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telekinetic-electronica · 3 years ago

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My Echidna Archie Lore Rewrite Part 1

OKAY SO, NOTES HERE. I’m basing this off of what Sonic Team originally intended for Knuckles Tribe to be like. Based off of the Maya Culture. Please note I did a lot of research on this and read and watched a lot of archeologists, historians, and read up to make sure I had accurate information. Please note we still don’t know everything on the Maya culture due to what the Spanish did to the Maya people.

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

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So, for starters, let’s get a basis first. While the Maya people were a hunting-and-gathering society, they still had cities and had dozens of people living within them. Not to mention, they didn’t have chiefs. They had kings and queens. So, with this, we’ll say that they used to have chiefs but eventually they shifted to having kings and queens, etc. so we’ll have that with them. They also had highlands and lowerlands, which will take place for the plot of the rewrite.

They were also very advanced. They had early revolutions in astronomy, mathematics, the usage of zero, and develop the first of many calendars. They were also the first of many people to use chocolate and rubber. They made paper from tree bark, they used limestone for construction, used obsidian rock for tools and weapons, and even salt!

The Maya were also very deeply religious. And yes, I know of the whole blood ritual and human sacrificing shit but to demean an entire culture of that, especially a non white one is very disgusting, and people have already done to the maya and paint very racist shit on them. we’re not gonna be doing that here because this is a kids’ comic ffs. It’ll have the same amount of darkness and depth Archie sonic had.

The Maya King was also their king and spiritual leader. As many ancient cultures, the king was said to come from the gods and goddesses himself. They also worshipped their ancestors, and they didn’t have any burials for their dead. They would build their houses on top of their dead loves as their graves, and give offerings to them that way. Not to mention cities had patron gods and goddesses as well. So, the Knuckles Tribe’s patron god would very much be Chaos and Tikal would have had a city named after her, and the echidnas would have told her story and even worshipped her.

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Now that we have some historical things set up, we can now set up the new Echidna world. Because of Chief Pachacamac’s way of how he hurt others, the Knuckles Tribe wanted to make sure that never happened again. Pachacamac soon remarried and had a son by the name of Bonampuk and soon tried to rebuild the damage his father had done, and thus continued the rule of the Echidnas. Now, we get into some what modern day times. Here, we meet one of the main characters. Knuckles’ grandma, Princess Xultun. How I’d image her too look like is that she has braided hair, and very dark red fur. Y’all know the pattern on Pachacamac and the zig zag patterns on them? She would that, with a collar and it have been colors to it besides red. Greens, yellows, blues, etc.

Example:

Also, yes she would markings on her, but like, they used black instead of white, so I can see that all over her shoulders, face, and some into her braids. For the looks, check out Maya and the Three they did a wonderful job on the outfits with the Maya people. I also think she’d wear light brown shoes. Guys, they had very decorative and very vast colors. Instead of whatever that crown thing Tikal had, I can see Xultan wearing a headdress for special events.

Xultan was the Princess of the Knuckles Tribe. She was a very happy, rebellious, fiery and passionate girl who just kind of wanted to do her own thing half of the time. She loved hunting, playing sports, reading poetry, and goofing around with her friends. Meanwhile she was tutored by assigned tutors and her mother and father, King Calakmul and Queen Uxmal. They were both loving kings and queens who cared for their country, people, and their daughter. Xultan tended to be a daddy’s girl was very excited to be the next ruler of their city/tribe. (Some inspo on what her parents would wear. From Maya and the Three.)

Calakmul was a down-to-earth, responsible, serious and loving father. Uxmal loved to unwind, sit back, and just have a chill time. She did take her duties seriously. With her father’s fur that was the color of fire, and his eyes like the green forest, with her mother the color of brown, of the ocean, and the eyes of golden. The Knuckles Tribe was in a golden age and at peace. Everything was fine, everything was great! But, oh... they don’t last long at all, do they?

The Knuckles Tribe had been battling a Legion for quite some time now. A very dark, and foreboding Legion. The Legion was an oppressive force. Everyone around in this time period knew of them. They called themselves The Dark Legion. They represented the dark history of the Echidnas. The echidnas who barely survived, who worked and withered away under the hot heat of the Sun, doing all of the work. Barely surviving by, while they had to through poverty, starvation, and even lethal air. While the middle class and upper class got all cozied up while the lesser people of the Kingdom had to suffer and wallow away.

But they wouldn’t allow themselves that, no. They wouldn’t wither away. The Legion was controlled by Itza. Itza who would then renounce his identity and then later be called by Dr. Finitevus. Itza is a figure who’s very controlling, manipulative, dark, and cold. And all the crazy his canon counterpart is. Itza, a long time ago, formed the Dark Legion after the events happening in his life. See, Itza came from a poor family. A poor family of farmers, and as a kid, he wanted to help in the science department of his kingdom. Due to the cruel ways they treated his family the elites stealing his family’s food and leaving them to die by the wayside was there.

This wasn’t until Itza landed a job in the upperland of the city of Tikal. He worked tirelessly on his job. See, he could harness magic and use it with science. He wanted to share it with the public, and used it for the greater good. Instead, it was robbed from him and the other more wealthy stole it from him. While standing for his invention, a fight ensues, and due to the fight between them, the combo of chaos and regular magic, sounded off a big explosion. Which was pinned on him. He had everything taken away from him. His parents, family, job, money, everything.

Which lead him to seethe about how society was being run. The poor get poorer while the rich got wealthier. This is why he started the Dark Legion he hated what that society stood for and wanted to burn it to the ground. He wanted a new Knuckles Tribe a fair and just one. Not a disgusting, corrupt one. It all started when the nobles, council men and women, and her parents were starting to get worried. What the fuck was this talk of invasion? Everything was peaceful now and just. What was going on? Until she heard from one of her friends tell of the Dark Legion.

“The Dark Legion? Didn’t we take care of those guys like, moon ago?” The princes crossed her arms and looked at the other. The young lavender echidna shook her head. “From what I’ve heard from my mentor, they’ve always been around. It seems like we’ve been slacking on our defenses as of late. They’re moving in from the south pretty fast. Sounds like a war is gonna break out,” Misty said. Misty was one of Xultan’s friends. She was mentoring under her mother, who was the King’s advisor. “Pfft! Please. We’re gonna take down those guys easy peasy! And this time, it’s gonna be my first ever fight!” The young guard enteres the room. He’s a jet black echinda in head-to-toe Echidna armor, with white eyes that shone like the moon. “Iiiiiii don’t think so, princess. These guys... They’re something else.” “Not really, just any other loser bad guys who’s gonna get taken down!” “Welll.... it’s not the exact reason they’re doing this.” “Whaddya mean?” “To be frank, the lowerland people are treated like shit by the noble fuckwads around here. Half of them are starving, still. I know the King and Queen are trying their best to repair stuff, but... you can’t qualm an injustice rage.” “Oh, c’mon! Mama and papa are doin’ the best they can! They’re bringin’ more food to them, more jobs and access to them! We’re tryin’ here! We’re the city of progress after all!” Misty and Pyrope glanced at each other and did a “oof”. Pyrope shook his head. “Ya still have a lot to learn about yer people, Xultan.” The two walked away while Xultan shook her head. Whatever. She doubt that war was gonna happen, either way.

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That was the last name Xultan’s ego ever founded her. She paced up and down her bedroom, as she waited for the news. Her father and mother have decided to join the fray. Buildings had been destroyed, people were dying left and right, it was just a mess. She ordered for more soldiers to guard her and her people. But oddly enough, the Dark Legion was giving the lowland people food, water, shelter and medical care. She did the same with upperland Tribe. The war raged on for months on end until it finally came to a close. The officials sat in their chairs and looked rather somber. One of them spook up. “What of the princess? How shall we tell her?” the room got quiet. No one said anything. No rustling of papers, no items clanking of their writing. Nothing. Until the oldest member of the group spoke up. His tone was silent, but stern. “Tell the young Pyrope of their Majesties passing. We cannot falter. The kingdom will mourn them greatly. The Princess can mourn along with them. We must now make preparations for Princess Xultan’s crowning.” After hearing what he was told to do, Pyrope’s stomach dropped. He slowly entered into the Princess’ room, before knocking, of course. She turned his attention asking what he needed. “Xultan...” “...Yes?” “The king and queen are no longer with us. They’ve joined into the after life.” Xultan, after that, wasn’t the same. She sulked around her room. Crying for God knows how long. Her fire had seemingly been dampened. Oh Gods. Oh Gods. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She was going to be the next queen. Her parents are fucking dead. Everything is in shambles. How... how...? She was only a 15-year-old orphan now. How the fuck was she suppose to do this? She had some practice here and there, but nothing of THIS scale. She breathed in and out. She stood up and looked in the mirror. She remembered the words her father had told her. “Xultan, there will be times, when you’re queen, when everything around is going to flames, in the end, you’ll make it through. You’re a smart, clever, and talented young lady. You cannot be a child forever. You have to do what’s good for our people. Even if it hurts, even if the pain is unbearable, you must keep your head high. For their sake.” She breathed again and had a serious tone. It still burnt and hurt inside. But she can’t falter now. Her people needs a leader. Someone to be a guiding light in this time, and by the Gods, she’ll do that.

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After the ritual ceremony of her becoming the Queen, will all of the headdresses, animal fur, the most expensive clothes, jade jewelry, and make up on her. She got work to right away. She created more jobs to be taken up, she wanted construction on the buildings, she gave out money to those who needed it, she even sent people to help the lowerland and reported what they needed. They were given money to help, food, shelter, and anything else. After going through a ton of meetings, weeks, months, and trying to get to some normalcy, everyone saw how serious and stern the new Queen was now. She was... taking this seriously. It’s like that fiery and happy-go-lucky teenager was just no longer there, anymore.

It was like she was a different person. The night had finally concluded with the final meeting. Her posture was perfect, her make up on par, and headdress held up high. She quietly makes her way down the city. She looks around her. Everything was being rebuilt slowly and more people were helping each other out. She decided to help some of her people by getting them whatever they needed, and just like, she left. She headed towards the Master Emerald. The guards asked what the Queen was doing, she merely said she just wanted to sit by it and gaze at the stars, seeing nothing wrong with it, She takes a deep breath and leans back against the Emerald. (also note just wanna say that maya afterlife believing in enter the caves as the underworld and I believe that royalty was in the stars when they died as well.)

She felt exhausted. She’s been working non-stop for months now. You can’t rebuild an entire city in Gods know how long. It appeared the guards had fallen asleep. It’s okay, she’ll let them rest for awhile. She’ll only wake them up if need be. She forced her tears to stay in. She needed to be strong now. Even if she was still a kid, she had to act like an adult now. For her people. They need her, and will still need her for the days to come. That didn’t make it any less easier. Fuck. She was crying. Goddamn it. She didn’t need this right now. She needed to be strong! Until she heard a feminine voice- oh my fucking gods it’s Tikal’s spirit she’s gonna shit herself. Tikal told the other to simmer down. She basically told the other she could sense with why she was so upset and about everything had happened. Tikal patted her back gently.

Tikal had told the other that was a lot to take in, and how sorry she went through all of that. But then she told her, she wasn’t alone in this. She had the Councilors, her advisor, and a certain guard that took interest in her. And not to mention, her of course. She sighed. But was weirded out at the last thing. She had? Tikal herself to help her? What?? Father never spoke of that to her. TIkal explained that she dedicated herself to help all of the future rulers of the Knuckles Tribe. So they can get some info from the past, so to speak.

Xultan scratched her head. That made sense to her. She had a lot of work ahead of her, but it was nice to hear those words from someone who understood when things went from zero to one hundred real quick. Xultan sighed and exited from the Master Emerald shrine. She headed back to her room, ready to go to sleep, as she took her headdress and make up off, Pyrope knocked on her door. The two spent some time together and bonded. Having nice chit chats, and Xultan finally let out some of her problems and how she was feeling to Pyrope.

They comforted each other and shared some jokes with them. As time went on, Queen Xultan brought a golden age again with her people. She brought in more trades, more allies, helped the poor, make the farmers and all the others on the lowlands to be within equal standing as possible, and have their voices heard for once in a long time, and overall just bringing another golden age. Her dreadlocks got a lot longer, and is in stylized into this braid-bun look with the decorative pieces like in the Maya and the Three image. I’d say for her adult Queen look...

She wears a more flowy, bottom dress with no sleeves, still has a collar, and has a lot more jewels, make up and face pain upon her. Her fur still remained a dark red, with emerald eyes. During her teen years, she had dated Pyrope. And now, they were engaged to each other as adults. Bottom line is, she tried her best man. She had to make calls where others weren’t happy with her, but, she had to for her people. She’s been a Queen since she was 15 and has a lot on her plate.

Queen Xultan matured greatly and quickly. She’s still very fiery but toned down, calm, patient, stern, polite, and has a bit of a snark to her. She takes her job as Queen very seriously and will listen to anyone who thinks on what she could improve on. She’s also very compassionate and strong willed. But she tends to bottle up her emotions and can still be stubborn and close minded at times.

Pyrope is her Prince-Consort and Captain of the Guard now. He’s a quick witted, sarcastic, charming, funny, and an overall good guy. He adores his wife to the tenth degree and has his own hobbies. He loves star gazing, talking about the latest book series, and just an overall goof ass. He gives his wife insight on the more poverty not-doing-so-good side as his family came from the more down rodden Knuckles Tribe. She even went to see the lands for herself and was digusted at such injustices. While her time as Queen, she got a big sense of morality and justice. Not to mention, big religious ceremonies and rituals to. To their patron god Chaos, to the other gods, festivals, ceremonies, and to even their ancestors.

And even then, the looming threat of the Dark Legion still hung in the air. There were times where they even talked to them, and yes, even worked with them just to achieve the same goal as the other, for they wanted. However, they kept off at bay, but Itza had a plan up his sleeve. He had something in the works, and always he had people everyone. He had eyes and ears everywhere. In the castle, in the towns, and even in the lowlands. He kept a watchful ear and eye over the new kingdom. During this time, the queen and prince-consort had a daughter. She was Princess Ceibal. She had her mother’s dark red fur, and her father’s white eyes. (also note, pyrope and xultun had ceibal in their 30′s-40′s.)

She was someone who was more on the calm and collected side. She was very graceful, but boy she could throw down if she wanted too. She did enjoy the arts, but she also loved hunting with her mother and father. Itza saw this and took note of it. To him, Queen Xultan was just going along to play nice with everyone and still viewed all of them had scum. For now, he’ll let them have their peace. For now.

Just ‘till they wait. Just ‘till they wait.

More years of peace had passed by until... when Ceibal was out with her husband, Caracol. They were ambushed by the Dark Legion’s forces and were held hostage. The simply way to get them back is for Queen Xultan to step down and for all of the nobles to step down and let the Dark Legion take over, which, she isn’t having any of that and another war broke out from then. It took an entire year to get them defeated and push them back, but, the damage was still done and left Xultan in a tight spot. It really did feel like she was 15 again. No matter what her age was, and now her daughter was an adult all of her own.

She never really felt like an adult sometimes. She still felt like she was a 15-year-old princess who just lost her parents. Even to this day, she still went to Tikal for advice, and got close to her and became good friends with her. Xultuna had always bottled up her emotions and she’s seen her friends come, go, and die. Repeat. It was quite unending, really. She still wondered how much time she would have on this Earth. When she gets to finally see her parents again. It’s a dark thought, but she’s been a Queen for so long. She’s been a queen since she was 15.

And she was exhausted. Too much to still think and do. They were doing a new science exhibit tomorrow, she had the rituals to appease the Gods, and so many discussions and problems to solve. She’s now going to be a grandmother soon, and just reflecting. She did good. She did good by her mother and father. And she has a wonderful family and good friends. That’s all that mattered to her.

The current ruler of the Knuckles Tribe only gave their crown to the next heir if they died or will no longer capable of such a role. She wondered when that will be next for her. She scratched her head. She should get to bed soon. She really should.

On February 2nd, her grandson was born. Given the nickname Knuckles for his feisty attitude. This was Prince Palenque.

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How to pronounce their names!

Bonampuk - Bona puck Xultan - Shull toon Calakmul - Call lack mule Uxmal - Oosh Mall Itza - Eats-uh Ceibal - P much pronounced how it’s spelled Caracol - Car call Palenque - P much pronounced pronounced how it’s spelled

We’ll be going over Knuckles’ parents more in part 2! ______________________________________________________

#sonic the hedgehog #knuckles the echidna #julie-su the echidna #knuckles tribe #sonic the hedgehog rewrite #sonic rewrite #knuckles tribe rewrite #archie sonic #sonic comic #sonic the hedgehog ocs #sonic ocs #pls this took so long to do and write and research oNNN

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tenebraevesper · 2 years ago

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The Ultimate NetNavi, Entry 1: On The Brink Of Deletion

''Not again! I'm going to be late!''

A teenager dressed in a white button-up shirt, maroon blazer, red tie, black trousers and shoes ran out of a street and towards the school. He had brown eyes and brown, spiky hair, with a blue bandanna bearing his NetNavi's emblem being tied around his forehead in order to keep his hair out of his eyes. Wrapped around his right wrist was a blue rectangular watch-like device, with buttons and a slot on the side, and the NetNavi emblem above the screen. This device was the newest version of the Personal Terminal, called PET Sync.

''Why didn't you wake me up, MegaMan?'' Lan Hikari lamented, with the hologram of his NetNavi appearing on his shoulder. His NetNavi was a brown-haired, green-eyed humanoid wearing a blue jumpsuit and boots, yellow shoulder guards and a blue and yellow helmet. On his chest was his emblem, a red circle with a black line running diagonally through the center which ended in two triangles, all of which were surrounded by a gold ring.

''You need to learn to wake up by yourself. I won't act as your alarm clock forever, Lan,'' MegaMan replied. ''Also, you should hurry up a little, since you didn't make a really good first impression on your first day of school.''

''You don't have to remind me of that,'' Lan replied. A week ago, he and his parents had moved from DenTech City to Cyber City due to his father's job, with Lan having to get used to his new home and school. So far, his tardiness didn't help him much. ''There it is!''

His eyes lit up as he saw the school gates, noticing a few students walking inside and realizing that he might actually make it to class in time for once. However, before he could get his hopes to high, he ran right into another student, causing both of them to fall over.

''Lan!'' MegaMan looked at his NetOperator with a worried look on his expression, while Lan tried to recover from the collision, getting up.

''I'm fine, MegaMan,'' he said, turning towards the other student. ''Are you okay? I'm sorry for running into you.''

The student in question was a teenage girl dressed in the school uniform, a white button-up shirt, maroon blazer, a red ribbon tied around the collar of her shirt, black skirt, shoes and knee-high stockings. On her right wrist was a black PET Sync with purple accents, and a black and yellow emblem that had a stylized ''f'' symbol above the screen. She had brown eyes and long brown hair, with her side-bangs being tied on the back of her head with a yellow hair-clip that looked like a stylized ''ff'' mark. However, instead of acknowledging Lan's apology, the girl just stood up, dusting herself off and gave him an annoyed look.

''I'm fine,'' she replied in an icy tone, turning around and walking away. ''Watch out where you're going next time.''

''Uhhh, okay?'' Lan muttered, confused.

''Lan, don't you have class now?'' MegaMan reminded him.

