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mirkwoodshewolf · 3 years ago

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A dark bloodline; Matt Murdock x teen reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this part of the GUARDIAN DEVIL series is gonna be a bit more graphic so fair warnings here. Also the ending was just randomly thought of (I’ve been playing with the idea of revealing the reader’s father but never knew where to go with it until it hit me like lightning). So enjoy this insane fic and the ultimate PLOT TWIST TO EXPLODE YOUR MINDS!!!

WARNINGS: Descriptive murders, blood, dead bodies, major angst and some fluff? LOTR references (that’ll be a constant thing in this fic).

NEXT CHAPTER

Taglist:

@your-not-invisible-to-me

@queensdivas

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

@peter-parkers-cullen-nerd

@austynparksandpizza

____________________________________________________________

“No, no, not true.” Peter said.

“Come on Peter it’s right there in color.” Ned tried to reason with him.

“Dude there is no way. Everyone knows that Han shot first.”

“Then why make Greedo shoot first?”

“More importantly why would Greedo miss on the first shot at close-point range for that matter!”

“Ned you do realize that when Lucas re-released the films he added all the unnecessary bits and pieces to help the film look more in the times and added CGI that didn’t really need to be put in.” I spoke up.

“Thank you! See at least (Y/n) gets it.” Peter said pointing to me as we took our seats for advance chemistry.

“What are you losers talking about now?” MJ said as she came over and sat down beside me.

“Ned’s trying to convince us that Han didn’t shoot first.”

“Really Ned? Even I don’t like Star Wars and I know Han shot first.” She said leaned over her seat to look at Ned.

“Why must you all gang up on me like this?”

“Then don’t say stupid conspiracy theories that aren’t true.” I sassed at him which made Peter hide his snicker while MJ held out her first and we fist bumped each other.

“Alright class take your seats.” Our teacher Mrs. Warren said as she walked in and began writing our daily equation on the board.

Class went on as normal. Every now and then I would look up at the clock to see just how much closer it was to lunch. I was almost late this morning and had to skip breakfast this morning, I couldn’t even meet up with Uncle Foggy at our usual donut-shop meet up we do every Tuesday.

“Ms. Perry? Ms. Perry!” I snapped out of my trance and I turned to her. “Are you still with us?”

“Uh-yes Mrs. Warren, sorry.”

“Next time you space out in my class I’ll have you be writing out the class assignments on the board for the next month do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly ma’am.”

“Now then, as I was saying—” suddenly the door opened and there stood Detective Mahoney along with three cops. Everyone stopped what they were doing and just froze as they stared at the cops. “Excuse me but can I help you?”

“We apologize for the intrusion ma’am but we’re looking for someone.” He said handing Mrs. Warren a piece of paper as the cops slowly walked in the classroom.

Some of the students were absolutely terrified as they tried to lower themselves down behind their backpacks or in their textbooks. Others thinking they’d get busted for having their phones out, hid them in their sleeves or under their shirts. That’s when the cops came up to me and MJ.

“Ms. (Y/n) Perry?” an old, white male cop asked me. MJ looked at me perplexed and I slowly answered.

“Yes?”

“Please stand up and place your hands behind your back.” My heart sunk and my jaw slowly dropped.

“What? What did I do wrong? Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Stop it!” the other two cops slammed me to the table and forced my arms behind my back.

“Hey get off her!” MJ exclaimed as she gripped one of the officer’s arm.

“Stay out of this ma’am less you want to get arrested too.” Another younger white male cop seethed at her.

“Can you at least tell her why you’re arresting her!?” Peter exclaimed.

“Yeah. Aren’t cops supposed to do that? And she’s not resisting there’s no need to hurt her!” Ned said in the same panicked yet angry manner. I was forced back up and Mahoney came up to me with a solemn expression.

“Mahoney, what’s going on here?”

“I’m really sorry about this. Believe me never did I think I’d do this but—(Y/n) Perry, you’re under arrest for the attempted murder of one Chuck Benedict, and the murders of former police officer Lt. Richard Marks and Iroh Saki. As well as evidence tying you to the disappearance of one Michelle Young and her husband David Young.”

My heart sunk. The first three names I knew of, the first one being the man that Fisk framed as my mother’s killer last year. The other two were my first practice killings while training under Fisk but the last two names……I don’t even know those people.

The two cops gripped my arms tightly as they escorted me out. All the while the kids in my class all whispering to one another.

“Don’t worry (Y/n)! I’ll call your uncles they’ll think of something!”

“Don’t say anything that they’ll use against you! They cannot pass through you!” Ned cried out.

I was escorted down the halls and students who were either going to the bathroom, at lunch or skipping class all saw me handcuffed and being escorted out by the police as well as Mahoney. We left the school and I was put inside a police cruiser, however instead of the passenger seat (like I was given when I went to ID my mom) I was in the back caged like a common criminal.

The cops shut the door and Mahoney got in the passenger seat while one of the cops got in the driver seat and started the car up before driving onward.

“Mahoney please. At least tell me what this is all about?” he sighed solemnly.

“I already told you. You’re lucky it was me to tell you and not some random detective from Queens. These cops however—.” He turned to me and whispered, “Just cooperate and try not to make a scene. I know Nelson and Murdock are your legal guardians but you are your Mother’s daughter and I liked your mother more than anyone at the precinct. So don’t make this any more difficult than this is already.” I nodded and leaned back against the seat.

“Are you the Detective working this case?” I asked him.

“Unfortunately no. Since I knew your mother personally I’m more of a liability to the case. I only offered myself to be the detective to deliver the warrant for your arrest for Hell’s Kitchen.” God I knew this would happen one day.

I knew deep down inside that Chuck wouldn’t keep his mouth shut about what I did to him. Uncle Matt could visit him as many times as Daredevil as he could, but after what I did, what I threatened to do to him had uncle Matt not intervened—no one stays quiet from that.

Wait—oh my god what if this is Fisk? Is this his way of getting me to go back to him? Damnit! It had to be that, he still owned over half the police force, he must’ve interrogated Chuck much like I did to confess my crime to the cops.

And the only way this is ever gonna go away, is if I go back to him. The Kingpin always gets his way, always.

It was a grueling process, and one I hoped I never wanted to go through. I’m just grateful that mom isn’t here to see her daughter like this. Keeping fingerprinted, swabbed for DNA, and of course the famous mugshots.

I was then put in an interrogation room in handcuffs just sitting there waiting, and waiting and waiting in the dark blue room with a single red door. I don’t know how long I waited in there for before two detectives came in and set their folders down.

“Ms. Perry. My name is Lt. Kenda and this is my partner Detective Demery. We’d like to discuss with you about the murders of—”

“I want a lawyer.” I interrupted them. They both looked at me skeptically.

“Very well. We’ll get you one.”

“And I deserve to have my guardians here. By law since I’m still a minor they must be here in here with me during the interrogation process.”

“You know your laws Ms. Perry.” Detective Demery said with an impressed nod.

“Mom was a lawyer.”

“Explains your quick wit.” He spoke again. The door suddenly opened and immediately coming in was Matt and Foggy.

“(Y/n). Don’t you dare say another word to these guys.” Foggy immediately told me.

“Detectives are you aware that it is illegal to interrogate a minor much less arrest them without proper notification to the defendant’s family?”

“Are you her attorney’s?” Lt. Kenda questioned.

“Oh we’re worse Lt. We’re way worse. We’re her Guardians.” Foggy said. A slight smirk came at the corner of my lips.

“Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson.” Uncle Matt introduced themselves to the detectives.

“Of Nelson and Murdock. The attorney’s that worked the Frank Castle case?” Lt. Kenda said. “Now I hope you gentlemen don’t plan to use your position as lawyers and guardians to defend this young woman here.”

“We know. We’re just here as her Guardians. Her attorney will be along shortly.” Uncle Matt said with that head tilt of his towards the door.

“And who’s my lawyer?” I asked.

“That would be me.” Soon a familiar head of long blonde hair walked in wearing a black suit and heels clacking with each step. “(Y/n) Perry?” she said to me. I nodded and she introduced herself (even though I didn’t even need to know her name) “My name is Marci Stahl, I’m your attorney. Now gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to uncuff my client we can get this over with.”

“Ms. Stahl she has been identified as a capital murderer. We can’t simply uncuff her.” Detective Demery said.

“To my records she was arrested in the middle of class, and three eye-witnesses saw firsthand of my client being forced face-down on her own desk as Queen police rough-handled her to cuff her. All the while she showed no resistance. My client is a young, vulnerable, and terrified 17 year old girl. If she wanted to kill or attack anyone in this room she’d put up more of a fight. Plus I doubt she’d try to hurt her own Guardians, don’t you?”

With a brow raised and a challenging look in her eye, Detective Demery unlocked my cuffs and I took them back trying to rub the numbness away. Uncle Matt stopped me before proceeding to do it himself but with a more gentle touch.

“Now then. The charges that my client is facing. How exactly did they get brought up?”

“We received an anonymous tip from someone who was at the warehouse where Chuck Benedict was found over a year and a half ago. Nearly beaten and gutted like a fish.”

“The anonymous tip also provided pictures of Iroh and Marks.” Detective Demery added.

“In over 30 years on the force you think I’d seen it all. But when I heard the account from the witness at the crime scene of Mr. Benedict, and the pictures that were sent to us…..I would’ve thought a professional serial killer was behind all of that. Never did I think a teenage girl could be capable of such masochist.”

I felt uncle Matt give my left forearm a comforting squeeze while Foggy placed his hand over my shoulder, giving the detectives a glare.

“And what about this young couple that went missing? There’s no proof that my client had anything to do with their disappearance. For one there’s no connection between them and my client.” Marci said.

That part is true. Like I said; while I know I’m guilty of the three murders/attempted murder, but the names of Michelle and David Young doesn’t ring a bell at all.

“That may be true, until we saw this. Found alongside the parking lot at the last known place Michelle and David were last seen.” Lt. Kenda pulled out an evidence bag and inside of it was my mother’s Evanstar necklace she gave to me the night of Liz’s sleepover to give me comfort. My heart sped up and I gripped my jeans tightly in my hand. Uncle Matt moved his hand over to my clenched fist and I felt his thumb gently stroke the back of my hand trying to lessen my grip.

“It was her mother’s.” Foggy answered.

“(M/n) Perry. Your old partner?” asked Lt. Kenda.

“Yes. Her killer was never found. And this seems to match the killer’s sick motive of chopping up bodies. It would seem you need to relook into (M/n)’s case instead of hassling a young girl who never got closure for her only parent’s death.” Marci stated.

“We’ll look into it. For now we’ll have to keep you in until your bail is paid for.” Detective Demery said.

“Already taken care of. I paid for her bail. We’ll keep her under our watch and she’ll be sure not to leave town.” Foggy replied firmly. The detectives nodded and told me I was free to go but to stay in town in case they needed me for further-up questions.

They stood up and left the room taking my mother’s Evanstar necklace with them back into evidence. As the door shut Marci let out a heavy sigh.

“You’re lucky I did this out of my good heart Foggy.” Marci said.

“We really appreciate it Marci, thank you.” Foggy said. She nodded.

“Well this isn’t over. These are some serious charges against you (Y/n). You better have not be linked to any of these otherwise this case is as good as solved. I’ll do whatever I can if they can prove anything behind these murders and the random disappearance, but they’ve got a solid case against you if they wish to proceed further on.” She gathered her stuff and walked out of the room.

“You’ve been quiet (Y/n), everything okay?” Foggy asked me. My lip trembled and I felt tears build up in my eyes and I buried my head in my arms as I wept softly.

God this was insane! This had to be Fisk, it had to be! He’s finally making his move to try and get me to come back to him, and if I refuse he’s going to kill not only me but everyone I love.

I felt two hands gently grip my shoulders and I looked up to see uncle Matt looking down at me. He lifted his hand and gently wiped my tears away and he whispered to me.

“We’re gonna figure this out. I promise you won’t spend a single second inside a jail cell.”

“Foggy, do you have a piece of paper? I wanna give you guys my friend’s Peter, MJ and Ned’s number. As well as May Parker, Peter’s aunt.” Foggy looked at me puzzled but he handed me a notepad from his pocket as well as a pen. “Tell them that I won’t be in school for a while, and hell maybe even call Midtown High themselves and drop me out. I doubt anyone’s ever gonna want to see me back there again.”

As I spoke, I quickly wrote a name down on the notepad and slid it over to Foggy and rolled my eyes over to Matt to tell him what I wrote.

FISK!!!

I wrote in bold letters and underlined the name three times. Foggy whispered to Matt and uncle Matt answered to me.

“I don’t think there’s any need for you to drop out. How can you be so sure that the school will think to expel you?” Foggy wrote down below my response to what Matt was trying to say through subtext.

You think he’s making his move against you now? Why do it this way? Out in public.

“You know as well as I do that Midtown High is one of the most prestige high school in Queens. Only those with the IQ’s and the scholarships can get in. And I had to work my butt off for a chance at getting in. All because mom wanted me to be the best I could be.”

He wants the Bobcat to be known. He must’ve found the guy he framed for mom’s death and got him to squeal behind the scenes, allowing me to take center stage. Just like when he tried to ruin your reputation as Daredevil.

“We’ll take care of your school. For now I think it’s best that you stay with Matt for a while. At least until this whole thing blows over and is solved properly.” Uncle Foggy said.

“Hey,” uncle Matt cupped my cheek and had me look towards him. “We’re gonna figure this out. That I can promise you.” He pulled my head closer to his and our forehead gingerly touched one another’s before he gave it a kiss. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

We all stood up and Foggy pocketed his notepad back into his suit pocket and he placed his hands on my shoulders giving them a good old comforting ‘Foggy-bear massage’ as we walked out of the precinct.

Later that night the news was now starting to pick up on the disappearance of the young couple but not mentioning my name. This has got to be Fisk, he’s getting the story out there but not quite naming me. He’s planting the seed before he makes his next move.

“You sure you’ll be alright by yourself? I can always call Foggy or Karen. In fact I think I should.” Uncle Matt’s voice said from his bedroom.

“No, No. Uncle Fog is spending time with his family and Karen’s working overtime, probably trying to make sure my name doesn’t get into the Press.” Uncle Matt came out in his full red Daredevil suit but held the mask in his hand. He came over, set the mask down on the table and knelt down in front of me. “This is all my fault.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play coy uncle Matt you know exactly what I’m talking about!” I snapped angrily. His eyes widened slightly as he leaned back away from me a bit. I sighed heavily, “I’m sorry.”

“Not the first Perry who’s snapped at me like that.” He said with a nonchalant shrug before giving me a slight grin.

“I-I should’ve just talked to you. Or to Foggy or even Karen. Hell a counselor for Christ’s sake! Sorry but……” I buried my face into my hands. “Why did I sign up for that underground fight ring? If I hadn’t then none of this would’ve happened. I never would’ve met Fisk, I never would’ve became the Bobcat, and I wouldn’t have killed those people. I wish none of this had ever happened.”

“So do all who live to see such times but that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” I looked at uncle Matt as he gave me a soft smile. I smiled back at him and embraced him.

“Thank you Aragorn.”

“I thought it was Gandalf that said that line.”

“It was. But you’re not old enough to be Gandalf.” He softly laughed as he embraced me tighter. “Promise me you’ll be safe out there. Whatever it is Fisk has planned.”

“I promise my little Hobbit.” He kissed the side of my head and put on the Daredevil mask. The blood red eyes staring at me as he gave me one last loving smile. He stroked my cheek and he placed his forehead against mine once again before giving me a soft kiss at the tip of my nose.

