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thefanficmonster · 3 years

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Corpse’s Girl

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Bullying, Swearing, Derogatory Terms

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Summary: Y/N’s life as a regular college student is forever stripped away from her when her relationship with the famous YouTuber Corpse Husband is accidentally revealed during an online class of hers. How will she cope with the sudden spotlight and the unwanted attention, some of which crosses into bullying?

Requested by my amazing Tumblr friend @itsminniekat 🥰 She’s been reading and liking my works since day one and I honestly couldn’t be more grateful. If you’re reading this, all I can say is thank you, darling. Thank you so much for sticking by my blog even when I posted some crappy fics. I’ll make sure this ain’t one of them. Love you with all my heart. ❤❤❤

P.S. - I named the mean character with my name so I hope no one who reads this has the same name. Wouldn’t want any of you feeling like the villain 😘

Who knew online class would be even more boring than being physically present for a lecture? Seriously, I find myself doing the weirdest of crap to entertain myself - like trying to balance a pen on the tip of my nose for example. I jot down some notes every now and then but that’s basically it. My mind can not fathom the concept on concentrating on whatever my professors are going on and on about. Well, full disclosure, I couldn’t concentrate even if I wanted to, especially with my boyfriend streaming in the other room.

He’s currently playing Among Us with his usual gaming squad. Listening to his input during the discussions, I can always tell when he’s lying. I honestly find it hilarious that his friends can’t pick up when he’s bullshitting them. I sometimes wonder if he has brainwashed them. And that’s one of the main reasons we don’t play Among Us together - he can’t lie to me. Not only do I pick up on his con with ease, but he always says he feels bad when he lies to me which is just the sweetest thing. Also, I refuse to play cause I’m shy. His friends are all well-known content creators and I’m a literal nobody. Every now and then I find myself wondering why Corpse is even with me. He’s always quick to push those thoughts out of my head and make sure they don’t return on a long notice, but they do interrupt my peace from time to time.

“Y/N, do you know?“ The sound of my professor saying my name takes me out of my eavesdropping of Corpse’s stream.

I panic, but quickly improvise, “Sorry, my internet is slow, you cut out for a second. What was the question?” I feel my face heating up, making me glad we are allowed to keep our cameras off.

“Question number 15 on page 82 in your textbook. Do you know the answer to it?“ My professor repeats himself, his tone annoyed.

I look down at the page that’s already opened in front of me. I let out a sigh of relief, seeing that the question is rather easy.

“Yeah, um, it’s...“ Suddenly, Corpse’s laugh reaches my room loud and clear. There’s no doubt my mic picked up the noise, especially since the door to my room is open.

The color drains from my face as I hurry to say the answer and remute myself. My eyes are wide as I stare at my screen, hoping no one will acknowledge that very recognizable laugh.

“OMG Y/N, are you watching a Corpse Husband stream in class?” One of the bitches in my class, Vy, speaks up, “Not a very goody-two-shoe move on your part, dear.”

I purposely unmute my mic to mumble a quick ‘Shut up, bitch’ that somehow manages to fly under my professor’s radar and the class continues. It’s the first time something like this has happened and I’m not sure if I handled it properly or not.

The class ends shortly after, allowing me a sigh of relief as I disconnect from the meeting.

“Fucking finally.“ I mumble to myself, leaning back in my desk chair. Tilting my head backwards, I see Corpse standing in the doorframe. I grin, not only because his presence itself makes me ten times happier, but also because he’s upside down from my viewpoint. “Well, hello there! How long have you been spying on me?“

He struts over to me, leaning his face over mine, “Long enough.” His lips linger above mine without any actual contact before he pulls away, allowing me to sit up straight and proper in the chair. “You still have classes?”

I nod my head while disappointedly rolling my eyes, “Yeah. One more. Shouldn’t be too bad since it’s English Lit. You’re done streaming?”

“Yeah, I just have some other things to do. I haven’t done a narration video in a while, I miss making that type of content.“ He plops down on my bed, running a hand through his messy black curls.

“Weren’t you recording some lines a few days ago?“ I frown as I try to recall if what I’m referring to actually happened or my brain is too fried to decipher reality from my bootleg perception of it. Online class, man - messes with your head like sleeping pills - makes you disoriented and exhausted with barely doing anything other than trying to wrap your brain around a lecture or two.

He hums affirmatively, “It’s not a finished project and I don’t even know if I’ll use those or rerecord them. I’ll have to listen to them again before I make a final decision.“

I tilt his chin upwards with my pointer finger, a gesture he has told me he finds very endearing, “I’m sure they’re great and you just refuse to be satisfied. Everything you do is great.“

He smiles a small, shy smile, his fingers gently wrapping around my wrist, holding my hand in place, “You’re biased. You like me too much to tell me when I do some bullshit.”

I scoff, “You know that isn’t true. If someone’s gonna kick your butt in formation, it’s gonna be me.“ I give him a quick kiss on the forehead before pulling away from him, “Go on, now. I have a class to attend. You distract me enough while you’re in the other room, I can only imagine how hard it’d be for me to focus if you were right by my side.“

He smirks, bowing a little as he makes his way out of the room, “You flatter me.”

I playfully roll my eyes, getting my headset back on as I tap the last class for the day. We have an assignment due to the start of the class which we’ll have to present if the professor approved of it. We basically had to write a psychoanalysis of a character from any book of our choice. I chose Heathcliff from ‘Wuthering Heights’ which is one of my favorite books of all time. I’m proud of what I wrote and the way I wrote it, but I’ve always barely scraped by with a B in this class, a B+ if I’m lucky, so I’ve never gotten any major credit, even when I put my 110% in the assignments and projects.

Well, color me surprised when the professor calls on me first to read my work, complimenting it on its detailed and specific nature. I get my printed assignment out in front of me and unmute myself.

“I wrote a psychoanalysis on for Heathcliff, a character from Emily Bronte’s novel ‘Wuthering Heights’.“ Just after I say this line, Corpse’s voice booms throughout the whole apartment, no doubt being picked up by my mic. It doesn’t sound like he’s actually talking, he can’t be that loud. I put two and two together when I recognize the lines he’s saying - the ones he recorded a few days ago. They’re coming from his computer speakers. He probably didn’t check the volume before playing back the recording.

I mute myself as quickly as possible, but it’s too late. The voice dies down as Corpse probably turned down the speakers.

My professor, who is already done with this lecture, just annoyedly remarks, her words overdosed with sarcasm: “Read your assignment and you can go back to whatever it is you are watching.”

“Wow, Y/N! Again?! Are you one of those crazy obsessed fans or something? Is Corpse Husband all you watch?“ This bitch is really poking a stick at me, huh? The only crazy obsessed fan here is her, and my friends but they are allowed. Little do all of them know, I am obsessed but not simply over a YouTuber. I’m obsessed with my boyfriend who just happens to be a YouTuber.

“No commentary, please.“ The professor scolds her, “Go on, Y/N.“

I finish reading without any other disturbances. The professor compliments my essay again when I’m done, the small incident at the beginning forgotten already. Well, not by everyone. One of my friends shot me a quick text to joke about it which only earned an eye roll from me.

My friends don’t know that I’m dating Corpse either. As I said, they are simping HARD over him while I act the most indifferent on the subject. Whenever they ask my opinion on him I either say ‘he’s OK’ or just avoid answering completely. I know saying anything more enthusiastic than that would turn into a snowball rolling down a snowy hill - I’d just keep babbling about how nice, amazing, wonderful and a gift to this world Corpse is, inevitably revealing our relationship in the process.

I’m afraid of revealing my relationship with Corpse in front of these people. They are all run on jealousy and selfishness and I can only imagine how mean they’d be about it. I’m already not too fond of them, it would only be worse if any of my personal life was exposed.

When the class finally ends I remove my headset, putting my forehead down on the desk, barely missing the keyboard. I groan in frustration and anger at myself for not fighting back. I could’ve and should’ve said something - ANYTHING. But what? That’s a question I can’t find the answer to.

“Hey...“ Corpse’s hesitant voice comes from behind me, “You ok?“

I straighten my posture, turning to him with a smile. “Yeah, but these people suck.”

I get up from my chair as he approaches me, basically falling in his arms. The comfort I feel radiating off of him makes me relax, forget the past hour or so. He has always had this effect on me. Like my own personal kryptonite to my anger and anxiety.

“Did I get you in any trouble because of that?“ His voice shows clear concern and guilt.

I wrap my arms around him tighter, burying my head in his chest. “No, don’t worry about it.“

And I really wasn’t in trouble. Not until now that the video is officially posted....

I can call these people dumb all I want but they sure put two and two together awfully fast. They recognized the lines they heard during class as the same ones from his new video that came out almost a week after the incident, aka two days ago. It’s safe to say I haven’t touched my phone or computer since.

“This is all my fault.“

Of all the horrible things I suspected would happen this has to be the worst - Corpse is blaming himself for it. I am prepared to take all the shit these people have to throw at me but seeing Corpse beating himself up over this is killing me. No amount of convincing can change his mind. Nothing I say helps.

“Please, stop doing this to yourself. Non of this is your fault, Corpse.“ I’ve repeated this sentence more than a thousand time these past forty eight hours, each time saying it more and more desperately.

“All of it is my fault, Y/N. I’m so sorry. I hate myself so much.“ Has been his reply single time.

I can’t watch him be so mean to himself. It’s the most conflicting thing when the person you love most is torturing themselves. It’s easy if it’s someone else doing it, you just kick their ass. But what are you supposed to do when the person you want to protect is the same one you need to protect them from.

Corpse has shut himself away in his recording room these past few hours and though he clearly needs to be alone, he still left the door open just a crack cause he knows I’ll be worried sick otherwise.

While I’m alone in the living room, I’ve finally managed to brace myself and build enough courage to power up my laptop. Last time it was on it was going mad with notifications.

“It’s digital. Only digital. It can’t hurt you too badly if it can’t touch you, right?“ I mumble to myself, already frustrated despite not having yet seen all the horrors that await me.

And horrors there were. Everywhere. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook.

My grades. Some pictures of me no one has ever seen. My school files. People from my class tweeting Corpse to ‘expose’ me for the ‘slut’ or ‘bitch’ I really am. Corpse hasn’t touched social media either and I plan on making sure it stays that way. God only knows how much worse he’ll get if he sees these claims.

And then, like a notification sent straight from hell, an email from my professor.

Practical lectures on Friday. Be here at 9 AM. Don’t forget your mask and gloves.

Good thing I opened my laptop when I did. Friday is tomorrow and I need to prepare for this day. Not only do I need to hit the books but I need to toughen up a bit. I can’t go there looking like I feel - like a mess.

Alright, time to put the brave face on. No more wallowing in it, at least not until tomorrow afternoon.

I make a study plan and hop in the shower. I feel the need to apologize to my hair for washing it so roughly, basically yanking at my strands from frustration that has been suppressed for too long.

I get our of the boiling hot shower, red as a lobster, and change into some clean comfortable clothes and put my ass in study mode. I remove all the scary expectations of the morning to come from my mind and let the information the textbooks has to offer seep into my brain.

* * *

I’m about to head out and, despite my put-together composure, I am a wreck inside. I actually put effort into my appearance, I mean - I even styled my hair. A pretty façade to hide a ruin.

I saw my friends’ texts last night, all three of them ending their friendship with me because they felt betrayed. I haven’t yet decided how to feel about that. Doesn’t matter at the moment, there are more important matters at hand, aka surviving the next three hours.

My college is within ten minutes walking distance from our apartment. That ten minute walk has never been so stressful, not even during exam season. The air feels a little harder to breathe, the path a little shorter to walk. And my moment of reckoning a little too close.

I feel eyes on me the second I start walking through the park of our campus. Sure, I could just be paranoid, but the feeling is too real to be just my imagination in overdrive. I’m glad I have my hair down and a mask on so the redness of my cheeks and neck isn’t on display. That’s a sign of weakness right now.

We have two an hour and a half long classes between which we have a snack break that’s half an hour. I usually enjoy that period but I’m dreading it now. These assholes can only be so mean in the presence of a professor, but during lunch break they can increase that tenfold.

“Well if it isn’t Corpse’s girl.“ I hear that a lot. The whispers are not so much whispers as intentionally loud enough for me to hear remarks. I’m not bothered by them, it’s the least they can do. If I let such a simple thing get to me, I’d be crumbling by the end of first period.

I hear some shuffling behind me and out of the corner of my eye I see, yeah you guessed it, THAT bitch. She’s standing as close to me as she can without violating Covid regulations. A mask is covering her face but the menacing look in her eyes tells me all I need to know about the interaction that’s about to go down.

“I’d ask how much he pays you for the hour.....“ her long nails tap the wooden desk, “but that’d be rude. I bet it’s tough being a maid. Do you just clean or are you a multipurpose lap dog? No offense, I’m genuinely curious.“

“Vy, would you be so kind as to give Y/N some room to breathe?“ The professor asks as he nonchalantly walks in.

Vy rolls her eyes, batting her eyelashes at me, “Talk to you later, sweetheart.” With a fake friendly wave she’s out of my hair, at least for now.

Remember what I said about these people not being as dumb as I pegged them to be? Yeah, scratch that. These fuckers actually tried getting away with taking pictures of me with flash in broad daylight. Like, HELLO! I have two functioning eyes and a brain, I’m onto you. Sadly, me having figured out their childish but hurtful methods of humiliating me doesn’t change much. They still posted the pics they took, using the most derogatory terms they could find in the English language, always making sure to tag Corpse and me both.

Needless to say, these were the longest three hours of my life.

* * *

Shutting the door to our apartment behind me causes relief of the highest levels. I feel like I’ve locked out all the bad shit I have had to deal with these past twenty four hours.

I’m tired. I’m fucking exhausted. I feel like a discarded piece of paper.

And it all starts crumbling. A wall is bound to start slowly falling apart after being hit over and over again, each time feeling the blows with a stronger intensity.

I slide down the door sitting down on the floor and slowly taking my shoes off. I put my bag beside me and wrap my arms around my knees, hiding my head in the space between them and my chest.

One tear slides down my cheek.

Another follows.

And another, this time accompanied by a choked sob.

A pair of arms wraps around the ball that my body has been shaped into. One of his hands comes up to stroke my hair gently, feeding me the comfort I have been longing for since I left the apartment this morning.

“I saw it. All of it. All the shit they talk about you. All the names they call you. And I’ve never wanted to beat so many people up simultaneously.“ His words make me raise my head from its low position, giving him a knowing look. “I wish I could. I would, but that would land me in jail. Which doesn’t even sound so bad cause I don’t like going out. Only problem is you wouldn’t be with me. I wouldn’t want you to be there with me, don’t get me wrong, I’d never want you to end up in jail. I-...” I cut him off by pressing my lips to his. A quick kiss that says so much but mainly shows the immeasurable gratitude for his support.

Seeing those awful tweets and comments had the complete opposite effect on him. He no longer blames himself but the people who actually deserve the blame - all those jerks from my college.

I pull away, giving him a small smile. “I would never let you go to jail.”

He smiles back at me, overjoyed that my mood is slowly being lifted, “Come on, I have a nice crowd that would like to meet you.”

I know exactly what he means. Felix, Sean, Rae, Dave, Sykkuno and the rest of his friends. The people I’ve been so shy and afraid to meet since day one. Being shy doesn’t really make sense now, seeing as how they know I exist and that I’m a part of Corpse’s life.

What do I have to lose?

“Guys, this is my girlfriend, Y/N.“ Corpse’s black avatar runs around my cyan one in the Among Us lobby.

I can’t help but giggle when I unmute my mic, “Hi everyone! It’s so nice to finally meet you.“ They each introduce themselves, expressing how happy they are to be meeting me too.

It’s the first time in what feels like a while that I’m truly having fun. These people are wonderful, each so unique and lovely. They never brought up the scandal nor acted as though they knew about it. I know they did and I am beyond grateful that they never mentioned it or treated me any differently because of it. Also, Corpse was streaming the whole time. I had my phone on his stream, my eyes nervously scanning the chat every now and then. I couldn’t believe it. Corpse’s real fans were just as wonderful as his friends - they were nothing but supportive and happy to have met me.

Now, I can either choose to believe these people were being so nice to me out of sympathy or I can believe they really like me and appreciate me for who I am and not for what happened to me.

I choose to believe the latter.

And while I’m still getting accustomed to this whole new spotlight, I know I’ll be able to handle it as long as I’m holding Corpse’s hand in the process. All I need is to have him beside me and I’m prepared to tackle anything.

“They love you.�� Corpse tells me once the stream is done and we’ve hopped out of the Discord call, “But I love you more.“

His arms wrap around my waist while mine instinctively find their way around his neck, “I love them, too. But they’re at the number 2 spot.”

He smirks at me, “I wonder who’s at number 1.”

I push up on my toes, putting my lips an inch away from his, “Hmm, I wonder...”

He doesn’t let me finish, silencing my teasing with a sweet, loving kiss.

@susceptible-but-siriusexual @simonsbluee @save-the-sky @hacker-ghost @bi-andready-tocry @imtiredaffff @jazzkaurtheglorious @hereforbeebo @fandomgirl17 @chrysanthykios @maehemscorpyus @loraleiix @letsloveimagines @annshit @i-cant-choose-a-username-help @enigmaticmaze @divine-artemis @waterlilypat

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songmingisthighs · 3 years

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[19.06] mafia!hongjoong × reader

⇀ you were interested in hongjoong, a notorious leader of a very successful mafia organization. sadly he didn't see you that way. if only he knew the true you before making a rash judgement

⇁ tw : mafia life, angst, mentions of black market activities, death, violence, dark stuff. read at your own risk.

⇁ disclaimer : the author does not support any and all criminal/illegal acts. the narrative written in this story is purely fiction out of the author’s imagination. the things written here does not portray real mafia life nor is the author aware of how the mafia life is like. the author is a hermit loser.

The door to Hongjoong's office opened and in walked his right hand, with a teasing smirk on his face. Hongjoong looked up from the paperwork on his desk and looked up to the man with a raised eyebrow, "what are you smirking at?" he questioned.

Seonghwa nodded his head towards the door, "there's someone here for you," he said whilst holding onto his laughter. Hongjoong shifted his gaze from his friend to the door and then back to him again, "who?" "your girlfriend," Seonghwa teased.

Before Hongjoong could throw anything at him, though, Seonghwa had run off, laughing heartily.

Not long after, you came into his office with a wide smile. As per usual, you were dressed to impress, head to toe with a black and white vintage channel mini skirt and blazer, adorned with a channel necklace and earrings. As you walked in, Wooyoung, one of Hongjoong's trusted men, looked at your passing figure with mouth hanging low and a starstruck look on his face. But you didn't care, you only had eyes for Hongjoong.

It has been roughly five months since you started dropping into Hongjoong's office. Your dad, an equally highly successful head of the mafia from where you're from, wanted you to get married to expand his business and make more allies. He gave you several options but you were immediately intrigued by Hongjoong, one of the mafia heads he made a partnership with by providing him with weapons. The comprehensive file your dad gave you did Hongjoong no justice so you decided to get to know him for real.

Unluckily, Hongjoong is very secretive and protective of himself and his family (re: his brothers; his most trusted men in the mafia). He had been betrayed so many times before and his thirst for revenge both became his strength and downfall. While he managed to build a highly acclaimed mafia organization at such a young age, he closed off everyone who he deemed not worthy of his attention even after only seeing them for less than five minutes.

Sadly, that included you. You weren't the only one who got a comprehensive file on the other, he too had one of you. A straight-A student from Wharton with hobbies consisting of horseback riding and charity? He wondered whether you were preparing to take over your dad's mafia or to steal the Crown of England and be its ruler.

Hongjoong tried his best to hold in a groan of annoyance but even so, some still escaped him and you heard it. Though you were used to it so you just ignored him.

"Hi, Joong," you grinned widely at him, walking in and putting a medium-sized box of cake on his desk after closing his door. "Don't call me Joong," he grumbled.

In all honesty, your bubblegum personality sickened him. He knows for a fact that no one is that happy-go-lucky and excited and has rainbows shooting out of their asses 24/7. So there has to be something you were hiding from him.

You only chuckled at his response, "You're a sourpuss, you know that? You're gonna have wrinkles before you hit thirty if you keep frowning all the time like that," you said as you focused yourself on opening the cake box.

Inside it was the cake you made for him. All the times you visited him, you never made him something from scratch. You were trained to be the head of a mafia organization one day, not in the kitchen. So that cake was the very first thing you made and you were beyond proud of yourself.

"Look," Hongjoong exhaled sharply, starting to get annoyed even before you did anything, "You came at a bad time, I need to get a hundred thousand things done before tonight, in case you didn't realize, my organization is-" "in the brink of war with Stray Kids, I know, I've read the reports," you simply said, hands moving to cut the cake in front of you to hand to him.

"I have connections with the leader's soft spot, the foreigner one, I can make a deal that would help your case if you would jus-"

"NO!!!!" he yelled out, slamming his hands onto his desk, startling you so much that you accidentally dropped your knife and stepped back a little.

Maybe it was the stress of having to deal with things alone, or maybe it's just him finally snapping from overthinking about you, but one thing's for sure is that he had had enough. He needed to put you in your place.

"You may be your daddy's little princess back home, all dressed in white and pink and lace, showered with Channels, Tiffanys and your hoity-toity prestigious Wharton degree. But here, you're nothing, got me? You understood nothing about having to work your ass off to get the recognition and rewards you deserve, you had your daddy behind you this whole time and that's very convenient for you. But don't come here and act like you know shit, okay? Our worlds are different, you came from a cotton candy palace, I came from the ditch, your opinion means less than shit to me," he spat out so quickly, he didn't realize that your expression changed to something that he had never seen before.

Your eyes were blank and glazed, lips slightly quivering and chest heaving.

Hongjoong thought that he had really put you in your place and he was about to celebrate the fact that he might finally drove you away when you opened your mouth.

"Cotton candy palace? Not understanding having to work my ass off?" you choked out.

