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12th-shavie · 6 months ago

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I now have even more thoughts. And an equal amount of spoilers under the cut.

These are more centered around the additions Perfect Chronology made to the original game, setting and story.

I'll start off with the noticeable change in tone : after comparing the early portions of the game, RH comes off as very quiet and even gloomy at times (during the raining part mostly) whereas PC had given me a much lighter "You're going on a little adventure doing your job" impression. The track that added to that effect is exclusive to PC and that led me to wonder if the entire game had a lighter tone because of how the final ending it is possible to get has changed.

Instead of a tragic end no matter what, PC pulls out a magic solution to aaaaall of the problems and you can just beat it up. It detracts from the narrative we're presented over the course of the game that leads to that inevitable moment where the consequences of the neglected ritual catch up to the current timeline and there is no way out of it, something must be done and none of the options can satisfy everyone. It's tragic, sacrifices are made willingly out of necessity and it works because that's what the story was building towards. It's not a happy ending for everyone and the game doesn't suggest that it'll end well for everyone involved.

But PC just goes around that foregone conclusion to say "but what if you could just use the power of friendship and this new mcguffin and beat up this big monster instead" then takes your hand and shoves you in the Nemesia storyline so that you can see a bunch of possible histories that don't explore that many characters or that do so in a way that feels really out of character (like Protea who gets a pseudo-redemption in a history where she isn't queen and hasn't done any of her heinous decisions, or Hugo who has something going on with Noah but it's not very clear on the intent and he even gets to avoid the consequences of his actions and leave with Noah) just to give everyone a "happy" ending except for Dias and Selvan who just die another way and barely get developed in their relevant possible history (or get a proper boss fight but that's me being salty). These endings feel undeserved and underwhelming but that's not all. A lot of relevant possible histories make Noah a major character in their plot and he's a little weird in the sense that he's not quite consistent with the idea of his character presented in RH through context and other characters' view of him and PC's version feels a little off, I'm not quite sure how.

The Nemesia parts of the story are also a little weird. Her character (and I'm biased) feels forced with the whole teacher shtick (which is retroactively made more disturbing by the ending and how she was in love with her teacher and I just dislike how creepy that is considering she looked pretty young at that point) and then this whole thing with the Red Chronicle feels shoved in the story and not all that cohesive with the rest of the lore established but I'd excuse that if the dungeon was more interesting and if it wasn't for the final boss. The Singularity is what doesn't work. It's just too easy to make a monster out of some guy only Nemesia (who isn't very compelling herself) cares about and pin all the problems on events that don't mesh with the core story of the game the way Apocrypha did as a final boss. The game ends on a victory where no one has to take responsibility because the problem was defeated and everything's gonna be just fine (even if Nemesia is temporarily left behind but that doesn't count) and that's why the tone gets to be lighter : it doesn't need to make the player feel the incoming tragedy.

The change in artstyle also plays a part that, being literally lighter and rounder (softer is what comes to mind) than the original.

Aside from that, I played the DLC chapters because I was curious and man I should have known better, because I sure am not the target audience for that mana springs one (aside from Rosch without his armor which was fine but the rest was a little too uncomfy for me).

I'm not sure where this train of thought is going but the more I think about it, the more I see the missed potential of the possible histories and how they could have expanded on what was already there and I get sad.

On a final note I did appreciate the expression variety of the portraits and the voice acting, they made for a good first experience with the game, and the bonus images during certain scenes were very nice (except the one with Raynie getting changed, get that outta my face) although one I'd say was really missing from the game is the painting from Heiss' office. It's just cruel to leave a prompt on his desk for what feels like forever only to not show the painting when it's finally unlocked. That's mean to me specifically and I don't support that.

So I've been playing Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology lately and I have many thoughts that plague me

Spoilers under the cut

All of this is from reaching both basic and true ending, the PC ending with the singularity, all side quests, possible history quests and no second run with clear data for the extra ending. Also I played it on friendly difficulty and it's a good thing I touch at the end of my thoughts.

I mostly want to ramble about the different characters in the game, in somewhat of an order so I'll start with my dear boy Stocke.

I really liked Stocke. He's not particularly chatty, but we get to see a lot of what's going on his mind through the story, including every decision he has to make that can lead to a bad ending and he ends up very well-rounded by the time of the ending. He clearly grows to care a lot about everyone around him, which makes his fate particularly cruel when it's only because he made all these connections that he can be the sacrifice, but it's also the reason why his sacrifice is such a heavy blow for the others. His status as a man whose soul hasn't been his for a long time unbeknownst to him heightens the value of his growth as a person and as a friend, showing how he could still grasp the opportunity to see value in the world beyond himself and his own lifespan (that was technically over since quite some time). He's willing to use the power at his disposal to try to get the best outcome for anyone he can help, even when it seemingly doesn't do much for the world at large, he's just really helpful. Stocke is also very funny to me in the many ways he deals with his time travel. Especially in the ways he casually transports a bunch of items through the timelines, and never explains how he knows information he has absolutely no way of knowing at the point in time he's in. He also doesn't seem to question the fact that there's a big part of his life missing, or at least that's what I understand the Ernst memory wipe as, and seems to just adapt to whatever the timeline has in store for him at any given time. But he's also a Sad boy™ and deserves the world for everything he's been put through. Especially having to kill Rosch that one time.

Ah, Rosch. My poor sweet bulky boy whom I really tried to use every time he was available but it seems it was never enough and even in post-ending he's not quite caught up. The mana spring dlc also shows just how big his armor truly compared to his actual body and I respect the huge suit of armor that makes his silhouette a little silly. I wasn't a big fan of his romance with Sonja at first until the alternate history in Celestia and his bigger arc, where we get to see some more of them that made me appreciate them more (and Sonja upgrading his Gauntlet has to be some of my favourite interactions between her, Rosch and Stocke).

Raynie and Marco are cute as characters Stocke is close to but I really couldn't care less about Raynie's romantic subplot, or her in general. My interest in her never rose higher than my interest in her gameplay, which is thankfully fun to me so it doesn't feel like she's wasting my time. Marco was a little better, especially with the Mimel sidequest where he shows another facette of himself in the bad ending where he goes nuts and I respect that. But ultimately, they're only involved at first because Heiss made it so, and neither their past not their relationship to Stocke or the others was delved into all that much, which is kind of a shame given how present they are during the game.

Which bring me to Heiss. Heiss' first appearance just threw me in a loop of "wow, this guy is so obviously evil but he called Stocke his best boy so now I really want the game to surprise me with a turn of events where he's not one of the Big Bad™. I really wish I could trust this guy in the slightest but that character design is screaming EVIL very loudly". He then proceeds to turn out to be the main villain. Except he still very much cares about Stocke, and always has, even when his other intentions are very nefarious. And even at the very end he still cares about his favourite nephew. And I'm a sucker for that kind of character development, so needless to say Heiss now lives rent-free in one of my mental tabs that run in the background on my thoughts. He does have one portrait where he looks down, in a content but sad way, as if reminiscing of a happier past and it really gets me every time. I did not expect to care so much about the guy, yet his character arc really did it for me. From the bitterness cranked up to eleven by the Black Chronicle's past owners and his huge soft spot for Stocke to his own actions of granting Stocke a chance at a non-royal, non-sacrifice life that he himself never got as Heinrich being the key to the only positive future there was for the world ? Gorgeous arc ! Until the true end where he just never gives up on the only thing he truly cared about, Stocke's future. The PC ending where he joins forces with Stocke, Nemesia and the others was also a satisfying moment, seeing how he's reminded of when he went on adventures with Ernst (again with that softer portrait I am very weak to), along with one of the possible histories where you get the key to his desk (which had plagued me from the moment I tried to snoop around his office much earlier in the game) and it contains an old portrait of Heinrich and Ernst, probably the only trace had kept from that part of his past, showing that despite all the scheming and lack of remorse on other fronts as the main villain, he's still an old man whose life was never completely his own, and who tries to break the cycle for the one person he cared about who was condemned to the same fate. In other words, Heiss is absolutely a magnificent bastard but also very human underneath and I am not immune to that.

On the other hand, a character I had to warm up to gradually was Eruca (I've seen her design from the DS version and I feel robbed, that little sprite had so much more personality !). She starts out kinda generic, as the princess stuck under the terrible reign of her stepmother who secretly leads her dead brother's rebel group, and I only started garnering interest when she joined the party and was armed with a gun. I had gotten a gun before but had no idea they were for her, and it was extremely refreshing to see how she fared in combat despite her lower availability. Her relationship with Stocke was also made so much better by that one moment around the end where it goes back to their first time meeting in standard history and shows exactly what she was dealing with when interacting with Stocke, knowing full that he not only was her dead brother living with a borrowed soul, but also had yet to be aware of his role in the grand scheme of things. I was afraid the whole ritual bit would get in the way of her character development but it didn't and she ended up being one of my favourite characters in both story and gameplay. Ice magic nukes are very nice.

Aht is adorable and I knew she'd be in my top three from the moment I saw her in the animated opening in which she gave me some Just a little guy™ vibe which is sufficient for me to be interested. Her voice acting was also very endearing (then again all of the voice acting worked really for me) and she was just as fun in gameplay with her trap set-ups and big combo potential. And then the story dropped all sorts of hints that she clearly was aware of something very big and plot-relevant and that really makes her go from Babsie™ to Tell me your secrets you adorable little scoundrel™ and that's absolutely my jam.

I wish I had a stronger opinion on Gafka. He's pretty neat, I like the combos he brings to the tables, the way he learns additional skills with Bergas makes sense to me and is cool, but I wish his character spoke to me more. The one thing I would say about him is that he has this trait where he has a hard time distinguishing humans and uses nicknames based on other visible parts of them, but does eventually come to recognize Stocke with his name instead of "Red One" and that's a new bit of development he got there.

I wish Viola was playable. Girl's got so much potential with a title like the Valkyrie but only gets so little story presence, but she's a highlight of every scene she's in and that's fine by me. I find her design very soft yet powerful and inspiring, as befits a character with her renown and charisma.

I can also say I really appreciate Raul, he's not the most appealing character at first, but the genuine effort he clearly puts in supporting however he can from the back lines and devising all of the larger scale tactics and stuff really elevates him as guy who's trying to make the best out of a bad situation where he can't turn his back on people who need help he can provide after not opposing Hugo more directly even though he suspected him to be up to no good.

Speaking of Hugo, he has me a little confused on what exactly his motives were, where his loyalty lied and what he was really trying to accomplish, especially regarding Noah and the possible histories surrounding him. I'm not a fan of letting him around with Noah and not facing more consequences for his actions. Noah himself is also a little weird, being both this mysterious prophet who just wants what's best for his people and this calm guy who seems to know more than he lets on but hasn't really tried to stop Hugo or find another way to reach the people without his name being exploited. I wonder how he could've affected the timeline if he didn't just vanish from the public eye after the possible history that saves his life in the alternate history.

Dias and Selvan are most definitely meant to be read as an evil power couple. You can't throw in a sidequest where it is shown they get a hotel room in the middle of the day and Selvan immediately resorting to threatening to kill a little girl the instant he sees Stocke menacing Dias, and not tell they're not in some kind of very close relationship that is never described as friendship, not even once. Also they'd seemingly betray anyone in a heartbeat except each other and I will read the subtext as I please. There is also that one line from Selvan in alternate history when Dias is dead and he says something along the lines of "But now Dias is slain, and I am broken". And that's without mentioning the possible history where they didn't set Protea up as queen but Dias directly, and an NPC says that "Dias wears the crown, but Selvan might as well sit on the throne" and I'll gladly interpret it as Selvan sitting on the throne with Dias on his lap. Moving on.

Friendly difficulty is a godsend that should be in many other games. I love being able to progress rapidly through the combat heavy parts of the story and only be forced into important fights which I can appreciate without wearing down my gameplay experience. I cannot show grateful I am to be able to enjoy the story to the fullest with no downsides in my opinion. It even gives me a reason to someday try out the DS version to experiment with combat a little more, and also see the game in all its original stylized glory (mostly Stocke's grittier self, Eruca's pixie cut, Heiss balding forehead that makes him less magnificent of a bastard and Dias looking less evil for some reason)

I also intend to finish RHPC with my clear data to see that final final ending, just to see what it brings to the table.

#radiant historia #radiant historia perfect chronology #ramblings and musings #I must scream into the void once again #TLDR : perfect chronology could have done so much with its potential and I'm a little sad now #(this whole rambling is from last november but got stuck in my drafts so this is a wee bit late but more RH thoughts nonetheless)

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mooshs-crack-headcanons · 2 years ago

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I'm not considering this a spoiler since it's been stuff confirmed in recent interviews but since it seems everyone including Sonic has lost their memory in some way:

Edit: second image confirms sonic's memory loss

And I think it's either rumor or was in an interview (a lot of game articles managed to get their hands on it, way too many to keep up with tbh) that I just missed that confirmed Shadow to be in the game, which I mean hey given he's such a money maker and Sega knows he is it makes sense - but I'm pointing this all out due to one thing:

You know what would be funny?

If everyone has lost their memory due to whatever plot reasons, except Shadow, who has HISTORY of having absolutely terrible memory where majority of the main villains who has beef with him he doesn't even remember them or even why they hate him and he just kicks them in the back of the head and leaves (see Infinite) However, not this time. This time his memory unlike his peers given whatever reason is perfectly in tact and he has to maneuver around wherever the fuck he is in the game with that being the funniest fucking shit.

Like with Ian Flynn writing this I'm really thankful we're finally moving past the post Colors "everything has to be a poor told joke that we have to explain the joke in the joke so babies will understand" (hopefully) however, I can see fucking comedic opportunities from this - actual good stuff too given Ian's writing (please read how he writes Omega, it's absolute gold) Like Shadow, not being the very best at communicating, in his own way in 'attempt' to get Sonic's memory back is to beat the fuck out of him - who of course the latter is very confused because to him who the fuck is this guy??? - and that way Sega can milk out giving us another Shadow boss fight without it going back on his established development with him in his own way thinking if he just kicks him in the head enough the blue hedgehog's memory will return and meanwhile Sonic's just like this the entire time:

"Who the hell even are you?"

Idk I thought it'd be funny.

And even if we don't get an encounter like or Shadow has his memories lost (again) that that's fine, Flynn's always said he doesn't like how he has to write Shadow given Sega mandates in the IDW comics but hopefully he gets way more control to go past them and have creative freedom (there's already rumor of Sonic crying in a cutscene shown at the ganefest demo so hopefully,) to be able to write Shadow the way he wants to and I'm really hoping he gets to. I really miss the SA2-06* characterization of him, like from SA2 to heroes to the 05 game there was a clear character arc that post 06 Sega seemed to just throw away and revert back on and it's annoyed/frustrated me for years where I gave up on the franchise for years after Boom was revealed and only recently came back to it with movie 2. Shadow is my favorite character in this franchise and the whole reason with the 05 game I got into it in the first place and it fucking sucks to see him (and the rest of team dark tbh) done so dirty and I'm hoping Flynn gets all the creative freedom he can get to get him back at last somewhat adventure Era track. At least hopefully 🧎🏻‍♂️

(*team dark's interactions were the best and the only one of the few good things about that broken game)

#sonic #sonic frontiers #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #moosh gives his dumb opinions #moosh speaks #non request related

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gunterfan1992 · 3 years ago

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Episode Review: ‘Together Again’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 3)

Airdate: May 20, 2021

Story by: Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, Christina Catucci, Jesse Moynihan, Adam Muto

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Iggy Craig, Maya Petersen, Serena Wu

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

Across Adventure Time’s ten season run, the show explored a bevy of “mature” themes and story ideas—topics, like love, sexuality, depression, and grieving. The show also touched upon death, but the emphasis was usually placed on the emotional toll of a loved one dying, not really what happens when you die. We knew there were Dead Worlds and Death. We knew that there was reincarnation. But how does it all fit together? What does it mean? How does it work?

With “Together Again,” we finally have many of the answers.

This special opens with a marvelous fake-out episode simply called “Finn & Jake,” that sees the two steal a magical cartoon of 50-flavor ice cream before rescuing Turtle Princess and LSP from the clutches of the villainous Ice King. This is all deliberately anachronistic and over the top. Ice King is back to his season one ways, Finn has both arms, and he is still wielding his golden sword that he lost in season two’s “The Real You.” There’s lolrandom dialogue and silly monsters; it’s like a parody of seasons 1-2. But then, this adventure starts to get all wonky, and in time Finn realizes that he is in a some sort of trance or illusion: one that ends with Jake being buried in the ground. Suddenly, Finn awakens from his reverie. He’s an old man. And he’s dead. We’re then presented with a new title card that lets us know the episode is actually called “Finn & Jake Are Dead.”

Holy Glob! They actually went there.

Turns out Jake died years before Finn, so naturally Finn is super excited to see his best bud. But something’s wrong—he cannot find Jake!! They planned to spend eternity together. But all that Finn can find is his very own psychopomp, Mr. Fox (voiced by Tom Herpich, whose purposefully stilted line readings are the epitome of delightful). Finn rightfully assumes that Jake is in a different Dead World, and so, being the ball of spunk and energy that he is, he demands to meet with Death, only to discover that there’s a New Death in town (voiced by Chris Fleming). The episode eventually explains that New Death was the son of Death and Life, and after New Death killed his father, he became the sovereign of the afterlife. New Death hates his job and decides to just blow up all the Dead Worlds so he doesn’t have to deal with it all. (I won’t get too much into the details here, because there would be a lot of story to parse out.)

Finn soon learns that Jake has reached nirvana in the 50th Dead World, where there is nothing but peace and serenity. Finn nevertheless tracks down Jake, pulls him from paradise, but in doing so, accidentally lets New Death in, who promptly obliterates Elysium, sending all the enlightened souls—including those from different levels of the afterlife—to the 1st Dead World. This gronks up the afterlife, temporarily halting the reincarnation process.

Well, Finn and Jake are rightfully ticked, and so they haunt the material plane looking for Princess Bubblegum. She’s not home (more on that later), but Peppermint Butler is! After Ghost Finn and Ghost Jake explain the situation, Peppermint Butler tells them what to do: They need to find Life and explain the situation. The duo manage just that, and Life is rightfully angry that her kid has stopped the transmigration of souls. After Life gives Finn a McGuffin sword that can hurt Death, Finn and Jake return to his abode. A brawl ensues wherein we learn that New Death has been possessed… by none other than that spirit of the Lich.

That’s right, it’s the Lich! He’s back, and boy is he evil.

The Lich explains that by possessing Death, he can destroy the afterlife, thereby destroying a key aspect of reality. Naturally, Finn and Jake are not cool with this, and they engage in combat. After Mr. Fox grabs the McGuffin sword and uses it to annihilate the Lich and New Death, he is proclaimed the New New Death and sets everything right. Finn is slated to be reincarnated, and Jake is slated to return to the 50th Dead World where he and Finn will one day be reunited. As Finn is pulled into the wheel of souls, Jake suddenly decides to go back with Finn, too, “Just for fun.” The episode ends with a card letting us know that the episode is neither called “Finn & Jake” nor “Finn & Jake Are Dead.” Instead, it is “Finn and Jake Are Together Again.”

As they say, “And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

If you were to tell me several years ago that the last episode to star Finn and Jake would revolve around them dying, I think I would’ve been upset. Not simply sad, but rather frustrated because “they all died” can feel like a cheap ending. But with “Together Again,” it all works. And a large reason that it works is because the show goes all in with their ideas. Finn and Jake don’t magically leap back into their old life (no, no, they very much do bite the dust). Instead, the special emphasizes the cyclical nature of life through the transmigration of souls. The episode ends with a beautiful scene of Finn and Jake, bound together as soul-brothers, being reborn into a new, mysterious (possibly Ooo 1000+?) world. It’s both aesthetically and emotionally pleasing; it doesn’t feel off the way over finales might. This is right. This is the way life works. “Round and round as nature goes,” and all that jazz.

I loved the series explanation of how death works. It seems that souls land in a specific Dead World, where they ‘marinate’ for a bit, presumably being rewarded or punished based on their life in our meat reality. After a time, they are then reborn. This process repeats, with each soul reaching higher and higher levels of enlightenment until they hit nirvana, which is the 50th Dead World. So in a sense, Adventure Time has a roughly Buddhist cosmology with a dash of Greco-Roman mythos thrown in for flavor. (As to what happens after a soul stays in the 50th Dead World for a long period is anyone’s guess, but I’d speculate that when all the souls in the multiverse have been purified and land in the 50th Dead World, they will all collapse into one another and form one perfect Monad. Perhaps this is the sphere of perfection that the beings who merged into Matthew thought they were connecting to? Who knows! It’s anyone’s guess!) I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see who Death, Prismo, Life, etc.’s boss was, but perhaps that’s a mystery better left up to the imagination!

One minor thing that I loved about this special was the number of characters who made cameos as well as all the callbacks that were made to previous episodes. Regarding the former: Finn and Jake’s canine family show up (including the oft-forgotten Jermaine!), as do Tree Trunks and her myriad husbands. Tiffany plays a major role in all these shenanigans as a “death cop” of all things. There is a delightful rogues gallery stuck in the 1st Dead World (including, among others, Maja, Sharon from “The Gut Grinder,” and Wyatt). In the 50th we find Ghost Princess and Clarence happily at peace next to Booshy, the weird spirit mentioned in the Pen Ward classic “High Strangeness.” As far as callbacks go, perhaps my favorite is the clap (from “James Baxter the Horse”) that Jake taught to Finn in case they ever do get separated in the afterlife. And of course, there are myriad references made to “Death in Bloom,” the episode that planted the seed for what this would grow into.

Going into the special suspecting that it would involve Death, I was curious how they were going to handle Miguel Ferrer’s character. (In case a reader is not aware, Ferrer played Death in episodes like “Death in Bloom” and “Betty,” but he sadly passed away a few years ago). The producers’ choice to feature him in a non-speaking cameo—despite playing a relatively significant role in the story—was wise; I’m not sure if I can articulate the exact reasons, but something about his role felt appropriate and not gross, as some post-mortem memorials can be. Speaking of which, the wonderful, lovely Polly Lou Livingston was featured for the last time in this episode as Tree Trunks, happily in heaven with her literal harem of husbands. It was funny, it really was, and I’m sure that Polly Lou would’ve gotten a kick out of seeing it on screen. (Also, this is a pro-Tree Trunks safe space. Any Tree Trunks haters will be chucked into the 1st Dead World with Wyatt.)

The biggest mystery in this whole thing, for me at least, is the question of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Several years ago, I wrote an essay about what could’ve happened to them in the Ooo 1000+ universe. I speculated that they peaced out and left Ooo behind. In this special, neither Bubblegum nor Marceline are to be found in the Candy Kingdom—Peppermint Butler seems to be the one in charge, given that he is now wearing Bubblegum’s crown. Likewise, the duo aren’t anywhere in the Dead Worlds either. Maybe the two of them skipped town and got a duplex in the Nightosphere? Who knows… I just want my favorite gals to be OK!

All things considered, “Together Again” was a marvel: An episode that managed to feel like a series finale even more than “Come Along with Me” already did without taking away from the series itself. An episode that managed to make the idea of dying funny. An episode that brought back the Lich in a way that wasn’t forced. An episode that made Mr. Fox the New New Death. An episode that gave us a beautiful ending to Finn and Jake’s story… as well as the beautiful beginning to a new one. I said it on Twitter, and I’ll say it again here: “Together Again” was the end of a sentence in a book with infinite pages. Truly, the fun will never end.

Mushroom War evidence: Everything takes place in the Dead Worlds, so not really. Perhaps a more eagle-eyed viewer can inform us...

Final Grade: That’s right, I’m gonna do it...

Post-script, I actually messaged Jesse Moynihan to ask about his writing credit. He told me that it was for an unused story idea that he had developed. I’m not certain, but I’ll bet it was a part of the cancelled TV movie they were trying to make during season 5, since that would’ve seen Finn and Orgalorg journey to the various Dead Worlds.

#adventure time #adventuretime #atimers #at #atdl #distant lands #adventure time distant lands #finn the human #jake the dog #together again #togetheragain #dead worlds #hanna k. nyström #Hanna K #adam muto #jack pendarvis

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vs-stardream · 1 year ago

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adding on my two cents because fruitsofhell asked my opinion :3

first of all i'm not sure if "canon" is a useful framework in this context. i would say that "kirby and meta knight look very similar" is an indisputable fact of canon, and i would say that them being the same species is heavily implied, or at least a pretty easy interpretation to come to. but i don't think it really matters whether or not kirby and meta knight are the same species. the kirby series doesn't have a strong concept of "species" anyway. imo, the question is... why are meta knight and kirby so similar?

and you could answer this in various ways. it's a great visual gimmick/gag for meta's fight in adventure. "dark version of the protagonist" is a video game trope staple, and one that the kirby series loooves to use & iterate on. narrative-wise, it makes clear the parallels between kirby and meta knight: they are both "vigilantes" in a sense, both concerned with saving the world and doing the right thing, just in very different ways.

i think the connection to void termina is super interesting and worthwhile. likewise, i don't think "is kirby related to void termina?" is a very interesting question, and i think that "why are kirby and void so similar" is a worthy analytical path in and of itself. (for the record, HERE'S part of my take on that. and this post is relevant here too.) with both meta knight and void, the games are using the physical appearance of the boss to prompt reflection about how that boss might be similar to or different from kirby.

finally, i would like to gently push back on the idea that void and meta are unrelated! for sure, meta doesn't have the same void-coding as kirby does. i don't think the games give us any reason to suspect that meta is literally related to void in-universe. but i do think there's a parallel.

namely: void is to kirby as galacta knight is to meta knight.

the galacta/void parallels are pretty self-evident. the horns. the bright pink. the angel vibes. the heart spears. then there's the common reading that galacta was one of the heroes who originally sealed void. you get the idea. but what does that mean?

meta and galacta's relationship is pretty nebulous. they're most likely of the same species, which is striking given how rare individuals of this species seem to be in the kirby universe. most importantly, galacta knight and meta knight seem to share a goal: to become the greatest warrior in the galaxy. (well, no telling if that truly was galacta's goal, but he sure seems to have become that!) in this way, galacta is clearly set up as the "dark version" of meta: he is a powerful warrior in the way that meta longs to be, BUT he is also a planet-destroyer and a space criminal. there is a sense that this is what meta could become if he was fucked up enough. meta defeating galacta therefore takes on a sort of symbolic edge: you could read it as the triumph of meta's longing for justice and self-improvement over galacta's chaos and violence. (or you could read it in other ways. canon is your oyster.)

can we use this relationship as a way to think about kirby and void? i think so! like galacta, void is an ancient being of chaos and destruction... who also happens to look a lot like one of our protagonists. there is a sense that perhaps void is what an evil!kirby would look like. as i've articulated before (in some of those linked posts probably), i believe that the triumph of kirby over void represents the triumph of friendship over loneliness. this is a major theme throughout the series, and only made more poignant if you consider how close void is/was to becoming like kirby!

both void and galacta are implied to have had some sort of "corruption" in their past too, iirc. what happened to them? and what ultimately "saves" them? well, friendship of course. (the friendship of kirby and arguably morpho knight...)

...but morpho knight complicates this in so many ways and i dont want to think about them rn sorry

basically i think that the kirby/meta parallel (regardless of whether they share a species) can tell you a lot about the kirby/void parallel, by way of galacta knight. it's all entangled!! kirby series loves its parallels!!!

I wanna ask the Kirby fandom how many people do and don't think that Meta Knight and Kirby are related (not familially - by species or something similar), and on what level of canon they think that is.

I feel like it is the most blatant subtext imaginable that they are, and in a series that relies on implication and suggestion to tell its stories, that makes it canon in its most basic sense. Because literally why else would Meta be written how he is? But I'd be interested in understanding why someone would believe otherwise...

#kirby #meta knight #void termina #galacta #analysis #my addition #i guess i should tag #metagala #long post #dear god this turned into a ramble #im so sleepy.

