#you just gotta pick your battles and stand your ground kind but firm

[nothing-nothing454545]

when ypu start doing the math in your head you realise 99% of people will treat you decently if you treat them decently. the 1% is just fucking loud

[redrobin-detective]

sleep like the dead

“And now, I, Technus, shall finally have my electronic vengeance on you, ghost child and conquer this puny human world!” Technus shrieked, exiting the portal in a suitably dramatic fashion. The various weapons around the lab shook and trembled from his power and static from his core crackled, raring for a fight with his favorite enemy. Only the Phantom didn’t appear.

“Hmm, maybe I wasn’t loud enough,” Technus mused before starting up again. “Pathetic Phantom! You can only hope your miniscule half human strength will be enough to take on my squiggling mess of the tangled wires of terror!” He threw back his head and cackled loudly, waiting for his nemesis to show and the battle to begin. His laughter petered out after a bit and the lab became silent once more.

“Well, now he’s just being rude,” Technus fumed, floating up through the ceiling. “Don’t ignore my threats, child. I know you’re here, I can feel your cold core.” He stopped once he reached the ghost boy’s human lair, hovering a few feet from the bed where his rival was sprawled out, sound asleep.

“Come ghost boy, it’s time for fisticuffs! I have some new moves and some great catchphrases I’m ready to try out on you!” The technology ghost exclaimed in excitement, miming some punches. Phantom didn’t answer, just kept laying there barely moving save for his soft, shallow breaths. Technus watched as his breath fogged with each exhale, his core’s ghost sense but it still didn’t awaken him. “Child? Have you expired?”

He leaned forward and gently poked the boy’s cheek. It was squishy but firm unlike a ghost’s exterior and he could feel the dense bone underneath. Phantom didn’t so much as twitch. Technus drew back his hand, unsure of what to do. He’d surprised the child while he was in bed before but he always woke up and they fell into the usual routine. But now he’d changed the script and if there was something ghosts didn’t like, it was change. He flew back down to the portal and sped into the Ghost Zone at top speed, searching for someone who would be able to help him understand. 

“Wow, baby pop whooped your butt that fast? Either he’s getting better or you’re getting more pathetic, my bet is the latter,” Ember teased as she strummed to herself from a floating rock near her lair.

“The ghost child won’t wake up and fight,” Technus said in a rush. “I went to the human world but no one answered my challenge. I went to his human lair and he was just lying on his bed thing and he wouldn’t move, even when I touched him.”

“That’s not like him, he’s usually more hopped up and ready to fight than a groupie on coke,” Ember frowned, setting aside her guitar. “Well come on, sparky, lets go check the kid out.” 

They developed something of an entourage making their way back to the human portal. A few of the locals had heard that the infamous half ghost child was behaving differently and well, curiosity didn’t stop when the cat was killed. Skulker chuckled menacingly under his breath, Youngblood bounced around the adults. Johnny and Kitty had been going to the real world anyway and decided to tag along. 

“Were his folks or Jazz home?" Johnny asked, riding his cycle slow enough to keep pace with the group. 

“Who?” Technus questioned, “er no, the annoying children always with him were not around for once.”

“Annoying yes but they don’t live- uh occupy the same lair as the brat,” Johnny explained. As a younger ghost who’d held onto his humanity more than some, he had a better grasp of human culture. “His parents, the crazy ghost hunters in the blue and orange jumpsuits. Or his sister, Jazz. She has red hair and is kind of a know it all. They’re his family, they live with him.”

“Oh those weirdos,” Youngblood said wrinkling his nose. “Always loud and shouting about ripping apart ghosts. They’re not even good hunters.”

“Obviously, they haven’t noticed they got a ghost living with ‘em,” Ember added with an eyeroll.

“It’s a very stressful situation, Danny was worried about what they’d do if they found out,” Kitty frowned before sticking her tongue out at Johnny. “Danny’s a good guy, at least he talked to me about things that mattered.”

“Good target practice, you mean,” Skulker declared as they entered through the portal. Instinctively they all looked up to where the ghost boy’s core was humming but sensed no movement. “Alright, I will admit that is weird. Let’s see what the whelp’s up to.”

It was a bit cramped, the five of them crammed into the small room especially when they were keeping their distance from the room’s only living occupant. He had not moved since Technus had last been in here. At their entrance, his breath fogged again and he shivered for a second before settling back down. 

“Well, he’s alive at least,” Johnny shrugged before leaning in close to examine him. “Kid looks wiped though.” He picked up the boy’s bony wrist which had been dangling off the bed, his fingers brushing the floor and held it up before dropping it. His knuckles rapped against the ground but he didn’t stir.

“Johnny, leave him alone, he’s trying to sleep,” Kitty hissed, yanking her boyfriend back by his ear. 

“Come on, I’m not doing anything bad,” Johnny defended. “But, come on, how often are we gonna get a chance like this?”

“Hmm is human sleep that interesting that the ghost child would ignore all of us?” Technus asked, floating over and laying himself down on the bed. He laid there on the bed next to the boy for a few moments. “I do not believe I’m doing this correctly.”

“Nah you gotta close your eyes and go off to dreamland,” Youngblood said, grabbing a sock off the floor and then some papers from the desk and began stacking them on the half ghost’s head. The boy still didn’t react in the slightest. 

“Is dreamland close? Another pocket dimension like the Zone?” Technus, ever the scientist, asked curiously.

“No, you idiot,” Ember sighed before tentatively reaching out and laying a hand on Phantom’s chest. “Yow, man that’s weird.”

“What?” Skulker asked, having been mostly content to watch until now. Youngblood had now piled several more items on the ghost boy’s head but he slept on, unawares.

