#//dude what you like is nowhere near as weird please pipe down

[insertpinkchiphere]

"It's alright. We all have those embarrassin' little things we like."

#//dude what you like is nowhere near as weird please pipe down #ic tbt #dash comm tbt

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 41

Back to Jaune we go.

If you experience positive psychotic symptoms don't ever use marijuana.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

"You think this will help?" I held the marijuana cigarette out in front of me and picked at a bug in my ear.

Greens for sure weren't likely to help with the paranoid thoughts, a goddess had her fingers in my mind, for real, or the suicidal thoughts, besides. But it just might take the edge off the bugs or the shadows.

Neo took it back from me and lit it. She took a long pull as though to say, 'see, safe.'

I took it back and inhaled the smoke in my lungs, it was still burning from where she lit it, and I took a drag. Almost immediately the bugs in my face eased. They weren't gone per se. They were muted. I could still feel them crawling around behind my eyes and in the tips of my extremities.

I coughed.

"Oh shit." I exhaled. "That's good." I chomped on the cigar and Neo beamed. "I'm going to need a box of these, just to keep it at bay." I'd brought up some of my hallucinations and Neo had picked this up for me.

She was looking up at me expectantly.

"Thank you, Neo."

She grinned up at me even though I was sitting on the bed and she was standing. We were in a different dingy motel than the one in which we'd tortured Nickel.

The greens were good. I inhaled them and leaned back on the bed. If Neo wanted to kill me this would be the best time to do it. Instead she plopped up on the bed beside me. "Well, I'm hooked." A shadow jumped out at me from the corner of my eye and I just didn't care. I was so relaxed.

I factory reset the Don's scroll. It wasn't quite as good as the military grade one I'd had before, but as far as civilian ones went it was top of the line.

"I need to go to this Merlot's lab. Cinder's boss, Salem, has some way of controlling me. All my psychotic symptoms started then. Or… well, maybe not. I need to learn about it if I want to fight it. You're welcome to come with. Cinder probably won't be there, but it's on the road to her for me. I have to go."

I brushed my new diamond studs. I'd gone all in on my new identity, Cloud, Cloud Strife. My hair was done up spikey, and I had a half cape around my waist. I still had Pyrrha's cape around my bicep on one arm but on the other I had a single long sleeve, on my pauldron side. The dark blues and blacks of my new clothes contrasted with the bronze of my armor nicely. My half cape billowed around my legs when I walked and my blonde hair shifted in any breeze. I still had a pair of long gloves on beneath my gauntlets. They ran elbow length.

I'd gotten my sword repaired, too. The warp wasn't bad to take out and I was only without the blade for a couple of hours yesterday. I'd just waited outside the smithy while they worked. What was I supposed to do and where was I going to go without my sword? Nowhere fast. And I wasn't Ruby to repair it myself. I might have been able to buff it out with a whetstone, but why take the risk when my pockets were overflowing with cash?

My weapons would still give me away, so would my face, but I'd done what I could in terms of disguising myself. Unless my friends saw me face to face or weapon to weapon they wouldn't be able to find me.

Neo made a stabbing gesture with her right hand.

"There will be people to kill and torture. At least one person. Probably. If not there will always be more in Atlas."

She made a show of considering it, one finger on her cheek. I knew how lonely she was, though. Plus I was sure she liked taking orders. It was weird but then not really. She liked having a boss. And just so long as she had people to maim, she was happy. I think she was happier working with me than she had been in a long time.

What? A girl's gotta heist.

It was a coin flip where Cinder was heading next, Atlas or Vacuo. So I'd flipped for it. It came up Atlas. I'd start digging around there in Solitas after I was done with the Merlot thing. Depending, of course, on what I learned from his lab. It was closer anyways. And it maintained my future availability of options by being closest to Vacuo over here and Vale. It was closest to all three of the other kingdoms, really, depending on how you looked at it. And the closed borders meant little to me if I had Neo with me.

I roached the joint and stared at the slightly spinning ceiling. The softly rotating fan was a pleasure to watch as I laid back. I rubbed at my chest, moving my hand in light circles over the deep scars there.

I missed Ruby and her soft touch in those moments.

Neo nodded at length. A single small gesture I felt through the bed. I sat up and held out a hand for her to shake on it. She did, a wide glittering grin on her face. Her eyes swapped colors at that.

She was wearing new clothes, too. She had a cape with some collar straps and her collar was done around inside out near her breasts. The fancy shirt ended at her midriff before a pair of nice white pants. She wore a pair of much shorter heels than before beneath that. She had a set of long white gloves on as well, much like myself.

"We'll take a train to the South to this city, Shumi." I pointed out on a map with my scroll, "From there we'll ride on horseback to Merlot's laboratory, here near a place called Wutai. A few weeks max. Then we'll be back on the hunt for Cinder. Who'll probably go to Atlas. She has unfinished business with Ironwood anyway."

She nodded along acceptingly. She pointed at where I'd thrown out the cigarette.

"Yep. We'll need a ration of those. They really help. I don't suppose you know where to find more?"

She gave me a coy nod. Hiding a smile behind her hands.

"Fantastic."

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

She did indeed know where to find more.

A beefy guard waited outside a small house on the outskirts of Mistral. He was wider than me at the shoulders and had a few inches on me. At a glance I didn't feel the low hum of aura coming off of him though. He could be just withdrawn, at any rate.

Neapolitan and I walked up together. He gave us both a once over and we stood in silence. Then some other folks walked out of the house and he motioned to let us in. Controlling how many people were inside at any given time. Smart.

He held up a hand. "Your weapons," He had a slight accent. Atlesian, not unlike Weiss's but deeper and richer. "Leave them out here."

I pulled my harness off my back. Staring him straight in the eye the whole time. I didn't need Limit to kill him. I put them on a rack behind the gentleman and he stepped aside of the entrance.

Neo was let inside without any hassle, giving me a superior smirk as she twisted her umbrella in the rain. "Sure, rub it in."

She did. And even if she didn't, being without Crocea Mors made me uncomfortable. I was glad she was armed, if nothing else. Somebody to watch my back in a run down place like this was nice. And I always had Limit, just a short charge away.

We walked in on a place lined with jars and labels on them. Inside were greens of all sorts of names. Lemon Drop Haze. Blueberry Blitz. Lilac Diesel. They were all arranged on neat little rows on high shelves.

"Well I've got to hand it to you Neo…"

I was whistled at by a lanky dude in a ‘t’ shirt.

I was coming from a place of ignorance and I couldn't exactly ask Neo how the place worked.

"You been in here before?"

"No sir." I answered with a smile. "How much am I allowed to buy." Not what sizes did they come in, not anything else. What was the maximum amount of drugs I was allowed to leave with? They must have a limit to prevent resale. A closely monitored tight ship like this.

"Two ounces." That didn't seem like much. "And you gotta pay in cash, that is if no one told you."

"Not a problem. What would the-uh…" I gestured at him.

"Budtender," the Budtender said.

"Right. What would the Budtender recommend."

"For what? You wanna get high or you wanna relax?"

"Something to relax me," I told him.

"You want an indica, then. A bit mellower and a bit richer in the CBD."

He picked across the shelves. Staying away from things that had names like 'blitz,' or 'shard,' or 'rush.' He strayed towards the mellower sounding ones and distinctly avoided one which had 'panic' in its name.

"Lemon drop haze." He put his hand on one. "And...sunshine sherbet." He put his hand on another jar.

"Sounds good. An ounce of both, please."

He named a steep price. A couple hundred Lien. I whistled lowly. But the stuff Neo had given me was already wearing thin. The bugs were starting to come back and I needed relief. I could hear a low whispering too. That needed to stop. Fast, if possible.

I paid him in the cash requested without too much hesitation. The only other place I'd see real relief would be antipsychotic drugs. I didn't have the time to get a psychiatrist and as a huntsman I'd be forcibly relieved of my gear for potentially months.

PTSD was common amongst hunters and they couldn't have crazy ones running around. There were procedures in place for this that I was specifically trying to avoid. I just didn't have the time to get set up with something like that.

"You gonna need pipe-ware?" He asked.

I looked down at Neo. She rolled her pink and brown eyes and nodded. I could feel her aura against mine. Something cool with undercurrents underneath. An edge of something cruel.

"Yeah I'll need a pipe."

"They never just stop at one," he said with a smirk. Like he was sharing a closely held secret with me.

"One'll be good for now," I instead insisted.

"It'll be thirty extra for a pipe and if you want a grinder that'll be even more."

It sounded like a good idea so I took him up on it.

I paid him anyways, knowing he was gouging me. It didn't matter a whole lot to me at the moment anyways. He handed over two tins, a pipe and a grinder.

"Come back soon." He called at my shoulder. I stuffed the tins and paraphernalia into my pockets.

I took my weapon back from the man outside and gave it a once over. My serrated combat-camping knife, sword and shield all looked fine, just as I left them.

"Let's get out of this fucking town." I told Neo. "I'm done with this city."

I freshly ground up some greens while we were walking and put it in my new pipe. I took a long drag, like it was the first breath of fresh air I'd gotten in months.

She skipped to keep up with me. Making it look natural.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

"You assume there's nothing I can do to you, child. No torment I can bring upon you. You are mistaken."

I was hit with the sensation of making up but I couldn't turn my head. I rose from the train-car seat.

-then I was abruptly back in the train-car seat alone for all the world with the sensation of waking up again.

She hit me with that sensation. That feeling of waking up five more times and over what felt like subjective hours. My face crawled with bugs and I wanted to scream. I felt like I was falling for hours and hours.

-I jerked awake. There was Neo across from me in the train-car. I took a moment to get my bearings. It had been torturous. The sensation of waking up over and over again.

I breathed hard and Neo looked over at me, something like concern etched in her face.

"She's getting better at it," I said. "She's getting better at tormenting me. Cinder's boss."

I looked out the train-car window and watched the scenery pass us by. I watched a couple a few aisle's down. The man jumped and slapped his body like- well like he'd seen a bug on him. I was all too familiar with the sensation. The feeling of insects crawling across my skin and things jumping out at me from the corner of the eye. I recognized it.

I looked across from me and saw Neo's eyes narrowed in concentration. Her smile was wide in sheer delight.

"Neo," I whispered. "Neo!"

She looked at me and the man stopped his jumping-jacks. Her focus wanted on whatever illusion she had crafted. Pink and brown shifted in her hair as she changed focus.

"For gods' sake you're like a child. I'll get you people to torture for real. Knock it off."

She gave me a brooding look but nodded.

"Play some games on your scroll. For goodness sake. Don't torture just to torture. Do it with purpose."

She made a faux-angry face at me.

"Yeah I'm mad. Stop it. When we find Merlot you get to do all the torturing, sound fair? Even though he's my dad or whatever."

She gave me an odd look at that.

"I think… I think I was born in a tank. There are images of water. Muffled people talking. I think I was born pretty much full grown with whatever they had done to me already done to me."

"I don't know what they did to me. I don't know what I am. But when we find Merlot you get to be first in line for hurting him."

"They said he does experiments on Grimm, that might mean… it might mean that I'm part Grimm. That means I'm a monster. And you get to go first against the guy who did that to me. Sound even? We square?"

She didn't nod or give me any gesture. She just sat in her typical silence.

"Look… whatever. Just stop fucking with people who don't deserve it. If you're going to work for me then you only get to torment the people I say so. We clear?"

She still made no gesture.

"I said 'are we clear?'"

She gave me one firm nod. Her eyes were wary in part. Like she was anxious of making a deal she didn't want to keep. Like I was some fae of myth contracting her into bondage.

