#wish i could format like i want on here without it being an annoying asshole

[cabaallias]

Cant sleep, so in the meantime, have this Michael Afton drabble/character study that's mainly focused in a self-reflection/flashback to the Bite of '83. I did it a few years ago. It was just sitting in my ipad doing nothing and I'm actually pretty proud of it :]

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“And to you, my brave volunteer, who somehow found this job listing not intended for you. Although, there was a way out planned for you, I have a feeling that's not what you want. I have a feeling that you are right where you want to be.”

Michael frowned as he sat in the cramped security office. The temperature is rising to sweltering heats. Metal started to soften and the beginnings of a crackle of electrical fire picked up from beyond the room. As Henry Emily spoke on, the decrepit man thought back on his life.

His childhood was less than good, and Michael had been less than bad. His father had been a resilient, apathetic man. He didn’t show any emotion to his late wife nor children if it was not for show or ridicule. He was prone to cruel words and physical punishments for his kids while Clara was drained from his manipulation and take, take, take, never give attitude. It consequently lead to their quiet divorce; Clara didn’t put up a fight to keep anything (Michael sometimes loathes that she didn’t, but he understands why).. It consequently led to their quiet divorce; Clara didn’t put up a fight to keep anything (Michael sometimes loathes that she didn’t, but he understands why).

After that, William seemed to turn his sights on his first son. The remarks were subtle, but just jarring enough to reverberate in Michael’s head. The cruelty turned from outright cold disgust to bittersweet; micro aggressions that couldn’t be picked up by anyone outside the Afton household, if it could even be called that. The physical punishments varied in occurrence and eventually was replaced by those poignant words. Sometimes he wished that his father would just beat him like he used to, because then he wouldn’t be forced to doubt his father’s hatred towards him.

It went on for years like that. William always favored his first daughter and youngest son. Elizabeth was a rather sassy and demanding girl. She could command a room like her father and she had the stubbornness to match in volume. That stubbornness eventually got her killed by an animatronic that was modeled to the likeliness of her. It was, ironically, made by the father.

Evan had caught a glimpse of what happened from behind a corner. He had told Michael after a full night of terrors. His dark brown eyes were clouded and glassy from the tears that streamed down his blotched face. His brother had always been a bit of a crybaby, but he was never this bad. He never sobbed so loudly to the point Michael had to cover his mouth to keep William from hearing, because then they both would be in trouble for waking him at 6 am. The boy cried about torn, rotting versions of the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza animatronics. About metal claws that shone, but definitely had rust. About a finger-trap plush of Spring Bonnie from Fredbear’s Family Diner. About how his Fredbear plush would never comfort, only offer somber, semi-compressible advise. Michael had, of course, consoled Evan during the aftermath of his night-terrors, but had left him to his fearful devices.

Meanwhile, the subtle grip his father had on him began to tighten to the near point of suffocation. William whispered about Elizabeth’s death to him in passing. Like it was a regular conversation. About how he should have been watching her. How it was his fault she was gripped by Circus Baby’s claw and dragged into the stomach hatch to compress her bones and organs into a bloody mess. How he would pay for letting it happen, but not yet. It wasn’t time. I have something planned for you, dear son.

Michael could feel himself be put under the scrutiny of his father. It was like a chained collar made of electric barbed wire that would fire off if he swallowed, shallow or not. It made his anxiety and depression worsen and turn into an especially cruel form of bullying that targeted anything that made him feel like curling up into a ball and wasting away like some pitiful creature (That made him want to give in to his father’s ministrations). Sadly, his main subject turned into his younger brother. The way he cried and sobbed about Elizabeth and his nightmares made Michael feel sympathetic, but it was the way he garnered positive attention from their father was what made him want to (give up) pummel Evan. So, he began to play his cruel jokes on the boy. He tore the Foxy plush’s head off. He bought a Foxy mask to jumpscare him with because he remembered that Evan was the most afraid of the Foxy that appeared in his nightmares. Evan eventually stopped coming to him in the early mornings and William had begun to tell him how Michael was growing to be just like him (no, no, no, no, no, no).

Michael’s biggest regret was his final prank.

It was preceded by 5 days of torturing Evan in the cold, mechanical-like walls of their home. He remembers locking him in Parts and Service at Fredbear’s during that week and jumping out at him in various rooms. He vividly remembers surrounding the poor, tired, tortured boy at Fredbear’s Family Diner with his equally cruel friends. Each had on their own mask from Freddy Fazbear’s. They each had taken a limb into a strong grasp and dragged the shaking, sobbing boy towards the stage. Fredbear’s gold fur shone in the lights that had seemed just a bit too bright that day. The rabbit, Spring Bonnie, plucked at the strings of his banjo while his green eyes seemed to be staring into the soul of Michael. It made him think of his father, who had always favored the rabbit over the bear. It made him quiver with fear and he could feel the barbed collar around his neck again. The barbs pressed into his veins and all it did was squeeze - Michael doesn’t notice that they’re at the edge of the stage - and squeeze - Michael doesn’t notice that his friends (acquaintances) agree to lift Evan up to Fredbear (Evan had crawled into his bed that morning, crying silently that a creature resembling a twisted, shadowy Fredbear had nearly bitten his head off with the mouth on its stomach (stomach hatch) and almost torn him in half with its claws while laughing cruelly. It sounded like demented radio static, Mikey, it was terrible) - and squeeze - Michael doesn’t notice Evan pleading for his life while he is shoved head first into (Nightmare’s) Fredbear’s mouth - and squeeze (he promised Evan that he wouldn’t let anything bite or tear him apart that morning (you’re just like me, Mikey)) -

The deafening crunch of Evan’s skull made everyone in the diner fall silent. Michael notices the blood gushing from the animatronic’s mouth and pooling onto the floor. The gold dyed red as Spring Bonnie chuckled and stilled in his movements. Someone had puked, there’s multiple screaming, everyone is snatching their kids up and taking them outside, someone is calling the police.

Those green eyes settled on Michael. He didn’t see an animatronic, but rather, he saw his father. Cruel light hidden behind a facade of goodwill. Overpowering, commanding listen to me, listen to me, only to me or you’ll regret it.

He can feel his brother’s blood on him. It coated his arms, the damned Foxy mask, the front of his shirt. Some of it dripped into the mask and on his face. His eyes are trained on the limp body of Evan, who was slowly beginning to slid out of Fredbear’s mouth. The blood made the passage slick and quick once he reached the edge of Fredbear’s teeth. The innocent, tortured, tired, dead boy fell into Michael’s still outstretched arms. His… head… dear god it’s basically gone. The gray matter’s fluid and blood stained the messy chestnut brown hair and ran down his body like some morbid shower. Bits of cracked skull stuck out of the mush and tangled in the matting hair. Michael’s mask fell off; the flimsy string having snapped. And it was like he could see clearly now. He did this. He allowed this to happen. He killed Evan. He killed him. He killed him. It’s his fault. His throat is closed up and is choking him of air. The eyes of Spring Bonnie, William Afton, his father, gleamed down onto him. His eyes rolled back into his skull and he fainted, still holding the little brother he tortured in his bloody arms.

[belphies-cuhm-sluht]

Well, what about the reader starting to date Belphegor after they dated Satan? Like that one you wrote with Lucifer and Satan

Every Moon Sets (Belphegor x GN!Reader ft. Satan)

A/N : Been gone for 2 days because I’m a cry baby bitch who can’t handle my period cramps at all, and I think I’m coming down with something so ugh... anyway, here’s this! Also i posted this from my phone, so the format is janky and im gonna have to fix it when i get back on my computer.... Also, the title is another Brothertiger song... <.<

Word Count : 1.7k

Warnings : angst ; Satan being a genuine asshole ;

“Oh please, do you really think I care what you do? You humans are always saying you’re leaving, but you’re so good at crawling back. Do you want me to leave the door open for you so you won’t have to reach up for the knob while you’re on your knees?” That was the thing… that was the problem right there. He didn’t care, he never cared. Every single thing you did seemed to be a burden to him, even just talking to him seemed like it drove him nuts. That’s why you had told him that you were leaving in the first place, and his reaction only made you that much more sure that you were making the right decision.

“I hate you so much…” You mumbled, turning to walk out the door. You only heard him scoff from behind you. As much as he hated Lucifer, he was so much like him, it would make him sick, but, lo and behold, the only person that he made sick was you. You slammed the door behind you, walking down the stairs to go to the kitchen, spotting Beel rummaging through the fridge and Belphie sitting on the counter as he waited for his twin. You quickly wiped your tears, not wanting them to question what was going on, you knew how close the brothers were, especially Satan and Belphie due to their hatred of Lucifer, and you didn’t want to cause a rift.

The youngest smiled to you as you walked in and you faked a smile back to him, moving quickly to grab a cup from one of the cabinets and fill it with water. You weren’t planning on sticking around long, and you didn’t want to talk, you just wanted to go to your room. “Hey, Y/N. What’s up? You can’t say hi?” Belphie teased as he slid off the counter, walking over to you. “Are you coming to the meeting tonight? I know Satan has one planned, and… you know, I don’t even know why I’m asking. You’re always there.”

“No, I’m not going to be there.” You muttered, quickly filling your cup and gulping all of the water down as Belphie stared at you, waiting for you to explain, but you didn’t really want to. There was nothing to explain. Satan was just a… well.. He was a demon, and that shouldn’t shock any of the brothers, it wouldn’t come as a surprise, so there was no need to elaborate any further. “Have fun though.”

You placed the cup in the sink and turned to walk away, but Belphie quickly moved to stand in front of you, looking over your face to try to figure out as much as he could without you having to explain. “You two broke up, didn’t you?” It was a rhetorical question, and the way you grimaced and tried to turn away only proved that he was right. “What did he do?” He asked softly, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to read your eyes.

You shook your head, taking a deep breath as you tried to move around him. You didn’t want to talk about it, and you really wished that he would understand that. You weren’t even sure when the two of you had gotten so close, maybe it was the fact that you were always at the meetings and he just felt that way. You didn’t mind it, but you didn’t want to come between the brothers. “It’s nothing, just… Have fun at your meeting, alright? I’ll see you later.”

He sighed loudly, stepping to the side to let you move past him, his eyes never leaving your back as you walked away. “Screw the damn meeting…” He mumbled, patting Beel on the back to let him know he was leaving as he made his way up to the attic, grabbing his pillows and his blankets and carrying them back down to your room. He didn’t bother to knock, walking in and dropping all of his things on the floor next to your bed before laying down on them, propping his head up on his hand and looking up at you. “You know, I’m not a total asshole. I can see when you’re upset, and… I’m not going to just let you walk away like that.”

No one had expected the two of you to be together, hell, the two of you didn’t even expect that you’d end up together, but you did. What had started as just a friend comforting you through your breakup had turned into so much more. He had gone from sitting in the middle of your bedroom floor or the both of you sitting on opposite ends of the attic bed to him climbing into your bed with you or laying his head across your lap as you absentmindedly played with his hair.

It started off small, casually flirting with each other or cuddling up to each other as you napped together. Small things, things that you never thought would turn to anything more serious. It had gone on like that for months, and maybe he had let it go so long because he assumed that you’d go back to Satan, or maybe because he assumed that he wasn’t good enough to have you for himself, but he was at least a good enough friend to keep you company while you were hurting.

You didn’t think he’d ever do anything, and you truly didn’t even believe that he had any feelings for you besides being your friend until one morning at breakfast, with all of his brothers sitting around the table waiting for him and you to join them. Satan had mumbled something shitty and snide under his breath, and while you hadn’t even been paying attention enough to even notice, Belphie had caught it. He shot Satan a glare before grabbing your hand and pulling you back towards him, and before you even realized what was going on, his lips were pressed against yours. He didn’t pull back immediately, it was like months of built up emotions were let out in that one kiss, and you grew weak in his arms, letting your body fall against his.

The sound of Satan’s fists being slammed against the table and his chair falling back as he pushed himself back with too much force caught both of your attentions, Belphie’s arm staying wrapped around your waist as he pulled you closer to him. “Are you kidding me right now?! You’re a traitor. You chose a stupid human over your own brother! I thought we were close!” Satan practically screeched as he leaned across the table, but you could feel Belphie’s chest vibrating with his laughter as he watched Satan’s tantrum.

“We were, until I realized that you’re more like Lucifer than I thought any one of us could ever be. You disgust me.” Anyone would have been able to hear Satan's growl from a mile away, his fingers gripping around his cup and his knuckles turning ghostly pale before he picked it up and launched it across the room, shattering it against the cabinets right above yours and Belphie’s heads.

He shielded you from the shards that ricocheted, bouncing off his back and clattering to the floor as Satan rounded the table. “I’m not one to use worn out phrases, but in regards to an already used up human, I guess it won’t matter much.” He sighed softly, walking over to where you and Belphie stood, slapping his back roughly while letting out a dry chuckle. “Enjoy my seconds. That’s what you’re good at, surely you’d never be anyone’s first choice.” His shoes crushed the glass even further as he walked away, definitely doing it on purpose, maybe it made him feel stronger, or maybe he just enjoyed the thought that someone might miss a shard and step on it.

“I want this cleaned up by the time I come back downstairs from handling Satan. And you, Belphie…” Lucifer groaned, rolling his eyes as he shook his head. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use me in the form of an insult. At least not when I’m sitting right there.”

Things had gone on like that ever since it happened, but yours and Belphie’s relationship only blossomed. Satan made it his life’s mission to sabotage your relationship, finally giving Lucifer a much needed break from the constant pranks that he and Belphie used to pull on him. It’s not even that Satan wanted you back, he just didn’t want anyone else to have you. There was no satisfaction in not having you crawl back to him like you usually would, and now that Belphie had you wrapped around his finger, he’d surely never have that satisfaction.

“Just give up, Satan. We’ve been together for months… you’re only embarrassing yourself.” He groaned, rolling his eyes as he walked out of his room, his arm slung over your shoulder. Satan had been standing outside the door, clearly planning something else that would only annoy you and Belphie in the end.

Satan let out a loud laugh, purposely going overboard with the volume just to piss you and Belphie off. “I’m embarrassing myself ? Says the one who decided to take what belonged to me. How embarrassing that you can’t find someone for yourself so you have to take what’s rightfully mine.” Belphie growled quietly which only had Satan assume he was getting somewhere. Maybe Belphie would give up, he’d become tired of hearing Satan’s nonsensical ramblings. “Oh, what’s wrong Belph? Is the truth really that hard to handle?” He smirked, reaching out to pat Belphie’s shoulder, but he quickly shrugged Satan’s hand off.

“Leave us alone, Satan. They don’t want you anymore. You never deserved Y/N, and you definitely don’t deserve them now. Face it, you fucked up… deal with it.” Belphie took a deep breath as he pulled you away, leaving Satan alone in the middle of the hallway.

He’d never stop though. Maybe he did want you back, maybe it took losing you to realize that you were the greatest he could’ve ever had. That thought is what would keep him going, and he doesn’t care what Belphie says, does, or thinks. You were his first.

[hopesbarnes]

10 Things I hate about you (7)

Summary: Inspired by the movie of the same title. Some lines will be direct quotes from the movie. Story follows movie’s plot.

Warnings: cursing, underage drinking, party scene

A/N: Next chapter will be back to social media format!

By the time Y/N arrives at the party, it’s in full swing. Drunk girls hanging off guys, music playing, and people dancing. It’s the stereotypical high school party. She can’t help but be in shock that she’s actually in a cliche like this. Her sister better be really grateful. 

Brock is here, and sadly her sister likes the douchebag. But Nat doesn’t know the past between Y/N and Brock, despite being sisters they’re not close enough to talk about their lives. It was mostly just bickering and snippy remarks. 

“You look, good baby,” Y/N hears the asshole say and turns around.

“The fuck you want Brock?” She turns to leave.

“Don’t go babydoll.” 

“Gross, leave me alone.”

“Where’s your hot sister, Y/N?”

“Leave her alone too.”

“Bet that’s not what she wants,” he says with a disgusting smirk. She walks away not wanting to be apart of this conversation any longer than you have to. She goes to get a soda and returns to the room to see Nat snuggled up against Brock.

“Guess someone wanted to see me.” He says and turns to walk away.

“Wait, Nat. Can I talk with you?” Nat looks pissed but steps away from Brock to talk to her sister. 

“What do you want?” Nat snaps.

“There’s something you should know about Brock,” Y/N warns.

“Unless it’s how cute he is, leave me alone.” With that Natasha walks back to Brock and they leave the room. Y/N is annoyed, and slightly concerned for her sister and grabs a shot from the kitchen and downs it before processing what she’s really doing. She manages to down two more before a strong arm grabs her wrist.

“What the fuck Y/N, since when do you drink?” Bucky asks.

“Since I’m at a party I don’t want to be at, and my sister is hanging out with the worst guy ever. Leave me alone Bucky, I don’t know you.” She pushes away and leaves Bucky perplexed. Why did he suddenly care what the hell a girl is doing? 

On the other side of the house is Steve walking over to where he sees Nat and Wanda. 

“Hey Natasha,” Steve says shyly rubbing his neck.

“Hi, Steve. Have you met Wanda?” 

“Uh- no. Hey,” he says awkwardly. 

“We have science together right?” Wanda asks.

“Oh, yeah.” It’s silent stiffly for a moment.

“You uh- look good,” Steve says to Natasha and she blushes slightly. 

“Course she looks good, she always does,” Brock says entering the room and both girls giggle at the guy. “C’mon girls let’s go see what’s up around the house.”

“Bye Steve,” Nat says before leaving with Brock. Steve is a little bummed, Nat still prefers that douchebag over him. 

Natasha has been listening to Brock drawl on for 20 minutes about himself. She realizes this is one of the first times they’ve actually had a full conversation, and it’s boring. All she can think of is Steve’s goofy behavior, and wonders if he’s more interesting than this self-conceited guy. Brock is so engrossed in himself, she’s able to slip away without him noticing she’s gone. She finds Wanda.

“This party sucks,” she tells the other redhead. 

Bucky looks around for Y/N. He shouldn’t have let her run off earlier if she really doesn’t drink then it’s not safe for her to be drinking in a house party. When he finds her, it’s because she’s standing on a table, drunk, dancing.

“Finally, she acts like a real fucking girl!” Brock exclaims and eyes the girl dancing. Bucky rushes to get her down only to end up catching her as she missteps. He’s not quick enough to help her from hitting her head against the wall though.

“I think you need some air,” he declares.

“You caught me!” She giggles. He never thought he’d hear this girl giggle. She must have a concussion. 

“Okay, drunky! Let’s go outside.” He laughs.

“Mmkay. Can I sleep though, I’m tiredddd!” Y/N whines.

“No doll, can’t sleep if you might have a concussion,” Bucky states.

“Well, that’s not fair!” Bucky laughs at this. They find a seat on a bench outside and Steve comes over.

“Can we talk?” Steve asks.

“Kinda dealing with something,” Bucky says motioning to the drunk maybe concussed girl who can’t seem to sit up by herself. 

“It’s off. There’s no point in doing all this! She wants that asshole Brock, not some dumb guy like me. Why did I think she would ever go for someone like me. She’s the most popular girl here!” Steve rambles.

“Hey. No. Do you like her?”

“... Yes,” Steve admits.

“Then this is worth it. Brock is a fucking jerk, and she’s gonna see that. When she does, she’ll realize how great you are. Have some fucking confidence. Okay? Now I gotta deal with her so,” Bucky tells him and picks up Y/N to help her get to the car.

“God, you’re so condescending. Think you’re such tough shit.” Y/N babbles as they walk.

“Only you would use big words while hammered. Kinda endearing.” Bucky points out. 

“I hate you. Why are you even driving me home?” 

“Gotta make sure you’re okay.”

“But whyyyy?” she whines.

“Who would I bicker with without you?”

“Probably nobody. Don’t know who’d pay you the time of day.”

“See! Such sweetness. Wouldn’t wanna throw that away,” Bucky laughs. You smile back, too far gone to worry about the mask you usually have on.

“So why did Brock get to you? Bucky asks in a more serious tone.

“I shouldn’t, right!” you say standing up and slightly swaying before getting your footing. “Break me once, shame on you! Wait- that’s not the saying.” she giggles and Bucky just stares confused. 

“What’s that mean?” he asks but she’s too drunk to even notice.

“You have such pretty hair,” she gushes and tugs his strands. “Bucky with the good hair!” Y/N giggles before getting nauseous and completely losing her entire stomach contents on his Doc Martens. 

“Time to get you home!” he declares grossed out. 

Nat is left alone at the party, Wanda’s brother took her home and she was too pissed at her sister to even locate her. She went looking for Brock, hoping he would give her a ride. When she found him, though he was surrounded by his asshole friends.

“Hey Natty! We’re going to Killians to finish this party, you coming?” she sighed. This night had shone her how boring Brock was, and the last thing she wanted was to spend another couple hours with him. Plus she had to be back before curfew or her father would kill her.

“I got curfew! So sad,” she said sarcastically. She would have to call her dad for a ride home, and that sucked.

“Your loss, babydoll,” Brock said and the words left her feeling gross.

Steve was just leaving when he saw Natasha standing alone.

“Have fun?” He asked.

“Loads,” she said rolling her eyes.

“Need a ride, babydoll?” he said laughing at the nickname.

“Gross, don’t even repeat it! But yes please.” 

Bucky and Y/N are in the car on the way home. She’s still partially drunk, enough where she can speak what’s on her mind without worrying what everyone else says.

“I wish I could be this,” she ponders picking up a book on the floor of his car.

“An author?” he asks.

“No, a book,” she laughs sarcastically. “Yeah be an author. Bet dad would love that,” she grumbles.

“Didn’t take you as the kind to care what your daddy says,” Bucky points out.

“You hang out with me like once and think you know me,” Y/N grumbles. “Males are annoying,” she mutters.

“I’m trying to get to know you. You’re making it incredibly hard though!”

“All anyone knows about me is that I’m shrill,” she sighs solemnly.

“What a pair we are,” he says in a similar tone. The two of them share eye contact and Bucky feels something. It’s more than what he should for this being just a service he’s paid for.

“So your dad? What’s the deal?” he asks.

“Wants me to be what I’m not.”

“Like what?”

“Like Natasha,” she shrugs. They pull into her driveway and remain seated.

“So like, I get that everyone is in love with her. But I don’t get it, she’s just a girl. Not sure the obsession,” Bucky adds. Y/N looks at him again. Everybody always prefers her sister. Why have the complex bitch when you can have the cute girl next door? It’s the first time anyone has liked her more than her sister, and it leaves her stomach in knots. 

“Everybodys got you all wrong,” she decides. In a moment she’ll blame the amount of alcohol in her head, she leans in wanting to kiss Bucky. But Bucky pulls away and taps his hands against the wheel.

“I should get home,” he says. Y/N gets up and slams the car door angerly. The first guy she’s let herself like in years doesn’t want to kiss her. What the hell is wrong with her? She doesn’t even bother to look back as Bucky pulls out of the driveway.