He then ran up the steps to the roof entrance grabbing his clubs and left me alone in his apartment.

*Matt’s POV*

The first thing I wanted to look into was Chuck Benedict, the man Fisk framed as (M/n)’s killer. Much like (Y/n) had suspicions, the anonymous tip had to be from Chuck himself.

I followed him after sensing him coming out of Josie’s, his body reeked of whiskey and bourbon. Seems this guy really couldn’t get his life together, even before Fisk kidnapped him he’s been a lousy worm of a man. Could never really hold down a job, divorced, practically a nobody.

As he stumbled his way into an alleyway, I made my move. I silently scaled down using the drainpipes and landed behind one of the large dumpsters before coming towards him. I grabbed him from the back and slammed him into the wall. Just before he could scream, I covered his mouth with my hand and hissed at him.

“Scream and I’ll break every bone in your body before you can utter a single word. Nod if you understand what I’m saying.” He nodded, his eyes immediately showing that he was starting to sober up. “I’m gonna remove my hand from your mouth, if you scream or cry for help. The promise still stands.” He nodded again and I slowly removed my hand from his mouth.

“I—I thought I got rid of you.”

“You should’ve thought of that before you decided to go back on your promise and talk to the cops about the girl who was convinced into killing you.”

“What?” he asked.

“Don’t lie. The girl who Wilson Fisk trained to kill you thinking you killed her mother, she was arrested by the police by an anonymous tip about your kidnapping and attempted murder. Did Wilson Fisk come back for you and try to get you to frame her?”

“I-Dude I honestly don’t want to talk about this…..” I cut him off with a punch to his gut. He immediately groaned and fell to the ground. I picked him back up and slammed him to the wall.

“I told you this is what would happen if you snitched on her to the cops. Now tell me. Did Wilson Fisk get you to rat on her?”

“No one came to me. I swear on my life I didn’t go to the cops about that girl!” His heartbeat. Although it was racing out of fear, there was no fluctuation in how a heartbeat sounds when it’s lying. He’s telling the truth.

But if he didn’t talk to the cops, and Fisk didn’t get to him, who is trying to get to (Y/n)?

“Didn’t take you for harming the innocent there Devil-man.” A female voice spoke up. I turned in the direction of where the second heartbeat was.

“Jessica.” Taking his chance, Chuck made a break for it whimpering like a dog. “Why are you here?”

“Same as you apparently. Where’s the girl?”

“What girl?”

“Don’t lie Daredevil, you know who I’m referring to. (Y/n) Perry. Where is she?”

“What do you want with her?” I asked defensively.

“I have a couple of questions I want to ask her about the young couple that disappeared.”

“She has nothing to do with them!”

“Not from what I was given.” I tilted my head at her before trudging up towards her.

“What were you told and by whom?”

“Probably from the same person that tried to put whiney Chuck Benedict back under your radar. Listen, I’m not gonna arrest the kid. I know you’re her Guardian and her mom was your business partner/best friend. I just wanna get her side of the story before I do anything.” She responded to me.

Her heartbeat (as hard to read as it is. Jessica Jones likes to keep things bottled up, even fluctuate her heart at random points just to throw me off) she spoke the truth.

“I’m your best you’re gonna get Devil. You’re lucky it was just the cops, next time the FBI could be involved.”

“What is it you know?”

“I’m not talking until you tell me where (Y/n) Perry is.” I breathed in sharply as I kept my eyes in her general direction.

*My POV*

“(Y/n). (Y/n) wake up.” A voice spoke up as I felt a hand gently shake my shoulder. I groaned and opened my eyes to see uncle Matt sitting at my bedside, mask off but Daredevil suit still on.

“What is it?”

“Come to the living room for a moment. We need to talk.” There was a bit of urgency in his voice. He got up and stood at my bedroom door waiting for me to follow him. I took his arm and he led me to the living room where surprisingly Jessica Jones sat there on one of uncle Matt’s chairs with a beer bottle in her hand.

“You (Y/n) Perry?” she asked me. I gave her a hesitant nod. “Have a seat. There’s something you need to tell us.” Confused and starting to get scared I clung to uncle Matt’s arm.

He guided me over to the living room and we both sat down on the couch.

“Where were you the night that the Young’s disappeared?” she asked me in a stern voice.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know who the Young’s are. I’ve never met them before in my life. Listen if you’re working with the cops you can arrest me for the other crimes I did. I already know I’m guilty of those—”

“I could care less about those guys. I’m focusing on this couple right here. David and Michelle Young.” She took out a photo from her jacket pocket and held it out in front of me. The young couple that the cops were hounding me about.

“I already told you. I don’t know who they are.” I turned to Uncle Matt. Even though I know he couldn’t really see my pleading expression, I knew he could hear my heartbeat.

“She’s telling the truth Jessica.” She hummed lowly and put the photo down on the table. She then unzipped her backpack and pulled out a manila folder and placed it down in front of me.

“Then explain this to me.” I took the folder and unfolded the two silver prongs upward and opened the slip of the folder. I pulled out a series of photos and my heart sped up.

“What is it?” uncle Matt asked me.

“These photos appeared at my desk by an anonymous tipper. It’s photos of your partner’s daughter with the couple the night they disappeared.” Uncle Matt turned to me in shock.

“Uncle Matt I swear I don’t remember this encounter. I-I don’t remember meeting them. I—why is this happening? Why can’t I remember anything!”

“Kid I’m gonna need you to calm down.” Jessica warned me.

“Calm down? Calm down!? How can you expect me to calm down at a time like this!? It’s bad enough I was arrested today for crimes I know I committed but for a crime I don’t even remember doing!” I ranted on as I anxiously paced back and forth across the living room. My heart racing and my breath growing sharp and frantic.

That’s when my head suddenly felt like it was being split in two. Flashes came through my vision, like how back in the old days when the TV’s would do that jump scare no signal static thing, that’s basically what was going on in my head now. Until I saw a brief vision of the Young’s as well as me at what appeared to be the docks right next to their car. I collapsed to my knees gasping and panting heavily.

“(Y/n), hey, hey look at me. Look at me, deep breaths. Slow, deep breaths.” Uncle Matt came up to me placing his hand close to mine but not encompassing it. I looked to him and followed his breathing and I looked up at Jessica and told her.

“The docks.” She took back the pictures and put them back into the folder. “I don’t know how I remember, but I remember the docks. And—I was with them. But this doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t I remember before? And why is it coming back to me now?”

“We’ll figure that part out later. I say in the morning just before dawn, we head over to the docks and see what’s there. Hopefully we can find who’s really behind this.” Uncle Matt said.

“I’ll pick you both up in a few hours then.” Jessica said as she gathered up her stuff and walked out of uncle Matt’s apartment.

“This isn’t Fisk, is it?” I asked more in a general statement than a question. But a hint of fear was in my voice as I asked uncle Matt.

“No.” he replied. I let out a soft whimper as I huddled myself inward like a turtle. Uncle Matt brought me into his arms and lay my head on his chest, his other hand gently cupping my ear so that all I could hear was his heartbeat.

There was nothing he could say at this moment that he hadn’t already told me all day. For now all I really wanted was to just disappear into his embrace and hope that by morning everything could go back to normal as normal could be here in Hell’s Kitchen.

By morning like Jessica promised, she arrived back at the apartment with her car and we arrived at the docks just as the night sky was starting to turn light with color.

“That’s it. That’s the car.” I said to Jessica and uncle Matt as Jessica slowed the car down once we spotted a 2016 Kia Rio just ahead of us.

“You’re sure?” uncle Matt asked me from the backseat.

“Yes, the license frame around the plate. All glittered with hearts and even the date. 8-22-12.”

“Must be their wedding anniversary or when they first met. Something of significance.” Jessica said as she turned off the engine and we all got out of the car. I walked around but nothing was coming up.

No flashbacks, no visions, not even a memory. I walked up to the car hoping that something would come back to me but there was nothing.

“Don’t touch the car kid. If the police find this car and your fingerprints are all over it, you’re even more screwed than you already are.” Jessica warned me.

“I don’t plan on it.” I notice how Uncle Matt was walking around, his cane skipping back and forth around the docks until he suddenly stopped and his face grimaced. Jessica turned to him and asked.

“Whatcha sensing Devil-man?”

“I can taste and smell blood in the air. And there’s lots of it.” He said grimly. My stomach dropped. Jessica turned to me as did uncle Matt and they both told me.

“Stay here.” Before walking off.

*Matt’s POV*

I walked along as I tucked my cane into my jacket with Jessica right at my side.

“How much blood are we talking about here?”

“Too much.” I merely replied as I kept following the smell of blood in the air. I stopped and asked her, “What’s in front of us?”

“Not much just some old wooden crates, a crane lift, and some fishing material like old nets and shit like that.” She replied. I walked around sniffing the air every now and then as well as softly licking my lips. The taste of cooper was so strong, stronger than I’ve ever tasted before. Something happened here, something bad.

I placed my hand on what I assumed was the crane lift and used my hand as a guide to walk around it. Then I was hit by it.

“Jones!” I called out to her. She came over and her heartbeat slightly quickened.

“Oh fu—” that’s when we both heard (Y/n) scream. A scream that she had never made before, not even when she was dealing with the nightmares. We quickly raced back to her, I feared that the real person responsible for this had gotten to her but as I honed in at her location, she was the only one there besides us two.

She let out another horrified scream as we finally came up to her and I was once again hit with another blast of cooper in the air.

*My POV*

While Jessica and uncle Matt went off to do their own detective work, I was in a panic. My heart was racing frantically as I slowly backed away until I backed into a metal crate. I jumped back with a gasp and saw that one of the crates had a small sticky note that said.

OPEN ME

The top was unlocked just pleading for someone to open it up and see who was curious enough to look inside. I took the note and crumbled it up and pocketed it in my jeans and slowly opened the lid and inside it was a large grey tarp that was tied up in the middle and at the very bottom with rope. I know something inside of me was telling me to not do it but there was also a command telling me that I should unwrap the tarp.

As I finally unwrapped what was inside; my stomach churned, my heart raced and I let out the most terrified scream I could muster. I screamed again as Uncle Matt and Jessica Jones came running in hot towards me.

Jessica covered her hand over her mouth as Matt stood there in shock. For what was wrapped in the tarp was a human body. A naked Asian male with claw marks all over his body particularly his chest, ribs, and face. To anyone else it would’ve looked like a rapid animal got to him but I knew better—those claws were caused by one thing and one thing only.

But that’s not what had me horrified, what got to me was what was the bitemark on his neck. The very area where I would bite my opponents in the ring back at the Fight ring whenever I truly unleashed my fighting name.

“IT WAS BOBCAT!!” I cried out. Jessica and uncle Matt turned to me. Jessica confused while Uncle Matt’s was of worry and concern. “It was me!!” I sobbed hysterically as I gripped my hair and sunk to my knees crying hysterically.

Jessica covered up the bodies of David and Michelle with a tarp far away from us while Uncle Matt and I talked.

“It had to be someone else (Y/n). Maybe even the same person who killed your mother.” He tried to suggest as he paced in front of me.

“No I did this! We both know it!” I exclaimed. I bent forward with my hands on my knees as I tried to calm myself down but the tears felt falling and my heart wouldn’t stop racing.

“No.” he stopped his pacing with one hand at his hip and the other one touching my shoulder. “Frank Castle was scrutinized by the media for what he had done. Though I don’t agree with his philosophy, I still stood by his side to defend him in court. I am not gonna let you go down like he did!”

“Frank Castle never killed the innocent. I have!”

“I know who you are (Y/n)!” his hand cupped the back of my neck forcing me to look in his direction. He raised his red shades to rest on top of his head, allowing me to look directly into his eyes. And even with his unfocused gaze, I could feel uncle Matt staring into my very soul. “Even if you’ve lost sight of it.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that I killed this young couple and I don’t even remember doing it.”

“Guys, maybe we should move this discussion in the car.” Jessica piped in. We looked around and soon saw the dock workers coming in to start their day. Pointing over and talking amongst themselves wondering why we were here and what was underneath the tarp.

“It’s okay, I’ll handle this.” But just before he could take a step forward I cried out.

“No! Lock me up!” my eyes narrowed and filled with self-hatred. Uncle Matt turned towards me, his brow raised in worry. “I know you’re trying to keep a promise to my mother but it’s time to face the music. I don’t need to be protected from other people Uncle Matt, other people need to be protected from me!” I sniffled as Jessica cautiously placed her hands on my shoulders.

“You’re sure about this?” she asked me uncertainly.

“Arrest me Jessica Jones. I killed David and Michelle Young. I won’t fight back. Lock me up and throw away the key. Chain the doors if you have to. I don’t know why I can’t remember doing this but if I can’t, that means I must be even more dangerous than ever before.”

Even through her harsh look, there was a hesitance to her as she reached into her coat and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

“Alright kid. We’ll do it your way.” She gently took my hands and put them behind my back.

“(Y/n)—”

“I’m sorry Uncle Matt. I need to pay for all that I’ve done. I just—” I trailed off trying to take a deep breath as I felt the two clicks of the handcuffs around my wrists once again. “Wanna thank you. For always giving me the love I needed, even when I felt like I didn’t deserve it for the past year and a half. Tell Foggy and Karen I’m sorry. And tell my friends—good luck in college.”

I turned to Jessica and asked with a single look if I can just get one last hug from him before I go. She allowed it and I walked over to Uncle Matt and cuddled close to him, burying my face into his chest. His arms immediately wrapped around me as his head rested on top of mine.

“I’ll find the answers. I swear it. I won’t rest until I find out what’s really going on.” He drowned my face with kisses until Jessica said.

“Alright Murdock, people are starting to get suspicious. I’ll take her to the precinct and I’ll watch over her.”

“You better Jones.” Jessica took my arms and gently pulled me away from uncle Matt and we both got back into her car and she drove us back to the prison.

With some careful rearranging with Mahoney and the chief of police, I was able to at least get my own cell away from the adult prisoners, although I still had to sport the traditional orange suit.

I swear if mom saw me like this—she’d have a fit and would probably be bawling her eyes out. Hell she might be doing that right now up in God’s court. Seeing her only daughter that she raised single-handedly now be charged with four counts of 1st degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Like she promised, Jessica stood outside my cell door as well as another officer. I heard the hatch at the middle of the door slide open and Jessica’s voice said to me.

“I gotta say—for a 17 year old, you’re pretty hardcore owning up to this.”

“You’re actually supporting a murderer?” I asked confused. She sighed solemnly.

“Look you may have done this, but I don’t think you did it by choice. I’ll work with your uncle on this and we’ll figure out what’s really going on. Cause anyone who could do that, memory or no, they would not have reacted the way you did when you found David’s body.”

I heard the static from the cop’s radio. Muffled voices about a riot happening in the cafeteria and that all guards needed to report to break it up. The cop immediately raced off with his grenade gun leaving Jessica and I alone.

We waited for what felt like hours when suddenly the power was cut out. It was pitch black in my cell and the red lights from the other side of my cell was the only sign of light I could see.

“Hey mini-Perry, you alright in there?” Jessica asked me as she opened the hatch up again.

“Yeah. What’s going on out there?”

“Power’s off. Can’t be because of a circuit break or the weather.” I heard the sound of a door opening and Jessica swore under her breath. “Kid get as far back to your cell as you can. And you may want to cover your ears.” I did as she told me to and slowly sunk into the corner of my cell.

I heard the sound of men roaring and their heavy footsteps stomping on the tile floors outside. Grunts, groans, punches and bodies slamming against the walls and my cell door was all that could be heard outside. Then all went silent.