At first, Hongjoong thought you were gonna cry. But a sadistic, maniacal laugh resonated in the room from where you were doubled over, holding onto your stomach.

It was Hongjoong's turn to be stunned into silence.

"Oh my god, I thought you were smarter than that," you muttered as you calmed down, wiping tears from the corner of your eyes, "you think that this is who I am?" you asked with a raised eyebrow at him.

Hongjoong was confused about whether or not he should speak. It was the first time anyone had ever stunned Hongjoong and Hongjoong didn't know what to do.

"I was born from a girl who was en route to be sold in a human trafficking ring, I came out premature and was about to be sold to a satanic cult as their sacrifice but my 'dad' 'rescued' me. I was stored in a facility with thirty other children, we were trained to be assassins since before we could walk, brainwashed with ideals that ruined our brains. One by one, each year some of us were taken out if we show a lack of improvement or no promise," as you talked, you took off your earrings and necklace and put them on Hongjoong's desk.

While you ran a hand through your messy hair, you stared into him deeply, "I was seven when I first killed someone, my last competition. She was two years older than me and she was sold by her parents for coke money, or as the warden told us. We were reminded every day of how worthless we are so we wouldn't rebel and escape. But even in despair, I wanted something more. That's where daddy came in. He was impressed with me and he took me in as his daughter, telling people one of his whores were pregnant with me to assure my legitimacy. I was schooled in my own private red room. I had to fight for my right as a human being, I made deals with my dad to be able to go out with bodyguard escorts for only an hour every month,"

Hongjoong's eyes followed your hands that gripped onto the edge of your skirt, "did your little binder wrote that I went on my first official mission when I was just twelve? My dad cut the ballet lesson that I trade in for 120 hours of combat training short to gear me up, put me in a room of adult men and sent me off to plant an active bomb in 5 minutes in an air vent of the headquarters of his rival, crazy, right?" you chuckled humorlessly whilst ripping your skirt off to reveal your black shorts inside, a knife and a gun holstered on your thighs were revealed, making Hongjoond's eyes widened.

He never would have imagined someone like you to carry weapons under your very girly outfit. Or to even have such a traumatizing backstory.

"My whole appearance is compensation for my very dark upbringing, I wanted to hide it all. My dad told me I was stupid, that I belonged in the dark, dark world. But when I went to Wharton, I tried to change myself. I thought that I might be able to be the person I wanna be by marrying someone my dad approved so I don't have to take over wholly, I could just be the voice by the side, lending my skills and help the organization indirectly,"

You looked down at your heels clad feet for a second, letting your toes point and moving them from left to right to see what it looks like.

At this point, Hongjoong felt bad for having blown up at you. You had only wanted to spend time with him and even if he didn't want to see you, he could've said it nicely. Hongjoong never felt like this before, it was very weird for him.

He was about to walk over to you when you suddenly took your heels off in a flash and threw them both at Hongjoong so hard that it embedded deep into the wall on either side of his face.

Your usual smile was replaced with a frown, the eyes that usually twinkled showed nothing but darkness. He barely recognized you and he was on edge about it.

"You made your standing with me perfectly clear, Kim Hongjoong, while my dad is one to stop things before they become an issue, I like to see how things unravel," you smirked at him.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, not being able to process anything.

"It means that your partnership with my dad is off, good luck finding a new weapons supplier," you spat out before turning around to leave the room, leaving traces of yourself behind at his office.

Hongjoong wanted to call after you, try to make things better somehow. But his head still couldn't even wrap around the shocking information you had just revealed.

Not long after you left, Yeosang came in but stopped at the door, scanning the room that was littered with remnants of you. "What the fuck happened here? Did a hooker tried to kill you!?" he asked, still confused at the situation.

When Yeosang looked up, he saw Hongjoong in a way he had never seen him before.

Nervous.

"I-I- I think I just forged a war between us and the largest mafia weapons manufacturer on the eastern hemisphere," he uttered out.

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shazos · 3 years

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Rouxls is Hiding Something Big: A Deltarune Theory

FORENOTE- For some needed context, it may help reading my previous Deltarune theory here for important details that I will cover in this post. (My previous theory provides notable evidence on why Gaster is indeed the “Knight” figure talked about by multiple characters in Deltarune.)

Now, this is going to sound crazy. But after much time of poring over and analyzing Deltarune, I have come to a conclusion. One that I’ve been convinced of for awhile now. Something that’s been lying right under all of our noses without many of us even realizing it. We have all been bamboozled. Hoodwinked. Tricked. Why, you may ask?

Because the comically stupid and inept Duke of Puzzles is actually... not an idiot. No, he’s the complete opposite. He is a downright mastermind.

As collective players, we are all falling into the same trap once again. Putting faith into a character’s preconceived personality !

When their true personality turns out the complete opposite of what we expected...

It is here, my evidence for this claim begins—and we delve into the true identity of Rouxls Kaard. Buckle up everyone, cause this one’s gonna be a fun ride. 👀

So, to spill the beans up front, and get it over with. I believe Rouxls Kaards identity... is none other than W.D. Gaster in disguise.

Now. I didn’t immediately become invested in this theory—I was skeptical at first like everyone else. But, once I began examining Deltarune and all of its characters a bit closer...things weren’t exactly adding up about the Duke of Puzzles.

Point #1: Anagrams

I initially began to become suspicious of Rouxls Kaard because of his odd name. Sure, it is a play on the words of the term, “Rules card”. But it is spelt in such a peculiar way. If it were just simply a play on words, I think that there would be a much better way of going about spelling it rather than just jumbling a bunch of random letters together. There is a very intriguing reddit post found here that goes more into depth about his name that ties well into my theory. The thing that stood out to me in particular, is that Rouxls’s name is actually also an anagram for “A Dark Soul RX”, (with the left over RX typically being used in terms relating to doctors/medicine.) Not only is Gaster a Doctor, but he’s also always associated with darkness and the research of souls. Toby loves his anagrams—so I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if this was intentional. But it doesn’t end there.

I’ve noticed that Toby Fox has a tendency to tease certain things about his games through merch. And wouldn’t you know it—he has in fact, a particular item on fangamer of a “dark heart.” One which description describes the Angel’s Prophecy. Hm...

But let’s back on track onto my second observation, shall we?

Point #2: The Physical Resemblance to Gaster

Now, there seems to be some interesting foreshadowing related to inverted colors in Deltarune. Before Ralsei takes his hat off, he appears black. But once he takes his hat off, voila, his colors are inverted, and he is revealed to actually be a white goat highly resembling Asriel.

In addition, the entire Dark World is literally just. An inverted version of a normal world.

The Dark World could have hypothetically been the created world/experiment that Gaster had fallen into in the first place. After all, his experiment had to do with “darkness”, and “negative” photons--AKA the Dark Fountains, and the negatively/inverted landscapes of the Dark World.

And how does Rouxls Kaard appear inverted anyways? Well, he looks like THIS.

He even has the strange dangling lip thing—which another character said to directly resemble Gaster, Seam, has as well:

In addition, if you look at Rouxls’ text-box profile very closely, his eye colors are actually mismatched which is a rather interesting detail!

Point # 3: His Accent is Extremely put on.

I think anybody that has read any sort of Shakespearean/Old English writing, can instantly realize that Rouxls is as bad as imitating an Old English accent as a high-schooler reading Hamlet for the first time. Rouxls absolutely butchers it. He practically adds eth, and est at the end of any word he chooses, and calls the job done. What is even more interesting though, is when he gets nervous or panicked, he drops the act all together and talks normally.

Point #4: He is Pretending to be Dumb; His Puzzles are Actually Impressive!

I found it intriguing how there are countless puzzle traps in all the forest areas and in the Card Castle prison that were actually very well done. You have to flip the spades, diamonds, hearts, etc to unlock doors, and open secret chests. They require a decent amount of thinking skills, and are actually competent. But who made them?? Oddly enough if you observe one of them in the forest areas, it appears that Rouxls Kaard vandalized one of the puzzles to make it harder for the player to beat it—which further implies that he actually indeed made those puzzles himself. This shows that Rouxls is much more competent than only being able to make a single box shove puzzle that is comically easy. Where else do we see a place full of plenty of rather well made puzzles + traps seen? All throughout the Core in Undertale—a place which Gaster himself created!

Point #5: Rouxls IS Aware the World is a Game--AKA DON’T FORGET TO READ NPC DIALOGUE FOLKS!

I think it is well aware by now that Rouxls likely wants us as the players to underestimate him--and deem him a fool so we wouldn’t bat an eye at what he’s actually up to. But the most biggest give away to this is something that I have surprisingly seen no one mention at all. And oh boy, it is the most damning evidence that Rouxls is no idiot to be trifled with.

To the left of Seam’s shop, there can be found a little group of former puzzle-makers that used to live at Card Castle, until they were fired and replaced with Rouxls Kaard. They are now all out of a job, and are just barely scraping by since the Spade King didn’t give them any severance pay. However, Rouxls Kaard offered them a way to get money--by selling the tutorials he made.

These tutorials go over TP, stats, information about Susie, Ralsei, and Kris. Rouxls Kaard has never once met any of the players yet--and he knows everything about them. He knows about stats. He knows the world is a game.

HOW??

In addition, when you talk to Rouxls in his shop, he calls you three the Heroes of Legend. He is well aware of the Angel’s Prophecy. He knows.

Whenever any character in the world of Undertale & Deltarune knows that the world is a game, it is an instant red-flag. It goes to show that they know much more than they let on. Flowey and Sans are big examples of this in Undertale. Pure hearted, dorky idiots that we trust earlier in the game--but wind up seeing the real side of them later on.

...So why should we treat Rouxls any differently?

Point #6: The “Control Crown”

Something that I immediately thought was kind of weird, was the fact that Rouxls Kaard was able to control the K. Round with a “Control Crown” device. If he is so stupid, how was he able to create a full on mechanical device that can brainwash a life-form into being violent/cause it to triple in size?! That is genius material right there!

But things start to take on a much darker side when you begin to look at the subtext of this realization, which I will get to in a moment...

First of all, Seam claimed these exact words.

The remaining king was the Spade King-- as the King of Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs are seen to be locked up in the Dungeon. Therefore, the Spade King put the Knight, and his strange son into power. IF it were the Spade King in power, the dialogue box WOULD have said “himself”. Therefore, the Knight, and his strange son were put in place to control the kingdom. And who are they?

Gaster/Rouxls Kaard, and Lancer.

Evidence to back this up:

Lancer calls Rouxls his “Lesser Dad”. And Rouxls calls Lancer, his Strange little darling/son.

The Spade King is not in charge. During his boss-fight, he states that he obeys the word of the Knight.

If you observe more of Lancer’s dialogue in the scene right before the gang enters Card Castle, he states that his dad, (Spade King), recently forced his troops to listen to Lancer instead. Therefore, Lancer is by all respects actually second in command to the Knight.

One of Rouxls main interests is...Lawmaking. Even though he is just supposedly an innocent Duke of Puzzles.

Another one of Rouxls main interests is...Cages, and long strolls in the dungeon...

There are innocent puzzle-makers locked up in the Prison who are terrified--they were arrested for the simple act of making a puzzle without a license. HM, I wonder who could have possibly locked them up? *Wink wink nudge nudge*

And what ties this all together, is perhaps the most obscure, tiniest detail that no one would have likely observed on a first play-through. If you go to the first floor of Card Castle and click the description tablet next to the elevator to the Prison, it claims that the Prison used to just be a Basement Which Just Happened to Have a Lot of Cages. This is backed up by the caged animals in the basement, who say that they miss the “good old days” when they used to be the only ones there in cages, and not a bunch of people behind bars.

In summary, Rouxls is locking up a bunch of innocent people, and playing nice to our faces. He IS the knight. And he is not to be underestimated.

Point #7: Rouxls’ Plan is Already Set in Place

The part where this theory gets a little dark, ties back to my mentioning of the control crown earlier.

If you observe the throne room, it looks like it was recently torn apart in a sort of...conflict.

Why was the Spade King the only king left un-caged to begin with? Why wasn’t he locked up too?

Well...Rouxls Kaard needed someone to put him in charge. But not only that—he needed a scapegoat. Someone to blame. Someone to be “The Bad Guy” for the Heroes to fight.

The Spade King...is actually innocent. He is obeying the Knight, because he is being controlled by a Control Crown. The throne room is in ruins because the Spade King likely fought against this at first, but Rouxls won and successfully put the Spade King under his command. I thought it was strange how the King was so...violent. So irredeemably evil, and even murderous toward his own son Lancer. Yes, it could be argued that this is indeed his true personality, that he is a complete, abusive jerk. But, the whole ending battle of Deltarune chapter 1 feels so...set up in a way? It feels so starkly good vs evil, black and white. Almost like a play.

And oh boy. I think I was onto something.

If you pay close attention to the fight with the Spade King, there is a brief moment at the beginning where he is completely shrouded in shadow. Except. For. His. Crown. It glows stark white in comparison to himself. Like a Chekov’s Gun if you will.

And even more interesting, in the supposed good/pacifist ending, the Spade King is locked up in Prison, the other three kings are still locked up in cages, everyone else is freed, and Rouxls and Lancer now have full control of the kingdom...

Guys. We just played right into Gaster’s hands.

Point #8: Seam Knows that Rouxls is the Knight...

The final observation that genuinely makes me convinced in this theory, is a small detail I noticed at the end of the Pacifist run of Deltarune. Once you have beaten the game, and all of the prisoners are freed, everyone comes to celebrate at Card Castle for your victory. Everyone, except for Seam. That is because Seam knows what the “Strange Knight” did to Jevil. He knows who the Strange Knight is. And he knows what the Knight’s true intentions are.

Point #9: Extra Tidbits I noticed:

When compared to the other denizens of card castle, Rouxls seems out of place. He is the one vaguely humanoid character among a bunch of card and chess themed Darkners.

His puzzle is... too easy.

Rouxls is oddly excited about overthrowing the king/taking his place.

Rouxls is well versed in calligraphy of all things. (Relation to fonts + letters.)

Rouxls “sparkles” have an odd resemblance to the shining save states...?

He makes pop culture references, such as ones seen here and here. Could just be random throwaway jokes, but often times more “aware” characters such as Sans and Papyrus are keen on breaking the fourth wall at times/making references to relate with the audience.

His hair looks strangely out of place. Especially the hairline which is really receded to an unnatural degree on the left side. It’s a wig guys...

He gets a suspiciously new position for no reason at all. In any normal situation, he would be extremely unqualified for it if he were as stupid as he makes himself out to be.

Rouxls is literally wearing armor, akin to a medieval knights.

If you pay close attention, Rouxls has a few very subtle similar speech patterns to Gaster. They both occasionally repeat words twice. They both use the words wonderful and truly a lot, etc.

When Kris and the gang beat the K. Round, Rouxls said it was just to test their abilities.

Rouxls theme has leitmotifs from Gaster’s theme.

End of discussion. Deltarune’s finale is legit going to be Gaster getting his wig snatched.

#deltarune #deltarune theory #Undertale theory #rouxls kaard #gaster #Undertale #aa this was a fun theory to make #So many interesting plot details

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anika-ann · 3 years

Text

The 5 Times Steve Felt Betrayed - Pt.2

and the 1 Time He Felt Like He Was Betraying You

Type: mini-series to a series (part 1 & part 2 & Part 3), Avenger!reader AU.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader, Matt Murdock & reader

Word count: 2600

Summary: Bucky Barnes is a wanted man and you don’t have Steve’s back; ableit for good reasons. And then it gets worse.

Warnings: mentions of terorrist attack, mentions of violence and death, language, angst

A/N: This part of Melting Hearts’ verse follows the events of CA: Civil War, sometimes only referencing them and kinda expecting the readers to know what’s up ;)

Posted in double chapters (1st &2nd time, 3th & 4th, 5th+1)

Previous part

────── ·❆· ──────

3. (Running to Stand Still)

Back at the hotel after the funeral, another punch straight to his face came; all news channels were broadcasting about an attack in Vienna, exactly where the conference about The Sokovia Accords was taking place. Several people had been killed and the king of Wakanda had been among them.

And they had a suspect: James Buchanan Barnes.

Now Steve was hundred percent sure the world had gone crazy and the universe simply hated him.

��I have to go,” were the first words coming out of his mouth.

You sighed behind him, your fist against your mouth. This was officially the worst day ever.

“And I have to go to work,” Sharon uttered, watching the news as horrified as everyone else in the room. Except for Steve; for him, the tragedy was to be measured on a whole different scale.

“I… I should go to work too.”

Steve’s head snapped to you in shock, his heart positively stopping. Were you… were you gonna come after Bucky too? After Steve’s best friend? Who had clearly nothing to do with this, because he had disappeared from the face of Earth and was definitely not bombing conference rooms with the highest representatives of 117 countries?

Your eyes were a sea of regrets and dilemmas when his accusing glare met with them. It mollified him a little – after all, you didn’t know Bucky. Sure, you heard stories about him, every single one Steve could remember because you were willing to listen, but you weren’t even close to truly knowing his persona.

“I understand, Steve. He’s your friend. He’s done terrible things, but you believe in redemption. I love that about you. And you know I trust your judgement. If you believe this wasn’t him… I trust you. But… I don’t know if I should come with you. With all the tension building up, if I don’t show up at work…”

He pressed his lips into a thin line, not liking it at all; but you were right. They had better chance at getting to Bucky – who might not even be in Vienna for all they knew – if it was just him and Sam coming. Lower profile.

Also, it kinda meant a lot that you were still putting so much trust in his judgement, at least when it came to people’s character.

“You’re right. You should go with Sharon. We don’t know what happens, even if we succeed. I… I can’t ask you to come with me.”

Your expression shifted into a gentle one, the worries softening into something much more affectionate. It surprised him to be honest – and he instantly felt bad for thinking ill of you. He knew you were a kind person. Why was he letting the circumstance make him doubt it?

“You could, Steve. And if I believed I would be helpful, I would come. I know we don’t agree on everything… but the only reason why I’m not coming along is because I believe it’s a way to make it easier for you.”

He gulped, taking a hesitant step towards you. The moment you noticed the tinniest movement of his arms as if he was debating himself whether he should at least hug you goodbye, you threw your smaller arms around him, enveloping him in a warm embrace. Steve closed his eyes at the feeling, welcoming the indescribable relief at the little piece of familiarity in this terrible mess. Having you in his arms always felt right.

“Good luck, Steve. Please, be careful,” you muttered into his suit and he let himself to have a few more moments of peace, pulling you closer so your body could almost merge with his. He took a deep breath with his face nuzzled in your hair, enveloped in everything that was you.

No matter the dispute you two had going on, it felt good to know some things didn’t change and he could find a support in you in the time of crisis after all.

────── ·❆· ──────

Steve barely managed to step on the breaks and swerve the wheel before he would crash into the debris in full speed. He jumped out of the car, having to sprint in front of the vehicle so it wouldn’t smashed him against the road since it overturned and was now coming his direction uncontrollably.

His escape turned into a chase when he saw a person in what could be a costume (an armour?) of a wild black cat standing over Bucky’s lying figure.

And then he caught a glimpse of a movement coming from above.

You landed gracefully next to the tangled mess of limps of Bucky and the assailant, a mass of ice sending the strange figure flying off Steve’s friend. Steve stopped abruptly since he had no one he wanted to throw off now and for a second, he allowed himself to breathe in. He had no idea where the hell had you come from, but he was eternally grateful. And a little bit scared for you, because he had seen what the metal claws of your opponent could do.

Your hand hit the ground, walls of thick ice shielding you all from cars coming from both directions, slightly curved on the tops to cover you from the sky where the flapping of the approaching helicopter was coming from. The panther figure was not included in your little shelter.

Bucky climbed to his feet, staring at you with his eyes wide in shock. Steve wasn’t any less shocked to be honest – but unlike his friend, he was more baffled at you materializing out of nowhere than your powers.

You all heard the sirens approaching rapidly from behind the icy shield, just like you could hear scratching of the metal claws against your barrier reaching tens feet to your right and left. Steve quickly looked around for the quickest and safest escape route as the loudspeaker-powered voice almost deafened you all.

“You’re surrounded-“

Steve sprung to his right, but he didn’t manage a single step. Columns of ice trapped his legs from the ground, reaching above his knees, his shield knocked out of his hands as he was hit by a burst of your powers. He gasped when he saw Bucky unable to move as well and he shot you a desperately perplexed look.

The wall around them melted just enough for you to come through with your hands above your head – about forty riffles immediately aimed at you, together with Rhodey’s repulsors. You sought a leader of the bust and since you didn’t find anyone else, you spoke to the man in the metal suit.

“They surrender,” you exclaimed firmly. “Don’t shoot.”

Steve glared at your back in disbelief, his adrenalin spiking to dizzying levels. What the hell did you just do?!

Rhodey nodded and you glanced at the man in a black costume, only to see no other than the son of the recently deceased king of Wakanda. Prince T’Challa.

Steve honestly thought this was the weirdest nightmare he had ever dreamed. Except it wasn’t a dream; the walls of ice slowly went down, revealing just how many men were ready to shoot at him and Bucky from both the front and the back.

You slowly lowered your hands, putting them behind your back so the agents could cuff you as well. But Rhodey just patted your back to let you know they were not gonna arrest you.

“Good job, kid.”

You grimaced and looked up at Steve. His eyes glinted behind his mask as he watched you with an emotion you certainly didn’t want to decode.

The shock of the Black Panther revealing his face was nothing. The icy needles cutting into his skin and muscles were nothing.

What burned him the most was your betrayal. Yes, you had iced T’Challa away, but you also stole their last chance to run – and what was worse, you had used your powers against him. Against him. You had done something he had thought terrified you, the memory of giving him a frostbite still haunting you. But here you were, doing what you had done so many years ago – except this time deliberately.

He saw the tears in your eyes, the desperate and torn expression on your face as the agents approached him and you let the ice around his hands melt so he could be cuffed. Then his legs were free too, but he couldn’t care less, feeling frozen from the inside.