''Ah, you're right!'' Lan panicked and ran off. MegaMan just sighed, feeling that it would be another typical day for them.

xXx

Rei Nakano took a deep breath as she had finally reached her apartment. Aside from colliding with that boy on the way to her class, the rest of her school day was rather uneventful. Frankly, she couldn't care less about any of it. She wasn't interested in anything concerning school and just wanted to get back home to actually focus on something that was actually important.

She changed from her school uniform into her casual outfit, a black T-shirt and skirt with golden lines on the sleeves and edges, and the skirt having a brown belt, black knee-length leggings and black and yellow high-top sneakers. On her T-shirt was also a diagonal dark purple jagged line, going from her lower left side towards the upper right, ending under a black and yellow emblem that had a stylized ''f'' mark on the right side of her chest.

''Let's see if there are any news…'' Rei muttered as she sat at her desk, turning the computer on and connecting to the network. She was playing with loose strands of her hair as she checked the e-mail inbox for any new messages, eventually fixing it back with the ''ff'' hairclip and focusing on one particular e-mail from someone named Jack.

'Black Phantom, as per our agreement, I have managed to gather new intelligence concerning Void Zero. In return, I require more of the ChargeBoost Program you had shown me during our previous meeting. Meet me at the usual location.'

''He has already sold all of the ChargeBoost Programs I gave him?'' Rei muttered, rising an eyebrow and closing the screen. She then opened a folder filled with programs she had developed and grabbed several copies of the one Jack asked her for. For Jack's sake, I hope he has actually gathered the information for this deal. Having no NetNavi, Rei had to then manually navigate through the Cyberworld in order to find Jack. Nevertheless, she was used to it and the fact that Jack would usually stay at the same place helped her in finding him, even though his residence was in the dreaded Undernet.

''Hey, Jack,'' Rei said as the small monitor she used for communication appeared right next to the Solo NetNavi, who was startled by her sudden appearance.

''Ah, hello there, Re- uh, Black Phantom,'' Jack said, quickly looking around to make sure that he and Rei were completely alone at this part of the Undernet. His actual name was Jackal.EXE and he resembled a more stylized version of Anubis, having the head of a jackal and black fur, as well as having golden and black armbands, a headpiece that served as a helmet and golden boots. He was also wearing cream-coloured shorts, which had a Navi emblem as a belt buckle on it, the emblem being a dark blue ankh on a golden background.

Despite being a Solo NetNavi who was also a resident of the Undernet, Jack had no issues working together with Rei, as she had helped him out after his former NetOp had abandoned him in the Undernet, leaving him defenseless and at the mercy of several HeelNavis. Rei had supplied him with several custom programs that aided him in the battle and helped him stay alive. Jack was quite thankful for her help, but also confused about her reasons for her aid.

''Don't think much of it. I've just been testing out the programs I had developed,'' Rei had told him in a cold, indifferent tone. ''Does the name Black Phantom ring any bells?''

''Uh, yes, b-but-'' Jack was at a loss for words as he stared at the black screen, hearing only a distorted voice on his side. Even before he got trapped in the Undernet, he had heard rumors of someone giving out upgrade programs to the various Solo NetNavis that would roam the place, this person calling themselves the Black Phantom. In exchange for the power-up, the Black Phantom would usually either ask for information on a particular subject or observe the NetNavi in question as they used their new power to cause trouble, especially outside the Undernet. While Undernet NetNavis would usually refuse to help any outsiders, they did agree to those kinds of deals, as they would benefit them. ''I-I have heard the rumors about your reputation, but I did not expect any aid from you. D-Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for your help, but this was unexpected.''

''I have my own standards regarding whom I'll give an upgrade and you are free to do whatever you want with it,'' Rei replied, still not showing her face or using her normal voice. Despite helping the NetNavis grow stronger or observing them as they wreaked havoc, she never associated herself with any of them and made sure that they didn't either. ''If you seek more power, I could provide you with it, but in return, you would have to gather some valuable information for me.''

''Uh, unfortunately, sir or ma'am, I'm not much of a fighter and I don't want to participate in the survival of the fittest culture the Undernet is so famous for,'' Jack replied, looking nervous, adding, ''I-I just don't want to be deleted.'' There was silence on the other side, with Jack fearing that he had offended the Black Phantom in some way by not taking the same path as many other NetNavis before him. ''H-However, I could help you with gathering intelligence. I am good at following up on rumors and finding whatever information you need.''

There was another moment of silence, with Jack holding his breath in anticipation, only to hear the Black Phantom sigh in resignation. ''Fine, but don't disappoint me. I can easily take away those power-ups I gave you.''

''I promise, I will repay you for this,'' Jack promised eagerly.

This had happened a few months ago, with Jack learning that the Black Phantom wanted to learn more about an obscure organization named Void Zero. There was barely any information about them, aside from some rumors, and Jack had found it incredibly hard to find any data on them. It also didn't help that he would also have to constantly fight for his own life whenever he approached another unfriendly-looking NetNavi to ask them about Void Zero.

However, Jack had figured a way out of this situation by suggesting to the Black Phantom that he could act as an Undernet merchant, selling the custom programs they would develop and asking the clients for information. The Black Phantom, who later on entrusted him with her true identity as Rei Nakano (much to Jack's shock), agreed and Jack managed to develop a reputation in the Undernet that not only kept him safe from being attacked, but his clients had no problem talking to him about the various rumors that were only known to the residents of the deepest parts of the Cyberworld.

''You had told me in your e-mail that you have information regarding Void Zero,'' Rei said in a cold tone, with Jack nodding. Admittedly, while Rei had a rather abrasive attitude, especially when she was in a bad mood, Jack didn't take it personally. ''So, what did you manage to find out this time?''

''According to a few HeelNavis I had overheard, the Enforcer is giving out another version of the DelProgram to whoever wants to take it,'' Jack explained.

''I guess that they need more test subjects,'' Rei muttered. ''After all, that DelProgram allows the Navi to delete anything in their way, but with the nasty side-effect of deleting the user as well if overused.''

''It's quite awful,'' Jack said, crossing his arms. ''It stuns me that anyone would take their chances and use such a program.''

''I'm not surprised. There are all kinds of people, especially in the Undernet, and they would do anything in exchange for becoming more powerful,'' Rei replied. ''So, where exactly is this handout supposed to take place?''

Jack simply summoned a small screen with the information being featured on it. ''Here are the coordinates. Unlike last time, the Enforcer didn't really bother with keeping it a secret and allowing only selected Navis to get the program.''

''Well, we did conclude that they need more Navis that would unknowingly act as test subjects and it is obvious that they don't care about causing chaos,'' Rei replied. ''Of course, considering how most of their activity that I had managed to track down occurs in the depths of the Undernet, it is no surprise no one took notice. No one sane enough would dare to mess with whatever lurks there.''

''No one sane or bold enough,'' Jack added. ''After all, this is still the surface and while your typical civilian Navi isn't appreciated, they would still be able to survive on this level, but I couldn't say the same for the rest of the Undernet.''

''You're right about that,'' Rei said, resting her chin on her hand. ''I actually made a few attempts to find my way around the place, but the drone programs I had created had been deleted by powerful viruses and HeelNavis. I may be a skilled Hacker, but there are things that even I can get overwhelmed by.''

''Speaking of powerful viruses and Navis, I was wondering why you don't gain the loyalty of another Navi in order to help you out?'' Jack asked. ''I am not talking about myself, of course, since we both can agree that I'm not exactly the best when it comes to battling. Nevertheless, I'm sure that there are a lot of Navis who are more than willing to help you during your investigation, as long as you provide them with your power boost programs.''

''Jack, I had already told you that I'm doing fine myself and that I don't need a Navi to help me out,'' Rei replied in an irritated tone. Jack didn't respond, as he and Rei already had this conversation several times and the only thing he managed to do was to make her upset. Rei then took a deep breath, still feeling annoyed. ''In any case, I need to leave now. Here is the ChargeBoost Program you had requested, and thank you for the information.''

With that said, a glowing orb of data appeared in front of Jack and the monitor had vanished. Jack sighed as he grabbed the data orb. While he may not been particularly close to Rei and their relationship was more business-like, he had managed to learn more about her during the time they spent together. Aside from finding out that she was a skilled Hacker who used her alias as Black Phantom to gather information, he also quickly discovered that Rei had no NetNavi, nor did she have any interest in partnering up with one. When he had questioned her about it, she got really upset, almost yelling at him in anger, only to quickly calm down and refuse to elaborate on her outburst. All she told him was that she was fine on her own, but Jack could discern that there was probably more to it than Rei wanted to admit.

Whatever happened to make you feel like this, I hope you'll be able to move on from it. Jack shook his head and went on with his day. Rest assured, during his time as a Solo Navi, he had learned how to read people and he knew when not to bring up stuff no one wanted to talk about in the first place. Nevertheless, he couldn't deny that he was curious about what exactly she had experienced that led her to act this way.

xXx

Bass' eyes narrowed as he quietly observed the group of Undernet Solo NetNavis that had surrounded him. He didn't see them as much of a challenge or even worth paying attention to, but he was a little confused by the strange green aura that had surrounded their bodies, wondering if it was some kind of defense program he didn't know about.

''Hey, punk, get out of our way or we are going to delete you!'' one of the Navis said menacingly, brandishing his claws.

''Tch.'' Bass knew that that was just an empty threat, but he kept silent, as his gut feeling told him that something was wrong with them. The leader of the group stepped out, giving Bass a stern look.

''You're the Black Shadow, aren't you?'' he asked.

Bass didn't reply, waiting instead for the Navi's response. The other Navis seemed to be a little surprised when they realized who he was and, while intimidated, they were still confident that they could handle the situation. The leader, on the other hand, didn't really care about Bass' reputation.

''Fine then. If we defeat you, we will be acknowledged as the strongest Navis in the Undernet; no, the entire Cyber World.'' The leader Navi smirked. ''I am aware that you aren't a pushover, but the program we had received is enough to delete you completely.''

''Take this!'' Suddenly, one of the Navis rushed towards him, turning his arm into a sword. Bass simply stepped away, causing the Navi to stumble. He smirked.

''Dark Arm Blade!'' Bass summoned a purple blade made of dark energy to fight with and quickly slashed the Navi apart. He then turned to the rest, who seemed to have realized that they may have been a bit too cocky, since it was obvious that Bass was completely out of their league. Still, that fact didn't seem to discourage them from another attack.

''Get him!'' the leader yelled, with two of the Navis rushing towards Bass, while the third one sneaked up from behind. As they attempted to slice him apart with their swords, Bass easily dodged their attacks, slashing through them with his blade and turning them into data particles. He then turned to the leader, who stepped back, looking shocked. However, the Navi quickly recovered, confronting Bass. ''It doesn't matter what you do, I will delete you.''

Bass didn't reply and instead observed the movements of the Navi, who suddenly charged at him. He gripped his blade tightly, dodging the Navi's attack and slashed his torso apart. To his surprise, he suddenly felt the Navi grabbing his shoulder, with a sphere of green light forming in his other hand.

''I… win…'' the Navi said, punching Bass in the stomach and forcing the sphere of green light into his body, laughing maniacally as he broke down into data particles. Bass was stunned, only to feel a sudden surge of agony spreading through his body. He stumbled, falling on his knees, gasping in pain and shaking.

What's going on with me? He groaned in pain, looking at his hands, which started to glitch out. His body seemed to be falling apart. Am I being deleted? No, it can't be! He fell over, his vision blurring. I won't let… myself get deleted…

He fell over, with the darkness consuming him.

xXx

What… happened…

He felt a throbbing sensation pulsing through his head, groaning in pain. It wasn't just his head, but his entire body hurt as well. It felt as if someone tore his body apart and thought that it would be fun to put his data through a digital version of a meat grinder. While he obviously wasn't a stranger to pain and agony, this was the kind of experience he wished he could've avoided.

As he opened his eyes, he realized that he was semi-floating in some kind of white barrier, with the cloak he was wearing having vanished. He blinked a few times, hoping that he was dreaming. However, as his vision cleared, it became obvious to him that he wasn't just trapped inside a barrier, but that he was also inside some stranger's computer.

What is going on here?!

''So, you had finally woken up.''

Bass directed his attention to the monitor that suddenly opened in front of him, furious to see a human girl staring back at him. She didn't seem to be particularly bothered by the fact that the Navi looked like he was two seconds away from blowing up her computer.

''Who are you?! What have you done to me?!'' Bass asked angrily, giving the girl a look of pure hatred.

''I saved your life,'' the girl replied in a deadpan tone, with Bass being stunned at first, but he quickly composed himself.

''What are you talking about?'' he asked suspiciously.

''You've been affected by something known as the DelProgram, which has the ability to infect another program or a Navi and delete them completely by damaging the most vital parts of their system. If I weren't around, you'd be gone by now,'' the girl explained. ''Also, my name is Rei Nakano.''

''I don't care. You either let me out of this thing, or I'm going to blow up your computer,'' Bass demanded, glaring at Rei, who just shook her head, not fazed by his threats.

''If you leave the recovery barrier now, your data will get destabilized and you will get deleted since the DelProgram inside your body is still active, and this barrier is the only thing that prevents it from destroying you,'' Rei told him, only to add in a nonchalant tone. ''However, if you still want to leave, be my guest. I'm not going to force you to stay here.''

Bass gritted his teeth, clenching his fists, but made no attempt at blasting his way through the barrier. If what the girl told him was true, he had no other choice but to remain inside the barrier for who knows how long. Even though he didn't trust humans, he certainly wasn't going to act like a fool and try to see whether she was lying to him or not, especially if his own life was on the line. However, to say that he was displeased with his current situation was an understatement. Thanks to this freak accident, he was weakened and trapped, and the only company he had was that of a human girl who didn't appear to really care about his predicament and seemed to be only mildly interested in his condition. It felt humiliating, but he knew that he had to put his own survival above his pride. He noticed a tiny smile forming on Rei's lips, having a bad feeling about it.

''I guess you are going to stay here, then,'' she said, with Bass glaring at her, feeling that she was just taunting him.

''It seems that I have no other choice…'' he muttered.

''Not necessarily,'' Rei replied, still sounding quite nonchalant. Bass' eyes narrowed as he gave her a suspicious look.

''What are you talking about?'' he asked, crossing his arms.

''While you were unconscious, I decided to scan your data in order to see just how much damage the DelProgram had inflicted upon your system and whether there was a way to reverse it and remove the DelProgram entirely,'' Rei told him. ''During that, I ran into a problem.''

''What kind of problem?'' Bass asked in an irritated tone. Rei typed something on her keyboard, with a monitor displaying the results of her scan appearing next to the barrier.

''To make it clear, the DelProgram can be removed without causing more damage to your system,'' Rei continued. ''The issue is, however, that it heavily affected your auto-recovery system, as well as something called the Get Ability program, causing them to not only become extremely buggy, but also self-destructive. If I were to let you leave like this and you decided to use them, you'd be experiencing error upon error that would leave you in a state where you'd be barely able to function. You'd basically become a walking empty shell with no sense of self, with your data eventually falling apart.''

Bass kept silent, thinking about what Rei had just told him. While he could handle the loss of the auto-recovery system, the fact that his Get Ability program was damaged as well put him in a rather precarious situation. His Get Ability was essential, as it was what kept him alive for so long. He knew that he wouldn't be able to survive with his ability being in the state it is now.

It can't end like this…

''You know, there is an alternative to this, but it will take a bit longer to implement,'' Rei said calmly, drawing Bass' attention. ''However, I would have to remove the Get Ability program…''

''Forget it!'' Bass yelled at her, enraged. He wasn't going to let her take away the program that kept him alive for all those years. Even if he was in a weakened state, he wasn't going down without a fight. However, Rei wasn't fazed at all by the rage that was directed towards her, giving Bass a stern look.

''You really should listen to my suggestion,'' she replied in surprisingly a calm tone, causing Bass to wonder what exactly she was up to. ''All I wanted to say is that I could remove this buggy and error-riddled mess and use the available information to either fix your Get Ability program or create another one. It wouldn't be the same, obviously, but it would function in the same manner to the point you wouldn't notice the difference. I may not be a genius in the programming department, but I'm certain that I would be able to replace your program with an equally good one.''

''Tch.'' Bass frowned, still glaring daggers at Rei. ''Why should I even trust you? For all I know, you could do something to me that would make my situation only worse.''

''If I wanted to do that, don't you think that I would've already done it without telling you anything?'' Rei replied, with Bass giving her a skeptical look, obviously still not convinced. Rei sighed. ''Look, I know that you hate humans in general and I'm not blaming you for that, since I know too how monstrous they can be, but this is the offer I'm giving you. You can take it or leave it, no strings attached.''

Bass stared at her in silence, still doubtful about her offer and unwilling to accept her help. However, he was aware that his future was quite bleak if he refused.

''Why would you even want to help me if you know that I despise humans?'' Bass asked her.

''No offense, but I'm not doing it because I'm altruistic or anything like that,'' Rei told him. ''I guess that one could say that I'm doing this out of spite towards a certain someone.''

''Really? Who is your target?'' Bass asked. Rei fell silent for a moment, her eyes narrowing.

''They're actually an organization called Void Zero and I have a personal issue with them, so I'm more than willing to ruin whatever plans they come up with,'' Rei explained. ''They were also the ones who distributed this DelProgram and I've been trying to track down one of their Navis, who is known as the Enforcer. I had hoped that I would manage to find them this time, but I failed. Nevertheless, I guess that it was a good thing that I had found you before you perished.''

Bass hated to admit it, but Rei was right. Had she not decided to investigate, he would've ceased to exist. Still, there was something else on his mind. ''Do you want to say that this organization may have decided to target me?''

''As for your case, I believe that you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,'' Rei said, shrugging. ''However, I cannot say that I'm certain about it. What I know about the way Void Zero works is that they love causing chaos without any indication that they have a solid plan. However, if you manage to look past the chaos, it is obvious that they know what they're doing. Take for example the DelProgram. On the surface, it appeared that they were just giving out randomly a deletion program to anyone who wanted the ability to destroy others. But, if you looked past that, you'd see that they were searching for someone who would test the program for them.''

''That's unnecessary information,'' Bass said, with Rei raising an eyebrow. However, she had figured that he was the type of person who didn't care about exposition and would focus on just beating up anyone who stood in his way. It was a rather straightforward approach, but it obviously worked for him.

''In any case, are you going to accept my offer or not?'' Rei asked. Bass gave her a cold gaze, only to look away.

''Fine,'' he muttered. ''So, how long should it take for you to restore the Get Ability program?''

''A couple of days at most,'' Rei replied, noticing the annoyed look on Bass' expression.

''You can't be serious…''

''Hey, I said that I'd be able to fix it, but I didn't say that it would be an instant repair,'' Rei replied, glancing back at the monitor. ''In any case, once I'm done with the removal, you can leave and return later for it if you don't want to wait here.''

Bass kept silent, making it clear that he wasn't going to just leave Rei with the Get Ability program. He may have accepted her offer to help him, but that didn't mean that he trusted her more than necessary.

''Okay, then,'' Rei muttered, typing something on her keyboard. Bass crossed his arms, knowing that he'd now have to wait for Rei to be done with her work.

