#wh crystal au | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

year2000electronics · 3 months ago

Text

This is a post detailing the full timeline of my Mario AU, Fate of the Stars! Full thing under the cut- it's a bit of a long read, but I hope you enjoy!

THE BEGINNING

The seven Star Spirits have always been there, watching from above… watching with love. Many things in the FOTS world have happened because someone made a wish. Wishing magic is some of the most potent there is.

TIME OF THE DINOSAURS

Hey, this is where the Yoshis and Koopas’ common ancestors are from!

…Alright, that’s it. NEXT!

TIME OF THE ANCIENTS

Two distinct factions of humans are formed. Magicians who rely on spell-casting to get things done, and regular old humans who rely on the natural fauna around them to get things done.

The magicians have a fight that splits them into two: the Ancients and the Tribe of Darkness.

The magicians eventually get so secretive that they ban basically anyone else from entering into their fold. This happens over centuries.

Amidst all this fighting, the Tribe of Darkness creates the Dark Prognosticus, a prophecy that is set to doom the world. The Ancients create the Light Prognosticus to try and counter it- though only the Dark Prognosticus is TRULY prophetic.

In both prophecies, four heroes are predicted to save the world. These heroes are known as the “Star Children”, and legend says that when they get delivered by a stork (because that ends up being how babies are made here…), they will each come with a mystical star charm that will give them power and guide them on their way.

Both prophecies mention the “Man in Green” as the ideal host for the Chaos Heart that would end all worlds- although in the Light Prognosticus, it is said that the Man in Green has the potential to decide which prophecy becomes true.

Only the Dark Prognosticus mentions this, but allegedly, one of the heroes would be the “Dark Star Child”, the one destined to turn against the heroes and act as their final opponent. Prophecy scholars across the years have debated which of the heroes would be this Dark Star Child. In the modern era, the common belief is that it would be the “Furious monster king”, although there are one or two fringe theorists who believe the Dark Star Child is one and the same as the Man in Green.

Also happening over thousands of years, the humans who keep using the land’s mushrooms to “power-up” eventually evolve into the Toad species, the mushroom DNA intermingling with theirs causing them to shrink down and gain mushroom cap-like appendages on their heads. We know this species today as “Toads”!

Toads grow to revere the ancient humans of their past and view tallness and “Tall Toads” as a status symbol. A Toad forges the Super Crown, something gifted to a royal and their partner to give them the appearance of a regular human.

The Tribe of Darkness’ interaction with so much dark magic also changes them. Now they are shadow beings, distinct from humans.

Regular humans still exist, though, but as the years go on, they become fewer and fewer.

Koopas become sentient after many Ancients and Darkness Members alike began to keep them as pets, and just like Toads, the lingering effects of being close to magic helps them evolve. They form a kingdom of their own, and the idea of “pet Koopas” quickly becomes abolished.

Sometime during this time are the reigns of Pharaoh Shroomses and Captain T. Ode.

Also during this period, Power Mushrooms are bred with GMOs to make their effects less harmful to human DNA, even if the Toads can never go back.

THE REIGN OF SHADOWS

Three sisters belonging to the Tribe of Darkness- Vesper, Jaydes, and Cerise- become so powerful that they ascend to immortal demonhood. They then proceed to shroud the land in darkness. They forge eight Crystal Stars during their reign to make themselves even more powerful and practically impossible to kill. (They draw this power from the Star Spirits.)

The land is shrouded in darkness for quite some time.

The youngest sister, Cerise, is tasked with hiding the eight Crystal Stars where nobody can find them. Her first hiding place is the eighth Crystal Star, which she chooses to always wear as a necklace. Along the way, however, she falls in love with a hero who’s trying to stop her, a “human” vagabond named Russ Toadstool. It causes her to have a change of heart. Later in the journey, Russ shamefully reveals to her that he’s actually not a human, and is instead Toad royalty who hid his Super Crown under his bandana. Cerise, laughing, assures him she loves him no matter what he looks like.

She and Russ agree to get married, and Cerise casts away her demonic form to live as a powerless human. Unfortunately, this seems to impact the Crystal Star she carries with her, as it has transformed into a powerful yet disconnected artifact known as the Cobalt Star. She refuses to tell anyone what it does and always keeps it on her.

In the meantime, Jaydes, the middle sister, takes control of the Underwhere forcibly, wrenching it from the grasp of Grambi. She originally intended on commanding an undead army to bring up to the living world, and was waiting for Grambi to be caught off guard.

Four heroes, Russ included, journey far and wide collecting the Crystal Stars using Cerise’s guidance on where she hid them. Then, they use them to seal away the last remaining Shadow Sister- Vesper, the Shadow Queen.

Seeing this, Jaydes quietly decides to just accept a part as Queen of the Underwhere. (Over centuries, she and Grambi fall in love.)

MR. AND MRS. TOADSTOOL

Russ and Cerise’s lifespan extends far beyond human or Toad lifespans. They end up living for almost a thousand years, and still look as young as the day they met! …Does Cerise have anything to say about that??

“Hee hee! I guess being a hero just keeps you young!”

Around 980 or so years pass, with Russ and Cerise’s reign being the longest recorded reign in Toad history. It makes sense! They’re good rulers and people like them!

Meanwhile with the Koopas, they’ve grown to have a steady rivalry with the Mushroom Kingdom. They bring about kinda dumb and not-very-good-at-planning heirs and that’s about it for them.

At some point during this era (probably near the tail-end), Blumiere and Timpani have their whole devastating romance thing! Yay!

…And that’s it for the most part! (Though knowing how complex this can get, I may have to add more sometime.)

But after a long and peaceful reign, Russ and Cerise decide it’s finally time to have… a baby.

A STAR IS BORN

Russ and Cerise give birth to a baby girl they name Peach. She’s fully human, thanks to Cerise giving up her power ages ago, and even if she might have some Toad DNA- well, it certainly isn’t enough to make her look like one.

During this time, two human babies are born to a humble young couple! Their names, as you may know, are Mario and Luigi!

Also during this time, the next heir to the Koopa throne is born- and though he may be small now, in the future, little Bowser will soon be the biggest Koopa anyone’s ever seen…

Each of these babies come delivered with star charms. Mario and Luigi’s charms are two halves of one star, symbolizing their closeness as brothers. For baby Peach, she eventually had hers made into a pair of star earrings. And finally, for little Bowser, his star was carefully cut into five parts and fashioned around a collar to serve as spikes. (This obtuse placement would lead people to not realize that Bowser was the fourth star child for years, up to the very last moments.)

THE ORIGINAL SHROOB INVASION

A planet full of hostiles known as the Shroobs descends upon the Mushroom Kingdom, trying to take them by force and possibly drain them of all their vim and all that freaky deaky stuff.

The Shroobs almost have the royals cornered, particularly the Elder Princess Shroob has Cerise and Russ on the ropes. Cerise realizes that if she finds a way to attack the Elder, the Shroobs will fail to have any orders on what to do next. Doing that, her and Russ agree to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Cerise pulls the Cobalt Star off of her neck and raises it up, trapping Elder Princess Shroob in there- but also trapping herself in the process. She expects to never come out- and so to the world, she is dead.

The Shroobs all scatter, now without a queen to rule them. They flee, tails between their legs. The kingdom is safe, but at the cost of their beloved queen.

Whatever Cerise was doing to extend Russ and her lifespans, it clearly isn’t happening anymore. Russ falls very ill very quickly and starts rapidly aging. He shuts himself away from the kingdom, knowing he wouldn’t want his subjects seeing something so agonizing.

In his few dying days, he smiles, entrusting his advisor Toadsworth to the most important mission of his life.

“Toadsworth… take care of her. Alright?”

“My baby… my Peach.”

Russ dies. Toadsworth is now the acting royal of the Mushroom Kingdom until Peach is of age to make decisions on her own.

The Cobalt Star is locked away in the basement of the castle. Everyone is sworn to secrecy about it.

YOSHI’S ISLAND

Hey! Welcome to the first actual VIDEO GAME in this timeline! Fed up with my antics yet?!

Seeing that the Mushroom Kingdom is in disarray after the Shroob invasion, the acting ruler of the Koopa kingdom, Kamek, acts fast. The previous royals were killed somehow, and though he has Lord Bowser to take care of, he wants something more. Since he was present to see the baby king, he knows that Bowser is one of the four Star Children, and knows that if Bowser was born, the other three must not be very far behind. He should eliminate these obstacles to the Koopa kingdom’s potential great reign… and he should do it fast.

He orders troops to kidnap every baby in the Mushroom Kingdom they can find, and these babies happen to include Mario and Luigi in their ranks.

Although Luigi is successfully kidnapped, Mario is rescued by a tribe of friendly Yoshis, who all agree to help baby Mario get his brother back, cos he’s just so cute! And… surely this child, blessed by the stars, with the star necklace… could only bring them good fortune.

When Kamek finds Luigi, he eagerly pulls out Luigi’s star necklace, elated that he found one of the Star Children, but- ah. Why’s this star purple? …Must be one of his rotten minions who busted it. Unless… This was the mysterious Dark Star Child? Well- either way. He’s either covering for his idiot minions, or… Well… If this WAS the Dark Star Child… Perhaps he wouldn’t rise up and take over Lord Bowser’s plans if he never knew he was the Dark Star Child.

While deciding what he should actually do with Luigi, Kamek places a fairly strong cloaking spell on Luigi’s purple star necklace that makes it appear as if it’s gold like Mario’s. He tells no one about this, not even Bowser. (I’d remember this moment if I were you. Who knows if it might crop up later?)

STARRY CHILDHOODS

Mario and Luigi grow up in the Mushroom Kingdom, thanks to their parents living in the rural country. Their parents were close personal friends with Toadsworth, so they would often bring Mario and Luigi over for playdates with the young princess Peach. They all realized their kids were three of the fabled Star Children, but decided not to tell them so their lives would be peaceful and they wouldn’t be burdened with a sense of great responsibility.

Bowser, meanwhile, is getting trained by Kamek and the rest of the Koopa kingdom to be a powerful heir to try and finally dethrone the Mushroom Kingdom as the leading monarchy. Kamek’s a bit of a hardass who believes that the Koopa kingdom can rise above the Star Children prophecy if they rule the world before anything can happen to it.

Mario and Luigi get bullied on the playground by their cousin :(

Eventually, word travels around that a wrecking crew led by a human named Spike are building a city for the remaining humans of the world to congregate known as New Donk City. Although the population is currently small, they hope to make a bustling metropolis, and Mario’s parents are more than happy to join them. They move away, taking the brothers with them, and they lose contact with the Toadstool family.

DONKEY KONG

Hi! Welcome to the adult era! The bros are in their 20s now, and attempting to do what every up-and-coming youngin dreams of: Starting a business! That is to say, a plumbing business… They go for gold, quitting Mayor Spike’s wrecking crew (their cousin Wario complains because he busted his ass getting that job for them) and trying to start the Super Mario Bros. plumbing company.

Mario’s girlfriend at the time, Pauline, is kidnapped by a rampaging beast known as Donkey Kong. The mayor of the city, Spike, apparently captured the Kong to use his incredible strength to do things like demolish old buildings. Poor guy!

Nobody’s sure what to do, but at just the right time… Mario rises to the occasion, climbing all the girders and dodging barrels to fight the beast and get back his girlfriend.

Mario is hailed as a hero! Their plumbing business immediately booms, and everyone just can’t seem to get enough of Mr. Jumpman. Spike is ousted as the mayor for his abuse of animals and also pissing off the Kong Country, dude, why the hell did you do that.

As the search for a new mayor begins, things heat up for Mario. People seem to keep calling their business not for plumbing, but to try and get Mr. Jumpman to do more and more extreme favours for them, or just to try and get a photo and an autograph. (Poor Luigi usually silently gets handed the camera…) The pressure really starts getting to Mario, and he and Pauline end up breaking up, seeing as the people of New Donk City are REALLY trying to push for them to get married so they can be the “perfect sweethearts” after he rescued her.

Mario’s had enough. He and Luigi move away from New Donk, and decide to try starting their business back home- back in the Mushroom Kingdom.

SUPER MARIO BROS.

(...That’s a bit of a misnomer. Mario is the only one going on this adventure.)

Mario and Luigi’s plumbing business is going really well! So well, in fact, that the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom herself has invited them to come fix her pipes… Could she be? The cute little girl they talked to so many years ago?

The bros arrive at Peach’s castle, and they catch up with a now-adult Peach, who Mario immediately falls for. He’s trying not to rush anything, especially after the Pauline fiasco, so he tries to hide his crush, but the two of them are getting along really well!

Suddenly, in the middle of Mario and Luigi’s plumbing job, a giant monster bursts through the wall- it’s none other than Bowser, king of the Koopas. After years of being raised and trained to become the perfect heir for the Koopa kingdom, he’s ready to strike, kidnapping the princess as leverage to try and get the Mushroom Kingdom to surrender.

Mario can’t help himself- he sees someone in need and SPRINGS INTO ACTION! He chases off after Bowser, venturing across the land to try and find him in the Koopa kingdom to rescue the princess.

…Luigi, naturally, stays behind, too meek to try, and assumes that Mario was just better-suited for the job. After all, LUIGI wasn’t the one who beat Donkey Kong… Maybe he can start off with something smaller next time… Yeah… Next time.

Mario rescues the princess and beats Bowser, and gets a kiss on the nose and a cake for his trouble! The Toad citizens all welcome him back, but thanks to the Mushroom Kingdom having a much smaller population density, he actually finds it quite nice.

Mario realizes something- that Bowser isn’t going to go away, is he? And everywhere he goes, the vulnerable, the innocent, his FRIENDS… They need someone to help them. Mario knows what he needs to do. He hangs up his plunger permanently, deciding to become a full-time hero.

…And Luigi can stay home and do the laundry!

SUPER MARIO BROS. 2

Mario has a dream where he and his friends go on an adventure! Wow! The baddie at the end of the road is some bat thing called Antasma? Who says he’s going to feed off Mario’s nightmares? Too bad Mario stomps him almost immediately. Guess his dreams were too happy… Better luck next game, buddy.

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3

Bowser’s pride is wounded after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Mario. He decides to put out a summons in his kingdom calling for more minions to join his side- a royal army. To his surprise, someone answers his call, but it’s not any minion he was expecting… Instead, he sees seven starry-eyed orphans, proclaiming themselves to be eager recruits in Bowser’s new army- The Koopalings. This is hopeless. How’s Bowser going to get anything done with these clowns?! Still, for some reason, he feels a pang of something deep in his heart, a feeling deep down of knowing what it’s like to be a kid with no real parent figures… He steals the wands of seven of Kamek’s head Magikoopas and entrusts them to the Koopalings (much to Kamek’s dismay), telling them to go conquer seven of the Mushroom Kingdom’s neighboring countries, and they do.

Meanwhile, Peach is fretting over letters from these other counties, begging her for help as all their leaders have been turned into animals. Before she can do anything, of course, she’s kidnapped by Bowser. During her tenure, she feigns innocence to Bowser and keeps asking about his “new soldiers”, getting Bowser to tell her all about them. She secretly sends Mario letters warning him on each new Koopaling’s ability.

Mario manages to defeat the Koopalings and get the princess back from Bowser. Kamek is mad at Bowser for stealing the magic wands, but is honestly impressed with how adept the Koopalings are at Magikoopa magic. He decides to take them on as his apprentices, and only forges two replacement wands- One for himself, and one for his second-in-command, Kammy Koopa.

SUPER MARIO LAND

Mario gets a distress call from Sarasaland, one of the kingdoms he just helped save from the Koopalings. This time, instead of their ruler being turned into an animal, their princess- Daisy- has been kidnapped by an alien named Tatanga! Of course, Mario is happy to help, so he goes off on another quest to help her.

Most of the bosses of this land are just repeat visits from Mario’s cousin, Wario, who’s being paid off by Tatanga to be a nuisance. Mario is so tired of this. He wants Wario to go back to New Donk City and leave him alone. Please.

Mario saves Daisy, and the two of them become good friends! Daisy reveals she’s more of a warrior princess than anything, and would be glad to help pitch in on Mushroom Kingdom protection whenever she can. Mario says he’ll keep in touch.

SUPER MARIO WORLD

Mario is cashing in that offer IMMEDIATELY. He asks Daisy if she can keep an eye on the Mushroom Kingdom for a bit so he, Luigi, and Peach can take a well-needed vacation further into the rural country. As it turns out, this was a terrible idea, because the Koopalings were spying on him this whole time and immediately chase after them with Bowser to kidnap Peach when she has her guard down. DAMMIT!

Mario and Luigi realize very quickly, though, they came to this place for a reason, even if it was subconscious… This is the land of the Yoshis! Although the original Yoshis who took care of them are quite old now, they meet a young Yoshi about their age who agrees to help rescue the princess. (That is THE Yoshi now, but I don’t really do much with him. But he’s here!)

Mario and Yoshi go off to rescue Peach. Luigi says “no really I’ll stay here don’t worry about me”.

After this adventure, Bowser finally bites the bullet and officially signs the adoption papers to make the 7 Koopalings his children.

SUPER MARIO 64

Another day, another slay for Super Mario. Peach kidnapped, you know the drill. But THIS time, Bowser has turned the entire castle into HAUNTED PAINTINGS! Mario’s adventure will take him no further than the castle gates, but boy, will it make him work up a sweat regardless.

The only major thing of note here is that in Big Boo’s Haunt, a certain boo meets Mario for the first time… And he takes note of the power of paintings. He wonders- If there’s a way to get Mario in a painting… perhaps there’s a way… to keep him there…

Luigi is at home baking a nice quiche.

SUPER MARIO RPG

Mario has to help Geno repair the Star Road after Smithy broke it, or else the Star Spirits won’t be able to grant wishes or anything!

Peach and Bowser also agree to help. Bowser is reluctant but agrees.

Geno recognizes Mario, Peach and Bowser as three of the Star Children, but doesn’t really care to ask where the fourth one is because he’s got other shit he really wants to be dealing with right now.

MALLOW IS ALSO THERE.

PAPER MARIO 64

Bowser, immediately after helping repair the Star Road, goes right back up there to steal the Star Rod from the Star Spirits and grant his own wishes of invincibility. THAT BASTARD.

Not much to say here as of right now. It’s Paper Mario. Kammy Koopa is there. Peach is kidnapped.

In this version, the Star Spirits do recognize Mario as one of the Star Children, though- the “child blessed by the stars”! Yes, they remember him. They consider themselves as part of Mario’s family, in a way. After all, they were always looking out for him. Who do you think made sure he got dropped off with the Yoshis? Who do you think gave him all those invincibility stars?

Luigi stays at home. He’s getting increasingly frustrated that he missed the “being a hero” boat, and now it’s a self-feeding cycle of him being left at home. He makes a wish, with all his heart, that one day, he’ll be allowed to shine just as bright as Mario…

LUIGI’S MANSION

Normally, the Boos were some of the lowest class of species in the Koopa kingdom’s court. They were shy. They were wishy-washy. Nobody paid any mind to them. But one day, a shooting star fell from the sky, and landing on the ground was a magnificent jewel that seemed to be from the stars itself. Big Boo, the one from Super Mario 64, as the leader of the boos, fashioned a wonderful crown out of the gem, and once he put it on… it gave him power unimaginable.

Re-christening himself King Boo, he constructs a mansion near the lab of the annoying ghost-hunter Professor E. Gadd as part of his grand scheme. He filled it with portrait ghosts, with inspiration from Bowser’s haunted paintings and help from the ghostly painter Vincent Van Gore. And then came the piece de resistance… Unlike that fool, Bowser, his first move wouldn’t be to kidnap the princess. No. He would instead kidnap… the plumber.

Mario gets a flier in the mail, saying he’s won a FREE MANSION! WOW!!! He eagerly lets Luigi know, and goes on ahead to accept his new house- he can’t wait to move in!

Luigi waits for him to get back. And waits… and waits… Aaaand waaaiiits…

…Mario isn’t coming back. It’s been days. Maybe he finally abandoned Luigi and went off to be a hero forever- No. No way. He should check the mansion. He should. Right? Yes. So, with legs shaking like jelly, he packs his bags, and prepares to go see his brother…

Of course, Luigi finds a mansion full of ghosts, and helps rescue E. Gadd from their pranks. He ends up defeating all the portrait ghosts in the mansion, and even survives the horrifying realization that Mario is trapped in a PAINTING!

Luigi beats King Boo, feeling like he just barely survived, and a stunned Mario hugs him for at LEAST five minutes, sobbing into his shoulder that he’s so proud of Luigi.

Luigi quietly mumbles that he would maybe like to go on an adventure with Mario next time Peach gets kidnapped. Mario agrees, saying he’s sorry he didn’t reach out sooner and felt like he was just trying to protect Luigi. Now, he sees Luigi doesn’t need protecting, and can be a hero in his own right!

WARIOWARE INC.: MEGA MICROGAME$

WOW AN INTERLUDE!!!!! This is basically the only Wario game on the list, so enjoy it. I might do a Wario Land at some point to include Captain Syrup. If I’m feeling generous. Wario returns to New Donk City after the events of Super Mario Land and this is what he’s been up to: Collecting a gang of misfits to have them work for him for MEAGER WAGES.

The microgames are a big hit, though!

Waluigi probably works for Wario in this universe.

SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE

It’s time for you to put your money where your mouth is, Mario! Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toadsworth, and a few Toads are on vacation to the luxurious Isle Delfino, hoping that they can kick back and relax FOR ONCE after the haunted mansion fiasco. Unfortunately, two things are happening: First of all, the isle is covered in this icky paint-like goop (It’s moving!) (Now now boys, don’t touch that stuff!), and second of all, an impostor is running around wearing MARIO’s face?! MARIO HAS BEEN ARRESTED?!

Despite Luigi and Peach’s objections, Mario is declared guilty, and his sentence is to clean up the entire island. But how is Mario going to do THAT?!