“It’s just,” she scrunched up her face as she looked for the words, “I know what ghost cores feel like and I’ve been around enough humans to know the signs of life but he’s got both at once. His core flares and fades opposite his heart beat. It shouldn’t work but it does, somehow.”

“He is a most curious specimen, I rarely see Plasmius in his human skin so it’s hard to compare,” Skulker commented. “Of course Plasmius I can understand. He acts like a ghost, thinks like one. But the child, he’s certainly a ghost but he’s also decidingly... human.”

“That’s why we should be leaving him alone,” Kitty frowned, plucking Youngblood out of the air and moving him away from the sleeping teen. “If Danny isn’t waking up with all of us causing a racket then clearly he’s exhausted. We bother him enough, let him rest and fight him some other time.”

“But I wanted to fight now,” Technus whined, rolling over on the bed and resting one arm over the ghost boy’s body. “The Phantom surely wants to hear my latest monologue on how I’m the supreme ruler of everything electronic and beeping.”

“I know I don’t,” Youngblood shrugged.

“Me neither,” Johnny scoffed.

“Or me,” Ember muttered, putting her hands on her hips.

“Just let him rest,” Kitty said shooing the others back and gently brushing some of the kid’s hair out of his face revealing sallow features and dark marks under his eyes. “It’s hard enough being human much less a ghost on top of that; between fighting us and trying to have a normal life I bet he hardly gets any sleep. The least we can do is give him a break before he breaks.”

“I suppose it’s not sporting to kill a sleeping prey,” Skulker pouted. “And it’ll make his defeat more meaningful if he’s well rested and not uh,” he gestured to the Phantom’s general state of disarray. 

“Better appreciate it,” Ember sulked for a second, kicking away some pajama pants from the floor. “His stupid human life. I��d give anything to sleep again, just for a minute.” 

The ghosts sat in quiet contemplation for a moment, the dead looking enviously and curiously on the silent, sleeping boy, on a world they could only watch but not engage in. The moment was shattered by the front door slamming open.

“DANNO WE’RE HOME AND WE BROUGHT CHINESE!” Resonated through the house. Startled awake, the ghost child leapt out of the bed and hovered about a foot above it for a moment before sinking back down.

“Darn it Dad, I was napping,” Danny grumbled before he opened his eyes and saw several of his ghostly enemies standing awkwardly in his room. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Technus lounging on his bed. “What the-”

“Oh good, you’re awake!” Technus tittered happily, leaning into his personal space. “Ready to hear my spiel?” The temperature in the room dropped rapidly as his core ramped up and spilled over into his eyes which were no doubt glowing a fierce green.

“Get out of my room!” He shouted, reaching over to grab his emergency under the bed thermos but a sock falling from his hair into his face distracted him.

“Hey, just stopping by but we were just on our way out, sleep well, Danny sweetie!” Kitty said dragging the whole group through the floor. His core thrummed in agitation until he felt them cross the portal into the Ghost Zone. He sat there for a moment, shaking and panting from the adrenaline rush before he decided he really didn’t want to know. He flopped back onto the bed and reached over on his nightstand for the bottle Jazz had given him the other day.

“The heck is in this stupid sleep aid?”

[determinationisnotcrash]

Conspiracy! Search Between the Lines of the Movie Script!

I wrote animated actor skits between the characters as a joke on the RP part of the @gbpack-discord , but then I thought about what kind of studio would allow the use of very real laser-shooting bone beasts in movies, as well as what kind of actors would stay around laser-shooting bone beasts, and this oneshot was born.

Impact and Soichiro belong to me.

Sabre and his brother (tentative name: Tsurugi) belong to @paddie-ut

Rigel and his brother (tentative name: Kaoru) belong to @skellepuns

Sabre helplessly clung for his life to the branch at the top of the prop tree like a stuck cat. “So this is how I die… Mum… Dad… Bro… I’m so sorry… You were right, I should have just stayed home doing Super Robot Wars recordings all along…”

Impact – or rather, the creature playing the role of the beastman’s body – kept trying to leap up at Sans, eying him hungrily like it had just discovered what it would have for its next meal.

From a safe distance (knowing well that trying to interfere himself would lead to being ripped in two), Impact’s voice actor yelled. “Hang in there, Sabre! You’ll be alright! Help is on its way! As long as you sit tight and don’t move-”

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

The raptor started munching on the tree, its massive jaws easily slicing through the thick material like butter! The skeletal actor facepalmed, feeling quite foolish for jinxing it.

On the other hand (or rather, paw), another actor decided he’d had enough of seeing his co-worker being chased around by beasts. With several heavy footsteps, Rigel dashed towards the raptor and tackled it, wrestling it to the ground.

In his base humanoid form, it would have been like throwing himself at a brick wall. But in that half-beast shape, not only did he have a lot extra weight to throw around, he had quite the solid constitution. The ravenous animal snapped and struggled like the beast it was, but it was completely pinned.

Just in time, the people Impact’s voice actor called over arrived! Rigel carefully handed it over, not releasing his grip until it was safely in chains.

Rigel turned upwards towards his friend, putting on what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile. “Alright, Sabre! It’s safe to come down now!”

The small half-Blaster slid down to the ground. Without a moment’s hesitation, he sprinted past the others and off the set.

“Sabre…? Wait! We’re not finished with this scene!”

***

Break Room

Sabre huddled in the break room, staring grumpily at nothing in particular. During this time, several staff passed by, such as the ones in charge of props and special effects, but it felt too awkward for them to talk.

This continued for about half an hour… before he was startled out of his sulk by the sound of a coin rolling into a vending machine slot. A claw-tipped hand holding a canned drink entered his field of vision. “Wanna talk about it?” Sabre followed the arm to see…

“You’re Rigel… no, your real name is…”

“My name really is Rigel. Rigel H. Aster. Yours?”

