#you cannot look at that man and tell me he's 5'10"

[wardentabriis]

I don't care what people have asserted or datamined or figured out using character model comparisons, Lucanis Dellamorte will never be more than somewhere between 5'4" and 5'6" to me

[ratatatastic]

im sorry you cant put that in the tags and not exepect me to NOT go insane over that???

i present thee choco toller mixes...

and while the 2nd one is a purebred the vibe still stands... i just think...

yaris balinskis... lomberghini... gadjillac... our garage only gets bigger...

[reality-liver-n0]

Balalaika: Black Lagoon's Monster

This post is going to be another long one so strap in. Once again, it's soley on Balalaika, but I may stray off a bit too.

Since I already adressed in my last big post about her differnces in manga and anime, this is going to center around how well her depiction (normally) is in the maga. Don't get me wrong, Anime Balalaika is terrifying as well but the manga in some panels takes it up a notch.

I'll share the specific panels that made me decide to cover this topic anyway.

All of these are terrifying. Legitimately I forgot how brutal the manga panels were in this. I'll go down each one and point out how I think they're effective in their use of envoking fear.

In the first image she is grinning with her teeth bared, and you can see how sharp they are. It's like she's a shark that got the first whiff of blood. Take notice of the man (I honestly forgot his name).

His teeth are depicted as well but there are just two that seem pointy. Even so, they're not as jagged or rigid as hers, in fact they look more blunt, akin to a prey animal.

Honestly her lipstick makes the whiteness of her canines pop out more and I'm wondering if she actually even thought of the tactical advantadge it gives in terms of intimidation. Probabaly not, but hey, let me headcanon here. I would assume she chose pink since it's more natural yet it still pops. And I'm not sure how well the red lipstick would go with her red suit, which would obviosuly be a lot duller due to its fabric.

Anyway, both her and the man's eyes are not shown. I'm not an artist but it's very important here and I think I can explain why.

Eyes are the window to the soul. Or at least the most reliable way to know what emotions someone is feeling. You can't quite fake a look if your eyes stay the same. So by removing the access to emotions, it acts as a blocking point. We don't see their eyes, therefore we can't really see the extent of what they're feeling. We can only assume or place ourselves in the situation to guess what emotions might be present.

A good refernce would be the monster under the bed. You don't know what it looks like, but you use all experience or imagination possible to create one that will scare you. So by not seeing Balalaika's eyes or his, we can only conjure up worse images than what could actually be presently there.

Eyes are also what most classical artists use to convey pain. Here are the most notable examples.

We literally cannot even comprehend the type of pain this poor man is in. Ok, maybe not that much but choosing to limit the pain to the rest of his face does hide whatever expression he is making. Even so, there's not a whole lot to accurately measure his pain. There is only his teeth, grinding in pain, and blood. Not a whole lot to go off of.

But one notable detail is his feet. They are not touching the ground. In fact, he is actvely trying to stop himself from choking to death in her grip. Also, her heels make her considerably taller since his feet appear to be sliding against the ground. He's probabaly only a couple of inches off the ground but consider Balalaika.

She's 5'10, only wearing heels, already disarmed him with her back turned, and during this entire exchange with Rock is holding him steadily above the ground. That may not mean much but to me it's a lot.

He is a full grown man. The estimated average height for Japanese males is 5'7 and their weight is 138lbs.

Need I remind you that she kept this man up so he was actively choking, and still was able to snap Rock around onto a car hood with one hand.

This guy is fucking dying and she's not breaking a sweat. (Queen behavior tbh)

Onto the second panel. I want to focus on Balalaika's face. Her eyes have an emotion I can't find the word for. Playfulness I guess? Or some type of manic state of power or happiness. You can just tell by her raised brow and the slant of her eyes that she's just toying with Rock here. It's all a display of her raw strength.

The next panel is worse in my opinion. Her entire scarred side is blacked out. Sickingly, her right eye looks more like a socket since the scar overlaps it. And the blackness of her suit makes her look like some grim reaper. Overall, I'm scared shitless.

Yet the final image was the last straw for me.

That look from her, the solid stare that is directed at Rock (the audience in effect) is terrible. She doesn't have the same joy from the prebvious panels. That could be due to her mouth being hidden but it's one of rage and suffering. Look back to the classical depictions of eyes. Looks a bit similar, right?

Also, personally the one that looks the most alike is the Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel. Which to me is so ironic that it's sad.

Another sad thing is that the pupil size in the last panel, or specifically in the right/scarred eye can be a result of the scarring. Which to me seems to be affected a lot under bright light or is just permanetely damaged in that imitation state that pupils do when introduced to it. I would say the former, just to fit another headcanon neatly; her office only holds seemingly softer lights, notably the orange/yellow one on her desk.

Finally, the worst and most important fact is that in these panels Balalaika admits it's been a while since she's done hand to hand combat. What?! She just took an armed man down and she's not even at her peak soldier state. As Boris says, playing mafia does dull the senses.

So yeah. Rememember that we have literally never seen Balalalaika attempt to be as physically pro-active as Roberta. She hasn't had a reason too. It's just jaw-dropping to think what Balalaika's true combat prowess is since we've only seen glimpses of it. Better yet, how good was she as a sniper to get her nickname?

Only our imagination can help us there, but considering the feats of Roberta Balalaika's sniper shots must be inhuman.

[lavendertales]

Hi!! I love your TLOU writings! Do you think there's anyway you could do a Joel Miller (Pedro) x f!reader with a tall reader? For reference Joel is 5'10 or '11 and I'm around 6'2

It can be smut, fluff, whatever you feel. It's just rare to find fanfics with taller readers 😂 (bonus points if they're plus size)

Thank you so much!!!

as a pretty tall person too, I LOVE THIS IDEA SO MUCH. You're so right, it's rare to see fics with taller people, so let us remedy that, shall we?

Lover—Joel Miller x tall, plus size!f!reader

word count: 609

A/N: this is mostly just fluff with a very smitten Joel Miller. hints of smut, though nothing explicit. Nonetheless, as a lot of my works and my blog is 18+,

AGELESS/EMPTY BLOGS & MINORS WILL BE BLOCKED!!!

gif: @olisgifs

There have been eyes on you since the day you have arrived in Jackson, and months later, there are still eyes on you.

Except now, the eyes that follow you everywhere you go are Joel Miller’s.

And his express something else than the others’; there’s a certain mixture of admiration, awe and desire whenever he looks at you. You’re a tall woman, taller than him even, but he loves that. He loves the way there is more of you for him to adore whenever the two of you are alone. He loves kneading your flesh in between his fingers till it spills from in between; he loves hoisting your legs over his shoulders when he’s fucking you.

He loves every single inch of you, just as you are.

Truth be told, you were astounded at the newfound realization that Joel is borderline unhinged when it comes to you. You hadn’t always had a pleasant experience when it comes to meeting new people, particularly seeing their eyes roam over your tall figure, then dropping to notice the bit of extra weight that your body carried. You were never really bothered by it, you were quite confident with yourself, but sometimes it still got to you.

But ever since you and Joel became an item, any worries you might have had washed away. While he may not have been the most expressive person, and certainly not the most talkative, he showed his care through various acts of service—especially in the privacy of your house.

It was basically impossible to be even remotely bothered by the things that, according to Joel himself, made you an incredible woman.

“You cannot be serious,” you laughed one evening before bed.

“What? You think I’m joking?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

Joel’s gaze shifts to your legs, long and teasingly exposed in your gown as you lay beside him. He runs his palm over your calf, teasingly moving upwards to your thigh.

“I ain’t joking,” Joel coos, kissing your cheek, then moving to your jaw. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.”

“My height?”

“That’s right.”

You don’t hide the amusement that your face bestows.

“Not sure how that is a turn on of any sort, but… whatever floats your boat.”

Joel’s kisses go further down your neck, hand touching on your inner thigh now, rubbing the skin there. You smile, closing your eyes and trying to focus solely on the touches, but it only grows your desire more, and you can barely hold your moans to yourself.

“I got so lucky,” Joel mutters in your earlobe.

“I’m the lucky one.”

With Joel, you felt safe and cared for. And you made sure to return his affections tenfold. You enjoyed taking care of him, and you enjoyed seeing that he opened up to you more and putting his trust in you.

“Is it okay if we just watch a movie tonight?” you ask, looking at his face.

Joel instantly removes his hand from your inner thigh, simply caressing your knee. He then pecks your lips and gets more comfortable on his side of the bed.

“Of course,” he tells you.

“I know you probably wanted—“

“It’s okay. What movie do you feel like watching?”

“Well, I heard they’re playing Rush Hour at the cantina.”

“Sounds good.”

These are the moments that always reassure you that you have a great man by your side. In these moments, it’s more than your looks. It’s about safety and comfort, the feeling of coziness that Joel brings to you every single day.

You’ve never felt more confident or loved than when you were with Joel Miller.

[ithisatanytime]

i have a better understanding of what happened now and i wish i didnt. things HAPPENED out of order. chronilogically, or what i was seeing wasnt tracking with when i was seeing it. at the very least, ill interpret it as a dream.

i fell down, i hurt my elbow it "woke me up" but i was outside the gym smoking a cigarette, this had never happened to me before, i mean i was tapering phenibut and i had taken a lot to try to find my "Stable" dose but this never happened to me in my life or since, i popped up and knocked on the window because my gym card was hung up with my coat inside, id stepped out for a quick smoke after my shower before walking home, i surmised, and the sudden relaxation of smoking after the warm shower had knocked me out after an insane workout that is a post on its own, super human shit never repeated. point is, i "fell down"

some days go by i start seeing shadow people but not out of the corner of my eye, they are there, im among them wherever i am, they are right in front of me, than im back and they're gone. this progresses until i start seeing the "leader" who appears as a shadow of a man in a longcoat with a large black rimmed hat. weeks pass, the shadow people stop being shadows and start to appear as old timey people literal black and white with old timey clothes walking around.

there is a parlay. i see the man in the very wide brimmed hat without the shadows, hes a well dressed WORDLY looking older man, about 5'10 with a well maintained goatie and glasses. he looks like exactly the type and i keep saying it but its true to be the president of a holocaust museum, not for looking jewish but for having a worldly air of authority about him. almost like mr miyagi but not asian or as small, and all grey his clothes and his coat everything. we talk for hours but i cannot hear the conversation.

i see a "shadow person" swing at me full blast and then dissapear. sometime later, weeks i believe, i see the hatman grey and very angry doing the exact same thing and dissapear.

there is damage. sometime later i wakeup and on going to brush my teeth, extensive deep foaming cavites along all the roots of my front teeth, literally over night. so many things were going wrong at this point, so many wild things and this was so embarrassing and depressing the fact it just sprung up like that over night was crazy, not saying i never have cavities, but this was like something whipped in a straightline acroose my top fornt right teeth, there was never even sensitivity and it was over night, unmissable. i did not piece this together until recently and its probably nothing anyway, but maybe its not nothing.

long long before i peace this together, i get the sense i passed, but only just, and i wept. this i recorded publicly here as it happened. but some of the things im telling you about HAPPENED out of order, i think

[strawberrymilkgeorge]

Part Four. "You hosted me?? In MINECRAFT??"

warnings: swearing but that’s it (i think)! just karl being a goof and dream being a little shit but whats new word count: 3k (not ncluding pictures)

behind the screen (irl dream x reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

**********

.

Y/n  sat to Karl's left, out of the camera's view as he scrolled through Twitter on his PC.

"Um... oh, how did you guys meet?" Karl read before looking offscreen at Y/n. "Uh... school?"

"What? I was going to make up a funny story but I'm appalled by the seriousness in your voice! Is that really how you think we met?"

The embarrassment on his face answered her question. "Karl! I'm two years younger than you, how would we meet have met at school?"

"I don't know!" he said back defensively, raising his shoulders. "Clubs?"

"Like I was in any of the nerd clubs you were in."

"Well, then, how did we meet?"

Y/n sighed with a laugh. "Our moms–"

"Oh, wait wait, I remember!" he cut her off, excitedly looking towards Y/n. "Our moms are friends and they forced us to hang out." He smiled proudly and looked back to his screen as he continued scrolling for good questions. "If I'm honest, I only still hang out with you because my mom makes me."

Y/n smacked Karl's arm and he laughed but pretended to be hurt. "WHAT THE HONK, BUGSY?!"

"I can't stand you. I barely hit you, nimrod."

Karl giggled and read another one. "How tall is Bugsy? Two feet, four inches."

"No, I'm 7'6," Y/n lied easily and Karl laughed.

"How tall are you actually?"

'I think 5'10 or something? Maybe 5'11. I'm not 6' but I'm taller than you for sure, I know that much–"

"Okay, you are not taller than me. Just to be clear. Chat, Bugsy is not taller than me."

"Yes, I am. Wanna test it?"

"No," he replied quietly in defeat.

"Because you know I'm right," Y/n laughed as her eyes flicked over to read chat. They were spamming their surprise, expecting her to be short. "Yeah, no, chat, I'm tall. I'm taller than Karl."

"Only because your shoes make you tall! Doc Martens are tall and that's pretty much all you wear!"

"You're shorter than me when I'm barefoot!"

"That's literally false. Like completely."

"Just accept it, shorty."

"I'll accept that you're taller than George and Sapnap, but not me. I'm barely taller than you but I'm still taller."

"Whateverrrr. I'll move on to protect your dignity."

Karl ignored her and laughed, pointing to a message from Dream in Karl's chat.

"Dream said I have short girl energy," Y/n read.

"You kinda do."

"What does that even mean?"

"You're shy around new people and you act all sweet."

"So tall girls can't be shy and sweet? Or shy and sweet girls can't be tall?"

"Stop twisting my words," Karl groaned.

"Also, wait, what do you mean I act sweet? Am I not?"

"No, you are. But I mean you also aren't when you don't want to be. Upset Bugsy is scary Bugsy."

Y/n frowned, not recalling a time she's ever been angry or upset at Karl but she let him move on. He pointed to another tweet as he looked at Y/n, giving her an 'I told you so' look. She read it before shaking her head at him.

"Don't read that one."

"Pleeease, can I answer?"

"No!" she whisper-shouted. I don't want to be shipped with him for asking or you for answering, she mouthed so Karl's chat couldn't put together clues.

"Are you assuming I'll answer positively?" he teased, earning him a hard smack on the arm.

Y/n couldn't help but notice every time she put her hands in the frame, which was usually to hit Karl, half of the chat turned into simps requesting a hand pic because they could see her bracelets and nail polish and now that they knew she was tall they wanted to see how big her hands were. They really wanted every crumb of content they could have regarding her looks. She caught one that said something pretty kinky about her hands which she tried to scrub from her mind immediately.

"Fine," Karl sighed at her request to not read Dream's tweet out loud, instead reading another. "Bestie sleepover? Yes! Bestie sleepover! Bugsy and I are gonna cuddle all night--"

"No, we aren't. I'm sleeping on a completely different bed. Or couch. Nowhere near you."

"WHY DO YOU HATE ME?"

"Karl! Stop trying to get me to cuddle with you!" Y/n laughed as she pushed away his arms, which were trying to give her a hug. "You're a freaking heater and I don't like touching people!"

"That's my worst nightmare in a friend, how did I end up with you?"

"No idea. Deal with it. It's still a bestie sleepover even if we don't cuddle."

Karl giggled and looked back at his stream. "Oh, by the way, in case anyone ever wanted to know or was Dreaming about it, Bugsy is very cute. Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone was wondering or if anyone tweeted specifically asking..."

Y/n smacked his arm again as she yelled, "Karl!"

He grabbed his arm in dramatic pain as if it had been cut off. "Ow! Ow! Bugsy hit me!" he cried as he fell to the floor. "Oh my gosh. Someone call a doctor!"

"I cannot stand you," Y/n  informed as she stared down at him. She glanced at chat, who were all joking about how bad his condition was, saying things like they might have to amputate his arm. "Chat, don't encourage him. Oh, Karl I know what we can do!"

"As long as I don't need two arms for it..." his voice still laced with fake pain.

"Karl Jacobs."

"What is it?"

"Give me a tour of Dream's SMP. Dream whitelisted me yesterday."

"Oh, yeah! What could have possibly made you think of him?" he teased as he got back in his chair.

Y/n glared at him and he cowered slightly.

"Minecraft, yes. There's a PC in the other room you can play on. Do you need help setting it up?"

"No, I've streamed once or twice," Y/n teased as she stood up.

"I'm just trying to be a good host! Gosh!"

"Wait, I have to cross over to leave the room."

"Just do it? What's the issue? Literally no problem, just walk?" he joked before zooming in his camera on his face so it took up the whole screen. Y/n laughed as she went across the room, chat now forced to look at disturbingly close footage of Karl staring directly into the camera with his eyes crossed.

Y/n called Karl on Discord after logging in. "Hi, Karl and Karl's stream."

"Are you on yet?"

"I'm logging in to my Minecraft account right now."

"Okay, join a vc on the smp discord so others can talk to us if we run into anyone. I'll be over in a minute, just give me a bit to read some donations." They both muted, leaving Y/n to herself.

She typed in the IP address to the server and joined a random voice channel that no one was in. She spawned and looked around, confused by the cobblestone wall around her. Her phone lit up so she occupied herself with the texts from Naomi.

A green figure caught her eye on the screen and she looked up. In the distance was Dream's infamous green Minecraft skin punching the air as he faced her. He ran towards her and stopped in front of her. She set her phone down and slid it away, crouching as his character did the same.

Dream whispers to you: are you streaming you whisper to Dream: no but Karl is and he's about to get on to tour me Dream whispers to you: hmmm okay here

He uncrouched and dropped a few diamond blocks before punching the air again and running away.

Dream whispers to you: shh don’t tell anyone you whisper to Dream: omg :D ty <3 you whisper to Dream: first twitch donos now mc donos you whisper to Dream: rich man over here giving out money and diamonds to everyone like it's candy Dream whispers to you: no, only to you Dream whispers to you: a little gift before our date ;) Dream whispers to you: oh and this

He came back and paused in front of Y/n before dropping a red poppy and sprinting away again. She acted cool despite the huge smile on her face.

you whisper to Dream: charming you whisper to Dream: you give me a flower and dart away before I can properly thank you Dream whispers to you: oh yeah? how would you have thanked me?

Y/n smiled, her cheeks flaming up as a dirty thought entered her mind. Stop, he's not flirting, she told herself. It’s literally a block game and he’s not flirting.

you whisper to Dream: guess we'll never know ;) KarlJacobs joined the game

"I'm back," Karl's voice filled her headset as he joined her voice channel, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Where are you?"

Y/n looked away from the chat in Minecraft and turned around in the game. "Still at spawn. Some forest and cobblestone walls."

"Go left and I'll meet you halfway."

As she ran, the Minecraft chat reappeared with new messages for everyone to see.

<Dream> hey Karl <KarlJacobs> hello Dream <Dream> thanks for answering my question on your stream <KarlJacobs> just doing my civil duty as a bugsy dream shipper <KarlJacobs> official petition for the name to be dreamsy <Dream> signed

"Oh my gosh," Y/n muttered, making Karl laugh.

"What?" Karl asked innocently, but his laugh was maniacal. "Oh, I found you. This way! I built everything on the server, by the way. So if anything is impressive, just remember that I did it."

"Karl, that's the biggest lie you've ever told me. I watch the lore videos."

"Well, I did build it all so I don't know what to tell you. Let's go this way first."

Y/n followed as he showed her stuff, including background and unknown facts about things that have happened off stream. After the tour, they messed around the chessboard. At some point, she found a blue cornflower and turned to Karl.

"Do you have an anvil?"

"I don't exactly have one on me at the moment but I think there's one over here. What for?"

She killed some chickens with her fist to gain XP so she could carry out the task in mind. "I need to name this flower I found." She followed him a few blocks away and clicked the anvil and named the flower 'love, bug'. "Okay, thanks."

"Why did you name it?"

"It's a gift for someone."

"Me?" he asked as his character jumped up and down.

"No. My presence is your gift."

"Ouch. You know, honestly, I'm really hurt by that. Like, why would you say that to me? It's just sorta rude."

"Fine, I'll go get you a flower."

"Well, I don't want it if it isn't sincere. Who's that one for?"

"...no one."

"Tell me or I'll keep complaining about not getting a gift."

"I can deal with that."

"Okay, then tell me or I'll make you sleep in my bed and I'll smother you to death with my affection."

"Ah, okay, fine. It's for Dream."

"Wow you really hate me that much!" Karl laughed.

"No, I'm just not touchy like you!" she defended. She always worried she offended Karl since he was so physically affectionate towards his friends but she just wasn't a physical person.

"Oh, speaking of Dream..." he turned and Y/n followed his characters line of sight, having to zoom in to see the green figure perched at the top of a tree.

"He's very menacing."

"He does that."

<Bugsy> come here pls dream <Bugsy> i have a gift :]

Dream ran towards Y/n and stopped in front of her expectedly. She looked at Karl then back at Dream and dropped the gift, backing up after and crouching.

His character picked it up and held it, pausing to read the name. After a moment, he slowly looked up at Y/n's character before jumping and spinning in circles. Y/n hid her smile in her sleeve even though no one could see her.

<Dream> wait lemme see the one I gave you <Bugsy> what D: <Dream> I wanna name it

"What is going on?" Karl giggled.

"Gift exchange. Mind your own business."

"Woah!" Karl gasped dramatically. "Uncalled for."

Dream came back and dropped the renamed flower for her. Y/n picked it up and hovered over it to read the name.

'host, dream'

She gasped and started punching his character. He backed up and ran away but joined the call seconds later.

"Wait! Stop hitting me!" Dream yelled into her headset.

Y/n laughed, trying to contain her smile as she continued to hit the green character. "Dream! Are you kidding? I tried being all cute and you hosted me?? In MINECRAFT??"

"It was a joke! You said something like that to Wilbur on Twitter a while ago, I was just using your humor!" Dream's giggles filled Y/n's headphones and she smiled but quickly dropped it so her voice could sound serious.

"Give it back."

Dream looked at her before letting out a small, "What?"

"Give me back the flower so I can go burn it with the other one."

"Bugsy!"

"What is going on?" Karl asked through a cackle. "Dream, did you hurt Bugsy??"

"Yes, Karl! He hurt my feelings! He gave me a flower and gave it back to name it something mean!"

Dream just laughed so Y/n punched him again.

"Dream! You can't hurt Bugsy!" Karl defended, also punching Dream.

All Y/n could hear was the sound of Dream wheezing, his character running as the two chased him. "Stop! You guys are so– STOP HITTING ME!"

"Fine," Y/n finally said, crouching and facing the ground as she walked into a corner to look like she was pouting. "I'm just not going to go on any Minecraft dates anymore."

"Wait, no," Dream protested in a soft voice, his character stopping to look at her's. "Take that back."

"Heart been broke so many times..."

"You're so stupid."

Karl gasped happily. "You guys have a Minecraft date? Can I help plan it?!"

"We did. In exchange for letting you give me the tour. But I've changed my mind since I've been so betrayed."

"Oh my gosh, you're so..." Dream trailed off but his wide smile could be heard through his voice.