Luigi is here to help! He explains that Professor E. Gadd occasionally gives him presents in the form of wacky inventions, and Luigi brought his latest one along because he hadn’t had time to unbox it yet. When he does, it’s almost too perfect- It’s a robotic nozzle machine known as F.L.U.D.D.!

As Mario works hard to clean up the Isle (Peach and Luigi have tried to help, but the Piantas yell at them for it.), Luigi takes on some missions of his own trying to uncover the identity of the mysterious Shadow Mario. Nobody sets up his bro like that and gets away with it!

Peach, meanwhile, tries to convince the locals to rally with Mario… to varying success.

The Koopalings are probably around Isle Delfino somewhere, but they’re not actually attacking Mario or anything, most of them just seem to be relaxing and enjoying the island. It’s only clumsy Morton who lets slip that they’re purposely staying back to “LET NEW GUY HAVE HIS FUN”. …WHO’S THE NEW GUY?!

Luigi and Mario’s quests meet up when Peach is kidnapped and taken to Pinna Park, where Shadow Mario reveals himself to be… BOWSER JR?!

That’s right. Bowser just couldn’t get enough of that fatherhood and had another kid through ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION VIA A STORK. DO NOT INQUIRE ABOUT THIS FURTHER. Of course, Kammy Koopa spoils him rotten despite Kamek’s protests (and outlawing giving him a magic wand), so she commissions a paintbrush invention from E. Gadd that allows Jr. to create magic graffiti that can help him, harm others, and, importantly, disguise him as people.

Jr. is convinced that Peach is his mother. This is bad. Peach eventually gets yanked away by Bowser to go, like, sit in a hot tub. Mario and Luigi chase after him, with Mario using F.L.U.D.D to destroy the hot tub and with Luigi tasked with getting Peach off of that hot tub before it falls.

Everyone winds up safe, except F.L.U.D.D, but with Luigi’s help, he makes a miraculous recovery!

Mario asks Luigi when he got so good at tinkering. Luigi admits it was his primary hobby when Mario was off on his adventures, and E. Gadd just helped him hone his abilities.

Bowser and Jr. return home, defeated. Jr. admits he knows Peach isn’t really his mama, but was having so much fun fighting Mario he didn’t want to stop. The Koopalings are all super proud of their baby sibling and welcome him to the team.

MARIO & LUIGI: SUPERSTAR SAGA

IT’S A MULTI-KINGDOM AFFAIR! When two ambassadors from the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom show up and offer a gift to Princess Peach, everything goes haywire when her voice gets stolen! The assailants reveal their true identities- the evil witch Cackletta and her cronie Fawful! They seek to activate the Beanstar, an artifact that can grant wishes (Star Spirits, I’m looking at you suspiciously…) that was put into a deep sleep and can only be awoken with a pure voice.

Mario and Luigi are on the case! Their journey takes them across the strange cultural frontier of the Beanbean Kingdom, meeting up with Queen Bean and the young Prince Peasley- who seems to have taken quite a fancy to Luigi! Most of the wackiness is part of their long, drawn-out plan to make sure Peach is alright, as well as chasing after Cackletta and Fawful.

Cackletta gets the shit beat out of her by the bros at Woohoo Hooniversity, but we’re just getting started. Fawful sucks up her essence, and through Shenanigans, she ends up possessing the body of Bowser, going by Bowletta. Yes, this gives Bowser boobs for some reason. Yes, this is as weird as it sounds.

Although the bros try their best to out-maneuver and trick Bowletta at every turn, eventually, the cards do fall in her favour, and the bros are forced to do a final gauntlet into Bowletta’s castle, which includes fighting the Koopalings as well as Fawful himself, who seems like he’s had it up to here with Cackletta’s mistreatment of him.

The bros go inside Bowletta to fight Cackletta’s Spirit, she flips them off whenever she attacks, they beat her, Bowser is fine, Peach gets her voice back, Luigi and Peasley make out sloppy style, THE END.

PRINCESS PEACH: SHOWTIME!

You didn’t hear this from me, but this is kinda a fusion between Princess Peach Showtime and Super Princess Peach. I will not be adapting the Vibe Scepter. It’s mostly an adaptation of Showtime, but with the idea that SPP had that Mario and Luigi get kidnapped.

Before Bowser can even brainstorm up his next plan (Yes, because we all know it’s coming!), the Mushroom Kingdom finds itself encased in a dome of enchantment, turning all its citizenry into nothing but stage actors, mere puppets for the one, the only, MADAME GRAPE! She seeks to put on the greatest show the world’s ever seen- one that never ends!

Mario and Luigi are down for the count, of course, but it seems that something within Peach is keeping her safe… She doesn’t know why, but she feels the urge to look up to the stars and thank her late mother.

Now, Peach must embark on a journey as the only one left, and rescue the brothers she’s come to care so much about. Will she do it…? Or will it be curtains for her?

SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER

DID SOMEBODY SAY BOWSER?! (No, nobody said Bowser.)

Mario and co. get invited to another of the Mushroom Kingdom’s neighboring kingdoms, the Flower Kingdom (If you’re counting, now that makes around 3 neighboring kingdoms that Mario probably visited during Mario 3!) by Prince Florian. This time, it’s not an act of hostility… but this time, Bowser invites himself along, turning himself into Castle Bowser with the weird and wacky power of the Wonder Flower.

Jr., Kamek, Kammy, and the Koopalings also get the fun effects of the Wonder flower, and are now wreaking havoc across the kingdom! Who can possibly help us?!

WHY, PRINCESS DAISY, OF COURSE! She was part of this cross-kingdom party too! Now, Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy all get to go on a wonderful adventure! (...Pretty standard aside from all the Alice In Wonderland nonsense, though!)

PAPER MARIO: STICKER STAR

Whew! That all has been nuts, huh? Isn’t it time we just got a stupid fucking adventure?

Peach decides to throw a STICKER FEST!! A festival dedicated to stickers! With a fist clenched, with an eye twitching, after two or three different ruined vacations, she says surely you all know that we can’t mess up with something as simple as a STICKER FESTIVAL. Right?

Wrong.

As it turns out, the Sticker Comet that passes by once every millenium is called the Sticker Star, and holds a race of sentient, hedonistic stickers on them. They love to grant wishes- (THE STAR SPIRITS SWEAR IT’S ACTUALLY NOT THEM THIS TIME.) But the stickers’ wishes are twisted, and never really get you what you want, aiming to turn you into a powerful being they can catch a ride on to feed off your energy. They have something of a cosmic rivalry with the Star Spirits, and normally stay away from the Mushroom Kingdom so they won’t fight more, but…

Bowser just had to Bowser it up, didn’t he? He crashes Sticker Fest, thinking that it’s just some dumb thing the princess is doing, but once he touches the Sticker Comet that just landed, well… you know. The six Royal Stickers go zooming away- one lands on him, and he starts going nuts for power. Alright, man, you go have fun with that! Peach also gets kidnapped. Alright, man.

Mario and Luigi reluctantly set out on an adventure to go get those stickers back- and they’re constantly tailed by a bratty little sticker named Kersti, who reveals she’s next in line to be one of the Royal Stickers, once she’s of age to succeed her dad. And she thinks the Mario bros are smelly and should stop getting in the way of the Royal Sticker Court.

Along the way, they beat up five of Bowser’s minions who have gone nuts with power- A preteen Goomba who wished to be stronger for Bowser’s army, a Pokey who wished to not be so lonely, a Blooper who wished for fame (Hey, hasn’t Mario yanked that guy’s tentacles off before?), a snowman who wished to not melt, and a Piranha Plant who wished for… more food.

Kersti slowly realizes that the wishes her people give are the furthest thing from benevolent, and in the final battle, sacrifices herself so her father, the last Royal Sticker, can be removed from Bowser.

Hooray! The day is saved! Everybody would like a nice nap now please.

LUIGI’S MANSION: THE LAST RESORT

I had to change the title because I am putting a game called “Luigi’s Mansion 3” after a game called “Luigi’s Mansion 2”.

After their stupidest adventure yet, Peach and the Mario bros are all too happy to check into an all-expenses-paid five-star hotel after they get a letter inviting them to go. After all, Bowser seemed pretty wiped, too, and who else would be out there to get them? Cackletta? No, she’s super-dead. Wario? No, he’s too busy on the grindset. King Boo? Ha! No, he’s trapped in a painting!

The group get greeted by a bunch of cheery-but-stiff-faced bellhops, as well as the owner of the hotel herself, who insists you just call her Hellen. They all get comfortable for their stay, and separate for the night.

…Luigi wakes up in a cold sweat. Something is very wrong. He just has a gut feeling. He looks around the hotel, trying to find Mario and Peach, but to no avail. The entire hotel seems darker, somehow. Suddenly, he’s face to face with a grinning Hellen, who backs away to reveal- Not only is she a ghost, but she broke King Boo out of his painting because she’s his BIGGEST fan. King Boo reveals that he’s trapped Mario and Peach in paintings, and wants to save the best for last- The meddling plumber who GOT HIM SHUT AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!!

Luigi manages to escape, and on the first floor, finds E. Gadd who is once again caught in the crosshairs. Now, the two of them (Make that three of them- E. Gadd reveals he was going to give this to Luigi on his birthday, but is forced to reveal it early… A slime clone of Luigi called Gooigi. He is so… unnerving. Why would E. Gadd make this as a birthday present.) must work together to recover all of the elevator buttons, slowly ascend up the floors of the hotel, and confront Hellen Gravely and King Boo at the very tippy-top, locking them in a ghost-keeping chamber that E. Gadd made.

PAPER MARIO: COLOUR SPLASH

Yes, I’m spelling it like that.

Mario, Peach and Luigi all take a trip to Port Prisma, a more beachside area of the Mushroom Kingdom! (Luigi asks that if there’s something crazy can you please keep him out of it. He’s tired from the hotel.)

Surely nothing bad will happen.

Unfortunately, because Bowser is a knucklehead and tried to dye his shell rainbow in Port Prisma’s rainbow fountain, he accidentally mixed it all together to create ugly Black Paint, and is having an ill-informed Giant Rampage across the kingdom. And the Koopalings get to help, too!

Mario and Peach team up with Huey, a paint bucket, to beat Bowser because why not? Let’s just throw Peach in there for funs.

Huey sacrifices himself and it’s very sad. Luigi gets to put his karting license to work.

MARIO & LUIGI: DREAM TEAM

Okay but can we get that nice nap for REAL?!

This time, the gang chooses to go to the relaxing Pi’illo Island, whose tourism is entirely based on sleeping and having nice dreams.

…Hey, remember back in Super Mario Bros. 2 when a bat-thing named Antasma tried to feed on Mario’s nightmares but failed spectacularly? Well, he’s baa-aaaaaack…

Antasma’s goal is to collect the Dream Stone and gain enough power to put the entire island into an eternal sleep, ruling it as the king of nightmares. Obviously, we can’t let that happen. …Oh, yeah, and he convinced Bowser to work with him and kidnapped Peach as a sign of goodwill. DAMMIT, GUYS, SHE HAD SUCH A GOOD STREAK GOING.

Mario and Luigi team up with Prince Dreambert, former prince of the kingdom who had been frozen in stone for years, to chase after Antasma. It’s also revealed that Luigi has immense power in the dream world- Dreamy Luigi has the force of ONE HUNDRED MEN. What the hell?! Maybe it’s because he has his head in the cloud so much… Who knows?

And BTW Antasma betrays Bowser this time and not the other way around. That was fucking stupid, what happened in the real game. I didn’t like it.

During the final battle, Antasma idly comments on Luigi, saying he wishes he tried to influence him to do his bidding, nearly salivating over his dream-power, but also saying he… “senses something dark within Luigi”? Whatever that means. Oh, well, he’s a crazy bat anyways, let’s just attack him and make sure Pi’illo Island never has to deal with him again. Bye-bye!

(Also I have nowhere to put this but Antasma can totally turn people into nightmare vampires. Isn’t that cool? I think it’s cool. It’s why I added it.)

SUPER MARIO GALAXY

Have you ever just wanted to say “Fuck it, let’s go to space”? Bowser has.

It’s the Star Festival! Which is NOT THE SAME AS THE STICKER FESTIVAL, OKAY? There’s a lot of stuff out there in space. Give us a break. Besides, THIS one orbits the Mushroom Kingdom every 100 years. But, of course, Bowser has to take his chance to mess everything up as per usual. He lifts Peach’s castle into space using a UFO, and before Mario and Luigi can stop him, Kamek casts a spell that launches the both of them into deep space.

Mario wakes up on a strange planet separated from Luigi, where a creature called a Luma guides him to the gateway to the starry sky. There, he meets an… interesting character. Miss Rosalina is icy, short-tempered, and a total recluse, only interacting with the Lumas on her ship. She’s like a doting mother to them, and is protective over them to an extreme degree.

When one of the Lumas begs her to help Mario, she’s reluctant at first, but when she hears Peach is in trouble, she loosens up a little. Although still extremely wary of Mario, she agrees to help.

Mario’s primary goal is to find Luigi, knowing he can definitely help lend a hand looking for the princess. He eventually recovers him in that ghost galaxy he was stuck in. How ironic.

Over time, Mario and Luigi learn more about Rosalina’s past. Apparently, although not from the Mushroom Kingdom or even their planet, she was on a very similar planet with a human family of her own. That is, until the Shroobs invaded and drained her planet of all its resources, leaving her as the sole survivor. She keeps a watchful eye over the Mushroom Kingdom in fear that the Shroobs will one day return to it. If she can’t protect her home… Perhaps she can protect another place.

(Side note: as of this part in the story, Mario and Luigi don’t know jack about the Shroobs, so to them, it’s just a story about hostile aliens who… might attack the Mushroom Kingdom?)

They get Peach back from Bowser, and stop him from creating a new galaxy. Obviously the whole WELCOME NEW GALAXY!! thing doesn’t happen in this AU. I need this galaxy, thanks.

The gang bids farewell to Rosalina. She’s still pretty shut-off, but with a mumble, she promises to visit sometime.

PAPER MARIO: THE ORIGAMI KING

You ever wonder what those wacky Toads get up to on their days off?

Yeah, me neither. One day, Peach gets jumped by a little origami boy named King Olly and turned into origami, which he plans on doing to the entire world. He does this because he believes he was brought to life only as a mockery, and that he should show the entire world that origami is beautiful, rather than these unsightly lumps and grooves everyone seems to have.

Bowser gets stapled for his time. That’s what you get, idiot.

Olly manages to successfully kidnap Luigi as well, but can’t seem to be able to fold him into origami. It’s like something within him is protecting him… SIGH… Olly begrudgingly says he’ll “just fold Luigi last”. He and Olly have a lot of conversations about their siblings.

Mario goes to unfurl the streamers that block Peach’s castle, and along the way, he meets Olly’s sister, Olivia! She wants to stop Olly from turning the world into origami because, well, she likes the world! Along the way, they fight the Legion of Stationery, craft supplies turned giant by Olly’s magic. They also rescue the Origami Craftsman, who reveals that he wrote a message about Olly being a lovely king on him before he folded him to life. It was an act of love, not shame.

The gang manage to beat Olly, and before he can finish folding 1000 cranes to make a wish (The Star Spirits apologize. They really did forget about that method.), Olivia changes his heart, and instead wishes that everything folded by her brother would be unfolded. She sacrifices herself, and Olly, weakened, becomes unfolded as well. Mario is very sad. Luigi wonders if he should ignore the implication that the sunny, bright sibling is left to clean up the mess of the dark, broody sibling. That’s probably nothing.

SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY

Anyways, who wants a GLOBE-TROTTING FUN-VENTURE?! This totally isn’t the calm before the storm, before you ask!!!!!

Bowser decides to go for it, this time. And he means REALLY go for it. HE’S GONNA MARRY PEACH!!! Peach, obviously, isn’t as big a fan of this, but you know what that means! MORE KIDNAPPING! Mario now has to chase Peach across some of the outer Kingdoms way, WAY across the map- although some are familiar. Tostarena, for example, is a town in Sarasaland now, instead of just the Sand Kingdom! Just like the Seaside Kingdom is now a secluded spot on Isle Delfino! Et cetera, et cetera.

The Koopalings replace the Broodals. They’re all packed onto one boat. It’s as awkward as it sounds.

Mario has a teary reunion with Pauline, who’s now the mayor of New Donk City. He’s glad to see she’s doing so well for herself.

Luigi is by Mario’s side this time, of course, but since he doesn’t have a buddy from the Cap Kingdom, he does struggle to keep up quite often. Oh, well! That’s life, he supposes!

Wario also keeps popping by because he wants Mario to say hello. No, say hello like he MEANS it. He’s grimacing. He’s grimacing again. IS THAT REALLY ANY WAY TO TREAT YOUR COUSIN.

Mario manages to stop the wedding before Peach can even think of saying “I do”- but it’s not like she would ever say that anyways.

LUIGI’S MANSION: DARK MOON

Oh, wow! This time, Luigi isn’t getting tricked by winning a free thing! How novel! Yes, this time, E. Gadd has sent a letter inviting Luigi over to research ghosts with him in a place called Evershade Valley, which is apparently a habitat for many unique ghosts, and likely where all of Hellen Gravely’s hotel staff- as well as she herself- came from!

When Luigi gets there, though, trouble finds him quickly. He gets knocked out as soon as he arrives, he hears King Boo’s laugh in his ears… and when he wakes up again, he’s… HE’S… A GHOST?!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH-

A voice tells him to stop screaming. Eldstar? Is that you? GRAMBI, MAYBE?? The voice speaks again, groaning that he NEEDS to stop screaming, because he’s NOT DEAD. Luigi turns to see that on the usual monitor he’d contact E. Gadd on, there’s someone else instead… A mysterious scientist with his face obscured.

He introduces himself as Professor Evershade, the leading scientist in Evershade Valley. He confirms that E. Gadd has been kidnapped by King Boo, and if Luigi wants to beat him, he’s going to need to piece together the Dark Moon, the ancient artifact that was buried in pieces here in Evershade Valley. It alone has the power to seal King Boo’s fate.

Evershade goes on to explain that Luigi’s new ghostly form isn’t permanent, it’s just a temporary power-up that Evershade invented. He can turn a button on a remote control to activate and de-activate ghost mode at will whenever he wants. Luigi navigates his way through the various mansions of Evershade Valley, using the ghost power-up to solve various puzzles within it.

This is where things get interesting. During the final mansion, when Luigi finally frees E. Gadd, Professor Gadd quickly rushes to tell Luigi he’s been deceived- but it’s too late. Appearing before the two of them, applauding sarcastically, is Professor Evershade. He whips off his hat and tears out his scarf, revealing that he’s a ghost- AND that he’s actually… LUIGI?!

Evershade begins to explain. Around this time, he becomes more of a recluse, with certain events that happen in the near future discouraging him from going on adventures with Mario. (You’ll know it when you see it. It’s in Partners In Time. But Luigi doesn’t know that yet!) He throws himself into ghost research with E. Gadd, but E. Gadd eventually passes, leaving Luigi as the lone researcher in Evershade Valley. The seal on E. Gadd’s containment cell for King Boo breaks after years of neglect and people just assuming it’s fine, and he immediately goes to find Luigi, ending his game for his insolence. Thanks to the power of King Boo’s crown, most weaker ghosts find themselves unable to disobey him… And now, that includes Luigi. Enraged and spiteful after being forced to work under his worst enemy for years, he formulates a plan. Apparently, some time in the future, something called the Cobalt Star gets unveiled from Peach’s basement, and Luigi, knowing about this, goes down to the basement to steal it for himself, so he can invent a time machine.

But why, Luigi asks? Why would Evershade invent a time machine and go back WAY before he was supposed to be killed?

Evershade responds simply. He doesn’t want to change some other version of him’s future- HE WANTS HIS MORTALITY BACK. And he was using his device to temporarily steal it… from HIMSELF. This is the final nail in the coffin that E. Gadd was warning Luigi about… The Dark Moon will grant Evershade the power to swap his mortality with Luigi… PERMANENTLY.

Him and Evershade get into a fight, and Luigi manages to win, with him chastising Evershade for falling so far from grace. Evershade, in turn, chastises him for being naive and not seeing the obvious. “This is the way that we are, Luigi. It’s the way we were always going to be.”

WHICH PROBABLY MEANS NOTHING.

But, y’know, how did Luigi end up trapped in Evershade Valley in the first place? That powerful barrier isn’t going away… perhaps Evershade was working with someone?

YES. KING BOO. But it’s OUR King Boo- the King Boo of the present. Evershade freed him in exchange for the king lending some of his power to help trap Luigi here. Oh, my, Evershade offered him freedom AND the fact that the present version of Luigi would become a ghost permanently, therefore being forced to work under him? Count him in.

King Boo is beaten. Luigi looks fear right in the eye. E. Gadd seals him inside the Dark Moon- Evershade DID say it had the power to seal fates! And he’s proud knowing that this sealing surely won’t break with time.

Evershade, pride wounded, tries retreating back into his time machine, before realizing… he’s fading away. Luigi just prevented his own terrible future.

But, y’know, as they return home, E. Gadd thinks… Is time travel really possible with that Cobalt Star? And if it is, is it actually in Peach’s basement? And- hey, wait a minute, if Evershade told them about that… did he find it out from E. Gadd too, who now… found it out from Evershade? Did- did they just create a time paradox?

Ugh. My head hurts.

MARIO & LUIGI: BOWSER’S INSIDE STORY

Luigi returns home just in time, as Mario quickly drags him out the door to go to Peach’s castle- apparently there’s an emergency conference. Looks like E. Gadd might have to wait a bit on that Cobalt Star follow-up!

All of the Mushroom Kingdom is getting immobilized by this disease called the Blorbs, and they need to- Oh, what the hell, why is BOWSER here?! Get out of here, man.