"Good. I promise it won't be all bad. And when we get to Atlas we'll have to make a name for ourselves. Make people scared of us. It's just an intermission on the torture and heists. They're not over."

Maybe I was a little antsy too. I wanted another pull of greens. The bugs were starting to become a bit of menace. And I couldn't exactly take a hit while in the slightly crowded train.

And Hell, I was bored, too.

"Plus there might be bandits out here. You can do whatever you want to them, I don't give a fuck."

"Heard there was a big tribe of bandits too. The Branwens you heard of them? Well I especially don't care what happens to them. Go nuts."

"With my luck I'm sure something will come up anyways. You'll get your kicks. Have I steered you wrong yet? That's what I thought. And I let you kill the Don even though I kinda wanted to. He threatened some disgusting stuff on my friends. I really wanted to snap his neck. Instead I let you cut him. That was grand, wasn't it?"

"So when I say you'll get your kicks in you better believe me. We just have to be patient for a bit. Play things smart and close to the chest."

"Otherwise Salem will get us," I exhaled. "Cinder and Salem both will get the two of us with impunity."

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

#jaune arc #cloud strife #cloud!jaune arc #sephiroth!Jaune arc #rwby #ff7 #ffvii #war of the roses #ruby rose x jaune arc x weiss schnee #neo #neapolitan #motion sickness #white rose #whiterose #lancaster #whiteknight #white knight

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK] [WATTPAD] [QUOTEV]

Characters © Frederator/Cartoon Network and so forth. Story ©2020 to me! All rights reserved.

This little fic was commissioned by MorbidHero. Enjoy! I'm not a superfan but I hope I still did the fandom justice, more or less. Even though there are no bacon pancakes or appearances from Billy.

Orono Or DIE.

The sign was unique enough to attract attention. That was probably the idea. Still, the girl with the long, black hair and the red-and-blue striped sweater seemed a little surprised when a car pulled over on the long, lonely stretch of Highway 95. Her eyes narrowed to slits as headlights attempted to blast the pupils wide, and she shadowed them with a pale hand.

"Hello!" cried a voice that sounded like a music box. "Are you in need of aid?"

"Uhhhh…" The squinting eyes shifted. "There a person in there?"

"Of course! I am a person! Please, it's too cold to be out here alone!"

The stranger approached the passenger window, bending down to look inside. By the light of the dash screen, she saw a rosy complexion and bright pink hair to match. The girl's round face held the sweetest, most angelic smile she had ever seen.

"I… whoa."

"Yes?"

"N-nothing. You're really gonna give me a lift? I could be an axe murderer."

The driver's eyebrows raised. "Are you an axe murderer?"

"Sorta." She opened her black guitar case, covered in stickers from all manner of bands and destinations, to display a red bass that actually was shaped like an axe, a snarky half-smile displaying some prominent canines. "I slay on this thing alllll the time."

"Oooh! A wandering minstrel! Prithee, do not tarry thither, but let us away in mine chariot!"

"I… huh?"

Cheeks turning a bit rosier, she whispered, "Just get in the car."

With her bass, cardboard sign, and knapsack stashed in the cramped back seat, the two pulled away from the shoulder and back onto the near-deserted highway. There reigned silence for a moment or two until the driver decided to attempt pleasant conversation.

"What's your name, minstrel?"

"Not Minstrel. Marcy. Or Marce, Marceline, Nightmarce… Elvira, if you're everybody in my high school."

"That sounds very unkind, and I am not from your high school so I will not do that." She smiled over at her. "I'm Bonnibel, or Bonnie."

"Cool. This, uh… this car seems weird."

"Oh!" she piped up animatedly. "It is a hybrid, but I have converted the combustion engine to run on used peanut oil."

"Is that why I have a craving for a PB&J out of nowhere?!"

Bonnie laughed, and Marcy wore a smile of her own. That was bizarre; why would she smile at some stranger who just picked her up to give her a lift? "Perhaps! It is also why I will eventually have to visit a Five Guys restaurant to refuel."

Chuckling quietly, Marcy fought down a groan as she struggled out of her black leather boots and propped her feet up on the dash. "Sorry, but I've been walking for hours. Nobody else would pick me up, except for this creepy trucker who would probably have murdered me. With my own axe."

"It is alright! I can't blame you, that sounds like a terrible day. How did you end up out here all by yourself? With no car?"

"Ash, ugh."

"Gesundheit?"

Rolling her eyes, Marcy explained, "No, Ash is my ex. Also the lead guitarist of our band, Vampire Queen. But like, he's been impossible since we broke up, and he threw his guitar at my head during our last show. I told him I wasn't riding in the van with him anymore and they took off without me. Jerkfaces."

Bonnie's expression was completely thunderstruck. She reached over to pat Marceline's thigh. "That is just unacceptable, you could have been hurt!"

"Uh… yeah?" She thought that was obvious. And the sudden physical contact made her squirm.

"No, I mean you should remove him from the band. He is clearly dangerous and you have every right to feel safe on the stage."

"Oh. Well… it's not that easy. He writes half our songs, and he's no great singer but he does know all the guitar parts already. But… I guess he's more replaceable than Fionna or Jake."

"You should send him to prison. Or castrate him," she added, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Which is what finally made Marceline realize neither of her hands were on the wheel. She sat up quick and shouted, "HEY, we're gonna crash! Are you insane?!"

"Hm?" Glancing ahead, she calmly stated, "No we aren't, we're driving perfectly straight. And there are no other cars."

"Well… yeah, but…" She watched their course correct very slightly, still glancing at Bonnie's hands. "Oh, is this one of those self-driving things?"

"Yes! Oh, I see; you thought I was neglecting the wheel." The pink-haired oddity giggled as if Marcy were the weird one.

"Do you just pick up random strangers and scare them to death? Messed up hobby, girl. I can respect it though."

At that, Bonnie's smile lessened as she stared ahead again. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget that not everyone has access to the technology I do. I didn't mean to cause you any undue strife."

"Not everybody swallows a dictionary for breakfast, either." When that wiped the smile away entirely, the rocker turned to look out the passenger window as she tightened her arms around her stomach. "Nah… I'm sorry, I'm a bitch."

The car was silent for a few seconds. "You aren't. I just don't spend a lot of time with other people. When I do, they tell me I am awkward."

"Yeah? Agoraphobic or something?" She paused. "Yeah, I know some big words, too."

"I never said you didn't. But no, that isn't the problem. I'm a workaholic. Even when I'm not in my lab, I'm still focused on inventing or revising previous inventions. I like speaking with people, but there never seems to be any time…"

"Dude, nerdslut. Got it."

"WHAT?!"

The outburst was harsher than Marce expected. "Sorry," she muttered, head ducking lower. "I didn't-"

"I'm not a slut! I'm…" Her cheeks began to glow. "I've never even been on a date."

"I was kidding, man. I didn't really mean…" Her fingers ran through her fringe. "Look, you told me you don't get out much. So I'll do my best not to tease you like I normally would, but no promises. I'm pretty edgy." She even threw up devil horns to add to the effect.

"You're teasing. Yes, I understand." The bubbly girl sighed and relaxed, smiling again. Apparently, it was that easy.

"What do you do for a living, anyway? All the inventing…"

"Oh! Have you heard of PeebleCo?"

A brief pause. "If I say 'no', does that mean I'm dumb?"

"It's alright. I am the president and CEO. Though the board members make most of the day-to-day decisions, they consult with me before making any large changes. And I am also the head of the R&D department."

"Whoa. And you're what, like, eighteen?"

"Nineteen."

"Excuse me," she snickered. "But yeah, that's pretty young to have your whole future figured out. I'm still kind of drifting through life in the shadows."

Bonnie shrugged as she pulled off the highway. "It is okay. I know I am strange, and that most people have to take some time to find their true destiny."

"Where… are we going?"

"To this hotel! I have been driving all day."

"Oh. Guess this is where I get off, then."

"It is if you want. Or you are welcome to share my hotel room and I will continue to ferry you to your destination in the morning."

Marceline raised an eyebrow as she watched Bonnie smoothly guide the car into a parking spot — having to use her hands this time, of course. "Are you totally insane, or just the nicest person on the planet?"

"Does it have to be one or the other?" she asked with a huge grin. And yet again, Marcy found she was grinning back.

                                                      ~ o ~

Once they had brought their bags inside, the hitchhiker plopped herself on the bed and kicked off her boots again. Then she started tuning her bass. Bonnie started unpacking her little pink rolling suitcase immediately, though she cast a casual glance over at her guest now and then.

"What? Am I bugging you?"

"Not at all. I have just never seen someone play a guitar in person before."

"Never?!" When the inventor shook her head, Marceline chuckled softly. "Damn, you really don't ever crawl out from under that rock to see what the sun looks like. Not that I do, either."

"It's because I'm working," she protested with a slight pout. "Not because I don't want to meet people. I love people!"

"Oh yeah, me too. They're delicious."

Bonnie cackled as she plugged her BMO's charger into the wall. At least she got that joke. "You're so funny and cool! I wish I was like you."

"No you don't, trust me. I'm kind of a cunt."

"Are you? Well, I think that's still preferable to being boring. I might have an important job but as a person, I am… vanilla pudding."

"Yeah? Well I mean, vanilla pudding can be pretty good. Add a little red food coloring to make people think you're eating ketchup? I like red things, they look more badass."

"Vanilla is not interesting," she sighed as she seated herself on the other twin bed, pulling off her Uggs. Marceline tried not to pay too much attention to how her white leggings hugged her shapely calves and thighs. "Being a vanilla pudding when there are so many chocolate puddings around me… that is why I focus on my work."

The hitchhiker thought that over as she played a couple of notes, a few chords she used in their sets. The hook from "Smoke On The Water", then the bassline from "The Chain".

"I think you're cool, Bonbon."

"You do?" she asked in pure shock. Marcy looked up — and immediately averted her eyes when she saw her company was wearing only her underwear.

"WHOA, hey, warn a girl or something!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she hissed, arms trying to hide parts of her body pointlessly. "The other girls in gym class never cared!"

Pale cheeks flooding with color, the rocker cleared her throat and studied the carpet, watching pale pink toes curl nervously into the fibers. "Gym, yeah. Um… I'm sorry, that was stupid. Me flipping out. If you're cool with stripping down in front of me, like… it's your hotel room…"

"No, you are right, it was my mistake. We have only just met today. And I am decent." When Marceline chanced another glance, she saw a long pink nightgown covering Bonnie from neck to ankle. She was also wearing an embarrassed little smile that was more adorable than it had any right to be.

"You're definitely decent."

"Jingo-jango!"

"Gesundheit?" she re-joked with a slight smirk.

"Free candy!" She practically pounced on the little mint laying on her pillow, unwrapping it and devouring it in mere seconds. "Mmmmhhh… oh, divine!"

The moans of pleasure definitely made Marcy have to clear her throat again. Desire was stirring within her in a way that blindsided her; Bonnie was a girl. One she had met literally that day! Was she losing it?! Sure, she had always known she liked girls as much as boys, but she had never really been serious about one.

"Marcy?"

"SHIT!" she gasped out when she saw those beautiful features only a couple of inches away from her own. It seemed Bonnie's concern had brought her over to the other bed. "I… what? I'm fine, you can go back to getting ready for bed or whatever."

"You are flushed. What if you have a fever, from being out in the cold too long?"

Then the bouncy inventor touched their foreheads together, to check her temperature. Marceline knew that was the reason… yet she still felt her heart speed up, her sweat glands stirring to life.