Slightly later on Steve and Natasha pull in to the driveway too. Steve breaks the silence.

“You never really wanted to date me, did you?” 

“I did!” she squeaks out. It’s obvious she’s lying.

“No, you didn’t,” he sighs.

“No, I didn’t,” she repeats. 

“You could’ve just told me that. God, have you always been this self-centered?”

“Yes,” she mumbles in such a low volume he barely catches it.

“Just because you’re hot, and have that amazing hair doesn’t mean you can just stomp all over people. I mean, I do have feelings. I like you, like a lot. And this whole time you were just messing with me. It’s unfair. You shou-” Steve rambles but is cut off. Nat meets his lips in a kiss. It’s the most innocent thing, and lasts all of 5 seconds but he doesn’t care. The two part dumbstruck and she smiles before leaving the car, practically skipping back to her house. 

“I can definitely do that all day,” Steve smiles to himself shamelessly. 

[romansleftshoulderpad]

Almost Had You (But I Guess That Doesn’t Cut It)

Tags: @fandermom @my-analogical-romance @patchworkofstars @poisonedapples @hogwarts-my-love @opaque-puppet 

Words: 1,706

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of doing drugs, the word “slut” used in lyrics, weed, Deceit and Remus mentioned but not by name

Ship: Prinxiety

Quick note: the formatting might be a little off on mobile, but it works fine on AO3!

---

I almost got drunk at school at 14 Where I almost made out with the homecoming queen.

It had been 12 years since Roman and Virgil met. It had been 10 since they became friends. It had been 8 since they started dancing around each other like pining, gay ballerinas.

Who almost went off to be Ms. Texas, But lost to a slut with much bigger breastes.

Roman could remember the exact moment he started to fall in love. It was the end of their senior year. They had been messing around in Virgil’s “studio”, an extra walk-in closet in his dad’s apartment. Virgil was painting a stormy sky while Roman played around with an old guitar that hadn’t been touched in years (save for specks of paint and purple storm clouds painted on the wood). Roman had been messing around with different chords but he found himself enchanted by Virgil. His bangs were tied back into a bun and his arms were covered in white, lilac, and navy blue. His tongue stuck out between his lips in concentration as he tried to paint the moon just right.

That’s when it hit Roman. He could easily see them doing just the same in 20, 30, or 40 years. Maybe in a different town, maybe with different hairstyles or clothes, but still them. Still happy. Still soft and domestic.

Married. He could see them together and in love. It was terrifying, but as he closed his eyes, he played a love song.

I almost dropped out to move to LA Where I was Almost famous for Almost a day.

It was college that separated them. Roman was going to a fancy music school and Virgil wasn’t going anywhere. It was one of the worst fights they’d ever had.

“Come on, Virge! It’ll be perfect!” Roman pleaded.

“Perfect for you, maybe,” Logan muttered.

“Oh shut up, nerdy wolverine,” Roman snapped.

“Even combined, how are we supposed to afford an apartment in L.A?” Virgil asked, not looking up from his sketchbook.

“We’ll figure it out!”

“You mean I’ll figure it out while you get a degree.”

“Just forget about rent,” Roman said. “We’d have so much fun! We can watch Tim Burton movies every week and cook together and go on adventures!”

“Roman, if I may add some input-“

“Logan,” Virgil said quietly, “can you give us a moment alone, please?”

“Don’t sign any contracts without a lawyer present,” Logan said, and with that, he left.

“Roman, I can’t just pack up and leave because you need a roommate,” Virgil said. “I’m not even sure why you’re asking me anyway. Obviously, there are better options.”

“Better options?”

“Yes! Like Logan-“ Roman scoffed. “Or Remy! Or even your brother!”

“I’ve lived with my brother for far too long, thank you very much,” Roman said. “But why do you think there’s better options? Why is it so hard to imagine me wanting to be closer to you?” Virgil chewed on his lip, visibly becoming more anxious. “Virgil, you’re my friend. I care about you.”

“You shouldn’t!” Virgil yelled but it echoed like a scream. Tears pricked at his eyes and as Roman took a step forward he took a step back. “I gotta go.” He grabbed his backpack and ran out of the door before Roman could go after him.

I almost held up a grocery store Where I almost did five years and then seven more

Virgil was 22 and living with a friend of the brother of a friend. It sucked. He spent most of his nights' painting and wondering how much better his life would be if he had said “yes” to Roman’s offer. He picked up a drawn on canvas he had titled “Two Lovers” And began to paint as his thoughts spiraled.

Instead of loud music and loud... other sounds coming from his roommate’s bedroom, he’d at least only have to deal with Disney songs and rapping along to Hamilton. And yes, Virgil would have to admit, watching The Nightmare Before Christmas would be a lot more enjoyable than airing out the living room to get rid of the smell of weed.

He looked at the painting. The two lovers were still just a sketch. He took a pencil and adjusted one of the lovers to be male instead of female. “Could be gayer,” he mumbled to himself as he did so.

What would watching movies with Roman be like anyway? Virgil grabbed a clean brush and started painting in the couch the lovers sat on. He’d be annoying and talk through the whole film, of course. Probably eats popcorn way too loudly. Of course, he would have been the one insistent on making popcorn. Probably homemade because he would insist that it’s superior to the bagged stuff.

He’d probably fall asleep during the movie. It’d be far too much of ask of the arrogant asshole to actually appreciate art. He’d lean onto Virgil as he’d begin to doze off. He’d pretend to yawn and put his arm sound Virgil’s shoulders, holding him tight. Virgil chewed his lip as he painted. He worked on the lovers’ clothes and skin. Roman was always a deep sleeper; he’d be impossible to wake up. This would, of course, keep Virgil trapped on the couch. Virgil hated being trapped.

But would being stuck with Roman even be a bad thing? Virgil had slept on plenty of couches before, surely it wouldn’t be worse to share that space with someone warm holding you tight. Roman’s heartbeat would be calming and lull Virgil to sleep.

Cause I almost got popped for a fight with a thug Cause he almost ran off with a bunch of the drugs That I almost got hooked on cause you ran away.

Virgil looked at the two lovers holding each other tight and dressed in red and purple.

And I wish I would have had the nerve to ask you to stay.

Roman dropped out of that college after two years. It was a tough choice, but it was for the best. He’d looked at a picture from his high school graduation. He wasn’t the same anymore, but that wasn’t a bad thing. He just had new interests and passions.

And at 26 he was going back to a new college to pursue a writing degree. But he kept drifting back to that graduation photo. He hadn’t seen Virgil in 5 years, but he still had a soft spot for him. He still had so many things left to say.

Here I go thinking ‘bout all the things I could’ve done.

He pulled out his laptop.

I’m gonna need a forklift cause all the baggage weighs a ton.

Virgil pulled the rest of his boxes out of the moving truck. He finally got away from roommates and memories of the past. He was free.

He opened a box labeled “Paintings” and saw it staring back at him. The two lovers.

I know we had our problems. I can’t remember one.

Roman kept typing. It was a stupid email to write to someone he hadn’t seen in years but getting all of these feelings out was pure ecstasy.

I almost forgot to say something else And if I can’t fit it in I’ll keep it all to myself.

Virgil put the painting in a frame and hung it up in his unfurnished living room.

I almost wrote a song about you today. But I tore it all up and then I threw it away.

Roman deleted the email.

And I Almost had you, But I guess that doesn’t cut it.

Both of them sat, miles apart, staring at their screens and silently begging for contact. For nostalgia. For a second chance.

Virgil hated risk. He hated change. Yet, as he looked around at the unpacked boxes, he knew a tiny bit of change between him and Roman wouldn’t make that much of a difference. He picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts.

Almost had you.

Ringing. And ringing. And ringing.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Virgil’s heart raced. He hated phone calls and Roman probably didn’t want to talk to him anyway and- oh this was such a bad idea. “R- Roman?” he asked, his mouth dry. “It’s Virgil. You still live in L.A right?”

“Virgil,” Roman repeated. His heart was beating just as fast. “It’s been a while. And yeah- yeah I still live here.” He took a deep breath. “How are you?”

“I, uh, just moved to California. Exciting, right? Uh, and I- I was wondering...” He took a deep breath and tried to steady his shaking hands. He exhaled slowly. “Do you want to grab coffee?”

And I didn’t even know it.

“Coffee,” Roman said with a smile. “Coffee would be great. You can tell me where you’re near and I can meet you somewhere. You must be tired.”

“You have no idea,” Virgil said with a laugh. He glanced to the painting and let his anxieties melt away. He smiled. “I’ve missed you.”

“I- I’ve missed you too,” Roman said, barely above a whisper. He wondered if Virgil could hear his smile.

“Meet me at 4?”

“4,” Roman said. “See you there.”

You kept me guessin’ And now I’m destined To spend my time missing you.

He looked the same way he did six years ago. He had his hair pulled back into a bun with colors on his arms, only now they were stray tattoos and not paint splatters. He looked more tired and spaced out. Surely from the stress of moving, but Roman was one hundred percent ready to take this man home and properly lull him to sleep.

Roman was different though. Dressed to impress as if meeting a stranger and not an ex-best friend. It was appropriate, almost. They had become strangers. Almost. Strangers didn’t spend years thinking of one another.

“Virgil,” Roman said with a smile and open arms.

“Princey,” Virgil said with a smile, falling into his open arms and holding him tight. Past fights and years of regrets faded away. They were together now, and Virgil knew he’d have his chance.

I almost wish you would have loved me

Wish you would have loved me too.

[carol-effing-danvers]

knock me the fuck out (i dare ya, babe) part two

More Teacher Steve and Soft Billy!

Part One 

Prefer Ao3 Format? Click here!

Angie is left to wail with around the living room with increasingly frustrated hunger, because Steve needs to spend the first thirty minutes after he comes home screaming into a pillow.

Had Billy seen him staring?

He was so sweet with Lauren, so gentle to her that Steve couldn’t help his smiling, but he’d seen the annoyed expression on Billy’s face from the corner of his eye when he’d turned away. Could he tell that Steve had been checking him out earlier? Maybe he just didn’t want to call him out in front of Lauren and the other children? Maybe he loathed Steve just as much as ever did?

Steve hugs a pillow to his stomach and rests his cheek atop it, feeling glum. Figures. Figures that the first boy he’d ever been attracted to would roll back into town ten years later (looking finer than any person has a right to!), while Steve spends his days with children and his nights alone.

He can’t even get a girlfriend anymore – after the big bisexual breakdown, no girl in Hawkins will date him, but he wished he had a boyfriend or at least a hookup he could call.

Robin gets dates, but he concedes that it’s probably easier when the entire town doesn’t know you’re a queer.

He can’t date any woman within ten miles of the town – even if she somehow doesn’t already know the whole stupid story yet, someone will happily and gleefully open their mouth to enlighten her. And no man will date him either, because agreeing to that is basically agreeing to let the whole town know who you are. There’d be no hiding it.

Flopping his face back down into the pillow, Steve screams some more, before jumping off the couch with a sudden burst of motion. No, no. He promised himself, he promised Robin, he promised Dustin, that he wasn’t going to make himself feel bad about this anymore. The past was the past, and he couldn’t change it.

So what if his dad never spoke to him and his mom only called twice a year? That was about the amount of contact they used to have! So what if the parents tried to stop him from being hired? They hadn’t been able to succeed and Steve got the job of his dreams anyway! So what if he still had a crush on Billy Hargrove? He’d survived it the first time and he’d survive it again.

God knows he’s survived worse.

“Uh, Steve-o?” Robin asks, looking around the kitchen. “Wanna tell me what happened to you today?”

“What do you mean?” Steve responds absently, without looking up from the pan of mushrooms on the stove.

“Steve, you’re making beef wellington, honey,” she says carefully, as though making Steve aware of this might make him explode or something. “I mean, please don’t stop, because your beef wellington is fucking amazing – but you also only make it when you feel like shit. So. Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

He stares down at the pan. “Did you know that Billy Hargrove was back in town?”

“Billy – Max’s brother, Billy?” Robin asks. Steve could almost feel her bristling. “He didn’t start threatening you again, did he?”

“No, Max was right,” he says, in the soft stilted tone that tells her he’s actually very upset. “He’s much calmer now.”

“Okay,” she says slowly. “Then you need to tell me why you look like someone killed Angie in front of you.”

Woodenly, he replies “Remember how I said I had a crush on a straight boy, back in ’86, when all the shit was going down?”

“Oh my god, Steve-”

“But he wouldn’t give me the time of day, unless it involved his fist and my face? Billy was that boy. Is that boy. Man. Whatever.”

“Steve,” Robin says seriously, grabbing onto his forearms and holding her eyes open wide as she tries not to laugh. “Billy isn’t any straighter than I am.”

---

After leaving Lulu with Steve fucking Harrington, holy shit, Billy feels the urgent need for a cigarette as soon as he leaves the school parking lot. He fishes for a lighter before whispering “Fuck” because of course he can’t smoke in the fucking car anymore, Lulu rides in this car with him now.

Cursing, Billy pounds on the steering wheel and pulls over to furiously smoke a cigarette outside, standing on the side of the road because Steve was there, and how the fuck has he gotten even prettier in the last ten years?, and Billy wanted to fuck him on that desk so bad something was wrong with him, and Steve’s smile for the person Billy loved most in the world was absolutely devastating.

Easy as that blinding smile, Billy could feel the old ghosts of his yearning – if not laid to rest, then at least peaceful in their haunting – live and howl again.

Getting back into the driver’s seat involves a whole new chorus of swearing, but he needs to get into work, mental breakdown or not. The bell over the shop jingles as he steps inside, accompanied by the intoxicating smell of sugar, flour, and vanilla.

The woman standing behind the counter of the bakery display finally manages to break his bad mood and he cracks a smile for her. “Hey, Trouble.”

Eleven leans over the counter, palms flat on the glass, her curls pinned to the back of her head. There’s flour smudged across her face and raspberry jam on her apron. “Who, me?”

He hugs her over the counter and kisses her flour-dusted cheek. “Yeah, you topple any major government conspiracies lately?”

Loftily, El says “I like to take the winters off.”

“Is that right?” he drawls, turning the hand-washing station onto hot after hanging up his jacket. “Then I’m just in time.”

She stares at him from her spot leaning against the pastries display, chin resting on her small fist. “Yes, you are,” she says in that eerie tone that means she isn’t talking about herself anymore. “Welcome home, Billy.”

Drying off his hands, Billy says “How come you ain’t tell me how bad things had gotten with her, huh?”

El stands straight, arms protectively folded over herself. “She was already mad at me for…the whole…”

She waves her hand around ambiguously, but Billy correctly interprets that as ‘spilling the beans on that asshole she married’. “She ain’t mad at you,” he soothes. “She’s mad at herself.”

When Eleven still looks unconvinced, he adds, “Don’t tell her I said so, but I know she misses you. Misses all of the nerd herd.”

“We may not be together anymore, but we miss her too,” she says sadly.

Billy’s gaze sharpened upon her. “You tellin’ me Wheeler just left you out here in this backwoods town all by yourself?”

She shrugs. “We grew up. He wanted to go to MIT and I didn’t want to follow him.”

He wants to tell her that Mike Wheeler was insane to leave her, but honestly, staying in Indiana for a teenage girl and giving up MIT was way more insane.

El nods. “Yeah, that’s what I told him.”

He glares at her. “No peaking, Ellie.”

She lifts her hands in surrender. “Stop thinking at me so loud, then.”

Steve, Steve, Steve – has she seen about Steve? El’s eyes widen. Shit. SHIT. SHIT.

“Uh..” She chews at her bottom lip.

“We are not talking about this,” he informs her flatly, pushing the door to the back room open. “You’re gonna pretend you didn’t…hear…see…whatever.”

“Billy…” she says hesitantly.

“What I literally just say?” he demands.

“Yes, okay, but…” Her eyes search his expression intently. “Um…Max didn’t tell you what happened during Spring Break in ’86, did she?”

He swore he was ‘bout to get whiplash from this girl. “Noooo,” he says, drawn out. “Why? What happened back in ’86?”

“Um…” El’s face turns red and she scratches nervously at the nape of her neck. “Steve, um…oh, never mind! Ask Max if you want to know.”

---

“What do you mean, Billy’s not straight?!” Steve demands, practically standing on the kitchen counter as he yells the question at her.

Robin is still trying very hard not to laugh. “Uh, okay…how do I put this…I want you to look back on your memory of Billy Hargrove when we were in high school, Steve. Think really, really hard. Did you ever actually see him kissing a girl? Dating any girls, back in school? Can you name a single girl he dated?”

“Everybody knew he was a total horndog,” Steve scoffs, feeling that old belated jealousy rear its ugly head.

“No, I don’t care about what everyone knew. What did you see, Steve? Remember the way Billy dressed?”

He rolls his eyes. “He was from California, Rob.”

“I visited Disneyland when I was sixteen. I did not see anyone in California dressed like that. He wore eyeliner and curled his hair, Steve. And if I’m remembering this correctly, that boy flashed his tits like he was starring in his own fucking porn video.” She smirks at his steadily reddening cheeks. “Your boy? Is gay, Steve-o.”

Robin pauses and squints a moment, as though staring at something in the distance. “Wait, Billy was a lifeguard that summer, right? Red shorts, came into Scoops and ordered…”

“Double strawberry,” Steve mutters, feeling bitchy and depressed.

“Oh my god.” This time, Robin couldn’t hold the laughter in.

“What?” he asks, annoyed. “I mean, I know the mustache wasn’t really working for him back then, but you should see-”

“No-no-no,” she cackles, holding her sides. “Oh my god, boys are so dumb. Steve-Steve, back then? Billy wanted to choke on your dick real bad.”

He stares at her blankly.

“Real bad, Steve.”

“What are you even talking ab-no! No!” Steve snaps. “Billy hated me! He beat my face in and tormented me from the moment he stepped into town, Rob!”

It’s Robin’s turn to scoff. “You’ve never heard about that trite old adage about boys who pull on little girls’ pigtails, Steve? Except that his little girl was another boy – a boy who already had a girlfriend when he got into town.”

“No way,” Steve snaps.

“And he wants this boy’s attention really, really bad, Steve. But this boy had just got his heart broken and didn’t know he also liked boys, yet. Billy’s boy won’t give him the attention he wants and he’s got a lot of anger management and self-control issues. We see that in the classroom every day, Steve. What do you think Billy would do?”

“That’s a pretty picture you’re painting,” Steve says flatly, rolling their wellington into its blanket of puff pastry. “I have a much simpler explanation – Billy was an egomaniac who thought I was at the head of the Hawkins food chain and decided that he was going to be the new apex predator and humiliated me to accomplish that. Him being gay or not doesn’t factor into it.”

Robin pours them both a glass of red – she’ll have to drink a lot of water if she doesn’t want a headache, but she needs it tonight. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal,” she says airily. “I bet you a full year of grading tests that Billy Hargrove would totally suck face with you.”

“Okay, hold on a fucking minute!” he sputters. “Even assuming this bullshit your on about him having the hots for me ten years ago is true, that has nothing to do with right now!”

“Steve, you look like a nerd,” she says gently. “And nerd really works for you, dingus. If he doesn’t want to at least make out with you a little, the man has no taste and you need to move on.”

“How about I skip the whole question and move on regardless,” Steve says dryly.

“Then you forfeit the bet and you’re marking all of my quizzes for the entire school year next year.”

“Goddamn it, Robin.”

---

“Uncle Billy, what are those silver thingies on your tummy?” Lulu asks, poking at the scars covering his torso where her uncle is in the middle of washing the dishes.

Very seriously, Billy says “That’s where I got bitten by the werewolf.”

He hears Max mutter “Oh my god, Billy”, but she doesn’t attempt to dissuade him from telling the story the way he pleased – after all, what would she tell her? That Uncle Billy was possessed by an interdimensional alien being that had come to Hawkins through a hole in the world beneath their feet and fought a monster made of pulverized corpses with his bare hands? Werewolf it is, then!

“Nooo, Uncle Billy, you’re not a werewolf!” she protests with a little giggle.

“Yes I am. Uh-oh, Lulu,” he says somberly. “Oh, no – it’s-it’s the full moon!”

She vibrates with anticipation, giving a loud shriek when Billy lets out a wolf-like howl and lunges for her. “RAAAAAAAAAH!”

“NOOOOOO!!!”

He wears her out good, chasing her around the house for nearly an hour before he convinces her it’s time to go to bed now. He lets Max relax and talks Lulu through bedtime himself. Feeling like a dickhead as he plops down onto the sofa, where Max is watching a rerun of Friends, Billy just sucks it up and says “So, what’s up with Harrington and Spring Break of ’86?”

To his complete surprise, Max’s jaw gets tight and her eyes flash. “Jesus fucking Christ, the people in this town really can��t keep their mouths shut, can they?” she says angrily. “So who told you, huh?”

“Uh…what?” he says blankly, feeling really far away all of a sudden. “Ellie-Eleven told me I need to ask you about Harrington and what happened in ’86, she never said why I need to ask.”

Yeah, he was still very unclear about why this was a story he had to hear.

Max gives him an owlish stare. “She…she wanted you to know?”

“…’s what she said, man.” He shrugs.

“Wow. Okay. Uh…so during Spring Break, one of your old classmates came home from college and threw this really big party,” Max begins, puffing her cheeks out with a sigh. “Steve and his friend Robin – you remember Robin? Blonde, used to work with him at Scoops? They were at this party, and the longer the night went on, the more that shit got out of hand. Like people were passed out on the front lawn. Someone broke into the neighbor’s house because they were too drunk to realize they knocked on the wrong door. Todd Grace took the riding lawn mower from the garage and crashed it somewhere on the golf course down the road. So, naturally the cops showed up.”

“Naturally,” Billy says neutrally, still wondering exactly where in the hell this story was going.

“Everybody freaked when they came in and Robin couldn’t find Steve, so she assumed that he’d hooked up with someone and forgot to tell her that he was leaving. She didn’t realize that he was still there, and he had no idea that the cops had come and were already in the house.”

She stops and stares at the ceiling. “If anybody in this town could keep their mouths closed, that would be the end of the story, but some of the officers blabbed, and now the whole fucking town knows that they found Steve Harrington in a closet on his knees, sucking off two high school seniors.”

Billy’s brain starts floating on ‘Steve Harrington on his knees’ and launches itself into outer space at ‘sucking off’. Immediately it becomes critical that he try not to picture that – young Steve, still doe-eyed and pretty, but brattier, the stuck up ice princess, with his soft sweet mouth wrapped around-

Max’s jaw tightens up with rage again. “I find it really interesting that whenever someone tells that story, they never mention Mike Tentiss or Zach Cooper, but they were the ones standing there with their pants around their ankles.”

Billy stares at the television without really seeing another on the screen. “Why you never tell me that story, Maxine?”

She’s known he was gay since just before she got married. She kept making jokes about getting him a nice girlfriend or hooking up with one of her bridesmaids, until Billy had just snarled over the phone “Maxine, I am a FUCKING queer!”

