#what do you do if you're just sort of floating in the void?

[alarming-prism]

that poll about moving out has reminded me, once again, that despite having secured legit permanent housing (my name will be on the lease in a few months!) i don't have the proper documentation to change my address when i renew my driver's license next week. the address on my current one is for a building that is no longer registered as a street address because of the fire last summer. and i don't have the proper documents to change it

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Just Like Animals 1

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such noncon/dubcon, free use, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: you're taken by a man with an insatiable appetite.

Characters: Curtis Everett.

Author’s Note: This is in the same universe as Partners in Crime.

Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself💜

“You don’t have to be afraid,” the grizzly voice rises in the darkness. “I don’t want you to be... scared.” 

You flinch and tug on your arms, wrists bound behind you, your ankles similarly bound together. You sit in the corner of the black space, knees drawn to your chest, arms crushed into the wall. You whimper as footsteps echo in the void. You blink, trying to see through the layers of shadows. 

You can’t speak. There’s something in your mouth. Dry and coarse. Fabric of some sort. 

“I’m not a monster...” the statement sends a shiver up your spine. 

You turn your head back and forth, dizzy as each scuff of your sneaker, each rustle of fabric, every syllable rolls off the walls you can’t see. You can’t remember how you go here. You don’t remember anything. You just went to bed and woke up in this place. 

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.” He’s closer, his voice clearer. He’s not long pacing. “You can protect them. From me.” 

A sudden bloom of light blinds you. You squint against the harsh glare of a lantern as it floats closer. It hovers over you and descends slowly. The man behind it holds it just below his face so you can barely make him out. 

“I just need... something to keep me under control.” He clunks the base of the lantern down. “I won’t hurt you either, not if you’re good.” 

You wince and shudder as he reaches for you. He curls his fingers and brushes his knuckles against your cheek. You shy away and he opens his hand, grabbing your head and pulling you forward. His icy blue eyes turn your blood cold. 

“You just have to do what I say. What I want. If you don’t...” he looks away and shakes his head slightly. “You have a sister. Two. They’re pretty, like you. I could find them. They’d just be two more. There would be others along the way.” He brings his other hand up and grips your head between his large hands. “I can’t stop it. I tried.” 

He searches your terrified face and closes his eyes. You feel him quake. “You can stop it. You can stop me. Without you, I won’t be able to control it.” 

You’re heart pounds in your ears. You don’t know who he is or why you’re here. More terrifyingly, how does he know about your sisters? How did he find you? The questions blow through you like a chill. 

“Will you help me?” He squeezes your skull until it aches. He’s strong. So strong. You can only see his face but you can tell he’s bigger than you. 

You bat your lashes as tears bobble on the brims of your eyes. Whatever he wants, you know it’s not good. You know he’s going to hurt you whether you say yes or no. He just might have a bit of mercy if you agree. 

You try to nod. You can only wiggle a little in his grasp. He lightens his hold on your and swirls his broad thumbs against your temples. He leans closer. His dark stumble sharpens his jawline and his brows arch. 

“Yes?” He wonders. 

You nod, this time harder. You can’t stop. You rock towards him and garble around the gag. 

He hushes you and stills your head. He lets you go and hooks his thumb under the strip tied around your mouth. He pulls it down then digs out the wad from between your teeth. You cough and lean into the corner. 

“I...Thank you.” 

He crumples the fabric in his hand and snatches up the lantern. He stands and shuts it off. His treads scrape on the floor as he walks into the darkness and your left in the blotchy black nothingness, the ring of light still burnt in your retina. 

A door opens, letting in a gust, then closes with a deafening clang. You whimper and sink back. Your wrists and ankles ache from constriction and your jaw feels loose without the cloth to bite down on. Your tears overflow at last and you devolve into helpless sobs. 

What is this? 

You huddle as you try to stave off the cold creeping from the cement beneath you and the dingy walls. You think you’re underground but you could be wrong. It hardly matters where you are. 

Hinges squeal and you flinch again, hitting your head off the hard wall. The footsteps approach again and you cower. Something clunks down in front of you and you hold your breath. The man walks through the darkness and the lantern glows once more, further away. He hangs it from a hook and approaches you again. 

You sniff back your tears as your cheeks are left raw and cold with the wet sheen. 

You look down at the metal tray. With the light out of your face, you can see better. Not clearer, but more of him. He’s tall and burly. He gets down on his knees and sits back on his heels. He takes the thick metal spoon from the tray and stirs around the creamed corn. 

“Eat,” he orders. 

He raises the spoon and you open your mouth. The corn is sweat and gooey. You swallow it down even as the texture repulses you. He feeds you a spoonful at a time, no time for you to resist or taste. Next, he scoops up the mashed potato. 

“Wait,” you say and cough again, your throat dry. “Wait, who are you?” 

“Finish.” He drags out the last letters. 

You nod and look down at the spoon. You lean forward and open your mouth. You eat as diligently as he feeds you, eager for an answer. The turkey is coated in gravy but its bland. You swallow down the last bite and he offers the cup of water. You drink it down greedily until you choke. 

He pulls away as you catch your breath. You slump against the wall again and flutter your lashes at him. 

“Please, tell me who you are,” you murmur. 

He takes the cutlery in his hand as he lifts the tray, holding the cup steady with his fingers. He sighs, “my name’s Curtis. I already know yours.” He stands as you gape at him. “But you shouldn’t care who I am, you should’ve asked what I am.” 

[weasleyreidstyles]

Serendipity

chapter four

summary: it was only meant to be a purely transactional relationship. he would help her strengthen her abilities in return for her getting his friends out of his father's nasty path. he didn't mean to fall for her, but loving her was the easiest thing in his dark world.

no use of y/n, but your general nickname is Meadow. All characters are aged up to be over 18.

pairings: mattheo riddle x fem!ravenclaw reader; platonic!slytherins x fem!reader; platonic!golden trio x fem!reader

warning(s): fainting, hospitals, talk of dark magic and curses

series masterlist; previous part; next part

Mattheo guided you to an empty carriage with his palm gently grazing the small of your back. If you were in your right state of mind, you'd shove his hand away. Probably.

But at that moment, he was the only person holding you upright. You had no idea what was wrong with you, what this overwhelming feeling was.

It's just the adrenaline, tesoro. It'll pass. Theo had barely spoken to you since school started, not including the few nights you'd been on patrol with him late at night or in Ancient Runes and Transfiguration. Everytime you interacted with Mattheo he seemed to become agitated, as though it wasn't his idea to have his best friend teach you control.

You sat in the far corner of the carriage silently as they deliberated what to do about the necklace that was floating between you all, and for some reason you felt an odd tingling, cold sensation wash over you as it came closer to you.

"Should we take it to Snape? Or straight to Dumbledore?" Zabini asked as he used his wand to rotate the antique, looking at it with distaste. Theo and Mattheo seemed to debate this as Enzo nodded in agreement immediately.

"No we take it to Madame Pomfrey." Pansy injects. "She's going to need to see what cursed Katie. So she knows how to heal her."

"She could've died." you say quietly into the warmth of your scarf. They all turn to stare at you. "The necklace is famously doused with a death curse. Over a few dozen muggles supposedly died instantly when they touched it with their bare hands. Had she not had her gloves on, she would have died."

They look stricken, as if this had not occurred to them at all. The air in the carriage went frigid, suddenly. And not because of the chill.

"All the more reason to get it to Dumbledore." Zabini insists, but you vehemently disagreed.

"No, Pans is right. Madame Pomfrey needs to see the necklace. I doubt she'll be able to treat Katie here, Hogwarts won't have the necessary resources for this sort of thing."

Zabini seemed to think on this and in the end you all agreed; when you reached the Hospital Wing where Katie Bell was writhing helplessly in a bed, you all but collapsed into Mattheo's awaiting arms.

~∞~

You've discovered that fainting is an odd sensation. One moment you felt fine, fine enough to function normally at least, then the next minute everything is a hazy void of nothing.

You wake up in a bed in the hospital wing, Hermione next to you, reading a muggle novel with a furrowed brow. She jolts up when she sees that you're conscious.

"You're awake. I'll get Madame Pomfrey, hold on." And she's off down the aisle of warded beds, back seconds later with the matron in tow.

Madame Pomfrey fusses over you for a moment, asking you all the generic questions, that you answer only with half-truths, before leaving you alone with Hermione once again when you answered sufficiently enough.

"How do you really feel?" your best friend asked, her face full of worry. "Harry and Ron wanted to be here, Ginny too, but they have Quidditch practice."

"I feel like I got hit over the head with a hammer." you say, your voice rough and hoarse. "What even happened? The last thing I remember is walking into the Hospital Wing."

"Nott said you passed out when you came to hand the necklace in. Riddle got you settled into bed and let Madame Pomfrey do her work. But she hasn't said what is implicitly wrong with you." she explained and you stared up at her incredulously.

"But I only fainted? It's not that serious, is it?" your anxiety spikes and, not intentionally, you blocked out Hermione's voice in order to get some answers.

I hear helped me into bed? I could've sworn you don't have a nice bone in your body, guess I was wrong.

You're awake. He sounds surprised...relieved.

Obviously or I wouldn't be communicating with you right now, would I?

Funny. His voice is filled with mirth at your sarcastic response. How do you feel, sweetheart?

Do you want the lie I told so that I could leave the Hospital Wing quicker, or the real answer?

I'd hope that all the time we've spent in each other's presence would warrant the truth, Meadow.

I feel like shit, Mattheo. I don't even know what caused it, I felt fine when we were in the carriage.

Did you? He doesn't believe you.

I mean– I think so, I– My arm doesn't hurt as much. Do you think that has something to do with it?

Maybe. Is Granger still with you?

Yes, why?

No reason.

Mattheo?

He doesn't give you a response.

Hermione is snapping her fingers in your face and calling your name as if she'd been doing it for a hot minute.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asks, concern written all over your face.

"You know, I feel a little fatigued, I might try and sleep it off." you feel like the worst person in the world for lying to your best friend, but you want answers, and Mattheo seemed like the only person who would be brutally honest with you.

"Alright. I'll come back tomorrow with the others if you're still here after lessons are over." she smiles at you and guilt eats away at your chest.

"Thank you for staying with me, Mione." She squeezes your hand affectionately before she stands up and leaves you alone.

~∞~

Half an hour later it's not Mattheo who comes to visit like you secretly hoped for (but you were denying this to yourself vehemently). Instead Professor Dumbledore walks into the Wing with his usual grace and grandure.

"Good evening, Miss Meadows." he says cheerily as he stands before you bed. "May I sit?"

Bewildered, you nod your head silently.

"There's no need for the confusion," he says, clearly using Occlimency on you. "I see you have a good grasp on your mind. When did you learn to do this?"

"I like to learn new things." you say, brows furrowing at him as he gets comfortable in the plush seat beside your bed. He hums at your answer, rubbing his chin with the fingers of his good hand.

"I believe you experienced something rather....odd this afternoon." he began, his usually twinkling eyes holding an emotion that you could not place. "Can you describe it to me?"

"Um...I guess it started when we got closer to Katie and Leanne-" you start before cutting yourself off. "Actually, how is she? Katie? What happened to her?"

Dumbledore sighs as he answers.

"She was taken to St. Mungo's for treatment. They have far better equipped staff for dealing with dark curses. Poppy does not do that sort of healing."

"But she'll be okay?" you ask.

"She'll live, miraculously." he says before he focuses on you again. "Now back to you, Miss Meadow."

"Right. We were walking down the lanes, behind them and then I think they had stopped walking while they were arguing and it felt like an eery shift in the air. I don't know how else to describe it but then Katie touched the necklace and went up into the air. When she started screaming that's when Matt– Riddle– that's when Riddle and his friends turned up behind us. Enzo and Blaise went to find Hagrid and Ron, Theo and Riddle helped pull her down. I tried to help but when I touched her, my arm started to burn." you can fell the sting like a phantom now that you think about the pain.

"Interesting." he says as he pulls an old signet ring from his deep robe pocket, holding it out for you to take. "Can you tell me what you feel when you touch this, please?"

You do as he says and take the ring into your hands. Twisting it around your fingers, allowing your magic begins to swirl around it before it burns your fingers. You drop it in an instant. That same cold, tingling feeling you felt when Blaise rotated the necklace washed over you right afterward.

"It's cursed?" you asked, looking up at the Headmaster for confirmation, who is staring at you with knowing, inquisitive eyes.

"Something like that, yes." he says, his decaying hand twitches in response.

"Is that why your hand is like...that?" you ask, motioning to the appendage.

"Yes, rather nasty isn't it?" he says, tucking his hand away from your prying eyes. "I'm not sure what it is cursed by, but that is why I have asked Harry to befriend Professor Slughorn. I believe it has something to do with Lord Voldemort and Horis is the key to everything.

He ignores the way you instinctively flinch at the name. But thats when you notice that the ring that is still on your bed, holds the Riddle insignia. Mattheo's family crest.

"Sir, what's wrong with me?" you croak, as you turn the ring in your hands once again, letting your magic wash over it and dropping it into your lap when it zaps you with another stinging burn.

Professor Dumbledore removes the ring from your possession as he answers carefully.

"You're an incredibly smart witch, Miss Meadows." he states. "Professor Snape tells me of your incredible non-verbal abilities, and am I correct in assuming that you are also talented with wandless magic?"

You flush at this. "Yes sir."

"It is no surpise to me that your magic picks up on things that other witches and wizards may not." he says, tilting his head at you. "I believe you would make a good Unspeakable in the future, my dear. Or perhaps a curse breaker."

"What?" you ask, completely muddled by how cryptic he seemed to become. "Why do you say that? Shouldn't I be worried that I can somehow detect dark magic?"

"On the contrary...I believe it will be the most important skill you learn in this life."

With that note, he stands and with a simple goodbye leaves you lying alone in the bed with a thousand thoughts running through your head.

None of them bringing you any closer to a solid answer to the biggest questions you have:

Why the hell can you sense dark magic? Why did it cause your skin to burn? Why did it cause you to lose your grasp on consciousness?

~∞~

aaand the plot thickens...🤭🤭🤭

this was quite short but there will be more mattheo and meadow moments to come in the next one i promise xxx

comment to be added to the taglist!

taglist:

(striked out users are ones that i couldn't tag)

@camille-1019 @lovelyygirl8 @xluansstuff @babeylover @thejadeazalea @undercover-smutlover @adhxmoony @dreamingofonceuponatime @thepassionatereader @urmomsgayforme5 @aphroditeisamilf @devotedlycrookeddonut @purplegirls-posts @nofacenonamelikekira

[krirebr]

What You Can Do for Your Country

Pairing: dark!Steve Rogers x Reader

Word Count: 1916

Summary: Being Captain America is a lot harder than anyone realizes. Steve thinks you might be able to help.