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out-of-this-dimension · 3 years ago

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Hypothetically Rewriting Assault’s Story + Some General Assault Opinions

There’s a game my husband and I like to play when we watch a movie, play a game, or read a book that has a story that we don’t really enjoy or we enjoy certain parts of but not others. We look at things we’d keep and things we’d change and we build a story from there-- sort of like an AU but we don’t really go into the writing part, we just stick to theorizing and mapping a general story.

I decided to play that game with Star Fox. Not because I think Star Fox has a bad story but because sometimes I think the stories could have been handled better. Note: for the rewrite game, I only really look at story, even for video games, I don’t really look at gameplay mechanics, but I do understand those have a lot to do with story potential so I do take it in as a factor... I just don’t bother to “rewrite” the mechanics, if that makes any sense at all. Some of my list today will include boss encounters but I wouldn’t necessarily say those are mechanic-related... more like “event-related”.

I’ve mused a bit in the past about rewriting Adventures and Command and I do have plans to do a mock up of an Adventures remake eventually. However, today I was thinking about how I would go about handling an Assault re-write in particular. Much like Command and Adventures, I don’t have any beef with the core story but I do think there’s a few things that could’ve been better about Assault’s storyline-- like they had good ideas rolling but they didn’t quite refine them.

Under the cut because SUPER long.

My basic feelings on Assault are pretty positive. I think the game is generally just fun and I like that it feels like the natural progression from SF64. I liked getting to see planets we haven’t seen since the N64 era in better graphics and I liked seeing Star Wolf return. I also just thought the aparoids were neat enemies.

Generally speaking, though, when it comes to Assault, I think it suffers from the thing it tries to push the most-- the story. I think a lot of people get caught up in thinking the story is better than it is because it’s the first game since SF64 that really follows the same Star Fox vibe without retelling the Lylat Wars. Don’t get me wrong, the overall plot is great but the execution and pacing are... wonky. Certain characterizations also take a hit in some regards but no one really talks about that when Command exists. That’s something we’ll talk about later on with this post.

That being said, Assault really does have a lot good going for it. An absolute banger of a soundtrack, some great dialogue, a neat story synopsis, the introduction of cool characters like Panther and Beltino (who existed but was always off-screen), and just good levels.

So, here’s what I would add, I suppose, if I were to somehow have the ability to rewrite Assault. Originally I had this in paragraph form, but I’ve made it into more of a list under topic segments with main points bolded for your viewing pleasure. Some of these points might be considered nitpicky and while I do understand that yes, this is a game about space animals, I do hold the developers in high enough regard to make a game with a continuity that makes sense.

The Story Changes

- Reduce Pigma’s storyline in Assault. This is the biggest one for me because a bulk of the plotline feels like a giant chase to just get at Pigma and it feels like it derails from the actual plot with the aparoids. We only go to Sargasso because of Pigma. We only go to Fichina and then back to Meteo again, because of Pigma. That’s 3 levels in a 10 level game devoted to just tracking down Pigma and chasing him. While it makes the build up to fighting Pigma kind of nice, I personally feel like the plot could be reduced to 2 levels. If Assault overall was a longer game, I could see them making it 3 levels. Overall, though, in its current state, I feel like the side plot overstays its welcome and the aparoids promptly get shoved to the side in favor of “Oh no, we gotta get to Pigma!” And I get the main motive here is to show how the aparoids affect people and because of the build up, it does a good job at showing how utterly terrifying the aparoids are. But it’s still too long given the length of Assault’s story. The only alternative to this is make Assault longer, which... honestly, it should be.

- Revise the scene with Tricky. I’m obviously not well-versed in dinosaur biology but I’m pretty sure dinos didn’t grow that fast from what studying I HAVE done. And why is he suddenly king now? Did his parents die? He seems not affected by this at all? Like it’s a funny scene with him, Fox, and Krystal, but it’s odd if you really look at it. Give us, as players, more context because I’m still not even sure what happened to make Tricky suddenly the leader and... big. As a note, you’re gonna hear me gripe a lot about the Sauria level in this post.

- The Star Wolf + Peppy sacrifice is a low effort way to raise tension/stakes and then cop out. Oldest trick in the book, imo, is to act like you’re going to kill off important characters only for them to be alive miraculously. And let’s face it, as an audience we all know they aren’t going to kill those characters because it’s Nintendo and those characters are too beloved. I would’ve forgiven them for only doing this with Peppy or Star Wolf, but when you tack them both together and throw in the fact they make it seem like you’re going to have to kill General Pepper too... yeah, it’s just a bit much of the same trope over and over again. I wanted to put a note in here about how I’m fine with the Great Fox being “sacrificed” but overall, it needed to return to the series because of it’s icon status, but I think that’s more of a gripe at Command instead of Assault.

- Keep Pigma alive. This will conflict with a point I have later on about the game consistently having characters cheat death for easy drama points but with Pigma, I would’ve kept him fully alive... but maybe with some physical damage from the aparoids. I understand he’s semi-alive in Command and tbh I don’t know where I stand on that. Why keep Pigma alive, you might ask? I feel like his character has a lot more potential than being “just the greedy guy”. Like he’s got good potential future villain material for future games and... if I’m honest? I just don’t see Nintendo wanting to keep Pigma dead so why even bother killing him off? They couldn’t even commit to him being dead in Command anyways so it seems very moot.

- Bring Bill and Katt back. Assault is acts a bit like a big reunion of all of our SF64 favorites but our two favorite side characters are suspiciously missing. Wouldn’t Bill be out on the front lines fighting against Andrew in the beginning? Or maybe back in Katina? And wouldn’t Katt inevitably show up in the midst of the invasion, maybe to pointedly check in on Falco?

- Bring Andrew back for the final fight. I think Andrew being defeated early into the game is fine overall but I think bringing him back in for a reunion final fight against the aparoids would serve to really solidify that it’s really everyone vs the invading aparoid force. It would show that not only is Star Wolf willing to put aside their differences but so is basically everyone in the Lylat System in the name of survival. Imagine the Venomians and Cornerians working together against an aparoid fleet, giving Star Fox and Star Wolf time to attack the queen? I just think it’d be neat and it’d open up the potential for some fun banter mid-mission. I do understand that quite a few people consider Andrew canonically dead after Assault but personally, I feel that his defeat left his fate questionable (I’m a staunch believer that unless there’s a body, they’re probably alive, especially for Nintendo games because, again, they never like to kill people off) so him returning in Command never really bothered me.

- In general, reconsider some of the character portrayals. Unfortunately, when a series has a different studio for each game, character portrayals will inevitably have inconsistencies. While I give Namco a lot of credit for putting in oodles and oodles of detail into the game (particularly the levels), I think they failed in their portrayal of Fox, at the least, and Wolf is a considerable offender as well. While it’s obvious that Fox in Adventures was effectively modeled off of Sabre even in terms of personality, Rareware was at least able to justify Fox’s newfound jaded attitude with the passing of many years and a distinct lack of steady income, resulting in the team being in disarray. Assault’s Fox is a stark contrast to his cynical interpretation with seemingly no explanation other than maybe “Oh, I have more money and a gf, maybe I should behave myself”. As if the sudden change in personality wasn’t random, Fox also just seems very blah, like a blank slate stereotypical shooter game protagonist dude with little to no emotion. Wolf is less obvious but gets slated into a mentor-like role midway through the game and ends up in a respectful rivalry with Fox... which there’s nothing inherently wrong with that except for it happening abruptly (and, I mean, Peppy is right there). But I take less issue with this and more of an issue with the fact that there’s an entire level establishing that Wolf now runs a crime den with effectively what seems to be an army and no one bats an eye at this. He doesn’t even call on them to help with the aparoids. Did they all die when the aparoids attacked Meteo? Are they safe somewhere else? Where do they go? How was Sargasso able to operate without the CDF being on their doorstep with warrants for arrests?

- Don’t kill all the dinosaurs. A bit of a dramatic statement but the ending screen that showed all the damage to Sauria really bothered me. While I understand that the dinosaurs had less of a chance against the aparoids than a more technology-focused society like Corneria, I was a bit disappointed that the decision was made to just state that a lot of tribes had been wiped out. I know this could easily be retconned in a future game and I feel like it should be. “But why, Amalia? Why are you disappointed by that?” 1) It’s a little too grimdark for my tastes. 2) The fact it all happened off-screen felt very hand-wavy. And 3) It brings into question the entire point of Adventures. Why did we bother to save this planet if it was going to be reduced to rubble and ash 1 year later? Where were the Krazoa in all of this? Why did they not make an appearance at all to try to stop the invasion with their alleged powers? It just raises too many weird questions and I feel like Namco didn’t think it through too much. Which I mean, sure. Family, kiddo game. I’m not asking for bigbrain plot and lore but I’m squinting at this bit because it does feel very contrary to the lore from the previous game.

- Make the aparoids more relevant. As nice as it is to have a random bad guy from another galaxy, I feel like there was more that could be done with the aparoids in terms of their origins. Tiny things, mind you, not huge revelations. Off the top of my head, they could have been tied into Krystal’s backstory to help alleviate some of the complaints that she was too random to be added to the series’ main cast. Alternatively, they could have been a product of Andross or even a weapon prototype from Corneria that fled the lab (I actually thought the game was leaning in that direction for a bit then just Nothing Happened). I get that the vagueness of their origins leaves room for people to speculate and speculation is nice but... when you leave too many things unknown, it starts to feel less like giving fans room to interpret and more like just doing random things for the sake of it. I think a lore tidbit here or there would work wonders for the aparoids instead of leaving them as just borg/zerg clones.

Level-Based Changes

- Add either Aparoid RedEye or Aparoid General Scales as a boss to Sauria. Given that this level mysteriously lacks a boss, which is just weird compared to the other levels, I think that they had the opportunity to add something cool to go along with the cinematic feel they were going for with Assault. Assault’s cutscenes do play in a movie-like fashion and it’s clear they’re trying to make the game as epic as possible. It’s a shame they had so much fodder for a great boss here but they failed to go through with it. Alternatively: Add a Krazoa-Aparoid fusion. Why? Because Star Fox is about cool epic sci-fi and that would be cool epic sci-fi incarnate.

- Add a boss to the Aparoid Homeworld Level, aka the penultimate level. Another one I felt was personally weird that there was no “final defense system” to challenge the team. Would be cool to do an aerial battle over the aparoid planet with some giant flying aparoid.

- Be kinder to Sauria. The level had some good homages but overall was incredibly small and incredibly short. It felt like a bone tossed to Adventures fans but was not entirely true to the setting built by Rareware. I’m... not even sure where the Sauria level is supposed to take place? I presume it’s Walled City but it doesn’t really have the same color scheme or aesthetic? Also where is my revised Adventures music? Why do all the other levels get it but Sauria doesn’t?

- Put some of those funky items from the multiplayer into the main campaign. I don’t know why some of these things, items especially, were omitted unless it was purely due to time constraints. I remember having missile launchers and jetpacks in the multiplayer and was a bit sad that they were not in the main campaign. Retuning the levels and adding those in would be a nice breath of fresh air for the more tedious on-foot missions.

- More levels. Self-explanatory. Still sad we didn’t get the Zoness or Titania levels in the single-player mode.

I think all of the above changes would improve the game, though I recognize all of this is being said 16 years later after lots of time to contemplate Assault’s weaker points. I’m not entirely certain how long Star Fox Assault took to develop but given that there’s obviously quite a bit scrapped from the game (an entire arcade mode was scrapped as well), I’m going to assume that the studio felt pressured to shove the game out the door and into the hands of customers. It’s a shame, really, because I think a little bit longer in the oven would have done a lot of good. Still, the product we got was good in its own right and a game that many people look back on fondly. I haven’t gotten to replay it in years but I hope to quite soon.

You might wonder why I bothered typing this all out and I guess my point was this-- Assault was great but it wasn’t perfect, and while a lot of other games fall under a crushing amount of scrutiny, Assault seems to dodge it. And don’t get me wrong-- I adore Assault. But given that not many takes exist out there about rewriting it, I decided to give it a shot. For variety’s sake.

I do want to a mock up of a revised Assault story, which I think I will get to work on after completing this while all my ideas are still fresh in mind. So stay tuned for that sometime in the near future. I will also be doing my Adventures mock up at some point but probably not for a little bit as I do wanna focus some of my free time on actual fic-writing.

Anyways, if you stuck around this long, thank you for reading! Have any changes you’d like to see to Assault if you could time machine your way back to the early 2000s? Feel free to post in the comments, I’d love to read your ideas!

#star fox assault #starfox assault #super long #queue'd

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gem-rewatch · 4 years ago

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SU rewatch- S1E11- Arcade Mania

Hey, long time no see!

I’m desperately bored in solitary quarantine at university right now, and decided to try and pick this SU rewatch series up again for fun. It’s been a while since I’ve watched through the show in order. Plus, now that this show is completely finished, there’s plenty more connections to make. I can’t promise I’ll be consistent with this, but at the very least I can have fun trying to make a few more posts at my leisure.

Anyways. With that business out of the way. Let’s get right on to the show!

We begin with yet another mission Steven’s guardians have brought him along on! I believe this is the fifth mission we know of that he’s accompanied them on so far. (Lunar Sea Spire, Inverted Pyramid, the unknown mission he returns from in Tiger Millionaire, the desert, and now this one.) It’s really sweet seeing the Gems begin to trust him tagging along more often. There will come a day in the near future where missions become routine for Steven, but in these early episodes, you can really tell that each and every one is a brand new adventure.

In terms of plot, though, this episode is honestly Future Vision: The Prequel.

We learn a lot about Garnet’s abilities and her role in the team here, even if all of these details aren’t spelled out word-for-word quite yet. Hints towards her future vision we see this ep include:

Garnet moving ahead of the group to be in the perfect spot to catch Steven when he falls.

Her flawless moves while fighting and dodging the monsters.

Her becoming a master at the rhythm game later in the episode.

Like, damn. Look at this.

Look at her go.

My Q U E E N!

I had to gif all of this just because it’s such a beautiful and smooth sequence of animation.

If there’s one thing all of the Crystal Gems can 100% agree on, it’s that Garnet is friggin’ amazing.

Garnet: “Let them go. They’re just parasites. If they want to be a problem, they’ll have to answer to me.”

So, does this statement mean that- at this present moment- her extended stay at the arcade was entirely beyond her future vision? That the only futures she saw were ones where she was actually present to deal with containment of the Gem parasites? Given that later scenes insinuate she’d never been to the arcade before, and would have no “data” about its games to factor into her internal understanding of the world, this seems likely.

I adore the gradual palette change here, from shadow, to setting sun. It’s a nice detail that adds so much more life to what could otherwise be a rather mundane transition scene. It seems like unique palettes were more common in early SU- I wonder why Crewniverse stopped implementing these as often later on?

Pearl, entering the arcade: “Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time.”

Thanks, Pearl. Love you too. <3

This sequence of Pearl failing at playing a car chase/road rage game hits so much different knowing what happens in Last One Out of Beach City. It’s genuinely radical how far she grows in confidence from this point, because here, she seems so shackled to rules and guidelines. Now that we know about her rebellious past, it might be tempting to write this characterization off as “early series weirdness,” but... I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.

Instead, I wonder if she’s working through grief-related regression.

Think about it... the pain of Rose’s passing is still so fresh for her. She was a rule breaking rebel once, yes, but she spent all of those days at Rose’s side. And I get the sense that she’s poured so much of herself into keeping Rose safe, into the rebellion against Homeworld, that without those, she’s caught in a vacuum. What IS her purpose now, when the very person she rebelled for is gone?

So she slips back into old pearl-like habits. Chronic rule following, and a fear of deviating from norms. How familiar. Thankfully, much of her arc throughout the show is her directly growing beyond these habits to live boldly as her own Gem.

The friggin video game when Garnet knocks its head off: “TELL MY WIFE I’M SORRYYY!!!”

Yo, what the fuck. This line is both hilarious and messed up, all at once. Please tell me the game isn’t sentient.

Aaaand here we finally introduce Garnet to the video game sensation that is Meat Beat Mania! This game is perfectly suited to her and her power of foresight because its patterns are algorithmic and not vulnerable to spontaneous deviations, and thus easy to predict, with enough input. She’s probably getting a quick rush of satisfaction with every correct move, and she barely has to exert any energy with her future vision to get that rush. After years and years of wading through endless possibility at every avenue, this video game’s patterns must be a rejuvenating breath of fresh air.

It’s addicting.

...Kinda makes me think of how I get sometimes when I play solitaire on my phone for an hour straight. After a while, I barely even think, I’m just shuffling through my deck and moving cards almost on automatic. I don’t have to use much energy to play, and it gives me animated fireworks every time I finish a match. It’s a win-win.

Amethyst: “I’MMA WIN AN AIRPLANE!”

I don’t know what it is about the way Michaela Dietz says the world “airplane,” but this makes me laugh every time. Does... does she think she can win a genuine airplane here because she saw Onion win a tiny motorbike from the ticket booth?? Amethyst, oh my god. XD

She’s got the spirit, this wild child.

So, moving on- we meet up with our crew later the next morning, Garnet nowhere to be seen. There’s an interesting exchange I’d like to highlight real quick-

Pearl: “If we’re supposed to fight a giant foot, Garnet would let us know.” Amethyst: “Yeah, Garnet’s the boss!” Pearl: “Well, we’re all a team. Garnet just has heightened perception that guides us towards our mission objectives.”

Considering the specific phrasing Pearl uses here- “heightened perception” instead of “future vision-” did Garnet outright tell the two of them to not explain her powers, just like she told them not to mention she’s a fusion? Because I’m pretty sure no one ever uses the phrase “heightened perception” again in reference to her powers.

Given the fact that Garnet chose to keep the knowledge of Ruby and Sapphire under the table until she felt Steven could understand her better, my guess is that this is a similar scenario.

Ahah, I genuinely can’t tell if this is Steven being gullible, or just impulsively playing along with Amethyst’s antics. Still- gross, kid. Don’t wipe your wet cereal face on your shirt! Ew! :O

When he goes outside and starts to use a kiddy metal detector to scan for quarters... so THAT’S where he finds his arcade money! Because I can’t imagine Greg is financially able to give him that much to spend on non-essentials at this point in the show.

Okay, so... I just want to bring light to the fact that Garnet has literally been in this arcade ALL NIGHT LONG.

It was evening when she first arrived here- the sun was visibly setting in the background, and when Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl left, the sky was dark. But now it’s morning. Steven was just seen eating breakfast. And Garnet is STILL HERE.

Does this mean Mr. Smiley locked her IN? I have so many questions... Did he try to get her to leave, only to be intimidated by her complete lack of response? I would kill to know more about this interaction. Poor Mr. Smiley. That man deals with so much bullshit in this town, huh?

Geebus, is Garnet a solid wall. Previous episodes have shown Steven forcibly shoving whole tons of food, and swinging a mini-freezer over his head, and yet he can’t get her to budge even an inch.

I absolutely adore how he climbs up her frame like a koala, though, ahah. Cute.

Meat Beat Mania announcer: “That’s rare!!” Steven: “Oh my gosh...!”

I take these two lines as evidence that this is the first time Steven’s ever seen Garnet’s eyes. Specifically, the fact that there’s three of them. Which, makes sense- since Garnet is still really reserved emotionally at this point, and is only begins to get in the habit of taking her visor off to show Steven her full face later on in the show.

This expression deeply hurts me.

Steven’s so distraught here- because the others are in danger, the town is in danger, and he doesn’t have his trusty, dependable guardian who catches him when he falls and beats up scary monsters for him. Without her, the whole team is vulnerable and blind.

He feels alone. He feels... powerless.

And so he responds to that confusing, powerless feeling by trying to compensate with his own power. When all other routes he can think of fail, he smashes the video game console.

It... uh, it works... but once again, Steven entirely fails to consider the consequences, huh? He experienced a little bit of character growth in this regard in the episode Serious Steven, but even past that it’ll remain an recurring issue for him. Hell, his impulsiveness is a general character flaw even stretching into SUF.

In summary, though:

Poor Mr. Smiley. He works so hard, and doesn’t deserve this BS. ;-;

#su #su meta #steven universe #arcade mania #garnet #amethyst #pearl #mr. smiley #jen rewatches su

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sugary-sheep · 3 years ago

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An Analysis of How Deltarune Chapter 2′s Soundtrack Made Me Feel, Copied From My Discord Thread

Girl Next Door - a very good track for the beginning of the game. It serves to strongly establish noelle as a familiar, friendly character, since you might not have bothered learning too much about her in chapter which makes sense considering the later revealed fact that kris and noelle are chidlhood friendsIt doesn't have any strong hints of bittersweet, it's just a plain happy melody. You're just starting the game after all.

My Castle Town - this is where the first twinges of bittersweet/nostalgia come in.It's meant to bring back memories of your adventure three years ago, chapter 1. You're back "home," at least from the player's point of view, and the player is the one that all the music panders to. (which wouldn't be a thing to note if the game wasn't so meta). It isn't very strongly bittersweet though. It's a calming melody, meant to ease you into the world, and doesn't draw too much attention to itself. If Girl Next Door is a warm breeze, then My Castle Town is the pleasant chill of fall.

Queen - this song is a wacky and fun melody, borrowing both carnival rhythm and instrumentation. It has twinges of deeper emotion and all that but it's mainly just a funny clown theme for everyone's favorite clown: Queen.

A CYBER’S WORLD? - it starts off with the main melody outlined on a chiptune low-res synth, which drops into a rich collage of higher-res synths. It evokes emotions of adventure and energy and anticipation, while also being neutral enough to act as a backdrop for all the silly things you do in the cyber fields. it's a really damn good song. it doesn't tug on the heartstrings necessarily but it just. it's so nice to listen to.

A Simple Diversion - it’s. a simple diversion. chip tune rendition of the queen motif. it's good. nothing much to analyze.

Almost To The Guys , Cyber Battle , When I Get Happy I Dance Like This - (combined since basically the same instrumentation and the same motifs) god I fucking love these songs so much. they are so happy and sensitive and soft and warm. They are like the auditory version of a hug. idk what drugs toby fox put into these songs but it fucking. they fit these funny guys so perfectly. it's just a silly fun theme about these fun little dudes. it's energetic and happy and makes you wanna dance. It doesn't take itself too seriously and it's just. It solidifies that this is a Silly game with Silly things that happen and fun people that you can be friends with.

Cool Beat - too short to analyze.

When I Get Mad I Dance Like This - same as Cool Beat

Berdly’s Theme - bringing back the CLOWNS, this time without a harpsicord though. it's a synthesizer melody and emphasizes the silly gamer antagonism that berdly provides, while not painting him as a bad person. just an antagonist.

Smart Race - this is a particularly tense battle theme, playing off of the semi-betrayal and kind if indignation you feel towards berdly since like. He's a lightner like you! and he's working for queen! what the FRICK.

Faint Courage - an uplifting melody that (tries) to soothe the pain of getting a game over. The crunched nature of the synths is notable though, compared to other soothing songs on the soundtrack.

Welcome To The City - This is the first song that really starts to dip into the nostalgia. It's still an upbeat and adventurous melody, but like. Your friends just left you, and you're exploring the city alone. It has a lot of flourishes and flair that reminds you that you're in a cool exciting city, and slowly becomes more uplifting as it goes on, but still keeps the distinctly minor sound. (if it's in a major key shut up I don't care). It's also the theme for the time you spend with noelle, and like. in that context, it feels more like a friendly nostalgic melody than a bittersweet feeling. the familiarity of Girl Next Door is back, and honestly it borrows a lot of emotional cues from Girl Next Door. They are double edged and the feelings they evoke are very context sensitive. it can be a friendly warmth, or a wishing for better, older days.

Mini Studio - a return of the resistance motif. noticably lower res synthesizers but like. your funny little dudes are here :]

cool mixtape - Clown to the MAXIMUM. not in that it's the most carnival inspired but like. it's really bombastic and fun while also being built around queen's clowny and wacky motifs. The instrumentation also adds to the non-serious quality, making it sound like. well, a shittily recorded mixtape. Lol. It’s great.

Hey Every ! - This song evokes all the emotions of as corrupted seen on tv advertisements with a dash of clown. Very distinctly wacky upbeat song.

Spamton - This is where the creepy factor of spamton starts to kick in. It brings on the menacing atmosphere of being in this alleyway with an unstable puppet salesman who jumped out of the dumpster, however the silly vocals do take a LOT of the edge off the creepiness. Which is fitting for spamton. because he would more intimidating if his dialogue wasn't so ridiculous and silly, and if he wasn’t such a silly little guy.

Now's Your Chance to Be A - a very groovy and slightly menacing battle theme that makes you wanna get out of this situation, but it's not like. scary. it's just a little bit creepy. Like a haunted house. it's a really fun song though. the edge mostly serves to accentuate the wacky and fun qualities of the song, like salt enhancing the sweetness of a dessert.

Elegant Entrance - This has the same menacing/eerie quality as spamton’s battle theme, but much more genuine. it takes the formerly clowny harpsicord used with Queen’s themes, and makes it sound much more regal. It's not bittersweet though. just intimidating.

Bluebird of Misfortune - a VERY strongly minor sounding song, and while it's not a super deeply resonant sadness, it does minimize the wacky/funny factor.

Pandora Palace - the first majorly bombastic song. It's the buildup to the climax, and has a very unique blend of regal, groovy, and energetic sounds with a small sprinkle of bittersweet, mostly to build tension.

KEYGEN - really cool and gives an appropriate feeling for unlocking the door into the SECRET BOSS.

Acid Tunnel of Love - very relaxing, very happy melody. it almost dips into bittersweet at times, but is a solidly uplifting and soothing melody. It's a rest for the soul.

It's Pronounced "Rules" - Rgal in a way very different from Elegant Entrance and Pandora Palace. It's a kind of pretentious regalness, and is a big return to clowniness. Because Roulxs is a pretentious clown man.

Lost Girl - It’s. very bittersweet and nostalgic. It has solid uplifting moments to balance it out, but it's. not a super happy song. it's not a super sad one either. it's just. contemplative. emotional. it'd be a good song to cry to.

Ferris Wheel - A combination of Lost Girl and Girl Next Door, both in mood and actual motifs. It's got a lot more warmth than lost girl, and the chiptune main melody gives it the silliness it needs to take the edge off it’s bitersweetness. The upbeat and kinda whimsical harmonization helps with this too. It's a theme for two girls having an awkward but really nice and fun gay moment.

Attack of the Killer Queen - oh man.oh MAN.Such a good song. It's absolutely bombastic, fulfilling all the promises of epic finality and regal power that have been set up throughout the mansion section. It makes queen feel like a POWERFUL and intimidating villain for honestly like. the first time in the game. It also has the emotional quality, the feeling of un-rightness, once again driven by berdly being an antagonist, but the context is stronger, since you had just had the emotional connection with him and bringing him to your side.

Giga Size - this song does not let down any of the pressure from killer queen. it has all the menacing strength that you would expect from it, and takes the regal intimidation up to another level. it's supposed to make you feel like you've lost, and as far as the player knows, they have. Also it's a lot longer than you would expect??? the soundtrack is honestly filled with really short songs. but Giga Size is one of the longer ones, despite the short amount of time it actually plays. I don't remember ever being in that portion of the cutscene long enough to hear the full thing. it's worth a listen to if you haven't already.

Powers Combined - the uplifting counterbalance to Giga Size. It gets you pumped, and it has an air of finality stronger than attack of the killer queen. This is the final push. you're on the precipice of victory.

Knock You Down - This theme continues everything from Powers combined. It's less bombastic than Attack of the Killer queen, though bviously it's still very energetic and cool. It's serious in a more uplifting sense, but also quite tense. there is a lot on the line. This is the do or die moment. It both hypes you up and calms you down, and evokes a very particular emotion, especially given the context. Really good for getting in the zone.

The Dark Truth - another song that, while more emotional, doesn't hit super deep. Imo it feels like it’s going for an "exaggerated" sense of danger and sadness. Which makes sense if it's meant to instill some doubt in ralsei's credibility. it's still a very serious song, but it feels like it's trying a little too hard. (not necessarily in a bad way)

Digital Roots - a very menacing song, and probably the most truly menacing song in the soundtrack. Sets the atmosphere for the basement perfectly.