He looked around, trying to find something of interest, but so far, all he saw were purple panels, with streams of data pulsing through them. There were a few monitors scattered around, with the closest one to him being the one containing the results of Rei's analysis. If anything, Rei kept her homepage in order, but it felt as if something was missing.

You'd think that she would have someone to assist her with this. Bass thought after realizing that he was the only one here.

A few minutes had passed, with the only sound being that of Rei's relentless typing on the keyboard, followed by occasional streams of data flowing into white barrier. After what seemed to be an eternity, the barrier finally vanished, with Bass being now free to roam around Rei's computer.

''I had managed to repair the auto-recovery system and removed the buggy program, so you don't have to stay inside the recovery barrier,'' Rei said. ''As for the Get Ability program, it will take about a day or two for me to fix it.''

''That's still too long,'' Bass replied, glaring at her.

''You know, you can complain as much as you want, but it won't get things done any sooner,'' Rei replied, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

''If you stopped talking and actually did your job, we wouldn't be having this conversation,'' Bass told her.

Rei just rolled her eyes, realizing that this would be a long weekend.

xXx

''Battle Chip, Wide Sword! Slot-in!''

MegaMan's arm turned into a blade and he ran towards the viruses that were floating in front of him. He slashed through them easily, turning towards the next wave of viruses.

''Battle Chip, Shotgun! Slot-in!'' Lan put in another Battle Chip, with the sword MegaMan was wielding turning into a shotgun.

''Take this!'' He fired at the viruses, deleting all of them. He then looked around with a satisfied look on his expression. ''I think those were all of the viruses in this area.''

''You did a great job, MegaMan,'' Lan praised his Navi. ''Let's move on to the next area.''

''I think it would be better for you to get that homework of yours finally done,'' MegaMan replied.

''But, I don't have school tomorrow, so why should I focus on homework now when there is some virus busting to do?'' Lan said. ''I mean, I have enough time for that.''

''You said the same thing last time and then you made your homework at the last minute, remember? The teacher wasn't really happy when he saw how sloppy your answers were,'' MegaMan said.

''Uh, well…'' Lan replied, with a sheepish grin on his expression. ''Don't worry, I'll get this one done in time, I promise!''

MegaMan sighed. ''I guess old habits die hard.''

''Hey, I said it'll be fine,'' Lan argued back, starting to bicker once again with his NetNavi over homework.

Unknown to the two, another figure was standing on the hill above them, observing them with great interest. It appeared to be a female NetNavi, who had green eyes and short, brown hair. She was dressed in a blue short-sleeved jacket with a red collar, dark blue shorts with a red belt, a with a long flowing red ribbon on her back, dark blue and red boots, black and red fingerless gloves and a black bodysuit under her clothes. Instead of a helmet, she was wearing what resembled dark blue ear pieces, the right piece having a golden and red insignia resembling a Z with an X mark behind it, and a green visor. On the left side of her jacket was her Navi emblem, a solid red circle with a black outer circle and the same golden ZX insignia as the one on her ear piece.

''Lan Hikari and MegaMan… They can be quite dangerous, if put in the right mindset,'' she muttered. ''Just like that idiot. However, I'd still want to see for myself what exactly they're capable of.'' She smirked. ''This should be interesting.''

She then walked away, logging out of the area.

Links:

#Previous Chapter

#Current Chapter

#Next Chapter

#The Ultimate NetNavi (Story Archive)

#The Ultimate NetNavi #bass.exe #forte.exe #megaman.exe #rockman.exe #lan hikari #hikari netto #megaman battle network #mmbn #megaman battle network manga #mmbn manga #rockman.exe manga #megaman nt warrior manga #megaman zx

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mach-speed-spin · 3 years ago

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Beyblade character design analysis: Tyson Granger

Last time I covered the metal saga’s main character, Gingka Hagane. This time, I’ll cover the original series main character, Tyson Granger (aka Takao Kinomiya)

Tyson has a blue and red baseball cap which he wear backwards. Despite Dragoon being white, it often has blue and red accents. Tyson also has dark blue hair that at the front, somehwat resembles Kai’s. This image doesn’t show it but he also has a ponytail. Tyson, I get that your character was created in the late 90′s but most of your series ran (and took place) in the 2000′s

He has a yellow shirt. Tyson’s clothes are the primary colors. Main characters often wear primary colors in a lot of media for some reason. Also, he tucked his shirt in his shorts. They’re shorts ffs. Why would you do this?

He wears a red jacket. Probably because when you have a shirt and a jacket the jacket is more visible, and having only the shirt would be too much of the same color

Tyson has a pair of brown fingerless gloves. I could copy-paste “[character] wears fingerless gloves” onto most of these posts. What is it with beyblade and fingerless gloves? I do like it though

Blue shorts because Tyson wears primary colors. I do like the blue though because Dragoon has blue in it’s color scheme (something I can’t say for the yellow)

Tyson has somewhat long white socks. Not sure what the point of that is

Red and yellow shoes because primary colors

Ignoring the art style change, his V-Force isn’t that different. He keeps the hat and hair

He still wears a yellow shirt under a red jacket. This time however, the shirt has long sleeves and the jacket lacks the yellow buttons And his shirt is no longer tucked. Overall, Tyson wears more yellow in V-Force

His brown gloves have been replaced by blue gloves This is probably to compensate for the fact that his blue shorts are gone and blue is integral to his design

He wears long grey pants instead of blue shorts. Because of this, I don’t know how long his socks are

His shoes are now grey and red

I genuinely have nothing to say about Tyson’s G-Revolution design

The top half is based on season 1. Hat, short sleeved yellow shirt, red jacket. The only difference is that it isn’t tucked into his pants

His pants are grey and are basically unchanged from V-Force

His shoes are the only noticeable change. They’re red and white. If only that was some sort of symbolism

Conclusion: Tyson’s design was a bit dissapoiting to be honest. There wasn’t much symbolism or outrageous fashion like other characters. He is a product of Beyblade’s early years (before even the manga) when it was still trying to figure ut what it wanted to be

#beyblade #character design analysis #beyblade overanalysis #tyson granger #takao kinomiya

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writing-is-a-martial-art · 3 years ago

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Fur, Fire & Feathers: a CLH story, part 2/2

TW/CW: fire, violence, fighting, injury, possible (implied) death of a minor character, please tell me if there's more!

A/N: and here is part two of FF&F, which I refer two as The Really Crazy Part. Enjoy :-)

Word count: 3474 words

CLH Taglist (contact me to be added/removed):

@enchanted-lightning-aes @47crayons @the-titular-bird @sleepy-night-child @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @a-completely-normal-writer @pagesofcursive @rainycatto @pandawriterstuff @aditiwrites @abalonetea @tildeathdo-i-write @lunewell @viskafrer @opes-magnas

The werewolf howled as a bright, orangy-yellow figure crushed into it at full speed, landing kicks and punches that left flames dancing on its fur. The creature tried to fight back, but the fire spread too fast. After a couple of uncoordinated paw swings, it dropped to the ground and rolled around, trying to put out the flames.

“Are you fine?” the figure asked in Hala’s voice, turning to Kit, who stood there, petrified.

“Hala...”

“Yes, it’s me. You’ve seen me every day for the past three years, glad you remember the name. Now, are you fine or not?”

“B-b-b-b-ut...” Kit made a vague waving gesture, trying to illustrate how their friend wasn’t usually a floating, winged figure made of fire.

“Oh, that," Hala shrugged, the red wing-like flames behind her shoulders folding, letting her land, the rest of the fire still firmly covering her body. “This is a thing that happens now, I guess. It’s not dangerous… I think… look, it did help me save you, can we please figure out the rest once you’re safe?”

Kit opened their mouth, raised their hand, made a couple of incoherent noises, closed their mouth, lowered their hand, and nodded. Hala sighed and touched the side of the burnt creature with the tip of her shoe. The beast managed to put out the fire, but it passed out from the shock and the pain. There was a long, heavy pause, filled with smoke and the smell of burnt meat.

“Now,” Kit said, trying and failing to sound calm, ‘what are we going to do?“

“Wait!” came a yell, and Hala did not hesitate to clutch her fists and move between the voice and Kit.

The lanky person from before was some distance away, trying to catch their breath.

“You… you are one fast kid...” they managed to squeeze out between their heavy breaths

“Umm...” Hala looked from the blatantly inhuman body on the road to the panting person and tried to come up with a logical way to explain all of this.

“Did anyone get hurt?” the newcomer caught their breath and walked over to the body, studying its burn marks. They got no answer. “Which one of you did this?” no answer.

They looked at the duo, a mixture of fear and confusion written on Kit’s face, fear and determination on Hala’s.

“Look, I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but we don’t have the time for any more small talk. The Night’s pups never hunt alone. There are more of these things coming. We need to be out of here, far away, fast. I know how to do that. But there are two things I need you to do. First, can you follow me?”

Hala looked them over. They weren’t muscular or intimidating, a fire punch to the face should be enough to deal with them. She turned to look at Kit. They had the indifferent expression of a person who has been through enough to not care about anything at all.

“Yes. What else?” Hala crossed her arms, showing that this statement was no sign of trust.

The stranger gave out a small sigh of relief. “Can you show me the fastest way to the library?”

Hala stared at them for all of two minutes, waiting for their words to start making sense. They’re being chased by monsters, she’s still on fire - not that it’s bothering her, just something worth pointing out, it’s the middle of the night, and this person’s escape plan is going to the library? Maybe siding with them wasn’t a good survival tactic after all.

“There,” Kit pointed in the right direction, “down the street, then take a left at the crossroad, walk two blocks and take a right. It’s the oldest building on the street, hard to miss.”

They looked at the stranger, making sure that they understood their explanation, not a hint of confusion or curiosity on their face. They’ve given up on logic long ago.

“Great,” the stranger smiled, “now all we need to do is-” a distant howl interrupted their speech.

“Run,” Hala nodded and took off, half-running, half-flying, dragging an apathetic Kit behind her. The flames from her hands ran to their hands, but it didn’t seem to hurt them. Rather, the flames wrapped around them like a cloak, helping them keep up with Hala’s speed.

The stranger ran after them, wind in their hair and spacious clothes. A few seconds after they turned a corner, three more figures reached the burnt body.

“Here,” Hala landed in front of the old, wooden doors of the library, catching Kit, who was about to fall from the sudden stop. They turned to see that their companion did not fall behind this time, grabbing the door’s handle only a few seconds later.

“It’s locked. The library is locked for the-” Kit began, but the stranger waved them off.

“?, would you open the door for us? We’re in a hurry,” they said in a clear, loud voice.

“?,” Hala asked, “is it a name, or...” she trailed off, looking at the far end of the street. “However they are, they better open that door fast.”

Three silhouettes just turned the corner, still hard to see. They seemed more human than the thing that chased Kit, but they moved far too quickly.

Hala’s new acquaintance followed her gaze and shook the library’s doorknob, yelling “?, I know you can hear me! Please, we don’t have time for this!”.

Hala shoved Kit behind her, waiting for the inevitable fight. The figures grew closer every second, but they were still hard to see. A thick mist followed them, concealing their forms, making the street behind them disappear. How in the world was she supposed to fistfight mist?

Just as the figures got close enough for Hala to see the dim red glowing of their eyes, somebody grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her in. The lock clicked into place.

“Finally,” their dark-haired companion breathed out, rubbing their neck, “you should’ve taken your time, really. A few more seconds and I would never bother you again.”

“You’re welcome!” came a voice from behind Hala. She turned to see a short, young-looking person with dark skin, their long locs tied into a bun, a wide smile on their face. Their glasses reflected the warm light in the hall.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she wasn’t in the local library. The room looked nothing like their library’s hall: it was big and round, passageways branching out in every direction. An old-fashioned reception desk stood in the middle, neat stacks of books covering most of it. The door they entered through looked different from the inside, green and wooden, the words “exit” written above it.

“Wow...” Kit breathed out, looking around.

“So, who are your friends?” the person referred to as ? asked, looking from Kit and Hala to their new companion.

“Oh yes,” the lanky person said and stopped, a bewildered expression on their face. “This is quite awkward, but I’m afraid I was in too much of a hurry to introduce myself or ask for your names. I’m Arthur Wen, my pronouns are he/him. This is ?, and... ” Arthur made a pause to look at ?.

“Yes, I still go by they/them,” they finished, their smile growing more and more forced by the second, “look, it’s very nice to meet you all and everything, but could you please stop being on fire? This is a library.”

“Oh,” Hala didn’t know what else to say. She looked at the fire dancing on her arms and couldn’t think of anything better than to try and shake it off. That didn’t work.

“Think of it disappearing,” Arthur suggested, carefully stamping out the stray flames that landed on the rug. Hala nodded and closed her eyes. She made the fire go away last night. She didn’t want it to be there, and it was gone. She didn't want it now. She imagined it growing smaller, tamer, retracting into her skin.

When she opened her eyes, it was as if the fire was never there.

“Wonderful!” ? clapped their hands, their smile warm in the absence of immediate danger to the library, “Now, what are your names and how may I help you?”

“I’m Hala, she/her,” Hala said, wondering if she needs to introduce Kit or if they’ll do it themself. They were quiet, staring at the door.

“Uhh, yes - I’m Kit, they/them, nice to meet you and all that jazz, but could somebody please explain why nobody broke this door down yet?”

“Oh, that,” ? laughed, “don’t worry, little one. Nobody will open this door unless I allow them to. Where you entered, it doesn’t even exist anymore.”

Kit took a deep breath, something of a light smile touching their face.

“Great. That’s great. But I would quite prefer it if you would call me Kit. I’m almost sixteen, you know. You don’t seem that much older than me.”

“Of course, Kit” ? smiled, “excuse my rudeness. I was simply distracted by the fire hazard.”

Arthur chuckled, covering his smile.

Hala turned to him, “now that we are positively out of danger, could you please explain… anything? All of this, if you can?”

Kit nodded, agreeing with Hala’s question. Arthur twisted his ponytail silently for a few seconds.

“Look,” he sighed, “this will be a bit hard to believe-”

“Oh, really?” Hala raised an eyebrow, a small flame dancing on the palm of her hand.

“I don’t think anything would surprise me at this point. Cut to the chase,” Kit leaned against the green door, making themself comfortable.

“Okay,” Arthur took a deep breath, “there is magic, and there are magic creatures: werefolk, spirits, all the kinds. And some of those creatures are jerks. They like hunting weaker creatures for fun, no matter what kind. The stronger ones like seeking out weak magicians and magefolk as their game. Today, they decided that Kit here would do just fine.”

“Wait wait wait-” Hala made an X figure with her arms, interrupting Arthur, “Kit is not a magician, or a magefolk, or anything like that. Out of the two of us, I’m the winged, fire-y one. Why didn’t they come after me?”

“About that...” Kit drawled

“Kit-”

“I’m not much of a magician anyway, okay? It’s not like there’s anybody around to teach me this stuff!”

Hala raised her arms in a calming gesture. “All right, all right! Kit’s a magician, magic is real, those are the things I will have to try and internalize later. But what about me? What am I supposed to be?”

“You don’t know?” Arthur asked with genuine surprise in his voice “I thought you always remember things like that...”

“Things like what? I’m sorry if I’m ruining your dramatic reveal, but I have no energy for riddles right now.”

Arthur looked at ?, who shrugged and gave him a little nod. “I don’t know how you can not know this, but… powerful fire magic, flying, your age - I’m pretty sure you’re the phoenix.”

“Huh,” Hala said.

What else was there to say when a person you met about ten minutes ago claims that you aren’t human, and you can’t think of a way to argue? People fly in their dreams, but not as she does, and their dreams don't summon fire. She looked at Arthur. He looked serious, his features sharp and cold. His matching bracelets and choker gleamed a metallic grey in the library’s light. “Silver, probably,” she thought, “what else would a monster hunter wear?”

“Alright,” she said, her voice cheerful enough to surprise even herself, “let’s get this over with! What do you do with phoenixes? Cage them? Fry them for nuggets? I need to know my options.”

“No! What? No!” Arthur waved his hands, panic in his voice, “You’re THE phoenix! The only one! You must be protected at all costs! What do you take me for???”

“Some kind of… monster-hunter?” Hala asked, unsure. ? tried to hide their laughter with a chuckle, though it didn't quite work.

Arthur hid his face in the palm of his hands. “Why am I the one stuck with social interactions? They both know I’m terrible at social interactions,” Hala could hear him murmur.

He regained some level of self-control, straightening himself. “I am sorry for all the miscommunication on my part. I could try and explain things, but I’m afraid that would only make matters worse, so here is a helpful brochure. Please read it,” he said with a dead-inside customer service smile, waited for Hala to take the colorful piece of paper he fetched from his pocket, and excused himself to disappear in one of the corridors. The distant sound of angry yells may have reached the ears of those who stayed in the hall. ? shrugged and went over to the desk, sorting through the books, whistling to themself.

Hala looked at the brochure. The cover was… informational. It had a bunch of stylized drawings that looked somewhat like road signs. An outline of a running person, a mammoth behind them, a clock in the background. Another person, this time surrounded by skeletons. A split image, half an outline of a human, the other of deer. In the middle of the cover, “HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU?” was written in big, friendly letters. She unfolded the brochure. The rest was just as colorful and cheerful, keeping the consistent “brochure you are most likely to throw out” style. Here’s what it read:

Have you been experiencing things that you cannot explain? Are the dead following you? Do you find animal hair on your favorite clothes when you don’t own any pets? Do things float or transform when you’re angry? Does daytime feel uncomfortable? Do you have memories of things that haven’t happened yet, or have happened before your time? If so, do not worry! The Academy is the place for you! Here, qualified magicians and magefolk will help you stay on top of your skills and abilities, no matter what they are!

Smaller, less screaming letters on the back added:

Free resurrection in case of a student’s death. Address: knock on the door of the nearest library and ask for ?.

“Interesting,” Kit said, looking over Hala’s shoulder, “If it wasn’t for what I saw with my own eyes, this thing would end up in the trash in seconds.”

Hala nodded. The brochure seemed more like a joke than anything else. But the things she and Kit saw must’ve been real. So, an academy for all kinds of weird creatures. Great.

“I’m fine, I’m back!” Arthur stormed into the hall, his eyes slightly red, his voice more energetic, “now, did you have the time to read the brochure?”

“Um… yes, yes we did,” Hala held the thing with two fingers, like an unusual piece of organic matter one’s dog found in the trash. “So… this is our only option? Join the Academy or be chased by monsters for as long as we can run?”

“Oh, not only them,” ? chimed in from their desk, “there’s also the Order, a human organization that wants to wipe out all magefolk. They’ll want to get the legendary phoenix, that’s for sure.”

“Thank you for your kind encouragement,” Hala nodded. ? didn’t seem malevolent, but if Arthur’s social skills were at a zero, ?’s could be classified as a negative ten.

“Well then, we should probably head out,” Kit brushed the dust off of their clothes.

“But what about our families? Won’t they wonder where we are?” Hala asked.

“We have a way to deal with that. They’ll think you’ve won a competition to study in some boarding school abroad. In the end, you’ll get the paperwork for it and everything.”

“But will they be safe? If those creatures were able to track us-” Hala began, only for Arthur to interrupt her with his best "everything will be okay" tone.

“Both the Order and the Night are old-fashioned, relics of centuries gone and forgotten. They only track their victims through magic. Without you, your families would be invisible to them.”

