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the-era-of-shadow · 1 year

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The Same As I (A Distorted Reflection)

Written by Ash Rose Red

Summary:

As Eclipse leaves to go run a quick errand, one of the wisps that they had taken from Whisper awakens, that wisp being Blue. They strike up a conversation with Blurk, who was nearby, and quickly, it becomes clear that despite his form, Blurk is just about the same as them, but not exactly. He's like a distorted mirror image, or perhaps, a premonition of a dismal future? By the way, what is this strange sensation they've been feeling?

Notes:

CW/TW for body horror of a sort. Also just like. horror in general

Cold, heavy wind, quick in its journey across the skies.

That is what woke Blue up.

For a split second, they wondered if it was them once again crossing paths with the world renowned Sonic Hogpine, but as their vision adjusted to the sunlight, it would seem that there was no such heroic blue hedgehog in sight.

But there was someone.

That doctor, Doctor Ezrieal Clysdale, the one that Blue and their friends had been with for a good few days now - perhaps even longer. They stood just somewhat beyond the room that Blue was in, looking at who-knows-what, or perhaps looking for who-knows-what. They were in that strange form again, the one that they had been in since that battle at their clinic took place. Was this their true form? It didn't feel like such to Blue, who had met them as a fox mobian. They were supposed to only stay with that fox for a day or so, they were meant to be returned to their caretaker, Whisper. But Whisper attacked Doctor Clysdale, and then left without a trace, leaving Blue and the other wisps behind with the Doctor, now in that strange form.

Blue didn't understand why she would do such a thing, Doctor Clysdale was very kind to Blue and the others, so why attack them? What did they do wrong? Maybe it was because of Blue's aversion to violence, but they just couldn't wrap their head around it.

Even though the doctor was at a distance, Blue had the inclination to ask questions. Where were they? Why are they here? When will Whisper come back? Why did Whisper attack you?

But none of those questions actually left their head, too scared to say them and then not be heard, or not understood. Doctor Clysdale didn't have one of those masks that Whisper and the others used to understand them. But they are a wisp doctor, so perhaps they had some other way of understanding them?

A shadow began to loom over from the side of Blue. They turned around to see that it was one of those young attendants of the doctor that Blue would see from time to time around the clinic, before the battle.

This person, too, was once a fox, but he too was now in that strange appearance. Mobian, but also not quite? Maybe not mobian.

He looked so much like Doctor Clysdale, but also so much like Blue themself, like the middle ground of a two-toned gradient. His eyes had black irises that had pupils that were box-like and were a vibrant shade of cerulean blue, like a simplification of Blue's reflection, which matched the accent color of the young boy's… hair? Fur? Neither term seemed right. Whatever it was, it was very angular, just like his pupils.

"First one awake? Can't relate, honestly." He said, seemingly directly to Blue.

"I'm not usually the first one up, just a light sleeper, that's all." Blue responded impulsively.

"Ah. Again, can't relate. My siblings will tell ya, I sleep like a rock."

Did… did the boy just… understand them??

"Anyways, did that lady like, give you an actual name or what?" He spoke again.

"Uhm… The Diamond Cutters always called me "Blue", and Whisper never saw a reason to call me anything different…" Blue explained.

"So no, then." The boy replied bluntly, "Is that just in your case or are all of you like that?"

"... All of us, I guess?"

"Figures. I'm sure Ma will think of somethin' for y'all." The boy noted vaguely. Blue wondered why it was that this "Ma", who they assumed to be referring to Doctor Clysdale, would have to think of new names for them and the others. But there was a matter that was far more pressing in their opinion that they wanted to get out the way first and foremost.

"How… How are you able to understand me?" Blue asked, their voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Oh yeah. Should probably change out of my bodysuit or whatever." The boy said with a chuckle, seemingly dodging the question. But his statement caught Blue off guard regardless.

"Y-your what-?!" They exclaimed in confusion. The boy did not answer, walking towards and eventually onto some sort of platform. The platform was ever so slightly raised from the floor itself, and contrasted in its high-tech appearance, being completely ebony aside from a strip of what looked like neon lights to Blue, glowing in the same hue as the boy's pupils. Or at least, in the same hue that his pupils once glowed, as when the boy stepped onto the platform, the color faded out, leaving an empty gray in its wake.

From behind the boy's now completely blank face, a creature flew out into Blue's view, and approached the very confused wisp. The creature certainly looked like a blue cube wisp, but still, things were a little off. The skin tone wasn't nearly as vibrant as Blue's was. The eyes looked completely different, having completely black slits for irises that had no pupils, and not just that, but the eyes themselves were completely misplaced. While Blue's three eyes were all on their face, the creature only had one eye on his face, while the other two were on the sides of his head, one each. Lastly, the creature had a visible mouth, which was jagged and sharp, while Blue had no visible mouth at all. It was a sight that sickened Blue to see, but the creature's facial expression would suggest that nothing was wrong at all.

"Okay, cool. So is the answer clear to you now or what?" The boy's voice came from the creature, implying that the creature was the boy.

"... A-Are you… also a wisp??" Blue asked, their voice shaking as they did, not wanting to consider that this contorted form truly was a variation of their own self.

"Yep. Name's Blurk by the way. Sorry that I didn't lead off with that." Despite his apology, his tone did not waver for even a minute, it was as flat and monotone as ever, which seemed to only add to the unnerving aura this "Blurk" had in the eyes of Blue.

"... Why do you look so…?" Blue attempted to question, but was lost for the word they needed.

"Strange? Contorted? Corrupted? Yeah, that's a fair ask, I guess. Can't remember all the details but Ma's had us since we were still in eggs, and they, like, messed around with our genetics and stuff to maximize our potential and make us more Black Arms-like and stuff. Oh yeah, Ma's a Black Arms by the way. It's fine if you don't know what that is just yet, but I guess I should let ya know." Blurk explained in a rambling sort of way.

"...And that caused all… that…?"

"Yep. Came out of the egg lookin' like this. Makes me wonder what it'll be like for you lot, having lived the most of your lives as just regular ol' wisps and all." Blurk began to speculate.

"What… it'll be like… for us…?" Blue echoed fearfully, suddenly feeling a strange pain surge through them.

"Yeah. Sorry 'bout the short notice, but since that lady decided to book it from the clinic, Ma decided to assimilate y'all into the hivemind. I'd rather you not make a fuss about it, I'm sure it means a lot to them to have the chance to go back to where their whole science shtick began, ya know?" Blurk revealed.

Blue was shocked, that's for certain, and still very, very confused. Assimilate? Hivemind? Black Arms? What does it all even mean?? It seemed like they weren't going to get much explanation on those fronts from Blurk.

"I don't really know how most of this stuff works, but I've listened to Ma and Rhy go off about it enough to have part of their scripts practically memorized. Basically, Ma did most of the heavy work last night while you all were asleep, and there's gonna be some neuro gas stuff coming out in like, a couple of minutes, to chill y'all out and numb your bodies while the whole mutation thing happens, so it doesn't hurt." Blurk continued to monologue.

"Mutation?!" Blue gasped, feeling the pain from before begin to return.

"Mhm. You lot are gonna look like us, now isn't that exciting?" Blurk responded, still as monotone as ever. "I wonder if you'll look like a clone of me or if you'll look a bit different. Both of those thoughts excite me, personally, but if you don't like what you end up with, there's always the bodysuits. Gonna have to talk to Rhy 'bout that stuff though. She won't mind, of course. In fact, I bet she'll be really happy to talk that sorta thing with you. Surprised she ain't here as we speak." He continued.

"B-But what if Whisper comes back for us?? Then what will you do, huh?!" Blue suddenly blurted out in a sudden fit of fury.

"I hope she does. That would mean Ma could assimilate her too. Wouldn't you want that as well?" Blurk surmised, his resolve not faltering for not even a single moment.

"NO?? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??" Blue yelled, giving into their anger.

"I was created to be a vessel for chaos. For that which orderly society fears the most. I know that such a concept is foreign to you. I can tell that you remain tied to your dimension of origin. You were born there, perhaps even raised there to a certain extent before being brought into this dimension by those "Diamond Cutters" you speak of. But you will come to understand the importance of chaos. Your mind and body will become a distorted reflection of the you that lingers in this moment. You will become one of us, and I will watch the process with the utmost excitement."

Blue wanted to say something back, something, anything, but they came to realize that they could not. A mental fog took control of their brain's processes and stopped them dead in their tracks, and before they could try to fight it, the stench of anesthetics filled their senses, and blurred their sight.

"It is time. You must rest now…

Blarjikære*…"

*Translation Note: Close friend within the Black Arms

#the era of shadow #teos #sonic au #black arms #writing tag #mod ash

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darkjanet2 · 9 months

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Sonic Adventure 2: Sonadow

Chapter 12: Road to Space Colony ARK

The Sonic Team flew to Egypt as fast as they could. They needed to find a hidden base as soon as possible before Eggman could activate the Ark. They needed to find a way to travel to the Ark before it became too late.

In this desert area, Rouge stood there using binoculars. She was searching carefully for any sign of life, hoping to find someone who could point him in the right direction towards the place where Sonic had said he knew a safe landing spot. But there were no life forms around that seemed like it belonged here. Not even animals. There was nothing but sand and rocks everywhere.

Then a blue biplane approached across the sky coming from the north direction. Its outline was unmistakable: a young fox carrying Sonic crew members on board. Rouge spoke to the walkie-talkie.

"Shadow! They're in that blue plane, spotted at 11 o'clock!" said Rouge.

"Copy that. I'm in pursuit," said Shadow through the walkie-talkie.

Then he headed off in the direction where the plane was leading, there was a pyramid at the distance that looked like it would lead them to the destination. He stopped there and watched the plane go down into the desert area. He spoke to Dr. Eggman through the walkie-talkie.

"Doctor, they're heading directly towards us. What should we do?" asked Shadow.

"Just sit tight. I've got them on my radar. There's no way they can get away. I don't know what they're planning, but I'll be sure to give them a warm welcome," said Eggman, smirking evilly.

*Meanwhile*

The Sonic team arrived at the desert area where the plane landed. The sun beat against their bodies, making it harder to breathe. They dismounted the plane and looked around at the surroundings. It appeared to be completely deserted.

"Here we are at Egypy. Boy, it is hot out here!" said Tails as he looked up at the hot sun.

"Yeah, that doesn't look promising. We'd better start looking quickly for something that might hide us in a cave nearby," said Sonic.

He shielded his hand over his eyes scanning around the area. Suddenly his vision was interrupted by a triangular building, it was a pyramid from the distance.

"Inside that pyramid?" asked Sonic.

"I saw Eggman go inside that pyramid and more importantly, I saw that bat girl go inside with him. as well. You saw them, too, right?" asked Knuckles.

Amy nodded, "Yes, I did. That's where we have to head. Let's try to find an entrance to the secret base."

"She's right. We should be able to get into outer space from there. I have no idea what this space colony is all about, but I'll find and destroy that cannon, and then kick their asses!" said Sonic.

"Alright!" said Knuckles.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles led the way while Amy was left behind.

"Wait for me, guys!" Amy shouted as unpacked her bag to pick out her big, pink water jug. She drank water that she had to stay hydrated before running in the hot sun.

"Ah, good thing I bring water with me," she said as she ran after them.

After that, they were inside that pyramid building, finding stairs going underground, and following the voices echoing through the pyramid walls, until they reached an intersection, which led to a large room. At the opposite end of the room was another pyramid with another corridor leading up. It was dark, the torches lit only by orange light.

"Whoa, this place is huge. Maybe we found something important?" asked Amy. She looked around cautiously, waiting for some sort of danger or trap to pop out at her. Then she looked at the walls, trying to read the symbols engraved along them.

"What are these?" she asked.

"They look Egyptian," answered Sonic. He studied them for a little bit and then turned to his friends. "These are hieroglyphics, from ancient Egypt.''

"Ancient Egypt? Is this an old tomb or something?" asked Tails.

"I learned them from school. Apparently, there used to be an ancient race called Egyptians, but now they disappeared, so we probably aren't talking about them anymore. Now, come on. Let's look further," said Sonic as he led the way deeper into the maze of tunnels. They walked and walked and still didn't find anything useful. Finally, Sonic stopped abruptly at the door, there was the Eggman logo engraved on it.

"Looks like we're heading toward the center of the base," said Tails.

"That egghead sure loves mechanical things, doesn't he? I bet he has one or two spaceships lying around here somewhere," said Sonic.

"The door is locked. We need a key to get in there," said Tails.

"Not a problem, we can find it, right, Knuckles?" asked Sonic.

"Huh? Me? Why do I have to find a key?" asked Knuckles, clearly confused.

"Because we're counting on you, buddy! The world's greatest treasure hunter!" exclaimed Sonic. He smiled and gave Knuckles a thumbs up.

"Well, alright! I'm going to find it," said Knuckles.

*15 minutes later*

Knuckles came back to his friends and he had found the key underground. After unlocking the door, Knuckles opened it wide enough for them to pass in front of him. "All right! Come on, let's see if there's anything valuable here," said Knuckles as they all went deeper into the room. There was a rocket in the hidden base, they were astounded at its size, and the power of its energy system. Amy and Tails smiled and laughed in excitement.

"This is it! We found the rocket!" exclaimed Amy happily.

"Amy, we did it!" exclaimed Tails.

Amy and Tails hugged each other and jumped up and down with joy. "We're going to Space Colony!" screamed Amy as she hugged Tails tighter. Sonic chuckled and Knuckles crossed his arms with a smile.

"You little thieves! Do you really think you can get out of here alive?" They turned around where the voice came from. It was Eggman.

"EGGMAN!" they all yelled in unison.

"This time, I'll take your lives as well as Chaos Emerald. I call on you to destroy these pests. Come out, my servant!" Eggman ordered. A ground rumbled underneath their feet, making the Sonic team stumbled. A rocky giant hand came out of the hole.

Sonic gasped in horror. Then the rock body came out of the hole entirely. He stared at a monster as big as a mountain, it opened its eyes glow red in anger, as if ready to attack.

"What the hell is that?!" screamed Knuckles.

"Oh, crap! This is not good! You guys ahead go to the spaceship! I'll take care of that rock guy!" yelled Sonic.

"No! You will not take care of that thing by yourself!" shouted Amy.

"Amy, you've gotta trust me! You have to leave! You won't make it out alive!" replied Sonic.

"Are you sure?" asked Tails, who was frightened by what he was seeing.

"I'll be okay. Don't worry about me. Just go!" yelled Sonic as he charged at the golem.

"SONIC!!!" screamed Amy, her hand reaching out.

"C'mon! We gotta go!!" yelled Knuckles, grabbing Amy's arm and pulling her away. As Amy was leaving, she glanced over her shoulder at Sonic who was facing the rock monster alone.

"Hey, rock guy! If you wanna fight, then fight! But let me warn ya, I am the greatest hero the universe has ever known!" Sonic bellowed with a loud battle cry.

The golem raised its fist and slammed on the center, but Sonic dodged it in the nick of time by leaping away to the side. As he moved forward, he was trying to find a weak spot on the golem's body when he saw something shining on the top of its head. With lightning speed, he ran up to the creature and grabbed ahold of the red pearl with both hands. In his grip, the creature lifted upward and threw him backward into the floor where it crashed hard. Once again he was sent flying in the air and landed heavily on the floor on his stomach. His breath was knocked out of his lungs.

"Son of a... Bitch!" groaned painfully Sonic.

Sonic weakly stood up holding his broken ribs. He took a deep breath in and breathed out loudly. Slowly, he regained his composer and began to concentrate his power. He slowly closed his eyes as his body glowed blue, the sound of buzzing and crackling, and the electricity surged through his body. His eyes widened open, and his irises glowed blue.

The golem slammed the azure hedgehog, but with lightning speed, Sonic dodged easily out of the way and ran in the direction the golem had just been thrown. Once he got there, Sonic launched himself at the beast and landed hard on its head breaking the red pearl. The golem staggered backward and fell on its face, unmoving, and completely immobilized.

Sonic rose to his feet. He panted, breathing deeply, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His whole body ached, and he collapsed to the ground all four, exhausted. His blue aura glowed down to his normal state.

He cracked one eye open and glared hatefully at the unconscious giant golem.

"Now that wasn't so difficult…" he whispered.

Inside the rocket, Tails began to activate the rocket's engines while Amy sat next to him, her face filled with worry that Sonic was going to come back.

"Is Sonic going to be okay?" asked Amy, anxiously.

"He'll be fine. He said he will catch up to us soon," said Tails.

"I hope he hurries up and defeats that monster," said Amy.

Tails started the engine, the fire began to ablaze from the nozzles preparing to liftoff. Knuckles fastened his seatbelt and looked over at Amy.

"Don't worry. Sonic will be here," said Knuckles.

Amy was about to say something, she turned her head to the window that the blue figure coming to the rocket. It was Sonic!

"You guys, it's Sonic! Sonic is here!" exclaimed Amy, happily.

"So he is!" exclaimed Tails.

The computer's male voice began the countdown.

"Prepare to liftoff. 10... 9... 8..."

Sonic hurried through the rocket door, ignoring the pain in his body. He had to go Tails quickly before the rocket departed.

"7... 6... 5..."

Sonic made it to the rocket and quickly sat down in his seat and fastened his seatbelt.

"4... 3... 2... 1... 0."

Suddenly, the rocket ignited and lifted off the ground, soaring into the sky above the Eggman base, high above the city, and then disappearing into the blackness of space. Sonic gazed upon the moon that shone brightly in the night sky. He felt content and happy. He closed his eyes for a brief moment until his eyes slowly opened.

"You okay, Sonic? Did you beat that rock guy?" asked Tails.

"Yeah, totally," answered Sonic.

"Well, that's good. Now, we don't have to worry about Eggman anymore," said Tails.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," replied Sonic. He sighed quietly. "Look, I know this sounds cheesy, but thank you for waiting for me. Without you guys, I would've missed the rocket launch and wouldn't have gotten back here in time to stop the ship from taking off," said Sonic, giving Tails a warm smile.

"It's nothing," answered Tails.

"You're awfully hurt, Sonic. Are you okay?" asked Amy.

"Yeah, just got thrown against a wall," lied Sonic, trying to convince them.

"I can mend your wound if you want," offered Amy.

"Uhh, sure," answered Sonic. "But don't do anything crazy."