Anyways-

Bowser comes back like five minutes later after he ate a weird mushroom from a vendor. He accidentally ends up sucking Mario, Luigi and Peach right up, along with a Star Sprite named Starlow. So that’s why those guys are in there.

A-NY-WAYS, you remember Cackletta’s minion, Fawful? Yeah? Well, now he’s BACK, baby! With a vengeance! He plans to take over both the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms using his genius, and his first step? Trapping those meddlesome Mario bros. inside Bowser!

Bowser and the bros. now have to work together to stop Fawful from unearthing the Dark Star, an evil entity the Star Spirits THOUGHT they buried, HELLO, does nobody LISTEN to them anymore?

The Dark Star has no relation to any of the Star Children, but it does believe Bowser to be the Dark Star Child, taking his form in order to better conquer the world. Around this time, Fawful goes from being Fawful to a souped-up Dark Fawful… then downgraded to itty-bitty bug form, crawling inside Dark Bowser to help him there.

Bowser SAVES THE WORLD!! Wow, that… felt kinda good, actually. He never realized how fun it was hanging out with the bros. when he’s not attacking them… But- he’s still tough! Yeah! Don’t even think about assuming otherwise!

MARIO & LUIGI: PARTNERS IN TIME

Now that everything’s calmed down, E. Gadd FINALLY has the chance to ask Peach about looking in her basement for the Cobalt Star. And… lo and behold, there it is! Peach remembers it was her mother’s, and that they kept it sealed down here for a reason, but nobody can really remember that reason anymore, least of all her.

E. Gadd reveals a time machine he built, with a spot to slot that Cobalt Star RIGHT in! But before he can step in himself, the castle gets STORMED by these purple aliens- we, of course, know them as the Shroobs, but to the Mario bros, they’re unknown, and for Peach, they were just a hazy vision she saw in her nightmares sometimes.

Mario and Luigi try to fight them off, but they get knocked out and shoved inside the machine, presumably so the Shroobs can make sure they don’t cause any more trouble. When the bros. are woken up again, they’ve been transported to the “present” again… just not a present they know. This present has… Bowser and Luigi on the same side? Seems weird. Also unrelated. The princess also seems immensely frustrated at this. She orders her guards to knock out the brothers again so they don’t cause trouble (at least, that’s what they gleaned from her alien language), but they manage to get the upper hand, beating the Shroobs back. The only problem? The princess decides to repay this insolence by leaving them STRANDED. IN A PRESENT THAT ISN’T THEIRS.

Luigi is freaking out a little. Pacing back and forth. The works. Mario has an idea, though… This present doesn’t seem TOO badly scuffed by whatever those Shroobs did yet… maybe he can pay some old friends a visit.

He drags Luigi across the land for a bit, until they reach it- the Star Road, home of the Star Spirits. But, this time, there’s this GATE installed? (“This wasn’t here before,” Mario complains! “Maybe it’s an anti-Bowser measure in this timeline”, Luigi shrugs hopelessly.) The gate claims it needs to tests if the brothers are pure of heart. It gives Mario a pass with flying colours, but Luigi… It deems less than worthy. It says he’s a coward, he’s got darkness in his heart, and even accuses him of lying- He’s openly sobbing at this point as Mario starts hammering the gate in blind fury. The gate is like “WOAH WOAH STOP OKAY IT WAS A TEST I’M SORRY”. It reveals it was testing Mario and Luigi’s bond as brothers, and they passed, and that it REALLY DIDN’T MEAN ANY OF THAT STUFF LUIGI CALM DOWN. Luigi does eventually stop hyperventilating, and goes through the gate, but he does wonder… He wonders if maybe that gate wasn’t lying about everything.

Anyways, Mario finally reaches the Star Spirits, and chews Eldstar out for that stupid gate (“Not our fault, your brother is a real character”). He explains that he and Luigi are from a timeline where Luigi is a good guy, and something has gone terribly wrong thanks to some time-traveling Shroobs, and could they please have a time machine to use PLEASE. Eldstar nods sagely, agreeing that they seem like they’re the “true” versions of the bros. They temporarily present Mario with a watch that lets them time travel. Yay!

The next few parts of their adventure involve the bros desperately trying to give chase to the Shroobs, but each time they try to catch them, it seems the Shroobs are one step ahead, and they’re left in yet another alternate present.

Luigi starts noticing a fairly concerning pattern. That previous timeline had Luigi as Bowser’s right-hand man… And the more they travel, the more he sees it… A timeline where Luigi is turned into a vampire by Antasma, a timeline where the Dark Star forcibly implants itself onto Luigi, a timeline where Luigi is adopted by Cackletta and is Fawful’s main minion, Professor Evershade’s timeline is back again, a timeline where Luigi becomes Mayor Spike’s secretary, a timeline where Luigi is a Yoshi-hunter, a timeline where he just kinda snaps one day with no explanation… Why is it that Luigi is turning out evil in every single timeline…?

Finally, the bros manage to catch the moment in the past the Shroobs keep frantically returning to, as they keep going back to around that time, trying to influence something. That time… is when Mario and Luigi were babies.

Mario ends up bumping into Baby Mario before the Yoshis do, and the poor guy is crying about his brother so much that Mario has no choice but to take him along with them. Luigi asks if it’s okay if they’re meddling with time like that, sweating. Mario shrugs. The Shroobs have been doing it literally the entire time, why shouldn’t they?

Mario wants to get to Baby Peach as soon as he can to try and solve the mystery of what the Shroobs are after, but Baby Mario is indignant, crying and crying until he knows for SURE his brother is safe. Mario gives Luigi a pleading look- could he please go rescue his baby self?

Luigi nods. Of course. He won’t let his brother down. He runs off to the place he remembers only faintly- the Koopa kingdom before Bowser’s castle was built. He does find where his baby self is being kept, but he hides behind a rock to try and get the jump on Kamek, waiting for the right time. He waits in the shadows, spying on Kamek as he mills about.

That’s when he sees it- He sees Kamek lifting up his star necklace, sees that it’s purple, sees Kamek grumble and cast a spell so it looks gold. His blood runs cold. His face goes pale. He thinks he’s going to be sick. The Dark Star Child. The one everyone thought was just a myth. The one everyone shrugged and assumed was “probably going to be Bowser, anyways”. Luigi. Luigi was the Dark Star Child all along. He was the Dark Star Child and he didn’t even know, he didn’t know, was this why? Was this why Mario shot off before him? Was Luigi joining him a fluke? A mistake, because nobody knew what he truly was? THE DARK STAR CHILD? THE ONE DESTINED TO BE MARIO’S ENEMY ALL ALONG?-

Mario texts him from his corresponding watch, asking if he’s got his baby self yet. Luigi tries to shake off the impending panic attack and quickly nabs his baby self when Kamek isn’t looking, trying to will himself to stop shaking. He rejoins Mario when Mario flies a hot air balloon down to him, and they head to Peach’s castle to finally battle the Shroobs.

When they get there, Princess Shroob is shrieking in frustration, stomping her foot. The bros look confused, to say the least, but nearby, Russ, Peach’s father, catches them up. He’s figured out the Shroobish thanks to his language studies, and does a rough translation of it- apparently the bros came in just after Cerise sealed herself into the Cobalt Star, along with someone else… The princess is furious, she’s been trying to prevent THIS EXACT EVENT dozens of times over. She doesn’t understand why it isn’t working. But then- she realizes. She abandons the past entirely, zipping back into the present.

Before the bros give chase, Russ stops them with a weak smile, telling them he’s proud of them, and… to say hello to his little girl for him. The bros nod, and they zap to the future, taking the babies with them until they can defeat the Shroobs.

Back in the present, Princess Shroob begins RIPPING APART THE TIME MACHINE. All this time, she’s been trying to stop their old leader from being sucked into the Cobalt Star, and she never realized the Cobalt Star was buried deep inside the machine, FUELING IT! SHE NEEDS TO DESTROY IT! She smashes it onto the ground, and both Cerise and Elder Princess Shroob are freed, the younger sister cackling, grateful to be united with her older sister at last.

The brothers and the babies team up to defeat the monstrosity, and they KILL her. For good this time. The intergalactic conquerors flee in terror, deciding to leave the planet alone for good, now in mourning for the queen they just got back. (Good riddance, you pillagers.)

The brothers use the time travel watch one last time to return their past selves back home. They drop them off at their parents’ house, which is… roughly how they remember their parents finding them, anyways. They breathe a sigh of relief- apart from having some new alien-related childhood trauma, it seems they managed to keep the timeline intact.

Meanwhile, back at Peach’s castle, Peach gets to say a true goodbye to her mother. Cerise explains that she used the time-warping powers of the Cobalt Star to extend her and her husband’s lifespans, and it won’t be long now before she falls to the same rapid-onset aging that got her Russ. She kisses Peach goodbye and wishes her good luck before asking to be taken to the town of Rogueport to live out her last days, saying it “reminds her of her beloved one”.

Rogueport, huh…

PAPER MARIO: THE THOUSAND YEAR DOOR

This part of the saga starts with Peach traveling to Rogueport after her mother passes on, wanting to connect with her past and the stories of her parents more. She meets a mysterious merchant who presents her with a mystical box, and before you know it… she gets kidnapped. Poor girl.

Mario receives a letter inviting him to join Peach in Rogueport. She attaches a treasure map she got from the merchant, and the intrigue leads Mario to packing his bags right away! He asks if Luigi is ready to go, but Luigi shakes his head, seemingly really shaken by the events of Partners In Time. Huh. Guess he’s got a phobia of aliens too, Mario thinks…? Anyways, Mario heads out.

In town, Mario helps out a Goomba, Goombella, protecting her from Lord Crump and the X-Nauts, a mysterious sci-fi organization. Goombella has Mario take the magical map to her professor, Professor Frankly, who reveals that the map is a map to the Legendary Treasure of Rogueport, that lies beyond the Thousand-Year Door, and can only be opened by the seven Crystal Stars united. Treasure hunt! Treasure hunt!

Over time, as Mario collects the Crystal Stars, he realizes the X-Nauts have captured Peach, and that the “treasure” may not be what it seems…

Meanwhile, Bowser is on a quest to rescue Peach from her kidnapping, because ONLY HE CAN KIDNAP HER, DAMMIT! He’s also trying to find the Crystal Stars, but is turning up absolutely nothing.

Meanwhile meanwhile, even though he said he wanted to stay home, Luigi shows up in Rogueport, practically shaking… with excitement! He’s been contacted by Princess Eclair! The compass! The Marvelous Compass! He’s going to help her! He’s going to help everyone! He’s a hero! See! He really is! What was that you said about a ‘manic episode’?? He has noooo idea what you’re talking about! Ha ha! Boy, is Blooey giving you the stinkeye, too?! He definitely isn’t messing his whole quest up, see? This PROVES he’s a hero, right? RIGHT??

The Thousand-Year Door is opened, thanks to Mario getting tricked. Sir Grodus drags Peach through the Palace of Shadow, and offers her up to the Shadow Queen… The exact vessel that the Shadow Siren Beldam picked.

After all… Peach does have a shadow’s DNA within her, deep down. Perhaps it could be reawakened…

(We’ve known this part for ages, but for Mario and Peach, this is the grand reveal that Cerise was once a demon, a Shadow Sister.)

Before the Shadow Queen can get too far with that, though, Mario uses the power of the Crystal Stars to seal away the demon once more. With the combined power of the Stars being used against her AGAIN, and Mario being one of the Star Children, instead of simply being sealed away, she’s defeated- for good.

Peach wakes up, and Mario takes care of her during her slow recovery. Although a little shaken by the experience, there is one thing she doesn’t regret… She was glad she got to experience memories of her mother through her aunt’s eyes.

Also, if you’ve been keeping track, that means Peach is technically cousins of sorts with the Shadow Sirens! Surprise!

SUPER PAPER MARIO

Ahhh. What a lovely, regular day. Nothing will happen here. On this day. This regular day. Peach and Luigi definitely aren’t recovering from world-shattering revelations or anything.

Oh, no! Peach got kidnapped! Better head over to that silly Bowser’s place! Ha ha- ...Wait. Bowser’s saying he was just doing his minion pep-talk to head over to Peach’s place. If HE didn’t kidnap Peach… then who?

All of a sudden, teleporting in is a mysterious man in a cape and hat, proclaiming himself to be Count Bleck, a follower of the Dark Prognosticus. He reveals he’s the one who kidnapped Peach, and then proceeds to kidnap Bowser, all his minions, and Luigi. Mario managed to escape the fray.

He awakens to a mysterious creature known as a Pixl floating near him. She introduces herself as Tippi, and explains that while he was out, Count Bleck apparently forced a marriage between Peach and Bowser, as their union causes the creation of something known as the Chaos Heart. This gives Count Bleck the ability to create the Void, something that will end all worlds if given the chance. Oh, jeez.

Tippi brings him to a place called Flipside, where a wizard known as Merlon explains that Mario is one of the four heroes of legend, a hero mentioned in the Light Prognosticus. Mario questions this, and Merlon explains that the Dark Prognosticus is a dark, foreboding book that foretells the end of all worlds. The Light Prognosticus is a prophecy written to specifically counteract the dark one, foretelling that four heroes will save all worlds. Both prophecies mention that a “Man in Green” will be the deciding factor to which prophecy comes true.

Merlon also explains that the heroes are described as being “blessed by the stars”- and Mario realizes that THIS is where the idea of the Star Children comes from. Of course, Mario’s known for a LONG time now that he was one of the Star Children (Between various people telling him and him witnessing it himself as his baby self wore his half-star necklace), but MAN, what a realization- that this thing people have been calling you for a good chunk of your life is actually a WORLD-SAVING HERO. IT’S YOUR DESTINY. Now, he has to collect the 8 Pure Hearts and stop Count Bleck from destroying all worlds, along with reuniting with the other 3 heroes- The other 3 Star Children.

Mario finds Peach knocked out in Flipside after she was teleported away from Castle Bleck, and he finds Bowser in the Bitlands, trying to rule over an old abandoned castle he found. Bowser takes a bit more convincing, stubborn as he is. Kamek, weeping, begs Bowser to go save the world, and that he IS one of the Star Children, and he’s SORRY HE NEVER TOLD HIM. Bowser rolls his eyes, flatly telling Kamek that he knew he was one of the Star Children way before this. (“It was kinda obvious, Kamek.”)

Luigi, meanwhile, is less fortunate, having never escaped Castle Bleck. He’s eventually tracked down by Bleck’s secretary, Nastasia, and is brainwashed into becoming Count Bleck’s newest minion. MR.L, THE GREEN THUNDER! Of course, the Count makes it known to his other minions that he suspects Mr. L is the Man in Green, and having him on their side should ensure their victory and fulfillment of the prophecy.

Along the way, the three heroes are constantly made to duel with O’Chunks, Mimi, Dimentio, and the aforementioned Mr. L, Bleck’s minions sent to stop them.

The group comes to an impasse when they fail to prevent the destruction of one of the worlds- Sammer’s Kingdom. The Pure Heart is nullified, turned into rock, and they seem to be stuck. This is when Dimentio shows up, snapping his fingers and seemingly killing the heroes. (After taking a quick pit stop to kill Mr. L, too, of course!) This allows them to go into the Underwhere and ask Queen Jaydes to restore the Pure Heart. Jaydes agrees, and as Mario goes off to find Luigi beneath the River Styx, Jaydes and Peach catch up as aunt and niece.

Once they gather all the Pure Hearts, the heroes make the long trek to Castle Bleck, and are taken out one by one- O’Chunks and Bowser keep the ceiling from falling down, Mimi and Peach fall down a pit, and Dimentio seemingly… attempts a murder-suicide with Luigi??

Either way, Mario faces off against the Count, and the other three heroes show back up in the middle of the fight (with Luigi saying he has literally no idea how he wound up alive). They use the power of the Pure Hearts to defeat Bleck, and he reveals that he’s been waiting for this moment.

Of course, Bleck is Blumiere, a man from the Tribe of Darkness who was forbidden from seeing Timpani, a human woman. When Blumiere’s father cursed Timpani and made her disappear, Blumiere, in his depression, stole the Dark Prognosticus, vowing to end the world since it is not a world he can truly be happy in. Not without Timpani. And, of course, Timpani is Tippi, the woman cursed into becoming a Pixl.

Before Bleck can be killed, stopping the Void, Dimentio knocks him out of the way, claiming that the Chaos Heart won’t disappear if he continues to control it. He reveals his plan to create a perfect new world where he rules it as a god. He also exclaims that he’s going to unlock the true power of the Chaos Heart by fusing it with its ideal host- the Man in Green, the Dark Star Child, Luigi… They’re all yours, Mr. L!~

Luigi, thanks to a mind-controlling Floro Sprout that Dimentio secretly planted within him, fuses with the Chaos Heart without second thought, becoming a horrible man-chaos monstrosity, a three-way fusion between himself, the Chaos Heart, and Dimentio, very humbly named “Super Dimentio”. I don’t think you have to guess who had the naming privileges. Dimentio mocks Mario using his beloved brother’s voice, his beloved brother’s face (But not his smile. That is not how Luigi smiles.), and happily proclaims that the four heroes “used up” all the Pure Hearts, therefore leaving him as the invincible king of all worlds.

Meanwhile, in Dimension D, where Dimentio has teleported Bleck to die off in a little corner where he doesn’t need to see, Bleck and Tippi are found by their minions, who proclaim that they truly do love the Count, despite everything, and that he can’t give up- and THEY can’t give up on Mr. L! Luigi or not, their friend needs their help! The love that they’re showing- for Bleck, for Luigi, for the minions, for Tippi… It’s enough to summon the Pure Hearts, restored once more. After all. love is NOT a finite resource! Overjoyed, Tippi brings them back to Mario and co.

Dimentio is caught off guard by the appearance of the Pure Hearts. They seem to bring Luigi back to consciousness for a moment deep within the fusion, and he is able to temporarily take control. But when Mario gets to speak to his brother, what he doesn’t expect is to see Luigi’s lip quivering, black tears streaming down his distorted face. He tells Mario to just let him go- that he’s a monster who was never good enough to be his brother. He’s lost all hope. But Mario won’t let it end like that. He cries out that he REBUKES his destiny. He’s not a hero because he was FATED to be, he’s a hero because he CHOOSES to be! He doesn’t do good things because it was written in a dusty old book, he does it to see people smile! He didn’t tolerate Luigi because he didn’t know he was the Dark Star Child- He LOVES Luigi! Because he’s his BROTHER, dammit!

WE CAN CHOOSE OUR OWN DESTINIES, LUIGI! AND I CHOOSE TO SAVE YOU! BUT I CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOUR HELP!

Mario reaches out a hand- and Luigi’s massive glove touches itself to his. In the last few moments before Dimentio takes control again, he manages to make it so that his body is vulnerable to the Pure Hearts, and Super Dimentio’s invincibility vanishes. As Dimentio regains control, he lets out a scream of frustration. The heroes will pay for this!

But it’s too late. The Man In Green has chosen. Despite every force in the universe trying to make Luigi fulfill his destiny of becoming Mario’s darker half… Luigi’s love for his brother trumps it all. His goodness shines through, thanks to the goodness of the people he surrounded himself with. Super Dimentio is defeated by the heroes, and goes down shrieking. Before he and Luigi unfuse, Dimentio laughs, revealing that he’s left behind a shadow of his power to continue controlling the Chaos Heart. Even as the horrific fusion gets dragged into the Underwhere where it belongs and Luigi gets spat back out, there’s no time to celebrate. The world is ending within MINUTES if something isn’t done.

Bleck and Tippi agree to use the Pure Hearts to banish the Chaos Heart, knowing they will sacrifice their own lives in the process. They renew their vows, and in a flash… they’re gone.

The Star Children return to the Mushroom Kingdom, waving the people of Flipside goodbye. Luigi promises he’ll visit the Bleck minions soon. They all settle in, and realize… they’ve gotta have a talk.

AFTER THE STORM

Mario feels like he’s going to collapse under the pressure if he has one more GRAMBI-DAMNED PROPHECY HE HAS TO FULFILL. OH, HE IS SO SICK OF BEING A STAR CHILD. SO. STAR-DAMN. SICK. SICK OF IT. S-I-C-K. He wants to be a hero on his own terms, not because he’s destined to be one! But if he does, doesn’t that just mean he’s playing into this dumb prophecy anyways? He’s so tired of carrying peoples’ legacies on his back. The other three point out to him that in the end, wasn’t it Tippi and Bleck who defeated Dimentio and sealed away the Chaos Heart? And wasn’t it Mario himself who directly told the universe he wasn’t going to play their games anymore? Mario does have to admit that’s true. He breathes a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of… freedom. It’s been a while, but he finally feels like he can rest.

As for Peach, she’s always struggled with a sense of feeling like she doesn’t belong anywhere. After all, both her parents died/disappeared into the Cobalt Star when she was just a baby, and she was left with nothing but a kingdom full of Toads and so, so many questions. Even though she wasn’t expecting to be in the lineage of a thousand-year-old shadow demon, it’s… a bit of a relief, finally knowing. And through learning, she realizes that she’s always had a home- among the people who love her.

Bowser was always trained to be the best Koopa he could be, and what he thought he was, he was proud of! His entire kingdom was proud of him, wanting him to be the first Koopa to ever triumph over the Mushroom Kingdom! But he realizes… he’s much happier being a do-what-I-want antihero instead of constantly aiming for absolute conquest all the time. And he’s gonna tell Kamek that. …Though Kamek has considerably mellowed out over the years, too. Maybe Bowser’s always been forging his own path!