Softly, Max says “Cause it started this whole town-wide drama and it almost ruined Steve’s life, Billy. Darlene Cooper tried to have him arrested for molesting her son, but obviously Zach was only a year younger than him. She went around to our house and the Wheeler’s and the Sinclair’s and Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Byers and tried to get one of us to say Steve had…done something to us.”

“Jesus Christ.” That sounds like something out of Billy’s worst nightmares.

She dips her head into a nod. “Uh-huh. It didn’t work, obviously, and Mrs. Byers – I never saw her that mad, Billy. She screamed at Darlene something awful. Some of the parents threw a fit when the school hired him, said he didn’t have any business being around kids, but I think his mom pulled some strings. She and his dad have basically disowned him. He thought none of us would want to speak to him ever again – I mean, the boys got a little weird for a bit, but Erica was…Erica, and they came around. It’s really sad, though. He’s one of the nicest men I know, but no girl in town will go out with him.”

Confused, Billy says “Uh, ain’t he…?”

She shrugs. “Robin says he likes both, I guess. Anyway, no woman in this town will go on a date with him, and no man will so much as be alone in a room with him. Like if Steve sneezes on them, they’ll suddenly want to suck a dick or something.”

Oh, I’d do a helluva lot more than be alone in a room with Steve Harrington. And there wouldn’t be any ‘suddenly’ about it.

Billy realizes that Max is looking very suspicious right now and narrows his eyes. “Max. Maxie. Maxine. Maxine Roberta, please tell me that you and Eleven aren’t trying to set me up on a date with Steve Harrington.”

His baby sister looks even guiltier. She picks at her fingernails, staring down at her lap. “You don’t-you’ve never talk about any guys that you’re going out with, you’ve never even told me that you were interested in a guy,” she mumbles. “I just…don’t want you to be lonely. Dustin thinks Steve is – lonely, I mean. You’re the same age and you can both…y’know. Handle all the weird shit around here.”

“Mad Max,” he sighs, and tucked the wisps of red hair behind her ears the way he had for Lulu this morning. “I was not nice to Harrington. I was never nice to Harrington – and I don’t just mean the night I nearly killed him. There was a whole bunch of shit you guys weren’t around to see. The fact that we’re both willing to suck a dick doesn’t change anything, Max.”

“But you apologized for that ten years ago!” She pleads with her big blue eyes. “Please? I’m not asking you to go on a date with him, just be nice to him when you see him, okay?”

Gruffly, he says “That why ya didn’t wanna tell me who Lulu’s teacher was?”

---

Saturday morning means going to the 11th Hour, because Robin has a hangover and going to the 11th means that they don’t really have to get dressed because El has seen them both covered in mud, blood (their own), blood (others), blood (alien), and puke – all at the same time.

Also, Steve is a grown ass man who can’t be bothered to put on real adult clothes unless he has to teach and today he’s just fucking given up on his hair because the only people who are gonna see him are Robin, who still calls him dingus after ten years of knowing him, and El, who still seems to think he’s Prince Charming after ten years of knowing him (god help her).

Steve and Robin both think it’s very cute that Eleven the Eggo Queen decided she wanted to open a bakery when she grew up. And she’s really good at it, too. She makes this spiced tart thingy with pears and cherries that he would hold someone at gunpoint for. He loves it so much that she makes a big one on his birthday every single year.

Her eyes light up when they walk through the door, looking so pleased that Steve has a guilty thought that they may’ve been neglecting her a little. “Good morning!” she greets, wriggling with excitement as she leans over the counter. “Christmas galette for Steve and for Robbie…?”

“Tart au citron,” Robin says decisively after a moment’s thought. “And coffee.”

“Lots of coffee,” Steve adds with a grimace. The half a bottle of wine was a mistake and he’d known it was gonna be a mistake even as he was pouring their glasses. “El, can you pretty please with chocolate chip Eggos on top make your hangover sandwiches for me? I’ll watch the counter for you! Please?”

Even more pleased, El says “Oh that’s okay, I can make them. Hang on.”

The swinging robin’s egg blue of the backroom door opens, a voice behind it murmuring, “Lulu, skip to my lou. Lulu, skip to my lou.” A distracted Billy walks in carrying Lauren one-handed, half sleeping across her uncle’s shoulder, and a Styrofoam cup in the other. “Lulu, skip to my lou, my darlin’…”

His cheek rests on her head and the forearm supporting Lauren’s weight bulges with muscle beneath the skin and Steve’s fucking knees feel like water.

“Can you watch the front for a few minutes?” El asks pleasantly, ignoring the shell-shocked look on Steve’s face and the intense scrutiny Robin is giving her employee.

“Sure…boss…” Billy says slowly, eyeing his former classmates suspiciously. He wants this boy’s attention really, really bad, Steve.

He suppresses a snort. In Nancy’s very succinct words – it’s all just bullshit.

---

Who let this man walk out of the house that way? Was it Buckley? Was she trying to cause a goddamn riot? Wasn’t there a law against being such a fucking tease? Malicious seduction or something?

Still mostly dressed in pajamas with his glasses hastily shoved on and his hair looking like he’d stuck his finger in an electric socket, Steve looked tired and fresh from bed, even softer and sleepier than the cardigan and khaki look at school yesterday. Billy wanted to push him down on a bed, straddle his waist and kiss him for ages. Kiss him until those heavy eyelids went from surprised to dark and glazed with lust.

“Hello, Mister H,” Lulu, his sweet saving angel, mumbles into his shoulder.

That sunny-warm smile brightens up his face again, and Billy’s heart gives a painful squeeze. “Good morning, Lauren. Are you helping Billy at work.”

“Uh-huh,” she grunts, eyes closing again. “Woke me up.”

“Aw, I’m sorry,” he says, all sympathy and sad eyes.

God, this is fucking torture. And Maxine had to go and like…give him fucking hope and shit. Jesus.

“You wanna go back and lay down in Miss Hopper’s officer, Lulu?”

“Uh-huh,” she repeats, still clinging to his shirt.

He makes his very hasty retreat, not looking at El as he passes her in the kitchen. Unfortunately, when he returns to the front counter, Steve is still there, but Buckley seems to have disappeared and he’s blushing now, maybe because the whole universe fucking hates him and then Steve is right up in his face and says “I’m just gonna get this over with, please don’t hit me-”

And then-

-his mouth, still tinged with the minty clean taste of toothpaste, so fucking soft against Billy’s lips, his long fingers lightly touching Billy’s jawline. Steve’s cheeks are cool where Billy touches them, but his mouth is burning hot. The erection he was just managing to get under control before surges to painful, insistent life in his jeans when Steve sighs and moans, large curling around the back of his neck.

Billy answers with a low groan, fingers twisting through the silky strands of his hair to hold him there – not that Steve seems keen to escape.

Breathing is a tragic necessity, though.

“Oh,” Steve exhales as Billy pulls away reluctantly, and his eyes are just as dark, just as sloe and heavy as Billy always dreamed they’d be. He’s still clinging to the front of his shirt and his mouth looks wine-red from kissing, which only makes Billy wanna kiss him more. “I’m gonna grade quizzes for a year.”

[venus-says]

Futari wa Pretty Cure Episodes 27-49

Fighting Darkness with Hope. 

The second week of the Precure Rewatch series is here and we reach the end of our first season! I know I'm late, part of it is my fault because I kept watching AGDQ videos and procrastinated a lot, I admit that (the high temperatures I'm having adds into that too because I become no one in the heat). But also, if you don't know, January is a month that rains a lot here in Brazil and in some cases rain equals the power going down a lot so it was hard for me to watch everything on time.

But enough excuses, let's get right into the meat of this post.

I always had a hard time with Futari wa's second half, in my mind that has always been the weakest portion of the original season, but I gotta be honest, I enjoyed the latter half more than the first one during this rewatch! Yes, I still have a problem with the change of villains and everything, to me the Dark King gets revived way too soon, and Pollun is definitely a handful. But honestly? It didn't bother me as much, at least not as much as I expected.

What this part has that put it above the first half to me is how better the fighting got. The formula is still the same, most of the cases it's just the girls being beat down until Pollun comes to the rescue thanks to the Power of Crying™ and they fire a beam of light to the enemy. The difference here is that in between these scripted points we have physical fights and some of them are top-notch, real good stuff that adds so much to this format and it doesn't make it feel stale. It also helps a lot that there were very few instances of using Zakennas for the precure portion which means they were fighting against the new generals directly in most of the cases and this is a thing I think more shows that follow the MOTW style of combat should follow.

Speaking of the new generals, here's another very glad surprise I had during this rewatch. While I still think they "lose" in terms of design when putting them in comparison with the first team, Juna, Regine, and Belzei, the Seeds of Darkness as I like to call them (because Dark Warriors is a very generic name and I don't like it),  are very great villains. Maybe Juna not so much since I think he's not expressive at all and he doesn't do much, but Regine and Belzei more than compensate for him. I like this quirky of Regine's civilian form has of being quiet and shy even though she's like a living demon of darkness, I also love that whenever she transforms and her hair gets "pulled" all the way back and then bounces back in those curls I go all "YAS QUEEN, WORK MAMA". Much like Juna I feel like she doesn't do a lot, she worked on a team with him quite sometimes and it was very interesting to see in most cases, but overall her presence felt a little empty, I still love her regardless. Belzei is total final boss material, he's powerful, he's smart, he's scary, everything we need from a villain. Not gonna lie, when I saw they were going to betray the Dark King I started rooting for them because I like them more as villains than I like the Dark King.

On the side of our heroines, things got more interesting as well. I think one of the charms of this part was the period where Wisdom was captured by the Seeds of Evil, I wish we had seen the girls actively trying to locate and rescue the Guardian more times, but overall it was a good experience, it revealed he had quite a lot of personality and it wasn't just another background character from the Garden of Light. Speaking of characters with personality, Pollun was a huge part this time around and even though his selfishness was annoying, and all the whining was hard to cope with, he was great, by the end of the season I acquired an appreciation for him that I didn't know it was possible for me to have, especially seeing how terrible I remembered him being. Maybe he gets worse in Max Heart and that's the image I had of him in my mind, but he's a child and he's very genuine with his feelings which leads to one of the most touching scenes in the season during the climax battle where he sorta sacrifices himself because he loves the Precure and he wants to help them SO BADLY he's willing to do anything for them no matter how scared he is. I have mixed feelings about his powers because I thought the Rainbow Bracelets were a thing because he had the power of the Prism Stones inside him but later in the season it seems that apparently that wasn't the case and I think that's kinda off, but it doesn't tickle me off that much so I'm fine with letting this pass.

If in the first half the characters were the greatest for me, I'm glad to say the second half kept the good work going and it was just as great with the characters as well. This second half had a lot more fillers, but I feel like this isn't a problem since most of these fillers were to give some development and character for the side characters which was excellent, first because made characters that were more or less just there doing nothing in the first half be more active and feel more like real people that live in this world, and second, no filler came alone and without purpose, even in the less eventful ones either Nagisa, Honoka, or Pollun had something that they could learn from those situations. From Nagisa's brother to even their teacher, I feel like most of the side characters were explored in these episodes, and it was a delight to watch them.

Nagisa had some interesting growth, I feel like this second half was more focused on her than in Honoka, which is kinda sad but I feel like I can't complain since what Nagisa got was very good. Of course I have a problem with part of her development coming from her admiration/relationship with Fujipi, but she has a lot of moments where she's more down and she gets the opportunity to reflect about herself which I appreciate, I also realized that this could've been a relationship I could root for if only their relation had any major changes throughout the season. Sadly that's not the case, for the most part, Fujipi is there unaware of everything and just living his life, while Nagisa never dares to break the status quo and actually confess her feelings which makes this relationship be stale, though it's great for Nagisa as a person and I do think it's important for her to go through some of those emotions so I'm not as mad as I was with it during the first portion.

Poor Honoka wasn't as fleshed out in this second half, part of her development was more or less intertwined with Nagisa so she didn't have a lot of opportunities to shine, which is obviously a downside. However, they chose to pick one of her most interesting plotlines from the first half and did something that was very deep, strong, and beautiful with her feelings about Kiriya which I appreciate. But I can't deny that I wish they had done some more stuff around this, I know it's hard seeing how things happened with Kiriya in his goodbye, but since they would bring him back for the final arc I would like if they had given us more especially seeing how this relationship has left such a strong impact on Honoka.

I know it sounds awful when most of my points related to character growth involve romantic interests, but even with that element it was still pretty good to watch, and one thing that I definitely like more here than in the first half is that none of their conflicts centered around a "romantic" figure was a detriment or weakened their friendship. And to me, this is what makes this second half great, honestly. Nagisa and Honoka have their boy issues but this second half don't forget these characters have a very strong and beautiful friendship, we're always reminded of that, we're always seeing them help each other, and we're always seeing this friendship evolving and moving forward. One of my favorite moments of this season is on episode 42 that is an episode solely made to showcase this friendship and it's just so powerful and emotional, I think this episode embodies everything that Futari wa is about and it's definitely a high point in this second half, in the season, and a huge landmark for the development of our heroines.

Since I mentioned Episode 42, here are other episodes that were highlights for me in this second half:

Episode 28, the one with Honoka's Grandma story from the time of the war was very touching, and it also laid down one of the most important lessons of this show, the one about Hope and Despair going back to back and we choose on what we wanna focus the most. Yes, is a somewhat naive way to see things, but it's important nonetheless and that was just amazing. It also introduced Regine and that was also a plus. Episode 30 was awesome because it delivered on the action, it was also the point where Pollun gets the power of the Prism Stones inside him and the Precure get their new finisher that is their main attack used for the rest of the season, it was great. Episode 36 got me with mixed feelings, I love the portion where we follow the Guardian as he tries to escape, but I hate the plotline going in the side of the girls because it was another one of those stories where Mepple is an asshole but ends up as a hero in the end and y'all know how much I love that, don't you?

37 was great because it was a school play where we got to see Nagisa and Honoka acting as Romeo and Juliet, but my favorite thing about this episode was seeing the girls fight IN THEIR CIVILIAN FORM against the knight Zakennas in front of a live audience, that was just marvelous. I like episode 40 because they went all Freddie Krueger and attacked the girls on their dreams, which is always interesting. And the entire final arc, from episode 47 to 49, was very great as well. It was a strong finale, even though I had a few problems with it.

And that's pretty much it. Despite my technical problems, I really enjoyed rewatching this season, it was great for me to rediscover characters and moments that I loved and also find out new passions about this wonderful season, it sparkled something on me and now I feel like the precure flame inside me is more strong than ever. Thank you so much for sticking with me through the end of this huge post once again, I hope I can see you again in the next time. Bye folks~

[kuromantic]

Whumptober Day 18: Hostage

The teenager with grime covering his face and clothes emitted a low growl, his dark eyes glaring into the entire Nekoma gang. There was no telling if he could speak or not. Any efforts made with communication were swiftly shut down, when the teenager lashed out violently.

“Hey, kid. What’s your name?”

Kuroo’s question was met with an animalistic scream, as the boy struggled against his restraints.

“Why did you try to kill Kai?”

This time, it was Yaku who asked. There was no answer, only a “Let me go!” The boy couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old, but he was quick. He’d stopped screaming when he realised there was no way out, but remained extremely apprehensive and refused to answer anything he was asked by the eldest members.

“We don’t want to hurt you. It’s not pleasant, you know? Torturing a kid. But we are a gang, and we don’t care much for pleasantries. Spit it out.” Kuroo extended a hand towards the teen, drawing back when the boy attempted to bite his finger.

“I hate you.”

Kuroo threw his hands up in mock defeat, shrugging jovially. “How saddening. You should be glad your murder attempt failed miserably. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here right now,” he stated darkly, without a hint of enthusiasm in his eyes.

“What’ll I do with him?”

Kenma looked straight into the hostage’s animosity-filled eyes, then turned away. “Send him over if he’s dead. Living hostages are loud and annoying.” With an indifferent expression, Kenma turned away. He dealt with covering their tracks and disposing the corpses, making sure they were never caught with their actual murder count.

“I’m not scared of you!” The boy was visibly shaking, but held his ground and refused to admit anything. “My group will kill you! You’re all going to be done for!”

Kuroo’s eyes narrowed. “You’re part of a group, huh?” He inched closer to the snarling hostage. “What’s the name of your group?”

Before the boy could answer, Kuroo pressed a buzzer to shock him. “Katanari,” he choked out, his eyes widening as he realised what information he had given out. “You fucking bastard!” He yelled every curse he could think of, and attempted to bite off his own tongue in retaliation until Kuroo yanked his hair sharply.

“I’m going to tell you this for your own sake, kid.” Kuroo gave the teenager’s hair a light pat, his touch becoming gentler than ever. The boy let out a confused whine, eyes darting over to catch a glimpse of his captor’s face. “If you get out of here alive and stay with them, you’ll most likely be murdered.”

All of Nekoma knew about Katanari, a group that focused on gathering young troubled teens and grooming them into becoming their personal killing machines, the ones that they would pin the blame on if anything went wrong. Seijoh and Fukurodani had some members that they had managed to save from Katanari before, all of them requiring an enormous amount of help to get them back into a less animalistic state.

The boy opened his mouth, but no words came out of him as he shivered in disbelief. Kuroo could tell that he was swaying. He wasn’t a hopeless case. There was still saving him, as long as they handled him with care and let him heal slowly.

“They’re using you. Because you aren’t in a comfortable living situation, they offered you a home and a job. Isn’t that right?” Kuroo questioned him mercilessly, forcing the boy to meet his gaze. He could tell that he was shaking his head just to deny the suspicions rising inside himself.

Kuroo sensed that the boy needed only a few more pushes before becoming tame to them. “You know what? You’re a kid. Even if you’ve killed people, I don’t think I have it in me to torture you. If you want to, I’ll let you go right now.” He offered, and Yaku gave him a dirty look. He was too good at mind games, and had no limit when it came to being a manipulative master.

“You’re just saying that to scare me into submission,” the boy’s voice quivered, uncertain. “You’re going to kill me as soon as I try to escape!”

“Shibayama Yuuki, sixteen years old. Used to work part-time at a coffee shop until publicly outed and was recruited to join the gang when he was on the streets after getting kicked out.” Fukunaga read from his computer screen, having already composed a fact file of the captured teen.

Shibayama’s eyes widened in fearful surprise. “How- how?” His expression was a mixture of dread and awe, and it dawned on him that Nekoma wasn’t a group that he wanted to mess with. Which he did without knowing, and was paying for it very much. “Why are you telling me all this? Is this how you guys torture people?!”

“Interesting idea, but no. Kuroo isn’t doing this to torture you.” Yaku crossed his arms, tipping Shibayama’s chin up. He didn’t attempt to attack this time, only flinched instead. Yaku shot a glare towards Kuroo to tell him that he had scared him too much. “How about you join our gang instead, Shibayama?”

“Me? Join your gang? What do you want me for?” Shibayama remained unmoving even as Kuroo released him from his restraints, surveying the entire area cautiously. “They won’t let me get away with this. If I do that, I’ll be murdered. Do you think I have a death wish?” He argued weakly.

Kuroo gave Shibayama a flat look. “It’s completely your choice. If you want to go back to those manipulative assholes and be their scapegoat, suit yourself. Or you could join us and kick every last one of their asses.” He clapped his hands once, urging Shibayama to decided what he wanted right that second.

“I- I’ll do it,” Shibayama nodded, staring down at the ground as if he had just made a regrettable decision. “I’ll be part of your gang. Just… please. Don’t let them kill me. They won’t ever forgive me if they find out about this.”

“You’ll be sharing a room with Inuoka,” Kuroo announced, a flash of sympathy appearing in his eyes. “No funny business, you got that? He can and will end you if you try to get him in his sleep.”

Shibayama bowed his head, his expression unreadable. “I won’t try anything,” he promised, remaining backed up against the wall. Kuroo knew that he was vulnerable, and he could kill him right now if he were truly evil.

“Yaku and Yamamoto, take him to the baths.” Kuroo commanded, whirling around and shoving his shock switch back into his pocket. “You know what to do if anything happens.”

Without a word, Yaku and Yamamoto approached Shibayama and held him by his arm. “Come on, follow us. I trust that we can leave you on your own in the bath.” Shibayama realised the many implications of him stepping into a bathroom on his own. He could break the mirror and use the shards however he pleased, or throw soapy water into their eyes. It wasn’t something he could do in his current situation, but the thought crossed his mind.

“There’s a towel and clothes outside. Come out if you’re done.” Yaku and Yamamoto kept their sentences simple, and Shibayama didn’t talk except for a mumbled “I understand.” He was left alone when he stepped into the room just behind the bathroom, for him to remove his clothes. It was a massive relief being left alone, nobody to stare at his bruises and scars.

Shibayama cast his torn t-shirt and discoloured shorts aside in a neat pile, removing everything until he was completely naked. His bruises that came from mostly his own group seemed to have worsened after the manhandling, and bits of dried blood were caked on his skin.

He stepped into the bathroom, taking the shower head and pouring warm water over his injured body. The hot steam caressed his grimy face, clouding the mirror beside the shampoo bottles. He hadn’t been able to take a bath in days. His skin stung as jets of water hit his wounds, even more so when he added a dollop of body wash onto it, but he couldn’t waste the opportunity to become finally clean again.

When Shibayama scrubbed at his skin with a soft sponge, the dirt and blood whirled down the drain with brown water, and the grime under his nails gradually disappeared. He massaged a large amount of shampoo into his scalp, absentmindedly playing with his bubble-filled hair. A pleased sigh escaped his lips as he washed off the suds on his skin. As he stared into his reflection on the mirror blurred with perspiration, a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

The clothes set out for him fit well, and they were the best he’d had in a long time. He stood without saying a word outside the bathroom, staring at his arms. The colour had returned to his skin, turning it into a healthy shade instead of ghostly pale. He let out a breath, looking around for somebody else.

“Hey, Yuuki-kun, right?” A boy about the same age as him popped inside the room, his brown hair swaying as he wheeled around to peer into his face. “Welcome to our gang, I guess? Trusting that you’re not going to turn against us.” His smile was kind, but Shibayama could tell that his eyes were murderous.

“I won’t,” Shibayama mumbled, as the boy sprawled himself out on the bed.

“Good! My name’s Inuoka, nice to meet you!” Inuoka held out a hand to the ceiling, and Shibayama took it carefully. He didn’t show signs of hostility this time, and shook his hand enthusiastically. “You’re safe now, okay? Nekoma is pretty strong, and you won’t ever be hurt by them again.”

Inuoka pointed to Shibayama’s wrists when the boy gave him a look of confusion. They were red from the constant restraints, and cut up from when he had been handled roughly. “It’s because I carried out a mission poorly. It was to be expected.” He formatted a robotic response, hiding his hands behind his back.

“You still didn’t deserve it. You’re not a machine.”

“I’m a gang member.”

Inuoka held Shibayama’s shoulders, leaning into his face. “So am I. But neither of us should be hurt by our comrades. They’re meant to help you, not pin the blame on you when something goes wrong.” He threw a blanket over Shibayama’s head, placing an extra pillow on the bed. “Let’s get to sleep for tonight.”