Deathly quiet I might add. No more sounds of a struggle, no more grunts, not even Jessica trying to call out to me to see if I was still far from the cell. I heard the door being unlocked and it soon opened up and I saw three oversized men covered in tattoos wearing orange jumpsuits just like me.

“Step aside will yah you’re scaring the poor girl!” a Scottish accent spoke up. The men immediately backed away and there stood a fairly tall man with dark hair wearing a purple suit. He was fairly handsome but there was a dark look in his eye as his head gave a slight tilt towards me. “Aww look at you. Fallen so far in such a short time. Well no matter, I’ll soon remedy that.”

As he walked right towards me, I tried to scoot away from him but he told me to stop. And right as he said that, my body froze. I couldn’t move a single muscle.

“Well at least that still works. Teenagers especially need to be taught firm discipline.” He knelt down beside me. His face scrunched in disgust as he fiddled with the shoulders of my jumpsuit. “Orange is definitely not your color, think I prefer the red and black. Just like when we first met.”

“What? Who-who are you?” I whimpered fearfully. He hummed in confusion as he tilted his head again.

“Oh right yes that! Forgot that’s the thing when you get older sometimes things just go….” He waved his hand over his head and made a brief raspberry sound. “Right now. I’d like you to remember. Remember back to when we first met so long ago. Shortly after you met Wilson Fisk. And everything we ever talked about.”

Suddenly my head felt like it was splitting open. I held my head in my hands as flashes of memories kept pouring into my head and they were all about this man that stood before me. Flash after flash kept zipping pass my vision and with one last splitting headache, my head suddenly went calm. Slowly I raised my head up and looked at the man that stood before me more carefully.

I remember. I remember him now.

“Father?” a slow, wide smile came across his face as his hand cupped the bottom of my chin and he lifted it up so that I could look at him.

“That’s my Evanstar.” He helped me up and we walked out of my cell together, his arm wrapped tightly around me gripping my shoulder. I looked down and saw Jessica unconscious on the ground, her forehead bleeding. I wanted to help her but dad told me. “Leave her, she’s fine.”

“She’s fine.” I repeated back to him. We walked through the prison where all the prisoners and guards were out cold. “Did-did you……”

“They’re just resting. I’ve got a car waiting for us outside. We need to get out of the city. You like camping.”

“I haven’t gone in so long. Let’s go camping.” I found myself saying.

“There’s an old cabin your mother and I once stayed in. Nice, secluded and isolated. Think it’s time I showed it to you now.”

“Yeah. Let’s go, I wanna see the cabin.” Dad opened the doors and there like he said was a car ready for us. He opened the front passenger door for me and I got inside. He came around and got into the driver’s seat and started the car up.

“Care to go off on an adventure?” dad asked with a smirk.

“Like Bilbo when he joined Thorin Oakenshield’s company.”

“That’s my girl.” He revved the engine and soon he hit the gas and we drove off far out of Hell’s Kitchen.

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teddy06writes · 3 years ago

Text

Who Knew Being A Youtuber Was Dangerous

requested by this anon: "Okay last one I promise…. I think. So CC!Dream x Bodyguard!Reader or reverse the roles, whatever works. Premise: Dream starts going to conventions and needs to be protected from all the antis and obsessive fans. But Dream didn’t know his bodyguard was gonna be attractive…"

dream x reader

trigger warnings: some swearing, yelling, general violence/threats

premise: The first vidcon after Covid has finally arrived, and with his face newly revealed, Dream's getting a bit worried a bout how a week in California will turn out, so, he (lets be real it was his manager) hirers you and your team for protection

{Also reader has implied military background}

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

"You didn't tell me that they were coming all the way out here! I thought we were meeting them in California!" Dream argued into his phone.

You leaned against the rented escalade, watching as he paced back at forth.

One of your partners half leaned through the passenger seat window, "Sir? We're going to be late if you don't wrap it up!"

The man in the driver seat tapped his thumbs on the wheel anxiously, "I can handle politicians, I can handle CEO's, hell I can handle regular celebrities'- but youtubers? Dude why?"

You looked back at him, "Don't complain, he's paying bigger bucks than anyone we've had in years."

"I know but-"

You shook your head, cutting him off as Dream approached the car, "I'm sorry- I just thought I wasn't getting your services until I landed in California."

You shook your head, "You've still got to get through two international airports, and your flight. We'll be going along with you throughout the duration of your trip, but that won't happen, if you don't go get your things so we can leave on time."

"Yeah-" He sighed, "I'll- get my bags."

Shaking his head, Dream hurried back inside, grabbing his things before sending Sapnap a panicked snap 'sap help the body guard is hot'

When he got no response, he sighed, pulling his things out of the house and locking up behind himself, "You know for body guards you are dressed awfully casually."

You sighed adjusting your windbreaker, as you grabbed one of his bags to put in the trunk, "We're supposed to blend in. People might think it's suspicious that you need body guards, they could... plan things."

"And three extra people traveling with me isn't?"

"Smith and McAllen aren't going to be with us, with us. Within range, sure, but not following you around. You're going to be telling people I'm just- a friend or something- your life was private enough it would blend in." You reported, closing the trunk and moving to open the other door for him.

You moved around the car, climbing into your own seat, "Let's move."

The airport was fairly crowded, but you navigated through it carefully, avoiding the biggest groups of people and instructing Dream to keep his hood up.

After almost two hours of anxiety, you had finally boarded the plane, tucking your backpack under the seat in front of you.

"Where'd the other two end up?" He asked quietly.

"Smiths on the other side of the row, two up, and McAllen's behind us." You reported.

Dream nodded, and the two of you settled in for take off.

Nearly an hour in, and you could tell he was getting bored as he leaned over, "So how does one end up doing body guard stuff anyway?"

You shrugged, "My contract was ended early.... I was looking for a job, retaining all my previous work experience, and I stumbled upon this agency."

"It's strange that it's even a real job."

"It's strange that playing a video game is even a real job." You shot back, grinning.

"How do you know what type of videos I make?" He asked skeptically.

"Well I have to make sure a client is legit before taking a legal offer, right?" You chuckled.

~~ The flight was nearing at end, finally, and you went over the plans again, looking over the layout of the airport on your tablet.

"What're you doing?" Dream asked.

"You never get tired of questions do you?" You sighed.

He frowned, "Sorry..."

You sighed again, "We're supposed to plan the routes around every fucking building you go into. We have a plan, we stick to the route, we keep idiots like you safe from anti's and crazy fans."

"Crazy fans?"

"Well you only just revealed what you look like, you've never been mobbed in public," You explained, "You can never trust what a obsessed person would do. That's how John Lennon died."

"Really? You're citing the Beatles on why your looking at airport maps?"

"You literally hired me for this!"

~~ So far, vidcon had been uneventful on your part, and you found yourself back in the old routine of standing off to the side, in hallways, or generally out of the way as your client did his thing.

The same lie had been told millions of times by now, Dream's partner, that's how the internet knew you, and lies grew, but all you had to do was walk along side him, nothing more.

Your partners could normally just explain away being assistants or managers working with vidcon organizers.

"Someone on twitter started a conspiracy thread that 'dream and (y/n) are not a real couple, I found so much proof this weekend'." Sapnap laughed.

From your place at the other table you nearly choked on your sandwich as Dream began to wheeze.

"why is this getting traction!?!"

"Someone added to the end," Smith reported, looking up from his phone, "Their debating if it's real, fake, or if the person made the thread cause they were jealous."

You took a sip of your water, "I can't wait till this is over, then we'll break up and the stans will forget about me."

Dream laughed, "That's too bad, I was thinking of taking you guys on full time."

You sighed, shaking your head, pretending to be annoyed, "Oh no, being paid to fake date some cute famous guy."

"You think I'm cute?"

You rolled your eyes, ignoring him, "Hurry up, we've gotta leave in ten."

You were halfway through the convention center when suddenly you began to miss all that standing around.

As usual movement through the convention center was tough, but this time the crowd seemed different, particularly as someone near the back began yelling about something.

You scanned the crowd, and the woman seemed to lock onto you, "You! Yeah you! Who the hell do you think you are?"

You glanced back at McAllen, who nodded, starting to move to the side, Dream following, ever so slightly.

"You don't get to date him! How could you stoop that low Dream?"

More yelling erupted from the crowd, and someone seemed to charge forward.

You immediately took charge, grabbing Dream's arm and pulling him along with you as Smith hurried forward to block the man.

"What the fuck is going on?" Dream asked.

"Shut up, and stay behind me." You hissed turning down a side hallway as all hell started to break loose in the convention center, a single gunshot ringing out.

"Shouldn't you be going to stop that?" Dream asked as you and McAllen hurried him down another corridor.

"Job for the police, not us." You muttered, "Exit's through here, lets go."

From behind you, there were more shouts, something about stealing Dream.

“Motherfucker, these people are insane.” McAllen muttered.

Somehow, you’d managed to get Dream out of the building, double back, and also collect Smith and Sapnap on the way.

Running on pure adrenaline, you’d then helped anyone else, evacuating civilians as the police worked to talk down the shooter.

By the time you had arrived back to the hotel, finished making statements and refusing to answer a frat deal of questions from father fans, you were about to collapse.

“I thought your job was just to get me out of there.” Dream said, looking up as you entered your room.

“I did.”

“And then you went back in.”

“I help people, okay?” You snapped, “Normally this job doesn’t include being shot at because I have to fake date someone who I’m protecting.”

You sat down heavily, “just- gimme a minute to breath. You’ve made my job more complex than it needed to be.”

“With my dashing good looks?” He laughed.

You rolled your eyes, “I mean with the amount of trouble you’ve caused me we might as well be actually dating, then I might benefit more.”

He grinned, “I just might take you up on that.”

#mcyt x reader #dreamwastaken x reader #teddy06 writes #teddy06

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andrewmoocow · 3 years ago

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The Black Pearl Brigade chapter 4: Brain Brawl (originally published on April 4, 2022)

AN: Looks like things are finally starting to heat up! After writing for Dalmatian Jasper & Zoisite and loving how much I made them play off each other, I got a good feeling about the rest of Cinnabar's team. For this chapter, we shall focus on Bloodstone, the Ronaldo-like chief scientist and conspiracy theorist who, much like Ronaldo, is found incredibly annoying by tons of people for acting so damn insane. But unlike Ronaldo, there may be more to Bloodstone than her insane ramblings may imply.

Synopsis: IQ competes against the genius conspiracy theorist Bloodstone for the entertainment of a species that prides intelligence.

Cast:

Deedee-Magno Hall as The Black Pearl Brigade

Lena Hall as Bloodstone

Avi Roque as Cinnabar

Awkwafina as Kyanite

Michaela Dietz as Unlucky Amethysts

Corey Burton as Intellgia Emissary

Mike Pollock, Cissy Jones & Ben Diskin as Intelliga High Council

Kathleen Barr as Púrén

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Lisa Hannigan as Blue Diamond

Allison Janney as Pyrite

Featuring Jonathan Hyde as Supreme Intelligent One

The Intelliga, quite possibly one of the most highly advanced and intelligent races to exist throughout the galaxy. Having survived for eons through their beyond genius intellect and machinery, they pride themselves on reviewing the intelligence of other races and pitting them against each other in what they dub a Brain Brawl, a competition they hold to see who is vastly more intelligent. On their futuristic home planet of Teslein, some of the Intelliga's high council were busy reviewing future Brain Brawl contestants across the stars.

"Hm, such a bright young lady for an Earthling." The leader of the high council observed as he and his comrades observed Connie Maheswaran preparing for college via a universal surveillance system. "But I fear even her brain might not be able to comprehend our way of life."

"Let us move on." A female member responded as their surveillance turned to Peridot teaching her class how to pronounce photosynthesis. "A Peridot, eh? She could be promising."

"But I was expecting a Peridot to be building weapons of war or performing experiments for their masters, not teaching at a school." A third council member stated before they happened upon Pearl reading a childcare book. "My word, a Pearl?! But they were meant to be common slaves, and this one seems to be reading!"

"How curious." A fourth council member replied, stroking his goatee while deep in thought. "Let us see what else Earth has to offer." The council then began spying on Black Rutile hiding in a cave, working on a device while wearing a holographic welding mask. "I've heard of this Rutile before. Isn't she a wanted criminal?"

"That would get the Diamonds on our tail." The second council member muttered. "Let's try something that won't get us in trouble." Finally, the screen seemed to settle on two Gems simultaneously. One was Bloodstone, who was hard at work on a new weapon while doing some calculations on a holographic board. The other was IQ, busy doing maintenance on the Servant with help from Púrén. "What about these two?"

"Another Pearl!" the fourth member exclaimed in shock. "And that Bloodstone over there is quite intelligent as well!"

"Well, this shall certainly be an interesting Brain Brawl." The leader of the Intelliga declared. "So, are we all in agreement, ladies and gentlemen?"

"AYE!" the rest of the high council answered.

"Motion carried." The leader responded before turning to an emissary. "Track down these Gems at once and extend our invitation to them."

"I shall do as you command, Supreme Intelligent One!" the emissary saluted proudly as he tapped on a smartwatch that made him teleport away.

"Just need to make some last finishing touches here." Bloodstone mumbled to herself as she worked on her latest weapon. "This machine is capable of not just shattering a Gem, but also completely disintegrating the gemstone and leaving nothing behind. And I picked you two to be my lucky test subjects."

"This won't go wrong like the last few tests, right?" one of the Amethysts that Bloodstone forced to volunteer for her experiments. The Amethyst's question would soon be answered as Bloodstone presented her device, a giant laser cannon she had to carry around like a mini-gun, and fired at the Amethyst's gem. Quickly realizing what might happen to her, the Amethyst began panicking while the cannon hit her in her gem before she exploded in a flash of light. Just as Bloodstone predicted, there was nothing left of the Amethyst.

"EUREKA!" Bloodstone yelled excitedly. "I have a breakthrough! What do you think about that?!"

"I think you need to consider why not many people like you, Bloodstone!" the surviving Amethyst yelled. "You're just an insane crackpot whose experiments always get Gems hurt!"

"Uh, hello? I'm a mad scientist in service to a terrorist working for an even bigger terrorist." Bloodstone replied. "It comes with the territory!"

"Yeah, but even before you joined Cinnabar, you always were a loose cannon!" the Amethyst added. "Your theories made you a total laughingstock!"

"I urge you to believe me, my Diamonds!" Bloodstone said to Yellow and Blue Diamond thousands of years ago during the Rebellion, while also surrounded by dozens of other Gems as she presented her latest theory. "This rebellion was all built on lies, a complete waste of our time even! Pink Diamond had all this staged out of boredom and sadism, and she must be stopped! Please, my fellow Gems, we must come together to end this war and stop this shared enemy!"

However, none of the Gems responded for a few precious seconds. Then, they all started to point and laugh at Bloodstone for her outlandish claims. Even the Diamonds let out a few snickers before they silenced their subjects so they could speak.

"I admire your passion Bloodstone, but I find it hard to believe that Pink Diamond would've faked her own shattering out of total boredom!" Yellow Diamond declared. "She may be a pain in the neck at times, but I don't think she'd go that far."

"And a shared enemy, too?" Blue Diamond raised an eyebrow while bringing a finger to her lips. "Clearly, she's gone mad. But then again, she's always been eccentric, right?"

"ECCENTRIC, ECCENTRIC, ECCENTRIC!" the Gems jeered Bloodstone out of the audience chamber as she walked out with her hands in her coat pockets and a scowl on her face. "ECCENTRIC, ECCENTRIC, ECCENTRIC!"

