#Spacecraft Death Mention

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Back with my minibang fic chapter 2! Don’t know how I forgot to mention my marvelous beta @wsoupofpain in the last post, but shout out to her!!

(Ch. 1) (chap 3) (chappy 4) (ch five) (six)

BREAKING: NASA Lands Earths First Manned Spacecraft on Mars!

A tragedy following the wake of Danny's disappearance and the strange set of circumstances revealed between five points of view. But how did he get caught in the first place? And where did he go?

Chapter two: Broken Spirits (Read it on AO3)

[TW: unethical science and experimentation, neglectful/bad parenting, asphyxiation]

If the timing is suspicious, the doctors Fenton don't think anything of it. Shortly before Danny's disappearance, agents from the Ghost Investigation Ward came to interview Jazz for an internship she applied for, hoping to further her research in ghost psychology before college in order to be taken more seriously. A mere six days after their son goes missing, the G.I.W. agents return to confirm her internship acceptance and approach her parents about a consulting position in their agency.

Apparently, the G.I.W. managed to get their hands on an exciting and unique new test subject, and though all information about the subject is confidential, they believe the Fentons will be able to provide invaluable assistance during the experimentation phase. Despite the strenuous predicament they find themselves in, it's an opportunity they simply cannot pass up, especially not after the government promises to allocate additional resources to finding their missing son.

Besides, being able to work so closely with their daughter is no small comfort after the disappearance of their other child. After the G.I.W. sets them up with a fully equipped ghost science lab, Jazz wanders in from time to time, a relief every time they see her face. She asks questions about their work which they're more than happy to answer in great detail. If it's odd that she's suddenly taking an interest when she never has before, her parents don't think so.

Although they are brought in as consultants specifically because of the new specimen, the Fentons are never allowed to be in the room while the G.I.W. scientists run tests on it, and the closest they ever come to seeing it are the peculiar samples that get delivered to their lab every few days. The ectoplasm samples collected from the specimen are uniquely pure and powerful, but even more intriguingly, the government scientists have somehow been able to collect blood samples from the specimen.

Obviously such a discovery rocks the Fentons to their cores and they waste no time analyzing the blood samples. In them, there are microscopic ectoplasm molecules, invisible to the naked eye, but nonetheless contaminating every cell. Their instruments show that the ectoplasm has corrupted the DNA until it is unrecognizable as fully human blood and no distinct genetic markers can be identified.

"So you can't tell who this person is?" Jazz asks, and her parents laugh a bit at the idea that their daughter might consider a ghost to be a person.

"It's not a 'who' anymore, sweetie," her mother says. "It would have been interesting to study a ghost's genetic markers, but in the end, it doesn't really matter who it was before it became a monster." If she doesn't seem satisfied with this answer, her parents are too distracted to notice.

The agents and science officers of the G.I.W. ask very different questions. "You're sure this is accurate?"

"Of course," Maddie answers. "I designed these instruments myself, and I have no reason not to trust the data they give me."

"What sort of data do these instruments provide?" asks Dr. H, and when Maddie explains, he asks. "Can you make a similar device for me to use in my own lab?"

She says yes, of course.

"Can you make me a device which can see through a ghost's core, for examination purposes?"

Jack is fascinated by the prospect, and readily agrees.

"What materials do you need?" Dr. H asks.

"Can you make me a scanner that can read the spectral equivalent of brain waves? What sort of data do you lack to design such a device?" Such a tricky request when ghosts don't have actual brains, but Maddie is enticed and enthralled by the challenge. She needs to run tests, experiment on her own terms. "Yes, we can provide you with undamaged test subjects. Work quickly."

"Can you create a vacuum capable of containing ghosts?" Not only can they, but they already have. Proudly, the Fentons show off their ghost weasel and all its amazing functions, capable of sucking up and containing vast numbers of ghosts, completely inescapable. "Not that kind of vacuum," Dr. H interrupts. "I was thinking more along the lines of a vacuum chamber. A closed capsule that mimics the lack of atmospheric conditions on, say, the moon."

"Ooh." Jack and Maddie both grow giddy at the implications.

"You're testing the new specimen's potential status as an extremophile! How absolutely marvelous!" Maddie remarks.

"We have observed at least one ghost going into space without a protective suit or space ship, the one who called himself Plasmius," Dr. H agrees. "It's a line of study that has intrigued us."

"But it stands to reason that this new subject might not be able to survive in the vacuum of space as we have observed other ghosts being able to do, depending on how different it is to standard specters." Dr. H nods, but Maddie has already turned away from him, searching for a pencil to start sketching up designs while her husband grabs their sketchpad of blueprints off a countertop. Whatever else the G.I.W. has to say about the Fentons, they certainly work fast. "We can absolutely make a vacuum chamber that can hold a ghost. We'll get started immediately."

Dr. M is a different kind of scientist than Dr. H, and asks very different questions. She's more focused on ghost theory than getting her hands dirty with ectoplasm samples. "I understand that ectoranium is something of a ghost repellent, and it nullifies most of their uncanny abilities."

"It also causes ghosts immense pain to touch the substance, and releases chemical fumes which weaken them and cause them intense discomfort," Maddie adds, only for the notoriously stern Dr. M to shut down her claims.

"It is the opinion of the Ghost Investigation Ward that paranormal entities such as ghosts are non-sentient and not capable of experiencing pain," she says. "Please reserve such foolish postulations as they will be summarily disregarded, and are thus a waste of time."

"Whatever you say," Maddie responds with a knowing smile, shaking her head. She is sure that the G.I.W.'s official stance on whether ghosts can feel pain is wrong, but they likely stand by it out of legal obligation, so she doesn't bother to dispute it.

"Now, after substantial research," Dr. M continues, "I've concluded that ectoranium either does not occur naturally on Earth, or if it does, no naturally occurring source has, of yet, been discovered, however it can be found on certain comets and asteroids. Would the presence of ectoranium deposits affect a ghost's ability to survive in space?"

"I do not believe so," Maddie answers. "My husband and I have observed that ghost Plasmius in exile inhabiting the surface of an asteroid with a confirmed presence of ectoranium. Our research shows that while ectoranium vastly decreases the efficacy of a ghost's more dangerous abilities, like flight and gravity resistance, intangibility, and telekinesis, it's more innate abilities, like functioning without oxygen or maintaining a consistent shape will remain.

"We've discovered certain other stimulants which can cause a ghost to lose the ability to maintain a consistent form, causing it to dissolve, or become amorphous, however we have not found any way to negate a ghosts ability to function without breathing. That seems to be an immutable fact of their existence. Finding a way to suffocate a ghost is one of my husband's pet projects, I'm sure he'd be willing to enlighten you, if you asked."

"That's quite alright, thank you," Dr. M refuses. "I have more questions for you at the current time."

"Ask away!"

"Do you believe it is possible for a human to somehow gain some of the abilities of a ghost?" Maddie lights up at the question.

"Not only is it possible, my husband and I have seen it happen before!" Running to the computer, she enters her password and searches for the appropriate files, certain that Dr. M will find value in them. "A while ago, in Amity Park, there was an outbreak of ghost flu at the local high school, spread by disease carrying ecto-mosquitoes. Now, ghost flu is utterly amazing as a condition because one of the unique symptoms of ghost flu is exhibiting ghost-like abilities."

"Elaborate," Dr. M requests, as if Maddie wouldn't expound unprompted, though she is already planning to before Dr. M asks.

"Victims of ghost flu were able to use at least one ghostly power, intangibility, gravity resistance, duplication, spectral body manipulation—it's unlike anything I've ever seen, even among ghost related afflictions like ecto-acne."

"Do you think it's possible to synthesize a compound that would elicit that kind of reaction without the illness?" Dr. M asks. "A serum of sorts, or perhaps some kind of device, which could give humans ghostly powers?"

"My husband and I have been working on a few theories about that, using controlled ectoplasm exposure in lab rats. Slowly introducing purified ectoplasm—free of the impurities which cause illnesses like ghost flu and ecto-acne—into their bloodstreams, and analyzing the results.

"I can give you the experimentation logs, but so far we've had limited success. Our working theory is that it has something to do with the rate of ectoplasm exposure. Introducing it slowly, the rats' bodies fight the ecto-infection too quickly for it to take effect. The next stage of our experiments is to increase the dosage. We've tried a few times, but found that too high of a dose kills the rats instantaneously. Although it does create ghost rats, it does not create living rats with ghost powers.

"We put the experiments on hold when we came to work in this facility, but now that I'm on the subject, I'm curious to see if we can further this experiment with the information gleaned from the new specimen's blood samples."

"I encourage you to further these experiments posthaste, and report your findings," Dr. M says stiffly. "The G.I.W. is most interested in such experiments. If you require anything to effectively conduct these experiments, do not hesitate to ask."

"Of course!" As with every other question and request, Maddie is more than happy to carry out Dr. M's suggestion, and when she brings it up to her husband later, he enthusiastically agrees. If Dr. M's intentions are worrying, the Fentons don't concern themselves with them.

"Excellent," Dr. M says, and starts to leave.

"Wait!" Maddie stops her. "I know it's not really your department, but do you know if the investigators have made any progress in finding our son?"

"That's not my department," Dr. M says. "If you wish, I can request that the appropriate staff member be directed your way to answer any questions you may have about the investigation."

"Yes please, that would be wonderful," Maddie agrees. "My husband and I will resume the experiments we were talking about right away!"

"Affirmative." With that, Dr. M leaves the lab and Maddie walks over to the workbench they've designated for anti-ghost weaponry to talk to her husband about the experiments to give living creatures ghostly abilities. Just as she suspected, her husband is thrilled at the prospect of returning to those particular experiments with the full support and financial backing of the government.

They waste no time in procuring rats to use as test subjects and working on a way to combine pure ectoplasm with the contaminated blood sample. With the both of them working full time on the compound they synthesize a test dose by the end of the day, and inject the first rat to see the results the next morning.

The following day they're excited to see that the rat's once-brown coat is pure white, and its eyes glow yellow, though there is no corpse in the cage. When the agent comes into the lab to report to the Fentons about the investigation regarding their son, Jack is testing the Rat's reaction to the ghost proof cage and Maddie has just taken the first blood sample and is diluting it in a test tube.

"Agent Q!" Jack's booming voice announces when the man walks through the door. "Any news about our boy?"

"Yes," Agent Q reports, stone-faced and emotionless as always. "It is with regret that I have come to inform you that your son's body was found dead on the shores of Lake Eerie." His monotone voice cuts through the air in the lab like a scalpel and the Fenton parents can only stare in shocked silence. "There was evidence of him being attacked by wild animals, before reaching the lake, but the coroner has determined the cause of death to be drowning. There is no evidence of foul play. It appears the incident was a... tragic accident. Your daughter has agreed to go to the morgue to confirm the identity of the body so as not to take you away from your work, but we are quite sure it is your son. He has the same birthmark."

The silence of the lab is broken by a distant scream in the direction of Lab '05-∆Φ, where the new specimen is undergoing experiments. It sounds like Phantom's ghostly wail, like the screams of a dying child. They can't help but wonder if their boy—if Danny screamed like that before he died. And if the story is unlikely, the parents are too distraught to question it.

A teardrop drips from Maddie's face into the test tube she's holding, and the solution bubbles over. With a gasp, she lets it go, and it plunges toward the ground.

When she drops it... it shatters.

#human experimentation tw #unethical science tw #mentioned child death #asphyxiation tw #parental neglect tw #danny phantom #dp #maddie fenton #jack fenton #guys in white #invisobang 2022 #fic #breaking: nasa lands earth’s first manned spacecraft on mars #chapter 2 #things i wrote

[melintowriting]

The first Empress- Chapter 1

Hello everyone! I finally finished writing the first chapter. Again, English is not my first language so I'm sorry if there are some mistakes. For the ones who don’t know the plot I'll create a master list so that everyone can read it. Hope you guys will like it!

Warnings: arranged marriage, mentions of blood and death

Word count: 2.319

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE

Kaitain, 10191

It was a wonderful day on Kaitain: the sun was high in the sky, the gardens smelled of spring and the water that gushed from the fountains seemed almost to shine, as if it was full of many small diamonds.

Her eyes observed the surroundings in the shadow of a large secular tree, attentive and sharp. Nothing could escape her gaze.

She observed a dragonfly just resting on the arm of a statue, then a small insect intent on creeping between the stones that made up the outside wall of the garden, and only finally on the figure that was approaching her in the distance.

Her stomach was gripped by the deep hatred that had been poisoning her for a long time. It was Irulan.

"I thought I made it pretty clear this morning that I wanted to be left alone."

Her voice sounded calm and stoic, in contrast with the burning anger that was eating up her stomach. She had learned that imperturbable impassibility from her mother: it was fundamental to survive in that world. She had understood it at her expense.

Irulan remained silent until she was close enough to see her step sister sitting under the big tree.

She was ready, everyone was at the palace. Soon the Harkonnen would have arrived and the alliance would be created.

"You chose a beautiful dress, sister." commented the eldest, sitting next to Megan.

Megan gave her a brief glance sideways before returning to observe the garden: "Is it a compliment or a pretext to mock me? And do I need to remind you that we’re not sisters?"

Despite the hatred that had been running between them for months, something broke in the heart of Irulan when she heard the words of her half-sister. She was right, they weren’t sisters, but Irulan had grown up believing that her and Jeremy were actually her siblings.

"Don’t pretend my words hurt you. After the pain you have caused to me, to my brother and to my mother, I don’t care about your emotions anymore."

A stab was that phrase, for the heart of the older sister; a stab that awakened in her an old, but not too old, guilt.

She was grateful to the guards who appeared in front of them for not giving Megan time to rage further: she knew she would have done so with immense pleasure.

"Princess Megan, the Harkonnen spacecraft has entered the atmosphere, it’s time to go," they announced.

Irulan was immensely surprised by her half-sister’s lack of hesitation in getting up and walking towards the palace, escorted by soldiers. Was she really not afraid? 

Was she really not afraid of being betrothed to Feyd Rautha?

******

The Emperor was sitting on the throne, impatiently waiting.

The room was filled with an icy silence. 

"Why is it taking so long?" he complained to Irulan, his beloved and only real daughter, standing by his side.

"I have no idea, Father." she admitted, "Maybe..."

She did not have time to finish: the huge door of the hall was opening and the Harkonnen guards were entering the palace.

The Baron floated towards the throne, kneeling before it.

Irulan paid little attention to the pleasantries between the Baron and her father, intrigued as she was by her sister’s betrothed.

Feyd Rautha towered behind his uncle, his face almost deformed by a small grin on his lips. Like a shark hunting for its prey, he watched with icy eyes the imperial family, in search of his future wife. There was no emotion in his eyes.

Everyone knew he was crazy.

For a moment she felt great sorrow for Megan. 

"Baron, Na-Baron, this is my second daughter, Megan."

As soon as the bride-to-be of the Na-Baron entered the room, everyone’s eyes fell on her, like iron attracted by a magnet. She walked in with her head held high and a posture that emanated confidence.

Actually, Megan’s confidence was a distraction from her emotions. She could feel something moving in her stomach.

Fear, perhaps? No, it was not fear, it was impatience. 

Everything was already written.

According to the Bene Gesserit plan she had been promised to Feyd since she was born, and Monique, her mother and member of the sisterhood, had made it happen.

Monique was the Emperor’s second wife. Upon the death of Irulan’s mother, Shaddam Corrino IV and Duke Leto Atreides' sister got married.

The Emperor, to ensure the continuity of the throne, wanted a son, a son that Monique, as Bene Gesserit, should have been obliged to give him. But she had met Silgasq, a Fremen imperial planetologist who was visiting the Emperor’s court to update him on new discoveries related to the Spice. 

There had been numerous rumors about Megan and her twin brother Jeremy, about their hair and eyes being too dark, about their suspicious features and especially about the absolute lack of resemblance to the Emperor.

Silgasq stayed at the Corrino’s court for some years, officially to continue his studies, secretly to stay with the woman he had fallen in love with and with the children he had conceived with her. The twins had never been unaware of the truth, they had grown up knowing they were not Corrino, with the absolute prohibition of their mother to reveal the truth to a living soul. It was Irulan who ruined everything. She had loved the twins with her whole being, as if they had really been her siblings, but as soon as she learned the truth thanks to her Bene Gesserit training, hurt by acknowledging that she had always believed a lie, she did not hesitate to report everything to her father. 

She had betrayed them. They had to watch as the Sardaukars killed their real father before their eyes. Only one thing was certain: they would have avenged him. With blood and fire they would have made justice for their father. They had sworn it to their mother.

The reason Megan was only waiting to get away from the Emperor was simple: she wanted to plot her revenge, away from prying eyes. She did not fear the idea of marrying Feyd Rautha; she had the necessary tools to deal with him, tools that her mother had provided her. She had taught her how to seduce, manipulate, attract. And then, the main and most powerful power, of which she was born already endowed: the Voice.

She stopped as soon as she came before the young Na-Baron Harkonnen, bowing slightly as per protocol. Feyd did the same, impatiently waiting for her to look up. The grin was still printed on his lips but no longer with the same intensity as before. It was just a distraction to keep the impatience that was eating him from getting out.

"It’s an honor to meet you, my betrothed."

The girl’s voice delighted Feyd’s ears.

"The pleasure is mine, princess."

Nothing genuine, spontaneous or natural: it was the protocol to which both had been meticulously trained. Yet there was something more.

Even Irulan, from the top of his father’s throne, was able to see him.

The way they looked at each other for the first time was definitely not protocol.

"Baron Vladimir Harkonnen." said the Emperor, standing up, "I offer to your nephew my daughter’s hand, thus sealing an alliance between our Houses."

The Baron tried not to grin with joy: now he really had the power in hand.

"My Emperor, I accept the great honor you are bestowing upon my House." answered the Baron promptly, bowing, "May the one between your daughter and my nephew be a strong and lasting union."

While all the attention of the room had shifted to the two powerful men intent on establishing the details of the wedding, only Irulan’s attentive eyes were still fixed on her step sister and Feyd.

She was the only one who noticed how they smiled slightly before looking down.

******

A few hours later

That night the celebrations were extraordinary.

The halls of the royal palace were filled with nobles from all over the empire, the fireworks had shone in the sky, the banquet had been sumptuous.

The Emperor was happy.

Happy to finally get rid of his illegitimate daughter, condemning her to marry a cruel man. She would have spent the rest of her life on Giedi Prime, away from the imperial court and from him, under the tyranny of Baron Harkonnen.

Megan’s wish was only one: to be able to take her twin Jeremy with her. The Emperor had agreed. It meant getting rid of both. Those twins were the result of adultery and brought only disgrace on House Corrino. He was delighted at the idea of snatching them away from Monique. She had dared to deceive him, betray him, and she was finally going to receive her punishment.

As soon as dinner was over Megan turned to her twin, sitting next to her, and whispered that she needed some fresh air. Jeremy knew right away why. He understood his sister better than anyone else: she felt overwhelmed by emotions and celebrations, she needed a moment to herself. He telepathically understood and nodded.

Megan snuck away, sure that no one had seen her. She was wrong.

Feyd’s sharp eyes had immediately intercepted her.

After their first meeting a few hours earlier they had not had a chance to speak again and properly.

Feyd seized the opportunity: he got up from the table and left the room without much explanation.

In front of him stood a long corridor that ended in a large balcony overlooking the countryside. Kaitain was a green, prosperous planet, completely different from Giedi Prime which was polluted, harsh and dark.

Feyd could see her even from so far away: Megan was facing the balcony, her long dark hair was falling down her back and her pretty dress was making her pleasant figure justice.

He followed the trail of perfume that the girl’s passage had left in the corridor and reached her.

His stride was almost impossible to hear, to the point that Megan only noticed his presence when he spoke to her.

"I saw you leaving the room, princess. Aren’t the celebrations for our union to your liking?"

His was not only a question but also a veiled provocation. How would she react? Was she going to apologize, mortified and embarrassed? Or she was going to avoid the question? He wanted to test her. Testing people was his favorite hobby of all time.

Megan almost winced. It was the voice of her betrothed, hoarse and deep. The girl reassembled herself before turning around.

"I’m not a party person. It has nothing to do with you or our union, my lord."

The princess’s tone seemed almost apologetic but also firm, as if she was apologizing without being really sorry.

Feyd slightly grinned. Her answer pleased him.

"Neither am I. I find parties stupid and useless. I prefer to spend my time differently." 

Megan took the opportunity to observe him closely. His charm was undeniable. -If I must marry him, I am glad that he is at least aesthetically to my liking- the princess thought. She wondered if she would also have liked him as a person. She knew very well what people said about him: that he was psychotic, crazy, violent and cruel. But honestly, was he so different from others? The Emperor, for example, was reputed to be a righteous man, but instead he was a murderer and a coward. Her betrothed, at least, was himself without hiding. 

"And how do you like to spend your time, Na-Baron?"

Feyd was just waiting for that question.

"Fighting in the arena. I really feel myself only when I’m holding a blade." 

The young Na-Baron carefully studied the reaction of his future wife, looking for signs of fear, dismay. He was aware of what people said about him and he liked it. He loved when people feared him.

It wasn’t Megan’s case, though. To his great surprise the princess was not at all upset by his answer and even replied, "I’ve heard a lot about your great fighting skills. I look forward to see one of your fights in the arena."

Feyd tilted his head, not letting his astonishment leak out.

"People die in that arena." he reminded her with a smug grin. Talking about death excited him. A woman could have never borne the sight of the fights, he was sure. 

The princess’s tone remained unabashed: "I know. I am not afraid of death."

-No longer after I saw my father being killed before my eyes- she would have liked to add, but she did not. She couldn’t jeopardize her position like that.

-She’s smart- Feyd thought without stopping smiling provocatively -and if she’s lying she’s doing it well. -

"My twin brother also loves to fight. I’m used to blood and wounds." she added, seeing him slightly amazed.

Feyd smiled even more as a strange light shone in his blue eyes.

Not only was he used to blood but he also loved it. The idea of a wife not easily impressionable generated in him dark and dirty desires. Having to wait irritated him: after that brief talk he wanted to make her his without hesitation.

"My uncle told me that your brother will come with you to Giedi Prime. I will gladly fight with him. Amicably, of course."

The grin on his lips was not very reassuring but Megan decided not to pay too much attention to it.

"I think we should go back, my lord." said the girl, looking at the hall door in the distance "They’ll all be wondering where we are."

Feyd nodded without taking his eyes off her. 

"Let’s go, princess."

He held out his hand to escort her and finally added, "And call me Feyd."

Megan took the hand of her betrothed without hesitation, quietly considering his request.

"As you wish, Feyd."

Tag list

@mamawiggers1980 @avidreader73 @pomtherine

#feyd rautha #feyd rautha harkonnen #dune part 2 #dune #dune 2 #dune movie #house harkonnen #feyd rautha smut #feyd rautha imagine #fanfiction #fanfic #feyd rautha fanfic

[godsfavoritescientist]

Drabble request: post-canon "happy" ending for Bill & Ford, but find some way to imply that something super fucked up is going on just beneath the surface. Mind control, dream bubble fantasy, idk, dealer's choice, just something messed up.

Fragments of what was once Earth drift through the empty vacuum of space. They sit together on a summoned-up couch, watching it all float by. Ford fidgets with his brand new eye-shaped gold cufflinks. His ornately-embroidered sleeves are drenched in blood.

The henchmaniacs are busy elsewhere, expanding their reign of benevolent terror to the outer reaches of the galaxy. This mostly entails eating space rocks and crashing planets into eachother. For the first time since Ford accepted Bill’s offer, they’ve had time to really sit down and chat.

Bill throws an arm over Ford’s shoulder. “Lemme tell you something, Sixer. It doesn’t really matter how necessary it was–and believe me, it was necessary! What matters more is that it was the most fun you’ll ever have! Now that you’re immortal, I won’t sugarcoat it: Earth’s entire existence is a blip in the grand scheme of things. It was like a really dry log: destined to be burned!” He pats Ford on the back. “So don’t let me catch you moping about it.”

“I’m not moping,” Ford bristles, leaning away from Bill’s touch. “I’m contemplating.”

“Hah! Contemplating! You hear this guy?” Bill asks an imaginary audience, gesturing at Ford with his thumb. “Well contemplate this: we’ve got ultimate power over the entire multiverse. You might as well be a god. You can spend an eternity studying everything that ever was and ever will be. This is a sweet deal no matter how you spin it!”

Ford makes a noncommital sound. “That very well may be true, and I am grateful to you, but… human emotion is not so easy to logic away, I’m afraid. I want to move on as easily as you did, but…” he shrugs helplessly. “It’s just hard to believe it’s gone.”

Bill pats him on the back. “A little bit of shock is normal! Took me a few weeks to work through. Of course, I was brand new to the third dimension too, so it shouldn’t take quite that long for you. But humans are more emotional than shapes, so I’ll be patient! Don’t say I never did anything for ‘ya.”

