#where to go and he was lost and confused and just kind of unconsciously went back to them. Okay.

[caracello]

I MISS 🧨!!!!

[buckyalpine]

I adore all of your stories and turn to them at night when my brain won’t stop running. I have kind of a weird request. How would Bucky react to his girl temporarily losing her memory? (I once lost mine for two weeks due to a bad reaction to a medicine, so this pops in my mind from time to time.) The reader doesn’t remember who he is, but still feels safest when she’s with him. I’m sure he’d be the absolute sweetest. And since he’d know what it was like, he’d probably know what’s helpful and what makes things worse. When she eventually recovers, she remembers all he did for her and falls even more in love 🥰 Maybe some spicy thank yous?

Sorry if it’s too specific or out of your comfort zone! Feel free to change anything (I did base it a bit on what happened to me, but I’m sure it’d be different for everyone). Thanks!!

YESS THIS IS SO SWEET AND SOFT AND ADORABLE

"I need back up on the east wing!" Steve's voice crackled through the coms, his breathing labored as he tossed off another hydra operative against the wall, "A-agent down!"

You were passed out on the floor, dust and rubble surrounding you after exhausting yourself, 3 stab wounds were bleeding profusely from your abdomen along with other cuts and bruises littering your skin. Your head throbbed in pain from where you'd been hit and with each passing second it became harder for you to stay awake. You'd tried your best to keep your eyes open with Steve's pleading but it was too much; the pain started to dull and the world went black.

-

"It's a strong medication and she might be out for a little longer but she's going to be okay. We just have to keep monitoring her" Dr. Cho's voice spoke softly just outside of the room where you still laid unconscious. After getting patched up and scanned for damages, you were dosed with anything and everything to keep you rested and to help with pain. You had visitors day in and day out to check on you but the one that never left your bedside was your sweet boyfriend.

"Baby please wake up" Bucky softly pleaded as he ran his fingers gently across your face, not wanting to disturb you but also unable to keep his hands to himself. Not when he just wanted to see you open your eyes again, hating the fact that he hadn't heard your voice in two weeks.

Two weeks.

That's how long you'd been out for.

He was patient, not wanting to rush your healing time but he missed you so much. He continued his soft ministrations, rubbing his thumb across your knuckles and peppering kisses across your cheeks. He noticed the slight flutter of your lashes, sitting up immediately when your heart monitor picked up.

"Sweetheart?" He kept his voice low, paging for a nurse to come check on you while holding your hand, his heart racing when you finally opened your eyes. "Oh baby"

You blinked at the fluorescent lights of the room, looking at the sterile environment surrounding you. Bucky stroked your hand, hoping to ease away how disoriented you were probably feeling, giving you a soft smile when you finally met his eyes.

"How are you doll?"

"Um-I'm fine?" You stared at the handsome stranger that was by your bedside, his beautiful blue eyes swirling with emotion as he continued to clutch onto your hand.

"I was so worried y/n"

"Who-I'm really sorry, who are you?"

Bucky's eyes widened with horror, quickly recomposing himself seeing your confused expression. He dropped your hand, immediately adding space between you both, offering you comforting smile before heading out of the door.

"Let me get the doctor" He didn't want to worry you, keeping a steady voice as he spoke before speeding down the corridor as soon as he was out of sight. He wasted no time informing the others about what had just happened, the team all patiently waiting outside of your room while the doctor checked on you.

"Will she be okay?" the words came tumbling out of Bucky as soon as Dr. Cho finished running a few tests, shutting the door behind her, letting you rest. He'd been pacing up and down the hall like a changed animal the entire time, only stopping when he heard Dr. Cho gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Her memory will come back eventually but until then it's important things are calm for her. Between the hits she took and the medication, she doesn't remember much from the last 2 years. You have to remember, throwing too much information at her will set her back so do your best to keep things the way she'd understand"

It wasn't going to be easy. There was no time line for when your memory would return and you had just joined the team two years ago. You didn't remember anyone, having no recollections of all the memories you'd built with them, nor remembering any of the friendships you had. As soon as you were discharged, you took the first day to rest in your room, not knowing that Nat had cleaned out all memories of Bucky so you wouldn't feel more confused.

After sleeping for most of the day, a man knocked on your door and introduced himself as Tony Stark, the very Iron Man. You couldn't recall too much but the name rang a bell; you knew he was the main person for you to go to if you needed anything. His first task was to take you around the compound, introducing you to various members of the team.

You met Nat and Clint training together in the gym. Sam had been tinkering with something called Red Wing. Steve had welcomed you with a warm hug and Bruce had been working away in the lab. Tony continued his tour, walking you through the kitchen when your eyes landed on a familiar face from before.

"And whose that" You felt your face heat up as you pointed over to the handsome man that has been by your bed earlier in the day, still feeling his soft touch on your skin.

"That's Bucky, or Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes" Tony stated, smiling at the way your eyes lingered on the soldier for longer than necessary. "Here, let's go say hi"

Tony sauntered over to where Bucky was nursing a cup of coffee, the bags under his eyes growing from a lack of sleep but that didn't stop him from throwing you a bashful smile when Tony introduced brought you to him.

"Barnes, this is y/n, she's joining our team soon"

"Nice to meet you doll" Bucky shook your hand with the utmost care, the pet name he had just for you rolling off his tongue with ease. "Let me know if you need anything"

You felt butterflies at the smirk the soldier threw your way before making his way over to the gym, the blue eyes twinkling with something you couldn't quite place. The rest of the day went by smoothly and later that night you accepted the teams invitation to join them for dinner and then later a movie night.

You were aware that you'd sustained an injury which was affecting your memory; what you still didn't know was how much of your memory was missing. You felt nervous as you made you way to the dining table, everyone sitting in their designated spot, chatting away while passing dishes to each other.

Before you could quietly retreat to your room, you locked eyes with those familiar baby blues, a smile growing on his face. Bucky got up from his seat, noting how anxious you looked, understanding seeing everyone together would be overwhelming when you didn't remember any of them. He knew exactly how that felt and there was no way he was going to let you ever feel even an ounce of that.

"I hope you're hungry, doll" Bucky spoke to you softly, not bringing attention to where you'd backed up against the wall in hopes of not being noticed.

"A little" You lied, the rumble of your stomach giving away that you were starving.

"Would-would you like to join me out in the garden? I'll bring some food out for you" Bucky offered, hoping you'd feel less overwhelmed with a bit of space.

"Yes please, thank you Bucky" You shyly smiled as he stepped away to get you some food, taking both of your plates outside to eat under the soft glow of the moon. You appreciated that he didn't bombard you with questions; the both of you eating in comfortable silence until it was time for the movie. All the anxiety you'd anticipated feeling disappeared into thin air when Bucky made some space for you to sit beside him. He picked a section of the room where you'd be able to sneak off undetected if you wanted to leave early.

There was something about the Sergeant that made you feel safe. You felt loved by everyone but with Bucky it was just different. You felt safe around him. You trusted him. You didn't know him all that well and yet whenever he was around, you knew you didn't have to worry.

There were days where your anxiety would be at an all time high, worried about why you were getting vivid flashes of random memories and terrible headaches that made you nauseous. In those moments where you felt so lost, so out of control over your own thoughts, Bucky would ground you, just being around him making you feel better.

You couldn't understand why you felt so safe around a man you barely knew but you found yourself seeking him out more and more, desperate for more of his kind words, gentle touches and soothing voice.

He really was the sweetest.

-

It killed Bucky. His heart was hurting. He was a stranger to you and it shattered him, wishing he could kiss and cuddle you every night and tell you he was so glad you were okay, that a part of him nearly died when you didn't wake up. Everyday he had to bid you good night with nothing more than a smile, so badly wanting to hold you tight in his arms instead.

None of that mattered right now.

Not when you needed him the most even if you didn't know it.

He was going to do whatever it took to get you better, taking care of you every step of the way in the best way you needed until you remembered. He could tell by the way you giggled, by the way you smiled, that even if you didn't remember everything, there was always something between you both.

He'd never give up on you no matter how long it took.

-

"Shit" You hissed, dropping the mug of tea you were sipping on, the cup shattering on the floor with a crash. Searing pain felt like it was splitting your head into to, your hands clutching onto your throbbing temples, squeezing your eyes shut, the headaches you'd been getting happening more frequently.

You'd cut back on the medication you were taking, which had actually helped with regaining some of your memory but it also meant you'd go through bouts of pain without anything to help it. Flashes of a mission gone wrong streamed through you memory between fiery throbbing, even the soft day light overwhelming your sense.

"B-Bucky!!" You cried out, your knees buckling as you slumped onto the floor, blinking back tears as another wave of pain passed. You didn't need anything else but you needed your Bucky, the only person you felt felt safe with, the person you'd loved for all these years, the man who was by your bedside for days on end after you didn't wake up-

"Doll? Fuck, y/n, whats wrong sweets" Bucky found you curled up in a ball on the cool kitchen tile, sweeping you up into his arms and holding your head against his chest, his arms covering your face from the light, while his cool metal arm was pressed firmly against your forehead to ease the pain. "M'here y/n, you're okay, you're okay"

He rocked you, not moving from the floor while whispering in your ear, hoping the pain would pass quickly.

"Jamie, it hurts" You whimpered, clutching onto his Henley, the scent of his body wash calming you down. Bucky froze, not saying a word, his heart hammering against his chest at what you'd just called him.

Could that mean-

"Do-do you want to go lie down sweets?" Bucky spoke carefully, feeling you nod, still staying tucked against him. He carried you up to your room, only to have you shake your head as best as you could, wanting to go to his room instead.

"Just want to sleep for a bit baby, please?" you pleaded with him, hardly realizing the tears that were now streaming down his face as he made his way down to his room instead. He was your Jamie, your baby, you were finally coming back to him. Bucky pulled back the covers, setting you down carefully before climbing in with you when you tugged his wrist. Your eyes were still closed, the throbbing in your head slowly dissipating though not gone entirely as you snuggled against his chest, letting out a content sigh.

"Bucky?"

"Yes doll"

"I remember"

-

Bucky stirred awake to the sound of a whimper, his brows knitting together into a frown when he felt your body tremble in his hold.

"What is it baby?" Bucky's deep sleep laced voice carried through the darkness as he pulled you closer, soothing your sniffles. "Why are you crying darling, c'mere"

"Y-you didn't give up on me" Your emotions got the best of you, remembering everything from the moment everything went dark, to the panicked voices around you to the way Bucky had stayed by your side through it all, nursing you back to health while his own heart was hurting.

"Never doll, I'd never give up on you" Bucky said sincerely, kissing your forehead while stroking your hair, "How could I when I love you to much"

"But I-I didn't remember you-you still love me?" you whispered, feeling guilty that it had taken you so long to regain you memories and feeling more guilty that you couldn't remember Bucky for so long.

"Y/n, angel, I'd love you no matter what, do you have any idea how badly I wanted to tell you that for these past few weeks? That's all I wanted to do baby, just hold you and tell you how much I adore you-

You couldn't put into words how much love you had for him in that moment, cutting him off with your lips pressed onto his. The kiss grew more needy, hands desperately grabbing each other; you needed Bucky to know just how much you loved him too, feel every bit of what you couldn't say with words.

"Baby, let me- Bucky was ready to take care of you but that wasn't what the night was about. Not after all he'd done for you.

"No" You shook your head, gently pushing Bucky to lay on his back, straddling yourself on top of him, "Let me take care of you for taking care of me" you murmured against his lips before pressing them against his heated skin, tracing your tongue along the column of his neck. "Please Jamie, let me show you"

"D-doll-I-I can-

"Just let me Sergeant, please" You shimmed out of your oversized t-shirt before slipping your thumbs into the waistband of his briefs, puling them down, leaving him perfectly bare under you. Bucky wasn't typically a shy person but the way you gazed at him with such love made him blush, his thighs tensing when you settling yourself between them.

"Sweetheart you don't have to-oh-f-fuckkk" His words melted into a deep moan, feeling your lips wrap around the swollen head of his cock, your tongue probing his slit, lapping up every bit of precum that dripped out.

You worshipped his cock with your mouth and tongue, making him feel pleasure like never before, your hand softly rubbing and rolling his balls. You pulled off with a pop just to dip your head lower, nursing on his heavy sack, the slutty, needy moans he was letting out growing louder.

"B-Baby, g'nna cum if you don't stop" His thighs spread apart further for you, back nearly arching off the bed as you licked a thick stripe from his balls to the tip of his cock, crawling back up his body to line your soaking cunt up with his length.

"Please y/n" Bucky blinked at you with glassy, lustful eyes, rutting his hips up to feel more of you, his hands flying to your thighs, needing to touch you.

"Anything for you baby" you cooed, gasping at the feeling of his tip catching against your hole, throwing your head back as you began to sink down on his cock, the both of you moaning together at the feeling of him stretching you open.

You began to grind your hips down on him, your clit rubbing against the curly hair at the base of his cock before slowly picking you pace up, your hands resting on his chest for leverage.

"Feel's so good princess" Bucky's eyes rolled back as you started to bounce up and down, practically squealing each time you slammed yourself back down, obscene squelching noises filling the room.

"You deserve it sergeant" you whimpered, letting Bucky's hands roam your body, grabbing and pinching your nipples, your tight cunt squeezing his cock.

"C'mere baby, c'mere please" Bucky pleaded, pulling you down to his chest and wrapping his arms around you, planting his feet against the bed so he could fuck up into you, "Fuck that's it, mark me up!"

Bucky could feel you nip and suck on his neck hard enough to leave bruises, your words starting to slur as you both got closer and closer to your highs.

"F-fuck I love you!" you cried out, biting down hard on Bucky's shoulder as you started to cum, the head of his cock hitting your g-spot with each thrust, his pace growing sloppy.

"I-I love you princess, I love you so much-God m'gonna cum-fuck-s'so much for you-HNGG" He clung onto you like his life depended on it, shoving his cock in as deep as it would go, ropes of his warm spend shooting into you.

"I love you so much Jamie" your pussy clenched around his softening cock making him jolt, the both of you panting, pressing light kisses on sweat slicked skin. "Fell in love with you twice Sergeant"

Bucky blushed before throwing you a cocky smirk, still feeling happiness beyond what words could explain having you in his arms again.

"I'll always love you" Bucky whispered before pulling the covers up over both of you once again, staying deep inside you as you started to drift off to sleep, "No matter what"

[arahdow]

SMOKE

Pairing. Shadow x reader

Content. fem reader. smoking, mention of injuries. overall fluff with a hint of suggestiveness.

Word count. 0.8 k

A/N. out of nowhere i thought of this and I just knew i had to write this UGH i love him your honor. i don’t even know how to smoke but for him i would 😋 anywayyyyy no beta read ! enjoyyy !!

It’s been a long day. She knew it was a bad idea taking the first aid kit outside and bandaging her arm while watching the sunset, but she needed something good today. It didn’t matter that it was getting chilly, at least she could see something beautiful before going to sleep.

“The hell are you doing?” A gruff voice broke her concentration. Turning her head, a certain black hedgehog was walking towards her.

“Just here, looking at the sunset.” She replied simply, her healthy hand wrapping instinctively the bandage around her arm as her eyes remained locked on the sunset in front of her.

A ‘tch’ left his lips, as he suddenly snatched the band from her hand, sitting beside her to resume the wrapping. The girl looked at him, wanting to say something, but decided to stay quiet as she now could see the sunset without a worry.

They sat there in silence, his eyes and hands concentrated on covering her injury. Late that day, there had been an attack by Eggman, it would’ve been easy if only Sonic was there to lessen the damages. Truth was, he wasn’t there, but Eggman didn’t know -nor believed- that. The rest of the team fought against him, but even when they tried their best, there were a lot of injuries after everything was over. Tails was left unconscious, Amy was resting her leg that got painfully twisted, even Knuckles was spent after everything.

And at last, the girl got a shard threw at her almost leaving her armless.

Shaking her head slowly, her eyes fixated on the beautiful scenario in front of her, the way the shadows started to appear when the sun went down, how the weather got colder and the birds stopped singing. She smiled at the sight.

“Done.” Shadow said, closing the aid kit, getting on his feet. The girl not following. “What? Got an injury on your leg too?”

“No,” she said. Glancing at her arm briefly, she smiled. “Thanks for the patching, though. I’ll be here for a little longer, can’t you see the pretty sunset?”

The hedgehog said nothing, as he started walking away from where she was sitting. The space he was occupying suddenly got colder. She kind of wished he would’ve stayed, but she also knew how Shadow was. Such a lone wolf.

Her thoughts were silenced when her nose caught the scent of smoke. Was something burning? Turning around to examinate the perimeter and check if the fire was somehow closer, she noticed the figure of Shadow looming over her. He was smoking.

With furrowed eyebrows, she opened her mouth to ask about that habit that she never knew he had, but then he sat beside her again, his eyes fixated on the sunset. And she decided to keep quiet too.

The breeze was soon starting to become colder; the sun quickly being swallowed between the mountains as it left a few sunrays glowing from them, announcing the arrival of the moon that was waiting still a little translucent on the sky.

Her eyes suddenly felt the need to see how Shadow looked while smoking. It was, interesting how he seemed so nonchalant about it, when he probably wasn’t used to smoking around anyone. She knew that because she couldn’t recall a single time that someone could mention such a thing.

Shadow felt her stare, and he turned his lips blowing a puff of smoke that got lost into the air. He thought maybe she wanted to ask something but she wasn’t talking. With a confused face, he raised the cigarette once again.

But there wasn’t a cigarette. At least not in between his fingers. He looked amused at his hand and then at her. The girl took the cigarette out of nowhere and raised it to her lips, and he didn’t even notice.

“I didn’t know you were a smoker.” Shadow stated with a smirk, crossing his legs, resting his elbows on his thighs. She laughed as the smoke flew to the sky.

“I didn’t know you were.” Her words as she returned the cigarette.

“Was that a party trick?”

She cocked her head to the side. “What thing?”

“Taking the cigarette out of my hand without me noticing.” He replied, looking at her, inhaling the heat from the cig.

Chuckling, she shook her head. “It’s not something I do often. It’s been some time since the last time I did that.” She didn’t really used to go to parties, and when she went to one, she wasn’t used to flirting with people, as she only pulled that movement when she was trying to flirt on someone.

The black hedgehog smiled, noticing that the cigarette had a faint stain of lipstick. Getting the cigarette close to his face, he made sure his lips touched the same spot when taking another puff.