“So, that’s it. Either we disappear forever or we become a danger both to others and ourselves?” Kit asked.

“Nobody’s talking about forever! It’s an Academy, a place to learn. The goal is to help you return to your usual life with the skills and knowledge to keep yourself safe.”

“How long will that take?” Hala mumbled as if talking to herself.

“The usual course takes three years. That’s the one Kit will be taking. For you,” Arthur looked at Hala, “I don’t have the faintest idea how long it will take for you. The phoenix, the one and the only, always remembers who they are, no matter what form they might take. You were always so wise and calm and witty… Even Evgeny was intimidated by you, and he’s been through more than I-”

“Stop, hold up!” Hala interrupted Arthur again, “you know me? We have met before?”

“Well… I think we did. You didn’t take a human form back then, and you sounded different, but the flames, the wings, the personality… I’m quite sure I’ve met you.”

“Okay,” Hala sighed. After all, it was just another one of the million new, impossible things to be surprised by. She felt tired. She probably felt tired before, but she has been ignoring all the alerts her body sent her, occupied with her survival and the survival of her friend. How long has it been since she properly slept for more than two hours? Kit offered her a shoulder, and she gladly held on to them.

“I think it would be better if you two chat tomorrow,” Kit said firmly, “now, could you please get us to a safe place to sleep in?”

“Of course, of course!” Arthur waved his hands, wide-eyed at the sight of Hala practically falling into Kit’s arms, “?, could you open the door to the Academy?”

? said something. ? did something. Hala tried her best to stay awake, but the forms around her became fuzzy and uncertain. All she could gather was that the green door opened again, and Arthur and Kit helped her get through. Finally, some piece and…

The sound of an explosion made Hala jump, pushing Arthur and Kit aside.

“Unauthorized demon summoning on floor three, alert level one, I repeat, alert level one, everyone RUN!” somebody ran towards them, yelling, pale as a corpse with eyes shining a terrified red beneath a pair of glasses.

“Arch, get the kids out, now!”

“But-” Kit tried to speak up when Arthur grabbed Kit with one hand, Hala with another, and jumped out of the window.

They both faught to get out, but it was too late. The three of them were approaching the earth at a terrifying speed. Until they weren’t.

The air around them stopped whooshing past, forming something of an upward current, slowing their fall to a comfortable descent.

“There we go,” Arthur said cheerfully as the three landed on the grass.

“WHAT IN THE WORLD-” Kit began, while Hala was still searching for words, only to be interrupted by a piercing, deafening screech. The windows near the one they jumped out of cracked and broke, a red light coming from the inside. After a few long, agonizing moments, there was only darkness and silence filled with shattered glass.

“I nie wracaj!*” came a triumphant yell, and yet another person jumped out of a window. Instead of falling, flying, or channeling the wind - which, at this point, all seemed to be quite common practices - they disappeared in a cloud of mist that safely floated from the third floor to the ground, reassembling itself into a human-like figure.

Hala stared at a madly smiling, short, skinny person, their hair in a messy bun, their face covered in scratches and burns, brownish-red eyes framed by the empty rim of their glasses.

“Welcome to the academy!” they declared, practically falling over, “my apologies for the scene, we’re finding new ways to safeguard the castle for demon-summoning. Now, I will show you to the sleeping chambers, and-” they turned to Arthur, “we have to call Nira, and… Elin, quite possibly.”

“You know we’re running low on favors from the crows,” Arthur sighed.

“I know, but...”

Hala listened, but the words they spoke made little sense. She held onto Kit, who, in all honesty, looked just as tired as she did. It would be more accurate to say that they held onto each other.

“Our life isn’t about to get any saner, is it?” Kit muttered.

“No,” Hala said, watching the red flames lick the broken windows, “No, I suppose it is not.”

#oleg's writing #cozy little horrors #my writing #writeblr #fantasy #urban fantasy #comedy writing

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sailtoafarawayland · 4 years ago

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The Chicken Debacle

Summary: There’s nothing Emma loves more than watching her husband work up a sweat, but being right certainly comes in a close second. In which a hot day, a flock of fowl, and a naughty Emma work together to make good use of some patio furniture.

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Humor, Pregnant Emma, Pregnant Sex

Many thanks to all of my lovelies over on the discord - a truly inspiring bunch who prompted my muse to take what was a rather frustrating real life situation and turn it into something a bit more fun, and a bit more naughty.

AO3 - FF

The Chicken Debacle

“You're not going to help?” Killian asked, eyebrows darting up in surprise as he swept his arm across the backyard, gesturing toward the small flock of chickens currently digging through the garden and flower beds.

Emma caught the edge of her bottom lip between her teeth, her cheeks warming as she bit back a smile.

“Nope, sorry, babe,” she shrugged, running her hands down the large swell of her stomach, “I probably shouldn't be chasing chickens seven months pregnant. Besides, I'm not the one who forgot to shut the latch on the gate.”

His eyes narrowing at her accusation, Killian looked as if he were about to argue, but finally sighed and started toward the closest chicken, the heavyset, yellow fowl bobbing her head suspiciously as he drew near, her feathers ruffling as she shook herself and pecked viciously at the ground – readying herself for a fight, Killian imagined.

“I'll keep you company though,” Emma called out, grabbing her iced tea and laying back on the lounger – smothering a laugh behind her hand as her husband leaped toward the chicken only to have it kick up a cloud of mulch in his face and dart between his legs, making for the nearest bush.

“I'm very grateful indeed,” her husband quipped as he turned and reevaluated the situation, casting his eyes around the yard to see if there was anything he could use to ensnare the unsuspecting birds. “Enjoying your iced tea, Swan?”

“Yup, delicious,” she purred, enjoying the way the hot sun was glancing off the sheen on his chest, the summer hot enough that even the smallest amount of activity outside was enough to make them both sweat. “Perfect for a hot day – oh, our little one just kicked!”

A look of genuine contentment washed over Emma's face as she rested her free hand on her belly, her hair falling to frame her cheeks as she whispered something he couldn't hear to the child growing within her – and just like that the frustration fell from his shoulders, replaced with a love so deep he wouldn't begrudge his beautiful wife anything, not even the opportunity to hold something as trivial as the chicken gate over his head, but...that didn't mean he couldn't make his Swan work up a sweat of her own while doing it.

Emma had just looked up from the gently undulating swell of her belly when she saw Killian standing in the middle of their yard, his fingers folded around the edge of his shirt as he lifted the hem up and over his body, his abs and pectorals flexing as he tossed it to the ground nearby, shoulders rolling as he stretched and eyed the closest chicken with a determination Emma recognized immediately– those poor birds were in for it.

She watched as he lunged forward, his sneakers shifting in the grass as he chased the chicken toward a corner of the fencing, just managing to snatch it by the leg before carefully folding its wings in and lowering her over the fence back into the run, the only sign of a bruised ego some few ruffled feathers.

He rounded on the next bird, a smaller one that Emma liked to call Cinnamon – although they were pretty sure she'd never laid, and were somewhat concerned she didn't seem to know she was a chicken at all, preferring to spend her time stubbornly following around the chipmunks and squirrels that frequented the yard. While she wasn't the smartest of the bunch, she was quick, and Emma had to bite back a chuckle as Killian stumbled more than once trying to get near her – eventually giving up and moving on to the larger fowl digging in the raspberries.

Emma enjoyed the cool slip of iced tea down her throat as she feasted on her husband – his skin glistening in the sun as he moved, each hard line and muscle calling out to be touched, stroked, lavished with the sweep of her tongue as she slid her palms over the ridged planes of his stomach, moving lower until she could curl her fingers around the waistband of his shorts and slowly peel them down, her nose parting the thatch of dark curls that surrounded his thick, glorious –

“Ha!” Killian let out a triumphant yell, drawing Emma's mind back to what he was doing, two rather disgruntled looking hens fidgeting in his arms as he hurried them back to the pen and plopped them over the fence.

Her eyes were locked on her husband as he paused to catch his breath, his biceps curling as he ran his hands through his inky mop of hair, a curtain of it falling once more over his face as he bent and tightened the laces on one of his shoes, giving her an eyeful of just how firm and perfect his ass was in those particular shorts – if her husband wasn't made in the image of the gods, then she wasn't sure there ever was such a thing.

The straw she'd been sucking on finally let out a loud gurgle as she drained the last of her drink, her cheeks flushed as Killian turned around and shot her a look that said he knew exactly what she was thinking, and indeed, as she shifted on the lounger, she could feel her desire slick and wet between her legs – but there was still one chicken left to catch – Cinnamon, and her pirate wasn't one to give up before the job was done. She set the glass down on the patio, her fingers brushing against the firm coil of the hose they used for watering the garden, and as she watched Killian sprint across the yard after the last, stubborn bird, she got a perfectly wicked idea.

He'd made a few passes around the yard, Cinnamon dodging into the raspberries when he rooted her out of the garden, but no matter how quick he was, she was faster, her beady eyes never leaving him as she pranced through the grass like a tiny, cheeky dinosaur, always just out of arm's reach. It wasn't until he paused mid yard to catch his breath that Emma struck, the hose already primed and ready as she pulled the trigger and let a spray of cool water douse him, his muscles tensing as he jumped out of range and spluttered, wiping the rivulets of clear water from his eyes, his hair plastered to his head.

“Oh, you'll pay for that, Swan,” he promised, stepping forward with a dark intensity that had her scooting back on the lounge chair, her hands raised in front of her to ward off any tickling he was likely make her suffer.

“You looked so hot,” she begged, her voice rising an octave as he drew closer, droplets spraying from his hair as he shook his head and graced her with a sinful smirk, “hot and thirsty...I just thought – ”

She was about to scream, her body already on edge at the mere thought that he might tickle her, but then he stopped, both of their heads swiveling to the garden shed where they could here the clamor of something knocking and a plaintive bock that sounded for all the world like it was coming from the bottom of a well.

“Well, your punishment will just have to wait, love – that's too good an opportunity to pass up,” Killian grinning, walking swiftly to the shed where Emma could just see the fluffy bottom of Cinnamon framed by two flapping wings, her head stuck in the open neck of an old water can.

Triumphantly, Killian picked up both the bird and the can, soothing her with quiet sounds as he coaxed her free and dropped her back into the pen with her sisters, her soft orange feathers looking only a little worse for the wear as she rejoined the flock with a confused warble.

Emma's heart thumped in her chest as her husband finally turned his attention back to her, no more chickens to distract him, and advanced across the yard, the ripple of his muscles as he moved making her core clench and her nipples harden beneath her tank top – fuck if she didn't always want him, and pregnancy hadn't done anything but make that need more sharp, more constant.

“Killian,” she pleaded, licking her lips as he strode toward her, that same determination she'd seen earlier now focused entirely on her. “You could have gotten heat stroke. It's got to be ninety – ”

She yelped as his large hands gripped the bottom of the lounge chair and pulled it closer, its wheels grating against the patio as she held on, her bare foot running along the side of her leg in anticipation.

“You were quite right, love – I was getting quite thirsty.” Letting go of the chair, he kept his blue gaze locked on hers as his palms traced the firm lines of her calves, pressing deliciously into her muscles and sliding up towards her thighs as he leaned closer, “and now that you've sated that need, I can focus on more important matters.”

“Oh?” she breathed, every other part of her brain shutting down as her body screamed for him to touch her, to take her right there on the lounge chair, “and what would that be?”

“Well, a bit of hard labor always makes a man hungry, Swan,” he growled, his hands swiveling to press against the inside of her knees, her legs falling open on the lounger as he filled the space between them, his fingers deftly pulling the adjustment on the side of the chair and carefully lowering the head rest so she was nearly flat, her view of him suddenly blocked by the roundness of their child – it was the only thing she missed, being able to see him so sinfully enjoying himself between her legs.

“And I intend to enjoy every last bite of my dessert,” he finished, his fingers making her jump as they brushed against her inner thigh, pushing the light fabric of her shorts and panties to the side as he exposed her. “I knew you'd already be sopping wet for me, love...”

Emma whimpered as she felt the welcome press of his stubbled cheek against her leg, his breath hot against her damp folds for only an instant before the sensation was washed away by his tongue lightly dragging through her arousal, her back arching as he curled the tip of it around her clit, just barely nudging beneath its hood to tease the sensitive nerves within.

“Oh my god,” she hissed, her fingers wrapping tightly around the edges of the lounger as she pushed forward, desperate to have his mouth sealed over her, sucking and licking and making her feel as if she could shatter with one flick of his tongue – knowing she would. “Killian, please...”

“Now be a good girl,” he whispered, pulling back as she writhed closer. “I intend to savor this, just as you savored watching me chase those bothersome fowl around the yard.”

“You shouldn't have forgotten to lock the door,” Emma whined – why she was arguing, she wasn't sure, after all, it wasn't talking she wanted his mouth occupied with.

“Ah, but I didn't let the chickens out this morning,” he chided, licking a stripe along her leg before returning to her drenched folds, teasing along the edges of them as he drank down her essence. “I was dropping Henry off at work, if you recall.”

“Oh!” Emma gasped as his tongue slipped into her, stroking another wave of wetness from her walls as his lips massaged her flesh – oh, that was right, she remembered it now, letting them out, dropping the lid to the feed bin on her foot and forgetting to latch the gate. “Oh my god....fuck...Killian, please...”

She could feel his grin against her as he pushed her legs wider, the top of his head bumping against her belly as he moved up. The flat of his tongue licked straight through her wetness and encircled her clit, his lips pursing as he sucked on her small, swollen nub, his scruff razing her thighs and countering the overwhelming roll of pleasure that was spiraling between her legs.

“So delicious, Emma,” he moaned between her sharp gasps, leaving her only a moment's relief before he returned to making her crumble around him, alternating between sucking and laving her clit, his fingers reaching between them to slide into her tight sheath, her walls grasping and pulling as soon as he entered, eager to be filled. “I could feast on you like this all day...”

Something between a cry and a scream fell from her lips as she clutched the lounger, the pleasure building in her core spiraling and writhing and threatening to pull her apart as his rough fingers stroked her swollen walls, his tongue darting down to swallow every drop of arousal that was slipping from her, his breath fast and needy against her hot flesh – and then with a rough press of his fingers and soft flicks of his tongue, she was falling, tumbling, breaking apart around his mouth as her orgasm rolled through her like a storm.

She eased her hips up without realizing what was happening, Killian's strong hands caressing her flesh at the same time he slipped her shorts from her body, leaving her half clothed in their backyard, her mind still spinning from his incredible mouth, the sounds of the outdoors and the cars in the distance only just filtering back to her.

“That was...”

“I know,” he smirked, tossing her shorts to patio as he hooked his fingers into his own and drew them down over the impressive length of his cock, its swollen thickness bobbing against his stomach with urgency, “and now that I've eaten, I think we can move onto taking care of my other needs.”

“Killian,” she rasped, her words muffled against the material of the lounger as he gently lifted and guided her, turning her still reeling body over so that her hips were raised in the air, her sopping folds open and framed by her pale thighs as her face rested against the cushion.

“Yes, love,” he hummed, drawing a groan from her as he ran his cock through her folds, coating it in her arousal before slapping it cheekily against her bottom. “Is there something you wanted to say, perhaps?”

“I left the...accidentally...” she mumbled, coherent thought fleeing her as she felt the thick press of the head of his cock against her pleading center, her folds parting around its velvet roundness as he slowly entered her.

“What was that, darling?” His hardness slid unhurriedly into her, his strong hands holding her achingly in place as she sought that burning fullness that came when he was in her completely, but her walls pulsed longingly around just the tip of him, anticipating when they would be stretched to their limit.

“Fuck...Killian, please, need you in me...all of you,” she begged, wriggling against his grip as he grunted and gave her a few shallow thrusts, the swollen head of his cock so close to that sensitive, ribbed place inside of her that would scream with pleasure as he rolled over it.

“Aye, I know what you need, Swan, but you won't get it just yet...” He pulled out slowly, his fingers grasping her full bottom and squeezing as he watched his cock slip from her, only the flushed, glistening edges of her folds still brushing against his sensitive flesh. “Not until you admit what you did.”

“I forgot,” she hissed in a rush of air, pushing hard against his grasp, his nails almost certainly leaving red marks in her pale skin as she struggled to slide herself back onto his hard length, needing it like she needed to breath. “I left the gate open for the chickens to get – get out...”

“There we are, Swan,” he crooned, his grip easing as he swatted her on the bottom and leaned forward, a keening whimper falling from her mouth as he lodged himself completely within her, her nails dragging across the cushion as she rolled her hips to adjust to his girth. “Now was that so hard?”

She would have laughed if she didn't think she would cry from how amazing it felt to have him buried inside of her, every inch of her core throbbing around him and begging to be stroked by his beautiful cock.

“Very hard,” she breathed, squeezing his member inside of her and reveling in the deep groan it pulled from his chest, a mischievous smile twisting her lips. “Are you mad at me?”

“Never, Emma,” he whispered, his words ghosting along her back as he leaned over her and placed a reverent kiss to her shoulder, his hand trailing along her body until it came to rest against her swollen stomach, drawing small circles against her taut skin. “There's nothing I love more than indulging the beautiful...” He thrust roughly into her, her cry of pleasure lodging between his ribs like the most exquisite knife as he withdrew “...forgetful...” Another drive of his hips buried him in her once more, her body trembling as her walls clung desperately to his cock “...mother of my child...”

A wavering cry hung between them as he sunk deeply into her again, stilling for only a moment before his hips snapped back and he set the punishing pace she was craving, greedy, desperate pleas falling from her lips as he pistoned into her, his skin burning with a heat that roared from deep in his gut to blaze along every inch of his body.

Emma clung to the lounger as Killian filled her over and over again, his member caressing the most intimate parts of her and pulling from her noises she'd only ever shared with him, her panting breaths lost amid the slap of their skin meeting, the back of her thighs stinging from the scrape of his hair as he pounded into her, whispering things into the air that had her core throbbing with sinful pride.

It didn't take them long, the hot sun beating down against them as he roared over her, her upper body limp and clutching the cushion beneath her as he finally came, the vicious pulsing of his cock sending her over that beautiful horizon once more, her tight sheath squeezing him as he washed her insides with his release, their bodies shivering and trembling together as those last waves licked their skin – electric and burning and perfectly right.

His cheek was rough and hot against her back as his cock finally softened and slipped from her, pulling a last whimper from her lips as her wet flesh was left cool and exposed, everything throbbing pleasantly. His fingers traced soothing lines along her legs and sides, a soft chuckle reverberating against her back.

“Something funny, pirate?” she murmured, her back starting to ache even though she felt too boneless to move.

“It just occurred to me that I may very well find the chickens loose more often after this...lovely afternoon interlude.”

“I make no promises,” she quipped.

“I've have always said you've a little bit of pirate in you, Swan,” he rumbled, pinching her bottom before gently rolling her to lay sideways on the lounger, his arms pulling her close to his chest.

“Well, more than a little,” she reminded him, drawing his calloused palm over her stomach, their not-so-little pirate rolling happily against them both as they soaked in the warmth of another lazy afternoon. Everything was bathed in that burnt, hazy afterglow that comes with summer, nearly tempting them to fall asleep – at least until something moving across her field of vision had Emma's eyes springing open, her mouth opening in surprise.