"So what? Finish that sentence, Dream," Y/n dared teasingly.

"So... ANNOYING!"

"DREAM! SAY YOU'RE SORRY!" Karl yelled.

"Okay! I'm sorry! Bug, I'm so sorry. Really. Please let me... let me rename your flower something cute. It'll make you so happy that you'll fall in love with me all over again and–and we can go on our date. Please don't burn our flowers."

"And what if I don't give them to you?"

"I'll just kill you and pick them off your corpse."

"Woooooowwww. Okay, it's like that?"

"Yes, it is like that," he said through a smile. It was so apparent in his voice that he was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

<Ranboo> how is the tour going Bugsy was shot by Dream using DEFINITELY NOT PENIS <Ranboo> ah going well I see

Bugsy screamed in her mic as the death screen appeared. "DREAM!"

"You took too long!" He wheezed as Bugsy respawned.

"I don't know where I am!"

"Hold on, I'll avenge you!" Karl declared before he died too.

"You thought you could kill me with your fists? Karl, you're naked and I'm wearing full Netherite."

"You weren't when I started punching you! You pulled that out of thin air!"

<Ranboo> canon

Y/n smiled at Ranboo's comment. She had never talked to him but she knew he and Tubbo were close friends and he seemed really funny. He had already proved he had a dry sense of humor in the 30 minutes she was on the SMP and she loved that. Y/n made a mental note to befriend him before returning to being drama queen to Dream.

"So, Dream, now that you've made me an enemy–"

"WhAT? We are not enemies, Bug. I'm actually naming a flower something really cute as we speak. Enemies don't do that."

"Maybe I'm not your enemy but you sure are mine."

"Oh come on now," he mumbled lowly, running chills down her spine. What the hell was that?? "What do I have to do to make it up to you?"

"You-you murdered me in cold blood. Nothing will make it up."

"So I could get the flower! It was out of love! So I could give you a better present! Does that count for nothing?"

"Hm," she hummed. "We'll see what new name you come up with and then I'll decide."

Karl and Y/n got back to the chessboard and waited for Dream to return with his new flower.

Breaking character and turning towards her best friend, Y/n laughed at Karl. "Sorry for distracting from our BFF shenanigans time."

"This is way more entertaining," Karl assured. "Me and my chat got front row seats to the Dreamsy love saga."

"Shut up," she mumbled as she punched him in-game.

"OW! STOP PUNCHING ME SO MUCH!"

"Okay, okay, I'm back!!" Dream announced and they saw his figure sprinting and jumping towards them. He dropped the flower for Y/n and stepped back, crouching and standing repeatedly.

Y/n picked up the flower and hovered over it to read the name.

"Is it worthy of your forgiveness, Bugsy? Does it pass the vibe check?" Karl asked with a giggle.

Y/n bit her lip as she smiled at her screen.

to the prettiest girl in the world. love, dream <3

It was a joke, obviously. He was just continuing the joke of flirting with her like he does on Twitter just like Sapnap and Karl and George and Quackity do. They all joke about flirting with her and this was another joke.

But it still gave her tummy butterflies.

"Bug?" Dream called softly.

But why would he joke like that when neither of them were streaming? Karl's chat wouldn't see it so there was no one to point in feeding into the joke, unless he meant for Y/n to show Karl? She was overthinking. She needed to play it cool. 

She also needed an enderchest so no one could find it and no one could take it away from her and destroy it but they didn’t need to know she liked it that much.

"Mmm.... it'll do."

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A/N: yeeee hope you guys liked this one! i think this is my favorite so far i just think dream was being too cute and i wanna be best friends with karl so much it hurts. we’re gonna get deeper into the dream relationship soon!! i just needed to indugle in bff karl content real quick!!!

taglist: open (at the time) @hydrate-tion @loraleiix @tinaswagbd @charsdummb @smileyyuta @1ghoste1 @cerberus-hellhound @gaysludge @queestionmark @carnations-red @letsloveimagines @the-fictionwriters-hairdo @boiled-onionrings @a-cryptic @fee-btheweeb​ @letsloveimagines @erwinss @just-a-stan @axths @kayleigh2703 @furiouspockettoad @sometimeseverythingsucks @powerpuffyn​ @itshaileyn @millavalntyne @automaticcomputerpaper @nikkineeky @fivedicksinatrenchcoat @sprucekot​ @bellomi-clarke @possiblyanxioushuman

[saikostories]

Nanbaka - The Peculiar Guard pt1

Nanba Prison…

Ever heard of it?

It’s one of the most classified, if not the only, secretive prison in the world. It is the hardest prison that anybody in the world could break out of. It is built on an isolated island, floating on sea.

No one can get in or out of it.

Equipped with the latest technology and guards recruited around the world give it Japan’s largest, and the world’s highest-level, security network. Even the famous Alcatraz Island is full of holes and opportunities to escape when compared to this place.

The full truth of this place will never be revealed to the world. That is because this is Nanba Prison. No one has ever escaped successfully from this prison.

Except one…

The Warden of Nanba Prison is known as Momoko Hyakushiki. She is in charge of it all. The main tower, you could say. And, being a Warden of Nanba Prison, she usually handles large piles of paperwork daily. Those papers vary from inmates, to paychecks, to ministrations in the prison, and guards. At this moment, she was going through papers of guard requests.

There is technically an academy for training to get into the Nanba Prison as a guard, but sometimes the warden herself will gain administrations or requests from people. Going through each paper, one caught her eye.

“Hm…” She picked it up and eyed the paper. ‘I recognize this name…’

Name: Theodora Nicci

Sex: Female

Age: 20

Ethnicity: Italian

Nationality: American

Height: 177 cm (5'10")

Weight: 65 kg (156 lbs)

Blood Type: AB negative

Background:

Has a family of both parents and three younger siblings. Lives in America. Has a criminal record of multiple misdemeanors; vandalism, resisting arrest, petty theft, and Grievous Bodily Harm. She began at age 10, admitting to knowing what she was doing and “simply not caring for the consequences.” She has done her multiple years in different prisons, but has escaped a few because she couldn’t stand their health treatments, or because she got “bad vibes” from them. She was sent to Nanba Prison at age 12, but has been passed through multiple buildings and wardens from her supposed wide “variety” of talents.

Health History:

Has been diagnosed with Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy (HSAN). States that she cannot feel or sense things like the normal human can. She has the inability to sense pain unless it’s severe, like slicing her hand open, all the way through the muscle. Even with this handicap, she she has strong senses of sight, taste, and hearing. She tends to be unaware of injuries on herself, but is usually sharp at catching them.

Request:

“I wish to be apart of the jail guards in Nanba Prison. Finding jobs are hard and sustaining a house, much less an apartment, is practically impossible. From being in Nanba, I have found a way to clean up my act, and have sworn to myself and others to make a new beginning for myself. I know that I can be of service to this prison. If I am given the chance, that is. All I ask for is to be a guard. I am willing to go through the academy if I must. All that I ask for is a chance to prove my worth. ~ T.N

The blue haired warden gazed through the paper again. Placing it down, the woman stood from her desk and began opening files until she found the one she wanted. Once found, she went back to her desk to sit down while reading the inside of the envelope. She compared both files before placing them down. She put her finger against her lip as she thought about this file.

"How strange…” Muttered the Warden.

Knock knock. A knock could be heard from the door. Snapped out of thought, the woman raised her head up and gazed at the door.

“Come in.” She instructed.

Opening the door and peeking their head in was none other than Building 5’s Supervisor, Samon Gokuu. He stepped into the room and greeted the Warden with respect. The last thing he wished to do was anger her, especially so early in the morning…

“Hello, ma'am. I came back here with those papers of the new inmates you wanted.” Said Samon.

“Bring them here, then.” Momoko said with her hand raised out for the papers.

Samon quickly walked to her desk and handed her the papers. She took them carefully and gazed through a few while Samon talked.

“Each new inmate in alphabetical order, just like you asked for, ma'am.” He said. “I made sure that each one was accounted for as well.”

“Good.” Momoko looked away from the papers and to Samon. “May I ask you a question, Samon?”

“O-of course, ma'am!” Samon nervously replied, trying to act calm.

“Tell me what you recall from this past inmate.” Said Momoko as she twisted the file on her desk so it faced Samon. “Inmate No. 7, Theodora Nicci.”

“Ooh, her. I had almost forgotten about her…” Muttered Samon as he glared at the file. “Everyone, including her past prisons, thought she was really a he. She was taller than the average woman and stronger than most men. She got away with being a male for a long time. That is, until she came to Nanba.”

“She became our very first female inmate, correct?” Asked the warden.

“Yes, but nobody but us knew of her true gender.” Samon said before gazing back to the Warden. “She… wasn’t always the calmest person at times… Got into fights pretty easily and lost her temper a lot… but nonetheless, she did a damn good job at keeping who she was hidden. She continuously hopped from building to building until she was finally placed into Building 5. Her ability to watch someone and copy them is unique in itself, but she couldn’t master it completely. If anything she just found her own in making it look professional when in reality she was pulling at straws. But her acting saved herself plenty of times. Trained with me pretty much all the time since it took her mind of things and she thought it was fun. Like to think it was a successful rehabilitation.”

"Is there anything else about her?” Asked the warden. “Did she have any grudges with any of the inmates?”

“Actually, no. Though I can’t say she liked everyone. There were some that annoyed the crap out of her.” Samon answered as he thought carefully. “She actually got along with many people. Once placed in 5, she kept to herself and fights stopped. She respected us guards and in turn earned respect from her fellow inmates. It was pretty weird, how she could make almost anybody her ally by just talking to them.”

"I see…” Muttered the warden as she gazed at the picture in the file.

“If I can ask, why did you ask me about her?” Samon questioned his superior. “She’s been gone for at least 2 or 3 years by now. Don’t tell me she’s being brought back here…”

The warden’s mouth twitched upwards at Samon’s concern. She gazed up at him as a smirk graced her lips.

“Not quite the way you would imagine it…” She replied. She then closed the request paper and handed it to Samon. “Please give this to the Supervisor of Building 4, Kenshirou. Tell him that I ask for this request to be given, and to bring the person here to my office immediately.”

“Uh, alright.” Samon took the file from her hands. “I’ll head over there right away.”

“Thank you. That will be all.” Replied the Warden before turning around in her chair.

Samon eyed her for a moment, wondering if she would ask him anything else. When a response wasn’t given, he turned and walked out of her office. Once he was out, he was very curious about why the sudden mention of one of his past inmates. When the door closed behind him, he took a peek at the request file. As soon as he saw the picture he couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

“NO WAAAAY!”

***

Theodora Nicci.

The female warden gazed at her desk in deep thought. Ever since the request paper she was given, she couldn’t help but think about the person. Momoko remembered this prisoner well because of the strange occurrences that happened with her.

’…Why would a request come from you of all people…?’

Knock knock.

“Come in.” Instructed the warden as she lifted her head up.

The doors opened to reveal the intruders. The Supervisor of Building 4, Kenshirou Yozukura, was standing there with his hand firmly placed on the person in front of him.

“Excuse the intrusion, ma'am. I retrieved the person you asked for.” Kenshirou said.

Momoko gazed at the person standing in front of Kenshirou. They looked very uncomfortable and never took their eyes off of his hand.

“…Could you… ease up on the grip…?” They asked softly.

“No.” Instantly stated Kenshirou as he gazed down at them harshly.

“Good to know you’re the same as always…” Mumbled the civilian.

The Warden couldn’t help but examine the person she asked be brought in. Standing under Kenshirou’s firm grip on their shoulder was a female. She wasn’t that short compared to him. I’m fact she was almost just as tall. Her skin seemed pale. She wore a white shirt that had the sleeves hang just past her wrists. She wore black skinny jeans that were tucked in to what seemed like black riding boots.

Compared to how she used to look, she seemed a lot more different. If she had to pick her in a crowd, then she would hardly recognise her. Her cheekbones stood out more, as if she had lost weight on her face. Her silver hair was definitely shorter than last time, and more boy-ish too as it stopped just after her ears. Her ocean blue eyes were looking as calm as they always do. She was a lot thinner than before too… yet the way she stood, anybody could tell she was strong. But Momoko frowned when she noticed that her hands were cuffed in front of her, making her look like an inmate. But, with a record like hers, it was to be expected.

“She isn’t an inmate anymore, Kenshirou. The least you can do is release her shoulder.” Momoko said, sharply eyeing the man.

Without argument, he took his hand off of the woman’s shoulder. She seemed to relax as her eyes now gazed at the Warden. Momoko gestured for her to come forwards.

“Please come closer.” Momoko asked her.

With her head slightly down, the woman walked over so she stood in front of Momoko’s desk. Kenshirou, who kept his eye sharp on the woman’s back, eyed her carefully in case she tries something. Momoko held a slight smirk as she recalled the woman’s familiar face.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen your face.” Spoke the warden. “You haven’t been causing any problems, have you?”

“I can’t necessarily answer that…” Mumbled the woman.

The warden chuckled slightly, knowing quite well of what the answer is. Her eyes examined her again and stopped at her hands. The skin looked rough and had her white sleeves had traces of dirt. “…Where did all that dirt get on you?”

“Oh, that…” The woman gazed down on the ground, wondering if she was leaving a mess. “I’ve been working on a local farm. Helping with all the heavy duty appliances and all. If it pays, it pays, I guess…”

“I see…” The warden’s eyes stuck to her hands. “Did you get those scars from the farm as well?”

The woman looked down and rolled her sleeves up slowly. Scars littered her skin. She frowned slightly and gazed intently at her hands and arms.

“…Maybe.” She replied with a shrug. “Some of them came from fights, others from mishaps. I probably caused a few of them by accident…”

“I see…” Muttered the warden before looking towards her face. “It’s been awhile since you’ve seen Nanba Prison, correct?”

“Not really…” Replied the woman as she gazed around the office. “I mean, from when I was around, things have definitely changed. I’ve noticed you created a few new centers as well…”

“Nanba Prison is always improving, after all.” Replied the warden.

“When isn’t it?” Said the woman as her eyes came back to the warden.

Momoko’s lip twitched in amusement. “I see your emotionless sarcasm still remains.”

“I…” The woman flinched, probably not expecting to hear that. “…didn’t mean anything behind it, ma'am…”

“I know you didn’t.” Momoko said. She put her arms on her desk before placing her lips against her entwined fingers. “Now, let’s get down to business… You sent in a job request to work here in Nanba Prison. Specifically, to be a guard… Why’s that?”

“Nanba Prison is honestly a lot nicer than the outside.” Replied the woman without hesitation. “The food is nice, making friends isn’t that hard, the place is super clean compared to other prisons, and comparing my pay to here, this place is like a sanctuary. With the jobs I have now, I’m barely making enough to sustain a roof over my head, much less covering for my health insurance and having left over money for food. Nobody in a business industry wants some woman with a criminal record, especially when she has a genetic disorder…”

“Then why do you believe that we would take you in?” Sharply spoke Kenshirou. “You were our prisoner, after all. Why come back?”

“Because…” She turned and looked him in the eye. “This place is full of a variety of strange and unique individuals. Why pass down an opportunity of working in a place full of misfits when you’re a misfit yourself…?”

“Why you…” Kenshirou growled at her before Momoko gave him a sharp glare.

“She means no harm, Kenshirou. There’s no need to be on the offensive.” Said Momoko.

“…Yes, ma'am.” He muttered and stepped back, showing he was backing down.

“Now, why specifically a guard?” Asked Momoko as she looked back to the woman. “Why would you want that instead of an easier and safer job? Like working at the mall or even the theater?”

“Because… I know I can be of use as a guard.” Replied the woman. “As a guard, I can gain the trust of the inmates easier. By doing that, I can gain information other guards usually can’t. Plus, when it comes to stopping fights and taking down runners, I’m one of your best options. Even as an inmate here, I still did all those necessities for you guys, so…”

“You believe you can do it again…?” Finished Momoko.

The woman gave a curt now. Momoko held her gaze for a while, seeing a determined expression in her eyes. It was clear that this woman wants nothing more than to help. Momoko couldn’t help but smirk at her.

“You honestly haven’t changed a bit, huh?” Asked the warden.

The woman gazed to the side, almost in an embarrassed manner. “I… wouldn’t exactly say that.”

“Let me ask you this, Theodora.” Momoko spoke sternly, grabbing the woman’s attention. “From your time here in Nanba Prison we had to specifically be careful of your identity of being a woman. Even though no one but us faculty found out about your gender, I can’t accept you. You are a female after all, and with a criminal record. Yes, you have helped in multiple cases with befriending the inmates and handing us the intel, and you have stopped multiple fights, but I still can’t accept you…”

The woman tilted her head down, gazing at the ground. A mix of emotions flooded her eyes as her face still remained calm.

“But…”

Hearing Momoko drag out the word, the woman picked her head up and gazed at the warden in curiousity.

“…The only thing stopping you is your gender.” Said the guard as her lip twitched upwards. “But, you know how to manage with that well.”

“So, does that mean…?” The woman’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You can’t be serious…?!” Exclaimed Kenshirou.

“You can be a guard of Nanba Prison, as long as you remain male.” Stated Momoko as she smirked. “…Of course, with you being a former inmate, you have your own restrictions as well. You aren’t an inmate here, but you aren’t exactly a free citizen guarding the place. Do you understand where I’m getting at…?”

“Yes, ma'am…!” Nodded Theodora.

Momoko kept her smirk as her eyes narrowed at her. “Welcome back to Nanba Prison, No. 7. I hope you get along with everyone…”

***

“To think you of all people would come back…”

“And as a guard, too…”

“You look so different!”

“I hardly recognised you…”

“This is gonna be good!”

The Supervisors of all buildings were talking with each other in the meeting room, gazing at the person before them. They couldn’t help but feel uneasy with the Warden’s sudden decision. But nobody would question her decision, especially when she was sitting right before them.

Standing before multiple supervisors was Theodora. She had cleaned herself up and put on the given uniform of the Nanba Guards. She didn’t have to do much. Since working on the farm, she had built up enough muscle, yet she was as skinny as a rake. Her robust chest from three years ago had gone and instead had just a much smaller chest. Once every button was in place, she then placed the black officer hat over her hair, securing it carefully on her head. Since her hair was so short, she didn’t need to hide it. Gazing in the mirror, she looked anything but female.

She looked like an ordinary, American man.

“Whoa, she changed so quickly too, I’m impressed.”

“Wait, that’s a 'she’?!”

“Weren’t you listening?”

“My, my~” Sang the Supervisor of Building 3, Kiji Mitsuba. “I’m impressed. She didn’t even have to use cosmetics to look manly. But, she still has that girlish look to her. But, she does make for a handsome fellow!”

“Hi, Kiji.” Greeted the girl in a casual but monotone manner.

“That’s Mitsuba to you.” He quickly said, his eye twitching slightly.

“Oh, right…” She mumbled to herself in thought. “A lot of you guys are Japanese, and this prison is Japanese themed, so I have to use everyone’s last name from now on… Very different from America…”

“Ah, who cares about that.” Samon spoke up, waving his hand as if to shoo the thought away. “He knows all the guard routines anyways, so he’s not exactly a newbie at this.”

“But, isn’t polite to respect someone’s wishes?” Theodora turned to him and asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Eh… I forgot about that polite side of you…” Samon muttered, recalling his past encounters with her. “Just, don’t do everything someone asks you to do, alright? You’re not an inmate anymore, you’re a guard. Remember that.”

“Okay…” She nodded to him in understanding.

“You’re never going to fool anyone if you keep talking like that.” Kenshirou intervene, grabbing their attention. “If you speak so softly and in that high of a pitch then you might as well be saying goodbye to your job.”

“Always so strict…” Murmured Theodora as she deepened her voice slightly. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t underestimate my acting abilities, Kenshirou. I was able to fool your eyes and ears, or have you forgotten…?”

“That’s Yozakura to you,” growled the man.

“Sorry…” She instantly mumbled, dropping her act and apologizing.

“Don’t apologize!” Samon exclaimed at her. “You don’t always have to apologize for something you did, Nicci! Don’t let everyone step on you so much!”

“Okay…” She mumbled and nodded to him.

Samon could only sigh and put his hand on his forehead. 'She really hasn’t changed…’

“That’s right,” Mumbled Kiji as he looked at Samon. “After her multiple Cell Hopping from building to building, she was originally placed under your building, correct? So you know her better than any of us here.”

“Yeah, so where are you getting at here?” Samon asked.

“She, or shall I say 'he’, is a new guards after all.” Kiji smiled at him. “He should be placed under your care, shouldn’t he?”

“No.” Quickly spoke the Warden.

Everyone stiffened and looked towards her. She was so quiet the entire time they accidentally forgotten she was still in the room. Silenced, Momoko spoke up again.

“These are the guidelines you will be instructed under, Theodora.” Momoko said sternly. “Because of your past record, you will not be authorized into certain places. You will stay in one building unless given permission from your building Supervisor, understood?”

Theodora nodded.

“This is the male ward, so you have to be careful.” Momoko instructed her. “I could send you to the Nanba Female Prison, but from your past complaints, you just wouldn’t 'fit in’, correct?”

Theodora nodded again.

“We can’t have you get caught…” Muttered Momoko. “If somehow an inmate does find out, then we might just have to let you go. You know very well of how dangerous this prison is. Once a month, you will report to my office and give me a report on how you’re doing. And don’t make up any lies. I’ll be talking with your Supervisor as well for a behavior check. Step out of line in any way and I won’t hesitate taking your job away and kicking you right back into those cells. Your pay will be just like anybody else’s, but I will be giving it to you by hand.”

“My, my! That’s a lot of guidelines for a newbie!” Exclaimed the prison’s broadcaster, Mitsuru Hitokoe. He frantically patted her shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be a little bit easier on 'im? He just got here, after all! Plus, look at this face!” He grabbed Theodora’s head and began smushing her cheeks. “Ain’t she adorable, whether it be boy or girl!?”

“Hey, stop messing with that handsome face of his!” Kiji yelled and kicked Mitsuru away from the girl, only to hug her in a protective manner. “You might just ruin his adorable face with your disgusting hands!”

Theodora whined softly, not enjoying the tight space in Kiji’s arms. She may not feel many things, but she definitely didn’t enjoy the sensation of being restricted. Momoko slammed her hand on the table, silencing everyone quickly. She eyed Kiji, signalling him to step away from Theodora. Frightened, he complied and stepped a good few feet away from her.

“She isn’t someone we can just shrug and take for granted.” Momoko said sternly. “There’s a reason for why she was directly placed into Building 5, or have you all forgotten that? She may have stopped her criminal doings, but she still has that record. She is to be watched, not adored like a doll. Theodora will work as a guard, but only with this restraint on…”

Momoko lifted something from under the table. She firmly placed the box on top of it, looking straight at Theodora. She then pushed the box, causing it to slide across the table top, right towards the girl. She grabbed it as soon as it came to her, not wanting for it to fall off. She opened the box and picked the item up, trying to understand what it was.

“Is that one of those weird ninja movie masks…?” Samon questioned.