"Oh, mock me all you want, but you'll all see I'm right." Bloodstone snarled at the mocking Gems. "YOU'LL ALL SEE, I TELLS YA!"

"No, we won't!" a voice called out to the scientist amidst the continued mocking, which continued even after she left.

A few hours later, at her lab, Bloodstone decided to vent her frustrations on bullying by doing what she does best, designing new weapons for use in war. However, this weapon would be different from the others Bloodstone had built. "I'm sure White Diamond would love to use one like this." Bloodstone muttered after running a few calculations. "One zap of this, and I'll be good as perfect."

Though Bloodstone didn't look like it, she came out with a few imperfections herself upon creation that made her mind unlike other Gems that shared her intellect. Once she pulls the trigger, those imperfections will be blown away like the wind. Before she could finish the job, however, the door behind Bloodstone opened, and in walked Pyrite.

"Oh, Bloodstone, my darling, how are you?!" Pyrite exclaimed as she skipped into Bloodstone's lab when she noticed what Bloodstone was about to do. "Oh, making yourself a guinea pig again? I swear, you have got to put a stop to that. It's really unhealthy, sweetie pie."

"I know; it's just, I got laughed at for one of my crazy theories again." Bloodstone stated while putting down the weapon. "I had told everyone that I thought Pink Diamond was behind this whole war because she was a total sociopath that was getting bored with how things work here."

"Bored sociopath? That's a little far-fetched if I do say so myself." Pyrite commented, causing Bloodstone to glare at her. "But besides the point, I got a big order coming up, and I need you to help me!" she commanded the scientist. "We got some Prasiolites wanting some of your tools, and we don't have all the time in the world, so chop chop!"

"OK, Pyrite." Bloodstone obeyed the business-Gem's orders before throwing her imperfection remover away and working on some new kinds of weapons. This cycle would continue on for the next couple thousand years during and since the Rebellion, but there would soon come a day when Bloodstone would finally be vindicated.

"So guess what, I was right all along!" Bloodstone declared as she sat across from another Gem in a dark room. "This was all built upon Pink Diamond being a psychotic brat who only wanted to see everything that isn't her suffer! Because of her, we left all those innocent soldiers to be corrupted, and our resources were nearly bled dry!" she began ranting. "And I don't think her little boy will make anything better! He's probably pretending to be all nice and sweet and stuff to hide the fact that he's basically enslaved us all! And did anyone still believe what I had to say?! No!"

"I can see that recent events have stressed you, Bloodstone." Black Rutile said while leaning into the light. "I can definitely relate, as can many other Gems. How would you like to join me and finally be proven right?"

"Yes, that would mean so much to me!" Bloodstone eagerly accepted the Rutile's offer. "Oh, it would be my honor to work alongside such a tactical genius like the Striking Shadow of the Rebellion and be surrounded by Gems that won't ruthlessly pick on me for being annoying!"

"Someone's eager." Black Rutile smiled at the scientist.

In the present day, Bloodstone strolled down a long hallway to her quarters, where she intended to hide herself away in shame of how nothing has changed about her lifestyle since joining the Rutile Rebels. "What's the use in this anymore?" she moped while locking the door behind her. "I want to fight for justice and peace for all, I'm fighting for a legitimately good cause, yet still no one will treat me right! If only someone would give me a sign that I can be of use!"

"Hey yo, Bloodstone, come out of there!" Kyanite called for the scientist while pounding on the door. "Someone's calling for you!"

"Hmph, what a coincidence." Bloodstone muttered and opened the door to reveal Kyanite and Cinnabar on the other side. "Anything you need?"

"An emissary of the Intelliga wishes to speak with you." Cinnabar replied, motioning for a blue-skinned, floating humanoid with a medium-sized cranium to appear. "I believe our friend Bloodstone is the one you're looking for."

"A pleasure to meet you, Bloodstone." The emissary said as he shook Bloodstone's hand. "I am an emissary of the Intelliga, and they wish to invite you to their world for a little Brain Brawl against an equally intelligent Gem."

"A Brain Brawl, invited, me?!" Bloodstone stuttered excitedly before she descended into excited squealing. "EEEEEEE, THIS HAS BEEN MY LIFELONG DREAM, EEEEEEE!"

"Yes, we are very happy for you, Bloodstone." Cinnabar snarked while covering her ears. "Now, can you please shut up and behave yourself?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Bloodstone immediately did as she was told before turning back to the emissary. "So, when can we start?"

"We shall begin as soon as your opponent is brought to Teslein." The emissary explained. "But let us bring you to the arena in the meantime." Tapping on his smartwatch again, the emissary teleported away with Bloodstone, Cinnabar, and Kyanite accompanying him.

Meanwhile, on the Servant, IQ worked hard on new weapons for the Brigade in her laboratory, hoping that they'd be strong enough to assist them in their battles. "Hopefully, with these, we won't get captured again like what happened with Dalmatian Jasper and Zoisite." She muttered to herself. "It's funny, really. We've only known each other for a few weeks, but we've grown quite a bit as a team since Yellow Diamond found us. I'm always there to supply the team with useful information, Cap always calls the shots with ease, Pony is a handy number two, Braids is one of the strongest Gems I know, and when she's given enough motivation, Tails knows how to be a team player."

Just then, Púrén suddenly appeared behind IQ, giving the genius Pearl a scare as she didn't expect the AI to appear. "My apologies." Púrén said calmly. "It's just that Cap has a message for you."

"Just play it back for me." IQ requested the AI, who quickly transformed into Cap to replay her message.

"IQ, we got a job." Cap's message stated. "An emissary of the Intelliga wants to speak with you about participating in a Brain Brawl. Please stop what you're doing and report to my quarters."

"Wait, the Intelliga want to enter me in a Brain Brawl?!" IQ gasped in excitement. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any sentient being with an advanced intelligence!" She then put down her tools and burst from her lab to meet the emissary. "DON'T WAIT UP!"

Kicking down the door to Cap's quarters, IQ locked eyes with the rest of the Brigade and the emissary standing together before the latter hovered towards Pearl. "Ah, this must be IQ. Quite a fitting name, I must say."

"It is an honor to meet a member of the Intelliga." IQ said as the two geniuses shook hands. "You said you wanted me to enter one of your Brain Brawls?"

"Indeed." The emissary replied. "We have been monitoring the smartest beings in the universe for eons to select them as contestants, and you just happen to be one of the latest. We were also pondering selecting other Gems to enter, but you seemed to be a good fit for this."

"So, where shall we have this battle?" Braids asked.

"This Brain Brawl, as do all Brain Brawls, shall take place on our home planet of Teslein, and the winner shall be dubbed one of the smartest to have ever lived." The emissary declared. "We shall arrive there posthaste with my teleportation watch."

"No need. Allow us to bring you home with our ship." Cap stated. "Púrén, set a course for Teslein!"

"Affirmative." Púrén obliged and began routing the ship towards the Intelliga's home planet. "And good luck on the Brain Brawl, IQ."

"Thanks." IQ grinned.

The Servant touched down on Teslein, a grand and advanced planet that seemed to be colored primarily in cold blues, grays, and blacks. The capital city of Chiteki was particularly in Brain Brawl fever, with billboards all over the place advertising the upcoming bout between IQ and Bloodstone.

"Welcome to Chiteki, Pearls." The emissary proclaimed as he and the Brigade disembarked. "Follow me to the High Council Headquarters now. We haven't all the time in the world."

"So, this is Teslein." Braids nodded while taking in the Pearls' new surroundings, watching the citizens of the Intelliga's home planet gaze at them with amazement and fear. Some refused to acknowledge their crystalline visitors as anything but conquerors, but others were eager to see Gems in real life. "Hm, pretty glorious, I must say."

"Excuse me, Pearls, could I perhaps take a picture with you for a research project I'm working on?" a young Intelligan asked the five Gems as he floated up to them.

"We're a little short on time, but I suppose we can make room for at least one photo." Pony replied as the Pearls struck a pose for a picture. As soon as the Intelligan took the photo, he was off like a light while the six continued on their way.

"I can only assume that boy will probably show that photo off to his friends." Pony muttered before they finally reached the high council's tower and entered the nearest elevator. "At least he wasn't recoiling in fear of us."

"I guess some people have more trouble adjusting to the Diamonds changing their ways more than others." IQ replied while the elevator kept creeping up the tower. "So, who is our opponent supposed to be?"

"Oh, it's someone who is very eager to see you." The emissary answered cheerfully when the Pearls heard a ding. "Oh, speak of the devil; we're right on time." As the doors opened, the Brigade began gaping in shock as they realized that IQ's opponent in the upcoming Brain Brawl was accompanied by someone they never thought they'd see.

"CINNABAR?!" the Pearls yelled at the former general, who turned to them with a cold glare as she stood with Bloodstone and Kyanite.

"Ah, the Black Pearl Brigade." Cinnabar scowled at the mercenaries. "I never thought today would be the day we'd meet each other in person for the first time." Though she secretly wanted to shatter them all on the spot and have Bloodstone be declared the victor by default, Cinnabar kept herself restrained as she politely greeted the Gems that had already outwitted three of her top lieutenants and stuck out her hand. "May the best genius win."

"Good to see you being a team player." IQ replied and shook with Cinnabar, sounding just as restrained as their archenemy.

"If we win, we get to destroy them, right?" Kyanite asked bluntly, forcing Cinnabar to hold her mouth shut as the Supreme Intelligent One made his grand entrance.

"Welcome Gems to Chiteki, the capital city of Teslein!" the Supreme Intelligent One bombastically declared while descending upon his visitors. "You may refer to me as the Supreme Intelligent One, and I welcome all of you to this latest Brain Brawl. Now, what is a Brain Brawl, you may ask?"

"We didn't ask anything." Braids replied cluelessly.

"Well, to put it simply, a Brain Brawl is when we select two individuals from across the stars to compete on our homeworld for the ultimate prize of being dubbed the smartest ever to exist." The Supreme Intelligent One continued, ignoring Braids' literal reply. "The contest will be held in a series of three challenges. First, the contestants face off in a trivia challenge themed around a certain topic. In your case, the questions shall be based around the Gem race."

"Interesting." Cinnabar commented.

"The second challenge will test skill and ingenuity by building androids and pitting them against each other." The Supreme Intelligent One proclaimed. "And finally, the third challenge will test your emotional intelligence by testing how well you know your comrades in a series of true or false questions based on data telepathically gathered and submitted to us by the audience."

"Wow, that's a Brain Brawl?" Pony wondered out loud. "I kind of expected things to be a bit more complicated than that."

"Oh, don't underestimate us, Pearl." The emissary declared. "Many have been tested through Brain Brawls for eons, and let me tell you, the losers left completely ashamed of themselves. So I advise you all get ready because the stakes have never been higher."

"He is indeed right." The leader of the Intelliga agreed. "Let the Brain Brawl begin!"

As the Brain Brawl got off to a roaring start, IQ and Bloodstone stood face to face on a set resembling that of a game show while the Supreme Intelligent One stood by with a microphone in hand. "Welcome one and all to this edition of Brain Brawl! I am your host and esteemed leader, the Supreme Intelligent One. For this contest, we have gained the participation of two Gems currently in the stands. Please, introduce yourselves, ladies."

"My name is Bloodstone, and I shall compete on behalf of the mighty Black Rutile and Cinnabar!" Bloodstone passionately declared while snatching the mic from the Intelligent One's hand. "Once the Crystal Gems are no more, and this universe is ours to control, you all shall be among the planets that will fall to our unlimited power!"

"Yeah, you go, girl!" Kyanite whooped from the audience.

"My my, someone's excited." The Gems' super genius host grinned while beckoning his microphone back to his hand. "And what about you, dear Pearl?"

"You may refer to me as IQ." IQ introduced herself to the audience. "I am part of an elite mercenary squad in service to Yellow Diamond, tasked with terminating the other rebels who have pledged allegiance to Black Rutile, Cinnabar chief among them."

"Very nice, ladies." The host stated. "Now, without further ado, let the Brain Brawl begin!" The audience began cheering wildly as the contest commenced and then immediately calmed down to allow their leader to reveal the first challenge. "Now, as stated earlier, the first challenge shall be in the form of a trivia contest based on the contestants' lives. In this case, the questions shall be based around the Gem empire and its dominion over many planets. First question, how much of the universe did the Diamonds rule over before Era 3?"

IQ pressed the buzzer first. "They claimed at least 63.7% of all known planets in the universe. The rest are property of the Universal Lords."

"Correct!" the Supreme Intelligent One exclaimed. "Second question. How many years ago did Pink Diamond quote-unquote "shatter" herself?"

Bloodstone was quick to answer. "Approximately 5,052 years ago."

"That is also correct." The Supreme Intelligent One stated. "Now for the third question."

The two Gems were eager to press the buzzer again as the next question was read. "Approximately how many Gems were created by the height of the Rebellion?"

Before IQ could buzz in, she quickly froze. She was only a few weeks old. How could she possibly know how many Gems were created at that period? While the Pearl began to space out from sheer anxiety, Bloodstone confidently answered. "Around 15,616,700,250,340,800 Gems."

"That is correct." The Supreme Intelligent One declared.

"Wait, THAT many?!" Braids declared, utterly flabbergasted at the massive number she just heard. "I simply wasn't aware of such a number."

"Yeah, me neither." Pony replied, just as stunned before she noticed IQ still staring in shock. "Uh, is IQ gonna be OK?"

"Question #4, which was the first planet to be colonized at the start of Era 1?" the Supreme Intelligent One continued. Since IQ was still frozen in shock, Bloodstone again took the answer. "Bloodstone?"

"That would be Sigmas-17," Bloodstone stated. "It is where some of our earliest technology comes from."

"Correct again, Bloodstone." The host responded before turning back to IQ. "IQ, darling, best try to catch up for this last question. Which is, what was the operation's name that led to the creation of the Pearl facility on Titan?"

"It was Project Nacre!" IQ frantically shoved her opponent's hand out of the way and pushed the buzzer before her. "Project Nacre was named for a Gem known as Nacre, dubbed the Mother of Pearls because she served as a prototype for the modern Pearl!"

"You are correct, Pearl, but unfortunately, you didn't answer all the questions." The Supreme Intelligent One said glumly. "Which is why this victory shall go to Bloodstone."

"As expected." Cinnabar grinned smugly in response.

"WHOO, GO BLOODSTONE, YOU'RE NUMBER ONE!" Kyanite screamed excitedly at her teammate's triumph.

"Yes, yes, I am so amazing," Bloodstone smirked before turning to IQ. "Just goes to show how experience can save your life once in a while. Now, good luck on the next challenge." As the scientist laughed callously while walking backstage, IQ got up and sulked back to her teammates in the audience, who were shocked at their machinist's loss.

"What happened there, IQ?" Cap asked. "You had that first question in the bag, but then you just froze up at the big numbers!"

"I'm sorry girls, but there are some things that even I don't know." IQ said, trying her hardest not to cry over her loss. "I mean, I'm supposed to be the smart one of the gang! If I'm not the smart one, then who am I?!"

"It doesn't matter what kind of Pearl you are; you're still our friend regardless." Pony proclaimed to comfort IQ. "So, what's the next trial again?"

"I believe robot building." Braids answered. "I believe that might be more your style, IQ."

"Yeah, it doesn't matter whether you're the smart one or not. Just do what you think suits you best." Tails repeated what Pony said earlier. "Now then, let's get building."