#fanfiction #sonic adventure 2 #shadow the hedgehog #sonadow #sonic the hedgehog #enemies to lovers

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detectiveriley · 3 years

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oh, because i love you (Geraskier Mini-Fic for Witcher Bog Exchange)

This is a mini-exchange gift for @stinastar! I hope you like it lovely!

Archive link here

Rating: Teen and up audiences Fandom: The Witcher (all media types) Relationship: Geralt/Jaskier Additional Tags: Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Feelings, Getting Together, Sleepy Cuddles, Canon-Typical Violence

Description: It was incredibly stupid, Jaskier realizes belatedly, to go wandering around the abandoned ruins, at night, alone. To his relief, Geralt comes to his rescue. Jaskier hasn't seen Geralt in full witcher mode before, but it's Geralt. He'll get used to it. But he's not sure what to make of the conversation that follows.

Story under the cut!

All of the air left Jaskier’s body as the sonic shriek threw him all the way across the stone circle. He slammed into the wall before tumbling to the ground. Pain radiated from everywhere, and he was pretty sure he was bleeding. It had been incredibly stupid, Jaskier realized belatedly, to wander out near the abandoned ruins, at night, alone.

It hadn’t been his plan, originally. They had just made camp near the town where there was supposed to be work. But Geralt had been busy doing his witcher-ing, and Jaskier had gotten bored. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy watching Geralt working. On the contrary, Jaskier enjoyed the way Geralt carefully sharpened his swords, and sorted his potions with calloused fingers. But Jaskier could imagine plenty of other things Geralt could be doing with his hands. Things that Geralt probably wouldn’t approve of. So that night, before his trousers got any tighter, Jaskier excused himself to go on a walk and clear his head. He didn’t think Geralt had even noticed.

That was how Jaskier had ended up all alone, facing off against a monster. He had nothing with which to defend himself, not even his lute. The thing, which looked like a young woman but wasn’t, had caught him off-guard.

She was watching him now, with a bone-chilling smile and hungry eyes. Jaskier struggled to prop himself up. His ribs, along with the rest of him, twinged in protest. The collision with the crumbling stone wall hadn’t finished him off, but it seemed likely that the she-beast would. His vision swam and he groaned, blinking.

When his eyes focused again, there was a shadow above him. Craning his neck, he saw a black mass, underneath a halo of white. Then it turned, and Jaskier’s heart skipped.

“Ge-r-ralt,�� he managed, his lips curling into a bloody smile, maybe Jaskier should have been frightened. He’d never seen Geralt like this before- eyes pitch black, dark veins reaching out around them across his pale, mottled skin. He could see now where the rumors came from- that witchers were monsters, half-breeds of some dark magic that bound the flesh of beasts to human bone. If he did not know Geralt, perhaps he would have been petrified. Perhaps he would have screamed.

But Jaskier had never been more relieved.

Now that he was no longer facing certain death, Jaskier faded in and out of consciousness. Dimly, he heard the sounds of fierce combat, the monster shrieking and Geralt grunting with effort. His eyes flew open when Geralt landed next to him, shouting in pain and anger.

“G’ralt?” he slurred, even as darkness crept in around the edges of his vision.

“M’fine,” the witcher growled, shaking his head and crouching to strike again. “Stay down.”

Jaskier obeyed gladly. Geralt was there now, he was safe. Probably. He sent a quick prayer up to Melitele with his last conscious thought before darkness claimed him.

When Jaskier awoke again, he was no longer splayed against the cold, hard rock or the ruin’s floor. He was in bed. He was still in pain, but marginally less so. And he wasn’t alone.

Geralt was watching him like a hawk. He looked… not great. His potions, whatever they were, had since worn off, and he looked like himself again. But he looked like he hadn’t slept.

Jaskier tried to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse cough. Wordlessly, Geralt handed him a glass of water from the bedside table. He waited as Jaskier downed it greedily. He didn’t remember being so thirsty at the ruins.

“How long was I out?” he wondered aloud.

“A day and a half,” Geralt answered, “You went down pretty hard.”

Wincing, Jaskier nodded. “I was there, I remember.”

“How do you feel?”

Geralt’s brow was furrowed with concern. Jaskier straightened and assured him, “I feel fine. Could be worse. But we’re both alive! And safe.”

Geralt tensed at that, and Jaskier held his breath. Here it comes , he thought. The dreaded lecture about himself in harm’s way, and how he couldn’t always rely on Geralt to rescue him.

Instead, Geralt simply said, “You didn’t look afraid.”

Jaskier tilted his head. “Well, I was, but when you showed up… then I knew I’d be alright.”

“No.” Geralt’s voice was abnormally soft, and he was looking down at his hands. “I meant that you didn’t look like you were afraid of me.”

Jaskier blinked. Then he laughed. “Why would I- I’ve never been afraid of you, why would I have been afraid?”

Geralt seemed to shrink. “The way I looked that night, at the ruins…” He trailed off. After a long moment, Geralt added, “I’m a monster.”

Jaskier scoffed. “Are not.”

“Jaskier…”

“You are not! The only monster there that night was the thing that actively tried to kill me, and you saved me. That makes you a hero.”

“That’s not what everyone else thinks.”

Jaskier furrowed his brow. “I don’t give a flying fuck what everyone else thinks.”

Geralt actually laughed at that. Jaskier smiled back. He knew that the witcher could be hard on himself, and it broke Jaskier’s heart. The idea that Geralt thought Jaskier should be afraid of him was unbearable.

The bard hesitated. Perhaps he was still bleary from sleep, perhaps it was a concussion. He wasn’t sure he should say what he wanted to say next. But he’d be damned if he said nothing.

“I hope you know that, no matter what- black, witcher-y eyes, covered in monster guts or blood- that you’ll always be Geralt to me.” He reached out to take Geralt’s hand in his own. “ My Geralt. Do you understand?”

The witcher nodded curtly. “I think so.” After a moment, he continued. “Witchers… don’t get happy endings,” he said, his voice low and tender, “We age, we slow, and we die, in combat usually. I don’t know what end awaits me, but… I didn’t think I’d make any friends between now and then.”

Jaskier swallowed. Right. Friends . He moved to pull away, but Geralt’s grip on his hand tightened. Geralt turned it over so their palms were pressed together. “I used to think… Hmm. Fuck.”

Jaskier smiled gently. There was that gruff but earnest spirit that had endeared the witcher so closely to Jaskier’s heart. He stroked the back of Geralt’s hand with his thumb. “Take your time.”

After another few minutes, Geralt spoke again. “I thought once that you just followed me for inspiration, and stayed for coin. And I let you, because… well, you didn’t leave me much choice.” They both chuckled at that. “But… you’ve given me more than I deserve.”

Tilting his head, Jaskier asked, “How so?”

“You’ve become… someone I care for,” Geralt offered quietly, “which most witcher’s don’t have the luxury of. But… you seem to care for me, too. More than I’ve earned. In equal measure.”

“Oh, Geralt,” Jaskier sighed, leaning forward to cup Geralt’s cheek with his free hand. “I care for you quite a bit more than that.”

Geralt’s eyes fluttered shut, and he leaned into Jaskier’s touch, humming. It was closer than they’d ever been, and Jaskier’s heart quickened at the thought of it.

Geralt noticed immediately. Gingerly, he placed Jaskier’s hand back at his side. “Get some rest. We can continue this when you’re better.”

“You should, too,” Jaskier admonished, “I adore you, dear heart, but you look like shit.”

Geralt smirked, chuckling in response. “That’s nothing new.”

Jaskier’s eyes softened. “But really, when was the last time you slept?” When Geralt didn’t answer for a few moments, Jaskier sighed and adjusted himself, scooting to the far side of the bed, before patting the space beside him. “All right, come on then.” Geralt hesitated, and Jaskier added, “It doesn't have to mean anything. Just rest. You very obviously need it.”

Geralt sighed before relenting, laying down next to Jaskier with care so as not to aggravate the bard’s injuries. To Jaskier’s surprise, Geralt threw an arm around Jaskier’s shoulders and pulled him in. When Jaskier gave him a look, Geralt sighed.

“I almost lost you back there,” he murmured, “so I’ve gotta keep an eye on you. Keep you out of trouble.”

Jaskier laughed. “Obviously. You’ll stay with me then?”

“Always.”

fin

#geralt of rivia #jaskier #geralt/jaskier #geraskier #witcher #witcher fic #witcher bog mini exchange #mini exchange #exchange fic #stinastar #hurt comfort #jaskier whump #witcher whump #soft geralt

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blazehedgehog · 3 years

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People say that Sonic is inconsistent, but ironically that's the only thing the series is consistent with. Sega/ Sonic lacked focus and never had a clear vision on what the franchise should be and should not be, and this has been an issue even during it's infant years. Sega likely planned the series to be a long runner, but instead of building a solid foundation first THEN start experimenting on the status quo they hastily did the complete opposite, hence Sonic's "identity crisis" problem.

See, I'm not so sure about this. There was a time where I would agree with you, but I also wonder about, just, like, the language barrier, right. And the distance barrier. There are things we're only just learning now here in America because websites like Shmupulations (and elsewhere) are translating Japanese magazine articles.

Like how the Sonic Adventure era of games were inspired by American action movie cinema. We knew Shadow was, but apparently even Sonic Adventure 2 shares common inspirational ground, from what I've heard people talking about. In retrospect, the hammy vibe makes a lot more sense if they are trying to ape the tone of mid-to-late 90's action movies like True Lies, The Rock, and Goldeneye or whatever.

I'm starting to think Sonic Team was a lot more reactionary than we used to think, it's just they weren't openly divulging their plans to the American press like they were in Japan. There's a whole side to this company that most of us are totally unaware of because all we ever saw was what came out of the American branch.

That's not to say they are secret geniuses or whatever. Those games still have problems. But I also think that regional disconnect explains a lot. Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow might've all been made at a special "Sonic Team USA" branch in San Francisco, but that was also the era of things like Sonic X, which to me seem targeted at widening Sonic's appeal in Japan first. No matter what Sonic Team USA was doing, the rest of Sega seemed to be beefing up Sonic's presence at home (in Japan), rather than abroad.

Which is where the inconsistency probably comes from, really. I think Takashi Iizuka probably realizes that Sonic needs the west, but he's not the only person with hands on this ball. Other people can, and will, and do steer the direction of this franchise. And not just licensors like Archie, but people within Sega. And different people want different things.

Which has less to do with Sega "planning" on this being "long running" and more to do with basic corporate culture. Mega Man X5 was written to be the final game in the X series, but Capcom upper-management went over the original development team's heads and made Mega Man X6 with completely different people. Konami did the same thing -- fired Hideo Kojima, but made Metal Gear Survive anyway. Sonic Team works for Sega, so if Sonic Team is unavailable, or unwilling, Sega can just find someone else to do it instead. Sega owns Sonic. That's a power they have.

That's how we end up with things like Sonic 1 Genesis on the GBA, right? Nobody who actually cares about Sonic signed off on that. That was a bunch of suits in a board room saying "we could hire someone to make an extremely cheap port of Sonic 1 to the GBA and get an easy 5000% return on investment." Some of the people making decisions like that might not even actively play games, or have ever created games, or anything of that sort. Their careers are in business. Which is fine, we need business sometimes, but clearly the wrong people were making the wrong decisions.

The points of failure on something like this are vast and complex and without someone from the inside specifically having proof on where to point the fingers, it's hard to make accurate assumptions.

#questions #anonymous #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #gamedev #business

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dustedmagazine · 3 years

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John Vanderslice — I can't believe civilization is still going here in 2021! Congratulations to all of us, Love, DCB (self-released)

Photo by Andrea DeSouto

I get a strange kind of pleasure from just hanging on by John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice has never been a regular songwriter. The indie-rocker's earlier albums featured strange characters, Romantic poetry, narrative possibilities. He somehow recorded the songs with a meticulous recklessness. Anything he released on his own immediately sounded like a Vanderslice record, even while his production work for other bands (like Death Cab for Cutie or the Mountain Goats) brought out their best. In 2014, after almost flipping a tour van, he decided to step away from recording his own music. He continued his production work at his studio, but for about five years, he was done.

He couldn't stay away, though, and when he returned with Cedars in 2019, it marked a shift in his sound, as he moved away from his rock work toward something more abrasive and experimental. The changes had more to do with developing certain elements of his art rather than jumping into a new genre. Vanderslice didn't come back from retirement reborn, but he did seem more confident in embracing the more irregular aspects of his work.

That album might not have been a full departure, but what followed largely has been (making a revisit to Cedars worthwhile). Having moved on from Tiny Telephone and its analog equipment, Vanderslice has embraced synthesizes and stranger effects. He's cited some odd hip-hop influences, but his recent releases have also touched on glitch-pop and broadly considered electronica, all while maintaining an idiosyncratic vision. The last few releases (Eeeeeeep! and Dollar Hits) saw Vanderslice finding his way, but new EP I can't believe civilization is still going here in 2021! Congratulations to all of us, Love, DCB shows the maturation of his aesthetic movement.

The DCB of the title is David Berman, a friend of Vanderslice's, and the title comes from a postcard that the Silver Jews frontman sent to his pal. The EP carries a dark undercurrent, as it comes in tribute to Berman but in the shadow of that artist's death. Vanderslice's own mental health issues come into play, too, and a record described as an “anti-suicide pact” that came out of the COVID lockdown can't exactly be chipper.

Even so, there's hope here. Single "I Get A Strange Kind Of Pleasure From Just Hanging On" comes closest to pop and, for all its strange sonics, it connects more cleanly to Vanderslice's past records. Lyrically, he encourages listeners (and, presumably, himself) to get out of their own heads and do what they need to do to preserve their emotional well-being. The chords and structures make sense here even as the instructions are a little ambiguous. Vanderslice wants to escape desire and escape dark thoughts, but he knows we're “hanging by a thread” and can't fully relax.

In that sense, the song relieves some of the darkness of the rest of the EP, but, early in the record, it also suggests the nearness of the abyss. The other songs experiment considerably more, rare moments of pop being undercut by glitch or structural surprises (“Don't Forget About Me” does this interplay the best). When “White Chalk” brings the record to a close, we've both simulated and escaped a bleak psychological time.

As a bonus, Vanderslice looks back as he pushes forward, including a second disc. Ethical Jute Mouse compiles rarities from 2001-2020. The set includes all sorts of materials, most of it fairly random, like the set of “8 second songs” he did for Kickstarter supporters (they're longer than eight seconds but still very short). Fans will find plenty to dig here, with the need to play archaeologist relieved. The quality varies, of course, but it's a highly listenable disc of outtakes and oddities. A cover of Jason Molina's “Long Dark Blues” works particularly well, as does Vanderslice's take on “Karma Police” (particularly fitting given the way the new EP would fit in with the music Radiohead would make immediately after OK Computer). To no surprise, the high point comes with “Time Travel Is Lonely,” performed here with Spoon, with the memorable opening drum part switched to a guitar part.

The rarities comp feels a little like Vanderslice deliberately closing the door on a personal era. As he does that, he takes an important step forward in the new one. The EP might not be the full realization of what he's heading toward, but it's a noteworthy release in its own right as well as a visible part of the process. It's nice to see he's still going in 2021, and – all things considered – it does feel like congratulations are in order.

Justin Cober-Lake

#john vanderslice #I can't believe civilization is still going here in 2021! Congratulations to all of us Love DCB #justin cober-lake #albumreview #dusted magazine #indie #pop #rock #singer-songwriter #david berman #spoon

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writingsbychlo · 4 years

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feels like loneliness (12)

word count; 8976

summary; you make a last minute decision to save your friend, even f it means risking your own life, and thomas can’t accept it.

notes; I sobbed while writing this, y’all don’t stand a chance.

warnings; character death, injury, gore, violence, explosions, gun use, bombs, near-death experience, angst.

“this is the last time I play this game”

You had barely made it three streets over before the screaming of the kids caught your ear, stonework crumbling and metal screeching behind you and you shook your head, a small smile on your lips as you watched the bus roll awkwardly along the side of a building as it gained more and more height. “I’m so glad that’s not me.”

It was soon lifted over your head, and you stopped your movements for a second in order to watch it go, the crane twisting as it made it safely over the wall, and you squeezed your eyes shut, your heart lifting a little at knowing at least the busload of kids were safe, as was Brenda. Now, you only had to worry about the rest of your friends.

Spinning, you ran forward through the cities you knew, being careful to stick to shadows as you navigated the buildings, more and more guards flying past on foot and in cars, but they were all too preoccupied to notice your lonesome presence sneaking back towards the tower. After all, why would anyone still be trying to sneak in?

You were almost there, you could see the building before you, the entrance to it, the pool at the bottom, and the guards still laying unconscious on the floor. Before you could take another step, the ground shook, an explosion booming loudly and your eyes tore to the suddenly formed hole in the wall, the glass on the building shattering from the sonic boom and you stumbled from the impact.

You weren’t sure what had happened, you were staring at the gap, before suddenly it had clicked with you.

The group beyond the wall, the freedom fighters who had been determined to take down WCKD, now with their defences down as you all fought to save Minho, they had the chance to fight, and they’d taken it. The sweeping realisation of why Lawrence hadn’t wanted anything in return for the equipment you had needed came flooding over you like a tidal wave and you gripped at your stomach as crushing emotions poured in.

The man had never needed time to get more cure, he had needed time to take down the organisation that took everything from him, and unknowingly, you had given him just that. With a small smile, you nodded your thanks towards the explosion, knowing he may be out there somewhere, or perhaps already dead, but he wouldn’t make it to the end of the night no matter what.

After taking a moment, you were quickly on your feet again, bolting across the roads to stand outside of the building, peering up at it carefully, just to realise how high up you were going to have to go. At your feet, a guard lay unconscious, twitching and jumping as electricity still jumped over his body occasionally and you grimaced, leaning down to pluck the keycard from him carefully, before making your way cautiously towards the entrance.

Lawrence’s distractions had surprisingly done wonders for you, with the level of people fleeing and darting around the building in pure terror, you were able to navigate your way through the lobby easily, nobody even casting you a second glance as you walked right through the crowd, shouldering past people aggressively.

Kicking your way into a stairwell, you panted as the door shut behind you, the muffled sounds of continued explosions and gunfire picking up outside as the city was raided and reclaimed by the outsiders. Your breath was the only thing you could hear clearly, the sharp and crisp sounds as you tried to pull breath into your lungs rung out and echoed loudly as you began dashing up the steps, checking the signs at each level for ones that read labs.

