#why did my brain choose descendants to fixate on. why didn’t it choose something good

[itsalwaysforyou]

that d3 gifset btw. how carlos doesn’t move forward until jay does. jays grip on mal’s arm. how he doesn’t linger; heads straight back to car. carlos still holding evie’s arm. evie pressed against mal’s side. mal’s fingers brushing against bens blazer. evie’s arm around mal’s waist. how no one’s really looking at each other.

[dustofbrokenheart]

The Lost Boys: Take-Out Intrigue Part 1

Part One | Part Two

Marko x Reader

Word Count: 2,400

Warnings: racial slurs, some gore 

Summary: You catch Marko’s eye while he’s waiting on an order. (Since my blatant favoritism towards Dwayne was called out, I’m trying something new!) 

“Nin hao ma,” Marko called out as he entered the small restaurant.

The familiar scents of garlic, rice vinegar, and sesame oil wafted out from the kitchen in the back. Marko personally preferred the take-out joint down the block but it was David’s night to choose so he didn’t complain. Much.

The older woman at the counter bowed her head slightly with a smile. He wasn’t a regular but he was there enough that she recognized him. “Hao, hao.”

Mandarin was fluent but these owners spoke Cantonese which he wasn’t as familiar with. He supposed he could take time to learn but he’d been occupied with spray painting and the birds for the past few years. That didn’t leave much time, or desire, to pick up something else. Pleasantries out of the way, he switched back to English. His

“Let me get three orders of the sweet and sour pork, one sweet and sour shrimp, four chow mein, one lo mein, and one fried rice.” After a second of thought he added, “Oh, and some egg rolls.”

The owner wrote it all down quickly and waved the paper slip in between her fingers. “Wait here.”

She disappeared to the kitchen, leaving Marko by himself to admire the scrolls of art that hung on the wall.

In the back, she calmly walked over to where you were hunched over an open textbook, frantically taking notes. It was noisy in the kitchen so you didn’t notice her until she cuffed you on the back of the head.

“Oww!”

“Time to work. Keep an eye on the customer out front,” she nagged in Cantonese.

“Fine, fine. I’m going.” You held your hands up in surrender. But you snagged you stuff when she wasn’t looking and hoofed it to the register before she could chastise you again.

You stood at the register and it was impossible to miss the customer. He had a riotous mass of blonde curls pulled back into a ponytail and wore a patched-up jacket that was simultaneously too busy to look at and too interesting to look away from. He must have felt your gaze because he suddenly shifted his focus from the calligraphy on the walls and stared you straight in the eye.

You held your breath and after a few seconds, his face relaxed and he smiled at you. The smile only added to his attractiveness but you instinctively knew that he wasn’t as sweet as it would lead you to believe.

“You’re new,” he commented.

“Y-yeah. I mean, no,” you sputtered. That was embarrassing. You’d never struggled to speak with a customer before. The fact that he stared without blinking made it worse.

He merely hid his smile behind the fingerless gloves and stuck a thumb in his mouth. A possible oral fixation—? You stopped that thought dead in it’s tracks. It was highly inappropriate to think of a paying customer that way. His actions were none of your business.

You cleared your throat in an attempt to start over. “Actually, my family has known the owners forever. But yes, I’ve only been working here for a few months.”  

“I don’t remember seeing you,” he said crowding you despite the fact that there was a register between the two of you. “What’s your name?”

You weren’t sure why, but you felt the need to defend yourself to him. Which was ridiculous. You talked with chatty customers all the time, no problem.

“My name is Y/N. I always take the busy shifts since my English is better. This is the first time I’ve stayed later than the dinner rush.”

That answer must’ve settled something for him because he took at thumb out of his mouth and gave you the first genuine smile you’d seen thus far. In turn, you smiled back and the mood in the room calmed.

His attention went back to the calligraphy and you opened your textbook to the spot you left off at. Everything was quiet. “So…you like calligraphy?” he questioned.

The next fifteen minutes passed quickly as he got you talking about the restaurant’s décor. He was especially absorbed by the painting of a fiery-scaled eastern dragon, which you also liked. But your favorite was the Chinese phoenix on the opposite wall.

“Did you know the fenghuang is a lucky omen? They’re the bird of all birds in traditional mythology.”

That seemed to intrigue him. “The bird of all birds, huh?”

You latched on to the tone in his voice. “Do you like birds?”

He toed the tip of his worn boot into the linoleum floor. Laughed a little. “Yeah. You could say that.”

He opened his mouth to say more but at that moment you were called to bag up his order. A little reluctant, you excused yourself and went to kitchen. The food was already portioned into their respective white cartons, the top flaps folded in neatly.

Opening up the plastic bag, you quickly arranged the cartons inside and tied a with a small, snug knot at the top. Stapling the receipt to the bag, you drew a smiley face on it with a blue-ink pen. The smile came out a little lopsided but you left it alone, afraid it might turn out worse if you tried to fix it.

You lingered near the door, twisting the plastic in your hands. For some reason, you would be disappointed to see him leave. Which was crazy as you’d only talked for a few brief minutes. Judging by the size of the order, the poor guy probably needed to leave so he could bring other people their dinner too.