Blowing the smoke out, he turned at her, a smirk plastered on his face. “Good to know.”

[songsofadelaide]

In 2006, you entered Tokyo Jujutsu High with nothing but the clothes on your back. A cursed spirit wreaked havoc in your home and awakened your spirit sight and cursed technique— and mopping up the scene were two high schoolers from an unknown school who became your classmates soon enough.

Your situation was confusing enough as it is, but long story short, your newly awakened "powers" meant you had to leave your life behind and begin a new one as a jujutsu sorcerer. Seeing as you had nowhere else to go anyway, you relented and allowed yourself to be led away, like a girl from nowhere headed nowhere.

Except it wasn't nowhere, and you found yourself a home— with people just like you. Satoru, Suguru, Shoko— and also Kento and Yu. They were once strangers who soon became your only family.

Yet it still gave you chills when you think about what it was exactly you were fighting. Sometimes, you could hear what they were saying, with voices that sounded so human yet also unearthly.

You started taking things more seriously when you realised there was no more turning back for you. You undertook missions with only one goal in mind: to continue staying alive. When you were partnered with Suguru one time, you didn't hesitate to leave him behind when things got nasty. Surprisingly, he didn't fault you for that and even understood just how terrified you truly were by the whole ordeal.

In one instance, you fell unconscious, only for you to realise in that mid-death sequence that it was Suguru who fished you out of the rubble of your home and breathed life back into your lungs. He was a tender youth, and you could even call him old-fashioned, but he took his assignments just as seriously as you did and even made sure you were always all right with things.

"Do the cursed spirits still scare you?" "No... Not as much. I think it's because you're always around..."

Suguru likened you to a feral cat that got lost in the woods, only to return to a different kind of civilisation where everything wanted to hurt it all over again. Out of all your classmates and schoolmates, he was most understanding with you, to the point where Satoru was incredibly jealous, for the lack of a better word.

"Just how long are you planning on keeping up that helpless girl act of yours?" "Don't speak to her that way, Satoru. You've seen what she's been through."

When you called him by his first name by accident— because Satoru called him by his first name all the time— he told you it was fine, and that you could keep calling him by whatever name you were comfortable with.

"If it's fine with you, I'll call you by your name, too."

You were more than fine with that. In fact, Suguru made you feel all warm and stupid and fuzzy that it almost felt moronic of you to be around him. It was your mistake asking Shoko for a check-up because she did nothing more but aggravate the strangeness you felt whenever Suguru was around.

"You aren't sick. You feel that way because you like him, you idiot."

He didn't blame you either when you kissed him that one night, overcome with so much affection he had a hard time pondering from where it came. He joked about having successfully tamed a wild cat, but you reminded him once more how human you were when you pressed your chest against his and stole the rest of his quip from his lips once more.

The first time you went out with Suguru after that hazy kiss, you could hardly hear his voice because of how loud your heart pounded in your chest. He was the perfect gentleman— or so he attempted to be— and was incredibly attentive to you and your needs. Why he gladly played house with you was beyond your comprehension, but you didn't mind staying so blissfully ignorant in this bubble that caged you both.

Suguru was kind. Nothing but kind. And he was exceptionally kind to you, even though he thought you were nothing more than a feral cat he managed to domesticate.

Your kiss reminded him of the sweetness of a colourful hard candy when he was little— fragrant and cloying— perhaps a bit too sickeningly saccharine for his tastes, but it was far better than the flavour of the curses he had to ingest. He'd kiss you again to remember better days— again and again and again until both of your lips were sore, until he's had his fill, until he's had enough— enough of your sweetness and enough of you. Then he'd tell you to drink a glass of water like nothing happened.

When the disillusionment occurred— the Star Plasma Vessel was killed and Yu died in a miscalculation— the light in his kind eyes had died out, and no amount of knocking on his door will arouse him, let alone let you in.

Suguru left for a mission one day and never returned. He visited his friends one by one until it was only you left that he had yet to meet. You said that you'd follow him to the ends of the earth, fuck the system and fuck society.

He felt like he was leaving his pet cat to fend for itself.

"If you leave, there's no going back for you."

Where you went didn't matter that much anymore as long as he was there. It never mattered to you at all. It only started to matter when Suguru said he would love to have you with him.

"I can live with that. I only need you."

Satoru did not take your escape kindly. He said that you were just as poisoned as Suguru. Your only mistake was trying to fight back— against the young god that Satoru was. You supposed it was your feral cat instincts that told you to engage.

He did not finish you off but instead turned you over to his teacher, who would find something to do with you one of these days.

Suguru waited for you until nightfall, and he concluded that you bailed and probably had cold feet. Like always, he never blamed you. You would be a fugitive like him, after all, after working so hard for the roof over your head. It only hurt him a little, especially when you told him that you only needed him and nothing else.

What could have possibly changed your mind?

He didn't mull over it any longer. Wild cats like you will always find ways to survive, after all.

"I guess I'll have to leave that kitty behind."

In 2018, "Suguru" finds you among the school's collection of oddities. Only it wasn't him, but a stranger with his face. He coos over you, holding you close to his person— as though it was truly him— and he remarks how this body remembers "this vengeful spirit".

He remembers— in fragments— breathing life back into you long ago, and how you orbited him as though he was a celestial body. Your face occupied much of his thoughts— back when those thoughts were still truly his.

He consumes you, and his body is overcome by the memory of a fragrant, cloying flavour that runs his mouth dry.

"Ah," the impostor remarks. "So that's what it was."

"Suguru" summons you in the thick of battle, and his opponents are fraught with terror at the sight of his most favoured curse— a menacing feral cat that lives only by his commands, that lives only for him.

"You never changed your mind after all."

[vikuo-kuma]

Hi can I request? About Mashle and reader (genderless) like here's the scenerio.

So like the reader isn't familiar with the school and saw a group of people and it's mash friend group and the reader, then go ask mash where's the kitchen so the reader could bake and stuffs. Then Mash pointed and then yatta yatta and when Mash was alone he remembered the reader and went to the kitchen to see what the reader is up to, he then saw the reader baking a lot of pastries for friends and self.

Cupcakes and Sweets 🍭

A/N: I'm in pain while writing this, literally. 😔

—

Aimlessly, you traverse the corridors, trying to look for something specific. You weren't really familiar with the school yet, so getting lost was an easy thing to do. Slowly but surely you were getting tired from aimlessly walking around. You had visited literally everywhere but the kitchen. "Where the heck is the kitchen?", grumbling under your breath, your craving for sweets grew.

"It's like the kitchen grew legs and started running from me or something", your mood changed to one of an angry person.

"Also, where is everyone?", thinking that you could've asked someone for help. Your face puffed up all pouty. As you continued to walk, you saw a group of people up a head, quickly bringing up your mood. “Hey! I’m in need of help!”, shouting to the group, trying to get their attention. A seemingly dark haired male turned his head towards your voice.

“Who are you?”, he asked with a monotone voice, while tilting his head in confusion. The male stared at you blankly, trying to see if he could remember a person like you. “Well, I’m Y/N L/N and I’m trying to find where the kitchen is”, you huffed after running towards his direction.

“And well.. I’m kind of lost”, awkwardly looking away from the boy’s eyes. “Oh. Well it’s where you came from, you just missed the door”, he answered blankly, staring at the stranger person. You turned around and saw a sign hanging up below the door he pointed towards. The sign read in large letters Kitchen. Your jaw dropped, you had passed by this door multiple times already before the dark haired male had pointed it out.

Shaking your head, you turned your attention back towards the male. “Thank you so much!”, unconsciously, you hugged the boy with much gratitude and ran towards the kitchen door. What a strange girl, not as strange as Lemon though. The dark haired male blankly stared at your retreating form.

Wait. Just then the dark haired male realized that he hadn’t introduced himself to you. Oops.

—

At last, you were able to bake a few delectables and was still baking a few more things. However you were very busy in fact, you didn’t notice a familiar male standing at the entrance of the kitchen. He was just stopping by to check up on you, but caught a scent of baked pastries, making his mouth water.

You had a weird feeling that someone was watching you, so you looked towards the door and was met with the same dark haired male drooling while staring at the sweets on the counter.

“You want some?”, The boy nodded, entering the kitchen fully to try one of your many sweets you had baked.

Safe to say that he had fell in love with you after trying one bite.

—

Note: Doom soon, then Kaldo 😔🙏

[dragonfruits02]

a list of my favorite spy school funny moments/quotes

- “What the heck are powdered nutgalls?” Chip asked. “It’s what you get after riding a horse at high speed for an hour,” Mike grumbled, gingerly adjusting the seat of his pants.

- Jemma Emma Dilemma

- “Or Agent Kumquat,” Chip added, and then both of them cracked up.

- Alexander glared at him, still smarting from his insult. “See if I ever buy you campfire treats again.” he said, and then stormed out himself.

- “Not necessarily. I could like them as a friend.” “First of all, you don’t have friends.”

- “Parcheesi?! I loooove Parcheesi.”

- “I lost the arm and the leg, but not the eye.” “Oh, how’d you lose that?” “A bug flew into it.” “Uhh, you don’t lose your eye if a bug flies into it.” “You do if it’s your first day with a hook.😒”

- “Although believe it or not, Nefarious actually got off easy. According to his file, his folks named his little sister Placenta.”

- “If there’s one thing I know, it’s women.” Murray exclaimed.

- Now that he had transformed into Hot Murray,

- “How good is your vision?” Mike asked. “It’s off the charts,” Erica replied. “I eat a lot of carrots.”

- “Supposedly the guy was a big jerk, and the peasants all rose up against him and burned him alive, and now his ghost roams the property, looking for a… fire extinguisher or something like that.”

- He was at the base of an extremely tall elm tree, speaking into a radio microphone and seeming far more lucid than usual—although the moment he saw Chip and Jawa, he went right back into his doddering act. “Skip and Yaya!”

- “Dad, I’m going to need you to act like you have no idea what’s going on.” “What?” Alexander asked, confused. “I don’t understand.”

- “Wow! Our pool at spy school didn’t have water slides.” “Really? What did it have?” “Bacterial contamination.😕”

- “So, this girlfriend of Mike’s…is he super into her, or just kind of into her?” “He’s mentioned marriage. 🙂”

- “I think plenty!” The principal said defensively. “My mind is a constant whirlwind of thinkery!”

- “Erica!” Alexander gasped, mortified this had happened in front of so many people. “We do not spit on our grandfathers in this family!”

- Paul Lee leaned close to me and whispered, “Has he uh..uh…had some sort of, um, brain injury?” “No.” I replied. “This is how he was born, I think.”

- “Erica! You’re driving on the wrong side of the street!” “I’m not driving on the wrong side.🙄” Erica argued, gunning the engine. “They are!”

- Chip pegged him in the face with another pair of boxers. “Warren, stop playing with my underwear, you pervert.”

- “Now? Here?” “National security is at stake.” “It was at stake this morning when I was having waffles in the cafeteria. We couldn’t have discussed this then??”

- “All these men are itching for a fight. And since I’m the alpha male here, they’re going to come for me first!” Alexander said. “The alpha male.?🤨” Catherine asked, amused. “Yes! It won’t look good for them to attack women or children, so they’ll attack me first!” “And me.” Murray seconded nervously. “I’m definitely the beta male here!”

- “Neither does Jawa. Why aren’t you suspicious of him?” “Jawa’s a freak of nature. You’re just a freak.”

- “Hey! Where’s my breakfast?” The woman socked him in the face. Murray reeled backward. “Okay! No tip for you!” He said, then collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

- I quickly replaced the skull and wiped my hand on my shirt. “This is sooo not how I wanted to spend my first day in Paris.” OKAY DRAMA QUEEN?

- “West Virginia?” Claire Hutchins called from a few rows up. “I thought that was all strip mines and inbred hillbillies.” “You heard wrong.” Chip shot back. “As you can see, there’s plenty of wilderness here. And the locals are far less inbred than the royal family.”

- “Do you not care one wit for your country?” “No! I care many wits for my country!”

- “What have you done?!” He screamed at us. “What have you done?!” “Well, it’s obvious,” I said. “We’ve blown up a rebel minivan.”

- Murray sighed. “I know you’ve got issues with Ben because he turned you into half the man you used to be.” (About Joshua)

- “Talk about being heavily armed.” Mike said. (Also about Joshua)

[wyvchard]

Even if you can't see me as me anymore...

... would you still be kind to me?

CW: Whump, mentions of alcohol

Prompt: Agent Phoenix went missing in the middle of a mission, only to return to the agency with the coldest welcome they've ever received.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reginald took in a breath as he sighed, wine glass stained with the 4th? 5th? He lost count after three.

It was supposed to be an easy mission. Unlike how retrieving Roxana's research had been. It was just "go to the abandoned location, poke around a bit, and head back".

But of course things always had to end up this complicated.

His agent went missing after a blurry set of events. The camera they were equipped with and their ocular units were struggling to keep track of everything, the signal grainy as the waves travelled through material designed to hinder such transmissions.

But the disrepair was sufficient to be able to send just enough information to paint nightmares that will last for days.

"How do I explain this to the board of directors? Even I don't know what happened." He sighed, looking at his scratchy notes as he tried to rewind the footage. He paused when he head a transmission in his headphones.

"Crane, we got a situation in the Enhanced Operatives Division. Apparently, some agents saw a Zoraxis operative wandering in the building. However, others are saying they saw a ghost."

"Why isn't the building on lockdown?" He suppressed a sigh, the hangover coming closer than he thought possible.

"The building is on lockdown, just that it can't be announced. We're rewinding footage as we speak but the security team is in arms arguing at who they saw."

"Why is that the case? Is there an agent breaking probation?"

"That's the issue. The security team saw Agent Typhoon walking in."

"Isn't Agent Typhoon on probation for provoking several security officers?"

"Exactly. But when security called, Agent Typhoon answered, which the agent in the camera did not do. And then security started freaking out since the agent in the cameras vanished, as if they knew where it is. If we issue a lockdown, they might get away."

"Do you think we've been-"

Reginald cut his words when he received the notification that his agent returned to the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phoenix walked back to their apartment, deciding to take a pit stop there to patch up the shallow cuts so their handler wouldn't fuss over them all over again. The visits to the medical wing was troublesome as they would be taken off the field for a while once more. Something about the latest time they almost died seemed to have caused him to fret about their well-being way too much.

They were already unsettled by the fact that their ocular implant was causing their vision to turn to static. They hesitantly turned it off as soon as they regained consciousness, shivering away the thought of their handler losing contact with them as their earpiece and body camera was left shattered after that frigid wind caused them to shut their eyes. As much as they would want to keep contact, they were nervous that the static would render them unconscious.

Bandages covered their skin by the time they were finished with patching up. Their fingers were still trembling as the cold jabs of the disinfectant started to subside. They steadied their breathing before deciding to abandon the floor to grab their debrief and broken equipment with their hands.

Securing their hat with the feather pin in their head as the rest of their hair was tucked into it, they headed to their office in the agency, hoping that their handler hadn't decided to confuse liquor with water.

It was supposed to be an uneventful walk, considering it was way beyond what time any reasonable person would walk down the street in. They faltered in their steps several times as the hostile gaze of the ones they passed by traced up their back.

It wasn't the usual gazes of a Zoraxis operative who wants to kill them that bothers them, no. It was the feeling of loathing someone right in front of your face while showing a smile, waiting to pounce for the moment you can wash your hands to pretend you aren't the one who wrung the life out of your abhorred.

They adjusted their hat and trench coat as they entered the agency, still feeling the same looks from the bystanders a couple of blocks before. They still pushed through, 'maybe they got worried', they thought.

"Agent, shouldn't you be in probation?" The security officer greeted them with hostility, taking away their voice with the way they were looked at.

They merely shook their head before passing through the checkpoint and bolted to Reginald's office.

Probation? What would they be in probation for? Was it their hobby of publishing papers?

The gazes of the other agents don't matter to them, ignoring the gasps and silent weeps from the other agents. Others peppered them with profanities.

They have to get to Reggie. Everything is just too much. He must know what's going on.

They avoided the cameras out of habit, despite the fact that the entire agency already knew they survived the death engine. Old habits die hard and those months of hiding the fact they survived that in order to keep up the cover story don't just vanish out of nowhere.

Reginald opened his door, only to pause with a forlorn gaze. Phoenix walked in and shut the door, calling out his name.

"Agent, not tonight. Please. I don't have the energy to deal with this right now. Maybe tomorrow but not now."

Their words, begging for answers and reaching out to hug him, paralyzed him, as if they were something he wasn't meant to be holding onto.

"I'm really sorry, Agent. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have-I should have-" He heaved, shaking as his eyes widened once more. "... Please leave me alone. Please." They refused and merely held onto him for a hug, caging him so he doesn't escape.

Phoenix was in the brink of tears when they noticed the bottles of alcohol on his desk. They used their TK to activate the emergency line and hoped that he wouldn't pass out from drinking.

They quietly counted the minutes in their head and tried to calm him down, supporting his trembling body with their own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Handler, what's going on? Why is this happening?" His agent was crying as the water was leaking in the escape pod.

"I was told that those escape pods are safe. Hold on, I-I'll think of something."

"Don't bother. It's too late. Thank you for trying anyway, Handler."

He knows. He knows he shouldn't be clinging to the phantoms of his imagination, of the wish he could come to them and tell them he's proud of them. But it's too late. That agent's dead and his current one is missing.

But will it be so bad if he clings to this for tonight? Clings to the thought he could say sorry for failing them one more time?

The warmth of the hands patting his back soothed him a bit but it was awful. He was the handler, he should be the one taking care of his agents and yet here he is, pathetically crying in the arms of the agent he failed to save.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phoenix knew not to interfere with the medical personnel when they took him away.

They were still shaking when one of the medical personnel told them to get rest back in their ward and telling them that Phoenix will come back to take care of their Handler soon.

... They weren't injured. They have no reason to get to a ward. Right?

But... it still doesn't explain why Reggie called them with a different agent's name, a mix of syllables that they know they have read or heard somewhere.

Maybe they're both sleep deprived. Some water may help.

They paused when they saw the mirror when they were washing their face. Those eyes weren't theirs, nor the shade of the lips.

It wasn't their face.

But that doesn't make sense. Their handler never... None of the other agents...

Just what did that chemical in that laboratory do to them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AAAaaand Cut!

