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lokfeedsthegays · 3 months

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WUKO WEEK 2024!!! :D!!!!!

Prompt: ANGST + AU

yes this is my miraculous au I’m cringe but I’m free

[CW: violence & implied homophobia]

It was personal. That was the first thing Mako thought upon seeing him.

The unfortunate consequences of their situation weren’t secret. Fighting people- usually innocent people, having their minds warped and twisted into near-cartoonish villainy- it was never pleasant. But if he didn’t think too much about it and got it done, it didn’t weigh on him too heavily. And they at least didn’t have the memory intact of him and his friends beating the shit out of them.

Naturally, it was harder to digest if it was someone he knew personally. Even more so someone he liked. Maybe more than liked, but he didn’t have the emotional capacity to process that at the moment.

They were taking a high perch on a building, trying to survey the threat. The threat, this time, being a friend of theirs’. Or what was left of him. How much truth was in akuma victims’ monologues and threats was an ongoing debate- and one Mako didn’t like. He tried not to care. He knew it wasn’t them, so that was all that mattered.

And it was easier to separate the slow-striding figure on the street below from the jovial, theatrical person he knew in his civilian life.

Long, ornate robes flowed on the asphalt, green and gold, his entire body ornamented with at least times the usual amount of jewelry that Wu normally wore, which was saying something. Mako could practically hear the clinking from where he was. His hands, normally soft and gentle, seemed to have gold growing out of them from the knuckles, coalescing and twisting together into hooked claws. Really, gold seemed to have replaced his veins, with branches of it swimming through his skin, which was grayed and pale and sickly-looking. Inhuman.

He had a crown. A pointed, heavy-looking, so ornate it was hard to process crown. And his eyes were like pearls- white and empty.

He scanned the abandoned street, pausing for a moment before continuing on his way. Every step was methodical, almost robotic, and regal to the point of sheer pretension. The only sign of emotion was the seconds of a grimace when he found no-one. Did he want people to be there? To watch him, maybe?

Where the last of his robe left, gold made the trail, making a signature of his presence wherever he went. And it let Mako know that they shouldn’t just go in and kick him. Not if they wanted to be solid gold in less than a second.

Whatever his new name was (Mako didn’t care, he’d still call him Wu), Mako was sure it wouldn’t be the best idea to just jump down and say hi.

“So then what do we do?” Korra huffed after he voiced this out loud, partially to him and partially to herself. Her blue, cat-like eyes narrowed in sheer concentration. She took her metal staff and sat it across her knees, hunching over into a relaxed position.

“There has to be some kind of weak spot. None of the villains are impervious. We just have to find out where it is. I suggest we keep observing- maybe we can find his object and…fish it out or something.”

”He’s covered in jewelry and ornamentation,” Asami piped up, her red cape folding as she leaned back. Her red, spotted outfit complimented Korra’s black suit as they slumped against each other. “We have to figure out which is the one holding the butterfly, but…I don’t know how to do that.”

“We could ask him,” Bolin provided, and Mako resisted a mean glare. Bolin blinked back at him through his green visor.

“No, Bolin, we’re not going down to the supervillain and asking him what his weakness is.”

“Well if we can’t think of anything else, why not?” Bolin said. “Besides, we can’t predict how they are. He might actually tell us. Wu’s a nice guy.”

”So are most of the people who get turned into villains,” Asami reasoned. “It doesn’t mean he’ll be nice now. He’s not in control; we have to be smart about this.”

“It seems like he’s looking for civilians,” Mako said, placing his fingers around his chin. “If we walk up to him like this, no doubt he’ll attack. But maybe one of us could go up undisguised. See if he’ll be calmer. But that’s a backup plan…I’d rather none of us get put in the path of danger.”

”Seems like a good plan to me,” Korra interjected, lowering herself and creeping closer to the edge, trying to get a better look at him. “We can’t just sit up here and watch him.”

”Well…yes we can,” Mako said slowly.

”And what if someone goes up to him and gets in trouble? We’ll just see what he does?”