Meanwhile, Bloodstone was busy reveling in her victory to her master, and was having an utter blast doing so. "You should've seen the look on her face! The Pearl looked like she had seen a ghost or something, and when we left, it seemed like she was going to cry!"

"Don't get too cocky, Bloodstone." Cinnabar declared, cutting Bloodstone's reverie short. "Just like Pyrite and Dalmatian Jasper & Zoisite before you, your pride will undoubtedly be your downfall. Remember to keep that in mind or else."

"And good luck on the robot building too!" Kyanite added happily.

"Let us begin the second round!" the Supreme Intelligent One announced the next challenge of the Brain Brawl. "For this challenge, our contestants shall build mechanical lifeforms to battle to the finish, in which only one shall remain standing to declare their creator the winner!"

"This is it; let's go." IQ said while the Pearls stood around a silver human skeleton with menacing red eyes and a cannon in place of a left arm. "Sculder, you are free to go."

Before marching into the arena, Sculder gave no verbal response, only a quiet nod. On the other side of the battlefield, Bloodstone confidently stood with her arms crossed beside a much brawnier, bulkier machine with red & gold plating and circular lights on its chest and palms. The two robots just stood there, intensely glaring at each other, before the referee made his entrance.

"Are you ready for some mechanical melee?!" the referee boomed, causing the audience to cheer excitedly. "Well, that's all I need to hear because it's robot-fighting time!"

"ROBOTS ACTIVATE." A mechanical voice declared, signifying the beginning of the match as Bloodstone's android made the first move, tackling IQ's robot to the ground and pressing one of his palms against its opponent's face, the heat causing the other machine's cheek to melt a little. Luckily, Sculder retaliated by using its arm cannon to propel itself off the ground, knocking the other machine down before it was gunned down.

"GO, SCULDER, GO!" IQ cheered for her creation before the red and gold robot formed an energy shield to deflect Sculder's cannon blasts.

"You can do it, uh….." Kyanite exclaimed when she realized that Bloodstone may not have given her machine a name. "Hey Bloodstone, what did you call your bot?"

"I did not bother with a name because that means I'll get attached." Bloodstone responded. "But if it's any consolation, I think the Pearl-verizer would suffice."

"And I don't think you bothered giving it good defenses either." Cinnabar proclaimed, taking her scientist by the shoulder and pointing at the arena. "Look, IQ's skeleton has found a way to break through the shield!"

Cinnabar was right, as Sculder just kept ramming at the shield projected by its opponent, causing it to crack more and more until finally, the shield was broken. In desperation, the Pearl-verizer prepared to throw the fight by running away, but Sculder extended its hands like tentacles to grab the Pearl-verizer's ankles and toss it into the air.

"Did you even think straight while building that thing?!" Cinnabar shouted, clearly on the verge of losing her cool as the Pearl-verizer was on the edge of defeat.

"To be fair, I was indeed blinded by arrogance as you predicted." Bloodstone bluntly replied. "My apologies."

Meanwhile, Sculder prepared to land the finishing blow by supercharging its cannon arm and fired. The Pearl-verizer was about to fight back by slapping the energy blast back, but it was too late. Instead, the robot was blown to pieces, leaving several pieces remaining for Sculder to gather up and walk towards IQ, whose wrist it grabbed to declare its creator the winner.

"The robot has spoken. IQ wins the challenge!" the referee exclaimed, much to IQ's delight.

"Oh stars, I actually did it!" IQ squealed in delight and gave the metallic fruit of her labor a big hug. "Thank you so much for proving that I am still worth something after all!" Sculder replied by gently stroking the Pearl's hair before dropping the pieces on the ground. "What's that boy? Do you want an upgrade? I'll be sure to get to it once we leave."

"GLORIOUS!" Tails roared excitedly as the Pearls raised IQ to the air in celebration. "Three cheers for IQ! Hip hip!"

"Hooray!" the other Pearls cheered.

"Don't celebrate just yet, Pearls!" Bloodstone interrupted the Brigade's celebration. "There's still only one challenge left, and you can be sure that I'll win fair and square!"

"Someone is getting too cocky." Tails frowned at the conspiracy theorist. "Just admit that you lost, OK?!"

"NEVER!" Bloodstone started screaming. "I have eyes, you know! They're under my eyebrows, telling me that I will win this and prove myself the smartest in the universe!"

"See what I mean about pride being your downfall?" Bloodstone said to Kyanite as they watched Bloodstone have a meltdown of egotism. "Don't let the same happen to you when your time comes, Kyanite."

"I won't fail you, Cinnabar!" Kyanite obediently stated. "Now, which one of us will calm her down so we can think of a plan for the final challenge? I think cheating looks pretty good right now."

As soon as Bloodstone started to relax, the final challenge of the Brain Brawl was about to begin. Returning to the game show set, IQ and Bloodstone were ready to accept whatever challenges would come their way while the Supreme Intelligent One cleared his throat. "For this final round of the Brain Brawl, we asked our audience to submit questions based on the thoughts of our contestants and telepathically transfer them to me."

"But isn't that an invasion of our privacy?" IQ asked with a raise of her hand.

"Don't think too hard about it." The Supreme Intelligent One tried to justify his actions before moving on. "Now, you will be given a series of true or false questions based upon the experiences shared by you and your comrades. Answer them correctly, and you will win the Brawl. Are you two ready?"

"We're ready." The two Gems declared.

"Very well, let's begin with the first question." The Supreme Intelligent One stated. "True or false? Pyrite originally served as an arms dealer who sold weapons to both Crystal and Homeworld Gems during the Rebellion."

"True." Bloodstone nodded. "I should know, I made some of those weapons."

"Interesting to know." The Intelligent One replied. "True or false? Dalmatian Jasper was initially believed to be defective upon emerging in a Kindergarten due to her gem being in the place of a hand, but she quickly proved her worth against a squad of Crystal Gems."

"False?" IQ answered, showing how little she knew about Dalmatian Jasper. "I mean, she did take us by surprise when we met her and Zoisite."

"I apologize, but the answer is true." The host stated. "True or false? When Shell was rediscovered by Black Rutile, she put it to work on generating five dozen Pearls per minute."

"That one is true." IQ said, causing Bloodstone to scoff since, of course, a Pearl created by Shell would know about this. "Not so high and mighty now, aren't you, Bloodstone?"

"You just got one question right, who gave you permission to act all smug?!" Bloodstone yelled in frustration.

"I got permission because I realized that I don't have to be uber-perfect," IQ responded confidently. "Did anyone ever give you the same lesson?"

"I'm already perfect; I am one of the Gems' greatest minds ever created!" Bloodstone boasted. "And once I win, I shall be one of the smartest in the entire universe too!"

"OK, ladies, enough bickering now, for these shall be the last few questions." The Supreme Intelligent One interrupted as he proceeded with the game. "True or false? Black Rutile went by many names in her time fighting for Homeworld in the Rebellion, but one that sticks out is her title of the Striking Shadow of the Rebellion."

"TRUE!" both Gems cried out in unison before glaring at one another.

"I answered first!" IQ yelled.

"Well, I'm louder!" Bloodstone responded while the Pearls and Sculder watched.

"We're getting nowhere." Cap groaned as the two kept bickering. "Half the time, they're just arguing with each other."

"Buckle in, girls. We're gonna be here a while." Tails snarked when she discovered something. "Hey, wait for a second; something doesn't seem right."

"What are you talking about?" Braids asked Tails, who took her by the shoulder and pointed to the other side of the soundstage, where Cinnabar was standing next to a machine that seemed to be hacking into the Intelligans' thoughts, giving them questions only Bloodstone would answer. "Of course Bloodstone would try to cheat."

"We have to warn IQ before it's too late!" Cap stated. "Or maybe she'll find out herself. Either way, Bloodstone has to be stopped."

As IQ and Bloodstone kept arguing with the Supreme Intelligent One watched with bemusement, IQ noticed something behind Bloodstone. It was the same machine that her fellow Pearls discovered, pumping vital information into the minds of the Intelliga to ensure her victory. With a confident smile, IQ asked her own question. "True or false Bloodstone. Are you cheating your way to victory here with that machine over there?"

"False! What machine?!" Bloodstone panicked, desperately trying to hide her duplicity before Sculder fired its cannon arm at the stage, exposing the machine as it shut down. The audience gasped in alarm while Cinnabar facepalmed in disgust.

"This can only end so well." Cinnabar groaned.

"A literal cheating device, I see." The Supreme Intelligent One observed, floating over to examine the remains of the device. "This was a pretty close match, but ultimately, Bloodstone is disqualified from the proceedings, and thus, IQ is the winner. Not just for doing so well, but for seeing what the others couldn't."

"We saw it first; everything was just a coincidence!" Braids shouted as the Pearls rushed over to congratulate IQ on the victory.

"Yes, we did it!" Pony declared happily.

"Indeed, well done." The Supreme Intelligent One added. "Congratulations IQ on becoming the smartest in the universe. If you and your compatriots hadn't noticed the machine, who knows what could've happened."

"Good, now let's get on out of here." Tails said. "I feel like things ended a little too abruptly."

"Ha, who's laughing now?!" IQ jeered smugly at the aghast Bloodstone, who just kept staring at the Pearls as the Supreme High Intelligence allowed them and Sculder to leave.

"You may win this round, Pearls, but we will most certainly meet again." Bloodstone declared coldly as she turned to Bloodstone. "And as for you."

"You're going to lock me up for my failures, aren't you?" Bloodstone wondered aloud. "Go ahead. I'm sure Pyrite, DJ, and Zee could use the company."

"Actually, no." Cinnabar corrected her scientist. "Regardless of the loss, I still believe you have some use left in you. Kyanite?"

"Right here, boss!" Kyanite eagerly said as she handed over some blueprints Cinnabar showed to Bloodstone.

"What are these?" Bloodstone asked, gazing at the strange golems with large gems in their chests.

"I call this Project Concrete." Cinnabar explained while the three Gems began walking. "They are a breed of super soldiers I've been planning for a while now, and I feel you might be the Gem best suited for supervising development. Would you be willing to do so?"

Eager to prove herself once more, Bloodstone had on a sadistic smile. "Sure, my Cinnabar."

Tails was right, that did end a little abruptly. I guess that's what happens when you don't have existing episodes of a show to work from and have to come up with your own. You know, maybe at some point, I should take a little break once Season 1 finishes so I can re-center myself, focus on other stories, and not rush myself so much when I get back to it. But on a lighter subject, next up is Kyanite's time to shine! Hopefully it won't be as awkwardly written. See you then, pardners!

#steven universe #steven universe alternate future #fanfiction #the black pearl brigade #cap pearl #pony pearl #iq pearl #braids pearl #tails pearl #cinnabar #bloodstone #kyanite

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charlietheepicwriter7 · 3 years ago

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I forgot about the role swap during work, but my idea still holds water. the au is leaking, but it’s still holding water.

so, first thing--Damien isn’t the best person, even at the beginning of WKM. He was doing something shady, if the newspapers in Abe’s conspiracy room are evidence. Plus, in a closer shot of his conspiracy board, it’s shown that Damien has a arrest record. It’s only one thing, and it was heavily scratched out, so we don’t know what it is, but it was probably something serious, since if it was silly, I don’t think it would have been scratched out with such gusto.

I also have to change the location of the demon house: it is in Damien’s mayor’s mansion. Like, maybe the town/city has a history of mayors going insane when they live in this mansion, maybe the entity wanted to be closer to people to manipulate, whatever, it’s Damien’s house now.

So, actual AU time.

So, pre-WKM, when the divorce between Mark and Celine was going down... our character, the DA, takes Mark’s side, even being his lawyer in the case, maybe even suing William to get the money he “borrowed” back. Damien is very unhappy about this since he is on Celine’s side (not necessarily William’s side).

In WKM, we never see Mark and Celine interact, nor see first-person evidence of how their marriage was, only second-hand accounts. And both Celine and Mark are very manipulative. So, if Mark demonizes Celine to the DA in order to get them on his side, Celine demonizes Mark in order to get Damien on her side.

(Also, Damien is in love with the DA since I’m a firm believer in Mayor Attorney).

Anywho, Damien tries to DA to leave Mark, saying that it’ll look bad on a DA’s record to focus on a divorce of all things. but little does Damien know, Mark has tried to take his own life at this point, only to be stopped by the DA (there’s nothing in his house this time, so he if died, he died for real). The DA is stressed and worried and decides that Mark needs someone who cares since his friends (glares at Damien) are abandoning him.

so the DA quits their job.

Damien is furious. the DA was HIS DA, they couldn’t do this to him, it sparks rumors. And he’s fully convinced that Mark is acting in order to seduce the DA, Celine has told him what Mark is really like. Damien is stewing in his mansion with the evil demon house thing, his thoughts and feelings getting darker by the day.

(He knows there’s something about the house, something that won’t let people die, Damien’s read about it in a journal a former mayor left behind and even tests it a few times, and he’s known Celine too long to discount all magic--)

Until one night, he concocts a plan of revenge that allows him to get his DA back.

(Not sure how the murder mystery would go, but will continue to mull this idea over.)

#mayor attorney #damien the mayor #markiplier #darkiplier #actor mark #the district attorney #y/n the da #Y/N wkm #damien wkm #william j barnum #The Colonel wkm #celine the seer #acting attorney #the thing in the house

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kanerallels · 3 years ago

Text

Anywhere I Go There You Are

(For Kanera, based on the prompt "free day")

Read on AO3 here!

@kaneraweek

Word Count: 2,147

Tags/Warnings: Rated G (only warning is for a guy that doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer, although nothing actually happens. Luckily he is persuaded otherwise.)

Summary: Hera adds another post it note to her "Kanan is Maurice conspiracy board. (yes this is the Steve Miller Au. It seemed a fitting end to Kanera Week, if not the one I originally planned.)

Why are all meetings like this one in bars? Hera wondered as she drummed her fingers against the bar surface and scanned the room again.

The bar in question was on Hosnian Prime, an Inner Rim planet near Coruscant, and it was nearly as heavily occupied. Which made it perfect for the meeting Hera was supposed to be attending. Because it was with an agent of one of the Rebellion's best operatives-- Maurice.

Maurice was a bit of an enigma to most of the Rebellion, Hera included. Only a handful of people outside of his network knew his name or where he'd come from or even what he looked like. Hera herself only knew three things-- that he'd been recruited by Fulcrum, that his record indicated he had been on several planets performing ops at the same time she had been on the same planet, and that he'd helped a surprising number of people.

Which meant that she was extremely interested in this meeting, and what she might learn from it. Because, even though she wasn't supposed to be, Hera was insanely curious about Maurice's true identity. And she had more than a few theories.

Who knows, maybe one of them will even pan out one of these days? she thought wryly, resisting the urge to look around the room again, and reminding herself to be patient. Maurice’s operative would show up when they showed up.

As she ordered a drink-- may as well blend in-- Hera sensed a presence at her elbow. “Well, hey there,” a man’s voice said, and Hera flicked a glance to the side, seeing a human male smirking at her in a way that instinctively put her on guard.

“What’s a good-looking woman like yourself doing here alone?” he said.

Accepting her drink from the bartender, Hera replied briefly, “I’m waiting for a friend.” With any luck, this would get the point across.

It did not get the point across. Moving in a little closer, the man said, “Looks like your friend’s late-- and you wouldn’t mind some company, would you?”

“Actually, I would,” Hera said, deciding that politeness really wasn’t the best move here. “So if you don’t mind--”

Scoffing, the man said, “Oh, come on. How can you say no to all this?” Hera felt her hand tighten around her glass as he added, “Besides, I’ve heard about your type, what you’re like. You’re exactly what I’m looking for.”