Spoilers on how it works here.

I hope to make a multi chapter version soon. There is a rough outline but I am not sure if I'll stick to it.

@phoenix-and-found-family , I wonder how your Phoenix will react to being in this situation.

[angelicalchaoticabyss]

(PokePasta) PokePark 2, The Fun Never Ends.

I was replaying PokePark 2 again for about the…fifth time? What can I say? I just found the game that fun I suppose. And you could call me a pretty lonely guy, I didn’t have friends after all so making Pokemon friends in the game was nice.

 It was after saving the Pokemon from Wish Park did I start to see a change. When I talked to the saved Pokemon to play their skill games they would talk about how tired they were, how exhausting it was to come out of Wish Park. The way they acted reflected this as the skill games were easier to complete and I didn’t even need Snivy to catch Cincinno in Cove Town.

I pondered on what was going on with the game but found it interesting enough to keep playing. The rescued Pokemon in the Arbor Area were the same thing, always exhausted. Bisharp even had a cloud above his head signifying I had to speak to him, and he talked about how tired and drained the saved Pokemon looked. Now I was even more curious. The next time I entered Wish Park I didn’t go to the attraction right away after encountering Darkrai and rejecting his offer to join him.

Now I don’t know how I did this exactly, but I managed to glitch Pikachu into the center of Wish Park, and I could strangely access Wish Palace, so I pressed 2 to go.

The Compass star thing glowed brightly as Pikachu was engulfed in light.

The Loading screen was completely black aside from the white “Loading…” in the corner. Then the Wish Palace music began to play. I ran up the stairs to where Darkrai was, and I wondered if I had found a speedrun skip for the game. But instead of Piplup being there it was indeed Darkrai waiting for me. He had a cloud above his head, so I went to talk to him.

“You…You’re here? Did you manage to find a way to see me? How…thoughtful. I have an attraction for you to play.”

I wasn’t given an option to decline, and my curiosity got the better of me. I selected Yes and was sent to another Loading screen with only Pikachu on it, and he was looking…worried, before the instructions came up. I was to hit the Shadow balls back at Darkrai as they came at me and it kind of reminded me of Bastidon’s attraction from the first game. I knocked the attacks back at Darkrai as best I could, getting hit several times when he moved faster and faster but finally the attraction was over with a passing score...only…it wasn’t.

The attraction started up again with another loading screen with Pikachu having a scared look on his face. This continued on, with each loading screen Pikachu began to look more and more exhausted, drained, like he was being syphoned of energy. The attraction truly ended when mid hit Pikachu just collapsed onto the ground, unconscious, and I lost control of the game.

“What the…?”

“Hm…something wrong my friend…? You don’t look too good, here, let me help you…”

“Pikaaa….”

“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. We’ll be friend’s forever…never again lonely.”

Darkrai ensnared Pikachu in a bundle of energy, I shook my head and turned the Wii off…okay…something…no that’s...that’s horribly wrong. I turned it back on again, but no matter what I did and how long I waited, the Wii wouldn’t recognize the game disc. I was confused and frustrated so I left the console off before going to bed, and in my sleeping state I was afflicted with a nightmare. I was a Pikachu running through darkness, and a voice was begging me to stay over and over, filling my ears.

The nightmares continued without end for weeks, even seeking medical attention didn’t help stop them. I was beyond stressed out and terrified of sleep, this led to me not sleeping for days until I’d eventually pass out from exhaustion. Darkrai began to appear in these dreams, begging me to stay with him and be his friend, but I always ran away. The nightmares wouldn’t stop…until I couldn’t wake up anymore.

My nightmares were now of Wish Park and Wish Palace, occasionally I could hear the sounds of hospital machines and the like, my mother crying…it all hurt so much. But I’m stuck here now, stuck with him. Stuck with my… “best friend” and I knew deep down…not even death would save me.

But why should I be sad? I’m stuck with fun games, endless food, and a best friend who wants everything to do with me. Sure, I’m away from my family but hey…who…needed them…? Who needs anyone when you have Darkrai? When you have Darkrai and Wish Park…

The Fun never ends.

[masadd]

all my simon AUs [half are shower thoughts]

vampire simon multiverse world AU

• pretty self-explanatory!! simon is a vampire. it played out pretty similarly as our simon at first; he got the crown, betty left, mushroom bomb went off, and he met marceline.

• that's where things change. simon had to wear the crown to protect marcy, again. marcy panicked when simon wouldn't take it off and bit him without malicious intent, instead turning him into a vampire.

• since this technically killed simon, he broke out of the crown's grasp, now undead. marceline thought she killed him, panicked, and ran away. simon lived on his own ever since for like 1,000 years and kind of lost it being alone!!

HMS simon au

• this one is kind of like a crossover ?? with another one of my favorite things. it's based off chonny jash's characters, heart, mind, and soul. the whole plot of CCCC [chonny's charming chaos compendium] is that this guy's consciousness split into three [heart mind and soul], and they needed to reconcile.

• so . this goes basically the exact same as our simon. our simon, now like 1,059 [or however old he is], is in his little exhibit [same as the start of fionna and cake!!] he's chilling but keeps getting pressed closer to the edge each day.

• the main difference is that simon never actually ends up trying to make a portal to golbetty, and reaches his limit after like a series of unfortunate events.

• simon splits off into his own HMS. that's . essentially it . i dont wanna spoil much....

winter king worldswap AU

• i don't have it all planned out on how exactly it happened, but basically, winter king ends up in our ooo [aka just where our simon is from]. obviously this one is incredibly confusing for most residents of ooo, specifically marceline, finn, pb, and others .

• eventually, they figure out [pretty quickly] that this is NOT their simon . they try to ask where their simon is [who is out traveling with fionna and cake], but winter king has no clue !! he likely tries to pretend he does know though .

• ultimately . marceline ends up hating winter king

simon / F&C world interception AU

• is it obvious i don't have names for them

• ok so . basically, somehow simon ends up in the F&C modern au. which . technically should be impossible since it's inside his brain,,, but i have thought of a solution

• simon somehow [accidentally] projects his consciousness into the F&C world, leaving his real body just kinda There [probably unconscious]. think of it like that one adventure time episode where magic man makes jake go inside himself, and he explores his own little city and stuff . it's kind of like that!!

• his deal is similar to fionna and cake concerning his effects on their world . like for example how fionna touched winter king's crown and the magic went away, or when cake turned that one dude into a literal hotdog. basically, simon is doing the same on the F&C world, except he's doing the opposite!! he's magic-ifying it.

• shit starts to go down once people actually notice him. since he blends in so well, it takes a bit,,, just starts to get obvious once that one cookie turns alive or smth 😭

• simon is eventually overcrowded by a ton of curious [and terrified] people, and runs off to just the first inconspicuous place he sees. this leads him to running into marshall lee, who's chillin with gary. simon, gary, and marshall lee kinda chill for a while !! marshall and gary probably talk abt how fionna's gone, which prompts simon to feel guilty and he reveals where he's actually from, and what happened to fionna.

• gary and marshall lee don't believe him at first, until simon turns something [idk what!!] into magic again. they then try to get to our ooo

• marshall lee and gary make it, but simon's still kinda trapped in his own consciousness . likely in the candy kingdom hospital with marceline bc he just passed out unexpectedly 😭

•Wooooo his fate is unknown [dont worry its a happy ending]

* i also won't be very surprised if these have been done before just know i do NOT mean to steal any ideas . if that happened it was purely unintentional cos i just made these up based on my minds silly desires

[lordgrimwing]

Awake

[for Glorfindel Week, hosted by @glorfindelweek, Day 4, part of the Silm ABO series]

Glorfindel listened to the strange noises around him. Eyes shut and breath kept carefully even, he tried to get a sense of what was happening without alerting anyone to his wakefulness. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious this time, but the pain in his stomach was less distracting now. 

Last time, he woke up suddenly, yanked back to consciousness by a deep, aching pain splitting his belly open as though the mýrennedí still had her teeth in him. He had a hazy memory of someone trying to speak with him, followed by an unsuccessful attempt to escape out the mouth of the bizarre cave they were in. Whoever these people were, they were not pleased by his disappearance. 

The cave opening sat on the side of a sheer cliff dotted with many other openings of identical size and shape. The pain made climbing hard, and he had to slip inside one of the other caves to rest. Fearing he’d fall if he tried climbing the rest of the way down, he tested his luck in the rabbit warren-like caves instead, hoping they were all connected and he could reach the ground. 

He bumped into many strangely dressed elves as he went. They either stared at him in surprise or squawked like vibrantly colored, unintelligible birds. A few tried to stop him, but he avoided them easily and kept running.

The elf from the first cavern caught up to him at about the same time he realized he’d started bleeding from the healing gashes in his stomach. He wasn’t steady on his feet by that point, stumbling down the passage with more than running, and the elf easily grabbed him. Everything was very confused after that, but they must have gotten back to where he started somehow. 

That brought him back to the present: still unable to make sense of what was going on but feeling less like he was crawling toward the flaming chasm of death—so that was good.

“You are awake?” Someone asked from near his head.

Well, pretending to sleep wasn’t working. It was time to figure out where he was and what happened. He opened his eyes.

The elf from earlier was gone, replaced by one of the strangers the mýrennedí tried eating. He recognized this one from the days he spent watching their camp before the attack, assessing if they were a threat to his people or just part of a strange tribe passing through. Quenhó, he’d named this one, because his odd appearance was reminiscent of images conjured up by the angoldos’ tales of lost spirits. He had been interesting to watch: he appeared to be some kind of healer, like an angoldo, as others in the group came to him when they were hurt.

Quenhó repeated the question, words spoken with the tone of someone who was trying to speak clearly after eating many fermented mesquite bean pods. “You are awake?”

Glorfindel blinked. “Yes.” His mouth felt dry.

“You are safe,” Quenhó said in very simple words, tongue stumbling.

Was he just learning to speak? Perhaps he actually was a lost spirit.

“Do not run again. You are hurt.” Quenhó pointed at his own stomach, hidden under layers of enough stifling fabric to make a sizable traveling tent, then down at Glorfindel’s while making a pained expression with his odd face.

Glorfindel agreed with the limited explanation. “Yes,” he said. “That is usually what happens to people who are caught by a mýrennedí. I’m lucky she didn’t kill me.” 

The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that he should have died. The fight took place far away from his people (though he’d watched the strangers long enough to know that they knew where his people lived, that they were specifically watching his people). Even if he had survived the journey back to be cared for by an angoldo, he’d seen though wounds like this to know a burning fire should have grown within him by the third day and finished what the large cat started.

Quenhó looked at him, his face twisted into an indecipherable mask. “You are hurt,” he repeated. “I am helping you.”

Glorfindel tilted his head against the thick, soft mat he was laying on. “Where am I?” He asked. “I’ve never seen caves like this. Do your people make caves like hares dig tunnels?”

“You are hurt.” This time, a hint of pleading entered the words.

Quenhó, whoever and whatever he was, had no idea what Glorfindel was saying.

[laalaaisqueen]

I think I accidentally wrote a new story-this wasn't supposed to be a 4 minute read

The chainsaw felt suddenly heavy in his hands. At least it didn't land on his feet. He breathes heavily staring at Po's corpse and the hair he lost in his fight with her. It's still fairly long, so he won't complain much.

His pale eyes pan over to where he saw Noo-Noo last and emitted a surprise noise.

Did he escape while Guardian was distracted with Po's huge spider form? Or maybe the half bot never intended on taking Po with him.

He opens his mouth to ask Laa-Laa (she had been standing back, yelling at him to just run into the station) if she saw where Noo-Noo went.

But instead he screamed in surprise.

This was due to a sharp pain hitting his back, his hoodie was pretty old and worn out so it didn't protect much from whatever entered his back.

There was little he could do to stop the person from shoving him forward. Due to how tired his body is from the fight.

He dropped the chainsaw so he could try to catch himself on the dirt.

The hat went flying off his head.

They continued to hit him with the sharp object. Guardian's leg tried to kick at the person but a different kind of pain shot through his body when a hand roughly grabbed his antenna.

"OW! FUCK!" He never usually swore but surely this was a reason.

They smacked his head on the ground for several moments while he struggled but the pain in his head made it hard to focus.

For fucks sake, why won't he die?!

The yellow Teletubby lets him roll over, he insultingly looked shocked. His nose bleeding from when she was smacking his face against the ground.

Does he really expect me to be okay with him killing one of my friends?

Laa-Laa stabs his throat with her sharped rock that she had been holding onto the whole time. She truly wasn't intended to kill him at any point when they left the Outskirts.

But that changed.

She stabbed him repeatedly in the chest while her mind raced.

I'm literally killing a Teletubby.

I don't need him anymore.

She tightens her jaw and tries to push away the feeling that rose up at that thought. A light sense of relief climbs up her shoulders once she notices he's stopped moving.

Laa-Laa backs off from his body, heavily breathing, her hands shaky. Her vision going blurry with tears, she felt like she was going to...faint.

Anne didn't know what to expect at the station, it took forever for them to leave due to Miles insisting he needed to find his one-in-kind boots, but two-technically three-bodies.

"...Is that a fucking spider?" To be fair, the red body was the most obvious due to how huge it is.

Anne cautiously approaches the other two. She didn't need to look too closely to see if the dirty looking form was alive. Very clearly dead.

But she could tell the yellow form is breathing, just passed out. She picked up her unconscious body in one arm and only then noticed the bloody weapon.

It could be possible she is the reason why this guy is dead. It's not easy at all to tell what the motive would be. The only way to find out is questioning.

She walks back towards the other soldiers.

"What about the other one ma'am?" One of them was most likely eyeing the dead one, though unclear through the helmet.

"His throat and chest is bleeding, he ain't alive." She sets the passed out Tubby inside the helicopter. "This one seems to be the only survivor here." She doesn't bother mentioning the sharp rock.

A green blur rushes past her into a seat. "We need to get the Fucking out of here." Miles huffed and puffed as if he ran ten circles around the base.

"Why, is the spider actually alive?"

Conor follows behind, though not small enough to be a blur. "There's no time to explain, we'll be dead if we stay here."

Anne was baffled at what was making these two run so fast but Conor being worried about looming death convinced her to get into the front seat. The others climb in, a bit confused at the situation.

That is until they were high in the sky, looking down at tiny creatures stumbling over the hills.

"Come on you two, you're scared of tiny monsters?"

"Perhaps you missed the amount of tiny monsters?!"

"I passed math, I can see 'em just fine."

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 16: The Bad End

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs| You've reached a Bad End (Also on AO3!)

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

These caves all look the same, with rock all around, but Chase and Stacy seem to know where they’re going. They keep going down for a while, until, suddenly, they stop in the middle of a stretch of tunnel. 

“Here we are,” Chase says. He pushes on part of the wall, revealing that it’s fake, a bit of painted plaster covering up a cave entrance. He pushes it inward and slides it to the side.

Jackie blinks and then looks at the construction grinning. “Damn- that’s a pretty good decoy! I would have no idea if I wasn’t looking for it! How you guys don’t get completely lost in here is beyond me!”

Stacy grins. “Thanks. It took us forever to make. And we’ve mapped the tunnels out.” 

“They’re in our brains now,” Chase laughs. “But I’m still new to them so I’m not quite used to it yet. Come on.” 

The group steps into a small antechamber, where there’s a man sitting on a folding chair and reading by the light of a lantern. A big piece of plywood blocks the other entrance to the room. 

“Hey, Quinten,” Stacy says. “We’re back. This is Jackie. The weather is nice upstairs, a bit of a breeze.” 

That last part must be some kind of code, because it makes no sense.

Jackie carefully follows the others in and waves at the new man, Quinten. "Yo!" He tries to smile. He then looks at Stacy in a bit of confusion. ...it was kinda nice outside? He guesses?

“Hey.” Quinten waves. He folds over a page corner in his book and stands up, going over to move the plywood— And then there is the sound of footsteps down the tunnel. Stacy and Chase tense. Chase reaches into his jacket and pulls out a handgun. Stacy carefully leans out into the tunnel, peering towards the sound… 

“Stacy? Is that you?” A voice calls.

 Stacy relaxes. “Trisha. Hi.” 

Trisha, Bro, and the rest of the group are approaching the hidden entrance from the other end of the tunnel. 

Trisha waves. “The weather is nice upstairs, a bit of a breeze,” she says. 

“Yeah, all of you get in here,” Stacy says, gesturing.

Jackie stiffens and unconsciously goes to hide behind Chase as they tense towards the footsteps. Then his faces brightens as he sees Bro with the others. “Chase!” 

Bro blinks and then looks relived. He hurries over and scoops up Jackie to hug him, breathing against his shoulder, “You’re okay…!” 

Jackie blinks in a bit of confusion but he hugs Bro back and pats him. “Yeah bro I’m okay!” As the hug ends, Jackie can see the pain in Bro’s eyes and he immediately gets concerned. “…what happened? What’s wrong?” 

Bro flinches slightly and looks away, gripping his hands into fists. “…they got Alt… I couldn’t stop them…”

Jackie gasps, his eyes wide. 

“Alt?” Stacy repeats. “Your magician friend?” 

“Your brother,” Chase says quietly, eyes wide. “Oh. I-I’m so sorry.” 

“I said we would get him back,” Trisha tells the two of them. 

Stacy nods, determined. “We will. Come on, get in. We’ll talk about it in here.” She finishes pushing the plywood away, clearing the entrance.

Jackie carefully leads Bro inside and guides him to sit down, acting like a worried dad. “Okay- tell us what happened…” 

Bro lets himself get lead in and sits himself heavily on the floor. He shudders. “We…appeared in this rundown street- everything looked abandoned. And then… your doppelgänger found us, Jackie. But he got… mad when we called him that. Told us to call him Error.” He grips at his arms. “He grabbed Alt and put a knife to his neck and I just… froze. I didn’t know how to help-“ He knits his eyebrows together, “then something really weird happened! His eyes went from black to white and he suddenly let Alt go- told us to run. So I did- and Alt seemed to know where to go! We found the entrance to underground and I… I thought Alt would glitch down right beside me down the stairs! He stayed for a second to try to buy us time with a shield and then- the door slammed. And no matter what I did I couldn’t get it open!” Tears fill up his eyes again as he adds quietly. “…h-He told Error he’d go with him if he left me alone… I… I couldn’t stop him.., a-and now.. now they…!” He hiccups a bit and hides his face. 