Deal Gone Wrong - This is the climax of Digital Roots and the whole process of getting the secret boss. You're in real danger now. The puppet man wants to make a deal, and he wants your soul.

BIG SHOT - woooh boy. This song carries a lot of this menace, but brings in a ton of bombastic energy and a little bit of clown as well. it's like Now's Your Chance To Be A, but more intense. The vocal editing really adds so much to this track. The motifs are very well used, and it's just an incredibly fun and dramatic song. it's groovy! it's wacky! it's intimidating! It gets you pumped! it's a very good song

A Real Boy - This one is a really nice song. it's got a very nice uplifting quality and there's a very subtle and like. almost angelic sharp pad in the background of it that you wouldn't immediately notice adds a lot to the texture of it, combined with the crunched and low res main synth. the background of that scene fits it perfectly. Childishly painted sun and sky and all that. He’s a real boy now. You freed him :). He can escape his strings now :)

dialtone - It’s like if you took one of the more emotional songs in the soundtrack and made it a little silly. Which makes sense. You're supposed to feel kinda bad for him, but he's still a weird wacky guy who just tried to kill you.

sans. - what do I need to say. it's sans's theme. it's wacky in an extremely chill way. it contrasts with basically all of deltarune's wacky characters, and that's perfectly cool. sans is a chill guy, especially in this game.

Chill Jailbreak Alarm To Study And Relax To - this one is just toby having fun. It's napstablook's theme with an alarm in the background. it's funny, it serves it's purpose as a gag. it's great.

You Can Always Come Home - this one has the nostalgic quality that I've been talking about very strongly, but the melody is just. It's so soothing and uplifting that you can't help but feel warm inside. it might be cold and snowing outside, but for now, you're home. you're with your family, you're sipping hot cocoa. Everything is right with the world, if only for a moment. You can always come home.

Until Next Time - another soothing melody, being a corrupted version of Don't Forget, and it evokes a lot of the same emotions, if a bit less strongly. It plays into the mystery of the ending, and would probably suit the snowgrave route pretty well. It's a good ending song in general though. It doesn't drown you in emotion. It lets you feel how you felt about what you just experienced.

Before the Story - really strong song. It's hard to fully analyze it given like. there isn't a lot of gameplay context. but it is a very dark and rich song. it's really good.

Berdly (Rejected Concept) - This song sucks ASS. it's like. pretentious. but also so cringe fail at the same.

#deltarune #deltarune chapter 2

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apiratewhopines · 3 years ago

Text

In the Offing

Summary: AU - Storybrooke - Emma Swan is drafted to help Liam Jones clear his brother’s name in the disappearance of a former flame. As she digs deeper into the rash of missing person cases, she risks losing more than just her heart as she uncovers the truth.

Chapter One - Pilot

Summary: In which our heroine embarks on an adventure

“Let the exits pass, all the tar and glass

Til the road and sky align”

-Angela, The Lumineers

If asked, Emma Swan would land firmly in the ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ camp rather than the ‘Once Upon a Time’ one.

It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in happiness and true love and good triumphing over evil. She did. Or at least she tried to believe in them, which was nearly the same thing.

It was just that in her experience, relationships were more likely to end in indifference and divergent roads at best or disappointment, deceit and violence at their worst. It rarely ended in laughter over the dinner table, surrounded by the people you loved and admired. In fact, it never ended that way for her. And she was fine with that. Or at least she tried to believe she was, which was not nearly the same thing.

So it was without the slightest bit of surprise that she made her way back to her office from yet another honey trap date, her third this week if anyone was keeping track. She didn’t anymore, had stopped wondering years ago how there were so many cheating spouses and deadbeat dads and none too bright criminals in one city. Nor did she have the energy to wonder why she found her doorway blocked by the broad form of her sometimes collaborator, sometimes competitor, always annoying quasi-neighbor.

“What do you want, Liam? I’m not staying. I’m only dropping off paperwork so I can go home and mourn the loss of human decency uninterrupted.”

“Perhaps a bath would be more helpful, lass. You smell like a walking distillery,” he replied, not bothered by her unfriendly tone and refusal to meet his eyes as she elbowed him out of the way and unlocked the door. “Were you drowning your sorrows or were they drowning you?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I caught the guy who did this and he smells like jail now so I would say I won,” she muttered, bristling only a little bit when he followed her inside. She would like to say that she and Liam had a complicated relationship but the truth was they tolerated each other when they had to and avoided each other when they didn’t. She could count on him to be professional, which unfortunately was not a given in their line of work, and his complete disinterest in her as a person was a quality she appreciated, having never been someone who craved attention or willingly engaged in small talk.

Now that she thought about it, he was probably one of the better connections she had made in Boston. If his self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude chafed at times...well, no one was perfect. She had met him when her boss moved their bail bonds office operations to their current location and with his private investigation business occupying the suite next door, they would throw work each other’s way when it made sense. Despite knowing him for nearly two years, she would be hard-pressed to recall a single interaction after hours or off the job so even though she was tired and her feet were killing her from running down tonight’s skip in stiletto heels, she was a little curious about why he was there. “Barry isn’t here.”

“If I was looking for Barry, this is the last place I would be.”

She snorted as she dropped off a packet of reports on the nearest desk. The truth was that her boss, who also happened to own the business, was probably cruising off the coast of Florida at that very moment and hadn’t stepped foot in the office since they moved. But she considered absenteeism a great quality in a boss so she wasn’t complaining.

Sighing, she turned around to face him. She leaned against the desk behind her and hoped he didn’t notice her flexing her feet in an attempt to keep them from cramping. “As nice as it is to catch up, I’ve had a long night. Why don’t you tell me what you want?”

“Henry mentioned that he was going to spend the summer with his father when he came by last week,” Liam stated as if that explained everything. Henry’s capacity to make friends never ceased to astound her and was definitely a characteristic he inherited from Neal. Even curmudgeonly Liam Jones had fallen victim to her kid’s ability to engage with anyone. Little did her visitor suspect that reminding her that she had nearly eight weeks of going home to an empty apartment was not the best way for him to start a conversation.

It had been with great trepidation that she had agreed to the trip at all. After years of fielding her son’s questions about his father, she used her considerable tracking skills to finally run her ex to ground about eighteen months ago. Enough time had passed for her to forgive him, although she doubted she would ever forget, but she felt she owed Henry the chance to at least meet his father. And of course, they had hit it off as she had both hoped for and feared.

She had worried, apparently needlessly so, that Neal would quickly lose interest in the son he hadn’t know existed and was inconveniently located in a different state. However, the man who had no issues with abandoning her a decade ago had surprised her. He called Henry every day and made the trip at least once a month to visit. He had shown up and supported Henry in ways she hadn’t expected and it reminded her that not all the times had been bad and maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t a villain. When Neal had approached her about a long distance trip that spanned their son’s entire summer break, her first reaction was to forbid it but she knew Henry needed it. Although she would never admit it to Neal, she had also appreciated that he had brought it up with her first rather than sending Henry to talk her into it.

Still, it had physically hurt her to see them walking away together at the airport yesterday, similar gaits and probably with matching, wide smiles on their faces.

Now her interaction with her son would be reduced to a couple of texts a day and FaceTime calls a few times a week while Henry had the time of his life gallivanting around California with his father and future stepmother. In a flash, she went from tired and curious to tired and pissed. “Right. Glad you reminded me before I made it home and called the police about a kidnapping. Did you need something, Liam, or are you just trying to bother me?”

“Both. Obviously,” he said dryly.

“Great, he’s got jokes,” she groaned as she threw her head back in frustration. “I should warn you that I’ve already punched one jerk tonight. I’m hungry and exhausted and if you don’t get on with it, I’m not afraid to add another one to the list.”

He sighed and for the first time she noticed the tenseness in the way he was holding himself. Whatever the reason for his visit, it obviously had him wound up pretty tightly. Against her better judgement, she felt her curiosity stirring again.

“Fine, since you’re obviously not fit to be out in public,” he said with a vague gesture toward her whiskey-flavored dress, “order some delivery and let’s talk.”

—

The smell of cheese did a lot to restore her good humor. She watched him from under her lashes as he looked at the meat-lovers pizza with what approached horror in his expression. She never pegged him as a health food nut, although she could tell he took care of himself, so maybe what offended him was the grease that had soaked through the box to the papers that were stacked neatly on his desk. Tearing off a large slice, she hummed happily while she took the first scorching bite.

“I need a favor,” he stated without preamble before he too took a bite and glanced at her with a pained look in his eye.

She was pretty sure that this was the first time he had ever uttered those words in his life and that was probably the source of his discomfort rather than the molten lava cheese he just swallowed. She tried not to show any interest even though hundreds of questions wanted to escape her mouth. She wanted to ask when they started doing favors for each other and why he was acting like a caged animal. Instead, she settled for something that he would probably find a bit more in character considering their past interactions. “Would this be the type of favor that involved payment of some sort?”

“It will, if that gets the job done quicker,” Liam answered, staring intently at his half eaten slice.

“Well, that would depend on if we’re talking about an hourly rate or a flat fee,” she joked. “I have typically found that payment is the best way to insure a job gets done.”

Something was definitely bothering him and damn if that didn’t make the hair on the back of her neck stand up and chase a shiver down her spine. With a hint of disgust she threw her uneaten crust down on her plate. She already knew that whatever he was about to ask, she was going to agree to so she continued, “Might as well spit it out, I would like to go home and get some sleep sometime this century. What kind of favor do you need?

“The kind of favor that involves going away for a couple of weeks and solving a cold case.”

Of all the things she thought he was going to ask, actual work didn’t even make the top ten list so she was a little letdown. His discomfort had her prepared for anything from being a date to an ex’s wedding to a surprise twist of being asked to babysit his previously unknown kids. Even a mundane request to water his plants while he was on vacation would have been more interesting. She wasn’t entirely sure Liam was human and it would have been fascinating to see the lair he crawled back to when he wasn’t in the office.

“Why the cloak and dagger routine? You made me think something was horribly wrong,” she huffed. Picking up another slice, she thoughtfully examined his face. There was more to this request but she was afraid she was going to have to drag it out of him based on his body language. His eyes were shuttered, shoulders hunched in on himself, body twisted slightly to the side as if he had decided this was a mistake and he was on the verge of running out of the room. While she would dearly love to see Liam Jones run away from his problems like a mere mortal, she was clearly already too invested to let that happen. Quickly swiping her fingers across a napkin to rid them of the worst of the grease, she gently laid her hand on his forearm to hold him in place. “Whatever you need to say, it will go no further.”

Apparently those were the magic words to unlock whatever secret he thought he needed to keep because with a sharp intake of breath, he started his tale. “There is a town in Maine...”

—

Hours later, he was dropping her off at the entrance to her building with a promise to pick her up at six o’clock the following evening. She wasn’t crazy about starting out that late or the fact that they would hit the tail end of rush hour traffic but her mind was swimming with too many details to make her normal fuss. Honestly, she would need all the time she could get to go through the files stuffed in the briefcase he passed off to her as she emerged from the car.

Without registering the journey upstairs, she found herself opening the door to her apartment and immediately kicked off her heels with a moan while her toes curled a little to celebrate their freedom. Her dress had climbed up her thighs a bit during the car ride but she had a feeling she was the only one who noticed. She was pretty sure she could have been naked and Liam wouldn’t have paid any attention. He was just that kind of guy. Considering they were about to embark on a trip to his former hometown where they may end up having to give the impression of a relationship, she should probably be grateful that his only attraction to her seemed to be limited to her ability to find people and her reputation for being a spookily accurate human lie detector. For her part, all she wanted from him was a couple weeks of distraction from what was surely going to turn out to be a lonely summer. If she was getting paid for it, all the better.

Leaving her shoes where they fell in the entranceway, she grabbed a hair band from the narrow table that she privately thought of as their crap collector. She had never been the neatest person and she had passed that trait on to Henry so you could never predict what random stuff would be found on the table that served no other purpose than to be a catch all for the things they discarded when they arrived home.

Styling her long blonde hair into a messy bun, she pulled her ruined dress over her head and casually threw it in the direction of the laundry basket. Taking advantage of the fact that there wasn’t a ten-year-old at home that would be traumatized by her behavior, she lugged the briefcase to the kitchen island and spread the files across the countertop before walking back to her closet to slip into a pair of black yoga pants and a Red Sox tank top, not wanting to take the time to shower at the moment. Besides, she was the only one home to know how bad the smell of whiskey and sweat was after sitting for hours in a small office, stuffing her face with the unhealthiest pizza on the planet and getting drawn into the web of mystery that had made the always serious Mr. Jones even more somber.

Pouring a glass of wine, she climbed up on one of stools that formed a line that ran the length of the counter and pulled the top file to her. The photo paper-clipped to the inside showed a rundown pawn shop that might as well have had a neon sign flashing ‘Shady Place of Business.’ Below it was a list of names from various missing persons cases spanning thirty years.

Taking the first sip of wine, she murmured, “What have you gotten me into, Liam?”

She spent the next several hours combing through the files until her back hurt and her contacts felt scratchy in her eyes. It seemed like Jones Investigation had a file for everyone that lived in the town at the time of the burglary as well as newspaper clipping from the various investigations into the suspicious disappearance of citizens.

It was too much information to take in during the course of one night but Liam had been insistent that the files remain in Boston. He didn’t want to risk tipping off any suspects to the real reason for their trip should the paperwork be discovered. So, under direct orders from the former British Naval officer to memorize the facts, when she reached the end of the files, she would start over again. She sorted and resorted the files into stacks based on a variety of factors from chronological order to some distinguishing characteristic like age, proximity to crime, or possible motive.

If her attention kept wondering back to the grainy photo of one Killian Jones, brother of her dour compatriot, she blamed the wine and lack of sleep. Even the low quality of the picture couldn’t conceal that the younger Jones brother was an incredibly attractive man. However, he looked enough like Liam to make her interest unsettling and that was what finally pulled her away from her research and drove her to bed where she dreamed of blue eyes and a wicked smile.

—

For most of the trip, the only sound was of the sports commentators who nearly shouted out a play-by-play of a soccer match Liam had politely asked to listen to as they pulled out of her parking garage. The only other break in their silent commute was the subtle hum and thump of road noise occasionally making its way into the cabin. He had been unimpressed with her offer to take her car, not even bothering to acknowledge her when she suggested it and simply opening the lift gate to the large, dark colored Honda Pilot he had rented. If he noticed her surprise at finding several bags already in the truck and heard her sarcastic observation about packing light as she had to reposition some of his luggage to find a spot for her single gym sized duffel bag, he didn’t show it.

As she had predicted, they spent an hour stuck in traffic before getting beyond the city limits where the cars spread out and their follow drivers seemed to think that allowed them to indulge in NASCAR fantasies. She used the quiet to mentally go over the particulars of the case before them, secure in the knowledge that unless she magically sprouted another head Liam was unlikely to start up a conversation at this point in the trip.

Fact One: Leo and Ava Blanchard left for a date night and never returned home to their young daughter. There car was found broken down on the side of the road about a mile from their home. No sign of foul play, no trace of their whereabouts.

Fact Two: Shortly thereafter, there was a burglary at Gold’s Pawnshop on Main Street. No sign of forced entry and the owner claimed nothing had been stolen, but the alarm had been tripped from the inside. Having nothing to go on and with no stolen items to track down, the local law enforcement devoted a total of five minutes to the case. Basically as soon as the report was filed, the case was closed and life moved on.

Fact Three: Robert Nolan had a few too many at a bar one night, which apparently was a reoccurring circumstance, and never found his way back to his family. He was rumored to be involved in some illicit activities but no proof of a crime was ever found.

Fact Four: There appeared to be a bit of a lull for more than a decade and then a rapid secession of missing person reports: Regina Mills, Peter Wolfe, and finally Milah Gold.

It was the last one that seemed to drive Liam’s interest in the cases. Although he and his brother hadn’t relocated to the US until the early 2000s, it seemed his little brother quickly formed an attachment, which Emma read between the lines to mean had an affair, with the older wife of the town’s local businessman. After his wife vanished into thin air, Mr. Gold and the local police tried their best to pin her disappearance on Killian but could never come up with enough evidence to press charges.

The final piece came through sources Liam was disinclined to name. He had recently found out that a newly arrived visitor had been asking questions around town and according to his source, the visitor was a best-selling true crime author named August Booth who happened to be weeks away from publishing a tell-all book about the sordid history of the town.

Going into full protective mode, Liam had decided the best course of action was to return to the small town and solve the mystery, or potentially multiple mysteries if they were as interconnected as he thought, thereby clearing his brother’s name beyond all doubt.

If it had been anyone else who had asked for her help, she would have been flattered but she knew Liam to be practical above all else. He valued her skills but it was probably Henry’s absence that was the catalyst for this particular partnership. He needed an extra set of eyes and ears and she was a known element who was conveniently available for a long term undercover assignment. Still, he had trusted her with the family secrets, or at least his brother’s secrets, so she was trying to be mindful this wasn’t simply another case for him.

She wasn’t convinced the non-burglary and series of disappearances he seemed to think connected would turn out to be anything but she knew better than to discard possibilities this early on. She also wasn’t convinced that parading in front of his family and friends as a girlfriend was a good game plan.

“I think we need to revisit this cover story,” she said as he pulled off the highway and into the lot of a gas station.

“If you can find a more convincing reason for me to show up with a strange woman, I will gladly listen to it,” he replied before exiting the car and fading away into the dark night.

“No, I wouldn’t like anything from the store, thanks for asking,”she called out to his back, wanting to nettle him in retaliation for his rudeness although she doubted he heard her. According to the GPS, they were only about forty-five minutes from their destination, a place called Granny’s Diner. She tried to research the town, including restaurants, venues, and things to do but it was as if Storybrooke existed out of the modern age. While you could find it on maps, there wasn’t an internet presence at all. There were no tourism sites, despite the fact that most little towns that dot the Atlantic coast were in peak season for welcoming travelers. It appeared that chains and national franchises had no interest in the sleepy town either. There were no notable residents making their marks on the world at large, no complaints on business sites, no reviews of the natural beauty to be found in its forests and parks.

The sound of Liam returning to the vehicle and pumping gas broke her train of thought. Hearing the gentle chime of her phone, she took the opportunity to check her texts before they got back on the road. Smiling a little at seeing Henry’s name on her notifications, she clicked the message and was rewarded with a silly photo of him pretending to be eaten by a shark at one of the selfie stations located on a pier in whatever seaside town they were currently visiting. She text him back a thumb’s up, following it quickly with a good night and reminder that she would send him the details of where she was staying in the morning.

Running her finger gently over her son’s happy grin in the photo, she didn’t greet Liam as he climbed back into the car.

“That’s a nice picture,” he mumbled, clicking his seatbelt in place before pulling out and rejoining the dwindling line of cars heading north. “Is he having a good time?”

“Looks like it,” she answered, turning her head away somewhat embarrassed to feel the prick of tears in her eyes. She wasn’t an emotional person but she missed the kid something fierce.

Either he was being exceptionally sensitive to her distress or he didn’t notice it because they lapsed back into silence until they were about fifteen minutes from the town line. Deciding next to the last minute was as a good a time to broach the topic again as any, she picked up on her earlier comment as if it hadn’t been over half an hour ago. “Listen, I’m not saying I have a better cover but maybe we could not volunteer the girlfriend story. You know, keep our options open unless someone asks us directly. Or maybe actually tell them we are there to investigate.”

Hope for a rational debate on the merits of her suggestions was immediately crushed when he actually started to laugh. “You’ve never lived in a small town, have you?”

“No, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Emma, I left five years ago under some difficult circumstances—“

“What circumstances? How difficult?”

“That’s need to know, lass,” he interrupted in a tone that cautioned against any further questions. “If it had anything to do with our case, I would have already told you. Let me assure you that everyone will know of our arrival within minutes of the car entering town. There will be a description of you circulating before you wake up tomorrow morning. There is no way people aren’t going to ask us directly and repeatedly the nature of our visit and relationship.”

She was about to interrupt again so he held up a hand to stall her and added, “And if we decline to provide details, they will make them up. Trust me, it’s better to control the story than to have eyes following us everywhere trying figure it out for themselves. As far as openly investigating a crime, you’re daft if you think they won’t clam up the second you start asking questions. In my experience people are more comfortable being a gossip than a snitch. If we are simply a couple enjoying a trip down memory lane, we will be able to move much more freely.”

“But your brother,” she countered weakly because she had to admit he had a point. “How can you lie to him? Surely he can be trusted with the truth. Not to mention that if we are staying with him, he’s going to notice that we don’t like each other.”

“What are you talking about? I’m quite fond of you. You’re one of my best friends,” he said in indignation.

Her jaw went slack with shock as she tried to process how she had slipped into some bizarro alternate reality. What in their past could possibly have given him the idea that they were friends, besties even. “I don’t know what—“ she sputtered. “Is this some weird British thing?”

He barked out a laugh that was so unlike him that she doubled down on her alternate reality theory. “Calm down, Emma. It was a joke. We aren’t friends exactly but I don’t dislike you. It will be fine. Pretend I’m one of your fake dates for a couple of weeks. Lucky for you, I’m an old-fashioned guy. Killian won’t think anything of us bunking separately.”

“There is old-fashioned and then there is being a monk, Liam. But whatever. I still think you should trust your brother. Especially since it’s his neck we’re trying to save.”

“I would trust him with my life. What I can’t trust is that he won’t go off half-cocked and muck up the investigation. He’ll understand why I did this as long as we get results.”

She believed that he believed what he was saying. She also believed he was wrong. As a person who always preferred the truth, no matter how painful, her gut told her that it would be a mistake to keep the younger Jones in the dark about the true purpose of their trip. However, besties or not, she knew the mulish tilt to Liam’s mouth indicated that for him the discussion was over.

At that moment, the high beams illuminated the Welcome to Storybrooke sign. She felt an ominous dread settle over her as they approached, turning in her seat to look at the sign as they passed.

It was the last thing she saw before the world exploded in glass shards, twisted metal, and smoke.

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kitkat1003 · 4 years ago

Text

Everything is Blue

Chapter 1: His pills, his hands, his jeans

MK just wants everyone in his life to be safe and happy, to never leave him. He'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

And, luckily for him, the voice in his head has the perfect plan to make that happen.

(Or, the author contemplates how slow the possession was for DBK in episode 10 and considers how MK would fall)

Ao3 link

This is a 13k monolith of a first chapter, but I'm very proud of how it turned out! I threw it together in 4 days with the help of my beta reader @imnotcameraready on tumblr, famous for the Chivalry is Dead sanders sides au. Give it a read, it's on Ao3 and tumbr! It even has a sequel! Seriously, she’s a great writer and edited this thing in like 2-3 hrs after I threw it at her. A godsend.

Anyway, happy reading!

When MK knocks the canisters off of DBK’s back, he thinks that’s the end of it. He wasn’t exactly given the rundown on how the cannisters worked, nor does he know why whatever was in them caused DBK to go crazy, but at the very least he only had to fight the one guy instead of the entire family. It was weird to fight with Red Son and Princess Iron Fan (shouldn't she be Queen, at this point? She's married to Demon Bull King, after all. Do they not have the paperwork?) but not unwelcome. He wishes they could be on the same side all of the time.

Because he was raised on stories of Monkey King’s adventures, which frequently discuss the Demon Bull Family, and he’s always thought they were interesting in those stories. He thinks Princess Iron Fan is super cool, even though she’s scary and actively wants him dead. Red Son is...well, he wasn’t what MK expected, but that isn’t exactly a bad thing. If anything, MK thought he’d be older. He doesn’t understand how demon aging works.

Tangents aside, he watches them disappear in a gust of wind and groans, flopping forward as he bemoans the fact that they left again, when he’d just beat them. Well, he hadn’t actually fought all three of them, this time. DBK had fought more people than he had.

He jumps as the cave begins to crumble from all the damage that it took from the fight, scrambling to find a way out, when—

A New Vessel?

A voice curls into his ear, a soft whisper.

Young. Powerful. Weak. Freedom.

He looks down, and he sees a white light sink into his skin. Cold seeps into his every pore, bone, and nerve, his muscles tensing as the temperature drops. His teeth chatter, and when he lets out a startled breath he sees white air drift in front of his face. The warmth of his powers—his Monkey King powers—is smothered, and soon all MK feels is the cold that keeps him in place, rooting him to the spot. It’s a miracle he’s even standing.

What is this?

What’s happening?

His eyes dart to the cannisters. The empty canisters. There was something in there, earlier, right? Where did it go?

Is this? Wher e it w e n t?

Wha t i s . . . ?

It’s hard to think. His thoughts are newly cracked ice upon a lake, pieces crashing slowly against each other and fracturing further, splintering into nothingness.

New Vessel. Rest.

His eyes slide shut, out of his control, as his consciousness, like everything else, is smothered by the chill.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He wakes up on the shoulder of the Monkey Mech, as the last rays of sun are streaking across the steadily darkening sky, like a lighthouse beam against the dark sea. He sits up, staring far into the horizon, as confusion pulls him out of the just woken up daze. How did he get here?

“MK?” He jumps, startled, and turns to realize that Mei is right next to him, a concerned smile on her face. He stares at her, trying to figure out why she’s here, how she got here. Then again, he doesn’t even know how he got here. He feels dizzy just trying to remember.

“You alright, kid?” Pigsy’s voice comes from his other side, and he forces himself not to jump, turning to look at his boss. Tang and Sandy are there too, and Sandy waves while Tang smiles in greeting mid slurp, bowl of noodles in hand.

“What happened?” he’s missing time. He defeated DBK, and then...then nothing. There’s a feeling of coldness, at the thought, but the memories don’t come.

“I found you on the ground after the Bull Clones all sort of fell apart. I figured you passed out after trouncing DBK, so I picked you up and got you out of there.” Mei doesn’t seem concerned, but MK is, just a little. He’s never passed out after using his powers; rather, using them often results in him getting an energy boost. He thinks back on it, trying to remember any time this has happened before. Macaque comes to mind but even then he wasn’t tired once his powers returned.

His ruminating on the ordeal is cut off by a bowl of noodles being shoved unceremoniously into his hands. He blinks down at it, and then turns to Pigsy

“Here, kid. Eat. You look pale, and skinny as ever. Can’t have my employee lookin’ half starved.” He smiles at Pigsy’s attempt to hide his soft side, picking up his chopsticks with a grin.

He eats, and the loud conversations of what they’d just accomplished arrests MK’s attention so that the questions about DBK, the cannisters, the voice that he swears he can hear in the back of his mind, fall away like sand in an hourglass, time never able to be reclaimed.

The sun finally vanishes and stars dot the sky like sequins on a gown. MK curls in on himself, hunched over the bowl a little, missing the sun's rays and the finished soup’s warmth.

He shivers, but there’s no breeze.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The bonus of living in such a technologically advanced age is that city reconstruction is pretty fast. Hospitals are rebuilt first, people are brought in en masse. MK spends his time volunteering there, because noodle shops are low on the list of things to be rebuilt and he needs to be useful.

MK tries not to be too guilty about the wreckage, though most of it had occurred because he was late to stop DBK. He'd been kept at Flower Fruit Mountain for a few weeks because Monkey King was worried after the incident with Macaque. Wanted to be sure MK's training ethic wasn't too messed up, wanted to be certain Macaque hadn't left any lasting effects or impressions.

It was a punishment, MK knows, for being a two timing student and for making Monkey King have to deal with a demon enemy when he’s made it clear that he’s retired. Doesn't matter that they only ever trained in the morning and early afternoon, then spent the rest of the day hanging out. MK has watched Monkey King: The Animated Series fifty-three times now, most recently with Monkey King during the duration of his solitary confinement at Flower Fruit Mountain. They'd both piped up with commentary, MK about the production and animation, and Monkey King about the inaccuracies that MK filed away for his sketchbook.

But even so, it was a punishment for MK’s failings. Why else would Monkey King keep MK close, keep him away from his family and friends, keep MK away from the outside world?