“It’s a human muzzle.” Momoko answered, surprising the group. “This mask is a sort of… restriction. It will hide your lower face well, concealing you feminine features. Not only that, but it will react if you try to yank it off. The parts that wrap around your ears will dig themselves through your ears if you try pulling it off. If you try punching, scratching, or ripping of the mask without properly taking it off, it will cause you harm.”

“Isn’t that a bit brutal?!” Asked Mitsuru.

“She can handle it.” Momoko said. “If not, then she can just give up her job…”

“You purposely planned this, huh…?” Theodora questioned her, gazing up from the mask. “You want to make sure I’ll be taking my job seriously, right? So you loaded a bunch of guidelines and gave me multiple restrictions to see if I can really handle this job…”

“Perceptive as always…” Momoko smirked.

“But wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Questioned Kiji. “What if a prisoner were to act out and punch her mask? It would cause her double the pain. Is it truly necessary?”

“I-I’ve got to agree on this!” Samon spoke up himself. “I understand where you’re coming from, ma'am, but isn’t that a bit too cruel for him?”

“It’s alright…” Muttered Theodora. She placed the mask on and wrapped the hooks around her ears, hearing a clicking sound to signal it’s in place. She lifted her head up towards the Warden.

Being muffled, she still spoke clearly through the mask.“…What else is there?”

Everyone couldn’t help but stare at her. She was very much serious about this job. Samon couldn’t help but sigh again and rub his head. Just her being there was giving him a headache…

“Is there anything we should know about that isn’t on your record?” Asked the Warden.

“…I don’t believe so.” Theodora answered, putting to where her lips are and tilted her head. “Besides the HSAN, I’m just a normal human being…”

“Bullcrap!” Samon instantly shouted, clearly surprising Theodora as her eyes widen. “Don’t tell me you lost that ability because I know you didn’t! You’re still freakishly strong, aren’t you?! No wonder you worked the heavy lifting on that farm you were working at before!”

“Oh, yeah… that…” Muttered Theodora as she had a deadpan expression. “I thought that would be in the files, though…”

“Do you know how hard it is to write down your freakish strength on paper?!” Samon stomped his foot on the ground. “Don’t even get me started on how you almost destroyed one of your buildings because of two inmates fighting!”

“I thought we agreed to never mention that again.” Theodora said quickly, sweat beginning to form on her neck.

“Like hell I wouldn’t!” Samon said, pointing his finger at her. “I know you better than anybody here, so if I get any complaints from the Supervisors then I’m going to have to punish you myself, got it?!”

She gave him a harsh look, annoyed that he was now pressuring her as well. Samon wasn’t affected by it since he knew she was just annoyed. The warden gave out a sigh, causing everyone to look at her.

“You can’t go by your full name.” Momoko stated, getting everyone back on track. “For now on, you’re Theo Nicci. You will remain under this Supervisor unless I say so. Please get along with them him…”

The room became silent. Everyone kept shifting glances, wondering who will get the extra work of a new guard. Theodora just remained stoic, wondering who she will be put with. 'I hope it’s Samon… Over half of them hate me, and the others just want me for looks and what I’m capable of… Only Samon really knows me…’

“Your Supervisor is… Hajime Sugoroku.”

“Huh…?”

Everyone’s head turned towards the man named Hajime Sugoroku. Theodora knew who he was since Samon always ranted and raved about him before. She recalled seeing him in action before. It actually made her nervous. She tried to conceal her shock as she gazed at the older man. He looked at the Warden in surprise.

“Wait, why me?” He asked her.

“Because, Theo has a thing for troublemakers…” Replied the Warden. “I’m sure he’ll be of great use for you. It’s only been two years. I have faith that you can handle him on your own.”

Hajime could only shift his attention onto Theodora as she stood there. She held his gaze, neither backing down for a solid minute. Theodora backed down, gazing at the table, and shifting the hat’s visor to hopefully hide her eyes. Hajime could only sigh.

This was going to be rather troubling…

***

How annoying…’

Hajime Sugoroku, Superviser of Building 13, could only sigh in annoyance. He glanced at the woman, now man, standing beside him. They were on the Nanba Loop Line, trying to get back to building 13. After being dismissed by the Warden, Theodora, or Theo, had been following him like a shadow. It honestly creeped him out from how silent he was. He really was a shadow…

'The guy doesn’t talk at all… You would think she would at least say something, or ask a question…’

It took an hour before getting off of the transportation. The walked through the building, passing a few cells, and traveling through the long hallways. Theodora kept gazing around, amazed with how much the place had actually changed.

“…Got any questions?” Hajime asked her.

“…Not really.” She said. “But… Do you know anything else about this muzzle? The Warden said no harm will come to me if this thing isn’t harmed…”

“Well, you won’t be able to take it off yourself.” Hajime said. “The thing’s thumb printed, so only your Superiors can take them off. That would be me…”

“Wow, I’m impressed.” She said and gently touched the mask. “This place is always advancing… It’s actually startling…”

“I know I’m not supposed to, but…” Hajime looked over his shoulder and at her. “When night time comes, and when you leave the island, I’ll take that mask off of you. It’s bad enough they’re pressuring you because of your past record, but that mask? I can’t have my newbie unable to fight simply because of pain.”

Theodora smiled at him, not like he could see, but she was pleased. “Thank you. But, don’t worry. Pain will be the last thing to stop me from fighting…”

“Uh, right, that HS… whatever you have.” Muttered Hajime. “What exactly does that do? Do you need prescriptions and stuff?”

“No, not really.” She replied. “HSAN prevents me from feeling things. I can’t tell the difference from hot or cold unless it’s extreme. Pain is a thing I can hardly feel. In order for me to actually feel pain, I would would either have to be punched so hard my organs are crushed, or I would have to be stabbed.”

“That bad, eh?…” Hajime looked at her in surprise.

“Yeah, but, it’s not totally bad.” She shrugged casually. “If I could feel pain, I wouldn’t quite be able to have the abilities I have now… My hearing’s sharp, as well as my eyes, and I can taste poison if somebody tries anything. It’s neat…”

“What about smell?” Hajime asked.

“Actually, my sense of smell is quite terrible…” Theodora admitted. “I believe it’s because of my condition…”

“But yet you can taste and hear?” Hajime raised a brow at her.

“Well… My sense of taste is good, but not extremely great.” The woman tried explaining. “I’ve trained myself to recognize poison when I eat it. But, it’s still tough compared to other people. My hearing… It’s very possible that I may lose my hearing because of HSAN. So, I’ve trained myself so it’s sharp, so that hopefully it won’t completely disappear on me… That’s just how it works…”

“That is pretty bad.” Hajime nodded to her in sympathy. “…Will it affect your ability to run and fight if you must?”

“Not at all.” She said, her voice becoming light as if enjoyed. “Fighting is all that I’m good for. I remember being in one of these cells… Some guys tried escaping but I broke my door down and stopped them. I remembered you got angry with me and hit me, heh. You guys didn’t know about my identity then.”

“Yeah, I remember that…” Hajime sighed deeply. “You gave me a heart attack…”

“Sorry.” She said, her eyes showing amusement.

They kept advancing through the building. Once they got to the headquarters, or faculty office, Hajime opened the door and entered. Alloisia followed him, gazing around the room carefully. But her eyes stopped and landed on a blue haired boy that was sitting at a desk. He turned and greeted them with a smile.

“Oh, hello Supervisor! Was the meeting well?” He asked in a childish way.

“I guess you could say that…” Grumbled Hajime. He then jutted his finger at Theodora. “This is a new guard that’ll be working with us in the building. But they’re on heavy restrictions, so don’t allow them to access high status papers and files.”

“Oh, okay…” Muttered the boy as his smile fell. He stood up and put he hand out to her. “I’m Seitarou Tanabata. Nice to meet you.”

“Uh, you too.” Theodora said, her voice sounding very boyish, and shook his hand carefully. “Theo Nicci.

"Just let me know if you have any questions.” Seitarou said and smiled again. “I hope we get along.”

“…Yeah.” Theo nodded to him since she couldn’t show a smile.

They released hands and Seitarou turned to get back to work. Hajime had already taken a seat at his desk and began to light himself a cigarette. He puffed out a bit of smoke before pointing to a very unoccupied desk.

“This’ll be your desk.” He told her. “Take a seat and begin going through those stacks of paper. Divide them into three piles. One for guards, another for inmates, and the last one for garbage. You can do that much, right?”

“Understood.” Theo nodded his head.

He walked over and took a seat. He grabbed a packet of clipped paper, his eyes skimming and scanning the pages. As he did that, Seitarou couldn’t help but eye him. There was just something… unsettling about the newbie. He figured it was the mask, but it didn’t help him calm down. Seitarou went over to Hajime and decided to ask a few questions about the new guy.

“Excuse me, sir, but…” Seitarou grabbed his attention, trying not to grab the guy’s attention. “What’s with that mask on Theo’s face? It’s kind of… scary looking.”

“What? It’s just a black mask.” Hajime said, looking at Theo.

“Yeah, but… isn’t it a bit strange?” Seitarou asked.

“It was given to him by the warden.” Hajime stated. “That mask restricts him from doing things he’s not supposed to. He has a criminal record, but was allowed to become a guard anyways. He can’t take that mask off. If he even tries, the mask will activate and harm him. Only the Supervisors of Nanba can take it off.”

“S-seriously?!” Exclaimed Seitarou. “I-is he s-safe…?!”

“Of course he is.” Hajime said calmly. “He willingly asked for the job and proved himself to the Warden. He’s got a lot of pressure on him because of his criminal record, but he can be relied on.”

“O-oh… I see…” Seitarou relaxed.

Suddenly, a small beeping could be heard. Theo turned around, confused to what the noise was. Seitarou walked to his desk and picked up his phone and stopped the beeping.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized to them. “Looks like I have to do my rounds.”

“Actually…” Hajime placed his pencil down. “Seitarou, wait. Take Theo with you. Show him around the place and warn him about a few of the inmates. He needs to see the rest of the building, after all.”

“A-are you sure, sir?” Seitarou asked, nervous about being alone with a criminal.

“Yes I’m sure.” Hajime stated bluntly before looking at Theo, who was staring at him. “Theo, follow Seitarou around. You need to be shown around the place.”

“Alright…” Mumbled Theo as he stood from his seat.

“J-j-j-just f-f-follow me…!” Stuttered Seitarou as he stiffly walked out of the office.

'Is he okay…?’ Wondered Theodora.

Either way, he followed behind Seitarou. As he followed him through the building, he noticed how nervous and jumpy Seitarou was. He was literally shaking as he walked. Theo wondered if her was okay, concerned if he should call for Hajime. He easily caught up with Seitarou and placed his hand on his shoulder. Seitarou yelped and jumped away from him, clearly startles, as he was still shaking in his place. Theo was surprised by this and was confused for his fearful expression. Isn’t he a police officer?…

“U-uh, you okay, Seitarou…?” Theo asked him.

“U-u-um, y-y-yeah, I-I-I’m f-f-fine…!” Seitarou stuttered.

'He’s anything from fine.’ Theo deducted. He sighed softly at him. “Calm down. I don’t know why you’re so jumpy, but you should take a breather. None of the inmates are going to respect you if you show them fear. You should calm down before we continue on.’”

“N-no, that’s okay…” Seitarou said as he appeared to relax.

“Do some of the inmates make you nervous?” Theo asked.

“W-well, sorta, but that’s normal for me…” Seitarou admitted, not gazing at his eyes.

“Then why are you so nervous?” Theo asked with a raised brow.

“I-it’s just…” Seitarou fidgeting with his hands, not locking eyes with the new guard. “Y-you make me nervous… having a criminal record and all…”

Theo sighed softly. 'I knew it…’ Pushing away the sad little feeling in his chest, he lifted his hand up and gently patted Seitarous shoulder in a slow manner. Seitarou hesitantly looked up at him in confusion of the gesture.

“Don’t worry, I’m on your side.” Theo said softly as his eyes seemed to smile. “I’ve done my time and I’ve corrected the error of my ways. You might not trust me, and I understand why, but… please trust me enough to have your back. My goal is to be a guard, not an enemy. Please believe that…”

Seitarou stared at him for a moment. He smiled again and nodded. “Alright. I apologize if I caused any offense to you.”

“Not at all.” Theo lifted his hand and waved, as if to shoo the thought away. “I understand where you’re coming from…”

“Now, let’s go back to looking around the prison.” Seitarou said. “There’s still a lot for you to learn here. Just ask me if you have any questions, okay?”

Theo nodded to him.

Seitarou continued to lead the way around. Theo stayed behind him, just like he did with Hajime, and basically followed him like a shadow. His eyes kept looking at the cells, sometimes seeing the inmates. It made him recall his time here in Building 13 when he was a prisoner. 'It’s changed, but at the same time it hasn't…’

A loud sound of banged metal snapped Theo out of his thoughts. He also heard Seitarou yelp right after. Theo looked at him, startled from his scream, confused to why he screamed. He looked to his right to see four inmates at the bars, making scary faces, hissing and glaring at him. Already understanding the situation, Theo narrowed his eyes at the group.

“P-please… stay back…!” Seitarou said, his voice soft and full of fear.

The four inmates dropped their scary expressions and began snickering like a bunch of school girls. Theo crossed his arms, wondering why they had bones to pick with Seitarou.

“ 'Please… stay back!’ Haha!” Mocked one of the inmates.

“Five bucks he peed his pants!” Betted another.

“Layoff, would ya?” Theo spoke up, glaring at the bunch.

“Y-yeah!” Seitarou said as he tried to collect his confidence. “I don’t have to take this!”

In a blink of an eye, the tallest inmate hit the bars and began yelling at Seitarou in an attempt to scare him. Needless to say, the poor guard fell backwards in fear. Theo could only sigh, wondering how on earth he became a guard.

“Knock it off!” Theo turned his head and yelled at the four, his voice being loud and deep, despite his mask.

“Who the hell’re you?” Asked on of them, specifically the one with blond and pink hair.

“I’m on of the new guards here. Mind giving me your names?” Theo asked, eyeing each of them carefully.

“A newbie, eh?” Said the same inmate while smirking. “How about we play a round of poker and we can tell ya all you wanna kn—”

“No thanks.” Theo instantly shot down without hesitation.

“You didn’t even let me finish my sentence!” Yelled the inmate.

“I’ll just ask Hajime for you files when I get back to the room.” Theo said and gazed up at the plate above the cell door. “Cell 13, eh? I’ll make sure that it’s memorized…”

“What’re you even doing following that wimp?” Asked an inmate with black hair, pointing at Seitarou.

“You insult him one more time and I won’t hesitate to shut your mouth.” Theo threatened, not at all liking their attitudes.

“I-it’s fine, really!” Seitarou jumped his his feet and began to frantically wave his arms in front of Theo to distract him. “L-look, let’s just ignore them and continue on, okay? There’s still a lot for you to see…”

Theogazed over his head and locked eyes with each inmate. He gave them one last glare before asking Seitarou to lead the way. The blue haired male turned and briskly began walking in a very stiff manner. Theo, dropping his glare and watching Seitarou, could only sigh at his figure. He could only stuff his hands into his pockets and begin following him while in thought. 'He’s a complete scaredy cat… I wonder how long he’ll last in this Prison…’

“You need some confidence.” Theo stated as they were in a different hall than before.

“I know…” Seitarou muttered. “I can’t help it, though. Those four are the most troublesome inmates we have here in the building…”

“Why’s that…?” Theo asked, raising a brow at him.

“They try escaping whenever they can.” Explained the guard. “The big guy is No. 69, the short one is No. 25, the guy with the hat is No. 11, and then there’s No. 15. Each of those guys are known for escaping their cells and past prisons. It’s the very reason for why each of them are here. They’re nothing but trouble…”

“Each of them are known for escaping, huh…?” Mumbled Theo before speaking towards Seitarou. “So, have they tried escaping from their cells?”

“Plenty of times.” Admitted Seitarou. “They escape and try escaping the building constantly. But they’ve never been able to get past Supervisor Sugoroku. We never tell the Warden, though. If we did it would be our paychecks on the line if we did that. So, it’s best if you don’t either. Our Supervisor might punish you for it.”

'Sounds like Hajime…’ Sighed Theo. 'This might be bad… The warden threatened to strip me of my job if I lied to her. But, since Hajime will be asked the same, he would be lying as well. But still…’

“I’m sure you’ll do fine here.” Seitarou said, catching Theo off guard. “You seem to know what you’re doing. Sugoroku has a lot of confidence in you, so I believe I should as well. You faced against those four when they were mocking me, so I know you will do fine. Like you said, you just need confidence…”

Theo felt his eyes soften, feeling rather sympathetic towards Seitarou. He reached his hand out and gently wrapped his arm around his shoulders to hopefully cheer him up.

“Yeah, well…” Muttered Theo. “You’re still pretty cool, Seitarou. You’re technically my superior, and you’ve been around longer than me. Yet, even though you’re scared, you still stay and do your job. That’s an impressive right in itself. Don’t let those guys get to your head, alright? They’ve got nothing that you have. Just believe in yourself sometimes, alright…?”

“…Yeah, thanks.” Seitarou smiled up at him.

Theo smiled, not like he could see, but laughed lightly to hopefully cheer Seitarou up. They continued down the hall as the mood seemed to lift. 'All you need is to believe…’ Theo thought to himself while frowning. His fist tightened without Seitarou knowing. 'Believe… Yeah, right…’

***

Poke. Poke.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

'Huh…?’

Theo, who has been peacefully asleep, woke up to his forehead being poked. He opened his eyes to see Seitarou squatting down before him since Theo was sleeping on the couch. Theo grunted softly and sat up, now realizing that he passed out without taking any of his clothes off.

He placed his hands on his face to rub his eyes. But he noticed the absence of a certain object. He touched his lower face, only to realize the mask was gone. He doesn’t remember taking it off, so he wondered if Hajime did it when he was asleep?

“Hey, did you stay here all night?” Seitarou asked.

“I… guess I did. Sorry.” Apologized Theo. He glanced around the room. “Where’s uh… Hajime?”

“He called in sick.” Seitarou said.

“Sick?” Theo questioned in surprise. 'I hope he doesn’t have the mask… The Warden might screw me over if I’m seen without it…’

Looking back and forth, he spotted it right on the table in front of him. He grabbed the mask as Seitarou walked away and towards his desk. Carefully placing the strange yet cool material against his mouth, he carefully wrapped the hooks behind his ears, stopping when he heard the loud click. He sighed softly before look to Seitarou.

“So, if Hajime isn’t here, who’s taking his place?” Theo asked.

“Oh, that would be Yamato.” Answered Seitarou. “Do you know him?”

“Yamato…?” Theo questioned as he thought. “That… sorta sounds familiar…”

Suddenly the door was kicked open, startling both men. They looked towards the door to see a very tall man in it’s place. He stepped right into the room and began laughing. Both younger men sweatdropped at the very sight of the guard.

“Ha ha ha ha! My apologizes!” Bellowed the man in a friendly tone. “I tend to forget how strong I am once in awhile!”

“W-who…?” Theo could only stare at the man in shock.

“Yamato, this is our newest recruit, Theo.” Seitarou said and then looked at him. “Theo, this is Yamato. He’s our superior, and is temporarily replacing Hajime for today.”

“Greetings! It is a pleasure to meet you!” Exclaimed Yamoto and jutted his hand out to him, grinning widely.

“U-uh, yeah, you too…” Mumbled Theo.

He grabbed his hand, a bit overwhelmed by his enthusiastic energy so early in the morning. Yamoto roughly shook his hand up and down, causing Seitarou to fear he might rip Theo’s arm off.

“I’m glad we have a new pair of hands on deck!” Yamato exclaimed before finally releasing his hand. “Could you do me a favor?”

“U-uh, sure…” Theo muttered, staring at his hand. 'My hand feels weird…’

“Could you go around the first section of cells and wake everyone up, please? It is almost time for breakfast!” Yamoto exclaimed.

“…Okay.” Theo nodded.

“Here!” Yamoto grabbed a clipboard and jutted it out to him. “These are the names and cell numbers of each inmate! Please make sure they’re all accounted for!”

Theo nodded again, carefully taking the clipboard. 'I guess I have no choice now…’

Just as he heard Yamoto say something else towards Seitarou, Theo quickly escaped the office and stepped outside. He looked at the clipboard and sighed, feeling his breath bounce back at him thanks to the close contact of the mask.

Doing as Yamoto asked, Theo walked to each cell and made rollcall to each inmate. He made sure each one was accountable for before moving to the next cell. Most of the inmates didn’t seem to care about him, but a few cursed at him. Theo wondered if they were doing it because they knew Hajime wasn’t here. Not being affected by their crude language, he continued on. When he soon got to Cell 13, he couldn’t help but eye it carefully.

'These are the jerks who mocked Seitarou…’ He recalled as his eyes narrowed. 'I’m sure they won’t hesitate to try and irritate me. I have to remain calm, no matter what…’

Taking in a deep breath, he stepped towards the cell. Using his outer fist, he banged against the door to grab the inmate’s attention and, hopefully, wake a few stragglers.

“Rise and shine, boys.” Theo called through the bars. “Roll call time!”

He heard a few groans, but continued on.

“No. 69!” He called.

“Here…” Groaned the big guy with the mohawk.

“No. 25!”

“Hehehe…” Giggled the smallest one, who still appeared to be sleeping.

“Please wake him up. It is close to breakfast after all. No. 11!”

“I’m here!” Yawned the guy with a gigantic braid. “No need for shouting…!”

“No. 15!”

No response came. Theo raised his brow in alarm.

“No. 15!” He called again, this time using more aggression.

A soft groan came from inside as his head popped up into Theo’s sights. “Too loud… What’s your deal Haji—”

The inmate’s eyes shot open when he realized what guard was waking them up. The others, seeming to now realize this themselves, all gazed at her wearing the same expression of shock. Only No.15 snapped out of it quickly.

“Well well, looks like the newbie’s back.” He said and crossed his arms. “Is Hajime sending you out to do his dirty work?”

“First off, as a 'newbie’, it is required of me to do morning roll call every now and then.” Theo stated and he switched the papers. “Second off, Hajime is absent today. He’s sick.”

“Seriously…?” No.15 groaned and flopped back into bed.

“Aw, man. It’s no fun when Hajime’s not around…” Muttered No.11.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Theo said as he turned to the next cell. “We got a guy filling in for Hajime who’d be happy to pummel you guys if you do anything naughty.”

“And who might that be?” Asked No.69 who seemed to almost sneer at him.

“His name is Yamoto, or something…” Muttered Theo while simultaneously reading the paper in his hand. “He’s basically my higher up, but is ranked under Hajime. He’s in charge for today.”

“Oh god, not him!” Groaned No.11. “I swear if he makes us do morning training again I swear I will beat him myself! My arms can’t take his hardcore training!”

“…Training…?” Theo questioned, gazing at No.11.

“Yeah, he’s really serious when it comes to training.” Spoke No.25, who now looked awake.

“He makes us do one thousand push ups, then one thousand sit ups, and then he makes us run around the track until we hit one thousand km…” Grumbled No.69

Theo stiffened in shock as chills went up his spine. 'I recall him now… No wonder he was so familiar…’

“It’s terrible, am I right?!” Exclaimed No.11 who noticed Theo’s expression.