”Well, no, but I-“

We don’t have time to waste watching him. We gotta do something, and now, before he does anything bad.”

”Well then what do you suggest?” Mako responded, his temper mounting.

”I suggest your first plan. I bet he’d say at least something with you down there. He likes you.”

”When he’s sane he does! I don’t know how he’ll-“

”C’mon, just go. We’ll be here to intervene if he does anything.”

”And get yourselves turned into statues? I’d rather not.”

”You don’t know that!”

Well we also don’t know-!”

”Just GO!” Korra cried, seeming as if she was one word away from smashing her head into the roof. “You’ll be fine. You’re smart and he’s got a big fat crush on you.”

”He does not-“

”Detransform, dude.”

Mako did as he was told, but not without a sour expression the entire time. Magical energy flowed off of him, leaving him vulnerable, and he promptly made his way down the building’s stairs, hurrying through and out the side door, dipping into the alleyway. He slid along the wall until he could peek around the corner, getting a closer look at Wu.

Safe to say, he grew a bit. Maybe there were some kind of insane platforms under that robe, but he was easily taller than Mako now, making him (unfortunately) more imposing. His now-gold plastered hands were curled into almost fists, and his face was locked in a grimace, making him look perpetually agitated.

He scanned the street again with his blank eyes, and Mako ducked out of view, making sure to tell his heartrate to slow the fuck down. Once he got that under control, he composed himself, checked to make sure his Miraculous was intact, then stepped out into the open.

Wu’s gaze immediately locked onto him within the second, piercing and almost wild. Mako suppressed a flinch, and decided to feign innocent surprise, his arms coming up in surrender. He let the moment sit, then squinted.

“…Wu?” he tried, covering the reach as slow recognition.

He prayed Korra was right, and that he wasn’t about to get swiftly and completely incapacitated.

Wu’s eyes narrowed before they widened, and even though his posture barely changed, he somehow seemed a little more relaxed. “Mako,” he breathed. “Finally. I was starting to think people were avoiding me.”

”What happened?” Mako asked, not daring to take a step closer.

“Oh, this?” Wu said, looking down at himself. As if Mako could be talking about anything else. ”A recent development. Does it look nice?”

Wu twisted a bit, showing off the intricate patterns of his robe.

”It’s…a lot,” Mako answered truthfully. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but your usual outfits are a little…tamer.”

Wu chuckled, and Mako took that for the leeway he hoped it was.

”But I mean- what happened to you? To make this happen…”

“Oh, nothing too bad, really,” Wu said, which was clearly a lie. “Just..family issues, mostly. Nothing revolutionary! But I suppose those issues are gone now.” He flexed his hooked fingers, the gold sparking in the sunlight. “Now I’m staking my claim, as it were.”

”What…happened to your family..?”

”My aunt? Hm. Well, she was being my aunt. That’s all. But the problem is solved, and she’s to be made an example of in my new domain.” Wu motioned out around them, and Mako’s expression sank.

“Wu, listen to me,” Mako said, his heart skipping a beat as he tried his luck, “there are people who can help you. You don’t want this, trust me. Are you hearing me?”

Wu smiled and strode closer, and Mako was frozen as Wu stopped right in front of him. Mako had to crane his neck to look up at him, which was absurd, and it only added to the heavy feeling in Mako’s chest.

”I love how you care,” Wu sighed, “but I’m alright. This is a new beginning for me! You’re my friend- you should be happy for me. You should join me on my coronation stroll. You can be made a high member in my court.”

Mako winced, his nose curling. “Wu, people are scared of you right now. You’re not yourself- just- let me help.”

“Mako! Chivalrous as ever, but trust me, everything is fine. Come with me- you’ll be safe, I promise.”

Wu reached out, his warped hand grasping Mako’s wrist. Mako tensed, preparing himself for the worst, but he quickly realized that nothing was happening. So it seemed Wu could control it- which could be beneficial if he played his cards right. Mako scanned his friend for any signs of a telltale object, but nothing stood out.