Ford doesn’t meet his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Now! You know what helps me when I’m like this? A good distraction! There’s bound to be dozens of my enemies tracking us down right now–it’s not exactly hard to miss a whole planet blowing up. So we’d better get a head start on things, attack first before any of them can put us on the defensiv-” Bill squints at something approaching from the distance. “Hey, what’s that?”

Ford looks up sharply. It takes a few seconds to spot it, but as it gets closer, it’s unmistakable: a steely-gray entirely flat object, no more than two feet wide and long, flying towards them.

Once it’s right between them, it slows to a stop. From above, it’s clearly shaped like a 2D spacecraft, except that all four walls are enclosed, not just the perimeter.

A stick-thin door opens up, and out floats a dozen multicolored geometric shapes, all with skin covering their bodies from above and below, not just around their perimeter.

For the first time in eons, Bill is too stunned to speak a single word.

The leader of the group, a irregularly-shaped silver isoceles triangle, speaks first. “It’s you! It’s really you! We were starting to think you died in the aftermath of our dimension’s death. But the energy signals we’ve been following over the past week… we knew it couldn’t be anyone else.”

Bill’s voice is very quiet, and much less echoey than usual, as he says, “I thought you all died. I made sure you all died.”

The little silver triangle laughs. “Nope! The cleverest of us were able to escape. Your destruction only took the lives of those unwilling to change, unwilling to adapt to the higher dimensions. And the lives we’ve led since then have been so much better than anything our homeworld could have ever offered to us. We owe you a great deal.”

As he listens to this, Bill glows brighter and brighter and brighter, until he’s glowing the brightest that he’s ever been. “I knew it! I knew the worthy ones would live, I knew there was a way out for ones like you!”

He turns to Ford with a brilliant gleam in his eye. “Ford, these are survivors from my home dimension! Do you know how long it’s been? At least a trillion years! These guys are persistent. More than worthy of joining the gang, right Ford?”

Ford looks just as overjoyed as Bill. “Absolutely—but this is incredible! Liberating my dimension didn’t just give me an eternity at your side, but it’s also allowed these shapes to finally find you!” He shakes his head in wonder. “This whole time, you were right, Bill. You were right about everything. If our first act as joint-rulers of the multiverse can accomplish something of this scope, then there’s nothing we can’t accomplish together.”

Bill embraces Ford in a hug that sends them both twirling through outerspace. “Isn’t it exhilirating? Being free from all those stupid little ties to a planet that’ll be dead and gone in the blink of an eye?”

Ford nods wholeheartedly. “There’s a whole multiverse out there for the taking. You’ve finally made me see that.”

He lets go of Bill, and looks back at the handful of shapes floating nearby. “You must have so many questions. I know I do. But I’ll let you catch up with Bill, first.”

Bill zooms back to face the shapes. “Boy do I ever!!! How long do you guys live now that you’ve adapted yourselves to a three-dimensional world, because we’re gonna be here for a while.”

The group settles in for a very long chat, exchanging stories and ideas and many cups of tea. And way off in the distance, far out of Bill’s line of sight, his little world’s edge glimmers with the iridescence of a soap bubble.

#gods drabbles #100 word requests #<-which are still open #just ignore the fact that this is 1000 words long lmao #i hope the implications are clear as far as what the concept is #the axolotl thinks this is a mercy :) #first thing i had to decide was 'is this a happy ending in bill or fords eyes' bc postcanon those are very different #and then i repurposed a scrapped idea for the beginning of my unwritten bill-brought-back-to-life fic #bill cipher

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

the first manned shuttle ever to launch into space- the vostok in 1961- had a space for the crew around 6 feet (2.3 m) in diameter. the first manned shuttle to carry three people at once- the voskhod in 1964- was practically the exact same size, and required the crew to forego spacesuits in order for all three of them to fit.

the death engine is... well. a hell of a lot bigger than either of them. we never get a picture of it in its entirety, but from what we see both in photographs as well as the visible space in person, the docking bay alone probably has more space than both of those ships combined. which makes sense, as it is a satellite and not exclusively a flight vessel.

... but the death engine still had a crew of three to man it for however long it was intended to be in immediate use. three people, solaris only being one of them.

as if that wasn't bad enough on its own, the other two assistants who tagged along weren't professionals, but intern astronauts- making it rather obvious why none of them survived as long as solaris herself did. before she discovers who the agent is, she assumes them to be equally as inexperienced right out of the gate (“Okay, lesson one of space internships: You need oxygen to live”).

from these two factors alone, we can assume that solaris would have been pulling over twice her weight around the satellite regardless of whether or not her assistants were alive, and only took on more responsibility after they were killed while on duty. that's already a huge mental strain and time investment in its own right. but that's not even all of it.

astronauts need to exercise for at least two hours if they don't want to suffer muscle or bone atrophy. as a result, they need to eat more calories than they normally would on earth. sodium intake also needs to be reduced (as the human body sheds less of it in space), and vitamin d intake needs to be increased (as it can not be generated from the sun). that means, perhaps rather obviously, that their diet is very important.

unfortunately for solaris, she is stuck eating the grotesque space slop.

not only does the food ration not include the recommended amount of essential vitamins, and include a self admittedly high amount of salt, but it is unclear what it even is supposed to be.

i can only hope that vitamin d happens to be a part of the 'some essential vitamins' included, since- considering there is zero orange juice located in the orange drink- there is probably none of it to be found in there.

this isn't even mentioning the importance of sleep on a spacecraft, partnered with how difficult it is to acquire in altered gravity. and partnering that up with solaris' poor diet, and the mountain of tasks she probably has to go through just to keep everything operational?

i clown on her a lot for 'doing nothing' while the agent was meddling with her things, but this entire time she's been overworked, underfed, and presumably doing all of that on a heavily fragmented sleep schedule.

no wonder she hasn't gotten around to clearing the radiation from the docking bay. no wonder she stayed in her chair the entire time. i would have gotten the call from zor and gone straight back to fucking bed!!!

#ieytd #commander solaris #long post #but it's important. to ME. #GET HER TO BEEEED. for the love of GOD. #no wonder she's snippy on the phone. she's got a headache 🙁 and a stummyache 😟 #she's stuck on the death engine with two corpses or whatever and the worst fucking slop she's ever tasted #i went to a space museum and learned all about astronauts struggling to sleep #the artificial light of their shuttle can wake them up. or the noise. or the fact that you float right off of your bed. #undersleeping can SEVERELY compromise a mission when you aren't thinking clearly... and um. well. #i sure would call the death engine compromised

[zero-to-zero-to-zero-again]

Intergalactic Abductees: Tommy (1)

Word Count: 2,193

TW's: Unintentional Fearplay, Violence, Injury, Mentions of Abduction, Mentions Of Past Abuse, Fear of Death, Profanity, Referring To A Person As An "It", Firearm? (<-Idk if that needs to be tagged but I'll put it there anyways. Nobody gets shot lol...unless)

Characters: C!Tommy, C!Dream, C!Sapnap, C!George, C!Tubbo(mentioned)

Summary: Tommy just barely escapes his imprisonment on an alien spacecraft with his life intact. Now his captors have all fled, leaving him in the hands of the explorers scavenging their ship.

Tommy's hands were clasped over his mouth. Every breath felt too loud so he simply stopped breathing. His teeth ground down into the abused skin of his lip. He didn't stop biting until he tasted copper. These creatures could hear a pin drop in a mosh pit. If he so much as twitched, there was no doubt in his mind that they'd find him.

He'd seen far too many people lose their lives through the careless actions of these freaks, let alone intentional actions. He'd accepted he might never make it home but he would be damned if he wasn't going to let himself be captured before he found Tubbo.

The many foot falls clopped against the metallic tile like hoof beats.

"...empty?"

"...gone..."

"...don't know..."

Those were the only words he could make out. Their every phrase was flanked by gibberish. He had no idea why they spoke in broken English. You'd think aliens would have their own languages. After all the time he'd spent with them, he still had a lot to learn.

Not that he wanted to. If given the option, he would give up on the educational venture immediately.

Air. Right. He'd forgotten he'd needed that. He drew in a deep, much needed breath against his own volition. He found solace in knowing that his own body was conspiring against him. The footsteps that had begun to retreat paused. Like they were hesitating.

Trembling fingers gripped Tommy's cheeks like the jaws of a bear trap in hopes that if he held on long tight enough, he could stop any sounds from escaping his lips. Some part of him knew that it wouldn't work but a larger part of him-likely the one running on half an hour of sleep, an empty stomach, and primal fear-really didn't care.

A voice called out a slew of words he didn't understand. Probably a threat. He was getting pretty good at identifying those of late.

Please leave. Please just go away. There's nobody important in here, Tommy pled silently.

At least, there wasn't anymore. Something happened that sent everyone running. The others he was taken with were stored for relocation or disposed off if they seemed like dead weight. He had enough dumb luck to be trapped on an operating table when it all went to shit.

Nobody thought to even look for him. By the time he'd escaped his restraints, everyone was gone. He'd been stupid enough to take his sweet time locating an exit or something that might provide him with some notion of where exactly he was.

The footsteps gradually faded into the distance. Tommy waited until he heard a door shut to start breathing again. He peeked around the odd lever he'd claimed as a hiding spot. The room looked empty enough. Good. He just needed a little more time in there and then he'd made his grand escape.

He returned to the touch screen. It flickered to life as he tapped the small, red button beside it. As a denizen of earth, screens happened to be his area of expertise. There were a couple words on the display but they weren't written in any language that Tommy recognized beyond the odd A, T, and Y.

It didn't matter. Pictures spoke a thousand words and, lucky for Tommy, the images splayed out before him were in HD quality. He scrolled around what he had to assume was a diagram. If the blue was where he currently was, he just had to find out where Earth was in relation. At least that way he actually had an exit strategy when he found Tubbo.

The planets weren't familiar so he moved onto the next cluster. He'd stupidly assumed that Earth would be the same size as all the celestial bodies on the map but the moment he recognized Jupiter, everything began to click into place.

Giant aliens, giant planets. It made some semblance of sense.

He zoomed into the solar system to the best of his abilities. He ignored the nausea rolling in his stomach at the realization of just how infinitesimal the solar system was in comparison to all the others. There was Earth. It was marked with some kind of red label he had yet to see on any other planet. He was too busy reveling in the fact that he'd actually locating home to worry about what that meant.

Home was far.

Very, very far.

So far, it made Tatooine look like our next door neighbor in comparison.

He was so caught up in trying to plot out the exact course from the blue icon to Earth that he failed to hear the door slide open behind him. Failed to notice the drum of steady boots against the floor. Failed to realize he was no longer alone until he felt the goosebumps creeping up his arms.

Every hair stood on end. Like he was about to be struck by lightning. Given that they didn't have thunderstorms within the spaceship, he had a pretty good idea of what the exact cause of the reaction was. He froze up entirely as the silhouette ingulfed him.

Shit.

He slowly turned to face his death without the usual level of cowardice he operated on.

In retrospect, he shouldn't have turned around at all. He should have just stood there and waited for his inevitable fate to befall him. But he had to know what was going to be responsible for taking his life.

All he saw was a blank slate. A white metal so shiny that he could see his own reflection staring back at him in fear. There weren't even eye holes. If this thing was alive, it obviously didn't prioritize vision. And yet, Tommy could somehow feel its eyes on him all the same.

It was in a black uniform that resembled a tracksuit, a sleek firearm aimed directly at Tommy's forehead. It didn't look like any gun Tommy had ever seen and yet something in the back of his mind still identified it as a weapon. A threat. He swallowed thickly, holding his hands up in surrender as though it would make a difference.

It stood there a moment, frozen in place. It tilted its head curiously before lowering the hefty gun back down at its side. Tommy let out a heavy sigh, warily retreating back a step. The creature's focus was no longer on him. It leaned overtop him to get a better look at the screen behind him.

It raised a hand that donned a fingerless glove. It tapped a blunt nail against the graphic of Earth.

"...you..." was the only word he understood. After receiving no response it tapped again to emphasize a point Tommy couldn't comprehend.

Its head turned back to him, staring at him expectantly. Tommy only stood there, petrified, as he gawked up at the looming figure. After a moment of waiting, it sighed and yanked a small, metal device from its pocket. It almost looked like a phone but thinner and more square than rectangular.

It laid the device out on the panel, clicking a few icons on both screens before tucking it back into the pocket of its pants. Tommy debated on trying to escape while it was distracted but it was pointless. Usain Bolt couldn't outrun these motherfuckers.

"Okay...you...no..." it tried again.

Tommy clenched his eyes shut as it raised a hand. No impact ever came. When he opened his eyes, it was frozen. The mask had grown closer as it leaned in towards him. Its head tilted again. The hand reached towards him again, only this time with far more hesitation. Tommy moved as far away as possible but there was very little room for him to find refuge in.

He was scooped up with jarring ease into a snare of fingers roughly his size. He wriggled about to no avail. His arms were stuck to his sides. The grip was tight. Not suffocating but tight. Possibly tight enough to bruise.

"Come on, man," Tommy whined. His toes curled as his feet left the floor. It held him at what he had to assume was eye-level. "I-I just want to find Tubbo and go home."

"Home," the alien repeated.

"Yes. Home."

Without warning, his body was turned sideways with such speed that he nearly got whiplash. He winced as a cool fingers prodded at his temple. That's where they were operating before they all fled to who knows where. It muttered a slew of foreign vocabulary as it studied whatever would was left open due to his own, blatant negligence.

He'd been too busy to address whatever funky alien experiments they'd done on his head. Not time to worry about whatever gashes they'd left behind from their botched dissection. He drew in a hissing breath through his teeth as it pressed just a bit too hard. The offending digits retreated immediately.

After a few more seconds of consideration, it seemed to make up its mind.

Tommy clung to consciousness as adrenaline coursed through his veins. The entire journey he spent imprisoned within chilled flesh left him with terrible motion sickness. The walk was long but at least it brought him out of the spacecraft.

The world around him was...bizarre.

The ground was the wrong color, the sky was the wrong color, and every bit of flora was the wrong shape. It looked like he was in the middle of the woods with trees looking like something straight out of a Dalí painting.

Yet another ship was waiting just beyond the last one. This one was a hell of a lot smaller than his previous ride but it still dwarfed him nonetheless. Painted silvery color with a white staircase protruding out the side.

Another alien was waiting there, leaning against the ship with its arms folded across its chest. At least this one had a face. One that lit up upon seeing his captor approach. Literally. A bizarre illumination flooded its skin.

It looked apt to say something but closed its mouth with a click when it spotted Tommy. Its grey eyes flickered a bright yellow. Like fireflies.

"...is...?" it asked.

"...planet...the screen...hiding..." the faceless creature rambled.

The glowy creature bent at the waist to get closer to eye level with Tommy as he was brought closer. The alien squinted at him. Curiosity brewed in its flickering eyes. Tommy could feel the heat radiating off it. It was such a welcome change of pace from the icy fingers he was held in that he almost felt disappointed when it pulled away.

It let out a soft coo before starting up the staircase. The metal-faced creature gave one final glance over its shoulder before starting after its companion. Tommy flinched at every foreign whirr and click from the ship around him. The stairscase folded up behind him, leaving him sealed within the confines of the metal coffin.

No. No. No!

He didn't have time for this! He'd only just found out where he was. If these douchebags were taking him somewhere else, they'd spoil his only chance to ever find his way back to Earth!

He growled. Before he could talk himself out of it, his head snapped down. His teeth snagged on the tender flesh encasing him. The alien let out a choked sound. He could feel the fingers instinctively loosening around him before tightening once again.

Too tight.

Tommy's teeth dislodged from the digit, taking a smatter of blue liquid with him. He let out sharp cry of pain. The fist fell apart around him. The plummet was unceremonious but short. It didn't help that the only thing to break his fall was hard material akin to plastic. The impact rattled his very bones.

The faceless creature inspected its injured finger a moment. Tommy flinched so hard when its focus returned to him that he nearly pulled a muscle. It failed its hands about in exasperation.

"You...I...help..."

Tommy scooched backwards on what he'd begun to assume was a table. That fact didn't exactly instill hope in him. He raked bruised fingers through messy, blonde locks. The creature groaned.

"...to..." the glowy alien said, seemingly materializing out of thin air. The ship hummed all around him. The feeling he'd begun to identify as take-off only served to sicken him further. The pair had seemingly had enough of trying to communicate with him and turned their attention to one another.

"...maybe..."

"I...if...ask..."

"...don't...help...could..."

"...won't..."

He didn't like this. Not at all. They were too close. They weren't leaving enough room to breathe. Prime, was there even any oxygen on that ship? What if there wasn't? What if there was no air at all. He was suffocating. He'd choke on his own lack of air. Slowly. Agonizingly. He was going to do. He was going-

"Hey!"

A new voice jarred him from his panicked stupor.

A figure stalked into the room with an eerie grace to its stride. A pair of sapphire eyes locked onto Tommy. Slitted pupils tracked his every breath. Pointed, chestnut ears twitched atop its head, a tail languidly sweeping the floor.

Tommy's jaw nearly dropped open.

Giant. Space. Cat.

~

#mcyt g/t #g/t writing #g/t angst #giant/tiny #hurt/comfort...eventually #fluff...at some point #unintentional fearplay #accidental fearplay #fear of death #intergalactic abductees au

[branded-witha-j]

Pairing: dark!winter soldier x doctor!reader

Word count: 1.1k - this is a teaser for a bigger series that I have been toying with. So, let me know what you think, and if you would like to see more.

Warnings: just some violence and mention of blood and breeding program.

Ready to Comply

Your breath rattles and wheezes from your chest, muscles exhausted and burning for relief. The burden you carry is barely conscious, the super soldier limping and dragging one leg. Each second that passes, bullets fly too close, and your only escape seems to shimmer in the distance like a mirage. When a projectile slams into your shoulder, you barely feel it, giving the last of your faltering strength to stumble closer to the spacecraft.

The bay door is open, the metal maw taunting safety you desperately need. As the soldier pitches forward, you cry out, a push of his one good leg sending you both tumbling. You grunt as the steel floor knocks the wind from you, your head swimming as you roll deeper inside. Your voice is feeble as you call out a command for the doors to close, and it's the soldier that musters his last bit of strength to slam his closed fist into the button along the wall.

With a hydraulic whoosh, the door slips closed, bullets from the pursuing Hydra ricocheting with metallic pings. A barrage of slams follow, panic surging in your gut as you scramble to your knees and crawl to the command deck. Using one of the pilot chairs to pull yourself upright, you flip a few switches on the control panel with trembling fingers, slamming forward the lever that will carry you up into the sky. The jets cough to life, sputtering and igniting hotly, and the pursuing Hydra pull back to avoid the flames. The craft lifts from the ground, hovering briefly, and the velocity knocks you back into the chair, hands gripping at the arm rests as you shoot like a rocket into the sky. It only takes seconds, but feels longer, and the muted amber atmosphere that can be seen from the ground of HYD-426 turns into pitch black space, pinpoints of light in the distance.

The chase is far from over and you begin to flip more switches, setting the coordinates for a space jump that will take you to a galaxy far from this one. The radio crackles as the intercom announces a pending jump, and another voice begins to bleed through, the accent unmistakable. You know him well. The commander chose you specifically to work on the SSBP-v3, or in simpler terms, the Super Soldier Breeding Program, version 3. You were not present for the other failures and you had no desire to be pulled from your mundane life as a biological engineer for Stark Enterprise to be part of the fourth.

But, like the man slumped on the floor behind you, you are also forced into something constructed to destroy Earth and all the surrounding galaxies.

"Bring the Asset back and we will consider leniency, Doctor." The voice is cold and you know any clemency will be certain death. You would rather take your chances in the vastness of space with one of the most dangerous men in existence.

Or so you think.

"With all due respect, Commander Zaan, fuck you." You slam the button to kill the intercom, the spacecraft building up speed for the jump. But his voice remains and any following jabs at the panel does nothing to stop it. What he says next sends a chill across your body, the words you've heard so many times during experiments coming through loud and clear.

You cry out, panic taking hold, but the force of your speed presses you back into the chair and keeps you immobile. Each word that the commander growls out makes your stomach cramp with fear. Just a few more seconds and the space jump will cut him off, leaving the command incomplete.

"Jump in 5..4..3.."

Just two more words remain and you scream out as you feel your atoms splitting and turning you into minute particles.

"..2.."

One more word, just a second to complete the jump, and everything begins to fade. You don't have time to feel relief, no time to check on the soldier as you feel yourself being pulled through a vacuum, the pressure excruciating.

"..1.. Jump."

The last thing you hear is ready to comply, followed by complete darkness.

...

It took seconds to dissolve into nothing and even less to come right back into existence. Your gasp is loud and the chair keeps you from falling onto the floor, nausea making you retch. Looking up, you can see that you're drifting through an ice belt, chunks of crystal pinging off the big viewing window. The navigation tells you that you're within the outer edge of the Mardageon Galaxy. You're unfamiliar with it, but it's far from Hydra, and it's a safe as you can get right now.

You remember you're not alone and your stomach turns as you recall the last few words before the jump. Turning in the chair, you look for where you last saw the super soldier, finding the spot empty. Thinking he tumbled away during the jump, you whip in the other direction, fingers digging into the arm rest as fear grips you by the throat. You can't see him, there's no sign that he even existed, and it's chilling as you recall just how quietly he can move for someone his size.

Turning back, you look forward, taking a moment to calm yourself as you watch the mesmerizing chunks of glittering ice. They're small, not capable of damaging the craft, and you would think it were beautiful if you weren't so terrified. A creak from behind makes you go rigid and it takes several heart pounding moments for you to turn in the chair, expecting to see him standing there. There's nothing, an exhale of relief huffed from between your lips, and you turn back to check navigation for the nearest planet.

Steel blue eyes are inches from your face, your startled cry cut off by a metal hand around your throat. He lifts you easily, legs kicking at empty air, and he drags you from the command deck, throwing you down onto the floor. You cry out, pushing with your heels to escape his grip, and your arm comes up defensively as he reaches for you. You can feel the vibranium of his metal hand and the plates along his arm shift with a loud whir. It takes the bewildered look on his face to realize that you're holding him back, your brows pinching with confusion. A grind of metal engages the arm and you feel the pressure along your forearm as he pushes back. Your strength surprises you, mouth agape as you bring up your other hand to wrap around his wrist. With your hands locked, the soldier glares down at you, his tongue coming out to wet his lips.

"What are you?"

#sebastian stan #winter soldier #the winter soldier #bucky barnes #winter soldier x reader #winter soldier x doctor!reader #bucky barnes x reader #dark!winter soldier #dark!bucky barnes #dark!winter soldier x reader #winter soldier fanfic #bucky barnes fanfic #dark fic #marvel fic #sebastian stan fic #winter soldier fic #bucky barnes fic #winter soldier imagine #bucky barnes imagine #sebastian stan imagine #ready to comply teaser

[dokoni-mo]

Koi No Yokan || Darth Vader x GN! Reader (Chapter Three)

summary: you find yourself missing him.