And Luigi… Oh, boy, Luigi. Everything comes spilling out at once. His feelings of inferiority, his impostor syndrome, his jealousy, his fear, him seeing Kamek disguise his star necklace, realizing he was the Dark Star Child all along, being horrified by himself, being constantly pushed by the universe to be a darker version of Mario, witnessing a dozen bad futures of himself… It was a lot. And- he’s still not sure any of those issues got solved… But he’s going to try his hardest to stand by his friends and let them in when he’s feeling like the world’s collapsing around him. He’s gonna tell them what he feels- even the ugly ones that he’s repressed for so long. He’s gonna live every day in spite of what the prophecies tried to twist him into.

#mario #super mario #fate of the stars au #paper mario #mario & luigi #mario au #IM NERVOUS POSTING THIS BUT. ILL BE STRONG.#lemme know if you liked it. this is kinda my baby \o/#yes i have a lot of au babies. im a father #also any inaccuracies from the source are probably intentional i promise you ok?#this is my au! things will be different!!

146 notes · View notes

savnofilter · 1 year ago

Text

Talk to Me | k. bakugo

Fantasy AU!Katsuki Bakugo x [GN]Reader

WARNING(S): suggestive content, angst, lack of communication, abandonment issues if you squint, name calling, toxic dynamic (they're actually a fucking hot mess), making out, shifty hands, sex innuendos, established relationship.

COUNT: 3.4K words [10 mins.]

READ MORE: masterpost [students + bakugo masterlists]

A/N: bro a good bit of this was written in like 2019 n i had to come up with something. originally, this was requested by someone ion fw no mo but i wanted to finish it lol. 😭 i didnt want it to end up in smut (like it was requested) so now you have this like… angsty-vague thing! idk lol. this will be followed by a hc part two that is more ehhhhh mature. ALSO if youre relationship is like this, do not let it be, amen. 🙏🏽🙏🏽 thank for reading. 👵🏽

“Where the fuck is she, dunce face?!” Bakugo demanded, shaking the frightened dark-haired blonde who had his signature lighten bolt streak in it. The startled warlock tries to pry himself out of the explosive man's strong grip in irritation.

“I-I don’t know! She came around here like a week ago! How am I supposed to know?!” Kaminari exclaims, tears now beading in his eyes, whining desperately wanting to get away from his angry friend. Bakugo glares deeply into Kaminari’s eyes before letting him go, not passing up the opportunity to judge the space and ignores Kaminari rambling about his potions.

“There goes this week's rent portion…” He pouts cleaning up the bottles and trying to seperate them to put off to the side as he tries to fix the mess Bakugo made.

‘If you aren’t here now, then where the hell would you be?’ Bakugo huffs in thought as he leaves the small shop and looks around the area. The man’s anger quickly continued to scale up as he tried to think of something quick. As of now, he had recently been to every place you frequented, this shop being the last resort on his hunt for you. Suddenly he has an ingenious idea, the burst of thought sending him storming back into his friend’s store once again. Kaminari jumps as the door slams open and whimpers in protest pointing an angry finger at Bakugo.

“No get out! You already cause enough damage-”

“Does it look like I give a damn?! Use your stupid orb!” Bakugo growls, marching up to the frightened warlock with his fists balled.

“It’s not an orb, I've told you that!” A pout is seen on his lips, the warlock holding a stern look as a warning. He carefully scoops up the aforementioned tool and glares at Bakugo to protect it from his wrath. Kaminari scrambles in fear when Bakugo bucks at him, not wanting to provoke the haughty man any further. “Fine, fine! But it's not going to be free, nor will I let you smash my crystal ball.”

Bakugo mutters a few curses under his breath before digging into one of his pouches. It takes a few moments before he grabs a considerable amount and slams down a shit ton of money onto the merchant's counter. Kaminari purses his lips and hesitantly leans in to look at the lump sum, raising his brow a bit at how “little” the amount is. A few more curse words and snide remarks are set against him before he happily smiles at the new total.

“Who would you like to see, kind sir?” Kaminari beams.

“Whatever, that bitch who thought she could best me.”

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and tries to visualize what's happening in the distant moment. His brows raise a bit as he sees the familiar scenery, opening his eyes and a few sparks run through him as he looks around almost as if he was in the moment himself.

“I wh… Um it looks like they’re-”

““They’re?” Who are they with-”

“Yeah! This is the place I found them, he could hook you up with--Bakugo?” Kirishima asks, pausing as he stares at the disastrous scene before him. His left brow quirks as he could already tell Kaminari was using his orb. He grins with a chuckle, crossing his arms. “Who are you stalking now-”

“That bitch!” Bakugo fumes, pupils turning into slits as they land upon you. You cross your arms and step back each time he stomps towards you until he has you cornered up against a wall. Kirishima is quick to pull him off, Bakugo shoving him off as he glares sharply at you. “I thought thieves aren't allowed in this part of town.” Bakugo growls without paying any attention to his friends, his boiling rage making you scoff out a laugh.

“Is that how you talk to people, fuck face?” You cross your arms and tilt your chin up at him.

Bakugo immediately goes in to lunge at you, the other men in the room moving to get between you two. “You know you took my fucking money, bitch!”

His exclamation seemingly offends the other two although it wasn't directed at them, a round of dramatic gasps sounding from them. The red haired dragon who brought you in presses his hand against Bakugo's chest to hold him back, while the warlock behind the raging barbarian takes his place in holding his arms back.

“Bakugo! What's gotten into you?!” Kirishima asks before giving you a questionable look that undeniably had a look of sympathy behind it as well.

“They took my money at the bar and never paid me back,” Bakugo bucks at you with each word, a smug grin breaking out into your lips as you suddenly remember what had happened prior to his drastic outburst. “30,000¥!”

“You make a ton of money, you've probably made it back already.” You roll your eyes in correspondence.

Recently, Bakugo has once again felt trifled by you. You and Katsuki had known each other for quite some time now, and have a long wrap sheet with each other. Truth be told, Katsuki sure as hell made up the money you had taken in no time—but that isn't the principle of what you had done. Most importantly that he let himself get played so easily, especially from you.

About two weeks ago, on the night the notorious barbarian had come back from one of his tours, he had only one thing on his mind: unwind. Of course doing that was hard with his status and all, especially from all the promoting he had been doing for months. If there was one thing he could complain about, it would be about how tedious touring is, but that's not what we're focusing on here.

We're focusing on the fact you swindled him out of his fucking money.

That night at the bar was a bittersweet one—Katsuki’s only plan was to get in and get out.

He didn't want to talk to anyone (ever) or fake entertaining conversations and all that bullshit. Hell, if it was possible he'd have to commission Kaminari to make a device of some sort to handle that shit for him in his non-communicative moods. Thankfully, when he was like this , the stingy aura that came from him usually shooed people away from him. Everyone but you.

One moment Katsuki was inhaling the sharp and tangy scent of whisky in his glass as he downed that bad boy in one gulp. When he placed his glass down and motioned for the bartender to fill another, a familiar scent that wasnt the alcoholic beverage overtook his senses. Soon enough, the pressure of someone's body was against his muscled arm and similar limbs wrapped around his forearm.

“Katsu,” You whispered in his ear, smiling deviously as he didn't even try to hide the shiver that you elicited from him. “I missed you, why didn't you tell me you were in town?” You pouted and took a seat next to him.

“I just got back, how the fuck am I supposed to tell you that, exactly?” He grumbled, taking another sip from his glass to ease his stress.

“You could've lettered me.” You take his glass and have a helping for yourself, a hiss following after as you finish your serving. “I don't know how you drink these things -”

“What do you want, Y/N?” He finally faces you and snatches the glass out your hand and slams it down on the surface for another helping. A sharp look pointed at the attendant makes them quickly go to make another glass for him.

“Come with me tonight, haven't seen you in forever.”

The suggestion easily made his cock stir. It didn't help that your newly placed hand now sat at the top of his thigh, mischievous hands softly squeezing around the area but not reaching the place he needed you most.

You always had such an easy effect on him, something he hated. Which is why you two were on some fucked up on and off relationship that had no real direction.

You two would care for each other like devoted lovers, but then the next moment you two were arguing like there was no tomorrow. You would have amazing sex, and then jealousy would ensue. Various moments on where you two would find solace in one other was always drowned out by the toxic compatibility you two had going on. Just two individuals who had a lot to give but no clue how to healthily do so.

Irredeemably so, he liked what he had with you. It was toxic for sure and everyone was sick of it except for the two of you. He wasn't even sure how it even developed into this. Unorthodoxly Katsuki was always willing to do anything for you, as you would for him. Except he has resources you didn't, especially money.

That night when he let you come over to his place without second thought is the night where the longest beef you guys had in your “relationship” started. Your original idea was to bring him back to your place but seeing how fucked up he was before you had even got to the bar made you almost feel sorry for him. You begrudgingly dealt with his slobbering and drunk self as you tended to him, periodically swatting away his shifty hands and sloppy kisses.

“Mmnnn thought you’re gonna suck it..?” Katsuki tugged at your waist and pulled you into his lap, his boner proudly pressing into your hip.

“I'm not fucking you in this condition, Katsuki.” You roll your eyes and lay him back down on his bed and somehow manage to untangle yourself from his grasp. When you stand up again you press his shoulders back and point your finger at him as if he were a disobedient child. “I'm being fucking serious! Go to bed or I'll tie you up.”

“You're not my fucking mom!” Katsuki looked you up and down with angered sass, crossing his arms and defiantly looking away with a huff.

“Good, cuz you certainly wouldn't be acting like this!”

“Don't talk shit about my mom!”

“You brought her up first you dumbass!”

With Bakugo’s stubborn nature, he ended up arguing with you until he passed out. All your other attempts beforehand were as domestic as they could be, but of course this is the way you could get him to fall asleep.

You took a few moments to watch him sleep peacefully, his face as beautiful as an angel. His eyebrows that always furrowed in tension were eased and relaxed, the small wrinkles in his forehead smoothing as he fell into slumber. His eyelashes were a luscious and gorgeous batch although being short. His mouth was slightly agape as he started to snore, his body now completely in slumber from his extenuating busy job. You carefully leaned over to close his mouth to avoid the snoring and place a chaste kiss to his forehead before pulling back. It really was lost on you why you two couldn't just function normally but that was something to figure out on another time.

You quietly but hastily put together the things that could help him for when he wakes up in the morning, even cooking him up something that could be reheated without losing its quality. You carefully set everything up on his nightstand and left a little note for him to read when he wakes up. Getting ready to leave, you realize something sticking out of the pocket he was once wearing that night. You glance at him one last time before tip toeing your way to his pants pocket and light upon your discovery.

30,000¥

The way your pupils dilated in circumference gave you expert vision in being able to examine the money, and wasted no time whatsoever counting the dollars over. Shamelessly, you made your decision fast. In record timing you were stuffing the wad of cash into your shirt and happily trotting out of his place into the young night.

The two males who devotedly choose to stay neutral in the matter moved a little, their wary expression now falling on you for your rebuttal.

You look away with a bit of shame, pouting as you do so. “I needed it for something.”

“So you wait till I'm sleeping?! What'd you even use it for!”

“That's none of your business!”

“Hell yes it is, it's my fucking money!”

Kaminari swears under his breath and pinches the bridge of his nose as you two start your yelling match, looking over at the other unlucky bystander that so happened to be there. Kirishima deeply sighs and nods as he steps back from them, his friend doing the same.

“You know what? Why don't you two go settle this in the backroom,” Kaminari yells over you both and waves an arm between you two to gather your attention. He gives a forced smile and dramatically swings his arms to motion your attention towards the hall of the shop. “I'd rather you two be a nuisance where my products and eardrums aren't in jeopardy.” Although his words are framed as a suggestion, it's imposed as a command; he respectively grabs both of you and tugs you to his ‘meditation room' (he uses it for when he sleeps on the clock) and shoves you two in there.

A pregnant silence follows you two when your fate in the enclosed place is sealed by the sound of his friend’s footsteps walking away. There's no doubt you two are locked in here, Kaminari has done that several times as you guys more than often ended up having bickering sessions in his shop. You hesitantly look up at him as you two are a few meters away from each other. You, closer to the bed as he was close to the door. When your eyes meet with his, Bakugo charges at you with conviction.

With quick steps he's right in front of you and gripping your jaw in one hand, red eyes burning into yours. Without any prior notice he leans in to press a kiss to your lips with force, his plump lips softening the blow. You groan against his mouth and immediately wrap your arms around his neck, both of you in a fight for a dominance that neither of you want to give up. Angrily fighting against each other for different reasons.

His hands greedily grip at your hips and forces you to sit down on the bed, his handling breaking the rough kiss. Heated contact between you two doesn't halt yet, but neither of you move to remove any clothes, just simply trying to get close to one another. You chase his lips as he takes pride in starving you of the pressure of his lips, his actions prompting you to grab the back of his neck and cement him on you again.

As of now his body is completely pressed against yours as you two occupy the bed, tensions rising in the warm room. This time when pulls away for air you don't protest, allowing yourself to catch up with him.

“Tell me why you're angry, hm?” Bakugo asks in a low voice, lips brushing against yours tauntingly. His hands although so used to gripping your hips so roughly held your body so tenderly, his gaze stuck on your lips and his body pressed against yours. Your silence does bring a concern to his thoughts, eye flickering up to meet yours.

Your bottom lip quivers as you can’t find yourself to speak like how you usually do, not even a toxic or sassy remark to mask how overwhelmed you felt. There's only a short moment where you wordlessly try to come up with something, maybe some pathetic excuse to mask your worries but nothing comes up. Instead, you breakdown in a sob, heart clenching in humiliation as you ca longer hide your anxiety behind toxicity and anger. Bakugo coos at your burst in emotions, enveloping you in a hug as he knew better than to press for more information. Against your will, your body succumbs to his familiar heat, face nuzzled into the comfort of his neck.

“I really would've appreciated it if you were here with me when I had my diagnosis, Katsuki.” You start off not wanting to continue, already knowing that he wouldn't like what you wanted to tell him. “I know you told me not to go alone, but… months? You didn't even tell me when you were going to be back.”

You feel your lover’s body tense up as he pulls away, his face stern as he tilts his head to meet your eyes. “You know I told you not to go alone—”

“I know but I couldn't wait anymore. It was killing me,” You solemnly look up at him for comfort.

His eyes soften immediately as you look at him and he pulls you in for a chaste kiss on your forehead, letting you rest against him as he settles for holding you tight. Bakugo wasn't good at these things, saying stuff that could make you feel better. But one thing was for sure, he liked holding you and he knew that's something you needed right now. After a few moments of collecting his thoughts he speaks to you.

“I just don't want you going through this by yourself. I'm not mad at you, okay?” Bakugo reassured you softly, large and warm hand rubbing your back as you completely leaned on him. “I know we go through some shit but I know it was selfish of me to leave so soon.” You merely nod, giving him a squeeze as you can't find any words to formulate. “I guess I was also scared to find out, but I should've been here with you instead…” Katsuki takes a few moments to gather himself, nervously biting his lip as he mutters against your hair, “I’m sorry.”

A silence falls between you two, a comfortable one albeit the circumstances and atmosphere. There were many things that needed to be talked about but a silent mutual agreement settled between you two as you calmed your chaotic energies. You couldn't even remember the last time you and Bakugo did this—just basking in each other without the verbal fights between you two. You both had to admit that it was a weird but welcoming experience. Bakugo shifts as he attempts to readjust himself, clearing his throat as he does so.

“When's the next appointment?” Bakugo breaks the silence.

“Um,” You pull yourself up from his embrace, rubbing your eyes as you gather yourself up. “Tomorrow at three o’clock.”

Bakugo seems to think for a moment as he glances at the clock on the wall, eyes later searching for a calendar. He definitely had some stuff to do tomorrow but he was willing to clear some space for you.

“... Do you want me to come?” Your boyfriend looks down at you, features softer than ever. His expression was similar to his sleeping one, his calm and delicate features being highlighted. Your pupils dilate upon being asked and you quickly nod your head, not being able to hide the flustered smile sprouting into your lips.

“O-Of course!” You hold his hand. The blonde haired male looks away flustered at how endearing you look, rolling his eyes as he hesitantly lets you hold his hand affectionately.

“Oi, quit acting like that.”

“Like what?! Don't ruin the moment!”

“Acting all soft n’ shit, it's weird!”

“Don't fricken start with me, Mr. “I Don't Want You to Go Through This Alone!””

On the other side of the door, two nosy friends have their ears pressed against the door, a questionable glance being met as they slowly retreat from the door. Kaminari does a motion with his hand to silently unlock the door, a small sigh coming from Kirishima as he crosses his arms.

“You think they're good?” He whispers, not risking being heard from the couple in the room.

Kaminari snorts and leads the way back to his shop with a shrug, “They'll be just fine.”

#bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki x reader #bnha bakugo x reader #mha bakugo x reader #fantasy au!bakugo #bnha scenarios #mha scenarios #bnha imagines #mha imagines #sav's sfwing

78 notes · View notes

driftwoodmfb · 7 months ago

Text

AH-HAHAHAH! More Noir propaganda! @kirbyoctournament Even though this is an AU version of Noir.

@desultory-novice Meta Knight takes WH-Noir under his wing, so Noir is probably part of the Meta Knights, so! I drew some bits of Noir in Meta Knight's Revenge. I think it would be funny if this was the first time he met Kirby.

↓ Higher quality, text, and details below ↓

Text: Yes, sir! That's Kirby? Master, I refuse to lose anyone else!!

"That's Kirby?" - Noir has heard Meta and Co talk about how dangerous and powerful Kirby was, so he wasn't expecting this terrifying creature to a cute little pink puffball.

"Master, I refuse to lose anyone else!!" - This line triggers at the end where the Meta Knights stay with Meta Knight to defeat Kirby instead of evacuating. Noir can't handle loosing anyone else close to him.

I really like the idea of WH-Noir and the Meta Knights interacting.

I think it would be neat if Noir and Kirby start off as enemies just like Meta and Kirby. This would add more drama of Noir having to help Kirby in Crystal Shards. He expects Kirby to hate him, but he doesn't. In fact, Kirby is stoked! Much to Noir's bewilderment.

All the Meta Knights are... well knight. (Expect Vul and Sailor) so I think Noir's knight name should be Rainbow Knight since there's already a Sword and Blade Knight. But something like Opal Knight, Monochrome Knight, referring more to his hair and name respectively, are also some good options imo

I'm on a Noir high once again. I should draw more MariPav again soon,,

#dess #desultory novice #noir #noir (human-form dms)#noir fontaine #white hair noir #wh-noir #apologies au #apologies au au #white hair noir au #meta knights #kirby #kirby series #screenshot edit #revenge of meta knight #pixel art #noir kirby

36 notes · View notes

huffle-dork · 8 months ago

Text

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 5: Septnautical

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Diving under the water they see the murky yellow water under the aurora and the shapes of the hybrids swimming through it. Mer Jackie waves and then loops around to catch up with Henrik.

As they all swim after them, the water quickly starts to transition towards more of a green, rough rocks jutting out from the sea floor. Then, it turns a brilliant bright blue, the sun shining dream-like through the surface of the waves above.

Jackie and JJ both fumble for a while as they swim. This isn't like swimming as a person at all. Jackie figures it out first, moving his tail up and down. JJ takes a bit longer, but soon realizes how he has to use his new wings to help him glide along. It's a strange arms-out position.

Schneep, unfortunately, struggles for a while. His soul sensing abilities don't extend to all animals, only the bigger or smarter ones. And so, since there are a lot of alien fish in this alien ocean, he keeps bumping into them and slowing down. Eventually, JJ doubles back, reaching out and offering his arm. Schneep finds it and quickly clings onto JJ, looking a bit upset about how he can't swim as well as the others yet.

As they swim Henrik starts to explain, "Ah... we are obviously not fully human. But you cannot be... naturally born as this. And Alterra is a large company who has been given free reign to... experiment on this planet. And that is how... we all came to be. ...to them, we are not even known by our names. We all chose these names... but we are only letters and numbers to them- a result to be studied. They know me as... SH-003. The... third of the hybrids to be created."

Alt feels dread hit him like a punch in the gut. "... you all are... experiments...?" He asks quietly.

Mer-Jackie nods and holds his arms. "Yeah... I'm- uhhh RL-006-! But, we don't usually use those. Feels icky."

JJ sighs. He knew it wasn't good.

"Don't worry, if you do not like those titles, we will not use them," Schneep says.

"Yeah, I'd hate to call someone something that makes them feel icky," Jackie adds. "Uh... I'm uh... s-sorry if..." He clears his throat. "Well, I'm glad you were able to find your names."

"How many of you are there? If Jackie is six and he mentioned two others younger than him... eight?" Schneep is more talking to himself than anyone else.

"Oh! There's 7 actually- that fact makes it confusing." Reaper Jackie laughs, "Actually i think... right after I was born I... I technically died? But me and Marv were the only ones born outside of eggs and we were ready at around the same time so... I think putting us together saved me somehow?" He shrugs, "That's what Zara told me a PDA file said about me and him. But- that's why I'm technically older but he's the fifth- WH-005. The last one is Jamie- he's CH-007."

Henrik nods as if to confirm this. "Yes and other than them and me. There is RR-001, Chase- SE-002, Jack..." Henrik seems to linger on Jack's name before moving forward, "And... my near twin, Anti, SD-004."

“Died?" Jackie blinks, surprised. "I'm guessing you don't remember that. I hope you don't." He shakes his head. "I, uh... know someone named Marvin, too... But I can't imagine being paired with him." He hides a shudder.

"I can picture it all too well," Schneep mutters.

Reaper Jackie laughs, "Nah I don't remember- Marvin doesn't either! We were like... just a few days old i think." He swims back to look at Jackie and tilts his head at him. "Huh? Why...? Is your Marvin mean? ... I mean mine can be too but- I'm also kinda mean sometimes." He bares his teeth in a sharp grin and flexes his mandibles. "Then again I'm biased~ he's my twin!"

'You are not actually twins, Jackie." Henrik chuckles.

"It's close enough!" Mer-Jackie argues.