“But I don’t-“, Mako started to protest, but was cut off when Wu began his stride again, dragging him along the street. He tried to quell his panic, wanting anything but his friends to leap down there hastily. He could handle this- he just needed a bit more time.

”Now, I think we should find a decent point to declare this city’s new ruler. We can go to City Hall- a public assembly should be easy enough to gather with my talents. I’ll probably have to freeze the president, but, you know, necessities.”

“Wu-“

”Oh, and that name. I mean, it was nice while I had it, but that’s not who I am anymore. Someone at your station would call me ‘your highness’ but an exception can be made for you.”

”Wu- spirits- you don’t want to turn the president to gold! Just listen to me-“

The pressure on Mako’s wrist increased, and Wu’s smile dropped in an instant. “You know I love you, but you know you’re not exactly in a position to make requests. I’ll be happy to listen later, but right now I’m trying to do my job.”

“Please! Just- tell me where your object is- we can get you back to normal,” Mako pleaded, brushing off the disbelief at himself for using Bolin’s tactic. “This isn’t going to end well for anyone if you keep going. I know you know that!”

“Mako!” Wu shouted, his tone harshening into something unfamiliar. Mako jolted when he realized his feet were stuck to the ground. He looked down to see reflective gold rooting him to the spot. “You must stop arguing with me. Go with me, or stay here as a statue. Your choice, but that’s as far as my lenience will go.”

Mako clenched his jaw, his eyes darting around the robes, trying to find something significant. Anything significant at all. Transforming wouldn’t get him out of this mess- he had to be smart.

“Wait- I’ll go with you. I will, I’m sorry.” Uttering it made Mako want to hurl, but he needed more information. He hoped his friends could hear him.

”Hmmm. That’s what I thought,” Wu hummed, and the creeping gold quickly receded, letting Mako shake his feet out. “Not to worry. You’ve done a fine job protecting me in the past. It’s high time I return the favor.”

Wu began his stride again, and Mako had to hurry to keep up. He usually walked with a pseudo-haughty demeanor, but this was a full-on parade of privilege. This new Wu had no problem lifting his chin as high as he could without looking ridiculous, and all of his jewelry sparkled as he walked. That, coupled with his sterner than usual expression, remarkably gave off an air that was intimidating.

”So you…want to turn the president to gold?” Mako prompted.

”Yes. How else are people going to know that they have a new ruler?”

There were several leaps in logic there, but Mako would be remiss to point that out.

“My aunt claimed I was in no state to assume a position of power. She’s one to talk, though. She’s hardly the best queen ever. But no matter! She’s taken care of, and I’m proving that I am perfectly capable of commanding authority.” Wu chuckled contently at himself, then he looked down at Mako, his expression falling into a glare. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Mako swallowed. “Yes- yeah- I agree- yeah.”

As they continued on, Mako couldn’t help but let his gaze drift to the rooftops, a prickling feeling on his neck. And there were certainly people there, but not his friends looking out for him. Instead, it was the force, peering down with equipment and weapons, getting clear looks at them with binoculars.

He wasn’t surprised. The force tended to intervene on many akuma incidents, and now that there was a “hostage” involved, they’d definitely be a little more hands-on. But he didn’t like the risks it posed. Mostly the chance that Wu would get mad and lash out.

Mako wished Korra had let him think through their plan a little longer.

Most likely Wu had already noticed the police. Mako just had to make sure a fight didn’t break out. Hopefully Lin had enough patience to keep her men where it was safe.

“Wu-“

Wu harshly cleared his throat.

Mako stifled any potentially insulting noise. “Your…Highness, um, you’re not planning on hurting anyone, are you? I mean, you need people to rule, after all. Right?”

”Of course I will do my best, Mako, but people must also learn to respect me. If they get in my way, I must silence their protests. It’s only natural.”

No, it wasn’t natural. Especially coming out of Wu’s mouth. Mako at least had to admit to himself that it was one of the things he admired most about Wu. He was pragmatic. He was the last person to make things happen by force, but trying to remind him of that seemed fruitless.