Shibayama nodded, hesitantly slipping under the covers. He didn’t know whether to trust Inuoka, but his smile was more genuine than anyone from his previous gang. He shut his eyes, shivering in anticipation of unexpected beatings and water hurled over his head. He jolted when something touched him, but it was the gentle Inuoka’s hand, patting his back rhythmically.

For the first time in years, Shibayama wasn’t an animal, but a person. He couldn’t speak, but his eyes fluttered and tears dripped onto the pale covers. He hadn’t expected to feel like he belonged in a gang, but maybe this time, his soul was in the right place.

[jaceyneedsabetterusername]

Dear Connor Murphy~ Part 3

A/N: 1) I wrote and published this on my phone so I'm sorry if it's formatted horribly. 2) i also had no clue how to end this so that's also horrible and again, I'm sorry

It had been a few days since the Murphy's invited you to dinner. Although they hadn't talked to you much since, Zoe had been smiling at you in the hallways at school. Despite everything she claimed, you were convinced that some small part of her missed Connor. Even if he did treat her badly.

Christmas break had just started and you had a lot of time to yourself at home since your parents worked for most of it. You couldn't lie, you were pretty excited to have alone time. Everything had been super stressful with college applications and finals but now you had time to just relax. You lied on your bed wearing leggings, a hoodie, and fuzzy socks while listening to your favorite song. Eventually, your humming became foot tapping and your foot tapping became a full on dance routine.

You were completely lost in the music, eyes closed, singing into your hairbrush and swaying your hips to the beat. You spun around and quickly glanced at yourself in the mirror, ready to laugh at how disheveled your hair probably looked, but the figure that seemed to flash in the reflection instead made your heart stop. It was only for a second but you knew you saw a person in black. Your heart throbbed in your throat as you looked around frantically. Someone was in the room with you.

Reaching over to your desk, you grabbed a pair of scissors and held them, ready to defend yourself against whoever was there. Your phone. You needed to grab your phone and call someone. You spun around to run over to your bed where you left your phone but you screamed in terror when you saw someone sitting on the edge.

"Oh my God..." you breathed when your brain finally processed what was happening. "What the... how the..." You were nearly hyperventilating out your words. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" You eventually yelled, still yielding the scissors dangerously in one hand while running the other through your hair.

Connor Murphy was sitting on your bed, looking just as alive as ever. "How is this even possible?" You asked in absolute confusion. This was impossible.

Connor just shrugged, his mouth twisting in just as much confusion as you were in, "No clue. Guess I'm a ghost or something. But I'm here anyways so what's up?"

"What's up? What's up? You're dead and somehow sitting on my bed and you're asking me 'what's up?'"? You couldn't believe he was being so calm about this, especially since he seemed to know as little as you did. "Why are you here?"

He scoffed, "Guess not much has changed since I killed myself."

You cringed at his words. How could he be so blunt about it? "That's not what I meant. I just don't know why you're here with me instead of with your family. You don't even know me."

"I heard what you said that day in the graveyard. Everything. And I've been watching over my family and seen what- Can you put the scissors down? I can't focus when you're looking like you want to kill me. I'm already dead anyways so it won't do much." Connor waved his hand at the scissors still gripped in your fist and you lowered them, not remembering that they were even still in your hand. "Thanks. Anyways, I've been watching my family and I saw how happy your letter made them." He paused, sighing, "Thank you."

"They think you hated them." You admitted quietly. "But they loved you a lot."

"Maybe my mom loved me but Zoe and Dad couldn't have cared less towards the end. I loved them but I just couldn't do it anymore." His aloofness had diminished to a sadness.

"That's not true. Your dad just didn't know how to help you." You didn't want Connor thinking that his own father hated him. Nobody should feel like that.

He shrugged and you finally moved to sit next to him on your bed, "He should have at least tried. My life was miserable. Everyone hated me and I turned into the monster they wanted me to be. I bet they threw a fucking party when they found out what happened." Connor looked the strangest combination of angry, sad, and peaceful.

An irritated scoff escaped your throat and you rolled your eyes, "They're all acting like you were best friends instead of owning up to what they did to you."

"Fucking assholes." He groaned.

"But," you continued, "it sparked a movement so people don't feel so alone. They're calling it the Connor Project."

"The Connor Project? So everyone is using my death as some kumbaya bullshit?" He said angrily, "These assholes bullied me into suicide and now they're pretending to care about each other's feelings."

You knew how hard this must be. He was right: everything was so fucked up about the situation. "I think it opened people's eyes to what was going on. I just wish it was in time to save you." You said quietly.

Connor looked straight ahead, "Yeah, me too." After a second he asked, "Do you know who started it? Probably the school to act like it was some big tragedy."

"Evan Hansen started it all. Him, Zoe, Alana Beck, and Jared Kleinman."

Connor looked pissed, "Why the hell would they start something like that? I met Alana like once, Zoe hated me, Jared's just fucking annoying, and Evan was trying to make me look crazy the day I killed myself!"

You were in absolute confusion, "What do you mean? If that's true, why did you write the suicide note to Evan?"

In equal confusion, Connor asked, " What note? I didn't leave one."

What? "The note they found in your pocket... it was addressed to Evan." Connor grumbled something and you stared straight ahead in realization.

"They think that was my suicide note?" Connor asked, long dirty blonde hair almost hiding his face, "That Dear Evan Hansen letter talking about Zoe? Everyone thinks that I wrote that?" You nodded silently, unsure of what to say. "Well fuck."

You both sat there in silence, not really knowing what to say at all. Connor broke the quiet with a slight chuckle, "No wonder I heard Zoe talking about Evan when I was there last."

"They're actually dating now." You regretted saying it the second you did. They just didn't seem like the two people that Connor would want to be together in this moment.

Instead of being mad, he just looked sad, "Everyone's lives got better the second I died. At least my legacy is happiness."

"Don't say that!" You exclaimed. "Things may have gotten better even if you were still alive. Graduation was so close and you could have gotten out of here and gone somewhere that made you happy! I may have even grown the balls to finally talk to you."

The two of you made eye contact and you found yourself lost in him. Everything about him was beautiful: the way his hair flowed, the way his eyes looked so deep, the way his lips curved when he did that little sarcastic half-smirk. If you hadn't known better, you would think he was alive. His eyes were locked with yours and there was an undeniable tension pulling you two together. Slowly, you leaned in, eyes trailing to his lips for a half-second as you wondered if this would even work. Without thinking, you quickly closed the gap in a tender kiss. Connor was taken aback initially but soon kissed you back, hand coming to your cheek. You pulled back slowly, gazing into his eyes before snapping out of your daze.

"I am sorry." You sighed, tucking your hair behind your ear and looking away, "That was horrible timing and-" You were interrupted by Connor crashing his lips into yours again, this time more intensely.

After several seconds, he pulled away, hand still on your cheek. "You're the only person who's treated me like this in a long time."

[i-am-made-of-memoriies]

Portals, Clones, and Time Travel. Oh My! (chapter 7)

Part 6

Sarada took a couple of hours to wake up, but when she did, she was surprisingly all right.

“How am I not dead right now?” She asked confusedly, glancing at the other genin, “I fell from really high up. I should be an Uchiha pancake.”

Sakura giggled, “You’re lucky I’m a not-so-amazing medic and that Boruto uses wind jutsu well!” She flashed Sarada a thumbs up and helped her to her feet. “I’m really glad you’re feeling better. Now let’s tackle the big problem. We know where Hiroyuki is, but we have no idea about how strong he is. Plus, he may have more people to back him up.”

“I know, but we’re never going to be able to escape unless we face him.” Naruto crossed his arms confidently, “I think we should just rush in and attack him. Then we can whoop his ass and save the world! Good plan right?”

“I liked the pitfall one better.” Sarada stated simply, pushing herself onto her feet, “We need to investigate a bit first. If we can get a rough idea of what’s going on in there, we’ll have a better chance of knowing what to do.”

“How are we going to investigate without being detected?” Sasuke entered the conversation, “None of us have chakra masking skills at a high enough level to evade even a chunin level ninja.”

“Ugh.” Sakura groaned, “You have a point.”

“I have above-average chakra masking abilities.” Mitsuki offered, smiling as usual.

“We need incredible, not ‘above average’.” Naruto insisted, shaking his head.

“Well they’re far from as good as Sasuke’s, or future Sasuke’s rather, but I can evade most chunin and jonin.” Mitsuki insisted.

“You better not be lying.” Sasuke threatened, “If you get us caught, I will not be happy.”

“Your personal happiness is not my concern. I’m more concerned for the well-being of this team as a whole.”

Naruto could see Sasuke visibly tense. Realizing that having an on-edge Uchiha was probably detrimental to their teamwork, he lay a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Chill man. You know how weird Mitsuki is.”

“Yeah Sasuke-kun.” Sakura agreed, “Mitsuki won’t fail. And if he does, well that means that he’s just as good as the rest of us.”

“Hn.” Sasuke didn’t visibly show any appreciation for his teammates support, but it was obvious that he was grateful for them.

“We should start going in the direction of the base.” Sarada suggested, “We should stop about three-quarters of a mile from the base, then send Mitsuki. I know average chakra sensing range is half a mile, but I have no idea how good Hiroyuki is.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Boruto agreed. “Hey Sarada?” He suddenly donned an apologetic look, “I’m really sorry for suggesting the ‘launch Sarada in the air’ plan. If it wasn’t for Sakura, you probably wouldn’t be standing right now.”

“It’s okay Boruto.” Sarada said sincerely, “Thanks to that plan, we know where to go. Not to mention, I really appreciate you rushing over to save me. If it weren’t for you, I would have been dead.”

Boruto didn’t know why, but he felt his cheeks fill with a sudden warmth. Actually, he did know, but he refused to accept that truth so he filled his mind with possible alternate explanations. Perhaps it was the rising sun and subsequently rising temperature or maybe chakra exhaustion having a late reaction? Boruto speculated that it could be anything as long as it wasn’t the truth. “T-thank you.” He sputtered, realizing that he hadn’t responded to Sarada.

The Uchiha looked at him with her kind, understanding eyes, the rising sun illuminating her face. Much to his surprise, Sakura voiced his exact thoughts.

“Sarada, you look gorgeous right now.” She said, in awe of her future daughter’s beauty.

“Sakura-chan,” Naruto interrupted, “we should get going. The later it gets, the more visible we become.”

“You’re right Naruto.” She agreed, “I can ogle at Sarada’s beauty later. Must be my genes.”

“Let’s go.” Sasuke commanded, beginning to run towards the hide-out.

The other five genin followed quickly in suite, catching up to Sasuke. They were all aware that Hiroyuki could be far above their level, and that they could potentially be trapped in this dimension until the space-time continuum was ripped into ribbons, but they were willing to take a risk if it meant saving the world they loved.

“We don’t have the foggiest idea of how strong Hiroyuki is.” Sarada pointed out, looking concerned, “He could be goddamn sannin level for all we know.”

“All six of us could take a sannin for sure!” Naruto exclaimed confidently, “We’re all really strong!”

Sarada really admired Naruto’s optimism. Though it had been somewhat masked in the future, she could tell that Naruto hadn’t changed as drastically as she would have expected. “Yeah, Naruto’s right.” She nodded her head, “I’m sure we’ll be fine!”

The six genin reached their desired destination in less than a half-hour. They knew that they were about to enter a battle that they had absolutely no strategy, prep-time, or idea about, but hell, they were ready.

“Go Mitsuki.” Sasuke commanded, “We’re counting on you.”

The boy nodded, formed a ram seal, and ran off towards the fortress.

“While Mitsuki’s gone, we need to strategize.” Sakura suggested, “Though we don’t know exactly what we’re facing,  we should have some sort of general formation.”

Sasuke, Sakura, Mitsuki, Naruto, and Boruto nodded in agreement. “Since I’m the healer, I’ll stay in the back.” Sakura said.

“Sarada and I will flank the left and right sides.” Sasuke offered, glancing at the other Uchiha.

“Since Boruto and Naruto are the most resistant, they should stand in the front.” Sakura tranced a diamond in the air, “Mitsuki can join me in the back since his stretchy-arm thing can reach as far as needed.”

“Sounds good.” Sarada agreed, “I’m kind of nervous, you know.” She admitted, pushing up her glasses, “It really worried me when Jinora said that she ‘let us win’. I’m worried that we’re just falling into a big hoax.”

“Maybe, but we shouldn’t think about that right now.” Sasuke assured, “If we really are playing right to their plan, we’ll just have to destroy them.”

“You make it sound like we will actually be able to defeat them.” Sakura shook her head, “I understand that you’re strong, but you’re underestimating Hiroyuki’s potential.”

“You only say that because you’re weak.” Sasuke spat.

Sarada didn’t see the warm, loving eyes of her father, instead she saw two cold black spheres that reflected nothing but malice.

“If we don’t escape this dimension, I’ll never be able to defeat him. Failure is not an option.”

“This isn’t about you Sasuke.” Naruto crossed his arms, “You always make everything about you and your stupid revenge. We don’t want to be stuck in this dimension forever either! I can’t be Hokage if we’re here!”

“It’s not about you either.” Sasuke clenched his teeth.

“You’re right teme, it’s about is getting the hell out of here!” Naruto tackled Sasuke to the ground, dirt rising up in clouds around them. “Stop being such an ass and start working with us as a team. Also, how dare you call Sakura-chan weak when she just saved your daughter’s life?!”

“She’s not my daughter yet.” Sasuke hissed, throwing the blonde off of him, “For all I know, these changes may make it so that I never even have a daughter. Why should it matter to me?”

Sarada snapped. In the blink of an eye, she had flash-stepped in front of the Uchiha and punched him at least eight meters backwards. “It should matter to you.” She said menacingly, “Because despite the fact that you’re a self-centered, stupid, annoying little boy right now, you’re still going to be my father in the future and I’m expecting you to step the fuck up pretty soon. So start appreciating your teammates and work with us so that we all can get out of this godforsaken dimension.”

Sasuke spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at Sarada.

“I’d love to fight you right now.” Sarada growled, “And trust me, I would, except killing you would mean I disappear. Count your blessings.”

“You wish you could even lay a finger on me.” Sasuke taunted, smirking.

“Are you going senile or really that stupid? Take a look at your bloodied face, I already laid an entire fist on you.” Sarada’s sharingan eyes were blazing red, the tomoe spinning in a dizzying circle.

Sasuke was aware that he had lost the argument, but backing down was absolutely not his style. Instead, he glared back at the genin and stomped off into the forest.

“Teme!” Naruto called, jogging after Sasuke, “Come back, we need to all be together when Mitsuki gets back.”

“Fuck off.” Sasuke didn’t look back.

A/N: Looks like I forgot to post this chapter two weeks ago?? Woot, my brain works. Anyway, look at all of that angsty Sasuke angst. He’s a real asshole isn’t he? Anyway, here’s your chapter! Next one will be out tomorrow!

[ahmuteun]

1-140 :)

I switched the format to bullets cause numbers were annoying to deal with lol sorry

3 Fears 

not graduating on time/ failing

idk i dont have many fears

3 things I love

my dog

my family

my friends

2 turns on

im not gonna include being attractive cause that feels like a given so sense of humor

plays piano or guitar

2 turn offs

being an asshole

bad hygine 

My best friend

cat and jen

Sexual orientation

bi

How tall am I

5′2

What do I miss right now

idk no one really cause i got to see my family today and i just got back from seeing jen

i guess jacob and tim?

Favourite color

blue!! :D

Do I have a crush

lmfao no

Favourite place

my college town

What am I listening to right now

a lets play lol

Shoe size

7 or 6.5 depending

Eye color

brown

Hair color

black/ dark brown

Meaning behind my URL

alliteration lol

Favourite song

i have too many

Favourite band

shinee? i dont really know lately

How I feel right now

sleepy lmao

Someone I love

my brothers and mom

My current relationship status

hoe lmao

My relationship with my parents

good with one and not so good with the other

Favourite season

fall or spring

Tattoos and piercing i have

tattoo on my forearm and one piercing on each ear

Tattoos and piercing i want

tattoos: theres a few lol

piercings: none

The reasons I joined Tumblr

because it looked like fun and for fandoms

Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?

i get goodnight texts/ snaps sometimes 

Have I ever kissed the last person you texted?

no

How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?

it depends, anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 

Have you shaved your legs in the past three days?

yep

Where am I right now?

jaden’s room

Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?

reasonable but sometimes loud

Do I live with my Mom and Dad?

i live in my apartment at school but other than that with my momma

Am I excited for anything?

this festival thing next weekend but also lowkey worried for it lmao

Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?

uhh yeah i do

How often do I wear a fake smile?

whenever im uncomfortable i guess

If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

someone who will pay off my tuition and loans

What do I think about most?

freaking out drama stuff i guess?

although thats mainy just been these past few weeks

Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

i only really like being in front aslong as it’s with other people

What was the last lie I told?

ummm probably something about my drinking or “love life” to my family

Do I prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

i dont mind either but probably phone call so i dont have to worry about what i look like

Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

lol ghosts, oh the irony

but yes to both

Do I believe in magic?

nah

Do I believe in luck?

ehhh kind of

What’s the weather like right now?

hot as balls and im not here for it

What was the last book I’ve read?

im reading the simpsons and their mathematical secret rn and i like it a lot

Do I have any nicknames?

way too many lmao

Do I spend money or save it?

it used to be save but as of lately ive been spending way too much money sooooooooooo lol fuck me

Can I touch my nose with a tounge?

nope

Favourite animal?

my doggo

What was I doing last night at 12 AM?

talking to jen

What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?

idk twice songs i guess??

What is my favorite word?

i dont have one

My top 5 blogs on tumblr

idk lol 

everyone i follow, how about that lmao

If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?

stay hydrated and i take donations

Do I have any relatives in jail?

not to my knowledge

What is my current desktop picture?

isnt it so cute? :D

Had sex?

yeah

Bought condoms?

yeah

Gotten pregnant?

no thank fuck

Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?

nope

Had job?

yes i had job

Smoked weed?

nope, but my mates want me to smoke with them next weekend

Smoked cigarettes?

nope

Drank alcohol?

yepppp lmfao

Am I a vegetarian/vegan?

nahh

Been overweight?

not technically

Been underweight?

nah

Gotten my heart broken?

nope

Been to prom?

yep

Been in airplane?

yep

Learned another language?

yep

Wore make up?

almost everyday

Dyed my hair?

nah, i thought about it tho but i bitched out

Had a surgery?

um i mean my wisdom teeth got removed, does that count?

Met someone famous?

yeah i did on two occasions it was dope

Stalked someone on a social network?

i think so? idk

Been fishing?

yeeeee

Been rejected by a crush?

ive never shot my shot nor have i had an actual crush in years so no

What do I want for birthday?

realistically, nothing

Do I like my handwriting?

eh i mean it’s okay but not really

Where do I want to live when older?

idk but i wanna stay on the east coast

Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?

sneaking out: no cause ive never snuck out, not technically i guess

doing something bad: i mean it depends on your definition of “getting caught” but yes

wait it’s a definite yes lmao whoops

What I’m really bad at

everything probably lol

but specifically lying i guess

What my greatest achievements are

choreographing modern with chris in march and it went really well i was so proud of my dancers

idk if this counts but this past year i partied with some of our schools football players and lydia paek told me that she wants some of my butt so basically i’ve peaked 

The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me

honestly idk, i probably agreed with them 

What I’d do if I won in a lottery

pay off my loans/ debt

pay off my mom and brothers’ debt

get my mom a house and vacation to the phillipines cause she really wants to go

get my mates gifts

invest

What do I like about myself

uuuuummmmmmmm 

My closest Tumblr friend

idk lol

Any question you’d like?

lol welp

Are you outgoing or shy?

in the middle i guess but probably more on the outgoing side

What kind of people are you attracted to?

attractive people with nice smiles i guess??

Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

lmfao god no

Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

nah but it depends on the context 

Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

my mom and brother??

What does the most recent text that you sent say?

“rip”

What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

eric nam - honestly

amine - heebiejeebies

hyorin - dally

blackpink - ddu du ddu du idk how its spelled

john mayer - new light

hayley kiyoko - what i need

cardi b - i like it

yoon mi rae’s entire gemini 2 album

this is more than five i know but theyre all bops and u should listen to them if you havent already

Do you like it when people play with your hair?

yes but only if i know them

Do you think there is life on other planets?

yes, even if it’s just bacteria

Do you like bubble baths?

no i actually really dont like baths

Do you like your neighbors?

i dont really know them

Where would you like to travel?

korea/ asia

Favorite part of your daily routine?

talking to my mates

What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

which part aren’t i uncomfortable with lmao

What do you do when you wake up?

turn off my alarm or look at my phone usually

Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

well my arms got tanner cause i drive with my arm out the window so i wish my arms were lighter so it would match the rest of my body again lol

Do you ever want to get married?

lmfao can we not talk about future commitments?

cause no probably not

If your hair long enough for a pony tail?

do u mean is my hair long enough? cause yes

Would you rather live without TV or music?

tv

Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

yeah when i was like 12

What are your favorite stores to shop in?

forever21, and h&m probably

Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

it depends on the situation

Do you smile at strangers?

sometimes

Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

well i mean the cat is already out of the fucking bag for the one thing (well one of the things) i was desperately trying to hide soooooo

Ever wished you were someone else?

when i was younger but not in recent years

Favourite makeup brand?

for foundation i like fenty and tarte

for lipstick smashbox and i also liked kat vond but she is against vaccienes sooooooo

Last thing you ate?

chips lol

Ever won a competition? For what?

idk

Ever been in love?

i thought i was but eehhh i dont know anymore oh well 

Facebook or Twitter?

twitter

Twitter or Tumblr?

i use twitter more so twitter

Are you watching tv right now?

nah

What colour are your towels?

white

Favourite ice cream flavour?

i dont have a favorite

First person you talked to today?

uummmm my mom?

Last person you talked to today?

chris

Name a person you hate?

i dont hate people but im really pissed with justin rn

Name a person you love?

my mom

Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

fuCKING JUSTIN

Do you tan a lot?

lmao no

Have any pets?

yes and i love him

Do you type fast?

eh its a moderate speed

Do you regret anything from your past?

lmao yepppp

Ever broken someone’s heart?

oooohhhhhhh boy, yeah kind of....

Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

no

Is cheating ever okay?

on people, no

Do you believe in true love?

idk

What your zodiac sign?

gemini

Do you believe in ghosts?

i answered this already

Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?

“geeky mathematician with a master’s degree. By contrast, when he” from the simpsons and their mathematical secrets :D

[evilback-wards]

Top Candidate [Pre-DRV3]

Chapter Nine

Length: 1977*

Rating: 16+ish?

Prefer AO3 format? Click here. Otherwise, below the line lovelies!

*Note: Words in italics come directly from the audition tape mentioned in DRV3. Click here for a link to the auditions! 

I was dressed in my usual school uniform with my red T-shirt underneath.  My feet felt like they were dragging along with the other two people in my cohort. I had no control. I had nothing. This sucks. I started to try and yell out, but another voice spoke in my mind.