Warnings: Dark elements, kidnapping, face slapping, no smut but heavily implied future noncon, general meaness, explicit language, governmental malfeasance. It's dark, you've been warned. All of my work is 18+ - Minors DNI

Divider by @cafekitsune

Masterlist

A/N: I'm not fully sure what happened here. I've been wanting to test out the waters of posting writing here for awhile, but I'd sort of had it in my head that I'd wait for a challenge that spoke to me. This is an idea I've had floating around for awhile and when it finally coalesced into something writable, I thought 'fuck it, why not?' So here we are. I'm kind of terrified that I'm just tossing this into the void, so if you read it and have a sec, please let me know what you think!

You wake up slowly. There's no sound or light, so it takes you a moment to fully realize that you’re even awake. You can't see anything, but you can feel that you're slumped in a corner and that the surface beneath you is hard. You’re definitely not in your room. Where the fuck are you? You try to move into a more comfortable position, and that's when you hear the soft jingle of metal clinking against itself and feel a slight tug on your leg. Your hands immediately go to your ankle, and you find a leather cuff around it, with a chain connected to the wall. You're fully awake now, breaths coming out in short, uneven bursts. Don't panic don’t panic, you try to tell yourself, but that mantra seems to only be making things worse. There's so much to panic about. You reassure yourself that you're still dressed. Things could be worse. The thought strikes you as unbelievably bleak.

You take a deep breath and try to focus. What's the last thing you remember? You were leaving work. The sun was setting, but it wasn’t completely dark yet. A car came up behind you? Or maybe a van? Everything's fuzzy and disjointed when you try to remember anything beyond walking out the door of the coffee shop.

A door suddenly opens into the room, closer than you expected. The space is smaller than you thought. Light floods in from the hallway, blinding you painfully and obscuring the figure stood in the doorway. They flick on a light in the room and the pain in your eyes becomes worse. You cover your face with your hands, trying to lessen the glare and help your eyes adjust. You hear a chuckle from the doorway and slowly look up at the man you can now clearly see. 

It takes a moment to recognize him out of context. But only a moment. It's Captain America. Steve Rogers. You know him. Sort of. He comes into the coffee shop sometimes, since it's right by Avengers Tower. Tall whole milk latte with a sprinkle of nutmeg. He's usually with one of the others. He's nice, tips well, friendly. As friendly as he is with anyone he comes across. It's kind of his whole thing. Of course he's nice to everyone, he's Captain America. Big smile, patriotism, and apple pie. All that jazz. What is going on?

At first, your desperate heart thinks that he must be there to rescue you. But then you actually take him in. He's not in his uniform, but dressed casually, in a white t-shirt and jeans, barefoot, his arms crossed over his massive chest, leaning on the door frame. 

And he's smirking at you. 

"Good, you're awake," Steve says, voice calm and even, but there's a hardness in the way he looks at you that has you trying to cower further into the corner as he approaches. There's nowhere to go and it only takes a few strides for him to get to you. Now that you can see your surroundings, you seem to be in some sort of cleared out walk-in closet. There are bare shelves on the walls and two empty hanging rods line the longer sides of the room. He crouches down in front of you. "I wasn't sure how long you'd be out."

You want to scream at him to let you go, ask what the fuck is going on, something but instead what comes out is a pathetic "Please don’t hurt me!" 

His face completely softens and he coos "Oh sweetheart," as he brushes away a tear you hadn’t realized you'd shed. Maybe you got this wrong. Maybe he is here to help you. Maybe it's going to be al– "What else do you think you're for?"

And then, before you've even had time to process what he's said, he slaps you across the face. Hard enough to make you slump back into the wall, uselessly cradling your cheek, tears streaming down your face freely now. You've seen enough clips on TV to know he didn't put his full strength into it and that, more than anything else that's happened so far, has you so terrified you can barely breathe. 

Steve tips his head back and briefly closes his eyes, growling out an elongated "Fuuck." He touches the hot spot where he hit you and gives a satisfied smile when you flinch and whimper. "I was right," he mutters to himself. "This is exactly what I needed." 

You’ve never really felt like an especially small person, but even crouched like this, he dwarfs you. Up close you’re able to really appreciate how gigantic he is and it makes any fight left in you completely disappear. What are you supposed to do, up against a super soldier?

But you also can’t just completely give in yet, so when his hand starts to wander from your cheek down your neck and to your chest, you do your best to bat it away and put as much strength as you can into your “Don’t touch me!” 

When that same hand comes up to roughly grab your chin, you try to avoid him, but you’re shown once more that there’s really nothing you can do. Steve squeezes cruelly as he says “You are going to figure out very quickly that ‘don’t’ is a word you're not allowed to use with me. Along with no, stop, and wait. You’re mine now and I can do whatever I want with you.” 

He lets go of you with a slight push and the back of your head hits the wall. You let out a whimper and he chuckles again. You finally give into your confusion and let out a quiet “I don’t understand.”

“Oh, I know, sweetheart,” he says, and this time you recognize how that word drips with condescension. “This must be so hard for a stupid little thing like you.” He brushes your hair off your forehead with an exaggerated pout, and you don’t get how this could be the same man that always made a point to ask how your day was going whenever he ordered from you.

He stands up so that he’s truly towering over you now. “You have no idea how hard it is to be Captain America,” he says, “to always be expected to do the right thing, to be good and kind and wholesome,” he snarls the last word. “It’s impossible to keep up without losing your goddamn mind. I can’t just be a symbol of all things patriotic  and virtuous all the time. I’m a real person, not a fucking bald eagle. It's becoming a problem.” He looks down at you and smiles the most terrifying smile you’ve ever seen. “That’s where you come in. There are some days when I just need to hurt something. So now, every bad mood, impure thought or filthy desire I have, I’ll just take it out on you. And then I’ll be able to go back into the world and be the Captain America they need me to be.”

You just stare at him, wondering how you’ve never noticed it before. This man is insane. An actual sociopath. What kind of plan is this? This isn’t– no! “You can’t just do that!” You argue. “I’m a person, too! I have a family, a job, a life! People will notice I’m gone. They’ll come looking for me.” 

Steve laughs outright this time, and it’s startling in how cruel it is. There’s really nothing of the man you thought you knew in the one standing in front of you. He crouches down again and gets so close to you that you can feel his breath. “Oh baby, you really are a dumb bitch, aren’t you?” He turns his head slightly to whisper right in your ear, “Everyone already knows what’s happened to you.” He leans back so that he can see the horror on your face. How is that possible? It can’t be.

“You really think I just grabbed you off the street, all by myself? Oh no honey. I went through official channels for this. I requisitioned you. I meant it when I said it was becoming a problem. I’ve been… slipping, lately. And when I slip, it doesn’t just affect me or my team, but the entire country. It affects the fate of the entire free world. So when the president himself came to me and asked what I needed to get my head on straight, I told him what I’ve told you. A pretty little thing to hurt and I gave him your name. And so you were delivered to me today by a fleet of government vehicles. Your family’s been well compensated. They’ll never have to pay taxes again, for a start. And you, I’ve given you an incredible purpose. A chance to serve your country, a chance to help all of humanity. Everytime I’m able to go out and save the world, it’ll be because you’re here, serving me. You should take pride in that.”

You can’t help starting to cry again. This can’t be true. It just can’t be. Your family can’t have– No. Steve’s lying or they didn’t have a choice or– “Why me?” is all you’re able to eke out from the jumble in your head. 

“Because every time I went into that coffee shop and you looked up at me with those big eyes and that sweet smile, all I could think about was how badly you needed to be ruined. Broken. And how I wanted to be the one to do it.” 

You let out a sob at that. You always thought that when it came down to it, fight was your fear response. But now you understand, you’d never been truly afraid before. In the face of real, hopeless terror, all you can do is freeze. There’s nothing else to do. You can’t fight him. You can’t run. No one is looking for you. You’ve never felt so powerless in your life. You’re pathetic and weak. That’s what Steve saw in you, isn’t it? That’s why you’re here.

“Those tears are so pretty, baby. Got me so fucking hard.” He stands up with a slap to his thighs. “Alright, enough talk. I’ve waited too fucking long for this.” He walks to the opposite wall and gestures to you. “Get up, take off your clothes. I’ve been dreaming about what’s under that uniform.” You cry out and huddle further into the wall, but he clucks his tongue at you. “Trust me when I say that you don’t want me to have to tell you twice.”

You nod needlessly and get up, your legs shaking underneath you. You throw off your shirt just to get it over with and push down your pants until they get stuck on the chain. You pause at your underwear, but a growled out, “Keep going,” has you robotically removing them as well. 

You try to cover yourself, but know that it’s useless. He paces in front of you and groans. “Fuck, you’re so soft. You’re gonna break so good, baby.” He takes off his shirt and throws it on top of your own, his muscles rippling with the movement. You can’t help the whimper that comes out and Steve grins at you as he approaches, hands beginning to unbuckle his belt. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll teach you exactly how to be the perfect little toy for me.”

[watcheraurora]

Let Me, This Time

I have hurt myself with this idea for too long. It was inspired by ezzrrin's "Traitor" animatic. Go watch it if you want to watch Sad Block People set to a song I listened to like 60 times in a row afterward and got passive-aggressive popups from Spotify about it 2.5k words

I had a bet with @infernafiresword that I could make this under 5,000 words and still have some sort of emotional impact... I... succeeded on the word count... whether I succeeded on the emotional impact is up to reader response XD

—

Jimmy's eyes snapped open, but it made no difference. He was surrounded by darkness. Void. Floating weightless.

No. Not floating.

Falling!

He shouted in alarm and flipped over so he was looking down wherever he was falling and spread his—

Wait.

Where were his wings?

He looked over his shoulder.

He was still in his superhero jumper. With the S on the front. Not the loose blue collared shirt and the white T-shirt under it. And no wings protruding from his back. No slits in the jumper to allow them through.

He looked back down toward where he was falling.

"What's happening?!" he shouted.

He couldn't see anything but void. He couldn't see if he was going to hit anything. If there even was anything to hit.

"TiiiiiIIIIIMMMMM!" The cry crescendoed.

Wham!

Something solid smashed into him and he went tumbling, screaming and scrambling against whatever had hit him.

"Stop it! It's me!" Grian's voice snapped.

"Grian?! What are you doing?!"

"Saving you, idiot!"

"From what?"

"No time to explain! Just hold my hand!"

They leveled out, no longer tumbling rear-over-teakettle through some gravity well. Just floating, weightless, in the nothingness.

"Wait—how come you still have your wings?" Jimmy demanded. "Where have mine gone?"

"They were temporary. Granted to you while you served their purpose. While you bore their curse. Out here, the curse can't hold on as easily."

"Who is they?!"

Grian's face sobered up. "You know exactly who they are."

"Excuse me? I do not!" Jimmy declared stubbornly.

Grian's eyes—huge and black—flickered. A purplish glimmer revealing square pupils. He swallowed and closed his eyes.

Something formed over his face. Black silk—with a purple symbol emblazoned in the center.

A broken Nether portal.

Jimmy's throat closed up and his chest tightened like a giant had him in its fist.

As quickly as he saw the mask over Grian's eyes, it was gone.

"The Watchers?" he breathed.

His own mask, burnt in a cave on a brand-new world, Martyn shouting for him to hurry up after his had gone up in smoke...

"Yes! They're behind all of this. These death games—the gimmicks. You never escaped them! They let you leave Evo—they let you think you got away! They bided their time!" Grian exclaimed.

"Well what about you, then?" Jimmy demanded. "You escaped!"

"They took me, Jimmy!" Grian spat, angry and bitter.

Jimmy blinked. "Wh... what?"

Grian's wings flared—and Jimmy finally processed them. They weren't the scarlet macaw wings he'd grown used to seeing, bound to Grian's back during the death games.

They were black, and they glinted purple in the void.

And they were much larger than Jimmy remembered.

Grian's body flickered. Instead of a red jumper and grey trousers, he was clad in a long, flowing black robe. His hands were as black as the void, fading back to fair at the wrists—

He was back as he'd always been. "Now hold my hand," Grian snapped.

Jimmy took it without arguing. "What was that?"

"They took me. After the dragon fight. They told you, after you beat your dragon fight. That they were taking me to be one of them. By the looks of things, they took those memories when they deposited you here."

"One of them? You mean you're a—"

"A Watcher? Yeah. But a converted one. Which makes me... different. It's complicated. Now shut your eyes."

"But—"

"Tim. Unless you want to vomit, I'd recommend shutting your mouth."

Jimmy's teeth clicked shut.

"Eyes too."

He closed his eyes.

With a ssstrrreeetch and a snap! of gravity, Jimmy was blinded by sunlight.

His mouth was already closed, but he felt like he might vomit anyway. He retched and dry heaved for a moment. "Yeah there's nothing in your stomach," Grian remarked blandly. "All better?"

Still lightheaded and not better, Jimmy nodded anyway.

"Sit with your head between your knees and breathe while I fetch everyone else."

Jimmy didn't argue as Grian vanished. Just followed instructions.

Slowly, the other members of the server appeared around him with Grian, in various states of warp-sickness. Joel disappeared around a mound for five minutes. Etho was completely unbothered, despite Bdubs hanging off his shoulder, looking green. Scott swayed on his feet but maintained his composure. Scar flopped face-first onto the grass immediately. Pearl seemed relatively normal, quietly talking Cleo through the worst of the nausea.

Tango collapsed to his hands and knees, breathing hard. He caught sight of Jimmy and crawled over before resting the back of his thighs on his heels, still folded over. "Hey," he greeted raspily.

"Hi," Jimmy replied.

Martyn appeared last, red in the face and arguing with Grian. "—what about Netty, then?!"

"I can't find her!" Grian spat back. "I've been looking! She must be in a game right now, not the void!"

"Boys!" Lizzie snapped, her usually-sweet voice going hard and catching everyone's attention. Poking out of harsh tears in the back of her shirt were a pair of ragged, half-formed yellow wings. Too short and sparse of feathers to actually let her fly. "Stow it! Grian, what's going on?"

"I'm trying to get you all away from extra-dimensional, eldritch beings called Watchers."

Martyn's red face went pale just hearing the name, even though he obviously already knew what was happening.

Tango's warm hand rested around Jimmy's wrist. "You okay, buddy?" he asked.

"I..."

"You know what he's talking about?"

"I do, yeah. I never told you about Evo much, did I?"

"No."

"It's a long story. But the Watchers were there. They... we thought we got away." He looked over at BigB, who was wide-eyed and holding onto Pearl's wrist. She had his arm in her other hand. "We thought we escaped them. We... we didn't, apparently."

"What's the big deal?" Tango asked.

Grian's eyes snapped to him. "Watchers feed on misery, hatred, anger—the worst of mortal emotions. And—"

"And death," Martyn added. "The lifeforce a player gives off when they die. It's why they made the games. The gimmicks. So we'd kill each other and hate each other. So they can eat. Feast, even. We're a farm to them." His tone was disgusted and bitter—livid beyond reason.

Jimmy met Grian's eyes, asking a question without saying anything. Something he could only do after years of knowing him. Do you?

Yeah. Grian twitched his brows. Try not to. But yeah.

"So what's the plan?" Impulse asked.

"Let's take 'em!" Skizz exclaimed.

"We can't," Grian said. "They're too powerful. They'd just throw us back in the void. The best we can do is really get away from them now that we're out of their Sight."