Jackie shakes his head. "The Marvin I know... isn't a good person..." he says slowly. "It's a long story." He wishes he could put his hoodie on over his new mandibles.

"What do all those Letters mean?" Bro asks, "I get the numbers just... the letters seem weird."

Henrik chuckles, "Those let the scientists know what species of hybrid we are. Like me- SH, stands for Stalker Hybrid."

"And I'm Reaper Levithian, RL!" Reaper Jackie adds with a grin, easily swimming circles around the others.

"You will understand better when you meet the rest." Henrik smirks. "Since it seems you are all not familiar with the fauna here."

"yeah- totally in the dark," Alt mutters. "... they're neat though I... I'd love to learn more."

JJ nods slowly. I vaguely remember hearing some of these names from my Anti, he says. While he uses his arms to sign, Schneep transfers his grip to JJ's waist, holding on via tendrils.

Mer-Jackie bllinks at JJ's signs and then looks to Alt. "What did mustache guy say?"

Alt laughs, "He said his friend Anti told him some of those names."

"Oh yeah! Cuz they said it was a game! Man- that's weird. Is it a naming game? Like- name all the fauna? That's nooo fun- that sounds like white suits drills." The reaper grumbles.

JJ chuckles at being called mustache man. I wish I had a spell that could let everyone understand me... but at least one person can.

"It is much more helpful than having someone translate for me," Schneep says. "Or the morse code system me and my JJ use. It is just a shame we found a wor—we found somewhere where most people do not know."

“I have a spell- but it’s still kinda iffy on non- spoken languages,” Alt sighs.

“It’s just that your signs are weird! But also cuz no one really uses them here much- ‘Cept Jamie now. And like- we didn’t really know how to read for a while so learning stuff like that is hard!” Mer Jackie chuckles.

“Imagine having to learn to read with your fingers," Schneep says. "I'm sure sign language is easier."

JJ looks back at him and frowns. Braille is an alphabet. BSL has individual words.

Schneep laughs. "You are right, you are right."

“We all have our struggles Schneep,” Alt laughs.

As they're swimming, they're now in a more colorful patch of ocean. Large tunnels of coral and weird looping structures of rocks. Colorful rays with bright blue and orange swim by, singing a sweet melody. The ocean is alive with schools of fish and colorful plumes of plant life.

JJ looks around with wide eyes. This place is beautiful! He waves at the rays as they swim by. Jackie can't help but duck through some of the rock loops.

The hybrids slow down a bit as the others take in the sea. Henrik smiles. "It is beautiful out here, is it not?"

"The shallows is one of the prettiest places! That's why our cove is over here! But also cuz it's the safest place!" Mer Jackie explains.

Bro sees Jackie swimming through some of the loops and laughs, trying it out himself. Man- it feels just like flying when he swims- just a bit more muscle work. Alt laughs at their antics.

"It is just a bit further to the forest," Henrik calls, spurring forward. "Careful you keep up- we have been building up our camouflage so you could get lost!"

The group speeds up as Henrik says to. Schneep bats angrily at the kelp strands as they pass. He makes a note to himself: never travel through forests. He doesn't want to hit his head on low-hanging branches. JJ squeezes his hand, reassuring him that he's there.

Henrik has taken to the kelp forest with ease- this is clearly his element and he has the way memorized well. They start to go a bit lower into the tall flowing strands of thick kelp. There’s even bundles of glowing seeds clustered together to make patches of bright light. Which helps since the ocean seems a bit… darker here amongst the swaying fronds.

Eventually they seem to come across a hole amongst the rocks and kelp and in it, surrounded by tall rocks is a white base. Most of it is covered in windows and… tubes? But there are some parts hidden amongst the twisted maze of hallways and rooms.

“Woahhh!” Bro laughs, “That’s so cool!”

Henrik grins. “Welcome to the Ocean’s Arms.”

"Whoa!" Jackie gasps. "Look at that scifi shit!"

JJ stares up in awe. His eyes are practically sparkling.

Schneep tilts his head to the side. He can sense nearby human souls... though none seem familiar. "What is it like?"

"Oh—well it's all white and glass," Jackie says. "Made of tube and round rooms—very round in general. It's all twisting and stuff."

"Ooooo. Sounds very nice." Schneep grins.

After Schneep is done getting the lay of the land- a black and white bundle speeds up and suddenly tackles mer-Jackie in a big tentacle-y hug. The reaper laughs and pats the new tinier merman that has attached himself to him. “Hi Jamie! We brought some new friends- you wanna meet them?”

A head of teal hair perks up away from Jackie’s chest and looks at the others. He has the same mustache as JJ’s except less maintained. He has black and white dots all over his face like freckles except one large patch that covers his left eye. And instead of the long singular tails the rest of the boys have- this tiny merman has 5 black and white spotted tentacles. He gasps quietly at seeing the others and then shakes mer-Jackie’s arm, pointing wildly.

Mer-Jackie laughs. “Yes I see them! Say hi! Show off your new thingy!”

Jamie nods and swims up closer to the others. Now that they are closer- it seems like he’s wearing… gloves of some kind? But with strange robotic-like finger attachments on the outside. He taps on a bag he has on his side and a strange robotic fish swims out, its body mostly consisting of a green and blue eye. Jamie makes a show of coughing in a somewhat dramatic manner like he’s gonna speak before- he starts to sign. And as he does- sound comes from the fish that sounds exactly like JJ from the few things they’ve heard him talk.

“Hello! I am Jamie! I’m still learning this so- forgive me if I am slow. My friend Ollie is teaching me trans-universal sign!” he beams once he’s done, flicking and swirling his tails, almost like a happy dance.

"Oh!" Jackie gasps. "Ohhhh that's so cool! Gloves that like—like translate sign language! That's so cool!"

JJ laughs. It would definitely be helpful—though it seems like sign language here is different.

"Yeah, no wonder they were calling BSL weird," Jackie agrees. "Anyway—it's nice to meet you, Jamie! You're like—some kind of black-and-white speckled octopus—pentapus? Cause there are only five tentacles?" He laughs and shakes his head. "This place is crazy."

Jamie tilts his head to the side. “What’s an octopus?” He whispers in a very quiet voice.

“Yeah or a pentapus- the fuck is that?” Reaper Jackie asks.

“Uh- creatures from our world.” Alt explains, “They’re helping us… take all this in better.”

“A pentapus isn’t even real,” Jackie laughs. “That was a joke.”

“Ah well here- he’s a cuddlefish!” Mer-Jackie grins. Jamie smiles shyly and twists his tails again.

"We should introduce ourselves," Schneep says. "Though... if you are anything like your brothers here, you will find it strange. My name is Schneep, and this is JJ—"

JJ waves.

"—and Jackie—"

"Hey!" Jackie grins.

"—and Alt and Chase."

Alt gives a two fingered salute to his name and Bro grins. “Yo! Nice to meet ya!”

Jamie blinks at all of them before pointing at the others and looking back to Henrik and mer-Jackie. “…they have your names.”

“Yes-“ Henrik nods.

“They look like you too!” Jamie tries to say a bit louder.

“Kinda freaky isn’t it?” Reaper Jackie laughs.

“Freaky? I can imagine,” Schneep says, amused.

Jamie swims up so he’s face to face with JJ. He blinks big blue eyes at him and tilts his head curiously. He signs and the robot fish says “You look like me! JJ… I like that!” Jamie smiles wide.

JJ blinks, then nods excitedly, matching Jamie’s enthusiasm. “I do look like you!” He says—though he then coughs and rubs his throat. Probably best to avoid that for a while.

Jamie’s expression turns into one of my sympathy and he floats towards JJ and lightly touches his neck. “…hurts?” He asks quietly. He then touches his own neck and nods like he relates. JJ can see a bit of scarring there.

JJ nods back, giving Jamie a small smile. He hopes the understanding comes across.

Then, Jamie looks at Alt and Bro. He points at Bro. “…Chase-“ then at Alt, “Anti!”

Alt chuckles, “That’s one of my names yeah- but only Chase calls me that. You all can stick to calling me Alt.”

Jamie looks back at the hybrids and signs, “Anti came back here earlier. He looked mad. Said something about freaky new humans.”

“Oh? Did you see where he went?” Henrik asks.

“He went to go see Jack.”

“Oh. Well um…” Jackie squirms slightly, tail flicking. “We… might know something about those ‘freaky new humans’.”

“Surprise! It is us.” Schneep waves. “You are not going to believe hearing that, but it is true. You can ask your Jackie and Schneep.”

Jamie then blinks and looks at all the others and then mer-Jackie and Henrik. They laugh.

“Strange is it not? They have uh… magic I guess. To turn from human to hybrid.” Henrik says.

Jamie’s eyes sparkle with wonder as he swims excitedly all around the others and studies all their tails.

Jackie blinks. “…Jack, huh? He flipped out about him earlier. Sensitive subject, I take it.”

Jamie deflates as Jack is brought up. He looks back to his brothers as if asking for permission.

Reaper Jackie sighs “…we might as well tell them.”

Jamie looks back at the others and signs slowly, “Our older brother Jack is… asleep. He has been for a long time. The white suits did something to him and… Anti was used by Alterra to protect him… as a weapon. But, he still loves Jack so much- we all do. It makes us sad that he is still asleep.”

Bro’s eyes widen, “…woah that’s… that’s insane.”

Alt feels a bit in his stomach. “Anti.. he was used as a weapon…? How?”

The merboys all look a bit uncomfortable. Finally reaper Jackie says “… mind control. They erased Anti’s memories of us and put these weird chips in his ears that made him obey them. But he’s- he’s better now! We saved him from that.”

“Oh,” Jackie says quietly. “I-I’m um… I’m sorry about your brother.”

“Fucking mind control,” Schneep mutters. “I have dealt with a…similar situation with a friend of mine.”

JJ sighs. He nods. Me too. We’ve all had to deal with that in my home.

“Lotsa fucking mind control out there, isn’t there?” Jackie says.

Alt looks angry at hearing what happened to his counterpart, his tail flickering and a few zaps of electricity coming off him. Bro gets zapped and he yelps. “Ow Alt! careful!”

Alt blinks and then looks at his fins and tries to shake out the electricity. “ah sorry…”

“I-it is good that you are all past that, though,” Schneep says, smiling a little. “I suppose that makes sense why Anti was not trusting of us.”

Jackie pauses for a moment, giving the news the respect it deserves before moving on. “Well. Uh… This is where you guys live, then?” Jackie says, gesturing at the base. “Cool. I’m guessing you guys can’t actually go inside. Cause like… you’d need legs and stuff. But this is where those Ocean’s Arms guys live? They’re, uh… your friends?”

Mer-Jackie laughs, “We don’t live here! Our family has a cave together in the shallows! But, Henrik stays here mostly- he has a neat little cave he made for himself to hide all his scrap!”

Henrik blushes a little and flicks his tail. “… we all spilt up for a bit but we are… coming back together.”

Jamie smiles, “yes the base has our friends! The Ocean’s Arms saved my brothers from lots of things so now they make it so we feel safe here. They take care of Jack and! They made it so we can travel inside- in fact I think Marvin, Chase and Anti are inside if you’d like to meet them!”

“Coming back together, huh?” Jackie repeats. For a moment, he looks thoughtful. Then he shakes his head and smiles at the hybrids. “Yeah, we can go meet them.”

JJ nods excitedly. He wonders what the others will look like! The fish seem to have some crazy variations here!

Schneep chuckles. “I am glad of that. Everyone should have a place where they feel safe. We would love to meet your brothers. Ah, how do we get in?”

Reaper Jackie grins and flicks his tail. "Just follow us!" He dives down towards the base with Henrik and Jamie following closely after him. Alt and Bro follow after them.

Jackie quickly chases after the rest of the group, while JJ and Schneep are a bit slower.

As they approach the base, they suddenly notice the tubes have a couple entrances into the water, which the merboys slip easily inside. Alt looks a bit apprehensive about going inside but Bro helps him in.

"... these are a bit tight..." Alt mutters.

Henrik laughs, " A bit- you get used to them. These designs were made for tinier fish but they make it work!"

"Honestly I prefer this," Schneep mutters. "Less options for places to go--and nowhere for the fish to jump out at me—"

JJ laughs. You weren't hurt by running into all those fish, were you?

"I think the fish were more hurt, actually."

Jackie taps the tube walls as they go along—sometimes unintentionally hitting them with his mandibles. He wonders if people can hear that on the other side.

They swim for a bit in dizzying circles before stopping inside a larger aquarium tank that flanks an inner most hallway. There is another hybrid with bright yellow green hair, a large blue speckled tail with bright orange fins and even orange appendages that stick out from his back. He also has wings like JJ's attached to his arms with bright blue edges. He seems to be sitting in the sand, talking animatedly to... a couple kids?

Jamie swims over first and tackle hugs the new hybrid. He yelps in surprise and then laughs, hugging him back. "Oh hi Jamie! The kids were wondering where you went!"

Jamie beams and waves at the kids. There's a tiny brunette boy with- what looks like a prosthetic leg. And a tinier blonde girl with her hair in pig tails. And she's holding an almost holographic looking device in her hands. When she sees Jamie she lights up and starts rapidly typing on the pad. A robotic voice calls out, "Hello Jamie! Welcome back!" Jamie giggles and then tugs on the hybrid's arm to try to get him to get up. The older hybrid laughs, "What's got your tails twisted, Jay??"

The hybrid then looks up at the approaching group of new hybirds and freezes. Especially as he meets Bro's eyes. "oh... woah..."

The little boy gasps, "More hybrids?! I-I didn't know they were more!"

Mer Jackie laughs, "They're... kinda new? But also- kinda human? It's... super weird."

Henrik smiles, "Everyone, this is Chase. Our eldest brother."

Chase spurs up to look at the others higher in the water. "Uh... h-hello..." He stares at them apprehensively and a bit guarded, pushing Jamie behind him. The smaller merman huffs a bit. "Who... are all of you exactly...?"

"Uh... hi." Jackie waves a little at the kids. "And... hello to you, Chase."

JJ also waves, much more enthusiastically. How cute! The friendly blonde girl sort of reminds him of his Jackie's daughter—though they look nothing alike.

"This is going to sound very unbelievable," Schneep says. "But we have the same names as your group. I am Schneep, for example."

"And I'm Jackie," Jackie says. "This is JJ, Chase, and Anti—but he prefers Alt."

"You sound a bit nervous," Schneep mutters. "I... suppose that is understandable. But we are not here to do anything. It is a long story, how we even ended up here."

Bro waves awkwardly, "Uh yeah I... I'm also Chase..."

Chase stares at his copy. "...you look just like me..."

"Uh... yeah." Bro agrees. "Even got the same hair~"

Chase's eyes narrow and he bares surprisingly sharp teeth at the others, eyes flitting around a bit wildly. "S-So what is this? Is this a trick from Alterra?! D-Did they make you all t-to replace us?"

"H-Hey Chase calm down bro! I-It's not like that!" Reaper Jackie tries to say.

Jackie holds his arms up, showing that he has no intent to harm though—though he's aware that it might look like he's concealing something inside their bundle of clothes. "We're really not here to hurt you. We've never even heard of Alterra before we arrived here!"

"Y-Yes they are... they are human, but they are not Alterran!" Henrik adds.

Chase quiets down but still seems defensive. "...where did you all come from then? W-Why are you hybrids-"

Alt swims a bit forward, "Um... I know it doesn't make much sense to you but... I'm a magician! I can cause... strange things to happen by just- thinking about it and I... I knew a way to let us come underwater since there wasn't much for us on land."

"and if they are lost... I think Danan and Zara can help them find a way back to where they are from," Henrik adds.

Chase hums in thought, still warily looking at Bro but seems to relax a bit. "... okay uh... w-welcome then..." Jamie swims up and hugs Chase's middle, both to show the others he means no harm and to comfort Chase.

"Thank you for the welcome." Schneep smiles in Chase's direction. "It is nice to hear. Things were very confusing back when your brothers first met us. Hopefully we can take care of things quickly."

JJ nods. It's good to meet you—even if I know it might be confusing.

"JJ says it's good to meet you, even though it's probably confusing," Jackie relays.

Bro tries to smile encouragingly at Chase.

Chase seems to fully take in the way JJ signs and looks at Jamie behind him. "... he does the hand thing that Ollie taught you." Jamie nods excitedly. Chase seems to hum and then looks back at JJ. "... Henrik and another blue suit made the robot that Jamie is using to talk... maybe they can make one for you too? Just so we can understand you..."

Alt's eyes sparkle as he looks to Henrik, "You made that robot??"

Henrik flushes more and nods, "With some help... M-Marvin helped me to draw it and Tessie put the ideas i-into the fabricator... it can make anything so... w-we could make another..."

JJ’s eyes light up and he nods eagerly. That would be so helpful! Can they make one so fast? Well, this is supposed to be the future, isn’t it? That would make sense.

Schneep clears his throat. "Your Jackie and Henrik mentioned those two. Danan and Zara. They are... friends of yours?"

Mer Jackie swims up and nods excitedly to Schneep, "Yeah! They're our friends! Danan is a former scientist with the white suits but she left to form this place! Cuz she wanted to take care of us but also let us be free! And Zara- well... she realized she was doing bad stuff and left to help us too! Now she's like- one of my best friends."

Chase smirks, "More than friends, I'd say."

"Huh?? What's that supposed to mean??" The reaper screeches, face getting red.

Jamie looks up and then makes kissing faces at mer-Jackie. The reaper shrieks in response and tackles Jamie to the ground and the two start to wrestle. Henrik and Chase don't seem phased by this but they do laugh.

Jackie grins. “Ah… reminds me of a friend of mine who constantly teased me about my dating life. His name is Chase, too.” He shakes his head. “Still can’t believe he figured out Frederick was my boyfriend before we told him…”

JJ blinks at him. You know, in my world you’re married to a lovely person named Rama.

“Really? Never met anyone with that name. Glad he’s happy with them, though.”

Alt looks over at Jackie with wide eyes and then swims over, looking excited, "You guys got together?! Thank god! Dude you were sooo obvious the last time I was there!"

“Wh—sh-shut up, I was not!” Jackie protests.

JJ laughs. If you’re anything like my Jackie, you were.

“Oh yes, same,” Schneep says. “The Jackie I know is not dating anyone right now—the whole… situation kind of interfered with that—but in the past, when he did—”

“You all are so mean to me,” Jackie whines.

"You're one to talk Alt," Bro snickers, "Sounds like there's another doppelganger of your boyfriend here if I'm guessing right."

Alt shuts up as his face turns red. "y-you don't know that... m-maybe its just... similar names!"

Bro rolls his eyes and then looks at Mer Jackie. "In our world you- I mean... our Jackie is married to someone named Zara. They have 3 kids together."

Reaper Jackie seems to short circuit. "k-kids?!" His face becomes as red as his hood.

The rest of the merboys laugh. Alt and Bro also burst into laughter at the other boys' banter.

Jackie laughs as well. “Yeah, I know, right? I can’t see it for myself, personally. Kids, I mean.”

"Anyways- Danan knows a lot about this kinda stuff. More than we would. If you guys... don't know Alterra and got lost here, she can probably help." Chase explains.

Schneep clears his throat. “In any case, yes, we would love to meet Danan. She sounds wonderful.”

Henrik swims up back towards the tubes, "Come- we can stop by the lab first to get a device for JJ. Maybe Danan will be nearby!"

“Ooo, ‘the lab,’” Schneep repeats, eyes lighting up—literally, irises turning turquoise. “That sounds fascinating. Well, lead the way, then! Ah, if you want to, of course.”

Henrik smiles, "Of course! Follow me." And he swims back up into the tubes. The others start to follow. Jackie follows after Henrik immediately, and Schneep isn't far behind. But JJ lingers, waiting for everyone. Chase swims down and meets back up with the kids. "I think my brothers need me anddd your mom is probably looking for you." He laughs and pokes the glass. "Don't get into more trouble, okay? "

"Awww okay Chase." The boy whines. Chase chuckles, "Don't be sad, Grayson. We'll catch up later okay?" The girl perks up and types out another message. "Bye Chase! Love you!" Chase blinks and blushes a bit before smiling warmly, "Yeah... bye Skylar..."

Grayson grabs Skylar's hand and starts to lead her back down the hall and Skye leans back to keep waving at Chase. Chase floats there for a second waving after them before sighing and following after the others.

JJ smiles as he sees Chase's interaction with the kids. He doesn't know a Chase in his world... but if he's anything like Bro and this Chase, he must be kind. And yet, as that thought comes to him, something bad lingers at the back of his mind. Why does he feel... dread? His smile fades and he shakes it off, following everyone else into the tube system.

The tubes lead into a few more confusing circles before they wind up in a green tinted room. It's filled to the brim with gadgets and materials, fabricators lining the walls and bigger machines in the corners. A workbench-like table is set up in the middle and even though this place looks like it’s made more for humans, it’s filled with water on the inside. Inside curled up in the corner is a bundle of purple.

"Oooo." Jackie looks around. More scifi shit.

Jamie seems excited and swims forward, "Marvin!" He quietly greets.

The purple thing jumps- and a bunch of metal starts to float around it, caught in a blue light that reflects in its eyes. Upon closer look- it's another hybrid! But this one seems closer to JJ- in which his tails are see-through, you can see his inner organs inside his chest and he has two tentacle-like legs. A purple armored cape hangs around his shoulders that end in tentacle-like tails too. He has bright green hair that is quite long compared to the others, pulled back into a ponytail by a bright blue ribbon. And most notable at all, he has a white cat mask on his face, a strange red symbol in the middle.

Reaper Jackie swims up next and grins, "Marv! I wondered where ya were!"

Schneep lingers near the wall, pressing a hand to the glass. There's someone else in here. He can feel them even before Reaper Jackie calls out his name. Marvin, huh?