Jackie looks at him in shock but slowly goes to pull him into a hug. “…we’ll find him Chase… we always do, right?”

As Bro talks, the group files into the antechamber and blocks off the entrance with the fake wall. 

Most of them head past into the main cave but Stacy and Chase linger. 

“White eyes…?” Stacy repeats, looking at Chase. “Do you think… Jack?” 

“Must have been,” Chase agrees. “He’ll show up sooner or later.” 

Bro looks back up at the others with wet eyes, “…Jack? I,.. I didn’t see anyone else- but… Alt did seem to call to someone besides me…?” He shakes his head, looking miserable. 

Chase pauses, staring at his other self. “Listen… Chase. It’s weird to call you that, but… Chase. I-I know how you feel. Something similar happened here. Henrik, my friend, stayed behind to get me and my friend Marvin away from somewhere we were stuck. That’s how they got him. I-I know it feels horrible. I know that… you think you could’ve done something more to save him. It sucks. It fucking sucks.” He takes a deep breath. “But we’re gonna get your brother back, okay? W-we know stuff now that we didn’t back then. And you guys from another world can probably do a bunch of stuff that he won’t expect. We can do it, man. I promise.”

Bro listens to Chase and holds his arms. He’s quiet for a minute before he nods. “…okay… I… I trust you guys.” He sighs and then grips himself harder. “I’m just so… angry that he did that! How could he do that?! We could have gotten out together! I could have helped! He’s so vulnerable to t-this kind of stuff! The mind control shit! He just…! I’m supposed to protect him…!” He finally cries out at the end, burying his face into his arms. 

Jackie holds his friend close and rubs his back, at a loss for words. “…y..you did your best Chase… I know Alt knows that… he wants to protect you too.”

"Heh." Chase gives a sad smile. "Some people love their friends and family more than anything. Even their own safety." He sighs. "If it makes you feel any better, corruption takes a long time. It's strong, because of that, but i-it means we have some time." 

Bro nods, “that… does help me feel a bit better.” 

Stacy walks into the main cave. "We'll talk about it right away. I'm sure Jack's back by now. Probably looking for us."

Jackie helps him up and Bro blinks at Stacy- now taking her in. “Oh…other Stacy- uh- hi?” 

Stacy smiles at Bro. "Hi." 

Bro feels his cheeks heat up a bit as Stacy smiles and he looks away quickly. 

Jackie looks at Stacy, “oh yeah? Where would Jack be then?”

She looks at Jackie. "I'm not sure. He can be anywhere, really. I'm trusting that he'll find us." 

"Come on," Chase says, and steps into the main cave. 

The cave is massive, an almost perfectly regular dome shape. The ground is packed dirt, and there are small alcoves around the edges of the main area. There are people hanging out, sitting on top of boxes and playing games, lying on blankets reading, running laps around the perimeter of the cave for exercise. A few nearby wave and greet Stacy when they see her. Some wave at Chase, too, but less of them.

The two of them look around the cave as they walk in, mouths open in awe. 

"Woah! This place is so big!" Jackie exclaims excitedly.

"I know right? It's so lucky that we found it," Stacy says. "We have about... eighty people in here so far? There's this big long cave at the back where we sleep, and over there is where we keep the medical supplies, and there's the one where we keep food and weapons--" 

"And there's the one where you locked me up for weeks," Chase says, chuckling. 

"Don't just say that without an explanation!" Stacy gasps. 

"Right. Yeah." Chase rubs the back of his head. "I told Jackie this, other-me, but uh... I was corrupted for a while. If they'd let me go I definitely would've told A--him everything, so they made the right choice. And it worked out in the end!"

Bro's eyes widen, "Oh... woah. I mean- they told me the others were being controlled but... they said everyone but you. I just thought... you were lucky I guess..." 

Jackie frowns and looks but at Chase, "... how did you get... un-corrupted?"

“Yeah.” Chase laughs awkwardly. “No. Not lucky. Uh… Jack uncorrupted me. He… it’s hard to explain, he like… went into my brain… and I had a weird symbolic dream where he helped me get rid of it… He started calling that place the ‘mindscape’ recently. So, long story short… magic.” 

"Ah- magic. That usually seems to be a the solution." Jackie laughs. Bro hums in thought at this.

“Oh, there he is!” Stacy points. “He’s with Sam, cmon.” She starts walking.

Jackie and Bro quickly follow after Stacy.

The group weaves around boxes and people until they reach a big crate. Sitting on top is… a giant eyeball. About the size of a basketball, with a green sclera and blue iris. An optic nerve extends from the back like a tail, little zaps of lightning dancing along it. The eye turns around to look at them. 

“Hey Sam!” Chase says. “Hey Jack!” 

There is nobody standing nearby.

Jackie and Bro jump slightly at seeing the big ol' eye. "Woah..! That one is... so much bigger than the one I've seen before." Bro whispers. 

"Wait you've seen one of these guys before?? I mean... they look like the robots in the superhero world!" Jackie asks. 

"Oh yeah uh- in Distorter's world- Their Jack has a little Sam too." 

"Oh wait yeah! That weird Anti had one! The one with... all the screens and stuff!" 

"ohhh yeah!" Bro chuckles. "They were very small- but cute." He looks at the bigger Sam, "N-Not saying you're not... cute?" He laughs nervously. 

Jackie blinks and looks around, "Uhhh... where's Jack exactly? I don't see anyone else?"

Sam flicks Their nerve-tail happily. “Oh! Watch this,” Chase says. “Sam, show them how you can change size and stuff.” Sam tilts up and down, like They’re nodding, and slowly shrinks down to the size of a baseball. 

“Oh. Right, we forgot to mention,” Stacy says. “Jack is… invisible. And most people can’t hear him. Or touch him. But he’s really there.” 

“Well now we sound like we’re fucking crazy,” Chase mutters. 

"...only slightly," Jackie says with a small laugh. 

Sam lifts into the air and flies in a circle around a specific spot in the air.

Bro watches Sam shrink and fly around the specfic spot and hesitates before waving at it. "Uh... hi? Jack?" He laughs, pushing back his hair. "I feel like I'm losing my mind...!" 

Jackie turns to Stacy and Chase, "How come you guys can see him but we can't?"

“I couldn’t see him before either,” Chase says. “But then after the uncorruption I could. Maybe he needs to possess you guys.” 

Stacy shakes her head. “No, I don’t think that’s it,” she says. “Sam gave me the ability to see him. Maybe They could do the same for you?” 

Sam tilts to the side, considering. They fly up to Bro and Jackie and hold out Their nerve-tail, like a person asking for a handshake.

Bro and Jackie exchange uneasy glances. Then, Bro steps up and says quietly. "... I just wanna say for the record- this is one of the weirdest things we've done yet-" He then hesitates before holding onto Sam's nerve-tail.

Bro feels a weird tingling sensation travel up his arm. “Did it… did it work?” A voice says. “Can you see me?”

Bro jumps at the new voice and looks towards it with wide eyes. "Uhh- I can hear you! So that's something?" 

"Oh my god what?" Jackie says, blinking and looking around almost comically. He then pushes Bro slightly so he can touch Sam's tail now too.

Jackie feels the same tingling sensation. Jack laughs. “Well that’s better than nothing,” he says. “Dunno why Sam can’t do that for everyone, it would make things so much easier. Nice to meet you guys!”

Jackie gasps, "Woahhh! Ghost voice!" 

Bro laughs, "Nice to meet you too. Would be nicer to see you, but I guess we'll take what we can get!"

"Yeah, even just talking to people is good. You have no idea how long I wandered around for without being able to interact with anyone." Jack laughs, and then sounds serious again. "Other Chase. Bro, right? I saw what happened with Alt and you and Error. I-I'm sorry I couldn't hold him back longer." 

Bro blinks, "Oh! That was you!" He smiles sadly. "I... it's okay. You helped us a lot- we... probably would have been been fine if... A-Alt hadn't..." He closes his eyes and takes a shaky breath. 

"We'll get him back," Chase whispers softly, looking at Bro. "And You did your best, Jack," Chase says. "There's only so much you can do with you being, uh, a coma ghost."

"ohhh is that why can't see you? You're in a coma?" Jackie winces and sucks in air through his teeth, "Jesus man... that really sucks."

"Yeah, um... I'm kind of disconnected from my body," Jack says. "I can only really interact with electrical stuff. But, thanks to me being like this, I can go basically anywhere. Including the Place where Error took Alt. I-I almost headed there right away but I wanted to be sure you other guys were alright, too. Uh... Sam said there would be a fourth guy, too? Is that the dangerous guy They mentioned?" 

"Magnificent," Chase says. "Jackie told us his name and some of the stuff he can do. He sounds pretty similar to him. In what they do, at least."

Bro's eyes burn with anger, "Fucking Mag... what is he gonna be doing with all of this?" 

"Nothin' good, I can tell you that much." Jackie snorts, crossing his arms. He looks back at Sam and tilts his head, "...how come Sam knows so much about all of us already? Like- its the first time we've been someplace where everyone knew we were from a parallel world right away."

"Oh, Sam sees everything," Jack says casually. 

Sam bobs up and down in the air, agreeing. 

Chase looks back at the others. "Trust me, the rest of us don't get it either. Jack, Jackie, and I knew Sam the longest, and we still don't know much about Them. Jack only started being able to understand what They're saying recently. We're all still adjusting to this, but basically, Sam's fucking powerful." 

Another bob from Sam.

"...damn- that's sick as hell." Jackie laughs and smiles at Sam. "Good on ya- Sam." 

"I guess- being a giant eyeball makes seeing everything a lot easier." Bro chuckles.

"Ba-dum-tss," Chase says. 

"Ayyyy~!" Jackie says, pointing finger guns at the two Chases. He high-fives Bro. 

Stacy rolls her eyes fondly.

Bro laughs a bit more before his face falls to something serious. "So... You know about us and Magnificent... do you know how we can find Alt? How we can... fight against these corrupted guys? I mean Error... he was crazy powerful... I can be too but... I dunno if we can take on a whole bunch of corrupted puppets, and Mag, and An- the... leader." 

"Yeah I'm not like Alt and Bro- I'm... just a regular guy." Jackie sighs, "...I... I dunno how to help..."

"I mean... we can give you a gun," Stacy says. "That tends to help regular guys like us." 

Jackie hums, "...not usually a gun person but I think I can work with that."

Chase laughs at that. “Well... Error will have taken him to the Place. I know that's a vague name, but I didn't come up with it. It's a sort of pocket dimension where he lives. All the corrupted, too. That's where they..." He swallows nervously. "Th-that's where you get corrupted." 

"I've been able to get in and out," Jack says. "But it's tough for other people. The Place tends to shift around. I-I could, at the very least, check on Alt and make sure he's okay."

Bro does seem a bit pale and nods vaguely in Jack's direction, "u-uh yeah that... that'd be good I think... we... gotta come up with a way to... to get in there."

"The entrances shift around, too," Chase says. "The places where they connect to this world. But I-I remember the signs of them, and some spots where they often show up." 

"Getting in isn't the problem, it's getting out," Stacy says. 

Sam looks at the spot where Jack is, tilting to the side. 

"No, I know," Jack says. "But I've never tried it before." 

"Huh?" Chase looks at Jack. "What're you talking about?" 

Jack sighs. "I... theoretically, I could control the Place like An--like he does. We're the same, after all."

"You are?" Jackie asks with a bit of disbelief. "... is he a coma ghost thing too??"

"...kind of," Jack says reluctantly. "I, um... we're... the same person... technically."

"...oh-" Jackie replies quietly. "...that's... huh." 

"Yyyyeah, I know," Jack says. "It's a long story." 

Bro thinks about this, "... if we could get A- him... out of the place then... maybe that could work? Because I doubt it would work if he's in there and can control it right back... right?"

Stacy blinks. She grins. "That's a fucking great idea. Jack, is that true?" 

"I think so. I think he just kind of... leaves it on autopilot when he leaves. But how do we get him out?" 

Chase frowns. "He's been gunning to get me back. Maybe... if he found out I would be somewhere, he would come to get me personally?" 

"You're not using yourself as bait, Chase," Stacy says firmly. 

"I don't have to actually be somewhere," Chase says. "Though... I guess it would help..."

"...what if it was someone that looked like you?" Bro says quietly. "Someone who could take some of the corrupted on?"

Stacy and Chase look at him. 

"Are you sure?" Chase asks. "He"... usually possesses someone when he leaves the Place. Someone pretty powerful." 

"You mean Voice," Jack says. "Course I do. The guy summons endless knives and stops time on anything he touches. That's pretty OP." 

"...fuck that is really hard to fight..." Bro sighs. 

"Do you have powers, other Chase?" Stacy asks. "If Jackie is the 'normal' one, that implies that you aren't." 

Bro ruffles his hair. "Uh yeah... back home, I'm a superhero. I can fly- and have like, super speed and super strength. Stuff like that. I can channel my energy into different parts of my body and sometimes can like- shoot it out like a bullet. Oh! And I can heal pretty fast." He sighs and crosses his arms, "...I might be able to catch this Voice off guard... but I dunno if I could like- hold him off..."

Stacy blinks. "Flying would be helpful. I don't think any of them can fly." 

"They can't," Jack says. "You don't need to actually fight him, other Chase, you just need to keep him distracted for long enough. I-I could... probably help Alt get out from the inside." 

"And we have a whole group of people here who can help with the distraction," Chase says, gesturing around. "You don't have to do it alone."

Bro blinks and then grins, "Well then... sounds like we have the beginning of a plan then! I'll lure him out and then we can get Alt out of there!" 

Jackie frowns and then sighs, "...I feel like I should comment that feels very risky but... I can't think of any other plan. Plus, I trust you, bro." He knocks his fist against Bro's arm. 

Bro laughs, "Thanks mate." 

"It is pretty risky, riskier than I'd like," Stacy says. "But I think it's better than all of us rushing into the Place. We could really get lost forever in there." 

"That's settled, then," Chase says. "We should talk to the rest of the people here and see who's able to help. I guess I need to stay away?" 

"Ideally, yes," Stacy nods. 

"I can go check on Alt right now, if you guys want," Jack offers.

“Sure, Jack. That’d be awesome if you could,” Bro says, rubbing his arm anxiously. “We’ll start ironing out more details. 

"I'll go right now, then," Jack says. "Goodbye, I'll be back." 

"Aaaand he's gone," Stacy says. 

“Maybe… hm… maybe me and other Chase should swap clothes? Would they notice that?” Bro asks.

Chase nods. "Swapping clothes would be great. I... I like to keep my arms and hands covered." He looks down at Bro's hands. "If you're not wearing gloves he'll know right away that you're not me." He takes off one of his fingerless gloves, showing that he has a strange, oval-shaped scar on the back of his hand. "See?"

Bro's eyes widen but then he nods, "Okay... good to know. I have some in my bag but... they're like really bright. Superhero costume and all that." He grins sheepishly. 

Jackie peeks over curiously, "...how'd ya get a scar like that?"

Chase flinches slightly. "S-side effect of the corruption." He rolls his sleeve up to his elbow, briefly showing a row of identical scars along his arm before rolling it back down again. "It changes you physically. For me, I got these markings all up my arms and down my spine. Once I was uncorrupted, they disappeared and left these behind." 

"Eyes," Stacy says. "Markings that looked like eyes. Moving and everything. Fucking freaky." She glances at Chase. "I never wanted to see you like that," she whispers. 

"I... appreciate that," Chase replies in an equally quiet voice.

Jackie and Bro both shudder at the image. "Uh... noted- sorry...." Jackie says quietly. 

"Let's... focus on finding clothes then, other me. You can... uh- prep me, I guess. On what to expect." Bro mutters.

"No, it's okay. Everyone here knows, it's only fair that you do, too," Chase says. "Come on. We have some clothes in storage you can use. I'll fill you in while we look through there."

 ----------- 

Error takes Alt to a small room, made smaller by the fact that a chain link fence divides it into one-third and two-thirds parts. Even though there's no visible lights it's still bright enough to see. Alt is guided into the larger part. 

Alt keeps himself small as he follows Error- Chase's words echoing in his ears. ...he's gonna kill him when they meet back up. 

"Wait here," Error says. "I'm sure he'll be here soon." And then he turns around and leaves, closing the door behind him. It blends seamlessly into the black wall... no, wait. It's gone. The door is gone. There are no other doors.

Alt makes a face at Error as he leaves, silently mocking him behind his back. But, he stops when he realizes the door is gone. ...okay- that's a problem... but! Bet they don't have any barriers set up for a glitch here! He grins and then tries to see if he can glitch out of the well- where the door used to be at least.

It’s like the world has disappeared except for this room. This limitation… it reminds him of that world… with those horrors…

Alt staggers back as he realizes he's blocked. Then, his stomach drops into cold dread. ...it's just like- the place Notarzt kept him. ...fuck. He really really fucked up. He super duper fucked up- He grips at his head, starting to feel panic wrapping around his throat. He didn't realize it would be like there!

Time passes. 

It’s unclear how much. But eventually, Alt realizes that there’s something strange on the other side of the fence. A patch of air seems to shimmer, looking darker than the rest of the metal walls.

Alt is pacing back and forth, trying and failing to stave off a panic attack. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the patch of air and squints at it. He frowns and then glitches to try to be a bit closer, wondering what it could be.

The patch suddenly jumps back in surprise, and suddenly it's clear what it is. A man, sitting cross-legged on the ground. He's wearing a cape that makes him blend into the background. Magic, no doubt. Underneath the cape he's wearing a button-up shirt, nice pants, and socks, no shoes. He's also wearing a green collar and a green mask shaped like a cat. His brown hair is long, shoulder-length. He stares at Alt... no. Wait. He can't be looking at Alt. 

The mask has no eyeholes, only black ovals in the shape of them.

Alt gasps and jumps back too and stares at the man with wide eyes. He shakes out his head and then tries to get close again, looking at him in confusion. "...m...marvin...?"

The man shakes his head vigorously, scooting back across the floor for a second. He definitely looks like he's staring at Alt, tilting his head up as Alt gets closer.

Alt blinks in surprise and then holds up his hands. "I-It's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you... are you... okay?" he suppresses a shiver- eyes fixated on the black spots on his mask.

The man nods. He shifts position slightly into something more like a crouch, folding his arms on top of his knees.