But she was no shrinking violet. Anti-social, sure, and inexperienced hitting on girls versus guys. But she figured she might as well give it a shot and see what happened.

"You give me fever," she began to sing in a smoky voice. Bonnie's concerned eyes shot wide. "Fever when you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight."

A tiny whispered "What?" fell from small pink lips. And not even the oblivious shut-in could miss the rock star's meaning. "Me?"

After they held each other's gaze for a few more seconds, Marceline burst out with a chuckle and looked away, strumming her bass. "Couldn't resist. You're such a cute little marshmallow, it's too easy."

And that was that. Or so she thought. After she had played a few more notes and glanced up again, expecting that Bonnie would have rushed off to the bathroom by now, she saw she was being studied carefully.

"Sorry. Told you I'm a bitch."

"Why are you sorry? If you meant it… which you did…"

"Who says I did?" she grunted. "Hey-"

"I do," Bonnie told her in even tones as she finished pulling the guitar strap from around Marceline's neck. How could this awkward bean be so bold all of a sudden?! "You are blushing like I am blushing. That means you meant it, doesn't it?"

"No. It means… maybe I was out in the cold too long. Whatever."

Sighing like a patient teacher facing an obstinate student, Bonnie leaned over and took her lips gently. And poor Marcy felt her brain short-circuiting. This girl was going for it! How?! This girl?! Even more shameful was that it took three or four seconds for her to pull back from the kiss, panting and clutching at the bedspread.

"WHAT THE WHAT?!"

"Oh wow," Bonnibel whispered, reaching up to touch her own bottom lip with delicate fingers. "I did that."

"Yeah? Like, what, you're surprised you kissed somebody? That's fucking weird!"

"I am. I have never done it before, I didn't think it would be so easy. But I wasn't afraid like I expected to be, and I enjoyed the feeling."

One single fact kept Marcy from harping on about how bold of an assumption it was to kiss her out of nowhere. "Whoa, hold up. I'm really your first?"

"Yes," she breathed, cheeks warming to match Marceline's as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"That… amazing one you just planted on me was your first kiss?!"

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at her. "Oh, it was good?"

"Dude, I'm practically at full sail down here already!" When the hapless girl didn't seem to have any idea what she meant by that, she clarified, "Yes, it was good!"

"Oh. Then it was a successful experiment! Hooray!" Marceline just gaped at her open-mouthed. "We should do more experiments, I think."

"Yeah? What, you think I'm that easy?" she scoffed, trying to focus on reaching for her bass instead of blushing scarlet. But she barely touched the neck before firm hands were pinning her to the bed. "HEY!"

"You will assist me," the girl she had once mistaken for a marshmallow ordered her with a sly smirk.

Marceline finally understood that she had been hoodwinked. Well, not really; she believed this girl had no experience, but she had made the erroneous assumption that also meant she would be timid. Nope.

"I will? That's pretty interesting, I thought I got to decide that part."

"You do. But I already know you will decide to help me." Her hips started shifting on top of Marceline's, eyes briefly falling shut. "Mmm… mm?"

The rocker looked away, waiting for the backlash. Bracing to be shouted at, or called any number of names. She had been down that road before — most recently with Ash, who had no problem doing that to her but only when he was angry.

"You're a transgender person."

Stunned by the bluntness of the phrasing, she finally looked up to see nothing but surprise in Bonnie's features. No judgment, no disgust. "Um… yeah. Well, we prefer just 'trans'."

"Oh! 'Justrans' then." She shifted a few more times, prompting a little groan from both of them. "This will certainly make the experiment easier; I already know how to work with one of these from anatomy class."

Marcy knew she wasn't trying to be cruel. She could tell. But she still hissed up at her, "Can you like, not act like I'm some kind of sex slave robot? There's a real person with a real blackened soul down here."

With a little gasp, she covered her mouth. "Bloobalooby! I'm sorry, you're right." Her hips rolled again, sending a wave of heat down into the rocker from their point of contact, blinding her with pleasure. "Do you consent to experimenting with me sexually, and taking my virginity?"

Marceline could only sputter. And she almost told her 'no' simply because she was so shocked at the entire situation. But it was beginning to feel way too good. Why? Why did she want to?

"Sure. If you really don't care that I'm some problem you picked up off the side of the road."

"You are perfect." For just a second, Marcy felt a flutter in her stomach from such praise. Then Bonnie elaborated, "I'm comfortable with you, and I can tell that you are an adequate size to give me a wonderful first experience."

"Oh. That kind of 'perfect'. Right."

Genuinely puzzled, she tilted her head and asked, "What other kind is there?"

Instead of answering, Marceline pulled her down for a heated kiss. They kept that up while rolling around on the bed, running their fingers through each other's hair, humming into the contact. By the time they came up for air, she realized her sweater had disappeared.

"Can I see you?"

"Oh, is that going to help with the experiment?" Bonnie lowered her voice. "Am I… sexy?"

"Well, duh," she laughed as she dropped her jeans. But she fell speechless when she saw the shapely pink body coming into view. "I'm… yep. Definitely stand by my statement."

"I think you are sexy as well." But she was saying it shyly, as if stating a secret, rather than in a flirty way. This girl really didn't understand human sexuality but she was trying her best.

Weird but cute. And her face was glowing red like a stoplight… and Marceline liked red things.

They fell into each other with eagerness, kissing all over faces and necks as their bodies combined. Bonnibel was so soft inside, and her skin smelled like flowers. The little gasps and mewlings at the foreign sensations only made Marcy throb harder, willed her hips to begin moving.

Minutes later, she broke yet another kiss to whisper urgently, "I'm… I'm gonna finish, I d-don't have… a condom…"

"I'm on birth control, to regulate my cycle. I will not become pregnant." But she was biting her lip. The sensations had changed how she reacted. "Will you…? Please?"

She would. Moans fell freely from both of them as their bodies shifted faster and faster, until the dam burst and Marceline felt both their bodies convulsing with the proof of their pleasure. It was an instant, it was an eternity. It was everything.

As they lay curled up together, silence reigned for a few minutes. Experiment complete. Neither of the new quite what to say. Until finally Bonnie whispered, "You sang."

"Huh?"

"When you ejaculated. It was like singing." She closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips as her hand drifted up to cover her own heart. "It was so sweet…"

Marceline scoffed, resisting the temptation to roll over and away to protect her own feelings. "N-no way. I don't do 'sweet', you're loopy. Literally fucked your brains out."

"No, my brains are still intact," she teased with a light chuckle as she began to draw little circles on Marcy's pale shoulder. "And you sang. And I am very, very satisfied with your 'axe'."

That prompted a gleeful giggle from both women. "Told you. I slay all day, Bonnie-bae."

                                                      THE END

#Bubblinded Me With Science #bubbline #forkanna writes #princess bubblegum #marceline the vampire queen #jess the writer #commission #morbidhero #nsfw--text

[dyeghofficial]

Do You Even Go Here {Part 7 Cont.}

Author’s Note: We are so, so sorry that this took so long, you guys! Life hit @zizzleofcorona and I pretty hard, and to be honest, @technicallyalchemy hasn’t been having the easiest time of it, either. But we’re back, and will slowly but surely be updating as time progresses. Thank you so much for your patience. Your enthusiasm for this little story of ours brings us so much joy and it is so humbling. We will continue to do our best to entertain! Thanks for supporting us, seriously, we cannot thank you enough! ♥

~Candi

Varian scowled. Cass, you're making me look like a complete idiot! He grabbed her (his own?) shoulder, and opened his mouth to speak when Holly came jogging up, stopping a few feet away from the group and looking hesitant. "Um...bad time?"

"Great time," Varian as Raps replied, taking her arm and leading her away a bit. "Do I know you?" she asked, eyeing him curiously.

He sighed. "Holly, I know this is a large pill to swallow but it's me, Varian."

"Varian?!"

"Shh!"

He cast his gaze about to see if anyone heard, but they were all thankfully distracted by all of the new inventions being set up for the expo.

His mouth twisted into a bitter smile - if he didn't hurry, he'd never be able to present.

Wait, no. Bigger fish.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. "As you can see, I'm in my friend's body and I--"

Presently, something very large knocked into his legs and he glanced down and saw, much to his horror, that Lance was on all fours attempting to twine around him.

"Rudiger," he hissed. "Knock it off! You'll blow our cover."

Holly's eyes trailed downwards and she blanched. "What is happening?"

Rapunzel laughed uneasily, clasping Lance's shoulder and straightening it up. "I think you've had a bit too much, buddy. Let's get you home." Away from the already concerned Quirin, at least. Squeezing the raccoon's shoulder tight, she walked off, mouthing that she would be back soon.

"I--this---he's a racoon," he stammered helplessly.

Holly's lips thinned out and she turned to face Cassandra. "Great prank. Very funny."

Cass rubbed the back of her/Varian's hair and she laughed nervously. "Uh... Yeah, haha... Sorry."

Varian groaned. "Holly, this isn't a prank. Cass, stop enabling everything. And go occupy my dad, please," he begged. "I can't...please."

He turned back to the small blond. "My machine did this. I was sabotaged by Weasel and his little helper."

Holly's eyes narrowed in suspicion and she flickered her gaze between the raven boy and the blond girl. "If you're Varian," she said, focused on the girl. "Then what's Benham's Disk?"

Varian huffed. "We don't have time for this," he griped impatiently.

"Benham's Disk, dude."

"Holly, you're making this more difficult than it has to be, but fine." He inhaled deeply, then said, all at once, "Benham's Disk is a rotating black and white disk that produces the illusion of color. Rotate it at the right speed and the pattern appears to contain colored rings. You see color because different color receptors in your eyes respond at different rates. The amount of color an organism sees is largely due to the offset and number of rods and cones, ocular cells that perceive light and color and relay that information to the brain."

When he finished, he was slightly winded. Clearly, Rapunzel's vocal cords and lungs weren't used to spewing out so much information in one breath. "Now will you help me?"

Cass rubbed at her forehead. "Thanks for the bio recap, but I'd like to go back to my body, so can we make this quick?"

Holly's eyes widened a fraction but her resolve set. "Okay." This was a weird day. "I saw Weasel and Reager setting up on the other side of the courtyard. I'll cut through. You go around the back."

Rapunzel joined shortly after. "I locked Lance, er, Ruddiger? In your bathroom, Varian." Rapunzel was out of breath too. Eugene's longer legs made it easier to move quickly, but his body was hungover and a bit out of shape.

He shot her the most grateful look. "It's weird talking to you when you look like Eugene. Where is he anyway?"

Eugene walked up in Cass's body, angry and brooding. "Present," he said. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan," Varian informed them, "Is to get my machine back and fix this. Holly just so happens to be excellent at espionage." He turned to her. "Please help. We don't have much time til the expo starts and I really, really need this to work right."

Holly nodded and slipped off to track down the machine while Cass frowned. "Guys? What if we don't switch back in time?"

Rapunzel stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Varian's shoulder. "You said you had a secret to tell me about your invention?"

Quirin knew his son too well, and Cassandra wouldn't be able to fool him in the long run.

Eugene was horrible with secrets. Well, not the keeping-from-your-fiance-when-you-shouldn't kind, but it would be good enough.

Quirin blinked in mild surprise when Eugene took the raccoon from him but he didn't make a fuss about it. Instead, he announced that he was going to acquire seats for all of them and walked off after giving Varian an unguarded warm smile. Cass smiled back at him and waved once, feeling guilty for some reason, but also glad that one complication had been removed.