JJ grins widely, flapping his arms and causing the attached wings to flutter. This place is so cool! Oh, and another Marvin! A nice one, he hopes--feels like he's the only one who has a nice Marvin. This one has cool powers!

"y-yeah h-hi...?" Marvin mumbles out nervously, "I was just... I..."

"You were trying out those new powers of yours, yes?" Henrik supplies. Marvin sheepishly nods. Then, he seems to notice the new people and he yells, throwing out a hand and sending bits of glowing metal junk hurtling towards through the water.

"Holy shit!" Jackie starts to dodge the junk but a big bit hits him in the stomach, sending him flying back. JJ isn't as fast and takes two blows, one to the chest and one to the tail. Schneep immediately tenses when he hears Marvin yell and the whoosh of water. He instinctively leaps to the side, but he doesn't quite get out of the way and a sharp bit of metal cuts his upper arm. "Motherfucker!" Schneep curses. "We mean you no harm!"

Alt and Bro try to dodge- But Bro gets hit across his cheek and he holds it with a yelp. "Ow! Jesus!" Alt almost manages to glitch out of the way- only to be disoriented by glitching in water which feels weird and actually kinda hurts! So he gets hit by another piece that hit him in the chest. He oomfs and tumbles back in a bit of somersault before he rights himself.

"Stay back!" Marvin hisses, holding out his hand as more objects lift up in the water, glowing like the blue light in his eyes that starts to shift to a hot pink. "I-I don't know who you guys are but-!" He gasps a bit as he sees Alt glitch though and the objects all float back down as the power dies down. He appears next to Alt in a circle of purple and blue magic and gets right up in his face. "Y-You... you warped! H-How?? How did you do that? Y-You're not a warper!"

"A-A what?!" Alt stammers out, nervous now that Marvin is in his face. That shade of purple is... luckily not like Mag's. But, it's too close for comfort.

Marvin swims back with wide panicked eyes and behind all the human-hybrids a pull is felt. But- it's not like the rifts- this one is glowing and swirling with pink and blue like a whirlpool. "I-I dunno what you are but! G-Get away from my brothers!" Marvin shouts.

"Really! We're not here to hurt you!" Jackie holds his hands up--then spins around as the pull appears behind them. JJ gasps in surprise. A whirlpool?! Schneep immediately latches onto the closest person—who turns out to be Jackie—and braces himself to be sucked in.

Then, Mer-Jackie tackles Marvin and the warp gate behind them bursts into bubbles as the concentration is broken. "M-Marv! It's okay! They're with us!"

JJ shakes his head, also raising his hands, and tries to look as harmless as possible.

"I said we're not here to hurt you," Jackie mutters.

The rest of the merboys come over and try to explain, kneeling down by Marvin.

"Friends!" Jamie emphasizes.

"I-I still don't get it but i-I Think they're harmless..." Chase adds.

"We are trying to help them, Marvin, but we will not let them hurt you...!" Henrik says gently.

Marvin still seems freaked as he looks up towards the human strangers. "W-Who are you?"

"um- I'm Alt, if that helps..." Alt speaks up. "And t-this is my brother... Chase."

Bro waves, "You guys can call me Bro though if you want... s'easier."

"I... think this will be very strange for you to hear," Schneep says slowly. "But I am Schneep, and this is Jackie and JJ."

"Hi." Jackie tries for a smile.

Marvin's eyes widen as he hears their names and looks at all his brothers with a bit of distress. Reaper Jackie gives him a tight smile. "Yeah... it's weird I know but... I just think they're lost. And they have like weird powers which is why they're hybrids too. Alterra didn't make em..."

JJ swims over towards Jackie and Schneep, holding onto Schneep's arm. A bit of blue magic wipes away the cut on his arm. Is anyone else hurt? he asks.

"I'm fine... just got my breath knocked out of me," Jackie says, looking down at his stomach where the junk hit him. He might have a bruise there later.

Marvin still looks a bit guarded but that goes out the window as he sees the blue magic and how JJ healed Schneep. He swims over and then pulls on Schneep's arm and then lifts it up like he can see where the cut went. He looks at JJ with wide eyes. "H-How did you do that??"

The other merboys also look fascinated by this and swim a bit closer.

Schneep stiffens a little, but he doesn't pull away as Marvin grabs his arm. JJ notices, though. He smiles at Marvin and gently pulls his hand away from Schneep. Magic, JJ says.

"He says it's magic," Jackie says. "That's some of those weird powers your Jackie mentioned."

Bro timidly raises his hand and points to his cheek, "...if you wanna show them more, J."

JJ looks at Bro and nods. He puts his hand on his face, next to the scrape, and similar blue magic heals it away. He then pulls away, shaking his head slightly. I can't do it forever. I have a limited amount of energy. So I think I'll save it for emergencies for now. Jackie repeats this for the hybrids.

Alt looks at JJ with worry. "Do you need anything to fuel your magic like I do? M-Maybe some food will help..."

JJ looks at Alt. Time and rest, is usually all I need. But food does help. I like thinking of it as a stamina bar in a video game. It recharges slowly but there are items to help fill it.

Alt laughs with JJ, "I like thinking of it that way too!"

"Magic?" Marvin's eyes shine a little bit then he giggles a bit shyly, "...i've always liked that word. .. it's how it feels to make my warp gates... you know? Making something out of nothing..."

Henrik notices the boys having to translate for JJ and hurries down to one of the fabricators, bringing up a hologram menu and clicking around on it. After finding the right plans he beams then swims around to collect the materials. He sets down the right ones and sets the machine to create. Two beams of light start to create the base of a fish robot like Jamie's. Henrik hurries over to another and makes the gloves that go with.

Schneep hears Henrik working around and swims closer, trying to figure out what's happening just by the sounds. He grins. This seems so interesting. Even just the noises are cool.

Alt can't help but be fascinated as he sees the machines create stuff- so much so that his tail starts sparking again. "Woah! Oh my god that's so fucking cool?! How is it doing that??"

"Oh uh... I dunno." Henrik says.

"Oh oh! Zara says it has something to do withhh rearranging maffer." Mer-Jackie says.

"It rearranges matter at the atomic level," Marvin says almost robotically, a bit of pink appearing in his eyes. "It was the catalyst behind the great expansion, and remains the backbone of the modern world." He shakes himself out. "It uh- makes stuff from other stuff."

The merboys look at Marvin weirdly.

Jackie frowns. "I'm guessing you didn't mean to say that," he mutters.

"...he's doing that fancy talking thing again," Reaper Jackie mutters. Chase laughs and ruffles Marvin's hair, "Kinda nice I'm not the know it all anymore!"

Marvin swats them with his tails. "I-I am not! Besides- Schneep is the know-it-all!"

"Yes, but I did not know that." Henrik laughs. He does give Marvin a look, something that holds a bit of concern.

Schneep turns his face towards Marvin again. "I am guessing you quoted something? It did not sound like your voice at all. Ah, I mean your personality—I assume, I mean." He tilts his head. "Rearrange matter at the atomic level... that must take an incredible amount of power. Yet this room does not seem so big. And I think the others would have mentioned it if you saw a huge power plant nearby. Oooo, how incredible it must be, then! The technology you could have that is possible but only limited by power—" He grins excitedly.

Jackie sighs. "All this science and magic stuff flies right by me. I mean... it's cool. But still." He rolls onto his back, floating with his hands behind his head.

Bro laughs with Jackie and nudges him, "dude me too- I don't get a lick of this stuff."

Marvin looks freaked out and backs up some. "I-I uh... I-I..." His eyes have a bit of pink in them again and he stiffens a bit, "T-There's multiple power sources on the planet. We are on top of a super volcano which provides thermal power the lower you go. Or Solar power which runs this base. Power Transmitters can use both solar and thermal power to power a single seabas-" He then shudders and swims backwards, holding his hands to his chest. He looks scared. "S-Sorry- sorry-" Jamie swims over and tries to hug Marvin- Marvin is stiff at first but slowly lets him.

Schneep faces Marvin again as he speaks some more. "N... no, I am sorry, for making that happen," he says quietly. He's curious, but he doesn't want Marvin to be seemingly taken over by whatever this is. Still, he's not the best at comfort, so he stays silent and lets Jamie take care of it.

"I-It's... fine." Marvin grumbles, "I'm t-trying to learn how to c-control it... sorry..."

Henrik grabs the new objects and hands them to JJ. "Here- put on these gloves... and then try to sign something. The robot should translate out loud for you. I have it set to have the same voice as Jamie's."

JJ's eyes light up. He puts the gloves on, making sure they're secure, then signs, Thank you. Can you understand me now?

The robot fish powers on and swims around JJ, partially translating. "Thank- you understand?"

"Huh... guess it's still struggling with BSL..." Alt mumbles.

"BSL? I've heard of that!" A new figure appears in the lab, and she has black hair bundled back into a ponytail and- oh she's human! She's in a blue and black dive suit with a strange symbol on her shoulder glowing blue and white. She also has purple eyes. Bro and Alt seem to recognize her immediately and stare a bit in dumbfounded awe. She's... younger than the Zara they know but- definitely Zara.

Mer-Jackie perks up and swims over to throw his arms around the woman. "Zara!! Hi!!"

The others turn to look at Zara—or, Schneep faces her. She's not familiar to the three of them, but Jackie does blink in surprise. So the Jackieboy from Bro and Alt's world is married to someone like that? ...well she is cute. Maybe if he'd never met Frederick he would've found her cuter, but he can understand it. He laughs a bit at mer-Jackie's excitement.

Zara laughs and hugs Jackie back, "Hey you!" She then blinks and realizes how many hybirds are in the room. "Woahhh- I knew our scanners picked up new lifeforms in the system but... wasn't expecting this..." She then grins and goes to swim over to grab JJ's fish robot. "Lemme try to fix this for ya though before we do intros!" She takes out a tool from a small bag tied to her leg and opens up a panel on the side of the fish. A small hologram menu shows up again and she scrolls through the options before she beams. "ah ha! Here it is!" She selects it and closes the panel before gesturing for JJ to try again. "Give it another try!"

JJ looks down at his gloves and tries signing again. Hello! It's nice to meet you. All of you.

The robot repeats his words back perfectly. The merboys all perk up and smiles. "Yay! We can understand you now!!" Mer Jackie says excitedly. Jamie swims around JJ in circles, giggling. "New friend! New sign friend!" His robot says.

Alt and Bro look relieved too and smile at JJ. Zara giggles, "Sorry it's usually set to Trans-Universal- BSL is like ancient now but some people still use it!"

Alt smiles at Zara, "I'm Alt- this is Chase." Bro waves.

Schneep nods. "Nice to meet you, Zara. This is going to sound very strange, but I am Schneep, and this is Jackie, JJ, Chase, and Alt. We are... ah..."

"We're from another universe," Jackie says bluntly. The others turn to face him, surprised, and he shrugs. "What? I got tired of dancing around it. Technically we're from other universes, actually."

Zara starts to smile at first but her face falls a bit and her eyes widen. "What...? a... different universe? Different universes?" She emphasizes looking shocked. "you're... all not even from this star system?"

"We're not even from this... plane of existence." Alt answers, rubbing his arm. "Like... good example- what year is it here? For us... it's 2020. Or for me and Chase- I mean Bro at least."

"WHAT?!" Zara exclaims in pure shock.

JJ nods slowly. Well actually it's 2019 in my world.

"Oh same," Jackie says.

"In mine, too," Schneep says.

Really? What month is it for you? It's March for us.

"January," Schneep answers, and at the same time Jackie says, "June."

"Oh you all are a year behind us- huh." Bro comments.

JJ looks at the hybrids. Sorry for not saying all this earlier. We weren't sure you would believe or understand us.

"Hell, I barely understood it, at first," Jackie says.

Schneep sighs. "And yet, you were so eager to share it."

"Honestly, I think it was rude for us to hide it."

"Well...Anti was very aggressive for us even mentioning our friends called Jack," Schneep says carefully. "Based on that, I was a bit hesitant."

"I'm not even sure I understand it..." Mer-Jackie says as he scratches his head. "The fuck is a universe?"

The merboys do all look a bit confused about this. Marvin grips at his head a bit but bites his lip to keep from saying anything.

"If you don't even know what a universe is, then... I am not sure how to describe it," Schneep says. "Think of it like... you have a piece of paper with a drawing on it. You copy the drawing, and on one you add some more details, but on the other you add different ones? Does that make sense at all?"

The merboys look even more confused. Well- except Marvin. He seems to understand the drawing analogy and nods. “Okay… I guess that makes sense.”

“Does it?” Henrik asks, making a face.

Zara still looks shocked, "I.. I can't believe that... h-here it's... 2232-"

"2232?!" Jackie inhales sharply. "Whoa... I-I guess it makes sense that time wouldn't line up perfectly... and that some worlds would be way ahead or way behind of the others.”

Alt sputters, "What?! t-that's insane-"

"As insane as you saying you're from another universe!! That's like- not in ours-"

"It's... parallel actually." Alt explains, "...that's why we all look similar or have similar names... in a way- we are some of you. Just... from somewhere different."

Chase makes a face, "How does that work? I.. I'm me- I'm not- not that guy!" He points at Bro.

Bro laughs nervously. "It's... complicated. But there's always ah... trends- similarities that tell us we're the same. B-Besides you know... looking like each other and having the same name."

I think that in a lot of ways that matter, we're not like you, JJ says. So... if it's easier for you, you can just think of us as a group of people who are kind of similar to your little family.

Chase nods to JJ, “y-yeah… you’re just… g-guys that look like us… that’s all.” He hugs his arms. “I-I don’t wanna think of it more beyond that…”

JJ smiles back at Chase. We'll leave it at that, then.

"Are you okay Ms. Zara?" Schneep asks. "You sound very shocked." He chuckles. "Though... that is understandable. It is very shocking."

Zara blinks at Schneep and then waves her hand. “Y-Yeah I’m just… trying to process all of this… like there’s a world- m-multiple worlds where these guys… don’t grow up here. In the past… that’s so crazy.” She laughs, “Do I even have a parallel in your worlds?”

“Uh… not in theirs,” Bro gestures to JJ, Jackie and Schneep. “But in mine and Alt’s? … yeah. You… you’re… a mum. And married to our friend, Jackie. Jackie Mann. But I think… is your last name uh… Caley? Cuz that was her maiden name.”

Zara’s face turns dark red and she holds her cheeks. “W-woah… god I… I’m way too young to be a mum!”

“To be fair our Zara is more of Bro’s age,” Alt laughs nervously.

“…there’s a universe where I… I get to be with Jackie and… have a family…?” She whispers, slowly smiling to herself.

"Yeah—and the kids are very cute," Jackie says, grinning. "I saw them for a bit when I popped into Alt and Bro's world. But I didn't see you." He pauses, thinking about what Bro said about Zara and their worlds. "Actually, maybe you do exist in our worlds? Our three. Maybe you exist, but we just don't know you?" He guesses. "It's a big world, after all. A whole planet—oh! Wait a second, by the way, is there even a planet Earth in this universe? Or did humans evolve on a different planet?"

"Perhaps it does?" Schneep says. "Alterra—the company name has 'terra' in it, and that is a word for Earth. It could be a very big coincidence that Alterra was called that—but perhaps not?"

Zara laughs, getting over her blush even if she glances at reaper Jackie who looks equally as flushed, hiding his face in his hood. “No you’re actually spot on! A lot of companies who went off into the further reaches of space came from earth of course, but Alterra was the only one bold enough to take its name. This is a planet far from Earth though. I’ve never even been near Earth- I was born here.” She explains, “We’re around a star called 4546 in the Ariadne Arm. This planet was the first found around 4546 so we call it 4546B. It’s a bit far from federation space but it’s more habitable than it was when it was rediscovered by Alterra almost a century ago. Right now Alterra’s trying to find… use of it. There’s lots of good resources and… well- ample places to experiment.”

Schneep makes a little "ooo"ing sound as Zara talks, and JJ swims closer, fascinated. But she lost Jackie the moment she confirmed that Earth existed.

“Those are… so many big words.” Bro mutters.

Zara laughs, “That sounds like something Jackie would say!” Mer-Jackie flicks his tail a bit in annoyance.

“I… I can’t believe we’re on a completely different planet…” Alt whispers in awe. “We’ve never managed to do that before.”

Zara blinks, “You’ve been to… other universes before?”

“Yeah! A ton! Me and Alt are like regular multiverse travelers now!” Bro grins.

"Not us, though." Jackie gestures at himself, Schneep, and JJ. "This is the first time I've been sucked into multiverse travel. Though—I guess I can't speak for you guys."

JJ shrugs. I got snapped to Alt and Bro's world one time, alone with some friends. But nothing since then.

Schneep shakes his head. "No, it is the same for me, Jackie, you are right." He pauses. "Though... one time, when I was getting used to my powers, I... ended up somewhere very strange. It is hard to describe... but it might have been outside my world." After a moment, he shakes his head again. "Don't ask me to go back there, though, I do not think I can. It was a freak accident... and very confusing."

"Well... what do we do now that we know more about this world?" Jackie looks at the others—mainly Alt and Bro, the experienced travelers. "We have these cool mermaid forms—hybrid forms, I guess. So I guess we could go anywhere? But... just, what do we do?"

“I… I dunno-“ Alt admits. “Honestly I was hoping… if this was future tech then… maybe they’d have a TRVLR like IRIS but… I don’t think they do.”

“Yeah sorry… none of those are ringing a bell.” Zara says softly.

Marvin seems to stiffen again and then clasps hands over his mouth. The merboys all look at him with confusion. “…do you know of something, Marvin?” Henrik asks.

Marvin tries to shake his head but then blurts out, his eyes going a bit pink again. “Sector Zero has an interplanetary phase gate hidden for Architect use-“

Zara’s eyes widen, “What?! A… a phase gate?!”

“Uhh- what’s a phase gate?” Bro asks.

"Ooooo, a phase gate," Schneep repeats, interested. "It sounds like some sort of... man-made wormhole."

Like from that movie Stargate! JJ says. He looks at the others. If you guys know what that is.

"I've vaguely heard of it, but I've never seen it," Jackie says.

“Yeah same- never was big on sci-fi movies.” Bro laughs.

“Phase gates are used for travel between sectors of space- they’re huge things used to teleport whole space crafts to other worlds. Sector Zero has that??” Zara gasps.

“The fuck is sector zero?!” Mer Jackie asks. Marvin almost seems to pale.

“It’s the arctic part of this planet outside the crater where we are now… I know there used to be researchers there a while ago but… that place gets abandoned a lot. It’s too cold.” Zara laughs lightly. Then she perks up and seems to realize what Jackie is. “oh!! That’s why you look so strange! You’re not a species from this side of the planet you’re a- a… oh what are they called?”

“A chelicerate.” Marvin supplies robotically before clasping his mouth shut again.

“Yeah!! That!” Zara beams. She swims around Jackie to admire him. “yeah! They’re like… the equivalent of reapers over there! That’s what my dad said at least- I think he and Zeke studied there for a bit!”

Jackie looks down at himself. "Oh. Huh." The mandibles snap again. "So... guess it's fitting that I turned into one, if this Jackie is part reaper. Parallels and shit."

Are you okay, Marvin? JJ asks, concerned. Do you need us to stop asking questions?

Marvin shakes his head. “I… it’s fine I just- h-hate that this k-keeps happening. I-It’s like my head fills with words and they don’t go away until I… I say them.”

“Danan did say it could be from your warper chip… warpers apparently are very smart.” Chase says.

Marvin grumbles. “I don’t wanna be smart… I don’t like being a… computer thing that just s-spews stuff out…” Jamie frowns and hugs Marvin around his shoulders.

Schneep frowns at the implications. Did they put a chip in Marvin’s head? Sure, the guys are experiments in this world, but something about that seems a bit too far even by those standards. "Unfortunately, I have another question that seems important," Schneep continues. "What does this phase gate have to do with the TRVLR thing, and IRIS? I see the connection between traveling through space and traveling through worlds, but... it is a different thing with a different purpose. And apparently made by a different company."

"And who the hell is Zeke?" Jackie asks.

Zara sighs, “Unfortunately… Zeke is my older brother. He’s… not a good guy. He’s the reason I left to stay here and… he tried to turn Marvin into a…a full time warper for him to use. And uh here- warpers are a type of like- mix of biology and tech… they were made by an ancient group of aliens that lived here like… a thousand years ago I think?” She shrugs, “The ones that live here are pretty harmless. Just- warping around, which is like teleporting. They’re Predators but they keep to themselves mostly. Not many are left cuz… they don’t reproduce and the Architects are gone So… Zeke thought Marvin was… fascinating.” Both Zara and Marvin shudder.

“Oh, so he’s an asshole,” Jackie says.

You can’t just call someone’s relative an asshole, even if they’re a bad person, JJ says.

“No no no, let him keep going,” Schneep says. See, that’s why he thought it was too far to put a chip in someone. Who knows how that could be taken advantage of? Even if these real warpers have tech, he can’t believe Alterra did that. Or—any of this, really.

Zara laughs, “No you’re right. He’s the biggest asshole. …but I think he just… got influenced by all the Alterans we worked with… I dunno. Part of me wants to… find some way to…” She shakes her head. “no… there’s no excusing what he did. But uh- speaking of the architects that brings me back to Schneep’s point. I.. I don’t know how a phase gate relates? I mean… they’re powerful… maybe there’s a way to set it to… different universes? I dunno… I don’t know many people here who work on that kinda tech. Most of us are like… Xeno-biologists or simple Alteran engineers.” Zara explains. “Besides I feel like if Alterra had that kind of knowledge they’d be advertising it like crazy. Those guys only care about research and money…”

“Hm… maybe Marvin simply got triggered to say that from hearing traveler?” Henrik suggests.

“Fuck if I know…” Marvin sighs, crossing his arms.

Alt hums, “…maybe we can try to see if we can like- work with a phase gate?”