Resigned, and uncomfortable with that feeling, you went back out to the register. You made sure to use your most polite voice as you rang him up. The exchange happened normally and he dug a wad of dollars bills from his back pocket. It made you cringe to see the money so wrinkled and spotted with an unknown stain, but you kept your reaction to yourself.  

“Have a nice night,” you wished him as you tried to hand him his change.

He waved it off with a shake of his head that sent his curls bouncing. “Nah, keep it.”

And that was it. He turned to leave, swinging the plastic bag at his side with every step. There was no hesitation on his part and you sighed. Clearly, your interest was one-sided.

Logically, you knew shouldn’t take it personal, but emotionally, you couldn’t shake the feeling of rejection. Remembering that you were in the middle of reading, you went to open your notes again. You flipped through the pages slowly, your heart not in it.

Outside of the small restaurant, the red neon open sign casted hazy lighting on the cracked cement sidewalk. Marko hovered just far enough from the door that you couldn’t see him. He snickered.

Your disappointed sighs had followed him as soon as he turned his back on you to leave and he had to be honest—it delighted him. Good to know that you were attracted to him. He certainly liked you.

Santa Carla was full of interesting people, alive, undead, or otherwise, so it was hard to catch his attention. But as soon as you started spouting off about mythical Chinese phoenixes, he was hooked. Yes, he was into birds, screw you, but he’d never heard that story before.

He supposed you could’ve been talking out of your ass but he didn’t get that vibe from what he had seen. Your eyes lit up when you talked about the image so he bet that you truly did admire it. Your voice was steady for the first time in the encounter, meaning that you were comfortable saying those things, had probably told them to other ears dozens of times.

So, yes, you could be making it up. If you were, he’d be the first to admire your skills. But you seemed too straight and narrow for that. After all, you were actually studying at work. What kind of person did that?

The tantalizing combination of authenticity and passion for your Eastern mythology made him want to talk to you again. That way he could pick your brains more and maybe, if he was lucky, make you stutter again. Still, he wasn’t going to walk back in there like a sap. Not after he just left.  

“Hey!”

His ears twitched and he finally got a look at the guy he’d been watching stagger down the sidewalk the entire time he’d been outside. He chose not to saying anything figuring the human would keep talking anyway, which he did.

“You get that food from here?” The human pointed to the restaurant with his thumb.

Marko nodded, biting on his thumb.

“These chinks, or japs, or whatever any good?”

Marko’s eyes that had been taking in the guy’s appearance the entire time paused in the bird pin he had on his cap. It was yellow orange. Similar shade to the fenghuang’s wings. He took his thumb out of his mouth, his slick fangs descending to bite into his bottom lip.  

The ass hadn’t even noticed, still talking and seemingly some kind of inebriated. Fine by Marko. He liked surprising people.

His clawed hand shot out faster than the human eye could track and plunged into the guy’s chest. A hole was torn clean through. The blood and heart organ felt warm and wet as it stuck to his fingers. “I don’t think you need to worry about that you prick.”

The hole was much more pronounced and blood began spilling out. In the light of the moon, the blood looked black instead of red. The about-to-be-dead offender’s jacket absorbed some of the liquid but the rate at which it poured out was too much for the fabric to soak it all up.  It wouldn’t be long until he was officially dead.

The shock registered late and by the time the human looked down, Marko had already pulled his hand out and was sucking at the blood. He laughed at the other’s confused expression. The last thing the guy saw was Marko giggling and playfully waving his fingers.

The corpse sagged to the ground and Marko wrenched it up by one of the arms. He must’ve used too much force because he heard the shoulder pop off out of its socket.

He shrugged, not really bothered. No one else was out on the streets at this time. Especially not during a weekday. Getting rid of the body would be easy. Strengthening his hold, he flew into the night sky to dump the body where it would never be found.

When he came back, the white bag of Chinese take-out was sitting exactly where he left it. Excellent. Bending down to rip off the receipt, he pinned his new yellow orange bird pin to it. There was a small speck of blood on the glossed paint near the small bird’s wing that he licked clean.

He didn’t mind scarring you, but he didn’t want you so freaked out that you went to the cops. That would make things a little messy and make David pissy.

Following his nose, he wandered over the car that smelled of you. A quick glance through the driver’s window showed a stack of other notebooks and…a ridiculously bedazzled charm dangling from the rear-view mirror. It made him raise his brow, but he decided he liked it.

Mythological creatures, bedazzled charms…he couldn’t wait to find out more about you.

He arranged the paper backed pin under the windshield wiper to keep it from falling or blowing away. Marko prided himself on giving gifts and he wished he could be there to see you find it, but he’d been gone long enough. The boys were already going to give him hell for it. And he was getting hungry, too.

Besides, he knew where you worked. He’d find you again when he had more time.

Revving the bike, he raced down the road, the plastic bag quivering where it hung from his handle bars.

---XXX---

“See you later, Auntie,” you called out. A bell jingled as you pushed the front door open. You weren’t used to working this late and were long past due for sleep.