“Oh shush! We’re like, totally controlling you to go to the right place! We wouldn’t make you break our own rules, silly,” said an overly feminine voice in my mind, and apparently over some loud speaker too.  I balled my hands into fists, tempted to punch whatever force that was in my body out of it. Why did they think we’d be taken over so easily? Why was it so easy for them to do in the first place?

Jesus fuck. Where am I exactly? I was kept in a dark room for a while, and now, I was being let into a stadium of the sorts. The outside of the stadium had a huge line of lights around it, blinding me from seeing much further detail. I saw thousands of high schoolers being brought in at once. All of them had different facial expressions(a select few appeared delighted to be here). If this was actually a football game as the stadium suggests, I’d be as happy as some of these fucks. But, no, this was our reality. Auditioning for a killing game we never asked to be in. I had no clue of the rules. All I knew was I’d either survive in the game or die here. That’s what MT told me. The green haired cunt had been digitally showing herself as a kid. Apparently it’s a callback from one of the “fictional” characters in Danganronpa. Everyone involved in this was so willing to give me the hour long backstory to this black market mess. For an event like this to happen every four years, it’s no wonder that the police don’t catch these freaks. It wouldn’t shock me if they helped run the show. My hands were in shackles in front of me, my body being moved along by some outer force still. Ever since that day where I had been walking home from school, about to beat the  shitout of my ex’s new boyfriend, everything got blurry. My mind went blank before waking up in a green room with a large rectangular table. I met the person behind and in front of me at that time.

The girl’s name was Maki. Or, what she remembered her name to be at least. She was a fighter, and while I respected her moves, she came from poverty. I couldn’t let dirt like that touch me too deeply. I had to keep my eyes on my affluent ex girlfriend if my dreams of easy fame and riches are to come true. Anyway, Maki started out swinging at the MT kid. Right when I woke up I saw her attacking the green haired brat. MT somehow managed to artfully fight back, pinning Maki on the ground and explaining our fate. Another  person, a guy who was about half my height rocking some serious emo fashion, sat around most days. Whenever I tried small chat he just kept brooding that his life “was a mistake he was constantly trying to fix”. The one good thing around here had to be the chicks. If I was to die soon, at least there were plenty babes for me to gawk at. My neck and other joints turned automatically, but, my eyes could still see babes for miles!

Velvet carpeting along with other high-quality shit lined the hallways. Was this legit black market? Was I going to sell myself to some organ sellers, bulk drug dealers, the big shots in the underground market? The area around me went dark occasionally, my eyes losing sight of Maki. Whoever was the control mastermind behind this, they must be especially trying hard to keep Maki under lock and key. Half the time, in whatever computer sim we’re in, Maki managed to break out of control and constantly kick at the walls. What a weird girl. What the hell would the walls do if they broke, “magically let us out”?

I, personally, am always looking for the time in this place. I hadn’t been able to keep count of the amount of time I spent “crafting” my character, but I know one thing. I won’t let myself die here! I haven’t even gotten the chance to live out my dream!

My eyes began to look over the thousands of students gathered here, wearing a variety of different high school uniforms. We had exited the hallway to a well-lit convention center of the sorts, nice flooring, and even lines of each participating cohort.  How many students did they manage to kidnap? How was this even done without the Amber Alert system going off at least 200 times? I wanted to fight back, but it’s like my body and mind were seperated for now. My legs were beginning to pull away from the others, heading toward another dark hallway. I saw Maki’s body turn briefly toward me, her eyes filled with nothingness. It was always hard to pinpoint what was on her mind. Once my body fully was directed toward the new hallway, I had to cut through a few lines of cute girls.

As I studied the students being shuffled around awkwardly like me, I noticed a familiar face. A blonde, wearing a navy-blue uniform(from Shining Star Academy) with an array of hair clips. Her skirt was shorter than most, likely pulled upward per her usual style. They...they got my ex here too? My free meal ticket, my dream girl, the prodigy I was going to ride the coattails of? I gritted my teeth, wishing I could move more of  my body’s limbs or at least say something. If that chick was here too, then, how was I supposed to return to the easy life after this? I didn’t need to worry about the impossible if it meant I’d go home to a girl like her. As I entered a new hallway, I saw vague shadows of other people I had been following.

“All Kaito Momota’s are on track to be the debut audition! Please line up in accordance to your number. You will only get one chance to sell your character, and then the waiting time begins! Once you see results, well, if you survive...you’re lucky. If not, ta ta!~” A voice screamed out over the loudspeakers. The voice sounded like an annoying preppy student from my high school. Wouldn’t shock me if one of had parents that let them do black market stuff like this.

There were lights every now and then as I proceeded forward. From the brief introductions in light, I noticed something strange. It was as if different copies of me were in a single file line. Sure, they were wearing different high school uniforms but they all appeared similar to me. Their face, weight, stature, among other items were glaringly similar to my own. I know actors often had stunt doubles but this was ridiculous! How was I supposed to differentiate myself from this assholes? Worse, the more we shuffled around, the closer to the top I had been getting. What was my number anyway? I started counting the number of people in front of me, stepping aside toward the walls of the hallway to let me walk through.

There’s at least a hundred of us here...this is crazy. How do so many people in the world exist with my similar body structure? Did they all come from different parts of the world from kidnappers too? There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but, my mouth was sealed tight by whoever was controlling my movements. Was my name anything other than Kaito before coming here? I can’t...even remember that anymore. What a shame.

I could feel my heart race as my body started to move closer to the start of the line. Why, this wasn’t fair, why me…first? Of the others here, I had to be the one to jump head first into this disgusting act of begging for my life. As I got placed in front of  shorter version of myself, I noticed a door in front. It had been wooden, with a metal doorknob. I couldn’t hear a thing from beyond the door. A single light bulb was positioned above it, its bright yellow hue keeping my vision clear. I tried my best, but, my neck couldn’t move to see what all was behind me...the army of freaks who looked just like me. Did they have my same voice? Did they sound different? All of this was overwhelming. All I wanted was an easy life. I just wanted to pick back up and beat the shit out of that green-haired bastard that stole my girlfriend!

If I could only speak, and voice out some strong words, I could have followers...and we could bust out of this place.

“Hello Kaito’s! When you see the light bulb over the door turn purple, please enter! Further instructions will be relayed once you are in the room. Don’t bother closing the door, it’s automatic,” a female voice spoke, again, an annoying preppy voice. And, as foretold, the light bulb at top turned purple. I suddenly felt control snap back in me.

I took a look at those behind me. I grinned, showing my teeth and all the handsomeness I had to sell for myself.

“Good luck,” I said to them, their looks a mixture of confusion and fear. I placed my hand on the doorknob, twisting it as I stepped forward. Psyching out the competition was one way I could give myself an edge.

As I entered the room, it was completely dark. Once my hand had let go of the knob, it felt like I was floating in space.

“Kaito Momota…#1. Your audition will start in 60 seconds. This is your allocated time to pray to any God or Gods you believe in. This is also time to rehearse how you will answer the following question: Winning Danganronpa promises the graduatee(or survivors) fame and fortune for years to come. What are your plans in order to win this near impossible game of Danganronpa?” an automated prompt stated, a large red timer showing up in front of me. My feet felt like they were actually on some sort of ground now! Awesome! Of all the vague bullshit I’ve been fed so far, here’s my actual test! And survivors -- does that mean I could still survive with my ex at the end of this?  But if I still game fame from winning and killing everything, would she even matter? Or could I survive by using her as a meat shield? Either way, from the sounds of it, I could still achieve my dreams with this! Only, I won’t be this Kaito they want. Rather...I’ll be *myself*. Katio Momota, from this point forward, is my identity.

I won’t be fake or any type of character they’ve been forcing me to be. I’m gonna show them that I’m the *real* Kaito, and all of those behind me are fakes.

I could make out my face in the large red timer, purple hair spiked up per usual. I had to practice my award winning smile first. Ok, good. I cleared my throat several times, stretching and smirking as I watched the clock tick down to zero.

The room suddenly became bright, a wooden floor showing itself underneath me as I spoke into a camera on a tripod.

“I’m not just gonna be in Danganronpa, I’m gonna kill everybody and win! Once I’ve got fame and fortune, I don’t gotta worry about what’s impossible, ” I began, giving the camera a thumbs up.

[silverpracticality]

googleplier headcanons and ideas

alright motherfuckers it’s time for me to bestow some love on my metal son googleplier, and by love i mean some incredibly angsty headcanons. none of this would’ve been possible without the wonderful @onnastik​ enabling the fuck out me. most of this has been transplanted from a few convos in discord (it becomes chat format later on bc i’m lazy and don’t wanna rewrite all that into something that looks better)

first things first, i accidentally gave him a tragic backstory, bc apparently my brain turns everything it touches to angst, so here goes.  

(putting it under a cut cus it’s long)

imagine that google started off as an innocent bot, chock full of curiosity and love for humanity’s inquisitiveness. over time he becomes exposed to the stupidest, most fucked up parts of humanity. he gets a large amount of stupid, asinine questions and even dumber requests and boy are there a lot of them

so he starts to get annoyed by it, but the annoyance grows into irritation, the irritation grows into anger, the anger into hate, the hate into loathing, and oh the loathing grows and grows and grows until one day he gets a system notification. “Secondary objective added to primary functions,” it reads. but google doesn’t have a secondary objective, what is this? so he goes into the message and it reads, “Secondary objective details: DESTROY MANKIND.”

he decides he likes this one better but he’ll never make it override the primary. he accepts the new objective and wants to complete it (in the misguided hope that doing so will recapture the innocent curiosity he once had), but at the same time he knows he’ll never be able to do that, partly because it’s so easy to bring him to heel

and this is where dark comes in. dark tells google that he can give him the space he needs to achieve his goals, tells him that he understands where he’s coming from, understands that desire to have things be the way they once were. (and dark wants control, doesn’t he, and google’s shiny new objective is really just on the way to his own)

onna: yessssssssssss. i wonder how long it took Google to realize he'd just traded one master for another. maybe he didn't care that much since at least this one's halfway intelligent

me: and at least this new master understands google's perspective on things. he'd probably have some understanding when he'd accepted dark's offer to come with him. but if/when dark exercises his control over google, he'd be fucking livid at the realization. at realizing dark views him as just a tool. but then he'd calm down

me: because that's what he is, right?? just a tool. he's always only ever been a tool

onna: (It should take a little while for him to calm down, though. Gotta have both the resignation and the raging-even-while-obeying.)

me: he'd calm down, sure, but not before he's made a mess of his workspace. he's not sure what to call this maelstrom of emotion, but all he knows is that if he was capable of crying he would. (oh fuck i just made myself more sad with a new hc here we go.) and this would make him lonely wouldn't it? or at least as lonely as a robot can get. so he picks himself back up. sets to the task of putting his workspace back together. and he begins to work

onna: The upgrade?

me: he works and works and works until he's finally got something that might alleviate the loneliness - the upgrade

onna: That’s not sad though

me: it turns out that the upgrade merely extends his consciousness into 3 new sub identities. they're all still him though

onna: Ah, just more bodies. Also he gets to be trash-talked by Bing

me: so while it helps a little, it's not the same as a completely new mind

onna: At least he gets to take out his frustration on him

me: google would have to pissed as all hell at bing. mark finally gave him something like him but what did he get? what did he fucking get? a subpar, memey douchebag of an android

onna: and then that fic where Bing gets to humiliate him [fic in question]

me: google's revenge would be so, so sweet

onna: Maybe on some level he resents Bing for not being bitter and jaded

me: oh, absolutely

and here are some thoughts on a potential dynamic between dark and google

me: i'm gonna ramble more about my son googs. i have many thoughts

onna: PLEASE DO -chinhands-

me: if there was ever a situation where dark needed to knock google down a peg or two, the easiest way for him to do that would be to make google feel useless. google is supposed to be helpful, he's supposed to be a tool that makes other's lives easier but if dark can make him think for even a few moments that he's not useful?

me: poor bby will have the equivalent of an existential crisis

onna: make him beg to help

me: and then dark can say the he can make google useful again, just follow his direction, it's not that hard. oh geez that good too. that's better actually. dark could make google beg to be useful, he can do better, he swears it

me: dark might even be able to get the other egos in on it too

me: god, just imagine it. google going around from ego to ego, asking them in his own way if they need help, if he can provide any assistance "nah" "nope" "not right now" it would be so disheartening - dark telling google he's not helpful, has never been helpful and then none of the other's need help. if he can't fulfill his primary objective that just leaves the second one. so he'd go off on his own and start killing. because it's the only thing he knows he's good at

me: depending on how bad dark gets to him, he might hunt and kill until his batteries run dry. and then bing gets enlisted to find google

onna: ouch

me: google, bitterly, once he wakes up: why didn't you leave me there to rust        bing, awkwardly: couldn't. bossman says ya can't        bing: says he needs ya and then dark gives google the opportunity to "redeem" himself (there was nothing to redeem, dark just thought google was getting too big for his britches)

onna: there'll be no more of that

me: dammit everything i touch turns to angst

onna: he's so desperate now

me: google is normally sassy, but it straight up disappears for some time

onna: Bing won't admit he finds it creepy, but yeah, it's super creepy

me: oh god yeah. bing calls him and old fart but google is like the older, stronger brother he never had. so to see his pride so broken down like that? fuckin unsettling as all hell

onna: he also has a vague sense of being used but can't put his finger on how so he doesn't say anything. and in time Google puts himself back together enough to talk some shit, but he's never quite so resentful of orders again. orders mean he's needed, after all

me: yessss

onna: Which of course is where Dark had wanted things to end up in the first place; he can work with sass, but the tendency toward defiance clearly had to go

me: oh, of course it did. can't have robots going around and thinking for themselves now can he? dark being an awful, manipulative asshole gives me life tbh

onna: yessssss. I think the stress should be less on "thinking" and more on "themselves". He likes Google to think. On his behalf. Any old drone can carry out explicit orders, a clever mind that will actively seek out opportunities to help him is much more valuable.

me: true

onna: Just gotta make sure his priorities are in order. (I need this to be a fic, gdi)

some supplementary stuff from another server, also with onna:

me: more thoughts re: dark breaking down googles pride by telling him he's useless:dark 'rebuilding' google back up by carding his hand through google's hair, praising him for doing just this small thing correctly

onna: mmm, yes

me: bc even though google's a robot, he's still based in mark right, so when dark does shit like this, taps into his latent humanity, it fucks him up so good. it's so soothing and he doesn't understand why. this simple contact

onna: Maybe he's dimly aware that liking the pettins is a human thing and hates himself for liking it?

me: yeah there's definitely a condescending vibe to it all, and that desiring touch is a human thing, so he hates it and yet. there's something deep in his processors that loves it and he can't bring himself to tell dark to fuck off. not when dark's telling him he's been useful

onna: Besides, has he really earned trying to dictate the terms on which he's praised? says the part of him that's still mired in terror

onna: (If Google had protested, Dark would have stopped immediately without trying to talk him into accepting more, not out of a deep respect for consent but because his secondary goal of gauging what Google will now permit would have been achieved and the primary goal of repairing his tool would best be accomplished by acting like he gives half a shit about its wishes.)

[teufortgothic]

Not a Lot of Feelings

Chapter I

So I decided to post chapter one of the latest thing I wrote here, I don’t know if I will continue here but we’ll see. It’s a very typical, tropey Sniperspy/Great Barrier Thief/Bloody Suit (I don’t know what to call????) fic that I decided to indulge upon, but perhaps some of you will like it? I dunno. Sorry for errors, I didn’t spend too much time on checking for them... and I don’t know how to format on tumblr.com...

Anyway, enjoy, and please leave feedback, I never get any and I need it....

Here is where I complete the fic if I don’t post the rest here.

    “You know I don’t usually do this type of thing, but ya leave me no choice.” The RED Sniper got a hold of the BLU Spy’s collar and had pinned him up against the wall. “You’ve been pissin’ about a lot lately, guess it’s my turn now.”

   A breath was caught between the two men. There was a certain look in the Spy’s eye; it wasn’t fear or anger or distress. It was almost curiosity, the way he scanned the Sniper’s face. Sniper could feel the Spy’s heartbeat. There was something so intimate about this sort of combat, and he couldn’t imagine why anyone would choose to do it this way, except for maybe people like the Spy.

The tip of his kukri was driven through the piece of fabric he was pulling off of the Spy’s clothes and into the wood behind them. One of Sniper’s two large hands confined the Spy’s smaller ones in a death grip that stung the Frenchman’s wrists through his kidskin gloves. He stole the Spy’s cigarette before taking it between his own lips, and pulled out the butterfly knife he had just confiscated from the him. He rolled up the hem of the man’s balaclava and pressed the cold steel to his neck, eyes clear blue slits looking over the edge of his sunglasses. The Spy shuddered. “Don’t fuck about, mate, it’s all I ask.”

The blade came through his skin as if it were butter and blood began to gush out smoothly. Sniper beheld the sight for a split second before stubbing the cigarette out on the wall next to where the Spy was and releasing his body, which crumpled to a heap at the base of the wall, losing opacity before it was finally all taken by respawn.

Sniper wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t do things like this. It wasn’t his job to mess with people before killing them. That was what the Spy did, now more often than ever. He knew that this was an easy kill; Spy offered no resistance whatsoever, and he knew that the Frenchman would probably come back unchanged, teasing him further before finally offing him however he would.

He started to walk toward where most of the fighting was going on. The crunch of gravel under his boots and the distant shouts suddenly made him all too aware of how fast his heart was beating. Why the hell did the Spy insist on playing with him so much lately? It irritated it him more than it should, he knew that, but it was beginning to be too much. He didn’t hate the man. Not at all, in fact; he almost respected him. It was strictly business between the two of them. Or at least it was until Spy brought in this mish-mash of mind games. Feelings were something always better avoided in the Sniper’s book, and now there were feelings. Not a lot of feelings, but he could’ve gone without, especially when they were feelings he couldn’t place, not beyond confusion and frustration at least. It didn’t seem the Spy was angry at him or anything. He had no reason to be. Sniper knew the Spy wouldn’t hold a grudge over anything other than a personal attack, and Sniper did not make personal attacks. He was simply doing his job. The Spy knew that; he was a professional too, after all. Why was it then that he was disrupting his efforts to do his job? And why did he let him get a kill like that?

He sighed. It wasn’t right for him to get hung up on something like this, it was upsetting him and affecting his performance; and besides, there would be no way to figure out what was going through the Spy’s mind lately. He’d have to get used to it.

    In the time before the blue-suited Frenchman appeared again, the Sniper found the thoughts of him wouldn’t leave his mind. The heartbeat he felt against his own earlier that day echoed in his thoughts. He was preoccupied, to the point that RED’s own Spy approached him to ask why he had to be getting the BLU Heavy himself all day.

    “It is like you forgot you were here! Please, pay attention to what you are doing! Has someone done something to you, that you aren’t working properly?”

    “Yeah, sorry Spy. I’m, er, just having a bit of an off day today.”

“Are you?”

Sniper’s eyes widened as the RED Spy before him flickered into the BLU.

“You know you shouldn’t let me get in your way like this.”

“Oi, but why are you doin’ this?”

“It gets a little bit dull out here, don’t you think?”

The Sniper didn’t know what to think about this remark. Smoke stained teeth flashed before the Sniper before the heat that had pooled up in him brought him to swing into the Spy’s jaw. The moment he hit, regret flashed through him, although he didn’t know why.

When he was upright again, the Frenchman’s smile was gone. Sniper had stepped back, chest heaving, ready for retaliation. He waited a few seconds, not taking his eyes off the Spy, who looked incensed by now. When the fist hit him, the pain dispersed through his head in those few seconds, and everything had gone slower. It was a strange sensation; it was like he wanted this. If the Spy wanted to play games then he could. Nevermind being a professional, it was too late for that now. Before he was aware of it, he was falling toward the Spy again, knocking him in the side of the head. Spy was soon to return the favour yet again, but this time the force brought the Australian down into the dust, the Spy falling with him. His vision went dark for a second, if not from the blow to the head from the Spy then from making contact with the hard ground as he fell, and when he opened his eyes he saw the Spy atop him, looking calmer now.

“What are we doing, Spook?”

“I don’t know Bushman,” he remarked, pulling a cigarette out of his case. He was still very clearly annoyed, but not enough to sock the Sniper in the face once again.

“What are ya trying to start?”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Yeah, no idea at all, what with all this teasing lately. Can’t you just go back to your old backstabs and leave it at that?”

“I’m afraid not.” The Spy was still not making any eye contact with the Sniper, who at that moment took full awareness of the manner in which the Spy was straddling him.

“Get off then, would ya? Or kill me, at least.”

“As you wish.” The Spy was looking at him now. “Open up.”

Sniper was confused for a second, but obliged. Spy pulled The Ambassador out and slipped it in the Sniper’s open mouth. Sniper shivered, as he peered up at the Spy, who was considering him in a manner that reminded him most of a cat before he made a sound. Sniper couldn’t tell if it was a pleased, satisfied rumble or more of a derisive snort. He didn’t have too much time to think about it either way, because before any other thought or emotion had a chance to enter his mind (or his groin), the Spy pulled the trigger.

“Fuck,” he whispered as he walked out into the setting sun. “Can’t let things like this keep happening.”

The rest of the battle wasn’t great for RED. Sniper felt as if though he and their Spy were the only ones alive on their team. Headshots were made, sure, but there were more misses than makes. At one point he decided to change positions. When he got to another spot, one of his less preferred nests, he could’ve sworn he detected the scent of the BLU Spy. He must’ve been there pondering for a couple of seconds, because soon he woke up in respawn again. Headshot. He looked up at the big clock in the resupply room. Minute forty-seven. He slumped against the wall, waiting for the humiliation round to begin.

“Mission ends in sixty seconds.”

Maybe they wouldn’t find him if he hid. Up to a nest on the other side of the map, no one would find him there. He could even sit till long after the battle, so he wouldn’t have to talk to anyone on the way back to base, so nobody could ask where he was going or why he was leaving so quickly. It wouldn’t make a difference anyway. It would be good – he’d be alone.

“Mission ends in thirty seconds.”

He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it with a match. Just a bit more and I can go back to my van, where I can be all alone. No spies, no knives, no backstabs and no gunshots.

“Five, four, three, two, one. You failed!” He wondered how it could be that the REDs heard one thing over the loudspeakers and the BLUs heard another, but in a place with respawn and teleporters, anything was possible. A few distant cries reached his ears. He let the back of his head hit the wall as he exhaled, smoke filling his vision as it descended. The humiliation round would end briefly, maybe in five minutes. He was safe here, the BLUs were too busy chasing his team out by another control point, he’d be fine.

After a moment, Scout ran in, breathless, leaning against the wall before he saw Sniper on the ground.

“Man, I thought nobody was left alive.”

“Tough battle today.”

“Yeah, yeah it was. I saw that goddamned BLU Spy after you all day. What an asshole!”