"How are we?" Martyn challenged. "They can See everything."

"Don't be stupid. Of course they can't. Not everything. We're at the furthest edge of the universe I could find. We're too far away. They have a range. As long as we stay out of it, we're safe," Grian said. He turned back to everyone else. "We split up. Run to other worlds. We keep moving. Assume nowhere is safe. There are only a few Watchers compared to how many of us there are. Hide in crowds if you can. Hub worlds, mini-game worlds. That sort of thing. Whitelists and firewalls don't stop them. They slip right through the code. For those of you that are codeshifters, don't assume taking a new form will keep you safe from their Eyes. Don't anyone assume that setting your spawn somewhere will last. One death, you end up back in the void. Back in their games. Maybe you won't, but assume you will. Stay alive at all costs. This is ultra hardcore, now. Creative mode in worlds that allow it won't save you. Be safe."

Tango's hand on Jimmy's wrist tightened.

Grian's wings flared and a ripple of purple power burst out of him, swamping everyone in particles. Jimmy coughed and spluttered on them. His free hand scraped at his tongue, trying to get the taste of grapefruit(?) off.

He heard his friends crying out, shouting—Martyn and Skizz swore in almost eerie unison—

—

Jimmy blinked.

A mini-game towered over him, way up into the sky, casting its shadow on the ground.

"That was quite the light show. I think Grian's been holding out on us!" a voice said, almost too cheerful.

Jimmy looked down.

Tango was still folded up, but slowly straightening. When he released Jimmy, purple magic particles drifted down from where they'd been touching. Tango's red eyes tracked a particle that drifted down. "We probably weren't supposed to end up in the same place," he remarked. "But I'm glad we did."

"Yeah... me too." Jimmy peered around. "Public mini-game world."

"Seems like it." Tango looked around too, climbing to his feet. "Oh hey. There's a Bedwars arena! Xisuma invented that game! You met Xisuma, right?"

Xisuma. A codeshifter, a voidwalker—and also Hermitcraft's Admin. "Once or twice," he said. "I think I knew he invented Bedwars." He wasn't entirely sure, but that sounded familiar. He stood himself. "We should keep moving."

"Right, right," Tango said. He extended a hand. "Stick together? I'd hate to lose my Rancher in the chaos."

Jimmy nodded and took Tango's hand. "Hold on tight."

They headed for the hangout hub of the mini-game world, following magenta glazed terracotta arrows in the ground and signs.

"What happened to your wings?" Tango asked.

"I'm not the canary anymore," Jimmy said. "I guess. Grian said something about the curse's grip being weaker in the void."

"Weird. I thought those kind of code changes were permanent."

"Me too. Apparently not."

"I mean... Grian did say eldritch. They could be powerful enough for things like that," Tango mused. "But adjusting player codes without them already being fluid codeshifters... I've looked into the Source Code a little. That kind of mod requires a lot more computing power than most of us keep with us." He started muttering under his breath about coding that meant nothing to Jimmy.

Then slowed down. Both his muttering and his feet.

"Hey. Tell me about Evo."

Jimmy did, spending the rest of the walk detailing his memories.

—

Several weeks passed. Jimmy and Tango found out, from hopping to busy public worlds and bumping into the other Lifers, that they were the only ones who stuck together. Cleo even actively encouraged them to go their separate ways, for their safety. Tango and Jimmy thanked them for the advice, but ultimately chose not to heed it.

They tried to stay positive. To be energetic. To encourage one another.

But, after a few weeks, they got tired. They wore themselves out with the running.

They paused on a public world and wandered what must have been thousands of blocks away from spawn. While they moved, they got some wool and wood for beds. Jimmy went about making beds and finding some food while Tango constructed a small shelter to keep them safe from mobs at night. Nothing fancy but more than a dirt hut. It was a plank hut.

The thing about players was that they didn't get sleepy. They could grow fatigued from exertion, but never really wanted to sleep the way villagers did. Sleeping was purely a choice.

But Jimmy and Tango started feeling like they needed some sleep. Running, running, running with no stopping left them exhausted.

Jimmy placed down the beds in the hut. The sun was going down.

"Ready for some sleep?" he asked.

Tango nodded. "Ready."

"Should we keep watch? Trade off?"

"Honestly, I think if we did, we'd fall asleep while on watch. We're thousands of blocks away. We might have time to just sleep a whole night through."

Jimmy nodded. "Okay."

They burrowed down under the covers. The fire in Tango's hair flickered out and he was asleep before his head touched the pillow. Jimmy shuffled around for a bit longer, looking for a new comfortable sleeping position now that the weight of his wings were gone.

Eventually, exhaustion overtook him and he dropped off too.

—

BWMMMMM!

Jimmy sat bolt upright. "Tango!" he exclaimed.

Tango roused slowly. "Hmm?"

"We have to go—now!" He hurled himself out of bed and yanked on his sneakers, the only things he'd taken off to sleep.

"Wh... why? What's the prob—"

BWMMMMM!

Tango sat up. "What was that?"

"Watchers. Moving fast. The only reason we can hear them is because we've been near them for the Games."

Tango launched out of bed and shoved his feet into his boots. "Let's go!" He broke the beds and put them both in his inventory, his axe appearing in his free hand. "Come on."

Jimmy took his outstretched hand and together they ran out of the plank hut. He put his sword in his hand, to match Tango's axe.

"What do we do?" Jimmy asked in a panic. "We need to world-hop."

Tango swallowed. "We can't world-hop this far from spawn," he said. "We have to get closer."

"If we turn around, we're just going to cross the Watchers' path faster!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"I know," Tango ground out around a clenched jaw. He looked over his shoulder at the night sky. Mobs were spawning and they were starting to run into them, dodging zombies and ducking skeleton arrows. "We have to go in... we have to go in one huge circle. Keep them behind us until we can get close enough to spawn to hop somewhere else."

Jimmy started to breathe hard. Not just from the running. "Tango... Tango, we're not gonna outpace them."

The night sky was getting brighter at an alarming rate. But the light was purple and it wasn't the dawn. It was the building light of something getting closer. The Watchers on the move.

"How can we?" Jimmy continued, despair lacing his tone. "We're on foot and we're Players. We can't dodge mobs and Watchers at the same time. We'll never make it to spawn in time! This is doomed. We're gonna—"

Tango yanked them both to a stop under a thick canopy of leaves.

“Jimmy. You have to kill me.” His red eyes burned as they stared Jimmy down, squeezing his hand.

“What? Tango, no! Why?”

Tango looked through the leaves toward the purple light. “Because the energy I’ll give off as I die will sic the Watchers on me. My death will give you time to run. To get off-world.”

Jimmy's warm hazel-brown eyes were wide. “No!”

Tango swallowed. They didn't have time to argue.

“Let me be the canary this time, Jim.”

He stowed his axe in his inventory and grabbed Jimmy’s wrist. Of the hand Jimmy was holding his sword with.

Tango plunged Jimmy's sword into his own gut.

“TANGO, NO!”

Tango was slain by SolidarityGaming

His body collapsed. Jimmy took off running.

Grian said one death would put them back in the Watchers' void between Death Games. There was no hope of finding Tango back at spawn.

Through his tears, Jimmy kept running.

Let me be the canary this time, Jim. Tango's words followed him through the woods.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

If we turn left enough times, we'll have gone in a circle.... and end up right back where we started.

@boots-with-the-fur-club @daboyau @littlemissartemisia @thevoidbrothers @noval1t (I hope they don't mind I added their characters into the story for special guest appearance 👉👈)

CW: fight scenes, blood/ichor, panic attacks, slight body horror, hallucinations, abuse, experimentation, surgery, torture... cardiac arrest and character death

(It's a really long one. I am so sorry in advance lol)

Also, just for clarification: UIFY = Until I Found You NFIF = No Fun in Fungus DvD = Donatello Von Draxum 'Phael = Raphael Jurogumo

Prev || Next || Illustration

Misa waddled along the corridors of the arena as she retraced her steps. She couldn't recall exactly where she'd left the portal sword, but she knew it was in the area... Her families were counting on her. Her older little brothers and sister April needed her help! And she was so excited to help them and prove Lee-Lee wrong about her being "just a little kid". She wasn't little! She was 4 years old! That was so grown up and big, she could do all sorts of things by herself... If she could only find her sword. She'd show him just how big she was!

Out of the blue, a familiar floating sensation took her and she watched with surprise as she was lifted up high into the rafters. Misa squealed with delight.

"Up, up!"

Waves smiled at her, returning her laughter with chirps and giggles of his own.

"Are you going to keep playing with your food, or what?"

Misa watched as a splash of pitch created another figure -- a version of Donatello but entirely grayscale -- formed in the rafters next to them.

Waves turned to look at his brother with a great big smile on his face, his eyes empty and black as he stared at Signal. He hissed a warning. Misa is off-limits.

"Fine. Just didn't see the point in wasting such a sweet little snack."

Waves hissed at him again before nuzzling his face into Misa's. She giggled with glee. These brothers didn't scare her. Waves might seem spooky, but deep down he was a silly little sweetheart and she adored him. Especially when he would pick her up and fly around with her.

"What exactly is the little Artemisia doing way out here all by herself?" Signal asked, leaning in close to her tiny face.

"Getting sword for my family!" she explained.

"Ah, weaponizing children now, are we? I think Static was handing out medieval swords and maces earlier..."

"Did somebody say 'best void brother'?" came a glitchy voice as another void brother appeared.

"It's like he's Beetlejuice or something..." Signal growled.

"I just thought the little lady might like this," Static stated smugly as he handed Misa her retrieved portal sword. He'd found it for her!

Misa cheered happily as she brandished the weapon, the blade glinting in the light and reflecting her image like a mirror.

"What's going on up here?" a fourth and final voice boomed. Radio slowly emerged from the shadows of the rafter corners. "Static, you're not giving minors weapons again, are you?"

"How did you even get up here?" Signal asked incredulously. "You're practically the size of a dump truck, how can you even fit in these rafters?"

"Call me that again and I'll flatten you like a dump truck."

"Just worried for the structural integrity of the building, is all..." Signal sassed back.

Radio rolled his eyes as he made his way over to the others, specifically Static, who still owed Radio an answer.

"I wasn't handing out weapons, I was retrieving it. It already belonged to her!"

Radio's eyes shifted from Static to Misa, who nodded her head as Waves shook his (he wanted to get Static in trouble as a joke).

"Why would a little thing like you need a sword?" he asked cautiously.

"Family needs help! Misa gets her sword for them!" she explained. "Bad spores!"

"Your family? You mean that band of misfits and the anxiety-riddled shroomie teens?"

Waves nodded for her. Misa didn't really understand what shroomie meant. Radio scratched his chin as he considered the situation. He knew that there was an outbreak of fear spores going on, and the two AU teams had been working to find and destroy them. It wasn't looking good thus far. Even Signal had gotten spored, and though he wouldn't admit it... they knew it wasn't a pleasant experience for him. Radio couldn't say he was an expert on mushrooms, but he knew a thing or two about invasive beings and decay. And if that fungus was as bad as everyone was making it out to be, then it could mean disaster for every AU in this place.

"...I don't suppose we could be of any help?"

Donatello howled with maniacal laughter.

His prisoners watched with fear as he ordered the vines to wrap around Michelangelo like ropes, tying his arms to his sides and keeping a very strong grip around his throat just in case anyone got any funny ideas. DvD was screaming bloody murder and promising every kind of painful demise if Audrey III didn't release his baby brother immediately. But he could see the tears in his eyes, he could hear the panic and utter fear.

Oh god, the fear was delicious. He wanted more...

Raphael struggled against the odd vines that had sprouted from Donnie's shell, as he brought him closer towards the room where Leo and the others were. The vines were an amalgamation creation -- partially machine, partially Dee's ninpo, and partially... Raph could only assume it was the mushroom. Had it been growing inside of his shell?? He desperately tried to free himself from the terrible growth. He managed to get one arm out --

"Oh-ho-ho-ho, what are we trying here?" the plant asked through Donnie, smirking down at Raph and commanding several other vines to take ahold of his arms and pull, stretching him out in every direction as he yelled in pained protests. "You didn't really think you could get out that easy, did you?"

Raph grunted and growled as he fought against the vines.

"Donnie!! SNAP OUTTA IT! I know you like to play the mad scientist sometimes, but this is TAKING IT TOO FAR!!"

"I'll tell him you said that," Audrey III smirked. "He's on sabbatical right now, but I'm sure the message can get through... eventually."

Raph screamed in anger as hot tears streaked down his face.

"But in the meantime, I think I'd like to taste your fear again..."

The door behind them opened, and out came a stream of blue fog, followed by the Hand.PNG, which crawled up the vines and onto Donnie's shoulder like a spider.

"Let's invite our dear friends to dinner, shall we?"

The vines began to drag Micheal and Raph into the room.

DvD began to screech like a monster, the muscles in his arms tensing and flexing against the vines and finally breaking their hold. He ran towards the wall, screaming in fury as he spun the tech-bō and leapt. They would not take his brother.

A spark of light ignited in his eyes.

It spread across his body.

The light burst like flame at the end of his staff.

All eyes watched him in shock as he shouted a war cry and slammed the tech-bō into the wall Dee had created earlier.

It shattered completely.

A shockwave burst from the impact and threw everyone back, dissolving the vines that held everyone.

Mikey's limp body fell.

DvD rushed to catch him. He almost made it when Donnie/Audrey III stepped in front of him and kicked him back with one of his mechanical arms. The battle-shell-clad ninja crawled up the side of the wall and grabbed the child before he could hit the ground. Mikey's head bobbed, and he groaned in discomfort at having been thrown around like a rag doll.

"You duplicitous little --! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Audrey III spat angrily.

In all honesty, DvD had no idea what he'd just done or how he'd done it. All he knew was that he needed to protect Mikey at all costs. And then the wall broke. In his shocked stupor, he failed to get up in time and suddenly found a new vine wrapping around his neck like a boa constrictor and tightening like a noose.

Mikey's eyelids fluttered.

Donnie/Audrey III brought the alt. version of himself close to his face.

"YOU HAVE NO MAGIC, YOU YOURSELF TOLD HIM THAT! YOU LYING LITTLE --" Donnie's eyes peered into DvD's as he choked. "...Perhaps you are more interesting than you let on. Shall we see what else is in your silly little head, my dear anarchist?"

Donnie gasped for air, kicking and clawing at his captor as he tried to free himself. He... he was blacking out...

Mikey's eyes burst open.

He screamed as loudly as he could, his entire body erupting into gold and amber light, blinding the entire corridor.

A shrieking sound came from the dark room. The door slammed shut.

Donatello turned around in shock, as a torrent of chains burst from the boy, two for each vine he'd created.

Oh. Now we play.

He'd seen this from the boy before; he'd been rooting around in his mind and saw the memories from the last time. He knew the child was afraid of these powers, he couldn't control them very well. Especially the really strong spells like this. He knew how this scene played out. He just had to either wait him out to spend himself dry -- or let him do what the previous poor, sweet Michelangelo had done, and turn himself into a monster. Either would work...