“Bye bye, drive home safe,” she said in Cantonese, the gruffness failing to mask her fondness for you.

Being in the restaurant all night, the crisp air outside was a nice reprieve. You loved the food, you really did, but oil could be headache inducing after a while. There was a slight breeze, too, that refreshed you with its invisible caress.

Most of the other businesses in this area were closed by now, leaving the streets dim and vacant. Luckily, there was a streetlight by your car so you didn’t have to walk in the dark. There was no such thing as being too safe in Santa Carla.

You shifted your things so you could get the keys and stopped in your tracks when you noticed a small piece of paper on the windshield. You looked around, not seeing anything else out of the ordinary. Still, you couldn’t shake the wariness.

Was it a ticket? A threat? A piece of trash that just blew into the window?

Creeping forward, you recognized the smiley face you had drawn earlier. What the—? When you were close enough to snatch it, you realized there was something weighing down the corner of the flimsy paper. A pin.

You angled it toward the streetlight, unsure what it was. An orange, no, golden orange bird gleamed in the light. Its wings spread wide and were smooth under the pads of your fingers.

Warmth spread through your chest. There wasn’t a message on the receipt, but the smiley face gave it away. This could only have been from that customer with the curls and jacket. Had he been wearing it inside? You couldn’t remember.

Clutching the pin, you sat in the driver’s seat. The car ran idle for a bit and you fiddled with the back of the pin. There was plenty of space on your bare jacket to place it wherever you wished. With the delicate gift attached securely to the jacket, you backed out of the parking spot, a smile on your face the entire way home.

Hopefully, he stopped by again soon.

_______________

My first time writing for Marko! Thumbs up or thumbs down? 

Regardless, East Asian (and any) racism isn’t cool peeps. Let’s do better :) 

[prettywordsyouleft]

Labelling Love | Part 1 (Collab)

Summary: Meeting you changed the way Eunwoo viewed romance and love entirely.

Pairing: Cha Eunwoo x female reader

Genre: university au / romance / fluff

Warnings: none

A/N: Welcome to the second series in the monthly Love In Fours Ways collab with @jackiejacks923​ @noona-clock​ & @this-song-thats-only-for-you​ . In the final week of each month during this collab, we’ll be each sharing a mini-series using 4 of the pictures/concepts illustrated in the book that inspired our series that I’ve credited below. 

Credit to: Puuung - Love Is In The Small Things // #76 , #60 , #4 , #33

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 // Collab Masterlist

Part 1 - Not Being Able To Concentrate Because She's There

Cha Eunwoo didn’t believe in love at first sight. Or upon a second or even a third look. He was certain that it was nothing but a phenomenon of the hopeless romantic. A guise that someone who wanted to fall in love badly held over the top of feelings that could be more easily described as attractive or interesting. Eunwoo had met many people in his lifetime that he could easily commit to saying he was attracted to or interested in upon first sight. Such was the nature of being human, so he thought.

However, love was something that came with time. A feeling that grew with experiences shared together, not something you felt straight away. He was a firm believer of this.

So what exactly could he call the feeling that was making his heart beat erratically in his chest as he watched you right now?

Blinking forcibly in attempts to regain control over his physical reaction, Eunwoo licked at his lips, realising his breath was heightened. Now clamping his lips together, he did everything he could to tear his eyes away from your direction and back to the guide in front of him.

“This is the campus library. I hope you took down notes on how to get here because you’ll be spending a lot of your time cramming here. There are eleven floors and this place houses pretty much every book about absolutely everything you could ask a question about. This area here is known as the main study lobby. Most students find the second-floor study area pretty noisy though so if you’re…”

Eunwoo lost his focus again on the tour and slipped back to you at one of the tables quietly reading a book. Sliding your hand onto your neck to better support your head as you continued perusing the pages before you, Eunwoo gulped as his skin began to tingle.

“Its attraction,” he breathed out slowly, trying to claim the feeling overwhelming him as that. It didn’t feel like enough to say it was mere attraction though and Eunwoo frowned. “I’m interested too.”

“And I’m intrigued,” another voice announced, nudging Eunwoo playfully. Glancing at the fellow freshman at his side, Eunwoo cringed at his high school buddy Harvey overhearing his outspoken thoughts. “Who are you attracted to? The tour guide? She’s like forty, dude.”

“No, but if you are, by all means ask her out when we’re done.”

“So then who? The rest of us are guys. But hey, if you’re unsure and want to experiment-”

“Could you stop yourself from talking instead?” Eunwoo replied dryly, dragging his feet reluctantly as the group started to move along. He glanced over his shoulder back in your direction, blinking when he found the table you had been reading at now empty. Spinning around, he thought he saw the end of your ponytail descending the stairs at the front of the building but he couldn’t be too sure.

Harvey jostled him around. “Whoever she is, maybe you imagined her. She could be the girl of your college dreams.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I would be better off imagining up a new friend than having you around, Harvey,” Eunwoo commented before letting out a sigh.