Alt knits his eyebrows in concern. "Oh... well.. o-okay. What are you... doing here?" He asks quietly. He also notices the collar and grips up at his neck, trying to mask his discomfort. He... almost looks like...

He tilts his head. It's hard to read his expression with the mask, but he seems nervous. After a moment, he makes a gesture. Two fingers from his eyes to Alt. A nonverbal sign of keeping an eye on things.

"..oh.. you're... watching me." Alt says, his shoulders sagging. "I guess that makes sense... you probably are working for him, huh?" He sits down on the floor. "...did he take away your voice?" He asks quietly. "Or are you not allowed to talk?" His voice has dropped down to something tinged with righteous anger, but also sympathy. He's dealt with puppet masters enough to know what to expect.

He holds up two fingers. The second option.

"Ah... figures." Alt tsks, anger on his face. He studies him up and down. "... he's keeping you as... a... a pet." He spits out the last word like it's poison, gripping his hands into fists.

The man lets out a breath. He nods, seeming almost relieved that Alt has said it out loud.

Alt's eyes spark with anger as he grits his teeth and glitches in place. "...that's... that's so fucking cruel-!" He yells, suddenly glitching to his feet. "W-Who are these motherfuckers that they get to just-?! Decide that for us? To r-reduce human fucking beings into- into fucking house pets?! It's wrong! It's fucking sick and-" 

Alt suddenly laughs, pushing back his hair and grabbing at it, "T-That's what they're gonna do to me, isn't it?! T-Turn me into a f-fucking pet or- or worse!" He laughs hysterically, teetering between laughing and crying. "I-I shouldn't have left Chase I...! Why did I do that?! S-Sure he won't be exposed to this and m-maybe now Jackie will be safe but i...! I-I-!"

The man leans back a bit. He stares at Alt during his panic, uneasy. Then he opens his mouth. "I-it's n--" 

A door opens. The man stiffens and immediately shuts his mouth again. The door is on his side of the chain link fence. In walks a man, who closes the door quickly before Alt can even think of trying anything. The man is wearing a black hoodie and has a slit throat. It's immediately clear who he is. 

"You're not having a good time in here, huh?" Anti says. "I didn't think you'd fall to pieces so quickly."

Alt stiffens and quickly glitches back, staring at the other him with wide eyes. "...y-you're...!" His panic is taking his breath away, making it hard to breathe.

"You in another world? Apparently," Anti says casually. "I never would've thought it." 

Alt glares at Anti and bares his teeth. "Me neither. I'm nothing like you."

Anti looks down at the man still sitting on the floor. "Were you two talking?" 

The man hurriedly stands up. "No, Anti," he whispers. 

"Hmm. Go keep an eye on our other visitor, okay, Cat?" 

"Yes, Anti." The man--Cat--disappears in a puff of smoke.

Alt watches Cat leave with a pain in his chest before looking back at Anti with hatred. "... you're a sick motherfucker."

"I've been told that," Anti says, unfazed. "Even by myself. So this is nothing new, really."

He stands there, staring at Alt, arms loose at his sides. "I want to ask you some things. I want to learn more about your world. And your life in it. Error told me you have a brother, and that's weird, because I don't have one, so there must be a lot different. Where did you come from?"

"From your mother's arsehole." Alt spits, glaring at Anti with disdain. "I ain't telling you shit."

Anti looks taken aback. "...that's not even how it works, you idiot," he mutters. "Alright. Fine. There are other ways. How good are you with electricity?" 

The floor suddenly starts to glow, and-- ZAP!

Alt's teeth grit as the electricity courses into him and he staggers a bit. But, then he glares at Anti, green electricity sparking in his eyes. He doesn't give him a response.

"Worse than I can," Anti says, which is true, given he hadn't flinched at all. "But there's something that could be worse for you, isn't there?" He tilts his head, thinking. "Hmm. This might be easier if... yes." 

There's a horrible sound of metal on metal, and the ceiling of the room starts to lower, but only on Alt's side of the fence. It's gaining speed as it gets closer. The room was maybe eight feet tall before and it's already gone down to seven.

Alt flinches hard as the horrible screeching sound and covers his ears, only to look up and see the ceiling lowering. He panics and tries to glitch away- only realizing at the last second he's glitching onto the corner of the room Anti is in. So he glitches over and then goes to the farthest place he can away from Anti.

He ends up in the opposite corner of the room, but the whole ceiling is lowering, so there's no escape here. Six feet--five feet--four feet--then it stops. "I can't see you all the way over there," Anti says, ducking down to see Alt. "Come closer." Another screeching sound, and the far wall starts coming closer, making the room smaller, pushing Alt towards Anti.

Alt grits his teeth at Anti and then yelps out as the walls start to close in. Now, he glitches onto Anti's side but keeps his distance as he spreads out his arms, "There! You can see me." He growls.

"Heh." Anti grins. "Perfect. Are you going to actually talk to me now? Or should I try something else? It'll only get worse, you know."

"What good is knowing about my world going to do for you?" Alt bites out, "I could care less about how you work! I already know what you are- a low pathetic puppet master who gets himself off by controlling others. A fucking demon! I'm the opposite of you- and that's all you need to fucking know!"

Anti just smiles. "My opposite already exists. You're not my opposite, per se, you're more like... a different shade of a color. A more pleasant one. Supposedly." He rests his chin in one hand, cupping the elbow of that arm with the hand of the other. "I'm curious about how different things are. What you've gone through. Not to use it against you, don't misunderstand. To... compare." He laughs. "I'm not good with describing this sort of stuff. Thoughts and all that."

"Just because you're a twisted version of me doesn't mean you get to know what I've been through." Alt growls, "I'm not telling you anything. You don't get to know about my brother- about my life! I'm telling you nothing- got that?! Nothing!"

The smile on Anti's face fades. "Fine. I can take it, then." His body fizzles with black static and he lunges for Alt. 

Alt staggers back with wide eyes and tries to glitch away, thinking he might be able to escape. 

But, their glitches collide and there's the sound of screaming. The static pushes and pulls like taffy- parts of it trying to tear itself away. Then, the static mass combines and stills- before it glitches like a broken screen and starts to jitter back into the form of a man. 

At first glance- it doesn't seem too different from the Antis that stood before. Same brown hair- a black hoodie, ripped clothes. But, it lifts its head and the black static doesn't fade from it's left side, a glowing green scleraed eye peeking out from the shifting mass. The same static makes up its left hand- and other parts of its body and clothes. A red wound weeps from their neck. Static and glitches buzz around like angry bees as they clash and butt into each other. Their hoodie best shows their fusion- the black hoodie having colored sleeves and a glitched frowny face- their ripped jeans having spots of glowing paint across the fabric. 

The fusion stumbles and goes to grip at its head, heaving in panic. "N-N-Nnnnn-no! No no n-n-n-not aga̸i̶n̶! G-G-ge-t-t-t Ö̴̠́U̷͔͑T̶̲̈́!̷̙̈́!̶̝̿!̶̟́" It screeches, digging nails into its head, like its trying to rip itself back apart.

"Wh-wh-who are y-y-you?" The words tumble from its mouth as one hand grabs the wrist of the other. "Wh-wh-wh-why are you different?!" The bitterness is a tangible taste in its mouth. And the byproduct of the bitterness, the seething hate and anger, is a fire in its stomach. The static fingers on the left hand turn to claws, digging into its own skin. "Why?! Why?! W̵HY̧?̧̢͝!̶͡ It's not f̕͞ąir!̶̀" 

And yet, this feeling is familiar. This merging, this... crowdedness, that comes from there being two where there should be one. It's familiar. Discontent wrapped up in a shell of static. No no no--the Severing, the Split, it was supposed to--this wasn't supposed to happen again! But--no, it can't end yet. It can't end yet. It needs to... know something? Is that it?

The merged being barks out a laugh, digging its fingers in harder to its wrist- feeling the blood wanting to pool. "Y-Y-You lonely b-bastard! Only m-m-making friends by c-corrupting them! Y-Y-You don't d-d-d̷̛̳é̸͉s̵̝̔ë̸̮r̸̙͘v̸̻͋e̷͝ them! A sick freak like you could n̵e̵v̷e̵r̸ be their friend!" 

It recognizes this feeling- this self-loathing. it hates it- it hates itself. It laughs wildly, glitching like crazy as it pries its hand from its wrist and then digs its claws into its slit neck. "Y-Y-You shouldn't be near them- You only m-m-make everything w̵̿̉o̵͓̍r̴̐͑s̶̅͂e̶͆͠! E-Everything would be b-b-better if you just didn't ë̴́̌x̵̛̄ĩ̷̃s̷̎̃t̸̥̋!" It screeches. "A-A-All of this would be better if they never m-m-met you!" 

The fusion screeches. "It's not ḿ̧e!̡ It's ţ́̀h̶e͡͡m̛̀!̨ It's Y̶O҉U̸!̵" Its head shakes side to side, black static pixels drifting off. It glitches wildly around the room before falling to its hands and knees. "It's you it's you it's you its you its you itsyouitsyouitsyouitsy̵̛͢oui̕͠t҉̛̀s͏y̴̨o̸͝͡ui̵̕͝t̀͢͡s̀̀͠--" 

Then, as abruptly as it happened, the fusion falls apart, the black static peeling off like a second skin, forming a shivering lump on the floor that slowly regains its form--Anti's form. 

Alt is left where Anode (how did they know its name?) was kneeling before. 

Anti lies on the floor, breathing heavily for a moment. That... was like... It was too crowded again. Thoughts coming apart like pieces of paper thrown in a bowl of water. He didn't want that. He didn't want that. But then he remembers Alt. He abruptly glitches upright, pressing his back up against the nearest wall, glaring at Alt. "What... the fuck... did you do just now?" he hisses. 

Alt is a shivering, sobbing mess on the floor, the tears on his face still somewhat static. He retches and throws up that black static onto the floor- gasping in pain and agony as he tries to get the feeling out of him. He hardly acknowledges Anti- just stuttering and crying as he grips at his throat like he can still feel it gaping open. He can't breathe- His mind was torn open and laid bare and it hurts and aches and he feels similar to that- that thing!

Anti narrows his eyes. "Why are you crying?" he growls. "You--you're a whole person, with a brother and friends and magic that didn't happen because some fucking eldritch eyeball tore you apart by accident. You can touch, you can talk, you can be seen. You have a job and a boyfriend and you were able to stop with your fucking shit crimes a-a-and—and—and—" His body trembles and glitches with rage. 

Abruptly, he turns around, throws open a door that wasn't there before, and walks through, slamming it behind him. It becomes part of the wall again, leaving no way out.

Alt trembles and curls up on himself as Anti yells at him. He couldn't try to get out even if he wanted to. He just curls up as small as he can and now that he's alone- he lets himself break down completely. 

Of course Anti only saw the good now -ignoring the being on the streets for years- the part where he became a villain and almost killed his friends over and over. The mind control- being turned into a puppet- a pet. Being a fucking experiment for a fucked up cooperation. None of that matters does it? None of it matters... He wants to go home...

"...Alt?" Someone walks through the wall where the door was. 

Anti is back. Though... he looks different. His clothes have changed, now he's wearing a white hospital gown and a pair of pale blue leggings, no shoes. And the eye with the green sclera has switched sides, being his left instead of his right. And the throat slash has closed up, leaving a dark green-black scar that fades into the surrounding veins. And the static that shivers around his limbs is white instead of black. 

...is it Anti at all? 

"A-are you... okay?" Anti? asks. "Can you... can you hear me?"

Alt stiffens and glitches to sit up and quickly scrambles away and into a corner, curling up as tight as he can. "W-Who-a- g-get a-away from me!" He tries to cry out but his voice breaks at the end and he just curls back up, trying to hide.

The man backs away, raising his hands. "I'm sorry! I'm--I-I didn't think--I'm sorry." He shakes his head. "I'm not going to hurt you. I-I'm not even capable of that, I haven't figured out how to be physical here yet. I'm... My name is Jack. I... saw you and your brother earlier. I tried to help." 

Jack? That name was strong in Anti's memories.

Alt slowly peeks through his arms to look back at Jack. "J...Jack?" He breathes. He remembers the white eyes on Error and he slowly nods. "Y-Yeah... I... I r-remember that..." He doesn't move to uncurl himself. "...h-how are you... h-here?"

Jack laughs gently. "I'm just about the only person who could get in here without him noticing. I can be invisible and pass through objects. In fact, I have to be outside of this Place." 

Alt blinks and looks at Jack and then slowly nods, "...right cuz you're... you're half of... of his soul. So you...." He shudders and holds himself.

Jack blinks. "You know about that? Uh, y'know what, I'm not gonna ask about how you know that now." He sits down next to Alt. "I'm here to check on you. Your brother and your friend Jackie are working with some friends of mine to get you out of here."

It takes Alt a second to acknowledge the last statement and he laughs, though the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "...'course they're looking for me... i... I knew they would..." His smile then fades as he curls his knees to his chest. "... Jack... when you see my brother... can you tell him... i-I'm sorry I was an idiot." He pushes his hair back and grips at it. "...I don't think I'm gonna g-get out of here unscathed... and... I... I should have stayed with him... A-Anti might k-kill me or... or worse-" He laughs in the way you do when you're scared but its all you know how to do, tears lingering back in his eyes.

"What? No, I-I'm not going to--I mean, th-there's not much I can do, but--" Jack shakes his head. "Alt. Please. It's going to be okay. I won't let him kill you. A-and if... if something worse happens... I think you mean the corruption... It takes a while to take effect. Y-you won't lose yourself so quickly. And even if you do, we can undo it. We can undo it. It will be fine. I-I can stay with you, if you want. I might have to go invisible for a while, but I'll stay with you."

Alt is quiet for a while- maybe too long, not looking at Jack. Then, he laughs again and grips at his head, tears slipping down his face with more intensity as he whimpers out. "...i... I'm s-scared, Jack... I'm so fucking scared I... I-!" He hangs his head, "I don't want t-this to keep h-happening! Why d-does it keep happening?!" 

"I don't know," Jack whispers. "I don't know what you've been through. I can tell it's probably some pretty terrible stuff. I'm not going to tell you that it all happens for a reason. I'm not going to tell you that you're strong enough to get through this, though I'm sure you are." He half-reaches out. "But I am going to tell you that it gets better. Even when it feels the most hopeless, even when you feel like you can't do anything against all the terrible things that happen to you, it gets better. It's hard to see it, I know. But things get better. You're able to make things get better, often, but even when you're not, just getting through it is enough. It's enough, Alt. It's enough."

Alt is quiet again, soaking in Jack's words. He eventually nods and wipes at his face. "Y-You sound like... s-someone else I know... A good friend of mine." He chuckles hollowly. He looks at his hand, as if expecting it to turn into static. "...better doesn't stop what's gonna happen though but... I... I won't have to f-face it... alone. I guess..."

Jack nods. "I'll stay. A-and I'll try to do everything I can. I know Anti won't be able to see me or hear me... but you were able to see me out there in the real world. Maybe you'll be able to see me here now." He gives him a small smile.

Alt knits his eyebrows together, looking back at Jack, "...Yeah I can see you...? I-I've been able to see you this whole time..."

Jack laughs a little. "Most people can't. In fact, there are only two people besides you that can see me and hear me all of the time. Their names are Chase and Stacy, they're some of the friends I mentioned who are looking for you. In here, I can choose to be seen or not, but out there, I'm invisible all the time."

"Oh... t-that explains why Chase-- my Chase seemed so confused when you were helping us." Alt chuckles quietly. "... he must have thought I had like.... p-psychic powers or something. I mean I have magic but i... I'm not that good."

"Hah. Your Chase is so much buffer than mine." Jack blinks. "I, uh... didn't mean to just blurt that out."

Alt bursts into giggles and shakes his head. "N-No you're right! Everyone keeps mentioning that!" He laughs. "It's cuz he's fighting bad guys all the time!"

"Man. I gotta build up some muscle once I get my body back," Jack mutters. "Jackie used to work out a lot, too, he was also fighting criminals--and running from the police. Vigilantism is still illegal, hah."

"Heh- I dunno how Chase got the city to be okay with him but... they are. Maybe it was worse before we found each other again." Alt hugs his legs, "...he's the best person I know. Even after everything we've been through." He smiles fondly.

Jack smiles. "I only talked with him for a minute, but he seems like a great guy." He shifts his position a little, getting more comfortable. "I'd love to hear more about him. Why don't you tell me a little?" 

That might help him take his mind off things for a while. Maybe not completely, but anything would be good. 

Alt blinks, a bit surprised. But then he laughs and rubs his wrist as he starts, “well… we didn’t always get along, but…”

----------- 

The hallway Magnificent walks down goes in one direction, without any others branching off. It curves slightly, gently sloping downward for a while. Until he reaches a section where the floor is covered in cables. It's like the ground is lifted from the worst-organized computer room in the world, though the cables are just loose, not connecting to any devices. Clearly a serious tripping hazard.

Magnificent almost trips then teleports to be on my even ground and looks at the floor with a mildly disgruntled face. 

“…cute.” He snorts. 

Then, he remembered Anti mentioning cables. He follows their path-

He comes to a four-way intersection, the walls lined with metal doors that all look very secure. 

One of them creaks open, and a man walks out. He wears a white coat and a pair of glaseses with cracks in the lenses. Cables and wires wrap around his limbs and torso, and there's a thick black one around his neck. He starts walking down the hallway towards Magnificent, and then stops when he sees him. "Hello? Who are you?"

Magnificent blinks at the new comer then grins, “oh… isn’t this rich?” He laughs. “You can call me Magnificent, pet. What are you called, hm?”

The man raises an eyebrow. "That's your name? Aaalright." He walks closer. Magnificent can see his had bright, acid green eyes. A branching scar goes up the left side of his face. Lichtenberg figures, they're caused by electricity, aren't they? 

"I am Surgeon, I am in charge of this section."

“How fascinating~” Magnificent giggles. “What happens in this section exactly? And don’t worry- I was invited by your master. He told me I could look around.”

"By Anti?" Surgeon flinches slightly before becoming calm again. "Well, if that is the case." He gestures at the doors. "This is where the corruptors do the corrupting, of course. Inside some of those rooms, there is someone undergoing the process. Some are empty, though." He leans over to the nearest door and pulls it open. The room beyond is dark, with vague shapes hiding in the shadows.

Magnificent grins wide and prowls closer, peering into the room curiously. “So- there are more corrupters than just Anti?”