“I don’t know about that,” came a voice from behind them.

Hera and the man both turned, and Hera’s eyes went wide at the sight of the man standing behind them, his arms folded. “I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp on what you’re looking for,” Kanan said, “and she’s not it.”

The man narrowed his eyes at Kanan. “Do you mind butting out?”

“I do, actually,” Kanan said calmly. “And while I’d love to watch her deal with you-- trust me, that would be a lot of fun for me and her-- I think you’d better get a move on before I decide to take a personal hand in this.”

To her relief, the man moved away from Hera and towards Kanan, drawing himself up to his full height, which was still an inch or two shorter than Kanan. “This isn’t any of your business, kid.”

Any semblance of amusement dropped off Kanan’s face. “I made it my business,” he said, his voice hard. “Now get out. Or I’ll see you out myself.”

The man opened his mouth to argue again, but Kanan’s expression stopped him short, and he hastily crossed the room, stepping out the door.

The minute he was gone, Kanan turned towards Hera. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

Staring at him, Hera demanded, “Where did you come from? What are you doing here? And-- what did you think you were doing?”

“What-- chasing off a creeper?” Kanan suggested. “Is there anything wrong with that?”

Rolling her eyes, Hera said, “I can take care of myself.” Getting up from her seat, she headed for the door with only a twinge of regret. Maurice would have to wait-- she was too irritated to sit around in the bar any longer.

Pushing her way through the door, Hera had only made it a little ways down the street before she heard someone following her. Two guesses, she thought wryly.

“Okay, I know you can take care of yourself,” Kanan said from next to her as he caught up. “But-- would you stop for a minute?” He caught hold of her arm, and Hera jerked to a stop near the next building, sending him a cold glare.

“Let go of me,” she snapped, and was surprised when Kanan immediately did so.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved, but I saw you when I came in, and that guy was suddenly there, and he was leaning--”

“Okay, what?” Hera stared at him, confused. “Leaning-- what does that even mean?”

“It means… leaning. You know.”

Shaking her head, Hera said, “I really don’t, at all. Care to explain?”

A slight grin tugged at Kanan’s lips. “Well, it’s pretty simple.” He took a casual step closer to her, continuing, “Leaning is very different from hugging.” He moved forward again, and Hera stepped back, feeling her shoulders brush against the wall behind her.

But there was nothing threatening about Kanan’s approach as he said, “Hugging, that involves hands and arms, and leaning--” he stepped towards her one more time, leaving only the slightest bit of space between them. Placing one palm against the wall a little ways above her head, he moved a little closer, his voice lowering. “Leaning is whole bodies moving in like this. Leaning involves wanting, and accepting.”

Hera swore her heart was pounding loud enough for Kanan to hear it, he was so close. Still, he left her a little bit of space, enough that she could move away if she wanted to. And yet, something made her stay, as Kanan’s eyes moved to her lips, and for a moment, Hera thought he would close the space between them.

“Hey, miss!”

Kanan and Hera turned at the same moment to see a tall dark-haired man, a scar slicing through his eyebrow and his hair tied back in a queue. “Is this guy bothering you?” he asked.

Trying to hold back a grin, Hera said, “No. No, he’s not bothering me.”

“Are you sure?” the man said. “Because he looks like he’s, you know, leaning.” He made a tilting gesture with his hand.

Pointing at the man, Kanan said, “You see? Yes, thank you.”

“I’ll be right over this way if you need me,” the man assured Hera. Raising an eyebrow at Kanan, he said, “I know karate.”

As the man strolled away, Kanan pressed his eyes closed, looking like he was trying not to laugh. Hera, having a similar struggle, said, “So, ah, I don’t think you told me what you were doing here?”

“Right.” Straightening up, Kanan gave a slight shrug. “Just passing through-- you?”

“Same.” Hera eyed him for a moment, wondering. Then she quietly said, “I’d better get going.”

“What, leaving so soon?” Kanan quipped with a half-grin.

“Sorry, dear, but I've got places to be,” Hera told him. “Nice to bump into you as always.”

“You, too.” As Hera started to walk away, Kanan called after her, “Hey, Hera?”

Turning, Hera lifted an eyebrow at him. “Yeah?”

“I just… I need you to know. The way that guy was talking about you… I’ve never seen you that way. Never.” Kanan’s voice was deadly serious for once, with a pleading tone to it that caught Hera completely off guard. “Please, believe me.”

“I do,” Hera told him, surprising herself with the words. But Kanan’s flirting was totally different from the man in the bar. Sure, he was annoying at times, but she hadn’t ever felt threatened by him, or overly uncomfortable. No, Kanan was something else. Just what, she wasn’t sure yet.

Kanan’s features relaxed, and he nodded. “Okay. Good. I’ll see you around?”

Hera shot him a quick grin. “Not if I see you first.”

As she headed back towards the Ghost, Hera sent a quick glance back to where Kanan was standing, watching with a slight smile on his face. Shooting her a wink, he turned and walked down the road in the opposite direction.

Shaking her head, Hera made her way back to the ship. Her encounter with Kanan had completely driven any thoughts of the enigmatic-- and late-- Maurice out of her head. Interesting that they happened to show up on the same planet-- again, she thought, a frown tugging at her face. It seemed that wherever she went, Kanan inevitably showed up, and not long after, she'd hear about Maurice's exploits there. It was starting to look less and less coincidental.

As she stepped aboard the Ghost, Hera sighed. I don't know what I'm thinking-- Kanan, one of Maurice's agents? That's ridiculous.

She began to climb the ladder up.to the cockpit, then realized she could feel the weight of something small and compact in her pocket. She reached into her pocket, and her jaw dropped at the item she pulled out. What-- how--

It was a datacard, with a white symbol etched on it. Maurice's symbol.

~ ~ ~

As he strolled down the street, Kanan restrained the urge to whistle. He could almost feel the lightness in his step-- there was no sense in giving Kasmir and Okadiah more to gossip about than he could help.

But he nearly always ended up in a better mood when he bumped into Hera-- although this time he'd been expecting it.

Hosnian Prime wasn't a planet he made a habit of visiting. Mainly because there were wanted posters with his face on them plastered all over the place-- he may have made some serious mistakes in Darropolis at one point as himself, not Maurice.

So whenever meetings were scheduled there, he usually sent a representative. But this time, when he'd seen exactly who Fulcrum had him delivering intel to, he couldn't resist.

He hadn't actually known what his plan was when he saw Hera, or how he was going to pass the intel to her. For a moment, his memory flickered to when he'd been only inches away from her, so close Kanan could read every emotion in her bright green eyes. So close he could have kissed her, and he briefly wondered how she would have reacted if he had.

He never would have, though. Engaging in anything more than flirting with Hera was a really bad move. There was a fine line Kanan had to walk here, and he'd come dangerously close to it at times. Especially this time. Pull it together, Jarrus, he chided himself. It’s not supposed to matter what she thinks of you, remember?

But it did. It really did.

The sound of footsteps echoed behind him, and Kanan deliberately slowed. Glancing to the side, he quietly said, “You’re late.”

The man who’d interrupted him and Hera strolled up next to him, remarking, “And you were leaning. Who was she?”

Ignoring his words, Kanan held out a hand. “Data, please, Tensent.”

Tensent pulled a package of data cards out of his pocket, continuing, “Was she the person you were here to meet? Cause that would explain a lot about your decision to come to Hosnian Prime again-- does she know who you are?”

“No,” Kanan said, regretting his admission instantly as Tensent’s eyes brightened with interest.

“Then how’d you deliver the intel?”

“Planted the card on her,” Kanan said briefly, taking the data cards from Tensent. “I’m not sure whether to thank you for your contribution to that conversation or not.”

“I live to please,” Tensent said breezily. “She seems nice.”

“We’re not having this conversation.”

Shaking his head, Tensent said, “Come on. Even Rebellion spies need love in their lives.”

“Not this one,” Kanan said determinedly. “Besides, I’ve got people. I don't need… anything else.”

“Sure,” Tensent said dubiously. “Because I've seen you leaning with so many other people. It's okay to have actual feelings, you know.”

Shaking his head, Kanan said quietly, “No, it's not. Not for her. She's… not an option.”

Tensent gaped at him, and Kanan belatedly realized he'd said too much for the second time today. “Kriff, Maurice,” he said quietly. “You really care about her, don't you? This is--”

“None of your business,” Kanan said firmly. “I'd better go before I'm recognized.”

Nodding, Tensent said, “Yeah, good point. Safe travels, brother.”

“You, too.”

Kanan made his way down the road, his mind not on his destination. When he got back to the Yellow Submarine, he'd act like everything was normal. But for now, his mind wandered to a pair of green eyes and the pilot they belonged to.

#kaneraweek2021 #swr #kanan jarrus #hera syndulla #star wars rebels #kanera #swr fan fic #nath tensent #steve miller au #it's been a while hasn't it?#no idea when this is it just happens at some point okay?#while you were sleeping references #i wrote this for that reference and that reference alone #fine. also for nath tensent #sw rebels #star wars #kanera is love kanera is life #it was dope. the end

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starrosefics-archive · 4 years ago

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So i'm reading and rereading all of those 'trying to make sense of the monkie kid world in relation to JTTW' and i'm here like... if Tang isn't actually Tripitaka and in fact just Some Guy I feel like this is him in universe. Just a big 'Pepe Silvia' Conspiracy board the length of one of the walls of his apartment covered in notes from historical documents and legends and slowly going insane, which is why he's so unflappable on screen, keep the screaming inside

...I’m not sure what brought this on but it’s delightful. So...have a thing!

-_-

“Oi, Tang!” Pigsy slammed the door to the apartment behind him. “They didn’t have any of those sweet buns you-” A weird noise made him pause. “Tang?” He headed to the spare room the scholar had taken as his office when they had moved in together. He opened the door and then stared at the scene.

Tang’s office looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. The bookshelves had been shoved to allow the walls to be overtaken by a mess of papers and photos. He could see his own picture, as well as Sandy and MK and a bunch of others. Red string connected everything.

Tang stood at a wall. “Tang?” Pigsy asked, not hiding the concern. “Are you okay?” He stepped closer, finally noticing the marker in his hand and the fact that he was vibrating.

The scholar turned. And wow, those were pretty dark bags. “I’ve been up for three weeks. Nothing makes sense.”

“Okay...” Pigsy gently gripped his elbow and wrist. “Let’s go lay down.”

“But I need to make sense of everything...”

“Later.” Pigsy turned the light off, barely resisting a shiver at the sight of it.

#Monkie Kid #Lego Monkie Kid #Tang #Pigsy

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cullen-collective · 4 years ago

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Happy Birthday Wifey! @bellasredchevy your charisma, humor, intelligence, and beauty overwhelm me and I'm so proud to be a person who's allowed to know you. I hope your day is effervescent!

"Whatcha doing?"

Bella jumped, startled, and tumbled off the bed. Luckily, her laptop managed to stay on the bed just barely. Unluckily, Edythe was already seated behind it, tucking one of Bella's earbuds in and raising a perfect eyebrow.

Bella stared up at her from the floor, once again stunned by the way Edythe's face moved as she listened to the laptop-

Shit. Stunning over.

Bella sat up too quickly, resulting in a sharp pain behind her eyes. She ignored it. "Edythe, don't-" she began, only to be cut off.

"Is this... a conspiracy theory video?" Edythe leisurely turned her face toward Bella's, grinning down at the brunette and she slowly turned pink.

"Maybe."

"You don't believe this, do you?" Edythe asked, her voice full of amusement and her grin fixed firmly in place.

Bella scowled. "Okay, Miss Creature of the Night." She hoisted herself off the floor and shoved uselessly at Edythe, which only made her laugh. When she wouldn't budge, Bella shrugged and plopped herself onto her girlfriend's lap, stealing back her earbuds. "You're one to talk, Cullen," she remarked, "considering before I met you my life was entirely free of vampires and werewolves."

Bella thought she was deflecting her embarrassment pretty well. She'd never admitted her love of the wacky and weird to anyone before. She leaned into Edythe as the redhead put her arms around Bella's waist, settling her legs on either side of her, one bent at the knee.

"That's true," she said, "but Mothman isn't real."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "How could you possibly know that?"

She felt Edythe's chuckle through Edythe's chest and against her back. "Emmett went looking for eight solid months once."

Bella snorted. "I'm not really going to take your word for it that he doesn't exist." She turned to give Edythe a skeptical look. "Emmett searching for eight months doesn't seem like enough time."

Edythe beamed at her. "You're really adamant about this stuff, aren't you?"

Bella shrugged, attempting nonchalance. "Well, it isn't like you said there's no Bigfoot."

"There isn't."

Bella gasped. "You shut your mouth!"

Edythe burst out laughing. "Not every story is true, Bella!"

"But you can't know for sure!" Bella was gesturing wildly at the laptop. "You're old, but not that old! You have no idea if they ever existed!"

Edythe was still giggling, but she shook her head. "Okay, love, I acquiesce. You win."

Bella unplugged the earbuds so they could both listen to the video. "Darn right, I win," she grumbled.

Edythe opted to play with Bella's hair instead of arguing, which Bella was grateful for. At least she didn't have to hide her wilder theories from her girlfriend anymore.

There was a sudden knock at her door. She glanced at Edythe, questioning which entrance she'd used. Edythe shrugged and nodded, letting her know that Charlie knew she was here.

"Come in!"

Charlie opened the door to reveal Jacob Black behind him, his long hair down and damp from the rain outside.

"Jake's here," Charlie said, giving Edythe a nod. Edythe smiled at them both benignly, giving Jake a little wave.

"I can see that," Bella said. "Come on in, Jake."

Charlie stepped aside to let him into the room. "You kids want some pizza?" he asked, giving Bella a brow raise.

Bella beamed. "Sure, Dad, thanks."

"I'll call you guys when it gets here," he said, giving the three of them a quick salute and a smile before shutting the door.

Jake flipped down onto the other side of the bed. "I was gonna see if you guys wanted to wakeboard down at First Beach. Got special permission to let the bloodsucker over the line and everything."

"Why can't we?" Bella asked, leaning her head back as Edythe combed her fingers through Bella's hair.

Jake gestured to the window. "Lightning."

"Another time, then," Edythe said serenely. "Thanks for the offer, Jacob."

"Yeah, well," he said, smiling, "you're not half bad in a fight, and if we stick this one on a board she'll need as much supervision as possible."

"Hey Jake," Bella asked, ignoring them discussing her welfare right in front of her once again, "you believe in Mothman, right?"

Jake scoffed. "Duh."

Bella shifted to face Edythe. "Hah!"

Edythe rolled her eyes. "Insanity is never far from a friend," she mumbled.

#twilight #twilight saga #edythe cullen #bella x edythe #bella swan #happy birthday love #thats my wife

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 4 years ago

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 10, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

A poll today by the Associated Press (AP) and the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) shows that President Joe Biden’s administration is gaining positive traction. Sixty-three percent of Americans approve of how he is handling his job as president. Seventy-one percent approve of how he is handling the coronavirus pandemic; 62% percent approve of how he is handling health care. Fifty-seven percent approve of how he is handling the economy; 54% approve of how he is handling foreign affairs.

Fifty-four percent of Americans think the country is going in the right direction. This is the highest number since 2017, but it is split by party: 84% of Democrats like the country’s direction, while only 20% of Republicans do.

Biden’s weak spots are in immigration, where 43% approve and 54% disapprove, and gun policy, where 48% approve and 49% disapprove.