Varian winced. "That," he told Holly, "Is something I really don't want to think about right now." The idea of being stuck in Rapunzel's body forever wasn't something he delighted in indulging.

"Come on, let's go." He tugged her and Eugene-Cass away, intent on finding the thieves and righting this entire mess before time ran out, and that didn't give them much of a window at all. He swallowed the tight ball of panic in his throat and disappeared around the corner, leaving Raps, Cass and Rudiger alone with his father.

Cass glanced over at Quirin, who waved them over from his seat and a light bulb lit up in her head. She'd almost forgotten that there was one tidbit of information Varian was keeping from her and she was in the perfect position to get it now. She smirked and sauntered over to the man, sitting down next to him lazily. "Hey, dad."

Quirin glanced at her and grunted a greeting. Cass smiled brightly up at him, hoping she was doing Varian's innocent charming look justice. "How come you never call me by my full name ever?"

Quirin gave her a quizzical look. "Because I don't have a reason to right now."

Cass held her gaze. "But if I was, you would?"

Quirin shrugged, starting to feel uneasy. "Yes? What did you do?"

I'm sorry, kid. "I got a girl pregnant," she blurted out.

Quirin blinked several times. "I'm sorry, what?"

Cass pursed her lips. "Yep!"

She watched as Quirin rubbed a hand over his face. "I don't... Varian Qu--"

Suddenly all the lights turned off and a single spotlight shone in the stage, highlighting that ugly dude Cass noticed earlier. Her stomach iced over. NO!

Varian, completely unaware of Cass's utter betrayal, looked up when the spotlights shone on Dr. Master St. Croix. Shit, it's starting. "Come on, we gotta hurry."

Eugene groaned. "It was a huge machine. How could they have gotten so far with it in so little time?"

Varian blinked. "Eugene, you're a genius!"

"Hey, watch who you're calling a--wait. What?"

"Why didn't I think of that?" Varian cried. "They must be somewhere nearby, and there's only a few places near here that can hide something that big. I could kiss you!"

Eugene made a face, and so did Varian.

"Er...but I won't."

"Yeaahhh..."

They both looked away awkwardly and Varian cleared his throat. "Split up and search?" he suggested.

Rapunzel watched, biting her tongue as she noticed the spotlight.

How could she delay this?

Looking at a wrench, a horrible idea came to mind but she proceeded to loosen a water pipe. The leaking water would stall for long enough.

Dr. Master St. Croix strode onto the stage with the spotlight on him, looking haughty as he approached the podium. He cleared his throat and tapped the mic. "Erm... Good evening, plebeians. I suppose you think you're all expecting a show. Let me be the first to inform you that science is no joke."

Cass's top lip curled as she listened to the ugly man drone on in a snotty voice. This was Varian's idol? She was suddenly questioning his taste. "Good god," she murmured. "Could he be more full of himself?"

Quirin side glanced at the teenager next to him, a tiny smile playing on his lips. "I thought Dr. Master so and so could do no wrong in your eyes."

"I'm starting to rethink some things," Cass responded sourly.

Quirin stood up abruptly and began walking towards the exit door. Her eyes widened. "Qu--Dad?" She also stood up, following him out. "Hey old man, what gives?"

Eugene was beyond frustrated, exhausted, and over this entire day already. They didn't have time for this. The presentations were due to start any minute, and Varian was nowhere in sight. Er, well, he was, but it wasn't him.  He had vanished into the ether, taking Rapunzel's body with him. Meanwhile Cass, in Varian's body, was making a complete idiot of herself (of Varian?) by saying all the wrong things to his dad, who was looking more and more suspicious by the second. The real Rapunzel, who now wore his face, was determinedly looking everywhere but at him. His heart seized up. He couldn't really chastise Cass for putting her foot in her mouth when he had done the same thing on a much deeper level and wounded the person he loved in the process. Maybe Lance was right. Maybe he should have fought harder to stop her from leaving. He took a cautious step towards her. "Rapunzel, I--"

He was cut off by an announcement over the loudspeaker: ATTENTION, STUDENTS AND FACULTY! THE PRESENTING WILL BEGIN IN TWENTY FIVE MINUTES! FAMILY MEMBERS PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS. COMPETITORS PLEASE BRING YOUR INVENTIONS TO THE AREA BEHIND THE STAGE. THANK YOU.

The announcement blared across campus, and so Varian heard it loud and clear as he held his position with baited breath, watching Anthony Weasel and Dale Reager sneak around the corner and out of sight with his machine.  He had a plan, and if they could get their timing just right, he would have it back in his possession and be ready to present in less than fifteen minutes. "Okay, Holls. Here's the deal... all we have to do is wait for them to try and operate it and then I can--"Holly, what are you doing?"

He tried to grab her before she crept off but she was too fast. She did a little half turn, pressing her fingers to her lips.

"Get back here," he hissed. She shook her head and grinned, disappearing around the bend.

Why me? Why today? he thought, sweating profusely as he silently declared himself a lunatic and followed her.

Rapunzel had forgotten how nice it was not to have several pounds of hair attached to her head, but the hangover in Eugene's body nullified that affect, and it seemed persistent no matter how much water she drank. They'd have to have a talk once things were back to normal, about keeping hydrated and keeping a decent diet. Her head pounded and Eugene was trying to talk to her but he was in Cassandra's body  but then the loudspeaker was going off.

She wanted to curl up and sleep, but there were more pressing matters to attend to, like getting her body back. Muscle reflex was interesting, especially when it wasn't hers, allowing her to sneak with relative ease to the backstage and look at the roster. It was written in pencil, and it was easy enough to swap Varian's name and put him last. It would only buy them an extra twenty minutes, but it was better than nothing

Eugene watched as she used the skills he had acquired over so many years to sneak around the back and switch things up to buy them a little more time. He was both irritated and vaguely turned on. Was that weird? It was probably at least a little weird. Making use of the time in his own way, he slid up to Cass and put an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, little buddy," she said, ruffling her hair. "Maybe we shouldn't get too carried away, huh? Kids. Sugar. Amirite?" It was a phrase he had heard Cass and Varian exchange often, and anyone who knew them had heard it too, so he figured this would be a selling point for the suspicious looking hulk of a man eyeing them down like he was contemplating calling the FBI. He added a sassy grin to sell it. "Soooo, Mr. Saber, you excited to see Varian's invention?"

The real Varian was hurriedly wiping sweat out of his eyes as he clambered along the vent line, cursing softly under his breath. "Invite your dad, Varian, it'll be fine, Varian. There's no way anyone could have messed with it, you must have just calibrated wrong, Varian," he griped. "When I get my hands on Holly, I'll kill her."

The two of them had met at the beginning of the semester, and had taken an instant liking to each other since they stood out like anxious, awkward sore thumbs among the regal elite of the brains chem class. Holly wasn't the same age as everyone else, either. Though she hadn't been skipped as early as Varian, she was only a high school senior. She had proven her aptitude via the board's placement tests, however, and her family and the school had agreed that college could offer her more than staying put one more year in high school.

So, 17 and almost 16 year old had joined up as allies against the 18-20 somethings who were all looking down on them and they had been lab partners and friends ever since. Although, at the present moment, he didn't feel particularly friendly toward her. After running off while he was trying to relay his plan to get the telepathometer back, she had gotten herself into a sticky situation by underestimating Dale and Anthony's intelligence and now she was tied up in the chem lab. It was up to him to save her, and since he was outnumbered and outmuscled, he had to use brains and stealth. Hence, the claustrophobia inducing ventilation shaft he was now elbowing his way through.

He was very thin, but he had grown quite a bit taller than when he had first enrolled at CorUni, and the extra inches made shimmying through tight spaces, an activity he was sadly used to for, err, purely scientific reasons, a bit more difficult.

"Wait, Qu-err--Dad", Cass exclaimed again as she followed Varian's father to the edge of the courtyard. He stopped so abruptly, she almost collided with him but stopped a fraction of an inch away from him. She gave him a questioning look as he stared down at her imperiously.

"You're not my son," he replied carefully. Cass's eyes widened a smidge and though her heart iced over, she gave nothing else away. Instead she laughed, waving a hand off at him. "Please. Don't be ridiculous. Who else would I be?"

Quirin let out a soft growl and it took everything in Cass not to recoil. "Jeez, okay... I--Okay in Varian's defense, it wasn't his fault..."

His pseudo-glare didn't waver. "Oh-kay," she muttered under her breath, scoffing out loud when Eugene wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm not your buddy, Fitzherbert."

Eugene sighed. He knew a botched attempt when he saw one. "Okay, look. That's Cass. I'm Eugene. We're Varian's friends, remember? The reason that she's in his body is because one of Varian's inventions went wonky, but he's gone after it so he can fix it and--" He recoiled a bit at Quirin's expression. "Yeah, I'm just making it worse, aren't I? I'm gonna shut up now."

He grinned sheepishly, backing away. "In fact, I think I'm gonna go check on him. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Bye!"

With that, he noped out of there.

Rapunzel made her way over cautiously, listening to the chatter and wincing. The jig was up, Quirin knew what had happened. With a sigh, she rubbed the back of her head and began to approach the group before she saw Cassandra - Eugene? God, this was annoying, and the pounding in her head only grew worse as the sun rose higher in the sky

"Running away from confrontation again?" Rapunzel didn't mean to sound so bitter, so angry, but it was surprisingly difficult when she was so drained.

"Actually, no," he replied, his irritation dissipating a bit when he saw how dizzy and exhausted she looked. She shouldn't have to put up with the consequences of his choices. Adjusting his tone a bit so it was softer, he said, "I'm going to find Varian and help him get his machine back."

"Okay. I bought us some time, not much, but," she shrugged slightly and stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. "After we get... this sorted out, we should talk."

Cass pinched the bridge of her nose. There he goes again, giving me a headache. She rolled her eyes before turning her gaze towards Quirin again, noting his confused expression. "Okay," she breathed out, figuring that it was up to her to explain since everyone else so rudely abandoned her.

"Varian built this machine that's supposed to read human minds, I guess- I'm still confused about the whole logistical aspect of it. Anyway," she said as she waved off the explanation, "Some douchey nerds sabotaged his machine and made us all change bodies, and now he's trying to get it back 'cause said jerkoffs stole it from the prep room."

Quirin's right eyebrow twitched as he sighed out in exasperation. Nervousness began rising up inside her. No wonder the poor guy was always trying to impress the man. Quirin was intimidating as hell. She opened her mouth to say something else in Varian's defense but Quirin cut her off.

"Let's catch those little shits, shall we?"

Cass couldn't help it; a smile broke out on her face as her eyes flashed with determination. "Let's." She began running off with him towards the direction she last saw them all.

"So does that mean you'll tell me his middle name?"

Quirin smirked. "Not a chance."

Their eyes met and Eugene nodded once. "Yeah, I think a talk is probably long overdue. Come on, Sunshine." They set off towards the science building, where he had seen the thieves and their pursuers run off to earlier.

Varian groaned as he leveled his frame over Holly, who was tied up and gagged. Fantastic, these guys are even more corrupt than I anticipated... Since his back up had gotten captured, he wanted to go back and find some more support, knowing it was unwise to go in alone, bit he couldn't guarantee Holly's safety if he did that. The telepathometer had taken a back burner as far as importance went, and once again he marveled at just how much his friends had changed him. He shook his head. "Plan now, reminisce later," he chided himself, trying to figure out his next move. From his lofty vantage point, he could see the entirety of the AP chem lab laid out below him, with its many workstations, closets full of equipment, giant  windows that looked out onto the grounds, and of course, the perps, the hostage, and his stolen invention. He swallowed hard. The way he saw it, he had the element of surprise on his side, but not much else. Even if he dropped down and caught one of them off guard, there was still the other to contend with. And he couldn't let loose any smoke bombs without risking hurting his friend. "Damn it," he hissed. Dale and Anthony looked up sharply and he covered his mouth.