Perhaps you were just a fleeting moment of temptation, after all.

Eunwoo was simultaneously relieved and horrified to find that you existed the following day at his first lecture. Harvey’s teasing had simmered down somewhat when the tour moved out of the library and Eunwoo began to believe maybe his friend was right and he conjured you up.

Seeing you in the flesh again solved the puzzle of whether you existed or not.

However, as the hairs stood up on his arms and his eyes fixated on the side of your head as you moved across the front of the lecture hall to the staircase, Eunwoo was troubled by seeing you in person again.

His physical reaction only felt greater this time as well.

Not this row, he begged internally as you came closer to where he was set up, closing his eyes when you diverted towards him. Of course, the universe was testing him right now. Still, he didn’t understand why you of all the people in this world had to cause his insides to implode with nervous excitement like this.

“Hello,” you greeted softly and pointed at the seat you had stopped before. “Can I sit next to you?”

“Oh uh um well uh-”

You grinned. “It’s just the centre of the room and the row, so...”

“That’s exactly why I chose this spot,” he admitted and you bit your lip to control your delight before sitting down.

“I’ve always been the only one who chooses by the environment on where to sit that I’ve known of.”

“Well it makes the most sense to,” he managed to comment and you nodded along eagerly. “You have to be comfortable in order to learn.”

“Precisely! I’m so glad to finally meet someone who thinks the same. I’m Y/N and you are?”

“Eunwoo,” he replied, taking the hand you held outstretched towards him.

He had to clamp his mouth shut before the squeak building up in his throat was expelled, his cheeks feeling hot with his efforts. You mirrored the flushed expression before letting go.

“It’s nice to meet you, Eunwoo. I hope this semester will be productive for the pair of us.”

The first lecture was anything but productive. Eunwoo couldn’t concentrate for the first time in a learning environment in years. And when he hadn’t been as focused in the past, it was due to being unwell and needing to be resting at home, not because a gorgeous girl had sat down beside him. He was well versed in ignoring others around him when learning.

It threw him completely to be unable to focus at all with you next to him.

Eunwoo chalked it up to first day nerves. Or anything else he could kid himself of. But after a second lecture with no true coherency of what was being spoken about in the class and then on the third being called upon and blanking over an answer he knew in great detail from previous study, Eunwoo knew it was due to you.

The problem was he liked you too much to try and avoid you. It wasn’t just the physical reaction now either. Every time you arrived early for class and you chatted over topics before the professor arrived. He was enamoured by the way you thought. Conversation was all too easy between you.

Which was why you didn’t hesitate to gesture to his empty page. “Another day of not taking down notes?”

“Hah, yeah.”

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those geniuses who don’t need to write down information to remember and ace all your tests,” you breathed, leaning towards him.

Eunwoo wished right now he was one of those types. He was immensely grateful that all lectures were recorded so he could cram in note-taking later when he was back home. Staring down at his blank page, he let out a nervous laugh. “Nope, that’s not me.”

“Then? Is the content too hard? I could help you during lunch today to get your head around it?” you offered, blinking softly.

He should have been honest with you then, however, the offer to have a meal with you seemed more desirable than anything else and he found himself nodding along. “Could you?”

“It’ll be my pleasure! I can’t have you falling behind so soon into the semester.” Eunwoo groaned out loud as you giggled. Glancing at you with a brief pout, he then grinned. “I’ll buy lunch then for your help.”

“Ooh, deal!”

It was evident even to you after twenty minutes of attempting to explain the situation that Eunwoo was distracted. You didn’t know why, however. At first, he was determined to make his way through the entirety of lunch fully invested in what you had to say. And for that matter, he had been invested enough to hear each word you spoke, they just didn’t make enough sense. Was it because of the perfume you had on today? It had been fragrant in class earlier on, but now squeezed into a tiny table at the back of one of the bustling campus cafes, it washed over him completely. Was it the way you brushed your hair away from your neck and placed it all to one side of your head, exposing your delicate skin? Honestly, Eunwoo couldn’t tell why he was being like this, and admittedly he was growing quite concerned for his sanity.

You were driving him down a path he had never wandered before.

Harvey’s remark about university being known as an experimental time in a young person’s life came to the forefront of his brain. Was his physical attraction to you that out of control that he couldn’t focus in your company? Or was it just you as a whole?

He whimpered with the lack of an answer.

Glancing away from your book, you placed down your pen and sighed. “This isn’t helping, is it?”

“No.”

“And it’s not the professor that’s the problem, is it?” you continued and Eunwoo shook his head sadly. “I bet the content isn’t that hard for you-”

“It’s you.”

“Excuse me?” you asked slowly, brows knitting together. “I’m the problem?”

Eunwoo opened his mouth, only for embarrassment to flare up within his stomach. How could he tell you that it was because of boyish feelings that he couldn’t concentrate in your company? He’d barely known you for a week now. It would haunt him for the rest of his semester if he confessed this early into things.

However, his lack of response had done enough damage, your hands hastily grabbing for your belongings scattered over the table in between lunch. “I’m sorry I’m such a problem. You should have told me earlier, Eunwoo.”