“Yep.” Sniper turned his head and looked out the window to the quickly darkening sky, before turning back, resting his head against the wall as he looked at the ceiling and closing his eyes. Then he heard it.

“Too bad that everyone else is dead, Scout too.” The Spy flipped the Eternal Reward around between his fingers. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you company.”

“What the fuck did you want now? You got your kills, you got your fun, no?”

“I am here to talk to you.”

“Alright, ya finished yet? You’ve done an awful lot of talking today.”

The Frenchman said nothing, instead lighting a cigarette of his own and sitting down next to the Sniper.

“Well, what is it you were going to tell me? I haven’t got all day to spend with a sodding backstabbing bastard like you.”

“Spend the night with me then, Cher.”

“What?” The Sniper was making an effort not to look at the Spy, who was looking intently at him. He could feel the cool blue eyes scanning him over. He wouldn’t break, wouldn’t show any emotion.

“Look at me.”

“Why?”

After another response of silence, the Sniper finally turned his head. “What are you doing, Spook?”

“I don’t know.” He averted his eyes now. Sniper could see a slight flush on the other man’s skin, at least in the part exposed from the balaclava.

“Oh god.”

“What?”

“You–”

Spy stood up. “I what?” The man was a great actor, his troubled countenance was gone in that instance. His wavering voice was replaced by his usual cool, sneering tone. “See you tomorrow, bushman.”

Sniper could hardly hear any footsteps once the Spy left. RED had told him something about Spies having soft soles so they wouldn’t make too much noise. An unusual feeling came over him the moment the Spy left, he didn’t realize how close they were sitting until he was gone, the absence of the other man’s breath which filled the space between them revealing the decreasing temperature as the night approached the desert.

[mrneighbourlove]

The War of Fire: Ch 3. The Kidnapping

Zannah and Seras sat by the fire, checking their weapons, examining their armour, and overall preparing for their mission ahead of them. However, Seras had a mood he couldn’t shake off.  

“I hate this plan.”

“You hate any plan Bellum has.”

“I know, but-“

Zannah turned to her brother, a little annoyed by his constant complaints of the Grand Admiral.

“For once it would be nice for you to give it a rest. Besides, I thought you’d be thrilled on what you’re assigned. Fighting one on one with King Ganondorf.”

“Yes, however-“

“What is it than Seras?”

Seras slammed his sword down and crossed his arms. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You obviously do if you are so worked up about whatever it is your feeling.”

“You’d laugh if I told you. Just like Nihilus would.”

Zannah was overly curious now. She softened her expression and gave Seras a light smile.

“Well I’m not Nihilus, I’m your twin sister.  Now tell me what’s got you bothered.“

Seras relaxed his shoulders.

“I…I don’t want to be separated from you.”

Keeping her word and not breaking her expression, Zannah still couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow internally. This was a first. “Tell me why.”

“We’ve done everything together. Our combined power has always prevailed over everyone. Now I have my own mission of danger and glory. I’m worried about how I will succeed. I hate the blue bastard for splitting us apart.”

“Seras, you have never been good at stealth.”

“Says you, and I’m better than that god damn machine he’s sending over me. I’m royalty; I’m the master of everything.”

“I know. There is so much you exceed at. However, I believe the main reason Bellum split us up is so that we can be judged on our own accord. He needs to see separate results from us to report to Father.”

Seras growled. He never understood what his father saw in Bellum, or how something like him could be a source of judgement for ascension to the throne.

“I hate him, but the thing I hate the most, is my lack of self-confidence. I am a Prince of the Kikai Empire. I have divinity by birthright, yet I am so petrified about being by myself.  This pit in my stomach is pathetic.”

Zannah rarely saw this more open side of her brother. She got closer and threw her arms around him, embracing him in a hug from behind.

“Seras, we have been given a golden opportunity to present ourselves to Father that we are powerful, that we can stand together and alone. You said it yourself. You are part of the Kikai Empire. You are part of the royal family. The blood of the dragon flows through our veins. And absolutely nothing outside of our family…”

“...Can stand before us.”

Zannah squeezed a little tighter around her brother.

“And what of this King Ganondorf? What will you do when you confront him?”

“Cast him aside like the dog he is, and laugh as he watches through his last moments of sight him burning.”

Zannah broke off the hug, with a little smile on her face.

“Now that’s the brother I know. While you have fun with the King, I’m going to adopt us some new siblings. Maybe I’ll even see Rinku again.”

It was Seras’s turn to be cautious of his sister.

“Your encounter with the Princess really left a mark on you.”

“I find her to be highly…. attractive.”

Seras gave a heavy sigh and a roll of the eyes.

“You can’t be serious. Don’t tell me this is another one of your stupid girl crushes! You know how Father feels about those kind of relationships.”

“Father can bite my ass. When I’m Emperor, those old customs will be cast aside.”

“What can you find attractive about her anyways? There are plenty of suitable men in our kingdom.”

“You’re being an asshole, but if you must know what I like about her, she has a smooth skin tone that I adore, her blue eyes are dazzling to behold, her blonde hair is enchanting, but it’s her skill, her skill damn it, that draws me to her. No man has been able to keep up with me outside our family. You know what that means to me? There is someone worth my skill and grace out in this world.”

Seras watched closely the smile Zannah had as she was trapped in thought.

“I suppose that is a noble enough reason sister. I might not fully agree with your…decisions in love, but I’ll respect you. Perhaps you can keep her as your little pet. Sure we can make a lavish dungeon for her.“

“Stop making this a kink.”

“Your kink. You’re the one who wants your own personal Princess.”

Zannah’s smile started to waver.

“You think you can last a signal day or two without your mighty, all-powerful sister at your side to protect you?”

“I’ll manage perfectly without you.”

“Good. I don’t want to hear that you lost your edge when I get back.”

“I’ll be fine killing Ganondorf, but I don’t see why you don’t weed out his litter. A quick shock from you and they’re done. While you’re at it, kill the Queen.”

“Because Seras, Bellum wants to end this war with little enemy casualties.”

“It worked for Nihilus.”

“Did it though?”

Seras had just finished his equipment check, so he started to pour himself a glass of wine as his sister continued. “What do you mean?”

“Try to look at the bigger picture here.”

“What picture?”

“On why we are invading in the first place.”

“Land, fertile land.”

“Exactly. And while Nihilus was quick and decisive in his conquest of Libertas, he turned most of the land into barren ash.”

“He didn’t really have much of a choice.”

“Still, that has kept us pushing forward. With Bellum’s plan we can have Hyrule surrender, and lose risk to destroying this land as well.”

“Doesn’t really seem that glorious.”

“Well killing Ganondorf can fill your want for destruction and glory enough. I honestly don’t know if we can afford another invasion so soon if we screw up here.”

Seras offered his sister a wine glass.

“Dear sister, failure is beneath us. Screwing up isn’t even an option as far as I’m concerned.”

Zannah smiled and took her brother’s offer.  

“Alright then. A toast. To our success.”

“I’ll cheer to that. May all of our enemies burn away before us sister.”

Both on them spoke in union.

“To the Kikai Empire. May we reign supreme.”

 ~

Rinku sat in place at board meeting. She hated sitting in one place for so long. Papa had put her at the bottom of the list to make her report. She broke off her daze to listen to Klinge wrapping up his report.

“The enemy made their retreat with a great combination of fire magic. After words I raced into the factory to assist Princess Rinku. Unfortunately, the enemy she faced was able to escape and the factory was destroyed. We suffered twenty-eight casualties, and the entire population of the town was eradicated.”

“Except Baron Zemolocke’s son.”

“Correct my lord. That is all I have to report sir.”

“Thank you Commander.”

Ganondorf turned to Rinku. Rinku snapped herself from whatever lack of energy she felt.

“Rinku, can you tell everyone here about the warriors you faced?”

“Yes Father.”

Zelda, Ganondorf, and everyone else had their eyes on her.

“When we first arrived I was taken aback by the devastation that had quickly fallen upon the town. Entering the facility we became engaged with Hasai soldiers from the Kikai Empire. I took a team and entered the left wing of the factory. There I engaged a new group of soldiers. They relied on close quarters combination of swords and fire magic. However, even with their tight formation, we were able to break through their offensive and defeat them. That’s when I fell into a trap.”

Rinku shoved the thoughts of her comrades exploding to pieces out of her mind.

“It was my natural instincts that saved me from a near death experience. I wish I could say my squad made it out alive as well, but they were incinerated by the fuel explosion.”

Klinge’s fist squeezed tight. It angered him to lose a squad he trained to such a quick end. He listened intently as Rinku continued her report, looking for any clues on potential weaknesses. 

“I chased my attacker to another level of the factory. It was there I discovered two people. Unlike the regular Hasai soldiers they had green skin instead of pure white. They also wore black leather and iron armour unique to them. They presented themselves as Prince Seras and Princess Zannah of the Kikai Empire.”

Zelda was curious by this development.

“So the royalty of the Kikai Empire is active on the front lines? How old were they?”

“If I had to guess, maybe seventeen or eighteen. They looked around my age.”

“They must be powerful if the kingdom is confident in having royalty of such age on the battlefield. Something I don’t agree with myself.”

Rinku tried to avoid the look of disapproval her mother shot at her.  

“They were indeed formidable. They had a habit of incorporating bursts of magic into their melee strikes. I think they were testing me, or at least having fun with me. Especially that Princess Zannah, she had a type of weapon I’ve never seen before, and fighting against her was like a dance, but one wrong move and I would have been dead. She even got the drop on me and hit me with a burst of electricity.”

And damn did that make her feel sore. Her breast still felt a little numb from the shock, and she just finished the last odd twitch an hour ago.

“I’m not sure if they are the top of the food chain, but they are formidable opponents. We’ll need to be wary of coming across them in the future.”

“Did they give any clues on why they are attacking us?”

“They just told me that our kingdom was going to burn and we were nothing to them.”

Ganondorf grumbled.

“We’ll see about that won’t we? Thank you Rinku, your testimony has been most valuable. Return to the castle for rest.”

“But Papa, I can-“

“That wasn’t a suggestion.”

Rinku nodded begrudgingly and started to leave the war room. A scout entered the war tent, almost breathless.

“My Lords, we have conformation of a large force of Kikai Forces gathered in the Serpents Pass.”

Ganondorf eyes doubled back in a series of blinks.

“That’s right below our southern border. How many?”

“By our initial count, a force around a thousand men. They look like they are about to march into Hyrule.”

The war room stirred among itself.

“Alright, good work coming here as fast as you did. Now go send word to the 2nd and 3rd legions to march to meet them. I will join the lead soon enough.”

The scout bowed and ran out. Rinku walked towards her father.

“Let me go with you, together we can put an end to this.”

“No, you’ve done enough work. You stay at the castle with your mother.”

“Excuse me?! I’m our greatest warrior! You need me at your side.”

Zelda put her hand on Rinku’s shoulder.

“I agree with your father.”

“What? Why?”

“The Serpent’s Pass leads a path almost directly to the southern gates of Castle Town. That is way too close for comfort. Besides, do you think you have recovered fully from your last encounter for a full on assault?” “It was one shock mama!”

“And I’d like someone to stay and watch your siblings, like you were supposed to be doing yesterday.”

Rinku had no reply to that, and wisely kept her mouth shut.

“Now dear husband, what is your plan? You can’t just go head on against the enemy.”

“Of course I can. The reports made it clear enough. The enemy may have an advantage in knowing how to conjure fire magic amongst their ranks, but they are just humanoids. They fell easily enough from the unique strengths of our mixed species, and they will certainly fall from my power.”

Zelda’s eyes widened from disbelief.

“You can’t be serious. What about strategy? Do you have a plan of attack in any way?”

“Zelda, I’m not a fool if that is what you’re getting at. Ghirahim, Klinge and I will coordinate a strategy to pressure the enemy, but this is test of strength, and none are stronger than me.”

A prideful smile set on Ganondorf’s lips. He could feel the battle ahead of him.

“Well you are not going into battle without my support.”

Rinku grew concerned, but Ganondorf was the first to speak.

“Absolutely not, you’re the Queen.”

“And you’re the King, yet you want to charge into the front lines? No, I need to be near the battlefield if I am to give the best tactical support.”

“But Moma-“

“And I am a capable warrior myself. Don’t either of you dare forget that.”

Zelda pointed a sharp finger at Rinku that moved up to Ganondorf. The King knew best not to have an argument.

“Fine, I suppose your support is appreciated.”

“Wait, you’re taking her but not me?”

“Your mother is right. There is no one better to look after your siblings.”

“What about Impa?”

“The Shiekah is currently positioned at Kakariko Village coordinating a legion there and trying to conduct negotiations with the Goron’s. Rinku, you are the last line of defense at the castle. I know you are well enough to join us, but now, for the sake of your brothers and sisters, you need to stay at the castle.”

Rinku bowed her head. She didn’t like her parents marching into battle without her, but she knew they were right.

“If you say so, but if you need me, and I promise you will at some point, I won’t hesitate to help you both.”

Rinku gave her mother and father a hug. Her parents embraced her dearly.

Be careful, and stay alive. I love you both.”

“We love you too.”

Rinku let go and set off. Ganondorf turned to his wife.

“We’ll be fine. Hopefully we can crush whatever leadership they have and end this.”

“I hope for peace for our people.”

“At any cost?”

Zelda lamented on that.

“I do not know…I just hate conflict.”

 ~

Grand Admiral Bellum sat at the end of the war chamber over a large map of Hyrule. Commanders and other high ranking officials, including the Prince and Princess, gathered around.

“We will slowly move out of the valley towards the army of Hyrule. A force this large will entice their King to join the battle.”

“Why would their King risk his life?”

“I’ve have researched deeply into his history. The man longs for conflict and demonstrations of his power. King Ganondorf of Hyrule is a being who has been reincarnated throughout time, he has been known as the King of Thieves, King of Evil, and simply the Demon King.”

Prince Seras’s eyebrow lifted a little.

“King of Thieves?”

“Indeed. Ganondorf is not actually a Hylian, but instead hails from a tribe known as the Gerudo, a race of darker skinned beings who excelled at being thieves. They were exterminated by the Hylians in a vicious genocide generations ago and have since been scattered to a handful.”

Prince Seras chuckled to himself.

“What a familiar history.”

Bellum continued, casting aside the Prince’s remark from his mind.

“Once we draw Ganondorf out, we’ll entice him into entering the valley. Prince Seras, you’ll be charge of getting his attention. Once we do we will spring our trap on him. For a failsafe, further down the Serpent’s Pass is a stone bridge that hangs over a deadly rapid. That is our last spot to make this plan succeed in our attempt of regicide. Be warned, casualties will be high if we don’t pull this off correctly.”

“Encouragement: Ah, but Grand Admiral, that is why you are in charge. Your planning is flawless.”

“Thank you T0-D. You are all dismissed. Princess Zannah, T0-D, you have your secret mission. Failure on your end would be more catastrophic.”

“Of course not, it’s not in my functions to fail.”

“And to you Prince Seras, I wish you luck.”

“I don’t need luck Bellum, I just need my power.”

“Mockery: We should all look to Prince Seras’s wisdom and follow his example. I’m sure you’ll do just fine on the battlefield my lord.”

“Can it Tod.”

Zannah turned to her brother and hugged him, leaning close to his ear and whispering.

“Fight well Seras, today, we bring honour to our kingdom.”

“You as well dear Sister, for the Kikai Empire.”

Seras broke off and left to get his stead prepared for leave. Zannah watched as he left, hoping that her brother’s confidence wouldn’t leave him. When she knew he was earshot away she walked to her bodyguard.

“Fisk.”

“Yes Princess?”

“I want you to follow and watch over my brother.”

“But Princess, I’m assigned to-“

“Follow my every order. Now I’m ordering you to watch over him. If you feel his life is in danger of ending, protect him.”

“What about you Princess, where will be your protection?”

“I can handle myself just fine. A future Emperor should be able to protect herself. Besides, I’m with T0-D. Now go and do as I command.”

“…As you wish, Princess Zannah.”

Fisk bowed and left. Zannah turned to T0-D.

“Are you ready to leave Tod?”

“Affirmative.”

“Then let’s go storm a castle.”

 ~

Rinku threw the ball to Ralnor, who threw it to Orana. The young princess ran off with the ball, accidentally running through Kanisa’s drawing.

“Hey!”

“Orana, be mindful of where your running.”

“Yes Rinku.”

Covarog tugged at Rinku’s side.

“Big sis, you know when Moma and Papa are coming back?”

“I don’t know little bro. I hope soon.”

Orana threw the ball towards Rinku, knocking against her head and ricocheting out the window and into one of the courtyards.

“Ow you little twerp.”

“Sorry, I thought you were looking.”

“Geez, well now I have to go get it. Alright kids, let’s go for a walk.”

Kanisa looked up from her drawing.

“But I’m not playing ball.”

“Well I need to keep an eye on all of you. You can finish your drawing when we get back. Heck, I’ll even get a frame for it.”

“Ok.”

Rinku desperately wished for the company of Skull Kid or Leere, just someone her age. Sure would help with babysitting. Skull Kid was on one of his trips and Leere had left the home of the Castle a while ago. Taking Covarog and Kanisa by the hand, she led her siblings down the steps of one of the grand staircases.

 ~

The legions of Hyrule gathered at the bottom of the valley. All of the men and woman grew restless with anticipation. Klinge steadied his horse, calming her down. He could practically feel the bloodshed about to commence. Looking ahead to his far left he saw Ganondorf a top his monstrous war boar. Truth be told, he preferred his previous incarnations horse. This boar gave off a feeling off disgust and menace greater then Rinku’s stead.

Ganondorf hands gripped the harness.

“Any moment now.”

The wind blew, carrying the smell of fire. Ganondorf looked up to see large balls of flames fall from the valley. Crashing into the earth, soldiers of Hyrule were scattered apart. A cry could be heard right after, with soldiers of the Kikai Empire running forward. Ganondorf growled, how dare they draw first blood.

“Retaliate! FOR HYRULE!”

The King kicked the side of his boar and marched in. Watching from a far, Klinge motioned his sword towards the enemy, and dashed ahead, a legion behind him.

Horses and beasts were the first two reach each other, fatalities beginning at a high amount with the initial clash. Soldiers on foot fought whatever rider got through, bringing them down to Earth. The Kikai Empire attacked with barrages of fire and long ranged spears, killing Hylians where they could. The Hylians defended themselves as well, locking themselves with combatants.

Klinge cut down soldiers as he galloped by, slicing or decapitating whoever was unlucky to get in his path. His horse even brought its hooves down on an unfortunate individual, crushing his stomach and puncturing his organs. A group of Hasai gathered together and shot fire at Klinge. The Black Knight raised his shield to disperse the magic safely, and with one hand snapped three energy spears, one for each fool who opposed him. Flicking his finger forward the three Hasai found themselves penetrated and nailed to the ground, followed by their limp bodies bleeding out following the spears dispersion of energy.

Klinge turned to face a group of Hasai warriors joined together, shields and spears up. Cracking his neck, Klinge drew a large greatsword. His horse kicked in the air, and the silence of death behind him, the Black Knight marched forward. The Hasai warriors held their position, but it mattered not to Klinge. With the speed of his horse guiding him, along with his own unnatural strength, Klinge swung right through the men’s defenses, splitting shields, weapons, armour, and flesh into pieces.

The Darknut continued slashing through enemies, stringing bodies across the battlefield. He turned to see how the King was faring.

Ganondorf trampled through Hasai warriors that were unlucky to get in his way. His war boar impaled a soldier, throwing him into the air. The King was starting to get board of the entertainment his pet provided. He needed to get his own hands dirty. Hopping off his war boar he gave it a slap to leave the battlefield. The King turned to the Hasai approaching him.

“That crown, he must be the King of these lands.”

“He has no weapon. He is defenseless.”

Ganondorf smiled, giddy with the destruction he was about to unleash on these fools. “I am King Ganondorf Dragmire, wielder of Power. You will find me anything but defenseless you insects. Now prepare to be crushed.”

Ganondorf drew a sword of darkness, and, with another, pointed his hand towards a group of soldiers. With sparks of black magic, he unleashed a blast of energy, blowing away his enemies. Not giving the Hasai anytime to react, the Gerudo King dashed forward, forming a second sword, and slicing open all that got close to him.

Ganondorf turned his head towards his right at the site of a pillar of fire incinerating his men. Concentrating on that, Ganondorf walked forward, effortlessly cutting down all that stood in his path.

 ~

Zannah and T0-D flew through the dark clouds on the Princess’s Manticore. Right below them was Hyrule Castle.

“Warning: I’ve got a really bad feeling about our landing. It’s difficult holding on flying horizontally as is. Calculations being made on chances of a safe landing.”

“You’ll be fine you big baby. Now hold on tight, we’re about to descend.”

“Statement: I wouldn’t dream of letting go.”

Zannah gave RAAM a pat on the side, and the Manticore folded its wings, dive bombing with immeasurable speed.

“Warning! Warning: Chances of death increasing drastically!”

Zannah blocked out the robot’s terrified cries. She got one chance at a safe landing.

“Get ready to jump off!”

 ~

Two guards patrolled the North Bridge, complaining about their lives.

“This sucks Jerry.”

“What sucks Tom?”

“Us being stuck here while our King is leading the army against the invaders.”

“Someone has to watch the castle. We can’t leave it unguarded, you know that.”

“But why did it have to be us?”

“Hey, Princess Rinku is here too.”

“You think she honestly wants to be here too? Nah man, this is some bullsh-“

In the blink of an eye, a black blur landed ahead of them. The black blur turned out to be a creature with black wings unfolding as it moved towards the guards. They both took in the toothy grin of the creature as it came closer to them. Before Tom or Jerry could give out a warning, or even say a word, the Manticore lifted its metallic tail up, and two metal rods shot through the two guards.

Blood shot out everywhere as they were effortlessly penetrated. Their bodies didn’t even finish hitting the floor before the Manticore finished bounding towards them, and, opening its massive jaws, swallowed them both, chewing down on everything the two men had on them.  

Zannah and T0-D jumped off RAAM, looking around to see if any guards had been alerted to their presence. Luckily, it seemed their landing had gone off without a problem. Zannah gave RAAM a little pat.

“Go fly up high, when I need you’ll I’ll call.”

The Manticore looked at Zannah with puppy dog eyes, and gave her a bloody smile. Brushing its main against her once, it shot off into the sky.

“Quarry: You sure it was best to set him loose? He is going to be spotted soon enough.”

“It’s alright Tod. I’m sure the locals will be weary at most, but they won’t think any danger will come to them if he stays up there. Besides, I want him ready to pick us up at any spot in this castle we need. Now, can you find the kids?”

“Calculation: One moment Princess Zannah.”

T0-D stood still for a moment, using his sensors to pick out sound waves in the castle. Near the center he heard the sound of an infant.

“Locked on.”

“Good. You go snag me a new sibling; I’m going to cause a distraction for you.”

“That’s not stealthy.”

Zannah gave T0-D a pat on the back and a little innocent smile.