“Yeah… It sounds it…” Theo agreed, secretly knowing first hand of his harsh training. 'That man made me do fifty times the amount that he regularly does because he figured out my ability… Needless to say, he made me experience a new type of pain…’

“So, you gonna tell us your name or what?” Suddenly asked No.15.

“Huh…?” Theo looked at him in confusion since he snapped him out of thought.

“You said you were going to go into our files and figure out our names, right?” No.15 spoke again, looking almost annoyed. “You figure out our names. Mind giving us yours?”

Theo’s lips pressed together in a flatline. As he thought about answering, he sighed softly and got himself to relax.

“Theodore Nicci. But, you can call me Theo if you want…” Theo said, holding their gaze.

“Knee-sea?” No.15 tried pronouncing his lastname. “The hell is that from?”

“It’s Italian…” Theo stated.

“Sounds like a type of bread…” Muttered No.69.

“…Heh.” Theo smiled lightly in amusement. “Yeah. I actually get that a lot…”

“Wait, you’re Italian?” Exclaimed No.25 as he came up to the bars, grinning. “That’s pretty cool! I didn’t know the name Theo was Italian!”

“It’s not, actually.” Theo corrected him in clear amusement. “Theo is more or less an early British or Celtic name. But, Nicci is totally Italian. I’m actually American like my father while my mother is Italian.”

“Now that’s a pair of genetics!” Exclaimed No.11.

“Tell me about it,” Theo said and laughed lightly. “I basically know every Italian curse word thanks to them. Holidays are great. A gigantic Italian dinner while we drink until we’ve emptied the bars. But, that is until you start a bar fight. So many angry Irish guys, ugh…”

“That sounds awesome!” Exclaimed No.69.

“Sometimes it is…” Theo shrugged. “It humorous, actually. My dad gets drunk every holiday, and he’s gotten drunk so much, that all of the local police stations know his name to heart. Not the greatest way to get the Police to know your family, but it’s pretty hilarious sometimes.”

“So your dad’s a bit of a criminal while his son’s a cop?” No.11 questioned before letting out a laugh. “Now that’s hilarious!”

Theo nodded his head as he thought about it. “Not only that, but he was a cop himself, so it’s double the hilarity.”

“Seriously?” Asked No.15. “That's… pretty ironic.”

“Yeah, my siblings get a good kick out of it.” Theo smiled as he thought about his family. “We’re not the greatest family in the world, and we’re pretty big nutjobs, but we make it through just fine…” Theo then put on a poker face and hit his clipboard lightly. “Now, that’s enough talk about myself. I need to finish up rollcall. You four wait here and we’ll get out when breakfast is ready.”

“Okay!” Happily exclaimed No.25.

Theo turned and went to the next cells. He smirked to himself as he walked. 'Even though they aren’t exactly fond of me, I at least got them to enjoy a bit of my story. Slowly I’ll gain every ounce of their trust. Until then… I have to do my job.’

***

“Wow, he’s really making them go at it.”

“Yeah, he is…”

Theo shivered at the sight of Yamoto forcing the inmates to do an extraneous amount of exercising that’s practically inhuman. Seitarou and Theo was outside in the training area with them since they had to keep an eye on the other inmates. From what Theo understood, the four from cell 13 tried to escape but Yamoto caught them since he was literally in front of the door.

'At least it explains the bumps on their heads…’ Theo though as he watched them.

“Hey, Theo, are you okay?” Seitarou asked him. “Your face looks pretty pale, are you alright?”

“U-uh, yeah…” Theo nodded before glancing back at Yamoto. “Yamoto’s training looks pretty terrible… I wouldn’t want to be victim to that…”

“Yeah, I can agree with you there…” Seitarou nodded as he looked at the inmates. “But, those four deserve it for being naughty like usual. They should just stay in their cells…”

“Hm…” Theo was now staring at Seitarou. “Have you guys figured out how those guys continuously keep escaping?”

“Well, we know who, but we’re not quite sure how.” Admitted Seitarou. “No.15 has the ability to unlock any sort of lock possible. Shackles, chains—he can unlock them all. It’s impressive if he only used it other than breaking out…”

“Really…?” Asked Theo in surprised. “That’s impressive… I want to see hat for myself, but maybe another time. I’ve read his file and all, but I had no idea that could be a talent of all things…”

“Yeah, it really surprised us the day he first tried to escape.” Seitarou said. “Ever since then we’ve never really had a break with their jail escapes…”

“Have they ever tried releasing other inmates?” Theo asked him.

“No, never.” Seitarou shook his head. “But, they do sometimes escape into other cells to play with them or just be social. Supervisor Sugoroku always gets angry whenever they get out of their cells without permission…”

'Yeah, I figured as much…’ Thought Theo. “…Guess we should be more alert for today with them. But, with Yamoto’s exercises, I doubt they’ll have enough energy left to even try and run…”

“True.” Seitarou nodded in agreement.

'Those guys are real troublemakers, huh? What else is there to expect when it comes to Building 13…’

***

“Ow ow ow ow ow…!”

“My everything hurts…”

“Yamoto’s so cruel…!”

'I can literally empathize with them even with my HSAN…’

As soon as lunch came around Yamoto ended their exercising. Now it was Theo’s job to get these four to the cafeteria without any trouble. And through the entire time, they did nothing but complain. But Theo wasn’t annoyed, though. He honestly knew where they were coming from, and even he complained when he spent his time here.

“Yo, Theo,” called the familiar voice of No.11.

“Huh…?” He looked over his shoulder to him.

“Have you ever done training that extraneous before…?” The long haired male asked.

“Oh yeah, totally…” Theo nodded and paled, sweat dropping as he recalled the memory. “Yamoto is a very brutal, brutal man…”

“Wait, how would you know that?” Asked No.15. “You’ve only been here for a day, right? You make it sound like you been through it before.”

“That’s because I have.” Theo stated bluntly. 'The Warden said that they couldn’t know I was a woman. Never said anything about being a criminal…’

“Really? When did you do that?” Asked No.25.

“Well…” Theo looked over his shoulder as his eyes shined in mischief. “Let’s just say I’m not your average jail guard…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” No.15 asked, looking unimpressed by him.

“It means…” Theo looked in front of him. “I was a prisoner of Nanba Prison myself.”

“SAY WHAT?!” All of them exclaimed.

“Ha ha, funny joke, dude.” No.15 said, clearly doubting Theo’s claim.

“Yeah, that’s hilarious!” No.11 began laughing a fake laugh. “I mean, having their own prisoner become a guard? Isn’t that illegal, hehe…?”

“Why do you think this thing’s on me?” Theo turned his head towards them, gesturing to his mask. “This isn’t a regular mask. It’s 'special’…! Punishes me if I break any of the harsh guidelines given to me.”

“What you’d do to get placed in Nanba?” Asked No.69.

“Plenty of shit, to be honest.” Theo stated and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve stolen stuff, vandalized some stuff, fought the officers when being arrested, Seriously harmed a few people—there’s plenty of stuff I’ve done. But the main reason I got kicked into Nanba was that I broke out of jail…”

“How’d ya do it?” No.25 asked. “Did you pick the locks?”

“No…” Theo replied as he thought back to it. “After a day of being there, when the clock hit lunch, I knocked the guards out and stole their keys… But, I had to break the doors down because the surveillance cameras caught me, putting the security bars down to prevent my escape. I eventually made it out and ended up on the run…”

“But you got caught.” No.15 stated bluntly, causing Theo to nod.

“Yeah. Damn hounds got me, heh.” Theo let out an amused huff. “I was… In a really dark place back then. I was twelve then. Once I was recaptured, they put harsh restrains on me and sent me to Nanba. But… I was more trouble than I was worth…”

“What happened?” No.11 asked.

“Sorry, that’s for another time!” Theo turned to them, appearing to smile, as his emotionless tone became light hearted. “I can’t let the readers learn about me on the fifth chapter only! That’s poor writing. Gotta keep them wanting more, after all!”

“C'mon, man!” Whined No.11. “It was just getting gooood!”

“Yeah, well, we’re already at the cafeteria.” Theo stated as he went back to his usual monotone self. “You guys are still on a bit of a timer, right? Back when I was here they only allowed us an hour to eat before kicking us out.”

“Only an hour?!” Exclaimed No.69 in shock. “That’s horrible! It takes that long to just get our food!”

“Wait, they extended the times…?” Theo asked, looking surprised. “Wow, this place changed a lot…”

“I’ll say!” No.69 said and held his fingers up. “We’re only allowed a maximum of three hours if we wanted. But there’s so many inmates here that it’s more like one and a half.”

“Are you serious?” Theo’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow… That’s a lot more than my time here. Wonder if the chief’s turned soft…”

“You’re a guard here yet you don’t know that much?” No.11 said, causing Theo to frown at him.

“I’m a guard with high restrictions. Plus, Seitarou trusts me a little bit, but he’s still pretty fearful of me.” Theo explained. “I would ask Hajime, but he’s sick still. And Yamoto's… eh… Yamoto. He’s not a bad guy, but he’s got way too much energy for me to handle…”

“My condolences.” No.11 put his hand on Theo’s shoulder as if he understood.

“Anyways,” No.15 walked by them, hands behind his head, as he looked bored still. “We only have so much time in the cafeteria. Let’s eat something, I’m starving…”

“Oh yeah, I think we’re having ramen today!” Excitedly exclaimed No.69 and quickly followed him in.

“Yay! Japanese ramen!” Cheered No.25 as he skipped on in.

“Hey, Rock, if I can beat you in a round of poker I get your bowl of ramen.” No.11 called and followed them in.

“Like hell I’d agree to that!” Yelled inmate No.69. “I’ll never bet my food on ramen day!”

’…What a strange bunch…’ Theo thought and watched them walk in.

Theo stepped into the cafeteria and stayed against the wall, watching the inmates carefully. The staff of officers was very minimum, which was very surprising. Before there used to be guards all over the walls, sometimes even walking in between the aisles to make sure no funny business was going on. Now there was only a maximum of four, and that included himself.

'What’s with this prison…?’ Theo asked himself. 'Giving more lunch hours, having fewer guards around—seriously, what the hell. Is Nanba becoming soft…?’

A loud bang caught his attention.

His head whirled around, startled out of his thoughts from the sound. Standing at one of the tables was a very, very, large man. He had slammed something down on the table before looking down at the inmates and nodded to them.

The man walked away, revealing he had placed a large bowl of icecream in front of one of the inmates. Even the inmate’s eyes were wide in shock. He then called out to the guy, who apparently looked like a chief, and thanked him for the desert.

'So that would explain why…’ Theo realized until he caught sight of the guy’s face. 'Hold up. Is that…?’

A smile took place on his face in realization. He quickly left his post and rushed towards the man who was multiple times his height and size. He stopped once he got into his view, standing in the man’s way. He gazed down at him, his looming form rather intimidating, as he looked almost pissed off. Theo took his hat off, revealing his short silver hair, and greeted the man.

“Sorry for stopping you when you probably have plenty of work on your hands.” Theo said to the man. “But I just had to see that familiar face of yours. Would the lastname Nicci ring any bells, Shiro…?”

The large man’s eyes widened, breaking his normal stoic expression. He lifted his hand up and patted Theo’s head, causing the guard to laugh.

“I look completely different to before don’t I?Man, I forgot how huge your hands are!” Theo exclaimed when he drew away. “Never thought I’d see you back here. Let me guess, you came here because of Old Man Chief, right?”

Shiro nodded his head, huffing in contentment.

“That’s awesome, man!” Theo said, sounding like an excited little kid. “I never thought a fellow prisoner would come back here. Guess I was wrong. If it isn’t obvious, I’m here for being a guard, too. Give the Old Man my regards, 'kay? I bet with your help around here the foods been turned up a notch, eh?”

Shiro nodded to him again. Theo stepped out of the way, allowing the older man to get back to his job. He watched him walked back into the kitchen and quietly snickered to himself.

'I’m glad he got the job! Good for him!’ Theo thought before calmly placing his hat back on his head.

Turning around, he began walking back to his post, unaware of all the burning gazes of the inmates. They all seemed a bit surprised and curious by that 'friendly chat’ the new guard had with Shiro. But the inmates of cell 13 couldn’t help but stare at him in shock.

“Did… Did Shiro just show that guy affections…?” Questioned No.15, who’s known as Jyugo.

“Y-yeah, he did!” Softly exclaimed No.11, also known as Uno.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shiro look so surprised before!” Said No.15, or Nico.

“He sure seemed happy about that guy.” No.69 added with a grin. He was called Rock. “Shiro never really touches anybody. It’s rare to see him touch anybody else they’re causing trouble. He must really like that guy.”

“If Shiro knows him, then I guess he wasn’t lying about being an inmate here…” Murmured Jyugo, looking over his shoulder at Alan. “What’s up with that guy? I guess I can understand Shiro’s reason, but what’s his?”

“I’m wondering that myself.” Uno said before grinning. “Guess we just have to find out. That guy’s pretty talkative for being so soft spoken. Shouldn’t he be more defensive about giving his personal life to the inmates?”

“Yeah, that is kinda weird.” Rock agreed. “Think he’s up to somethin’?”

“I like him!” Nico said with his usual grin. “He’s a lot nicer than Hajime, and he isn’t easy to scare like Seitarou. Plus, from what he told us he sounds kinda like us, don’t you think?”

“What? As if.” Jyugo said before giving the group a mischief smirk. “Say… He’s new, right? So he shouldn’t have a well enough knowledge of the place. Why don’t we have another breakout and see what this guy can do.”

“But Hajime isn’t back.” Uno stated. “It’s not fun without him around, though. Plus, thanks to Yamoto’s training I can barely feel my legs…”

“Yeah, my arms are still throbbing.” Nico added, looking at his arms.

“Aw, come on!” Groaned Jyugo as he place his head on the table.

“How 'bout tomorrow?” Rock suggested. “Hajime will be back and we won’t be so sore by then. I hope this new guy knows how to take a punch.”

“Let’s see if he can get past my gambles,” smirked Uno.

“He read our files, but I bet he doesn’t know enough about my diseases!” Nico added, grinning with everyone else.

“Let’s see what this newbie can do…” Jyugo lifted his head, his smirk now on his face, as he gazed back at the unsuspecting man.

’…Hey, I still have that new chief’s clever!’ Theo thought to himself silently. 'I can give it to Shiro as a present! Man, this day just keeps getting better and better…!’

***

“Oh, good morning Hajime. How’re you feeling?…”

“Better than yesterday, I’ll say that…”

“That’s good…”

The Supervisor of Building 13 of Nanba Prison had finally returned from his day away because of a cold. Seitarou already greeted him, and Theo just spoke up. Yamoto, well… He has yet to be seen, but Hajime could honestly care less. When he put his bag down he looked back at Theo, seeing the mask still tightly on his face.

“Did you just put that on?” Hajime asked.

“No. I placed it back on yesterday as soon as I woke up.” Theo answered before turning in his chair to look up at Hajime. “I apologize for falling asleep here then. I should’ve just went home but I didn’t because of my first day…”

“It hasn’t been hurting you, has it?” Hajime asked.

“Not in the slightest.” Theo shook his head. “I kinda forget it’s there…”

Hajime hummed and nodded. But his eyes didn’t leave the mask. Sighing to himself he walked over to Theo. He just gazed at him, wondering what he’s doing. Hajime bent down, being as tall as he was, and put his hands carefully on the mask.

How the mask was is that it is made from a special type of metal that was flexible, but was hard to pierce. It resembled a type of 'ninja mask’ as Samon had questioned at the meeting. But, at the very end of the sides of the mask was a circular contraption that was located just before the tragus of the ear. The circular contraption was technically the main core of the machinery and had an electronic blue outline that glowed a bit. From the circular piece had the hook attached to it. When taken off, the hook curls into the thick circular piece.

Hajime pressed his hands against the circular piece, waiting until he heard a loud clicking sound. He watched as the hooks lifted off of the back of Theo’s earlobes. He took the mask off of Theo and saw his surprised expression.

“You had this thing on all day and night, yeah?” Hajime placed the mask down on his desk. “Figured you could take a break. Put it back on when you have to leave the office, alright? Both of us will get in trouble if it’s seen off of you.”

“Right… Thank you…” He thanked Hajime and nodded his head in gratitude.

Hajime sat back down at his desk without another word to him. He gazed at a few of the papers, wondering how much he had missed. He looked up at Seitarou, who was basically right across from him, and spoke up to him.

“Did anything happen while I was gone?” Hajime asked.

“Well, not anything bad.” Seitarou answered. “The inmates from Cell 13 tried to escape, but Yamoto caught them and punished them like you do. They trained for five hours before Theo took them to lunch. After that he brought them back and they stayed in their cells. Other than that, they behaved well for once.”

“At least they didn’t escaped any farther than their cells…” Hajime sighed deeply. “Even when I’m away they cause nothin’ but trouble…”

“I can at least say I think they kinda have a liking to me.” Theo spoke up as he walked by Hajime with a bunch of papers in his hands. “They definitely don’t trust me yet, but I’m slowly gaining their trust…”

“I’m unsure if that’s a good or bad thing…” Hajime muttered.

“When have I ever betrayed you, Hajime?” Theo asked in a joking manner, but it sounded like he was serious.

“Ever since you broke a door down in rage and tried to hit me with it.” Hajime stated with an agitated undertone.

Theo flinched at his statement, recalling the memory. He felt embarrassed at the thought of it. He looked back at Hajime, pouting slightly, as he looked rather guilty.

“T-that was a dark time for me back then, alright…?” Theo softly mumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, I know your story.” Hajime waved at him to signal to leave it alone. “You forget that I was the one to actually figure your background out back when you were in my cells.”

Theo was silent after that. Hajime did have a point. But he wasn’t too fond of the memories. He placed the papers down before grabbing a new stack and returning to his desk. Once he sat back down he wiped his lower face with the upper sleeve of his jacket. Have that mask on for more than 24 hours left his face with sweaty residue from breathing, talking, and almost caused him to drool a few times. It was like having foggy water goggles on for too long. To be honest, it was pretty gross.

Taking in a deep breath, finally being able to breathe properly, he began his new stack of paperwork. He was like that for a while until he heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Gazing over his shoulder he could see it was Yamoto who entered, not wearing his usual uniform, and looking very sweaty.

“Good morning, sir!” Greeted Yamoto to Hajime. “Good to see you back to your usual healthy self!”

“Same to you, Yamoto…” Murmured Hajime as he lit up a cigarette.

“I just finished my morning exercises, so I will take a quick shower and get back to work!” Promised Yamoto as he marked merrily towards his lock.

Once he gathered his needed items, he marched out of the room. When he opened the door he stopped and greeted someone at the door.

“Oh! Why hello there, No.15! If you will excuse me, I must take a shower!” Yamoto said.

“Yeah, okay.” Replied a familiar bored tone.

Instantly the other three guards became alarmed by what Yamoto said. Theo whirled around in his seat, quickly becoming on guard. As Yamoto walked out, walking into the office was inmate No.15. He had his signature hands behind his head, looking bored as ever, before turning to a shocked Hajime.

“Good to see you back, Hajime. It’s boring without you around.” Spoke the inmate.

“WHAT’RE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELL?!” Screeched Hajime in anger.

“I wanted to see if you were here today, you should be grateful.” No.15, or Jyugo, answered with a smirk. “Escaping with you gone is useless, so I had to make sure you were here for today.”

In a flash Hajime shot up from his desk, dashed towards the inmate, and punched him right in the head. Jyugo groaned loudly, now lying on the ground in pain, as a clear bump quickly formed on his head. Theo was startled by the action, forgetting about Hajime’s infamous hair trigger temper.

“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT’S BORING! YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO BE IN YOUR CELL AND STAY THERE, YOU DAMN BRAT!” Bellowed the Supervisor. “IT HASN’T EVEN BEEN AN HOUR OF ME BEING HERE AND YOU’RE ALREADY CAUSING TROUBLE! AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL THE AFTERNOON, IT’S TOO EARLY FOR YOUR TROUBLE MAKING ANTICS!”

“Yeah… Good to have you back…” Groaned Jyugo as he got back onto his feet. “I definitely didn’t miss that inhuman strength of yours, though…”

“You annoying little…!” Hajimed growled and got the inmate into a headlock. He turned to his other guards as both of them had sweatdrops on their heads. “You two stay here. Check the surveillance and see if the others are gone. I’ll be taking this little shit back to his cell…!”

“Y-yes, sir!” Replied Seitarou.

Without another word, Hajime stomped out of the room with a struggling Jyugo. Theo slowly turned back to his work, still semi in his frozen state, as he tried processing what happened. ’…Maybe I should’ve stayed on the farm…’

It was quiet in the guard’s office.

Too quiet…

Hajime was suspicious of the quietness of the place, but he tried to shrug it off and label him being paranoid. But still… It was just strangely quiet. Periodically he would get up from his desk and walk the halls, specifically keeping an ear out for Cell 13. But whenever he walked by he usually heard their usual obnoxious banter. He would keep in the cell every now and then, seeing that each inmate was accountable for. He would then proceed with his parole, only to find himself seated back at his desk while the suspicion was eating him away.

Eventually he sighed again and tried to coax himself to relax. He just got back from being sick, he told himself repeatedly. He was probably just feeling uneasy because the remanence of the bug is still there in his stomach. He just had to breath and calm down. There’s nothing to worry about…

“Greetings, everyone!” Exclaimed none other than Yamoto as he came back into the room. “I have taken care of the much needed attention to the problem with the Cell door 17! On my way back I greeted the boys from Cell 13! Ha ha! Such young men. I think I’m finally turning them into gentlemen!”

“Really? What makes you say that?” Softly asked Seitarou.

“Because the boys informed me that they were going on a wonderful walk to stretch their legs!” Informed Yamoto. “I believe my training has finally gotten ahold of them, haha!”

“WHAT!?” Shouted Hajime as the other guards stiffened at the news.

“They were out of their cell?” Theo asked as he was clearly alarmed.

“Why, yes, yes they were.” Answered Yamoto. After a moment his smile fell as if realization finally hit him. “Wait… Those boys aren’t authorized to leave their cells, are they?”

“NO!” All three of them shouted at Yamoto.

“I knew the calmness was too good to be true!” Hajime exclaimed as he began typing away at the computer. “Seitarou, get to the surveillance cameras and figure out where they are!”

“Yes sir!” Exclaimed the officer as he disappeared from the room.

“Yamoto, it’s your fault those brats escaped.” Hajime growled at him. “Go apprehend them at once!”

“Of course, sir!” Saluted Yamoto before rushing out of the room.

“Theo, get to your feet!” Hajime ordered as Theo already was standing. “Looks like you’re going to be seeing some action for today. We can’t allow those four to get outside, especially since the sun is still out! Follow me.”

“Yes, sir.” Theo nodded.

Hajime marched to the camera room where Seitarou was while Theo followed closely behind. They entered the dark room while Seitarou just finished giving instructions to the officers of Building 13. Theo’s eyes gazed at the multiple cameras as he wondered where those four were.

“Where are they?” Hajime growled.

“They’re past Block 11. I’ve already closed Block 12 and trying to get them towards Block 17 instead.” Informed Seitarou.