Mikey held his hand out. A series of chains came and sliced the vine choking out his brother. DvD fell to the floor, quickly caught by the chains -- which also grabbed NFIF Raphael -- and carried them away to the others who watched in utter shock as the child landed on the ground and summoned his mystic nunchucks.

"Well, well, well... look who finally woke up."

Mikey's eyes were wide and glowed burning gold. He said nothing, his face empty, devoid of expression. Mikey was not at home anymore, he was controlled by his ninpo. He simply tilted his head in response to Audrey III's eggings.

"I wonder... you tried to save Donatello from my clutches earlier. Did you know then that your efforts would be in vain? Did you know that in your absence, you'd leave your brothers and sisters to face me alone?"

The two circled around one another, preparing to duel it out.

"I sensed your connection; you'd discovered the truth, hadn't you? You'd discovered this pathetic boy's treachery, how he'd joined my cause."

Mikey's face never faltered. His knuckles tightened around as his weapon.

"I suppose 'joined' was the wrong word to use. He really was weak and pathetic, you know. It was almost too easy to leech my way into his mind. I highly doubt his consciousness could have survived from my invasion. I do hope you said your goodbyes."

Michelangelo charged.

Donnie/Audrey III swirled the staff in front of himself, deflecting the impacts of the little child as he battled the fungus infected version of his brother.

Mikey's movements were graceful, practically a performance as he flowed back and forth, throwing his chains at the purple ninja turtle, whose movements in contrast were fierce and sharp and violent and purely angry.

"Did... did you know he could do that?" 'Phael asked shakily, turning to look at Leo.

Leo simply stared in silence, mouth agape with awe and shock of his baby brother.

"Leo, did you know he could do this??"

"I... I-I mean... sort of... I knew he could do magic... but not like this..."

Michelangelo danced around Donatello, waving his arms and creating ribbons of golden light as he filled the room with light.

Wait a minute, light...

"The light... the light!" NFIF Raphael shouted suddenly. "The light! It's how we defeated the spores the first time, using mystic light! It disintegrates them!"

"How poetic, the light drives away the fear," DvD muttered, still rubbing his neck from the constraining grip of the vines.

"If we can get the door open, we can flood the room with his light and free them all!"

"Okay, solid plan, great effort from everybody, just one slight hitch -- HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET AROUND THE MYSTIC BATTLE WHERE OUR BROTHERS ARE TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER?!" Leo yelled.

"Raph's still comin' up with the plan!! Cut me some slack!"

"I can try to poof you guys to the door," April offered. "It won't be completely accurate, but I can get you close."

"That'll have to do," Raph nodded. "And whatever you do, avoid the hand and the spores!"

April grabbed hold of NFIF Raphael, squeezed her eyes shut, and then - poof! - landed the two right in the middle of the fight.

"AAGH! Sorry, sorry!" she screamed, ducking under Mikey's advance against Donnie, as Raph created an enormous ninpo arm and shielded the two of them from Dee's barrage of ninpo torpedoes.

"Get to the door!" Raph screamed, taking her by the hand and pulling her away as he created two more clones to help in the fight.

Mikey danced and ducked under the glowing purple missiles shot at him. He gripped his nunchuck tightly, whipped it towards one of the Raph clones. It wrapped around his arm, igniting in flames, then swung over Mikey's head like a lasso. He flung the fiery clone at Donnie, who just barely managed to dodge the flaming brother, which created a crater in the ground before him. The second clone came and tried to keep him from firing anymore missiles at UIFY Mikey.

"I'm surprised at you," Donnie huffed, trying to keep up with the two attackers. "Why would you want to fight against me? We're brothers!"

"We don't want to fight you," one clone growled. "But you're not in your right mind, so we'll have to do what we can."

"I'm sure you will," Donnie snarled, changing his bō staff into a spear and skewered the clone straight through. It disintegrated into red blocks and pixels. He turned to the second clone, creating the oh-so-famed drill, and firing at the poor duplicate.

Meanwhile, Raphael and April had made it to the door, April gripping the handle as she waited for Raphael's orders.

"Get ready," she panted, out of breath from dodging both sides of the attack. "Once this door opens, a flood of blue is gonna come out."

"I'll get you out, don't worry," Raph said with a nod.

"It's not me I'm worried about. Donnie said the Hamatos are full of senseless martyrs."

"He's... not wrong. But I promise that I won't sacrifice myself."

April nodded, hoping that he would keep that promise.

"Okay, then."

April threw the door open. As soon as she did, a torrent of blue smoke fumed out, engulfing both April and Raphael. April kept her eyes closed, waiting for the nightmares to start. But they never did. She opened her eyes and saw the world from inside a red glowing giant. Raph held onto her, arms spread around her in a safety hold, his hologram form shielding them from the spores.

Donnie/Audrey III felt a pain in the back of his mind. They turned and saw that the spores were leaking out of the room. Okay, now they were getting irritated.

"Why, you little...!"

In this moment of distraction, Michelangelo's chains wrapped around the softshell's waist and pulled him in. Mikey reached out and grabbed him by his neck, holding him just mere inches away from his expressionless face, eyes still burning like melted gold, no irises nor pupils. Donnie's wide, icy blue-tinted eyes contrasted them sickeningly. Donnie smiled.

"Go ahead," he said, voice smooth and calm. "Kill me."

Mikey blinked at him, but that was all. Audrey III continued.

"That was your plan all along, wasn't it? This ridiculous show of power, the fight? You were planning on finishing the job, weren't you?"

Mikey's fingers squeezed softly. A threat.

"What, are you afraid? Why? Shouldn't it be easy? Are you even in control of yourself? Why would you be afraid to squeeze the life out of someone who looks just like your brother, could actually be your brother?"

Mikey's hand let go, his arms shaking. A soft golden glow started to seep through the bandages.

"Ah, and it looks like you may be out of time."

Michelangelo looked down. Golden ichor dripped off of his fingertips. He pulled the bandages off, revealing the scars on his arms, which were glowing white hot, tiny cracks forming from their edges and shimmering, glittery ichor was bleeding from the reopened wounds. The price to pay for his powers.

Some Mikeys cracked.

He didn't.

Not again... n-not again...

Donatello/Audrey III dusted himself off as he watched Michelangelo slowly come to. With his ninpo overdrive giving way, his mind leisurely crept back into place; the golden glazed over his eyes melting as his irises came into focus and his pupils dilated. The ichor dripping down his forearms began turning a deep red, the glowing scars on his arms becoming irritated open wounds.

No, no! Mikey couldn't give up just yet, not when his family still needed him! But... he knew he'd used up almost all his precious energy... he... h-he... Mikey's breathing slowed, raggedy respiration as his hands shook and his knees wobbled beneath him. The room started to spin as black spots entered his vision. He managed to catch a glimpse of Donatello, swinging his staff with great force and slamming it into Mikey's chest with a hideous cracking sound.

Mikey was flung back several feet, dizzy and dazed and all the air knocked out of him. He vaguely registered multiple voices calling his name...

April screamed, NFIF Raphael screaming with her. April's teleportation powers activated without her realizing it, and she suddenly found herself by MIkey's side. Weak as he was, he had curled up into himself, clutching his stomach in pain and trying to catch his breath as he writhed on the floor. His brothers were also by her side in an instant, each one fretting over his injuries.

April looked up to see Donnie/Audrey III standing over them, the hand perched on his shoulder like a vulture.

Dee held out the severed arm, and gave it to the creature.

"Be whole again, dear disciple," he said with a smile, as the hand reattached itself to the limb, a flash of light combining the two together once again.

"That's gross," Leo grimaced. "Hey, DvD, you're a science experiment, can you do that?"

"No, but I can."

All eyes looked behind Donatello/Audrey III.

A black substance expanded and took form -- an adult version of Donatello, devoid of any colour whatsoever.

April cheered, whooping at his arrival. 'Phael screamed at a pitch that only dogs could hear. He was still convinced that these "Void Brothers" were the ones who'd sent him the ominous sticky note near the beginning of this entire adventure in the competition.

"So," Donnie/Audrey III said with a growl. "It looks like we have some more players in the game."

"Think you can keep up?" Signal asked, his form morphing into one of pure black, multiple arms expanding from his abdomen and several extra sets of teeth growing in his ever-widening mouth.

"The more the merrier," Donatello/Audrey III chuckled, letting the Hand.PNG crawl into his palm. "You know what to do," he whispered to it.

The hand instantly vanished, reappearing by the doorway behind Raphael, and scurrying into the room. A second later, blue chains shot out, slicing through Raphael's hologram.

"That's not good," he mumbled, forcing the hand to reach into the gargantuan stomach, pull him out, and fling him towards the others before the spores could seep through all the way.

Two figures emerged from the doorway, their movements somewhat sluggish. There were tiny mushrooms protruding from their skin. Their eyes glowed a neon blue, and their ninpo matched the shade.

Karai and Mikey.

"No..." Leo whispered, staring in horror. "Karai... what happened to her...?"

"Oh, Mikey," Raph whimpered. "Oh no, big man..."

"He's not gonna make us fight them, is he?" April asked nervously.

The two warriors charged.

"Yep. He is. He most definitely is. Shoulda seen this one coming, honestly. That's on me."

"Get outta here," Raphael ordered. "Me and... uh, these guys -" he said, gesturing to the four colourless adults that had already started combating against the swayed relatives, "- will keep them from following you."

"I thought you said you weren't gonna sacrifice yourself!" April yelled angrily.

"I know, and Raph is gonna keep his promise. But your little brother is hurt, he needs help now! I'm not gonna just hand myself over, I'm your cover. Now get going!"

April wanted to argue about it more, but before she could, she was taken by the wrist and pulled away. Waves was tugging her -- as well as the others -- off to a small clearing.

"Where do we go?!" 'Phael yelled, concerned that they had no real escape plan...

"Misa helps!" came a familiar voice. A sword slashed through the open air, and a bright portal opened in front of them...

...Donatello/Audrey III commanded a cloud of spores, hurtling them towards Radio.

"What are you, some kinda Avatar: the Last Airbender wannabe?" he joked as he dodged the cloud.

"I wonder why you would stand against me. Do we not fight for the same cause? Survival? We feed off of others, we only want to exist on our own terms... can you not see our similarities?"

"Nah, not really," Radio said, slamming his fist into the ground, only missing Donnie by half an inch.

"Such a shame. Then I suppose you must die."

"Happy to return the favour--"

"You can't hurt them!" Raphael shouted as he joined the fray.

"Whaddya mean, we can't? They're trying to hurt us!" Static shouted angrily, popping in and out of random spots, infuriating the heck out of mushroomed Mikey.

"They're not in control of their bodies, they're zombies! We hafta find a way to un-zombify them!"

"Well, no offense, but I don't think they share your mindset of 'no hurting the opponents'," Static sighed. "Besides, you're gonna have a hard time getting Signal to change his mind."

"Well, I'm gonna have to, those are my brothers and un-dead gram-gram from another dimension-- wait, where's Leo?!"

Raph looked around the corridor anxiously for the third zombie. He wasn't anywhere to be seen.

He must still be in the room. Raph darted among the others, rushing towards the dark room. There was still a huge cloud of blue smoke that surrounded the doorway, Raph couldn't go in without being infected. But he could see inside.

There was Leo, sitting up against the wall -- oh god.

Leo's body was half-engulfed in the biggest, scariest mushroom Raphael had ever seen. It's giant eye zeroed in on Raph. It... it looked too much like... his fingers traced over his own injured eye nervously. Why did it look so similar? Donnie had theorized that the fungus might've been kraang-related, but...

Leo. Focus on Leo.

He was there, being absorbed into the mushroom. He looked so pale and thin, like he was wasting away. Raph had to save him somehow, but --

"Enjoying the view?" Donnie/Audrey III asked, whacking Raph over the head with his staff as hard as he could. Raphael crumbled to the ground, clutching his skull and groaning in pain. Yeah, that was going to leave a mark... and a pretty nasty concussion, too...

While Raph was stunned on the floor, Donnie/Audrey III noticed the portal that had allowed for the Until I Found You group's escape. It was still open.

The hand appeared at Donnie/Audrey III's feet.

"This form has served its purpose," he said flatly. "I have what I need for now... But I require you to follow after them. Bring me back the scientist, I believe that he may be of some use to me. And even if not, he can't be left with them. He's too smart, he'll find some way to weaken me... I cannot leave it to chance. Bring him to me."

The Hand.PNG "nodded" at his master, then jumped away towards the portal.

Raphael struggled to keep his vision straight. He felt something wrap around his chest, tugging him backwards. He saw the Void Brothers driving the two zombified Hamatos back to the room... in Raphael's direction... the room...

Raph's head pounded louder than a drum. The ringing in his ears wouldn't stop. He knew April would have his head for giving in so easily... maybe she'd understand given the circumstances. He could barely hold his head up after that last hit... Donnie was a lot stronger than he looked.......

At least... he would be sleeping soon. At least he would be in good company. All the Hamato martyrs, together again. At least he was with Gram-Gram again.

At least he'd be with Leo, soon...

The door closed.

Leon recalled the feeling of portalling.

It was kind of like falling. Accidentally skipping a step down the stairs. An acidic scent that slightly burned the nostrils, a popping in the ears as you go from one altitude to the other in an instant and a half.

Leo hadn't done a lot of portalling, but he'd had his fair share of experiences with the activity. But he still wasn't used to the feeling yet. He stumbled through the bright blue splotch of light and tripped on his way out, finding himself in a brand new corridor. The others followed soon after, clambering out one by one and almost stepping on top of each other.

"Where... where are we?"

"Who cares! We have to go back!" April shouted. "Raph still needs us!"

"What exactly are we supposed to do? Go in, guns blazing? With what guns??" Leo yelled anxiously, waving his arms around to gesture to the obvious lack of firearms.

"P-Prilly's right, w-we haf-hafta... go... back..."

Mikey whined loudly, trying to push himself away from Donnie. The effort hurt his injured arms, which were still bleeding profusely.

"Micheal, hold still--"

"N-no, they need us, Donnie... th-they need us... they need..."

Mikey slipped out of his grip and fell to his knees, shakily trying to get back up.

"Michael, you're in no condition to be going into a battle like that!"

"Mikey all red," Misa whimpered. "Mikey's not s'posed to be so red..."

"No, he's not," Leo growled. "Dude, just sit this one out --"

"No!" Mikey sobbed. "I can't sit back and watch as the people I love and care about get hurt!"

"WHY DO YOU THINK WE WANT YOU TO STAY PUT?!" Leo shouted angrily. "I am NOT having you get hurt like that again! Donnie, take Mikey and go find him some first aid," Leo ordered.

Donnie nodded, picking up the angry box turtle and carrying him into a side hall that lead to one of the many lounge areas. "Raph, April and I will come up with a plan."

"What Misa do?" the littlest turtle mutant asked.

"...You have a very important job to do," Leo announced. "You got those ghosty guys to come and help fight... We're gonna need all the help we can get. Misa, you're the recruiter. Go find as many people as you can and get them to come. Tell them how important it is, okay? This is a big responsibility."

Misa's face lit up.