What Steve couldn’t see was the three different snipers positioned at the edge of the pillars previously aiming at each of them, now with their guns cracking under the extremely low temperature, and their hands buried in ice. What he hadn’t seen before you let the walls crumble, was the number of men with itchy fingers, now lowering their weapons because the suspects were secured. Blinded by the anger, he couldn’t see a lot of things.

He couldn’t see you had just saved their lives.

────── ·❆· ──────

4. (Poisoned Words)

Steve knew – he had known the moment you hadn’t gone after him when he had stormed out of the room after the fight with Tony. He had known you had made up your mind a long time ago – and not even the idea of Wanda being practically held prisoner had changed your spirit. He had known when he hadn’t seen you fight after the psychiatrist did something to his best friend – neither the brainwashed escaping Bucky, neither anyone else at the facility.

Yet it still broke his heart when you hadn’t showed up at the airport with Sharon, who had brought their gear. The shield. Falcon’s wings. He should be grateful to Agent Carter, but it still felt as if she had come empty-handed. She didn’t bring the most important item. You. But that wasn’t on her.

“She’s staying with Wanda Maximoff. Keeping her company,” Sharon said simply as if she guessed Steve’s thoughts and he nodded hastily, pretending the incredibly tight knot in his stomach didn’t exist. That he could breathe. That he didn’t want to scream, but could easily draw enough air into his lungs to do so. That he didn’t feel tears prickle in his eyes.

“Thank you, Sharon. I owe you.”

“I’ll put it on the list. Right under this,” she said softly, pulling out an envelope from the inner pocket of her jacket.

Steve sucked in a breath as she held it out for him. Mentally, he let out a sarcastic laugh. A letter. You had left him a letter. Just words. Just like when you had left him the last time when you abandoned him, even for a whole different reason. The last time, you were protecting him; this time, you were protecting yourself.

Steve wondered if this was you laughing to his face. He didn’t even want the stupid piece of paper.

“Thanks, but… if it’s from the person I think it is, I don’t want it.”

That was a lie.

He did want it. He itched to have it. He craved for it, because he would love to hear what you had to say to all this. To him. Were you trying to justify your actions? How? Was it because you truly believed you were so bad in your core? Because your insecurity about you keeping control over your powers rooted so deep? Or because you didn’t believe he was doing the right thing, you didn’t believe his judgement anymore? Were you thinking he was not doing the right thing, saving a man, who had been turned into a weapon against his will, becoming just a tool?

It didn’t matter. You weren’t here. Whatever you had to tell him, it didn’t seem to matter, because you leaving him in lurch hurt so fucking badly.

He almost jumped when a small hand took his and he snapped from his trance, seeking the point of contact with his gaze. Sharon gently uncurled his fingers, pressing the envelope to his palm. When he met her eyes, they burned with sincerity and seriousness.

“She was very desperate for me to get this to you. She sought me out – because she figured I would come to your aid. Don’t underestimate her, Steve. Don’t judge her. I believe that the letter is truly important.”

Steve sighed, but tugged the envelope into the pocket of his jacket, planning on reading it never. Probably. Maybe someday. Who knew what was next. Who knew if he’d live that long.

Sharon smiled at him reassuringly and helped him to move the equipment to the trunk of their distinctive get-away car. The letter stayed in his jacket, burning with the tinniest hope. Maybe Clint would bring you along with Wanda, since you were staying with her. Maybe…

He didn’t.

He gave Steve an apologetic and pitying look instead; it only made the supersoldier sick. Because now, he was nothing but sure you didn’t give a damn about either him or doing the right thing.

And he had no clue how he had never seen it before. It almost looked like he should be grateful that you hadn’t stopped Clint and Wanda from wandering off at least. God, he had been so stupid—

“Steve-“ Wanda started from behind Clint, her voice sounding urgent, but from her expression, Steve could tell the matter she wanted to talk about; he just shook his head.

“Good to see you, Wanda. Thank you for coming,” he said with a strained smile, pushing the thoughts of you to the back of his mind. They didn’t have time for his self-pity now.

She returned the smile hastily, but opened her mouth again to speak.

“Please don’t. Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it.”

“But you should-”

“Not now,” he opposed sternly, regretting his tone when Wanda winced. “Please,” he said, softer. “Not now, Wanda.”

Clint’s gaze flickered between them, unsure whether he should intervene. Honestly, he wasn’t quite certain what was happening between you and Steve, or how much bad blood the Accords poured between the two of you. He had noticed what could be a brief wordless exchange between you and Wanda at the compound and assumed you had wanted Wanda to send your sorry to Steve. He could understand why Steve didn’t want to hear it, especially now, but that was as far as his knowledge of the situation went.

“Clint, thank you. I wouldn’t call you if I had another choice,” Steve turned to him, a tiny grateful smile on his lips. His face spoke volumes about a lot of things, but Clint could tell the gratitude was genuine. He accepted his hand and shook it.

“Hey, trust me, you’re doing me a favour. And I owe a debt.”

Steve just nodded in acknowledgement when he noticed the tiny gesture towards Wanda.

“Thank you both for having my back.”

“It was time to get off my ass. I know where my loyalty lies. And I’m not the only one,” the Scarlet Witch commented lowly.

It earned her a raised eyebrow from Clint when Steve drew in a sharp breath.

Fuck, that hurt.

Steve would think it was just a slip, but the Sokovian tilted her head to side almost mockingly as if she knew exactly what she had said and was provoking him on purpose. Challenging him for whatever reason. Steve swallowed against the lump suddenly grown in his throat.

“What about our other recruit?”

And with that, the matter of you not coming along was dropped.

Steve wished he could get rid of the thoughts about you and his feelings just as easily.

────── ·❆· ──────

Part 3 (the fifth time and the +1)

────── ·❆· ──────

Thank you for reading!

#fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers imagine #captain america x reader #captain america x you #captain america imagine #steve rogers fanfiction #melting hearts #avenger reader #mcu #marvel #5 times steve felt betrayed #anika ann

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slytherinbarnes · 3 years

Text

Sub Rosa [97]

xiii. blood giant

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader

Word Count: 8.0k

Warnings: blood, fighting, violence, death, angst, language.

Summary: your return to sanctum coincides with a red sun eclipse, making an already stressful situation worse.

a/n: do words about this chapter even need to be said? the taglist for this series is open! I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think!!!

previous chapter // season masterlist // series masterlist

The tension in the room is so thick that it’s practically suffocating.

Gabriel, Doucette, Cadogan, Bellamy and Raven remove their helmets, all of them looking around the room as they do, their eyes landing on Russell, who is standing next to the throne of bones. Gabriel steps forward a little, smiling a little at his former friend and current adversary. “Russell. What the hell is this?”

Russell stares at him with an angry glare, countering, “Who the hell are you?”

And though you have no idea what’s going on, you know that the man in the front of the room, standing next to a horrifying throne, his body adorned in Grounder clothes, is not Russell. You step forward a little, drawing Gabriel’s eyes back to you, and earning a warning stare from Cadogan. “That's not Russell.”

Confirming your point, the man between Russell and Indra announces, “This is Malachi kom Sangedakru, and you will kneel before him.”

You hear Raven whisper, “Well, I guess we found Sheidheda's code.”

Sheidheda. Not a threat that you expected to arise in your time away from Sanctum. Civil War between Wonkru, Eligius, and the Sanctumites? Sure, very likely. The Children of Gabriel changing their minds and deciding to kill everyone who left them out to die? It’s possible. But the code of a Dark Commander killed over a hundred years ago now taking over the body of your mother’s killer? Not something you were expecting.

Sheidheda seems to be handling his power well, because he looks over all of you with no fear or worry. “Since my Ascension, the protocol has become rather simple really. Kneel...or die.”

You pull a face and Cadogan bristles, stepping away from you and the others to draw closer to the opposing leader. “Ordinarily, I would relish the opportunity to recruit your forces to the cause. But unfortunately, I have neither the time nor patience to suffer your primitive tribalism.”

He holds out his hands and bows his head, giving a silent signal to the hidden disciples in the room to begin shooting. They take out every person in the room that is holding a gun, killing them all without hesitation, before revealing themselves one by one, deactivating their ghost mode. You are hyper aware of at least one missing disciple, still hidden from view, but your mind is distracted from the information when Raven calls out, “Murphy!”

She and Clarke rush towards him, along with Indra, and you try to step closer to them, only to be stopped in place by Doucette. You turn towards him and glare, wondering if you can use your restraints to choke him out before anyone would notice, but you see Bellamy looking at you from the corner of your eye. When you shift your gaze to him, he’s giving you a look, one that says he knows exactly what’s going through your mind and that you better stop considering it. You roll your eyes and turn away from him, catching bits and pieces of the whispered conversation being held by your friends and twin.

“...ray guns I can accept, but that…”

“...Madi's safe with…”

“...Gaia was with you.”

“...safe for now.”

Their conversation is interrupted by Cadogan, who was also eavesdropping, and who is now turning to give commands to the disciples in the room. “Restrain the soldier with him.”

The disciples move towards Indra and Sheidheda, but Clarke steps in front of Indra, trying to protect her. “No, she's with us.”

They take Indra away anyways, ignoring Clarke, and Cadogan watches them take the warrior over to a pole in the room, preparing to tie her up. “She was standing unrestrained by the throne. The only reason she’s not dead is because she was unarmed.”

Sheidheda lets out a yell and starts to run towards Cadogan, intending to attack the cult leader, but the last unseen disciple stops him in his place, shoving a knife into his side. He lets out a grunt of pain as the disciple turns off ghost mode and then drops him, Sheidheda falling to his knees as he clutches his side. Black blood seeps between his fingers as Cadogan points at the microphone nearby and bends down to Sheidheda’s level. “That wound is deep. I have no interest in removing you from your throne, so here's my proposal. You give me undisturbed passage to get what I came for. That means I see not a single soul on our path, and I leave Dr. Santiago here to treat you. When we're gone, you're free to continue the debasement of our species until you're saved like the rest of humanity by the completion of my quest. Refuse this, and you die.”

Sheidheda just lets out a grunt and Bill nods. “Right then. Make the announcement, I don't want to see anyone in our way.”

Sheidheda nods once and reaches for the microphone, and Cadogan rises to his feet and turns in the direction of the exit. “Onward to the Key.”

He walks past all of you, and Bellamy and Doucette move to pass. When you don't follow, one of the disciples shoves you ahead, behind the group of men. Gabriel stays behind to save the Dark Commander and the two of you exchange a look before you are pushed out the door. Murphy, Raven, and Clarke all move behind you, following you through the palace, and Clarke gets close to you and whispers, “I’m gonna get you out of those cuffs.”

You whisper back, “I’m more concerned with getting rid of Cadogan.”

“I’m working on it.”

“Well, work faster.”

A disciple reaches out to shove you again, moving you apart from Clarke and the others as the group steps out into the cool night air, goosebumps immediately lifting across your skin. Cadogan and the others look out on Sanctum, watching as people scurry into their homes and out of sight, following the instructions of Sheidheda, who is repeating a message on the loudspeakers overhead. The Shepherd turns and glances at the castle, a disgusted look passing over his face as he mutters, “A fire burned castle surrounded by a city of garbage dumpsters.”

You turn and look at the castle, realizing for the first time that half of it is burned away. You turn to look at Clarke, your eyes asking a question, but she just shakes her head in that ‘tell you later’ sort of way. Ahead of you, Cadogan continues his musings. “Everywhere human beings go is worse off for it, but thanks to us, we will transcend. Thanks to us, we will reach the promised land.”

Clarke, tired of the man and his ramblings, scoffs, “Oh, for God's sake.”

She pushes past him and walks ahead, moving down the stairs, and Raven scrambles to follow. Cadogan and Doucette begin walking again, and Bellamy waits until you're at his side to continue moving down the stairs behind the others. Murphy catches up with the two of you, reaching out to grab Bellamy’s arm. “Hey, so what's our play here?”

Bellamy speaks for the first time since arriving on the planet, turning to look at Murphy in confusion. “Our play?”

“Don't get me wrong, you look good. Not as good as me, but I know a thing or two about pretending to be something you're not.”

You glance over at Murphy and let out a short laugh before moving your gaze over to your brainwashed fiance. “Unfortunately, he’s not pretending.”

Murphy looks at you in confusion, “What?”

Bellamy adds, “This isn't an act, Murphy, I'm trying to save us all. I don't expect you to understand, just know that I am your friend, and I'm looking out for you.”

Murphy looks at you with wide eyes, waiting for one of you to say ‘just kidding’, but you just give him a look that says ‘I wish it was bullshit too’. Murphy nods once, quickly understanding your meaning, barely glancing at Bellamy as he answers, “That's very reassuring. I'm just gonna…”

He trails off, motioning towards Clarke and Raven before he scurries after them, leaving you and Bellamy behind. You watch him go, so eager to get away from disciple Bellamy, and something about it makes you let out a quiet snort of laughter. Bellamy glances at you, brows drawn together as he takes in your amused expression. “What?”

“Murphy is speechless. You actually stunned Murphy into silence. No comeback, no biting remark, just a hasty retreat.” You give him a look of appreciation before your eyes lock on the back of Clarke’s head. “It’s impressive, really.”

Bellamy says nothing, but you spare another quick glance at him, and you swear you can see the ghost of a smile on his face. It gives you hope, because maybe he isn't lost to you yet, maybe you can bring him back to the side of reason, just like you did when he followed Pike. And as all of you start to stride through Sanctum, you open your mouth to ask a question, snapping it shut again when something wet lands on your cheek. You look up, watching as big white flakes of snow fall on Sanctum, and you smile at it, the first sign of snow you’ve seen in years. Skyring has a pretty mild climate year round, and you missed the beauty of the snow in winter.

You turn to look at Bellamy, but his eyes are locked on the sky, his expression haunted. You reach out and touch his arm, getting his attention, and he shakes his head a little before looking at you and whispering, “It snowed on Etherea. I never thought it’d stop snowing. I thought we were going to die in that cave.”

You shake your head, the few sentences containing so much information for you to process. “Etherea? You were on Etherea? What cave? Wait, and who is ‘we’?”

“Doucette and I. We were on Etherea together.”

You look at the man meant to replace Anders, suddenly understanding all of the looks he seems to throw Bellamy’s way. You turn back to Bellamy, who is watching you closely. “What cave?”

“The Anomaly Stone was at the top of a mountain. There’s a cave on the way, the Cave of Ascent, and-”

He’s cut off by Cadogan's voice firmly calling out, “Hold.”

Clarke stops and turns to look at the man in frustration. “Look, I'm in a hurry. You have my twin and our friends. I would like them back, then to see my daughter. If you want to see yours, the Flame is this way.”

She turns towards the stairs behind her, already walking away, but Cadogan calls out to her retreating figure, “New plan. You go, we'll stay here.”

Clarke turns around, an annoyed look on her face, and Bellamy moves forward a little, trying to step in before Clarke loses her cool. “Sir, you heard her. As long as our friends are out there, she won't risk their lives.”

Cadogan nods, motioning towards you, Raven, and Murphy. “That's why these three are staying with us. Hurry along, Clarke. I don't want to be on this infernal moon a moment longer than I have to.”

She gives you a long look, clearly not wanting to leave you behind, but you smile a little and nod, letting her know you’ll be okay. She hesitates for a second longer, her hand absentmindedly reaching out to touch the star charms that hang around her wrist, before she finally nods, turning to leave and quickly head down the stairs. As soon as she’s out of sight, Murphy throws up his hands and tries to walk away from the group. “Well, what do you say we wait in the tavern instead?”

He makes it less than three steps before a handful of invisible disciples appear in front of him, deactivating their ghost modes, and Murphy clutches his chest in fear as he yells out, “Oh, what the hell!”

You and Raven let out a laugh, his reaction easing the tension for half a minute as you call out, “You get used to it!”

He turns to look at you, completely unconvinced. “Yeah?”

You nod, still smiling, before Cadogan interrupts, motioning towards the others, “Come.”

Doucette and Bellamy start to walk away, following the man, but you hang back, fully intending to sit with Raven and Murphy instead. Unfortunately for you, Cadogan senses that you’re no longer behind him, and without turning around, he calls out, “You too, Miss Griffin! I still don't trust you!”

You give an annoyed look to Raven and Murphy, watching as they step away and move towards a small fire pit, leaving you to go and trudge behind the men in white. Cadogan walks them to the top of the stairs that lead down to the crops and the edge of the shield, looking around with a satisfied smile. “I like this spot. High ground.”

You sigh and step past them, moving down one step before plopping down, leaning against the stairs, looking out at the fields below. You can hear Murphy and Raven already talking quietly, leaving you with the stiff, boring Shepherd and his disciples, all of them standing quietly just behind you. They stand in complete silence, and you sit repeating the mantra you created after speaking with Anders, trying to translate it into Trigedasleng. Ai laik wor, reij belen ona ai… you’re hung up on the word for skin, racking your brain, trying to find something close, when Cadogan interrupts your thoughts, sounding annoyed. “What's taking her so long?”

“She'll be here.”

Cadogan turns to look at Bellamy, noting his confidence in Clarke is mixed with uncertainty in his expression. “I know how hard this is on you, son, believing in something with all your heart that the people you love don't understand. You remind me of myself when I was young.”

The thought makes you want to gag, not liking the idea that your fiance is anything like the crazed man that stands behind you. You turn to glance back at the men as Cadogan glances at Doucette. “Would you excuse us, please?”

“Of course, my Shepherd.”

Cadogan watches him go before he turns back to Bellamy again, speaking as if you aren't sitting right beneath their feet. “Doucette's a good man. He'll make a fine replacement for Anders, but he's not like us.”

You roll your eyes, turning away from Bellamy and Cadogan to look out at the field, sending silent messages to Clarke in the hopes that she can hear you. But you have a hard time concentrating on anything other than Cadogan’s preachy speech, delivered to Bellamy with earnest. “The disciples are taught our ways from birth, they know nothing else. Makes faith easy. We, on the other hand, know the pull of love between individuals, what it makes us do, the highs and lows of it, how it leads to hatred of the other, tribalism.”

You can feel his eyes on the back of your neck, staring at you, his words about you, and Bellamy’s love for you. You ignore him as he continues preaching, “I've spent generations dedicating my life to something greater.”

“Transcendence.”

“Now you know the weight of that too. The path of the prophet is always hard. Your friends will understand eventually.”

No we won't. You love Bellamy, you believe in him, you trust him, but you feel none of that for Cadogan. You see right through his bullshit, the same way you saw through Jaha’s bullshit and Pike’s bullshit. He is nothing more than an egotistical cult leader, obsessed with the idea of being worshipped and saving the human race. You start to wonder if it’s worth the risk to kill him now, even if it means the disciples will kill you immediately after. You wish you had your Grounder knife, lost to you since your confrontation on Bardo, your hand practically itching to push the blade into Cadogan’s chest.

Bellamy’s soft, conflicted voice cuts through your thoughts as he appeals to Cadogan for advice. “You had a family, how did you manage it? I feel like I'm failing both you and them.”

“You're not failing me, Bellamy. Far from it.”

“You are failing me.” You know the words are mean, and one glance at Bellamy’s face confirms that they hurt him, but you can’t help it. You're frustrated that he’s buying into Cadogan’s lies, and you just want him to wake up and stop playing disciple.

Cadogan cuts his eyes at you, but you ignore it as he attempts to reassure Bellamy. “You're special. You were given a glimpse of what comes next, just as I was.”

“They all think I'm crazy.”

“And so we ignore their judgments and we save them anyway.”

Bellamy whispers, “For all mankind.”

Cadogan takes a breath and smiles, repeating the words back to him. You roll your eyes and mutter under your breath, “Joken koken hedswisha seda.”

Fucking crazy cult leader.

“I’m not a cult leader.”

Your eyes go wide and you stand, spinning around to face Cadogan, who seems to understand the Trigedasleng words you just used to insult him. “What did you just say?”

“I’m not a cult leader. Crazy, maybe, but aren't we all?”

You glance over at Bellamy, wondering if he somehow had the time to teach his Shepherd Trig, but he seems just as surprised as you are. You look back over at Cadogan and the smug look on his face. “How do you know Trig?”

He looks like he’s actually going to answer, until he is interrupted by the loudspeakers of Sanctum powering up and beginning an announcement. “Attention, Sanctum. Red sun toxin has been detected. Make your way to your assigned location for evacuation.”

You look at Bellamy in alarm, remembering what happened the last time all of you were exposed to the toxin. Raven and Murphy walk up to you, Doucette behind them, as Murphy jokes, “Time to play another round of ‘Who Wants to Murder Your Friends?’”

“Sir, we should get you back to Bardo.”

Cadogan shakes his head, ignoring Bellamy’s advice. “I'm not going anywhere without the Flame, and for all we know, this is another one of Clarke's tricks.”

“If it is, then it's a good one.” Behind you, you can hear a soft buzzing sound, and curious, you turn to see what it is. The shield over Sanctum that is usually invisible, is now visible to the naked eye, thanks to the thousands of bugs colliding with it, trying to reach all of you down below. You turn to look at the others; you, Murphy, and Bellamy sharing a knowing look based on your first experience with the eclipse. “Bugs.”

All around you, the people of Sanctum have started to scurry from their homes and into their evacuation locations, the P.A. system repeating the warning on a loop. Murphy glances at them as they run past, before turning back to Bellamy. “We should be going with them to Ryker's Keep, or maybe you'd like to drown me again in the pond.”

And as all of you are standing there, waiting for Cadogan to decide on what to do, Sanctum goes dark, punctuated by a chorus of screams. All of the lights, the quiet machine hum, the shield, they all power down, plunging you into darkness before a series of torches are lit by people around you. As you’re able to see the faces of those around you one by one, Raven’s face pulls into one of realization. “Power's out. That means the shield's down.”