SFW

word count: 4190

warnings: swearing, mentions of canon-typical violence, mentions of death, fluff, usage of pet names, palpatine being palpatine, mentions of war-zones and military, reader is referred to things such as "pretty" and "beautiful"

chapters tune // youtube version

a/n: its about time i put this out! I'm sorry for the long wait everyone I was really busy this last week! I'll try and update more frequently from now on i promise. taglist open! enjoy!

~~~

There was a plethora of things that Lord Vader never expected to have again. It was a long list that included things such as security, stability, and comfort. But, at the top of that list? A friend.

The sith had thought that he was just no longer one to have that sort of thing anymore. All the ones that he had in his previous life had either abandoned or betrayed him in some regard or another. He was now shut off from that sort of thing. He accepted long ago that he would never be one to trust again; let alone find someone that he was willing to give one last chance to.

You couldn't imagine his shock when he had found those things in his relationship with you.

To him, you quite easy to talk to. And over the last few weeks, he had been doing more and more of that very thing. He had even gone so far as to seek out your company himself. If he had a fleeting moment in between meetings, he would spend them with you. The dark lord would find you no matter where you were on the Empirical spacecraft without fail. He had noticed that the fact he could find you like that did creep you out a bit, but he found it hard to care all the much. You were smart. You'd be able to figure out how he did it in time, if you didn't know or assume already.

Much to his pleasant surprise, he had noticed that you had also begun to make an effort to find him as well. While he didn't know exactly how you knew where he would be, he didn't seem to mind that you did. The sith had to admit: after a long meeting of listening to the Moffs and officers bicker back and forth like school-children, it was refreshing to have you waiting outside for him. Sometimes you were talking to a trooper to pass the time, and others you were just idly waiting with a holopad or some sort of other device to distract yourself. But, without fail, as soon as he exited the room, you always greeted him with a smile. Along with this, you always asked him how the meeting went. He wasn't used to someone asking him such things, no going to use cordial measures for him.

He quite liked that.

The times he spent with you he was quick to consider his relaxation. He found that around you, he didn't have to be as menacing as the others expected him to be. Gradually, he was able to let his guard down around you. Not as much as one would deem a significant amount, but to him, it was everything. He couldn't even remember the last time he trusted someone enough to do that with. And to have that someone not totally blow it back in his face? To respect him like you did, and treat him with such kindness?

You were right in what you said that night he found you at his master's meditation quarters. He did care about you. You were his friend. And since you were his only friend, it also meant you were his best friend.

That just so happened to also be his fiancé.

And, deep down, he wouldn't ever admit it out loud, but he was quite warming up to that notion. In his mind, he could call you his fiancé without cringing anymore. He was now accepting that you would be a part of his life from now on.

And because you were you, he enjoyed that notion. He enjoyed your company, and didn't want to let you go so easily. And if a marriage was the way to do that?

So be it.

That afternoon was one of the ones that you had sought him out. Upon exiting the board room after what felt like hours of listening to the low, dull humdrum of the high-ranking officers, the meeting was finally adjourned. Before some idiot could walk up to him to occupy his attention, the sith quickly exited the room, the wind of his fast departure making his cape flutter behind him. Making a b-line for the doors, Vader had full intent to go and find you as soon as possible to talk to you again, giving him some reprieve from all the foolery he had to deal with. However, much to his pleasant surprise, he quickly learned that he did not need to go far to do so. As the doors to the room disappeared into the walls of the doorframe, Lord Vader was met with quite an amusing sight.

Right in front of the door, on the wall opposite to it, you were seated on the ground. Your legs were hugged close to your chest, and your back was against the cool, grey wall. You hadn't seemed to bring a holopad with you this time, since your attention was briefly taken away by your fingers, which were tracing the outlines in the stitching of the cloak that hung over your shoulders. Seemingly very occupied by your actions, you didn't even notice the sith until he took a step closer to you, his mask pointed down at your small frame with his hands on his belt. The dark lord watched your lips part as the realization of who was looking down at you passed through your mind, and watched further as you looked up at him. Of course, as you always did as your customary greeted, you flashed your warm, pretty smile up at him, your eyes soft and kind as usual.

Scanning over you a second further, Lord Vader realized that you had to have been there at least a decent while. The backside of your hair was slightly frayed; a sign that your head and been resting against the wall for some time. Along with this, your cloak had gone rather wrinkled, and he could even sense your discomfort that was the headache that was spreading across your scalp. Yet, despite all this, there you still were. Waiting, and waiting for him nonetheless.

Lord Vader was... delighted.

"How long have you been waiting here?" He asked you, his mask still pointed right down at your face. He knew it had to be a while, but he hoped that it wasn't that long of a while. The dark lord knew that you had to be bored without even a trooper or two nearby to talk to. Hell, even he'd be bored if he were in your shoes.

Vader watched as you shrugged, "Honestly? I lost track after about thirty minutes."

Thirty minutes? Of waiting for him? Lord Vader could feel how his back stiffened at your answer. He was flattered by your dedication to seeing him. Yet, he also felt bad that he had made you wait so long. Shit, if you knocked, he would've allowed you to sit in there with him.

But that probably would've just been even more boring.

"I apologize for making you go to such lengths." Vader said to you, noticing how your smile had widened with a shake of your head and a wave of your hand.

"Don't be sorry," you responded, "it's no big deal. It's not like I have anything else to do around here. And I wanted to see you, so..."

You didn't have to finish your sentiment for Lord Vader to understand what you meant. You were willing to go to such lengths for him. Because that was just who you were.

Vader very much liked that about you. Hell, Vader very much liked you. He wasn't ashamed to admit that now.

Taking another small step closer to your seated form, Lord Vader unfurled one of his hands off of his belt. Dipping down his large, strong shoulder down slightly, he opened up his leather-bound hand, pointing his palm up to the ceiling. He held it a few feet away from your face, offering for you to take it. After a brief glance between his hand and his mask, Lord Vader watched as your smile grew yet again, your full lips curving upwards along with it. Gently, you placed your hand into his, accepting his offer. Your hand was warm against his, soft even, just as it had been the last time he had felt it when you proposed your deal to him. Even he could tell just how well his and your hands melded together, fitting together like perfect pieces of the puzzle.

It made him like you even more.

After feeling your grip tighten around his fingers, Vader kept his strong, muscular arm firmly in place as he helped bring you to your feet. His sturdy grip aided you in keeping your balance; your legs partially asleep after having not been in use for so long. The action had brought you close to your fiancé, to the point where he could feel your body heat against his. When you were sure that you were standing and steady, you gently let go of his hand, flashing up another smile at him to say thank you. The dark lord allowed his gaze to linger on your face a moment longer than needed before he begun his stride; walking at a pace that he knew you were able to keep up with. He had no set destination of where he wished to go as he did so, but didn't mind in the slightest. He just wanted you to be near him while you and him talked. He didn't care where that would be, and he knew that you would share a similar sentiment.

"How did the meeting go?" You asked him, rolling your shoulders to get your blood circulating better again.

"It appears I will have to leave for a short while again." He said in response, seeing your exasperated gaze up at him from the corner of his lenses.

"What? Again?" You questioned, "Didn't you just come back from someplace?"

"I am a busy man, (Y/N). My master expects no less."

You let out a groan, "Yeah, I get it but... I don't know, you're just gone so much! And I miss you while you're gone. Please tell me at least Spade is staying behind to keep me company."

"I'm afraid he will be accompanying me, along with the rest of the legion."

"Great, now I'll really have no one to talk to."

Vader stole a glance down at the disappointed look on your face, a twinge of guilt raking over him. He didn't want to be gone so much, nor did he want to leave you here so bored. If it were up to him, he'd just spend every day either training or talking to you or both. He knew it must be terribly boring and lonely here for you. You had no other friends than himself and Spade, and he understood why you wouldn't want to talk to your family.

He knew that feeling. Of being so utterly and terribly alone.

Vader never wished the same for you. That's why it pained him to leave you so often, and take your only friend with him.

Vader returned his gaze to in front of him as he spoke again, "I promise you that I will return in due time, (Y/N). I shall not leave you for terribly long."

He could tell you still weren't satisfied with that answer. He could see it in his peripheral vision; in the look in your eyes. He could also sense your displeasure coming off of your person. The dark lord could also sense how the gears were turning in your head, rendering you silent for the time being. Vader took note of the way your eyes lit up when your thoughts were finished, of the faint hope in your voice as you spoke again to him.

"Hey, I have an idea." you said, making him steal another look down at you.

"And your idea is?" He said.

"Okay, so just listen for a second. So you're going out with your troops, right? Which are, like, the best of the best in the Empire, right? Which means, the surrounding area would be super secure under-lock-and-key for both you and them. So I was thinking, what if I came with yo-"

The dark lord stopped dead in his tracks and quickly looked down at you again, watching as your lips parted in confusion at his sudden change in demeanor.

"No."

He could tell that you were taken aback by his actions in the way you looked at him; your eyes full of both concern and worry.

"What?" You asked, "What do you mean no? Come on, Vader! It'll be totally safe for me to go, it's not like..."

The dark lord didn't even bother listening to you as you continued on giving him reason after reason on why it would be a good idea for you to accompany him. And honestly? He didn't want to. His mind was already set. Even without having previously conversed about this topic, he knew his stance. And looking at your face as you continued to done on about pretty much any and every reason as to why you should go, it was solidified. He knew it was rude to not listen to you, but his thoughts couldn't help but to stray away from that little corner of the Empirical craft with you. They drifted far, far off. To a vastly different time and place, long before he had even met you.

The sith thought of his former life. In his mind, he saw his mother. He could still picture her in the state that he found her. Broken. Beaten. Abused. And he had not been able to save her. He had been absent while she was tormented. And there was nothing he could do about it. He thought back even to her. She had died too, by his own hand nonetheless. He was a fool then. In the moment she needed him most, it was he that betrayed her. And just killed her like it was nothing. He had lost control of himself. His mother's death was out of his control as well. Those two souls, whom he once thought was held tight in his hands, slipped away from him. As much control he thought he had, he didn't when they needed him the most.

And the thought of you? You as well, slipping away from him like that? Him having full control of whether you lived or died, and then squandering that for the third time in a row?

No.

Absolutely not.

He would not make that same mistake again. As long as you were his fiancé, his friend, he would refuse to let you go. He refused to let you get away from him so easily.

When Lord Vader finally escaped his thoughts, he realized you were still talking. He admired how determined you were to fulfil your desires of spending time with him, but he wouldn't allow it. Not like this.

Gently, the sith lord lifted up his huge, leather hands. He watched your face as your words slowly drew to a halt, forming into an expression of curiosity as you looked into the lenses of his mask. As if you were made of glass, the dark lord wrapped his large, mechanical fingers around the base of your triceps, getting your attention off of your babbling. He could see the way your cheeks lightly dusted with heat at his touch, your soft, gentle lips parted.

Maker above, you were pretty.

Very, very pretty. Beautiful, even.

He quite liked that about you too.

"(Y/N)," he rumbled to you, his head slightly tilted to the side as he spoke, "Your enthusiasm is most amusing, but I am afraid accompanying me would be far too dangerous. Neither myself nor my troops would be able to give you undivided attention. You could be injured, or... far worse."

His gaze dropped away from your face for a moment, his fingers tightening around his arms before he spoke again.

"And I will not allow that to happen."

The dark lord could feel the way his shoulders stiffen. He despised even thinking of the notion of you suffering the same fate as the others before you. That image of you in his head; cold, lifeless. He couldn't bear it. You were his only semblance of mundane life anymore. And if you were to leave him as well?

He didn't want to imagine just what he would become.

"Hey," he heard you call out softly to him, making his gaze pick back up and be placed once again on your face. You were smiling up at him again, full of warmth and care. Quietly, you slipped your hand over to one of his that were still placed on your arm. You took it off of your person and held it gently in your small palms, rubbing warm, soft circles into the back of his knuckles.

Lord Vader was... soothed. He felt calmed. He could feel it in how his shoulders began to relax again.

"I understand, alright?" You continued, "You're right, it is probably too dangerous for me to go. I just thought it might be a good idea to spend more time together, but I was wrong. I'll stay here and wait for you, okay? Just promise me you'll come back as soon as you can. It does get boring without you, yknow."

The sith could feel all of his worry and fears slip away at your words. You knew what he was thinking, didn't you? You saw past the mask he wore. You understood why he was so firm on having you stay here, even if you were gonna be abysmally bored. And you had respected that. You didn't push further, not one ounce. You saw through him, and respected his wishes. You were willing to sacrifice your cause in order to quell his fears.

Lord Vader felt something stir deep, deep inside him. Something he didn't even think existed anymore. It was something he didn't know he was even capable of feeling anymore.

You were a strange individual. You made him feel these... things he had no idea was even still inside him.

That was the part about you he liked the most.

Flipping over his hand inside of yours, the dark lord wrapped his hand around your fingers, giving your flesh a gentle squeeze.

"I promise."

~~~

Your fiancé left the day after. And, just as you expected, you were bored. Painfully bored.

With Vader and Commander Spade gone, you had no one to talk to. And because you didn't exactly have a job to do on this Super Star Destroyer (which you had learned was called the Executor), you had almost nothing to do. Taking walks could only take you so far, and your holopad could only entertain you for so long before it either bored you or gave you a headache or both. It wasn't like you could ask for something to do either; who in their right might would give nobility a task to do? No one. That's who.

For what felt like the millionth time that day, you were on a walk again. It was a little later in the afternoon, so there weren't as many troops as other times of the day. You appreciated not having as much hustle-and-bustle around you, but it did make you feel a bit lonely. Even if you knew the troops wouldn't be keen on talking to you. Just having the feeling of other people around you was comforting. And old relic from your time at home, you figured. You weren't used to being so alone all the time.

Whatever. You would get used to it eventually, you figured.

Heeding the advice your fiancé gave you the other day, you stayed away from the path that led you to the Emperor's meditation chamber. Instead, you found yourself walking around the long, winding corridors of the main access-channel of the Executor. You kept your head in place, but allowed your eyes to wander as you made your way around the dull, grey halls. When an officer or pack of troops would pass by you, you tired your best to give them a friendly smile or not as some sort of human interaction. Most ignored you, but there was the odd one that met your gaze, and an even odder one that would offer you a gesture in return.

After trying to do this for what felt like the umpteenth time, only yet again to be met with failure, you sighed. A small frown enveloped your features as well, your eyes shifting down to the floor.

You missed him. You missed Vader. You missed Spade too, but damn you missed Vader so much more. Over the last few days, you found yourself growing rather close to him. And you could tell he was warming up to you as well. He didn't take everything so seriously around you anymore. He was allowing himself to relax, and to be honest? You liked how he was when he was relaxed. Despite being who he was, you found him easy to talk to. He was strong, sturdy, level-headed and honest. Vader was seemingly a perfect compliment to our optimistic (yet realistic), outgoing nature.

And you missed that. You missed that balance. You missed talking to him, and giggling at the benign things he said. You missed getting to know him.

Closing your eyes briefly, you shook your head to yourself. You were thinking about him wayyy too much. Vader was your friend. Probably your best friend as of late; who just so happened to be your fiancé as well.

Why were you thinking about him so much anyway? And why did you wonder if he was thinking about you too?

Before you could round the corner to the hallway that would lead to the main bridge, you slowed your stride as you walked. You figured that you had gone far enough for the day, and it was time to head back to your quarters to wind down. Turning on your heel, you pivoted yourself to face the other way, creating a map of the ship in your mind so you could find your way back. Before you could take a few steps in the direction back to your room, you were stopped in your tracks, your eyes growing slightly wider as your lips gently parted. Behind you was two tall, regal looking troops, dressed head-to-toe in deep, rich red, the both of them carrying long, sharp spears in their arms. In front of them was a short, grizzly old man, smiling up at you with a hint of a sneer behind those black robes. His eyes were gleaming yellow up at you, the color of his irises sending a shudder down your spine and up your arms.

The Emperor.

"Y-Your Excellency!" You exclaimed, suddenly finding yourself flustered in the surprise presence of him, "Please forgive me, I had no idea that-"

"Come now, your highness." He rasped out to you, waving a hand to dismiss your worries, "There's no need to apologize. Perhaps I should not have snuck up on you in such a way."

Although the old man had tried to calm your worries, you still felt that pounding in your chest. You felt uneased in the presence of the Emperor. Granted he was the Emperor, but you didn't like him. You didn't like the way he looked at you, or smiled at you even. In those gleaming yellow eyes, you could almost swear you saw something in them. Something that told you he knew something that you didn't. That notion was probably true to begin with, but it just felt... wrong.

You wondered why that could be.

Nervously, you tried to smooth out your cloak in attempt to busy your hands with something or another, "I-Is there something I can help you with, your excellency?"

"Oh, nothing of the troubling sort, young one." He wheezed to you, "Just give an old man some company, won't you? Come. Walk with me."

Slowly, the Emperor turned himself so that he was headed in the same direction you had attempted to go earlier. The guards that followed behind him stood still, allowing you to fall in next to the sith as you pleased. You eyed them all for a moment, peering at them through your lashes. Seeing no feasible way out of the situation, you took a step closer to the old man, allowing yourself to walk along next to him through the winding corridors. The Redrobes followed behind the pair of you in silence, the feeling of their presence heavy on your back. Thankfully, Palpatine was following the path you made in your head back to your quarters, saving you from having to worry about excusing yourself away from him to get back on track. Palpatine's person was cold next to you; you wondered if he had any body heat to him as he hobbled along with his long, spindly cane. You kept your thoughts and questions to yourself as you treaded next to him, finding that it would just cause more trouble if you hadn't.

"Tell me, your highness," the old man begun, making you steal a glance at him, "How do you seem to be getting along with Lord Vader?"

"Erm, well..." you responded, feeling your cheeks lightly heat up as you averted your gaze back to the floor in front of you, "I believe we're getting along well, your excellency. Talking to him has gotten much easier, and I do seem to miss him while he's away..."

The Emperor let out a low, raspy chuckle at your sentiments, making a chill creep across your skin. You hated his laugh. It was nasty.

"I figured you would say as such." Palpatine said, "My apprentice speaks highly of you, (Y/N). And seemingly to no end."

You felt your cheeks heat up further at the sith's statement, your shoulders stiffening as your eyes widened. You stole another glance at the old man, looking for any form of deception in his scarred, ugly face. He was either incredibly hard for you to read, or incredibly skilled at masking his true intentions, because you saw nothing of the sort. It only made your cheeks heat further.

"Really?" you asked, trying your best to hide the excitement and bashfulness in your voice, but to no avail. Your voice only made the sith next to you chuckle again, this time all the more raspy and dark than the last.

"Do not act so shocked, your highness." Palpatine said, "From all the time the two of you seem to be spending with one another, it was bound to occur eventually. If I'm not somehow mistaken."

"N-No, it's just... I was worried Lord Vader didn't feel the same way. It's hard for me to judge his intentions at times. He is... confusing, at times, your excellency."

Palpatine took a breif pause to collect his thoughts, "Trust me, I am well aware of that, your highness. Lord Vader has always been a troubled individual. He is often clouded by his own judgements and feelings. They all clash and conflict with one another. I doubt that he has ever been sure of anything. Just have patience with him, your highness. He seems to trust you a great deal, and he will recognize that himself in due time. Offer your support when correct to do so, but also know when to leave him be. He'll sort himself out eventually and return to you."

As intimidating and eerie as the Emperor was, you had to give him credit where it was due. He was good at getting you to talk. And he gave you some good insight and advice as well. You didn't even want to talk to him at first, yet there you were. Chatting away like the two of you had known each other for years. He was way too good at what he did. It made you feel odd. Why did he even care this much to begin with? Was he just curious? Bored?

You didn't know. And you quickly accepted that you would probably never know. At the very least, you got to learn more about him.

So why should you complain?

~~~

Lord Vader was having trouble keeping in focus. It was very, very difficult to keep his mind on the task at hand.

He was on that planet for a reason. To find any trace of the rebellion, and squander it immediately. That's what should have been on his mind. Nothing other than find, capture, and destroy. And it was frustrating that he couldn't keep his thoughts on those very subjects. No matter how hard he tried to direct himself back to the correct path, he would always lose his way. He would lose his thoughts back to you.

The dark lord hadn't even been away from you for 24 hours, and he already missed you. He missed talking to you, and having you near him. Here, he was surrounded by incompetence and lack-luster. While this was also true on the Executor, here there were no breaks from it all. When he found himself frustrated or annoyed, he couldn't just go and find you. He didn't have you nearby to offer him some reprieve from it all. It was silly. He shouldn't be so bitter about these facts, but he couldn't help it. He was. And he was going to allow himself to be as such. The sith had gotten a taste of what mundane life used to be like with you, and he was hooked. It was something he never thought he would be able to experience again. Not after all the mistakes he had made in the past.

So excuse him, if he's a little bitter that he doesn't get his fix.

Well, perhaps a little bit more than bitter. The troopers under his command made note of how much more on edge Lord Vader was. He was quicker to show his displeasure, and even quicker to let it be known. Hell hath no fury like a sith lord scorned, and the troopers knew this. They kept their head down that mission, did as they were told. Do your job, don't get in the way. That was the mantra they would follow on that assignment, hoping for their life not be cut short by the point of his saber.

But some troops weren't as lucky as the others.

"My Lord?" Vader heard a voice calling to him. He was able to recognize it almost immediately as Commander Spade's, but made no effort to turn to the man to acknowledge him as the troop stood in the doorway, blaster held firmly to his chest.

"What is it, Commander?" the dark lord asked in response, continuing to stare out of the window of the Empirical base to the horizon out yonder. His tone was sharp, short even, without him even trying to sound such a way.

"The search parties were just sent out." Spade explained, "I'll notify you when they return."

The dark lord said nothing in return. He continued to stare straight ahead without another word.

Spade was a good man. He had been under Lord Vader's command for some time now, and the dark lord was impressed by his abilities. So much so, that he trusted the young trooper to guard your life. And he had done so without a hitch. Hell, you seemed to like the trooper as well. You always requested that he stayed behind from assignments to keep you company where the sith would not. The commander had grown close to you, it seemed.

Lord Vader wondered how close.

"Commander Spade." The dark lord rumbled out as he turned now to the trooper, watching as he stood at attention whilst under the gaze of the sith, "What can you tell me of (Y/N)?"

A staring contest was held between the two men for a good, long while, the only sound emanating from the room the metronome that was Lord Vader's respirator, coupled with the dull hum of the air conditioning units. Eventually, the trooper was the one to break the tension in the air. Spade had relaxed his shoulders, tilting his helmet ever so slightly to the side before letting out a soft chuckle, muffled through the speaker in his helmet. Ordinarily, Lord Vader wouldn't tolerate such discrepancies. But, because the Commander held information he wished to know, and more importantly, because you had grown fond of him, Lord Vader let it slide.

For now.

"You miss (Y/N), don't you m'Lord?" Spade asked, placing his blaster into its holster as he crossed his arms across his armored chest.

Another pause from the sith, "...Yes. I do."

The trooper shook his armored head with a light shrug, "All I can say, m'Lord, is that you certainly got lucky with that one. It could've been much worse. (Y/N) asks about you a lot. To no end. So if you're keen on taking any advice from a guy like me, m'Lord? Cherish that. Because (Y/N) is really making an effort for you. And that's something you don't see much of anymore."

With that, the Commander uncrossed his arms and walked off, vanishing again into the Empirical base. Lord Vader stared ahead at the now empty doorway for a good, long while, not moving one single inch. Had it been true? What his commander had told him? How could it not be, Lord Vader figured. Spade was never one to lie to him. And Lord Vader had never seen Spade so... open. Perhaps that was his own special way of telling the dark lord what was what.

You had... asked about him. Out of the kindness of your own heart, out of the sheer dedication to honor the promise you made to the sith about making things work; you asked. You didn't have to be friendly with Spade. But you did. For Vader's sake. For the sake of your relationship to him, and to help you understand him. And, most importantly, for the sake of being the best possible version of yourself you could be to your fiancé.

Turning back to the windows that allowed him to see the view of the outside world, Lord Vader pictured your face. In his mind's eye, he saw your smile. He felt the weight on his hands of where yours had previously been.

Lord Vader missed you. He missed you so so much. He shouldn't feel so strongly in his longing for you, his friend, but he did. It was something that was puzzling to him. He hadn't felt this deep of a longing since...

You were strange to him. So, so very strange. You made him feel such things he hasn't felt in a long, long time.

And he quite liked that about you.

~~~

tags: @the-official-memester , @astra-1780 , @natsuki-iid , @instantnoooodles , @tuskens-mando , @guinea-pig16 , @weixuldo , @amidalis , @vanyali07 , @sourskywalker , @khapikat777 , @ruhro7 , @missmannequin , @yvette-ace , @burn-bunny , @darkcastle167

apologies to any blogs tumblr wont let me tag!

#darth vader x reader #darth vader x you #darth vader x y/n #star wars x reader #star wars x you #star wars fanfiction #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker x you #anakin x reader #anakin x you #sw fanfic #star wars

[lost-technology]

The Skull

Tri-Tober Fanfic shorts Prompt 26: Legato Setting: Trigun Maximum Summary: People wondered where Legato's shoulder-skull came from. They assumed it was a first kill. It was an entirely different kind of trophy. Warning: Deals with Legato's Trimax backstory, this means mentions of non-con and graphic violence.

Prompt 26: Legato The Skull The Gung-Ho Guns had theories about the real human skull that Legato wore on his shoulder.  They were little guesses, things said to shoot the shit when they were taking shots of whiskey in their downtime, waiting for the gods to move.  The Gauntlet had a belief that it had belonged to Legato’s sister.  He swore he heard him mention having had a sister once, although he couldn’t recall when.  The Mine thought that Legato was just pretending to be more badass than he was and had just found the skull amid some of the ancient spacecraft wreckage out in the desert.  Most thought it was a trophy from Legato’s first kill.   They couldn’t have all been more wrong.  Legato treasured that skull, but he had not slain its former owner.  Not at all.  The piece was a holy relic, a gift from an Angel, given to him the day he’d been given a name.  For as much of his childhood as he could remember, he was the Caged Boy, the Toy, the Dog.  His memory blocked how he had gotten to his “hometown.”  He felt a sense of abandonment and loss, but day to day life was the true Hell.  He was fed on scraps – crusts of bread and spoiled meat.  Occasionally, he was bathed and dressed up in fancy clothing to share a dinner of finer things with a high-paying client that demanded it.  He learned what he’d had to do.  Beatings for “messing up” were frequent, as were beatings as part of the appeasement of those that paid his owners to use him, as well as other creative tortures that got them off.  The Caged Boy could have given into despair, but instead he learned from the tortures he suffered.  The fantasies he had of visiting what he had received upon his captors and the indifferent townspeople who knew of the youth who suffered for their dubious paradise were steeled into a resolve.  He wanted nothing whatsoever to do with sex, but the violence would be glorious.  He discovered the Threads and worked with them.  The first experiments were on little animals that entered his filthy confines.  He’d managed to puppeteer a few drunk drifters into town who “went missing” by the time he was done with them and were not missed enough for their remains to be found.  His master plan, however, had ended in failure and the chief of the gang that owned him, the utter pig who’d had his way with him on the regular had it in mind to do it to the death.  As he was about to commence, he fell in neat slices, like thick deli meat, but fresh with pumping blood.  A Thread deflected micron-thin blades that were sweeping in around the boy like the winds of a hurricane.    The entire town was leveled to a sea of blood and the Caged Boy felt a joy he’d never felt before.  The very first thing he did, before he’d noticed the Angel, was to pick up his owner’s head and to marvel at the clean slice through the neck that had left enough oxygenated blood in the brain for the bastard to still live.  The boy happily played with the head, carefully showing the man the sliced chunks of his body, pulling on the ears, poking the eyes, pulling on the hair and jowls and doing anything and everything else he could do to torment the awful creature before the brain finally succumbed.  He was still conscious when the boy picked up a shard of broken glass and started flensing out the skull.  These days, the head was now dead, clean and old.  Its empty eye-sockets would witness the end of its species.   Legato’s skull had been a gift, a blessing bestowed by a superior being. 