Lee-Lee trusted her! He knew she was responsible! Misa saluted him with a determined smile and nodded.

"Misa get all the families! Everybody comes!"

"Exactly, Misa. Everybody comes."

"So what, we're just gonna pull an Avengers Endgame on the shrooms? We need more of a strategy than that!" April groaned.

"What the heck is an Avengers Endgame?" Leo asked.

"It's a human reference for a movie. Basically it just means that everybody bands together against the bad guy for an epic finale," 'Phael explained.

"Then why not say that? It makes much more sense than 'Avengers Endgame' -- and how did you know what that meant??"

"I do live with humans, in a human hotel, y'know," 'Phael said, rolling his eyes. "I've seen human movies."

"Okay, well, the majority of our family has not, so maybe--"

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?!" April exclaimed loudly.

"Hand?" Misa asked, eyeing something behind them.

"She means the important stuff," Leo explained.

"Hand!" she yelled.

"Yes, yes, we're trying to get back to the matter at--"

"No, hand!" Misa pointed.

The group turned around to see the blurry trail of a small appendage rushing into the hall after DvD and Mikey.

"I don't just want to sit a-a-and do nothing," Mikey pouted, still shaking in DvD's arms.

"I understand that, you know I do," DvD sighed. "And you also know why I am requiring you to rest. You recall what happened the last time--"

"I know, I know, don't remind me. I was bedridden for days..."

"And yet you wonder why we won't let you go fighting."

Mikey grumbled and turned away from DvD. He was so mad, he could spit venom. He knew they were right, of course they were right. But that didn't make it any easier; in fact it made it worse. Because Mikey knew he was right, too! At least, half-right. He knew that they should go back and help. But he knew he couldn't do much, not with all his energy spent and his arms in the state they were now. They stung like mad, he could barely move them. Donnie had removed what was left of the bandages, doing his best not to gag at the sight and keeping his hands as still as possible, despite his aversion to the blood.

Mikey shouldn't feel guilty for this, right?

It wasn't his fault, right? It was just... how his mystic powers were. He couldn't help the way his body worked, just as much as he couldn't help when his hypoglycemia acted up. It wasn't his fault that he was the way he was... it wasn't a bad thing, right? Being Mikey? Being sensitive to others and sensitive to himself, having some few medical issues and mystic setbacks... that wasn't necessarily a terrible thing, right? Right...?

Mikey turned away so DvD couldn't see him crying. He didn't want him to think he was any more immature or any weaker than he undoubtedly did already. Than they all did. Leo had been taking care of him and his ailments since he was a baby. And Raph was holding on to that one special secret of his... and Donnie had cleaned up the blood and gone to get some more gauze and anti-bacterial supplies for Mikey's wounds. Mikey sighed and wished he wasn't so pathetic. He wished he was stronger, smarter, better. Anyone but himself. The only thing he was good for was his stupid useless mystic powers, and they always did more harm than good, especially self-harm. Mikey hated them. He hated himself--

NO, no, don't think like that! That wasn't kind, that wasn't fair! Mikey didn't actually hate himself at all, he was just mad. He needed to let it go. He needed to sit back and breathe...

Mikey leaned back, exhaled slowly, inhaled deeply.

And he saw it.

Crawling like a cockroach on the wall and up the ceiling.

With something blue in its grip.

"DEE, LOOK OUT!!"

The Hand.PNG shot the spores at Donatello Von Draxum.

Mikey jumped.

He had no time to do anything else.

He had no energy to summon mystic chains or make a spell or do anything clever like that.

He just jumped. Dove, really. Dove straight for his brother, in a desperate attempt to push him out of the way, move him aside, get him to safety!

The spores hit him.

"MIKEY?! MIKEY!!!"

Donnie grabbed his brother, holding him close, ignoring the hand as it disappeared into the shadows to watch the scene play out...

"Mikey, look at me, focus on me, okay? You can get through this, alright!? Just concentrate on my voice..."

Mikey nodded furiously, trying to listen to DvD. But there was a ringing starting, his head felt light and dizzy, the room began to spin and get darker. DvD was fading from vision...

NO! Stay, with me, Donnie, please! Donnie?! DONNIE!!

Donnie started shouting, someone was taking him away! Mikey tried to get up, go after him -- his leg caught on something. His arms, too! He looked down and saw titanium shackles, imprisoning him to a cold metal table.

A light shone in his vision. He squinted at the blinding brightness, wishing he could have a hand free to guard his eyes. Something stood in front of the light, casting a shadow over him.

"Well, well, well... if this isn't a surprise? Back again for more, are we?"

Mikey couldn't breathe.

It... it was him. It was him.

Baron Draxum.

"No... no... no --"

"I think we need to run a few more tests on our little friend here, don't you, Donatello?"

Draxum stepped aside and showed Mikey a view of DvD, chained by the wrists and gagged at the mouth. He was screaming at Mikey, trying to warn him, pleading with him to get out of here!

Mikey screamed back at him, begging wordlessly for Draxum to let him go, please, please!!

Instead, Draxum had one of his vines whip across the room and beat his son across the face. Mikey screamed, sobbing and wailing.

"STOP! NO!"

"He always was such a pathetic disappointment." Draxum turned to the other imprisoned turtle. "Perhaps you will show some promise."

No... n-no, this wasn't how it happened! Donnie w-wasn't -- he was never -- a-and Mikey wasn't awake for any of it, he was asleep for the entire thing! He shouldn't be awake now, he shouldn't be, he shouldn't -- H-he... no, no, no, no no no no nonononononononono!!

Draxum came forward with a needle and scalpel.

"Let's begin."

DvD couldn't stop crying, he just couldn't keep the tears from coming. Mikey was sitting on the floor, screeching his poor little head off, eyes wider than saucers and filled to the brim with fear. He couldn't move much, apart from shaking nonstop. He looked like he was constantly trying to wriggle away from something, but for some odd reason his wrists and ankles were invisibly anchored to the floor. Mikey's limbs twitched as he squirmed and struggled, screaming and begging for whatever he was witnessing to stop, please, please please please stop--

"WHERE IS IT, WHERE THE HECK IS THAT HAND, WHO'S SCREAMING, WHAT'S HAPPENING--?!"

Leon and the others rushed into the room, quickly inspecting the situation and coming upon the obvious conclusion.

"April, take Misa outside..." Leo said after inspecting the scene.

"Misa want to stay with Mikey--!" the little girl protested, but April quickly scooped her up and carried her off.

Leon and 'Phael immediately dropped to Mikey's side, Leo taking the box turtle's hand in his and trying to get him to wake up.

"Dee... fear spores, right?"

"...Yeah..."

"The hand."

"Yes."

"What... what is he seeing?" 'Phael asked nervously, eyes watering at the sight of his baby brother in so much pain.

"I... there's only one thing that could scare him this bad..."

"Draxum?" Leo whimpered.

DvD nodded.

"But... h-he doesn't remember anything from that, you said he was under heavy sedatives for the entire time!"

"He was! Draxum kept him under constant anesthetics -- perhaps his mind is creating an idea of what he thinks happened?"

Raphael started fidgeting with his hands.

"U-um... actually..."

The two boys looked up at him.

"'Phael? What... what is it?"

"...He told me not to tell ya..."

"Tell us what?" Leo questioned.

"H-he made me promise--"

"Raph," DvD said, his voice begging him in ways that words could not. "Please."

"He... he does remember. He does remember what happened in the labs."

Donnie and Leo stared. Mikey continued to sob and scream.

"...What... how... how could he know that... and how do you know that he knows?!" Leo asked, voice raising with each word.

"And why wouldn't he tell us?!" DvD asked in disbelief.

Raph swallowed nervously, a sweat breaking out across the worry lines on his brow.

"He... it started sometime after Karai arrived. H-he thought that m-might do with the mystic training she did with him -- but he started having... nightmares..."

"Nightmares?"

"He said he started dreaming memories about it. It was an out-of-body sorta thing, he said. Like he was watching from the outside... He could never get away from the visions, he said -- but every night, he saw a new one."

"And he... came to you about it? Why not ME?!" Leo yelled, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Or Donnie?! Why not tell us?! We're ALL his brothers!!"

"He told me... he said he didn't wanna burden you."

"...Burden?" Donnie whimpered. "...How?"

Raphael looked back and forth between them all. His eyes fell on Leon.

"...He told me he didn't want you to feel... responsible for another thing," Raph mumbled. "He said he felt bad enough about everything he's made you worry over already, he didn't want you to..."

"...He didn't want me to know...? Because... he felt guilty?" Leo wept, tears pooling and spilling from his eyes. "That... I don't... he shouldn't have felt that way, why did he..."

Leo's eyes glossed over, he squeezed them shut, clutching Mikey's tiny fist and pressing it against his chest.

"How could I make him feel like that...?" he wept. "I never meant... I never knew..."

"But... why not tell me? I could have helped," Donnie said in-between uneven breaths. "I already knew what had happened!"

"That's... actually why he didn't come to you, Don," 'Phael explained. "He s-said, he said he didn't want to hurt you. He saw how much you were struggling and wanted to wait until you were... doing better about the whole ordeal. To be honest, I agreed with him on that mark."

"But why did he tell you?" Leo asked. "Why only you, and not us?"

"I s'pose... because he knew that I knew what it was like to be afraid all the time," 'Phael sobbed. "He knew that I wouldn't judge him for his fears. He couldn't sleep at night anymore, he needed someone to stay with him and help him through his fits... But I told him! I told him to tell you both! I told him you should know!" he cried, whimpering nervously as he wrung his hands and rocked back and forth.

"Raph! Raph, it's okay..." Leo tried to reassure him. "I mean... it's not completely okay... I wish he'd told me, but... that doesn't matter now."

Leo held Raphael close.

"We just... we need to be here for him now... How much does he know?"

"...Everything."

"...This isn't going to be easy for him," Donnie exhaled.

"Or us," Leon added.

The trio gathered close to Michelangelo, each laying their hands on him, a sign that they were there and they were offering comfort in the only way they could.

Mikey kept screaming, he couldn't stop screaming. No matter what his brothers tried, they couldn't snap him out of whatever horrors he was experiencing. They just kneeled beside him, holding his hands and hoping their support made some leeway.

But Mikey just kept screaming, shrieking, crying, weeping, wailing, sobbing. He howled until his throat ran dry and his voiced cracked and went hoarse. He wept until his eyes were red and irritated and his cheeks were stained with saltwater and starting to chafe and the area around his eyes went puffy and soft. And on he went. For what seemed like hours, days, years, centuries even -- but was probably only 15 minutes. Mikey was stuck in a loop of fits and fear.

And then finally, he slowed. His breathing calmed, his sobs turning to hiccups and suck-ups and hyperventilation, as his eyes darted around, looking for something familiar.

"Is... is it over?" Leo asked, internally begging for it to be so.

Donatello was heaving along with Mikey, his cheeks also stained with tears.

"I... I think--"

"D-Donnie?" Mikey whispered shakily.

"Mikey? I'm right here, I'm --"

"No... no, not Donnie, please, I--"

"Is, is he --?"

"He's not done with the hallucination yet," Donnie realised. "It's about to get so much worse."

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!" Mikey screamed, bolting forwards. His legs tangled underneath him, causing him to trip over himself. His arms were strained behind him, his ankles struggling against the ground, as if something was still holding him back.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HIM, WHAT IS HE SEEING DON?!" Leo screamed.

"Me," Donnie whimpered, holding back desperate sobs. "He's seeing what Draxum did to me. On the last day. When we fought...."

Mikey shrieked in agony, his eyes somehow producing twice as many tears as they had before in this one moment, pouring out for his brother's sake.

Mikey's screams were cut short, he gasped in horror. They all could assume what he'd seen. Draxum had killed Donnie in his hallucinations. Mikey went horribly pale. His eyes widened.

"No... no... no, no, no, get away get--!"

Mikey jerked suddenly. His body seized up, his eyes went wide, and then --

He fell backwards.

Back into the hold of his brothers, who caught him almost immediately.

"MIKEY!!"

Mikey didn't hear them, he simply lay in their arms.

Mikey stopped shaking. His limbs had gone slack. His body went limp. His eyes went somewhere far away from them all.

Mikey exhaled.

And he didn't inhale.

"...Mikey...?"

He didn't respond.

"What... what just happened?" Raph asked nervously.

"He didn't... he didn't just..." Leo begged, slowly placing his fingers against his neck. He paused. He tried the wrist next. He couldn't find any pulse.

"He didn't just leave us, did he?"

"...Michael...?"

Leo pounded his fist against the ground.

He wasn't going to give up his baby brother.

Leo placed his hands across Mikey's chest, applied pressure.

1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3, 4.

"Come on, Mikey, come on...!"

1, 2, 3 ,4.

1, 2, 3, 4.

"Come ON, Mikey, COME ON! I'm not letting you go!"

DvD was crying, holding himself tight as tears soaked into his shirt and vest.

"Leo, stop... Leo, he... he..."

"Leon, mate, please, he--" 'Phael reached for him, attempting to comfort.

"COME ON!" Leo shouted, refusing to give up.

1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3--

"WAKE UP!!" he sobbed.

Mikey gasped for air.

His eyes blinked wildly as he bolted upright, limbs flailing about in a mad panic. Three bodies pounced upon him, wrapping themselves around him and sobbing into him. Mikey said nothing. He simply looked around in confusion, getting his bearings and perfividly coming back to reality. He listened, but couldn't hear them. Everything was numb and strange, every sound and image baffled him. All he knew was he hadn't been here anymore. But he was here again, now. Here with his brothers.

... I did not intend for this ...

Yes, I intended to send the spores.

And yes, I intended to have them sent after Donatello.

I even intended for them to miss him entirely, for Michelangelo to rush in his place and take the hit for him.

But I never intended this.

Michelangelo was meant to see a different fear entirely.

Michelangelo is afraid of being the frailest, the smallest, the weakest of the brood. Dear little Mikey is afraid that he has nothing of importance to offer. He is always relying on the others to help him, to save him. He has nothing to offer them in return. Mikey tries to do what he can, but deep down he is afraid that one of these days, his brothers will discover that HE needs THEM far more than they could ever need him.

Truly, THAT was what he was meant to see. I had no idea he would see... all that.

They told me no one would get hurt. They told me no one would die. They promised me. And they lied.

It was a good game while it lasted. But I'm not having fun with it anymore.

No one was meant to be hurt like this.

No one was meant to die.

I suppose this means I'll have to do what I can to fix things, now.

"L-Leo," croaked Mikey, who slowly raised his hand and pointed a trembling finger. "Hand…"

“What... what are you saying, Mike?"

“Hand,” Mikey clarified, stressing his wobbly finger as he gestured behind them.

The boys followed Mikey's direction.

The Hand.PNG was crawling towards them.

"G-Get it away from Mikey!" Leo screamed, kicking his feet in the creature's direction.

"Don't let it come any closer!"

"WHERE'S MY TECH-BŌ?!"

"Please, if you could simply pause for a moment, I'd like to make you an offer."

Everything stopped.

Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey froze, jaws dropping to the floor as they heard the hand speak at them.