And that was when he saw Raps and Eugene entering the building's front doors through the window.

"They don't seem to care about hurting girls," Rapunzel mused, doing her best to think of a plan. "Make a riot, give Varian a chance to get Holly. Then it's four on two," she murmured before grabbing a glass vial, not caring what was inside as she tossed it at Dale's feet.

Dale glanced up from his post in front of Holly, frowning. "Did you hear th--" His sentence was cut off when a glass vial flying towards him caught his attention. "What the hell?!" He jumped back as the vial shattered on the ground he was previously standing on and his eyes widened as a cloud of putrid green smoke immediately clouded up the air. He covered his face in his shirt, coughing violently against the noxious gas.

Holly took the distraction as an opportunity to twist her wrists out of the ropes Weasel had tied her up with. She smirked. For all his talk about how amazing at everything he was and everyone was just jealous of him, he couldn't tie knots to save his life. She sprung to her feet, covering her nose and mouth to protect herself from the spreading gas and rushed over to the machine right as a hulking man quite literally kicked the door to the lab down.

Varian was behind him and--wait, not Varian, just his body. Consciousness switches were so confusing.

Cass stepped forward. "Oi. Slimetards."

Weasel's eyes widened. "What the heck?! How did you find us so quickly?! Dale, the machine--"

Holly grinned. "Is in my possession now. Thanks, boys!" She wheeled it past Varian/whoever it actually was and the Hulk man so she could reprogram it back to its original settings.

Quirin's eyes narrowed. "Where is my son?" He began walking menacingly towards Reager and Weasel, backing them up slowly against a wall.

"Way to go, Rapunzel!" Eugene shouted jovially, tackling Anthony to the ground as he re-entered the room and tried to stop Holly from leaving during the commotion. "Dang, Cass is pretty strong," he murmured as he looked down at the wriggling guy beneath him, impressed. "Don't anyone ever tell her I said that!"

"Too late, Fishbreath," Cass called out from behind Quirin, smirking. "Thanks for the compliment!"

A groaning sound caught Varian's attention and snapped him out of the dumbfounded reverie he had been caught up in watching the scene below him unfold.

He looked at the metal grate his (Rapunzel's) hands were splayed across and glowered. "Oh, come on."

It gave way, and high pitched screaming filled the air as his tiny blonde borrowed body landed safely in his father's arms.

He looked up at him sheepishly, a strand of hair covering his face. He tucked it back behind his ear hurriedly. "Uh...hey...Dad."

Eugene grimaced and tied Anthony up. "She's never gonna let me hear the end of this..." He grumbled. "There ya go, nice and tight!" As he passed Rapunzel and saw the triumphant grin on her (his own) face, for a moment it felt like old times....er...besides the body switching. "Good job, Sunshine," he said, and he made an awkward motion as if to hug her before he remembered that they were in a fight. "Uh..." He patted her shoulder awkwardly and went to find Holly so he could help her with the machine, his heart hurting.

Quirin raised his arms to grab hold of the  guy Eugene/Cass hadn’t managed to capture before he could get away. However, before he could, he heard the creaking of the vent above them and he and Reager simultaneously tilted their heads upwards in confusion. He watched in slow motion as it gave way and a tiny blond girl with impossibly long hair tumbled down, screaming all the while. He grunted softly as she landed in his arms, feeling even more confused. "...Varian?"

Reager wasted no time in slipping past them both now that Quirin's arms were full. He laughed triumphantly, turning his head to taunt them. "Gotta try harder than that to catch--"

He ran face first into a giant tin pan Cass had held out in front of him. His face left a clear imprint in the tin as he crumpled to the ground. Cass held it up, studying it. "Mm... This is the ugliest piece of art I've ever seen."

Varian scrambled to the floor and dusted himself off. "Yeah, it's me," he confessed dejectedly. "There's no time to explain, though... I have to follow Holly and Cass, er...Eugene? Eugene in Cassie's body--aaagh!" He waved his hands in an irritated manner. "You get the idea!"

He found the duo and his invention in another classroom a few doors down and stood in the doorway for a moment, panting, reeling from the day's events, before moving over to it, a comforted sigh escaping him as he felt the familiar territory of machine underneath his skin.

"We don't have much time to lose. We gotta get everyone in here and switch back, then get this thing back to the expo in less than 5 minutes."

Eugene nodded. Up until Varian had arrived, he had been helping Holly disable the laser that was menacingly firing at anyone who tried to get near it, but now that was done and we were almost out of time. "Got it! I'll round everyone up, you do your thing."

He skidded back into the chem lab and put his fingers to his lips, whistling. "Right guys, let's hop to it! There isn't much time! If you ever want to feel the loving embrace of your own meat sack surrounding you again, follow me."

Lance and Ruddiger were locked in the bathroom in Eugene's apartment. Fuck. "I'll meet you there, I've gotta go get Lance and Ruddiger!"

The apartment was close by, but it really was pushing the time. Thankfully, Lance was cooperative, and Ruddiger would do anything for the apple that Rapunzel held in front of them.

"Okay, everyone's here," Rapunzel panted, wiping sweat from her brow. "And no offense, Eugene, but you really need to work out," she wheezed. Hangover and beer belly and a half-mile sprint? Rapunzel couldn't wait to get back into her own body.

His jaw dropped. "DID YOU REALLY JUST CALL ME FA--?!"

"There's no time!" Varian reminded them shrilly, looking hysterical. "Get in here, everyone! Now! Unless you want to be stuck like this forever!"

Cass cackled loudly, following Varian. She wiped the corners of her eyes. Lance, in Ruddiger's body let out a chittering laugh as well.

Cass clapped Eugene on the back. "At least you still have your personality, bud."

"Not fat, just out of shape and you need to put food without artificial coloring or added sugars into your body." Not nachos and alcohol, she could still taste it on her breath. Ew.

Eugene hissed at her as Varian feverishly worked at the controls, muttering to himself and looking crazy. "Okay!" he said finally, stepping back. "Let's go, everyone. Form a half circle around the telepathometer so it can scan and properly replace you in your own bodies. I cannot wait to get rid of all this hair."

Eugene glanced at Rapunzel. "I'll add that to my list of things to do, right after putting my life back together without you somehow." He stepped into place, looking down.

Holly stood back just out of range. "I'll be here if you guys need me."

Cass nodded and stepped into the circle. "Yeah, I miss my body. No offense, runt, but your noodle arms are not something I want to keep enduring."

Lance hopped out of Raps's arms and pitter-pattered over to the circle as well, standing next to Cass, his tail swishing gently.

Quirin walked up just then, standing next to Holly. "Campus police have the two perps in their custody. I already explained everything to them."

Varian didn't have the energy to be annoyed so he just offered Cass a tired smile as he got everything ready. "Sorry about my noodle arms. It's not for lack of trying."

He looked up as his dad entered the room and then hurriedly glanced away, unable to look him in the eyes. He was so embarrassed. This was just another screw up in a long line of screw ups. Would there ever be a day where he would look at his father and see pride written into his face rather than shame and disdain? "Thanks, Dad," he said glumly.

"Everybody ready?"

"Putting our life back together? It was fine, Eugene. Shaken, sure, chipped, maybe. But we... you decided to lie, and it sent everything tumbling down," Rapunzel laughed bitterly, wiping tears away from her eyes as she stood by Eugene. "So don't say you'll fix things. You tried to fix things when they weren't broken, and look where we ended up.

"I'm sorry, Rapunzel!" he exclaimed, and his expression was tired and sad. "You're right, I shouldn't have lied to you! I thought I was protecting you, but I  should have trusted you and known that you don't need saving! And I know I have no right to ask this of you but I would like it if you could find it in your heart to give me another chance so I can show you that I mean it because ... I love you! More than anything in this world! I can't imagine my life without you in it. And I want to prove to you I can be better." He took her (his? God this was confusing) hands and looked at her, eyes wavering.

Cass's eyes flickered over to Varian, who was looking more and more aggravated by the second. "Uh... Guys? Not trying to break up the sweet moment here but we're running out of time..."

Varian tapped his foot impatiently. Of all the times for them to have a heart to heart...he was happy for them, but this really wasn't the time. When Cass said this, he shot her a grateful look. "Yeah, can we just--"

Rapunzel would have to apologize to Cassandra later, she probably wouldn't approve of this. Leaning forward, she captured Eugene (Cassandra?) In a brief kiss before pulling back.

"Okay, go ahead and do it."

Cass's top lip curled. "Ew, I never wanna see that again."

Varian blanched. "If I wasn't already queasy."

Eugene, however, was walking on air. He kissed her back, elated, and completely lost in her for a moment, before she pulled away and the widest grin crossed his face. "Can it, half pint."

"Half pint---? "

"Let's do this."

Varian sneered. "Fine. Hold onto your butts."

The machine whirred to life with a loud bang and became so loud that it was as if several industrial fans had been placed in the vicinity. It was impossible to hear, and as a bright green light filled the room, it soon became impossible to see, too. Everyone's navels got wrenched forward as their heads and hearts became hot, and there was a moment of clear, black nothing as they all lost consciousness for a brief moment.

The sound of several bodies pattering to the ground was the only sound as the telepathometer died down.

Awareness settled into Varian's brain slowly, like ice trickling down a bluff at the first sign of spring sunlight. "Ugh," he moaned. "Did it work?"

He heard his own voice saying this as he spoke, so that had to be a good sign. Excitedly, he looked down at his hands, which were gloved and much too large for his lanky frame, and his eyes lit up.

"Yes! It did work! Come on, guys! Wake up!"

Eugene was next, and he sat up slowly, blinking as the day's transpired events carefully reorganized themselves in his mind. Rapunzel's form lay still next to him, and wordlessly, he helped her into a sitting position, shaking her softly.

"You okay, Blondie?"

"Mm, I forgot how heavy all of this hair was," Rapunzel sighed after a moment, wincing as she raised a hand to her head, vision still blurring at the edges.

Looking up to Eugene, she offered a weak smile. There was still more to be talked about, more than their heat-of-the-moment kiss. Things weren't fixed, but at least they could be civil with each other now. Friends if nothing else. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just glad to be back in my own body."

Quirin and Holly both shielded their eyes, closing then against the emerald light. She laughed as everyone collapsed to the ground. "Talk about letting the bodies hit the floor, am I right?" She nudged Quirin playfully. "Right, Mr. Saber...hagen-oh you're not amused," she finished lamely once she noted his stern exterior.

Cass's eyes fluttered open and she sat up slowly, her vision swimming. She glanced around blearily to see Rapunzel and Eugene gazing at each other and Varian looking very excited. So it worked. She looked down, elation coursing through her when she recognized her own hands. "Oh, thank God. Varian, you're a genius. I'm so glad I'm back."

Eugene chuckled. "I bet."

He didn't know what was going to happen between them now, but in his heart he felt like it could start to be okay. Any remaining upset between them had evaporated, leaving only their mutual care for each other in its wake. Now the healing could begin, and wherever that took them, he would be okay with. He helped her to her feet as Holly made her lame joke and Cass and Lance bickered.

"You're glad?" Lance piped up. "I was a raccoon. A raccoon!" He waved his hands over his head.

"I think I liked you better that way," Eugene chimed in, dusting himself off. "You were less off putting. And I gotta say, I really didn't miss the talking."