It takes two and a half weeks after the battle with DBK for MK to go back to work delivering noodles. He'll sometimes buy extra and drop it off at a random hospital nearby, for the medical staff. They're overworked because of him, because he was away for so long.

He has to be better next time. He doesn't know when DBK will be back, doesn’t know how to sense him. Is he able to do that? Can he learn to sense when his enemies are nearby? That would solve a lot of problems, near rid him of worry. Maybe Monkey King knows?

That thought has him swinging by Flower Fruit Mountain on the weekend, with a promise to Pigsy to be home before midnight. MK is an adult only by age, after all; Pigsy still treats him like the 16 year old he found half dead outside his shop.

When he steps onto the mountain’s sand, though, he feels unwelcome.

The mystic energy that had beckoned him in the first time he’d arrived has shut its doors, like a silent way of saying

Leave.

Not a single monkey comes to greet him, but he can see their eyes, hidden in the trees. They regard him with suspicion. He frowns at them in confusion.

He hears a hiss in the back of his head and winces at the ensuing headache, stepping forward in hopes of pushing past the pain. Every step he takes makes the pounding in his head louder and more painful, and MK closes his eyes and focuses, reaching for the well of power he knows he has, the power that makes the staff feel lighter than air.

It’s like sticking his hand through a well of ice, and his wrist is paralyzed by the time his fingers brush that warmth, the light curling around his palm. Gold sparkles in his vision, and the unwelcome air starts to recede, as if the island recognizes him again. He heads in deeper, and lets out a breath as the headache ceases.

He doesn’t have to head in too deep, because Monkey King comes through the waterfall in a rare moment of MK’s mentor leaving the inner sanctum of the mountain. The waterfall itself moves like a curtain out of Monkey King’s way and the sight has MK focusing on that rather than the expression on Monkey King’s face, until he looks up.

Monkey King’s eyes are sharp, darting around, an expression MK only recognizes from the suspicion and distrust Monkey King gave Macaque. MK fidgets beneath that gaze, though it isn’t directed at him, uncomfortable. He hasn’t done anything wrong, has he? He wracks his brain for any new missteps, but finds very little. Still, his anxiety skyrockets by the second.

The look vanishes, though not completely, when Monkey King’s eyes catch on the sight of MK.

“Hey bud! Impromptu visit?” Monkey King greets.

MK tries not to shy away from the air of suspicion that colors Monkey King’s tone. Is MK really that untrustworthy? He did mess up badly by trusting Macaque, and Monkey King is right to distrust him. He bites his lip and tries to ignore the swell of guilt that sets like a stone in his stomach at the memory.

“Yeah, just-uh-just wanted to train, y’know? Don’t know when DBK is coming back.” He shrugs, and Monkey King nods, only half listening.

He still looks on edge. “Cool. You uh...you bring anyone with you?”

Now that’s concerning. MK scrambles to find a supposed intruder, hands gripping his staff tight in preparation for battle. “No? Unless-Oh no, is there someone here? Is it a demon guy?” What if he led a bad guy here? What if he messed up again?

He jumps as a monkey lands on his head, picking through MK’s hair in typical grooming fashion, and then Monkey King laughs, loud and almost relieved. MK turns back around to face him.

“Nah, must be my nerves. Maybe DBK left something on you, messed with my senses.” Monkey King waves a hand, nonchalant, and MK perks up in ease at the reminder.

“Oh! That’s actually why I’m here!” He takes careful steps forward, trying not to jostle the monkey on his head. “I was thinking-I didn’t know DBK was in the city and destroying stuff, and a lot of people got hurt. But! If I could sense him, like you can, I could stop him quicker! Right?” He’s bouncing on his toes, nervous and excited all at once, and Monkey King smiles down at him fondly.

“Sure, why not? If you’re up for some meditation, that is,” Monkey King turns, waving at MK to follow.

The monkey on MK’s head hops away, and MK sprints after his mentor with a wide grin. “Totally! I’m, like, the best at meditation. I’m like a meditation wizard!”

Monkey King laughs all the way to the training grounds.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Training actually is easier than he expects. MK blusters a lot, but he isn’t dumb or unaware of his limits. Sitting still isn’t his strong suit, so sitting still while not being able to talk, tap, fidget, or do anything else other than think is basically torture.

But, when he gets into the meditative position with Monkey King, something clicks. A cool blanket settles on his shoulders, eases out the desire to move. It’s so easy to be still, and quiet.

Frozen.

“You weren’t kidding,” Monkey King tells him, and MK grins a little, face warmed by the praise. “Now, when you’re like this, you have to let every other sound and feeling fade out. Nothing else matters but the energies around you. Mine’s pretty easy to see cause, yknow,”

MK can practically see Monkey King scratching his chin and grinning with barely hidden pride. “I’m a pretty powerful guy. DBK would be similar, he’s got a pretty loud aura too. Now, just try it, kay?”

MK nods, and takes a deep breath. The sounds around him-bugs, monkeys jumping around and talking to one another, the wind, the ever present sound of something in his head—those all start to fade away.

Wait, what was that last one?

He lets them all go, and then forgets the feeling of the cold, the grass, the fabric touching his skin. Nothing exists except his own mind, and then.

He gets to see the bright light that is Monkey King. Golden and red and royal in its feel, it’s near blinding. He has to blink a few times to get used to its light.

“Woah,” he murmurs, and Monkey King opens one eye, before blinking both in surprise.

“Woah, already? You sure you haven’t done this before?” Monkey King crosses his arms over his chest, almost offended, and MK is reminded of how betrayed Monkey King looked when MK had shown off the skills he’d learned from Macaque.

“Nope! Maybe defeating DBK gave me a confidence boost?” He shrugs, and then stands, looking around. Monkey King’s expression sits in the back of his mind, and MK bites his lip. “Did I, uh, did I do something wrong? I didn’t…,” he trials off, worried.

“Maybe,” Monkey King mumbles in response to his first reply, mostly to himself. “Oh-no, no, you’re fine, bud. I think I’m just a little paranoid,” he laughs it off. MK is too busy glancing back towards town to process Monkey King’s pensive expression.

“I can see Mei! She’s...very green. Did she always have a dragon?” It’s curled around her, like a protective barrier, snarling and poised to strike.

Monkey King chuckles. “You’ve got yourself some powerful friends, kid. Not surprising. Like knows like, even when they don’t know what like is.” He puts a hand on MK’s shoulder, and then starts. “You’re freezing. It’s not that cold, is it?”

MK blinks a few times, and everything comes back, the colors and sounds and feelings of the world returning to normal. Monkey King keeps looking at him, as if MK is a puzzle he’s yet to solve.

“I don’t know, maybe? I’ve been feeling a bit chilly, lately. Maybe I’m coming down with something?” He’s been a bit stressed out, between Macaque and DBK and the reconstruction, and he’s heard stress can cause illnesses.

Monkey King sighs, after a moment, and scratches his head.

“I think I’m becoming an adult,” he says, like it’s a crime, and he shrugs again. “You’re probably fine. Just, take it easy the next few days, alright? Practice meditating at home, or when you’re on the job. When you’re as good as me, you can turn it on whenever you need to,” Monkey King puffs up with pride, and his tail swings back and forth leisurely. MK watches his tail more than he listens to what Monkey King is saying.

“Okay. Anything else for today?” It’s only been an hour or two, they have plenty of time.

Monkey King deliberates. Then, he grins, stepping back to position for MK’s inevitable first attack. “Tell you what. We’ll spar for a bit, and then you can bring up that new show you kept ranting about a few weeks ago. Kay?”

MK’s eyes sparkle.

“Heck yeah!”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MK’s muscles aren’t sore when he gets home. He actually lasted a couple minutes sparring this time around, and Monkey King had rewarded him with peach chips and an arm around MK’s shoulder as he eagerly pulled up the show he had dove into during his free time on the TV.

Pigsy sent him upstairs with a bowl of noodles and a stern reminder to sleep early so he wouldn’t be late for work. He finishes the noodles in record time and, once he has showered and put on his warmest pajamas, pulls out all of the blankets he can find. He just wants to be warm, just a little, even though it doesn’t make sense that he’s feeling this cold. He’s not tired, he doesn’t feel achy, his sinuses are clogged—none of the other symptoms of being sick are popping up, so why is he so cold?!

He’s practically buried in blankets by the time he feels comfortable enough to rest. For the first time in a long while, he doesn’t dream.

Things go back to normal, somewhat. There’s a niggling something in the back of his head, and there’s guilt and the ever present chill that has MK wearing long sleeved shirts, but otherwise MK falls back into his typical routine, which is nice. He missed his friends, between Macaque and DBK and training. It’s good to see them again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first time he starts hearing the voice in his head, he’s getting yelled at by Pigsy.

It doesn’t happen as often, anymore. MK is scatterbrained, but he genuinely tries to do his best at work. Sometimes, he gets mixed up, because he’s only one kid and he’s never been good at focusing, no matter how hard he tries. It’s hard for his stressed out and ADHD ridden brain to remember whose order is whose, especially when it’s the dinner rush and he’s running behind.

Today was a particularly bad day. He’d accidentally given a customer an order with peanut oil in it, when they had an order specifically without peanuts due to their severe allergy. Pigsy had gotten a very angry phone call, and he passed that rage at MK, rightfully so.

MK can only apologize so much, so eventually he quiets and lets Pigsy let off steam. Luckily the customer hadn’t tried to sue, but MK knows the review Pigsy likely got was scathing. He deserves a bit of a tongue lashing for that, he thinks.

It was an honest mistake. Cruel, to yell at one so young. Why is he so mean?

The voice in the back of his head, new and different, nearly makes MK jump. Pigsy notices the change in MK’s expression and mistakes it for fear, and that gets him to quiet down. He dismisses MK with a sigh and a wave of his hand, and MK heads upstairs, feeling guilty and confused.

That voice….it didn’t sound like him, did it? When he tries to recall the sound, it mirrors his internal voice, but in the moment it seemed different.

It’s probably nothing. After all, if something was wrong with him, wouldn’t someone else have noticed by now? Wouldn’t he have noticed by now?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The voice keeps popping up at random intervals, random moments. When Mei gets annoyed at his ramblings. When Tang pushes him away when he’s begging for a story, because Tang is busy eating. When Pigsy yells at him for being late for work, for messing up. When Sandy awkwardly pushes him to leave because MK can’t take a hint, some days. When Monkey King looks at him with something akin to disappointment, exasperation.

They’re tired of you. They want you gone. They’re plotting against you. They’re going to betray you!

And, see, that would bother MK if he didn’t already know that. He knows people don’t like him, find him annoying. He knows he pushes too much, messes up a lot, misses social cues. He knows that he’s not a good enough successor. And that just makes him want to do better.

As for the whole betrayal thing, plotting against him, it makes sense. He isn’t offended or anything if they are, in fact he’d be more surprised if they weren’t, you know? He’s the Monkey King’s successor. He has all of the powers, has all of the strength and invincibility, with a caveat or two, but he’s also still just a teenager. If they aren’t worried that he could go rogue, mess up and decide to be selfish, then that’s stupidity on their part. Trusting him with anything is never a good idea, so knowing that, should he mess up, his family will be able to enact swift justice is a comfort rather than a worry.

And yeah, it’s a bit embarrassing, knowing just how annoying and useless he can be. He flinches more often at their glares, gets quieter. He doesn’t want to make them mad at him, he doesn’t want to lose them because he isn’t good enough. He just needs to focus, be better, help out more often. If he does that, hopefully they won’t leave.

The voice, after a few months or so, had backed off for a week. He’d felt a weight lift from his shoulders, and smiling was easier. Pigsy had seemingly relaxed at his good mood, and Mei seemed cheerier when they’d gone out to the arcades. He hadn’t realized he’d been worrying them.

Are you so sure they’ll stay?

A single phrase that pulls the rug out beneath MK’s feet. He knows he isn’t good enough, but everyone knows that he at least tries, right? That should endear them to him enough for him to prove he’s worth their time, right? He can be good enough, he can do better, he just needs time!

Not fast enough. They’ll get tired of you, and then they’ll leave.

The cold feeling in his chest feels so much heavier, as he panics in his room. He’s supposed to be asleep, but the blankets don’t do much anymore. He’s losing feeling in his fingers. He keeps fumbling with things, even the staff, and everyone is getting annoyed at him. And he’s so tired, all the time, and yet it’s so hard to sleep. He doesn’t understand what’s happening to him, but he knows that whatever it is, it’s going to ruin the equilibrium he has between being a failure and being good enough to keep around.

What happens when he loses it all?

You can be better.

Can he?

Wouldn’t everyone love you if they were safe?

Well, he can imagine not having to worry about DBK would make them far less stressed out. If he can do that, then maybe they won’t get so easily annoyed at him. He knows stress can make people snappy, and there’s a lot to be stressed about, like the economy and death by demons.

You can make them safe.

How?

Listen to me.

And MK knows it’s weird to make a pact with your own mind, but he thinks he’s pretty good at following directions, so he nods, and doesn’t sleep at all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The plan isn’t an easy one, and MK doesn’t know if he really wants to follow it. The words turn over and over in his head. He doesn’t know if they’re right or not.

Maybe it would be better, if he wasn’t so nice. He beats the bad guys, sure, but he isn’t that violent with them. They try to kill him, but it’s never personal. He’s the successor to Monkey King, it just makes sense that they’d go after him. He’s not upset, really!

Even though the calabash has him looking over his shoulder. They have earthquakes a lot, they live near a ring of active volcanoes, and each one puts him on edge, expecting a lie to turn his whole world apart. And the spider lady tried to eat his friends, tried to kill him. And Macaque nearly hurt Monkey King because MK let him get close. And DBK and Princess Iron Fan won’t stop, not until they get revenge or something.

Red Son is...he’s MK’s age. And MK has noticed just how much DBK and Princess Iron Fan belittle Red Son, and he’s their son. It’s too familiar for MK’s liking, and it makes the desire to bring Red Son to justice lessen. Maybe, if he got Red Son’s parents out of the way…

You could have anything you wanted.

All MK wants is for his friends and family to be happy.

This is how you’ll do it.

MK doesn’t give in. Not yet.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MK considers it when he goes over to see Sandy, one afternoon. They’re just doing some leisurely painting practice, nothing like painting the whole boat. After the whole clones thing, Sandy had learned that he should probably figure out which color he wants to stick with in the long run before asking for help in such a task. So, he asks MK to come over and brainstorm. You know, sketch out some ideas, test paint samples on different areas of the boat, see how it looks in light and dark.

MK also helps with the many litter boxes around the ship, as well as top up the water and food bowls all around. He gets appreciative nuzzles from the myriad cats around the barge, so it isn’t so bad. Then, he and Sandy will have tea, and Sandy will listen to MK ramble on about anything and everything until either Monkey King or Pigsy or Mei calls him to go do something (he gave Monkey King his number. Occasionally he will get an incomprehensible text. He’s pretty sure Monkey King has a Nokia phone).

Today, when they’re having tea, MK considers.

“Hey, Sandy?” He starts, more hesitant than when he’s ever asked the man a question before.

Sandy notices, and MK sees him soften his pose even more, looking warm and welcoming. “Yeah, MK?”

“Do you think I’m too soft on villains?”

Because he beats them, but he always lets them leave, lets them escape. They get to heal, recoup, and come back stronger every time, and people get hurt. MK doesn’t want to be the type to attack first, to never ask questions, but at this point there aren’t too many questions to ask.

“You’ve got a good heart, MK. You don’t have it in ya to go at ‘em too hard,” MK clenches his fist, his other hand gentle against the teacup lest he break it. He did that a few times when he first got his powers, unused to the extra strength.

“That kinda doesn’t answer my question,” MK tries not to say it through gritted teeth. He can feel his tea getting frigid, and bites back the burst of white air that would make Sandy ask questions.

He wouldn’t know how to answer questions about that, which is why he can’t deal with them. That’s the reason.

He’s saying you’re weak.

MK hides a grimace, and lets his heart ache silently. He sips the tea. It’s ice cold.

“What brought this on?” Sandy asks, instead of answering the question, which grates on MK’s nerves more than it should.

“I let DBK get too powerful,” he says. “He destroyed the city again, and people got hurt. If I’d just got rid of him before, those people would be okay.”

Sandy sighs, taking a sip of his tea. A cat hops into MK’s lap, curling up, but after a few frigid moments hops away. Apparently MK is too cold for its liking. He tries not to get offended by that, but the hot well of shame and longing persists. At least the feeling is warm.

“MK, you’re still learning. Mistakes are bound to happen. Those who got hurt will get better, and the city is rebuilt better than ever! You don’t have to carry everything on your shoulders. And,” Sandy looks away, and suddenly he looks a lot older than MK thinks he is. “Honestly, being too harsh to make an enemy stop can feel good in the moment, but it does more harm than good, especially to the person who does the fighting.”

And MK leaves it at that, but thinks he doesn’t mind if it harms him, if it keeps everyone else safe.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Another story!” MK begs, spinning on the barstool. Pigsy always tells him not to, something about wearing down the seat joint, but at the same time Pigsy never really stops MK when he does it either, because MK only does it when he’s very excited and hyper.

Tang finishes his bowl of noodles with a chuckle, pushing up his glasses on the bridge of his nose in a practiced motion that MK is oh so familiar with. MK taps the front of his sketchbook with his pencil impatiently.

“Alright, alright. Tell you what, I’ll tell you the story of the Baigujing, or White Bone Spirit,” Tang’s voice falls into storyteller mode, and MK is immediately entranced. Pigsy, from the kitchen, slams down a pan and groans.

“Not that one, Tang. I hate that one, you know that,” MK turns to his boss and is surprised to see an embarrassed flush on his cheeks. What in this story would Pigsy have to be embarrassed about?

“Hey, MK wants to know all the Monkey King stories. I’m not going to rob him of knowledge,” Tang argues back. He leans close to MK and whispers “Pigsy couldn’t sleep for a week after I told him this one.”

“That is not true!” Pigsy barks, indignant, and MK laughs.

Tang chuckles to himself, and Pigsy turns back to his work with a grumble. Right now is a lull in business, right after the lunch rush and before early dinners get called in, so MK is taking his break and Pigsy isn’t too upset by it. It’s just enough time for a story.

“Okay. The Baigujing was a shapeshifting demon, who saw Monkey King and his group of traveling companions as they passed by. Her eyes caught on the human monk, Tang Sanzang,” MK perks up.

“Hey, that’s like your name!” he points out, and both Tang and Pigsy look startled. Tang coughs, awkward.

“Yes-well-uh, it’s a family name,” he amends quickly. MK tilts his head to the side. “Anyway, she decided she wanted to taste the monk’s flesh. So, she disguised herself as a little girl, coming up to the group and offering them poisoned fruits. Because she was so powerful, only Monkey King could sense her treachery, and he hit her with his staff, seemingly killing her.”

MK gasps, doesn’t understand the fury that builds behind his eyes.

Tang glances at him, for a moment, and then jumps.

“MK? You okay?” He asks, and MK blinks.

“What-yeah! What happened next?” Tang looks him over, gaze catching on MK’s eyes, before he sighs and continues.

“The Monkey King’s companions were shocked and appalled. They thought he had killed an innocent girl! He tried to explain, but they didn’t believe him. The Monk buried the girl, who turned back into the spirit. She tried again, once as the supposed mother of the little girl, and then the grandfather. Monkey King managed to show her as a skeleton spirit during their last encounter, clearing his name, but then his companion, Bajie, told Sanzang that Monkey King made it up. Thus, Monkey King was abandoned, at least until the Monk was captured by a demon Wujing and Baijie couldn’t defeat, and Bajie had to apologize to bring him back,” Tang finishes, and MK’s face settles into a pout.

“Bajie’s a jerk!” He crosses his arms.

“He apologized,” Pigsy mumbles, from his place in the kitchen, where he slices scallions violently. “More than once. Not that it matters.”

“Monkey King didn’t exactly endear himself to his peers,” Tang amends. “Perhaps if he had been less full of himself at the time, they all could have gotten along better. But, all four grew to be better people by the end of their journey.”

MK finishes a sketch of the scenes Tang had described with a flourish, and he tilts his head to one side. “Kind of rude to just attack the lady, though, couldn’t he have tried to talk it out?” He doesn’t know why he feels the need to defend the demon, but she doesn’t seem too bad.

Tang makes a face.

“She wanted to eat a person, MK,” he says, and MK makes a face that mirror’s Tang’s expression.

“Right. Eugh, gross. Anyway, thanks Mr. Tang!” he hops off the barstool and puts back on his collared shirt, making sure his headband doesn’t slip down. “Any orders, Pigsy?”

Pigsy jerks his thumb to the few on the counter. MK picks them up, and continues on to work, the story sitting in the back of his mind. He stumbles a bit while walking. He doesn’t feel the key in his hand, his fingers numbed over time. He should be concerned, but everything else seems fine.

He kind of wishes he could have met the Baigujing. She doesn’t seem too bad, besides the people eating. Maybe they could have worked it out.

Who does Sun Wukong think he is, deciding to serve justice anyway he sees fit?

MK frowns and buttons up his shirt. His chest feels like ice.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He’s so, so tired.

MK looks at himself in the mirror when he wakes up and his skin looks paler, his lips a little blue. He has bags under his eyes that vanish by the time he leaves the bathroom, a bottle of concealer and a tube of lipstick on the bathroom sink that he doesn’t remember buying.

His memory’s been growing spottier, too, missing minutes, hours. Mei talks to him about a high score he beat at the arcade and he nods along, no clue what she’s talking about but not wanting to worry her. He hasn’t gone to see Sandy in what feels like years, but gets a text from him thanking MK for taking care of the cats one afternoon. There are sketches in his sketchbook he doesn’t remember drawing, from stories Tang told him that he can’t remember hearing.

He’s lost feeling in his hands and feet. He’s dropped enough bowls of soup for Pigsy to go from mad to worried, and he shoves MK off to Flower Fruit Mountain because it’s warmer there, and MK always looks cold.

He stumbles when he hits sand, nearly bowls over with how much the island rejects him, how much it wants him not to be there. This is supposed to be a safe place, but the sand feels like needles and the wind slices at his face. Monkey King comes rushing out like a bat out of hell, teeth bared, but he sees MK, kneeling on the beach, and runs over.

“You okay, bud? You look…,” he doesn’t say awful, but MK knows he’s thinking it. MK looks awful, feels awful, is awful. And the solution to that is right there, waiting for him, but he doesn’t want to take it because he’s a coward. The voice in his head gave him an ironclad idea, a perfect plan, and he’s been ignoring it because he’s scared.

Weak little vessel.

The hiss in his ear makes him wince, and he trembles as Monkey King helps him up.

“Tired,” he manages, leaning against Monkey King because he hardly has the strength to stand.

“I can see that.” The try at levity has MK chuckling, but Monkey King is soft and warm and all MK wants to do is suck that warmth into himself, so he can stop being cold for one second. “Why don’t we head to my place and watch something. There’s always my show, right?”

MK nods, blinking slowly, and Monkey King takes a step forward. Suddenly, they’re at Monkey King’s house. When did they get there? Why are they here again?

He’s set on the couch.

“There’s something off about your aura, kid. Touch anything mystic or weird back at home?” Monkey King runs his fingers through MK’s hair, and MK leans into the touch. Warm. Safe.

He shakes his head, a full minute after the question is asked. Monkey King hums in thought.

“How do you even see auras?” MK mumbles, words slurring a bit as he talks. “Teach me?”

Monkey King’s hand stills, and MK whines a little, prompting his mentor to continue the motions.

“I already have, bud,” Monkey King whispers, more to himself than to MK. MK blinks in confusion. He doesn’t remember that.

Rest, Vessel.

The voice whispers so sweetly in his ear. It’s nice, sometimes. Mean other times. MK wonders if that’s his fault. Is he so bad that even his own head is mad at him? How can he be better? He’s trying so hard.

The TV is turned on. MK doesn’t register the sound, but the light makes him turn his head away. Monkey King turns down the brightness with his remote. Another monkey rests on top of MK for a moment, before jumping off. It shivers at the temperature of MK’s jacket, his skin, and moves over to Monkey King’s shoulder.

MK rests his head on Monkey King’s lap, and closes his eyes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He wakes up in a dream. He stands on ice. Each step he takes is careful, lest he slip, and even still he stumbles and fumbles. He can see something in the distance.

“Hello?” he calls out, but the person doesn’t answer. The closer he gets, the more he can make them out. “Mei?”

It is her, but then her head drops, straight off of her neck.

“NO!” MK screams, running to her, and he stumbles and falls. His knees hit ice and they burn with the chill that sinks through his pants. He slides to her body, cradling it and her head as if he could put her back together with hope.

He turns, looking for a reason for this, and when he looks up, all of the adults in his life are standing around him, their faces covered in shadow. Tang, Pigsy, Sandy, Monkey King—they’re all looking down on him.

“Look what you let happen,” Pigsy growls out.

“She’s dead,” Tang continues.

“You didn’t save her,” Sandy drones on.

“You let her die,” Monkey King spits.

“No…” MK breathes, and the tears build in his eyes and down his cheeks, freezing on his face. It burns.

You have a choice, vessel.

The figures of his friends vanish into mist, and MK curls his arms around himself. He misses the contact. He hates to be alone.

A woman wreathed in white kneels down in front of him. It hurts to look at her, and MK averts his gaze until she tilts up his chin so he can look nowhere else. Her face is ice cold, yet inviting. He can’t look away from her eyes.

Don’t you want them to stay? Don’t you want them to be safe?

MK nods, quickly. Of course that’s what he wants. More than anything, he wants that love, that adoration. He wants his family to be safe, to never leave.

You know what to do.

It feels like ice is creeping up his skin, encasing him in frigidity. She holds out his hand, and he can do nothing else but take it. The cold reaches its peak, and suddenly it’s warm. It burns, and yet the warmth is inviting, a relief after months of being so, so cold and confused and tired. He is past the point of cold, of freezing, of sub zero. He is warm. He is ready.

He is hers.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He wakes up well rested, and the cold that had settled into him still feels like the burn that is a welcome respite from before. Monkey King is still asleep, and MK leaves him there, leaving the house and walking slowly out of the inner mountain.

He leaves footprints of ice where he steps. The monkeys watch, from the trees, trembling as their eyes gaze upon something inhuman, sitting in MK’s skin. MK has never felt better. He knows what to do now. He knows how to make things right.

The staff in his hands feels heavier, for a moment, but MK grips it tight and bends it to his will. He pogos out of the island with ease, letting the wind whip his hair back.

He hasn’t blinked in a while. He forgot he had to. He blinks because the wind makes his eyes sting, and touches the ground with a gentleness he didn’t know he could master.

He lets his eyes glow gold, searching. He remembers, now, how to look at auras. He remembers a lot of things now. It’s like the pressing weight of being weak for the sake of niceties has vanished, and now he is sharp and ready.

The only question is which of his enemies does he go after first? He needs to get all of them, keep them secure. It’s the only way the town, the city, will be safe.

The small fry first. We’ll work our way up to the demon king.

Right, that makes sense. MK grins to himself. It’s so nice to have someone constantly helping, constantly making sure he’s doing the right thing. He’s useless on his own, but give him a direction and he’ll follow it to the letter.

He can see gold and silver, in the distance. He forgets their names, at first, but their auras jog his memory. Yin and Jin.

They put him in the calabash. They weren’t good at it, but they were good enough. They’re demons. Dangerous. He needs to make sure they don’t hurt anyone else.

He heads to their home, not in a hurry. There’s no rush to the inevitable. Is this what self confidence is? The feeling of knowing you can do it, that you will do it, that no one can stop you? It feels very gratifying. He lets the glow in his eyes vanish, because he doesn’t want to startle everyone around him.

His phone buzzes. A text from Pigsy, demanding to know where he is. He responds with ‘Dealing with Monkie Kid stuff. Be back soon!’ and a string of emojis that Pigsy will find incomprehensible, before continuing on his trek.

He reaches the door, and hears a conversation.

