close them. “It’s like their melting out of my sockets!”

With the two under his armpits, he raced out of opening and fell through the sky.

“What about Ember! Ah!” Amy felt her tongue burn as though they were too close to the sun.

Then…

The entire ship turned to ashes…

A second power, lighter in color, overlapped the first ball of chaos power and took everything in its wake.

Metal Sonic was just about to strike her, when he became nothing but soot through the air.

Tails called the X-Tornado over, and the gang was quickly caught but…

“Were we too late?” Sonic commented, looking through the skies before Tails pointed to something falling.

“There!”

Fully having spent her power, the emerald had withdrawn and Ember was returned to her fainted state of consciousness. She fell through the sky, free but very much in danger.

“She’ll lose oxygen way too quickly.” Knuckles tsk’ed.

“Hang on!!!” Tails maneuvered the ship to bank hard and then point straight down. “Amy! You’re hammer!”

Amy was straining against the wind pressure, but nodded. Sonic held onto her as she held her hammer out to ‘hook’ Ember’s limp body and pull her into the seat.

“We got her!” Sonic called, squinting an eye open to see Amy hold her upside down into the plane.

“Pull uppppp!!!” Knuckles cried back, seeing the ground steadily approaching at a rapid speed.

Tails used all his might to bring the plane from its freefall into a spiraling recovery, showing off amazing piloting skills as Knuckles looked back to see the Master Emerald had broken lose from its ropes and began falling down to the small amount of space between the ground and their aircraft.

“My Emerald!” Knuckles’s eyes turned white in rage, his mouth huge with rage. He jumped off and glided through the air.

“Knuckles!” Everyone called.

They figured he’d be okay, he was just gonna chase down the emerald after all, but that’s when Eggman’s main fleet showed up, firing at the Master Emerald to try and break it into pieces.

You know, just to be annoying.

“Should we go back and help him?” Tails asked, but that’s when Ember—head turned on the ground and legs up by Amy’s face—began to slowly come too.

“H-huh..?”

“Let Amy take care of Ember! Knuckles can rough it out for a little while.” Sonic seemed to be suggesting it, but Tails took it as the plan.

“Right!” he nodded in all seriousness to him and began to land the plane.

Ember slowly woke up laying on the ground, Amy attending her with bandages. It spooked her out at once so she flung back and pulled her arm away, “Wh-wha…?”

“It’s okay… Calm down…” Amy gently bobbed her hands up and down in a rhythmic motion, like waves upon the ocean.

Ember breathed heavily, scared but also unsure.

She then saw the burns on Amy’s arm, and although distrusting of Amy, realized that she’s seen those burns before and drew closer.

As she crawled closer, she spoke, “I know these burns… They’re from my cursed emerald.” She touched her emerald gem and then looked up at Amy. “Why are you helping me?”

Amy giggles, throwing Ember off as she flinched back, surprised.

“Because we’re friends! All of us.” She nods, confidently and then looks over her shoulder. “Sonic and the others are finishing off Eggman’s fleet right about now.” The air was littered with blasts and sounds, smoke and raids. She figured it was just a storm coming, but when she squinted her eyes and leaned up a bit, she noticed the small dots of robots targeting a plane.

“This was my fight, I should-“ she was about to get up, but Amy lightly touched her arm and she sat down, flinching at the pain.

She groaned with a hiss at the obvious state she was in, as Amy continued to try and bandage her up. “It’s alright. I told you, I’m here to help. You’re in no condition to fight so let me just-“

She swung her arm away from her.

“Hey!” Amy protested, pouting at her defiance.

“Hmph.” Ember attempted to fold her injured arm into her other but had to keep it loose to stay comfortable.

“Ohhh… You’re just gonna make yourself worse like that. But I can see the resemblance between you and Shadow, haha!” Amy laughed into her hand, but Ember took that as a slight compliment.

“You think so?” She looked back at the girl, surprised she wasn’t scared of her.

“Absolutely! You two are truly made from the same element.” She teased, but Ember smiled with a blush.

She decided to let Amy heal her, after all, it was the least she could do after… “Sorry.” She looked away, seeing the burns on Amy’s body again.

“Oh, this?” Amy followed her eyes before she looked away and smiled. “You really helped us back there. You completely disintegrated Metal Sonic though!”

Ember’s ears flicked, “Good.” She grumbled. “He was a jerk.”

“So you remember?” Amy tilted her head to her.

“…A little.” Ember looked away again, nervous around this girl. “Could you tell me everything? From your side of the story?”

Amy went on to explain the story from her side, speaking about Sonic and the gang along the way and what they saw when they found Ember.

“We all saved you, every one of us!” Amy concluded, and turned back kindly to Ember, who was sinking more and more to the ground in embarrassment at almost ending everyone’s lives. Amy must have not realized it or didn’t care to bring it up, but Ember’s power could have easily done the same thing to them as it did to Metal Sonic…

“But I don’t understand…” Ember swallowed some spit, sitting up and taking some courage to bring it up. “Why did you all save me? I mean nothing to any of you...”

Amy gasped, “Who told you that!?”

“But… you-you don’t know me! At all! I’m dangerous-!”

“Anyone can be dangerous, that doesn’t mean they can’t be our friend.”

“Amy!”

Amy turned to see Sonic waving from the X-Tornado. Knuckles had his Master Emerald strapped to its back and the ruins of what was left of Metal Sonic.

Tails landed and Sonic jumped out, bending down to stare at Ember with a pleasant look of curiosity in his eyes.

She pulled away into Amy, not liking the sudden attention from the man.

“Looks like sleeping beauty’s awake.” He teased.

“Sleeping ‘death bomb’ if you ask me.” Knuckles chucked the remains of Metal Sonic and Ember watched as the burnt steel slammed to the ground in front of her. “Hmph. Did a number on Eggman’s ship too…” Knuckles put his hands to his hips.

Why was everyone treating this like it wasn’t a big deal?

“I-…” Before she could say anything back, Tails just strode up to her and sat down, startling her terribly.

“What’s wrong?” He noticed her flinch away from him and depart further into Amy’s hold, but didn’t understand why she was so afraid of their reactions.

“You… You should be afraid of me.” She admitted, and hugged Amy, finding this whole situation unreal and unsettling.

Tails just smiled and pulled out his MilesElectric. “I hate to tell ya this… but we’ve befriended bigger threats than you.” He chuckled to himself, “One of them being your big brother.”

“Little…” she muttered, but realized the truth of their words. “Wait… are you friends with Shadow?”

“Sure!” Sonic chimed in, “Whether he wants to admit it or not, we’re all on the same side.”

“Can I check your vital signs? I need to make sure that chaos explosion you did back there didn’t hurt you too badly.”

Why… Why were they being so friendly and kind to her?

The Echidna was right, she was a death machine! So then… did they just not care about their own lives?!

She hesitated, thinking them all insane for helping her, but let go of Amy and let Tails take her hand.

“Honestly, she’s a little… jittery, isn’t she?” Sonic looked to Knuckles.

Knuckles just shrugged.

“I’m right here, you know…” Ember pouted, not liking how chill they were. But more so than that, she was uncomfortable with them playing her off as something ‘shy’ rather than ‘dangerous’.

“Hey,” Sonic squatted down beside her as Tails started to record and measure her breathing and heartbeat. “You feeling alright? You know, we’re pretty easy to get along with. No need to play up anything. We’re not afraid, just worried about you, okay?”

…Worried?

She thought only Shadow could feel that way about her…

She saw how they all had singed markings on their fur arms, … she looked to Tails and felt the need to cry but held it back.

She just squinted her eyes shut, not daring to look up at Sonic’s sweet face again.

Sonic arches his eyebrows back, seeing how emotional she’s getting.

“Well, come on. I think you’re alright. Let’s get you back to Shadow, where I’m sure you’d like to be.” He gently coaxed her eyes open, lightly rubbing with some tender care her arm so she would.

When she looked back at him, he took her hand and pulled her up, helping her to her feet.

“Well, Tails?” he looked to him.

“All signs point normal.” Tails winked, and then got up as well, helping Amy to stand.

She watched in silence for a moment at everyone just… acting like comrades and remembered her small village of children.

She looked down and thought about Shadow, if he really was a ‘friend’ to them more than just an ‘ally’ who helped saved the world with them.

She never saw him hanging out with them…

But this feeling… she liked being liked. She liked being worried about.

She remembered Amy talk of heroism in her re-telling of the story and saw the friendship she mentioned all around her.

“Alright, I’ll go back with you on some conditions.” She began, and the team all turned to her after hearing the serious note take hold in her voice.

“What’s that?” Knuckles inquired, as Amy giggled.

“She’s trying to cover up her silliness with a new found powerful tone now.” Amy put her hands behind her back, and embarrassed at her words, Ember blushed and shushed her.

“T-that’s not true!”

The gang all laughed, seeing her ‘tough girl’ attitude suddenly break from her face.

“Hey!”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me. Powerful.” Knuckles turned to her then, stopping mid-way into laughing.

His eyes blinked as he processed what to say, then walked directly face to face with her, “Where’d you get that emerald in your chest from, anyway? I thought I had the only seven left?”

“G…Gerald imbedded it into me.” She sweat-dropped. Maybe if they knew what a real monster she was, they wouldn’t be so carefree around her… She ducked her head down, “The echidnas used to it to try and conquer the world and chaos, directly. When Tikal died, they used this emerald to try and bring her back.” She touched the emerald, as the team’s faces lit up with the name.

“You know Tikal?” Tails questioned.

“…I used to see her in my dreams.” She admitted, “But not anymore… They failed to revive her because of their wickedness. Chaos’s power is of destruction, not life.”

They all looked a little sad to hear that but understood her logic.

“So… how’d it become cursed?” Amy’s sorrow was apparent in her voice, but she was also trying to be delicate about the matter.

“…” Ember took a deep breath, “The Master Emerald is connected to the seven servers. When thoughts are powerful enough, enriched by the heart, they take form and become power. However, the echidna’s thoughts were evil, and because their hearts couldn’t enrich the power, they polluted the emerald. This caused the Master Emerald to reject it. Thus, there was only seven pure Chaos Emeralds, and one Cursed.”

She skimmed the emerald and then lowered her shirt a little to reveal its full look.

The team gasped.

“Filled to the brim with negative chaos energy, it’s only destructive, and not healing.”

The team remained silent for a moment… before Sonic chuckled and turned on the charm.

“That must be annoying. Bet when you feel a scratch, you can’t just turn it to it’s side or whatever to get it, can you?”

She looked up with a blank stare before laughing at his joke. “My nails would scratch me if I tried!”

They goofily laughed and caused the atmosphere to revert into one of playfulness.

She boarded the plane and continued to combat Sonic with joke after joke, her tail wagging as she got her to forget about her problematic nature and turn to something more engaging… a friendly game of ‘unlimited jokes’ instead of ‘deadly power’.

As they flew through the skies, Amy also talked with her, happy to have a female friend to talk to for a change and Ember slightly agreed on that.

Trust formed slowly, but Ember noticed more and more how accepting she became of them, because they accepted her and all her faults first.

Once arriving at Tails’s place, they held a small celebration when Ember announced she felt she had fully healed from going berserk. There was food and drinks, and when candy was announced Ember grew excited and grabbed two large handfuls of it, almost breaking the bowl in her rushed frenzy to get some.

“Thanks! You guys rock- ICE CREAM!” Ember’s gratitude was cut off when Amy and Tails brought out more desert and treats, causing her to once again stuff her face with sugary treats.

Before anything else could commence, the door was suddenly flung open with a powerful kick, and a dark figure briskly walked into the room. “Where is she?!” He declared.

“Sh-Shadow?” Ember ducked, her ears bent back as she saw how seriously ticked off he looked…

He saw her and immediately came at her, “You fool!” he hit away her food as she stumbled back.

“G-wah!”

“You fought an Eggman Airship!?”

“It… it turned to dust?” she shrugged her arms out, making Sonic and the gang feel bad for Shadow scolding her.

“Don’t play dumb with me…” his eyebrow twitched at her innocent reply. He grabbed her coat and pulled her towards him. “You were reckless and you know it! I told you to lay low but you deliberate got yourself into danger! What if Sonic wasn’t there!? What would you have done if-!”

“H-hey! Relax, we got her out.” Sonic tried to distill the situation, but Shadow just glared at him from the corner of his eye.

“Stay out of this, hedgehog. This is between me and Ember. Not any of you.”

“But Ember’s our friend!” Amy announced, standing up to him with her hands bravely on her hips, taking control over the situation to help Sonic. “She didn’t do anything wrong! She said Eggman was after her emerald and she went berserk. She could have escaped on her own to be fair…”

“What?” He looked back to Ember. “You mean… you didn’t pick a fight with Eggman?”

“No, he came to her!” Tails spoke up, “At least, that’s what Ember told us.”

Ember scratched the back of her head, not used to having a team of ‘friends’ help her out and side with her on anything before…

“Hmm… Is that true?”

She remained silent and looked down, clicking her pointer finger’s nails together in sheepish peace.

“…Hrrm.” He let her go, “Guess I haven’t heard the full story yet. Only that an Eggman Air fleet was annihilated by a huge chaos surge. I knew it was you, but I didn’t realize you were only defending yourself.”

They… defended her?

She looked to the team, who smiled and nodded for her to tell the truth.

She took some candy and held it up to Shadow, nervously. “Hehe… He basically had me surrounded.”

Shadow stared at the candy, and put a hand up to it, turning away. “Then I’m at fault, forgive me for rough-housing you like that. Continue with your little celebrations. I have work to do.”

She cut him off, grabbing his arm, “Wait! Just one… piece of candy?” she continued to wave it around. “As a true apology to me?”

“I’m not one for sweets.” He growled, not liking her stopping him.

“Aw, instead of outright refusing, try at least a chilidog?” Sonic held up the food in front of Shadow.

“Eat it, eat it, eat it!” The team and even Ember joined in on the peer pressure.

Shadow looked around, before swiping the food out of Sonic’s hand and closing his eyes. “Hmph, if it’ll get you to let me leave faster… I suppose I can tolerate some kind of meal…” He took a bite.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and the team all gasped.

“I… I think he likes it.” Amy stated.

“I think he loves it.” Tails exclaimed.

Ember, like a proud sister, held her hands up to her mouth in pure joy. “I think he really, really loves it!”

The rest of the night, Shadow ate and the team partied all together. Ember could finally say… she felt she had friends and a family again.

-The Fire’s Scourge.-

The Fire’s Scourge.

Commission for the lovely Marydragneell

By: Cutegirlmayra

Dear Manic,

Your song lyrics are so funny, not everything has to rhyme or sound like a poem. But I appreciate it, it’s great to read. I’d rather hear it though! Or at least sing it! When do you plan to visit me? It’s gets boring here sometimes… especially when Shadow bosses me around about being all ‘responsible’ and ‘acting my age’. I’m the same age as him! I was even created before him! I’m practically the oldest… anyway, I’m grumbling on paper, haha! Send me a mix-tape sometime and don’t be afraid to write back. I enjoy these letters.

I enjoy scrapping my claws against the thin paper as I write to you.

Sincerely, The most epic wolf you’ll ever know! Ember

P.S: Ember is easy to make songs out of, try and be more creative next time!

It was the last letter she had written Manic… before the letters stopped coming.

Ember lightly made sure her claws wouldn’t crease too much of the paper, deciding to write another letter in hopes he may respond this time. Like he used too…

The letter folded neatly into an envelop as Ember sealed it with a lick. She held it close to her face, letting it touch her nose as she excitedly withheld herself from getting her hopes too high.

Again…

She had been pen-paling Manic The Hedgehog, Sonic’s brother, for a little while now. Ever since Rouge gifted her a writing kit, trying to make peace with her since they sometimes had to work together, she’d been writing him back and forth like this.

She hopped down from the G.U.N HQ’s desk she was at and went to put it in the mail chute when Shadow stormed up to her.

“Where were you?”

His voice sounded annoyed, not like his normal, causal brooding…

“I was… um…” she hadn’t told Shadow about her little crush…

He looked at the letter in her hands, but she quickly stuck it in her tail and smiled nervously to him, “I’m just writing Santa!”

“Hmph.” He shot air out of his nose at her humor. “When are you going to start-“

“Acting my age?” Ember rolled her eyes, “Get to work? Be nice to Rouge? Hang out with people? I thought we were passed this already, I’m a grown woman! Let me live my life!” she folded her arms before exaggerating her independence, “I do jobs for G.U.N, don’t I?”

“Speaking of which, there’s been a portal breach near where you’re supposed to be patrolling.” He glared her down, seeing her trying to wiggle the letter out of her fluffy tail and get it in the mail chute.

When she saw him staring, she pretended she was just wagging her tail in excitement.

He pinched the middle bridge of his nose, “What am I to do with you?”

“Love me?” She moved back a bit, not sure if he’d find that funny.

His look certainly showed he didn’t.

“If you’re not going to take this mission seriously, I’ll go myself.” He grabbed what looked like a brown, dirtied cloak with rips all throughout it, but Ember immediately reached forward, grabbing a bit of it.

“No!”

“No?” he pivoted, “What do you mean, no? I thought you were ‘enjoying your life’?” he seemed to be spitting the same wording she had used in previous discussions right back at her.

Ember sweated a bit, seeing how angry he really was at her, but realized he was trying to cut her some slack. “You’re a good brother, Shadow. Whether you want to be or not.”

He raised an eyebrow, but she slowly began to tug the cloak off of him.

“And you do make a valid point… I need to prove I can handle this. You’re always worried about me-“

“-And for good reason.” He fully faced her, his tone full of distain.

She gulped, folding the cloak in her arms and continuing as she draped it over her arm. “B-but that’s why I’m going to show you I can do it! I’ve done big missions before, I can do some recon too.” She stood confidently, placing the cloak back on the hanger and tugging her own tighter onto her back, flexing it forward. “Trust me a little, I won’t let Eggman kidnap me again!”

Shadow’s eyes turned softer then, his shoulders going limp.

“Sonic said you passed out, turned insane again… how can I-?”

“I do reckless things, but most of the time, I’m only trying to make you proud.” She took his hand, shaking it lightly. “And do what’s right.”

“…Do you even comprehend what’s right?” He muttered the sentence out, but worried about her maturity level…

It was more tender a question than she had realized, and she quickly was caught off-guard.

Not wanting to continue the topic further, feeling a bit of hurt by those untrusting words, she let his hands go and tried to look chirpy.

“Well, brother. I promise to at least try and not get into trouble… of my own accord… if I can… deal?” her inputs made it all the more unbelievable.

He shook his head but conceded with a shake.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt…”

“I won’t!” She embraced him, knowing he wouldn’t embrace her back but still.

Shadow flinched at the touch, but relaxes after a moment, knowing this is just how Ember shows her affections.

She only gave hugs like this to him, anyway.

He was about to put a hand up to her head, attempting to reciprocate some family love before Rouge intervened, flying down with a sweet smile on her face.

She stretched her wings out a moment before retracting them back behind her. “Aww… look at the cute little siblings… finally getting along?” she teased.

Shadow quickly turned his head and hand away. “Ugh…”

Ember released him and glared at Rouge, sticking her tongue out. “You ruined our moment!”