Varian flushed and looked away at Cass's words and stood, trying not to look at his dad.

"Come on, guys," he murmured. "Let's get back to the courtyard. I think they already started."

Lance glowered at Eugene as he stood up. "Listen Sergeant Tubbs, I don't think you have the right to call anyone off-putting."

Cass also stood up, moving to the side as Holly rushed to Varian's side to help him wheel the machine off. She smiled to herself as Ruddiger stood up, spinning around in place, chittering excitedly. He twirled around Varian's legs and climbed up his back to rest on his shoulders.

Quirin walked over calmly to also push the device. "Thanks to Rapunzel here, you're presenting last so there's still time."

"Okay, now the fat jokes are just getting hurtful," he quipped, looking down at his belly and pouting. "It's not that bad, is it? Guys?"

Varian laughed and picked up the enthusiastic raccoon, placing him on his shoulders. "I missed you, too, buddy." At his dad's words, his smile died and he nodded, falling into step between Holly. "Thanks for your help," he said sincerely.  He was reeling. Now that all the chaos had subsided, he realized that the part of him that cared about showing off his invention was being superseded by...literally everything else. He was tired, he was anxious, and he couldn't look at his dad for shit. He was angry with him, he realized. First, for thinking he needed a babysitter, and also because even after all this, he always had to credit someone else. Sure, what he had said hadn't been technically wrong, and he was grateful for Rapunzel's, and everyone else's aid in retrieving the device, but did he have to say it in such a way that implied that if it had been up to him alone, it would have resulted in responding and disparaging failure?

He glared heatedly at the ground, tears of frustration stinging the corners of his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

What is it going to take to be good enough for you?

When they got back to the presenting area, Dr. St. Croix looked at them haughtily. "Well, Mr. Saberhagen, I didn't peg you for someone who made a habit of being late."

Varian nervously tugged at his collar. "I know, I'm sorry. I--"

"No excuses! Just get up there! You're last and we won't wait forever."

Varian nodded once and removed Rudiger from his shoulders, looking at him meaningfully. "You be good now," he said before passing him to Cass.

He looked at his friends one last time, and finally met his dad's gaze. "Well, here goes nothing..."

Quirin glanced over and frowned, seeing his son's bitter expression. His stomach dropped. Oh, no. Had he screwed up again? He didn't press it, not wanting to embarrass Varian. Externally he was stoic but underneath the surface, a storm brewed. He knew Varian thought he thought of his son as a disappointment. It couldn't have been farther from the truth. He just didn't know how to actually say it. Quirin and emotions did not mix well.

Cass in the meantime reached out for Ruddiger, cradling him gently. He chirped happily and she instinctively reached down to scratch his chin as she smiled brightly for Varian. "Good luck. You're gonna kill it out there."

Lance saluted Varian and left the backstage area to go find a seat in the courtyard.

Varian’s eyes widened and his stomach did a little flip. "Thanks, Cassie."

With fresh determination, he grabbed the machine and wheeled it up to the stage, taking a few deep breaths to calm the panic that was threatening to well up inside him. Everything is okay, Varian. You worked hard for this. Your friends like your inventions...and so will they.

Ever the showman, the second he emerged on stage he was collected and beaming brightly. After a short and sweet description of the device's abilities to build it up, he gestured grandly. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the telepathometer!"

He selected a volunteer from the audience, making sure it wasn't one of his close circle so as to assure that no one would think it was an act, and calibrated the machine to display complicated brainwaves that depicted emotions and complex, decipherable thought on screen. Then he did it again. And again.

The crowd was eating it up, and Dr. St. Croix, for his part, was semi permanently slack jawed.

Varian grinned with renewed confidence as the applause and cheers grew louder and he bowed.

"Thank you very much!"

Rapunzel watched with warm eyes as Varian wheeled his invention up, trusting that it was in working order now - it had been a pain when it was just their small group of friends in the wrong bodies. Several hundred people? She didn't even want to imagine it.

But the telepathometer was a success, and she cheered along with the crowd. When his presentation was done and Master Dr. St. Croix left to deliberate and place his final judgments, she swept him in a hug. "You did great! I'm sure that you'll be spending some time with your dad while he's here, but we can go out to dinner later this week to celebrate." Tonight was a girl's night with Cassandra, anyway.

Cass strolled up and reached over to ruffle Varian's hair. "Damn, kid. You're getting tall. Pretty soon I won't be able to call you kid." She smiled for him. "Good job out there, by the way." She glanced at Rapunzel. "All set for our night together?"

Lance, who had walked up shortly behind Cass, wriggled his eyebrows. "Your night together? Sounds scandalous."

Cass rolled her eyes. "You act like we're gonna make out or something," she said as she playfully shoved him.

He laughed. "Eh, a guy can dream."

"Gross."

Quirin let out a breath through his nose in mild amusement. "Varian. Holly. Are you ready? Dinner will be my treat tonight."

Varian's eyes softened as his friends praised him. "Thanks, guys," he replied amidst the hugs and chatter, "But I didn't really do much. If it hadn't been for your help, I wouldn't have even had an invention to show." He grimaced. "I'm just glad we're all back in our own bodies."

There was a pause. "Dinner sounds nice," he mused, looking out across the crowd, scanning it to find his father. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to him or not; he was sort of embarrassed. At Cass's remark, he laughed and shoved her hand aside. "Something tells me I'll always be 'kid' to you guys." He caught Quirin's eye and sighed as his dad walked up. "Yeah, sounds good, Dad..." To his friends he said, "I'll uh...see you later..."

Ruddiger, once again his furry brained self, jumped onto his shoulder as he walked away, and Holly brought up the rear as they disappeared into the crowd.

Eugene watched him go, hands in his pockets. "Did he seem off to you guys?"

"A little," Rapunzel agreed, biting her bottom lip in concern as she watched Varian leave. "He really wanted the expo to go perfectly, and even if it was out of his control, it didn't go that way. It was almost a disaster, even. He's a high schooler in a college world, and he's been through a lot. More than most college students will go through in their entire lives." Her own attack came to mind, but he also had drastic surgery, and then there was the matter of the black rocks. A problem that had merely been stalled, and it would come back sooner or later.

With a sigh, she shook her head. "When I first met him, he told me about wanting to make his dad proud. Even though he won first place, and I know his dad is proud of him, I think he has a negative filter. Only focusing on the things that went wrong, not what went right." Clearing her throat, Rapunzel shook her head and tried to lift the mood she had made somber. "I'll talk with him later. It might be something else, for all I know."

A shadow passed over Eugene's face as she spoke. He knew she was right, and his heart went out to the poor kid. "I think that's a good idea. He likes you. I mean...you're like a big sister to him. And you have a way of putting people at ease." The compliment was off-handed, something everyone knew about Rapunzel and something he didn't think should put any pressure on her, but nevertheless he decided it was time to move his presence elsewhere. " I uh...I'll see you ladies later. Come on, Lance. We have to work."

Then he too had melted into the throng of people.

It wasn't that he didn't want to be around her, but he knew he'd made things even more awkward than they needed to be during the expo and she probably didn't want to see him, so if he could ease her mind by removing himself from the picture, that's what he would do. Besides, it wasn't like she didn't know where to find him if she needed him for something.

With a heavy heart, he returned to work at The Joint, putting on his best crowd-charming smile.

In the meantime, Varian was struggling to find the right words, but they kept dying in his throat. He glanced up at the figure of his father towering over him and winced; what was wrong with him? He'd won, his dad was in a good mood, he was back in his own body, his friends had praised him...why did he feel like the world was tinged with something sour?

"Er...Dad?"

#tangled the series rp #dyegh #do you even go here #dyegh official #candiroseofoldcorona #zizzleofcorona #technicallyalchemy #dyegh part 7 #thank you for your support and patience!

[therepairdepot]

fanfic time? fanfic time it has no title and a million plot holes enjoy

As the Isle O’ Hags only hazardous waste disposal facility, A.M. Industries had always been a bustling, busy place.

High above the processing floor, Adrian Miller’s boots trod heavily and with purpose upon the catwalk. He scanned his surroundings with as much of an eagle eye as he could muster. The foreman was not searching for anything in particular, he was simply making his rounds as usual.

A sharp whiff of a sour, rotten odor nearly took Adrian by surprise. It was not a foreign smell, in fact the foreman recognized it immediately. Caustic washing had begun in the facility.

A.M. Industries began its life as an offshoot of Hailfire Peaks Oil Refinery with Adrian among its first few employees. First encountering this foul odor was one of the most potent memories of his career; the choking gag noise he made upon his first encounter would probably never leave his memory. Now, the reek simply made him chuckle softly.

Toxic waste was an unavoidable part of the fuel refining process. Though dangerous and unpleasant, the job of treating it for disposal had to be done and that job was delegated to the facility that now bore the foreman’s name. Caustic wash waste turned out to only be the beginning, however, as requests from all over the Isle began to trickle in—sewage came first, closely followed by surplus explosives. As the once single-purpose facility grew, so did Adrian’s position on the management ladder. Once a pipe fitter with a knack for oxyacetylene, Adrian fought his way up the ranks to his current position as foreman... though it was not unusual to see him on the floor among his reports, torch in hand.

The catwalk creaked lightly as Adrian neared its end and began his descent into the office. Those responsible for the smell glanced up upon hearing the noise, then returned to their task, relieved that the foreman saw no need to bark an ill-tempered order. After all, Adrian was not exactly known for being a kind or patient man.

-

“O’Malley!”

The voice over the radio was sharp, frustrated and not one that Kevin O’Malley ever wanted to hear from the foreman. The Jinjo fumbled about his belt to retrieve the receiver at his side.

“What up, boss?”

“O’Malley, please come up to the cable room. I need to discuss something with you.”

-

Adrian awaited the Jinjo at the back of the cavernous chamber, dimly lit by the flashlight he held up to a handful of cables. His face was only visible in the dark when nearby LED indicators illuminated, leaving his safety vest and steel-toed boots hidden from view.

When he heard the door open and Kevin tread towards him, the foreman grumpily stated, “O’Malley, we have a problem.”

Kevin’s eyes drifted to the distal end of the wad Adrian clutched in his gloved hand. Each cable had been cleanly severed and the insulation around them had melted, as though the bundle was slashed with a hot knife. “This does NOT happen by accident.” Adrian then gestured to the neat label affixed to the board from which the damaged cables originated.

SECURITY CAMERAS — OUTDOOR

Kevin nodded in agreement. “Er—... yeah this ain’t right, but this damage isn’t too bad. We have plenty of heat-shrink tubing and I can have it all soldered up good as new in an hour.”

Adrian sighed heavily. “The repair doesn’t worry me, O’Malley. What concerns me is the deliberate, selective damage. Someone doesn’t want to be seen.”

-

Strapped securely in their safety harnesses, Jarvis and Kevin climbed the ladder to the top of the smokestack. The rabbit, being the nimbler of the two, hopped upon the grate first, followed by his coworker.

“You’ve had the boiler locked out, right Kevin?” The rabbit inquired, suddenly quite worried about being blasted sky-high by a gust of steam spouting from the stack.

The Jinjo laughed. “I wouldn’t drag you up here if I didn’t, Jarv.” He casually tossed his brushes onto the grate. “Now come on, Miller’s gonna have an aneurysm if he doesn’t get his grates cleaned.” Kevin brashly threw a stiff wire brush at Jarvis.

Silence took over for several minutes.

Jarvis lifted an ear. A whooshing noise had become audible.

“You hear that, Kevin?”