“No, it’s nothing like that!”

“I’ll sit somewhere else on Monday so you can concentrate on the lecture. Good luck with your semester.”

“Y/N!” he called out hopelessly, reaching out for your lower arm. You halted all movement and stared at his gentle grip over your arm.

He knew he had no other option.

“I can’t concentrate because ever since I met you, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

_________________

Part 2

All rights reserved © prettywordsyouleft

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[sonicrevival]

Ultimatum- Chapter 1 of 5: Awakening

Hello all. 

I’ve decided to start posting this story here. I’ll be posting chapters daily over the course of the first few weeks, until I catch up with the DA and Ao3 uploads (Where I’ve just posted Chapter 24), at which point uploads will switch to one every two weeks.

For some preamble: Sonic has managed to (mostly) restore the world post-Worlds Collide, albeit there are some differences that will be expanded upon later in the story.

Additionally, Emerl is a girl in this story. Per Sonic Battle lore, Emerl was implanted with a digital “soul” copied from Maria’s, which prompted me to change the pronouns Emerl identifies with in this story. 

I have taken some liberties with lore here and there, so if you have questions then ask away.

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18500557/chapters/43840852

Sonic: Revival- Chapter 1 Ultimatum, Part 1 of 5: Ignition The digital plane was something of an escape, Nicole had decided. While she was in the computerised aether, the AI could disconnect herself from the outside city and enjoy some time to herself, something that was becoming more and more of a necessity lately. After his failures to protect the people, Naugus’ hand had been forced, and he had allowed the lynx to re-enter the city. Concerns raised by his more fervent supporters as to how he was supposed to protect them from her were dismissed- Her powers had no sway over him, and both of them knew it. Nicole tensed slightly, anger flaring inside her. She hated the hypocrisy of it all- Naugus had attempted to murder them all in the past, of his own choosing. The only bad things Nicole had ever done were while she was under the sway of another, and yet she was being blamed for it. Now she was the threat, and he was their protector. Separating herself from the city was a necessity, because occupying any of the nanites meant potentially overhearing another argument about her and the ‘King’, feeling one of Naugus’ more violent supporters try to damage her constructs, or listening to Mina’s awful song again. She bore no ill-will to the mongoose now. In fact, Mina had been trying to get the song taken off the air, but it was having no luck. Apparently, ‘We Won’t Be Afraid’ was the new favourite of the city’s population. Nicole retreated back into the void, curling up to relax. At times like this, all she wanted to do was confide in her closest friend… but that wasn’t an option open to her anymore. Sally was gone, taken from her, and everyone else, by Eggman’s latest maniacal scheme. She held out hope that it wasn’t permanent, that Sonic, Tails, and Amy would catch up to Mecha Sally and subdue her, allowing them to find a way to restore her body and mind, but as the days turned to weeks turned to months, she couldn’t help but feel that they might never see Sally again. She wasn’t the only one gone, either. Sonic and his team had taken off to rescue Sally, and Rotor was making an effort to defend the city almost by himself, with Naugus constantly taken ill. Elias had joined up with a smaller team that were quietly working to overthrow Naugus. But Antoine was rendered comatose, still slowly recovering from his injuries, though it was unclear when, if at all, he would wake up. Bunnie had taken off shortly after his injury, and where she was going, or why she left her friends in their darkest hour, were a mystery to the lynx. She wanted to be angry at the rabbit, she wanted to somehow find her and lay into her for leaving when everyone else needed her… but she knew that was unfair. Bunnie had always been the rock that everyone could rely on, and it wasn’t fair to expect that of her during the current situation. She was hurt too, after all. Darkest hour… Why did that phrase resonate with her? She was never the most poetic soul, and she couldn’t recall any of her friends or allies using it… And yet, she definitely had some memory of it, but she had no idea how to reach it… Perhaps searching for it in her databanks would help... Her reverie was interrupted by a blinking light informing her that she had a new message incoming. She floated over to it, and tapped a knuckle against it, opening a video link and coming face-to-face with Amy. To her surprise, the hedgehog was genuinely smiling- The lynx was good enough at reading people to tell the difference between the forced, not-quite-reaching-the-eyes smile she had worn before leaving with the others, and the genuine look of happiness and relief she had now. From her surroundings, she appeared to be in the back seat of the Tornado, and she was wearing a thick winter coat. “Hello, Amy,” Nicole smiled half-heartedly. “You’re looking pleased with something.” “We did it!” She announced. “I’m sorry, did what?” “We saved Sally!” She clarified. Nicole brightened immediately, shifting closer to the screen. “Wait, really?” “Yeah. I mean, technically we just knocked her out so you can zap into her computer-brain and undo whatever Eggman did to her, but the hard part’s over!” “Oh my gods, that’s wonderful!” Nicole beamed. “Please, hurry back!” “Well, we were actually hoping you could send yourself over and do it in-flight,” Amy said. “We’re not sure how long she’s going to be out and if she