“Is that...Killian, did you check that the latch was actually shut after you put the chickens back in?”

Her husband's stubble scraped her skin as he peeked over her shoulder and watched the slow march of fowl making their way around the edge of the garden, scratching and pecking and looking far more recuperated from their last encounter than he currently felt.

“Bloody hell...”

END

Tagging: @justanother-unluckysoul @kmom0f4 @the-darkdragonfly @teamhook @zaharadessert @xarandomdreamx @jrob64 @wefoundloveunderthelight @tiganasummertree @pirateprincessofpizza @lfh1226-linda @alexa-fangirl-forever @alifeofdreams @superchocovian @donteattheappleshook @hollyethecurious @caught-in-the-filter @snowbellewells @itsfabianadocarmo @stahlop

#Captain Swan #CS fic #cs fanfic #emma swan #killian jones #sailtoafarawayland #humor #pregnant emma #the chicken debacle

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1ddotdhq · 4 years ago

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🗳 Tues 3 Nov ‘20 🗳

Some pictures of Harry on the set of DWD emerged yesterday evening, and in them you could see him walking around (mostly) masked from trailer to trailer, texting and getting his tattoos covered - it’s go time bayyybeee! He was wearing a truly shocking outfit in the form of some alarming pastel joggers, a rainbow Free and Easy Tshirt that said “VOTE” , a sweatshirt with a golden walrus on it (the bright white hood and mask combo made for a striking HAZmat suit look), and sneakers. Looking at it sort of felt like the ghost of 2010 Harry had come back to haunt us, but missed Halloween by a few days! Anyways, his anchor tattoo is being concealed, as is part of his mermaid, and I’m assuming we shall see the rest of his arms free of his tats very soon - which, sort of bittersweet, yeah? Much discussion has taken place around who he was texting (the letter on the phone was indistinguishable- could have been anything from M to H to J to L to G), what he was saying, and his lock screen picture (is it Cliff? Could be, sort of looks like him, I guess. But it also looks like Louis’ profile picture, a guy in a hoodie, his mom, his sister, MY mom, etc. so I wouldn't place any bets just yet). As usual, no consensus was reached, but good work Harry on growing up and changing your screen to something a little harder to make out than that time he got caught with a picture of Louis on there! I mean - it could still be a picture of Louis but a blob that also looks like it might be Clifford, which is less scandalous. However, the pictures from TODAY were unmistakably taken from Louis’ fashion - a bright yellow-sleeved baseball T-shirt (with some sort of waves on the front), a pair of jeans (not skinny jeans, more like mom jeans), and the same brightly colored shoes as yesterday. Gotta tell you that I sent some really confused text messages asking why Louis was seen on the DWD set when I first saw the pictures - HOW are they not THE SAME person??

Then, so as to really cause a scandal (sigh), HSHQ took to instagram to tell people to “Vote With Kindness”, and put voting resources in the bio, and then Harry put the post on his instagram story. This, of course, created an uproar in certain parts of the fandom, even though Biden wasn’t mentioned by name this time (which is what people were mad about last time ffs). People were quick to say that Harry should shut up and stop the self promotion, which is an...interesting take, given what today is. I’ll say this: recent studies show that about 12% of American voters (17% of Democrats) are influenced in their actions by celeb endorsements. Is Harry in particular going to make a difference in this election - is any ONE celebrity going to make a difference? I don’t know, but it certainly can’t hurt to try. Anyways, if people wanna be mad at Harry about something, those appropriative vaguely native patterned joggers seem like a way better target than being on the right side of an election.

Urban Dictionary was asked today to define Liam Payne, and they posted a screenshot to the Official Urban Dictionary Definition, which reads: “Liam Payne, a puppy on a Magical Rainbow filled with Lucky Charms and Anti - Spoon Spray and adorableness and fluffiness and he is the Nicest Person On Earth”. Awwww, amazing, but we been knew! Also, Liam’s Happy Hour episode with JaackMaate will be released on November 19th, so look forward to that in a few weeks - I’m sure it will be here faster than we think!

#harry styles #liam payne #hi guys this is me in the tags telling you i don't want to argue over Harrys thing #i think hes doing his best and it isnt perfect but its better than doing nothing at all #and so im not about to condemn him for it #also i will be around today because this is a trainwreck that i cant look away from but probably not answering very many questions #who knows #ugh #anywa #song of the day #North by Sleeping at Last

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teaenthusiast65 · 7 years ago

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Announcement!

Attention lovelies!

Today is the day. Today is the day I start writing the sequel to Yellow Shoes.

For those of you unfamiliar, Yellow Shoes was one of my most popular fics starring Oscar Isaac. But even if you aren’t familiar, you should be able to enjoy this story.

For those of you who are familiar, your patience will be rewarded. Like, I’m talking first chapter.

So this is me now, starting the fic:

And I’m pretty sure this will be me by the end of the day:

I’m also pretty sure Edna Mode is my spirit animal. Tiny, dramatic, ferocious and obsessed with fashion... sounds like me.

Stay tuned lovelies. Stuff is happening.

--Tea Enthusiast

#Oscar Isaac #fanfiction #fanfic #real person fanfiction #yellow shoes ff #future story #funny gif #edna mode #spirit animal #comingsoon

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de--bris · 4 years ago

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I swear it wouldve been less embarrassing for the sk8 team to just put Reki and Shadow in the Dumb and Dumber tuxedos ffs

Like Reki isn't all that bad its a little rough but I can deal with it but

Shadow

Baby

You work in a flower shop you have to have some sense of color coordination but not a single shade on your suit matches like what

It honestly looks like him and Reki switched shoes like why are your shoes such an obnoxious yellow when nothing else in your outfit is yellow???? And the bright pink tie?????? Someone help him I get why he hangs out with the kids 😔😔😔

I would like to add that Miya dressed himself and bought his entire outfit online during an Alice In Wonderland x HotTopic collab event

Also Nanako dressed Langa and nothing anyone says will change my mind we all know that boy does not have the fashion sense to put together that outfit

#sk8 reki #sk8 shadow #hiromi higa #reki kyan #sk8 anime #sk8 the infinity #sk8 #sk8 hiromi #sk8 miya #miya chinen #sk8 langa #hasegawa langa #sk8 nanako #hasegawa nanako

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eostre94 · 3 years ago

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My Fair-y Lady Ch. 04: A Race Against Time (Part 01)

<= Previous Chapter ( ~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~ ) Next Chapter =>

Based on & Inspired by the: Lady Fairy AU by @beebeebombam

CHAPTER 04: A Race Against Time (Part 01)

Opening Remarks:

Hello! Welcome to the newest Chapter of My Fair-y Lady, Part 01. Unlike my last update that was 2+ years from the last update, this one is thankfully around a few weeks in between. Originally was going to post this exactly 2 weeks from the last update, but lots of stuff happened on my end (ex: preparing for the Holidays and for my sister’s wedding, etc.), but thankfully I did post these! Here’s to hoping you all enjoy!

Stick around at the Endnotes if you want to read the notes and ramblings. I hope you all enjoy my story, and if you want, leave a comment since I would like to reply to them when I can, and I hope I can continue writing more on this!

AO3 Link ( ~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~ ) FF Link

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A new day began in Paris as the sun shined brightly, its rays signaling to the citizens of the city that it would be a good day like the ones before it or after. It even seeped through curtains of many who still thought they could still be asleep, giving a glimmering cue that it was time to finally awaken from their slumber.

“Hmmm . . . ughh . . . “

In a certain teenager’s room, the morning light was at a battle with the girl who was trying to still find herself asleep, but it was not to be. Her phone collaborated with the new day in their combined tag-team effort of blindingly bright brilliance and blaringly loud alarm sounds to finally get the teenager to get up and start the day, which she did begrudgingly.

“Ughh . . . alright, alright I’m up,” the teen muttered to herself as she finally relented and accepted that today was a new day.

Getting out of bed to do some light stretching, the girl looked at her phone and saw the date of today, and it made her show a small smile. Still somewhat tired, the girl in her green sleepwear and pink bedhead hair exited out of her bedroom and made a beeline for her dining area. The girl could already smell a faint scent of food, yet the food itself smelled different; that instantly made the girl perk up even more in her wakefulness as she saw the breakfast being made.

“Ahhh, there you are, Alix. I hope you like this little extra special breakfast for my little girl’s extra special day!” The man whom Alix knew looked at her as she was amazed by the meal in front of her. Typically, the man would dress befitting his historian occupation: scarves, dress shirts and coats, slacks, and dress shoes.

“Come wash your hands before you sit down. I am just about done making breakfast.”

The girl chuckled seeing as the man in question was still dressed in his typical sophisticated wear, but also had a frilly yellow apron over it as he was finishing up. Washing her hands and sitting down across from his dining spot, she was already excited at knowing what he made, if the smell of the food or the array of small syrup and jam jars at the table weren’t already a dead giveaway.

“Dad, you made your amazing Baghrir (North African Berber pancakes)! Sweet!” Grabbing a few for her plate and dousing them in a mix of the usual honey-butter sauce and even some jam, Alix Kubdel began her birthday by scarfing the breakfast with gusto. The man who made the meal only smiled at seeing his teenage daughter scarf down the meal, all while eating more slowly and refined. He was already used to the girls’ lack of patience with many things; hence, he needed to be a patient parent himself.

“Well, I am glad I could start your birthday with you stuffing your face full. I just hope you can save room for whatever your friends have plans for you. As well as the dinner we are having as a family.” Alix’s father, historian, and one of the many curators of the Louvre, Monsieur (M.) Alim Kubdel softly chuckled in jest as he watched his daughter realize she was eating too fast before she took a swig of her drink and swallowed the contents to reply back with the banter.

“Can’t help it! You know how me and Jalil would sometimes fight over this. Speaking of which, where is my dork of an older brother anyway?” Alix chewed slower as she realized she may actually have an incoming argument with said sibling, but her father merely chuckled.

“If you can stop thinking about the next time you’ll butt heads with your older brother, you’d remember Jalil slept over at a friend’s place for his school project. But he’s coming back around lunch . . . Anyways Alix, what are you planning to do with your friends for the rest of the day . . . I hope not too late though, I still expect my birthday girl to be in her birthday dinner.” M. Kubdel in his usual gentle voice teased his daughter again which got her to chuckle.

“Haha, Pops, if you have time aside from being a paid history nerd and dad, you can try out comedy. And I’ll have you know that I am just going to meet with my classmates and friends at the Trocadéro because I am making sure I beat this friend of mine in a race. It’ll be my own little gift to myself if I win, along with the picnic some of them are bringing. It won’t be that long anyway. I’ll totally be back by then, way before the fancy dinner!”

“Is there a way that I can hopefully expect my beautiful daughter to be beautifully dressed up for the special occasion as well?” M. Kubdel couldn’t help but ask, hoping for an answer of change of heart.

“Usually, I would say don’t push your luck because no way am I getting into those dresses without a fight.” Both daughter and father chuckled a bit before M. Kubdel walked over to the side to pick up a small box, neatly stuck with a bow as vibrant in pink as Alix’s hair. Sitting back down, he put the box on the table while his daughter stared at it in wonder.

“Well, you were always a vibrant and headstrong girl . . . just like your mother.” The tone of the room slightly shifted at that mention, but the father pushed on to make the tension disappear.

“Which is why I decided to give you this gift early.” Giving her the small box, Alix held it as she was more curious to guess what was inside than opening it.

“Jeez, Dad. If this is another old-timey family heirloom, I think you and I both know Jalil would get more joy over it . . . and probably pick it apart to learn its history . . . On second thought, maybe we should stop giving him old stuff to dissect.” Showing not-so-subtle hints of disappointment over what the content of the gift box was, her thoughts were interrupted with another more subdued chuckle from her soft-spoken father.

“No, no. This is not a historical heirloom, I know better than that since I understand you were never that interested in things like history, unlike me and your brother. This gift is an heirloom of sorts, yes, but more recent and more sentimental . . .” He paused his words as he allowed Alix to see the content of the box, her curiosity being more peaked.

It was a beautifully well-maintained wristwatch. It had a polished stainless-steel strap colored metallic black with the straps’ sides silver. The watch’s face showed an analog-style clock in a luxurious black with the markers and hands in white; a red line hand along with the clock hands working as the watch’s compass. The outer silvery metal frame was freely rotatable and etched with compass markings. The clock face contained 2 small windows where the 3 o’clock marker would be, depicting not only the date but also the abbreviated day of the week. It also had a smaller sub-dial next to a slightly larger sub-dial at the lower half of the analog clock face, with the smaller denoting the Chronograph or stopwatch functions, while the other denotes lunar phases. Overall, it was a beautiful wristwatch that is perfect for any occasion, from formal events to wearing it outdoors such as for hiking.

“Oh wow . . . this is beautiful, Dad.” Alix picked it up and started checking it before putting it on. Fitting her wrist so well while her eyes still shined in awestruck, her father continued his spiel about the gift.

“I had hoped so . . . it was actually your mother’s watch, Alix. You know your mother loved these types of watches, and I made sure to keep this one in particular tip-top shape for this very moment. Happy Birthday, sweetie.”

“B-but why now?” Remembering her mother, Alix had felt a wave of both happy and sad memories of Madame (Mme.) Kubdel washes over her in an instant. The father also had a slightly more solemn tone when remembering his wife.

“Well, I have my reasons . . . and that will be all discussed at our family dinner tonight. So please, don’t be late. Okay, Alix?”

Not knowing what else to say, Alix walked over and hugged her father tightly to which he reciprocated the embrace.

“I promise to love this amazing gift, Dad. From you and from Mom.” Tears almost tried to come out of Alix’s eyes, but she was not about to cry this early on her birthday. Letting go and giving each other sincere smiles, they continued their breakfast with some idle chatter, such as hiding away any leftovers from Jalil. The two Kubdels, father and daughter, laughed on in their special breakfast together, happy that the gift for Alix from someone not with them brought the two even closer.

——————————

“Maman, Mme. Chamack is here for her cake!” The blind French Chinese girl hollered from within the bakery’s main post as she smiled at where she knew the woman in question was waiting. Despite her disability, Marinette Dupain-Cheng could still clearly help out in ways around her parents’ bakery, Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, which she and anyone who’s had food from this place know is the best bakery in all of Paris, biased hyperbole or not. To this, she was just finishing up placing various pastries at the bakery display cases when the aforementioned customer came.

“I am terribly sorry for this, Marinette! I legit thought I could pick this up later on, but my boss heard I had a break time now, and practically kicked me out the office to pick it up.” Sighing in exasperation, Nadja Chamack got a sympathetic smile and a pat on the back from the Eurasian teenager which helped mitigate the fatigue the news reporter was feeling.

“Don’t be, Mme. Chamack. My parents have had your order ready anyways. You can always trust a Tom & Sabine specialty order to be truly special, and always ready for pickup or delivery!” Marinette couldn’t help but giggle at how she said that last part like a saleswoman making a snappy but catchy pitch, which helped Nadja laugh at the bubbly girl’s antics.

Marinette internally gave herself a fist pump over helping the regular customer and her mom’s friend like that, since Marinette in a lot of ways likes to make sure she can try to help in ways she thinks she can. Whether it is just by talking to them, playing music or with her other talents, or just by being an empathetic listener, Marinette Dupain-Cheng will try to help someone out if it is within her scope of helping. The empathetic listening part can even be said to have since been heightened even more so after the girl was Chosen by the Kwami of Transformation to be Paris’ Lady Fairy, wielder of the Butterfly Miraculous and partner to a certain Chat Noir.

“Sorry for the wait, Nadja. Tom wanted to double-check our reservations tonight, you know how he can be.” The woman, whose name is one-half of the bakery’s namesake, came forward in her usual work outfit, albeit with an extra flower hair accessory, carrying a tall box that surely contained the cake order needed.

“No, no, Sabine. I should be the one to feel bad! I mean, it’s not every day one gets to enjoy their 20th Wedding Anniversary in that swanky restaurant I told you guys about. You two should have taken it slow today!” Nadja went over to the petite Chinese woman as she was willing to shoulder the cake box already.

“But with frequent customers like you and your office, it helps us actually go to those restaurants for our special occasions. Are you sure you’ll be alright with that, Nadja?” As Sabine and Nadja chatted amongst themselves about how Nadja will bring the cake and what will Sabine wear for later, Marinette walked back inside the bakery and up the stairs to where she knew her father would be. She guessed correctly as she just heard him put down their landline phone from their living room.

“Excited for later, Papa?” Tom looked to his side to see his beautiful blind daughter walking to their living room towards his direction. Tom walked to his daughter and hugged her.

“Oh Marinette, I am very much excited that I must have annoyed that reservationist already with my double or even triple-checking!” Tom Dupain laughed which got his daughter to smile and chuckle as well.

“You and Maman should enjoy your nice dinner tonight. And don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll probably just have Alya and the girls for a study session to keep me company. I promise we’ll behave for the most part.” Marinette made a finger motion over her heart as though she was crossing it in promise.

“Well alright, I guess I am still overthinking things . . . do you think I should snip my mustache a bit more?”

“I think you will be dashing with whatever you decide, honey . . . but do keep the ‘stache.” Sabine came up the stairs and patted her husband’s face lovingly before looking over to their daughter, who was starting to wonder if she should leave the two alone and not be a third wheel to her own parents’ intimate moments. It was barely a second or so later before Sabine remembered what she needed to say to one of them.

“Oh Marinette, Alya and Nino are downstairs waiting for you. I already gave Nino the cake for Alix.”

Checking her watch that comes with tactile and talking functions, she realized it was time for her to leave. Giving her parents hugs and kisses, Marinette went downstairs with her non-foldable white cane, or her all-white walking stick designed for those who are fully blind, to where she knew her two friends were waiting for her. Alya holding onto the cake for Alix and Nino holding onto a picnic basket to go with the cake for their group picnic with the others.

“Hey, Marinette, ready to go?”

“Yeah Mari, Mme. Sabine even gave me the cake already, which I may say am very much excited to dig into since it looks and even smells A-may-zing!” Nino’s singsong-like tone over the last part made the two girls giggle.

Even without sight, she can tell that her parents made a lot of effort in making the cake she herself baked to have the level of pretty that could only be from a Tom & Sabine bakery. As much as Marinette can basically bake in her sleep due to living above said bakery and being thought by her parents, decorating things like cakes well as a blind person is a different feat altogether. Leaving the bakery, the trio of friends went off to the nearest bus stop. As they were about to reach their goal, they stopped as a familiar black car stopped by their side of the sidewalk. Rolling down the windows, Alya and Nino looked to see their resident model friend from inside while Marinette merely faced the general direction but had a feeling it was someone she knew.

“Hey guys, do you need a lift? It’ll be much faster than having to wait for the bus to take to the Trocadéro.”

“Oh sure, Adrien. That’s really sweet of you!” Marinette’s smiled facing where he was, and it was doing wonders to Adrien’s heart as he needed to slightly look away unless he gets a feels-induced mini heart attack.