“Rigel H. Aster…?” Sabre’s face lit up at the familiar surname. “I know you! You’re one of the leads of Pink Dark Boy! And the main lead of The Silver Soul! As for my name… it’s also really Sabre. Sabre Midorikawa.”

Rigel’s smile remained on his muzzle, but his eyes slightly narrowed at the last sentence. “Heh, that is what I’m famous for. But Midorikawa…? The actor half the staff- no, half the world is practically in love with? Did you use connections to…? And hold on a sec, how can a blind man watch television?”

A green blush tinted the small Blaster’s cheeks. “O-oh, I’m not actually blind.” He lifted a handpaw and with a cartoonish POP sound, the socket-blackening lenses came out. “And yes, I would like to talk about it. I just can’t stand the Director’s choices anymore! I thought I had the resolve to keep coming here, no matter what, but now…”

The tall, bulky skeleton nodded, taking a sip of his own soda, but his eyes bugged out upon the unfamiliar flavour reaching his tongue. He looked down at the can. Grass Jelly…!? Then Sabre got…

“EUUUUGH!” Several splutters and coughs left the man’s maw, his entire face seemingly scrunching up. “This milk…! It expired years ago!”

“Sorry, I should’ve known not to trust in company import vending machines.” Taking both cans, the blue humanoid dragon poured them down the sink, before chucking the empty cans away. It was for the sewage plants to deal with now. He silently wished them luck. “…Anyway, people drop in and out all the time. I don’t think anyone would blame you for wanting to leave. Just one question I’d like to ask, first…”

Sabre felt uncomfortable, shifting under the dragon man’s gaze. “Depends what it is…”

“Why did you come here in the first place? Everyone around the world is aware of the Director’s extreme methods. His movies have a massive following, but he’s renowned on the streets as a terrible employer.”

The smaller Blaster’s eyes seemed to shift their focus to thin air, recounting a time that had already passed. “Can you keep a secret?”

Rigel nodded solemnly.

Sabre checked the area around him, before ushering Rigel into the restroom and locking the door. He sat down on the toilet, getting ready for a long explanation. “It’s the reason I chose to have my character be a blind man to begin with… And the reason why that ‘Impact’ creature the Director brought along makes me so uncomfortable. I’m not only an actor, you see…

“I do detective work on the side – anything from missing pets, goods, or people��� to dangerous cases, involving things like human trafficking and drugs. Mind you, I don’t operate alone. The reason why I’m not beloved as a detective is that my brother Tsurugi is the figurehead of our operations.”

That name was enough to make Rigel’s hair stand on end… is what would have happened if he had any. Instead, his ectobody tensed up, going from the consistency of blueberry jelly to more firm agar jelly. “That Tsurugi… The Early Genius? You’ve gotta be pulling my leg!”

Sabre disproved him, taking out his wallet and revealing a photo of them together. “I’m dead serious.”

“N-no way…”

“Way. Tsurugi’s hailed as a genius and a fighter, but that isn’t entirely correct. He’s the combat expert who handles the battles, whereas I’m the discrete thinker. He shines in the light, whereas I loyally provide him with everything he needs from the shadows.”

Cogs in Rigel’s skull started to turn. “I see… but… wasn’t he recently…?”

A grimace formed on the shorter man’s face as he confirmed. “Yeah. It was a crime in my hometown…”

***

La Gias City, two months ago

“HAAAAAA…! TASTE THIS, MY SIGNATURE TECHNIQUE! HUNDRED STORM FIST!” With strength beyond that of mortal men, the skeleton let out a fist rush, the wind stirred up from each punch being enough to blow away all his opponents!

“Heads up, bro! They’ve got reinforcements coming from below!”

Tsurugi’s confident grin didn’t fade. “Is that so? Then…” He leaped into the air, a powerful aura flowing around him, before doing a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree spin and colliding straight into the wave of mooks coming from downstairs. “LIGHTNING KIIIICK!” The room around him illuminated brilliantly! In one fell swoop, they were all immobilised!

Sabre couldn’t help but grin upon witnessing his brother’s handiwork. He really was amazing…! “Alright, proceed! The ‘boss’ is at the top!”

“Roger that!” Tsurugi sprinted up the stairs, entering a large, grandiose office room. It looked almost like the huge, majestic boss’ offices he saw on television: larger than a personal office had any right to be, elaborate paintings on the wall, and the back wall being a transparent window showcasing the night city skyline. Within it… he came face-to-face with the enemy.

Shouting with bravado, the man pointed a finger at the human woman behind the desk. “Well then, you’re the one behind all this! Kidnapping all those poor schoolboys!”

“Of course~!” The Evil Eleanor giggled. “My desire is nothing more than to dominate the young. So rather than brutes and savages, those boys are used to create fine gentlemen! Gentlemen for me to do whatever I wish with!”

“Such dreadful desires…! Desires befitting of a supervillain! Therefore, you must be punished as one!”

Eleanor cackled like a witch, the laugh of an evil hag erupting from the otherwise beautiful face. “Just try and stop me, Tsurugi! Come, my loyal guard dogs!”

“B-bro…! Be careful! My console is picking up several extremely high energy readings right next to you!”

The paintings to the side opened up, revealing skeletal demonic creatures that looked like they crawled out of hell itself. Curved, goat-like horns. Maws filled with vicious, blade-like teeth. They were completely covered in wicked spikes, to the point where simply approaching one would cause physical harm. And the worst part was…!

Tsurugi had seen his fair share of criminals, but the eyes of these creatures? They were something far worse than even the scummiest of lawbreakers! These beings… they radiated pure evil. An unstoppable force of nature unbound by the laws of society or the modern world! The simple sight of them made the half-beast skeleton break out into a cold sweat.

“Ufufu~ Marvellous, aren’t they? I know you’re world-renowned for your close combat fighting style. These wonderful creatures are the ultimate counter!”