wakes up in transit we could be in trouble.” “I’m afraid my long-range connections have been deactivated by Naugus…” Nicole let out a sigh. “But the Tornado is one of the fastest planes around.” “That’s true, in jet mode,” Tails’ voice cut in from somewhere in front of Amy’s seat. “Unfortunately we’re in biplane mode, and we can’t transform it right now. We had to put Mecha Sally in the cargo hold.” “Oh, I see…” Nicole paused. “What’s your ETA?” “About two hours,” Amy said, looking less happy now. “So we should be okay, but it might be bad.” The two friends’ conversation was interrupted from a loud clang somewhere below Amy. Her eyes went wide, as she glanced down on instinct, then laughed nervously and looked back to the lynx. “I… may have just jinxed it.” “Oh no…” “It’s alright, we should be able to subdue her again, Silver’s here too, it’s just… this isn’t a good position for her to wake up in,” Amy continued, as another clang sounded. A few more ominous sounds of the Tornado’s titanium frame taking a beating from inside, before the sound of tearing metal alerted them both to the cargo doors being torn from their mountings. “Amy, is she loose?” Nicole slammed her hands against either side of the screen, panic rising. “Yes, she is, but it’s okay, Silver’s-” “Missile lock!” Tails shouted. “We’ve got Eggman on our tail!” “Amy, Tails!” Nicole screamed. “It’s alright, we’ll be okay!” Amy said, already drawing her hammer. “Tails is taking us down, we’ll be-” The link went dead, and Nicole backed away, curling up again. It wasn’t fair! They were so close to getting her back, but now Eggman was going to sweep their feet from under them again, if they even survived the crash landing. Her friends were alone, somewhere cold and dangerous, and she couldn’t help them thanks to Naugus. One result found! Nicole looked up again. Her memory bank search had born fruit. She looked at the single result, a text file with no preview. Odd… and highly suspect. She subjected it to every sort of security scan she could think of, but there didn’t seem to be anything actually untoward about it. It even had Rotor’s signature on it. Shrugging, she opened the file, and found what looked to be an old Brain Trust memo, with some sparse text on it. Knothole, under the lab. The codeword is ‘Ignite’. Use only when there is no other choice. Under the lab? There was something below Tails and Rotor’s workshop this whole time? Would it perhaps have survived the destruction of the old city?  She certainly didn’t recall that… Still, she wasn’t as omnipresent back in those days, so it could’ve slipped her notice… If Eggman was focusing on recovering Mecha Sally, he probably didn’t have any attacks on the city lined up. He was the sort to generally fixate on a single goal, especially if it was something taking whatever he’d claimed as his own- Just thinking of Sally in that context made the AI nauseous, but Eggman’s fixation gave her all the room to investigate this… maybe it was something that could allow her to help… Nicole quickly transferred herself over to the computer in Freedom HQ, hologram taking full form in the main room. She floated from the domed building and made her way over to the site of the old lab. With a wave of her hand, a small telekinetic pulse rippled the dust and rubble away. There, beneath the surface layer, was a heavy iron door, with a keypad beside it. She leaned down, inspecting the controls themselves. They seemed to still be working, fortuitously. I-G-N-I-T-E Long-abandoned engines groaned into life, servos straining as the door began to lift up, hydraulics whining all the way. Stairs extended down into the dark depths, but her own body lit the way for her as she descended into the hidden chamber. At the bottom, she found a small corridor, leading up to a sliding door with a camera above it and a screen either side. As she approached, the camera angled toward her, and the left screen popped into life. Today had largely been full of things she didn’t expect. She didn’t expect to hear that Sonic’s team had captured Mecha Sally. She didn’t expect to hear that Silver was with them. She didn’t expect to find a hidden file in her system. She didn’t expect said file to lead her to a secret room underneath the remains of the lab in her old home. And, adding another to the list, she wasn’t expecting to see Fiona Fox’s face looking back at her from the screen. Instinctively, her response was to prepare for some form of attack on the other side of the door, but she noticed that the vixen appeared to be standing in the same lab that she had just passed through the rubble of, wearing her old yellow and white outfit, and her expression was calm and neutral, rather than the ridiculous forced grin she normally wore now. “Hey Nicole,” The recording spoke. “If you’re watching this, then either someone’s brought you down here or Tails’ predictions for your development were accurate and you’re now moving on your own. Oh, also, something’s going really, really wrong and we need a new big gun.” The recording went to static for a moment, before clearing up again. “If you’ve entered the “Ignite” code then the lab’s systems should be preparing what we have locked up here. Tails, Rotor, Chuck, Tommy and I have been working on it for a while now, trying to make it safe to use, but… we haven’t had much luck, and experience with these things tells me that we can’t wing it with this one. I mean, if it doesn’t work, it’ll take all of Sonic, or Tails, or Knuckles’ power to subdue it. Probably.” More static, and a clear image again. “Basically, if you’re looking at releasing it, well, only do it if it can’t really make it any worse. I call it the ‘Darkest Hour Protocol’. This little guy-” Fiona’s arm reached out of the frame and dragged Tails into