“Oh totally, dude! This beats having to take the bus lugging this cake ar—”

“Actually Marinette, you go on ahead with Adrien! I just remembered something, and I really need Nino’s help for this one!” Alya quipped, interrupting Nino’s acceptance of the offer as she handed Marinette the cake box and picnic basket before she basically opened the luxury car door for her blind friend to get in. It didn’t help Adrien in his blush mitigation with how Alya basically stuffed Marinette in before he had time to fully scoot over. He felt the space between him and his blind friend’s faces becoming too close, feeling the pinkness of his cheeks cover his whole face. Marinette on the other hand was not noticing it, even if she could see, as she was more peeved by being basically shoved in by Alya.

“Alya! Wai—“

“Don’t worry, Marinette! Me and Nino will see you and Adrien there in a bit, right Nino?” Nino saw a threatening aura begin to manifest around the female blogger with just the way she glinted her eyes at him to try and reason out. Sighing in defeat, he conceded and just gave his two friends in the car a smile, and even Adrien’s bodyguard a thumbs up. The bodyguard gave a small acknowledging nod in reply before the car drove off. Nino saw Adrien’s confused face at the back window as Alya gave a too sweet of a smile at the blonde as she watched the luxury vehicle drive off.

“You know, you could have let me in on the plan before acting it up.” Nino stated frankly as he went over to the bus stop to wait for the bus.

“Sorry! I didn’t know Sunshine Boy was using this route, and I just had the idea pop into my head just like that!” Alya mitigated the situation. Thankfully for her, it never happens to get that bad when it’s with one of the chilliest people she got to know.

She really liked that about Nino.

“You really are a wonder sometimes, Alya.”

Blushing slightly, Alya thought in the back of her head that she didn’t also mind using that excuse for Marinette and Adrien to be together to also just hang out more with him. Not that he also seemed to mind since he gave her a small smile and gave her one of his earphones for both to listen to music on his phone. Both teens had a similar thought go through their heads while enjoying their time together.

‘Hope you’re having as fun of a time, Adrien.’

——————————

Adrien was in fact not having as much of a fun time as both hoped.

In the first few minutes since Marinette’s impromptu shoving inside and her trying to sit as properly as possible, there was silence. There were obvious feelings of awkwardness from the two teens, but for admittedly different reasons.

For Marinette, it was due to how she feels like she needs to not be as space-taking within the car as possible, mentally rationalizing that even if Adrien is her friend, she would not want to cause issues while sitting in such a high-class vehicle. She also took it upon herself to continue holding the box and the basket because she was again worried about what stains or scuffs may be left inside.

Adrien’s reason was because he felt awkward being together with his amazing friend who he is crushing on; hence, the tense silence of a car ride. As much as he can already try to rationalize excuses in his head, he cannot not admit that Marinette does things to his heart in a way that makes him feel all sorts of feelings, mainly fluttery ones. He was hoping for the unease of the last few minutes to stop, but he could not find a way to break the tension without feeling like bursting in pink again.

Thankfully, Marinette broke it for him.

“I-I hope if I am not taking up too much space in your car, Adrien. I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble with your father if the cake box or picnic basket made a mark on it . . . even though Alya should have just held it with her instead of shoving it in with me like she was trying to stuff sardines in a can!” Adrien couldn’t help but give a chuckle, which made Marinette also chuckle.

“Oh. I-it’s no problem, Marinette! I guess Alya really had to go get that thing she needed, huh?”

Adrien knew that smile Alya gave him as they were driving off was just her many attempts to get him to talk to Marinette alone. He didn’t bother trying to deny the fact that he knows their blogger friend could see how much Marinette affects him, and that it was a matter of time before Marinette herself will finally realize it too. Adrien just hopes he would finally have his thoughts and feelings sorted and fixed by then. Looking forward, he saw his bodyguard and driver look at him and his blind friend from the rear-view mirror, with the eyes looking at the blonde teen then making eye movements to the girl. Adrien has never heard his bodyguard, whom he endearingly likes to call M. Gorilla, talk or convey with words so the way he was signaling Adrien with his eyes was enough of an obvious message even the admittedly oblivious blonde can interpret.

‘Go on, talk to her more.’

And so, he did.

“D-do you want me to hold onto the picnic basket at least, Marinette?” He saw her briefly surprised by the suggestion, but he decided to continue to at least not make her take on all the objects on her side and lap.

“I-it’s just you have that cake box and basket balancing on your lap, and I don’t mind taking the basket at least . . . if that’s okay with you though!” Adrien haphazardly added the last part as he realized in the middle of his sentence that maybe Marinette wanted to keep the basket with her instead. His overthinking of trying to play it cool instead got a chuckle out of her as she faced his direction.

“Thank you, Adrien. I guess I was worried for a moment about me accidentally staining your car with the food.” She raised her left hand with the picnic basket out towards her friend. Adrien reached for the basket handle when he realized he placed his own hand on top of Marinette’s; in those few seconds, he got embarrassed but immediately moved to the side of the handle and brought the picnic basket to him, cheeks still slightly reddened from the brief touch.

“N-no problem, Marinette!”

He got another smile from her, and that again was causing Adrien to almost fly off his car seat from the way her smile was making his heart do flips. With the tension gone, the two teenagers found themselves chatting. Adrien was finding himself becoming less self-conscious talking to the girl next to him as they talked, finding themselves in a comfortable casualness. The car ride for the rest of the trip was just two friends enjoying their time together, all while not noticing the tiny smile of the driver. Not much seen externally, but the man who has been driving and protecting Adrien since he was a small child, even when Mme. Agreste was still around, was happy that the boy was getting to enjoy being a teenager in certain aspects. Adrien for the most part is still heavily sheltered, but at least he gets to go to school, make friends, and even find himself naturally falling in love with crushes and the like.

As the car finally reached the open area of the Trocadéro where they were to meet with their classmates, Adrien gave his bodyguard the reminders both were usually given. These typically involve that the bodyguard stays somewhere close around the area but not too close so as to allow Adrien to actually have fun on his rare days off. Exiting out of the car, Adrien slightly blushed and looked away at how he could have sworn he saw his bodyguard giving him a fraction of a smirk when he exited the car and held his hand out for Marinette’s to help her exit out the car like a gentleman.

But with the smile and small 'thank you' he got from her it was totally worth it.

——————————

“There you guys are! Aside from Alix, we’ve been waiting for this race to start since forever and we need all the spectators we can get!”

A tall boy hollered at the blonde model walking on beat with his blind companion. Said duo walked faster as Adrien saw a lot of their classmates, sans Alya, Nino, and Alix, already enjoying their stay at a picnic area by the grassy side of the Trocadéro. Even Chloé was sitting on her own lounge chair with a yellow parasol set up for shade, while Sabrina sat next to her on one of the picnic blankets. The rest of their classmates were also just spread out in the picnic blankets they have, either chatting amongst themselves or enjoying the fresh air with their snacks.

“A-are we late?” Marinette asked as she settled to where she knew the picnic blankets were at as the others gave their ‘Ooh’s’ and ‘Aahs’ towards the cake Marinette brought. Adrien also settled next to Marinette but also tried to leave some space for Alya and Nino, who coincidentally he could see coming up the area as well with a rolled-up sheet and short poles. In Adrien’s head, he was more surprised that Alya actually did bring something than somehow getting there a little after Adrien and Marinette did. Nino had Ivan help him set up the poles as it rolled out the banner behind their picnic, while Alya sat next to Marinette and readied her phone to take photos. As everyone aside from a certain someone was settling in the picnic more, their rather loud jock of a classmate stood in front of them at the paved path, showing a bit of his bravado.

“Everyone’s here except the birthday girl herself?! Hah, must have chickened out when she probably already knew she would lose to the likes of me—”

“Spoke too soon, Kim!”

Said birthday girl, Alix, yelled as she rollerbladed at a moderate speed to face the guy who was calling her out. Alix had her own cocky smirk to rival Kim’s before she saw the yellow banner. It was a simple banner with the words ‘Happy Birthday Alix!’ strung up on makeshift poles behind the picnic her classmates have set up; it depicted a cartoonishly styled Alix and a birthday cake, all while Alix saw the actual cake she knew Marinette brought from her bakery. All of this, while she already knew prior, still made Alix smile warmly at her classmates and friends before she went back to looking at Kim with the same competitive fire she had. As sweet as the picnic party was going to be, Alix Kubdel still wanted to give herself a nice gift and that would mean needing to bring him down a peg or two. Before the friendly competitive tension between the two sporty teens could become anything harsher, their friend Max went in between them as he stated out the rules of the challenge.

“Alright, alright, break it up you two. Remember that this race is around the fountains using the paved path only, 3 laps each, and whoever gets to the line in front of the picnic wins. Alix will use her trusty rollerblades while Kim will use his running capabilities . . . even if I already told him that his chances are very slim if he does.” Max gave a pointed look at his jock friend while everyone else giggled at the bit.

“H-hey!” Was Kim’s retort before Max continued with the speech.

“If Kim wins, Alix forfeits half of her money she planned on getting the high-class skates she wanted. However, if Alix wins, Kim must— and I quote from Alix over here, lest she kicks me— ‘stop being such a total ass and quit daring our friends to these stupid AF challenges when it’s not the time for it ‘til the end of the school year . . . dude!’” Everyone laughed more at Max’s attempts to copy Alix’s part of the race deal which everyone cheered more from where they were staying. Max readjusted his voice before continuing once again.

“Before we start, I suggest the two competitors give themselves a few minutes to stretch and or prepare themselves.” While Kim stayed at the starting line doing some extra stretches, more so to give himself a slight confident ego boost, Alix rollerbladed over to the side when someone’s snooty voice caught her focus.

“Oh wow, Alix! For someone so unruly, I never expected you to have a decent sense of fashion . . . even if it is an older model looking watch.” Alix glared at the ever-haughty blonde heiress as Chloé just smiled to herself before putting her designer shades down her eyes, not bothering to look at Alix after her retort. Her other classmates like Sabrina, Nino, Alya, and Adrien on the other hand, were curious to see the watch Chloé actually gave a compliment to, then read the wearer of said accessory.

“Don’t you guys think it’s cool?! Dad gave me this early birthday present, says it was from my mom, so it means a lot.” Alix decided to show off the present to her classmates.

“B-but don’t you think it would be safer to take it off when you’re racing? Who knows what could happen?” Sabrina said out her caution which Alya and Adrien nodded in agreement, but Alix covered her wristwatch with her other hand in a preemptive protective manner.

“N-no, it’s going to be fine! I’ll make sure this won’t get damaged by any means, I promise . . . I-I just really want to keep wearing it . . . because it’s like she’s with me right now.” Barely mumbling out the last part, Alix flashed them another reassuring grin as she skated away near the impromptu track to talk with Max. As Max was giving last-minute reminders to the competitors and to their classmates to begin the race, some of their classmates began cheering on Alix, whereas Adrien scooted over to Nino.

“H-hey Nino, I know this is a bit embarrassing, but can I ask what’s the story behind Alix’s mom? I don’t think I have met her yet. I know I have seen her dad around but never Mme. Kubdel.”

“Oh, no way?! I thought I told you with Alya that one time since you both were new to the class?” Hearing her name being called she and Marinette focused their attention away from the cheering and the start of the race to Adrien and his inquiry, while the blonde teenager himself was becoming slightly embarrassed for now asking.

“Adrien here wanted to ask about Alix’s mom. I could’ve sworn I told you both already though.”

“No, Nino, since if you can recall, Adrien was about to hear the story with me when his butt of a dad asked his secretary to tell Adrien there was an impromptu shoot he had to be in. Remember now, dummy?”

“Oh right! . . . Woops! Well, there's no time like the present. I am sure Alix wouldn’t mind if I tell her story since I’ve known her for a long while.” Giving himself a slight change of tone as though he was actually a narrator, Adrien, Alya, and Marinette listened to their friend tell the tale.

“Madame Kubdel, AKA Alix’s mom, was a cool chick I’ll give you that first. But the real tale is what . . . may have happened to her.”

——————————

“7 or so years ago, Mme. Kubdel was working as an anthropologist— those scientists who like to study about how other people in other cultures or society live— except she did so by actually going to those places to really study them . . . respectfully of course.”

The story conjures up the image of an adult woman with her mid-length straight hair in a dark reddish-brown hue, akin to like wine-red burgundy, pushed away from her face by a dark green headband. She wore khaki pants, hiking shoes, a dark brown open winter jacket opened to show a pink shirt underneath, and a beautiful rose-gold colored wristwatch, almost similar in design to Alix’s.

“Unlike M. Kubdel who works mainly in Paris as a historian for all the historical stuff in museums like the Louvre, Mme. Kubdel traveled and explored around the world to learn about its people and how they live. Heard from Alix and even from some articles that she’s been to various places. From the harshest of either hot or cold deserts to even the most hazardous jungles, Mme. Kubdel had guts!”

Images are envisaged of the same woman braving through the rough deserts of Africa, the harsh blizzards of the Arctic, and even hiking along the perilous rainforests and boating through the rapid rivers within the Amazon. It also cuts to the parts of her job not just in exploring as Mme. Kubdel was also there to study the small societies living in these places; she is seen within small villages, tribes, nomads, and other small social groups she has gone to study, learn and appreciate their way of living as part of her job.

“Woah!” That was all Adrien could say as he tried not to interrupt the riveting tale he’s hearing, nor the way it makes him imagine them visually along with the others.

“Woah indeed! You can really tell where Alix got her personality from in a way . . . no offense to M. Kubdel of course!”

“Nino . . .” Marinette’s words interrupted the off tangent from their storyteller as he realigned back to the story.

“R-right, sorry! Back to the story: While she was doing all these things, she was actually planning to in a way semi-retire. Semi-retire meaning she will probably still do some traveling but nothing as super far or as dangerous as what I just said, because she has 2 kids she wanted to be there for, with one of them being a then 8-year-old kid named Alix.” The story gets cut off a bit as the four of them, with a secretly listening in Chloé because of how she got interested in Nino’s rendition of the tale, looked to where they just saw Alix and Kim speed by them and Max stating it was the first lap done with two more to go. Nino went back to his storyteller tone and continued the tale.

“I remember Alix telling me and the others like Marinette about this. Mme. Kubdel was going to do one last big excursion to someplace in like the Himalayas, something about learning and living alongside a village high in those mountains. I think she even mentioned that the village was next to supposedly these ancient temples that had monks . . . though, now that I think about it, maybe Alix was just adding flavor to the story to make it sound even cooler than what it probably really was?” The way Nino added that last bit broke the tone of the story which made the listeners slightly miffed.

“Come on, Lahiffe! Tell us the rest of the tale!” Chloé spoke up, not even bothering to hide the fact she was listening in. Even if she had heard that story a while back, the way Nino was telling it, for the most part, got her really interested, especially with the stuff that comes afterward.

“R-right, okay . . . so anyways. A few days after little Alix’s birthday, the Kubdel family said their goodbyes, and she left France for the Himalayas. Every two weeks or so, Alix said they would get a letter from Mme. Kubdel or even a phone call if she was really lucky whenever she could fly to a non-mountainous village that had actual phone lines. It was something the family was used to for the most part, and all seemed good . . . when it happened.”

Adrien and the others listening to the story collectively imagined Alix’s mom reaching the remote village in the mountains and even with how they imagined little Alix’s happy face getting a letter or even a phone call from her. But the way Nino added that last bit made most remember what happened, while Adrien was at the edge of his seat practically begging Nino to continue the story as a first-time listener.

“Around a few months of normal communication, they didn’t hear from her around the -Ber months. They thought she was busy at first, but then the real tragedy struck. It was around the Christmas season when a message for the whole family came from Tibet. At first, the family was happy to hear that there was a message . . . but it turns out it was far worse.” Nino stopped his tale a bit as he heard the cheers of his classmates grow louder due to Alix reaching the second of the 3-lap race. Seeing as they still have time to complete the tale, and knowing Chloé and Adrien won’t let him get away with leaving it at a cliffhanger, the storytelling DJ continued.

“The family was actually talked to by a group of people, policemen and even some international officials, Alix couldn’t tell. They all told them the truth . . . there was a major accident that happened in the mountain area. It was said to have been really, really bad. I think Alix even said that the supposed mysterious temples next to the village but higher up were destroyed, but again maybe she was just adding flavor to what could have actually been, like say an avalanche or something. Either way, the village in that mountain got hit hard from the collateral damage, but they said that a small airplane managed to get away with a bunch of survivors . . . that same small plane that Mme. Kubdel and her really small team brought with them . . . there were reports that when the accident happened, some supposed witnesses from the villages at the base and even mountain climbers said that they saw the plane fly off somewhere . . . but there was never any reports about it landing safely or where the plane . . . or the people inside it went off to.”

“W-wait, no reports at all!? Even after all this time?!” Adrien couldn’t help but blabber out his astonishment over what he was hearing. He imagined in his head how such an incident could occur, with the first one that seemed plausible being a disastrous avalanche and or landslide. He then imagined Mme. Kubdel having the survivors in the airplane and then actually piloting the plane, which he knew seemed more unlikely but just made her more of a badass in his mind. The last scene in his head was like an action movie scene, with the airplane just managing to take flight in the nick of time, flying off into the sunset.

“Yeahp, nothing, nada. Apparently, the reason why there was such a long time from when the communication stopped to when those people came around was because some organization or organizations tried to keep the incident all hush-hush until it got leaked internationally around that Holiday season. For the most part, the family thought at first it was the Tibetan government trying to cover it up, though Alix at some point did still try to push about the whole mysterious temples thing and said maybe some powerful groups from the shadows was what caused the incident and tried to hide it.”

“P-poor Alix.” Marinette softly muttered as she remembers the tale from Alix herself when she first told them what happened, after having the strength to finally talk about it which took her over a year after the incident.

“Yeah, Mari. Alix still holds out hope to this day that since there has been no definitive proof the plane and its survivors crashed or something, her mom is still out there. Things were pretty rough for the Kubdels afterward. . . I still remember how Alix, and I think even her older brother, actually had to take a bunch of supplementary classes during the whole summer because she wasn’t attending classes after the Holidays for like 2-3 months because the family was still grieving . . . and that’s the end of the tale of Mme. Kubdel.”

The story finally concluded, and the listeners had been reminded with clarity over their birthday celebrating classmate and her reasonings over her gift. Adrien himself, having heard the tale for the first time, now felt that he wished he could sympathize better with Alix over what happened. Adrien still remembers how he lost his mother all those years ago, but at least in his situation, he was told by his father, before he turned cold, that Mme. Agreste passed away in her sleep due to an illness she incurred. Alix, on the other hand, is still holding out hope that one day there will be more factual news that maybe Mme. Kubdel is alive and still loving her daughter.

“Well, at least now we know . . . Which is why I think it’s important that we be there for Alix, cheering her on in her birthday race. We can only do so much as her classmates and friends, so might as well keep the positive feelings flowing. Right?” Getting up from her haunches and with her white cane, Marinette faced her encouraging smile to her friends and Chloé as they realized that Marinette was right. She was usually right about stuff. Getting up to shake off the mood from the tale, they all continued to cheer on Alix, wanting her to win even more so than ever.

“Go on, Alix! Fight!”

——————————

“Take him down, Alix!”

“We are so done with his stupid dares!”

“Happy Birthday still but also dust his stupid face!”

Her classmates such as Nathaniel, Juleka, and even Rose cheered hard for Alix to succeed and she didn’t want to disappoint her adoring fans. As she was building up speed, she decided to make a risky play and use her speed to skate like she had never skated before, breaking through her own restraints and basically being as fast as the wind. Hearing her classmates’ cacophonous cheering and realizing she can get such a boastful substantial lead from Kim, Alix decided to go all-in for it and give everyone, even her loser of a friend, something awesome to really give to everyone watching, gawking, and cheering.