“Oh? Did I?” Acting innocently, Rouge placed a finger up to her mouth. “Hadn’t noticed.” She winked, being playful. “Shadow, command wants to know about that portal…”

“Ember’s on it.” Shadow looked over his shoulder at her, and then back to Ember. “I hope.”

“Hope is enough!” she waved him off and dug through her tail, getting the letter she stashed out and dumping it in as quick as lightning.

“What was-?” Shadow peered down the mail chute but Ember was already booking it away.

“Bye, bro!”

“Wait! Ember!” He called after her, but she had already raced out.

“Wild one. How ever are you going to tame her to be a good little soldier like ourselves?” Rouge put her hands together and struck a very fake pose, she was clearly mocking the fact that Shadow was in charge of Ember’s training.

He sighed, still watching where she had run off too. “Sometimes… I worry I don’t know her full strength… as well as I pretend too.”

“You of all people should know her best. She doesn’t hide anything from you.” She walked up next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, showing more comradery than teasing now. “To her, you’re family.”

“…She is the only thing I have to an actual family.” He muttered out, as though admitting it aloud for the first time.

“Oh my! What a declaration.” Rouge took her hand off him and covered her mouth, but smiled at his tender comment. “Such a softy under all those quills…”

“Hmph.” He moved away from her, trying to signal he was done talking but she flew off after him anyway.

“Do you know who she’s writing with my little present?”

He froze, looking back at her.

“Someone who may be close… but differently, compared to you.” She fluttered her wings and took off, giving him just enough to drive him crazy with questions.

He openly showed his teeth, frowning deeply. “At least she has a friend… that’s what she meant… wasn’t it?”

However…

Below where the letters are delivered, a few shadowy figures lurked. One suddenly caught the falling mail and tapped it against his shoulder, opening it up and pretending to barf. He shredded the letter and snickered, writing his own back with a click of a pen.

“Hehehehe… Dear Manic… Get lost.”

The other shadowy figures snickered a moment.

The mailman came and the new letter was sent, as the old one’s remains drifted down in steady, shredded pieces…

“And now, boys… let’s go catch a spark of flame~” A devious voice spoke through the darkness, and the gang all raced out to follow Ember’s figure disappearing into the woods…

----

Ember couldn’t remember much, which she wasn’t used to with such a profound memory. She could only recollect something hard had struck from behind, knocking her out pretty hard and leaving her mostly unconscious. Now, as she woke up, she noticed the jerking of a brown, dirtied bag squishing and bobbing her between mysterious footfalls that carried her in the bag.

“She’ll probably have portal-lag. Might as well set her down here till she wakes up.” The voice wasn’t familiar to her. It wasn’t from Sonic or from his gang, so she figured she was just kidnapped.

‘Kidnapped!?’ she plugged her mouth immediately after thinking that awful thought. ‘No, no, no! I just told Shadow I wouldn’t be kidnapped! Ohhh! Now I’m mad!’ She squirmed a bit in the tight space, her tail taking up most of the free space. ‘I’ll thump’em! I’ll trounce them! I’ll- I’ll-!’

“Are you mad?” Suddenly, she did pick up on a voice. Her bag was gently lowered and she could feel the swinging weight of her body finally rest upon cold ground.

Was that… Sonic?

Was this a joke!?

“We have a powerful entity on our hands… I just want the fiery babe to feel comfortable enough to not burn the whole place down to smithereens!” His sudden tone change,… that sarcasm,… the joke about the portal-lag…

Was she in another dimension?

“Tsk. I don’t see why you’re so fixated on chaos power again.” Another voice spoke out a grumbly tone, feminine this time. But…

Could she maybe..?

She tried to wiggle her finger around the opening of the bag, seeing if her claw could get the band on the bag a few more inches loose.

“…You don’t get it?” Sonic’s voice turned dark again, and she flinched a minute as her ears tried to adjust to the strange rhythm it had. Sonic was always full of life, vigor, and general velocity in his actions and words to match his quick feet. This… couldn’t be Sonic.

She felt a shift and the bag toppled over. Ember had to keep silent but could feel a breathy ‘yelp!’ escape her lips just barely. She instinctively plugged her mouth again, and quickly.

“What do you think I’m running here, Fi? You worthless Destructixs are in this for me. Got it? We broke out of jail for the sole purpose of lighting this world on fire with my iron fist pounding it into submission! To light the world… we need a match.” Ember could hear a fist pound into something, probably the other hand, but felt the shift in atmosphere… as though eyes were on her.

‘Light the world on fire..?’ She thought a moment, ‘Destructixs? Where have I heard… Ah!’ Ember suddenly recognized this speech pattern wasn’t Sonic’s at all! She remembered perfectly the name, where she had heard it too. Immediately, she decided she couldn’t—No, wouldn’t stay quiet and hide forever!

She had faked her unconsciousness to get information, but now, she was getting impatient.

‘Gerald Robotnik created me for good! To defend! I know who these guys are now…’ She flexed her claws, getting ready...

It only took a moment of further silence before the bag was shredded in seconds, and Ember rose up with a quick swipe toward where Sonic’s voice had previously come from.

“Scourge!” she cried out, “You rascal!”

“Woah. The kitty’s awake.” He smirked, stepping back to dodge her assult before tugging on his black, flaming jacket. “Boys?” he gestured to the gang as Ember’s arms were thrown behind her.

“Pfft. Who thinks they can hold me down—Ohhhhh…” She struggled a moment before turning her head around to look up at a large, imposing figure. “A big boy.”

The extremely large and tall giant growled down at her, at least, that’s how she saw him.

“Simian, make sure our guest knows her place.” He began to walk toward what looked like a stone throne. Around Ember was a large, black and blue stoned castle, or the remains of what looked like one.

She was able to fight a bit back and get her arms almost away from her back, but Sgt. Simian’s strength was certainly a match for her.

“Okay… Not so easy to break out of.” She grumbled, disliking the change in the situation.

“Stone, babe.” Scourge tapped the stone beneath them, looking at her over his shoulder. “Want to have a go at making this place light up?” he teased, moving over to his throne and sitting rather reclined in it. “Welcome to my realm. Not much. But all mine.” He put a hand up to his chin to rest his head on, “Well… anymore.” He snickered as the rest of the team seemed to chuckle back.

He motioned for the rest of the gang to come forward. “You know how hard it is to track down a little firefly like you?”

Ember spat on the ground, “Call me a firefly one more time…” she tried to resist being dragged forward from behind, her feet scuffing at the stones below her, but there was no traction strong enough to withstand Sgt. Simian’s brute strength. He basically dragged her towards Scourge at his request like a vacuum cleaner across a rug.

“Tsk. Like I care!” Scourge responded, watching as she was pushed forward towards him.

In protest at being man-handled, her feet began to spark against the stone, but no fire was produced.

‘Shoot!’ she thought to herself, ‘I’m surrounded! And on top of that? I’m not even in my own realm! Guess back-up’s out of the question…’

“You think we have time for a new carpet? This place is fireproof, baby! Hahaha!” He leaned his head back and laughed and laughed.

“Whoo… I have to hand it to ya. You’re one hard dame to find…” he clapped a little with his hands, as though congratulating her and rubbing some ‘tears’ out of his eyes after his such a good laugh. “Had to send every mercenary I could intimidate on the hunt for you. Glad you remember me though.” He winked.

“So… I was kidnapped, I’m in a different world, and you’ve sent spies to figure out where I was. Am I missing anything?” Ember raised an eyebrow, being rather composed as she relaxed. She was hoping it would make Sgt. Simian’s grip on her arms loosen, at least let his guard down, but that didn’t seem to be the case…

A red fox walked up to Scourge, turning around to face Ember and folding her arms, clearly not liking the other girl’s presence. Ember assumed this was the girl he called ‘Fi’, simply because she was the only girl in the group. So? Deduction stands that she must be the feminine voice she had heard previously...

“Show some manners and don’t directly talk to the king.”

“Wow. You even got her playing pretend.” Ember snapped a quick line back as the girl tensed up, her tail flicking in rage but Scourge just raised a hand.

“Feisty, feisty, feisty… I like it. But you’d do well to remember what situation you’re in.” he took his raised hand and leaned forward, snapping. “Snap!”

Suddenly, there was a harsh spark of pain in her arms. Ember was lifted up in a painful hold as Sgt. Simian held her suspended in the air.

Her eyes flinched, but she kept any grunt or utterance of pain at a minimum.

“Aaaaannnddd… Hold for dramatic effect… Snap!”  Scourge reclined again and snapped, having Sgt. Simian put her down again.

Her arms twitched under the uncomfortable position, and she swore a few jerks would have had her shoulders pop out of their sockets.

“Do I have your attention now, little spark?”

“It’s Ember.” Ember gritted her teeth. “And when Shadow finds out what you’ve done-!”

He suddenly rose to his feet, “I’ve defeated Shadow! And Sonic! At the exact same time!” he swiped his arms out, growing annoyed. “Don’t you dare think you can threaten me!!!”

“Tsk.” Ember emoted, not seeming to have known that before. She sweatdropped, nervous now if Shadow could even jump realms… ‘Maybe I should have laid low a little longer…’

“Scourge.” A hawk stepped forward, as though gently reminding his leader of his purpose.

“Hmph. I know!” Scourge dismissed the comment, swiping a hand at him, “In my own due time!”

He turned back to his throne, “As you recall, I was trying to lure out Sonic through a staged ‘setup’ if you will…”

----

It was a vivid memory—though Ember’s memory never failed her anyway. No matter… how hard she would try and forget.

Scourge had run into her vigilante G.U.N attire, not having fully recognized her as she continued to foil his criminal activities of trying to seize control over the world. Sonic and his friend would naturally call upon the Freedom Fighters to put a stop to his plans, but this time was different.

G.U.N had actually assigned her to stop a village fire,…

Little did she know it was a trap.

The citizen’s screamed in terror as wood and falling debris littered the skies, their homes and city collapsed around them in the flames.

Their city was deep within a crater formed in the earth, with sharp, jagged cliffs encircling them. There seemed to be a drainage system in place for floods, but for some reason, the drains had been clogged and the fire had no where to escape too. If they tried using water to put out the massive fires, which started up sporadically in different locations, then they would be trapped within the crater.

What made matters worse is that the fires had burnt the electrical powers, so even their way out was blocked besides long, carved stairwells which would be too dangerous for a mass of panicked people to scale in an efficient manner.

So what was Ember to do..?

“Help! Someone!” A woman cried from within a building as Ember quickly leaped up and scaled the tall skyscraper with her claws.

“Haaannnggg ooonnn!!!” she ripped through the flaming surroundings and grabbed the woman, rushing down and helping her to safety. “Does anyone know who started this?” Ember set her down lightly as the woman frantically turned around, wanting to aid as much as possible now that she was out of harm’s way.

“They called themselves ‘Destructix’. They said-“ as the woman began to cough and mutter, a voice suddenly rose from the flames atop a hill.

“Too bad! Looks like Blue didn’t have time to save any of you. Guess you’ll just burn straight to the underworld then!!!” A figure stood looming above on a cliff. He looked like a light green hedgehog with bright sunglasses, having the city’s flames dance in their shades, tugging on his jacket. He flicked his wrist as a few other figures came up: a monkey, red fox, frog, dog, hawk, and wolf. They stepped ahead of him and poured what looked to be gallons of gasoline down onto the streets below.

Like a skillet having oil poured on it, firing up everything for a split second of pure horror. The flash blinded the citizens as the heat swept their breaths up and burst the rest of their hope they had at survival.

People shrieked as he smirked, turning away before Ember’s rage couldn’t contain itself anymore.

Her fingers twitched, head pulsed with trauma as she saw children rushing away from the quickly moving flames…

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

She couldn’t control it. It was too much on her heart.

The cursed emerald pulsed, cloaking her in a bright white as her eyes covered in pitch black smoke that rippled along her eye sockets. In this hysterical super form, she covered herself in chaos energy and burst through the trailing gasoline.

It was like an arrow through water, she would thrust one hand out and burning gasoline would splash out of her way onto the buildings and away from the cowering citizens. One hand at a time, she propelled herself through the streets. Her power turned the flames into nothing more than burnt oil stains against the city’s skyscrapers, extinguishing them as fire swarmed her being. With enough force, she had spared the majority of the city while they continued to evacuate. Some had burns, but it looked as though no one had died, miraculously.

“B-Boss!” The shaking hand of the Wolf gestured behind him towards the powerful streak of Ember’s power charging like a swift beam of light towards them.

“…Hmm?” Scourge turned around, his glasses suddenly shining with the light she was emitting as he strode back up to the edge and peered down at her. He smirked, his eyes completely consumed in the image of her magnificent flaming display of power and skill.

She scaled the ledge, climbing in a ferocious tantrum towards them. Below, people cheered and huddled close to their loved ones, scaling the escape route out from their precious homes now destroyed to mere ash.

Some of Scourge’s men got ready to fight, but he rose a hand up to stop them. “Wait!” His sharp teeth glistened when his tongue licked over their dry frames. The chaos energy and the flames left a streak of dry wind, smoky to the smell, and excited Scourge for a moment.

“Well, well… I think I remember you.” He backed off, “We’ll meet again, little spark!” he then escaped in the nick of time, just before Ember ripped through the skyscraper in her way, leaping straight through it, and landing off into the mountain’s cliffside. She attempted to pursue him in her fury, but his buddies and him had portal capabilities, and were gone without a trace.

Ember huffed and puffed, standing away from the fires still licking at the lightly fuming city before she collapsed and gripped her head. “How could… How could people like that still exist..? I thought… G.U.N was the only organization capable of being so cruel… I’ll find them. I’ll stop them no matter what it takes!!!” Ember’s oath was never forgotten, but she hadn’t found a rumor about the mysterious Destructix’s since.

----

So while Scourge finished his recollection of the story, Ember was still locked inside her own perfect memory of the event. The smoke that rose from that black pit… the reports of missing individuals that some witnesses say they saw escaping up the stairs… the families being left with nothing but soot on their faces and half-burnt clothes on their backs…

Scourge didn’t seem to notice her shaking pupils, but did see how quiet she was, staring off at the ground as she began to realize what a mad man he really was.

He took off his sunglasses, his eyes widening in glee. “That power was something else, babe. Mind telling me why you’re not summoning it now?”

She flicked her nose up, ‘Is that what he’s after?!’ and looked away. ‘At first it was to find Sonic… but now he might do something horrible like that… to find me.’ She couldn’t bare to think about it, biting her jaw tightly shut as she tried to hold in her rage. ‘What… what awful things did he do while he searched for her instead of Sonic..? Was it her fault..? That more people were hurt by his crazy, terrorist attacks?’

“Playing coy?” He teased, jumping down from his throne and walking over to her, standing by her side and checking her out. “That power’s not asleep, is it? Hate to wake it up…”

His threats fell on deaf ears, which she twitched to show her ignorance of his roaming eyes…

Her tail maneuvered itself between Sgt. Simian’s legs… waiting for a good opportunity…

“I remember how you looked, sweetheart. Covered in the light of flames and spouting oil this way and that.” He gestured with his hands, flinging them out left and right to show a live demonstration of her feat. “You almost made me think you cared for all those people down there…”

She growled.

After seeing his eyes light up at her reaction to him, she forcing her mouth shut again, but she refused to let him taunt her.

He wanted a fight, but she wouldn’t give it to him.

He put his glasses back down over his eyes, his smirk fading slightly. “You’re not one to talk back or pick fights, are you? Caution is the most annoying trait, babe.”

Ember sighed, “You want my power. That’s annoying in and of itself too.” She lowered her head, playing into the ‘I give up’ motive and waiting for Simian to drop his guard.

She felt his hands loosen with her bending body and knew the moment wouldn’t be too far off now.

Just a little longer…

“Well, yeah. I find it hot.” He suddenly lurched forward, straight at her face. It startled her, but he reached directly at her chest and grabbed her emerald, sticking just slightly above her shirt as she felt the Master Emerald’s power suddenly rejecting it, inflicting Ember’s essence with its powerful, pure chaos energy.

“AHHHH!!!” she flung her head back as he poured some of his chaos energy into her, causing immense pain as the cursed emerald seemed to be repelled when it wanted to fight back and defend itself.

“Hahaha! So it is cursed!” Scourge kept his grip tight, laughing as the fox girl saw where his hands were and quickly grew defensive.

“That’s enough, Scourge!”

Her jealous burst made him stop laughing, turning to look at her with a frustrated expression as his hand released Ember.

She fell to her knees, taking a moment to recover from that torture before she felt Sgt. Simian’s hand let go of her, now holding her with one. He did so to avoid falling with her, since he was much larger than her anyway.

Now was the time, she just needed her strength first.

“Fiona, baby, I’m working here.” Scourge began to walk up to her, seeming calm but Fiona knew his act all too well.

She stepped away a moment, seeing him immediately grow hostile and grab her neck.

He screamed in her face, dipping her down and gripping her to him, hollering down her throat. “Don’t interfere!”

When he let her go, she fell and coughed, clutching her sore neck before pointing towards Ember, “She’s nothing! You’ve seen me take down stronger foes than her! Let me fight her! I’ll prove how useful I can be-!”

“Pfft. Save it, toots. You and I both know little spark’s far more devastating than some freaky kung fu moves.” He waved her off, making Fiona look down and slam her fist to the ground.

“She’s the freak with the moves… I can do it. I can beat her if you’ll let me just-“

“Quiet!” He swiped an arm out, silencing her again. “You’re getting on my nerves. Take a chill pill and walk, Fi!” Immediately, as though understanding the context of his words, some of his men came up behind Fiona. She looked behind her, getting upset as she struggled and glared to Ember.

Ember didn’t have anything against the girl, besides that she followed a lunatic, but the look she gave her made Ember feel even more irritated.

Fiona shook off the men’s arms and got up, silently walking away with the men, clearly having some resolves.

“Hmph. Women, am I right?” he folded his arms and then looked back to Ember with a joking, sinister smile.

Now!

Ember tripped up Sgt. Simian, wrapping her strong tail around a leg and pulling him back to fall down behind her. He was already bending over to keep one hand on her, it was his own fault for thinking she couldn’t recover fast enough.

She got her arms back and pounced towards Scourge, raising a clawed hand up. “HAAA!!!”

“Oh! Something interesting!” he chimed, jumping back and out of her way as her claws dug into the concrete of the old castle, near his throne.

The stone bricks flew out of place and crashed all around, tink, tink, tinking onto the ground as rubble and chalky dirt launched everywhere into the open air.

Scourge wiped his mouth of the grey dirt and readied himself, looking thrilled at some violence. “Finally… I was thinking you were just gonna lay down for me, sparkz.”

“Ember.” She growled.

“Right, right. Well, you either have two options. As far as I see? It’s join me-“ he flicked off some rubble that was sticking to his shoulder, “Or death.”

Ember also got into a fighting position, summoning all her strength she had regained from resting a moment to her hands and feet.

“And it’s not really a request…”

Ember felt her power soar through her being, the cursed emerald still pumping chaos through her in a means to recover after that last attack.