You turn to look at the shield, your eyes locking on a strange movement in the sky, seconds before your brain remembers the bugs. The swarm is lowering themselves to the ground, moving towards Sanctum in a wave, and you watch them in fear for a second before calling out, “Guys. We should run.”

Bellamy backs you up, remembering the swarm of bugs from your first night on Sanctum. “She's right, we should go right now.”

“Not without the Key.”

Doucette moves closer to Cadogan, preparing to protect his Shepherd. ��I agree with Bellamy. We should execute the hostages and get you home.”

You all look at Doucette in alarm, Bellamy's message lacking anything about an execution, which Murphy comments on. “Well, Bellamy never said that.”

Worried about your possible death, your mind starts to process through your thoughts quickly, trying to think of anything to save your life, before you remember Clarke’s earlier words about wanting to see her daughter. “Clarke heard the alarm too. She'll go for Madi.”

“Yes, right, good. The reactor.”

You look at Murphy in shock. “The reactor? As in the nuclear reactor?”

Murphy grimaces, unable to explain why your niece is in the reactor before Raven adds, “I'll get the power back on and kill the bugs.”

“Before they kill us. Everyone grab a torch!” Bellamy starts to step away, grabbing a torch as he moves, calling out towards your group, “Sir, stay with me. You too, la lune!”

You give him a look at the nickname, not wanting to hear it from disciple Bellamy. Though some of your earlier anger towards him has started to dissipate, you meant it when you said that it was a nickname meant for family, and that as long as he worships Cadogan, he is not your family. But none of that matters, not right now when thousands of toxin crazed bugs are swarming behind all of you, trying to kill you.

Murphy leads all of you to the machine shop built around the reactor, and when you run into the building, you find that bugs are already inside and have already claimed three victims right outside the door of the reactor. Those with the torches use them to push the bugs out of the room and away from all of you, and Bellamy yells, “Scatter them! Get that door closed and seal the windows! The swarm's still outside.”

As they start to lower the door to the garage, a voice calls from just outside, “Wait, hold the door.”

A wave of relief crashes over you as you watch Clarke run inside, a bag slung across her shoulder and a torch in her hand. She immediately locks eyes with you, looking you over and making sure you’re okay as you smile at her. “Clarke!”

Cadogan looks at her with suspicion. “What's in the bag?”

“Antitoxin from the farmhouse.” She pulls the bag off and passes it to Bellamy, who happens to be standing closest to her.

Cadogan deadpans, “For your daughter and twin.”

“Enough for all of us, but, yes, I was thinking of Madi and la lune before you.”

You smile at her, grateful, not too keen to see the ghosts of your past in this moment, but Cadogan ruins the moment by remarking, “Another lesson in the destructiveness of familial love.”

You turn towards him, tired of his preachy attitude. “Destructiveness? That antitoxin is going to keep you from seeing all your regrets playing out in front of you. Maybe you should just go without.”

“La lune…” Bellamy’s voice is a warning, and you turn towards him with an angry look. “I told you not to call me that. And why are you still defending him? ‘The destructiveness of familial love’? How many times has familial saved your life? Octavia’s life? My life? The lives of our people? You can't honestly tell me that you think love is weakness.”

His eyes frantically dart between you and Cadogan, but his expression is unreadable, making you worried that maybe he is lost to you after all. But you never get to find out, because Cadogan steps up beside you and snaps, “Enough, don't make me gag you too.”

You have to physically bite your tongue to hold back your response, your entire body wanting to fight back and put him in his place. But you can see the warning in Clarke’s eyes, telling you not now, not here, so you step back, accepting the antitoxin that Bellamy throws to you as Cadogan turns to your twin. “Do you have the Flame or not?”

You take your dose of the antitoxin as she responds, “If you open this door, I'll give it to you without a fight.”

“All right. Disciple Kelly, the door.”

The disciple steps up and moves towards the door of the reactor, firing a single shot into it, damaging it. Murphy steps towards it first, muttering to all of you, “Let me go in first, I’m the least likely to get attacked.”

You all nod and watch him step inside, you and Clarke waiting just outside of the door until you can hear the soft sounds of happiness from Murphy’s reunion with Emori. You and Clarke exchange a look before she steps inside, in search of Madi, and you stand just outside the door, wanting to follow her, but unsure if you can. You look towards Cadogan, who is standing resolute, before tuning your pleading eyes to Bellamy, hoping they still have some effect on him.

Luckily for you, they do, and he turns to his leader, his voice soft and insistent. “Sir.”

“Fine, go.”

You smile at Bellamy in thanks before turning and stepping through the door, walking around the corner, your eyes already moving past Murphy and Emori. There, a few steps behind them, is your niece, your bright little sun, and her face lights up as she gets a glimpse of you over Clarke’s shoulder. “Ani!”

Your face breaks into a grin as she pulls away from Clarke and runs towards you, wrapping her arms around you in a tight hug. You slip your restrained hands over her shoulders, hugging her back the best you can, relief flooding through you as you look down at Madi. She pulls back and you lift your hand to her cheeks, her eyes landing on the restraints holding your wrists together, and you see a flash of worry cross her features. “Why are you tied up?”

“It’s not important. Are you okay?”

She nods her head, blowing past your concern to focus on her own. “I’m fine, but you aren't.” She reaches up to touch the bruise around your left eye and cheekbone. “What happened?”

The room falls eerily silent around you and you turn to the door to see why, everyone watching in shock as Cadogan steps inside the room. You push Madi backwards, the two of you moving back towards Clarke as you mutter, “He happened.”

And though Cadogan himself did not give you the injuries, his fanatics did, beating you up in defense of their leader. Which means that though it is technically an exaggeration, it isn't a complete falsity. Cadogan crosses the room, over to Clarke, who stands near you and Madi both. You push Madi behind you, putting yourself in front of her, and Clarke puts herself in front of you both. The Shepherd says nothing as he holds his hand out towards Clarke, waiting for his Key.

She reaches into her jacket and hesitantly pulls out the Flame, sliding back the lid on the container just enough so he can see that it’s inside. He takes it with a look of excitement, holding the damaged AI up in his hand as a grin splits his face. “For all mankind.”

Clarke just looks at him until he puts the Flame back in its container and closes it, stepping across the room to stand near the door, Bellamy and Doucette on either side of him. You, Madi, and Clarke back up towards a set of stairs, the two of them lowering themselves down as you stand beside them. The room is tense, everyone unsure of what’s going on or how to act in Cadogan’s presence. Madi gives you and Clarke the quickest summary that she can manage on how all of them ended up hiding in the reactor, and you feel a flash of regret that you weren't here to protect her or keep her safe. Your mind shifts to your curse, the one that plagued you when you first landed on the ground, long forgotten in the chaos since then. But now, standing near the people you love the most, your brainwashed fiance standing across from you, you're suddenly reminded of it again. The curse that takes the people you love away from you, now working in its own creative way: dangling Bellamy just out of your reach.

Madi watches Cadogan across the room, who is back to admiring the damaged Flame, and her voice is low and serious when she whispers, “I don't think you should have given him that.”

You and Clarke exchange a look before you look at her in confusion. “Why?”

“I remember things.”

Clarke looks at her in alarm. “Your sketchbook?”

You know you must have missed something, because you don't understand the importance of Madi’s sketchbook in this conversation, but based on the expression on both Madi’s and Clarke’s faces, you know whatever is in that sketchbook must be a big deal. Clarke confirms as much when she mutters, “Madi, don't tell anyone that, okay? Ever.”

Madi nods and you watch her for a second before you turn to look across the room, over to Bellamy and Cadogan. Cadogan’s eyes are still locked on the Flame, but Bellamy’s are locked on you, watching you closely. You watch him back, searching for any signs of affection in his face, but just like when he followed Pike, his expression is unreadable to you. You sigh and lean your head back against the wall, your hands hanging in front of you, the bar that holds them apart pressing against your body, and you look down at the restraints, tired of being the only one still tied up. The lights in the room come on, reminding you of your genius mechanic friend, who is more than capable of getting you free. You glance over at Clarke and whisper, “I’m gonna go talk to Raven.”

She nods and you slip away, using Cadogan’s focus on his prize to get away unnoticed. You walk into the next room, looking for Raven, but finding no one. Instead, someone steps out of the secondary containment, a blonde haired woman with braids on one side of her head, an Eligius uniform on her body. She barely glances your way as you walk past, and something about the situation raises alarm bells in your head. Worried, you call out, “Raven?”

A soft sob answers your call, and you feel a wave of panic as you rush towards the secondary containment, anxious about what you're going to find. But instead of finding Raven in a pool of blood, bleeding out from some unknown wound, she is kneeling at the base of a machine, knees pulled up to her chest, crying. The sobs that wrack her body are hard, and you look at her with pity as you cross the room, dropping beside her to whisper, “Hey, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

You have no idea why she’s crying, but it doesn't matter, because she clearly just needs someone by her side. She reaches out for you, wrapping her arms around you, and you hug her back as you settle beside her, beginning to softly hum Clair de lune. She cries in your arms, not stopping when Emori, Murphy, and Clarke run into the room, clearly worried about her. Clarke drops down beside you, Emori moves to Raven’s other side, and Murphy kneels in front of her, all of them reaching out and holding her arm or her hand, offering her their comfort.

You don't know how long the five of you sit together before Bellamy comes into the room and lets you know it’s time to go, but it doesn't feel long enough. You don't want to go back out there and join Cadogan, or watch Bellamy follow him around like a lost puppy, but you know you have no other choice. The others know it too, because you all stand, and Raven quickly wipes away her tears as you walk back into the main part of the reactor.

Clarke grabs Madi, and all of you follow Bill back to the castle, prisoners to the cult leader as you await the return of your friends. When you step inside of the throne room behind Cadogan and two disciples, you find Indra pointing a gun at all of you, surrounded by dead disciples. Sheidheda is leaning against a nearby pole, looking weak and drowsy, Jackson is standing in the corner of the room, surveying the scene, and Gabriel is setting up some machine nearby.

As soon as Indra sees Cadogan, she lifts the gun towards him and snaps, “Where is my daughter?”

“Who the hell is your daughter?”

Bellamy moves from his place behind you, stepping into Indra’s line of sight, holding his hands up in surrender. “Indra, hold on. We didn't know she was missing until today. Nobody did. We're gonna get everyone back, but you have to put down the gun.”

You step forward, nodding at Indra, corroborating Bellamy’s story. “It's okay, Indra. He's gonna help us.”

She lowers the gun, and as soon as it’s clear, Gabriel steps forward. “Does that mean you have the Flame?”

Cadogan nods, “I do.”

“I believe I can restore the damaged code with this.” Gabriel turns and motions towards the nearby machine, and you look at him in disbelief. What is with these men and following Cadogan? “It's used to repair memory drives, stitching together broken strings of code. Code, like the Flame itself, that was created by-”

Cadogan cuts him off, saying her name first, “Becca Franko.” Gabriel nods in confirmation and the cult leader mutters, “Show me.”

He passes the Flame to Gabriel, and all of you watch as he loads the tech into the machine. “If Becca's memories are still in here, this will find them.”

The screen comes to life, showing a loading page, letting all of you know that soon Cadogan will have exactly what he wants. Doucette looks at it with a smile and muses, “Now we can start the Last War.”

“It's working.”

But as everyone watches the percentage bar get closer and closer to the end, your eyes shift to Gabriel, confused as to why he’s helping Cadogan, only to find that his entire demeanor has changed. He now looks conflicted, his eyes locked on an empty spot at Cadogan’s side, and he suddenly whispers, “We are. I’m sorry.”

Everyone looks towards him in confusion, not understanding who he’s talking to given the silence in the room, when he suddenly pulls out a gun from his waistband and aims it at the Flame, pulling the trigger and blowing it to pieces before you can even make sense of his movements. You all look towards him in shock as he turns the gun on Cadogan, aiming it at the shocked man before he yells to the disciples around the room, “Helmets off and weapons down, all of you, right now!”

They comply, worried about the risk of losing their Shepherd, and as they disarm and remove their helmets, Gabriel reaches a hand out towards Jackson. “Antitoxin.”

The pieces slide into place as you realize he must have been seeing Josephine, talking to her, until he remembered that she had never been a good voice of reason. As Gabriel takes the antitoxin, Bellamy steps closer to him, trying to plead with him. “Gabriel, we need him to get our friends back, your friends... Echo and Hope too. Now put down the gun.”

Gabriel doesn't waver, his gun still trained on Cadogan, but out of the corner of your eye, you see Doucette growing antsy, eyes darting between Gabriel and his leader. The man makes a split second decision and yells, “Take him!” as he runs at Gabriel. But he makes it less than three steps before a gunshot rings out and Doucette lets out a cry of pain, blood blooming across his white robes. You turn to look in the direction the shot came from, unsurprised to find your twin holding a gun, clearly the one that took Doucette down.

Gabriel nods at her in thanks as Bellamy lets out a loud cry, running towards Doucette and putting his hand over the man’s chest wound. “No! No!”

You feel a rush of pity for him as he loses his friend, but you feel nothing for Doucette himself, unconcerned with his death. Clarke calls your name, and you turn towards her, catching the gun she tosses your way. You immediately turn it on Cadogan, ready to take him out if you need to. Clarke grabs a second gun for herself before turning to Raven. “Raven, fire up the stone. We need to get to our friends.”

Raven pulls a helmet on her head and pulls up the map, calling out to Cadogan, “Which planet? Where are they?”

He looks at her with a smug smile, “It's offline. Only I know the code.”

“He's telling the truth.” Raven pulls the helmet off her head and turns to look at Clarke. “There's one planet we can't get to.”

Pissed, Clarke lifts her gun and turns it on Cadogan, three guns now trained on him. “Enter the code, and you get to live.”

He only hesitates for a second before he moves over to the stone and begins entering the code. When he’s done, a bright green glow erupts in the room, shining over all of you, and Cadogan motions towards it. “There’s your bridge. Go.”

Clarke shakes her head, “You're coming with us, now move.”

Bellamy stands, moving towards Cadogan and Clarke, clearly prepared to go with all of you, but Clarke turns to glare at Bellamy, her voice angry as she snaps, “Not you! You've made your choice.”

You turn to look at her, already prepared to protest. “Clarke-”

“No, la lune. He chose them. He chose Cadogan.”

You hesitate, turning to look at your fiance, and Murphy calls out, “I really hope this new thing you believe in is worth it.”

Bellamy gives him a resolute nod when he answers, “It is.”

The words hit you like a shot to the chest, because even now, at the threat of being left behind by all of you, he still chooses Cadogan. You turn to Clarke, heartbreak evident on your face, silently asking to say your goodbyes. She nods, keeping her weapon trained on Cadogan, allowing you to lower your own. All around you, your friends walk past you, stepping into the green glow at your back. The green glow that you desperately tried to reach to save the man in front of you. The man that now stands in front of you, still on the other side. And everything feels like it’s crashing down around you as you realize that the man in front of you is no longer the man you love. No longer the man that loves you. He’s nothing more than a stranger, your enemy, and his conflicted feelings won't change that.

He gives you a soft look as you close the space between the two of you, your hand already reaching for the ring on your left hand. As you slide it off your finger, you hold it up to him. “When you gave me this ring, you told me that I meant everything to you. You told me that you want to protect me and love me until your last breath. But the man that said those words to me while we were tied up in that cave is gone. The man that’s in front of me now has been willing to torture his best friend, watch his fiance walk around restrained, and his sister be sent to an unknown planet, all without a word of disagreement.”

You reach out and grab his hand, pressing the ring into his palm. “I wish I knew what you went through on Etherea, and I wish I understood why you seem so determined to follow Cadogan. But Bellamy, even if he’s right, even if Transcendence is real, Cadogan should not be the one to deliver us to it. That man is a monster, and we’ve known it since we were on Earth. None of what he’s done is okay, and by following him, you’re condoning his actions. By following him, you’ve become someone I don’t even recognize.”

It feels like your heart is ripping in half as you say the words to him, and it must hurt Bellamy just as much, because you see tears spring to his eyes. You ignore them, pushing past his hurt and reminding yourself of your own hurt, your own anger, not allowing yourself to be swayed by his tears. “I guess Bellamy Blake really did die the day that grenade went off in the Stone Room, because the man that came through the Anomaly from Etherea is not him, is it, Disciple Blake?”

You practically spit the last two words, ignoring the tears that are now spilling down his face and your own. “So much for this lifetime and the next. So much for forever.”

His expression morphs into one of complete heartbreak, and you abruptly turn away from him, unable to stomach the look on his face. Your eyes fall on Clarke, and she nods, encouraging you, letting you know this is the right thing to do. As you move closer to your twin, she reaches out for you, grabbing your free hand, interlacing her fingers with yours. Indra grabs Cadogan and pushes him towards the Anomaly, you and Clarke right behind them. And when you are mere inches away from stepping inside of the green glow, you turn to get one last look at Bellamy, which stops you in your tracks.

Because he now stands near the bone throne, something held in his hands, flipped open to a random page.

Madi’s sketchbook.

And though you don't quite understand the importance of what’s in the sketchbook, you follow Clarke as she pulls you away from the Anomaly and back into the room, calling out to your former fiance, “Belomi... Kof em op gon ai.”

Bellamy, give it to me. Bellamy looks over at her, as the disciples in the room turn towards you, starting to close in. You and Clarke drop each other’s hands and lift your guns, leaving you to turn slightly to your left, away from Bellamy. When Bellamy doesn't close the sketchbook or pass it over, Clarke’s voice gets harder and she snaps, “Kom nau, o ai na rip emo klin. Yu get klin ha e'na bilaik.”

Now, I'll kill them all. You know I will. Bellamy finally turns away from the book, moving his teary eyed gaze towards the two of you. “Madi isn't in danger, I'll make sure of that. I’ll keep her safe.”

“Du na frag em op na gada in chit bilaik emo gaf in, en yu foshou get em klin. Ai nou na teik em na gon daun.”

They will kill her to get what they want, and you know it. I won't let that happen. Bellamy looks at her, tears welling up in his eyes as he shakes his head, his voice cracking with emotion. “I am trying to save us all, Clarke!”

“I'll kill Cadogan. Is that what you want?” He shakes his head, and she raises her voice, “Kof em op gon ai!”

Give it to me! As soon as the words leave her mouth, one of the disciples near you starts to run your way, clearly intending to take one or both of you out. You pull the trigger before he makes it halfway, his body hitting the floor as you turn to look at Bellamy with anxiety. “Give her the damn book, Bellamy!”

He looks at you, his expression pleading, “This is bigger than any of us!”

You turn towards him slightly, locking eyes with him. “We already made Madi a pawn once when we made her the Commander, and I won’t do that to her again! Not after everything she went through with Sheidheda.”

“I’ll keep her safe, but this is important!”

You cut your eyes at Bellamy, shaking your restraints. “What, like you kept me safe?”

You see a look of hurt pass over his face, but you look away when one of the men to your left starts to shift, inching closer, and you step towards him, aiming your gun right at his chest, daring him to make a move. As you do, you can hear Clarke beside you, teary eyed and pleading, “Don't make me do this.”

“You're not gonna shoot me, Clarke.”

You turn to look at her as he says that, noticing that she has now moved her gun from the disciples around her to the man that you still love. Your voice is a soft warning when you whisper, “Clarke, don’t.”

Bellamy nods to the Anomaly behind you, “The bridge will close, you should go.”

“Not without that book.”

Bellamy starts to cry as he looks between you and Clarke, trying to reason with her. “Look at yourself, what you feel right now, the need to protect someone you love so badly you're willing to kill your closest friend, someone you trust, who's telling you that the fate of the entire human race is at stake. All that suffering can end. Madi's suffering too. I have no choice but to share this.”

You and Clarke are both crying now, though you suspect it’s for different reasons. Your anxiety is sky high, squeezing your body and making it feel like your heart is going to burst from your chest. Clarke stares at Bellamy, her voice shaking when she mutters, “I can't let them hurt her.”

“This is how we do better.” He tries to appeal to her using Monty’s words, but they only make her angrier, if anything. He shifts, reaching out to hand the sketchbook to the disciple closest to him. “This is the only way, I'm sorry.”

“Me too.” And as soon as she says it, you’re diving towards Clarke, the words triggering your fight response. You watch her finger pull the trigger as your hands shove against her arms, trying to stop her, and when the gunshot rings out, you swear you feel it rip through your own heart. You can hear it hit Bellamy’s body, and you turn towards him, the gun dropping from your hand as you watch red blood spread across the chest of his white robes at an alarming pace, his body falling towards the floor. You hear a scream, ungodly loud, broken and wailing, your brain unaware that it’s coming from you.

Three more shots ring out but your brain doesn't process it, too busy trying to tell your feet to move. You move closer to him, ignoring Clarke’s voice that is screaming your name, ignoring the disciple that is running towards you, your only focus on Bellamy, and the blood all over his clothes, his body, on the floor. You feel arms wrap around your waist, and Clarke yells in your ear, pulling you backwards, towards the disappearing Anomaly and away from Bellamy. You fight her hard, kicking and screaming and scratching at her the best you can, but she is resolute, determined to get you off of Sanctum, dragging you back into the Anomaly with every ounce of strength she can muster.

You scream again, repeating Bellamy's name like a mantra, watching as he disappears from view, the Anomaly closing around you. You don't stop fighting the entire time you’re in the green glow, trying to process why Clarke would do that, why Clarke would shoot Bellamy. He may be your enemy, he may be on the wrong side of things, but you love him. You may have given him the ring back, but you didn't mean it, oh god you didn't mean it. You just wanted it to be a wake up call to him, a way for him to see the error of his ways. But now Bellamy is dying, bleeding out on the floor, alone, thinking that you don't love him.

Bellamy Blake is dying alone, thinking that no one loves him.

The thought tears your chest open, cracks your heart into pieces as you cry harder, thinking of the blood, all that blood around him. All over his robes and dripping out of his mouth, filling up his lungs and killing him. No one at his side to put pressure on his wounds, or say the Traveler's Blessing, or to just be there for him.