“They’re fast…” Theo commented as his eyes kept darting towards different screens.

“Yeah, well, we’re faster…” Hajime muttered at him as he glared at the screen. “There they are…”

They all looked towards one of the center screens. The four inmates were running through the hall, only for No.11 to stop the group. He took out a type of card and flung it, revealing the hidden electric floor. No.15 walked over to the wall, tracing his hand around it. Suddenly a control panel revealed itself and his hands flew across the keys. He looked at his accomplices and smirked, giving them a thumbs up. All four of them advanced, getting past the security.

“A-are you kidding me…?” Theo gaped in shock, stepping forwards as they appeared on another camera. “How the hell did he figure that out so quickly?”

“Beats me.” Seitarou said and he began to flip switches. “They’re entering into an open area around Block 18. Thankfully a lot of the guards are there so they should be stumbling upon them at any moment.”

“That’s your queue.” Hajime ordered and placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder. “Get in there and stop them. Knock 'em out if you have to. We can’t allow them to advance any further. Just try not to bring the building down with you…”

“Got it.” Theo nodded curtly and turned towards the door. “Leave it to me…”

As soon as he was out of the office he began running down the hallways very quickly. He was sprinting through the place, trying to get to Block 18, and hopefully in time before those four get through. Seitarou kept his eyes on the monitors, but was surprised with how fast Theo was hopping from monitor to monitor.

“W-whoa, he’s fast…!” He said in surprised.

“There’s a reason for why the Warden trusted him enough to become a guard.” Hajime said and smirked. “Looks like he hasn’t changed a bit from his time in Nanba…”

It took a while, but Theo found his way in Block 18. He entered into the room, just in time to see the last guard get knocked down by No.69 aka Rock. Theo growled softly under his breath, annoyed that they got through the guards. He walked into the room, his echoing footsteps grabbing their attention, as he began adjusting his gloves.

“Well, well, looks like they sent the newbie.” No.11, Uno, spoke up with a sly grin on his face. “Are they even trying anymore?”

“I was hoping we’d bump into him soon.” Said No.15, or Jyugo as he’s called. “It wouldn’t be as fun if they didn’t send him…”

“Looks like you wanna brawl too, eh?” Challenged Rock as he held his fists up.

“Hi Theo!” Greeted No.25, known as Nico, as he waved at him. “Could you let us go by?”

“You four have caused quite a stir tonight, don’t you think?” Theo spoke in a deadly calm voice as he advanced slowly towards them. “It’s the middle of the sun setting, you know. Don’t you think it would’ve been smarter if you waited until midnight…?”

“We got impatient.” Replied Jyugo as he shrugged. “You’re a pretty strange guy, you know. You made us so interested in you that we just had to come and see you for ourselves.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty interesting for a former criminal to become a guard, you know.” Uno said and made a face at him. “If you couldn’t stay away then why couldn’t you do more crimes, eh? Where’s that mask of yours anyways? Don’t tell me you’re 'getting serious’.”

“You boys don’t know anything, do you…” Theo scoffed at them as he began pulling his gloves off. “How sad. If you did I bet you would’ve thought twice before acting like you did.”

“You act like such a big shot after just being here for only three days.” Jyugo rolled his eyes at him. “You might’ve read our files, but that doesn’t mean you know the whole show.”

“I think I know plenty enough.” Theo stopped walking and dropped his gloves on the ground. He rotated his neck, hearing the satisfying cracks. “You’re morons for believing you can escape Nanba Prison so easily.” He lifted his hand and pointed at them. “I’m giving you one last chance. Now be good boys and go back to your cell…”

“No thank you!” Rock yelled and ran at him.

Theo put his hand down and allowed Rock to come at him. Having his arm recoiled back, Rock swung his fist at full force, his knuckle slamming right into his jaw. Theo head twisted around, the force being enough to knock Theo off of his feet. He flew back and hit the ground without a moment later. The group could only stare in slight shock.

“Oh, come on!” Rock whined. “That wasn’t even a fight!”

“All talk and no bite, eh? That’s sad.” Jyugo commented.

“Hahaha! K.O.!” Uno exclaimed while laughing. “That was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen!”

“Looks like Rock was a bit too hard on him.” Commented Nico.

After a few comments here and there, they didn’t realize Theo’s twitching body. He curled his arms up, placing his hands on either side of his head. With his feet pressed together tightly, he picked himself onto his hands and pushed against his arms, pushing himself into the air. He got his feet under him quickly and was now standing back on his feet.

Hearing the echo of his feet hitting the ground, their comments stopped as they stared at him. Theo’s visor was concealing his eyes while he rotated his shoulders around, the loud cracking echoing in the room. Just him standing there quietly, allowing his shoulders to crack, was rather unsettling.

“I guess you’re tougher than you look.” Jyugo smirk returned. “I was hoping you could give us more of a show.”

“Hey, you cracked your shoulders enough. You might just break them if you keep that up.” Uno said as he was becoming uncomfortable with the noise.

“Ready for a rematch?” Rock asked in a taunting manner.

“Oh, the match never ended…” Said Theo in a deadly calm voice.

The group stopped, their smirking features falling. Something just wasn’t right with how Theo sounded. Usually his tone revealed no emotions. But now… He sounded utterly serious with a hint of something else—that something else was smugness.

Theo adjusted his hat to reveal his eyes. His irises were now smaller than normal while his eyes were wide open. But the thing that gave them chills was the sudden, large, toothy grin that was on his face. His teeth looked sharp and pointed while his eyes were trained on them. The group shivered as they felt the sudden murderous intent that could rival that of Hajime’s.

“Idiots…” Theo hissed at them as his shoulders bounced up and down like he was giggling. “Did you really believe that one puny punch could knock me out? It was like a fly landed on my cheek.”

“Puny…?” Rock growled as he was clearly insulted.

“I’ll show you why you shouldn’t mess around…” Theo brought his fist up, his smirk never faltering. “Come on, Rocky! Do you even call that a punch?”

“You asked for it, Bastard!” Rock shouted and ran at him again.

Once again, Theo allowed Rock to come to him. The inmate swung at Theo again, just like he had before. Except this time, Theo stopped his fist. The sounds of his knuckle slapping against his palm echoed, shocking the entire group. Rock could only stare at Theo in wide eyes, confused to why his fist was stopped so easily. Theo’s giggle filled the air as he glared sharply at Rock, causing the younger male to begin to sweat nervously.

“Pa-the-tic~!” Sang Theo. His voice suddenly got deeper when he spoke his next sentence. “I’ll show you a real punch.”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Theo punched Rock in the chest with his free hand. Rock was shot off of his feet, fly back until his back hit the wall. His friends could only gaze at Rock in shock. They watched as their friend bounced off of the wall and onto his knees, only to fall onto the ground as he became unconscious. The group turned their heads to see Theo walking towards them.

“Wow, he didn’t last very long.” Theo laughed. “You boys could escape all those traps, knock all of these guards out, but you’re not strong enough to at least slow me down? That’s pretty pathetic… Oh, come on. Where’s all that big talk you were all saying before? Cat got your tongue~”

“You bastard…!” Uno growled at him.

“H-how did you…?” Jyugo could only mumble in shock.

“G-g-guys…!” Squeaked Nico. “W-w-w-what should we d-d-do…?!”

“I have an idea!” Theo quickly stood before Nico, towering over him with ease, as his smile never left his face. “…How about you go to sleep~”

Nico squeaked again before fainting on the ground from fear. Theo looked at the other boys. Clearly enraged Uno ran at him with a war cry, his fists in the air, prepared to punch Theo’s face in.

As he got close and swung, Theo dodged his attack and moved behind his back in a flash, karate chopping the back of his neck. Uno released a choke sound before passing out on the ground. Theo looked at the last one standing, seeing Jyugo’s shaken form. He walked towards him in a rather taunting manner.

With each step taken, Jyugo stepped back. Step by step, Theo backed Jyugo into a wall. The inmate because to break out in a cold sweat, trying to think of a way to either attack or run. But he was unable to come up with anything as Theo stood right in front of him, inches away from his body. Jyugo could only stare up at him as his hands were secretly shaking.

“You’re pretty impressive, you know…” Theo spoke softly, his voice not sounding demonic anymore. “Unlocking all those traps… Leading the way for your friends. It’s remarkable, actually. But…” Theo’s smirk grew, as if that was possible, and glared down at his shaking form. “…I’d like to see you get out of this trap…”

Not even allowing Jyugo to open his mouth, Theo brought his head down and slammed his head against Jyugo’s forehead. Jyugo cried out in pain, only to fall to the side. Before he could hit the ground, Theo caught him with one arm. Theo giggled softly at his unconscious form.

“I win~” He sang.

Of course, no one could respond.

As the room got quiet, Theo’s smile fell and the deadly look in his eyes fled. His face was emotionless, stoic as ever, as if a switch had been flipped off. He carefully put Jyugo on his shoulder and went over to Nico. One by one, he picked up each fallen inmate. Step by step, he back making his way back to Cell 13. Nico and Jyugo were on his right shoulder while Uno was under Theo’s left arm while his left hand was latched onto the back of Rock’s jumpsuit as he dragged him.

The camera room was quiet. Seitarou was shaking in his seat, horrified by the scene he just saw. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes as he couldn’t believe what he just witness. He looked up at Hajime to see the man smirking calmly.

“He really hasn’t changed, eh?” Hajime turned and began to exit the room. “I’m surprised he held back.”

With that said, he exited the room, closing the door on his way out. Seitarou released a shaky breath as he looked back to the monitors in horror.

“…H-held b-b-back…?”

***

“Seitarou, how’re the inmates in cell 13?”

“Well, they’re behaving, sir…”

Three days has passed since the recapture of cell 13. They have been rather quiet, staying in their cells, and they haven’t tried escaping once. Theo hadn’t visited them since Hajime gave him a rather unhealthy pile of paperwork to keep him away from the inmates. After seeing Seitarou’s terrified expression of being around Theo from that day he decided that he might’ve gone a little too far.

Theo began the paperwork and was just one paper away from finishing it. As soon as he had finished that one page his head hit his desk in exhaustion. He hadn’t moved from his desk since then and was powering through it. Seitarou had been startled by the loud noise and asked Hajime what was wrong with him.

“Oh, him?” Hajime looked at Theo before sighing. “He probably went down from exhaustion. I haven’t seen him move from that spot since I’ve given him those papers, so he probably stayed there and powered through the work. The idiot probably ran out of batteries…”

“W-what do you mean by that…?” Seitarou asked softly.

“Theo isn’t 'normal,’” replied Hajime. “He’s got this type of handicap that doesn’t allow him to feel things. Whether he touches ice from antarctica or places his hand in a roaring fire—he can’t feel it. It’s like his nerves aren’t there. It’s the reason for why he can jumped back onto his feet so quickly in a fight. He can’t feel any pain. But because he can hardly feel anything he tends to forget to eat, gets himself injured a lot, sometimes forgets his own strength, and is his own natural problem.”

“W-will he be okay?” Seitarou asked in concern.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine.” Hajime said calmly. “Let 'im rest and give him breakfast or something. He was like that when he was an inmate. He’ll be fine.”

“Sir…” Seitarou spoke quietly, looking rather nervous. “Just… why was he sent to Nanba prison?”

“Why? There’s plenty of reasons why.” Hajime popped a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. “He’s the most human and inhuman being you’ll ever meet.”

Seitarou didn’t feel comforted by that response.

The guards left Theo alone until he woke up on his own. Two hours passed with him sleeping and he woke up to find his mask gone. Hajime felt it was best to take it off of him since he didn’t want him to stupidly hurt himself by accident. Being slightly groggy he got to his feet, went to his locker, and went for a shower.

Of course he was as fast as he could. He is not legitimately a 'he’ after all. Once he cleaned himself he got all his layers back on and went to the cafeteria. He hadn’t had a bite to eat for over three days, after all. After his stomach was filled he went back to the office.

Through the day he kept rubbing the back of his neck, his hands going up and down and left and right. It was a nervous habit he did when he had something eating away at him. And it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Is… Is everything okay, Theo?” Seitarou had asked him. “You keep rubbing your neck like you’re in pain…”

“Oh, that…” Theo muttered and retracted his hand. “It’s just a habit of mine… It’s nothing, I promise. I’m completely fine…”

“O-okay…” Seitarou nodded and went back to work.

After another hour of work, Hajime said he had to go and meet with the Warden. After he left, Yamoto hadn’t came back from yesterday. Theo kept doing his work with his mask off and stayed cooped up into the office. Eventually Seitarou got up and grabbed his attention.

“Hey, Theo.”

“Hm…?”

“I’m going to go get lunch.” Seitarou informed him. “I’ll be as fast as I can and I’ll get back here. Do you think you can hold the office being alone?”

“Yeah, of course…” Theo nodded to him. “I’ll stay in the office until you return.”

“Alright.” Seitarou nodded and stopped at the door. “I suggest you keep an eye on the surveillance cameras just in case. Oh, and if any of the inmates escape, contact the Supervisor on the radio. But, with your ability, I bet you can catch them without help…”

Theo’s lips pressed hard together, sensing Seitarou’s nervousness. Theo scared him. That he knew well enough. Not pointing it out, Theo just nodded softly before gazing back at his desk. With nothing else said, Seitarou left the room.

Once the door was firmly closed, Theo could only sigh and hang his head. His hands found their way onto the back of his neck as he began to rub all around the area. The feeling he felt was something he was used to feeling. Guilt. Shame. If anything it was probably the only emotions he could 'feel’. With a history like his, it was understandable why that is.

“Huh, so I guess you weren’t lying about being an inmate.” A sudden voice spoke behind Theo.

Instantly becoming alarmed, Theo shot to his feet and whirled around. Standing in the room was Jyugo, who had backed up quickly before Theo could hit him or something. The officer semi relaxed, but his guard never went down.

“What’re you doing here…?” Theo asked him.

“Being locked up in that cell for three days without escaping was becoming a bore.” Jyugo said and shrugged in an innocent manner. “I figured I might as well visit the guy who basically gave us all concussions…”

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Theo stated sternly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jyugo rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard it all from Hajime before. But you wanna know what isn’t a bore?” He smirked and pointed right at Theo. “That number on your neck.”

Theo eyes narrowed at the inmate while his hand grabbed the back of his own neck.

“So you’re No.7, eh?” Jyugo asked looking rather smug. “That’s pretty interesting. Which building were you sent to?”

“…I’ve been thrown in every building in Nanba.” Theo stated coldly. “I gave them hell trying to figure out which building I should go to. Each Supervisor got pretty fed up with my shenanigans, and eventually threw me into Building 5… The first building I got sent to was Building 3…”

“You’ve been thrown into every building?” Jyugo repeated as he looked surprised. “The hell did they do that?”

“Acting…” Theo replied. “By acting and causing a lot of mayhem, I was basically thrown around like hopscotch. But, after an accident, I was eventually thrown into Building 5.”

“Does that mean you have different numbers all over you?” Jyugo asked.

“No, actually…” Theo shook his head. “The only number I have is on my neck… The Supervisors all knew me as 'Trouble Theo’ since I was nothing but a nuisance to them. It was fun… Pissing each of them off, causing over half of them to hate me… Got a real good kick out of it…”

“It’s funny to hear that come from a freak who can’t feel.“ Jyugo said.

Theo frowned at his statement. Jyugo’s face held nothing but smugness. Looks like he was the one having a real good kick out of this conversation.

”…How long have you been hiding in here?“ Theo demanded.

"Who’s to say? All I know is that it’s been a good amount of time…” Jyugo shrugged and sat in Hajime’s seat. “I bet the others have figured out I escaped by now…”

“You didn’t release your friends?…” Theo asked, raising a brow at him.

“Nah, they didn’t want to leave.” Jyguo replied as he begun to spin in the chair like a child. “Nico’s to terrified, Uno doesn’t want to even think about you, and Rock is still sore from you punching him. Hell, there’s still a bump on my forehead from you headbutting me.”

“Hm…” Theo’s eyes hit the ground, feeling a bit guilty to hear that.

“You’re more of a freak than us, huh?” Jyugo said and laughed. “You were an inmate, but now you’re a guard! You can’t feel anything and you’re an utter freak thanks to your strength! I guess you do belong here in Nanba, hahaha!”

Theo flinched at the words thrown at him. A pinching sensation was in his chest as he listened to Jyugo’s laughing. 'I haven’t been called that for a long time…’

“Are you done?” Theo asked him, cutting off Jyugo’s laughter. “If you want to talk we can do it in your cell. Don’t make me drag you by force…”

“Well now, did I hit a nerve?” Jyugo taunted him. Theo only now just noticed how he seemed angry at him. “So what, you’re freakishly strong. I rather not have my skull beaten in, thank you very much. Plus, that’s Hajime’s job.”

“…You just looove talking.” Theo mumbled and crossed his arms. “I still don’t understand why you’re over here. Are you pissed because I harmed you and your friends? Is there something you’re after?…”

Jyugo’s expression became rather stoic very quickly. Something flashed in his eyes, but Theo didn’t know what. Not even a moment later, Jyugo’s smirked twitched up as his eyes held a hint of anger.

“It’s nothing… I just enjoy escaping. It’s fun…” Jyugo stated. “Getting past traps and puzzles are a hobby of mine. You could say that I’m the key to the world~”

“How egotistic of you…” Replied Theo as he began walking towards him. “Enough of your joking. Get back to your cell now, otherwise I will throw you in myself and tell Hajime what you did. He’ll be the one to punish you once he gets back.”

“Oh, sounds like fun.” Jyugo said, grinning up at Alan as he towered over him. “I rather stay here for a while. Those cells are pretty boring.”

'He’s like a leach…’ Theo immediately thought. 'Or maybe he’s more of a mosquito… Either way, he’s annoying as hell. I don’t want to knock him out again, who knows if Hajime will punish me for it. The infirmary will surely whack me a good amount of times if I harm him. I wonder…’

Theo huffed out through his nose. Jyugo just kept gazing up at him, looking rather smug, as if he was daring Theo to harm him. The guard began to bent down towards Jyugo since he was sitting down. Jyugo’s smirk fell instantly as Theo got really close to his face. Without even able to act, Theo placed his lips against Jyugo’s. The inmate sat there, his head trying to process what the hell was happening. He suddenly felt Theo’s tongue lick his lips.

Only then did reality hit Jyugo like a train as his entire body shivered. Jyugo fell out of the spinny chair, scrambling to his feet, and went to the farthest wall in the room to get away from Theo. Jyugo’s face was pale as he looked utterly horrified, his hand over his mouth, as he began screaming at Theo. Theo just stood there, his face blank, as if nothing ever happened as his eyes stayed on the inmate.

“WHAT THE HELL!” He had screamed. “WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT! YOU FUCKING CREEP!”

Theo said nothing. Theo only maneuvered around Hajime’s desk and stepped towards Jyugo. The inmate yelped in horror.

“S-STAY OVER THERE! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!” Jyugo yelled.

“…Get back to your cell.” Theo ordered, taking another step towards him.

Jyugo yelped and bolted out of the room. He screamed while running down the hallway. Theo looked out of the room to see Jyugo open the door to his cell and run right it, slamming it shut behind him. Theo just watched before turning back around into the room.

“That worked a lot more effectively than I thought…” Theo said and closed the door softly.

***

When Hajime came back he did not expect to hear inmates yelling at each other.

He instantly recognized the voices of those from cell 13. Hajime’s eye began to twitch in annoyance. He only just got back from meeting the warden and he hadn’t even had the time to sit down. With a deep sigh he decided to see why they were causing such a ruckus. As soon as he was in front of the door he slammed his fist against it to grab the inmate’s attention.

“Shut up! You’re all noisier than usual!” Hajime yelled at them. “What the hell’s the problem?”

“YOUR GUARD IS THE PROBLEM!” Jyugo shouted at him instantly, looking almost flustered.

“What’re you goin’ on about?” Hajime grumbled, raising a brow at is strange behavior.

“Jyugo says that your newest guard kissed him.” Uno stated bluntly. “He’s been like this for hours.”

Once Hajime heard that he sighed deeply. Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose, trying hard not to allow his annoyance to high any higher.

“I can’t believe that brat did it again…” Hajime grumbled.

“What?” Uno said, catching what Hajime said. “He’s done this before?!”

“Look, if you knew his circumstance you would understand.” Hajime stated as he thought about Theo. “Yeah, it’s not necessarily right for him to do that shit, but stop freaking out about it. Theo’s a good kid but he's… 'special’. You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you.”

“THAT STILL DOESN’T ALLOW HIM THE RIGHT TO DO THAT SHIT!” Jyugo shouted.

“Calm down and get over it.” Hajime growled at him. “You’re causing more of a ruckus with all that shouting and it’s giving me a headache. Shut up, do as you’re told, and let me handle this. Theo has no intentions of harming anybody.”

“Yeah, right. My stomach still hurts from being punched from that guy…” Groaned Rock.

“H-h-h-he’s s-s-scary…!” Nico added, looking ready to cry.

“'No intentions’ my ass!” Uno said, clearly pissed. “He hurt all of us more than you’ve ever done. That guy’s psychotic! He shouldn’t even be a guard!”

“Especially when he freaking sexually assaults us!” Jyugo shouted.

“Enough!” Bellowed Hajime as he punched the door again, silencing the inmates. “That’s enough out of you. You four know nothing about that kid. Yeah, I get that he freaks you out, but it’s not like he asked for it. I’m not tellin’ you to like him, but I’m telling you to not hate him. If anything he actually cares about you little shits more than anybody here.”

“Then why the hell did he do all that shit to us?” Asked Uno through grinding teeth.

“Because I told him to.” Hajime stated. “I ordered him to go and capture you all, explicitly stating for him to knock you guys out. The kissing thing was something he did even as an inmate because of his genetic disorder. He calls it a 'habit,’ or an 'instinct’. Plus, he doesn’t just do it to anybody. He almost always has some sort of intention behind his actions. Now if it’ll shut you up, I’ll punish him since he knows that he shouldn’t do that shit. Is there anything else you’d like to complain to me about before I beat your heads in?”

“…No.” Uno muttered, speaking on the behalf of the group.

“Good.” Hajime growled and stepped back. “Now stop causing a ruckus and behave. Today’s a busy day, you know.”

With that said, Hajime turned and walked off. He went back into the guard’s office and spotted Seitarou, Yamoto, and Theo inside. Seitarou was at his desk while Theo and Yamoto was playing some type of chest game on the table. They all looked towards Hajime since they heard the door open.

“Hello there, sir. How was the meeting?” Seitarou asked cheerfully.

“Fine.” Hajime answered and walked towards Theo.

“…Checkmate.” Theo stated and knocked down Yamoto’s king.

“Beaten again! My, you have quite an eye there, Al! Ha ha ha ha!” Laughed Yamoto.

Hajime’s shadow casted over Theo, causing the guard to gaze up at him. Without a moment’s hesitation Hajime punched Theo’s head, knocking the boy off of the couch and onto the ground. Seitarou yelped while Yamoto was surprised to witness the action himself.

“Uunn… That made me dizzy…” Mumbled Theo as he sat up and rubbed his head.