She flung her arm out again, but it was a feint. Soon as he tried to dodge, she gripped the ground and swung a foot into his stomach.

“Offph!” She watched him recline back from the pain, his lips pushing forward at the intensity of the hit.

“Heh.” She had the advantage and wouldn’t let it slip away! “Here’s a taste of my power you want so badly! Have itttttt!” she roundhouse kicked, knocking his head back but he lifted an arm up to grab her other leg as she circled for another blow and threw her down.

Quickly getting back up, she saw his hands come together and slam down on the concrete where she had just rolled away from.

‘This is gonna take more than strength…’ she recognized that his strength was equal to that of her powered cursed emerald. He must have been powered by the Master Emerald too… but how?!

She didn’t have time to dwell on that. She wanted to prove, not just to herself but to Shadow too, that she could complete a mission on her own!

She summoned some power to her chest and filled her claws with chaos energy, making them grow out like beams of light. “Try dodging this, don’t underestimate me!” She leaped up and feinted a swipe as though about to cast Shadow’s Chaos Spears.

It worked. Scourge recognized the familiar motion and went to dodge what he thought was the onslaught of chaos energy spears, but she pushed off the wall nearest to her, her eyes twitching, ‘There! An opening!’

She kicked off the wall and threw herself fully at him, “Haaaa!!!!” she slashed his already permanent scar with fresh new claw marks across his chest.

“Agh!” he was blasted back, the pulse from her Chaos Claws sending the cursed emerald’s power through his body and having it repel his own stolen Master Emerald power.

The two didn’t mix well, the power kept blasting the other back, but at least she knew she could push him back if she summoned her power faster than he could counter it.

He still had that advantage… but for that moment, he wasn’t using it at its full potential. Even Ember could see that…

She landed a bit away from him, watching him grip at his chest. He seemed surprised to see no blood. “The damage was more to your energy.” She slowly rose up, the power in her claws fading as she returned to her usual twitch of sharpening her nails. “But I still got’cha…”

Indeed, she saw the wounds reopen on his chest, only a little blood oozed out but just enough for Scourge to look down and see the delayed reaction.

His face shifted to lines of anger stretched up from the dip in his narrowed eyebrows.

As though refusing to let loose his full power just yet, his energy subsided and he just looked back up at Ember, fixated on her form.

“Interesting…” he licked his lips, getting up. “Very interesting…” he still held his chest, some blood on his glove now, but the bleeding would stop momentarily as the chaos energy began to reform again.

She disengaged and stepped away, feeling the power in her claws slowly dwindle. “Tsk.” She kept sharpening them as sparks flew around her. ‘His attack on me from before weakened the cursed emerald… I can’t do what I normally can now… is that why he so directly attached the Master Emerald’s power to it? By doing so, he probably knew it would cripple me somewhat… I’ll have to play a bit of a waiting game to get my lost power back.’

She smirked.

‘Perfect. I’ll keep him talking…’

“So? You really think you’re going to somehow get me to join your little uprising?” She decided to play along, swishing her tail and moving back as to lure him up and think she wasn’t going to strike anymore.

“Heh… do you really think me that stupid?” He growled. She could feel his own chaos power recharging, and knew he was probably adopting the same strategy.

“You’re lucky, you know… I haven’t even begun to fight!” he suddenly let loose a Chaos Blast, shattering the ground and exploding outward as Ember couldn’t react fast enough to block against it.

She was blown into the wall, crashing hard against it and getting a headache when she landed back to the ground with a hard thump!

She groaned, trying to sense her surroundings again when a foot was pressed on her back, keeping her down.

Then… she felt a hand move through the back of her hair, gripping some strangled strings as smoothly as moving through water. But then her head was ripped back, forcing her to turn toward him.

“Erk!” it hurt like none other, but she could hear him shifting his muzzle through her hair, pulling her head back to lean and press against it.

“My, my… Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” he mocked with an alluring pleasure to his voice. “I’m not.”

“Back off!” she threatened, flailing a moment but his touch never wavered.

“You’re so enticing, Ember… like a warm fire that burns anyone who dares to touch it.” His words hissed in a pleasure-seeking tone that made her uncomfortable. What was that? Some sort of intimidating praise or actual flirting?

From back in the front of the castle, the gang watched on, having all scattered back after that fight.

They knew when not to intervene with Scourge, but Fiona couldn’t contain herself.

She lurched forward, only to have a hand grip her shoulder and the frog shake his head. This time she gritted her teeth, seeing how they all weren’t keen on Ember, but wouldn’t dare disobey Scourge again.

She held silent reservations, but looked on and held herself back. “I hate her…” she mumbled.

The rest of the team sighed in tense pockets of air, letting them go gradually. They seemed to be silently agreeing with her.

Maybe this girl was more a problem than a useful pawn…

“You know what’s crazy good about you, Toots?” Scourge smelled her hair in a deep, creepy whiff. Ember reached her hands back to get him off her hair but he gripped her wrists and spun her around, pinning her on the ground.

“Ack!” she felt the cruel stone scrape against her back. Her clothes survived the Chaos Blast, but some of it had ripped somewhat.

“You know what..?” He moved close to her face, his fangs skimming her forehead as his tongue taunted her eye.

It was disgusting, she twitched her eye and finally turned away, giving into some fear deep inside herself.

“After I broke out of jail for the hundredth time… I decided, hey, wonder how my dear emotionally distraught castaway was doing.” He pulled back and winked. “Found you again… a dog to those goody-two-shoes, and it’s been sparkz ever since, Cinder~”

“Ember.” She growled, as though cursing loudly, she tried to push against his strength.

For a moment, it was working. She could feel her power returning to her, inching him off little by little and getting her hands to lock in his own and steadily push him away.

But he only smiled, watching her struggle must have looked like a game to him.

“Whatever. Still on fire.”

“Ugh, What is?”

“My heart and your body, babe.”

She rolled her eyes, “I’ll make a fire in you, alright… one that burns you to a crisp!” she started to summon her own Chaos Blast, struggling under him.

However… his head jerked down and his fangs gripped her emerald.

“Ack!” she blushed before another huge wave of the Master Emerald’s power shot through her and electrified her body. “AHHH!!!”

Again, Fiona could not remain still, so as she went to leap forward, about to call out his name when the rest of the Anti-gang grabbed her and pulled her back, covering her mouth.

“Tolerate it.” the Lynx threatened. “He’s only getting what he wants.”

Her eyes were green with jealousy, but her face was red with anger and revenge.

Scourge let go and Ember collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily as it felt her entire insides had been fried.

“Ever since you raged from that burning town,” He wiped the spit off his mouth, letting her go and looming over her. “I’ve always had the hots for ya.”

She coughed and breathed heavily, sliding herself out from under him and leaning against the stony wall. She gripped it for support, rubbing her imbedded cursed emerald before gathering enough strength to speak again. “Me? Or my power?” she turned back to him, playfully folding her arms, faking that she was fine.

“Boo, it’s all in the same body.” He lowered his sunglasses down to get a better look at her. “What’s the difference?”

He must have called her bluff, because he moved right back where he was, pinning her against the stone and letting his nose skim her muzzle. He whispered, “What to do… what to do…” As though taunting her feeble state. “What ever should I do to you first..?” he smirked, looking back at her.

Ember ignored the power-plays, quickly changing the subject and trying to restore her strength back, struggling to push him away again. “My power isn’t me. I-I mean… I’m more than my abilities!” Her head rolled a moment, feeling nauseated from the two chaos powers conflicting each other.

“Sure, sure. But my abilities could send you to a whole new world…” He gave her a suggestive eyebrow movement.

Ember couldn’t let him just toss her around like a ragdoll! No matter how much his chaos power repulsed and diffused her own… she would have to fight!

Ember chuckled, trying to still play cocky as best as she could, even if she was stuck against a wall and a madman. “I’m already in another dimension.”

“I know, right? Exciting, isn’t it?”

He suddenly let her go.

It was then that Ember felt her body fall back to the ground. Was she unable to keep going?

She tried to slide her feet under her, but they skid back to being weakly shaken upon the ground.

She began to panic. ‘No… No-no-no, get up! You can’t let him win!’ She was growing more and more anxious and worried, but he just watched her face as her internal struggle grew more and more dire.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Someone can’t admit when she’s beat.” He chuckled right back, turning his head a bit upside down to get a better look at her. She hid her face and he gripped it with his hand, forcing it back into view and up to look at him.

He stroked with his pinkie the side of her cheek, still humming a bit of gleeful victory before flicking his head, flirtatiously. “Join me and we can have a bonfire later tonight~”

He moved dangerously close to her lips, “You and me… no sounds but the constant cries of you wanting more…”

She gagged. “Do you honestly think girl’s fall for that?”

Fiona had been taken away, pushed against another wall by her comrades, her fierce rage rising with each sentence she heard from the other room. She gripped at her captors backs and threatened to scratch and peel their skin off, but for her sake, they didn’t let go. “Sorry, not into ‘green’ fads.” Ember spat out.

“Ouch.” Scourge’s smirk was replaced quickly with a frown. “Touchy, touchy.”

“You seem to be.” Ember tried to bite at his wandering hands, but he pulled them back, apparently turned on her by actions as his eyes widen with intrigue.

His head perked up, and he mimicked a cat’s ‘rawr’.

“Ohhh… look who’s talking back. I like you.”

“Clearly…”

“Only… my love’s a little conditional. Pricey as it seems, I’m a man of material desire.” As he slipped a hand around her waist, she punched him back, summoning everything into that blow that forced him away.

“Grrk!” he gripped his eye, where she had punched.

Ember rose up and began to deal more hits, taking him off-guard as she spun and whacked him with her foot, leaving him prone before diving onto him with her knee, continuing the onslaught.

As though summoned by the sudden shift, the Anti-gang pounced and let Fiona go.

“W-what!?” Ember was tackled down, fighting for her life again as the Anti-gang began to beat down on her, protecting their so-called, ‘king’.

When they moved away, Ember was left utterly beaten and weak. Bruises forming along her muzzle and arms now… The only visible ones, anyway.

“Y… You cheated.” Ember stated, gritting through the pain as she crawled to try and get back up again, but was failing miserably. “I overpowered you… overcame… I would have won if-!” she was kicked across the room by Fiona, leaving her rolling along the cobble floor. “You… played fair.” She finished her sentence, but at what cost? She gripped her stomach and got up to her knees, panting as Fiona’s face looked like seconds away from murder. The Anti-gang turned to Scourge, who was getting up with a wobble in his step, gripping a hand over his eye.

“I’m starting to lose patience with you…” he muttered under his breath. “You say you don’t like green… but I know a certain hippie drummer boy you tend to write through G.U.N’s mail delivery service..! Too bad most of those letters don’t always end up in his hands…”

Ember was confused at first, not understanding before her eyes widened. “Are you talking about..?”

He didn’t let her finish, “I’m not one to be jealous, honestly. Only possessive. Which brings me back to my earlier demand…”

Suddenly, the Chaos Emeralds floated out from behind Scourge’s flowing jacket, revealing themselves as they gently swayed in a circle around his body. He approached his throne but stopped, turning his head back to her with another evil look of desire and pre-victory gloating.

“I want you… but all of you.” He turned back around and spread his arms out, the emeralds stopping their turning and remaining still… his presence was extremely intimidating, and Ember could feel she wasn’t at full power yet… The healing would need more time!

‘He knew about Manic? What else did he know!?’ She couldn’t continue on like this. Her panic was reaching its maximum capacity. She could feel the Cursed Emerald wanting to retaliate with the dark madness she knew all too well. ‘He knew how to reverse the Cursed Emerald’s power onto me… He knew about G.U.N, Shadow… what else is he hiding up his sleeve?!’ she felt the world caving in on her. ‘Shadow… Sonic… Manic…’ she closed her eyes, remembering her dear friends she had collected along the way. ‘What if they can’t save me..? He clearly gathered and stole all the Chaos Emeralds from our world… he’s… so powerful now. He can trump me at every turn!’

She looked to his team, slowly withdrawing with a sick sense of gloating in their boss’s power, staring at her and waiting for him to deal a finishing blow. ‘I… I can’t do this, can I? Shadow was right…’

Then… a letter returned to Ember’s memory.

Those words…

“Won’t happen.” She suddenly felt a courage spark in her.

“I won’t let you win.” She felt her fist tighten. The words her friend wrote her sang in her ears now, the last letter she had read from Manic…

Dear Ember,

What’s up? Sorry I haven’t written in a while! I hear it’s been pretty rough for you. Shadow sounds a bit like a downer, man. In all honesty, you gotta keep your head up. No matter what rain falls in the summer, it just turns to snow in the winter, and then a pleasant shower in the spring. I guess that’s super poetic, heh. But you like that kinda stuff, right? Anyway, what I mean is, don’t let things that seem hard keep you down. You have a really unique spirit, Ember. Kinda like your name, you’re a spark to the flame. Riding and gliding, you’ll always be the same, but evolve toward your name. Ember, Ember. Spark and shine. Embers and cinders, lighting the night! It’s hard not to write lyrics for ya, I know you laugh at me when I do, but it’s so easy for me to get inspired off of ya. You must be some kind of muse to me. Is that okay? Whatever, I’m not a very good letter writer, but I hope you know…

You aren’t just the embers, but the spark to the flame.

- Manic The Hedgehog

Her head reared up, his lyrics giving her strength as her heart pumped rapidly and her power swiftly returned to her.

“You want to see fire and brimstone?” She blasted her energy out, her super form taking effect again. It would cost her this time… but for once, she felt her mind just a little more clearer—it peeked through the haze of crazy power, and gave her the confidence to remain calm.

“We’ll see about that.” Scourge’s evil, scheming smirk reappeared. He lowered his eyes, attracted to her rebelliousness but also trying to not get frustrated again. “I’m not very patient.”

“I’m not very outspoken, and yet, here we are.” She smirked back, unwilling to be intimidated by his confidence. She proved she could beat him once. Time to do it again…

“This time, I’m going to push you around!” She took a few steps forward, her power sucking away at her now, like one last shot of adrenaline to end it all or be ended herself. “I’m speaking out against your bad fashion sense.” She egged him on.

“That’s it! I’ve put up enough with this! I’ll just take you here and now!” he blasted a deep purple, much like her Cursed Emerald’s power. His chaos had turned negatively charged and dangerously unstable.

At least she had some practice with being an uncontrollable mass of destruction.

“Bite me.” She threw her hand out, spiking out artificial chaos claws a few inches ahead, glowing purple in radiance once again. Her white form and black eye-sockets fanned like a raging fire, waiting for him to come at her.

“I’ll try!” his smile turned devilishly crazy, as though it was blood-hungry now.

The two clashed in what looked like an array of lights, flashing and blinding the other Anti-gang members as they held their arms out to shield themselves from the aftermath. The force tossed them back and around, skidding on their feet to avoid falling back.

“They’re gonna kill each other!” One of them shouted out, but it was hard to tell who with the constantly clashing lights that blinded their sights, and the rapid whipping of force pounding them in different directions as Ember and Scourge duked it out with everything they had.

“Dang it, Scourge! He’s going to take the whole fort down with him!” That one sounded as though it was Fiona, but before anyone could say anything more…

There was a large explosion, blasting the stone walls as Scourge shoved stones off of himself. He looked enraged, huffing and puffing a moment, wiping some blood off his chin.

“Heh… heh… Okay, doll. You’ve got my attention.” He breathed as though exhausted, bruised up and singed in different locations on his fur. “That power has a kick to it. Mind if I take a bit of it?” He shot up through the air, “Or how about all of it!?”

He rocketed down to Ember who had let her super form take over her actions. Though she was conscious and aware of herself, her reflex was stronger than her mind could keep up with. It was the ultimate instinct, a great offense to his aggressive—and unconcentrated—attack style.

She was battered and bruised though, but countered most of Scourge’s hits. This wasn’t looking good for either of them. They had different ways of utilizing chaos energy, both in dangerous ways, but with grave consequences on both of them. Especially mentally…

“Urk!” Under his sunglasses, which had fallen with the swing of his head down to his eyes, he suddenly winced in a bit of fear. “W…What-what gives you all this power!? Why won’t you just give in to me!?” It was almost pathetic, his sudden realization of how far Ember’s power could take her, but Ember liked to hear she was getting the advantage again.

She strained against his energy, him charging at her again, her pushing him back and holding her own as she tried to summon enough strength and sanity to speak again.

“It’s… because…”

Shadow… Sonic… Rouge.

“I have…”

Cream, Amy, Knuckles, Tails…

“P-people…”

Her memories, Maria… Dr. Gerald Robotnik.

All of her experiences.

All of her strife and happiness, pain and sorrows.

…Manic…

“I want… to protect!”

She sent a large energy wave out of her, rippling through the air as he remained stunned at the intensity of her Cursed Emerald’s power.

It was almost as though her very chest was shaking, the Cursed Emerald looking as though it was being rocked from her very core. Her soul taking full swing at him, him locked in her grip as she refused to let go.

“How’s that possible!?” he cried out, but it was too late now…

“I have all 7 Chaos Emeralds! You have only one!”

“Guess you didn’t do your research, but this little emerald was cursed for a reason!” She formed a beam at the tip of her protruding emerald, Scourge’s eyes glazed over with its wild radiance as he pulled his head back, whincing as he knew…This was gonna hurt. A lot.

“HAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

She spread a beam of dark purple energy out from her chest, propelling it into him as she held his fighting hands in place. A direct shot. A finishing blow. All she had left to give.

 She left him with nowhere to dodge.

 She had grappled him, causing his flimsy form to fly out in front of her, being forced to remain in the shock-blast of her immense power.

To keep from having the power push her back against the wall, she dug her feet into the ground of the cobble floor.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” the hit finally died down and caused Scourge to fall flat down on his face when she released him and backed away.

She gripped her arm, feeling the fatigue as her form disappeared and she fell down too. “You may be ticked… hah… hah… but no amount of fighting… hah… will keep me from forgetting… hah… hah… my friends.”

That was all. The last of everything. At least, she thought it was. Her vision so blurry and her body so numb.

The Cursed Emerald faded… as though Ember was left only to her mortal capabilities now.

“Grr…” he gripped the ground beneath him, “…Ow.” feeling the Chaos Emeralds shoot out from him, he forced his crisp self to get up, still steaming from the hit.

 “YOU LITTLE-!” he reached out to her. “Whether you join or not, I’ll just kill you and dance on your corpse!”

While the two were distracted, they didn’t notice a portal open and his Anti-gang getting beaten in their attempt to block out their powerful and heated light energy.

“You can’t win! Ahh! Ow! Hot! You can’t burn me! I’m raw to the core, babe! I’m-… I’m not done,… I’m well done! Haha! Ouch… Get over here…” he began to crawl to her, and it was pretty impressive that he had even survived her attack.

‘How?’ Ember’s eyes were too exhausted to shake in fear, her body too tried to fully react to his advances toward her. ‘He’s totally beaten… He can barely move… the Chaos Emeralds… He must have used them to block some of the attack… but they’re drained too. How… How powerful is this guy?’

“I won.” She countered.

He fidgeted in his painful crawl towards her.