“Indeed…” Tsurugi took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his skull. “You have me beat… I truly have no way of countering with my Dragon Style CQC… However!” Determination ignited in his eyes. With a snap of the fingers, several airborne mechanical drones burst through the roof and from below. “You’re sorely mistaken if you think my hands and feet were my only weapons!”

Eleanor’s face contorting into all sorts of ugly expressions, she screamed, “DO IT! MAUL HIM!”

“FULL BURRRRRRRST!”

The world become awash with light… and when it cleared, there was nothing left of the demons but ash. The skeleton let out the breath he was holding. He didn’t say it out loud for obvious reasons, but those laser drones were experimental. There was an equal chance of them detonating and blowing him up.

Warily, he approached the soot-covered mastermind. “Now tell me, why did you kidnap all those boys? What meaning is there in taking innocent children away from their family and friends? Most importantly… where are they now!?”

The only response he got was a wad of spit in his face. “Fufufu… You foolish skeleton… because you had to play teen detective, you’re marked! ‘They’ will pursue you to the ends of the Earth, until you’re silenced! Guhhh…” The life faded from her eyes. Unfortunately, it seemed that was all the information he would ever be able to receive from her.

***

The next night, Midorikawa Household

Tsurugi shifted in bed uncomfortably, that woman’s words still bouncing around his skull. It was the wee hours of the morning, yet he was unable to sleep. They… they… who were they…?

The sound of the fridge opening and being messily rummaged through, for once, was welcome. Sabre! Someone he could talk to about this!

Tail wagging vigorously, he leaped out of bed and all but sprinted downstairs into the kitchen. The creature he saw there would be the last thing he would see for quite some time. “…Y-you’re-!”

SLASH!

***

Present Day

Sabre finished his tale, a lump in his throat. “He was taken completely off-guard. The fact that he managed to fight it off anyway while blinded, unable to use his equipment, and hurt by physical contact with it is impressive, but just what I’d expect of my bro.

“No damage is permanent… he’ll heal, thanks to the funding and technology we have… but it’ll be a while before he’s able to see or move properly again. For that purpose, he’s in hiding right now while recovering. We took the opportunity to fake his death for now.”

The Blaster shuddered again at the recollection. “I felt crushed by that. If it weren’t for me wanting my brother to have all the glory… He wouldn’t have been targeted. I tried to make up for it by coming here, but… I’m starting to wonder whether it’s even worth it, if simple situations like these nearly kill me. If I’m just causing more problems…”

Rigel attempted a comforting purr, patting his friend on the back. “Sabre… It’s admirable that you’re doing something like this. I… I have a secret to reveal, too.” He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a shiny golden badge. “I’m a member of the International Police. Kit is, as well.”

“What!? I thought that was just a thing in movies!”

Chuckling, the dragon gave a friendly wink. “That’s what they want you to think!” The amiable expression, however, disappeared as he continued his explanation. “There have been a lot of funds diverted to the Director and his projects, some through legal means, others through not-so-legal means. A lot of money laundering’s been going on.

“And additionally, there’s… you know, that… thing. ‘Impact’. I became familiar with creatures like it prior to coming here. I performed an infiltration in one of the Director’s secret labs with my brother. What I found was something terrible…”

***

Lightbringer Labs, one month ago

Rigel had to physically clutch his snout to prevent the vomit from coming out. “T-this is…!” Familiar footsteps quickly approached from behind him, causing his heart to leap into his throat. “Kaoru, don’t look-!”

Too late! His brother had already seen the awful sight. “N-no… No, no, no, no, no, no, no…!” Those children were…!

In contrast to the hi-tech, futuristic outer walls of the institute, this room looked like it belonged to a deranged cult. Strange symbols, coupled with indecipherable writing were drawn in red paint(…?) all over the walls and floor, and beaten, ragged-looking children were placed in the very centre.

Cloaked figures surrounding the circle chanted out harsh, disgusting-sounding words, as a large muscular figure approached the children. It slowly raised its blade, and…! And…!! The two brothers reflexively looked away, but the sound of the splatter and the scent of blood were enough to confirm what had happened.

The room was soon filled with a terrible atmosphere – one that made Rigel even more physically sick than he already was. He had to fight the instinct to just flee that rose within him. The waves of evil aura became stronger and stronger… and a ball of shadow coalesced at the centre of the room. One of the cloaked figures grabbed it before Rigel could get a good look at it… but it was skeletal. And moving.

A smile – not genuine in the slightest and more like the fake one of a dog’s or dolphin’s – spread across the face of the staff member next to them. “Remember, you signed the legally binding contract! If you speak a word of this classified information to the general public… You’ll soon join them.”

A voice in Rigel’s mind screamed at him to tear the man apart. But he knew that wouldn’t get him anywhere, and he had to bear it for now.  

***

“Connections across the world, where they kidnap sacrifices… Labs, where they create hellbeasts… A movie, where they use real live hellbeasts… and, where they aim to portray said hellbeasts in a positive and affable light…

“I don’t know what the Director’s goal is, but it’s something sinister for sure. That’s why Kit and I decided to come here.”

This new information made Sabre’s head spin. Those children Tsurugi couldn’t save… and it was happening all across Earth…? After what felt like hours, though in reality it was a minute at most, the skeleton came to a decision. “…If the incident’s grown this large, then I have no choice but to keep going! My brother would have never turned a blind eye to an injustice like this! For my brother, and those poor children…”

Resolve starting to grow in his voice, Sabre continued, “We’ll beat that bastard at his own game! We’ll make a great movie, and find out what this Director is up to! Red, Doc, Mr Ignis, Magester, Ginger… maybe even that Soichiro guy who does lines for Impact! If we get them in on this as well, and use the creative control we’re allowed, we can foil the Director on all fronts!”