"You... y-you can talk?" Mikey's voice came out grated and raspy.

"Yes."

"What... why are you just deciding to speak now?" Raphael asked.

"And why have you been tormenting us all?!" Donnie bellowed, gripping his tech-bō tightly as possible.

"And what did you mean, you wanted to make an offer?" Leon interrupted. "An offer for what?"

"I was wondering if I could offer you my services. How would you like to rescue your family and destroy the fear fungus?”

[sonder-paradise]

𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 — 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚

◊ ft. chuuya nakahara, gn!reader

◊ genre. comfort, chuuya's hopelessly in love with you

◊ a/n. it's been a while since i've written for tumblr.

Chuuya is a man of many talents. He wants to believe he is anyway. But there’s a lot he’s unsure of after the moon greets the city and he’s left alone with his thoughts. So, when the sun rises and kisses the city skyline, he watches it with a heavy heart. The mood of the week sinks like a boulder in the ocean. 

It’s incredibly lonely in the sky. 

He doesn’t fly about too often. Only when he wants to see the sunrise and prays for someone, anyone, to stop this torrid void in his chest. The gravity around him settles once more and he allows himself a brief moment to tumble down, down, down in the vastness of the city. Skyscrapers rush past him, guiding him down to the ground. His stomach plummets along with his body. 

And then it all stops. That familiar red glow redefines him and he’s floating once more. That elation evaporates from his body and he stares up at the sky once more. It’s not like him to do something so idiotic. Even if he is in control of his own body and the abilities it holds. 

He stuffs his hands in his pant’s pockets, staring down at the cracked sidewalks of Yokohama’s city. The sun soaks the stores and streets with a stunning golden hue. Nothing seems to be alive as if the entire city has disappeared. The emptiness in his chest tightens and grows. 

Then, his phone vibrates in his back pocket. He shifts his expression into an unreadable frown, before delving to pick it up. 

“Nakahara speaking, what’s up?” 

“Chuuya, what are you doing up so early?”

His eyes glimmer a vibrant blue and he’s staring up from the sidewalk at the golden city. Your voice sounds soft and tired. He can imagine how sweet you appear with sleep buried in you eyes. 

“That’s a good question… I could ask the same for you.” 

“Last minute work…” 

A pause lingers in between them and Chuuya can make out the rustle of your clothing. 

“I couldn’t sleep. Bad dream.” 

“Dream?” 

Ah, shit. 

“Chuuya, I know you don’t have dreams.” 

Fuck. 

He pauses, swallowing thickly.

You knew. Of course, you knew.

He had told you before and that’s all you needed to remember. You would ask and he would be at a loss for words all over again.

“Sorry,” he thinks a little, “I don’t know why I said that.” 

You laugh on the other end of the phone. The noise is gentle and quiet as if you're trying not to wake someone up. 

Chuuya clicks his tongue, feeling his cheeks warm from partial embarrassment and partially the sound of your laughter echoing through the phone. 

“Shut up. Why did you even call anyway?” 

You stops laughing on the other end, seemingly thinking over the answer yourself. He wants to comment about how you shouldn’t have spoken in the first place, but the words trip on his tongue when you speak again. 

“I don’t know either, honestly. I think I was just tired and thought about you.” 

He clears his throat, covering his face with his free hand. You're too much sometimes. He wants to say that you should be saying that to someone you love, or that you're certainly much too tired for these sorts of phrases. 

But he doesn’t. 

He’s not sure he wants to. 

What if your answer scares him?

Instead, he sighs into the speaker. 

“Want me to pick you up?” 

“Mmm… That’d be nice. I was about to fall asleep in the office.” 

“Let’s not do that. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

Chuuya remembers the first time he met you. There was a tenderness about the meeting. Regardless of the outcome, he confided in you. Your outstretched hand was one he was always willing to take. He grasped onto it and held it so tightly he feared he would scare you away. 

But as he tumbles into the office, spotting your figure snoozing away at her desk, he can’t help but fear so much more. Your face is buried in your arms and the coagulated arrangement of items on your desk including an intimidating pile of paperwork makes his chest fill just a bit. 

You stir, blinking back the exhaustion from your expression. Then, you smile. It’s a quiet and tender smile. Chuuya feels it engulf his chest and take over his body. 

He’s enraptured by you utterly and entirely. 

But he sighs, shaking his head as he strides over to you. He clicks his tongue, reaching over to brush away a loose strand of hair. You look up at him and chuckle, taking his fingers in her own and clasping it to your cheek so as to bury yourself in the palm of his hand. 

His chest swells and he sits at the desk. 

“Thank you for coming…”

“No, thank you.” 

“What do you mean by that?”

You stir slightly. Your eyes meet his and for a second Chuuya’s worried he’s shown you too much of the side he tries to keep away from others. He attempts to suppress that, taking his hand away from your skin. 

“Nothing, forget it… I’ll drop you off at your place.”

You shakes your head, leaning back against his arm. His face burns deeper by the second, but he takes it slowly this time. 

“No, let me just rest for a second. Stay with me.”

“Fine… But just this once.” 

He can feel your light breath against his skin. He hopes that you can’t feel his pulse through his veins. It feels just about ready to ignite into hot, molten flames. He covers his face once more, trying to remember the last time he felt so strangely… relaxed and alert all at once. 

But he takes in a deep breath, looking down at you again. 

His chest feels so full all of a sudden.

Taglist: @todorokichills @alittlesimp @greenshirtimaginesii @darlinqserenity @nameless-shrimp @whorefordazai @requiem626k @missrown @nonsense-corner @kiyokoxd @jessbeinme15 @starglow-xx @shadyteacup @scul-pted @kuraxmasha @yochicoz @pompompurin1028 @trashykawahq @swrdemon @life-sus @foolishestchildofchilds @fyodorscello @planetxiao @dazaiaiko @chuuyasboots @allisonlol @questioningmyownexistence @sebtomm @nullified-kiss @nathansside @cuteflowers-101 @sigmafied @boombboi @scarletta-ruan @skgch @httpsobi @dazaiscum @thekaylahub @luciferspen @dazaisfavgf @alice0blog @irethepotato @kageyama-i-want-tobiors @disa-ster @mastering-procrastinating @aestellia @killmewithafanfic @ay-chuu

[what-have-i-unleashed]

just a quick stop

finally, the full fic of weird fluffy kist that i have been agonizing over...

(cw: violence, minor character death, a bit spicy - lime on the citrus scale)

killer and dust have been trekking through the dark endless space for a while. killer has been chattering nonstop, filling the empty void with his voice, which dust appreciates. were he to be left floundering in the silence, he'd go crazy just like the many unfortunate souls that have stumbled into this non-place.

this "multiverse station" doesn't seem to have an attendant, only an eerie display of monster dust and decayed human bodies scattered sparsely throughout. yet, killer doesn't seem to be deterred a single bit. he's confidently announced that they would get out of here and back on track to their scheduled date in a mobfell universe.

"trust me, honeyboo," killer gestures with his hand waving around like an excited kid. he's leading dust with his other with his other hand nestled in dust's. the handhold is securely warm in contrast to the chilly void. "my intuition is never wrong. we're definitely on the right path."

your boyfriend is a dumbass, brother, papyrus sighs, floating next to dust.

"i know, bro," he murmurs, smirking into his scarf.

killer turns around, as if hearing what he said. "huh? have something to say, dusty?"

"nothing. guide us through this darkness, o wise guy," dust replies.

killer tilts his head, his signature grin widening. "sure thing, lover boy~"

they walk and walk and walk until dust sees something in the far distance - a white light in the black void. killer, still holding his hand, runs towards the light. dust stumbles as he's dragged along. as they get closer to the light, dust can see it is fragments of some sort of dilapidated train station. there sit three wooden benches in various stages of damage. next to one is a sign in an undecipherable language, along with an equally incomprehensible map, probably of the available pathways. a single bright lamp illuminates the area. as killer fawns over the map, dust stands back idly and makes a mistake looking up at the lamp post - he quickly turns away when he realizes there is a white soul trapped inside the lantern, pulsing slowly. fortunately, before dust can think about it, killer whistles at him and beckons him over.

when dust languidly makes over to killer, the hybrid-souled being speaks animatedly, "looks like we're at this stop point," he points to a faded star mark on the map. "if we want to make it to our destination, we can just go straight ahead from here."

killer traces a long-winded path to another symbol on the map. dust doesn't claim to know much about the jumble that is multiverse travel, so he has no choice but to trust his partner.

"but how can we travel to there?" he asks. "your token is out of juice."

killer gives him an impish grin. "we wait."

and so wait they do. the couple rests on the bench nearest to the station sign, with dust sitting in a corner and killer lounging indulgently, wrapping one arm behind dust's shoulders. bored out of his mind, dust pulls out his cigarette pack and puts one in his mouth. he searches for the lighter in his pockets, only to hear a click right next to him. turning to his left, he sees killer holding out the lighter with the flame on, an inviting wink flashing his face. amused, dust leans in to light the end of the cig, keeping his gaze on killer, whose cheshire smile doesn't wane the whole time. dust leans back and lets out a puff of smoke. he can feel killer's gaze on him.

"so, what else can you put in your mouth, bunny?"

dust glances at killer from the corner of his eye socket. the other skeleton is resting his chin on his closed fist, a mischievous grin on his face. dust looks him up and down before replying dryly.

"you're that bored?"

"maybe i am. maybe you should help me entertain myself."

dust scoffs lightly, but still indulges his boyfriend. "you want a fight then?"

"if that fight involves that mouth of yours, then yeah."

without further prompting, killer slides off his seat and crawls into dust's lap, kneeling over his slouching figure. from dust's point of view, the white light from the lamp washes over killer like a soft halo, his face obscured by the darkness, only somewhat lit by that red soul of his. the shape of the soul is wavering somewhere between an upside-down heart and a target, making dust consider killer carefully. extinguishing the cig on the handle of the bench, he slowly reaches his hand to cup killer's cheek.

"this okay?" he asks quietly, to which killer answers, nuzzling into his hand.

"yeah."

dust guides killer down towards him and nips the corner of his mouth, trailing small pecks along the jaw. he feels killer shiver and doubles his efforts, quickly moving his mouth down killer's neck - or at least the parts not covered by killer's turtleneck that is - while helping killer taking his jacket off his body. dust lets his teeth graze near the nape of killer's neck, smirking into the turtleneck when he feels killer grabbing onto his arms and pulling him closer. dust complies, snaking his hand up inside killer's shirt while teasing him with lazy kisses and half-licks around his mandible. killer's bones are scarred under dust's hand, but dust pays them no mind as he lightly caresses his lover's sternum.

impatient, killer grabs dust's skull with both hands and pulls him into a biting kiss, nipping and growling into it, which only stirs dust into doing the same. the wet, breathy sounds of them exploring each other's mouths echo in the empty void. killer lightly grinds on dust's lap, smiling as he feels dust jerk in surprise. the hooded skeleton only tightens his grip on killer's lower ribs, which prompts a quiet moan out of killer.

but there's something else too, a piercing whine coming out of somewhere.

dust is the first to pull back, his face flushing blue and his tone breathless as he whispers, "did you hear that?"

killer smirks at him, not looking as out of breath as his lover is. "might be our ticket out of here."

with that, they hide behind the rubble of the station, both of them eagerly watching whichever unfortunate soul has wandered in here. it's not long before they see a dog monster approach the bright lamp and survey the map, looking as confused as dust was previously. killer and dust look at each other, silently communicating with their eyes, before each of them move in the opposite direction, effectively circling their unknowing victim.

killer is fast, throwing a knife at the dog monster before dust can formulate a plan. the dog monster startles and howls as the knife penetrates into their thigh. they collapse, and dust, not wanting killer to steal his kill, quickly raises a barrage of bones piercing through their head, dusting them right away. it's all over under one minute.

"aw babe, really?" killer whines as dust feels the exp running through his body, making him shiver. "you gotta have to take those measly exp?"

dust shrugs. "payback for last time you stole my kill."

killer sticks out his tongue, unapologetic. "i still have next time. by the way, what's in their inventory?"

dust, as the winner of the short-lived battle, rustles through the dust pile to see some gold coins, a notebook of some kind, and finally a travel token. picking up the token, he checks the thing for any forgery then throws it at killer. killer catches the thing with one hand and inspects it with his softly lit eyelight.

"is it enough?" dust asks, relieved to see killer nod.

"should be enough for our trip. we can always take more from another."

"finally," dust breathes out, and killer chuckles, putting his arm around dust's shoulders.

"don't be so impatient, mon beau," he whispers near dust's skull. "after the dinner, we can continue what we did back there."

dust stares at killer, trying hard to stop the blush forming on his face. he mumbles angrily as both of them swiftly disappears from the station. truly, killer should be glad he's dust's boyfriend, else he would be forced to eat concrete right now.

[the-sand-guardian]

Like Fate, Like Death, Like Love (or, Evbo revives Seawatt)

"I suppose I had this coming, didn't I?" Seawatt slumped back against the wall that the Parkour Villain has sculpted. He didn't have much time left and he knew it. He could feel the jester's eyes boring into him as a sharp stabbing pain hit his gut. He pulled his hands from his bleeding stomach and looked up at the former champion. "And for what it's worth, I was telling the truth when I said I enjoyed working with you..."

Evbo's face shifted slightly. His usual look of mild contempt had washed away slightly into one of shock. His mouth fell open slightly and it seemed as though his eyes were glossy too. Seawatt smiled sadly at him before coughing up a bit of blood and finally falling still. Evbo stood frozen in place, staring at the body until it poofed into dust.

He was pulled from his shock by the villain once again. He was sprinting away from him now, and he knew that he had to be stopped.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Seawatt's pain faded away quickly, but the feeling of falling never ceased. It was those dreams where you fall asleep too quickly and your brain thinks that you're dying. Unlike those dreams, he never hit the ground. There was no wind rushing around him. His hair didn't whip around his face. He was just falling through and into nothingness.

All he had left was memories. They played over and over again in his head. Losing his parents. Having to betray Evbo. Seeing his face fall when he realized just what he'd been played into. Instead if that sharp wit and feeling of power he'd initially had, he knew that if he still had his chest it would ache for Evbo. Certainly he'd met a similar fate right now. Hopefully he didn't feel as guilty for his actions.

That was all Seawatt had left to feel. Guilt. Would his parents really have wanted him to destroy everything? How terrible must Evbo have felt when he'd had that awful realization? Had his heart sank to his stomach? Had he felt sick? Had he wanted to scream and throw things and just curl up and die?

He probably had, too. Seawatt knew the way his own stomach had shifted in disgust with himself. Why? Why had he done this to someone so eager to help him? Someone who hated him and STILL chose to be kind? Maybe he deserved this, he thought. It was probably some sort of karma.

And now there was no way to make things right. He wasn't going to get the chance to apologize to him. Evbo and everyone else in Parkour Civilization were going to die and he was fine floating in the void knowing it was all his fault. He could spend eternity with that guilt. It was really the least he could do for him.

But wouldn't it be so nice to apologize, too?