His face and belly were scraping against the floor, his knees skidded with fresh burns that only made the stone sting further against the cold, rough touch. The surface was like sandpaper on his blackened hide, but he kept moving, he kept crawling… his gloves ripped and his sunglasses blasted like a comic book page’s BAM. He kept coming. He wouldn’t back down.

“I’m not just gonna lie down and die! I’ll take you with me!” he raised a crazy eye and gripped her head.

She was powerless to stop him, she could barely move her body, let alone keep her eyes open.

“You… cheated.” She muttered again as he attempted to use her head to push him off the ground, but she didn’t have enough strain and just toppled with him.

“Dang it…” he finally let out what sounded like his own acceptance of his defeat. “You and I… we’re too alike.” He just managed a smirk. “You and I… we’re bad to the bone.”

“No…” Ember breathed out and managed to look him in the eye.

“I’m nothing like you.”

Then…

“Scourge!”

Scourge stopped in his pursuit, still gripping Ember’s head. She was so close to fainting that she couldn’t move out of his grasp.

He turned to the sound and noticed his gang tied up and on their knees, looking ticked at three figures who walked into the shadows of the room.

Scourge quickly removed his hand and grabbed Ember by her neck, forcing himself up while pulling her with him.

He wobbled to his feet, clearly annoyed and struggling to find a joke in the situation. “So much interference… Can’t a man feed his ambitions first?” he licks his lips. “What is this, the Calvary?”

The figures halted.

“Heh. Might as well make a lasting impression, hmm? Fire girl’s mine! You’re too late to save anyone!” He was fibbing. It was all a fake show to mask the fact that he knew he was beat. He couldn’t do anything and neither could Ember now. His strength to rise to his legs was nothing but a mortal attempt to look like a god. He was really just a rag-doll with his stitches coming undone, the fluff of powerlessness inches from snapping out of him and spreading like dandelion fuzz around the air.

For a last kick, a final punch, icing on the cake of trying to reclaim an authoritative stance, he leaned in to kiss her…

“I… won’t… lose…” his façade was failing him, he was about to collapse. He pushed his thumb up to get her chin to rise…

A moment away from some petty form of victory… not willing to admit defeat…

But a noble drumstick hit the side of his cranium.

His eyes blinked, dazed and confused.

One figure stuck a hand out into the light where Ember and Scourge had made the ceiling fall apart, but some of it dared to stay intact.

One pointer finger rose up and wagged itself in broad daylight. “No, no, no… that’s no way to treat a lady, dude.”

Scourge squinted his eyes as Ember slowly began to go limp in his hold.

She was too exhausted to try and look and see who it is, but ever ounce of her felt it knew that voice. Like a steady drum beat… like a rhythmic pound within the sound of the man’s voice.

“And you are?”

“When Ember’s letters started turning sour, I figured something wasn’t right.”

That voice… She knew that voice…

“Sonia said they were forged when we compared handwriting with previous other letters she had written me.”

It couldn’t be… but Ember’s eyes struggled to force themselves open just a little longer…

Hoping for a glance of him…

Of…

“I went to Sonic for some answers. Turns out Shadow was looking for her too and well,” he shrugged, but his voice was immediately recognizable to Ember.

 “M-…Man...ic?”

 “Well, now we’re saving my luscious lady from your filthy little hands!” Manic, Sonic, and Shadow both stepped out of the shadows, revealing their forms as Shadow narrowed his eyes, a deep glare upon his broad brow as he noticed the state Ember was in. Sonic was also acting a bit more serious than Ember had ever seen him look before, but that soon changed to a proud smile when he noticed Scourge was thoroughly beat-up by her before they had even gotten there.

“L…Luscious?” she could barely get any air to escape her throat and respond to him, but he seemed to be proceeding with caution, noticing her frail state. Still, it made her want to chuckle, bringing a corner of her lips up to a smile at hearing his ridiculously outdated talk start-up again. It wasn’t nearly as annoying as Scourge calling her ‘spark’ or ‘baby’. She’d rather hear Manic say it than him.

“It means you’re rocking!” Manic drummed the air, hearing her faintly whispered reply to his shenanigans. “But in a- ‘pretty and wonderful personality’ kinda way.”

“This is annoying.” Scourge lowered his eyelids, tilting and trying to regain his lost balance again. It was clear he wasn’t ready for a round 16… as he had previously already taken Ember on a good number of times.

“This is the bozo I have to rival with?” he looked comically to Ember, as if not understanding her taste. He pulled on her hair again to get her to look up at him, and through the pain, she laughed a moment.

“He’s the right… shade of green.”

Scourge showed his fangs on that comment, not liking it one bit.

“I can still take him.” Ember protested, but weakly pawed her claws at him. This only made the scene funnier and more desperate.

“Right. Don’t mean to steal your thunder, babe, but let me and my bros handle this.” Manic turned back to the Anti-Gang as Sonic and Shadow leaped forward.

Scourge’s eyes widened, not ready for this new encounter at all.

With that last comment, Shadow darted up and launched a Chaos Spear, which forced Scourge to jump back. He released Ember, leaving her to drop like dead-weight on the ground, flopping a bit and not even trying to stop the fall… even just a little bit.

She wouldn’t call out for help though, she just tried to keep breathing and keep her eyes from fully shutting. She wanted to see this. Shadow kick some butt, Sonic do his thing, and Manic… she just wanted to stare at him as long as she possibly could.

It was good to see him again. So, he didn’t hate her? All those sent letters never reached him? What awful things was Scourge writing to him, under her name?

Scourge was injured and woozy, so when Shadow’s feet hit the ground, he was still unsteady.

Shadow dealt a number of powerful blows, causing more noticeable blood to spit out from Scourge’s mouth, revealing the internal injuries were getting just as bad as his outer appearance…

The Chaos Emeralds were flung from his being— Pik, pik, pik!

They bounced against the ground, tumbling, and finally rolling through a half-demolished wall’s jagged holes where stones had been hit out of place.

Sonic watched the emeralds scatter and raced along the still remaining walls, letting his hand skim their grainy exterior before rolling into a ball and ducking into the holes of the same wall after them.

“I’ve got Scourge, you get Ember!”

Sonic’s voice rang out as he sped through the barely hanging walls of the destroyed castle, revealing his super from as he blasted the remaining structure away. With that wall gone, the whole place started to shake and loosened stones began to fall around them.

The Anti-Gang looked up, realizing the whole place was about to go down.

Scourge’s super form immediately faded with a knee to the face as Sonic easily began to pummel him down while Shadow turned his attention back to Ember.

Right before she fainted, she felt Shadow quickly scoop her up. A tight, firm grasp upon her sides made her flinch a bit in pain, but his words made her happy in their weird way. “Stupid girl, what did I tell you about making enemies!?”

“Only twice a day?” she joked, and then her eyes rolled and she fell unconscious.

She only vaguely remembered voices. Shouting from Scourge, mostly. She did hear Manic and figured he must have been the one who rushed over, skidded to his knees, and felt her face…

But she could have imagined it…

The next morning, she admitted what she had done was reckless, and should have tried to escape instead of fight.

Manic had tended to her wounds with Rouge and other G.U.N officers, but Sonia was the one who helped create the portal to get her out of that mess.

She personally thanked her before Sonia had to return and govern her own kingdom that Sonic and Manic willingly gave off to her. Neither wanted to rule, but Sonia was a natural leader who was born for the role, quite literally.

Laying on the gurney, she slowly blinked her eyes to adjust to the light, having taken a long rest since then. Shadow, Sonic, and Manic had stayed at different times to check on her as she dozed off repeatedly back to her deep, recovery slumber. However, this time, they all seemed to be in the room.

She immediately opened the conversation, weakly and groggy at first, with a gentle explanation of her behavior for why she didn’t try to run but fought instead.

“I just wanted to see how far our little ‘game’ would go.” She withdrew herself back from Shadow’s glare as she rose from the gurney. “Who defeated him in the end… might I ask?”

In her heart, she still believed she succeeded. “Cause honestly,” she began, unable to keep it to herself. “He cheated.”

The men had different reactions to that. Sonic chuckled while Manic rolled his eyes with a smile on his face, and Shadow just grumbled something under his breath… probably a curse she was glad she didn’t hear. Maybe he was holding back..? Due to her condition?

Shadow turned to Sonic, who looked back at him and then over to Manic. They seemed to be thinking the same response…

“We all kinda chipped in.” Sonic stated, before Shadow shook his head and sighed.

“Far to modest… I completely obliterated him.” Shadow immediately bit back at Sonic’s rather ‘humble’ comment.

“What!?” humbleness went out the door as Sonic suddenly spun to confront Shadow’s claim, “We all fought him! And besides, I beat him up waaaaaay before you or Manic stepped in!”

“I believe you have failed to recall how I dealt with him swiftly first. You’re the one who called me off to get your own share of the action.” Shadow folded his arms, turning at an angle away from Sonic’s childish behavior. “Honestly, you’re no better than her at claiming all the glory…”

“You’re the one making a fuss!” Sonic pointed an accusing finger before looking over to Manic, “Well? Am I right? Or am I right!”

“I’m a peacemaker, yo. A pacifist at heart.” Manic drummed the side of the gurney, refusing to be apart of the contention. “But for you, I couldn’t help but summon my old drum set. Sent beats of righteous justice his way.” He winked to Ember, admitting that he did join a little bit in the fight, even if it was indirectly and through the power of his sick, twisted beats.

“You were ranged, but still effective.” Shadow still didn’t know how to address the fact that his so-called ‘Sister’ was writing a complete stranger. To him, anyway, he didn’t know anything about this ‘Manic’ fellow but trusted him after all he’d done to find and save Ember. “However, you have yet to explain your side of the story…” Shadow turned to Ember again, “How exactly do you two know each other?“

“It’s been a while since you’ve fought, Manic.” Sonic smirked, turning his attention away from Shadow’s stubborn crossed-arms, not willing to admit it as a team effort, but also avoiding his brother and his possible girlfriend from having to admit anything.

“I did most of the work, though…” Sonic muttered through the side of his mouth, pulling up a hand to side-mouth the statement towards Ember, grinning widely as he winked to her.

This only made Ember smile, seeing them all try to lighten the mood for her.

“You merely distracted him as I got Ember to safety and defeated him only after I had stepped in.”

“I had to let you have a few blows, you were acting like the angry big brother all the way there! And what? Are you trying to look ‘cool’ in front of your sister now or something?” Sonic teased, calling Shadow out with a hint of casual backstabbing.

He leaned towards Shadow, lowering his eyelids with a wicked sense of pleasure on his face, waiting to see Shadow’s reaction to his words.

“Why?” Shadow closed both his eyes, refusing to give Sonic what he wanted. “I have no need for that. She already looks up to me far more than she should.”

“Yeesh, what a double-edged sword.” Sonic sweat dropped a bit, flinching back at how arrogant Shadow could be when provoked.

But… Ember noticed that he didn’t protest Sonic’s words too severely… It made her heart lighter than air… hearing him accept her being called his little sister without too much of a complaint.

“We searched a few realms before finding the right one. Sorry for being a tad late—not so fashionably—But it was far out and about, man.” Manic twirled his drumsticks into a holster and walked over to Ember, subtly reminding the other men in the room that it was about Ember, not them.

He leaned on her bedside, “Just glad you’re alright.”

His smile melted her worries away, and she tilted her head towards him, wishing to be closer to that positive aura his smile gave off. She tilted her chin down with a faint blush…

Then something crossed her mind, just as quick as her blush disappeared.

“T-those letters, though… the fake ones. W-wha-what did they say?” Worriedly, Ember’s face turned sorrowfully up to him with regret. “If I had known…”

“Don’t worry about it.” He flicked a finger under her chin, tapping it playfully but remaining at a distance. Especially with Shadow around… she took a quick glance at him before pulling a bit away from Manic, respecting that he was just as nervous with being affectionate around her with Shadow in the room as she was towards him. “I’m just glad we were able to nab that bad dude. He should be in prison now, right?”

“Him and his goonies.” Sonic nodded as Shadow took a few more turns looking back and forth between Manic and Ember.

‘Just what the heck are you two, anyway!?’ was the expression on his face, leaving Ember to awkwardly look away and wag her tail as Manic scratched behind his head and nervously laugh the constant double-glances Shadow gave him away.

----

Far away, and in a dusty jail cell, Scourge and his team were separated.

He was thrown into quarantine with a ripped-up jacket that freed his arms from their insanity hold around his waist, gripping the bars. “I vow to never rest till Ember’s blood is burning on my hands, or at least something of hers..! I will have my REVENGE!”

“Keep it down over there!”,

“Ahhh, shut up!”,

“Is that..? Ah, man. Why’s he back with us?”

The other inmates could hear his ranting cries clear across the courtyard, where Fiona and the gang pop some bubble gum. She stuck it to a nail file and threw it up over the wall. Quickly moving through the bars of his small, rectangular window, it flipped a few times before descending and clinging its gummy, pink, and spit covered substance against the wall.

It stuck to the inside of his cell, slowly being pulled down by the weight of the nail file and stretched towards him. Finally, with Scourge leaning up against the wall, grinding his teeth together in frustration, he heard it tink just above him.

He stopped scowling and looked up, seeing the metal gleam in his eyes, his sunglasses upon his head also reflecting their bright, silver exterior.

“First freedom.” he smiled with evil glee.

“And then, that day… will come soon.”

Laughter echoed the walls of the isolation unit.

End.

[manunkinda]

So, I wrote the first chapter for a RK1K (Markus x Connor) fic. I’m not happy with it at all, but oh well. To be fair, it is my first DBH fic and I tend to have some troubles writing the first chapter for anything, It’s an AU. It’s called Dirty Blues.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20101882/chapters/47616835

Chapter One: Smoke And Vinyls

Shit!”

Markus stepped down hard on the gas, his hands gripping the wheel until his knuckles turned white. He was late. His bandmates, mainly North, were going to be pissed at him being late to the venue. Hell, he was pissed at himself. He didn't care if he was speeding on the highway, he just needed to get to his goddamn location.

He knew that sirens were going to tail him. He pulled over with a frustrated groan. He rolled down his window, watching the officer approach from the side mirror.

"Sir?" Markus was suddenly confronted with soft, brown doe-eyes. "You're aware that you were going 62 in a 40 mile zone, right?"

"Uh, yes..." He replied, trying to be as patient as possible given the situation.

The officer pursed his lips, as if he was thinking about something. "Why were you in a rush?"

"Gig."

"May I check your trunk?"

The driver nodded, tapping his fingers against the wheel. He glanced at the mirror as the officer opened the trunk, discovering a guitar case. He opened the case and inspected it for a minute before closing the case. He then closed the trunk and walked back to Markus.

"Nice guitar. Sorry, the department have been pulling over cars with Red Ice stashed away."

"It's fine. I understand."

"So, where's this gig?" The officer asked, thumbs hooked in his belt.

"Magic Stick. It starts at eight-thirty. My band's a regular there."

"Ah, okay." The man unhooked his thumbs and pulled out a notepad and pen. "What's your name?"

"Markus Manfred." He told him.

"You're a lucky man, Markus. I'm deciding not to give you a ticket. However, if you speed again, ticket. Got it?"

Markus smiled slightly and watched as he wrote his name and license plate number on paper. "Got it."

"Great." He put the pad and pen away. "I might see your band at the Magic Stick tonight."

"You don't strike me as someone who enjoys rock music."

“I’m full of surprises,” the officer grinned. “See you there?”

Markus could feel his face heat up, and he nodded in return. “Yeah, see you there.”

The nameless officer got back into his police cruiser and Markus started his car, integrating with the others on the highway.

The hard case felt heavy in his hands as he entered the venue. His bandmates were already setting up.

Simon lifted his head up from tuning his guitar, spotting his friend. "Guys, Markus is here."

North rushed out from backstage, holding her bass. “Where the fuck have you been?!" She demanded loudly, clearly angry.

"Cool down, I was pulled over on the highway. No big deal. I'm sorry." Markus countered, walking towards the stage.

"No big deal?" She looked at Simon and Josh, who seemed to be neutral. They knew that not agreeing with North would make this even messier, but Markus had a point.

"Yeah, seriously. Calm down, save the energy for the show." He got onto the platform and went backstage to take his guitar out. As he stepped back onto the stage with his instrument, North threatened to hit him with her bass guitar.

After doing the sound check, the band waited backstage and had a couple of drinks. Markus eyed the clock.

Eight-thirty.

It was time.

Markus found himself in the light in front of the mic, his friends also on stage. He was previously nervous, but all his fright had disinagrated away. "For the returning folks, welcome back. For first-timers, we're Jericho." He glanced at his bandmates to see if they were ready. "Josh, hit it."

The familiar harsh kick of the drums invaded his ears, and the rest of the band joined in, including him. North's bass could be felt from the speakers, and Simon's lead work added little intricacies. His voice was introduced to the wall of sound as they all played their part, yet remained in synch.

Pause.

And the sound shattered silence once again.

The show had ended and people were leaving. Markus was chatting with his friends, discussing tonight and joking around as they got ready to leave. While Carl was doing okay, he wished he was here, and he knew that Carl wanted to come; but he would be able to tell him all about tonight when he got home. He turned when he heard his name.

It was the officer from earlier. He almost didn't recognize him out of uniform.

"Oh hey," he smiled. He didn’t see him in the small crowd, but he suspected that he must’ve been hanging out in the back of the room. "Like the performance?"

The man ran his fingers through his hair, beaming. "Yeah, it was fun. You guys did a good job."

"Who's this, Markus?" Josh asked. Simon and North were curious as well, trying to figure out who the hell this stranger, who seemed to know their lead singer, was.

"This is... Uh..." Markus snapped his fingers a couple times. "I don't think you've ever told me your name."

"Connor." The doe-eyed man responded, straightening his jacket.

"This is Connor. He's the officer who pulled me over for speeding today."

North glanced at Connor, then Markus, then Connor again. Her expression could only be described as mischievous, a playful smirk tugging on her lips. “You know, Markus... You did tell me that you were pulled over today, but you never told me the cop was cute.”

Markus bit the inside of his cheek and Connor cleared his throat quietly as his friends laughed.

“Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Connor.” Josh said. “Glad you enjoyed the show.”

“Yeah, we gotta pack and get home. We all have work or class.” Simon added, wrapping up some cords that were in his hands. “Hope to see you around more though.”

"Markus, you should take Connor to our grub hub for dinner." North suggested.

Markus shrugged. "I mean, it's up to him. Do you want to go eat?"

Connor looked hesitant. "Uh, sure? I was thinking you could come over and we could order takeout instead."

"We can do that." Markus agreed, ignoring North's teasing look. "Just let me put my stuff away and then we can go."

Connor nodded and waited near the door. “I can text you the address.” He told Markus as the other man neared the entrance with his guitar case.

“Sounds good. I’ll just put this in the trunk. I'll see you guys later.” Markus told his friends. He gave Connor his number and went to his car, putting away his things. His phone dinged, and he glanced at the screen to see an address.

Markus parked in the driveway of the small, one-floor home. He stopped the vehicle and got out, closing the car door afterwards.

The yard was relatively clean, although it was desperate for a cut. The grass was not quite long, but was getting there. He figured that he was too busy with his job to mow his lawn.