A grin spread across his face as the two of them left the toilet cubicle, heads held higher than anyone who had just taken a dump would look. Several stares went their way, but Sabre didn’t care at all. Just keep waiting, bro… soon, I’ll get to the bottom of this!

[happytroopers]

Sequel to Clone's Reacting to S/O risking their life for them:

TW: blood, major injury, death (Already established relationships) __________________ Rex: The battle had been a success in the eyes of the republic, but from Rex’s point of view, it was the biggest failure in his military career. Why was it a failure? Because you had been shot, and you were unconscious in the medical bay, not allowed any visitors. He’d only left the infirmary once, and that was because both the Commander and the General had ordered him to get a shower and something to eat. Other than that, he could be found on a bench outside the infirmary or pacing to and fro in front of the door. He didn’t try to sleep no matter how exhausted he was. He knew exactly what he’d see. He’d see you getting shot and falling to the ground. It had been a full 24 hours, which wouldn’t bother him if troopers hadn’t already been released. They all gave him respectful nods, before shuffling off. “Captain, you need to take care of yourself, or you’ll be the next one in.” Kix told him, sitting beside him and offering him a cup of caf. Rex didn't respond other than a thankful nod as he sipped his caf. The medic sighed, sipping his own cup. “I’ll be right back.” With that, the medic got up and entered the medical bay. Then, Rex was alone, but not for long. Minutes later, Kix came back out. “Captain, Miss (Y/L/N) has been cleared for visitors.” He informed with a smirk. The captain had never perked up so quickly. As he quickly walked past Kix, he breathed out a, “Thank you, brother.” When he came up on you, he took every little detail in. The med droid presumably disposed of your destroyed uniform, as you were in a pale blue hospital gown; There was a fresh pair folded on the table. When he looked at you, his heart hurt: there was an IV taped in your arm, it didn’t look like they had brushed your hair(he decided that, when he gently picked a leaf out), the hospital gown was too big- definitely made his brothers, not an engineer from Coruscant, and, lastly, you skin was too pale for his liking, almost taking on a gray tone. The weary Captain set his helmet down on the table before sitting in the chair beside you. He took your hand ever so gently, almost afraid it’d break if he touched it. Your hand was cold, and all he wanted in that moment was for you to be warm. Rex had spent so long wanted to get in, that he hadn’t actually thought about what he’d do once he was here. So, he just started talking as if you’d talk back. “Kriff, (Y/N), you shouldn’t have done that. You’re too important. It should have been me. You shouldn't have even been there.” Once started, he couldn’t start. “(Y/N), I watched you go down, and I’ve never felt so helpless. I couldn’t even ease your pain. I feel so guilty, so guilty that you had to hurt that way. That’s not your place. We were made so people like you wouldn't have to know war. We were made to be disposable. I was so scared, still so scared. The thought of losing you, was enough to make me wanna quit fighting." Through all this, he didn’t realize you had stirred. “Rex, if I ever hear you say you’re disposable again, I’ll personally slap some sense into you. Don't you ever stop fighting. Ever. Me alive or not. Now, come here and kiss me so you'll feel better.” "Shouldn't I be making you feel better?" Rex laughed. You always had that effect on him: making him laugh when he thought he couldn't. "I'm so hyped up on pain meds, I can't feel a thing. I feel GREAT." _________ Wolffe: It just wasn’t fair. You traipsed into his life and made him fall in love with you so quickly, and now you were about to leave him. Just as quickly. You had been correct in saying that it was going to be hard to get to you. It was near impossible. The tank movers moved what they could, but it was a slow and tedious process. They used geo-scanners to try to figure out which pieces to move, and eventually the rubble became a hole and the tank movers had to be removed. From there it was manual labor. Every single trooper wanted to find you; you had quickly become a favorite among them from the time you had started. Plo Koon lifted larger rocks with the force. With every piece of debris cleared without you under it, Wolffe lost hope. “We found her! We need some help over here!” After hearing that, every ounce of hope that had him came back. He climbed through the rubble, jumping over some until he reached the amassed group of brothers. “Move! Let the commander through!” Was shouted among the crowd as Wolffe pushed his way to the front. Then, he saw you. You appeared to be unconscious, but he could see how the tan dirt of the planet clung to your skin, creating a muddy brown where it clotted with some blood coming out of your hairline. He slid down the incline of the wreckage and down to you. “Well, don’t just stand there like a bunch of droids! Someone get down here and help me!” He commanded, looking up as four troopers scrambled down to him. “Ok, lift the piece off her legs, and I will pull her out.” The soldiers executed it flawlessly, and within ten minutes, Plo Koon had used the force to lift you out and to a medic. Wolffe was hot on the medic’s heels. Another forty-five minutes later, you had been loaded on a stretcher and the Jedi Cruiser: Triumphant. The commander had sat outside the medical bay anxiously waiting for another hour. “Commander, (y/n) is awake if you’d like to come in.” He didn’t even pay attention to who said it, but he was up and striding into the room you were in. You looked better this time; they’d atleast wiped the dust and blood off your face. “How do you feel?” Was all Wolffe could think to say. You looked up to him and smiled (he was so happy to see that smile in person again.) “Well, besides