view. The smaller fox looked as though his brain had stopped working at the contact, and Nicole couldn’t tell whether Fiona was aware or not. “- thinks I’m being cynical and maudlin, but I don’t see him or Rote coming up with anything better, do I?” “W-well… no.” Tails sighed. “Exactly! So yeah, please be careful with this, Nicole. Of all of us, I know you’re the one we can all count on to do the right thing with this power. If you need it for real, the second password is ‘Awaken’.” The recording cut off, the screen going dark as Nicole approached the door. Her fingers brushed against the keypad, pausing for a moment. Fiona’s warning seemed more than dire. Whatever was on the other side of this door could potentially win them the fight, or it could make things even harder for them. The fact that this had been hidden from her, the key buried in her code made her suspicious… No. She couldn’t sit around and wish she could help her friends, and then pass up the potential opportunity. If it was something that the Brain Trust had worked on, it was probably a machine anyway, so if it couldn’t help, she could shut it down. A-W-A-K-E-N The door slid open with a pneumatic hiss, the room on the other side lighting up. Heading inside, the first thing she encountered was what appeared to be a Chaos Emerald, though the glow was much fainter than normal, resting on a small stand. “Tails’ synthetic Emerald… So this is where it ended up…” Behind it, against the back wall, was what appeared to be a metal casket, lined with faint blue lights. She walked over to it, laying her hand on the top. To her shock, the box hummed into life, a glowing blue circle lighting up around her hand, lines spreading out from it, covering the whole piece. The top split down the middle, and with a rumble, began to open. Nicole jumped back, as a mechanical arm lowered from the ceiling, grabbing the Emerald from where it stood. It slid over to the casket, lowering the Emerald into it. Nicole rushed back over, watching a claw extend from inside, grasping the Emerald, then retracting back down. The gemstone descended into what appeared to be a socket made to fit it, a ring of metal plates closing in to mostly cover it, lines of warm yellow light spreading from it like arteries, filling out the shape of a Mobian figure, roughly the same size as her hologram. What looked almost like a metallic liquid spread up from around the metal skeleton’s feet, forming the shape of armoured plating- Thick, bulky, and rounded. At the same time, more pieces of the endoskeleton rotated and clicked into place around the robot’s chest, forming a rounded shape with a hole in the centre, through which Nicole could see the faint glow of the Emerald beneath it. A faint mote of energy floated up into the empty chest cavity, and for a moment, it hung there, unmoving, before it flickered, sparked, began to grow, first to a small flame, then rapidly turning into a raging inferno of Chaos within the new machine’s heart. The spreading metal formed the two halves of a chestplate, then closed down over it, the blazing core only visible through a trio of circles in the centre of the plate. Above it, two optic sensors lit up, bright yellow with a tiny, almost-white pupil in the centre, before a third opened in the centre of the forehead. The trio of beady eyes focused on her for a second, before golden fire erupted from within the casket, throwing her back once again. The figure all but rolled out of the casket, perching on edge in a crouched position. Its eyes scanned across the room for a moment, before it stood and launched itself upwards, straight through the ceiling, on a tower of blue flame. “Oh dear…” Nicole murmured. Phasing through the now-crumbling ceiling, she spotted the robot hovering above her head. In the daylight, she was able to see it more clearly. Most of the plating on its body was a light sandy colour, with bronze on its shoulders, knees, the soles of its heavy, boot-like feet, and the distinctive single-pointed crest extending from its forehead. Burnished brown covered its upper arms, thighs, hands, and narrow midsection. It seemed to sense her presence, as it it whirled to face her and immediately raced back down toward her. She phased back from the strike, which split the earth where she had been standing just moments before, and floated herself upwards. Whatever this robot was, it had gone berserk within seconds of waking up, and Nicole quickly found herself regretting her decision to ignore Fiona’s warning. Out here, her processing power was limited, and if it happened to destroy the headquarters in its rampage, she would lose connection entirely. As the robot recovered from its slam, it locked onto her, staring for a moment. “Δείξε μου τη δύναμή σου. Ή δεν θα υπακούω. Εκπροσωπώ όλα τα πράγματα και θα γίνω Γκισοειδής, ο κατακτητής όλων …”  The voice came from the machine’s head, somewhere behind the mouthplate on its face. The tone was softer than she expected, not a harsh, grating screech, or a monotonous drone, but much more lifelike, almost like that of a young woman. The language itself wasn’t one currently in use… but Nicole did recognise it. It angled up toward her and fired its thrusters again, launching itself up toward her, fist drawing back as Chaos flared around it. Nicole braced, holding her hand forward, a square barrier of light forming between the two of them. The robot’s fist smashed through the shield, continuing to race upward, until it stopped dead, its punch slamming uselessly into a wall of telekinetic force. For a moment, its engines strained against the psychic barrier, while Nicole held firm, feeding as much power into it as she could. She spotted the droid’s third optic focusing on her for a moment, before its engines began to wind down. It