The musician approached the door, climbing up the steps. He pressed the doorbell, and after a couple of seconds, the door opened to reveal Connor who invited him in.

The first thing that Markus noticed were the shelves of vinyls, CDs, and cassettes that were on display in the living room.

Damn.

The second thing he noticed was that there were no pictures of Connor’s family as far as he could tell. The atmosphere of this home was a whole different vibe compared to the large, colorful mansion that he and Carl lived in.

“So, any ideas?”

Markus was forced out of observation. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Takeout.” Connor repeated. “Any ideas?”

“Uh, not sure. Just pick whatever.”

The host nodded and took out his phone. “Thai then?”

“Sure. Vegetable Pad Thai please.”

Markus’ mismatched eyes travelled to Connor’s left arm as Connor dialed a number and turned away, his back facing him. Crimson roses, cerulean plumerias, and wicked thorns adorned his entire limb from the shoulder to his wrist.

He was in awe at the complexity of the ink.

Connor ended the call and turned back around. “You know, you can take off your jacket and make yourself comfortable.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” He quickly took off his jacket and hung it up on the coat hanger. “Your sleeve tattoo is beautiful, by the way.”

He swore he saw Connor blush. “Uh, thanks. It was just inspired by a family friend’s garden.” Connor slipped his phone back into his pocket. “The food should be here pretty soon. Want anything to drink? I’ve got beer in the fridge.”

“A beer’s fine.” He sat down on the sofa as Connor went into the kitchen, coming back out with two beer bottles, one in each hand. He handed one to Markus and sat down.

The food arrived, and the two men dug in, chatting as they ate. After finishing and cleaning up, Connor decided to put a record on. “You know Bambara?”

Markus leaned back on the sofa. “No, actually. Never heard of them.”

“It’s a good band to get stoned to.” Connor said, rather casually.

Everyone had vices, regardless of their lifestyle. Still, he hadn’t taken Connor for a smoker. Usually, Markus was able to read a person correctly, but Connor was an exception. He would be lying if he said that the man wasn’t intriguing. “You smoke weed?”

“A little.” He replied, guiding the needle to the vinyl and turning up the volume. “For anxiety. As long as it doesn’t interfere with work, I’ll be fine.”

Markus watched as Connor opened a drawer on one of the end tables and took out a small sandwich bag and lighter, sitting back down. The music was already playing.

Connor noticed Markus watching and looked at him, opening the bag. “Want a joint?” He asked the taller man.

Markus shook his head. He personally didn’t like to smoke, but he knew people who did. He wasn’t unfamiliar. “Nah, thanks though. I’ll just stick to beer.”

Connor nodded and rolled up a joint before lighting it.

Neon glowing in the night,

Red words: Red Tide,

Shining in your eyes.

Smoke twirled in the air, the smell of burning paper and pungent leaves invading the room.

A gunshot cracked,

And streaming blood fanned out around its kicking feet.

Dead eyes staring,

Dead eyes staring.

Two bottles multiplied into four, and then eight.

“No one really leaves,”

Jimmy says through a cloud of smoke.

”Where would he go anyway?”

The sun is up and the birds are pecking

Pecking at something lying in the dirt.

Markus was sitting on the floor, lying against the sofa as he listened. Connor was draped on the sofa on his back, his legs hanging over the arm of the furniture. His red eyes stared straight at the blank ceiling, like there was something up there, or perhaps a mural. He noticed the sparse speckles of small moles, or maybe they were freckles, that were scattered across Connor’s face, neck, and hands.

Let’s make something huge and full of rust,

Rebar ‘round my handsome bust.

Broken glass like jagged flowers,

Climbing up a twisting tower.

Markus lost track of the time, zoning out and drunker than he intended to be. How the hell was he going to get home? Carl was going to lecture him on being responsible; he just knew it. The coffee table was almost covered in bottles and Connor was tired.

The town kids smoke meth and drink

Behind the scrap metal heap.

The guesthouse lies hidden...

He would figure something out.

[lenin-it-to-win-it]

the lorax, but everytime a character appears its bnha and every time u read it u want 2 die

summary: oh you know damn well whats coming, sweetie 

notes: its 2:35 am. i spent over an hour writing this. pls clap. 

*****************************************************************************************************

it was a suny day in thneedville and the sun was shining but it was COLD and DARk in dekus hart as he gazed sadly off intot he distance. “mommm wy doesnt todoroki senpai-san NOTICE me???”” he lameneted to his mom.

“maybe its ur ugly little pissbaby child face” inko suggested as she cooked up a spaghety for brekfast.

“how can i impress him??” deku questioned

“try lifting, cucklord” said his grandma recovery girl as she casually bench bressed 600 pounds of rocks.

“how bout i find him  a plant insted?” deku sugested thinking about the tre todoroki painted on his house. he had asked todoorki if he liked trees and he sed ‘ya sur i gues’. “bitches lov plants”

“yeeee i kno wat u mean giv him some *lettuce*” recovery gorl winked

“wat a bout a tree” “but TREEs are DEAD” inko exlciamed! she threw the spagheti on the floor for dramtic effect and cltuched dekus head in his hands. “Son do not SPEAK of such things or The All For One’HAre Corporation Copyright TM wil BUST thru the ROOF and kill you! Now sit down and eat ur capitalism! Consumerism is god hallejeuluah amen!”

“tree” deku whisperd

the hose exploded and every1 died but they were okey. avaracious all-for-one’hare, a tiny liitle with a shiny bowlcut and tiny little man feet bitchslaped deku across the face. “NO TREES ALLOUD!!1!”  he shrieked. he bloo a kiss ot dekus mom “that plate of capitalism u have is cooking upped looks lovly mam”

inko blsuhed. “thanks”

“just make sure to keep the kiddo here away from any” all-for-one’hare, lowered his voice, which was hard bc he was already so short and low and close tothe flor. “trees”

inko gASPed! “of CORSE! i wil keep him away from the place where the trees once were by the Forbindden WAll u buildt with ur money to keep out the Bad COmmunist SentimentsTM”

recovery girl made shifty suspicious looks on her face “sure yea me too”

all-for-one’hare, was convinced. “I AM CONVINECED” he sed “by felicia!” he hopped on his hoverbord and hoverborded away.

inko cleaned the spaghety off the flor and recovery girl pulled deku by the leg into the backyard. “YO FUCKER U BETTER RUN UR ASS OVER THE COMMIE WALL AND GET A TREE SO U CAN START SLINGIN SOME MAD PUSS”

“but gramma im gay”

“then start slingin some nuts my d00d the POINT is get a TRE e” she scremed. “when i was, a yung boi, my ffather, took me over the wall, to see a bunch of trees, he sed son when, u grow up, dont kill them , the trees, and bring the nonbelievers, to come and plant new trees”

“k”

she siezed dekus sholders “GO FORTH CHILD BRING THE TREES SO WE CAN MAKE THEM GROW ANEW AS THE PROPHECY HAS FORETOLD, OUT BEYOND THE WALL LIVES A MYSTERIOUS MAN CALLED THE ONCE-FOR-ALLER, FIND HIM, HE WILL TELL YOU HIS TRAGIC TALE OF TREE AND BRING NEW LIFE TO THIS BARREN CAPITALIST HELLSCAPE, NOW GO”

“k” deku hopped on his totaly radicel scooter headed 2 the wall. a robot cat watched him forehsadowingly.

it was hella empty over the commie cuck wall with not even a bORger king in site!!!1! tree stumps covered the flor and clouds of smonk from a thousand vape pens darkened the sky. a ded bird lay deadly on the ground while its bird children cried over its bird corpse. it was sad. deku took a sad face selfie with the ded bird then did a sick ollie over the corpse and headed toward the mysterious shack in the distants.

the shack had  a bucket in front of the dor labeled “piss”. deku hopped on in the piss bucket “YO ONCE-FOR-ALLER U GOT KIK??” he cried. wind wistled past his ears and he coffed from the vape smoke but then the pis buckt got pulled up on a ROPE and deku found himself hOISted up to a wINdOW!!!! he stareed face to face at a pair of black eyes with blue spots in the middle like limpid tears and some long bony arms with glvovs and yaoi hands reached out to slap him.

“WHAT” he yelled “ARE YOU DOOING” he leaned closer “IN MY SWWAAAAAAMP!????”

deku wet his pants and criied. “i sutjj,,, i jstu  wann, t  a t;rree,,” he said sobbily. “i,m tr yiyng to get s enpai , t o noticnse me,, an ,n  and i  thgout,, i fi  got, hima   t,r,ree, he wo uld liek me”

“fucken millenials” snarled the once for aller “its always senpai this, thrussy that, my neck my back, my snapping-chat, wy wold i giv u a tre??”

“b-because i,, i brought u a SPAGHETTY” deku exxclaimed, pulling pounds of spagheetyi out of his pockets

the once for aller slorped up the spaghetti hongrily “ya ok i gues i can tel  u my storey now. its a dark and trageic tale of capitalism, like the star wors preqols” a tear ran down his bony old cheek. “but insted of jar jar binks thers only me, booboo the fool”

there was  a crossdissolve and suddenly they were in the once-for allers past where he was a big bara man with bara tiddies and twinky skinny geans no where near the size needed to accomodate for his phat dong. he rode along in a cariege puled by a single muel

“FASTER AIZAWA KUN” cried the once-for-aller hapily. “those proletariats arent gonna exploit themselves!”

aizawa the mule grunted sexily and plowed on, workin that tight little mule ass.

the once-for-aller started shredding out a sick nasty solo on an elextric guitar and it was RAD AS HELL as he blasted out the opening cords to jake pol’s magmnum opiss “its everyday bro”. “we gotta dab on those haters aizawa kun” said the once-for aller with  a very gay wink

aizawa the mule grunted in annoyance. he could not dab, for his sexy mule bodey had no arms.

they fond a metric shitload of trees and there were like wildlifes and shit running around. bears (like endeovor) froclikced int he woods with their hairy bara nippels exposed 2 the world, tsuyu and her frog pals swam in the woter, and tokoyami the borb boy  floo in the sky wich was pure and clean without a single trace of vape smoke. the tres looked fuckable so the once for aller busted a nut against one trunk then wipped out a glock and started shootin them down “YEHAW fuCKERS iTS HIGH NOON” he screamed in texan, his native language, as he mowed downt he trees the way present mics sexy voice mows down the pussey.

sudenly DANY DEVITO IN A FURSOOT APEARED. he was tiny and magestic and orange and so fucken valid. also he was grand toledo. “CUNT” he yelled kicking the once for aller in th e kneecaps. “THIS IS THE ENVIROMENT!!!!1! YOU CANT JUST START WEED WACKIN THES TREES WITH YOUR YANKEE DONGLE DANDY AND SHOOTING THEM WITH GUNS!1! THAT IS BAD AND WRONG! CAPTIN PLANET DIED FOR OUR SINS”

the once for aller looked down at the tiny orange man then down at his own big bulgin bara tiddes “i cold crush u 2 deth with my tiddys, maybe u shuld stay out of my way dude’

dany deveto gasped angrely. “how DARE!!1!” he screamed, punching the once-for-allers big toe. “BUDDY I WILL PERSONALLY FUCK YOUR GRAVE WITH MY OWN TWO ASSCHEEKS IF YOU SAY ONE MORE FUCKING WORD, I DEFY U TO TALK SHIT, COME AT ME SCRUBLORD IM RIPT”

“try me gardfielf” the once for aller laffed “iv ben drinkign plenty of nut milk so my boneses are helthy and Stronk”

daney devito pulled out his 20 inch thunderdong and beat the once for aller in the head with it until he was past oout on the ground. the woodland crreatures danced hapily around the bodey but then he woke up

“u kno wat” he moaned “mabye capitalism isnt so good, lets al liv together in communism and friendship, and i wont cut and/or fucc any of the trees”

danny deveto was mostly appeased. “ya ok, but if u try anymore fuckin shit ill go back in time and cuck ur grandparents.”

dannneie dievoto tried to hav the once-for aller killed on at least 10 separate occasions and the once for aller did slip in some clandestine tree fuckage now and agein, but other than that the communism and friendship was good. but everything changed went he fire nation atteacked, they defeeted endevor esily but then the once for allers slutty, sluty family showed up to REEK HAVICK :0 !!!1!

the once for allers ugley mom, sir nighteye, stepped out of their cheap car and did the anime glasses thing “toshi u commie thot” he said with distaste “stop being poor”

“but MOM” the once for aller wined “i HAV to be por! its good for the envorionemnt and my new animal frends and if i dont dany devito will beat me over the head with his massive meaty man-canoe!”

“dont b lil bitch, do a capitalism.”

the once for allers loud cosin hizashy jumped out of the wagon. “YAINT” he shrieked at 1000000 decibels, killing 90% of life on erth. “ARE WE GON FUCK SOME TREES OR WHAT”

the once for aller looked at his disproving mom, then at his loud cosin, then at the very fuckable trees. his eyes lingered on a sexy sap hole. “yea we are” he said, pulling out his gitar sexily. “how bad could it posbiley be??”

the answer was prety fucken bad as it turned out. a metric fuckton of people paid to watch the once for aller and his family fuck trees to deth by throwing moneey at them like they were stripers, but then al the tres were fucked ded!!11! the bears starved into ity bity twinks, unable to maintain the THicc, tsuyu and the frogs choked and coffed up water ful of human piss as they peed in the water while laughing in delite at the once for allers antics, and tokoyami and the birbs coffed out their organs from the clouds of vape smoke filing the sky.

soon ther was no one left. the once for allers familey left with al the money, aizawa the fuckable mule was ded, and it was just the once for aller allone in the rouns of his former capitalistc glory with only the bright yellow banana suit on his back to remind him of those days.

dani devioto looked at the once for aller with sad eyes before kciking his own ass so hard he got sent rocketing thru the stratusphere, leaving behind an imapct crater with a single word

“cunt” deku whispered softly in the present as he gazed into the crator.

the once for aller sighed sadley. “iv wondered for years and yeers wat he ment by that, but i think i understand now. unless some1 like u stops being a cunt, then nothign is gona get better, u nut”

“shit fam thats deeep” sed deku

the once for aller looked at dekus pissbaby child face. “i lost evrything to capitalism, my friends, nature, my family” teers rolled down his cheks “i even sold my organs to buy cocane and strippers so now i hav a total of 2 orgens in my hole bodey.”

“kinky”

“but we can change that!” cried the once for aller passionetely. “i am going 2 giv u a tree to plant in thneedvil so communism can return and bring back the life stole from this world with my big stick diplomacy. go now, young midorieya-shonen my boy, GO FORTH IN THE NAME OF COMMUNISM AND UN-CUNT THIS MISEREBLE WORLD!!1!”

ther was an epic radicel chase seen wher deku had to fite the The All For One’HAre Corporation Copyright TM and his grandma recovery girl did sik triks on her moped and deku almost but not quite got to kis todorki senpai but they made it to the town square.

deku held todorokis hands and tenderly put the baby tre in it “here” he sed “take my seed”

todoroky noded solemly. “i hav never wanted anything more than to be given ur seed midoreya” he was about 2 plant the seed in the ground when all for one’hare appered! “NOT SO FAST FUCKHOLES” he yelled capitalistically. “this TRee is COMMuNISM!!1!” he cried to the townspeople. “do u RELLY want to be FILTHY COMMIES???”

“Commies hate micdonaleds!!1” screamed one impassoned townsperson.

“LETS BOIL THEM IN OIL” some one else agred.

“but guys wait!!!” deku cried “dont u want like, nature n shit?”

“CAPITALISTS WANT TO REPLACE EVERY REMOTELY FUCKABLE PERSON WITH A TREE” all for one’hare screamed

teh twonspoeple gasps, thens tarted chanting for deku todo and grandma to get boiled in oil

deku sweated nervosly “um but,, treees,, r good?”

“OIL OIL OIL”

“BACK IN MY DAY WE FUCKED TREES AND WE LIKED IT” recovery girl rored!

that was acomeplling argument. the boil in ooil chanting slowed

all for one turned to his henchperson stain “STAIN” he yelled “TEL THESE HIPPY DIPPY COMMIE TREE FUCKERS WHAT WE REALLY THINK OF THIS CAPTEN PLANET B-ROLL BULLSHIT”

stain cleered his throt and burst into magnificent song “let it gro let it gro, so we can have trees to bone” he sang. he was The Ultimate ChadTM so every1 agreed with him imediately. they throow all for one’hare into a pit of spiders where eh was eten and killed and planted the seed in the fertile butthole of the earth wher it could blosom and gro.

in the folowing yeers trees started groiwng beyond the wals and the once for aller crawled out of his shame sahck to water them with his nut as an act of penanc.e

slowly, magesticsally, danny devito in a fursewt flew down from the sky. “ya done good cunt” he grunted, tenderly slapping the once for allers boney ass with his furry orange old man boner. “ya done good.”

they both floated up to gay heaven by their ass skins wher the once for allers big bara past self greeted them with open arms. “all of ur trubles are ogre” he whispered tenderly in their tidditlyated ears. 

the once for aller caressed his past self “oh oncey” he whispered sweetly “are u shure we should do this?? can u even,,, oh, how can u love me in this broken down form??” 

past once for aller smiled and did the kabedon thing with his future self who whimpered arousedly and blushed carnelian. “its not who we are on the outside” he shoved his entire arm up his entire ass“its who we are inside” 

danney devito cheered the once for allers on as they fucked together for all of eterneity and it was very communiest teh end 

[izzy-b-hands]

Today involved a panic attack, so I’m gonna write about happy stuff at random as it comes to me.

Like how I’m watching Queen Live at the Bowl and like

There’s so many good moments

Poor Bri breaks his string during Dragon Attack but then John nails that amazing bass solo and it’s so good

Just watching Freddie be cute and bouncy. When he flops onto the riser all adorable before getting up to tell the crowd he’s knackered. King of my heart. 

Poor Bri, again, getting all excited during his solo alone on stage and bouncing towards the upper levels of the set up and then his fucking like...I think his cord to the amp comes partially undone or something? Cuz his sound is just gone but he handles it so well and is so cute hopping back over so the tech can fix it, then smiling wide when it’s all good again and he’s just like...the absolute cutest?

Every time Roger goes wild on the drums. The best. Even better when the camera gets in there and you can see that absolute intense concentration and that’s just??? Very attractive to watch like...I know how it sounds but like sir pls let me watch you just play drum solos over and over. 

Freddie damn near begging the crowd to clap and stomp on beat. Like I can’t explain exactly what gets me about this, but maybe because I have been in that crowd where everyone thinks we’ve got it?? But the lead singer is giving you a look like ‘c’mon guys please I’m literally clapping it out for you p l e a s e’ and then it’s like shit am I off or is someone else near me off and now half the crowd is off or???? But he’s really cute about it every time it comes up. I’d try my best to clap on beat for him.

Fat Bottomed Girls aka at the end we get a taste of Freddie as stripper all over the scaffolding and it is...good. I wanna know who had to climb on that scaffolding to give it the Freddie Test tho like...just knowing it was Gonna Get Climbed On. 

“now...in 1982...I know three chords on the guitar” stoooppp itt you cute talented dork.