“What happened? When you were transformed…were you arguing with your aunt?”

”Mmh. Not arguing so much as being berated by her. Nothing new, but I’d had a particularly unpleasant day, and she was more grating than usual. The cow kept going on and on about my responsibilities and lack of ability. I suppose I just…had enough of it. Next thing I knew, I had these powers. And she shut up very quickly.” Wu’s hand twitched, and Mako looked at the fingers that bore at least a dozen rings on the gold surface.

Squinting at them, he scanned each of the rings until one pricked a memory at the back of his mind. It was a smoothie date…outing. One of many. Mako remembered the excited grasp of Wu’s hand- he’d grabbed one of Mako’s fingers and dragged his arm up and down. He had that ring on- the duller one, with a dark green gem.

That didn’t definitively mean that it was the object with the butterfly in it, but it was a solid contender.

Luckily, the police didn’t bother them all the way to City Hall. Less luckily, there was a higher concentration of people deeper into the city, and they were less able to flee the scene when a clear supervillain showed up.

The mass of people gave a wide berth to the regal figure strolling through them, forming a sort of natural pathway in the way he was headed. Mako kept his head ducked, partially out of embarrassment, but he didn’t want to instigate too much with the crowd. One wrong move, and everyone in the square could be frozen solid.

As they made their way through, people scrambled to get out of the area. However, branching gold wormed its way through the earth, slithering out to the edges of the square and mounting on itself, forming swift walls. People screamed and tried to haul over as it was rising, but it was too tall too quickly, and they all promptly became caged in.

Mako couldn’t do much but stare in horror, regretting his decisions.

“Now that that’s settled!” Wu said satisfactorily, clasping his hands together, which clinked. He then turned to the stairway of the town hall making his way up. Mako tried to duck into the crowd to lose attention so he could transform, but Wu went ahead and grabbed his wrist, bringing him up with him.

Walking through a crowd and being intimidating was not a crime. But entrapment most certainly was, and now, unfortunately, the police had a blatant excuse to dive in.

Helicopter sounds finally made their way over the clamor of the screaming crowd, and Mako looked up to see a few amassing, and ropes streaming down to release the troops. This, Mako realized, was not the police force at all, but Raiko’s recently commissioned force: the AEF. Akuma Extermination Faction- which was about as friendly as it sounded.

Lin had made the smart play in laying low and getting a read on the situation. But Mako should’ve known to not trust Raiko to do the same.

He also couldn’t trust Raiko to concoct an effective program either, because the moments their boots hit the ground and their guns were pointed, gold shot at them through the concrete, swiftly encasing their boots, then crawling up until all that was left was a screaming statue.

It took a second, but the troops got smart enough to not land, and instead hovered, dangling from their aircrafts, weapons still pointed.

“Release the hostages, or immediate action will be taken,” a stern voice declared from a speaker.

Wu’s brow creased. “Better idea: Raiko! Get out here or your citizens will be nothing more than decorations! We have business to discuss.”

Mako tried a small attempt in wrenching his arm free, but Wu held on tight, and Mako couldn’t hope to brute strength his way out of it when his friend had powers and he didn’t. He’d have to have a discussion with Korra about their planning skills when this whole mess was over. If it was ever going to be over. Mako didn’t like how seemingly everything was suddenly going wrong.

“Stand down- people could get hurt here. Raiko’s forces aren’t coordinated enough!” Mako threw out. He didn’t know what else to do- not yet, anyway.

”Standing down is weakness,” Wu declared, his nose and lip curling. His grip tightened and Mako grunted in pain. Then, louder, “Standing down is out of the question! I’d hurry, if I were you. The odds aren’t in your favor.”

”Well they’re not in your’s, either!”

Mako looked up as his friends, led by Korra, descended onto the top of the steps, nearly crashing down on them. However, Wu ducked out of the way and found himself on the midway point of the stairs. Mako, having been pulled back with him, was now dangling from Wu’s grip, hanging just over the lower stairs, his hand getting redder.