Your body was aching, muscles sore and you were you had climbed so high that you could no longer see the floor at the bottom of the winding staircase when you looked down, your vision blurring as you dizzied and you had to drag your feet up to the next level.

You checked the sign, reading it twice as the likelihood of finding the words you were looking for had felt like they had become impossible, but there they were, written clear as day on a sign and you dropped your head back for a second, a small cheer leaving your lips as you found the level you were looking for.

With a renewed sense of hope, you could finally enter the corridor, and the second you opened it, the peaceful silence of the staircase was blasted away, your eyes widening and adrenaline flooding your system as alarms blared and workers screamed while they ran, the fight outside much louder now as broken windows allowed the amplified sounds to travel into the building with ease.

Dropping your bag at your feet, you rifled through it, pulling out your notebook and gripping it tightly as you swung the pack back up onto your arm, only bothering with the one strap, your fingers drumming against the worn leather as you stepped from the gentle ease of the staircase and into the panicked ess of the corridors.

You followed along, your body constantly being shoved and rammed by those who were desperately fleeing but you pushed on, checking inside each window for the room you were looking for along the vacating floor, and you beamed when you found it. Sliding the card through the scanner on the door, the light flashed from red to green in a split second, and you quickly made your way into the room, stopping in your tracks as you saw who was still sitting at the desk, her head lifting to look at you and shock covered her own features when she registered your presence.

Her gaze flicked from your eyes, to the notebook clenched in your hands, and she was still for a moment as the cogs turned in her head before she gasped loudly, spinning in her chair to face you. “You know, don’t you? You worked it out, you know how to make the cure!” You licked over your lips, your hand flying to the gun on your thigh and she held her hands up quickly, shaking her head as her jaw hung open. “No! No, wait! I can help you!”

“And why the fuck would I trust you, Teresa?”

“I can get you access to the equipment you need, to save Newt. To save everyone!” You hesitated, before swallowing thickly, your head dipping in a nod.

“I see one dodgy thing I don’t like, I will shoot you, with zero hesitation, you got that?” She kept her lips pursed shut, nodding her head as she stood up and you made your way towards her, placing your book down on the desk and flicking through it to find the pages you needed.

You yelled out equipment to her, and she dashed around the room, setting up your workspace as you grabbed at the different chemicals, your hands shaking with your nerves as your heart raced in your ear, so fast you thought you may hyperventilate, and you pushed down the panic attack you could feel beginning to rear its head.

The door hissed open as you were stirring chemicals and you froze as you looked at the woman who had walked in, your hand flying to your thigh as she looked between you both in shock. “Teresa, and.. (Y/N)?” Your eyes narrowed as she said your name, and she was almost taken aback by seeing your presence. “What are you doing here? You need to leave!”

The war around you continued to rage on, the lights in the room flickering as the screaming and fighting outside never ceased, the situation only growing more dangerous every second you were here, and you flashed her the dirtiest look you could muster, a growl on your lips as you did. “Not without my goddamn cure!”

“Cure? Wh- No, the city is falling apart! It’s too late for that!”

“No!” You snapped your gaze to her, leaving the work you were doing alone and she flinched at the volume of your voice, you were seething, and you were sure she could see the fire in your eyes as you glared at her. “It’s not! Look, just look!” You dripped some of the blue mixture you had made onto the slide carefully, placing it under the microscope as the tentatively made her way across the room, cautious of your borderline hysterical state.

Looking around the room, you caught sight of the cabinet you were looking for, and you had given up bothering with scanners and keys, instead, you used your elbow to smash the glass on the door, cold air and mist seeping out into the room from the chilled cabinet as you scanned your fingers over the vials, only to curse when they weren’t sorted by name, but by code.

“What serial code was Thomas?” You waited a few seconds as you looked at the samples, before spinning on your heel as you looked at the two confused women behind you, Ava Paige with her fingers brushing against the pages of your book, her jaw dropped. “Serial code! Which damn serial code was Thomas?”

She snapped out of it, fumbling over her words as she tried to string them together; “H-He was.. was.. A-Two! Thomas is subject A-Two!”

“He was A-Two.” You muttered to her, quickly plucking his blood sample from where it was stored as you made your way across the room. She glanced down at your slide, brows raised at the liquid sitting on it.

“What is that?”

“The Flare virus.” She stepped back suddenly, eyes wide and you smirked slightly, taking seat before it uncaringly, knowing you were immune. You lifted the vial carefully, using a needle to extract some of the blood from Thomas’ sample and drip it gently onto the slide, before peering through the lens and adjusting it, a loud and happy cry leaving your lips in shock that it had worked. “Holy shit!”

You backed away, your hand flying up to cover your mouth suddenly and Teresa moved forward, peering through the lens to look, a gasp leaving her own lips as she checked, checking again before pulling back to look at you. “It’s not just slowing down the virus, it’s destroying it.” The woman who was the source of all your torture stepped forwards, curiously looking into the microscope as she took in the sight before her, and you shot back up, searching the shelf, snatching a few others before you searched for clean slides. “What are you doing?”

“Seeing who else has the genes. Who else is the cure, not just an immune.” You began mixing at the vials, turning to look at her carefully. “We need Thomas back here, we need more blood if we’re going to save Newt.” She paused, before nodding her head carefully, taking off with Doctor Paige as the two ran to find him and you only hoped you could trust her to come back.

Alone, you began to work on all of the vials. You would test and note who else was immune, as you began mixing for a cure quickly. You were stopped, however, when the door hissed open, and Jansen stood before you, a wicked grin on his lips and your hand flew to your thigh, but the barrel was pointed on you before you could and you dropped the vial in your hands, blood spilling across the floor and ruining the cure-sample as you stood, hands raised in the air.

He advanced into the room, tutting quietly as he looked around, mumbling insults about how you should never have returned. Upon his instructions, you were backed into the wall, pressed to it as you held your hands above your head, and before you knew it, the base of his gun was colliding with the front of your skull, the world around you going back as you dropped from consciousness.

Newt slumped against the wall, his body weight becoming too much for them all to run with and Thomas panicked as the had to stop, leaning him down gently. The second he was on the floor, he keeled over, coughing up thick mouthfuls of black blood onto the floor beside him, the residue dribbling down along his skin as he was too weak to even wipe it away.

Thomas had no idea what to say to his friend, his eyes finding Minho’s and clearly the other runner had no idea either, because the look on his face was certainly reflected in his own, Thomas was sure of it, utter hopelessness seeping in. Light suddenly seemed to find them as Thomas looked up at the humming sound he recognised overhead, and like a lightbulb going off, Brenda’s words made sense as he watched the Berg they had used barely two weeks ago in an attempt to save Minho showed up again, cruising slowly over the skies towards the tunnels they had designated as their meeting point.

The second he tried to pull the infected blond to his feet, the wheezing and rasping in his lungs only picked up, increasing tenfold as he could barely catch a breath, coughing up more of the black substance as it filled his lungs and his body slumped down even further.

“Minho, you gotta run ahead and grab the serum, get back to us as soon as you can.” Minho looked at Thomas lie he was insane, but from the reaction to simply trying to stand up, Newt was definitely not going to be able to make it himself.

“He’s right! I can cover.” Before he could leave fully, Newt grasped onto his arm, meaningful thank you’s falling from his lips to his friend and Thomas’ heart broke as he heard the emotion in them, knowing he wasn’t just referring to the serum, but to their entire friendship altogether.

He watched the two go, monitoring them to make sure they made it through, and the second he looked back down, fear spiked in his system as he looked at his friend’s head, lolled to the side as he rasped for breath. “Newt! Hey, Newt!” Grabbing the edges of the boy’s jacket, Thomas shook him roughly. If they were going to make it, they needed to meet Minho half-way, because Newt was quickly running out of time, the virus catching up to him quicker than expected. “We’re gonna try this, okay? We gotta move, now. Let’s get you up, come on! Let’s go, come on.”

“No Thomas..” He seemed to become coherent again, all his strength going into tugging at the string sitting around his neck as Thomas tried to scoop him up, and Newt wriggled in his grasp, holding it out to him. “Take it!”

He held the bundle out to him, and Thomas shook his head, “Later! Really got to go, right now! Come on!” This only caused Newt to struggle more, pushing against him as he pushed the necklace in his direction once again.

“Take it!” He had never heard Newt scream in such a way, and Thomas stilled, nodding his head and wrapping his hand around the charm on the end of the string, the metal cylinder sitting in his closed fist. “Please. Please Tommy, please.”

“Alright.” He shoved it into his pocket securely, watching as the life seemed to drain from his friend even more. It was like everything in Newt had given up, and Thomas realised if he was doing this, he was doing it alone now. “I need you to give me everything you got you hear me? One, two, three!” On the final number, he hauled the boy to his feet, receiving very little assistance and he grunted as he lifted him up, Newt’s arm settling over his shoulder as he grasped at Thomas weakly for support, his feet dragging in what could barely be classed as steps and the two stumbled their way out into the crossfire, following the trail Minho and Gally had just taken moments ago.

They had stumbled across the road, dodging bullets and explosions as Thomas tried to take the fastest route, no longer taking the roads, just weaving through broken buildings to get there as fast as possible, and the fight was soon fading away behind them.

The tunnels were in sight, he could see the Berg sitting across the building and it was only a few more streets to go, but as Newt’s legs finally gave out, his toes caught on the edge of the concrete, dragging him backwards as the pair tumbled to the floor. Sprawling out, Newt jerked violently, his eyes fading out as he lost focus, staring over Thomas’ shoulder and into the sky as he gurgled and coughed on his own blood the substance spattering out with each breath.

Gripping at his side, Thomas tried to pull his jacket out from under him where it had gotten trapped under the boy’s body, grabbing handfuls of the material to pull him back to his feet and a sharp sensation stabbed at his hand, and he was quick to recoil in shock. He couldn't see anything, but as Newt twitched and jerked, Thomas felt around on the inner pocket, finding the weapon that had injured him as he pulled out the exposed and empty needle.

His eyebrows were furrowed for a second, before realisation flooded him and he plunged his hand back into the storage flap, feeling around before his fingers found the little container he was looking for. Pulling it out, he lifted it to his eyes, the clear liquid you had given Newt being revealed and he dropped his head in relief, a tired grin on his lips as he looked at his almost unconscious friend.

Lifting it with shaky hands, he turned towards the flickering lights of the streetlamps around him, leaving Newt unattended for only a moment, as he tipped the liquid gently into the needle, watching what he was doing. “Thomas?”

His head snapped up as Teresa’s voice rang out over the com-system, his eyebrows furrowing as she called out to him, and he momentarily forgot about the serum he held in his confusion.

“Can you hear me?” She paused again as he spoke, his head whipping around as if he would find any answers, anywhere. “I need you to listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me, but you can trust (Y/N), and the work she did. I need you to come back.” He reeled at the sound of your name on her lips, his head spinning. “You can save Newt, there’s still time for him!” He glanced back at his friend, laying unconscious on the floor where he had been dropped, and his thoughts were racing, head too busy to be able to do anything as he tried to think straight. “There’s a reason Brenda isn’t sick anymore, it’s your blood! You cured her! She doesn’t have to be the only one, all you have to do is come back, and this will all finally be over. Just come back to us, I know you’ll do the right-”

She was suddenly cut off, and Thomas’ stomach twisted at the word us, his brows furrowing and he shook it off, trying to think about his options, trying to decide what needed to be done. When he turned around, Newt was stood back to his feet, head tipped to the side as his body twitched and spasmed, no recognition showing on his face as he stared at Thomas. “Newt?”

The boy growled, lunging for him and Thomas dropped the needle in his hand, pushing his friend to the floor in shock as the boy tried to attack him. “Newt! It’s me, it’s me!” He reached down to find the needle, before Newt’s arms wrapped around his middle, tackling him to the ground and the two rolled across the floor as Newt scratched and bit, trying to tear at Thomas, and he barely kicked the half-crank off him

Rolling onto his knees the boy gasped for breath, holding himself up shakily before looking at Thomas. “Tommy, kill me!” As fast as the recognition had come about, it had gone, the infection taking over his mind once again and he snarled, rasping and growling as he threw himself against Thomas again, taking him to the floor. Newt’s hands wrapped around his throat, choking him as his body was straddled and he fought to try and push the blond boy off from on top of him, oxygen no longer making it into his lungs and he reached out to his side, searching, but the needle was too far away, laying idly on the concrete. Again, his friend peeked back through the haze, his eyes widening as his hands left Thomas’ neck “I’m sorry, Tommy!”

“It’s okay..” He took ragged breaths, panicking as Newt’s hand fell to his thigh, lifting the gun from its holster and pressing it to his temple. Swinging his hand forward, Thomas screamed as he knocked the weapon from his friend’s hand, and he pushed the boy off of him, crawling rapidly towards the needle lying on the floor and grasping it between his fingers, lifting it up triumphantly. “Just let me give yo-”

A laboured scream cut him off and Newt was lost to them once again, but he now had a knife clutched in his hands as the crank version of his friend stared him down menacingly. Swinging the blade at him, it sliced through the air as the boy advanced on him and Thomas backed away desperately. There was no rhythm or flow to his swings, he was just chopping madly at the air as he ran forward, gaining on Thomas quickly. With a deep breath, Thomas stopped backing away, raising the hand with the needle as Newt aimed the blade towards him once again. Plunging the needle into his neck, he pushed the serum into his skin, feeling the boy go limp in his grasp and relief flooded his body.

The feeling was quickly pushed away when a hot and sticky substance began to leak out against his fingers, no pain following it and Thomas knew it wasn’t his own blood. Pulling back in fear, he found the blade buried deep in Newt’s own flesh, fondness once again showing in his eyes as he looked up to meet his friend’s glance and Thomas panicked as the boy collapsed to the floor.

Cupping his head softly, Thomas laid him down, tears filling his eyes as he looked at his friend, blood dripping along his shoulder and beginning to pool on the concrete below, and Thomas assessed the severity of the wound, his hands holding down around the knife to put pressure on it as he mumbled to his friend to hold on.

He held the boy with fondness as he watched his consciousness begin to drip away from his eyes, before his head snapped up at the sound of footsteps approaching, Minho and Brenda slowing to a rapid halt as they took in the scene before them, Thomas on his knees sniffling as he held a bloodied Newt, and his mouth dropped open to speak.

“I-It’s okay! It's his shoulder! Just get him t-to the ship, put the serum in him! H-He’ll be okay!” His words were shaky as he spoke, and Minho approached carefully, hiking his unconscious friend up into his arms as the boy’s chest rose and fell slowly and weakly, but the breaths were still being sucked into his lungs, and the veins on his neck were already beginning to recede.

Looking around, Brenda offered a hand to a weak Thomas to pull him from his knees, and he followed her gaze as she looked out at the empty space. “Where’s (Y/N)?”

“..With you?” Thomas questioned, the plan having been that the two of them would go together, get a bus, get the kids, get safely outside the wall. He felt bile rise in his throat as he watched Brenda shake her head, his heart skipping a beat as her worried eyes found his.

“No, she left the bus. She came back. She said she had to save Newt a-”

“She what?”

Thomas’ body physically wretched with dry-heaves as he tried to calm the pure terror swimming in his veins at knowing you weren’t safe, and suddenly, the plurals Teresa had used made sense, he knew exactly where you were, and both of them turned to look at the building in the centre of the city, the crowds already making their way toward the main base of operations to take it down.

“She went back to make a damn cure.” He shook his head, the fight or flight instinct kicking in so hard that Thomas was sure in this moment he could’ve wrestled a griever and won, the spikes of adrenaline in his system powered by his crushing fear were overwhelming. “I have to go and get her!”

“You’ll never make it back in time!” He turned to look at Minho, who shook his head aggressively at Thomas’ actions in order tot alk him down form the path he was about to take.

“I have to try! I-”

“She wouldn’t want you to risk your shucking life! There’s a reason she didn’t tell you she was doing this! She’d want you to live!” Minho insisted, and Thomas bit his lip, bouncing on the balls of his feet at the newfound energy drowning everything else out.

“I don’t want to live without her! Not again!” His friend opened his mouth to speak, but Thomas wasn’t having any of it, and both Brenda and Minho knew it. There was nothing for him if there wasn’t you. “Get back, take Newt. I’ll be okay!”

Before either could protest, he was bursting out in a sprint, heading back toward you as his eyes fixed on the upper levels, knowing exactly where he would find you now.

When you finally came to, your head was throbbing, and you could feel the cool air in the room and the breeze that was carrying through smashed windows catching on the exposed wound on the back of your head, sticky blood still dripping along your neck. Your vision was blurry, the lights above you making it hard to open your eyes but when you finally did, you realised you were still inside the WCKD labs, staring up at the ceiling.

It took a second, before suddenly, the recollections of what had happened came crashing back down on you and you tried to sit up, your arms and legs bound to the surgical chair you were in as pure fear flooded your system. Whipping your head to the side, you caught sight of Thomas, his worried eyes on you in the same position as you were, fists clenched as Teresa drew blood from his arm slowly.

Your eyes narrowed on her as you looked up to her, and her sights were already set on you, eyes wide as she ducked her head to cover herself slightly, nodding further into the corner. Tipping your head back, you strained against the seat, a hiss falling from you as the cut on your skull throbbed, but then you remembered what had happened; Jansen.

Teresa had gone to call out for Thomas with Ava Paige, and then Jansen had found you.

Looking around for the other woman, you found her nowhere to be seen, your brows furrowing and you let your gaze roam back to Thomas’, his eyes looking over your face carefully. Jansen was watching out of the window, and even from your restrained position, you could see the orange glows of the fires that had taken over, the darkness the smoke was causing in the sky, and you could hear the tremendous crashing of buildings crumbling and falling to rubble on the ground, as they always should have been.

“Do you know what this place is?” His voice was eerily calm, more at ease than you had ever heard Jansen speak before, and you tipped your head to look at him, watching as he finally turned to face you both, directing his attention from the scene outside to instead assess Teresa’s work with the two of you. “It’s a lifeboat. The whole world might be sinking, but that doesn’t mean we have to go down with it.”