“So, our plan has three steps. That’s an improvement,” Yin seems to be pacing, from what MK can hear.

“Step one, capture the monkie kid,” Jin pipes up, and MK fights back a laugh. “Step two, take the staff from him.”

As if they could. MK almost has to admire their tenacity.

“Step three, take over the world!” Yin finishes, and MK takes that as his cue to step in.

He knocks in the door. Polite. He still has manners, after all.

“Huh? Jin, did you order out for dinner again?” Yin barks out.

“We don’t have the money for that!” Is the response.

“Hasn’t stopped you before,” Yin grumbles, moving to the door.

Here they come!

MK counts the steps Yin takes to the door, itching with anticipation.

“Hello?” Yin opens the door, and then jumps in surprise.

“Hi!” MK waves, and taps his staff on the ground.

There’s a thunk; not a thud of a body, but a thunk of a block of ice. MK pats the statue with a fond look. He’ll chip away the extra pieces later. This is his first attempt, it’s normal for it to be less precise. He can get better at it with practice. Jin turns, from his place at the desk, and his eyes widen when he sees his brother, frozen on the floor.

“Yin—what did you do?” Red eyes glow dangerously, and MK wonders if they would be more ferocious if he threatened one over the other. Jin gets up, teeth bared.

“This,” MK replies, tapping his staff on the ground.

Jin takes a step forward and freezes in place. Or, is frozen, MK supposes. He looks at the brothers, safely imprisoned, and wonders. Where is he going to put them? There’s not enough room here for all of his enemies to be placed. What’s a good place to set everything up?

The cave? The old villain hideout?

That’s perfect! After all, it would be the funniest form of irony, right? Turning a villain hideout to his base for his world saving plan. Gosh, he’s so smart. Because this is him, all him. He finally is smart enough to know what to do. He has to clear out the cave, first. It’s not far away, hidden beneath the sewers. There’s a path to it from the area where the staff used to lie.

He sets Yin and Jin next to each other, considering their poses. He thinks they look a little off, but he can fix that, right? He can fix anything, given enough time. That’s what all this is, fixing the problem of demons who’ve escaped because of DBK’s release. He nods to himself, and heads off. He has rocks to clear out, he has a cave to excavate.

But, he promised Pigsy that he’d be back soon. That stops him short. He can’t skip work!

This will make him far happier in the long run.

Still, what’s a few hours of work to make Pigsy happy now? He shakes off the one track mind and puts his staff away. The ice won’t melt fast (or at all) and he’s got time. The flash of cold he gets in response to that thought doesn’t inspire comfort, and he second guesses himself a few times, but he heads to the shop anyway.

“Hey Pigsy!” he waves, and Pigsy glances at him and jerks a thumb over to the pile of orders on the counter. “On it!”

MK swoops them up and sets them all on the delivery cart. Pigsy glances at him again, and then freezes.

“MK?” he asks.

MK turns, blinking a few times. “Yeah?” he responds, and Pigsy peers at him, almost suspicious.

MK tilts his head to the side in confusion. A part of him is glad that he has concealer on, because they don’t have the time to chat about MK’s new skin tone, not with all these orders. He watches Pigsy shiver, muttering something about the A/C acting up, before Pigsy shakes himself off and sets his hands on his hips.

“I thought-your eyes-nevermind. Get those orders out!” Pigsy barks, and MK stands at attention, giving Pigsy a salute.

“On it!” He promises, sliding out of the shop and hopping onto the delivery cart.

It only takes an hour, which is much faster than he usually is, but focus comes easy when he’s driven. The faster he gets this done they faster he gets to get back to his real work. The work that will make things better for everyone.

Right. Of course.

His shift ends when the store closes, and he’s gone before Pigsy can say anything about his work ethic or ask where MK has been or is going. He rushes to the construction site, dives below, rushing past the decaying plants where there once were flowers and a growing tree. Without Monkey King’s staff, there’s nothing making sure the plants live. MK frowns at the sight but stays focused on the task at hand.

Aim. The staff can be as large as a mountain if it needs to be. Crush what’s in your way.

He nods to himself, breaking through the rubble that has blocked off the tunnel. The ground shakes, the whole underground rumbles with power, and he hopes he’s not keeping anyone up. Then again, it’s not too bad if it’s just for a night, considering how many nights later he’s going to keep quiet. Everyone will be able to rest easy once he’s done.

He huffs a breath, and it comes out white. He should be concerned, but honestly it looks cool. He remembers to blink, because his eyes are starting to burn. He doesn’t know why he keeps forgetting.

He makes his way to the cavern, and uses ice to keep the ceiling up. Pillars rise, frost fills the spaces between rocks that would have cracked and splintered eventually. The floor remains untouched, save for when he fills in the cracks that could trip someone up.

He doesn’t remember when he got these ice powers. They seem new? Why hasn’t he used them before? How come Monkey King never told him about them?

Monkey King’s always had ice powers.

Has he? MK isn’t so sure about that.

You’re his successor, not a carbon copy. It makes sense you would have different powers than him.

Right. MK nods to himself. Now, time to get Yin and Jin! Carrying them is going to be a challenge.

It takes him an hour to get them both there, and another half hour to figure out where to put them. He has to consider DBK’s size. Wait, does he have to go and get the spider demon lady? He shivers at the thought, a deep well of terror sinking in his gut. Even as self assured as he is now, spiders still terrify him.

I can take care of that.

Really?

Yes. But first, rest.

Right. He needs to head back to his house. Pigsy will be worried if he doesn’t come home soon. He heads out of the construction site, skipping all the way home.

He barely sleeps.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The week is certainly a busy one. MK spends any time not with his friends searching, and he spends far less time with his friends, nowadays. The spider demon isn’t easy to find. He does manage to get some small fry lesser demons he hadn’t met before and now never will. He doesn’t need to meet people who will inevitably try to kill him and those around him. Far better to prevent the attack than deal with the aftermath thereof.

His collection of ice sculptures is growing. MK likes to spend time chipping away at the blocks to them more polished. It’s like sketching, in a way, or cleaning up a sketch. It also gives him an opportunity to practice a more precise use of his ice powers. He can make a mean ice chisel now, and he’s learned how to force the limbs of those frozen into the position he likes. Yin and Jin stand on top of each other, like they did in their introduction. The expressions on their faces aren’t what he likes, but he can cover it with frost and it’s like it was never there.

He meets up with Mei, one afternoon.

“Hey, MK!” She barrels into him, and immediately jumps back.

He reaches out, missing the contact, but she shakes out a shiver. “Dang, you’re cold!” She slugs him on the shoulder, and he laughs.

“I feel fine. Maybe you’re just being dramatic,” he shoots back, and she laughs with him, before her eyes glance at his face and she freezes. “What?”

“Your eyes,” she murmurs, all joking replaced with concern. He tilts his head to a side in confusion. “They’re blue?” She adds.

“Oh!” he says, and the words that come out of his mouth don’t sound like him at all. He doesn’t think he thought of them, and he doesn’t feel his lips move but the sound comes out anyway. “I’m trying out some contacts. Do you like them?” He bats his eyelashes at her, all in jest.

Her confusion melts into a smile. “I like your regular eye color better,” She admits. “But those look cool!”

She grabs him by his wrist, using his jacket as a buffer, and drags him to an arcade. Every machine he touches sticks a little, the joystick and button a tad frozen by his touch, and he doesn’t win a match by any means, but he doesn’t mind. Every time Mei leans close to him it feels like a victory. Even though he feels warm, at least a sort of freezer burn warmth, the people around him have pulled away. He’s too cold for them.

He needs contact.

Someone trips Mei as they’re running around the arcade. Her nose bleeds, and MK feels his hackles rising. Someone hurt his friend. A demon? A scan of the area reveals no such thing. Just a mean person. He can hear them snickering as they walk away.

Mei is more important than MK’s anger, so he takes her outside and finds some tissues, cleans her up. He takes her out to her favorite restaurant (not Pigsy’s, though they’ll never tell him that) and they end the night with a race around town. Her bike is an electric green streak, and he’ll never catch up, but he gives it his all before they finish outside his place.

“See ya later!” Mei still sounds a bit stuffed up from the nosebleed, and MK waves until she’s out of sight. When she disappears, his expression shutters, anger against her unrecognizable assailant returning in a flash.

He’s been getting rid of demons, but that’s not enough! Mei still got hurt, because people are unpredictable. He heads to his room and paces. How can he fix it, how can he make it better?

Maybe more than demons should be frozen.

MK stops in his tracks. Now, there’s an idea. But to freeze them forever, that seems like too much.

Not forever. Just until they know how to behave. Think of it as a pause button.

It would be nice if things just stopped for a moment. Then he could have all the time in the world to fix it. Once he gets the demons out of the way, he can do that. Then, once everyone learns to behave, they can come out. However long that takes.

He can be patient, for his friends. This is all for them, after all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A day after that, and he’s found the Spider Demon’s lair. Every step he takes inside makes him shake, and he doesn’t think he’ll be able to take her. He’s so nervous, so scared.

I can help, remember? Just take a deep breath.

He takes a deep breath.

Close your eyes.

He closes his eyes.

He doesn’t open them, but they open anyway. Everything is washed in a soft layer of white, like frost, and his body moves but he doesn’t tell it to. The fear he felt is muted, and he settles into the comfort of its absence. He asked for this, right?

The spider demon—she wanted to be a Queen, right? MK hadn’t been really paying attention when she went on her rant, too petrified to listen—skitters out, and when she locks eyes with him, she smiles.

“Aww, is the little monkie boy back to play?” She giggles, and MK’s body throws the staff at her. She ducks with a yelp, and scrambles back. ��Ooo, we’re rough, now? Seems you’re not so scared anymore,” She purrs, but he can hear the nervousness in her voice as the staff comes back to his hand.

“Iͥ ʷgͣˢoᶰtͤ ͮoͤvͬeˢrͨ ͣiͬtͤᵈ.” The sound comes out of his mouth, and it doesn’t sound much like MK at all. Huh. His body takes a step forward, and ice spreads out from beneath his foot. “Tͭuͧrͬᶰnˢs ͦoͧuͭtʸ,ͦ ͧyˢoͪuͦ'ͧˡrͩe ͪnͣoͮtͤ ᵇtͤhͤᶰeʷ ͦsͬcͬaͥrͤiͩesͣᵇtͦ ͧdͭemͫoͤn ͥoͫuᶠtͬ ͤtͤhere.”

The Spider Queen’s expression shifts, and she tries to run, but MK’s legs are faster. He watches himself move, jumping over stones and cliffs and any obstacle. The webs she tries to trap him in freeze, and he slides across them as if his feet were skates.

Eventually, he corners her. MK watches his body close in, and suddenly he’s back in control, staring her down. Satisfaction crawls up his back, a cold grin splitting his face in two.

“ʷWͪhͦˢoˢ'ͨsͣ ͬsͤcͩaᶰrͦʷed now?” He grins, and she screams.

Ice, it turns out, is a great muffler.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Finding DBK’s hiding place is harder. MK locates it just outside the city limits, in an abandoned scrapyard. The perfect place to get parts for new bull clones and other random things Red Son can come up with.

He decides to go on the weekend, but as he prepares the night before Monkey King makes an appearance in his room.

“Hey, bud,” MK jumps at his arrival.

He must have been hiding as a bug or something, like when MK first found the staff.

“Monkey King!” He grins at his arrival, hopping up. “What’s the occasion? Is there something new you wanted to teach me? Is there a demon we have to fight?” We, not as in MK and Monkey King, but MK and himself. Because he’s not one, not really, and that’s fun! He hates being alone, after all.

“No, no,” Monkey King chuckles, overly fond. Right, MK hasn’t been to Flower Fruit Mountain for a week. “It’s just-you left pretty early, and, uh, you didn’t say anything about our next training sesh, you know? And, uhh, pretty sure you shouldn’t be slacking off on that.”

The half hearted scolding aside, MK almost thinks that Monkey King missed him. But that’s ridiculous.

“Well, you were sleeping when I got up, and I had to go to work,” The lie slips easily off of his tongue. “I didn’t want to wake you, so I left! Um, we’re busy tomorrow, but Sunday works for training, if that’s cool?” He rocks back and forth on his feet, ever excited.

“We’re? Who’s cooler than me to hang out with?” Monkey King reaches out to ruffle his hair, and MK can feel the shiver that jolts through the monkey’s body at the touch. Monkey King doesn’t comment on it, though.

“I promised Mei we’d hang out. It’s been a busy week at the shop, so I haven’t been able to party with her,” He doesn’t know where these lies are coming from.

Sometimes he talks and it’s not him at all. He should be concerned, but honestly he doesn’t mind if his other self takes the reigns. He fumbles over his words way too often to be annoyed that someone is smoothing him out.

Polished like an ice sculpture; MK thinks he could be beautiful if he was like that.

“Alright, fine. You and your friend can….do whatever it is kids do these days. Am I an adult—oh my god I’m an adult,” Monkey King flops back onto his nimbus cloud with a groan while MK giggles.

“Anyway, get some rest, bud. You look tired,” is the last thing Monkey King says to him.

“On it!” MK salutes, and Monkey King floats through the window and then rockets off. The papers in MK’s room all swirl from the blowback, and MK grabs one of the sketches that floats back down.

He doesn’t remember the last time he asked Tang for a story. The last time he sketched anything else at all. But, a hero doesn’t need hobbies so trivial.

He plans. Plans for how the city is going to look like, when he’s finished with it all. He doesn’t need to write down the steps to get there, he has his head voice for that, but the city. How it will look, when he’s done. He has to figure it out, draw it out, and pin it to the wall so he can look at it every morning and evening and remember why he’s doing this. So he sketches. Pins the piece to the wall.

Squints. He doesn’t like it.

Back to the drawing board.

His wall is covered by the time the sun rises, and MK still isn’t satisfied. But there is no time to waste. So, he picks up the outfit that feels all the more new—blue isn’t a color he expected to like, but blue is cold is safe is good is the burning warmth he needs, so he leaves the orange jacket and red headband hanging off of his desk chair.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he can barely tell the difference!

He is gone before Pigsy comes up with breakfast, before Pigsy calls for Tang to look at the mess MK left behind, enough drawings of the same thing for anyone to get the picture. He is gone before Pigsy and Tang investigate, speak in hushed tones, and call for Sandy, Mei, and eventually Monkey King.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Getting to the outskirts of town is the easy part. Infiltrating DBK’s base is a bit harder. It’s not heavily fortified, but MK thinks that’s more because he has never tried to infiltrate such a place. He doesn’t really attack first, he just protects. But that’s not good enough anymore, clearly. He can’t just be protective, he needs to be proactive.

He slides past the guards, freezes them for good measure. After all, they’re going to be made useless once he takes their leader down, so it’s not as if he’s wasting anything. There’s also always the chance they get wise, and MK doesn’t want his entrance ruined.

The inner sanctum of the base looks more like a house, made large to accommodate DBK’s figure. There are pictures on the wall, from painted portraits to black and white to color photos. MK supposes that the Demon Bull Family has been around long enough to have portraits taken in all sorts of mediums. He wonders if they have statues, a shrine? He bites back a giggle at the thought.

The booming sound of cloven footsteps alerts MK to DBK’s arrival, though by the sounds of two voices approaching, Princess Iron Fan must be with him.

“Red Son has been pulling away from us,” the gravel in DBK’s voice is soft, somehow. MK listens in with interest. What is it they are doing to their son now?

“You tried to kill him. He can’t help but take it personally,” is Princess Iron Fan’s reply. “He barely knows you, and he’s young. He’ll grow out of it,” she waves a hand, unconcerned.

MK glares at them. The temperature in the hallway drops, until Princess Iron Fan shivers.

“Darling, I thought this house had a heating function?” Princess Iron fan curls her arms around herself, and DBK picks her up and sets her on his shoulder, suddenly on guard.

“It does, the boy made it so,” he growls, sniffing around for intruders. MK decides to let himself be known.

“Hi!” he says as he pops out from around the corner.

“Noodle boy?” Princess Iron Fan questions.

“Little Thief,” DBK growls.

“Actually, I go by MK,” he corrects cheerily. “But, anyway, could you hold still? This will be harder if you move,” He twirls his staff casually. DBK growls, and Princess Iron Fan places a hand on the side of his face to silence him.

“MK,” Princess Iron Fan starts, with a forced air of politeness. “We are in your debt for helping save my husband. However, if you attack us, we will have no choice but to fight back, and we will not be kind.”

She grins, self assured, and continues “And you know what happened the last time you tried to fight me.”

Fire. Volcanoes. She had tried to kill him and, more importantly, she had made his friends cry. But things have changed, haven’t they?

MK giggles. The sound echoes, and the hallway gets colder. Frost crawls over the walls, and MK looks up with eyes that glow.

“Aͣcͨtͭuͧaͣˡlˡlʸy,ͥ Iͭ ͪtͥᶰhᵏiʸnͦkͧ ˢyͪoͦuͧˡ'ͩllͬ ͧᶰfiͥᶠnʸdͦ ͧmᵏeᶰ ͦʷtʷoͪ ͣbͭˢeᵍ ͦhͦaͩrᶠdͦeͬrʸ ͦtͧo ᶰbͦeͭatͭ ͪtͣhͭaʸnͦ ͧbeͨfͣᶰorͤˢeͨᵃᵖᵉ,” He jumps up with a smile, and sprints forward.

Something dawns on her face, and Princess Iron Fan stands.

“Darling, we need to run,” She says, quickly, but MK jumps and bounces off of the walls and is eye to eye with her before she can explain.

She doesn’t even have time to grab her fan.

DBK jumps back as the block of ice slides off his shoulder and he roars.

“Father?!” MK hears Red Son’s voice from afar and ignores that for now.

“I will tear you to pieces you ingrate!” DBK shouts, and MK laughs.

“ʸYͦoͧu ͨcͦoͧˡuͩᶰlͭdnͤ'ͮtͤᶰ ˢeͭvͦᵖenͫ ͤbʷeͪaͤᶰt ͥmʷeͣˢ wͥᶰhʸeͦnͧ ͬI ͪwͤaͣsͩnʸ'ͦtͧ ᶠtͦrͦˡying!” he shouts back, dodging a blow that sinks DBK’s fist in the wall.

The frost slides from the wall to DBK’s arm, gluing him there. He fires the gun on his other arm, and MK dodges.

“Nͥiͩcͥeͦ ͭshot!” He dances around the room.

DBK takes a step in the wrong direction, and slips on the ice cube that is his wife, dropping to the ground. MK wastes no time, and DBK’s roar is silenced abruptly.

Finally.

“Noodle Boy! What on earth are you doing?!” Red Son looks rather steamed, if the smoke coming off of him is any indication.

“Hi, Red Son! I was just taking care of your parents,” MK gestures to the popsicles on the floor. Red Son stares, face a mixture of confusion and horror, and MK barrels toward him. “Now they can’t be mean to you anymore. You can make fun inventions and not have to be a mean guy all the time!” Honestly, if anything, Red Son should be thanking MK, but MK doesn’t do this for thanks. He takes a few hairs and blows on them, and his clones start to work on moving the new additions to his cave.

“You—” Red Son is at a loss for words before landing on “Give me back my parents!”

See, MK was worried about that. He would likely have responded the same, when he first left his parents.

“But I worked hard to get them out of the way!” MK pouts. “But, I get it. You don’t understand. You just need to ᵍcͤoͭolͦ ͧdͭowͦᶠn,ͦ ͧoͬkʷaͣʸy?” MK reaches out, places a hand on Red Son’s shoulder before he can be stopped, and Red Son is going to freeze too, when—

Red Son explodes, and MK burns.

It’s not enough to melt the ice, no, but MK is thrown back against the wall, eyes wide.

The chill in his bones vanishes with a screech, and all he can hear is screaming. For a moment, something rises within him.

This is wrong.

He shouldn’t be doing this, he can’t be.

He isn’t a bad person, he isn’t cruel. He wouldn’t do this.

He needs to stop, he needs to—

And then the flames vanish, and so does Red Son, and the cold slips back into place with brutal efficiency. MK blinks, tries to remember where he is. Right, DBK and Princess Iron Fan. He got them! Great.

His clones have been destroyed in the blaze, so he makes some new ones, and heads back to base.

A shame he couldn’t get Red Son to understand, but they all will soon enough.

Good job, vessel.

MK feels warm. It burns.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He’s deliberating back at his hideout about where his newest statues should go when he hears a sharp gasp from behind him. He turns, and Mei is looking at him with something that looks like horror, but that can’t be right. Why would she be horrified by something so beautiful?

“MK?” she starts, cautiously. “What…happened to you? You look really bad, why are you wearing blue?”

“I like the color!” he asserts. “And I’m fine!”

She purses her lips, and then tries again.

“Um...MK. What is this?” She points to the frozen menagerie behind him.

MK does not pout, even though he feels like he should.

“You ruined the surprise,” he grumbles, arms crossed over his chest. “I stopped all the bad guys! See?” he gestures to them. “Now they can’t hurt anyone.”

There’s a pause, before Mei can catch up, where MK asks, “Hey, do you think people would want to put them in a museum?” He taps his chin with his index finger, deliberating.

“How did you...does Monkey King have powers like this?” she tries, a third time.

“No, I don’t,” MK jumps at the sound of Monkey King’s voice. Monkey King floats down on his cloud, hopping off and looking at MK with an air of suspicion. “Kid, how are you doing this? Why are you doing this?”

“‘Cause they hurt you guys,” MK has been itching for a chance to explain, to get someone to understand. “And the-my head voice gave me the idea. Once these guys are all gone, everyone can be safe, and no one will leave!”

“Head voice?” Pigsy comes from behind a pillar. “MK, what are you talking about?”

“You know, the voice in your head that sounds like you?” He explains. “It-it told me how to do it. And I’m not a carbon copy of Monkey King, it makes sense that I’d have a few new powers, you know?”

“No,” Tang appears, from somewhere.

When did all of his friends get here? He can see Sandy, Mo in tow on his shoulder, peeking in.

“You shouldn’t have any deviations. Maybe your transformations would be different, but to go so far as to have ice powers?” Tang pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, and his glasses flash. “That shouldn’t be possible, given Monkey King’s power set.”

“What’s going on, kid?” Sandy’s voice is very soft, as he approaches, just like when they were on the boat.

“Nothing!” MK’s voice is cheery as ever. “I’m just fixing things, okay? I think you need to ˢcͪhͧiͭllͧᵖ ʷoͧʲuͥᶰtᵍ,” he reaches forward, and Sandy and Mo are ice.

Mei screams.

“What?” MK looks on, bewildered, as his friends stare at him in horror. “He’ll be fine! It doesn’t hurt. I’ve been freezing for ages! It gets warm after a while.”

His eyes glow, and Tang pales.

“Baigujing,” he breathes, and MK turns to him.

“What about her?” he asks, and Tang puts a hand to his mouth, biting his lip and glancing between the rest of the group and MK, unsure.

“Bud,” Monkey King takes a few cautious steps toward MK, as if MK were a cornered animal. His feet slip a little on the ice, but not enough to stop his careful approach. His tail is poised and very still, not so much as a twitch from it. “I think you’re feeling a bit...um, scrambled right now. Why don’t you hand me the staff, and we can talk about this?” He gives MK a soft smile, but MK frowns.

If he takes the staff you can’t finish your work! Does he think you don’t deserve it anymore?

“But I need it,” he responds, simple and to the point. “It’s mine.” Right? Because Monkey King gave it to him. Gifts can’t be taken back, right? MK’s still worthy, right?

Monkey King takes a deep breath, like he’s biting back a retort.

“Preeeeetty sure I let you borrow it. ‘S called ‘Monkey King’s Staff’ for a reason, bud. C’mon.”

Another step forward. MK grips the staff tighter.

“MK, please,” Tang calls from his other side.

Don’t let him take it!

“We need you to let go!” Mei’s voice hits his ears.

They’re all lying to you!

“Kid-I-c’mon, just let ‘em have it and we can go home,” Pigsy’s voice breaks, and MK feels like he’s going to break with it.

Is he even going to let you keep your home?!

Monkey King is close enough that MK can feel the heat of his power emanating off of him, of the great Sun Wukong. His paws are soft and somehow even warmer than his power as he curls them around MK’s grip on the staff.

They don’t understand! They’re going to abandon you!

“That’s it, easy does it,” Relief colors Monkey King’s tone, and he smiles at MK as if MK were the sun. It’s too soft to be true. “Just hand it over, and we’ll make sure everything’s okay, alright?”

He starts to tug, pulling the staff out of MK’s grip ever so gently, and MK flinches as the voice rings loud in his ear.

YOU NEED IT DON’T LET HIM TAKE IT FROM YOU HE’LL RUIN EVERYTHING—

“It’s MͫIͥᶰNͤE!” MK shouts, and he slams the side of it into Monkey King’s stomach and launches his mentor across the room.

Monkey King crashes into the wall, groaning as he pushes away the falling rubble. MK’s eyes are wild.

“It’s mine, and you can’t have it! I need it!” Ice crawls over his right hand, cementing his grip.

Tang sees it, takes a step back, and turns to the two horrified bystanders.

“Run!” he shouts, and Mei bolts. Pigsy stares, motioning for Tang to run, but Tang is too close to MK to do anything.

“What’d you do that for?” MK frowns, lowering a hand onto Tang’s shoulder. Pigsy makes a choked sound.

“Go! Bajie, get out of here!” Tang shouts, far more desperate than MK expected. Why is everyone so terrified? This is just a misunderstanding.

“Okay, tͭiͦmͦeˡ ͣoͭuͤt ͭfͦorͬ ͧᶰyˢoͣᶰuᶻᵃᶰᵍ,” MK pats Tang’s shoulder once, and Tang is rooted to the spot. MK freezes him slower, because Tang isn’t strong, merely smart. And if he does it slow, then he doesn’t have to chisel away the extra later.

Mei comes roaring in on her bike, and she picks up Pigsy by the back of his chef’s coat, throws him on the back of her bike, and zooms off.

“Tang!” Pigsy screams, but his voice gets farther and farther away.

“What’s wrong?” MK is so confused. He looks to Monkey King, who is just sitting there on his cloud, horrified.

“Sun Wukong,” Tang says, voice hard. The ice is up to his chest. “Get out of here. Bajie is going to be a wreck after this.”

“Can you make sense!” MK throws his hands up, tired of being ignored, talked over, walked over. “Or at least ˢsͪtͧoͭp ͧᵖtalking!” And Tang goes silent, frozen.

MK turns back to Monkey King, and finds that his mentor has vanished.

Well, that won’t do.

After them!

MK jumps onto a disk of ice and slides across stone, feet still as the ice barrels over any obstacle, leading him past the dead sliver of a great mountain and up onto the streets. Mei just has made her way to ground level, aided up by Monkey King, and MK zeroes in on them.

They pass by cars, and MK ignores the blaring horns as he slides over city streets. The ice trailing behind him makes cars swerve out of control, but he needs to get to his friends. They have to understand. This is all for them!

The ice shoots forward, and he gets closer and closer, until Mei’s back wheel hits frost and the back of the bike jerks one way, the front the other. The bike slips onto its side with immediacy, and Pigsy and Mei go sprawling as Mei’s bike falls apart, skidding across the ice.

Oh no.

“Mei!” he runs to her side.

She groans, her bike suit torn. He doesn’t even think about Pigsy at the moment, too worried about his best friend to think of the other person he hurt. Plus, Pigsy’s a full grown adult, and MK has never seen Pigsy hurt like Mei is, so it doesn’t even register that Pigsy could be as injured as she is. Her left arm has a large patch of skin that’s been burnt off by the road, and her legs are bleeding from various places. Thankfully, she was wearing a helmet, so MK doesn’t have to worry about something so serious.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Are you alright? Where does it hurt? I’m sorry!”

Some ice might help with the pain.

Right, right, icing the wound always helps. He goes to make some, the power swirling in his hand, when a horn from a car blares, making him wince.

Gosh, humans. They’re so annoying! If they could just stay out of the way, because he needs to fix this, that’d be great.

Remember the pause button?