#trigun #trigun maximum #legato bluesummers #cw: sa mention #cw: gore #tritober #tri-tober #inktober

[the-era-of-shadow]

The Musings of Doctor Ellidy

Written by Ash Rose & Rai Rose (@theshootingraistar) Cover Art by Ash Rose

THIS STORY CONTAINS: Swearing, themes of government conspiracy, descriptions of body horror, implied off screen character death, mentions of vomit

Author's Note: Well, have you heard of it? I bet you have~ ;]

“It's kinda crazy how much things can change just a year after repairing the entire world…” Sally Acorn quietly lamented to herself staring out one of the Sky Patrol’s many windows - looking upon a world that was once again in immense turmoil.

The sight reminded her of a time two years past in the worst of ways. In the last days of September 2007 going into October, Sally and the rest of the Freedom Fighters had been working on infiltrating the Robotnik Empire, trying to find answers to Doctor Ivo Robotnik’s plans, the only pieces they knew was that he was once again building a spacecraft and that Sonic, Tails, Amy and Cream had mysteriously gone M.I.A at the beginning of the month - something that Sally was certain at the time that Robotnik had something to do with. 

But just as the four of them turned back up, Doctor Robotnik’s plan revealed itself to them right then and there in an event that would go down in history as the “Shattered World Crisis”.

Between finding the Chaos Emeralds, locating the Gaia Temples, and all the incidents in between that came about as the Freedom Fighters raced to fix things, it had taken them a year and a month to get the world back together.

After such a scenario, part of Sally had expected to get to have a break of sorts from the responsibilities of heroism. But as Sally now stood in a mostly empty Sky Patrol in the second to final month of the year 2009, she knew that they did not in fact get her way.

The troubles began rather mundanely at the start, at least compared to what things would become. In late February it was brought to the Freedom Fighters’ attentions that after years of tight companionship and seemingly no sign of conflict, one of their allies; Team Dark, had suddenly broken up, leaving Rouge still working for G.U.N while Shadow and Omega left to go to a place Rouge never told the Freedom Fighters of. She had claimed that she wasn't told herself, but Sally gleaned from how tortured Rouge looked in the following weeks and months that she must have known more than she was confessing to.

However, things wouldn't become disastrous until June - echoing the lead up to the Shattered World Crisis with yet another disappearance. This time it was Knuckles who disappeared, apparently kidnapped by a long lost Echidna tribe called the Nocturnus in an act of revenge for events of long ago. The conflict resulted in most of the Freedom Fighters having to travel out to a distant galaxy where in which existed the pocket dimension-like prison where the rest of the Nocturnus were located - The Twilight Cage. 

What none of the Freedom Fighters would know then, however, was that with the most of them gone, and with any current projects of theirs left unguarded, the Robotnik Empire was given the opportunity to strike once again. In a ransacking of Tails’ personal workshop in the Mystic Ruins, the Empire had found a shard of the mysterious Phantom Ruby that Tails had been studying before they had left, and using the Ruby’s powers, Doctor Robotnik once again took the world by storm.

Effectively, the Freedom Fighters were back at square one. It made Sally feel insufficient - inadequate for the duty that had been put on her. Especially now, with most of the Freedom Fighters off in another galaxy.

Staring out at the abysmal state of the world that she had promised to protect, having to stare out at many different abysmal states of the world that came and went over the years, it pushed Sally nearly to the point of breaking down and crying. She felt like such a failure.

But she didn't have the time to wallow in her own despair. As much as it started to burn her out into a crisp, she had a world that was relying on her. And friends! Friends that were relying on them too!

Sally figured she would try to check up on the Freedom Fighters that were away from home as a form of bringing herself some comfort. They hadn't thought of it before, as she had assumed that with the others so far away, there would be no way to pick up a signal of any kind. But thinking about it, the traveling Freedom Fighters did indeed take some of Tails’ electronic communicators with them just in case. So Sally figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

Giving the order to Nicole, she made an attempt to call the others, holding on to the expectation of failure just in case. There's no telling how long it'd even take for any sort of signal to travel to their location, after all.

But against all odds, the call miraculously went through and was able to be answered - specifically by one Amy Rose. This result gave Sally a whole truckload of much needed relief - not just because of the call itself being able to go through, but because of Amy being the one to pick up as well. Amy was always exceptional at bringing a sense of comfort back into such dire circumstances like this.

“Oh my gods! It’s working! We’re actually on a call right now!” Amy exclaimed in complete awe as soon as she picked up.

“I know, right…? Who would’ve thought that the signal could withstand such a dramatic distance…?” Sally responded, Amy’s excitement already bringing them peace.

“Oh, yeah, hi Sal!” Amy greeted, sounding as if she had completely forgotten to do so until just a few seconds ago.

“Hey Ames…” Sally greeted in return.

“You sound tired… Is everything holding up well back at home with you, Rotor and Nicole?” Amy then asked.

“Well to be blunt - no, it isn't.” Sally admitted.

“Oh no! What's the matter? I hope it isn't too serious!” Amy reacted with concern.

“It… Very much is…” Sally revealed, grimacing. She then proceeded to relay to Amy how the Robotnik Empire had gotten their hands on the Phantom Ruby shard and what they have done with it since then, a tale that caused Amy immense shock and distress.

“That's terrible!! Should we come back home??” Amy offered, completely horrified.

“No-no, you don't need to do that. Knuckles needs you guys out there.” Sally replied, despite knowing deep down that the help back home would make things so much better to deal with.

“Are you sure?? I can't imagine how stressful it is for just you three to be facing that all alone!!” Amy profusely insisted.

“It is a lot- But! Rotor, Nic and I aren't completely alone, actually!” Sally assured her. “The Chaotix very selflessly have been helping us out a ton despite the lack of a mystery to solve in all this! I hear that they're starting to make plans for some of them to go out on a mission to try to retrieve the shard for us! A-and! I know it sounds crazy because of their break-up earlier this year, but according to the security camera footage Rotor has gotten from Station Square, it seems like Team Dark have temporarily gotten back together to help take Doctor Robotnik down!” She elaborated, trying their best to not have Amy worry about them.

“Wait, run that last one by me again?” Amy questioned.

“Team Dark have gotten back together at least for now to help us as well?” Sally reiterated, hoping that was what Amy meant.

“Yeah that's… That's what I thought you said.” Amy affirmed, sounding very confused - which in turn confused Sally as well. “Sal, I mean this very gently but… Rouge is with us right now.”

“Wh… What?? B-but I know I saw Rouge with Shadow and Omega in the footage we got!” Sally argued in disbelief.

“Well one of us must be mistaken..!” Amy remarked. “Here, I'll go get Rouge to talk with you - maybe she knows what's going on!” She added, leaving the view of the communicator for a moment to presumably go fetch Rouge - or whoever it was with them pretending to be Rouge.

Or maybe it was the person in the security footage with the other former Team Dark members that is the fake? The more Sally thought about it, the more likely that sounded compared to her original assumption. Whoever it is - shouldn't she just be grateful that they're helping out? Sally tried to have that mindset, but they kept feeling like something about it was off.

“Me? A call with the princess? Well aren't I quite the lucky lady~?” Sally could hear Rouge's voice say as she and Amy entered the communicator’s view.

“Sal, do you wanna tell Rouge what's going on or should I?” Amy asked.

“I'll do it. You can go now if you're needed, Ames.” Sally answered.

“Alrighty then! I'll leave you both to it!” Amy said as she left the room.

“Rouge, did Amy tell you about how things are here as she brought you here?” Sally immediately inquired.

“She did. I got pretty worried when I heard that it's the apocalypse out there… again. But hey, at least it's just Eggy.” Rouge answered, her tone rather nonchalant despite the sweat Sally could see going down the side of Rouge's head.

“ “Just Eggy”?” Sally questioned.

“Oh- W-well… could've been another angry deity situation like with Dark Gaia during the Shattered World stuff, you know!” Rouge sheepishly clarified.

Sally narrowed her eyes for a moment, but decided to let it go. Instead, they decided to explain the specific situation at hand to Rouge that required her presence in the first place.

“... A-are you… sure that was me you saw?? Could've been any other bat mobian - th-there’s tons out there!!” Rouge finally argued after going silent for about a minute after Sally had spoken.

“I suppose you have a point, but I specifically saw “you” with Shadow and Omega. What other bat mobians do those two specifically know other than you, Rouge?” Sally elaborated, not liking that Rouge was immediately going on the offense.

“I don't fucking know! I already told you, they abandoned me in the middle of the night back in February! How am I supposed to know who they've met since then, huh??” Rouge lashed out very quickly, which made Sally feel very suspicious of her.

“Use your inside voice, please.” Sally gently reminded Rouge, not wanting to snap back at her. But it didn't seem to help.

“How do you know they're not just some civilian that came by and decided to help them out?! It very obviously seems to be a warzone out there!! Why does everyone always suspect that it's my fault when those two go off doing something stupid???” Rouge hollered, refusing to calm down despite Sally’s efforts.

“Rouge - you were closer to them than anyone else. You should know that they probably wouldn't accept help from a stranger like that.” Sally argued back, trying to hold back the anger of her own that was forming as they became fed up with Rouge's behavior.

“Well then I don't know what to fucking tell ya!! I don't know jack shit about what those two do! Because, news flash, since you apparently didn't hear it the first million times I've told you over the past year - THEY ABANDONED ME AND ALL OF G.U.N.” Rouge shouted.

“Why did they leave, Rouge? Have you given it even an inkling of thought-?!” Sally questioned her, having decided that they were done having Rouge give the others nothing but wallowing in reference to Shadow and Omega’s departure.

“LIKE I'D EVER FUCKING TELL YOU!!!” Rouge snapped back before Sally even had the chance to finish speaking, hanging up right after - and thus leaving Sally to fester in her pent up rage.

But very quickly that rage turned into paranoia. Rouge was hiding something - Sally was beginning to be certain in that belief. She very likely would have spiraled into a rabbit hole from it, if it weren't for Rotor showing up to bring a strand of optimism for Sally to hold onto.

“Sounds like that didn't go very well…!” Rotor uttered reluctantly as he entered the Sky Patrol’s central room. Sally didn’t respond. “Geez, ever since Shadow left, Rouge’s been filling the angsty angry edgelord hole it left behind more and more, huh?” He added in a sort of joking manner - very clearly trying to cut the tension and raise Sally’s spirits. It did work, honestly, it did. It was just taking Sally a bit to get back to a point where she felt comfortable enough to speak. “... What if the other Rouge we’ve been seeing in the security footage is a Phantom Ruby clone?” Rotor eventually suggested.

“A what?” Sally immediately replied, the foreign nature of the idea Rotor had just proposed snapping them out of her anxiety filled daze.

“I’ve been reading through the notes that Tails had managed to write about the Phantom Ruby before all this began, and according to them, the Phantom Ruby can create illusions of things! So what if this second “Rouge” is an illusion created by the ruby?” Rotor elaborated.

“How would we be able to trust it?” Sally questioned after taking a moment to consider what Rotor was saying. “The Phantom Ruby shard is in Robotnik’s hands now, and we haven’t found any other shards. For all we know, the “shard” could be the only Phantom Ruby out there! So if this “Rouge” was coming from the ruby, that’d mean that it’s coming from Robotnik.” 

“... Huh. That’s a fair argument Sal.” Rotor admitted. “So then… got any other ideas?”

“I’d rather not think about it right now.” Sally revealed.

“... Fair.” Rotor remarked as he finally sat down in one of the several chairs situated around the room’s massive table.

“I know I probably sound crazy right now but… The way Rouge acted… The way Rouge has been acting… I can’t help but think that she’s hiding something. Something crucial…” Sally confessed in a pained tone of voice. “Got any idea of what that might be?” Rotor asked.

“Heh… That’s the part that sucks the most - I don’t. I just have this… overwhelming sense of doom that’s eclipsing my mind.” Sally answered.

“Well in that case… Maybe it’s just nerves? When did you last eat? Or sleep?” Rotor inquired.

“Uhhhhh….” Sally uttered.

“... Drink water?”  Rotor added.

“Ehhh…” Sally reacted.

“You… Should really go do that. Any of those.” Rotor recommended.

“But-” Sally tried to argue back, but Rotor cut her off.

“Nicole and I can handle things here. Rest.” Rotor insisted.

“Fine… I’ll be in my room if you need me.” Sally relented, getting up from her chair.

“Atta girl.” Rotor replied.

-Loading ↻-

“Hey, Sally-gal!” The sudden sound of Bunnie’s voice broke through the metaphorical barrier between the past and the present, breaking Sally out of her daydreaming. “Are ya feeling alright?” She asked.

“Huh? O-Oh, yeah - just lost in thought, I guess.” Sally sheepishly answered, embarrassed. Unlike in the memories that had been playing in their head, the Sally of the present was still sitting at the central room’s table.

Feeling a bit disoriented, Sally took out her phone and flipped it open to check what the date and time was.

9:31 AM

Friday, October 7th, 2011

“Can’t blame ya. There’s a lot to be thought about right now.” Bunnie responded, placing her non-robotic hand on Sally’s shoulder. In her other, much more metallic hand, she held a mug filled with some sort of beverage.

“Yep…” Sally agreed tiredly, the strain in her voice being something that Bunnie seemed to very quickly pick up on.

“Say… You aren’t… mad at Ames for all these recent shenanigans, are ya?” Bunnie inquired cautiously.

“No! Not at all!” Sally quickly replied. “Besides, I wasn’t thinking about recent events…” She added.

“Oh? Well what were ya thinking about?” Bunnie wondered, sitting in the chair next to Sally and having a sip of her drink.

“... Back during the start of the Phantom Ruby War - when most of us were still away in Twilight Cage.” Sally replied.

“Oh yeah... That was quite the shitty sitch’ there, wasn’t it?” Bunnie recollected rather somberly, staring into her drink.

“Quite.” Sally uttered.

“Are you mad at us who went? I mean, imagine how much quicker things could have been resolved if we hadn’t been so divided - think of all the lives we could’ve saved-!” Bunnie questioned, turning back to face Sally - who interrupted her.

“No, I’m not mad at anyone. Promise.” Sally reassured her, placing her hand on Bunnie’s shoulder like she had placed hers on theirs earlier. “Just… Reminiscing? No, reminiscing isn’t the right word for something so… Bleak…” 

“Reflecting?” Bunnie suggested.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Sally agreed. “By the way, what do you have in your mug there?” She then inquired.

“Just some coffee! You want some?” Bunnie answered.

“Well, I guess, but I can just get it myself-” Sally stated, eyeing the coffee maker on the other side of the central room.

“I insist, sugar! I’ll get the coffee for ya! You stay right there and tell me about what you’re reflectin’ on.” Bunnie interrupted, placing her arm out to keep Sally seated as she herself got up from her chair.

“Okay. So Rotor and I were keeping track of the security cameras across Mobotropolis so we could keep track of what the Robotnik Empire was doing and to see if any civilians needed our help, right? So we’re doing that, and on one of our cameras, we spot Team Dark of all people out there fighting off badniks!” Sally began to explain.

“Team Dark??” Bunnie echoed in so much confusion that it interrupted her coffee making process. “But-”

“Rouge was in Twilight Cage with the rest of the Freedom Fighters at the time!” Both Bunnie and Sally said in unison.

“Exactly!” Sally exclaimed. “When I got the chance to talk to Rouge about it, she got really defensive and angry, lashing out at me and deflecting from the subject matter of the conversation, before outright hanging up on me!” She continued, Bunnie carrying on with making Sally’s coffee.

“Sounds like something Shadow would normally do. Ya know, rather than Rouge.” Bunnie remarked.

“That’s what Rotor had said!” Sally revealed. 

“Knowing you, I bet that got your nerves a real shakin’, huh?” Bunnie guessed.

“Definitely…! I think I still remember the exact words I used to describe how I was feeling to Rotor.” Sally replied.

“Is that so~?” Bunnie reacted teasingly.

“Yeah! I think it was… “a feeling of impending doom eclipsing over me” or something like… that.” Sally elaborated, the eventual irony of her choice of words occurring to her mid sentence.

“Good Gaias, Sally-gal! Looks like you have an acute case of pun-voyance!” Bunnie joked, giggling up a storm.

Sally didn't respond, leaving things silent between the two girls once Bunnie’s laughter subsided - aside from the sound of the coffee maker. But then Sally had a sort of epiphany.

“... Do you think that Rouge's behavior was related to the Black Arms?” Sally suddenly asked Bunnie.

“I was more talking about recent events in general with the “pun-voyance” thing but… Whaddya gettin’ at, girly?” Bunnie asked in turn as she brought Sally’s coffee to her.

“We didn’t know it back during the war, but the BA were already back by then, weren’t they? I mean, that is why Shadow and Omega left - that we now know. What if-?” Sally started to speculate, but was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing in her pocket.

Taking their phone out, Sally was fully ready to assume the caller was a telemarketer or something akin to such, since in her mind, anyone who she would know enough to justify getting a call from would do so straight to the Sky Patrol itself, especially this early in the day. But just before she went to press the reject call button, she saw who it was that was calling her and quickly changed their tune, accepting the call quite swiftly.

“Sal! I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time!” The person on the phone spoke.

“No, you actually caught me at a pretty good time all things considered - but why are you calling me through my personal phone at nine in the morning, Manic??” Sally replied, being rather confused.

“Manic?? Put that hog on speaker phone, won't ya?” Bunnie interjected, nearly spitting out her coffee in surprise.

Sally asked Manic if he was alright with being on speaker phone, to which he agreed.

“Is that Bunnie I hear with you?” Manic asked with curiosity as Sally placed her phone on the table.

“You're damn straight, sugar!” Bunnie confirmed.

“Well I'm not, but-" Manic began to reply, being interrupted by giggles coming from Bunnie and Sally. "... That means I either accidentally called in during a co-op mission, or you guys are just hanging out in the Sky Patrol.” He reasoned.

“It's the latter, don't worry.” Sally told them, to which Manic let out a sigh of relief.

“From what Sal’s been tellin’ me, there was a bit of a situation last week, but things have been rather quiet since then! Knuckles and Espio came by earlier to take Amy and Tails to hang out for the day, leaving the rest of us to laze about.” Bunnie added, temporarily placing her feet on the table, before putting them back down when Sally glared disapprovingly at her for doing so.

“Well aren't I a lucky little hedgehog, then! Besides, it makes me feel better for doing this when it isn't an immediate emergency.” Manic remarked, piquing Sally and Bunnie’s curiosities. “I just haven't been able to get a response from anyone involved, so I figured you'd be a good person to go to instead.” They then added, which only made the two girls even more intrigued.

“Sounds like you have a lot on your mind Manic. Mind telling us what it is you're talking about?” Sally wondered.

“... Have either of you heard of Project Midnight?” Manic inquired bluntly.

Sally and Bunnie silently looked at each other for around a minute, neither of them seeming to know what to say in response. Sally was completely motionless while Bunnie took a long sip of her coffee.

“I take it that you haven't?” Manic surmised, sounding a bit dismayed.

“Sorry, sugar. I don't think I ha-” Bunnie was about to respond, but Sally cut her off.

“I have.” They revealed.

“You have?? From where??” Manic questioned Sally, becoming ecstatic.

“Doctor Ellidy, an old employee of my parents - about a year ago he had told me about how he had been contacted to join the project.” Sally explained.

“Well I'll be, it seems like that ol’ Nicole disappearing incident that happened back during the Shattered World Crisis was just what the two of you needed to reconnect!” Bunnie observed, making Sally roll her eyes light-heartedly.

“Something like that.” Sally replied.

“Do you think you could share what he said?” Manic requested.

“Oh, of course! Let me just go into my messages…” Sally agreed, picking up her phone off of the table to look through her messaging app.

“Hey uh, do you think it'd be okay if I hung up real quick and called you back through Tails’ communicator thingy? I had figured it’d be more convenient with going through your phone at first but now it seems like the opposite is the case.” Manic then suggested.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Sally said approvingly.

-Loading ↻-

It had taken Manic about ten minutes to call the Sky Patrol back after having hung up with Sally. This didn't bother neither Sally nor Bunnie all that much, as they knew that he had likely just gotten distracted by something. Manic is quite the busy guy after all, being a member of South Island’s royal family as well as an independent music producer and all. Sally especially didn't mind the wait, as it gave her time to go through her messages and scroll to where Doctor Ellidy and her had talked about Project Midnight - and also to drink her coffee.

After those ten minutes had gone past, Nicole's voice rang out through the Sky Patrol.

“Incoming call from-”

“It's Manic, isn't it? I know you know we're expecting him, so just pick up already!” Sally said teasingly to Nicole before she could finish her announcement.

“I figured it would be better to stick to the script.” Nicole argued. 

Part of Sally wished she could just spend the day talking to Nicole, the thought reminded her of when Sally was just a kid. The day was perfect for something like that, no sign of mayhem from any bad guys and beautiful weather - the perfect moment for a date that was exceptionally rare. But Sally and Nicole both knew that such things would just have to wait until Manic’s worries were quelled.

“Hey guys! Sorry for the wait - the ol’ parents wanted to let Sonia and I know that they're having a royal meeting of sorts later that they want us to attend.” Manic explained as soon as Nicole picked up.

“Is that so?” Sally wondered.

“Yeah - it's probably just an excuse to have us go outside on this nice day, but it's something to keep in mind, I guess.” Manic elaborated.

“Do you know when this meeting is, sugar?” Bunnie asked.

“Noon. That gives us a little over two hours to talk.” Manic answered.

“Good thing I pulled up the conversation I had with Doctor Ellidy about Project Midnight while we waited for you then!” Sally remarked, to which she noticed both Bunnie and Manic nod in agreement to. Now that Manic was speaking via their Twin-Tail Electronic Communicator straight to the Sky Patrol, the call now had video attached.

“I wonder if you put your phone in the slot in the table where you used to have to put my console into if I'd be able to display the texts onto the room’s main screen.” Nicole speculated. The idea did intrigue Sally, but she ended up turning down the idea.

“I'd still have to read or summarize them for Manic either way - so there's really no reason to complicate things.” She reasoned.

“Understood. Maybe we can experiment with it next time.” Nicole responded, sounding just ever so slightly disappointed.

-Loading ↻-

“Good morning, Doctor Ellidy!” - Sally

“Morning, Sally.” - Ellidy

“Is there any particular reason why you've texted me today?” - Ellidy

“Not really, no.” - Sally

“Just wanted to check up on you, that's all!” - Sally

“I see! Thank you.” - Ellidy

“So, how are things? Anything new going on for you?” - Sally

“All's good here.” - Ellidy

“Though yes, there is something new to talk about, I suppose.” - Ellidy

“Is that so?” - Sally

“Yes.” - Ellidy

“For the first time in quite a while, someone reached out to me to ask me to join on a project.” - Ellidy

“Ooooo~! Do you know what the project is? Who's running it?” - Sally

“The person who contacted me says they work for G.U.N, and they were looking for someone with experience dealing with roboticized Mobians for a new project G.U.N is funding.” - Ellidy

“A project in pursuit of rehabilitating roboticized Mobians and giving them a new life to live. “Project Midnight” is the name, apparently.” - Ellidy

“That sounds fantastic! Please tell me you said yes!!!!” - Sally

“Ehh… It sounds fine and all, but I'm an old man. I need to stick strong to my guns on my retirement.” - Ellidy

“Especially after what I was dragged into with the Shattered World Crisis.” - Ellidy

“Aw :(“ - Sally

“I understand, you take care of you” - Sally

“I’ll try to remember this convo and bring this project up to someone else who might be fit for the job!” - Sally

“ “Try to”? ” - Ellidy

“Well, I've got a lot on my mind right now. Sure, the Phantom Ruby War is over now, but it just ended, and there's restoration to be done in its wake.” - Sally

“Ahh. Makes sense.” - Ellidy.

-Loading ↻-

“And after that we started talking about the restoration efforts.” Sally concluded her reading of their texts.

“So, did you remember to follow up on the project?” Manic inquired.