You struggled in your restraints, your arms thrashing as you tried to sit up, and the man merely chuckled at your futile attempts, making his way between the chairs to lean over you. He raised a hand, smirking as you flinched, before he gently brought his fingers up to brush some hair away from your face, and Thomas thrashed in his own seat the second Jansen had touched you, shouting threats behind him, to which the man simply ignored.

“How much longer?” He waited for Teresa’s answer, the girl mumbling as steadily as possible that it wouldn’t be much longer, and with his back turned to her, he missed watching her slowly packing your back with equipment, your eyes focusing on it as she tucked needles and syringes into your pack and hid them. “It’s some good work you did there, (Y/N). You were so close to a cure before, that little notebook you had always had on you, who knew the secrets to saving the world would be in there. You were days away, perhaps even less had you just shared your work, and instead, you let your emotions get in the way. You had yourself sent up into the trials instead.”

You scoffed at his words, trying to lean away from his touch on your face and he tutted, shaking his head, before slipping his hand to your head, pressing down on the cut from the gun he had hit you with as you cried out, sharp pains shooting through you from the injured patch on your scalp. “Get your fucking hands away from her!” Thomas screamed, thrashing in the surgical bed beside you and his hands retracted, your whimpers sounding lowly as the stinging began to subside.

“Why don’t you just kill us?” You mumbled, and he grinned, turning to walk away from you as he headed over to check on Teresa’s progress.

“Kill you? No, no, we couldn't do that.” He seemed to stop, contemplating his words as his head tipped to the side. “Well, we can now we have your notes. You are going to die, but Thomas here, we have to take special care of him.” Jansen promised, and you fell still in your bed, your eyes darting over to your notebook. “You are just here to break his will. Once he’s watched you die before his eyes, he’ll have nothing left to fight for, and I will have a living, breathing, cure.”

“So, do it, you fucking coward! You’ll never be able to read those notes! You’ll never understand them!” He grinned at your bravery, unholstering the handgun sitting on his hip and nodding in agreement with your words.

“You’re right, I was never much one for science, I’ve always had stronger passions, made the hard choices, not the difficult theories, but Teresa here, she understands them perfectly.” He hummed, and your eyes flicked to look at the girl behind him, in her hands, a dark blue swilling in the needle as the injected it into tubes for safety, and your eyes found hers, a subtle nod being cast in your direction as she placed them down silently.

Your eyes moved to the side, Thomas shaking his head rapidly as his he looked at you, fighting and tugging on the restraints, his skin red and raw as he tried to wiggle out of their tight hold, tears lining his eyes and spilling down his cheeks as he looked at you. Giving him a soft smile, you nodded, swallowing thickly as the barrel of the gun pressed to your temple. “Don’t let them break you, Tommy.”

“He’s already broken.” Jansen scoffed his thumb flicking the safety off as he curled his finger around the trigger, and your eyes closed tightly, your breath held and Thomas’ pleading and shouting fell silent, everything drowning away as the sound of your own steady heart rate filled your eyes, relaxing you and easing your mind to go.

The sound of shattering glass filled your ears, a grunt, followed by a thud and your eyes snapped open, finding Jansen laying on the floor as Teresa held the bottom of a large glass container, dropping it to the floor as she dived forward, fingers shaking as she tried to undo the straps on your hand and you took deep breaths, your head practically spinning as nothing but complete relief flooded your system, the joy making you feel high as you collapsed back into the chair, bringing your wrists up to rub at the raw skin as soon as they were free.

She had barely freed one of your feet, when you looked back up at her, your eyes opening in a scream as Jansen rose from the ground and Thomas shouted out to warn her, but before she could move, the man had a fistful of her hair and a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back and throwing her into the table she’d been operating at. Her body flew right over it as she knocked everything with her, glass shattering as liquid spilt out across the floor, your notebook sliding towards the window as it left the table and you shot up, struggling to free your other foot.

He followed her, a tube ready to use for the injection in his hand and she crawled under tables, trying to escape, and Thomas called out her name frantically, trying to tear himself from the chair as you stood over him. You pulled at the leather locked around his wrists, freeing one of his hands and he immediately moved to free his other as you worked on free the straps around his feet.

The second he was no longer bound, he was rolling from the chair, leaving your side as he dashed to help her, and Jansen held onto her head tightly, slamming it down against the edge of a metal table and her body fell limp. Pushing one of the cartridges of blue liquid into the device, he rolled up his sleeve, exposing his own Flare covered arm, but before he could administer the injection, Thomas’ arms wrapped around his waist, tackling the man straight through one of the glass walls. You were stopped for a second, the complete catastrophe of what had happened in the last few hours just beginning to hit you. The two were fighting, and you snapped away from the scene outside, glancing between your bag on the other side of the room and Teresa laying unconscious on the other, a curse falling from your lips as you dashed towards her and dropped to your knees.

Casting a glance out into the corridor, you watched the two men fight, punches being thrown and grunts sounding out as the swung at one another and you held the girls face gently, tapping her cheeks as you mumbled her name, eventually just resorting to shaking her roughly. She stirred in your arms and you cried out in relief, turning to watch as Thomas landed blow after blow on the man attacking you, before his fist was blocked, worry replacing how proud you felt and you turned away as you watched Thomas be thrown to the floor, your hands grabbing onto Teresa’s as you helped her get to her feet shakily.

When the two of you stumbled to the doorway, your eyes widened, a scream falling from your lips as the same gun that had been aimed at you was now aimed at Thomas pointed directly at him and you shook, Teresa now being the one to hold you upright as you desperately tried to find a way out of this, to figure something out, to be able to save the man you loved.

Before you could process it, the corridor lit up so brightly you could barely see and a second later, the building shook, metal support beams and walls crumbling at the impact as your body launched forwards, the glass along the entire side of the building shattering, but it gave you enough time for a distraction as Jansen hit the floor, the gun sliding away from him.

It soon sounded again, more chunks of building falling and Thomas dashed over to you, his hands finding your face as he cupped your cheeks, his hands trembling so violently in fear he could barely hold on and his body was sagging. “Let’s go, come one, let’s go!”

He began to drag you away, Teresa swiping the device Jansen had been planning to use to inject himself from the floor and you hesitated, the villain groaning as he pushed himself out from under the rubble. “Wait! I have to get the bag! Go!” Thomas looked like he was ready to argue and you pushed him away from you, nodding your head as your eyes stayed locked with his. “I’ll be there, just go!”

With a moment's pause, he left, bolting away from you with Teresa as Jansen began to free himself and you ducked back into the room quietly, the building wobbling as fire took over the lab, plumes of smoke filling the air, dust causing you to cough loudly. Gunshots sounded behind you, the shadow of the man chasing your friends retreating down the corridor and you waved a hand in front of your face, you pushed around in broken furniture and equipment, before spotting the strap of your bag, layered with dust but it was there.

Lifting up the table that had fallen over it, you smiled victoriously, searching about on the floor until your fingers brushed the worn leather of your notebook, the keys to the cure sealed safely inside and you pushed it into the heavy pack, sealing it tightly and securing it on your back. As you made to stand, more missiles and bombs hit against the side of the building and it jerked violently, beginning to tip heavily to one side and the room around you began to collapse in on itself, the corridor falling in as debris, concrete and rubble blocked off any chance you had of leaving.

Your eyes narrowed and you stared at it, a loud scream falling from your lips in anger. Your throat was raw as you let out the sound, your own ears aching as you cursed and screamed. “No! No fucking way!” You stood up, fists clenched so tightly by your sides that you were sure your nails would draw blood from your palms and you stared at the blocked exit, the room sealed around you as it began to crumble. “I have not come this fucking far! I will not die at a goddamn WCKD facility!”

You heaved in ragged breaths searching the room. There was no way you were going to be able to move all the chunks of concrete and metal blocking the doors. Looking above yourself, you found no access to vents, the support beams giving way in the roof anyway, and you were left with the open window. As you peered out, you found nothing but concrete below, the flames of the lower floors twisting up and roaring in the air, the heat reaching you simply from looking down and you took a moment to calm yourself.

You watched the Berg in the distance, seeing its rotors slowly begin to move as it prepared to lift itself off the ground and you dropped your head with a smile, cheering to yourself among the burning building. “Okay, guess we’re going up.” Peering out, you plotted your route carefully. You were close to the top of the building, and it was only five floors. You could do this.

Your hand shot out, grabbing onto rolls of bandages as you wrapped up your hands as much as possible, covering your palms and your knuckles, tightening the laces on your boots and tucking them in as you prepared yourself, shaking your body down and hoping it would help dissipate the fear filling every inch of you. Leaning out of the tilted building, you grasped onto a chunk of loose rock, tugging on it to check it was still secure before holding onto it tightly.

Your foot followed, finding a gap in the framework and with a deep breath, you swung your body out from the relative safety of the floor you had been stood on, your free hand reaching out to grab onto the rock, fingers digging into cracks as your toes did the same, and you huffed out an unbelieving laugh as you successfully clung to the side of the building.

Lifting one hand, as far as it could reach, you grasped onto a metal support beam, testing its stability before raising a foot, pushing off as you climbed higher. You had soon set a rhythm, your eyes searching for things to grab onto and stand on, and before you knew it, the room you had left was now pouring with fire, two floors behind as the edge of the roof only got closer and closer to you.

Your head was throbbing, the cut at your hairline was spewing blood from your exertion, and you could feel the trail of it trickling own your temple and along your cheek, blood dripping from your jaw but you couldn’t waste time focusing on it now. Ash, dust and crumbled building covered your sweaty skin, sticking to you, and as it burned, it made it easier to climb, your dirtied skin making your grip dry and strong, and you panted, looking up at the distance you still had to go.

“This is the last time I climb a broken building for the rest of my life, I swear to shuck.” You whispered, taking a laboured breath and groaning as you pushed yourself further up. “Damn tunnels and damn skyscrapers, never again will I go near either. I refuse it.” You huffed, your own audible complaining being the only thing keeping you going.

Three floors up, and you found a hole in the side of the building, dragging yourself into it carefully as your exhausted body lay out on the concrete, your legs still hanging over the ledge as you secure yourself on the floor for a few seconds breather. You could hear the Berg now, getting closer and closer to you, only minutes away and you heaved yourself up into a sitting position, a cry on your lips as your muscles screamed out in agony.

Looking around yourself, you identified the broken and partially collapsed stairs before you. The sign reading ‘roof access’ was barely hanging onto the wall and you looked between the outside of the building you had been climbing and the broken stairs. Both were dangerous, and both would probably result in your death, but as you looked down at your hands, you made your decision.

Your nails were ripped and torn short, the tips of your fingers burned, scraped and bleeding from all the hot debris and jagged rock you had needed to cling to in order to climb, you made your decision. Using the metal railing to pull yourself to your feet, your body leaned heavily against the quickly warming metal for support as you inched your way up the stairs.

You had narrowly avoided holes and gaps, the rock simply crumbling beneath your feet in patches as your foot pushed straight through and you had to catch yourself from dropping, but soon, you were finding the door that read ‘roof’, already gaping and flapping in the wind as you pulled it open.

Tears lined your eyes as you coughed, the smoke thicker up here, as the fire reached where you were, and you waved a hand in front of your face, stepping out onto the shaky metal platforms as you stumbled forwards. By the time you could see straight, you made out the forms on the floor, Thomas sprawled out on the ground as Teresa sat behind him, supporting him as much as he could and his hand was gripped to his stomach, blood pumping between his fingers violently each time he coughed and spluttered.

You moved forward, stumbling as quickly as you could before dropping to your knees before the boy on the floor, the hot tears in your eyes beginning spill down your cheeks as you sobbed on a sore throat. His free hand rose, wiping the blood away from your cheeks carefully as your tears mixed with the dirt smeared across your skin. “I told you to drop your hero-complex, look at you.” He wheezed, his hand settled over your cheek delicately as his thumb stroked at your face, his eyes locked with yours as he stared at you, like you were the only thing in the world that mattered.

You let out a choked laugh at his words, more tears spilling down your cheeks as you brushed hair away from his forehead carefully, your hands resting over his on his stomach and his blood spilled out and covered your own fingers, as his separated slightly, yours sliding between them as together the two of you held pressure on his wound with your linked hands. “What? And let you have all the fun?”

He shook his head with a smile, his eyes closing gently as he clung onto you, and you looked up to Teresa, trying to blink away your tears as she cried desperately herself. “I-I’m sorry, I tried!” She whimpered, her shaky hand holding out the last vial of the cure and you took it, wiping as your eyes and tucking the blue vial into the pocket of your bag, because it didn’t matter now.

“I know, T.” You took a hand away from Thomas’ face to hold hers, squeezing it reassuringly before letting it return to Thomas’ face, holding him in a soft grip. “I forgive you.” As soon as you said those words, she seemed to break, a loud cry leaving her as she leaned over and you looked down at Thomas, a small smile on his face as he watched you.

“I need to tell you something.” You shook your head, biting on your lip as you pressed a tender kiss to his forehead and he whined, insisting you listen to him. “I have to say it now, so you can remember hearing it at least once!” He groaned, and a fresh set of tears began to find a place along your eyes as they glazed over and you willed them back as you looked at him. “You need to know! You need to know just how much I care, how much I truly, irrevocably, lov-”

He was cut off as a wind swept over you all, violent coughs leaving you and you looked up to the source, the Berg skimming up the side of the building just in time, lights shining into your eyes brightly and you covered them, the machine spinning around to face away from you and the back dropped open as it swayed, trying to hold itself steady next to the building.

With a happy cry, you looked down at him, both of your hands coming to cup his cheeks as you looked at him intently, neither of you caring about the blood smearing across his skin as you stared at one another.

“You’re not telling me here. Okay?” He nodded weakly as he looked at you. “You’re going to get up, and you’re going to fight, you hear me? One last time, and then you can tell me when we’re safe, and happy.”

“When we’re safe and happy.” He confirmed, his words wheezed as both you and Teresa reached under his arms, pulling him to his feet as he cried out in pain, but you ignored it, dragging him towards the ledge. The gap was too far, and no matter how many times Teresa shouted at them to get closer, you knew they couldn't, the building was teetering dangerously as it began to give way under its own weight, not to mention the flames that were rising higher and higher around the edge of the building, and you knew you’d have to throw him.

Putting all his weight on Teresa, you took off your bag, placing the straps around his dropped head to hand from his neck as you lopped your fingers into his belt, motioning for Teresa to do the same. The building beside you collapsed, the entire front side of it falling away as a loud explosion sounded and your eyes widened. The metal on the opposite side began to buckle under the weight of the top chunk, and in only a few seconds, it would be falling towards you, and it would take out the rest of the platform you stood on with it.

There was only once chance to save Thomas’ life, and you knew you had to take it, now.

You nodded to her, counting down carefully before you both put all your effort into it, your muscles aching under his weight but he flew forwards, just enough across the gap for his torso to land roughly on the lowered platform and immediately Vince was able to pull him inside. The second they had him inside, they were reaching out again to the two of you, but the deafening and crashing sounds of the building beside finally giving out were ringing out and all of your attention snapped towards it as it fell.

It hit the roof of the building you were on, jolting it to aggressively that you stumbled in place, but your eyes turned to Thomas, the building trembling beneath your feet and his eyes were wide as you gave him a small smile, nodding to him. “(Y/N)! Teresa!” His voice was laboured and you shook your head with a smile, choking back the tears you wanted to release as you raised a hand, gripping at the charm that hung around your neck.

“Happy and safe, Tommy.” You whispered, and he shook his head, his hand stretching out to you as the building fell away, and with it, the platform you were beginning to crumble beneath your feet as it’s support was lost. The ground beneath your feet slipped away, your body falling as your eyes stayed locked on Thomas’, a scream leaving his lips as you began to fall away from him.

Your shoulder jolted, the skin of your wrist stinging as nails scraped at your skin, your body swinging in the air and Minho peered down at you, shaking his head from where he hung from the aircraft, his hands wrapped tightly around a rope, a grimace on his lips as Gally held the other end, pulling it taut as he supported both you and Minho hanging from the craft. Looking down, you watched as Teresa’s body fell away into the smoke, the floors collapsing around her as debris and shrapnel flew up, sarks and flames filling the air.

You were limp in his grasp, your body being slowly pulled back up towards the edge as Gally and Vince pulled Minho inside, all three men tugging you into the craft as the ramp finally slid shit and Minho swept you up into his arms, holding onto you tightly. “I’m not losing any more friends to WCKD.” He whispered, mumbled by your hair and your legs gave way beneath you as you collapsed, and he slowly sunk the two of you down to your knees.

The second you were released, you struggled for air, the panic attack you had been pushing off had finally had its chance to shine and you clawed at your throat, Tears falling down your face and the only sound was that of your shaking sobs and the humming of the engine. Brenda placed a hand on your back, pulling your hair out of your face as you fell forward, your hands holding you up as your body wracked with dry heaves. Your heart was pounding, and Vince fell to the floor before you, his hands finding your shoulders as he rolled you to the side, sitting carefully on the floor. “You’re okay, kid. You did good, you can rest now.”

You nodded at his words, the fatigue in every inch of you was taking over, and you slumped back against the wall. “Where’s my bag?” Your voice was croaky and hoarse, and Brenda rushed to lift it from Thomas’ head, ringing it over to you carefully as you dug into the pocket, holding the vial of blue liquid between your fingers and you pressed it into her palm. “Make sure Newt gets his cure, Bren.”

Her eyes were wide and teary as she looked at you, gripping onto it tightly and you gave her the strongest smile your tired body would allow. You could feel everything in your body beginning to shut down from the stress and exhaustion, and you rolled to the side, Thomas’ head lolled towards you, eyes closed as Minho and Gally worked on patching up his bullet wound, fresh bandages being pressed to it and you reached over, your fingers lacing through his limply.

With a final nod at your friend, you let your eyes slide closed, calmness and serenity taking over your body as you slipped away into the peaceful darkness, smiling as you drifted off, safe and happy, among your friends.

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mistarcat · 5 years

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Tabletop Tuesday- 10/15/2019

With the permission of the group playing in this campaign, I will be chronicling our pathfinder journey through the viewpoint of my character, Dimas. It is based on the Wrath of the Righteous campaign. Pathfinder and its campaigns are owned by Paizo, and I claim no ownership of the story or its non-playing characters [NPCs]. I’m just doing this as a writing exercise and for the entertainment of others, not for any kind of monetary gain. And without further adieu, please enjoy the first installment of Tabletop Tuesday!