“Well it all comes from Anti, of course,” Surgeon says. “He chooses the targets, and he gives us the corruption to use. But yes. Anti is busy he cannot spend so long on the process. Some of us have the power to share it. I was the first, I am told.” He reaches into the room and the lights turn on, though he didn’t flip a switch or anything. 

The walls of the room are lined with screens and speakers. In the center are a table and chair, both equipped with chains. Along the edges of the room are tables full of items. Some of them are obvious: knives, rope, heavy objects you can swing, syringes with strange liquid inside. Others are not familiar, but a lot of them look sharp and dangerous.

Magnificent whistles, equal parts amusement and amazement. “My my! What a set up!” He giggles as he runs his hands across the tables and items, looking a few of them over. “Quite the operation he has here~! How curious…”

“It has been a long time in the making,” Surgeon says, staying in the doorway. “Though it helps that the Place can provide whatever he asks for.” He looks back into the hallway and suddenly starts. “Oh! Katzchen, what are you doing here?”

Magnificent pauses in his browsing to peek back out at who Surgeon is talking to.

“Come, come, see this new, ah, companion,” Surgeon says, reaching to the side and pulling someone over to the doorway. 

A man, wearing a cape and a green cat mask without eyeholes. The man Alt met earlier, Cat. He stumbles a little when Surgeon pulls him but turns to face Magnificent, freezing in place when he “sees” him.

Magnificent eyes widen a bit as he sees Cat. But then he grins and laughs, prowling closer and observing the mask. “My my… isn’t this a sight to see~?” He purrs. He looks at his collar and flicks it with a chuckle. “How fitting.”

Cat stumbles back a bit, reaching for his neck. 

"Ah--please do not touch him," Surgeon says. "Anti will get very upset.”

Magnificent holds up his hand with a laugh. “Apologizes. I just can’t resist such a pretty kitty~” He hums in amusement. 

“Though... Katzchen, why are you out here? Anti is home, you do not need to keep an eye on things." 

Cat doesn't answer. He keeps facing Magnificent, seeming a bit uneasy.

Mag tilts his head at Cat and then chuckles. “Were you told to watch me, Kitten?”

Cat hesitates, then nods. 

"Ah, that would explain it," Surgeon says. "I suppose Anti wasn't sure where you would be, or that I would be here. I think I can handle it, Katzchen, but I know you will not leave, so you can at least relax. This man, Magnificent, was wondering about the corruption." 

Another slow nod from Cat. He does seem a bit calmer, but still slightly on edge.

Magnificent chuckles, “Such a paranoid kitten… but oh so loyal.” He sighs dramatically- “if only my cub was half as loyal as you!” He eyes the two of them and hums in thought. “Tell me you two- does working with Anti provide you with any… power per se? Any- unusual abilities?”

"Heh. Oh yes." Surgeon smiles. "Look down." 

Something wraps around Magnificent's ankle. One of the cables on the ground, moving like a snake. It quickly lets go before he can kick it off, and all the cables on the ground move away from Mag in a circle. 

"That is me." Surgeon extends one arm, and the cables around it wind tighter. 

Mag stiffens for a second as the cable wraps around him then he chuckles. “Oh! Very impressive.” 

"Fehler calls me Wires because of it. And then, well, I'm told Katzchen had his own magic beforehand, but I do not remember the specifics, so I only know about his teleporting and camouflage." 

Magnificent eyes Cat again curiously. Can he sense any power off of him? He’s starting to feel that need- that hunger.

Yes, there's a magical signature around Cat. A sour power that's almost overpowered by a secondary signature, something dark and twisted. Come to think of it, a similar twisted energy is coming from Surgeon. And it feels like there are more signatures like it dotted around. Underneath all that, the Place has its own energy, a faint, shifting power that feels far away and hard to grasp.

Mag’s eyes flash hungrily. Surely Anti wouldn’t mind if he had just a taste? He teleports to try to grab Cat’s arm and see what power he can drain from him.

Cat yelps, backing up but not moving fast enough to avoid Magnificent latching onto his arm. Some of that sour magic drains into him, though that twisted energy stays where it is. 

"What the fuck?!" Surgeon gasps. All the cables on the floor suddenly rise up and lunge for Magnificent, wrapping around him, trying to pull him back. "What did I just say?! Agh, Anti is going to be so upset with you!"

Magnificent shakes himself out with a laugh and lets the cables grab him. He smirks at Surgeon. “I’m sure he’ll understand~! Lighten up, Schneeple.”

"Huh? What did you call me?" Surgeon blinks, looking genuinely confused. But Cat inhales sharply.

“Schneeple- short for your last name, I’m presuming.” Mag chuckles. “But if your master is worth his salt- I know that would not be your name anymore. Still- always fun to see puppets squirm. Test the strength of your loyalty and all~”

"Oh." Surgeon blinks again. The cables fall away from Magnificent. "Well, I think you are misunderstanding something. I do not remember most of my life. I woke up in the Place a while ago with Anti there, watching me. So, yes, perhaps that was my name once. I do not remember it. He has only ever called me Surgeon."

Magnificent dusts himself off and smirks. “He’s made a very good puppet of you then, Surgeon. He must be proud~”

Surgeon nods slowly. "I suppose so... I think he is more proud of Fehler, though, since he is the most like him." 

As Surgeon talks, black static gathers behind him and Cat, and Anti forms. "Doesn't mean I'm not proud of the rest of you," Anti says. 

Cat yelps, and Surgeon gasps and spins around. "Ah--h-hi, Anti," he says. "Your, ah, guest w-was asking about the corruption. I think he did something to Katzchen, too." 

Anti looks at Cat. "Really? You look fine. How do you feel?" 

"F-fine, Anti," Cat stammers. 

"Really?" 

"Really. M-maybe a bit... low energy." 

"Well, that's probably fine, then," Anti says, and looks over at Magnificent. "What did you do?"

Magnificent smiles and tilts his head at Anti. “Oh- I just had a taste of his magic. Forgive me for my overindulgence~ I just wanted to make sure I could stay in top shape. Just in case I can assist in any of your devious plans while my own puppets are lingering around this world~” he giggles. “You have quite the tight setup Anti. I’m very impressed. Able to corrupt without being completely involved… ah- I like playing with my food too much to do such a thing but- it must be very efficient~!”

"You can absorb magic?" Anti's eyes light up.

“Oh yes- it’s one of my many talents~” Magnificent chuckles darkly. “I no longer have human needs besides the need to sleep- magic supplies me with the energy I need.” 

"Fascinating. Well, I guess if Cat is fine, it's fine. I didn't feel our connection weaken, and that's what's important." He nods, indicating the doors. "Efficiency was the idea. If I'm going to corrupt a lot of people, it needs to be efficient. And fast. The process takes a while and I can't spend all my time working on it." 

He looks at Cat and Surgeon. "You two can go, by the way." 

Surgeon nods. "Come on, Katzchen," he mutters, grabbing his arms. "I want to see Grau." 

Cat nods and lets himself be pulled away. 

Magnificent watches the two of the go and smirks. “…very well trained… fascinating to see really.” He tilts his head back at Anti and smirks. “Well? Did your other puppet manage to capture one of my kittens?”

"Ohhh yes." Anger flickers across Anti's face. "Error found your Alt. He's supposed to be me, but--but--" He shakes his head. "That fucking guy," he mutters. "Of course it's different in other worlds. Of course it is. Even the other me's don't get it."

Magnificent tilts his head more, “oh? Was it too jarring to see my cub being so different?” He chuckles.

"Very," Anti bites out. "But--that's not important right now. That's not important." 

“Oh a sore spot I see.” Mag giggles. 

Anti takes a deep breath, folding his arms. "I saw some of his memories, and I have a question. Your magic. You hypnotize people, don't you?"

The mad magician’s eyes light up as he grins, “Why yes I do~! One of my specialties. I’ve had Alt under my thumb more times than either of us can count~”

"Perfect. Because I'm wondering something. The problem with corruption is how long it takes. True, time is strange in this Place, but it still takes weeks at the shortest. I wonder if, perhaps, we combined our efforts..." Anti trails off into a meaningful silence.

Magnificent grins even wider. “Oh… I’m very curious to see if I could be of aid~! To see my cub as loyal as your puppets?” He giggles wildly. “What a sight that would be!”

Anti grins. "You want me to drag him down here? Not personally, I'll probably ask Error, but we could try things out."

“Oh I’d be more than happy to try~” Mag laughs.

Anti nods. "I'll get him down here right away, then. Let's set up one of the rooms." He should try not to be too vicious. No matter his feelings about the unfairness of it all, it wouldn't be good to ruin things so quickly.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e45

this episode was pre-recorded and these guys are probably under contractual obligation to plug DDB. please do not subscribe to D&D Beyond. in fact, if you're already subscribed, cancel your subscription.

"I done made 'em curse!"

Apparently any kind of conflict can set off FCG's kill switch. So the question now is whether this thing is an intended feature of a Care and Culling automaton, or if it's a short circuit that happened some time in the past millennium. And if it really is just a short circuit that could be fixed by someone skilled enough to work on Aeormatons, that really does put a different spin on the Bells Hells going to the Feywild instead of to the Seminary.

Ashton recognized somebody in the airport casino -- Violet is someone who does a lot of things, they're very good at convincing people to do things and at finding people who don't want to be found. They went to make sure the Hells weren't being followed by Violet's people, but they got compelled to spill a bunch of secrets about the group, so Ashton agreed to go do a job with Violet in exchange for them not turning the group in. "There were cops, there were mobsters, I may have kidnapped a mobster, a lot went down." So it sounds like the Bells Hells now have a reason to get out of Yios fast.

Violet was in town to get information out of one of the local mobs -- the Baneful Brood -- and Ashton agreed to be some hired muscle while they tried to prove that the mob was dealing with stolen and/or smuggled artifacts. "Turns out he doesn't keep a ledger, he has a kenku, so we kidnapped the kenku, tied up the kenku, rolled them up in a very expensive rug... there are a lot of rooms, and next thing we know, we're unconscious, tied up in the kitchen."

That was the most Rube Goldberg story and I love it so much for them. This would be such good material for a one-shot.

According to Violet, there were some "weird Dwendalian people" calling themselves the Ruby Vanguard coming through town a few weeks ago, and they pissed off every criminal in town.

FCG, Fearne, Imogen, and Laudna head into the Seminary to meet with Professor Ishal, who they were told might know something about Aeormatons.

He's a young firbolg, tall, thin, with soft maroon fur and red hair.

"Sorry, we're not supposed to let people--- oh." His accent is similar to Ormid Haas, I think?

He knows Joe, who he calls "one of the best minds in automaton mobility in Marquet." They write to each other sometimes.

"You are an Aeormaton, and specifically, a harmonious Aeormaton. A very particular design of the old Arcanum city, they were designed as peacekeepers and diplomatic associates, often used as guides and communicators in the city... I've heard rumors of Aeormatons emerging, but none have come to Yios before." He's heard of the Care and Culling and has apparently read "many books" about it.

In FCG's power core, where Joe stopped before, they are "fitted with quite the unique arcane power accumulator. It's far larger than what is needed for an Aeormaton of your size, which may confirm that you were created for the Care and Culling event... destructive [spells], that makes sense, but healing, that's a bit confusing."

Ishan pulls the power core out of FCG's chest. It's a large sphere of deep blue, almost purple color. It looks very much like the other arcane cores they've seen, but it looks stranger, more intricately connected, larger. "I think this might be the source of your [arcane] powers, but I caution, it could be unstable due to age or damage... if it were to overcharge with arcane power, it would take out most of this building." There's no power leaking, and it's very safe as long as no one goes fiddling with it, connecting exterior arcane terminals to it, etc.

"The enchantment technology that was utilized in the creation of Aeormatons was specific to Aeor, and were lost with the city. No one can make new beings like you. You are from a time when this secret was known and utilized, but that time is passed. You are both a relic of history, and a very unique, special person... A lot of Aeormatons worked very hard during that time to establish themselves as equal to their creators. As much as Aeor gets a lot of negative information written about it, and rightfully so, there is a beauty in some of what they made. You are not defined by what you are told your purpose was -- you carve your own path. You are not defined by a binary answer. Being alive, being conscious, free will -- it's frightening. But it's worth everything."

FCG is being fitted with an EZ-Bake Oven inside their chest. This is the most fitting end to this encounter I could possibly have thought of.

Meanwhile, Imogen and Fearne head off to find Kadisha Sumal's office. There are, like, 7 different locks, and she only opened the door because Fearne mentioned Ruidus-born.

She's an older orc with long braided hair and grey-green skin, with heavy bags over her eyes and casual clothes. Her office has a window with a curtain drawn, shelves filled with books and papers, little baubles.

Sumal appears to recognize Imogen's mind powers. Liliana was one of the first people who came to the Omen Archive, and she was instrumental in many of the earliest breakthroughs they had.

The exaltants had the most powerful abilities, and Liliana was the first one who came to the Archive. There isn't a large history of exaltants, there are very few historically, but that number has been growing exponentially. There were 12 at last count that the Archive knew of.

As the Archive was trying to test the extent of the exaltants' abilities, it became more and more uncomfortable as outside forces were peering at them. Members of the Verity began to disappear, so they scattered and buried their research.

Exaltants were the first to speak of the "railora," beings they think come from beyond Exandrian cosmology -- some of the exaltants began having shared dreams where they met a collection of entities, crimson beings that referred to themselves as the railora. The further the Verity pushed into their research, the more alarming it became, so they pulled back.

They theorize that the flares are a way for the railora to connect and tether themselves to Exandrians, "reaching out to someone and holding that tether." Their intelligence was hard to understand and the Verity had no concept of their morality, so their studies became more about finding proof beyond the dreams.

Liliana was trying to develop her abilities regarding entering other peoples' dreams. The Verity guided her through it using induced dream states, and her progress was "incredble," but it became so worrying that the Verity stopped helping her and told her to stop trying.

"There's only so far you can reach into the unknown until the unknown starts pushing back."

Some railora were solid flesh, others were made of energy. They were intelligent, alien, always in a crimson hue similar to the landscape of the dreams. Some enticed with promise, others demanded, others brought empathy and comfort. They speak wordlessly, with imagery and emotions.

THEY ARE INTERRUPTED BY LUDINUS DA'LETH.

Fearne is going to get herself killed.

......okay, he tried to charm her first.

(to Sumal) "You have ignored Assembly requests for an audience for weeks now, and we are on a short timetable." Ludinus is the nightmare she's been waiting for for a very long time. (to Imogen/Fearne) "Sit. You might learn something."

"The archive we recovered is extremely important to our research, but there are excerpts missing." He charms Sumal. "I do hate robbing them of their will... but some things are more important."

He turns to Imogen. "She was right... you do look just like your mother. It is, genuinely, a pleasure to meet you. I've heard of your prowess."

Then to Fearne. "And you... not quite an exaltant, but definitely of the red moon. How fortuitous."

god, Ludinus is so cool. This intimidating, calm demeanor, so confident in his abilities, so full of wizard hubris and selling it. Lawful evil at its fucking best. And that makes it all the more impressive that he was genuinely off-put and shaken by Jester.

Liliana has been working personally with Ludinus for a long time, and her contributions have been integral to the Vanguard's research. This is from Ludinus himself, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

"Do you feel the pull? Northward? [Do I? Yes.] Then follow the instinct. Both of you, if it's there."

"I know you've had dalliances with the masses who try to meddle in our work. I know you've confronted my associate, Thull, and I'm not blind enough to believe you're seeking entry to our merry band. But I also know you only speak from a place of ignorance, misunderstanding. I'm not the one doing this. There are many of us working together to make this happen. This is important work, it's my life's work. [Liam's alarm bells go off here.] So. Do you want to know how to help? Stop resisting."

[Are you Ruidus-born?] "I have my connections to the red moon." [Insight check: 17, contested.]

"I think your mother would like to see you. She talks about you. She's sad that her destiny took her on a different path, and she hoped it wouldn't lead you to the dangerous threads of fate that tug her ever away. But it seems you share a similar destiny."

"Do you know what we're doing?" [We're learning bits and pieces. The power's pretty enticing, though. I gotta say.] "The power is just a tool. All power is just a tool. Fools throughout history use it for personal gain, for forgotten means." [If you succeed, will it go away?] "Parts of it will, for those who have cheated through boons unearned beyond just faith. This society is borne on those who have gained power through transactions, unearned except for granting their succor and obsession to these gods. We don't need them. They've always needed us." [It's happening soon, right?] "Sooner than I'd like. But we'll be as ready as we can be." [Well, maybe we'll find you to the north.] "I think you will." [What are you doing with those papers?] "Don't want to spoil the surprise."

"I watched the world burn at their behest. I saw the ruin their gains left of our people, the destruction they brought down to stunt the potential of mortal minds and hearts. They act only to preserve themselves. So, if there is even an ounce of you that finds faith in them, there is no place for you amongst us." [How old are you?] "Old enough... you're not of faith either, are you? Why?" [They don't mean anything to me.] "Good."

"We are the seeds they plant, and till, and water. We struggle in the maze they shaped. Then, when we expire, they return to their private gardens to harvest, because they told us there was no alternative. They tell us this is how it is, and we thank them for it. We may be their creations, but all children outgrow their parents. The Age of Arcanum, the Matron... they feared our developments, the growing power of the mortal mind. The Divergence, it wasn't to protect us. It was to protect them from us."

I'm pretty sure Ludinus cast feeblemind on Sumal.

Orym sees Ludinus walking down the steps of the seminary as they're waiting outside. He walks into the crowd, is joined by the two Vanguard operatives who escaped, and teleports away.

The Bells Hells regroup in Sumal's office.

"Was he looking for you? This is her office, it's always here, why did he come now?" FCG's getting at it.

Sending to Ryn: "We're in Sumal's office. We need a fast exit. She's been hurt." "Well, shit. I was really hoping that she was elsewhere. On my way."

Man, I'm learning so many new words today.

Ryn arrives. "Oh, my dear... this is a bit far from my purview." Sumal needs a greater restoration -- Ryn can't do it, but she knows people who can.

"As far as I know, the remaining pieces of the Archive that were part of those papers included the names of all known living exaltants in Exandria, the rotations of Ruidus, and the pattern of its orientation during each flare through recorded history."

....great.

To the Feywild!

Morri lives in a place called Ligament Manor. Fearne neglected to tell anybody this.