a headache, my legs hurting, and the shallow breathing: I feel fine. Apparently, my legs aren't broken they’re just scraped up pretty bad and the headache’s because of the oxygen deprivation. My breathing is because all the sand and dust I inhaled while I was down there. I'm paraphrasing the med droids words. I'll be back to work in a few days.” He noticed how you sounded almost chipper as you explained. Then, his heart broke when you started coughing. He quickly brought you a bottle of water. “Another side effect of the dust in my lungs. I'm fine, really.” His mouth was set in a firm line before he stated, “No. You’re not fine.” “Wolff-” you started, but he interrupted. You could tell he wasn’t angry at you, per say, but he was definitely not happy. “(Y/N), you’re not fine! You can’t breath and you were an hour away from losing your legs. Two hours away from suffocation! (Y/N), when I your transmission went dead, I assumed the worst. I didn’t expect to find you, I was expecting to find a body.” You shrunk away from him, not wanting to meet his gaze. When he finally looked at you, his voices softened as he flopped on the bed, beside your legs back facing you. “I'm sorry. I was just scared. And angry. Angry for letting you go in. Scared I was gonna lose you. Even if you don’t believe it, you're too good for me. You're funny, smart, kind, caring, fierce when you need to be, and you love me. I'm not ready to let you go yet. (Y/N), please, don't do something like that again. We might not be fast enough next time.” He confessed, wiping his face with his hands. You sat up and wrapped your arms around him from behind. “Don’t worry, I'm not planning on leaving you any time soon.” _______________________________ Kix: He knew it; he knew this was going to happen. The hallway was a nightmare: covered in ash from the explosion and blood- that was from you. He’d long given up of his medical expertise, he now resorted to holding a wad of bandages against the wound, in a desperate attempt to help. He pulled you up into his lap, holding your body against his, frantically calling for help. “(Y/N)? You’re gonna be fine. They’re gonna find us, and you’ll get real medical treatment. It’ll be fine." He muttered, rocking you back and forth. Kix had never felt so useless. The nervous energy in his stomach had turned to despair. He’d taken his helmet off so he could press his back to the wall, his blaster had been discarded to the far right; he was only concerned with you. To be truthful, he was in denial. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew you had lost too much blood, you weren’t gonna make it. It didn’t take a medic to tell that your skin wasn’t supposed to be that grey and that your skin shouldn't be that cold to the touch. He just tried to pass it off as the lighting and pull you a bit closer to him to warm you up. In all actuality, you’re heart failed a few hours ago. He was crying and just didn’t realize it, desperately holding gauze against a wound that had long stopped bleeding. He couldn't help it, his mind knew you were gone but his heart couldn't accept it. So there he sat, cradling your body that was growing colder, whispering ‘I-Love-You’s and ‘it’ll-be-alright’s, and letting the silent tears plip into your hair. When the rest of the 501st finally were able to answer his calls, they were taken aback at the sight: their medic desperately clinging to your limp body. When Kix looked up at him, he was choking back tears with an anguished expression. He pleaded with a hoarse voice for them to do something. None of them had ever heard a trooper sound so broken. “Please! Help me!” _________________ Fives: “(Y/N)! You gotta let go!” Fives ordered, swinging precariously from you grip. Your body was sliding forward toward the edge as you kept him from falling to his death. “No.” You grunted in reply, gripping his wrist harder. Suddenly, the cliff’s edge shifted again. Y’all both knew what was going to happen moment before it actually did. Suddenly you were weightless, but in a whirlwind Fives pulled you into his chest as you fell. Above the sound of the wind, he shouted, “I love you!” Just as suddenly, the little breathe you had was pushed out of you as your fall halted. From your position tucked in the ARC troopers chest, you couldn’t see anything. You dared whisper: “Are we dead?” Finally, you peeked out of his embrace to see you were floating back towards the ledge. The Jedi were forcing you back up! Another few weightless moments later, the two of you were gently dropped to the ground with a thud and an ‘oomph’. Neither of y’all moved for a while, you stayed tucked in his arms. “I love you too.” You whispered back, finally. Three hours later, once the excitement died down, Fives found you again, wrapped in a blanket and being illuminated by the purple hues of dusk. “Bad things happen when you stare at me, Fives.” You giggled. He chuckled in response before plopping down beside you. “I just can’t help it. It's not my fault you're gorgeous.” He chided back. Comfortable silence fell between you two as you rested your head against his shoulder. He quickly became serious. “Why wouldn’t you let me go? You could have died.” He asked, taking your hand. You pulled away, but still grasped his hand. Looking down at the two intertwined hand, you smiled. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it: Fives, I love you. I'm not gonna stop anytime soon. If I have to risk my life everyday for the rest of our lives, then I will. Us civilians, we have this saying: for better or for worse. I can’t just stop loving you when it gets dangerous.” You explained, only breaking your gaze of your hands to look up at him. He smiled and kissed you gently. “I’ll just have to be more careful then.” _____________ Requested by anon. Sorry for any Kix lovers. What?! Reader had a shattered clavicle and artery~ I couldn't magically revive you! Anyway, a new thing I'm gonna try to start doing: Up Next: Rex, Cody, Wolffe, and Hardcase reacting to reader asking them out.