The Jinjo continued to scrape the grates as he replied, “Nah, what was it?

Jarvis sat back on his knees. “A whoosh. Sorta like an airplane.”

Before Kevin could respond, he himself heard the noise. It was at the base of the stack. The creatures exchanged looks, then peered over the edge.

The Winkybunions had arrived.

“A foul place, this factory is.”

“Quiet, Mingella, we won’t be long. Foul yes, but useless wrong! I’ve scoped it out for several days, its potential for us is worthy of praise. The Isle O Hags has no pollution, if we get this place, we have our solution.”

Jarvis looked over at Kevin. “She spoke in rhymes.”

Kevin stated back. “Dude, that’s what you’re worried about? She‘s been stalking the Industries for who knows how long!”

The rabbit shrugged. “Dunno, man, the rhymes are pretty weird.” Jarvis lifted his ear once more to listen to the conversation.

“We’ll find the boss and negotiate, if he backs down that would be great. After all we have more power than he, in a matter of minutes this place is for me!” Gruntilda cackled. Mingella simply nodded in approval.

High up on the smokestacks, Jarvis turned to Kevin. “We gotta find Miller before they do.”

Kevin chuckled. “I would LOVE to see them try to take AM Industries from him. This place is his baby. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t thwack the witch upside the head.” The Jinjo looked at their handiwork, satisfied. “This is fine. C’mon, let’s get to the Depot. Maybe we’ll see them fight.”

-

“OVER MY DEAD BODY!” A furious Adrian banged his fist on his workbench. His roar and metallic bang echoed off the walls of the Repair Depot.

Mingella rolled her eyes. “Perfect for our plan, this place is! Too safe it is, but a problem that isn’t.”

The foreman stood back, hands in the air. “PLEASE quit the broken English. I can barely understand you.”

“Don’t yell at my sister, you grumpy jerk! If you don’t agree, we’ll make it work. You have no choice in this matter, try to stop us, your head’ll be on a platter!”

Adrian sighed sharply, then swiftly turned around, tore his flint lighter from his belt and swept the acetylene torch head from its rig. In one swift motion, as though he’d done it thousands of times, he threw the fuel valve open and lit the torch. It blazed, sooty smoke from the reducing flame nearly blackening Adrian’s lighter. The foreman brandished the torch in front of him like a shield. “Get out of my factory!”

Gruntilda backed away—not in fear, but rather surprise. “Mingella, please deal with this pest. I’ll go and tackle all the rest. Mr. Miller, we will do as we please, get used to the name Grunty Industries!” With that command, Gruntilda fled with a terrible cackle, leaving Mingella alone with the foreman.

An indignant Adrian glared fiercely at Mingella. “I don’t know what your plan is, and I don’t care. Now kindly take your disgusting sisters and leave.” His grip on the torch, once firm and confident, was beginning to falter. Sweat dripped from his neck. One knee wasn’t far from giving out. He didn’t want to show it to the witch, but Adrian was petrified.

“Combative and uncooperative you are!” Mingella flipped her book open. “The perfect spell I have for a hot-tempered boss.”

Before Adrian could bark at her, he noticed a crackle of energy coalescing in her free hand. As Mingella’s spell grew, Adrian realized just how poorly matched he was. Still, he lifted the torch to the witch’s eye level, its flame still blazing before him, though it quivered as he began to tremble.

Fully intent on at least giving Mingella a savage burn, he rushed in, aiming for her face. If he could just damage her eyes...

His flames barely licked the tip of her nose before the spell she threw knocked the torch from his hands and into his chest.

From there, it was all a blur for Adrian.

His throat and chest burned and behind them his vertebrae made a terrible crackling sound. Every pop came with a pang of discomfort. All of his senses were being stripped away. As the pain in his back and jaw grew to a blinding, borderline electric sear, Adrian could barely stay conscious. Staying lucid would allow him to fight back, but letting himself pass out would mean he wouldn’t be aware of this ordeal. He let himself go limp.

It all happened so fast.

He wasn’t sure how long he was out.

Adrian’s consciousness returned in slow, plodding stages.

Pain was the first to return. His neck ached with an intensity that seemed disproportionate to his body. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t stop himself from uttering a single sharp, distressed yelp.

As that cry escaped him however, he noticed that he didn’t recognize the way his teeth fit together. Confused, he felt around gingerly with his tongue. Of all things, the witch seemed to have given him a mouthful of dreadful canines and a jaw that opened far enough to make him worry that his mandible would unhinge from his skull. Adrian’s inspection only stopped when he became aware of a sweet, garlicky and metallic smell.

His head shot up.

Garlic was not an odor any welder wanted to smell. Did the witches knock over an acetylene cylinder? He looked around, but did not spot anything that could have leaked. The torch he’d held was nowhere to be seen. When he began to hyperventilate, however, it became apparent that it was indeed acetylene that he smelled.

That’s my breath.

As he made the connection, his heart began to pound.

That is not my heart.

The last of Adrian’s senses to return was his hearing, and with its return came Mingella’s dreadful voice.

“Finally, awake you are!” She stopped repeatedly striking him with her spellbook—Adrian was correct, the pounding was indeed not his heart—and stood before him. “Important instructions I will give you. Guard our factory you will, an—“

Suddenly overcome with rage, Adrian lifted his head off the floor to snap, “OUR factory?!” He spat. “What gave you the idea that my facility is yours?! Was that the purpose of your dreadful spell?!” As he barked, he became acutely aware of how much he towered over Mingella and how odd it felt to be able to articulate his neck so much. He realized at this point that he was definitely no longer human.

“Grunty Industries this is, and a welding torch you are. Fused you with your own weapon, I have. Protect Grunty’s gold and fight off the bear and bird, you must!”

“That makes no sense.” Adrian snarled, partly in an attempt to convince himself that this was all a terrible, albeit tremendously lucid dream.

“All the sense in the world it makes.” Mingella tapped her tome against Adrian’s side. Instead of the soft thud he expected, the foreman heard a muted, metallic clunk.

Adrian could no longer take the suspense. He turned his head.

You... turned me into a welding torch. Adrian thought. Of all things. As he looked himself over, his musing continued. Clearly you’ve never seen a welding torch before.

“A threatening name, “Adrian” is not, but your new name, “Weldar”, is.” Mingella turned her back on him.

Not really. Weldar thought, but felt it may be better to hold his tongue for now. You’re quite lucky I haven’t figured out how to use this body, because I would love to roast you alive.

Weldar simply laid back down and watched out of one eye as the witch took off, soaring upon her broomstick out of the Repair Depot. Her final triumphant cackle made him cringe.

-

The first night was dreadful.

Weldar spent most of the time trying to find a position in which to sleep. Every time he managed to get comfortable, he would grow restless. Another new position. More restlessness. As a person, Adrian had always had a restless leg that wouldn’t ever be comfortable, but now, he wasn’t sure what to move. Near dawn, the foreman reached an epiphany: human behavior doesn’t work. He had to think differently.

Using his neck, he pushed himself upright. Immediately his nausea subsided. For the first time he could see just how much he towered over the room. It was unsettling. Weldar rested the coils of his neck between his regulators in an attempt to make himself smaller, closer to where he used to be. He nestled his head atop the pile of coils.

Clearly, he thought as he dozed off, I’m supposed to act like an acetylene torch now. The thought was so ridiculous, he couldn’t help but laugh.

#o shet #weldar #banjo kazooie #banjo tooie #rareware #grunty industries #kevin #jarvis #adrian miller #fanfic #adrian is kind of an asshole #gruntilda #mingella #headcanon #theres probably gonna be more #laying a welding torch on its side is Bad

[grimimic-blog]

The story I made for the game collaboration between me and https://urg-urg-urg.tumblr.com/

Halloween 12 all-stars at the Olympic games team racing, featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series and Knuckles

AKA A huge Hallows eve!

It was no secret to feyfolk that humans were boring. Nearly void of magic, Nowhere near as attractive as elves, all they ever wanted to talk about was taxes and back pain, and even a starving hill ogre wouldn't eat one because they tasted so awful! Truly the worst species on the planet, but something Gong had overheard earlier in the week while visiting a human tavern had caught the little goblins ears. Human holidays were strange and foreign to many feyfolk. It didn't make much sense to pick an arbitrary day to be wear green and binge drink to Gong. She already did that just about everyday, but this "Halloween" had her full attention. "Fizzy hurry up I don't want to miss all the free shit!" Gong yelled in the direction of her closet. A light thump and some obscured insults preceding the purple fairy fluttering from behind the corner. "Hey you're the one that said we had to "Dress up to get free candy"! I'm just trying to make sure I look good. What happens if I meet a hot guy while we're out!?" "Don't kid yourself Fizz, we both know if you set yourself up for failure you're just going to get drunk and crawl in bed with me again after I fall asleep." "S-shut up! That was one time and I was because I was cold! Just get in here and help pick out something for us to wear!"

the girl's shared closet was surprisingly spacious, but that had a lot to do with all small the girls were themselves. Outfits lined the walls, Hanging from hooks and sitting neatly folded on shelves, but where soon to be scattered on the floor as their owners tried to find the perfect style for the nights festivities. A pair of cocktail dress's that happened to be the nicest thing either of them had ever pull from a dumpster, Some comfy pajamas, A pair of thigh high boots that were actually just regular boots on a normal sized person, and an invisibility cloak that made itself invisible when worn rather than the subject wearing it all lay in a pile on the ground before the girls had picked their outfits for the night. A simple cloth vest skirt combo for Gong, and a long silken dress for Fizzy.

The streets were dimly lit by orange glow of nearby lamp posts. The sounds of screaming children dressed in caricatures costumes of feyfolk that Fizzy and Gong would have found rather insulting if either of them had focused on anything other than their fantasies of what an entire night of free candy would be like. A fantasy that was about to be rudely interrupted by what appeared to be two disheveled, and slightly bloated werecats with plastic ears and tails. "Aayyyy whha-WHAT are you kiz gona do wihou a canny bags!!" Asked the first woman at a volume louder than needed. "Ignore her please. She's had a little too much partying tonight" Said the second stranger, as her friend finished the liquor bottle she was holding. Popping the strained button on her small shorts in the process. "Naht the only one am I!" her overly intoxicated friend replied before giving her soberish friend a hardy slap to the gut that sent the small mound into a sloshing fit. "Alright you're going to home to bed! Stop bothering these Girls."  She said before both werecates walked off into the night. "Gong. That woman said something about a candy bag. All of these kids have candy bags! You didn't say anything about needing bags to get free candy!" "Relax Fizz. The bags can't be that important right? Even if they are we could totally kick the crap out of one of these kids, they're only like five years old, and I brought my brass knuckles." "Fine whatever. I still think there's got to be some kind of catch. No one give things away without making you pay for it". The first house of the night was an unremarkable little thing painted white with green shutters. On the porch sat an older looking man dressed as some sort of vampire farmer who called out to the mas they approached. "Ohh aren't you a cute one! What are you supposed to be one of those pocketmans?" "I'm a goblin, and my friend is a fairy" Gong replied. "Oh you kids and your youth! Here you go. A candy corn on the cob for you, and one for you're little birdy there too".