The bells were going to ring at any second, and Lord Hulrun was about to give the blessing. Dimas could feel the vibration of excitement throughout Clydewell Plaza. The silence that fell over the crowd was almost unnerving- he folded his wings in tighter and shifted closer to his brother, Dion. As the inquisitor was about to speak, Dimas noticed a reflective glare in his shining armor and many of the heads around him turned to the west. Before he could look, a sonic boom shook the plaza and his ears began to ring. The air was now buzzing with electricity rather than the excitement from a few moments ago. Dimas nodded to Dion and attempted to maneuver through the panicked crowd. Faces of frightened festival goers were everywhere he looked. Lord Hulrun had such a look.

“It’s gone!”

“Not the Kite!”

“The Wardstone!”

All of the different calls pierced his ringing ears, and he didn’t want to believe them. If the Wardstone of Kenabres fell, that would invite demons into the city he called home. Those cries were suddenly drowned out by a thunderous roar, and Dimas felt himself cast into a shadow. It was a sight to behold, the dragon Tendelev flew above him, his silver scales glittering as his wings flapped.

A line of flames whipped into view, and Dimas traced it back to another enormous presence in the sky. Flames and bolts of lightning covered the being's skin as his fiery whip cracked again, this time hitting the great guardian of Kenabres. The storm king Khorramzadeh had arrived on Dimas’ doorstep, a vision even his greatest nightmares could never conjure. Dimas turned away from the battle above, trying again to venture toward the stage, to make sure Lord Hulrun was safe when the ground started to shake again. He hit the plaza’s cobblestones as the tremor knocked him off balance, his arms failing to brace his fall.

Before he could try and stand back up, Dimas saw a building crumble down as a demon emerged. Despite living in a city so close to the Worldwound, he had only heard about them. He had seen two this day, and he would never forget the destruction he saw right before the ground beneath him gave way. As he began to plunge into the chasm that formed beneath him, he unfurled his black feathery wings. Using the momentum, he flipped over to look at the sky one last time. An argent talon jutted into the rift as metallic runes spiraled around him. The sensation of magic radiated through his veins. Dimas’s descent slowed as he looked up and saw the Storm King raise his sword. The sword swung toward Tendelev and Dimas turned his head away from witnessing the inevitable demise of the guardian dragon.

The fissure was closing, and soon Dimas knew only darkness as he continued to fall. His darkvision was no good to him among the flying dust and falling debris.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When he met solid ground with a thud, he heard echoes of moaning and cries of mourning. There was nothing but darkness- Dimas silently thanked his obscure heritage for his ability to see in the lightlessness. He turned and saw unmistakable white leathery wings.

“Dion, are you okay?” he called out as he moved to stand up.

He heard in reply, “Y-yeah, I think so.”

Dimas sighed in relief and looked around. His violet eyes confirmed sight of his brother, along with a crowd of other figures amongst the fallen rubble. One of the figures was a man Dimas recognized as Horgus Gwerm, a minor noble of Kenabres. The familiar woman next to him was pinned by her leg under a rock. Before Dimas could react, a peculiar figure with hair as platinum as his own lifted the boulder. A cry of pain rang through the cavern.

“Who’s there?”

Squinting as the cavern became illuminated, Dimas witnessed a blonde aasimar wielding a morningstar approach the injured woman.

“Does anyone need healing?” His voice echoed. Dimas furrowed his brow at the question. The man’s question would do little to alleviate the anxiety that was palpable in the air.

“Thank you for the light,” Dimas could see the questions still illuminated on her face as she spoke, “now that I can see we are all in this situation together--” her voice trailed off. She pushed herself to sit up and look around, “yes. I do need some healing. My leg appears to be broken.”

Dimas watched as the man scoured the cave for supplies and began to splint her leg. Having no training in any kind of healing, he felt useless. He looked to his brother, who he knew had to be feeling the same. Reaching out his hand, he felt his brother squeeze his hand in reassurance.

“My name is Anevia Tirabade,” the injured woman introduced herself. Dimas glanced at Dion in recognition. Tirabade was the surname of the leader of the Eagle Watch, one of their mother’s boss. “It is nice to meet you. Do any of you have any form of healing potion?”

Dion smoothed his dark hair back over his white horns. Dimas sensed his discomfort, “We sadly do not have any such potions, milady.”

As the aasimar began to answer for himself, Dimas was struck by a curious site. A halfling with plant-like features sitting atop a tumble pig. Dimas figured that he must be some sort of fey, as was the bark-skinned blond who moved the stone. He could also discern a quiet clacking sound but was unsure of its origin.

When Anevia confirmed that she could walk with the make-shift crutch, another voice piped in, “I am Aravashnial.” his voice was distinguished and patronizing, “It seems I am no longer able to see. The balor’s whip caught me across the face”

Dimas winced at the thought.

“Thankfully it was nothing more than a glancing blow. Though now I seem to be in need of healing. Who am I currently with, and what is your experience battling demons or other fearsome creatures?”

It was unsurprising to Dimas that the aasimar answered first, “I am Mikael, and I have very little experience. I had come to Kenabres to begin taking on such matters.”

Dimas couldn’t help but wonder what this group would make of himself and Dion and their demonic ancestry. It had always been strange to grow up in a town with an aversion to demons.

The haughty elf said, “I see, well I suppose one must start somewhere.”

Before any other could answer the elf’s question, the noble Dimas recognized spoke up, “Yes, yes, whatever. How are you going to get me out of here?”

Dimas rolled his eyes toward Dion, who whispered at him, “Do you know where you are?”

Horgus continued, “If you do, I promise I’ll give you a total of a thousand gold!”

“I have no idea,” he shook his head at his brother, “some sort of cave below the city, I guess.”

As he shook his head, he noticed the pair of fey looking disinterested at the prospect of gold. He was unsure of their reasoning, but instead focused on the amplifying ticking noise.

Across the cavernous room, among the rubble, a pair of giant maggots crawled out from a corpse of a large black spider.

“Little prince, get behind me!” the fey halfling declared from atop his pig.

“No!” Before anyone else could act, the silver skinned fey lept into action, wielding his strange looking spear.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In part two, Dimas, Dion and their new found compatriots fight the maggots. Will they succeed? And what lies further in this cavern? Will they be able to find a way out? And what became of Kenabres? Find out next time on Tabletop Tuesday.

#writing #pathfinder #dungeons and dungeons #fantasy #lgbt #lgbt author #author #tabletoprpg #tabletoptuesday #rpg #wip

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chemicalmagecraft · 4 years

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The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 19

"So the cavalry battle's about to start," Mic-sensei said, "and I've just gotta say..." I strapped myself into the harness Hatsume had thoughtfully made for me so that I wouldn't fall while I was Meditating, because I really needed to use Meditation for my crazy plan to work. "IS THAT ONE OF THE ROBOTS FROM EARLIER!?" The two-pointer that I'd stowed in my inventory during the obstacle race. I was sitting on the center of the robot's torso, which thankfully acted a bit like a platform, Uraraka and Hatsume were by the front of the robot, with Hatsume arm-deep in the robot's guts still. Our final teammate, Tokoyami, was by the back of the robot due to its size. While I was the only one with a harness, my teammates had bits of scrap metal that Uraraka had magnetized that let them stick to the robot but still allowed them to move if they needed to.

"Too loud, Mic," Aizawa complained. "And yes, that is one of the robots from earlier. The problem child argued that if his teammate, Hatsume, modified and hacked the robot, then it would be her creation and therefore, as she is a support student, her team would be allowed to use it." He sighed. "And apparently the principal specifically wrote into the rules that hacking the robots is okay, so it's not even technically a loophole. When I asked Nedzu about it, he just maniacally laughed."

"To be honest I probably should've seen that coming."

"Probably. And by the way, the cavalry battle begins in about one minute, so get ready."

I took a deep breath and focused on my mana. A ball of faintly glowing light blue mana appeared on my chest, and three tendrils of mana extended from it. The tendrils touched my teammates on the chest, forming balls of mana on their chests like mine. Bestow, a spell I thought of that allowed me to share my mana with others, though there was a bit of mana lost. "So interesting!" Hatsume shouted as she poked the ball of mana on her chest, her eyes glowing. She was actually pretty good with magic, judging from how quickly she'd picked up Eye For Magic.

Tokoyami put a hand up to his mana ball. "I feel power flowing through me," he muttered.

I nodded. "Just remember that even with Meditation, I have a limited amount of mana. And there's three of you, which means that my mana will be split between you. We should be fine if only one person does something big at a time, so coordinate your spells."

"On three!" Midnight shouted.

"And finally snap me out of it if we need something big and I'll use Limit Break," I said quickly, then activated Mana Dome and Meditation.

"Begin!" Midnight shouted.

I couldn't really see much of what was happening at first because of how I was meditating and in the center of the robot. However, after a few moments, it seemed like Bestow started to synergize with Open Mind and possibly even Meditate, Tactician, and the party we'd made, because I was able to see through my teammate's eyes. I mostly focused on Uraraka because Tokoyami was watching the rear and Hatsume was piloting the robot. I kept a bit of an 'eye' on Hatsume, though, because I hoped to absorb some of her mechanical expertise. Uraraka saw that a lot of the teams made a beeline straight for us. One of the teams used some sort of ground-softening Quirk. "I'm gonna lower gravity!" Uraraka shouted. "Hit the jets, Hatsume!" I felt a sudden drain on my mana coming from Uraraka. A pink glow spread from her body, engulfing the entire robot. Hatsume activated the robot's jets, and despite its weight it flew. Tokoyami deflected a few shots that came after us with Dark Shadow.

When we touched down, the robot sank a bit. Hatsume looked down at the legs and saw some mud, using Eye For Magic. "Someone's attacking my new baby with water magic!" she shouted.

Uraraka looked around and saw Tsu and someone from gen ed that I didn't know very well riding on Shoji's back. "Tsu-chan!" she shouted.

Tsu spat out a glob of water, which shaped itself like a buzzsaw. "Ochako-chan, I'm sorry to do this, but-"

"Well I'm not at all!" Hatsume shouted, then laid her hands on the robot. She stared at her hands with Eye For Magic as she poured mana into the robot. She, and therefore I, could see how the mana interacted with the technology. I heard a text box open as I learned the skill from her. Blue lines spread across the robot, and Hatsume's vision changed to the robot's camera. She shot a net at Tsu's team, entangling them, and made the robot carefully step out of the mud.

"DEKU! YOUR FUCKING ROBOT WON'T SAVE YOU NOW!" All three of my teammates turned in unison to see Kacchan's team. Kacchan jumped off of Kirishima, his front horse, and started flying at us with Fire Dash. Tokoyami had Dark Shadow curl around me protectively.

"He's going after my baby!" Hatsume screeched.

"I've got this!" Uraraka shouted. She slapped her hands on the robot, blue sparks springing into existence and traveling over to the leg Kacchan was aiming for. When Kacchan tried to explode the leg, it just... compressed a bit before springing back with a wave of energy. Kacchan was knocked back, but another one of his horses, Sero, grabbed him with his tape. "Get us out of here, Hatsume!"

"What did you do to my baby?" Hatsume demanded as the robot ran.

"I temporarily messed with the strength and stuff of the armor using particle magic. I can do that to my skin, too. It feels really weird." If I wasn't drawing in the energy of the world or however Meditation worked I'd have asked how that worked. It sounded interesting.

A few teams moved to intercept us. "I'll be taking your headband, Midoriya," Todoroki said. "Kaminari!" His teammates were Yaoyorozu and Kaminari in the back, on roller skates that I assumed Yaoyorozu made, and Iida in the front.

Yaoyorozu made a sheet and a grounding rod while Kaminari started to build up lightning. "I believe my power will be the most useful in this situation," Tokoyami said. "My comrades, please allow me to complete access Midoriya's font of power." Tokoyami drained my MP even faster than Meditation could bring it back. In return, a shroud of near-total darkness engulfed the world. "Primordial Void!" he intoned. Through Hatsume's enhanced eyes, I could just barely see Corvo and Dark Shadow emerge, though Dark Shadow was so big that it dwarfed our robot. I remembered what he said, about how Dark Shadow got stronger but harder to control the darker it was. "Now, my minions of shadow, let us have a true revelry in the dark." Dark Shadow rushed forward, with Corvo riding him and seemingly controlling him, or at least directing him.

Kaminari shot most of his lightning at Dark Shadow, or at least I think that's what happened in the gloom. It wasn't very effective with such poor light, and it seemed that the dark magic was dampening the lightning itself somehow. Dark Shadow raged, knocking back all of the teams. The drain on my MP abated, and the black shroud started to fade away. "Run, Hatsume!" Tokoyami shouted. "Away from Todoroki's team!"

"I can see!" she shouted as the robot started running away. Tokoyami saw Todoroki freeze out the other teams in the confusion and then Iida shouting something. Todoroki made a ramp of ice and Iida shot off faster than I'd ever seen him run before. Tokoyami made to intercept with Dark Shadow, but Todoroki's team sped up even more as the ice at the tip of the ramp exploded, and then Kaminari shot a bolt of lightning at Dark Shadow that stunned it. Yaoyorozu shot a miniature cannon past Tokoyami. I opened my eyes just in time to get hit in the back of my head with the cannonball that shattered my Mana Dome. It didn't hurt, but it was really jarring! Because I'd flinched from the hit, I wasn't able to react in time to stop Todoroki from snatching my headband. Their team landed on a platform of ice, then slid down the slide that Todoroki turned it into.

I took stock. The two skills that I'd learned, Sight Sharing and Technomancy, wouldn't be very useful. However, we already had everything we needed to get that headband back.

"Ditch the robot and go after them, guys!" I shouted. Luckily, Todoroki didn't think to melt the slide. Actually, I couldn't remember him ever using his fire in battle. That probably wasn't a good sign... My teammates jumped into the formation that we'd discussed on the slide, and I used Sonic Embodiment to take my place as the rider. Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to push us down and I used Speed Up on my teammates. Now that I wasn't using Meditate, which didn't let me use Observe while I was using it, Tactician told me that Iida's engines were stalled by whatever special move he'd used. "That move wiped out Iida's Quirk for the rest of the game, so we have a chance! Get me close!"

Uraraka lowered our gravity, letting us run faster. I noticed that the robot was tailing behind us, but I didn't give it much thought. We got within range, and Todoroki's eyes widened as his left arm caught fire, a knee-jerk reaction. I slashed my arm at him with wind mana, blowing his defenses away, then used a light amount of One For All to grab the golden headband. They'd flipped the headbands around and mixed up their order to try and trick us, but with Observe and Tactician that meant nothing to me. "We're flying away!" I shouted, activating the jetpack I hadn't had to use yet in the cavalry battle. Uraraka used a mixture of her Quirk and gravity magic to lift us out of there. Apparently the reason why she got such bad nausea when she used her Quirk on herself was because she was resistant to it, but she didn't have as much of a problem with gravity magic.

"DEKU!" Kacchan screamed at me, flying toward us. It looked like he was back to attacking us...

"Uraraka! My baby!" Hatsume shouted. Uraraka got what she meant immediately and pointed at the two-pointer, which jumped and started using its jets. Uraraka pulled on Bestow again, causing the robot to glow pink and start flying. It intercepted Kacchan, but it looked like Uraraka did the strengthening spell again. This time, though, well...whatever the spell did, it didn't completely solve the problem of Newton's third law of motion. The robot absorbed all of the force, yes, but when it rebounded the force... It was weightless. "MY BABY!" Hatsume shrieked as the robot was repulsed away from Kacchan. I didn't want a giant robot, even a giant robot with the weight of a beach ball, crashing into the stands or even worse the stalls outside, so I grabbed it with Mana Rope and braced myself on an air platform. I swung the robot down to try to take some of the motion off.

"Get on the robot!" I shouted after getting the robot to only be slowly falling. We landed on it and I started meditating again to help with keeping us lightly falling.

"And Team Midoriya are back just in time for the end of the cavalry battle!" Mic-sensei shouted when we touched down. "The game was totally crazy, but now it's OOOOVEEEER!"

"In first place, we have Team Midoriya, clearly," Aizawa-sensei said. "Second place is Team Todoroki, third is Bakugou, and fourth is... it looks like Team Shinsou snatched a few last-minute points. Impressive."

"We'l be taking a lunch break, but we'll move on to the final games after the break, folks! Stay tuned!"

I dropped off of the robot, not waiting for Hatsume to lower it. "Are you okay, Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu asked me, rubbing her elbow.

"O-oh, I'm fine," I reassured her. "I can fall from higher than that without any problem."

"No, I mean from when I shot you. That looked like it hurt..."

I shook my head. "No, no, it was more surprising than anything! My Mana Dome probably took most of the hit, and my Quirk is really overpowered. I think I wouldn't be too hurt if All Might were to punch me in the face."

She nodded. "That's impressive. I still apologize, though. I was aiming to just pop your barrier, but we were going very fast, so..."

"It's fine!"

xoxoxo

After we left to get lunch, Todoroki stopped me and rather forcefully asked to meet me alone. I saw no reason not to, so I followed him to an abandoned hallway. "What did you need me for?" I asked. "Did you get hurt in the caval-"

"I was overwhelmed." He glared at me. "Your power. I only saw it once, but it reminded me of All Might."

"I'm pretty sure All Might doesn't use wind magic. He just punches the air hard enough that it looks like he does."

"I don't mean your magic. You did... something that wasn't magic."

"How did you know?"

"I can sense magic. And that sudden movement you did, it was more like All Might's Quirk than magic."

I blinked. "I'm sorry, did you just say you can sense magic?"

"And considering how All Might seems to be supporting you, I have to ask one thing." I gulped. I didn't know what he was going to say, but he was getting pretty close to the truth... "Are you All Might's secret love child or something?"

I spluttered. "Wow, I wish I was All Might's secret love child! All I know about my dad is that he had some kind of firebreathing Quirk and curly white hair. And that he owes us a lot in child support."

"Regardless, you clearly have some kind of connection to All Might. Just know that I must beat you. You see, my father is an ambitious man. He wanted to be the number one hero, and wasn't even satisfied with second place." His voice became ice cold. "And so he made me to carry out his ambitions."

"What do you mean, 'made you?'" His Quirk involved two separate powers, even stated in Observe to be two Quirks in one body. It reminded me of that Nomu thing...