“That’s for being stupid.” Hajime growled at him. “What the hell did you do to No.15 today, huh? Did you really think it was such a bright idea to freaking liplock with him?”

“…Oh. That.” Theo mumbled and got back onto his feet. “No.15 apparent escaped his cell earlier this afternoon without any of us realizing it. I checked the monitors a little later and figured out he’s been hiding in the night room here the entire time. Once you were with the Warden and Seitarou went to lunch he revealed himself to me and we talked… He refused to go back to his cell and I knew that I shouldn’t knock him out. I didn’t want to harm him since he was taunting me. I didn’t want him to think I acted out because of that…”

“So you kissed the brat to make him leave?!” Hajime questioned, shocked by his explanation.

“…Yeah, basically.” Theo confirmed. “He screamed and ran back to his cell… Worked better than I thought… I guess that he’s traumatized and yelled to you about it?”

“Yes.” Hajime said and hit Theo in the head again. “You dumbass. Was that really necessary? You know better than to do that, especially with all the trouble it got you in from the past! Think before you act!”

“I couldn’t help it…” Mumbled Theo as he held his head, his eyes looking dull. “It was just… instinct…”

“Urgh…” Hajime groaned and rubbed his head. “You’re just as troublesome as those four… Put that damn mask on and keep it on. I bet that was probably the reason for why the Warden even gave it to you.”

“…Yes, sir…” Whispered Theo as he went to his desk.

“Wait, why did he… kiss an inmate…?!” Seitarou asked, looking very bewildered.

“Remember when I told you about that freakish genetics he’s got?” Hajime spoke to him. “The only nerves he’s got are the ones in his tongue. Back in his days as an inmate he had kissed one of his fellow inmates. That got him kicked out of the cell, and restrained for sexual harassment. His excuse back then was it allowed him to 'connect’ with people. But, we later figured out he meant nothing behind it, and it was just a habit of him growing up.”

“From growing up…?” Seitarou questioned.

“Tasting was the only way I could feel things…” Theo spoke up after placing his mask on. “My mom thought it was just from how she taught me growing up, trying to teach me and all. I was diagnosed with HSAN as a kid… My dad knew what to do since he had other relatives who had the disease. So whenever I kissed them or even licked stuff he knew I meant nothing behind it… It was the only way I could feel. But of course, society didn’t see it that way…”

“W-well, kissing people isn’t quite a normal thing…” Muttered Seitarou.

“I know…” Theo replied while staring at the ground. His hands tightly clenched into fists at his sides. “I just… Didn’t mean to hurt anybody…”

The room got quiet real fast. Hajime, sensing the dense atmosphere, sighed deeply and walked towards Theo. He awkwardly patted his shoulder roughly, trying to show some sort of comfort. Theo just nodded his head in response and turned back to his desk. Today was already turning into a long day…

***

“I hate that guy so fucking much…!”

“You’re still going on about that? It’s been three days, Jyugo.”

“You’d be just as traumatized if it happened to you!”

The inmates of cell 13 have had a gloomy/annoyed atmosphere around the cell ever since Theo came to the Nanba Prison. They finally healed of their physical wounds, but have yet to really heal of the mental and emotional ones. It’s not like the events were super traumatizing that it caused the group to not want to talk about it. It just made them cautious of Theo.

Nico wasn’t shivering in place at his name anymore, but a fearful expression did take place every time. Rock more or less was probably the calmest about it. Yeah, the guy hurt him, but when Rock thought about the guy impressed him. Shiro from the cafeteria seemed to enjoy him, and he proved to be a tough opponent like he hoped. Jyugo was clearly angry and flustered since he couldn’t get over the kiss incident. Then there’s Uno, who was more or less annoyed only because Jyugo kept bringing it up and wouldn’t let it go.

“Look, we haven’t seen that guy for six days, alright?” Uno spoke up again, trying to calm Jyugo down, as he himself was just down right annoyed. “The only times we have seen him was when he’s been doing patrol through the halls. But even then he doesn’t stop by our cells or anything. I’m still mad that he knocked us out too, but like Hajime said, he only did as he was ordered. It’s their job.”

“It still doesn’t clear up the excuse for him to kiss me, damnit!” Jyugo exclaimed, waving his fist around. “I don’t give a damn if he can’t feel a thing, it’s not a fucking excuse! Even then it doesn’t make any sort of sense!”

“Wait, what did you say?” Rock spoke up, finding interest in one of the things he said. “He can’t feel anything…?”

“Yeah, something like that…” Jyugo grumbled as he was still angry. “I overheard Hajime talk about it. It’s some genetic thing he has or whatever. Apparently he can’t feel anything.”

“How can someone not be able to feel anything?” Rock questioned in disbelief.

“I think I might’ve heard of something like that.” Uno spoke up as he tried to remember. “It’s a disease I think. Something about not letting your nerves work or whatever…”

“S-so, he can’t feel anything…?” Softly asked Nico.

“Yeah, something like that…” Jyugo muttered and scratched his head. “From how Hajime talked about it he said that he was troublesome because of it…”

“Hey, I just got an idea!” Uno exclaimed and hit his fist into the palm of his hand. “Let’s play a game, yeah?”

“A game? What type of game?” Nico immediately asked, turning back to his bubbly self.

“That Theo guy can’t feel a thing, right?” Uno grinned mischievously. “Let’s see with how much stuff we can get without him realizing it.”

“What do you mean…?” Jyugo asked, eyeing him carefully.

“Just hear me out.” Uno wrapped his arm around Jyugo’s neck. “Let’s mess with this guy, yeah? Poke him, throw stuff at him, stick things to him—anything that might get his attention. If he can’t feel anything then he shouldn’t be able to feel us putting stuff on him.”

“So, we’re basically messin’ with the guy.” Rock summed up.

“Yeah, but it’ll be fun.” Uno said. “We’ve messed with everybody else. Why not try this guy, yeah? I have a hunch that we’ll get away with a lot of stuff.”

“I wanna try!” Nico exclaimed, having his hand raised in the air.

“But what happens if he does feel it and question us?” Jyugo questioned, looking unamused by the idea. “This guy was able to knock us all unconscious. He could seriously pound us if we’re not careful.”

“Then why the hell did you escape the cell three days ago saying 'I’m gonna mess with him!’ only to come back by getting kissed.” Uno stated bluntly.

“S-SHUT UP!” Jyugo yelled at him, starting to fume again.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Uno said and punched his shoulder lightly. “He’s going to be making his patrol in fifteen minutes. Sooo…”

Uno turned and grabbed one of Nico’s crayons and a piece of paper. Uno drew on it and the guys all surrounded him, wondering what he was doing. Uno held up the paper and chuckled.

“This’ll do…” He said and gazed around the place.

“Isn’t that kinda immature?” Jyugo said unimpressed.

“Oh, I get it now.” Rock said as he began grinning.

“Haha! I get it! Just like those drama animes I’ve seen!” Nico laughed while clapping.

“Now, all I need is tape.” Uno muttered and began looking around the room.

“Found some!” Nico said and handed it to Uno.

“Perfect.” Uno grinned. “Now we wait…”

Uno stood by the door, eyeing the hall for Theo to walk through. And, just like he stated, Theo came just on time. Just as he passed cell 13 without even glancing at it, Uno called for him. Theo immediately stopped and looked at him, looking slightly curious. Uno had to tell by his eyes since his black mask was on this time.

“Yo, Theo!” Uno has called. “Mind comin’ here for a moment?”

“Huh…?” Theo blinked owlishly, clearly surprised.

But, Theo complied either way. He stepped forwards and stood in front of the door, wondering what Uno wanted.

“Is… something wrong?” Theo asked softly.

“I just wanted to talk to ya.” Uno said in an innocent manner. “I may be a criminal but I ain’t all that cold hearted. I just wanted to talk is all.”

Theo’s eyes narrowed at him. “…Talk about what?”

“Let’s talk about your job.” Uno said smirking. “You said you were a criminal, right? Well, why would you want to come back to the place you were imprisoned? I just don’t get it.”

“Well…” Theo mumbled and looked almost thoughtful. “When you have any sort of criminal record, especially mine, then finding a job in society is hard. Yeah, there’ll be people who will take you in, but the pay is low compared to others… I eventually began working on a local farm because the guy knew my family well and took pity on me…”

“So you became a guard?” Uno questioned with a raised brow.

“Yeah.” Theo nodded. “I sent a request to the Warden. She then brought me in, gave me a uniform and mask, and gave me the job. I know how the officers work and I get the jist of their protocol. The pay is a lot higher and allows me to keep a roof over my head…”

“Sounds tough.” Uno commented. “But why Nanba…? Couldn’t you gone to other police stations?”

“You do realize what you’re asking, right?” Theo gave him a flat look. “My criminal record has vandalism, theft, has a violent history, fought against officer arrest, and even broke out of prison every now and then. Who the hell in their right minds would give someone like that a job, especially at a police station.”

“True, true.” Uno nodded. “But that still doesn’t answer why Nanba allowed you here.”

Theo sighed softly and gazed away from him. “After a year of being in Nanba Prison I stopped being a troublemaker. That was when I was officially put into Building 5. At the time there was rumors that people had been handing out drugs through the inmates because they stole them from the infirmary. A lot of inmates knew who I was because I ended up becoming close to them… The officers knew that… So, I ended up becoming their information dealer, you could say…”

“Seriously? Why’d you rat them out?” Uno asked.

“Because those drugs were dangerous.” Theo stated, now looking very serious. “They were hardcore drugs that the inmates stole and mixed them together carefully. Inmates were actually dying because of it. They’re brains were being fried and they weren’t acting like yourselves. Plus, the bastard had been injecting the drugs into unsuspecting prisoners, testing his work out. Twenty-Two people died.”

“Holy shit…” Uno whispered as his eyes were wide.

“That many people?” Rock ask, now standing behind Uno.

“That’s fucked up…” Muttered Jyugo.

“Who would do that? Messing with other people’s medicine and handing it to others isn’t right!” Nico exclaimed, looking slightly fired up. “Some people really need those drugs to survive.”

“That’s why they came to me.” Theo said calmly and crossed his arms as he recalled the memories. “I began investigating before they even asked me to. After narrowing the search and speaking to the right guys, I ended up finding the bastard. Once I found his little drug exhibit I pounded his face in… He killed a lot of good people… I wasn’t going to forgive him, and I still won't… Nobody deserves to die…”

“What else happened?” Rock asked.

“…After I found him I dragged him off to the police.” Theo continued. “The guards took him to the deeper parts of the prison, away from everybody else, and extended his sentence. Not even a week being in there, the guy went mental… He ended up killing himself by choking on his own chains… According to a few guards, it was a pretty fucked up scene. I could only imagine how bad it was…”

“Whoa…” Rock muttered in shock.

“That was wild from start to finish!” Uno exclaimed.

“You asked.” Theo said. “…But, I still feel bad… Those guys passed without even realizing what happened. I knew them all. One of the guy’s had a kid and wife waiting for him back home… He ended up dying because of a psychotic druggy…”

“That’s so sad…” Muttered Nico.

“…It was my first participation with the guards.” Theo added as he placed his back against their cell door. “From then on, I made a promise to those men. I would help the guards prevent an incident like that ever happening again. That’s when I officially became the guard’s information broker on inmates whenever something got fishy…”

“What a noble guy you are.” Uno commented with a light smirk. “I bet a lot of inmates didn’t trust you from then on out.”

“You’d be surprised, heh…” Theo smirked, not like they could see, but he did catch them off guard. “Thanks to my outgoing nature, almost everybody trusted me. They talked to me because I was the only one who would listen. I listened because I knew it would help. Didn’t even realize doing something as simple as that would lead towards everyone liking me… Because of my vital intel I collected, I ended up becoming a type of bigshot in Nanba. I guess that’s why the Warden took a risk in me and gave me the job…”

“Are you okay with that, though?” Jyugo asked in a slightly harsh tone. “Being used only for intel like that? Is it even worth it?”

“Kinda, yeah.” Theo nodded before pushing himself off of the door to face them. “As long as I can be of worth of some kind, it’s worth it…”

“…You’re weird.” Jyugo said before turning around and went deeper into the cell.

“Fair enough.” Theo shrugged, finding what he said amusing. “But I enjoy my job. It’s worth it…”

“I don’t think I could ever change my ways like that and become a guard in the prison I was held in.” Rock muttered and scratched his head.

“Fair enough.” Theo said as his eyes seemed to smile. “Is that all you wanted to ask?”

“U-uh, yeah.“ Uno said and rubbed the back of his neck. ”…Now that I think about it, you really are easy to talk to. That’s freaking creepy, man.“

Theo released a short laugh, which sounded a lot like huffs, as he found what Uno said amusing. He was surprised that their hate towards him from a few days ago had apparently subsided.

"I get that a lot…” Theo said softly. “If that’s all, I need to get back to my job.” He turned towards the hall, but gave the three by the door a pointed look. “You better not escape again otherwise I’m gonna have to chase you guys again. I honestly don’t enjoy beating you guys to death, so please don’t make me.”

“Fine, fine.” Uno waved at him. “But we make no promises for tomorrow!”

Theo sighed softly and shook his head. “I’ll act like I heard nothing…”

WIth that said, he began walking down the hall. Uno, Nico, and Rock watched from the barred window until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, Rock looked to Uno.

“After hearing that story, you still put that paper on his back.” Rock muttered.

“What? I had to do something!” Uno said and began to laugh. “Still, I placed that thing right on his neck! He really didn’t notice, ahaha!”

“Theo’s not that bad of a guy, huh?” Nico said and looked at the others. “Hajime was right when he said we had to know him better.”

“But we never did figure out his full story…” Muttered Rock.

“Who cares?” Grumbled Jyugo as he was laying on the ground. “He could have the most saddest backstory in the world and I still wouldn’t care.”

“Are you still holding a grudge because of some dumb kiss?” Uno asked him.

“Of course I am!” Jyugo yelled at him, now sitting up and shaking a fist. “I don’t care who he is! There’s no excuse for him to kiss someone, especially an inmate he’s in charge of!”

“Yeah, Jyugo does have a fair point in that.” Nico said before looking at Rock and Uno. “Do you think Theo likes boys instead?”

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know the guy!” Uno exclaimed and walked away from the door.

“If he’s as open as he says he is, then maybe you can ask him next time…” Rock suggested, honestly just wanting to change the conversation.

“Okay!” Nico said innocently and went towards the TV.

***

“Oi, Theo. There’s something on your neck.”

“Huh? Really…? I didn’t even know it was there.”

LOSER! ;P HAHA!

'I recognize that penmanship anywhere! Those bastards from cell 13 are screwin’ with him! And he can’t suspect a thing because he can’t feel the goddamn paper! Those little shits…!’

[harmonyvarnes]

Kiera Mistral | The Elder-Younger Sister Of Rafal And Rhian.

What I think it would be like if the boys had a sister.

She is about 1 year above them. They were 16? I think when they became headmasters. And she would be 18. (1-year gap )

Kiera is a fashion artist. She always dresses her best. She dressed better than Rhian and Rifal.

Between you and me, she favors Rhian more. He is her favorite. She loves and adore him.

Her height is about 5'0 to 5'1. ( Although when she looks in the mirror, she is about 5'10 )

The brothers are very protective of her. She cannot have any suitors. Never had a real boyfriend until Jesper Fahey.

That's when things get interesting.

Kiera felt like Rhian was the older twin brother, despite what people may think. She is slightly the headmaster as well.

She is the boy's guardian. Loves to watch over them and protect them. She grew up letting them think they were the older siblings until she revealed the truth.

Kiera is biracial, Half- White, and Half-Black. Skin color is dark black, brown eyes. But she had to change her skin tone. So now her skin tone is pale, and she tells people she has Albinoism. Green eyes, and is 5'1.

Hair length reached down her back, buts she cut it later ( 100 years) now it reaches a little past her shoulders.

Loves to play pranks on the school Professors and her brothers. They always take up for her, when things get out of hand.

She is a little childish. But what can you expect? She stops aging at 18. She isn't fully grown yet.

Always making Rafal feel low, and disgusted with himself. But always cheers him up. Rafal slick hates her for favoring Rhian..

The three are considered the three amigos. They are the chaos triplets. Because when they enter the room. Things always happen.

Kiera is also a seer, she can see people's future. But that's not all, she can see the past.

Both brothers were shocked. They never expected her to be a seer. Always asking her questions and such.

" What will we do tomorrow?" Rafal.

" Rifal you know we musn't ask her questions. She can age!" Rhian.

" She's Immortal!".

" So!".

Bicker, Bicker, Bicker.

Fucking had a vision about the boys being into a secret relationship with Captain hook and the other boys.

Secretly fan-Girling and cheering them on. Secretly knowing Rhian was the evil twin and the Rifal was the good brother.

Loving them regardless.

Between you and me dear readers, Kiera was secretly evil as well. She was half-demon after all. No soul.

And she was diagnosed with Anti-Social Personality disorder. So she was a Sociopath.

The twin knows how to deal with her ' Episodes '.

Everyone loves her. I mean everyone, teachers, students, and staff. They all love Kiera and wanted a piece of her.

She even knows about One of the twins killing the other. Because she has seen it happen.

But because of her, no one will die and the Balance will stay. Oh, she knew about Dean Hook brainwashing, controlling, and Manipulating he brother.

You betcha, that man was hanging outside in the forest of a tree. No one comes between her and the twins.

Kiera helps Rhian with his evil nature, and because of her. He doesn't snaps and the balance stays.

In the end, she was the key to the brothers, the balance. She made sure to keep the boys in place.

Because that's what the Storian wanted in the first place.

Right?

The True Queen.

The story of two brothers, and a sister. Their love was tested and because of the girl. Their love won and all was well.

[imsensingatriptoikea]

About Mitchell

John Mitchell 

BASIC INFORMATION

OCCUPATION Hospital Cleaner (main verse)

AGE 100+

NATIONALITY Irish

GENDER & PRONOUNS He/Him

ORIENTATION Bisexual

I was born in Ireland a long time ago. I was always a bit of a loner as a kid. I joined the army in my mid-twenties, during The Great War, WWI, and that was where I met Herrick. He had killed soldiers and to save them I sacrificed myself, allowing him to turn me. He recruited me and I became what I am today. He let me loose on the world and for decades I murdered for the bloodlust. I’ve killed hundreds of people. After a certain amount of time the killing became more of a crutch than a pleasure. I killed to keep the faces at bay.

In 1969 under complicated circumstances I met Josie. She was my saviour and helped me stay clean. Soon we had to part ways and I eventually ran into George Sands in an alleyway being attacked by other vampires. I helped him out and from there we moved into a flat where we met Annie. Things were touch and go, as they still are, but for now we’re managing. Blending into the world. Finding our humanity.

VAMPIRE LORE

 Vampires heart rate is one beat per minute, but are able to speed it up to mimic human heartbeat

 Vampires look human, unless they “manifest” producing black eyes and fangs

 They are frozen at the age of recruitment. Ancient vampires bodies are said to begin to decay so they have pale skin and black veins

 Vampires cannot reproduce, their “children” refer to those they have turned/recruited

 Recruitment: A bitten or dying human drinks a vampires blood. The person is then clinically dead for a number of hours, during which time they have visions of “the Men with Sticks and Rope”

 The person who recruits a vampire is their “sire”, if the sire has power or control over a vampire group/”family” one of their recruits will be their “heir” to take control if the sire dies

 If they are killing humans they will kill with no conscience and enjoy the rush. They do not suffer from feelings of loss, loneliness, grief, or sadness

 Vampires image cannot be captured on film, camera, or mirror. However, their reflection can be seen in semi-reflective surfaces, like windows

HISTORY

The first vampires are said to have made a deal with the devil for immortality

Humans were aware of vampires until the 1600s-1700s

Those accused on vampirism were imprisoned in an underground prison away from normal society

In 1665 there was a mass cull of vampires in Bristol, and all known vampires were exterminated

1911 a full-scale war erupted between vampires and werewolves and lasted for 7 years

In 2009 William Herrick planned a vampire takeover of earth, where humanity would be turned or farmed for blood

Herrick’s plan was stopped by the transformed werewolf George Sands killing him

In 2010 John Mitchell and Daisy Hannigan-Spiteri killed twenty train passengers in Bristol, called the Box Tunnel 20 Massacre, vampires were discovered and almost exposed, but a resurrected Herrick rescued Mitchell the story was covered up

As a result of the Box Tunnel Massacre the Old Ones began to plan a war between vampires and humanity, but were wiped out by Annie Sawyer

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME John Mitchell

NICKNAME(S) Mitchell

ALIAS(ES) N/A

SPECIES Vampire

OCCUPATION Hospital Cleaner

AGE 100+

DATE OF BIRTH June 29 1896

TURNED July 1917

NATIONALITY Irish

GENDER & PRONOUNS He/Him

ORIENTATION Bisexual

LIBIDO Moderate

RELIGION None

THREAT LEVEL Moderate - High

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

FACE CLAIM Aidan Turner

HEIGHT 5'10"

EYE COLOUR Brown

HAIR COLOUR + STYLE Black, wavy curls

DOMINANT HAND Right

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES Dark hair, usually wearing leather/fingerless gloves

ACCENT + INTENSITY Irish, Moderate

TATTOO(S) Yes

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

HOMETOWN Unknown, Ireland

CURRENT RESIDENCE Bristol

LANGUAGE(S) English, Gaelic

SOCIAL CLASS Middle Class

BASIC EDUCATION Elementary school, hospital training courses

COLLEGE EDUCATION None

DEGREE(S) None

PARENT #1 Mother: Deceased

PARENT #2 Father: Deceased

SHIP Multi

VICES + HABITS

SMOKES? Often

DRINKS? Often

DRUGS? Never

VIOLENT? Sometimes

ADDICTION(S)? Blood

SELF-DESTRUCTIVE? Yes

HOBBIES Reading, music, movies/TV

LIKES Smoking, Guinness, Cold Pizza, The Real Hustle, Laurel & Hardy, Fingerless Gloves, Blood

DISLIKES Killing, House Work, IKEA, People who mess with those he loves, Revolution

STRENGTHS Loyal, protective, kind, passionate

WEAKNESSES Impulsive, addictive personality, self-medicating

AU INFO

STAYING HUMAN - This is the basic Being Human verse. Mitchell lives in Bristol, works as a porter, does everything he can to stay away from Vampire culture and is fighting his every instinct to stay as human as possible.

ON THE EDGE - Mitchell has been clean for years, but now things are falling to pieces. He is getting closer and closer to falling off the wagon. He’s walking a tightrope, so be careful when interacting.

BLOOD KING - Mitchell is a killer. He has no regrets. He loves sex and blood. He is the man everyone tells stories about and looks up to. He is the rightful heir of Herricks clan. He is for all intents and purposes the Blood King. He has unlimited funds from all the connections he has obtained over the years. He lives in a mansion in a more secluded part of England. He will kill you if you meet his bad side.