He thinks his sister on another planet hates him, and his best friend who shot him hates him, and his former fiance who gave him back the ring hates him. All his friends and the people that he calls family, angry and hating him. Leaving him to die alone with no one at his side. You thought it was bad enough to see him die in security footage on Bardo. But to see him shot in front of you, by your own twin, your other half, it’s enough to destroy you.

And as Clarke holds you in her arms, sobbing apologies in your ear, you can only think of her one way. Now, she’s just Wanheda.

The Commander of Death, killing everyone in her way, even the man you love.

next chapter

#the 100 #the 100 rewrite #bellamy blake #bellamy blake x reader #bellamy blake fanfiction

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am-i-the-himbo · 4 years

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Thoughts on Handsome Siblings

Alright, I just spent four days binging the 2020 drama Handsome Siblings and boy do i have some thoughts. I think most of this is spoilers, so I will just add a keep reading or whatever. I don’t normally post stuff like this, but I saw how small the fandom is and how little posts there were and thought what the hell, its 4am and I’m gonna post something.

So my biggest thought is that cannibal dad is the best dad?!?!?!?! How did that happen? I will talk about this later, but out of all the villain parents, he was my fav. He was so weirdly sweet and he was the only one who genuinely wanted to save xiaoyu in the end. And I am so relieved that he wasn’t actually a cannibal, because I was feeling super conflicted up until that point.

Gambling dad is tied for first with cannibal dad, for obvious reasons. this dude was so honest and had more integrity than some of the “heroes” in this show

People will do ridiculous things for honor

Like, Lu Z (the guy impersonating Yan Nantian) had no reason to uphold that promise to Jiang Biehe. Who would have known if Lu Z had killed him right then? Literally no one would have known, plus he was so corrupted at that point so I have a hard time feeling bad for anything that may have happened to him

On a similar note, i absolutely despise Yulang. Boy was so slimey from the moment we met him. I kept getting so frustrated with him, he had so many moments where it was like, anyone with a conscience would never, but this is the kid raised by biehe, which means he was kind of set up for failure

Morung jiu and Hei Zhizue (sorry if thats not how you spell his name but he’s literally listed as black spider on imdb so this is my best) are the epitome of couple goals. they are just so cute

I hated morung jiu at frst because she was so cold and ruthless and those kind of people frustrate me to no end. But seeing her as ms. meng, it showed me that she may be harsh and cold on the outside, but she was also sweet on the inside, especially with xiaoyu and hei zhizue

Also, Hei Zhizue reminded me so much of Wen Ning from The Untamed. Like, the dark clothes and goth aesthetic plus the the identical cinnamon roll personalities. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it

When I first started watching, I really was hoping the villain parents would be more...kind? or at least to xiaoyu. Like, I thought they would be honest and blunt, and more chaotic and annoying than evil. But then it was revealed that they totes left xiaoyu to die in wuya palace and I was so disappointed

I find it amazing that while wuque got jiang feng’s face, xiaoyu got his dad’s affect on the ladies. Feng had three woman in love with him at once, and xiaoyu had xinlan, lady duan, and su ying all loving him at some point. It even looked like the girl with the performers was going to fall for him at one point

While Im talking about him, I love xiaoyu. That boy is so chaotic, but also kind, but also a massive pain in the ass and I just love him. I realted to him so hard, with his response to to his emotions and how he dealt with conforontation. I’ve had so many times where i’ve been so frustrated and angry and hurt and I would just yell and scream and hit things. But he always found a smart and unique solutino to his problems, and he was always smiling. He’s one of those characters that are just so infectiously happy and charismatic, and I just love him to bits

I also love wuque for veeeeerrrry different reasons. Boy was so pure, and so trusting, While I felt I could relate more to xiaoyu personally, I felt like wuque was just a kind bean doing his best and I just want to give him all of the hugs. He was so clearly out of touch with dealing with people. Like he would be so genuinely confused and caught off guard when others would betray him, or were revealed to be crooked. He’s been just taking everything his aunts said at face value and never saw the need to suspect anything else of what people said to him. Then he was let out into the world was so devastatingly unprepared for the greed and selfishness of others. I just love that he was able to find people like xinlan and xiaoyu, and his girl he lu (I forgot the other yihua disciples name, but she rocked too) to support him and keep him out of trouble

I love xinlan too. This girl is a badass martial artist who literally pushed so many boundaries. I was nervous at first cuz I read a post about how she becomes a damsel in distress who just cries and completely loses her fighting, but I don’t feel like that’s what happened? Idk, maybe im just optimistic or oblivious, but she literally stripped and hugged wuque so xiaoyu could escape. Like, she could’ve tried to fight, but wuque is like a prodigy. But he’s so sheltered, she knew he would cease to function if she stripped and gave him a hug

Plus, she fought against her own father when he was brainwashed

And she literally followed wuque around everywhere he went and never gave up on trying to end this ridiculous duel before either of these two boys could kill each other. Like, she is so determined and stubborn, and smart and I don’t think that at all took away from the fact that she was also a badass fighter

I loved her character because she could still fight, but she also knew how to get out of sticky situations when fighting wasn’t necessarily the best plan

I also loved the choreo. Like, it was so lyrical and over the top, and normally i can’t stand it or take it seriously, but it was so interesting and fun to watch that I just couldn;t be annoyed

I’m new to the wuxia gang, like I literally didn’t know what it was called until yesterday, but I just really loved this show and wanted to talk about it. This is only the second wuxia show I have watched so far, after The Untamed, but I can see myself falling headfirst into this hole. I don’t know anything about particular standards in cdrama or anything about plot tropes or set design or costumes and wigs, but what I do know is that I really loved this show and I feel like more people could benefit from watching this. At the very least, it will put a smile on your face

#handsome siblings #cdrama #wuxia

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voltrontranscript · 3 years

Text

VForce E1: New School Defenders

Episode 1: New School Defenders

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: We meet Daniel, a young Voltron fan after the Voltron Force is decommissioned, as he recounts the glory of Voltron and joins the Galaxy Alliance flight school, where he meets former pilots Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. But the Voltron Force doesn’t simply toe the line drawn by Sky Marshal Wade, and with Daniel and Vince’s help, they retrieve their lion keys.

[Google Doc]

Boy: Come on, Daniel, I dare you to do it.

Girl: Double dare you!

Boy: Do it!

Daniel: When are you guys gonna learn? It’s not a dare if I wanna do it.

[Cut between Daniel and Voltron as they chase the robeast, then return to Daniel.]

Daniel: You guys missed it! The lions just formed Voltron! Someday, that’s gonna be me. I’m gonna pilot the Black Lion.

Boy: Huh. You wish.

[Transition to Daniel’s bedroom, where Daniel narrates to the audience.]

Daniel: Yeah, I do wish. Unfortunately, it looks like that’s all it’ll ever be, now. Just a wish.

[Transition to a flashback of Planet Doom.]

Daniel: Not long after the Voltron Force wrecked shop on that robeast, they defeated Lotor and his Drule army. It was epic!

Lotor: What?

[Cut to a flash forward, where the Voltron Force celebrates their victory with the city.]

Daniel: I even got to go to the galaxy victory celebration. It was the greatest day of my life! Until… It was a disaster, but no one was hurt. That’s why I couldn’t believe how quickly everyone forgot all the good Voltron had done, as if they’d been brainwashed. The Defender of the Universe was declared a hazardous threat and decommissioned without even attempting to fix it. How shady is that? My dreams, gone. Now the only thing that excites me is going fast, really fast. So, I enrolled in the Galaxy Alliance flight academy, where things have turned out to be slow. Really slow. When’s life gonna pick up some speed? Of course, if all that wasn’t about to change, I wouldn’t be here telling you this story.

[Transition to opening sequence, with an electric guitar playing under the following lyrics.]

Woo!

One, two, three four!

Voltron’s here, kicking down your door!

Five, six, get with it.

We blaze ‘em with the sword and they can’t get away.

Seven, eight.

We’re bringing down the hurt so we’re here to stay.

Nine, ten, we here to win.

Voltron’s here, let the games begin!

Oh! (Let’s Voltron!)

Form up, let’s go!

All night! Let’s go!

Alright, we gonna rock (rock!) and roll (roll!)

Now to rock (rock!) and roll (roll!)

Oh!

[Transition to Daniel in class at the flight academy.]

Professor: ...and so the Galaxy Alliance Fractal Fighter has been Earth’s primary strike and defense weapon since… which battle, cadet Daniel?

Daniel: Huh? Um, the battle at Gemini Four?

Computer: Correct.

Professor: Commander Lance. To what do we owe the honor of a visit from the youngest head flight instructor in academy history?

Lance: I realized it was nearly the end of the first term, and I have yet to greet our first-year cadets. I wanted to get a look at the faces I’ll be seeing when they get into the cockpit in their third year.

Daniel: Ugh, third year.

Lance: So, do any of you potential pilots have any questions for me? Yes, cadet?

Daniel: Sir, with all due respect, why are you here teaching instead of defending the universe? What really happened with Voltron?

Professor: Daniel! You know mention of Voltron is forbidden by Sky Marshal Wade! There are severe consequences for violating this order. Commander Lance, I’m so sorry for--

Lance: It’s alright. I’ll speak of this once and only once. Yes, I used to be the pilot of the red Voltron lion, but after the incident, that’s something I’ve put in the past. Myself, along with tech sergeants Hunk and Pidge--formerly the yellow and green lions--are now loyal soldiers in the service of the Galaxy Alliance military. And Princess Allura, the former blue lion, is ruling on her home planet of Arus.

Daniel: What about the leader of Voltron? The black lion pilot, Commander Keith?

Lance: Ex-commander Keith is a wanted fugitive, and nobody knows his whereabouts.

[Scene change to Keith wearing shades on a beach.]

Manset: So, Commander Keith, I hear you are interested in the location of Wade’s secret base.

Keith: Your hearing is good.

Manset: Why are you seeking this base? Are you looking for trouble?

Keith: I’m looking for something Wade has that doesn’t belong to him, which may lead to trouble, but that doesn’t concern you. I paid you good money for that location, so--

Manset: Yes, well, unfortunately, some people are willing to pay more for your location. Please, do not make a big scene.

Keith: The size of the scene is up to you.

[Cut back to Daniel’s classroom.]

Daniel: How could you and the rest of the team just turn your backs on Commander Keith and Voltron?

Lance: Defending the universe is our top priority, and that’s exactly what the Galaxy Alliance is doing! Voltron was just a vehicle.

Daniel: Just a vehicle?

Lance: That’s enough. You, up. You’re coming with me. You, too.

Vince: Me? W-what’d I do?

Lance: Guilt by association.

[Cut back to Keith on the beach.]

Keith: So, this is how it’s gonna be.

Manset: At least I returned your money. You can count it. It’s all there.

Keith: Yeah, I’ll get right on that.

Masked Guard 1: Ah!

Masked Guard 2: Whoa.

Manset: A sword? Really?

Keith: It’s a weapon of honor. You wouldn’t understand.

[Cut to Lance, Vince, and Daniel entering an office.]

Wade: I assure you all, this supposed rising Drule threat is nothing but rumors to stir the masses.

Coran: But, Sky Marshal Wade, our sources have intercepted increased chatter about this mysterious commander Kala, specifically mentioning Lotor.

Wade: Lotor is dead! Furthermore, Ambassador Coran, if your sources happen to be “The Den”, you’d better think twice before quoting their intelligence to me considering they’re viewed as rebels against the Galaxy Alliance. You continually test my patience, honorable gentleman from Arus. Tread lightly. Good day. Commander Lance, these must be the cadets you called me about?

Lance: Yes, sir.

Wade: Normally I don’t like to concern myself with petty academy matters, but I take my “no Voltron” policy very seriously.

Daniel: Sir, I take full responsibility. He doesn’t belong here. I hardly know him, and he--

Wade: Do not speak, cadet, and don’t play that sickening nobility card, either. It’s a liability in combat. I need an army of obedient, ruthless, fighting machines, not some saps who are going to hesitate to consult their moral compass! Of course, this won’t be a problem for you if you violate my policy again, because a second offense would mean expulsion. However, this being your first, you are receiving the automatic sentence: latrine duty for the rest of the first term, and all of the second term, as well. I hope this teaches you to scrub Voltron from your lives completely.

Lance: I’m sure this experience will give them an entirely different perspective on Voltron, sir.

Daniel: It already has.

[Scene change to the latrines.]

Daniel: Man, I am so sorry I got you into this… mess.

Vince: Hey, you just said what I was thinking. I’m more of the non-confrontational type.

Daniel: Yeah, speaking of “type”, I’ve been meaning to thank you for helping me in class. How did you do, uh, that?

Vince: A tech-gician never reveals his tricks.

Daniel: Huh, you’re an interesting guy, um… I don’t even know your--

Vince: It’s Vince. Should I pretend I don’t know your name’s Daniel to make this less awkward for you?

Daniel: Probably. Well, I definitely owe you one, Vince.

Vince: Ah, don’t worry about it. You can just save my life sometime.

Daniel: So, Vince, what do you think of this place so far?

Vince: You mean, besides the life sentence of latrine duty, and the fact that one of our heroes turned out to be a total snart?

Daniel: Yeah, and then there’s this. I came here to fly jets, and all first-years do are stupid simulators.

Vince: Actually, I like the simulators. All the fun of flying, with none of the death.

Daniel: Unlocked?

Vince: You wanna…

Daniel: Totally.

Vince: Wait, I thought you didn’t like the simulators.

Daniel: I don’t, at least not when we’re supposed to be in them. But now, we’re like Commander Keith, rebel outlaws, operating in the shadows.

[Cut to space, where a single fighter cruises across the screen.]

Keith: I can’t believe Manset was a traitor. He was thoroughly vetted by the Den. And why’d he return my money? It just doesn’t make sense… Says the guy talking to a space mouse. Huh? The coordinates to Wade’s base? “It’s all there.” This is Stalker calling the Den. The watering hole has been located. I’m going hunting. Set course for the Tarvos moon of Saturn.

[Cut to the flight simulators in the Galaxy Alliance academy.]

Daniel: See? These simulators are way too easy. I’m ready to try this stuff pulling twelve G’s.

Vince: Alright, Whiny McGee. You want me to make this interesting for you?

Daniel: Whoa! I thought you were non-confrontational!

Vince: I am, in real life. Well, would you look here? It seems the simulator wants to feel more hurt.

Daniel: Easy pickings.

Lance: What? Can’t you boys keep up?

Daniel: Commander Lance?

Lance: You just want to get expelled, don’t you? Considering this is most likely your last act as GA cadets, let’s see what you’re made of. Hope your straps are on tight.

Daniel: Why? It’s not like these simulators are going to rocket off--woah! Whoo-hoo! Yeah!

Lance: You might want to pull your emergency brake right… now.

Vince: Y-your simulator almost killed me!

Lance: Huh, and Voltron contraband to boot. Wade would throw you in a secret holding cell to rot. Lucky for you, I’m not Wade. Boys, welcome to…

Pidge: The Den.

Lance: Cadets, I’d like you to meet--

Vince: You’re Pidge!

Daniel: The Green Lion pilot! That’s Hunk, the yellow lion!

Pidge: What are you doing? You’re not even welding anything.

Hunk: Yeah, but I wanted to make a cool entrance for these little dudes.

Lance: Mission accomplished.

Daniel: Is Keith here, too?

Lance: Always with the Keith.

[Transition to Keith breaking into a building, then back to the Den.]

Pidge: Why would you draw glasses on top of my glasses?

Daniel: Um, six eyes? I don’t know, I’m not an artist.

Hunk: Well, I’d better get back to duty, but I look forward to working with you clowns in the future.

Daniel: Huh?

Vince: Huh?

Lance: We need to keep up appearances. We’ve been pretending to be the epitome of a good soldier and loyal to Sky Marshal Wade so that he never suspects our underground activities. Pidge and Hunk have built this secret network that has access to Wade’s GA resources.

Pidge: It’s been quite useful in helping Keith on his secret mission.

Daniel: What kind of secret mission?

Lance: The kind that’s a secret.

Daniel: Okay, fine, but you still haven’t explained why we’re here. What does any of this have to do with us?

Lance: Let’s just say your talents have been noticed, and we’d like to cultivate them. In fact, how would you like to take a very cultivating course right now, taught by yours truly?

Vince: Totally! What’s the course?

Lance: Toilet Scrubbing 101. Oh, you’re right, you already have a bit of experience. We’ll call it 102.

[Cut to Keith continuing to infiltrate the building.]

Keith: Great.

Guard: All clear.

[Cut back to the Den.]

Daniel: Okay, we can tell there’s something cool going on here, but if it involves cleaning more toilets…

Lance: Look, I’m going to be asking you to do a lot of things in the future that won’t seem to make sense, but there will always be a reason. The question is, after what you’ve seen, do you trust me?

Daniel: I think so, but why won’t you just give us a straight answer about anything?

Lance: Partially because you aren’t ready to know, but mostly because it’s way more fun for me this way. So I’ll ask again: do you trust me? Because if you don’t, I can have Pidge erase this from your memory.

Daniel: Okay. We’re in.

Lance: Phew! That’s a huge relief, because we do not have a memory-erasing device. That’s science fiction.

[Cut to Keith walking through a corridor.]

Keith: What are you making, Wade?

Guard 1: Hey, you. Have you seen anyone suspicious?

Keith: Probably another false alarm set off by space mice or something.

Guard 2: Yeah, but we gotta run through the motions anyway.

Keith: Decrypt security code. Come on, come on. Shh. Shoo!

[Cut back to the Den.]

Lance: School is in session. How much do you know about Sky Marshal Wade?

Vince: He’s the head of the Galaxy Alliance’s military division.

Daniel: And a snart who hates Voltron.

Pidge: True, but it’s more complicated than that. Wade’s been wanting control of the alliance military for years, always claiming that Voltron was dangerous because the power within the lions is an ancient technology that isn’t fully understood.

Lance: Though we can’t prove it, we know he sabotaged Voltron to turn the public against it.

Daniel: I knew it!

Lance: Wade used this as an excuse to convince the Galaxy Alliance that Voltron’s power isn’t to be trusted. He got them to regulate the lions back to their storage chambers on Arus.

Pidge: However, I believe that Wade actually just wanted to study their technology.

Lance: While I believe it’s time to start your first class project. Wade is a well-decorated general, but he’s particularly proud of his four-stripe pin. Pidge has made a replica of this pin, and you boys are gonna swap this out.

Daniel: Your master revenge plan is switch out his favorite pin for a fake?

Lance: Yes. Remember our earlier conversation about trust?

Daniel: Remember you don’t have a mind-erasing device?

Lance: Touche. Let’s continue anyway, shall we? Latrine duty happens to be the only hole in Wade’s security. The toilet-cleaning cadets have pretty much unfettered access. And like all disciplined army men, Wade does everything on an air-tight schedule, and I mean everything. Now, we already know you have a talent for sneaking around, so when Wade’s coat is off for his “0600”, that’s your chance to make the swap. Should be a piece of cake.

[Transition to Daniel and Vince in Wade’s bathroom.]

Daniel: Nice.

Vince: Sweet.

Vince: I think this time he’s finished. Like us. How did you… What were you thinking?

Daniel: I didn’t think at all. Guess you’re lucky I’m impulsive.

Vince: Yeah, well, consider the “saving my life” debt paid. I was hoping to hold that over your head, but--

Wade: Look at this mess, you insufferable beast! I swear, if you chase one more mouse...

[Scene change to Keith, sneaking through the vents.]

Keith: Found you.

[Scene change back to Lance, Daniel, and Vince.]

Lance: Ah, there it is. Nice job, boys. Piece of cake, right?

Vince: More like piece of meat.

Lance: Well, you did such a good job, that I’ve decided to expel you from the academy, after all. Unless you’d rather stay and finish out your two terms of latrine. You are showing great promise in that field of study. Go on and pack your bags, boys. We’re taking a road trip.

[Scene change to space.]

Vince: This is all happening so fast.

Daniel: I often find fast is the best way.

Lance: So, I think you boys have earned the right to know a bit more about Wade’s pin. More like “pins”. And more like “keys” than “pins”.

Daniel: The keys to the lions!

Allura: Welcome to Arus, and welcome to the Castle of Lions.

Daniel: Whoa. Where’s the black key?

Lance: I assure you, it’s in good wrists.

End.

#voltron force #keith #lance #daniel #allura #manset #wade #vince #pidge #hunk #coran #transcript

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wolf-555-writer · 5 years

Text

Target On My Back Part 4

Sorry for the wait guys. But finally, here it is, the next part :).

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow x Reader

Summary: Now that you finally know your past, it’s debatable if it made you feel better or worse. How will this new information affect your work environment, and do you truly know everything? Because a person can only tell you what they know.

Word Count: 3,474

“Come on (Y/N), take a swing at me”, Natalia dares, standing in front of you with a proper stance, dangerous look and her guard up high. “Punch me”. She makes a small gesture with her hand, telling you to come closer. “I don’t want to hit you”, you insist, crossing your arms in refusal like a little child. You give a dismissive shrug and scoff. “And why are you even helping me huh?”. Turning away to break eye contact, you mumble, “It’s not like you care or something...”.

“You can't give up”, Natalia presses as she has dropped her arms, pretending she didn't hear you. It's pretty obvious that she cares. Though, she would never admit it, because that would be a weakness. “Wh- give up?! I've got this under control okay”, you lie, knowing damn well you have to get better or else you won’t graduate. “No you haven’t”. She’s terribly pushing it, although she’s right and today it’s getting on your nerves badly. You need her, considering you’re not good enough. A failure. Without her help you wouldn’t have made it this far. Not that you like it here - who could? - but it’s the only life you know. “I’ll take my chances. I’m done here”. Without batting an eye you walk away. Marching off with a heavy frown on your forehead when suddenly you lose balance and trip, front side of your body landing on the training mat, harsh. Balling your fists intensely and a raging, muffled grunt manages to escape as you get angry. Apparently Natalia floored you. Already hearing her say inside your head: looking over your shoulder should be second nature, blah blah, I always know it better, blah blah- Okay, maybe not that last part. In one movement you jump up from the ground and turn while swinging your left arm viciously, aimed at Natalia. Without any effort she dodges it. You try again, but now she has grabbed you instead and pulls a knife, pressing the sharp blade to your throat. She overpowered you. The usual.