“... No…” Sally admitted, becoming quite embarrassed.

“Aww, There there, Sally-gal. You’ve got a lot goin’ on, it’s all good!” Bunnie told her reassuringly, gently patting Sally on the back.

“Did he ever bring it back up?” Manic asked.

“He did not.” Sally answered. “May I ask why you're asking about this in the first place?” She then questioned.

“Ah! Right! I guess that would be good info for y'all.” Manic realized. “You see, even though the guys at G.U.N couldn't get that Ellidy guy in on the project, they went forward with it - getting into contact with Mama Aleena and having her send a group of partially roboticized Mobians to the mainland to be treated.” He then explained. “But there's a problem.”

“A problem?” Sally echoed with concern.

“You see, after they took that group… Those guys never got back to us. Not to tell us how the folks we sent are doing, not to tell us what they did, nothing.” Manic revealed.

“Well ain't that just peachy…?” Bunnie remarked sarcastically.

“Sounds like quite the predicament… Have you tried emailing them yourself? Or anything of that sort to initiate communication?” Sally inquired of Manic.

“I have, yeah.” Manic replied simply.

“... I'm guessing that didn't work.” Sally surmised from Manic’s tone.

“Yeeeep.” Manic confirmed, sounding understandably annoyed. Sally knew that their annoyance wasn't targeted towards her - it was targeted at G.U.N.

“Hey, in Sal’s texts with the good Doc, he called Project Midnight a “new life” for these roboticized Mobians. Is that something the folks behind the project say to or was it just El?” Bunnie interjected, seeming like she was setting up for another question depending on how Manic answered. Sally was curious as to what Bunnie could be thinking about, but she decided to just wait and see how the conversation would play out naturally.

“Yeah, actually. I think I do remember that wording. Quite a big promise, ain't it?” Manic responded.

“Did any of those G.U.N guys ever elaborate on that point? Did they ever specify what this “new life” even is??” Bunnie questioned. It was an incredibly fair question to ask, and a smart one at that. It was indeed a big promise to give, as Manic said - but it was also a terribly vague one. “A new life” could be anything.

“... Huh. I guess they didn't, no.” Manic replied, clearly having not thought of it himself.

“That’s great, just dandy, even! Those jackasses just gave those poor guys a false promise and then fucked off! Not like a poor mobian that went through something so horrific would be desperate to change things! No, not at all!” Bunnie lashed out and pouted. 

Sally understood why she would be so offended on the behalf of those that were sent in for the project. She too was a partly roboticized Mobian, her left arm and entire lower half being metallic. While Bunnie nowadays has found a way to live with how her body is, Sally was right by her side during the years of struggle she had to endure. Bunnie had to complety relearn how to walk, and still to this day struggles a bit with chronic pain stemming from her partial roboticization. Bunnie went through the exact same hurt as the Mobians selected for Project Midnight did.

Sally, on the other hand, did not. They had been there since the beginning for Bunnie, but Sally herself never experienced being roboticized in any way. So she decided to let Bunnie be, not wanting to possibly come off as insensitive in their attempts to comfort her.

“I can't lie, it's making me a bit worried. Like… what if the project just fuckin’ failed and they were like “Whelp! Better act like THAT didn't happen!”, not even telling the people counting on them??” Manic began to speculate.

“That certainly wouldn't be the first time they've done something like that…” Sally remarked rather bitterly, reflecting on the events of the past week.

“I wouldn't be surprised. Though, uh… Tell me if I'm intruding, but the way you said that sounded personal… Did something happen between y'all and G.U.N?” Manic wondered, clearly picking up on Sally's tone.

“Oh yeah, you and Knux have been talking about that the past few days, haven't ya?” Bunnie said to Sally, appearing from her more relaxed tone of voice to be feeling better.

“It has, actually. It's nice that Knuckles is so willing to share what he knows since G.U.N refuses to and Team Dark are. Well. Not our allies anymore to say the least.” Sally responded to Bunnie.

“Hey? Hello? I'm not mad at either of you but do you think you could explain what's up?” Manic butted in, sounding quite confused.

“Oh, sorry Manic. Bunnie caught my attention with her question before I got the chance to answer you.” Sally admitted, understanding Manic's confusion.

“Right, sorry sugarhog. Got ahead of myself there…” Bunnie apologized as well.

“With that being said… Are you alright with me being blunt?” Sally then asked.

“Yeah, fine with me. I'm blunt all the damn time!” Manic answered.

“Right.” Sally nodded. “The Black Arms are back. They have been for a couple of years - since around the start of the Shattered World Crisis, actually, from what Knuckles told me.” She then revealed.

“... Why didn't you lead with that? Like, in the call?” Manic replied in disbelief, going so far as to blink rapidly, seemingly to double check that he's indeed in reality and not like, in a dream.

“You called first? Also we were talking about something unrelated?” Bunnie snarked. Sally wouldn't have maybe said it the way she had, but they couldn't help but agree with Bunnie.

“Oh yeah. Uh. Right.” Manic realized, his cheeks flushing slightly, likely from embarrassment. “A-anyway. Like, was G.U.N responsible for dealing with those new aliens?? And they like, fucked up at it?? Is that what I'm understanding??”

“Yeah, that seems to be the case.” Sally confirmed.

“What is G.U.N even doing anymore, man???” Manic groaned in a mix of disbelief and annoyance.

“Taking advantage of folks like me, apparently.” Bunnie responded, her voice just as annoyed as Manic’s, but with anger instead of disbelief.

Despite Bunnie's anger, Sally couldn't help but to snicker a bit, which she initially felt bad for - but soon enough Bunnie and Manic joined in and began to chuckle as well.

“I must say though, the fact that you managed to pull that information together so quickly is a testament to your quick wit, I’d say.” Sally said to Manic once the laughter had died down.

“Great Gaias, Sal - you’re cheerleading for me a bit too much there! It really doesn’t seem too hard to piece together.” Manic responded, brushing off the compliment.

“Once you have all the pieces, maybe.” Sally added.

“Oh, well of course.” Manic agreed, nodding.

“Which is why I should probably admit that I haven’t actually given you all of the details just yet.” Sally revealed, mildly surprising Manic.

“Is that so?” He inquired.

“While it was indeed G.U.N that were supposed to get rid of these new Black Arms, I feel that it’s notable to add that it was Team Dark specifically that was assigned to such a mission. That was one of the first details Knuckles gave me.” Sally explained.

“Wait, like… the Team Dark lead by Shadow, notorious for being part Black Arms, THAT Team Dark??” Bunnie questioned.

“Who else?” Sally replied, rolling her eyes as she already knew what Bunnie was getting at.

“What, was G.U.N trying to fail the mission???” Bunnie blurted out, just as Sally had expected her to.

“I suppose we’ll never know for sure, given how secretive they are. But what we do know, at least now, is that such a stupid decision ultimately led to the three of them ending up on the side of the Black Arms.” Sally finally concluded her point. “... No pun intended.” They added, realizing the innate hilarity of using the word “ultimately” given Shadow’s well known moniker of the “Ultimate Lifeform”.

“... Yikes.” Manic simply stated, cringing.

“Didn’t Rouge stick around for a while longer than the other two, though? I think that was a pretty vital detail to the flashback you had that you were telling me about earlier, wasn’t it, Sal? The whole “seeing Rouge with Shadow and Omega in security cameras” being confusing thing was because Rouge was still allied with us at the time, right?” Bunnie pointed out.

“Oh, that’s right! Honestly, from what I could gather, it seems like Rouge stuck around at G.U.N until just last week.” Sally recollected, corroborating Bunnie’s point.

“So she’s now sided with the Black Arms just like Shadow and Omega?” Manic surmised.

“That is correct.” Sally confirmed, Bunnie nodding in agreement.

“... What the hell happened last week?” Manic then questioned.

“Well-” Sally began to speak, preparing to go into as much detail as she could concerning the previous week’s events, but Bunnie cut her off.

“Group of kiddos hoping to be like us accidentally uncovered a Black Arms run operation and some of us Freedom Fighters came in to help fight them off - they got away but we wrecked their base pretty badly. Also it turns out that Ames is part Black Arms. But she’s still chill because she’s way more determined to protect the planet than ol’ Edgehog ever was.” Bunnie quite briefly summarized the situation, catching Sally off guard with just how quickly and how accurately Bunnie was able to put her summary together.

“Thanks Bunnie.”

“Anytime, Sally-gal.” Bunnie replied.

“Do you think that her allyship with you guys after the other two left could have not been… totally genuine?” Manic suggested, catching the two girls’ attention.

“Whaddaya on’ sugarhog?” Bunnie queried. 

“You know, Rouge could’ve been hiding the Black Arms stuff between the time Shads and Omega left and when she left, maybe? I dunno, maybe I’m shooting a blank here, but that’s what I’m thinking. Sounds like that flashback Bunnie brought up could be a case of that, too.” Manic elaborated.

“... I mean, Rouge did seem especially upset whenever I brought up the two’s leaving. She’d always refuse to tell us why they left - she claimed she didn’t know, but at the end of that argument we had that day I brought up the doppelganger, I remember her saying something akin to “Like I’d ever tell you”, implying she did know something, but wasn’t willing to share for whatever reason.” Sally admitted.

“That’s it! That’s what I’m talking about!” Manic exclaimed. “Even though she acted likely she was still our ally, she was batting just as much for the other side!” They continued.

For a moment, Manic was quiet, but Sally could tell that it seemed like she was thinking.

“Hey Sal, I know this might be a bit late to tell you - but I think that other Rouge was a Black Arms in disguise!” They suggested.

Sally had to take a moment to process what Manic was saying. There was no doubt in her mind that he was most likely correct, there being no other explanation that would make sense on any level, especially knowing what she knew now - and especially since she was probably unintentionally hinting towards such a thing just before Manic called, come to think of it. But they still couldn’t help but be stunned. Not by the realization itself, but by just how she somehow hadn’t thought of it sooner. Still, though, there was just one question that remained in her mind.

“That sounds plenty reasonable, but why would those black creatures be protecting Aerth?” And that question was asked by Bunnie before Sally had the chance to ask it herself.

But because of such, Sally was able to give herself an answer.

“They wouldn’t want the Robotnik Empire taking over the place before they could, that’s for sure. I’m pretty sure the two have become bitter rivals after Eggman openly sided with us and G.U.N during their attempted invasion and the reveal that Professor Gerald had been plotting their downfall while working with Black Doom.” She reasoned.

“Makes sense to me.” Manic said.

“Same here.” Bunnie added. “But uh… Not to be rude, but what’s all this gotta do with Project Midnight?” She then asked.

Sally and Manic both stared at each other, very much not sure.

“Looks like you got distracted, hmm? Would you like help getting back on track?” Nicole interjected teasingly.

“Hi Nicole.” Sally greeted snarkily, rolling her eyes as her cheeks warmed.

“Hello, Sally~.” Nicole replied flirtatiously.

“... Hold on.” Sally spoke, an idea coming to her mind. Bunnie and Manic both looked towards her in curiosity while Nicole simply raised an eyebrow and grinned.

“Have I given you a thought?” She asked.

“In a way, I suppose.” Sally replied. “Can you add Doctor Ellidy to the call, Nicole?” They then requested.

“I absolutely can. It will take a moment, however.” 

“That’s fine.” 

“Didn’t we get everything outta your conversation with him that we could gather already, though?” Bunnie wondered.

“Well yeah, out of the convo the two had. But the Doc may very well be able to give us some more details that he’s gotten a hold of in the past year - or just stuff he didn’t share with Sal.” Manic pointed out, correctly guessing Sally’s train of thought.

“Eughh… What did I not share…?” Doctor Ellidy’s voice croaked out in confusion, seemingly only catching the final part of Manic’s sentence.

It definitely didn't help things with him looking quite tired - as if he had just woken up.

“Good morning, Doc! Sorry if we woke you.” Sally greeted.

Looking back at her phone for a moment, Sally noticed that it was just barely ten in the morning. The fact surprised her slightly, as they had sworn that more time must have passed in the time since Manic had first called. But no, it had only been a mere thirty minutes or so.

“Ah, mornin’ Sally…” Ellidy replied as he rubbed his eyes. He paused for a moment before speaking again, looking as if he was taking in his surroundings. “Is this a royal meeting?” He then asked.

“Nah, I’ve got one of those later though if you want in on that.” Manic answered.

“This is something of an impromptu affair - Manic called me first on my personal phone before hopping over to their Electronic Communicator.” Sally quickly added, worrying that Manic’s response alone would be woefully insufficient.

“We were talkin’ about Project Midnight. You remember that, right?” Manic briefly explained.

“Somewhat…? Honestly, I feel like getting a cup of coffee would help jog my memory.” Ellidy responded.

“Suppose we should leave you to it then, huh?” Bunnie remarked.

“I’d certainly prefer it if you would.” Ellidy stated dryly.

“Well then go and make yourself some coffee. We’ll wait for you.” Sally told him - to which Ellidy gladly agreed, getting up from his chair right after Sally finished speaking.

“Sooo… Do you gals have any ideas of what we could get up to while we wait for Doc Elly to get back?” Manic asked Sally and Bunnie after a minute or two had gone by.

“I for one wanna try to figure out what this “new life” bullshit G.U.N advertised even means. If you two are up for a guessin’ game, that is.” Bunnie suggested.

“I was just gonna play a game on my phone, but I suppose that’s more productive.” Sally said.

“Guess The Life it is then!” Manic surmised. “Bunnie, why don’t you start? Since this is your idea and all.”

“Oh- uhm…” Bunnie sputtered, being caught off guard. “What if… they were just moved to a different rehabilitation place?” She sheepishly suggested, not all that confident in the guess herself.

“Huh. Pretty optimistic for someone who was pretty against the whole “new life” thing from the start.” Manic teased.

“Shush you! Don’t expect anything good to come from putting me on the spot like that!” Bunnie argued, crossing her arms defiantly.

“Settle down, Bunnie. No need to start a fight.” Sally scolded her.

“If they indeed were relocated, what then would we do? Where would we go from that information?” Nicole pondered.

“I hadn’t thought of that. I panicked, alright?” Bunnie confessed.

“I suppose we should move on from that idea, then.” Sally suggested. The others agreed.

“I have a suggestion, if I’m allowed to participate.” Nicole then spoke.

“Of course you are, Nic. Shoot your shot.” Sally replied.

“What if the “new life” given to the roboticized mobians was that of a G.U.N agent? I imagine that G.U.N would see them as rather valuable assets for combat - perhaps taking notes from the likes of our own Bunnie Rabbot.” She speculated.

“Well that’s very flattering of ya, however, I don’t think something like that would be up their alley. Sure, G.U.N’s done some fucked up shit in the past, but involuntary drafting? Especially of a minority group? Even those suckers oughta know just how terrible that’d make them look if it ever got out! Imagine if it was in the news? Reputation’s right down the shitter.” Bunnie countered.

“I see where you’re comin’ from, Buns - but if I remember correctly, weren’t Shadow and Omega involuntary drafts themselves?” Manic argued.

“Wait, really? I thought they joined willingly!” Bunnie replied.

“Well… Omega never really shared anything about himself to anyone, and at some point I’m pretty sure Shadow forgot how they even became a G.U.N agent in the first place.” Sally pointed out to the both of them.

“I’d still call that sketchy.” Manic said.

“It’s a gray area.” Bunnie stated.

“Besides… The two did leave over a year before this project seemingly began, so would they really make the same mistake twice?” Sally suggested.

“You make a fair argument, Sally. But where I’m coming from on the idea is that perhaps G.U.N wished to fill in the hole that Shadow and Omega left behind?” Nicole interjected.

“The folks recruited for Project Midnight were most likely untrained. What good would they do as government agents, anyhow?” Bunnie retorted.

“I might be wrong here, but I think at least some of the people recruited were teenagers?” Manic recollected.

“That proves my point further, I think.” Bunnie remarked. “PR Nightmare.”

“Wasn’t Shadow a teenager when it was recruited into G.U.N? You know, technically speaking?” Sally inquired.

“If you do not count the fifty years it spent in cryo-sleep.” Nicole added.

“Pretty sure they don’t.” Sally said.

“Well Shadow’s an outlier, and frankly I don’t think it’s fair to have them be included.” Bunnie argued.

“I would like to point out that they are our closest frame of reference on the matter.” Nicole reminded them.

“If an only a teenager by technicality and mad science is the closest thing we have to an example of G.U.N recruiting a teenager, then I don’t think it’s fair to say they recruited a teenager.” Manic objected.

“Maybe we should move on to something else - there’s too many implausibilities here.”  Sally suggested.

“Yeah, can’t help but agree with ya there, Sal. Maybe we should wait until we have more info to circle back ‘round to this topic.” Manic recommended.

“Okay, so, you know how when government projects fail, the participants of the project sometimes are kept around to be experimented on for more projects?” Manic then queried, starting up a new topic of discussion.

“Oh good gaia, where the hell are you going with this, sugarhog?” Bunnie complained.

“Hear me out on this! What if that’s what happened here?? Project Midnight flopped, and now they’re usin’ its participants as lab rats!” Manic concluded.

“Sounds like a bunch of poppycock to me.” Bunnie scoffed.

“Well, it’s far from the strangest thing G.U.N’s ever done...” Sally pointed out.

“And it wouldn’t be the first time! Documents about this kind of stuff have been getting leaked into the public since at least the 80s!” Manic babbled.

“Have you been talkin’ to Sticks again, Manic?” Bunnie questioned, mildly annoyed.

“Sometimes she’s right, okay?!” Manic protested.

“But did anyone ever say officially that Project Midnight was a failure?” Nicole inquired, causing the other three to fall silent.

“Well, Manic?” Bunnie directed snarkily.

“... No, but-”

“Then your argument has no ground to stand on.” Nicole asserted. “Rude!” Manic pouted.

“But true.” Sally added.

“Besides, G.U.N’s usual M.O. when a project goes awry is to just kill everyone involved.” Bunnie reminded them. “Just like with Project Shadow.”

“Why do we keep bringing up Shadow?” Nicole questioned.

“... I don’t know.” Sally answered. “It's probably just a coincidence.” 

“The project names are pretty similar.” Manic pointed out.

“Manic brings up a good point. I don’t know what to do with that for now, but I’m going to store it in my databases for later.” Nicole stated.

“Duly noted, Nicci.” Sally spoke. “Anyway, I think we’ve reached as far as that idea will take us.” 

“Oh, actually! I think I do have an idea as to where to go with the similar project names!” Nicole suddenly exclaimed.

“Do ya now?” Bunnie wondered.

“Project Shadow was headed by Professor Gerald Robotnik. It was his grandson Ivo Robotnik who was responsible for the initial roboticization of these mobians. Perhaps there is a reason behind Project Midnight having such a similar name to Project Shadow that lies within this connection.” Nicole explained.

“What, are you implying they finished the job???” Bunnie shuddered. “... That’s a horrifying thought.”

“And quite out of character for G.U.N, all things considered.” Sally countered.

“That’s an Eggman thing, not a G.U.N thing,” Manic objected. “And last I checked - Eggman’s never worked for G.U.N.” 

“He has, actually.” Nicole retorted.

“Yes, but that was decades ago, Nicole. Years before the Robotnik Empire was ever formed.” Sally added.

“I’m sure they would want nothin’ to do with him nowadays.” Bunnie surmised. “Wouldn’t want to go around associating with an international terrorist and all that jazz.” 

“Okay - but didn’t they sorta do that with recruiting Shadow?” Manic debated. “Actually, technically speaking, they did so with Shadow’s creation in the first place-”

“And they’re already starting to separate themselves from it.” Sally argued. “This isn’t even the first time.”

“I suppose I should accept defeat.” Nicole sighed in disappointment.

“Sorry, Nicci.” Sally consoled her.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to figure this out.” Bunnie assured her.

“We appreciate your contribution either way!” Manic exclaimed.

“Thank you.” 

“... You don’t think they actually just… killed them, do you?” Bunnie asked somberly.

“They do have a precedent for doing that. Remember what we were saying earlier with Project Shadow?” Manic recollected.

“Uhm, guys? Don’t you think that’s a bit… bleak?” Sally interjected in a worried tone.

“Yeah, I guess…” Bunnie conceded. “Even I must admit, that is a bit… extreme.”

“Besides, even if the project did fail - which there is no evidence for - I’m sure G.U.N would want to get something out of it. Even with Project Shadow they still tried to hold onto their technical custody of Shadow themself.” Nicole pointed out. “What would G.U.N be able to get out of killing the participants of Project Midnight outright?”

“Well, I think I have an idea for that.” Manic proposed.

“And just what would that be?” Bunnie inquired.

“Maybe… If they did kill the participants, then they went back and cut off the remaining organic body parts of the mobians, sewing the parts together into a singular lifeform like some sort of Frankenstine’s monster. That counts as a new life, right?” Manic explained his thinking, to which the others didn’t take very kindly to.

“... And you said you think Sticks is RIGHT sometimes???” Bunnie hollered.

“Manic… with all due respect… I don’t think that’s a very plausible idea.” Sally stated disapprovingly.

“I agree with Sally. Such a thing just is not at all something G.U.N would do. Frankly, that sounds like something the Black Arms would do.” Nicole added.

“And as far as we know, the Black Arms have nothing to do with this project.” Sally remarked.

“Oh alright, fair enough.” Manic relented. “Sorry, guess I’ll take the pwnage on this one.”

“I think I’m go get some water…” Bunnie said, sounding queasy.

“You go do that” Sally replied.

-Loading ↻-

Just as Bunnie was returning to the Sky Patrol’s central room with her glass of water, Ellidy finally got back to his seat.

“Apologies for the wait, ladies.” Ellidy spoke as he adjusted his position in the chair, probably to make himself as comfortable as possible. “... And Manic.”

“No, you were right the first time.” Manic told him without hesitation.

“Right.” Ellidy said with a small nod. “Anyway… What was the matter of importance?” He then asked.

“Project Midnight.” Manic reminded him.

“And… uh, something else!” Sally butted in.

“Something else?” Ellidy questioned.

“Oh, are you talking ‘bout the Black Arms being back? Yeah that is pretty important I guess - though not exactly relevant to the current topic of discussion…” Manic guessed, leaving the others a bit speechless - especially Ellidy.

“Wh… What do you mean the Black Arms are back?? Why didn’t you lead with that??” Ellidy exclaimed in shock.

“I feel like this is the closest thing to “leading with that” I could have achieved…” Sally responded, her voice muffled slightly by her hands as they placed her head in them out of sheer embarrassment.

“I don't know if I should commend or reprimand you for your bluntness there, Manic.” Bunnie remarked as she sat down.

“Forget the coffee, that news alone would have done a great job at waking me up…!” Ellidy added to his previous statement.

“I'll keep that in mind for the future…” Sally sputtered, her face still in her hands.

“Do you want a sip of my water, Sal?” Bunnie offered as an attempt to comfort her.

“If that's alright with you…” Sally replied, moving her hands away from their face.

“Of course.” Bunnie assured her, handing them her glass of water - of which Sally took a swig of before handing it back to Bunnie. “Feel better?” 

“Yeah.”

“Anyways, back to Project Midnight, I suppose…” Ellidy began, getting the conversation back on track. “I remember being asked to join in on the project some time last year, just after the Phantom Ruby War had officially ended.” He explained.

“No offense, El, but we know that already.” Bunnie interjected.

“Oh?” Ellidy reacted with surprise.

“Sally read the conversation you two had about it earlier.” Nicole added.

“I see… Since we're talking about it now, I suppose that it continued on without me?” Ellidy surmised.

“Yeah. Rounded up some folks from South Island and everything.” Manic verified.

“How's that going along?” Ellidy asked Manic.

“I don't know.” Manic answered - bluntly, of course.

“You… You don't know?” Ellidy questioned.

“G.U.N has refused to give him or seemingly anyone else any details of the project’s progress. We're trying to get all the details we can so we can maybe uncover the truth for ourselves.” Sally explained. “Or… at least, that's what I assume our goal here is.” 

“That sounds right.” Manic said with a nod.

“While the information we were able to get from my conversation with you has been useful in its own way - there are some things missing that we figured we could get from asking you here.” Sally continued.

“That does make sense.” Ellidy remarked. “Manic mentioned G.U.N collecting some mobians for the project - I imagine he'd have their information somewhere, yes?”

“Oh yeah, I do!” Manic exclaimed. “But… I have a deal to propose to ya, Doc.” They then revealed, grinning smugly.

“A… deal?” Ellidy inquired, not too fond of Manic's attitude.

“I can go get the files we have on the roboticized mobians that G.U.N recruited into Project Midnight… If you tell us who contacted you about the project.” Manic proposed. Sally rolled her eyes at the unnecessary theatrics, but she did have to admit - it's a fair trade, and a useful one at that.

“Deal.” Ellidy grumbled, definitely seeming to agree with Sally that Manic was making things more dramatic than they needed to be from his annoyed tone.

“The two of you may feel free to share your information with me so I can display it to everyone else easily.” Nicole told Ellidy and Manic.