“Looks like I am about to enjoy this, Kim! Because. It’s. My. Win!” With her last breath, she made a full dash around the corner and left Kim in the dust. Seeing that Alya and others were ready to film or photograph her finish, Alix decided to give some more flair. Turning herself effortlessly, she let the continued speed from her dash let her skate to victory with her back turned. Very flashy and gives herself some style points.

“Hell yeah!” Alix raised her hands in the air with the victory signs as she passed by her cheering classmates backward.

“Alright, Alix!”

“She won! She won!”

“No more stupid dares! Awesome!”

“Way to go, birthday g— Alix, watch out!”

“Alix!”

Not having enough time to fully comprehend the last one from Nino or Adrien since she was still speeding by and basking in her glory, Alix turned her face before she realized she was going to meet someone.

Or rather something.

A stray cat on the paved road she and Kim were racing in.

“Ahhh!” The skater instinctively tried to fully turn her body and jump over the poor animal at the same time, but the speed she built up tossed her in the air. Time seemed to slow down as Alix, a veteran of all things rollerblading and skating accidents, was already expecting some pain. Crossing her arms instinctively, she braced for impact as she crashed landed on the floor with her arms and various safety sports gear cushioning the blow. Always wear a helmet and other safety sports gear when doing things like rollerblading.

Nearly everyone rushed over to Alix to see if she was alright; thankfully, as they were reaching her, the birthday girl immediately got up and gave everyone a nice thumbs-up.

“I-I am good guys! Ugh— Not a total wipeout but some bruising! I still won though! Hell y—”

“A-Alix . . . you-you’re watch.”

Dusting herself off, she heard the soft and worrisome tone of Rose as she said those words, prompting the recently crashed birthday girl to see her mom’s wristwatch.

Broken.

The glass cracked and the hands of the clockface came off its center placement. She even saw the outer compass ring on the floor to her side which should be on the top part of the wristwatch. Alix couldn’t move, think or even breathe as she was realizing what had happened. But even fate was not as kind to her to have a moment before another yell from not her classmates broke her out of her stupor.

“Alix! What have you done!”

An older-looking teen or young adult, most likely a university student, walked over to the still shocked rollerblading teenager. Nino and many of their classmates like Max or Kim knew who the tall semi-sophisticated guy was: Jalil Kubdel, Alix’s older brother. He seemed to have been passing by with a couple of other university students to check out the Trocadéro, and maybe was even there to check on his sister since he knew she would be there with her classmates when he saw what happened.

“I-I . . . m-mom.” Was all Alix could mumble out as Jalil marched over to her while also picking up the broken watch piece.

“You broke mom’s watch! Dad specifically gave you that early present a-and you broke it!” No one, not even the university students who were his friends, have ever heard Jalil truly raise his voice in anger like that, especially to his sister since it was kind of obvious she was the more abrasive one of the siblings. Grabbing his sister’s hand, Jalil practically dragged the still stunned Alix away as he was still seething in anger.

“I-it’s bad enough that dad has to break out some more news originally for later about mom, but now you’ve gone and just ruined something from her!”

His words further snapped her back to reality as she tried to question him what he said as Jalil still dragged Alix away.

“W-what, what did you mean by that, Jalil!?” Silent anger marred her brother’s face and Alix realized to not actually upset her brother even more. She decided to just shut up and wait for whatever news is about to fall on her shoulders. With the way Jalil said it, she doubts it will be good news. Careful as to not hurt herself or even destroy the watch even further, Alix quietly went away with her brother to meet their father. All while her classmates, and even some of Jalil’s friends looked on and felt sympathy for the girl on her birthday, with one majorly accepted thought floating through their heads.

‘Poor Alix.’

——————————

Poor Alix indeed.

Even at home, the dejected girl still mainly kept her head down due to the anger that was still incited by her brother; Jalil Kubdel would not let up even now about her carelessness over what happened. And for once, she was really incapable of standing her ground for the longest time. Alix Kubdel was usually no pushover, especially to her brother who she could easily out-yell, but right now the words he said struck her hard. What’s worse is that she kind of wished her father who was with them would yell at her too or something, but no. Soft-spoken as always, M. Kubdel could only listen in silence until he decided that Jalil should stop before it becomes too much.

“Jalil, that is enough. You have made your point very clear.”

“B-but Dad!?”

“I understand you are truly upset over what happened, I am as well. But rest your temper now before you begin saying any more things that become out of line.” Even with how their father spoke, both Kubdel children understood that when he meant stop now, even with his gentle voice, that really meant they should stop now or else. There is a reason why the children still utterly respected the seemingly overly pampering patient parent. Jalil understood the order and sat down across from Alix as they were currently in their living room, still leering at her but not saying anything anymore for the meantime.

Alix, on the other hand, was kind of thankful the once-in-a-lifetime moment of her brother showing true anger, sadly at her, finally stopped; she even made a mental note to herself that even her lanky nerd of an older brother could actually intimidate her. She looked to their father as he silenced the room enough to let it settle, but the way that there was this now awkward tense silence made Alix wish there was actual yelling. There was something with how her father was handling this in his usually calm way that made Alix feel like he was not actually mad at her.

No, it’s far worse: it’s the feeling that he was just disappointed.

That hurt more for her than she would ever like to admit out loud.

“Alix, as what your brother has been ranting in anger to you about since you all came back here, I heard that something happened to the gift I gave you.” M. Kubdel gently raised his hand to silence Jalil who he knew would speak in anger on her behalf. Alix knew that she needed to fess up to what happened, lest Jalil’s version mucks it up. She went into her pocket and fished out the wristwatch she eventually took off when they were nearing their home. She presented it in front of her father who looked at the broken pieces of the once whole and functional birthday gift he gave her.

“I-I didn’t mean for this to happen . . . i-it was an accident, I swear!” Alix continued choking on her words in trying to explain to her father, and to even Jalil, what really happened. But even as she was putting the item back to her pocket to try and reason out, Alix just kept seeing the disappointment in her father’s eyes, and a part of Alix also felt like her mother somewhere was thinking of her in disappointment too.

“I-I . . . I am s-sorry, Dad . . . Mom, I-I . . .”

“Alix, I really am disappointed that you broke this gift, not even a whole day has passed when you made it well know how much you cherished this gift.”

“I-I know! I-I messed up, pl—”

“You really did mess up, Alix. For a lot of us . . .” Jalil gave a quieter retort which had their father lightly look at him with disapproval. In a sudden clarity after that retort, Alix realized that while she was getting grilled by her brother, and getting silent looks of disappointment from her father, she remembered something. It was something Jalil screamed at her when she was being dragged away with him after the incident.

“. . . Dad, Jalil actually said you had news . . . to break to us for later . . . what was it?” Alix tried to be careful with how she had to address this, lest it be like she was trying to divert all the attention currently on her to the new topic at hand, even if a small part of her was doing so. But something more to it, the news that Jalil said made her feel like it was something rather ominous. Both Kubdel men stared at Alix for what she just said, Jalil himself realized he let it slip at some point which got him another look from their father. The father himself looked back at his daughter who seemed to sense that whatever the news was, it was not going to be a pleasant one. M. Kubdel decided Alix deserved to know now since things were already getting more difficult as the day goes on.

“Alix . . . it is actually about mom.” The way he said it, even quieter and softer than his usual voice, was enough to break Alix a bit out of the slight focus she had in listening. The dejectedness she was originally experiencing subsided at the mention of that person, and a part of her is now just begging against all odds this news is just being presented with a somber tone when in reality it is going to be more positive in its output.

“. . . mom? W-what about mom? I-is there actually news!?”

“A-Alix . . .” With how even her just recently overly angry older brother had this hushed tone in the way he called her name, a part of her now wishes she could just forget knowing that there was news concerning the one person missing in her life. But it looks like, among many things, Alix Kubdel’s time of not knowing was up.

“Sweetie, what I am about to say is very hard . . . and in hindsight, I shouldn’t have tried to break this to you on your special day.”

“D-dad, no seriously, w-what’s going on . . . is there an update regarding mom?”

“Alix . . . it’s not so much an update regarding your mother . . . as is to finally lay her to rest.”

“. . . huh?” Was all Alix could say with how cryptic her father was sounding. Still trying to piece together what he meant, Jalil beat her to the punch.

“. . . it means that it’s going to be 7 years now when she’s been presumed missing . . . and in most places that usually means that . . . we have to pronounce mom as—”

“Don’t! . . . p-please, Jalil, don’t say it . . .” She already knew where this was going. A part of her dreaded it because at some point, she actually did look it up out of morbid curiosity. She knew that most countries would have a certain number of years for them to consider when regarding missing people. Alix just thought that against all odds, it would not reach this far.

“I-I am so Alix, but it might be the right time . . . to finally let her spirit, wherever it may be, to rest. I-I really didn’t want to prolong this anytime sooner . . .” In a normal situation, she would forgo her own emotions on behalf of comforting her own crying father because he was also admitting that his wife is fully gone-gone, but right now, with all the things she was feeling and how the truth bomb just shattered her world on top of feeling like she broke an important memento, Alix did the only thing she could have at this situation.

She ran.

Not caring for the sounds and sobs she was making, she left her just as dejected older brother and father by themselves as she sprinted to her bedroom. Not caring anymore, she locked her bedroom before running to her bathroom, locking it as well. She would have considered breaking something or just yelling, but Alix just felt like releasing all the tears she had within her. Curled up in her own little ball, with her back on the bathroom door, Alix Kubdel cried and wailed out in her bedroom’s bathroom, thankful that with how it’s situated, Jalil or her father wouldn’t hear her loud crying from just outside her bedroom. Looking up from her crying form, she fished out the broken watch from her pocket. She gently placed it down in front of her, and remembering how much she truly missed her, Alix cried more and moreover realizing one of the last reminders she had of her mother from her mother, who the family is going to accept is now gone-gone, is broken because of her.

Because she was irresponsible.

Because she was not careful.

‘. . . b-because I didn’t love you enough to care . . . Mom, I am so sorry!’ Were the last words Alix Kubdel could mentally say to herself and know were from her before she realized too late.

Before she saw the seemingly weird black feather-like fluff land on the broken wristwatch’s broken clock face and somehow disappear as though it was absorbed into it.

“My, my, what a truly depressed creature you are. So young, yet so full of sadness. It fills my blue heart . . . with anticipation.”

The voice in her head was nothing like she ever heard or imagined. It was a sickly demeaning-sounding person, who seemed to enjoy the wallowing Alix Kubdel was in. The way he worded out his introduction made Alix wish she could wipe that stupid smirk she can imagine the man in her head was having if she was emotionally fit to take the guy on.

Alas, being emotionally fit when having Le Paon inside one’s head was the last thing to ever happen because he always draws upon prey going through negative emotions. Negative emotions and feelings like sadness, anger, jealousy, or fear.

And Alix was one big glowing mark of depression, grief, and self-loathing that made her the perfect Vessel.

But it didn’t mean Alix Kubdel didn’t have the guts to still try.

“Urk . . . n-no! Argh! Ahh!”

“Struggle all you want, child, but you are currently under my cage. Now, let’s see . . . I wonder how you would feel with all your emotions . . . if it were at an 11, shall we?”

Almost immediately did the crying teenager feel her emotions she was currently going through feel like they were accelerating at a pace she could not physically handle. The sudden and immense surges of emotions at an all-intense high were making her wail out now in pain, rather than in sadness, as emotions like her sadness were physically making her feel ill with how she knows it should never be this bad. The conflict between what she mentally knew VS. the magic-induced emotion hacking from the blue evil known in Paris as Le Paon was at an all-time high. It was causing her to actually feel severely ill and exhausted, even more so as she was desperately losing a battle she had no chance of winning at this time.

“Alas, my poor Vessel, time for me to disembark with the lovely gift you left for me; otherwise, time is up for the likes of you.” All Alix could feel before she slumped down on her bathroom door was a horrific emotional yanking feeling, like someone forcefully removing her heart from her body and relishing the prize in front of her defeated form. She could slightly make out the same corrupted feather but now encased in some sort of crystal as her whole world started spinning around her. She felt the floating thing disappear from her bathroom window, probably where the accursed feather came from in the first place, to who knows where, but Alix was desperately trying to cling onto her wakefulness. She had to make the Asura Alert if possible.

She had to let Paris know they were in danger.

She had to keep her brother and father safe.

She had to—

Not even finishing her last thought process, Alix Kubdel succumbed to the emotional-turned physical exhaustion she experienced, being another Vesseled victim of Le Paon’s dastardly schemes.

——————————

Le Paon observed from within his lair the very Soul of which his new Asura will come forth from. Hidden somewhere in the empty alleys, the floating crystalized Soul was near where he exploited the emotions of his latest Vesseled victim. He frankly admits that while he felt it was a necessary act to do so, a small part of him did truly enjoy the emotional torture he did to procure such immense emotions to become the new catalyst for his latest schemes.

Many call him a villain, to that he could absolutely care less what they think of his methods. His methods of absolute madness as to power up his Miraculous-based magic. Le Paon could live being called the villain for all of this, because he himself did not care enough about people’s say over his own reasons for doing the things he did.

All he cared about was finally achieving the very goal he wishes to obtain: The Cat and the Butterfly Miraculous jewelry!

He was always so, so close that he could almost taste it. Alas, there were always challenges to life’s plans, and his took the form of Paris’ great superhero duo: the annoyingly charismatic Chat Noir and the ever-mysterious and ever-elusive Lady Fairy. The current wielders of said artifacts he wishes to attain.

“Despicable cretins . . . I care not who you are under your masks, I only care to take what is rightfully mines to claim!”

Having an idea of what his new monstrosity would be, Le Paon decided that time was at his side as he allowed his Asura to take shape. By his command, the corrupted dark blue and black energies from the Soul started manifesting into a form of its master’s choosing.

“Awaken my new creation, my Flauros! Time is of the essence to strike!” He allowed himself to enjoy a good villainous laugh as he felt the monster make its last features be known as Le Paon could finally link up with his creature via the glowing sigil. The monster landed on the pavement as it looked up withs its white fiery eyes, in full obedience to Le Paon’s command and will.

He could care less what they thought of him and his madness because for Le Paon one thing felt certain:

Time is not at the Parisian heroes’ side.

——————————

“. . . mom . . .”

She could see the face she could never forget look to where she was, as though she was astonished or caught off guard. But the woman gave her a smile she always remembered as one of the prettiest things on earth. She gave her a smile that radiated all the love a mother could ever truly give to her daughter. A smile that was, sadly, fading and shrinking away into obscurity as said daughter desperately tried in vain to run for it, even as some other background noises were starting to make it harder for her to reach that smile disappearing from her again.

“. . . m-mom! Mom! D-don’t go! . . . I . . . love . . . you, mom.”

“Ahhhh—"

A loud scream from outside her bathroom window was the necessary sound bit from the cacophony of other shouts and yells to finally awaken Alix Kubdel from her exhaustion-induced sleep. Picking up the watch and getting back up, while she was half wondering what the yelling was about in her half-tired and half-sleep state, she suddenly remembered why she fell asleep in the first place, and she has a good inclination that it was associated with the various screaming she is hearing from outside her home.

‘A-Asura! I-I was Vesseled! T-the Asura!’

Running out of her bathroom, Alix paused as she realized the yelling from outside had since subsided into still silence.

It was quiet, but it was the kind of silence that would not make sense in a situation wherein just moments ago there were people loudly screeching and yelling like their lives were on the line. That was also when she made a shocking realization over her current setting:

Her house was in that same eerie silence even before the yelling from outside also joined in the creepy quiet. Panic shot through the girl’s mind as she rushed to where she last saw them, wondering where her family members were.

Only to meet a rather grim sight.

“D-dad! . . . J-Jalil!”

Silence was all she got from the frozen statues that were her father and brother. They all had a look on their faces that showed they were severely startled or even downright scared by something in front of them, yet their eyes were now fully white. If that was not creepy enough for Alix, the fact that their colors were essentially drained from them would. The motionless bodies of her family were now left with this greyish blue pigment which give the victims a grimmer look overall. Like their lifeforce has been taken from them, and now they remain perpetually stuck at the moment they lost it.

‘N-no way . . . this can’t be happening . . . i-is it because of that feather!?’

Alix Kubdel was able to break out of her thoughts when she faintly heard something in the distance. It sounded like something was still moving. Running out the door, she was greeted by a similar scene. Unlike the two family members she saw, she was greeted by the scene of countless people or even animals essentially frozen in their place all with whited-out eyes and the same color tone. She was even shocked to see how some of them are frozen in the air as she could see one of her neighbors stuck in the air as they seemed to try and run away from whatever was causing this, while Alix also saw a bird motionless in the air in mid-flight.

Like they were all stuck in time.

She heard the noise again to her side as she saw something from the distance. Using her phone’s camera’s to zoom while pressing record, Alix caught a quick glance of what was essentially a scene of a predator about to attack mercilessly its prey.

The creature, its back turned away from Alix’s view, was on the rooftop of a building as it glared at someone frozen in their place, but out of fear more so from whatever caused the other previous victims. The creature pounced from the high altitude, but from when it pounced it disappeared. Not a moment sooner, it reappeared to have landed on all fours in front of the still terrified man before standing up on just hindlegs. It then used its forelegs, or actually arms, to hold the man in place by their shoulders. The man could only whimper before producing an ear-shattering wail as something white and fiery was coming out of the man’s eyes and mouth as it was being sucked in by the creature, but Alix could not see exactly. No longer than a couple of seconds, the man was now like the rest of the greyish-blue victims with his last moment’s expression being that of a horrified yell like many of the others.

“O-oh . . . good god . . .” Was all Alix Kubdel could say as she witnessed the creature, the Asura, be the cause of all these inanimations.

After it’s ambushing and feeding was complete, the creature turned itself slowly towards the direction of the unpetrified birthday girl as Alix knew the creature knew she was recording the incident the entire time, as though the Asura wanted her to bear witness to its ruthless acts. All Alix could feel from the viewing of the front of the monster was how both horrific and downright bizarre it looked.

The humanoid-looking monster seemed to have taken concepts from the cheetah somewhat as the creature’s face, tail, and overall color scheme and pattern resembling that of the fastest land animal, only from there was where the somewhat normalcy ended. The face itself was actually on its torso, large enough that it took the whole space; its eyes are at the chest area whereas the nose and mouth were situated around the stomach portion. The part of the body where the neck and head would have been was instead replaced by a structure that resembled a large ornate kerosene oil lamp with no handle, a white and blue fire constantly burned from within its glass container. Its limbs seemed to be a fusion of humanoid-looking arms and legs but also cheetah limbs as the feet ended like that of the feline while its humanoid hands had sharp claws for nails. The face on its torso was also unique in that its chest eyes glowed a vibrant blue whereas its open sharp-fanged mouth seemed to have something darker blue inside it, but the video could only discern so much.