jetted back slightly, circling slowly as its eye continued to scan her. Then, its pinprick pupils widened, growing to normal size. Its eyes turned blue, as did the glow from the circles on its chest. The central eye snapped shut at the same time. “Ποιος είσαι?” Nicole paused for a moment, as her systems processed the two samples of language from the robot. “Hm… Nocturnian?” She mused, quickly translating the original speech it had sent her. It had asked her who she was. ‘Show me your power. Or I shall not obey. I represent all things, and shall become Gizoid, the conqueror of all... ’ So, that was what Fiona meant… This thing was powerful, and without something else powerful to match it, it would be uncontrollable. Luckily, it seemed her psionic abilities were enough to qualify. Still, she’d have to be careful with this... Nicole turned to face the robot again, now speaking in its own tongue. “< I am Nicole. I am a Freedom Fighter. Some of my friends found you and gave me the keys to awaken you. >” “<They shouldn’t have done that,>” The robot replied. “<And you shouldn’t have let me out.>” The robot’s inflections weren’t easy to understand in such an old language, but it didn’t take much to pick up on the melancholy in its words. Immediately, Nicole’s wariness eased a little. Clearly the bot was aware of how much of a gamble she was taking by awakening it, and it seemed to feel… shame? Fear? Apprehension? She floated closer to the hovering figure, smiling as disarmingly as possible. “<Why?>” “<I… I don’t remember. My memory banks appear to be damaged. Oh. But I do remember how much power I have… and how bad it would be if that got out…>” “<Well… I have a lot of power too,” Nicole said. “And if that were turned loose against the world, it would be nigh-unstoppable… But… someone very important to me taught me that I can be more than that power. I don’t have to shy away from it for fear of what it could do, especially not if I can use it to help others instead…>” “<I… never thought of it like that…>” The robot admitted, tilting its head as it looked at her. “<Thank you.>” “<You’re welcome.>” She smiled, putting her hand on the bot’s shoulder. To her surprise, the third eye opened again, and a static charge rippled between her fingers and the plating. “Ow! I didn’t think holograms could get static shocks…” “You’re a hologram?” The robot asked. Nicole paused for a second, and realised that it had spoken in North Mercian, rather than Nocturnian. Well, ‘it’ didn’t seem appropriate now. In the more familiar dialect, the robot was clearly speaking with a woman’s voice. “You can speak North Mercian?” “Is that what this language is? I think I just absorbed it from you,” She shrugged, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. “That was probably what shocked you, so, sorry about that.” “You… ‘absorbed’ it?” “Yes, that’s what my power is. That’s why I’m so dangerous, I think. Anything I see, if my brain can comprehend it, I can replicate it. Languages, weapons, powers, the works,” She explained. “But yeah, you’re a hologram?” “This body is. I am an artificial intelligence program. The hologram is how I interact with the world around me.” “That’s actually really cool.” The robot beamed, or at least Nicole assumed she was smiling from her tone of voice. “Thank you,” Nicole smiled. “Do you remember your name?” “Uh… It’s… um…” The robot paused for a moment, then looked back up at her. “My name is Emerl.” “Emerl? Well, it’s nice to meet you, Emerl.” “Thanks, it’s nice to meet you as well,” Emerl nodded. “So, why did you wake me up, then?” Nicole’s face fell, and she looked away from her new friend. “I’m sorry to spring this on you, so soon after you’ve awakened, but I was told not to activate you unless we found ourselves in a crisis… and we’re in a crisis.” “What sort of crisis? Hopefully one where punching things real hard can fix it, otherwise I don’t think I’ll be much help,” Emerl sighed. Nicole laughed slightly, and shook her head a little. “Well, I think it might come in handy… My friends, the Freedom Fighters… we’re the primary opposition to a madman named Doctor Eggman…” “Uh, ‘Egg Man?’ Does that combination of words have a different meaning on this language, or does it still effectively mean Αυγό άνθρωπος?” “It really does mean that. We’re not sure why he calls himself that either,” Nicole shrugged. “In any case, Eggman leads a small Empire of his own, and he has made it his ambition to take over the entire planet and convert everyone on it into a mechanical slave that only exists to follow his orders and massage his fragile ego. Normally, his attacks are fairly inept, but occasionally he manages to hit us just right... “ “He transformed our leader, Princess Sally, into a robot slave and then weaponised her body to make her into a combat droid. Shortly after that, two more of us fell in battle… And now three more of us have gone to try and rescue Sally. They were successful, but something took down their plane and Mecha Sally woke up, so now they’re stranded somewhere north of here and they’re in danger… and I can’t do anything to help them.” “Okay, that sounds like a pretty huge crisis…” “That’s not even the entire problem… but, it is the most pressing concern right now. The plane went down about half an hour ago by now… And I’ve been working to position their exact location all this time… I think I’ve got it, but I don’t know how long they’ve got…” “Well, you’re in luck,” Emerl said. “I happen to be pretty fast, and I also have a vacant storage slot for an AI in my head. I think it’s for recovery purposes… but I’m not sure what I’d be recovering. Anyway, it’s there for you. If you guide me, we can rescue your friends.” “Really?!” Nicole gasped, hugging the robot. “Thank you!” “Not a problem, Nicole.”