"Are you aware of Quirk marriages?" Oh. In hindsight that was the more likely conclusion. Probably worse, though. He snarled. "My father used his influence to put pressure on my mother's family, forcing an arranged marriage. It took the bastard four tries, but he finally made me, his masterpiece, and trained me relentlessly. My mother hated my left side. I don't blame her. It's his." I'm not a psychologist or a Quirk counselor... yet... but that seriously did not sound like a good sign, psychologically speaking. "I remember one time, she was talking to someone on the phone, about my left half." Seriously, I could tell Tokoyami was joking whenever he called his power a curse, but it seemed that Todoroki genuinely felt that the entire left half of his body and the power it gave him was some sort of... well, curse. "She saw me, and threw boiling hot water at me face, as you can see. As you've probably noticed by now, my left side is heat-resistant, but not fireproof."

"Yeah, I may not have a fire Quirk, but I still have some weak fire resistance from my dad. Speaking of which, I suddenly feel very grateful my jackass firebreather dad was an absent jackass firebreather father."

"I envy you for your absent parent."

"You know, if you want I could try to heal that scar? It's obviously tied to some serious trauma, and I figure not seeing it in the mirror would ease some of the pain?"

He shook his head. "No. My purpose was to tell you this: I plan to deny my father the satisfaction of using his fire. I'll defeat you without ever using my left side again, this I can promise you." He started to walk off, leaving me in thought.

I Flash Stepped behind him a moment later and put my hand on his right shoulder. "You do realize I'm going to have to report this, right?"

His head whipped back. "What?"

"One of the stipulations of Shuzenji-sensei's training program. If I find evidence of any of my classmates being abused, I'm to report it to her or another teacher, with or without their permission. Even if I wasn't, though, I wouldn't just take that and say nothing. What kind of hero would I be if I learned my classmate was being abused and didn't say anything?"

"I appreciate the offer, but Endeavor's influence is too much. He always boasts how, if we did do anything, he'd have his people on it." He shuddered. "And then he'd punish us."

"Have you ever actually done anything?" I asked.

"I just said-"

"You said what he told you," I corrected. "A few years before Endeavor's debut, there was, obviously, another hero in the number two spot. Undertow. He had a flashy, powerful water Quirk that let him shoot water from any part of his body, and lots of it. To be honest, it'd be pretty funny how similar he was to Endeavor if it didn't extend to the point of abusing his daughter in the form of 'training.' Apparently, he even married a telekinetic so he could get a child with hydrokinesis, much like with your situation."

"What happened?"

"It took a while, but Undertow's sister reported him. She'd known for a while, but he'd threatened to... do something to his daughter if she did." I wiped a giant tear from my eye and sniffed. "It wasn't publicized much, because people were afraid that a pro of that ranking turning out to have done something like that could've triggered massive unrest, but Undertow was arrested and some of his charges were released, enough that nobody would question the arrest. He's still behind bars today." I smiled. "And at the same time I'm sure All Might would be willing to help you if he heard what happened, and I doubt that the influence of the number two hero outstrips that of the symbol of peace."

Todoroki nodded. "I'll take your word for it. Though, how do you know about Undertow if, as you said, the whole story was suppressed?"

"My grandmother told me about it." I used some magic on my tear ducts, causing a massive amount of water to pour from them. Then I wiped off my face and shirt because I didn't put any pressure into it, making the water dribble all over me. "She didn't want me to repeat her mistake."

Todoroki blinked. "Wait, so are you saying-"

"Undertow is my great uncle, yes. We don't talk about him much, though, because of the whole, ah..."

"I see. You have my condolences. If I may ask, would it be possible for you to get me in contact with Undertow's daughter?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Ah... that won't be possible, unfortunately. For one, she kind of hated my grandmother? Okay, not exactly hate per se but, well... Grandma didn't blame her, what with how she didn't say anything about the abuse for a while. And I think Undertow made it worse somehow..."

"When was the last time I talked to my siblings..." Todoroki muttered.

"Yeah, child abuse is pretty awful," I said. "Anyway, I think she reached out to my mom a few times, but... well... Then she died..."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

I shrugged. "I didn't even know her. Well, I didn't know her personally. I knew a lot about her. She was actually a pro hero."

"Was that... how she..?"

I gave him a small nod. "The hero duo Water Hose. A husband-and-wife pair. About two years ago, they sacrificed themselves to take out a dangerous villain with a powerful enhancement Quirk. But enough about my messed up family. I won't force you to go to Shuzenji-sensei now, but when the sports festival is over we are talking to him, even if I have to drag you there myself."

He grunted. "Fine. If it will really destroy my father, then I'll happily talk to Shuzenji-sensei."

"That's probably not quite the healthiest thing to say, but it's better than not telling anyone about the abuse, so I'll let it slide," I muttered. Todoroki shrugged and started to walk off. This time I let him.

xoxoxo

A/N: Okay, so originally Undertow wasn't going to be related to Deku, but then I remembered that I said that his grandmother had a water Quirk and decided that he'd probably have reason to know about this guy if grandmother dearest told him about her evil twin. I mean, hero-nerd Izuku would probably know about the guy even without being related to him, but there's the reason for him to know the censored bits.

#fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha #The Gamer Hero Deku #Gamer Hero Deku #GHD CH19

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istrys · 6 years

Text

Death and Rebirth

Areus gasped out with a wet cough, spilling blood and spit along the uneven stones beneath him. The icy hand of death no longer gripped his body, but merely hovered over him like an indecisive card player; the uncertainty of his surroundings only furthered his desperate need to survive. Areus ran his trembling hand across his chest- soaked and sticky with what had to be his own blood. He’d survived wounds far more grievous before, stabbed deeper and closer to his heart; with a simple binding spell and a lot of liquor he could endure, but this time it was different. The Holy Light intervened for all the wrong reasons. Without the shadows bending to his will, the old wounded soldier was blind and helpless to treat his own injuries, and now time was his greatest enemy.

The crisp breeze indicated early morning, but with most of his senses dulled, he couldn’t be sure. First he tried crawling to something stable enough to force him on his feet, but his legs wouldn’t budge, and the cold weight spreading over his chest and into his limbs made any sort of movement an agonizing uphill battle. His fingertips clawed into stone and dirt and snow with all his might, nails scraping against mortar from a fallen wall, threatening to tear off with every forceful yank. Bit by bit every attempt tore at the flesh of his fingers. He needed to make it out of the Bloodsworn Vanguard ruins and onto a main road but was bleeding out far faster than he had ever imagined. The man managed to patch together what was left of his shredded arm with what little mana he had left yet even with two halfway decent extremities, it wasn’t really working out for him.

Thoughts of the past flooded his mind as he struggled to lift himself up, crawling desperately with what little strength he had left for survival.

“Ash… I’m sorry for doing what I must… I plan on being back…- -Being with you makes me smile and gives me a feeling that I c- -I really enjoyed spending time with you toda- -My heart will always be yours, as long as you want it.”

Areus managed to wrap his fingers around a rock with some weight to it; immediately he struck himself in the forehead one, two, three times, trying to keep himself conscious through the pain. His mind drifted to blissful instances of memories with his loved one. Letters he once sent her. This was a distraction allowing him to succumb to his fate- she was already dead. The thought was ever so enticing, so sweet and sickening. To be allowed to die only to be at her side again yet… he couldn’t stop thinking about those who were still alive. His son, his brother, his niece, his nephew, his sister-in-law… too many people to let down yet no matter how much he grit his teeth he couldn’t fix his predicament. Everything seemed to slow down and his movements felt so sluggish. If only he could have one more sip of his flask. If only he could have one last drag of his pipe.

“Ah… I could… really… go for a… drink…” he rasped in between breaths as the light in his dull glazed eyes dimmed like the sun drifting beneath the horizon. As he slowly closed his eyes, the distant sounds of feet pattering about barely caught his attention. The voice of a child whispered near his ears, likely no older than five or six; if a child that young was out here, their parents wouldn’t be too far behind. A surge of hope coursed through his stiffening body at the prospect of a traveler’s caravan finding him. “Who… ‘s… the-...?” his dry voice cut out. More little voices chirped and whispered amongst themselves, until it felt like he was surrounded by a small crowd. “Ge… he… hel-...” He used the last of his strength to speak, but his jaw was beginning to tighten shut as well. It felt like he was laying there for the children’s spectacle for years. Eventually he gave up trying to speak, and slowly rested his head into the grass to accept his fate. Not until heavier footsteps approached, not until the sensation of innumerable tiny hands grasping at his clothes, and not until the whisper of a foreign incantation did Areus find the resolve to open his dulled eyes again.

“Erana-dora isil,” The voice of a matured woman gently spoke. “You’re in good company.”

He felt the weight of his body wash away like the tide, his spirit rising off the ground to float suspended in the air; the agony of dying was gone, and so too were the voices. Areus felt free, liberated by the shackles of his once many burdens. He saw Azeroth again with his own eyes - a sensation he never knew he missed so badly. The splashing of vibrant colors of the trees caused the elf to choke on his own tears. The higher he rose the more he saw, until he could see the glimmering towers of Silvermoon City to the north, and the deep forests of the Hinterlands to the south. His thoughts then returned to Ashelin, and everything he would tell her when he saw her again in the afterlife; tears of joy rolled down his cheeks as he gazed at the first rays of light from the rising sun to the east.

A flash of light quickly covered the horizon and forced Areus to shield his eyes. When the blinding light dimmed he was able to lower his hand to gaze at a giant blue mushroom cloud a mile off the coast; it was the single largest mana bomb explosion he had ever seen, perhaps the largest anyone had ever seen. The sonic boom that reverberated away from ground zero ripped toward the continent and heaved blazing trees out of the ground. Within moments Quel’Thalas was engulfed in blue flames, and Areus was helpless to stop it. He screamed out in horror at the searing winds rushing over Silvermoon City, toppling its towers and searing the streets and walls black. Thoughts of his family crying out seconds before turning to nothing more than ash silhouettes against the explosion filled him with raw and absolute dread. He couldn’t hear their screams this far over the carnage, but he knew what it would sound like; a thousand voices screeching at the top of their lungs from the searing heat, then silence. He looked down to see the land reduced to ash and dirt, with the flames devouring the once beautiful Eversong Woods. Silvermoon City, the Amber Glade, the Ghostlands, all of it - gone in an instant.

A deep guttural roar caused his heart to run cold. Out from the boiling oceans a gigantic mountain of flesh, tendrils and teeth arose, seemingly uninjured yet enraged. The nameless Old God let loose its maddening wrath, coughing forth an army of faceless aberrations that clamored over the glassed shores to feast on anything or anyone that managed to survive. Even worse, it writhed and twisted its massive body, turning the very air around its mass a putrid black with noxious fumes and accursed magic. Within moments Areus watched a once beautiful land he called home for centuries completely obliterated by his own people, and further desecrated by the sleeping nightmares rising from the depths of the sea. On the other side of the scorched continent another Old God popped out of the churning waves, then another, and then another. Without a doubt, it was the end of the Sun’raels, the end of the Sin’dorei, the end of Azeroth.

Then he fell. Like a meteor reentering the atmosphere, Areus fell spiraling and twisting against the heat that seared his bones. He screamed out in agony while the blackened earth rose up to catch him, fearing what the warring Old Gods would do with his soul, and the souls of his kin, once they captured him. He wanted to rise up into paradise and walk with Ashelin for all time, but this madness would only be the start of his eternal torment. He fell into the cloud of fumes and choked on blinding spores, which filled his lungs with poison and his heart with maddening hatred; he grew swollen with malice and was bursting at the seams with a bloodlust so ripe and pure he forgot what happiness, compassion, and love felt like. Areus was ripped into a million pieces the instant he splattered against the ground, but his last thoughts were of dying over and over again, until either the Old Gods died of old age, or until the end of time.

When he opened his eyes again, a familiar darkness clouded his vision. His entire body ached like every inch of his body was impaled by needles, and when he tried to move, agony cut deep into his very bones. “Be still.” The voice from earlier spoke, causing his ears to twitch. “Recovering from the brink of death takes a toll on one’s body.” Areus opened his glazed eyes to see the face of the woman speaking, but his beloved sight was gone again; the Holy Light still lingered in his body as well, making her shadowy silhouette flicker erratically. “Let me know if you can feel this.” A sharp ache suddenly began throbbing in his wrist, flooding his head with the bitter memories of his brother.

Alucieus stabbed him. His own kin. His own brother. For the longest time they were rivals, polar opposites where one basked in the power of the Holy Light, while the other delved into the forbidden secrets of the Void; yet they were always there when they needed each other, always ready to save the other’s life, because family was more important to them than anything. Everything changed when Alucieus chopped off Areus’ hand, lifted him up by the throat, and ran his gladius into his chest. The last thing he remembered before blacking out the first time, was the hard thud from dropping onto the ground, and the heavy footsteps of his brother leaving him to bleed out and die. “Augh...nn-!” His throat was as dry as it could be.

“Here…” The frantic silhouette of her form drew closer with a pungent stench now biting at the tip of his nose. “Drink.” Areus barely had a choice in the matter, feeling a hand clasp at his jaw while she forcefully poured the foul contents into his mouth. For a while he coughed and sputtered, but eventually he was able to get at least some of it down his throat while the rest either sat in his mouth or slipped out from the corners of his lips. It was the most wretched slime he had ever tasted.

Yet despite the sudden urge to vomit, the room around him finally began to settle down. He was able to get a clearer image of his surroundings even with the Holy Light still stinging in his chest; something about that sludge she forced down his throat also helped calm the sporadic silhouettes that surrounded him. The woman in question was clearly a Nightborne, which only brought more questions than answers. She was stitching his swollen hand back onto his wrist while humming a hauntingly melancholy tune, as foreign magic enveloped her fingers. At least twenty children watched them with varying interest, but he couldn’t tell what race they were with their handmade masks covering their faces, each depicting some sort of animal or monster likely straight out of their wild imaginations; they often whispered amongst themselves, occasionally pointing at him before their giggling picked back up again. One child stood out among the rest, however. He sat away from the other children, and closest to the older woman; he wore no mask, revealing a leathery and decrepit face that seemed half-rotten- an undead child. “Where… am I…?”

“Your new home.” The woman quickly answered, gently tugging at the thin string to tighten another stitch. Areus didn’t like the ominous sound of that; he had no intention of being this woman’s prisoner.

“I should…” Areus started, gulping dryly as images of Ashelin cuddled up against his chest interrupted his thoughts. “... I should be dead.”

“You were.” The woman turned to look at him for a moment before continuing her stitchwork. “I brought you back.”

Areus stiffened as the ache shot up his arm again. He didn’t want to show weakness in front of this stranger if possible. “Why…?” the man asked dryly.

“Why?” She indignantly repeated. “Did Lord Augustus Sun’rael teach you to give up that easily? I brought you back because your story doesn't end with such a meaningless death at the hands of your corrupted brother. To let your talents go to waste would be an affront to your family. A crime to Azeroth.”

He reluctantly laid still. Whether or not he had a choice didn’t matter- the fact that this voice invoked the name of his father meant that they knew much more about the lineage of his family than anyone else. Neither he nor his brother spoke of the patriarch of their clan, they both strived to further the Sun’rael name in their own methods yet somehow this stranger was acquainted with their father, a figure both the brothers detested.

“Your family still needs you.” The woman continued, catching his attention again. “Your sister-in-law especially. She is in a dark place right now… almost as dark as yours.”

“My brother, is he-?”

“Dead?” She pulled one last string and his hand was finally connected with his wrist. “All done. Try to move your hand for me.” Areus was at a loss of words, but he obeyed all the same; agony rocked through his arm, and he was barely able to move a single finger. “That’s what I was afraid of. It looks like it will take a long time before you can control your hand again… but it will never be as it once was.” She watched his face closely while she gently put his hand down. The children continued their private conversations, all except the undead child, who continued to stare at him in morbid silence. “I never gave you my name… I am Aodin. Aodin Umbrose.”

“Well, Aodin,” Areus spoke with labored breaths. “If you're not willing to let me die, then I must be with the rest of my family.”

“Of course.” She seemed unusually complacent. “You are free to leave once your debt to me is paid.”

Areus narrowed his blackened eyes. “I hoped my sincere gratitude was enough, heh… so how much are you blackmailing me for?”

Aodin didn't seem amused. “I don't want your coin.”

“Well you're a lovely looking woman, but I can't provide that eith-"

“I want a treasure from your special vault.” The Witch didn't let him finish that thought. “A grimoire that predates the Black Empire… the Myurkodn.”

Areus blinked at the Shal’dorei for a few moments before chuckling lightly. “I don't know what you're talking about. Anything I can't sell on the market, I toss out with my trash. Ancient books aren't exactly high on demand.”

“You're an adequate swordsman, but a terrible liar.” Aodin leaned back in her chair to judge him with glimmering silver eyes. “I know the Aqir took it with them when they fled north to create Azjol-Nerub. I know you and your brother found it buried under a mountain of insect corpses when you plundered their desecrated kingdom. And I know the Keepers of Shadow tossed it into the very back of their vault, fearing its power.” She paused to let Areus silently question just how much she really knew about his past. “You and Syrahn Bloodfeather are the only two Keepers of Shadow left. I can’t get anywhere near the Glade Queen, and even if I could, she wouldn’t help me. The power stored in that book should not be abandoned. It should not be forgotten.”

His newly reattached hand twitched slightly and quivered, blood slowly working its way through the veins that had been stagnated. Holy light bled into the arteries as they began the long and arduous process to mend. The man’s murky eyes settled on her, “What do you aim to do with it then?”

“Use the knowledge against the true enemies of Azeroth.” She sighed, tapping her elongated fingernails against the arms of her chair. “Surely you’ve foreseen it; the Old Gods rising from the depths to conquer the world once again.”

The small scars etched into the blind man’s eyelids lit up with a soft golden hue before turning to a deep purple tone. The were the shapes of various runes on a much smaller scale had been inscribed into his flesh. The shades of gray and charcoal became a bit more clear and he was able to distinguish forms in tones of black. “Fine. If I get you the Miur Codex, my debt is paid in full?”

“Myurkodn.” Aodin corrected, as the friendly demeanor returned to her voice. “Get me that grimoire and you’ll never owe me another favor again.”