Natalia is actually the only one that talks to you and trains with you. Nobody else here recognizes your existence. You’re an outsider. Could be because you were brought in to the Academy later than the others, making you a few years older than the rest of these kids. They might see you as a threat, you don’t know. “You can’t let your emotions take over”, Natalia states while holding you in a strong headlock. Hearing those words made you even more furious, now violently struggling to get yourself free. “One day it’ll get you killed”, she continues steadfastly. Desperately yanking on her arm to get loose, which causes the knife to be pressed even harder on your skin. A little too hard, probably in the heat of the moment, since there's blood slowly seeping out of the fresh cut just below your jawline. That’s gonna leave a nasty scar…

Truth is, you don’t care what the other girls think about you. Even though forced to remain at this place, you are not here to make friends. No, here you are tested, trained, manipulated, brainwashed and driven to the extreme. To be transformed into a skilled fighter, an expert marksman and an elite spy. Here, at the Red Room Academy, you are turned into one of the world's deadliest assassins.

“Agent (Y/L/N), come in. It’s good to have you back”. “It’s good to be back, sir”, you politely answer the Director of SHIELD as he welcomes you. It doesn’t happen often that Fury requests Agents other than Coulson or Hill to give a debrief. Yet, here you are, as if you’re called into the principal's office, nervously tapping your right foot, thinking what the reason could be. Is it about your past? Since Coulson told you everything, which was beyond doubt intended to remain a secret. Is he going to fire you? Or even worse? You know what SHIELD is capable of… Focus. Almost finished with bringing Director Fury up to speed about the covert operation you went on with Coulson and a team of highly specialized Agents. No contact with the outside world. It was a tough assignment, but you completed it. Precisely what you needed. Because after Coulson had given you your lost memories back, you had a hard time accepting them. But it’s what you wanted, right? Luckily this mission kept your mind busy. Although... could this have been your very last mission ever?

“Okay, Agent (Y/LN). Now the reason I called you here. It has come to my attention that Phil revealed you your past”, Fury speaks with a dead-serious tone. He turns around in his desk chair to face the glass covered wall - for dramatic effect? Why do people always do this? - and takes a long, distressing pause as he stares out the window. You grip the seat handles tighter. Muscles tensed and adrenaline level rising, ready to act if he's got something planned. You're prepared for everything. Prepared to do everything. “Coulson says you’re a good Agent. That you’ve proven yourself. Proven your loyalty to SHIELD”. He pauses again, followed by a deep, disappointing sigh. “So I hope the next thing I'm about to tell you isn't going to be a problem”. With a piercing gaze, he has his eyes, correction, his eye fixed on you as if you already know what he's about to say now that he’d turned back again, elbows on the desk and leaning forward in an intimidating manner. “While you were on assignment, some new recruits joined and I had to make a difficult decision”. Bracing yourself even more. You’ve scanned the surroundings, the first thing you do when entering unknown territory, and know what can be used as a weapon in Fury’s enormous office, if it comes to that.

“Considering you're one of our best Agents, I'd like you to train them and take them into the field”, he directs, his expression unchanged. Wait- What? Not really what you expected. Guess you’re not fired then. Quite the opposite actually, since the Director of SHIELD just called you one of their finest. “Um, thank you, sir”, you briskly add to mask your surprise. Relaxing, lowering back in the chair, you let go of the seat handles that you were still clutching tight with cramped up muscles. “Listen Agent (Y/L/N), I expect you to set aside any hard feelings whatsoever, ‘cause we're all professionals here at SHIELD. And I’d like to keep it that way, okay. Dismissed.”. Hold up... but you are? Following protocol and executing orders without questions asked, always devoted to the cause a hundred percent. Being the most, absolute professional an Agent can be. Where is this coming from? He faces the window again, but this time it’s meant as a silent cue for you to exit his office. No time to debate him, you swiftly stand up and leave.

In the hallway, being a bit confused by Fury’s vague end-remark and buried in thoughts, you accidentally bump into Agent Barton. “Oh, hey (Y/N)! There's somebody I'd like you to meet”, Clint cheerfully says. “Hey, sorry I-”. Unable to finish the sentence, you promptly look up and your jaw drops because you can’t believe the current view you’re staring at. She introduces herself, hand graciously stretched out in front of her. “Agent Romanoff”, a familiar voice speaks. Lightly curled red hair, fiery green eyes and those red lips you instantly recognize. It's Natalia, or Natasha, ‘cause apparently she changed her name. So... the new recruit Fury ‘warned’ about. Now it finally makes sense. Sadly, you’ll have to disappoint the Director, because you won’t be able to live up to his demand for professionalism. Ashamed, hurt, irritated, outraged– all kinds of emotions are rushing through your body right now, but only one radiates from your face clearly. Pure anger. How? How is this possible? Feeling like a complete failure once more and now that Natasha has joined SHIELD it’ll only get worse. Most important of all is that you let your emotions cloud your judgement during those encounters. That should've never happened. Not wanting to cause a massive scene in the middle of the hallway, so you don't say a word and make a low, inaudible sound before heading off. Good call, still holding on to your dignity. Natasha has grabbed your arm in an act of despair, but you shrug her hand away immediately. She stares at you with a perplexed look while Barton eases: “(Y/N) will come around. Give it some time”.

To clear your mind, you decided to go boxing. Fully concentrated on hitting the heavy bag with your knuckles powerfully. Wiping the sweat off your forehead when in the corner of your eye you see someone entering the training facility. It’s Natasha, but you ignore her. She’s still inside your head though, and as a reaction you start to punch even harder. Which wasn’t the smartest move, because it caught her attention. Agent Barton was tasked to take Black Widow out, the same assignment you had. But instead of letting her escape, like you did, he made a different call and managed to recruit her for SHIELD. And now here she is, holding the heavy bag steady for you with both hands.

“Are you mad?”, Natasha asks. “No, I'm not mad. What makes you say that?!”, you mutter, punching with even more force. So hard that the ex-spy lost balance and needed to take a step back to widen her stance. Last time you saw her, she saved your life - and also shot you - still remember that vividly… Thinking you would never see her again, and most certainly not as a SHIELD Agent. “I can clearly see something is bothering you”. She has raised her eyebrows and looks at you with a steady gaze. “Okay then”. You stop and submit to her question. Taking a deep breath in while your face radiates the same enraged expression as before. “Did you really think I wouldn't find out?!”, you shout at her, “What you did to me?!”. Natasha turned her head away, guilt clouding her features, because she knows exactly what you mean. The one moment she prayed you would forget forever.

“Let's go. We got a new assignment”, Natalia mentions while teasingly throwing your leather jacket in your face. Chilling on a couch, startled, you answer: “Oh, didn’t get any info about a new assignment”. Not that it matters, because you trust her. She’s the only one you trust in this messed up world. Wanting to grab your gear to get ready, but Natalia stops you. “No guns. We got to do this one unarmed”, she instructs while jiggling with the car keys as a sign to leave promptly. “Guess I'll be shotgun this time then”, you joke - assassin humor or something - while following Natalia who can’t help but grin.

Climbing, concentrated on finding the right path, you’ve taken the lead along the rough terrain. You had driven through the mountains and when the road ended, Natalia and you had to continue on foot. It’s cold. Your hands are starting to get numb from touching the rocks, covered in snow or a thin layer of ice. There were assignments before in these types of chilly, Russian areas, but then you at least had some equipment with. Not like now. Something’s off.

“Where are we heading again, Nat?”, you ask, not looking back, too focussed on where to put your feet next without slipping. “We’re almost there, just a couple of kilometers North. And there we’ll find a bunker. My contact will get us inside”. Her tone… She tries to sound normal, but she’s definitely hiding something. You can hear it. It’s difficult to notice, but you know her too well. Makes you question your presence here. “What kind of assignment is this exactly?”, you ask further, hoping she’ll answer you this time. Not wanting to sound suspicious, but she also knows you too well.

A familiar sound makes you come to a halt. Sighing deeply as you shut your eyes and lower your head in an act of realization. “I thought you said no guns allowed”. You turn around and the barrel of Natalia’s gun is pointed right at you. It stays silent while you both stare at each other. There is no mission. Well, not for you, only for Natalia. “So, you have nothing to say to me?”. “I got my orders”, she responds cold-blooded, showing no emotions whatsoever. A kill-order, instructed to take you out. “So that’s it? I don’t mean anything to you?”. “You were always the one to break orders. Not me”, the redhead judges. Being a double-spy, feeding intel to an organization called SHIELD and the secret meetings with your contact man named Coulson. Unfortunately, that didn’t go unnoticed. Gun still fixed on her target, but she hesitates to pull the trigger. She doesn’t know why, however, it gives you an opportunity. You quickly kick the weapon out of her hand, whereas it falls off the cliff as you both follow its trajectory with your eyes. “I won’t go down without a fight”, you assure, guard up high and not ready to die yet. “Didn't expect otherwise”, she asserts while also assuming a combative posture. She makes a small gesture with her hand, daring you to come closer. And that’s precisely what you do. You bolt towards her and swing your leg. She ducks and you rapidly follow with a punch to the head which she barely blocks with her arm. That’s when you notice Natalia’s holding a knife in her hand. “How many secret weapons are you hiding there Nat?”, you say in between breathing. “I don’t kiss and tell (Y/N)”, she teases, a subtle grin on her face while sending you a quick wink. Firmly shoving the knife in your direction whereas you slip or pivot, intended at evading the razor-sharp blade.

Easier said than done. Multiple cuts and a stab wound later you manage to disarm her as she wanted to trap you in a strong headlock with the edged knife meant for your throat. This weapon awaits the same fate as Natalia’s gun as you toss it far away. Giving Natalia the time to land an elbow on your nose. The taste of blood now dominating in your mouth. “Can’t you see that what we are doing is wrong?”, you preach to Natalia, wiping the blood from your face, panting and out of breath. Well aware of the consequences, but you betrayed the KGB anyway. “Oh, look who’s got a conscience now”, she mocks, also getting weary from this unceasing battle. “How could you betray me like this? I trusted you”, Natalia continues, finally letting those emotions out. “Me?! YOU are the traitor here. You don’t see me killing someone I love”. Gasping, because it’s the first time you said those words out loud. Natalia freezes, forgetting how to breathe for a second and her expression lost. But not for long as she attacks again, with success. “You were also the one to let your emotions take over. Not me”, she utters while you struggle to stand up. More drops of your blood hit the white snow as it turns to red. Unable to distinguish which blood on the ground is yours or hers. Exhausted, freezing cold and your entire body aching. Everything hurts. “Let’s just stop this. Look at us”, you urge. This has been, and still is, a fight like never before. Devastating. Physically, but also mentally, even though one person doesn’t show it. “Do you want this to be the end?”. Inseparable since the day you met at the Academy. “I-I can’t...”, she hesitates, slightly showing some emotion again, eyes glinting. Then it quickly fades and the deadpan expression reappears as she forces: “I have to complete my assignment”.

You’re not defeated, not yet. But she’s better than you, always has been. In the Red Room, at the KGB and also now, right here. Feeling like a drained battery, energy level becoming critically low, you bring your arms up once again to protect your damaged body. However, Natalia is a few seconds faster, and her solid boot hits your chest as you fall backwards, crashing onto the rocky ground. Heart rate spiking now that your upper body’s dangling above the cliff, you almost slid off the mountain ridge. Natalia reached for your ankle real quick and created a distance immediately afterwards. You laugh, interchanged with short, painful groans, but not because it’s funny. “Guess you know me too well”. You shake your head. It’s over. The never-ending match just ended. The assassin is pointing a gun at you. The spare one you always carry with you, hidden from everyone, or that’s what you thought at least. Standing up, you carefully step towards her and beg: “Nat, don't- don’t do this”. This time she doesn’t falter and fires without even blinking. You stop at the sound of the gun discharging, look at Natalia and then down at your chest which is gradually turning to dark red. One bullet. Pierced through your skin, effortlessly. Reaching for the shot wound with your right hand as you collapse to your knees, beaten. “I-I know you love me too, just- Nat, please…”, you stammer in fear and pain, desperately trying to reach her a final time. She stays silent while she nears and moves her leg up. Boot firmly placed on your chest, she pushes with all her strength left. Ruthless and without mercy. Completely powerless and having lost all hope, you fall. Pulled down by gravity, you disappear into the daunting, snowy ravine.

Coulson showed you the unredacted, original SHIELD files and has told you everything he knew. Natalia- No, Natasha, ugh whatever, lied to you, withheld your connection, betrayed your trust, and tried to kill you for god's sake (and almost succeeded too, if it wasn’t for Coulson who had found you more dead than alive in the snow that day). To be fair, you tried to kill her too- okay, but that was ‘different’.

“I know I did that. I can’t change what I did back then, I can only be better now”, Natasha admits, having a truthful glaze in her eyes. With clenched teeth, you loosen the boxing gloves and growl: “Then you better start with leaving me the hell alone”. Never having felt so outraged and betrayed before. Wait- why does this sound so familiar? Probably been going around a lot these days. Anyways, Natasha tried to calm you down again, same as she did earlier. “I’m just trying to fix this”. But you couldn’t take it and had aggressively thrown the gloves aside. “I don’t believe you have any intention to fix this. And it’s too late anyway. You’ve done enough”. Wanting to get away from her as far as possible, you exit the training room. The former assassin stays behind and stares at you with hopeless eyes again, speaking words you can’t hear anymore. “(Y/N)... There’s so much I want to tell you”. Ever considered Coulson wasn’t the one beside you all the time? Because someone else was. And she, well, she does know everything. Natasha thinks back to the aftermath of that fatal moment in the Russian mountains.

A cold breeze on her scarred skin makes her shiver. All alone, she’s standing on the edge, gazing down into the void. In the dark, cold emptiness where you vanished in. Completing her assignment, the kill-order. But this one... this one was different. Natalia killed one of her own, a Black Widow. A friend. The only person she trusted. Or thought she trusted. Trying to get a hold of her breathing to slow it down. Her entire body is trembling. She looks at her hands, they’re shaking. Skin on her knuckles cracked and colored blood red. Snapping out of her lost state as she senses a sting on her face. A tear is rolling down her cheek. The redhead wipes it away quickly and decides to leave this awful site. No. Love is for children. It’s a weakness, she repeats in her head. Not looking for your body at the bottom of the cliff. She just can’t. It’s one of the hardest assignments Natalia ever needed to do. Also the one she will regret for the rest of her life. A burner phone in hand, stolen from her trusted friend who's stupid actions forced her to do what she had done today, she sends a text with the current location to the single contact listed, named C., and dumps the device afterwards. Setting off, never returning to this place ever again, she softly whispers:

“Goodbye (Y/N). I hope you can forgive me...”

PART 5

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angelofthequeers · 4 years

Text

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 47

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

@smolplantmum tagged as requested :)

Chapter 46 | Chapter 48 | AO3 link

As Ladybug swings through Paris after Adrien’s departure, people stop and point and whisper after her, but she can’t find it in her to give half a damn about what they’re saying. Honestly, being Marinette would be way preferable to being Ladybug right now, because then at least she could go undetected in the crowd and not have to deal with the fallout of Adrien’s revealed identity nearly as much as she does now, because there’s no way that’s not what at least half the people down there are talking about.

God, what is she even going to do if Adrien does lose his Miraculous? Sure, she can work with another partner to get the job done, but…they won’t be Chat Noir. They won’t have that nearly-unspoken bond that she and Chat Noir have built. They won’t have the experience, they weren’t there on that first day when she was at her most inexperienced and her lowest, but she’s being selfish by continuing down this train of thought, she needs to do what’s right for Paris –

“Uh, Ladybug?” Chloé’s tapping her foot with crossed arms in front of Ladybug. Huh. Ladybug’s on the roof of Le Grand Paris. When had she arrived at the hotel? “Are you gonna stand there all day, or should I just go and announce your presence to Hawkmoth?”

“Sorry.” Ladybug shakes her head. “Just…got a lot on my mind.”

Chloé’s face softens. “Whatever. Just c’mon, already. Souris, Ryuuko, and Luka are already here.”

When Chloé had mentioned a superhero suite, Ladybug had been picturing a spacious hotel room; nothing too big, but certainly big enough for a team of six – now seven – superheroes. What she hadn’t been expecting, however, is a massive spread of three rooms to rival Chloé’s imperial suite, and her mouth falls open when Chloé holds the door open for her and she gets her first glimpse.

“I know, right?” Chloé says smugly. “Daddy nearly fell over himself to arrange it when I said that I came with a request from the superheroes themselves. It doesn’t have much yet, but I can get whatever movies we want and a mini fridge and microwave in case we want snacks or need to refuel our kwamis, and there’s only one bed but I plan on getting more –”

“Chloé. Honey,” Ladybug interrupts with a wan smile. “It’s perfect. Thank you for being so considerate.”

“Oh, of course.” Chloé tosses her ponytail. “Anyway, I’m gonna go back up there to wait for the fox and turtle.”

“Thanks, Chloé.”

Once Chloé shuts the suite door behind her, Ladybug turns to head into the right room, assuming the layout is the same as Chloé’s suite. Sure enough, she finds Ryuuko, Luka, and Petite Souris waiting on massive white couches, with platters of food on the table for them to snack on.

“Ma – Ladybug!” Luka’s eyes light up when she enters the room.

“You,” Ladybug growls, “are an idiot and I’m going to kill you.”

Luka’s face falls. “I don’t regret a thing,” he says. “I’d do it ten times over if it meant keeping you all safe.”

“Logically, it was the smart move,” Ryuuko says. “But I agree with Ladybug. I just might end up throttling you for it.”

“I don’t understand anything that’s going on right now, and I’m afraid to ask,” Petite Souris says, looking between each of them while blinking slowly.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Ladybug says. Ryuuko and Luka’s eyes widen.

“Are you sure?” Ryuuko says.

“I’m positive,” Ladybug says. “Hawkmoth knows who Chat Noir is now. We need to be able to fully work together as a team, in and out of the masks.”

Chloé returns at that moment with Rena Rouge and Carapace, who look like they’ve been bashed around the head as they take in the suite. Chloé just snorts and sits next to Petite Souris, whose jaw drops along with Luka’s at the sight of Pollen poking her head out of her cardigan.

“What?” Chloé snaps. “I know I fucked up as Queen Bee, but I’ve been a damn good Honeybee.”

“Hey, no one’s saying you’re not,” Ladybug says. “Calm down, Chloé. I just don’t think they were expecting you to be Honeybee because of how we made sure to throw everyone off the trail.”

“Oh. Right.”

“It doesn’t feel right without Adrien here,” Rena Rouge says after a few seconds of silence. Ladybug sighs and pulls her legs up so that she can hug her knees.

“I know. I hope his father doesn’t grill him too much. But there’s no way we’re replacing him, no matter how angry Mr Agreste gets.”

“Y’know, I never hated anyone except Hawkmoth before,” Carapace says. “But I kinda feel like that about Lila now for all the shit she’s done.”

“Don’t hate her,” Luka says. “That’s energy you could be directing elsewhere.”

“Luka’s right,” Ryuuko says. “Pour that energy into Adrien instead of Lila.”

“Um,” Ladybug says. “So, uh…I guess I should tell you all that I’m not in a four-way love square, but I am dating Adrien. Chat. Both.”

“Say, what?” Rena Rouge squints at Ladybug. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Because I’m tired of keeping secrets.” Ladybug clenches her fists. “Hawkmoth already knows who Chat Noir is, and part of the Miraculous magic means that akumas can’t read our minds or make us say who we are. The only thing they can do is take our Miraculouses themselves or brainwash us into physically coming to them as a Miraculous holder.”

“We’re revealing our identities?” Chloé says. “I mean, your identities, since everyone already knows who I am. Thanks, Shellhead.”

“Hey, that’s my nickname for him,” Rena Rouge complains. Chloé flips her off in response.

“Ryuuko and Luka already know who both of us are,” Ladybug says. “And Chat and I know every one of you. So, back to why I just mentioned the whole relationship mess.” Ladybug takes a deep breath and laces her fingers. This is it. No going back. But she’d trust every single teammate with her life – even Petite Souris, after today – and if knowing each other will strengthen their bonds? “We need to be able to fully trust each other, in and out of the mask. We’re a team. We’ve got the group chat to coordinate, but some of us know an identity or two, so our dynamic is rather…imbalanced if you ask me. And since Hawkmoth knows who Chat is, he could target Chat to find out our identities. It can’t possibly be any more dangerous for all of us to know each other if the pay-off is a stronger bond between all of us. Unlike Hawkmoth and his akumas, we can rely on each other.”

“Dude, if you’re trying to convince us, I don’t think you need to,” Carapace says. Ladybug’s lips twitch.

“I just want a promise from all of you,” she says. “Today, I was nearly distracted to the point of uselessness because someone I care about – Luka – was hurt by Sanguisuga. And ever since Chat and I found out each other’s identities, it’s become so much harder to watch him take hits for me. I want you all to promise that you’ll see each other as teammates first and friends second. Don’t just ignore your teammates and not care, obviously, but don’t let yourselves get distracted and take unnecessary hits. One of the reasons to keep our identities secret is so that if, say, two of us were best friends or dating, we wouldn’t let our emotions get the better of us in the middle of a fight.”

“Of course,” Ryuuko says. “And besides, your cure fixes everything.”

Ladybug lets out a shaky laugh. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. But even if I’m not around to fix things –”

“Ridiculous,” Chloé scoffs. “Ladybug always wins. You just have to accept that if it comes down to it, we have to take the hits for you so you can fix everything. It’s not us being ridiculously noble or whatever. It’s literally just common sense.”