VAMPIRE ABILITIES

Enhanced to superhuman strength: Has enhanced strength. When live feeding strength increases

Enhanced durability/invulnerability: Regular injuries and weapons cause pain but are not fatal. Wounds heal quickly. Enhanced ability increases with frequent feeding

Enhanced senses: Can hear and see much further than humans. Can sense other vampires from very far away

Clairvoyance: can identify werewolves and ghosts on sight

VAMPIRE WEAKNESSES

Sunlight: can cause some irritation

Religious symbols: are repelled by symbols and writings/words, unless they have a strong emotional connection with the owner

Invitation: need to be invited to enter, or will be burned and mutilated if they try to enter without invitation

Garlic: not fatal but they show some disgust

Physical trauma: immense trauma, like beheading, can kill a vampire

Wooden stake: a stake through the heart will permanently kill a vampire

Werewolf blood: is toxic, corrosively burns their skin. If ingested or directed into their face can be fatal

The taint: The Taint is the sweetest blood and is addictive. When they smell it they can’t control themselves. Humans only have The Taint when their blood is poisoned in a certain way. It is very rare.

[clubsocial-india]

New on Sports Illustrated: Miami's D'Eriq King Wants to Be the Next QB to Prove Size Doesn't Matter

D'Eriq King has led Miami to its highest ranking in three years ahead of a Saturday clash with No. 1 Clemson that gives the 5'10" King a chance to measure himself against Trevor Lawrence.

In the middle of the College Football Playoff championship game last January, when transfer quarterback Joe Burrow was leading LSU to the national title, D’Eriq King put himself on the market to make his own transition. The quarterback entered the transfer portal and tweeted his intent to leave Houston for a Power 5 program.

Time was of the essence. King had agonized over the decision to leave his hometown school and his family, and by the time he entered the portal he left himself with just a few days to make a decision and enroll for the winter semester at his new school.

Several programs expressed interest, but Miami showed the greatest urgency. The Hurricanes coaching staff reached out and asked King to visit Coral Gables that weekend. Their pitch wasn’t suited to a home visit or a phone call—and that had nothing to do with showing off the glamour of South Beach at a time when most of the country was shivering.

“I really wanted him to see who we were in person,” coach Manny Diaz said. “I wanted him to watch our players go through a workout, see that we were serious about winning down here. We really have a culture that is intact but just needed a leader at the quarterback position to make that shine, make that come out. I think there’s always a perception of who Miami is on the outside versus who Miami is on the inside.”

On the inside? Diaz, his coaches and players came off a dismal 6-7 season in 2019 with a renewed commitment to restoring The U as a football power. That meant dispelling an external reputation of being more interested in having a good time than playing good football.

Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz runs out of the tunnel before the second half of a game against the Virginia Cavaliers on Oct. 11, 2019.

“Being outside the program, you hear a lot of guys say all the Miami guys do is party,” King said. “You hear they’re late to workouts, missed this, missed that. When I got there and watched them work out, I didn’t see any of that.

“I mean, it’s Miami—it’s one of the great cities in the world. But I didn’t want to see the city or the beach as much as I wanted to meet the guys and see the tape.”

Thus a match was made in Miami. A city rife with distractions became the site of a shotgun winter marriage of two hyper-focused parties. A quarterback serious about showing he can be a Power 5 star (and NFL prospect) meshed with a program serious about making a comeback.

The results to date speak for themselves: the Hurricanes are an impressive 3-0 and at No. 7 in the polls have their highest ranking in three years. King is in the top 15 nationally in total offense (297.7 yards per game) and pass efficiency (a 153.85 rating) while leading the No. 7 scoring offense in the country.

Now comes the big yardstick game. On Saturday, Miami will visit No. 1 Clemson, the Atlantic Coast Conference kingpin that has won 22 straight league games. Not only will this showdown take the measure of the Hurricanes as a program, but it will give King a chance to measure up against the gold standard of college quarterbacking in Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence is the NFL prototype, standing 6'6" and possessing an arm that makes scouts’ pulses pound. The 5'10" (at best) King has spent most of his career fighting the criticism that he was too small to play quarterback: he was once the eighth-string QB at Manvel High School; he was recruited by Baylor and others as a defensive back, even though he never played that position; he was shuffled out to wide receiver and kick returner for a while at Houston.

If he can be King for a day in Death Valley? If the Hurricanes can score a seismic upset? Then the U-turn at The U is really on.

D' Eriq King runs the ball against the Louisville Cardinals on Sept. 19, 2020.

Keshon King will be in Clemson Saturday. Of course he will. He hasn’t missed one of his little brother’s 38 college football games, and that sure isn’t going to change now that D’Eriq has reached the biggest stage yet.

When he was a student at Sam Houston State, Keshon drove two hours home on Fridays to watch D’Eriq play high school ball. That tradition continued when D’Eriq suited up for the Houston Cougars. This season Keshon has made two trips to Miami, one to Louisville, and now there will be one to the Upstate region of South Carolina.

It’s even more important for Keshon to be there this year despite D’Eriq’s distance from Houston. Because their father cannot be there.

Eric King died of a heart attack at age 48 in February, not long after his youngest child moved to Miami. That compounded the angst of being away from home for D’Eriq, leading Keshon to spend a couple of winter weeks after the funeral in Coral Gables to help D’Eriq cope.

“Dad was the one who always talked football with us,” Keshon said. “I can fulfill that role with him.”

A former player himself, Eric had coached both his sons. He and Cassandra King raised all four of their children (Calandria and Erica are the girls) in a sports-loving, competitive household.

“The only person who can stop you is yourself,” Eric King taught his children. “Be a leader in everything you do.”

Some star athletes aren’t wired for leadership roles. D’Eriq is. Shortly after he enrolled at Miami and started winter workouts with his new teammates, he set up group texts with every position group on the team. He texted them daily, “because I was the new guy and needed to show them I cared about them.”

“Even outside of football, people gravitate to him,” Keshon King said. “He’s very selfless.”

D’Eriq is selfless enough that when he scored his first Miami touchdown, against UAB on Sept. 10, he turned down the program’s sideline prop—gaudy touchdown rings. Instead, he took the rings and gave them to a couple of offensive linemen.

That selflessness led him to go along with Houston coach Dana Holgorsen’s odd plan to basically tank the 2019 season, which was supposed to be the quarterback’s last year of college. After starting 1-3, the first-year coach of the Cougars told King this was shaping up to be a lost season—for the team and for the player’s NFL hopes. So he suggested a redshirt season, and sat down with the King family to sell them on it.

“Very strange,” was Keshon’s description of it.

Still, D’Eriq bought in and said publicly that he would stick it out in Houston. But this was his third head coach (Tom Herman, Major Applewhite and Holgorsen) in college, and after a 4-8 year led to staff changes, he also was looking at a fourth offensive coordinator in 2020. After seeing what some instantly eligible quarterback transfers had been able to do elsewhere, King started envisioning himself in that role.

That led to the transfer portal, and that led to Miami. It also led him to Rhett Lashlee, the new coordinator Diaz hired to energize what had been a dreadful Hurricanes offense in 2019. Lashlee’s track record was attractive to King.

The former Gus Malzahn protégé played fast and emphasized the running game like his mentor. But at SMU, his most recent stop before Miami, he added a new element: some Air Raid passing principles. That led to a very successful season with another transfer quarterback, Shane Buechele from Texas.

“I had some very bright people tell me, ‘You need to take a look at what Rhett is doing at SMU now,’“ Diaz said.

Buechele threw for more than 3,900 yards and 34 touchdowns as SMU went 10-3 last year. Lashlee put on some of that SMU tape for King when he visited Coral Gables last winter, showing him how it could work with him taking the snaps. The two of them also looked at Miami’s skill talent and liked what they saw. Diaz added the last video piece, showing King what vintage Miami looked like when it had a big-time quarterback—guys like Heisman Trophy winners Vinny Testaverde and Gino Torretta, plus national championship winners Ken Dorsey, Steve Walsh and Bernie Kosar.

King was sold, and it didn’t take long to sell himself to his teammates. Coaches often like taking in older transfers because they’ve been around the block and gained enough knowledge to know what really matters in terms of being successful.

“He’s a mature kid,” Lashlee said. “He’s got that experience. He’s just a very consistent young man, he’s the same guy every day. I think that helps me as a coach and helps our offense to know that we’re going to get his best. I think that is slowly but surely becoming the personality of our offense, because he’s our leader.

“He’s so even keel, so consistent on game day. We can put him in position where he can just go play and react. He’s capable of doing a lot mentally, but let’s just let him go react and play football.”

King’s improvisational flair and athleticism helped him produce a whopping 50 touchdowns in 11 games in 2018, 36 passing and 14 running. That was the guy who set the Texas high school career passing touchdown record, breaking a mark previously set by the player he’d one day like to be—Kyler Murray.

Murray, also standing shorter than 5'10", became the No. 1 pick in the NFL after a Heisman Trophy season at Oklahoma. His pro career is off to a promising start. King has looked at that track record and said, “Why not me?”

“I think [Murray] has opened some eyes at the position,” King said. “You don’t have to be 6'4" or 6'5", you just have to be able to make plays and be a leader.

“I’ve played quarterback since I was 4 years old. I’ve had an endless amount of people who said I was going to be too short, and I’ve kept playing quarterback. I still hear it every single day [about the NFL].”

There is still some chip on the shoulder from his days as a high school eighth-stringer, assigned a bottom-row locker in the junior varsity locker room. Just being able to take the field as the starting quarterback for a top 10 team at Clemson, and facing Trevor Lawrence, is a destination moment of sorts for D’Eriq King.

A guy this serious about winning won’t look at it that way, though. The desired destination is walking out of Death Valley alive and well and victorious sometime near midnight Saturday. If King and the Hurricanes pull it off, this shotgun winter Miami marriage could really become a beautiful relationship. 

October 08, 2020 at 05:10AM Miami's D'Eriq King Wants to Be the Next QB to Prove Size Doesn't Matter from Blogger https://ift.tt/33F5cBp

[alehthekid]

Meeting Liam Payne

On 5/9/17 my roommate won two tickets for Meet and Greets from the radio station Wild 94.9 (San Francisco Station) to meet Liam and listen to his new single! Off course she asked if I wanted to go and I said yes! Thursday came and we found ourselves waking up at 10am to get ready and take the bart(metro) to SF. The Meet and Greet wasn't going to start till 2:40 ,but we got there around 2:00. The check in was fast, we signed our names for the name tags and went through the metal detectors. After we waited a couple of minutes until they escorted us inside the radio station. Once inside they had pizza and Jarritos ready for us to enjoy. After we all settled in, we realize that there were to many people standing in the door way. So one by one, we began to check to see who was outside. It was LIAM! He finally arrived after waiting for more than an hour ,but soon as he noticed we saw him, he ducked and left. Finally after maybe two hours, the radio host came over told us all the rules: 1. No cellphones 2. No purses 3. No jackets After everyone checked in their phones we all got lined up to be walked over to the VIP Lounge. When I walked through the door my heart sunk! It finally hit me that I was going to meet a member of 1D after more than six years of supporting them! I was so nervous! We all fought for our seats, I was so happy I was on the first row. The radio host again told us what we can and cannot do while the sesión is being recorded. She also told us where he was going to sit and through what door he was going to walk into( the pathway to the stage was next to our row). Finally, the camera man began to countdown and Liam walked into the room. All of us and I mean ALL of us were shook! It was so unreal! He came over and shook everyone's hands and smiled , you could tell he was so happy to be there. Once he sat down they began the interview, they talked about Bear( he confirmed that's his real name), his favorite show (Breaking Bad) and his new album( which isn't don't yet). He also told us that Ed Sheeran does some vocals on his new single that is debuting on Friday! If you would like more information on the interview check out my YouTube channel just search "alehthekid" on YouTube! Anyways after the interview he wanted to leave the room so we could listen to his new song but we all shouted no so he stayed. Once the song started playing you could tell he was nervous about the feedback he was going to get. He started to cover his head and turn away from us. But I can assure you! That this new single is going to be your new favorite song! It is so good and catchy! The whole time the song was playing I was dancing my butt off! Seriously! After the song was over we told him it was amazing! And his mood changed form being nervous to being proud! He then left the room and we all walked out to get in line to meet him! This part was so intense and scary for me. I was nervous and shy. I didn't know what to tell him or how to pose. While waiting in line my roommate and I were thinking of how we were going to pose when a realized that we bought him a bracelet to give him. My roommate confessed that she was to shy to give it to him so she handed it over to me, so it was my job to give him his present. Once it was our turn we headed over to say hi, we had to be in pairs, my roommate went first she hugged him and asked him how he was. Then all the lights in my head went out, Liam turned to look at me and gave me the most precious smile EVER! All that came out from my mouth was "Hi Liam". He hugged me so tight and close I did not want to let go. That's when I realized I had the bracelet. After releasing from the hug, I took his right hand and gave him the bracelet in secrecy because I did not want the radio station to take it away. He was scared at first because he did not know what I gave him until he took a peek. Once he noticed it was a bracelet, he smiled and told me, " I'm going to keep this safe, I promise will wear it". That's when i replied, "Don't let them take it away from you". He smiled at me again and then we posed for our photo. The flash when of and he released us from the pose, I was so nervous I did not hug him again. I waved goodbye and when I looked at him he raised both his hands up and said, "don't worry, I have nothing". Ensuring me he wasn't going to tell the radio station that we gave him a gift. But the think about that moment was that I did not see if he put the bracelet on or not. My roommate states that she swears she saw him put it on but I cannot recall. I was to excited to take in that moment. So we will never know if he actually put it on. But omg, he was so sweet and nice! He looked at you with so much love. I mean the eye contact was INTENSE! He also smelled so good, you could tell he had cologne on but it wasn't to strong. He's pretty talk around maybe 5'10 and he is skinny! Like SKINNY! I was surprised! Anyways, that was my story time on the day I met Liam Payne. Hope you guys like this little insert! If you have any questions you guys can go over to my YouTube channel or send me a message on here! Thanks for reading! The Meet & Greet pictures are on my Tumblr!

[thenewman619]

Twisted Cryptids Episode 61'115: The Astral Apparition

As the screen fades from darkness, a stage lights up, revealing a thick veil of haze that currently occupies the viewer's sight. Various pieces of horror-themed trinkets and paraphernalia nailed against the back wall of the set. A man raises from the fog and floor, black hair and beard, sharply dressed. "A cosmic spirit that wanders the Earth, lost from its home. A galactic poltergeist that now haunts our world." Our apparent host speaks. "Tonight on this edition of ‘Twisted Cryptids’, we cover the ethereal specter, the extraterrestrial phantom -- The Astral Apparition." With the intro out of way, and with the knowledge of the host's name "Ron Myke", the show finally begins. "Over the course of the last 3 days various reports of the Astral Apparition have been popping up all over the globe" Don commentates while a map of the world pops up and indicates the sightings of the said enigma, via red dots. The scene cuts away to a title card with a vivid, swirling background accompanying it, "First Sightings" it reads. The camera zooms in on one of the bright, crimson marks. With a blurred transition, our first location is revealed: A forest in Germany. A shot of the forest shows an impact site of what seems to be a meteorite: Mighty trees knocked back away from the crater and a once lively lake filled to brim was drained overnight. An interview is conducted with the two witnesses: A young German couple who were camping in the forest on the night when the incident took place. Nearly an hour-and-a-half's' worth of interview footage was edited down to 4 second clips sprinkled throughout the segment on the two teenager. The couple began telling their story, due to the language barrier, the couple are spoken over by more native actors. This fact becomes apparent due to what is seen, the lip movements of the couple, and what is heard, the dubbed over voices. “We didn’t want to wanna go anywhere near that… thing.” The tan crimson-haired boy answered. “The closer and closer we got… The more chills ran down our spines” “It… Stood- No, floated at the edge of the lake” The pale brunette chimed in. “It was… Unreal. I thought I was having a nightmare… What came next made me wish that it was all in my head” An illustration is shown, the drawing showed the two cowering behind trees near the impact, the couple observing the cryptid in question. The otherworldly ghost being represented by a black splotch, due to lack of a description. “And then…” The fiery-haired witness holds his head in his hands. “It happened…” The Astral Apparition lifted up the water from the lake, in its entirety. Not only was the water affected, but the two fell towards the sky, only the branches of the arbors that surrounded them saved their lives from the fate of falling into the sky. Despite distance, despite language, the couple heard loud and clear what the enigma whispered... “Not here” The deity stared down at the empty lake and back up at the floating, formless mass of water. Within an instance, an entire lake’s worth of water turned into vapor, steam. As the anomaly fades from sight, possibly existence, the deadly ascent of the two cease. The couple surveyed the area, taking in the horror that they just behold. Their segment ends with final words from the brunette. “I don’t know what’s out there… I’m scared” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once again the same title card and the rotating background greets the viewers eyes, “It Hungers”, it reads this time. The next location is a fast-food restaurant located in the UK, “Porky’s Burgers and Chips”. Another interview was conducted, this time with a minimum-wage employee working who was the night shaft. “I…” The black-haired, lanky employee scratched his head, trying to surface memories of the event. “-Was alone, I was workin' the graveyard shift, just finished taking the garbage out back, and emptying the deep-frier. I just done with mopping the kitchen and was about to leave, then… I heard someone break in.” Security cameras had captured the some of the event in pristine, black and white, blurry, low-definition quality footage. “‘Thought it was some drunk who broke in. I had my phone on me, I was about to call 999. ‘Headed to the kitchen… 'Wasn’t expecting what saw next…” The low-wage employee described the whole story within a matter of minutes. The teenager peeked through the door, the floor was covered with a thin sheet of ice, possibly from the water when he finished mopping up the kitchen. Even the chemical-infused water in the bucket had become nothing more than a block of ice. There it was, the beast of the week, eating a frozen patty. “A frozen one!” The worker bursts into laughter “The damn thing was munchin’ away on a rock of a meat chuck!” His fit of laughing soon ended.”Oh, boy… Bein’ honest, I think the creature’s a bit on the dim side…” The segment closes on one final question: What did it look like? “What did it look like?” Once more the teen scratches his head. “Uh… It was short and had long hair. ‘Had a weird glow around it, too. ‘Can’t really describe that.” This time, a witness pops a question. “What’s the thing called? ‘Astral Apparition’? Know what? F**k that title. I’m gonna call it a ‘Space Gremlin’. 'Cause that's what it is!” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The program cuts to commercial break. “DCTV is sponsored by: Conduit Laboratories -- Conduits Laboratories, shaping the world of tomorrow for over 50 years” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The final title card appears, “The Untouchable”. The third and final location is revealed: A roadside mini-mart and fueling station “Goody Goods”, Canada. Two witness are brought in for interviewing, a 30-something old trucker and a 20-something year old store clerk. The two begin to tell their stories. “Out the road at night carryin’ some cargo for a... “C. Labs” from what I can remember… I was runnin’ a bit low on fuel, so I took a pit-stop, naturally.” The trucker told his story. “He was outside, he was refueling. Nothing out of the ordinary.” The clerk adds on. “Then… This thing… It looked like a kid, it was goin’ on its merry way, minding its own business. It look like it was walkin’ towards the front door of mart. But… Here’s the thing… My truck was in the way…” The mustached man went on. “I expected the kid to crawl under it or… Something else than what it actually did… It went right through it." “I thought that maybe the child crawled under the truck. Either that or I had too much coffee that night. What I saw next was no mistake.” They both describe what the enigma of a child did. At first, the men both thought that their eyes deceived them. Once it happened again, it was clearly this was no illusion. The kid could walk through walls. “It came into the store and spent a good 10 or 15 minutes looking around the store, saying ‘Where is it, where is it?’. Then it just stood at the counter staring at me for almost an hour. I started asking questions: ‘Are you lost, where are your parents’, all that.” The clerk explains. “Eventually, I got fed up with the whole apparent ‘silent treatment’ and I start yelling at the kid to leave. Then I tried to grab its hand and tugging ‘em out,  but… I actually touched it. I was half sure that hands would just go through it or something. 'Second I grabbed the kid, it threw me to the other side of the store, my landing made the stuff I sellin' fell off the shelves. I think I even broke a shelf or two. Understandably, I was mad, I was pissed. The store’s a mess and I was bleeding. I pulled out my pistol and shot at it. The bullets didn’t make contact, they hit the glass of the sliding doors behind the kid.” “Then I came in ‘cause of the gunshots.” The trucker verified “He was right about everything, the mess, the blood, the bullets. All that. As soon I came in, the thing left. Not in a normal way either, if that’s you’re wondering. It sank into the ground, no marks, no trace, no nothing.” Final thoughts are given by all five witnesses on the matter of the Astral Apparition, its impact, its potential, its danger. Ron Myke gave his two cents on this anomaly of a creature after the witnesses. “The Astral Apparition a truly twisted cryptid indeed, ladies and gentlemen. Having the abilities to manipulate gravity, radiate a freezing aura, and phase through solid objects, it seems that this ghastly being cannot be taken down by regular means. If you have any and all information regarding the Astral Apparition, send your story the link: www.dctv/TwistedCryptids.net.” Our host gives his final words of the week: “Thank you for watching this edition of 'Twisted Cryptids' on DCTV. Next week, we cover the subject of the 'IWTGH' Monster. Until next time, this Ron Myke signing out.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the broadcast ends and the credits begin to roll, a blackout hits. The entirety of the house is plunged into the dead of night. Minutes pass, darkness continues to occupy the house. With a hum, the lights of the home flicker to life. Strangely, the television hasn't turned back on. No broadcasting show, no assault of static, nothing. All the television set shows is a reflection of the room of its placement and a young adult, he stares into the mirror of a TV screen. At 5'10", the adolescent is clad in a white shirt and denim jeans. Short golden locks cascade down the pale skinned face of the boy, his blonde hair turning a shade of scarlet as grows longer. The teenager's reddish eyes tear away from his reflection, to hear loud, howling breeze coming from the room next to him, the same room with the front door. The soft wind ceases, the gentle hum of light bulb above is the sound that dominates the room. Suddenly, the house itself begins to quake, objects rattle, lights flicker. The shaking stops, and a dim purple light radiates in the hallway across from the boy. The source reveals itself, rolling into sight: A stone, glass-like, magenta. The crystalline rock hovers up and reminds for a minute or two, idle. The stone begins to crack; a violet light radiates through them. Once more the home rumbles, the most violent one yet. Everything that isn't bolted to the ground falls from their place, breaking as they make contact with the floor. The television being the first of the objects to drops and expire. The glass-like stone bursts, pieces of it embed themselves into the walls and floor with an audible "THUNK!" What's left among the glittery, glassy debris is a vortex, a wormhole. The adolescent stares deeply into swirling, violet, chaotic images of the portal, hellish sounds and whispers accompany the vivid, nonsensical visuals. A white flash comes from the odd gateway, like the flash of a camera. The colors of the vortex becomes darker, and a banshee shriek exits from it. The boy hides in his sheets on the mocha carpet that he used as a bed before all this. Within his mind something clicked. A wave of deja vu hits the teen’s brain, the weird rock, its glittery mess of debris that it left. One more action is needed to ensure this deja vu. Through the portal a humanoid figure, a girl, crawls forth. The vortex begin to shine its normally abnormal colors. With a gasp and a cough, the dimension hopper gets up on her two feet and promptly levitates. The portal's light continues to radiate on, obscuring any specific details on the extraterrestrial deity and projecting only its silhouette. A clap of thunder sounds off, the otherworldly gateway seemingly vanishes from existence. With the ethereal glow gone, details of the girl are revealed: Long black, ruffled hair, brown skin, scuffs marks on her face, a light purple dress with design of a star on the chest, dirt stains riddle the a section of the skirt, and most her defining feature: Her height, very short. Even through all the dirt and scuff, the young adult immediately recognizes the girl. The ghastly being floats towards the boy. At last, what's in her hands is revealed: A rose, pink. The girl hovers ever so closer to the teen, her head shifting left and right, observing the room. The speaks to herself as she stares down at the rose and back to the boy "Do I just shove it into his face? That seems too forceful. I can’t hurt that face.” The boy with the golden locks pull back the sheets covering him. The enigma of a girl freezes in place, the teen’s blank, unknowing gaze locking her now terrified glance, he begins to mutter. “Shooting Star,” The boy questions “Is that you?” “Oh, my God, he’s back” Shooting Star’s words flow fearfully out of her mouth “Hmm?” He mumbles “How long was I out for?” “Uh… ‘Good 3 days, Rose” The short girl quivers in her non-existence boots “Wha?” Rose’s oblivious state gives way to panic in a fraction of a second and springs from his sheets. “3 days?! WHAT?! Oh, no!” As Shooting Star fears and worries wan via chuckle, Rose grabs both her shoulders. “What did you do for 3 days? Shooting Star, what the sweet antimatter-” “I looked for your flower” The sweet little girl replies Her words strike Rose ears, he cringes, back away from Shooting Star, his face twitching, and feeling his heart sink down into the pit of his stomach. As of recently, never before has fear gripped him this fiercely. Shooting Star tilts her head in confusing while holding the flower as Rose goes through his own mini-crisis. “Wait… I thought I put it in a place where no one can get to it… And she still found it.” He internally panics. The otherworldly girl gives the pink rose to the now reassessed blonde Rose, he places it over his right eye. Briars extrude from the flower in all directions and latch onto the male Goldilocks’ head, practically snapping on. The rose’s vines begin to shift and move around Rose’s face, nearly all of them hiding themselves in his hair, completely out of sight. All but one vine shelters within the boy’s locks, it resides on his left cheek, with a smaller, second rose blooming. “Huh, so you don’t need you flower to function” Shooting Star notices, as Rose usually needs his rose in order to be a normal, operating Light Being: A semi-mechanical organism. “I don’t, but it helps with my energy levels.” He lays down. “My facial insignia shows up when I’m stable… Ish, or if I feel like displaying it” “Oh, yeah!” The short enigma jumps up and runs towards the front door. “Hmm?” Rose’s curiosity peaks Shooting Star is seen again with a cardboard box, held together by twine and cluttered with stamps. The girl tears into packaging, she throws its content at the flower boy, another cardboard box. In an instant, Rose gets excited at what the package’s package reads: “100%, All-Natural, Fat-Free Granola Bars”, his favorite. “120 bars inside!” Immediately, the hungry teenager starts to claw his way through the box, consuming around 3 bars in about a minute. “You know, you should branch out your diet, Rose. Literary, all you eat is granola bars” Shooting Star states. With his mouth full “Oh, yeah, do you want some, Star?” “Nah,” She declines. “I already had something while searching for your little flower thingy” A memory the broadcast quickly went to Rose’s mind as he swallows his mouthful of granola “That ‘something’ wouldn’t happen to be a burger? A frozen one” With a confused expression and a brow raised she says “Wait, how did you know?” “Well… I’ll tell you later.”