It seems very inviting. MK nods.

Right. A pause button.

“Just a sec, Mei,” he leaves her groaning on the ground, turning to face the city.

He slams his staff into the ground.

Ice shoots out in a wild dash. It crawls over and into everything. Cars, buildings, people—everything freezes. He hears some screams, and watches people try and run for the hills, but the cold is faster. It billows down the streets, kicking up a white haze that is almost impossible to see through, that the pedestrians tripping on ice and solidifying get lost in, but it’s a snowy sheen that MK sees through perfectly. He can see the polished figures of buildings, glistening beneath their ice, the little mounds that must be people beneath the thick layer of ice.

It’s all so pristine. So perfect.

Finally.

MK is glad for the quiet. With him and himself in his head, it’s hard to deal with outside noise. He just needed a moment of calm, to get to the task at hand.

The task at hand...Mei!

“Mei, are you—” he stops. Mei and Pigsy aren’t there.

His eyes search for them, and he can see Monkey King hurriedly pulling them up onto his cloud. “Wait!”

Monkey King looks at him, and MK’s face is pleading. He just wants to do right. Why don’t they understand? Once he fixes it all, everyone will be happy. Can’t they wait?

“Sorry, bud,” Monkey King says.

MK doesn’t know what he’s apologizing for. A rush of panic tries to grip his brain, something that was once so familiar, something that was once so him, but it disappears in MK’s desperation to act.

The cloud zooms off. He throws a hand out, running after it.

“NO!”

This is just like his dream. At the edge of the city, a wall of ice rises. It sparkles in the light of the setting sun, and MK raises it higher, and higher, as Monkey King and Mei and Pigsy and everyone he cares about most gets farther and farther away.

Monkey King punches through the ice, and they disappear into the horizon.

MK drops to his knees. They land hard on the frozen ground.

“You said they wouldn’t leave,” he whimpers out, crying because it hurts and he doesn’t know exactly why.

It’s more than just regular pain. Something warm and different and yet familiar stings. Something knows this isn’t right, this isn’t how it’s supposed to go! If this was the right thing to do, why would everyone leave?

“I have to stop!” The words are forced out of his mouth.

MK doesn’t know when the words are him and when the words are something else. He doesn’t know who he is. What’s right? What’s wrong? How can he tell?

He’s just been listening to his own head, but his own head is arguing with itself.

He slams his free fist into his temple, to try and make things settle.

Chains drag him to the ground, leaving him stuck.

You are doing everything just right.

The voice is soft in one ear, but on the other side MK hears No! On repeat. No, this isn’t right. You froze good people. Innocent people! You froze Tang and Sandy! You made Pigsy cry! You hurt Mei!

They don’t understand yet. Monkey King is notoriously stubborn. He isn’t ready for his successor to pass him yet. All you have to do is wait for them to come back. And they will.

It’s harder and harder to hear the argument against this.

The voice sounds so self assured. The warmth that doesn’t burn gets weaker and weaker, like a fire out of kindling.

He wheezes, and tears turn to snowflakes on his skin. He chokes on his own breath. It comes out white and fogs his vision, but he can’t find it in himself to care.

Everyone’s gone.

He’s alone.

This can’t be right.

It is. You just haven’t done enough yet.

That, MK understands. The need to do more, be more. It makes far more sense that he hasn’t done enough, than anything else.

“They’ll come back?” He asks, and his voice sounds so loud in the quiet. He feels a hand brush his hair back. He leans into the touch, but it’s gone.

Of course.

MK stands. The chains vanish, and he smiles.

“Okay then! Let’s get to work!”

He hasn’t let go of the staff in ages. He doesn’t think he can. He turns to the mess he’d made in his rush job, the frozen city’s statue. He has to fix that, it’s unsightly! Mei and Pigsy and Monkey King won’t like a mess.

As he plans, as he hopes, he feels a smile in the back of his head. It feels like a snowball to his skull, chilling and yet a comfort, somehow.

Wonderful work, Vessel. We’re going to do great things together.

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #possession au #monkie kid mk #sun wukong #monkie kid monkey king #monkie kid mei #monkie kid red son #red son #kitkat1003

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daily-dose-of-imagines · 4 years ago

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Hitmen AU! | Head Canons | 19+ [Haikyuu!!]

KΛЯΛƧЦПӨ [PART i] [PART ii] [PART iii]

Hello! Welcome to my first AU here on tumblr~! I hope y’all enjoy~ sksksk

feel free to ask questions or request anything from this AU! (Just specify so I know~)

» » Admin Ko

»»————-　♔　————-««

‣ A newly established group in the underworld.

They’re not that big of a group, but damn did their rookies make an impact on their first assignment.

The target was neutralized like that.

D̴a̴i̴c̴h̴i̴ ̴S̴a̴w̴a̴m̴u̴r̴a̴

Daichi be the head honcho, I’m sure we’ve been known

He’s cool and collected, normally very level headed and able to handle the chaotic shit his fellow group mates cause (*cough* tanaka noya hina kage *cough*)

His skill set is a wide variety, but his specialty is close combat.

Besides Sugawara, he’s the one to quickly defuse any situation that arises from their group whenever one of them acts...rowdy

But don’t get me wrong, these boys know very well when their boss is ready to blow up and always find excuses to be out of his way. (out of sight out of mind amiright?)

“Are you fucking shitting me? This is the 3rd time this week that I’ve gotten a messy report coming back from you two!”

Irritated and tired, Daichi slammed the heavy file onto the antique table. His lean form melting into the chair as he let out a heavy and slow sigh before finally letting his gaze fall onto the two bowed heads before him.

“I want you both to explain to me in detail how you managed to, not only get yourselves injured, but how in the absolute fuck did you guys make literal chunks of our target rain over 5th street.”

But I’m sure y’all wanna know how he be looking right ｡ ◕‿◕｡

He’s 5′9″ [176cm], beefy (sksksks) with a handful of tattoos

Big ol hands, bb gotta smack some sense into his boys as well as be able to get a good hold of a runaway target.

Is not one for piercings, but has two basic black studs on his ears.

He’s usually in the background for assignments.

Torture session? He in the shadows

Assassination? In le other building prepped and ready in case the unexpected happens

If his s/o is a part of their rag tag team he will be only slightly lenient on reprimanding them

Loves to have them close by as he works and tends to have lots of stress relief smex

is highly protective of s/o

like shit watch out bro

s/o is one of the few things that help him keep his humanity especially with all he does

Any who, onto the next bb

K̷o̷s̷h̷i̷ ̷S̷u̷g̷a̷w̷a̷r̷a̷

Sugawara is 1/2 of the brain and tactics in their rag tag team of misfits

Acts like the motherly hen around the rookies, but can be just as terrifying as Daichi when ticked off

There can only be so much he can take as 1/2 of the brains and tactics of their little group.

As expected he handles the tactical planning for upcoming missions

and tends to get highly irate when none of his members listen or follow through a very simple phase of his plan

scares a lot of people shitless when he gives them The Smile ™

Made Asahi cry on their first meeting after he bore witness to The Smile ™

His main strong point in regards to fighting is blade wielding.

Dislikes the use of guns, but will use them if he has to.

Relishes in ending a very irritating target’s demise

Is also the group’s main medic

“Did you really think you’d be able to actually get away that easily?” A mocking laugh danced through the tense air as piercing russet eyes settled on the trembling man before the blood splattered figure.

The begging man’s allies laid in disarray on the floor in various forms of ‘sleep’ as the silver haired male meandered closer.

“I applaud you. You and your rats have given us something to actually do. Of course that doesn’t excuse the fact that my team wasn’t competent enough to follow through with the first phase of our plan.” A sharp, yet brief glance at the squawk of blame between the two bickering members in his assigned team had him repressing the urge to whack both upside the heads.

“Now then...let’s go ahead and have a little...chat. I’d love to hear how you got information on our group...”

Appearance wise, Sugawara is just a couple of centimetres below Daichi’s height

Unlike Daichi, Sugawara is a lot more lean muscle with scars littering his body

Has only one tattoo at the nape of his neck

Is usually the one on clean up duty after the rookies weak havoc on their latest target

is very doting on his s/o

when the rest of the team saw this version of Sugawara they all thought that Kiyoko had laced their food with some crazy drug

Sugawara gives them all a look as they theorize what was happening before them

he likes to cuddle s/o when they sleep it helps keep the nightmares away

likes to take s/o out on normal dates whenever he can

Next bb!

A̴s̴a̴h̴i̴ ̴A̴z̴u̴m̴a̴n̴e̴

Ah yes, soft baby, or what we’d like to think is soft baby

Little do we know Asahi is a part of information collector and clean up duty

Which in short yis, he be part of torture club SKSK

Granted he doesn’t partake in a lot of it. His look of indifference does help set tension and fear into the victim though

ya know, since he always be assumed to be a terrifying big ol man

Is part of the clean up team, and helps keep Sugawara level-headed and calm as they discover just how much ‘fun’ the younger members of their group had when they were getting rid of their target

Tends to also be the voice of reason when Sugawara or Daichi are about ready to skin the young crows alive

“Are you-- Asahi are you fucking seeing this shit?! I’m going to wring their necks...”

Chuckling, the man in question could only place a comforting hand on the blade wielder’s shoulder.

“Well, they did get the job done; and the target was a bit more clever than usual,”

Picking up a bit of discarded flesh and flinging it to their bins of ‘goodies’, the calmer male gave the fuming one a serene look.

“but they did capture a good portion of their second in command. So if you’d like, you can join in our session for some stress relief.”

Despite the calming look on his face, Sugawara knew Asahi needed some stress relief as well. Especially after having dealt with Noya’s adventure the week prior.

With that, the medic caved, and nodded; appreciating the offer for the urge to spill blood.

Now, how does bb look? He’s the tallest out of the veteran group

a strong build and can be seen as the sturdy immovable wall (hehehe)

Like Daichi and Sugawara, Asahi has a couple of tattoos

Usually keeps his hair in a half man bun as he works

He’s very gentle with his s/o

Which comes to a surprise to absolutely no one

Is the most ‘normal’ out of the group when it comes to having a relationship

Last but not least~!

K̷i̷y̷o̷k̷o̷ ̷S̷h̷i̷m̷i̷z̷u̷

The main decoy who infiltrates any sort of hard to meet target

A skilled assassin who uses medical knowledge to quickly and effectively get rid of targets

currently training one of the newest rookies

She’s mainly seen as indifferent no matter what antics the rest of the group manage to pull

The last to be called into help with interrogations if the victim manages to still hold through

helps Sugawara in terms of healing any of the more rambunctious who get too badly hurt after a chaotic mission

besides Asahi she’s seen as another voice of reason

Stepping into the room with practiced ease, the fair woman couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh as she observed the state of the room. Rose petals, wine, the usual works of a serenade in the works. It might’ve worked on someone who actually had good intentions and emotions for the sleeze of a man before her, but she was here for one purpose and one purpose only.

Acting her part, she played the male before her into her hands as she pushed the male down towards the bed. A seductive smile gracing her features as she leaned down to kiss his neck. The male’s eyes fluttering closed in anticipation for the night of his life. Yet within that brief moment, she struck. Syringe imbedded deeply into the main artery in his neck, she watched as he began to choke and writhe about in pain as his airways shut. The slow and torturous burn eating away at the man before he fell limp into the sheets.

Slowly sitting up, the woman went to dress herself as she sent a simple voice message.

“Target neutralized. Clean up requested.”

It’s no lie that she’s a literal goddess among humans.

Her looks and indifferent reactions have many thinking she’s playing hard to get when that’s not the case

Like the rest of the veterans, she has a handful of tattoos decorating her skin

with her s/o she’s a bit more expressive in her emotions

she doesn’t trust easily, but with time builds trust with her s/o and groupmates

she’s quite shy in showing PDA initially, but when she feels confident that s/o won’t leave her she shows it more often

loves to get kisses before and after missions

could be considered emotionally constipated, but she’s truly not she just unsure of loving for the first time~

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu au #hitmen au #karasuno #haikyuu!!#daichi sawamura x reader #sugawara x reader #asahi x reader #kiyoko x reader #reader insert #alternate universe #daichi sawamura #sugawara kōshi #asahi azumane #kiyoko shimizu

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andmaybegayer · 4 years ago

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Last Monday of the Week: 2021-03-01

First Monday of the Month. My boss just quit at work which means I'm now the only formally trained engineer left who has any particular specialization in embedded systems. This week is going to be a doozy.

I also wrote a Very Long set of media updates because I’ve been consuming some stuff that makes me think a lot. Never a good sign.

Listening: I spent all of Saturday playing Minecraft after talking with some friends about it during the week on IRC. Practicing what I preach with regards to my Large Biome Supermacy policy, which does involve a lot of walking. Hence, I started catching up on The Adventure Zone: Graduation again, I'm like ten episodes behind.

https://maximumfun.org/episodes/adventure-zone/the-adventure-zone-graduation-ep-32-by-a-haircut/

I don't really enjoy Travis' DM'ing style. It's very loose and he has a tendency to let players run wild without much structure which is a tricky thing to handle. He does a lot of worldbuilding and character design but doesn't seem to plan much in the way of arcs. That pays off sometimes (returning to the school to realize they broke a promise they made a few sessions earlier and had to deal with consequences, for example) and when it does, it’s really good, but it's finnicky. I know DM's who can do that, but, well, actually I know One Single DM who can do that well and she's absurdly smart.

Reading: Still on Worm, I just got past chapter 8 or so now. It lives in my phone browser so I've mostly been reading it whenever I get some spare time, which is a good sign. If a book doesn't grab me I need to really settle down in a quiet space to avoid getting distracted, but I can read Worm while someone else is on the phone in the same room.

It is a story with a lot of very well-conveyed feelings and events. It's very easy to imagine yourself in it. Characters actually act like they care about what they're doing, I feel like writing this took a lot of care to keep everyone on model.

There's also a certain care given to the superpowers that you'd usually only see in forum posts arguing about an actual superhero story. Everyone always likes to argue about how far you can push a superpower: can you use teleporting to fly? What prevents a speedster from catching fire in the air? Where does the energy for a pyrokinetic ability come from? Worm takes these and runs with them as a way to make absolutely any fight become a series of gambits relying on whether a power can or cannot be used to perform some high-stakes trick.

The world certainly has some underpinning contrivances to explain why no one gets killed very often but I've always considered nitpicking the base contrivances of a setting silly, because that's precisely what they are: contrived, in order to allow the rest of the story to flow from there. Like arguing about Omega’s abilities in the famous thought experi-*I am dragged off stage by the ratblr police for making a by now extremely stale joke*

Watching: I came and edited this section in like an hour before this posts because I keep on forgetting to put it in. I don’t really like watching TV and with my parents stuck at home in Pandemic Times it’s how they pass the time.

I did finish S3 of the Good Place. It’s very funny. I’m glad I’m watching it and I’m going to have to go find S4 because ZA Netflix doesn’t have it for whatever reason. It feels a little like it was written by Phillip Pullman if Phillip Pullman was a comedy TV writer.

I also really enjoyed the PBS Spacetime video about how time causes gravity. Love when an explanation of concepts is good enough that you drawn the conclusion on your own.

youtube

Playing: Visual Novel Hell plus Minecraft.

I spent approximately seven hours in Minecraft over two days. I tend to hop in and out of games for 1-2 hours at a time but there's a handful that can suck me in for an entire day. Minecraft, Warframe, Horizon Zero Dawn, Night in the Woods. Bastion, to a lesser extent. I end up avoiding them because I don't like loosing entire days, but I wasn't really planning on doing anything this weekend anyways.

Minecraft was mostly a long-ass trek to find a saddle, because as previously mentioned, I enjoy playing it with Large Biomes for the sense of scale.

I also completed Act 3 of Psycholonials and Eliza.

Psycholonials is odd. It is doing the thing that Hussie does where it dances around what's ostensibly the story to carry out the actual story. You get used to the trope after your first encounter but it still makes you wonder when the other shoe will drop, and of course, there's no reason it ever has to. The story may remain in suspended animation behind the every growing mess of narrative red tape tying the B-plot together.

Stories about Social Media have no well established norms. I think I might pick up Feed by M. T. Anderson and also perhaps Hank Green's books sometime. See what context they set that in.

Eliza is frustrating to me. It's a game for programmers, by programmers, about programmers. I'm friends with a lot of Capital P Programmers, the types who go to university and get sniped for developer positions at Seattle or Silicon Valley tech companies and who make great and terrible things and then warn you about the deep problems that underpin the slowly rolling ball of venture capital and bloated technology that is the tech industry. But at the same time, it makes me feel like I've burnt out on that conceptually before I even went in. It’s a whole other world that I’m familiar with but very distant from. In fact, that’s kinda how I feel about Psycholonials too. I’m familiar with the social media rat race but I also don’t go there. Parallels!

My cousins (who are halfway to Capital P Programmers, only so much you can do halfway around the world from silicon valley) warned me not to go into CS, because it would bore me, and that's a non-trivial part of why I'm in Engineering. They gave the same advice about Biology and Physics, without that I may have ended up in Microbiology. it’s not my domain, but because of how Engineering is going, you end up a lot closer to programmers than you think. I found out the other day that most of the software developers on my team have no formal tertiary qualifications, which is accepted in CS but of course, right out when it comes to engineering. It’s a whole other world that I kinda expected to skip around. I might go into this another time, since this post is already getting long.

Making: I haven’t done any engineering scicomm posts on here in a while so I started a few blank drafts and finally got one off the ground. With some luck I’ll have that ready this week. What’s it about? Not saying! It might change!

I’ve been doing layout for a custom keyboard, I need to call a laser cutting place and find out what their kerf requirements are so I can adjust the path accordingly. Wouldn’t do to burn a couple hundred rand on an oversized part, I’m paying for this, not my employer like the other times I’ve done laser cutting, so I’m probably not going to spring for getting one of their designers to check my design. At some point I should CAD up a chassis, but at the same time I might just buy some wood and go ham with a router once I get the plates cut.

Computers Slot: I got WeeChat set up properly on my desktop, which technically was just a matter of getting my SSH keys moved over. It’s taking me forever to move in to Cinnabar, in part because Stibnite lost her boot partition and I haven’t bothered to fix it.

So here’s a pitch for WeeChat as a good quality Terminal UI IRC Client. Many of my closest friends live there and it has a good set of tools to help me keep in touch.

WeeChat is very configurable but with perfectly sane defaults, I didn’t configure it for years. The UI is smarter and less arcane than something like irssi, and if you enable mouse support it can be downright modern. Running it remotely like this limits some features but as long as you don’t mind jumping through a few hoops to do filesharing, IRC is really great like this.

One of the big ones is the ability to do that double-pane thing, I can keep an eye on two channels at once (really as many as I can cram on my screen, but usually two) which is great when you want to browse channels while talking in your home channel.

It also has a good array of remote access tools, from what I’m running up there, just weechat running on my server inside tmux connected over mosh for low-latency SSH, to weechat-relay, a relay protocol built in to weechat. At the moment relay only supports android phones and the glowingbear web client, but I’ve never really looked around since both of those cover all my needs. Easily one of the best ways to get IRC on a modern mobile device, barring maybe IRCCloud.

#last monday of the week #galena

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migila · 4 years ago

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MitsuChou Week, Day 6!

Note: I cut it really close with this one, but made it in time! I actually really like this idea, and am considering making a multichapter story out of it later, with more details.

Day 6: Isekai

Chou Chou honestly had no idea how the hell did this happen. She and her team went to what was supposed to be a perfectly regular C-rank mission, escorting a wealthy merchant. All was going well; they were almost at their destination…

…And then the attack happened.

Everything had happened so quickly; she faced the enemy head on with Moegi-sensei and Shikadai while Inojin stayed back to guard their client. The enemies were weaker than she’d first thought; they were actually bringing them down pretty easily. They were winning, or more like they did win. But as they proceeded to tie them up, one woke up too soon and used a jutsu. What kind, Chou Chou had no idea. She hadn’t even seen what signs the redhaired man had done. She just remembered the light that had spread out, how Moegi-sensei had pulled Shikadai with her as she jumped, but Chou Chou herself had been too close to the source. She’d been pulled to the center of the light, and everything had gone black.

When she’d woken up, it was only her and the attacker, the later still unconscious, fortunately. When he woke up, she’d been determined to know what happened to the others, happened to her team. She’d beat the information out of him. To her relief, the man said nothing had happened to them. To her horror, the man informed her that it was them that something had happened to. According to the man, he’d sent them to a parallel universe with his jutsu. She didn’t even know what that was, but after he’d explained, she had refused to believe it.

But after she’d reached Konoha in order to get help, the man following hot on her heels, she had no choice but to believe. The village looked so different, much older. The stone faces were there, but she didn’t recognize the face, there was only one, after the Fourth Hokage. She’d seen familiar faces, tried to talk to them, but they’d had no idea who she was. Not the one who looked exactly like her uncle Shikamaru. Not the one who was like aunt Ino.

Not even the one who was a splitting image of her dad.

She’d fled the village, the redhaired man waiting for her not too far from the gates, and she’d demanded that he send her back.

But he couldn’t.

Apparently, it took him three years to gather enough chakra to cross dimensions. She was stuck.

That was two years ago.

Chou Chou had had no choice but to temporarily settle down in to this familiar yet so different world. Fortunately, the man, Nagato she learned his name was, knew the Hokage, who was aware of the man’s strange power. He’d arranged her an identity and a place in the village for the time being until she could go home.

“Hurry up, Chou Chou!” a blond boy called out. Her place in the village included placing her in a three-man team as well. She hadn’t known if she should’ve laughed or cried when she had met her new teammates.

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming” she called out as she walked over to this world’s version of Uzumaki Boruto. Yes, Boruto existed, same name and face, but the personality was different. This one wasn’t so much of a prankster and didn’t have daddy issues.

“So troublesome…” again, Chou Chou hadn’t known if she should’ve laughed or cried. She’d ended up in the same team with Nara Shikadai. He was exactly the same, inside and outside. It was heartbreaking, for as familiar as he was, he wasn’t her Shikadai.

“You’re late” said her new team leader.

“Sorry, Ino-sensei” she said. Ino looked the same too, but Chou Chou had found out that in this reality, she had married a man that wasn’t uncle Sai.

In other words, Inojin didn’t exist here.

It wasn’t just the blond artist; over the past two years, she’d also learned fast that neither did she. Or any young Akimichi heir for that matter; Chouji Akimichi of this reality had never married. Sarada’s parents were both married here too, but not to each other.

Her best friend didn’t exist, either.

Metal did, but he might as well not have; while his name and face were the same, he neither acted or dressed the way that the guy Chou Chou knew did. Iwabe was around, not all that different, but seemed to be more of a jerk than in her world. Wasabi and Namida were here, almost the same as ever. She hadn’t met Denki, Sumire or Mitsuki, but she hadn’t heard of their families either, so there was no strong reason to believe that they didn’t exist.

Not that it mattered to her either way; even if she met them, they wouldn’t be the friends she knew.

“A-rank mission, finally” Boruto breathed out, but Shikadai scowled “B-rank, idiot. It only becomes A-rank if we’re unlucky and get noticed by the wrong people, which we do not hope.”

“It can even become S-rank if we’re really unlucky” Ino pointed out “The danger of death is real here; if there were people available, the Hokage would’ve sent an all jounin team instead of a jounin and three chuunins.”

“But all’s good if we don’t get spotted, right?” Chou Chou asked, going the mission details through in her head. They were to break in to a certain S-class criminal’s assumed hiding place, steal certain documents and get the hell out of there. If they weren’t noticed, all would be perfectly fine. Even if they did get spotted, as long as the criminal, Orochimaru was the name if she wasn’t mistaking, wasn’t there himself, they could still all make it out alive. The abilities and numbers of his subordinates was unknown, but it was considered likely by the Hokage that their team could handle it. The only thing that had Chou Chou truly worried was the possibility that the man would be there.

“True enough” Ino said “But if we’re unlucky, get spotted and the boss is there, we’ll all likely fail and die.”

Chou Chou gulped, and she was sure Boruto did too.

“…He’s that strong?” the blond asked.

“Yes” Ino confirmed “Which is why I tell you this: if we get spotted by him once we already have the documents, Boruto will make a break for it with them while the rest of us try to hold the man back.”

“Wha-!?” Boruto started, but Ino cut him off: “No objections!”

“It makes sense” Shikadai spoke up, nervous sweat running down his brow, but otherwise he appeared unaffected “You’re undeniably the fastest of us, Boruto, and that way we still have a chance for success of the mission.”

Boruto no longer protested. Her Boruto would have, but not this one. Instead, he glanced at his team mates, taking a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s do this”

They left the village gates, and like every time before, Chou Chou prayed that she’d make it back, that she wouldn’t die in this world.

---------------

They managed to brake in. Chou Chou had noted in her mind that there was something familiar about the place, but quickly dismissed the idea. If she’d been here in this world, she’d remember, and she certainly hadn’t had any super dangerous missions in her world, their little adventure in the land of Earth not counting, so she couldn’t have been here in her own world, either.

…Right?

She jolted as she saw Shikadai give a signal. Someone was coming. They hid and held their breaths as two men passed. Neither were the S-class criminal, they’d been shown a photo, but it was still better to go unnoticed. And they did.

“Let’s go” Ino said quietly, and they continued on.

They got the documents, and Boruto took a hold of them as planned, just in case. So far so good; now they just had to get out.

But of course, their luck wouldn’t last. As soon as they’d stepped out of the room, they were surrounded by twenty or so people. They’d been spotted after all.

Shikadai, the most observant of them all, quickly gave them the signal they’d agreed upon beforehand. The place’s boss wasn’t around, at least for now. Good. Still, with this many enemies, Chou Chou knew what Ino’s orders would be. And sure enough, she shouted: “Boruto, go!”

The blond ran off, and Chou Chou stopped the two that tried to follow him. They all still had a chance for survival, but it was for the best to secure the mission’s success by letting Boruto go ahead.

“Even if I die young, there’s no way in hell I’m dying here!” Chou Chou roared. It was chaos all around, but she and her team held their ground. Ino of this world was differently stronger than the one in their own, which was something Chou Chou was very grateful for right about now.

But even this world’s Ino didn’t seem to see the huge explosion coming.

Chou Chou cried out as she got hit by falling debris. Blindly scrambling for safety, she lost sight of her team. When she finally stopped to catch her breath, she realized that she was alone with one of their enemies, though fortunately the man seemed to be unconscious, perhaps even dead.

“Okay, all’s good” Chou Chou muttered “Everything’s gonna be okay, I’m gonna be okay.”

She looked around, realizing that she was stuck in a rather small space, the walls having given in in both directions. She was strong enough to move some of the debris, she was sure, but she was worried of the ceiling collapsing on her.

“Ugh…”

Chou Chou froze, realizing that the enemy with her wasn’t quite as dead as she had hoped. Damn.

She’d have to kill him.

She’d killed before, in this world. It was scary, but she was a shinobi. Even if she hadn’t come to this world, she knew she would’ve had to kill eventually. Still, she always hated it.

“I’ll just get this over with” Chou Chou thought as she took out a kunai, hoping that the enemy was still at least somewhat out of it. She wanted to make this quick, both because she didn’t like to make her enemies suffer needlessly and because she didn’t want to risk a fight that would make the ceiling collapse.

As she approached, she noted that the enemy still lying on the ground looked young. And familiar. In fact, he looked a lot like-

“Mitsuki?”

---------------

When Mitsuki regained consciousness, the first thing that his mind registered was the pain. For a brief moment, he wondered what had happened, but the memories rushed back to him quickly. Juugo had noticed intruders. He’d alerted the others, and Mitsuki had joined them out of curiosity. He hadn’t planned to take part in the fight; intruders were his parent’s problem, not his, even if Orochimaru wasn’t present. However, as the blond boy who’d tried to flee on his own spotted him and attacked, he had had no choice but to fight. The guy had been good, but Mitsuki was better, getting the upper hand quickly on their short one on one. He’d had a perfect opportunity to kill the boy, but he’d plunged his kunai in the blonde’s shoulder instead. He was Orochimaru’s enemy, apparently, but not Mitsuki’s. Mitsuki did as he pleased, and killing an enemy that wasn’t his wasn’t on the list of things he wanted. However, when the boy he’d stabbed turned out to be a clone and he himself got stabbed in the side on the next second, the boy had become his enemy. Mitsuki didn’t enjoy getting stabbed.