“Apart from Adrien,” Rena Rouge snorts. “God, now I get why he was crushing so hard on Ladybug. But hey, I haven’t been ridiculously noble, have I?”

“No,” Ladybug says. “You’ve done a good job of prioritising the mission since Faux News.”

“I promise,” Petite Souris says. Rena Rouge and Carapace chime in their agreement, so Ladybug cracks a weak smile while still fiddling with her fingers.

“So, uh, who wants to go first?” she says.

“Ooh, me!” Rena Rouge bounces on the spot with gleaming eyes. “If I have to keep it a secret any longer, I’m gonna explode. Let’s rest.” In a flash of orange light, Alya’s sitting in her spot with Trixx drifting down to sit on her shoulder. The way Carapace’s eyes pretty much bulge out of his head behind his goggles is so comical that Ladybug almost ends up in hysterical giggles. Almost. If she didn’t have to be professional about this…

“I – uh – guh –” Carapace splutters.

“Eww!” Chloé leans away from Alya. “I’ve been bonding with Césaire?”

“You think it wasn’t a slap in the face knowing you were Honeybee?” Alya says with a raised eyebrow. “Especially since I had to help you by throwing everyone off after Malediktator?”

“Blueberries!” Trixx zooms at the plate of fruit and dives into the berries. Chloé wrinkles her nose when he shovels one into his mouth.

“At least my kwami is dignified,” Chloé says. Pollen laughs and slips out of Chloé’s jacket to hover in mid-air.

“Indeed, my queen,” she says.

“Shell off,” Carapace manages to force out. An ashen-faced Alya chokes and nearly falls off the couch when Nino appears next to her in Carapace’s place.

“Nino?” she shrieks. “My superhero rival – my boyfriend?”

“I hated your guts!” Nino jabs a finger at her. “I thought you were flirting with me!”

“I wasn’t! I thought you were a dick! We hated each other because we loved each other?”

“Wait, you love me?” Nino’s eyes fill with stars. Alya groans and facepalms.

“Yes, you idiot! I even started to like Carapace, like some sort of superhero cliché, but noooo, I had to be loyal to my boyfriend because I’m not polyamorous! And it turns out that he was my love-hate rival!”

“DJ Tupac? Of course!” Chloé throws her hands up in the air. “And let me guess, dragon girl’s secretly Marinette or something?”

Ryuuko snorts. “Wrong red superhero with black hair. Open skies.”

The first person who seems to put all the puzzle pieces together upon seeing Kagami is Alya. Her eyes nearly pop out of her head, and she opens and closes her mouth like a goldfish, and then she shakily points from Ladybug to Kagami and then Luka.

“You – all of you – dating – and all of us – ohmygodmybestieisLadybugI’mgonnafuckingdie –”

“Please don’t,” Ladybug laughs, while Nino, Chloé, and Petite Souris splutter and have their own freak-outs at the realisation of her identity. “I’d hate to have to replace you. Spots off.”

“Finally!” Kagami bounds over to Marinette’s couch so that she can wrap her arms around Marinette’s waist and rest her head in Marinette’s lap, while Longg floats up to join his fellow kwamis. Luka’s only seconds behind, dropping down next to Marinette and drawing her into a side embrace.

“Hello!” Tikki settles on Marinette’s head and waves. “I’m Tikki, Ladybug’s kwami! Pleased to finally meet you all!”

“That’s the toy I gave Prince Ali! I looked up to Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” Chloé shrieks. “All that bullying and then sucking up – oh my god, this is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous –”

“Look at it this way, Chloé,” Marinette says. “How else did I know how your progress was going? Why else would I have picked you for the Bee?”

“I – I mean, sure, if you look at it that way –”

“Get calm!” Petite Souris blurts out and turns into Mylène in a flash of pale pink light.

“Mylène?” Alya exclaims. “Wait, since when are you a superhero, girl?”

“Since today.” Mylène holds her head high despite how her whole body is trembling. On her knee, the little rat kwami – Mullo, Marinette believes his name is – shoots her an approving look. “I understand if I wasn’t your first choice, Ladybug. Chat Noir said that I was the first one he could find –”

“That doesn’t make you a bad choice,” Marinette says firmly. “You did very well today. You saved me and Kagami, and you tried to take on Sanguisuga even though you were scared. You were super brave. Maybe Petite Souris can help you be brave as Mylène too.”

“Ugh, no wonder you were all “triumph of evil is good people doing nothing” and whatever,” Chloé says.

“Actually, that was thanks to me,” Alya says. “Ladybug’s best friend. Who I said I’d do on my freebie list. Oh my god.”

“Guys, the reveal was to make us stronger, not make us argue over little stuff,” Marinette says before Alya can start freaking out at the realisation that her celebrity crush is her best friend.

“We’ve been reactive for way too long,” Kagami says. “Hawkmoth now knows Chat Noir’s identity. We need to proactively try and find him before he can cause more harm.”

“Honestly, part of the reason why we’ve been so reactive is that Tikki didn’t think we were ready,” Marinette admits. “Who knows how long he’s been a Butterfly wielder? But with this team, I know we can take a more proactive stance.”

“We should start coming up with some ideas now, then,” Luka says. “You can fill Adrien in through the group chat tonight.”

“Good idea!” Mylène rummages around in her bag for a notebook and pen. “We can write our ideas down in here. I’m always prepared for when Ivan thinks of song lyrics and doesn’t have anything to write them down with!”

“So.” Marinette cards her fingers through Kagami’s hair; such a normal action as opposed to the conversation they’re about to have. “Any ideas?”

But before anyone can toss a suggestion into the air, a tiny black thing comes barrelling through the open window of the superhero suite and skids to a halt above the table of food.

Wait. It’s not a thing. It’s…Plagg? With the ring around him?

“Plagg?” Marinette gasps. “What are you doing here? Where’s Adrien?”

“I’m sorry!” Plagg says with wild green eyes. “I’m sorry, Marinette, I tried to stop it, but I –”

“Plagg, slow down!” Tikki zooms up to Plagg and grabs his tiny paws, and she’s joined by Trixx, Wayzz, Pollen, Longg, and Mullo. “Was Adrien compromised? Tell us what happened.”

Plagg nods shakily. “So, Pigtails, remember when you and Adrien thought his dad could be Hawkmoth?”

Marinette claps a hand to her mouth to keep down the bile that threatens to rise into her throat. “Mr Agreste is Hawkmoth?” she whispers. “But – Adrien’s there! With him! And I just let him go! Plagg, what happened to Adrien?”

“His mother’s alive,” Plagg rasps. “Creepy dude’s been keeping her in some life support thing in the basement. That’s why he wants the Miraculouses: he wants to wish her back.”

“Wait, what?” Mylène says, while Chloé pales to the colour of chalk.

“A-Auntie Emilie?” she whispers.

“Combining the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses lets you make one wish,” Tikki says. “But doesn’t he know that he has to pay a price of equal value? What if he has to sacrifice Adrien?”

“Doesn’t even matter right now.” Plagg covers his face with his hands and groans. “I shouldn’t have left! I shouldn’t have ditched my kitten like that! Now he’s Phantom and –”

“Wait. Phantom?” Luka leans forward so suddenly that Marinette nearly topples sideways. One look at his face is enough to make Marinette shiver, because Luka Couffaine isn’t a boy who gets angry easily, but his expression right now is terrifying enough to make her want to hand over her earrings just to erase it from existence. “Adrien was akumatised?”

Chloé lets out a loud gasp, while everyone else looks to be turning various shades of green. “Adrikins! How could his father do that to him?”

“He tried to resist,” Plagg says miserably. “My poor kitten tried so hard. But between finding out his dad’s Hawkmoth and his mum’s alive…he managed to resist enough to not tell Hawkie who you guys are, though.”

“So…is Phantom going to come after us, even if he didn’t reveal who we are?” Kagami says, pushing herself up so that she can reach over and grab Marinette and Luka’s hands. “He knows our identities.”

“Not yet.” Plagg shakes his head viciously. “As far as he knows, you guys aren’t meeting till tonight. But…he’s gonna take Hawkmoth to get other Miraculouses.”

Marinette shrieks and tries to jump to her feet so quickly that her arms are forced to windmill so that she doesn’t fall flat on her face. “Master Fu! He knows where to find Master Fu!”

“Master who?” Chloé says.

“Master Fu!” Wayzz’s yellow eyes are wide with horror. “The Guardian of the Miraculouses! My previous holder!”

“Guys!” Marinette takes a deep breath and starts mildly flapping her hands to give her a physical anchor to focus on. “Okay. Make sure you stick together. We don’t know how strong Phantom is or what his powers are, especially if Hawkmoth is with him. I have to get to Master Fu before Phantom does.”

“Possession and bending others to his will,” Plagg says quietly. “He’s literally a ghost. A shade of himself.”

Marinette winces. “Great. God, I hope Adrien doesn’t remember any of this when we save him…”

“Bits and pieces.” Chloé’s shoulders slump. “They’re not really concrete memories. They’re like little flashes that come when there’s a reminder.”

“We’ll come with you,” Kagami says, then holds up a hand before Marinette can protest. “You shouldn’t go alone in case Phantom and Hawkmoth are there. We can help take down Hawkmoth, and I can at least buy us some time to get away if we need to retreat.”

“So can I, with Mirage,” Alya chimes in.

“Kagami’s right,” Tikki says. “Master Fu would much rather you bring back-up, even if it means other people knowing where he is. And if Hawkmoth finds him, it won’t really matter much, will it?”

“You’re right,” Marinette sighs. “Okay. Plagg, where’s the akuma, do you know?”

“The charm you gave him back during the game tournament.” Plagg’s ears droop. “It’s around his wrist. That’s all I saw before I got the heck outta there.”

“Everyone get that?” Marinette says, and her teammates nod. “Don’t take unnecessary risks. We’ve got each other’s backs, but don’t lose focus, or Hawkmoth could get away with Adrien and the Miracle Box. Speaking of…Luka, if you’re willing, could you –?”

Plagg’s already swooping down to Luka before Marinette can finish speaking. Luka nods and holds out his hand so that Plagg can rest on his palm and deposit the ring.

“Of course, Marinette,” he says, slipping the ring onto his finger.

“Right. Let’s do this!” Marinette says. “Tikki, spots on!”

“Plagg, claws out!”

“Trixx, let’s pounce!”

“Pollen, buzz on!”

“Wayzz, shell on!”

“Longg, bring the storm!”

“Mullo, get squeaky!”

In a burst of rainbow light, seven superheroes take the place of seven teenagers. Luka’s Black Cat outfit is him to a tee: just a green-lined black leather jacket with a green paw print on the back of the jacket and his black fingerless gloves, over a high-collared black top, torn black pants with bright green visible beneath the rips, black combat boots, a studded black belt that falls into a tail behind him, green cat eyes behind a plain black mask, and green-lined black cat ears sticking out of his hair, which is now tipped in bright green. He reaches back to unclip his baton from the small of his back and nods, his mouth set in a stormy line.

“Just call me Noir,” he says. “Doesn’t feel right to come up with a name and everything when I’m not the real Black Cat. And Hawkmoth will probably guess who I am anyway.”

With a terrifying light in her eyes, Honeybee cracks her knuckles and growls, “That son of a bitch is gonna pay for what he’s done to my Adrikins.”

“Sorry, Honeybee, but you’ll have to get in line,” Ryuuko says, unsheathing her sword. The zing that results is sharp and deadly, honing Ladybug’s focus to the mission before her because with no Chat Noir, it’s up to her to step up and be the sole leader. As amazing as Noir is, he’s not Chat Noir.

“Everyone ready?” she says. Her teammates nod, so she takes a deep breath. “Then let’s go and kick butterfly butt.”

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #aotq fic #aotq: hold me #marinette dupain-cheng #kagami tsurugi #ryuuko #luka couffaine #cat!luka #alya cesaire #rena rouge #nino lahiffe #carapace #chloe bourgeois #mylene haprele #akumatized adrien #identity reveal #final battle next boooyyyyssss

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rosewood-writes-and-reviews · 4 years

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My expectations on MK11 Aftermath and the new DLC Kharacters:

Well, I never thought I’d talk about MK11 on my movie/game Review blog, but here we are!

First off, the revealed DLC Kharacters: Robocop (why??), Sheeva (YES!), and Fujin (DOUBLE YES!!). Every Fujin fans’ dream has come true, Fujin is finally in MK11 with Raiden. I was expected Sheeva to be out in there, so I’m super happy about her addition in there. Once again, I have mixed feelings on the DLC Kharacters. I get that Robocop was popular in the ‘80’s along with Jason Vorhees, Freddy Kruger, and whatever other ‘80’s fictional character was popular, but they kinda wasted one slot for a character that’s basically similar-ish to T-800 (The Terminator). But that’s just my nitpick-y mindset.

Moving away from DLC Characters, let’s talk about the biggest major DLC Story that NRS will possibly mess up if done incorrectly. So Sindel is going to be a part of the story, but it seems like Shang Tsung has a trick up his sleeve in MK11 Aftermath. This is one of NRS’s opportunities to fix Sindel. If didn’t do anything, then Sindel is still messed up and they just added her in there as one of the bad guys. If they at least paid attention to the MK11 Sindel Controversy and the fans who were outraged by her sudden character change, then we might see the REAL Sindel, not this one dimensional, lustful Female Shao Kahn clone we needed up getting. The concept of Sindel is that she looks evil, but she’s actually a benevolent leader and loves her daughter. Her MK9 ending also has her restore Edenia to its former glory and gains respect from Outworld and becomes a great leader, which is what she was before she sacrificed herself. And that’s the tea. The real Sindel is a loving mother and an amazing queen to her people.

Phew, besides that mini Sindel rant I had to go on about, let’s talk about Sheeva, shall we? Sheeva has a plan to resurrect Sindel for whatever plan will benefit Outworld. I’m not sure yet because we have to wait till May 26th. Sheeva has revealed that she has worked for Sindel long ago and it looked like she messed up big time when Kitana says to Sheeva, “What have you done?” So it’s implied that a hero messed up in the Aftermath. Speaking of Shang Tsung, since he’s obviously up to no good, he’s probably in the process of brainwashing Sindel again or lying to her. Not to mention he showed no remorse when one of the Tarkatans fell into the Dead Pool (not to be confused with the Merc With a Mouth from Marvel) and he just stood there and smiled.

It’s refreshing to have DLC MK characters be a part of a story at least instead of having to listen to pre-match dialogue to learn about the character.

Hopefully The Aftermath fixes Sindel, Shang Tsung is the new antagonist to replace Kronika, Nightwolf and Fujin will play a big role which is a big guarantee, and I swear to gosh, I hope the player gets to play as Erron Black or any neutral or evil character. But will never happen because he’s not a good guy. He’s probably just gonna be a punching bag for the heroes. Because NRS.

#mortal kombat #mk11 #mk11 aftermath

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arkus-rhapsode · 4 years

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Ok. So what do you think of the latest chapters of fairy tail 100 years quests? What what's happening to characters? I think you're so possed that you even stopped reading more

Hoo boy... *Cracks knuckles* We may be here for a while.

So before I start, let me make clear that I actually keep up with 100YQ, though not for any actual interest anymore. I now stay with it for ironic enjoyment. Because I could say EZ has dumb stuff, but at this point, if you’re Hiro Mashima’s main audience, its fine. No, 100YQ is unique in that it has WTF moments that transcend just the FT fandom sensibilities.

Before I dig in, I’m gonna lay out some formatting rules because we’re cover A LOT. Im gonna be fair and split this up into positive and negative aspects of the series. Because I at least try to be intellectually in what I do.

To avoid from going on tangents and jumping around, I’m gonna be going in chronological order of events. Now this will not be an overview of the series up to this point because that’s stuff I’ve already talked about. Instead I’m gonna start from the point this went from genuine interest to ironic interest. That begin the Whited Out FT Guild.

Positives:

The concept of the wood dragon god having a kingdom on his back is really cool world building. Its actually something that I really liked about the Sea Dragon God as well. Having a realm reliant on the dragon as well as a reason to revere them. What with the water dragon god controlling the tides while wood dragon god is the supporting the city on his back actually makes them seem like god figures and adds to the lore of the world of Earthland in a way that Ishgar and Alvarez sorely failed at.

Laxus punching out Kyria. Petty yes, as Kyria is my least favorite dragon slayer. However a lot of Whited out FT mages were getting jobbered like crazy or just given unceremonious defeats. So Laxus actually seeming like an obstacle was good.

The cat twist with Touka is actually a funny bit of trolling and was one of the few times there was effective foreshadowing with Touka having a tail. (Too bad it was suck in the meandering Gajeel plot.)

The Dragon Eater guild is a much better final villain army than Spriggan 12. The 12 had little structure as to who was the stronger members, resulting in multiple Spriggans feeling like such major disappointments.

Most Mashima Villain organizations tend to broken up like this: Boss->Special Units (I.E Spriggan 12, Nine Demon Gates, Element 4)->Fodder Units.

No one cares when the fodder of a villain group is beaten as they’re just faceless minions. However, when you get to the special unit, that’s wheen there are actual obstacles and the villains start becoming more like characters. However, Hiro has been bad at this when he’s dealing with bigger organizations.

He never had to worry about telling you which member of the villain group’s special unit were more powerful than the others. Due to working with units composed of low amounts of characters, such as Team Lyon, Element 4, and Death’s Head.

You could say that all were roughly around the same power threshold. However, where the spriggan 12 royally failed was there were 12 of them in that unit and they were all just given the blanket term of being on the same level of the number 1 wizard saint. Yeah... that’s a check so large that Hiro could not cash it.

Hiro even seemed to retroactively acknowledge this by stating that August, Irene, and Larcarde were the three best to cover his ass for the fact that all the spriggans seemed to be jobbered far easier than ones supposedly equal to the number 1 saint.

However, the Dragon Eaters are opponents we’re gradually introduced to over the storyline and we actually see a demonstration of what a group of them can do, instead of 1 just trying take on all of team Natsu at once. We see that Skullion’s team is roughly equal to Team Natsu, giving us a gauge for the Dragon Eater strength, but then we get both Wraith and Nebal, underlings not part of Skullion’s thre man team, implying that are of a weaker variety and thus serving as a stepping stone to fight Skullion. But also introducing us to the Black Dragon Slayer Cavalry. Members above Skullion’s team that give us an idea if when they show up what the audience should expect of their strength level.

There’s a reason why in One Piece why Yonkou opperations have so many categories. You’re not gonna care about the minor thugs, but by making a distinction between the Headliners and the Disasters in Kaidou’s crew, you’ve made it so that we the audience will not feel disappointed if a Headliner is beat by a weaker character like say Usopp but still know that they are more than a foot soldier so this win meant something.

Now time for the negatives:

The concept of White Out is not awful, and is actually a fairly interesting concept for a villain motivation in FT. However, the White Witch is one of the most transparently evil characters in the series, thus you know that she’s doing this morally ambiguous action because she’s evil. Imagine if this were about humans or royals who feared the growing power of mages. Or a disillusioned mage with the concept of people like Zeref or the GMG, where is seems like magic is endless and how that’s a threat to the world. No, White Witch really seems like she wants to be this grand manipulator and actively enjoys calling heer whited out people, puppets.

However, there’s also the fact the whiting out doesn’t make too much sense. Some characters seem like mind controlled puppets like Juvia, while others are basically the same except their evil now like Gajeel, Mira, Elfman, Laxus. And some are dumb jokes like Jellal.

So there’s no consistency to this brainwashing. Only other time I’ve seen a mind control plot like that in media before is Yugioh GX. Sometimes people act like they’ve been brainwashed into something different like Alexis. But then people like Bastion and a lot of the gag members of the society like Rose and Bob act as if they’re not affected by anything.

Yeah, this white witch plot feels distractedly ripped off from the society of Light from Yugioh GX.

The concept of Team Natsu vs FT in the vain of the fighting festival arc is dumb narratively from two standpoints. First from a story standpoint in the idea that why the battle of FT arc was opportunity, due to the fact they were all willing to fight to free the frozen girls. Which allowed for others to show shades to their motivations Like Alzack willing to mow through his other comrades for Bisca or Thunder God Tribe assisting in protecting Laxus so he’s the last man standing. There’s a tangible reward on th line that motivates the characters to act as do.

Here, the characters are clearly fighting against their will because of an intangible force. This white magic makes them slaves and are fighting because “white doctrine.” Something they only believeebecause brainwashing. As such, you want to see Natsu and gang beat them up to stop the white witch and free them. There’s no force or intrigue that makes the audience care about both sides like seeing Alzack vs Jet and Droy because you know they both want to save their partners but only one can. Instead people only care because a surface level of “friend turned evil” device. It takes the B and C list cast of the FT guild and makes them props.

And from a meta standpoint, there is no tension, due to the fact this is a post final battle with acnologia Team Natsu. The team is bounds ahead of so many guild members like Macao, Reedus, Max etc. that the only real threat is the S class mages. So that makes that big page spread of evil FT in cult robes dull as only like 3 of them are gonna actually matter.

Then there’s Wraith. Nebal was a boring an generic crazy guy is unimpressive, Wriath was actually really interesting at first. Is ghost magic allowed for an interesting fight and his possession actually having limitations on how effective it was made for a cool skill.

But then the reveal about him and Makarov. I eye-rolled at that point, but then I saw the previews and was like, maybe this’ll be the best thing to come out of this series. Everyone wants to know more about past FT around team Makarov’s time.

But all the potential of young Makarov and young Porylusica and the rest of their team is put on fast forward as they’re all suddenly thinking about leaving. But maybe the reveal with Wraith could be interesting. I saw a lot of good theories like Wraith was Makarov’s half brother or Wraith was the son of Makarov and Porylusica who was killed by Ivan.

Well... Any theory would’ve been better than Wraith was some random ass mage and when they say he a Makarov are related its because the bonds of FT that is real family and transcends death itself.

...Gag me...

And and Wraith just fucks off into the afterlife. Because we can’t actually end a fight because of the protagonist’s ingenuity. No, the villain just kills themselves because feels. Isn’t that right August and Irene?