Korra spun her staff, letting it fall behind her in an intimidation position, her suit’s ears flat against her head. “Let him and the rest of these people go. Then we can get right down to brass tacks.”

She held up her hand, brandishing her ring. “This is what you want, right? These were part of the deal?”

Wu stared unblinkingly at the jewelry.

“Well then come and get them. If you win, then who’s to stop you?”

Wu sat in complete stillness and silence for a moment, practically a statue himself. Then, finally, he slumped a little, but a tight smile worked its way onto his face. “No, I don’t think so. I have a proposal of my own.”

Wu dragged Mako forward, showing him off to his friends. Mako tried to tug free, but to no avail. “Give me your jewelry. The longer you take, the more people get frozen. Starting with him.”

Wu shoved him onto his knees, and Mako was immediately locked there, gold replacing his jeans. “Hey! No!” he grunted, his eyes instinctively and desperately searching for a solution.

”Stand down! Last warning!” the speaker-voice called from behind.

”NO! Let him go!” Bolin shouted, lifting his shield. “Right now!”

Gold encased his legs- became his legs. Mako began to feel the imminent panic of not being able to breathe. He uselessly struggled against his constraints, trying to calm his heart rate. “Wu! Please! Listen to me-!”

”That is not my NAME!” he screamed, his hands curling. He lifted his arms, the grand sleeves of his robe billowing out. “Clearly I’m not bluffing! You may stand down now or face the consequences!”

Asami’s yo-yo began spinning into a blur. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way,” she breathed, eyes narrowing in concentration.

”Open fire!”

”Mako!”

”WU-!”

Mako didn’t have the chance to see it all play out. In the moment just before his friends leapt forward to fight, everything went black, and his body went numb.

——

When he came to, it wasn’t from a rescue.

Instead, when he collapsed, his limbs finally free, it was pretty easy to realize that- besides Wu- he was the only one unfrozen in the entire square.

The gold wall had extended upwards, curling in and forming a mass of finger-like spikes, curving inwards in an incomplete sphere. People littered the ground, suspended in various displays of screams and desperation.

His friends were locked in almost picturesque poses. Bolin was on the ground, curling behind his shield. Asami was next to him, her yo-yo outstretched, the winding string made mesmerizingly still. And between them, completing the huddle, was Korra, on one knee and one hand stretched into the sky. Around her hand, black energy of an impending Cataclysm was aloft, not having been able to be put to use.

Mako grunted, trying to suppress his horror. He shifted, his joints popping, and he was able to see Wu- not too far away from him, sitting on the steps. His straight posture and air of authority was gone, replaced with sullenness. He was hunched over, his hands supporting his head.

Mako took a shaky breath. “What are you doing?” he managed to rasp out.

”Oh, just, coming up with a plan. I have to unfreeze them at some point to get their Miraculous. I just want to be prepared,” he sighed.

“And you unfroze me…why?”

”For company. Surely you knew my suspending you forever was a bluff.”

”…Not…really..”

”Well,” Wu started, standing up, “now you know. Welcome to my council.”

Mako looked around, his mouth pinched into a thin line. “Not much of a kingdom, is it?”

”It will be better,” Wu responded quickly.

”Will it?” Mako tilted his head to look up at Wu from his curled position. His back ached when he tried to sit up. ”It’s the ring, isn’t it?”

Wu folded his hands over each other, resting them on his chest.

Mako adjusted with a grunt, turning to sit on the step. When he realized one arm was shaking, he twisted so Wu couldn’t see. “You know whatever your aunt says…doesn’t matter, right?”

”I know that,” Wu snapped, that unnatural aggression surfacing again. “It’s in the past. We shouldn’t discuss it.”

”We should,” Mako insisted, against his better judgment. “I can tell you’re fighting it- or else we wouldn't be having this conversation.”

”We won’t be soon if you keep pushing it.”

”I’m not scared of you, Wu. I could never be scared of you.”