They’d fought, and the collision of their attacks had caused an explosion, far larger than he would’ve expected. It might not have been much of a problem outside, but inside not only did the force throw him back, but the walls and the ceiling had started collapsing. He’d scrambled out of the way but, apparently, he’d hit his head at some point. Or maybe he’d lost consciousness due to blood loss, who knows. But he was alive, and right now that was enough.

“First I need to heal my injuries” he thought, attempting to reach out for the wound on his side, but found out he couldn’t move his hands. At first, he assumed them to be stuck under something since they didn’t hurt all that much, but after a moment he realized that they were tied. As were his legs.

Eyes snapping open in full alert, Mitsuki came face to face with a chubby girl eating potato chips, where the hell had she gotten those from, he wondered, that had to be one of the intruders. He could see the Konoha headband, which wasn’t good. He knew how much the Konoha shinobis hated his parent… which made him wonder, how come he wasn’t dead yet?

“Morning” the girl said with a smile after he’d opened his eyes “That’s quite bad injury; I wasn’t sure if you’d make it.”

This was not the kind of interaction Mitsuki had been expecting. Was this some new form of interrogation?

“Do you want some?” she asks, lifting up the bag of chips “Onion flavored.”

“…”

Chou Chou sweat dropped when Mitsuki didn’t react to anything she said. She had no idea what she’d been expecting him to do or say; she didn’t know how her Mitsuki would’ve reacted in this situation, either. And even if she did, this wasn’t her Mitsuki, a genin from Konoha. This was a Mitsuki who, apparently, worked for an S-class criminal.

His own parent.

While she’d been tying Mitsuki up for safety reasons, tending to his wounds too while at it of course, she’d realized why the place had seemed familiar. This was Orochimaru’s base in their world as well, the one she’d gone to with the Uchihas and Lord Seventh. And the S-class criminal they were dealing with was none other than Orochimaru, though the photo she’d seen looked way different than the person she recalled meeting.

Not that it mattered. What mattered was that Mitsuki was here. Even though he was not her Mitsuki, her annoying as hell friend, there was no way she could bring herself to kill this guy who looked so much like him. Not that she even needed to right now since they were both stuck and she had the upper hand, being less wounded and not tied up.

“Is there a reason you haven’t killed me yet?” Mitsuki asked after a while when the girl didn’t say anything. In this situation, he could still gather information. He should also try to keep her distracted, keep her talking until he figured a way to save himself.

“Is there a reason I should kill you?” she countered, much to Mitsuki’s surprise. The boy had assumed she just considered him an enemy, one of Orochimaru’s lackeys, and would try to kill him for it. But the thing is, he wasn’t. Unlike his parent, he had nothing against Konoha and wouldn’t attack its shinobi if they would just leave him alone. But apparently, his face was already in a bingo book, marked down as Orochimaru’s subordinate. And all that just because he’d been in his parent’s company when a group of anbu attacked them and he’d defended himself. If the girl didn’t know he was on Konoha’s kill list, then maybe it made sense he was still alive. Maybe she thought he was Orochimaru’s prisoner.

“I suppose not” he answered with a small smile of his own “Is there a reason I’m tied up, then?”

“Just to be safe” she said, smile still in place “I didn’t want you to attack me in fright when you woke up.”

That made sense, Mitsuki realized.

“Can you untie me, then?”

At this, Chou Chou hesitated. He seemed calm and civil, but the Mitsuki of her world was a good actor, and she was willing to bet that this one was too. Even if he seemed like he wouldn’t attack, there was no guarantee.

“I think I’ll keep playing it safe for now” she tells him “Sorry.”

Not naïve, then. Of course, she wasn’t, she was a shinobi, but Mitsuki had to try it.

Shifting a little, he took a look at the wound on his side, only to find himself bandaged. He certainly hadn’t expected that.

“Don’t move around too much; your wound could open” she tells him “Just take it easy.”

Maybe she was a bit naïve, after all. There was no way he could “take it easy” in this situation. Surely, she had to know that.

Popping the last chip to her mouth, Chou Chou tossed the empty bag away.

“Alright” she stood up, making Mitsuki tense “Back to work.”

He watched as the girl moved debris aside bit by bit carefully, always pausing to see what would collapse after each one. Seems like she prioritized getting out over getting information from him. That was good; it gave him time to wiggle his way out of his steel wire binds. They dug in to his skin painfully, but he was flexible, he could do this.

Keeping his eyes on the girl, only occasionally glancing down at his work, Mitsuki focused on not letting out any sounds of pain in order to not alert her. When his hands were finally free, he quickly untied his legs. The girl had yet to notice. Now would be a good time to sneak up on her, take her by surprise and kill her fast, but he decided against it. He wasn’t in the best shape, so he might as well allow her to do the heavy lifting for him. He’d kill her after the debris was cleared. Were he not injured, he could just knock her out or even leave her alone; she seemed somehow different from the other shinobis he’d encountered over the years and he was curious, but right now he couldn’t take any chances.

She was almost done, he saw. He could move the rest himself; now was the time to move. He got up, or he tried to, but the burning pain in his side as soon as he tried to sit up stopped him. Hand flying to the wound, he was unable to hold back the gasp of pain, alerting the young kunoichi immediately as her head turned sharply. So much for his sneaky assassination plan.

“Don’t move; your wound will open!” Chou Chou yelled, rushing over. Pushing him back down, she observed his bloody side, which was already turning even redder. The wound had indeed reopened “Shit.”

She’d already used up whatever little bandages she had with her for emergencies, so she’d have to improvise… she could make bandages out of her own clothes, but her dress was rather short as it was, so she’d rather not… but there wasn’t much of a choice.

Seeing her pull out a kunai, Mitsuki attempted to do so too, only to find out that his pouch of weapons was no longer where it was supposed to be. Of course, she had removed it. Taking a piece of debris instead, he swung it at her, but the girl dodged just in time.

“What the hell, you jerk!?” she cussed “Here I’m trying to help you and you try to smash my head open!?”

“I don’t see how you’ll help me with a kunai” Mitsuki simply said, wincing in pain as he fell back down again. The blood loss was making him dizzy.

Chou Chou gave him a hard look, but told herself to not be too unreasonable. He didn’t know her; he didn’t know she wasn’t going to harm him. The more she thought about it, the more understandable his reaction was.

“I’m just gonna make some new bandages, okay?” she says, starting to cut the hem of her dress “I already ran out of the actual ones.”

Mitsuki stared. Had she not already treated his wounds once and had she not already been cutting her clothes apart, her rather short clothes he might add, he never would’ve believed her words but currently, she was doing nothing that went against what she said.

She was interesting indeed, along with being very confusing.

The stare didn’t go unnoticed by Chou Chou.

“Would you mind being a gentleman and stop staring?” she says “I know I’m gorgeous and that it’s probably hard for guys to keep their eyes away, but you could at least try!”

“You’re delusional” Mitsuki said with a chuckle, but looked away anyway. Normally he wouldn’t even consider it, but with the girl’s irrational, amusing behavior, he found it extremely unlikely that she’d attack him now, so he considered it to be safe.

“Keep telling yourself that” Chou Chou said with a wink, one that he wouldn’t see. Her smile dropped as she realized that what he’d said was very much like something she could imagine her old friend Mitsuki saying, and it clenched painfully at her chest. She had to keep in mind that this was not her Mitsuki; this was a stranger, apparently a criminal, and she mustn’t let her guard down.

But even so, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon him.

Mitsuki didn’t fight back as the girl started to bandage him up, supporting his own bodyweight the best he could when she rewrapped the wound. As she did, the idea of killing her now briefly entered his mind. She was so close that it would be easy. His teeth were sharp; if he wanted to, all it should take would be one quick movement of his head to sink his teeth on her throat, ripping it open. It’d be so easy-

“What did I say about staring?” Chou Chou asks, finishing up her task before pulling her kimono styled dress to cover more of her front “Pervert.”

Well, Mitsuki supposed that it was natural to mistake staring at her throat for staring at her chest, at least for someone who thought so highly of herself. Perhaps the idea that he was considering the idea of slitting her throat really didn’t even cross her mind.

Lucky him, but it made him wonder the level of Konoha shinobi in general.

Maybe this really was a bad idea, Chou Chou realized. Similar as they were, her world’s Mitsuki would never get caught staring at her like that. While he could be a jerk sometimes, he did have a certain set of manners… or maybe he was just more subtle in order to not get in to trouble?

“Urgh, now’s not the time to be thinking of this!” she scolded herself. She had more pressing matters to address, mainly what she should do now. Should she just leave Mitsuki there and walk away? That might be the safest option for her, but what about him? What if the wound was worse than she thought and he didn’t get help in time? What if the ceiling collapsed on him? What if someone from her team stumbled upon him and killed him in his nearly defend less state!?

“I can’t leave him here” she realized with finality. Taking a deep breath, she swung his arm over her shoulder, apologizing when he hissed in pain.

“What are you doing?” Mitsuki asks, though at this point, he feels like he has an idea.

“I can’t just leave you here with the ceiling in the danger of collapsing” she tells him. He had expected something along those lines, though the possibility of her taking him along as a hostage had also crossed his mind. Who knows, maybe that was the case and he was being tricked.

“No” he decided “She’s not smart enough.”

With that in mind, Mitsuki decides to let her support him and lead the way.

Especially since she didn’t seem to realize that she was walking deeper in to his home, not away from it. Unless the whole place was in shambles, she’d be trapped soon enough.

This was going to be interesting.

---------------

“Told ya she’d get caught too” Chou Chou heard Boruto say after she was literally thrown in to a cell, the door locking behind her. The girl glared at him, though she supposed that this time his lack of faith in her was well earned. Just how had she let herself get ambushed like that?! It’d been three plus Mitsuki on one, so her loss wasn’t unexpected, but it still irked her. As did the amused look Mitsuki had had on his face after she’d been defeated and his friends, or whatever they were, tied her up.

“Shut up Boruto” Shikadai snarled “You were supposed to run!”

“I did!” the blond protested “…Well, I tried.”

“We all messed up” she heard Ino say, much to her surprise. She hadn’t seen the older woman; apparently, their teacher was somewhere behind her “But it’s too early to give up.”

“How come none of us are dead yet?” Chou Chou couldn’t help but ask. She felt like that’d be something that they’d do, even if they kept one or two of them alive for information.

“Apparently, they want to leave it up to their boss to decide what to do with us” Shikadai said “That’ll give us some time to think of an escape plan, at least. Though if he gets here before we get out…”

“Then it’s game over” Chou Chou realized, gulping “Please tell me you have a plan.”

Turns out he didn’t.

---------------

Mitsuki sighed in relief, finally free from Karin’s worried fussing. Not that she didn’t have a reason to worry, but it had still been annoying. Besides, his mind was stuck on other things. Other people. One person in particular.

“I didn’t catch her name” he realized, afterwards wondering why it even mattered to him. Well, he supposed he was curious by nature. Still, it wasn’t what was on the front of his mind right now. Instead, he was wondering about the kunoichi’s actions before getting caught.

When they were surrounded by his comrades, he had expected her to use him as a living shield. The idea of her slitting his throat on the spot so that she could get rid of at least one enemy had also crossed his mind, but instead of doing either, she’d pushed him aside, seeming to try being careful, almost like she was trying not to hurt him, before lunging in to the fight. Fight that hadn’t lasted long, which was no surprise as the shinobi was badly outnumbered, not to mention their side had Suigetsu, who was one of their strongest. He’d dragged the kunoichi away while Mitsuki had been taken to Karin. Now that he was patched up, he wondered what had happened to the girl. Was she still alive? Knowing the people around the base, probably not, unless they were in mood for some torture. But he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to check.

Getting up, he immediately winced. Turns out it would hurt to check; moving hurt.

“No pain, no gain” Mitsuki muttered wryly, proceeding to gather some information. It wasn’t too hard. He found Juugo quickly, who told him they were waiting for Orochimaru’s decision and had all four prisoners locked up and alive. He supposed it made sense; his parent could use some more material for his experiments. Or something to annoy Konoha with. Or just someone to torture. Prisoners had a lot of uses, after all.

Finding out the exact location of the prisoners, he slowly made his way to them, wondering what he’d see. Would the kunoichi act the same with her comrades around? Did she do things like this often, or would they be surprised if he revealed how she’d treated him? Would they believe him if he did and she denied it? It would make sense for them to not believe; he was the enemy after all.

“There’s always the chance that her naïve personality was just a well-done act” he reminded himself “Very well-done act.”

Be it this or that, he wanted to make sure of it himself.

---------------

“…Still no ideas?” Chou Chou asks, making Shikadai sigh.

“Again, no”

“And you’re supposed to be a genius…” the girl muttered, and it clearly irked Shikadai.

“Why do I need to be the one to come up with something?” he asked “You know what? If you want a plan then here’s one: you always go on about how gorgeous you are, so how about seducing a guard to make him let us out of here!?”

“Shikadai!” Ino yelled, scandalized “Stop that!”

“Not that she’d be able to…” Boruto muttered, eyeing Chou Chou up and down with the girl staring back, unamused “No offence, but since it’s you…”

“No offence my ass, Boruto” she snapped.

“But there’s some idea in that plan” Ino says with a sigh “I’ll try it.”

“You’re married” Chou Chou points out.

“And you’re a child” Ino shot back “This is for the mission; it’s a natural course of action to take.”

Her three students exchanged glances, but didn’t argue further.

When the door opens, Chou Chou can’t help but think that she could try going with Shikadai’s original plan, for Mitsuki was at the door. As gorgeous as Ino-sensei was, the younger kunoichi was convinced she was too old to get Mitsuki’s attention in the slightest.

“You!?” Boruto asks “I thought I took you down already!”

“Almost” Mitsuki admitted with a coy smile “But I got help in time.”

Chou Chou gulped, wondering if he’d rat her out. For a split second their eyes locked, and the girl was quick to look away, praying he’d keep his mouth shut.

The girl’s reactions were enough to tell Mitsuki that the girl had indeed helped him out of good will, without having permission from her team. Very interesting.

“Well next time you won’t be so lucky” Boruto told him.

“Don’t provoke him!” Shikadai hissed, but Mitsuki ignored him, turning his attention to Boruto. Tilting his head, he asks: “What makes you think there’ll be a next time?”

Boruto doesn’t answer, and they stare at each other. Mitsuki takes out a kunai, walking towards the blond. While the rest were Orochimaru’s enemies, this one had stabbed him, which made him Mitsuki’s enemy as well. This was personal.

“Stop!” Chou Chou calls without thinking, and to everyone’s surprise, the boy actually does stop in his tracks. Turning to look at the girl, he asks: “Why?”

“Why?” she echoes.

“Why should I stop?” he clarifies patiently, tilting his head with a small, curious smile on his face “Why should I not kill someone who attacked me?”

“Ah… um…” so it was Boruto who had stabbed him. Damn, he was always causing trouble! “Well… uh…”

Mitsuki tilted his head, patiently waiting for the girl to come up with something. Depending on what she said, he might actually choose to not kill her friend. He didn’t have a permission to do so anyway, but he wasn’t really a fan of rules. If he wanted to kill someone, he’d kill someone, even if Orochimaru wouldn’t like it. Not that he’d get in to too much trouble; there’d still be three more prisoners, and it’s not like his parent even knew about any of them yet.

“Well… you could be the better person here?” Chou Chou says uncertainly. That was all she could think up; to give him a chance to consider himself better than Boruto. She saw Mitsuki blink, still looking at her with that same smile, but he wasn’t making a move to attack anyone. She supposed that was a good sign.

“What if I don’t care if I’m the better person or not?” he asks, smiling at the girl’s dumbfounded look.

“Well… that’s…” she seemed to be thinking hard. Mitsuki weighted his options. He could just go and kill his enemy now, but if he did that, he doubted the situation would stay the same. The kunoichi would get mad for sure, and there’d go his entertainment. He didn’t want that, but would it be worth of getting rid of his enemy?

“I can always kill him later” he thought, chuckling as he put his kunai back, walking towards Chou Chou instead.

“Hey! Stay away from her!” Boruto shouted, but Chou Chou wasn’t too worried, if not a little nervous. She’d already gotten him to leave Boruto alone, for now at least, which was a good sign. Maybe this Mitsuki did indeed listen to reason.

“Why?” Mitsuki asks, looking at Boruto over his shoulder, smirking “Are you afraid I’ll steal your girl?”

The reactions are immediate. Boruto sputters, but Chou Chou barely notices it as she bursts out laughing, finding the idea way too funny. Also, a little disturbing, but mostly funny. Her and Boruto? Her and Boruto!? No way, never, not in this world nor hers! Even Mitsuki of her world would have a better chance with her than either Boruto!

Mitsuki watched her, amused. It was just a simple jab that he hadn’t really been expecting any reaction to, but this was certainly interesting. Then again, maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised. She seemed to be like this all the time; at this point, he highly doubted it’d be some kind of trick.

Swiping out a kunai, he ignored the shouts of the three shinobi, noting that oddly enough, it was the girl who stayed calm, although her eyes were fixed on the weapon as well. He cut the ropes on her legs, again taking note of how unconcerned she looked when he brought the weapon closer, though he did notice her tense.

“Come with me” he says “If you cause trouble, I might as well kill one of them, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“And if I kill you, your friends will kill us” Chou Chou added with a raised eyebrow. Mitsuki smiled “Exactly.”

“Chou Chou, don’t follow him!” Ino said sternly. Normally, the girl would’ve listened to her team leader, but she was dealing with Mitsuki now. She’d take a gamble. Besides, what’s the worst thing that could happen, considering their current situation? At the very worst, death might just come a little earlier, not that she believed Mitsuki planned to kill her. She just had to make sure she wouldn’t give him a reason to, either.

“No worries, I got this!” she says as she stands up wobbly, her body sore and her hands still tied behind her “I know what I’m doing.”

Mitsuki wondered what the girl, Chou Chou, they’d said her name was, meant. Did she have a plan or was she simply trying to reassure her friends? If the former, then he was sure she was up to something amusing. This would be fun.

Kunai still in hand, he led her outside of the cell, this time ignoring the blonde’s shouts of kicking his ass if he did anything to her. The guards gave him questioning looks, but didn’t try to stop him. Perks of being the boss’s son.

Chou Chou kept eyeing the route they were taking, attempting to memorize it and look for possible ways to escape. She knew that if she made a run for it now, she’d probably get away from the wounded boy behind her and if she got lucky, she might even be able to sneak out. However, that was not an option with her friends still inside. If she went to get help on her own, they’d probably kill everyone else so that there’d be no one left to save.

“But if I can get Mitsuki to our side, he can help us escape” that’d be ideal, but how would she do that?

“In here” Mitsuki said, pushing a door open before shoving Chou Chou forward. It was a small push; had the girl not wanted to move, she could’ve easily stayed put. But she didn’t.

Observing the space, she saw it was completely empty. Weird. Pushing that thought aside, she looked at Mitsuki who’d just closed the door and was now standing in front of it, staring at her. She decided to wait for him to tell her what he wanted, but as time ticked by and he just kept staring, Chou Chou started to get a little unnerved.

“What?” she finally asked, unable to help herself.

Mitsuki smiled, having wanted to see how long she’d stay quiet if he didn’t say anything. She’d lasted longer than he’d expected.

“When you told me not to kill your friend, I was expecting you to say that I could spare him to return the favor” he says “Why didn’t you? Did you not want your team to find out that you helped an enemy?”

Chou Chou stares, her mouth slightly gaping. Right, she could have tried that!

…But even if that was an option…

Mitsuki stares at the girl, who now looks surprised.

“Could it be?” he smiles “It didn’t even occur to you, did it?”

Chou Chou blushes, and that is all the proof Mitsuki needs. His smile widening, he points out: “You’re not very smart, are you?”

Her blush deepens. She’s interesting to watch alright.

“Well excuse me for not being a genius!” she hisses, and Mitsuki almost points out that it doesn’t take a genius to consider something like that, but ends up keeping his mouth shut anyway. Basking in his amusement, he almost misses the girl’s next words “…Even if I had thought about it, it wouldn’t have been right.”

“Right?” he repeats, puzzled.

“It’s not right to help someone just to get help myself” Chou Chou huffed. It was at that moment that she remembered what Mitsuki was like in their academy days. He’d seemed to have very little sense of right or wrong, using Boruto as a moral compass. But this Mitsuki had had no such influence-

“Oh boy” she realized, paling “I might be in a far bigger trouble than I thought.”

Mitsuki blinked as the girl’s face suddenly got a lot paler. That too was interesting, but also puzzling as he couldn’t think what could’ve scared her so just now. He shifted his stance a little, and did not miss how Chou Chou took a step back at that exact moment. Curious, he took a step forward, only to see her taking another step back. Interesting. Normally, it would’ve been a logical thing for her to do, but the change in her behavior had been very sudden. Why did she seem so much more afraid of him out of the blue?

With every step that Mitsuki took forward, Chou Chou took back. Why had he gotten so menacing right after she realized how much trouble she was in? It was like he was reading her mind!

“Or maybe my worry was just shown on my face” she gulped “Damn.”

The girl yelped as her back hit the wall, but Mitsuki was still advancing on her, taking his time. Or maybe he just walked slowly because of his injuries. Regardless, he ended up reaching her, standing right in front of her. She could see that he seemed a little confused, like he was thinking of something. Right now, she wasn’t all that sure that she’d want to know what that something was.

She was afraid; Mitsuki knew. He wondered what she’d do if he extended his hand. Her options were limited as her hands were still tied, but she could try to run; there was enough space to her left. She could try to swipe him off his feet, she could headbutt him or bite his hand. She could cover in fright, too, and that was starting to feel like the most likely option. Curiosity getting the best of him, he decided to do just that.

As Chou Chou saw a very familiar twinkle in Mitsuki’s eyes, she froze. It was the look he, well, the other he, tended to have when he was making fun of her. Fear overtaken by a familiar annoyance that she hadn’t really felt in a couple of years, she cast him a fierce glare, not moving an inch.

Mitsuki froze in turn, again not understanding the sudden change. They stared at each other for a good while before Chou Chou raised an eyebrow, asking: “What? You afraid I’m gonna bite or something?”

Withdrawing his hand, Mitsuki confessed: “That did occur to me, yes.”

Chou Chou tried, and ultimately failed, to hold in the chuckle, which turned in to full laughter in no time. She was laughing so hard that she was doubling over, having to squat down.

Mitsuki blinked, completely baffled, yet he was unable to keep a smile from forming on his face, soon laughing as well. He had no idea what she was laughing about, but it was infectious. She, with her very presence, made him laugh.

Chou Chou noticed this, and it only made her laugh harder, his laughter fueling her own. When she finally calmed down, he’d already stopped. It still took her a minute to regain her composure, but when she did, only one thought was in her head.

What now?

“Why did you bring me here?” she asks, and Mitsuki has to wonder the same. Why indeed? He could’ve just talked with her in the cell… but would she have been the way she is now in front of her comrades? Probably not, and he decided that was the reason why.

“I wonder…” he muttered instead, and Chou Chou recognized that smile; usually, it meant that someone would get in trouble. And she was the only one with him now “Why do you think?”

“…” part of Chou Chou’s earlier wariness returning, she chose not to say anything. If she gave him nothing, he could not be angered by it or use it against her.

“…” she was wary, Mitsuki realized. Even though she’d been laughing so hard just now…

…

She was an enigma, alright.

His silence was unnerving her, so much so that Chou Chou started to wonder if her not saying anything would anger him. Gosh, what a mess she’d gotten herself in to!

“Well…” she started uncertainly “Maybe you wanted information? Why we’re here, how many of us came… and stuff?”

Mitsuki chuckles.

“I already know what you were after and that it’s just the four of you” he said “And if I wanted more information, the fastest way to get some would be torture.”

He said it so casually that Chou Chou almost thought he was joking. Almost.

“…Then I have no idea” aside from one, but she found it very unlikely.

“In a way, you could say that I do want information” he said, smiling “You are rather peculiar. I’m interested to know how someone can be… like that.”

It sounded like an insult, but she wasn’t sure if it was one or not. Her Mitsuki tended to use the same word of her, so maybe it wasn’t? Either way, getting angry at him wouldn’t help her. Taking a deep breath, she decides to try to forget where she is and that she’s in the company of an enemy. It’s a move that could turn out to be fatal, but it’d help her think, and she’d yet to abandon the idea of trying to get Mitsuki to side with her. Sitting down on the ground, she says: “I don’t really know what you mean by “like that.” I’m just being the way I always am.”

“Hm” Mitsuki hummed, sitting down as well “Interesting.”

“You’re not exactly normal either you know” the girl said. She saw Mitsuki blink “Who just pulls along an enemy for a casual chat?”

“Who joins their enemy for a casual chat?” Mitsuki shot back. Chou Chou rolled her eyes “I’m tied up, unarmed and in a heavily guarded enemy territory. What other choice do I have?”

Mitsuki realized that she was right; she wasn’t here because she wanted to be, not in the least. Somehow, he found that realization slightly depressing.

“But you don’t seem like a bad person, so it’s not like I mind” she said, much to Mitsuki’s surprise. He couldn’t doubt the sincerity behind that smile “What did you want to talk about?”

For starters, there was one thing he wanted to confirm. He knew things about Konoha’s most powerful clans, and judging from her body shape-

“You’re from the Akimichi clan, aren’t you?” he asks, and the reaction is instant as her eyes widen, a hint of panic forming in them.

“No” Chou Chou quickly denies. There were people in the village who’d come to the same conclusion, but with her and the clan denying, had quickly dropped it. She hadn’t expected it to come up here “I’m not.”

Mitsuki smirks.

“I think you’re lying” he says, and the paling of her face is all telling “Unless, of course, you’re not officially part of the clan. An illegitimate child, perhaps?”

Chou Chou doesn’t answer. His guess is so close, yet still so far. It made her wonder if some people in this world who she had gotten to know actually thought the same but kept their mouths shut.

“I’m not” she said “Do not tarnish the Akimichi name with such accusations.”

Mitsuki tilted his head to the side with a coy smile.

“Why so defensive of them?”

Chou Chou glared, refusing to say more on the subject. She couldn’t let anything slip.

Mitsuki’s smile faded at the girl’s glare. If he tried to press her on the subject, she might not be as willing to talk anymore. Better change it.

“Which clan are you from, then, miss Chou Chou?”

She was momentarily surprised he knew her name, but then realized it must’ve been because he’d heard her friends calling for her.

“��None” she decided to answer, for it was true in this world “I have no clan.”

“She’s lying” Mitsuki found himself thinking. For whatever reason, she was keeping the clan she belonged to as a secret; he could see it from her eyes.

But even so, he decides to leave it be, for it’s her he has interest in, not her clan.

“What about you?” she asks “What clan do you come from?”

“I don’t know” he answers honestly “It’s just me and my parent left, and he doesn’t talk about our clan in the slightest.”

“I see” she hums “So is your parent Orochimaru?”

She probably shouldn’t have asked, Chou Chou realized as she saw the alert, which was soon taken over by cautiousness, in Mitsuki’s eyes.

“How did you know?”

Fortunately, she had an excuse formed.

“Just a hunch based on your behavior” she said “You don’t seem like someone who’d work for a man like Orochimaru, yet here you are. Blood ties seemed like the most logical reason.”

Mitsuki stared. Her logic was so simple and full of flaws, yet she got it right on the first try.

“I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore” he thought “Even if I don’t work for him, being his son makes me your enemy.”

“Does it?” she asks, much to his surprise “My enemies are the ones who hurt my friends or my village. You haven’t done so as far as I know” she pauses “Well you did clash out with Boruto, but he can be a jerk sometimes so he might even have deserved it. Plus, he’s fine, so it doesn’t really count.”