"Now I know why we needed bags" Sneered Fizz as she crammed another head-sized piece of candy corn into her mouth.  The purple sprite's middle  pushing more, and more outward with each swallow. "We'll be fine." Replied Gong. "We can just eat whatever candy we get as we're walking. It's not like every human is going to give out weird stuff like this right?" "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you spit everything with me fifty fifty alright?" You're like a fifth of my size Fizz! it already looks like you swallowed a tennis ball, and I don't plan on rolling your fat butt all the way home!" "you're one to talk. I'm pretty sure I heard you pop a seam a few minuets ago." The purple pixie punctuated her point with a firm slap to her companions rounded belly. The girl's conversation was cut abruptly short when Gong nearly tripped over the steps leading to the second house of the night. A modest purple building decorated in little ghosts and uncarved pumpkins. The two girls were about to knock when the door burst open and a particularity unspooky spirit stepped out. "Hey there kiddos! You two sure are in for a treat!" Piped the cheery little ghost. "Dude we're like 26" Replied the deadpan Fizzy. "That's alright! You girls can still have a taste of what's under my sheet!" "I'm calling the cops." "My apple pies are famous around here, but not very good for Halloween; Until this year anyway! I've combined apple pie and caramel apples into the ultimate confection!" Cheered the man in the ghost costume as he pulled two caramel covered disks on sticks from under his sheet, and handed them over.

"These are pretty good you know?" Gong said with her mouth still half full. "Kind of hard to eat, but still good". If Fizzy had been listening she didn't or more likely couldn't answer, but being submerged in a pie near the size of your whole body will do that. The difficulty of trying to carry and eat an entire pie on nothing but a cheap craft stick had forced the short sweeties to rest at a picnic table not far down the street. Each bite forced Gong's belly out farther and farther. Straining her clothes, and forcing her legs apart to make room for it's gravid shape. By the time the last bite of thick caramel and flaky apple pie passed her lips the green girl could have easily been mistaken for some near the end of pregnancy; But goblins may as well have been giants compared to fairies, and the effects of the confection were far more pronounced on Fizzy. The candy corn had already left her more than a little bloated, but as the purple pixie slowly ate her way past the hard caramel shell and into the center of the apple pie her belly had ballooned to dramatic levels. Her clothing stood no chance of containing the beast known as the faerie's gut. She laid prone in the pie tin on her basketball of a belly, naked from the waist down, trying with all her might to force any crumb withing reach into her mouth. "Uhh Fizzy any particular reason you aren't wearing underpants?" "Were you not paying attention earlier? What If I meet a stud while we're out? Panties would only get in the way." "Oh right. I forgot that purple balloons were every man's dream girl." Snided Gong. "Anyway, let's get going. the night isn't over yet, and we've got houses to hit."

Gong rang the doorbell of the third house. clutching her heavy, heaving tummy. If she let go her balance was at risk, and the mental image of an watermelon explosion was one she had to shake away more than a few times. The trudge to the third house was made that much longer by her slow, exaggerated, waddling. Each step a miniature battle with her own full tummy. A purple blimp of a pixie bobbing and swayed as she floated behind her. Her own belly nearly scraping on the ground  until a flurry of flapping wins sent her back into the air. The door creaked open. A green sheet that looked distinctively like the ghosts from the earlyer houses poked it's head out the door, googly eyes bouncing wildly. "Who daressss enter the lair of the sneeeeeek?" Hissed the man in very ghost looking "snake" costume. "Nice costume... Dig the color." Gong weezed between breaths. Carrying the extra weight of her turgid gut had left more tired than she realized. "Thankssss friend! I made it myssssself!" Fizzy who's wings were already tired of holding her massive body in air chose to interrupt the two green revelers conversation. "Trick or treat! Now just give us whatever weird candy you've got back there and let us go". If plastic googly eyes could look confused the snake would have looked shockingly bewildered. "There's no weird candy here friends. Just some gummies I'm afraid." Fizz and Gong let out a collective sigh of relief, but apparently it had been too soon as seconds later both of them were nearly knocked over by the enormous gelatinous treats tossed to them by the man in the snake costume. An impressive feat seeing as the costume possessed no arms. "There you go girls, gummy pythons! Hope they're good, I made them myself!"

Bit by chewy bit the gelatinous reptiles were forced into the already packed stomachs of the minuscule monsters as they approached the fourth, and last house on the street. "Ugghh... I swear he must have used a real snake to make molds for these" Fizzy groaned. "I can see the scale prints". "How are we supposed to eat these anyway! One of these is as long as my whole body!" Gong added. "You just gotta slurp it down girl! You've had boyfriends before haven't you?" Fizzy punctuated her insult by taking a large  gulp from the tail end of her gummy snake. "Hey Fizz maybe you should be more careful? You might choke....Or explode." Gong said between bites of her own sugary treat. "you're already looking kinda fat honestly. I was only kidding about the whole rolling you home thing earlier... Are you listening Fizz?" Fizzy unfortunately was not listening as she was far too preoccupied with choking on the massive sugar serpent that currently clogging her windpipe. "Oh my Gods Fizz! Don't worry I-I'll help you! Don't die!" Gong tried every idea she could think of but Fizzy's tiny body made the Heimlich impossible, and the gummy was wedged far too deep in the fairie's bulbous tummy to be dislodged by pulling on it. "Ok. Ok. Think Gong. You can do this." The Goblin muttered to her self, voice seeped in panic. "Ohh I really sorry about this Fizzy. Just hold on I've got another idea." Fizzy wasn't even given a chance to reply before Gong seized the end of the gummy snake and pushed it deeper into her gullet. Slowly the candy serpent was forced into the faerie's stomach. The already strained clothing stretched thinner as seams and stitches popped one by one. Both girls silently hoping they wouldn't be joining them in a similar fashion. As the last of the gummy was crammed down her throat Fizzy fell to the ground. Wings no longer able to lift her boulder of a belly. The impact being the final straw for her poor clothing before the tortured garment released its death knell as it torn to shreds. Fizzy was now nude, and grounded by a belly several times larger than her own body, but she was alive, and the sugary serpent was finally slain. "Oh-oh hell Gong! I though I was gonna die!" Fizzy wheezed out between gasping breaths. "do you still want to go to the next house, or should just head home, so you can rest?" Asked Gong. "No no I still want to keep going. There's only one house left on this street, but I...." "But what? "Do you feel sick? Did you hurt yourself?" Gong's voice was beginning to take on it's previous worried tone. "I can't move... My belly is too heavy..." "I told you this was going to happen! Splitting everything fifty fifty was a stupid idea from the start." "Well we wouldn't have had to eat everything while walking if SOMEONE had remember to bring treat bags!" "Fine I'll carry your fat butt around until we get home! Just let me finish my own gummy first." "I'm not fat. I'm full. there's a difference." The fairy mumbled to herself, as her friend resumed eating the candy snake hanging from around her neck. Choosing to take bites proved to be a much better strategy on Gong's part than swallowing the entire sucrose reptile whole, but it was also much slower. Bite after bite the gummy shrank, and Gong's belly grew. The fabric of her clothing pulled tighter and tighter, threatening to tear any second and leave her as exposed as her purple companion. As the last bit of gummy passed her green lips, Gong took notice of the effects it had on her stomach. The gigantic green orb had ballooned to the size of roughly half her body. Cramming it full with a gummy almost the same length as the goblin was tall may have been a bad idea. No it DEFIANTLY was a bad idea, but there was no way Gong would ever waste free candy!

"Ohh hell... This. This is heavy." "see not so easy is it!" Chided the bloated fairy. Her smirk would have left much more of an impact if not for her own leviathan middle. Gong struggled to lift her huge friend into her arms. A slip of her hand eliciting a sharp gasp from the massive Fizzy. "Watch where you grabbing Gong!" "Ha ha. Whoops." Gong responded. Her face red with embarrassment, as she finally succeeded in hoisting Fizzy over her head, and started the long trudge down the street.

Thud, creak,  thud, creak. Heavy footsteps pounded against aged wood. The combined weight of the two girls was less than that of a large human, but that didn't stop Gong from having a miniature panic attack as each step groaned in their wake. She laid Fizzy down near the doorstep, making sure the overstuffed fairy wouldn't tip over, and rang the bell. Inside the house hurried footsteps responded to the noise. "Like just a sec! I Need *hic* to get my costume on!" For a moment they considered walking away. Cutting their losses and going home unexploded was by no means a bad idea, but as the door swung open, and and the smell of sugary treats floated out, that thought, and really any common sense warning  the two girls about the repercussions of expanding their already massive waistlines was immediately dashed. "Like *hic* sorry about that. Can't hand out candy with out my costume now can I?" Just like the last three houses the owner was dressed in her own variation of a ghost costume, but unlike the others she seemed sort of lumpy around the middle, and Gong swore she could hear the woman emitting a noise that sounded remarkably like faint static.

"Please lady! Just please don't give us anything weird! I can't take anymore. I'm so big already." Groaned The massive Fizz. "Ohh man kid, *urp* like what the hell is wrong with your weird purple dog?" "She's fine don't worry about it. Just tell me you don't have anything on a cob, or a stick, or that you made out of snakes?" "Sorry I don't have any of those. All Ive got is some bags of these fizzy rocks, but they're like old and stuff, so they kind of melted into fizzy boulders." Answered the ghost lady, who pulled two large bags of the candy off the table next to her. They tore into the bags immediately. The woman in the ghost costume hadn't lied when she said the candies had melted together. Large crystalline chunks of candy as large as Gong's head had formed in each bag. Fizzy was devouring mouthfuls of of the hard treat, Seeming to have forgotten the incident with the gummy snake already. Gong ate at a slightly slower, but still noticeably ravenous speed. Half because she wanted this all to be over so she could lay her tired belly to bed, and half because she was too greedy to resist the the gift of free candy. "Ugghh what is this stuff?! My mouth feels all weird, and tingly!" Fizzy whined. "You got anything to drink back there lady?" "Nothing except some orange soda, and I like *hic* totally don't recommend it. "Come on lady we haven't had anything to drink all night. We're dying over here." "Wait here. Said the ghost. After a brief moment she returned from the kitchen with a six pack of orange soda that she handed over to Gong. The first can quenched their thirsts. The second was for fun. The last was because they were both too gluttonous to stop. "I feel- *urp* I feel funny. Fizzy griped. "Aww is *hic* Fizzy felling fizzy?" Gong joked. Oblivious to the fact that both of them were slowly growing rounder. "This *hic* isn't funny Gong! Look at us! We're blowing up!" "I like did try to warn you" Said the woman as she removed her costume. Putting her own bloated stomach on full display. "I've been bloated all night. Those fizzy rocks take forever to dissolve when they get old. "Fizz we need to go now! My belly is *urp* too big! It's getting hard to move!" Gong panicked as the seams of her clothing fought against the inflating green orb inside them. She grabbed Fizzy and waddled away from the house as quickly as her heavy body would allow. Within moments the sound of ripping fabric announced that her clothing had just lost the war against her still inflating gut.

Gong heaved her back into the purple boulder. It rolled slowly, but steadily in the direction of their home. Halloween had not been kind to the goblin nor the fairy. As the last light on the last porch went off signaling the end of the night's celebration both of them were left stark naked, with heavy intensely full bellies, each nearly the same size as Gong was tall. "I was kidding when I said I didn't want to roll you home earlier." I didn't think it was going to be an issue. Gong grunted, as she rolled her friend home. "Maybe your psychic?" Fizzy said. her voice thick with sarcasm. "Can you tell what number I'm thinking of right now?" "No, but I bet it's smaller than your current weight." Gong shot back. "Alright funny girl. Just watch where you going ok? You pushed me into some trash and now I've there's a restaurant flyer stuck to my boobs. What the hell even is a "thanksgiving" about?" "Sorry Fizz. I'll peel it off when we get home. I'm sure it's nothing interesting anyway. You know humans are boring.

THE END

#my stuff #colab #my buddies #my words