“Sure thing!” Manic replied before taking off to go grab the files he needed.

“Oh, I was just going to say their name.” Ellidy admitted.

“Very well then, doctor.” Nicole digressed. “I'll just search the web for them.” 

“Good idea - though, we should wait for Manic to get back before we do that.” Sally suggested.

“Agreed.” 

It took about a minute and a half for Manic to return with the files - six of them to be exact, and it took them another minute and a half to scan each of them with her electronic communicator to send to Nicole.

“There, you should be all set now.” Manic then said after the three minutes in total had gone by.

“Indeed. Thank you.” Nicole replied politely.

“Well, El? Did you hold up your part of the bargain?” Manic teased Doctor Ellidy.

“I elected to share my information verbally.” Ellidy explained quite plainly to Manic.

“Aaah, I see!”

Nicole then began to make the windows for Manic and Ellidy’s cameras on the central room’s primary monitor a bit smaller, and moved the windows to the top of the screen. This was in order to make room for the slideshow she was creating in the background of the files Manic had sent her. Once the slideshow was finished being put together, Nicole put it up on the screen just underneath the camera windows.

As Sally flipped through the slideshow, Nicole read each file out loud.

Name: Alexis Abelton

Species: Porcupine Mobian

Gender: F

D.O.B: 12/31/1990

Areas of Roboticization: muzzle, eyes, both arms & both legs

INFO: Born in Spring Yard, South Island. Was taken to an orphanage near Marble Ruins at a very young age. Was then admitted to Emerald Hill Care Home post roboticization. Patient is used to being alone as she sees it as being “independant”. Despite this, most people get along with her pretty decently.

“Huh… Abelton… Where have I heard that name before…?” Bunnie questioned to herself.

“Maybe it was a name you saw in something you read once?” Sally suggested.

“Nah… That’d be pretty insane.” Bunnie shrugged.

Name: Citrine Spice

Species: Hedgehog Mobian

Gender: NB-F

D.O.B: 04/13/1996

Areas of Roboticization: muzzle, eyes, chest & both arms

INFO: Lived in Spring Yard, South Island pre-roboticization. Was admitted into Emerald Hill Care Home post-roboticization. They have poor balance and poor circulation thanks to the roboticization (wears compression socks to help with these problems, but the presence of a caretaker may still be required at times). Legs tire out quickly from having to support the weight of her robot parts.

Name: Melanie Meadows

Species: Hedgehog Mobian

Gender: F

D.O.B: 01/09/1996

Areas of Roboticization: Entire body except for head and eyes

INFO: Lived in Spring Yard, South Island pre-roboticization. Was admitted into Emerald Hill Care Home post-roboticization. Patient is very vocal about disliking her circumstances, when brought up, it's best to try to redirect it to a different topic. Patient is not allowed to use any sort of sharp objects under any circumstances due to repeated instances of her being a threat to herself and other patients. Having a caretaker nearby the patient at all times is highly recommended.

Name: Nelly Nomad

Species: Hedgehog Mobian

Gender: NB

D.O.B: 10/10/1995

Areas of Roboticization: both arms

INFO: Lived in Emerald Hill, South Island pre-roboticization. Was admitted into Emerald Hill Care Home post-roboticization. Due to living in the town before being admitted, the patient knows many of the staff quite well. Due to the weight of their arms, patient has developed chronic fatigue (a caretaker may need to be present during certain activities to help prevent harm). Patient has a pair of unexplained metallic horns growing out of their head that apparently came about post-roboticization. Patient has chronic headaches which are likely caused by this fact. The reason for her horns is unknown.

Name: Penny Puffs

Species: Porcupine Mobian

Gender: F

D.O.B: 07/28/1989

Areas of Roboticization: eyes, both legs & left arm

INFO: Lived in Mystical Caverns, South Island pre-roboticization. Was admitted into Emerald Hill Care Home post-roboticization. Patient initially refused being admitted, only relented when it began experiencing chronic pain stemming from the roboticization. Patient is quite surprisingly optimistic about her situation - tends to refer to her robotic limbs as “enhancements”. Patient is rather self sufficient, tends to only need a caretaker to bring her pain medications. Likes to act as a pseudo caretaker for other patients if given permission by staff.

Name: Terracotta “Terry” Tiles

Species: Hedgehog Mobian

Gender: NB-M

D.O.B: 10/17/1992

Areas of Roboticization: both legs & right arm

INFO: Lived in Hilltop Village, South Island pre-roboticization. Was admitted into Emerald Hill Care Home post-roboticization. Patient is frequently in a poor mood and usually tries to avoid other people (staff and patients alike). Deals with chronic pain due to roboticization (is prescribed pain meds). Best approach with the patient is to try to come across as gentle and kind as possible.

“Well damn, Manic. When you said that you remembered some of them being teenagers, I didn't think you meant most of them!” Bunnie spoke. Though the words were arranged in such a way to indicate a light hearted remark, the tone of her voice was more distressed than anything else.

“Yeaaahh… I seemed to have… uh… forgotten that part...” Manic responded awkwardly.

“I personally feel a bit… off about how one of the people selected for the project seems to be rather… unstable.” Sally noted, referring to Melanie’s file.

“I wonder if that's where it all went wrong…” Ellidy speculated.

“Ehh… Let's… not go in that direction, please?” Manic butted in.

Everyone agreed that they were perhaps being a bit insensitive, and moved on from that point.

“How about you share your information now, Ellidy?” Nicole suggested.

“Ah, yes!” Ellidy exclaimed in agreement. “If I'm remembering things correctly, the person who contacted me went by the name of I.R. Kintobor.” 

“Do you know what those first two initials stand for?” Sally asked Ellidy.

“I don't, no. They never shared that information with me.” He answered.

“Unfortunate. But this should be enough to conduct a search with regardless.” Nicole remarked as she pulled up a browser window. She proceeded to then type in the name into the search bar.

No results.

“... I stand corrected.” Nicole sighed.

“Are ya sure you're rememberin’ that name right, Doc?” Bunnie questioned.

“That is a fair question… Hold on one moment everyone.” Ellidy replied, appearing to direct his attention to something else on his computer that was not the call.

After a few minutes of everyone sitting around and waiting for whatever it was that Doctor Ellidy was doing to be finished - Ellidy spoke up again.

“Huh. It says I.R. Kintobor right here in the email.” He pointed out.

“Forward it to me.” Sally requested.

“Sent.” Ellidy responded.

Sally flipped open her phone and went through her emails - finding the forwarded email from Ellidy right at the top of her inbox. Opening the email up, they came to see that Ellidy was indeed correct.

“Well then what gives!” Sally blurted out in frustration.

“Might've been a pen name.” Bunnie surmised.

“But what if the surname’s still valid? That part sounds pretty legit to me.” Manic added.

“I agree with Manic. I'm pretty sure I've heard that name before.” Sally decided. “Nicole, run a search for JUST Kintobor.” 

“On it.” 

Nicole exited out of her previous search and then entered in the new search.

This time, there were results.

“I knew it!” Manic exclaimed.

“Congrats, are ya looking for a medal?” Bunnie teased him.

“I’m getting three names in these results that have relation to G.U.N. Hope Kintobor, Doctor Julien S. Kintobor, and Shadow Kintobor.” Nicole explained.

“Huh… So that’s why it sounded familiar.” Sally remarked.

“Oh, I thought it was just because I’m pretty sure “Kintobor” is just “Robotnik” backwards.” Manic pointed out.

“It is.” Ellidy interjected. “From what I gathered during my time as the Acorn Family’s Royal Scientist and having to interact with G.U.N on several occasions throughout the years, many people that were born with the Robotnik surname changed their surname to Kintobor to distance themselves from Professor Gerald Robotnik and then later Doctor Ivo Robotnik.” He elaborated.

“And Shadow was involved in that process??” Bunnie questioned. “Don’t they just go by “The Ultimate Lifeform”? What would the need even be for that?”

“Considering the way G.U.N treated Shadow, it may not have been a choice they made itself.” Sally suggested.

“You’re saying they forced it to change their name??” Bunnie asked.

“Do you not think they’d do that?” Sally argued.

“Pardon me, but I feel like you two are getting off topic again.” Nicole reminded them.

“Right, sorry.” Sally said. “Though I feel like we should at least keep note of the topic for later.”

“Understood.”

“What about the other two, then?” Manic inquired.

“Isn’t Hope a kid?” Bunnie wondered.

“About Amy’s age, I think.” Sally answered.

“I doubt she would be involved, then.” Ellidy surmised. “Besides, now that I have my emails open, I can see that Doctor Julien is directly referenced in them!” He added.

“Really?! That’s a lead, then! Keep going!” Sally exclaimed, feeling excited by the prospect of progress.

In accordance with Sally’s request, Nicole clicked on one of the results she received that pertain to Doctor Julien. But unfortunately, the result only gave her an error message in response when selected.

“Hm… How odd.” Nicole remarked with disappointment.

“Hey, wait just a moment there!” Bunnie spoke. The others turned to face her in curiosity. “Didn’t Knux say that that so-called “Doctor Julien” was actually a Robotnik worker in disguise?? “Snively” or somethin’ like that?” She then questioned.

Sally took a moment to think about it, but as memories of past conversations with Knuckles came back to her, they couldn’t deny that Bunnie was indeed correct.

“If so, then that may be why all the results pertaining to him present an error page.” Ellidy theorized. “Once such a thing reached G.U.N’s ears, they most likely fired him and erased all public records of him.”

“That definitely sounds like a G.U.N thing to do.” Sally remarked, with everyone else non-verbally expressing agreement with her statement.

“Well that seems like pretty definitive proof that Project Midnight went under! The guy who ran it turned out to be working for the Robotnik Empire, and thus the whole thing was shut down.” Manic nonchalantly surmised. “Was probably a scheme by Eggman to take care of unfinished business.”

“That honestly does sound like a rather likely theory…” Sally admitted, as much as she didn’t want to say it, given how bleak and open ended it left things.

“I should’ve known Eggface had his greasy hands in this mess…!” Bunnie grumbled, clearly trying to contain her rage.

“The Robotnik Empire tried to be sneaky about locating past failed roboticizations in order to finish the job, but G.U.N realized that they were involved and cut the cord on Project Midnight to stop Doctor Robotnik in his tracks.” Nicole summarized. “It seems that we have come to a conclusion, yes?”

“I suppose we have…” Ellidy agreed, sharing the somber feeling Sally had. “But it is still quite scummy of G.U.N to not inform the Hogpines nor even seemingly the families of the people they recruited for this project.” He reflected.

“I know… I wish we could try to get some more closure on that end…” Sally lamented.

“I think I know how we might just get the chance to.” Manic interjected, sounding rather determined.

“You sound mighty sure of yourself there, Manic. Whaddya thinking?” Bunnie inquired.

“Sure, G.U.N may have removed all public record of Doctor Julien and Project Midnight… But what if they still have info on them internally?” Manic speculated, catching the attention of everyone else present.

“Where are you going with this, Manic?” Sally questioned, feeling uneasy.

“Well, since you asked so politely…” Manic responded. “Nicole, would you possibly be able to hack into G.U.N’s databases?”

“O-oh! Why yes, I can! But-”

“WHAT?! We can’t just crack into a government agency’s private records like criminals!! Don’t you realize what that’d do to the Freedom Fighters' reputation!? The Acorn Family’s reputation??!!” Sally objected loudly, cutting Nicole off. “We may be heroes, but we certainly aren't above the law!!” She continued.

“G.U.N certainly likes to act like they are.” Bunnie pointed out. “Someone oughta make them own up to their actions for us - and if it ain’t us, then who will?!”

“If this gets out, I’m more than willing to take the fall.” Ellidy offered. “I’m already retired - not much that they could do to me. Besides, I haven’t worked for the Acorns for years. I could claim the whole thing as one of my many passion projects I’ve gotten up to and absolve you all of guilt completely.” 

“We are NOT hacking into G.U.N’s databases, and that’s FINAL!” Sally insisted with force.

“I’m sure you’ll come to change your mind eventually…” Manic argued, to which Sally rolled her eyes at.

“MANIC!! THE MEETING’S IN 5 MINUTES!!” The voice of Manic’s sister Sonia yelled from afar within Manic’s camera.

“Oh shit, I didn't realize that it was so late!” Manic stated, taken off guard.

"HEY! HAS ANYONE SEEN MY CREDIT CARD??" Sonic’s voice reverberated from elsewhere in the Sky Patrol, spooking Sally and Bunnie.

“Aaand it looks like Sonic’s in trouble too!” Manic remarked.

“I suppose this is where we depart.” Ellidy suggested.

“Yep.” Sally agreed.

“Tell Sonic I said hi!” Manic requested.

“You got it, sugarhog.” Bunnie replied.

“MANIC!! HURRY UP!!” Sonia called out, annoyed.

“I'M ON MY WAY, HOLD YOUR HORSES!!” Manic responded.

"I DON'T EVEN HAVE HORSES!!" Sonia yelled back.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT-!" Manic exclaimed before hanging up.

Soon afterwards, Ellidy hung up as well, officially ending the call.

“Did I hear Sonia and Manic just now?” Sonic asked Sally, wheeling into the central room.

“Manic called first.” Sally explained bluntly. “Says hi, by the way.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me??” Sonic complained.

“Well you didn’t think to tell Amy about her being part Black Arms.” Bunnie argued.

“Ugh. What’d you even talk about, anyway?” Sonic questioned.

“... Ever heard of Project Midnight?” Sally asked.

“No?? Sounds like some weird attempt at reviving the Project Shadow thing.” Sonic responded.

“Oh do we have a story for you then, blue!” Bunnie remarked.

-Loading ↻-

About an hour had passed since the call with Manic and Doctor Ellidy had ended. Bunnie was now back in her room, having departed from the Sky Patrol’s central meeting room alongside Sonic once the conversation recapping the investigation conducted on Project Midnight that morning had ended. Sally had heard through various means what had happened during Amy’s morning out and how it had gone wrong. She did her best to comfort both Amy and Whisper, was given the letter in question that everything had centered around by Tails to analyze, and then contacted Espio to make sure he and the rest of the Chaotix were fully brought up to speed. All this happened in such a short span of time.

And yet, all Sally could think about was Project Midnight.

Despite the conclusion that she and the others had reached by the end, there they stood, staring out one of the room’s windows like she had so many times before, still filled with uncertainty.

Perhaps it was the injustice of it all. Sure, there was an understanding of what had happened to the project itself - seemingly. But they still have no idea what happened to those roboticized mobians that were recruited for the project. Were they alright? Were they even still alive? Nobody knows - and that just didn’t sit right with Sally.

Although, on the other hand… The conclusion itself didn’t quite sit right with Sally either. It made sense, sure, but just because it made sense didn’t mean it was correct… Right?

A plot by the Robotnik Empire to try to recapture failed roboticizations and try once more to turn them into completely loyal machines - and a cover-up by G.U.N in the wake of finding out about said plot.

It all seemed so in character for both parties.

Almost… too in character.

An expectation rather than reality.

But who else could it be then?

Who would know the ways of the Robotnik Empire and G.U.N well enough to make it seem like this was all their doing?

And who among those kinds of people would have the perfect mix of disdain towards both organizations and lack of morals to want to do this in the first place?

…

Sally didn’t want to be thinking about those alien bastards again today, she really didn’t.

So they put her questions aside and decided to assume the conclusion made that morning was true.

“It certainly is very nice out, isn’t it?” The sudden sound of Nicole’s voice made Sally jump slightly.

“O-oh! Uhm… I guess?” Sally replied sheepishly.

Nicole looked at Sally and must have noticed the troubled look in their eyes, as the look in her own changed from calm to concerned.

“Oh, apologies… I had not realized you were upset.” She said.

“It’s alright.” Sally replied.

“What is it that worries you?” Nicole asked.

Sally explained most of the thoughts in her head, leaving out the speculation about whether or not the conclusion they had come to was correct.

“It’s just not fair that their stories seemingly will never be told.” Sally concluded.

“It most certainly isn’t.” Nicole agreed. “But there is a way we can possibly find the answers we seek. I know you know that.”

“... You’re not still thinking about Manic’s whole “hacking” idea, right?” Sally questioned Nicole in equal parts annoyance and disbelief.

“And what if I am, hmm?” Nicole inquired in response, teasing Sally.

“We can’t!” Sally protested.

“Why so?” Nicole wondered.

“You know why!” Sally argued.

“Because you're the princess of a nation and the leader of a vigilante group?” Nicole guessed.

“Exactly!”

“But I thought you hated those titles?” Nicole pointed out. “You dislike being seen as above the common folk of Mobotropolis and Aerth as a whole. You see them as your equals, and you see yourself as equal to them.”

“... W-Well-” Sally stuttered, unsure of how to respond - as she knew Nicole was right.

“Including the mobians signed onto Project Midnight… right?” 

That was the comment that broke the camel’s back. Despite her personal views - the responsibilities she’s been given in life means that Sally is responsible for the wellbeing of the world’s inhabitants. Including those six mobians. 

Reputation shattering or not, she had to do what was necessary to either save those mobians - or to get justice for their untimely fates.

“... You’re right.” Sally finally relented.

“About…~?” Nicole asked teasingly, clearly egging Sally on to saying her decision with their whole chest.

“... About doing what is needed to protect the world and its people.” Sally elaborated. “Whether it’s legal or not.”

“So, does that mean-?”

“Yes, it means we’re going to hack into G.U.N’s databases.” Sally revealed, leaving from where they had been leaning on the windowsill and heading towards the room’s table. Nicole excitedly followed from behind.

“It’s for the greater good.”

-Loading ↻-

Manic, too, couldn’t stop thinking about Project Midnight - even hours after the call had taken place. Not even the royal meeting could fully distract him from the subject, no matter how surprisingly nice it was outside during it.

Being completely fixated upon potentially finding the six roboticized mobians that were brought onto the project and even possibly bringing them home, they resolved to sneak into file cabinets that are supposed to only be accessed by their parents in order to glean any possible threads to follow in pursuit of her goal.

Family members, close friends, and even the doctors and nurses of each of the six participants had their files searched into by Manic, revealing to him their names, their phone numbers, their residence and all sorts of private information. 

But even though such a breach of privacy was done with honorable intentions, it was still very much against the rules and arguably not very legal either - so it was only a matter of time before someone would catch Manic in the act and give him a stern talking to.

“You know you’re not supposed to be looking through those, right?” Sonia pointed out.

“Yeah yeah, I know. But I couldn’t find anything elsewhere.” Manic responded nonchalantly, not even looking up from the files to look at Sonia as he spoke.

“Anything on what exactly?” Sonia questioned. “And since when were you the type to be tirelessly combing through files for information, anyway? I thought that kind of thing was “too much work” for you?” She added, revealing just somewhat the idea that underneath her annoyance at Manic for breaking the rules like always, they were a bit impressed with him, too.

“You remember Project Midnight, right?” Manic asked Sonia, still fixated on the files in their hands.

“... Yeah, a bit.” Sonia replied, taking a moment to pause. “But it’s been awhile since I’ve heard back from the participants.” 

“Same here. That’s why I’m looking for related contacts right now. Alternate avenues to getting in contact with them and all that jazz.” Manic briefly explained.

“... When I came to tell you that the meeting was about to start earlier today, I heard Sally’s voice coming from your room. Were you on call with her?” Sonia inquired after a moment of being silent. There must be something stirring in her mind. But as to what exactly it was that was in their mind, Manic did not yet know.

“Yeah. I called her earlier to see if she knew anything about Project Midnight, and we ended up calling some scientist guy they know and went on an investigative journey to figure out what happened to it.” Manic answered.

“What… happened to it?” Sonia echoed with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well, did you ever think of why you haven’t heard back about it in like, a year?” Manic asked, finally turning his head towards Sonia.

“... I guess I hadn’t, no.” Sonia replied. “I’ve been too busy with other things to really ponder about that kind of thing.” They continued as she decided to sit down next to Manic.

“To summarize our findings, Project Midnight was run by a guy who turned out to be actually an employee of the Robotnik Empire playing double agent, so we suspect that the project was a front for Eggman to get back his failed roboticizations. G.U.N probably suspected that too so they shut the project down and fired the guy - wiping all public record of both.” Manic explained.

“You mean that-” Sonia was about to respond but Manic cut her off.

“Also on an unrelated note, but something I also learned during the call - did you know that the Black Arms are back?” He said, stopping Sonia in her tracks.

“Wha… WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE BLACK ARMS ARE BACK?? WHY DIDN’T YOU LEAD WITH THAT??” Sonia reacted very loudly.

“Hey- That’s what I said, too! Not as loudly, though.” Manic remarked, only making Sonia angrier. “But anyway, I didn’t lead with it because it’s not related to the Project Midnight thing - just a sort of current events thing.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S CURRENT EVENTS???” Sonia questioned.

“I think Sal and the other Freedom Fighters got into a big fight with them last week?” Manic recollected. “She only brought it up because of it being another fuck up by G.U.N.”

“A-Another fuck up by G.U.N??” Sonia once more echoed Manic very confusedly.

“They were supposed to wipe out those new Black Arms back during the Shattered World Crisis, but they sent Team Dark out of all people to do it and that just ended up with them joining the motherfuckers. Which, like, guys. Shadow is part Black Arms themself. This was bound to go badly!” Manic elaborated.

“Oh great fucking gaia….” Sonia muttered with a facepalm.

“I KNOW, RIGHT?” Manic exclaimed.

“Wait, and you said this wasn’t related to Project Midnight?” Sonia asked.

“Nah.” Manic replied.

“... I don’t agree with that notion.” Sonia then argued.

“Whaddya mean by that?” Manic wondered, it apparently being her turn now to be confused.

“I know it might just be coincidence that you remembered this project from a year ago right around the time that the Black Arms are making their presence here known, but I can’t help but to sense a connection here.” Sonia explained.

“Well, in that case… What kind of connection do you think they could have to it, then?” Manic inquired, giving Sonia the floor to speculate.

“Okay, so, I’m gonna be nice to you and Princess Sally to start off with here, and assume that you guys ARE correct in your assessment of the situation. That means my first idea will be an extension of your assessment, to put it bluntly, in the form of a motivation for G.U.N to greenlight this project in the first place! Considering that G.U.N’s original approach with taking down the Black Arms that appeared during the Shattered World Crisis went awry, perhaps they were looking for another way to strike the aliens down - and their answer ended up being Project Midnight! You see, I believe that they planned to turn the mobians they recruited into super soldiers to fight against the Black Arms! But just after sending the participants out to battle, they found out that the scientist leading the project was a double agent for Robotnik, and had to shut the project down to save their image. And in the end, it wasn’t even worth it… As the mobians died in combat. That’s my first idea, anyway.” Sonia theorized.

“Sounds pretty reasonable, though a bit grim.” Manic said.

Before Sonia could get the chance to speak again, Manic suddenly remembered a detail from the call.

“Oh wait, I just remembered! The guy said to be running it was the Robotnik Empire guy, yeah, but there was also the person contacting people like Sal’s scientist friend that was using a pen name of some sort - but the pen name included the very real surname of “Kintobor”, which was the surname of the Robotnik Empire guy, but was also the G.U.N assigned surname given to Shadow!” Manic recollected.

“Really now?” Sonia reacted. “Well that perfectly segues into my OTHER idea!”

“It does?” Manic asked, surprised.

“It does!” Sonia stated. “Because Shadow was part of those put in charge of killing the Black Arms by G.U.N, wasn’t it? But you yourself said that they instead joined the Black Arms!”

“After some time, yeah.” Manic clarified.

“The Black Arms are incredibly cunning, Manic. They can get very creative with their ways of getting what they want. They also have knowledge of how G.U.N is, both from the process of Project Shadow’s development and presumably from Shadow’s personal experience as well. Hell, the Project Shadow argument could also be used to argue that they’d have a pretty good understanding of the Robotnik Empire’s ways as well - as Doctor Robotnik’s own grandfather was the one leading the project and being in communication with the Black Arms. Though, also, the Robotnik Empire just tends to be rather predictable in their methods.” Sonia observed.

“Not to ruin your flow, sis, but where are you going with this?” Manic queried.

“The Black Arms very well could have orchestrated this entire Project, independent from both G.U.N and the Robotnik Empire, but also impersonating both of those aforementioned parties in order to paint a false narrative to hide behind.” Sonia claimed. “Tell me, Manic - do you have any evidence that the doctor that supposedly led Project Midnight was fired from G.U.N during or after its development?” She then questioned Manic.

“... Not really, no. Actually, come to think of it, it kinda seemed like he was fired… beforehand…” Manic responded, starting to get the awful feeling that his sister was indeed correct, and he, as well as Sally, Ellidy, Bunnie and even Nicole had all fallen for the trap those black creatures had set.

“Exactly! With their extensive knowledge of both parties and a couple of clever impersonations, they created the perfect disguise. If you ask me, I think that Shadow was the one sending out the emails under the pen name while someone else in the Black Arms that was more familiar with the sciences needed for their project impersonated the double agent doctor - but I don’t have evidence for those claims.” Sonia concluded.