And yet, Biden’s people have been working to address the influx of migrant children; White House Secretary Jen Psaki noted last week that “At the end of March, there were more than 5,000 children in Customs and Border Protection Patrol stations. Today, that number is approximately 600…. The amount of time children spend in CBP facilities is down by 75 percent — from 131 hours at the end of March to under 30 hours now.”

The administration has backed that short-term work with a long-term initiative. Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris met virtually with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the leader of the left of center populist nationalist coalition party MORENA, to talk about finding ways to promote economic development to address the root causes prompting the flight of refugees from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and southern Mexico. They also talked about working together to protect human rights and dismantle the criminal networks that smuggle migrants. She will travel to Guatemala and Mexico in June, where she will meet with their leaders.

Disapproval of Biden’s gun policies might well reflect a desire for a stronger stance. In April, a Morning Consult/Politico poll showed that 64% of registered voters supported stricter gun control laws. We have had an average of ten mass shootings a week in 2021, 194 in all. (A mass shooting is one in which four people are killed or wounded.)

This week, Biden will be meeting with bipartisan groups of leaders, including Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to begin to hammer out an infrastructure measure based on his American Jobs Plan. He will also meet with Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who have proposed their own $568 billion proposal without corporate tax hikes.

As the good news from the administration is starting to filter into the media, bad news from the Trump wing of the Republican Party is also starting to get traction. On Saturday, we learned that at retreats in March and April, staff for the National Republican Congressional Committee refused to tell lawmakers how badly Trump is polling in core battleground districts, where 54% see Biden favorably while only 41% still favor Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan are all more popular in those districts than the former president.

Indeed, it is more than a little odd that party leaders are bending over backward to tie their party to a former president who, after all, never broke 50% favorability ratings—the first time in polling history that had happened—and who lost both the White House and Congress.

Another set of data from Catalist, a voter database company in Washington, D.C., shows that the 2020 election was the most diverse ever, with Latino and Asian voters turning out in bigger numbers than ever before. Black voting increased substantially, while Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters had a decisive increase in turnout. The electorate was 72% white, down 2% from 2016 and 5% from 2008. Thirty-nine percent of Biden-Harris voters were people of color (61% were white); only 15% of Trump-Pence voters were POC (85% were white).

This demographic trend is behind the new voter suppression bills in Republican states. But the racial breakdown of the 2020 vote is not the only problem for the current Republican Party. The biggest turnout gains in 2020 were among young voters, 18 to 40 years old, who now make up 31% of voters, while those over 55 have dropped to only 44% of the electorate. Younger voters skew heavily toward the Democrats. Also notable was that women break heavily toward Democrats by a 10 point gap—79% of women of color support Democrats; 58% of white women voted for Biden-Harris—and women make up 54% of the electorate overall.

News out of the private “recount” in Arizona by Cyber Ninjas, a company without experience in election recounts and whose owner has already gone on record as believing that rigged voting machines in Arizona cost Trump victory, continues to be embarrassing as well. Although the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which has a Republican majority, said the count was fair and opposed a recount, sixteen Republicans in the state senate voted to give the ballots for Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, to the company for a private recount. The count has been plagued by conspiracy theories—one observer claimed they are examining the ballots for signs of bamboo in the paper to show that tens of thousands of ballots were flown in from Asia—and it turned out that one of the people recounting the ballots had been at the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Now the “recount” is running so far behind it appears it won’t be done until August, rather than May 14 as the company promised.

State senator Paul Boyer, who voted for the “audit,” told New York Times reporter Michael Wines: “It makes us look like idiots…. Looking back, I didn’t think it would be this ridiculous. It’s embarrassing to be a state senator at this point.”

And then, this morning, the Washington Post dropped a long, investigative story by reporters Emma Brown, Aaron C. Davis, Jon Swaine, and Josh Dawsey revealing that the arguments former president Trump has grabbed to “prove” the election was stolen from him were part of a long conspiracy theory hatched in 2018 by Russell J. Ramsland, Jr., “a Republican businessman who has sold everything from Tex-Mex food in London to a wellness technology that beams light into the human bloodstream.” The story follows how Ramsland’s theories, which were debunked as “bat-s**t insane” by White House lawyers, got pumped into the media by Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, among others, and how Trump came to embrace them.

While Republican leaders are still standing behind those theories, and the former president, opponents of the party’s direction are pushing back not just against Trump but also against those leaders supporting him. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) tweeted this morning: “A few days before Jan 6, our GOP members had a conference call. I told Kevin [McCarthy] that his words and our party’s actions would lead to violence on January 6th. Kevin dismissively responded with ‘ok Adam, operator next question.’ And we got violence.”

Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) has narrated a video distributed by the Republican Accountability Project recalling the violence of January 6, blaming Trump for spreading lies about the election, and reminding viewers that more than 60 lawsuits disproved his claims that the election was stolen. The video says “we are the party of Lincoln. We are not the party of QAnon” (showing an image of Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” who wore a horned headdress during the Capitol insurrection) “or white supremacy” (showing an image of Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson). “We cannot embrace insurrection” (showing a picture of Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene). “President Trump provoked an attack on the United States Capitol which resulted in five people dying. That is a person who does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward.” The video features an image of McCarthy standing with Trump. Cheney made it clear she was not about to shut up.

This afternoon, McCarthy released a statement calling for Cheney’s ouster as conference chair, featuring the line: “[u]nlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.” (References to George Orwell, who famously wrote about how fascists used language to rewrite history, were all over Twitter.) McCarthy and other Trump loyalists have suggested that Cheney needs to go because she keeps talking about the past, but Allan Smith of NBC News points out that Trump himself seems to be the one who cannot stop talking about the past.

—-

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#political #corrupt GOP #criminal GOP #January 6 2021 #insurrection #Liz Cheney #Biden Administration #Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American

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moccahobi · 4 years ago

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It’s Raining Sharks Part 1 [TaeGi]

Summary: A sharknado! They’re real! Follow surfer Tae, badboy Yoongi, drunk Jimin, and intelligent Namjoon as they try to survive!

Genre: Sharknado AU, Horror (if you count sharknado as a horror movie), action, angst,

Warnings: Gore, Excess alcohol use, grossly incorrect use of sharks, smoking, cussing, blood, a few sharks eat people, sharknado, guns, major character death

WC: 3.7k

A/N: This is for @thebtswritersclub‘s monthly prompt! This month is monsters! And... @aroseforyoongi wanted a sharknado au! So... BOOM! And I am activly working on a part 2! And is also my submission for the Taegi square for @btsholidaybingo!

Happy screams filled the cloudy skies as adults and children alike were running and playing along the soft sand. Frothing white waves crashed in the surf, people riding on top of them with concentrated faces. Despite the cloudy skies, it was a clear day and the lifeguards on duty were spread out on their perches, relaxing and taking the job easy.

One of them, a caramel skinned man with deep purple hair and classic red lifeguard swim trunks on was even reading instead of doing his job. A slender finger pushed his round (and very dirty) spectacles back to a secure spot on his nose, the pair seeming to slide down endlessly in the heat of summer. Every once in a while, he raised his eyes and looked around the beach slowly to make sure that everything was ok and when everything was ok (as it always was), he went back to reading.

Next to the reading lifeguard was a good looking brunette with sharp eyes and strong brows sprawled out on a rainbow beach towel, his other supplies sitting in the sand next to him. He’d been training for the past hour, his small speedo gently cupping and accentuating his body while allowing him to tan almost every part of him. Once he felt like he had been tanning for long enough, he got up and started to apply more low spf sunscreen. Through thick brows, the brunette checked out the lifeguard, his pink tongue momentarily peeking out and running across his lips, a small mustache and goatee framing them. The lifeguard didn’t notice or didnt care.

Once the sunscreen had dried, the brunette took out a wetsuit from his duffle bag and got suited up, his board resting just a little ways away. Once suited, he picked up his board and ran off to the water. Silently, he looked back at the lifeguard to see if he was watching. His eyes were glued to whatever book he brought with him.

In reality though, the water wasn’t nearly as safe as everyone thought it was. Rough skinned, mangled fanged sharks on their migration path south were passing by the beach. Blood thirsty and hungry, they could easily mistake a swimmer or surfer for a tasty snack. Yet as long as they didn’t breach, no one seemed to pay notice of the stalking swimmers as they leisurely patrolled from below, looking for a quick meal. One of the sharks wasn’t too stealthy though. It breached the surface of the water and its fin caught the attention of one of the working lifeguards. Very quickly after the fin was spotted, lifeguards were blowing their whistles, putting up a red danger flag and helping to get people out of the water. None of the sharks even had a nibble before the waters were cleared of people.

Shortly after that, the purple haired lifeguard was back to reading his book and counting down the minutes until he could clock out and drink at the nearest bar. He had forty five minutes left. At the parking lot was the brunette, now in an unbuttoned hawaiian shirt (his chest was on display for all to see) and blue board shorts. He’d begrudgingly trekked back to his car after the red flags were raised, upset at only catching one good wave. The only thing that could have made his day worse was if it rained. That would completely ruin his plans of drinking a smoothie and relaxing in the sun.

The sour stench of cigarette smoke drew his eyes up to a somber looking man in dark blue skinny jeans and a black leather jacket, his lips loosely puckered around a cigarette. He took one last drawl before throwing it on the ground and snuffing it out under chunky black boots, a wink shot at the surfer as he did so.

Slowly he licked his lips and gave the brunette a once over, “I’m Yoongi.”

“I’m Taehyung.”

“Would you want to have a drink with me?”

“Sure.”

“Now?”

“Sure.”

“Well then… sure.”

Yoongi started to walk towards the closest bar as Taehyung quickly locked his car and ran to catch up with the gloomy man that he felt an attraction to. The two of them walked to the bar in silence, Yoongi focused on getting a drink in him and Taehyung struggled to find something to talk about. Once seated at the bar, Yoongi ordered two scotches.

“Oh. I don’t drink. I’ll have a sprite though!” Taehyung told the bartender.

Yoongi grunted, “How come?”

“I don’t like feeling drunk. Plus I don’t find most alcohol tasty.”

“Makes sense. Alcohol is an acquired taste. I remember not liking it when I first had it.”

“And you like it now?”

Yoongi snorted, “Yeah. Otherwise I wouldn’t drink it. Getting drunk is fun and all but I want to enjoy what I drink as well.”

While the two continued to talk (after finally finding something to talk about), the purple haired lifeguard came in, finally done with his shift, the man making a b-line to one of the bars regulars and a long time friend: Jimin. He had pastel pink hair that made him stick out like a sore thumb in the bar and always reeked of vodka… even when he wasn’t at the bar.

“They say a hoard of sharks are coming this way. Should we be scared, Doc Namjoon?” His words were slurred and he looked over at Namjoon with hooded eyes as he downed another shot of vodka.

Namjoon snorted and rolled his eyes, “Of course not, Jimin. What the hell kind of conspiracy theories do you watch? Most sharks are completely harmless to humans. Some even really enjoy human interaction.”

“I watch really really…” Jimin smacked his lips, “Good things. Like three am documentaries on the… science channel.”

“Wow. You must be so smart!”

“I am! Like… I read one about… WOAHHH! You wouldn’t believe it,” Jimin giggled and grew animated, “A fucking tornado that… it… it sucked up sea life and took it allllll on land! It was… insane!”

“Sounds like a conspiracy theory. Or someone who doesn’t understand how nature works.”

“It’s true though! I promise!”

Namjoon snorted and gently patted Jimin’s shoulder, “Sure, buddy, and the movie The Meg is written about a real live event. Megalodons are totally real.”

“Well now you’re just being mean. Who's to say that sharks can’t be sucked into a tornado and survive?”

“Logic.”

The two of them settled into a comfortable quiet, Jimin watching the nearest tv and Namjoon reading his book. The bar animated and alive as people celebrated a good day and relaxed after a hard day. Occasionally one could hear the loud laughs of a good conversation from Taehuyng and Yoongi, the two seeming to have hit it off well. The life in the bar suddenly stopped when the walls around them started to creak and groan, high winds pushing against them angrily. The only noise that one could hear was the newscaster on the tv talking about a tornado warning in the area.

Namjoon sighed and shook his head, turning to Jimin and speaking, “Whelp, you can’t drive and we should get somewhere safer than the beach so… come on up, Jimin.”

“What?! Namjoon, we have had so many tornadoes, why would this one possibly be different?” Jimin complained, grabbing the bar stool he sat on nonetheless and following behind Namjoon.

“The fact that you haven’t been hunkering down is alarming.” Namjoon sighed and shook his head, not even paying mind to Jimin trying to steal the bar stool.

Before they even made it halfway across the bar, something heavy hit against one of the bar walls and shook the whole establishment. Everyone stilled as Yoongi slowly got up and looked out the window but aside from the grey skies of an approaching tornado, there wasn’t anything they could see.

WHAM!

Yoongi ducked down quickly, narrowly avoiding a whole shark as it came flying through the window, its tempered glass shattering into millions of small cubes. The thing flopped around angrily biting at anything and everything it possibly could. People anxiously jumped out of the way and ran towards the exit, even the bartender abandoned his post to leave the building. Yoongi was the first of the four left in the bar to reach, him grabbing one of the stools and jabbing it furiously at the shark with an angry yell. One of the dull legs of the seat punctured the sharks rough skin as blood spurted out from around it.

Yoongi stabbed the shark a few more times, a grunt leaving him as he did so before the shark eventually stopped snapping at its surroundings.

“WHAT THE FUCK! THAT WAS A FUCKING GREAT WHITE THAT-” Namjoon couldn’t believe what he just saw.

A great white shark was flung through the bar’s window by a tornado.

“A SHARKNADO! I TOLD YOU IT COULD HAPPEN!” Jimin yelled happily, climbing over the bar to grab the entire bottle of tequila.

“Wha… what the hell?” Taehyung muttered, anxiously looking at the shark as if it was about to come alive again and kill him.

“It’s ok Taehyung. I will protect you. You have a big car right? I don’t think it would be safe for me to ride my motorcycle home.” Yoongi asked, turning his attention to Taehyung and trying to comfort the shocked man.

Taehyung could only focus on the blood splatter on Yoongi’s face as he silently nodded, opening and closing his mouth anxiously as he tried to formulate more words.

“E-excuse me?” Namjoon spoke up suddenly, interrupting the tender moment between Yoongi and Taehyung and blushing as he did so, “Y-y-you probably don’t know me but I see you around a lot and I drank too much to be able to drive right now and,” He looked over at Jimin who was cuddling his chair as he nursed the bottle of tequila, “My friend is not in a state to drive… could you drive us to a safe place too? I promise we aren’t bad people!”

Yoongi coughed and gave Namjoon a once over, clearly not liking the idea.

“Namjoon, right? We’ve talked a few times. You’re the lifeguard who never actually works.”

Namjoon nodded.

“Sure… you can… just please make sure your friend doesn’t vomit in my car.”

At that the four of them cautiously exited the bar before making a run (well as fast of a run as possible with Jimin) as people around them panicked and sharks were crashing into various objects. Namjoon even watched in horror as a large goblin shark crashed into his beloved lifeguard tower and started to eat the wood! Goblin sharks never got this close to shore, let alone on it! What type of craziness was this?!

By the time that the four of them had managed to get into Taehyung’s car, a fucking megamouth shark plowed through the bar. A gnarled brick and wood pile laying where the bar once was.

“WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! THIS ISN’T LOGICALLY POSSIBLE! TWO DEEP FUCKING SEA SHARKS JUST… WHAT THE FUCK!” Namjoon was yelling, tightly holding onto Jimin in fear as he looked out as flying sharked swallowed people whole.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, DUDE?! DON’T LEAVE- HE’S LEAVING THE CAR WHY IS HE LEAVING THE CAR?!” Namjoon continued to yell as Yoongi ran to his motorcycle and grabbed his concealed gun.

“Woah. Yoongi, I don’t know about having a gun in here.” Taehyung said quietly as he cautiously eyed the gun that Yoongi clasped tightly.

“Taehyung, how else are we going to fight these sharks? We don’t have another stool… other than… What’s your name?” Yoongi leaned back and looked at Jimin who scoffed and said his name.

Taehyung sighed and shook his head before he started driving, quickly trying to drive away and avoid the flying sharks. Before their car could even get a mile, a large wave crashed over them and pushed Taehyung’s car almost half a mile away from where they had started. It shook the car violently and they could hear some sort of things hitting his car with loud THUMPS and THWAKS as water rushed by them. For the four of them, it felt like the moment was going to last a lifetime (and possibly be their last), but it only lasted half a minute before they had stopped moving, maybe an inch of water coating the ground now.

When the waves finally did stop, the car was dead silent, Yoongi having instinctively grabbed Taehyung’s hand and Namjoon fearfully holding onto Jimin as he looked anxiously out at the car.

Taehyung looked down at Yoongi’s hand and blushed, gently intertwining their hands before he looked around. He couldn’t be sure from the sharks squirming around the land and biting at everything in their path, but he was fairly positive that at least one of the things that hit their car was not a shark. Carefully he surveyed the road now in front of him. There didn’t seem to be any real dangerous things in the road that could pop one of their tires and with that in mind he once again started to drive, the car silent and tense.

Of course none of them were prepared for what was to come. No one in the entire city would ever be prepared for the monster that the tornados had seemed to conjure up. The tornado seemed to suck up a beast that was more ferocious and scary than any of the other ones combined. And it was angry. Very angry.

Above the water, a water filled tornado had already made its way on land, spewing sharks every which direction that were causing mass destruction. From the tornado itself consuming whole buildings and leaving rubble behind to sharks flying angrily through the air and consuming anything that got in their paths before eventually dying from a lack of air, nothing and no one seemed to be safe.

“All I am saying is that you often see these waves come in bouts of three… the last of which is always the strongest. If you really want us to get to safety, you need to put the pedal to the medal, Taehyung. I don’t want to be around water by the time the third wave comes.”

“I get that, I really do, Namjoon… but the cops here are ruthless. I don’t want a ticket. Natural disaster or not, I don’t want my record being tainted.”

Namjoon scoffed as Yoongi shook his head with a light smile, “Don’t worry, Namjoon. I’ll protect us.”

“With your gun?! Are you crazy dude!? There are literal fucking sharks eating people whole and the water tornados! You really think a gun will do shit?”

“Totally. Plus, we can always stop somewhere and get extra stuff. I am pretty handy. I’ve dealt with sharks a ton in the past.” A distant look crossed Yoongi’s face, his mind clearly off in a distant land.

“Hey Namjoon?” Jimin mumbled from Namjoon’s embrace (who was still using the poor drunk like a stress ball), “Do you think that we’re going to die?”

“What? No, no. We won’t die, Jimin. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. We’re going to survive.” Namjoon punctuated what he said with another squeeze of Jimin before he finally let go and seemed to grow his composure.

“We probably want to actually think about where we are going… instead of just generally going inland.”

“Hmm… I was thinking that we could go to the inland. Like the part of town.” Taehyung said, anxiously tapping his steering wheel as he maneuvered around sharks.

“Taehyung.”

“Yes?”

“The inland isn’t actually inland… you know that, right? It’s literally half a mile from the beach! Just slightly north!” Namjoon started shouting angrily.

He opened his mouth to keep yelling at Taehyung, another harsh wave crashed into the side of the car. From the force alone, the windows shattered and from Taehyung’s reflexes with driving, the car suddenly stopped. Jimin, who forgot to put his seatbelt on, went flying forwards and roughly hit his head against Yoongi’s seat before falling limply in his own lap. Namjoon on the other hand, was once again screaming, salty water filling his open mouth as he looked into the mouth of a large bull shark excitedly swimming into the now broken passenger window. In the rush of the wave continuing to pass through the car, a new, redder liquid started to merge. By the time the car passed, everything (and everyone) was coated in a faint pink color.

Once the wave had passed the car, Taehyung and Yoongi were left staring back in horror at the bloody and half eaten body of Namjoon, their minds rushing to process what had happened. When Taehyung’s mind finally caught up, he immediately rushed to leave the car, his fingers stumbling to unbuckle himself and unlock the door before leaving the car with a strangled cry and budding tears. By the time Yoongi had left the car and reached Taehyung, the man was hyperventilating and crying. He hadn’t known Namjoon well but the two of them talked every once in a while and he never wanted him to die. Hell before he met Yoongi (and if things with Yoongi didn’t work out), Taehyung was still playing with the idea of asking Namjoon out.

Yoongi shushed Taehyung quietly and gently wrapped Taehyung in a hug, the soft gesture seemingly uncommon for the stiff man. The two stayed there for an unknown amount of time before a scream from the car changed their attention. Jimin was clambering out of the broken car window, his eyes wide with fear before they landed on Taehyung and Yoongi.

“Were you fuckers going to just leave me in there?!” Jimin yelled angrily, walking over to them and wiping the fresh tears off his face.

“Sorry, Jimin.” Taehyung looked down sadly, “I was shocked too… I… Fuck. This is such a scary time. I don’t know what to do.”

“We need to go to a gun store. That is what we need to do.” Yoongi said calmly.

“What?”

“A gun store. We need to go get more guns. The wave ruined the only gun I had.”

“We need to get to safety! That is what we need to do.” Jimin yelled again, “Namjoon said so!”

“And how can we get to safety without a gun?! We can’t use your fucking barstool to keep sharks at bay.”

“You used a stool before.”

“Guys…” Taehyung’s weak voice interrupted them with an uncertain wobble, “Can we please get a move on and not fight? We can find a store that sells guns and some other things… I don’t want to be here here or without something somewhat protecting us from any more waves.”

Yoongi looked over at Jimin as if to ask if that was ok before the three of them started walking along the road, neither of their electronics working. They were forced to walk along the road and take the first exit. At one point the three of them climbed up a tree at the edge of the road and waited for another wave to pass as wind dangerously whipped at their faces, hoards of sharks rushing past. They didn’t risk climbing down until all the sharks that were left in the area by the wave had passed. In the sky, they could see a tornado angrily throwing sharks left and right almost 100 miles ahead of them. None of them smart enough to notice that they couldn’t see its position change… which meant that it was on a path right to them… none of them observant enough to notice one specific, ancient looking shark that was angrily twisting and turning in the tornado. Somehow they managed to make it to an almost completely abandoned parking lot in front of a run down Hilton Hotel, one large, lone truck.

Yoongi stopped and eyed it, Jimin distractedly meandering ahead and Taehyung waiting for Yoongi to say something, “We should steal it.”

“The… the car?”

“Yeah. We won’t make good headway on foot and we can’t easily guess when another wave will come. It would be safer.”

“It’s illegal, Yoongi.”

“It would save us time and protect us from another wave, Jimin.”

“The last car didn’t protect Namjoon.”

“This one has larger wheels though. And it protected us during the first wave.”

Before Jimin had any chance of arguing more, Yoongi tried opening one of the doors before grabbing a rock nearby and smashing one of the rear windows open to unlock one of the doors.

“Well now that one of the windows is broken how will it protect us!” Jimin yelled angrily before going off on a rant as Yoongi worked on hot wiring the car and Taehyung floundered between the two.

He had no idea what to do or what was better but as he anxiously looked at the still tornado, he knew he didn’t want to be outside for much longer and quickly climbed into the shotgun of the car. With a breath of relief from Yoongi, the car reved to life and Yoongi buckled in.

“Well?” Yoongi looked over at Jimin who was angrily standing a solid ten feet away and gripping his barstool tightly, “Are you going to get in or is this where we part ways?”

“I will not take part in illegal activities. A natural disaster or not. If you’re smart, Taehyung, you’d join me.”

Taehyung anxiously looked between Jimin and Yoongi, both of which were looking at him and waiting for his decision. What was he supposed to do? This was a matter of life and death… surely it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he did a few illegal things to stay alive… but did he want that hanging on his conscious?

With one anxious look back at the tornado… which… somehow… seemed to look a little close, he resolutely closed the door and buckled in a small “Sorry.” leaving his mouth before Yoongi drove off, leaving Jimin in the dust, his frame getting smaller the farther they went.

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clockworknightmares · 5 years ago

Text

Laurent

| Part one | Part two | Part three |

The sound of heavy rain beating down on the car roof is soothing, maybe even soothing enough to lull someone to sleep. The irregular rhythm, the raindrops running down the windows, the way the lights from the other cars and traffic lights bleed out and spread like watercolors in the rain in Laurent’s vision as he leans his head against the cold window and stares out.

It’s warm enough in the car to have pulled off the designer jacket he’d found purchased and hanging in his closet when the weather started growing cooler. That’s how most of his clothes show up. That’s how a lot of his favorite worn out university hoodies and torn up jeans disappear too. One day there, the next day gone and replaced with something name brand and needlessly expensive.

His parents let some things slide. The blue-red pastel dyed ends of his hair, the tattoo, the earrings. After all, a little eccentricism looks good on a child prodigy. People might start thinking he wasn’t fully human. Though- they already thought that didn’t they?

Graduated college at fifteen, masters by seventeen. Four instruments, seven languages and innumerable registered patents. The tech he designs during long sleepless nights is always highly sought after. He's smart, rich, loved, and envied.

And terribly, insanely lonely.

Laurent fiddles with the watch and leather bracelets on his wrist. “A bit of an unfair advantage to the rest of us, ey Joan?” The newscaster had laughed to his partner with a flash of unnaturally white teeth in his perfect smile, only that morning on the tv as Laurent ate what he assumed was breakfast. “It’s all a bit superhuman if you ask me. Just goes to show those with the natural advantages will always get ahead.”

They weren’t talking about his wealthy parents or his quick intellect no. Though Laurent knows those two things contributed greatly to where he is now. But no- that’s boring and old and applies to most rich business men or celebrities anyway. The news only ever wants one thing. Something new and sparkly. Or something suspicious. Or something for people to see and say “well of course that’s why he’s successful. If I had that, of course I would be where he is.”

So of course when the news comes out with the outlandish idea that Laurent Irving doesn't sleep, he’s expected to make a statement. A statement that will tear that argument to shreds and make people laugh at all those conspiracies. Except for one thing. The fact that it’s true.

Laurent Irving hates interviews. His parents kept him sheltered from them as a child, kept the media off his back. But secrecy only makes people more curious, and a reclusive eccentric child prodigy is a pie that everyone wants a slice of. He doesn't like talking about himself. He doesn't like cameras unless he’s taking them apart and putting them back together again. But at the age of twenty, he finally decides to address some rumors.

He had agreed to one interview. Nothing else. And yet it only caused more stories, more theories, more media hounding him for an appearance. Laurent shut himself in his lab and didn’t come out for two weeks. But the world learned several things about him that day.

Laurent Irving doesn’t sleep. A rare condition he’d always had, or so he claimed. And he looked it, Despite the makeup team’s best effort, the dark circles under his eyes were visible. He said he passes out randomly maybe every four to six weeks. He had smiled and made a joke about needing a babysitter despite being almost a fully legal adult.

Laurent Irving didn’t use social media. And yet the interviewer brought to his attention that there were many “stan” accounts for him. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant or whether it was a good thing.

Laurent Irving doesn’t get out much. He had laughed and commented that he spends a lot of time working, as there’s always a lot of projects that need his attention. He’s a very busy man.

Laurent Irving likes cereal. He eats a lot of cereal.

The interviewer had been charmed, and the appearance as a whole had been a success. But it was never enough, everyone wanted more. More information, more interviews, more pictures, more more more. Laurent had a panic attack in his bathroom and blissfully passed out for a solid twenty-four hours, the first time in almost two months. He didn’t accept any more interviews.

The only meetings he ever had were with clients, board members, potential buyers, investors, and the like. The people who he had to meet for work. The people who wanted to put a face to the young man behind the ingenious designs.

It’s from one of these meetings that he’s returning from. As he isn’t allowed to drive because of his condition, he is usually chauffeured by his bodyguard Emmet. He likes Emmet. Emmet doesn't tell him not to slouch or lay down in the backseat or take his headphones off. Except- Emmet isn’t driving him today, which is unusual.

“Who’d you say you are again?” Laurent asks, still staring out the window listlessly. The cold of the glass feels good against his cheek and the raindrops reflect the reds of the brake lights.

“Just filling in for today. Your regular driver called in sick and so your parents sent me.” The man in the driver seat glances back at Laurent, face unreadable. “Is that a problem?”

“No.” He doesn’t trust strangers. “When are we getting back?” He checks his watch again. It’s something he’s been working on, trying to detect and track when his next unconscious spell will happen. So far there’s no pattern and he’s had no luck with it. But it works as a regular watch too.

They should have already been home.

“Soon. The rain is making everyone drive slower.”

Laurent may be young, but he’s no idiot. He’s a goddamn genius. And he knows they should have been home by now, rain or no rain. But he doesn't want rumors of “paranoid” to be added to his long list of traits the media likes to add to his name, so he buries the growing tangled anxiousness in his stomach and sits still. He’ll be home soon.

“Can you go a little faster?” he asks, after a few moments, fingers twisting together in his lap. They itch to work on something. He has to be working on something.

“You in some big hurry?” the driver asks, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. There’s something off about him. Laurent can’t place it. He’s good with machines but terrible at reading people. “Besides, we’re almost there.”

Even through the rain and growing inky darkness of night, Laurent doesn't recognize anything out his window. The buildings are dark and unfamiliar and the streets are no longer filled with cars. His driver is slowing almost to a crawl. It’s practically deserted. Laurent slowly grabs his jacket and slides it on. His phone is in his pocket-

“Looking for this?” The driver holds up Laurent’s phone.

“Why do you- g-give that b-back.” His careful voice training is forgotten and his stutter slips back with his panic.

“Don’t think I will. I-”

Laurent doesn't wait to hear anymore. It’s foolish, completely and utterly stupid. But he forces the lock on the car door open and jumps. The car isn’t driving fast and he only ends up with a scrape on his leg and a jarred shoulder before he staggers to his feet and runs. He doesn’t know where he is. They could be anywhere with how long they were driving. He has no phone, no sense of direction, and the driver is already out of the car and chasing him.

Laurent runs. He doesn’t look back, although he can hear the pounding of footsteps on the pavement behind him. His watch. He programmed it to hook up to his phone. He can send a call, a message, something. At the very least it will ping his GPS.

“Call Emmet”, he gasps into the watch. “Call Emmet Greyson.”

He thinks the call goes through. He hopes it does, but he doesn’t get the chance to find out because he slows, staggers- his vision spotty. No. No no no no- the worst time, please no-

Laurent crumples to the pavement unconscious, miles from home.

He doesn’t feel the arms picking him up and carrying him back to the car. He doesn’t hear the hushed phone call. He doesn't feel the watch on his wrist being unbuckled and taken.

When Laurent Irving collapses, he sleeps like the dead.

#new boy!#or more like a revamp of an old one #oc: laurent irving #drabble #angst #exhaustion #kidnapping #failed escape #lonely #collapse #loss of control #wywrites

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