This post is getting long but suffice to say I owe these boys for making me feel better today. Certain things are still scary and suck, but I’m gonna get through whatever happens next. Even if it keeps being terrible-just going to need to work my way through the Queen concert videos again, and I’ll never say no to that!

Edit: Ok I’ve got more, Long Post is getting Longer

John the entire concert in that blue outfit bouncing around? Magic, wonderful, best boy, bopping around that stage like he owns it (and he does!) 

Bri’s multiple shirt changes. I don’t know why this amuses me but it does. Maybe because Freddie just loses a shirt but otherwise the rest of the band doesn’t really make much in the way of outfit changes??? Idk in any case he looks really cute in everything he puts on and I hope he knows that. Rog does change his shirt towards the end too, I should note, and he looks wonderful too. 

Chaos Freddie during Sheer Heart Attack going stripper on Bri’s mic stand (and that bit with his face in the guitar I am w e a k F r e d d i e) to the point that it falls over. Very good, all of that.

The sombrero comes out for We Will Rock You and Bri rolls his sleeves way up and it’s all really cute and good and just adklsfjasf 

[quietasides]

We Try Not to Disclose Too Much

or, Louis and Harry on camera, 2011-2015

(answering this ask: Was there any specific video (other than the ones that you presented [from March 2012]) that make you see the sexual chemistry?)

You can find varieties of tension here in this very long post. Each link takes you to gifsets/posts from my archive, and those include links to source videos (and often other interesting and familiar moments). Enjoy exploring! 

2011

they couldn’t get much closer, April 2011

handsy with their mics, Cardiff, April 2011

at the campfire during WMYB video, July 2011

on the steps at Radio City Liverpool, Aug 2011

Harry’s “ineligible to swoon,” Aug 2011

“If you were a girl for a day...?” Sept 2011

at Club G-A-Y Heaven, Sept 2011

nipple twist in Amsterdam, Oct 2011

“Celebrity dream girls?” Oct 2011

“Killing me!” Oct 2011

backstage at Dome 60, Nov 2011

affectionate body language, Nov 2011

“Yeah, me and Harry live together,” Chatty Man, Nov 2011

cozy on the couch (video diary), Dec 2011

the nuzzle (2010-11)

2012

Harry and Louis in 2012: overview

I Want in Liverpool, Jan 2012

“Valentine?” Cambio interview, Jan 2012

“Harry’s gettin’ head” at the Brits, 2012

chicken with parma ham, Feb 2012

at Paris signing, Feb 2012

“What kinds of activities do you do on tour buses?” (Nov 2014 and March 2012)

pretty much all of March 2012  // overview

Much Music, March 2012

nudges & knee bumps at Sunrise Australia, April 2012

body language at the Logies, April 2012

meeting 1D, April 2012

I Want in Sydney, April 2012

the infamous couch whisper in Wellington, April 2012

Harry’s rope dance at that same show  // Louis’s classic thrust

during I Want in E. Rutherford, May 2012

leaving for the venue in Charlotte, NC, June 2012

turned on during twitter questions in Tampa, June 2012

obscene thumbs on their mics, San Jose, June 2012

Liam’s too busy for bromances, July 2012

backstage at VMAs, Sept 2012

TMH livestream, Oct 2012

wedding proposals? at C’Cauet, Oct 2012

at RTE Late Late Show, Oct 2012

remember not to touch, Dec 2012

2013

at the NRJ Awards, Jan 2013

NRJ red carpet (little girl with flowers), Jan 2013

“Come to me” in Japan, Jan 2013

yet another weighty stage glance, March 2013

More Than This, Cardiff, March 2013

“You’re pretty fit, you”  March 2013

onstage in Manchester, April 2013

Harry taps Louis on the shoulder, April 2013

during final bows, April 2013

look away, April 2013

Louis wants to stand next to Harry, summer 2013

“And that twitter question was from @donkasturbate” July 2013

Louis on his noughts-and-crosses tattoo, Aug 2013

“you could have gone bottomless, and topped everyone!” Aug 2013

watching Louis’s hand, Aug 2013

“That’s the kinda shit that didn’t hit the papers” Aug 2013

“A lot of things they don’t know” Aug 2013

Harry likes his handshake tattoo, Aug 2013

“Who’s getting married first, though?” Nov 2013

iHeartRadio Midnight Memories release party, Nov 2013

Louis schools his face, Dec 2013

2014

Better Than Words, May 2014

“What do you cook?” May 2014

“Can you dance the samba?” May 2014

salt & vinegar, May 2014

You & I, Aug 2014

not supposed to look, in Madrid, Aug 2014

Louis watches Harry on the screen in Toronto, Aug 2014

during Story of My Life in Toronto, Aug 2014

Best Song Ever in Toronto, Aug 2014

Harry dances on Cal in Tulsa, Sept 2014

You & I in Charlotte, Sept 2014

Louis steals glances, 2014-2015

Harry watches Louis pester Liam, Oct 2014

“Who’s the messiest?” Oct 2014

Louis watches Harry talk, Oct 2014

“Any desire for a more serious lady in your life?” Oct 2014

excellent peripheral vision, Oct 2014

acoustic Night Changes, Nov 2014

in Orlando fan zone, Nov 2014

in Orlando, Nov 2014

in Orlando some more, Nov 2014

Night Changes at AMAs, Nov 2014

after Sir Ian McKellen mentions bullying, Nov 2014

“What do you remember?” Nov 2014

Night Changes on Graham Norton, Dec 2014

Louis and the blue mic cord, Dec 2014

@ X-Factor with Ronnie Wood, Dec 2014

2015

nuggets v. broccoli, March 2015

I Will Survive in Manila, March 2015

cake-pops on Corden, May 2015

keenly aware at the Billboard Music Awards, May 2015

BBMAs red carpet, May 2015

“Who’ll get married first?” 2012, 2015

first performance of 18, June 2015

wheelbarrow race in Oslo, June 2015

Little Things in Oslo, June 2015

Harry points past Louis in almost an interaction, lol, June 2015

“Give him a cwtch!” June 2015

Note: I skipped over most of July through September—primarily because it’s easy to misjudge onstage interactions

“Harry, you seem very quiet today” GMA, Aug 2015

the host touches Harry’s hair, Aug 2015

Drag Me Down (little girl in audience), Sept 2015

watching their hands @Cauet, Oct 2015

hugs at VMAs 2012 & Sheffield 2015

performances of Fireproof, 2015

18 in Manchester, 3 Oct 2015

Louis listens to Harry, Oct 2015

Drag Me Down in Dublin, 16 Oct 2015

Drag Me Down in Sheffield, 30 Oct 2015

Drag Me Down in Sheffield, 31 Oct 2015

the hug at Sheffield, Oct 2015

body language, Nov 2015

Telehit interview, Nov 2015 (entire video worth a watch, as is all the MITAM promo in Mexico)

Harry describes Perfect, Oct 2015

fond look at GMA, Nov 2015

"Who’s single?” at Jonathan Ross, Nov 2015

“We’ll be playing Never Have I Ever” at Jonathan Ross, Nov 2015

“How’d you meet” at the London Sessions, Nov 2015

different performances of Perfect, 2015

red carpet at AMAs, Nov 2015

Harry gets back to his seat at AMAs, Nov 2015

“Do you have any crushes on girls?” AMAs, Nov 2015

slippers for Christmas, Nov-Dec 2015

fond affection, Jingle Ball Dallas, Dec 2015

Harry’s 20/20 peripheral vision, Dec 2015

Perfect at Dallas, Dec 2015

History, 4 Dec 2015

talking tattoos on Corden, Dec 2015

Carpool Karaoke, Dec 2015

Infinity on X-Factor, Dec 2015

Random other stuff

Little Things, 2012-14

another post with Little Things, 2013-15

“who’s dating, who’s single?” 2011-2015

some classic moments

Louis/Frankie + Harry/Susan

Enjoy!

Hey, quietasides, what’s your opinion? Are they together?

I reference @youcancallmeathief‘s video masterlist all the time. What a treasure she’s created and maintains!

[radiantmists]

countdown (chapter 10)

Summary: They get caught crawling outside the instructors lounge. Lance just wishes they’d gotten to Pidge first; a flight team should do everything together.

—

“There will be no negotiation,” Sendak says firmly. “You have forty-eight of your hours to turn over the prisoner and the Voltron Lion or face annihilation.”

(Flight Team Voltron might not do anything together for a while.)

first | previous

Read on AO3

T – 14:10:21

Pidge shoves herself toward the microphone, almost falling into Hunk’s lap in the process, but there are more important things happening. “Lance, is my dad there?”

“I’m here, Katie.”

(Kirit takes one look at her face and says, “I’m going to take a nap,” before leaving. Hunk looks like he’d do the same if Pidge wasn’t on top of him.)

She sniffles and feels tears in her eyes, though she could have sworn she’d cried herself out. “I missed you, Dad.”

“I missed you too.” She can almost see his face as he says it, not smiling with teeth the way he does for jokes, but soft, mouth only slightly quirked but beaming everywhere else. Pidge wants to see it, wishes once again for this to all just… be over. Hunk puts an arm around her shoulders, and she sighs. She can feel the energy that had been driving her start to fade, the temptation to let someone else handle everything rising in its place.

Someone walks up behind her, and she tenses before hearing Shiro’s voice.

“Did you get through to Commander Holt?”

His tone echoes the conflicting hope and worry that Pidge had felt when they switched the machine on. She looks up at him even as Dad’s voice sounds from the speaker.

“Is that Shiro I hear?”

Shiro’s face would be hilarious if it wasn’t so heartwarmingly sincere; his constantly furrowed brow and worried frown slide into blank surprise for a moment before he smiles. “You’re alright.”

Dad laughs. “And so are you! I heard that you’d escaped, but you made it back to Earth, too! How’d you manage it?”

Shiro frowns. “I don’t know,” he says slowly. “All I remember is us being captured, and them taking you away from me and Matt, and then—“

Pidge looks up. “Then what? Dad, is Matt with you?”

“No—“

“What?” Shiro leans closer to the mic. “Commander, I thought I got him sent to the infirmary!”

Pidge looks up. “I’m sorry, what?”

Shiro bites his lip, still looking faraway, and says, “I grabbed the sword from the guard, and I… I aimed for his leg…”

“You did what?” Pidge surges to her feet. Hunk makes a pained yelp and a small part of her realizes that she’s standing on his foot, but the rest of her is too angry to listen to him.

“Pidge, calm down!”

“Calm down?! He attacked my brother!” She gestures wildly in Shiro’s direction. He stumbles backward, and then his foot catches on one of the cords tangled all over the floor and everything comes down with a crash and a rush of static that cuts off abruptly.

Pidge blinks at Shiro on the floor, at the speaker lying between them, silent.

“And now he’s destroyed the communicator! Are you going to go after Mom next, you—“

“PIDGE!”

She’s never heard Hunk yell like that before. Pidge is so shocked that she stops being angry for a moment, and that’s when she takes in the scene. Wires and electronics strewn all over the floor, the whole room staring at them (thank goodness Iverson finally went to take a nap), and Shiro on the ground looking shocked—or shell-shocked.

Hunk sighs, not mad but disappointed, and Pidge feels like a four-year-old being told to share. “I can fix the communicator, but seriously? There’s obviously some context we’re missing here, and blowing up like that was not cool.”

Pidge swallows. She’s supposed to be the reasonable one here. “Sorry,” she tells him, moving out of his way.

Shiro stands gingerly and steps carefully out of the mess, rubbing the back of his head, and Pidge feels guilt crawling up her throat as Hunk starts picking things up, squinting at wires and grumbling to himself. She stifles the sensation; it’s uncomfortable, and she had a good reason to be angry.

“You better have a really good explanation,” she says, looking up at Shiro. He looks pained, and when he responds he sounds wary, like she’s something dangerous, or fragile.

“They were sending us to fight the current champion, and he was supposed to go first. I was just trying to make it so they’d send him to the work camps instead.”

“Oh,” Pidge says, deflated, and now the guilt is harder to swallow, because he helped Matt when no one else could, and what does she do? Attack him, of course. Because there was no other reasonable option, apparently. “I’m sorry for… this.”

He quirks his lips; she refuses to call it a smile even though his eyes soften affectionately, because he still looks so exhausted. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you. For protecting him.”

Shiro looks surprised, and when he says, “I tried my best,” it mostly sounds like an apology.

Pidge thinks about Shiro blaming himself for what’s happened to her family, about how she might have reinforced that, and feels like crying. She throws her arms around his waist instead. “Thank you so much.”

Slowly, the muscles against her cheek relax, and a warm arm wraps around her shoulders. “Thank you,” he says, and it’s the wrong response but she supposes it’s the best she’ll get. Shiro’s chest is warm and solid, and he holds her exactly right, not squeezing or limp. Pidge notes to hug him again in the future, since it seems to help both of them.

“Helloooo?” Lance’s voice floats out from the speaker. Shiro’s arms drop, and Pidge pulls away reluctantly. “Hunk? Garrison? You guys there?”

Hunk turns back to the transmitter. “Yeah, buddy, we’re back.”

“Everyone okay there?” Dad asks, not sounding especially concerned. “I thought I heard Katie’s battle cry before the connection cut off.”

Pidge jolts, mortified. “Dad!”

“See? Our Katie can be scary—I remember once when she was four, Matt took—“

“Dad! We agreed you wouldn’t tell that story anymore!”

He laughs. “Fine, fine.” Pidge sighs, relaxing—too early. “I wonder if Matt still has the scar?”

Over her own, “Oh my god, dad!” Pidge almost misses Shiro’s “That’s what it’s from?” Almost.

She sinks limply into a chair, then bangs her head onto the table for good measure. “My life is over.”

“Ummm… “ Hunk looks lost. “Anyway, you said before that he wasn’t with you?”

Dad sighs. “No. He came back from the arena and told me about what Shiro did, but he recovered well enough that they sent him to one of the camps. I got kept on the cleaning crew because I’m old.”

So Matt is still out there. Pidge is about to ask if her dad knows anything else when Hunk says, “Cleaning crew? Don’t they have, like, robots or something for that?”

That’s actually a really good point.

“Yes, actually!” Dad confirms. “Our job is mostly to process what they bring in as trash for anything useful.”

Shiro leans in. “Is that how you got computer parts?”

“Yes! Most of the drones are really terrible at recognizing individual electronic parts; I think it might be intentional, so they don’t learn how to build more of themselves—they’re smart enough for it otherwise, it’s really amazing what the Galra have done with artificial intelligence—“

“Commander,” Shiro interrupts, sounding fond. “Maybe later?”

“Right you are, Shiro!” Dad agrees. “The next shift is starting soon, and I still haven’t told you the most important thing!”

Lance butts in. “He hasn’t told me the most important thing either, actually, because you guys hailed us at the exact wrong moment, and the suspense has been killing me, so try to stay on track, okay?”

Pidge groans. “Seriously, Lance? You realize you’re the one who’s off track now, right”

“Well now it’s you!”

“Are you stupi—“

“Guys. Stop.” Shiro looks tired again, and Pidge guiltily closes her mouth. “Commander Holt, what is the most important thing?”

“A few days ago, we had a drone head come through, and I found the interface port,” Dad says. “If I can get access to an active one, we’ll have a direct line to the ship’s systems.”

“Oh,” says Lance.

With access to the ship, they can intercept communications, look at records, maybe even shut down weapons systems…

“If you manage that,” Pidge says, “we could actually win.”

She watches Hunk and Shiro’s faces as realization sinks in. Suddenly, this frantic search for a solution actually has some hope.

“Right,” says Shiro, standing up. “Commander, let us know when you do that. And… Lance, right?”

“Yes, sir.” That sounded suspiciously eager…

“You’ll be able to get Commander Holt a drone, right?”

“Yes sir!” Yup. Lance was definitely one of the people with a poster of Shiro on his wall in high school. So much teasing material…

Dad breaks in. “We’ll get back to you about that soon—the guard will be coming in any minute now, so is there anything else we need to talk about?”

There’s a brief pause wherein Shiro bites his lip, looking frustrated, before horrified realization spreads across his face. He opens his mouth.

“No?” asks Dad. “Good, because the guard is coming in now goodbye.”

“Wait! Have you seen—“

The transmission cuts off with a snap.

“Keith,” Shiro finishes lamely. Pidge frowns.

“Why would they have seen Keith?” she asks. Until now, she’d figured that he had stayed away from the Garrison as a secret weapon/free agent in case turning themselves in went wrong, so she’d avoided mentioning him, but now…

“He stowed away on the lion,” Hunk explains. “Or at least, he knocked out the soldier they left to keep watch when they went into it, and then disappeared, so that seems like the most probable option.”

Pidge hasn’t known him long, but it also seems like the most Keith-ish option if his breakout of Shiro is any indication: reckless, impulsive, and yet somehow successful. Kind of. If being stuck and possibly taken captive on a hostile ship in outer space could be counted as successful.

“He’ll probably be fine,” she says, knowing it isn’t very reassuring.

“Well, there isn’t much we can do about it from down here right now,” Shiro says, still looking worried, before he seems to refocus. “Getting into the ship’s systems will help solve all of our problems. Hunk, you round up everyone with hacking experience; this doesn’t sound like a one-man job. I’ll take everyone else and assemble some kind of strategy for what systems we want to prioritize. Pidge, you can start working on the actual code.”

“I will, but give me twenty minutes first,” Pidge responds.

“Of course,” Shiro says, hesitates, then adds, “Can I ask why?”

“I need to call my mom.”

  T – 13:56:10

Lance has a mission from Takashi Shirogane, to help Commander Samuel Holt. (Sam, corrects the corner of his brain in charge of being sensible while the rest of him fanboys helplessly for a moment.) It’s like a dream come true, in that Lance has literally had dreams like this. Those all went well, except for the ones that went awry in the inescapably doomed way that nightmares generally do and which obviously won’t apply in real life. Lance is going to ace this.

Okay, delirious fan time over. The other prisoners are rising and heading toward the door, while Sam tugs at his blanket in a way that looks like he’s trying and failing to straighten it but is likely meant to disguise the outline of the computer.

“Move!” yells the guard from the door. It looks like the same one, though it’s hard to tell because of the helmet. (Seriously? Someone needs to get these guys a copy of the Evil Overlord list, except not actually because exploitable weaknesses are going to come in handy against a race this advanced.) His gaze sweeps from the two of them to Vlath’s group of arena vets in the back of the room, who are taking their sweet time, and Lance takes the opportunity to whisper to Comm—Sam.

“I’m only here because they think I’m brain-damaged,” he explains. “Can you pretend to guide me wherever we’re going?”

“Sure,” says Sam. But instead of taking Lance’s elbow or shoulder as he’d expected, the man throws an arm around him before heading for the door, forcing them to walk awkwardly close together.

“I don’t like surprise hugs,” Lance comments as they pass the guard, hoping that Sam will correctly interpret the statement as why is this happening. There has been far too much manhandling today already.

Lance’s spine prickles as Sam whispers, “This way I can talk to you. The security cameras pick up sound, unless it’s very quiet.”

That makes sense, though Lance is eerily reminded of the way dream-logic can explain away the most outlandish things.