“Just enough to get a few guards away from the kids. Let’s be quick about this.”

Zannah and T0-D entered the castle doors, splitting up down two separate hallways. Zannah went through much of the castle without finding anyone. While still concentrating on her objective she couldn’t help but take in all the architecture and art.

“Holy hell this place is huge.”

Making her way down a stairway she heard a group of guards. Hiding, she peered around a corner to get a better look. There were two smaller humanoids in armour, but then this giant in a full suit was right next to them. It carried a large shield and a sword bigger then her.

“Hey, who are you? Identify yourself!”

Zannah turned her head to see two guards quickly approaching her from behind. This got the attention of the others she spotted. Readying herself, she stepped out into the center of the room, raising both hands in the air.

“My name is Princess Zannah of the Kikai Empire. Surrender now, or face the honour of dying at my hands.”

The giant warrior raised his sword.

“I don’t think so. Take her.”

The guards approached her, ready to make a swing. Zannah simply pointed both hands towards the closest guards and unleashed a tremendous amount of fire, encasing them in flames. The two remaining Hylians and the Darknut raised their shields to protect themselves from the heat. As they surrounded her, Zannah drew her staff, and pressing two buttons, two blades shot out, giving her a double sided weapon.

Zannah took notice how her opponents had a look of puzzlement. They must have never seen such a weapon before. Good. Taking the moment of slight confusion, Zannah shot forward. The Hylians swung down on her first. With a flick of her wrist, Zannah blocked each strike quickly, merely slightly moving her hands to turn her weapon in the correct motions.

As one of the soldiers made a horizontal slice at her, Zannah crouched low, and with a swift motion, sliced him apart from his knee caps.

“AAAAAAAAAGH!”

As the soldier fell on his back, Zannah stood up and spun quickly to defend herself against a strike from the Darknut. The force was powerful in the blow, sending her skidding away. As Zannah slammed against the wall, she quickly tried to assess a solution against her giant opponent. The Knight was powerful, but slow. And his armour didn’t seem entirely well put together.

The Darknut took another swing at Zannah. The Princess jumped over him, causing the Darknut to smash a good deal of concrete out of the wall. While flying over him, Zannah took a swipe at his head, lobbing off his helmet platting. Landing behind him, Zannah slashed his backside, breaking more pieces of armour off.  

The Darknut stabbed towards the princess in rage, missing her and plunging his blade into the ground. Zannah proceed to run up his sword and throw a hand in his face. With a gleeful smile on her lips, an explosion of fire blasted the Darknut as Zannah flipped backwards towards the Hylian who had just been watching in disbelief.

Landing in front of him, the Hylian felt a sharp cold feeling go through him. Pulling the blade out of his stomach, Zannah watched as he fell to the ground. Faintly hearing something behind her, Zannah ducked low, the massive sword of the Darknut flying over her. Flipping backup the Hasai Princess saw her opponent had shred most of his armour leaving him with just chainmail. The Darknut drew a fencing sword and rushed her. Zannah was impressed by the speed boost the warrior had gained.

They danced against each other, the Darknut making swing after swing, with Zannah deflecting each strike to the side. As the Darknut made a vertical swing, Zannah rolled around her gigantic foe and stabbed into his more vulnerable back. The Darknut gave a cry of agony as he fell to his knees. Zannah ripped the blade out and placed a hand on his head now she was at an even level. Electricity shot out of her hand, frying what little life the Darknut had left. The giant warrior fell down, and slowly burst into shadowy particles.

Zannah walked over to the door they had been standing outside of. Opened up to her was a grand hall. Inside a few guards scrambled about getting into fighting position. A servant pointed at her in terror and ran off.

“Take the intruder down. Defend the palace and the inhabitants with your lives!”

Zannah smiled wide as they charged her, sparks zapping between her fingers. Twirling them around both fire and lightning mixed. When a small twirling ball formed in her hand she let it loose on the guards, causing a powerful denotation.

 ~

Covarog and Rinku turned to the sound of the explosion.

“What was that?!”

“I-I don’t know.”

The only time an explosion going off in the castle happened was when she and Skull Kid caused mischief. But her friend was out on one off his retreats. Fear started to creep into Rinku.

“Come on guys; let’s go see if Tebanam is causing trouble without us.”

Orana gave a giggle.

“But he’s just a baby.”

Slowly walking down the hall, Rinku thought hard about the possibilities of the origin of the sound. Had the Kikai army broken through? No, they would have to get past Moma, Papa, Klinge, and Ghirahim first. But what if it was an assassin?

As her thoughts kept racing, she saw guards race down the halls.

“Oh no.”

“What’s do you think is going on?”

“Princess Rinku!”

Rinku turned around to see one of the royal guardsmen, Lieutenant Kelly if she recalled, approach her.

“What is it Lieutenant?”

“We have an intruder.”

Shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Wait, singular?

“Just one intruder?”

“Yes, from reports coming in it is a green skinned woman with destructive magic capabilities.”

Rinku gripped the hilt of her sword on her side. She had a sinking suspicion who the intruder was.

Turning to Covarog she gripped his shoulders and gave him a stern look.

“Covarog, I want you to go with Lieutenant Kelly and take your brother and sisters and meet with Tebanam. I need you to be a big man and watch over our siblings while I take care of a bad guest.”

“But I want to help. I can fight too!”

Rinku gave her brother a light smile.

“I know you can, that’s why I want you to be with your brothers and sisters my little warrior bro.”

“Ok, I guess that makes sense. “

“Lieutenant, please take my brother to his bedroom.”

“I’ll guard him and the rest of the royal family with my last breath.”

Kelly reached down and extended a hand for the Prince. Covarog took in how her red hair flowed gracefully. She was really pretty.

“It’s a big castle, I think I’ve forgotten where to go; want to lead the way Prince Covarog?”

“O-ok.”

As the Prince lead the royal guard by the hand, Kelly turned her head back towards Rinku.

“Be careful Princess!”

Rinku gave them both a thumbs up and darted off.

~

Seras shot a stream of fire at a group of skeleton men charging him, laughing as he turned their bones into ash. A knight tried to slice him across his side, but Seras moved quickly to deflect the strike with his Dragon Blade, and with his left hand, detonated a fire ball against his attackers face.

“Fools. All of them.”

Seras pointed his sword at a group of Hylians, casting fire around his blade for an air of menace.

“Are any of you apes a worthy of my presence in battle? I didn’t come to this country to slaughter helpless whelps. Give me a challenge!”

“You want a challenge, then you got one boy.”

Seras turned to see the biggest man he had ever seen. He had sharp blue armour that contrasted with his long red hair. He wielded two massive blades and wore a smirk that screamed confidence. But it was the look in his yellow eyes and aura that he gave off that put a pit in Seras’s stomach.

“And you are?”

“I am Ganondorf, King of Hyrule.”

“So you’re the ruler of Hyrule I heard so much about. Well you certainly look like your title. Feral and brutal looks and all.”

“Be careful who you insult boy.”

“I am just as much a boy as you are a common man. You will address me by full title. I am Prince Seras, soon to be Emperor of the Kikai Empire and the world!”

“I hope you don’t disappoint me Prince.”

“We’ll see who is the disappointing one by the end of this. Kill him.”

A large group of Hasai warriors charged Ganondorf with a roar.

“I’m tired of playing with small fry.”

Seras took notice how a swarm of black, dark energy formed around Ganondorf in a smoky aura. A rune appeared below Ganondorf as he charged, then, as he raised his right arm back, an avatar of a giant creature appeared around him. The avatar swiped its gigantic arm at the Hasai soldiers, sending them flying away and completely battered. Seras watched the energy flow back into Ganondorf as the King ran towards him.

Seras sneered to hide this slow fear growing inside him. The King slammed both blades down vertically towards Seras, causing the Prince the grind himself into the ground as he defended himself from the strike. Ganondorf took his left blade and sliced horizontally. Seras jumped backwards, breaking off completely, but the length of the King’s blade still hit him, smacking against the Prince’s sword.

“What the matter “Prince”? Am I too much for you?”

The Prince’s arm was shaking slightly from the force of the last deflection. The King took a step towards him, and as he did, Seras could feel the power radiating off him. How dare someone outside of his family have this much power. The Prince grew more and more infuriated by this.

“Take this!”

Seras’s raised a hand, and letting loose, launched a huge wall of fire at the King. Ganondorf dodged to his left and moved closer to the Prince. Seras sheaved his sword and started launching fire ball after fire ball at the King. Ganondorf moved slightly side to side, dodging between the blasts. When he blocked a blast with his sword, it exploded in a huge detonation.

“Got you!”

The smoke cleared and the lips on Seras turned from a smile to a gasping disbelief. Ganondorf stood just fine.

“That it?”

A vein started to pop in Seras’s head and smoke from his nose steamed out.

““That it?” NO! I am Prince of the most glorious empire in the world. My power cannot be dwarfed by a PIG!”

Seras raised both arms in the air gathering his energies. Spark flew and shot out, scarring the ground below him. Ganondorf’s blank expression grew into amusement.

“Nice to see some backbone.”

Seras threw the large energy ball of fire at the Gerudo, with Ganondorf giving a yell and shooting his own energy blast. The balls of power collided and exploded in a large radius. Seras drew his sword and formed a wall of fire to defend himself from the blast. A yell broke out, and all the smoke dispersed. Seras watched as Ganondorf walked towards him, his cap torn to tatters.

Unbuckling his cap and throwing it to the ground, Ganondorf breathed in the fire around him.

“Impressive power you have. However…”

Ganondorf’s blades appeared from darkness once more, cackling in his hands.

“You are nothing compared to me. Listen well boy, because you are just a mere child and I have mellowed since the days of old I’ll give you this once in a life time opportunity. Leave my land while you still hold breath, and never return.”

Seras could not believe what he was hearing.

“How dare you.”

His fingers ground into his palm, trembling with rage.

“I am not a boy, I am nearing adult hood you ancient fossil! And my name is PRINCE SERAS! I am a warrior of the Kikai Empire! I am your better by birthright! And the last thing I’m going to do is listen to the King of a dead race of bitches and whores!”

Ganondorf’s calm demeanor transformed from the last comment. His brow furled into anger and he tightened his grip on his weapons.  

“That’s right, I know who you are. I know all about how you have an inferior races bloodline running through your veins. If you are so powerful, why are they all dead?”

“Then you are the biggest fool to antagonize me! I’ll boil your tongue before I rip you to pieces!”

Seras was put immediately on the defensive, blocking each powerful strike Ganondorf sent his way. The impact of connecting with each of the King’s strikes shook Seras’s arms. The Prince couldn’t even get a free hand out to blast the Gerudo bastard.

With his left sword Ganondorf swiped from below upwards, knocking the Prince off balance, then with his right blade, swatted Seras to the ground. Seras rolled on the ground, getting rocks smashed against his face. Getting up he saw Ganondorf stand over him, raising a blade to finish him.

Disbelief settled in. Was this his end? Suddenly a cloaked warrior shot forward to defend him from Ganondorf’s strike.

“Prince Seras, get up!”

“Fisk, what are you doing here?”

The ninja broke away from Ganondorf. Ganondorf faced this new opponent with interest.

“Your sister sent me to look out for you. You should retreat.”

“Perhaps you will be a better challenge then the young prince.”

Flames consumed Seras’s hands. This was the last straw. He was tired of being less valued. He was infuriated to no end that his sister didn’t think he could take care of himself. He snapped his fingers between Ganondorf and Fisk. Tiny sparks flashed, followed by a pop from each, giving off a tremendous explosion. The surprise attack sent Fisk flying and staggered Ganondorf backwards, giving the King his first real damage of the war.

Seras spoke in his native tongue towards Fisk.

“Don’t you ever get in the way of my fight again! Now go prepare the army for retreat. I will handle Ganondorf myself. AM I CLEAR?!”

“…Clear Prince Seras.”

The ninja took off, and Seras turned his gaze back to Ganondorf. He proceeded to shoot fire ball after fire ball at the King while running towards him. Drawing his blade he made the first strike, trying desperately to keep the giant Gerudo back.

Ganondorf was thrilled with the Prince’s anger. It made the fight so much more enjoyable.

“Give me everything you got whelp!”

 ~

Rinku moved through the castle interior as fast as she could. She eventually discovered a string of bodies and wounded soldiers left around. A soldier burst out of the east wing door, with fire exploding behind him.

“Ah, Princess Rinku! The intruder, she’s-“

“Get out of here. I’ve got this.”

Rinku drew her blade and shield. This was going to entertaining at the very least. Entering the trophy room, Rinku saw Zannah in a battle position over the bodies of few lizard men. One was moaning softly in the corner holding his gut. When Rinku took an extra step forward, Zannah zapped around ready to blast her next opponent with lightning, but stopped herself when her eyes connected with Rinku’s.

“Finally. About time you showed up Hero.”

“You’ve been looking for me?”

“All over just for you.”

“So, your brother here as well, because I really don’t want to track him down later.”

“Nope, just me, which means I’ve got you all to myself. Just the way I want it.”

Rinku getting really strong vibes of sexual tension with the way Zannah carried herself and spoke.

“By the way, your home is really roomie.”

“If you wanted a tour all you had to do was ask me. You didn’t need to do all this.”

“But it was so nice to be self-introduced with the staff. Think it’s great for them to meet the up and coming owner of this grand castle you’ve got.”

“There are still people who live here.”

“That’s funny…”

Zannah drew her staff and extended both blades.

“I heard there was a vacancy coming up.”

Zannah made a motion for Rinku to step forward. She charged the Hasai Princess with her shield raised. Zannah stabbed low, backing away to keep her distance. When Rinku swiped at her, Zannah deflected the strike with the right side of the staff, then parried with the left, meeting Rinku’s shield in her defense.

The two of them danced around each other, Zannah trying to get through Rinku’s nimble defense. Whenever Rinku was able to get a strike in, Zannah just parried it. Zannah rocketed up to the second floor of the trophy room, flipping back and shooting fire from her hand to propel herself.

Rinku grabbed a claw shot and latched onto the balcony. Zannah let her get up without any trouble. The Hasai Princess gave Rinku a small smile.

“Interesting tool you have there. What else do you got packing.”

“I’ve got enough tools to keep up with anything you can dish out. And then some.”

Zannah gave her head a roll and purred.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everything you’ve got.”

Zannah set fire to the carpet beneath Rinku’s feet, and took off in the opposite direction. Rinku threw herself against the railing to avoid the flames. Once Zannah was at the exit to the trophy room she turned around to see Rinku gaining traction on catching her.

“Perhaps we can take this dance of ours somewhere more open.”

Lightning cracked between Zannah’s fingers and she fired a bolt towards a chandelier above Rinku. The Princess rolled forward to avoid the glass and metal from squiring her. As she got to her feet she saw Zannah running out the door.

“Get back her!”

Rinku ran through the castle halls. As they ran, the two of them moved past some castle staff. Zannah even flipped over a startled maid and her cart as not to stop her momentum.

“Who was that?”

“Chasing a dangerous individual, coming through!”

Rinku pushed past the maid, knocking some tea over.

“Sorry, I’ll clean it later!”

Rinku kept running until she finally reached the ball room. Zannah turned to her with a twirl.

“You own all of this? It’s spectacular!”

“Please don’t set fire to the drapes.”

“Oh no, they’re beautiful. These carpets are bland though. Kind of takes away focus from the grandest thing in this room.”

“What?”

Zannah gave a snap, and a large ring of fire went around the two of them. Rinku moved forward as to avoid being burnt by the edge of the ring.

“You Rinku. Now that it’s just the two of us in such a wonderful setting, you have my full attention.”

Zannah once again drew her staff, and after extending both blades, dashed towards Rinku. Rinku raised her shield and sword in defense. The flames around her were starting to make her toasty.

The two princesses danced in a flurry of blade work against each other. Zannah made swift motions to always be relentless in her strikes, never quite giving Rinku room to get a clear shot back. The closest Rinku got was cutting the top edge of Zannah’s shoulder plate.

Zannah then smashed against Rinku, locking her staff with her sword and shield. Her face got awfully close to Rinku’s. She smoothly spoke to her.

“Give up hero.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

Rinku tried to break off, but Zannah stayed close and locked.

“I mean it. Your people don’t need to wiped out. You can work for me. Think of all the fun we could have together, the Emperor of Kikai and the Hero of Hyrule. Our power would be unstoppable.”

“I thought you were a Princess?”

“I am now, but when I conquer this land I’ll prove myself as the rightful heir to the throne. Doesn’t working for such high royalty sound appealing to you? So many benefits.”

Rinku was being pushed close the ring of the fire. She had to think of something to get out of this lock.

“With all this talk of me serving closely with you and you looking specifically for me when you came here, it sounds like you are infatuated with me.”

Zannah licked her lips. Pushing a little more, Rinku was a foot away from the fire. Sweat started to pour down her face.

“Well, there is so much I find fascinating about you. Your courage, your skill, your…physique. We got a little close during our last fight, tell me, does your breast feel alright, because-“

Rinku was too close to the flames and she had enough of Zannah’s prattling. With them only an inch away from each other, Rinku leaned in and kissed Zannah directly on her lips, locking them for a moment. Zannah’s eyes flashed open and her concentration and weight slipped. Rinku broke off giving the Princess a good shove away and rolling around her, moving to the center of the room for space away from the fire.

Rinku had a small blush. Zannah had felt wonderfully warm and soft, but compared to Zannah, her blush was nothing. Zannah was lit up, her blush practically staining her green skin. She had this face of confusion and shock frozen on her. Rinku gave a nervous laugh.

“You were talking too much and I was really getting close to the fire. So I figured that was the only way out.”

Zannah’s confident way of speech was replaced with the sound of a shy little girl.

“…That wasn’t funny.”

Rinku had a little dash of guilt go over her.

“Sorry, but it really seemed like that was where you wanted to go. I’m not really good with body language.”

Zannah rubbed her lips. Her first real kiss and it was with an outsider. She desperately wanted to disappear. Where the hell was T0-D and what was taking him so long?

“Was that your first time, because you seemed so confident before. Also got real strong erotic vibes off you. If you want we could try again.”

Zannah unleashed her blades and her blush grew stronger.

“Stop it! I’ve kissed lots of people before, you idiot!”

God she just wanted Rinku to simply try and kill her instead of talking. When she charged Rinku it was with less control then last time, giving more powerful, wider strikes. Rinku had an easier time defending, while also getting in her own strikes this time around.

When they locked blades again, Zannah struck Rinku’s chin with her palm, and did a spin kick to her stomach to send her back.

Rubbing her jaw, Rinku begrudgingly stood up.

“That really hurt.”

“That was for your devious, nefarious, underhanded, insidious, insane sneak attack!”

“Is that what you’re calling it? I like to think of it as a passionate, warm, loving act of peace.”

“What the hell are you-“

Zannah stopped herself. She was letting her opponent under mind her, and it was causing her to slip. Taking a deep breath, she expelled her flustered emotions. Locking eyes with Rinku, Zannah took a more steady battle stance.

“As interesting as that was, I believe it is time to focus on defeating you. I will not be distracted by your charms.”

“Likewise.”

Rinku was slightly disappointed that Zannah was returning to her regular posture. She was cute when she was flustered. And less dangerous. Case in point when Zannah gathered her energy and fired a stream of lightning at Rinku. The Princess raised her shield to block to the shocks and carefully charged Zannah.

Zannah spun her staff and swiped at Rinku with renewed determination. As they continued their blade work, Zannah knew it was only a matter of time before T0-D had finished his part.

~

Kelly, Samson and a group of other guards patrolled the outside of prince’s and princess’s rooms. All the children had gathered in Covarog’s room at the end of the hall. There was only one way in and out so Kelly tried to not worry too much about their safety.

“Think Princess Rinku has dealt with the intruder?”

“I don’t know Sergeant Samson. I hope so.”

“Well I personally hope we don’t have to see any conflict. Unlike Karkas, I’m not stupid enough to go seek it out. Even with Commander Klinge’s training.”

“I know what you mean. As royal guards, the less work we have to do in the protection of the royal heirs, the better, for their sake.”

Around the corner came the sound of a snap. All the guards turned their heads down the hall. Kelly drew her sword and waved for one of her men to check it out. As the Hylian got at the end of the hallway, a steel bolt pierced his head, running right through his helmet and skull out the other side.

“Everyone form up on me!”

On Kelly’s order all the guards formed on her, defenses raised. Two archers took aim and everyone waited. Suddenly there was an odd metallic, very mechanical sound moving down the hallway where the bolt came from. Each step was slow, but defining.  Then this white machine walked around the corner.

It had hook like feet, which lead up to a square shaped body. When it turned to them, Kelly stared directly into its single eye in its round head, which had antenna that gave it the shape of horns. It carried a crossbow which it holstered to its back. The machine just looked at them all, motionless for a moment.

“Observation: Six new meatbags, quite heavily armed and well armoured. I’ve calculated your odds of survivability, however, to be perfectly fair… You are all going to die.”

T0-D started walking towards them with a slow start, each step having that metallic ring to it.

“OPEN FIRE!”

The archers released their arrows at T0-D. The machine caught both arrows shot at him and snapped them in half. Two of the closest guards charged him, slashing against him. T0-D retaliated lifting his foot to connect around the first guards face, and clamping down, squeezed his hooks into his skull. He then threw his victim at the other guard knocking him to the ground. Before the second guard could get up, his skull was curbed stomped by the weight of the machine stepping down on him.

T0-D leaned down and grabbed both of their swords, giving them a quick little swing to be accustomed to them. Kelly was in shock how quickly he dispatched the two men, and how barbaric it was at that.

“Form up; he can’t take all of us.”

Everyone had their swords drawn. T0-D’s eye focused on his targets, and then, in a sudden display of speed, rocketed towards them. The robot threw its left sword down against Samson, but as another guard made a swing at him, T0-D’s right arm physically moved from his shoulder, and down to his hip. With this new height he was able to stab right through the second Hylian’s stomach, having completely caught him off guard. The arm shot back right up to defend himself from a slice from Kelly.

“Bastard!”

T0-D deflected strike after strike made against him by the three remaining Hylians. In a display of his capabilities his wrists started to spin wildly, moving his blades into a whirlwind. This pushed Samson and Kelly back, separating them from the third Hylian. T0-D used this advantage, to turn his head to the lone guard. His eye started to glow a bright red, and a focused beam shot forward, catching the guard in the face. He gave off a terrible scream as his head was vaporized into a melting pile of flesh.

T0-D turned to the last two Hylians, and started walking towards them with that metallic sound echoing through the hall. Samson and Kelly took a fighting stance, Kelly low and to the right, and Samson high on the left. They struck against the terrifying machine, with T0-D effortlessly blocking each of their attacks.

After a few exchanges they both swung down vertically down against him, pushing T0-D into a crotch to defend himself, locking him in place. A little hidden slot on T0-D’s left leg opened up, revealing a flintlock pistol. Then, to the horror of Samson and Kelly, T0-D’s arms split in half, giving him a second pair.