“I dunno- those things are hugeee.” Zara says. “And still- no one here knows how to work them…”

“Hm… is there anything… smaller then? M-Maybe like- interacting with something like that could… I dunno- sense we’re not from here and send us home? Or like- I’m good with tech…maybe I could figure something out..”

Marvin stiffens again, “Similar technology is used in the Alien arches scattered across the crater. All connect to the Primary Containment facility.” He says robotically.

The merboys all gasp slightly. “T-That is where they had Jack and Anti…”

Alien technology… JJ repeats. It’d be exciting if the hybrids didn’t all have an immediate negative reaction to hearing about this containment facility. I’m going to guess the place is under the company’s control?

“Then it’s probably not safe to get too close,” Jackie says. “People like that would be fascinated with your guys’ magic.”

“But we still need to get home,” Schneep mutters.

“Yes but… the base there was also destroyed.” Henrik replies to JJ, adjusting his goggles. “I do not know if the containment was destroyed… but we also do not know if there are any… survivors down there.”

“It’s also not safe to go there cuz it’ll boil most of us alive.” Mer- Jackie says, “It’s down in the lava zone. Only Marvin and Anti can go down there without being fried.”

“Lava zone?!” Jackie gasps. “That would be so cool if it wasn’t able to kill us! Well—still kinda cool, I guess, but you know what I mean.”

Schneep frowns. He almost wants to ask what destroyed the base… but maybe later. He doesn’t want to get sidetracked.

Marvin’s eyes dim a bit and he answers a bit more quietly, “…I think A-Ant- Alt is onto something though… if similar tech exists in these arches then… t-they’re teleporters. Maybe there is a way to make the destination back towards your homes…”

“That is true… these humans do possess power that even the white suits do not have…” Henrik muses.

“And um… we don’t need to go to the lava zone… we can find one of the arches c-closer by I think…? I’ve… seen a few around.” Marvin says timidly.

“Oh yeah- isn’t there one in the mountains?” Chase says. “It’s that- freaky black diamond thing we sometimes race through.”

“Y-Yeah that’s it.”

I suppose it makes sense that there are closer ones, JJ says. If you have teleporting technology you would want to use it.

“…we should ask Danan,” Zara says. “She’s been researching on this planet longer than I have and might know more about this architect stuff.”

“Danan, right.” Jackie nods slowly. “If she’s in charge here, we should let her know we’re here, anyway.”

“Where is Danan?” Bro asks.

Zara sighs. “She’s taking care of Jack… which means well- you’ll be able to see Anti again because.. he’s there too. Doing his uh- guard thing.”

JJ tilts his head. You know, where I’m from, Jack is Anti’s cousin. They’re the only ones of us who are related.

“They’re pretty close where I’m from, too,” Jackie says. “I uh… don’t know how to describe it. They’re like best friends and family and a weird symbiotic relationship wrapped all into one.”

“Ha… weird. I got a friend named Jack back at home. He helps me make my music for shows.” Alt grins.

Schneep laughs nervously. “Well… that is fun to know. Anyway, should we head in that direction?” He doesn’t want to talk about his Jack and Anti.

The merboys shift a bit uncomfortably. “Jack and Anti have always been close… despite Jack being a bit older than him.” Chase says sadly. “But… now Anti hardly leaves Jack’s side… I think it’s cuz…”

“Cuz of what those white suit fucks did to him.” Reaper Jackie growls, digging his nails into his arms. “They made him their personal bodyguard to make sure Jack never escaped. But- heh, that backfired on them.” He grins.

The more I learn about Alterra the less I like them,” Schneep mutters. JJ and Jackie nod in agreement.

“Yeah just know he might be a bit… snippy, to put it lightly.” Zara says with a wince.

“Don’t worry though! We’ll protect ya!” Mer-Jackie says brightly.

Bro laughs, “I’m not worried dude- I think we can handle it. We’re all a pretty tough bunch.”

“Hey, I can handle a snippy Anti,” Jackie says. “The one I know is a dick. Good person, but a little mean.”

JJ chuckles. My Anti can be like that too. You have to get through the prickly outside.

“Yeah I think all Antis are like that- especially the good ones.” Bro laughs, nudging Alt. Alt glares a bit then flicks his tail at Bro giving him a tiny shock. Bro yelps then makes a face at Alt who only grins back. “What? You said I was prickly, prick.”

“Okay, I suppose that you should all go in front, then?” Schneep hurriedly says before anyone can notice him avoiding the topic of his Anti. “So that way he sees you first before us. I imagine we look quite shocking.”

“Your tail is transparent, by the way,” Jackie comments. “We can see the bones.”

“What?!” Schneep leans down and grabs onto his tail, but it feels like normal fish flesh to him.

The others all kinda hide their laughter. “Y-You didn’t know? You’re just like me actually.” Marvin tries to smile.

“Oh uh- Schneep is… blind.” Bro tells everyone. The ones who didn’t know eyes widen.

“Oh! Wow- you… don’t super act like it but that makes sense..” Zara says. “Good thing you got those tendrils though! I bet they help.”

“River Prowlers use their tendrils to lure in prey.” Marvin says with a twitch and then shudders.

“The extra limbs are helpful, yes,” Schneep says, one of the tendrils grabbing onto JJ’s arm. JJ looks at it a bit warily as Marvin makes that comment, but doesn’t pull away.

Mer-Jackie nods to Schneep, “Well you got the right idea other Schneep, we’ll head the group, c’mon!”

He quickly swims back up into the tubes, the rest of his brothers following after. Zara smiles at the rest of them before following.

“Oh, Zara’s coming with us?” Jackie says, surprised. “I, uh, hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” Schneep says. “It will be nice to have someone to help explain.”

Thank you again for your help with the robot, by the way, JJ adds. Then they all follow the others, leaving in that order.

“Ha don’t worry! Hanging out with these guys is kinda my part time job now. ” Zara says with a wink. “Except better cuz I enjoy it! …and I don’t get paid regardless.” She laughs. “Plus it seems like you all need some more uh- human explanations. The boys are still- learning a bunch.”

Alt and Bro follow closely behind but Alt starts mumbling. “I wish I knew a spell that could like… I dunno… fix your vision or at least let you see temporary, Hen…”

“Hmm? Oh.” Schneep turns back towards him and smiles. “Thank you for the concern, Alt. It means a lot, truly. But you don’t have to go out of your way for me. There is a sadness that I lost my sight, but I have grown used to it. I have more accommodations than most blind people, since I can tell where people are, at least. I am mostly satisfied with my situation. I don’t think I need anything more.”

“Wow Schneep you’ve taken losing a whole sense with a lot of grace.” Bro smiles.

Alt frowns and holds his arms. “…I can’t imagine losing my vision. Maybe it’s just cuz I’m an artist but… I just… that terrifies me. I dunno how you do it.”

“I do wish you could see all this though,” Bro says quietly, looking outside the base as they cross through the glass tunnels. “All of this is… just insane.”

“Oh, well, it has not been easy, of course,” Schneep says. “I had to leave my job—hard to be a surgeon when you cannot see the patient. And there are many inconveniences. Even something like buying food can be difficult. Cannot read the labels, yes? But I am lucky to have had support in adjusting. My friends are always willing to help.”

Jackie looks back at him for a moment, thinking. “You… I’m glad they’re there for you,” he says softly.

Schneep nods. “I am very thankful for them.” He presses a hand to the glass wall of the tube. “But I am sad to be missing out on the view.”

We could describe it for you? JJ suggests.

Schneep laughs. “Give me the colors, if anything. I can figure out the rest with my other senses.”

Bro sighs, “Damn… going to medical school for so long and then having to stop… that majorly sucks.”

“Your friends are good ones though,” Alt smiles. Then he blinks and looks out the windows. “Well here it’s- it’s kinda green but I think that’s cuz there’s these tall kelp vines. You probably felt those. Most of the leaves are at the top of the water though so it kinda makes a canopy? So it’s a bit darker here… and there’s like these glowing fruit things on the vines so it’s all- glowing and shit.”

“Glowing…” Schneep repeats. He smiles. “It must be beautiful.”

#GITHV #glitch into the huffleverse #GITHV septnautical #alt anti #bro fantastic #stitched schneep #the jaunty jackson #inverted jackie #reaper jackie #cuddlefish jamie #stalker schneep #rabbit ray chase #warper marvin #zara caley #theres hints to stories ive been meaning to write in here-#and hints to the current BZ event! :D #septnautical #sorry it ends on an awkward place here!!

14 notes · View notes

earlgraytay · 2 years ago

Text

okay I am making this concept into a proper au, working title Puppet Isekai.

(putting this under a cut for consideration's sake-- don't want Clown accidentally reading fanwork)

here is the core concept:

in 197X, the Playfellow Workshop is struggling financially, when Dorelaine gets a call from a mysterious English Lord with more money than sense. Lord Whasisface agrees to pour money down the endless sucking hole that is the Playfellow Workshop in exchange for Dorelaine making one of his passion projects: a bonkers-realistic dark fantasy movie that pushes the limits of puppetry in every way possible. we will call this movie the Shard of Light for now

Dorelaine accepts, of course. The Neighbourhood is saved! Except... not really. Welcome Home continues to be made, but most of the episodes in syndication are reruns; the Workshop's doing the bare minimum to keep the show going. Most of the puppeteers' time, energy, and resources are going towards The Shard of Light

So it's not quite Endless Night, but it's bad enough that Our Friendly Neighbours are getting incredibly frustrated and antsy. eventually Julie goes out into the woods around Home

and into the woods

(and it's dark and the trees start looking more like shelves and the dirt beneath her feet becomes concrete and if she looks carefully she sees boxes of Arms and Heads and worse high up into the trees)

and into the woods

until she goes through a Door

Home is a happy place where snow is fluff and the clouds are on strings and nothing has a texture rougher than felt

and the place that Julie goes into looks like this

she runs about and runs her hands over e v e r y t h i n g and gets covered with glitter and moss

Before excitedly running back Home to tell everyone what she's seen

and Hijinks Ensue, as the Neighbours run into a Heroic Quest played as painfully straight as the relationship between Julie and Frank

and like, you could play this AU for horror or comedy or both

(the horror of realizing the world is much bigger than you knew, the horror of realizing that you are God's children and he's moved on to a bigger and better project, the horror of Puppets With Organs and the horror of an Adventure Story gone wrong)

but also, the inherent comedy of children's educational puppets in a dark fantasy world, with absolutely no concept of "danger" or "fear" or "death" (?) is very good

genuinely might fuck around and make some "Welcome Home fancharacters" that are Dorelaine's answer to the Dark Crystal puppets

#clown don't look #welcome home #au: puppet isekai #the dark crystal #puppets #wh julie

40 notes · View notes

sirowsky-stories · 1 year ago

Text

The Old Prince

Part 9

Author's Note: New Header! Because, oh yes, we're getting some major plot-twists! Can you tell I'm excited?

Description: You and Oberyn make a shocking discovery, which then leads to further complications, and not just for yourselves.

Rating: Mature 18+ONLY Warnings: Monster Oberyn Martell x Female Reader, AU fic, obviously Halloween themed, reader cusses. Major TW for descriptions of small child being murdered. Word Count: 7500 Author's Masterlist

His home is calling. That is where he feels he must go to find the answers, even though you have no connection to Egypt beyond your association to him. But you were correct when you said it was his bite which ignited all this, changing you, or perhaps triggering something dormant from your innermost being. But whether it had always been there or was somehow put there by the dragon, there is no denying the fact that had you never crossed paths with Oberyn, you would likely have remained ordinary.

You’re still not awake when he carefully lands in the desert, far enough from any cities or settlements that no human eyes can track his descent, and he ensures that no people are crossing the barren landscape before he settles on a location. The ground is covered in crystalized salt, a remnant of the past when there was still a body of water here, although that was before even his time. But these views still bring back memories of his childhood, which is one of the reasons why he has rarely ever been back here.

Now though, he needs those memories. He must learn what is happening to the two of you, because he is convinced that your fates are linked in some manner, and although he does not yet have so much as a hypothesis, it feels as though the answer is knowable. He merely needs to find the right clues. But before he’s had a chance to do anything, you finally stir within his paws, so he pulls you away from his chest to see if you have awakened.

The bright afternoon sun is piercing to your eyes, which have been closed for several hours by now, so he quickly shifts you back underneath his shadow again, while you climb out of his hands and step onto the age-old sands.

“Wh-what happened? Where are we?” you ask, sounding disoriented by more than the unfamiliar surroundings, as though the light within you has altered some fundamental aspect of your sense of self, which is far more believable than it might sound.

But he cannot answer you in his dragon form, so he steps back to transform, careful not to accidentally swipe at you as his much larger form is retracted and folded away within him.

“Not far from where I was born,” he replies as soon as his mouth is functional again, while attempting to rearrange the weapons he had brought.

It had seemed prudent at the time to offer you something with which to defend yourself once the creatures had been located, even though he knew you would likely not be able to harm them. However, he has found that humans often find comfort merely in having the means of defending themselves, regardless of the chances for success. And given your quite obvious association with the dragon, it wouldn’t have hurt you to have the possibility of safeguarding yourself against potential aggression from humans either. Unfortunately, this reasoning had slipped his mind once the hunt had begun, so the weapons are now mostly an inconvenience.

“We’re in Egypt?” you question, clearly somewhat confused since your last memories before passing out were of the northern Californian coast.

“Yes. Something happened with the spirits and I… felt compelled to seek some answers.”

“What do you mean? What happened?” you ask, and you sound frightened now.

He gives up on the weapons, letting them drop to the ground for now, so that he can put his arms around your waist and hold you while he explains. Because he feels certain you will appreciate the support once you’ve heard what he has to say.

“When you hit the water, Octopus was there, ready to drag you down and end you, and I couldn’t get to you in time. I dove and swam after you, but she’s much faster than I am under water. I never would’ve caught up to you. She took you so deep so quickly that I thought your brain would surely have imploded by the time I reached you. But instead, you saved yourself.”

You look utterly baffled hearing this, and he does not blame you. For a few seconds, you merely stand idle in his embrace, thinking hard by the looks of it.

“But I was unconscious…” you try to reason, closing your eyes for a moment as your equilibrium falters and you sway slightly where you stand.

The healing has weakened you and he has no food to offer you this time, so he can only hope that time will help you regain at least some strength.

“You were, and I wonder if that’s why it happened. If you have some manner of built in defense whenever you’re unable to fight for your life. Consider that you were also unconscious after I bit you, only to wake up completely healed just hours later, without any loss of energy, unlike the time that Lupus first attacked you. Although, on that occasion, not much of you escaped unharmed,” he recalls, which seems to remind you that the bat and butterfly had very nearly carved your kidneys out midflight a while ago.

He lets go of you when you begin to examine yourself. Your clothes are in tatters, but as you shift the torn fabrics around, you find no gashes or exposed ribs. Just the same smooth skin Oberyn had caressed so lovingly the night before.

“That’s right, you did it again,” he explains once you’ve stopped searching for damage, drawing your gaze back to him, except now with even more confusion in your brows, while he remains only impressed. “But this time, you also created a blinding light all by yourself, which scared Octopus away and allowed me to reach you.”

“What are talking about? What light? And from where?”

“I don’t know exactly, I had to close my eyes against it. Even in the darkness at the bottom of the sea, it was blinding.”

Unexpectedly, hearing this brings tears to your eyes. Oberyn would have thought hearing of such a powerful defense within yourself would bring you peace, as it has already proven effective against the spirits and might mean a chance for you to evade their murderous plans. But instead, you appear only to experience despair.

“Why do you cry, my lady? You are capable of defending yourself against The Decem. Does this not comfort you?” he asks, feeling increasingly confused now, himself.

Wrapping your arms around yourself, perhaps to keep your torn clothes from flapping in the wind, but more likely in attempt to hold your being together, your gaze drops to the ground and tension becomes visible in your shoulders.

“I don’t know… what I am anymore,” you start, and while he wants to object, he holds his tongue and waits for you to speak your mind, as this is clearly affecting you deeply. “I’m not human or dragon, but then you tell me I might be this terrible thing, ready to turn all the world into darkness and pain. And now you tell me I’m somehow full of a light so powerful that even the spirits can’t stand it?”

You look up again now, and your gaze has grown even sadder. He feels as though you must be lost, wandering the world much as he did after his own initial transformation, looking for meaning or at least some explanation. But as he has yet to find one for his own circumstance, even after six millennia, he has no answers to offer you.

“Great…” you shrug, “So, what am I supposed to do with that? I don’t even know how to use it, I still have no idea how I can heal myself, or if the creatures were somehow set loose because of me.”

“No, my love,” he finally interrupts, for this line of thinking must be stopped, lest you start digging your own grave with it. “The creatures are not your fault; of this I am certain.”

“How?”

“Simple: You are not a Darkling.”

This conclusion seems to annoy you, and he can see why. For weeks now you have had no answers as to what has happened to you, while Oberyn has presented you with several possibilities, each one scarier than the next. At this point, you must be so tired of theories and fed up with worrying about things that are still completely beyond your control. So, he must do what he can to help you understand where his sudden confidence on this matter comes from.

“I have told you before that I’ve been skeptical of this diagnosis from the start, because of the radical differences between you and the only dark one I’ve seen before. Well, this light you possess is proof that I was correct. A Darkling cannot bring light to the world, in any fashion. Once awakened, it is only capable of destruction.”

A glimmer of hope sparks within your features then, and Oberyn suddenly realizes how absent such a feeling has been from your frame, ever since you learned of the creatures’ escape. Surely, you cannot have taken on the blame for their mayhem solely on the notion that you could be a contributing factor, had you turned out to be the shadow-bringer.

“But if that’s true, why are the spirits still hunting me?” you ponder then, and he must think on it for a moment.

“Probably because they, like us, know of nothing else which can see them.”

“So, even if there’s clear evidence to the contrary, they’re gonna keep coming after me?”

“Most likely, yes,” he nods, and the hope once more falls away from your frame.

You sink to your knees on the ground, letting your hands come to rest against your thighs, and he does not like how defeated it makes you look. He’s always known your personality to be large. Not loud or brash, but the kind which fills a room simply by entering it. As if your soul is constantly attempting to eliminate emptiness. He wonders sometimes if it comes from your childhood and your feelings of abandonment.

“The Decem do not think as you or I do. They exist in the moment. We can’t hope to convince them of your innocence, which leaves us with only one other option, and this is why I have brought us here.”

“Alright,” you say, confirming that you are listening, even though your head remains tilted forward and your tone conveys only the mildest interest.

“I believe that my own history might hold the key to understanding what you are. Because it can’t be coincidence that our lives have intersected, I cannot believe that something so pivotal happened by accident.”

“Pivotal? To us or the world?”

“Both. To my knowledge, we are the only two humanoids on this earth with supernatural abilities, and not only have we settled down on the same continent, but we each have been drawn to and frequented the same area around the Seven Hills for years, until we eventually crossed paths. The odds against these chains of events, which began with my transformation right here, six thousand years ago, are astronomical, Valya.”

“Okay, sure. But how does any of that help us now?” you question, turning your head to look out at the desolate landscape, still not meeting his eyes.

“I don’t know that yet.”

“And how exactly do you imagine that we’re gonna find any answers out here?” you challenge, throwing an arm out to gesture to the glaringly obvious lack of clues. “There’s nothing left of that time, Oberyn. The odd clay pot or stone tablet, sure, but I highly doubt we’re gonna happen upon the perfect find to help you piece together your past. It doesn’t work that way.”

Something in the way you say the final sentence makes irritation flare within him. Because while he does understand why you would be struggling with the notion of your own identity right now, it completely escapes his understanding that you would so strongly resist any possibility of finding answers.

“Why are you so unwilling to believe in us?” he questions, and when you still show no sign of engaging with him, the malcontent grows within his chest. “Is it really so hard to fathom that there might be a reason we were brought together? That maybe it is our connection to each other which makes you capable of this incredible light, just as being with you has enabled me to see hope once more.”

“I don’t see hope…” you admit then, and his anger quickly cools, because this is not the answer he was expecting. “My life was never truly good, I know that. But it was enough. I never dreamed of adventures or bravery, of being the hero. I just wanted to live a simple life with my garden and my horse and maybe one day get to travel some. This… the magic and mysticism and saving the world crap… I don’t want any of it.”

Once you’ve fallen silent, you finally look up to meet his eyes, and he can see how deeply you believe in every word spoken. How you cannot be enthusiastic about any of this because none of what’s happened has been to your benefit. Except…

“Does this mean you don’t want me either?” he asks, tentative now that he suddenly cannot be certain the answer will be favorable to him.

But the words could just as well have been a kick to your jaw. You hunch at the sound of them, falling in on yourself as though your heart has just pulled your chest with it while it plummets through you. No words fall across your lips, merely the pained breath which is pushed out by the sudden contraction of your stomach, in revolt against the agony you suffer for his faulty assumption. Relieved, but also ridden with guilt over his mistake, he kneels beside you and pulls you close.

“Forgive me, my love. I know better than to say such things.”

You let him hold you for a moment before you reach up to reciprocate, but once your arms are around his shoulders, your grip is firm. A confirmation of your feelings, strong and true, even though your world outside of this relationship has come to an abrupt, and painful, end.

-=<>=-=<>=-=<>=-

He takes you on a slow stroll through the desert, hand in hand, while he searches for these answers which he seems unreasonably certain he’ll find here, despite being in the middle of fucking nowhere. You don’t share his attitude for one very clear reason: whatever he might find is unlikely to mean good news for you.

Since this whole thing started, aside from meeting Oberyn and falling in love with him, everything that’s happened has meant pain, loss and unwanted change for you, none of which you’re eager to continue experiencing. Yes, the likelihood of you being a Darkling has significantly decreased, but you’re still no closer to a happy ending because of it. You’re still under attack and you may yet have to give your life to see an end to this conflict. Which is absolutely the very worst-case scenario, given how the dragon would likely react to losing you.