"You find yourself in a creepy magical marshland of gnarled trees that form a web-like ceiling of corkscrew branches and trunks. You don't even see any leaves, it's just a latticework of trees, with the faintest gaps of pinkish-purple skylight that peeks through." Welcome to Fearne's home!

"Does anyone else feel like they've taken too much?" Ashton (/Talisein), I love you.

oooooo Matt definitely took inspiration from Subnautica for this

"When you look at Fearne, she's Fearne, but there's something different about her. Her features are sharper, her eyes are deeper and bluer. The ears are longer, her limbs seem to be slightly exaggerated. There's an otherworldly air about her that's just... unique. It's upsetting at first glance, but everyone else looks normal."

this is super interesting. b/c to me it seems like the Bells Hells are only okay here at level 9 because of Fearne -- like she's some kind of fey lord or royalty who's tethered to the land like Morri is.

Friendly reminder that Fearne can indeed speak Sylvan

"Roll persuasion with disadvantage." "26."

I think I've said this before, but Matt has gotten so creative with his encounter design. It's super fucking cool, of course, but it also fits very well with the campaign -- the Hells are a control party, they want to twist and manipulate encounters instead of using brute force or subterfuge, so encounters with multiple solutions are their jam, but it's enhanced all the more by the absolute trust that the players have in Matt and that Matt has in his players.

if anyone wants an approximation of this, here is what a jazz pan flute might sound like.

Through the forest, Fearne picks up a familiar scent -- the oils Morri uses, the lanterns she burns.

The find a domed, circular clearing, ringed with thorny walls and thicket. In the middle, a massive tree covered in hundreds of hanging vines, like a frozen waterfall of deep green and teal streamers, completely obfuscating the center of the tree. It rises over a hundred feet, just scraping the top of this dome; the shape implies a dozen or more branches with the vines draped over them like a weeping willow. Within, there are hundreds of small nests, empty wooden cages, lanterns, and many, many unique wreaths tied throughout, subtly decorating it. The air hangs heavy with a presence that leaves breath thick and chilled.

Fearne feels that chill in the air as a warmth in her chest.

As Fearne gets within 5 feet of the tree, the vines furl apart like drapes, letting through the faintest flicker of firelight.

The tree is comparable to the Sun Tree in its thickness. 30 feet up, it splits into two trunks that corkscrew around each other; the branches off the trunks each hold a hut, a room.

"Enter. We knew you were coming." (Note that whoever is speaking had to invite Fearne into the home -- she didn't just enter.)

"It's hard to grasp a solid presence. At times, it's beautiful, and at times, it's borderline nightmarish."

There are knit dolls, animal skeletons posed in dancing positions, alien-looking potted plants that seem to guard their side of the room with ferocity.

"Oh, Fearne. How we have missed you." Fearne leaps into the arms of a... shape. The shoulders sit at 7 or 8 feet; the torso is like a barrel; swathed in a large, blue-green, patchwork dress, there are no feet visible, and the Hells can hear them like a sack of flour with each step. The shoulders are thin, pointed, skeletal. Around the top of the dress is a mantle of chiffon, from which emerges a head on a stretching neck, craning like a giraffe, framed in long white hair. A wrinkled old woman's face, a terrifying wide smile of jagged teeth, eyeless sockets with sunken golden glow, nostril slits with no nose. "Fearne, with your friends, like a cocktail... welcome, welcome. We have guests."

She pulls open the front of the dress, and in the chest is a massive pair of sunken eyes, a mouth that curls into a smile across the torso. "We haven't had guests in a while... come. Let me show you to my tiki bar."

[a-bucket-of-trash]

Sound: Turning On - Kelvin x Neutral Reader – 3/3

Part 2

Tag: smut, nsfw

You kept filling the unbearable Kelvin with caresses. He had always been cuddly, but now that he could talk and hear you with his brain, you got the feeling that he was even more cuddly than before. And now you also had to be careful what you thought, which was very difficult, even though he had realized that you were trying to control even your own atoms.

But as the hours went by, being that you had gone out for a few rounds in the area, just in case, by yourself, you were able to relax. It was a relief, you almost wanted to find cannibals so you could think in peace. There were no enemies, but neither was Kelvin, so you stayed in a high place, watching, thinking, about him, you, his new ability, the island, the Cube, a little bit of everything. You wandered in your thoughts, taking advantage of the fact that he was far away, you thought about how to keep your ideas under control, how not to let the truth out.

Then you returned to the cabin, gradually, looking around, looking for the radar man, finding him sleeping on his back in bed, which meant a little more peace. You stayed close, adjusting your bow a bit, watching him move in his dreams, until mental images began to pound into your brain, images that weren't coming from you.

You stood still, looking at Kelvin, seeing yourself in your head, sitting on his lap, rubbing your pelvis against his, wildly, kissing him. He was dreaming of you and somehow it was transmitting that to you.

"Fuck you" You put the bow aside "I can't take this anymore"

Determinedly you climbed on the bed, sitting on his pelvis, rubbing against him, almost in time with the images of him.

"What? Eh?" He woke up with a start, looking at you all over him“ What's wrong? What are you doing? What…?"

"Shut up that brain" You started to unbutton his pants "I'm tired of hold myself, you were dreaming about this, so you will have this"

"Yeah!" He celebrated “Uff… Finally…” He touched your thighs.

"Come on, say things... now that you can" You also unbuttoned your pants.

"Things? What? What things?" He stared at you "Oh yeah..."

"Dirty talk, silly." You caressed his waist, your crotch brushing firmly against his boner "Seduce me a little. I'm horny but not that much, give me time"

"Ah... yeah, sure, yeah... erm..." He licked his lips, anxious, but absolutely lost "Yeah... Um... Look at you... I bet... you'll envy an ice cream"

"Ein?" You looked at him, confused.

“Yeah… Eat me… like I'm a french toast…” He coughed slightly “Heat me up like a microwave on level 10…”

Your laughter bounced off the walls and half the island found out about your laughter. Kelvin was looking at you, slightly confused, yet absolutely gawking at your laughter that went straight to the back of his brain as if he were wearing the best headphones in the world. You stayed up laughing at the top of your lungs, wiping away the tears that were coming out of your eyes.

“What… the fuck was that…?” You laughed more “What kind of dirty talk is that?”

"I don't know!" He was embarrassed "I'm not good at those things, I'm nervous, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, honey" You laughed, half laying on him "It's been a while since I laughed like that, I needed more than fuck you"

"Well, well... Your laugh fills me with joy, but..." He hesitated "We're still going to have sex... right?"

"Hell yeah" You caressed his neck "Let me eat your mouth..."

Determinedly you kissed him, feeling the slow passion on his tongue, the slow but deep kisses from him. And having sex with him was bordering on insane. He could hear you think, he could follow your unconscious instructions regarding how, where, what to touch, how, speed, everything. It was like sleeping with someone who was connected to your soul, and who also invaded your senses with his own impulses. Several times you thought you were about to die, and the screams you gave were inhuman.

By the time Kelvin was done with you, you could be dead, you give a shit.

“I guess… it doesn't matter… that you read my mind…” You gasped, naked, sprawled on the small bed, limp, sweating “I think… I saw my ancestors or something… This was… indescribable…”

"Aha" Kelvin nodded, also half dead, next to you "I want more, but... I literally can't... I'm hungry..."

“I'm going to feed you…double…if you fuck me again…this great…someday.” You patted his arm.

"Hell no, I'm your boyfriend now… I'll do it every day" He sighed, smiling.

"Boyfriend? Really? SO MUCH I WANTED YOU TO BE MY BOYFRIEND, GOD, FINALLY… FUCK… What a shame you hear me think these things…” You bit your tongue.

"Get used to it" He took your hand and interlaced his fingers affectionately, looking at you, seeing your tired eyes "Mine... You, your body and your mind... Mine..."

"GOD YOU'RE FUCKING BEAUTIFUL, I'M GONNA DIE" You blushed.

"Pretty thing... I'm going to have to practice" He thought.

"What? The what? To have better sex? Are you going to kill me?" You got scared.

"To control my new ability, you big cutie!" He laughed “Eheheehehe! You're so goofy sometimes, I love it!”

You laughed too, seeing his eyes full of life and joy. Perhaps his ability was rare and you weren't sure what it would hold for you in the future, whether it would be a blessing or a curse, but for now, you didn't care. Your world, for the moment, was encapsulated in his mind.

[phantom-rambling]

(Read part one first.)

Tim sits on the couch with his legs folded under him. He bounces a knee to try to keep himself calm as he stares at the body strewn on the brown chaise cushion opposite him.

Unconscious body. Not dead body. They are pretty cold, though. No matter what Tim does to warm them up or wake them. But they’re breathing. A little. Should he get them to a hospital? Is there even a hospital to go to? Maybe if he went back--just for a second. He could dump them there and run. Of course, they’ll talk when they wake up. “It’s simple, nurse. Me, a superhero person, almost died in this crazy magic nowhere house I found. The guy there fed me crappy eggs, erased the stairs, morphed into a smurf, and then told me his legal name.” Smooth move, Turner. That won’t raise any alarms.

He could make them not tell. But. No. He really shouldn’t. It’d probably just get him in more trouble in the long run, anyway.

He’s been dancing around the point with this argument for an hour.

It’s too late. He’s already toast.

Tim looks at the body. They’re wearing some school gym shirt. Some jeans. Sneakers. Black hair. Patchy stubble. Zit marks.

They were never here to hurt him. They’re just… some dude. Who got lost. Weird powers or not.

Tim’s guts wind up with guilt. He rubs his face.

The body’s foot twitches. It hasn’t done that so far.

Tim leans forward and raises a pointer finger, then hesitates.

He pokes the foot.

The guest’s head jerks up, along with the rest of them. About a foot off the couch, with hangtime. They pull themself back down when they see Tim.

Tim breathes a huge sigh of relief.

His guest’s eyes dart around the room before noticing that he’s lost his weird glowy clothes.

“Yeah you fainted,” Tim throws out. “You didn’t look hurt but–I mean you’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, I think I’m okay,” the guest replies slowly.

“Good. Things got kind of scary for a second there. Hey, how did you do the whole quick change trick?”

The guest glances away with their mouth pressed in frustration.

“It’s a secret. Nobody’s supposed to see it happen.” They take a phone out of their pocket and start trying to get it to work.

“Oh. Then, don’t worry. Never happened.” Tim waves a hand dismissively.

The guest looks up.

“Really?”

Tim nods.

“Dude, I tried to shoot you.”

Tim shrugs.

“That phone’s probably dead, by the way,” he remarks, not skipping a beat. “And you might need another nap. I went out there once, and I wound up eating half the food in the house and sleeping all day. I think it uses cool shiny stuff to lure people into it, but it doesn’t work if you just use a lasso.” Tim swallows his nerves. “You probably came here from somewhere else, and you were really confused and sick, and I just made that worse by being a cagey jerk. And I’m really sorry.”

His guest puts the phone away and sits up.

“It’s fine. I’ve had much worse, trust me. Where are we, though--really?”

“This is my house. I made it.”

“Yeah, but where is it?”

“Well, it’s hard to explain, but–it’s a pocket in space. Temporarily. I’m the one who’s just passing through. I really wasn’t trying to scare you. I’m just not that good at using… this stuff I have. I can’t even get food to taste right. Or get this to stop.” He points at his hair, which has slowed to a lazy gradient of yellow, blue, and green.

“Why’d you make your house into a labyrinth?”

“I dunno. I was just copying stuff out of a magazine, and I kept needing more room. But seriously. If I don’t tell anybody about you, you can’t tell anybody about me or my house.” He gets up on his knees and puts his hands together in plea. “I would be so, so screwed.”

The guest smirks sympathetically.

“Deal. Uh, what was your name again?”

“It’s Tim. He/him.”

They extend a hand to shake.

“Same here. I’m Danny. Danny Phantom, professionally.”

Tim takes it firmly.

“That’s a rad name! I guess you see weird stuff like this all the time, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. Especially out here. I ran into a crab monster that almost took my head off.”

“There are monsters in the black void thing?”

“No, no. In the Ghost Zone.”

“The...”

"The big green place attached to the real world. I can’t imagine how anything could survive in the trench I fell into.”

Tim goes numb.

“...You okay?”

“I’VE BEEN SITTING HERE FISHING FOR MONTHS, AND THERE WAS A WHOLE WORLD JUST OUTSIDE THE BLACK PART?! ALSO–GHOSTS? YOU’RE A GHOST?!” Tim claps a hand over his mouth. “Ohh. That was the secret, wasn’t it?”

Danny chuckles.

“Well, I kinda gave it away,” he admits. “I’m half ghost. Er, a cross-dimensional mutant, depending on how you look at it.”

“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“But you must be, too. How else could you do stuff like this?” Danny gestures at the pitcher still on the table.

Tim sits back and folds his arms defensively. His hair darkens to magenta.

“I–I’m not. I mean, I’m not super sure I know much of anything about this, anymore. But I can’t tell you any of what I do know. If I say too much, it’ll raise a red flag, and some guys will find me who are trying to take me away and wipe my memory. Or throw me in jail. Prob’ly both.” He rubs his elbows nervously. “Pretty sure I’m not dead, though.”

Danny’s eyebrows knit.

“Are these guys government agents in suits?”

Tim shakes his head.

“Uh. Well. Sometimes. They could technically look like anything, but the ones at the top usually just wear robes.”

“Are they ancient judgemental blobs of goop with a big eye in the middle?”

“Uh, the first and second things, yes. Third and fourth things, no.”

“Huh.”

Tim looks down and catches himself picking at his fingernails. There are little chips of lime green paint on the sofa cushion. He opens a hand, and a thick rubber band appears out of thin air in a tiny puff of dust.

Danny winces, fighting a sneeze.

“That’s it. That’s what’s been bugging me,” he exclaims, rubbing his nose with a wrist. “It definitely doesn’t feel like ectoplasm.”

Tim winds the rubber band around his fingers, looking nervous.

“Are they wormholes?” Danny asks.

“No.”

“But it’s memetic, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Is it a photon thing?”

“Stop guessing!”

“Okay, okay. Sorry. Can you at least tell me where you’re from?”

“Somewhere else,” Tim answers quickly.

Danny takes a second to process the meaning.

“And there’s more than one somewhere else?”

“Uh-huh. Lots more.”

Danny rubs his forehead.

“Okay. Sure, I can deal with that,” he mutters with discomfort.

“Honest, it’s nothing to worry about. I’m not planning on being here long. I can drop you off wherever you want, and you can go back to doing your thing.”

Danny considers. He doesn’t get far. His head has gone back to swimming.

“Who am I kidding? I’m not going anywhere like this. I probably couldn’t even fly straight if I tried.”

“That’s fine. You can stay if you want.” Tim pulls the rubber band down to his wrist and musters a question. “In… in that case, you think you could tell me more about the ghost stuff?”

“Uh, sure.”

~

It turns out that there’s quite a lot to tell. Danny goes on nostalgically about the days when he, Sam, and Tucker were stumbling their way through their first year or two of ghost encounters.

The whole era is a little cringeworthy for Danny to look back on, with all the close calls and petty mistakes. At the same time, he can’t help but feel the sweeping moments of triumph at the size they were when he was so small and outmatched. Listing off all the enemies they faced is staggering even to him. He even remembers a few of his best one-liners in combat. He keeps waiting for Tim to lose interest, but his host only gets more enraptured as the tale goes on. Danny’s already feeling better, too. Lucky, since he has to stand up in order to fully animate the time a legion of bayonet-wielding undead soldiers swept through Amity Park with a headless chain of commanders at their heels. Tim holds his knees close to his chest with eyes fixed forward. He only flinches at the moment where an ear splitting cannon shot ripped through the sky–and nearly Danny.

The later years were different. Danny and his friends weren’t just beating back monsters and dead guys anymore. As they grew closer with ghosts, enemies became allies and allies became friends. There was still no shortage of rowdy ghosts to wrangle, but it more often came down to unraveling the circumstances that put them there, leading to bizarre new discoveries about the Ghost Zone’s lore and inhabitants. The really tough cases usually took the form of corrupt officials, paranoid vigilantes, and the ever-growing presence of the Guys In White. Danny spends so many days and nights on patrol now that the Ghost Zone feels like the only place he can relax.

“Geez. How do you find time to sleep?” Tim asks.

“I don’t need to anymore. I think this is the first nap I’ve had in a couple months.”

“Is that a normal ghost thing?”

“Yes,” Danny replies, visibly unsure if that’s true.

“Aren’t your friends around to help you?”

“They were, up until last year.” There’s something sorrowful in his delivery.

Tim’s brows knit with disbelief.

“They didn’t just up and quit, did they?”

“No! They only agreed to let it go because I had it handled. The stakes got bigger so I got tougher, and they’re… still just human, y’know? I can’t blame them for wanting to move on.” Again, Danny looks a little less than sure of his words. “The truth is, I’m trying to find a way to hang it up, too.”

Tim sits bolt upright.

“Why?!” His hair turns orange.

“Because I’m not a kid anymore. Sam and Tucker are already at college, and I’m stuck here trying to make sure the whole town doesn’t get overrun.”

“Can’t you just go to a college nearby?” Tim asks blankly.

“That’s not the point,” Danny insists. “I told Tucker I’d catch up with him next semester in California, and I have zero time to do the long-distance thing with Sam, and–I dunno, maybe the three of us could pick back up where we left off after we graduate. But I can’t just let myself get left behind playing superhero.”

“Bullshit!” Tim exclaims, leaping to his feet on the cushions and pointing accusatorily. He retracts his energy a little at Danny’s stung face. “Sorry. It’s just–You’re not ‘playing’ anything! You went through so much to get good at your powers. You don’t have to follow anybody’s stupid rules, and you’re not a huge jerk about it. Er, anymore, I guess.”

Danny glances away as Tim struggles to get his point together.

“And... god, there is so much stuff in life that’s boring and unfair. You’ve already got something that’s yours, and you can actually do something with it. That’s huge! You can’t just let it go. Who knows how long you’ll have it?”

Danny stares pensively at the floor.

Tim sits on the back of the couch with his mouth shut. His hair rapidly changes from shade to shade.