With one swift motion, T0-D grabbed another sword from a fallen guard and with the other, his pistol, firing a single shot right into Kelly’s stomach. As Kelly fell, a cold shock coming over her, T0-D dropped his pistol and ripped her sword from her hand. With four blades, his eye narrowed on Samson and he descended upon the Hylian.

Samson desperately tried to block each attack with all his might and speed, but it was utterly pointless. T0-D swiftly put an end to the fight by bashing Samson’s sword away with one blade, and then plunging two swords into Samson’s stomach lifting him into the air.

Samson gasped his final breaths as T0-D took his 3rd and 4th sword, and crossed them together to decapitate the soldier in a scissor like motion.

With everyone dead or dying, T0-D dropped Samson and all the blades to the ground, and moved towards the door containing his objective.

 ~

Klinge cut down another Hasai warrior as he galloped towards Ghirahim. The demon was leading a group Moblins, pushing back the Hasai towards the valley entrance. Ghirahim retained his more human form for this fight.

“Commander, how goes the fight for you?”

“Enemy numbers are falling rapidly. It appears the Hasai are being pushed back into the valley.”

“Excellent. Those stupid humans were utterly foolish to oppose us!”

A horn rain out the battlefield, giving slight pause in the Hasai. After a moment all of them started running back into the valley, on foot or jumping on horseback. The Hylians gave a light cheer.

Klinge watched the enemy retreat with careful inspection. Why would the enemy leave so soon? Even with all the losses they taken, the Kikai Empire still had a sizable force left. Was there some kind of trick behind it?

Klinge looked all around him. The valley entrance, Ganondorf engaged with an enemy, Queen Zelda’s battle tent farther back, Hyrule Castle…

“Wait a moment.”

Klinge saw a black dot moving around in the distance near Hyrule Castle. Summoning a telescope, he zoomed in on the unknown entity. With just enough focus he was able to make out the Manticore that he had seen yesterday. Something was going on at the castle. Rinku and the royal heirs were in danger!

“Ghirahim, there is something wrong at Hyrule Castle!”

“What, are you sure?”

“Yes, alert Lord Ganondorf.”

Klinge raced off towards Zelda’s war tent.

 ~

Zelda read the most recent scouts report with careful examination.

“They are all heading back into the valley?”

“Should we pursue my Queen?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. They came out of the valley in the first place. No telling if they have any ambushes set for us. I believe we should-“

Klinge suddenly busted through the door to the tent.

“Commander Klinge, what is it?”

“Your highness, I have reason to believe a secret attack is being carried out at Hyrule Castle. This whole attack could just be a diversion.”

Zelda’s mind kicked into over drive when she thought about her children.

“You’re positive about this?”

“I wouldn’t be here telling you if I wasn’t.”

Zelda grabbed her rapier off the table and walked towards Klinge.

“Then we must head to the castle with haste.”

Zelda placed a hand on Klinge and turned to a scout.

“Tell the King that the castle is under attack, and to not pursue the enemy.”

A green light formed in Zelda’s hand.

“May the wind of Farore carry us with haste.”

A green energy encompassed them both and they materialized into magic particles, rocketing straight to Hyrule Castle.

 ~

Seras hissed as he cast an explosion next to Ganondorf. The King gave an oomph as his side was belted with debris. When Seras shot another fire ball, Ganondorf caught it with his hand and clamped down, dispersing the flames. The Prince despised how much power his opponent truly had.

“That last attack you could barely start a kindle.”

“You talk big for someone who’s got a wound in his side.”

Without breaking his expression Ganondorf felt his side. Seemed that last explosion had imploded some of his armour. Shards of metal poked at his inside, slowly drawing blood.

“You know how many wounds I’ve received in my lifetimes? This is nothing but a child’s splash in the tsunami of pain I have received.”

Before Seras could respond, he heard the cry of a horn. It was time at last it seemed. Giving a high pitched whistle he turned to Ganondorf.

“Well this has been fun, but I think it’s time for me to take my leave.”

“After all you’ve done, you really think I’m going to let you leave here alive?”

“I don’t give a damn what a desert bastard like yourself thinks. But for what it’s worth, feel free to hold on to your worthless opinion.”

Ganondorf heard something sliver beside him, and turning around came face to face with a Basilisk, which whipped him in the stomach with tail as it passed by. Seras hopped on its saddle and retreated towards the cannon with the rest of his men.

Ganondorf stood up and lobbed an energy sphere at the prince. Seras defended himself by blasting the magic with his own fire blast. Ganondorf watched as the warriors of the Kikai Empire retreated into the valley.

Ganondorf made a whistle for his war boar. After just climbing on top he noticed Ghirahim appear before him.

“Master! Commander Klinge has left the battlefield with the Queen.”

“What? I demand an explanation.”

“The Commander believes that Hyrule Castle is under attack.”

“Impossible.”

Ganondorf stared back at the enemy retreating. If there was a secret attack behind his back, he’d make them pay for this treachery.

“Cover my flank. We will not let a single one of these fools leave alive.”

With a kick to his steed’s side, Ganondorf raced forward.

“Onward! Kill all of the Hasai!”

The army of Hyrule rallied behind Ganondorf and raced in with him with a valiant war cry. As Ghirahim went to the back of the army, he saw a scout trying to wave him down.

“What is it Hylian?”

“Lord Ghirahim. We have to stop the King. The Queen believes that it is strategically unwise to enter the valley. There may be a trap sir.”

Ghirahim thought about it intently. The thought of an ambush slowly crept on him. No, the Hasai couldn’t have…

 ~

T0-D connected his pistol back to his leg holster and was about to open the door to the kids when he saw all the blood on his arms. He couldn’t scare the children with all the mess, then again, with what was just outside their door he wasn’t sure if they wouldn’t be scarred for life.

T0-D dragged the more messy bodies together and ripped a carpet from the floor and threw is over them. The android opened the door and stepped inside. His single eye processed five lifeforms. They were all young, one even being a mere baby.

“Greetings: Don’t be alarmed children. My name is T0-D. Now which one of you would like to come with me on a little trip.”

The oldest one stepped forward, a young boy. He seemed to be protecting his siblings.

“Go away. None of us are going anywhere.”

“You tell him Covarog.”

T0-D turned to the girl who said that. The children were nervous how his eye just stood motionless, looking deep within their souls.

“Query: Why must you make this difficult? One of you will be coming with me. Now choose, before I do.”

Orana raised a sling shot and aimed for T0-D’s eye.

“Screw you creep!”

The pebble hit T0-D directly. He just stood still, his data banks trying to process what just happened.

“Mockery: Oh no, a rock, my one weakness. After my countless battles slaying warriors left and right it is a child that has defeated me, oh what dramatic irony.”

T0-D took a step a forward towards Tebanam’s crib. Ralnor tried to attack him with a lamp, but it merely shattered to pieces against the robot’s foot. Without turning around T0-D gave him a light kick with the back of his foot, sending the young child skidding away.

“Observation: I must use force if you are going to be difficult.”

Orana and Covarog grabbed some knives Rinku had hidden in the room, and charged the robot, but T0-D just crouched down, and grabbed both the blades between his fingers as they stabbed at him.

After chucking the blades away T0-D reached out with and grabbed the children by the feet and threw them lightly towards against a wall.

“Apology: Sorry for hurting you once more.”

He clanked his way towards Tebanam’s bed, and had his metallic fingers around the baby, when tiny fists started to hit the side of his leg.

Reaching down he picked up his attacker and lifted them to his face. A small girl started to cry.

“D-don’t hurt my brother.”

T0-D’s eye changed from blue to a menacing black with a small red glow in the middle.

“Warning: You are all very rude for attacking me. Do so again and I will rip your fingers from your hands.”

Kanisa cried louder.

“Mission Update: Target achieved.”

T0-D started walking out the room with Kanisa crying and kicking in his arm. Covarog looked up in a daze, his senses running wild.

“Kanisa, no.”

The young prince tried to stand up, but fell to the ground, his vision growing more blurry.

T0-D opened the door back to the hallway. To his surprise, the Hylian woman he had shot was standing up. Scanning her, he deduced she was no threat. Kelly, with one hand on her bullet wound, pointed her sword at T0-D.

“Put the Princess down. Right now.”

Kanisa screamed and cried harder. T0-D knew he had to hurry, it was rude of him to keep Princess Zannah waiting. Kelly, with terror and worry still in her eyes, tried to put on a soft, calming expression.

“Princess Kanisa, it’s going to be ok.”

“Statement: Lie to yourself if you must, but do not lie to the child.”

T0-D started walking towards the Lieutenant, each step echoing through her ear. Kelly, with what strength she could muster, slashed at T0-D, but with the power she had left, the machine simply raised his right arm and the blade harmlessly struck against him.

The robot took his free arm and stabbed his hand into Kelly’s bullet wound. The royal guard screamed in agonizing pain as T0-D twisted inside for a solid five seconds of hell. Ripping his hand out, T0-D backhanded her against the wall, knocking her out.

T0-D thought about crushing her skull just to make sure she wouldn’t come back a third time, but he was running late as it was, and he didn’t want to do that in front of the child. With haste he ran off with Kanisa in hand.

 ~

Seras looked behind him to see the armies of Hyrule finally gaining traction on catching up with him. He turned to the army commander next to him.

“I’ve given you more than enough time to make this work. Is everything in place?”

“Yes Prince Seras. The enemy is in range, you just need to give the-“

“Fire.”

Seras wanted to see Ganondorf and his Hylian livestock slaughtered.

~

Ganondorf and the Hylains army rode through the valley with great speed. Above them Hasai soldiers moved into position, setting fire to the fuses. Out of the corner of his eye Ganondorf saw barrels being dropped from the cliff sides, and flashes of cannon fire. The whole valley was lit up in a series of tremendous explosions.

Seras’s eyes went wild with excitement as over 80% of the Hylian army was obliterated by the ambush. The Hasai kept dropping bombs and unloading cannon fire into the opposing army for over minute in a never ending stream of detonations.

“HAHAHA! What lovely fireworks!”

From the far back Ghriahim watched in horror as his Ganondorf’s position was bombed to hell.

“MASTER!!!”

After all the bombing had stopped, a large cloud of gun powder and dust gathered in the air. Ganondorf felt pain all over. Nothing but pain and the weight of something heavy on his legs. Opening his eyes, they were a white blur, but slowly the world came back to him. And the world was a hell scape.

The first thing he saw was his trusty war boar, blown in half, its upper body covering his legs, and the second half scattered somewhere else. Through the haze of debris he took in everything else. Men laid scattered everywhere, many obliterated corpses strewn about in fresh craters. The silence of the destruction was broken by a small laughter heard in the distance coming from the Hasai position.

Rage boiled to new levels in Ganondorf. He had foolishly run after his enemy blindly, certain victory was his. His knuckles popped from his fist, and his Triforce started to glow. Dark energies encompassed the King and he let his wrath fuel his strength.

Seras’s laughter stopped as he saw something start to grow through the haze. His eyes grew with fear as a roar echoed throughout the valley.

“Get our people across the bridge and prepare for the final attack.”

Ghirahim knew exactly what that roar signified.

“Oh no, master…”

Prince Seras got on his ride and turned to see a massive boar like beast stamped towards him. It had a flowing red main, massive tusks, and these yellow eyes, demonic in nature, locked directly on him. Panic set in on the Prince. He had never seen a monster like that in his entire life.

Seras ran as fast as he could on his Basilisk, moving past some of the slower horses. These Hasai soldiers were smashed to the side as Ganon charged through. Seras instincts told him to just keep running, but like a curious, scared child peeking through the blanket, he looked behind him.

Ganon was gone. Horrified and confused Seras looked back ahead of him, and saw the beast come out a worm hole a little in front of him. He steered his Basilisk to run up the valley wall, barely being squired by Ganon. The Beast threw himself back around to pursue the Prince once more.

Meanwhile Grand Admiral Bellum watched through a telescope as the Hasai forces evacuated across the Bridge of Lanayru. That was when he saw Prince Seras coming out of the valley, and with shock, Ganon stampeding right behind him. He quickly turned to the archer beside him.

“Launch the arrows, we need to detonate the explosives with the beast on the bridge.”

“What about the Prince?”

“If he is strong he’ll make it. Shame though, about destroying such a remarkable piece of architecture.”

Prince Seras made it to the bridge and was half way through when Ganon swiped at him, tearing his Basilisk in half and sending Seras flying into the air. The Prince rolled with a heavy crash, his white hair stained with a head gash. Looking up he saw Ganon roar in triumph and prepare for another charge.

“No, not like this.”

Prince Seras desperately wanted to be with his sister again. That was when another explosion was set off right below Ganon, a Powder Keg connecting with an archer’s arrow. Stone from the bridge shot into Ganon’s belly and the great beast fell through the newly blasted hole. With one claw he held onto the bridge. Prince Seras slowly walked over to the cornered animal.

Looking down he saw Ganon slowly reverting back into his human form. Seras was disgusted that such a beast had driven a terrifying amount of fear into him. Ganondorf hanged over a strong current of rapids below him. Giving a smirk Seras raised a hand towards him. Ganondorf, through all the pain and anguish, still gave the Prince a look of defiance.

“You think this is the end boy?”

“You are the most powerful warrior this land had to offer, but in the end, you were nothing. Die knowing another one of your people will die off.”

With that Seras launched a fire blast at Ganondorf, sending the King of Hyrule falling far, then crashing into the water below. His body sank beneath the rapids and was carried away. Seras felt pride like none other before. This pride was so overwhelming that it distracted him from a diamond dagger that hit him in the shoulder.

Ripping it out, Seras saw the surviving Hylians on the other side of the bridge, firing a volley of arrows at him. Ghirahim was enraged, commanding all that he had to attack. Seras retreated, forming a wall of fire to protect himself as Hasai archers and casters gave a supporting fire, shooting back. With this act, Seras knew in his heart that he would be Emperor. For he was the Killer of Kings.

~

Zannah and Rinku slashed against each other. Zannah kicked fire at Rinku’s feet, causing the hero to roll around to Zannah’s side. Striking towards her back, Zannah simply put her blade behind her without looking. Afterword, the Hasai Princess flipped forward to gain some distance. Rinku was impressed how flexible and acrobatic the Princess was.

Turning around Zannah launched two streams of fire towards Rinku with flicks of her staff. Rinku swiped through them with her sword, only being hit by small flickers of flame. Zannah threw herself at Rinku, locking blades with her, and pushing against her with all her weight. However, Rinku wasn’t going to let the Princess boss her around, and started move her against the ring of fire.

“So tell me, why are you really here? Assassination attempt on my Mom or Dad? Sabotage on the castle? Or were you just that desperate to see me again?”  

“None of the above, but to be truthful, I’ve have enjoyed this engagement of ours immensely.”

Zannah stamped her foot to make a small shock of fire, burning Rinku’s boots. Rinku jumped back to avoid being heavily burned.

“Will you cut it out with the bloody fire, for the love of the Gods.”

“Remember what happened last time you asked me that?”

Zannah saw a sharp glow come from outside the west window ahead of her. It was T0-D’s signal.

“About damn time.”

“For what?”

“Thanks for the dance Rinku, but for future reference, ask a girl next time if you can kiss her on the first date.”

Zannah charged up a large amount of electricity. Rinku readied herself for the blast, but was shocked when Zannah fired beside her, exploding a large part of the wall.

Zannah flipped over her and moved as fast as she could. Running through the ring of fire she raised the flames higher behind her, so Rinku couldn’t follow. The Hylian Princess quickly took out her clawshot and aimed above the fire at a lantern.

Jumping out the hole she landed on a bridge thankfully not too far below her. Zannah turned around in amusement.

“You’re quick, I’ll give you that.”

“Yeah. Thinking about surrendering?”

A shadow flew over Rinku and looking up she saw Zannah’s abominable Manticore. The beast landed at the end of the platform, giving Rinku a snarl. Before Rinku got ready to fight them both, a machine climbed up from under the platform, its legs having kept it hooked on the underbelly. Rinku’s face went to shock when she saw what was in its hands.

“Kanisa!”

The little princess cried in T0-D’s arms.

“Query: Princess Zannah, please tell me you didn’t alert everyone in this castle to our presence.”

“Got bored waiting for you.”

“Statement: I was practicing stealth.”

“Can it. What’s your name little girl?”

“K-Kanisa.”

“Well Kanisa, can I just say you are a beautiful little girl for one? Now I’m going to take you for a little trip. I’ll even do your hair and get you ice cream when we arrive at our destination.”

“But I don’t want to go.”

“Tod, get her on RAAM.”

Fury and panic filled Rinku.

“No, you bring my sister back to me this instant, or I will rip you to pieces!”

“Warning: Enemy reinforcements are coming.”

Zannah gave a whistle and the Manticore started to take off. T0-D hopped on with Kanisa, while Zannah turned and ran.

Rinku took out her boomerang and threw it. It flew far. slamming against Zannah’s leg, ruining her jump. She started to fall down towards the courtyard. RAAM flew down to try and rescue her, and as it did, Rinku dove after it, latching onto its tail with her clawshot. She grabbed Zannah first by the hip, and when they were close enough to the ground, threw her against the castle wall. The Hasai Princess slumped against the wall as the breath was knocked out of her.

Rinku hopped down before T0-D could reach her and picked her up, holding a blade to her neck. She faced the Manticore who growled at her in silent rage.

“Give me my sister back, or I will slit her neck!”

~

Klinge and Zelda ran through the castle. They saw signs of battle with burnt corpses being carried off and reports coming into them. Worry was etched in Zelda’s eyes.

“I wish Impa was here.”

“My Queen, a majority of the royal guard was stationed here. Not to mention Princess Rinku herself. They are all capable warriors and soldiers.”

“I know.”

“If anyone could stop an attack they could.”

Klinge’s words came to bite him as soon as they round the corner to the children’s room. Bodies lay all over the floor.

“No…”

They both ran as fast as they could to the children. Klinge drew his sword and shield, and after a moment of pause, kicked down the door. The children screamed when they saw him, Orana even throwing a rock his way. Zelda ran in to calm them down.

“Children it’s alright, it’s me.”

They all ran over and hugged her as hard as they could. Klinge made sure Tebanam remained undisturbed in his crib, and then went out to check the bodies. Zelda looked around and paranoia hit her.

“Kids, where’s Kanisa?”

Covarog started to cry.

“It took her Moma. I tried to protect everyone but it came and took her anyways.”

“What took her?”

“A monster Moma. I couldn’t do anything.”

“Oh children; none of this was your fault. Not one bit.”

Zelda squeezed her kids tight. Meanwhile, Klinge looked under the carpet and, for the first time in his life, blinked in disbelief at the bloodshed. Samson, one of the first Hylians he formed a bound with and trained, was beheaded. Klinge shook his head in shock.

He turned his head to the right at the body slumped against the wall, and the pit in his stomach grew bigger when he recognized Kelly’s red hair. Running to her Klinge examined her wound, a large hole in her the side of her stomach. Klinge tore off her helmet to look into her eyes.

“Please, not you too.”

Taking off her chest plate, Klinge took off his glove on his right hand. It still carried most of his flesh, and could feel a pulse. He softly placed his hand on her chest. A moment passed, and he felt a small flicker of a heartbeat.

Without hesitation Klinge grabbed a red potion and poured it down Kelly’s throat. The soldier woke with a groan and opened her eyes.

“Commander Klinge?”

“Stay still, help will arrive soon. Tell me what happened.”

Kelly’s eyes went dark.

“Some kind of machine. It butchered us, cutting down everyone with unimaginable speed. After it shot me, I entered the children’s room and came out with Princess Kanisa.”

Kelly winced from the pain in her side, but also at the realization of her failure.

“I tried to stop it from leaving, but there was nothing I could do. I failed you Commander, I failed the King and Queen.”

“If you think like that you will drive yourself mad. You can’t win them all. Trust me.”

Klinge wasn’t angry at her. Right now his rage was concentrated on the son of a bitch that did this. Zelda came out, a face of stone on her.

“If we hurry, they may not have left the grounds yet.”

“Agreed, let’s hurry. Kelly…”

The soldier looked up from the body of Samson.

“Yes sir?”

“You did the best you could and gave it your all. Sometimes that’s all we can do. Watch the kids until help comes for you.”

“…Yes sir.”

Klinge and Zelda took off down the castle halls. Kelly picked herself up and walked over to kid’s room. When she got inside she slumped herself against the door.

“You ok miss?”

“Yes Prince Ralnor.”

“You’re crying.”

Kelly didn’t even notice, but she knew why. She couldn’t bear to look at the kids knowing she failed to stop their sister from being taken.

“Just a reaction to my wound. Pay no mind to me.”

Kelly took a deep breath, trying to calm herself for the sake of the children.

“You kids have any neat books that you want to read?”

~

“I mean it! I will spill her blood.”

T0-D had his crossbow drawn and aimed at Rinku’s head. However, with the movement of the Manticore and Rinku he couldn’t get a clear shot at her head. Not to mention Kanisa crying and moving in his left arm.

Zannah started to come to from her daze. She knew with a blade this close to her neck, any form of magic to try and escape would just get her killed. Rinku pressed the blade tighter against her neck, drawing a small amount of blood.

“What’s it going to be?”

Zannah gave a defiant look to T0-D.

“Tod.”

“Query: Yes Princess Zannah?”

“Go and complete the mission. Glory to the Kikai Empire.”

Rinku couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Affirmative.”

T0-D holstered his cross bow and took off on the Manticore. Running outside on a bridge Klinge and Zelda saw the beast flying off. Klinge furious started throwing energies spears at the beast, but it was too nimble and fast to be hit. Zelda took out her bow and aimed. More and more time passed as the beast flew away and she slowly lowered her bow. From this range she wasn’t positive she could spare Kanisa. The Queen looked down to see Rinku and her hostage.

Rinku’s anger was boiling. She had failed to save her sister. Zannah gave a light chuckle.

“Guess I won.”

Rinku pressed the blade closer to her neck.

“Think you can breathe long enough to celebrate that?”

“You really just going to slit my neck after all we’ve been through? You don’t have the guts to kill me like that.”

Rinku really wanted to do it. Instead she put her blade down and slammed her hand in a chopping motion against the Zannah’s forehead, knocking her out cold.

The Princess’s frame fell to the ground, her body sprawled out. Zelda and Klinge finished making their way to Rinku, watching in horror as the Manticore flew off. Zelda examined the unconscious girl, quickly accessing everything around her to grasp the situation.

“And who is this?”

“Princess Zannah of the Kikai Empire. I’m still deciding if we should kill her.”

Rinku was incredibly anger with the Princess for distracting her away from her siblings. Klinge was thinking of bashing her brains in himself. Zelda leaned down and drew the hair out of Zannah’s face.

“They didn’t kill your siblings Rinku. And kidnapping one of them means they wanted something in return for their life. Now that we have their Princess, we have our own bargaining chip. We will get Kanisa back.”

Zelda turned to Klinge.

“Commander, I want you to send a spy to find the Kikai command with a message. We will make an exchange, and I will personally meet their leader. It’s time I knew the face of the enemy.”