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‘Been meaning to post this over here for a while, now. 

Story done as a gift for @shiolily64, Merry Belated as Sh*t Birthmas

[firebirdtransam68]

Practice Story: Trans Am And Camaro

I am making this short story in order to enhance my creative writing skills.  Let me know in the comments what you think about this story, any suggestions for my future work, or if something needs to be fixed (for example, grammar, typographical errors, carefully choosing words, etc.).

Well, here it goes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Trans Am And Camaro" by FirebirdTransAm68

Some point in the afternoon, a black 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was resting in his two-car garage, listening to some Don Henley music.  The garage was an enormous medium-dark gray building with some glossy car posters on the walls, a large crimson-red kit full of first-aid tools, and a six-foot metal shelf full of supplies for him and his driver, who was absent from his larger house next to the garage.  There is one window on the left side of the car, which was enclosed behind a black curtain, so no one could see what was inside the garage.

Trans Am was murmuring to himself, thinking about what he promised to his cousin, who lived six blocks farther away from his home.  Trans Am told his cousin that he should be coming to his garage by noon, but the clock on the wall said 2:30.

PM.

It had been over two hours.  Trans Am sighed.

"Where could Camaro be," Trans Am asked aloud to himself, "I told him to come to my garage by 12:00 PM, and now I am still waiting for him to come!  I just hope he wasn't stuck in traffic, or was involved in an accident."

Right after he said that, the garage door opened slowly, showing the blinding light from the sun, but it didn't last long.  Once the door was fully open, another car appeared in front of the black Trans Am.  He looked similar to Trans Am, except he was silver, and his headlights were visible; Trans Am had pop-up headlamps that open or close depending on the lighting.  And instead of black bowling ball hubcaps, the car has chrome rims on his tires.

"Hey, cousin," he said, hastily, "sorry I am late.  I was on my way to your garage like I requested, but then suddenly, I fell into a ditch not far from the freeway!  I was stuck for an hour until a tow truck came and finally pulled me up.  Am I lucky to make it in one piece."

"What?" Trans Am was shocked by his cousin, the 1982 Chevrolet Camaro's story.  "How could you come across a ditch?  Last time I checked, there were no ditches where we live."

Camaro was somewhat taken aback by Trans Am's statement.

"Really?  Well, that's strange... Now that you mentioned it, I wonder how that ditch came here?"

"Well, we'll talk about that later.  Right now, I want to tell you something important, okay?" Trans Am said.

"Okay," Camaro responded.

"As you can see, I am waiting for my owner to come pick up some containers of gas, but I am planning to take a ride into the freeway on I-6 and Phoenix Boulevard, where I can see the view for over twenty miles.  And you know how much I wanted a good exercise once in a while."

Camaro was confused as to what his cousin was trying to say, but he let him continue speaking.

"So, while I'm gone, I want you to be garage-sitting.  You must make sure everything is kept safe, clean, and untouched.  And my platinum trophy should especially be taken care of, because I cannot afford another trophy if it breaks.  Understand?"

"Certainly."

"That's good.  Any questions?"

Now was the time to interject.

"So, why are you waiting for your owner to grab gas?  Shouldn't you be getting gas yourself?"

"Are you chaffing me?" Trans Am sounded quite agitated by Camaro's question.  "The gas station is over forty miles from the freeway!  If I get to it, I may run out instantly.  Even Super Bee wouldn't go that far for fifty cents a gallon!"

"Um, okay..."

Trans Am sighed.

"Anyway, do you know the protocol I am giving to you?" asked Trans Am.

"Yes I do."

"That's good."

Trans Am started his engine.

"I'll be right back in an half-hour.  Gotta get my gears going.  See you, cuz!" Trans Am shouted out as he took off.

"See you, Trans Am," Camaro called out.

He went inside slowly as to not knock anything over.  He parked in the middle where Trans Am liked to stay, and settled until he arrives back home.

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

Trans Am zoomed in through the neighborhood.  The road was clear, so he had plenty of space to roam around.  The freeway was a dozen miles from his current location.

He stopped to see a dark grey electric car twenty-six feet from where he was at, which was on the parking lot.  The car looked like he was built recently, and his steering wheel was concealed, indicating that he was a self-driving car.  His headlights were narrow, yet very well-designed, and he had a license plate on the front.

"Hello, Trans Am!" he called out to the black Trans Am, "where are you heading off to?"

Tesla was the type of car who primarily ran on electricity due to being a self-driving car.  Trans Am and Camaro were gas-fueled cars, which were condemned by many electric and plug-in cars to be environmentally-unfriendly.  Which was ironic, since electric cars have batteries that require a lot of lithium, which is even more polluting than oil dug from the ground.  And oil is a cheap source until a renewable source that is just as environmentally-neutral as oil becomes cheap and available for all.

Tesla was one of the fewer electric cars who befriended gas-fueled cars like Trans Am and his cousin.  Tesla was very tolerant of them.  He really liked them because of their personalities, with Trans Am being snarky on some occasions, and Camaro being always curious on certain things.  He would never imagine what would happen if he never met them.  And even Tesla was able to disagree with many electric cars, especially electric cars with discriminatory attitudes towards gas-fueled cars.

"Hey, Tesla," Trans Am called back to the self-driving car, "I'm taking a ride through I-6 and Phoenix Boulevard, where I can not only get some exercise, but to see the view as well.  Do you want to come?"

"Oh, I would love to, Trans Am, but I cannot right now.  I am garage-sitting until my owner comes back.  She will arrive back in about thirty minutes," Tesla said.

"Really?  Well, Camaro is actually garage-sitting for me until I come back from my exercise, so this may be a coincidence.  Well, anyways, I better be dashing off.  I will see you later?"

"That's fine by me," said Tesla, "have fun!"

"Thank you!" Trans Am called out.  He dashed off to his destination.

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

I-6 and Phoenix Boulevard was an enormous freeway, even bigger than I-10, which was very far away.  The freeway had ten lanes, five for going north, and the other five going south.  It was really high as well, almost fifty feet above the ground.  

Trans Am remembered the time he was in the Los Angeles freeway; he never liked it; made him claustrophobic.  He liked open space where no cars and trucks take up much room and crowd around him.  That's why he liked I-6 so much.  He wanted that much freedom on the road.

Trans Am was about to enter the freeway, until suddenly, part of the road was missing, and he fell sideways twenty-two feet onto a muddy surface.

He fell into a ditch!

Trans Am got his gears going to try and climb up to the upper part of the road, but to no avail.  He was stuck in a ditch that somehow appeared close to freeway.

"Oh, that's just perfect," he grumbled to himself, "Now what am I going to do?  I can't call Camaro because he is too far away.  And I don't know the number for the tow truck.  Maybe I can call Tesla.  He isn't too far where I am from..."

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

Tesla was resting in his garage, waiting for his owner to arrive, until his commlink beeped.

He activated it.

"Hello, this is Tesla."

"Hello, Tesla?  This is Trans Am.  Uh... I think I am in a little predicament here..." a voice said from the commlink.

"Trans Am?  Are you all right?  What happened?" Tesla asked, worriedly.

"Well, I was not too far from the freeway, until I came across this ditch, and now I am stuck.  Don't ask how this ditch got here.  I think it was the same ditch Camaro said he got stuck on earlier."

"Couldn't you call a tow truck?" Tesla inquired.

"I can't.  It is too far away from where I am.  Can you contact Camaro?"

"Sure.  Don't worry, Trans Am.  Once I get through to Camaro, help will be on the way."

"Thank you so much, Tesla.  You know I can count on you, right?"

"Yes, indeed."

Out in another part of the neighborhood, Camaro's commlink beeped.  He answered it.

"Hey, Trans Am.  What is it?"

"Camaro, this is Tesla.  I have something to tell you; it's urgent."

"What is it, Tesla?"

"Well, your cousin fell into a ditch not too far from the freeway.  He's stuck and is unable to move."

Camaro was surprised; and not in a good way.

"The same ditch that I fell earlier?"

"I'm afraid so.  Could you contact his owner so he can get help?" asked Tesla.

"How do I do that?  I don't think humans can understand cars, no matter how many times we warn them.  It's as if we are invisible to them." Camaro said.

"In Trans Am's garage, do you see a black, rectangular device with the red button on top?"

Camaro observed the shelf beside him, and saw a black, rectangular object with a red dot on the center.

"Yes, I do."

"Go reach over to the device with your robotic arm, and type in a Morse code on Trans Am's owner's pager, inquiring help for a tow truck to come help a car in distress," instructed Tesla.

Camaro did just that.

"Okay, I got it."  'Don't worry, cousin.  Help is on the way.'

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

Not too far from Phoenix Boulevard, a young man exited out from the hardware store after picking up some gas tanks for his car.  He was in average height, around 5'10'', he had a dark blond crop cut hair style that looked like it was from the 1980's, and was wearing Wayfarer sunglasses that concealed bluish-green eyes due to the bright sun.  He was wearing a red shirt, and a dark brown leather jacket over it, wore blue jeans and tan cowboy boots that looked like they were worn for a few years.  The man looked like he was in his early twenties.

"Will that be all for you, sir?" an elderly man in overalls and a gray baseball cap asked as the young man loaded up the gas tanks in a white truck he was borrowing.

"Yes, thank you very much.  I think I had enough," he said.

"If you need anything, give me a call, okay?" the elderly man asked (his name is Hank).

The young man, Jeff, got into his car and closed the door.

"Will do, Hank," he said.  He started the engine, waited for twelve seconds, and then drove off.

Once he came to a stop on the upcoming traffic light, his pager buzzed.  He grabbed it from his left pants pocket, and read this:

"SOS!  TRANS AM IS STUCK IN A DITCH ON I-6 AND PHOENIX BOULEVARD!  GET A TOW TRUCK NOW!"

Jeff was puzzled at this.  How did anybody know what his car looked like?  Or better yet, how did they transmit the message to his pager, and why?

Well, he didn't have time to think about it, because the traffic light turned green, and he had to drive to where a tow truck could be.  Without thinking, he hit the gas pedal harder, and the truck accelerated.  

Was he that concerned for his car?

He had to get a tow truck as soon as possible, because who knows what else could happen to the car?

Right in front of him, a young woman was running to somewhere.  Jeff came to a halt, and the young woman stopped.

Jeff opened the car door, and got out, with his arm resting on top of the door.

"Where are you going?" he called out to her.

"I witnessed a robbery from the bank, and three men drove away on some kind of getaway car!  And now I am going after it," she called back hastily.

"You'll catch them if you call the police because that is their job.  You could end up getting hurt if you chase these guys by yourself," Jeff said.  He was wondering why she would do something so reckless like that.

The woman looked a few years younger than him, and was shorter than him as well, around 5'4'' or 5'5'' was her estimated height, she had light brown medium length hair and wore bangs that were arched and slightly wispy, had a slight fuller face than Jeff, and had bright blue eyes.  She was wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt, wore white pants, and tan sneakers.

"Anyway, I am trying to reach the tow truck place, because my black car fell into some kind of hole, and it is stuck.  Do you want to come?  I can drop you off home as well."

When it comes to women younger than him, it could be really difficult for Jeff to resist.  He had been pressured to get a girlfriend ever since he bought the Trans Am.  Pretty cars attract pretty girls, right?  Eventually, he would know how to get along with her before he offered her anything, like a date, or even to marry her if he was serious enough.

The young woman was reluctant at first, but then accepted a ride.  He seemed like a nice enough guy.  She went into the passenger seat, but not before Jeff opened the door for her; "chivalry is not dead" was his motto.

After they both got in the old white truck, (who is mute and can barely talk to its car friends), Jeff stepped on the brakes and took off with the passenger.

"By the way, the name's Jeff," he said.

"Carly," she said.

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

"I need you to get a tow truck right away!  My car, a black 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, is stuck in a ditch not far from I-6 and Phoenix Boulevard!" Jeff said in a slight panic.

Jeff and Carly were inside an auto emergency center, where they were talking to a male staff member on a desk.  He looked at them with slight doubt and confusion.

"A ditch?  We don't have ditches where we live," he said, skeptically.

"I know, it sounds crazy, but this is no time to discuss about ditches, because we need to get my car out of here!  And fast!" Jeff said.

"Please help us.  His car is important to him," Carly chimed in.

There was a brief pause that lasted for five minutes.

"All right, then.  We will get a tow truck as soon as possible.  First, I need you to sign these papers," the auto emergency staff member said.

'Seriously?' Jeff thought.  Are cars really not that important to the drivers?

Suddenly, a car zoomed by outside the building.  They could be seen through the window behind the customer service area.

"It's them!" Carly shouted, and ran towards the door.

"Carly, wait!" Jeff called out, and ran towards her.

"Hey!  Where do you think you're going?!" the staff member yelled.

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

Jeff and Carly were on pursuit.  The car in front of the old white truck was a gray Toyota Prius, and three men were spotted inside the car.  Could the Prius be the getaway car Carly was referring to?

"Carly?" Jeff said, which caught Carly's attention from the car being pursued, "I think you should call the police."

"Okay."

Carly picked up her phone and dialed 911.

"911, state your emergency," a voice said from the phone.

"There's a gray Toyota Prius heading towards I-6, and there are three men in there, and they were robbing a bank on Yarrow Road!  They are using the Prius as a getaway car!" Carly said.

The gray Prius turned to the next lane to the left where I-6 was, and Jeff and Carly followed after it, changing to the same lane.

After the emergency call was issued, Carly hung up the phone.

"Don't worry, Carly," said Jeff with some confidence in his tone of voice, "We'll get these bastards."

The gray car sped up more, and so did the white truck.  Behind them, two cars were following them, slowly and carefully, but also following their pace in order to catch up to them.

"Oh, I hope I did the right thing," Camaro said, a little worried.

"Don't worry, Camaro.  I am sure you did the right thing," Tesla said, reassuringly, "although, I wish you didn't come.  You should be garage-sitting."

"I know," said Camaro, "but I am worried about my cousin after all.  I hope he is all right."

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

As Jeff and Carly were on pursuit, sirens blared out of nowhere.  That is, until Jeff looked at three police cars pursuing after the vehicle as well.

"Well, that was quick.  The police have arrived just after we called 911."

Right on I-6 and Phoenix Boulevard, the Toyota Prius came to a halt, and next to him was a ditch, right where Trans Am was.

The three men were getting out of the car, and the white truck stopped, and then the police cars.  The police got out of their vehicles, with guns pointing at the three thieves.

"Freeze!  Put your hands in the air!" one of them shouted.

The three crooks froze for a few seconds, until one of them tried to run away.

Jeff pursued after him, and then tackled him to the ground.  The crook tried to escape, but Jeff grabbed him, and then punched him in the face, so hard, he went unconscious.

"He's all yours," Jeff said, as a police officer walked towards the unconscious crook and started to handcuff him.

The two remaining crooks were being handcuffed as well.

"That was amazing!" Carly was astonished.  "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Jeff answered, while rubbing his knuckles from the hand he punched the crook with.

Just then, a red GMC truck came by to help Trans Am out of the ditch.  Camaro and Tesla stopped before the tow truck did, and recognized the gray car twenty feet away from them.

"Prius?" Camaro was shocked.

"Hey, Tesla," Prius said, snobbishly, "Where do you think you were heading off to with that gaslighter over there?"

"Hey!  That was uncalled for," Tesla said, defensively, "and who do you get to decide which friends to make, anyway?  Don't you realize that gas-fueled or not, Camaro is a car just like us?"

"Oh, so now you're DEFENDING this piece of junk?"

Camaro was fuming.  How dare Prius dehumanizes him like that!

Just then, Trans Am got slowly lifted off the ditch, thanks to the red tow truck.

"Trans Am!" Camaro and Tesla said.

"This is embarrassing," Trans Am muttered, obviously not at all happy about the situation.

After Trans Am got safely on the ground, Prius decided to make a snide remark.

"So, how was your trip to the DITCH, gaslighter?"

"Wha…?" Camaro was confused, and then shocked.

The cars put two and two together, until they came up with a conclusion that...

"Seriously?" Camaro exclaimed.

"I should've known," Trans Am said.

"So, YOU'RE the one who created that ditch on I-6 and Phoenix Boulevard," Tesla declared.

"Yeah?  So, what's in it to you?" Prius said.  He was really getting on Camaro's nerves.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" Camaro shouted.

"Oh, yeah?" Prius said, tauntingly, "what are you going to do about it?  Impound me?"

"That's just exactly what will happen," Trans Am said.

"What?!"

Just then, a police tow truck was chaining Prius so he couldn't escape.

"H-Hey!  You can't do this!  I am the future of all automobile-kind!  I am the most environmentally-friendly car in the world!!" protested Prius.

"More like environmentally-UNfriendly.  What kind of substance is lithium good for, anyway?  There is nothing even biodegradable about such substance," Trans Am said, "and besides, at least gas-fueled cars don't electrocute people whenever they get into a car crash."  (Oddly, Tesla wasn't even offended by Trans Am's remark.  Probably because he is a friend that he could count on as well.)

"I swear you'll pay for this, gaslighter!" bellowed Prius, as he was being hauled away by the police tow truck, "mark my words, you'll PAY!!"

"Have a nice trip, Prius!" Camaro called out, and he, Tesla and Trans Am laughed.

"My goodness, was Prius a complete and utter jerk," Trans Am said.

"I agree," said Camaro.

"Same," said Tesla.

"Well, at least we won't have to deal with him for a while," Trans Am said, as he was literally off the hook, "Thanks a lot, Topkick."

"Don't mention it," the red tow truck said, and he drove off.

                                   ------------------ *^* -------------------

It was close to being evening.  Jeff and Carly were talking after their experience with the car chase earlier.

"You got a really nice car, there," Carly said, referring to Trans Am.

"Why, thank you," Jeff said, smiling.

Carly smiled as well.  She was starting to like Jeff a little more.

"You know, I had always wondered that-- whenever I find the right time and the right place, I could make a difference in the future," Carly said, hesitantly, "but since there isn't many paths to go, I may not find that right time to actually--"  

"Are you kidding?" Jeff said.  He was starting to gain some confidence for Carly.  He just happened to see something in her.

He grinned. "There is no one in the world as beautiful as you are who can never make a difference." (Did he just say "beautiful?")

Carly blushed.  "Uh, thanks."

Jeff scratched his head.  "Eh, yeah.  You're welcome."

He and Carly got a little closer to each other.

"Well, I had a really good time," Carly said.

"So did I," Jeff said.

There was a ten second pause, until Carly first spoke.

"Hey, is that my car?" she asked.

"Hm?" asked Jeff.

She then walked towards her car, who happened to be Tesla.

"That's your car?" Jeff asked, he was puzzled at first, but then started to be admired.  "It looks really nice."

"Thanks," Carly said, with a smile on her face.

"So, uh, I will see you tomorrow?" Jeff asked.

"Sure," Carly said, as she got into Tesla.

"Well, I guess I have to be leaving.  I had a fun time with the both of you," Tesla said, "see you later."

"Bye, Tesla," Camaro said.

"Take care," Trans Am said.

"Thank you, you too!" Tesla said, and then drove off with his owner.

"Wow.  She is so beautiful," Camaro said, astonished.

"Gee.  No wonder my owner wanted me, just so he could impress some girl he just met," Trans Am said in a disappointed tone, "that makes me feel jealous and left out."

Jeff started to walk towards Trans Am, and got inside him.

"Well, anyway, we have to go back home.  Let's go, cuz," Trans Am said, and he started to take off.

"Okay," Camaro, said, and followed him.

"Oh, and Camaro?"

"Yes, Trans Am?"

"You should have been garage-sitting like I told you to."

"...Sorry."