“It sounds like you make out much better than I do in this deal. A weapon to change the fate of Azeroth? No thanks. Like you said, only I and Syrahn know where the vault left by the Keepers of Shadows lies. There’s one way for you to get what you want and I am it. I want three more conditions.”

The Witch shifted in her chair, but kept her composure. “Speak them.”

“One. I want my pipe back filled with tobacco, and the matches with them. Two. A bottle of whiskey. And three. Undo these gods-damned straps.” he gruffly responded. A cruel grin spread wide across her face while she stared through him, clearly unsure if this was some sort of strange jest or not. With a snap of her fingers the undead child hopped off the nearby chair and waddled over to his side; another snap of her fingers and the shackles vanished into smoke. The boy held his mottled grey hands aloft to reveal his pipe.

“You are a strange one,” Aodin sighed, rising from her seat. “But I am glad we could reach an agreement.” A tiny spark of shadowflame flickered off her pointed index finger, offering him a light.

Areus shifted to a seated position on the table, his legs dangling off as he leaned onto his right hand, his left cradled delicately in front of his chest. “I didn’t know you would be this agreeable.” he puffed at his pipe a couple times, “I’m going to have to change the deal to two bottles of whiskey. Or bourbon. Doesn’t matter to me.” he responded casually between puffs. Of course, the alcohol, the smokes and the shackles were inconsequential. All would have been met to his fill in time, yet he was one for immediate gratification. “I’m happy enough with this deal. I’m alive. You’ve served your purpose to the Void and I get to continue mine. And maybe even help my family a bit longer. If it’s darkness you seek, then I’m more than happy to facilitate your request. Just don’t regret it when it’s more than you bargained for.” he offered her a smirk after exhaling a large plume of smoke, “I didn’t.”

The children surrounding Areus scampered off in random directions within the strange house as Aodin continued to watch him take long steady drags of his pipe. “I know the risks and I have safeguards in place to prevent… another disaster. But, I’m afraid this won’t be so easy…” She turned to open a chest he didn’t notice before along the ground. Slowly she raised another flask - this one holding the heart so inky black it hardly looked real; it was still beating. “This belongs to you, Areus Sun’rael. When your brother stabbed you in the chest, he filled your heart with the Holy Light. If I placed it back into you as it is now, the Light would kill you from the inside out. I’ll need time to purge it before I can operate on you again… and it serves as a valuable bargaining chip to ensure you keep your word.”

“You don’t need a bargaining chip. We’ve already made the deal, have we not? I’d like to think we’re both bound to our word as we are bound to the Void. Not like those little void-kiddies running around in the Alliance playing with things they don’t understand.” He took another puff from the pipe before clearing his throat as a wince overcame his face, clearly still in pain.

A shake of Areus’ head came before a response, “Rather than a bargaining chip or a tool for your blackmail, make sure you’ve got that ready for when I come back. I won’t be long.” Areus pointed with the pipe. “You can be sure that when I do come back, and you don’t hold up your half of the deal, you’ll die along with me and that grimoire will be in ashes the same as you as well as anyone within a mile radius.” a sigh came before he took another long drag from his pipe, letting the smoke escape with an exaggerated breath. “In the meantime, what do you have pumping my blood, anyway?” he asked, perking a brow while his right hand reached to adjust the pipe.

“Nothing. This is a forbidden incantation the Gurubashi Empire used for their most zealous warriors in wars long forgotten.” The Witch calmly started before she began to casually walk toward an empty wall of the room. “I won’t bore you with the details, but you’re essentially undead until I put your heart back into your body. The time one has before the heart dies by itself varies from days to weeks… so I wouldn’t get sidetracked if I were you.”

When she reached toward the wall with her left hand, the painted nails on each of her fingers stretched out for several inches. The wood quivered and melted by her touch like it was made of wax, until a gaping hole large enough to walk in appeared. “Once you’ve claimed my prize, go to the Scarlet Monastery. I’ll be waiting there for you.”

An angered smirk came to his visage before he raised the mask resting along his neck to cover his expression. “Fine.” he surged holy magic through his left hand abruptly. He took note of the fact that he did not feel pain from the Light, meaning that he hadn’t quite fullycrossed the bounds into undeath just yet, “You’re going to have to help me with this hand if you want me to brave the traps you won’t dare.”

Aodin perked a brow but stared at his hand for a few moments in silence. “And what exactly are you asking of me?”

“You expect me to believe you can tear someone’s heart out, keep them ‘alive’- I use the term loosely-, stitch them back together, have a gaggle of undead children about, know about hidden ancient grimoires from a long lost kingdom, know forgotten incantations from foreign empires and you can’t help me get my hand working better? If nothing else, it’s pretty fuckin’ painful. And you’re partly at fault for my prolonged misery.” He state matter-of-factly, “You threaten me with my life but who’s to say I wouldn’t have rather joined my beloved and, maybe my brother, in the afterlife? Probably not that asshole for a little while, he did cut my hand off and stab me in the chest. Give me something to work off of here, woman. And where’s that bottle of booze? Fuck, I’ll take rubbing alcohol at this point.” Areus spoke plainly, taking another drag from his pipe as he gave her a deadpanned gaze.

“My you’re a chatty one when you’re excited.” The Witch snapped her fingers, compelling the undead child to step forward with that slender vial filled with a midnight blue liquid. “But you have the details wrong. Only one child - this child - is undead. I hope arcwine will slate your thirst for the time being.”

A shrug was given in response as he winced for a moment. His condition seemed unstable and wore on him before he nodded slowly, “Whatever works. Something. Anything. The voices are coming back and my wrist is killing me.” He haphazardly reached for the bottle, sloshing the contents as he pulled it toward him, keeping his mask lowered just enough to keep the pipe in his mouth and drink straight from the bottle. After a few long gulps he took an exaggerated breath. Areus looked to the Witch before opening his mouth to speak again, paused, and then brought the bottle up to his lips again before devouring the rest of the wine.

He cleared his throat as he tossed the bottle over his shoulder for them to hear it shatter on the ground behind him. “Okay. I guess that’s as good as it’s going to get. See you at the monastery, girly.” The Shadow Priest gave her a wink, “Won’t be long. Make sure you’re there. The vault isn’t far off from it.” A few steps toward the exit and tendrils of shadow reached out to consume him into nothingness while he disappeared from sight.

Aodin stood in her home in silence for a few moments before turning to look down at the forsaken child. “What do you think? Shall we kill him once he returns with my prize?” The child glanced up at the Witch with cold yellow eyes, but said nothing.

“Fair enough.”

Collaborated with @areussunrael

Mentions: @k-sunrael

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cryptoriawebb · 7 years

Photo

I want to talk about something. Something very personal and dear to my heart. Before I do, however, I’m going to ask right now that anyone stumbling onto this either takes the time to stop and read this in full, or carries on with their business, leaving this post untouched. I’m not here to talk about shipping. I’m not here to talk about which characters “are” better and what is and is not “canon.” I know the Sonic fandom is a toxic place filled largely with a young and/or aggressive audience. That’s fine. I was part of it once--on the younger end and adamant about who belonged with who.

I’m not, anymore. Nor do I have patience for any silly comments regarding these points. This is not about the fandom. It’s not about shipping and it’s not about blanket character statements.

This is about me, and how important the Archie Sonic comics were to me.

I don’t remember how old I was when I first stumbled upon the world of Sonic, but I do remember what it was. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehow used to air on one of Disney’s many channels, and one day my brother saw it for the first time. He described it to me, and for a while I hadn’t a clue what he meant. I remember trying to picture the series and my gosh, I was off the mark, design-wise. Regardless, I eventually did see the show and we used to watch it together in the morning. It was strange and silly and I didn’t think much of it, but I loved Sonic’s catchphrases, the theme song and Tails.

Sometime after that, we found the OVA at a video rental store (remember those?) I know a lot of people out there don’t think very highly of it, but I was young, and at the time didn’t have any Sonic reference beyond the cartoon. Honestly, I preferred the OVA after watching it. It was darker than the show, with a different type of humor I must have found more appealing. It was also one of the first anime-type-things I’d ever seen. I loved the design, this interpretation of Tails and Robotnik and I also quite liked Knuckles, having never seen him before.

I suppose I should state right now I was not allowed to play video games growing up, and the first computer I remember entering my home was in the very late nineties. Even then, we didn’t play a lot of PC games, mostly Disney and things like Clue Finders and Freddie Fish. At some point I know we discovered a sega collection of old Sonic games, and Sonic R, I just can’t remember when.

Anyway, after that, my next “Sonic medium” came in the form of advertisements for Sonic Sega Dreamcast. I don’t remember what I found so appealing about it, but I very much wanted to play this game. At this point I was pretty obsessed with the OVA and had acquired a lot of old toys relating to the Dreamcast game. Alas, twas not to be, and that was it for me and Sonic..

...until my brother picked up issue #110 for me at a store. I’d never seen a Sonic comic before--had no idea such a thing existed, and believe me, I carried that thing everywhere. The art and story I found incredibly confusing, as did I the side story about Sally and the Sword of Acorn. Who was Sally? How did she know Sonic and Tails? I hadn’t a clue, but I loved the art. A lot. If I were to go back and try reading that comic now I’m pretty sure it would fall apart...the cover’s already been detached from the pages ^^;

Sometime later, I was in a comic book shop--my brother and I loved super heroes and we were starting to get into manga--and I found #114. In it, I discovered a sort of continuation to #110, as well as another beautifully illustrated story by J.Axer. Imagine my surprise to discover not only more characters I’d never seen (Bunnie, Antoine and Rotor) but Amy Rose! Whom I knew, vaguely, from my toys and what I knew of Dreamcast. Like my previous comic, I loved this one so much it also fell apart. J.Axer’s art really fascinated me, I would trace and try to mimic it all the time. Artists today look down on such things, but through the course of doing what I did I broadened my horizons and grew to be a better artist.

It wasn’t long after that I discovered Sonic SatAM. I was thrilled. Sally, Bunnie and everyone else in a TV show of their own? Why was I not aware of this? I must have rented those videos a thousand times. There were only two or three available, with a handful of episodes each, but I didn’t care. I admit I was a bit saddened to see Tails as a mere side character, but that was the only drawback. I knew this story, or part of it--Sally’s father, King Acorn, I’d seen him before. I knew Knothole, Snively--I knew all of it. It was...amazing, quite frankly, and I’m sure I talked about it a lot...to such a point I started annoying my brother. But again, did not care. I had all this insight and I couldn’t get enough of it. So when I stumbled into another comic shop one day and found several back issues (#100, #103, #104, #105 and a few others) I knew there was no going back.

I admit, I can’t remember if I found those back issues before or after I realized it was a monthly series, but either way, once I did, I became a steady collector for the next ten years. I ordered back issues, specials, drew art and comics regularly...even when I got older and my interests tapered, I still collected. This world was so in depth, the art--at least most of it--detailed and rich--and I loved all of the characters. All of them. To me, these comics were the meat enhancing the bare bones that was the video game universe. I preferred them to any other incarnation I’d seen prior, and to be quite honest, I still do.

I can’t speak for the video games now--I know they’ve grown and added characters and I’m sure there’s a lot to be said for that world--but the last video games I played were Shadow and Sonic Heroes. I did watch Sonic X for a while, I just...didn’t care much for it. Shadow was the only one I felt matched the same thought, tone and creative care the comics had, and that’s because they adapted his history pretty well, at least I think so.

The comics had their ups and downs; I’m not the biggest fans of the #130s, but before the reboot, I really felt things were on a strong track forward. That said, I desperately feared the end of the Freedom Fighters...especially Sally Acorn. I remember actually crying about it to one friend. Since discovering her, Sally has been and remains my favorite Sonic character.

Please note again, my thoughts are my own and I’m allowed to have them.

Now then...Sally Acorn. Her and Bunnie, fluctuating occasionally because Bunnie reminded me of my favorite X-men growing up (Rogue) but I’d always come back to Sally. I know some people don’t like her. That’s fine, not everyone is going to like every character. For me, though, Sally was one of few tomboy characters I knew of as a child. Yes she was feminine, but her femininity never overwhelmed her. She never felt over-romanticized, at least to me, and I really appreciated her modest design. It always bothered me female animal-type-characters were heavily dressed while the boys rarely wore full clothes. I liked that she broke that norm, it fit her personality.

Her relationship with Sonic felt very buddy-buddy, too, as much as romantic. Like they were really equals, despite differing status and power. Sally’s sacrifice remains stapled to my memory; it is, I think, the defining nature of her character. Her “true” character, I think: what comes out when it’s down to the wire. I’m really impressed with how she’s grown over the years. Not only how she chose to “end” her life but how strong she became after breaking up with Sonic. I don’t at all believe he held her down--and unlike some people I wasn’t bothered by the slap. I just wasn’t. I am, however, so happy she was able to become the Sally I grew up reading, the one I was first introduced to, once again before her final moments. Above all else, she and the Freedom Fighters proved to me you don’t need special powers to be a hero.

Sonic may have been the ace in the hole, but every one of the Freedom Fighters brought something unique to the table. Watching them evolve over the years--from one universe to the next, powers, kids and otherwise--has been such a wonderful experience. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve invested for so long...I only wish I were able to see how the original story intended to progress. I tried describing the comics to a friend recently, particularly where it left off before the reboot. He was incredibly surprised by how vast and dark it was.

I’m going to confess I stopped reading shortly before Sonic rebooted the universes. I have read scans of that initial first issue, but once I discovered the story wasn’t going to continue, I lost a lot of my drive to collect. I’m not going to talk about Penders here--I think we all share mutual feelings in that regard--but in my opinion it was absolutely the defining nail on the coffin for this twenty+ year run. He remains one of few people I find incredibly difficult to forgive. I’m a firm believer in forgiveness, but I grew up reading Sonic. I wanted very much to continue reading it, to see the characters I love continue growing. I can’t do that, anymore. None of us can.

I don’t expect to see Sally and the others carried over to IDW. The Sonic gaming side of things has evolved so much from where it started out: most readers today know of the Freedom Fighting crew through the comics only. If it’s true Sega sees a different creative vision for their franchise, I think this is finally goodbye...I said goodbye years ago, but it’s final now. The comics as I knew them are over. Another staple of my childhood, already reinvented and reimagined, gone for good. The chances a new generation will find the comics, reboot or otherwise, and meet and connect with the characters I loved the way I loved them, rather than through internet fodder they don’t understand are fewer now and far between. That hurts me, it does. As a creative individual who held this so close to them, one thing I’ve always wanted is for people to discover something and experience what I did. Understand in their own way why myself and I’m sure so many others held onto the comics as long as we did. It’s not about shipping, it’s not about what’s canon or who’s better than the other. It’s about something else entirely. For me, it was an expansive, inclusive and ever-changing world. It was following a show that made something equally impressive from so very little and nurturing it until it took on a life of its own.

Maybe I’m a little dramatic, a little theatrical, but if you've stayed with me through this entire confession I hope you can forgive me. I loved these comics. They were a part of my life for a very long time, and I’m going to miss them, indefinitely.

Thank you, Archie Team, for creating something wonderful. Thank you SatAM and yes, even thank you, Sega, allowing them the chance to give us these memories.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog comics #sally acorn #archie comics #sonic satam #whispersfromthecrypt #webbdesigns

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amidst-the-storm · 5 years

Text

(This is going to be a very long post under the cut since I’ll be copying and pasting portions of Leashed Emotions.

Warnings: burns, torture mention, possession, split personalities, permanent scarring, Tempest’s past, semi-graphic descriptions of three deaths. And: There’s a fluff portion near the end so bear with me.)

YOU ACTUALLY DECIDED TO READ THIS?.... Okay well thank you. This is all crap that I’ve written, and it’s stuff canon to Tempest’s past on this blog. If you want to give her story a look-see, please use the above link to Leashed Emotions. Book Two, Drowned Out, is currently a WIP and thus anything beyond book one’s timeline (so most of this blog’s persona) is subject to change as the ‘past’ gets written into existence.

Anyway TIME FOR SOME TORTURE N’ FLUFF HAVE FUN AND IN WE GO!

Time frame: Timeline two, Sonic 06, forest, Tempest is 19 years old (+12 extra hours thanks to time travel).

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"....-t.... T-em...-pes-t?..." The broken words reached her ear like a whisper. Tempest stopped instantly, Sonic's next words falling on nothing. Her head turned to a large area of dirt, breathing in shallow breaths. "..... Tempest.....?" Her father's question was so low, so lost.... The two adults were huddled together in the middle of the clearing. Tempest didn't even think. She ran to them, dropping to her knees the moment she was close enough and hugging them. That lump came back to her throat as she clutched her parents tight. She wouldn't let them slip through her fingers. Not ever again. "Mom! Dad!" She whimpered. Something inside her fell away, a wall she had long ago created. Her parents hugged her back, weakened by whatever had happened to them. ".... Where'd you-... Go...?" Tempest's question was met with a quiet and sharp gasp. She raised her head, eyes dilating as she fell back. Her butt hit the ground as she stared in horror. Her father tried to speak, but blood bubbled forth from his mouth. Both of her parents choked on their own lives. A single piercing round of crystal had ripped through the chest of her father, into her mother, and then arced into the ground. It pulsed and glowed with an ominous purple aura. Sunbeams ripped into her skin, oceans drowning her breath out. Someone was talking to her, but she heard nothing. A sort of liquid- was that-.... A 'tear'?.... Formed in her eyes, blinked back. A cut deeper than any knife or metal could create plunged into her chest. Lava bubbled and phantoms screeched. It took a few seconds for Tempest to notice that the screeching was her own. Her head had tilted skyward, no longer focused on the image her parents' bodies offered. The agony- it was awful. Someone was plunging a knife full of venom into her heart, twisting until the organ was soup in her chest. Something sliced open her cheek. Tempest barely noticed the pain, until more slices appeared. Purple smoke obscured her vision as the pain exploded from every location. Nothing existed except loss. All that was felt was pain. They were in so much agony. They were in so much pain.... They were so.... So.... ..... Hungry......