Before the creature seemed to choose to take care of the video recording girl, a glowing blue sigil appeared over its torso face, which meant that Le Paon was not only looking through his creature’s eyes but was actively stopping it from using its own sentience. As though it was to taunt the girl who made the creature, she could see the cheetah-like Asura smile at her. It was a smile that she knows was from Le Paon himself, to ridicule her for being his latest victim and reminding her of her powerlessness. The creature turned away from the girl and pounced away to disappear and reappear shortly after on the rooftop, leaving the girl who was its Vesseled source to feel the derision the Asura, and Le Paon, left in their wake.

To make her think it was her fault.

‘M-my fault . . . this is . . . all my fault . . .”

Stopping herself from having another crying breakdown as she wiped the slight wetness from her eyes, Alix looked around and back inside her home to see all the victims that were around her. As much as she wanted to wallow in the grief and utter woe of the situation, Alix reminded herself of those self-calming tips she remembered reading up from Alya’s Heroes’ Scene website.

‘This is not my fault. This is not my fault. This is not my fault . . . but it sure feels like it is!’

“Argh! . . . Stupid, stupid me! I-I never should have been so careless . . . a-and now that thing is out there! This . . . this isn’t my fault but it sure as hell does feel like something I need to make up for it!”

Anger and determination now fueling her, Alix rushed back inside her home only to come out minutes later in her usual wear. Wearing her trusty rollerblades, helmet, and safety sports gear, Alix Kubdel readied herself for a fight she knew she will probably not win. Patting the wristwatch kept close inside her pocket, Alix sent the recorded video she took to the Heroes’ Scene’s Asura Alert portion so that Paris will know. Readying herself, Alix Kubdel sailed off on her rollerblades to where she thinks it’s going, wondering if she can still have time to say her apologies to the people who are currently immobilized indirectly due to her.

If there will be time left for her at all.

——————————

They were trying to still have a good time, but it didn’t feel right.

The classmates and friends of Alix were still trying to enjoy the picnic that was for the birthday celebrant, but they all could not reclaim the mood since that incident.

“Poor Alix . . . I hope she is doing alright.” Everyone internally agreed with what Rose said. They all felt varying levels of bad for her over being chewed out like that due to her admittedly irresponsible act. Even someone as being above it all as say Chloé Bourgeois was keeping her mouth shut as she didn’t feel the need to say anything at that moment, or so she would reason out.

Marinette, not one to allow this mood to stain their day, got up from where she sat and addressed her classmates. If there is a way to help, she will find that way.

“Look, guys, I know we really can’t do much for Alix right now but a lot of us are her friends or have known her for so long, so how about we find ways to help cheer her up?”

“H-how, Marinette? Alix left with her brother— er, or rather, she was dragged away by her really angry brother. I doubt she will get out of whatever she is in with what happened.”

“I-I know that Mylène, which is why I propose we give her a later birthday get-together like this when all’s good on her end!” Marinette’s positivity and seemingly sound option got her classmates to see worth in the suggestion.

“Y-yeah, we could all just set up another get together like this picnic for her at some other day . . . I mean, I am all for any excuse to just hang out with everyone, so why not right?” Nino rose in alliance with Marinette’s plan as he helped further solidify it. It got them all to voice out their eagerness.

“Oh, that could be fun!”

“We could even have some extra surprise gifts for her ready by then!”

“Absolutely! What an amazing plan, Marinette and Nino.”

“I say we add a gift from the whole class by making Kim Alix’s slave for the rest of the school year!”

“Hell yea— J-Juleka, what the hell!? Why me!?”

“Can it, Kim! You lost already and Alix is already sad. I agree with Juleka’s class gift plan!”

“I second that!”

“Count me in on the next party and for Kim being Alix’s minion!”

“G-guys!? W-wait!”

“Kim, just think of this as your gift for Alix! You did say you actually wanted to gift her something.”

“. . . fine, I’ll be Alix’s servant . . . I am in as well!”

Marinette couldn’t see their exuberant faces, but she can clearly hear the excitement as her classmates all agreed on this plan of hers. Even Kim agreed with his role in their way of cheering up Alix later. She found herself smiling more as she could clearly tell her optimism even had a certain someone concede.

“Ugh . . . this is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous . . . but I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to have another much better party than this picnic . . . fine, I am all for it, th-that is unless I have something better to do of course, which I totally could have!”

“What she means is we are in too.” Even someone like Chloé Bourgeois could not get away with looking all indifferent about being reluctant since her best friend / secretary Sabrina could understand Chloé-speak and gave the interpretation of what the blonde heiress actually meant. With everyone in their class agreeing, they all started finding themselves enjoying the picnic again with the semblance of the mood it was in prior to the incident, now more so with the added talking of what they could do for the upcoming party for Alix and the like.

Things could have been at peace for all of them there.

Sadly, not all peace lasts for them or for the citizens of Paris.

An hour later, they all received a notification on their phones or similar devices. It was from their classmate Alya’s hit website Heroes’ Scene. And while the site is great for communicating and posting great things regarding the heroes Chat Noir, Lady Fairy, and the myriad of cool Champions the latter summons in her stead, the notification dropped them to the site’s other main point: Asura Alerts. And judging from the video that was posted with the attached message, one thing became crystal clear.

An Asura was on the loose.

“O-oh my god, you guys! The video is from Alix!”

While the video itself did not specifically show who the videographer was as it took note of the new Asura’s appearance and style of attacking, the message attached was from a user Alya, and many of the others knew was exactly from their currently missing but downhearted birthday celebrant. The message, read out loud by Alya, is as followed:

[ Heroes’ Scene: Asura Alert!

Asura I caught on camera is dangerous! It looks like it targets people and then like steals their souls or whatever, leaving them frozen like statues. Video shows it being super-fast or even teleporting so please be careful. Don’t know where it’s going but it looks to be going along the ways of the 16th or even 7th arrondissement (administrative districts used in large French cities). Not sure! Stay safe! Call police! ] – AK_ASkaterGirl

Everyone who saw the message immediately got another follow-up Paris-wide news update from the Paris Police, of which Sabrina’s father is one of their chiefs.

[ Warning! Evacuation centers around the 7th arrondissement have been compromised! Asura collectively attacked those in that center! It is heading to the 16th. The warning is to hide out in smaller groups until Asura has been taken care of! We repeat, stay hidden in smaller groups! ] – Parisian Law Enforcement

As everyone started panicking amongst themselves about what they needed to do, Adrien stepped up to calm them down. In the suit or out of it, Adrien Agreste was still doing what he could to help in his own ways.

“Okay guys, listen up! We saw the news from the site and the police. The Asura is dangerous, and it seems that staying all together just gives it more victims to do what it does. The area for the most part is empty right now, I say we all hide in certain parts but in groups not more than 2 or 3. I am sure the heroes will come and rescue us if we all stay calm and hide somewhere say in the Palais de Chaillot.” Pointing to the building in front of the Trocadéro fountains where they were close to, everyone agreed with the plan, and not a moment too soon.

Growls could be heard, as well as screams of panic being severely interrupted into an eerie silence. It became known that the Asura had made it to the general area, most probably feeding off of the victims in its path. As everyone hid in their small groups, some took risks to peek at the creature. They all saw that the creature from the video, now preset, had the fire on its lamp-like structure now filled up the entirety of the glass, with even some of jutting out from the long spout. With another growl, the Asura began stalking the area looking for new prey. It became a vicious game of hide and seek, but the hiders hoped to never be caught.

‘This . . . is bad.’

Adrien only wished that he was in a position where hiding was beneficial for him to transform, if not for the fact he may have inadvertently shot himself in the foot when he made that coordinated plan of hiding in smaller groups. Now, he was stuck with Rose and Sabrina who instinctively and immediately cling to him due to how calm yet brave he was when he said those plans and no one like Chloé could argue before they all scrambled with their own partners. In his defense, he did forget momentarily the part of where he would have probably used the panic to hide somewhere by himself to finally be Chat Noir, but he also felt bad due to the idea in his mind of leaving these classmates of his to be potential first outs due to not helping them.

Such was the conflict he was feeling. He didn’t have the time to be there for his classmates as Adrien Agreste, but he was running out of time to plan out where to be alone so he can be Paris’ hero and save the day.

But luckily, he had a plan in his mind to try and kill two birds with one stone.

“Guys, this is going to be risky . . . but I am going to need you guys to run and hide as soon as I say go, okay?” Understandably, his two terrified classmates whispered at him like he was insane. Which to be fair his plan was, but it was his only option.

Create a diversion.

“A-Adrien! W-what are you planning to do?” Sabrina whispered as he brought out his phone and began typing onto it. Rose was too terrified to even whisper but nodded to Sabrina’s reply, nonetheless.

“Just run and hide when I say go, okay? I am going to give us some time.” Readying his phone with the button to press. He psyched himself before clicking then launching the device as it began playing his usual ringtone at full volume.

“Go!” He gave his own whisper out his command as he could see the Asura’s shadow launch itself to where he heftily threw his smartphone at. He could always get a new one anyway. Adrien was relieved when he saw his two classmates react to his order as they began sprinting, as quietly as they could away from the beast. Adrien was about to give himself a sigh of relief when he heard someone yelp and looked to see what happened.

It was Sabrina.

The poor girl tripped, she was on her knees and her glasses skidded away from her, rendering her visually impaired. To make matters worse, Rose chose to try and lift Sabrina up and help them both escape.

But it was too late.

With a growl, the Asura heard the yelp and was rushing to them, most likely using its teleporting move. Adrien in his hiding spot could only watch in horror, as the Asura was on all fours like an actual cat running towards his would-be prey without using its teleport technique. Guess even Le Paon saw a currently blind teenager and her classmate who was wearily helping her up was too easy. Adrien then and there was about to try and transform, even if it meant running towards his classmates while transforming.

When it happened.

Or rather when she happened.

“Plagg, Cl—”

Before he could finish his transformation order, he heard the resounding smack of something durable as Adrien saw a feat like no other.

He saw his blind friend and crush, a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng, use her surprisingly sturdy white cane she uses for assisted walking to land a remarkably accurate strike to where its head would be. Maybe in her defense due to her blindness, she didn’t know it had no head but just a torso face and a lamp, yet Marinette still swung her walking stick like a pro baseball batter as it shattered a good upper half of the glass of the lamp. The same lamp on top of the Asura as it now howled and pounced away from her a good distance in pain. Whitish blue wisps of fire started shooting out of its now exposed lamp part, causing the main fire to be smaller and darker blue, as though it was a cooler weaker flame. It was causing intense pain and even anger for the Asura as the typically sweet and kind blind girl Adrien knew managed to be a total badass and go toe to toe with the creature, hurting its body and most probably its pride.

And probably Le Paon’s as well.

All while having saved her two classmates who have since broken out of their shock over seeing Marinette’s feat and ran back into hiding. As Marinette seemed ready to make another strike, she was surprised when she heard the creature snarl back at her.

But something was off with it.

It snarled at her and gazed at her for a few seconds before it became astonished by the reckless civilian. As though it failed to do something to her. The blue sigil of the Peacock user manifested on the Asura’s chest eyes as it bid its master’s command, rushing towards the blind girl for her insolence.

Just what had happened for such a feat to happen like that?

——————————

Many minutes earlier, Marinette actually found herself in quite a predicament.

During the panic dash and group up to hide from the Asura, Marinette instinctively grabbed one of her classmate’s hands and made a quick beeline to the building where they could hide from the Asura. But it was when she and her partner stopped that Marinette found herself in a stacked situation.

Firstly, she grabbed a classmate’s hand to hide due to immediately following Adrien’s advice because she was thinking more like a citizen who needed to stay safe, and not a special sort of citizen who needed to have used that panic to hide by herself so she can transform into a truly special being in need for the fight, AKA transforming into Lady Fairy. Secondly, through sheer luck on her end, Marinette despite being blind managed to panic grab her classmate’s hand and hide in one of the many areas of the Palais de Chaillot with no stumble; the problem lies with who she grabbed whose arm, and it didn’t take long for Marinette to know when they made it well known, even if it was in a harsh whisper.

“What was with that mad, literal blind, dash, Dupain-Cheng!? That was utterly ridiculous and utterly dangerous for you to not only do but also drag me along with you like a rag doll!”

Third and lastly, Marinette was now stuck hiding with a certain Chloé Bourgeois, whom she grabbed when running and hiding. A certain Chloé Bourgeois who will probably make it extremely hard for her to leave alone so that Marinette can transform into the person Paris and Chat Noir needed the most right about now. If it wasn’t evident from how the blonde heiress was already still holding onto the Eurasian girl’s arm as to keep them both hidden from danger.

Marinette was in quite a predicament indeed.

‘Oh shoot! I need to get away from Chloé so I can transform, but it’s not like I can just sneak away when there’s an Asura on the loose, let alone Chloé will want someone to be with her.’ As though she read her thoughts, her companion looked to the blind girl and let go of her arm, huffing indignantly over finding herself in this situation with Marinette Dupain-Cheng of all people.

“We just need to stay here until our beloved heroes take out the Asura. This is utterly ridiculous, but this is the only way. Let’s just follow Adrikin’s advice and stay together hidden for the time being, Dupain-Cheng. Understand?!” The way Chloé was handling the situation reminded Marinette a bit of when she indirectly saw how serious the blonde heiress can be when she needed to step up and act, even when not necessarily needed for her to do so. She remembered seeing through her Champion how she helped out during the crisis in Le Grand Paris, all the while her possibly having had to juggle being sort of a caterer to a guest in the hotel. For all the snootiness and above-it-all personality one Chloé Bourgeois totes around publicly on a daily basis, when she needs to step up to the plate, she actually takes action.

“O-of course, Chloé! I-I guess I am just worried for everyone else if they’re staying safe as well. Like Alya or Adrien . . . especially Alix.” Marinette voicing out her worry over everyone caught the attention of her hiding partner as Chloé merely sighed as the two girls settled in the contemplative silence before giving some sort of reassurance.

“. . . Let’s just think first on getting out of here without that Asura turning us into one of those statues . . . even if we’re all worried for her . . .” Cringing at catching herself in the last part, Chloé looked to her hiding partner as she saw that acting like her usual persona wasn’t going to work and decided to divulge in a bit of a heart to heart with Marinette. If any other person would have seen this supposed sudden change of Chloé, they would be shocked.

But Marinette was not like other people.

“. . . You know, I do kind of understand what Alix is going through.”

“. . . Chloé?”

“I-I mean if the mother I truly, truly loved was missing from my life, not knowing if she’s really dead or alive would severely wreck me with the uncertainty of it all. Oh hell, after 5-6 years many would consider that missing person dead. For Alix’s case, if she just already knew what happened to her mother, she could have a peace of mind and not overly latch onto the hope . . .” Marinette was so amazed by how the blonde heiress managed to concisely describe her views over what she saw was their classmate’s issue that she almost did not catch the last murmured bit.

“. . . at least she still loves hers even if she’s missing. I know where Mother’s always been, but she never bothers . . . so why bother also . . .”

Marinette couldn’t even try to console Chloé before a yelp from somewhere close to where they were hiding broke their talk. Based on how she knew Chloé was taking a peek and her resulting gasp with a babble of a name, Marinette already felt a sense of adrenaline pool inside her. Her fight or flight responses were kicking in, and she knew where she was going to be leaning in on this scenario.

“S-Sabrina—”

“Sorry Chloé but help her when I go.” Not even having a full moment to process what Marinette said, Chloé could only gasp as her blind hiding partner fully rushed out of their hiding spot like a woman on a mission. Only did she hear Marinette’s command that she had a full realization.

“Go!”

With the way Marinette was running, she was almost going to intercept the Asura making a mad dash to Sabrina who was on the floor while Rose was helping her up.

But Marinette did more than just an interception.

“Ha!”

Stopping just where she was absolutely sure she needed to be, Marinette didn’t even need to think twice as she swung her white cane at just where she needed to hit. Maybe call it heightened other senses due to her disability or due to her having been passively using Miraculous magic, but Marinette was surprisingly confident about how her strike would make a hit to the Asura, despite not knowing what it looked like, how big it was or how it was positioned. She did not care as she gave it her all in that mighty swing, batting away a fastball with ease.

And by the sounds of glass shattering in front of her and an immensely guttural animal howl of pain, she was right on the money. Hearing her classmates shuffle away behind her, hopefully to safety, Marinette could hear the creature growl at her from the distance it staggered away, as though it was trying to intimidate her or something. It was not attacking her during those few key moments but something about how it sounded after made her think it was disappointed.

As though it failed to procure or produce a supposed result out of the brave blind teenager.

‘. . . Could it be?’

But before she could fully grasp what potential find she got from that brief interaction, Marinette realized internally the situation she placed herself in: A random blind Parisian girl whom many who knew her would say wouldn’t ever hurt a fly not only ran to successfully hurt and stagger a ferocious Asura but said blind girl seemed to have readied her cane as though she was up for Round 2.

That would make a certainly interesting read, but right now Marinette Dupain-Cheng was too focused running on adrenaline and her need to help to notice.

The real question now is:

Even as a badass good girl, who moonlights as a mysterious fairy-themed superhero, who can save the civilian currently known as Marinette Dupain-Cheng from a now heavily hurt and heavily pissed-off monstrosity?

Only time could tell.

——————————

Endnotes (References & Ramblings)

— Regarding Adding additional information mid-story. I hope you guys don’t mind me using parenthesis to shortly describe a new non-English word. Like how I gave a short description of what the breakfast food the Kubdels were eating. These may or may not appear often in the story just to save myself the trouble of adding it here, where it’s lengthy enough as it is.

— Regarding Headcanons (HCs). Even when I was watching Season 01 of the show as it was still airing, I had a bunch of HCs about what to expect. Such things like who is which character or even what character will get what in terms of story progression (ex: who Hawk Moth was prior to the reveal, who would get the other Miraculous jewelry from the ones shown that were not of the Chinese Zodiac ones or what powers would the other jewelry possess), etc. As such, I will most likely add those various HCs I have throughout the story, since this is an AU where lots of things are no longer compliant to the canon, so why not right?

> I will say the way I added the whole Mme. Kubdel HC is solely for this story. To the best of my knowledge, there is yet to be any mention of Alix’s mom in Canon, so I decided to add her here.

> I hope I also did a decent job with how I tried to blend a story narration within the story to help better visualize it. It’s hard to write a flashback when it's someone in the story while writing it.

— Regarding the Asura. I hope I did okay in introducing the Asura for this Chapter. Flauros is one of the demon Dukes of Hell from the Ars Goetia (the same source I used for Furfur, Aurore’s Asura) but its basic design was heavily based on SMT / Persona’s rendition of Flauros. I tried to differentiate it enough by changing some aspects. The main difference it being that I heavily based the Asura with that of a cheetah instead of SMT / Persona’s use of like a leopard. Originally, I was so fixated on finding a cheetah-based reference from myth or fiction that fit certain concepts, but I couldn’t find one that was good enough. In the end, I went with the idea of Flauros, who from Ars Goetia I could work with its concepts, but I also really liked SMT / Persona’s design that I decided to at least tweak it into what it is now: a cheetah humanoid-like monster with time essence stealing powers.

#ml au #miraculous ladybug #Miraculous Fandom #miraculous au #miraculous ladybug au #ladybug au #Lady Fairy AU #My Fair-y Lady #My Fair-y Lady (Lady Fairy AU)#episode rewrite #canon divergence #fanfiction #fanfic #Eostre Writes #ml #marinette dupain cheng adrien agreste

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