<><><><><><><><><><>

Evbo's feet hit the last block and he turned to face the villain, knowing he'd won. The Villain crumpled into himself and swore as he collapsed much in the way Seawatt had. He had to turn away as he folded into a puddle of his own blood before falling off the block and into the void. Hopefully he'd end up stuck somewhere forever.

Evbo wasn't sure what would come after death, but now with his shiny netherite boots, he wondered if that was something he'd have control over. Maybe he'd even be able to bring back all those noobs who'd died right off the bat, or his neighbor, or...

Of course, he had no idea how to bring someone back from the dead. Hell, he had a lot of work to do before he could even think of it. Fixing everything the Villain had destroyed, freeing the people stuck in Parkour Prison, and rebuilding the levels. Maybe the fighter level would be able to come back eventually.

The possibilities were endless, and he got to work right away. He personally crowned EMF as his successor, since he'd helped him so much. Evbo started to teach him how the command blocks worked, and slowly things began to sprout back up. Things were healing, and people were ranking up. Things were finally going back to the way he thought they should be.

On the seventh day, Evbo rested. The world didn't need saving anymore, and he could relax. He leaned back against the quartz of the Parkour Temple are stared up at the sky. He still wasn't used to just how beautiful everything was up here. Water fell from it sometimes, and at night there were little sparkling specks that dotted all over it. He's dreamt about the sky a lot as a noob, and here he was in full control of it. As he sat in his spot, he let out a small sigh and waved his hand in front of him. He'd been in control of so much, but he still hadn't made things right.

A gust of purple blew from his fingertips like he'd blown sand from his palm. The swirls gathered together, and after a moment, a figure formed. It was trembling, and a sob pushed itself from it's throat, but it was alive. And it was Seawatt. He curled in on himself a little before he froze in place. He put a hand against the quartz. He could feel.

Tears flowed freely down his face as he smacked a palm against the quartz. He was alive again! He had a chance! But...how? "Careful, you might hurt yourself" Evbo's familiar voice chuckled as he shook his head.

Seawatt tried to pull himself back together. "You- Why did you bring me back? I betrayed you, I hurt you?"

Evbo shrugged. "You think about me a lot. It's kinda...sweet, actually" He smiled over at him. "And, for what it's worth, I accept your apology"

<><><><><><><><><><>

Thank you so much for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this and would love to hear any requests, thoughts, etc!! I do a lot of other writing too, so if you like this please consider checking out this and my other stuff on Ao3 under WowzaItsEef! This is my first work for ParkCiv considering I only watched it yesterday, but as you can tell I've been consumed by Seavbo brainrot.

Likes, replys, and reblogs are all appreciated, have a great day!!

[britishsquidward]

Stargazing - A Chelley Week 2024 Fanfiction

Wheatley didn't really have a goal. Not anymore, not since he'd been sucked into space, left with no other choice but to float about aimlessly. So really quite literally, he didn’t have an exact goal. It was true, those first few days - weeks? Months? - had been spent rehearsing his apology over and over again (and once more to make sure), but after a while it became scarily apparent that he probably wasn't going to get out of this soundless void any time soon.

Of course there was Kevin, but he wasn't exactly the talkative sort in terms of coherent responses, so the bluer of the two had taken to chattering on to himself. Just to himself, his own brain, his own thoughts, and no-one else's, definitely never hoping or wishing that anyone else could hear him.

Or so he told himself. Maybe it was just another way to burden himself with the guilt he felt he deserved.

"Big place, this," he commented, drifting slowly and unsuitably peacefully, "space."

"SPAAAAAAAACE!"

Wheatley ignored him. "Do you ever look at all these bright holes in the sky?" he asked, trying to make it appear as though he was talking to Kevin, "Stars, I mean. They're called stars. Did you know that?"

"Staaaaaars. I'm in space," Kevin beeped, still as enthusiastic as ever.

"N-" Wheatley bit his metaphorical tongue. Kevin carrying on interrupting like this was beginning to - pardon the pun - bug him, and where his patience had temporarily run thin, he'd had to stop himself from blurting out a "not you" in the direction of the other. He had to keep up the facade. "-Yeah. Yeah, mate, you're... we're in space. Big ol' empty space..."

He took a moment to think, his eye half-lidded and his mental gears turning. "If... if and/or when you look up at these stars, I kind of wonder if maybe, by some chance, we might be looking at the same ones. They probably look different from down there, less- less 'big'," he wasn't feeling particularly jovial, and frankly he was not in the mood for stringing together long words.

It was silent for the beat that followed, what with Kevin being too enraptured in taking in every sight he could see, despite all this time they’d already been trapped. To anyone else, it'd feel soul-crushingly lonely, but to Wheatley, as a result of the conversations he’d grown accustomed to before he'd been flung up here, the silence was almost comforting; a response.

"Still not a big talker, eh?" he chuckled lightly to himself, "Dunno what I expected. Even if you could talk, which - I'm not sure whether you can, actually, I kind of assumed you were always too - you know - brain-damaged and all, but if you could, hypothetically, even then I don't think you'd be able to raise your voice just enough for me to hear- What am I talking about? Even if it did travel that far, there's no sound in space. I can't hear you. No matter how much I might want to - not that I've been thinking about it, or anything. And you can't hear me either. Not even when I say 'I'm sorry' and mean it. I'm sorry, by the way, in case you didn't catch the last -" he'd been keeping a record in his database, so sourced it, the answer coming out considerably more robotically than his usual tones, "476 - times."

He sighed, rattling himself side to side to the best of his ability as though to convey shaking his head. "I'm completely off it today, luv, I don't know what I'm saying. Of course you didn't hear it. I just explained how you couldn't have right before that. Blimmin' heck."

"Spaaaaace. Stars, stars, stars!"

"Yep, stars," Wheatley agreed half-heartedly, "some of them shine more brightly than others, don't they?” This prompted him further, “Actually, I've been wondering something else. Wondering and wondering this one, I have. If your eyesight was really good - which it bloody must be, the way you completed all those tests in the dark - then maybe, by some chance, some miracle, when you look up at these stars, and we’re looking at the same ones, you might also catch sight of me."

A sweet concept, he thought. One that brought him restfulness, hope, a foreign warm, tingling feeling bubbling up from deep inside his circuits. Finally he felt something. It wasn't much, but it had been a while before he'd finally experienced - emotion identified - happiness. 

And that lasted all of three seconds, before the anxiety in him revved up, and he was off backtracking and justifying himself once more. "N-Not that I'm saying you would or should be, or that you'd want to - because I'd completely, totally understand if you didn't want to look up here at me, after what I did. I wouldn't want to look up at me either, not with how bossy and monstrous and- getting off topic, I'm getting off topic, um, yes, I'm not saying that I want you to, either, because I don't. Well, I don't mean it like that, I mean as in I want you to, but I don't want want you to, yeah? Does- does that make sense? Yes? It does? Great, fab, let's crack on, then."

In every sense of the action, Wheatley didn't need to take a breath in, but he did so regardless. "Right, so. M-my point. I guess I... I wondered if maybe you could see me because... To put it bluntly, I miss you."

There was no point in trying to pretend he was still talking to Kevin at this point. He'd long passed the point of no return; if pretending he wasn't talking to that lovely test subject was a bar on the ground, he'd still manage to trip over it anyway. And he had, but by this point, he’d accepted it. In fact-

Core communication transmission disabled.

"Sorry, Kev, I need to focus.”

A little while passed as he reflected on his situation, on his choices, on his words. “And if we're looking up at the same stars, right now even, then this is sort of like my way of being close to you in some form. Not that I'd want to hear that from me if I were you, but it's- it's me trying to be kind, honest! You don't deserve what I did, I'm- I-I'm like that pathetic little star off in the distance, there," he made an attempt to gesture and failed miserably, "small, and- annnd in the distance. Not very... bright. But you, oh, man alive, you..."

Being pulled across slightly in his orbit, Wheatley was turned around and ended up facing a star much, much closer by. "Huh, what a coincidence... But, yes, this. There's a lot of these, but I can't always see how bright they are, because um, well, because my back is turned sometimes. Which! That's not my fault, actually, I don't have much control in zero gravity surprisingly, so I struggle to revolve at times. But even though I can't see them all the time, it doesn't mean it doesn't shine as brightly as when I could see it, yanno?"

Silence. He was giving her time to respond. Time to respond to his hopeless, unheard monologue. "Whenever I see one of these," he admitted, completely overtaken by the hollow, weighty feeling that now ate at his insides, scratching at his servos and gnawing at his wires, all bitter and uncomfortable, "a star that shines particularly brightly, I close my optic."

He did so, letting the horrid simulated emotional pain wash over him in one fell swoop.

"And I think of you."

[your-ne1ghbor]

I don't know if you take drawing requests or not (seriously, I forgot, lol.) But I kind of want to see how your Starboy would interact with WG!Star.

Like would he be excited or scared cause WG!Star can get wild when he meets other Starboys. He'd be zipping around all over the place, I'm not sure if yours can handle it. 😅

P.S my Star is a hugger, so take that however you want. 😆

(I do take requests, I love drawing/answering your guy's questions even if it takes forever 💀)

AND ONG RASCAL I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER THIS-

This took me a while to think about/draw since I saw them having a similar relationship to TKORAT Star with Orion, but still different enough from that. SOOO after long while of deep thinking, I figured out on how I would see them interact :3

So when they first meet, well, WG! Star ofc would get excited and start zipping around a lot to his potentially new friend. TKORAT Star starts asking a bunch of questions, starts pacing and moving around a lot, and starts talking so fast that you have no idea what the hell he is saying. Like buddy slow down 😭

Ofc besides that, I would see them relate on some personal levels with each other. First of all, on the lonely factor of their lives and confronting Magnus/Magnifico.

I thought that they would relate on the loneliness part of their lives in a way. From what I know about WG! Stars, is that they are basically like nomads, floating in the vast void of space and time. Ofc they would meet other stars, but it really looks more like a co-worker relationship than a long term friendship from my pov. I mean, what is the chance the star you just met is someone you will see again? Honestly kind of depressing. Poor guy 😢

For TKORAT! Star, (though I'm still figuring out the overall culture and lore of the stars) I also viewed it pretty much the same (though it could change after I figure out the star lore lmao). I mean sure, the other stars kinda treat Star Boy like their little sibling (i mean he technically is), but they aren't around enough to where someone could consider a friend. It is more like Teacher to Student type of situation.

Next it is confronting Magnus/Magnifico. Ngl, reading Chapter 7 and 8 was legit insane, hands up to Rascal 🙌

Although how I see TKORAT Star confronting Magnus being VASTLY different from what WG Star went though, the outcome is somewhat the same. Both through their rage later realize that they can't defeat Magnus/Magnifico. Even with their somewhat devine power that have (ie. Able to shapeshift, create objects out of thin air), it isn't enough to defeat him. They both basically got humbled by a guy who probably eats hair gel for breakfeast (aint no way he got his hair like that without proper hair treatment)💀🙏

Needless to say, they both can relate to that sort of pain they felt in those moments (I doodled them in their cosmic forms, though it is techically TKORAT Star's true form and it is also a draft)

Ok enough agnst 🙄, this duo would cause havok on Rosas.

Between them, there would be explosions....lots of explosions. And probably turning breads into talking cake creatures that beg you not to eat them. HORRIFYING...

Honestly imagine a whole group of pranksters showing up at your door (looking at the star boy gang for this). You're a goner man.

Cant draw WG! Star without hugging someone, am I right?

(And yes, my star boy doesn't know what a hug is. Like he has seen it, since he has seen mortals do that, he just doesn't understand why or know what it is called. Plus it is so infrequent of mortals doing that, which basically makes him forget hugging is a thing lol SUCH A UNCULTERED SWINE(srry couldnt resist lol) )

Anyways thanks for the ask Rascal! Again, sorry if it took so long, I was busy with school and also thinking deeply on their interactions with each other 🐀🐀

. . . . .. .

Shimmy shimmy yay shimmy yay shimmy ahhhhh

drank

falalala

drank

falalala

@signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @chillwildwave @rascalentertainments

@spectator-zee @tumblingdownthefoxden @dangerousflowerpanda

(sorry for tagging you guys again, just entering the silly hour (its 12 am by the time I wrote this))

[phoenixcatch7]

Thinking about possible totk dlc again... Listen, we all know we want it XD.

Thing is, I've read the interviews, and I think Nintendo is right. There's just no more mechanics they can add to the game without completely breaking it. Totk is maxxed out on mechanics and options and playability. There really is nothing more they can add ability wise without bogging the whole thing down and causing a million problems, both for themselves and players.

But that's not all there is in a game, is there?

There's master mode, for one. Gold enemies are missing from totk entirely, never mind all the craziness of regenerating enemies, new mob camps just floating around, the gleeok they'd probably put on the great sky island. People loved master mode in botw, there's no reason not to at least drop that button back in.

But... People do have a few complaints. There's stuff they're missing, stuff that leaves loose ends, stuff that wasn't explained well enough. It all mostly boils down to one thing.

Story.

We could have an answer to where the divine beasts and all the sheikah tech went. We could find a giant scrapyard at the bottom of a new/old chasm because hyrule tossed everything in that could be pried up. There could be like five remaining active guardians, just so we can mess them up like we did in botw. There's voids where water is on the surface, there's plenty of space! It'd solve both the 'where tf did they go' and the 'man I wish we still had guardians' issue in one fell swoop.

We could get casual dialogue that all the divine beasts were driven out to sea and sunk! I don't know! Some sort of closure! We could talk about generational trauma responses! The instinctive fear of sheikah tech if there is one! Link is certainly canonically traumatised, did you see him with the first sky tower??

We could get wolfie back! Update his teleportation code so he can keep up with our stupid endeavours and not get caught in crossfire! Make him immune to zonai tech, idk.

We could get a resolution to kass and Penn! That whole storyline ended so sadly, and the lack of kass is straight up disturbing. We could rescue him from the depths where he fell in or smth idk!! Just because you're a bird does NOT mean you can fly a kilometer + straight up in pitch black through a narrow cylinder with lethally toxic sides. Now he's got enough material for life! (and probably trauma. The only food down there is stuff the yiga brought, which - well, it's not like they'd worry about thieves down there.

That stupid chef from lookout landing who ran off to the castle. That's TOTALLY a quest come on :(. Let him come home.

More lookout landing expansion, if you're desperate for stuff that isn't 90% dialogue! Please let me install bigger towers and a bathing area and more shops or SOMETHING. Little outlet stalls from every capital! Let me rebuild the first home in castle town! I! D! K!

More newspaper news! We could randomise it like the spider man ps4 news feed, that was hilarious. Absolute hogwash rumours and stupid feuds between neighbours and the results of pumpkin growing competitions! Mix it up, traysi had bonkers stuff, it was so good. What does life look like from inside the world?

Hylia gossip? We know she doesn't keep strictly to her 'find shrine rewards for increased gains, link' thing. Let her ask link for random stuff for 'power buffs' and give him, like, a random buff that lasts precisely 24 minutes.

Maybe even a 'now we opened the plateau again, people want to investigate' side plot. No one wanted to see :(. I didn't like that the only people up there were yiga :((. Send some new research team dude to wax lyrical and beg link for photos of different areas or symbols.