“... But what would the Black Arms want with the roboticized mobians…?” Manic sheepishly wondered, the horrible despair caught in his throat and tying knots in their stomach stealing away any trace of the laid back aura she usually had.

“Assimilation, most likely. Especially now that I imagine that they’re pretty low in numbers now given their failed attempt to invade Aerth back in ‘05 and the attack from G.U.N during the Shattered World Crisis-.” Sonia inferred.

“Or…” Manic uttered.

“Or?” Sonia echoed curiously.

“... Do you remember that first email we got? How “G.U.N” promised “a new life” for those roboticized mobians they would come to recruit?” Manic asked.

“I… I think I do.” Sonia replied.

“Okay, so, during our call, Sally, Bunnie, Nicole and I at one point started talking about what that “new life” could be referring to… And I at some point came up with a rather… gruesome conclusion.” Manic revealed. “I had theorized that the people running the project had chopped up the participants, taken their organic body parts, and created a singular “new life”, Frankenstein style. I-It sounded ridiculous and over the top back then, but…”

“Now that you realize who it really was behind the scenes, it sounds much more reasonable?” Sonia guessed.

“Y-Yeah…” Manic confirmed.

The both of them were silent for a moment, taking in the ramifications of what the both of them were implying - especially the sheer horror of it all, and the realization that it was already too late.

They had already fallen for the trap months ago.

Just as it seemed that Sonia was going to speak again, both of them heard Manic’s communicator ring from within his room.

“That must be Sal.” Manic inferred, rushing over to the room with Sonia following closely behind.

-Loading ↻-

When Manic picked up, Sally noticed two things about him - Sonia was by his side, and he looked rather distressed, though also seemingly trying to hide that fact.

“Manic, I took your advice.” Sally revealed. “We hacked into G.U.N’s databases - a few hours ago.”

“Y-You told her to do what???” Sonia reacted, yelling at Manic.

“I-I thought it was going to be the only way to find more on Project Midnight - since I still thought it was a G.U.N project!” Manic explained himself to Sonia as if not on call at the moment.

“Well, it didn’t exactly-” Sally began to elaborate on her original statement, but cut herself off when Manic’s words had truly sunk into them. “Wait, what do you mean you still “thought” it was a G.U.N project??” They questioned.

“Oh- Right- Uhm, Sonia or I will explain. But you can go first.” Manic stammered.

“... Hacking into the databases didn’t exactly… go as planned.” Sally reiterated. “We couldn’t find anything on Project Midnight in there, for one… Not to mention that these strange glitches kept happening all throughout our search, and we ended up getting redirected to a very… gruesome recording of a mission mishap.” She then explained, shuddering as they fought back the urge to vomit for a second time that day.

“I’d hate to make you more upset than you already seem to be, Sal, but… Do you remember what mission the recording was from?” Manic asked, being surprisingly caring and gentle, which made Sally feel… odd.

“It was never said explicitly… But from gathering the details together and utilizing some critical thinking skills… I think it was from when G.U.N sent Team Dark and some other agents up to that new Black Comet that those new Black Arms came from during the Shattered World Crisis…?” Sally answered, trying to hide the fact that she was not entirely certain of her guess. “Heheh… heh… I-I guess Team Dark were going astray from the hero’s path for longer than we had thought…” They added, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t help. 

“I knew it!” Sonia exclaimed.

“Knew… what?” Sally questioned.

“It makes sense… You guys not being able to find anything about Project Midnight in G.U.N’s databases… The constant ties leading back to Team Dark and the Black Arms… It all makes too much sense…!” Manic vaguely divulged, his voice filled with the dread that Sally could tell from the start of this call that he was trying to hold back. 

But now it was spewing forth, and infecting Sally with it too.

She didn’t want to believe it, she wanted to think that they had been right earlier that morning.

But it was undeniable now.

“Manic… Sonia… Are you talking about… What I think you’re talking about…?” Sally weakly inquired, all of her queasiness from earlier coming back to haunt her, and the video she saw replaying in her head against their will.

“I believe that Project Midnight was never a failed project of G.U.N’s… As I believe that it was never G.U.N’s project in the first place. And I suspect you’re starting to believe that too.” Sally nodded as Sonia spoke. “Rather… I believe that Project Midnight, in its entirety…”

“Is a creation of the Black Arms.”

#the era of shadow #teos #sonic au #writing tag #id in alt text #sonic fanfiction #mod ash

[heliads]

everything is blue • conrisa space au • chapter three: some are taken away

Risa Ward escaped a shuttle destined for her certain, painful death. Connor Lassiter ran away from home before it was too late. Lev Calder was kidnapped. All of them were supposed to be dissected for parts, used to advance a declining galaxy, but as of right now, all of them are whole. Life will not stay the same way forever.

series spotify playlist

previous / series masterlist / next

Stars above, Connor Lassiter is so screwed. Just when things were starting to go his way, too. He’d actually managed to sort out the autopilot long enough to limp over to XXIII, not to mention conducted a fairly textbook landing. Sure, the only thing he’d really done to help with that was fight the urge to press random buttons, but, like, he’s in the pilot seat, isn’t he? That means he has to deserve at least a little of the credit.

Besides, he was the one who spotted that weird lights show going on in the space some distance away from his shuttle and managed to steer himself away before a collision. When he peered out the cockpit windows, Connor thought it might have been a meteor shower, but unreported– his nav system failed to pick up on it, which he definitely doesn’t like. Connor likes being aware of large chunks of rock whenever they’re directly in his flight path.

All in all, it had taken more energy than Connor had hoped just to straggle over to a small planet in the same star system. This makes it crystal clear to him, if it wasn’t obvious already, that he won’t be able to make a jump between systems by himself. Not without having a better idea what he’s doing. Once Connor had managed to get his stolen shuttle landed in a commercial spaceport, he’d collapsed in an untidy heap in his pilot’s chair. No wonder it’s so hard for AWOLs to get away. Surviving alone is damn near impossible even after you manage to shake the Juvey-cops, and Connor has no idea how long that will last. 

Once he’d recovered sufficiently, Connor had taken it upon himself to do a slow loop of the spaceport and see if there were any larger ships that might overlook a stowaway. Unfortunately, he’d had no luck in finding anything. Everyone was already gone for the morning, and Connor didn’t want to stay in one place long enough to wait for anything new to land. 

So he’d headed back to his shuttle, trying to figure out his next course of action, and that’s when he ran into trouble. Connor had left the shuttle ramp down, which is a terrible thing to do, but he couldn’t risk locking himself out accidentally. He knows next to nothing about Officer Nelson’s spacecraft anyway, there’s no point in taking stupid chances. 

Still, maybe he should have looked harder and tried to find an instruction manual or something before he left. Maybe then he wouldn’t have come back to his shuttle to find someone else on board. 

Now Connor stands in front of the escape ramp he barely remembered to close after him, staring at a strange girl staring back at him, and the only thought on his mind is that this can’t be how it ends. The girl has a wild, frightened look to her, like she might do anything at any moment. He can’t read her enough to tell if she’s aiming to turn him in or just kill him outright so she can steal the ship. He’s heard of worse things happening to lonesome travelers in the outer, darker stretches of the galaxy, anyway. 

She looks at him. He looks at her. Her spine straightens almost unconsciously, a silent message to back off:  she won’t be talking first, so he might as well set the scene for how this is going to go. Fine, then. Connor would prefer it if he was the one in control. This is his ship, after all. His stolen ship, yes, but his. At least until the Juveys track him down again to reclaim stolen property.

“Who are you,” he asks, as slowly and deliberately as his nerves will let him, “and what are you doing on this ship?”

Belatedly, he realizes that he should have said something like my ship. It’s all in the details now, how he protects himself. One little slip and everyone will know he’s an AWOL. Even a runaway like her could figure that out.

However, the girl seems less preoccupied in figuring him out and more in how to keep him from focusing on her story. She folds her arms across her chest and narrows her eyes at him. “How about you tell me about yourself first?”

He blinks at her in surprise. “You’re on my ship. You go first.”

She arches a dark brow. “Is it your ship?”

She’s onto him already. His poker face must be worse than he thought. “It’s certainly not yours.”

The girl can’t argue with that, although she looks as if she’d like to. “Fine. I’m Risa.”

Connor waits a beat for something else, maybe an explanation as to why Risa seems compelled to enter strange ships and demand answers from him, but she stays silent. He heaves a breath that, although more dramatic than strictly necessary, makes him feel substantially better.

“Fine, Risa,” he mimics, “I’m Connor. Lovely to meet you. Why are you on my ship?”

This, finally, makes her react. Sure, it would be fascinating to see how long they could continue this sort of stalemate, but Connor would like to take off before anyone can find him. After all, he’s still not one hundred percent certain that Officer Nelson wouldn’t have a tracker on this shuttle. That escape plan involves getting this strange girl out of here first.

“I need to go offworld,” she announces. “I needed a ship. Yours was here.”

It’s such a dumbfoundingly simple answer that he almost wants to laugh. “I assumed you wanted to leave this planet,” Connor remarks dryly, “That’s usually why people choose spacecraft as opposed to, say, running with their legs. That would be significantly slower, but far better for me. ”

“Depends on whose legs you use,” Risa shoots back, just as snide. He searches her face for some kind of sympathy for the distribution process but just finds bitterness. Good, that’s something they can finally agree on.

All of a sudden, an alarm starts blaring across the shipyard. It’s not super loud, probably just one of the few grounded cruisers in the area forgetting to turn off an entrance alarm overnight only to have their pilot trigger it by accident when they left for the morning, but it makes both of them jump. Risa looks even more stunned than Connor feels, and despite her attempt to seem casual, Connor can’t shake the feeling that she might be just as terrified of getting caught as him.

“Okay,” she says abruptly, voice high. “Fine. You got me. I’m on your ship and I shouldn’t be. What are you going to do about it? Turn me in?”

She juts her chin out as she says this, practically daring him to screw them both over by calling over a cop. It’s kind of cute, honestly, except Connor has no time to think about cute girls because he is a dead man walking so long as he sticks around on this planet. So he doesn’t. Or he tries not to, at least.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Connor asks, cool as a synth-cucumber, “You’re an intruder. That’s the reasonable thing to do.”

She scoffs. “You’re not reasonable. Or you wouldn’t be walking around like you don’t even know your own shuttle. How long have you had this thing, anyway? An hour?”

That makes his insides shut down. Connor can’t afford to be caught, and he senses that this girl is just as desperate as he is. Perhaps desperate enough to call the spaceport marshals on him if it lets her slip away unnoticed. The only way he can keep this situation under control is if he reminds her who’s in control, who has to be in control– him and him alone.

He stalks towards her. There isn’t a whole lot of room in the Juvey-cop’s narrow shuttle, so within a few footsteps Risa has her back to the wall and her eyes fixed on him. Her chin is up even more than before in an attempt to both seem taller and less afraid, but neither works on him.

“Listen,” he says slowly, “It doesn’t matter what you think about this ship. It doesn’t matter what you think about me. The only thing that’s important is when you get off of this shuttle and leave me the hell alone.”

“I’m not leaving,” she spits back, “so you better learn how to deal with that. You can’t get rid of me without outing yourself for whatever you’ve done wrong. We’re stuck together, Connor, so you might as well get used to it.”

Connor did not sign up for a traveling companion, and he’s about to tell her that in no uncertain terms when someone outside bangs on the wall of the shuttle, making the whole ship rattle with metallic drum beats. 

A man’s voice shouts from outside:  “This is Spaceport Security. In the name of the Collective, disembark from the shuttle. We’d like to talk to you about your authority to land here. Mind stepping out with your identification and cosmic license?”

Connor stares unthinkingly at Risa, and they may have been fighting since the second she turned up on the shuttle, but at this moment, they are exactly in unison. In a heartbeat, they turn and sprint to the cockpit. Connor throws himself into the pilot’s seat, Risa by his side strapping into the copilot’s chair. The shouting outside grows louder, but neither of them have any intention of meeting it.

He blanks for a moment, hands hovering over the controls, trying to remember what in the suns he did to make this thing airborne last time. A second later, the neurons in his brain finally piece themselves together and Connor toggles a few switches, presses a few buttons that may or may not be necessary until the autopilot kicks in and starts bringing them up more smoothly.

As they lift off, Connor can make out the silhouettes of the security officials like tiny insects on the ground. Within moments, they’re racing away again, hopefully towards a different target.

Connor breathes out a deep sigh of relief. “And we’re safe.”

“Not quite,” Risa replies, craning her neck to see out of the cockpit viewscreens even as they enter the atmosphere, “I think they’re following us.”

Connor nearly snaps his spine in half trying to jump up and see what she’s looking at. “What do you mean, they’re following us?”

Risa extends a slightly trembling finger to point at the two or three ships starting to take off beneath them. Connor shifts a few of the steering controls, but even after their path takes a drastic turn, the ships remain bent after them. Worse, too, the engines on those things are way better than Connor’s puttering piece of Juvey-crap, so the distance between them starts to shrink rapidly.

Connor swears terrifically under his breath. “What do we do?”

Risa vaguely moves her hands towards the equipment panel. “You’re the pilot. Can’t you get us into hyperspace or something? If we do it soon, they might not be able to mimic our jump.”

That’s a great idea. It would be even greater if Connor had any idea how to do that. He’s been relying on memories of an old friend to get him through the basic flight controls, but there was no way in all the worlds anyone in their right mind would let that hungover moon jockey do a hyperspace jump by himself, so Connor hadn’t been able to hear an anecdote involving that particular skill. Instead, he desperately scans the instrument panel, searching for something hopefully labeled.

Risa peers down at the avenging spacecraft behind them, then back at him. “Any day now would be nice. You’ll have to be careful, I think there’s a passenger ship in space near us, too. Make sure you don’t hit it when you get us out of here.”

“I’m trying.” Connor forces out through gritted teeth. There– a section of the instrument panel curves past his left and Connor can make out several switches with a label underneath. The printing is smudged, likely from repeat use. That’s promising, at least:  that Juvey-cop would have had to jump to hyperspace several times in his illustrious career hunting desperate kids, right? That’s the only way to get beyond the reaches of one’s own star system without spending years floating inside a tin can like this.

Blast it. Connor has no better options. He reaches forward and flicks a couple of the switches. Maybe that’ll do something to trigger the autopilot?

“You’ve locked onto the passenger ship,” Risa announces doubtfully.

Connor’s heart drops into his feet. “With missiles?”

“No,” she says, frowning at the nav readout, “With a tractor beam, I think. You’re drawing them towards us.”

Connor leans forward, staring out the main viewing window of the shuttle cockpit. Sure enough, the only other entity in the space around them other than the swiftly gaining ground security is smoothly pivoting its course to move towards Connor and Risa. A beeping light on the nav readout indicates that the locking mechanism was successful, whatever that means.

“Well,” Connor says feebly, “we can disengage it, can’t we?”

Risa fixes him with a judgmental, if not outright victorious, look. “This is your ship, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you know?”

He has to white-knuckle the armrests to keep from descending into fury, and it’s only partially successful. “Now is not the time.”

The passenger ship they’re currently towing seems to agree, because a warning light beeps to life on the communications viewport. Accept communication channel from: SS-Disciple?

Connor wrinkles his nose at it. “The Disciple?”

Risa shrugs, but she looks just as confused as he feels. “Maybe they’re religious. Who knows?”

Connor glances back towards the looming spaceship. It’s bigger than theirs, although that’s not a difficult feat to achieve. The strangest thing about it is the ship’s appearance. The edges are smooth, and gleam with the extra sort of shine anything gets when enough money and time are poured into it. It’s practically pearlescent, and definitely more expensive than anything should be out here. Connor can’t help but wonder why someone would go to the trouble of keeping such a thing so well maintained in OH-10 of all places. This isn’t exactly Centerworld, most of the elite don’t come out here that often. Obviously, someone wanted to be comfortable, but why here?

The comms channel beeps again, and Connor accepts before he thinks it through. A voice crackles to life over the intercom, the speaker shaky and uncertain. “Is this– is this a Juvey-cop shuttle?”

Connor’s eyes widen. Suns, he forgot about that. This thing must still be transmitting Juvey-cop identification. Risa stares at him, making Connor wince. He’ll have to cook up a good explanation for that later.

Not right now, though. The other line crackles and hisses expectantly. Connor takes a second to locate the comms button and speaks as deliberately as he can, intentionally pitching his voice lower so he sounds older. “Yes. This is, uh–” What was the guy’s name again? “Officer Nelson.”

A large gush of static; on the other end, someone must be sighing. In relief or despair, Connor can’t quite tell. Juveys elicit startlingly different reactions from a lot of people. “Excellent. You’re here for Lev, then?”

“Yes,” Connor says instinctively, then mouths what?? To Risa, who just raises her hands, having no more clue what’s going on than him.

“Alright,” the speaker says. “We thought you’d show up closer to the colony, but oh, well. We’ll open up once we dock.”

With that, the comms channel is unceremoniously severed. Connor almost misses the background din of static. At least he didn’t have to think about what he’s going to do when that ridiculously overpriced shuttle ducks onto theirs while it was humming in the background.

Risa leans back in her seat, fingers steepled together. “Why–”

“I don’t know,” Connor says, when it’s clear that her questions are far too numerous and all-encompassing to even begin to voice. 

“And you–” Another interjection, another weighty pause.

“Yeah,” Connor replies, hoping he’s not agreeing to anything too terrible. It’s not like it matters, anyway. The worst she can guess is the truth.

Silently, they watch the pearl of the Disciple drift towards them. The ground security ships are just moments away, but for some reason Connor can’t think about them, not now, not when this gaudy ship is locking onto them with a gentle hiss and click of machinery.

Slowly, almost in unison, Connor and Risa turn to stare at the awaiting hatch on the side of their cruiser. He’ll have to unlock it, Connor realizes, and then it will dawn on whoever is on the Disciple in need of Juvey-cops that they have only two feral teenagers for help. Stars, he hopes it isn’t a rogue groundless kid who’s getting turned in. This shuttle doesn’t have room for three runaways butting heads, but how could Connor leave someone like that behind?

His decision is made by another comms channel sounding off in a tumult of static. “This is the security force of OH-10 XXIII Spaceport C. Cease your flight attempt and turn yourselves in at once.”

Connor can’t see whatever is happening on the other side of the hatch, but he assumes that whoever had prevailed upon the nonexistent Juvey-cops is probably freaking out just as much as he is. Connor can’t turn himself in. Not yet. They’ll have to force him out.

He glances over his shoulder at Risa, who sets her jaw determinedly. She’s not going down easily either. At least he has that.

A sudden idea occurs to him as he glances back at the awaiting hatch. Stars above, it’s stupid, and probably going to get himself killed even more than he is already. Connor’s already rock bottom though, right? There’s nothing worse than distribution.

So, as if in slow motion, Connor presses the button for the hatch and watches as it whooshes open to reveal what he assumes is a family standing there, frozen in shock. There are many younger siblings and two parents all standing in a semicircle around the youngest kid of all, who’s probably not more than thirteen. 

Another man stands somewhat uncomfortably to the side, dressed in a pastor’s usual formal attire. Unlike the rest of the family, who are just now starting to look alarmed, the furrows in this man’s brow tell Connor that the pastor has been unhappy for quite some time. The pastor catches him looking, glances towards the young blond boy at the center then back towards Connor, and, steeling himself, nods. Just a small incline of the head. Just enough to know that somehow he’s guessed at Connor’s terrible plan, and against all odds, agrees with it.

Connor looks at the blond kid in earnest. He’s wearing these strangely formal clothes, like he’s going to a recital or legislative function. They look weird on a kid that young, especially since they’re all white, kind of like– oh. Connor gets it.

Sometimes, your parents decide that they’re going to have you distributed even before you’re born. It’s a practice called tithing, mainly used by the more religious families. Apparently there’s some belief dating back to old-Earth times that the universe was made not by rogue explosions of stardust but a god, and a God who expects that his people will give back to him after he gave so much to them. 

The beliefs change from system to system. Some think that the idea of distribution is divine work but don’t attach the name of any particular religion to it. They like that there are grander forces at work than just them, forces who compel the constant circulation of life around the galaxy. Others prefer something a little more concrete. And then there are the tithing families, who would take their dedication to their religion so seriously that they would give up a child just to say that they’d held up their idea of the bargain.

The kid, strangely enough, looks totally chill with the idea. If it had been Connor in his polished white shoes, he would have sprinted for their shuttle the second an escape route opened itself up. Instead, this kid curls back towards his parents, the ones giving him away, as if to hide from Connor and Risa.

It won’t do him much good, though. Connor is already moving, throwing himself out of his pilot’s seat and towards the hatch, then grabbing hold of the blond tithe before anyone knows what he’s doing. Even Risa looks stunned. Connor yanks the kid over the threshold into their shuttle, then slams his hand onto the button to seal off the hatch.

The tithe looks furious, but Connor quickly disengages the other ship before he can try to open the hatch again. Leaning over the pilot’s seat and reaching for the comms channel, Connor addresses the spaceport security ship. “Attention, ground control. We have a hostage on board. Return to your port at once or–” Or what? Is he going to kill this kid here and now? “Or the kid gets it,” he finishes somewhat lamely. They already think he’s an unwind, don’t they? They wouldn’t put anything past him.

The voice that answers him seems furious. “Put the hostage back. Land without any more trouble and we’ll take that into consideration.”

“Consider this,” Connor says, and pokes the tithe sharply in the side. Not expecting it, the kid cries out in surprise. He isn’t hurt, but the ground-sec has no idea of knowing that.

This little action is greeted by a quick rush of words and static. “We’re going to retreat. Put the kid back.”

“You move first,” Connor tells them, and waits until the sec-ships start to back off.

He locks eyes with Risa, and whispers to her while keeping the comms channel off. “Plot a hyperspace jump. The autopilot will help you.”

She nods, eyeing the tithe for a lengthy moment before shaking her head and turning towards the instrument panel. So she gets it, then. She’s like him. They would both do anything to survive.

The comms channel crackles to life again, this time more demanding than before. “Return the hostage immediately.”

Connor scoffs. “What, so you can shoot us out of the sky? No thanks.”

Risa winces as she peers over the instrumentation, and yeah, Connor probably shouldn’t have revealed himself so fast, but he’s running on adrenaline right now. In all the times he lay awake at night wondering what he’d do if something so crazy happened as his parents revoking his grounds license, Connor never made a plan for when he inevitably took a tithe captive miles above the atmosphere of the closest planet.

He peeks at the buttons under her fingers. “Any luck?” He hisses.

She’s about to shake her head, and then her eyes light up and she dives forward to snap on a few switches. The nav readout whirs to life, asking Risa where she wants to jump. She picks one at random. For a moment, nothing happens at all, and Connor watches, panic mounting, as the ground-sec ships start slicing through space towards them once again.

He feels it before he sees it. It’s like the air in Connor’s chest has been punched out of him, and when he sucks in a fresh lungful, the stars are melting together, swimming and elongating until they are no longer in the space outside OH-10 XXIII, they’re hurtling through a place Connor can only recognize from grainy snapshots in school textbooks.

Hyperspace.

He lets out a loud whoop. Risa’s face cracks into a wide grin, the flashing lights from the quickly speeding stars outside reflecting on her teeth. “We did it,” she blurts out, astounded.

Beside them, the tithe crosses his white-clothed arms dolefully. “We did? You kidnapped me. You’ll get in trouble for that.”

Oh, stars above. Connor is so past the threat of vague trouble. He ran away from home. He’s come to terms with his own looming distribution and chased it off. He shot a Juvey-cop and stole a ship and yes, kidnapped a tithe, and the fact that this kid thinks a little bit of trouble will straighten him out is so ludicrous that Connor genuinely bursts out laughing.

Once he starts, he can’t stop. A heartbeat later, Risa joins in, and then the two of them are practically doubled over, gasping for air in between bouts of laughter. The silver threads of stars shoot by outside, and Connor’s stomach aches for laughing, and although he is most certainly a dead man flying, he can’t help but think that just now, just this once, he has never been more alive.

a/n: smh lev. he just doesn't get it!! (he will)

unwind tag list: @schroedingers-kater, @locke-writes, @sirofreak

all tags list: @wordsarelife

#unwind #unwind imagines #unwind oneshot #unwind series #unwind fanfic #unwind dystology #unwind dystology imagines #unwind dystology oneshot #unwind dystology series #unwind dystology fanfic #conrisa #conrisa imagines #conrisa oneshot #conrisa series #conrisa fanfic #connor x risa #connor x risa imagines #connor x risa oneshot #connor x risa series #connor x risa fanfic #connor lassiter #connor lassiter imagines #connor lassiter oneshot #connor lassiter series #connor lassiter fanfic #risa ward #risa ward imagines #risa ward oneshot #risa ward series #risa ward fanfic

[sinfulskywalker]

Luke and dadvader are so precious! your one of my favorite writers of dadvader and luke,can you give us more of them?

and btw please recover well! i'm happy to hear you are better

Thank you Anon, more Dad!Vader coming up ❤️

Luke doesn't like meat. It tastes like death according to him. Vader doesn't care as long as Luke gets his protein and tries to help. All he manages to do is make Luke loose his appetite when his father mentions the bugs he ate during his Padawan years.