You try not to think about that as he leads you further out onto the salt-flats, where the heat of the sun makes the plain ground look like liquid in the distance. But you’re still so caught up in your own thoughts that when he suddenly stops, it’s only his hand in yours which alerts you to the fact that he’s no longer moving. Turning back to find out what’s caught his attention, you find him staring at the ground right at his feet, where there’s nothing of interest to be seen.

“What is it?” you quietly ask, hoping you’re not interrupting him in the middle of rediscovering a lost memory.

“I know this spot. This exact spot,” he slowly responds, and you step closer so that you can see his expression even though his head is bowed.

You want to ask how he could possibly know where he even is when everything looks the same for miles and miles, but that won’t help anything.

“Why? What happened here?” you ask instead, worried now as his face has begun to reveal a truly haunted image.

“My nephew… this is where he was torn from his mother’s arms. This is where he was thrown to the ground, toyed with, and crushed under the feet of half a dozen tribesmen. Barely a week old…” he says, whispering the last part.

He didn’t remember this much before, and you’re afraid to disturb him now that he seems to be reliving those horrible moments, even though it clearly tortures him, so you remain silent and still beside him.

“My sister screamed, begging for his life, trying to fight her way to him, but they kicked him between themselves as if he was a football, keeping him out of her reach. His father and I ran to her and tried to intervene, but they stabbed him in the back, and when I attempted to fight in his stead, I was beaten with a club until my neck broke and I fell to the floor.”

He’s crying now, shaking all over as if he’s freezing cold despite the heat of the sun above, and you hate to see him like this. The usual might of his shoulders no longer there, the stoic frame of his chest and seasoned wisdom in the set of his brow nowhere to be seen. You want to help him, but what can you do? He came here because he wanted to understand his own past, and now this place seems to be giving him exactly what he wished for, so however much it hurts you to see it, you must let him suffer through this. But you don’t have to let him do it alone.

“I’m here, honey,” you whisper as you take his hands, so that even if he can’t hear you, he might still know you’re there. “I’m right here with you.”

He doesn’t see you even though his eyes are wide open, but the moment your hands slip into his, he grips you firmly, as if he fears he might disappear into the memory without an anker in the present. And for all you know, there’s every chance he really could.

“I’m lying face down on the floor, gasping for air, unable to move, but I can still hear them. The screams and the cries. And then just desperate wails as the child goes quiet. God. He survived their sadistic game for so long…” he continues, but his voice breaks in the end, and he droops to his knees.

You follow, crying as badly as he is at this unfathomable picture he’s painting for you, enabling you to experience it with him, so that you might have a chance to understand at least some of all this. But then he flinches. Not hard enough to rock his entire body, but enough for you to know that something shocking just happened within the memory.

“The light… it’s blinding… everywhere, all at once,” he breathes, while his gaze moves around, seeing something entirely other than the desert lands of your time. “It doesn’t burn at first, it just makes everyone stop and cover their eyes. But I can’t. I can’t move, not even to close my eyes, but I can see… through the light.”

His eyes move quickly over the desert, as if he’s searching for something, and then they stop. He stares at a fixed point behind you, over your right shoulder, and you wish you could see whatever it is that he does.

“What is it, honey? What did you see in the light?” you ask when he doesn’t continue.

You expect him to say that he saw the other dragon, the one who presumably died by giving Oberyn the fire, but he doesn’t answer you at all. His expression quickly shifts from despair into something more like awe, and for a second, you can swear you see some kind of figure reflected in the wetness of his eyes. But then he blinks, and it’s gone, before he closes his eyes and somehow you know that the memory is over and he’s back with you.

“Hey, look at me,” you beckon, when he lets go of your hands and brings his palms up to rub his face. “What just happened? What was that?”

You have to grab his wrists and pull his hands away from his face to get him to look at you, but again, his expression is not what you expect it to be. He doesn’t look haggard or pained by the experience he just had, instead he meets your worried gaze with what appears to be that same awe from before. And yet, he doesn’t answer you.

“Oberyn?” you try, and he does react to your voice this time, but by getting back on his feet and turning his back to you.

He takes a few steps forward, putting his hands on his hips and exhaling hard a few times, and somehow, you get the feeling that this isn’t relief. More like he’s preparing to tell you something difficult. You stand as well, starting to feel worried, and you’re just about to approach him when he sighs deeply.

“It wasn’t a dragon that did this to me,” he says, and he sounds torn between sorrow and joy. “There was no other dragon.”

“Then what was it? What changed you?”

Another deep breath passes through him before he turns around, and once he does, you feel like you already know the answer. As if your body can sense it from his before a single word has been spoken.

“It was Lux. The spirit of Day.”

The moment you hear that name, something passes through you. Not a feeling so much as a realization.

Recognition.

“Me…” you breathe, scarcely able to acknowledge the thought. “I… I did this to you.”

He nods slowly, but his features reveal nothing of what he feels in that moment.

“It was you, all this time,” he says, and there’s a softness to his voice which takes your mind to the solemnity of a church.

To heavy subjects and grave implications, mixed with deep respect and reverence. But you can’t possibly be the reason why he would feel these things.

“No, it can’t be. I remember my life, I’ve only lived for thirty odd years, how could I have been in ancient Egypt, it makes no sense!” you ramble, getting desperate now because this is too much to ingest.

“I told you that no one has ever seen Day, that not even the spirits know who she is, and this explains it.”

“No, it doesn’t! How does this explain anything?”

He comes closer to you, and without meaning it, you recoil. Fear grips you at the idea that all his long years of solitude, agony and despair, could be your fault, and your body reacts. Although, whether to protect him or yourself, you’re not sure. Noticing your fear and desperation, he stops, but worry seeps into his face then.

“Don’t you see, Valya? The Latin word for day is Lux, which also means light, and light is everywhere, just at different times. You exist in all things and all places, which means you’re never just one person in one moment.”

“If that were true, then why is the Night spirit a bat, and not capable of the same?”

“Because light undoes dark. Yes, night falls upon each day, but only because the Earth turns away from the sun. Not because light no longer exists. All dark places, no matter how deep the blackness, are unveiled by light, and therefor, you are the most powerful of all spirits. Yes, in your natural form you’re probably much the same as the others, beyond thoughts or reasoning, existing only in the moment and the feeling. But unlike them, you must be able to choose when you wish to be seen, and in which form, since light can be bent and manipulated into any shape.”

Logically, it all makes sense, and you have no reason to believe that this man who has lived longer than any other, wouldn’t know what he was talking about. In fact, he’s probably the only one who even remotely understands these things. But you still resist. Not for lack of memory of past events, but simply because you don’t want to be the one responsible for Oberyn’s pain. He’s everything to you. Your light and purpose, your friend and confidant, your fucking soulmate.

He tries to approach you again, and just like before you back away. You can’t help it, you’re too scared of unknowingly doing something damaging to him. But this time, your rebuke saddens him, and you recall his question earlier. “Does this mean you don’t want me either?” Just hearing it had turned your insides into a pit of knives, and the memory brings the feeling back.

“I may not know why you changed me, but now that I’m certain it was you, I can only believe you had some plan for me,” he says without a trace of accusation in his tone. “Something you sensed coming, important enough to create a being so strong it could burn down this whole world, should it be deemed unavoidable. I know you, my love. Spirit or not, you would never willfully condemn anyone to an eternity of loneliness. And whatever else you might be, this person you chose to be born into is also you, and the life you’ve lived as a human is equally responsible for the character you’ve become. None of that is undone by the past. You are still the woman I love, and you always will be.”

Enchanted by his words, you’ve remained still while he’s crept closer to you, and when he falls silent, he’s suddenly only inches away. Before you can recover, he steals a long and loving kiss, using the intimacy to snare you into his embrace where you can’t help but melt into him.

From the first day you met his human form he’s been intoxicating to you, and maybe this does explain how that could be. Maybe you’ve loved him ever since he was an ordinary man. And if so, could you have filled him with light and made him so powerful as a way of protecting him? Somehow that seems… excessive. What you know with absolute certainty is that if something were to happen to him now, you would stop at nothing to save him. And since spirits are even deeper connected to their emotions than humans are, it is plausible you’ve always felt that way about him.

But it’s such a strange thing to absorb when you have no recollection of being anything else, of living in any other time, and maybe there’s a reason for that. Possibly just that the spirit of Day isn’t supposed to have memories. The problem is, you can’t help but think that what if the reason you can’t remember it, is because Oberyn is wrong and you’re something else entirely.

Wishful thinking, perhaps, but is it really so farfetched? The only way to know for sure is if you can figure out how to use your light, since that would be undeniable proof of your connection to Lux. But you don’t even know how to start. Then something occurs to you, and you pull back to look at your man.

“You said that light can be bent and manipulated into any form, right?”

“Yes.”

“Which means, theoretically, I could do that to any source of light, at will?”

“As far as I understand it, yes. Where are you going with this?”

“The spirits are made of light, aren’t they? So, is it possible… I mean, if I am Day… could I control all of them?”

His eyebrows shoot up at that, so clearly this is something he hasn’t considered.

“It makes even more sense than you realize, my dear. That’s likely the very reason why Day is never seen.”

“Because she’s already there, within all the others, like a natural piece of them. I mean, I am,” you correct yourself, trying to taste the words in the hopes that they’ll somehow start to feel right, but they just don’t. “Shit, this is so screwed up! How can I be her and not even know it?”

“I think our biggest concern at the moment is rather the question of why you’ve come to exist in human form at all? What’s changed in the world to warrant such an extreme measure?”

“Also, why can’t the other spirits tell that I’m one of them, and possibly even a part of them?”

“A conundrum, indeed. However, now that we have learned what we can from this place, I think we’d best head back and resume our hunt for the creatures. Perhaps in doing so, you can uncover the secret to using your power.”

“Let’s hope so, or this might be the shortest war in history.”

He smiles at your attempt to relieve some of the drama, but probably also to offer you some encouragement, since he undoubtedly knows by now that when you joke about deadly serious stuff, it’s usually because you’re scared out of your mind. You let him take a few steps away from you so he won’t knock you over with his transformation, but once he’s done, he doesn’t open his front paw to you.

Instead, he lays down flat and places his front leg against his own side, like a stepping-stone. He wants you to ride on his shoulders, apparently no longer concerned about his hairs injuring you, and while you’re not sure if you’ll be safer hidden within his paws or free to move around on his back, you are curious about what riding a dragon would feel like. Probably nothing like riding a horse, but undoubtedly a thrilling sensation all the same.

But when you step up to him and prepare to climb on, you notice something which hasn’t occurred to you before, and which makes you stop and frown while you try to remember if you’ve just been inattentive or if this has happened as incredibly fast as it appears.

“Hey… you’re a lot bigger than before,” you observe, looking from his snout to your left, all the way down to his tail, curled up further away to your right, and then up towards the muscular arch of his back and the two massive joints connecting it to the wings.

He watches you measure him, and there’s confusion in his golden eyes, so you attempt to elaborate.

“The first time I watched you transform; I figured you were about eight feet tall from the base of your chest to the top of your shoulders. But now, I’d say you’re more like twice that. Which, incidentally, means there’s no way I can climb up from here.”

Still with a perplexed expression, he starts looking himself over and you watch as his confusion is slowly replaced with surprise, so clearly, this is something that’s happened without him noticing either. There’s nothing to be done about it and frankly, it’s not really important right now either, so you move to his hindleg and use that to climb onto his lower back instead, and since you’re unaccustomed to the slippery surface of his scales, you crawl on all fours up to his shoulders.

Once there, you make another strange discovery, in the form of a few bald patches of hair along his neck. Although, you decide not to tell him that. You’re not sure how important his looks are to him, but judging by how impeccably he manages his grooming, there’s every chance baldness would negatively affect him. There was no indication of his human form being similarly affected, so hopefully this is just a result of his recent skirmishes with the spirits.

He waits until he feels you settle in and find your balance before he opens his wings and starts to walk around on the ground for a bit, just flapping a few times to let you feel his movements. It’s difficult to describe just how strong he feels. You imagine that compared to a horse, sitting on an elephant must be like going from a go-cart to a formula one car, in terms of power. But using the same comparison, Oberyn would be like a space shuttle.

And when he starts running against the wind to give you a softer liftoff than if he just jumps and pushes up, in some ways, it really does feel like he’s about to launch you into space. It’s a completely different experience from his back. Once he’s off the ground and the windspeed picks up, you have to lay down as flat against his neck as you can, to avoid getting pushed off by it. But surprisingly, you have no trouble staying put when he turns and maneuvers through the air.

The Atlantic seems to spread out underneath you in no time at all, so he’s not cruising along, and yet, you don’t feel as though you’re moving all that fast. Until there’s suddenly a loud bang, and it takes you a second to grasp that it was the sonic boom of the dragon breaking the sound barrier. You know enough about speed to understand that you shouldn’t be able to breathe if he’s flying that fast, so he must somehow also control the airflow around his body to keep you from suffocating.

In any case, it doesn’t take long before you begin to see land ahead. But if it’s the North American east coast, then someone’s done a real number on it. He slows down and drops lower as you glide in over land, and as far as you can see in all directions the ground looks similar to how it would if a wildfire had raged over it for days. But the trees and grass aren’t dead. Instead, they look like they’ve mutated into something you might’ve expected to see grow out of crude oil.

The tree trunks are black and somehow slimy, and their branches look like snakes covered in needles, just waiting for something living to walk by close enough for them to strike. The grass, meanwhile, resembles thick earthworms attempting to crawl out of the soil but being too deeply embedded in the ground to break free, tangling with one another in their efforts. Bushes and shrubs could just as well be some manner of horridly overgrown stick insects, actual insects have become at least ten times their normal size and overall nightmarish, and even rocks are oozing black goo and moving around, like halfdead trolls.

“This is what you talked about, isn’t it?” you guess once he’s set down some twenty miles inland, in the middle of a large clearing, and he nods once in confirmation which makes your stomach drop. “So, there is a Darkling at work. But if it isn’t me then… who?”

Just as you’ve said it, there’s a delighted laughter coming from what used to be woods to your left, and when you seek out the source, you’re rocked to your core to find Simon walking through the disfigured woods.

“You never really believed that it could be you, did you? Miss Pretty Little Loner. Hah! As if you could ever command this level of dark power.”

He looks exactly the same, save for the small detail that his feet are somehow joined with the wormlike grass, almost as if he’s grown out of it. And when he walks, there are no feet at the base of his legs, the worms just sort of… tear out of the ground when he lifts one leg, and then rejoins it when he finishes the movement.

“Oh, my god. So, Caelum was drawn to a dark presence at the Thanksgiving party, and when she noticed that I could see her, she assumed it had to be me,” you ponder, finally beginning to understand how all the pieces of this puzzle fit together.

“Bingo. And you actually bought it, you dumb bitch,” Simon snickers, obviously delighted that he’s managed to fool you all this time.

Suddenly his odd behavior that day, as well as his persistent attempts to keep you away from Oberyn, slip perfectly into place. He’s known all along what you are, and to him, it was apparently great fun to watch you fumble in the dark.

The dragon growls in warning, probably objecting to the name-calling more than anything, but you’re more concerned with the sudden absence of the spirits. Surely, they must’ve felt the presence of all this darkness being born and multiplying in record pace, so why aren’t they here, fighting it? They certainly never wasted any time trying to take you out.

“Oberyn, where are The Decem? Shouldn’t they be here already?” you whisper, low enough that Si can’t hear it from his position at the edge of the clearing.

But the beast can’t speak, so even if he does know the answer, he can’t tell you. And he’s not gonna risk returning to his human form when there’s a fully developed Darkling next to him. You’re gonna have to try and work this out on your own.

“Aren’t the spirits supposed to be able to sense you? How have you kept them off your scent all this time?” you ask Simon, hoping that his ego will enjoy the opportunity to brag.

“Well, you’re a fool if you think that evolution only happens to creatures of the day. Did the beast never tell you what happened to the last Darkling? I mean, sheesh… no way I was gonna go out like that. So, I figured out how to develop the dark power without actually using it, ergo, no trail for the spirits to follow.”

“And I suppose this is where you want me to congratulate you on your amazing genius?”

“It wouldn’t hurt. I mean, I have done something unprecedented in all of time. Kind of a big deal in certain circles.”

“So, that’s it? You’ll just cover the world in darkness and then live happily ever after?” you sneer, because it genuinely seems so stupid.

“Sounds about right.”

“And when everything’s dead or corrupted beyond redemption, what then? What’s the almighty Simon Truxly gonna do for fun once the world is done ending?”

“You’re not paying attention, sweetheart. I told you, even darkness evolves. The world will end, you’re right about that, but there’ll still be living things to torture for all eternity,” he happily chirps, leaving no doubts regarding just how rotten he must be inside.

“Not if we stop you.”

“Ah, yes. The omnipotent Lux and her pet. I’m sure you felt me coming even back then, that’s probably why you made that thing. Because to a being which exists outside of time, even things thousands of years away from happening are an imminent threat. And of course, you needed him to be well under control by the time I sprang to life, or the world would’ve gone to shit no matter what,” he snickers, but you find nothing amusing about the picture he’s painting.

Because you can see it. You can very vividly imagine what it would look like if a completely undisciplined dragon went to war with a mature Darkling. Especially if there were no spirits around to help. Where are they?

“I’m not gonna let you do it, Si. If you know me at all, you know I don’t stand idly by when bad things happen. And if you were truly so nonchalant about my power then you wouldn’t be wasting all this time trying to convince me that I can’t beat you.”

As cocky as you’re being, you’re also wondering just when you hopped onboard the “I’m a spirit”-train. Because while you’re beginning to hope it’s true, you’re still not convinced that you really are Day.

“I bet he told you that light will always undo darkness, but that’s not true. Even physicists will agree with me there, not that it matters. Bottom line: you’re not gonna beat me. Unlike you, I’ve been training, practicing, preparing all my life for this, while you still thought you were human just a few weeks ago.”

“And unlike you, I don’t remember being anything but human, which is why I still value my humanity. It’s not weakness, it’s what makes everything worth the effort. If life was simply about journeying through pain and darkness, we would’ve seized to exist ages ago, and then who would you play this fucked up game with?” you challenge, and his expression sours.

“Yeah, you’re right. I am wasting time, so let’s get to the fighting then, shall we.”

Before he’s even finished that sentence, with a mere flick of his wrist, a giant root-system is wrought out of the ground. Hundreds of yards of seemingly sentient and malevolent tentacles, coming at you and Oberyn from all directions at lightning speed. The dragon reacts at the first sign of movement, sending a large flame at the closest tangle of roots, which does destroy them. But there are so many of them.

Simon has an arsenal unlike any other, because there are more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way, not to mention all the other plants, as well as animals, he can corrupt and command. And what do you have? Even now, when your life is threatened, you don’t know the answer to that question. No light flares from within, no hidden connections to the spirits are revealed.

You have nothing. No weapons and no armor, except for the man and monster you love, who now fights for you with everything he is while you just sit there, holding on as best you can. But in the end, still helpless.

Oberyn is fierce in this enraged state. His flame is about to reach the same level of destruction as what he’d awoken in Detroit, and he’s spewing it without pause all around the two of you. How he can do that without needing to breathe in between volleys is beyond your understanding, but what you do know is that despite his colossal effort, he isn’t winning.

And then, amidst the fiery chaos, as if momentarily spellbound, your gaze is drawn away from the battle, towards something moving strangely slowly through the air. It takes a second for you to figure out which distance this unknown featherlike thing is at, but once your focus aligns, you realize that what you’re looking at are bright green strands of hair. Lots of them. Remembering the bald patches, you look down on the dragon’s neck, finding no part of the once thick mane intact.

Shockingly, however, it quickly becomes a mere footnote on this day’s list of unexpected developments, because what you’re looking at is no longer the slick green rows of perfectly aligned scales on Oberyn’s alter ego. Instead, what’s underneath you now is at least ten times bigger, completely white with much larger, thicker, and rock-like scales. The normal golden glow of his eyes has turned bright blue, and somehow, you know those eyes.

You’ve seen this beast before, in another time. He’s as old as you are. The first dragon, created by the clash of light and dark, long before any life had evolved in the galaxy. And back then, he’d been a creature of night, breaking the earth apart and reshaping it countless times over. It was his anger and despair which had sent continents clashing together, creating mountain ranges and deep-sea trenches.

For eons he’d raged, while you, a mere spirit with no other ability than to chase away shadows, had felt his agony and searched for a way to end it. By the time you’d learned of the complete absence of light within him, he’d become so infested with hatred, you’d feared no light could ever penetrate his blackened heart.

You’d gone to him anyway, formless, just a light hovering around his head, hoping for a moment of his focus. And you’d gotten only that. One moment. Just enough to show him. But once he’d seen true light, brightness had taken hold of him and found a home within his chest, so strong it had turned his body white. From that moment, no shadow, no matter how deep, could ever again sway him. And with that freedom, he’d chosen to give his strength, all his might and power… to you.

“Tyrannus,” you hear yourself say as the memory leaves you, and you know exactly what it means.

Tyrant. Oppressor. But it was also his name. The name of the first beast to walk the Earth, who’s powers you have now bestowed upon the old prince.

Part 10

The Ten Spirits of the World Air - Forest - Water - Stone - Night - Autumn - Winter - Spring - Summer.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! If you wish to be notified when this story is updated, follow @sirowsky-stories and turn on notifications, or just ask nicely, and I'll tag you.

@harriedandharassed @kittenlittle24 @joelswritingmistress @pedrostories

#oberyn martell fanfiction #oberyn martell x female reader #oberyn x reader #au fic #game of thrones fanfiction #game of thrones au #modern au #pedro pascal character fanfiction #pedro pascal characters #halloween fic #spooky season fic #sirowsky stories

32 notes · View notes