Gloom hands should be able to attack link in the depths. This would solve nothing and in fact make things much worse, but it happened to me twice and it was so much worse than on the surface lol.

Maybe some idiot managed to make it to a Sky island with balloons but now they can't get down, whoops lol. Some of them really aren't that high up and there's a lot of very determined people XD.

Someone's been captured by the yiga and link has to do a full infiltration and smuggle them the keys to their cell. Come on, the yiga base is underutilised!!

The gerudo stable was being shut down because of the sandstorm turning away travellers. After we solve that, maybe we could help reopen it? It made me so sad...

Link vs the flower lady. She wants a sample of every single flower in hyrule to get it all nice for her majesty! She remembers his crimes...

Link and the new sages could have a silly bonding quest each! Let him test his mettle against them in a spar! I don't know!

The ability to pet dogs and horses! An idle sitting animation that makes link sit down properly to enjoy the view!

Heck, a master cycle equivalent....

There's just a almost infinite amount of options available for real, actual content, it doesn't just have to be new mechanics and new dungeons. Yes, it gets the adrenaline going, but neither the fans nor Nintendo want nor need more of that.

We know the story is more lacking in botw/totk than previous zelda games, an understandable and acceptable sacrifice when you're working with such a huge and complex open world as this, but this is the perfect opportunity to fix that, Nintendo, don't you see? Give that incredibly elaborate coding a break and give the writers something else to chew on.

Tag what quest line or question you want answered in the comments or tags!

[askthe-r-m-au]

Yall know what time it is...

Back at it again at Krispy Kreme uh I mean Ring-Misstress AU fic

I've been thinking about themmmmmmm

[Ring-Misstress Chapter 4: A "Grand" opening]

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Pomni walked back to the center of the Circus, cane in hand, and Hat on her head. This was the last night before The Amazing Digital Circus virtual game would be shown to the public in at least a few years! According to Caine, at least. He suggested they work late into the night before anyone could show up. That way, they'd have almost everything ready by the morning. Caine noticed his Co-host walking into the room.

☆Ah, you're back! The little guy's asleep?☆

Pomni twirled the cane in her hand like a baton.

♧Yeah, wasn't much trouble. Easier than I thought it'd be!

Caine chuckled proudly. The tension from the deadline always left when she walked in.

☆See? I knew you'd be great for this job!☆

♧Heh, yeah... hey... Are you sure you wanna do this the whole night??♧

Caine had dazed off until he heard her question.

☆Hm? Oh- well, of course! You don't require sleep, so we'll have plenty of time!☆

♧Well, sure, I don't need to sleep... but... what about you? Voz needs to sleep, don't you?♧

He paused for a second.

☆Well, we don't sleep, we recharge. But it does give of the sensation of sleep and its symptoms. At least, I believe it does...☆

It didn't make much sense to Pomni, but she learned not to question these sorts of things a long time ago.

♧Huh. Wait... where do you- uhm- "sleep" anyway?♧

☆Oh. Well, uh, I usually just find some secluded area, out of bounds...☆

Caine was beginning to feel drousy just talking about it. But, not wanting to leave so soon, he perked himself up.

☆Now is not the time to worry about that though, my dear! We have work to do!!☆

♧Well you do look pretty ti-♧

☆Me? Tired? Nonsense!! Now, let's get back work!☆

The conversation was cut short. They silently continued fixing up the place. But Caine looked like he was getting progressively slower with each glance Pomni took.

♧Are... you sure you don't wanna... leave now?♧

☆And... leave you alone?? Like I would do that!☆

♧What? You don't trust me?? I can do things by myself.♧

☆N-no! It's not that at all, my dear! You are absolutely great at what you do! It's just that I think if I left you to do all this yourself then that... would be terribly... rude... of me...☆

Caine was barely hovering in the air by now.

♧... You wouldn't wanna be in this state tomorrow morning, would you??♧

☆...Ok... just for a few minutes...☆

Caine was still hesitant to leave His friends side. He fought with every last bit of energy in him to stay awake.

☆ before i go... Wh-why don't we discuss some ideas for adventures?? Anything sound good to you??☆

♧Hm... how about... "Count the sheep?"♧

☆Great idea!! Let's test that. One... ...two... ...☆

Caine stopped responding.

He floated idly in place, nearly touching the ground.

♧Welp. That's two times I'm putting someone to bed.♧

Pomni smiled as she walked down the hallway, dragging an unconscious Caine into her room, and walking back out, hat on her head, cane in her hand.

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[ENTERING "R.E.M." MODE...]

Caine opened his eyes to find himself in a darkly lit monochrome room. His vision was a bit fuzzy. The only things he could make out were a big red door and a misshapen box sitting atop a desk.

He hunched over the desk, looking at the strange box. One side looked different from the rest. It was pitch black.

Then it flashed white. It had a strangely similar look to the void. He leaned in closer. Then, a familiar sphere shaped character appeared in the center. Green strands of 1's and 0's growing around him...

_-°○You did this to yourself.○°-_

Oooookay, maybe he shouldn't be here.

Having no other option, he went through the big red door.

It led him back to the main area of the circus. Finally, a place he firmly recognized! Then he heard the sound of glitches rising from around him.

Maybe he would've been better off in the box room...

He looked up to see everyone had abstracted. Even the abstracts from the cellar somehow got out. Wait... everyone...?

♧C-cai-ªi-N-ne?♧

Caine immediately turned his head.

☆POMNI!☆

Her entire avatar was covered in glitches. She was holding on with her last bit of strength. She barely managed to speak.

♧It-t's... Iṭ'§...♧

He desperately tried to hold her head upright.

☆W-whats wrong, dear? Just tell me. I-I can fix it, I promise!☆

♧I-Tt-§...♧

_-♧ITS ALL YOUR FAULT.♧-_

The glitching code morphed into glowing eyes. Her body contorted until it was completely unrecognizable...

.

.

.

[FULLY CHARGED]

The ringmaster jumped from shock, only to quickly realize that he had been lying down the entire time. Of all the times he's entered a "dream state" as they call it, he had never experienced such a negative one. Nothing has ever made him feel like-

His train of thought immediately stopped. He heard a thumping noise. Actually, he didn't just hear it...

He felt it...

He placed his hand to his chest, presumably where a human heart would be. And sure enough...

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

How was this possible? He couldn't truly be... unless-

[PAPAA!! GETUPGETUPGETUPGETUPGETUP!!]

The door slammed open, and little Voz barged into the room. Shaking the end of the bed violently until Caine finally rose from his sitting position.

☆Alright, okay, I am! Now, what's the r- OH...☆

He looked around, recalling the events from the previous night.

[Mama had sent me to wake you...]

☆Has anyone already-☆

[Yup...]

Oh, how foolish of the ringmaster to be late to his very own show, leaving his bel- CO-HOST, yes, to do everything by herself...

☆Welp, time is really crunching, kiddo! We better hurry back!☆

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Pomni and the main cast sat around. Along with a few players. All of them took the appearance of mannequins, but each with distinct accessories. One with purple butterfly wings, one with a chicken's beak, a party hat, and a plauge doctor mask.

The player's each had names displayed over their heads, and they showed up whenever they would speak.

Osa: Man, it's been forever since they announced this game!! Can't believe we finally get to play this together!!

Aki: Yeah! This is gonna be fun, huh Zari?

Zari: ...you brought me here against my will.

Plauge: Honestly, I agree. This is stupid...

♧Now, now, everyone! There's no need to be so impatient! I'm... I'm sure the ringmaster will be here very-♧

Caine and Voz appeared center stage with a loud SNAP.

☆Pomni! I'm so, very sorry I'm late. We'll have to talk later. Now who's ready to woo the-!☆

Caine looked up to see only 4 players in front of them.

☆Crowd. ... Well, this is anticlimactic.☆

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HOLY SMOKES I TOOK A LIL BREAK FROM THIS I KNOW BUT ITS OUT NYEAOW YIPPEEEE-

*Disintegrates into dust*

Also, huge thanks to my buddies Angii and sushi/vintage radio for letting me use our old tadc OCs for this! :>

Uhmm anyways asks r opened and... That's all byeee

[institute-of-dolls]

It's not sure how to really word this

Do you have any advice on how to get ones partner to understand dollhood more? It loves its partner very dearly and they aren't particularly into kink stuff so it would never push them in that direction, or ask much of them, but sometimes it wishes there was a guide in the vein of "so your partner is a doll: do's, don't's and how to accommodate it" or something silly like that, similar to the "so you're a doll" thing that's floating out there somewhere.

It's not necessarily asking you to make something like that obviously, just looking for any sort of input or advice. It's scared of weirding it's partner out, or pushing them away.

-a sleepy dollthing

This is a tough one. I understand deeply how painful and frustrating it can be to try and explain what you are to a loved one, and either not know how, or have to over and over. It can be a hard thing to get a person who's not a witch or handler to wrap their head around. That said this is. An important one and I need a little extra time drafting up advice then usually, but I wanted you to know I've seen and heard you dolly, and am working on it, rather then let it get eaten by the void till I do. Hopefully in the mean time, others can weigh in to help. Handler, witches do feel free to help me here. And dollys feel free to help your other doll - with regards,

Director of Doll Research

[youredreamingofroo]

For those awaiting an answer on one of my more recent posts, and whether I'll be leaving, here it is. .....Under the cut, as it, in my usual fashion, gets lengthy, you can skip to the end for a TL:DR :)

I'm not going to leave tumblr/simblr, I'll be floating around and still liking people's posts, I'm probably gonna unfollow some people (not my mutuals ofc ilya) just because it's hard to keep up with my dash when I get over 10 notifications every 2 minutes or so especially when if I'm not going to primarily consume Sims 4 content. I'm going to put my mods folder into my external HDD, in order to preserve them ykwim, and I'm going to uninstall TS4, I'll try to make one more sim before the sims 4 gets poofed off my laptop, although as it stands even after freeing up 20 GBs of space, my space went back down to 400 MBs so 😭😭 I will probably be posting variety content, even though I know all my followers are primarily Sims content consumers (some of ya'll do other stuff, but I mean as a whole, my audience tends to be more Sims 4 related), I might play and share some of my Sims 1 content, which is not story oriented, it's just a little gameplay of Roo in the Sims 1 :) I'll also probably post Baldur gate stuff (if I can free up the storage for it LMAO), I'll post witcher content maybe, and plenty of other things, and like I said, I'll continue to float around, and I'll continue to reblog any Sims content I see and enjoy... as well as other things. .... So what about W.A.S? Yea. I dont know, while W.A.S IS supposed to be a fleshed out story, and while I know I AM leaving sims 4 behind, completely limiting what I can and cannot make story-wise (just cuz I don't know how to make scenes and stuff lmao), I will ATTEMPT to make W.A.S content, I will still make and post the Official teaser, and I'll probably introduce the characters myself sometime after the teaser (I'll take screenshots in CAS and just hope my storage doesn't dip TOO low). I may release some of the story in just text form, as I do really want to continue to post about the story. I'll try to come up with something tho, don't worry :)

I may also start getting back into art, I still need some hobby to preoccupy my time that isn't gaming, I will still do blender stuff (since I have a bunch of my Sims' DAEs) and I will maybe make more edits, but regardless, I still enjoy art and Sims 4 kinda consumed the time that I wanted to spend doing art, soooo yeah.

For the unrooleased tag, I have a bunch of sims that I've never posted, as well as renders that I've never posted, and I may, as Sims 4 filler, post those to fill the void that will become my Sims 4 content

and FINALLY. LAST THING I promise :) I know all of ya'll LOVE Roo, and I do want to reinforce the fact that ROO IS NOT A SIMS CHARACTER, I did NOT make him originally from the Sims, if you were at any point worried I would stop posting about him, I will not be, I will continue to share about Roo, probably with a lot less pictures considering I really only used TS4 as a visual assistant for his story, I do have his DAEs, so I can make SOME Roo blender content, albeit limited with Scenes and stuff. Roo is a character that I will continue to be passionate about, I never mentioned this but I LOVE to make Roo in pretty much every game I play (besides Skyrim................ and ofc games where u dont have customization), like Animal Crossing, I made a variant of Roo there, and in Stardew! You get the point, he will always be a prominent figure of my content. I may also bring back some characters I made from TS4, like Nirvana, I LOVE her character and would LOVE to continue to post about her, as well as Roo's family, I love posting about his family members and sharing their own story and what importance they are to Roo.

WOW, okay that was a lot, if you're skipping here for a clear answer, or a sort of TL:DR, here ya go, I don't want to leave tumblr, so I won't, and I won't necessarily leave the Simblr ring, TS4 is going to be uninstalled, but I WILL preserve my TS4 mods in my external HDD, and be on the look out for the last sim I make in TS4 :)

[ask-theredcrown]

*Only maybe 15 - 20 something minutes pass before another note falls...*

"Your brother... Nasty bugs... Prays? Useful information. Thank you, really, if I figure some more things out about them. Maybe I could... Help you on your little fantasies about seeing them again. Make their fate a bit worse than death yourself. And for the Lamb. I understand that honestly. I just say I'm a Male god, or vessel. Whatever works. Though, I don't have anything that proves this. And what do you mean by distractions? I only called them cute. I don't have any intentions on messing with that creature. "Last of its kind" that I've heard. It would be foolish of me to try and get in its way. Either in a good, or bad path.

And the question... For the longest time I've questioned that. Though, I'm alive. Just kind of... I'm your predicament. In a way. No skeleton arms, no chains. I'm just wondering around this endless void. I've walked for probably 8 generations of families. I still have yet to stop. And yes I can see, I'm not like that living tree fortunately. I can't really tell you how this place looks. It's bright. It's always bright. It's annoying to sleep somedays. Or nights. I've lost track of time in the first generation. The air burns my lungs with some sort of tree sap gas in the air, sometimes it burns my eyes if I run. Even the floor feels weird. It feels like my feet are submerged in water and floating ontop of pillows, though the floor is hard and smooth. I cant tell if the floor is starting or stopping sometimes, it seems like it spans off infinitely in all directions. I try to look up but all I see is the same thing. Just an infinite void of. Nothing. Despite there being no celiing, I cant even jump. I've tried for so long, something just hits my head. But whenever I reach up nothing is there. It's strange.

This entire world is strange. I believe it was one of your siblings that you've spoken of that brought me here actually. They didn't like the idea of me being my own vessel, and my own god. That, and being the god of Insanity.

I believe thats all you've asked, sometimes I forget alot of things like this, so my apologies if I forgot to tell you something. How about you tell me more of this Lamb? He's peaked my interest. He's probably the only creature you're kind to other than me. And, if you please, I can try to send another letter but I don't promise it'll reach you. If it does, most likely not in one piece."

*The signature is the same as always.*

@tomb-the-god

"Your realm and my own are not so different after all. Walking endlessly throughout a bright, empty, and infinite void, sounds to me like a lost soul who still could not untie his knots from the living world."

"The Lamb is my vessel, the liberator from the prophecy, and the one that will free me from this hell... That is all I can say."