In conclusion

That’s my thoughts as briefly and coherent as I could make them. So if you wanna know my feelings on 100YQ, it can basically be summed in FT being FT. If you expected more, you’re gonna be disappointed. But if you genuinely love the world and character regardless of Hiro’s writing, you’ll probably still enjoy it regardless of what I’m saying

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forthemultiverse · 5 years

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Could Halo Be A Mole?

Young Justice Season One has given me serious trust issues – and Season Two didn’t do anything to fix that: Kaldur, Jaime, Lex at the end of the season, etc, but anyway, I just don’t buy Terra as being this season’s big betrayal. The Judas Contract is so well known at this point that even if they didn’t show us, we would’ve all know she was with Slade. Dr Jace is a pretty good candidate for a later betrayal, but that wasn’t subtle either; the fact she was technically working with Bedlam at the start of the season, taking Halo's DNA, wanting to be with the kids so much, and the mentioning of her lost child.

I started to think about the Young Justice on Apokolips story in the comics, and, well Greta Hayes has a biggish role, yet in Earth-16, she's be shown as just a ghost. Obviously, the show isn’t comics accurate and they could completely leave this aspect of the story out, but that didn’t stop me from falling down a research rabbit hole, and now, I reckon Halo could potentially be the twist betrayal of the Season following a storyline that takes moments from Greta’s.

There were a few things that drew me to Halo when thinking about a mole,

S3E1 – she let the assassins in, she’s shocked and taken captive which implies it’s an accident, but the guy who actually killed them was a suicide killer. Bedlam used him then killed him and she could be in the same situation. The Wiki said she had a job and was just afraid of the guards, which is why she was hiding but I do not buy that. It looked like she was trying to steal something in that scene.

Her memory problems, why create a character with no memories and then have those memories mean literally nothing? I’m waiting for them all to come back and for there to be some big bombshell in them.

The New Genesis/Apokolips connection formed by making her part Motherbox

The comment Silas Stone made about how technology can be neither good nor bad, it’s the user that’s responsible (I’ll come back to this point).

The Scene in Triptych after Halo goes Dues Ex Machina white and gets Brion back off Shade, well, the way Forager says ‘Halo happened’ wasn’t happy, it sounded like he was concerned/scared, like there was a ‘…’ at the end of the sentence. Brion and Halo smiled at each other which caused Forager to smile too, but considering he’s the one from New Genesis, if he’s worried, I’m going to be a little worried too.

Conner literally says, ‘we can’t let a girl in with no memories, she might be brainwashed or soemthing and we don’t want another Red Arrow situation’

Finally, more of a random thought I had, The Judas Contract has; a Markovian Royal, a relationship, and betrayal, so, what if, instead of the royal betraying the person who’s romantically interested in them (Terra and Gar), it’s the royal that gets betrayed by his girlfriend (Brion and Halo). It fits well since Perdita/Gardita is there and there doesn’t seem to be a reason to break them up. After working out those things, I started to research things that could be similar between Greta/Secret and Halo – by the way, I’m gonna refer to her as Halo because…well her ‘human’ name changes.

Some Similarities: Can’t remember their lives before their superhero ones, rescued by then joined teams, have powers connected to life and death, and have been separated from their powers at the end of their stories before (or well, Halo’s become two beings, one human and one super)

Not relevant to the story but I thought it was a nice coincidence: Greta went by Suzie because when the YJ girls were talking about getting her a name, Cissie suggests using one of hers (Suzanne) and on Earth-16, she gets dubbed Violet by Brion and then takes Harper from Will Harper – they both get their names from their new friends.

Now, details from the YJ Darkseid comic story: The team ended up on Apokolips (due to some things to do with fighting on earth) and Tower of Babel had just happened which lead to mistrust in Tim, who was the leader at the time.

While The Team is mentally tortured, Greta is taken to speak to Darkseid, who reveals her backstory and real name. He offers to be her mentor. The team escape with the help of an army of Lobo's, she doesn't tell them anything other than her real name.

Later on, the team says no to rescuing her dad (he killed her brother so’s in jail) She does it anyway and goes into a fit of rage, vanishes to accept Darkseid's offer.

The team prepare to go against her as she starts absorbing life (I think that's what she does, I can't remember, she's doing something bad that I'm pretty sure is killing a lot of things) Tim talks her down and appeals to the good in her. She breaks down crying and fixes everything she did.

Darkseid punishes her by taking away all her powers and immortality, not realising that being normal is all Greta ever wanted to be.

Not sure where in the timeline this bit is: Greta's dad is possessed by her brother when she saves him, and he chucks them both into a fire, seemingly killing them both, and I think that's when Greta goes to Apokolips and the team are told to take her betrayal as a lesson by their mentor (Snapper Carr - the guys who’s at M’gann and Conners house all the time)

Season Three is about the Anti-Life Equation and Meta-Human Trafficking, so this type of betrayal storyline doesn’t have to happen, but like I said earlier, trust issues, so hear me out. I don’t think Halo is secretly evil or anything, but you have to consider the Motherbox of it all, because that is connected to the Anti-Life Equation, and being part Motherbox is going to have some kind of effect on Halo’s character arc/morals.

Things To Know About Motherboxes

New Genesis-based, and though the people who created them are known, their true nature and origin aren’t.

Provide user with unconditional love, to the point they self-destruct when the owner dies (NOT MAKING THIS BIT UP) and can only be made by beings of New Genesis and Apokolips

Who is the owner Halo’s Motherbox since she’s died multiple times and it’s not blown up. A few people have Motherboxes – like Orion (Darkseid’s son) who is the defender of New Genesis, and in the past, DS has switched his box to try and control him.

Coming back to that Silas comment, tech isn’t good or evil, it’s the user, well who is her user???

A Motherbox saved Darkseid after he was defeated by Doomsday

Get their powers from life-giving sources

Fatherboxes: Apokolips based, can bring people under Darkseid’s influence, get their power from the Anti-Life Equation

So, Victor keeps going bad because of the Fatherbox, but the Motherbox makes him good? Surely that could be a two-way thing, and Motherboxes could go bad?

And here’s what I think could happen in Season Three B,

We’ve been shown Bart going through an enemy boom tube in the trailer, and considering Granny Goodness is a Darkseid Agent, we can predict that he ends up on Apokolips (I could go into detail about Bart’s fear of dying that caused him to retire for a bit in the comics but not relevant). If he, and the meta’s with him, need rescuing, Halo could end up on Apokolips too. While others are captured, she comes face to face with Darkseid, who gives her memories of her old life and offers her a place on his side. Whether she says yes or no doesn’t really matter, because she can now be crashing into an identity crisis or having to fight ‘Halo’/Motherbox for control of her body. Her Motherbox could also be corrupted by Darkseid during this conversation, something slipped on her arm, in a drink, just his mind entering the boxes.

Darkseid could be using her Motherbox to spy on the team without Halo even knowing, all Roy Season One, or she could just eventually give in and let the Motherbox take control of her. Once losing control she becomes a minion of Darkseid and the team now need to find a way to separate her.

(Angst on how people feel as not everyone realises she’s being controlled at first and just thinks he betrayed them)

To separate Halo from the Motherbox, it could go very Greta like, the team get a breakthrough with her and Darkseid punishes her by stripping the Motherbox side of her, leaving her normal. I’d kinda like that? Maybe? Because she’d get to be happy and live a normal life, she could still return to the Team eventually, using technology like Rockets (Yes I lowkey want Rocket to get to mentor someone just so she can be back in the story a little lol)

Another option is Dr Helga Jace. I already mentioned that she seemed shady, and she really does, she gets even shadier when you research her.

CW Black Lightning has her as a character: involved with illegal experiments, lost rights to see her child, made an anti-ageing serum for Tobias Whale (remember when I mentioned him in Halo research earlier?? – he’s with Intergang by the way, the people who had a Fatherbox in Season Two)

Prime Earth: she’s neither good or evil, appeared in Suicide Squad comics, the team that Halo joined.

New Earth: Royal Markovian Scientist, secretly a member of the Manhunter Cult, installed a psychic control on Metamorpho before using him to attack the Outsiders, helped Halo get her memories back.

Now, that mention of psychic control made me think back to Halo in Prime Earth…she was being mind controlled by the Kobra Cult…huh. The reason she got free of the mind control was because a scientist double-crossed the Kobra Cult. HUH.

And Tobias Whale…a Black Lightning villain…who hired Syonide to kill Halo and her parents…

Pause to explain why this little bit is important, sorry for all the info dumping, Syonide isn’t some super prominent assassin in the DC Universe, but she killed Violet Harper, her parents, and she was sent to kill a Russian Scientist that Phantom Lady was protecting (I promise this could actually be relevant). Obviously, Dr Jace isn’t Russian, she’s Markovian, but considering that scientist doesn’t even have a name, I don’t think it’s that much of a problem if she took his place. Reason why this could actually be important, one it connects another scientist to Halo, but also, Phantom Lady was going to lose, Syonide had teamed up with Merlyn to kill this person, and WALLY WEST FLASH saved them.

So, I think Dr Jace is shady, research points that she probably is, but after she’s revealed to have still been dabbling in meta-human experiments, she could bargain with the Team. They need her as an insider to save Halo. She double-crossed the bad guys to get Halo back in control of herself (like the scientist who did it in the Kobra Cult story) and when Darkseid comes to get her, the Team, specifically Dick, Artemis, and Conner, are in charge of protecting her, they start to get a little overwhelmed and started talking about how much easier it used to be and how much they miss their old team, and boom, Wally has a lightning rod to come back from the speed force to help them. Happy Reunion and Halo’s no longer evil. Wooo. That last bit’s just a hope because I miss Wally, but I stand by Dr Jace being key to helping the team while still being morally grey. Plus, if she gets Halo back to normal pretty quickly, Halo could then be a spy for the team, a way to get one over on Darkseid.

Terra gets her Slade plot, but it could play out as an upward arc: she’s betraying them of her own choice and regrets it so bad once she gets to know everyone. She comes to their side, everyone thinks they’re in the clear because they’ve got the mole! Then Halo’s revealed to be with Darkseid. It would be such a good twist and the set-up is there.

Let me know what you think of this theory! (Doubt anyone’s actually gonna read it all but I had to get it all down lmao)

Anyway: Here’s my insanity board though I doubt it’s good enough quality to really be read

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m00nslippers · 5 years

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The past is coming back to wreck Jason’s new life, in RHATO Issue #33

We knew Essence and the All-caste were coming back, from the solicitations/previews, but I don’t think anyone saw the second blonde love interest’s appearance coming. We probably should have though, since this whole comic is just throwing out everything people liked about Rebirth RHATO (Biz and Artemis) and bringing in everything from the New 52 run except what people liked about it, (namely Roy and Starfire being Jason’s besties). So...I don’t know, we’ll jump into this.

It opens on Essence, in the Thousand acres of All, going to see Ducra, or maybe her ghost. She’s supposed to be dead, I thought, but these All-Caste people seem to be able to communicate/exist as spirits. Actually I thought they’d pretty much been wiped out? I am really fuzzy on the All-caste stuff I need to go back and reread New 52 RHATO to refresh my memory, it’s just hard when the art is so consistently BAD after the first artist leaves that I can’t really stand it.

Essence implies that Jason is some ‘great darkness’ and it was a mistake to teach him. Which people have been saying about Jason since Stalin wrote him with the whole ‘bad seed’ thing so, sure, okay. Jason having the potential to be some kind of ultimate evil is actually cool in the sense that it acknowledges Jason is badass and competent enough to be a threat to heroes, which I like, but the idea that Jason would ever be evil is head-shaking to me. But Essence honestly didn’t say much about what’s going on but that Jason is the problem, so there’s no point getting mad about it yet, we’ll see how that develops.

We go back to the Iceburg lounge with Jason talking to Cobblepot through the fish tank wall, the usual “you won’t get away with this!” and “Oh but I already have!” and blah blah blah. It’s revealed the wall can go opaque and show a scenery to disguise the room behind it or it can be clear so Jason can see in, and there’s a little remote that controls it, and I’m already anticipating Suzie or Miguel finding the remote, pressing it and finding Cobblepot there and being outraged. Suzie might not be that outraged, I’m not sure, but Miguel probably would. I’m not sure if there’s a speaker too, because it’s clearly soundproofed since Cobblepot can’t hear out after he presses the button, some kind of Jamming system, he calls it. Which is basically elevator music. Should have learned to read lips, Cobblepot!

But Cobblepot, as it turns out, has some contingencies in place for if he drops off the radar, in the form of two shadowy creeps cutting fish at a production facility. The fact that he thinks his D-listers stand a chance against Jason is honestly adorable.

In the office, Miguel waxes poetic a moment about how he’s feeling all fulfilled and such, running the Casino. It’s maybe a little weird? Like if you said this guy was brainwashed right now I’d be like, yeah, I see it. I don’t think he’s actually brain-washed though, I think he’s just being set up to be really disappointed when he finds out his new situation is built on Jason keeping Cobblepot prisoner. It seems like Miguel is the ‘people-pleaser’ type. He feels most fulfilled when he’s being helpful. As a hero you save people, sure but people are also blaming everything you can’t fix on you, and you don’t get a lot of contact with the people you save after the fact, so being in a more mundane job where he can see the fruits of his labor actually probably fits him better, especially with a good boss like Jason.

And Jason seems to be a good boss, we see. He trusts his employees to do their jobs, isn’t breathing down their necks, acts friendly and positively to them, is concerned for their well-being and they can come to him with problems without him taking it out on them. He really seems to be good at being in charge, actually. People prop up Tim and Dick to be such great leaders, but they both act aloof and sarcastic and sometimes even take out their frustration on the people around them. They aren’t great leaders, in my opinion. They’re great tacticians and they’re very charismatic so people want to listen to them, but they actually are very frustrating leaders to have for their teammates a lot of the time. Jason does have the same bat-weakness as they all do though, in that he keeps secrets that he probably shouldn’t keep from his teammates and I think that’s what’s going to ruin this whole gig.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the art. It’s the same colorist we’ve had, who has been doing a great job, but we went back to the artist who’s been doing things since Dexter Soy left, and while I do like him, I’m a little disappointed. He does great bodylines and shadows and proportions are very good, I like the way he did Cobblepot’s nose super exaggerated, but...I really miss cute Jason’s face from the other artist last issue. In profile Jason looks okay sometimes, all the Su girls look great and most of the other characters too, but in front and three-quarters views it’s very strange and angular, I don’t like it. Also his hair isn’t fluffy and nice, it’s slick and spikey. Oh well, the art quality is still high and I appreciate all the work put into it, I just don’t personally like how Jason is being drawn, but It’s still better than the buzzcut, in my opinion.

But speaking of Jason, he looks awesome in the white, black and red tux, I love it. Jay in formal-wear, always nice. And walking through the casino floor he suddenly spies...

Isabel! Which I was surprised and actually kind of excited to see a little. For those who don’t remember, Jason went on like, two dates with her in the New 52 RHATO. She’s an airline stewardess and basically her thing is she’s minding her own business, runs into Jason and she ends up picking up alien guns and shooting people, and taking it really chill. And this happened more than once. They seemed to decide that Jason constantly being in danger meant they couldn’t really date, since even though she could seemingly handle being in fire-fights all the time unlike most people, she didn’t want that for obvious reasons.

...but apparently she changed her mind.

I personally am pretty committed to Jason and Artemis being a romantic couple in the canon, and I do not want to see him get back together with Isabel, but I do like her and I think she’s mostly good for Jason. This is going to be kind of interesting though because Jason also had a relationship with Essence, who is obviously going to show up later on. Honestly, the ideal situation is that at the end of the arc, Essence and Isabel are in the same room and Artemis drops in from a portal and returns, and all three sit around comparing notes about Jason and he’s just terrified.

But as they are in the midst of their fancy kiss, the casino gets attacked by Penguin’s contingency bozos. Jason says, “I’m not in the 'doing something’ business anymore,” which is kind of confusing to me? Like I didn’t think he was ‘quitting’ being the Red Hood, per se. Or maybe he genuinely thought he was, and he could do everything through his casino without being Red Hood anymore. I don’t know. But we all know Jason won’t stop 'doing something', in particular shooting people who have it coming. So I’m not sure if he’s outright lying to her, or it’s just strange wording. But also, where the heck is Wingman in all this?

So, the people who show up are the ‘Five Aces’ who I have never heard of. I’m assuming Lobdell didn’t just make them up for this, but maybe he did, I’m not sure. What I do know is there are four aces in a deck so there being five aces is confusing. But the Su sisters are on it and fight these guys and I actually really like the Su sisters, they are each of them very cool, even if Candy is sort of a discount Harley Quinn. They are all very snazzy and badass and I’m glad they got a redemption of sorts by teaming up with Jason.

One thing though, is they treat Suzie Su like she’s freaking invulnerable? She gets hit with arrows and an axe and doesn’t even bleed, like what? Clearly she has invulnerability and maybe some super-human strength, but no one has mentioned this ever, so...

The fight is pretty good, all the ladies got chances to be badass, the art was easy to understand and looked clean. And it’s actually nice to see people just straight up shoot someone, like we don’t need to make this complicated, just do the obvious thing to take them out, yeah? There was no blood, which felt unrealistic and a little insulting. The sisters take out four of the five aces, and I think at least three of them are arguably dead, since one got shot to hell, one had a bomb stuck down his pants and the other got his face blown up. The guy stuck in the diamond/ice might be alive but if you tell me the others are later I’m gonna call bullshit. But all this leads to the sisters remarking that this might be a diversion to take out Jason which...

Jason is running around with Isabel and she remarks, “Oh you’ve really changed,” which, no? Jason always tried to get Isabel out of the situation first, if I recall? This is perfectly in character for how he has acted towards her before. She was always the one who insisted on jumping in with him I think, but I guess she means him delegating and not jumping in too. But he only had Roy and Starfire before so he didn’t really have a choice back then. I don’t know, I guess maybe there is a subtle distinction, but the way I see it, before he stayed involved to help his friends and here, the Su sisters are paid employees who should be able to handle things on their own, and there’s a bunch more of them and their fighting the dregs of the villain bucket. It’s the situation that has changed, not Jason himself.

At this point the fifth ace appears, takes some shots at them, and Jason says, “Hold my beer,” for no goddamn reason. This line really put me out of the story. He’s not even holding a beer, or anything at all for that matter, the line in this situation makes no sense. Lobdell, stop forcing memes or whatever into Red Hood comics. I don’t like it. Yeah, Jason is sarcastic and quippy on occasion but he’s not this pop-culture geek you have suddenly started insisting he is? Like that’s Tim or even Dick, it’s not Jason, okay? Also, this situation might have been funny if he actually was holding a champagne flute or something? It’s a casino, he could reasonably have been doing that before. Or he could have handed her his jacket, I don’t know, then maybe the line would make sense. It would still be dumb, but at least it would make sense.

But anyway, Miguel uses his brick powers to save them from getting shot up and hands Jason a suitcase--the “security protocols”, which contains his Red Hood outfit. Apparently this was not actually a thing set up by Jason himself, Miguel did it. So give this guy a raise, Jason, he’s really going above and beyond for you over here. I’m thinking maybe it’s not that Jason has totally stopped being Red Hood, just that he is trying to avoid being him in his casino to keep the connection between Jason Todd and Red Hood a secret, which makes sense.

It turns out the fifth ace guy is one of the All-Caste, which considering the fancy swords and the fact that there are only four aces in a deck, makes sense. Jason calls him out and it’s reiterated that Jason is the ‘chosen’, the last disciple of the All-Caste.

They fight, the guy spouts some stuff about how Jason never should have been trained and all that jazz. Jason remarks that people are always trying to make him do things their way and he’s more or less sick and tired of it. Which, you can’t blame him, no one who ever tried to train Jason seemed to have his interests at heart, even Bruce really. They just wanted a biddable little ninja boy.

So that all goes down and Jason literally turns the guy to dust, that’s just what happens to All-Caste and Untitled who get killed I guess, they turn to dust because they’re ancient. Suzie is all worried about Jason which is kind of nice. Like someone actually giving a shit about Jason is honestly a novelty, no one in the bat family ever seems to wonder if he’s okay, Biz and Artemis gave him lots of space and just assume he could handle himself, only Roy and Starfire cared at all and Roy is dead now. So yeah, seeing someone rush in, worried for Jason, kind of endears me to Suzie. I know she did messed up stuff in the past but I’m sold, okay? If she goes back to being an irredeemable villain I’ll be really disappointed.

But the real important thing is Jason hides that he took out the other intruder. He isn’t mentioning the All-Caste stuff to her, or maybe anyone, he could tell Miguel and Wingman about it later, we don’t know. All I know is that it’s in character, Jason tries very hard to keep All-Caste/Untitled stuff to himself and the Caste and not involve outsiders, but I know for a fact it’s going to blow up in his face somehow. It all worked out with Roy and Starfire but I don’t see it going so well here.

And that’s it. This issue was a lot of set up, there was good action, a lot of stuff happened. I’m interested to see more All-Caste stuff, hopefully get some things about it explained. It was really a blast from the past and felt a lot like New 52 RHATO which...I have mixed feelings about. I was hoping or something different, that seemed to be what was happening with the Casino arc but it’s really turning a corner. It wasn’t as if the New 52 run was all bad, and I mostly like what he’s done with the Su sisters so far, but I just hope Lobdell takes the occasion to re-explain some things with the All-Caste into being more interesting or making more sense. Seeing Isabel again was a nice surprise but I personally don’t see it lasting. Everything is going to come down on Jason again and she’s going to remember why they didn’t really go out in the first place. Also, I have a personal bias for Artemis, so there’s that.

I have NO IDEA what is going on with Wingman, why the heck wasn’t he in the issue at all? He was built up as some big mystery and wanted Jason to go back to Gotham, but then he isn’t even here when stuff goes down? I hope this doesn’t turn into some loose end that never gets explained, but we’ll have to see.

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