He should probably respond, but he’s facing the wrong way for a whisper to reach Sam and no one else. Gibberish it is. “Like mice,” he announces cheerfully. The prisoner in front of him twists their head around—literally, like an owl or a periscope—and twitches the patch of fur right above their single, luminous teal eye.

“We’re going to have to knock out a drone,” Sam mutters.

“The people in the ceiling are watching me already,” Lance informs the nosy prisoner, hoping Sam catches the reference to cameras. “You don’t have to bother.”

The prisoner flushes pink (magenta?) and faces forward once more.

“The incinerator room has no camera inside, just one facing the door,” Sam explains. “Prolonged exposure to heat would ruin anything permanently installed. But there’s a rotation of drones stationed inside. We’ll hit it with something heavy, and I’ll get inside its head and then reboot it while you distract anyone who tries to come in. The lost time will probably be seen as indication that it’s been in the incinerator room for too long, anyone even notices. That seem clear?”

Lance looks up at the ceiling. “It’s like glass,” he giggles.

“Hopefully not as fragile,” Sam comments at normal volume, making Lance jump. “Or we’d all be sucked into the vacuum of space if someone falls too hard.”

And that’s an ominous reminder that they are in a very precarious position. Lance swallows.

It isn’t long before they reach their destination. As the door slides open, a deep, throbbing hum fills the air. The room they enter is huge— Lance is fairly sure an entire football stadium could fit inside—but most of it is empty space.

The whole room seems to slope inward, like a funnel or a drain; the outer wall is covered in metal tubes. As Lance watches, debris comes spilling in to land on a conveyor belt. They file in that direction, but Lance’s attention is drawn toward the object at the room’s center/bottom instead.

About a hundred feet from it, a circle of drones watch the prisoners, cradling heavy-duty blasters. Behind them, encased in what appears to be glass and with large tubes stretching away from it, is a throbbing ball of… something. It’s black, but Lance somehow gets the impression that it’s glowing, the intensity of the light waxing and waning in time with the humming. It’s almost hypnotizing, fascinating in its utter foreignness.

“Lance,” Sam says sharply. Lance turns his head back and realizes that they’ve reached the conveyor belt. He moves aside a little to allow Sam to take a spot next to him.

“What is that?” he asks quietly. The nearby prisoners can probably hear it, but the question is a natural one rather than part of the plan, he’s not trying to fool any of them about his sanity, and there’s no way the cameras or the distant guard will pick it out over the thrumming of the air around them.

“I’m not sure,” Sam says, “but I think it’s one of the ship’s gravity generators.”

“Why is it in the same room as trash processing?” Lance asks, only a little hysterically. Of course the Galra have mastered artificial gravity, he has been walking around the ship normally, but he didn’t think a random prisoner would get to see the thing that did it.

“As far as I can tell?” Sam asks, looking sympathetic. “Convenience.” At Lance’s frown, he adds, “The trash chutes just take advantage of the fact that this is gravitationally the bottom of the ship. Also, the incinerator uses the excess heat that thing generates.”

Lance looks down at the belt, where the remains of what looks like someone’s lunch pass by. “So all this is getting incinerated?” he wonders.

“Of course not,” Sam says. “Most of this just goes on to the next room, where it’s sorted by drones into types to be recycled by the ship,” he explains. “We just pull out the sensitive stuff for incineration—computer parts, corrosive material... things the drones either can’t process or are too valuable for.”

Right—evil empire. Slave labor is probably cheaper and more easily replaced than robots.

“Start filling a cart,” Sam says. So they do. The belt passes by very quickly, and Lance supposes it’s a good thing there are so many of them, because he’s definitely missing things that should be removed. Someone up the line is doing an even worse job, though, and Lance peers up to see Vlath and one of the other gladiators talking, not even looking at the belt despite their surfeit of eyes.

The work isn’t hard, but it never seems to let up, and after a while Lance feels like no nightmare he’s had could compare to this endless stream of garbage, except in a dream it would pile up instead of neatly disappearing, and he would drown in it, ears still ringing with that incessant hum…

“How do people make this much trash?” he wonders helplessly.

The teal-eyed prisoner snorts. “This is nothing. Just wait until the dinner rush.”

Lance swallows. Thankfully, that’s when the nearest cart to them finally reaches capacity.

“I’ll show him the incinerator,” Sam volunteers. The other prisoners make it clear that he’s welcome to it, though Lance can’t imagine why they aren’t all clamoring for the opportunity to take a break.

When they’re about halfway to a door, Sam mutters, “Look for something heavy we can use,” and Lance remembers the plan, scanning the top of the cart for likely instruments of blunt-force trauma. There’s a hefty-looking screen of some kind…

The hallway they enter is full of cameras and oddly warm but blessedly quiet, and Lance adds “effective soundproofing” to the list of remarkable futuristic technology the Galra have mastered.

Sam is silent as they push the cart along, so Lance doesn’t voice any of his many questions, nor his unease as the temperature rises and the floor slopes down, like some kind of descent into hell…

After a minute or so, they reach a heavy door marked with red Galra script that Lance is willing to bet money reads something along the lines of “Danger: Keep Out.” Sam taps the head of the cart against the door, and it flashes purple and opens.

A wave of hot air rolls out, and Lance is reminded of the worst summer afternoons back home, where anyone who came in from outside was immediately subject to a round of irritated scolding until the AC could begin to restore the room to a livable state.

Somehow, it was even hotter inside, and the humming is louder than ever. The air seemed to shimmer above a glowing red grate that covered the back half of the floor. A drone stands near the grate, for some reason staring at the opening in it. Lance wonders if there’s a chance of flares coming out or something, then decides not to ask. ”What now?” Lance asks, hoping Sam can hear him.

“Prisoners jump in sometimes,” Sam yells. Well that answers the question Lance didn’t choose, kinda… “The Galra don’t care, but they like to know that the prisoner��s dead and not running around on the ship somewhere.”

Okay, then.

“Choose your weapon,” Sam says, and Lance picks up the screen he’d noticed earlier. It’s heavier than he’d expected it to be, and he hopes he’ll be able to swing it with enough force. He’s not sure how much of his sweat is from heat, and how much is due to nervousness.

Sam nods, and gestures for Lance to stand back a little. He pushes the cart toward the grate, and the drone turns to watch him. As he tilts the card forward, allowing the trash to fall in, he shoots Lance a look that Lance hopes means Now, because that’s what he’s interpreting it as.

Lance steps forward and puts his weight into the swing, realizing at the last moment that if he hits too hard and the screen’s inertia takes over, he and the drone will both fall into the incinerator. He tries desperately to check its momentum, and that’s when it flies out of his sweaty fingers.

It hits the drone’s head with a dull thump and bounces off, but the robot must be made of solid stuff, because though its neck jerks forward sharply, it doesn’t fall. There’s a heart stopping moment where Lance thinks it didn’t work, that they’re going to get caught, and then the drone crumples to the ground.

Sam pulls the cart back and reaches up his sleeve, pulling out something that looks less like the flash drive Lance was expecting and more like a bunch of random wires, slides the other hand under the drone’s chin and yanks, because apparently when he said he needed to get inside its head, he was being literal.

The inside almost looks like a glowing purple brain, which is apparently what Sam was expecting, because he doesn’t even hesitate before sticking his hands in. Lance watches in horrified fascination until Sam says, “Go stand in front of the door.”

Lance has a feeling this is going to take longer than he’d thought. He arranges himself so that he should be blocking Sam from view, then waits, feeling useless. So far, he’s just been an extra pair of hands, and he almost screwed up even that; if the screen had gone flying at a slightly different angle, or if it were a bit heavier or lighter—

The door slides open.

Lance straightens in surprise, and looks over the full cart to meet the triumphant eyes of Vlath.

She smirks. “What are you doing in here, human?” Over her shoulder, Lance notices a camera aimed at the door, which means he has to keep up the act.

“It’s so nice and warm!” he comments, trying to sound cheerful. Vlath glowers.

“I know you’re faking, and that act is infuriating,” she growls. “Desist or I’ll show you how warm the inside of the incinerator is.”

Damn. He can’t let her get inside, so he steps forward, using the moment of surprise to shove her and the cart backward, letting the door close. He can only hope no one is paying attention to this one camera. “Fine. What do you want?”

“You pretend to be useless in order to stay out of the arena,” she comments. “I wouldn’t have expected it of a human.”

Lance blinks. “What, intelligence?”

“Cowardice,” Vlath spits. “The Champion’s lust for blood was infamous!”

The Champion was Shiro, right? What is she talking about?

Still, whatever strange impression she has of humans seemed to intimidate her before, so Lance probably shouldn’t cast doubt on it.

“Perhaps it isn’t cowardice,” Lance hisses, trying to sound sinister. “Perhaps I simply choose not to expend energy unnecessarily, when I can simply target the weak,” he adds, glancing deliberately at Vlath’s shoulder.

“If you think I am as weak as the Holt creature, you are sorely mistaken,” Vlath responds, pushing the cart aside.

“Holt?”

Vlath scoffs. “You are good at playing the weakling, Lance, but I saw the fury on your face when he touched you. You killed him, did you not?”

The hell? Since when is irritation at being grabbed a motive for murder?

Lance is still grasping for a response to that when she picks up something from her cart—a broken shaft of solid metal, what is that doing in there—

Oh, Lance realizes as she hefts it with her uninjured arm, jagged point first, like a spear. Vlath the Gouger.

“Your blood will be delicious,” she says, and Lance has a moment to think is she a freaking vampire before she’s thrusting the spear at him.

He dodges aside, and the tip catches on his orange uniform sleeve, ripping the fabric but thankfully missing his arm. She pulls the makeshift spear back, and Lance clasps the shaft in his hands and shoves, ramming the blunt end into her shoulder. She growls, wrenching it free, and Lance glances around, looking for some kind of weapon; hopefully he can keep her distracted until Sam finishes—

The door slides open, Sam pushing the cart and looking completely normal. Vlath blinks in surprise, and Lance takes advantage of her moment of confusion to grab her cart and shove it at her, pushing her down the hall away from them.

As she straightens, lifting the spear again, Lance realizes that polearms are fairly throwable, and it looks like Vlath knows how. If he dodges, Sam might not have time to get out of the way…

A metallic hand closes around his shoulder. Across the room, Vlath is pinned to the wall by another drone.

“Prisoners DR4CU-74 and EX9YT-04 have demonstrated physical fitness. Revoking infirm status and transferring to arena immediately.”

Lance glances back at Sam as he’s being pulled away, and receives a miniscule nod. When they pass Vlath, she growls, “I’ll taste you in the arena, human.”

Welp.

Lance is going to die, but at least the plan worked.

  T – 12:27:57

“If we didn’t have people on board, I’d say target the ship’s power regulation straight off—remove their capability to do anything to Earth,” advises one specialist.

Shiro frowns.

“Well, we do have people on board, so come up with something else that won’t compromise the life support system!” snaps another. The first opens his mouth, offended—

“Alright, calm down,” Shiro cuts in. “We’re looking at our options, and that’s one we can rule out now.”

“Can we?” asks a third strategist. She flinches as the others turn to look at her disbelievingly, and says, “Everyone up there is part of the USF, and committed to safeguarding the Earth. It might be a sacrifice we have to make.”

Shiro sighs. “I understand what you’re saying, but at the very least we can put it at the bottom of the list unless the situation gets much worse. Besides,” he adds, “our main hacker is the teenage daughter of one of our men on board, and she’s clearly willing to put his life above the USF, though I’m not sure about the Earth as a whole.”

Several of them glance surreptitiously at Pidge, who is bent over her computer and typing furiously. No one is sure when Commander Holt will contact them again, but Pidge insists that she’s going to be ready.

“So putting that aside for now,” Shiro continues, “would it be logical to try and lock them out of weapons controls?”

“Ideally yes,” says the single programmer Shiro stole for this strategy session, “but those probably wouldn’t be connected to the drones. Our team is good, Commander Holt is great, and I really can’t say what that girl can do… but to hack into something, you have to find a weakness, and that takes time we might not have.”

One of the other specialists frowns. “What will the drones be connected to? What are they for?”

Everyone turns to look at Shiro.

“I don’t remember a lot of the last year,” he reminds them, “and even if I did, I doubt anyone told me how the computer system was set up.” Their faces fall. “But I think they used drones for most manual tasks, as well as to patrol corridors… and there were smaller ones for surveillance, like little floating triangles…”

Shiro does pretty well suppressing the flashback on his own, but the person snickering something about the Illuminati certainly doesn’t hurt his ability to focus on the present.

“Surveillance,” someone muses. “We could get into the cameras.”

“And if the small ones don’t have hands, they must be connected to doors, right?”

Shiro suddenly feels like an idiot. “Maybe the drones’ software doesn’t have direct access to the weapons system, but I’m sure they could get to a terminal. All we have to do is have one escort Commander Holt there…”

By the look on everyone’s faces, they also think this should have been more obvious than it was.

“Shirogane!”

Oh no.

“What is going on in here!”

Principal Iverson’s awake. He marches toward them, face storming with anger.

Shiro takes a deep breath and reminds himself that Iverson is meant to intimidate cadets. “Sir, Commander Holt got in contact with us. He has a way to get access to the Galra ship’s systems, so we’re developing a strategy.”

“Why wasn’t I informed of this immediately?” Shiro opens his mouth to respond, but Iverson just keeps shouting. “Once again, you are not in command here! Your… hacking could seriously damage our negotiations with Sendak!”

Shiro goes cold. “You’re not seriously considering agreeing to his terms, are you?”

Iverson’s expression darkens further, into what Shiro recognizes as real anger. “That is not how you speak to a superior officer, Shirogane. I will make the decision that is best for this planet, and you will follow orders.”

“I will not.”

Shiro barely recognizes his own voice, full of tightly contained anger. He wouldn’t quite believe the words had left his mouth if everyone else wasn’t staring at him, horrified.

“Excu—“

“I won’t follow orders that sacrifice myself, and three in-training cadets, for no reason.” Iverson tries to interrupt, but Shiro is done giving up control of himself. “I won’t follow orders from a commander I can’t trust, from one who values the life of one general and personal friend over those of countless others. I can’t in good conscience follow a commander who keeps secrets from the ones he protects just to save face, and I won’t follow a commander who refuses to listen to the soldiers under his command even when they have experience he doesn’t.”

Shiro takes a deep breath, already regretting his words. He’s just destroyed any credibility he gained by staying inside the rules, and now he won’t have any influence over what happens, because he’ll be locked up for insubordination. What was he even expecting to accomplish with that speech? Iverson isn’t going to change, he’s just going to get angrier—

“Neither will I.”

It’s Pidge standing behind him, of course, because she seems to have some kind of vendetta against most of USF command, and Shiro wants to scream at her to be quiet, because she just got out of a cell.

“You’ve blundered your way through this entire situation, covered up things that people had a right to know, and locked out all the people who could have actually contributed,” she continues. “This place was a madhouse after the general left. Shiro is the one who managed to actually bring it back to some sort of order, and the closest thing we have to a Galra expert, and you’re completely dismissing his input!” Shiro thinks he should point out that he doesn’t actually remember very much about the Galra, but what she says next shocks him into silence. “I’d trust him to give orders much more than I would you.”

This is definitely not what Shiro was expecting, she’s going to get them both arrested—

“Me too,” says Hunk. He rises to stand next to Pidge. “He’s actually trying to come up with a strategy instead of giving the Galra whatever they want and hoping they’ll go away.”

Oh god it’s spreading...

Iverson, red even past his dark skin, turns to the two soldiers at the door. “Arrest all three of them!”

Shiro swallows, already starting to chant don’t fight back, don’t fight back, and trying to will his arm not to activate.

But the soldiers look at each other nervously and don’t move.

“What are you waiting for?” Iverson barks.

The soldiers look even more awkward, before one—Private Palmer—finally says, “They’re right. Shirogane is going to handle this better.”

A rumbling spreads across the room. Shiro and Iverson watch in horror as people move to stand next to Hunk and Pidge. Not all of them, but more than half, and none of the rest seem horrified. No one moves to support the principal.

“This is mutiny!” Iverson protests, furious.

No one is threatening him at all. It’s nothing like the abandon-the-captain-on-a-desert-island mutiny from stories. But he’s right.

Shiro didn’t ask for this, didn’t want it, but… these people all just put a lot of trust in him, and he has to respect that.

He looks Iverson in the eye and says, “Yes. It is,” before turning his head and calling, “Everyone, get back to work!”

As those who got up filter quietly back to their stations, Iverson sputters. “You’re all going to prison for this!”

The room is silent for a moment, and then someone says, not loudly but loud enough, “At least we’ll be alive.”

Iverson literally growls before storming out. All the tension leaves Shiro’s body in a rush, and when someone else starts humming the Munchkin’s relevant song from the classic Wizard of Oz, it takes a great deal of self-control not to burst into hysterical laughter. He’s in charge of saving the world. If you add in the Voltron thing, maybe even the entire universe.

Finally, he takes a deep breath and pulls himself together.

That’s when Sendak calls.

  T – 11:49:18

“So be it,” says a voice.

Sendak’s voice.

Keith rears back, catching himself just before his head clangs against the ceiling of the vent.

On the other side of the grate, Sendak sighs.

The commander of the ship is right there. Keith has his dagger. If he’s fast enough, he can end this right now, before anyone gets hurt. This is his chance.

“Axus, prepare a landing party, one that is equipped to fight the Champion,” Sendak says. “And tell the Druids the negotiation with the humans has come to an end.”

“Yes, sir.”

Keith stops short, takes his hand off his dagger. He can almost hear Shiro scolding him. Sendak has officers, lieutenants who would keep right on going if he died, and Keith’s not going to get them all. What’s more, from the way those strange Galra were talking earlier, Sendak isn’t even the highest authority here. Honestly, he’s probably preferable to the unpredictable and magical alternative.

But this is still a good chance for Keith to get some useful information. What he’s going to do with it he has no idea, but knowledge is power, right?

There’s a hiss as a door slides shut.

“You will not succeed. Humanity will stop you,” says a voice. General Parisot’s voice.

Keith’s mind leaps into action. She’ll be an ally. If he can break her loose, maybe get her in contact with Earth, they can set up some kind of plan…

“Stop me?” Sendak says. “Humanity is helping me.”

What?

“It has been millennia since a Voltron lion was captured!”

Oh. That.

“Thanks to you, I will be the Emperor’s most trusted deputy. I will see the whole universe bow to the might of the Galra.” Keith shifts forward to see them better. “I’ve been thinking of a way to thank you.”

“I want none of your thanks,” says Parisot. She’s cuffed to the wall, and her face is bruised, but she looks so regally distasteful that Keith feels like the only reason she isn’t spitting in Sendak’s face is because it would be uncivilized. He’s a little bit in awe.

“Oh?” wonders Sendak. “Then now that you’ve outlived your use to me, I see no reason to extend my offer of a painless death.”

He swings his glowing, purple arm, and Keith flails into motion. He has his dagger—Sendak is right there—if he’s fast enough—

But by the time his hand reaches the hilt, it’s already too late.

Keith missed his chance, and someone got hurt.