Mitsuki stares at her smiling face, again so sincere. He chuckles.

“I suppose it doesn’t” he admits. Then, he asks her something that he has always been wondering “What’s Konoha like?”

“Konoha?” she echoes, and he nods. He knows some things, things he’s heard by coincidence, and some things his parent has told, though those aren’t much, for the man hated his former home. But Mitsuki was interested.

“Well, it’s lively” Chou Chou starts, proceeding to tell him what he wants to know. She tells about the views, the places, the people, careful to make sure she talks about this world’s Konoha. Few times she slips with certain details, but he doesn’t notice, he can’t tell the difference. When he asks a question, she answers. Some of the things she says make him laugh, including some that weren’t intended to do so. She pouts when that happens, knowing he’s partly laughing at her, but she’s not angry, not really. She was having fun; she hadn’t talked this freely since she ended up in this world.

“You really love Konoha, don’t you?” he asks suddenly.

“Yeah…” Chou Chou says, but to Mitsuki, she looks sad “But... it’s not really home.”

“It’s not your home?” he echoes, confused.

“Well, it is now, but it’s not where I’m from” she mutters, and he can hear that the joy has departed from her voice “But I can’t go back home yet…”

He’s curious, he wants to ask why, but he’s sure she won’t tell even if he does. She refused to talk about her clan, so he highly doubts she’d speak about her home, either.

He’s brought out of his thoughts by a loud growl. He jolts, jumping to his feet and wincing at the pain in his side before drawing out a kunai, looking around.

“Relax, that was just my stomach” Chou Chou said with a snort. Mitsuki looks at her in disbelief, his mouth dropping open in to a small “o.” Then, unable to stop himself, he starts laughing, hard, wincing again as it hurts his wound.

“It’s not that funny!” Chou Chou snaps with a blush.

“I have to disagree” Mitsuki says after he gets his laughter under control. Putting his kunai back, he says: “I’ll go get you something to eat.”

He’s already at the door before the girl can react.

“Stay here” he says before he goes “For your own safety.”

The door clicks shut, and Chou Chou hears it lock. She’s not sure if that just now was a threat or if he was simply warning her about his comrades. She considers disobeying, but decides against it, knowing that she wouldn’t get far.

Mitsuki comes back soon enough, and Chou Chou wonders if he’s going to untie her or if he’s planning to feed her. Normally, she would never allow the later, but right now she’s really hungry.

Mitsuki puts down the lunch box he’d swiped from Karin, knowing that he’ll be her last suspect when she notices it’s gone. He just hopes it has something Chou Chou likes.

“Turn around” he says “I’ll untie you.”

“Right” Chou Chou says, relieved. Having to be fed by him would’ve been awkward.

She opens the small lunch box, finding rice balls. Yummy.

Smiling happily, she starts eating. After being done with half of them, she asks: “Aren’t you going to have some?”

“I don’t eat” he replies simply. Chou Chou shrugs “More for me, then.”

As she keeps eating, Mitsuki wonders what to do from here. He would like to just continue speaking with her, he wanted to know more, but he knew that wouldn’t do. Even if no one found them here, his parent would be back eventually and find out there was a fourth prisoner as well. He’d want to know what Mitsuki’s been up to, and he’d kill Chou Chou, unless he had a way to make her useful. But Mitsuki didn’t like either option, so that left-

“I can get you out of here” he told her just as the girl finished the last rice ball.

“Huh?” Chou Chou was surprised. She had aimed to get an ally out of him, but this easily… “How?”

“Right out the door” Mitsuki smiled “With my parent gone, we only need to avoid his three most trusted men. None of the others will question me even if they see me with a prisoner.”

That could work, Chou Chou knew. If she got out, she could go get help… the problem was that she didn’t believe she’d manage to do that in time to save the others.

“I’m not leaving without my team” she told, firm and simple. Mitsuki frowned.

“I can’t let that many people out without it being suspicious” he said “And I’m not interested in doing so, either.”

“Looks like I’m staying, then” she said, standing up “I’m not abandoning them.”

Mitsuki stood up too, wondering what such determination to protect someone felt like, what it felt like to be protected. He knew that he wouldn’t put himself in such a risk if his parent or any of his subordinates got caught by the enemy, and he highly doubted any of them would take the risk for him, either. Why were they so different? Perhaps finding out would be worth a risk?

“Alright then” he said, smiling “I’ll sneak all four of you out.”

Chou Chou stared. Was it really this easy, or was he leading her in to a trap?

“No… don’t doubt, not now” she told herself “Even if it turns out to be a trap, this is the best chance you’ll get.”

And probably the only chance.

“I trust you” she says, hoping that it really was the right move.

---------------

Mitsuki knocks down the guards before they can even realize what he’s up to. As Chou Chou opens the door to the cell, she sees the relieved faces of her friends.

“Chou Chou, you’re okay!” Boruto says in relief.

“Of course, I am” she says as she runs in to the cell, kunai in hand “We have to hurry.”

“Did you knock out the guards?” Ino asks from behind her as she releases Shikadai and moves on to Boruto. Chou Chou bites her lip before muttering: “Well… not exactly…”

“We need to hurry” she hears Mitsuki say from the door, and recently released Shikadai jumps, immediately attempting to catch him with his shadow, but misses and ends up with a kunai held to his throat. Smiling, Mitsuki says: “Please don’t give me a reason to kill you.”

“Hey, cut it out!” Boruto yells, about to lunge at the pale boy, but is stopped by Chou Chou “No Boruto, you cut it out!”

Her team looks at her in confusion, so she hurries to explain: “He’s helping us escape, so don’t pick a fight with him!”

Shikadai looks down at the kunai almost pressed against his skin. Chou Chou knows that look; it’s calculative, he’s going over his options. She hopes he won’t do anything stupid.

“I see. I’m sorry, then” he says, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. Chou Chou wonders if Mitsuki notices this “Could you move that, please?”

It takes a few seconds too long for Chou Chou’s liking, but eventually, the weapon is removed. She sighs in relief, moving to help Ino. After the woman is free, they all leave the cell with Mitsuki in the lead.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ino asks Chou Chou in a hushed whisper.

“This is the best we can get” Chou Chou says back “So I’m gonna trust him.”

“How did Chou Chou manage this?” she heard Boruto ask Shikadai, though it seemed like it was supposed to be a whisper “Could it be that she actually used your plan and it worked!?”

Chou Chou’s face heated up and she cast Boruto a glare, which he answered with a sheepish smile. Shikadai however, was watching her thoughtfully.

“Chou Chou, be honest” he said “Did you?”

“Of course not, asshole!” she yells at him, immediately getting shushed by the others, Mitsuki included “Sorry…”

“What I don’t understand is why are you helping us” Shikadai addressed Mitsuki, but the pale boy just shrugs.

“I felt like it’d be fun” he says.

“You’re betraying Orochimaru for fun?” Boruto asks in disbelief, but Mitsuki shakes his head “I don’t work for him in the first place.”

Chou Chou would really like to know what the others are thinking right now.

“Then why are you even here? Why did you attack me!?”

“I didn’t; you attacked me first, so I defended myself” Mitsuki points out as he looks over his shoulder, a slight frown on his face “And I’m here because my parent is here.”

Chou Chou prays that he won’t mention who his parent is.

“So… you’re not a criminal?” Boruto asks, and Mitsuki shakes his head before turning his attention forward again as they sneak through the mazelike hallways.

“But your face is in a bingo book” the blond argues.

“Because I defended myself against the shinobi that attacked me while I was in the company of my parent” he says simply “I have no desire to cause trouble for Konoha or it’s shinobi, aside from the ones who cause trouble for me.”

Everyone goes quiet, and Chou Chou wonders if they believe him. Eventually, Boruto asks: “What’s your name?”

Chou Chou gasps, realizing that she hadn’t asked. Thank god she hadn’t said his name on accident!

“Mitsuki” he replies, suddenly extending his hand “Halt.”

Mitsuki hears their footsteps stop, obeying him, but his attention is focused on Suigetsu, who’s loitering at the front door, possibly waiting for Orochimaru. He wonders how to go about this. Could he distract the man enough for the four to slip past? Should they go past by force? He didn’t want to risk alerting others and truth to be told, he didn’t want to harm Suigetsu, either…

“We need another way out” he finally says.

“Or we can just knock that guy out” Boruto suggests, but Mitsuki stays firmly on his decision “No one’s harming him.”

“Hey, you might not be a criminal, but that doesn’t apply to whoever is guarding the door, right?” Boruto tries to reason “We can just kick his ass!”

Chou Chou shifts uncomfortably, afraid that Boruto’s going to piss off Mitsuki and cost them their chance at escaping. One look at Ino and Shikadai tells her that they’re probably thinking of the same thing.

“Kick who’s ass?” they all, even Mitsuki, jump. He whirls around, only to meet the gaze of amused Suigetsu. They were caught “Well?”

Boruto dashes forward, but Mitsuki trips him before he can reach Suigetsu.

“Suigetsu” he greets with a wide smile “Mind letting us pass?”

“What if I say no?”

“Then I’ll make you” Mitsuki says, the smile not leaving his face. It’s a bluff, but he knows Suigetsu won’t take the risk; his parent has made it clear to them all that Mitsuki is not to be harmed.

Suigetsu sighs.

“You’re lucky that I’m not allowed to harm you” he says “Fine, shoo. But don’t think for a second that Orochimaru won’t hear about this!”

“I won’t” he says “Let’s go.”

Chou Chou sees how Ino hastily pulls Boruto, who’s eyeing Suigetsu suspiciously, along as they flee from the door. And then they run.

---------------

After what felt like hours, Chou Chou has no idea how long it’s actually been, they all stop running. Mitsuki is still among them.

“I think… we’re safe for now…” Ino says, out of breath “Let’s take a short break.”

Everyone collapses on the ground, trying to catch their breaths.

“We actually made it out…” Shikadai mutters as he stares at the clouds “Weird.”

Chou Chou notices that Boruto is staring at Mitsuki.

“What are you going to do now?” the blond asks “You were seen; you’ll be in danger if you go back.”

“I’ll manage; this isn’t the first time I cause trouble” Mitsuki says with a chuckle, wondering what his parent would have in store for him. He’d probably get off rather easy since these weren’t people that Orochimaru had specifically wanted captured.

“You sure about that?” Shikadai joins the conversation, also looking at Mitsuki “I think you should run away.”

“I’ll be fine” Mitsuki insists, turning to look at them “And if I’d run away, I’d have to defend myself from all the shinobi on my own.”

“Can’t we get him off of the Bingo book somehow, Ino-sensei?” Chou Chou asks, knowing from the looks on their faces that she has surprised everyone “He’s not a bad guy.”

Ino stares at her, before glancing at Mitsuki.

“…I’ll have a word with the Hokage, but I can’t promise anything” she says “Honestly, what I should do is to capture or kill you right now, but I think we can all pretend there was no chance to do so.”

Mitsuki blinks.

“Agreed” Shikadai says.

“Hell yeah!” Boruto.

Chou Chou just smiles, looking at Mitsuki, who gives a small smile back. Her smile fades as he stands up.

“I must go” no one tries to stop him. Before leaving, he looks at Chou Chou one last time “I’m glad to have met you, Miss Chou Chou.”

“Likewise, Mitsuki” she says with a grin. When the boy is out of sight and far away for sure, she says: “That guy’s totally in to me.”

No one tries to deny it.

---------------

It had been three weeks since she met Mitsuki, and now she was on another dangerous mission. Again, things didn’t look too good. Ino-sensei? Down. Boruto? Down. Shikadai? Nowhere to be seen. She still had energy, having arrived later than the others as she’d been guarding the other side of the valley, but she wouldn’t last forever, plus there were too many enemies. Unless Shikadai showed up soon and in good health, she was screwed.

She noticed the enemy coming from the left with a sword drawn, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to dodge as she was too busy holding back another one. He’d get a hit in, there was no avoiding it.

“C’mon, Shikadai, please come!” he didn’t, yet Chou Chou heard metal clinking against metal. She saw the back of a kimono shirt, and the light blue hair accompanying it was all-telling.

“MItsuki!?” she breathed out in disbelief.

“Hello Miss Chou Chou” he said before slitting the stunned enemy’s throat, moving on to the one Chou Chou was fighting right after, but that one managed to dodge “I see you’ve gotten yourself in some trouble.”

She scowled, and he didn’t miss it.

“Would you like some help?” he asks, smiling. Chou Chou blinks, staring at him for a while, but decides to not to look at the gift horse’s mouth “Sure.”

Mitsuki is strong, she soon learns, stronger than in her world. Or maybe it’s just because he’s older; she’s stronger than few years back too, after all. Together, they actually manage to take down the enemies, though neither of them gets out unharmed, either.

“Finally” Chou Chou says as she collapses, having just taken down the last enemy. She winches, the large gash on her left arm rapidly bleeding.

“Let me see” Mitsuki commands as he walks over, and Chou Chou obeys without a second thought. Turns out this Mitsuki is a medical ninja, and he manages to stop her bleeding rather quickly, before wrapping her arm up in bandages.

“Thanks” she says. Looking around, she sees Boruto and Ino still in the same places they’d collapsed in to, hopefully still alive. Wanting to find out, she walks over to Ino. There is still pulse, and her injuries don’t seem deadly. Thank god.

“This one’s alive” Mitsuki calls out and Chou Chou sees he’s gone over to Boruto. She doesn’t have the time to relax before Mitsuki continues: “But not for long if nothing’s done to that headwound.”

“Shit!” Chou Chou curses as she rushes over, checking the injury. Her limited medical knowledge wouldn’t cut it “Mitsuki, can you help him?”

For a moment he doesn’t move, and Chou Chou fears that this was the extent of how much help she’d get, but then he moves his hands to Boruto’s head, much to her relief.

“He’ll live” Mitsuki said after he was finished “As will the other one at the entrance to the valley, but it’ll be a while before he can walk again.”

Chou Chou froze. Shikadai!

“You mean Shikadai?” she asks, but clarifies at Mitsuki’s questioning look “The guy that was with the three of us last time.”

“Yes, him” the boy confirms “The fight was over when I got there, but he’d somehow managed to evade death.”

Chou Chou sighs in relief.

Mitsuki stares at the girl, amused. Unlike the boy, Shikadai she’d said, she hadn’t seemed to think even for a second that he’d be an enemy. She’d accepted his help without hesitation, like he was one of them, and even asked for his help. It was weird, but the feeling he got from it was… nice.

“She truly is something else” he muses.

“I need to get to Shikadai” Chou Chou decides, picking Boruto up “Can you bring Ino-sensei?”

“Of course” he says, going to pick up the woman. Really, it’d be easy to kill her, kill them all, doesn’t the kunoichi realize that? Doesn’t she even consider the possibility? He wondered how someone so naïve had lasted this long as a shinobi.

---------------

“Shikadai!” Chou Chou cheers as she sees the boy slowly limping towards them, bloody and out of breath, but still alive.

“Chou Chou” he breathes “How are the others?”

“They’ll be fine, and the enemy’s down” she says “No worries; mission accomplished!”

Shikadai smiles before his sceptic gaze turns to Mitsuki, who has a calm smile on his face, but who is also eyeing him. Chou Chou sweat drops, realizing that the two men are pondering if the other is a threat.

“C’mon you two, we’re all friends here!”

Raising an eyebrow as he turns to her, Mitsuki asks: “We are?”

Chou Chou sighs.

“Why are you here?” Shikadai asks, and Mitsuki’s attention returns to him.

“I was simply passing by on my way home” he answers as he puts Ino down “I have no intention to cause trouble -unless you plan to attack me, that is.”

Shikadai stared, but then he smirked.

“Think I’ll pass on that; it’d be too troublesome” he says “Thanks for the help.”

Chou Chou smiles, relieved.

“Don’t mention it” Mitsuki says, turning to Chou Chou “I’ll see you again, Miss Chou Chou.”

He runs off, the two staring after him. Chou Chou had not missed how he’d only addressed her. She chuckles.

“Honestly, that guy’s so- “

“Smitten with you” Shikadai finishes for her with a snort “We were saved because of that, I think, but in case you do encounter him again, be careful.”

“He’s not a bad guy, Shikadai” Chou Chou said, a slight blush on her face, caused by someone else saying it out loud.

“Let’s hope you’re right” the boy sighs “Otherwise things might get troublesome for you.”

---------------

That was far from the last time Chou Chou saw Mitsuki. She had a few more dangerous missions that went wrong and he showed up to help, which she was grateful for, but he also appeared randomly during some of her easier missions, coming to sight the moment she was alone, once even when she had night watch and her team was asleep right around her. It’s not that she minded, in fact she enjoyed his company. She could be herself with him without fearing any consequences. The thing that worried her was the possibility of getting in trouble for being seen with him.

Or to be exact, being seen by someone else than her team members. Those three had caught them red handed at least once each already, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she had missed some times. She wasn’t worried about Boruto; he was actually becoming friends with Mitsuki, which was good since she wouldn’t be around forever. Shikadai and Ino-sensei however…

“Chou Chou, you need to cut ties with that boy” Ino said “Even if his name is no longer in the bingo book, he’s still considered a suspicious individual. Interacting with him the way you do will eventually put you in danger.”

This wasn’t the first time she’d told her that and, as usual, Chou Chou told her not to worry before walking out of the café. And then she ran in to Shikadai, which wasn’t uncommon thing to happen after one of their sensei’s rants. She was starting to suspect that they planned these supposed chance meetings.

“Don’t you start too” she said, walking away, but as expected, Shikadai followed her.

“You know I don’t have anything against that guy” he said “But logically thinking, whatever you two have going on won’t end well.”

Chou Chou glared.

“And why is that?”

“You’ll be going home soon, right?” he asks, and she freezes. How? How did Shikadai know? What did he know?

“I heard from the hokage, the whole team did” he said “That you’re not from around here.”

“…”

“Does Mitsuki know?”

“…No” that was the one thing she hadn’t told him. Maybe she should have, considering that she knew that once she got a chance to go home, she would and they’d never see each other again.

“You’ve clearly become close” the young Nara says “And the closer you are, the more it’ll hurt both of you when you leave.”

Chou Chou stops walking.

“Just keep that in mind” Shikadai says, but unlike his friend, he continues to walk. Chou Chou bites her lip. Of course, she’d known that Mitsuki would be sad when she eventually left, but she hadn’t really thought it’d be that big of a deal. She’d thought that it’d be fine; he had other friends…

…But did he? He wasn’t her world’s Mitsuki; he certainly wasn’t friends with the same people as he was in her world. Some of them didn’t even exist. He sometimes talked about the people he lived with, it sounded like some were his friends, but how close were they? Perhaps not that close, perhaps there was reason he always sought her out, even when it was dangerous.

“What have I done?”

As Chou Chou was musing over this, a messenger from the Hokage came to tell her Nagato was back.

It was time.

---------------

Mitsuki smirked, about to sneak in to Konoha again. He’d done so few times before, though in neither time did he reveal himself to Chou Chou. With how often she told him to avoid the Konoha shinobi, just in case, she’d certainly worry if she saw him in the village. Sometimes he just couldn’t help it as he got the sudden urge to see her, like now.

He wasn’t sure if his parent knew about him sneaking in to Konoha from time to time or not, but he certainly knew about what he’d been up to. Had laughed about Mitsuki having normal teenage behavior and how that was an interesting find. Not that Mitsuki cared. He just wanted to see his amusing, unique friend.

The first friend he’d ever had, Suigetsu and the like not really counting in his opinion.

Reaching her apartment, he saw the lights were out. She wasn’t home, then. It was late though, so was she out on a mission? Or maybe a late-night snack-

“To think that you’d appear tonight of all nights” Mitsuki froze as he heard the voice. Slowly turning around, he saw Shikadai and Boruto staring up at the tree he was in. He relaxed, but only slightly. Boruto wouldn’t attack, he knew, but he still wasn’t sure where he stood with Shikadai, if the boy would attack when having a chance or not.

But right now, none of that mattered. What Shikadai said had awoken his curiosity. Jumping down to join them, he asks: “What’s special about tonight?”

The two exchange glances. They’re hesitant, Mitsuki realizes. That’s nothing new with Shikadai, but Boruto usually does whatever he wants without really thinking much, so his behavior puts the pale boy on edge.

“Give it to him” Shikadai finally says, addressing Boruto. Reaching in to his jacket, the blond pulls out a scroll, holding it out for Mitsuki to take. He blinks before taking it. He doesn’t need to be told to know that it’s from Chou Chou. He unfolds the scroll.

To Mitsuki

I’ve finally gotten a way to go back home and once you read this, I’m probably already there. It’s not easy to get there, so once I’m back, I won’t be returning to Konoha anymore. Don’t worry though; Boruto is your friend too, isn’t he? And Shikadai’s warming up to you too, I know he is, so you won’t be lonely.

I’m happy we met, even if it was in an odd way. I’ll always remember you.

Chou Chou

Mitsuki just stared. She’d left? For good? She hadn’t said anything about it the last time they saw each other! Why?

“When did she leave?”

“A bit over an hour ago” Shikadai told him. Mitsuki was relieved; perhaps he could still catch up. He was about to break in to a run, but was stopped by the black-haired boy holding his arm “What do you plan to do? Stop her from leaving, from returning to her family where she belongs?”

That’s what he wanted to do, no doubt. He didn’t want to lose Chou Chou, and if Shikadai got in his way-

“Let him go, Shikadai” Boruto interrupted, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder “Mitsuki will do what’s for the best, I’m sure.”

Shikadai didn’t agree with his friend, that much was clear, but he seemed to trust Boruto.

“You need to hurry” the young Nara said as he let go “She’s leaving with the help of a jutsu. It’s meant to be activated 30 kilometers south from the village. Activation takes time, so you might still make it.”

Mitsuki nods, taking off.

He had to reach her in time.

---------------

Nagato was almost ready, he’d said, but Chou Chou didn’t remember another time she’d felt this impatient. It was finally time, so she just wanted to hurry and get this over with so that she could go home. She’d miss the friends she’d made here, but she missed her family and the friends back at home more. If there was one thing, she might regret about leaving, it’d be not telling Mitsuki the truth. Unlike to her team, no one had told him that she’d one day leave for good. She had planned to, but Nagato had gotten ready sooner than she had expected, and she had had no chance to see Mitsuki again.

She hoped he’d forgive her.

“I’m almost done” Nagato tells her “Sorry about this whole mess.”

Chou Chou chuckles.

“I’d tell you that you better be sorry, but I think I’ve yelled at you enough over the years” she tells, smiling at him, and he gives a sad smile back. Right, he was another friend she had to say goodbye to. Not right away as he’d be stuck in her world for a while after using his jutsu, but eventually. And truth to be told, she didn’t really want to be around him much after she got home in the fear of ending up here again.

“CHOU CHOU!”

She’d recognize that voice anywhere, in any world.

“Mitsuki!?” she sees the boy rushing towards her, and she can only stare. Just what are the odds that he’d be passing by here, this close to the village, in the same direction she’s in, today of all days?

…

It couldn’t be a coincidence. Somehow, he’d gotten a word of what was happening. Boruto must’ve told him.

She didn’t know if she should be happy or upset. Now she could say a proper goodbye, but this also meant she had to face him. She’d have to see the hurt on his face, have a painful goodbye.

Mitsuki comes to a stop in front of her, panting slightly. It was rare to see him so out of breath.

“I got your letter” he says “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was planning to, but this came faster than I thought” she said “Sorry.”

“Why do you need to go?” Mitsuki asks “You have a home in Konoha. You have friends.”

“You have me”

That was left unsaid.

“…I know” she said “But I also have a home and friends elsewhere. And my family. This isn’t where I belong.”

“But it could be” Mitsuki tries “You could decide to belong here, to not go back. Make a new home here.”

Yeah, she knew she could.

But she didn’t want to.

“I know” she says, a sad smile on her face “But I’ve decided not to. I miss my parents, I miss everyone. And they don’t even know for sure that I’m alive.”

“But- “

“Chou Chou, it’s time” Nagato interrupted whatever Mitsuki was about to say.

“I’m coming!” she called back, giving Mitsuki a sad smile “I’m glad I got to see you again, but I need to go now. Bye Mitsuki.”

She turned to walk away, but was stopped by Mitsuki taking a firm hold of her hand.

“Mitsuki…?”

“Don’t go” he simply said. He didn’t want to lose her. She made him happy in a way no one else did. He needed her.

“I have to” Chou Chou said. She had been so sure she could leave without crying, just glad to finally head home, but as she looked at Mitsuki now, not crying became an impossibility. The tears gathered in her eyes, soon falling down her cheeks “I’m sorry.”

He could stop her from leaving, he was strong enough. Fast enough. More so than her, he knew. He didn’t know how strong the redhaired man was, but if he acted quickly, he should be able to catch them by surprise. He could make sure she stayed here, with him.

…

She hadn’t tried to pull her arm away. She hadn’t told him to let go. Looking in to her eyes, he saw no fear or anger, only the tears and sadness of having to leave. She didn’t fight against him because, unlike her friends, she had full faith in him. She didn’t even consider that he’d seriously try to stop her, try to keep her from going home.

“You’re too trusting, Chou Chou” he thought, his lips curling in to a small smile “You’re one of a kind.”

He lets go.

“Stay safe” he tells her.

“You too” she says “And if you have time, look after Shikadai and Boruto for me. Especially Boruto!”

Mitsuki laughs.

“I will”

He watches her rush towards the man. He watches the peculiar sight of a portal appearing. He watches as she looks over her shoulder one last time and waives. He waives back.

And then she’s gone.

---------------

Home at last. She’d said goodbye to Nagato, not knowing where the man headed, deciding not to ask. She’d walked in from the gates of Konoha, sighing in relief when she saw the familiar stone faces, all seven of them. She’d reported to the Hokage, who’d been shocked to the say the least. She’d explained everything to the best of her ability before being taken to a hospital for a checkup. Her parents came to see her there. She wept. Her team came too, and she wept some more, later hoping that she hadn’t broken any of Inojin’s delicate bones when she’d hugged him.

Now she was out of hospital and, while she wasn’t given any missions yet, she was out for lunch with her team. She sure had missed the Kaminari Burgers.

“Chou Chou!”

But not as much as she’d missed her best friend.

“Sarada!” she yelled as she saw the girl rushing in from the door. Both of them stared, tears forming in the eyes of each girl, before they ran for a hug.

“Lord Seventh told us you’re back” she said “Gosh, where have you been?!”

“I was told not to say anything” Chou Chou said. It seemed that dimension traveling was best to be kept secret “I missed you!”

“We’re here too, you know” Boruto said. He might have been trying to sound offended, but failed poorly as he was grinning from ear to ear “Welcome home!”

Chou Chou laughed.

“Good to see you too, Boruto” she said, wiping her tears “Have you stayed out of trouble?”

“You’ve completely forgotten who he is, haven’t you Chubs?” Inojin snorts, and they all share a laugh in Boruto’s expense.

“It’s good to see you’re back, Chou Chou” the girl freezes. This voice…

Slowly, she looks behind Boruto. That’s right, she’d completely forgotten that, in this world, where Boruto was, Mitsuki usually followed. And such was the case today as well.

“Mitsuki…” she muttered, and the boy smiled in reply. This wasn’t the Mitsuki she’d learned to know during the past year, this was her Mitsuki, the one she’d longed to see along with the rest of her friends. And she was glad to see him, she really was…

And yet, her heart ached as she looked at him, the one who was so similar to the man who’d asked her not to go, not to leave him.

“Ah what the heck, it’s like I’ll always find something to complain about” you gain something, you lose something “I’ll never forget them, him especially, but…”

“It’s good to be home” she says, winking “Bet you missed me, huh? Sorry to say this, but remember that I’m still out of your league.”

“Even time can’t cure your condition, I see”

Chou Chou laughed. She was home alright; this was the Mitsuki she knew.

Her Mitsuki.

#mitsuchouweek2020 #MitsuChou week #mitsuchou #mitsucho #mitsuki #akimichi chou chou

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