Vader fixes Luke's arm, showing him how to properly clean it, how to upgrade the mechanisms and even puts on additional chips to make it more waterproof.

They disagree on a lot. By a lot I mean politics being the number one argument starter. It's not uncommon to hear Vader yell about how much better the Galaxy is after The Republic. Luke points out all that happened was corruption spiked and crime is up in outer rim planets. Despite their arguing they agree on one thing: they have to fix the mess Palpatine started. (That doesn't mean Luke can hang pro-rebel posters in the lounges of the star fighters, but stopping him is like trying to catch smoke)

Luke isn't allowed alone in Vader's workshop. Not because he doesn't trust his son, but Vader won't admit out loud it's....fun to tinker around with someone. Not to mention Luke and him could talk about speeders, x-wings, tie fighters and other spacecraft for hours. If it flies, it's on their minds.

Vader brings Luke to the bridge when the lad can't sleep and has Luke point out constellations, maps of the galaxy he wants Luke to memorize. When Luke asks him why, Vader just responds with: "So you're never lost." Luke doesn't understand until he's older and isolated. Gazing up at the stars to find the patches he recalls his father pointing out. Hoping to feel something.

#star wars #luke skywalker #anon asks #anon #darth vader #dad and son #dad vader

[lightphieric]

Over the past two and a half years, I have amassed a huge backlog of games and extensively catalogued the ones I’ve played. It started out as a way to keep myself sane during the pandemic, but since then it’s basically just become the way I play video games. I’ve recently reached the huge milestone of 200 games played using this system, and to commemorate, I thought a list of “Each Zero Escape character as one of those 200 games” would be fun! Let’s go!

(FYI, I kept a tier list and for this post, I’ve only drawn from games I’ve ranked B, A, or S. So yes, these are all recommendations! I played some of them via itch.io, but all of them are available on Steam)

Ace: Contradiction

An FMV detective game with elegantly simple mechanics: you do exactly what the title says and it’s very satisfying. Special mention goes to the pair of shady businessmen you encounter who totally don’t brainwash, kill, or kidnap people wink wink.

Snake: Dicey Dungeons

This is almost entirely based on Light’s codename meaning “snake eyes,” but it was between this and that game you play by blinking so this seemed like the more appropriate choice. A cute and cheeky roguelike deckbuilder played by rolling and assigning dice. The fact that its gameplay is built around basic arithmetic gives me 999 vibes in general!

Santa: Tell Me Why

A choice-consequence adventure game from the makers of the first two Life Is Strange games (LIS2 my beloved, don’t @ me). Two siblings who can communicate telepathically revisit their childhood home and the events leading up to their mother’s death. One of the siblings is a trans man so if you are as Correct about Aoi as I am you know where I’m coming from.

Clover: Chicory: A Colorful Tale

The game where the world is a blank coloring book and you get to fill in the lines. Tells a lovely and relatable story about art, burnout, impostor syndrome and mentorship, although the main reason I’m assigning this to Clover is because it’s just plain adorable. The relationship between Pizza and Chicory also reminds me of her and Alice.

Junpei: Lamplight City

Perhaps aligned more with ZTD Junpei than any other iteration, this is a steampunk point-and-click about a disgraced detective who is haunted by his late partner and can’t rest until he’s avenged his death. The best part of this game is the protagonist’s awesome wife, who, unlike Akane, will actually help you with puzzles sometimes.

Akane: Elsinore

You play as Ophelia. You are stuck in a time loop and must find a way to save yourself and manufacture a happier ending to the tragedy of Hamlet. This is basically tied with Celeste for the title of my favorite video game of all time, and I was delighted to find parallels between it and Akane’s story.

Seven: The Darkside Detective

I love detective games so I had a wealth to choose from when it came to the cop character. I ended up going with this game, a standard point-and-click that is a detective game in name and theming only but is still a lot of fun. A pastiche of Twin Peaks and X-Files with some of the funniest writing I’ve ever seen in a video game, it captures Seven’s zaniness and willingness to believe in the supernatural.

Lotus: Beglitched

A glitzy and girly game full of computer lingo and in-jokes that go over my head. Thankfully you don’t actually need to know a lick of code to enjoy it because the hacking minigames all take the form of really unique and strategic battles.

Kubota: Underhero

An RPG with one of the most wonderfully convoluted premises ever. Put simply, you’re a villain’s henchman who must play double agent when you’re magically chosen to be the next great hero. Kubota certainly doesn’t fit the “secret hero” angle, but a whole game about an underling seemed appropriate.

Sigma: Milkmaid of the Milky Way

A point-and-click (can you tell I love those?) in which a dairy farmer’s favorite cow is abducted by aliens and she must sneak onto the spacecraft to rescue it. Now, that absolutely delightful premise could work with just about any VLR character; I don’t want to spoil the game, but something else does happen that rings very close to Sigma’s story specifically.

Phi: Downwell

I really expected Phi to get a platformer, with all her soaring and kicking! Downwell is kind of a platformer, I guess, although really it’s more of a free-fall simulator and most of the things you land on die. You can either shoot enemies with your “gunboots” or step on them to kill them - killing things with your feet, very Phi.

Alice: Paradise Killer

A quirky open-world detective game where everyone is impractically hot. I’ve truly never felt more like a detective than I did while playing this game, but you can’t talk about it without talking about the style. The world is bizarre, the music is all vaporwave, and again. You, the investigator, are improbably sexy, and so is every suspect you interview.

Dio: Cult of the Lamb

The cute and cozy roguelike where you start your own cult and smite nonbelievers. I feel like I don’t really need to describe this one further, y’all know it already.

Luna: Cloud Gardens

An art/puzzle game about helping plants reclaim an abandoned, decaying urban environment. Has both a story mode which I completed, and a sandbox mode I didn’t try in which you can just grow gardens to your heart’s content.

Quark: Carto

A really cute puzzle game where you manipulate the very ground you stand on using a map. The story is about a little girl trying to find her grandmother, so it’s very Quark in both aesthetic and story.

Kyle: Hades

The mythological roguelike about hating your dad a whole lot. I don’t feel like I need to explain this one further, either, as everyone has talked about it at length including me on this very blog, but I’ll have you know that I’ve played it for hundreds of hours and it’s solidly my third favorite video game of all time.

Carlos: The Rewinder

This is the most recent game I’ve played; I haven’t finished it yet and I can’t even say for sure that it will be top-tier in the rankings, but I’m really liking it so far and since I wanted a puzzle game about time manipulation for Carlos it was between this and Braid. And as far as I know, The Rewinder doesn’t have a creator with the absolutely rancid vibes of Jonathan Blow.

Sean: 2064: Read Only Memories

A visual novel where you solve a mystery in a cyberpunk world with the help of the world’s first fully sentient AI. The AI is a precious baby baby baby; if you love Sean, you will love Turing.

Delta: Evergate

A gorgeous puzzle platformer about the afterlife and a fraught sibling relationship that transcends time. I loved this game so much that I 100-percented all the collectibles and time trials, which is something I never do. Made me want to call my brother.

Eric: Boyfriend Dungeon

Of course, my much maligned fave gets paired with a game that also gets a lot of undue hate but nonetheless has my entire heart. It’s a dating sim for all of the thirsty simps out there that’s also a roguelike about literally attacking your inner demons and fears with crazy impractical weapons. This choice has nothing to do with a certain Boyfriend Dungeon character who gives all Erics a bad name.

Mira: Carrion

Going through all these games I was surprised that this was the only real “play as the villain” power fantasy on the list. You might have heard of this one described as a reverse horror movie; you play as a biological weapon, or an alien, or something, that has escaped containment and it’s just about eating scientists and soldiers in an explosion of pixelly gore.

Diana: There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension

I won’t be all coy like every other reviewer: this is a video game, a point-and-click about a sentient computer program who really does not want you to use it. It’s really funny and full of meta-references, but the reason I chose it for Diana is because this game is actually a tragic love story not unlike SigDi. I’m not joking about that.

And there you have it, twenty-two great games, one for each Zero Escape character. This is just a silly post but, sincerely, check some of them out if they sound interesting to you!

#zero escape #zero escape 999 #virtue's last reward #zero time dilemma #999 spoilers #vlr spoilers #ztd spoilers #video game recommendations #not gonna tag every game and every character that would be insane

[sparrowsabre7]

Best of 2022

Tagged by @summerhomeineskew

Will do my best to include at least one 2022 thing for each but if I don't have any it will just have to be "x I experienced for the first time this year".

Books:

Been awful with books this year, only read three and I don't even remember which three. One was a re-read as well. Therefore I'll cheat and add one I finished at the very end of last year, maybe finished on New Year's Day 2022 so sorta counts: Death's End by Cixin Liu, the final installment of the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy (aka the Three Body Problem trilogy). It's hard sci-fi with some incredible storytelling and world building. It feels effortlessly real despite incredibly big ideas and a storyline that spans centuries. I don't wish to summarise, not necessarily for spoiler reasons, but because written in synopsis it doesn't sound all that interesting, but in reading it it is one of the most immersive and thrilling reading experiences I have had in a very long time.

Movies:

Ugh, I feel shamed that the only films I've seen in the cinema this year were superhero movies. And I love superhero movies don't get me wrong, but I really wish I could give my patronage to worthier fare, but having limited time and a small child means you need to be reasonably certain you're going to at least partially like the movie you watch.

I saw "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", "Thor Love and Thunder", and "Black Adam". All entertaining in their own way, Doctor Strange probably my favourite of the three, but the film I saw this year and enjoyed the most was probably "The Matrix Resurrections". I actually really liked a lot of things Lana Wachowski did with the storyline, even if it did feel like it was being wrung from her against her will with some pretty on the nose metatextual moments. Nonetheless, she refused to make "another Matrix" be what the studio and audience probably expected and wanted and instead went full George Lucas (and I mean that as a compliment) made the Matrix she wanted to make. I felt it was handled surprisingly deftly and although Weaving and Fishburne are SORELY missed, their replacements hold their own well.

Songs:

Ugh, I out myself very clearly as a basic cishet white man here and say, honestly? My favourite songs this year were from Taylor Swift and a Disney movie respectively. I really like "Anti-Hero" and "Surface Pressure" the latter especially for articulating the kind of struggle I think most people (women especially) deal with daily that is rarely acknowledged, let alone fully discussed in children's entertainment.

*Games:

A lot of old games this year bith new to me and recisted. The only 2022 game this year was "Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga" and it is so much fun, if overwhelmingly large. There's like a thousand bricks to collect this time as opposed to the usual low hundred or so. The number of characters is impressive though andnthe updated mechanics makes it play unlike any other Lego game does.

Honourable mentions of games I played for the first time this year:

Lethal league - Really fun sports game meets fighting game, sort of dodgebaseball, frenetic fun

Exo One - A chill game with satisfying mechanics, pilot an unusual spacecraft through numerous planets

Halo 5 - I don't much like Halo as a series but I do like some of the individual games, as a result the "lore butchery" didn't bother me at all and I actually felt it was making some bold story choices that Inwould not have expected

Ghost of Tsushima - Beautiful looking and expertly crafted ninja/samurai game. Ubisoft wishes they could make AC this good again.

Shows:

Honestly here is where I lay out my unabashed love for "Obi-wan Kenobi". When it was announced I knew I was going to love it no matter what and whilst there are some flaws in the narrative that leave some gaping plot holes or confusing character choices, the overall experience was so much more than I ever dared dream, we got Obi-wan vs Vader twice. We got Hayden and Ewan back giving a much more layeed performance, we got some really heartfelt moments between Obi-wan and Leia and I actually liked Reva as a character, even if her decision in the final episode made little sense.

"House of the Dragon" also surpassed expectations, even as someone who was satisfied with GOTs ending. Special mention also to Ms. Marvel for giving a refreshing take on teen heroes and a standout turn from newcomer Iman Vellani, and pour one out for "Legends of Tomorrow", the show that dared to be stupid.

Memories:

So many new ones with a small child but best has to be first snow with him in an idyllic cottage in the countryside with my wife and in laws. Also built my first snowman at 32 and used one of my son's veggie straw crisps for its nose.

*added because I love video games more than music so a better metric for me

I tag @unseeliefaerie and @cryptobotanical should they wish to partake (no need to do so if you don't want to though =))

Edit: OMG I forgot "Glass Onion" was the best film of 2022. Got in just under the wire on NYE. Funny and entertaining, not quite as good as "Knives Out" and imo a less interesting supporting cast that wasted some of its talents (Leslie Odom Jr and Kathryn Hahn to name two) but Janelle Monae was terrific and Daniel Craig got more to chew on this time; still a very fun time.

#best of #2022 #games #films #tv #books #music

[ao3feed-crimeboys]

Eclipse

by Hoping_Helios

An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three celestial objects is known as a syzygy.

--

Or, Whisper and Phoenix are heroes, against people a bit too big for them.

Or, Wilbur and Tommy are siblings, and Wilbur would do anything for his little brother.

Words: 2672, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Dream SMP, Video Blogging RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Major Character Death

Categories: Gen

Characters: Wilbur Soot, TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Technoblade - Character

Relationships: Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, POV TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt No Comfort, Wilbur tries to comfort but he kinda dies yknow, Sad Ending, Poison, Character Death, Hero TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hero Wilbur Soot, wilbur is tommy's mentor as a hero, but - Freeform, Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Wilbur Soot Loves TommyInnit, Phoenix Hybrid TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Phantom Hybrid Wilbur Soot, Protective Wilbur Soot, Scared TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt Wilbur Soot, Identity Reveal

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/41466162

#IFTTT #ao3feed #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #crimeboys #crime boys #crimebois #crime bois #mcyt #This is

[websterss]

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 — 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: A scared scientist on the run, does whatever it takes to ensure that her daughter's life is better than hers ever was. Earth is slowly dying and two one-way tickets on the next spacecraft to Pandora is their only way out, and far away from an abusive ex. Dr. Maeve Y/L/N didn’t know what to expect after landing on a new planet, and she certainly wasn’t expecting her and Y/n’s life to turn around, for the good and the worse.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆(𝐒): Angst, fluff, slowburn, mentions of violence and death.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: N/A

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Neteyam Sully x fem!Reader

𝐀/𝐍: I hope you enjoy it! Bare with me folks I’m insecure about writing series okay!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈: ‣ Part 1 ‣ Part 2 ‣ Part 3 ‣ Part 4 ‣ Part 5

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐈: ‣ Part 1 ‣ Part 2 ‣ Part 3 ‣ Part 4 ‣ Part 5

‣ 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎: 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒

#neteyam sully series #neteyam sully x reader #neteyam sully x fem!reader #neteyam sully imagine #writings by juls #my gif

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #282: Twice Upon a Time

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/timestamp-282-twice-upon-a-time/

Timestamp #282: Twice Upon a Time

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time (1 episode, Christmas Special, 2017)

The (other) two Doctors.

709 episodes ago, the First Doctor faced the Cybermen. After the threat was over, the Doctor walked through the snow storms of the South Pole to his TARDIS. There he found someone claiming to be the Doctor.

He found the Twelfth Doctor.

The First Doctor is obviously confused by the new Time Lord and the confusing proportions of the TARDIS. The Twelfth Doctor realizes that the First Doctor is refusing to regenerate, and as he outlines the problems with that idea, time stops around them. They are soon greeted by a British soldier from World War I.

This soldier comes from Ypres 1914 where he was engaged in a standoff with a German soldier. Both hold the other at gunpoint inside a bomb crater and the British captain is startled when time freezes. He takes in the bizarre battlefield before encountering a glass avatar that deposits him half a world away with the two Doctors. When he greets them, the glass avatar appears and the Doctors approach it. When the Twelfth Doctor declares that the planet is protected, the avatar disappears and the First Doctor invites everyone inside the TARDIS for protection.

The First Doctor is astounded because he thought that this TARDIS was his TARDIS. Meanwhile, the Twelfth Doctor mentions that the British captain is from the First World War, which shocks him since he only knows of the War to End All Wars (which it obviously did not). As the captain tries to understand the wonders around him, the two Doctors come to terms with their mutual situation. The Doctors offer the captain some brandy to calm his nerves and the Twelfth is astounded by the First’s lack of decorum toward gender roles.

The discussions all halt when the TARDIS is pulled into an overhead spacecraft that holds the Chamber of the Dead. The First Doctor exits the TARDIS to face the chamber as the captain and the Twelfth Doctor watch from the console. The First Doctor doesn’t understand being called the “Doctor of War.” Meanwhile, when Bill Potts arrives from a portal, the Twelfth Doctor rushes to meet her before realizing that this being is not the Bill that he knew. In fact, she is a duplicate and his Bill is dead.

The Doctors wonder who has been stealing the faces of the dead and investigate the chamber. They find the glass avatar who explains that they chronicle the lives of beings in the moments before their deaths, becoming a living testimony. They explain that they tried to capture the captain’s testimony but a timeline error caused him to become misplaced. The captain offers to take Bill’s place, but the Twelfth Doctor proposes taking both Bill and the captain. The First Doctor demands to know who the Twelfth thinks he is, and the First is astounded to find out just how his future will play out as the avatar reveals his legacy. It is recorded as one of battles and bloodshed.

Technically, what the Testimony shows him is accurate. It’s just missing context.

The Twelfth Doctor opens the airlock and everyone jumps, holding onto the chains restraining the TARDIS as it drops to the surface. The Testimony retrieves the Twelfth Doctor’s TARDIS and the four travelers escape Earth in the First Doctor’s ship instead. As they run, Bill figures out how the two Time Lords are related.

The Doctors realize that the glass avatar’s face is asymmetrical, and they decide that they need to find a database to figure out who she represents. The Twelfth Doctor considers the Matrix on Gallifrey, but instead decides to visit Villengard at the center of the universe. There is a database there, but it wants to kill him. Unfortunately, the area is swarming with Kaled mutants.

The Twelfth Doctor insists that Bill wait in the TARDIS with the captain and the First Doctor, but Bill stands defiant as her Doctor considers her nothing more than a doppelgänger. The tension is broken when the First Doctor chastises her for bad language. With a laugh and the hope that she and the Twelfth Doctor can joke about this for years, she joins the captain while the First Doctor explores the surface with his future self.

They discuss their mutual decision not to regenerate. The First Doctor admits his fear of the future, but when he asks about the Twelfth’s rationale, the answer is pre-empted by weapons fire. The Twelfth Doctor stands in the open and demands that their assailant scan him. When the truth of the Doctor’s pending doom is revealed, the sniper allows the Time Lords to enter the tower.

In the meantime, Bill and the captain talk about his fate. The captain recognizes that he must die, but he’s no longer ready to do so. He’s shocked when Bill reveals herself as a glass avatar.

The First Doctor remains at the tower entrance for his safety as the Twelfth Doctor climbs to meet his assailant. The shooter is revealed to be the Dalek named Rusty. They come to a truce as Rusty tears off his own gunstick, and the Twelfth Doctor finds out that the glass avatars and their ship, the Testimony, were created on New Earth. This comes from the Dalek programmed to hate Daleks and his connection to the Dalek hive mind. Rusty agrees to provide the information since helping the Doctor harms the Daleks.

Bill’s glass avatar meets up with the First Doctor as he finds Dalek parts nearby. She talks to the Doctor, probing his past and his motivations, asking what he’s running toward. She declares that the Doctor is amazing and thanks him for his efforts. When he realizes that she’s a glass avatar, he comes to understand her motives as an agent of Testimony.

Bill and the First Doctor ascend the tower and time stops again. The Doctors realize that there is no evil to fight, and while Bill is an avatar, she reminds the Doctor that reality is merely a function of memories. The Twelfth Doctor tells her that he’s tired of losing people, hence the reason why he doesn’t want to regenerate. He decides to return the captain to his proper time as he considers how their decisions not to regenerate caused the timeline error that displaced the officer.

En route, he has a revelation and changes course, dropping the captain at the start of the famous Christmas Truce, ensuring that his life will be spared. The captain will not be able to remember his adventure and won’t be able to see the Doctors or Bill once his timeline restarts. He asks them to check on his family from time to time, introducing himself as Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart, an ancestor of the Brigadier. The Doctor is overjoyed at the prospect.

When time starts again, Captain Lethbridge-Stewart and the German soldier nearly pull their triggers, but they stop as both sides begin to sing Christmas carols. The truce was a miracle, a one-of-a-kind, but one that allowed everyone to stop fighting and be kind for a short time.

The First Doctor is happy to see how the “Doctor of War” solved the problem, to which the Twelfth responds that their place is to help when the universe isn’t a fairy tale. The Doctors decide that they are both ready to go on living and they part ways.

The First Doctor returns to the South Pole as the Twelfth bids farewell to Captain Lethbridge-Stewart. Ben and Polly find their Doctor on the TARDIS floor as he regenerates into the Second Doctor. Meanwhile, the Twelfth Doctor asks Bill if she’d like to take one last trip in the TARDIS. She tells him that the hardest thing about knowing him is letting him go then gives him a goodbye present as she kisses his cheek and turns into Clara.

The Doctor is overjoyed to remember her, as is the memory of his former companion. He also gets to say goodbye to Nardole, who encourages him not to die since it would mean that the universe would go cold. The Doctor refuses to offer his testimony to the avatars, stating that he must be left alone to face his fate. He thanks them for what they have offered and they agree with a hug.

The Doctor boards the TARDIS again, ready to leave the battlefield. As he engages the TARDIS, he gazes upon the universe and concedes that one more lifetime won’t kill anyone. Well, except him. He relays some advice to his future self in a powerful speech before falling to the floor. He picks himself up and utters his final words: “Doctor… I let you go.”

The regeneration process is so violent that it rips into every corner of the console room. As smoke fills the room, his ring falls from his hand and his face transforms into a younger version. As the smoke clears, the Doctor’s new face is visible in a reflection.

The Thirteenth Doctor is a woman. Oh, brilliant.

She smiles broadly for just a moment until the TARDIS suffers a catastrophic systems failure. The ship tilts to one side as the console room explodes around her. The doors fly open, and even though she holds on as tight as she can, she eventually falls out of the TARDIS as it hovers thousands of feet above Earth.

The Doctor can only watch in horror as the TARDIS is engulfed in flames and dematerializes, leaving her to plummet toward the planet below.

Starting with the good stuff, I adore this multi-Doctor special because the threat isn’t really a threat at all. Fans have been conditioned since 2005 to expect a monster of some sort each week, and this fake-out driven by that assumption is a nice change of pace. I also like how the story was carved out of a space in The Tenth Planet‘s finale, drawing a parallel between the two Doctors as they ponder their futures. The classical romanticism and vulnerability are touching.

The setup also ties off a narrative thread started in The Pilot, which showed us a Doctor fresh off losing two people close to him. The thread has run across this series and comes to a beautiful conclusion here as the Doctor faces the loss of three people in The Doctor Falls. In a sense, both Doctors share a fear of the future.

It doesn’t hurt that I have a soft spot for the Christmas Truce. The truce was not unique in general – World War I had quite a few “live and let live” moments like this where soldiers would stop hostilities and fraternize – but this was one of the largest and most memorable.

The biggest failing of this adventure was the writing for the First Doctor. This story treats the character as a sexist dinosaur, but it seems like Steven Moffat’s target was the 1960s in general and he used the First Doctor as an avatar for his grievances. Certainly, the era didn’t treat women fairly, but Doctor Who stood apart with more well-rounded characters in comparison to some of the portrayals and dialogue found in later decades. Yes, the First Doctor was the character who let a caveman die until Ian stepped in, threatened a “jolly good smacked bottom” for Susan after her clumsiness inconvenienced him, was generally irascible and cranky, and even said a few things in The Five Doctors that made his successors squeamish, but this representation betrays the progressive heart that this show has had since birth.

Don’t get me wrong: David Bradley’s performance is amazing. It’s Steven Moffat and his meta-commentary that failed here because his research into the character seems to have stopped at the First Doctor’s first adventure, which is a far cry from the character’s nature in his final adventure.

That huge downside is unfortunate because there’s so much to love here, from the regeneration being a good narrative cover for the change in actors, the First Doctor’s treatment of sonic technology, the transitions from 1966 archive footage to modern imagery and back, and the fantastic rebuild of the First Doctor’s TARDIS. I also didn’t notice that Bill’s wardrobe constantly changes throughout the episode, perhaps as a tip of the hand to her true nature.

Not bad at all for an episode that was supposed to be Jodie Whittaker’s first adventure. That would have been a sight to see.

Finally, the regeneration is probably one of my favorites of the modern era. I was visiting family on the other side of the country when this episode first aired and I stayed up late at my brother-in-law’s house after everyone else had gone to bed. Peter Capaldi’s final speech was perfect and brought me to tears then, as it still does today.

Even with the imperfect writing, this story still does it for me.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Series Ten Summary

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #First Doctor #Timestamps Project #twelfth doctor