[stallingdemons]

Part One

“Jesus.” Arabella groaned as she hunched herself over. Inhaling all the air she could, she planted her hands on her knees as she winced up towards the stunt coordinator George. “This is no joke.” 

George laughed, “Come on, Bell.” Flipping his cap backwards, he moved towards the brunette. “You can do it, I know you can. It’s just a standard move that your body should allow you to do.” 

Standing straight up, she sucked in more air. Her expression reading anything but confidence. “Yeah, should being the key word.” Arabella pointed at nothing as she whined. “I’m never going to be able to do it.” 

“Well, your character does it in the movie and I’m not changing it. Get to it, Miss.” She could hear the stern tone in his chuckle as he snapped his fingers and pointed towards the mat for her to try again. 

Groaning loudly, she took her position and tried to tell herself that she could do the ridiculous move that he wanted her to do. When Tom had called her up a few months ago to audition for Felicia Hardy on the Spiderman project, she was ecstatic. It had been a dream to go for either a hero or villain on a DC or Marvel film. Arabella owed everything to Tom for basically getting her the job but she was not prepared for the intensity that would follow suit of becoming an eventual villain. 

Taking in a deep breath and leveling out her heartbeat, she closed her eyes and took one big step back and forced her body to flip forward with the momentum of her arms swinging. Feeling that she didn’t have enough to go with, she opened her eyes and screeched loud enough for the construction around her to stop for a second. Almost landing on her face, she twisted her body and landed sideways on the mat. Flipping over on her back, she threw an arm over her face and groaned for the millionth time. 

“I told you.” 

George crossed his arms, not satisfied. He had seen the kind of tumbling the girl could do. Tom had spent practically half and hour showing him videos of her flipping. He was almost certain that he could get Arabella to do the move he had picked out. If not, he would have to redo the entire fight scene between not only her character but Tom’s. 

“You’re not committing, Bell.” He murmured. 

Throwing her hands in the air, she scoffed. “I am committing!” 

“Clearly.” George said sarcastically. Turning his cap forward, he shrugged. Out the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of Tom heading their way. Sighing, he decided that he’d give the girl a ten minute break. They had been up since the crack of down working out the fight choreograph until they hit a wall with the whole standing-webster. They had spent the last two hours trying to convince Arabella that she could do it. 

“Hey, what’s up guys?” Tom asked as he made it within earshot. Flickering a look towards Arabella who looked absolutely defeated, he cocked a brow. “What’s with you?” 

Scrubbing her hands over her face, she whined out. “I’m a hopeless young adult who can’t seem to get a standard move down.” She glanced towards George with a slight annoyed expression. Arabella adored George, he was one of the sweetest members of the crew but she was really getting irritated. He had way too much confidence in her. 

Crossing his arms, Tom could see her exasperation. “Oh, what’s the move?” 

George flickered him the same look Arabella wore on her face. “A standing-webster.” 

“Oh.” Tom spoke, probing through his brain on which move that was. Kicking off his shoes, he pulled the strings on his sweatpants tight. Flipping his hat backwards, he bit his thumb as he replayed the move in his head. Jumping onto the mat, he smirked towards Arabella who gave him a look that could kill. 

Arabella hissed out a string of curse words when she watched him nail it. She pulled herself up and marched her way towards Tom. Poking him in the chest, she playfully growled. “You think you’re so good-”

“-but I am good.” Tom countered, smirking again at her feisty attitude. 

Throwing her hands in the air, “Ooh, look at me. I’m Tom Holland, I can do back flips and aerials.” Throwing him a dirty look that he knew wasn’t actually meant to be taken as so. “I’m Spiderman, I’m Peter Parker. I can do ninety five percent of my stunts.” Arabella knew she was seeming childish but she was ranting off her irritation. She wiggled her fingers towards Tom who stood with the biggest amused grin on his face. “I can do all these moves in my sleep. I was basically born to be Spiderman.”

Tom cracked up, he absolutely adored Arabella. The two of them had instantly clicked when they had read lines for a film they had done two years prior. He knew the producers and directors noticed too because they were always paired when it came down to read lines with the other eventual cast mates. She had an infectious personality, the kind that always made anyone and everyone immediately happy when she walked into a room. She wasn’t snobby and never saw herself higher than anybody. Arabella hadn’t adapted to being a celebrity just like him so he instantly felt a connection. 

 Tom placed his hands on her shoulders, “Breathe, Ara. Breathe.” He chuckled at her expression, “I promise you can do this. I know you can. I’ve seen some really crazy things happen from you when we’re just messin’ around in my backyard.” 

George nodded, patting her on the back. “Me too. Tom’s shown me all the videos. You messed up when you said you wouldn’t be able to do it after I showed you the move.” 

Blowing air out of her mouth, she mumbled. “Fine, I’ll try it again.” 

“Atta girl.” Tom winked and removed his hands and lightly shoved her towards the X on the mat.  

Repeating her steps, she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Closing her eyes, she took a step back and swung her arms up and then down and flipped forward. It wasn’t exactly what George wanted but it was partially there. Opening her eyes, she glanced down at her knees that were pressing firmly into the mat. They were burning from the impact but she squealed and jumped up. “Holy shit!”

George clapped, “At least we got you halfway there. Now you just have to stick the landing.” 

Tom grinned as he tackled her in a hug. “See, I told you, you could do it!” Tom placed all his weight on her, causing the two to crash onto the ground. Laughing hysterically as they winced and whined out in pain, “Shit, that fucking hurt.” 

Arabella’s eyes widened, “You hurt?! What about me?!” She placed a firm but gentle pressure on her side. “You weigh way more than you used to, kid.” 

Tom pulled himself up in a sitting position, faking a hurt expression. “Are you calling me fat?” 

Following his move, she narrowed her eyes and lightly punched him in the stomach before standing up. “Yes, Tom. I’m calling your well-defined abs fat.”

He laughed, shaking his head and rubbing the spot where she had just punched him. “Hey, I’m just making sure. I’ve worked hard on these.” 

George rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. “Are you sure you guys aren’t dating?” 

Arabella flashed him a look, Tom and her had been battling dating rumors for months now. It was an ongoing fight that the young adults had to face every time someone would interview them. It was almost to the point where Arabella was going to stop denying it just so they could stop asking. “Hey, now.” Flickering a look towards Tom as he stood up, she leaped towards him with a side hug. “Despite dating rumors, I really do love Tom and I show him that friendly love with sass and physical injuries.” Pulling away from Tom, she shrugged. “If you can’t handle it, George, then you might want to try.” 

He laughed and pointed a crooked finger in her direction. “You are a bit sassy, Bell. And you’ve got hell of a right hook, so I feel sorry for you Tom.” 

 Tom shrugged, grinning. “You just gotta learn to go with the flow.” 