He sits and stares, paralyzed, Parisot’s last scream echoing in his ears long after the pool of blood stops growing.

  T – 8:59:42

Hunk puts down the phone. Stands. Makes his way over to Shiro.

He should be nervous right now. Sendak had seen Shiro in command and immediately realized that there wouldn’t be negotiation, and no one knows what his next move will be. Commander Holt and Lance haven’t yet checked in. Iverson is threatening them all with a prison sentence. Hunk should be terrified.

Anxiety is as familiar to him as his own shadow, but at some point in the last, ridiculous day, it’s been replaced by exhaustion.

“Something is happening,” he says simply.

“Is it good or bad?” Shiro asks.

Hunk shrugs. “First of all, one of the ships left.”

“That’s…” Shiro stops, and his eyes widen. “Is it the one Commander Holt is on?”

Hunk shakes his head. “Based on which transmissions he was piggybacking on, he was on Sendak’s ship, which showed up first. This is the second one.”

“Okay,” Shiro says. “So they came for a day, then left. What for?”

Hunk shows Shiro the pictures the telescope researchers sent him. “These… I don’t know, fighter jets? They came out of it before it left.”

Shiro looks at the tablet. “Those aren’t fighter jets, they—“

Hunk’s tablet chimes, showing a new message from the telescope, with the subject line reading: Another ship.

Shiro taps the notification, and a new picture pops up. A ship, sharp-nosed with red markings and a red trail behind it.

“That’s a fighter jet,” Shiro says.

The body of the message reads: Several of both types are approaching Earth.

Hunk watches Shiro’s face. In the moments before Shiro takes a deep breath and slides the confident mask back on, Hunk wakes up enough to be very afraid.

[phclemenza-blog]

Track 2: The Shackeltons (2008)

On July 12, 2008, I was attending the annual WXPN XPoNential Music Festival on the beautiful Camden, NJ riverfront (and I do mean that unironically). It was a sweltering day even into the late afternoon, which it so happened to be. I had just finished watching Teddy Thompson, son of Richard and Linda Thompson, on the main stage and sauntered over to the smaller marina stage. I saw about 50 hearty folks arranged in desultory clumps about the semicircle of grass surrounding the stage lined with small open shops where some were avoiding the sunlight and awaiting the next band.

When they arrived, I wasn’t sure if it was the actual band or just their roadies checking the instruments. They were a young, ragged, trippy unit wearing bits and pieces of army fatigues, that seemed to wander in individually. As they started to play, I took in the stage that had a sort of free-standing awning structure made out of pipes that was festooned with flowers—daisies?—for some reason. The stage was littered with flowers as well and they were stuck in the singer’s mic like the straws in the game Kerplunk. But that was quickly forgotten as the singer arrived on stage with an old corded telephone in hand (base and handset), fully clad in black—back cap, long-sleeve black shirt, and black pants—and proceeded to stomp and cavort frenetically about the stage.

The ragtag crew quickly came together and started rocking out with what, I believe, turned out to be the opening track to their album, “Your Movement” and I was rapt for the next half hour. The bands at the festival were only allocated about that amount of time before the act on the other stage had their turn to perform. I remember that the Shackeltons went off to uproarious applause, the concert ending with lead singer Mark Redding first loosing seemingly the entire stage of flowers on the audience on the appropriately named “Get Out”, then smashing the phone that he had used to sing into intermittently and had swung about like a Roger Daltrey microphone continually throughout the concert, and finally joyously wandering through the audience as the song ended.

I knew that I had just seen one of the greatest concerts of my life, and I had to go up to the singer shake his hand and tell him how much I appreciated it. It seemed that I made his day as he embraced me and earnestly told me, “Wow, that really means a lot.” I had one of the warmest feelings I had ever had leaving a concert. I quickly strode over the merchandise table and plucked down ten bucks for their album. I would have bought a T shirt, too, if they had any. (Note that though I did recognize the bulk of the songs on the album after the concert, it was hard to reconstruct in what order they were played, and unfortunately, a playlist is not available online.)

The Shackeltons were formed in Chambersburg, PA June 2004 with founding members Mark Redding (vovals), Eric Fisak (guitar), Dan Schuchman (bass), Josh McDaniel (bass), and Jonathan Slick (drums).1 They took their name from a misspelling of the name of the explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton was of the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration” and was knighted for the then-closest approach to the South Pole but after a number of attempts, including a sea-to-sea attempted crossing, never actually made it to the Pole and died of a heart attack at 47 on his final attempt.2 I imagine this made him all the more romantic a figure to the boys.

Within a few months, the Shackeltons had secured their first live gigs and recorded a five-song eponymous EP in January 2005 at Chambersburg Church of the Brethren with Michael Mateer as engineer. Two months later, they self-released a 6-song live set Live on 103​.​7 that they recorded as part of a radio broadcast. Their first full-length LP, Red, was again self-released January 1, 2006 after they returned to the Church of the Brethren again with Mateer. The band continued its prolific pace releasing a six-track EP, Madeline, one month later again with Mateer but at a different Chambersburg church, the simply named Clifton Newell's dad's church.

Each of these releases had early version of songs that would end up on The Shackeltons: ”Emergency” on The Shackeltons EP; Live versions of “Soft Heart”, “Bloke”, and “Emergency” on Live on 103.7; “Bloke”, “Your Movement”, “Soft Heart”, and “Yellow Cadillac” on Red; and “Madeline”, “The Ship”, “The Breaks”, and “Tremble” on Madeline, all but one song. The band continued to hone the songs through touring.

2006 witnessed the band’s first lineup change as two members, Josh McDaniel and Jonny Slick, left for college. Justin McDaniel replaced his brother on bass and 15-year-old Sean Hallock took over on drums.1

The band got their first break debuting the lineup at the 2006 CMJ Festival at Sin-é in New York (October 31 – November 4) when John Richards of KEXP and Loveless Records (Seattle) caught their act: “After seeing The Shackeltons live I realized why I started a record label. When you see and hear a band this full of energy and passion you can't help but be moved.”1 Richards signed the band in 2007, and they travelled to Seattle for a reportedly exuberant live set at Neumos that also appeared on KEXP. The next stop was Los Angeles to record their first album for a label with the help of Sam Jones, producer, and Tom Biller, who had won a Grammy working with Kanye West, producer/engineer.

The album was released January 29, 2008 and received some notable reviews. They were named a “Breaking Artist” by Rolling Stone:

The Shackeltons provide a stout combination of clean, straight-lined production and cacophonous bursts of sound on their self-titled debut. Their blasts of angst, which are equal parts danceable bliss and seering [sic] noise, are held together by the jittery, literate lyrical musings of frontman Mark Redding.3

Spin made them their featured artist of the day on January 18, 2008.4 They later published a review praising the Shackeltons: “Palpable desperation is one of rock’n’roll’s most valuable commodities, because it’s impossible to fake... A half-dozen times on their debut, the Shackeltons sound completely convincing, and that’s about six more times than most bands ever manage.”5 Myspace made them a featured band for a week, while they averaged 15,000 plays a day.4 The music blog New Rock News 43 called them “freakin' amazing”6 and Hybrid Magazine said the band is “[i]nfused with a life rarely seen” with a sound “like the bastard product of so many intelligent influences”7:

There is something inherently different and good about The Shackeltons, this indefinable essence, that even if you could quantify it, no other band could replicate the success. Part simplicity, part commitment and purely movement, it just works so well to create this beautiful album that invades you as a listener. This energy pervades the record like a nervous tension that hovers over the quiet sections and swoops in for the kill during the breaks.7

Reviewers compared the band to the Pixies, Joy Division, Interpol, Fugazi, Television, The Cramps, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, and Cage the Elephant, to name a few. However, “while it may be easy to assign sections to certain forerunners, the completed product is nothing but The Shackeltons.”7 On their first album they were said to play post-punk, new-wave/indie-rock, lo-fi garage rock, proto-punk, they were a band with an “unmistakable CBGB's sound about them” 8. Their style defied being pigeonholed, at least successfully.

So let’s return to that amazing summer concert nine years ago. At the time, I did not know about these stellar  reviews. I just knew that I loved this band. I kept an eye out for new releases or even any mention of the Shackeltons. I scoured all of my sources to no avail for years.

Their next release was not until 2014—Records, which is also very good. Meanwhile all of the members of the band turned over except for lead singer Mark Redding.

So how does a band with this much promise, that is this good live, that got recognition from major media outlets, how does such a band not make it big? Apparently, such is the music industry today. Twenty years ago, the Shackeltons could have become the next big thing. Now, they may be a cautionary tale but man, they have created some great music.

Speaking of which, here are reviews of the tracks of the album, each with a link to an audio track (or video for the singles) and with any live versions if available:

The Tracks

1 Your Movement (4:12):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gcywqaitwM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLHnKysY8Ng & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9IAaPNM4Cg (live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Ek0gD5j28 (live as “Pirate Song”)

You tear my heart in two

But I will always offer you…more

The album opens with a track that lays out the aesthetic of the entire album both lyrically and musically. Musically, the energy of the rhythm section, the tension of the two soaring, crunching, wailing guitars, and the passion and earnestness of Redding’s voice are all there. Lyrically, Redding cries out about love, perhaps unrequited, but with a pure heart and expressed sincerely from said heart. This perfectly introduces the song arc loosely tied to ships and pirates with love and life as an adventure and the Shackeltons in their military garb fighting on love’s side. Or something close to that.

The track itself starts out mid-tempo with sole guitar quietly churning in a repeating riff joined by a nice bouncing bass line and a nice skipping drum beat. Redding then quietly joins in. The whole band including a second wailing guitar jumps to a crisp crescendo as Redding expresses his love. The song even sounds like a ship sailing along in a lapping sea until they run into an emotional squall.

Check out the second live clip to see Redding walking through the festival audience high-fiving exultant fans. It’s just as I remembered it.

2 Tremble (2:47):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVku0NcFI

Certain treasures are never sold

Certain stories are never told

“Tremble” starts out with the high energy of “Your Movement” with a crunchy guitar riff opener and takes it up a notch as Redding repeats over and over about trembling “in these trials of love”. Redding wails throughout except for a quiet bridge that does little to dissipate the energy but rather keeps the tension up until a final chorus. No one mentions them as an influence, but I hear Pink Floyd’s more harrowing, entreating tracks from The Wall like “In the Flesh”, “One of My Turns”, or “Don't Leave Me Now” in “Tremble”. (And I love the sock puppet video.)

3 The Blood (2:56):

https://theshackeltons.bandcamp.com/track/the-blood

I found a rose by the riverside

I picked it up by the thorns and watched the blood go down my fingertips

“The Blood” cuts out the middleman, starting with a quiet intro with the lyrics above, a snare, and bass slowly doing a scale. It quickly turns into a crazed wail with bits and pieces of these lyrics over the band yowling with both guitars doubling each other followed by the bass line as well and crashing cymbals aplenty. The song ends with Redding’s distraught voice crying out. (No sock puppets on this one.)

4 Yellow Cadillac (4:42):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KQJaFrSJNo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7XuUHMnl6U (live)

All I ask for is the yellow Cadillac

And all I pray for is for you to come back

“Yellow Cadillac” starts out slowly and quietly with yearning and a sense of loss. Again, I hear echoes of “Hey You” from The Wall. Maybe it’s just me. Then after Redding pours out his heart to a single guitar picking out a response, the energy suddenly builds in the music and the voice slowly builds along with it until the entire band is zooming along. It again falters while Redding ponders whether that other person will come back. Then, as if a switch is flicked, he confidently states, “I will see you coming back,” and the music again soars, now in his revelry. It falters again just slightly, then rushes headlong to the end.

I love the stop-start tempo of the song, making use of the Pixies quiet-loud dynamic, and the great, melodic guitar riff towards the end doesn't hurt either. Brilliant song. 6

I particularly remember this song as one of the standouts live.

5 The Ship (3:08):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_aDcxiVmTo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HopCWUcjIA (live)

In the sea of love

It’s going to be cold

“The Ship” is a slowly building, whirling frenzy after Redding calls seemingly everyone on the planet to join him on the ship before it embarks for its wild journey. The pirate motif is back in spades. The ship seems to run aground amid chants of the mighty ship being lost, but it is only for a moment as the band takes the song to an even wilder faster height before a single fading note trails off at the end.

6 The Breaks (2:35):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhrI9Ff3Jyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F4nIL3SEtU (live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIFdXebALbg (live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbxtKz07qzI (live)

I can’t sleep at night

My heart breaks all night

Redding chants out a confession from his heart until he shutters to “the breaks” and the band halt and pop along with him. Guitars then slash and stutter and crunch. Then suddenly the band breaks down like the protagonist’s mental state, getting slower and slower until it stops a la The Cure’s “Grinding Halt”. Then a little bass riff revives him. The music builds again while singer breaks down to a wailing ululation.

7 Emergency (5:05):

https://theshackeltons.bandcamp.com/track/emergency-3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twaa6KeD7Yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpqwx4Q_xKE (live, 2 pts)

Well, my home is more than rented bricks

And my heart is more than repeated beats

And my love is more than just some fleeting cries

“Emergency” again finds the protagonist at a low point a la the fits and starts of The Wall. Redding is singing into that prop phone that I mentioned from his live set as a quiet, defused, plaintive voice over a melodic guitar as the song starts.  The rest I will quote from elsewhere since they say it better:

The key to this entire winning style is the ability of this band to tease and release the builds into a worthy end; the best analogy I can come up with is the dawn. You see this beam of light on the horizon that grows and grows, you can feel the potential the inevitable warmth, and finally the sun comes up and it is beautiful and bright and everything you wanted. "Emergency" is such a case that should be studied by other bands in hopes of catching a glimpse of where they should be going.7

[A]n easy-starting song that rides on Fisak's melodic guitar progression as Egolf's lays down a rhythm track. One thing I love though, is the way Redding speaks the vocals at the beginning of the song. I'm reminded of a Johnny Cash/Jim Morrison sound, where Redding here is trying to get something deeper out of the lyrics. Trying to push the poetry through to the audience, and I love it. Among it all is McDaniel's bass, softly keeping time in the background as Hallock's drums are slow, almost lazy, but still managing to find the snare and cymbals at the right times. Definitely a new-wave-inspired track, and I'm almost tempted to label this track at least as shoegaze-alternative. It reminds me a little bit of Smashing Pumpkins through the lazy beat and heart-felt, poetic vocals. And with everything speeding up towards the end, it's definitely one of the must-hear songs on the album.6

The song runs the gamut of human emotion and is like the dawn that the reviewer above mentions. The second review mentions a Smashing Pumpkins feel to the song, and a certain kinship to “Tonight Tonight” is definitely palpable.

8 Soft Heart (3:29):

https://theshackeltons.bandcamp.com/track/soft-heart-3

Think about the pain of now versus the pain of being alone

And I’m not sure if I’d rather be with you or ever alone

“Soft Heart” differs from the rest of the album’s style quite a bit. First, it is mid-tempo which almost seems slow compared to the rest of the album especially the couple of songs preceding it. The guitars sound a bit different, more “Peter Gunn”-ish and the bass is of the walking variety. Redding still has the plaintive, forlorn lover chanting out lines in fits and starts and the guitars still soar. This is where the comparisons to Joy Division come in and they are earned:

But then just when you think you have the Shackelton lads figured out, the Joy Division-ish "Soft Heart" comes peaking around the corner. Like quite a few alt bands of the early 21st century, the Shackeltons are well versed in late-'70s/early-'80s punk history.8

9 Madeline (4:48):

https://theshackeltons.bandcamp.com/track/madeline-2

Madeline, I swore I’d never use your name in a song

Celebrate your last night

“Madeline” starts off with a great fuzz bass line and the band joins in with dual blaring, weaving guitar lines and an almost disco drum beat with shimmering cymbals and danceable beats. It builds to a driving, almost soaring, wall of sound. The song stops midway, and after a solo guitar riff blares out, it must be restarted by Redding’s chants into wailing. As the singer asks, “Can we ever find our way back?” the song soars back to its previous heights and keeps building until an abrupt cymbal crash to end it.

By the way, he broke his promise to Madeline about not using her name in a song, but the way that it takes him 45 seconds in the beginning of the song to tease out that one line makes you feel the weight of it. Other than the breakdown in the middle, the rest of the lyrics are just bits and pieces of these two lines. Redding’s lyrics are never more painful and never more exultant.

What I love most about this track, besides the catchy guitar riffing, is the incredible ambiance it exudes. It just feels like you're falling into the music, and that's something that will take a song right to the top if it can do it right. 6

10 Bloke (3:11):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8A_uYXGvp8  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAw0-GvKVpk (live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mELNdObe7Ps (live with Get Out)

I was looking for you and your love so true

You better watch out for a bloke like me

Reverberating wails start this one out followed by blaring, weaving guitars, a walking bass line, and a propulsive drum line. All are standard fare for the Skackeltons to this point, but if there is one song that can be said to be a bit slick this is it. “Bloke” sounds more like a single than anything else on the album, just another great track this late in the album tells you how good this album is.

11 Get Out (3:04):

https://theshackeltons.bandcamp.com/track/get-out-2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i6jg12vnnc (live with flowers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mELNdObe7Ps (live with Bloke)

Arms are falling to the side

We are slow dancing without touching

“Get Out” sounds like a last track from Elastica’s great 1995 hook-laden classic album. It’s completely the Shackeltons but the hooks are getting heavier as the album goes. It is a great number to end on and fades out with a little organ playing something that sounds like it’s from a carnival. This is just as Redding finishes chant-wailing about love.

Watch the first video to experience Redding’s manic marching and dropping to his knees to wail into his prop phone. Watch the second live video to see him throwing flowers in the audience at the end. It’s great stuff, just as I remembered it.

Fisak's and Egolf's guitars are distorted pleasures to my ears, blending new-wave/indie-rock with blues rhythms and garage-rock beats. Hallock's drums are crazy here, reaching John Bonham-like levels, and as McDaniel's bass just keeps pumping and pumping, I'm reminded of John Entwhistle by his style. Above it all are Redding's frenzied blues-rock/funk vocals. I can't decide whether he's singing or screaming, or a mixture of both, but the bottom line is that I love it, and whatever he's doing, he's doing it right. 6

Credits (from the CD liner notes)

Eric Fisak, guitar

Sean Hallock, drums

Mark Redding, voice

Justin McDaniel, bass

Daniel Schuchman, guitar

References

1 Sonicbids: https://www.sonicbids.com/band/theshackeltons/

2 Ernest Shackleton on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton

3 Rolling Stone Breaking Artist review by Kyle Anderson, January 30, 2008: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/breaking-artist-the-shackeltons-20080130

4 The Shackeltons Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shackeltons

5 Spin review by Josh Modell, February 25, 2008: http://www.spin.com/2008/02/shackeltons-shackeltons-loveless/

6 New Rock News 43, “Friday Night with The Shackeltons”, November 20, 200: http://newrocknews43.blogspot.com/search?q=shackeltons

7 The Shackeltons review on Hybrid Magazine: http://www.hybridmagazine.com/reviews/0108/shackeltons.shtml

8 AllMusic.com’s Shackeltons review: http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-shackeltons-mw0000781522

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