”Excuse me?” Wu’s expression curled, scrunching into something sour and foreign to his face.

”Even if that butterfly’s pushing you to, you don’t want to. Hurt me, I mean. So I’m not scared of you, and I know I can talk you out of this.” Mako knew he was talking out of his ass, but he didn’t have much more than confidence at the moment.

“Watch your tone with me,” he hissed, leaning in and over. “I am not the pathetic boy you knew. I am a king, and you will treat me like such.”

”That’s what you think you are?” Mako huffed. “Pathetic? That’s not at all what you are, Wu.”

”Not anymore.”

“You weren’t before…this either. Wu, you are one of the most creative, caring people I know. If…if your aunt hated that, that’s her problem- not yours.”

”I know that!” Wu said shortly, waving him off, his large sleeve trailing behind the motion. “I don’t wish to talk about this anymore. Quiet, before I force you to be.”

”Let me help you.”

”No. I’m keeping you. My power- with you by my side- that will prove everything she has ever said about me to be foolish. I’m not letting it go just because you said so.”

“With me? What makes me so important?”

Wu’s face tightened, clearly holding in a stream of confession. “You’re not. I just happen to like having you around.”

“I don’t think that’s true.” Mako slowly stood, his mind slowly starting to click the pieces given to him together- like second nature. “I think you were antagonized by your aunt your whole life. I think…although I don’t know particularly why, this time pushed you over the edge. And that’s what the butterfly prayed on. It made that moral outrage you had ugly.”

Mako hobbled over to Wu, his joints still stiff. “But it’s not ugly. Hell, Wu, it’s one of the best things about you. You care, dude. A lot. Don’t let some thing take that away from you.”

Wu’s face relaxed from the enraged mask of insult, to something much more neutral and unreadable.

“Fine,” he hummed. “If you’re so desperate for the waste of space that I was, I can let you make a play for him. But if you lose, you stay with me. Forever, just like this.”

At least it was something. Mako swallowed. “Fine.”

”Very well, then.” Wu held out his glittering hand. “Take the right ring. And you can have him back.”

Mako tentatively stepped forward, his brow furrowed. He shifted his weight between his legs, eyeing the green-gem ring.

Wu would think it was a simple answer. Mako was observant. He knew what he has seen before, and he’d take that to its logical conclusion.

But what did it mean to Wu? His friend had always worn a strong variety of jewelry, each on his person simply for the fact that it was pretty. But he never talked about them like they meant something.

Except for one piece- one he wore only once, and simply because he had to. It was for a political event. One that a foreign prince, who’s tenure in Republic City hinged on his education, would be obligated to go to.

A brooch his aunt had forced him to wear to look presentable.

And there it was, on his robe. Mako forced himself to not look directly at it, and instead feigned scanning the rings. Even if Wu wanted out, the butterfly wasn’t going to let him. If Mako simply pointed at or grabbed the brooch, Wu would fight back and stop him in an instant.

Mako took a deep breath and slid the green-gem ring off of Wu’s finger.

Wu let out a low, pitying note. “I’m afraid that’s the wrong one, Mako.”

“I’m sorry this happened.”

”Excuse me?”

”I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve to be targeted for all this. Not just your aunt, but so many people. It’s unfair.”

”For…this…?”

”For who you are. You- underneath all this…gold- you’re incredibly compassionate, innovative and empathetic. Everyone who tells you otherwise is lying.

”Sweet, but meaningless now.”

”I don’t think so.” In a swift motion, Mako snatched the brooch, ripping the opulent fabric of the robe. Wu screamed, lunging forward in rage. But his surprise made him too slow, and Mako whipped around, throwing the brooch away from the stairs.

It landed against Korra’s hand, right into the Cataclysm.

The brooch dissolved into black dust, and an aura of dark energy surrounded Wu, releasing him. He fell from his tall perch, and Mako caught him- the real him.

Wu opened his eyes. Green. “Mako?” he breathed wistfully. He tilted his head. “Where am I? Am I dead?”

Mako rolled his eyes, sighing fondly.

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