“Lame.” Arabella stated as she threw her overnight bag on the couch of Tom’s house for the time being. She loved the place Tom was staying at during the filming process of Spiderman. It was beautiful, not a single flaw. Tossing up her hair, she leaned against the armrest while wrinkling her nose. “Who needs sleep? It’s not like we’re about to film a movie for the next seven months.” 

Tom chuckled, shaking his head. “I know, I know. But, they all want to get all the sleep in they can before we start shooting. I can understand that, I suppose. I just don’t care that much about sleep.” 

“You, sir, will regret you said that.” Pushing off the armrest, she walked into the spacious kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out two bottled beers. She handed one to Tom. “So, since we’re both not twenty one and that’s the legal drinking age in America but we both live in London, do we still get in trouble?” Pulling the hoppy drink to her lips, she rose a brow. “Because we drink all the time back at home.” 

Thinking about her question, Tom took a swig. “Well, I assume we would because we aren’t in London and we still have to abide by America’s rules.” Barring his teeth from not having beer in a few days, he laughed. “You’re also the American one!” 

She laughed, “Technically, I am but that changed the minute my parents decided to move to London five years ago.” It was a weird transition for Arabella to move from California all the way to England. She had to forget about all the friends she had made and start fresh. She was only grateful for when she did meet Tom because she made friends with all his friends and cherished every single one of them, despite them making fun of her from time to time for having such a strong American accent. 

Tom rolled his eyes, “Still a Yank.” 

“I will deck you so hard, you’ll be thrown back in time.” She murmured before leaving the kitchen and scampering off to the living room. 

“You know,” Tom started as he slowly followed her. “I’m going to have to start telling anyone who asks about you the truth about your abusiveness.” 

Arabella snickered, “Yeah okay. Because I would actually purposefully hit you.” Walking backwards towards the game room, she threw her hands partially in the air. “And if I recall correctly, you were the one who gave me a black eye just a month ago.” Pointing to her left eye, she playfully frowned. “It’s almost gone now but it was so bad.”

He pressed his lips together, “Stop, you know I already feel so bad about that.” It had been an accident of course, the two of them were loosely going over one of the many fight scenes they had. George was just watching and making sure they were flowing with precision. It wasn’t until they did one that Arabella wasn’t a hundred percent sure on that she suffered a punch to the face. Instead of moving right, she moved left and felt the contact of Tom’s fist. 

He had felt so unbelievably guilty even though Arabella was cracking up. She didn’t hate him or even cry and he had hit her pretty hard. Tom had spent all day apologizing over and over again. And it got even worse when the black eye started to darken, all he wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die. 

Arabella laughed at his expression, “You know I still love you Tom. I honestly have no hard feelings over it, I never did. It was an accident.” 

“So, you spent the night alone with Tom?” Zendaya whispered in a suggestive tone as she lightly hip bumped Arabella. Wiggling her brows, she smirked. “Anything exciting happen?”

Arabella snorted, grabbing a bagel from the table and shaking her head. “You need to let this whole thing go, Zen.” 

“What thing?” She asked innocently before narrowing her eyes with that smirk still plastered on her face. “Oh! You mean the whole you and Tom completely oblivious to the fact that you two were absolutely made for each other?” Tapping her head, she shrugged, “Silly me.” 

Taking a bite of her bagel, she chewed it slowly as she felt the sassy attitude from Zendaya’s expression. “Tom and I are just friends.” 

“Yeah and the sky is purple.” She retorted. 

They started walking to the conference room when Arabella stopped dead in tracks, “What a minute,” turning to the said where her friend was on, she narrowed her eyes and pointed her bagel towards her. “Did you guys, were you lying, did you.” Clamping her mouth shut, she shook her head. “You guys didn’t want to sleep last night, did you?” 

Zendaya tore a piece from Arabella’s bagel and popped it in her mouth with a grin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Bell.” Wiggling her fingers, she walked off towards the conference room leaving Arabella standing there with an irritated expression. 

Aside from fighting the dating rumors with tabloids and interviews, she had to fight them with her cast mates and friends. Sure, her and Tom got along extremely well. It was an immediate thing but it had never crossed her mind to be anything more and she didn’t want to. She knew the kind of man Tom would grow up to be and if she ever fell for him, it would be the end. Arabella would never be able to love anyone else again. And though it might sound like a good thing but there was always that underlying pessimistic thoughts she’d have. If she were to ever get involved with Tom on a more intimate level and something ever went south, she’d be stuck forever in love with a man she could never have again while he went off and had a perfect family and career. It would be devastating and despite Arabella never being in love, she was not wiling to risk having her heart broken over someone that would honestly kill her to see with anyone else. 

She knew it sounded bad when she used to tell her friends that she wanted an asshole to break her heart because then after a while, she’d see that he wasn’t worth it and that she was being silly being so hung up on someone like that. But to have someone who was a hundred percent worth her time break her heart, would suck horribly. Because how was she supposed to rationalize the worth when they were perfect? 

“Hello? Earth to Ara?” Tom snapped his fingers in front of her face, “What are you doing?” 

Snapping out of her thoughts, she bit her lip. “Oh, hey Tom. I was just thinking about something Zen had said.” 

“What about?” Tom asked, his brow raised. The news of Zendaya wanted him to be with Arabella was no secret to him. In fact, he had thought about Arabella in a different light for awhile now but the weight of possibly losing her as a friend was heavier than his attraction. A part of him wished that they hadn’t gotten so close, just close enough to where he could maybe flirt with the idea of being a couple. But, in the same, he would never wish his friendship with her away. 

“Just something silly.” She mumbled, flicking her wrist over, she made a face. “Shit, we’re going to be late.” She grabbed Tom’s arm and fast walked to the conference room. 

If you want to be tagged in future installments just comment.  I was going to do this in a reader’s pov but it’s still a little hard for me, so I just made up a character. ;D