Danny has a seat too, suddenly feeling tired again. “It’s funny. Sam and Tucker were the ones who were into the whole ghost powers thing from the start. I thought it was a curse. I kept looking for ways to get rid of it so my life could go back to normal and I could grow up and go away to be an astronaut. But they kept saying how unique it made me and how I could use it to rise to the occasion. Even the score. Help people. And it turns out they were right. It’s a part of me, now. I can’t picture my life without it. Flying around the city at night’s only a chore when I keep getting shot at. Also, it turns out that the Ghost Zone actually has a lot in common with the celestial body formations and electromagnetic radiation patterns in deep space. Who knew?”

Tim’s eyes finally glaze over just a little.

“And that would be great and everything. It just means that the part where I got to do it with my best friends is over. And I feel like I wasted the last of the time I had chasing…”

“Ghosts.” Tim tries not to grin.

“Well, Guys in White, mostly.”

“Then why’d you say you had it handled?”

Danny sighs.

“I did,” he explains. “I spent the whole winter kicking the Guys out of town. But they came right back the next summer. They’re like vermin.”

“So? Kick ‘em out harder!”

“It’s not that easy.”

Danny goes on to describe how the government vans had rolled back into city limits with an arsenal of new technology and jurisdiction–signed off by some lackey of the Secretary of Defense with the aim of “containing and studying” the ghost presence in Amity Park and all surrounding areas. They immediately started setting up surveillance and restrictive measures on the townspeople. And Vlad, forever-mayor of the century, has been funding them and letting them do whatever they want as long as they stay out of his obviously evil, illegal, and ghost-related agenda. Anything to grant himself as much control over the city as possible. The Guys’ actual ghost-hunting exercises do little more than break down shaky truces and city blocks–all blamed on Danny, of course. The spirits they do catch wind up as creepy bioweapon experiments or unwilling informants. There are actually more ghost incidents than ever, as the animosity between the living and dead continues to climb. The ghosts are getting crafty–forming plans and alliances Danny can only ever catch the tail of. These days, it feels like he can never quite be sure if he’s being watched or who to trust, no matter where he is.

Tim continues to be blown away and takes a second to form a response.

“That’s crazy. What about that Red Huntress lady? And your sister?”

“Which one?”

“The clone one. Adopted one.”

“Dani.”

“Yeah. Are they gone too?”

“No, they’re still there. They were actually gonna take over for me after I left. But I can’t just leave them with the whole Guys mess.”

“Why not? There’s two of them and one of you.”

“Because,” Danny reluctantly answers.

Tim opens his hands expectantly.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Danny explains. “Dani is a kid.”

“So were you.”

“Yeah, and I almost died. A lot. What the Guys are doing is worse than anything I faced when I was her age. Also, she’s not coming at this from where I did. She doesn’t go out to fight ghosts and train every night. She just wants to have a home and a family and show up to school about 80% of the time. Handling the Guys is my job. She shouldn’t have to deal with any of this.”

“But she does anyway cause she’s scared.”

“Exactly. And Va–Huntress has always been on the fence about what side she’s on. We started settling our differences a couple years ago, but she mostly did her own thing. She was more willing to team up after the Guys came back, which I thought was great. But then, I caught her letting out a bunch of random ghosts to go after a heavily guarded surveillance outpost.”

“I thought she didn’t like ghosts,” Tim interjects.

“She doesn’t. She can barely stand me. It was clearly an act of desperation.”

“So, they were also scared.”

“And so was I. Especially when I found out she was roping Dani into it. I tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn’t listen. So I had to go in and–y’know–control the situation. But it turns out I couldn’t handle it either, and I screwed up and wound up kicking the Guys up to defcon-two. And now everything’s worse and neither of them are talking to me and all the ghosts and the people in town think I’m not on their side anymore.”

Danny doesn’t realize how fast he’s been talking until he’s out of words and breathless.

Tim stares, his chin in his hands.

Danny takes a long breath and continues steadily.

“The only way I can think to fix it is to do something really stupid like getting my hands on a cursed object or a ghost weapon with enough power to throw the whole operation out for good. Which would probably do something terrible to me or someone else. But I can’t risk letting the others get hurt because of me. And if I don’t do something soon, it’s just gonna keep getting worse.” He looks at Tim. “And now, I’m sure you’re deeply disappointed to find out what I really am–the world’s biggest screw-up. You probably are better off just getting out of here.”

Tim immediately cracks up laughing. He keeps laughing as Danny sinks into the couch. He sinks and sinks further, his back flat on the seat. Having surrendered himself to the cushions, Danny stares at the ceiling in placid humiliation as he waits for Tim’s wheezing to bring itself to a slow hitching halt.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just. Man, you have no idea.” Tim sucks air sharply to catch his breath. He sweeps the hair out of his eyes, now a garish mix of cyan and red. “Alright, if you’re the world’s biggest screw-up, then I am the screw-up center of the universe. My screw-up-itude transcends time and space. Cause I did exactly what you did, only worse.”

Danny doesn’t move more than an eyebrow, skeptical.

Tim clears his throat and continues.

“So, back home I had…” he stops to choose his words carefully. “Some friends. And some power. But it wasn’t mine. I was borrowing it. And they made all the bad stuff in my life a lot better.” He pauses again and glances around, waiting to be interrupted. He isn’t. “Honestly, I coulda made a lot of other people’s stuff better too, but I wasn’t thinking about it. Anyway. I got a little older, and it was all going to have to go away. Which felt like the end of the world to me. I mean, I was twelve. In fact, I got so upset that I wanted to make sure nobody would ever be able to take them away from me. So, I went somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go and stole something that would let me use some of the power for myself. It went really, really bad. I got in huge trouble. I couldn’t give the thing back. It just was me, now. I ran away, and I just keep running and screwing things up wherever I go. And… I spend all my time thinking about the stuff I wish I’d done differently. But I can’t just make it better because I barely know how to use any of this.” Tim flicks his hand. Danny winces and wrinkles his nose. Tim folds his hand back into his lap and plucks at the rubber band. “The worst part is that I was so sure it was the right thing to do. I was gonna prove that I could fix everything. But I think I was just telling myself that because it meant I wouldn’t have to give anything up. I lost my friends, but they lost me too. They didn’t do anything wrong. But because of me, they didn’t even get to say goodbye. That’s not fair.”

“How old are you?” Danny cuts in.

“Sixteen. You don’t mind taking advice from a sixteen-year-old, do you?”

“No, it’s just weird that it’s making sense.”

Tim snorts and keeps twanging at the rubber band.

“So what would you do if you could go back?” Danny asks.

Tim looks up at the ceiling. The twanging slows to a contemplative beat.

“Things were gonna change no matter what. If I’d leaned into it, I could’ve at least seen where it was gonna go and–tried to steer it, I guess? Cause now, I’ll never know. And all this?” He makes a sweeping gesture at the disembodied house around them. “Sucks. And I’m bad at this ‘growing up’ thing, obviously. But I think if I had the chance to apologize, I’d take it. I’ve made it through a lot of wild stuff I never thought I would, but I definitely coulda used more people on my side. Or, they coulda used me on their side.”

The corner of Danny’s mouth pulls.

“What do you do about missing the days that didn’t suck?”

“I still got ‘em as long as I remember them,” Tim says simply.

Danny concedes, nodding.

“Besides, I might be nuts, but the Huntress’ plan doesn’t sound half bad,” Tim  keeps on. “Can you imagine an army of ragtag supernatural rebels and monsters going up against an evil government agency and some rich bootlicking mayor who also has superpowers, oh my god! Everybody’s gotta watch each other’s backs and fight to set the record straight on who the real bad guys are. That’d be amazing!” Tim has gotten up on his feet again, pacing on the cushions and making dynamic poses and sound effects.

It doesn’t sound so bad to Danny, either, when he puts it like that.

“Aa! You’re smiling,” Tim points.

“Alright, alright. It might not be impossible–if we had the right help.”

“Really?? Uh, I would. Agree,” Tim stammers, clutching his fingers modestly. “I bet you have lots of friends you could call.” His hair is bright pink.

“Do… you wanna help?” Danny offers gingerly.

“For real? Even though I’m a kid?” He laces the last word with a little contempt.

“As long as you’re not my sister. Also, you managed to trap me. I’m not sure I could stop you.”

Tim brightens.

“Oh, man. I’m not sure what I could do, but I’ll try and think of something. Like, uh–”

“Having a secret safehouse off the grid?”

“Sure! I’ll work on some other stuff, too. Anything’s better than sitting here alone being a coward.”

Danny’s about to comment when Tim interrupts.

“Can I see your phone?”

His guest uncertainly hands it over. Tim leaps down the stairs and opens a closet in the hall. A drift of anachronous junk spills out. Danny follows. After some digging, Tim produces a plastic pill-shaped brick with buttons on it. He shakes the two phones until they both light up. Danny sneezes. Tim punches in numbers with his thumbs until each has the other’s contact saved. Then, he hands Danny’s back to him.

“Here. Call me if you need anything. Also, since you’ll probably have to tell them about me… Just don’t tell them more than you have to, okay?  And no guessing!”

Danny makes a zipping motion across his mouth.

~

The purple door takes itself to the part of the Ghost Zone where Danny came in. It swings open, and the ghost boy floats out. Tim peeks his head past the frame to have a look at the wavering ethereal depths of green.

“Whoa.”

Danny turns and gives Tim a short salute with two fingers.

“Well, seeya. Thanks for everything.”

“Hey, wait!”

Danny stops.

“Do you have 7/11 here?” Tim asks, his hair trying hard to match the space around it.

“Yeah.”

“Awesome. I’m gettin’ a slurpee, then practice. And shower.”

The door shuts and disappears.

Danny smiles.

He summons the portal home and passes through its membrane, back to his parents’ lab. The steel hazmat doors shut behind him with a pneumatic whir and a clang.

He’s still a little fatigued, but not enough to beat out his urge to check for trouble. His intangible form heads through the wall and up to the street. To his surprise, it doesn’t seem that late. There are several people casually walking around in the dim moonlight. Yellow windows shine into the autumn dark from nearby apartments. His parents must still be up, since the ghost shield’s not even on. Despite all his fretting, he hadn’t thought to check the time yet. He takes out his phone. It’s not even midnight.

He hesitates, then finds a secluded spot and calls Valerie.

It rings.

He’s already composing a voicemail in his head when it picks up at the last second.

“What do you want, Fenton?”

“Hey. Are you busy?”

“Nnno.”

There’s clatter in the speaker, followed by a hushed voice.

“Is that Dani?” Danny asks sharply.

“Hi,” his sister calls sheepishly from the background. “Don’t be mad. We can handle this.”

“Where are you? Are you okay?” he demands.

“We’re fine,” she insists with a whine.

There’s a sudden wail from a rusty hinge and a single sharp cry from an alarm, followed by the swift destruction of electrical components. A low husky voice mutters in a garbled romance language.

“Is that Wulf?”

“Hellooo…” the giant voice rumbles.

“Relax, okay?” Dani assures him. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”

There’s a huge crash.

“What was that?!”

“I’m hanging up now,” Valerie states.

“Wait, wait, wait! I’m sorry. That’s not why I called. Please, I just need you all to listen for a sec.”

Valerie sighs and moves the phone.

“You’ve got three minutes.”

He feels like this might not be the best time for this, but he forces himself not to chicken out.

“I really screwed up the other night.”

“No duh,” the girls say in unison.

“Not just that. I’ve been a control freak through this whole fiasco. The Guys in White are your problem, too. And I don’t get to tell you how to handle it. Because I don’t know. I have no idea how to fix this.” His apology trails into a laugh that quickly burns out. “It was stupid of me to try to fight everybody just so that I could pretend to be in charge. I’m really, really sorry.”

Wulf grunts, but there’s nothing else.

Danny waits in the silence.

“Well,” Valerie says a bit more softly, “you’ve still got some time on the clock. Is there anything else?

Danny rubs his neck, thinking.

“I understand if you don’t want to, but–maybe I could take the back seat for a while and help you guys out instead?”

“I dunno. Are you gonna behave?”

“I’ll do my best. You could always put me in the thermos if I don’t.”

“We’ve already got someone in the thermos,” Dani tells him. “One of Walker’s guys.”

Danny’s tone drops.

“What are the Guys in White doing with Walker?”

“Get over here and find out!”

Danny’s phone buzzes. She just sent him an address.

“On my way.”

He hangs up and flies off into the night.

------------

PART 1

The au continues in: An Act of Misdirection

INDEX

(Pardon my insanity. I’ve had a version of Danny and a version of Timmy growing simultaneously in my head, and now they get to hang out.

I also really like the idea of Danny having to deal with new challenges alongside a rotating B-team of people he’s less developed with. Could be interesting.)

[football-and-fanfics]

Exhausted - Trent Alexander-Arnold & Andy Robertson

Who: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson Request: hii :) could you do a trent fic where he gets injured during a match or in training and passes out or even he doesnt get injured just passes out from exhaustion and the team crouds round and medics get called over and of course have robbo being worried about him. Thank youu ! :))) Requested by: anonymous Warnings: mentions of injury / passing out, worry/panic A/N: Just let me know if, after reading this, anyone would be interested in a part 2 to this imagine. I'm kind of having an idea for a second part to this, but not sure if anyone thinks this is imagine is any good and deserves another part 😁

He should have asked for rest, or at least said something about how he wasn't feeling in top condition, Trent realized that much now. For weeks, he had been feeling so tired and altogether out of energy, but it never once crossed his mind to ask to be left out of the lineup. A decision he would come to regret... ----- The match turned out to be hard and quite physically demanding. They weren't even halfway through the second half, or Trent had already run himself completely ragged. Still, he refused to give up and get himself substituted. His performance was still above average, and he willed himself to keep going. But he knew he was pushing himself to his limits, and already well beyond those. In the 78th minute was when things went completely sideways for Trent. He lined up together with Andy for a free kick close to their opponent's goal. As he stood waiting for the referee to blow his whistle, Trent suddenly felt himself get unwell. The world swam around him all of a sudden, and it was like the stadium sounds were coming to him through a mile of water. His vision started to darken, and he felt like all his muscles had suddenly lost all their strength. "Robbo, I... I d-don't feel so good..." Trent staggered on his feet. He tried to reach for Andy's shoulder for some support, but missed. "Trent? What's going on?" Andy was confused as to what was happening, but when Trent suddenly collapsed right in front of him, Andy understood only too well. A sort of groaned breath escaped Trent's lips as he slumped to the ground, where he lay motionless. With what had happened to Christian Eriksen at the Euro 2020 still rather fresh in everyone's minds, the panic on the pitch was instantaneous. Most of all with Andy. "HELP! MEDICS!" Andy cried out. He threw himself onto his knees by Trent's side. "No, no, no.... Trent? Please, be okay... you're not doing this to me, mate." Andy frantically grabbed Trent's limp hand and pressed his fingers against the pulse point of the slender wrist. He was just able to feel a strong and steady heartbeat, when he was pushed out of the way by the arrival of the medical team.

Andy remained closeby as the medics worked on Trent. Even though he was scared shitless and panic surged through his body, Andy needed to see and hear everything that was happening with his friend. The medics were trying to get Trent to wake up, but so far to no avail. "Come on, Trentski." Andy felt tears of silent panic burn in his eyes. "Please, mate, just open your eyes." Andy felt and arm snake around his shoulders in comfort, and found Jordan appear next to him. "Are you alright?" The captain asked. Andy shook his head. "Not until I'm sure he is." "What happened?" Jordan, too, looked down at the seemingly still unconscious Trent. "I don't know." Andy's voice sounded strained with emotion. "He said something about not feeling well, and then he just... collapsed." Jordan frowned in concern. He had to admit this didn't sound altogether reassuring, but he decided not to voice those concerns to Andy at this moment. "But I felt a heartbeat..." Andy vigorously nodded his head, the suppressed panic visible in all his features. "I felt his pulse, Hendo, and he still has a heartbeat." Jordan tightened his arm around Andy's shoulder, hoping to calm the Scot down at least a little bit. "That's a very good sign." Suddenly, Andy saw something that made his heart jump in relief: Trent moved. It wasn't big, just the movement of an arm, but enough for Andy to believe that Trent at least was regaining consciousness. "Oh, thank heavens!" Andy exclaimed, clasping his hands over his face. "He's responding to them." The relief sounded through in Jordan's voice, too. The captain was right, though. Trent definitely seemed to answer when the medics spoke to him or asked him to complete simple tasks. "Andy!" Andy startled slightly when one of the medics called out to him, but he didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately rushed over and dropped himself to his knees by Trent's side. Trent lay on his back. Liverpool's medical team still surrounded him and were keeping a close eye on his condition, but Andy noticed they were calm and didn't appear to be too worried. He took it as a good sign. "Hey, Trentski." Andy ventured a careful smile. He was glad to see Trent looking up at him, even if it was still a somewhat dazed look. "Robbo..." Trent sounded oh so exhausted. "I'm sorry I scared you." "That you did," Andy scoffed, "what happened?" Trent closed his eyes and took his time opening them again before he answered. "I exhausted myself. I've been so tired these past weeks, and..." Trent fell silent. "Your body told you to stop," Andy finished for him. "Yeah," Trent mumbled. Andy didn't make any comments on Trent's decisions to make himself available for this match even when he clearly hadn't been feeling altogether right. That was a conversation for a later date. For now Andy was just glad that this was 'all', and there was no reason to assume something was horribly wrong with Trent. "Robbo..." Trent caught his friend's attention one final time before he would be carried off the pitch. "What's it, mate?" Andy rested a hand on Trent's chest. "Top left," Trent mumbled. Andy frowned. "Huh?" "The free kick." Trent smiled tiredly. "Top left. It's the goalkeeper's weak corner." "Andy laughed. "That's what you're worrying about right now?" Trent didn't have time to come up with a response, as the medics choose that moment to lift him of the ground and stretcher him off the pitch. He was carried through the players' tunnel, when suddenly an almighty roar of cheers erupted through the stadium. Trent chuckled softly to himself, because he knew Andy had put the ball in the top left corner.

Tags: @evie-pr, @auawdo, @meteora-fc, @de-geas, @stonesyyyy, @drizzyreese, @hbstre, @liverpoolfanfiction, @sternennebel2001 TAA / Robbo tags: @footballffbarbiex, @lightsupdoyouknowwhoyouare, @sanchoj7, @robbothegoat Liverpool tags: @berrydoughnuttruth, @candlelitutopia PL tags: @ella33Add me to the tags list, too! For more of my Trent imagines, click here For more of my Robbo imagines, click here