[/|\]

Sonic's jaw dropped. He had tried to scream, run to Tempest and pull her back.- But something stopped him. A wave of fire burst out from her, slamming him into the tree he'd been leaning against. He grunted from the hit, cracking his eyes open by the smallest fraction. If there was any chance of helping her, of saving her parents- What he saw wrecked every line of thought. A purple and white hedgehog was being absorbed by her. She was lifting into the air, surrounded by a tornado of flames. The hedgehog's crystalline structure melted away like ice cream in the sun. Tempest herself was still screeching, but it was changing. She was growing exponentially in size, skin altering color as something grew on top of it. Her back warped and twisted, before bone-like wings burst in an explosion of blood from her. Light burned into his retinas. Sonic shut his eyes tight, turning his head sideways as the intensity broke through his flimsy eyelids. Everything fell away, replaced by the searing pain. He tried to squirm, but found his body was pressed up against something. The light began to fade, leaving the hedgehog temporarily blinded from it. Sonic wriggled a little longer, before noticing the cut of small pebbles into his skin. He opened his eyes. The world was absolutely wrong.- Chunks of it floated above, biomes ripped from the ground up. The sky was an endless cascade of dark purple webbing, energy coursing through it. Everything smelled like nothing. Sonic breathed in, jumping upright. He had been laying on the cobbles of the New City district. "Sonic!" Tails rushed over, his hands fidgeting in worry. "What happened???" "A bright light happened... And a headache." Knuckles groused, stomping over from a fountain. He shook his head in annoyance, before realizing what was above. He stared, mouth opening slightly in shock. ".... Wait, what?!" "..... Where are we?..." Amy stumbled out from behind a building, appearing better for wear than Knuckles. At least she wasn't clutching her head and tapping a foot in annoyance. ".... What's going on...?" "The Chaos Emerald has disappeared...." Silver whispered, looking between his hands. "It's all because of Solaris." Rouge stepped into the group, that normally sassy tone of hers gone. Shadow nodded beside her, while E-123 Omega simply... Stood... Silently... Behind them both.... Not creepy at all. "It seems we were all caught by the spatial distortion." Dr. Eggman noted from nearby, sighing as he did. "..... I figure that this land will soon collapse into nothing... And that will be the end of it." "Not if I can help it." Sonic smirked, throwing out a thumbs-up. "Any ideas-" A loud growl shook the world. It echoed in every bone, shot through every vein, and distracted every thought. "..... What....?" He looked up. That bright light was centered above them, burning a hole into the protective shield. Sonic lowered his head once more. "..... Mephiles played us all for fools, in order to break Iblis' Seal..." Eggman chuckled. ".... If we weren't in mortal danger, I would congratulate him... He caused that girl to be so consumed with despair that she cried... Breaking the Seal." Eggman clapped his hands together. "And now that Solaris is alive, it will inevitably destroy what remains of this world in its desires to eat." "Then we need to stop it." Shadow grunted. "So how to do we do that?" Eggman waved his finger. "No, no. Defeating Solaris here- now- would do absolutely nothing. Solaris is a creature that exists in the past, present, and future all at once." "I don't care! If that's what it takes- past, present, and future- I'll destroy them all at once!" Silver clutched his fist. He planted one foot forward, glaring Dr. Eggman down. "Solaris will be stopped, today." The man huffed, crossing his arms. "I suppose, if all three of you were to attack Solaris at once- your combined energy of the past, present, and future would be able to stop it.... But..... It would require a massive amount of power..... Such as the Chaos Emeralds, which are far too scattered to be collected in time." "Pfff- really, Egghead? C'mon, you know me better than that by now." Sonic danced from one foot to another. "We'll have those Emeralds in a sonic-second!" Eggman glared over his bushy mustache. "..... Fine.... But if you die in the attempt, then we are doomed." "Whatever, Eggman.... Just point me in the right direction, wouldja?" "...... Its all of our necks, hedgehog-" "Just give us the directions already." Shadow interrupted. Eggman glared at the ebony hedgehog, before sighing. "...... That way." He raised a finger. Sonic was gone in a flash of an instant, leaving Eggman with several would-be helpers... It didn't take long for him to relinquish the other gems' locations.

[/|\]

Sonic flashed away from one of the growing tears in reality. It had taken a few minutes to grow used to the dim neon-colored landscape, but once he did, it became recognizable. What had been a discolored and glowing metropolis now vaguely resembled one of the off-shoot merchant wharves Sonic had seen a few days ago. He did his best to avoid the green and glowing water. What had once been a peaceful land was now being torn apart into nonexistence. An invisible force slid him towards another crack in reality. He sped up, jumping away from certain death. If he could just find a Chaos Emerald, get back to the others... ... Tempest was probably in that thing, somewhere..... But it was destroying Mobius.... And he had to stop it, even if one of his friends was the monster. He was going to save Mobius..... He had to.

[/|\]

It all combined. A million realities convulsed and writhed in an endless screaming expanse. Their mind stretched into the infinite. The past, present, and future all exploded in a whirling firework of insanity. Solaris’ memories flared like solar winds, ripping away the veil of time itself. For one brief moment of eternity, they all understood. Mephiles’ ambition cut through the moment, erasing that beautiful second of clarity. Everything plunged into death. The dust of enemies long past filled their senses. The iron stench of spilled blood permeated their collective nonexistence. The uncontrollable desire to rule poisoned their mind. Tempest’s life flowed over the poison like a river. A million milliseconds of life flashed and sparked with locked feelings. In a torrential wave of emotion, it burst forth. The power of the Iblis Flame scorched them all. They fell into a soup of memory and thought. Everything was nothing. The endless expanse of reality was before them, unveiled like a finely printed map. They reached out a hand, scratching a million souls out of existence. They swallowed them all, breathing in deeply. A low roar echoed from their vocals, burning into the universe. There was so much possible energy here. A swipe was made at some of it, greedily devouring the freely offered energy. She was so hungry, so starving.... She would eat until she could feast no longer.... Not like this world would offer him enough food, anyway.... They drank with gusto from the wine of time, cracking open a million planets like they were fortune cookies. The energy of every star was siphoned into their gullet, burning as it went down. He would never stop eating.... But he had to... He missed his parents... But she would not stop. She would eat. She had manipulated him, after all. Yet he had destroyed him.- They were unsure, but that meant nothing. So what if they could no longer determine whose memories were whose? They had a massive supply of food. Nothing would stop them from eating until they were full.

[/|\]

Sonic stood in the circle of Chaos Emeralds, facing both Shadow and Silver. His eyes were set on the two, mouth a firm line. "Let's do this." He raised his hands, one facing Shadow and one facing Silver. The other two hedgehogs copied his movements, before the Chaos Energy began to flow into them all. Sonic didn't even flinch as the familiar power washed over him. Silver on the other hand stumbled, surprised by the pure ability that flowed into his veins. Shadow barely blinked. All three were encompassed in a blinding light, their fur brightening and turning gold as their eyes sharpened. All senses went up, powered by the universe itself. Three sets of ruby-red orbs shot open. The three leaped into the air. They soared towards their goal. Sonic narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the goal. Save Mobius. Save Mobius. Save Mobius. ..... Save Mobius... .... And try to save Tempest. The three broke through the light that had previously burned. Now, it was a dim flash of luminescence that barely phased them. Silver and Shadow vanished from Sonic's physical line of sight, but in a way, he could still 'see' them. Shadow now fell to the past, already prepping a surge of a Chaos Blast. Silver echoed down from the future, telekinesis a light in the dim reality. Sonic surged forth, trying not to look at what he was fighting. He spun away from a surge of blue fire. The monster before him roared in ancient anger. Its eyes were purely white, black hair floating up above as if caught in an endless wind. Six bone pieces flapped behind it like wings, crystalline skin reflecting the flames that burned eternally on all the wing fragments, connecting them. The thing had no clothing, but it was so smooth that its gender was unknowable. The only hint that Tempest was in there was the black coloration of the hair. "Temps-!" He shot right. Six funnels of crystal turned to follow him, flames igniting in his wake. One hand outstretched to snag him. Sonic flashed between the fingers, slashing upwards as he did so. Chaos Energy ripped into the skin, spurting blood momentarily. Sonic shot up into the stars, his red eyes staring down at his friend. But this thing wasn't his friend. This was Solaris. His friend was gone. .... But she couldn't be. Sonic plummeted. One foot kicked down, both hands lowered. The world lent him its energy, coalescing into the point he wanted. "Hƨiɿɘq llɒʜƨ llɒ!" Sonic was smacked left by a backhand. Solaris laughed. It was creepy- filtered with a million voices, a million words. All of time itself was in that voice, all voices ever made echoing in its timber. Sonic yelled out, covering his ears.

[/|\]

"Hƨiɿɘq llɒʜƨ llɒ!" The universe rolled and rocked. Insanity flitted through every word, every memory snapped and torn. They were in so much agony. They were never made for this. They didn't have enough. They reached out to the galaxies, wiping out civilizations as old as time in favor of food. Nothing would stop their conquest.... They would feed.... Until it was all stripped bare. "Tempest!!!!" That voice. He recognized it. She hated it. She missed it. He reached out, blind and fumbling. He pulled her back. The three struggled, burning a hole through three planets in their annoyance. How dare they be disrespected? They were a god- goddess- whatever it was!- Solaris roared. Their hand struck out, smashing into the golden nuisance. At the same time, they deflected a bolt of energy. A third destroyed rocks as they sailed towards them. "ƎM ƎЯOᆿƎઘ ⅃⅃Aᆿ ⅃⅃IW UOY!!!" Flames shot forth, atoms ripped asunder beneath their onslaught. Millions of them combined into the main three, screeching. Their hands shot out, flames bursting forth, feet kicking. They refused to be met with defeat. Each of them fought with the same burning velocity, one of them succeeding in breaking a fragile hedgehog bone. Silver grunted, but continued fighting. Shadow's bolts shot into their eyes. They screeched, backing up with a deafening scream. Shadow didn't pause. He aimed straight for the heart, breaking through the skin. That Solaris vanished, its remaining energy bursting into its two remaining forms. They redoubled their efforts, slamming everything they had into Silver and Sonic. The golden hedgehogs dodged each attack, Silver firing projectiles of rock back while Sonic just kept dodging. They were so angry.- Everything had culminated into this. They were going to win. They refused defeat. Teeth grit beneath the skin, power siphoning from all the stars in the universe. Fire flowed to their hands, burning away sanity as it sharpened. Smaller. Sharper. More dangerous. They slashed their fire-sword out. A rock projectile crashed into their windpipe. Solaris gasped. Solaris cut apart atoms. Nuclear explosions encompassed their body. Blue flames burst into a cage of death, shooting out. Silver crushed their windpipe. That Solaris vanished, energy collapsing into the final form. Beneath it all, she was screaming. It hurt so much. He wanted it to end. He would never give up fighting. She had to give up. But she couldn't give up. She had come this far, found all the answers- he had done so much.... They engulfed a galaxy, breaking it apart beyond the base level. A golden streak made it by their line of sight. Something cracked against their skull. It drilled deep into their brain, beyond the crystal and fire. No blood came from the wound- the energy was so powerful, that it cauterized the injury on contact. Solaris released a mute gasp. "..... I've got you......" He didn't want to die- she didn't want to die- why had they not foreseen this- why- why- y- the final Solaris form screeched to a halt, staring into nothingness. Deep within, Sonic gathered all the power he could find. Flames scorched his nerves as he breathed in deeply, curling into a ball.... "KshhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHOOOOOOOM!!!!!!" Everything went up in a blast of unbridled, unrestricted power.

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Agony. That was all she could think to call it. Something was tearing into her ear drums, while lava destroyed her back. It burned and seared, breaking down the skin. She could feel it going into the nerves. She couldn't scream. Her lips were frozen shut, freezing from nothing. Mephiles' laugh echoed in her broken ear. It was healed, before fresh pain ripped into the shell. Tempest struggled, trying to get away. His laughter never stopped. It was everywhere in the nothingness. "GET AWAY FROM US!" Mephiles roared. Acid spewed into her veins, racing into her every nerve. Tempest whimpered quietly through her unopened mouth, wanting it all to end. She felt tears slip from her eyes unbidden, falling into the void. A soft golden light slowly materialized before her. The pain ebbed, her ears recollecting themselves and becoming whole once more. Something went wrong with her back. Tempest screeched, ripping open her mouth. Those wounds healed in milliseconds, but her back- oh heavens above- "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!!!" She convulsed. Something settled on her back. The pain grew even worse. Tempest screamed even louder. She was pulled up slowly, carefully, as she continued to writhe from the damage. Her eyes now refused to open. She saw only red, with faint traces of gold. ".... It'll be alright....." Something cool flowed over her back. Tempest came down from the pain high one bit at a time, screams transforming to gentle whimpers. She was in so much pain.... Her body ached... Her back burned like wildfire.... Her veins felt acidic.... But she couldn't prevent anything. She was helpless. "..... I'll find you...." "..... Hel....p....." "..... I'll find you...."

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"Tempest, you'll be late for school dear!" She opened her eyes. The ceiling was above her, but... It was far too high. She went to move her body, only to silently reel back from what she received. Something on her back was aching.... And her nerves... They felt... Too short.... Tempest sat up and clambered out of bed. She dropped from the side with a quiet 'thump!', hitting the ground. In her haste to meet her mother, she barely noticed. "Mom??" She jumped upright and bolted from her room, down the hall, beyond her parents' room. The girl ran into the kitchen, spotting her mother making breakfast. Eggs and pancakes. "Yes dear. Now go get ready- unless you want to be late for your first day of kindergarten." The woman winked. Tempest blinked back in shock. "Kindergarten-? But- mom, I'm nineteen." She spoke calmly, those accursed phantoms already beginning a slight swirl around her head. She bit into one of her fingernails, looking at the floor. It was really close- and her feet were-... Really... Chubby.... "Of course you are, but you still need to get ready." Her mother's feet appeared in her vision, before a hand rubbed her hair. Tempest shook her head, ridding herself of the offending appendage. ".... Bu-...." She looked up, only to be met with a slightly stern glare. Tempest silenced herself. She turned and slowly trekked to the bathroom. The counter was above her. Tempest glanced to the toilet, before lowering the lid and clambering atop it. Then she hopped onto the counter, and finally looked herself over. ..... She was a kid. And not just any kid- she was a small kid. Herself, maybe... Four years old? She blinked at her bare chest, feeling her heart stop. Two gray streaks- indents of sorts- ran down either arm, all the way from somewhere behind her to her elbows. They were.... Weird. She tapped one, feeling a normal touch sensation in her brain. It was as if her arm had just- sunken in at the indents. It reminded her of-..... Mephiles. Tempest gulped silently and quickly turned. She stopped when her back was to the mirror. Two burn scars- one at either shoulder blade- rested on her back. They were filled with gnarled and light yellow flesh. She experimentally tapped one, feeling limited sensation from the area. "..... You can not escape what you are..." Tempest jumped off the counter. "Are you getting ready?" Her mother's voice echoed from the kitchen. Tempest did not dare look at her reflection again. She covered her left eye as she left the bathroom, darting to her room. She quickly found a shirt and pulled it on, careful not to catch it on the edge of the indents in her arms. "Yes mom!" '..... What is this....'

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Twelve years, come and gone. Tempest picked up the book from the University's library. She knew she was stealing it- she was destined to steal it. Nothing in any world would ever stop her- any where she existed, anyway.... Too many years had drifted by with no word from the others... Tempest had never doubted that it had happened. The scars on her back and the indents in her arms were evidence enough of its occurrence.... It didn't help that she had nineteen years worth of memories... Of a time that never happened. But when that purple ray filled the sky, and the planet shook.... Tempest knew for certain it had been real. Keeping it to herself for so many years had been hard- she had always failed to act her age, and.... Well, that was apparently just as much a reason to ignore a kid as them being emotionless. Still. Tempest sped over to the hatch that she vaguely recalled, a silent smile crossing her face as she climbed up the bookcase with ease. A second chance at reality had taught her a lot... And hurt her a lot... But that was best not to focus on at the moment. Tempest heard voices as she pushed open the hidden hatch. She jumped up and raced to the edge of the University's roof, heart racing. She could barely breathe. Her burn scars ached just as much now as they had every second, of every day, of every year... For a long time. The moon glowed from above, dropping sweeping swaths of glowing light upon the city. Spagonia hummed lowly, old cobbles stretched and worn thin from many years of use. Buildings stretched lazily to meet the sky. Streetlamps waved to the stars, a wind of dust and pine trees drifting through each and every alley. It felt like home... A very old, very familiar home. "Hey!" A deep, gruff, and slightly smoked voice called out. It wasn't threatening like last time, though. Tempest looked up at the moon without turning around. The fateful book was held tight in her grasp- 'Evidence of a Gaia', by one Professor Pickle. It felt different, yet the same. The summer winds rippled around her dark gray hoodie, hiding what had happened from reality. ".... Temps?...." The question was broken and quiet. Tempest turned slowly, feeling tears prick at her eyes. A smile that could put the sun to shame fixed itself on her face. She ran full-tilt into the werehog, hugging him tight. More drops of salty water fell from her eyes as Tempest breathed into his fur. ".... I-it's been a w-while...." She laughed breathlessly, feeling like her heart would break out of her chest at any moment. ".... I-I've mi-issed you..." Two very fluffy and furry arms slowly wrapped around her. They pushed gently against her hoodie, before getting tighter. Sonic released a quiet laugh. Tempest could feel the sunbeams radiating off of him as the two shared that moment. ".... I missed ya, Temps..." Sonic and Tempest separated at a snails' pace, neither wanting to forget the other. "... What am I missing here?" Chip's voice was like a stone at glass. Tempest's eyes slowly turned to face the small god, staring at him. More tears filled her eyes. Was this what it was like to cry?.... It felt so nice.... She waved, trying to keep her voice in tact. ".... I-I'm an old friend of Sonic-c's." She laughed. "C-Chi-ip, I missed you s-so much..." "..... What?" Sonic smiled, patting Chip on the back with a furry hand. "I'll explain in a few days." He grinned mischeviously. "Don't worry." The hedgehog turned his face back to Tempest, a very, very familiar smirk on his face. He stretched out one hand to her. ".... Wanna join us?" She didn't hesitate.

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ANYONE WANT TO CRY ‘CAUSE I JUST RE-READ THESE PORTIONS AND I’M READY TO CRY-

Gosh above I forgot how much I loved writing this... This is why I can’t. Re-read. My own. WORKS. WHY’D I DO THIS TO MYSELF-

#[outside eternity:the mun]#[burned thunder: tempest]#[pencil and paper: writings]#tw: trauma #tw: negativity #tw: murder #tw: head trauma #tw: torture #tw: body horror

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